Harsh Truths
Chapter 2
Harry woke to the screaming of several voices, each instantly recognisable to his tired ears. Amongst those was the sound of Fudge's relentless arguing along with Professor McGonagall's high-pitched shrieks of anger. Last night was still fresh in Harry's mind- each bit of it: The Final Task, The Graveyard, Crouch's explanation and his interrogation by Dumbledore and his own recounting of events to Dumbledore and Sirius.
How could he have been this stupid? It was at this moment that his actions throughout the course of the year had truly dawned on him- his foolishness to trust Moody the amount that he had, how he had shared almost every secret he had with that man assuming that he had nothing but good intentions. Had he even considered the events of the past 3 years? How every single Defense teacher had had secrets they'd hidden from not just him, but also the rest of the wizarding world. He wondered how he had't been able to spot everything wrong with Moody far earlier, from using Unforgiveable on students to transfiguring Malfoy.
Had he been wasting the efforts of those close to him? Were the sacrifices of not just his parents but also Sirius, Remus and his professors going to waste, all because he was such of a lazy brat to bother learning anything beyond what had been force fed to him by their curriculum? These questions compounded around Harry's head, each one only adding to his growing sense of worthlesness and just making him consider how he'd even thought about the prospect of defeating Voldemort with the sparse amount of effort he'd put in himself. Was he just expecting for his mother's protection to do everything for him?
"What have you done?" shouted McGonagall at the Minister, breaking Harry out of his self-hating stupor. She was far more angry than Harry had ever seen her. She seemed to have lost all her normal poise and composure, her normally tidy bun had unravelled and there were blotches of red on her cheeks.
"My dear woman!" shouted Fudge, angrier than Harry had ever seen him as well. His bowler hat lay on a nearby table, the first time Harry had ever seen him without it, and it had revealed hair strewn across his head along with a small bald patch in the centre. "I have done nothing beyond my right as the Minister of Magic, for it is perfectly within the law to bring protection with me, wherever I go. Especially when there is a death eater in the castle!"
"That-that thing," said McGonagall, her voice drowning out Fudge's explanations, "killed Crouch. As soon as it saw hiim it swooped down on him and-and gave it the kiss! You've indirectly killed a man, Minister."
"He is no loss!" blustered Fudge. "If what you say is to be believed, he is responsible for quite a few deaths and it seems that he has received what he deserved. This would have been his fate if he had gone to trial as well!"
"But he cannot give testimony Cornelius," said Dumbledore sadly, looking at Fudge directly in the eye. "He can no longer provide an insight into Voldemort's thoughts and wishes regarding his return."
"What do you mean You-Know-Who?" asked Cornelius angrily, trying to hide the small shudder he involuntarily felt at hearing Voldemort's name. "Of course Crouch wasn't doing it on his orders. Because he's not back. He can't be back. He was simply deluded- however many years in captivity under Crouch Sr. probably sent him insane with visions of the Dark Lord."
"He was being given instructions by Voldemort, Cornelius. It was part of his elaborate plan to return to full strength, the same plan that succeeded last night. Lord Voldemort is back whether you wish to believe it or not."
"And on whose word are you believing this Dumbledore? Surely you're not trusting the word of a lunatic murderer that seemingly told you everything and the word of a 14 year old boy? He's barely a teenager!"
"I have complete faith in my students Cornelius and I think you ought to have some faith in me as well," said Dumbledore coolly, stepping up to Cornelius whom he towered over.
"Well I don't Dumbledore. It seems the reports of you having finally gone off your rocker are true. You're working to destabilize everything I've worked to build up over these past 13 years or so- actions will have to be taken, and I doubt you're going to like any of them."
"What we have worked for has already been destabilized. Voldemort is back," said Dumbledore. "I implore you to take the appropriate measures Cornelius. Remove the dementors from Azkaban, step up-"
"Remove the dementors!" raged Cornelius interrupting Dumbledore mid way through his sentence. "They're our biggest ally- I'd be kicked out for even suggesting it. I think we've talked enough for today because clearly, you are stuck headstrong in what you believe to be true and you're refusing to see reason."
"You are blinded by the fear that everything could come crashing down, and blinded by the love your office and this neat and tidy world you live in. Act as I say so and you'll be able to preserve this world and you'll be remembered as one of the greatest Ministers of Magic in history. Step aside and you'll be seen as the simpleton that paved way for Voldemort to return. Your move, Minister."
Cornelius had paled by now, clearly reminded of the havoc Voldemort's rise to power had caused those years ago. "We're finished here Dumbledore," he said grabbing his bowler hat and settling it onto his head before walking out of the room. Before he did so, he walked over to Harry's bed awkardly and dropped a large bag of gold onto his lap. "Your winnings," he said bitterly. He gave no further explanation and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Harry sat in Dumbledore's office, looking up at the Headmaster with an inquisitive look. "Why, Professor?" he asked. "Why do I have to return to the Dursleys every single year?"
"I wanted to tell you this myself," said Dumbledore solemnly. "I thought I ought to give you enough respect and explain my reasoning. I think you have earned that much after all you've been through. To be perfectly honest, I briefly considered not telling you this and rather delaying this talk for the next year, or perhaps the year after, but I have noticed a rather striking maturity from you these past few weeks. And hence, I think the time is right to tell you why you must stay at the Dursleys again this summer, and for a few more summers to follow.
It all goes back to when you experienced that awful tragedy that night, and you were brought to the Dursleys to live with. Here, I was presented with two options. I could either let you live with the Dursleys, casting incredibly powerful protective magic in the process and hide you away from a potentially harmful magical society. Or I could have allowed you to live with full knowledge of your past, with some family that was willing to take you in, and expose you to a world that is your birthright but one that would be so, so cruel to an infant that they see as their saviour.
I must admit, Harry, that I chose the easy choice and I hope that you'll forgive me for this. I chose to let you live with the Dursleys, to live under their quite frankly atrocious care, and in doing so I hid you away from the magical population. However, there was another reason why I chose to do so," said Dumbledore seeing Harry open his mouth to protest, and raised a finger to quieten him. "Immensely powerful wards were constructed on the fabric of your very soul through this act, and through your mother's sacrifice, which allowed you safety from Voldemort until you turned of age. This was the reason why Voldemort could not touch 3 years ago, why Quirrell felt such intense pain and burned at your touch, for the power of your mother's love was so repulsive that Voldemort could not simply stand to touch you.
And so, as long as your aunt accepted you every year, be it only for a few weeks by allowing you to live into her house, the protective wards I had constructed would recognise the blood connection between you both and would be strengthened. This would Voldemort would not be able to touch you year after year until you turn 17 and the wards would be destroyed, which is why I had to subject you to the abysmal care of the Dursleys. I am not sorry that I made this choice as you were protected for all these years, but I am sorry that you suffered how much you did. And for that, Harry, I ask for your forgiveness." Dumbledore sat back in his chair and took off his glasses and looked sadly at Harry, trying to gauge the young wizard's feelings.
Harry blinked and looked at the floor unable to meet Dumbledore's eyes. Was this the whole truth? Was Dumbledore still keeping things from him? But it did make sense to him, at least bits of it did. It didn't stop the anger that he felt though, the anger at knowing that he could have never had to meet the Dursleys in his life if Dumbledore had just taken a chance. He held himself back from expressing all this however and simply sighed. "Can I ask one thing Professor?" he asked finally having given himself enough time to process all this new information. Dumbledore simply nodded, realising it was not the time to refuse. "Can I not just stay with the Dursleys for the minimum amount of time for the wards to strengthen again? I'll find myself a place to stay in Diagon Alley, maybe at the Leaky Cauldron or somewhere like that, don't worry about that, but just not with the Dursleys."
Dumbledore smiled, clearly relieved. "I think you have deserved that at least Harry. I was reluctant to allow this to happen before as you were too young, too rash and I was scared of what you would, quite possibly foolishly, get to unsupervised. But you've become far more mature these past few years to the point where it would be unfair for you and your magical development to keep you confined at the Dursleys for any longer than what is necessary."
"How long will I have to stay there Professor?"
"2 weeks or so ought to do the trick, and don't worry about where you'll stay after that. I have already thought of a very suitable arrangement."
Harry smiled slightly for the first time in a while; the summer was looking better than normal at least.
Harry and Ron both looked incredulously at the glass jar in Hermione's hands. "You're telling us-" said Harry unable to believe himself, "-that that is Rita Skeeter. And she's an animagus."
"Bloody hell Hermione- you've gotta be kidding us!" Ron looked at Harry with equal levels of surprise and shock, and broke out into a smile. "It's bloody brilliant, it is."
"Look at it closely," said Harry noticing the strange markings on the beetle's antannae. "Those are the same markings from Rita's glasses."
"Exactly Harry," beamed Hermione. "All animagi have them- it's what allows them to be distinguished from animals of the same kind. Remember both of you, there's been the same beetle popping up everywhere: the statue when Hagrid was talking about his mum-"
"When Malfoy was talking under the tree-" chipped in Ron.
"Outside the window in divination class-" added Harry.
"Even Krum pulled a beetle out of my hair," said Hermione. "That's why there's been so many stories about us this year. She was probably getting half of them from the Slytherins themselves!"
"So what are you gonna do with her?" asked Ron. "I'm assuming we can't squish her and call it a day, can we?"
"I'm gonna let her out when we get to London," said Hermione. "I'm not turning her into the Ministry because they're not going to do anything, so I'll let her off. But I've made her promise not to pick up a quill for at least another- see if we can break her habit of writing lies or not." Hermione smiled deviously and stashed the jar away.
Harry smiled though in the back of his head there was a thought formulating about another possible use for Skeeter, just to make his life a little easier over the next few months.
Harry got up from his seat in the Hogwarts Express stretching his sore arms and legs and still thinking about the events of the past few days. Ron and Hermione got out first, Ron grabbing his and Hermione's trunks on his way as a show of courtesy which left Hermione blushing and Hermione remembering to take the little glass jar that held the animagus form of Rita Skeeter. As Fred and George made to follow them, Harry grabbed them both and pulled them back into the compartment.
"Take this," said Harry pulling out the sack of gold Fudge had given him.
"Wh-what?" said Fred. "You can't be serious."
"I am," said Harry firmly. "Take it. I don't want it."
"Harry," said George in pure awe. "Do you have any idea how much money that is? It must be like a thousand galleons-"
"It is," nodded Harry. "And I don't want it. I don't deserve it but I have it, and I'm giving it to you."
"Why? You could do anything you wanted with it, buy whatever you need-"
"Honestly, I don't wanna sound stuck up or anything, but I don't need it. I have plenty of money from my parents, and you literally just told us about how you got scammed by Bagman. So it's for the gift shop. Merlin knows I need a few more laughs in my life. We all need a few more laughs."
"Harry," said George taking the bag from Harry's hands. "Are you sure about this?"
"Absolutely. More sure than anything I've been of the past few days." Seeing how they were still apprehensive, Harry pulled out his wand. "Take it or I'll hex you. Oh, and go don't tell your mum about this."
"Of course," agreed both twins at the same time. "Harry-thanks," was about all they could manage at this point.
"Buy Ron some new dress robes from this as well- say they're from you or something," Harry added walking around them and purposely stepping onto the unconscious bodies of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle who were all lying in the hallway with the results of the hexes thrown their way lying across their faces.
Harry jumped out the train over to where Vernon Dursley was waiting for him, his face only getting redder as he looked out at the hordes of magical families at the platform. "Bye guys," he said to Ron and Hermione with a happy smile. He gave Ron a pat on the shoulder and hugged Hermione before walking over to his uncle.
"See you in the summer," they called out after him, knowing they'd be meeting up, somewhere one way or another.
AN/ Again, I don't want to rewrite scenes if I'm not really gonna change anything up in or if nothing relevant is going to happen there anyway. This is why I didn't writing about Dumbledore explaining Priori Incantatem or the twins telling them about Bagman, because it'd go down pretty much exactly as canon.
Next couple of chapter's going to the summer and I am still undecided on the pairing for Harry (and even all other characters if there are any suggestions). I'm open to anything as long as it's not slash or something ludicrous like Harry/Pansy. Leave some suggestions if you want to.
Thanks to everyone's who has reviewed so far, hope you enjoyed this chapter and feel free to leave a review!
