In the final quidditch match of the year, Ginny didn't quite edge out Katie Killick, the soon-to-be-graduating Hufflepuff seeker, for the snitch, but it was so close on points that Gryffindor wound up winning the quidditch cup even though Hufflepuff took the match. Obviously overjoyed but not content to rest on his laurels, Oliver was already planning how to get Ginny a better broom for the next year even as Gryffindor kicked off an epic party for our first win of the cup in years.
After all the points McGonagall had eventually settled on for saving the school from basilisks and Death Eaters, we were basically guaranteed to win the house cup as well, if you cared about that kind of thing. I'd overheard the twins doing math to figure out how many pranks they could get caught for and still not blow our lead by the leaving feast. Personally, I figured that a budget for getting away with shenanigans was an even better use for the points I'd earned than getting house-colored banners at the end of the year.
Sneakily, the staff had scheduled the completion and delivery of the mandrake restorative draught to the victims of the basilisk to occur during the match. I imagined the celebration in the Hufflepuff common room for their match win was intensified just as much by Beatrice Haywood returning as Gryffindor's celebration about the cup burst into even higher gear when Dean Thomas walked into the common room.
I mostly figured they'd done it that way to give Dumbledore a day to recover before I started bothering him for answers.
He finally saw me while the fifth-years were in their second day of OWLs. I dropped the Sword of Gryffindor, the Sorting Hat, and the Diadem of Ravenclaw (safely wrapped) on his desk, then sat back in the chair across his desk. "How much of that was planned?"
The old wizard shrugged, though clearly pleased to regard the three artifacts I'd brought. "Less than you imagine, I'm sure. Tom Riddle makes plans. Plans require everything to proceed in order, or they begin to fall apart. As I reached a certain age, I began to prefer putting many strategic goals into motion. The trick is to keep them from interfering with one another."
"You weren't just faking being paralyzed," I suggested. If he had been, he probably wouldn't have kept up the charade for another month and a half.
"Regrettably, no. I'd expected some kind of play to force me out of the school, politically. I'm actually not sure why they didn't leverage Lucius to use the school board. If I'd been available, I could have directed Fawkes to find you and bring help. I'm very glad Alastor and Minerva remembered the fallbacks."
"I don't like being a chess piece," I practically growled. It might have had more effect if I'd had a few more years of work on my facial hair and any hope at all of beating him in a fight.
"Mr. Dresden. Harry," the old man stared me down. "I regret to inform you that it was not I that gave you this status. If I've arranged the board to provide you the opportunity to go where you'd prefer rather than where you are directed, it doesn't mean that I am the one whose hand is upon your back."
That hurt. Justin. My godmother. Voldemort. Maeve. Even Umbridge. I had to admit, at least Dumbledore was right that his manipulations seemed to result in things I wanted to happen anyway. I must have stared back at him for a whole minute, not worried about meeting his eyes. The few secrets I still had from him, I pretty much couldn't divulge even if I wanted to, so what did I have to fear from his mind reading? Finally, I just said, "I want to be included, not manipulated. And you need to delegate more, anyway, sir. Everything could have fallen apart with you taken out."
"The Order of the Phoenix," he smiled, revealing the name of his old crowd, "has more autonomy than even they believe. After all, I hear I was unnecessary to the defeat of Delores' legislation, and clearly..." he just gestured at the artifacts I'd brought him. Seeing me tense up, he raised a hand, "But, yes. While I still worry about others trying to push you where they will, it's clear you will fight for the same things upon which the Order was founded. I'll see you are included when next we meet."
Mollified, I nodded, then said, "Penny wants to try to finish developing the next Apology and see if we can clear the Diadem."
"Certainly, though under my strict observation. Even from here, I feel it reaching out, trying to convince me to put it on. I cannot allow it to be with students unsupervised."
"Fair. You know he probably hid it in the school when he was here for the job interview? Or had someone slip it in about the same time. It was Beatles-era." Dumbledore merely smirked, though I thought he might not know what a "Beatle" was and would be doing research later to pretend to be all-knowing. "It's way more intelligent than a magical portrait. There's no form of memory encoding I'm aware of that could do what that thing did."
"And you have theories, Harry?" the old man prompted. Was switching to a first-name basis just familiarity, or acknowledgement that I'd become an adult, not just his student?
I suggested something I'd been thinking about for a while. "Arcanos has three major monsters that can turn you to stone… but only one that's an undying wizard you just can't kill for good until you destroy the gem in which it's hidden its soul…"
That actually got a widening of his eyes. "Arcanos is a muggle fantasy game, yes?" I nodded and he went on, "It's surprising that such information has percolated through myth though we've worked so hard to prevent the wizarding world from rediscovering it. If I give you a topic of research, can you actually keep it from spreading all the way through Gryffindor and Ravenclaw within a week? This knowledge is dangerous."
"Like Penny says, sir, security through obscurity never works," I smirked. "But I won't spread it around on purpose."
He sighed, then explained, "Then look up the tale of Herpo the Foul. If anyone asks, it will be because he was the first to breed a basilisk. However, you're actually looking for the secret of his long life."
"You could just tell me," I shrugged.
"Knowledge earned is firmer held than knowledge gifted," Dumbledore smiled. "And you need something to do while your friends sit their exams."
"If I find what I think I'm going to find… should we go ahead and smash the Diadem, even though Penny wants to purify it?"
"An ordered mind is not fully incapacitated by the basilisk's gaze. I found that being paralyzed gave me ample time to think. Our enemy did not call all his minions in his weakness…"
"He was a creepy baby. Not a look that inspires loyalty," I interjected.
"Quite. But in his diminished state, I cannot believe that he would risk placing his source of immortality so fully within my grasp rather than draw upon other resources. If we'd put the clues together about poor Irma earlier, we could have easily rent his soul adrift were this its only anchor."
"So that's not his phylactery?"
"That's not the term," he corrected. "But, I believe, if it is… it may not be the only one."
I suddenly remembered, and pointed at the sword, "He said that was the last treasure he couldn't find!"
Finally, the old man gave me a genuine nod that I'd given him information he hadn't been aware of, "Of course! There were rumors of his career after graduation, appraising artifacts for Borgin and Burkes, and strange deaths before he quit. If he was seeking artifacts of the founders… that is a vital thread to unravel."
We both sat, thinking, for a few minutes. "One from each house, plus his core?" I thought out loud, finally. "He wouldn't stop at five, unless he had to."
"Three or seven would be far more stable," Dumbledore agreed. "I may need to consult those that might have inadvertently helped him with his research. If he started after Hogwarts, he could have learned the techniques anywhere, but if he began while in this school, I may have a place to start."
"I'll do my own research," I agreed, thinking about Bob. "And we'll let you know when we're ready to test the exorcism charm.
"I appreciate everything you've done, Harry, and I'm glad you came through it whole. I regret that I cannot promise I won't ask similar of you in the future."
"As long as I get a say in where I'm getting pushed," I shrugged.
He twinkled at me, and asked, "When has anyone ever pushed you in a direction you didn't wish to travel for long, Harry Dresden? Now! I believe Irma has recovered and wants to thank you as herself for your efforts improving the fiction section in the library."
It turned out she did. And also, she wanted me to spend all afternoon finding all the muggle literature the twins and I had haphazardly shelved and move it to her new muggle fiction section.
Some of those paperbacks I'd hidden back in October. I didn't even remember where they were.
