I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!
A bit of action nice and early for you! Well I do believe that Voldemort will be much more aggressive now that a certain someone is out of the picture!
Cura, I think you may have been a tad over the top. Much appreciated though!
Chapter 3 – The Choices Of Harry James Potter
Harry called out to Ron, after he saw his friend heading off to go to bed.
"Hey Ron, are you going to join the Order now you're seventeen?"
Ron shrugged his shoulders and came into Harry's room. "I might as well. Everyone else in my family bar me and Ginny have."
"Percy hasn't though" Harry reminded him.
Ron narrowed his eyes. "Percy is a pompous, arrogant git who wouldn't know his head from his backside half the time"
"He is your brother though Ron. Has he apologised for everything he did back then?"
Ron nodded. "Yes, he has. But I'm never going to forgive him. Nor should you. You're the one he should apologise to Harry. Him and the whole Ministry, but of course they'll never do that."
"Look Ron. I know that you won't forgive Percy…"
"Nor has Ginny, Fred, George, Bill or Charlie…"
"But your parents have. How would you feel if Percy died, and the last thing you told him was how much you hated him?" Harry asked.
"He'd deserve it." Ron spat.
Harry could hardly believe his ears.
"You're not being serious are you Ron? He's on our side!"
"So is Snape, but you don't exactly get on with him do you!"
Harry had to concede that Ron had a point. Harry then told Ron something he'd been thinking about since his talk with Remus earlier.
"I'm not going to join the Order."
Ron looked stunned. "Wh…why not?"
"I don't see the point anymore Ron. If they'd told me exactly what was going on two years ago, Sirius would still be alive."
"You don't know that…"
"YES I do! If someone had told me why I needed to learn Occlumency, or more about why Voldemort was constantly thinking about that door in the Department of Mysteries, I never would have gone there in the first place!"
Ron flinched slightly and replied "but you then wouldn't have known about the prophecy Harry. You said that Dumbledore only told you after you both came back that night."
Harry sighed "and look where it got him Ron. I didn't tell anyone this, but Dumbledore could've told me about the prophecy at the end of our first year."
"Then why didn't he?"
"Because he felt I was too young. Same thing second year, and third. Only after Voldemort had come back, did he think I was ready to be told what he called the greatest burden of all. Think of all the things that might not have happened had he told me…"
"But he had his reasons, Harry. Think of what might have happened had you not realised you saw yourself do that Patronus in third year. Both you and Sirius would be soulless." Ron interrupted.
Harry's mouth opened but nothing came out. Ron was right, Harry hadn't thought of that before.
Ron sighed "try not to think about it too much Harry. I'll try to forgive Percy, but you can't blame yourself or Dumbledore for everything that's happened. You would never have transformed if it weren't for what happened a month or so ago."
Ron smiled weakly then left to go to his bedroom, leaving Harry doing his best fish-out-of-water impression.
Harry was still shocked at what he and Ron had discussed. On top of that, Harry was still mourning at being responsible for Dumbledore's death, and was having enormous difficulty in getting to sleep. He was finally drifting off when a blue light caught his eye. He sat up, grabbed his glasses, and nearly fell out of his bed when he saw what was going on.
His eyes widened in shock as he saw a transparent figure standing next to his bed. It let off a soft blue glow, and as Harry looked up into the figure's face, he was met by a pair of familiar twinkling blue eyes.
"Pr…Professor Dumbledore!" Harry gasped.
"Do not worry about me Harry. My time here was over. I didn't have anymore to teach you."
"But…how? Why are you here now?" Harry managed to stammer out.
The translucent figure of Dumbledore smiled before answering "you said it yourself. The ones we love never truly leave us Harry. You are having trouble finding something to defeat Voldemort with. Might I suggest something?"
Harry nodded for his former Headmaster to continue.
"Trent told me how you are unable to use the Killing curse. The only previous wizard in history who has been unable to use that particular curse was Merlin. The only theory I can come up with as to why you can not use it is that when Voldemort's curse backfired, it also removed your own ability to use that same curse."
Harry sat in thought before answering "so basically, I need to find something else. I don't think I could use a sword. I mean Trent was much better with those than me, so now Voldemort will be as well."
"I agree Harry. There is only one way I can think of to truly defeat Voldemort once and for all."
Harry looked eagerly at Dumbledore and awaited his answer.
"You must find a way to destroy his soul."
Harry was shocked.
"You…you mean a…like the Dementors kiss?" he managed to say.
Dumbledore nodded, "yes, but Voldemort will be able to repel them now as Trent could."
Harry's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Then there's no way to fulfil the prophecy is there?"
"There is always a way Harry. When I was a young lad and attended Hogwarts, there was a legend going around of a spell that did achieve this in ancient times. No record of the spell was ever kept, which is why it was only legend."
"Then how am I going to find out if it's true?" Harry asked.
"Might I suggest you study Dementors? If you can conclude how they do it, you might be able to incorporate that into your own spell."
Harry was a little puzzled. "But where am I going to find enough information on Dementors?"
"Alas Harry, I cannot answer that. There is precious little information known about Dementors, even in the Department of Mysteries. Your Boggart is one though, perhaps you should start there. I must leave you now Harry, we will meet again, but hopefully not for a long while. My only regret is not seeing you graduate. Do not blame yourself for the lives Voldemort and his followers take. Use it as motivation to rid our world of him instead. Good bye Harry James Potter."
"Wait! I don't want you to leave!"
"I am truly sorry Harry, but I must. Good luck my boy." And the ghost of Albus Dumbledore faded from Harry's vision for the first but final time.
Harry was sitting at the table the next morning pondering everything Dumbledore had told him last night. He was just stirring his cereal around and Ron and was trying to get him to eat something. Ron thought Harry was still blaming himself for what happened to Peter and Dumbledore, but no one was prepared for what Harry said.
"Remus, I need to talk with you."
The older wizard looked over to his surrogate Godson, "what about, Harry?"
"I'm not joining the Order."
Every conversation that had been going on at breakfast stopped and all eyes were soon on Harry.
"You…are you sure about that Harry? You have as much right, if not more than anyone, to join."
Harry shook his head, "I don't see the point anymore. I know what needs to be done, as do you. In actual fact, I need a Dementor."
Ron sprayed his pumpkin juice all over the table, as did Fred and George. Remus and Mrs. Weasley both dropped their cups of tea, while Mr. Weasley and Ginny nearly fell off their chairs.
"Wha…where did that come from Harry? You mean a Boggart don't you?" Remus asked while he and everyone else cleaned up from the shock of Harry's announcement.
Harry shook his head, "no. I mean I need a Dementor. A real one."
"Ah Harry. May I ask why? That's not exactly a…well…a usual request" Mr. Weasley said.
"Simple. I can't kill Voldemort with the Killing curse since I can't cast it. I can't kill him with swords as Trent was much more skilled in that area than me. The only choice is to destroy his soul. And to do that, I need to know exactly what goes on with the Dementors kiss."
Everyone sat in stunned silence before Ron spoke up, "great idea Harry. Why don't you just go and ask V…Volde…him for a spare one to practice on. Are you mental?!"
"No Ron, I'm not. I think it's quite logical to be honest. Dumbledore told me of a legend he heard when he went to Hogwarts about a similar spell. Remember this; if I can't find a way to do this, then no one will."
"That's nonsense Harry dear. No one expects you to single-handedly beat…"
"Actually Molly, that's exactly what has to happen." Remus interrupted before explaining the prophecy to those who didn't know it yet. Fred, George, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley all sat wide eyed during the explanation before Mrs. Weasley engulfed Harry in a bone crushing hug that could easily rival one of Hagrid's.
"I'm so sorry Harry dear. I had no idea. How can you handle something like that?"
Harry shrugged "it's no big deal. At least it's giving me a chance, and sometimes that's all it takes. One wrong move by him and all the pain could all be over. Besides, after last month, I think I scared him a bit."
"I'll say. When are you going to show the rest what happened Harry? I want to see your transformation again. That was spectacular, even if the circumstances were somewhat more…subdued." Remus replied.
Harry looked thoughtful before answering that he'd show them in his pensieve after Hermione arrived later that day. The rest of breakfast passed with everyone suggesting ways to get information about the Dementors kiss. Mr. Weasley promised he'd try and find out as much as possible at work.
