Chapter 11:

Dumbledore's Dilemma

After the Death Eaters fled, a silence settled over the castle. Dumbledore finally stepped forward hesitantly, "Harry? How did you..?" Then, his voice broke and Harry chuckled darkly.

Then, he turned and tapped his want to his throat, "Sonorus. It seems that my time of hiding has past. So I ask you to welcome the Heir of Gryffindor back to his home. I also ask you to greet The Dark Phoenix, so I will now take a bow."

Harry then made his way directly towards the doors to enter the castle, and everyone scurried out of his way as he strode across the front lawn of Hogwarts.

Once he was inside, Dumbledore raised his voice, "Order, to my office, now."

Unnoticed during this exchange was the portly figure of the Minister of Magic watching with apparent glee as he took off down a corridor to take the Floo back to his office. He thought to himself, "Now, I have that little brat right where I want him."

Dumbledore made his way to his office with the senior members of the Order following him. They found Harry seated at the chair behind the Headmaster's desk in a relaxed state. Dumbledore swallowed visibly before saying, "Harry, I must ask you to remove yourself from my office. The Order has much to discuss."

Harry opened his eyes and snorted, "Then you can have the meeting in my presence, old man. This is my castle, and my office now. Not to mention, Grimmauld Place is mine as well. So, unless you would like to search for a new place to have your precious Order meetings, then I will be privy to anything that occurs in them."

Dumbledore steeled himself before replying, "I'm afraid that I can not allow that, Harry."

Harry replied disdainfully, "You don't have a choice, old man. I control the wards of this castle, now. If you persist in your attempts to hinder me, I will have them remove you from the castle permanently."

Remus looked at Harry sadly, "What happened to you, Harry?"

Harry graced Remus with a cold stare, "It's really quite simple, Remus. I have had almost everything in my life that I thought was good ripped away from me because of the stupidity of Albus Dumbledore. I have no intention of allowing that state of affairs to continue. I am going to finish things between Voldemort and I, and then I am going to make some serious changes to the wizarding world. Far too long has it been controlled by the old families that think that being pureblooded somehow makes you better than anyone else. It is time that the Muggleborns run the wizarding world, and that is how things will be after I deal with Voldemort if I have to kill have the purebloods to accomplish it."

Arthur shook his head, "Harry, if you take things that far, then you will be no better than Voldemort."

Harry shrugged, "That matters little to me at this point. Once I have changed the wizarding world for the better, I fully intend to leave it. I have no desire to remain in a world that allows people like Voldemort to exist, simply because they were too stupid to destroy him before he became such a threat."

Moody growled, "That's not quite fair, Potter. No one could have known that a former Head Boy would have sunk so far into the Dark Arts."

Harry laughed uproariously, "Do you really believe that, Alastor? Your illustrious leader knew that Tom opened the Chamber of Secrets when he was a student here at Hogwarts, but he let him continue his descent into the Dark Arts because he felt that the boy deserved a second chance."

The rest of the Order turned to look at Albus in horror at this statement. Minerva said with her voice trembling, "Please, Albus, tell me that isn't true."

Dumbledore's shoulders slumped, "I am afraid that it is, Minerva. I knew the road that Tom was following, but I allowed him to continue even though I could have stopped him at the time. I thought that he would eventually see the error of his ways."

Harry replied to this statement with contempt dripping from his voice, "In other words, old man, you were a fool, and now the world is paying for your stupidity. As I said before, I have no intention of letting that state of affairs continue. First on the agenda of fixing your mistakes is finding a new Potions Master. Snape will not be returning to this school as a Professor. As soon as he is recovered from his injuries, he will have twenty four hours to gather his things and leave the castle."

Dumbledore shook his head, "I can't allow that, Harry."

Harry sighed, "What part of the fact that you have no choice in the matter do you not understand? I have control of all the castle wards. If Snape is not gone by the deadline that I have just given you, then the consequences will be most unpleasant. You have the same amount of time to be rid of Crabbe and Goyle. The other Slytherins I will reserve judgment about until I have soon proof of their loyalties one way or the other. If they prove to be junior Death Eaters, though, I will not hesitate to cast them out of the castle. If they turn out to be true Death Eaters like our former Mr. Malfoy, then I will kill them."

Tonks asked, "Did you kill Malfoy?"

Harry shrugged, "Of course. Did you expect anything less?"

At that moment, several Aurors stepped into the office. Harry looked at them, and asked, "What can I do for you, Dawlish?"

Dawlish replied, "I am here at the behest of the Minister of Magic to inform you, Mr. Potter that you are under arrest for the use of an Unforgivable Curse in the presence of multiple witnesses, and for the murder of Draco Malfoy."

Harry chuckled, "Very well, you have performed your duty. You may return to the Ministry now, Dawlish."

Dawlish appeared confused for a moment, and then said, "I am afraid that you do not understand, Mr. Potter. You are under arrest. We are here to take you into custody."

Harry chuckled once more, "I understand what you said and what you meant perfectly, Dawlish. However, I have no intention of going anywhere with you, and attempting to force me to leave this castle against my will, will only cause you harm."

One of the Aurors asked incredulously, "Are you threatening us?"

Harry laughed outright, "Nothing of the sort. I am merely pointing out that I am the Heir of Gryffindor, and that to attempt to harm me on the grounds of Hogwarts would cause the wards to react in a way that would be most unpleasant for you. You may tell Cornelius that he can send word of my trial date by owl, and I will show up for it, but I have no intention of being detained by the Ministry until a trial before the Wizengamot is set."

Dawlish looked to Dumbledore and asked, "Is he serious, sir?"

Dumbledore sighed, "I am afraid that young Mr. Potter is very serious, Dawlish. I would suggest that you do as he says."

Dawlish nodded and signaled for the other Aurors to follow him from the room.

Remus turned to Harry as soon as they were gone, "Harry, you can not continue to break the law. If you do, they will put you in Azkaban."

Harry chuckled, and then stood, "I will continue to do as I please, Remus, and I dare anyone to oppose me. I will go to this farce of a trial, where I will make Fudge look like a fool. Then, I will be acquitted, and if Fudge continues to oppose me after that, I will simply kill him, and be done with it."

Dumbledore rose and drew his wand. He said in a saddened tone, "I feared that this day would come. I am sorry, Harry, for what I must do." Then, Dumbledore whipped his wand around and cast a curse at Harry. Or more accurately, at where Harry was. As soon as the jet of light left Dumbledore's wand, Harry disappeared. The curse impacted the wall, and dissipated, and then Dumbledore fell to the ground writhing in pain.

Harry's voice rang out ominously in the room, "That wasn't very wise, old man. You know that I control the wards, and that they will protect me within the castle. I wouldn't suggest attacking me again. Now, the rest of you can have your precious Order meeting. I have some Death Eaters to do business with."

Harry Apparated to where the Death Eaters had collected after the attack. The magical signature of his Cruciatus Curse against Bellatrix allowing him to find them quite easily. He cast an invisibility charm on himself and crept into the chamber where they were all lying prostrate before the Dark Lord.

Voldemort appeared to be highly agitated as he paced back and forth in front of his minions. Finally, he spoke, "Lucius, where were Severus, and your son during the battle?"

Lucius spoke, his voice trembling in fear of his master, "I do not know, My Lord. They did not arrive at the meeting place before the attack. I can only assume that Potter must have discovered them."

"Crucio!" Lucius writhed and screamed under the curse from Voldemort. Voldemort released the curse and then said, "What do you mean by that? Are you suggesting that Potter could have overcome both your son and Severus along with Crabbe and Goyle's son."

Lucius gulped, "Yes, My Lord, after his display today, I believe that to be the case."

Voldemort snarled, "This displeases me. I would almost think that you feared Potter."

Lucius did not reply, but Bellatrix did, "Master, I have distressing news concerning Potter."

Voldemort turned to his other chief Lieutenant, "What do you have to report, Bella?"

Bellatrix said softly, "Potter discovered our base in Knockturn Alley from Snape. Apparently Lucius guessed correctly, My Lord. Potter did indeed discover Snape and defeat him. Potter also revealed to me that he was the Dark Phoenix."

Voldemort laughed, "Potter can not be the Dark Phoenix, Bella. Only one with knowledge of the Dark Arts could cast such marks into the sky. That muggle loving fool Dumbledore would never allow his precious Golden Boy to delve into the Dark Arts. It was your own foolishness, Bella, that allowed Potter to learn the Cruciatus Curse."

Bella shook her head, "My Lord, Potter showed me his forearm. He has the mark of the Dark Phoenix burned into his arm, just like our own Dark Marks.

Voldemort sucked in a breath in fury. Harry at this point decided to have a little fun with the Death Eaters. He sent a burst of dazzling light into the room that blinded them all. Then, he cast the Killing Curse indiscriminately around the room taking down several Darth Eaters, and then sent his mark to be emblazoned with a message on the wall. Then, he Apparated away.

Once the light had cleared, Voldemort roared, "What happened?"

Lucius pointed towards the wall behind Voldemmort, and said, "It appears, My Lord that Potter was here."

Voldemort spun around to find the image of the Dark Phoenix on the wall with a simple question underneath it.

Are you scared yet, Tom?

Potter

The Death Eaters quickly discovered that six of their brethren had fell victim to the Killing Curse in that attack. Voldemort snarled, "I want Potter found, and I want him brought to me alive. Now, get out of my sight, you weak-willed pathetic bags of slime."

Harry chuckled as he watched Voldemort's reaction through the viewing charm that he had left behind. Then, he proceeded to march up to Gryffindor Tower to take a nap.