Hogwarts.
Headmaster's Office.
"McGonagall, please call Harry for me."
Dumbledore stood up from behind his desk and stretched.
"Are you taking him with you again?"
McGonagall glanced at the scattered photographs on the desk before asking Dumbledore.
"Yes, McGonagall. He is the final key. I may not live to see Tom fall."
As he spoke, Dumbledore slowly raised his right hand.
The spots there had disappeared.
But McGonagall knew it was because Dumbledore had used Transfiguration ripples to hide the marks.
"All right. I'll go get Harry."
McGonagall sighed and turned to leave.
Just then, a loud crash came from below the spiral staircase.
"Who could that be?"
McGonagall stopped, puzzled.
"Caw!"
Fawkes suddenly cried out nearby. Dumbledore paused, then smiled. "It's Aberforth. I didn't expect him to come."
As he spoke, he quickly got up and headed toward the spiral staircase.
By the time he reached it, Aberforth had come up. He was just as tall and broad as Dumbledore, though a little thinner.
"Go ahead, McGonagall. I need to talk with Aberforth," Dumbledore said cheerfully.
"All right, Headmaster."
McGonagall nodded, greeted Aberforth, then went down the spiral staircase.
"Whisky on the rocks?" Dumbledore asked his younger brother, who looked rather like him.
"Sure."
Aberforth nodded, but didn't address Dumbledore by name. Dumbledore didn't seem offended in the slightest.
In fact, he walked on tiptoe, delighted, and even pulled out the chair in front of his desk for his brother.
"I didn't expect you to come here, Aberforth. This is such a surprise."
As he spoke, he conjured a whisky on the rocks with his wand. "And it makes me very happy, of course. Aberforth, I'm glad you came."
Aberforth nodded. His expression looked a little awkward, and his mouth opened as if to speak, but in the end