Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 82 Seaside Cave

As the smell of seaweed and salt suddenly gave way to an aura of death, Mo Ran and Dumbledore were teleported to the cave where Voldemort had hidden his Horcruxes.

Unlike the isolated island that built Azkaban, this desolate place is devoid of any signs of life. The steep black cliffs offer no space for weeds or trees to grow, and even sand cannot accumulate here.

The biting sea wind whipped at their bodies, making their black and silver wizard robes rustle loudly. Gazing at the cave that resembled the gaping maw of a ferocious beast, Dumbledore, seemingly oblivious to their presence, asked Mo Ran:

What do you think of this place?

"what?"

Mo Ran was taken aback. To him, Dumbledore's tone sounded as if he were asking if this was an ideal vacation spot or picnic place.

"I can only say this is very Voldemort-esque, but frankly, the Slytherin pendant isn't..."

"I know what you're going to say, child..."

Dumbledore interrupted, then gently patted Mo Ran's shoulder and said:

“Thanks to you, I have investigated and found out that Regulus Arcturus Black stole the Slytherin pendant in 1979, and I also know what we will face if we go into this cave.”

"Then why did we come here?"

"Voldemort's preparations for unifying the world were not just limited to Horcruxes. To my shame, I didn't know at first that he had been luring his peers from the orphanage here since they were children."

Mo Ran's expression was quite interesting. He knew that Voldemort had hidden the Infernals in this place, but he never thought about the seriousness of the situation if Dumbledore hadn't taken action to deal with them in the original story.

If hundreds of dark magic puppets were to join the Hogwarts battlefield in Book VII, it could cause even more severe casualties, or even completely alter the outcome.

"Did he leave the bodies of the people he killed over the years here?"

Faced with Mo Ran's question, Dumbledore didn't mince words and answered:

“I think so. Studying dark magic almost invariably requires killing. Voldemort successfully created Horcruxes while still in school, and the number of souls who have died under his wand over the decades is probably countless. But more importantly, we must make him feel that all his schemes have succeeded, so that we may be able to defeat him in one fell swoop.”

"A crushing defeat in one round?"

Mo Ran didn't seem to quite understand what Dumbledore meant.

“Creating Horcruxes doesn’t make a person lose their mind. Only destroying them will cause Voldemort to go mad due to the damage to his soul. I believe that he had already planned to use Horcruxes to get rid of me when he placed the curse on the Gaunt ring.”

As Dumbledore spoke, he pulled an antique ring with the Resurrection Stone set in it from his pocket.

"He's intelligent and knows me very well. If it weren't for you being the variable, I would have taken it without hesitation the moment I saw it... Ah... a sacred artifact, a sacred artifact, a dream of the desperate, bait for the fool. I'm not afraid of death, but if I could be less foolish, I could save more innocent lives..."

As he spoke, Dumbledore had to take many deep breaths. Then, looking at the Gaunt ring lying quietly between his long, slender fingers, he murmured the words he had spoken to Harry in the original story:

"This time, I didn't choose to dream of conquering death. Perhaps we should have more pity for the living than for the dead. If I can ensure fewer souls are mutilated, fewer families are torn apart..."

"You've done it."

Mo Ran said decisively.

Dumbledore paused for a moment, his blue eyes seemed to moisten for a fleeting instant, before returning to normal.

"Okay, you have limited time, now is not a good time to chat."

After carefully putting the ring away, Dumbledore resumed his usual cunning demeanor and said:

"I was originally planning to swim across, but now that you've succeeded, you probably won't mind giving this old man a ride, right?"

......

The entrance to the cave where Voldemort's Horcrux was hidden was like a funnel. Before Mo Ran could fly far with Dumbledore, the gap between the rock walls on both sides narrowed.

"Clap!"

"Lumos." (Silent, fluorescent spell)

The two landed on the stone steps in perfect unison. They first drew their wands together, then used a fluorescent flashing spell to simultaneously illuminate the dark cave.

"You can feel it, can't you? This place has witnessed magic before."

Dumbledore's brief reminder allowed Mo Ran to instantly sense the faint residual magic in the environment. Unlike natural barriers, the structure here was more like a magically arranged mechanism.

"Yes, I can feel it, the entrance is over there."

Mo Ran pointed his wand in a direction that seemed to be a dead end and said something. Then he launched the fluorescent flashing light into a ball of light that hovered in the air. The demeanor of a master was already vividly displayed.

Dumbledore nodded almost imperceptibly. He knew perfectly well that if it were Aurors from the Ministry of Magic, or other wizards of lower skill, they would surely turn this place into a smoky, magically lit place. They might even end up leaving disappointed amidst a cacophony of noise.

"Alright, child, I'll take over now."

As Dumbledore's gentle voice rang out, a flash of silver light appeared, followed by his crimson blood slowly floating into the air. Knowing this wasn't the time for pleasantries, and seeing that Dumbledore had already sacrificed his own blood, Mo Ran quickly pointed his wand at the rock ahead.

The magical mechanism that received the visitor's blood sacrifice gradually emitted a dazzling white light, and after a series of "click-click-click" sounds, the outline of the archway truly transformed into an entrance to a deep cave.

"As the principal, I certainly can't let the students sacrifice for me, but to be honest, that kind of price is too low."

Dumbledore made no attempt to hide the contempt and disappointment in his tone as he spoke, tracing the wound on his arm with the tip of his wand. This made Mo Ran, who had seen the "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" movies, somewhat worried.

“There are more dangerous things inside the cave, Headmaster. If Voldemort really did set up a trap to deal with you in advance, as you said, then perhaps I should share more of your burden.”

Dumbledore did not refute Mo Ran. He smiled and looked at his perfectly intact arm before walking straight through the doorway.

......

Passing through the magical portal, a scene both eerie and beautiful unfolded before Mo Ran's eyes. On the shore of this deep, tranquil Black Lake, where time seemed to stand still, the light emitted by the Fluorescent Light spell slowly dimmed. Dumbledore observed his surroundings with great interest, finally fixing his gaze on the distant island in the middle of the lake.

Gazing at the cave ceiling, which resembled the depths of space, Mo Ran hesitated and said:

"The stone walls here seem to have been enchanted with a seamless stretching spell... It's very hidden, but they are definitely too wide."

"I think so."

Dumbledore nodded, agreeing with Mo Ran's statement.

"The darkness here is denser and heavier. If I'm not mistaken, only black magic related to death could reduce the light's penetrability so significantly."

Having inherited Grindelwald's dark magic, Mo Ran could understand Dumbledore's hints. After slowly turning his gaze away from the top of his head, he also looked at the place in the center of the lake that was flashing with a mysterious green light.

"Shall I try to fly over there?"

"I'm afraid that won't work."

Dumbledore rejected Mo Ran's suggestion, saying:

"Although this cave may mistake you for some kind of dark magic creature, the thing hidden at the bottom of this lake will not refrain from attacking you because of that. In fact, most of the time, the simplest way to defeat someone is to follow their train of thought and make them feel that everything is under their control."

The cave gradually fell silent again. The footsteps of the old man and the young man echoed softly on the narrow rocky path by the lake. Mo Ran then realized that not only light, but even sound could not travel very far in this cave, as if it were wrapped in a blanket.

Like the decibel-negative rooms created by Muggles using technology, excessive silence can always make people feel depressed and uneasy. However, for Moran, who bears the power of the Obscurus and is moving towards the research of the Dark Arts, the special barrier set up by Voldemort is more like a high-quality practical teaching method. He walked behind Dumbledore while learning silently, until he heard two "hoho" sounds in front of him, at which point he turned his attention back to stealing the fake Horcrux.

"This is it."

From the very beginning, Dumbledore had been grasping something from afar. He raised his wand and tapped his fist lightly. The next second, a copper chain, resembling a giant anaconda and covered in green rust, emerged from the lake.

Sensing the intense aura of dark magic, Mo Ran instinctively reached for the copper chain from Dumbledore. But even a curse powerful enough to take a Muggle's life was, in Dumbledore's eyes, merely a matter of waving his wand a couple more times.

call out!call out!

The sound of the elderflower wand slicing through the air even echoed within the cave. The magic that had once made the bronze chains snake-like and deadly had become docile with Dumbledore's movements. After a series of clinking sounds, a strange little boat, just the right size to accommodate two people, emerged from the lake.

Mo Ran, who has always had excellent academic performance, prides himself on having a good memory, but he has completely forgotten the details of how Harry and Dumbledore got to the center of the lake in the original movie.

After simply blaming everything on the lighting crew of "The Half-Blood Prince" for making the scene too dark to see, he asked with slight surprise:

"Professor, you seem to have a very unique understanding of sensing magic... Why are the traces of black magic that even I can't easily detect so obvious to you?"

"Oh, this..."

Dumbledore loosened his grip on the brass chain and said slowly:

“After all, I taught Tom Riddle and know his style. For example, when he built this ship, he cast a spell on it that only allowed one wizard to ride at a time. But he certainly didn’t consider the weight; he only considered how much magic was being carried across his lake.”

"That?"

"This is a little troublesome..."

Dumbledore adjusted his glasses, which were almost falling off his nose, and continued:

"If you weren't the one who came here, the magical power of a thirteen-year-old child would be negligible compared to mine. Unfortunately, your current total magical power seems to be a bit too much..."

Mo Ran was taken aback for the first time because he had too much magic. Then, he made a suggestion that seemed stupid but was actually quite wise.

"If that's the case, why don't we just go in two separate trips?"

The atmosphere quieted down again.

Dumbledore's expression first turned to surprise, then he slowly calmed down and began to ponder, but in the end, he seemed to suddenly realize something and agreed to Mo Ran's suggestion to "go to the island in two trips".

......

The green light on the island in the lake comes from a stone basin that resembles a meditation basin. Inside that basin, there is now a full bowl of green liquid, more than twice the amount shown in the movie, almost overflowing.

Voldemort placed numerous restrictions at the location where the Horcruxes were hidden, including common restrictions such as preventing Apparition and Flight. All of these mechanisms served the purpose of protecting the army of Infernals lurking at the bottom of the lake. In the original books, Regulus Black was poisoned and rendered powerless after successfully stealing the pendant, forcing him to hand the Horcruxes over to the house-elf Kreacher, who died at the bottom of the lake.

Mo Ran knew that Dumbledore hadn't brought him here to obtain Horcruxes, but he still couldn't figure out why the other party had forced him to come here to suffer.

"Do you intend to drink them all by yourself?"

Mo Ran's voice seemed to carry a hint of guilt; he was now gradually understanding Dumbledore's purpose for this trip.

"Oh, don't worry, child. Since fate has made this decision, it means that I must undergo this test."

Dumbledore, who also noticed the change in Mo Ran's tone, replied kindly:

"Anyway, this thing isn't fatal. Although it will paralyze me, prevent me from using magic, and plunge me into extreme pain, it's still not lethal. I think this is probably due to Voldemort's arrogance. He thought only he knew about Horcruxes, so rather than killing the visiting thief, he probably wanted to find out how the other party knew his secret and then torture him to death by his own hand... Heh, you know what to do next. Good health, child."

As soon as Dumbledore finished speaking, the tip of the Elder Wand flicked out a beautiful "U" shape, and the faint blue light was caught in Dumbledore's hand, transforming into an exquisite crystal goblet.

One cup, two cups, three cups...

Unlike in the movie "The Half-Blood Prince", Dumbledore displayed stronger self-control and a more determined will, but just as he drank his fourth cup, his body under his silver-grey robe staggered forward and fell.

"professor."

Mo Ran caught Dumbledore and the crystal goblet in his hand that was about to tip over.

"Don't force me, I don't want to."

Dumbledore's eyes revealed a terror and fear that Mo Ran had never seen before. Looking at the other's aged and fragile face, Mo Ran experienced for the first time what the fans of the original novel meant by the sense of despair that the movie failed to portray.

The greatest wizard, the strongest supporter, the person Voldemort feared most, has fallen.

This kind of shock would undoubtedly be enough to break Harry in the original story, and in such a difficult moment, he still had to continue to hurt his own headmaster as Dumbledore had instructed.

It must be admitted that, regardless of the timeline, courage has always been Harry's most powerful weapon.

“You can’t stop, remember? You said this was a test you had to complete.”

"No, let me go..."

Glug glug...

"It's alright. Look, you've had another drink. It's all fake."

"Stop, I don't want to drink anymore... Let me rest for a while."

"Okay, let's take a short break."

Glug glug...

"No, no, I can't drink anymore, don't let me see..."

Glug glug...

Dumbledore's ramblings gradually turned into roars and screams, which made Mo Ran, who was playing the role of the "torturer," feel quite physically uncomfortable. He couldn't remember how many cups of potion he had forced down Dumbledore's throat, but he was certain that even after learning about dark magic, he hadn't degenerated into a pervert like Voldemort.

"It's all my fault, take it out on me, don't hurt her, don't hurt them..."

The potion in the stone basin was reduced by more than half, and Dumbledore then witnessed the greatest fear of his life.

The tragic deaths of his family, his father's imprisonment, the shattering of family ties—a series of images powerful enough to break a person's soul—flashed back into his mind repeatedly. At this moment, Dumbledore showed no sign of wanting to struggle anymore. He was like a utterly despondent person who saw death as a release, numbly drinking cup after cup of potion while muttering "Let me die."

"Almost there, almost there! One more drink, it'll be over soon..."

Mo Ran could hardly bear to look at Dumbledore's face, but he now knew exactly what Dumbledore intended to do with the potion. Sure enough, as the last three cups of the potion flowed down Dumbledore's throat, a glimmer of light finally returned to the nearly extinguished old man's eyes.

"I...I think I've already...cough cough...water."

“Aguamenti.” (Clear water like a spring)

Mo Ran, who already possessed strength surpassing that of an Auror, did not let the water leak out of the vessel like Harry did in the original story. Instead, he massaged Dumbledore's back while holding the goblet to his lips.

Slowly, having regained some strength, Dumbledore raised his arm and took the wine glass from Mo Ran's hand.