Our goal of 200 Patreon members has been accomplished! šThank you all so much for the incredible support! š
As promised, 5 bonus chapters will be uploaded. Enjoy!!!!
Next goal: 300 members! š«”
To celebrate, there's an ongoing discount on Patreon for one week on this occasion. š
Chapter 113: A Method Dumbledore Had Never Seen
Elian was summoned to the Headmaster's office two days later. The familiar circular room, with its whirring silver instruments and snoozing portraits, felt charged with a different kind of anticipation. Hagrid was there, shifting his enormous weight from foot to foot, looking profoundly uneasy. Dumbledore sat behind his desk, his fingers steepled, his bright blue eyes fixed on Elian with intense curiosity.
"Ah, Elian," Dumbledore said, his tone light but his gaze penetrating. "Hagrid has informed me of yourā¦ ambitious proposal. You wish to seek out the giants."
"I do," Elian confirmed, his voice calm.
"I must confess," Dumbledore continued, rising and pacing slowly around his desk, "to a certain degree of concern. Giants are remarkable beings. I prefer to classify them as humanoids, for their intelligence is not insignificant. But their nature is brutal, their culture built upon raw strength and conquest. They have been driven to the brink of extinction by wizardkind, and they bear a deep, justified grudge. The colony Hagrid visited is likely the last of its kind."
Hagrid nodded miserably, his hands clasped before him.
"Their hides," Dumbledore went on, turning to face Elian, "are naturally resistant to many forms of magic. Their physical power is catastrophic. The unique arts you wield are formidable, Elian, but they often rely on precision, on finesse. Against a creature that can shrug off curses and crush stone with its fist, such arts mayā¦ falter."
It was a gentle, logical warning. Dumbledore wasn't dismissing Elian's power; he was questioning its applicability. He had seen the Rings of Raggador slice through Death Eaters, but could they pierce a giant's hide? He had seen the mystic shields deflect Killing Curses, but could they withstand a blow from a tree-sized club?
Hagrid found his voice. "He's right, Elian. It's not just a fight. It'sā¦ it's like a storm. If they see you as an intruder, they won't duel. They'll just try to stomp you into the mud."
Elian listened patiently. When they were finished, he simply said, "I understand your concerns. But it's just giants. I have a way."
Dumbledore and Hagrid exchanged a startled look.Ā 'Just giants'?
"A way?" Dumbledore prompted, his interest visibly sharpening.
"Yes. Which is why I need to know their precise location."
Dumbledore sat back down, steepling his fingers again. "The journey itself is a formidable barrier. It takes weeks of arduous travel, skirting Muggle settlements, traversing treacherous, forgotten wilderness. The Ministry has watchers at key points. It is no small feat merely toĀ reachĀ them."
Hagrid groaned involuntarily, clearly reliving the exhaustion of his own trek.
Elian shook his head, a faint smile on his lips. "Professor Hagrid would only need to tell me where it is. The journeyā¦ wouldn't take months. It would take moments."
The silence in the office was absolute. The gentleĀ whirrĀ of a planetary model seemed deafening.
Dumbledore's eyes widened. He leaned forward, the twinkle in his eye blazing into something like academic fervour. "You meanā¦ the portal? The magic Sirius and Alastor described? The one you used on Christmas?"
Elian nodded.
"Merlin's beard," Dumbledore breathed, actually getting to his feet again, a childlike wonder on his aged face. "They spoke of a gateway, spun from golden light. Not Apparition, not a Portkeyā¦ a true bridge through space. You can do this? From here? To a place you have never seen, only described?"
Hagrid was gaping, utterly lost. "Aā¦ a portal? Like in a storybook?"
"It is called the Gateway of the Sling Ring," Elian said. "If the location is described accurately, with intent, the path can be formed. Distance is not an obstacle."
"Butā¦ but the wards!" Hagrid spluttered. "The protective enchantments around their valley! And the Ministry's tracesā¦"
"The Sling Ring bypasses conventional wards," Elian explained simply. "It doesn't travelĀ throughĀ the space between; it folds it. We would step from this room directly into their territory."
Dumbledore was practically vibrating with excitement. This was a form of magic utterly outside his vast experience, a new law of reality being demonstrated. "Show me," he said, his voice hushed. "Please, Elian. If you would be so kind."
Hagrid looked between them, his confusion giving way to stunned disbelief. "You meanā¦ right now? We couldā¦ go thereĀ now?"
Elian didn't answer with words. He reached into his pocket and drew out the simple, metallic Sling Ring. He slid it onto the fingers of his right hand. He held his left hand up, palm out, and began to move it in a slow, deliberate circle.
Dumbledore watched, unblinking, every ounce of his being focused on the empty air before Elian's hand. Hagrid held his breath.
As Elian's hand completed the circle, a line of brilliant, sparkling orange light appeared in the air, trailing from his fingertip. He completed a second rotation. The line became a hoop of crackling, molten energy. With a final, subtle twist of his wrist, the space within the hoopĀ rippled, then tore open.
It wasn't a window. It was a tunnel of shimmering, distorted light. And at its end, clear as day, was the familiar, cluttered interior of Hagrid's own hut. They could see Fang, asleep by the fire, and the half-eaten rock cake on the table.
Hagrid let out a sound like a punctured bellows. Dumbledore's mouth fell open, a sight so rare it was shocking. The greatest wizard of the age was looking at something he had never dreamed possible.
"Merlinā¦" Dumbledore whispered again, stepping closer, peering into the portal as if into a fascinating new universe. "Fascinating. The spatial distortion is stableā¦ the energy signature is completely uniqueā¦ It requires no incantation? Merely the gesture and the will?"
"And the knowledge of the destination," Elian said, allowing the portal to hang open for a few more seconds before closing his hand into a fist. The golden gateway snapped shut with a sound like a sigh, leaving only the scent of ozone and infinite possibility.
He looked at the two awestruck wizards. "So," he said. "Where are the giants?"
In that moment, any lingering doubt in Dumbledore's mind vanished. The boy wasn't just powerful. He had rewritten the rules of engagement. The game had changed, and for the first time since Voldemort's return, Albus Dumbledore felt a surge of hope that was wild, dangerous, and utterly thrilling.
(End of Chapter)
āØIf you're enjoying this story, consider supporting me on Patreon ā
Patreon.com/TofuChan
Bonus Chapter For Every 100 Power Stones
Lets hit the goal of 300 Patreon Members now for 5 Extra Chapters š
Ongoing Discount on Patreon 1 week left.