Dysfunctional

28 - A Visit to Albania

Sunday, September 22

"I can't believe Voldemort could have stayed here for more than ten years. How could he have survived like that?" said Sirius, taking a drag from his cigarette and stepping over a particularly gnarled trunk of a felled tree.

He was walking along with Dumbledore through the dark forest, which had taken them a little more than a week to locate in Albania. Sirius and Dumbledore had portkeyed into Valböne, a small village nestled between the mountain passes of the Albanian Alps. It was a little ominous to learn that they were also called the Accursed Mountains.

Dumbledore had taken Sirius to a Wizarding village not far from there, making sure they were disguised to look unassuming and they had made some inquiries. It was tedious work as they had to ask around without raising suspicions on where they were heading. A wizened warlock, older than even Dumbledore, and looking thoroughly drunk, had finally given them a clue indicating that Aurors from their own Ministry had visited a forest about 600 miles from where they were staying.

Sirius and Dumbledore had then travelled to a Muggle village close to the forest and got themselves a place to stay. They had woken up early in the morning to travel into the forest, relying on only their wands to show them the way. The black pine and beech trees were tall and formed a canopy, which made it seem like sunlight had never reached the ground and the fallen leaves had been squelched together liked a mushy blanket, muffling their footsteps.

"I believe, as it was only his soul that survived and not his physical body, he did not need sustenance. Possibly, he possessed small creatures to tie his soul to a body. It must have been excruciatingly painful and yet he chose this path towards immortality," said Dumbledore tiredly. Travelling on foot at his age was not ideal even though he was surprisingly more agile than Sirius had believed him to be. But, it did take his toll on him.

"Serves him right, if you ask me," said Sirius scathingly. "What are we looking for again?"

"Some place where there are traces of Dark Magic in abundance," said Dumbledore, as he marched along the forest, his travelling cloak trailing behind him across the wet ground. "If Voldemort has hidden his soul, he no doubt has enough enchantments around it for protection."

oOo

After a half an hour of aimless searching, Dumbledore heard a rustle nearby and both of them froze as they looked around. Sirius dropped his cigarette to snuff it out and pulled out his wand muttering, 'Homenum Revelio' but there was no one around. The screech of a bat in the distance made him wonder if it was some sort of animal nearby.

He looked around searching for anything that might give it away, when he heard the low growl of a wolf.

Two gleaming eyes shone from behind the large trunk of a tree and immediately, Dumbledore raised his wand and shot a spell at it. But, the wolf jumped and Dumbledore turned on the spot to Apparate behind the wolf.

He quickly saw the big, black dog that was Padfoot bounding forwards and leaping on top of the grey wolf. The wolf barked as it tried to bite down on Padfoot's neck but Padfoot rolled over and slashed at the wolf viciously, clawing a deep gash onto its side. The wolf howled in pain as it tried to retaliate but Padfoot stood his ground and gave a deep, threatening growl.

The wolf turned tail, yelping in pain and Padfoot barked loudly at its retreating form.

A moment later, Sirius was standing in the place of the dog, hair slightly tousled and not at all looking like he had fought a wolf single-handedly.