A New Path
AN: Sorry this took so long but I expected it to take a while to write and then I had a couple of reviews that put me off writing it too. As a sort of apology this is part of a double update. Enjoy.
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CHAPTER 15 - Dumbledore
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Harry walked down to the lake. He had left Tom up at the castle after finding Hermione and telling her to keep an eye on him. He didn't know why but something was telling him that Tom may do something stupid if left alone so soon after shedding his long-lived Voldemort persona.
There was a figure waiting at the lake's edge.
"Harry." The man greeted.
"Dumbledore." Harry responded.
"I assume you succeeded." The older wizard said while staring out over the water. "You are, after all, still alive and standing beside me."
"It worked like you said it would." Harry told him. He followed the old wizard's gaze, grateful that he didn't have to look into his face.
The silence encased them and they stood watching the lake.
"He is not dead, is he?"
Harry choked on the air in his lungs. How? He hesitated. "No." He said at last.
"I did not think so." Dumbledore didn't seem sad, merely disappointed.
"Will you talk?" Harry asked. "With him? Find a common ground or something?"
Dumbledore didn't answer straight away, he let the silence creep back in.
"I will try." He said softly. "But I will only meet with Tom, not Voldemort."
Harry smiled. "Then it's a good thing that Voldemort's gone, isn't it." He said.
Dumbledore turned to him, for the first time since Harry had arrived at the lakeside, with a strange look in his eye.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. And I believe he truly means for it to stay that way too."
Dumbledore considered Harry for a long while. "Perhaps." He said slowly. "There is hope after all."
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Harry watched Tom and Dumbledore from across the room. They were both stood very stiffly but neither seemed about to strike so Harry considered it an improvement.
It didn't look like either were going to talk for some time but then Dumbledore broke the silence. Harry couldn't hear what was said, once again a quick quieting spell had been cast, but he could see the wizard's lips move. Tom's were still except for an occasional twitch that Harry couldn't tell whether it would have been a smirk, grimace or snarl.
He waited.
The conversation, as he and Hermione had predicted, was short once it started.
The two wizards broke apart and Tom walked over to Harry. Dumbledore was stood in the same spot watching them.
"We're finishing this tonight." He said blankly. "You're coming with us."
Harry was nervous about what Tom meant but he didn't argue. He followed Dumbledore and Tom to the edge of the Hogwarts grounds and then took the offered arm.
As the three disapparated, Hermione went to find McGonagall.
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Harry was sat outside the office of the Minister of Magic waiting patiently. He had been back and forth each day that passed, today being the fourth. The discussions had been long and hard but Harry hadn't been allowed to sit in much of them. Harry looked at the magazines on the chair beside him, someone had brought him a stack to read while he waited. He'd read them all or at the least flicked through them twice already.
The door opened and three people came out. Harry looked up into the face of the first, then the second. As the third walked passed, Harry turned his face away, looking towards the ground.
"Mister Potter." Harry looked up. Tom was watching him but it was the woman beside him that spoke. "If you would come with me." She beckoned him to follow her to another room.
Harry glanced at Tom as he stood, waiting for a hint, or something. Tom's face was blank.
The third person, Harry noticed as he followed the woman, had sat himself opposite Harry's previous seat, calm and smug. Harry couldn't help but wonder what exactly had been said and how many aurors were currently hidden nearby.
"Mister Potter?" The woman spoke again.
"Coming." Harry called back, focusing on walking forward without falling over.
The woman led him to her office, not far away from the Minister's. As they entered, Harry noticed that several other people were present. The two most notable were recently appointed headmistress McGonagall and head of the DMLE Madam Bones.
"Take a seat." The woman from before said.
Harry obediently sat in the only free chair.
"We're here today because some, interesting accusations have been made in regards to your welfare and current living arrangements."
Harry forced his grimace to be internal. What had the two wizards been saying? Was he here because of Dumbledore or Voldemort? Or both?
"I have asked Madam Bones of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement to sit in on this meeting because I believe several crimes have been committed but we are not here today to accuse or arrest anyone. This meeting is simply to investigate the facts, to find out whether these accusations have any groundings." The woman caught Madam Bones' eye and nodded. "However, should there be reason to suggest the allegations are true, the DMLE will mount their own investigation."
The woman stopped speaking and Harry nodded. It seemed like the thing to do at that moment.
"Forgive me, Mister Potter, I should have introduced myself at the start." She continued. "My name is Madam Peters and I am to be your welfare worker from now on."
"Hi." Harry answered timidly. Madam Peters smiled.
"Hello back." She said warmly.
"Shall we begin?"
Harry briefly turned to look at McGonagall after she spoke.
"Yes, of course." Madam Peters shuffled some parchment on her desk. "It has been claimed by two separate parties that your early years were spent with muggles that were incapable of caring for you adequately."
Harry couldn't believe it. Was Dumbledore really going to try to blame that on Tom?
"The allegations that a one Albus Dumbledore was knowingly responsible for placing you with these muggles will be investigated in due course, however, what I am interested in today is what you can tell us about your time with," Madam Peters looked down at her parchment, "the Dursleys."
Harry glanced at the various faces in the room.
"The Dursleys?" He asked.
"Yes. We already know that you were placed into their care shortly after your parents' deaths, however, we are unable to review their suitability because there seems to be a lapse in documentation. All we have, in regards to you and their suggested magic-hate, are the personal testimonies of Headmistress McGonagall and a one Thomas Gaunt."
Harry looked up at that. He spun around to look at McGonagall. Despite her blank expression, Harry could see the smile in her eyes.
"We will also need to discuss a change of magical guardianship request that was made on your behalf a few years ago."
Harry frowned. "My what?"
"Change of magical guardianship request. A request was made that, whilst you would remain the legal responsibility of the Dursleys, you would be under the magical guidance of the Black family with the possibility of residing at Black Manor during holidays from Hogwarts up until the date of your coming of age."
Harry couldn't speak.
"The request was made through the lesser noticed channels by the then current Lord Black. The problem, here, is that, on Sirius Black's death, you became the current Lord Black but, due to age restrictions, at the time were still considered as Heir Black. Thus the request became confused."
"It wasn't me." Harry found himself saying before he could think through what was said. He slapped a hand to his mouth.
"Then we have a situation that needs investigating." Madam Bones stated. Her aide, beside her, started scribbling on a wad of folded parchment.
"Other topics that have been brought to light are several cases of neglect to your safety while at school and misuse of financial and magical responsibilities in regards to your upbringing."
Harry blinked.
"We will need to question your knowledge of each case but it has already been established that these accusations are based on truth."
Harry nodded numbly.
"Now, I think we should begin. We'll start with the Dursleys, shall we? Please tell us anything you can think of and then, perhaps, I will ask you some questions where further detail is needed."
Harry gulped and then began. His first recount was a short and simple, edited version of his life with the Dursleys but, after a handful of probing questions and a few stern looks from McGonagall, Harry opened up and admitted to the full truth.
Madam Peters asked a few more questions, just to get the details clear and then they moved on to his time at school. This time, Harry knew he wouldn't be allowed to skip the parts he was embarrassed about because McGonagall was in the room and probably knew more than he did.
The questioning grew to a close on a surprise for Harry. It turned out that Tom had admitted his involvement in Harry's life since his rebirth and that Madam Peters wanted to know about that too.
Finally they were done and Harry was free to go. Madam Bones gave Harry a note with a time for his official DMLE interview just before he left and then, to his surprise, the three witches, Madam Bones' aide and the meeting's note-taker all gave him a quick hug.
Harry walked out into the corridor dazed.
"It's time to go."
He looked up. Tom was waiting for him. Harry nodded, walking towards the older wizard in a zombie-like fashion. Tom seemed to find Harry's stunned state amusing.
They walked together to the exit, passing the fake Aberforth as they left the offices. Dumbledore nodded to Tom as they passed and Harry began to wonder what had happened while he had been with Madam Peters.
"Did you like your welfare worker?" Tom asked as they boarded a surprisingly empty lift.
"She was nice." Harry answered, he was still trying to understand what had just occurred.
"You are wondering what is happening, aren't you?" Harry nodded. "I have been mending bridges with Dumbledore. He will atone for his mistakes while I do the same for mine."
"What do you mean?"
Tom sighed. "I mean that we have reached a compromise. As you have no doubt noticed, both Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort are no more. We shall keep it that way and start over. I as Thomas Gaunt and he as Aberforth Dumbledore.
"The errors that led to your suffering will be made clear and public. That was part of his punishment. That Albus Dumbledore would be taken down from his revered stature."
"He won't start scheming again, will he?"
"He won't. There are those in government that know his true identity. They know mine also. We will both be being watched."
Harry nodded, slowly examining the idea in his mind.
The lift stopped at the main floor and Harry and Tom got out. Immediately, streams of workers flooded into the now empty elevator.
"Tom." A voice called from somewhere in the sea of bodies.
Tom and Harry paused, waiting.
A familiar pointed hat came bobbing towards them and Harry grinned.
"Minny." Tom greeted with a smile. McGonagall smiled back.
"You are returning Mister Potter to the school, I assume?" She asked.
"Why yes I am, may I escort you there also?"
Harry would swear he saw McGonagall blush, just a little.
"I would like that." She replied and they began walking again, Harry a few steps behind the other two to give them a touch of privacy.
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The second he was back at the school, Harry was bombarded with questions. It had been as if the entire school had been holding its breath since the day of the battle and, now that Harry was back from the Ministry, everyone was desperate for answers.
"I can't answer that." Harry replied for what felt the thousandth time. "And I don't know that." He was trying to push his way through to the Gryffindor common room, not that he expected there to be any better, because he had had enough of the fan group outside. As yet, he'd barely made it into the castle.
"Give him some space." The voice of Severus Snape boomed through the mass of voices and Harry was grateful. As the student interrogation lessened, Harry tried to thank the new deputy head but Snape was already walking away.
Harry looked behind him, at where McGonagall and Tom were deep in conversation. He wondered how the students crowding him for news would take little gem.
"Harry."
Harry looked at the speaker. Hermione. Neville and the twins were stood next to her but so was Ron. He walked over to them. "Let's go to the dorms." He said just loud enough for the five of them to hear.
When they reached the dorms, Harry threw himself on his bed.
"Good to be back, isn't it?" Ron said, throwing himself on his own. Hermione sat down beside him, the twins standing one against the end of each bed and Neville perched on the foot of Harry's.
"So..." Neville began awkwardly. "What happened? Has everything been sorted? No more war?"
Harry forced himself to sit up so that he could see the five faces waiting for an answer. "I think so." He said. "But Tom's still free to do whatever, within reason, and so is Dumbles."
Ron frowned. "Tom? Dumbles?"
The room went quiet. Harry took a deep breath before he explained to Ron. The boy exploded.
"You-!? You're- !? All of you -?!"
"Ron, calm down." Hermione said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. Ron literally leapt away from it.
"You're all dark."
"No. We're not." Harry moved towards his first friend. "I'm not light any more, I haven't been in a while, but I'm not dark either. I'm grey. Neutral."
"And you -"
"- know we've -"
"- never really -"
" - been light." The twins followed.
Ron looked at Hermione and Neville.
"Still light." Neville said, raising his open hands. "Mostly."
"Grey." Hermione stated.
"So, you're not dark?" Ron sounded confused.
Harry shook his head. "No."
"Then why are you following you-know-who?"
"Tom. He's called Tom now. And we aren't. Dumbles and Tom struck a compromise. We're not following either, they might even start working together." Harry heard Neville's choked laugh and grinned. "Anything's possible." He added as an afterthought.
"Why?"
"Why what?" Neville asked when no one else seemed likely to speak.
"I mean, how could anyone -? Why would Dumbledore bend like that?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
Hermione turned on Harry. "What do you mean?"
"That's what took so long at the Ministry. According to Tom, part of Dumbles' half of the deal was to let the things he did 'for the greater good' come out into the open." Harry said. "I doubt it'll be long before Rita Skeeter or some other journalist decides to feast on the facts."
"And that would be enough?" Ron didn't sound convinced.
"It would." Neville and the twins answered for Harry.
Ron still didn't seem convinced.
"You'll see." Harry told him but he could tell he was losing a friend for real this time.
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"The elixir will be ready shortly." An unfamiliar goblin stated before leaving the room once more.
Harry and Tom were sat waiting in one of Gringotts' specialised ritual rooms. It had only been a couple of weeks since Hagtenskloc's release from the Malfoy dungeons but the goblin had already arranged a second attempt adoption.
It turned out that the reason the goblin had returned to the manor was in part due to a discovery he had made regarding the adoption ritual. Voldemort and Hagtenskloc had discussed the possible changes and the goblin had gone away to see what could be done. The result was much the same as before but with a different potion and a few runes. Harry had heard there was also something about carving a rune into his palm but he may have misheard. It could have been carve a fruit and draw on his palm.
"I was thinking of changing my name back to Riddle." Tom said while they waited. "Minny says she's sure that most people don't link the name to my former self so there shouldn't be any problem. It will get out eventually anyway, everything does in the end. Riddle is an equal choice to Gaunt as far as my family name goes so there won't be any difficulties in changing it.
"Harry?"
Harry snapped out of his stare and turned to look at Tom, hiding his nervousness as best he could.
"Are you alright?"
The teen nodded. "Yeah, I'm just, I'm fine." Harry looked away.
"You will tell me if there's something I should know, won't you?"
"Of course."
"Okay then. But you're alright?"
"Yeah." Harry said then added. "Is this going to hurt?"
Tom looked at him and smirked before turning his head back to face forward. "No. But it will probably taste disgusting." He said with amusement.
Harry grimaced.
The goblin reappeared and the ritual began.
Harry relaxed when it became clear his hand was going to remain unharmed but shivered as he downed his potion. Tom was right, it was disgusting.
This time, the ritual ended successfully. The solitary candle used to burn the carved fruit during the ritual blew itself out. Tom and the Hagtenskloc, who had been watching out of professional interest, had grinned when the flame went out so Harry knew it was a good sign.
He turned to Tom, almost before he had put down his glass. "It worked?"
"It worked."
"I'm your son?"
"In blood and in magic, yes, you are."
Harry launched himself happily at Tom and the older wizard grinned, hugging his son.
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AN: Click next for the final chapter and don't forget to review.