Disclaimer: I told you all before, I don't own anything related to the Harry Potter franchise nor am I making any money off of this fic.

Chapter 5:

Conversations

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Potter."

Harry pulled back the hood of the cloak, allowing his head, still topped with his odd hat, to show.

"What ever do you mean Professor Moody?" He tried to adopt a sweet, innocent tone to his voice and suppressed a smirk as Mad-eye scowled at him. The old Auror was about to respond when another voice addressed him.

"Harry?" It was Remus who spoke up.

"Remus," Harry stated back.

"How are you holding up?" Seeing the sadness in Remus's eyes, it hit Harry how much pain Remus must be going through.

"I'm doing okay. How about you?"

"I'm holding in there." The werewolf said.

"Well Potter?" It was Moody again. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Sorry?" Harry almost shrunk back when he saw that both of Moody's eyes were glaring at him.

"Sorry Potter? How sorry do you think you would be if you were caught by Death Eaters? Sorry doesn't cut it when it comes to security! You need to remember Constant Vigilance!"

"Alastor" Finally Dumbledore stepped in. "I will speak to Harry in private about the importance of security. Now that he is found, I think it best that the rest of us return to Headquarters where we may use our time in more productive endeavors." Though it sounded like a request, the tone in the ancient wizards voice made it clear that it was most definitely a demand. As the other two men got up to leave, Harry recalled what happened today at Gringotts.

"Remus!" Harry shouted just before the werewolf apparated away.

"Yes Harry?"

"You need to visit Gringotts. Sirius left a will." Remus, if possible, sobered up even more at the mention of Sirius, but was able to maintain his composure. He merely nodded his head before apparating away. Now it was only Harry and Dumbledore.

"Well Harry, shall we discuss things in your room?" Nodding, Harry headed up the stairs with Dumbledore close behind him.

R-o-t-G-L-

"Hermione are you finished packing? Remember that we have to catch the plane tomorrow at 6AM!" Hermione's mother, Anne Granger, yelled up to her daughter from the base of the stairs.

"Yes mom, I just have to sort through which books I'm going to bring!" Hermione shouted back down to her mother from her room. Honestly, this was tougher than it would appear! She wanted to bring some wizarding books, but she certainly could not be caught reading Hogwarts: A History or Standard Book of Spell: Grade 7 on an airplane now could she? This meant she had to find a decent muggle book that would hold her interest while she was in public.

As she was looking through a stack of books on her desk, she caught sight of the letter Harry had written her earlier that week. He sounded fine, if not a little guilty, but she was concerned. Harry had a tendency to keep things inside, and she knew he was hiding something. The others might have missed it, but she did notice the change in his attitude when the prophecy was brought up in the hospital wing.

'He must know it, or at least what the gist of it is.' That thought scared her the most; that there was something Harry felt he could not share with the rest of them, something that might actually scare him. 'A terrified Harry. What is the world coming to?' Thinking back to the prophecy, they all knew it had something to do with Harry and Voldemort, and it was no stretch of the imagination that it had something to do with Voldemorts desire to kill Harry.

As she closed her suitcase and headed down to have dinner with her parents, she made a promise to herself. 'When I see Harry, I am going to find a way to make him talk to me, even if it kills me.'

R-o-t-G-L-

Once both of them were inside, Harry closed the door and cast a locking charm and a silencing charm on the room. When he turned back, he saw Dumbledore smirking at him.

"I take it then that your little trip was successful Harry?"

"Yes sir. Umm, how did they find out that I was gone?"

"Kingsley Shacklebolt was on guard duty when he was called away to the ministry. Unfortunately, the only person available to take over was Alastor. Of course, once he arrived, he tried to locate you. When he could not, he informed the rest of the Order. I am sorry, but I had to play along. I do hope you understand?"

"Of course sir. I know you could not help me today, but I appreciate you letting me get out."

"Oh not a problem Harry. Now, judging from your state of dress, I gather the pendant was not the only thing you picked up today?" Harry pulled his new trunk out from his pocket and un-shrunk it.

"More than you could even guess Headmaster."

"How so Harry?"

"Well, besides new robes and I such, I picked up another trinket. You see, I had a sort of revelation. Even if I studied non-stop throughout the summer, I doubt I would make any sort of vast improvement." Dumbledore merely nodded his head for harry to continue. "The issue is, of course, time. I am happy to say that I have found a remedy for that problem!" The headmaster was confused for but a moment before it dawned on him what Harry had done.

"Harry, you didn't." Dumbledore was looking at him sternly as Harry opened his trunk and fished something out of it..

"Oh but I did." Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Harry tossed the Headmaster the white silk pouch that contained his recently purchased time-turner. "It is built to go back days. I figure that if every, lets say, Sunday, I go back six days, I will be able to not only have more time, but I will have a duplicates to practice with! I still haven't hammered out the details yet, but it shouldn't be too terribly difficult figure out."

"And how many of these 'duplicates' do you plan on creating?"

"Oh, only two or three." Dumbledore just stared at him. Harry tried to stare back but could not meet his gaze. Finally, he just gave in. "Fine! I was planning on having five duplicates! I figure I will go through the week and then repeat that week another four times before continuing on. There, you know my plans, are you happy now?" Dumbledore just smiled at him.

"Much happier. Now, how do you plan on feeding all of these Harrys?"

"Uhh...I didn't really think about that." Suddenly Harry found his shoe to be very interesting.

"I do have an idea Mr. Potter." Harry looked up at the headmaster hopefully. "I happen to know this very excitable house-elf who would love to work for THE Harry Potter. I am sure he will be able to take care of all your food issues."

"Really? Thank you Headmaster!" Harry almost hugged the ancient wizard, but was able to constrain himself. Barely.

"Now Harry, I know these did not take the whole day to purchase. Why don't you show me everything you bought?"

Harry happily began showing Dumbledore the books he purchased in Diagon Alley along with his new robes. He was little hesitant to show the Headmaster the books he got in Knockturn Alley, but he felt he owed the headmaster for his leniency today. He did, however, refrain from getting into any details about the old bookseller. Dumbledore looked pleased with most of the selections Harry had, that is, until Harry showed him The Path to Power: Rituals.

"Harry, why do you have this book?"

"Sir, lets be frank. Voldemort has fifty years of experience on me. I need to find a way to shorten that gap somehow and training, even with a time turner and dark magic, won't be enough."

"I understand that Harry, but dark rituals? You do know what they did to Tom Riddle. So why do you wish to try them?"

"I don't plan on using all of them sir. From what I understand, Voldemort was looking for more than just power. He sought immortality. If I remember correctly from his speech to his Death Eaters after his rebirth, it sounds as if he spent a lot of time experimenting with different things. Hell, he doesn't even know what worked and what didn't! I have no intention of following in his footsteps. I just need a bit of a boost." The Headmaster looked at him wearily.

"I want you to be careful with these Harry. I agree that not all of these rituals will be damaging to you, but quite a few of them are, and all of them can have catastrophic consequences should you make a mistake. Make sure you understand them implicitly before you even try to attempt them. Some of them will do more than just disfigure the body, they can twist the mind and soul."

"I understand sir, and I will be careful. No point in destroying myself to destroy the Dark Lord if I will just end up taking his place. Besides, after that little bit of info you gave me after the incident at the Ministry, I don't think I will have a chance at defeating him if I turn evil."

"I am glad that you have remembered what I said, though I have noticed that you have quite a few dark arts books."

"Dark is not the same as evil, sir. I only intend to use what i learn against Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"Very well. Like the rituals, I want you to be careful. I do have more questions for you, Harry, if you are willing to answer."

"Go ahead sir, I don't think I have anything to hide." Harry felt that was the truth, sort of. He didn't have anything to hide, but some people he met did.

"Thank you. There has been a question that has been bothering me since we began this conversation. I want to know why it seems you have forgiven me when yesterday you so eloquently pointed out that it is partially my fault for Sirius's death?"

"Well, sir, it's just that, out of all the guilty parties, you were the only one with good intentions. Misguided, yes, but in the end good. Can I say the same about Snape?" Harry held up his hand to stop the inevitable comment Dumbledore was going to make about the 'proper title' of a professor. "I do not consider that petty, sniveling man a professor sir, and I don't think there is anything you can say to change my mind." Dumbledore nodded in acceptance and Harry continued. "Of course we know Voldemort wants nothing more than to see me suffer and die, and Bellatrix is about the same. From a purely practical standpoint, is it not better to work with you than against you? Our goals are, after all, the same. Besides, what kind of person would that make me if I held a grudge against you for one lapse of judgment? If I were that kind of person, I most definitely would not be friends with Ron or Hermione. No, I can not think of a good reason to stay mad at you sir, well, besides the whole Dursley thing, but that's water under the bridge now. Oh, and I also reserve the right to call in favors. I may have forgiven you, but I do feel you still owe me. That, and I figure being yelled at and having your office trashed by a student was punishment enough for some transgressions. Is that answer satisfactory?"

"It is Harry, and thank you, and don't worry about the damage, it was reparable. As for any sort of favors, I will see what I can do when the time comes. Now, I suppose we should get back to business."

"Right. Here, I want to show something I picked up as a secondary wand."

"Secondary wand? I do believe that is illegal Harry," with a voice laced with humor.

"And the Cloaking Charm isn't? Don't worry sir, I have been assured that this is very legal." With that Harry opened another compartment in his trunk and bulled out the sword. A smile broke out on the old mans face as he realized what Harry was holding.

"My word! What an ingenious solution! Tell me Harry, where did you hear about this?"

"Actually, Mr. Olivander told me where to go."

"Good, good You know, I have never seen someone actually use one in a duel, which, considering my age, gives you some indication how unorthodox that piece of equipment is. But then, you have never been one to act normally, have you Harry?" The headmaster finished with a grin, one that Harry happily returned. It once would have made Harry upset that he could not be a normal teenage boy, and, too a point, it still saddened him. He also, though, had come to accept that there was never any hope of him being normal, even if all the bad things that had happened in his life over the past few years didn't exist, it was still his duty to fight Voldemort.

"You have never seen one before sir?" Harry queried. "I find that hard to believe."

"Did I say never seen one? No, just never seen one used. I happen to have a lovely blade in my office that once belonged to a Hogwarts founder." Harry just smiled knowingly before turning back to his trunk.

Harry continued to show Dumbledore the remainder of his purchases. The aging headmaster was quite pleased with the magical tent Harry had picked up.

"I plan on housing my time duplicates in it. I figured I would assign a room for each rotation through the week. You want to help me set it up?"

"I would love to, but where do you plan on putting it?"

Harry looked around his rather small room, realizing that Dumbledore had a very good point.

"Sir, do you think you could expand my room just a little? The tent has a dissalusion spell on it, so it's not like the Dursleys will see it." The headmaster looked pensive for a moment.

"It shouldn't be too difficult. After all, it is a common enchantment. Why don't we give it a try?"

Albus was successful in expanding Harry's room by about two feet, though it would not be noticed unless it was carefully observed. That was the quick part. They spent the next half-hour struggling to put the tent together. It seemed obvious to Harry that, no matter how much Dumbledore paid attention to the muggle world, he was still as clumsy as a pure-blood around anything close to muggle. And apparently, the elder man was getting frustrated.

"Harry, do you mind if I speed up the process?" he said with a bit of a twitch in his eye.

"Go ahead sir."

With a wave of Dumbledore's wand, the tent was set up.

"Sir," Harry said, giving the man a strange look, "why didn't you do that earlier?"

"Well, I thought it would be a good exercise in tackling problems without magic. Besides, I had hoped that it would be fun. It would seem I was proven wrong."

"Meh, it happens. Let's take a look inside, shall we?" Dumbledore nodded and followed Harry in. Inside they found a rather comfortable sitting area, with a coffee table surrounded by three rather bland couches. The walls were lined with eight doors, five for the bedrooms, two for the bathrooms, and one for the kitchen.

"This room looks quite comfortable harry. Do you mind if we take a quick break so an old man can rest his legs?"

"Whatever you say headmaster." Harry just shook his head. He knew that Dumbledore wasn't tired and most likely wanted to continue his talk. As soon as Harry sat down, Dumbledore conjured some tea.

R-o-t-G-L-

Ron was unpacking his trunk in the room he shared with Fred and George. While they were technically on vacation with the family, the twins flooed to work everyday. 'Just great," the youngest male Weasley thought as he watched his brothers huddling in a corner. 'I wonder if I will make it out of this trip in one piece!'

Despite these half-hearted negative thoughts, he had actually thought about going back with the twins early so he could visit with his friends. However, Dumbledore had sent them a message with Fawkes once they arrived explaining that he had spoken with Harry and that he was fine. He also promised to pass along any messages that they wished to give. As much as he wanted to be there for his best friends, he knew that as long as Harry said he was fine, he wouldn't open up to anyone, even his friends. Besides, with the upcoming war, family ties were extremely important, especially with his family when they needed healing.

'Well Harry, I'm going to trust you to ask for help if you need it. Right now, my family needs me.' With that, he continued to put away his stuff in the room he would be staying in for most of the summer.

R-o-t-G-L-

They sat there for a few minutes, enjoying their tea. As he was quietly sipping his tea, a thought came to Harry.

"Sir, why are the Weasley's going on vacation? I mean, with the threat of Voldemort, isn't it a bit impractical?" Dumbledore sat his cup down on the table before answering.

"Their trip isn't really a vacation, well, not completely anyway. They are actually on Order business, though it is our intention that the Ronald and Ginevra Weasley are not aware of that." At Harry's scowl, the headmaster quickly continued on.

"That is not to say that they will not be spending family time together. It is because of Percy's apology that I recommended them for this mission. The family has been through a lot recently and the work for the order they are doing is not particularly difficult, but it will take most of the summer to accomplish. Now I have a question for you Harry. Do you feel you should be apart of the order?"

"Yes." Harry thought it a rather silly question. After all, he was pretty much the deciding factor in the conflict with Voldemort.

"Why?" This caught Harry of guard, since he thought it was obvious.

"So I can do my part sir. You know my importance to the war."

"Indeed, as you have implied, you have a very singular importance to the war. My question to you is, are you ready to face Voldemort for the last time?"

"No! That is the whole point of my little trip today." Harry was getting even more confused at what Dumbledore was getting at.

"Harry, I know you want to fight, but the fact of the matter is, we cannot risk you getting killed by Death Eaters. I know it sounds like I consider you a weapon, but when it comes to the Order, I must analyze everyone's strengths and abilities."

"We don't even know if I can be killed! What was it, One must die at the hands of the other? If anything, working with the order will help me gain the experience I will need to defeat him!" Harry was beginning to feel like he was grasping at straws, but he felt he had to continue, if only to know the headmasters reasoning.

"Do you really want to test that theory Harry? What if you're wrong? What if Voldemort shows up when you are fighting a Death Eater and kills you when your back is turned? The fact of the matter is that the best way you can serve the order is to be ready to strike at Voldemort when the time is right."

"I suppose that makes sense, but what about information? What will you tell me and what will you keep from me?"

"I learned my lesson Harry. I can only guarantee that I will keep you apprised of information relating to you and the Dark Lord. You must realize that in an organization like ours, information, even with full fledged members, is based on the need-to-know system."

"I understand, I think. I take it then that the full contents of the prophecy are not known to the majority of the order?"

"That would be a correct assumption Harry. Most members are aware of the existence of a prophecy, a select few know as much as Voldemort does, while very few know the whole contents. Those people would be you and me."

"Sir, why must it be kept a secret?" Dumbledore looked surprised that Harry actually did not think it obvious that it should be kept quiet. "What I mean to say is, its not like it really tells us how to defeat Voldemort, just that I supposedly can. What harm would it be for Voldemort to know?"

"Harry, lets say for a moment that you are a power hungry Dark Lord. Now imagine that your greatest fear is death, as it is quite obvious that is what Voldemort fears most. What would you do if, as we are led to interpret, you learned that you can only be killed by a fifteen-year-old boy? Fear is a weapon that works both ways Harry. Voldemort gains power through fear, and we can try to contain his threat by exploiting his fear of death. I am aware of the rumor that I am the only one Tom has ever feared and thus the threat to him that I pose has helped keep him in check. Should he learn the prophecy, one of our greatest weapons against him will be gone." Something suddenly clicked in Harry's mind.

"So Sirius was right!" Dumbledore shot Harry a rather accusing look. "Well, sir, he had accidentally mentioned that what was being guarded was a weapon of sorts. So he was right, it just wasn't what we thought of."

"Indeed." Dumbledore seemed to compose himself before continuing, something Harry knew meant that he was not going to like the rest of this conversation. "Harry, I want to talk to you about Sirius. I know you are not over his death, but..." Harry quickly cut him off.

"Does Voldemort know that the rest of the Prophecy is still known, if even only by the two of us?" Dumbledore sighed at Harry's obvious attempt to redirect the conversation. Never the less, he answered the question.

"No, our spy has confirmed that Voldemort believes the contents to be lost."

"What about the Death Eaters captured at the ministry?"

"With the dementors gone from Azkaban, Voldemort staged a raid soon after they were incarcerated. We were able to hold of the attack and drive them off, but not before he succeeded in freeing six of them, including Lucius Malfoy. There has been only one other attack so far, as you may be aware of since it was in the prophet. We believe that he is laying low. Like last year, we believe he is going to keep his head down after the interruptions in his plans, though I doubt this lull in activity will last."

"By interruptions you mean his failure to secure the prophecy and the imprisonment of the majority of his high ranking DE's who were, ironically enough, held at bay by a bunch of students," he said sarcastically. "What is the ministry doing to hold onto the other six we captured? Hell, what is the Order doing about Voldemort at all? Not to be pointing fingers or anything, but it didn't seem you did much last year."

"The Ministry has moved the remaining prisoners to a more secure location while the wards and personnel at Azkaban are upgraded. Fudge has fallen in line and has increased the Auror budget and has stepped up training and recruiting. As for the Order, well," he took a long breath and let it out slowly. "You need to understand the whole situation Harry. The point of the order is to fill in the gaps in what the ministry can do. Last year, we had to position ourselves so that we were ready to counter any major move that Voldemort may have made until such time as the ministry realized what was going on. Yes, we could have actively gone after Death Eaters, but we fight for things like law and justice and try to restrict how often we break the law and order we fight for. For us to just go in and imprison people like Malfoy would have been morally questionable at best and if such a raid were botched, it could have spelled a terrible defeat for us, given the political climate at the time. Not to mention the logistics of holding prisoners."

"I guess that makes sense sir."

"Good Harry. I hate to say it, but should we be victorious over Voldemort, the wizarding world is going to look to you for guidance and you need to begin to understand all the considerations that must be given to politically sensitive decisions." Albus repeated the pause of only a few minutes earlier. "Harry, I know you don't want to talk about it, but you need to. I know you are suffering from Sirius's death, whether or not you blame yourself, I know you are still hurting." Harry thought 'Well, I don't think he is going to give up, so I might as well answer him.'

"You know sir, I haven't really allowed myself to think about it. I don't have the luxury. I know that if I let myself, I would do nothing but fall into depression." Harry seemed to get a faraway look as he continued. "If I think through it logically, it's not like I really knew Sirius. Sure, we exchanged letters and talked, but almost never about the past or us. There was always something going on, whether it was the events of the Tri-wizard tournament or all the crap that was going on last year. I tell myself we never really knew each other, but it doesn't make it better. I know he cared deeply about me, and I know that to me, he was a father, best friend, and brother all in one. Then there is Remus. I don't know what to say to him. He has suffered so much. He looses his four best friends, gains one back, and loses him again. Not to mention his condition. I don't really know how to deal with it. It is just simply easier to push it away and deal with it later."

"Harry," Dumbledore actually sounded concerned, "that is not healthy. I understand how hard it is for you to deal with it, but you can't bottle it up."

"I know sir, and, I think just this conversation has helped. I'm not exactly used to having someone to talk too I sometimes forget that my friends are there to help. And I am trying, I really am, but ten years of Dursley is a lot to overcome."

"That's all I ask young Harry. What did you say earlier, something about good intentions?" This brought a smile to Harry's face. There was a comfortable silence that was only broken by the dinging of a clock that hung on the wall of the interior of the tent. Almost in unison, they both looked at the clock: It was ten o'clock.

"Well harry, I really must be leaving. I have a very busy day tomorrow."

"Not a problem sir, I have a few things I need to prep before I start. By the way, when should I expect Dobby?"

"Well, it is Friday, when do you plan to start your training?"

"Monday."

"Then he will be here Sunday. I wish the best of luck to you Harry, and if you are not adverse to the idea, the Order will escort you to Headquarters in August."

"I would like that sir. And, as the new co-owner of the Most Noble House of Black, I have no problem with the Order continuing to use it as headquarters."

"Thank you Harry. Do have a good summer, and don't hesitate to owl me if you need to talk."

"Thank you sir, and have a good evening."

"I will" With that, Albus Dumbledore apparated away.