Chapter 2: The Horcrux

  "Madam Gracewell..." Albus uttered, his words heavy with sorrow.

  "Tell me, Albus. Answer me!" demanded Madam Gracewell, seeking an explanation.

  "Why are you alive?" she questioned, demanding an answer.

  "I believe you are intelligent enough to discern the answer, Madam Gracewell."

  She turned and stared at him intensely.

  "A resurrection stone?" Her eyes widened in realization.

  "Unfortunately, there was only one, and Harry has already used it."

  That was the only explanation she could fathom, for Albus had been unquestionably dead, not merely for moments, but for days!

  Without the resurrection stone, she struggled to comprehend his return, until he uttered the dreaded word, "Horcrux."

  Mrs. Nor's gaze intensified.

  While not a commonly used term, it was indeed the subject that Harry and his friends had embarked upon—to find and destroy the Horcruxes, ultimately to vanquish the Dark Lord.

  Mrs. Nor rose abruptly, pointing her walking stick, supposedly a wand, at Albus.

  "How many did you kill, Albus?"

  "How many lives were taken to create the Horcrux?" Gracewell demanded an answer.

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  Albus remained silent, refusing to respond to her query.

  He continued walking forward, heading towards her, towards the gravestone.

  "Don't move," she threatened, causing Albus to halt.

  "The great Albus Dumbledore, the one who stood against the Dark Lord..."

  "The embodiment of Light..."

  "You?"

  "You created a Horcrux?" her eyes blazed crimson.

  "I—" Albus began to explain, but before he could continue, Mrs. Nor raised her voice.

  "Assemble!" her command echoed throughout the area, followed by white bolts of lightning descending from the sky, striking the ground nearby.

  Eight individuals appeared, dressed in pristine white garments, each wielding a wand directed at Dumbledore.

  Six men and two women, all in their mid-thirties, had responded to Mrs. Nor's call, gathering as members of the Order of Dragon.

  "Ah... The order of Dragon…" Dumbledore smiled as he looked upon the new additions to the Order.

  While the group remained bewildered by Dumbledore's presence, they listened attentively to their leader's instructions.

  "Could it be Polyjuice?" Matilda, a 37-year-old witch and one of the Order's eldest members, inquired.

  "It's a possibility," answered Borus, a 31-year-old man with striking blue eyes.

  The mention of Polyjuice caught Gracewell's attention.

  'Could it be?'

  'Is it really the potion?' she pondered, fixing her gaze on Albus, wondering if her suspicion held any truth.

  However, even after hearing the speculation, Albus simply smiled.

  "What we do and why we do it, only time can provide the answers," he said.

  Taking a step back, as though preparing to depart, Albus swiftly caught Matilda's attempt to hinder him with a spell.

  "Protego," Albus uttered, erecting a temporary barrier that shielded him from Matilda's Immobilus.

  The display astonished everyone; he had defended himself without a wand!

  "Wandless magic?!"

  "Well, it's nothing extraordinary," Albus replied, resuming his previous train of thought.

  "As for whether it involves a potion or not, perhaps," he stated as raindrops landed on his head, causing his body to transform into water droplets. Albus gradually dissolved into the waters as the drizzle began.

  "No!" Gracewell shouted, startling the Order members.

  "Madam..." they approached her cautiously.

  "Wandless magic..." Matilda murmured.

  The others joined in, "Yes, Madam. Wandless magic. Only highly skilled wizards can wield it..."

  "And I've encountered very few who possess that ability..."

  "If the person who impersonated Albus Dumbledore is capable of it, then I fear we cannot simply label him as an impostor."

  "..."