Chapter 105 - Foul
The flash of light and flame finally receded, leaving behind the sound and echo of a bird. The cry was beautiful, vibrating deep within the chamber. It sounded incredibly pleasant to the ears and it brought a soothing peace straight to the soul.
Through the light, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore appeared with his Phoenix. High above near the stone ceiling, his pet phoenix Fawkes, glided through the air. As the only known phoenix currently living in Europe, Fawkes was a magnificent sight.
The children stood with their mouths open and their eyes wide in absolute amazement. They were completely stunned by this sudden piece of powerful and spectacular magic. Dumbledore truly had the presence and he knew exactly how to make a grand entrance.
It was just like Kingsley Shacklebolt would say in the future, 'Dumbledore's got style.'
However, the subject of the children's amazement was not happy at all. Dumbledore looked incredibly stressed, and a rare spark of anger flashed in his eyes.
"What are you doing, Arthur? Stop that!" Dumbledore barked.
He stared toward the burning Philosopher's Stone and his face tight with anxiety and he ordered me to put out the fire.
I immediately raised both of my hands in the air, backing away.
"I can't stop it, Professor. The Patronus has a mind of its own, and it made the choice to burn the stone all by itself. It is completely out of my hands."
I wholly washed my hands of the decision to destroy the artifact. I knew I could neither face the wrath of Dumbledore, nor the anger of his incredibly long-lived friend, Nicolas Flamel. It was much safer to throw my own Patronus under the bus.
Even if I blamed the creature, the teachers could not actually harm a spirit made of pure silver light. It was better that the Patronus took the blame, especially since it was the one actually committing the act.
Still, I felt the need to support my Patronus.
"But Professor," I added, stepping forward, "this stone feels very unholy. It is completely evil."
Dumbledore snapped his fingers, his voice sharp.
"Whatever it is, it is not your property, boy! It is not even the school's property. Now, command your Patronus to stop this madness and save the stone!"
I turned my head toward the silver Patronus, pretending to ask it to stand down.
The magical being stopped what it was doing.
First, it cast a deeply disdainful glance at me. Then, it turned its glowing eyes toward Dumbledore and slowly rolled its eyes at the Headmaster.
I opened my hands wide and shrugged my shoulders at Dumbledore. "See, Professor? It won't even listen to me."
Dumbledore looked utterly exasperated. His usual calm mask was entirely gone.
"Boy, this is an incredibly rare object, the only one of its kind, that I borrowed from a very dear friend. If it is destroyed, how am I supposed to answer him?"
"I don't know, Professor," I replied honestly. "You will have to think about that. But this object is a deeply foul thing. I truly do not think it should remain in our world. It simply does not belong here."
Dumbledore raised his silver eyebrows in a sharp question.
"What do you mean by that, Arthur?"
"It is made of dark blood magic, Professor," I said, looking him dead in the eye.
"You must already know that. But if it were only that, I would not have said it foul. It also made using soul magic. From the brief moment I held it, I could feel a deep, unsettling darkness twisting from the very core of the stone. The process used to create it must have been incredibly cruel and brutal and completely foul. It is an entirely unnatural thing. It breaks the natural order of the world. That is exactly why my Patronus wants to destroy it. It recognizes that the stone does not belong in the world of the living."
Dumbledore let loose a heavy breath. It was the sound of a man suffering a quiet defeat. Instead of answering my difficult questions or addressing the doubts I raised, he turned his eyes toward the ceiling. He looked up at the bright red and gold bird circling the dark room.
"My friend, can you do it?" Dumbledore called out, his voice straining. "Fawkes, can you stop this fire?"
Fawkes looked down at the burning Philosopher's Stone. Folded in silver flames, the red rock was already beginning to diminish. The phoenix swooped down from the high ceiling, cutting through the air like a streak of fire.
The bird stopped near the stone and looked closely at the strange flames. Fawkes looked at the melting artifact and then turned to look directly at the silver Patronus. The Patronus did not mind. It simply stared back at the phoenix.
Instead of answering Dumbledore and instead of doing anything to extinguish the flames, Fawkes let out a soft, melodic note. The phoenix then flew directly toward the Patronus. It circled the silver creature a couple of times. After that, Fawkes flew right back up to the ceiling, continuing to glide through the air as if nothing had happened.
Dumbledore stood completely stunned. Whatever message Fawkes had communicated through their bond had shocked him to his very core.
I watched the old wizard closely. "Well, what did it say, Professor?"
Dumbledore looked absolutely speechless. For the first time in my life, I saw the great Albus Dumbledore stutter.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Whatever Fawkes had told him had completely broken his legendary composure. He stopped trying to speak and just stared at the burning stone in total defeat.
I wanted to poke him further. I needed to get real answers or at least force him to show his true thoughts.
"Well, if Fawkes cannot do it, maybe you can stop the flames yourself, Professor," I said loudly, turning to the other students. "After all, you are the mightiest wizard alive in the world, right, kids?"
The children nodded their heads quickly in response. In their young minds, Dumbledore was a living legend who could solve any problem and beat any magic.
Dumbledore sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Stop it, Arthur. You know very well that I cannot stop that flame. It is not a natural or magical fire. It is not a magic that I can simply undo. In truth, I have never seen or heard anything quite like this in all my years. Even Fawkes has stated that the fire cannot be extinguished."
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End of Chapter 105 - Foul