Plot Bunnies

3. Summum, hummum, gummum, zummum!

A plot-bunny, by stealacandy

That name really sucks, doesn't it?

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A/N: I started with an idea about Harry doing Voldemort in spite of the horcruxi and just keeping him a prisoner - in an original way - so he wouldn't be brought back from the dead again. But if I wanted Horcruxi, I had to start where HBP ended, so I sent our reluctant heroes to Godric's Hollow. Then the story took over by itself, and made a turn in another direction, and this is what came out.

Disclaimer: Writing fan fiction has it's benefits - you get reviews, a nice hit count, and… well, that's about it. It also has some drawbacks. You don't get dividends, or profits of any kind, which means have spent a lot of time and effort counterproductively, and in cases, the story takes a life of it's own and you end up writing something you didn't mean to, which mean you would have to spent even more time counterproductively and write, again, what you did mean to write, and hope you make it this time. Of course, seeing as you don't own Harry Potter (and neither do I, for that matter), you would once again won't profit from it in the least. So be warned: Stay away from fanfic writing. it's highly infectious.

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Chapter 1: Godric's Hollow

Post-HBP, Ron and Hermione joined Harry, as they had promised, and they all went on to do some horcrux hunting. Everything went as planned at first. They had acquired Salazar Slytherin's locket easily enough - taking it from Kreacher's clutches, after - to Harry's twisted delight - being forced to terminate the little blighter. They then turned their attention on the rest of the horcruxi. Hermione rationalized and decided one horcrux must be hidden in Harry's parents home in Godric's Hollow. So the three friends made their way to Godric's Hollow, in search of the lost horcrux, and Harry's lost childhood.

Trouble is, while it has been easy enough to find the pastoral village of Godric's Hollow, it proved impossible to find the house they were looking for.

"Maybe it was built over?" mused Harry. It wouldn't have surprised him if the Dursley's sold the land to land developers and took the money for themselves, the fat, grabbing gold-diggers that they were.

"Maybe the Ministry protected it from curious people wanting to see the site of Voldemort's fall?" offered Ron.

Harry looked at him incredulously. "The Ministry hiding it? Are you insane? They would parade it, present it to the people as their achievement, make a tourist attraction out of it and milk every Knut they can out of it!"

"Dumbledore wouldn't have let them do that!" said Hermione, appalled.

"I don't know, Hermione." said Harry, considering it. "He was very busy in those days - trying to maintain hold over the ministry, capturing Death-Eaters, letting them go free after they claimed they were controlled, starting on his pet redemption projects, putting me in with those blasted Dursleys, putting Sirius in Azkaban… No, I don't think he had the time, presence of mind or will to fight them on that."

"Hmmm… you're right, Harry," said Ron. "maybe Dumbledore himself hid it?"

"I don't think so, Ron." replied Harry. "He would have considered it a trivial matter, perhaps even a good idea - for the greater good of the wizarding world - people would come here and see the site of Voldemort's demise, lose their fear, use his name, perhaps gain a whiff of contempt towards Voldemort, and more importantly, his ideals? And if I had some hurt feelings - well, so be it."

"… What? Why are you looking at me that way? It's not as if he ever cared about my feelings, my comfort, or my state of mind, Hermione. As long as I was alive and relatively unhurt, living to fight another day, so to speak, he was satisfied! You can't deny that!"

Hermione had the presence of mind to stay silent. Ron muttered "Bitter much?", but luckily, Harry didn't hear.

"Perhaps," ventured Hermione, "perhaps it is still hidden under the Fidelious?"

"How could that be?" asked Ron, while Harry looked pensive.

"You remember what Hagrid said, back in third year, at the three broomsticks, Hermione?" Ron continued. "He said he came here to find the wreckage of the house, rescued Harry and carried him away!"

Harry mumbled something along the lines of "over Sirius protestation, on orders from Dumbledore."

"That means the Fidelious must have been down." continued Ron, "or he couldn't have found it!"

"Wait a sec, Ron," said Harry. "What if it was still under the Fidelious?"

"Huh?" was all Ron said.

"Look, why would the Fidelious fall, all of a sudden?"

"Huh?" asked Ron.

"I mean," said Harry, "The Fidelious held until my parents died. Voldemort didn't break the Fidelious, he circumvented it. He had gone to the source and got the secret from the Wormtail, the secret keeper. Why would the Fidelious fail at that moment?"

"Well," started Ron, "Wormtail revealed the secret! Of course it would fail!"

"Yes," agreed Harry. "It failed to protect my parents - and myself - from Voldemort. But why would it fail from hiding the place? Pettigrew has told Voldemort the secret, but not others. So it stands to reason the Fidelious would still stand, hiding the house!"

"But your parents died, Harry!" said Ron, followed by a painfull "Ron!" from Hermione.

"I am well aware of that, Ron," said Harry. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"If they died," Ron explained, "Then there was nothing left to hide. You could say there was no secret!"

"What about me, Ron?" asked Harry, hotly. "What am I, a pickle?"

"Err… no," said Ron, taken aback.

"Harry would have still been hidden under the Fidelious, Ron" said Hermione, "but it doesn't matter, the Fidelious didn't hide the Potters, it hid the house they were hiding in. But Ron is right, Harry. How would Hagrid be able to find the house?"

"How indeed," said Harry, his face contorting in anger. "Indeed."

"Maybe he was in on the secret?" suggested Ron.

"Ron! Hagrid doesn't know the meaning of discretion!" argued Hermione. "Harry's parent's wouldn't have confided in him!"

"Don't be so sure, Hermione," Harry interjected. "Dumbledore confided in him, in first year, you remember? Actually, I'm beginning to wonder if he confided in him purposely, knowing he can't keep his tongue…"

"What are you thinking, Harry?"

"I'm starting to think Dumbledore, indeed, kept a much closer eye on me, more then I ever realized, as he told me after Sirius died." Said Harry. "But I'm begging to think he didn't do so because he loved me, as he claimed. The funny thing is, for keeping such a close eye on me, he was never there when I actually needed him, you know? Yet, he always arrived the second I solved the crisis of the hour on my own. You know, Mrs. Figg told me, in so much words, she knew how the Dursleys felt about me and treated me, That would almost have to mean he knew, and kept me there in spite of it, and never lifted a finger or reprimanded them, until last year, when I was almost gone from their life. Isn't it strange? He finally tells the Dursleys to behave when it doesn't really matter anymore, and I get to view him as my personal guardian angle again? It almost seems pre-organized! Never thought of that before. But see here, Hermione," Harry paused. "If Hagrid knew the secret, it would almost mean Dumbledore would have known as well, wouldn't it? It was him, after all, who sent Hagrid here in the first place. So he must have known the secrete."

'Okay," said Hermione.

"But then, if he knew the secret, wouldn't it mean he also knew the secret keeper?"

"You don't think-" started Hermione.

"Actually, I do. I'm beginning to." stated Harry.

"But then why-" Hermione tried again.

"And why did he tell Hagrid to take me to the Dursleys, in face of Sirius's protests? And, knowing the prophecy, why did he never do anything to prepare me? A year ago he promised to teach me. He didn't. All he did was show me some memories of Voldemort's childhood, and that only to get me to get him some more memories, Hermione. It's as if he was setting me to fall. Take Voldemort with me, perhaps? I'm beginning to see some foul play here, Hermione, and I don't like what I learned." By now, Harry was very dejected.

Harry thought about it, while Hermione maintained her silence, and Ron remained oblivious.

"There is only one way to get the answer," he said. "The Dursleys aren't likely to tell me anything if they sold the place and took the money, and I'll get into serious trouble with the ministry for muggle baiting if I tried anything with them. If they didn't, then they are unlikely to know anything useful. We can forget about the ministry. They would give us little answers, and demand much in return. And they, too, are unlikely to know anything useful - they are the ministry - when was the last time they were useful to anyone?"

"So what do you want to do?" asked Hermione finally.

"We talk to Pettigrew." answered Harry. "And Snape, he knows a lot as well. Knows too much, I'd say. And they are both in the same place!"

The End!

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A/N: Somehow I ended writing a Dumbledore-bashind scene where Harry realizes he has been manipulated all his life. It's been done and done to much, like a dog going back to his spew, but it is mostly in Post-OoTP stories, that Ignore HBP completely, or just borrow some ideas, and more often, characters, from it, but otherwise disregard the book. I'm all for disregarding HBP, but as I said, I wanted horcruxi, even thoug I find them unimaginative and lacking insight, I still respect canon enough to know that if I want the horcruxi, they come with all the baggage that is HBP.

Unlike Post-OoTP stories, Post-HBP stories rarely have this thread of Manipulative!Dumbledore-bashing, and even more rarely, it is done well and is plausible. In light of that, I think I did a fairly well job of it, especially seeing as I had no intention to go there at all when I started writing - all I wanted is a legitimate reason to put Snape, Pettigrew and Harry in one place, in the dirty Spinner's End, which in turn was my excuse for sending Harry on yet another whacky adventure later on. In light of that, I believe I've done a reasonable well job and made it - somewhat - believeable and the story flowing, so I'm pretty much self-congratulating right now, and I expect you to write me some reviews telling me how great I am. Flamers saying I suck big time and am too smug to boot are also welcome, but beware! I know Voodoo! And I have a way with needles, knives, scalpels, stuff like that - I wouldn't even bother with stabbing the doll…

So stay tuned for the next installation of "Summum, hummum, gummum, zummum!": Chapter 2: Spinner's End.

Read & review and don't forget to bring a towel… (that damn Towlie just has to stick his nose everywhere! And he has black hair in it! I thought he only had fibres, but I guess I was wrong… Towlie want's to inform you all that in face of my promise to myself not to write about him anymore, he started writing his memories on his own. His working title is "Black Hair, Blue Fibre", but is likely to change in the future before he is ready to publish it. Poor Towlie, probably won't find a publisher and end up posting it in ffnet. Of course, they only let human members, so he'll probably nag me till I put it in my profile. You know how he is…)

stealacandy

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Damn Auto-Correction!

And damn ffnet to hell! For all eternity!

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