Yet Another Harry Potter Story
Chapter Four – Tea With Dumbledore
AN: I'm rereading Goblet of Fire right now, and I noticed that Chapter Four is called "Back to the Burrow"- oops! That was an honest mistake- I must have remembered it subconsciously or something. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
Harry's utter shock at seeing Dumbledore stayed with him a whole minute before evaporating. Even after it settled in that Dumbledore was here, at Grimmauld Place, his brain seemed to take another five minutes to begin working again. He supposed that this resulted in him looking very stupid, standing at the top of the stairs and positively gaping down at the adults.
Just after he snapped out of it, he jumped about a foot when Ron tapped him on the shoulder and pointed down at Mrs. Weasley, who was standing at the foot of the stairs and said, "May I have a word with you, Harry dear?"
Wondering what on earth she wanted with him, Harry walked down the stairs feeling quite bemused.
Mrs. Weasley ushered him into a large room with handsome oak doors that Harry recognized as the doors that led to the mysterious room where the meetings for the Order of the Phoenix were held.
"Vissintra!" whispered Mrs. Weasley. The doors slowly creaked open. The room was not at all as Harry expected it to be. What he had pictured was a long, stiff, wooden table stretching nearly the length of the room, surrounded by equally stiff wooden chairs, like the rooms on Uncle Vernon's political shows. He should have known not to expect the obvious.
There were exactly two brilliantly pink couches on each side of the room, which was not rectangular, but square. In the center of the room, there was a six-foot tall vase of flowers on a few floor tiles, which was surrounded by water, though not enough water to be to the disadvantage of those trying to reach the couches. Also floating in front of each couch was a large open binder. The pages of the binders kept fluttering as though disturbed by a playful breeze, even though there were no windows apart from two on the back wall which kept changing from a desert to a forest and back again.
"Over here, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley, leading him to a couch on the left wall.
She checked her watch. "Three, two, one…"
At that very moment, various members of the Order of the Phoenix Apparated into the room. Very soon, Harry lost count of how many there were, and the room was filled with almost continuous popping noises.
Each member sat down on a couch and began flipping through the binder in front of them and talking interestedly with their neighbors. It only took Harry a few glances around the room to realize that one key person wasn't there. Dumbledore was not present. But hadn't he been standing right outside these doors just moments ago?
Harry tried to take his mind off Dumbledore by flipping through the binder in front of him, but all its pages appeared blank. He turned to Mrs. Weasley.
"I can't read it," he said.
"Oh, no, dear, don't worry. It's enchanted so that only members of the Order can read it," she replied.
Just then, Harry's questions about Dumbledore were answered when there was a final popping noise, and Albus Dumbledore took a seat on the couch next to the one he and Mrs. Weasley occupied.
The stubby man Harry recognized as Mundungus Fletcher stood up from his couch across the room. "Dung!" chorused half the room, as if on cue.
"Dung" pointed his wand at his throat and said, "Sonorus." His magically magnified voice echoed across the room. "Something very tragic has happened," he said, in a mock serious tone.
Dumbledore stood up. "Thank you, Mundungus," he said evenly, "but I believe that it is in order for me to make this announcement."
"Quietus," grumbled Dung irritably. "As you wish."
"Thank you," said Dumbledore. Then without hesitation, he continued, "Lord Voldemort has broken into Sybil Trelawney's seeing well."
Several people gasped or uttered small cries, but Harry assumed that that was because Dumbledore had said Voldemort's name.
"Wait, a second, Professor, what's a seeing-"
Dumbledore simply ignored him, and continued, "You all know what this means. But you all know the content of what is at stake, as well. Actions to be discussed at a later date. You are dismissed."
As quickly as they had come, all the members of the Order of the Phoenix Disapparated. At last, only Dumbledore, Harry, and Mrs. Weasley were left. Harry was beginning to feel irritated. Why did they even bother to bring him in if it was like they were speaking Gobbledegook?
There were several moments of silence, until finally Harry decided that he wanted to talk to Ron and Hermione, and made towards the door. Mrs. Weasley held him back. Then, at long last, Dumbledore spoke.
"Molly, if I may have a word with Harry? Alone?"
Mrs. Weasley nodded fervently. "Yes, yes of course. I need to start dinner anyway." She scurried out of the room.
"Harry, kindly tell me how much of that you understood, so that I may evaluate the amount of explaining I have to do." As he said this, he flicked his wand absently, and the binder vanished, replaced by a small table with to mugs full of steaming hot tea, and a plate of scones.
"Er," said Harry, trying to exactly recall what Dumbledore had said. He sat down on one of the couches, and when Dumbledore did not object, he stayed there. "Er, well, Voldemort broke into something that belongs to Professor Trelawney, and everyone knows what it is but me."
"Perceptive," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling and a slight smile playing at his lips. "Harry, I am sure that you recall the prophecy that I told you about at the end of last term."
Of course he did, how could he not? He remembered it vividly. "Yes, Professor," he said slowly, unsure of where this was going.
"Kindly repeat for me what you can."
It was an odd request, but after nearly five years of knowing Dumbledore, he knew not to question him. He strained his memory.
"Erm, it was something about 'the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies, and his parents will have defied him- Voldemort, I mean- three times." Harry looked up hopefully at Dumbledore to see if he had gotten the information right. Dumbledore merely nodded.
"Go on," he said.
"And- and then something like Voldemort will mark me- er, him- as his equal, but he will have powers that Voldemort doesn't know about."
Dumbledore nodded again.
"And," he gulped, suddenly aware of how stuffy the room had become, "one of us has to kill the other one, because neither of us can live while the other survives."
"Very good, Harry. I can see that your memory has not failed you."
Harry nodded, but kept silent.
"Harry, when a Seer makes a prediction, it opens up a kind of- passageway," said Dumbledore.
Harry must have looked confused, because Dumbledore immediately said, "Oh, no, don't worry, it will all make sense in a few moments.
"Now, this passageway can be accessible to anyone, provided that they know where to find it."
Harry was still trying to comprehend this.
"Think of it this way," said Dumbledore. To Harry's great surprise, he did not sound irritated. On the contrary, the corners of his mouth were twitching slightly, as though it had taken him a long time to understand this as well. "There is a large tree. Every Seer has a branch on this tree. Each time they make a real prediction, it adds a leaf to their branch."
Harry, though a little less perplexed, was still having trouble seeing where this was going.
"That leaf, or in this case, the prophecy, is accessible to anyone, as long as they know where to look. Does that make sense?"
"I guess so," said Harry.
"Remember last term when I told you that that was not the only record of the prophecy held by the Department of Mysteries? So now, to put things simply, he has broken into Professor Trelawney's, branch, and found that particular leaf."
"But, Professor, how does Voldemort go about breaking into other people's, er, branches?" asked Harry. He felt stupid. He could now sort of understand the concept of seeing wells, but didn't really understand what Dumbledore was trying to tell him.
"Legilimency."
Harry nodded and took a sip of tea from the mug nearest him.
"I am also assuming that you remember the reason why Voldemort wished to get his hands on that prophecy."
"He thought it contained instructions on how to kill me."
"Exactly," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.
"But it didn't- he was wrong- it just said that one of us would have to kill the other one-"
"Exactly," Dumbledore repeated. "This, coupled with another event, could mean terrible things for our world."
"Wait- what?" he was sick of being confused. Then it dawned on him. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Now he knows that nobody can kill him but me, and now he can go out in the open and do all his Muggle-torturing and wizard-killing and all that- and it won't even matter, because the Daily Prophet printed that he was back!"
"Exactly," said Dumbledore for the third time. He smiled triumphantly, which made Harry feel uncomfortable. Was it a very hard task to get him to understand something? "And now I am afraid that I must depart. I need to create the new class schedules." He waved his wand once more, and the table was replaced with the binders again.
"Wait, Professor!" said Harry.
"Yes?" asked Dumbledore.
"Well, last year, before I took Occlumency, you were avoiding eye contact with me- you know, so that Voldemort couldn't see you."
"Yes, and now I have realized how selfish I was being," replied Dumbledore with a smile. "I was putting you in danger, and saving my own skin. I was being, as you would say, a prat."
Harry truly smiled, for, it seemed, the first time since Sirius had died.
"And now, my dear boy, if you have no additional questions, I will be off," said Dumbledore.
"Have a good rest of the summer, Professor," said Harry. And then, with the softest most immeasurable popping noise, Dumbledore was gone.
Harry ran out of the room and dashed upstairs. He had a lot to tell Ron and Hermione.
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AN: Did you like it? I didn't leave you hanging, aren't you proud of me? Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, I've been on vacation, in a manner of speaking, and haven't had much time to write, and then my disk broke. And if you're thinking I made a mistake by creating a separate room for the Order of the Phoenix to hold their meetings in, I just thought that they should have a separate room instead of meeting in the dining room. It is not, I repeat, not a mistake. It's my fanfic. I can do whatever I want.
Review Feedback (if this deeply bores you, you may skip it) - Thank you, thank you, thank you, everybody who reviewed! This is the most reviews I've ever gotten for a story! Here's some feedback to everyone who reviewed as of August 4, from oldest to newest.
Kali Shan – Umm, thanks. I actually thought I was doing a good job. You should see some of my older chapters for Dora the Explorer. Less than 500 words. ::Shudders::
Pyrefly – Thanks, and yes, I will.
Amethyst Mage – Waah! You're so critical!! Heeheehee. How come you're never on???!
JediMasterWhit – Lol! Sadly, I do have too much time on my hands!
Kurbani – Incidentally, when I received your review, I was already working on Chapter Two and Harry's O.W.L. scores. Great minds think alike, right?
Shdurrani – If you read carefully, I put in the fact that you had to get an O in Potions on your O.W.L.s to be accepted into N.E.W.T. Potions. Next time you flame me, please have a good reason for doing so.
JediMasterWhit – I like the story thus far, too! Actually, I spotted a major mistake… hopefully no one will notice it, lol! Happy fourth- of August! Lol!
Jonathan Swift – As soon as I find I have grown out of my laziness, I will be deleting your review. (Don't worry, I'm not really such an ogre, he's a member of my family). Just because you're all edjumucated and we aren't doesn't mean you have to act like it!
Smiley Gurl 1019 – I think you no my disposition on your review, so SHUT UP! Hey, that's not nice! --Maddie
Kurbani – Eeeeee. Big, stupid, error. Thanks for pointing it out! I will proofread my chapters from now on! See what amazing power you have over me? Anyone who knows me will tell you that I despise the editing process.
Pyrefly – If you thought Harry was at the hq for the Order of the Phoenix, then you're right, you are usually wrong about those things!! Please don't take that personally. It's my nature. I'm a sarcastic conservative.
Random HP Fan – Okay. Good. I like it when people read my stuff.
Kurbani – Yes, I know it's frustrating to read cliffies, but it is so fun to write them! Hmmm, that's an interesting point about Harry working harder… I'll consider it.
Your Master lol (JediMasterWhit) – Well JKR basically did write that last bit. I just took her descriptions and put them to my own use.
Mella deRanged -- =)
Star06 – Yeah, I actually think I did too good of a job on that code- I had to open up a separate word document and write what it meant so I wouldn't forget!
Er… Hermione – Thanks!!! Someone put me on their favorites list! If I can't be as good as your friend, at least I can be 'great nonetheless'!
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I'd also like to thank my "master", Sarah, for beta reading (betaing?). READ HER FANFICS! Her penname is JediMasterWhit. And, as always, please review!
--Juli