When Fudge had finished questioning him, or when Harry was unable to answer, he wasn't sure, Dumbledore came down from the stands and helped Harry into a sitting position.
"Well I'm stumped" Fudge rubbed some hair from his forehead and surveyed his notes. "What do we do with him? The heavens tell us he's evil but if he dies then so do we…"
"Let him go" Kinsley voiced and several other Aurors agreed. Fudge tapped his quill on his parchment.
"I guess we could release him on parole…"
A fair few of the Wizengamot shouted disapproval and Umbridge demanded that he be locked away for life.
"Lets go, Harry" Dumbledore pulled him to his feet and the two of them, Harry rather stiffly, towards the door. Not one of the members of the Wizengamot noticed their departure due to their enraged fighting. None of the Aurors said anything either, meaning that they were siding with Harry. If he didn't destroy Voldemort then they would have to.
Harry could hear snippets of the Wizengamot's arguments as he entered the brightly lit corridor.
"You-know-who could be putting him up to it"
"We should lock him away until the time comes for him to kill…him!"
"I've already let him free"
"This is an outrage, Fudge! We still do not know the full extent of his powers and he could very well murder all of those students if he goes back to school…"
"Where is he?"
There was a moment's silence in which Harry forced himself to walk faster.
"Find him! He's doing a runner!" there was many footsteps rushing towards the door as the Aurors hastened to obey orders.
"Don't worry, Harry" Dumbledore said as Harry tried to run, causing the pain in his legs to double. "There is many Aurors in there that will stall to give us time. You're the one to keep them alive"
They reached the elevators and Harry pressed the up button several times before the doors closed and they went rattling upwards.
"We're going to have to Disapperate when we reach the auditorium, do you think you can manage?" Harry nodded, pressing a finger, gingerly, to the burn across his throat. "Good. Got straight to that spot in my office"
"Wont they come back to Hogwarts for me?" the doors slid open and Harry stepped out into the brightly lit auditorium with Dumbledore close behind. They could here the other lift rattling upwards.
"They will and they can question you there, you need medical attention first, now go!"
Harry Disapperated and moments later he was standing in Dumbledore's empty office. He moved over to the desk as Dumbledore appeared.
"Straight to madam Pomfrey" he said, leading Harry out the door. Harry had no idea of the time but he guessed that it was still early because most of the school was still milling around the corridors. A lot of them screamed when they saw Harry and ran in the other direction. A few of the braver ones tried to attack him but Harry dodged their spells with surprising agility. And he even had a fair amount of student, mainly Gryffindors or Slytherins, swear allegiance to him, out of fear or rebellion, Harry wasn't sure but he finally made it to the hospital wing where Dumbledore had to coax madam Pomfrey from her office and over to Harry who sat waiting on a bed.
"It won't work," she said shakily after trying, for ten minutes, to remove the burn marks from Harry's skin.
"Could I try?" Harry asked timidly and Madam Pomfrey, forgetting her fear, snorted with disbelief but Dumbledore simply nodded. Pomfrey's eyes widened in shock.
"He can heal himself? Well I may as well just quite my job…" she waved her arms in the air and stalked off.
Harry tried, just like he had earlier that day, to heal himself but it was no use. The burns were stuck to him like superglue and they were throbbing painfully.
"I told him not to do it" Dumbledore muttered and Harry didn't bother to inquire. "Come back to my office, Harry. The Aurors will be here any minute and I need to arrange a few things…"
Harry slipped off the bed and followed Dumbledore out. At the door he paused then pulled out his wand and summoned the extreme burn cream before continuing out into the throbbing mass of terrified and furious students.
Back in his office, Dumbledore immediately sat at his desk, retrieved parchment and a quill and began writing furiously, leaving Harry to contemplate his thoughts.
Now that he had free time to think about it, Harry found himself becoming quite restless and nervous. Had he done something that was considered evil? Was it simply his power? Or was the ministry out to get him, again?
He began pacing the room, occasionally receiving expressionless glances from Dumbledore.
For ten minutes, which felt like an eternity, Harry found himself standing in front of the window, peering down at the deserted lawns. He moved across to the fire but the heat made his burns sting even more so he strode across the room and leant back against the wall, wondering where his friends had gotten to and whether the whole wizarding world knew of his news.
The burns on his chest were beginning to itch as he paced the room for several more minutes, occasionally picking up something from Dumbledore's desk, examining it then putting it back. Dumbledore glanced at him with a look of great amusement.
Finally the hurting and itching on his chest became too much to bear and Harry tore his shirt off.
"Is something wrong?" Dumbledore asked, speaking for the first time since entering the room.
"It's hurting" Harry said, locating a mirror and spreading the pink burn cream onto the two parallel marks on his skin. It slowly seeped into the burns and the pain reduced to a relieving tingle.
Harry, impatient with waiting, flung himself across the room and lay spread eagled on his back on the cool floor, staring at the ceiling and wondering why he was cursed with this life.
Suddenly, from behind him, the fire burst into green flames and a man emerged, spinning, onto the hearth. Harry tilted his head back and watched Sirius straighten up and dust the ash from his robes.
"I just heard…" he started breathlessly before noticing Harry on the floor, looking totally tragic with no shirt, glasses askew and red lines all over his body. A small smile crept to his godfather's lips. "What are you doing, Harry?"
"Reminiscing on how horribly crap my life is"
Sirius couldn't contain a loud, barking laugh. Harry frowned at him.
"Well I'm glad to see everyone else finds it hilarious"
"Sorry" Sirius said, pulling up a chair at Dumbledore's desk as the headmaster finished his writing.
"The ministry should be hear by now, I'm not sure what's keeping them, unless…" Dumbledore got up and strolled over to the window. "Yes they appear to have arrived now with…" Dumbledore seemed suddenly furious. "Dementors and the press. I don't know which is worse"
At the sound of dementors, both Harry and Sirius paled slightly. Dumbledore turned back to the window, picked up his completed letter and gave it to Fawkes who disappeared in a burst of bright flames. Dumbledore now focused his attention on Sirius.
"Sirius, I need you t go back to Grimmauld place and alert the rest of the order. Prepare for an emergency departure. Hopefully it wont come to that, though"
"Let me take Harry now" Sirius argued, "If there's dementors…"
"The dementors are stationed at the gates. Harry has to stay and clear things up. Please leave, Sirius" Sirius opened his mouth to object again but Dumbledore forced him back through the flames then he went to the window, watched the ministry officials and the media run up the front steps then turned back to the boy lying miserably on his office floor.
"Harry…"
"Why am I always the hero?" Harry asked, more to himself than anyone else "I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to run from the ministry, fight Voldemort, and live out my days terrified that the enemy will get my friends…" an image of Claire formed in his mind and he shook his head furiously to get rid of it.
"Harry, Stop it. It will not always be like this. You just need to take one step at a time"
"I hope your right" Harry mumbled, he could feel the floor vibrating beneath him as the Aurors ran along the corridor and up the steps.
"Circle the room!" Harry heard someone yelling out orders and yet he stayed lying on the floor. "Make sure he can't escape! Block the windows and the doors!" Harry noticed almost immediately that the person forgot to mention the fireplace. "Separate him from Dumbledore and will someone please get rid to the press?"
The door burst open and people began flooding into the room. They didn't get far, though, because the first few in stopped in surprise when they saw Harry spread-eagled on the floor. The people jostling from the back forced the front men through the door and they took formation around the room, wands painting at Harry. The press managed to get a few pictures of Harry before Fudge pushed his way into the room and two witches closed the door.
"What are you playing at, Dumbledore?" Fudge seethed, his eyes bulging in fury and his wand pointed straight at Dumbledore who slowly withdrew his own wand.
Harry watched the whole scene from the floor, as he had no immediate urge to get up and fight his way out again.
"I told you not to use the chair, Fudge" Dumbledore said quietly, a hint of hatred in his voice.
"He's a wanted criminal! It was right to chain him!"
"You didn't have to torture him though!" Dumbledore spat back. Surprisingly, Fudge didn't cower. "It was only right that I should bring him back here for medical attention"
Fudge glanced down at Harry with a superior smirk on his face.
"Well he doesn't look healed to me…"
"That's because you put it on the unhealable torture!" Dumbledore advanced on Fudge and a few of the Aurors wands adjusted their aim on him.
"I am the minister for magic! How dare you tell me how to do my job!"
"When it is one of my students at risk, it is my business to tell you how to do your job!"
"You don't scare my, Dumbledore" Fudge's eyes narrowed as Dumbledore prepared to fire.
"Do I scare you?" Harry asked quietly, getting slowly to his feet and withdrawing his wand. All wands were now targeted on him.
"Now that I have your attention," he said, staring straight at Fudge "I want you all to know that I am not evil. I may be more powerful then Voldemort but I can assure you that all your lives depend on me" he turned slowly so he could look at all the Aurors. "Voldemort will not be happy if you lock me away and I can tell you this now, you don't want me as your enemy!"
"Crucio!" Fudge sent the curse the second Harry's back was turned. Harry felt all his muscles contract at once and a thousand knives being driven into his back. He fell to his knees, screaming harder than he had in a long time. Though Fudge's unforgivable curse wasn't as effective as Voldemort's, Harry, for the first time since he'd gotten his new powers, felt true pain, stabbing at every inch of his body.
"REDUCTO!" Dumbledore sent Fudge flying off his feet and into a bookcase. The Aurors didn't know whom to fight for now; Dumbledore, because Fudge had attacked Harry from behind, or Fudge, because Dumbledore had blasted their boss.
Stunning spells began flying in every direction.
"STOP!" Harry threw out his hands and every single person in the room, including Dumbledore, was frozen solid, only their eyes were moving, and the spells were suspended in mid air, glowing eerily red.
"Listen to me" Harry, panting, got to his feet and stared around the room, preying that his eyes hadn't become red with anger. He noticed Salazar standing off to one side of the room and Harry realised that the ministry couldn't kill him. But they could sure as hell try. Harry took his time, going around the room, staring each man or woman in the eye for a moment before moving on. Suddenly, like a bucket of ice falling down his back, Harry noticed Amos Diggory was standing next to Kingsley.
Images of Cedric flooded into his mind; Cedric's body, Voldemort rising, Voldemort stroking his cheek, muttering something about blood. This last thought hit Harry like a flying brick. He whirled around to face Fudge again with a smile on his face.
"Voldemort has my blood!" Fudge's eyes widened in horror. "We are almost the same people! On the night he was resurrected, he took some of my blood to protect him. My blood flows in his veins! That's where the evil is coming from!"
Harry turned around and vanquished all the airborne spells before unfreezing the people.
"I have become more powerful then him but he sports the evil blood. It all makes sense!"
Salazar smiled at him then shimmered away.
"I believe Harry is correct" Dumbledore said, pocketing his wand as all other wands were lowered.
"Well…" Fudge said, unsure of what to do. "I-I suppose we'll have to let him go on parole…"
"Good idea" Kingsley said and strolled out of the room. The other aurors began to follow him. Fudge shot a last, frightened, glance at Harry and Dumbledore before exiting the room to tell the eagerly awaiting press that Harry was innocent.
As the door swung shut, Harry noticed Rita Skeeter pressing Fudge for information. Then they were gone. It was all over.
Harry slumped down in a chair, realising that his body was aching from the burns and curse.
"Are you alright, Harry?" Dumbledore knelt down before him.
"I-I think I need sleep" Harry said drowsily. His energy had completely dried up.
"Would you like to go to the hospital wing?"
"No. Anywhere but there…" an unexpected surge of anger spiralled up his spine and he blinked.
"Harry, your eyes are red" Dumbledore was staring at him with a hint of fear. Harry caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror and saw that his eyes were indeed glowing a metallic red. He blinked and suddenly his eyes were green again.
"I just need rest," he said through clenched teeth as he forced himself not to overload. Dumbledore watched him for a moment longer before standing up and opening the door.
"Harry you need to cool down. I want you to go to the fourth floor where the two rusty knights are and give then the password, 'mermaid scale'. It will take you to the head boy and girls bathroom. Rest for a while whilst I talk to the students. After that I suggest you get some sleep"
Harry nodded curtly. The whole night was hazy in his mind and he would like to keep it that way.
The media was still milling around at the bottom of the stairs and the moment Harry came into view they pounce, shouting questions from every direction. Rita Skeeter's quick quotes quill was writing a mile a minute and Harry could only guess what the headlines would say the following morning.
Harry edged his way through the group, ignoring the reporters, but there was one man at the back who sidled up to Harry as he was making a break.
"What sort of sex life do you have, Harry?" he wheezed. Harry gave him a disgusted look before breaking into a sprint and losing them at a crossroad in the hallways. Now he had the students to deal with. Hundreds of them, running, screaming, in every direction. Again some tried to hex him but his quick Quidditch reflexes kicked in and he managed to escape.
He passed Draco in the last hallway and the blonde boy redirected the students to moaning myrtles bathroom.
Harry entered the head students' bathroom and was suddenly grateful to Dumbledore for suggesting it. It was as if he'd stepped into a rainforest clearing. The walls were a moss green and the floor was made of white stone. A huge rock pool was situated in the centre of the room and a waterfall was trickling into it from the far wall. The rock pool itself was a smooth rock basin with ferns and other greenery shrouding the edges.
Harry admired a tall palm tree shading the pool of steaming hot water and he noticed that the ceiling had the same effect as the one in the great hall. Harry watched it for a moment but the usual array of the universe was covered with storm clouds and pouring rain.
Harry selected a forest green towel from a stone shelf and placed it by the pool before undressing and sliding in with a satisfied groan.
Exotic birds called to each other from above and tiny glowing pixies skipped across the surface of the water as Harry closed his eyes and let the warm water from the waterfall splash over his face.
After a fair while he opened his eyes reluctantly and swam to the other side of the pool where he noticed a golden tap hidden in a fern bush. He turned it on cautiously and pink, cloudy bubbles streamed from it and Harry leant back as they slipped across the surface of the water.
He found several more gold taps concealed in plants and rocks and for a long time he amused himself with them.
Finally, when his fingers where looking old and wrinkly, he pulled himself out of the water and redressed before slipping out into the hallway and making his way to the Gryffindor tower.
Only Prefects and the head boy and girl were patrolling the corridors. Dumbledore must have told them what happened because Olivier, Ginny's prefect friend, came hurrying up to him, a little cautiously, and told him that the rest of the school was in the great hall and if he wanted to go to bed, now was his chance.
He took it and ran the rest of the way to the tower. When he reached the floor below it, Malfoy stepped out from behind a suit of armour and stopped him.
"Are you going to tell me what happened, or what?" he asked, frowning. "Who cast the cruciatus curse? 'Cause it hurt like hell" he rubbed his own head and Harry, who had been looking behind him, turned and faced his friend.
"I got off on parole. But I don't think that's the end of it. The press are all hanging around and no doubt the other students will want my head."
"Well we go home tomorrow so you wont have to put up with it for long."
Harry made a disgusted face as he was reminded, sourly, of the Dursley's.
"The other students are coming" Draco said suddenly. "You better go"
Harry punched Malfoy playfully then ran to the fat lady's portrait.
Well I hope you enjoyed. I haven't been able to update lately because my computer decided it hates me and committed suicide. J.K.'s sixth book has now over taken me so who ever has read it please take no notice that this story is completely different.
I have written half of the second story that goes with this one so look out for it soon.
Please Review! It is most greatly appreciated…