Chapter 408: Arrival
Professor Dumbledore spoke briefly of the cave and its location, before turning a calm, steady gaze upon Sean.
"I believe it best if I venture there alone."
Sean looked back at Dumbledore in silence. He understood the unspoken subtext: I am going to scout ahead; if anything happens to me, you are the only other soul who knows the truth.
In that moment, Sean felt a familiar sensation—a cool, prickling feeling at the edge of his consciousness, as if a bee were fluttering its wings against the membrane of his memory. He chose to relax his guard, allowing a few specific mental images to surface.
"You intend to... follow me on a dragon?"
Dumbledore let out a laugh. It had been a long time since he had looked so genuinely amused.
"Mmm," Sean admitted.
Dumbledore almost never used Legilimency to pry into the minds of his students, and he wasn't doing so now. He was merely "knocking" on the door, acting as an invited guest.
"The defenses Riddle has placed there are unknown to me," Dumbledore continued, his voice growing serious. "I have my theories, but they may prove entirely incorrect. If you are determined to accompany me, I must warn you: the danger will be beyond anything you have faced."
"I understand, Professor," Sean replied, his expression remaining perfectly still.
"Very well. Then listen closely. I will take you on one condition: you must obey any command I give you instantly and without question. Do you understand, Sean? I mean that you must obey even a command to 'run,' to 'hide,' or to 'go back.' Do you give me your word?"
Dumbledore straightened his back, his height seemingly increasing in the small office.
"..."
Sean offered no reply. Dumbledore sighed, looking troubled.
"If I tell you to hide, will you?"
"Perhaps..."
"If I tell you to flee, will you obey?"
"Perhaps..."
"If I command you to leave me and save yourself, will you do as I say?"
"No."
"Sean Green!"
Dumbledore's voice rose, echoing off the stone walls. They stared at one another for a long minute.
"A willingness to challenge authority is a fine trait in a wizard, but..." Dumbledore trailed off, sounding slightly defeated.
"There won't be a problem," Sean added softly.
"Oh? Have you seen something in the stars of the soul-realm?" Dumbledore asked with a flicker of curiosity.
Sean remained silent.
"One can only hope. Perhaps those who do not fear the future all share the same stubborn streak," Dumbledore mused, looking momentarily distant. "Do you need to pack anything?"
Dumbledore had finally yielded. He knew that whether he agreed or not, Sean would likely find a way to meet him at the cave anyway.
"No, Professor," Sean said.
The night sky was a tapestry of brilliant stars. The air carried the scent of wet grass and the lake. The old wizard and the boy were ready to depart.
The method was Side-Along Apparition. Sean pulled a phial from his pouch and downed the potion. Even though he had grown accustomed to the physical strain of the transition, he found the supply of anti-nausea draughts in his "shared" vault never seemed to diminish. It was as if the vault itself ensured he was always prepared for travel.
As Sean took Dumbledore's arm, his vision twisted into a violent, spinning blur.
When the world finally stopped rotating, Sean smelled the salt of the sea and heard the thunderous roar of crashing waves. He looked out over the moonlit ocean and the star-flecked sky, a freezing wind whipping his hair into his eyes.
They were standing on a high, jagged black rock jutting out of the water. Beneath them, the surf churned and foamed white. Sean turned to look behind him.
A massive cliff loomed over them, its sheer stone face dropping straight into the abyss. It was an imposing, lightless wall. Several enormous boulders—like the one they were standing on—had clearly sheared off the cliff face in the distant past. The landscape was utterly desolate; aside from the dark ocean and the stone, there wasn't a tree, a patch of grass, or a stretch of sand in sight.
"What do you think?" Dumbledore asked. He sounded as though he were asking Sean's opinion on a particularly scenic picnic spot.
"Did he bring the children from the orphanage here?" Sean asked. He held his lit wand high, and Dumbledore didn't miss the spark of cold fury in the boy's eyes.
"Not precisely here," Dumbledore explained. "Halfway up the cliffs behind us, there is a small cluster of houses that barely qualifies as a village. I believe they brought the orphans there to take in the sea air. But I suspect only Tom Riddle and the children he chose to torment ever set foot on this specific rock.
"Come... let us move on."
Their destination was a sea cave, the entrance of which was currently submerged beneath the tide. Judging by Dumbledore's posture, he intended to swim for it.
"Are you comfortable in the water?" Dumbledore asked kindly.
"I'm fine," Sean replied. He felt a surge of adrenaline.
However, Sean had no intention of getting wet. He opened the Wizard's Tome at his waist. Under Dumbledore's fascinated gaze, Will the Pukwudgie stepped out of the portal.
With a blur of Pukwudgie magic, the trio vanished from the rock and reappeared instantly within the dry interior of the cave.
They stood before a massive stone archway that blocked their path.
"This is merely the antechamber," Dumbledore noted after a moment. "We need to get inside... but what stands in our way now is a mechanism of Tom Riddle's design, rather than an obstacle of nature."
Before Dumbledore could finish his explanation, Sean had already drawn a silver dagger and sliced a shallow cut across his own forearm. Deep red blood welled up and spilled onto the stone.
Sean felt a wave of unprecedented weakness wash over him. He had experienced exhaustion before, but this was a magical drain that felt heavy and hollow.
"Ah... does it hurt?" Dumbledore asked, his voice soft with concern.
"I've felt worse," Sean replied simply.
The door required a blood sacrifice; it was designed to weaken any wizard who attempted entry. As the stone wall ground open, they found themselves on the edge of a vast, pitch-black lake. The water was perfectly still, its surface stretching into the darkness until the far shore was invisible.
The cavern was immense; when Sean looked up, he couldn't see the ceiling. Far out in the center of the lake, a hazy, greenish light flickered, its reflection shimmering on the dead water like a ghost.
"Well, it seems we are in need of a boat," Dumbledore noted. He looked at Sean, as if expecting the boy to manifest one out of thin air.
But Sean remained a silent shadow behind the old wizard.
"Stay back, Sean. Press yourself against the cave wall. I believe I have found the anchor."
Dumbledore reached into the empty air, his hand closing around something invisible. He gave a slow, steady pull, and a small, spectral-looking boat drifted out of the darkness toward the shore.
They stepped into the vessel, prepared to cross the black water to the other side.
[End of Chapter 408]
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