Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter Universe, all rights go to J.K Rowling; all characters and concepts of the Harry Potter Universe; both good and bad, are property of J.K Rowling.

Authors Note: Sorry guys this chapter has taken this long to write, to tell you the truth I was a bit stuck with how I wanted to portray this scene. That and a tonne of procrastination lol. I also am so happy to see people favouriting and following me and my story. Feel free to favourite, review or even PM me letting me know what you think of this story. I will try to keep the length fairly long for you guys, myself I like long chapters. I have also been coming up with some other ideas for stories including a crossover story between Harry Potter and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Well hope you enjoy my next instalment of The Twin Connection.

Chapter 3

Harry was sitting on his new bed with the scent of fresh new sheets, trying to come to terms with what had happened just half an hour before. The idea that his mother Lily and his Aunt Petunia were not blood related was world shaking to Harry, since he could remember he always seen Petunia as his only family left linked to his mother. Not only that but to find out that he had another relative that he was not told of, Harry just did not know what to think. Why was he never told about Cole by Professor Dumbledore, Professor Lupin or even Sirius? Why couldn't they be bothered to hell Harry that there was someone else to look after him other than his Aunt and Uncle? There were so many questions floating in his head, Harry NEEDED answers and the closest person to get those answers was downstairs and by the smell of it was cooking something delectable. Harry felt that he was ready to ask his questions and if any more popped up he could always ask Professor Dumbledore or even Professor Lupin, wherever they were his trusty owl Hedwig would find them and force answers from them if need be.

Harry made sure to have his wand on him, he hoisted himself off his bed and made his way down the stairs; the aroma of what seemed like steak and cooked potato, his stomach rumbled in anticipation. From the main hallway Harry opened up the kitchen door and took in the sight of his supposed 'Uncle'. The kitchen was similar to the Dursley's kitchen, all homes in Little Whinging were the same in Harry's experience yet it seemed this kitchen may have been in disrepair a short period of time ago. Some of the kitchen's cabinet doors were mismatched and looked like brand new wood, the smell of fresh paint fairly familiar to Harry due to the amount of times that he had repainted his Aunt's fence each summer. Some of the handles looked to be mismatched as well. Cole seemed to have quickly changed into a pair of black tracksuit pants and plain red shirt, he seemed to be involved in his cooking as the large blade steaks were merrily cooking away. To the side a small fryer with just crisping chips cooking nicely, not a very healthy meal but it looked like it was going to satisfy Harry's hunger.

'Can you grab a couple of plates kid, in the cupboard above the microwave. Also could you get the cutlery out of the draw, dinner is nearly ready.' Cole asked, flipping the steaks after lightly sprinkling a small amount of salt and freshly crushed pepper. Harry pulled out a couple of plain looking plates and new looking cutlery out of their respective draws, also getting a couple of glasses out of the cupboard as well. Cole took the frypan off the stove, bringing it over to the plain looking wooden table serving out the succulent steaks, lightly steaming due to just coming off the heat.

'Have some condiments if you need them, I have to admit since a visit to the US I have had a taste for mustard and ketchup.' Cole said, dropping off a cup full of mustards and ketchups, turning to lift and drain the chips.

'Thanks,' Harry said sitting down at the table, putting a small amount of mustard to the side.

Cole, seeing the chips sufficiently drained, served the chips on the plates waiting. After a second of looking at the table snapped his fingers and opened his small looking refrigerator for a large bottle of water and after putting that on the table opened a small pantry, retrieving a small bottle of white vinegar. Sitting down at the table placing the vinegar with the rest of the condiments Cole opened the water bottle.

'Help yourself kid, don't need to wait on me,' Cole said opening a packet of ketchup smearing it over his chips.

'So, I guess you have a ton of questions, feel free to lay it on me. What I may say might hurt or even piss you off but I will never lie.' Cole said lightly spreading some mustard on his steak, cutting a small amount and savouring his steak.

'Why after all this time, why haven't I even heard about you till this afternoon?' Harry said narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

'I said before that I was exiled from Wizarding Britain, on threat of getting shoved through the Veil might I add. As to why you haven't heard of me till now, I have a hunch but I wouldn't have expected your mutt of a godfather or even Lupin to not acknowledge that I existed.' Cole said admiring a sliver of his steak as he enjoyed its flavour.

'Sirius is gone, dead.' Harry said, playing with his chips now covered lightly with vinegar.

'How, when?' Cole asked sharply, lowering his cutlery.

'A week ago, at the ministry in the Department of Mysteries through the Veil of Death,' Harry said with his eyes down, remembering the instant that Sirius fell through the Veil.

'Damn Sirius, had I known about this a week earlier we could have retrieved him,' Cole said a little frustrated.

'What, how?' Harry said slightly excited.

'A little Ancient magic, but after 24 hours whoever enters cannot be retrieved. It was a safeguard in case of accidents.' Cole said, digging back into his dinner but seemed to be affected from the news of Sirius' passing.

'How do you know all this?' Harry asked frowning slightly, trying the mustard with a small piece of his steak.

'In a Ravenclaw family book, it said the druids of the first Wizengamot made the Veil at first as an experimental portal to the Land of the Dead. They succeeded of course but the problem was the getting back to the Land of the Living, this small blood magic ritual was the only power to bring Veil suffers back. When the druids fled Britain and the foundations of the modern Ministry of Magic came into existence a lot of ancient knowledge was lost, that ritual was one such lost magic.' Cole droned, draining his glass and refilling it with cool water. Harry seemed upset from the news, for a short moment he thought Sirius would be saved; unfortunately that was not so.

'Wait a minute, you said earlier you were banished from the country, why would you be banished?' Harry asked finishing off his steak.

'The charge was "Use of Dark Magic", I was found guilty by a small kangaroo court and at first was charged 20 years in Azkaban but the architect of the farce suggested banishment instead. So I was given 5 hours to leave England and was dropped somewhere in Marseilles with the clothes on my back and a small trunk of belongings.' Cole frowned as he recited his ordeal.

'Then how are you able to return to England, shouldn't your banishment still be active?' Harry frowned trying to understand the situation.

'Funny thing, there was a loophole that one of the court members opened.' Cole smirked reminiscing the moment his life changed.

The sharp bark of the spokesman's gavel echoed through the courtroom. It was one of the Ministry of Magic's smaller courtroom, the case in session at the time was the matter between "Magical World of Britain VS Colin 'Cole' Herbert Evans". Silhouettes of faceless members of the court shadowed around the seated and shackled figure, magically silenced Cole was charged with "The Use of Dark Magics" the verdict was guilty. What was in dispute at the time was punishment.

'We need to get rid of this Dark Wizard, Azkaban should be his destination' argued a rather stiff figure, a taller figure disagreed though.

'The evidence is hearsay; if there is opposition we will see this criminal released. He needs to disappear.'

'Then what do you suggest?' a portly figure asked, 'Who knows what connections this man has made in the Department of Mysteries in the short period of time he has worked there, we need this absolutely silent.'

'I recommend this criminal be banished from the Wizarding World' said the taller figure.

The board was silent in thought before the stiff figure spoke up.

'How do we do this? We cannot speak for the international community; the charge of use dark magic is not covered in international law, only Canada has this same charge and the maximum punishment is 1 year in maximum prison.'

'Then we just banish him from Wizarding Britain then, as long as he disappears' said the taller figure while frowning slightly.

'Again how do we do this, the precedent for banishment hasn't been updated in the last 900 years. How do we make sure the sentence is enforced?' a short frail woman figure asked, narrowed eyes on the "criminal".

'I have a device that we can attach to his person, as long as the banishment is in place it will be permanently locked on him. If he dares set foot on British soil within the time of his sentence, the device will activate killing him' said the taller figure, thoughtful expression showing on his face.

'Fine, let's get this over with, we have many more cases today and we have wasted enough time with this criminal' said the frail woman figure, drinking from a steaming cup with some type of potion in it.

'Ok, we shall finalise this case now.' said the stiff figure.

'Colin Herbert Evans, this court sentences you to banishment from the British Wizarding World. You will be outfitted with a dead man's device should you touch British soil during your punishment. You will be escorted by 4 members of the Aurors and have 5 hours to gather belongings, you will then be outfitted with the device and ejected from British soil. Sentence term will be indefinite.' the stiff figure droned, Cole getting angrier and angrier as the indignation hits him. Full of anger the Silencing Charm was dropped as Cole was dragged from the court.

'One of these days I am going to get you, JUST YOU WAIT!' Cole savagely yelled, just before the gavel was dropped the portly figure yelled in frustration and fear.

'As long as I am part of this ministry you will never set foot in Britain!'

Harry was contemplating the situation. His supposed Uncle was banished for using Dark Magic, something that he always thought as evil, how could this man seem so good but yet use Dark Magic?

'How can you use Dark Magic and not be insane?' Harry said, just realising that the meal was finished and the dishes were magically cleaned, dried and put away. Cole just scoffed, pulling a packet of cigarettes out of his pockets.

'Who told you that Dark Magic was evil?' Cole asked as he put a fresh cigarette in his mouth, patting his pants down looking for his lighter.

'Well my friend Hagrid and my best mate Ron Weasley said all Dark Magic is bad, even my best friend Hermione Granger says Dark Magic is bad news.' Harry stated, frowning slightly, Cole just shook his head.

'You know I said I wouldn't lie, it might sting but I wouldn't insult your intelligence with some lie that bites me in the butt later.' Cole said lighting his cigarette, Harry crossed his arms but nodded his head.

'The whole notion of Dark Magic being evil is bullshit –'

'But –' Harry interrupted but Cole just pointed his fingers with his lit cigarette as Harry and interrupted Harry mid-argument.

'Hold on, look I will explain as best I can.' Cole took a drag of his smoke as he decided how to explain his statement.

'Look, to understand this issue you need to understand the past. In the early 1700's Dark Magic as you know was know as it is in the majority of the international communities; battle magic.' Cole explained, Harry frowned at this point.

'Why did they rename Battle Magic?' asked with a perplexed look.

'It was a stigma put on Battle Magic, after the last wars between France and England. Basically Battle Magic is known to be more magically draining and only used in battle. When there was finally peace, Battle Magic became obsolete; the only use for such magics was in battle.' Cole said, stopping to take a drag. Harry was being quite attentive for a history lesson.

'After a century of peace, so called Dark Wizards and Witches would use battle magic to do evil things because of this many places in the world banned certain spells, deeming them dark in nature. Hence the stigma Dark Magic.' Cole said, Harry spoke up after the explanation.

'But from the sound of it, battle magic's only use is to cause harm, wouldn't that be seen as evil?' Harry asked.

'That's true, Battle Magic is deemed for battle. However if you can label Dark Magic as evil because it can hurt, so called Light Magic can also hurt people. Use a Levitating Charm on someone and drop them from a high height will harm someone, over powering a Tickling Charm on someone can overstimulate their brains and fry their nerves. The Severing Charm, a supposed Light Spell if overpowered can sever limbs and body parts. You cannot say because Battle Magic hurts people and be evil in nature when Light Magic can just as easily hurt people.' Cole lectured, flicking the built up ash off his cigarette in a nearby ash tray.

'What about the Unforgivables, we were told to cast them you must want to kill, torture or control for the curses to work?' Harry countered, Cole just nodded.

'True, the Unforgivables are dark in that sense. What you need to understand is there are times when the Unforgivables can be used for good. The Cruciatus Curse can be used, in small doses, to re-stimulate the brains of coma victims, the Killing Curse can be used to humanely euthanize livestock, pets and even people suffering from terminal illness that are in excruciating pain. Hell, even the Imperious Curse can be used in small amounts to rectify behaviour disorders and save people from suicide' Cole lectured, Harry just frowned at this.

'Isn't that just twisting bad spells to make them seem ok to use?' Harry argued, his conscience bothering him. For 5 years in the magical world he had been brought up with the premise that Dark Magic equals bad. To be questioned on a belief that had been ingrained, it was tough to listen to.

'No, I inherently believe magic is just that; magic, there is no good or bad, it's what you do with that spell that counts. You cannot say that because Battle Magic hurts others it's evil yet Light Magic can do the same thing, hurt others, and yet Light Spells are ok. It's like saying guns are inherently bad because the main purpose of guns is to kill, yet knives are ok because the main use is to cut things. Knives are quite capable of killing people; it is just how you use it.' Cole answered, stubbing out his cigarette. Harry still looked like he was having trouble with some concepts.

'Just think about it, I am not asking you to agree with me just understand where I am coming from,' Cole said leaning back on his seat. Harry just nodded and promised to himself to review this discussion on his own time, this was the first time other than Sirius where an adult would seem to be fully honest with him.

'You said the architect of the "kangaroo court" was the one to push for the banishment, who was the architect and who was it that was part of the "panel", Harry asked. Cole just looked at Harry for a minute in silence but eventually answered.

'Obviously Minister Bagnold was there, so was Barty Crouch Senior and Cornelius Fudge. The architect of course was Albus Dumbledore.' Cole stated, this shocked Harry to the core. Harry jumped up out of his chair, shaking his head.

'No, Dumbledore wouldn't do that. I mean why would he do something like that, he is the leader of the Light side' Harry stated loudly, feeling full of indignation.

'Yeah that's true but the old coot would do what he thought was the Greater Good' Cole said patiently,

'But then why would Dumbledore banish you from England?'

'I believe it is because of you,' Cole answered, stilling Harry on the spot. It seemed absurd, the whole concept that Dumbledore would exile someone.

'Think about it kid, Dumbledore wanted you with Petty Petunia for some reason. I know for a fact that your parents did not want you with the Dursley's, it was clear black and white in their wills yet you were still sent there. You were sent there, despite the fact that if Sirius could not take you, the Longbottoms, Bones and Greengrass families were next in line to keep you.' Cole argued.

'What, you mean I could have grown up with Neville or Susan? Wait who are the Greengrass family?' Harry asked with a frown.

'The Greengrasses are a minor neutral pureblood family, your mother and I were friends with the now head of the family Walter. There should be a Daphne in your year, I remember they celebrated her 1st birthday in August, you would have been part of it had your parents not been in hiding.' Cole stated with a far off look, slightly reminiscing on the past.

'Either way, the fact that your parent's wills were circumvented by Dumbledore who was the custodian of the wills, and the fact that Dumbledore sealed your parents wills says something.' Cole said, looking at the beaten up wall clock and noticing the time Cole levered himself out of his chair.

'It's nearly 11 o'clock, I am hitting the hay kid. You think on what I said and I will see you tomorrow morning,' Cole said walking out the kitchen door.

Harry sat there in silence for 10 minutes considering what was said, on one hand he had been brought up in the Wizarding World to believe one way; that Dumbledore was like the grandfather he never knew, that Dark Magic was evil and his only family left was a poor werewolf who was only part of his life for 2 years and three abusive relatives that wanted nothing to do with him. On the other his parents made arrangements for him to be part of a real family, that Dumbledore for some explicit reason blocked his parents wills, that magic may not be as black and white as he thought and that there was someone else connected to his parents that he could classify as family. As he made his way to his new room he realised that at the start of the day the summer seemed bleak, now there was a hint of uncertainty, regardless this summer was already looking interesting.

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Authors Note: I guess I will leave it there for now, it is currently 4.50am I really need sleep. If the end looks a little rushed it is probably because of that, I can always come back and edit it anyways. Anyway PM me let me know what you think, hope you are enjoying the story so far, I am really getting back into the groove of things. Keep your eyes out for the next chapter, it should be coming real soon.