Facing Dumbledore's attack, Peter didn't panic. He fired an Impediment Jinx to block the spell—but it had no effect at all on Dumbledore's magic.
Holding the advantage, Dumbledore didn't press the assault. Wand leveled, he said softly, "Surrender, Peter," while his feet slid into motion, beginning to circle and dodge.
Peter saw straight through him and laughed aloud. "Professor Dumbledore—the greatest white wizard of the century—you are so very powerful."
With that, Peter pulled a potion from his robes and downed it in one go.
Dumbledore merely watched, making no move to stop him. As the greatest white wizard, he had his pride—and he was curious what could have given Peter such confidence.
After he drank, Peter began to tremble as if enduring unspeakable pain—but Dumbledore could feel a mighty power gestating inside him. Weak at first, it swelled rapidly, carrying a dark, suffocating aura.
In the Room of Requirement, Loren smiled at the sight. When Dumbledore first struck, Loren knew that even with the enhancements Peter had received, he wouldn't be a match without exposing certain sensitive alchemical tools. Loren had been ready to take over Peter's body and extract him when Peter faltered—he hadn't expected Peter to be bold enough to drink the Obscurial Potion outright.
The Obscurial Potion was something Loren developed after reading about the Obscurial "profession." In his view, the Obscurus in an Obscurial's body is compressed magic combined with negative emotion. The potion induces a nascent Obscurus inside the drinker. While it's newly formed, it's relatively easy to control, gifting the user tremendous power for a short time.
Of course, it carries drawbacks: the Obscurus rapidly accumulates magic. When the buildup reaches a threshold, the user must expel it. Once expelled, the user loses all magic and, from the shock, is unable to move. The Obscurus will then keep drawing in magic on its own, and when it reaches critical mass, it detonates. The blast isn't as devastating as a naturally formed Obscurus—this one is forcibly accelerated—so the effective lethal radius is only a few meters.
Loren could have tuned that radius to match a natural Obscurus, but it wasn't worth it. The potion's purpose is to grant overwhelming power for a brief window; the self-detonation afterward is merely a side effect. If he needed a wide-area weapon, he could pull a pile of them from his pocket space at any time.
Without outside help, however, the user would be killed by the Obscurus's self-detonation—after expulsion the user can't move.
Loren realized at once Peter was showing loyalty. Peter could just as easily have followed orders, tested Dumbledore's level lightly, and then returned to the small world. Instead he gambled hard for Loren's sake. For someone who'd spent years as other people's lackey, he knew exactly how to please the boss.
Dumbledore had no intention of waiting for the potion to fully ripen. The moment he sensed the Obscurus's aura, he attacked again.
This time Peter, buoyed by surging magic, didn't dodge. He met Dumbledore head-on, trading bolt for bolt.
After a few exchanges, seeing his spells were being forced back, Dumbledore changed tactics. At his command, rubble on the floor reshaped into fully armored knights who brandished weapons and charged Peter. Dumbledore sheltered behind them, watching for an opening in Peter's defense to strike a decisive blow.
He'd already spotted Peter's weakness: as the power swelled, Peter's reason eroded. At first Peter could still cast spells—but as the surge grew, his wand couldn't take it; it shattered into splinters. With his mind pressed down by that oppressive magic, Peter stopped using structured spells altogether and simply flung raw force.
To put it another way: at the start, Peter's wand was a gun, but the bullets were weaker than Dumbledore's; he lost the shootout. After the Obscurial Potion, he'd overcharged the powder to fight Dumbledore to a draw. As time passed, the "powder charge" kept rising until the "gun" blew apart. Now Peter was pulling the powder out of the shells, packing it tight with his hands, and hurling it directly at the enemy.
As Peter's power climbed, Dumbledore grew quietly anxious. At this rate, when Peter finally lost control, that mass of power would erupt. He had seen an Obscurus self-detonation before; by his estimation, Hogwarts Castle would be heavily damaged, and students would be hurt.
While Peter's attention was on the knights, Dumbledore secretly sent a Patronus to alert the professors and have them evacuate the students. He himself would do anything to buy time.
A moment later, Loren's and Hermione's magic notebooks chimed in the Room of Requirement—it was a message from Neville. Following Harry's orders, Neville had ridden the broom back through the trapdoor, carried Ron to the hospital wing, then gone to write Dumbledore for help. Uneasy, he also went to Professor McGonagall to confess everything and ask for aid.
By the time the group reached the third-floor corridor, all the Heads of House had felt that suffocating surge of power—and Dumbledore's Patronus arrived, telling them to lead the students out of the castle.
They didn't hesitate. Students were roused from sleep, then, under the prefects' lead, were shepherded out onto the grounds.
Not seeing Loren or Hermione among the crowd, Neville realized they weren't in the dorms and used the magic notebook to urge them to evacuate at once.
Loren knew the Obscurus would ultimately bloom like a bright firework—destroying only a few meters around it—but he still told Hermione what to do and, using his authority, Apparated her outside the castle. He stayed where he was to observe.
By now Peter's power had reached its limit, and the Obscurus had begun to extrude from his body. Just then Dumbledore received confirmation back from his Patronus that the students were out. He stopped holding back, conjured another wave of armored knights to charge the Obscurus, then invoked his headmaster privileges to Apparate away.
He appeared outside with Harry in his arms. The Heads of House, busy maintaining order, saw him arrive and passed their tasks to the upper-year prefects. When Professor Snape started to open his mouth, Dumbledore raised a hand to stop him. One look at Dumbledore's grave face and the unconscious Harry in his arms, and Snape went pale, snatched Harry away, and hurried off to find Madam Pomfrey.
Back in the chamber where the Stone had been kept, only the Obscurus—swelling as it drew in power—and Peter—collapsed and unable to move—remained. Dumbledore's knights had long since been torn to gravel.
A flash of light—Loren arrived, using his privileges. His eyes went first to the Mirror of Erised. Though just a mirror, it was essentially the checkpoint; despite the coating of dust and ash, it hadn't been damaged.
With a wave, Loren collected the unconscious Peter and the Mirror of Erised, then vanished.
An instant later he appeared beside Hermione. Fortunately, it was the middle of the night and panic reigned; most people didn't notice his sudden arrival.
Two pairs of eyes did lock on their spot, however: George and Fred. They found Neville supporting Seamus—but not Harry, Ron, or Loren. They didn't approach Neville; instead they hid aside and used the Marauder's Map to search for Ron and Harry's traces. That was when they spotted a name that shouldn't have been on the Map at all—Peter—and it was with Dumbledore. Realizing something serious was afoot, they decided to seek out Loren for answers. As for how to find that elusive Loren within Hogwarts—just tail Hermione.
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