Chapter 105. Last Day of Third Year. Part 3

As the train left the station, and the loud whistle echoed through the castle and in Dumbledore’s office, Dumbledore took a deep breath while standing up from his desk. He carefully moved to his window, and watched the rising clouds of steam billow further and further from Hogsmeade. The sudden whoosh of air accompanied by the added weight on his shoulder instinctively told him that Fawkes had perched on his shoulder, watching the train leave as well. Fawkes gave a hushed coo, one that Dumbledore could vaguely interpret from his years of accompaniment of the magical creature.

“I worry for them as well my dear friend…” He muttered with a slight chuckle of agreement, before his good mood was sullied thinking back to the fateful day Lupin was revealed to be a werewolf.

***

It was another sleepless night for the old headmaster. After he gave Hermione his silent approval to saving Sirius Black, he was kept up with anxiety. He was sure Hermione would know what was best, and trusted her to take every precaution when she traveled back in time with Harry. What he feared more than her making a mistake, was the headache of the Ministry breathing down his neck yet again.

After hearing the top cell of the dark tower break apart, his first few worries were quelled, knowing Hermione had done just what she set out to do. He had plenty of faith in her after seeing the progress she had made in Lucas’ life, but it still made him slightly uneasy to fool around with time. ‘That and the help of-’ A sudden knock on his door caught his attention, and he squinted his eyes with a hint of curiosity. He had his floo open to the network, and he knew that the minister couldn’t apparate. “You may enter…!” He loudly announced across his office, the door slowly creaking open moments later in response.

Sitting at his desk, he watched as the very same blonde haired girl he was just thinking of, meekly entered inside, her eyes gazing about the room in a mix of wonder and caution. He couldn’t help but chuckle at her actions, matching just as her parents described when speaking with him about needing a place for her to utilize for every full moon. “It is good to see you Ms.Lobosca…” He started, letting her know where he was with his greeting.

Chiara snapped her head to him, her face turning more red in embarrassment as she muttered her own greeting while approaching his desk. “Um- good morning Headmaster…” She clutched her hands right in front of her chest, making a fist with one hand, and rubbing the other outside; sometimes mirroring the action with her opposite hands. It was clear the girl was nervous, but something about her showcased her being more anxious than her normal state.

“Would you like to sit…?” He offered, waving his hand towards the chair opposite of him. The girl winced a bit, internally struggling with herself for a moment before nodding. “Thank you.” She whispered with a slight cough, almost forcing the words out. Dumbledore raised his brow, wondering what brought this girl here clearly without prompting from Hermione. Someone Dumbledore knew who would have gone in Chiara’s stead to avoid the pressure of speaking with him.

“I sense something is troubling you…” He spoke, interlocking his fingers and resting his hands atop his desk. Chiara gulped, her mind struggling to speak, she tilted her head a few times, scrunching her face in disposal of her half formed words. He never pressured her, allowing her to get out what she needed in her own time. “Lupin is locked in the special room you allowed me to use…” She finally muttered, Dumbledore squinting his eyes in slight confusion towards her, almost needing a minute to form words best for such a simple ordeal.

“That’s of no matter…” He chuckled under his breath to defuse any tension in the girl while taking quill to parchment on his desk. In a few silent strokes, watched carefully by Chiara, he wrote a small message. He folded the page, and looked to his friend perched halfway through his desk and the door. Without a word, Fawkes intuitively knew, and silently glided across the room. Landing on his desk and taking the small letter in her beak, Dumbledore held back another chuckle at Chiara’s hidden gasp of amazement towards the magical creature. “If you could give this to Hagrid my dear friend…?”

Fawkes cooed warmly, and went out the now open window Dumbledore opened with a small wave of his wand. Once Fawkes left, Dumbledore focused back on the nervous Hufflepuff sitting before him; she seemed even more nervous now. Her mouth occasionally opened, only to close itself as she winced back to stop the words from coming out. “Is there anything else you wish to discuss, Ms.Lobosca…?” He asked, intrigued by what exactly occurred last night.

Chiara froze in her seat for a moment, her head down as she spoke. “Hermione mentioned you helped her understand some things?” She asked, seemingly hopeful for any advice Dumbledore may offer. He slowly nodded at her with a calming smile. “Indeed… I have given a few words of advice to Hermione before… Is that what you’d like to discuss…?” She asked, hoping to point the conversation along, not giving Chiara a chance to run in anxiety over what exactly to say.

Chiara meagerly nodded, tightening her hands as she spoke. “She already explained that you would know what happened last night… I’m just confused about something that happened after Lucas and her got back…” That last tid-bit caught Dumbledore’s attention, and he perked up in his chair. He assumed she would take Harry, but instead decided for Lucas to aid her instead. There is very little chance he would go along with Harry, so they must have worked alone.

Chiara slowly began to explain what occurred later after Hermione came back, and it was just as Dumbledore figured. His hopes had come to fruition, the enemy to all hate was love. However, what worried him now, was tainted love, fighting amongst friends over a shared love. Dumbledore kept his worries hidden as Chiara was just about done explaining Lucas’ and Hermione’s actions. “I’m just worried about one thing…” Chiara muttered, her reddened face staring intently on her lap as she spoke.

Just as there was a lull, Fawkes suddenly appeared behind Dumbledore and glided back to her perch. He closed his window with a snap of the latch, and refocused on Chiara, looking back at Fawkes preening her feathers. “Ms.Lobosca…?” Dumbledore asked, Chiara snapping her head back over to him, biting her bottom lip so hard it almost began to bleed.

Dumbledore gave a small sigh, needing to help Chiara control a possible anger she now held for her friend, just the same one she now kindled for Lupin. “You may feel… Conflicted to say the least… The heart is not an easy path… However… I’m sure-” “No!” He was cut off from the frowning girl, an action that caused a moment of shock in him as he was left dumbfounded at her small outburst. Chiara’s red face turned deep scarlet as she spoke. “I- I needed to talk with you- I don’t have anyone else- It’s too embarrassing for- I wasn’t mad!” She started and stopped a few times, but finally yelled what she needed off her chest.

Chiara gasped, tapping her hands together in angst as she slowly revealed more. “I- I was… Kinda happy…” She whispered as if her words were taboo, before quickly shaking her head. “I know that’s wrong!” She yelled, before letting out a large sigh through the palms of her hand covering her nose and mouth. “I don’t know what I want…” She finished, moving her hands to cover her entire face as she cradled it in her palms.

Dumbledore blinked a few times to process all of her words, before coming to a startling conclusion. He took a deep breath, holding the words in his throat for a few moments before finally speaking his mind. “I think I understand your situation Ms.Lobosca… If you’d allow me to ask you just one question…?”

***

A sudden nip on Dumbledore’s ear brought his mind back from the past, and his eyes only now registered the train having gone over the horizon. He glanced at his right, to see Fawkes looking back at him. Fawkes cooed, giving Dumbledore a chuckle. “I’m sorry dear friend… I continue to lose control of my train of thought…” Fawkes tilted her head a bit, before heading over to his small pensive; perching above the basin and drawers of dated vials.

With the worry removed of Chiara and Hermione fighting, Dumbledore was now left with the worries he had spotted in Lucas’ mind. He slowly walked to the pensive, and opened the large glass case above it, taking a small vial he had placed between many others to hide it in plain sight. He took the vial, uncorked it, and dumped the small string of white light into the watery basin.

The clear water turned black as ink once the white light entered inside, a total inverse of what remained outside the basin once collected. Dumbledore took a small breath and held his beard before dunking his head inside the blackened waters. The memories he had seen in Lucas’ mind all came flooding back into his brain. His experimentation with dark arts, taming one of the most foul of beings, and becoming a strange hybrid of werewolf and animagus.

All of Lucas’ memories this year up until he saved Buckbeak gave Dumbledore a conundrum. Lucas hadn’t broken any rules regarding magic, the dark arts he had used were only at his own expense. There was nothing wrong he had done, in fact, he had discovered a new side to the creatures written off as beings spawned from hell itself. But dark arts were still Dark Arts nonetheless. If Lucas wanted to delve deeper there were only two things truly stopping him. Dumbledore knew Lucas was growing closer to Hermione and Chiara, both hopefully stopping him from taking another step too far in the dark arts.

He was mainly worried about two things. Pansy was clearly enamored with Lucas, and that might cause issues in keeping Lucas grounded. If she were to scare away Hermione, Chiara, or even Luna as newly shown in Lucas’ mind, the only thing keeping Lucas to the truth would go away too. Lucas needed someone better than himself to keep him moral, but that wouldn’t work if the girl he was closest to was accepting of him through almost anything.

The next was the strange concoction Lucas had made to transform himself into Ekrizdis’ creation. Lucas had made a very good guess at perhaps already being a line of Ekrizdis’ personal creature nobody had found yet. It was only luck that the ministry had found his island of murderous mayhem. The more he pondered the idea, the more it all seemed to fit. The strange ability to witness and smell the souls of others like Dementors, his strange interactions with potions involving wolfbane, the way his beast acts. It all added up strangely well.

As Dumbledore lifted his head outside of the waters, his face instantly dry as he collected the memories once again, he pondered on what he might do to help convince Pansy of the possible future Chiara was clearly thinking about. Dumbledore closed his eyes, heaving a deep sigh before glancing up at Fawkes looking down at him. “There is still much of this world… Left to discover…” He muttered to his dear friend, who huffed before preening her feathers again.