The flight from Hogwarts to the Burrow took Dudley half the time it took Harry. He landed next door at Grimmauld Place and knocked on the door.
"Dudley, what are you doing here as well?" Petunia greeted him at the door.
"I need to talk to Harry right away," he answered, entering the house and running up to Harry's room, after checking the living room.
He stopped at the door and let himself in, only to discover that Harry had left.
"Where is he?" Dudley shouted out, not knowing Petunia had kept up with him.
"He should be in here, he said he was going to get changed."
The two searched his room, looking for any sign of him, a search that was helped by Sirius' arrival. After ten minutes of searching, Dudley noticed Harry's ring, discarded and forgotten. He picked it up and immediately felt a pull at his navel.
"Hello Dudley," Harry smirked at him.
"Harry! I want to let you know I had no idea about the Hog's Head meeting. I only found out in Hogsmeade."
"Oh, I know. I can read it in your mind, as well as… oh, you know. That will make this interesting."
"You have to come with me to Hogwarts, we want to apologise to you."
"A likely story. However, I fail to understand how arranging to ambush me with Tom constitutes an apology." Harry's tone took on a very dark shade, his anger and hatred seeping through. Dudley could tell that this was the "Harry" who killed Vernon.
"Ambush you? You've got it all wrong, Voldemort is going to overtake your mind.
"Is that what you think, that Harry is still here? I hate to break it to you, but I am Lord Voldemort, your cousin is gone."
"That's not true, I know it isn't. Harry, if you're in there give me a sign," Dudley pleaded with him, earning a smirk in the process.
"You want a sign? How about this? Avada Kedavra!" A green light flew through the air and hit Dudley, dropping him to the floor unmoving.
"Why are you showing me this?" Harry asked as the scene before him paused and Dudley, as well as the evil version of himself, vanished, to be replaced by the redheaded lady. "Is there any point to you showing me the death of my loved ones in various different ways, beyond torturing me I mean?"
"You and your cousin are of great interest to me, I've seen other realities that have you living together since the attack on your parents. I've seen worlds with your parents still alive and your life being one of near-pure bliss. The one key difference between those timelines and this one is my gift of magic to Dudley."
"Magic is usually present from birth, are you saying you've been interested in us for that long?"
"Only you have interested me before birth, he gained my interest later."
"Will you ever tell me who you are, and why you look like my mother with my father's eyes?"
"If you think I chose this form for you, you're sadly mistaken. This is my true form, with no veils or fog obscuring me. The enemy of free will, the dark twin of destiny."
"Ah, but your words are veiled, something you're not saying. Speak freely, who are you, and why have you shown me this."
"Both of your questions can be answered with a single word, Fate. You need to close him out. When two become one and the three remain, darkness will try to claim the light as the grey watches on helpless. Dawn will break on the day of days and the morning will come for a new world."
"You're what Trelawney was on about," Harry accused her, earning a smug smile.
"She spoke for me, as she has done before and will continue to do again. Your time here is short, ask two more questions and I shall answer."
"What is the deal with the dragons?"
"They were once my children, the fated ones, the Elementals, the poets. They've been known by many names over the ages and have taken numerous forms. Those of mixed heritage, beast and man, were those who became the winged ones when those of purely human magical ancestry came to them with an ultimatum to drop the elements in favour of their Merlinian Magic or perish. Of course Sors'Dzala and the dragon you named Lily have discussed this with you."
"What do you want me to do, I have no intentions of killing Dudley or anyone I care about."
"At one point I would have asked for a return to how things once were, another time I would ask for your undivided loyalty. All I ask from you is to strike a happy medium between what was and what is. I want you to reintroduce the world to the Elementals, to teach those who would learn how to control the elements."
"You want me to teach? You don't want a warrior?" Harry questioned, baffled.
"You are Magic's warrior, not mine, my sister holds more power than I do and she has claimed you long ago. None but Death himself holds greater power. You will wake up now in the real world. You know that you need to seek out Tom Riddle and have him remove his soul from within you. Remember: When two become one and the three remain, darkness will try to claim the light as the grey watches on helpless. Dawn will break on the day of days and the morning will come for a new world."
Harry awoke back in his bed at Grimmauld Place and slipped on his ring, immediately contacting Tom.
"I'm coming to see you."
Without even waiting for a reply Harry took an emergency portkey he got from Riddle after the rebirth ritual to the door of the Riddle House and let himself in, sitting in his usual seat in the lounge. After a short wait, the man he was there to see had arrived, though he looked to have been woken up by Harry.
"We have much to discuss," Harry announced. "First and foremost is the fact that within my scar resides a piece of you that needs to be removed. On top of that, I'm not sure if you're aware, but Lord Gaunt is now Professor Gaunt and it is infuriating me; why isn't he doing anything? Fate says he is controlling me, but from what he has said himself he is tired of being a Dark Lord, he claims he has become bored with life itself."
"I must go there to fight him, he needs to be removed."
"You can't, I've seen a world where you challenged him and ended up dying, your attack sending him back over the edge to outright malice. You need to wait, for how long I cannot say, but there is more. Fate gave me these words to carry with me. When two become one and the three remain, darkness will try to claim the light as the grey watches on helpless. Dawn will break on the day of days and the morning will come for a new world."
"What do you think it means?"
"I've seen what it means. It means that Voldemort Prime will take over my mind and physically change my brain to resemble his, cutting out love and empathy," Harry answered solemnly.
"We will get that shard out of you now, I shall become whole again."