Albus Dumbledore sat in his office at Hogwarts, the dim glow of ented instruments casting long shadows across the room. His fingers drummed rhythmically on the edge of his desk, a rare dispy of unease. For the first time in decades, he felt as though the grouh his carefully structed pns was beginning to shift.

  It was unthinkable—uable.

  An unknown, g the title of “Princess Faust,” had not only stormed into the Wizengamot with an air of authority but had also dared to question him—Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. She had wielded power he hadn’t anticipated, both magical and political, and turhe chamber on its head in a matter of moments. Worse still, she had effortlessly dismantled years of his carefully managed influeh nothing more than a few well-chosen words and a anding presence.

  He steepled his fingers, his pierg blue eyes staring into the flickering fmes of the firepce. The castle’s wards hummed faintly around him, a f stant amid the storm brewing in his mind.

  Who was she, truly? The name “Faust” was not one he reized among any promi wizarding families, nor did her cim of royal lineage align with anything in magical history. Yet her power—oh, her power was undeniable.

  So who was she?!

  The question haunted him. Every spare moment of the remainier ent delving into his vast archives, bing through records, and reag out to his extework of tacts across the greater supernatural world. He sent discreet inquiries to Fallens, goblin, and even a few elder vampires whose memories stretched back turies.

  The answers were always the same: nothing. No one had ever heard of a Princess Faust or of the lineage she cimed.

  Dumbledore’s fiightened on the edge of his desk, his calm mask slipping for the briefest moment. The ck of answers was maddening. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. He was the one who had the answers, the one who stayed three moves ahead.

  Could she be Fae? Why would a Fae help Bck… Unless it was to help Potter.

  The thought sent a cold shiver down his spine. If princess faust was Fae, then his troubles had only just begun. Even his siderable wisdom and experience would be tested in dealing with their kind. To anger a member of the Fae court—or worse, a high-ranking one—was to invite camity on a scale even he was hesitant to front.

  The question is why would a supposed princess of the Fae court help Potter.

  … Luna,

  That had to be it, she was going around g that her and Harry potter were married due to a Fae marriage. He shuddered remembering Luna appearing in his offianding him much like Princess Faust had.

  Dumbledore leaned ba his chair, his fingers steepled as he stared into the flickering fmes of the firepce. He had alrided himself on being prepared for every eventuality, on being able to anticipate the moves of friend and foe alike. But this... this was beyond even his siderable fht.

  He had to proceed carefully. If Luna truly art of the Fae Court, or worse, their princess, he could not afford to provoke her. But her could he allow her to jeopardize his pns.

  The question now was how to deal with her—without tipping his hand.

  The end of the year was ing up and he had all summer to pn.

  onnerfer