The breeze smelt of salt as it blew in
through the windows of the Hogwarts castle. A withered-looking Dumbledore stood
facing the forests at his office, gazing with wearied eyes into the vastness
that lay before him. His eyes, bordered by white and frail eyelashes, appeared
dreary. They longed to sleep after having borne the world for so long.
Something was gnawing inside him. He lifted his burnt fingers to caress the
wooden edge of the window. This corner had been his refuge all these years,
allowing him the solitude he needed during troubled times. Now, he stood there
once again, one final time, gaping into the huge void that sprawled ahead.
'Harry would be ready in an hour,' he
mused. The journey to the cavern wouldn't be free from perils. Was he right in putting the teenager into
such a situation, he reflected dolefully. A pang of guilt seared across his
heart that was already heavy with the pain of saying goodbye to this place. It
was going to be his final day at the office, he knew it. His heart still ached,
though, for Severus. He would have to lay his life for the love he never got.
At that moment, a bird darted across the
room and perched upon his shoulder. It nipped him on the ear angrily with its
beak, sensing a premonition of things to come.
'It's okay, Fawkes. I have to move on,
now', Dumbledore said in a grave voice, stroking its spine in a tender,
fatherly manner.
It
was getting windy. Not the best weather to fly towards the sea, he reflected.
Dumbledore struggled with his beard which flew across to hit Fawkes on its
face. It snapped at it, then softened a bit and dropped tears of lamentation.
Dumbledore heaved a sigh, inspected his
watch and rose with steely determination. 'Time to set to work, Fawkes. And I
hope you'd be a little more polite with the next Headmaster.' He beamed at it
one final time before draping his cloak and striding out of the room. The large
oak door swung shut behind him and the bird sunk back behind the shadows of the
lonely walls.
-Ritesh Agarwal
22nd June, 2016
ritzy182000@gmail.com
