Chapter Fourteen
A/N: Let me tell you, you'll learn a lot, and when I mean a lot, I mean a LOT! Of things about dear Harry. Enjoy. And I think you'll like the new DADA teacher too. Have a pleasant Chapter.
"Now I
present you with the new Defense Against Dark Arts Teacher of Hogwarts, school
of Wizardry and Witchcraft" said Sirius in a game show kind of voice.
"Albus
Dumbledore" he said gesturing his hands towards Professor Dumbledore.
Harry
was left speechless. He didn't even notice that his mouth was open in awe. He
felt extremely surprised and happy at the same time. It took him some time to
recover from the shock and to see Professor Dumbledore, Sirius and Professor
Lupin roaring with laughter at his reaction to the news.
"That's
wonderful professor, but why? I assume you haven't taught for a long time,"
said Harry finally.
"There are
many reasons Harry. One as such reason is the fact that it is too risky to
invite a stranger into the castle in a time like this since there are no
reliable people whom are available. You more than any other know how much this
position has been giving us trouble. And, I think it's time I started to teach again.
My experience can be used on something useful this time. And yes Harry, I
haven't taught for a long time. Fifty years to be precise" said Dumbledore.
Suddenly
Harry remembered something.
"Professor?
Can I ask you a question?" he asked.
"I need not
remind you that you already have asked me one, but yes, you can ask me another"
he replied.
"Uh… Fifty
years ago when you… taught, was Tom Riddle in your final batch?"
Dumbledore
smiled at him but Sirius and professor Lupin just looked bewildered. Harry had
the feeling that they had no idea who Tom Riddle was or how significant he was.
But Dumbledore looked extremely proud of Harry but was soon washed over by a
look of grief.
"Once again
you amaze me with how observant you are about the environment around you. It is
a quality of great wizards and you shall have great use of it many times to
come in the future just like you have used it in the past. Yes Harry. He was.
It was the main reason I stopped teaching. The typical example of my knowledge
and experience used for destruction" he said and moved his gaze towards Sirius
and Professor Lupin who were still in the dark about what was going on. "Tom
Riddle was the christened name of Voldemort"
Sirius and
Professor Lupin looked shock.
"How come
Harry knows so much about him?" asked Sirius.
Dumbledore once again looked extremely proud.
"I say the
mischievous trio has definitely beaten the Marauders in the
research department" he said with sly grin that would've flattened Sirius's
previous sly grin one to hundred.
Sirius and
Professor Lupin both returned the grin cheerfully.
"Hey, we
still hold the detention record don't we?" asked Professor Lupin trying to
suppress laughter.
Professor
Dumbledore Nodded.
"Yes. But
I'm afraid for the moment only. It won't be long before Fred and George Weasley
break it, especially with a large generous contribution from one of their
sponsors" said Dumbledore beaming at Harry.
Both
Sirius's and Professor Lupin's eyes narrowed with curiosity.
"What do
you mean by a generous contribution of a sponsor. We never had sponsors to aid
us in our cause for mischief making" protested Sirius.
"Ha! That's
because you didn't have friends who happen to win thousand galleons from a
tournament and have no use for it" said Dumbledore beaming at Harry and started
laughing out.
Both Sirius
and Professor Lupin looked extremely shock and they just stared at Harry. It
took some time for the both of them to regain their senses.
"One
Thousand Galleons! All for trouble making! Gosh Harry are you out of your mind?
I knew the Potters were wealthy, but a thousand Galleon?" said Professor Lupin
still looking extremely stunned.
"Thousand
Galleons!" kept muttering.
Finally
Professor Dumbledore asked Sirius and Professor Lupin if he could have chat with
Harry alone. Both Sirius and Professor Lupin said good-bye to Harry and said
that they'd be staying at Hogwarts for a while. One both of them had left,
Professor Dumbledore turned towards Harry. His face expression was dark. Harry
could tell that he was trying to hide his concern, but it didn't seem to have
any effect. At once Harry knew that he was just about get hit by whole load of
bad news.
"Harry I
truly am troubled to be the one to give you this information since I already
know what you have gone through but I have no choice. Without it you will be
extremely vulnerable. I do not wish to keep you in the dark anymore" said
Dumbledore.
"Harry, you
come from a long line of witches and wizards who have originated from no other
than Godric Gryffindor, one of the founders of Hogwarts and one of the most
powerful wizards in history. The Potters were the only and strongest blood link
to Gryffindor. Voldemort too is a blood relative of one of the founders. Slazar
Slytherin. Once he had reached his height of power in his previous regime, he
decided to annihilate the blood links to the other three founders. He was
successful until he tried to annihilate the Gryffindor bloodline. At least he
wasn't fully successful. The other lines are lost and only two remain. One
descendent from Slazar Slytherin and one of Godric Gryffindor. As you must have
guessed it's you and Voldemort. But Voldemort had other reasons to get rid of
you. You also have a connection to Slazar Slytherin too. It's from your
mother's side. It's rather distant but yet you are connected to Slazar
Slytherin. This also meant that you not only challenge Voldemort as Godric
Gryffindor's heir but also as Slazar Slytherin's heir. With you around he has
no authority over either of the founders secrets. This among other reasons has
made him you his first target after his regeneration. As you witnessed last
evening he already has tried to get rid of you, but there were many more
attempts before they got in yesterday. Actually there were several gruesome duels
between several of your protectors and death eaters, and we did loose some of
them in the process" he said looking even darker.
Harry's
jaw dropped dead. Not this again he said to himself. He was done finding people
dying because of him. But what did Dumbledore mean by 'his protectors'?
"Sir? What did you mean by my protector? Why
did they have to die for me? Don't you think that more than enough people have
died because of me?" he had to try hard not make his voice tremble.
At
once the dark impression on Professor Dumbledore's face was restored with a
proud yet concerned impression. Dumbledore had been giving him that proud look
ever since he came back with Cedric's body that fateful night. But he was glad
to see it. Seeing Dumbledore looking so dark made him feel insecure. He had
always been his hope. The person whom he could turn to no matter what. Almost
as if he was his father even though he was more like a grandfather to him.
"Protectors Harry are obviously are to Protect
you. It might take you some time to understand fully, but you are the center of
all this. You are the barrier between Voldemort and him succeeding. He
succeeding will obviously mean the end. The end of the whole world. Both Muggle
and Magic. And that is the reason we are protecting you. If it takes every last
one of us, we'll still protect you. Without you, Voldemort rules. No one else
can do it Harry, no one. And when Voldemort rules, we loose. We shall not loose
and to do so we cannot loose you. Like it or not Harry you are now the most
protected person in the wizarding community. And as much as I hate to say this you
are responsible to the whole wizarding world. You Are Our most priced possession.
Nothing is more valuable to us than you".
A/N: Kim, I didn't get that thing about Figgs wrong but you'll have to stay till next chapter to find out.