A/N: This is really a continuation of the last chapter. I know I let Dumbledore off kind of easy, I'm not sure if that's really the direction I'm going in. I could go another way with it. One billion points to anyone who can inform me of what "ERISED" means….
OK Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I have a feeling some of you will be pleasantly surprised. It seems that everybody thinks Harry was too forgiving, and Dumbledore believed Harry too much. But, fear not, all will be revealed in time...
P.S. Sorry this chapter took so long. My last 4 days have been a haze of sleeping in the back of a truck and drinking. That and I'm in bit of a love triangle with my friend and his girlfriend, so I've been in a wierd place mentally lately. She was sorta leading me on. Broke my heart.
Chapter 4: The Draught of Ancestral Power
"You mean to tell me, Headmaster, that Potter didn't kill those students, and he has proven to you that those students are in fact alive," Snape said scoffing.
"That is quite right, Severus. Harry has proven to me that he is indeed innocent, and that he is still on the track to destroying Lord Voldemort."
"Well, I was right about Potter after all. I told Fudge to use the Veritaserum."
Harry apparated back to Dumbledore's office just as Dumbledore returned. "So, have you informed the staff?" asked Harry.
"Yes, most were wary to believe me, but I was able to convince them in the end. After all I am Dumbledore. Severus told me he would be happy to help you in anyway so that you may destroy the Lord Voldemort. And one Hermione Granger is looking forward to seeing you very much."
"Is that so…"
"Yes, Harry. You forgave me; it's time you forgave the world."
"I'm not entirely sure I've forgiven you Dumbledore. And I know I'm not ready to forgive the world. I might be able to once I have destroyed Tom, but before then…"
"Understandable, just remember, Tom is only the Dark Lord today because he could not let go of his anger and hatred. You must learn to let it go, and not seek revenge on the world that has wronged you again and again."
"Well, I must go see Snape, I need to begin work on this potion. I trust he has full stocks of all potion ingredients."
"Of course, he always is prepared."
"Does he still reside in the same dungeon?"
Dumbledore nodded, and Harry left his office without another word. He walked slowly through the corridors. Reminiscing of happier times, and there had been happy times. Of course, it hadn't all been fun and games. He had nearly died several times in his time here. Voldemort had been behind most of those attempts. The Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, Quirrel housing Voldemort's spirit, the Triwizard Tournament, they had all been attempts on his life. Then, in his fifth year, Voldemort had lured him to the Department of Mysteries. Harry had learned of his destiny, and had nearly gotten himself and several of his friends killed.
Now, he remembered how he used to dread going down this path to the dungeons where the Potions Master resided. He walked into the chamber where lessons were taught. Remembered some of his worst memories from school, the detentions Snape had given him. The extremely complex potions they had been forced to learn. The taunting at the hands of Snape and the entire Slytherin house.
But, he was past that now. He would deal with it later; his first priority was the destruction of the Dark Lord. And he needed one potion made to carry out his plans. He needed the Draught of Ancestral Power. For that he would need to travel to Godric's Hallow, where his father's grave was. He needed his father's bone for this potion. Even as Harry had theorized this potion, in the last few months of his time in Azkaban, he had realized the similarities between this potion and the potion Voldemort had used to return to power. But this was different. This potion would permanently imbue him with the power and knowledge of all his ancestors. He already held the knowledge and power of Godric Gryffindor. He had gained this power through hour upon hour of deep meditation. He had actually been able to contact the spirit of Godric, and after explaining a great deal to Godric, Harry had been granted his ancestor's considerable power. And, Harry thought with a chuckle, this potion didn't require him to forcibly take the blood of an enemy, or have an ally donate his flesh.
Fortunately, this complex potion was intricate in design, but did not take long to make, only a few hours. He entered Snape's office, and looked to see where Snape was. He was seated at his desk. Looking at Harry with a complex expression on his face, it was not the look he used to give Harry, you know, the one of pure loathing. It was a mixture of respect, fear and surprise. Harry assumed Snape was surprised at the change in Harry's appearance. But, Snape need not fear Harry, though the respect was nice for a change.
"Good afternoon, Potter, the Headmaster has informed me that you need help with a potion," Snape said, in almost a whisper.
"Yes, Snape. A potion of my own creation. I call it the Draught of Ancestral Power. There is an ingredient that we do not have, I will fetch it, but I will leave the intructions here." And, with these words, the ingredients, as well as instructions for the potion appeared on a piece of parchment on Snape's desk.
"It's not entirely too difficult, Potter, but I can see why you would ask for help with it. This is going to require finesse. Something you still seem to lack."
"You would understand my lack of finesse if you harbored the same powers I did, Snape. I will return in a few minutes, however, I will not apparate directly to this office, I would not want to startle you and cause a mistake in the potion," Harry said with a grin of satisfaction, before apparating away.
Harry appeared in Godric's Hallow, the place of his childhood home. The place where Voldemort had destroyed Harry's future, and ruined himself. Harry knew his father's grave was around here, as well as his mother's. He had never been to visit the graves of his parents before. This should be an emotional place for Harry, but Harry soon found that he seemed to have unconsciously blocked his emotional attatchment to this place. He was a great Occlumense, afterall, possibly the best.
Harry looked around at the place that nearly eight teen years earlier, had been the site of two vicious murders. Harry had never known why, until his fifth year. Then he had finally found out about the prophecy. He was destined to kill Voldemort, or be killed by him. Of course, Voldemort would prefer killing Harry, but was unable. Harry, remembered every detail now. He had been barely a year old, but thanks to the Dementors, and his hours of meditation, he could recall the events precisely.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off -" James Pottter was cut off as the door burst open, and Lord Voldemort entered their home with a high cackle of laughter. James ran to meet Voldemort, and there was a flash of green light as James fell lifelessly to the floor.
Voldemort advanced into the room. "Not Harry! Not Harry! Please - I'll do anything -" Lily begged.
"Stand aside. Stand aside silly girl! Stand aside... now..." Voldemort commanded.
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead -" Lily pleaded, refusing to surrender Harry to Voldemort, "Not Harry! PLease... have mercy... have mercy..." But Voldemort did not show mercy, and she died in another flash of green light as he laughed histarically. He then turned his wand on Harry, and shouted, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" The force of the spell reduced the house to ruble. Harry, however, had been left with nothing more than a small cut on his forehead, and Voldemort, had been reduced to nothingness.
Harry shook with anger as he remembered this, and decided to lock the memory away for the time being. For now, he needed a bit of solid bone from his father's grave. Harry began to walk towards two graves under a willow tree. These were the ones he needed, he knew it. Yes, the headstone had his father's name on it. "Accio Bone," Harry muttered, and one of his father's ribs came up out of the ground.
"Forgive me, father. I did not wish to desecrate your grave, but I must avenge you and mum. As well as everyone else that Voldemort has killed."
"Avenge them will you?" said a icey voice.
Harry turned, and saw the eyes of a muderer. The red cat-like slits narrowed as Harry nonchalantly replied, "Yes, I will, Tom."
"How dare you use that name!" hissed Voldemort. "That name was given to me after my muggle father, and no does not suit me."
"Ashamed of your heritage are you? A wise man once told me 'Never be ashamed of what you are.' It is good advice."
"Enough, it is time you finally die Harry Potter," Voldemort said as he withdrew his wand from his robes. "Crucio."
But, Harry was ready for him. "Protego!" Harry shouted, and the curse merely bounced off.
"How? You have no wand."
"Fool, only the weak rely upon a wand."
"We'll see who is weak, Potter," shouted Voldemort before disapparating right behind Harrry, who had sensed it fractons of a second before.
"Nexus Protectus." muttered Harry as Voldemort appeared behind him, yelling "Avada Kedavra!"
The killing curse seemed to be right on target, as Voldemort laughed in triumph. But, the curse couldn't seem to make contact with Harry, It merely turned around him once, before rebounding on Voldemort, who disapparated just in time. Harry knew where he would appate to, and cast a stunning spell that connected with Voldemort just as he appeared. Voldemort sunk to the ground unconscious, probably for the first time ever. Harry calmly walked over to him and grabbed Voldemort's wand. Then he muttered, "Ennervate." Voldemort awoke to Harry standing over him with a wand. His wand.
"Tom, you have three days to live, I would suggest begging everyone you have wronged for forgiveness. You may not have your wand back, so don't even ask. I will return it to you on the day of our duel, I can't kill an unarmed psychopath, with these words, Harry disapparated back to Dumbledore's office, leaving the once most feared dark wizard, lying unarmed and nearly defenseless on the ground in a graveyard, the graveyard where two of his victims had been lain to rest.
Harry apparated at Dumbledore's side, and handed Voldemort's wand to him.
"Harry, whose wand is this?"
"I thought you would want Riddle's wand, he surprised me in the graveyard at Godric's Hallow," Harry began as he recounted what had happened in the graveyard.
"You're really going to return it to him in three days."
"Yes, Dumbledore. It's bad enough that I have to murder him, I refuse to murder some one who is unarmed. Well, I must see Snape so that I may add my part of the potion. I believe he should be done by now," said Harry as he turned to leave the office. Harry walked back down the path towards the dungeons. As he arrived, he knocked once on the door and entered. "I believe the potion should be ready for my bit now."
"Yes. This is a very complex potion, Potter, but it is ready, and as soon as you add your father's bone, you should be able to bathe in the potion to gain the desired effect."
"Excelent," Harry said as he pulled the rib bone out of his pack. He lowered the bone into the potion, and it turned from the grey of concrete to a vivid orange. He then took the caldron and poured the potion on himself. As the potion was absorbed into his skin, he let out a gasp of pain, then a look of dawning comprehension fell over his face, then he fell to the floor, completely unconscious.
A/N: What an ending eh, the fight with Voldemort was just a taste of things to come and came as a sort of spur of the moment thing. The idea hit me in the middle of the night. Once again, sorry for the delay in updating... my weekend wasn't very sober and then FanFiction had server problems all week, as you all know.
OK Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I have a feeling some of you will be pleasantly surprised. It seems that everybody thinks Harry was too forgiving, and Dumbledore believed Harry too much. But, fear not, all will be revealed in time...
P.S. Sorry this chapter took so long. My last 4 days have been a haze of sleeping in the back of a truck and drinking. That and I'm in bit of a love triangle with my friend and his girlfriend, so I've been in a wierd place mentally lately. She was sorta leading me on. Broke my heart.
Chapter 4: The Draught of Ancestral Power
"You mean to tell me, Headmaster, that Potter didn't kill those students, and he has proven to you that those students are in fact alive," Snape said scoffing.
"That is quite right, Severus. Harry has proven to me that he is indeed innocent, and that he is still on the track to destroying Lord Voldemort."
"Well, I was right about Potter after all. I told Fudge to use the Veritaserum."
Harry apparated back to Dumbledore's office just as Dumbledore returned. "So, have you informed the staff?" asked Harry.
"Yes, most were wary to believe me, but I was able to convince them in the end. After all I am Dumbledore. Severus told me he would be happy to help you in anyway so that you may destroy the Lord Voldemort. And one Hermione Granger is looking forward to seeing you very much."
"Is that so…"
"Yes, Harry. You forgave me; it's time you forgave the world."
"I'm not entirely sure I've forgiven you Dumbledore. And I know I'm not ready to forgive the world. I might be able to once I have destroyed Tom, but before then…"
"Understandable, just remember, Tom is only the Dark Lord today because he could not let go of his anger and hatred. You must learn to let it go, and not seek revenge on the world that has wronged you again and again."
"Well, I must go see Snape, I need to begin work on this potion. I trust he has full stocks of all potion ingredients."
"Of course, he always is prepared."
"Does he still reside in the same dungeon?"
Dumbledore nodded, and Harry left his office without another word. He walked slowly through the corridors. Reminiscing of happier times, and there had been happy times. Of course, it hadn't all been fun and games. He had nearly died several times in his time here. Voldemort had been behind most of those attempts. The Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, Quirrel housing Voldemort's spirit, the Triwizard Tournament, they had all been attempts on his life. Then, in his fifth year, Voldemort had lured him to the Department of Mysteries. Harry had learned of his destiny, and had nearly gotten himself and several of his friends killed.
Now, he remembered how he used to dread going down this path to the dungeons where the Potions Master resided. He walked into the chamber where lessons were taught. Remembered some of his worst memories from school, the detentions Snape had given him. The extremely complex potions they had been forced to learn. The taunting at the hands of Snape and the entire Slytherin house.
But, he was past that now. He would deal with it later; his first priority was the destruction of the Dark Lord. And he needed one potion made to carry out his plans. He needed the Draught of Ancestral Power. For that he would need to travel to Godric's Hallow, where his father's grave was. He needed his father's bone for this potion. Even as Harry had theorized this potion, in the last few months of his time in Azkaban, he had realized the similarities between this potion and the potion Voldemort had used to return to power. But this was different. This potion would permanently imbue him with the power and knowledge of all his ancestors. He already held the knowledge and power of Godric Gryffindor. He had gained this power through hour upon hour of deep meditation. He had actually been able to contact the spirit of Godric, and after explaining a great deal to Godric, Harry had been granted his ancestor's considerable power. And, Harry thought with a chuckle, this potion didn't require him to forcibly take the blood of an enemy, or have an ally donate his flesh.
Fortunately, this complex potion was intricate in design, but did not take long to make, only a few hours. He entered Snape's office, and looked to see where Snape was. He was seated at his desk. Looking at Harry with a complex expression on his face, it was not the look he used to give Harry, you know, the one of pure loathing. It was a mixture of respect, fear and surprise. Harry assumed Snape was surprised at the change in Harry's appearance. But, Snape need not fear Harry, though the respect was nice for a change.
"Good afternoon, Potter, the Headmaster has informed me that you need help with a potion," Snape said, in almost a whisper.
"Yes, Snape. A potion of my own creation. I call it the Draught of Ancestral Power. There is an ingredient that we do not have, I will fetch it, but I will leave the intructions here." And, with these words, the ingredients, as well as instructions for the potion appeared on a piece of parchment on Snape's desk.
"It's not entirely too difficult, Potter, but I can see why you would ask for help with it. This is going to require finesse. Something you still seem to lack."
"You would understand my lack of finesse if you harbored the same powers I did, Snape. I will return in a few minutes, however, I will not apparate directly to this office, I would not want to startle you and cause a mistake in the potion," Harry said with a grin of satisfaction, before apparating away.
Harry appeared in Godric's Hallow, the place of his childhood home. The place where Voldemort had destroyed Harry's future, and ruined himself. Harry knew his father's grave was around here, as well as his mother's. He had never been to visit the graves of his parents before. This should be an emotional place for Harry, but Harry soon found that he seemed to have unconsciously blocked his emotional attatchment to this place. He was a great Occlumense, afterall, possibly the best.
Harry looked around at the place that nearly eight teen years earlier, had been the site of two vicious murders. Harry had never known why, until his fifth year. Then he had finally found out about the prophecy. He was destined to kill Voldemort, or be killed by him. Of course, Voldemort would prefer killing Harry, but was unable. Harry, remembered every detail now. He had been barely a year old, but thanks to the Dementors, and his hours of meditation, he could recall the events precisely.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off -" James Pottter was cut off as the door burst open, and Lord Voldemort entered their home with a high cackle of laughter. James ran to meet Voldemort, and there was a flash of green light as James fell lifelessly to the floor.
Voldemort advanced into the room. "Not Harry! Not Harry! Please - I'll do anything -" Lily begged.
"Stand aside. Stand aside silly girl! Stand aside... now..." Voldemort commanded.
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead -" Lily pleaded, refusing to surrender Harry to Voldemort, "Not Harry! PLease... have mercy... have mercy..." But Voldemort did not show mercy, and she died in another flash of green light as he laughed histarically. He then turned his wand on Harry, and shouted, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" The force of the spell reduced the house to ruble. Harry, however, had been left with nothing more than a small cut on his forehead, and Voldemort, had been reduced to nothingness.
Harry shook with anger as he remembered this, and decided to lock the memory away for the time being. For now, he needed a bit of solid bone from his father's grave. Harry began to walk towards two graves under a willow tree. These were the ones he needed, he knew it. Yes, the headstone had his father's name on it. "Accio Bone," Harry muttered, and one of his father's ribs came up out of the ground.
"Forgive me, father. I did not wish to desecrate your grave, but I must avenge you and mum. As well as everyone else that Voldemort has killed."
"Avenge them will you?" said a icey voice.
Harry turned, and saw the eyes of a muderer. The red cat-like slits narrowed as Harry nonchalantly replied, "Yes, I will, Tom."
"How dare you use that name!" hissed Voldemort. "That name was given to me after my muggle father, and no does not suit me."
"Ashamed of your heritage are you? A wise man once told me 'Never be ashamed of what you are.' It is good advice."
"Enough, it is time you finally die Harry Potter," Voldemort said as he withdrew his wand from his robes. "Crucio."
But, Harry was ready for him. "Protego!" Harry shouted, and the curse merely bounced off.
"How? You have no wand."
"Fool, only the weak rely upon a wand."
"We'll see who is weak, Potter," shouted Voldemort before disapparating right behind Harrry, who had sensed it fractons of a second before.
"Nexus Protectus." muttered Harry as Voldemort appeared behind him, yelling "Avada Kedavra!"
The killing curse seemed to be right on target, as Voldemort laughed in triumph. But, the curse couldn't seem to make contact with Harry, It merely turned around him once, before rebounding on Voldemort, who disapparated just in time. Harry knew where he would appate to, and cast a stunning spell that connected with Voldemort just as he appeared. Voldemort sunk to the ground unconscious, probably for the first time ever. Harry calmly walked over to him and grabbed Voldemort's wand. Then he muttered, "Ennervate." Voldemort awoke to Harry standing over him with a wand. His wand.
"Tom, you have three days to live, I would suggest begging everyone you have wronged for forgiveness. You may not have your wand back, so don't even ask. I will return it to you on the day of our duel, I can't kill an unarmed psychopath, with these words, Harry disapparated back to Dumbledore's office, leaving the once most feared dark wizard, lying unarmed and nearly defenseless on the ground in a graveyard, the graveyard where two of his victims had been lain to rest.
Harry apparated at Dumbledore's side, and handed Voldemort's wand to him.
"Harry, whose wand is this?"
"I thought you would want Riddle's wand, he surprised me in the graveyard at Godric's Hallow," Harry began as he recounted what had happened in the graveyard.
"You're really going to return it to him in three days."
"Yes, Dumbledore. It's bad enough that I have to murder him, I refuse to murder some one who is unarmed. Well, I must see Snape so that I may add my part of the potion. I believe he should be done by now," said Harry as he turned to leave the office. Harry walked back down the path towards the dungeons. As he arrived, he knocked once on the door and entered. "I believe the potion should be ready for my bit now."
"Yes. This is a very complex potion, Potter, but it is ready, and as soon as you add your father's bone, you should be able to bathe in the potion to gain the desired effect."
"Excelent," Harry said as he pulled the rib bone out of his pack. He lowered the bone into the potion, and it turned from the grey of concrete to a vivid orange. He then took the caldron and poured the potion on himself. As the potion was absorbed into his skin, he let out a gasp of pain, then a look of dawning comprehension fell over his face, then he fell to the floor, completely unconscious.
A/N: What an ending eh, the fight with Voldemort was just a taste of things to come and came as a sort of spur of the moment thing. The idea hit me in the middle of the night. Once again, sorry for the delay in updating... my weekend wasn't very sober and then FanFiction had server problems all week, as you all know.