Chapter 15 – A Meeting with Dumbledore

Harry walked home in a sort of happy trance, often looking back, convinced he had never been so happy as he had been just then. Ron, Hermione and Ginny walked behind him, talking quietly, but obviously glad that Harry was so happy. Harry was almost oblivious to them being there.

They had not dithered long at Godric's Hollow, just to have a quick search in vain around the garden for the room Harry's mum had spoken of, and were now walking up the Hogwarts lawns. The sounds of the ball ending filtered through to their ears, and Harry decided not to bother with putting on the invisibility cloak. Ron and Hermione fell back outside for some privacy, and Ginny stepped up next to Harry.

"I'm glad you found them," she said simply. She was smiling brightly up at him, and she took his arm as they walked up the stairs towards the common room. Even through his numb happiness Harry felt the surprise at this move from Ginny, but he pulled her slightly closer to him all the same.

They entered the common room and sat down in chairs by the fire, awaiting Ron and Hermione's return, when Ginny spoke unexpectedly.

"Are you going to read the diary now then?" Harry's eyes shot up to meet hers. He hadn't even considered this possibility, but upon reflection, he now saw no reason not to.

"I hadn't thought about it," he said slowly, "I guess I will. But I want to find that door first."

Ginny nodded, yawning. "I think I'll go up to bed. Thanks for being there for me tonight." She smiled shyly and turned and walked up the stairs. Harry watched her leave, and with her gone, he felt a sudden pang of loneliness. This was somewhat enhanced by the arrival of Ron and Hermione, and Harry soon went up to bed, although his happiness kept him awake into the early hours.

*

In the morning, Harry went down to breakfast but, before he could start eating, he saw Professor Dumbledore beckoning him over.

"Good morning Harry," he said, his eyes twinkling, "I trust you enjoyed last night?" Harry gasped slightly, did Dumbledore know, or was he referring to the ball. Harry contented himself with a nod, knowing Dumbledore must have more to say.

"I just wanted to inform you that your lessons with me will begin tonight at 8 o'clock," he said quietly, "bring with you your wand, your father's cloak and that map of yours, I would rather others did not know of our meetings." Harry nodded understandingly, before returning to his table.

He spent most of the day swinging between two vastly different moods, his elation at virtually regaining his parents, and his concern at what he was about to learn with Professor Dumbledore. He also felt a morbid curiosity as to what it would be like to kill someone, but then Harry felt disgusted with himself. He would not enjoy killing anything, he reassured himself.

"I'm not Voldemort," he mused out loud.

"Pardon?" Ron asked, looking up from his homework.

"Nothing, just thinking aloud." Harry covered quickly. They were in the common room and Harry was trying desperately to finish his Potions essay before he had his meeting with Professor Dumbledore. Dashing off the last line or two, Harry collected his invisibility cloak and map, and looked at his watch.

Checking no one was looking; he threw the cloak over his head and waited by the portrait. It opened and Hermione walked past, (whispering "good luck" as she entered the common room), and Harry stepped out of the room and walked quickly to Professor Dumbledore's office. The halls were eerily quiet, except for the small distant noise of Peeves smashing up another room. Harry used the map to check if anyone was coming. He arrived at the bottom of the stairs to find Dumbledore standing there. Dumbledore didn't look at all surprised when Harry pulled off the cloak.

"Good evening Harry," said Dumbledore, who turned to face the gargoyle behind him. "Chocolate Frog." Harry smiled, recalling how Dumbledore's passwords always seemed to be some kind of sweet. He stood on the moving staircase behind Dumbledore, which rose majestically, spiralling upwards before stopping in line with a door. Dumbledore opened it and Harry followed him into the office.

Dumbledore sat down behind his desk and surveyed Harry through his glasses, as he had so many times before. "What did you think of your room?" he said quietly.

The frankness of Dumbledore's statement caught Harry totally off guard, and he looked directly into his headmaster's eyes.

"It was... It was..." Harry didn't know what to say, but trailed off with a look of elation on his face as he recalled the events of the previous evening.

Dumbledore smiled. "I know Harry," he said softly, "it must have been wonderful to, on one level, regain your parents. I suppose you are wondering when we were going to tell you?"

Harry nodded. "Yes Professor, I did wonder."

"We, that is to say Remus and I, were planning on giving you the key to your house for Christmas," Dumbledore answered matter-of-factly, "but since you have discovered our surprise early, I see no harm in you now spending Christmas in your new home. We will recast the Fidelius Charm with someone else as the secret keeper."

"Is that possible?" Harry asked suddenly. "I mean, surely the nature of the Fidelius charm means that you would require the original secret keeper to be present."

Dumbledore positively beamed. "I did hope you would pick up on that. You remember well the events of your third year I suppose?" Harry nodded. "Then you remember the fact that you saved the life of Peter Pettigrew?"

Again Harry nodded, but he thought he understood. "So... because Worm- Peter owes me a life debt, then this cancels out the Fidelius charm?"

"Almost, but not quite," Dumbledore answered, shaking his head. "It doesn't out right cancel the Fidelius charm, but it means that you are also the secret keeper."

Harry gasped, but then quickly frowned. "Then how come they still couldn't see the house when I pointed at it?"

"Did you say the words Godric's Hollow? As part of this particular charm would have meant your wording would have needed to be very specific."

Harry thought back. "No, I didn't say Godric's Hollow. So how does my being the second secret keeper mean we can cancel out the first charm?"

"Because," said Dumbledore slowly, "Only one secret keeper is required to remove the original charm, even if that person was not the original secret keeper."

"If only I had been the original secret keeper," Harry muttered gloomily. They sat in silence for a few moments, Harry dwelling on his dreams of that fateful day, before another question crossed his mind. "Professor, you said last year that I had been saved by a power... what is this power and where does it come from?"

Dumbledore sat silent for a moment, as if contemplating his answer. "The power that flows through your veins, the power that flows through your body is all around us. It is life itself, it is love, the most powerful wizarding commodity available. As for where it comes from, it comes from any who dare to love, but it wouldn't have been possible were it not for the experimentation of one of the best wizards of his age."

Godric Gryffindor," said Harry quietly.

"Indeed, Godric figured out a way to enhance this power, within himself, which meant that when he loved someone, his powers grew stronger. Strong enough to seemingly require, like Salazar Slytherin, a place to enhance and test these powers."

Harry choked slightly. "You mean like a Gryffindor Chamber of Secrets?" Dumbledore nodded. "So is it here? At Hogwarts?"

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "The chamber is, as yet, an undiscovered legend. The chamber, or the chasm of life to give it its mythical name, has been searched for many times, but not found. Only Godric's true heir will be able to open it, although there are runes that symbolise the entrance to the chasm."

"Runes?" Harry asked. In answer, Dumbledore got to his feet and walked to a bookcase beside his desk and pulled out a thick book entitled, "The four founders". He carefully opened the book and turned forward a few pages, before turning the book around and handing it to Harry.

In the middle of the page there were five runes, looking much like Egyptian hieroglyphics, and Harry wondered what they meant. The puzzlement must have shown on his face, for Dumbledore answered his unasked question.

"They are numbers," he said simply, "written in an Ancient Egyptian wizards writing." He extended his arm and pointed at the hieroglyphics. "This is number one, this is number two, number three, number four and number five," he said, indicating each one in turn, "but the order to open the chasm of life is written on the next page."

Harry turned over, and saw the same runes again, but in a different order. "Five, two, three, one, four." Harry read off, flicking backwards and forwards between the two pages. "Professor..." Harry started slowly, "I was wondering about... since I pulled Godric's sword out of the hat and my parents house is called Godric's hollow..." he trailed off looking up at Dumbledore.

"You are wondering if you are Godric Gryffindor's heir?" Harry merely nodded. Dumbledore paused for a moment, looking at his fingers as if unsure how to phrase his answer before turning back to Harry.

"I will admit that the thought has crossed my mind Harry," he said, "but there is no way of knowing if you are of the Gryffindor descent. This is because there are several centuries of war hundreds of years ago, where bloodlines were killed off and many changed their names to fit in. This makes it almost impossible to follow blood lines."

Harry sighed. He had a power in his veins that had been originally discovered by Godric Gryffindor, and this power had saved him from Lord Voldemort, during his first rise to power, when he was younger. This thought sparked another question in Harry's mind.

"Professor..." he started slowly, "what's Voldemort up to? Because I haven't heard anything about any suspicious deaths or anything since Azkaban was taken."

Dumbledore sighed. "He has been very quiet since those prisoners escaped from the ministry," he said, frowning, "though I am sure he has not been inactive. I imagine he is currently recruiting followers for his cause."

"Killing me," said Harry quietly. Dumbledore looked Harry straight in the eye, his piercing gaze peering into Harry's mind.

"I know you are worried Harry, but never despair," he said sharply. "This is why you are here Harry, so I can prepare you for that time when you must be ready. You are not ready yet, but nor are you supposed to be."

Dumbledore pulled off into what Harry assumed would become a lengthy silence, but a sharp tapping drew his attention. Harry instinctively looked up at the window, expecting Hedwig or another owl to be there tapping on the window. But Dumbledore merely got to his feet and opened his cupboard.

Out flew... a small bit of paper. It flapped madly around Dumbledore's head, before he calmly took hold of it, scanned it for a moment, before throwing it on the fire. He spotted the puzzled look on Harry's face and laughed slightly, breaking the previously uneasy air in the room.

"That," he said indicating the small pile of ash in the fire that had been the paper, "is a wizarding post-it note, as I believe Muggles like to call them. I rather like them, they pester you until you get done what you wrote on them you see, but as I was about to do what it said anyway, I was able to rip it up." Dumbledore paused for a moment to look at the smile that had squeezed itself onto Harry's face. "It was reminding me to make a regular appointment with you. Now I know you have Quidditch on Mondays and Thursdays... So lets say Tuesdays at 8 o'clock. Wait for me outside the statue, I'll know when you're there."

Harry nodded, standing up and motioning to put the book back on the desk in front, but Dumbledore stopped him. "Read it, I'm sure you will find it interesting." His eyes gleamed slightly. "If not, Miss Granger certainly will."

Laughing slightly, Harry tucked the book under his arm, checked the Marauders Map and headed for the common room, the invisibility cloak sweeping over him in the stillness of the night, his head teeming with thoughts of Voldemort, his parents, and the Chasm of Life. Where was it?

He mentally scanned Hogwarts for it while walking back to the common room, which was empty save for two people, a seventh year and Ginny. She smiled up at him, yawning slightly.

"Where've you been?" she asked in a conspiring tone. Checking that the seventh year couldn't hear him, he turned back to Ginny.

"I was meeting Professor Dumbledore," he answered shortly. She raised her eyebrows slightly, a I-know-you're-not-telling-me-everything smile across her face, but she accepted and she bent her head to carry on with her work. Her hair was longer now, and it draped over her head almost reaching the table. Harry stood still, staring for a few seconds, before bidding her goodnight and heading up the stairs, numbly surprised to find that his heart was beating a lot faster than it should have been, and that every thought of Ginny made his stomach lurch as it used to with Cho.