Chapter 9

A Few More Home Truths

Both Harry and the Detective jumped at hearing a new voice enter the room. Detective Sol stood up and faced Dumbledore, putting his hands on his hips. Harry didn't think he'd ever been as happy to see Dumbledore as he was at that very moment. Harry let out a sigh of relief which must have been louder than he realised, as the detective turned round to look at him. Harry gave him his best innocent look. He could see Dumbledore's twinkling smile, and that smile in itself made Harry feel one thousand times better.

The one thing that made Harry want to laugh was Dumbledore was still wearing his wizard attire, which consisted of green velvet robes and matching cloak, fastened at the shoulders. Harry couldn't imagine Dumbledore in muggle clothing, to him it would just be too strange.

Dumbledore looked at Harry and gave him a smile and a wink before turning to the police office in front of him.

"I do not think we have been introduced, Detective Sol. I am Dumbledore, Harry's acting guardian" Dumbledore came further into the room, and stretched out his hand.

The Detective looked slightly puzzled by Dumbledore, but took his hand anyway. Dumbledore then rounded on Harry and walked over to the bed where the agitated teenage was sitting.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, sitting on the bed next to Harry.

"I'm feeling fine, sir, when can I get out of here" Harry asked. Harry had never been in a muggle hospital, but they made him nervous. He preferred the infirmary at Hogwarts with its other worldly look, its rickety beds and under the care of Madam Pomfrey. The machines and needles were things he wasn't used to anymore.

"I'm sorry, Mr Dumbledore, but what are you doing in here, no one is aloud in this room without my permission. Why did the officer let you in?' Detective Sol asked.

Harry noticed with slight worry that his hand was moving closer to the asp which was hanging from a belt holster at his side. Harry wasn't sure if Dumbledore had noticed or not as he was still sitting on Harry's bed with his smile on his face.

"I believe I explained that I am Harry's acting guardian" Dumbledore said shortly, his smile still playing on his face. Harry thought that if you were angry, that soft slightly amused smile must be annoying.

"I don't believe you've shown me any proof that you are what you say you are. Now this boy is under police guard and I want to know how you got in this room without authorization from me"

The Detective finished, his arms crossed over his chest.

Harry felt crest fallen. This man wanted to see proof, on paper, that Dumbledore was who he was claiming to be. Harry knew full well that there was no proof. What could Dumbledore say? 'I am his Headmaster at the Wizarding school he attends' Harry didn't think that would work, but his great surprise, Dumbledore stood up and pulled out a piece of paper from one of his robe pockets and handed it to the shocked looking Detective.

Detective Sol read over the paper several times before giving in and admitting that he was seeing was an official document. He coughed nervously into his hand and said;

"Well this seems to be in order, now maybe you can explain to me what is going on here? I have a very frightened nation out there and its my inkling that your young charge has got something to do with it. He admitted that he thinks he is a 'Wizard' and he admitted that it was he who was attacked out side of Kings Cross!" The police officer was getting mad.

Dumbledore was still sitting calmly, as though this conversation didn't include the exposure of the wizarding world, but without the smile on his face. Harry sat looking between the two adults wondering who would prevail. Harry was worried, he had never been in contact with the police, but he knew that if Detective Sol pushed, he could make things awkward, especially since Harry wasn't even eighteen. Seventeen might be the coming of age for wizards, but for muggles it was not, and Harry was in effect, stuck in the muggle world.

"Detective, I would like a moment with my Godson" Dumbledore asked lightly.

'Godson'? 'Godson' ? since when was Dumbledore Harry's Godfather? Harry tried not to show his amazement, as the Detective would find it suspicious, but it was hard. 'Is no one ever going to tell me the whole story?' Harry mused to himself.

The police office was breathing heavily, and Harry could see the conflict in his eyes. Harry had no idea how it must feel for him to be on the verge of a true confession of an ulterior world existing. Well, he did but that happened a long time ago and everything had turned out for the best for him, the rest of the muggle population wasn't to know that.

The officer sighed and bowed his head, but he was still tapping his foot in either slight anger or agitation. Finally he looked up and when he did he seemed calmer, or less angry at least.

"Ok, but he goes nowhere until I have questioned him properly" He said turning round and going for the door handle.

"Why do you need to question Harry? Is he under suspicion?' Dumbledore asked quietly.

Sol turned round from the door.

"At the moment, everyone who isn't me is under suspicion. I have no idea if this is a hoax, some sort of an elaborate scam, or if there truly are wizards in existence, I don't know. But it's my job to find out what this situation is and how dangerous it is to the people of Britain"

And with that parting comment, he walked out and shut the door heavily behind him. He sighed a very deep sigh of relief and went to get out of bed again. And yet again he felt the shooting pain in his hand where the IV was in him.

"For God's sake!" He all but shouted.

He took hold of the IV and ripped it out of his hand. The pain that followed was something out of this world. He felt liked he'd just had a vein ripped out of his hand. Harry clasped the now wound, with his other hand wand was breathing very hard, when Dumbledore appeared at his side with a square of the material used to put over wounds.

"Let me see Harry"

Dumbledore said, manoeuvring Harry back to the bed to sit down. Harry did as instructed. The blood was pouring from the wound. Harry had done the stupid thing of pull upwards in stead of sliding it out. This resulted in a deep line running over his hand a wrist. Harry had just noticed it was the hand where Umbridge's quill had scared him with the words 'I must not tell lies'.

When Harry took his hand away, Dumbledore looked at the words and the put the bandage over the cut. Dumbledore shook his head as he applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

"you truly have been through the mill, haven't you?" Dumbledore said softly.

Harry didn't answer. He didn't even think he had answer, or the energy to think of one. The adrenalin fuelled by his situation and Dumbledore's appearance had died down now to leave him feeling tired. Harry actually had a question of his own.

"Professor" He said barely above a whisper. The Headmaster turned to face him. He cleared his throat, not liking sounding so beaten.

"That's not true about you being…being my…"

"Godfather" He finished for him.

Harry nodded. Dumbledore sighed and smiled at Harry. Then he reached into his robes and pulled out his wand. He whispered a silencing charm around the room, and a deflecting shield on the door. Harry supposed this was to deter the police bursting into the room while they were talking about their world.

"Sirius' Harry flinched slightly at the name. "Sirius left it in his will that if anything were to happen to him, myself and Remus Lupin would take over guard of you. This means nothing by Muggle standards, of course, so I had to make official with a slight bit of magic" And he showed the first real smile Harry had seen on his face in a long time.

Harry couldn't help but smile back. Harry didn't really want to know what had happened, but this news was a bit of a shock. Dumbledore and Remus as his guardians. Remus Harry could understand, as he was a marauder, part of his dad's inner circle of friends. But then again, from what Harry had heard from Dumbledore say in the past ' I knew you father very well, both at Hogwarts and later', it sounded like they were quite close also. Harry's dad was, after all, one of the original members of the Order of the Phoenix. It was just something Harry couldn't accept in 2 minutes, that Harry now had different guardians, that he was the reason he had to have different guardians.

Harry had had enough. In that moment, the past five years of his life cam flushing past his eyes, each horrible moment as clear as the next. Quirrell with Voldemort's twisted, horrifying face on the back of his head, with his gleaming red eyes. The Basilisk petrifying his school friends, everyone thinking he was Salazar Slytherin's heir, fighting Tom Riddle and the Basilisk, Learning about Sirius being his Godfather, while thinking him a mass murderer, finding out the real truth of his parents best friends betrayal, fighting the Dementors.

Having his name put in the Goblet of Fire, having to complete all of the Tri Wizard tasks thinking someone wanted to kill him when it was really a mad man posing as his teacher trying to help him get through the tasks! Seeing Voldemort rising from that cauldron while he was tied helpless and wandless! Having everyone thinking he was nuts for telling the truth! And the dreams, the endless night of dreams, seeing different things not knowing what was real and what wasn't and then finally, the loss of Sirius. Sirius… his brother, father, uncle and best friend all in one.

It was too much for anyone to bare, and he had had enough! What he had said to Dumbledore when he had trashed his office had been true. He wanted out of seeing things no one else was seeing, having to do things no one else was having to do, to hear and… and know things he never wanted to know.

All that he was feeling eventually bubbled up and came spilling out of his mouth in a bone wrenching scream of agony, anger and complete dismay. He leapt from the bed, the make-shift bandage falling off and the deep cut on his hand reopening as he clenched his fist and began to bang them on the wall next to the bed.

It felt good, to get all of this anger out, it felt good, but it also gave the one person Harry blamed for all of this an opening into his mind. Voldemort flared up through his senses and took control. Harry let out an malevolent laugh and turned to face Dumbledore. Dumbledore, who didn't look fazed by this, moved and in an instant had Harry pinned to the bed while he was still laughing.

"Fight him Harry, you can get rid of him. Use that force which you possess so greatly to push him out of your mind" Dumbledore hissed into Harry's face.

Voldemort laughed and it came out of Harry's mouth. The sensation was like burning oil being poured through him, and as much as he wanted to scream he couldn't he just wanted to die. He wanted the fighting, the pain and the endless void of loss to end.

"He cannot win this time, Dumbledore, the boy is mine!" An evil cold voice filtered out through Harry's mouth.

"Think Harry, think! You know who you are and you know where you are!" Dumbledore said again, this time through gritted teeth as he tried to pin the now struggling teenager to the bed. The old wizard had some strength in him, which surprised Voldemort and gave Harry a momentary gap he needed to think straight, and when he did, he thought of his parents and Sirius, basically he thought of love, the people he loved.

And he was gone. He fled, leaving Harry with a splitting head ach and an aching body from where he had struggled to get free but had been thwarted by Dumbledore. His new Godfather.

"Harry?" Dumbledore whispered, leaning off Harry a little.

With that, Harry burst into tears. He never cried, it wasn't that he thought it was weak, he didn't really think anything about crying, h just never did. But in this moment, in this moment it was all he could do not to go mad again. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and leaned against the metal headboard on the hospital bed. Harry folded his arms around his drawn up legs and cried into his knees, giving great racketing sobs.

He felt the bed move and then a moment later, the bed moved again as Dumbledore sat next to Harry. The was a single second before Harry realised he was being hugged. Dumbledore placed his arms around Harry and pulled him close, like a grandfather…one that Harry had never had. Harry let himself be held as he cried out his innermost desperation and anguish. Dumbledore never shushed him, never moved or made a noise, he just let the tired teenage cry himself into a sleep in his arms, all the time making a promise to himself, to Harry to the very heavens above that he would do all in his power to protect this boy, that he would no longer have to go through what he had been going through year after year, for the past five years.

"I promise you, my boy, I will be there every step of the way from now on"

And with that he manoeuvred Harry's body back into the bed covers. After he had wiped his face and placed the cool flannel on his forehead. Dumbledore sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair and stared, daring anyone dare challenge him that moment, daring the very world itself to leave the boy alone, for a peaceful sleep, for once