Wow, I can't believe how popular this story was when uploaded the first chapter. I got 17 reviews which I believe were all positive, I'll just double check that... yup all positive, more or less. I should however admit that I altered the first chapter ever so slightly. You don't have to reread it or anything the only difference is that Harry doesn't know why Voldemort is splitting his soul in two. I now have a rough plan for how this story shall play out.
Slight warning, some of the language in this chapter could be considered extreme.
Listening to the Wrigley Sisters Album - Mither o' the Sea
Chapter 2: Control of the Mind
When Harry landed on his feet his entire body exploded in complete and utter agony, Screaming at the top of his lungs he collapsed onto his knees, as Witches and Wizards approached him and Cedric. Then someone, Harry thought Fudge, said aloud that Cedric was dead and there was further commotion. Then Harry was escorted away by Moody.
Harry knew something was wrong, Moody was not supposed to be taking Harry away from the scene. He tried to fight Moody off but the pain and trauma Harry had gone through in the last Hour had caught up with him and his body felt very weak. He doubted whether the Defence Professor even noticed him trying to fight him off. Harry knew that something was wrong. At first opportunity he would have to incapacitate Moody. When they got to Professor Moody's office Harry tried to train his wand on the Defence Professor but Moody knocked it aside.
"I see you're catching on Potter!" sneered Moody "Too little too late, you're not going to leave this office alive… I shall see to it that…"
"Stupefy!" incanted Harry, making good use of the newly acquired Yew Wand.
Harry decided it was probably a good idea not to let go of the Yew wand. He also picked up both Voldemort's and Moody's and hid them amongst his robes then picked up his Holly wand and aimed out the window.
"Flipendo! Flipendo!" he incanted out the window. Red Sparks flew out of his wand.
Less than a minute later Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall came bursting into the office. Harry instinctively put a shield charm around himself and trained his wand on the new arrivals.
They all lowered their wands and McGonagall Approached her student "Mr Potter are you alright? I think you'll need to go to the hospital wing."
"No." said Dumbledore
"Albus, Potter is exhausted he…"
"Potter is also a bit pissed off Professor…" said Harry interrupting his Head of House, which added to his new profanity was a bit of a shock "I think Professor Moody here was responsible for putting me through this last year. I want to make sure, because someone did and that person also sent me to Voldemort's rebirthing party, I'd like to be sure he is in fact that person."
The Professors Snape and McGonagall were rendered speechless. But Dumbledore brought them out of their shocks "Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess , and then go down to the kitchens, and bring up the house-elf called Winky, Minerva go down to Hagrid's house where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here."
The two Professors rushed off to complete these tasks assigned to them.
"Penny for your thoughts?" asked Harry
Dumbledore regarded the teenager, he wasn't sure yet what happened but Harry had mentioned Voldemort being back and a 'rebirthing party'. Harry was showing signs of stress and trauma but… above all that he was angry… no… he was apocalyptic. Dumbledore could tell Harry was using every ounce of his self-control to suppress his emotions.
"I don't think this is the real Mad-Eye Moody, I don't believe you've ever met the real Alastor Moody."
Harry regarded Dumbledore for a moment "What do you mean?"
"Alastor Moody has always made a point of drinking from a hip flask, not daring to trust anyone with the preparation of food or drink."
"That sounds like this Moody." Said Harry
"But this Moody dragged you away from the arena, something I specifically told him I didn't want to do. The Moody I know would never have done so. I take it he threatened you?"
"Didn't give him a chance." Admitted Harry. "He knocked my wand out of my hand then got as far as saying I wouldn't make it out of here alive then I picked my wand back up and stunned him."
Dumbledore looked at him approvingly. "Very good responses on you part. I think this Moody has been using Polyjuice Potion…"
Dumbledore then examined the hipflask and took a sniff. He then discovered the real Moody at the bottom of his seven compartment trunk.
Eventually McGonagall and Snape both returned, they, along with Dumbledore and Harry were shocked to discover that the imposter in question was a man who was supposed to have died in Azkaban about eleven years ago.
"Crouch!" said Snape… Harry had never seen the Potions master so shocked
"Oh my goodness!" said McGonagall, Harry had seen that look of shock once before… then again mentioning the Philosophers Stone in front of her was probably ill advised.
"Master Barty, Master Barty!" cried a squeaky voice. Harry realised that Snape had done as instructed and retrieved the House-Elf Winky. "What has you done to him!"
"He is merely stunned… Right Harry?" said Dumbledore
"Yeah… considering what I think he's done he's lucky I didn't choose to experiment."
McGonagall and Snape gave Harry a funny look… Snape had always liked to tell anyone who'd listen, or not listen he wasn't bothered so long as they were present, that Potter was arrogant but even this was out of character.
"Harry please keep yourself calm, while I appreciate you have been through a lot tonight but this is not the time for you to lose control of yourself." Dumbledore said calmly
Harry looked at the old man and nodded, he was right.
Snape administered his Veritaserum and Dumbledore cast "Enervate!" on Crouch Junior.
Over the next several minutes Crouch bragged away all the secrets he had kept from the Wizarding World, his true allegiance to Voldemort and the true extent he considered himself in relation to the mad bas… man. He told them how his father broke him out of Azkaban, and how he was kept prisoner in his father's home with the assistance of the present House-Elf. He then told them of his involvement in the incidents at the Quidditch World Cup and how his father foiled his escape and fired Winky in the process. Then he told of Voldemort and Wormtail rescuing him and subduing Crouch senior and how he, with Wormtail's assistance, came to become an imposter Moody. Then he bragged about all he'd done to get Harry into and through the Triwizard Tournament and killing his father in the process. He then smiled and declared how proud of himself he was and how rewarded he would be when Voldemort came for him.
Dumbledore secured him with ropes that emerged from his wand.
"Minevra please stay here and guard him. Severus please find Madame Pomfrey and help her get the real Alastor to the Hospital Wing. Then please find Cornelius and inform him of who we found, doubtlessly he shall want to question crouch himself."
McGonagall and Snape nodded to the Headmaster.
"Harry please come with me."
Harry was escorted to Dumbledore's office where he was reunited with Sirius.
"Harry what in Merlin's name happened?" said Sirius quite desperate for answers
Dumbledore hurriedly filled him in on the discovery of Crouch Junior.
Then Harry was pressed for details about what happened after he and Cedric took the cup.
Harry found it difficult to start but Fawkes the phoenix flew over to him and between the calming melody from his trill and the phoenix tears that healed the leg that the Acromantula had struck, Harry managed to find the strength to tell them what happened. But he stopped himself when he mentioned that wormtail had used Harry's blood in the resurrection ritual. Dumbledore's eyes widened in what appeared to be triumph.
"Please continue Harry." He said
Harry was continued slowly, meanwhile his brain was working overtime. The removal of the soul fragment had done wonders for his general sense of clarity. He realised that the Headmaster must have known about the soul fragment in his scar after all, how many things like Tom Riddles Diary existed. But what about the Realm of Passing. Was that real? Harry wanted to believe it was but he needed some form of confirmation before he started giving this information away. He then remembered that his father said Dumbledore had kept the true nature of his scar from him. Harry knew that this information couldn't be kept from Dumbledore forever, after all the Death Eaters had seen him survive another Killing Curse and the Headmaster doubtlessly would find out. But Harry needed to organize his thoughts.
"After he finished telling the Death Eaters how he managed to return, he then decided we should duel."
Sirius tensed.
"Voldemort got a few spells on me… including a Cruciatus… Then, I don't know how but he fired a killing curse at and I knew before he cast it… I don't know how… but I blocked it."
"Blocked it…" said Sirius "How?"
"I summoned a tombstone, one of the ones that was lying around broken. I timed it so that it moved in front of me just as the Killing curse came. Then I used a banishing charm on the tombstone. I don't know if he wasn't expecting it or if he was just shocked I blocked his attack but… it slammed into him and I used the few seconds I had to get to Cedric's body and summon the cup."
"T…tombstone…" Sirius startled "Harry that's… incredible…"
"Thanks…" said Harry.
Whilst he was talking Harry felt an irritation in his mind, as if something alien was trying to sift through his thoughts. But he knocked it back with ease. After finding out that he had a soul fragment attached to himself there was no way anyone or anything else was getting through to him. He wasn't sure but there may have been a method for wizards to read minds. There were times around Dumbledore, Snape and years back with Quirrell that Harry was sure someone was at least aware of some of his thoughts or intruding in his mind in some manner or other.
"I must say Harry." Said Dumbledore "You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you tonight…"
"Is he trying to flatter me?"
"…You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. You have shouldered a grown wizards burden and found yourself equal to it – and you have now given us all we have a right to expect…."
"Ok now that's strange…"
"…you shall not return to your dormitory tonight. I shall take you to the Hospital wing… a sleeping potion and a good night's rest are in order."
"Sleeping Potion?" Harry had heard of these, they were supposed to allow people to sleep without the burden of nightmares. But Harry's better instincts told him not to take one… but he didn't know why.
Nevertheless Harry, Dumbledore and Dog form Sirius made their way to the Hospital wing.
On arrival they found Madam Pomfrey also had Mrs Weasley, Bill, Ron and Hermione. Obviously they were waiting for him.
"Harry, oh Harry what…"
"Molly please…"
While Dumbledore placated Molly Weasley, Harry wandered over to Madam Pomfrey… on instinct she began prepping him for a night in the hospital wing so that by the time Molly had rounded on Bill, Ron and Hermione. Harry had been assigned a bed and promptly pulled his trousers and coat off. In just boxers and a shirt he climbed into the bed and let his head hit the pillow. He let the exhaustion of the last few hours wash over him and fell asleep before Pomfrey could fetch him his pyjamas and a sleeping drought.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry found himself standing in a large and empty hall. It looked so very familiar to him and yet he couldn't immediately remember what this place was. Then he remembered. It was the gym hall from his old Primary School.
Harry looked down. He wasn't naked this time, but at the same time he wasn't wearing what he wore when he was awake. His clothes were made up of a green robe… Emerald Green… like the colour of his eyes. Before he could think more on that he heard a muffled noise.
Harry looked around. His old gym hall doubled up as a lunch room, so there were doors to the kitchen and also two supply rooms: one for gym equipment and one for lunch tables. There were a further three doors out of the hall… one led to the school offices one to the upper years classrooms and one to the lower. The noises seem to be coming from the door to the school offices.
Harry crossed the hall and entered the door leading to the school offices. He wasn't worried about meeting anyone, because for some reason he knew that this whole area was empty. The voices became clearer.
Harry approached the receptionist's desk. The noise was coming from the phone at on the desk. Harry quickly entered the office and pressed the speakerphone button.
"…would have preferred it if Harry took some Dreamless Sleep potion, he does not need the events of the last few hours playing through his mind." Came Dumbledore's voice. But something was odd. He was speaking at about one fifth the speed he normally would have.
"Oh Albus they're probably going to come out at some point anyway. Taking the potion would only delay that from happening." Said Pomfrey, again about five times slower than Harry would have expected her to speak. "Besides he is nice and settled, I can tell you now that he is not normally like that when admitted to my domain. Leave him. If he's in distress we can wake him up and then give him a potion."
Harry remembered he fell asleep. "So am I dreaming?" he said allowed "No, if I was dreaming, would I have this much awareness of the outside world?" he thought.
"Do think he'll be ok?" came Ron's worried voice.
"It's Harry, Ron. I don't know what happened but…" Hermione couldn't continue "What happened Professor."
Harry heard Dumbledore sigh "A lot has happened. If Harry is to pull through then he will need both of your continued support."
Harry turned off the speakerphone and hung up the phone. He now understood. He was asleep but he was inside his own mind. The fact that everyone outside was speaking so slow meant that Harry must be moving in a faster time frame.
"Speed of thought!" the words came into Harry's head "The mind works faster than the self. That's why my instincts told me not to take the potion. A dreamless Sleep potion puts the mind to sleep as well."
Harry realised he could think five times faster than anyone in the outside world. His sense of tiredness and pain were gone.
"So how big is this place?" thought Harry. He looked out the glass on the front doors. He realised that where the playground and the path leading to the school should have been was… nothing. Harry could see the outlines of the school building but it everything else was just a blank white background. "I guess my mind just consists of the school building and not the grounds."
Harry took another look around and noticed that there was some kind of burn mark on the floor. It was leading a trail from the front entrance to the gym hall he had just left out the front doors of the school building. He followed it back into the hall and realised that the burn mark didn't lead into the school, or he supposed his mind, but rather it seemed the trail lead from the hall outside the school. For there was a round circular burn mark in the centre of the hall Harry hadn't noticed before.
The burn mark was shrinking. Harry wondered what had caused this. He wondered if the school had anything like surveillance cameras. Then he of course remembered that it was all in his head. If he wanted to see what had happened then he simply had to imagine it. He went back to the school offices, thinking that if a surveillance room ever did exist at his old school it would be back there.
He passed the reception, the photocopy room, the Head's office, the nurses' station, the Deputies office and sure enough just before the staff room was a room that said CCTV (do not enter),
Ignoring the brackets Harry entered the room and found a station that showed surveillance camera views all throughout the school. Not bothering to stop and wonder how he could possibly know how to work the equipment, he brought up the views from the entrance in front of the reception and the hall and wound back from the present and watched in disgusted fascination as a huge organism entered through the schools front door.
The organism looked distinctly horrible, whatever it was. It was some horrid huge slime creatures that was mucus green in colour and it seemed to be in a great deal of pain. Harry watched as it took root in the hall as green particles of light formed around it, converged on it then shot out from it and exited out the hall and out of Harry's mind through the entrance doors.
Harry then reminded himself that this was being shown backwards. He had the video play normally. There he saw a bolt of green light bolt strike the organism and the forcibly expel it. Harry wondered if this creature was representative of the soul-fragment expelled by the killing curse, after all this whole building seemed representative of his own mind. He rewound the video on all of the screens showing images throughout the school and to his horror discovered that the slime creature, before it's forced extraction was had slime leaking off of its body that had infected all over the school. Harry was constantly conscious that the school represented his mind and the creature represented the soul fragment. He sped the tape up so it moved at about 2 days a second. He sat in front of the screen for almost an hour watching the in backwards time as the infection fester about.
He also noted things flying out of his mind: ring bound files, photographs, videos, books, cassette tapes; all manner of record keeping devices. They were all filed in drawers, on shelves in boxes and Harry new if he was after something specific in his mind he could easily find it. Of course because the tape was going backwards these things were leaving his mind, not entering. All of the items, furniture, records everything was coated in the slime, his entire mind had been infected and tainted by the creature.
As he neared an hour, the slime creature eventually reached the beginning of its occupation of his mind and Harry was greeted with the sight of Voldemort's fragment leaving his body.
Harry had no desire to watch the creature that had existed inside his mind any longer. He was determined never to let a thing like that enter his mind again.
"I must make a mental note to work out some form of mental defence." As Harry said that a small yellow post-it notepad appeared in the air in front of him. He snatched it out of the air and thought "What the heck!" and wrote down 'find out how to make mantel defences, then make them'.
Harry tore off the post-it and attached it to his finger, not entirely sure where to put it. Then he shook his head, went to the staff room and stuck it on the notices board.
With that strange task done, Harry sat down on one of the sofa's began thinking about what he could. He needed to collect his thoughts. He also had to decide what to do about Dumbledore. The reaction to the knowledge that Voldemort had Harry's blood was proof the headmaster was keeping secrets from Harry.
First, Harry needed to go over what happened in the Graveyard, or more specifically the Realm of Passing. Harry was not even sure the Realm of Passing even existed. He was well aware that the whole thing could just be his imagination. But Harry was sure he believed what he was told, so he sat down on one of the sofas, willed into existence a notepad and began taking notes of what he'd learnt tonight.
Voldemort had a soul fragment in Harry
Voldemort had a soul fragment in his 16-year-old self's diary
Dumbledore is keeping information from me
Harry was a little disappointed, he was sure he had more he could put on a checklist. But then he reminded himself that his parents had mainly been talking him out of dying. Harry knew he had some emotional stuff to sort out, particularly his friends. When the tournament started Ron's hidden emotions had erupted and created tension between the two of them. The previous year Hermione's stress induced state made her difficult to talk to and her friendship with Ron almost ended when that rat faked his own death… again. Such feelings were normal in teenagers, but now that Voldemort was back they had to have each other's back. Harry knew that their support could only help him, but he couldn't risk issues between him and/or his friends causing problems. Because this was not like the stone, or the Chamber, or the escaped prisoner, this was war. Quite frankly they should have resolved these feelings as soon as the tournament started. Ron had allowed his built up jealousy to cause a rift with Harry at a time when Harry needed his friend the most. Harry had gotten fixated on unsolvable mysteries too much. As a result he was lucky not to be disqualified from the second task. He knew he shouldn't have ignored the unsolvable but he also knew he should have kept enough attention on important things, such as rescuing Ron from mermaids. Hermione actually had not been too bad, her one fault, that Harry noticed when Ron wasn't talking to him was that she tended to try and categorise everything logically, from Harry's point of view that had been really irritating. During the weeks before the First Task, Hermione had spent more time trying to psychologically analyse his friendship with Ron than try making Harry feel better, he was not entirely sure she knew how bad he was feeling. But then that's how the relationship with Ron and Hermione had always worked. Hermione was the Brains and Ron was the Heart. Each of them had qualities of the other character trait but not very much. Not that Ron was dumb or anything, he just wasn't top of the class. Similarly Hermione was not emotionally empty. She just suppressed them far too often.
Ron and Hermione. While it was true they'd probably follow Harry to hell to face all the evil in the universe, and win, Harry was still sure more allies would be needed to face Voldemort. So he moved onto the next obvious choice. Ginny. Harry had acknowledge that he had some feelings for Ron's sister. But regardless he knew that Ginny was a dependable friend, and as the only other person to have experience with a soul fragment he could sure use her council.
He had two Weasley's, so why not two more. Fred and George, until recently had been really dependable. Harry knew that there was something strange going on with those two at the moment and would endeavour to find out what and see if he could help. The fact that they felt the need to blackmail someone was worrying but Harry had known the twins for years they had after all watched his back a lot during that time, mainly as beaters.
Asides from Hermione, the rest of his dependable's were Weasley's. So Harry had to think up someone else who would make a great alley. His thoughts drifted to Neville. Harry knew that if he was going to make a difference with his friendship with the round faced boy he was going to have to start as soon as possible. That also meant admitting what he'd seen in the Pensieve. Harry was sure Neville would help him, if nothing else then to stop Voldemort from breaking the Lestrange's and Crouch out of Azkaban. Hopefully when Junior returned he would not be going back but there was no guarantee.
Harry knew there were several dozen other potentials at Hogwarts he could bring into his council but that was all he could think of at this stage. There were of course adults. Sirius and Remus would help him regardless of what happened. Mr and Mrs Weasley were more difficult. Harry couldn't blame them, he was sure that they would fight tooth and nail to keep their children out of the war and he was also sure that they would try and do the same for him and Hermione. Dumbledore however was the real question. He had known about the true complexity of Harry's scar. But for how long?
Harry went back to his checklist, he needed to prove that these three points were true.
"Alright first: I had a soul fragment in me."
Harry thought about this. His Mum and Dad in the Realm had suggested that it had been in him since the night at Godric's Hollow. So Harry went over everything he knew about his scar up until the Third Task.
"It never heals. It was the result of the killing curse." This information was relatively useless, also common knowledge in the Wizarding World. "It hurt whenever I was near Voldemort. It also hurt when he killed that muggle and tortured Wormtail." Harry wasn't sure if he could trust what Dumbledore told him but Voldemort did seem to be feeling particularly powerful when his scar hurt.
Harry also thought about Graveyard. "When it started hurting, it didn't stop. But when he touched me it felt so much worse. But when the curse hit me and sent me to the Realm of Passing." Harry stopped. His scar hadn't twinged in the slightest since he was hit with the curse.
It was early days but if Harry was right then the pain in his scar would never ever return. If that was so, then that could be considered proof that he was an… 'Avatar', as his Dad had put it, for that fragment.
Harry wondered how Dumbledore could have possibly known about the soul fragment. So he began thinking about the other fragment. The one that had possessed Ginny. Unlike Harry's scar that one seemed to be deliberate. It had a specific purpose in mind, reopening the Chamber of Secrets and purging the school of Muggleborns. But was that it? It did seem odd to Harry, to give up a piece of one's soul just for that. The Soul piece was made back when Voldemort was just a teenager, not that much older than Harry. It knew nothing of Voldemort after its creation and relied on Ginny to provide it with a basic history of his life. While that Tom Riddle had all the arrogance and characteristics of the model that had just had his rebirthing party, it lacked a certain refinement that the present model had. It could not see anything beyond Hogwarts, except the boy who had defeated the original as a baby. Harry. This was not altogether that much of a shock though. That fragment had been cast off fifty years ago. It was not inconceivable that some of Voldemort's juvenile mistakes would not be learnt from and corrected over the years.
While that last thought wasn't initially much help Harry did realise something. "There were forty years between him making the Diary and the murder of my parents." Thought Harry "Were those the only soul fragments he made or are their others?" the fact that he used Harry as one accidentally was also a questionable. But above all, Harry wanted to know what the point of creating a soul avatar or whatever one called him or Tom Riddle's Diary was. Surely the cost of one's soul, or part of it must achieve something significant. But Harry for the life of him had no idea what it could be.
His Dad said that Voldemort probably made more than the two fragments that were now in the Realm of Passing. His mother said that the process of fragmenting ones soul require an act against nature. What did that mean? The obvious answer would be murder, but what about other acts. Harry knew many of Voldemort's crimes: possession, torture, genocide, murder. Could any one of or all of those be considered and act against nature. There were also other crimes Harry wouldn't have put past Voldemort but decided that guessing at this stage was not much use. Harry realised that the issue of soul fragments was going to take some really unpleasant research. Not the sort of thing he could just dump on Hermione, this he would have to do on his own.
Harry thought about his scar some more. Dumbledore said that the night Voldemort gave him the scar, he passed some of his powers to Harry, unintentionally. The only power mentioned was Harry's Parseltongue ability, was that when the Headmaster figured out about the fragment? Harry then thought back even further. He didn't recall mentioning the scar pains to Dumbledore before fourth year but Harry had suffered a fair few of them throughout his First Year. The Headmaster was astute enough to know that Voldemort was probably the cause of those pains. Harry now found himself wondering about Dumbledore. What was he keeping secret from Harry?
To answer these questions Harry went back to the beginning. It was Dumbledore's decision to place him at the Dursley's. But why, also why was he never checked up on? Hagrid made it clear that Harry was supposed to know about the Wizarding World before he turned 11. What's more why was he left with them? Harry knew that his mother and aunt had fallen out when she left the muggle world. That was one of the few things she confessed to him about his mother. Ok Sirius was framed, Pettigrew faked his own death. But Lupin? Even if he was a werewolf, Dumbledore could have ensured his wellbeing. Another thing was Harry's album, Hagrid had to contact several friends of his parents. Surely they must have wanted him? Even if they didn't, why did no one at least visit him, or send him letters. Harry would have to ask Lupin that the next time he saw him.
Harry then considered First Year. At the end he had realised Dumbledore had manipulated him but put it down to preparing him for what was going to be a difficult future. But now Harry wondered why? Why did he need to be prepared to battle against dark forces? Now it was obvious, dark forces were out to get him. But back then? What threat could he possibly be to anyone? Why was Dumbledore so fixated on Harry challenging Voldemort? Then there was another question, why was Voldemort so interested in accepting that challenge? From there little conversation over the Philosopher's Stone, Harry had determined that Voldemort had targeted him, specifically when he was a baby. Many people in the Wizarding World assumed he merely targeted Harry's parents because they fought against the dark side. But Dumbledore admitted that Voldemort was after Harry, not the Potter family as a whole. Dumbledore also admitted he knew why.
"What was it he said? When you are ready, you will know?" said Harry out loud. Harry at the time assumed Dumbledore was just talking about when he was older. But was there another meaning to 'ready' or was Harry reading too much into it. He found it hard to believe after fighting against and killing Quirrell that someone like Dumbledore considered him to innocent to be bothered by the worries of an adult.
Harry shook his head. There was no use in speculating about that at this point. So Harry thought about his second year. Admittedly most of his grievances that year were to do with Dobby or the whole heir of Slytherin issue, but Harry had to figure out what the Headmasters intentions with him that year were all about. Harry thought about all there interactions. The first one was after he and Ron got caught with that car. Admittedly there was nothing the least bit suspicious about that interaction. Harry readily admitted that it was his and Ron's fault what happened. Harry then thought to his second encounter with the headmaster. Dumbledore always knew that Tom Riddle was the one responsible for the attacks associated with Slytherin's chamber but did he know about the soul fragments? Harry was sure if nothing else Dumbledore must have suspected at least about his scar. Harry knew that he was a walking avatar and that the Diary was an avatar for another fragment of Voldemort's soul. Did the Headmaster suspect that the fragment in Harry was using him to attack Muggleborns? Even if that was true though Harry had to admit that Dumbledore went about it pretty well. He did not persecute or accuse Harry of being the heir. He then thought to the evening when Hagrid was arrested. Dumbledore apparently knew Harry was under the cloak which begged the question: why didn't he expose Harry and Ron in the hut? But of course Harry knew the answer to that question. Dumbledore was not impartial where Harry was concerned. Being caught after curfew, after the new strict protective measures had been implemented and in the same year as the Ford Anglia would have almost certainly resulted in Harry and Ron getting expelled. Harry guessed the big question was: did Dumbledore know more about the chamber than what he let on. What concerned Harry was that Aragog knew of the Basilisk, even if he would not speak of it. Hagrid trusted Dumbledore completely and would doubtfully keep the colony of Acromantula secret from him. Harry doubted Hagrid could keep a secret from Dumbledore even if he wanted to. Harry was sure Dumbledore new everything he'd been up to at Hogwarts, with the possible exception of brewing Polyjuice Potion in Myrtles Bathroom. The fact that Aragog's species feared the Basilisk above all others was a major clue. Surely Dumbledore must have been able to make that connection. Granted Neither Harry or Ron could have made the connection back then but they were only Second years and Harry grew up with muggles. Hermione had managed to figure it out once she realised that the voices Harry was hearing was snake language.
Harry decided to consider the Basilisk. The clues that had matched… admittedly Harry hadn't told Dumbledore about the voices until after his fight in the chamber but there were other clues. The murder of the roosters was surely a sign of Basilisk involvement. The fact that it was known as the King of Serpents should in itself have qualified it as a candidate for Salazar's Monster. Harry didn't know if Dumbledore noticed the Spiders like he, Ron and Hermione did but again Harry doubted Hagrid could have kept Aragog a secret from Dumbledore. If Harry was right, and it certainly looked like it, Dumbledore knew the monster had to be a Basilisk. There were too many indications that year for it to have been anything else. Which begged the question why did he do nothing about it? Harry knew that the presence of roosters threatened the serpent and had he been in Dumbledore's position and known about the Basilisk then he would have arranged for Roosters to be kept and guarded throughout the school. Between prefects, teachers, House-Elves and ghosts Harry knew it was more than possible.
With a sigh Harry looked to their final meeting that year. Dumbledore had admitted his at least some of his suspicions about what happened when Harry received the scar. Harry also had another concern. Would Dumbledore have been able to recognise an avatar for a Soul Fragment if he saw one? Harry believed that he would. He was also aware he described the Riddle Diary in great detail. Harry convinced that Dumbledore had at least known about the soul fragments at that stage, whether as a result of what Harry told him, a result of what the Headmaster had observed the previous two years or a mixture of the two was anyone's guess.
Harry wasn't sure what to make of Third Year. He knew that Dumbledore, or someone should have told him the truth about Sirius, or at least what everyone thought was the truth. But in Dumbledore's defence, everyone kept information about Sirius from him. But one particular issue stood out. Why didn't Dumbledore do more to help Sirius at the end of the year? Harry didn't know the true extent of Dumbledore's influence but he did know it stretched far enough, surely he could have convinced Fudge to postpone the Dementor's Kiss until Sirius was questioned. Especially since the ministry saw fit to deny him a trial.
This last year was so filled with complications and mysteries Harry hadn't come to terms with it. Sirius had informed Dumbledore about Harry's dream during the summer and about the scar pains. The first clue something was going on that year was the disappearance of that Ministry worker Bertha Jorkins. Harry now knew she was killed by Voldemort in Albania.
"Wait Albania?" said Harry
Suddenly he remembered "What interests me most is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania."
Then also "I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me."
Dumbledore highly suspected Voldemort was in Albania two years ago. Both Quirrell and Pettigrew managed to find Voldemort, which begged the question: Why did no one else find him. Ok perhaps Voldemort had a method of concealment but then how could Quirrell find him? Pettigrew was a Death Eater, Voldemort had marked him as one of his servants. Voldemort knew he could rely on him to a certain degree. But Quirrell wasn't a Death Eater, he was a Professor of Muggle Studies.
Harry's head ached and he was about to move on to other topics when he heard another muffled voice coming from the reception. He got up made his way towards the sound.
Once in the reception he picked up the receiver of the telephone and heard raised voices, one of which he recognised as Professor McGonagall.
"You should never have brought it inside the castle!" something weird was going on in the outside world. Harry decided maybe his thought collecting could be postponed.
Concentrating he woke up.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry woke just in time to witness the hospital doors burst open. His eyes were hazy, as a result his glasses being removed. Harry instinctively reached to his right and found them, he had slept in too many hospital wing beds for this action to not be familiar.
"Where is Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded from Mrs Weasley
"He's not here. Minister this is a hospital wing, please reframe from such conduct." Said Mrs Weasley angrily.
"What has happened?" came Dumbledore's voice from behind McGonagall, Snape and Fudge. "Minerva I'm surprised at you why are you not keeping watch over Crouch like I asked?"
"There is no need for that Headmaster." Said McGonagall angrily "When Severus informed the Minister here that we had apprehended a Death Eater, the Minister seemed to think his personal safety was in danger so he summoned a Dementor and brought it into the castle. I told him you would never allow it but…"
"…My dear woman. As Minister should I choose to bring protection with me then nothing will stop me regardless of Albus's aversion for them…"
"As soon as it entered the office it swooped down on Crouch and… and…"
"Kissed him?" said Harry, making everybody jump. No one had noticed him wake up.
"Was that really necessary Cornelius." Said Dumbledore gravely
Fudge sneered in a manner befitting a certain Malfoy heir… or perhaps any Malfoy "He is clearly no loss. From my understanding he is responsible for several deaths tonight."
"But now he cannot give testimony as to why he carried out those attacks…"
"Why? Why? It's obvious why. He's a raving lunatic. Your Professors here informed me he was under the delusion he was working to resurrect You-Know-Who."
"Cornelius, I assure you, Crouch was working to resurrect Voldemort." Said Dumbledore "If you will come to my office I will tell you everything we learnt. I'm afraid I cannot allow you to question Harry."
"That's Ok sir, I'm awake now." Said Harry "What do you want to know minister?"
Fudge looked taken aback for a second then "Well what makes you think You-Know-Who is back?"
"Just the fact that I saw him and one of his Death Eaters cut me open and used my blood in the resurrection process." Said Harry almost nonchalant, Harry supressed his temper as best as possible, he felt calmer whilst dreaming but in the waking world he still felt his anger burning.
"Oh come now, do you really expect anyone to believe that claptrap."
"Then how do explain Cedric's death." Said Harry
Fudge laughed "You seriously expect me to believe that his death was the result of You-Know-Who. It is clear to me you are delusional boy."
"If by You-Know-Who you mean Voldemort then yes." Said Harry, causing Fudge to jump.
Fudge looked at Dumbledore desperately "Albus, come now, surely you don't believe this lunacy?"
"I afraid that I do not consider this lunacy Cornelius." Said Dumbledore gravely "Everything that I have learnt from Harry and Crouch tonight makes sense and answer questions that you, I and others have been asking since the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins."
"Really Dumbledore, Bertha Jorkins was never the brightest fish in the pond, we don't even know that she is dead she probably forgot that she had ministerial duties in Britain and decided not to return from Albania, and Crouch senior was ill, so ill that he had to delegate most of his departmental duties to his assistant Wheatherby. He's probably gone cuckoo."
"You know I'm hearing the word probably come from your mouth a lot minister. Let me ask you why are you so convinced that we're mistaken about Voldemort's return, there is testimony from a convicted Death Eater and I have told you what I witnessed, what reason do I have to lie to you, why are you so convinced we're mistaken?"
Fudge looked lost… scared… Then Harry understood.
"You're just too much of a coward to believe."
"Excuse me?" said Fudge angrily.
"You don't want to believe that Voldemort's back." Said Harry "You're not just afraid of him you're afraid of the truth. You're afraid of the whole concept that you're minister who will be pitted against him."
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is dead." Said Fudge desperately
"He is not." Said Dumbledore "As I have told you before Cornelius, Voldemort has survived in a wraith form and was responsible for the Death of the Professor Quirrell 3 years ago and for the attacks upon Muggleborns."
"I remember you telling me Dumbledore, and I am telling you know it all sounds ludicrous. A possessed Professor? And how do you know Potter wasn't the one responsible for the attacks? He is after all a Parseltongue."
Harry suddenly realised the ounce of logic that the minister was drawing on, Rita Skeeter had written an article where he was branded a Parseltongue and made other unwelcome comments about him, Fudge had obviously taken them at face value. Harry wondered whether he was still one. He seriously doubted it; it came with the soul fragment so it probably died with it to. But he was brought out of his musings by Hermione.
"I was one of the people attacked." She said angrily "Harry is my best friend and has been for years, do really think he would have attacked me?"
"Yeah and Harry was on the Quidditch pitch in front of nearly all the school when that attack happened." Said Ron "He was in the hospital wing when Colin Creevey was attacked, he was with us at Nick's Death Day party when the cat was attacked and he was with me in here again when Ginny was taken into the chamber. He also saved her life."
"Harry's Parseltongue abilities come as a result of the scar he received from Voldemort as a baby. The nightmares he has been receiving are a result of the connection he has to Voldemort that also comes from his scar."
"This is completely preposterous." Said Fudge. "You seriously expect me to believe Potter here has a connection to You-Know-Who because of a cursed scar? I don't know about the rest of you but I have never heard of this happing with cursed scars before."
"How many cursed scars are the result of surviving the Killing Curse?" Harry asked the minister.
Fudge looked really irritated, Harry realised that Fudge would not believe him, even if Harry came clean and showed him the Yew Wand.
Snape marched up to Fudge and pulled his sleeve up "That is the Dark Mark, is does not burn as strongly as it did earlier tonight but it is still there. Only the Dark Lord can cause it to do that, it only burns so brightly when he allows it, it went out 13 years ago when he disappeared. It has been reappearing now for nearly a year. Karkaroff felt the mark burn tonight and fled as a result because he knows, like I know, like every Death Eater out their still breathing knows now that the Dark Lord has returned."
Fudge regarded the ugly thing on Snape's arm with revulsion and turned away.
"Cornelius I beseech you." Said Dumbledore, the urgency in his voice unmistakable "Listen to us. There is still time to act. First you must remove the Dementors from Azkaban."
"Remove the Dementors? Are you insane? Half of us only sleep soundly in our beds because we know the Dementors are guarding Azkaban."
"And the rest of us sleep less easy knowing that they are given such a free reign." Said Dumbledore "The Second thing you must do is extend a hand of friendship to the Giants."
"What… are you completely out of your mind." Said Fudge
"Do this soon or they will fall into the hands of Voldemort, he will offer them far more freedoms than wizards ever have."
"Friendship with the Giants, if I followed either one of your suggestions I'd be out of office faster than say crikey."
"But should follow the advice I have given you will be remembered in or out of office as one of the greatest Ministers in or out of office. If you ignore the advice I give you now, then I am afraid the is where we part ways."
Fudge looked at Dumbledore "Are you threatening me?"
"No he is telling you you're making an arse of yourself and that arse is getting bigger all the time…" said Harry letting some of his temper out.
"I beg your pardon!" screamed Fudge
"Mr Potter!" said McGonagall
"Harry!" said Hermione and Mrs Weasley
Snape and Pomfrey had a looks of pure shock, Ron and Bill were sniggering and Dumbledore looked frustrated.
But Harry didn't care. Fudge was clearly going to act as a hindrance to him in the coming weeks and months, maybe even an enemy.
"Sorry was that not explicit enough. Voldemort is back, whether you're willing to accept it or not. Professor Dumbledore is going to fight him and so am I!"
Mrs Weasley looked scared "Now Harry I know you've been through a lot tonight but…"
Harry cut across her, Molly Weasley was not going to like the new Harry very much but she was going to have to come to accept him sooner or later "You are obviously unfit to be minister if this is your reaction. What gives you any grounds to think that every person in this room would make something like this up? I lost both my parents to the Bastard and Professor Dumbledore has dedicated his life to fighting the Dark Arts. Whereas you take comfort in creatures your own ministry classes as amongst the most dangerous and set them upon anyone you see fit."
"He is no loss…" sneered Fudge again
"Maybe your right, but that was not your decision to make. I willing to bet that even the Minister for Magic isn't legally allowed to simply order a Dementor to suck out a soul on a whim. I'm also willing to bet if I tell the magical equivalent of the Police they'd not stand for it."
Suddenly Fudge looked scared.
"Good point there Potter!" came a gruff and familiar voice from behind one of the beds behind the curtains "And you're right." Continued Moody "Though we call it the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I can tell you right now that I'm not sorry that Son of a Bitch was kissed…"
"Alastor!" said McGonagall
"…but I would have liked to put him on trial and have all the info he has squeezed out of him. Under our laws only the Minister can authorise a Dementor's Kiss but even he can't order one unless that person has been tried by a full Wizengamot and been found guilty"
Fudge looked from Moody to Potter to Dumbledore, he was heavily shaken "I don't know what you're up to Dumbledore, but this has gone on long enough. I will be in touch with you tomorrow to discuss the running of the school." He walked off.
Dumbledore looked tiredly around the room.
"Molly? I take it I can count on you and Arthur for support?"
Mrs Weasley nodded "Yes of course. Arthur knows what Fudge is, what he's like. He is well aware that his appreciation for Muggles is what's held him back at the Ministry."
"I'll send go send him a letter now." Said Bill "I also think that I will be applying for a transfer, you'll probably need someone of my skills sooner or later."
"Thank you!" said Dumbledore "Also ask your father to get in touch with anyone else he can and tell him to be discrete, Fudge's position whilst not unexpected, does complicate things, he may try to interfere."
Bill nodded and left.
"Minerva, please go to Hagrid and tell him – and if she consents – Madam Maxime to go to my office. I will be up there shortly."
Professor McGonagall nodded looked at Harry sighed and smiled slightly then left.
"Poppy if you will go to Alastor's office, I think you will find a severely distressed House-Elf, please see to it that she is cared for in the kitchens. The elf Dobby should be most helpful in that regard."
Madam Pomfrey nodded, she looked glad to leave the Hospital wing. Harry felt a bit sorry for her, his language had been most out of character but the Minister was being unbelievably unhelpful.
Now the only ones left in the Hospital wing were Harry, Ron, Hermione, Mrs Weasley, Snape, Moody, Dumbledore and Sirius in Dog form.
"It is now time for two of us to acknowledge each other as allies. Sirius if you could resume your normal form?"
The dog looked at Dumbledore for a moment. Then transformed into…
"Ahh! Sirius Black!" screamed Mrs Weasley
"Mum be quiet everything's ok." Said Ron
Snape looked murderous "What is he, doing here."
"Sirius, like you Severus, is here by my invitation. I realise this is not an easy thing for the two of you to accept but we now all have a common enemy. The both of you need to recognise each other as allies and start behaving like it."
The pair of them still glared at each other… silently.
"I will settle for a lack of hostilities…" said Dumbledore more firmly
Snape and Sirius looked at the old man then back at each other, reached over and shook hands. From the looks on their faces they were trying to break each other's hands. But they let go.
"Sirius I want you to go to Remus Lupin's place and tell him what has happened tonight. From there we shall need to contact Arabella Figg and Mundungus Fletcher. Lay low at Lupin's for a while I will contact you in two days."
Sirius nodded.
"Wait Sirius!"
"I need to go Harry." Said Sirius sadly "We'll be in touch soon."
"I know, I just wanted to say I'll send you a letter in about a week or two." Harry turned to look at Snape "Voldemort was pretty pissed when I left, if you are going to go back to him be careful, I may have said and done one or two things that will take him a while to calm down from."
Snape looked at Harry in shock but nodded. Sirius also looked at Harry in shock.
"What?" said Harry "If we're going to stop hostilities now would be a good time."
Sirius sighed, he didn't look at Snape but mumbled "good luck Sniv…Snape" transformed into a dog and ran off.
Snape looked at Harry, nodded slightly with obvious great reluctance and turned to Dumbledore "I take it you want me to go now."
"I would be most grateful Severus." Said Dumbledore "Good luck."
Snape left to. Dumbledore watched him go then turned to Harry "Take your potion this time Harry." He said firmly.
But Harry wasn't going to do that. He believed Dumbledore was an ally but he still didn't trust him. "Thanks but no thanks Professor, I can sleep fine without it."
"Harry dear please take the Potion." Said Mrs Weasley "After the night you've had…"
"Mrs Weasley I appreciate your concern but this is my decision and it stands." Said Harry.
Mrs Weasley looked taken aback, She wanted to be more forceful but Harry was not her child and she couldn't do anything about it.
"Harry I must insist…" said Dumbledore, but suddenly everyone was distracted by bang from the windowsill.
"Sorry." Said Hermione
Harry meanwhile lay his head back and closed his eyes.
"Mr Potter I must insist…" started Dumbledore only to find Mr Potter back in the land of nod.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Back in the Primary School reception Harry rushed to the phone and pressed the speaker. Again things were one fifth the speed they should have been.
"You might as well leave him Albus, if he has nightmares and wakes up, third time is the charm." Came Mrs Weasley's voice
"I fear that Harry's anger at the situation tonight is clouding his judgment. He is being abnormally adversarial." Said Dumbledore
"Perhaps, I think we should invite him back round to the Burrow this summer. Take him straight off the train, I'm sure his relatives won't mind."
"I'm afraid I can't allow that Molly." Said Dumbledore "Harry needs to stay at the Dursley's this summer, now more than ever. He is protected there."
"I am?" thought Harry
"Well if you're sure?" said Mrs Weasley
"I'm sorry Molly but it is for the best. Excuse me I need to speak with Hagrid and Madam Maxime."
Harry turned off the speaker and pondered this new information.
"I am protected at the Dursley's?" Harry thought.
Harry hadn't stopped to think about it but he was sure that he should not go back to the Dursley's. Unfortunately his only refuge from Privet Drive, the Burrow, was off the table. Harry had never asked Hermione if he could go to her house, or where it was for that matter.
Harry couldn't just stay anywhere, with things the way they were he knew that he'd be at threat from Voldemort. Harry knew that the at Gringotts, one could arrange for warded property but such a thing was bound to be expensive, and while his trust vault was considered a lot for an 11-year-old about to buy school supplies, he wasn't convinced it would be enough to buy or rent a place. The other problem was that he was still only 14 and Gringotts would knowingly be breaking Wizarding Law by helping him live without and adult around. But he was out of options. If the bank couldn't help him he would be stuck at the Dursley's.
Right now he had to think some more. He needed a plan, because there was no way he would be spending the summer doing nothing… or this last week of school.
"Ok priorities, find out what I can about Dumbledore, find out what I can about Voldemort and his soul fragments, find somewhere to stay for the summer and sit down and talk to Ron and Hermione. I don't have much time."
Sorry if you find my impression of Harry's mind peculiar. I actually based it on my old Primary School. I realise that things are a bit wordy at the moment, I'm hoping to put in some more exciting stuff in the next Chapter but this is anal stuff that needs to be covered.
By the Way as you review as so many of you have done, and I thank you for it, I am thinking of incorporating muggle weapons into this story (guns, knifes, jets, Frigates ect). But nothing is set in stone. Can you leave me reviews on your views on that subject. Weapons would be contemporary to the mid 1990s.