Chapter 18: Explanations and Revelations
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bioshock Infinite
Flitwick was the first to come free of the trap, whatever spell chain that he had been casting had been finished just as the trap activated, the spell firing from his wand down the corridor. He looked around, confused at what had happened as he landed on his feet, the corridor now empty of Quirrell but now also had two new occupants. McGonagall was next to unfreeze, her spell that she had been casting a protective ward of some description, no doubt to try and block or deflect any spell that was sent their way and finally, Snape was last to be released, his spell flying wide, Harry who had been near the trajectory of the spell leant back against the wall, it missed him by a clear margin but Harry wasn't taking any chance.
The three professors looked in confusion, wands still clutched in their hands as they tried to see where Quirrel went but lowered their wands after a moment seeing Harry and Elizabeth standing to one side. "Miss DeWitt, Mr Potter, how did you get here?" Flitwick asked and Elizabeth made a slight gesture back the way they came.
"Through the front door." She joked and Harry barely bit back the urge to laugh. He did not want to get into any more trouble than he was already going to be in.
"Yes, but how did you appear right in front of us like you have." Flitwick altered the question slightly, not rising to the bait of the joking line in a serious situation that they were in.
"You three had been caught in something, it kept you frozen in time I'd have to guess, you were each stuck doing whatever you were doing when you were caught in the trap." Elizabeth explained calmly, "I honestly did walk in through the front door as well, we arrived here about a minute ago."
"Then where is Quirrel? If he got away, then he could have gotten the stone." McGonagall interrupted and Elizabeth glanced at Harry, she had arrived at the end of it, he had been there from the moment he came outside.
"I didn't check his pockets when I arrived but I don't think he could have stolen it during that time." Elizabeth admitted and Harry chimed in to continue.
"He left the school straight after he trapped you," Harry explained drawing the full attention of the three professors.
"And just how would you know that?" Professor Snape questioned and Harry looked away slightly nervously, knowing this would be the part where he would probably get lynched.
"Because I knew he'd have an escape route planned somehow and was waiting to try and delay him if he got away from you." Harry explained quickly and seeing the three equally angry looks, grit his teeth, and braced himself for the coming chewing out.
"Were you out of your mind!?" McGonagall snapped and Harry flinched slightly at the anger that was in her voice, "you could have been killed! You should have been killed, a first year going up against Quirrel like that should have been unable to stop him."
"It wasn't just Quirrel." Harry added in, unable to stop himself, no secrets were going to be kept here if they asked and certain things he didn't doubt that they'd ask.
"What?" McGonagall paused, caught off guard by that interrupt.
"We were right in the theory Professor." Harry said to Flitwick, drawing a look of confusion as he tried to remember the conversation before, the adrenaline from the fight having thrown it from his mind. "Quirrel wasn't acting alone so to speak. You-Know-Who was there as well, attached to the back of his head."
"You-Know-Who?" Flitwick asked and Harry nodded. behind the Charms Professor, Snape paled even more so than he normally did and McGonagall shivered but regained composure almost instantly. "I thought there was something strange when we duelled and then he lost his turban but it was about that time we were frozen in place." Flitwick said with a gesture towards a bundle of purple fabric that had adorned Quirrell's head for the last year. Dumbledore always said that he wasn't gone. He was never sure but he was confident about it." Flitwick continued and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "On the back of his head?" Flitwick repeated and Elizabeth took over.
"He's something in between a ghost and life, a soul without a body able to possess others whether it's willingly or not I don't know but he was a part of Quirrel at the end there."
"How do you know this?"
"Because I've witnessed something similar three years ago," Elizabeth explained, speaking about what had happened when her 'mother' had been brought back to a shadow of life when she and Booker had tried to escape Columbia. There were similarities to what was going on now even if it was something drastically different.
Before anyone could continue the conversation, Snape stepped in, "perhaps we should move this conversation to another location instead of the Hallway." Snape suggested and after several moments McGonagall gestured for them to follow her due to her office being on the floor that they were currently on. They entered and took seats, McGonagall displaying some of her transfiguration skills creating two extra chairs for Elizabeth and Harry with barely a moment pause. "Now, explain what you meant." Snape practically ordered and Elizabeth shared a brief glance to Harry knowing that the truth was now going to come out soon, regardless of what she wanted to do to avoid it. Too many questions were going to be asked if she avoided it. But that didn't mean she had to give all the answers in one go.
"Three years ago, someone tried to bring my mother back from the dead, it didn't work, not fully, it tore her body and trapped it on this level of existence." She looked down at the ground thinking back to her actions, so naive and so impulsive back then, she had toyed with things that shouldn't have been done. Albeit she hadn't tried to resurrect her, she had only gone there to try and mutilate her 'mothers' corpse to get past a handprint sensor. Still sounded bad when you tried to put it that way. "Her spirit was able to possess her body but it wasn't true existence, she was trapped between life and death." Again, it was a lie to an extent, it was a shadow of who her 'mother' had been, pulled through into the world and forced into the body that inhabited the world, similar yet different to the experience. "I believe that You-Know-Who is something like her, he's in-between life and death."
The three professors looked thoughtful about this, they had each had experience with Elizabeth to know that she wasn't being completely honest but nor was she outright lying in regards to what she was saying. "Is this related to the tears that appeared when we first met?" McGonagall asked and Elizabeth nodded her head slowly.
"Tears?" Snape asked having not been kept in the loop in that regard. Harry and Elizabeth shared a look, both wondering how they were going to explain when suddenly Harry let out an 'oh' of realisation.
"All this made me forget, they've started appearing to other people." He quickly said quietly to Elizabeth and she closed her eyes and let out a sigh.
"No point keeping it hidden further then." Elizabeth muttered slightly louder and then looked at Snape. "Tears are doorways or windows, they can vary in their appearances and what they show but essentially they are a glimpse into something that could have been or what will be, every possibility that could possibly happen. The simplest way to explain it that I've always stuck to is like this, picture yourself at a crossroads and you choose a direction, left, right or straight ahead. Each one will lead to different things but it's what you choose, you go left and never look back, the right and straight ahead options fade away." She paused, he gave a nod of understanding and she continued. "But what would have happened if you took one of the other options? how would things have changed? These doorways allow people to see into possibilities that exist all running parallel to each other." She stopped the explanation and saw the look of pensiveness that came across Snape's features and part of her wondered what he was thinking about. "There are two people in this whole world who can currently open them, myself and Harry." She stopped again, glancing at McGonagall, "remember what we spoke about when we first met? even though whatever that was that I was stuck in was interrupted it still took effect on him, over the year, this power of his has developed, I don't know where it's going to end with him but it's getting stronger." Elizabeth said to the head of Gryffindor and She frowned but nodded none the less. "And with what he just told me, it looks like what happened where I am from is also happening here." Elizabeth said with a glance to Harry getting him to take over.
"There have been two tears that have been seen by other students and professors, one was in the Library shortly after I spoke to you Professor." He said glancing back at Flitwick, "that one was seen by Susan and Madam Pince, a tear that revealed an alternate variation of the Library but it wasn't in good condition."
"What did you see?" Flitwick asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
"The library was burning, I don't know what caused it but I do know that there looked to be little that could have been done to save the books that were there from the fire. I left before I accidentally caused the tear to open." He admitted and Elizabeth gave a small smile in acknowledgement of the sensible move that he made. "There was a second one as I went to look for Professor Babbling. This one was seen by the three Gryffindor Chasers, it was Hogwarts that they saw through the tear but at the same time it was something that freaked them out badly, I didn't see it fully because I was trying to keep out of their way but they saw people in robes and masks and that caused Katie to freak." Harry explained and the three professors looked troubled at that news.
"Did it look something like this?" McGonagall asked as she stood, walking over to a bookcase, and pulling out a book with barely a momentary glance at the shelf. She opened it up and flicked through a couple of pages before stopping on one which had pictures of various masks.
"Yes, they looked similar to that from the brief glance that I saw." Harry agreed and McGonagall let out a resigned sigh.
"Death Eaters in Hogwarts, even if it's not this one that it can or could happen is a horrifying thought." She muttered, closing the book, putting it on her desk and returning to her seat.
"It closed just after the chasers ran away and I continued to look for Professor Babbling."
"Why Professor Babbling? Why not one of us?" Flitwick asked, he knew that the three, Harry, Elizabeth and Bathsheda had a connection with each other due to the two living at her house for the last part of the summer but for him to prioritize her over his Head of House was a bit of a concern for Flitwick.
"It's because she already knows about this, she's 'in on the secret' if you will, I doubt it was a disrespect to you Professor, after all the moment he worked out the information about the theft he came to you Professor." Elizabeth defended Harry's actions, "we were told to keep this ability as secret as possible because of how easily someone could try and take advantage of it, the only ones who knew were Professor McGonagall, Professor Babbling and after Christmas, Professor Dumbledore."
"It took that long for you to fully tell him?" McGonagall questioned in surprise, she had expected Dumbledore to question her about it after McGonagall had initially told him but apparently, he had decided not to.
"It was only after I took Harry away for a few days before Christmas, He has protections that keep a basic eye on him," Elizabeth explained, catching Harry by surprise, his head turning to look at her so fast Elizabeth could have sworn she heard his neck crack as it did so. "Non-invasive, just ones that make sure you're healthy." Elizabeth commented and Harry frowned a look of anger crossing his face. "One moment," Elizabeth said to the Professors and grabbed Harry by the arm, practically pulling him from the chair and out the office.
The door closed behind them but Elizabeth didn't stop, dragging him across the corridor and into the Transfiguration classroom. She let go of his arm as the door closed. "He's been spying on me!" Harry shouted in anger and the desks in the classroom shook from the magic behind his anger.
"Not spying, making sure you were safe in a way I do NOT agree with." She said pointedly, making sure to emphasise that although she knew about it when she learnt that he knew that they had gone but didn't tell him.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because there wasn't a time that was right for it, with everything that's been going on I never found the right time to tell you what I knew," She admitted weakly, it wasn't an attempt to defend herself from not telling him but just more owning up to her mistake in that regards.
"All this time? He's had me monitored?" Harry asked numbly, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"I don't know how long he's had it on you, I didn't ask." Elizabeth said, waiting for an inevitable outburst, she could see it boiling under the surface.
"All this time..." Harry muttered weakly, walking almost robotically down the aisle between the desks. "He must have had it on me from the moment I was left at the Dursley's." He said, his right-hand clenching into a fist and unclenching seconds later, the motion repeating with every step. "All these years, all the things I had to endure at the Dursley's and he KNEW ABOUT IT!" Harry shouted the desks launching across the room. Elizabeth cried out, narrowly avoiding one desk that almost came directly at her, barely ducking out of the way in time. "Everything I suffered, living in a cupboard under the stairs, all those times I missed meals because of made up punishments, all those times I... I..." He stopped, turning back to look at Elizabeth, looking lost and confused before the anger reared again, refusing to face the feelings that were currently bubbling just underneath the anger. "For TEN YEARS! I was forced to live in a cupboard! Ten years I was repeatedly locked away without food, without light!" The pain in his voice was thick but Elizabeth didn't move, letting him work through it at his own rate, she knew what he was dealing with. She knew that her attempts to stop him now would cause bitterness and resentment towards her, so she'd let him work on it. "I didn't even know my name until I was four, it was always Boy this or Freak that!" Harry cried out in resentment, "I never had a birthday celebrated, I was alone all that time and you tell me he had spells on me to keep me safe?" He asked in astonishment, pacing around the room. "Where was he when I was being attacked by Dudley? Where was he when I used accidental magic to escape from them?" Harry continued to vent, pointing out problems that in Elizabeth's mind were justified, if Dumbledore had been monitoring him then surely, he could have stepped in to help. "He was keeping me safe!? If that was him keeping me safe, then I don't need his protection! I don't need him!"
He stopped pacing, his anger drained from his shouting, if the furniture could talk it would probably be thanking him at the moment having now settled down as he stood silently, his back to Elizabeth, fists clenched and his body shaking with barely contained anger mixed with sadness "How could he let me live like that?" Harry asked, his voice cracking slightly. Elizabeth stepped forwards towards the boy who normally would stand so strong around the others but now had his entire childhood called into question by one simple statement struggling to deal with it. She walked around him so that she stood in front of him and slowly she knelt not making a sound as she did, it made her slightly shorter than him but it didn't matter as she grabbed his shoulders, looked him in the eyes, Emerald Green, shimmering with unshed tears that she could see were held back by sheer force of will, locked with her blue eyes. "Why would he let me live like that?" Harry asked again and Elizabeth pulled him into a hug, holding him tightly.
"It won't happen again Harry," she said softly, "I won't let it happen again, we're in this together now." She said reassuringly and just held him comfortingly for several moments. Behind her she heard the door click shut again, knowing that at least one of the Professors had come to investigate the crashing of furniture. "Have you still got your cloak?" She asked him, feeling his hair brush against the side of her face as he nodded. "Put it on and take a walk, take some time to think and collect yourself then come back to the office, we'll still be there." She said before she leant back from the hug, holding onto his shoulders. "We'll solve this problem and others, just one step at a time all right?" Again, she got another nod and she gave him a comforting smile.
He took out his cloak and threw it over him as Elizabeth walked over to the door, opening it, and walking out, holding it open for a moment longer to let Harry walk out and closing it behind her. She then walked back to the office and opened the door letting herself back into the room. "Is he okay?" Professor McGonagall questioned quietly and Elizabeth shook her head.
"He's just had his whole childhood turned upside down and now he's left questioning things. He's not going to be all right for a long time." Elizabeth said angrily. "But it's nothing that we can deal with now and I will fix that problem." She explained with steely determination, "and we're getting off track on to something that we didn't need to bring up. A mistake on my part." She admitted without hesitation, "needless to say, Dumbledore knows of the Tears. Harry didn't know that but he did know that I've spoken to Bathsheda about it." Elizabeth said, slipping to a less formal speech in regards to names as Harry was no longer here. "I've spoken to her about a couple of different things but I don't remember mentioning it to her that they could start appearing."
"Why are they appearing?" McGonagall interrupted Elizabeth, drawing a slightly amused look at being cut off from saying exactly what she was asked.
"Because both myself and Harry are here," she paused, thinking on how best to phrase the next part. "we're conduits, we are essentially the keys to unlock these doors and as we use this power it allows it to become more apparent to others, we are the only ones who can open them though so there is no risk to them appearing," Elizabeth hastened to add, knowing that there would be concerns about the tears that would be appearing and no doubt more frequently as time went on.
"Not even with magic?" Flitwick asked and Elizabeth immediately went to answer with a negative before she stopped herself.
"Now that you mention it, I'm not so sure... the Lutece Twins were able to create a machine to open them but it was one of a kind and they died a long time ago." Elizabeth said, again another half-truth, in all sense of the word the Lutece Twins were dead but at the same time they weren't, they were in-between existence in ways that no one could probably have predicted. "Anything is possible, I have long since learnt that but it took the twins years to even scratch the surface of what they were doing." Elizabeth continued before Snape finally interjected.
"As interesting as all this has been, there is still the more immediate concern of the Dark Lord and his host escaping the Castle." Snape said and Elizabeth nodded her head knowing that he was right, they had become hooked back on to the more outlandish thing and less on the more important thing that they needed to pay attention on. The thief and the Stone. "What happened when he trapped us?"
"I don't know all that happened, though I can take a guess from how I found the grounds when I came back." Elizabeth suggested getting a wave to continue. "Quirrel tried to escape the Castle, you had injured him during the fighting so he was forced to leave, with that Harry stepped in to stop him, knowing that he couldn't use magic to stop him, he used the tears, pulling things through to try and stop him. Not knowing what he was doing fully though he didn't pull through full versions, from what I saw they were prototype models that were taken down quite easily. If he had known, then I doubt Quirrel could have stopped him in the condition he was in." She said with pride at Harry's abilities. "I arrived just after he had been caught by Quirrel who had been about to kill him and I stopped him." She said with a finality that instantly told the three what she had done.
Their reactions were mixed, McGonagall gave a look of shock mixed with disgust that she had taken a life, Flitwick had one of understanding, he knew that sometimes, drastic measures had to be taken to protect others and Snape masked his look quickly, a flicker of respect shown towards her before it was hidden behind his passive mask. "You killed him then?" McGonagall asked and Elizabeth shrugged.
"You can see it like that, in all honesty he was already dead, his body just didn't know it yet." Elizabeth said and looked thoughtful, "You cannot host something as evil as Voldemort," three flinches as she said the name. "Without there being strain on the body, he didn't have long left."
"Especially after he attacked the unicorns in the forest." Snape added, he had heard about the attacks in the Forbidden Forest and knew about the uses of Unicorn Blood. "He would have been dead within the month if he had been unable to get the stone without continued access to Unicorn Blood."
Elizabeth went slightly off colour after hearing about the Unicorn attacks, she hadn't known anything about it before leaving and all she knew about unicorns was that they were creatures of 'light' but nothing more than that. Apparently, their blood was something important though. "Either way, I put him down like the dangerous animal he was." Elizabeth said without remorse, "his body will still be on the grounds. We might want to clear that up before students start waking up." She suggested calmly, "along with making sure we collect all the bullets that were used, don't want any of the students injuring themselves out there." She added almost as an afterthought.
"Bullets?"
"As in things fired from guns," Elizabeth explained jokingly, already knowing that they knew what a bullet was, they were just caught off guard by it. "The tear I opened pulled through I guess you could call them mannequins, it's the closest comparison I can make, of soldiers who shot him and killed him." It was a blunt description of what happened, if they pushed for charges against her, she'd just disappear and keeping her promise to Harry, she'd take him with her. "But it didn't kill Voldemort." Again, a flinch and again she found herself not caring. Both Harry and herself were more than willing to call him by his name but Harry didn't at the moment only out of politeness. "He escaped from Quirrell's body and I can only guess he tried to hijacks Harry's but I dealt with him for at least a little while." Elizabeth explained snorting in amusement as she thought about it and how angry he must have been when it happened.
"What did you do?"
"I opened a doorway to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, he couldn't stop in time and so went straight through it, above water unfortunately, not that it makes much difference to him in this form... at a guess, if it had been under the water, the grounds may have been a bit flooded." She finished the brief explanation and waited for them to talk. All three seemed hesitant on where to begin, Elizabeth had just willingly admitted that she had killed someone with barely any signs of regret and at the same time they had learnt that Voldemort was back in action to an extent.
The first to recover in this was Flitwick, he spoke up asking a question that had been sitting at the back of his mind since she first reappeared. "How did you even know to return? You were at Malfoy Manor were you not?"
"I was but then Harry's owl turned up along with a note that simply stated someone was trying to steal something of mine. Knowing that wasn't the case because the item in question I'm currently wearing." She made a slight gesture to the choker around her neck with the bird pendant on it, "I Knew he had to be referring to something else important and the only important thing that I could think of in this situation was the Stone." Elizabeth explained. "As to how I got back so quickly, I think you already know the answer to that." She added, knowing that she didn't want to talk about it any further than she did. It was more than likely already going to cause problems with the fact that the tears were going to be visible to students and teachers alike, to know that she could essentially move through the wards with little to nothing stopping her would be another thing that would make them suspicious and probably act against her. Even if they had no reason to do so. People don't always act rationally around suspicious things or when they perceive a risk to their safety. "So where does this leave us now?" Elizabeth asked calmly, waiting to see what they would have to say.
A knock on the door and it opened showing a slightly exhausted but calmer Harry re-entering the room. He walked over to the group, returning to his seat but didn't say anything. he looked at Elizabeth and she gave him a reassuring smile, he didn't say anything but gave her a small smile as well. "Welcome back Mr Potter." Flitwick greeted politely and Harry looked at him and nodded again, still not feeling a hundred percent ready to talk. "As to where this leaves us Miss DeWitt, it leaves us short a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor and a potentially bigger threat looming on the horizon if the stone is kept in the School." Flitwick explained, dismissing any concern he may have had for her actions. She had done what she could do to protect the School, he wasn't going to hold that against her. "Professor McGonagall, can you get in touch with the Ministry and get them to send Professor Dumbledore back here, Professor Snape, can you work with Hagrid to fix the grounds, Secure Professor Quirrell's body in one of the unused Dungeons."
With Flitwick taking leadership even though Professor McGonagall was the Deputy Headmistress, they quickly came up with a plan, to the school they would simply say that Quirrel had passed on in an unfortunate accident. They would also get the Stone out of the School and back into the hands of Nicholas Flamel. Elizabeth escorted Harry back up to the Ravenclaw Tower but instead of going straight to the tower led him to the Head Dorm room to speak with him some more.
They entered in and Elizabeth gestured for him to take a seat. "We need to talk about plans for the Summer," she started, sitting on the edge of the bed, and focusing on him. "It's something I've already started speaking to Dumbledore about." She paused seeing his glare, "regardless of any of the immediate feelings you have and the current situation that you've found yourself in, you know that he's going to be involved somehow." Elizabeth explained pointedly and Harry relaxed slightly though he still didn't look happy about it. "There is a reason that you were at that house and it is most probably what blinded him to the things that you went through." She stopped again trying to find the right words to say about the situation that Harry found himself in. "There are protections in place, I don't know what they are but they keep others from being able to find you when not at Hogwarts, its tied into the blood." She thought about what Dumbledore had said during their conversation, if Harry felt that it was home he would be safe. She wanted to try and avoid destroying all the protections just yet, she still had too many things to deal with before then. "You need to go back there." She stopped, raising a hand as he was about to protest. "Let me finish." She requested and he begrudgingly sat back, not looking happy in the slightest. "The protections there need renewing, not just for you but for them as well. I know you aren't that concerned about the increased risk to yourself, proven with you taking on Voldemort yourself." The two shared a smiled, she was proud of him and what he had done, she wished he had gone at it a different way but what he did was impressive. "But it also protects them and by extension another angle that they can get at you." She said and from the look on his face, he knew she was right. He didn't like what she had said but he understood that she was right.
Could he really take an action that would put others at risk if he could prevent it? "How long do I have to stay?" Harry asked in resignation and Elizabeth held up one finger.
"One month, that's how long it has to be now that you've started at Hogwarts, it will apparently charge the protections enough to cover them for the rest of the year."
"One month with no contact with the outside world? It'll feel like an eternity!" Harry protested and Elizabeth smiled.
"Whoever said you couldn't have contact with anyone?" Elizabeth asked in confusion, she hadn't implied that at all, at least she hadn't meant to imply that. "I told you this before, we're in it together Harry, I'll be around, I may disappear for a day or two at a time to sort a couple of things out but I'm not going to abandon you." She said drawing another smile from him. "Now, onto a lighter note, you have to help me come up with the explanation as to why I suddenly departed from the Malfoy home." She said pointedly and Harry couldn't help it at this point, the whole chaos of the theft and the revelations afterwards to switch to something as light hearted as that.
He laughed.
HPCVHPCVHPCV
The days following were chaotic, with most students gone for the Easter Holidays it was easier to cover up what had happened, though it was no less tense, especially when Dumbledore turned up alongside Madam Bones. Questions had been asked by both, a full investigation would be looked into it but at the moment the case looked to be an open and shut self-defence case for the professors and with Quirrel not having any familial connections he wouldn't have anyone chasing after them for vengeance and he didn't have anything majorly important to claim so no one would really be distraught about his passing. As much as Madam Bones didn't like the situation she didn't have much to go with from the version of the story she had been told and it would probably be pushed to one side by those who wanted to make it go away.
Dumbledore on the other hand was angry to say the least. Blood had been shed on school grounds, a life had been taken. To him there had to be another choice, even if others disagreed. Though as Elizabeth revealed the full story to Dumbledore his anger had dissipated. Understanding replacing mistaken belief that she had killed without any chance for him to stop. "You didn't really kill him, like you said, he had killed himself by taking Voldemort into his body." Dumbledore agreed tiredly, ashamed at himself that he had missed Quirrel and how badly it had escalated over this time.
"I know, we took the action that needed to be taken and the state he was in, he didn't have long." Elizabeth agreed and Dumbledore looked pained by that. "This is where we're going to come to conflict isn't it?"
"I hope not, I hope you understand that forgiveness is a necessary tool that we need to use in these situations, a chance for them to redeem themselves shouldn't be forsaken because it is easier just to permanently stop them."
"I agree, we should take the chance at times to try and redeem them... but not at the cost of innocents," Elizabeth said firmly. "One life for the safety of others, a couple, dozens, hundreds, thousands... or even just one." Elizabeth responded calmly. She knew Dumbledore wouldn't agree with her, all life was sacred to him, he had seen too many things with the conflicts that he had been through over the years. Though he probably had some concerns regarding the fact that she had just willingly said she would kill people with no hesitation she felt the need to make sure that he was okay with her being here, if he wasn't she'd go. "But can we co-exist? Two philosophies both similar yet different," She didn't go into detail about the similarities or differences because they were painfully obvious to both of them. "I want to work with you on this, I want to continue what we have going here."
"As do I, but I can't condone your actions."
"Then don't, I'm not about to go around slaughtering people that disagree with me. You already know that I'm working on making the Malfoy's see things from a different point of view along with a few other Pureblood families that see his way. I don't want to take a life but I can if I need to." Elizabeth reiterated her point. She was working to try and do things Dumbledore's way because she did believe that people should have a chance of redemption but again it led back to the point that there was a limit to what she was willing to forgive. "But let's not talk circles around this point, we'll move onto something I know that you also want to talk about... Harry."
"Yes, from my understanding you told him about the protections on him."
"He had a right to know, he had a right to know that he was being monitored." Elizabeth said calmly, again another topic she felt strongly about enough to call Dumbledore on.
"All I wanted was for him to grow up without the worries that were waiting for him," Dumbledore explained sadly and Elizabeth felt a slight tension she had felt in regards to this conversation slipping away as she saw the man who before had been so certain about things now starting to look the age that he actually was. "But I fear I may have shattered any trust before it could truly form. Does he hate me?"
"No?" Elizabeth said, uncertainty in her voice as she thought about it. "I don't think he does at least. He's hurt by it, angry as well and will more than likely distrust you for a long time but hate you? I doubt it at this point." Elizabeth explained and smiled slightly as Dumbledore seemed to find a bit of his strength again.
"Good, had I truly known what it would have been like I... I cannot truly say that I would do things differently, I know it wasn't the happiest of childhoods but he was safe." Dumbledore said resigned to whatever anger Elizabeth would direct against him.
"But what good was protecting him from the things that would try to get him if he had no spirit to fight against them, he doesn't see them as family, they don't see him as family, with nothing to fight for he won't ever be able to truly reach his peak. We both know Voldemort is going to return. The question is when is it going to happen? We can't hold him back for fear of what may happen."
"Then you have a suggestion?" Dumbledore asked and Elizabeth nodded.
"I've already convinced him to return to the Dursley's for the one month that is needed to charge the wards. He understands that it wouldn't just be his life that he's affecting if he leaves." Elizabeth explained and Dumbledore smiled slightly at the attitude Harry was taking with it, a small sacrifice of his own happiness to protect others. "After that month ends, I'll taking him away somewhere for a while."
"I assume this will be using your powers?" Dumbledore asked and she nodded her head. "Will you at least try to keep me informed about his condition while you are gone? I understand that I don't overly have a right to know but it would put me at ease to know that he is healthy." Dumbledore requested and Elizabeth nodded her head, it was the least she could do and it would hopefully prevent the questions that would be asked. "You will be back in time for the start of his second year?" Dumbledore asked and she shrugged.
"In theory, we should be, in fact we could end up returning just as we're leaving, it's not the easiest task to walk through the time ways." Elizabeth admitted to him. She was over exaggerating slightly but there was always the chance that they could end up being late or remarkably early in their return.
"Then I will wish you luck on your travels and simply ask that you take care of him, I may have made mistakes but all I wanted was the best for him." Dumbledore said solemnly and Elizabeth did believe him. "And while I think on it, perhaps there is something else you could do for me?" Dumbledore asked and Elizabeth looked confused, what could he possibly want her to do. "On your travels, could you keep an eye out for any information that could possibly explain why Voldemort survived, I have theories but no definitive proof. Anything you could come across could prove important to stopping him here."
She hadn't expected this, to be flat out asked to use the powers to try and find the information, she had been toying with it but it still always led back to the same thing, "just because he used it there doesn't mean he will have used it in this time, just remember that before you lock onto the idea too much. I'll keep an eye out but I can't guarantee anything."
"That's all I ask of you." Dumbledore said and Elizabeth stood up, taking the dismissal for what it was and exiting the room.
HPCVHPCVHPCV
The rest of the school year passed uneventfully after that incident, with the death of Quirrel being covered up, school returned to relative normality, Professor Dumbledore himself stepped in to assist with the Defence against the Dark Arts lessons along with Professor Snape, both had a vast knowledge of what they covered and Elizabeth and Harry both realised that Quirrel had been holding so much back with the information that he had taught in lessons, enough to cover the exams but barely anything more than that. As much as Harry disliked Snape's teaching methods he couldn't fault the man on his knowledge and Dumbledore had years of experience both in his conflict with Grindelwald and Voldemort and in general years of teaching.
The evening before the School broke up for the Summer holidays was one of excitable energy, Hufflepuff had come out of nowhere in the last two months and in the eyes of some stolen the House Cup, much to the delight of Professor Sprout who was handed the House Cup. Slytherin had won the Quidditch Cup much to the annoyance of pretty much everyone that wasn't Slytherin, it was a lot closer this year but they had just managed to steal it in the Gryffindor Slytherin match due to the difference in Seekers, the one on the Gryffindor Team did not match up. Ravenclaw also fell short, winning against Hufflepuff but losing against Gryffindor and leaving them in second place on point by a handful at most, Harry couldn't remember the exact difference. Next year would be different though.
"So, what are your plans when you get out?" Terry asked Harry as the food was served.
"A month in purgatory then who knows." Harry explained simply, not going into more details than that.
"Your relatives?" He pushed the topic slightly and Harry nodded his head, "say no more," he said politely, realising it was a touchy topic to go into. "After that month? Nothing planned whatsoever?" Terry questioned and Harry shrugged his shoulders, he didn't have anything planned but that wasn't to say there weren't things being planned. "If you don't sort anything out you'll be more than welcome to stay at mine. We don't get up to much other than a trip away at the beginning of the holiday." Terry explained.
Harry looked thoughtful about that, it was a change to be invited round somewhere instead of being dismissed by everyone out of hand as a trouble maker. "I'll let you know, I know I'm going somewhere but I don't know how long we're going to be gone and it'll be hard to keep in touch with people."
"We? You and Elizabeth I'm guessing?" Terry questioned but Harry didn't answer, he really didn't want her to start getting harassed by everyone else about it even if they wouldn't be able to harass her for long about it. "Still, let's hope for a less chaotic year next year... am I right or am I right?" Terry joked and Harry chuckled nodding his head in agreement.
"Less mystery and theft attempts, I can go with that." He said happily before the conversation shifted to more of various holiday plans, chatting to a couple of the other students as time went on.
Soon enough, the Meal was finished and the students were making their way back to the dorms to prepare their final bits and pieces for their departure the following morning.
One month in Purgatory and then who knows what would happen? One thing was certain. Harry was looking forward to finding out.
TBC
Well there is the end of year one, Now some people are probably going to think I'm forcing it by having Harry return to the Dursleys for that month (I plan to do a time skip between the chapters to the end of that one month period just briefly touching on it.) But I can see Harry being willing to return to make sure the protections are in place. He's always been a character that has been willing to self sacrifice to make sure that others are safe, even if he doesn't like the person in question. With the Dursleys, they're family whether or not he gets along with them and deep down as much as he wants to get away he wouldn't condemn them to torture and death.
At least I don't think he would, Needless to say that one month isn't going to be a problem for him.
Still, now it's time to move onto Second Year, I'm looking forward to writing that, some big changes and some little changes are coming as well as a few different but familiar scenes coming into play.