Dumbledore's presence cast a gentle aura in the room, and his eyes emitted warmth and a saddening understanding as they met Atlas's. Seeing these blue eyes of Dumbledore, Atlas instinctively reinforced his occlumency barrier as well as he could in his state.
Dumbledore, on the other hand, just smiled in a terrible attempt to ease his panic, "Ah, Mr. Graf, I trust you’re feeling better now, with the intense care of Madam Pomfrey and Miss. Granger here?”
Atlas glanced at Hermione, who was still by his side, her hand intertwined with his. A blush warmed her cheeks as she realized that Dumbledore probably saw them kissing just a few seconds ago. “Yes, Professor Dumbledore, Thank you.”
“There is no need for thanks, Mr. Graf. On the contrary, I must thank you. From what I heard, it was your quick reaction that saved Hagrid, and later, you were even willing to sacrifice yourself for Miss Granger. Actions that are nothing short of remarkable, especially from someone your age, but in the end, it would have been my role to protect you all, and if it hadn’t been for your interventions, the losses would have been even greater. For that, you deserve my deepest gratitude as well as a sincere apology from myself.” said Dumbledore, the regret in his tone almost palpable.
Atlas looked at Dumbledore, unsure if he wanted to hint that he knew that he was older than he appeared to be or if it was genuine regret and praise for him. But one thing was sure: He was pissed at Dumbledore. No matter how much he seemed to regret it now, the disaster could have been prevented if he had just given them a reasonable punishment or if he had taken better safety measures. Sending students, innocent students at that, into a forest full of dangerous animals was dangerous enough, but he suspected that Dumbledore knew that they would meet Voldemort, which only made him angrier. In fact, he had to use occlumency to suppress his anger, or he would have said something stupid, like blaming him for sending them there or taunting him with Grindelwald out of spite. Instead, he tried to play the role he assumed Dumbledore wanted to play on the stage he had prepared. A loyal, righteous friend of Harry that would become a reason for Harry to sacrifice himself in the fight against Voldemort. That naturally didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to guilt-trip him for what he had done.
“It’s not like anyone could have predicted that we would get attacked inside the forest; otherwise, you wouldn’t have sent us there in the first place, and even if the burns hurt like hell, it looks like you managed to protect us from anything worse.”
Dumbledore looked as if he had aged a few years, which caused Atlas to feel a little schadenfreude. “I’m sorry, Atlas, but I wasn’t there. It was Professor Scamander who rescued you, but he also wasn’t on time to save everyone. I know that it will come as a shock to you, and the others wanted me to wait until you are fully recovered, but Neville died in that fight.”
The message hit Atlas like a cold shower. Neville was dead. That couldn’t be, was his first thought. He had seen Neville get hit, but the spell hadn’t been a deadly one. At least he was sure it wasn’t the killing curse. The memories were still a bit fuzzy, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that the how didn’t matter. Neville was dead, and he wasn’t coming back. He thought he was already mentally prepared for it because he knew that soon everyone he knew would die, but it hit him surprisingly hard. It was like in his previous life, when he knew that one of his family members or he himself would probably die soon but still hoped that somehow it wouldn't happen. The sadness didn’t become less even if one was prepared or knew it was inevitable. He remembered how he had always tried to help Neville become the confident and competent fighter he was meant to be in the later books, to maybe support him in his mission, but along the way he had become his real friend. Maybe the best besides Hermione, who couldn’t really be considered just a friend. And he knew that Neville too, had seen him as a friend, a role model in some cases even. Having been unable to prevent his death, he felt like he had let him down.
Without realizing it, tears flowed down his cheeks as he thought about the moments he shared with Neville. Hermione hugged his head, trying to suppress her tears, while Dumbledore just stared at him with understanding.
“Are the others alright then?” asked Atlas after calming himself down.
“Hagrid has a few more serious wounds, but he will survive. The others are already up again. At least physically,” said Dumbledore while sitting down beside Atlas on his band and grabbing Atlas' hand. “For that reason, as much as it pains me after everything you had to go through, I want to ask you for a favor. Can you take care of Harry for me? Neville's death is weighing on him, and he is in need of a friend who has experienced the same as him. I hope it can help both of you.”
There it was. Everything for Harry. Everything for the greater good. Neville’s death was merely an inconvenience to that, or maybe even a tool that could be used to accelerate Dumbledore's plan. Atlas felt disgusted, and he didn’t even know if that was really how Dumbledor thought, but it was clear that only the end result mattered to Dumbledor, regardless of the costs.
Atlas simply nodded to the request, unable to voice any agreement. At last, and that was something that made him feel disgusted about himself, he started to think about how he could use the situation.
“Thank you, Atlas. I hope you have a quick recovery. I will let you two alone for now so that you can process what happened.” said Dumbledore, stood up, and wanted to leave.
“Professor?” said Atlas before Dumbledore could even take a single step. Dumbledore turned around towards him and waited for the question.
“You know that I have started to research souls recently. Now with Neville is dead, I wanted to ask you, if you know if there is a way to preserve his soul, maybe even resurrect him?” asked Atlas, trying not to sound like a maniac.
“There is no spell that can resurrect the dead, Atlas. Many have tried but just as many have failed.” Said Dumbledore without hesitation.
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“But they were never able to feel souls and connect with them like I can do. Maybe if I could get your research on the topic, I would be able to. Maybe it's not too late. Please, if you have a way to store, to preserve a soul, then maybe I have the time to find a solution.
For a moment, Dumbledore looked as if he wanted to shout at him, but he quickly calmed down, and answered with a serious expression.
“Atlas, let the dead rest in peace. There is no way to store a soul without damaging it permanently. Much less the soul of someone who is already dead. Please understand that I can’t help you with that.” said Dumbledore and left.
Atlas was flabbergasted at how Dumbledore had denied him, but the professor had disappeared before he could say anything anymore. Maybe Dumbledore got scared that he would create a second Voldemort if he gave him the knowledge to split and store souls, and sadly, there was no way to get Dumbledore to change his mind till the end of the year, if they even had that much time.
It reminded him that there wasn’t much time between the forbidden forest arc and the day Voldemort tried to get the stone. At least Dumbledore’s presence was a sign that Voldemort hadn’t attempted to get the stone.
The uncertainty led him to send Hermione to get him a few tools to write some letters as well as the marauder’s map. He hadn’t told her what the parchment was, and he didn’t intend to do it now, as it wouldn’t change anything and would only cause her to get angry with him. Something he wanted to avoid in this situation if not necessary.
While she was away, Harry appeared in front of his bed, looking gloomy. He tried to smile but quickly gave up to pretend everything was alright.
“How are you?” asked Harry.
“Madam Pomfrey said it will need a few days; everything should be fine in a few days. And you?”
"That's... … good. I’m … I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t really get hurt. Hagrid tried his best to protect me.” Said Harry and clenched his fists, “If I had taken my training more seriously, then maybe… Neville wouldn’t have… “ Harry was trying to formulate what he felt and thought, but his voice fell silent before he could say anything concrete, but Atlas could feel that Harry was blaming himself.
Maybe it was simple survivors' guilt, but as he didn’t know what happened after he saved Hermione, he couldn’t be sure.
“Can you tell me what happened? I don’t know anything about the fight after I jumped into the lake.”
Harry simply nodded and began to tell him everything he had seen at the battle. He had to pause a few times as he tried to tell him how he attempted to protect Nevill, not having realized that he was already dead.
At the end, Hermione came back with Atlas' bag when Harry was just about to finish the story.
“And then Firence grabbed me. He told me that it was Voldemort that was attacking them and that he probably had drunk the blood of the unicorn to regain his power. Atlas, he is really after the stone. He told me that it could free him from the curse. We need to prevent that.” Explained Harry.
Atlas had to clench his fists after hearing the story, as the Centaurs had no way of knowing about the stone if Dumbledore hadn’t explicitly told them about it. It was the proof that despite Voldemort’s different behavior, Dumbledore had willingly risked their survival by sending them into the forest. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have told the centaurs about it, and the centaurs wouldn’t have told Harry about it. Dumbledore wanted to make sure, that Harry knew about the stone and Voldemort. Supressing the feeling of hate once again, he played his role and said that it was good that they could now be sure.
Hermione argued that they wouldn’t need to do anything as long as Dumbledore was in Hogwarts, which only earned her displeased looks from Harry and Atlas after they looked back to where Neville’s body lay.
“I’m sorry. I just thought, that You-Know-Who always feared Dumbledore, so the stone should be saved as long as Dumbledore was here.”
Atlas couldn’t really blame her and knew that, to some extent, that was actually true, but Dumbledore didn’t really want to protect the stone, or he would carry the stone on his body and not place it where even first-year students could reach it.
A few minutes later, Dumbledore returned with an old, upset witch. It was Augusta Longbottom, Neville’s grandmother.
She was angry, sad, and hysterical when she entered, and Atlas could feel her pain when he saw her crying on Neville's body. She loudly blamed Dumbledore for it and said that it should have been his duty to protect her grandson.
The three of them didn’t hear the rest of the talk as Dumbledore led her to his office.
After discussing the situation for a bit longer, Atlas decided to write a letter to his parents. Having been so close to death himself and with Neville's sudden death, he wanted to say them goodbye at least. He knew that they would die, and it pained him now more than ever, but in case he failed, he wanted to at least thank them for everything they had done for him. He wanted to thank his father for making a walk into a park sound like an adventure and thank his mother for always pointing out his shenanigans when he got too complacent.
The next day, Atlas got visited by all his friends, including Ethan, Leona, and Amy. Madam Pomfrey had to lock the doors after some time as more and more students wanted to visit him or one of the people that had been present. After getting a newspaper from Hermione, he immediately knew why.
Headlines like “Is Hogwarts still a safe place?”, “Student died in detention”, “The last hair of Longbottom died in Hogwarts. Is Dumbledore to blame?” and “Dumbledore under investigation.” covered the various pages of the special edition of the daily prophet.
Atlas could see that even Lucius Malfoy, as one of the school governors, gave an interview about the topic, and questioned Dumbledore's abilities to lead a school, and said that they are already searching for a replacement.
Even the front page of the regular edition covered the incident, dwarfing even the incident where ten people went missing in Hogsmead.
Seeing the pictures of the people that disappeared, he could already guess what happened. He recognized one of the wizards that went missing, so it was easy to connect the dots. It was a grim-looking old wizard that he recognized. His name was Percival Oakwood, and he was the one who shot the first spell at Hagrid inside the forest.
“Do you recognize him, Hermione? Voldemort probably hexed them so that they would attack us with him. They were probably just victims like we were. If the press realizes this, Dumbledore could be in even more trouble, even if he can't really be blamed for that.
It dawned on Atlas that this was Voldemort’s actual goal with the attack. It was the beginning of a smear campaign like when Dumbledore told the world that Voldemort had returned in the original, with the difference that they now really had a reason to blame Dumbledore.
If Voldemort knows about the original plot, then he would know that he couldn’t easily kill Harry, and maybe he would even know that Harry is his horcrux and wouldn’t want to kill Harry. Maybe he would just want to imprison him or find a way to extract the piece of soul before he would try to kill Harry. If that was really the case, then the offer to deliver Harry to his doorstep wasn’t really as attractive as he expected. Still, the promise of a better way to archive immortality would surely be attractive enough for Voldemort to kill Ethan for him.