I was wondering if I might be able to ask you some questions about the state of our world in your time, if that's all right.
I understand if you would prefer not to. ...I admit, I would not normally ask, but I have learned some information that I would like to verify if I am able.
[ Luna... isn't surprised by the request. She's been careful not to say much about how things are by her point in time. Meddling with time isn't the greatest idea. But... this is Deerington. Things work differently here. And she's certainly expected that at some point there might be questions for her. ]
I've usually preferred not to say anything, not for not wanting to but I've been worried about causing problems with things like the timeline to our world. I don't want that.
But I know Deerington can do things anyway, I'm assuming it's done something. Shown you things, perhaps. And I've learned it's possible if and when you return home, you might not remember this place at all.
So if there's things you'd really like to know, I can answer your questions.
[If Luna could see him, she would see a small, sad smile. How very responsible of her. He appreciates it, even if it ultimately was thwarted by this place.]
I am very much grateful for your discretion. It was the wisest course of action to take, knowing this place and knowing that we are from such separate times.
Unfortunately, the town does seem to have shown me some events of the future. Perhaps they are untrue, but I would like to know for sure.
I suppose the right place to start would be to simply ask: am I still alive in your time?
That's understandable, really. I think I would maybe like to know the same if I were you. I'm not sure. It's hard to say.
[ There's a long pause at his question, though. And perhaps that tells him exactly what the answer is before she even sends anything in reply. It's not even been a year since the events at the Astronomy Tower, the infiltration of Hogwarts. And how everything seemingly changed from there.
But Luna steels herself. He had asked, and she'd agreed to answer. ]
No, not any more. [ There's a short pause before she sends the next message. ] It's been ten months since you died.
[Well then. That did make things hard to deny, didn't it. He'd known full well that it was unlikely that he would learn otherwise, but a small cloud of sadness settles on him regardless.]
I see. Thank you for telling me.
Did I die in the Astronomy Tower? The vision I saw took place there, with several Dark witches and wizards there as well.
[There's a long pause before he replies to that. In spite of everything he'd seen, including his own death in the tower, he had not expected that. It was one thing to see Dark wizards in the school, but to have them take it over, including the Ministry...]
I had no idea things would become so horrific.
I suppose it is good to learn this now, beforehand, however.
[ Hogwarts is no longer safe, the Ministry is nothing more than a mouthpiece to make it seem like everything that's happening is legal. Poor Dean had been on the run from the Ministry since the start of the school year when it fell, after it started registering Muggleborns. ]
They call it the Second Wizarding War. The first began long before I was born, and it ended when I was less than a year old.
[This was the second...? Immediately, his mind starts to calculate the numbers, locating the years in time. If that is indeed the case, if the war against Gellert ends in the next decade or so...
Then there will still be three wizarding wars in the span of seventy years. Not a single witch or wizard will be able to make it to middle age without encountering the effects of one.
Dumbledore is quiet for a very long moment, taking it all in. Eventually, he exhales shakily before answering:]
I appreciate you sharing all of this with me, Miss Lovegood. It is very helpful to know.
[Another short pause, and then he asks:] May I ask one more question, if it is not too much to ask? The global wizarding war -- the one occurring in the time I come from -- do you have any idea when it ends?
I wish I could share something happier, but we seem to be in short supply of happiness back home.
[ It's... quite awful being the bearer of bad news. There really is little to be cheerful about in their world. Only the hope that soon, very soon -- they might just finally win.
And then it's Luna's time to fall quiet, a short pause in the messages. When it ends. It doesn't... really end, in a way. What Grindelwald began simply paved the way for Voldemort's rise. Those sentiments never really went away. ]
1945. I'm afraid I don't know more specific than that, but that's definitely the year.
[1945. Christ. So the war continues for -- nearly twenty years? Is that how long he dawdled, hoping for another resolution? Or did Gellert lie in wait for years, hiding where he couldn't be found? He can't say, and he doubts Luna knows, but it roils him all the same.
Still, he nods at the response, looking haunted and sad and resigned all at once.]
Thank you, Luna. You've been an enormous help to me.
[ It's certainly a long, drawn out affair. Voldermort's rise to power was something over ten years for the most part. But she certainly knows that Grindelwald has remained in Nurmengard ever since, due to Dumbledore's actions. ]
You're welcome, professor. I'm sorry it wasn't of help with something more... happier. But I'm glad it did help.
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text; un: quibbler
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I understand if you would prefer not to. ...I admit, I would not normally ask, but I have learned some information that I would like to verify if I am able.
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I've usually preferred not to say anything, not for not wanting to but I've been worried about causing problems with things like the timeline to our world. I don't want that.
But I know Deerington can do things anyway, I'm assuming it's done something. Shown you things, perhaps. And I've learned it's possible if and when you return home, you might not remember this place at all.
So if there's things you'd really like to know, I can answer your questions.
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I am very much grateful for your discretion. It was the wisest course of action to take, knowing this place and knowing that we are from such separate times.
Unfortunately, the town does seem to have shown me some events of the future. Perhaps they are untrue, but I would like to know for sure.
I suppose the right place to start would be to simply ask: am I still alive in your time?
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[ There's a long pause at his question, though. And perhaps that tells him exactly what the answer is before she even sends anything in reply. It's not even been a year since the events at the Astronomy Tower, the infiltration of Hogwarts. And how everything seemingly changed from there.
But Luna steels herself. He had asked, and she'd agreed to answer. ]
No, not any more. [ There's a short pause before she sends the next message. ] It's been ten months since you died.
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I see. Thank you for telling me.
Did I die in the Astronomy Tower? The vision I saw took place there, with several Dark witches and wizards there as well.
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[ Unhappily answered, but yes. That's the truth of it. ]
They're called Death Eaters, the Dark wizards and witches you mentioned. Followers of a powerful Dark Wizard: He Who Must Not Be Named.
They infiltrated Hogwarts, killed you and a fight ensued. I didn't see you die, but I was there in the fight. And I saw... afterward.
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What happened afterward, might I ask?
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[ Poor Harry, it had been the hardest for him. And... that's not all. ]
Dark wizards took over the school not long after, and the Ministry, too.
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I had no idea things would become so horrific.
I suppose it is good to learn this now, beforehand, however.
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They call it the Second Wizarding War. The first began long before I was born, and it ended when I was less than a year old.
This one began almost three years ago, now.
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Then there will still be three wizarding wars in the span of seventy years. Not a single witch or wizard will be able to make it to middle age without encountering the effects of one.
Dumbledore is quiet for a very long moment, taking it all in. Eventually, he exhales shakily before answering:]
I appreciate you sharing all of this with me, Miss Lovegood. It is very helpful to know.
[Another short pause, and then he asks:] May I ask one more question, if it is not too much to ask? The global wizarding war -- the one occurring in the time I come from -- do you have any idea when it ends?
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[ It's... quite awful being the bearer of bad news. There really is little to be cheerful about in their world. Only the hope that soon, very soon -- they might just finally win.
And then it's Luna's time to fall quiet, a short pause in the messages. When it ends. It doesn't... really end, in a way. What Grindelwald began simply paved the way for Voldemort's rise. Those sentiments never really went away. ]
1945. I'm afraid I don't know more specific than that, but that's definitely the year.
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Still, he nods at the response, looking haunted and sad and resigned all at once.]
Thank you, Luna. You've been an enormous help to me.
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You're welcome, professor. I'm sorry it wasn't of help with something more... happier. But I'm glad it did help.