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Chapter 4: The Truth at last

Tom,

I'm worried about Harry. He has so much on his shoulders with putting forth a different face for different crowds. It's more than a child should have to deal with. He's strong, but anyone who spends so much time pretending can lose reality and become bitter. Believe me I should know, and it's a hundred times worse for a child, especially one who's been abused. I'm not sure what else we can do, but I promised him I'd try to come up with something and I was hoping you might have an idea. I would say I'm sorry for bothering you with this but it's not like you have anything better to do haha. You have much more time to think than I do. I just worry that we are going to push him to become evil just because he thinks that's the only way to live his own life. I hope you can think of something old friend.

Severus

Tom Riddle refolded the note with a sigh. Of course Severus has a point. 'Why didn't I think of that sooner. Maybe it was too much pressure to put him in Slytherin. But if I hadn't Dumbledore would have been much more able to brainwash him.' He groaned 'I just don't know anymore.'

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Back at Hogwarts Harry was getting more and more tempermental. He was finding it harder to keep up the charade for longer periods of time. His time after classes with Professor Snape was helping but it was getting more and more stressful. People quickly learned to avoid him as much as possible in the halls. It came to a head towards the end of November.

"Hey Slytherin" Ron Weasley called across the courtyard. Harry of course knew exactly who he was reffering too having been the butt of his jokes all year. He just kept walking. He really didn't want to deal with Ron right now. "I was talking to you snakehead!" Ron yelled as he threw a book at Harry's head. The force of the blow knocked Harry down.

Harry sat back up seething with anger. "Just leave me alone Weasley. I'm not in the mood for your games"

"What's wrong? Your evil master in a bad mood and taking it out on you?" At this Harry had finally had enough. He punched Ron directly in the nose and broke his nose. Ron ran at him and tackled him. By the time the professors arrived to break it up both boys had to spend the night in the infirmary.

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Harry woke up the next morning to Dumbledore sitting at his bedside. "I heard what happened yesterday Harry, and what's been happening all year. And while I sympathize with your plight you can't go around beating other students up over it. Maybe if you just tried a little harder to be friends with Mr. Weasley you could get over this issue."

Harry snorted and rolled over. He really didn't want to play the headmaster's games. He just wanted to be left alone.

Dumbledore sighed and left the infirmary thinking to himself 'This is not going well at all. He is resisting me at every turn. It's time to start looking into other options. We need to have a meeting tonight.' He sent his patronus out as soon as he got to his office calling his inner circle to the meeting.

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Harry returned to his dorm after Madam Pomfrey released him and found a small black book on his bed. He opened it to find a letter to him inside the cover.

Harry,

This is a journal. It's charmed to only be read by you and to prevent you from discussing this with anyone else. I hope you recognise this journal as the truth and if so when you get to the end just write the phrase 'I trust you' on the last page and I will come and talk to you about what you've read.

The note was unsigned. Harry was confused. Why would someone want him to read their journal? He thought for a bit. Maybe it was because there was some secret that needed to come out. "only one way to find out I suppose" Harry muttered to himself and started reading the first page:

I'm so glad I was able to come to Hogwarts. After all those years in the orphanage I was beginning to be afraid that I was never gonna get away. I still have to go back in the summer, but that's ok. It's better than being there all the time. It's just so lonely there. I will miss my friends though but I'm making lots of new friends here. It's so cool here. I always knew I could do weird stuff, but I never realized it was magic.

That was the end of the first entry. 'So,' Harry thought to himself, 'whoever's journal this is was a student at Hogwarts and lived in an orphanage.' He continued reading. He was on the student's fifth year by the time Professor Snape called for lights out. He groaned. He hadn't wanted to stop reading. This person was pretty cool. A prefect and popular and so kind to everyone. He still couldn't understand why they wanted the journal read though. With so many thoughts running through his mind Harry rolled over and went to sleep.

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Albus Dumbledore waited at the safehouse for the rest of his inner circle to arrive. The first to arrive was Severus Snape. "Is this to be a full meeting Albus or only the inner circle?"

"Only the inner circle. There are some decisions to be made about my campaign and since you are the only one's who know my true identity you are the only one's who can help me make this decision."

Severus groaned inwardly. He had a pretty good idea what this meeting was about and he was sure it wouldn't be good for one small first year boy.

Once everyone arrived Dumbledore began to speak. "The campaign to get Harry on our side is not working very well. He seems very hostile towards me and towards Gryffindor's in general. We need to figure out whether more drastic steps need to be taken."

"I don't know Albus. He seems to me to be fine with Gryffindor's as a whole. He just doesn't like Weasley. He and Dean Thomas seem to be very good friends and he has a few friends in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. With regards to you maybe he is just intimidated by you since you are the headmaster and also a very famous wizard. I'm sure he's heard plenty of stories." Severus spoke up hoping against hope that Albus would take his word for it or that at least a few more of his colleagues would side with him.

"I have to agree with Severus. He doesn't really talk to the Slytherins at all and does seem rather reverent about you when other students are talking to him about you. He gets this goofy look on his face and stares off into space like he's daydreaming or something. I'm sure he's probably intimidated. I don't think we have too much to worry about." Professor Minerva Mcgonagal chimed in.

Cornelius Fudge, minister for magic, was very nervous about where this talk was going. "Headmaster. I know I have never actually met the boy, but I have to say that the death of a first year student at Hogwarts would not be kept quiet for long. I would suggest we watch for the rest of the school year and if there is still a problem at the end then we can see about hitting the boy during the summer while he is at his relatives. Or at least make it look like it was his own stupidity that got him killed, but even that should wait until the end of the year so we can do the investigation as quickly and quietly as possible once the students go home."

"Quite right Cornelius. You have a point there. It wouldn't do to have students being killed on Hogwarts property. Parents might pull their students out and then it would be much more difficult to recruit for either side." Dumbledore was still amazed by his genius. All the students who wanted to fight on the good side joined his Order of the Phoenix tracking Tom Riddle and all his friends who knew the truth and all the darker students joining his army of Death Eaters. Course there were a good amount that wanted to remain nuetral though he tried to keep that number as low as possible. "Very well, he pulled himself out of thought. We will wait until the end of the year and see what happens, but if we still have a problem all of you are expected to help me remedy it" He glared at everyone in the room daring them to disagree. Of course no one did. "Dismissed"

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As soon as Harry woke up the next morning he reached for the journal he had been reading. Since it was a Sunday he was able to spend all day reading it. Draco opened his curtain when he heard the pages rustling. "How's it going Harry? Whatcha reading?"

"Nothing much. I'm not feeling so good today. Tell the guys I'm gonna stay up here and rest will ya" Harry responded.

"Hmm," Draco replied as he felt Harry's forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever. Do you want me to get Madam Pomfrey?"

"Nah I'm ok Drake, She just said I might feel a little out of it after my concussion the other day when Ron and I were fighting."

"Ok, I'll tell everyone to leave you alone, but here. Take this. It's an enchanted mirror. If you need any help or anything just say my name and you can talk to me and I'll get Madam Pomfrey if you need her."

"Thanks Drake. I really appreciate it." Harry smiled as Draco left. He really did have the best of friends. He returned to reading the journal.

I'm starting to get suspicious about Dumbledore. He seems to know too much about everything that's going on. They say he killed Grindlewald last week, but no one actually saw it. According to Dumbledore it was an epic battle, but truth is no one ever knew who Grindlewald really was. I just can't shake the feeling that there is something else going on here and it's making me nervous. Dumbledore doesn't seem to like me very much since I started to reject the friends he's always picked for me. It's getting frustrating. It's like he doesn't want me to make my own friends. You should see the look on his face every time he sees me talking to one of my housemates. I understand that everyone thinks Slytherins are evil and all that but I don't see why. They are really great people. Sure some of them make me kind of nervous, but not many. I'm sure there are just as many evil people in other houses as there are here. I guess the old man just needs someone to be a scapegoat.

Harry read the latest entry with great interest. He has so much in common with the 'mystery writer' as he had begun to call him in his head. They were both orphans, both were being manipulated by Dumbledore, both were in Slytherin and playing the same game. It seems that he didn't really give up until his fifth year. Harry wondered if he would be able to keep it going so long. If he kept reading maybe the mystery writer would have some tips for him. Surely this was why he had given Harry the journal. The farther Harry got into the journal the more interested he became. The last entry made him drop the book in shock.

I figured out what's going on with Dumbledore. I know why he always knows so much. I know why no one saw him kill Grinlewald. It's because he was Grinlewald. Apparently people were getting too close to finding out who he really was so he had to 'kill' him. He is starting it back up again. I found out why he waited so long. He was waiting for a Slytherin with enough power to blame it on. Oh Merlin, he's going to pretend that it's me! That I'm the new dark lord! I heard him talking in his office. I was able to put an evesdropping charm in there with a undetectability charm on top of it. I'm so afraid. I'm supposed to be graduating in a few weeks. I was gonna go to work at the ministry. I had such a long full life ahead of me and no one will believe me. No one will take my word against the almighty Dumbledore. I wish I knew how to fix this. I've already taken my NEWTs, I don't have my scores yet, but they don't really matter anymore now that I'm going to be on the run. I have to leave tonight. Get as far away from here as possible. Of course I'm sure that Dumbledore will offer to hide me probably with some story about how the new Dark Lord is after me. After all it wouldn't do if I was found and locked away too quickly. Then he would have to make a whole new Dark Lord. Hopefully my friends will believe me at least. We are going to have to try and convince as many people as we can. We have to try to fight him. We can't let him ruin the world.

'It's Dumbledore!' Harry screamed in his head. 'I can't believe it! He killed my parents! He tried to kill me! He's been trying to make me join him by manipulating me all year.' Harry broke down in tears wondering how he was going to stop him. What if Dumbledore saw through him. He would surely be killed. Harry needed some help. Then he remembered what the note in the journal said when he got it. He only had to write 'I trust you' on the last page and someone would come for him. He grabbed his quill and scrawled out the short phrase as fast as possible and succumbed to tears once more. He hoped whoever was supposed to find him did it soon. He really needed to know more than ever that he wasn't alone.

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Back in Snape's office a paper appeared in the center of his desk with an obviously hastily scrawled message. He could see wet spots on the paper and figured they were most likely tears, but then he had never known Harry to cry. "Shit" he said as he jumped from his desk and ran towards the Slytherin common room. 'Obviously the boy fell apart, not that I'd blame him of course, but I have to hurry. That poor boy needs someone right now. Someone that can understand what he's going through.'

Professor Snape burst into the common room like the hounds of hell were on his tail. He didn't even stop to look at the students in the common room. He knew that if Harry fell apart he wouldn't be near anyone else. He was most likely in his dormitory.

All of the students in the common room caught the look in their head of house's flashing onyx eyes and no one dared speak, move, or even breathe. Everyone was concerned for Harry though once they saw where Snape was headed.

Snape stopped at the door to the dorm room that Harry shared with the four other boys. 'Wait. Breathe.' he told himself. 'no need to go running in there like a bat out of hell and scare the poor boy even more.' He caught his breath then knocked lightly on the door. There was no answer so he opened it a crack. He heard Harry sobbing even though the curtains on his bed were closed. When Severus opened the door the rest of the way Harry stuck his head out of the curtains.

"It was you?" he asked between sobs. "You left me the journal?"

"Yes child," Severus said softly knowing that when students were upset they found his smooth silky baritone voice comforting. "I know how much trouble you have had keeping up the charade and thought you should know why it is so important. I also wanted you to know that you aren't alone. That others have gone through the same thing. That journal belonged to Tom Riddle. He is now the leader of the force fighting against Lord Voldemort who as you now know is Headmaster Dumbledore." Severus was sitting on Harry's bed rubbing his back to calm him as he spoke.

"But why me? Why did Dumbledore pick me to mess with?"

"You are so young to have such a burden on your shoulders child, but you have a right to know. Only with knowledge can we fight lies." Severus said while wishing that Harry had not asked this particular question just yet. "There was a prophecy when you were born that only you would have the power to defeat Lord Voldemort. That is why he killed your parents and why he tried to kill you. When he failed to kill you he almost got hit with his own curse. That frightened him. He decided to wait and try to get you to join him rather than fight against him."

"Is that why he made me go to my aunt and uncle, so I wouldn't know anything about this and he could fill my head with whatever he wanted?"

"Yes Harry. He thought that their treatment of you would make you weak and bitter, but you rose above that. You found your strength and no matter what your relatives did to you, you stayed true to yourself. And that is what Dumbledore fears most of all."

"But I'm not anything special. Why would I be able to defeat him when no one else can?"

"Never doubt yourself Harry. Most people in your situation as a child would be angry and lashing out at anyone and everything. They would be so hurt and scarred that they would believe anything to make it better. Your soul is too pure to allow any corruption and your magic kept you safe. When you came here I took the liberty to look at your soul...I hope you don't mind Harry, but I wanted to see how much damage he had been able to do."

"You can do that? You can look at someone's soul? What does it look like?" Harry was not angry. In fact he was immensely curious. His curiousity even overrode his fear and he was finally able to stop crying.

"Would you like to see?" Severus asked him both amused at his reaction and grateful that he didn't see it as an invasion of his privacy. At Harry's nod he cast a spell and Harry looked down at his hands to see a blinding white light escaping from them and formed in front of him into the shape of a unicorn. "The unicorn is the purest animal in the world. It is the premier symbol of goodness and honor. As you can see there is not a spot on your soul. It is as pure and white as a unicorn. You may not realize how rare this is Harry, but there has never in all of history been a soul so pure. This is what will enable you to defeat Dumbledore someday. But you will need to study and amass more knowledge and power first. It is my job, and Tom's and the rest of our group's if you want them to, to keep you safe."

"Can I meet Tom and everyone else?"

"If you would like, at Christmas holidays I can convince Dumbledore to let me take you for the holiday in order to 'talk to you and find out if you will join him', but then I will take you to meet Tom and you can spend your holidays with Draco and his family. They are friends of Tom also."

Harry, of course, agreed immediately. He suddenly couldn't wait for Christmas.

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AN: Who else should be on which side? This is what I've decided so far and I'm up for any suggestions.

Inner Circle: Snape (as a spy for Tom), McGonagal, Fudge, Umbridge, and Arthur Weasley. I don't think Molly should be because I can't bring myself to make her character evil and since only the inner circle know that Dumbledore is Voldemort they are the worst of the evil ones. I'm thinking I'll probably put Trelawny in the inner circle because I've always hated her anyway lol. I'm undecided on whether anyone else should be there.

I have also decided that Remus and Sirius will be spies for Tom in the Order of the Phoenix. I can't make them spies in the inner circle because they would never follow the man that killed Lily and James. I also will be putting Lucius as a spy for Tom in the Death Eaters. I am always up for some more suggestions however. Do you think this is enough?