Bane
Disclaimer: See chapter 1. Reviews are welcomed, flames are not. Special thanks to Miriam1for her editing skills.
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Chapter16
Harry, ignoring the chaos around him, moved down the aisle to the empty spot across from Hermione Granger, one of his former best friends. Several spots down from her was the other former best friend – Ron Weasley. That they were not sitting together was very telling. In fact, there were several empty spots around the pair. A book was propped up in front of the bushy-haired sixth year. For why there were empty spots around Ron was evident by the sprayed food bits around him. Ron's manners had definitely taken a turn for the worse.
His opening salvo went well. He had everyone off-balanced. It wouldn't last long, and he really wasn't looking forward to the meeting after dinner. Well, he'd worry about that after he ate. That is, if his former classmates would let him eat. They could be as loud, rude and obnoxious as any village teenager who hadn't lived on the edge could be.
"Hello, Hermione," Harry said as he sat down across from her. He smiled at her opened-mouthed expression as others around him whispered and stared.
With a bit of mage sight, Harry took in the food platters around him. Many of the drinks showed signs of tampering, while a couple of platters of sweets showed the same signs. He and Silverfox had many discussions about the potions that the older healer had found in his son's system. Now, Harry knew.
"Water please," he called out. There was no way he would drink or eat anything that wasn't safe. Silverfox, as well as the Star-eyed had been very incensed at the potions and magical blocks on him.
Again, he wondered how much of this he would be allowed to eat.
The Star-eyed not only healed him from those controlling magics but took the soul fragment from behind his scar. There was no way, in all that was holy, that he would go under those again.
He carefully picked out a few healthier platters of food, ignoring the heavy sauces and over-rich platters.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?" shouted Hermione. It seemed that she had been trying to get his attention for some time.
He looked up at her and smiled. "Actually, no. You see, I would like to get something to eat before the Inquisition starts. So if you can wait, I will answer some of your questions after I am finished?" he asked with a rare show of maturity. He helped himself some side dishes that most passed over and were hard to potion due to potions affecting the taste.
She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again to shriek at him when she was rudely elbowed.
"He's correct, Hermione," came a quiet voice beside her. "As much as I would like answers as well. Let him eat."
"Thank you, Neville," Harry acknowledged as he started to eat. It wasn't as good as the hertasi's fare back at the Vale, but he had always enjoyed Hogwarts' food. "How are you? Your Gran? And how much trouble did you get into afterwards?"
Neville Longbottom smiled as he returned to his food and started to speak. "Well, I'm fine and so is Gran. Thank you for asking. She was ever so proud of me, but she did scold me for breaking my dad's wand. She hadn't wanted me to have my own. Olivander gave her a right chewing out for forcing me to use a wand that hadn't chosen me while my dad was still alive."
Harry nodded as he ate. He glanced over at the fuming Hermione. She was still upset that he wasn't going to answer any of her questions.
Down the table, Ron was listening and started to mouth off questions as well, spewing food as he talked.
Closing his eyes, Harry leaned back as a couple of bits landed in his plate. He waved his hand and cleared his plate leaving it shiny and clean. "I guess I wasn't that hungry, after all."
Several of those Gryffindors around him snickered at his comment, but Hermione – as well those close by – gasped at the ease of wandless magic Harry displayed.
"Oi, Harry! What's up with the fancy robes?" came another voice. "Trying to start a new trend?"
Harry smiled as he turned to face a red-haired girl, Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister.
He shrugged. "Maybe. Think it'll catch on? My adoptive father always says if you are going to do anything, do it with style. This is one of my favorite robes."
"Hey, mate," came an Irish brogue. "What's up with the white hair? Trying to become a Malfoy?"
Harry laughed. "Hardly, Seamus. Just a side effect with dealing with wild magic. I'm afraid it's permanent." He fingered a lock of white hair. "Magic can do that."
"Mr. Potter," came Professor McGonagall's voice behind him. "The Headmaster will see you now in his office. He asked that that Misters Longbottom, Weasley, and Misses Granger and Weasley to accompany you. He also wants Miss Lovegood, as well."
Harry stood and dusted off his robes and smiled. "Lead the way, Professor."
:Ready Sal? The fun is about to start. Think Dobby will save some treacle tarts for me, later?:
:He might. That one is crazy about you.: came the voice of the firecat from somewhere in the Great Hall. Harry knew that for a large feline, he could be quite subtle. :Remember, I will be with you.:
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No one noticed the creamy and orange cat that entered the Headmaster's Office on the heels of five teenagers, even if said feline was larger than most normal cats.
Harry moved into the office with the grace of a young man accustomed to his worth. Before the headmaster could say where everyone would sit, he hopped up onto Albus' desk with ease.
He surveyed the astonished and shocked faces of those who stood or sat in a half circle around said desk. This was going to be fun.
:Are you ready Sal?:
A soft putt echoed in his mind for an answer. Harry was certain that the headmaster, as well as his pet Death Eater, hiding in a darkened corner to one side of the office, would try to probe it, yet again. Well, they could try, but it wouldn't work.
There were several gasps of shock at his form of disrespect, as he turned to look over his shoulder. "I see you didn't tell them? Still enjoy playing with people's lives, I see."
Albus chuckled as he stroked his beard, trying to look wise and grandfatherly. "I thought they wouldn't believe me."
"I'll bet."
Turning back to the crowd, Harry took charge of the meeting. "Since we are all here, I'll begin. But know this: I will not answer any questions until I finished my story. You need to wait."
Molly Weasely started to open her mouth to chide him, only to close it again as he looked her in the eye.
"That's better," he stated. "I will start to say I am very, very disappointed in all the adults in this room. Not one of you has ever been there for me. And the one person that was legally my guardian was kept away from me because of an old man's view of his 'greater good'."
"Now Harry, that is not true," Albus interrupted. "I was your magical guardian after Sirius. . ."
"If you were my guardian, where were you in my life? Were you there when the Dursleys decided that my bedroom was a boot closet under the stairs? Were you there when they decided to starve and overwork me to beat the magic out of me? Were you there for the holidays? My birthday?"
"Now, Harry I am certain the Dursleys would never. . . "
"I would swear a magical oath if you like? I would swear on my magic that they never wanted me, never loved me. I would even swear there was no love in that house for those 'so called' blood wards to take hold. The same wards you tied to my magic to power it. Could you swear the same thing?"
Albus sat back in his throne-like chair and said nothing. Harry gave a mental smirk, as Sal worked his mind magic on the headmaster. It was good to have a firecat as a mentor. He'd have to do something nice for him later.
"I thought so. Did you know that when Riddle took my blood for that accursed ritual to give him a corporeal form, he could've killed my aunt and her husband, leaving my cousin alive and he would be set in an impenetrable fortress and no one could enter?"
Several of the adults looked ill at the thought.
Harry went on to glare at the adults. "And you had every adult in this room watching me, and yet they did nothing on your orders. You kept me prisoner in that house with people that hated me."
"Now Harry," Molly chided. "It wasn't like that."
"Afraid it was, Mrs. Weasley. You were my jailers, not my bodyguards. You were given orders not to interact with me, especially when I needed someone to talk to me. I saw Riddle reborn and Cedric killed in front of me. You kept my friends from writing to me, that summer. What were you afraid of? Do you have any idea what being so alone does to a young mind? Or did you forget how angry I was when I finally was released from that hell-hole? You kept me in the dark, for what? So you could play your little mind games?"
:Enough Harry: came Salazar's mind voice. :They get the picture. Move on.:
:Yes, Sal. But damn! That felt good.:
"And after that fiasco at the Ministry, you were all prepared to ignore my well-being on the whim of an old man with delusions for his 'so called' greater good. And I had had enough."
Harry took another deep breath before continuing. "I had been studying in the library between the second and third task in my fourth year. I came across an ancient book about the founding of Hogwarts. I still think it was Hogwarts herself that helped me in finding it. It told how I could petition the Moon Lady, a deity that once held sway here. I didn't have a chance to use it then, but I used it the night I disappeared."
"But Harry, that ritual was dangerous!" shouted Hermione. "I told you we couldn't use it, as it was a dark blood ritual."
Harry smiled at her. He had thought that once, but now he knew differently. "When you have lost everything that mattered, and you were about to be sent back into hell on earth and no one is willing to help you in your depression, you use whatever is at hand, even a blood ritual to call on a goddess. Anything was better than having no one to turn to." His eyes grew sad and wistful as he remembered that dark time in his life.
"What do you mean?" asked a brown-haired man. "I ... "
Harry turned to faced him. ". . .was not there. You were never there for me. You blamed your furry little problem. You were never there when I needed someone to be there for me. You left and never looked back. You listened to an old man and not to the cries of your friends' orphaned child. He had ordered every adult in this room to walk away from me, year after year. I was fifteen. I had just lost the last connection to my parents. The headmaster, in his wisdom, ordered you all to leave me alone, yet again. I heard him order my friends to leave me alone, saying that I needed to be left alone to grieve in peace, even after they had promised to write me. And they agreed."
Severus Snape started to say something only to snap his mouth shut in surprise.
:The dark one wants to rail at you. He hates that you remind him of his lost love. He and the old one will not speak until I allow it.:
:Thanks, Sal. You're the best.:
:Flatterer. Get on with it.:
:Almost done, for the moment.:
"Right. That night, I knew I had to sacrifice that which as dear to me to get Her attention, and if I was found worthy, she would help. According to the ritual, I offered several locks of my hair, feathers from Hedwig, my snapped wand . . ." Several gasps and protested echoed through the room as Harry continued, ". . .which I had snapped myself, and lastly, my blood. I was at the point that I didn't care if I lived or died. So, I cut both my wrists and offered the blood to the fire. If She answered, She would save me. If not, I knew as a suicide, I would be taking myself away from ever seeing my parents or Sirius again. I just didn't care at that point. I had nothing to live for."
Harry took a deep breathe before saying, "As I stood there, slowly bleeding to death, She answered."
He paused to allow that fact sink in their small minds. They still had a lot to answer for, but he would be thrice damned if he was going to tell them everything tonight. He would, in time, once he started to trust them again.
Maybe.
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A/N: Sorry for the cliffie. Don't worry, chapter 17 is already written and waiting for Miriam1's tender mercies. So please be patient.
I am now heading into my busiest time of the year. I can't guarantee when I'll be updating. Rest assured, this story will not be abandoned, so again, please be patient.