A/N: I don't know own Harry Potter.

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Redwing1co: Thank u.

Chapter 20 One Truth and One Lie

The following morning Harry sat on the sofa in his suite, patiently waiting for his friends to arrive. After his conversation with Fate, he thought for a long time about what he would say to his friends; he finally decided that it was time to start trusting the closest people. He realized the value of sharing the burden of his secrets with his friends and family, and if they agreed to the memory Charm he wanted to place, Harry was more than willing to tell them the truth about his abilities.

For the past two hours, he'd been adjusting the truth to fit how it would have been possible for him to learn these things in this world, and he was now positive that he had a believable explanation for any questions they may ask him. All he had to do was sell the answers he came up with.

When he finally heard the knocking, he was waiting for, Harry stood up, took a deep breath, and made his way to the front door.

As soon as he opened it, he was surprised to see only Alex and Daphne standing in front of him.

"Morning, ladies," Harry greeted his fiancés with a smile. "Come on in. Are Neville and Su going to be here soon because I'd rather go through this interrogation only once?"

"Neville and Su will be coming in a few minutes," Daphne replied hesitantly. "We wanted to come earlier, so we could talk to you in private first."

After their parting words to him last night, Harry was expecting the girls to be irate, and he was suddenly concerned to see how guilty and upset the pair looked. "Is everything okay, guys?"

"No, it isn't, Harry," Alex answered, her eyes unable to meet his. "We're not here to interrogate you."

"What?" Harry asked, his concern growing with their atypical behavior. "Why not? After yesterday I thought the two of you would be bursting at the seams to ask me questions."

"We're sorry about last night, Harry," Daphne replied for the pair.

Harry was now utterly confused by the response. "You're going to have to be a little more clear with me, girls. Why exactly are you apologizing to me?"

"You saved our lives last night, and we didn't even thank you for it," Daphne answered him. "It wasn't until we got back to our dorm did we realize the troll could have killed us."

When Alex saw that Harry was still confused, she tried to explain, "I can't tell you why, Harry, but when you started fighting the troll last night, for some reason, neither one of us was scared. We just knew you wouldn't let anything happen to us. It wasn't until we talked about it back in our room that we realized that we treated you poorly once again. We yelled at you and demanded answers from you when we should have been thanking you for risking your life to save us."

Harry felt himself blush at the praise, and he silently cursed himself for not having better control over his young body. "You don't have the thank me for last night, ladies. I...I would never let anything happen to either one of you."

"We know, Harry," Daphne replied softly. "That's why we feel so horrible about the way we treated you yesterday. These past few months, the three of us have gotten closer, and you have been more than willing to be open and honest with both of us. Alex and I talked about it last night, and we agreed that we don't have the right to demand things from you. While we do have questions that we hope you will answer, to be honest, we're both just a little hurt that you didn't tell us that you were an Animagus. The past few weeks, we've shared so many personal things about ourselves with each other, it seems strange that you would hide something amazing and crucial like being an Animagus from us."

"But we trust you, Harry," Alex continued. "C...could you please forgive us for being stupid last night?"

Harry was stunned by the sudden turn of events. He was so used to being hated upon in his old life it never even occurred to him that he should be angry with the girls for their actions. The apology from his fiances was not something he was expecting, but he was happy with the sentiment. It made him feel good to know that not only did they feel safe in his presence, but they truly and honestly cared about him too. After the years he spent being blamed for everything, having someone apologize like this was almost more than he could handle.

"Y...you don't have to apologize, ladies, but if you need to hear it, I forgive you."

At this point, the trio's "kodak moment" was interrupted by a loud knocking, and Harry untangled himself from his future wives to see who it was. When he opened the door and saw Neville and Su, Harry quickly ushered his friends into the suite.

Once everyone had made themselves comfortable, Harry saw them all staring back at him silently, and he knew it was time to share the truth with his friends. He just prayed he was doing the right thing.

"After last night, I think it's obvious that I've been keeping things from all of you, and I'm ready to tell you what some of those secrets are. There are several things about myself that I haven't shared with anyone, but before I tell you, I need you to know it's not because I don't trust you guys. My biggest concern was that certain could take this knowledge away from you without your consent."

Daphne perked up at hearing this. Having been raised as an heiress to an Ancient and Noble House, she knew how essential keeping secrets from your enemies could be. It's part of why her parents insisted that she start to learn Occlumency. "Is there someone, in particular, you're worried about, Harry?" she asked her betrothed curiously.

Harry nodded his head and answered, "Snape and Dumbledore. They're both Master Legilimens, and the only reason they didn't try to look into my mind was because of Sorting Hat's first line during my sorting, and I haven't caught their attention too much, but if either of them learned about the things I can do, I'm worried how far they will go to learn my secrets."

"Legilimency on underage children is illegal," Alex gasped. "Why haven't you told your dad about it?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Lack of proof. It would be their word against mine, and no one will think that the great Albus Dumbledore would stoop to mind raping children."

Su was confused by what she was hearing. From the disgusted looks that appeared on her friend's face, she could tell it was something terrible, but she really didn't understand what Harry was talking about. "What's a Legilimens and, why are you worried about Dumbledore?"

"A Legilimens is someone who practices the art of Legilimency, Su, and said person can use their ability to look into your mind and see all of your memories," Harry answered. "As for Dumbledore...I have reason to believe he is not as Light as he claims to be. The sorting hat even warned me to be wary around the headmaster."

Su was appalled to learn that someone could do that to her. She knew she didn't have earth-shattering secrets, but that didn't mean she wanted someone to snoop around her head and learn all her private thoughts.

"That's horrible," she cried out. "Is there a way for us to protect our minds from them?"

"It's called Occlumency, Su," Daphne replied. "It's an ancient art that allows you to form shields around your mind, so a Legilimens can't read your thoughts. There are several added benefits to the art, but its main purpose is to counteract Legilimency."

"Can you teach it to me?" Su asked her blonde best friend.

Daphne shook her head and said, "I don't know enough to teach you, Su. I only started learning myself a few months before school started."

"I can teach you, Su," Harry offered. "In fact, I can help all of you learn it."

Alex was stunned to hear that Harry could teach them. Amongst the pureblood families, the Blacks were known to be the best at the mind arts, and from her own training, she knew what that process entailed. If Harry could teach them how to protect their minds, he would also have to test the shields they created. But Legilimency was strictly regulated by the Ministry, and it would be illegal for him to know it.

"Do you know Legilimency, Harry?" she asked her fiance hesitantly.

Harry could sense the unease coming from Alex, and he was pretty confident why she was feeling so. "Yes, I do, Alex," he answered. "But you don't need to worry about me. As soon as I claimed my Lordships, my Accounts Manager registered my ability through the ICW. Even if the Ministry found out I was teaching you guys, they couldn't get me in trouble. Not only do I have all the paperwork necessary to use the skill, but I'm a pureblood Lord. They won't dare to charge me with anything."

Daphne shook her head slightly at how cunning her fiance was. By registering through the ICW, he could use his ability legally but still hide that knowledge from the British Ministry. From the way her father had spoken about how things were done there, she knew for a fact the Ministry wouldn't check any paperwork the ICW sent them. What baffled her was why he was willing to share his secrets with them now? Occlumency took months to learn and years to master. If he told them the truth now, how were they supposed to keep that knowledge from Snape and Dumbledore?

"Harry?"

"Yeah, Daph?"

"Not that I don't want to know, but if you tell us your secrets now, how are we supposed to protect them? Occlumency takes a long time to learn."

Harry grimaced at the question. This was the part of the conversation that he was dreading, and if his friends didn't consent to it, he wasn't sure how he could tell them the truth.

"There is another way, Daph," Harry replied nervously. "If you guys will allow me to do it, I can place a memory charm on whatever I tell you today. It won't stop you from discussing my secrets with people who already know, but it will make sure that no one will be able to take that knowledge from your mind or force you to speak by using any spell or potion. The spell not only hides the information like a Fidelus, with me as the secret keeper, but I also plan to place a mind Golem for added protection. It would take the headmaster and Snape a wanded Legilimens attack just to find the Golem, and if they do, the block will be more than enough to protect it."

When he looked at his friends, Harry could see the varying degrees of uncertainty they were all feeling. Memory Charms could be used to strip someone of their memories, inhibitions, and even their free will. It took great trust to willingly allow someone to place them on you.

Hoping to ease some of his friend's concerns, Harry grabbed his wand and said, "I, Harry James Potter-Peverell-Gryffindor-Emrys, swear on my magic and my life that the memory charm I described works exactly how I said it does. It will not influence your memories or inhibit your free will. Its sole purpose is to protect the secrets I will share with you. Furthermore, once you have learned Occlumency enough to protect your mind, I swear to remove the block I will place today. So, Mote, It Be."

"HARRY!" Alex yelled out in anger. "YOU MADE AN UNBREAKABLE VOW YOU, PRAT. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? YOU COULD HAVE HURT YOURSELF."

"Is that what I did, Alex," Harry asked with a cheeky grin.

When he saw his fiancé continue to glare in his direction, Harry quickly wiped the grin off his face.

"Look, I...I trust you guys, Alex. I don't care about making the vow because you are not just my friends; you're my family. I will marry Alex and Daphne in a few years, and I already share a godbrother relationship with Neville. I know I haven't known Su long, but she's already becoming like a third sister for me. I can't explain it, but I know deep down that none of you guys would knowingly betray me. Each of you is important to me, and I don't want to keep lying to you."

As he waited for his friends to make their decision, Harry sighed in relief when one by one, each of his friends nodded their head in agreement.

"Excellent," Harry exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. "So...I think we can begin with the obvious secret...I'm a white Bengal tiger Animagus."

Now that his godbrother was willing to share some of his secrets, Neville was definitely excited to learn about becoming an Animagus. He'd heard about the ability from one of his tutors a few years ago, and he always wondered what animal he would be.

"How did you do it, Harry?" Neville asked his godbrother excitedly. "And can you teach me to be one?"

"They're both registered with the Ministry, so I guess it's okay to tell you. When my dad and uncle Sirius were at Hogwarts, the two of them figured out how to become Animagi. I found my dad's journal a while back, and it gave step-by-step directions and tips on how to do the process. I was curious about my form, so I drank an Animagus revealing potion before coming to school. I completed the transformation during the first week, and now I can do it at will. So yes, Nev. If you have an animal form, then I can help you become one."

"Is it painful?" Alex asked.

"Not really. The first change is a little uncomfortable, but it's more because it's draining on your magic. Once you get used to the transformation, you hardly feel anything."

As she watched Alex and Neville nearly jump up out of their seats, Daphne rolled her eyes at their unmistakable giddiness. While being an Animagus was definitely something that interested her, she had a different question for Harry. It was something that had been bothering her for some time, and if he was willing to be honest with them right now, she wanted to see if her theory was correct.

"Harry...do you even need to be at Hogwarts?"

Harry was surprised by the question, but when he looked into Daphne's eyes, he could see that she already suspected what his answer would be. "No, I don't, Daphne."

"Of course you do, Harry," Su replied, outraged by his answer. "School is important. Regardless of how smart you are, you still need to score well on your OWLs and NEWTs to get a good job."

"Actually, Su, I'm more than capable of taking my NEWTs today. I might have some trouble with History of Magic and Astronomy, but I have no doubt I would do well on all the other subjects."

"What?!" Su asked in shock. "How is that even possible? You're just a first year, Harry. Even if you grew up in the Wizarding world, how could you possibly know the information necessary to take those exams right now?"

"I have an eidetic memory, Su, and I've been studying magic from the Potter library since I was seven years old."

When he heard Su gasp, Neville knew it had to deal with Harry's memory, but he still didn't know what it meant to have an eidetic memory. "Ehhh, sorry, but what does that mean, Harry?"

Su was still awestruck by Harry's revelation and, if she was being honest with herself, a little jealous of his memory. When she heard Neville's question, Su snapped out of her momentary daze and answered, "It means he has a perfect memory, Neville. Harry will remember anything he sees, hears, smells, or touches for the rest of his life."

"Then why are you here?" Daphne asked curiously. "Since you're emancipated, you're technically an adult. You could take your OWLs and NEWTs whenever you want."

"To be honest, I came here because it was expected of me. I wasn't sure if I wanted everyone to know how smart I really am, so I thought it was best to go to Hogwarts and see what it had to offer. Now that I've been here a while, I can veraciously say that I don't need this school to be successful. The only reason I stay is because of you, Alex, Su, and Nev. I've spent so many years by myself, Daph; I just don't want to be alone anymore. I want to get to know the girls I'm going to marry someday. I want to get close to the godbrother I never met before. Hell, I even want to answer all the questions Su has about the Magical world."

"So...you're not planning on leaving anytime soon, right?" Daphne asked hesitantly.

Harry smiled warmly at her and shook his head. "I might be skipping out of some classes with you guys, but I'm not leaving this school until the rest of you do."

"What do you mean you're going to skip out on some classes?" Alex asked him.

Harry shrugged his shoulders and said, "I've decided I'm no longer going to hide my intelligence from everyone, Alex. Since I'm already good at Runes and Potions, I think I'm going to test out of those subjects as soon as I can. I sent a letter to Griselda Marchbanks from the Wizarding Examination Authority right before you guys got here. It's probably going to cost me a little bit, but I should be able to take the tests in a few days."

Neville was stunned to hear that Harry was already planning on taking his OWLs and NEWTs for some subjects. Since he met his godbrother, Neville knew that Harry was an intelligent Wizard. He just never realized how brilliant his friend really was. If Harry could really leave Hogwarts whenever he wanted, Neville was grateful his godbrother chose to stay for them. He'd spent so many years alone at Longbottom Manor he enjoyed the camaraderie he shared with his new friends.

Unlike the other kids he met in the school, the people in the suite liked being with him and not the Boy-Who-Lived. A part of him was thankful that he wouldn't have to lose that anytime soon.

When the girls finally managed to calm themselves down, Neville suddenly remembered a question he wanted to ask about last night. "What was that transporting thing we did yesterday, mate? It wasn't an apparition, that's for sure. The trip was much too smooth, and it didn't make me nauseous at the end of it."

Harry sighed softly when he heard the question. He was hoping Neville might have forgotten about it in all the excitement, but he should have known better than to assume something that lucky would happen for him.

When he saw his godbrother patiently waiting for him to answer, Harry took a deep breath and said, "That was called a Thunder Travel, Nev."

"A what?"

"A Thunder Travel is an inherent ability of a Storm Elemental," Harry explained to the group. "It allows me to travel in between two places like a Pheonix, regardless of the distance. I've tested it a few times, and so far, I've been able to go from my suite to Diagon alley without any problems. I can't be a hundred percent sure yet, but it seems as long as I can picture the destination in my head, I can go anywhere I want."

"What exactly is a Storm Elemental, Harry?" Alex asked excitedly. "I've never heard of it before."

"I'm not really sure, Alex," Harry replied. "After my procedure over the summer, the Goblin Healer thought I might be one, so I had my Accounts Manager looking for some information on it. All he could find was a single book, but I was able to find out about the ability in Gryffindor and Emry's family vault. Both my ancestors were Storm Elemental, which is why I received both Lordships. I haven't gone through it yet, but I know Storm Elementals are extremely rare. The author of the book was the last one the Goblins knew about, and he existed over 900 years ago."

As she stared at her future husband, Daphne could tell he held something back about his ability. Once upon a time, that might have bothered her, but there was something about Harry that made her trust him completely. As much as she wanted to know what he was hiding, she had faith it wouldn't harm them in any way, and so she was willing to wait for him to share that information on his own.

When she looked over and saw that Su was about to attack her fiancé with questions, she was sure he wanted to avoid, Daphne tried to move the conversation along.

"It seems you're a bigger enigma than I originally thought, Mr. Potter," she said jokingly. "Any more earth-shattering powers or abilities you want to share with us?"

From his conversation with Fate, Harry knew he would be able to tell his friends all of his secrets, but at that moment, he didn't want them to carry the burden, and he had plans to reveal the secrets when the time was right, he was glad he was able to tell them the truth about the things that he wanted to share currently and thankful of them to grant him the last wish. Secrets were definitely a burden for anyone, but if you could find the right people to share them with, life was far more accessible.

A week after his heart-to-heart with his friends, Harry found himself standing in the WEA portion of the Ministry. At first, the head of the department had been reluctant to grant Harry a chance to take his tests, but when he quoted several pureblood laws in his return letter, the elderly matron was forced to acquiesce to his demands.

When he finally arrived at the office he was searching for, Harry knocked on the Head of the WEA door, and the moment he heard a voice call out for him to enter, he immediately opened the door and walked inside. At first glance, Griselda Marchbanks made the head bastard look like a spring chicken, and Harry was surprised the woman was still alive, let alone working for the Ministry.

"Good morning, Madam Marchbanks," Harry greeted the woman. "Thank you for allowing me to take the tests I requested today."

Griselda arched an eyebrow at the boy in front of her and replied, "Good morning to you too, Lord Peverell-Gryffindor-Emrys. You really didn't give me much of choice in the matter. Are you sure you want to do this, my Lord? These tests are not to be taken lightly, and I highly doubt you are capable of passing any of them."

"I'm absolutely certain about my decision, Madam," Harry answered with a smirk. "As long as the tests are graded fairly, I believe you will be pleasantly surprised by the results."

"Very well, my Lord," the head of the department said with a sigh. "May I please have the form you filled out for your chosen tests."

Once she took the form from Harry's hand, Griselda gasped at the tests the young Lord had chosen to take.

Harry James Potter-Peverell-Gryffindor-Emrys:

Single Test Examination:

Dueling

Flying

Healing and First Aid

Human Languages (French and Italian)

Non-Human Language (Gobbledegook)

Physical Education

Politics and Law

Wizarding Etiquette

Multiple Test Examination:

Ancient Runes (OWL and NEWT)

Muggle Studies (OWL and NEWT)

Potions (OWL and NEWT)

"If you are certain, my Lord, then let us begin."

As he grabbed the first examination packet and placed it in front of him, Harry couldn't help but smile at the thought of the future. If the Magical world needed someone other than Dumbledore or Voldemort to follow, he would make sure he gave them someone that would shock and amaze them.