Warning: AU for all the books, whilst it will follow them in key events. May later contain slash, albeit much, much later.

AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

By

SilverSkies

CHAPTER TWO: This is Not a Rational World

"Ow" came the moan from the woman - she was clutching her elbow, after being hit by the rebounding door. "Why does it always have to be the funny bone? And why by Morgana's tits, is it called a funny bone!"

Since Harry was fairly certain that these were in fact, rhetorical questions, he fought the urge to answer – it was a lot easier now, than even three months ago. After his eighth birthday he's found it was somewhat easier to fight the urge to answer any and all questions. He still didn't know why he was cursed with such an affliction – he's tried using the library, but all the books he could find on the mind agreed on one thing: It wasn't known how the brain worked; and so he decided it was getting easier through practice – his brain creating new neuronal pathways and eventually perhaps it would become automatic and he wouldn't have to consciously stop himself from answering a question – it would just… happen.

He focused his attention to the current situation.

"What are you doing here? If you're here to steal stuff – you'd best go in my aunt and uncle's room." was Harry's strained whisper.

She sneered. "I'm not a thief, I was looking for you," she paused, an uncertain look on her face for the barest of moments before scowling, "What are you doing in a cupboard?"

Harry tried not to answer, he really did, but he was tired and had one too many surprises in one day; he didn't fancy explaining to a stranger, a crazy stranger who just might believe him – that his relatives loathed him so much that they only allowed him a cupboard to sleep in.

--

He'd explained. She'd gotten angry. Enraged would be a more apt term to use he decided, the threats she came up with were somewhat… stomach churning; in fact he'd had to hold her back from marching up the stairs armed with a chopper from the kitchen. It was nice, in a strange way, to have someone get outraged on his behalf… even if it was an escapee from a mental ward.

So Harry asked the question that was practically burning into his brain. "Why do you care?" He couldn't understand why a crazy woman would want to defend him from his relatives, when nobody else seemed to care or listen to him.

She stared at him incredulously. "It… it's the principle of the thing. How dare Muggles think that they can treat a wizard with such disrespect! Keeping a wizard in a cupboard of all things! They deserve the Cruciatus…and I would take great pleasure in casting it upon them… Oh, don't look at me like that!" Harry was looking at her as if she was talking complete nonsense, which to his ear she was. "You're the Boy-who-Lived and yet you let them treat you so! Even if I don't like you, treating a powerful wizard in such a way is a disgrace! Perhaps… I don't suppose this endears you much to Muggles, does it?" There was a fanatical gleam in her eyes. "The Dark Lord would be most pleased upon his return if the one responsible for his downfall were to be working on his return…" she trailed off, with a dreamy look upon her face.

"A wizard. Right. Do you happen to talk to Father Christmas too? Or maybe the Easter Bunny?" After saying this, Harry had to wonder at the wisdom of insulting an obviously mad woman, but blamed it on his tiredness instead.

"I'm not mad!" she paused, "Well, maybe I am. But do you really mean to tell me you know nothing of your heritage? That's… that's ridiculous! How do you think your parents died?"

Harry scowled; the woman had no right, in his opinion, to bring his parents into this. "They died in a car crash. It's where I got this scar."

"Well, I don't know what a car crash is, but your parents were killed by the Dark Lord, and that scar you're pointing to, is a curse scar, a remnant of your encounter with Him."

"That… is the most ridiculous thing I've heard. Look. I don't know why you followed me or why you're telling me these things, but unless you can offer me proof, then please leave, before I scream and get the police involved." Harry's scepticism of all she had said was readily apparent, but even so… he felt as though she really believed what she was saying… she definitely had to be mad.

"I came here to kill you." Her voice was practically a low growl; obviously she was somewhat miffed at being disbelieved. "And to see if you knew anything about what had happened to the Dark Lord, but it's apparent that you don't know anything. I'm not surprised you don't remember, you were only a baby at the time, but I would have thought whoever left you here would have told you something… Or perhaps they want you to suffer until you go to Hogwarts, you'd be grateful no doubt to whomever came for you…" the look on the Bellatrix face told Harry she was still thinking about possible reasons.

"So you can't offer me any proof of witchcraft, or magic or whatever you call it." Harry stated. "Please just leave." His request was said tiredly, as he yawned midway through.

"Proof? I can't do magic here, the Ministry will come and I'll be sent back to Azkaban! Or maybe they'll just think it's you… hmm… what wandless spells can I do? Can't be too hard, Azkaban…" here she shuddered, before her face brightened, "Haven't you ever done something unexplainable? Some kind of accidental magic, that can't be explained rationally?" her questions were asked eagerly.

Harry was nonplussed. Anything strange? Accidental magic? "I can't lie." Whoops, the cat was out of the bag, he should be paying better attention.

"Can't lie? That isn't magical, well… maybe if you'd been given Veritaserum, but who would be dosing you with it here? And to dose a child, who could know what the effects would be? No. Nothing else? Like changing the colour of something, or…" she thought back, happy memories she couldn't touch still, "repelling someone in a fight, quickened healing, anything like that?"

"Veritaserum? Well… I heal quickly, and sometimes Uncle Vernon has trouble grabbing me. But that doesn't prove the existence of magic." Although it was surprising how his uncle, on occasion had trouble grabbing hold of him, as if he were greased in oil or something – too slippery to hold on to, those incidents usually led to time in the cupboard without meals, so it was better to let himself be caught and punished than to lose even more meals.

The woman sighed. "Okay, fine. Watch this. Lumos." As she said the last word, a ball of light emerged from her fingertips. Harry gasped in wonder.

"H…How? That's incredible! You're really doing it! And the rest of what you said is true?" Harry's mind was in an upset - his worldviews had been shattered. Magic existed. Magic was real. And this woman, Bellatrix, he reminded himself, was capable of using it. "Teach me, please." He tempered the command with 'please', despite the insistent feeling he had - that he wanted, no needed to learn as much as possible about this… Magic.

AN: Nice stopping point? Anyway thanks to Lucillia, The PhantomHokage, tishtosh, e and kimmetj for reviewing.