Harry Potter and the Parting of Ways

by supermantitanium

As Harry deals with the aftermath of his 5th year of Hogwarts he makes choices that he other wise wouldn't and breaks ties with the people he once thought he could count on. RHr Hmultiple pairings rated R for violence and other stuff

2. Learning and Plans

CH 2

Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sat at the kitchen table of number 12 Grimmauld Place patiently waiting for Moody, Tonks and Lupin to return. He heard Mrs. Black screaming bloody murder along with the shouts and yells of the young Ms. Weasley and Granger. Not so surprisingly he didn't hear the voice of Ronald Weasley, as it seemed the child was perfectly content to have Ms. Granger to himself for the time being, he and didn't want Mr. Potter's return to be anytime soon. He had noticed that the two of them, Hermione and Ron, had been rather close of late, rather since the events at the Ministry of Magic. He had a feeling this would come back to blow up in all of their faces. By the sound of Ms. Granger and Weasley's outcries the meeting with Harry didn't go as well as he had planned. He had sent them out about 3 hours ago and they had barely returned. He had taken this as a good sign to begin with but now he wasn't sure. The door opened and they all walked in. Moody cast a silencing and privacy spell on them. "It's bad Albus." Moody had said that as if it held the secret to life. "How so gentlemen." He replied though not with his usual calm reassurance. It was Tonks who answered his question, "He wasn't there when we got there so we waited for him to return, but then when he got there he just kicked us out, didn't even bother to greet us. When we told him about your proposition he spat it back in our faces and told us he wouldn't come here again. He doesn't seem too happy with you Albus." The last part was said quietly. Dumbledore seemed to age about a decade at hearing those words. He didn't tell anyone but he thought about the child as if he were his own grandson, hearing those words broke his heart. "What was he doing in London," he changed the subject. Tonks continued to reply, "His aunt said that she took him to buy cloths." "Did you see anything out of character Alastor?" "Well I didn't see anything with my eye but I have a feeling that the boy was hiding something from us, and he seemed to know that we were there. I saw him throw something over the end of the car but then when I went to check it out there was nothing there. At first I thought he might have done a spell to hide whatever it was but he didn't even have his wand with him. That also worried me you would figure after what happened last summer he would know better than to be without a wand." "Very strange, and you say you didn't see anything with your eye, he didn't notice you under the cloak did he?" He paused for a moment, "and he declined our invitation, I bet it didn't go over to well with Ms. Granger and Weasley." He added the last part with a little chuckle, though they could tell it was forced. Lupin decided now would be a good time to enter the conversation, "I'm worried about him Albus, he looked as if he hadn't slept a wink in the past 2 weeks, he also looked as if he were ready to curse us with an unforgivable if we didn't leave right that second." It was quiet for a moment. Tonks broke the silence; "Hermione and Ginny are planning on sending him a howler. Do you think that would be alright Albus? I mean it might knock some sense into him, he did seem to retain his sixteen-year-old mind so he can't be completely beyond hope yet," the last part was added with a laugh. "What do you mean," the he asked. It was Lupin who replied, "He didn't seemed to mind the presence of Tonks as much as mine." Dumbledore smiled and then got lost in thought. He paused for a moment before he replied, "Have Ms. Weasley and Granger write him a letter, it might soften him a bit. He always seemed more partial to Ms. Granger than anyone else. Give him three days to cool down and then you can deliver it Remus, and we will get him the day after his birthday whether he likes it or not." With that said Dumbledore got up and walked out of the kitchen.

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Harry Potter had been working with a fervor that could be matched by no one else. He had managed to read and understand Occlumancy: beginner to master and Ligimacy the art of Truth. It had taken him a little over a day and a half to read both tombs; he had been rewarded when he managed to catch his aunt lying to the neighbors. He had been able to sense that she was lying, since then he had been asking her question at random intervals to practice. He had even managed to look into a memory of her childhood when their eyes locked of a moment. At first he had believed that it was just wishful thinking but after a few more tries he was able to look into her eyes and know what was going on. As for Occlumancy he had outstanding results, he had managed to tell when Tom was projecting a dream towards him. It was weird but he had even managed to force a memory out of Tom's mind once. Since then the dark lord had relented his attack on Harry's dreams. He was furious at Snape for complicating something that was so simple. He would make sure that one day the man paid for all that he had done to him. After his success with those two books he started on A beginners guide to the Dark Arts. He had already finished the book and mastered all of the curses. Some of them would be enough to make peoples stomach churn and it was only the beginners guide, he couldn't wait till he got to the master level. He suspected that much of his success with the curses had to do with his new wand, but he was too thankful to complain about the effects of the wand.

At that very moment he was working on the daggers of darkness curse, he was using an old stuffed animal he had bought at a garage sale yesterday to practice on. The curse sent tiny bolts of black light at the victims that were supposed to hurt as much as getting stabbed. He was interrupted from his practice by the sound of the doorbell ringing. He knew the Order wouldn't leave him alone for to long after their last meeting. He walked down the stairs and wasn't surprised to see Lupin standing there by the door. "I thought I had made it clear that I was to be left alone. I should have known that it was too much for the Order to comprehend. Well then what are you here for, obviously this isn't just some friendly visit." He didn't know where the new attitude had come from but it seemed to suit him well.

"Hermione and Ginny wanted to write to you but they didn't have an owl available to send it so I volunteered." One look at the man and he knew he was lying, they didn't even have the decency to tell him the truth about a letter. "I highly doubt that but I'll take your word for it," he really didn't want to argue with him it would only make him stay longer, "it's not a Howler, well then someone obviously put them up to writing it, didn't they?" Lupin kept a straight face but Harry could see passed the mask. He looked Lupin in the eye and saw visions of how Dumbledore told them to write the letter to try and soften him up. What truly enraged him was seeing their plans to take him back to their head quarters whether he liked it or not. He hated the old man more and more with everyday. "Throw it away and don't return with another. I'll write every 5 days but it won't be to your satisfaction. Now leave." With that said he went back up to his room. He waited until he heard his aunt tell Lupin to leave and then got back to work.

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Remus Lupin stood outside the door of Privet Drive looking at the parchment he was supposed to deliver; the boy had shocked him yet again. What's worse was the boys gaze it was one to rival even Dumbledore's. It was almost as if he knew that he was lying, that wasn't a comforting thought, and to top it off he had been kicked out yet again. He couldn't put his finger on it but something was really wrong. Something was definitely going on. He walked to the back ally and apparated to head quarters. He found Dumbledore sitting yet again on the kitchen table; he seemed to be spending a lot of time there lately. "It didn't go well," as if it wasn't obvious. He tossed the parchment on the table. Dumbledore didn't say anything while reaching out for the letter, after a moment he asked, "Why?" It was more of a question to himself but Remus answered anyway. "Something is wrong Albus, when school got out he was sad on the brink of depression and now it's as if nothing matters to him anymore. He didn't even seem interested in the letter, that surprised me more than anything else, and he seemed to know that we put them up to writing it. He seemed to know when I was lying Albus it was scary, his eyes looked as if they were searching into my very soul. He didn't seem to like what he found because he kicked me out almost as fast as I had gotten there." "What do you think the boy is hiding Remus, it isn't like him to want to be alone? In fact I don't think he's ever asked to be left alone except for when he found out he could be possessed." Remus didn't really know how to reply but tried anyway, "I think he's just tired of everything Albus, we've asked to much of him these past few years, and we've never given him a reason to keep doing it. I think we are the problem Albus, I think he wants to be as far away from us as possible. He's also tired of us trying to control him; he can't possibly want to stay at that house all summer, but to have some control of his life he refuses to come here. We've pushed him to the edge I think Albus. He hasn't even asked what's going on in the wizarding world, I think he wants nothing to do with it anymore. I think he might do something that we will all regret if we don't let him have sometime to himself." "We cannot afford to do that Remus, trouble seems to find the boy and we must prepare him for it. We will only hurt him more if we let him waste away his summer," as he said it Dumbledore realized that that was exactly what Remus was talking about. "We don't have to train him exactly." "What do you mean?" "Well he always seems to do things with others, there's always Ron and Hermione we could train them to be guards for him," it did seem like a good idea. "I fear Remus that that will only cause more problems, young Mr. Weasley has a thirst to prove himself and if we let him think that he is more talented than Mr. Potter it will make him believe that he is above him. And though I don't lack faith in Mr. Weasley I have no doubt that Mr. Potter will have ten folds more power than he ever will. Doing so will also push him and Ms. Granger closer, and I have a feeling that that above all other things will be what causes us to lose whatever good faith Mr. Potter still has in us," all seemed like logical points but it didn't add up to Remus. Hadn't Ron and Hermione been a couple since before the end of the school year? He thought to himself. "They have been a couple since before school ended I doubt that it will be of great concern to Harry." "Have they, they hide it well then, and Mr. Potter was in no condition to notice if anything was going on before the end of the term." Remus hadn't even thought of that, sure he missed Sirius more than anyone else but he knew Sirius didn't want them to dwell on things, he didn't have the slightest idea of how Harry was dealing with it. Dumbledore continued almost as if he didn't want to say it but had to, "I supposed we will have to, though I don't like the idea it is the best we have at the moment. But mark my words Remus Mr. Weasley will cause more problems from this than we ever did. Before the term ended I manage to secure that the three of them and the young Ms. Weasley would be allowed to used magic during the summer, as I had no doubt that Mr. Potter would end up needing it at one point or another. I had figured Harry would have used it by the second day out of pure frustration but I guess I was wrong, though it seems that Ms. Weasley had already figured out that she can, she's done 21 different spells since we got here. I think Harry is determined to do nothing that would get himself kicked out of the house. I have purposely not signed Sirius' will because I know for fact that he would have left Harry at least 3 different houses that he would be able to live in undetected. As long as he doesn't have anywhere he can go we will be safe, I think, to let him go about his own business. I will go and inform the order of their increased duties. Will you inform the children, Ms. Weasley included, as I doubt that she will want to miss a chance that will allow her to spend more time with Mr. Potter later on?" Only the last part of the speech was given with the customary twinkle in his eye. Dumbledore left to go inform the others while Lupin went to find Ron and Hermione.

He found the two of them in what would become Harry's room once they dragged him, probably against his will, to head quarters, it was ironic really. "Ahem," that immediately got their attention. "We were just um well you see um she had something on her nose," Ron finished lamely. "Oh Ron really, professor that was fast. Did you give him enough time to write a proper reply?" "Who's replying to what," Ron asked stupidly. "Oh honestly Ron, Ginny and I wrote Harry a letter and Professor Lupin delivered it for us. So did he reply?" Remus found himself faltering under her gaze, sometimes she was too much like McGonnagal for his liking, "well you see I didn't really get to give him the letter," at her incredulous look he quickly continued, "he didn't really give me a chance you see, he just told me to leave and not come back, and he doesn't want anyone to send him letters. But he did say he would write to you in 5 days." The last part was added to comfort her. She looked hurt almost on the brink of tears. "But some good has come of this; you, Ron, and Ginny are going to be trained for the rest of the summer by the Order. You'll probably focus on dueling and the animagus transformation. The point of this will be to teach you to protect yourselves and those around you should you ever find yourself in a situation like that of the Ministry of Magic. You will learn the most advanced curses and hexes some well beyond 7th year level and shield charms the likes of which we hope will rival those of the best aurors. Your defense skills will rival that of Harry's, for he can defend dark magic better than even me I believe, and lastly you will learn to keep Harry out of trouble. That may be the hardest thing to do since it seems that he goes looking for it and it looks for him in return." Hermione always the perceptive one asked, "what about Harry isn't he going to be trained by the Order?" " No at least not for now and I doubt that he ever will, he has refused the help of the Order. We asked him if he would like to come here and learn with you after his birthday but he refused. I really think that by the end of the summer you may very well out do Harry in every form of magic." Remus spoke sadly so Hermione knew it wasn't a good thing. Ron, on the other hand, had a look of pure glee on his face; he was really looking forward to being better than Harry at something. He wasn't one to enjoy the shadows. Finally he'll see what it's like to be second best, he thought. "Did the Headmaster have anything to do with this", Hermione asked. "Yes he set it up, we had originally intended for the 4 of ya'll to have it together but since we can't do that we might as well start now and give you even more time to learn. I'm going to go inform Ginny." Remus left to find the youngest Weasley

Ginny was sitting in her room reading Hermione's fifth year books. "I see you're trying to get a head start on your next year." "Yes I wanted to see if I could learn any new spells. I think they aren't checking for magic during the holidays this year, I've done loads of spells and haven't gotten a single owl." She sounded guilty as she spoke. "Yes Dumbledore has gotten you all permission to use magic this summer. That's actually what I came to talk to you about. How would you like to spend the rest of the summer training with the Order?" "Wow, really! Wait who all is doing it." She asked the last part suspiciously. "You, Ron, and Hermione" "I knew it you're trying to keep Harry uninformed again, didn't you people learn that you can't keep things from him because it only makes things worse later on. Ughhh, you of all people should no better." She pointed an accusatory finger at him. "We did offer him the chance to train with you but he chose not to," was his only reply. "Oh, well in that case sure." She blushed furiously as she said this.

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Meanwhile Albus Dumbledore was talking with Aurors: Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks. He had just finished explaining to them the situation. "So you see it is of the utmost importance that we train them in as many forms of magic as we possibly can. I will have Minerva teach them about the animagus transformation. I will need one of you at head quarters at all times. There will not be a minute that they will not be training. War is inevitable and I have no doubt that these children will be at the center of it all." "Why will Harry not be participating," Tonks ask hesitantly. "We have pushed the limits of his patients; he will no longer listen to what we have to say. We would be wasting out time right now if we tried to teach him anything. No we will give him until the day after his birthday to get in the right frame of mind if by then he hasn't seen that we are trying to help him we will be forced to make him train with the others. But for now there is little too nothing that we can do for Mr. Potter." "You make it sound as if he is no longer on our side Albus. Has he turned his back against us, or is he still mourning?" Shacklebolt asked. "I believe that he has sided with himself at this point in time." What that meant they didn't know but that was all they got from him. They left to prepare and set up a schedule. At this rate it was going to be a very long summer.