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One For All
Natural Anthem
A/N: Sorry everyone! I didn't have time to update this weekend so I am doing it a few days late! *dodges tomatoes and other soft throwables* I had a huge medical terminology mid term to study for (honestly there is no reason for these words to exist: Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, Esophagogastroduodenoscopy, Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiocreatography, Choledochlithiasis. I could just say "You hurt. I can fix you.") *blushes* I also attended several parties...and drove on the belt line, the single scariest thing I have ever done. I've only got my temps by the way ^_^
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"Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." -William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, II:5
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Harry sat bolt upright after waking from his most recent Voldemort dream. As usual Voldemort was "up to no good," to put it lightly. He had murdered a wizarding family with little twin boys and a baby girl. The little girl had had such pure blue innocent eyes.
Harry was breathing hard as his eyes adjusted to the dark. He looked around the room to see if he had woken either of the men with his most likely loud nightmare. The moonlight flowed Remus' face calm in a deep sleep. Harry turned sharply at a noise of pain coming from the bed on his other side.
Sirius was tossing and turning in his bed with an occasional mutterance of "no," "no please," or something along those lines, his mumbling was non-coherent at times so Harry couldn't quite tell. His face was pulled into a pained expression. Sirius was obviously not having a very good dream.
Harry debated with himself. Sirius' dream was private, he might be mad if Harry knew. On the other hand Sirius was in pain and Harry couldn't just leave him like that knowing he was. Worst comes to worst, he could wake Sirius and run. Like the brave boy he was.
Harry pulled his covers off and put his bare feet on the cool stone floor. He held up his hand towards Remus' bed and cast a sound charm. He didn't want to wake Remus up if Sirius was mad that Harry intruded on his nightmare. He was content to murdered in silence if he mad Sirius mad.
He quietly walked over and sat on the side of Sirius' bed. He put his hand on Sirius' shoulder and shook him gently.
"Sirius, Sirius?" Harry whispered.
Sirius bolted into the sitting position knocking Harry slightly backwards on the bed. Harry scooted back so he was sitting with his back against the footboard of the bed and watched for Sirius' reaction.
Sirius' eyes were wide and he looked terror stricken. Gradually he seemed to calm down. His fists that held tightly to the blanket let go and Sirius realized where he was and who was sitting on his bed.
"Harry?" Sirius' voice brought Harry back to reality. There went the plan to wake and run. Sirius had freaked and Harry had sat paralyzed against the footboard. nice Harry. Real nice.
"Sirius, are you ok?"
"What? I'm, I'm fine," Sirius said, stuttering and definitely not looking fine. Harry raised an eyebrow and took a deep breath. His best chance at getting Sirius to talk to him was the -cut the crap- method.
"Please tell me what happened in your nightmare, telling someone is the only way to get a persistent nightmare to go away," Sirius looked at him questionably. "Of course I can tell you have this nightmare a lot, you didn't seem shocked by it at all, you seemed to react as though it were an old fear. Besides you said `not again' quite a lot." Harry was an old pro had having nightmares, he knew how things worked. Unfortunately telling someone about the dreams he was having now would not make them go away. They would never go away until Voldemort was gone.
"I.." Sirius stumbled again.
Harry is well known for his determination. He was definitely not going to let Sirius not tell him. Sirius would spill or Harry would threaten to learn how to read minds until he did.
"Please Sirius," Harry pleaded.
"I.. It was the night you parents died. I showed up at Godric's Hollow and the house was just as it was the night I was really there after Voldemort burned it to ruins. When I came James and Lily's ghost came and started screaming at me. And. And then your ghost came and joined in yelling at them. And so did Remus'. They yelled that I should be the one to die and that James and Lily died because of me, Remus and you will die because of me.." Sirius trailed off in to tears.
Harry had to give it to him, he was honest. Harry hadn't been able to detect a single lie or any misleading information in what Sirius had said. Since approximately lunch time he had felt it whenever someone lied to him or around him.
Harry, never growing up with a real parent was not sure what to do at this point. He knew that to solve a nightmare that was haunting a person the person had to tell someone about it and heal from that. Harry had never been comforted after a nightmare and he had little idea what he should do for Sirius next. He did the only thing he could think of. He followed Lena's advice.
Harry scooted forward on the bed and wrapped his arms around Sirius' chest. He laid his head on Sirius's shoulder and felt Sirius put his face on the crook of his neck by his shoulder. Sobs wracked Sirius' body as Harry held on to him. Harry, having run out of ideas, just hugged Sirius and waited for him to stop crying before saying anything. He wasn't sure he could handle his strong Godfather crying and not burst into tears himself.
Sirius stopped crying after a while and slowly his breathing returned to a regular pace. Harry realized his shoulder was quite damp from all the tears Sirius had cried. He decided he should say something, Sirius was probably feeling awkward and terrible.
He decided to go about Sirius' emotions logically. Sirius obviously blamed himself for the death of Lily and James. And to Harry it was quite logical that it was not his fault. He would just have to make Sirius see his logic.
"Sirius, it isn't your fault my parents died."
Sirius shifted slightly but didn't say anything except for something that soundly like a muffled "yes it is."
"No, it isn't. You couldn't have known that Peter was the traitor. It is Voldemort and Wormtail that are responsible for their deaths. Even if you had stayed secret keeper Voldemort would have just killed you, then found another way to my parents, maybe killing me with them that way. If he had killed me then he may have stayed in power for who knows how long and killed countless more. My parents both loved you and would never blame you for what happened.
"No matter what, what's done is done, you can not do anything about it and it isn't helping your present and future to stay stuck on the past," Harry said, in an attempt to comfort Sirius. When no answer came he continued. "If you insist that my parents deaths are your fault then it is completely my fault that Cedric died."
Sirius' head looked up at this. His face was red and blotchy and his hair was knotted from sleep.
"Its true. You had no way of knowing Wormtail was the traitor the same way I had no idea of knowing the cup was a portkey to Voldemort. If you believe that you are guilty of murder, then I am too."
"But Harry, it isn't your fault Cedric died," Sirius started, voice still unsteady.
"I have a very hard time believing that a lot of the time. Will you make a deal with me?"
"What kind of deal?"
"I will agree that Cedric's death is not my fault if you agree that my parents' were not your fault."
Sirius started to say something but Harry cut him off. "And you have to really believe it."
Sirius paused and looked at Harry. "You have to really believe it too."
"Ok. Is it a deal?"
"Yes."
Sirius pulled Harry back into the hug. Harry didn't argue. He felt strangely better after telling Sirius about his guilt and after making the deal. Lena was right, a hug did make a big difference.
Harry was slowly falling back asleep. When he was nearly asleep he felt Sirius move, pick him up and lift him back to his own bed. He felt someone pull the covers up and tuck him in and a fatherly, light kiss on the forehead before slipping completely into the clutches of sleep.
When Harry woke up the next morning sun was streaming into the dormitory. He rubbed his eyes groggily and sat up. The bathroom door was shut and Remus' bed was empty.
Sirius was sitting up in his bed stretching. When he saw that Harry was awake he smiled.
"Good morning Harry."
"Morning."
"Remus beat us to the bathroom, but after we both get cleaned up we are supposed to eat breakfast in the Great Hall."
"Ok."
"Hey Harry?"
"Yea?"
"Thank you for coming last night and staying with me and thank you for making me make that deal."
" I needed it as much as you did," Harry said, not quite knowing where that came from but feeling that it was definitely true. Remus came out of the bathroom and Harry took his place. After brushing his teeth and showering and a last ditch attempt at combing his unruly hair he went back out into the bedroom.
Sirius went into the bathroom and Remus was reading a book. Harry went over and stood at the window to look at the sky. He heard movement behind him but didn't bother to see what had made it. Remus came up and stood next to him at the window, copying Harry's position of leaning on his forearms on the windowsill.
"It looks like a beautiful morning but it's supposed to rain this afternoon," Remus said.
"Really? Do you think I can practice Quidditch a bit this morning?"
"Sure, you are supposed to go to Dumbledore's at noon to discuss lessons but you can go out after breakfast for a bit."
"Great."
"Ready for breakfast?" A hand of Sirius' landed on each of their shoulders. They went down to the Great Hall. They were right on time, they were due there at 8:30 for breakfast and it was just a few minutes past. Remus pushed open one of the doors and the three of them walked into the great hall.
There was only one table sitting in the hall, the teacher's table. Harry wished he could turn right back around and go back to bed. The table seated each Hogwarts teacher that was there during the school year. Another great mystery in Harry's life had been solved; the teachers seemed to live at the school all year round.
There was one teacher missing however. Hagrid was not there. He remembered Hagrid talking about a special mission for Dumbledore and it clicked in Harry's mind. Hagrid was off with Madame Maxime to try to get the Giants on their side. Honestly, his deduction skills were undefeatable. Except for all those times they had been defeated. But we won't talk about those times.
These thoughts occupied his walk to the table and he sat down next to Professor McGonagall and Sirius. 'Well I may as well talk,' he thought.
"Good morning."
"Good morning Harry," Professor McGonagall said to him, smiling. All of the other teachers either said 'Good Morning' to him or at least smiled. Well except Snape of course, but that was really a given.
The Daily Prophet landed in front of McGonagall and she unwrapped it and read the front page. She put it down and looked up to Dumbledore.
"Is the Daily Prophet true Albus?"
"What does it say?"
"It says that Brittany and Ryan Stace were killed in an accident when they were working on creating spells and charms. It says here that it also killed their twin sons and baby daughter." Harry's mouth was agape.
"Ah. I had not heard about that. That is truly terrible. They were such promising wizards."
"Is... Is there a picture of the family in the paper?" Harry asked, afraid of what was coming.
"Yes, here it is."
Harry looked down at the picture. There was the brown haired woman who had cried as she watched her black haired husband go insane and die. There were the identical boys who had clung to each other until Death Eaters separated them and killed them. And there in the arms of the woman was the blue-eyed baby. Harry could see her eyes clearly in his mind.
Harry looked up and noticed that everyone at the table was looking at him oddly. He realized his mouth was open. If it had been a cartoon his jaw would have been on the floor.
"What is it Harry?" Sirius asked.
"These people didn't die in an accident. Voldemort killed them."
"What?" Several people exclaimed.
"I, I saw it. I.." Harry trailed off and thought of a spell he had read about the previous night in the book he had found on Sirius's bedside table. It had held a spell where it would take everyone in the room to someone's selected memory. It was perfect. To hell with warning them. It would be much more fun to simply do the spell and surprise them. Fun was relative because he was taking them all from breakfast to watch the murders Voldemort committed during the night. He said the spell before thinking any more about it and suddenly the room swirled.
Everyone landed in the living room/kitchen of the house. Harry looked around, thankful that he could not see his dream self there. He didn't want anyone to see him feeling the effects of the Cruciatus Curse. The family of five was sitting at kitchen table eating dinner. The mother was laughing at the antics of her little boys and her husband's attempts at feeding the little girl. Suddenly the woman stopped laughing and grabbed her wand.
The door burst open and five Death Eaters walked in, followed by Voldemort himself. The Death Eaters tied each person to their chair. The man and woman were struggling to get their wands.
"Its useless to fight me you know. You will lose, and fighting me will only cause you more pain. Or perhaps if you try and fight I will inflict more pain upon your children. None of you will leave this house alive tonight." Voldemort said menacingly. Although that was pretty much the only tone Voldemort ever used. Its not like the guy was ever cheerful or not evil-ish. Yes. He was pretty much 24-7 evil or menacing.
Voldemort put the Cruciatus Curse on the man until he had gone crazy. His screams filled the air and mixed with those of his wife. Her face was twisted at seeing this happen to her spouse. All three of the children were crying hysterically.
Voldemort silenced the woman with Avada Kedavra. The little boys were both put under Cruciatus, but only for a short while before the green curse killed them both. Voldemort put the Cruciatus on the baby girl until she was dead. The Death Eaters set the house on fire as they left after Voldemort.
The room began to swirl as the word Morsmordre was yelled by the Death Eaters. Harry could imagine the Dark Mark above the house as it burned to ash. The green skull staring hauntingly, waiting to proclaim the deeds that had been done inside.
Everyone landed back in their seats and stared at Harry.
"Harry would you please explain what that was?" Dumbledore said.
"Nearly every night I am connected with Voldemort though my scar. I end up being able to watch whatever he is doing. I know that what I saw was real. My scar was burning the whole time."
"It makes much more sense for the Stace family to have been killed by Voldemort than by an accident. Ryan and Brittany had fought against him in his previous reign, taking down some of his Death Eaters. I was not aware that they had been experimenting with new spells and I do not think such loving parents would keep their children close by to something dangerous like that. Fudge is still trying to hide Voldemort's existence and is taking a lot of lives in doing so," Dumbledore said.
"Wait Harry. Did you say every night?" Professor Sprout asked. All heads snapped to face him.
"Well, almost every night," Harry said looking down.
"Do you feel any of it?" Professor Sinistra asked.
"I feel my scar burning the entire dream, with more intensity when he is firing curses," said Harry.
Dumbledore looked into his eyes. "Harry can you feel it when the Cruciatus Curse is used?"
"Yes."
The roomful of adults gasped.
"To their full intensity?"
"Yes."
"But how do you know what they feel like?" Professor Sprout asked.
" I was put under the Curse during the third task by Voldemort himself." A few teachers flinched at the name.
"Oh my god," was all Sirius could say.
"I have no lasting physical effects, each morning I am only a bit stiff when I wake up. I am not sure if people can see me going through it while I am asleep, as obviously I am asleep. It's nothing to worry about"
Harry picked up his piece of toast and stood up. He ate it on his way to the door. Very aware of everyone's eyes on him, he held up his hand and said "Firebolt."
Less than a minute later the sound of wind could be heard and Harry's Firebolt was in his hand. Harry continued walking as soon as he had it and made his way to the pitch. He didn't feel like getting pity looks from a table of people so he opted for flying instead.
He really needed to learn to shut up. He didn't HAVE to tell them about all of that. Now they were going to do that weird are-you-ok? thing all the time.
It was nearly ten by the time he had reached the pitch after such a long breakfast. He shot up into the air quickly and flew aimlessly around for a while, trying to sort things out in his head.
Since when had things had to be this complicated? In his first year his biggest care had been not getting points taken off by Snape or a Transfiguration quiz the next day. Well he had had to deal with that whole Sorcerers Stone thing but in retrospect it had not been too bad. Voldemort had just been in the back of a guy's head instead of in his own body. In the back of a rather weak man's head really.
Now he watched Voldemort murder families every night when he slept and he had been present and an unwilling part of the rebirth of the evil wizard. He had to worry about training to the best of his ability so he could help stop the evil he felt he had helped unleash.
Things had gotten way too hard. He still had to figure out how he was going to live with Sirius and Remus for the rest of the summer. When he thought about it he supposed that he cared a lot about both of them. Love was a hard thing for Harry to figure out. He had not experienced much in his memory and it was relatively new to him. But he knew he cared for both of them, almost as if they were both friends and parents to him.
He wasn't sure what they thought of him really. Well, maybe he was, now that he thought about it. Sirius had wanted his company right after a terrible nightmare and had told Harry that he wanted to help him. And Remus had sent him that letter, asking if he would mind being friends with him.
Lena had told him that he would need people who loved him and who he loved around him. He knew he wouldn't make it out of this war alive with out them. He would straighten that whole mess up when he returned to the common room. He would make it plain that he was being stupid before and now wanted to form better bonds with them.
He really had no idea how to go about it other than being extremely blunt and truthful. And of course use Lena's advice about hugs. Harry slammed into a dive to rid his head of mushy thoughts. He grinned. After all, he was a strong tough Quidditch player. Rawr.
Now that his mind had cleared up a bit he decided to work on his Quidditch moves. He really wanted to help his team win the Quidditch Cup again this year. All they would need was a new keeper to replace Oliver. They definitely had to win. Winning the Cup had been one of the memories he kept locked in his mind for a Patronus.
Harry decided to try out the Wronski Feint. He found that he liked the feeling of air rushing around him, even if it appeared to others that he was diving to his death. It was a thrill. He practiced it several times until he went just a foot and half above the ground before pulling straight. He would definitely use that move, and if possible get closer to the ground for effect.
Raindrops began to fall from the sky and Harry trudged back up to the school, broom in hand, slightly dirty from a couple occasions where he had, to put it bluntly, not stayed on the broom.
He walked into the empty common room and walked up the stairs to the dormitory. He found a note in Sirius' sloppy script beside his bed.
Harry, come to Dumbledore's office when you get back and cleaned up a bit.
Harry washed his face and changed his robes and went off to Dumbledore's office. No one had told him the password had been changed so Harry got to play a guessing game with the gargoyle. He had a feeling everyone in the office was watching him try and coax the gargoyle into letting him in.
"Peppermint claws?"
"Milkyway?"
"Fizzing Wizbees?"
"Canary Creams?"
"Blood Flavored Lollypops?"
"Tarantula Chews?" The gargoyle moved. "Well that was kind of twisted for a password."
He walked up the stairs and entered the office. Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout, Tonks and Moody were inside. The majority were smiling at him, Snape of course wearing his usual sneer and he couldn't quite tell what Moody's face was doing.
"Have fun guessing the password?" Sirius asked.
"Like a party I tell you," Harry said sitting down.
"Ah. Now that everyone is here we can get down to the main order of business. Harry you agreed to take summer lessons so we have worked out a schedule. You will begin at ten a.m. with an hour in the greenhouses with Professor Sprout. Knowledge of plants is very important. At eleven you will go to Professor McGonagall's classroom for an hour of transfiguration. You will eat lunch for a half hour or so, then at twelve-thirty report to Professor Flitwick's classroom for an hour and half of charms. Then you will report to the potions classroom for an hour of potions. From three to five you will be training for defense with various teachers in the defense room. Then you are free to do as you wish. I highly suggest you spend some time in the library often to research things that could come in useful," Dumbledore said. Harry agreed and Flitwick and Sprout excused themselves from the room, both having work to do.
Harry sat a little overwhelmed. So much for having a summer. Then a thought occurred to him.
"Wait why are we spending so much time and energy on training ME for the war? I'm just a 15 year old kid, what's the big deal?" He couldn't figure out why they were spending so much time on him, he knew about his power, but they didn't. Then he remembered Lena telling him that Dumbledore knew something about him that he wasn't telling. Well, he would tell it now. Harry would make him.
"Well Potter, if you haven't noticed Voldemort has the tendency to come after you," Snape sneered.
"And for that matter why DOES he keep coming after me? I know I brought him down when I was a baby and he's a little sore over that but why was he after my family and why is he so caught up on me?"
"Harry, I do not know if you are ready to be told this," Dumbledore began.
"I am old enough to be hunted down every year by the most evil wizard in a hundred years, do feel free to tell me."
"I believe I have put this off long enough," Dumbledore sighed.
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Dumbledore got to his feet and walked past Harry to the black cabinet that stood beside Fawkes's perch. He bent down, slid back a catch, and took from inside it the shallow stone basin, carved with runes around the edges. Dumbledore walked back to the desk, placed the Pensieve upon it, and raised his wand to his own temple. From it, he withdrew silvery, gossamer-fine strands of thought clinging to the wand, and deposited them in the basin. He sat back down behind the desk and watched his thoughts swirl and drift inside the Pensieve for a moment. Then, with a sigh, he raised his wand and prodded the silvery substance with its tip.
A figure rose out of it, draped in shawls, her eyes magnified to enormous size behind her classes, and she revolved slowly, her feet in the basin. But when Sibyll Trelawney spoke, it was not in her usual ethereal, mystic voice, but in the harsh, hoarse tones Harry had heard her use once before.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
The slowly revolving Professor Trelawny sank back into the silver mass below and vanished.
The silence within the office was absolute. Neither Dumbledore nor Harry nor any of the portraits had made a sound. Even Fawkes had fallen silent.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry said very quietly, for Dumbledore, still staring at the Pensieve, seemed completely lost in his thoughts. "It...did that mean...What did that mean?"
"It meant," said Dumbledore, "that the person who has the only chance of conquering Lord Voldemort for good was born at the end of July, nearly sixteen years ago. This boy would be born to parents who had already defied Voldemort three times."
Harry felt as though something was closing in upon him. His breath seemed difficult again.
"It means - Me?"
Dumbledore surveyed him for a moment through his glasses.
"The odd thing is, Harry," he said softly, "that it may not have meant you at all. Sibyll's prophecy could have applied to two wizard boys, both born at the end of July that year, both of whom had parents in the Order of the Phoenix, both sets of parents having narrowly escaped Voldemort three times. One, of course, was you. The other was Neville Longbottom."
"But then...but then, why was it my name on the prophecy and not Neville's?"
"The official record was relabeled after Voldemort's attack on you as a child," said Dumbledore. "It seemed plain to the keeper of the Hall of Prophecy that Voldemort could only have tried to kill you because he knew you to be the one who Sibyll was referring."
"Then - it might not be me?" said Harry.
"I am afraid," said Dumbledore slowly, looking as though it would cost him great effort, "that there is no doubt it is you."
"But you said - Neville was born at the end of July too - and his mum and dad-"
"You are forgetting the next part of the prophecy, the final identifying feature of the boy who could vanquish Voldemort...Voldemort himself would 'mark him as his equal.' And so he did, Harry. He chose you, not Neville. He gave you that scar that has proved both blessing and curse."
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Harry just sat there, mouthing like a guppy. He had to prove it somehow that Dumbledore was wrong. He couldn't be right.
His sarcastic side watched as an imagined figure of the last of his childhood walked out of the office. His sarcastic side was quite good at making a point.
Then he realized something.
"Wait. You have known all this time that this prophecy was about me and pretty much had determined my whole life and you never cared to share this with me before?"
(A/N: This paragraph is sort of, ok pretty much totally, paraphrased from the fifth book. It would have taken forever to type the whole thing and you would have been annoyed at the end of reading it anyway. So. Yes.) " Both first and second year we came very close to the topic, but I told myself you were far too young to be told, only eleven and twelve. You still had a chance at having innocent times. How could I tell you third year, you had just triumphed and saved your Godfather? Such depressing news had no place there, besides I still found thirteen too young. Last year maybe? You had just seen a classmate die, watched Voldemort's rebirth, dueled and just gotten away from him and then nearly been killed again. You had too much. I was not sure if I could tell you now, but you needed to know. I hope that you will forgive me for not telling you sooner, I only hoped to give you a chance to live an innocent life as long as possible," said Dumbledore. A tear slid down Dumbledore's cheek.
To see such a man with a tear on his face shook Harry's world. He was speechless. Questions began to pop rapidly into his head after he had taken in such a momentous event.
"What about the rest of you, did you know?" Harry asked.
"I knew Albus knew the reason for Voldemort's attacks on you, but I knew he would not share the information and I wasn't quite sure I would really want to know the answer," said McGonagall. She looked extremely shaken and saddened.
Harry looked to Snape.
"I did not know," said Snape simply.
"Lily and James knew the prophecy. They told me they knew about something that could affect them greatly, that it was the reason they must go into hiding. They did not tell me the prophecy. I never thought it was like that," said Sirius in a monotone. Harry guessed his Godfather was having a hard time taking all this in, harder than Harry himself was.
"I didn't know either. It was possible to them that I was the traitor. I knew roughly what Sirius did," Remus looked roughly the same as Sirius, maybe a little better considering Sirius looked like he would fall apart within a few minutes. Harry hoped it wouldn't become suddenly windy in the office or Sirius might fall apart like so many cartoon characters.
"I am sorry you had to find out this way Harry," said Dumbledore, tear still on his face.
"Well I guess its a lot better than Voldemort letting me know right before carrying out the prophecy. If you will excuse me I REALLY need to go flying," said Harry. He couldn't have put it any more eloquent than that. He got up and summoned his broom. The broom came quickly to the window. Harry popped the window open and jumped onto the broom. He flew off around the grounds.
The rain was letting up. It felt good on his skin. He felt cleansed. Within a few minutes the rain had stopped and the clouds were beginning to part. The sun began to again shine down on the grounds.
He flew above the edge of the forbidden forest for while. He had been in the forest for one reason or another nearly every year he had been at Hogwarts. He had had detention and seen Voldemort drinking Unicorn blood. He had met a charming family of giant spiders and nearly become their dinner. He had run after Ron and Sirius with Hermione through the tunnel from the Whomping Willow that was on the edge of the forest.
He whipped up and looked down to Hagrid's empty hut. He had watched Ron throw up slugs there, gotten advice and listened to Hagrid let important information slip there.
His mind turned to doubt. Could he defeat Voldemort? He was only 15. Voldemort wouldn't wait too much longer for a fight. He doubted Voldemort would wait for him to become a fully trained wizard.
Then again, strange powers had started appearing. He could do wandless easily, and every spell he did had a lot of power. He had recently been able to tell when people were lying to him and felt strong instincts to go certain places at certain times.
He looked at the bracelet still around his wrist. He was supposed to become more powerful than Merlin. Maybe he stood a chance. Did this world deserve to be saved?
He turned and looked up to the school. Hogwarts was his home. So many things had happened there. He had made real friends there.
He had defeated a troll with Ron to save Hermione. He had learned to play Quidditch and become the youngest house player in over a century. He had gone past Fluffy with his two best friends, played a deadly game of chess, drunken potions and gotten the Sorcerer's Stone before Voldemort could, then defeated Voldemort with his touch.
He had had nearly the entire school turn their backs on him because he had a rare talent that was often associated with evil wizards. He had watched as his best friend lay in a hospital bed, petrified. He had found the passage to the Chamber of Secrets and gone down with Ron and Lockhart. He had killed a basilisk with Fawkes' help, and destroyed the memory of Tom Marvolo Riddle to save Ginny Weasley.
He had won the House Cup with his Quidditch team. He had nearly killed a man who he thought had been the traitor to his parents. Then moments later stopped his parent's two best friends from killing the real traitor. He had learned he had a Godfather. He had produced a Patronus, after being taught by his favorite defense teacher, to save his life and the lives of two others. He had gone back in time with Hermione and saved Buckbeak and his newly acquired Godfather.
He had watched nearly an entire school believe he was a liar and turn on him, including his best friend. He had gotten the golden egg past the dragon. He had gone to the bottom of the lake and waited until everyone had been saved, bringing the last two people back up when someone wasn't getting saved. He had been transported to a graveyard, watched a classmate be killed, watched the rebirth of the Dark Lord, duel with the newly reborn Dark Lord and barely come out alive only to be nearly killed again by a Death Eater.
Harry certainly never had a dull moment. He laughed. Dumbledore had said he wanted Harry to have a time for innocence in his life. He had had none after his parents died. At the Dursleys he had been locked in a cupboard for ten years, forced to do chores, neglected and occasionally hit. In the wizarding world he had faced all sorts of things he shouldn't have had to, including the very real possibility of being killed by someone, namely Voldemort.
He had thought the wizarding world would be his salvation when he was eleven. But this world had proved itself likely to turn its back on him as well at the slightest thing not in his favor. The Daily Prophet and Ministry had been proclaiming him crazy since the Third Task. Not many believed that Voldemort was back.
Then again, here he had friends. Sure the school and public adored him, but they didn't matter to him, none of his fame did, he was just glad to have Ron and Hermione. Ron's family, he knew, would always be there for him too. He also had Sirius and Remus here. They were almost like a family to him. According to Lena, they would be his family.
He didn't have to save the wizarding world. But he would. For the people he loved. The rest of the world would just have to consider themselves lucky that Sirius, Remus, Hermione and the Weasleys were around.
Harry made up his mind. He would work as hard as possible to train and be ready. He was supposed to save everyone from Voldemort. All that mattered was saving Sirius, Remus, Hermione, Ron and the Weasleys. Everyone else could just be saved along with them. He could barely live thinking Cedric's death might be his fault. He couldn't deal with a world of death with the blood on his hands.
Harry flew off to the Quidditch Pitch. He needed to work off some emotions. He got out a bludger and a bat. He slammed the bludger as hard as he could repeatedly all over the field. He remembered Oliver's words, "you would have made a fair beater Potter."
He remembered the dumbest things sometimes. He could remember a comment that Oliver had told him when teaching him how to play Quidditch but he couldn't for the life of him seem to pass potions.
He put away the bat and strapped the bludger back into the crate. He let out the snitch. He looked around for it and decided to do a couple Wronski Feints first. He was hundreds of feet up in the air and went screaming down to the ground. He stopped only a foot short of the ground, pulling up. The third time he did this he stood on his broom, as he had during his first Quidditch game, when he had nearly swallowed the snitch.
He found the snitch quickly and caught it. He let it go a couple more times, chasing after it. He put the snitch back into the crate and flew a few laps around the pitch.
He flew up to a window near the defense rooms. He unlocked the window by holding his hand up and releasing some magic. He climbed in and dragged his broom with him.
The room he was in the defense classroom. He sat down at a desk and leaned his broom against the neighboring desk.
For some reason he heard part of Remus' letter to him resound in his head. His conscience when left on its own would find the smallest thing to remind him of. Well, at least it paid attention to detail.
"I hope that you are willing to befriend an old werewolf, but I will not be offended if you do not write back."
Harry thought back to earlier that morning. Remus had seemed uncomfortable. Maybe the man thought Harry didn't want to befriend him and was only putting up with him. He should do what the letter had said; write back to him. Sure he was in the same room as the guy most of the time, but what better way to respond than by letter. At least he could have his thoughts organized. He never was terribly graceful with words. In fact he was usually downright terrible with them.
Besides, he really didn't have anything else to do. He didn't feel like facing people yet. They would all probably just look at him. Stare at him. He didn't feel like being stared at for a while.
Lockhart was really much more suited to the job of being famous than he was. He hated it when people just looked at him. Unfortunately people just looked at him a lot. On the streets, every time he saved everyone's butts, fights, embarrassing moments, you name it, there was sure to be a group of people there, just staring at him. He summoned a bunch of parchment, ink and a quill. He hoped no one would follow the items to where he was. He really did like this strong magical powers thing. Very easy to summon things he needed. He would never have the problem of not changing the TV station because he couldn't reach the remote. He could summon it. (A/N: I had that problem. Watched a marathon of Newlyweds. That was such a terrible day.)
The papers, ink and quill flew in through the open window. He had shut the door and guessed the items had had to find an alternate route to his location upon not being able to open the door.
He dipped the quill into the ink and tapped the feather part of the quill on his closed lips, trying to think of what to say to Remus.
"Dear Remus,
Well I've finally had time to respond to the letter you sent me. And my answer is of course I want to be friends with you. I can't think of any reason why I should not befriend you. You have always been kind to me, helped me and been understanding.
I definitely do not mind that you are a werewolf, if that's what you are thinking. Everyone has a curse. I will forever be the Boy Who Lived, expected to do exactly what everyone wants and shunned if I am different.
Sirius was cursed with being wrongly accused of murder, but I would still stand by his side through anything now that I know the truth.
Even Dumbledore's got a curse, if you have noticed he's obsessed with candy at times and can appear quite crazy but everyone likes him anyway.
Your curse has just gotten a little bad publicity. As with Sirius, I'd stand by you through anything.
Now that I know about the prophecy and a few other developments I want to become as close with you and Sirius as possible, you are the only family I have left besides Hermione and the Weasleys. Hermione has her own family and the Weasleys are a great family without me there to endanger them. Actually, before I found out about the prophecy I have wanted a family too.
I'm walking around the school right now and I will be back in the common room in a little while. Tell Sirius (He might read this note as well) that the becoming close thing holds true between us too. Love, Harry"
Harry looked at his letter. It was a little weird for him to write about his feelings towards a matter but he had to if he wanted to ever become close with Sirius and Remus. He addressed the note and called to Hedwig. She flew through the window and waited while he tied the letter to her. She flew off towards the Gryffindor Tower.
Harry opened the door to the room he was in and decided to go for a walk. He went into the Library after finding himself in front of it. Madame Prince appeared to be doing an inventory.
"Madame Prince?"
"What! Oh, Hello Harry."
"Is it alright if I take a few books?"
"Yes, just check them out with me."
"Ok."
Harry walked around and picked out a few on advanced curses, checked them out with Madame Prince and walked back towards the Gryffindor Tower. He would probably meet quite the interesting reception.
My spring break vacation is April 2nd to April 8th so I will post some time soon after then. (I have to miss my 4n6 meet! We made it to state!)
You know what's really cool? That purplish button right there that says "Go" right after "Review" I really think you should click it to find out what cool surprises it has in store. ^_^
One For All
Natural Anthem
A/N: Sorry everyone! I didn't have time to update this weekend so I am doing it a few days late! *dodges tomatoes and other soft throwables* I had a huge medical terminology mid term to study for (honestly there is no reason for these words to exist: Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, Esophagogastroduodenoscopy, Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiocreatography, Choledochlithiasis. I could just say "You hurt. I can fix you.") *blushes* I also attended several parties...and drove on the belt line, the single scariest thing I have ever done. I've only got my temps by the way ^_^
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"Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." -William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, II:5
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Harry sat bolt upright after waking from his most recent Voldemort dream. As usual Voldemort was "up to no good," to put it lightly. He had murdered a wizarding family with little twin boys and a baby girl. The little girl had had such pure blue innocent eyes.
Harry was breathing hard as his eyes adjusted to the dark. He looked around the room to see if he had woken either of the men with his most likely loud nightmare. The moonlight flowed Remus' face calm in a deep sleep. Harry turned sharply at a noise of pain coming from the bed on his other side.
Sirius was tossing and turning in his bed with an occasional mutterance of "no," "no please," or something along those lines, his mumbling was non-coherent at times so Harry couldn't quite tell. His face was pulled into a pained expression. Sirius was obviously not having a very good dream.
Harry debated with himself. Sirius' dream was private, he might be mad if Harry knew. On the other hand Sirius was in pain and Harry couldn't just leave him like that knowing he was. Worst comes to worst, he could wake Sirius and run. Like the brave boy he was.
Harry pulled his covers off and put his bare feet on the cool stone floor. He held up his hand towards Remus' bed and cast a sound charm. He didn't want to wake Remus up if Sirius was mad that Harry intruded on his nightmare. He was content to murdered in silence if he mad Sirius mad.
He quietly walked over and sat on the side of Sirius' bed. He put his hand on Sirius' shoulder and shook him gently.
"Sirius, Sirius?" Harry whispered.
Sirius bolted into the sitting position knocking Harry slightly backwards on the bed. Harry scooted back so he was sitting with his back against the footboard of the bed and watched for Sirius' reaction.
Sirius' eyes were wide and he looked terror stricken. Gradually he seemed to calm down. His fists that held tightly to the blanket let go and Sirius realized where he was and who was sitting on his bed.
"Harry?" Sirius' voice brought Harry back to reality. There went the plan to wake and run. Sirius had freaked and Harry had sat paralyzed against the footboard. nice Harry. Real nice.
"Sirius, are you ok?"
"What? I'm, I'm fine," Sirius said, stuttering and definitely not looking fine. Harry raised an eyebrow and took a deep breath. His best chance at getting Sirius to talk to him was the -cut the crap- method.
"Please tell me what happened in your nightmare, telling someone is the only way to get a persistent nightmare to go away," Sirius looked at him questionably. "Of course I can tell you have this nightmare a lot, you didn't seem shocked by it at all, you seemed to react as though it were an old fear. Besides you said `not again' quite a lot." Harry was an old pro had having nightmares, he knew how things worked. Unfortunately telling someone about the dreams he was having now would not make them go away. They would never go away until Voldemort was gone.
"I.." Sirius stumbled again.
Harry is well known for his determination. He was definitely not going to let Sirius not tell him. Sirius would spill or Harry would threaten to learn how to read minds until he did.
"Please Sirius," Harry pleaded.
"I.. It was the night you parents died. I showed up at Godric's Hollow and the house was just as it was the night I was really there after Voldemort burned it to ruins. When I came James and Lily's ghost came and started screaming at me. And. And then your ghost came and joined in yelling at them. And so did Remus'. They yelled that I should be the one to die and that James and Lily died because of me, Remus and you will die because of me.." Sirius trailed off in to tears.
Harry had to give it to him, he was honest. Harry hadn't been able to detect a single lie or any misleading information in what Sirius had said. Since approximately lunch time he had felt it whenever someone lied to him or around him.
Harry, never growing up with a real parent was not sure what to do at this point. He knew that to solve a nightmare that was haunting a person the person had to tell someone about it and heal from that. Harry had never been comforted after a nightmare and he had little idea what he should do for Sirius next. He did the only thing he could think of. He followed Lena's advice.
Harry scooted forward on the bed and wrapped his arms around Sirius' chest. He laid his head on Sirius's shoulder and felt Sirius put his face on the crook of his neck by his shoulder. Sobs wracked Sirius' body as Harry held on to him. Harry, having run out of ideas, just hugged Sirius and waited for him to stop crying before saying anything. He wasn't sure he could handle his strong Godfather crying and not burst into tears himself.
Sirius stopped crying after a while and slowly his breathing returned to a regular pace. Harry realized his shoulder was quite damp from all the tears Sirius had cried. He decided he should say something, Sirius was probably feeling awkward and terrible.
He decided to go about Sirius' emotions logically. Sirius obviously blamed himself for the death of Lily and James. And to Harry it was quite logical that it was not his fault. He would just have to make Sirius see his logic.
"Sirius, it isn't your fault my parents died."
Sirius shifted slightly but didn't say anything except for something that soundly like a muffled "yes it is."
"No, it isn't. You couldn't have known that Peter was the traitor. It is Voldemort and Wormtail that are responsible for their deaths. Even if you had stayed secret keeper Voldemort would have just killed you, then found another way to my parents, maybe killing me with them that way. If he had killed me then he may have stayed in power for who knows how long and killed countless more. My parents both loved you and would never blame you for what happened.
"No matter what, what's done is done, you can not do anything about it and it isn't helping your present and future to stay stuck on the past," Harry said, in an attempt to comfort Sirius. When no answer came he continued. "If you insist that my parents deaths are your fault then it is completely my fault that Cedric died."
Sirius' head looked up at this. His face was red and blotchy and his hair was knotted from sleep.
"Its true. You had no way of knowing Wormtail was the traitor the same way I had no idea of knowing the cup was a portkey to Voldemort. If you believe that you are guilty of murder, then I am too."
"But Harry, it isn't your fault Cedric died," Sirius started, voice still unsteady.
"I have a very hard time believing that a lot of the time. Will you make a deal with me?"
"What kind of deal?"
"I will agree that Cedric's death is not my fault if you agree that my parents' were not your fault."
Sirius started to say something but Harry cut him off. "And you have to really believe it."
Sirius paused and looked at Harry. "You have to really believe it too."
"Ok. Is it a deal?"
"Yes."
Sirius pulled Harry back into the hug. Harry didn't argue. He felt strangely better after telling Sirius about his guilt and after making the deal. Lena was right, a hug did make a big difference.
Harry was slowly falling back asleep. When he was nearly asleep he felt Sirius move, pick him up and lift him back to his own bed. He felt someone pull the covers up and tuck him in and a fatherly, light kiss on the forehead before slipping completely into the clutches of sleep.
When Harry woke up the next morning sun was streaming into the dormitory. He rubbed his eyes groggily and sat up. The bathroom door was shut and Remus' bed was empty.
Sirius was sitting up in his bed stretching. When he saw that Harry was awake he smiled.
"Good morning Harry."
"Morning."
"Remus beat us to the bathroom, but after we both get cleaned up we are supposed to eat breakfast in the Great Hall."
"Ok."
"Hey Harry?"
"Yea?"
"Thank you for coming last night and staying with me and thank you for making me make that deal."
" I needed it as much as you did," Harry said, not quite knowing where that came from but feeling that it was definitely true. Remus came out of the bathroom and Harry took his place. After brushing his teeth and showering and a last ditch attempt at combing his unruly hair he went back out into the bedroom.
Sirius went into the bathroom and Remus was reading a book. Harry went over and stood at the window to look at the sky. He heard movement behind him but didn't bother to see what had made it. Remus came up and stood next to him at the window, copying Harry's position of leaning on his forearms on the windowsill.
"It looks like a beautiful morning but it's supposed to rain this afternoon," Remus said.
"Really? Do you think I can practice Quidditch a bit this morning?"
"Sure, you are supposed to go to Dumbledore's at noon to discuss lessons but you can go out after breakfast for a bit."
"Great."
"Ready for breakfast?" A hand of Sirius' landed on each of their shoulders. They went down to the Great Hall. They were right on time, they were due there at 8:30 for breakfast and it was just a few minutes past. Remus pushed open one of the doors and the three of them walked into the great hall.
There was only one table sitting in the hall, the teacher's table. Harry wished he could turn right back around and go back to bed. The table seated each Hogwarts teacher that was there during the school year. Another great mystery in Harry's life had been solved; the teachers seemed to live at the school all year round.
There was one teacher missing however. Hagrid was not there. He remembered Hagrid talking about a special mission for Dumbledore and it clicked in Harry's mind. Hagrid was off with Madame Maxime to try to get the Giants on their side. Honestly, his deduction skills were undefeatable. Except for all those times they had been defeated. But we won't talk about those times.
These thoughts occupied his walk to the table and he sat down next to Professor McGonagall and Sirius. 'Well I may as well talk,' he thought.
"Good morning."
"Good morning Harry," Professor McGonagall said to him, smiling. All of the other teachers either said 'Good Morning' to him or at least smiled. Well except Snape of course, but that was really a given.
The Daily Prophet landed in front of McGonagall and she unwrapped it and read the front page. She put it down and looked up to Dumbledore.
"Is the Daily Prophet true Albus?"
"What does it say?"
"It says that Brittany and Ryan Stace were killed in an accident when they were working on creating spells and charms. It says here that it also killed their twin sons and baby daughter." Harry's mouth was agape.
"Ah. I had not heard about that. That is truly terrible. They were such promising wizards."
"Is... Is there a picture of the family in the paper?" Harry asked, afraid of what was coming.
"Yes, here it is."
Harry looked down at the picture. There was the brown haired woman who had cried as she watched her black haired husband go insane and die. There were the identical boys who had clung to each other until Death Eaters separated them and killed them. And there in the arms of the woman was the blue-eyed baby. Harry could see her eyes clearly in his mind.
Harry looked up and noticed that everyone at the table was looking at him oddly. He realized his mouth was open. If it had been a cartoon his jaw would have been on the floor.
"What is it Harry?" Sirius asked.
"These people didn't die in an accident. Voldemort killed them."
"What?" Several people exclaimed.
"I, I saw it. I.." Harry trailed off and thought of a spell he had read about the previous night in the book he had found on Sirius's bedside table. It had held a spell where it would take everyone in the room to someone's selected memory. It was perfect. To hell with warning them. It would be much more fun to simply do the spell and surprise them. Fun was relative because he was taking them all from breakfast to watch the murders Voldemort committed during the night. He said the spell before thinking any more about it and suddenly the room swirled.
Everyone landed in the living room/kitchen of the house. Harry looked around, thankful that he could not see his dream self there. He didn't want anyone to see him feeling the effects of the Cruciatus Curse. The family of five was sitting at kitchen table eating dinner. The mother was laughing at the antics of her little boys and her husband's attempts at feeding the little girl. Suddenly the woman stopped laughing and grabbed her wand.
The door burst open and five Death Eaters walked in, followed by Voldemort himself. The Death Eaters tied each person to their chair. The man and woman were struggling to get their wands.
"Its useless to fight me you know. You will lose, and fighting me will only cause you more pain. Or perhaps if you try and fight I will inflict more pain upon your children. None of you will leave this house alive tonight." Voldemort said menacingly. Although that was pretty much the only tone Voldemort ever used. Its not like the guy was ever cheerful or not evil-ish. Yes. He was pretty much 24-7 evil or menacing.
Voldemort put the Cruciatus Curse on the man until he had gone crazy. His screams filled the air and mixed with those of his wife. Her face was twisted at seeing this happen to her spouse. All three of the children were crying hysterically.
Voldemort silenced the woman with Avada Kedavra. The little boys were both put under Cruciatus, but only for a short while before the green curse killed them both. Voldemort put the Cruciatus on the baby girl until she was dead. The Death Eaters set the house on fire as they left after Voldemort.
The room began to swirl as the word Morsmordre was yelled by the Death Eaters. Harry could imagine the Dark Mark above the house as it burned to ash. The green skull staring hauntingly, waiting to proclaim the deeds that had been done inside.
Everyone landed back in their seats and stared at Harry.
"Harry would you please explain what that was?" Dumbledore said.
"Nearly every night I am connected with Voldemort though my scar. I end up being able to watch whatever he is doing. I know that what I saw was real. My scar was burning the whole time."
"It makes much more sense for the Stace family to have been killed by Voldemort than by an accident. Ryan and Brittany had fought against him in his previous reign, taking down some of his Death Eaters. I was not aware that they had been experimenting with new spells and I do not think such loving parents would keep their children close by to something dangerous like that. Fudge is still trying to hide Voldemort's existence and is taking a lot of lives in doing so," Dumbledore said.
"Wait Harry. Did you say every night?" Professor Sprout asked. All heads snapped to face him.
"Well, almost every night," Harry said looking down.
"Do you feel any of it?" Professor Sinistra asked.
"I feel my scar burning the entire dream, with more intensity when he is firing curses," said Harry.
Dumbledore looked into his eyes. "Harry can you feel it when the Cruciatus Curse is used?"
"Yes."
The roomful of adults gasped.
"To their full intensity?"
"Yes."
"But how do you know what they feel like?" Professor Sprout asked.
" I was put under the Curse during the third task by Voldemort himself." A few teachers flinched at the name.
"Oh my god," was all Sirius could say.
"I have no lasting physical effects, each morning I am only a bit stiff when I wake up. I am not sure if people can see me going through it while I am asleep, as obviously I am asleep. It's nothing to worry about"
Harry picked up his piece of toast and stood up. He ate it on his way to the door. Very aware of everyone's eyes on him, he held up his hand and said "Firebolt."
Less than a minute later the sound of wind could be heard and Harry's Firebolt was in his hand. Harry continued walking as soon as he had it and made his way to the pitch. He didn't feel like getting pity looks from a table of people so he opted for flying instead.
He really needed to learn to shut up. He didn't HAVE to tell them about all of that. Now they were going to do that weird are-you-ok? thing all the time.
It was nearly ten by the time he had reached the pitch after such a long breakfast. He shot up into the air quickly and flew aimlessly around for a while, trying to sort things out in his head.
Since when had things had to be this complicated? In his first year his biggest care had been not getting points taken off by Snape or a Transfiguration quiz the next day. Well he had had to deal with that whole Sorcerers Stone thing but in retrospect it had not been too bad. Voldemort had just been in the back of a guy's head instead of in his own body. In the back of a rather weak man's head really.
Now he watched Voldemort murder families every night when he slept and he had been present and an unwilling part of the rebirth of the evil wizard. He had to worry about training to the best of his ability so he could help stop the evil he felt he had helped unleash.
Things had gotten way too hard. He still had to figure out how he was going to live with Sirius and Remus for the rest of the summer. When he thought about it he supposed that he cared a lot about both of them. Love was a hard thing for Harry to figure out. He had not experienced much in his memory and it was relatively new to him. But he knew he cared for both of them, almost as if they were both friends and parents to him.
He wasn't sure what they thought of him really. Well, maybe he was, now that he thought about it. Sirius had wanted his company right after a terrible nightmare and had told Harry that he wanted to help him. And Remus had sent him that letter, asking if he would mind being friends with him.
Lena had told him that he would need people who loved him and who he loved around him. He knew he wouldn't make it out of this war alive with out them. He would straighten that whole mess up when he returned to the common room. He would make it plain that he was being stupid before and now wanted to form better bonds with them.
He really had no idea how to go about it other than being extremely blunt and truthful. And of course use Lena's advice about hugs. Harry slammed into a dive to rid his head of mushy thoughts. He grinned. After all, he was a strong tough Quidditch player. Rawr.
Now that his mind had cleared up a bit he decided to work on his Quidditch moves. He really wanted to help his team win the Quidditch Cup again this year. All they would need was a new keeper to replace Oliver. They definitely had to win. Winning the Cup had been one of the memories he kept locked in his mind for a Patronus.
Harry decided to try out the Wronski Feint. He found that he liked the feeling of air rushing around him, even if it appeared to others that he was diving to his death. It was a thrill. He practiced it several times until he went just a foot and half above the ground before pulling straight. He would definitely use that move, and if possible get closer to the ground for effect.
Raindrops began to fall from the sky and Harry trudged back up to the school, broom in hand, slightly dirty from a couple occasions where he had, to put it bluntly, not stayed on the broom.
He walked into the empty common room and walked up the stairs to the dormitory. He found a note in Sirius' sloppy script beside his bed.
Harry, come to Dumbledore's office when you get back and cleaned up a bit.
Harry washed his face and changed his robes and went off to Dumbledore's office. No one had told him the password had been changed so Harry got to play a guessing game with the gargoyle. He had a feeling everyone in the office was watching him try and coax the gargoyle into letting him in.
"Peppermint claws?"
"Milkyway?"
"Fizzing Wizbees?"
"Canary Creams?"
"Blood Flavored Lollypops?"
"Tarantula Chews?" The gargoyle moved. "Well that was kind of twisted for a password."
He walked up the stairs and entered the office. Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout, Tonks and Moody were inside. The majority were smiling at him, Snape of course wearing his usual sneer and he couldn't quite tell what Moody's face was doing.
"Have fun guessing the password?" Sirius asked.
"Like a party I tell you," Harry said sitting down.
"Ah. Now that everyone is here we can get down to the main order of business. Harry you agreed to take summer lessons so we have worked out a schedule. You will begin at ten a.m. with an hour in the greenhouses with Professor Sprout. Knowledge of plants is very important. At eleven you will go to Professor McGonagall's classroom for an hour of transfiguration. You will eat lunch for a half hour or so, then at twelve-thirty report to Professor Flitwick's classroom for an hour and half of charms. Then you will report to the potions classroom for an hour of potions. From three to five you will be training for defense with various teachers in the defense room. Then you are free to do as you wish. I highly suggest you spend some time in the library often to research things that could come in useful," Dumbledore said. Harry agreed and Flitwick and Sprout excused themselves from the room, both having work to do.
Harry sat a little overwhelmed. So much for having a summer. Then a thought occurred to him.
"Wait why are we spending so much time and energy on training ME for the war? I'm just a 15 year old kid, what's the big deal?" He couldn't figure out why they were spending so much time on him, he knew about his power, but they didn't. Then he remembered Lena telling him that Dumbledore knew something about him that he wasn't telling. Well, he would tell it now. Harry would make him.
"Well Potter, if you haven't noticed Voldemort has the tendency to come after you," Snape sneered.
"And for that matter why DOES he keep coming after me? I know I brought him down when I was a baby and he's a little sore over that but why was he after my family and why is he so caught up on me?"
"Harry, I do not know if you are ready to be told this," Dumbledore began.
"I am old enough to be hunted down every year by the most evil wizard in a hundred years, do feel free to tell me."
"I believe I have put this off long enough," Dumbledore sighed.
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Dumbledore got to his feet and walked past Harry to the black cabinet that stood beside Fawkes's perch. He bent down, slid back a catch, and took from inside it the shallow stone basin, carved with runes around the edges. Dumbledore walked back to the desk, placed the Pensieve upon it, and raised his wand to his own temple. From it, he withdrew silvery, gossamer-fine strands of thought clinging to the wand, and deposited them in the basin. He sat back down behind the desk and watched his thoughts swirl and drift inside the Pensieve for a moment. Then, with a sigh, he raised his wand and prodded the silvery substance with its tip.
A figure rose out of it, draped in shawls, her eyes magnified to enormous size behind her classes, and she revolved slowly, her feet in the basin. But when Sibyll Trelawney spoke, it was not in her usual ethereal, mystic voice, but in the harsh, hoarse tones Harry had heard her use once before.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
The slowly revolving Professor Trelawny sank back into the silver mass below and vanished.
The silence within the office was absolute. Neither Dumbledore nor Harry nor any of the portraits had made a sound. Even Fawkes had fallen silent.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry said very quietly, for Dumbledore, still staring at the Pensieve, seemed completely lost in his thoughts. "It...did that mean...What did that mean?"
"It meant," said Dumbledore, "that the person who has the only chance of conquering Lord Voldemort for good was born at the end of July, nearly sixteen years ago. This boy would be born to parents who had already defied Voldemort three times."
Harry felt as though something was closing in upon him. His breath seemed difficult again.
"It means - Me?"
Dumbledore surveyed him for a moment through his glasses.
"The odd thing is, Harry," he said softly, "that it may not have meant you at all. Sibyll's prophecy could have applied to two wizard boys, both born at the end of July that year, both of whom had parents in the Order of the Phoenix, both sets of parents having narrowly escaped Voldemort three times. One, of course, was you. The other was Neville Longbottom."
"But then...but then, why was it my name on the prophecy and not Neville's?"
"The official record was relabeled after Voldemort's attack on you as a child," said Dumbledore. "It seemed plain to the keeper of the Hall of Prophecy that Voldemort could only have tried to kill you because he knew you to be the one who Sibyll was referring."
"Then - it might not be me?" said Harry.
"I am afraid," said Dumbledore slowly, looking as though it would cost him great effort, "that there is no doubt it is you."
"But you said - Neville was born at the end of July too - and his mum and dad-"
"You are forgetting the next part of the prophecy, the final identifying feature of the boy who could vanquish Voldemort...Voldemort himself would 'mark him as his equal.' And so he did, Harry. He chose you, not Neville. He gave you that scar that has proved both blessing and curse."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry just sat there, mouthing like a guppy. He had to prove it somehow that Dumbledore was wrong. He couldn't be right.
His sarcastic side watched as an imagined figure of the last of his childhood walked out of the office. His sarcastic side was quite good at making a point.
Then he realized something.
"Wait. You have known all this time that this prophecy was about me and pretty much had determined my whole life and you never cared to share this with me before?"
(A/N: This paragraph is sort of, ok pretty much totally, paraphrased from the fifth book. It would have taken forever to type the whole thing and you would have been annoyed at the end of reading it anyway. So. Yes.) " Both first and second year we came very close to the topic, but I told myself you were far too young to be told, only eleven and twelve. You still had a chance at having innocent times. How could I tell you third year, you had just triumphed and saved your Godfather? Such depressing news had no place there, besides I still found thirteen too young. Last year maybe? You had just seen a classmate die, watched Voldemort's rebirth, dueled and just gotten away from him and then nearly been killed again. You had too much. I was not sure if I could tell you now, but you needed to know. I hope that you will forgive me for not telling you sooner, I only hoped to give you a chance to live an innocent life as long as possible," said Dumbledore. A tear slid down Dumbledore's cheek.
To see such a man with a tear on his face shook Harry's world. He was speechless. Questions began to pop rapidly into his head after he had taken in such a momentous event.
"What about the rest of you, did you know?" Harry asked.
"I knew Albus knew the reason for Voldemort's attacks on you, but I knew he would not share the information and I wasn't quite sure I would really want to know the answer," said McGonagall. She looked extremely shaken and saddened.
Harry looked to Snape.
"I did not know," said Snape simply.
"Lily and James knew the prophecy. They told me they knew about something that could affect them greatly, that it was the reason they must go into hiding. They did not tell me the prophecy. I never thought it was like that," said Sirius in a monotone. Harry guessed his Godfather was having a hard time taking all this in, harder than Harry himself was.
"I didn't know either. It was possible to them that I was the traitor. I knew roughly what Sirius did," Remus looked roughly the same as Sirius, maybe a little better considering Sirius looked like he would fall apart within a few minutes. Harry hoped it wouldn't become suddenly windy in the office or Sirius might fall apart like so many cartoon characters.
"I am sorry you had to find out this way Harry," said Dumbledore, tear still on his face.
"Well I guess its a lot better than Voldemort letting me know right before carrying out the prophecy. If you will excuse me I REALLY need to go flying," said Harry. He couldn't have put it any more eloquent than that. He got up and summoned his broom. The broom came quickly to the window. Harry popped the window open and jumped onto the broom. He flew off around the grounds.
The rain was letting up. It felt good on his skin. He felt cleansed. Within a few minutes the rain had stopped and the clouds were beginning to part. The sun began to again shine down on the grounds.
He flew above the edge of the forbidden forest for while. He had been in the forest for one reason or another nearly every year he had been at Hogwarts. He had had detention and seen Voldemort drinking Unicorn blood. He had met a charming family of giant spiders and nearly become their dinner. He had run after Ron and Sirius with Hermione through the tunnel from the Whomping Willow that was on the edge of the forest.
He whipped up and looked down to Hagrid's empty hut. He had watched Ron throw up slugs there, gotten advice and listened to Hagrid let important information slip there.
His mind turned to doubt. Could he defeat Voldemort? He was only 15. Voldemort wouldn't wait too much longer for a fight. He doubted Voldemort would wait for him to become a fully trained wizard.
Then again, strange powers had started appearing. He could do wandless easily, and every spell he did had a lot of power. He had recently been able to tell when people were lying to him and felt strong instincts to go certain places at certain times.
He looked at the bracelet still around his wrist. He was supposed to become more powerful than Merlin. Maybe he stood a chance. Did this world deserve to be saved?
He turned and looked up to the school. Hogwarts was his home. So many things had happened there. He had made real friends there.
He had defeated a troll with Ron to save Hermione. He had learned to play Quidditch and become the youngest house player in over a century. He had gone past Fluffy with his two best friends, played a deadly game of chess, drunken potions and gotten the Sorcerer's Stone before Voldemort could, then defeated Voldemort with his touch.
He had had nearly the entire school turn their backs on him because he had a rare talent that was often associated with evil wizards. He had watched as his best friend lay in a hospital bed, petrified. He had found the passage to the Chamber of Secrets and gone down with Ron and Lockhart. He had killed a basilisk with Fawkes' help, and destroyed the memory of Tom Marvolo Riddle to save Ginny Weasley.
He had won the House Cup with his Quidditch team. He had nearly killed a man who he thought had been the traitor to his parents. Then moments later stopped his parent's two best friends from killing the real traitor. He had learned he had a Godfather. He had produced a Patronus, after being taught by his favorite defense teacher, to save his life and the lives of two others. He had gone back in time with Hermione and saved Buckbeak and his newly acquired Godfather.
He had watched nearly an entire school believe he was a liar and turn on him, including his best friend. He had gotten the golden egg past the dragon. He had gone to the bottom of the lake and waited until everyone had been saved, bringing the last two people back up when someone wasn't getting saved. He had been transported to a graveyard, watched a classmate be killed, watched the rebirth of the Dark Lord, duel with the newly reborn Dark Lord and barely come out alive only to be nearly killed again by a Death Eater.
Harry certainly never had a dull moment. He laughed. Dumbledore had said he wanted Harry to have a time for innocence in his life. He had had none after his parents died. At the Dursleys he had been locked in a cupboard for ten years, forced to do chores, neglected and occasionally hit. In the wizarding world he had faced all sorts of things he shouldn't have had to, including the very real possibility of being killed by someone, namely Voldemort.
He had thought the wizarding world would be his salvation when he was eleven. But this world had proved itself likely to turn its back on him as well at the slightest thing not in his favor. The Daily Prophet and Ministry had been proclaiming him crazy since the Third Task. Not many believed that Voldemort was back.
Then again, here he had friends. Sure the school and public adored him, but they didn't matter to him, none of his fame did, he was just glad to have Ron and Hermione. Ron's family, he knew, would always be there for him too. He also had Sirius and Remus here. They were almost like a family to him. According to Lena, they would be his family.
He didn't have to save the wizarding world. But he would. For the people he loved. The rest of the world would just have to consider themselves lucky that Sirius, Remus, Hermione and the Weasleys were around.
Harry made up his mind. He would work as hard as possible to train and be ready. He was supposed to save everyone from Voldemort. All that mattered was saving Sirius, Remus, Hermione, Ron and the Weasleys. Everyone else could just be saved along with them. He could barely live thinking Cedric's death might be his fault. He couldn't deal with a world of death with the blood on his hands.
Harry flew off to the Quidditch Pitch. He needed to work off some emotions. He got out a bludger and a bat. He slammed the bludger as hard as he could repeatedly all over the field. He remembered Oliver's words, "you would have made a fair beater Potter."
He remembered the dumbest things sometimes. He could remember a comment that Oliver had told him when teaching him how to play Quidditch but he couldn't for the life of him seem to pass potions.
He put away the bat and strapped the bludger back into the crate. He let out the snitch. He looked around for it and decided to do a couple Wronski Feints first. He was hundreds of feet up in the air and went screaming down to the ground. He stopped only a foot short of the ground, pulling up. The third time he did this he stood on his broom, as he had during his first Quidditch game, when he had nearly swallowed the snitch.
He found the snitch quickly and caught it. He let it go a couple more times, chasing after it. He put the snitch back into the crate and flew a few laps around the pitch.
He flew up to a window near the defense rooms. He unlocked the window by holding his hand up and releasing some magic. He climbed in and dragged his broom with him.
The room he was in the defense classroom. He sat down at a desk and leaned his broom against the neighboring desk.
For some reason he heard part of Remus' letter to him resound in his head. His conscience when left on its own would find the smallest thing to remind him of. Well, at least it paid attention to detail.
"I hope that you are willing to befriend an old werewolf, but I will not be offended if you do not write back."
Harry thought back to earlier that morning. Remus had seemed uncomfortable. Maybe the man thought Harry didn't want to befriend him and was only putting up with him. He should do what the letter had said; write back to him. Sure he was in the same room as the guy most of the time, but what better way to respond than by letter. At least he could have his thoughts organized. He never was terribly graceful with words. In fact he was usually downright terrible with them.
Besides, he really didn't have anything else to do. He didn't feel like facing people yet. They would all probably just look at him. Stare at him. He didn't feel like being stared at for a while.
Lockhart was really much more suited to the job of being famous than he was. He hated it when people just looked at him. Unfortunately people just looked at him a lot. On the streets, every time he saved everyone's butts, fights, embarrassing moments, you name it, there was sure to be a group of people there, just staring at him. He summoned a bunch of parchment, ink and a quill. He hoped no one would follow the items to where he was. He really did like this strong magical powers thing. Very easy to summon things he needed. He would never have the problem of not changing the TV station because he couldn't reach the remote. He could summon it. (A/N: I had that problem. Watched a marathon of Newlyweds. That was such a terrible day.)
The papers, ink and quill flew in through the open window. He had shut the door and guessed the items had had to find an alternate route to his location upon not being able to open the door.
He dipped the quill into the ink and tapped the feather part of the quill on his closed lips, trying to think of what to say to Remus.
"Dear Remus,
Well I've finally had time to respond to the letter you sent me. And my answer is of course I want to be friends with you. I can't think of any reason why I should not befriend you. You have always been kind to me, helped me and been understanding.
I definitely do not mind that you are a werewolf, if that's what you are thinking. Everyone has a curse. I will forever be the Boy Who Lived, expected to do exactly what everyone wants and shunned if I am different.
Sirius was cursed with being wrongly accused of murder, but I would still stand by his side through anything now that I know the truth.
Even Dumbledore's got a curse, if you have noticed he's obsessed with candy at times and can appear quite crazy but everyone likes him anyway.
Your curse has just gotten a little bad publicity. As with Sirius, I'd stand by you through anything.
Now that I know about the prophecy and a few other developments I want to become as close with you and Sirius as possible, you are the only family I have left besides Hermione and the Weasleys. Hermione has her own family and the Weasleys are a great family without me there to endanger them. Actually, before I found out about the prophecy I have wanted a family too.
I'm walking around the school right now and I will be back in the common room in a little while. Tell Sirius (He might read this note as well) that the becoming close thing holds true between us too. Love, Harry"
Harry looked at his letter. It was a little weird for him to write about his feelings towards a matter but he had to if he wanted to ever become close with Sirius and Remus. He addressed the note and called to Hedwig. She flew through the window and waited while he tied the letter to her. She flew off towards the Gryffindor Tower.
Harry opened the door to the room he was in and decided to go for a walk. He went into the Library after finding himself in front of it. Madame Prince appeared to be doing an inventory.
"Madame Prince?"
"What! Oh, Hello Harry."
"Is it alright if I take a few books?"
"Yes, just check them out with me."
"Ok."
Harry walked around and picked out a few on advanced curses, checked them out with Madame Prince and walked back towards the Gryffindor Tower. He would probably meet quite the interesting reception.
My spring break vacation is April 2nd to April 8th so I will post some time soon after then. (I have to miss my 4n6 meet! We made it to state!)
You know what's really cool? That purplish button right there that says "Go" right after "Review" I really think you should click it to find out what cool surprises it has in store. ^_^