Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Harry Potter and everything in his universe. It belongs to JKR. Enjoy.
A/N: Sorry folks, I put up the fourth chapter before the third, too excited I guess. I was planning on waiting a bit on the fourth, but since I already posted it, I might as well share it with you. Lucky people. But here is the third chapter, An Impossible Meeting.
Chapter 3: An Impossible Meeting
Harry was there again. He was in a large underground cavern, a lake all around, the inferi could be seen lying under the surface of the waters of the lake. He and Dumbledore stood on a small island and were looking in a small basin full of some potion. The locket could be seen at the bottom. Harry's insides turned at what was to come.
Dumbledore forced him to promise to keep feeding him the potion until it was gone, no matter what he said. Harry promised and started feeding Dumbledore the potion, using the goblet that was within the basin, the only thing that could break the surface of the potion.
As they progressed, Dumbledore started to plead with Harry to make it stop. Harry forced more potion down his mentor's throat telling him, "Just one more," and "Just drink this and it'll all be over." Harry felt revulsion for what he was doing, why had he promised? After the potion, he picked up a locket that seemed smaller than it should have been. Then the scene shifted.
He was on the Astronomy Tower, the Dark Mark was overhead and Harry was frozen in place and covered by his invisibility cloak. Draco Malfoy stood on the tower, beside two others and Fenrir Greyback. Dumbledore was standing in front of them, weakened by the potion and the curse that had blackened his hand, but still holding them off with soft, but powerful words.
Snape came on the Tower, and looked around, at the brooms on the ground and Dumbledore, glancing briefly over where Harry was standing, invisible. The other Death Eaters stepped back in deference to him and one commented saying, "The boy doesn't seem to be able –"
Then another voice spoke, the sound of which frightened Harry more than ever tonight, "Severus . . . " said the voice quietly, pleadingly.
Severus stepped forward, hatred and revulsion showing on his face. The others stepped back in deference, they seemed to fear Snape, somehow.
"Severus . . . please . . . "
Snape raised his wand at Dumbledore and, his voice harsh, cried, "Avada Kadavra!" Dumbledore seemed to hang in the air a moment as he flew back and off the Tower. As Harry saw it again, his mind seemed to find something odd yet again in the exchange, but still, the thing eluded him, mad as he was at the man who had done the horrible deed.
The scene shifted again. He was in the graveyard and a horrible, high pitched voice screamed, "Kill the spare!"
Wormtail raised the wand and cried, "Avada Kadavra!" Cedric crumpled beside Harry. Then Wormtail bound Harry, and performed a ritual. Cutting off his own hand, putting a bone from the grave of Voldemort's father, blood from Harry, and finally, the thing that was Voldemort.
Let it have drowned, Harry thought, please let it have drowned.
A figure of a man arose out of the cauldron, naked. He stepped out, and Wormtail put a cloak around the shoulders of the figure. The eyes were red, and looked like a snakes. The man was bald and pale. Instead of a nose, he had slits, like a snake. He looked at Harry and Harry's scar burst with pain.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in the Department of Mysteries, in the room with the Veil. A fierce battle was going on and Harry looked back to see his godfather, fighting with Bellatrix Lestrange. Sirius cried out in triumph, only to be hit by a red light and sent through the veil. Harry tried to rush to the veil, to pull him back through, but Lupin held him back.
Harry cried out, "He's right on the other side! We can get him."
Lupin responded with, "No, Harry, he's gone." Lupin's voice sad as he had seen his last friend leave this plane of existence.
Harry, angry at himself, at Lupin, and at Bellatrix, followed her to the lift and the scene shifted again. Or it seemed to. He was standing in the same room, facing the Veil again. The arch looked so old and the carvings on it seemed to glow an eerie blue. The Veil fluttered invitingly on a wind that wasn't there. Harry stepped up the stairs to the platform where the Veil fluttered happily.
He began to hear the whisperings of voices on the other side, inviting sounding voices. He also caught a faint rustling sound, as if something or someone was moving on the other side. Listening closely, a couple of the voices were recognizable, but he couldn't remember whose they were. He tried to peer past the Veil, through it, and saw a blackness, not the other side of the room. He felt the desire to go in and wondered if he should follow it, would he be able to get back or would he be stuck, like Sirius? He felt an almost instinctive reaction, telling him that he would be able to return.
He stepped through the Veil, and into a black void. It was strange; he could breath, however it was an oppressive feeling. The place felt big. He looked back and saw the Veil behind him, the arch looked newer, the blue glowing glyphs looked brand new. Standing on either side of the Veil were two people, who seemed to emanate Light. They stood tall and wore robes of the purest white. Their arms and visible parts of torsos were muscular, though not overly so. What caused Harry to pause the most, were the wings, red and gold wings, sticking out of their backs. At their sides were swords. They nodded at him in greeting and he nodded back.
He asked, "Will I be able to return?" They nodded, but one gestured with his hand behind Harry, seeming to be telling him he had something to do there.
Harry turned around and looked in the direction the . . . angel person . . . had pointed. He could see a faint light in the blackness. He walked toward it and after a while, he began to see a table. There were four figures sitting at the table and a light sitting on top.
When he reached the table, he saw who was sitting there. Sitting next to each other on one side were his mum and dad, Lily and James Potter. Across from them, sat a happy looking Sirius Black, looking just as happy and contented as he had in the picture of his parents' wedding reception. Sitting next to Sirius, was a younger looking Albus Dumbledore. There was no mistaking the image of his mentor. He looked like the Dumbledore Harry had seen in the memory of Tom Riddle, where he had allegedly caught the person who had opened the Chamber of Secrets.
As Harry reached the table, the four stopped talking and turned to him. Lily gave a great cry of joy and she ran to him, throwing her arms around him. The others looked on with smiles on their faces. Dumbledore had the twinkle showing merrily in his eyes. When Lily had finished with her motherly hug, she stepped back and looked at him searchingly.
Harry couldn't contain himself, "Wha- Am I dead?" His question was the first thing that came to his mind.
The four smiled and Dumbledore chuckled, but it was Lily that spoke, "No, you are not dead." She guided him to sit next to her at the table. There was a chair set there for him. They all sat around and Lilly spoke again. "Now then, first things first. We, that is James and I, want to tell you how proud of you we are. You have turned into everything we had hoped for, and more. Despite," and here she glared at Dumbledore, "your being raised by my sister and her husband." Her voice at the end held a note of anger that soon dissipated when she looked back at him.
Harry didn't know what was going on. He looked around the table, "If I'm not dead, how can I be here?"
James laughed and his eyes held a mischievous gleam. "You're here on request from an esteemed group of people. Before we continue, there is something that we need to explain." Here, he looked at Dumbledore, "Will you do the honors, Lord Albus Dumbledore?"
Dumbledore laughed and said, "No need for the formal title, we're only known as that on the mortal plane. You, Harry, are here on the request of a group of people known as the Lords of the Light." He paused and Harry caught and held his breath. Dumbledore looked at the young man before him and continued, "Yes, I see that Lord Dandelion was on schedule in speaking to you. The Lords of the Light and Dark are a group of beings that have been chosen by the Balance to protect it.
"I was chosen to become one after I died, because one must die in order to become a Lord of the Light or Dark. The Lords of the Light, that is Light Magic, help to hold the balance between the Light and Dark Magics. They are given several tasks, including guiding the spirits of the dead on into the next life. These spirits are guided through the Veil of Life and Death, which you passed through to reach here. This place is the place between the mortal existence and the next existence. It is also the place where the Lords of the Light stop they do not go farther. They can and do meet loved ones here from time to time." Dumbledore paused for a moment, and looked at Harry.
Harry looked at his old Headmaster and asked, "Wait, you said that to become a Lord of the Light, that you need to die. If that's the case, Lord Dandelion Evans has died already. How is it, then, he is not a spirit or a ghost?"
Dumbledore laughed, it was a joyous sound and he commented, "Always the perfect student, you know the exact question to ask." His eyes twinkled merrily at the boy in front of him. "The Lords of the Light have bodies, Harry. I have a body. My spirit went back into my body after the funeral, when Fawkes did his thing. I turned into a phoenix when I reanimated my body."
"Then you're a –"
"No, Harry, I wasn't an animagus. When I tried, I found out my form was a phoenix and I never attained it." Dumbledore looked up wistfully, "A mortal cannot attain a magical animagus form, Harry. When I returned as a Lord of the Light, my form was opened up to me."
Harry thought about that for a moment, he would need to ponder everything said here, he knew. Then he asked, "Ok, so why can't you come back and teach me my potential? And how is it possible that I can use the powers of the Lords of the Light? I haven't died yet." This question was brought on because of what Dandelion had told him the day before that he needed to be taught.
Dumbledore seemed to love this conversation. He had loved teaching Harry when he was alive, "To answer your first question, I can't teach you because I don't know myself. I was just made a Lord of the Light, Harry, so I don't know how to control all the powers. As for the second question, you mother should answer."
Lily looked at her son and smiled, "Harry, do you remember Albus telling you about the protection I gave you?" He nodded, his eyes wide, "Well, it shouldn't have protected you from the killing curse."
He looked at her in shock, "But it did!"
She smiled, "Yes, it did, but it didn't at the same time. You see, the potential to become a Lord of the Light or Dark is within the witch or wizard as soon as they are born. Dandelion died at age eight," her eyes softened when she spoke of it, and she looked sad, "he wasn't able to live a long and happy life as a mortal, but he had the potential to become a Lord of the Light or Dark, and because of his disposition, he was chosen to be a Lord of the Light."
She paused, to see if Harry had any questions. She could see that he did, but he held it back for now. "You were protected from dying fully from the Killing Curse because of the protection I gave you from my love. However, a part of you did die. It was the part of you that held your potential to become a Lord of the Light or Dark at bay. That kept you from attaining that potential. This makes you more than what you would have been, because you have not passed through death." Her eyes showed a love and also sadness.
Harry looked at her, his own eyes holding surprise. "So what you're saying is, I not only have the powers of the Lords of the Light, but also some things that mortals have as well? Like what?"
Here, Dumbledore spoke again, "We can't tell you too much because we don't know it all ourselves. Lord Dandelion does, and he can tell you. But to answer your first question, you do have the good things of both, and some extras, but also some bad. You can still bleed and be injured; a Lord of the Light can't for instance because they don't have blood. The other things you'll have to learn from Lord Dandelion."
Harry looked around and said, "But I still haven't decided to go back to school."
The four adults looked at him, and James spoke first, "Yes, that's why we were granted to talk to you. The point of the rest was to tell you that, as a Lord of the Light, you can go both ways through the Veil. Sirius can't, the guards won't let anyone but the Lords past." Harry nodded, thinking of the angel people he'd seen at the Veil. James continued, "We are here, though to tell you we feel you should go back to school." His father's voice was commanding, like how he would have spoken if he had been alive.
Harry looked at him, "But the Hor –"
Dumbledore interrupted, "We know, Harry. But, in order to defeat Voldemort, you'll need the powers you can learn from Dandelion. It is imperative that you return to Hogwarts this Autumn."
The others nodded in agreement, and then Harry stood up, "How do I know that this isn't some trick?" He spoke harshly.
Sirius and James stood up to rebuke him and Lily looked at him, tears showing, but slightly nodding and holding a hand up to stop James and Sirius. However, Dumbledore just sat there, calmly. "Harry, because Voldemort wouldn't want you to go back to school and learn anything new there. Besides, nothing we can say will convince you, you'll just have to chose to trust us, or not. Know this, that we love you and will always be there to speak with you."
Lily looked at him, her tears glistening in her eyes, "Harry, until you learn how to come here by yourself, we cannot speak again. However, that all depends on you. Will you go back to Hogwarts and see if Dandelion can help? Or will you continue on without the added help of the powers that lie dormant in you. It's your choice. Just know that we will support you no matter what choice you make."
James was holding his wife and he spoke next, "Guess this is the goodbyes, son. Keep making righteous decisions, and know that we do love you."
Sirius nodded, "They're right, Harry. Be strong and keep a joke with you at all times. Oh, and be sure to prank the living daylights out of some people." Lily looked reproachfully at Sirius, but James clapped the man on the back.
It was almost like their decision not to continue arguing was what convinced him. He decided right there to return. He went up and hugged his parents. Sirius came in and joined the hug. When they broke away, Harry went to Dumbledore. They hugged, and then Harry felt himself being tugged back to the Veil by an invisible force.
A thought sparked and he fought the compulsion for a moment. "Professor? The night you died, there's something important that I'm missing isn't there?"
Albus nodded and said, "Yes, but you have to figure that out yourself, I won't help you." He waved and Harry started walking backwards.
"Ok, I'll think about it." He waved at them and went to the Veil.
He walked in between the guardians and stepped out on the other side. Then, he heard a loud, obnoxious sound and he was awake a moment later. He sat for a moment and then went to turn off his alarm clock. Did that really just happen? He thought drearily to himself before he got up to think things through while doing his morning exercises.
