Chapter 12: The Third Meeting
Harry met Dumbledore in his office for tea the next Saturday afternoon, and brought Hermione with him. She seemed very nervous to share her theories about the Prophecy with the Headmaster, but assurance after assurance from Harry had her feeling slightly more confident.
"Fig Newton," muttered Harry, and the Gargoyle hopped aside.
"I don't think I can do this, Harry!" squeaked Hermione. "I mean, what if he thinks I've just gone around the bend, or if it's nothing he hasn't thought of before?"
"Hermy," consoled Harry, "you've just got to trust yourself. We all do."
Gulping a deep breath, Hermione steeled herself and marched up the stairway. A polite, but firm, knock on the door later and she and Harry were seated in two chintz armchairs opposite Dumbledore across his desk.
"Ah, Miss Granger!" twinkled the Headmaster. "A delightful surprise! And what, may I ask, is the occasion?"
Hermione's air immediately changed. Proper, formal and businesslike, she began pulling diagrams, graphs and numerous sheets of parchment from her bag.
"Professor Dumbledore, sir, Harry and I have come to discuss possible interpretations of the Prophecy made by one, Sybill Trelawney, in the year of 19 hundred 80. It was come to our attention that not only is this Prophecy legitimate, but it concerns the fate of the world as we know it.
"I would like to relay to you my insights and concerns about said prophecy, and how Harry's role in it could change quite dramatically should a different interpretation be used."
Dumbledore seemed floored, and Harry tried hard to bite back a smile. He had no idea that Hermione would turn all "Muggle Lawyer" on the Headmaster to make herself feel more confident in front of him.
"Ah, um, please proceed, Miss Granger. The floor is yours."
"Thank you, sir."
Hermione rose from her chair, straightened her robes, conjured an easel and began what was unmistakably her presentation of the Prophecy, complete with visual aides. Tapping her wand on the blank sheet of parchment standing on the easel, her neat, slanted handwriting appeared.
Line I: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…
"That just says that someone with the power to finish off Voldemort is coming near. The original interpretation concluded that someone would be born, but it clearly states that someone is "approaching". So, in all logic, it really could just mean that he (or she) with the "power" is approaching the room that Professor Trelawney and Professor Dumbledore are currently in."
A second tap of the wand, and more script appeared.
Line II: Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…
"That somewhat changes the possible interpretations of the first line. When one first analyzes the prophecy, they could make the mistake, as I did, of keeping those lines together as if they were one, continuous sentence. But they're really not. It's almost a completely different train of thought.
"So, to me, this part says that a wizard (or witch, because at this point it's still gender neutral)- A wizard, but not necessarily THE wizard will be born to a set of parents that have defied Voldemort three times, and he will be born towards the end of July. That doesn't necessarily mean July 31st, just any time after the 15th, since that would constitute half of the month being over- thus, it "dying"."
Guesturing toward Harry, she added, "I think that you were just exceptional and extreme in this case, being born on the actual 'dying day'. I got a little stuck here, because, I mean, we don't really know what your or Neville's parents did that would be considered "defying him". That, and I didn't know of any other wizards born after the halfway point in July.
"It is also possible that the parents could have defied the person with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord, and not the Dark Lord himself. Well, excluding those roadblocks, I pressed forward.
Line III: And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…
"Ok, literally this says that Lord Voldemort marks the baby (which we now know is a boy) as his equal. Equal to WHAT, we don't know though, do we? Equal in intelligence, power, evilness, blood, or what? We don't know! The only thing I could come up with is the fact that Harry can do a lot of things he can- Parseltongue, wandless magic, etc.
"And then there's the bit about power- if you're essentially EQUAL, how could you have a power that he doesn't know about? If you are equal, he must have this power as well, or else there would be no statement about equality in there at all.
"So that kind of made me think. Maybe we're looking at the wording incorrectly. To "know" could mean many different things. What could Harry possibly have that could constitute as power, but the Dark Lord wouldn't be able to know it- that is, to know as in understand? Professor, you have always said that if there's one thing that Voldemort doesn't understand- and therefore underestimates- it's LOVE. That makes me think that Harry's "power the Dark Lord knows not" has something to do with love, or friendship even."
Leaning forward, eyebrows furrowed, Dumbledore was muttering to himself. Hermione paused, but when the Headmaster realized he was thinking aloud, he smiled, and nodded.
"My sincerest apologies, Miss Granger. Please continue."
A fourth tap of her wand, and the script once again changed.
Line IV: And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives.
"Well, of all, I think this one is pretty self-explanatory. Either Harry or Voldemort must die at the hand of the other. But that raises another question. This is what irks me about Divination. It's absolutely wooly, and raises more questions than it answers.
"Could the "other" be someone in fact OTHER than yourselves? This one had me going for quite some time. I mean- I was thinking about Neville being the possible other, since he was the other possibility to be "marked" since he was born at the end of July as well.
"Going back to simple English grammar, it states "either or, neither nor". I'm still a little stuck on that one, but it also seems to be thrown off a little by the last line a bit, too."
With one final flick, the visual aide made its final change.
Line V: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…
"Now, to the casual observer, it seems like the first line repeats, but in a way it doesn't. The first line just says that the one with the "power" approaches, while this line says that one with the power "WILL be born as the seventh month dies." and nothing more.
"This line holds no gender reference, Professor. It could be anyone. It could be Harry, but it could also be someone that has completely nothing to do with Harry."
Hermione paused, as if wondering whether or not she could make her final statement. The statement that would bring the "Last Potter" theory come crashing down.
"Or," she concluded, timidly, "it could refer to someone having very much to do with Harry."
"How do you mean, Miss Granger?"
"If Harry's power is indeed Love, true, untainted, pure love, then couldn't it possibly be concluded that the one who will vanquish the Dark Lord might be a product of Harry's love? That is to say- Harry's child?"
Dumbledore's eyebrow arched pleasantly.
"Harry, is there something you wish to tell me?"
The boy in question immediately flushed to match the coloring of the Phoenix that was now perched on his knee.
"I, uh—no, Sir, I—HERMIONE!"
"No, sir. Harry has nothing of that sort he needs to tell you… right now any way."
"'Mione…" Harry warned.
"The point is, Headmaster, the whole act of lovemaking- that act of reproducing, making an heir. I can think of no better way than that to tap Harry's power. If he could know what it's like to experience undying love and devotion, then I think that would help him harness his power."
"I see. Please continue."
"When Harry and I discussed this last summer, he pointed out a crucial point. If, in fact, the ability to harness his power lies in understanding and experiencing unconditional love, then Lord Voldemort almost had him from the start. When Voldemort… murdered…" Hermione whispered the last word, as if saying it softly would make it hurt less for her friend,
"when he did that to Harry's mum, he ruined the chance Harry had to understand what it felt like to be loved unconditionally. That's why I came to the conclusion about Harry being on the OTHER side of that spectrum- the parental side.
"Now, I could be off completely, but all wrongness aside, I could find no way that it would hurt to try. If Harry should not be able to… complete his task, then I could see no one other than an heir of his having a better shot to finish what Harry started."
There was a long, but not uncomfortable, silence as Hermione packed away her things, shook the Headmaster's hand, and left the office.
"Miss Granger certainly has grown, has she not, Harry?"
"You have no idea, Profe—um, I mean, Albus. I apologize, though, I had no idea she was going to go all… Scotland Yard Prosecution on you."
Albus laughed, and Harry saw some of that old twinkle return to his eyes. Harry smiled, but pressed onward.
"What are we going to do then, Professor? I think Hermione could be right. It makes sense. Born as the seventh month dies, the 'love' power thing. It just makes sense. And, like she pointed out, it couldn't really hurt. …Could it, sir?"
The headmaster removed his half moon shaped spectacles and preceded to polish them on his robes.
"No, Harry, I don't believe it could. I do believe that this might be a logical step at this point. There are ways that we could ensure that your surrogate mother would be protected long after carrying the child to term, and could also arrange that she carry the child without need of… shall we say… consummation?"
Harry blushed.
"I understand that, Albus."
"Do you have any idea of who might be willing to do this for you, Harry? I know Severus will be more than able to produce the necessary potions, but of course, as I'm sure you know, it does take… shall we say, 'two to tango'?"
Harry blushed, and mentally resigned the fact that his face might just continue to remain a rather bright shade of crimson if this conversation were to continue much longer-, which it undoubtedly would.
"Professor Dumbledore- I think you and I both know that I would have no other woman than the one you are thinking of, despite the fact that you won't admit it."
Now it was the Headmaster's turn to blush.
"Ah. I see. You will have no other then?"
"None. There will be no negotiation on that particular aspect. As to where, when and how- of course I understand that this must be planned properly, sir. But that leads me to another concern."
"And what is that, Mr. Potter?"
"Ginny is a year behind me in school. I couldn't imagine asking her to go through this for me unless absolutely necessary. For her to go through nine months of carrying a child- the ridicule, the danger- I won't even ask her unless you feel it is the only way."
"That is a lot to ask, Harry. The "only" way? There is no way that I could possibly be sure of that."
Before Harry could possibly let the weight of this statement sink in, Albus continued.
"However, Harry, yes. I have complete faith in Miss Granger's logic and reasoning skills. I believe it appropriate to say that, were I to be in your position, I would do the same thing. One can never be entirely sure, but it is always best to cover as much ground as possible.
"Clearly, yourself and Miss Granger have thought of this from as many conceivable angles you could find, and I must say that I can't imagine how hard it was for you. You have never ceased to impress me, Harry. I want you to know that."
Harry smiled shallowly, willing himself to keep breathing.
"But sir, I guess, what I mean is… um, I, uh… Ginny,"
"Come, Harry. Anything you have to say couldn't possibly be more embarrassing than what we've already discussed, can it?"
Curse this infernal redness, thought Harry miserably to himself as his face flared up once more. Dumbledore had a point. Taking a deep breath, he continued.
"Sir, is there any way- any charm, potion, spell, anything- that would enable the pregnancy to be delayed unless completely necessary?"
Dumbledore gazed thoughtfully down on the boy that was being so considerate of the situation, and how it could affect a certain Miss Weasley's life. Considerate of another, even though the boy knew that should he fail, his child quite possibly would be the last hope of all humanity.
"Ah, I see- a 'delayed conception', if you will? A way to insure that the fetus would only begin to develop if all else was to fail."
"Exactly. I wouldn't want to make her go through that unless there was no hope left. So, do you think it's possible? Is there a way to delay conception until… well, until it seems that I will no longer be here?"
"We will find a way, Harry."
"Thank you, Professor."
The boy sighed. "Now all I have to do is somehow convince Ginny to be the father of my – Oh God. I can't believe it. I'm really going to be a daddy if we go through this."
Albus laughed. "Yes, Mr. Potter, being a daddy is generally the result of impregnating a young woman."
Harry began to chuckle with him- but suddenly, he stopped, the full weight of the course of action he was about to take set itself upon him.
"Actually, Albus, it's not."
"Not, Harry?"
"Not for me," he said sadly. "If the conception will only take place if I do not survive, then it seems that I will never be… a 'daddy'."
Dumbledore's forehead wrinkled as his eyes widened in realization of the truth his favorite pupil was speaking.
"Ah. Well, Harry, I suppose in a sense that is true. But let us just make it so that it will not happen, and you will be able to have children and watch them grow."
Rising, Harry replied, "I guess so, Albus. Will you excuse me, though? I need to go think of a way to break this to Ginny."
"Of course, Harry. If you need anything, just send that remarkable owl of yours. She'll know where to find me."
"Thanks, Albus," he replied, and with a soft swish of his robes Harry disappeared down the spiral staircase.