Hi everyone, this is the 3rd time I'm attempting to write this, probably lost a few fans in the midst of all the hiatus. Regardless, this was one project that I held quite close to heart, and finally we found each other again, so to speak. Also, this story contains an OC, so if you are not open to the idea of it, kindly disregard the story altogether.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from either story line, except for the OC in later chapters.
Chapter 1: Even more grim news
The Deluminator was pointed at the streetlamp nearest to 4 Privet Drive and the small orb of light was extinguished swiftly. In the dim of the night, Dumbledore could see Harry's silhouette next to the window. It didn't take long for the young wizard to wake up and notice his headmaster's presence, and not long for him to resolve the dire matters that relate his living arrangements for this summer. The boy suffered a terrible loss, but it is also his test of faith and strength that will be very much needed on the road ahead.
Dumbledore watched as the boy bade a curt goodbye to the house that gave him shelter from when he was a baby. He knew well, that the next time Harry returned to this place, it will be his last. What lies ahead, nobody knows.
"Now Harry, let us take a walk." Dumbledore waved his wand and the bulky trunk of Harry's possessions vanished into the night. "There is a matter I wish to discuss with you."
Harry looked up at the old wizard, and for the first time in forever, really looked at him closely. His face, although wrinkled with age and wisdom, also had with it fatigue and illness, dabbed with a tinge of worry. Of what, he was sure would be answered next.
"There is something that the papers are covering up besides the adventure you and your friends undertook at the ministry." Dumbledore looked back at the boy, finding his interest piqued. Satisfied, he smiled and continued. "The reports of people disappearing were obligatory to the public, but how and who did it, most of us have some idea of who is behind it all, and the ministry is using that to its advantage."
"Sir, are you saying that Voldermort isn't our only enemy?" Harry stopped in his tracks. Slightly taken-aback, Dumbledore paused and looked back at the boy, who is a good three steps behind.
"Yes, Harry my boy, this is a highly uncalled for situation, but I'm afraid it is what it is." Dumbledore said quietly, beckoning the boy to keep up.
"But Sir, who are these people, and are they working with Voldermort? If they are this is bad news to us!" Harry jogged to keep up, bombarding the elderly wizard with questions, as an attempt to manage his shock. "If the ministry isn't reporting them, how would we-"
"Harry, my dear boy, Harry. This," the purple-robed wizard looked sideways at him. "Is why I've asked the new minister not to report them."
"Rufus Scrimgeour, sir?" Harry turned his head back to the road, narrowly avoiding a lamppost in his way.
"Yes." Dumbledore chirped, in the most bizarre way, in light of the grim circumstances. Even without looking, he knew what Harry wanted to ask. "Rufus is a smart man. He has been catching dark wizards for most of his life. He won't be taking the situation as lightly as Cornelius would."
"Well I hope he doesn't…" Harry said bitterly, as the reel of the actions of the former minister replayed itself in his mind. "But back to the main question, sir. Who are we dealing with?"
"This is a conversation, Harry, I would prefer to have in a different location." Dumbledore smiled and held out his arm, which to Harry's horror is completely blackened. "Oh no, not this one." He held out his other fine arm, but Harry was no longer paying attention.
"Sir, what ha-"
"Now, now, this is a thrilling tale, and I wish to do it justice." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his half-moon glasses as he beckoned Harry to take his good arm. Reluctantly, the boy resigned and gripped the wrinkled arm, and wished he had tightened it.
His lungs contracted and it felt the air was knocked out of him. For a moment his vision was blurred, with trees and houses bent out of shape. It felt like he was spun in a vortex straight down into nothingness, before he found his footing on solid ground, his hand still gripped tightly around the old wizard's.
"Sir… was that.." he choked.
"Apparition? Yes." Dumbledore said airily, surveying his surroundings. "The sensation does take a while to get used to."
Harry stood up looked around. It is clear that they are still within Muggle dwellings, a scattered few houses around, except one, which looked completely wrecked. The doors were hanging off its hinges, the inside from what they could see was a mess.
"Wand out Harry," the wizard said calmly and Harry didn't need a second telling. He whipped out his prized phoenix tail wand and aimed it at the door. "Follow me."
The two wizards approached the house cautiously.
"Lumos." Dumbledore uttered quietly and the tip of his wand shone brightly. With the light, Harry could see clearly just how much damage was done to the place. Cabinets were smashed, tables turned, there were scattered bloodstains on the wall, and parchments littered the floor. It was as if someone was looking for something, rather than an actual fight that occurred.
"Sir…" Harry looked around cautiously, bracing himself for anything that might pounce.
"Well." surprisingly Dumbledore's voice did not waver, nor did Harry detect any hint of cautiousness. He simply walked over to an armchair and embedded his brightly lit wand into the cushion.
"Ouch!" the armchair cried out. Dumbledore, who seemed very amused, poked it again. "Alright! Alright!"
The armchair moved slowly, and to Harry's astonishment, morphed into a middle-age short man with a big walrus mustache .
"What gave it away Albus?" the man heaved as he straightened.
"Horace my friend, if the death eaters had called, the dark mark would have been set over the house." Dumbledore mused and waved his wand, replacing some of the broken glass. "You would be requiring some assistance cleaning up I presume?"
"Oh yes please." the walrus sighed, resigned and raised his wand. The house started to repair itself, parchment flew neatly in a stack, books rearranging themselves on the shelves, glass and bottle shards joined together without a single crack and settled nicely on the tables. As the walrus surveyed the room, his eyes set upon the only new introduction in the room.
"Oh! Oh! This. Is Harry Potter." the walrus cried out and turned furiously to Dumbledore. "So this is how you are going to persuade me, well the answer is still no. A thousand times NO!"
"Harry, this is Horace Slughorn, an old colleague of mine. Horace, young Harry, and I'm sure you know who he is." Dumbledore merely sat down in one of the fully restored chair.
"You wouldn't mind if I helped myself to a drink, would you?" he asked nonchalantly, wand in midair. Harry could see the walrus' face flushed a brilliant red.
"I could say Yes and that still won't get you out the door I'm assuming." Resigning to his fate, Slughorn waved his wand instead and three glasses flew across to them and a bottle poured itself into them gracefully. "Yes and I think you better take a seat my boy."
Harry crossed the room, his eyes still fixed upon Slughorn .
"Now Horace, to a different matter." Dumbledore set down his drink and started. "I believe a man of your connections, have some information that the ministry doesn't."
"Well now, Dumbledore, I've been on the move, haven't been in contact with anyone for a year." Slughorn answered hastily before taking a sip. Harry couldn't help but noticed a small table with framed pictures of witches and wizards with boxes of gifts and letters addressed to him. Dumbledore smiled softly at Harry's discovery and kept his calm. Flushing a deeper red, the walrus looked absolutely mortified. "Fine! What do you want?"
"I believe Lord Voldermort-" the walrus winced at the name, no surprised to Harry. "Has been in contact with someone we do not know well."
"Yes, so I've heard." Slughorn brushed what is left of his balding head. "Some say they are Muggles, others say they are with special powers."
Voldermort, collaborating with muggles? Now that is something interesting. As a pure blood, nothing loathed Voldermort more than non-magic folks and their way of life. He had hated the fact that his father, is a muggle, and tried many ways to detach himself from that fact. There must be something more than just a compelling reason to have someone that formidable join forces with whom he had spent his life despising.
"They hail from a distant land, a secluded village, or rather villages. They are able to perform the same, if not more powerful magic than we can conjure without wands, but from sheer energy of their bodies." Slughorn continued.
Harry repeated the walrus' words in his head carefully, each word sending a chill down his spine. What, indeed, is going on?
"Amelia Bones, as far as I know, did not die in the hands of Death Eaters." Slughorn said quietly, after a moment of silence.
"Indeed I find her passing difficult to accept, what is more disconcerting is how she have fallen." Dumbledore agreed.
"Yes, shame… she was a gifted witch…" Slughorn continued. "When they found her body, there was no magic performed, but the state of her body…"
"You saw her body?" Dumbledore inquired.
"Oh heavens no." Slughorn clarified quickly. "Well, I know someone, who told me what became of her."
The walrus set down his glass and shuddered.
"Indeed." Dumbledore fell into deep thought. "Knife wounds, and physical damage, very unlike the Death Eaters, who prefer a quick swift use of the killing curse."
"And the Cruciatus Curse leaves no mark on the body, even if the victim suffered immense pain." Slughorn added.
Harry couldn't keep it in anymore.
"Who are these people?" he asked, unable to contain his frustrations.
"They are a group of muggles called Ninjas." the walrus explained. "They are experts in the shadow arts, capable of complex battles without the use of magic. They are said to be able to walk on water, create fireballs from their bodies' energy, and move around at the speed of light."
"They have 6 different villages, each headed by a powerful leader known as a 'Kage'. Each village has its own different set of talents and expertise," Dumbledore further explained. "And Lord Voldermort has allied with the Village of Sound. The leader, who chose not to be named as a Kage, is an individual by the name Orochimaru."
"Just when you thought we don't have enough troubles." Slughorn grimaced. "It would seem like they have collaborated, but nobody has any clue why and how. It seemed very unlike You-Know-Who to collaborate with anyone, especially muggles."
Harry pondered over the new information for a moment. So the allies of Voldermort is a group of muggles known as Ninjas, and they have indeed proven their capabilities of the murder of a very gifted witch who works in the notable ranks of the ministry. While he knew perfectly well that his death will not come in the hands of these strangers, since Voldermort had made it clear he will have the pleasure in killing Harry himself, it brings no relief knowing that his loved ones, the people whom he cared about will be in danger of these new people.
"Well Horace, back to our main discussion." Dumbledore's surprisingly cheery tone took them by surprise.
"In times like this Dumbledore you're still hell-bent on me going back to Hogwarts?" the walrus retorted back defensively. "While I have no intentions of joining the ranks of Death Eaters, I'm not about to put myself in more peril by pledging allegiance to the Order of Phoenix."
"I know perfectly well your abilities as a wizard, Horace." Dumbledore said. "But what of the ninjas?"
"As if you have counter-measures against them?" the walrus snapped back quickly, a little too quick, before he saw the twinkle in the weathered man's eyes. "Or do you…?"
The old wizard merely smiled and got up.
"My, my look at the time." Dumbledore consulted the clock upon the wall, ticking away merrily. "Harry I believe we have intrude on Horace's hospitality for much too long. We will be taking our leave. Thank you for the drink. Good luck to you, Horace my old friend."
Harry leapt to his feet and followed after Dumbledore, leaving the walrus bewildered in his living room.
"Sir…" Harry begin, but he wasn't sure what he was going to ask next. A thousand questions ran through his mind, but he wasn't quite sure what exactly is bugging him. Then from behind,
"Alright Dumbledore, I'll do it!"
Dumbledore smiled and waved back as he stepped onto the road.
"We shall see you on the first of September then."
"You sure will, and I want a raise!" Horace shouted. "You hear me?"
But Dumbledore did not pay any more attention. He took a quick left turn and disappeared from the walrus' sights.
"Harry, my arm please." Dumbledore held out his good arm again. Being utterly confused with no concrete answer from this riddling wizard, he decided to just do as he was told.
Another whirlwind and gut-wrenching swirl later, a familiar sight greeted Harry's eyes. The shadowy stacked-up house with a few too many chimneys.
The Burrow. His second home. His heart warmed at the mere sight of it, and the thought of its inhabitants brought more joy.
"Now before we part, I am sure you have a lot of questions Harry."
One thing Harry has learnt over the years is not to question the time and place where the wise divulge information. He merely looked up at the wizard, letting him know he's all ears.
"How do you like Horace, Harry?"
The boy gave it a little thought, he didn't particular like or dislike him, but there's just something he couldn't put his finger on.
"Horace, likes his company. He prefers to be surrounded by the famous , successful and powerful. Each time he'll handpick his favorites, and I do have to hand it to him he is very spot-on each time." Dumbledore said, pulling his cloak around him further. "Now Harry, he will no doubt try to recruit you into his little club, and I'm telling you this not to turn you against or towards him, but as a caution to you."
"Sir you didn't bring Slughorn back to Hogwarts just to teach did you?"
"No, I didn't." Dumbledore smiled satisfactorily. "However, in addition I would like you to take some private lessons this semester with me."
"Private lessons?"
"Yes, I think it is time I put a little more concern and thought in your education." Dumbledore smiled. "More on that later, and now, for your other concern."
Harry stopped walking and tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket, as if to brace the cold, and also the truth.
"The enticement of Horace, or we have to now address him Professor Slughorn, of returning to Hogwarts, is not just he could collect you, but also what I can offer for protection." Dumbledore looked down at the young wizard, who had suffered much loss, at such a young age. "You have just lost a dear member of your family. How are you doing?"
Slightly taken aback, Harry grimaced at the loss of Sirius, his beloved godfather. The time they knew each other is too short, just cruel.
"I'm doing fine. I realized I can't shut myself away, even though it pains me to know that he won't write to me anymore."
"Indeed Sirius would not have wanted that." Dumbledore placed a comforting hand on the young boy's shoulder. "Now I assumed you have not told anybody about the prophesy either."
"No I haven't." The thought of what lies in the little ball sent another gut-wrenching pain though his body. Either must die at the hands of the other.
"A wise decision in general. But I thought you ought to relax in presence of your two very dear friends."
"I'm allowed to tell Ron and Hermione?"
"Yes." was Dumbledore's surprising answer. "Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss. Hermione Granger have proven themselves worthy of your confidence, and in time, you would need them. But perhaps the real reason why you have not divulged is not just because you are afraid not to frighten your friends, but you yourself, is very much frightened by what was in the prophesy?"
Harry took a breath and let it out slowly, contemplating his answer.
"Yes I am afraid, at first. But as the days pass, I know I can't shut myself away, and it is also something that only I can do. It is also the only way that everyone's death will not be in vain, and everyone's lives to be safe."
"Well said my boy." Dumbledore gave him a pat on his shoulder. "Which is why I am divulging in a bit of information which I had not shared earlier with Horace."
Harry looked up, hopeful for some point in the right direction for his muddled and confused thoughts.
"I have been travelling a fair bit these days, and I will be having a meeting with Rufus urgently in a short while to tell him of our successful allegiance with one of the Ninja Villages."
"You have?" Harry looked up, his insides heating up from the excitement.
"Yes I have. Orochimaru is a danger to their world as Lord Voldermort is to ours. This village has agreed to aid us in our defense against this calamitous allegiance."
This is by far the best news Harry has heard in weeks, in the midst of disappearance, murders and attacks.
"But can we trust them?" Harry asked cautiously.
Dumbledore looked up into the sky, and this is the first time Harry had ever seen the wise wizard display any sign of helplessness.
"Do you remember the first time you met Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, Harry?"
Harry searched his head, but it didn't take long to find that memory of two of his most treasured friends in the world.
"Yes."
"Do you remember the first moment, you realize you could trust them with absolutely anything?"
"Yes."
Smiling, Dumbledore looked back down to the boy.
"That, is how I know we can trust our new friends." Dumbledore said. "In times when people are being forced to question their loyalties, when they walk or are taken away from you, if you are lucky enough, there just might be some who enter or stay when you had nothing, or even pose a danger to them. Those are the people you want to hold on to, Harry."
Harry looked up, mentally doing a count of who he knew he had to hold on to, they are scattered about in the world, and some of them are peacefully sleeping in that house just not far from him. He would gladly give his life, in exchange for them to live theirs in peace and happiness.
"You will meet with them very soon, our friends from the distant land." Dumbledore continued. "They are very much like you, Harry."
"Like me… Sir?"
"Yes. Many of them have endured terrible pasts, similar to yours, some perhaps even more tragic. But each of them found a way to stand back up to face the world, both the brutality and kindness life have to offer. You will soon realize, the ability to do magic does not set us apart. We are very much alike than others have led us to think." Dumbledore said. "I hope you can become great friends with them."
Harry looked up at the starless sky.
"I hope so too."