Albus Dumbledore sat at the head of the rectangular table in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Seated around the table were the Weasleys, professors Mcgonagall and Snape and aurors Tonks, Kingsley and Moody. All of them were talking quietly between themselves.
Joining them were Ron and Ginny. As soon as the two youngest Weasley children had left Hogwarts, they had joined the order, much to the chagrin of their parents. Ron and Ginny were the youngest members of the order but had already proven to be useful. After Harry had been wrongfully convicted and Hermione had believed him to be innocent, Ron and Ginny had taken over the running of the DA. Although the DA weren't members of the order, they had proven invaluable to the order in times of severe trouble. They had fought alongside the order in some of the times that help had been needed. As much as they had hated admitting it back then, Harry had known quite a number of useful spells and strategies. He had trained them very well indeed.
That was the subject of most of the mutterings in the room. Harry Potter. Every single person in the room had betrayed him and no one knew what kind of retribution he would take. All at once, the mutterings stopped as Albus Dumbledore rose heavily from his seat to speak.
"It seems that we have made a very grievous mistake." He told the assembled group. He was about to continue, but was cut off by an irate and tear-stricken Molly Weasley.
"A MISTAKE?" She yelled shrilly. "YOU CALL IT A MISTAKE? ALBUS, THIS IS A FUCKING CATASTROPHE. CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT HE HAS BEEN THROUGH?"
Everyone who was there was gob-smacked by the sight of Molly Weasley cursing.
"Molly…" Her husband said calmly in an attempt to sooth her. Unfortunately, she didn't appreciate this very much.
"No Arthur, don't even try." She began in a lower voice that was just as angry. " Our actions are inexcusable. When I stop to think about the way we treated him-" She had to stop for a moment to gather herself. She had been terrible in her accusations of Harry and as she looked around the table, some of the people that were shifting nervously seemed to be thinking along the same lines.
"What had he ever done that led us to doubt him?" She questioned the gathered group.
"He saved Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets and certain death. He saved Arthur from that snake bite. He gave us every reason to trust him and no reason whatsoever to doubt him. But yet, I still did doubt him. When he was accused, Percy came back, telling us that he was right. I was so desperate to have the family whole again that I ignored anything else and accepted Percy back. With that, I convinced myself that Harry was guilty and got everything that he deserved. We all admitted to Percy that he was right about Harry being unstable and he forgave us. I was so happy to have him back that I didn't even question the decision even once."
By the end of it, she had her head in her hands and was unable to speak anymore. The other occupants of the table, aside from Snape were looking mortified as well. They had all been very ultimately sure of Harry's guilt. So sure in fact, that Harry's request for trial under veritaserum was denied. They had decided amongst themselves that it would only have been a waste of time and that they would not bother with it. He had been sent straight to the dementors without a second thought about it.
The headmaster remembered thinking furiously that he had lost another boy to the dark side just as he had lost Tom Riddle all those long years ago. He regretted ever trying to befriend Harry Potter. In him, he saw another Tom Riddle and that fact alone had blinded him to everything else.
Now, he was regretting every decision he had ever made in regards to Harry. Leaving him with the Dursleys, he had only found out after Harry had been imprisoned, that Harry had been treated worse than most house-elves. He regretted not telling him of the prophecy straight from the beginning and even going so far as to use him as his own tool.
Because as much as he didn't want to admit it, that was exactly what he been doing with Harry. He had manipulated the boy and used him for his own purposes. He had told Harry that he cared for him and it was true. He did care for him. But no matter how much he cared for him, it hadn't stopped the headmaster from influencing Harry towards his own ends.
Eventually, Harry had figured this out and their relationship had come to a stop. He remembered that he had been the one who had asked Harry to train himself in some of the more dubious spells but when the time had come, he had not believed that Harry was innocent. He had believed that the dark arts had corrupted him. That was his biggest regret. Not believing in Harry and for not having any trust in the boy who had sacrificed so much for others and had proven extremely loyal to the headmaster.
Harry had not trusted that headmaster with anything after he figured out that Dumbledore was still using him. Now, there would be no convincing Harry. If he dared approach him, he was sure that Harry would not hesitate in cursing him into oblivion. Not that the headmaster blamed him in any way. In his own mind, Dumbledore believed that they all deserved anything and everything that Harry could dish out at them for the way they had treated him.
The only thought that gave him comfort was that Hermione Granger had believed him. She was most likely with him at the moment and he hoped that she might be able to keep him from doing something rash in an attempt at revenge.
"I don't see what the problem is." Snape commented bitterly. Every head turned in his direction, wondering what had caused him to speak so bitterly when he too was at fault. "The boy has made his fair share of mistakes and has been forgiven every time. Yet when we make a mistake, everyone acts as if we must grovel at his feet." His tone was annoyed and the look on his face was one of incredulity. It was only matched by the look of horror and disbelief on the faces of the other order members.
"Severus, are you comparing his mistakes to our own ones?" Dumbledore asked the potions master. His voice carried more than a little anger and a not so subtle warning.
"Let us remember that his mistakes got Black killed, not that I am complaining, and he allowed a death eater to obtain something of his and impersonate him, getting Hagrid killed in the process. It could have been worse. His actions could have killed someone of importance." He sniped at them, making it sound as if it should have been the most obvious thing in the world to see. The livid looks on the faces of the members of the order were enough to convey their thoughts about what Snape had said.
"The deaths of Sirius Black and Rubeus Hagrid were no one else's fault but my own. If Harry had been properly informed of what lay in the Department of Mysteries, he would have realized that it was a trap. I never informed him that Tom was capable of sending him false images through their connection. I knew that he could and yet I failed to mention it because I felt that he should not know about it. Also, if I had been able to protect him better, his time at Azkaban could have been prevented entirely. Every year since he first arrived at school, he has found himself in perilous, life-threatening situations." Dumbledore's voice had taken on an air of evident sadness and guilt."
"Well if you ask me, it'll have done him some good. He was always hot-headed, arrogant and has never had any respect for his elders. I hope that he has learned his lesson" Snape said severely.
By now, the looks on everyone's faces had changed from anger and shock to pure, unmasked hatred. This included Dumbledore who only now seemed to realize just how much the professor hated Harry.
'Another item to add to the number things I have done wrong by Harry. I should not have gotten Severus to try to teach him occlumency. His hatred for him prevented it.' He thought
"Severus, you will hold your tongue or you may leave. Harry Potter is not hot-headed, arrogant and has respect for anyone who respects him as you quite obviously do not." He explained quite angrily.
"Should have known everyone would take his side. He is nothing more than an insolent brat just as his father was." Snape muttered coldly.
Unfortunately, by this point Dumbledore had had enough. He tried restraining his anger to no avail. He stood and retrieved his wand quickly from the deep folds in his robes. He pointed it at Snape's head and spoke.
"Legilimens"
Everyone was completely frantic about how the whole incident had gotten so out of control. No one was worried for Snape but feared what might happen if there was fighting within the order. Knowing all this however, they made no attempt to stop Dumbledore.
Snape quickly brought up his mental barriers. No good. Dumbledore tore through them in an instant, not even bothering to spare Snape any unnecessary discomfort. He passed through the images of Snape's and Harry's occlumency training. Snape had made no attempt to teach Harry the proper methods and techniques for clearing his mind. Dumbledore was outraged. For some reason, despite Snape's inadequate teaching, Harry managed to master occlumency. Little did he know that Harry had gotten Hagrid to sign him a permission slip for going into the restricted section and getting a book on occlumency and legilimancy and that Harry was proficient in both.
He quickly exited Snape's mind and gave the potions professor the coldest glare he could. A glare that was usually reserved for Tom and the death eaters. Snape in return didn't even have the decency to look ashamed. He glared defiantly back at Dumbledore.
"How dare you?" He hissed at the headmaster.
"No Severus. The actual question is; how could you? You made no attempt to teach Harry occlumency. You attacked his mind, searching for events from his past that you could embarrass him with. You must sooner or later realize that Harry is not James. Now leave."
With that, Snape got up and left Grimmauld place, his cloak billowing behind him.
Dumbledore sat down jadedly and motioned with his hands.
"Let us begin this meeting."
