Dumbledore vs Oz
Dumbledore vs Oz
"I did think the tasks on the way down here were too easy for any 'experienced' wizard... was this your way of training Harry Dumbledore?".
Dumbledore who had just arrived in the room stood across from Oz in silence, a silence which spoke volumes. The man obviously had foreseen Oz's interference or, at the very least, knew Oz would help Harry down here blasting away all the trials he had set for the boy. In his sparkling eyes were many emotions, the two main ones Oz could see though was hope and wariness. Extreme wariness.
That wariness stemmed from Oz's disposition. In Dumbledore's eyes he was a major anomaly in his plans against Voldemort in the future. A boy who at the age 12, a descendant of the legendary merlin, a dragon Animagus and a boy whose magic prowess was at the level of most teachers and aurors. He was but one stage away from himself at the tender age of 12, something that Dumbledore himself couldn't wrap his head around. But with that wariness stemmed hope. The man believed that if Oz was on his side at the end then the battle against Voldemort would be that much easier in the years to come. Oz's talent was apparent to anyone who met him and after seeing his Animagus ritual first hand he knew how powerful this boys talent was. Sadly for Dumbledore however, Oz wasn't someone who'd let himself be twirled around another's finger.
The silence between the two finally broke as Dumbledore spoke.
"You've really impressed me Oz... That trick with the ministry indeed made things a tad bit difficult for me. You managed to even use Rita Skeeter without her even knowing she was being used, something I must commend as well. You're truly an extremely rare talent".
Hearing Dumbledore's speech, one thing was apparent to Oz, the man wanted to be on Oz's good side.
"Well... you did blackmail me into becoming a student under you after all. A poor move from you withholding that tome from me when its rightfully mine. I'm surprised you didn't realise how that could have been an issue".
Hearing Oz's rebuttal, Dumbledore let out a slow chuckle.
"Well things do tend to escape me in my old age... Things such as rules fade away especially at my level".
To Oz the last part of that sentence almost seemed like a threat...
"Dumbledore... Why did you design these 'trials' for Harry. You must have known that Voldemort resided in Quirrell all this time right? Yet you let it be and created this gauntlet for harry to finally beat the big bad boss in the end... Surely there are better ways of training the boy?".
Dumbledore's eyes flashed hearing Oz's query. He slowly lifted his head up, looking at the ceiling of the chess room with a whimsical glint in his eyes.
"I wanted the boy to grow Oz. In the years to come he will face many trials as the 'boy who lived', he needs the mental fortitude to combat these trials".
Oz understood to a certain extent what Dumbledore wanted and in some ways Oz agreed with the sentiment. Harry himself did need to grow, hence Oz left him to proceed on his own in the final part of these trials. However, throwing him into the deep end in his first year? Leaving him in an abusive household? this wasn't building mental fortitude. This was akin to torturing a boy who should of had a good life.
Oz heaved a heavy sigh as he looked at his teacher.
"Dumbledore... To some extent I agree with what you are doing. Harry does need to grow as it clear in the future things are going to happen. However, the way you go about this is all wrong. Leaving the boy to rot in a household that treated him like dirt? throwing all this his way on his first year when he's only just been introduced to the world of magic? Thats not a way of training the boy, thats just chucking him straight into the deep end and hoping he will float. I understand that he needs to improve fast but you could just guide him".
Dumbledore flinched a bit at Oz's retorts as Oz continued.
"As I said in our previous meeting once, I can sense dark magic from that boy in that scar of his. As a matter of fact I can see it now if I look hard enough. Dark magic on a boy whose been through the trauma of a terrible childhood, losing his family and now introduced to a school where the headteacher wants him to be put through trials just to grow? You're turning him into a ticking time bomb and you know that deep down".
Dumbledore lowered his head in response to Oz's reprimanding of his methods. These things had already been said before by Oz however Oz felt he needed to repeat these statements in order for it to sink into the old mans brain that what he was doing was wrong.
"Dumbledore... I know you're not a bad person... well at least you try not to be. You truly want to do good after your multitude of past mistakes. However, you are going about this all wrong. Take the boy in as your disciple, train him in magic personally. If you'd just done this then maybe he'd already be at a peak school level considering he has a substantial amount of dormant talent".
Hearing all of Oz's retorts Dumbledore finally huffed a sigh before slowly lifting his wand. In his head he seemed to have come to a decision. It seemed here he wanted to enact a final test with Oz, to see if he could trust his power to protect Harry and the others. Hearing Oz's retorts had already told him that his heart was in the right place. Looking at Oz deeply, Dumbledore uttered.
"Oz... You're right in what you say. My methods have always been a tad... extreme. Minerva even warned me about Harry's uncle and aunt yet I ignored her. In the past I've always focused on the bigger picture instead of what's right in front of me...".
Pointing his wand directly at Oz he smiled, it seemed the man had a mental breakthrough in some ways with Oz's words reaching him to some extent.
"Your talent is far greater than any other young wizard I've ever seen Oz. I'm not fit to teach you anymore, you've already absorbed all the knowledge you wanted anyway. This will be your graduation test from being my disciple, lets have a simple duel".
After finishing his sentence Dumbledore immediately sent spells flying rapidly at Oz. Oz reacted quickly, taking out his two wands. He began deflecting the spells with one wand while firing with the other.
Spells littered the room as the rebounded off the chess room walls and ceilings. Sparks flew and rubble fell with each attack. Both Oz and Dumbledore slowly moved around the chess room board as they fought this duel. At the moment Oz was being pressured.
'He isn't one of the greatest wizards for nothing thats for sure...'.
Looking around the room in-between attacks, Oz tried to formulate any strategy he could come up with to gain the upper hand. One idea eventually sprung to mind.
Using 'Wingardium Leviosa', Oz lifted one of the broken chess pieces and launched it towards Dumbledore. The latter receiving the attack used a spell to destroy the chess piece flying rapidly towards him. In this window of opportunity, Oz used his own spell 'Augmentum' to enhance his speed to the max as he also cloaked himself, trying to flank Dumbledore. As he got behind the old man he aimed to disarm his wand, however just as he casted the spell Dumbledore casted one back towards him causing the spells to clash in the middle.
"A clever trick Oz... You are certainly talented. If you were at my level you'd have done me in there I believe".
Sadly for Oz while his tactics were on point, Dumbledore was far more experience and powerful. His magic capacity alone was heaps above Oz's leading Oz to an immediate disadvantage. Along with this, handling two wands was still a crutch, something Dumbledore mentioned to Oz in one of there meetings prior. With all this piled on Oz, he found it incredibly difficult to gain an upper hand. However, the fact he was even holding his own was incredible.
Oz desperately searched his mind for a plan but nothing came to mind, as he and Dumbledore were both in a wand struggle the only thing that could turn the tide was to use a spell in dragons-tongue. However, Oz didn't know how. It always seemed to activate when it wanted.
Oz knew Dumbledore was only testing him, there was no malice in his attacks. It did seem however that he was planning on beating Oz up a bit, probably due to what Oz had done in the ministry, putting him in the firing line. While the old man seemed grandfatherly and calm, he had quite the hidden temper.
As the wand struggle continued, sparks from the clash flew off around the room as the room itself was lit up. Dumbledore slowly started to add more and more power to his spell leading to the struggle tilting in his favour. Seeing this, Oz started to panic internally. He wanted to win this duel, against all the odds he wanted to put a scratch on this enigmatic old man to show that he wasn't someone to be controlled. He wanted to show that he was a force to be reckoned with in this world, even at such a young age.
As his emotions riled, something deep within Oz responded. His blood churned and his eyes glowed radiantly, becoming slits like a dragons eyes. Dumbledore's eyebrows furrowed at this sight as Oz let out deep roar. Immediately the wand struggle tilted into Oz's favour as his magic power drastically increased. Dumbledore started adding more and more power to try and push back but he could only delay the inevitable as finally the spell reached his wand, disarming him.
Oz had won this duel.
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A/N - I'd like to note that this is the end of a 'mini arc' I dubbed the Dumbledore suspicion arc. From here on Dumbledore doesn't see Oz as a threat or anything (doesn't feel the need to leash him at least) and now Oz has 'graduated' from being his student, Dumbledore starts to see the boy as someone closing in on his standing.