Chapter 59: Manhunt
25th June 1995, Nurmengard
(Dumbledore POV)
Albus Dumbledore was angry, no calling him angry would understate what he was feeling. Albus Dumbledore was outraged. After everything he has done for them, how dare they treat him like this. He crushed the newspaper in his hand. It was today’s Daily Prophet, and it was crinkled, and its sides were almost torn up by how strongly his grip was on it. On the front page, an article made out the entire page.
Manhunt for Albus Dumbledore, the true Dark lord?
By Rita Skeeter
Yesterday, the third task of the tri wizard tournament took place. It was a night that should have been full of closer international wizarding links, of rebuilding old ties, of forgetting old differences. That event was to ensure a deeper international magical community that had suffered after Grindelwald’s war. However, this event ended with nothing but tragedy.
It started out well enough. The third task appeared to be a maze with obstacles in the form of magical creatures of certain enchantments that the champions had to go through. The winner was the first of the champion to reach the heart of the maze where the tri wizard cup was put.
After, the complaints of the spectators during the second task, the Sayre family from America offered the use of an enchantment that allowed people from the whole world to watch the task following each champion. It was no wonder that this was created, considering the number of complaints from spectators from the whole world that came to Hogwarts and paid galleons to watch the second task, only to spend an hour in the stands watching the surface of the Black Lake for an hour.
Anyway, the first champion to enter the maze was Jasmine Evanshade formerly Potter. Following her was Nathan Potter, Viktor Krum and finally Fleur Delacour. At first the event went as planned, although Nathan Potter’s path had far fewer dangers then the other champions, especially Jasmine Evanshade that was practically attacked by a creature every minute.
Favoritism aside, the task was going quite well until Jasmine Evanshade’s feed went blank for a few seconds but then returned to the scene of Albus Dumbledore attacking the poor fourteen year old girl. The man that was attending the tournament as a judge was revealed to be an accomplice of the former headmaster, Dedalus Diggle, under Polyjuice potion. He was then arrested by the DMLE for illegal use of the potion and detained for questioning about the actions of the man he impersonated.
The former Headmaster of Hogwarts didn’t seem to notice the girl reactivating the enchantment, as he confessed with many crimes, including his involvement in the death of his own sister, and planning the conquest of the magical world with Gellert Grindelwald. The man even confessed to having planned to use the boy who lived as a martyr and ensure the resurrection of who must not be named to grab power over the whole magical world.
The tri wizard champion fought valiantly against the defeater of Grindelwald and even managed to injure him after which Albus Dumbledore healed himself, confessing his use of rituals to augment his body. The poor girl did better than most Aurors could but was impaled in the chest by the former Headmaster. The feed was cut before the death of the champion but an investigation from the Auror department, found the use of a disintegration curse and the remains matched Jasmine Evanshade. It seems that sadly, our young hero did not survive her encounter with the man. Albus Dumbledore was not seen or heard of after the confrontation.
As for the other champions, they were not unscathed by the third task, Fleur Delacour suffered under the Cruciatus curse, cast by Viktor Krum that was under the Imperius Curse. As for the winner of the tri wizard tournament, the boy who lived, Nathan Potter, his feed disappeared after he touched the cup. He returned half an hour later, screaming and yelling that he who must not be named had returned and that he had killed him, before falling into unconsciousness.
The Auror department quickly traced the Portkey, to a graveyard in a small town called Little Hangleton. The graveyard appeared to be empty, deserted, and intact; nothing seemed to have happened to it.
Auror Robards confirmed this, “Rituals, especially necromantic ones, leave a trace. They affect the area where they happened. The graveyard, while sinister looking did not have any sort of magical trace or signature.”
Nathan Potter did exhibit the signs of being held under the Cruciatus Curse, which lends credence that the boy did not try to seek attention by proclaiming the rise of the Dark lord and his defeat by his hands once more. The boy could have been held by a very strong illusion that made him experience the rise of the dark lord. Could this be the plan that Albus Dumbledore confessed to earlier, to fake the return of a dead man to terrify the masses. Only Dumbledore could answer that question.
The Potter family did not comment on the events of the third task regarding what happened to their son and former daughter.
Speaking of the Potter family, Rose Potter was almost kidnapped by an impostor pretending to be Alastor Moody. The man stunned James and Lily Potter and attempted to kidnap their younger daughter. Rose Potter was able to defend herself and was able to rennervate her parents who stunned the impostor. The man was revealed to be Barty Crouch Junior, a man that was supposed to have died in Azkaban years ago. However, before he was questioned, the dementors accompanying the minister went rogue and kissed the man. With Barty Crouch Senior missing, we will never know how he escaped. This was after all, the first man to ever escape Azkaban.
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However, the Auror corps is being stretched too thin. With the murder of a teenager, the torture of others, an escapee from Azkaban, the biggest threat is the rise of violent crimes in Britain. Madam Bones, the director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement or DMLE commented, “The confrontation between Albus Dumbledore and Jasmine Evanshade was aired in the whole world. The former Headmaster’s words about owning all three of the deathly hallows, legendary artifacts that were considered myths by most people until the events of the third task. The amount of bounty hunters and mercenaries that arrived in Britain today caused a rise in violent crimes. Power hungry individuals from the entire world are hunting the hallows. Albus Dumbledore, as powerful as he may be, is now a target.”
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Albus Dumbledore is not only hunted by the Aurors but by criminals too. Speaking of the Aurors, the ministry ordered a nation wide manhunt for Albus Dumbledore for various crimes, including the premeditated murder of a minor and treason of the magical world. Something that was quickly copied by all of the countries of the ICW, who hold the man responsible for some of the horrors they suffered during Grindelwald’s war. Even countries outside of Europe, have forbidden the man’s entry into their countries, MACUSA went so far as to issue a capture on sight order on the man, as Jasmine Evanshade was one of their citizens.
Onto other news, a great number of upstanding members of our society have died under mysterious circumstances after the events of the third task. They seemed to have perished from natural causes but the only reason it was suspicious was because hundreds of other died at the exact same time from natural causes at once. In light of this, investigations of the mysterious death, revealed the cause being an imploded magical core that killed them instantly. It does not appear to be any type of disease and the DMLE theorized it being some kind of curse. Considering the victims are known opposers of Albus Dumbledore, he is the most likely suspect to these murders as he is one of the few wizards being able to create such a curse. Perhaps, it was Dumbledore’s way to silence his opposers?
Several Head of Ancient and Noble houses, notably the Malfoy, Nott, and Avery Families, have also disappeared after the events of the third task of the tri wizard tournament. Considering the death of other prominent opposers of Albus Dumbledore, they are presumed dead by the core imploding curse but the Aurors are looking for any sign of them.
However, there are brighter news to this dreary days, Fenrir Greyback was found dead in a tavern in Knockturn Ally from the same curse as the other prominent members of society. It seems that even Albus Dumbledore hated the werewolf that terrorized wizarding Britain for decades, killing hundreds of wizards and turning hundreds of children and rumored to be able to transform himself even when a full moon is not present. The infighting over the alpha title over werewolves have begun and thus the DMLE expects lower werewolf attacks while the infighting continues.
With the immense pressure over the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Minister Fudge announced the rise of the budget of said department until the situation in Britain stabilizes. “Desperate time means desperate measures and believe me; these are desperate times. But with some efforts, we will be able to rise above this. We have rooted out a great evil in our society, Albus Dumbledore betrayed us all, but I have faith that if we all work together, we will be able to get through this.” Said minister Fudge.
It is a fact, that we have trusted Dumbledore too much and gave him too much power. He was not only the Headmaster of Britain most prestigious school but also the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. A man holding three full time jobs of such prestige at the same time sets a very dangerous precedent and could allow the holder to get control over that magical world easily.
Perhaps, it was the plan. By defeating Grindelwald, Dumbledore was able to gain a very important political influence over the entire magical world. Could the defeat of Grindelwald been planned between them for Albus Dumbledore to seize power for the both of them? Many had speculated why Albus Dumbledore had not killed Gellert Grindelwald during their duel in 1945. Perhaps this was the reason. These questions cannot be answer by anyone but Albus Dumbledore, especially after Grindelwald’s death a few months ago. But this reporter will not give up and will continue to investigate the former headmaster’s past to share with you the truth and lies of Albus Dumbledore.
For more information about Albus Dumbledore, view page 2-3
For more information about Jasmine Evanshade, view page 4
For more information about the Potter family, view page 5
For more information about the rise of crimes in Britain, view pages 6-8
Albus Dumbledore reread the article one more time and it did nothing to quench the rage inside of him. The girl had tricked him, she had the last laugh. He thought that the girl was trying to prolong her life while fighting him and indulged her. It’s not as if she could do anything with what he told her. But the girl was more cunning that he thought. Well, at least he knew that she would have been in Slytherin had she actually gone to Hogwarts.
The girl had ruined everything and there was nothing he could do about it. But he was immortal now, he could try again in a century. Either way, the magical world will follow his ideals for the greater good. Perhaps he will infiltrate Hogwarts again as a student and slowly raise to power once more, he knew a few rituals to de-age himself, although they do not allow the person to live longer, he was already immortal so that didn’t matter to him.
The issue now was the Morrigan. He had the Hallows now, the thought of this made his heart beat faster, but it was better to fight the Morrigan in a defensible position. He wanted to use Hogwarts as he had control over the wards, but the Potter girl ruined that plan. The only place with wards even rivaling the castle was Nurmengard. After Gellert died, the ICW found the fortress to be a waste of resources and moved the few prisoners it held to other prisons in Europe. The guards left with them.
Albus Dumbledore stepped inside the castle feeling the wards welcome him. After Gellert’s death, the wards accepted him as their master. When Gellert was incarcerated, his magic was bound but even then, his magic was already damaged by the elder wand, meaning that he could not take control over them, even though they recognized him as their master. But now, a very powerful Dumbledore has full access to the wards of the castle.
Albus went inside and went to Gellert’s former throne room and sat down on the throne in the middle of the castle. He was as ready as he could ever be. Albus looked at the mark on his chest, watching the last line slowly fade away into nothingness. He kept watching for hours until it disappeared. The crow on his chest started pulsing and disappeared. It was time, the Morrigan was coming.