A/N: Ok, my intrepid readers, I seem to have caused some confusion once again. In the last chapter, I said that enchantment as a branch of magic had not been used for three hundred years. You may ask, well then, how did Mr. Weasley enchant his car? (Thank you for pointing that out, Shreve.) Well, my friends, there is a big difference between casting a spell on an object to enchant it, and practicing the art of enchantment on an object. The difference will be explained, not in this chapter, but the next one. Until then, don't worry too much about it. Trust me, I will lead you through this confusing piece of magical theory later. (I bet you all hate me for my scientific approach to magic, but it's the way that my mind works.) Well, now that I've made my announcement, it's time to get moving! Onward, my faithful readers!
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Chapter 10: A Startling Revelation
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The silence in the room was palpable. Professor Dumbledore sat there, watching Harry over his glasses, and Harry sat there in the chair, with an unreadable expression on his face. Dumbledore tried to use his legilimency once again, but Harry's defenses were ironclad. As the silence stretched, it became clear that Harry was not going to speak first, so Dumbledore spoke. "Harry, who trained you and Ms. Granger over the summer?"
Harry fixed Dumbledore with a look so piercing, that he instinctively brought up his mental defenses. Ok, so Harry was a legilimens. Now, Dumbledore was even more eager to know who his trainers were. If Ms. Granger was trained in the same manner, the pair would be very valuable to the Order. Harry held Dumbledore's eyes for a moment, then said the words that Headmaster never thought he would hear. "I'm sorry Professor, but I promised them that I would only share their identities with people I trust."
Dumbledore was stunned. Over the last five years, Harry had always trusted his judgement, and provided any information that he'd asked for. Now, Harry had just revealed that he no longer trusted his headmaster. Such shocking information had rendered him temporarily unable to string together a complex sentence, so he settled for a simple one. "Why not, Harry?"
"Sitting in your office the second day of school, you gave me a lot to think about." Harry said. "After I told you about Voldemort's surprise visit to my house, I started thinking. After I escaped him in the department of mysteries, he would most definitely want me dead before I could get back here to your school. In order to get me at home, however, he needed to know how I was protected while there."
Harry stopped for a moment, to see if Dumbledore was catching on. His face was unreadable, which meant to Harry that he at least suspected where this was heading. "Since getting rid of me was, and still is, his highest priority, he would have set all of his death eaters onto the task of finding out. There was only one problem with that. There was only one person in the magical world that knew what types of protections were placed on my relatives' house. That was the man who put them there. That was a man by the name of Albus Dumbledore. Correct, sir?"
The man in question didn't speak. Harry took his silence to be a response to the affirmative. Dumbledore was reflecting on his past, and cursing himself for another bad decision.
"I know how you guard secrets Professor. You kept a very big one from me for a good long time. I find it very unbelievable that you just let that particular secret slip by accident. My guess is that since Voldemort was looking for information that only you had, you used the information to ensure that Voldemort trusted your spy. Do you deny it, sir?" Harry said, and then fell silent. He was waiting for Dumbledore to speak.
Eventually, Dumbledore spoke. "I can't deny it, Harry. That was exactly what I did. Voldemort wanted the information, and I needed a spy close to him. I never imagined that he would find a way to use the information before your birthday. Your mother's protection was very strong at your Aunt's house. I didn't believe that he could harm you there. The day after your birthday, we would have come to collect you. I am sorry, Harry."
"You made a tactical decision, and I respect that, but you forgot one detail." Harry said, still in lecture mode. "My mother's protection was strong at my Aunt's house, but the wards weren't keyed to my mother's protection. They were keyed to my blood. Voldemort doesn't have my mother's protection, but he does have my blood. So, while he couldn't use magic to kill me at my Aunt's, he could pass through the wards. You made a mistake telling him about the blood magic. That's a dark art, and I'll bet he has several books about it." Harry paused here, and conjured himself a cup of tea. He offered one to Dumbledore as well. Then he continued.
"But that little epiphany just brought more revelations. Now that I had a better understanding of how you used information as a weapon, I thought back to Voldemort's first reign." All color drained from Dumbledore's face. Surely he didn't think… "You knew that there was a spy in the Order, and you had knowledge of a prophecy involving either myself or Neville Longbottom. It was prudent to hide our families using a fidelius charm. It occurred to me that the best way to ensure our safety would be complete secrecy of the spell, until after it was cast. Why then did the entire Order know that we would be going under it? You announced it at an Order meeting, didn't you? You were attempting to flush out the spy, and you wanted Voldemort to know that there would be secret-keepers to look for." Professor Dumbledore was filled with regret, and could only manage to nod his head.
"That means that you are partially responsible for part of the prophecy coming true. I was marked as his equal, in more ways than one. His mother died, and his father abandoned him. He lived in a place he hated. That makes our childhoods very similar." Harry said. "We also have very similar talents, such as Parseltongue and Legilimency. Now that I know how you use information that you have, why would I want to tell you secrets that I don't want Voldemort to know?"
Professor Dumbledore couldn't answer. His head was spinning. Harry excused himself, and left him alone with his thoughts. Harry didn't trust him anymore, and it seemed he had good reason not to. Reflecting on his past actions, Professor Dumbledore realized that, in his effort to defeat his enemy, he had forgotten that the lives on the line weren't his to endanger. He had sacrificed the safety of Harry's family to set up an information pipeline from Voldemort's forces, and he had done it more than once.
When Harry had disappeared from his home a week before his birthday, Dumbledore assumed that Harry would seek him out immediately. When Harry wasn't seen for three days, he had sent the entire Order out looking for him. His friends had been contacted, only to find out that Hermione was gone as well. It seemed that her parents had decided to take a trip, and took her with them. Nobody seemed to know where they were, and it was assumed that Harry was not with them. Now, it appeared that Hermione and Harry had used their time in another country to train in magical arts not taught at his school. He needed to know what training they had received, and who taught it to them. As much as he regretted his actions, the information Harry was holding was too valuable to the Order for it to remain secret. Dumbledore started writing a letter to the Grangers. In the meantime, he would need to discuss with the Order what to do about the Gryffindor prefects. He turned to his phoenix. "Assemble the Order, Fawkes." Fawkes trilled, and disappeared in a burst of flames.
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"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are here tonight to discuss a matter of grave importance." Albus said to the Order, as soon as they had all assembled. "Severus Snape has been instructed to reverse-engineer a potion for the Dark Lord, and brew a counter potion for it. Normally, this would not be brought to the attention of the entire Order, but this is a special case. It seems that this potion was enchanted." There were gasps all around the room. "I know that none of you have much experience with the art of enchantment, but the potion is not what we are her to discuss."
"Well, then, Albus, what are we here to discuss?" Asked one of the Order members.
"I'm getting to it, Jonas." Albus replied. "The person who found out that the potion was enchanted was Harry Potter. He and Ms. Granger seem to have a basic understanding of Enchantment, even going as far as to know how to differentiate the spells from each other." More gasps were heard around the room. "Mr. Potter seemed to believe that the potion was most likely brewed by the same person who taught them enchantment."
"Well then, who did he say his teacher was, Albus?" Remus Lupin asked.
"He didn't say who his teacher was, Remus. He doesn't trust me with the information. That is what we are here to discuss. Harry Potter has information we need, but refuses to divulge it." Albus said. "How do we get it? I need suggestions."
As usual, Snape's dislike for Harry was shown quickly. "Albus, I think we should use Veritaserum. Not only will Potter tell us what we want to know, he won't be able to falsify it." The Order members who knew Harry were outraged at this suggestion, and the outrage was very vocal. It was decided that Veritaserum was a last resort type of solution.
Remus suggested that he be allowed to talk to Harry. He thought that Harry would trust him. Albus quickly nixed that idea, knowing that if Harry suspected Remus of spying on him for the Order, he would lose trust in Remus as well.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not just about the information we need." Albus said, after several bad ideas were voiced. "Harry doesn't trust the Order anymore. His trust in us is necessary to help us accomplish our goal. He may be young, but the Dark Lord has placed him at the top of his hit list. We cannot keep him safe if he doesn't trust us to."
Ideas were scarce once the Order was given that stipulation. Mad-eye Moody was the one to voice the next idea. "Why not put a portrait in his room? He'll feel safe in his room, and he might let something slip." The rest of the Order approved of the idea, and it was decided that a portrait would be placed in Harry's room. Molly Weasley was the next speaker.
"I don't really know if I should suggest this, but my son Ron is Harry's best friend. He also wants to be part of the Order. What if we were to make him an unofficial member of the Order, and give him the job of finding out who it was that Harry and Hermione were training with over the summer? Since he's their best friend, he might even already know." She said.
Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling again. It seemed to be the perfect idea. "An excellent suggestion, Molly. I will speak to Ronald about it tomorrow."
The Order adjourned for the night, and Albus went back to the school, certain that the plan would work. Sure, it was a tad underhanded, but the information was vital. After he got the information, he would work on gaining Harry's trust again.
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A/N: I have been getting some reviews that say my chapters are too short. I agree with them that they are, but there isn't much to be done about it. My chapters are broken up by what is happening in them. I like to finish scenes in one shot, so I don't leave cliffhangers. I hate cliffhangers. I know what you're thinking. If I hate cliff hangers, then why was the last chapter a cliffhanger? Simple, my readers. The last chapter was Snape focused. Once Snape left the room, I ended the chapter. This chapter was Dumbledore focused, so it continued after Harry left the room. I hope some of you got the revelation. If you didn't, don't worry about it. Stay tuned for a bit of Magical Theory and another Brutal Murder in the next chapter!
Vicious Lily: Yes, it is a bad sign. Don't worry though, they're also my favorite scenes to write. Another one coming soon!
Raven Dragonclaw: I'm glad you liked my little pun.
Shreve: Don't worry too much about the enchantment thing. I'm going to explain it to you in the next chapter. Thanks very much for giving me the perfect example to use.
Hermionegreen: If Sirius is cleared of charges, it will be posthumously. He is dead, after all. I hated the fact that it was Sirius that bit the bullet in book five, but this is my take on book six.