A/N: Dear infamous: Even in the books, Dumbledore while extremely intelligent has always been secretive. He decided what was best and never let anyone have an opinion. He always spoke in riddles and gave no one a clear picture ever! Harry, Ron and Hermione nearly died multiple times because of him. They have a traumatised childhood because of this megalomaniac who lived in his own fantasies. The fanfics only serve to bring to light his traits as have been created by JKR herself. Hope that answers your question :)
As always: New readers Welcome, Old readers welcome back!
Meanwhile in the Hogwarts infirmary Harry had managed to convince Ron and Hermione that the best way to know what they were dealing with was for him to hear the prophecy. Voldemort was going to heart it tomorrow and they would be at a disadvantage then. Hermione had written a rushed message to Draco and he along with Blaise had snuck out to meet the Golden Trio. Hermione had waited till Madam Pomfrey's office light had gone out before letting the boys in.
They had to find a way to get to the ministry, but Draco and Blaise had been against the idea from the start.
"Leaving the most protected place in the world to intercept the dark… evil Tom is a terrible idea…" Blaise said flatly
"Besides no one but the unspeakable know what goes on the department of mysteries… you can really get lost in there or die and never come back…" Draco added
"I hate to agree with the snakes Harry but they are right…" Ron said
Hermione's jaw was going to hit the floor. When she had made an offhand remark about house unity at the start of the year, she had never thought that she would be dating Draco, let alone see Ronald Weasley agree with two Slytherins! Astonishing as the developments were she needed to stay focussed. While listening to the prophecy was important so was a way to keep Harry alive. She also knew that once Harry had decided on something it was going to be hard to talk him out of it. They knew she needed help but who?
"Mione… what do you say?" Harry asked pulling her out of her head
"Sirius!" She exclaimed
"What?" Harry said
"We need help, we can get out of the castle using Umbridge's floo. Her office is still intact and the floo is working but we need to go with someone who's been to the department before. Remember Sirius told you the Order was taking shifts to guard it, so Sirius and Lupin would know how to get to it! So you can floo there and go with them" She explained
"That's brilliant!" Harry said giving her a hug excited
"So you're gonna just stroll into the Ministry, you do remember you are Undesirable Number 1 on the prophets list and all the propaganda that Fudge has been doing to ensure people know who you are…" Blaise said looking at Harry and Hermione as if they were mad
"He can use the cloak… but it'll just have to him then…" Ron said
"You know invisibility cloaks aren't the most reliable right? They can fade or get outed by protective enchantments, and I'm betting the most secret department of the Ministry is going to have a few." Draco said
"Harry's won't, you haven't seen it. It's one of those really rare expensive ones. It was his dad's and nothing has happened to it yet!" Ron said amazed
"His dads?" Blaise asked "How old is this Cloak?"
"Dunno…" Harry said
"Could it be an heirloom?" Blaise asked this time serious
"Maybe… why?" Harry asked wondering if Blaise was on to something
"If you guys hang on a minute, I've got the book, I have a doubt about something… Let me check your father's genealogy…" Blaise said pulling out a rather thick leather-bound book. Embossed on the cover was a beautiful gold tree surrounded by a Gordian knot. The edges of the pages were gold
"You got the book!" Hermione said
"Yes, I got an elf to drop it off for me. I was sure you'd want to see it for yourself…" Blaise said opening the book on Harry's lap so that everyone could see it
"Let's see Potter… So P…. Ah here it is…" Blaise said opening a page. It was a double page that had Harry on the extreme right corner as if it was the end of a branch. Tracing back was his mother and father's family.
Harry was amazed, he was drinking in every little detail about his family, his grandparents etc. Blaise however had gone a few generations back to a knot in the tree that read Ignotus Peverell "I knew it!" Blaise said "You have one of the Hallows!" He said excitedly
"Oh god not this again!" Draco groaned sinking into the bed next to Harrys just as Hermione and Harry asked "A what?"
Ron chuckled "You're a Hallow hunter?"
Draco rolled his eyes "Don't ask, every summer he'd take me on picnics and we'd overturn rocks to find the damn stone, at first I was being a good friend cause you know, his dad… but after a while it just got ridiculous, which I have told him several times!" Draco said giving Blaise a pointed look.
"They are real and Luna agrees with me!" Blaise said
"Look I like Luna, Quibbler helped Harry out but even you have to admit, she's a bit… weird…" Ron said
Harry and Hermione had felt like outsiders in this world all the time but this time it was worse because not only did they have no idea what was going on but it seemed like Ron and Draco actually agreed on something and were making jokes about it.
"Um… excuse me? What Hallows? What are you talking about?" Hermione said
To which the 3 boys looked at her and Harry as if they were from a different planet. "You know the Hallows… the Hallows of Death… " Ron said
"Tale of the three brothers?" Draco supplied
Harry and Hermione just shook their heads confused
"'Mione, I thought you like to read…." Blaise said surprised
"What?" Hermione asked confused
"Are you telling me you've never read any magical fictional literature?" Blaise asked again
"Fiction? Magical fiction? That… that's a thing?" Hermione asked
"Yea… We have bedtime stories too you know…" Blaise said
"…." Hermione who had been standing to look at the genealogy book just sat down slowly. "It's just… I was…. " she was shocked that she had completely ignored and forgotten about how much she enjoyed literature. She had felt so left behind all the time in this world that she hadn't stopped studying and acquiring information. She'd forgotten about her love for stories. Stories that had been her best friends growing up until she had suddenly discovered this magical world and gotten lost in it.
Draco who was sitting next to her held her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze "You can borrow some of my books. I have loads…"
Harry was still confused and was wondering how they had gone from sneaking out to hear the prophecy to some hallows "Hang on a second… What is going on? What is a hallow and why do you think my invisibility cloak is one?" Harry asked
"For that you're going to need to know 'The tale of 3 brothers' by beadle the bard… Luckily for you, I know the original by heart…" Blaise said
The lights in infirmary were already dim creating the perfect setting as Blaise started to narrate the story
"There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road … …. …. …. …. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life."
When Blaise finished narrating the story he took a piece of paper and drew a circle "The stone" then he drew a line through it "the wand" and completed it with a triangle surrounding the two "the cloak… these are the Deathly Hallows" he said to Harry and Hermione. Finally Hermione said "So you think the cloak Harry has is the cloak of Death?"
"It is believed that the 3 brothers in this story refer to 3 real brothers who are widely believed by Hallow Hunters to be the Peverell brothers… Look at this…" He said pointing to the knot in the tree "You are a direct descendent of Ignotus Peverell… He was the youngest Peverell brother…"
Harry and Hermione just sat there looking at the book as Draco and Ron scoffed at the whole thing "it's just a story" Ron said
"but… what if it's not…" Hermione said slowly as if pieces of a puzzle were clicking together in her head
"Exactly!" Blaise said excited "I bet you were a Vernaian too!"
Hermione gave Blaise an incredulous look "What? I like to read too… also Verne was a wizard and I can show you the island… it appears for 6 months every year and is protected by enchantments to keep muggles away… "
"Really?" Hermione said surprised
"Digressing!" Draco said finally standing up "Blaise it doesn't matter if the cloak is hallow, Harry is going to go with Lupin or Black. If he can do it tonight then he won't run into the Dar… Evil tom" he finished correcting himself
"Right… " Said Harry giving him a nod "let me talk to them… Can the two of you help us get into Umbridge's office?" He said asking Draco and Blaise
"Sure…" Draco said
"I'll go get the mirror" Ron said leaving
Once Ron had left Blaise asked "Mione, why did you ask if the Hallows could be real…"
"Well, it's a stupid theory… but…" Hermione started
"He's full of stupid theories, so you might as well ask him…" Draco said earning a dirty look from both Blaise and Hermione
"You said the resurrection stone can bring a shadow of the dead back to life… right?" Hermione asked
"That's the theory… Why?" Blaise asked
"What if, when a persons died, they had not one but two souls? What would happen then?" Hermione asked
"How can a persons have two souls? That's a lot of imagination, even for me…" Blaise said
"I could…" Harry said understanding where Hermione was going with this
"I know you're the chosen one mate but two souls?" Draco asked sarcastically "isn't that an overkill?"
"Actually, I have a theory and I think Snape thinks the same thing… I think evil Tom accidentally made a Horcrux the night he tried to kill Harry and that piece of his should attached to the most powerful object in the room, which was Harry…" Hermione explained
"Wait! You're a horcrux?" Blaise asked
"I could be…" Harry said
"No you can't be, you'd be dead…" Draco said
"How can you be a 100% sure? Quirrell was carrying him around for a couple of years and he was fine…" Harry said
"Quirrell had a piece of Voldemort in him?" Draco asked disgusted
"Yea, sticking out of the back of his head… It was gross…" Harry said shuddering at the memory
"Blaise what do you think?" Hermione asked
"Honestly, I don't know… but if I had to guess, one of the souls could be brought back, if the body was not damaged… but… I don't think we'd have control on which soul returned… at least I don't know a way that could be controlled…" Blaise thought out loud "but… are you suggesting Dumbledore was a Hallow Hunter? Cause if he was maybe he might have figured it out…"
"We really need to find him…." Hermione sighed
Please review!