Only Merlin had succeeded in getting through the adamantium barrier, and Harry highly doubted anyone else would ever think of it, especially a wizard. Wizards never had been much for logic, and Harry was surprised beyond belief when Merlin had used spells to separate the particles of earth from the metal in his barrier, leaving millions of miniscule holes, which Merlin then tranformed into much larger holes by expanding them with magic. It was ingenius, but Merlin had also went a little too far and immediately found himself trapped within a chamber that Harry had devised, which sucked all of Merlin's own memories out of him, reversing the legilimency against him, causing Harry to stumble at the vast influx of memories and knowledge.
As Harry felt Professor Flitwick's gentle probing, Harry quickly entered his mindscape and saw a light in the darkness. Far quicker than Harry's father had, Professor Flitwick banished the false thoughts and memories that bombarded him, and quickly made his way, heading straight for Harry's city. Harry let him. Harry even removed the outer barrier before Flitwick knew it was there. Harry wanted to show Dumbledore what he was capable of, so he made a door in his wall, drawing Flitwick into it, before sealing it shut, and reraising his barrier to full strength. Professor Flitwick was trapped within a room that played several imagined memories in a loop, which would give Harry more than enough time since he had already completely sealed off Professor Flitwick's only means of escape.
Coming out of his mind, Harry gave no indication that he knew Professor Flitwick was in the room with them, though he clearly saw the tiny Charms Professor slumped over just a tad.
"Harry, we are glad that you could join us tonight," Professor Dumbledore said. "There are a few things that we would both like to speak to you about, not least, where you learned to cast an unforgiveable."
Fudge fidgeted in his seat when Dumbledore mentioned this. "Yes. Professor Dumbledore convinced me earlier today not to prosecute you for it. Though I daresay, I should have you hauled in for it. You are not an auror, and had no authorization to use that spell."
"Would you rather Remus and I used a different spell, Minister?" Harry asked darkly. "There were children on that platform, and we couldn't very well let him escape again, which is what he would have done if you had arrested him. No, people like that are best dealt with permanently, where they can never commit any other atrocity."
"Still, Harry," Fudge said uneasily. "How would it look if the Ministry allowed you to cast an unforgiveable in the middle of the crowd, and in front of the Minister of Magic himself? There have to be repurcussions of some sort." Looking very uncomfortable, as if this was the last thing he wanted to do, Fudge rocked himself back and forth in his chair.
"Think back, Minister," Harry replied. "You yourself raised your wand against Peter. He was a traitor, and a murderer. Every witch and wizard with a wand that was there had their wand pointed at him. If Remus and I hadn't killed him, one of them would have. Do you really think it would have been better if we had used a spell, such as the "Diffindo", which would have been very bloody and messy? The children and younger students watching would have been needlessly traumatized by the sight. As for how the Ministry will look, do you really think people are going to turn against you for it? Sure, there are a few narrow minded, uptight prats that will condemn you for it, but overall the public will bless you for it. They will praise you as a great minister, who punished a traitor and murderer the way he deserved. He did not deserve to live, and the public will praise you for your actions in allowing justice to be done, because by doing so, you acted in the best interest of the public's safety. Just tell them that you knew you were going there on a tip that Peter Pettigrew was found alive. I know it's not below you to lie a bit, and those who were there aren't likely to tell the truth. They were as angry as we were."
"And how would it look, Cornelius, as I pointed out to you earlier today, if we imprisoned Remus Lupin and Harry Potter, who most of the wizarding world view as a hero for being Lord Voldemort's downfall? You would be bombarded with Howlers, demanding your immediate resignation, especially when it leaked that you had imprisoned Harry and Remus for murdering Peter Pettigrew, the wizard who betrayed Lily and James Potter! The wizarding world would be demanding your head on a platter, Cornelius, and you know this. Harry is viewed as the hope of the wizarding world for the future, and as such, it would be prudent for you to offer a statement, saying that Remus and Harry executed, not murdered, Peter Pettigrew for his crimes, under the full authority of the Minister of Magic himself, in order to prevent Peter from committing any more atrocities which would hurt innocent people. Make sure that the public knows that the Ministry stands behind Harry. Do this, Cornelius, and you will be hailed as one of the greatest ministers of magic we have ever had. You will forever cement yourself as a man of action, a Minister who always looked out for the public's best interests, and refused to tolerate any evildoers."
Fudge had winced horribly at Voldemort's name, but nonetheless appeared happier. "I suppose you are right, Dumbledore," Fudge said calmly, looking hopeful. "Thank you both for your time. I think I must be going then. I have to be quick if my statement is going to make tomorrow morning's edition of the Daily Prophet."
Harry watched the Minister get out of his chair, and hurriedly leave Professor Dumbledore's office, stopping only to open and shut the door behind him on his way out.
They were finally alone, for the first time since Harry had come back. Professor Flitwick didn't count, seeing as he was still trapped within Harry's mind, and could hear nothing of what was said between Harry and Dumbledore. Harry had raised his head, and stared at Dumbledore, who had been giving Harry a shrewd, calculating look.
"Harry, I believe we have many things to discuss, but first, you must tell me what all you know of the future," Dumbledore said quietly. "You have already, albeit very grudgingly, told me about your fourth year at Hogwarts, but what of the first three years?"
Harry was instantly infuriated. How dare Dumbledore demand Harry to tell him anything, saying that Harry must tell him! Harry felt no other probing, but he knew that it was a tactic to bring the memories to the forefront of his mind, possibly making it easier for Professor Flitwick to find what Dumbledore wanted. It didn't work. Harry's thoughts and memories remained secure, and his occlumency barriers at full stength.
"Before I tell you anything, Dumbledore, you must answer one of my questions," Harry replied coolly.
"Of course, Harry," Dumbledore said a bit too quickly. "There are, of course, a few things that I can't tell you, but you are welcome to ask."
"Why then," Harry asked, fixing Dumbledore with an intense stare, "did Voldemort try to kill me as a baby?"
Dumbledore sighed very deeply. "Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day... put it from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older... I know you hate to hear this... when you are
ready, you will know."
Harry's insides turned, and he let his rage freely flow. "Wrong answer, Headmaster. My first four years, you always kept the important details from me, giving me just enough information to get by on. No more, Dumbledore. No secrets. I understand that by doing so, you were giving me a chance to figure things out on my own, but people get hurt that way. If you don't tell me everything I need to know from the beginning, mistakes are going to be made, on both of our parts."
Dumbledore looked at Harry sadly, adopting his infamous grandfatherly voice, "Harry, I think you have quite enough responsibility to be getting on with. You're only eleven. You should be enjoying your childhood, not worrying about these things, which you are much too young to know. The knowledge would be too much for anyone at such a young age. How can I bear the burden of giving you such a terrible truth?"
Harry shot to his feet. "Dumbledore, I deserve to know. It's my life. I'm the one who has to live it, not you or anybody else," Harry replied harshly. Harry leaned forward in the plush chair he had now vacated and punctuated his statement by pounding his fist against the desk. He continued ranting furiously, using his finger, pointing back and forth between the Headmaster and himself to illustrate his words. "Don't attempt to treat me as a child, Headmaster. You have no control over me. We need to work together if we are going to stop Voldemort in the future. There is more than one other way in which he can return, and when he does, we need to be ready. That includes telling me everything that I need to know so we can plan our moves together. Don't give me that underage crap, Dumbledore. I've been in this fight a long time already, and whether you like it or not, I'm not going to sit back and watch others fight and die, not when I could be helping."
Dumbledore decided to change tactics. He was, after all, a master orator, and you don't get to be Headmaster of such a prestigous and historical school as Hogwarts without knowing how to handle children and teenagers. "Harry, you don't understand. There are too many 'what if's' and unanswered questions," Dumbledore said softly. "There are a few all important questions that I have spent years investigating, answers to which I still cannot be certain of the answers."
"You just said it, Dumbledore," Harry pried. "You have spent years researching Voldemort. You know Tom Riddle better than anyone. You know where he comes from, how he thinks, what he values, and more importantly, you have a pretty good idea what his plans are and how to defeat him. Am I correct?"
Dumbledore frowned, taken back by Harry's knowledge of Voldemort's true name. "What do you know of Tom Riddle, Harry?"
"I already told you, Headmaster," Harry replied, scowling at Dumbledore's poor attempt at fishing for information. Harry could feel himself growing increasingly impatient, and was doing his level best not to start hexing the old man.
"I will not answer your questions until you answer mine. How else will I know that you are willing to trust me, to work with me. Only then will I know that I can begin to trust you, especially after the life you have forced me to lead thus far. Do you care anything about your master plan? Or do you care more for my happiness than my knowing the truth, more for my peace of mind than your plan? Do you care at all for the lives that will inevitably be lost if your plan fails? You need my help. Do not try to save me from more pain than I have already suffered, not at the cost of innocents that can be saved if I fight. Think of the numbers of nameless and faceless people and creatures that have already perished, and how many more will be slaughtered in the vague future, if you try to keep me in the dark... alive, well, and happy. Your excuses are running out, Dumbledore."
"I am sincerely sorry, Harry," Dumbledore said sadly. "You are right, of course. You are far more insightful than I gave you credit for. Please allow me to offer my one defense. All your life I have watched you, more closely and carefully than you could possibly imagine. Tonight, you arrived at Hogwarts, Harry, safe and while, as I have planned and intended. You have arrived here at Hogwarts, not as happy as I would have liked, perhaps. You have suffered. I knew the night when I left you on your aunt and uncle's doorstep that I was condemning you to ten dark and difficult years. Still, you have arrived here alive and healthy. You are not a pampered little pureblood prince, as any wizarding family would have likely raised you as, but as normal a boy as I could ever have hoped for."
Dumbledore paused to unstick two lemon drops before popping one in his mouth, and Harry said nothing. He continued to listen to Dumbledore's explanation, not sensing any sign of deception. It was strange that a moment before he began to speak, Dumbledore had lowered all of his occlumency barriers, as if he knew that Harry was an accomplished legilimens and wanted Harry to trust him fully.
"You might ask, and with very good reason, why it had to be so. Why couldn't some wizarding family take you in, besides the obvious reason that I just gave you. Many families would have been more than glad to take you in, would have considered it an honour, delighted to raise you as a son. My answer is that my priority is, and always has been, to keep you alive. You were in more danger than perhaps anyone other than I had just gone not hours before, but there were still death eaters out there. Many of his supporters were almost as terrible as Voldemort himself, even if they were not nearly as powerful. They were angry, desperate, and violent. They wanted to kill you, Harry. I had to make a decision, with regard also for the years ahead. I knew then, and that day at the Leaky Cauldron you proved me right, that Voldemort is not truly gone. No matter how long it took him, I knew that he would return, and he would not rest until he killed you. Lord Voldemort, Harry, is probably the most brilliant student that ever walked the halls of Hogwarts. Voldemort disappeared after leaving the school, traveling far and wide, sinking so deeply into the Dark Arts, and consorted with the very worst of wizards. Before Tom Riddle resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he did finally resurface, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."
Dumbledore paused once more and Harry leaned forward, intent on not missing anything that Dumbledore told him. "What does that have anything to do with it, Headmaster?"
"Harry, I knew that Voldemort's knowledge of magic is perhaps more extensive than any wizard alive. Not even I can boast to know more of the subtle variations and intracacies of magic than he. He has several powers that I will never have, and although I can hold my own against him, it is for different reasons. My knowledge of spells and creativity is easily above par with Voldemort's own. I knew then that even my most complex and powerful protective spells and charms were highly unlikely to last long if Voldemort ever returned to full power, but I also knew where he was weak. So I chose. You were to be protected by a powerful ancient magic of which Voldemort knows, despises, and which he has always underestimated, to his cost. That night that Voldemort tried to kill you, your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark, giving you a powerful lingering protection, which resides in your very skin. Voldemort never expected this, a protection that flows in your veins to this very day. Therefore, I put my trust in your mother's blood. I delivered you to her sister, her only living relative."
"You made a mistake there, Dumbledore," Harry interrupted darkly, his temper rising at once. "My aunt doesn't love me. She doesn't give a damn about me, never did."
"But she took you," Dumbledore cut in. "She may have taken you in grudgingly, furiously, unwillingly, bitterly, yet she still took you, and by doing so, she sealed the charm that I had placed on you. Your mother's sacrifice made the bond of blood the most powerful shield against Voldemort that I could give you. While you can still call home the place where your mother's blood dwells, Voldemort cannot touch or harm you in any way. He could look directly at you through your window, and he would never know you were there. Voldemort shed your mother's blood, but it lives on through you and her sister. Her blood became your refuge. Your aunt knows all this, because I explained to her what I had done in a letter that I left, with you, on her doorstep. Your aunt knows that allowing you to live there may well have kept you, and the Dursley's alive, since while you are there, they cannot be found."
Dumbledore paused to look out the window. Harry watched as a tear rolled down his eye, and Dumbledore looked every bit his age.
"Please forgive me, Harry. Until now, I could not bear to bring myself to add another burden to you, the greatest one of all. Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a baby because of a prophecy made shortly before your birth. Although he knew the prophecy had been made, he did not know its full contents. He intended to kill you, while you were still a baby, believing that in doing so, he was fulfilling the terms of the prophecy. While this was true, it was not meant the way he planned. Voldemort discovered, again to his cost, that he was badly mistaken, when the curse intended to kill you backfired."
Dumbledore got to his feet and walked past Harry to the black cabinet that stood beside Fawkes 's perch. He bent down, slid back a catch and took from inside it a shallow stone basin, carved with runes around the edges. Dumbledore walked back to his desk, placed the Pensieve upon it, and raised his wand to his own temple, intending to remove a memory, but Harry stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"I know the prophecy, Dumbledore," Harry said softly. Dumbledore stood there, looking thunderstruck. "I already knew everything that you just told me, I just needed to be sure that you would willingly tell me everything this time around. Only then could I know that I could trust you to tell you what I know."
Dumbledore slowly sank back into his chair, carefully hiding his surprise at the revelation. "Does this mean that you will tell me what you know, Harry?"
"Do you think that we can work together?" Harry shot back. "No more secrets? Do you promise not to hold information back for my safety, or because of my age?"
"Harry, you are already wise beyond your years. For that, I am proud of you. Not many could have stood up to me, and pointed out my own mistakes, while acknowledging their own failings. Still, I cannot tell you every detail of my plans, Harry," Dumbledore answered quietly. "But I do promise to give you all the information I have that is consequential to what you must do."
"Then we are agreed, Headmaster," Harry said. "You can take the Elder Wand away from your temple now. There is no need for you to remove any of your memories tonight."
If Dumbledore wasn't already surprised enough, the fact that Harry knew he had the Elder Wand was enough to give him a heart attack. As it were, it took Dumbledore several minutes to regain his composure and slow his now racing heart. He really was getting to old for this. When would the surprises end? What else did Harry Potter know and how did he come by such information? "How do you know about my wand, Harry?"
"Merlin told me," Harry said simply, again shocking the Headmaster into popping several calming drought spiked lemon drops into his mouth. Over the next hour, Harry told the headmaster everything about his first four years at Hogwarts, leaving out any personal information, of course. He also told him what had happened after he was hit with the killing curse while in the graveyard, and about meeting Merlin and his parents while in between. (Harry had purposefully failed to mention this while they were all at the Leaky Cauldron.) Harry told him of the Founder's Prophecy, and that he, Harry, was the heir of Merlin, and all four of the founders. Not like Dumbledore wouldn't have guessed it from the sorting earlier that night. Finally, Harry told Dumbledore of Voldemort's horcruxes, along with Harry's own intense training, as well as a very small bit of Merlin's own plan that he had devised to help Harry achieve the goals which had been set.
"So by coming back, you intend to return Avalon to the mortal realm, destroy Voldemort, and bring a balance back to magic, is that right?" Dumbledore asked curiously. His eyes were twinkling madly now.
"That's about it, Dumbledore," Harry replied as if doing it would be the easiest thing in the world. "Don't forget that I also plan to change the wizarding world. There is far too much corruption, mistreatment of non-humans, and prejudice against those who aren't pureblood. That is all going to change, Dumbledore. You have long spoken of doing these things, but you have never acted. You have yet been unwilling to rock the boat, so to speak. I am not so unwilling."
"Harry, to institute the changes required, you would have to overthrow the Ministry," Dumbledore said alarmed."
"If I have to, then I will," Harry answered. "The goblins are already on my side. Before long, Remus will have the strength to take care of Greyback, after which, I will undoubtedly have the support of the werewolves also. So if it comes to all out war, I will win. I really hope that it does not come to that, however. I do have the votes of every family that I am the head of, and I am quite confident that if I can get the parents of all the girls I am contracted to, along with my friends, to vote my way, I can pretty much control the wizengamot. After all, I personally control the votes from nine different families, plus the vote for the guild of Sorcerers. If I was to convince all the parents, who have a vote in the wizengamot, that would give me an additional ten families. That is not including my friends, such as Neville Longbottom. Tell me, do you really think that the Wizengamot would be able to pass any new laws without me or my approval? With your power and influence in the Ministry already, Dumbledore, we can begin making changes immediately, and I will consider leaving Hogwarts under your control."
"What do you mean, leave Hogwarts under my control, Harry? I am the Headmaster," Dumbledore asked him, a touch of anger in his voice.
"I already told you, Dumbledore. I am the heir of not only Merlin, who taught the Founders, but also the heir of all four Founders themselves," Harry answered. He was enjoying this. Harry had the power to make changes in the Hogwarts staff, rules, and even curiculum, and Dumbledore could do nothing about it. If Harry had his say in the matter, and he would, he would bring Hogwarts back to its former glory. No longer would all the unused classrooms be empty. "I can control who stays and who goes here, Headmaster. I would much rather not waste my time having to moniter everything constantly, and I do agree with many of the ways you do things."
"Are you trying to blackmail me, Harry? Just earlier I saved you from a one way ticket to Azkaban," Dumbledore replied softly, looking betrayed.
"And it was very good of you to do that for me, Dumbledore," Harry responded quickly. "I could have stopped you both from taking me in, but it was better the way you dealt with it. I am not trying to go over your head, Headmaster. Neither am I talking treason against the Ministry. My intentions, here and there, are to make the necessary changes to make Hogwarts, and the wizarding community in general, a better place for us and our children to live. It is inevitable that I will be forced to step on a few toes every so often of some powerful, influential people, but I would much prefer that I have you on my side. If not, so be it. Sacrifices are necessary in order to institue change, but I, unlike you, will not willingly sacrifice others to reach my goals."
Dumbledore leaned back, listening to Harry, finally understanding his intentions, and the lengths that he would go in order to fulfill them. Dumbledore couldn't help but smile. Here was a young, powerful, and very talented wizard, who would take the fight to the enemy. Unlike Dumbledore, Harry would not be patient and allow the political wheel to roll, while doing nothing. Harry had returned a warrior, a man of action, and it looked to Dumbledore like the very fate of the wizarding world rested on his shoulders, and Harry was intent on not letting anyone he cared about down. It didn't matter if Dumbledore thought him ready, which he now did. The point was, Harry had the resources and influence to make the changes that Dumbledore himself had been years in the making. No matter what, if Harry stayed true to his values, Dumbledore would do everything in his power to make his dreams a reality.
"Do we have an understanding, Headmaster," Harry asked sharply.
"You understand the far reaching effects our decisions could have, implementing them the way you intend?" Harry nodded. "Very well, Harry. You shall have my full support in your endeavors."
"Thank you, Professor. I do in fact have one suggestion tonight, and something I want to show you."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "Indeed? What is it?"
"Remember my story, and keep a close eye on Quirrell and please don't tell Severus Snape anything that I have told you. If and when I choose for him to know, I will tell him myself," Harry replied. "Also, I wanted you to see this."
"Of course I will keep your confidence. It is your right, not mine, to tell Professor Snape of your life," Dumbledore answered. "Now what is it that you wanted to show me?"
"This," Harry replied, taking out the stone that he had taken from his vault.
Dumbledore's eyes popped out. "Oh gods. Harry is that?" Dumbledore looked thoroughly impressed, and extremely anxious to examine the stone in Harry's hands.
"It is, Professor," Harry said, handing Dumbledore the stone. "In your hands, is the only true Philosopher's Stone ever created. Merlin himself made it."
~Harry, are you there?~
~I'm here, Love. Dumbledore decided that he wanted to drill me for information, but we are almost done. How's everything going on your end?~
~Great, but I miss you, Harry. Please try to hurry up. Everyone else is still awake in the common room, Sirius too. You won't believe this place, Harry! It's beautiful. We each have our own rooms, but I prefer being cuddled next to you all night.~
~I'll try, Gabby.~ Harry thought back as he chuckled quietly to himself. ~Why is everyone still up?~
~Well, not everyone. Fred and George went to bed, along with Angelina. I think Neville and Lavender Brown are in bed too, but all the other girls want to see those contracts that you promised them.~
~Will you tell them for me that I will be down as soon as I can get away from here? I will show them the contracts when I get there.~
~I knew you would say that, Harry. I already told them, but you've been gone a while, and they are starting to get anxious.~
~I'm sorry, Love. I wish that you didn't have to put up with that. You deserve better.~
~You're really sweet, you know that? They don't know it yet, but we must be the luckiest girls in the world to have such a great bloke to love us and take care of us.~
~You don't really think that, Love. I'm just trying to do what's best for all of us.~
~Don't be so modest, Harry. Of course I think that about you, and I know what you are doing. I'm behind you one hundred percent, and I always will be.~
~Thanks, Gabby. I love you.~
~And I love you.~
~I think I have to go now, Dumbledore looks to be almost finished with examining the Philosopher's stone.~
~Alright. See you soon, Harry!~
Meanwhile, Dumbledore had taken out his wand and was carefully examining the stone, but to no effect. Only Harry, or his children when he had them, would be able to reproduce the stone, seeing as the final stage required the blood of a divine. But Dumbledore didn't know this. The Headmaster sat there for nearly fifteen minutes, humming softly and casting spell after spell on the stone, and looking at it under a special silver instrument. Finally, he looked up at Harry. "Thank you for showing me this. This stone is magnificent, but I cannot determine certain, important properties of the stone. I can easily verify its authenticy for you, but I cannot reproduce it. Would you like me to have Nicolas take a look at this for you?"
"No, that's fine," Harry replied, reaching out to take the stone from atop Dumbledore's desk. "I just thought that you would be interested in it. I already knew that you could not reproduce it. You would need my permission for it to even work properly if you intended to use it."
"Then I believe we are done here, Harry. Is there anything else you require?"
"Just one more thing. I would like my invisibility cloak back, Professor. The one my father lent you."
"Very well, Harry," Dumbledore said, getting up once more to pull out Harry's invisbility cloak from a shelf behind him, then handing it to Harry before walking to his office door and opening it for Harry to go through. "Let us make our way to your new dormitory. The Sorting Hat was kind enough to reveal the location to myself and the other teachers earlier tonight."
Just as Harry walked through the door, he made sure to release Professor Flitwick, who looked dazed, but nonetheless followed them, still invisible.
Harry and Professor Dumbledore quickly made their way towards the Astronomy tower, where they stopped, facing a long wall, empty of anything, except for a banner bearing the Hogwarts crest, as it now showed. Harry didn't know what to do, he had passed this area many times on his way up to his Astronomy class, but he had never noticed anything here. It didn't seem to both Dumbledore, though, since he prodded the tip of the crown on the Emrys crest, and the wall simply melted away, revealing a long corridor, at the end of which was a brilliant, ashen door with a silver knob and gold inlay. In the center, at eye level, was the Emrys crest, being held up by a carved phoenix.
The head of the phoenix turned and opened its beak. "Password?"
"Harry you will need to set a password," Dumbledore said quietly. "The others are already inside, but this phoenix is the guardian of your dormitory, and once it was unlocked, it allowed the rest entry, but has waited for you so that you could decide on a password."
Harry was startled. The phoenix head was still turned towards him, silent. And Professor Dumbledore was standing there expectantly.
"Umm... how about Snitch? Just for now, until I can think of something better," Harry said uneasily, not sure whether or not it would be acceptable.
To Harry's surprise, the phoenix nodded and its eyes glowed fiery red, and the door opened silently.
"Goodnight, Harry," Dumbledore said, looking down at Harry through his half moon spectacles. "This is where we part."
"Goodnight, Sir," Harry answered as he walked through the door.
"Well, Filius," Dumbledore began as the door to the Emrys house closed, turning to face the now visible Charms Professor. "How did it go?"
The tiny Professor Flitwick looked up at Professor Dumbledore and replied squeakily. "Headmaster, you set me against a Master Occlumens. He himself lowered his mental shields in order to draw me in, I believe to show me of what he is capable. He locked me in a loop of rather comical memories that I am quite sure were fraudulent, and did not release me until you were both leaving your office to head here. I do not recommend attempting to pry anything from him using Legilimency ever again, Headmaster. He would know immediately, and could easily hold you yourself hostage within his mind long enough to contact the authorities, and you would not succeed in your attempts either way. His defenses are more pronounced than anything I have ever encountered. I myself will be redoing my own, following his example."
"So you found out nothing, Filius?"
"Nothing at all, Headmaster," the tiny Professor squeaked.
"Then it is as I suspected. Thank you for your efforts in this, Filius," Dumbledore said resignedly.
"Not at all, Headmaster. Glad to be of service!"
Dumbledore turned away and headed back to his office, deep in thought, as Professor Flitwick headed off to the Charms corridor.
Emrys Common Room, Astronomy Tower, Hogwarts
Noise erupted around him the second Harry walked through the door, and into the huge common room of the Emrys house.
Looking around, Harry saw that in front of him was a large fireplace, with a pot of floo powder shimmering next to it. There were four hallways, two on each side, leading to the rooms. Beside the fireplace, hanging on the wall was a bulletin board, which hung just behind a large Emrys banner. In front of the fireplace, a large, ornate, oaken coffee table was placed in the middle of two huge, sectional couches that looked exceptionally comfortable, both being solid black, with silver and emerald inlay, with very fluffy, matching black and golden pillows, strown about the couches where all the girls had been seated, chatting amongst themselves. Harry also noted a hot tub off in the corner, seperated from the rest of the room by sparkling black onyx tiles going out from it on both sides not connected to the wall for about five feet. On each side of the wall, in between the four corridors, a love crimson love seat sat, pushed against the wall. There were also three, very cushy looking armchairs. One set with its back now to the fireplace, courtesy of Sirius, who now sat in it. The second was in front of a table near the wall, that looked to be a prime spot to do homework. The third sat right underneath the torch to Harry's left, as he entered the common room, sitting beside a tall, mahogony bookcase that currently housed a few dozen books.
"Harry," Daphne began, getting up from her spot in between Tracey and Gabby. Daphne approached Harry with a dangerous look in here eye. "You promised us that you would give proof to back up what you told us earlier. Where is it?"
"Calm down, it's not my fault that you don't have it by now," Harry answered hastily. "Dumbledore wanted to see me."
"That's not our problem, is it Harry?" Tracey replied as she, too, got up and advanced on Harry, followed quickly by Gabby who reached Harry's side and took his hand. The other girls nodded, except for Tonks and Hermione.
"You'll get your proof," Gabby shot at them heatedly. "How about you give Harry some space, and a little time to get it for you? Merlin, he barely walks in the room and you start in on him. You haven't even given him a chance to do anything yet!"
Daphne looked unphased by Gabby's increasing voice volume as her temper rose, but Tracey looked a bit unsettled. Nonetheless, they both took a few steps back, and let Harry pass.
"Go on then. Get the stupid contracts. Just make sure you don't do anything funny with them, like change some names," Daphne said coldly. She watched Harry and Gabby both very closely as they walked by her, and to their room.
Harry hurried by her, following Gabby to their room, where their trunk had already been set up. Surprisingly, the door to their room had a lock on it, and a king sized bed pushed up against the wall next to the window, with brilliant red bed curtains. Beside Harry, directly in front of the foot of the bed, was a desk, already equipped with an eagle feather quill and ink. Next to it, a large dresser stood, where Gabby had already organized their clothes. Standing in the corner, was Selene's perch, with the phoenix currently sleeping.
Harry leaned down and, opening his trunk, laid his invisibility cloak carefully inside, while removing his copies of the marriage contracts to the girls that were waiting for him in the common room. The ones for Ginny and Luna he left in his trunk. He would prefer to leave the one for Daphne's sister in there as well, but seeing as it was a double contract, like the Patils, he was unable to do so, without leaving Daphne's in there also. That didn't seem like such a good idea to Harry.
"Well?" Harry heard Daphne's voice come from behind him. "Have you got them?"
"Yeah, I do," replied Harry as he leaned back up with the contracts in hand. "They're right here."
Daphne frowned as Harry handed them to her, and he and Gabby followed her back out to the common room, where Sirius watched her hand them out eagerly. Harry stood beside where Sirius sat, still having a firm grip around Gabby's waist.
Sirius whispered quietly to Harry, so that only he could hear him. "I got a letter from Remus, Harry. Just earlier, right after we got here. The owl was sitting on the table waiting for me." Harry glanced knowingly at Sirius.
"Does that mean?" Harry began, but Sirius cut him off.
"That letter explained a lot to me, Pup. But there are still a few things that confuse me. I guess we will just have to take some time to talk about it."
"Sure thing, Sirius," Harry said excitedly.
Sirus chuckled quietly to himself for a second before he looked thoughtful, watching the girls' eyes widen in shock, a few of them squealing, each giving Harry anxious, curious, and in a couple of cases, angry looks. "So, it's for real then?"
Harry nodded slowly, sighing as he thought of the trouble he was going to have trying to get to know Daphne. Tracey had been in the boat with Daphne earlier, but as she read her contract, she looked steadily more excited. Daphne was as unreadable as ever, though. Harry could easily use legilimency to find out what was going through her mind, but there was no way he was going to violate her like that.
Sirius was grinning broadly now, and slapped Harry on the back. "Oh, what Lily would think! James would be very proud of you, Harry. Having to marry all of these girls. He might pity you a bit too, though. Well done!" Sirius continued to grin happily, even as several of the girls gave him reproving glares.
Harry noted the conflicting emotions showing clearly in several of their eyes. "How about you all take a look at these tonight? Keep them. I won't force myself onto any of you, no matter what these contracts say. I just thought that it would be a good idea for you to all know about them, just in case. The sooner the better, I thought. It would give us more time to get to know each other, and decide what to do about them."
A few of them, Daphne, Tracey, Susan, and Hannah, all nodded softly before quietly disappearing to their rooms. Su Li walked up to Harry and started to give the contract back to him.
"Keep it, it's yours," Harry said into her ear. She smiled shyly.
"I don't need it, Harry. I believe you," she replied as she blushed, brushing her long, smooth black hair out of her face and gave him a peck on the cheek as Tonks looked from from where she now stood beside Harry.
"Keep it anyways." Su Li nodded and quickly disappeared, headed to bed.
"Wotcher, Harry!"
"Hey Tonks," Harry answered tiredly.
"Do I get a kiss too? Please? One goodnight kiss is all I want," Tonks said pleadingly.
Harry grinned, and a couple girls, Alicia and Katie, giggled as Tonks swooped down on Harry and gave him a passionate kiss dead on the lips before heading off down the hallway behind him, humming happily.
Not watching Tonks disappear, Harry instead sat down on the very comfortable couch, instantly feeling drowsy. Harry didn't know what time it was, but it had to be pretty late by now. Closing his eyes for a moment, Harry felt someone sit on either side of him, just before he felt lips on his. Eyes jerking open immediately, Harry saw Gabby leaned over him from behind, in a fit of giggles at having startled him. "Hey, Love," Harry said.
Gabby's eyes sparkled with mirth. "Hey yourself, Harry," she said, still laughing at him.
Harry feigned an angry look, " Do you think that's funny, scaring me half out of my wits?"
"Oh, no Harry," Gabby replied as she began to slowly back away, faking a look of terror. "I think it's hilarious, don't you agree girls?"
Harry tried to jump over the couch to chase Gabby, but he was held fast by Katie and Alicia, who he barely noticed were the ones who sat beside him when he still had his eyes closed.
"Oh, yeah," Katie agreed with Gabby, holding Harry down by his arm and shoulder.
"But it is really cute, too. I must say, I think I can look forward to being with Harry," Alicia commented, holding Harry's other arm, preventing his escape or going after Gabby, who was now leaning back over Harry, just out of his reach.
"Oh, get a room," Hermione shot from across the room, where she had an open book in front of her. "Or you can let me watch, your choice. I might end up joining you all one day."
Alicia and Katie both gave Hermione panicked looks.
"Don't mind her," Padma said, swaying her body and hips seductively as she walked slowly towards Harry, whose eyes were fixed on the advancing girl's legs.
"Yeah, she knows we're too young for any of that stuff," Parvati finished for her sister as she copied Padma's movements. Harry had two very cute indian girls swaying seductively just in front of him, and they each leaned forward to breath in his ear, and their hands on his lap, Padma on the right, Parvati on the left.
"Although, Harry, dear," whispered Padma into his ear, making him gulp.
"In a few years, we fully intend... to really enjoy ourselves," Parvati finished into his other ear, with an emphasis on 'really'. Padma and Parvati both licked the ear they were leaning into slowly before giving it an affectionate nip, and leaned back up to stand in front of him.
Harry was speechless. He couldn't believe that girls that young could be that flirt that bad. They both laughed as Harry's eyes were glued to their legs, moving back and forth between the two girls.
"Give him a break girls," Hermione laughed as she got up and closed her book. "You'll break him before we've even had our fun, and we don't want that do we."
Harry's eyes widened further. "Hermione, don't think that I can't handle all of you, but I do happen to be held down by two gorgeous girls who have seen fit to hold my arms tightly around them."
"You really think so?" Hermione asked, twirling around slowly, giving Harry a perfect view of her bum. "You want to try?"
Harry grinned mischievously. "Sure." And he jumped so suddenly from his spot that neither Katie or Alicia noticed his movement until it was too late. Harry was already up, with his arms around Hermione, pinning her to him.
Laughing, Hermione tried to stomp on his foot, "Help, girls!"
Sirius may have seen his doom, too, since he hurriedly got up and left the dorm. The girls attacked.
Great Hall, Hogwarts, Northern Scotland
The next morning, Harry awoke to find himself on the couch, underneath several snoozing girls. Daphne and Tracey were both looking down at him disbelievingly, but Hannah and Susan both walked by, and gave him a peck on each cheek as they headed out towards the great hall for breakfast.
The night before, Harry had a war with the girls, who surprisingly, managed to pin him down and tickle him senseless after about an hour. Too exhausted to fight anymore, they had eventually collapsed talking, falling asleep on by one.
Harry tried to wiggle himself out without waking any of them, but having Hermione lay across his chest with her hair tickling his chin didn't make it easy. In fact, when Harry went to try and slide himself out from under her, Hermione jerked awake.
Glancing at her watch, Hermione shouted, "Oh no!" waking everyone else up.
"What is it, Hermione?" Katie said, yawning as she raised her head.
"Breakfast is almost over! We need to hurry. They're passing out our schedules," Hermione replied as she hurried out the door to the common room, bag in hand.
Harry and the girls jumped at the news, and ten minutes later, were sitting in the great hall munching on toast when Sirius came around, handing them their schedules.
"You will have the same schedules as the Gryffindors this year, since there aren't many of you," Sirius told Harry as he handed him his schedule and continued down the table to give everyone else theirs. Harry looked down at his schedule and moaned.
Harry Potter
Monday- Transfiguration- History of Magic- Lunch- Double Potions
Tuesday- Charms- Defense Against the Dark Arts- Lunch- Double Herbology
Wednesday- Free Period- History of Magic- Lunch- Astronomy (Midnight)
Thursday-Transfiguration- Defense Against the Dark Arts- Lunch- Double Herbology
Friday- Double Potions- Charms- Lunch- Free Period
"Binns and Snape on the very first day, brilliant," Harry said sullenly. The sound of a hundred owls, streaming through the open windows above them and into the Great Hall, caught Harry's attention and he automatically looked upward, scanning the owls for Hedwig. The other owls were circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps.
Finally, after a moment, Harry spotted Hedwig, and she gracefully landed next to him, holding the morning's issue of the Daily Prophet. Hedwig stuck her leg out for Harry to take the newspaper, before helping herself to some of his bacon.
Unfolding the paper, Harry absentmindedly stroked Hedwig, and began to read. After a moment he frowned.
"Hey Gabby," Harry said while taking a bite of toast. Gabby turned her head. "Look at this."
Gabby took the newspaper from Harry, and began to read.
Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, or Dark Lord in Training?
Several eye witness reports came in yesterday, of people claiming to have seen Peter Pettigrew alive and in the company of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. But is this true?
One eye witness says that, "Harry Potter was standing with Albus Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic, Corneliue Fudge and they were arguing. Albus Dumbledore appeared to have a rat in his hands and then, poof! A moment later a man they called Peter Pettigrew appeared."
More than one reliable source tells us that this information is indeed, correct. But then, what happened ten years ago, when the notorius mass murderer Sirius Black was imprisoned for killing twelve muggles and one wizard, Peter Pettigrew? Did the Ministry put an innocent man in Azkaban for ten years? The Gringotts spokesgoblins say that they have given the Ministry evidence for several years, proving Black's innocence, but not once, was he ever given a trial.
Lucius Malfoy, another eyewitness of the events, had this to say on the issue. "Fortunately, Black is only one innocent man that was imprisoned without a trial. We all know that the Ministry has been corrupted by several officials accepting bribes. It is my oppinion, that Harry Potter, and Remus Lupin, a known werewolf, were able to bribe the Minister himself to allow them to commit murder."
The controversial murder that Lucius Malfoy spoke of is none other than the killing of Peter Pettigrew, yesterday at Platform 9 3/4. For most of the day yesterday, we at the Daily Prophet attempted to get statements from Albus Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge, as to whether the accusations are true, even though there are nearly three dozen eye witnesses, all with the same story, who can testify that Harry Potter and Remus J. Lupin did, in fact, cast an Unforgiveable, in this case the killing curse, at Peter Pettigrew, in full view of the public, the Headmaster of Hogwarts and Supreme Mugwump, and the Minister of Magic himself.
Late last night, however, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, called me, Rita Skeeter to his office. He had this to say. "Yesterday, we at the Ministry recieved an anonymous tip, informing us to the location, and form of an illegal rat Animagus. I, who happened to be meeting with Albus Dumbledore when the owl reached me, immediately went to the Platform, to verify the information. Upon getting there, the rat in question was identified by first Harry Potter, and then Remus Lupin, who admitted to having known Peter Pettigrew was an illegal Animagus since his fifth year, and had seen him transform many times. During a brief investigation, in which Albus Dumbledore and myself, along with Harry Potter and Remus Lupin, questioned Peter Pettigrew. After verifying his identity, we then asked him of the night the Potters died ten years ago, and the day in question that Peter himself was said to have died. For a while, Peter attempted to lie, but Albus Dumbledore himself gave proof that the Potters changed their secret keeper to Pettigrew."
"At this point, he became hysterical, and freely admitted that he betrayed the Potters and then faked his own death when cornered by Sirius Black. Having been a spy for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named for already a year by then, feeding him information, Pettigrew knew that he would be killed by either side if he was captured. Personally, I was enraged at the betrayal. Lily and James Potter were well loved, prominent individuals in the wizarding community, who fought valiantly against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, before they were betrayed by Pettigrew, one of their closest friends. Pettigrew was a traitor, and he had already proved himself capable of gruesome murder, framing Sirius Black for his own crime before escaping into hiding. Hearing this, many of the witches and wizards in the crowd behind me had already raised their wands, intent on getting vengeance, so I made a choice. I authorized Harry Potter and Remus Lupin to use the Killing Curse, to extinguish the life of Peter Pettigrew for his crimes against our community. After all, if I had attempted to arrest him, one or more of the witnesses who were watching us would have very likely attempted to commit murder. I allowed justice to be done on my own terms, punishing the guilty and upholding our community's safety above all else, rather than allow someone else to become a murderer for doing what any other decent person, including myself I might add, would do to gain vengeance for the Potters. I feel right about what I did. If anyone had a right to decide Pettigrew's fate, and cast the lethal curse himself, it was Harry Potter and Remus Lupin, both of whom had been betrayed, losing close loved ones because of Peter Pettigrew's actions."
We at the Daily Prophet were shocked at the news. After all, if anyone else had cast an Unforgiveable in front of the Minister himself, would we still be walking around? No, my dear readers, I think not.
Many have viewed Harry Potter for a long time to be a shining hope, a hero, for conquering the Dark Lord. But why did He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named go after him in the first place? Surely, a baby would not be a threat! It is my belief that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tried to kill Harry Potter because he did not want another Dark Lord competing with him. How else could Harry Potter survive the Killing Curse as a baby, when noone else before him had ever achieved the feat? The fatal Killing Curse that Harry Potter cast in front of dozens of witnesses, including Albus Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic himself yesterday told the tale. Harry Potter is a growing Dark Lord, and he has already shown himself capable of ruthless execution. We must unite. We must stop him, before we have another Dark Lord on our hands, greater and more terrible, than even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!
Gabby looked at the newspaper in her hands with disgust. "Have they always wrote this kind of manure about you?"
"Pretty much," Harry answered, swallowing a glass of pumpkin juice.
"That's horrible, Harry! You should do something," called Hermione from a few seats down, also with a copy of the Daily Prophet in her hands.
"I will, eventually. But not today," Harry said as he got up and threw his bag over his shoulder. "Right now, we've got Transfiguration, anyone coming?"
"What are you thinking of doing, Harry?" Gabby asked as she and Susan picked up their bags and stepped up beside Harry.
"I don't know just yet, but I've always hated Rita Skeeter. She's a foul, vile, loathsome cow that always tries to discredit everyone, even if her stories are full of lies," Harry spat. "And they usually are. Full of lies, I mean."
"You don't know the half of it, Harry," Neville said as he caught up to them, just before the exited the great hall. "You should read some of the stuff she was writing about Cornelius Fudge when he first took office. I could have fertilized my garden with the contents of the Daily Prophet if I had really wanted."
Harry and the girls laughed, especially Lavender Brown, who Harry noted, was sticking very close to Neville as they walked to Transfiguration class.
Author's Notes:
Can anyone tell yet where I am going with this story? I have purposely made the first few chapters a little misleading, but they also help to reveal the complexities of certain relationships, especially the one between Harry and Dumbledore. Anyways, I have tons more surprises in store for my readers. I haven't yet used even one of my major ones. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Thanks for all the reviews!
Well done on the few that guessed that I would be moving them to their own House. I was even surprised that in one review, one of my reader's was thinking along the exact same lines I was, and laid down the very ideas that I had barely laid out before I finished with Chapter 6. As you can tell from the way the sorting played out, you know who you are. Congratulations, I love it when people are able to think for themselves, logic or no.
I noticed that there were quite a few critics of chapter 6, whom I thank for bringing their issues up. In this chapter I have given my reasons, which have served not only to enrich this chapter, but should also answer the questions I recieved about chapter 6, especially concerning Remus and Harry's method of killing Peter. For those of you reading, especially the critics, please continue with your insightful reviews, but bear in mind that reality is never as black and white as it seems. Politics, for one, is very rarely as simple as a crime and punishment. Depending on a person's stature in the society, and the reasons for the actions themselves, many more people than you would think get off for such things.
For those of you who thought I would put Harry into other Houses, such as Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Remember how he seems to have aspects of all four houses? Many students do, but as the Sorting Hat reveals in its song for Harry's fifth year sorting in canon, that's not the way it should be. Instead, I decided to play with what I already had going, and add a bit more detail into it, creating the 5th house. It will be comprised of Harry and his girls, but also the few others that I have added in. Note that they each fit the characteristics of one of the four houses, if not more, but they will also stand together, and united. I won't elaborate on the far reaching effects of that just now, but just think about the Sorting Hat's warnings, and the predictions that have already been made in the story.
As for Ron, where else could I put him? He certainly isn't that loyal, or smart. And he definitely doesn't have an ounce of cunning. But he is very stupidly brave. He is always doing something stupid, some things which people would say are brave, without thinking. But he also has a lot of nerve when he really needs to. Besides, I'm not done with him yet.
Those of you who prefer nonstop Dumbledore bashing, read my notes for the first chapter. I prefer not to do that. Instead, I think that it is far wiser to keep Dumbledore under Harry's thumb, where he can be of some use. Dumbledore does deserve far worse than what I have done to him in this chapter, but how can I do it, and still have him willingly help Harry? Dumbledore's powers and influence is too great to just throw away. Just think of me as a Slytherin, although if I could have figured out a way, I would gladly thrash someone like Dumbledore thoroughly. Can't help it, I grew up on the streets. :)
BTW, Harry won't go dark, but he will toe a pretty fine line. If any of you readers out there firmly believe in the law, then this is your warning. Harry will not take ANY prisoners, and it will get bloody later on as the story progresses. I think I've laid out Harry's primary goals pretty well, and more than one rule or law will be shattered to pieces along the way, so enjoy the ride.
Again, thanks to all who have left reviews. I hope you all enjoy this story as much as I do! Later!