Albus Dumbledore has lived a long life. From a certain perspective, one could almost say that he has lived longer than he should have. In his more than a century and a half of existence, the wizened sorcerer hardly resembles the young man he once was.

  From the brilliant, ambitious, and self-aggrandizing student that first stepped into Hogwarts. He is now a tired old fool with too many regrets.

  This sentiment was a far cry from how most of the wizarding world sees him, of course. Most witches and wizards know only of his accomplishments, positions, and power. Almost none of them understand the cost he continues to pay in exchange for them, even to this day.

  If anyone had bothered to ask, he would never deny his youthful transgressions and exuberance. A rare talent in magic, peerless intelligence, and unbridled ambition? Quite the potent combination, most would agree.

  Dangerous too.

  Regardless of anyone’s opinions, however, there’s no denying Dumbledore’s standing as a wizard. Diminished as he is compared to when he met Gellert Grindelwald for their legendary duel, the Hogwarts headmaster is still an incontestable fighter. One that very few could ever hope to challenge in any meaningful way.

  This is why his current predicament is so novel to him.

  At the moment, the man that many consider to be Merlin reborn is being pushed back. Not just by any opponent, though. By all appearances, he is currently struggling to contain a fourteen-year-old boy.

  Now, one might be tempted to say that a wizard of Dumbledore’s caliber is only having trouble because of his desire to safely incapacitate the child. That he was limiting himself by using less potent spells that would not cause lasting damage.

  They would be wrong.

  Right from the start, Albus Dumbledore had to unshackle his formidable abilities to have even survived this long. Otherwise, he would have died in the first few minutes of the confrontation along with his colleagues. As it stands, he could not even afford to consider Madame Pomfrey’s fate.

  It was taking all of his concentration to prevent Harry Potter (or who he was sure was Harry Potter) from causing additional damage to the castle. More importantly, he was focusing on stopping the boy from harming any of his students.

  This was made difficult by the child doing his absolute best to embody all the world’s wrath in one small package. All vicious power and practically no subtlety. For such a blunt instrument, however, Harry seems to wield it with almost breathtaking ease.

  Most wizards who rely on the brute strength of their spells typically throw tactics out the window, making them easy for Albus to deal with. In contrast, his young opponent has displayed near-impossible awareness of angles and employs attack speeds that make his spells an absolute nightmare to deal with.

  Worst of all, Albus recognized many of the spells Harry was casting, even if he were doing so non-verbally. He was on the receiving end of them often enough, most recently from Death Eaters and Gellert’s followers.

  They were curses of the darkest kind. Bone Breaker, Blood Boiling, Entrail Expelling, Flaying, Blasting, Piercing, Rending - each more disturbing than the last.

  Where had he learned all of them? A conjured sword passing an inch from his face forced his mind back to the present. He would have to find out later, when he wasn’t at risk of decapitation.

  By his estimation, at least ten minutes have passed since their duel began. During that short period, he managed to destroy most of the Hospital Wing, large sections of the Faculty Tower, and several walls of the Clock Tower courtyard.

  It was by the grace of magic that there was no one else around while Albus did his best to herd the tempestuous teen towards the less-populated areas of the castle. The running battle was essentially a balance of chasing, being chased, distracting, taunting, and otherwise occupying the surprisingly powerful young wizard.

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  There was simply no room for anything else.

  Right now, he is trusting his fellow professors to do as their duties require. Nothing is more important than the safety of their charges.

  As for him, Albus is leading Harry to the edge of the Forbidden Forest to reduce the chances of innocents getting caught in the crossfire. He was making steady progress, even in the wake of the staggering amount of property damage their exchange was causing.

  They are for later consideration, though, when he can afford to be distracted by parchmentwork.

  For now, he had other things to worry about. Chief among them are the issues that this current scrap was causing, with his most immediate problem being a matter of stamina.

  Albus was no longer a young man, after all.

  During the first Blood Wars, his engagements with Tom were almost always brief. The aging sorcerer would essentially take his time and control the battlefield with his superior skills in transfiguration. In fact, his last prolonged battle was with Gellert.

  While it did last hours, it was interspersed with banter and heartfelt discussions. They saved the frantic slinging of spells for the last few minutes of their duel.

  Fighting Harry is an entirely different cauldron of Grindylows. It was full throttle at all times with no respite. As short as this engagement has been, so far, there were no guarantees as to how long it will actually last.

  And Albus, to his rising concern, was finding himself quickly losing steam.

  Salvation came just as the treeline was coming into view in the form of his irascible potions master. As one of the better duelists in his employ, his assistance served well in taking some of the pressure off of Albus.

  Unfortunately, for some unfathomable reason, Harry seemed to become even more enraged the moment Severus entered the fray. Surpassing all reasonable expectations, the young man’s attacks became more savage and consequently, more destructive.

  Both members of the Hogwarts staff stopped using shield charms entirely after the one cast by Severus was shattered with almost laughable ease. Instead, they focused on dodging desperately or using extra durable transfigured barriers, courtesy of Albus.

  The flapping of robes and swirling of a long, white beard might have appeared comical under different circumstances.

  Adding insult to injury, Harry had no trouble keeping the two adults on the backfoot despite being outnumbered two to one. It almost beggared belief.

  Several more minutes passed in this fashion - with the landscape being rendered more and more unrecognizable by the second - when additional help arrived.

  “Albus, we’re here!” Minerva shouted before launching spells of her own.

  Filius Flitwick sent out charms, hexes, and jinxes at blinding speeds. Pomona Sprout provided support by trying to entangle Harry with fast-growing weeds, roots, and vines.

  Even with the addition of the other staff members, however, it was evident that the teen was used to handling multiple opponents at once. None of them could get a finishing shot without risking grave injury.

  Though, their efforts were not entirely wasted.

  Numerous cuts, gashes, and burns now dot the boy’s form. While it pained Albus to inflict harm on one so young, he left them little choice.

  It helped that most of his attention appeared to have switched over to Severus, a clear sign of rage clouding his judgment. In return, the potions professor had long since employed the darkest spells in his repertoire. This allowed them to have only one target to defend while the rest focused on whittling down Harry’s defenses.

  When a particularly savage curse from Severus slipped through and bit deep into Harry’s thigh, Albus saw their chance. With the teen’s concentration interrupted, he conjured earthen chains behind their opponent, successfully trapping his limbs.

  Knowing that their window of opportunity was closing fast, all five professors cast stunners. The moment seemed to last forever, with the red bolts of magic sluggishly careening through the air toward Harry.

  When the spells finally struck home, Albus had a split-second to meet the powerful young man’s eyes. The pure loathing they contained froze the headmaster’s heart. Not even Tom could have expressed such undiluted hatred when he was that age.

  Harry fell face-first on the ground and stayed there in an unmoving heap as more chains bound him further. No one approached right away, wary of the fallen form. When it was clear that he really was immobilized, the professors breathed a sigh of relief.

  Pomona Sprout sagged to her knees while Flitwick contented himself by sitting in the dirt. Minerva and Severus chose to stay standing, though both showed unmistakable signs of exhaustion.

  Every single one of them, Albus included, sported various light injuries. That none of them suffered graver wounds was a testament to both their individual skills and group coordination.

  “Merlin’s balls, Albus!” the Charm’s master groaned. “What in the hells was that?! How did someone this dangerous get inside Hogwarts?”

  The aged sorcerer chuckled at his colleague’s rare use of expletives. It served to highlight how trying the situation was.

  “I’m afraid explanations will have to wait, old friend,” he said while approaching the bound form. “We need to ensure that this young man is properly contained and assess the damage to the school. I will call for a meeting once everything has been settled.”

  While their faces showed clear dissatisfaction with the non-answer, they were all familiar enough with Albus at this point to know that pressing would be pointless. As such, they simply collected themselves and made their way back to the castle.

  Albus levitated the chained Harry and followed suit, all the while pondering the ramifications of this explosive development. The appearance of a child powerful, skilled, and tenacious enough to fight five fully-grown adults to a standstill is unheard of in living memory.

  If word got out of what happened today, it would undoubtedly catch the attention of many powerful factions from all over the world. In light of that, Albus was already considering measures to minimize the chances of this happening, even if he had to leverage his substantial influence.

  Unbeknownst to him, it was already too late.