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Chapter 2

Harry was not a happy camper. After arriving at Grimmauld Place, he was left there, alone. Dumbledore refused to answer him, saying he had to 'clean up.' That, however, wasn't good enough for Harry. He was happy that the house was clean though, however sparsely furnished. It looked as though all things Black had been eliminated before Sirius had died, but didn't get around to furnishing it properly.

After two days of waiting and fixing himself food with whatever was leftover from an Order meeting, Dumbledore had finally made an appearance. He didn't didn't have the twinkle in his eyes, but he also didn't look worn down. He looked annoyed more than anything. He glanced at Harry and waved him over to where he flopped down into one of the chairs in the living room. Harry cautiously sat down waiting for Dumbledore to start, but when he didn't Harry decided to.

"Who the hell was that?" he questioned with underlying malice in his voice that Dumbledore didn't miss.

"That, Harry, was a man named Rasputin. He's a Necromaster." The Headmaster explained.

"Right, what's a Necromaster" Harry asked.

"A Necromaster is more powerful than a Necromagi and a Necromancer. He is the only true immortal. Rasputin is the only one to have ever existed."

"So, he's with Voldemort then?" Harry huffed.

"No, Rasputin is what wizard's call a 'Grey Lord.' This makes him more dangerous than Voldemort," Dumbledore said gravely.

"Right, I'll believe that when my shite turns purple and tastes like rainbow sherbet," Harry replied snottily. His spite for the dead was beginning to carry over to the living.

Dumbledore just smirked at this and carried on, "Temper, temper, Harry, that is, after all, what drew Rasputin to you."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"All I know is that Rasputin can sense all things dead, even thoughts the living have about the dead. And you must have had particularly malicious thoughts to have drawn him out," Dumbledore explained, "what those thought's are, are none of my business."

"About time you minded your own business," Harry shouted at him.

"Why, Harry, whatever do you mean," Dumbledore patronized.

"You know very well what I'm talking about," Harry whispered.

"I do not. And that is my downfall. I don't 'snoop' into my faculty's business, unlike a certain three Gryffindor's I know. I happen to value privacy and only stick my overtly large, crookednose in matters that concern the well being of my self and students." Dumbledore said. Harry cracked a grin, no matter how much he didn't want to at Dumbledore jabbing himself. Dumbledore saw this and thought he had won the victory... for now.

"What's a 'Grey Lord' anyway and what's so great about a Necromagi? I thought they were laughed and scorned at in the Wizarding world?" Harry questioned a little more subdued now.

"A Grey Lord is concerned with the total extermination of the human race, even themselves if the need arises. A Dark Lord is someone who wants to rule a certain people and sometimes exterminate another. The Dark Lords are the lesser of two evils.

"And to what's great about a Necromagi... nothing. They can summon weak skeleton's and can faintly talk to those who have passed on. A Necromaster, however, is unimaginatively powerful. As I said, they, or he as Rasputin is the only one, are immortal. He can control death. If he is dying, he can bring himself to life, he doesn't age, and could summon someone's parent's in a heartbeat to make them go insane. He could have been great, he doesn't just control death, but life also. He can heal and bring people back to life if he did the rituals needed quickly enough." Dumbledore finished in a somber tone.

"So, we can't kill him?"

"He was shot, stabbed, clubbed, hanged, poisoned, drowned, and castrated all on the same night. And tonight he tried to kill you," Dumbledore finished, "so you tell me." Dumbledore then gave Harry some background information about Rasputin and left.

During the rest of the week, Harry researched all he could using muggle and wizard means. He learned that Rasputin was from Russia and cured someone from the Romanov family from an incurable disease, that to today, no wizard or muggle means has been able to produce the same results. He was then a councilor to the Romanov's, and eventually led to their destruction.

Harry had almost stayed at Grimmauld Place for a whole week with nothing big happening, until his birthday. He was walking down to the kitchen to make himself breakfast. The Order had a meeting the night Harry talked to Dumbledore and they restocked the fridge for him, he however didn't find out until the next morning. He was still blurry eyed and in his pajamas, when it all hit the fan.

He opened the door when a booming "SURPRISE" almost blasted Harry off his feet. For a split second he registered that he finally had a birthday party with all those he loved before it came crashing down. One of Fred and George's fireworks hit Harry right on the bridge of his nose. That not being bad enough, it happened to have exploded at that instance, throwing Harry through the door he just came through and making the lenses on his glasses explode, leaving the shattered lenses to embed themselves into Harry's eyes and eyelids.

The room of people had horror stricken faces and not one made a sound. In fact, the only sound being heard was Harry rolling on the ground shouting obscenities making Mrs. Weasley, with hands over her face, pale even further.

Dumbledore had just arrived and sighed in annoyance. He told them not to do something like this. He allowed them to have breakfast and to exchange gifts, but not a full blown party. He quickly parted the crowd and hoisted Harry up by his arm and led him upstairs. He pulled out a mirror connected with the Infirmary at Hogwarts and called Poppy to come remedy the situation.

Harry had bandage's wrapped over his head and had to leave them like that until the next morning. He also heard Dumbledore scold Mrs. Weasley for having a party. Harry was thankful for this because he really didn't want one. He had lost his godfather little over a month ago and was attacked just last week. He had enough stress without worrying about playing host. Dumbledore told Mrs. Weasley exactly that, and Harry didn't know if he had used Legilimency or if great minds really do think alike. He was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt however because he really did appreciate the gesture.

Dumbledore also tried to keep Ron and Hermione out of his room, but they barged in anyways. It was also Harry's request to keep them out. Harry didn't know why, but when he heard Hermione enter, with her quick, crisp steps only she could produce, his mind snapped.

"YOU! Get out of my room! Haven't you done enough damage already! If it wasn't for you, Sirius would be here! And I bet it was your damned idea to throw me that party that I didn't want that landed me in bed for my whole sixteenth birthday! OUT! GET OUT NOW" Harry roared.

Hermione just gasped a little and covered her mouth with her hands and ran out of the room. Ron just looked on and said, "D'you think that was a little much?"

Harry just shrugged and felt a box hit him in the chest. "Happy Birthday I guess" Ron said, "that's my present. Nothing much, mind you, but everyone needs a chocolate fix every now and again," and Harry felt the letters of a Chocolate Frogs box.

The two chatted for an hour about nothing in particular and Ron got up and left. Dumbledore entered his room when Ron left to have a talk with Harry.

"We need to have a talk," Dumbledore began, "you need to continue your Occulmency. Voldemort isn't the threat anymore, at least for a while. He is too far a way to influence your mind. However, Rasputin is a different matter. Your magic has been... warping your mind, and I believe he will to it to completely warp your frame of mind."

"How do you know this?" Harry questioned. The thing he hated most in life were people entering his mind without permission, closely followed by Snape.

"I believe your anger with Ms. Granger was proof enough," Dumbledore relayed. Harry once again felt an uncontrolled urge of anger at the mention of her name. it was almost like last year when, on the rare occasion Dumbledore did look him in the eye, it felt like a coiled snake wanted to erupt from him.

"If she didn't nag me then I would have remembered the mirror Sirius gave me to contact him," Harry roared. Dumbledore just looked nonplussed at this.

"I see I was right. Harry, your magic has warped your mind and common sense. It does tend to do that, and thankfully it's not too late to reverse the instability of your mind. However, you do need to continue to study. I personally will tutor you in other things besides Occulmency until school starts and hopefully by then, you'll be able to tutor yourself."

"Oh, and what will you teach me?" Harry asked.

"Besides Occulmency, I'll teach you an anti-necromancy spell useful for all Undead, and the beginnings of Legilimency."

"Why Legilimency?" Harry asked.

"Because, as you know, you are a major player in the upcoming war. People will approach you and you will have no idea what side they're on. Plus, people you have known since you were eleven will defect sides. Also, I'm thinking on sending you on a mission of sorts later in the school year that I think you'll enjoy, but you'll also need to know Legilimency in case you meet any shady characters."

Harry was intrigued about this possible mission Dumbledore had for him, and was a little depressed that some of his friends could end up on Voldemort's side. He almost protested that, but he knew it was more than likely to happen. He also felt a little self-conscious since Dumbledore brought up the prophecy. Harry was able to ignore it the whole summer, focusing instead on Sirius death than the more prominent matter at hand.

Another week had passed since his eyes were impaled with little glass shards. It didn't really hurt after Dumbledore had numbed it, but he still felt like putting on a show to make his party-goers feel like crap. Dumbledore had taught him the Greek Fire Conjuration. It was a mixture of Transfiguration and Charms and was based on the Alchemy formula the ancient Greek wizards used for fighting. It was also a very hard spell to master. It essentially burns whatever it was casted on until there is nothing left of the object. It was also perfect for the Undead who would keep going if you torn their heart or some other vital organ apart. He however couldn't practice the spell until he got to school, but he could anytime he didn't have classes or other duties.

Harry also was able to get some kind of progress in Occulmency. He liked the way Dumbledore taught it. He said instead of banishing his emotions, he should get in touch with them and understand them, so he would be better at hiding them. According to him, Professor Snape wasn't a bad teacher at Occulmency, he just taught the way he did his Occulmency, which was hard for those with strong opinions and emotions. Dumbledore said you didn't have to abandon your emotions, just cloak them so someone couldn't find them. He also went straight to Advance Occulmency. In Advanced Occulmency, you just didn't hide memories or emotions, but could fabricate ones as well. Dumbledore pointed out that when Harry got good enough, he could feed Voldemort and Rasputin false information. Harry concentrated hard on this aspect of training the most. He knew the only way he could beat Voldemort and Rasputin was to master this ability, and in a sense, master himself.

Harry also received his OWL scores. They weren't that impressive he had to admit. His highest easily was his Defense OWL (Outstanding), followed by his Charms (Exceeds Expectations). He couldn't even get into Transfiguration. He surprisingly did better on his Potions OWL than his Transfiguration. He owed it to his knowledge of the Polyjuice Potion. Dumbledore said he was somewhat disappointed, but that it was perhaps a blessing in disguise. Harry didn't think so, and said as much, when Dumbledore just said that it was a chance to teach himself. He could gain access to the Restricted Section and learn what he wanted and sit in whatever NEWT's he wanted. Harry learned that's what Dumbledore had done. Except he didn't do as bad on his OWLs, but even Dumbledore didn't make Head Boy in his day.

Harry decided that's what he would do since he would only have four classes that year (Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Herbology, and Care of Magical Creatures). He ordered his necessary books in each field and then some from a Flourish and Blotts catalog brought to him by Dumbledore and boarded the train of the Hogwarts Express to start his most exciting year ever.

AN: It's that wonderful time again. Today, I'm expressing my annoyance with people who write dialogue with someone explaining something and always using, 'You see...' Guess what? I'm legally blind so I guess I don't (and I know they're not talking to me, but usually it's Harry, and I assume he's as blind as me). That irk's me, also, big thanks to... take a guess of the quote I used from here for brownie points (it sucks I'm a guy and a guy will probably guess it), anywho, Peace.