So, dear reviewers, when I posted last nights chapter, it was just before I fell asleep, and when I awoke this morning it was to the delightful surprise of several very positive reviews, which is awesome! literally the best present I could wake up to, so thanks so much!
On to more serious matters. THIS IS IT... (Dun Dun Duhhh...) the showdown, it's been the subject of a lot of discussion, and because of that I've been so worried about finally getting this chapter right, will he? won't he? I really am quite proud of this chapter, it's longer than any other, and without a doubt the hardest I've had to write so far, so please, I would really love feedback on it... To all the people who speculated on how it would end, have I done the rest of the story justice?
The patch of this chapter which is entirely Dumbledore's thoughts is to quell any idea's you may still have about this being a Dumble-bashing fic, because Dumbledore has very few aspects to his character in Canon that can be bashed, I am trying to keep my Dumbledore as similar as possible to JK Rowlings!
Thanks again to my beta.
here it is...
Chapter 13
Harry hurried back to the common room, it was full at this time of the evening and Harry spent a few minutes trying to avoid the many conversations he was sucked into. Reaching his dorm room, he kicked off his black school shoes and trousers, slipping on a pair of dark grey fitted jeans and a black bomber jacket, which he zipped up to his neck.
Satisfied he would be able to hide in shadows Harry quickly kicked open his trunk, rooting around in the depths before finding the duellers wand holster which Clara and Graham had given him for Christmas in his fourth year. He strapped the black dragon hide to his left forearm and slid his wand easily into the channel. Satisfied with his outfit, he made his way back out of the common room.
It was nearly curfew and the corridors were deserted, Harry was easily able to avoid the few teacher patrols. He made it to the great front doors, slipping past the grumbling form of Filch who was standing watch over the front Lawn. Harry found himself on the expansive fields overlooking the Lake and Hogsmeade.
At first glance it appeared to be deserted, but then Harry saw what appeared to be running shapes. One was obviously human, tall and most probably male, whilst the other appeared to be a large dog. They were sprinting towards the forbidden forest, and Harry decided to, as sneakily as possible, give chase.
He broke into an easy run, relying on the disillusionment charm to keep himself hidden. The dim evening light would help to keep the slight distortion the charm left in the air from being visible. He made it to the forest and fell into a low crouch, the woods were eerily silent, the dense canopy blocking nearly of the light out of the sky. Harry's eyes scanned the area carefully. Nothing was moving, and with the exception of a few birds, not a sound could be heard.
"Ron, for goodness sake!" The sound was unmistakably feminine, Harry whirled around, three people, and from the distance Harry was standing from them, they were unmistakably Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasely and Hermione Granger, had stopped halfway down the lawn.
From the looks of things, Ron had tripped over his untied shoelace, face planting into the dewy grass. Harry watched the trio carefully, his instructions from Riddle at the front of his mind, Neville Longbottom had to survive… for now.
A sound behind him suddenly drew Harry's attention, a rustle coming from a dense bush behind him. He turned on the spot, stalking slowly towards the site where the noise had come from. He squinted carefully in the darkness, but couldn't see anything, he activated his magical sight and nearly gasped. Something was in the bush, something very large and very magical. He made a rapid motion to draw his wand, but before he could, the thing suddenly charged.
Harry had a brief image of a four legged antlered animal before it struck him on his shoulder, he was knocked aside like a sack of potatoes, falling painfully on his back and knocking the wind out of him. He lay on the floor gasping for a little while, straining to get air into his lungs.
Rolling onto his front he raised himself back into a crouch, eyes alert and wand raised in case the… Moose? Deer? Made another pass. Fortunately it appeared to have gone. Walking over to the treeline, Harry looked out.
It became immediately obvious where the beast had gone. Neville and Hermione had scattered, shouting in panic as the animal, which Harry could now make out to be a half starved looking Stag, rushed at Ron, catching him in the stomach with its antlers. The gangly red head was sent head over heels, but the stag carried on attacking him, it pushed the obviously injured third year towards the whomping willow. Just as it made it to the trunk, both Stag and boy suddenly vanished. Harry blinked, looking closely at the area from which they had disappeared. Nothing, no flash of disapparation, nor the hazy blur in the air typical of a disillusionment charm.
Harry continued to puzzle over their sudden disappearance as he watched Neville and Hermione attempt to dodge the flailing limbs of the Whomping Willow. As Harry watched Hermione and Neville made a mad dash to the trunk before they too suddenly disappeared. Harry frowned in absolute confusion. Either he was being exceptionally dense, or there was powerful magic here he had never even heard off, to hide multiple figures with no noise or light.
To his mild surprise two more figures had suddenly made a mad dash towards the tree, it was Lupin and a his dog, Harry watched as Lupin waited on the lawn whilst the dog went up and touched the trunk, freezing the flailing limbs, then both man and dog charged the trunk and without a sound were gone.
Harry stood where he was for five minutes at least. His father was out here in the forest somewhere, but the mad stag clearly presented a very real threat to Neville, he dithered for a few moments, balancing on the balls of his feet.
Screw it he thought, before sprinting over the lawn towards the Whomping Willow. The tree evidently sensed him coming, for its branches whipped and crashed a few feet from Harry, who had wisely stopped a few feet from the tree's effective range.
Stasus!
The stasis charm had no immediate effect, and Harry poured more and more power into it, eventually the tree, whilst still not stationary, had slowed it's movements enough that Harry could dodge the branches with ease.
Cautiously approaching the trunk, Harry studied it for hidden doors, finding none, he checked the ground and quickly found a wide opening that clearly led into the bowels of the earth.
I suppose that answers my question he thought wryly, I'm just incredibly dense.
Harry grinned as he dived into the hole, it slid down for several metres before levelling out, leaving Harry in a long, low tunnel.
Reapplying his concealment charms, Harry hurried down the passage for what felt like half a mile, before he finally ended up in what appeared to have once been a rather plush living room. However that must have been a long time ago, the windows were boarded up and most of the furniture was smashed to pieces with bite marks and long scratches, more than that, Harry could sense several wards that had been erected for the sole purpose of keeping something, locked inside the house.
Lupin Harry thought, it made sense, what do you do with an angry werewolf but lock him up in a grimy old house?
Following the trail of footprints in the dust, Harry quickly found himself approaching a set of stairs. It was clear from the clear patches in the dust that many pairs of feet had been up the once elegant stairway recently, and with great caution Harry began to ascend slowly.
As he climbed, he began to hear voices, they were raised in anger and Harry strained to hear them,
"… Your son? Is that what you wanted?" that was unmistakably the calm and reasonable voice of Lupin.
"Professor, He's losing a lot of blood, what should I do?" Granger, Harry thought, he had seen no other girls enter the passage.
"Silence Girl, Silence and step away!" Harry didn't recognise that voice, it was harsh, and gravelly as though it had not been used often.
There was suddenly the noise of a scuffle, and from Harrys spot outside the closed door, Lights and flashes were suddenly visible beneath the gap of the door. Evidently a spell fight was going on, Harry decided against entering the room in the middle of a fight, instead he took the time to centre himself, clearing his mind of emotion and raising his chin.
There was a pained shout, followed shortly after by a rich bouquet of graphic swear words, which were quickly silenced. The spell light abruptly ended and a harsh laugh sounded throughout the room.
Harry took this as his cue. He turned the doorknob, and with the feeling of butterflies in his stomach pushed open the door.
The room was large, clearly it had once been the master bedroom, Ron Weasely lay on the bed, his face pale and a large amount of thick scarlet blood pouring out from a wide antler sized puncture wound in his stomach, Neville and Hermione crouched over him, their expressions showing terror. Professor Lupin was unconscious, his tall frame lying against the wardrobe, eyes closed, with a nasty looking bruise developing on his face.
Sirius black was tightly bound in ropes, bleeding from his nose and a split lip, a rough gag forced into his mouth. He was lying on the floor, glaring up at the final occupant of the room.
Tall, with lank shoulder length hair, his frame skeletally thin stood a man, Harry at first didn't think he was a man at all, his skin was a sickly yellow, stretched tight over sunken features that may once have been handsome. He wore just a black coat and torn pair of trousers, which did nothing to hide just how skeletally thin he was.
Harry took all of his features, but his eyes rested on the man's eyes, they were alive, dancing in the fire, they didn't show hate, rage or anger, indeed they showed only pure delight and insane joy.
The room went suddenly silent at his entrance. The two conscious teenagers looked at him in shocked surprise, Black looked at him in resigned acceptance mixed with rage, whilst the skeletal man, who Harry assumed could only be his father merely looked at him with a sort of interested confusion.
"You!" cried out Hermione, Harry gave her a small shake of her head and she fell silent. Neville however didn't get the hint,
"I knew it, I knew you must be in league with him Potter!" At this James gave a strangled gasp.
"Potter?" he croaked, Harry, for the first time since he could remember made eye contact with his father.
"Harry, James, Potter." He enunciated slowly, and James gave a wide, insane grin, revealing crooked yellow teeth.
"Come to meet dear old daddy?" he asked mockingly, Harry gave a noncommittal shrug.
"I've come to learn where your loyalties lie." He said, James said nothing, instead turning back towards Sirius, apparently delighted in the groans the defence professor made with each kick to the ribs, the man had evidently lost interest in Harry.
"Potter, um, Harry?" he turned to face the bushy haired third year calmly, she looked terrified, but was evidently trying to keep her cool, and Harry gave her a nod to continue,
"Could you help Ron? I think he may be dying!" Harry took a brief look at the red head, he knew very little of healing, but agreed with Hermione's assessment. He drew his wand and cast a diagnostic charm. They were right, If Weasely didn't stop losing blood soon he would die, whilst he had no real desire to continue the redheads life, he supposed it wouldn't look to good to the rest of the school if he had deliberately allowed a third year to bleed to death.
With a small sigh he pointed his wand at the boy, conjuring a small ball of blue fire, which he used to cauterise the wound, it wasn't pretty, and it did nothing to help the internal wounds, but Harry hoped it might keep him alive long enough for further medical attention.
"Why you doing magic hmm?" asked James, his attention returning to his son when the wand had been waved.
"Why are you here?" Harry asked, his voice ice cold, James gave a laugh, the sound coming out like a strangled bark,
"Why am I here he says?" the elder Potter suddenly performed a quarter turn and ducked his face into a closed hand,
"What do I say Lily? What's I here for? He's our son and he's a slippery Slytherin! Hagrid was right, schemers… plotters… Potters ahaha, no Potters meant to be in Slytherin Lily, oh no!" Harry was taken aback at the sheer level of insanity the wizard before him was showing.
"Why are you here?" he asked again and James gave him a lopsided grin,
"To finish my little job, oh yes, someone has to, wouldn't do for job's to be left half done now would it?" he asked, giggling to himself.
"What job? What must be finished?" James looked at him curiously, before raising his hand and pointing an accusing finger at Neville.
"The chubby one, and he is fat Lily, oh yes, Master couldn't kill him, so it leaves James to finish the job" he turned again and spoke into his hand,
"Oh Lily, I always was the best, wasn't I? I always knew what to do, no wonder the Dark Lord wants James to finish the job!"
Harry took a deep breath. It was terribly clear that twelve years in Azkaban had left James Potter quite insane, and Harry could have yelled in frustration as he realised he would most likely never learn the reason for his father's betrayal. It was also clear that James was a servant of the Dark Lord, which meant Harry really ought to let him escape… not that the man would be much use to anyone in his current state.
"Go. Leave now Potter, Quickly, before the Dementors arrive." James looked at him curiously,
"Oh James will go, oh yes, he'll be off in a moment, just as soon as the chubby one dies!" With that James sent a cutting curse straight at Neville, he moved very fast and Harry was only just able to raise a shield in time. James glared at him, looking for all the world like Harry had stolen his biscuit.
"why did my son stop the spell Lily? Why did you stop my spell boy?"
"Leave now James Potter. And leave Longbottom alive!" James gave a wild cackle and with another flick of his wand sent a barrage of spell's at Harry.
Protego Maxima! He thought, watching as the cascade of spell's splashed against his shield in a kaleidoscope of colour.
James kept up his offensive for several moments, casting silently and cackling madly, Harry's shield eventually broke and he dove out of the spell's path.
Stupefy! Furnunculus, petrificus totalus! Harry thought, returning fire with his own barrage of spells, although unlike James's lethal selection, Harry was aiming to incapacitate only. James however moved faster than he would have thought possible, he dodged Harry's spell chain, but carried on firing his curses at the same time, forcing Harry on the defensive once again.
Several minutes later and Harry was tiring quickly. Despite his time in Azkaban, his father was easily the most formidable opponent Harry had ever faced, he moved jerkily but quickly, and every one of his spells was dead on accurate.
In the few moments that Harry had been able to cast offensively, he had been forced to abandon spells to disarm and incapacitate, returning fire instead with his own lethal brand of Dark Arts and transfiguration.
Ossus fragmentum, Hastis Glacis, Commudo!
Whilst the trio of deadly spells were headed towards James, Harry took the opportunity to change the three chairs at the vanity table into a pack of wolves, which with a powerful compulsion charm quickly charged James.
The elder Potter had blocked the three curses with a maniacal laugh, but didn't seem to notice the three dogs. The first dived on his back, digging its claws into the older man's skin. James gave hoarse yell, before using a flame whip to quickly dispose of the three beasts.
Turning back to Harry, James gave a mad grin, blood dripping to the floor at his feet.
Sangulcus! Ossus explodum Harry thought quickly, both spells leaving his wand with a bright flash
Harry and James both cast at the same time, Harry attempted to dodge the violet coloured curse coming at him, but it struck his left hand and he felt a searing agony. Looking down, Harry saw the skin start to rot before his eyes, and with a hurried stasis charm, he prevented any further damage, however it didn't stop the terrible pain that Harry could feel radiating from the wounded appendage.
James laughed as he saw Harry's hand. "Did Harry's hand go bye bye? Does he want Daddy to curse it properly this time?" he asked mockingly, Harry ignored him. Instead summoning a trunk that had been pushed up against the wall, the heavy leather bound box struck James in the back and he pitched forward
"Father please, leave. I am sorry but I can't let you kill him" Harry said, feeling almost desperate, "Just go, please father, leave!" James stood slowly up, clearly in some pain
Harry knew from the look in the skeletal man's face that this duel could only possibly end one way.
"Avada Kedavra!" James suddenly roared, whipping his wand at Harry. The raven haired sixth year dived to one side, and snapped out a cutting curse as he fell.
The cutter found its mark. Harry watched in detached disappointment as the red curse struck James right in the neck. The escaped convicts head snapped back, a great burst of crimson suddenly exploding outwards.
Hermione, who up until this point had been in silent horror screamed loudly as the spray caught her straight across the face, Harry ignored her though, his eyes were focused on his father. The man was still standing, blood pouring from a jagged tear across his whole neck, his eyes were wide in silent surprise, mouth gaping like a fish out of water.
In slow motion, the man fell to his knees with a dull thump, before he collapsed forward. Harry watched, not allowing anything of the whirlwind of emotions he was feeling to show on his face. Sheathing his wand as casually as possible Harry turned to Hermione and Neville.
"We need to get him to the hospital wing." His voice was dispassionate, and Hermione nodded once fearfully.
"Diffindo, Enervate." Harry called, releasing Professor Black and waking Lupin. Black immediately jumped to his feet, hurrying to help Lupin stand. Harry looked back at the corpse of his father, eyes taking in the red puddle that had formed beneath his head. He would never know, never know why his father had forever branded Harry traitors son.
It suddenly felt as if the air was unable to reach his lungs. His throat felt tight and his eyes stung. Harry blinked and ignored the feeling of the lump in his throat.
Mobillicorpus. Harry thought, and the body rose as if on invisible strings, a sick parody of a living being. "Let's go." He said, Black looked like he might argue but said nothing, instead he just levitated the unconscious Ron, and together the two of them left for the hospital wing.
They were a strange group. Harry led the way, the corpse of the eldest Potter following behind, still dripping blood, Granger and Neville followed, both looking like they may be sick at the sight of the floating body. Weasely was hovering just behind them, carried by Black who was supporting Lupin.
No one spoke, and they made their way out of the Whomping Willow in silence, arriving on the dark lawns next to the forest.
They had barely gone five steps when it happened.
"Remus?" Sirius asked, his voice nervous, Harry turned, and saw the stationary form of Professor Lupin, his entire body was strained, and Harry suddenly knew why. He looked up at the clouds and as they parted saw the bright full moon shining in the sky, "Remus, did you take your potion tonight?"
Harry scowled, but as turned as calmly as possible to the confused looking third years.
"Longbottom, get behind me, slowly and with no sudden movements." The chubby boy saviour looked at him in confusion, "Now Longbottom." Harry said a bit more forcefully, fortunately it appeared Granger was the smarter of the two, for she dragged Longbottom by the arm whilst summoning Ron as she did so.
Harry turned back to Lupin, the professor was crouched over in obvious pain, and Harry watched in awed fascination as his hands elongated, fingers growing into vicious looking claws. His legs were growing and bending whilst his face stretched into a cruel looking muzzle.
The werewolf gave a pained cry and ripped the skin off its back, revealing coarse dark fur. Transformation complete, the beast paused for a moment, and Harry watched curiously as Sirius attempted to reason with it. Sadly this was unsuccessful, and with a vicious swipe of its large front paw Professor Black flew through the air and landed with a vicious crack.
Harry held his breath as the Werewolf sniffed the air. He had his wand gripped tightly in his hands, and he could feel the blood pumping through his veins as his heart beat a mile a minute.
Behind him Harry heard Longbottom and Granger whimper as the enormous beast raised its head and glared at them. With a sickening inevitably, Lupin took one slow step towards them, its countenance screaming that of a predator. Harry raised his wand
Flagrate flagellum!
With a bright flash a fifteen foot whip of white hot flame burst from the end of Harry's wand. The werewolf paused momentarily before taking another step towards them. Harry cracked the whip loudly, and the beast howled angrily pausing just outside the weapons range.
Harry suddenly felt the irrational sense of rage he associated with dark magic overuse overcome his senses, and his vision blurred as a red filter seemed to settle over his vision. He narrowed his eyes angrily.
What was this beast to threaten him? He thought, he took a furious step forward and raised the whip, bringing it slashing down towards the wolf's chest. Lupin dodged it narrowly, but Harry quickly brought it down again, striking the beast on its rear legs and tail.
Lupin gave a pained howl as the acrid smell of burned hair and flesh reached Harry's nose. He smiled in pleasure and brought the whip down again, Lupin however anticipated the strike and dove furiously straight at Harry.
With only feet to spare, He just managed to hurl himself out of the Werewolf's path before it crashed into him, lying on the ground he brought his whip down again, and with a cruel snap, the smoking rope of white hot flame opened an angry looking wound on the Professors back. The wolf fell to its knees in agony.
Harry brought the whip down twice more, opening brand new smoking lines of burned and scarred flesh. By this stage Lupin was laying on its belly, whining pitifully like a dog locked out of a house.
Harry cancelled the whip with a thought, and stalked to the stand by Lupins head. The oversized wolf looked at him, its eyes were still those of the mild mannered professor, and it looked at him fearfully, clouds of mist exited it's nostrils from its rapid breaths.
"Potter. Don't!" Hermione called, Harry turned to look at her, she looked like she was about to be sick, tears running down her cheeks.
"Just leave him, he's still a man!" she cried, Harry gave her a grin, it was wide and displayed all the cruel malice he was feeling at that moment.
Apsorio
The werewolf's head suddenly imploded violently, brain and blood leaking from every orifice. He heard Hermione's cry of horror and Neville's angered shout. As the puddle of blood began to spread, Harry felt the alien emotions slowly fade, leaving him tired but satisfied, his body still thrumming with the power that dark magic provided.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Albus Dumbledore was sat behind his desk at midnight that night, he was nearly ready for bed, dressed in a sapphire blue nightshirt and matching cap. His eyes were skimming over a long page of parchment describing some of the early plans for next year's tri-wizard tournament.
He put the parchment down with a weary sigh, deciding to finish his reading in the morning when he was better rested. Clearing his desk to a respectable state, he was about to retreat to his private quarters when he heard the chime that alerted him when someone was ascending the stairs.
Dumbledore frowned when he saw the time, it was rare for him to receive visitors at past midnight, and when they did arrive they tended to bode rather bad news, he sighed again, recalling the last time he had received such a late night visit. The poor Weasely family had yet to recover.
He sat himself back down, and schooled his features into a kind, if weary expression, awaiting the knock to his door. The knock however never came, instead the door was opened immediately and Dumbledore watched in concern as the young Harry Potter entered the room.
For as long as Dumbledore had known Harry, the boy had always carried himself like a king, displaying no weakness and for the most part, no emotion whatsoever. It worried the aged Headmaster therefore to see Harry now, his posture was slightly slumped and he wore what seemed to be a somewhat lost expression, his eyes, always so sharp and cold, now appeared empty and glassy, whilst his clothes were rumpled and torn, stained with blood and dust.
"Harry? What may I…" Dumbledore began, before his voice trailed off in shock. Floating behind the sixth year prefect came two corpses. One was unmistakably a werewolf, whilst the other was a man, both steadily dripping blood.
Harry floated the bodies into the middle of the room before cancelling the spell, dropping the two bodies to the floor with a muffled thud. Dumbledore kept his features calm as he looked upon the features of his former student and friend James Potter, the werewolf was Lupin, of that Dumbledore had no doubt, even though its features had been bludgeoned beyond recognition.
The silver haired headmaster looked at the boy in front of him with shock, but his feelings soon morphed into pity as he looked at the child, Harry hadn't moved, and his eyes appeared to be stuck on his father's face.
"Harry?" Dumbledore asked, the green eyed teen didn't move. "Harry?" he asked more forcefully and the boy looked up, Dumbledore watched in resigned acceptance when the Prefect's face became suddenly blank, the lost expression in his eyes vanishing behind an ice cold shield.
"It would appear you have had an interesting evening my boy." Dumbledore said carefully, keeping his eyes carefully on the young Potter,
"Indeed." The boy replied with a smirk, and Dumbledore nearly frowned as the cold smirk graced Harry's face, it was a valiant effort the headmaster thought, but Dumbledore had played Politics since before Harry's father had been born, and saw through the expression easily.
"I will not ask you what happened tonight Harry just yet." Dumbledore began, "go to the hospital wing immediately, your hand is in serious need of assistance before the damage becomes permanent. He saw Harry look down at his hand, the flash riddled with black, green and purple patches as the skin rotted away slowly, even under the effects of Harry's stasis charm.
The boy nodded and turned on his heel, Dumbledore sighed, resting his weary head on his hands, Harry Potter had always been a cause of Headaches to the headmaster. He was so unlike his father and mother, so unlike anyone Albus had ever met before, even the young Voldemort.
When Minerva first regaled him with the tale of meeting Harry in the orphanage, he had been concerned that the boy was a carbon copy of the dark lord, however from the first day in the school, Harry had proven himself to be different, better in many ways than the young orphan boy Tom Riddle.
Dumbledore had watched with delight as Harry made friends, even Miss Rookwood, who was unmistakably closer to the dark than the light on the magical spectrum, was a positive influence on the boy.
Dumbledore had said it before and would say it again, Love was the greatest weapon he possessed over Voldemort. Harry's love for his friends, and especially the intense love he felt for the beautiful Miranda Rookwood was what kept him safe, kept him strong and kept him free from being overcome by darkness.
That didn't mean that Dumbledore wasn't concerned about young Harry Potter, the boy was brilliant, of that there was no argument, he was a prodigy in most every subject and Dumbledore listened to glowing reports about his progress near daily from his staff. No, If Harry had only been an academic prodigy, it would have been fine, but Harry Potter had a long list of adjectives to describe him:
Cold, cunning, ruthless, ambitious, charming, controlled, powerful, charismatic, logical, relentless were but a few.
Dumbledore knew in his heart that should the boy desire it, he could win Voldemort the war, he could probably take over the country in a matter of years if he wished it, and Dumbledore was an old man, he didn't have the power to take on two Dark Lords.
Despite Dumbledore's best efforts, Harry had slipped further and further from where he wished. The headmaster knew he was practicing dark magic, and Albus strongly suspected that the young Potter had only been partially truthful with his story about the philosopher's stone two years ago.
And now there was this, Dumbledore refused to jump to conclusions, but it appeared that the sixth year had killed his father and a professor. Dumbledore felt a tear run down his cheek when he remembered the look in Harry's eyes earlier. Whatever had happened, whatever the crime, no child should have to bury their father.
"Albus?" Came a shout from the fireplace, Dumbledore looked and saw Madame Pomphrey's head in his grate,
"Poppy, Mr Potter has arrived I take it?" he asked, his voice very grave, the healer shook her head quickly,
"No, is he on his way then? I think you should come down here, I have Longbottom, Weasely and Granger with me, as well as Professor Black." Dumbledore quickly dismissed her with a promise of being down shortly, He had to get to the bottom of this matter, and fast.
Throwing a pinch of floo powder into the fire, he alerted the Minister and Auror office of the developments, before hurrying down to the Hospital Wing.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
The first thing Harry noticed when he awoke was that something was tickling his nose, and whatever it was smelt delicious.
He opened his eyes slowly, closing them quickly at the harsh light before opening them again slowly. He was in the hospital wing, and the thing tickling his nose was in fact a head of blonde hair, which was sleeping on his chest.
With startling clarity, Harry remembered the events of the previous night and felt the feeling of failure and despondency spread through his whole body. He closed his eyes again, and to his very great shame felt tears leak from the corner of his eyes.
He blinked furiously, reaching up to rub such evidence of ridiculous sentimentality out of his face. Unfortunately the movement stirred Miranda and she looked up at him with sleep filled eyes. She blinked blearily, before her eye's filled with amusement.
"Are you crying Potter?" she asked, Harry shook his head quickly, but she cackled slightly before shaking her head,
"I was merely unused to the morning light!" Harry replied, feeling a small smirk play across his face at the familiar banter.
"Really? And the light caused the redness in your cheeks and that delightfully runny nose too I take it?" her tone was innocent, but Harry could see the smile on her face.
"Yes." Harry replied, keeping his expression stable, Miranda eyed in carefully,
"Alright." she bent down and gave him a kiss over both his eyes, before lazily smiling at him, "I thought you might have gone soft on me!"
Harry grinned at her and gave a roguish wink, "No chance!"
At that point there was a commotion by the door and a large group of people entered at once. Madam Pomphrey, the Headmaster, Snape, McGonagall and Black, as well as a tall man in expensive robes who was twirling a lime green bowler hat in his hands, Harry recognised him as Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic.
"Mr Potter, I am glad you have finally decided to stop sleeping." Snape said, his tone mocking, Harry removed his smirk, instead keeping his face carefully clear.
"Yes yes, we were all very worried about you! Cornelius Fudge Mr Potter, Minister for Magic" added Fudge quickly, his voice slightly whiny and grating, Harry gave a polite nod, and Dumbledore looked down at him.
Harry looked at the Headmaster and saw that the aged man's eyes were not twinkling, they were looking hard and fast at Harry, the expression very grave.
"Harry, as I'm sure you understand, we have to know what happened last night." Harry nodded, and idly noted that Professor Black's expression appeared both pained and upset.
"I don't quite know where to begin Headmaster, Minister." Harry began, his tone neutral even as he held on tightly to Miranda's hand. "I suppose it started in Professor Black's defence lesson. I disrupted the lesson by accidentally mastering a spell to fast, and was understandably given detention."
Harry saw with vicious amusement Black's cheeks turning a colourful shade of pink as the other turned to give him reproaching glares, Dumbledore's eyes regained a small amount of their lost twinkle as he urged Harry to continue.
Harry told his story with only a few modifications, he skimmed over his duel with his father, stating only that he was forced to duel the man to the death, and carefully leaving out any mention of the questionable nature of the spell's he had used.
He then moved on to the incident with Lupin, describing the Professors transformation, and subtly inferring that had Harry not acted as he had, the four students would be dead, which was true, although he rather suggested that he had only attacked where absolutely necessary.
When he finished his story there was silence in the room and he suddenly realised just how tightly he was gripping Miranda's hand, he quickly loosed it, sending her an apologetic smile.
The minister was the first to recover, and he smiled benignly down at Harry. "Mr Potter, Mr Potter, do not worry, you did the right thing, to go against such a dangerous wizard to defend fellow students is so very brave, and against your father as well!" He beamed widely,
"have no doubt either young man, about trouble with the law, no one is blaming you for killing the werewolf Harry, they are dangerous creatures and it is a real achievement for any wizard to survive an encounter, I don't know what one was doing teaching here! You should be very proud Harry. If I have any say in the matter you'll be getting an order of Merlin Second Class, Merlin's beard, perhaps even first class, you are a hero Harry, and don't you forget it." The portly man gave Harry a comforting squeeze on the shoulder and Harry resisted rolling his eyes at the man's actions.
Harry looked to Snape, and saw the man was looking at him with a look of impressed relief, the greasy haired man quickly nodded when they made eye contact.
"Harry, you have without doubt been very brave, and I will echo the Ministers words, you will not be punished for your actions, but I expect you to join me in my study this afternoon, at three o'clock." Harry nodded and the teachers left, leaving Harry, Miranda and Madame Pomphrey.
"When did you get here?" Harry asked the blonde,
"Around one the Headmaster flooed me, when I got in Pomphrey was still working on Weasely." Harry looked to the healer,
"Is Weasely alive?" He asked, his voice casual, Pomphrey fixed him with a stare,
"Yes, thanks to you, although it was still a very close thing, your method of healing is… crude Mr Potter, but it saved his life, so well done." Harry shrugged and turned back to the blonde.
"So..." he began, looking at her "Plans for summer?"
She rolled her eyes, "Well, We could watch a few Quidditch matches, Ireland got through to the quarter finals so we could beg tickets from Moran, other than that, I have to work, so I'm afraid I can't fit in another international trip!"
"I'm touched that you came to visit me last night Miranda, though be careful, else someone may think you actually cared." He grinned and the blonde adopted her usual haughty expression.
"Don't get used to it Potter, Slytherin look's out for her own." Harry gave a smile as she repeated the words she had last said to him six years ago. "I have to go, I've missed an hour's work already."
Harry gave her a lingering kiss and then she left, Madame Pomphrey bustled over as she vanished in the fire, performing her usual battery of diagnostic checks.
"Well Potter, you're fine, have some breakfast and then I'll dismiss you." Harry accepted the tray of food and ate it quickly, before dressing and heading quickly out of the door. He was greeted warmly by his friends, who evidently had heard about what happened, it has apparently been published in The Daily Prophet that morning that the hero Harry Potter had killed his traitor father in a duel valiantly defending Neville Longbottom.
Several students who Harry had never met came up to him in the hallways to hug him, which Harry allowed with a sort of bemused acceptance, The biggest surprise came from the two Weasely twins, Harry had only spoken to them very rarely, but like the rest of the school he was very aware of their reputation, they had approached him as he left the charms classroom to shake his hand.
Harry told them that saving Ron was nothing and that he did what anyone would do, the twins however had clearly been grateful, especially after Ginnys death last year.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Arriving at Dumbledore's study, Harry knocked smartly on the door and waited, shortly after there came the voice of the aged headmaster and Harry pushed on the door.
"Good Afternoon, I must say, you look far better than you did last time you were in here." Dumbledore said, his blue eyes watching him intensely even as his tone remained jovial.
"Thank you Headmaster, I feel much better too, Madam Pomphrey healed me up very well." The headmaster studied him briefly. "Sorry about the mess I left." Dumbledore waved his apology with a careless hand gesture.
"Yes, Poppy was most surprised that with the exception of the wounds you suffered last night, you are the picture of health, you must live a very healthy lifestyle." Harry refused to let anything show on his face as he nodded, did Dumbledore know about the stone?
"I look after myself headmaster." He said neutrally, and Dumbledore smiled.
"Of course, now then Harry, I believe we should get to the crux of the matter."
"And what is that Headmaster?" Dumbledore sighed and looked at Harry carefully
"I believe you know Harry." Harry shook his head carefully, keeping his head carefully blank,
"Well Headmaster, are you referring to my going out after curfew last night? The fact that I fought my father or how I killed your defence professor?" Dumbledore looked frustrated at the games they were playing and bit out sharply
"Remus Lupin, you killed Remus Lupin last night." Dumbledore almost immediately regretted his words when he saw the flash of pain appear in Harry's eyes, before his mask snapped back into place.
"As you say headmaster." Harry finally replied, his eyes cold and hard, Dumbledore sighed, it appeared that after his outburst he had lost Harry, not, he mused, that he had ever had Harry in the first place
"I did not wish to speak in front of the minister Harry, but, well, Mister Longbottom and Miss Grangers accounts of last night do differ slightly to your own." Harry frowned but said nothing,
"They agree with all the events regarding the duel with your father, however they seem to believe that you killed Professor Lupin in cold blood, as well as the rather questionable nature of much of the magic you displayed, I reviewed their memories, and I must say, I agree with them." Harry stayed quiet, his eyes focused on something over Dumbledore's head.
"Headmaster?"
"Harry, I am not here to punish you, what happened last night must have been torture, to have to defend yourself from your father, to have to kill your last relative, the man whose blood flows so strongly in your veins. Harry please understand you have my most profound sympathies."
"Thank you headmaster." Harry's voice was polite as ever, but decidedly stony.
"Harry my boy, I do feel I would be remiss if I did not at least ask if you were alright?" Harry's eyes finally flicked back to Dumbledore's face, but they remained ice cold.
"I am quite alright thank you Headmaster, I do not regret any of my actions last night, I did the right thing." Dumbledore sighed and aged before Harry's eyes.
"I do not believe you believe that Harry." He said, his voice kind, Harry resisted the urge to sneer.
"You are mistaken." Dumbledore didn't let his disappointment show on his face and instead smiled.
"Harry…" he paused, clearly struggling with what he wanted to say, "I am sorry Harry" he said finally.
"Thank you Headmaster, but I assure you, I am alright." The two looked at each other for a moment, before Dumbledore looked away.
"Whilst I cannot personally condone your actions Harry, the school governors are very impressed by your heroics, and have decided to give you a second Special Award for Services to the School." Harry blinked in surprise, before nodding his head graciously.
"That is unexpected sir." Dumbledore's eyes remained fixed on Harry's face,
"It is. I must confess that I for one do not approve of rewarding patricide, however… I will bow to the will of our good governors on this occasion."
"Is there anything else Headmaster?" Harry asked, Dumbledore said nothing, and Harry made as though to stand.
"One last thing Harry, I know I asked you this last year, but I will once again ask if there is anything you would like to tell me, anything at all." Dumbledore's voice sounded almost pleading to Harry's ears, but he ignored it.
"Thank you Headmaster, but I once again have nothing to say to you." Dumbledore sighed, but didn't look surprised.
"Very well Harry, in case I don't see you again before the summer, have a very nice holiday." Harry nodded and just before he reached the door, Dumbledore offered one last piece of advice,
"We are never past redemption Harry, never follow a path because you feel you have no other choice." His back to the old man, Harry did finally roll his eyes, the man was just filled with helpful, vague tidbits of information.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
The leaving feast that year was a sombre affair. Instead of the Green and Silver for celebrating the Slytherin house cup victory, the hall instead was decorated with black curtains in remembrance of Professor Lupin, as the last plates vanished Dumbledore stood up, he wore a sombre expression and looked around the hall sadly.
"Students, the year is finished. It has certainly been a year of up's and downs, First, I suppose congratulations are in order for Slytherin for winning the house cup for the ninth year running, which is officially a record, so well done Slytherin!" There was a loud cheer from the Slytherin table, but it sounded hollow in the sombre, black decorated room and came to a halt quickly.
"It is a very great loss to us all, that Professor Lupin died last week, I think it is safe to say that anyone who met the man was impressed by his kindness, selflessness and eagerness to pass on his knowledge, his death was unfortunate, and our thoughts are with him as he starts on the next great adventure we all must take in life, therefore may we all raise our glasses to Remus Lupin." The hall quickly raised Goblets,
Remus Lupin
The words were said in hushed tones, and Harry saw some of the first year Gryffindor's weeping. Dumbledore let the silence continue for a moment.
"I wish you all a very good summer, and hope you return to Hogwarts for a new year with minds full and ready for what is to come, to our seventh years, I wish you all the best with your lives outside these halls, and I am sure you will all be a credit to your school and chosen profession."
Okay then...
it's over.
Book three is over!
What did you think, have I spoiled the fanfic and need to redo the chapter? was it believable, did it show characterisation, did Harry's more human and feeling side disappoint or please?
PLEASE READ THIS PART!
the feedback has been so great lately, and I want to make sure that my fans, who have praised me for so far avoiding the big steaming piles of cliche, are not disapointed.
I haven't read many dark Harry fics set in Goblet of Fire, so what things should be avoided at all costs, and what part is a necessity?
Help me good reviewers, you're my only hope...
Hugs and Kisses
Marshall Angmar.