Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, its characters, or anything associated with it. The others are mine. Resemblance of any character to an actual person is completely accidental. Please don't sue *shows pockets* look no money.
" Harry," Professor McGonagall stood in front of him, her face a stoic mask, " the Headmaster will see you now."
He chose not to answer. He hardly spoke to anyone nowadays, anyway. Walking past her, he entered the Headmaster's office.
He sat down on the seat offered to him by Dumbledore, refusing the customary offer of lemon drops. On one side of the office, in the shadows, sat another person.
A lady.
He ignored her and turned his attention to the Headmaster. Sensing his impatience, Dumbledore began.
" Cedric's death affected us all. You, most of all, Harry."
Silence. If Dumbledore expected a response of any sort, it did not come.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. Harry's gaze did not waver at all.
Suddenly, the lady who was sitting down a moment ago violently stood up. She strode up to the table and mock-glared at both of them.
" Seriously, I've had enough of this hemming and hawing. Albus, honestly, just tell the boy and be done with it! Anyone would think that your news is on the scale of an armageddon!" Dumbledore looked faintly aggrieved.
She turned her attention to Harry. " Boy, you sure are a sorry excuse for the hero of the wizarding world. Going all brooding like this. Well, the core of this entire meeting is this, to put it bluntly that is, Albus is worried for you and seems to think that you haven't recovered from the impact of Diggory's death. So he's sending you to me for therapy. You're coming with me, boy, so that I can work on you a little. Yes, you're leaving Hogwarts, for a while anyway. I'll be teaching you what you've been missing." She turned and glanced at Dumbledore, " Have I got the points all down?"
Dumbledore mock-grimaced a little, " Yes, my dear, down to a pat."
"Good," said the still-unnamed lady, " Anything else?"
"Yes," replied Dumbledore, a very slight smile on his face, " Introductions to Harry."
Harry found himself subjected to a very intense looking-over. Her laughing lynx coloured eyes hardened almost imperceptibly as she regarded him and her expression changed from one of easiness to something unreadable.
She held out her gloved hand, " I am known by many names, Potter. You may address me as Dearbháil. Prepare your things. We leave tomorrow at first light."
He ignored her hand. He ignored many things nowadays. He nodded then slipped out of the office.
The two adults faced each other. Neither of them was sitting any longer. Any trace of the previous lightness was gone.
Dearbháil glared at the Headmaster, " Lad-my-boy, you have a lot of explaining to do."
Dumbledore allowed himself a brief sigh; took off his spectacles, rubbed them on his robe and put them on again. "He seems to have lost all interest in life. He's becoming a shadow, I fear. This is the worst time for this. Voldemort's coming into power, we need Harry desperately."
Dearbháil interrupted him, her voice icy, "You want Potter as a symbol of hope, of the Light. You are going to try to raise him up to some kind of impossible, noble and good Defender of the Light. You are going to use this poor boy who is seriously unstable and from what I see, a psychological mess."
Dumbledore met her gaze unflinchingly. "Voldemort is gathering his forces now, even as I speak. The wizarding world turns to its saviour to stand against him. We need him back, not this pale shadow, this wraith! They need to believe in something because they will not and cannot believe in themselves. They choose a teenage boy because he is the Boy-Who-Lived. I – we – cannot afford to let him languish away, the wizarding world needs him, thousands will flock to his standard at his call. We need him. "
Dearbháil raged, " Such great and stirring worlds, Albus, you foolish man, such matters of the heart are not to be trifled lightly with. Potter needs time. Time to cope, to face his grief, his guilt. That much is obvious, even to you. This deed that you ask of me is simply monstrous. You want me to condense years of healing into a couple of months. It is possible, I grant you, but the healing is not natural, it will be induced – the results, you know it, Dumbledore. He will never recover completely if you ask me to do this to him. He will scream and cry at night when his sub-conscious is freed and no longer subdued by my magic. He will never forget, only natural healing can dim his memory. He will forever remember Cedric's death, clearly imprinted in his mind."
" The freedom and happiness of the wizarding world comes at a great price."
" To be borne on the shoulders of a boy!"
" The boy whom our world places their hopes on."
" But still a boy."
" Then why did you tell him that I was sending him to you? Why did you even come?"
Silent tears ran down her cheeks. " Because…I knew that I would be your last resort."
Silence.
"He is going to become a robot, a mechanization. He will never feel any strong emotion again. You know this, Albus."
" I know." A heavy admission, he had weighed his choices carefully – the costs, the losses, and it still had to come to this.
" Is it worth it, Albus? He is a broken boy. Mortal. "
" But still the hope of the world."
She sat down, hands lightly massaging her temples. She stared at him, the anguish in her eyes cutting to his very soul. Very softly, in a raw whisper that he almost missed, "I pray to the God for pardon for this hideous crime which I had once committed and am going to commit again."
He bent down and kissed her forehead lightly, " Pray for the both of us, beloved Dearbháil, and say another for Harry."
They remained like this for a moment; an ageless lady slumped down on a chair, grace forgotten, murmuring softly, hands clasped together and an old man standing over her, hands placed gently on the lady's shoulder, tears running down his wrinkled cheeks.
Then she left and he remained in the solitary office, stroking Fawks in silent contemplation.
Author's Note: How is it? Please review. Reviews will be very very much appreciated.