Chapter Text
'The Resurrection Stone — to him, though I pretended not to know it, it meant an army of Inferi!'
—
Albus Dumbledore's life was a bore.
When Aberforth had graduated from Hogwarts in 1902, he had finally been able to pursue a career, instead of being shackled to their village, which made his life somewhat less monotonous, but still a bore to him. After work he would still return to the very village he had felt suffocatingly trapped in. He may have more freedom now that Aberforth could care for Ariana at all times while Albus made an income for the household, but he still felt shackled.
As ashamed as he was to admit it, he despised having to return home. He had known they could not live off whatever was saved of their parents expenses before they passed and so he had sought out employment once Aberforth had graduated, only to eventually be met with complaints of how he prioritized work over Ariana's care. Their relationship, which had improved before Aberforth had graduated and he was the one taking care of Ariana at all times, was now tense, with frequent arguments.
Sometimes Albus would wish he could swap places with his colleagues.
He sometimes wished to be a small child once more, not a worry in the world.
On darker days he wished for death, as he could fathom no possible escape from what felt like a never ending nothingness. As if the very world had become void since the fateful day his mother had died.
His job felt like a small escape, but he still longed for more. He just did not know what he was longing for.
It was a Monday morning- a new week. Everything seemed to be normal at first, until his morning prophet had been delivered to him.
He had been drinking his morning coffee, as usual, thanking his colleague who had given it to him, until he had read the headline and frowned.
RAISING THE DEAD: UNKNOWN PERSON APPEARS TO BE TARGETING MUGGLE GRAVES
Albus set his coffee down, now reading the article:
It would appear that an unknown person has been targeting the graves of muggles and seemingly bringing them back from death. This person's motives are unknown and it is also unknown how they are achieving such a complex, and generally agreed, impossible task. Multiple muggles have had to be obliviated after witnessing their supposed dead family members return from the grave. These reports originally started in America, however it now seems to be this unknown person has made their way to England.
Albus frowned.
Magic was a complex thing. There were definitive rules that it supposedly had to follow, certain limits. But Albus knew better. Rules only applied to those without enough magical power to achieve what was agreed to be impossible. And of course there were frauds: ways to replicate the desired effect, such as using The Imperius Curse on a corpse. However, Albus rather doubted this was the case. There would be signs if that was what had happened.
This case had sparked a curiosity within him he had not felt before, not for any other case.
For if this person could truly bring the dead back from the beyond, who was to say that Kendra Dumbledore could not walk earth again?