The leaving feast had been a subdued affair. All the walls were covered in black drapes in remembrence of Cedric Diggory. The boy who paid the price of being too good for his own good. Almost all of hufflepuff was crying and professor sprout was beside herself with tears.

The scene was not much different at the gryffindor table and the trio was quite glad when the feast was over. They hastened to the common room not wanting to be bothered by any more questions from their fellows. They had just found seats by the fire , when, a timid looking second year came up to them and handed a scroll bound by a blue ribbon.

Harry didn't even notice but Hermione graciously took it.

"its from Dumbledore!!" She said breaking Harry from his reverie.

"what?".

"this" she said and then they bent forward as she read out –

Dear Harry, Ron, Hermione

I request your presence in my office at 10:00 pm tonight for i wish to discuss certain matters with you that i don't want going public.

Make it a point not to be noticed.

Bless you

Albus Dumbledore

"Wonder what he wants with us now" said Ron " Harry already told him everything he saw".

"well!! " Said Harry " there's only one way to find out".

So they waited for the common room to clear out and Harry got his invisibility cloak and the map down. At 9:50 they started out.

" cockroach cluster " said harry on reaching the stone gargoyles. They reached the wooden door after stepping onto the moving stairway.

" come in" came Dumbledore's voice and they pushed the door open.

Dumbledore said " please sit down. You are right on time. Candy anyone?".

They all politely declined so Dumbledore went on " I have called you here to tell you where you 

will be staying during the summer. As you know now that Voldemort has your mother's blood , the blood protection on no. 4 privet drive is gone".

Harry's ears rang at this " you mean i don't have to go to the Dursley's anymore?".

Dumbledore's face grew even more grave at this " although I regret sending you to the Dursley's because of their treatment of you. One day you will realize that they played a very important part in who you are. But yes, you can't go to the Dursley's now. You will be staying here at Hogwarts with me and rest of the teachers.".

Ron piped in now " can we stay here too?".

" i'm afraid not Mr. Weasley . You and Hermione both have families and you should make most of the time you get them. You will see him on his birthday but until then you can only write letters to him."

" But professor , how can you say that? Mrs. Weasley treats him like one of her own and he has a family and that's us!!" Hermione was shouting now and Ron was nodding in agreement.

" I guess I'll just say I have plans for him. And that should settle the matter." Dumbledore said in a calm but stern tone . It had the right effect and put a stop to Hermione's ranting.

All through this harry was just sitting there overwhelmed by the concept of not going to the Dursley's . He was deeply touched that Ron and Hermione considered him family, but his ears perked up when Dumbledore mentioned ' plans for him'.

"what plans?" He asked.

" I need your memory of the graveyard to assess the situation first" Dumbledore said while summoning his penseive.

"ok" harry agreed, not finding anything wrong with it . He would finally have a night without a nightmare about the graveyard.

They just watched as Dumbledore pulled a silvery substance from Harry's head and put it in the penseive.

"now you may leave. And harry!" Said Dumbledore " see me right after the students leave".

With this they left his office.

--xxx000xxx--

So as Dumbledore had told him , harry made his way to the headmaster's office after saying 

goodbye to his friends. Dumbledore seemed to be waiting with his penseive in front of him.

"hello harry." Said Dumbledore " please have a seat. "

" there are certain matters I wish to discuss with you. Now what happens here remains here and you are not to tell anyone . Not even Ron and Hermione. Is that understood?"

" yes sir " harry said puzzled but decided to play along.

So Dumbledore proceeded " we have a long road ahead. But before we embark on our journey we have some choices to make. Now please come forward so I can place the memory back."

Harry hesitated for he wanted nothing more than to just forget everything that transpired that fateful night. But seeing that Dumbledore had not given him a choice he came forward as Dumbledore placed that silvery substance from the sink into his head using his wand.

Dumbledore continued " there's an old saying ' the first conquest is thyself and then the rest of the world'. So we first need to know who you are before we make any decisions."

If harry was confused before he was bewildered now. Does he not know who he is?

" By that I mean , what kind of a person are you inside? How much of you has been conquered by darkness , what are your darkest fears and what choices would you make when faced with certain situations. For this purpose I have devised a test if you are willing that is. Though you have already shown a lot of character , I wish to make a point which you will see when the test finishes."

And so harry agreed.

" very well then!! Lets get started!" Said Dumbledore now pointing at a far away closet in his office " open that please.".

Harry walked up to the closet and opened it.

"AAAAAAAHH" he let out a scream of pure shock and alarm as Ron's dead body fell onto him. He grabbed him and started shaking him violently as fear took over . Just then something strange happened. Ron's body changed into Hermione's and then to Sirius.

It suddenly jerked from his arm and flew into the closet which locked again.

Now , harry turned to Dumbledore mind still numb from shock of what had just happened.

" that was a Bogart harry. " said Dumbledore offering him a glass of water to calm him " i needed to check what you feared the most. After an encounter like yours with the dark lord one would expect your Bogart to turn into him but it turned into the dead bodies of your loved ones. Do you know what this means harry?"


Harry slowly shook his head.

"it means that you still have hope and have not been broken down by your encounter.

And now, onto your next test." Said Dumbledore without giving him any time to recover.

" if you will please stand in front of that mirror"

Harry followed his gaze and his eyes went wide as he recognized the mirror of erised.

Many painful memories bubbled up inside his head , but seeing that there was no way out he slowly made his way to the mirror. What he saw was just the same as the last time but with a few additions. His parents were joined by Ron , Hermione , Sirius and to his surprise Cedric and something else. The shock must have shown on his face because Dumbledore now had a twinkle in his eye , as if he knew what harry had seen.

" And now the final step" he said while taking out a small vial from his robes." This is a potion i developed with Severus's help. It's a modification of veritaserum. While under its effect you will tell the truth but will retain your memory of the incident unlike the veritaserum. Plus, unlike veritaserum it pulls out knowledge not only from your mind but also from your heart. .. ……….. Sometimes i even surprise myself!!" He said with a small chuckle. " so, are you ready?"

Harry feebly nodded , still shaken from the events that had just happened. Dumbledore handed him a vial , which he drank. He felt a sinking sensation and then as if he had just had a bottle of firewhisky the room started to sway. When it came back to focus everything appeared just like before.

" has a bit of a kick doesn't it?"

"yes sir."

" my first question harry , is , what did you see in the mirror?"

" I was just the same as i am now but there were several people with me. My father my mother, Sirius , Ron , Hermione , Cedric Diggory and …… the body of Voldemort lying lifeless at our feet."

"who is powerful enough to kill him?"

"you are… you were the only one whom Voldemort was ever afraid of. "

"but will you kill him if you had the power and chance?"

"yes"


"why?"

"he has taken so much from me and the ones i love, i can't allow him to take any more . He killed my parents, that alone is a crime enough for him to deserve a painful death. I'll kill him even if it's the last thing i do."

"is revenge the only reason?"

"no. He has to be stopped and not just for my revenge but for the protection of every one i love. There will be no more sacrifices of innocents like Cedric."

"are you willing to give your life for it?"

"I am"

"are you willing to live in solitude for it?"

"if it really help to protect, then i will."

"very well harry, take this antidote for the potion" said Dumbledore handing out a purple vial.

They sat in silence contemplating what had just transpired. After some time Dumbledore spoke up.

"you have done far better than my expectation harry. You have proved yourself pure and worthy enough of the knowledge I wish to share. I have some things to tell you , if you are up to it…"

Harry was relieved that finally they were reaching the core of the matter and nodded.

"Before you were born, there was a prophecy made……."

A/N : I KNOW THIS WASN'T MUCH BUT THE REAL STORY STARTS FROM THE NEXT CHAPTER.