The Eye

Harry looked around the room filled with the familiar five four-poster beds draped in red and gold. At the ends of four of the beds sat trunks and various items were strewn across the room. Dean's bed was the only one without a trunk: the soccer player had been held up by an overanxious mother. Harry waved his hand and all his schoolbooks and dropped quills picked themselves off the floor and flew into his bag. Today was the start of classes, and that meant picking up homework before going off to the library with friends.

The battle over Hogwarts had been a fairly short one. A battalion of dwarves had attacked the castle and caused an uprising amongst the student body. The Death Eaters had fought valiantly, but once Dumbledore and Lupin appeared along with a group of wizards from the London battle they all but gave up hope. The battle lasted another half a day before Dumbledore chased Lucius Malfoy out of the headmaster's office. The Power of Five was called in to perform the cleansing spell and the remainder of Voldemort's followers on the grounds found themselves surrounded by cement walls a long ways away from Scotland.

The Battle for England was a tremendous victory for the Light and while certain areas of the island still had to be freed from Voldemort's control, the Ministry initiated Robert Bennett as the English Minister of Magic. Dumbledore confided in Harry that he felt the Wizengamot had acted too quickly, but at least the message was sent; England was free once again.

Harry sighed and thought about the battle inside the Ministry: the death, blood, and the unmistakable smell of seared flesh. The battle went from floor to floor and the teens focused on the floor assigned to them. They had not reached that floor yet when reality struck hard. In the Atrium, a large dog of some sort attacked the group. The dog was followed by a group of powerful demons and Death Eaters. They were separated into single fights and the demons were winning. Eventually Wyatt and Chris figured out the vanquishing spell and the demons retreated. The Death Eaters followed suit but the dog did not. It refused to budge off of a body it was gnawing on. Harry kicked the dog off the body and felt ill. He had found the now badly mauled body of Alastor Moody.

That image had kept him up the first few nights and still haunted his dreams when he slept. He was being plagued by the raw anger of a very annoyed Voldemort.

Now, he was back at Hogwarts, back in his room of six years. It should have been a positive thought, with the amount of memories hidden in the very walls. But it just did not feel right. Harry saw everyone around him revert back to the optimistic outlook and letting their guard down. They were being ordinary teenagers. Harry could and would not take that luxury. He felt it in his gut that this advancement was just temporary. Voldemort was not going to back down and he certainly had not in Germany, France, or Russia. The rebellions in those capitals had all but been extinguished if not crushed.

Harry snapped back to reality when the door creaked open. "Harry? You up here?"

"Over here, Ron."

Ron came over and sat down on the bed next to Harry. "Feels weird, doesn't it?"

Harry simply nodded.

Ron looked Harry up and down and shrugged. "Hermione says that you need to hurry up…or she's not going to help you with your essays."

Harry dimlysmiled. "I'll be down in a second…I just need to find my…ring."

Harry stood staring at the curtain. They had been chased down the corridor into the Department of Mysteries. The demons upstairs had simply overwhelmed them with number. Now they were back in the place where the war took its first steps in hastening. Harry walked toward the curtain, ignoring the battle happening all around him. He could do it now; he could summon Sirius back.

"Harry, stop!" Wyatt shouted.

Harry looked up and watched the deadly green curse miss his face by less than an inch. He traced the trajectory back to a familiar face. Her hair was shorter and her head seemed to be a bit lopsided but there was no mistaking those cold eyes. Harry forgot about the curtain and turned to exact revenge.

"Crucio!" Harry yelled without remorse.

Bellatrix caught the curse and dissipated it into the surrounding Death Eaters. "Impressive, Potter."

Harry waved his wand in a counterclockwise circle and a burst of green liquid hit Bellatrix in the face. She screamed and brushed the curse off her face to reveal raw skin and in some places, the white of bone. Harry conjured a fireball and threw it at his godfather's murderer. Bellatrix waved her own wand and the fireball extinguished mid air.

"You're more like the Dark Lord than you or my pathetic cousin realize." Bellatrix smiled wickedly. "Crucio!"

Harry dropped to the floor fighting against crying out in pain. Bellatrix walked forward keeping her wand steadily pointed in Harry's direction. Harry's eyes changed to pure white orbs and a gust of wind picked up the woman and threw her into the stairwell. Harry stood up and shook his limbs to rid himself of the irksometingling. His eyes burned a dark blue and Bellatrix started to choke and her skin became dry. A tiny bead of moisture floated in front of her eyes and slowly grew larger and she wilted away.

"This is for what you did to Sirius!"

A low-level energy ball knocked Harry off his concentration. "Are you insane, Harry?"

Harry glared daggers at Wyatt. The younger teenager glared back and marched over to the unconscious Death Eater and checked her pulse. "You damn near killed her!"

"It's no less than she deserves." Harry spat. "Now step away; Wyatt, I'm finishing this."

"Over my dead body." Wyatt stood straight. "There is no way I'm letting you sink to Voldemort's level."

"MOVE." Harry barely whispered the words.

Wyatt's shield flew up and glowed brightly where tentacles of purple crashed against it. Wyatt dropped his shield and motioned with two of his fingers. Harry stumbled backwards and two welts appeared on his face. Harry raised one hand and extended his fingers. Wyatt clutched his stomach and struggled to catch his breath. Harry waved his hand sideways and Wyatt was shoved aside by an invisible giant hand. Harry conjured a fireball and stood over Bellatrix. The Death Eater woke and stared up helplessly into the completely orbs of the Gryffindor.

"I will not allow you to hurt anyone else." Harry whispered so only she could hear.

He removed his hand from under the fireball and it dropped onto the trembling Death Eater. Harry closed his eyes as the bloodcurdlingscreams echoed through the quiet chamber. He walked over to the stunned Wyatt and offered his hand. Wyatt looked into Harry's eyes and took a deep breath. He took the offered hand and Harry pulled him back onto his feet.

"I'm sorry you had to do that," Wyatt muttered as he walked past Harry.

Harry nodded and turned his attention to a harpy that was sneaking up on a dazed Hermione . . . .

Harry woke breathing heavily. He lifted his head up and noticed that his surroundings were not completely the way he remembered them. He took a quicksecond look aroundand found himself rushing headfirst back into his bed. His seeker reflexes saved him from a painful landing and with a tiny telekinetic shove, he landed hard on his back. He lay still for a few seconds hoping that his antics had not woken anyone. When he heard the sounds of snoring and no one asking what was going on, he let out a breath. Harry got off his bed and wrapped his robe around himself andquietly left the dormitory heading down to the quiet dark common room.

He sat in one of the large armchairs and buried his face in his hands. He knew that the memory was one he had to deal with. He had murdered purely out of vengeance. He had been willing to kill Wyatt in order to get back at the woman who had killed his godfather. And yet, no one had faulted him for it; even Wyatt acted as if the event never happened. Andhe now had to contend with this new power: levitating in the sleeping position of a vampire. He had woken up the past two nights in this position and he was fearful of someone catching him.

"Who's down here?" A soft voice came down from the girl's staircase.

Harry breathed out softly. "It's me, Ginny."

"Harry?" Ginny's fiery red hair popped from around the staircase blocking Harry's view of the starry sky.

"Yeah." Harry said calmly.

Ginny walked further into the common room and pointed what Harry guessed was her wand at the fireplace. A small fire sprang to life upon the already burnt wood. She then pocketed her wand and sat down in the couch across from Harry. She curled up and pulled her blanket tighter.

"Couldn't sleep?" She said after awhile.

"You could say that." Harry fidgeted with his ring.

Ginny looked at the ring and smiled. "Oh, worried about Cho?"

Harry looked up with a frown planted on his face. "Oh," he lost the frown, "…no…I'm just going over the battle."

Ginny sighed in relief. "Good, I'm no good at those kinds of talks." When Harry didn't respond Ginny continued, "I was kidding."

"Oh."

"What's up? You usually at least indulge the person trying to be funny."

Harry shrugged and retied the belt on his robe. "I keep having dreams about the battle."

"Hhhhhaaarrryyy…it was not your fault." Ginny almost whined. "Everyone loses it now and then. Wyatt certainly doesn't blame you; after all, she was Sirius's murderer. And besides, he would have reformed."

Harry nodded. "I know that, but still…I didn't care in the least who I killed…as long as I killed her. The only emotion I had was anger, pure anger. It would not have made a difference to me if it had been you or Hermione or Ron in my way! The only difference would be that Wyatt survived my attack; anyone else almost certainly would not have been so lucky . . . . "

Ginny closed her eyes softly. "You need to stop beating yourself up about this…no one else has even given it a second thought…"

Harry looked down and swallowed his fear, guilt, and self-anger. "Ginny, you should go back to bed…I'll turn in, in a bit – I just want to think things over once more."

Ginny got up half asleep. "Snape first thing tomorrow and he's actually teaching…get some rest." With that,she stumbled back up the staircase.

Harry wandered down to the Great Hall near the end of breakfast. He had not gotten anymore sleep after Ginny went back up to bed. He had moved to the seat in front of the fire and stared into the flames trying to fall asleep. It only helped to remind him of the event of his fifth year and the fourth year when Sirius had spoke to him right in that exact fireplace. He found Ron and Hermione still eating and went to sit next to them.

"Kyle already eaten?"

Ron nodded with a mouthful of fried tomato. Hermione shook her head in disgust and concentrated on Harry. "So Ron said you weren't in bed this morning."
"Yeah, I woke up early and went down to the pitch for a bit of flying." Harry said evenly. "Do you know why Snape is teaching today?"

"I heard that he does this every year with his NEWT students," Ron swallowed his scrambled eggs. "He gives them this incredibly hard potion that only one in the world has been able to do for decades and then takes delight in their terror."

"So another normal class?"

Ron shook his head. "Bill told me that Snape is extra mean and at the slightest hint of a mistake he'll be barking up your tree until you do make a mistake . . . . "

Harry sighed, "At last the rest of you will get the same treatment as I do." He smiled when Ron paled and Hermione laughed nervously.

"Well, we have the class together with the rest of the NEWT students so he has to at least behave somewhat." Hermione stated.

Harry rolled his eyes, "The only NEWT students are the rest of the Gryffindors, who he hates and then his favorite little Voldemort puppets. This must be like Christmas to him." Harry shook his head as the memory of the nightmare of Snape murdering his father rushed back.

Hermione checked her watch. "Well, we better get down there; he sent word via owl that anyone tardy would be receiving a failing grade for the entire semester."

Harry walked over and said his good mornings to Brendin, Casey, Daelan, Ethan, and Kyle. Ginny, Chris, and Wyatt were a few meters away talking to recently arrived Dean and Seamus. Ron and Hermione went off to join Neville and Draco. The group of Slytherins were glaring in Draco's direction and the blonde haired Slytherin ignored them. He, Chris, and Daelan had the unlucky chance of being sorted back into Slytherin. Almost all the others had been sorted into Gryffindor including Daelan's girlfriend, Michelle, and Leah. Casey and Ethan had chosen to rejoin their ancestor's house although they spent a lot of their time with the group anyway. The dungeon's door burst open and in strode an angry Snape.

"Inside, now!"

Everyone scrambledinside not daring to upset the Potions Master anymore than he already was. When they entered Harry saw why Snape was so annoyed; up in front sat an equally exasperated Paige.

Snape strode down to the front of the classroom shutting up the few who dared to make a noise with a growl. "Today we are to be joined by Mathews."

"Professor Mathews, Professor Snape," Paige corrected.

"Whatever," muttered Snape, "She will be up here should anyone of you be too small-minded to be able to follow simple instructions." His eyes caught Harry's. Harry was unlucky enough to have been the last one to enter and as such, was stuck right up front.

Snape walked up to the chalkboard and smacked it with his wand. A spark shot out the wand and words formed in white chalk. Snape pocketed his wand and turned to face the students again. "Today you will be making Veneficium."

Crabbe snorted.

"What is so amusing, Mr. Crabbe?" sneered Snape.

"You said the name wrong…sir." Crabbe whispered, cowering.

Snape looked around the classroom. "I did not pronounce the name wrong, Mr. Crabbe, and one more sound out of your blubbering mouth and your father will hear about just how poorly you did in my class last year." Snape, satisfied the Slytherin was petrified, turned his attention back to the class at large. "As I was saying, today you will make Veneficium," He glared pointedly in Crabbe's direction. "Who among you has a clue as to what this potion is?"

Hermione's hand shot into the air. Once Snape was positive that no other being in the universe was going to venture a guess, he grudginglysighed. "Go ahead, Granger."

"Veneficium is the only known cure to a badly brewed Felix Felicis, sir." Hermione paused to take a breath.

Snape smirked. "Correct, but inadequate Granger; now who can give me a more complete overview of this potion?"

Hermione glared at the Potions Master and raised her hand defiantly into the air.

"Put your hand down Granger, you hand your chance and you blew it!" Snape looked over the class. "Are any of you capable of stringing two simple words together? Bloody idiots!"

"Snape!" Paige raised her voice.

"Shut it, Mathews; you are here only to assist those buffoons who cannot make the potion on their own, otherwise stay the hell out of my lesson."

Paige rose from her seat but thought better of it and sat back down. A soft groan issued out from the Gryffindor side of the room. Chris's hand half rose into the air.

"Mr. Halliwell?"

"Veneficium only has two ingredients, unicorn flesh and an aromatic herb such as rosemary or thyme, and is 'brewed' without the need of heat. As such the potion can be made in less than a minute if the witch or wizard knows what he is doing. The potion will counteract the effects of a poorly made Felix Felicis as Hermione said but at a terrible cost; the drinker will have his magic drained completely. It has not been correctly made for the better half of a century. Even Albus Dumbledore failed to make it, although Severus Snape has come extremely close to 'brewing' it. The only…" Chris stopped.

"Correct," Snape said after a few seconds passed. He walked back to his desk and pulled out a large painted portrait of an old woman hunched over a bowl that hand something glowing silver in it. She held a piece of rosemary in her left hand and her wand in her right. "This is one of only three magical pieces of art that does not move. It depicts a witch in the middle of making this potion.

"Now this potion has been administered numerous times and only twice has the drinker ever recovered his magic and only a few more have survived the horrible effects of having their magic ripped from their body." Snape smiled at the looks of horror on the young faces. "Now that you have a complete background of the potion…I expect all of you to make this potion by the end of the period, ten minutes. That should be more than enough time as it only takes one minute to make. Unicorn flesh is hard to come by so do NOT," He looked at Neville and spoke in a more deadly tone, "mess up. Those who do must pay ten galleons before taking another slice and will serve an hour detention scrubbing the floor of my potions lab."

A cupboard in the back of the room opened to reveal a whole stab of silvery white meat around it sat a pool of mercury-like silver blood. Harry took a deep breath; the image of Quirrell drinking that substance in the Dark Forest came rushing back. Harry watched as other students started their way up to the cupboard.

"Use gloves when you handle the meat; unicorn blood is cursed." Paige said when she was certain Snape was going to allow one of the students to make that terrible mistake.

Harry looked back over his shoulder to see Snape walking briskly over to the annoyed witch. He watched as Paige stood up and glared down at Snape who did not back away. He stopped walking and turned but Wyatt beat him to it. A subtle jingling sounded from Wyatt's position some four desks away and Paige sat back down.

Harry caught up to Wyatt. "I don't think those two should be left in the same room together."

Wyatt quietly agreed. "So do you think you can make this potion?"

"If Dumbledore can't even make it, then I don't see how we can possibly be expected to make it." Harry threw a glance back to the front of the classroom.

Harry picked up the knife and cut a tiny strip off the meat from the slab. He picked it up with his gloved hand and felt sick. The meat was slimy and slippery; it was worse than touching raw chicken with bare hands. He conjured a bowl and dropped the piece into it. He watch the tiny beads of blood slowly creep down the sides of the bowl. He removed the glove and a picked up a piece of sage. He walked back down to his seat and read the blackboard.

He replaced his glove and picked the meat back up. He wrapped the sage leaves tightly around the meat until it was completely covered except for the two edges. Pulling out his wand, he reread the incantation. It was a non-verbal spell. Pointing his wand at the bowl, Harry steadied his aim. He closed his eyes and breathed in, concentrating on the spell and muttered Latagora inside his head. He felt his wand grow hot and opened his eyes. A stream of shimmering air connected his wand with the sage-covered unicorn meat. The meat's silvery glow gave way to a blinding golden glow. The blood started to boil and burn the sage black. The meat liquefied and turned into a golden potion similar in looks to Felix Felicis. Harry glanced quickly at the board and read that the potion must turn green. He returned his gaze back at the potion and in the center was a bubble of green; the color spread. His wand cooled down and the stream of air disappeared.

Snape was glowering over him. "Potter…full marks."

Harry stared at the Potions Master and nodded slowly.

"Pour the potion into a vial and place it on my desk after I dismiss the class," He added the last part when Harry started to get up. "Your homework is to write a detailed description of this potion. Include EVERY detail you find out and do not think I won't find out if you did not. The paper is due on my desk by Friday morning. Class dismissed." Harry started to get up again but Snape pushed him back down. Harry bit his lip as his scar flared up and he felt Voldemort's anger. "Potter, the headmaster wished you to join him in his office Saturday after breakfast."

Snape left the classroom leaving Harry by himself. He summoned a vial and directed the potion out of the bowl and into the vial with his wand. He was still in a state of shock at making the potion. He got up and placed the potion on Snape's desk before packing his things up. He placed the gloves and bowl on the pile in the back of the room; the pile disappeared with a crack. He pushed the door open and bumped right into Wyatt.

"Hey! What's the deal?"

Wyatt turned around. "We're just waiting for you."

"Next time, don't stand in the middle of the doorway." Harry said and forced a smile.

They started their trek to the Great Hall. Harry hung towards the back of the group and Hermione slowly found her way next to him. "Not now, Hermione."

Hermione frowned. "How did you manage—"

"Not now!"

Hermione walked quickly to catch up with Ron without other sound. Harry reproached himself for being so short with Hermione but was thankful nonetheless for having the peace. He left the group when they reach the Entrance Hall, heading up to the tower. He was not hungry and he wanted some time alone to think.

Harry woke the next morning to an empty dormitory. He had woken up in the night to being suspended from the roof again and had struggled to get back to sleep. He checked the watch and cursed; breakfast was over and he was late for getting the instruction for Defense Against the Dark Arts. He got up and headed to the bathroom for a rushed shower. He summoned his bag as he walked out the door and ran down the staircase. He entered the common room and paused when he noticed Ron and Hermione.

"Why aren't you in the library?"

Hermione looked up. "Piper gave us the day off. We were waiting for you and then we were planning on joining the rest at the pitch."

"Why?" Harry asked as they headed out the common room.

"Piper had to go deal with some legal issue at P3." Ron answered.

"No, why are we going to the pitch?"

Hermione smiled. "Kyle and Brendin have decided they want to learn how to fly."

Harry nodded. "Did either of you get the newspaper?"

"Wyatt's got my issue." Hermione said.

They reached the pitch just in time to see Brendin trying desperately to hold onto a broom. Wyatt had his hand outstretched and the broom was slowly descending. Everyone else was laughing. Harry pulled out his wand and the broom dropped ten feet just the right level for Brendin to let go and land of his feet. Wyatt directed the broom a little more forcefully onto the ground.

"What happened?"

Wyatt smiled. "The broom has a mind of its own…at least that's what Brendin said when it shot up into the air."

Kyle came up. "It also might be because Ginny cursed the broom."

Ginny smiled sheepishly when everyone turned to look at her. "I blame Fred and George."

"Can I have a go now?" Kyle asked, broom in hand.

Wyatt nodded. "Just do as Ginny told you to and you'll be flying in no time."

"Unless she cursed my broom too." Kyle walked onto the pitch and sat down on the broom. He kicked off and flew into the air.

Harry took his eyes off Kyle. "Can I look through the newspaper?"

Wyatt nodded still squinting up at his charge. "It's on the bench next to Draco."

Harry picked up the newspaper. "Japan, Germany, and France Declare Themselves Independent," Harry read the headline. "What is going on?" He muttered to himself.

"You mean with Voldemort giving up key locations without a fight?" Draco asked.

"Yeah."

Draco shrugged. "My guess is that he wants to give us a false sense of winning. He is going on the retreat in order to get us to relax. And from what I read in that article it's working perfectly. Our minister went on the record saying that the war is coming to a close and the wizarding world should continue with their normal lives. Voldemort is no longer a threat to the safety of the Wizarding World."

Harry shook his head in disgust. "I wish Dumbledore had just taken that job."

Draco nodded. "Except Dumbledore would hardly ever be there. I mean he has not been here for the past few days and I overheard McGonagall saying that she has no idea where he is."

Harry shrugged and returned to his own thoughts.

The Minister of Magic entered the Great Hall with a flair that reminded Harry of Lockhart. He had read the report on the new Minister and found it hard to believe. Robert Bennett had been an Auror in the same class and skill level as Alastor Moody. If Moody filled half the cells in Azkaban during Voldemort's last reign, then Bennett filled the other half. Bennett had been one of the few Ministry officials to stand up for Moody when his over alertness got the old Auror into trouble and he even supported Dumbledore during Harry's fifth year—a fact that almost got him sent to Azkaban. Bennett had graduated from Hogwarts around the same time as Minerva McGonagall and was the second cousin of the American Minister of Magic. His family had been all but obliterated during Grindelwald's reign. Only he and his younger sister had survived; his sister died soon after from the Oriental strain of the dragon flu. Bennett had left the Aurors after Voldemort's defeat and had entered the political side of the Ministry. He had run against Fudge in every single election and had almost won the last time.

The man walking up to the staff table was not the man Harry expected. He had thought the Minister would have kept his better traits from being an Auror; instead, the guy was purely politician. Harry shuddered when the man looked him directly in the eyes and turned away before the man could call him out.

"Dumbledore, I am glad to see you in good health."

Dumbledore shook the man's hand and smiled. "And it is a pleasure to see you finally succeed in your dream, Robert."

Bennett nodded. "It's just a pity that I could not have beaten Fudge; although Madam Bones put up a wonderful fight."

Dumbledore nodded. "May I inquire as to the nature of your visit?"

"I just wanted to see the school and make sure we are on the same page in this battle…but that can be done later. At the moment I would like to talk to Mr. Potter and Mr. Wyatt Halliwell."

Dumbledore remained silent and stared at the Minister. He finally smiled. "Of course, feel free to use my office."

Bennett smiled and walked down the pathway between the tables followed by his small army of guards. One of the guards broke off from the procession when she reached Harry. She pulled him up and walked down to Wyatt who was already standing. She pushed them out in front of her and followed them out of the Hall. They remained silent all the way to Dumbledore's office where the rest of the squad was waiting.

"Dumbledore seems to have forgotten to inform me of the password," Bennett's cheery voice stated, "…number two, go get the Headmaster."

Harry looked at Wyatt who shrugged. Harry bit his lip. "That won't be necessary." He walked up to the gargoyle and it sprang aside revealing the slowly winding staircase. He walked in followed by Wyatt who softly shoved his way passed the Minister.

"I don't like this." Wyatt sent.

Harry just pushed the door open. "Well Dumbledore trusts us."

The Minister walked into the room and signaled for the guards to remain outside. He took a seat in Dumbledore's chair. "So, you are the two teenagers who will bring us the victory." His tone clearlyshowed he was not convinced. "The Wizengamot has given me fullpermission to offer you a position at the Ministry as executive advisors."

Harry laughed. "You expect us to join the Ministry?"

"Yes, this is a great opportunity. Don't turn it down lightly."

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "For who? We already have all the power we want."

Bennett's eyes flashed. "We are trying to correct the wrongs of the previous administration…" Bennett continued to try and pressure them into siding with the Ministry and become his pawns in his campaign for the next elections.

"Minister," Dumbledore announced his presence, "I believe you received your answer." Harry and Wyatt sighed in silent relief. They had been alone with the Minister for an hour.

Bennett stood up. "Of course, Dumbledore. Now let's take that tour."

Dumbledore held the door open as Bennett strode through it. "Harry and Wyatt, I want to see you after dinner. I will not be here tomorrow for our meeting, Harry, so this is the best time I can think of." Dumbledore shut the door behind himself.

Wyatt got up and walked to the door but stopped when Harry made no move to follow him. "Harry?"

Harry rubbed his scar.

"What's wrong? Is it him?" Wyatt's voice became more concerned.

Harry shook his head. "No. I just haven't been getting enough sleep lately."

"Like you ever get enough sleep," Wyatt joked.

"No, it's more than just my connection to him, although I do have a constant headache from it. My transformation is taking over…I wake up during the night and find myself levitating off my bed upside-down."

"It could just be your powers are growing," Wyatt stated unconvincingly. "Your powers are very similar to Aunt Phoebe's and she levitates all the time especially during her period."

Harry grimaced. "Too much information, Wyatt."

"Grow up!"
­­­­­­Harry smiled. "No, I can feel it wanting to get out. I can't even touch the ring without my skin turning that sickly blue."

Wyatt sat down. "Have you spoken to Dumbledore?"

"There's hasn't been any time. He's never here at school and I don't think this is the type of information to tell via owl."

Wyatt slumped deeper into the chair. "Well that'll give us something to discuss then."

"Err…"

"What?" Wyatt perked up, "You know what this meeting is about?"

Harry smiled guiltily. "You know Dumbledore has been training me privately. Well, this is most likely going to be one of those lessons…it was supposed to be tomorrow but…"

Wyatt waved his hand impatiently. "So what does he teach you? It obviously isn't just curses and jinxes."

"Well he has been talking about Voldemort's actions. I learned more about Tom Marvolo Riddle than I ever wanted to."

"And this helps you how?"

Harry bit his lip. "Well I don't know how knowing his family's past will help me but we have spent a great deal of the time on Horcruxes."

Wyatt lost his breath. "You mean he made one of those things!"

"Not just one, six." Harry stated fearfully. "So far I have destroyed one of them back in second year."

"The diary?" Wyatt muttered under his breath, "Amazing."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh sorry," Wyatt looked up. "It's just Horcruxes are so rare and I actually held one in my hands."

Harry's mouth hung open. "You saw Riddle's diary?"

"Well, yeah," Wyatt nodded, "I kind of stumbled upon it when I was five. The Malfoys had come to visit my Mom and Aunts on some diplomatic venture. I think Lucius wanted to get his hands on the Book of Shadows. I 'accidentally' punched Draco in the eye after he made an obscene gesture and he apparated out dragging me along…"

Harry calmed himself down from the shock of the Malfoys and the Halliwells knowing each other. "So, what happened?"

"I found the book flipped through it saw that the pages were blank and threw it aside..."

"You didn't sense the dark magic?"

Wyatt shook his head. "The entire house was filled of dark magic so it kind of overwhelmed my senses. But it's destroyed what about the others?"

Harry looked at the door remembering that Dumbledore had been adamant that no one knew this information. He had even forbid him of telling Ron and Hermione about his search. Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at the door. The door glowed and a soft buzzing filled the room. "We don't know what they are. Dumbledore believes they are artifacts that belonged to the founders. That's where he's been going all the time; he has the Elves searching for information."

"And the spell?" Wyatt waved his hand and the buzzing stopped.

Harry shrugged. "He doesn't want anyone to know about it."

"Why not?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, but he is keeping it a secret even from McGonagall and Snape. He lets them in on everything."

"And now you just told me…"

Dumbledore opened the door. "Good, you are still here. I left the Minister in the company of Professor Snape."

Harry and Wyatt smiled.

Dumbledore closed the door and went to sit in his chair behind his desk. "You have filled Wyatt in with everything so far?"

Harry nodded. "I…"

"Excellent," Dumbledore cut him off. "It may be time that you let your friends in on all of your secrets. Things are beginning to heat up and the more knowledge they have the better their chances of survival. Voldemort is going to aim big now rather than pick off certain people."

Wyatt nodded. "But why am I here, sir?"

"I have seen the friendship between you and Harry flourish over the past two years. I may even venture to say that he trusts you more than Mr. Weasley or Ms. Granger. You are also destined to play a major role in the final battle and whether or not the information of Voldemort helps you in the fight or not is beside the point. Secrets can kill friendships and this is one friendship Harry cannot afford to lose." Dumbledore spoke slowly and leisurely. "That is not to say that I want him to lose any of his other friends, that is why he must come clean. I want you to learn about everything beforehand so that you can lend your support."

Harry frowned. "Ron and Hermione know everything already."

Dumbledore nodded. "Correct, I told you to let them on our secrets. Ron and Hermione are fine people and the best friends anyone could possibly ask for, but they are simply not part of your plans. Are they?"

Harry and Wyatt looked at each other confused.

"I know that you two have been planning for awhile to go to the Avatars for help should things turn desperate."

"How? What?' They stumbled over their words. "What? How?"

Dumbledore smiled. "I still have some tricks up my sleeves. Harry, you have made Wyatt you chief confidante. Above even Ronald—your best friend—or your cousin Kyle, and not because you think less of those two; but because you can relate to him and him to you. You both were born with a tremendous burden to bear even more so than my stepbrother." Dumbledore paused and looked Harry in the eyes. "You and Wyatt are the future and I believe you will step up to the task when the time calls for it."

Dumbledore allowed the silence to continue for a few minutes. "I have taught you everything I wanted to, Harry. Voldemort's past and the reasons why he chose the path he did, Horcruxes and Voldemort's use of them, and finally, your powers. All I wanted to do tonight is allow you to ask questions…both of you."

Harry looked at the collection of ash where the newly reborn Fawkes was making a mess on the floor. "Have you found out anything more about the Horcruxes?"

"Unfortunately no," Dumbledore sighed. "I thought that Voldemort's abrupt departure was to protect his collection but it was something much more sinister and he has yet to reveal his hand. I am hoping that the rebellions that I orchestrated this week have bought us a little bit more time before Voldemort brings his plan into effect."

"So you still have no idea where to look or what you are looking for?" Wyatt stated more than asked.

"That is not true." Dumbledore tapped his fingers against the desk mindlessly. "The Elves have been able to track down a great deal of information about the time when Tom disappeared and reemerged Voldemort. It is during that time that I believe he created his Horcruxes. We have found out that Tom went to study under a very old and powerful dark wizard, Grindelwald's mentor, during that time. The old wizard was living at that time in the wilderness of Northern Ireland. Tom remained in Northern Ireland after the wizard died. The Elves also found a map of a cave network in Northern Ireland in one of Voldemort's old haunts…"

"So you are close." Harry finished.

"Yes, very close."

Harry smiled with relief but also felt dread about when they did discover the location.

"So when you do find the location what are you going to do?" Wyatt asked.

"I will probably take Harry with me to retrieve the Horcruxes. Once they are in our possession the dwarves have been kind enough to agree to study them to find a weakness. I will then destroy the Horcruxes and we wait for Voldemort to retaliate. And Harry will bring an end to his regime." Dumbledore almost beamed with pride with the last sentence.

"So where are you going tomorrow?"

Dumbledore smiled. "The Elves are very knowledgeable but they lack the knowledge of geography. I am going to go and help them discover which cave system the map is for."

"Oh." Wyatt verbalized what Harry was feeling.

A silence fell among the group. Harry looked around at the various paintings of the old headmasters and mistresses. His eyes found the bizarre contraption that Dumbledore had used when Voldemort regained his body. "Sir — what did the snakes mean?"

Dumbledore waited for a moment and his eyes found the object. "Oh, that is ancient artifact that I found in a flea market ages ago. I traced it back to Slytherin's rejected portion of the family tree, the Malfoys. It can tell when a direct descendant of Salazar is dead. When Voldemort perished that night only one snake appeared to represent the Malfoy's heir. I still have not discovered why it ignored Daelan, as his magical signature should have replaced Voldemort's as the first born for the Slytherins. That night when the two snakes intertwined it meant that Voldemort was back."

"Why did you smile?" Harry continued.

Dumbledore chuckled. "I smiled when you mentioned that Voldemort had used your blood in the potion because it severely weakened him. He believed that he could touch you; that he had broken through everything that protected you."

"But he did touch me…"

"So he did, but he only ended the old magic your mother enacted when she died protecting you. He did not break the spells I placed on you when I left you on your relatives' doorstep or weaken you in the least. He once again underestimated the power of love and he found that out in the Ministry when he tried to possess you." Dumbledore pulled out a roll of parchment. "This is the prophecy I let you hear after that battle. The power spoken about it, the one the Department of Mysteries has been trying to harness for eons is love. Harry, with all your powers and all your abilities you stand no chance in defeating Voldemort. But your ability to love no matter what and to forgive those who wrong you that is something Voldemort has nothing of. He cannot understand it or control it. Love will be his downfall."

Dumbledore looked up and stood up. "This meeting is about to be cut short . . . . When you tell the others make sure the room is secure. I believe there is a spy amongst us and Voldemort cannot find out that we know so much."

The door abruptly opened. "Headmaster, next time you have a Minister over get McGonagall—" Snape stopped ranting when he saw Harry.

"Severus," Dumbledore smiled genially, "You can express you desires in a few moments. Harry and Wyatt are just about to leave."

Harry and Wyatt got up and snuck past Snape and shut the door behind them.

AN: So what do you think? Back at Hogwarts at last. And can't you just smell Voldemort's fear err I mean anger.

Next Chapter

The Horcruxes, Eyad, and a ghost from the past.