Chapter 21:

Conversation with Dumbledore

Sometime later that evening, Harry and Ginny left the Room of Requirement and sneaked through the corridors back to Gryffindor Tower. Harry kissed Ginny in front of the painting of the Fat Lady and murmured, "I've got to hurry, love. I'm going to be late meeting Professor Dumbledore."

Ginny nodded and kissed him once more, "I love you, Harry. I'll see you in the morning."

Harry smiled as Ginny turned away and gave the portrait the password. She entered the tower and the portrait closed behind her. Harry transformed into a phoenix and took flight through the castle to arrive at the gargoyle outside Dumbledore's office just in the nick of time. Harry gave the password to the gargoyle, "Cauldron Cakes." Then, he walked up the revolving staircase and into Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore appeared to have just arrived himself as he was sitting down at his desk, "Ah, perfect timing, Harry. I see that you got my note."

Harry grinned, "Considering the fact that Professor McGonagall practically threw the note in my lap, it was kind of hard to miss."

Dumbledore smiled, "Well, enough levity. We need to get down to business."

Harry nodded, "Which Death Eater did you catch?"

Dumbledore answered, "I don't believe that you met him. It was a young man by the name of William Smythe. He's a minor member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Harry continued, "What did you find out from him?"

Dumbledore spoke quickly, "He gave us information concerning an attack by Voldemort."

"What is he planning on attacking?"

Dumbledore answered plainly, "The Ministry."

Harry nodded, "It figures. He's going to try and take out everyone that he can in one fell swoop. We'll just have to be ready."

Dumbledore began hesitantly, "I was hoping that perhaps you could try to confirm this information. Maybe even give us a time frame."

Harry grinned ruefully, "I guess its tough not having your spy in Voldemort's inner circle any more?"

Dumbledore nodded in response, but said nothing.

Harry continued, "Alright. I'll go peek in Voldemort's mind." Harry sat down on the floor with his legs crossed beneath him. He closed his eyes and zoned out.

Dumbledore gasped in astonishment as Harry started to float above the ground.

Harry started probing his way through Voldemort's mind. The Dark Lord was apparently gleeful about something. The only thing that Harry could discover about his plans was that taking Ginny was the most important thing on his mind. Voldemort apparently still thought that Ginny was the key to defeating Harry. Harry smirked to himself at this. "You just don't get it, Voldemort."

Unfortunately for Harry, Voldemort seemed to detect the thought. "Potter."

"So, you've discovered my little power." Harry projected into Voldemort's mind.

The rage in Voldemort's mind began to increase, "I will destroy you, Potter."

Harry snorted, "I don't think so, Tom. I'm never going to stop fighting you."

"You will find it difficult to fight me when you are dead. I've failed to kill you before, Potter. I will not do so again. You will die just as your parents did."

Harry replied with malice dripping from his voice, "You might find that a little difficult to do, Tom. The last time we met, I was still a little boy. The next time we meet, you will be facing a grown wizard that has not the slightest hint of remorse at the idea of killing you and eating your heart after I'm finished."

"Stop calling me by that name, Potter. I have nothing to do with that filthy Muggle."

Harry crowed triumphantly, "Face it, Tom. No matter what you claim to the rest of the world, the fact remains that you are nothing more than a half-breed."

"I am the Heir of Salazar Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwart's Four." shouted Voldemort.

"If he was the greatest, Tom, why was he the one that had to leave while the other three remained here?"

Voldemort's rage increased farther, "They were cowards and none of them would face him alone."

Harry laughed, "Face it, Tom. Your precious ancestor was defeated by Gryffindor, just as his Heir will be your undoing. I am the Heir of Godric Gryffindor, and I will be the end of you."

"We shall see, Potter, we shall see. Now, get out of my mind." Voldemort shut his mind off to Harry's probing. Harry shook himself awake and settled back to the floor in Dumbledore's office. He stood up and sat down in one of the comfortable armchairs before he finally noticed the look on Professor Dumbledore's face.

"Albus, are you okay? What's wrong?"

The look on Dumbledore's face was one of mingled shock, fear, and fury. "Harry, were you just talking to Voldemort?"

Harry nodded, "Unfortunately, my spying days are pretty much up. He discovered my ability. How did you know that I was talking to him?"

Dumbledore paled slightly but continued, "I could hear everything that was said. You were speaking normally, and I could hear Voldemort's voice echoing through the room."

Harry shrugged, "I didn't know that would happen. I'm going to have to watch the connection. If it is getting powerful enough for that, then I'm going to have to guard my mind more carefully from him."

"Harry, I'm worried about you."

Harry asked quizzically, "Why?"

"You sounded positively evil while you were talking to Voldemort. I'm worried that perhaps this constant connection to Voldemort is starting to warp your brain." said Dumbledore with a concerned look on his face.

Harry shook his head, "Don't worry. I'm not being corrupted by Voldemort. I realize that I have been somewhat temperamental, and I can be a little testy about some things, but I'm still the same person."

Dumbledore asked quietly, "Are you sure, Harry?"

Harry sighed, "Yes, Professor. I'm sure. The only thing that has changed is my perception of the situation. I realize that I have to make being a Death Eater have consequences. If I don't hold them responsible for the atrocities that they have committed, who will?"

"Society will hold them responsible. They will go to prison as soon as Voldemort is beaten and captured." stated Dumbledore firmly.

Harry shook his head, "That's irrelevant. Most Death Eaters don't believe that Voldemort will be defeated. They have to have some sort of inhibition that is immediate. Otherwise there will be a whole lot more of them. Several of our recent graduates have already fallen under Voldemort's sway. As you know, Draco has already taken the Dark Mark even though he is still here at school."

Dumbledore asked, "Which graduates have taken the Dark Mark?"

Harry replied evenly, "Warrington, Flint, Pucey, and Montague."

Dumbledore nodded, "We could expect it from those four. All of them had parents who were prominent Death Eaters."

"We need to get back to business, sir. Did the captured Death Eater shed any light on who the spy in Fudge's office might be?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "No, Voldemort is guarding that information carefully. According to the prisoner, none of the Death Eaters know who the spy is."

Harry snorted, "I find that difficult to believe. There will have to be a go-between of some kind. An official inside Fudge's office can hardly be sending messages directly to Voldemort. All the post leaving the Ministry and coming in to the Ministry is under inspection by the Aurors and the Department of Mysteries."

Dumbledore's eyes widened, "How did you know that, Harry?"

Harry grinned, "Voldemort was in a towering temper when they started doing it this summer. He realized it was going to make it much more difficult for him to find out what was going on inside the Ministry. Considering the fact that eleven of his Death Eaters had just been captured by you in the Department of Mysteries, he really needed information."

Dumbledore nodded, "Well, speaking of information. Did you discover anything while perusing Voldemort's mind just now?"

Harry shook his head, "The only thing that I managed to figure out is the fact that he is still going to be coming after Ginny. I'd say that the attack on the Ministry is going to be a diversion."

"A diversion? How so?"

"Voldemort can't stage an attack to get Ginny. He's tried a direct attack on me three times since the beginning of the summer. We caught six Death Eaters the first time, ten the second time, and killed three and captured two more in the last attack. His Death Eaters don't have a very good track record in that respect. He won't attack himself because he thinks that Ginny knows the way to defeat me. He's not going to risk exposing himself to me until he finds out what she knows."

Dumbledore interrupted, "Does Miss Weasley know how to defeat you?"

Harry shook his head, "Of course not. Voldemort just thinks that she does. The Death Eaters are going to have to try subterfuge to get to Ginny. That means a raid on Hogwarts. The only way that will work is if you and I aren't here, however. So, he will need someway to get the two of us outside the castle at the same time. An attack on the Ministry makes perfect sense. Voldemort knows that the Order will go to help if there is a full scale attack."

Dumbledore nodded, "We'll have to stay on the alert. When the attack comes, I will go to the Ministry and leave a few Order members here to aid you."

Harry shook his head, "There won't be any need to leave other Order members here. They will be in the Forbidden Forest. I won't need any help to take them out. As a matter of fact, the Order members would only slow me down in the Forest. I don't expect there to be more than five or six. He can't risk too many or they would draw the attention of the centaurs and that is the last thing that he wants to do. Voldemort may be somewhat desperate, but he's not stupid."

Dumbledore protested, "Harry, I wouldn't feel right leaving you to face Death Eaters alone."

Harry snorted, "You're going to have to leave me alone to face Voldemort someday. Why not his Death Eaters? I can handle them."

"Don't get cocky, Harry. They could get the best of you."

"Wouldn't matter, they won't kill me. Voldemort will want to do that himself."

Dumbledore sighed, "If they catch you and take you to Voldemort, he can kill you."

Harry shook his head, "I'm immortal in my phoenix form, Professor. All I have to do is transform if they catch me."

Dumbledore pointed out another flaw, "They could put an Anti-Animagus Charm on you."

Harry laughed, "Why would they do that, Albus? They don't even know that I am an Animagus. Why waste time putting a charm on someone that doesn't accomplish anything?"

Dumbledore nodded, "I understand that, but I still don't like leaving the castle undefended."

"You won't be leaving the castle undefended. I intend to put the Death Eaters out of commission before they ever get near this castle or my precious Ginny."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he smiled, "Your precious Ginny?"

Harry nodded firmly, "Absolutely. I will kill every one of them before I will let them lay a hand on her."

"I'm sure that they understand that. The last two Death Eaters that dared to touch Ginny are dead at you hands." responded Dumbledore dryly.

"I actually didn't mean to kill them. I just wanted to hurt them really bad."

"I understand, Harry. There is one last thing that we need to discuss this evening. Cornelius feels that he is being left out of the loop, so he has decided that someone from his office needs to question everyone that was involved in the attack on Hogsmeade. I believe that he has several people talking to the Aurors and townspeople that were involved. He is sending someone up to the school tomorrow evening to question you and your friends. I expect to see Miss Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, Mr. Longbottom, Miss Lovegood, and you here at six o'clock tomorrow evening."

Harry sighed, "Well, I guess that means that I will have to call off Quidditch practice. The team needs to take a week off anyway."

Dumbledore nodded, "If there is nothing else for us to discuss this evening, I suggest that you head back to the dormitory." Dumbledore said.

Harry started to get up and leave the office, but then he paused, "Actually, Professor, there is something else. Ginny's birthday is coming up and I need to order her present. I have to go to Diagon Alley to do it, though. I was wondering if I could have permission to go, tomorrow?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "Under normal circumstances, students aren't allowed to leave the grounds except on Hogsmeade weekends, but I think that I can make an exception in this case. I will arrange a portkey for your travel to Diagon Alley."

Harry shook his head, "No need. I can just fly outside the wards and then Apparate to London."

Dumbledore paused, "Oh! I didn't know that you could Apparate."

Harry snorted, "I became an Aninmagus in one day, and you're surprised by the fact that I know how to Apparate. Come on."

"I'm not surprised, I just never thought about you learning to do it since its illegal."

Harry snorted again, "And being an unregistered Animagus isn't illegal?"

Dumbledore paused, "No, that's illegal too. I suppose its alright then. As long as you register and get your Apparation license after Voldemort is beaten."

Harry grinned, "At least you're confident about the idea. I like that."

Dumbledore changed the subject, "Now that that is settled, what do you intend to get Arthur's daughter for her birthday."

Harry shrugged, "Well, Ginny has two more years on the Quidditch team, and she is a very good Chaser. She's riding Charlie's old Cleansweep, though. I thought that she might like to have a decent broom for a change."

Dumbledore smiled, "After the romantic gifts that she received from you for Christmas, something practical would be a good idea. I don't know that her mother could take the shock of anything like that again."

Harry looked at Dumbledore with a small smile playing on his face, "I take it Molly said something about the jewelry that I gave Ginny for Christmas."

Dumbledore nodded, "She most certainly did. She said that you have exquisite taste, which I must agree with after having seen the items in question. She seemed concerned that you were going to end up proposing to her daughter entirely too quickly, however."

Harry snickered, "She made that abundantly clear to me at the last Order meeting when I blurted out something about it. I don't plan on proposing until the end of next year and I have no intention of marrying her until she finishes school."

"I understand, Harry. Molly does as well. She is just obeying her motherly instincts."

Harry sighed, "I know. It's a bit annoying sometimes though. She tries to protect everyone just a little too much."

It was Dumbledore's turn to snort, "Like you don't."

"That's different though. Molly stifles people when she wants to protect them. I just jump in front of stray curses, and run off and try to get myself killed to protect people." Harry protested.

Dumbledore nodded in agreement, "True. I must ask you, though, which is less harmful of the two methods?"

"Neither. My way lets me spend a great deal of quality time with Madam Pomfrey, though." Harry said this with such a straight face that Dumbledore burst out laughing at the young man. "What's so funny, Professor?"

"Harry, sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to be a student at Hogwarts with you. I'm sure that it would have been an interesting education to say the least."

Harry shrugged, "If you call getting chased through the Forbidden Forest by Acromantulas, fighting a sixty foot snake that can kill you by looking at you, fighting a troll in a bathroom, nearly receiving the kiss from a group of Dementors on two different occasions, dueling the current Dark Lord, competing in the Triwizard Tournament, having detention with Umbridge and getting the message 'I will not tell lies' cut into your hand hundreds of times, and being put on trial for using magic while underage an interesting education, I'm your man."

Dumbledore chuckled, "I believe that you left out the incident with the flying car and the Whomping Willow tree at the beginning of your second year."

Harry snorted, "I left out a lot of things. If I stopped to list everything that has happened to me since I started Hogwarts that could be considered dangerous, I would probably be able to fill up three rolls of parchment and turn it in as my Defense Against the Dark Arts homework for the rest of the year and next year as well."

"True. However, we have digressed from the original subject. I had intended to ask which broomstick model that you intended to purchase for Miss Weasley?"

"I was thinking about getting her a Nimbus 2100. They just came out over the summer. They aren't as fast as the Firebolt, but they aren't horribly expensive like it is either. Ginny would kill me if I spent that much money on her."

Dumbledore smiled, "Well, I believe that is all. I will see you tomorrow evening, Harry."

Harry nodded as he got up to leave, "Yes, Professor, you will."

A/N: Is anyone else having trouble reviewing. If so, feel free to e-mail me. I have sent Fanfiction an e-mail concerning the fact that I can't review anything. They have not replied yet.

Dragonclawz54: I think you are reading a little too much into the Prohecy. It says that Harry is the only one with the power to kill Voldemort, and that one must die at the hands of the other, but it never actually states that Voldemort is the only one that can kill Harry. That is my thought on the idea. Thanks for the review. They will spend some time at Potter Place in the next one, but they will not be staying there over the summer.

Solar: Thanks for the review.

Captuniv: Since Harry and Dumbledore are basically always up to something, that should keep Draco busy enough. I think so, anyway. Thanks for the review.

SassyGirl: I have insinuated that Harry will die fighting Voldemort. I will now confirm that he will die, in a sense. I repeat, in a sense. Thanks for the review.

Athenakitty: I like showing Fudge up, so I don't think that I will have him kicked out of office until the war is over. Thanks for the review.

James Potter's Lily Flowers: I will check those stories out as soon as I have time. I have the broad framework for Book Seven written. Now, I just have to fill in the pieces. I agree on your take of what Rowling intends. I think that she will kill off Dumbledore in Book Seven, but I have no intention of doing so. Thanks for the review.

Ginny: Ron will slowly start to get the picture on how to be romantic. It's going to be a slow ride though. Thanks for the review.

John: I'm not really making Ginny a super-wizard. She has the potential to be powerful, but it will take her an entire lifetime to achieve power like Dumbledore and Harry possess. She is just stronger than average right now. Thanks for the review.

Jeanga057: I rather like flacons myself. Thanks for the review.

Gaul1: Thanks for the review.