A/N: Hey guys and welcome to the rewritten Chapter 2 of Truth Revealed! I'd like to thank everyone for their past and future reviews in advance since I did get so many for the former version of this story. Some of you may be disappointed but I'm trying to edge more towards a semi-grey Harry rather than a full-on Dark one. It's easier for me to write that way and it opens a few more doors than I would have otherwise.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2 - Paths Formed

The feeling of being put through a suffocating tube ended within seconds and he found himself standing outside of the Hogwarts wards, before another pop resonated around him and his transporter vanished back to headquarters. He took a deep breath and crossed the wards, heading for the castle that he would always consider his home. It was during his walk that he composed his mind and focussed on what lies to tell the professors and the headmaster.

He knew Dumbledore had spotted him coming with Tom willingly so there would be a fair amount of trouble with that. If things were too far against him he could claim obliviation, but perhaps the best course of action was to state he had been under the influence of the imperius. Not remembering anything was too convenient but the wounds Voldemort had oh-so-graciously given him after they formed the plan of his return would give him some credibility at least.

He could only hope that the Order would buy his little ruse and leave him be. He would then become convinced he needed to study more and learn to fight so he could defend himself against Voldemort. That free time was essential.

He would need any and every excuse he could come up with to distance himself from his friends temporarily and let his Slytherin side flourish; it was about time he let it out to play. If they learned he was just as much a lion as he was a 'slimy snake' and they would refuse to accept him as he was, then he would have no use for them. Hermione might follow suit if she learned of his plans and the progress he intended to have in the Dark Order.

He had little doubt Luna already knew what he was up to and had also already made her decision; Neville would be more open to the idea if he found he could do what he wanted with Bellatrix and hopefully the twins would have enough Slytherin in them to accept his offer. He knew those two were far from being as obnoxious as their younger brother was and there was a big chance the two would ally themselves with Harry; they were loyal to a fault.

He discarded the thoughts of followers and other plans when he neared the gate to find the professors Dumbledore and McGonagall waiting for him there. Ah, there had most likely been a proximity ward set on the grounds, keyed to Harry in order to alert them of his arrival. He made sure to look confused and frightened as he rushed at them.

"Professors! Thank goodness you're here! I was so worried..." He gasped for air from his run and made an effort to stay upright. The splotches of blood on his clothes from the curses Voldemort cast at him did make it a little difficult to focus, but the cruciatus had been the worst to deal with. That man's cruciatus was painful as hell.

"I'm so sorry for running off professor, I shouldn't have. But she just made me so angry… I couldn't help but chase after Bellatrix after she... She–" He cut himself off and took a deep breath, wincing a little at the reminder of his godfather. As much as he was faking this performance, he did love Sirius and could hardly believe he was gone now; it didn't seem real.

"You know… I tried to curse her, to keep her from getting away but then something passed through the atrium. I think it was Voldemort professor. Then some sort of haze came over me, like… Like I wasn't in danger anymore..."

Dumbledore playing the benevolent grandfather figure as always hurriedly stepped in and hushed his little weapon.

"Don't think about that just yet Harry. We will need explanations of course but you should heal first, Madam Pomphrey will have you healed up in no time at all."

Upon arriving in said hospital wing, Harry was bombarded by multiple voices, coming from several beds. He tried to ignore the headache the sudden racket brought him, but thank Merlin for Pomphrey, who silenced his friends and tended to him before allowing him to order and answer their and the headmaster's questions. Madam Pomphrey was rather surprised to find traces of the cruciatus curse in his system, which was rather efficient at shutting everyone up.

Once Harry had been patched up he sighed and rubbed his temples, deciding it was time to deal with this; he would need to sooner or later anyway.

"Okay, one at a time guys, please..." After a few nods and mumbles from everyone, Hermione instantly fell into her questioning mode.

"What happened Harry? You ran after Bellatrix but no one saw you after that." Neville had begun scowling as soon as he heard the dark witch's name. Dumbledore on the other hand intently leaned forward, just as curious about what had happened to Harry as the others, especially since what Harry had described sounded like the imperius curse.

"Well, you know I chased after Bellatrix… I caught her in the atrium and I was about to curse her when Voldemort came… I don't know why but he seemed like he wanted me to kill her… When I refused I felt something like a calming veil pass over me. I tried to fight it but his magic is so strong… That was the imperius, wasn't it professor?"

Harry looked up, trying to look as lost as he could without it being suspicious but since he was known as a bit of an angsty teenager, he figured he would be fine.

"Yes it was my boy. However I believe we were all under the impression you were able to fight off that particular bit of dark magic." It seemed Dumbledore refused to believe him, but really how can you expect a fifteen-year-old boy to overpower a dark lord?

"That was different… Professor M- I mean Crouch's Imperio was less strong, less convincing than Voldemort's. Besides, we knew he was casting it in class… It's different when you know it's coming. He took me by surprise sir, is it really so surprising I didn't manage to fight it?"

Dumbledore finally sighed and shook his head, seemingly giving in to Harry's logic. "I suppose not, my boy. But what happened after he took you away?"

"He WHAT?" Ginny's voice suddenly sprang up and Dumbledore rushed to inform them he hadn't wanted to worry them and that he would have told them if Harry had not been back soon. Once they relented, Harry continued with his story.

"Voldemort took me to his dungeons because he knew I had the prophecy before it broke. He thought I heard it but I didn't get the chance to… I didn't even know what it said, but he still tried to get the information out of me. After he figured out I didn't know anything, he dumped me outside of the wards at Hogwarts. He said something about retrieving the prophecy later… Maybe he'll try to capture me after we figure out what the prophecy is, but that's impossible. The prophecy broke right in front of out eyes."

He seemed to curl up in worry and his thoughts as everyone else pondered his words. If Voldemort wanted the prophecy so badly, it was very likely that he would fetch Harry again later, especially if the boy was unable to fight the Dark Lord's imperius. Upon Pomphrey's insistence the professors left to let the children rest. Harry's wounds were already healing spectacularly but as long as he took it easy and got enough rest, he would be allowed to leave in an hour or two.

Once she did let him leave, he began wandering the halls, left alone with his thoughts and memories and plans. He actually found himself wondering how he had managed to ignore the pain until now, because the loss of his godfather had hit hard and he intended to make Bellatrix scream for what she had done, albeit indirectly. It was the Veil that had killed Sirius, yet Bella had pushed him in. Ah well, it was all the same.

The school was relaxingly calm and void of students this morning, most likely they were attending their classes, which was the perfect opportunity for Harry to wander around and search for a base of operations. He would need one to make his 'office' in and draft his plans. He couldn't do so in Gryffindor tower after all, lest he wished to have the others read over them and proclaim him a traitor and Dark. That would effectively cut off the Light base he intended to recruit for his plans.

It was finally on the sixth floor that he found an old tapestry barring a room that would most likely work out. The down side was that the tapestry did not fancy allowing Harry in, as it was Dumbledore whom had ordered its lockdown, along with most other secret rooms and passages. That simply made Harry even more curious as to what lay behind the door and he began a small debate with the lock of his new rooms. He needed to find a way around Dumbledore's orders!

It was then that he noticed a small, embroidered snake on the bottom of the tapestry and smirked, a finger trailing over it. He wondered if there were more of these along the paintings and tapestries of the castle.

"Hello little one." He whispered to it, startling the human figure in the tapestry by about seven different shades of skin colour and drawing out a small hiss from the serpent that could easily be compared to a purr.

"Master?" It asked softly in return, as all the Hogwarts serpents had been designed by Slytherin and his ancestors to recognise the speakers as their masters.

"Yes. I need to enter these chambers but the headmaster blocks me, how do I pass?" When ignorant, just ask. He knew there was no shame in doing so and being friendly with the snakelings would help him a long way in having his own network of information.

The downside was the portraits, which in turn reported to Dumbledore. Hm, perhaps he could convince them to let his actions slip their minds, a way to change the balance of power the headmaster currently held.

"The masters of founder's blood may always pass where the school master refuses." The young snake hissed, causing a smirk on Harry's face.

"Thank you, you have helped me well today. Tell your brothers and sisters I will call upon them soon. The headmaster shall no longer control us."

With that he gave the serpent one last caress before straightening and speaking to the tapestry with words that he had not expected to come to him so easily. "By founder's blood of Salazar Slytherin I command, open these chambers to me." This gave the tapestry no choice but to bow to Harry's wishes, breaking the headmaster's magic, and after setting a password, Harry entered.

The room was, as he had suspected, perfect for his purposes. Not only was it in a rather unused wing of the castle, thus leaving him to come and go as he pleased, but he had also discovered a way to spy throughout the castle. Keeping an eye inside the Slytherin common room would become a piece of cake at this rate. Once seated at the desk that was conveniently placed to face the door, he started taking inventory of the room.

It was rectangular, and an intricate wooden desk sat at the far end of the room. Slytherin colours represented the main colour theme but considering his plans, he's have to adopt the Hogwarts crest in here, although he rather enjoyed the muted colours. Deciding to start with a simple colour charm he changed the thick carpet into obsidian blue and changed the large Slytherin crest behind the desk into the Hogwarts crest, placing smaller Gryffindor and Hufflepuff crests on one side of the wall and Slytherin and Ravenclaw crests on the other.

Slytherin and Gryffindor were placed closest to him in a subtle hint to his sorting. The place was covered with shelves and very old books as well. Upon closer inspection he found the ones near the desk to be warded and containing books in parsle script. The other warded ones were of powerful magic that should not be attempted but were good to know of.

The rest contained multiple dark arts books and a few other special magic tomes that had not found their way into the school's vast library. Then again, he doubted some of these would be placed anywhere near the students for public use, not even the restricted section.

With everything going on he much rather wanted to start working up drafts for his ideas and look up anything he could find on the Dark Order, the way it was meant to be, rather than think about Sirius, but he knew he would need to grieve for the loss eventually. Deciding on the easiest way to express his feelings he summoned an empty roll of parchment, a quill and some ink before beginning to write. He poured out the pain he felt when he saw Sirius die, his burning rage towards Bellatrix and his growing distrust for the Order of the Phoenix. Simply because magic was light, it did not make it good. Sirius had been killed with a simple stupefy in the end, after all.

He found himself writing down far more than only his feelings on Sirius' death, but also his discussion with Voldemort and everything else his thoughts skimmed over, all the injustices done to him. It was through this that his mind cleared and he became able to plan more carefully, though he incinerated the parchment as soon as he was done. It wouldn't do to leave such important information lying about. First things first, he needed data on Tom's old plans.

Harry spent several hours in the library under his invisibility cloak looking for anything about Voldemort's plans and old propaganda. There was no way his entire regimen had spread by word of mouth and he needed that information to keep the core goals and adapt the loose ends to match his ideas for the wizarding world. Together they could accomplish great things as Voldemort had once said and under his tutelage Harry's power would grow. It wasn't that he was power hungry; he just hated being controlled.

"Oh why couldn't they just put all of this in one bloody file?" He groaned under his breath as he returned to his office. Looking at the papers before him, realisation slowly dawned. Why leave around precious information lying around where Dumbledore could get his claws on it? The Slytherin common room would be the idea place to hide a memorandum of sorts with the information he needed.

He smirked and sat up straighter, banishing a few books back to their shelves so that his desk was returned to a semblance of order before he called Dobby to his office. After having been explained in serious detail what to do, the elf vanished, returning ten minutes later with the files he had been looking for. People really underestimated the use of house-elves. He also had the eager to please elf ward his location against unauthorised intruders, it was everything short of the fidelius charm and he was proud.

The very next day his friends were released from the hospital and flocked around him like bees to flowers and Merlin was it annoying. He realised they wanted to make him feel better about… About what happened, but hounding him and trying to keep him from having even the smallest amount of time to himself was not going to accomplish that. Not to mention that he needed to see whom he could trust closest to him. Only then could he begin to branch out and the end of the year was nearing…