Crimson Ink

Dealt a Dangerous Hand

Last Time:

They tried to get Harry to clarify and return to the safety of the illusion, but it was too late. A massive blast of magic pinned them to the stone wall and shattered every single glass item on this floor including the hourglasses tracking the house points. In that instant everything turned to terror for the headmaster himself apparated right behind Harry ...

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Dumbledore tried to reach through the whirlwind of magic to touch the young green eyed wizard's shoulder, "Harry-"

"Was it all a lie?" Harry asked just loudly enough to be heard over his own magic. "Was it?!" He exclaimed letting a shock wave of his magic push the wizard back.

Quirinus paled, "What's he doing?!" He yelled knowing that Vesta had everyone but Harry hidden.

As terrified as he was, Tom looked down at the floor where the sand fell from the shattered hourglasses, "He's giving us a chance!" He exclaimed when he spotted something glitter in the green sand that once represented house points for Slytherin. "Move closer so Vesta can get it in the illusion." He yelled and they all moved closer as a group. The fox was doing everything she could to keep the illusion from buckling under Harry's magic and staying together helped her immensely.

Quirinus smirked, "Peter and I can make it even easier." He said and Peter grinned as he realized what that meant. They shifted into their animal forms. The rat crawled into Tom's pocket and the sparrow perched on Severus' shoulder effectively shrinking their group's size.

The headmaster's eyes flickered towards them and, despite knowing that they were hidden, everyone froze. Thankfully, those sharp old eyes only seemed focused on the sand on the ground. Of course, that made the most sense out of anything here since that was where his horcrux landed.

As the wild magic made the grains of sand shift a glittering necklace with a simple circle inside a triangle that was all s-lit by a line was revealed. In other words, it was the missing Hallows necklace. Sadly, they weren't close enough to grab it safely just yet.

"WAS IT?!" Harry yelled sending another wave of magic out of him effectively shoving Dumbledore back and ultimately away from those hidden in the illusion.

The second the old wizard's eyes left the necklace the group quickly shifted forward and Lucius started examining it. Never has he tried removing runes under such unstable conditions, but there was no choice. This could be their only chance.

"Harry, you must calm down-" the old wizard froze as his eyes met furious green ones. "Was it the Slytherins who hurt you in the forest? Tell me what happened. I will help you." He said firmly.

Anyone else would've trusted the old fool. So much kindness and assurance oozed from those deceitful words, but Dumbledore wasn't fooling anyone. He also never saw the tracking spell on his horcrux being transferred to a button from Tom's clothes only a few feet away.

Harry swayed slightly as if his own wild magic was making it hard to walk because he was so furious, "Was I just some pawn? Why be so kind just to use me?"

"So it's what I feared." Dumbledore said solemnly. "The Malfoys were selfish and cruel. I won't-"

Lucius scoffed from behind the illusion, "Asshole has some nerve-... I'm done!" He said as he handed the necklace to Tom before putting the button in the sand. Vesta made the button look like the necklace, but there was one issue. How did they safely signal to Harry that they were done without stressing Vesta's magic?

"DON'T!" Harry exclaimed taking a few random steps around the headmaster so Dumbledore's back was facing his friends. "They were family and yet ... it was all just to hurt me. Why should I believe anything you say after what they did?!" He exclaimed, noticing a rat bolt away from the area around the sand. The rat nodded before a disembodied hand grabbed it and dragged him back under the illusion.