Chapter 66: The Summon (4)
Nero exhaled sharply, his gaze sharpening. "Are you saying Bullock was just a puppet? That someone, some mastermind, was pulling the strings from the shadows?"
Dumbledore didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he reached into a small, locked drawer within his desk and withdrew a parchment.
He unfolded it, revealing an aged, almost crumbling page written in an archaic script.
"This," he said softly, "is the only known personal account attributed to Owle Bullock."
Nero leaned closer, reading the passage.
'To possess a piece of one's soul, to anchor oneself beyond the veil... such is a power that transcends mortality. But beware, for the soul is not a thing to be trifled with. When it is torn, it does not merely shatter, it cries out. And in the void, something listens.'
A weight settled in Nero's stomach. He slowly looked up at Dumbledore.
"Something listens?"