Present Mixed in the Past

Chapter 26| Image Cracking

Dumbledore had rushed to his chambers after dinner was done. He could barely contain his anger. Everything was falling apart! Ron was no closer to being the boy's friends than the year before, and Ginny couldn't even touch the boy!

He had seen the boy be nice to her, but he showed no interest in the lady! She had claimed to have done everything he had asked her, but the demented boy couldn't be touched! He always found a way to have someone with them!

The powerful wizard knew that he was breaking. That he was letting a few minor hiccups interfere with his thoughts. He knew that, but he couldn't stop fuming!

"AAAGUH!"

His magic exploded outward in the safety of his chambers, destroying and flipping many things over. Paper flew in the air, a few becoming shredded. His once comfortable, messy room now taking on the note of rage and instability.

The pictures watched with heavily amused faces, smirking and gleaming as the man's calm, grandfatherly facade cracked like glass. One portrait was even more gleeful than the others, Phineas Nigellus Black.

Slipping away while the controlling monster thrashed and trashed his own room, he found himself in one of the only empty portraits within Gilderoy Lockhart's chambers.

"That power! I-I need to find a way to make it mine! O-Or claim that I thought of it first! Yes, that could work..."

The blond man went on rambling about several different potions and spells that could steal away the boy's power, knowledge, or make the young heir compliant. Phineas looked at the man in disgust, sneering heavily. He only kept quiet simply because there was no way for him to punish such idiotic and despicable behavior!

Leaving once more, he went back to Dumbledore's room, watching as the old wizard slumped to the floor, panting heavily. It seemed he had used up the vast majority of his magic not only to destroy his room, but to also repair it so it looked like nothing happened. As much as everyone proclaims he's a great magic user, the portraits all knew it was a sham. Most of his power came from carefully crafted spells that had more oomph than what was needed to put into them.

Soon laughter from the hidden room sounded into the main room. It was pained and tired, but oh so joyous. The person in there clearly was having a wonderful time listening to their capture lose their mind! Then again, so were the portraits.

Phineas left again before he could hear what was to happen to the laughing man. Instead, he went to inform his surviving Grandson what was happening. Oh, did that man show his own Slytherin side at news~ He was grinning ear to ear with malice and twisted ideas and plans swimming in his head.

Rita was all too gleeful when she was given the report, well more or less an order, to just destroy Lockhart and smudge Dumbledore's name! That man had always had secrets that she didn't understand, but now with the protection of the Black's and Potter's, she could dig them up!

She was so happy and gleeful that within a week, all of Lockhart's fans saw him as a liar, a swindler! His stories no longer held the weight they used to, and that was oh so wonderful~ Dumbledore took a hard backlash for hiring someone so clearly incompetent! Sure, they were fooled, but he was the Great Dumbledore, he should've known better!

Oh, how Dumbledore tried to control the damage, just barely able to convince the public he knew all along and was actively trying to expose him. Harry didn't doubt the first part, the second not so much. After all, Dumbledore hadn't tried to expose him in his first life, not even after what happened to the idiot.

As Harry walked down the halls, alone for once, he was grabbed and dragged somewhere. He squirmed, but in truth he wasn't as worried as he probably should've been. He knew that it wasn't Voldemort, so he knew he wasn't likely to die. Yet.