Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.
Harry Slithers-in: Not the Order of the Phoenix: Chapter 14: The Prophecy
Before Harry and Tracey could catch up with Fred and George for their visit to the Room of Requirement they had their appointment with Professor Dumbledore. After finishing their evening meal they left the table and headed for Dumbledore's office. They were joined they Sirius as they left the Hall.
They waited outside Dumbledore's office until he arrived. "Sirius, I wasn't expecting you to be here too," Dumbledore said.
"I want to know exactly what the prophecy says,' Sirius explained. "Harry has invited me to join him and Tracey here." That wasn't strictly true but Harry was happy to have Sirius along when he was about to learn some important information.
Dumbledore led the group to his office. He sat behind his desk and invited the others to sit around it as well. Once everybody was seated he began:
"What I am about show you is a copy of a prophecy that was made to me a little over 16 years ago. It was a cold night in January and I had gone to the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade to interview a candidate for the position of Divination teacher that was due to become vacant at the end of that school year. My first inclination was to allow the subject to drop out of the curriculum as I held a low opinion of Divination however the applicant was the great-great granddaughter of a very famous, very gifted seer and I thought it common politeness to meet her.
"I was not impressed with her. It seemed to me she had not inherited any of the gift of Sight and so I told her – politely, I hoped, I did not think she was suitable for the position. As I got up to leave, however, a change seemed to come over her. I am, of course, talking about Professor Sybil Trelawney and what I am about to show you is the prophecy she made right there in the Hogs Head."
Dumbledore stood up and walked to a cabinet at the side of the room. Opening it, he took out the Pensieve Harry had seen the previous year. Next, he placed his wand to his temple and drew out a shimmering, silvery substance which clung to the tip of his wand. He then placed this substance in the Pensieve where it swirled around briefly before turning into a figure which rose from the surface and slowly spun in place. After a moment the figure began speaking in a deep, harsh voice.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches … born to those you have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives … the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies …"
"There you have it," Dumbledore said, simply.
There was silence for a moment then Sirius spoke. "It doesn't name Harry specifically. Is there a possibility that it is someone else?"
"No," Dumbledore replied. "The line 'the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal' means Voldemort will choose the one who will defeat him; and he did that the night he attacked Harry's family. Harry, that scar is the mark Voldemort left that confirms you are to be the one who will defeat him."
"What did the part about parents who've thrice defied him? Can you explain that more, sir?" Tracey asked
"Many people attempted to stop Lord Voldemort's rise to power in the early years of the Wizarding War. A few were fortunate enough to escape and then try again. A very few managed to attempt it three times. Harry's parents were amongst the small number who both managed this feat. But they were not the only ones. Sadly none managed to escape him for a fourth time. Even after his initial defeat some of his loyal followers tried in vain to return him to power, by attacking those who had opposed him."
Harry had remained silent until this point, trying to comprehend what he had just found out. Now he spoke. "Were Neville Longbottom's parents among those who tried to stop him?"
"They were," Dumbledore said. "Indeed Neville's birthday is only a day before yours and I initially thought the prophecy could refer to him. But, as already stated, Voldemort chose you, the half-blood; not the pure-blood which, according to him, is only kind of wizard worth being or knowing."
"Lord Voldemort is a half-blood; isn't he?" Harry asked.
"He is. It seems he saw himself in you without ever having seen you and in giving you that scar he gave you the power to defeat him."
"Why did he choose me? Wouldn't it have made more sense to wait and see which of us looked more dangerous when we were older?"
"That may have been a better strategy, yes," Dumbledore said. "The Hog's Head Inn has long attracted a more 'interesting' clientele than the Three Broomsticks. It is a place where it is never safe to assume you cannot be overheard. Our stroke of luck that night was the eavesdropper was caught having overheard only part of the prophecy. This meant he passed on incomplete information and Voldemort chose to act on that, not knowing the full prophecy and its true meaning."
"What about this power Harry possesses which Voldemort doesn't have?" Sirius asked. "What does that mean?"
"Quite simply Harry has the ability to love," Dumbledore said.
"That's it?" asked Harry.
"Voldemort has no friends. He grew up alone and unloved. Harry, you may think your aunt and uncle don't love you but they do. They took you in, albeit grudgingly, and since arriving here you have made many friendships and largely unified all four houses. I told you in your first year house unity has never been stronger. That is still true and it is because you care so deeply for your friends," Dumbledore said.
"What about that last bit – the one about neither can live while the other survives – what does that mean?" Harry asked.
"It sounds as if Harry will have to kill Voldemort; or vice versa," Tracey said.
"Exactly," Dumbledore said. "But that needn't happen for some time. You have your life to live; you have your friends and you can decide when you will face him. There is no need to hurry. Take as long as you like. Prepare yourself in whatever way you feel is necessary. And remember you don't have to fulfil the prophecy; there are many thousands of prophecies kept in the Hall of Records within the Ministry of Magic that have never been fulfilled. You may decide this will be another of those; if you wish."
"What is the Hall of Records?" Tracey asked. She was clearly trying to divert attention away from Harry, something he appreciated.
"The Hall of Records is a huge room within the Department of Mysteries. Very few people have access to this room but this is the room Voldemort wants to enter. Having now failed to kill you four times, Harry, I am certain he has decided to try a different method. It is my belief he is looking for something, a clue or something similar, that will give him an advantage. That is why I have taken precautions of my own but sadly this led directly to the death of Sturgis Podmore just before Christmas. He was at the Ministry on my orders and I deeply regret what happened."
"I think that will be enough for now," Sirius said. "We have learnt a great deal here, even I learnt some new facts although I did know the truth about poor old Sturgis. Harry? If you're not too busy I would like to talk to you tomorrow evening."
"Yeah, sure," Harry replied. He was clearly preoccupied with something.
Sirius led Harry and Tracey out of the office. Back in the hallway he asked, "Do you still want to catch up with Fred and George?"
"Of course. I want to look at their secret room," Harry said.
They met Fred and George outside the Room of Requirement. The twins showed them into what appeared to be a large storeroom. From the varied collection of items present Harry realised that many other students must have found this room in the past and had used it not only as a storeroom but as a hiding place for things they didn't want others to find out. Things like illegal magical experiments, broken furniture, illegal books etc.
The twins had set aside one corner of the room as a laboratory. Many different items were stored in secret drawers and cupboards with a few left out on tables or benches. They described some of them and demonstrated others, including a hat which had an extended invisibility charm that, when worn, gave the impression of a headless body wandering around. Harry was careful to avoid any food items since he had heard stories about 'Canary Creams' and 'Puking pasties' among others.
Sirius was more interested in exploring the room looking for any signs of secret tunnels. Tracey helped him look while Harry stayed with the twins. It was Tracey who discovered the vanishing cabinet and brought it to Sirius' attention.
"Sirius, have a look at this," Tracey called out.
"What is it?" he asked when he arrived.
"This large cabinet. It is big enough for someone to stand up in. I was wondering if it might be a vanishing cabinet."
"You could be right. There is one easy way to find out; all you have to do is enter it and close the door."
"Don't vanishing cabinets usually come in pairs?"
"They do. I had better check this out. Stay here and if I'm not back in a few minutes get Harry, Fred and George and tell Dumbledore," Sirius said.
Drawing his wand Sirius entered the cabinet, closing the door behind him. A couple of minutes later the door opened and Sirius stepped out, much to Tracey's relief. "It is a tunnel, and the other end is in a shop in what looked like Knockturn Alley. I will stay here. I want you to tell Harry and the others and then bring Dumbledore here. This is a significant security issue and needs to be resolved."
Tracey hurried back to Harry and the others and explained the situation to them. Fred and George joined Sirius at the cabinet while Tracey and Harry hurried to the Headmaster's office.
They knocked and waited. A moment later Professor Snape opened the door, surprising them. "Potter, Miss Davis, what brings you here?" Snape demanded.
"Sirius sent us. He has discovered a secret tunnel that could allow someone to get into the castle undetected. He told us to get Professor Dumbledore," Tracey explained.
"A secret tunnel?" Dumbledore said as he joined them. "We should really investigate this matter now, Severus. We shall have to continue this discussion later. Tomorrow perhaps?"
"Very well, Headmaster. I will return to my office rather than join you. I have things to do," Snape said.
Harry and Tracey were curious about what Snape and Dumbledore were talking about but knew better than to pry into someone else's business.
They led Dumbledore to the Room of Requirement where Sirius was waiting for them. There was no sign of Fred and George and Harry assumed they had returned to their Common Room. "The other cabinet appears to be in a store in Knockturn Alley, although I didn't investigate it too much," Sirius explained. "I thought it more important to alert you, Professor Dumbledore."
"Thank you Sirius and well done. We shall have to remove this immediately to a safer location; somewhere outside the castle until the Ministry can secure the other one," Dumbledore said.
Between the four of them they moved the cabinet out into the grounds where Sirius would keep an eye on it until morning although nobody really expected anything would happen since it had been there for probably several years without incident.
Meanwhile Harry had agreed to back the twins' project so it would now only be a matter of time until Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes were on the market.
Author's Note: The prophecy is taken direct from HPOotP chapter 37: The Lost Prophecy and much of the discussion afterwards is paraphrased and rearranged from the same chapter.
