Disclaimer: No matter how many times I wave my wand, I do not hold any rites to any of the Harry Potter series, but I am grateful to JK for writing them.
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Chapter 14: The Delusions of Albus Dumbledore
It was only when he was half way to the Headmistress' office that Harry remembered that he could have used the floo from Severus' office. Ah well, he needed the time to pull himself together. His mind fully back in control of his body was screaming what were you thinking and his heart answered back – what he should have done long ago.
Harry was thinking of Severus, of how the man had submitted to his actions. He knew Severus was attracted to him but tonight he showed Harry that he was more than attracted. The wolf in him told him that he was his mate and like any alpha he knew that Severus had to be claimed and he was ready to be claimed. Harry would have if it weren't for Albus. Over two weeks and no sign of the man and now of all times he appears; even from the grave that man was interfering with his happiness.
Harry ran his hands through his hair. He wanted answers and the only person to be able to answer them was that bloody painting. Albus had destroyed their lives and all because he could. If his portrait even mentions the phrase "it was for the greater good" Harry would explode. But something in the back of his mind was whispering that there was something else going on that he wasn't seeing. He needed to focus his mind.
God why tonight? And if tonight, why now, why not in an hour ... Harry smirked or two.
The griffin in him told him he needed to exorcise the memory of Albus, he needed to help get rid of the images and the darkness that Albus had created in both him and his mate. Severus held Albus in high esteem, yes he had doubts of the man's greatness but Albus had been in a real sense Severus' master.
For Harry to truly claim his mate he had to fight Severus' old master first.
Albus had to answer for what he did and Harry would make sure that he did.
It was only when he heard someone calling him did he realised he had passed the gargoyle that marked the entrance to the Headmistress office. He walked back and the gargoyle bowed and opened, not asking for a password.
Before he even reached the door he heard Minerva yelling at, he assumed, was Albus Dumbledore. On entering the room he saw Albus in his frame being held by two former heads Phineas Nigellus Black and Dilys Derwent.
Albus looked over and saw Harry his eyes opened in slight shock "Harry my boy you look amazing, you look like the man I always imagined."
Harry sent a stinging hex at the portrait and Albus (Phineas and Dilys) yelped and gasped.
Phineas looked shocked "How did you do that?"
Ignoring Phineas, Harry said in a powerful cold voice "Don't you dare call me your boy... I am no longer your slave Albus; I got rid of your controlling charms and blocks I am the man I am meant to be and not the scrawny pawn you wanted me to be."
Albus smirked, his eyes twinkling "Did you now?"
Harry smiled a cruel smile "yes your dragon blood charm as well."
Albus smirked vanished and he knocked Dilys away and Harry sent a Petrificus Totalus charm at Albus and he slumped on his chair in the portrait.
Harry spoke to the castle "Hogwarts, seal the portrait I don't want Albus leaving his frame"
Phineas looked at Harry again "How are you doing that?"
Harry looked at him angrily "What do you mean?"
Dilys replied "No one has ever affected the portraits; no one can use magic on the portraits only other paintings could affect one another."
Harry calmed a little "I guess it is because I am linked to the castle and she is allowing it."
The door opened and Neville came in looking like he did when he faced Voldemort.
"Wake that bastard I have some questions for him."
The floo flared and Severus comes in.
Harry sent a spell and Albus woke up, he immediately tried to leave the frame but couldn't and Dilys poured something down his throat, Harry suspects a portrait version of Veritaserum.
"Hogwarts has sealed you, you cannot leave, not unless Neville or myself say you could and I think you have a greater chance of me releasing you than Neville" Harry looked at him and Albus saw cold green staring at him
"Neville?"
"Yeah you know Lord Hufflepuff" Neville answered.
"How did you..."
"Well Tom Riddle left me a very interesting letter" Harry stated.
Albus laughed "You listened to Voldemort".
"No I listened to the documents at Gringotts that verified his claims."
Albus got serious "You are too young to understand Harry."
"Don't give me that crap Albus, I am not a child because of you I never was a child. And even a child could understand theft, manipulation and rape Albus. You magically raped us."
"I am not a child Albus and neither is Harry, I want you to it explain to us" Severus said watching Albus coldly "And while you are explaining you could explain to me why you told my grandfather that I was a spy for the Dark Lord and not for the Order."
Albus looked pale "What you have to understand is that it was for the grea...."
Harry sent a bolt of what looked like lightening at Albus and his entire frame caught afire. They heard Albus screaming and after a few minutes Minerva sent a cooling charm which extinguished the portrait.
"Try again" Neville said.
"It was necessary, after a thousand years the castle wards were weakening and Riddle had already shown signs he was going to be evil, he was already mad by the time he came to school, so I decided to add his force to the school. His magic was connected to the castle and the wards strengthen. I realised that by adding the magic of all founders the wards will be strengthen for another thousand years."
"That's crap and you know it. If you just wanted the magic then why take all the money from the vaults, you wanted the lines to end" Harry said slamming his hand on Minerva's desk.
Albus eyes twinkled a little as he looked at Harry "You have really changed".
"The life of war does that to someone" Harry said.
"Why did you do it Dumbledore, why take the magic?"
"People were only depending on the founders for everything, there have been just as powerful wizards as Slytherin or Gryffindor but no one ever consider them, wizards and witches have been stuck in the last thousand years not improving only doing what the founders would have done. They needed to break away from the actions of the four."
"So what you wanted a Dumbledore House at Hogwarts" Neville sneered.
"Well not a House ..."
"You idiotic manipulative bastard" Harry screamed and sent another stinging hex at Albus.
"Even if this was for some sick twisted attempt to protect the castle, why did you destroy my life Albus. I trusted you, my mother loved you like a father, why did you take the money my grandfather sent me."
"I needed money, I had an image to maintain and your grandfather owed me" Albus said.
Harry was silent Albus echoed Ron; he was looking at Ron a hundred years in the future.
"What happened to all the money you stole from the Founders' vaults?" Neville shouted.
"That went into the Hogwarts vaults it wasn't for my personal use, the governors kept a close eye on the vaults."
"Then how did they miss close to a billion galleons worth of gold and items being removed from the vaults Albus." Minerva said seriously. Harry turned and looked at the Headmistress whose lips were a straight line.
"What are you talking about Minerva?" Severus said
"I checked with Gringotts, as soon as the items were entered into the vaults they were removed. They are not there and there are no records to where they were removed to, they are not even in Gringotts."
"I cannot say" Albus said stoically.
"What do you mean you were in control you have to know."
"I cannot say" Albus repeated.
"He's under a charm" Phineas Nigellus said "Sometimes a person puts themselves under a charm so they will not reveal their secrets, when they die their portrait is unable to remember or like Albus would not be able to say."
Neville let out a curse and Minerva gave Albus a glare.
"Let's try another question. Albus why did you make Severus suffer; even if you wanted money why have him suffer and humiliated you could have provided for him from the school fund but instead you had him wear second hand robes and you had my dad and godfather torture and make fun of him."
"He was leading me to the Dark Lord, he wanted me to join the Dark Lord" Severus said coldly.
Albus smiled "Before you get angry again Harry, it really was for the greater good. You see for every powerful light wizard you must have a powerful dark wizard to balance power. I was a powerful light wizard and after Grindelwald, I needed another powerful dark Lord so I chose and groomed Riddle. Then there was a prophecy that indicated that a powerful wizard would arise from the Potter line, and I assumed it would be James, so I needed another dark wizard to balance him out so I chose Severus."
Harry looked at the painting "But Severus would not play along; with everything you threw at him he refused to turn dark."
"Your mother Lily, she kept him from turning dark, so I had to get rid of her."
Severus was angry "What did you do to her?"
"I had Pettigrew convince her that the Marauders would kill you and then I had Sirius lead you to the werewolf. After that she stayed away, she was trying to protect you. Without her around it was easy to turn you."
"You manipulative son of a bitch, how dare you!"
"If I didn't then Harry would not have been born. You may have ended up with Lily I could not risk that I had invested too much into you."
"You used the school to create dark wizards?" One of the older headmasters asked.
"School is a place to prepare young witches and wizards for the world outside. It was my job to create the wizards of the future even the dark ones. Slytherins were the easiest to turn evil as they can be easily corrupted in their pursuit of power; it was easy to turn them against the others and the others against them. A house of dark wizards easily balances the light of the others."
"All Slytherins are not evil, many are good people who have done good and those you have manipulated will be given second chances now that you are not around"
"None deserve a second chance, they are all dark and must remain dark" Albus' sneered.
"But why did you take me in when I left Voldemort, why give me a second chance?"
"Because with James dead, I didn't need another Dark Lord. I kept you around and had you remain a bastard so if I needed to push you into become a dark lord again I could have. Besides you wanted to protect Harry, I needed you close so you wouldn't have gone to rescue Harry from his aunt. When Harry came to Hogwarts you started wavering and wanted to train him to fight, I knew by then that you would never become truly dark. I decided to train Draco just in case, he too was a disappointment."
"You knew I was being abused, you blocked my magic and put charms on me why?"
"You would have been too powerful. When I realised you survived the killing curse I knew you were the fabled master of the Deathly Hallows... you could have spoilt our plans, you would be too powerful for me to handle so I had to keep your magic under control. I made your uncle hate you and I made sure you grew up humble and subservient, so you could serve me and my cause."
"And the Weasleys?"
"A means to an end, Molly was desperate for money. The twins had destroyed a shop window the summer before your first year. They couldn't pay the shop owner and was about to lose their house, I offered them the money in exchange for helping me. Arthur refused but Molly wanted to accept so I obliviated Arthur. Ron helped me control you and told me all about your activities. Ginny well... her job was simple."
Harry sent another hex at Albus "How dare you, what gives you the right to destroy other's lives. In a sense I don't care what you did to me but Severus is a great and powerful wizard who is more of a light wizard than you, you had no right to hurt him."
Severus turned and looked at Harry in amazement.
"I did come to care for Severus he was like a ...." Albus started.
Another hex was sent at him "Don't even dare to suggest such a thing, you don't torture and steal from the people you love. You didn't care for Severus, you only cared for yourself" Harry sent another hex.
"Severus I am so...." Albus again started but Harry sent him another hex.
"Don't you dare" Harry screamed at Albus.
Severus came and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder "Don't taint your soul for him Harry, he is making you lose your control and he is not worth it. I want you to take a breath and calm yourself, torturing him is not good for you Harry. He is more evil than the Dark Lord. Dumbledore is evil but don't let him turn you into a dark lord, which is what is going to happen if you get accustomed to torturing."
Albus smirked but was hit with another hex.
Everyone turned around, it was Phineas Nigellus "My soul is already gone."
Harry couldn't help smile.
"You mentioned for every powerful light wizard there has to be a powerful dark wizard. Then if that is the case why create a dark wizard, wouldn't one come naturally?" Neville asked.
"Not necessarily, sometimes magic remains unbalanced and has to be helped"
"You mean manipulated."
Albus sighed "Thousands of years ago the continent of Atlantis was a haven of light wizards. The magical power of the Atlantians was greater than anything we could even imagine. They was no dark only light, the main city was even called 'City of Light'. Over time the people became corrupt but they believed themselves to be morally good, they started using dark magic believing it to be light. They had nothing to guide them to show them that what they were doing was dark. The whole society collapsed as the line between light and dark became blurred. Eventually Atlantis went into war and whole civilization destroyed. Only a few wizards who fled remained."
"So you create dark wizards to prevent everyone from turning dark" Minerva said incredulously.
"Yes, if a dark wizard comes up, it shows the other light wizards what they potentially could become, so it protects the society." Albus said with a smile.
"For the greater good" Harry said coldly.
"Yes exactly" Albus said with a smile.
"You are not only evil but mad, that is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard. You are selfish and delusional. You have convinced yourself that you are doing this for everyone but the only one who ever benefited is yourself. You destroyed lives because you wanted to be considered greater than the Founders. You stole and destroyed lives to get money so you could live a good life in elegant robes and a high lifestyle. You decided to play God choosing who would be good and who would be evil, it wasn't for the greater good, it was for power. You loved having the power over others" Harry shouted.
"How dare you I am Albus Dumbledore I am the most powerful wizard in the world."
"Albus Dumbledore is dead, you are just a memory" Neville said sarcastically.
"No you are not the most powerful wizard, I am" Harry stood up his magic glowing.
Albus smirked and his eyes twinkled as he looked at Harry over his spectacles "Indeed Lord Potter Black."
Harry knew that look and then something clicked "Who is your master?"
The others look at Harry in shock.
"Poppy said that I spoilt her master's plan and she wasn't talking about you. Whoever controlled her was controlling you."
Albus just smirked and said nothing.
"You already knew I had taken over the Potter and Black estates and you knew I wasn't married to Ginny so you were in contact with Poppy. Where were you? You weren't in your portrait in the Wizengamot I know we checked. You were with your master. Who is it...you're not going to say are you" Harry started to laugh "With everything you did you are nothing but a servant, someone's slave."
"I am...."
"Nothing but a pitiful reminder of a pitiful wizard."
Headmaster Armando Dippet turned to Albus' portrait and screamed "Albus you have been disloyal to the oath you took as Headmaster both as a wizard and now as a portrait."
"You are a disgrace" Dilys retorted.
"You have brought shame on this institution" Another Headmaster said.
"The castle should have turned you out."
"You hurt the children, how could you."
Albus held his head in his hands as all the previous Headmasters and Headmistresses' berated him. He screamed and took his wand and started blasting them. Neville and Harry pulled out their wands but stopped when they saw a red beam hit Albus and held him up. The red beam was joined by a green, then blue and yellow beams. The four founders came in each one with their wands pointing at Albus.
"Albus Dumbledore, you have brought disrepute to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; and you attacked my line and violated my heritage." Rowena Ravenclaw said in a cold serious voice.
"You have been disloyal and have damaged the lives of the children you swore to protect; you have taken what was not yours and defiled my heritage" Helga Hufflepuff said sternly.
"You tainted the name of my House and brought disharmony among the students and the world; you hurt the innocent in your mad climb for power and in doing so hurt my family and my heritage" Salazar Slytherin hissed and screamed.
"You were an unworthy Headmaster and broke the oath you took; you are a coward and I am ashamed that you represented my House, I denounce you as you denounced my descendent from his rightful place in this world. You have used the pure and neutral school we built for your evil plans and have corrupted the heritage we gave this world. My descendent will destroy what you have built and rebuild what you have destroyed" Godric Gryffindor's portrait glowed with power.
"My descendent will demolish your web of lies and bring harmony to the world" Helga Hufflepuff glowed with power.
"He who embodies my virtues and who I am proud to have as my heir will destroy your evil and restore honour to this place we love" Salazar Slytherin glowed with power.
"All those who stand together and support our chosen, who fill them with love and protection; all who exhibit the virtues that we have laid down, the Headmistress and Masters of the school, those innocent you have tried to crush they will all raise up and destroy your name so it will not be remembered. This school and the world will survive you" Rowena Ravenclaw glowed with power.
"Albus Dumbledore you are no longer welcome at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I hereby banish you for all time. So mote it be" cried Gryffindor
"So mote it be" cried Slytherin
"So mote it be" cried Ravenclaw
"So mote it be" cried Hufflepuff
Albus' portrait screamed and in a flash of blinding light the portrait remained lifeless in its frame then burst into flames and vanished.
There was a loud explosion from outside and the castle shook. The four ran to the windows and looked out. The tomb of Albus Dumbledore crumbled and exploded and burst into flames.
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Harry left the Headmistress office. He had left without a word, he walked towards the tomb and saw that the heat of the flames were as dragon fire, by morning there would be nothing left of the tomb except a dark stain on the grass. He walked back to the castle, Albus was truly gone but the mess he made would have to be cleaned up.
He reached the doors to the castle and was met by Hermione who ran to see what the explosion was about. Harry told Hermione that Albus had returned but Hogwarts banished him. She gave him a big hug. The two were joined by Neville and Filius.
After half an hour of discussing the events and filling in Filius and Hermione on what happened, Severus walked in and informed them that the founders had all the former Headmasters and Headmistresses (including Severus) and Minerva retake their vows of loyalty to Hogwarts.
Harry looked at Severus with pride as he indicated that the founders told him that Hogwarts acknowledged him as a former Headmaster and that he did his best under the circumstances to protect the children. He told them that the founders kept Minerva back in a meeting.
Filius called Ogden to bring them a bottle of wine, which they all shared.
After finishing his wine Severus got up and told the others that he had a paper to finish and needed to take his leave. As he was about to walk away Harry stopped him "Severus we have some unfinished business to attend."
Severus looked at him. Harry's face was serious and did not betray his thoughts to the others but Severus shook his head "I have too much to do tonight; I have to finish my paper. I will see you tomorrow" he bowed to everyone and left.
Severus walked out of the Great Hall and headed towards his dungeons. The dungeon hallways seemed much colder than normal. He soon reached the door to his office but he did not open it. What is wrong with you, the man you love wants you and you turn him down; you're an idiot, he berated himself.
Severus turned and ran back up to the ground floor. He looked up and saw Harry and Hermione walking up the stairs on their way to Gryffindor tower.
Severus ran to his right and headed for a short cut, the one he often used to catch Gryffindors who were trying to reach their common room after curfew. The short cut reduced the time in half and he knew he arrived before Harry.
The portrait of the Griffin was asleep; it woke and turned his head but did not ask for the password.
Severus heard Harry wish Hermione a good night and heard him coming before he turned the corner. Severus leant against the wall and did a quick grooming charm so he wouldn't look as if he just ran.
As soon as he turned the corner Harry saw him and smiled but then put on a mock stern look and came to stand in front of Severus. "I thought you had a paper to finish, don't tell me Professor that you are waiting till the last minute to finish your homework".
Severus frowned "this was clearly a mistake I am going."
Harry reached out and grabbed his hand "No you don't, I think I will just have to give you a detention." Harry smiled and pulled him into his quarters.
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Kreacher was lying down on his bed he was tired, it had been a long day, when suddenly he felt the wards to his master's apartment tingle; a house elf was trying to get in. He slowly walked to the living room and released the wards and Tibbs came through.
"The Headmistress requests that Lord Potter-Black come to her office for a meeting."
"Tell the Headmistress that my master is busy."
"She wants to see him right away."
There was another pop and Misty, Severus' house elf came in "I thought I told Tibbs not to disturb my master".
Sounds of Severus and Harry moaning in pleasure come through the closed bedroom door.
"My master deserves a night of happiness and I will not have Tibbs disturbing him" the feisty house-elf said one hand on her hip the other pointing accusingly at Tibbs.
"Tibbs is just following orders; the Headmistress wants Professor Snape and Lord Potter Black immediately" Tibbs said as he started walking towards the bedroom.
"Not tonight she doesn't" Kreacher put his hand out and stopped the house-elf.
Misty grabbed onto Tibbs' ear "If you disturb my master I will chop you up in little pieces and put you in my master's potions."
Ogden came in silently "Tibbs tell the Headmistress that Lord Potter Black and Professor Snape have retired for the evening and will see her in the morning".
The sounds of Severus screaming Harry's name in ecstasy came into the room and Misty smiled and released the hold on Tibbs' ear.
Ogden looked at Tibbs and said "you are dismissed" Tibbs frowned but popped out; he was followed by a smiling Misty.
Ogden turned to Kreacher "I will ward the rooms so no one will bother them tonight" with that he disappeared silently.
Kreacher looked over at the closed bedroom door as he heard Harry scream out. The house elf smiled if there were two people who deserved a night to themselves it was the two men he now protected. With that he returned to his living space, secure in the knowledge that there would be no more disturbances.
Fifteen minutes later Minerva McGonagall walked down the hallway of Gryffindor Tower and then stopped in shock. The wall that normally held the portrait of the Gryffindor Griffin was bare.