'I can't do it!' Harry exclaimed, slapping the small stone dragon figurine down on the desk in frustration. He had been trying to wandlessly levitate it for an hour now, but he was finding it difficult with Dumbledore standing nearby watching him intently.

Dumbledore stepped closer, blue eyes glancing over flushed cheeks. 'Think about how you felt at your aunt and uncle's,' he directed softly. 'Right before your first outburst.'

Harry nearly snapped at him for his choice of words. It was not an outburst! Instead, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and brought himself back to the house on Privet Drive. He'd been standing by the bed, staring as the blood gushed unhindered down his arms. He could handle the blood. After all, he had before. But the pain - it had been unbearable. It had been one steady, pulsing beat, coming from every cut, every punch, every harsh word that Uncle Vernon threw at him. And Harry had stood there and taken every ounce of it.

Harry stood now, shoulders hunched, hands gripping the edge of the desk on either side of him so hard his knuckles turned white.

Dumbledore walked around the desk and put a hand on Harry's shoulder rubbing away the tension. 'Relax,' he said. 'Try not to relive it. Just find the feelings you had. The feeling that caused you to break.'

Harry nodded and took another breath, forcing his shoulders to relax, then took himself back to the Dursley's house in his mind.

He stood outside of his relatives' house. The house was exactly the same as he always remembered it. However, this time everything seemed to be covered by a blue light. As he looked around he noticed something else - everything seemed to move in slow motion. The birds slowly flew through the air, their calls seeming muffled. He looked down at his hands. They also looked blue. Solid, but blue.

Shaking his thoughts to the side, he entered the house, walked up the stairs, then stopped at the top of the landing. He could feel the anger pulsing from his room - Dudley's second room - like red hot lava pouring out and encasing the house in its heat. But, there was also another emotion. Something - different. He focused a little bit harder. Was it Fear? Anger? He stepped forward again and opened the door just in time for it to be ripped from his hand in slow motion. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Uncle Vernon hit the wall hard, then slowly fall to the ground. But the thing that caught his eye wasn't the way the glass crunched dully under his feet, or how the door shattered in mid-air before hitting the wall on the opposite side of the room with muffled thumping noises. It was a brilliantly bright, pulsing white light coming from beside the bed. Right where he'd been standing that day. Shielding his eyes, Harry stepped closer to the light - and realized that there was a boy beyond the light. A boy with emerald green eyes and a mess of raven black hair to match.

His memory self was hunched over with his hands thrown, palms outward, in front of his face. Harry could see sections of his face through his hands. Scared? Yes. Defiant? Yes. Angery? More like rage. He had had to make the onslaught stop and the anger had been there, simmering - until it was very much alive.

The memory of himself slowly lowered his hands and raised his eyes and Harry sucked i in his breath.

He can't see me, right? He thought.

Then the memory looked away and began to take in the rest of the room, letting his hands fall to his sides.

Harry watched as his past self visibly cooled down and began to look around, confused, before he finally backed out of the memory, the house fading around him.

He leaned heavily on the desk as he resurfaced from his memory, breathing deeply.

Dumbledore came into his peripheral vision and slid the dish of lemon drops in front of Harry, who took one and popped it into his mouth as he tried to calm his racing heart.

The headmaster waited patiently as Harry regained his composure and finally when Harry was able to breathe properly again, he began to tell Dumbledore what happened.

Dumbledore listened intently as Harry recalled his memory. When Harry got to the part about seeing his past self, the twinkle came back into Dumbledore's eye.

Harry stopped. 'What?'

But Dumbledore just waved a hand at Harry. 'Continue,' he requested gently.

Harry eyed him quizzically, but took a deep breath and picked up where he left off.

When he finished, he grew quiet studying the headmaster, waiting for him to comment.

Dumbledore sat for a moment staring into space as if he had forgotten Harry was there.

Finally his gaze swiveled around to meet Harry's.

'That moment when you saw yourself,' he started slowly. 'Your life preserving instinct kicked in and you realized something needed to be done. You needed a way out. I've heard that called before as 'being broken.' It just means that power was always in you, but you needed to have a near death experience in order for the power to be forced out of you.' He stopped and placed the dragon figurine in front of Harry again. 'Now reach inside of yourself again and find that power.'

Harry swallowed and squared his shoulders. Closing his eyes, he imagined himself standing in his room again at number 4 Privet Drive and gazing into his past self's eyes. 'Why are you so angry?' He asked. 'And where are you getting this power? Where does it come from?'

'I'm scared.' His memory stated. His voice sounded hollow, like he was standing in a tunnel. 'So scared. My mother's sacrifice is the only thing keeping me alive. But even then, I don't think I can take much more.' He stood staring at Harry for a moment, the silence growing between them. 'And the power? That comes from the Dark Lord. I'm bound to him now. That night he tried to kill me, he put a piece of himself inside of me.

Not only can I see inside his soul, I gained a piece of his power. He'll always be stronger, but I'll never be the same.'

Harry opened his eyes and the power poured from his fingertips. He tried to aim it at the dragon to levitate it, but there was so much of it. Too much of it. It hit the dragon and it flew into the air, but so did the desk. The books, papers, lemon drops and candelabra that had been sitting on the desk now were also flying through the air. Everything spun and twirled in the air as if in a massive tornado and Harry floated gracefully in the middle as chaos flew around him.

Dumbledore stood right where he was, his own magic meeting Harry's, the colors intertwining, Harry's white magic gaining streaks of blue. Gradually Dumbledore's magic overtook Harry's and gently lowered Harry back to the ground, then gathered all of the debris and set the office back to rights.

That done, Dumbledore stood stroking his beard and staring at Harry while Harry looked everywhere but at the headmaster as the color crept up his cheeks.

'Well,' Dumbledore eventually said. 'I think we got a little over eager, didn't we?'

'The loo is through that door,' Dumbledore gestured at a door toward their right. He was showing Harry around his quarters. 'Through that door,' he pointed toward a small door behind his desk. 'Is my bedroom.' He pushed open the door and Harry peered inside. It looked like a scene from the Elizabethan era. The walls were covered with a rich green decorated with cream colored flowers. The lavish bed was draped with a maroon comforter with golden designs. Dumbledore gestured toward the door at the other side of the room. 'And that's your room.'

Harry crossed Dumbledore's bedroom and opened the door to his new room. The four poster bed in the center of the room was a dark polished wood. The comforter was a Gryffindor red with a golden lion embroidered on the center of it. Harry's luggage sat expectantly at the foot of the bed. A desk sat against the wall, beside the bed, in front of a window overlooking the Forbidden Forest. He stepped inside the room and his feet sunk into the luscious red carpet. He turned to beam at the headmaster behind him. 'I love it!' He exclaimed. 'Thank you so much!'

Dumbledore smiled at Harry's excitement.

'You're welcome, dear boy.'

Harry stopped and stared for a second. Should he ask now? Or wait till later? Not giving him another second to think he blurted, 'What about house rules?'

Dumbledore blinked back at him. 'Well,' he said slowly. 'I guess... just be back here before curfew and mind your manners.'

'Oh,' said Harry. 'That's pretty simple.'

Dumbledore winked jovially at him, then turned away, his robes brushing the ground behind him as he walked. Harry stayed in his room for a moment longer and rushed to his luggage, throwing open the lid, and rummaging around making sure everything was still in there. If Snape took anything….

But, everything was still there, even the mirror Sirius gave him earlier that year. Relieved, he closed the lid again and followed Dumbledore back to his office. The headmaster was sitting at his desk again, flipping through the papers and humming a little song.

'Um…' Harry mumbled. When Dumbledore looked up he said, 'I'm going to go visit Hagrid.'

Dumbledore smiled. 'Give him my greetings,' he said.

Harry nodded and slipped out the door and down the spiral staircase. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he strode through the long corridors until he found himself on the front steps. He looked around the grounds realising how quiet it was without the rest of the students. He could hear the waters of the black lake gently lapping the shore as the giant squid swam around on the surface. He walked down the rest of the stairs and smiling to himself set off toward Hagrid's hut. As he walked, the silence seemed to bear down on his ears more forcefully after each step. He could never hear his own footsteps when he walked with his class. Or even with Ron and Hermione. Halfway to Harid's hut, he finally stopped, threw back his head and let loose a full throttled yell. He could hear his voice echo away. A flock of birds flew, startled, from their spots in a nearby tree. Hagrid's door burst open and he stumbled out, looking around curiously. When he spotted Harry, he called to him.

'What's goin' on, Harry?' He asked as Harry came tromping up to the hut.

'It's too quiet,' Harry said, breezing past Hagrid and into the hut.

Hagrid glanced around outside before following Harry into the hut and closing the door quietly behind him - if slamming it counted as closing it quietly - which Harry wondered if that was quiet for someone Hagrid's size.

Hagrid thumped over to the kitchen and set a kettle on the stove to heat up. 'What brough' you 'ere so early, 'arry?' He asked conversationally.

'Snape kidnapped me.' Harry said hotly.

Hagrid turned to look at Harry as he set two cups on the table. ''e did not.'

Harry held his gaze. 'He came to my house and without so much as a warning apparated me to Dumbledore's office.'

Hagrid continued to frown at Harry for a moment longer. ''e must 'ave a reason fer it,' he said eventually. 'Professor Snape don't do things wi'out a reason.'

Harry sighed. Of course he would side with Snape. 'Then why am I here?' He asked. 'I was going to fix it.'

'Fix wha'?' Hagrid asked as he gathered some tea leaves together.

Harry blushed. 'A mistake,' he said, lowering his gaze.

The kettle whistled and Hagrid went to snatch it off the stove. 'Is i' similar to blowin' up yer aunt'? He asked as he poured steaming water into the two cups and brought over a plate of his famous rock cakes.

Harry took a cake and accepted the tea Hagrid held out to him. 'Maybe a little….' He mumbled. He licked the sugar off the cake, knowing from experience not to try to bite it.

'Then ma'be Professor Snape saved ya from trouble.'

'If he wanted to do that he could've just fixed the wall and obliviated Uncle Vernon.' Harry retorted.

'Wall?' Hagrid asked. 'Wha' wall?'

Harry squirmed in his seat. 'That was my mistake.' He clarified.

'Wha' 'appened?' Hagrid asked as he took a cake for himself and plopped in a chair opposite Harry.

Harry put down his cake and dusted his hands on his pants. 'I got angry,' he said softly. 'And I blew out my bedroom wall.'

'What??!' Hagrid exclaimed, sloshing his tea onto the table as stood up abruptly. 'Harry! An that's not bad to ya? 'e migh've saved ya expulsion!'

Harry suddenly found his hands very interesting.

'Yer a very lucky boy, 'arry,' Hagrid said seating himself again. 'Wha' would ya 'ave done i' Professor Snape hadn't come?'

'I would have fixed it myself!' Harry said.

Hagrid took a sip of his tea. 'Dumbledore'll teach ya how, 'arry,' Hagrid said.

'I know,' Harry sighed. 'I'm just angry at Snape.' Hagrid was quiet. 'You know,' Harry continued. 'He's always been out to get me. If I'm in trouble, he usually seems to be right there, looking down his nose at me. When he came to get me, he looked livid. I thought he was going to kill me.' He dug a fingernail into his rock cake and was rewarded by a broken fingernail. 'And how do I know it's fixed anyway?'

Hagrid took a big bite of his cake. 'Professor Snape is a responsible man, 'arry.'

Harry picked at his broken fingernail. 'What makes you trust him so much, Hagrid?' He asked.

'cause Dumbledore trusts 'im an' I trus' Dumbledore.'

Harry nodded. 'Okay,' he said. He pushed back his cake and tea and stood up. 'Thank you for the tea, Hagrid,' he said. 'But I really have to get going.'

Hagrid stood up as well and opened the door for Harry. 'Good luck, 'arry,' Hagrid said. 'An' come again soon, all righ'?' Harry nodded then headed back across the grounds toward the castle.