A/N: This is Part 3 of the Dramatic Reading series, my Reading-the-Books series for people who think Reading-the-Books series are unreadable. (Mainly accomplished by quoting 10% of the text and keeping the pace actually moving.) Note that Book 2, A Sensational Story is available exclusively on AO3.

This instalment of the series is a little different because it deals with Dumbledore's, McGonagall's, and Snape's private readings of the later books over the weekend between the public readings of Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban. As with the interludes at the end of each chapter of A Sensational Story, they will not be reading out loud and will simply discuss each chapter after the fact. I'll also be going quite a bit faster: four chapters for four days. I've set the pace of their readings so as to sync their reading of Half-Blood Prince back up with Prisoner of Azkaban and finish both of those books at the same time.

Since I'm not doing a full reaction here, this story does not preclude an eventual full reading of Books 4-7 with Harry's friend group. However, I do not have any plans to continue the series past the end of Prisoner of Azkaban plus Dumbledore's reading of Deathly Hallows.


Chapter 1: Thursday

Harry woke the next morning feeling relieved that he had a day off to just do normal school-work. As much as he wanted to get to the part of the readings that would free Sirius, it was exhausting and frequently embarrassing to hear his life story read out to the whole school like that, so he wasn't too sorry about putting the third book off till next week.

But with everything that was going on, he was a little worried when Professor Dumbledore approached him after lunch.

"Ah, Harry," he said, "I was wondering if we might speak briefly."

Harry blinked. Dumbledore had done very little to actively approach him this year, although he had done a bit in the past couple weeks. "Is something wrong, Professor?" he asked.

"No, nothing of the sort. I have merely learnt some interesting things, which lead me to guidance that I think you will find beneficial."

Harry was confused, but he nodded.

"You are aware, of course, that several of us are reading the later books in the series about your life to learn the future course of the war against Voldemort and, we hope, to improve it."

"Right. Did you find something?" he asked.

"Not about Lord Voldemort. Rather, I wish to speak with you about the group you have so generously named 'Dumbledore's Army.'"

Harry blushed. He knew that Dumbledore must have heard about the D.A., but he had never brought it up directly. "Er, that was Ginny's idea, sir," he said.

"I am aware. Nonetheless, your devotion to me is flattering, if not, perhaps, the most discreet. I would like to ask, if you are permitted to say, if you have held any more meetings of Dumbledore's Army since the book readings began?"

It took Harry a moment to figure out that he must mean Hermione's contract. "Oh, um, Hermione removed that jinx, sir. And…no, we haven't had any more meetings. I mean, it's not like we really need the D.A. now, right? Umbridge is gone, and Auror Shaklebolt is a good teacher."

"I have every confidence in Kingsley," Dumbledore said. "However, I believe you should continue meeting among yourselves."

Harry's eyebrows shot up. "Really? But…why, sir?"

"As I understand it, you were planning to soon teach the group the Patronus Charm?"

That must have been from the book. "I guess so. We've been talking about it. A lot of them wanted to."

"Then, if I may say so, that should be reason enough. But beyond that, the books record that your instruction of your fellow students was remarkable and well worth continuing. In particular, you taught several of your classmates to cast full, corporeal Patronuses in a very short period of time. Even Mr. Finnigan came quite close in his first meeting attending the group."

"Seamus came?" he said in shock.

"He did. What you have achieved and would achieve with Dumbledore's Army would be impressive even for an experienced teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts, and that is not something we have had at Hogwarts for many years. What is more, your classmates may still need those lessons to learn to protect themselves."

"But Professor, if you're going to use the books to try to stop Voldemort, shouldn't that…you know, take care of it?"

"We will do our best, Harry, but even if we succeed, that will not end the war overnight, for it did not do so the last time. Your defeat of Voldemort—or rather your mother's—when you were a baby was the great victory of the last war. And it was indeed a cause for celebration. Yet when we had sobered, we realised that it was not the end. The loss of Voldemort had broken the back of the Death Eaters, but they were still very dangerous. You will recall that your friend Neville's parents were not attacked until several months after that night. The dementors, who now serve Voldemort, may take even longer to round up again, which is why it is especially important that your friends learn the Patronus Charm if they can."

Harry's eyes widened fractionally. He hadn't thought much about that. Between the mess with the Ministry and Voldemort trying to kill him, he hadn't thought much at all about what would come after the war, but he knew it hadn't been a clean ending last time from the memories he saw in Dumbledore's Pensieve last year. And he knew that dementors would come for anyone who was nearby when threatened. His friends might need the Patronus Charm before it was over. "I…I see what you mean, Professor," he said. "I'll talk to people about having another meeting."

"Excellent," Dumbledore said.

"Sir," Harry asked, "if you've been reading the later book, then you know what was going to happen? With Umbridge and the Ministry and everything?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Yes, the events of that future were laid out in great detail…and I suppose there is little harm in telling you some of it. Had Dolores Umbridge not been removed from the school, then approximately three weeks from now, 'Dumbledore's Army' would have been found out by her and the Slytherin prefects. This would have given her the leverage she needed to remove me from the school. In June, Voldemort would have made his move, about which it is probably best if you do not know the details—a gamble that fortunately did not pay off for him. He would not have achieved his goal and would have been revealed to the public…though not without cost. Fortunately, recent events have made that plan much less viable, and I am hopeful that we will be able to stop him before he grows that desperate."

"Professor?" Harry said suddenly. "Will I be able to read the books later? I mean, they're about me, after all. I think I ought to be able to find out what they say."

Dumbledore frowned. He looked about ready to tell him off, but he hesitated. "Perhaps you have a point, Harry," he said. "It is your right far more than it is ours to learn your own story. Regrettably, it is not safe for you to read them now, as your Occlumency lessons were not completed, so we must do so in your stead. Personally, I do not believe it is of much benefit to dwell on what might have been, but if you wish it, you should be able to read the later books after everything is resolved."

"Er, right. Thank you sir," he said.


Amelia finally managed to get away from the Ministry and up to Hogwarts that afternoon. It wasn't an easy task. Things were still on fire at the office, and worse, she couldn't very well tell anyone what sort of secret missions she was doing up here. She had quietly confided to Rufus that she was involved in secret war planning with Dumbledore, and she needed him to cover for her. It worked; she trusted him to make appropriate excuses for her, but it was still awkward, not least because she was pretty sure he would rather be on the mission with her.

"Headmistress," she greeted McGonagall when she reached the office. She nodded to the other two. "Professors." She first told them what she had already decided last night without knowing it: "I'm going to take you up on not attending next week's public reading. I've got more than enough to be dealing with as it is. I'll trust Mr. Weasley and Aurors Tonks and Shaklebolt to take accurate notes."

"Perfectly understandable, Amelia," Dumbledore agree, "although you may wish to make time on the final day of the reading. I suspect that the dramatic revelations will all occur on that day.

She sighed heavily. "I'll take it under advisement. Now, you should have got to examining future events properly by now. Have you learnt anything useful yet?"

The three of them looked at each other, and their expressions were not encouraging. "Little that is actionable at this point," Dumbledore said. "Most of the events in the near future have already been altered by the past two weeks, and the book, being written from Harry's point of view, gave us little intelligence on Voldemort or his plans. The one thing it did tell us was something we already knew: that Voldemort wishes to access the prophecy regarding himself and Harry Potter in the Department of Mysteries. He did not want to move openly when his return was not believed, so he sought to lure Harry there to retrieve it. Now that his return is widely know, we are wiser to him, which will change his calculations, but I believe he will still wish to mount any possible plan to access the Department of Mysteries."

"Then I'll make sure Ministry security knows about that and keeps an eye on the Department—although they can usually handle their own security pretty well."

"Augustus Rookwood was one of the escapees from Azkaban," Snape spoke up. "You can be certain that the Dark Lord knows all of his secrets about the Department."

"I'll remind them of that, but they're probably more aware than I am…Wait a minute," she said. "How long has You-Know-Who been trying to get to this prophecy?"

"Since last summer," Dumbledore said. "Almost since his return. I have had some of my…colleagues 'keeping an eye on it' as well."

Amelia paled rapidly, and a haunted expression came over her face. "Bloody hell. That inmate we released from Azkaban last week, ranting and pleading that he'd been Imperiused when he tried to get into the DoM…?"

"Sturgis Podmore," Dumbledore said sternly. "And he was indeed Imperiused, as I told Minister Fudge at the time."

She swore under her breath. Ever since Fudge had got into office, it seemed like there was more and more cutting corners for political expediency. As they had discussed at length, Podmore wasn't the only innocent person he'd sent to Azkaban, although it was an even more blatant political move that with Hagrid, given his rivalry with Dumbledore.

"I'll see about getting him some help when I have the time, then," she said. "So, You-Know-Who wants to get into the Department of Mysteries, and now that we're on to him, he might be willing to do it in a louder and more violent way." She considered the possibilities on that. "Albus, I won't demand you tell me what the prophecy says—yet—but how bad would it be if he gets it?"

"Materially, it would not be very bad," Dumbledore said. It was a surprising conclusion on its face, but Voldemort's other goal, to kill Harry personally, would not be changed after hearing it. "Its chief advantage is that it buys us time. Voldemort's uncertainty regarding the prophecy makes him hesitant. If it were removed from the table, he would be likely to move at full speed as he did before."

"Well, buying time is something we need right now. We'll guard the DoM as long as it doesn't cost us more than the extra time is worth. Now, was there anything else I need to know?"

McGonagall shook her head: "There was not much else related to the Ministry. We patched some holes in security here, but even those were minor. I am hopeful that the later chapters will be more useful to us."

But just then, Snape spoke up: "On the contrary, Minerva, there was one other important point."

"Oh? Oh, right," McGonagall scowled. "Umbridge."

Amelia raised an eyebrow, and Snape explained, "In one of the incidents recorded in the book, Umbridge arrived at the school at midnight with a squad of Aurors to arrest Hagrid. The charge wasn't clear beyond her trying to fire him. When Minerva tried to intervene, the Aurors attacked her without a verbal warning and with massed Stunners, which nearly killed her."

"I can still take a few hits Severus," Minerva protested.

"Once again, you were sent to St. Mungo's, Minerva," he said.

"Massed Stunners? No warning?" Amelia said. "Was your—would you have—ugh, I'm coming to hate verbs. Was your wand out, Headmistress?"

"The text was not clear, but it does appear that I was trying to handle the situation verbally," she replied.

Amelia pressed her lips together. "That's a definite use-of-force violation," she said. "Did the book happen to say which Aurors they were?"

"John Dawlish, for certain," Minerva said, "but it didn't mention any others."

"Ah, Dawlish. Figures. How that screw-up got promoted…I'll question him on if he has any connection with Umbridge when I have time—I agree it's suspicious—but other than that, all I can do is remind the Department about proper procedures. We're still in retraining for You-Know-Who being back, anyway."

"There is a more worrying possibility than Umbridge's corruption, Madam Bones," Snape pointed out.

"What's that?"

"That one or more of the Aurors involved was not on Umbridge's payroll, but the Dark Lord's."

Amelia stiffened instantly and raced through the possibilities. Moles were always a worry, but this seemed more concrete somehow. And she also remembered Snapes role in all of this. "I take it this is just speculation, or else you'd have something more specific, Professor," she said. "What makes you think that?"

"For complex reasons, Minerva's absence was key to the Dark Lord's plan to access the Department of Mysteries. We have already closed that avenue of attack here, but the fact that she was attacked so wantonly is suspicious beyond mere Ministry corruption."

She sighed and nodded. If they scenario they reported was accurate, it did seem like a wild move, even for Umbridge, or rather that the Aurors went along with her enthusiastically. A mole within the Ministry for him would explain a lot, even though it would be damned hard to prove it, let alone who it was.

And it didn't help that she still needed to finish interviewing all the witnesses just to bring Lucius Malfoy in.


After dinner, Minerva, Severus, and Albus gathered again in the Headmistress's office to continue their private book reading. It had been a busy day, catching up from the previous three days' public readings—although, they had to admit, not nearly as bad as it would have been had they still been teaching. (Or, in Minerva's case, at least she was only teaching N.E.W.T. classes now.)

"I think we can afford a more sedate pace now that we have dealt with the most immediate concerns up to the end of this year," Albus said once they arrived. "While ending the war is of paramount importance, we have established that there is little urgency in the next two months or so."

"Assuming the Dark Lord does not change his plans too drastically," Severus countered. "We've agreed that he has less use for stealth now that his return is widely known."

"Well," Minerva said, "he hasn't made a play for the prophecy yet. And there's only so much he can do in a few weeks, anyway. We do have the time to finish this. In fact, I'm tempted to leave it for the weekend entirely. The students are right about one thing; these readings are taking up entirely too much time."

"As much as I agree with you, that is your own fault for accepting these public readings," Severus replied. "Regardless, I would caution against growing too complacent with this knowledge from the future. While the Dark Lord does not yet suspect, rumours about these books will surely spread—at least from what we do in response to them."

Albus nodded: "Which is why I believe we should not set them aside entirely. We cannot plan for all of Voldemort's actions, but as long as we are making steady progress in our study of the future, I believe we have ample time to complete our work."

Minerva sighed. "Then I supposed we ought to begin," she said. "I admit I would like to see what Granger comes up with in her improvised plan to deal with Umbridge."

They opened their books to the next chapter and began to read.


Chapter 33: Fight and Flight

"Are they talking about flying all the way to London?" Minerva said. "Even on Thestrals, that would take hours, and Potter was worried about the time it would take to get back to the castle?"

"Potter is obviously panicking and overlooking the obvious," Severus said. "What I cannot account for is Granger or even one of the others not suggesting they fly to Hogsmeade and send for help from there."

"Owls would be no faster," Albus pointed out. "They do not know whom they can trust, and they know that the Floo is being monitored by the Ministry. I suspect it is not just Harry, but all of the children who feel they are out of good options at this point."

"They could still reach Molly and Arthur faster than the Ministry could come down on them," Minerva said. "I should think that in the face of hours' more delay, one of the Weasleys, at least, would suggest it."

"Ah, but they are yet young and inexperienced, especially in the matter of responding to threats," Albus said. "I am not surprised that they did not choose the wisest route."

"Hmph. The wisest route would be to stay at the school," Snape grumbled. "I'm not sure if I should be angry at Potter for dragging his whole squad along with him or grateful that he at least accepted help when pressed."

Minerva sighed. "I think we can agree the whole thing was a right mess from start to finish," she said. "Calling Black, Umbridge, the trek into the forest. And Granger and Potter were nearly carried off by the centaurs with her! And doesn't that just have 'diplomatic incident' written all over it?"

"An incident that is easily avoided, however," Albus assured her. "Miss Granger likely could have avoided offending the Centaurs had she known more about their culture, which is strongly advised before interacting with them under normal circumstances."

"I must admit, for a muggle-born, Granger handled herself better than most would with the Centaurs," Severus said. "That incident could have been drastically worse."

"Quite," Minerva agreed, "and I have a bad feeling that things are about to get worse again." She sighed heavily and picked up the book. "We should probably keep going." Then she lowered it and shot a pleased expression at Severus. "Although…the Weasleys, Longbottom, and Lovegood defeating the entire Inquisitorial Squad was very satisfying."


Chapter 34: The Department of Mysteries

"And all that chapter does is confirm what we already suspected," Severus concluded. "Potter walked right into a trap designed to trick him into retrieving the prophecy."

"Luckily, that was only after multiple prevention measures failed, which is unlikely to happen now," Minerva countered. "I'm more concerned with how they are going to get out."

"If they get out," Severus said. "All of them, at least. Though perhaps Potter's wild luck will strike again…"


Chapter 35: Beyond the Veil

"What…what just happened?" Minerva said.

"I believe Sirius has just fallen through the fabled Veil of Death," Albus replied.

"Did he?" She looked back at the previous pages. "That doesn't seem at all clear to me from the way it's written. It was a Stunning Hex. He ought to have just fallen over, except he happened to be standing near a strange archway. If I hadn't heard rumours about the Veil of Death, I'd be completely clueless, just like Harry seems to be."

"Since the books appear to be written from Harry's point of view, perhaps that was intentional," Albus suggested. He skimmed the next page. "Yet, Harry was instinctively aware that the Veil was more than it seemed and felt the significance of Sirius falling through it. He was merely unaware of the details—whether or not the knowledge would have helped him."

"I have to agree with Minerva; it was unclearly written," said Severus. "Poor narrative structure. If I recall correctly, it was not the same people reacting to the Veil as could see the Thestrals."

"Even so, the significance of it was shown," Albus countered.

"Was it? We've agreed these books were written as fiction for a muggle audience—for some reason, and muggle readers would not be familiar with these things. If this Joanne Rowling wished to write a coherent narrative, as, I admit, she has done admirably to this point, making the connection to the thestrals would be a large improvement."

"But they are also written almost entirely from Harry's point of view," Albus said. "If that was not what he noticed—If he truly did not know what was happening, would not the books have to record it as such?"

No one had an answer to that. Harry was obviously in over his head and not thinking very clearly through the whole ordeal, so it wasn't surprising that he couldn't understand what he was seeing. In any case, Albus flipped back to the contents page and calculated their position. "If we stop here, this will leave half of the remaining chapters for tomorrow," he suggested.

McGonagall didn't even consider the idea before she shook her head. "Oh, good heavens, Albus! You can't expect us to leave off on a cliffhanger like that."

He raised an eyebrow. "If you wish to continue, we still have time."

"You were the one who insisted we take it slower, Minerva," Severus pointed out.

"I know I was, Severus, but I'm not going to be very well settled tonight if I don't find out how this battle ends." And she picked up the book again and continued reading.


Chapter 36: The Only One He Ever Feared

"Well, that would a disturbing turn of events," Severus commented.

"Which part?" asked Minerva weakly.

"Potter using the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix Lestrange. What would his adoring public say if they heard that?"

"Attempted to use the Cruciatus Curse, you mean. It didn't work."

Severus gave her a sharp look. "I know that curse, Minerva," he said. "We all are acquainted with loss here, and Bellatrix was trying her hardest to bait Potter. I strongly suspect it did work, but Potter, thankfully, lacks the character to keep it working more than two seconds. And even then, I suspect he could work himself up to it again, given time."

"Hmpf. Well, if anyone asks, it didn't work. I don't wish to condemn the boy for what he did in a moment of grief, especially as he hasn't actually done it! And besides, I'm more concerned with the fact that You-Know-Who was able to possess Potter," Minerva said. "I know there was that incident at Christmas, but this was much worse. Albus? Do you know something about that."

Albus frowned. "Only that the connection between Harry and Voldemort is even more malign than it appears, though the books may reveal more later."

She frowned: "The connection between Potter and You-Know-Who has been worrying enough already, and his Occlumency lessons have obviously failed." She glanced at Severus. "Is there something we can do about it?"

"There is a way that I believe the connection can be broken, but I am hoping for the books to give us confirmation of it. As with most arcane magic, it is not without risk." Both Minerva and Severus looked unhappy with that—and Severus a mite suspicious, but they didn't protest it. He continued, "If you wish us to retire for the night…"

Minerva sighed heavily. "No, no. There are only two chapters left. We may as well finish them."

"Very well," he said.


Chapter 37: The Lost Prophecy

They didn't even get halfway through the next chapter.

A horrible silence fell over the Headmistress's Office, and it wasn't because of Harry's blinding rage at the Dumbledore in the book, nor even Dumbledore locking him in the office. No, that was…well, understandable, at least.

"Kreacher has been speaking to the Death Eaters. Since Christmas," Severus said, finally breaking the silence.

"Or, more precisely, to Narcissa Malfoy, who is as good as in this situation," Albus agreed.

"Then it's a damned good thing we did keep going," Minerva said. "Do you think we have any other surprises coming?"

Albus was already flipping through the remaining pages. "I think not," he decided. "At least, nothing nearly so time-sensitive. There was much that I needed to explain to Harry in the story, but the events at the Ministry are quite clear. The question is how much Kreacher has told already."

"Does Black know that the books are from the future?" Severus said sharply.

Albus considered it. "I believe that Harry did tell him that. Whether Sirius was careful enough to keep it from Kreacher…"

"I doubt it," Severus scoffed. "Our greatest hope is the fact that Black goes out of his way to avoid Kreacher…It is possible that we have still been lucky."

"And it's possible we haven't," Minerva said worriedly. "Are you certain that You-Know-Who isn't interested in the readings, Severus?"

He shook his head: "It is impossible to be completely certain about anything regarding the Dark Lord. However, his actions show no sign of urgency—no indication of wishing to learn his fate. Nor to prevent us from learning it, and he only stands to lose by not pressing that issue. Even if he does not know of these private readings, he has not told me to attempt to acquire the books myself or bring him information from them."

Albus considered this thoughtfully, his fingertips pressed together. "It may be that in his arrogance, Voldemort believes he will be victorious, or at least that there is no long-term threat to his aims other than Harry. Yet, it seems unlikely that he would pass over knowledge of the future when it might reveal the full text of the prophecy, or else it could reveal what specific power Harry has to oppose him. It may be that we have simply been lucky with Kreacher. Regardless, I shall visit Sirius immediately to ensure that remains the case." He paused and considered a moment longer. "Do you know," he said, "that I had briefly considered Voldemort himself might have been the origin of the accounts in the books."

"What? Why?" Minerva and Severus both said in surprise.

"The dream reported in the first book—the one that Harry himself did not remember. Voldemort would be the only other person who could possibly have direct knowledge of that dream. However, too many other facts did not line up for that theory to hold water. If he had the knowledge in these books already, he would be acting on it. Absent some indication otherwise, I think we can safely discard that possibility."

"And," Severus asked, "if we have not been lucky, and the Dark Lord has merely been slow to act?"

Albus's face darkened. "Should the matter come up, tell him that I am keeping the books under lock and key, and that you cannot access them without my notice." This was, in fact, very close to true. "For this book, there is little cost to giving him a sanitized version of the story. There is little that is actionable that has not already been altered by recent events. For the later books, we will have to think carefully."


Unfortunately, Severus's instincts proved correct. Albus was not gone very long when he felt his Dark Mark burn. He swore under his breath. No time to leave a message. He threw on a robe and exited from his apartment to head for the castle gates.

Not long afterward, he arrived at Malfoy Manor, the Dark Lord's current residence, and his fears were confirmed when Lucius led him into a one-on-one meeting—never a pleasant experience. He steeled his Occlumency and prepared for the worst.

"Severus," the Dark Lord hissed, "I have received some very interesting news about a certain set of books."

He had already prepared his response: "From the urgency of this meeting, I gather you mean the ones about Potter, my lord?"

"I do. I have heard tell that these books, somehow, come from the future—or at least that Dumbledore believes they do—and tell of events that have not yet occurred. Why have you not told me this?"

Oh, yes, he was going to get it for that bit. "I did not know it for certain myself until recently. Ever since Dolores Umbridge was driven away Dumbledore has been keeping the books under lock and key for his personal study. While he does say they come from the future, he also says that future they record has already been altered by recent events.

"And yet they could still contain useful intelligence, such as the complete prophecy."

Severus suspected that might be only pages away from where they had stopped, but that was immaterial. "If they record it, Dumbledore has not shown it to me."

"Ah, not surprising," the Dark Lord mused. "But what of Potter. If these books are supposedly about him, they must tell of his fate. What of my current plan for him to acquire the prophecy for me?"

"In the sections I was allowed to see, Master, Potter was lured to the Ministry, but only because he was boxed into a corner by the actions of Dolores Umbridge. As that is no longer possible, the move is much less likely to succeed and may require a…more direct approach. Beyond that, I could not say. I do not know how far into the future the story extends. Dumbledore has not allowed me to see any material past June, and what I have seen requires wading through hundreds of pages of inane details about Potter's personal life." He said this last part with undisguised contempt. He really didn't need to bother with all of that.

The Dark Lord frowned. Obviously, it wasn't the answer he was hoping for. "Hm, I will have to reconsider my strategy, then. What about the author?" he asked. "I have heard strange rumours about her from some of my other contacts."

"No one of importance," Severus said dismissively. "Less than that now that events have changed from the ones she recorded. She is of no matter to what will now happen in our futures."


Alternate ending: Harry Potter: Judgment Day

Knock knock.

The woman opened her door, then froze in shock. "What?! You?! How?!"

"Joanne Rowling," Voldemort hissed. He raised his wand. "Avada Kedavra!"

"Accio!"

Joanne jerked violently as she was pulled to the side and out of the suddenly-not-there window. Before she knew what was happening, she was caught and set on her feet a tall man wearing purple robes and a long, white beard.

"A-A-Albus Dumbledore?" she gasped.

Dumbledore conjured a shield against Voldemort's next attack as he said, "Come with me if you want to live."