Harry Potter and the Riddle House

Disclaimer: I do not claim any ownership whatsoever of the Harry Potter concept. That honour is bestowed to Joanne Rowling and Bloomsbury Publishing.

Timeframe: Beginning directly after Order of the Phoenix therefore it is important that you've read that book first.

Summary: The story of Harry in his sixth year at Hogwarts. Begins in the summer directly after OotP and Harry is trying to find a way to deal with the immense pain he feels inside.

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Chapter 2: A VERY DIFFERENT DUMBLEDORE

"Hello Harry," said Professor Dumbledore, in his rough, sincere yet aged voice. He looked strait ahead at Harry, a pensive look on his face.

"Hello Professor Dumbledore," replied Harry simply and regretfully, for Harry was reminded of all his problems with the face of the man before him.

"I'm here to take you to Order," informed Dumbledore and went on, "I understand you did not wish to go!"

Harry sat down on his bed and motioned to Dumbledore to do the same, for he knew he could not lie to this man. Last year, at around the same time in July, Harry would of never dreamed of being able to talk to Dumbledore about his problems. Nor did he ever imagine that Dumbledore would shut himself out of his life for his own good. But that was what Dumbledore had done, a fact Harry had learned only recently. He could lie to his friends, he could lie to the Order of the Phoenix, he could even lie to himself, but Harry knew that the one person he could not lie to was Professor Dumbledore.

Harry looked down at the floor for a long time and tried to think of what to say and Dumbledore didn't push him. He waited and then finally Harry found the words he needed to say.

"I'm just not ready... I mean there is just so much pain and I know that I have to go back. It's just I'm not ready to face it; cause I know that they'll be more. There's always pain and I have to face it alone. I can't let anybody know that... my destiny is to kill or be killed." Harry finished and then focussed intently on his hands that were clenched together where his navel was positioned.

Dumbledore waited as Harry finished and then spoke in a slow and silent reassuring voice. "You bare a burden that I never wanted you to hold. It is my fault that I never prepared you for this, but now is not the time to ponder or regret. What you need to be doing is getting on with your life, facing the pain you hold and acting out if you need to. You need your friends to remind you of the things you want in life, you need the structures of your normal life to keep you grounded and you need the Order members and myself to help prepare you for what's to come. There is not one way to drown that pain away, except to face it and eventually conquer it!"

"I can't lose anybody else, and being near those I love means that I'm endangering them. And I know what you're going to say, about it being Voldemort's plan and that Sirius wanted to protect me but... it was me who led everyone to the Department of Mysteries and it's because I'm a target. Danger will follow me; Voldemort will follow me until the day it finally ends, when the prophecy is fulfilled." Harry finished then got up of the bed. In his mind, this conversation was over. He walked to his desk then sat down.

"Regardless of all of this, it is necessary you leave this place. For you have proven over the past few weeks, that you don't intend to stay under a protective roof and the Order would like to keep a closer eye on you." Dumbledore got up of the bed as well and moved over to the trunk that was positioned in front of his cupboard. "I have taken the liberty of packing all of your things, as we must leave now. If you just move this trunk out of the way, inside (Dumbledore motioned to the cupboard) you will find our travelling clothes."

Harry got up and moved the trunk out of the way and placed it at the top of his bed. Then Harry moved and opened the cupboard. Inside he found two black wigs with dreadlocks, two of the most hippy influenced summer shirts Harry had ever seen with matching board-shorts and thongs. Harry turned and gave Dumbledore a confused look, wondering why they were about to dress up to look like hippies.

"There is one thing that I have always admired about muggles, and that is their abilities to find simple non-magic ways to hide themselves. Tonight, we will leave via the back door of this house and climb over to Mrs Figgs. The rest you will learn later, as it is not safe to talk aloud about our travels." Dumbledore finished explaining, then took out his wand and said something under his breath and within a split second, Harry and Dumbledore had changed appearance.

"And are we going now?" Harry asked Dumbledore, knowing Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were both downstairs at that very moment.

"I'd give it about a minute, and then we will be safe to leave," said Dumbledore, a mischievous look in his eye. As if on cue, Harry heard a little twinkle and then Dumbledore said Locomotor Trunk.

"It's time," Dumbledore informed Harry and finally they left the bedroom, Harry's trunk following them down as if being carried by invisible people. Once they entered the lounge room, Harry saw Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon sleeping soundly on the couch. If it weren't for the fact that Harry loathed his only blood relations, he would have said they looked almost cute. Maybe he wouldn't go that far.

"I gave them a mild sleeping draught. And I will leave this note for them so they won't worry!" Dumbledore pulled out a note from his board short pocket and placed it on the coffee table.

They left via the backyard and climbed a couple of fences until they reached Mrs Figgs back garden and were welcomed by a cat. The back door was already open and both swept inside, only stopping once they reached her living room. There, Harry was greeted with Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, two of Harry's favourite members of the Order of the Phoenix although they were unrecognisable due to the fact they wore the same hippy clothes they did.

"Harry, we have no time to talk. Now the taxi has arrived Mrs Figgs?" Dumbledore asked and Mrs Figgs nodded.

Lupin and Tonks didn't stop to chat for there was no time for them either. Instead they immediately apparated and Dumbledore and Harry went out the front door. Now, Harry and Dumbledore were carrying the trunk, as they could not allow the taxi driver to see any form of magic. The taxi driver got out of the car, helped them put the trunk in the boot and then they left Privet Drive, not speaking until they finally reached their next destination.

Ten minutes later, Harry and Dumbledore were on a bus headed for London and they found that they were receiving some peculiar looks from their fellow bus travellers. They ignored them and then got of in the pitch black darkness of a neighbourhood that looked deserted. It wasn't Grimmauld Place, but it did look like the same neighbourhood that the Order headquarters was situated. Dumbledore motioned Harry to the fire hydrant close by and whispered the words "portkey," and Harry understood and they moved over to the portkey, took hold of each end of the trunk and with their free hands they touched the hydrant.

Once the world had stopped spinning, Harry found himself and Dumbledore inside the kitchen of the Order of the Phoenix.