Dumbledore stared at Harry, in all his vast experience he had never heard of a ward of that type. Could Harry be bluffing? Well, there was one way to find out, but he really could not take that chance. Even if the wards did not work as advertised, at this point he could not afford to antagonise Harry.
He shouted out to Harry, who had been about to leave the room. "Wait, Harry, please. It is extremely important that you hear me out."
Harry turned around and stared at him, an impatient look upon his face.
"Harry, my...well, you're hardly a boy any more but still...I implore you. I know what you are most likely heading off to do but..."
"Really, and what do you think I am about to do?" snapped Harry, interrupting Dumbledore.
"The Fidelius charm of course. From your reaction on seeing me I take it that the charm was not broken by design. Which means that you intend to cast it again, correct? Once you do that I will no doubt forget everything I know about you. Trust me, you do not want that to happen," claimed Dumbledore.
"Why not?" asked Harry, he was more than a little put out that Dumbledore had guessed what he was planning.
"I have something that I have to tell you. Information that it is absolutely vital for you to know. Facts that I should have informed you off years ago. Please...Harry, promise me that you will not send me away without listening to me. Please, I beg you. If you ever held even the slightest bit of regard for me...Promise me, Harry," begged Dumbledore.
"I...I don't really think...after all these years...nothing you could possibly say..." said Harry.
"Please, it is of vital importance that you be informed of your destiny..." said Dumbledore.
"My destiny? I don't suppose you could tell me in say the next five minutes?" asked Harry.
Dumbledore looked a little flabbergasted at the thought of condensing everything he had to say within five minutes. How exactly would that conversation go? He could only imagine. Harry relented a bit at the look on Dumbledore's face. Perhaps it would not be the worst thing in the world if Dumbledore knew who he was. After all, as long as he wasn't the secret keeper it wasn't as if he could go around telling anybody else who Harry really was.
"Fine, you're right," he said. "I am, in fact, going to recast the Fidelius. After I'm done with that, I will come back and talk to you for a while. In the meantime, I suggest you wait over here in the living room."
Harry turned around and sped out of the room, slamming the door shut behind himself. Dumbledore sank down into the couch and buried his head in his hands. Oh dear, oh dear, he thought. He might forget why he had come there once Harry cast the charm. Chances were, he might just wander off and then he would never find Harry again. A note, that's what he needed. He would write a note to himself.
He looked around the room and found it depressingly modern. He himself preferred furniture that looked a bit lived in. Something with a few years, preferably decades, behind it. In any case, the important point was that there wasn't a single quill or a piece of parchment in sight.
He fumbled within his robes. Surely, he had something...aah, what luck, he was in fact carrying a self-inking quill. Now if only he could find some parchment but alas, that was not to be.
He looked around morosely. No parchment, whatever was he going to do. He started another search of the many pockets in his voluminous robes but all he could come up with was a handkerchief. It would have to do. It was hard for him to constantly stop himself from reaching for his wand. Usually, it would take him hardly a second to conjure up something simple like parchment and a quill. Being utterly unable to do magic left him feeling terribly out of sorts.
He stared off into the distance before beginning to scribble upon his handkerchief. The ink blotted terribly but it would have to do. He could not write anything directly related to Harry. That information would be unreadable as soon as the Fidelius was cast. However, a note to himself, admonishing himself not to leave the house under any circumstances. Not until he had spoken to the inhabitant about the Boy-Who-Lived. A few more dire warnings about the absolute importance of not leaving until he had finished the task. Not to do any magic, etcetera etcetera. Yes, that should be enough.
Then there was nothing left to do but wait. The house was absolutely still and the waiting was intolerable. He felt an almost unbearable tension to be doing something. He did not care what. Anything. He paced around the room. He tried all the doors leading out of it. They were all locked and he could almost feel the thrum of magic and power that reinforced them. Whoever had warded the house had not stopped at the exterior walls. It was clear that even within the house there were multiple defences just waiting to be triggered.
Even the ticking of a clock seemed to boom loudly in the unbearable quiet. How much longer would it take he wondered. Surely, Harry must be done by now. It should not be taking him so long to cast a Fidelius. But, on the other hand, he realised that Harry had probably had to go and fetch his new secret keeper. Most likely he would be using some friend of his.
When would Harry return? He hoped that Harry...He blinked slowly. What had he been thinking about? He stared around the room in confusion. Why had he come to this...this obviously muggle house? Why was he clutching an ink-stained handkerchief? Oh, there was writing on it. A strangely cryptic note written in his own handwriting exhorting him not to leave the house along with some warnings and an order to speak to whoever lived there and not to leave until they told him who they were.
He frowned. Why had he written such a note to himself?
Why?
Just then the door opened and a dark haired stranger entered. Dumbledore stared at the young man. Was this the person who was supposed to give him the answers he had been searching for?
He was a reasonably unremarkable person. Messy dark hair and green eyes. He stood there fidgeting with a pencil in his hand.
The young man pulled up a chair, sat down and for one long moment he and Albus Dumbledore stared at each other.
Dumbledore did not quite know how to start. What was he supposed to say?
"Err," he started, before coughing nervously. The young man seemed oddly amused at his discomfort.
"Would you mind telling me who you are?" he asked.
"Would I mind? No, not particularly," said the young man with a bit of a smirk. For some reason he looked exceptionally pleased with himself at that moment.
Dumbledore found that to be exceptionally annoying. Here he was trying to desperately figure out why he was where he was and this...this young whippersnapper, this...this...boy was playing word games with him.
"Well?" he snapped with the glare he used to reserve solely for the most appalling of his students.
"Well, what?" asked the boy with a gormless grin.
"Who are you?" asked Dumbledore through gritted teeth.
The boy shrugged. "Does it really make any difference? Who is anyone, really? I can give you my name, but what would that tell you? Could you tell me who you are?"
"I am Albus Dumbledore," stated Dumbledore. He was about to add a list of his titles, well, his former titles, when he was interrupted by the boy.
"That's not what I meant," said the boy. "Albus Dumbledore is just your name, your identity if you will. But do you really know who you are? Does anyone?"
Dumbledore stared at the boy in sheer exasperated disbelief. What on earth was he nattering on about? He knew very well who he was, thank you very much. He groaned, yes it was going to be a long exasperating day.
.....
Luna sat back in bed and giggled her head off. The mirror on the wall in front of her was displaying a view of the living room where Harry and Dumbledore were sitting, a view that could beat any high definition television in the market for picture quality and sound. She couldn't help but find Dumbledore's current facial expression to be absolutely sidesplittingly funny.
...
....
Join my P*atreon for 100 premium chapters ahead of the public release.
Link: pa*treon.com/MysticVerse (Remove the *)
Free members also get 2 advanced chapters for free.