Summary: It's the beginning of the summer before sixth year. Harry has started to look beyond the masks of both foes and friends. But can he except what truth is revealed to him or will secrets from the past seal his fate? In order too deal with his future Harry sets off on an adventure to explore his past. This leads to a new Harry that no one could have predicted. Friends and foes alike will notice the change in the Boy-Who-Lived but who will stand with him in the end.

Spoilers: Books 1-6. Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. So don't sue me. All Harry Potter™ characters and settings are the sole intellectual property of JK Rowling, Warner Bros. and various others who all aren't connected to me in any way. No money is being made with this fan fiction and no copyright infringement is intended.

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Power of the Serpentine Eyes

Chapter Two - Breaking Free

He materialized a moment later standing directly in front of the Chambers main door in which the interwoven serpents were carved. Harry hissed softly for them to open. Springing to life at his command, they revealed the dark chamber within.

"Lumos," Harry hissed loudly, unseen torches on the walls burst into flames, filling the large chamber with green light. The rotten smell of decay assaulted his nose. A rush of memories came back to him as he walked down the long rows of life like snake statues. Memories that were both Riddle's and his own. Towering stone pillars rose to support the high arched ceiling, all of them adorned with carved snakes.

The dark chamber was just as Harry remembered it only it now seemed less evil somehow it even looked smaller. Either because it no longer held as much fear for him, or because he had grown, Harry didn't know. Even the size of the Basilisk wasn't the same. Although, he had to admit the now dead snake was still bloody huge!

Since it had only been a few years since it's death, the Basilisk had only decayed slightly. Harry figured the cold dark chamber helped to preserve the snake's carcass. He would need to salvage it, as some of the parts were necessary for a couple of potions he planned to make. Harry knew Basilisk ingredients were dead expensive, especially the poison that still remained in the glands of the beast along with its fangs that were still perfectly intact, well, all but one that lay broke on the floor from the meal that got away. As he looked over the 70 foot long beast Harry give a violent shutter at the memory of his twelve year old self fighting for his life against it, unconsciously Harry rubbed the part of his arm were the basilisk had bitten him. He could still remember how the venom felt when it coursed through his veins, slow bring his death.

Drawing level with the last pair of pillars his eyes soon fall on the huge statue of Salazar Slytherin looking just as regal and powerful as ever. Even after a thousand or more years after the statue was made. Carved into the last stone pillar was an Indian King Cobra, poised to strike. He hissed at the snake softly, its emerald eyes quickly came to life. The wall behind the pillar slides open, revealing a stone passageway and staircase. It was just as he had seen in Tom Riddle's memories.

The staircase led to a large octagon shape office done in black stone marble and a deep emerald green wood. A large desk of craved ebony wood and black leather high back chair set in center of the office, laid heavily with thick layers of dust. Four of the walls held selves of books, scrolls, and journals. They too were covered in almost a century worth of dust. He hissed once more and eight unseen torches blazed to life.

Harry had only one reason for seeking this place out; it contained the personal library of Salazar Slytherin. He knew in order for him to successfully remove the rest of Dumbledore's cage from his mind he would need to seek out the dark arts. Nothing in the Restricted Section of Hogwarts library could possibly help him, he had no wish for Dumbledore to find out what he was researching and why.

Mental Shielding Wards were a every obscure breach of magic, they were very difficult to learn and perform, the ministry had classified them as a dark art centuries ago, so not many could ever hope to find a complete or detailed book on them. It had taken nearly three hours but Harry was able to find some understanding of the mind cage from the knowledge he had gained from Voldemort. Harry now knew for a fact that it was indeed a mental ward that he was dealing with and only the books in this office could possibly help him.

Each book, scroll, journal, and tome in this room held a wealth of forgotten knowledge on even the most obscure of magical art forms. Casting cleaning charms as he went around the selves, looking for the books on warding magic he noticed that most of the books were written by some of the most renowned witches and wizards in history. After about twenty minutes of searching Harry found the books he was looking for. Taking the books he had picked out over to the large desk, after casting a couple more cleaning charms, Harry made himself comfortable and began to read the first book it's small pale title reading; The Warding World by S. L. Gentry. After about a hour an half of reading he was elated when he finally found a spell that would reveal any type of magical blocks, seals, concealers, and wards that had ever been cast on ones person, along with who cast it and when.

After studying how to cast the spell and practicing the need wand movements Harry cast the rather difficult spell on himself. A blue light spilled out of his wand, a strong ripple of magical energy washed over him making his body tingle and then it seemed to push itself out of the tip of his hand which caused a roll of parchment to come out the tip of his wand. With a great deal of anxiety Harry unrolled the parchment and read the results.

NAME: Harrison James Orion Black-Potter

Magical Ranking: Unknown

Date: October 31, 1980

Caster(s): Lillian M. Potter, James W. Potter, Sirius O. Black

Spell(s): Algiz Sanctuary Ward- Magical Core Block; Druid Based, Obscurus Enchantment- Concealer

Date: July 31, 1981

Caster(s): Lillian M. Potter, James W. Potter, Sirius O. Black

Spell(s): Othila Hagalaz- Protection of Spirit Ward; Druid Runic Blood Based

Date: November 9, 1981

Caster(s): Albus Dumbledore

Spell(s): Claustrum Captivus Ward- Mental Control / Dullness Ward; Dark Arts Based,

Compos Imperius Curse- Mental Controlling Ward; Dark Arts Based,

Excido Charm- Memory Block; Dark Arts Based

Date: May 24, 1992

Caster(s): Albus Dumbledore

Spell(s): Claudmus Seals- Magical Abilities Seal, Excido Charm- Memory Block

The results of the revealing spell cleared up a lot of questions Harry had about his magical abilities, it also caused to raise more questions than it answered. He had long ago been puzzled by his variance in magical aptitude over the past two years. It seemed more than a little odd that he could cast a corporeal Patronus at thirteen that had enough power to chase over two hundred Dementors away with only a couple of weeks worth of practice, when witches and wizards twice his age and power level couldn't even manage to produce a couple whiffs of smoke. And yet it had taken the threat of being roasted alive by a dragon for him to learn a simple summoning charm, not only that, but then only a couple of months later he was able to best Voldemort, of all people, in a duel when their wands connected in the graveyard.

While not common, blocks that were placed on young children were not exactly unheard of. The strength of the one that was placed on him was very rare, from what the book said an Algiz Sanctuary Ward was only to be placed on the most powerful of children. Those born with abnormally high magic levels, young infants are unable to control the high levels, and could wandlessly release the power through strong emotions. The outbursts can cause harm to a young child, possibly resulting in lasting damage to both their mind and magic. Once cast the ward was locked in place making it virtually impossible to remove until a ten-year time span had passed.

Harry was not bothered by the fact his parents and godfather had placed a block on his magic but was a little puzzled to why they had gone through so much trouble to hide it. With the original casters of the ward being all dead, the block needed something called a Clarui Cludo potion in order to cancel it, which Harry decided to look up how to make later. He was not able to find that much in formation on the protection ward his parents and godfather had cast on him except that they were very strong and were used to protect his soul in some way. Though he was able to find plenty of information on the dark spells Dumbledore had cast, and what he read about the Claustrum Caplivus Ward caused all the color to drain from his face.

The Claustrum Caplivus Ward is one of darkest and most powerful mental containing spells documented throughout wizarding history. During the year of 2645 BCE, a Dark Druid WarLord named Keegan the Cruel, created the spell in order to control his more powerful and untrustworthy warriors so they would stay loyal to him and would never think or try to over throw his power. This ward is elemental in nature; it erects a cage of lighting like fire around the victims mind, causing a mental dullness of intelligence for easier influence over the victim's consciousness. Strength of the ward will vary depending on the strength of the casters magical power and desire to enslave. After casting the ward it is highly recommend to also cast a Compos Imperius Curse on the wards bars too insure the victim can follow pacific commends. This ward is almost always a permanent enslavement, and as such, it was out lawed by the Wizarding Conceal in 502 BCE. As a result, the Claustrum Captivus wards were administered only to the extremely dangerous and violent criminals whose magical core had been too badly contaminated by dark magic, or to those who are mentally insane and prone to Discrucio Stigmata. The wards must continually be feed magical energy to remain active so it is usually bonded to the victim's own magical core. This bond cannot happen if the victim's magical core is to be block for any reason. The only known way for a victim to over come a Claustrum Captivus that is placed on them, other than having the caster cancel the spell, is for a powerful witch or wizard to focus the power of their mind, magic, and soul at the same time during a powerful magical surge. This will enable the victim enough power and control to sever the link that connects the 'mind cage' to the victim's magical core. Another way for a victim to over come this ward is to create a Castus Sol frame within their soul while focusing their mind and burning away the elemental 'mind cage', which, if done correctly will cancel each other out. Warning: Both processes are highly dangerous, and WILL cause intense pain if done incorrectly. It may cause one or more of the following side effects if done wrong. Blindness, Insanity, Deafness, Neurosis, Magic Loss, or in extreme cases Death.

By the time Harry finished reading the passage his body had stared to shake uncontrollably, his mind spinning as cold cruel realization of what Dumbledore had done to him started to set in. For nearly fifteen years he had been nothing more than an obedient mindless puppet dancing to whatever tune the Headmaster had chosen to play. How many of his choices had been his own and how many had been of Dumbledore's making. The man had knowingly cast two extremely dark and powerful spells on his mind, imprisoning it in his infancy, the bastard had even rounded it off with a more discreet variation of an Unforgivable. The unwanted memory of Barty Crouch Jr. came forcefully to mind.

Waves upon waves of nausea engulfed Harry. His parents had successfully blocked his magical core from manipulation and because of the time lock of the Algiz Sanctuary Ward; Dumbledore had been unable to remove the block, for which Harry was grateful. But the back stabbing bastard had cast the Claustrum Captivus ward anyway, using the last remains of the failed Avada Kedavra that flowed between the Dark Lord and himself to flue the power needed for the mind cage, effectively linking his mind to that of the Dark Lords.

He staggered backwards away from the table. Before he could even think of trying to stop it, Harry fell to his hands and knees vomiting all over the floor, his stomach twisted painfully as the full scope of Dumbledore's betrayal hit him hard.

At first, Harry tried desperately to ward off the unwelcome tide of emotion that now threatened to shallow him whole. He had balled his shaking hands into tight fists, clenched his teeth together, and screwed his eyes shut, determined to hold everything in, desperately trying to stop the howl of misery and betrayal that now overwhelmed him. Reading that book had been the most painful heart retching thing he had ever experienced in his life. Spotlighting, in his mind just how completely fucked up his life really was.

Passed events and recent event consumed him; everything seemed to catch up with him all at once. It hadn't seemed to matter if it was a life-defining moment, or something childishly trivial. A seemingly endless parade of memories flashed crazily through his brain. Voldemort, the Dementors in third year, Petunia's favoritism, Snape's hateful scorn, his childhood nightmares of green light, Remus' scolding about the map, his loveless childhood, Cedric, Ron's jealous, Sirius' death, his entire second year, his cupboard, Pettigrew's betrayal, losing all those house points in first year, those stupid 'Potter Stinks' badges the Slytherin's had made, Minister Fudge, Bellatrix, Prof. McGonagall taking points away from him for standing up to Umibridge, Cho, Occlumency lessons with Snape, detention with Umibridge, his recent possession, Hermione's and Ron's injuries, Dumbledore's betrayal...

It had all finally become too much. All his outrage, anger, hatred, frustration, fear, resentment and pain boiled over, and he had absolutely no chance of holding it all in. The howl of misery he'd barely managed to stifle, as Remus Lupin held him back in DoM right after Sirius fell through the veil finally broke free. Drawing his knees tightly against his chest Harry had suddenly found himself in the middle of a here-to-fore unprecedented, wailing, sobbing, screaming, raving, ranting, fist-pounding, teeth-gnashing, I'm-a-nice-guy-what-did-I-ever-do-to-deserve-this, no holds bar outburst that made any tantrum thrown by his cousin Dudley look like they were done by a pathetic amateur.

It seemed like it had taken hours to work everything out of his system, unable to even consider stopping until all the years of pint-up and suppressed sorrow and pain was completely exorcised. His sadness and grief quickly turned to righteous fury and furious hatred. Harry's infamous temper rising to heights he hadn't even known existed.

For the first time in Harry Potter's life he truly wanted to kill someone. To kill them as slowly and painfully as possible, to revel in their agony, to hear them beg for his mercy, only to grant them no such quarter. The creature that had awoken inside him at the ministry reared up once again as his rage continued to escalate, yearning to rip those who had hurt him into shreds.

Harry was filled with so much rage and inconsolable hated at that moment; he knew without a doubt in his mind he would be able to cast both the Killing Curse and the Cruciatus Curse correctly now. Hate coursed through his very blood, hate and the want to cause pain. Pain to all those who had wronged him, too those that had made him suffer. Would that still be considered righteous anger though? That was what Lestrange said was the reason why he couldn't cast the Cruciatus Curse correctly. His lips curled into a snarl, he promised himself right then that he would avenge his godfather's death. That insane bitch would pay for what she had done. Along with Pettigrew, Snape, Voldemort, and Dumbledore. And in Harry's mind Dumbledore's treachery was even worse than the others.

Peter Pettigrew. Had once been one of his fathers best friends, but sold his parents out to Voldemort out of selfish fear and cowardice, he was nothing more than a sniveling rat. Severus Snape. The man hates him. And in turn, Harry hated him with equal, if not more venom. The potions master was just a pathetic little man, who was forever trapped in the past. The man raped his mind using legilimency and took a delight doing it. If he died, Harry would dance on his grave. Voldemort was an evil sociopath, period. Albus Dumbledore however had no excuse. He had become the number 1 person on Harry's people-to-hate list, even beating Voldemort to the 2nd place. The old coot had sent him to suffer under the Dursley's 'loving care', knowing full well what they were like. He manipulated him from the start to be his weapon against Voldemort. The man lied to him many times using half-truths and a grandfatherly kindness facade. The man was worst than Voldemort. Even if Harry hated the Dark Lord at least he could sympathize with how he turned out that way. Just like him the man was being abused in the orphanage. And then the old coot always sent him back there every summer just like he had done to Harry. Dumbledore had tried to control Tom Riddle just like he had tried to control Harry. It was no wonder that he ended up becoming a Dark Lord. The more he thought on it, the more he realized that it was Dumbledore who created the monster called Voldemort. The thought that Dumbledore had basically crafted his life to be the mirror image of Riddle's sent his already enraged temper up another three notches.

Harry's current state of emotion demanded that these feelings be acted upon. His magic rising to the task sparks of magic cracked through the air filling the room with the thick smell of ozone. The torches around the room burned brighter, their flames reaching up to four feet high. His magical release maded Hogwarts castle tremble down to its very foundation. But the party responsible was a little past caring. Harry eyes shone so brightly it looked as if they could light a dark room bright as day all by themselves. Another howl erupted from deep within his soul, his voice not even sounding remotely human anymore. Inside his mind-eye the purplish-silver flame erupted once more. Harry focused on the fragments of the mind cage that remained; those pieces that represented fifteen years of the Headmasters enslavement were burned away completely. The oppressive weight of the ward lifted from his mind at last, leaving him feeling a little light headed.

Harry got to his feet shakily; his breathing coming in haggardly his magical out burst had left him feeling drained of both his magic and his anger. He was exhausted. He staggered sleepily over to the large wooden desk, claimed on top, is if it were a bed and pass out completely.

When Harry had regained consciousness it had taken him a minute or two to figure out why he was laying on top a table in a strange office. Straightening up slowly, Harry tried to gather his bearings; letting his mind recall the last thing he could remember doing. Eminently, his earlier outburst and the cause for it, rushed to the forefront of his mind. His anger over the situation was still there but it wasn't as overwhelming as it had been before. It was more manageable now. Though if what he had just experienced was "having a good cry," then his female housemates were welcome to it. He hated being so out of control of his own emotions. A body might feel better when it was all over, but the process, and the utter loss of control left something to be desired.

Getting off the table to stretch his legs some, Harry noticed just how stiff and achy his muscle and joints were. He wondered if it had something to do with all the magic he had released earlier. Pushing that thought aside for the moment he began pacing back and forth in front of the books that still lay open on the table. Taking a deep calming breath Harry reviewed everything he knew about the situation he now found himself in. He had to force himself to look at the situation clinically if he wanted to make any since of it. Working himself up into another temper tantrum was not going to help him any. All he had to do was be completely professional. Harry took another deep breath and let it out slowly before he looked back at the books lying open on the desk in front of him.

From what he had uncovered so far, after Voldemort had killed his parents and failed in killing him. Dumbledore had hidden him away at the Dursleys claiming the reason was the lingering protection of his mother's love and the bonds of blood. Harry doubted the true protection of Dumbledore's blood wards. How could blood wards that centered on his aunt and uncle who had treated him like crap his whole life reinforce the protection that his mother gave him that were completely base on love? Then taking in to account that Voldemort had resurrected himself with the help of his blood, which the Dark Lord had already proven that the protection his mother had once given him was now void, the protection of blood wards at Privet Drive might be completely canceled out now. Which would explain why Dumbledore had Order members guarding his relatives home all last summer. But if the wards were voided and Dumbledore knew, then why had Dumbledore left him here all summer. The only reason he had been allowed to leave was because the Dementors had attacked him. It was quite clear Dumbledore was acting in selfish interests and not Harry's, things that happened in past five years started making a lot more sense in a completely sinister way.

His first year was what gave Harry pause; he had known that Dembledore was responsible for most of what happened. Three first year students had managed to get through a series of rather basic and elementary designed obstacles that any musically talented, decent flying, chess playing, Herbology student that knows how to float a club into a troll's head could've gotten through. It didn't escape Harry's notice that all seven obstacles just so happened to test all of Hermione's, Ron's, and his most developed talents at that time. It wasn't about protecting the stone with all those little tasks. Dumbledore had the perfect security measure all along. There was no way Voldemort was going to get that stone, Harry acknowledged. ' The rest of it was a test. For me.' Harry concluded bitterly. He wondered just how much of the things that had happened to him at Hogwarts had been of the Headmasters manipulations. What else was Dumbledore controlling in regards to him. Still pacing Harry began making a mental list of the last five years.

During my second year, Dumbledore knew Riddle was the half-blood heir of Slytherin - why did he not tell everyone? Voldemort wouldn't have anywhere near as many pureblood followers if Dumbledore had let it be known that the most evil Dark Lord of the century was basically a mudblood himself. Dumbledore is a master occlumency/legilimency, he knew I could hear the Basilisk in the walls, why did he not warn the students or teachers? He allowed it to happen both times! Ginny almost DIED! Why did he allow the whole school to think I was the heir? He hired Lockhart knowing he couldn't teach us anything. Why?

In my third year Dumbledore HAD to have known Sirius was innocent. Why had he testified against him if he knew it was Pettigrew who had betrayed my parents? Why did he leave Sirius in jail, but fought tooth and nail in order to keep Snape for the same fate? Could Dumbledore have hated Sirius in some way? Dumbledore HAD to have known the dementors was targeting me, why did he not protect me? He had to have known about the secret passages; even the newest first year can find most of them.

In fourth year Dumbledore must have known Moody/Crouch was a fake, the two had been friends for years surely the Headmaster had too have septic something wasn't right with Moody/Crouch. Why didn't he disqualify me? How can it be a legally binding contract if I didn't give consent? Why did he just set back and allow Hermione and me to be attacked by the Daily Prophet?

Again why had Dumbledore set back and let the Daily Prophet attack both of us so viciously? Why did he continue to keep Mrs. Figg a secret? Why did he trust Fletcher? Why did he fight so hard to keep me in the dark about what was going on? If Snape hadn't done such a half-baked job of 'teaching' me Occlumency, I might not have bitten for the fake, or let alone actually been told the real reason of WHY I needed to learn Occlumency in the first place. I can understand why Dumbledore had been unwilling to teach me, I certainly didn't want Dumbledore's memories available for Voldemort to freely download, but he should have kept Snape on a tighter leash somehow. And why did he keep Sirius locked up? There has too be a lot of different ways to keep someone from being tracked by magic, or the Ministry would have been able to find out were Sirius was hiding with no problem during my third and fourth year.

Each question he added to his mental list only showed more and more of just how fake Dumbledore really was. Harry wondered what kind of threat Dumbledore might have over Aunt Petunia to keep her taking him back every summer, though next summer was supposed to be his last, since on his 17th birthday he would become of age in the wizarding world and would be outside Dumbledore's authority, in the summer anyway. Though Harry had a sneaking suspicion that the old man wouldn't let that get in his way of trying to keep him under control and would find a way to confine him somehow, properly locking him up in Grimmaud Place like he had done with Sirius.

The discovery of the Claustrum Captivus Ward raised to many frightening questions to even try and address right now. He sincerely hoped Dumbledore would not call him to his office before he found a way to completely protect himself from the old mans manipulations. Confronting him and lashing out at the aging wizard for what he had done was a sure fire way to getting another mind cage cast on him, rounded off with a even stronger memory charm. Somehow finding out about the mental ward gave Harry an eerie sense of deja vu, the only difference was that it had been a young Tom Riddle who discovered the Headmasters betrayal and the out come of breaking the ward had not been pleasant. Something had gone wrong when the young Slytherin had removed the Headmasters mind cage, what had gone wrong Harry didn't know. For the moment Harry decided to examine those memories in more detail later, hopefully they would help shad some much needed light on his own problems regarding Dumbledore. At least his unnatural direct link to Voldemort's mind had been destroyed as his thoughts reviewed his possession of the Dark Lord.

His mind moved on to the contents of the prophecy, Harry wasn't sure that he completely believed it, though he acknowledged both Voldemort's and Dumbledore's faith in it. Harry found it difficult to believe anything Trelawney said as gospel, particularly something like this. Though she had made a real prophecy during his third year Harry admitted sullenly. That said, it explained a lot of Dumbledore's behavior over the years. He still couldn't believe Dumbledore had chosen to tell him about the prophecy only moments after Sirius had died. ' Did he think I didn't have enough shit on my shoulders already,'

" THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES... blah blah blahBORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES... AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL..."

Harry stopped abruptly in his pacing, his scar, the link he had to Voldemort's mind.

'' Mark him as his equal '"

That was it! Harry realized. The knowledge he had gained from Voldemort. The full manifestation of the equal-ness Tom marked him with. Not in some figurative or psychological sense. Voldemort didn't go after him to show that he thought Harry was his equal. The Dark Lord had never thought of anyone as his equal. When he had tried to possess Harry the mark or link he had made in Harry only made it possible for Harry to become his equal. An equal to Voldemort's knowledge which until now only Dumbledore could match. Harry knew from years of living with the Dursley's, Dudley and Vernon especially, was that the quickest way to defeating an enemy was to understand how their mind worked and then use it against them. And he now had one of the key weapons need to defeat the Dark Lord. Voldemort's own memories and knowledge. But it was his knowledge now. Unlike Tom he would not lose himself to his own hatred and thirst for revenge. He couldn't afford to lose himself. If he wasn't strong enough to push back all the things that had happened to him up until now, he would no doubt find himself on the same road Riddle had once tread all those year ago that lead him to become the Dark Lord he was today.

He would use his new knowledge to find Voldemort's weaknesses and than annihilate him along with his Death Eaters. He would also learn how to properly defend himself from his enemies and from those who wished to use him for their own gain. Along with gaining his independence in the wizarding world. He was going to be known for far more than just his scar when he was through. Harry understood that the first step he needed to take in obtaining his freedom from the Headmasters control was to have a full understanding of his legal rights and know how to exercise them. It had not escaped his notice that he was only given the most brief knowledge about the workings of the wizarding world only when absolutely necessary and sometimes not even then. He was quite sure that the prophecy was only the tip of the ice berg at the things Dumbledore was trying to keep him ignorant of, he needed to find out what those pacific things were before he made his bid at freedom.

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