The flaw in the plan

Ron and Hermione had rarely been alone with the Headmaster of Hogwarts. It had always happened in the presence of Harry. Therefore, when they pushed the heavy oak door leading to his office, they were a bit intimidated.

They had waited a couple of days before being able to meet with Dumbledore and it was only when they had pronounced Harry's name that McGonagall had agreed to let them go see the Headmaster. The Professor had sensed too that something was wrong with her student. She disapproved the way Dumbledore was handling the boy and now that his two friends were willing to stand up for him, she wouldn't be the one barring them the way.

'Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley,' greeted Dumbledore joyfully. 'Please have a seat.'

Two comfortable chairs were facing the directorial desk and two cups of tea were waiting for them. They sat, a bit intimidated, but when the Headmaster looked at them above his glasses, they found some courage. They were here for Harry.

'To what pleasure do I owe the visit of both Gryffindor's prefects?' Asked Dumbledore in a pleasant voice.

Now that Hermione was thinking of it, there were multiple matters she wished to bring up. The scandal that the DADA curriculum was, the fact that Slytherins students were highly favoured by the High Inquisitrice or the multiple decrees that were disturbing the students in their studies more than anything. None of those were pleasant topics. She took a deep breath to focus on the matter at hand.

'Sir, we are here to talk about Harry.' Started Hermione.

Dumbledore leaned back on his chair. He had expected this discussion and was ready for it. Those two students were too young to understand. Besides if Dumbledore had to explain anything to anyone, it would be to the very student those two had come for.

'I shall be concise then,' said the Headmaster. 'I have good reasons to avoid Mr. Potter. Reasons that I cannot share with you without putting members of the Order in danger.'

'But Sir,' intervened Ron, 'why can't you at least meet him? We are not asking you to reveal to him the missions of the Order.' He was growing a bit annoyed to see the adults disrespecting his best friend. And yes, to his opinion, ignoring his mate, who had gone through Hell and beyond to make sure everyone knew You-Know-You was back, was disrespectful.

'Look,' he continued trying to find the correct words. 'Harry is going through a lot right now. Hermione and I try to be here for him but we can't understand everything. Mostly because he is not telling us much.'

'Then what makes you think he is going to tell me what he refuses to share with you?' Asked Dumbledore cunningly.

Silence met his question. The two students were in complete disbelief. Dumbledore had always been Harry's protecting shadow and they knew the respect and even love their friend had grown for this legendary wizard. Why was he abandoning Harry now?

'Because he trusts you Sir,' said Hermione eventually. 'He trusts you more than anyone in this World.'

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. Of course Harry trusted him. How could it be otherwise? But the way the young witch had said it implied it was deeper than just trust. The Headmaster couldn't deny he too was affected by the way he was treating Harry. This is not the fifth year he had imagined nor wanted. By then he would have preferred to be training Harry and helping him through the substantial task awaiting the young boy. He wanted to talk to Harry. He just couldn't.

'Believe me when I tell you I can't see Harry right now,' said Dumbledore in a soft and low voice. 'It is for his own good.'

Another silence fell on the office. Ron glanced at Hermione. What else could they do?

'Sir,' started Hermione in a slow and stern voice, 'we know you are taking the best possible decision from information that Ron and I definitely don't have. If you'll allow me, I would like to complete that information.'

Ron looked at Hermione. He was half impressed and half shocked by the direct tone she was employing.

'There is something rather important that is going on. We are not aware of it because Harry is not telling us. But he is changing.' She eyed Ron and nodded to him. He perfectly understood what she expected of him.

'Harry has been leaving his bed at night,' he said. 'At first he was just coming late to Gryffindor's common room and we thought it was because he had detention with Professor Umbridge' - Dumbledore straightened up when Ron mentioned the detention - 'but I saw him leave regularly, taking his Invisibility Cloak with him.'

'He wakes up tired and never tells us about those getaways,' continued Hermione. 'He doesn't know we noticed.'

If Dumbledore was appearing calm and composed, even unmoved by what he had just learned, his thoughts were racing each other. Where was Harry going and why? And what were those detentions with Umbridge? He had chosen to avoid Harry, but that didn't mean he had stopped paying attention to the boy. If he had missed all that information it was because Harry was concealing it. Something shattered inside Dumbledore. The boy was isolating himself.

'You worry about the members of the Order,' said Ron who couldn't withstand the silence anymore. 'Have you also considered that Harry might be in danger himself?' He would never know where he had found the audacity to say this.

Dumbledore looked at them, an amused gleam in his eyes.

'I hear you both,' he finally said. 'And I will take everything you told me into account.'

The two prefects stood up, the meeting was over. Dumbledore watched them leave his office and as soon as the door closed he stood up and started to pace the room.

His plan was failing. He was sensing it. Somewhere, somehow he had taken one of the worst decisions of his life and it was starting to backfire. But what choice did he have? He chuckled softly at the irony of the situation. There was always a choice. It's just he didn't know what his options were.

He stopped in front of a window. What was the other option? Confronting the boy? Awaking the monster that was lingering inside him? These were all guesses of course. But Dumbledore was rarely wrong. The truth is he had no idea of how he would manage should Voldemort truly possess Harry. He didn't want to loose the boy.

'Ah,' said a little voice in his head. 'There is the flaw.'

Why, when he was talking to himself, was the voice sounding like His? He sighed and turned toward a ruby glow on his right. Fawkes was looking at him with a concerned look.

'My dear Fawkes,' said Dumbledore while raising his hand to caress his feathers. 'Sometimes the only thing that stops me from thinking I'm going wrong is that you're still here...'