Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

A/N: Sorry for the shortness of this chapter but the other one was getting kind of long so I broke it ip into two parts.

The Pains of Secrets Revealed Part 2

Harry was finding it hard to breathe. He thought Dumbledore had been helping prepare him to fight...to avenge his parents...to win. When Dumbledore confirmed that he was a Horcrux; he thought he would have a plan, but this wasn't what he thought it would be. How could Dumbledore expect him to not finish this. No... No, there had to be more...something he was missing. Harry's eyes held fire in them as he glared at the man he had trusted so much before last night.

"You said you didn't intend for me to die.. What the hell is the difference in dying and sacrificing myself?" Harry demanded

"Tom will eventrually discover that one or more of his Horcruxes have gone missing, and he will seek to protect himself. It was my hope, that by the time Tom found out his Horcruxes were being destroyed, only his snake would be left, and if not then your connection with him could lead you to the others. He may have given his Horcruxes to others in order to guard them, but he will want to see them safe for himself. He will want you dead as quickly as possible when he learns they are gone, as you are the only threat he sees to his power, but he can't let his Death Eaters see him as being weak. He knows that would be the case if he did not kill you himself, and he would want the power of the Elder Wand to ensure is victory."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Harry rising to his feet in his anger.

"Everything, Harry...Everything... It was my intent to break the power of the wand with my death. Of all the Hallows.. I could only command the true power of the wand because...by the time I went after it..I did not do so for the power it would give me, or to murder my enemies and boast about it. I sought out the owner of the wand, to protect others from what it could do. To spare the lives it would otherwise have claimed. My intent by ordering Severus to kill me would have broken it's power, and protected you from it," Albus could see Harry still didn't understand, "Without the power the wand would give him. It would have been just another wand Harry, and when he attacked - you would be his last Horcrux. Your soul is protected by your mother's sacrifice and the connection, but what would be protecting the part of his soul in you?"

"So.. you..you wanted me to stand there and let him attack me in the hopes that I would survive. That he would kill his own horcrux, and not me?" Harry asked as he dropped back into his seat shocked. He had survived one killing curse, but he didn't really want to try for a second; especially when nothing like this had been done before.

"Yes, Harry that was my intent, but with Severus gone... I can't break the power of the wand."

"But why...? I mean you said you were dying. So long as no one defeats you... Couldn't it still work?" Harry asked - his voice laced with anguish - hoping the plan could still work.

"No, Harry. I am not dying a natural death. I am dying from a curse Tom put on the ring. Severus killing me, on my orders, would have allowed me to die in a manner of my own choosing..undefeated. Intent is one part, but an act must be performed, for the magic to do what is intended. If I was to die now, Tom would be the wand's master and I must beg your forgiveness that I didn't trust you to know this before now...I was afraid you would want to power for yourself, as I once did." Dumbledore said as tears started falling into his beard.

"I don't care about power...I," Harry started angrily.

"I know," Dumbledore said unable to meet Harry's gaze,"I know you don't. As I said - you are a better man than I am Harry. I was only ever fit to command to the true power of the wand in penance for what I once did. I was not afraid of dying Harry. I only sought to prevent the death of others. The same as you did last night, but even after all these years I was still tempted by the power second Hallow - the power to recall lost loved ones even though - I knew - they would not be at peace," at Harry's confused expression he continued, "Remember in the story, Harry. The second brother wanted the ability to recall the dead, but I hope you can see that death did not give the men these trinkets without a price attached,"Dumbeldore's face held so much pain as he spoke, his eyes- untwinkling - lifeless," When the second brother used the stone it did not work like he hoped... It did allow him to see a person he loved, but she was not whole. She was like a ghost, sad and cold, but worse Harry - much worse. She was not meant to be here, and was suffering because of what the second brother had done. He went mad with grief, and ended his own life. Would you be tempted to bring someone back if it hurt them that much to do so?

"No, of course not," Harry said; for as much as he wanted to see his parents, he knew he couldn't if they would suffer for it.

Dumbledore gave a nod in response, "And that is the reason you are a better man than I am... I knew what would happen, but in my own grief I still wanted to see... to say... how sorry I was to those I had hurt in my youth. I wanted the power of the Hallows in my youth, and I paid a heavy price for my greed."

"So what happens now? If he becomes the Master of the wand?"

Harry watched as Dumbledore stood and went to a window. He was looking out over the grounds as he spoke, "I still haven't told you about what happened to the last brother, and it would not do well to leave a story unfinished...The last brother had a cloak you remember...Death's very own Cloak of Invisibility. Death looked for him for a long time, but it was not until the the third brother was much older that he took off the cloak. He passed it on to his son, and went out to greet Death like an old friend."

Dumbledore turned and went over to Fawkes. He mumbled something Harry couldn't hear before the pheonix gave Harry a pitying look, and dissapeared in a flash of fire. Dumbledore turned back to Harry with a weary expression on his face, "Have you ever seen a cloak that didn't weaken with age, Harry? A cloak that truly rendered the wearer invisible to everyone?"

Harry instantly knew he was talking about his father's cloak,"Is it the third Hallow?" Harry asked. His face a mixture of shock and horror that Dumbledore wasn't just telling him a children's story.

"Yes, it is Harry. I am glad you understand that. It makes this... a little easier." Dumbledore walked back to the window again - gazing at the horizon, "I wanted to explain my reason's for what I had done. I truly was hoping you would survive, and defeat Tom. With Severus gone to parts unknown, and most likely dying; that plan can no longer be used to fool him. You understand that so long as Tom has Horcuxes he can't be defeated. You understand that...?Don't you? That in order for him to truly be stopped his Horcruxes must be destroyed?" Dumbledore turned and looked at Harry to see he understood, getting a nod in agreement ,"The others will be arriving for the meeting soon. Would you trust them with the knowledge I just gave you, Harry? The knowledge of the power the Hallows hold?"

"No, no one should have that much power." Harry stated with certainty.

Harry saw Dumbledore's eyes begin to water before he turned to the window once more, "That is why I wanted to explain this in private. The others can't know, but I needed you to understand. After everything that has happened I can't let the power of the Elder Wand, much less the Deathly Hallows, fall into Tom's hands... The only way to stop that from happening. Is to defeat him before I die. To do that I have to destroy his Horcruxes...It must be done." Dumbledore seemed to be speaking more to himself than Harry.


Harry didn't understand everything that was going on, but things didn't feel right. He understood he was probably going to die, but atleast he would take Voldemort down with him. What was bothering Harry was the way Dumbledore wouldn't look at him, and everytime he did, he looked...sad...worn...guilty, but why? When he saw him send Fawkes away he thought he was sending a message, but he left with no letter, and the look the pheonix gave him before flashing away like he was sad for him. Harry couldn't stop himself from rising out of his chair, and when he saw Dumbledore reaching into his robes...He knew what was going to happen...Everything seemed to slow down as he pulled out his wand..Dumbledore was just turning around; while raising his own wand... Harry fired off the first spell he could think of..Dumbledore went flying backwards, and his wand flew into Harr'y hands.


Everything sped back up as he moved, with both wands in hand, towards Dumbledore. It was then, that he heard something unexpected. Dumbledore was chuckling, and that made Harry mad.

"What the hell is so damned funny?" Harry demanded, rushing forward, as Dumbledore was sitting up on the floor.

"I needed you to defeat me Harry,"someone could be heard running up the steps," We haven't much time for me to explain. In the top drawer of my desk is the stone," someone was pounding on the door to the office," Take it..take it, but don't use it. With the Elder Wand and your Cloak - you will be the Master of Death,"they both turned as they heard a lound bang hit the door, but it didn't open,"Tell no one what has happened. The risk would be too great. You must defeat Tom, and as the Master of Death you might not have to die to do it,"another loud bang, and the door began to bow inwards, "hurry before they come inside, and please follow my lead."

Harry went to the desk, and inside found a smooth black stone that was cracked in the middle. He thrust it into his pocket and turned to Dumbledore who was just getting to his feet, "This conversation isn't over." he said - glaring at the man just as the door to the office was blown open.

A/N: The meeting of the Order will come next. I just didn't want to leave everyone hanging after that last chaper. Thanks for reading, and please review.