"I hate when Snape acts like that," Harry said crossly.
"Everyone knows that Remus is the best teacher we ever had," Fred said.
"Snape thinks he's better just because of Moony's furry little problem," Harry said angrily.
"We all know Snape's a lousy teacher," Ron said. "Don't take what he says seriously."
"I wonder what they're talking about in there," George said.
"Probably Snape is lecturing Sirius that he's turning me into my father," Harry said bitterly. "Remus is probably still trying to choke down the potion. We have to make sure not to give him any puking pastilles today."
"What does the potion do?" asked Fred.
"It allows him to keep his mind when he transforms," Harry explained.
"I still can't believe he's a werewolf," said Ron.
"Don't tell anyone," Harry said.
"I put extendable ears in my pocket this morning," George said. "Let's see what they're talking about."
George checked his pockets.
"I thought I had them," he said. "Maybe I left them upstairs when I took out the skiving snackboxes."
"I hope you didn't leave them downstairs," Fred said.
"Sirius and Remus are cool. I don't care if they hear us now," said Harry.
"Yeah, but imagine if the dungeon bat would be listening now," said Fred.
Just then, a huge bat flew out of the house and dived towards them. As all the boys ducked out of the way, they heard Snape's voice saying, "Bats have very good hearing!"
"I guess he's in our prank war after all," Ron said, smiling.
The four boys ran to the house where they saw Sirius, Remus and Snape all laughing. Snape was holding extendable ears.
"Can I have my ears back please, Professor Snape?" George asked.
Harry suddenly turned white and backed against the wall. An image appeared in his mind; one of Remus bringing in a bleeding George, explaining that Snape cursed his ear off. After all, Sectrumsepra was always Snape's favorite.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Sirius asked, noticing Harry's face.
Snape looked in Harry's eyes.
"That never happened," he said. "I never did that."
Harry didn't say anything.
"I used that curse in the past," Snape added, "but I never hexed anyone's ears and I never hexed a student or a Weasley."
Harry stood there silently.
"Did you practice occlumency last night?" Snape asked.
Harry still wouldn't answer.
"I think he needs to sit down," Remus said.
Sirius and Snape each grabbed one of Harry's arms and walked him over to the table. They sat him down on a chair. He put his head down on the table, blocking his face with his arms.
"I'll get Albus," Snape said.
He disappeared and returned a moment later with Professor Dumbledore.
"What do you boys think happened?" Dumbledore asked, looking at three very scared Weasleys.
"I don't know, professor," Ron said. "Harry has been getting nervous all year, checking the map for death eaters and disappearing at strange times. I don't know what's happening."
"Did Harry ever explain what happened when his parents died?" Dumbledore asked, trying to figure out how much the boys already know.
Fred and George shook their heads. Ron nodded.
"What did he tell you?" asked Dumbledore.
Ron repeated every detail he remembered from Harry's retelling of the story the first time he was on the Hogwarts Express. Sirius, Remus, and Snape were all blinking back tears, but Dumbledore focused on the contents of the story. Ron finished by mentioning that a piece of Voldermort's soul went flying.
"Did Harry ever tell you where it landed?" Dumbledore asked.
Ron shook his head. Dumbledore addressed Harry.
"We need to decide how much your friends should know about you," he said. "Ultimately, it's your life and your secret. You could decide if you could trust them and how much you want to tell them."
"You could tell them where it landed," Harry mumbled into his arms.
"Can you boys keep a secret?" Dumbledore asked the three Weasleys.
"Of course," George said. "We kept Moony's furry little problem a secret all these years."
"Very well," Dumbledore said. "I will trust you with a dangerous secret that could put Harry's life in danger if the wrong people find out. Therefore, I trust you not to tell anyone. Do you think you could manage that?"
All three boys nodded.
"That piece of Voldermort's soul landed in Harry's scar," Dumbledore explained. "When that happened, all of Voldermort's thoughts, memories, and emotions were transferred to Harry. Harry does occlumency for ten minutes every night in order to make sure Voldermort's thoughts don't take over his head."
"We've been discussing pranks every night," Fred said. "Usually we all fell asleep in whichever room we were talking in, unplanned. I haven't noticed Harry doing anything unusual."
"Which explains why Harry let Voldermort in today," Dumbledore said. "If he hasn't done occlumency in two weeks, he's making it easier for Voldermort to control his mind."
Fred, George and Ron looked at each other nervously before looking at Harry. Harry continued looking at the table, blocking his face with his arms.
"I need to talk to Harry now about what happened," Dumbledore told them. "You boys need to stay outside. I will make sure it's not possible to listen in as what needs to be said is private."
The boys walked away. Harry knew they would be talking about him and was scared of what they would say. Sirius and Remus each sat next to Harry. Dumbledore and Snape sat across from him.
"It's time for you to tell us the truth," Dumbledore said. "Professor Snape believes that you took a memory from the past and altered it to fit the future, but I don't believe that. I want to know what really happened."
Harry kept his head down and didn't respond. Sirius put his arms around Harry's shoulders.
"I know the horcrux is real," Dumbledore said. "I saw it myself the night I left you at your aunt's house. Of course, you're the first human horcrux so I couldn't have too much information on it, but my impression was that the horcrux itself could only be powerful when Voldermort is powerful. That leads me to a different idea completely."
Dumbledore paused as if expecting Harry to answer. When Harry didn't say anything, he continued.
"I think you messed with the future," Dumbledore said.
"Is there a basis for your accusation?" Sirius asked.
"Do you really think I'm going to curse Weasley's ear off?" Snape said indignantly.
Dumbledore continued as if nobody spoke. "Did you ever use a time turner?" he asked.
Harry shook his head.
"So how do you know the future?"
"Dream," Harry said softly, lifting his tear stained face off the table.
"Did you have one dream or many?" Dumbledore asked.
"One," Harry said quietly.
"When did you have the dream?" Dumbledore wanted to know.
"The summer before I started Hogwarts," Harry answered.
"Why did you decide to change the future?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry glanced at the window and door. He took out his wand.
"I already made sure nobody could eavesdrop," Dumbledore said.
Harry took a deep breath.
"Too many people died," Harry said. "Do you know how horrible I felt when Cedric died? If I hadn't suggested that we take the cup together, he would have stayed alive. Do you know how horrible I felt when Sirius died? I thought it was my fault, but really it was yours! When I was possessed, you isolated me instead of explaining what was happening! You told my friends not to write to me all summer! You wouldn't look at me or talk to me for a whole year! You asked Snape to teach me occlumency, but instead of teaching me, he spent the whole time looking at all my embarrassing thoughts and making fun of me for not closing my mind! The ministry refused to acknowledge that Voldermort was back, and they sent a horrible teacher who made me write 'I will not tell lies' in my own blood, and you did nothing to stop it! The next year, you asked Snape to kill you but didn't tell anyone else, so we were all angry at him and considered him the enemy! I didn't know he was on our side until right before he died when he gave me his memories! Why should he have to go through that isolation just to carry out your plan? I felt horrible when I realized that the person who I considered to be worst than Voldermort was on our side all along! In my last year, so many people died and so many people were tortured since Voldermort had control over the ministry and Hogwarts! Death Eater teachers used the cruciatus curse on students! How do you think George Weasley would manage after Fred dies? The two of them were together since in utero. Think about Teddy Lupin. It's not his fault that Remus and Tonks died in the final battle against Voldermort, but he's going to grow up an orphan!"
Harry was yelling at this point.
"So we all die?" Remus asked softly.
Harry nodded and put his head back on the table.
"Don't you think if you would have told me, we could have figured out a plan together?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry picked up his head and started yelling again.
"You knew that Quirrell was hiding Voldermort under his turban! You knew that the protection around the sorcerer's stone was weak enough for me, Ron and Hermione to go through despite being in our first year! You wanted me to risk my life against Voldermort in my first year! And what happened in my second year? You knew Voldermort opened the chamber of secrets! You knew Myrtle died in the girl's bathroom! You didn't even look for the chamber! Instead, Ron and I had to go down there and risk our lives against Voldermort again! Every year, you had me risk my life! Many times over the course of my last year! You wanted me to destroy all the horcruxes, but you didn't tell me I was a horcrux! You wanted Snape to tell me at the last minute, so that I will walk willingly to my death! I don't like your plan! I don't care about the greater good. I just want everyone to survive."
Harry was crying by the time he finished yelling at Dumbledore.
"I'm sorry, Harry," Dumbledore said. "I did think that my way was the best way, but I stand corrected. I wanted Voldermort to be destroyed the right way after all the horcruxes were destroyed including the one in your head. I'm not a big fan of dementors so I never considered what would happen if Voldermort would get kissed. I have one more question for you. Did you ever break into my office?"
Harry looked surprised.
"No," he said, "why would you think I would?"
"You found a book in Flourish and Blotts called How to Destroy a Horcrux. As far as I know, the only copy of that book is in my office. How did it end up in Flourish and Blotts?"
"I don't know," Harry said. "I found it there and was surprised since even Hermione doesn't know what a horcrux is."
Just then, they heard some muttering from the corner.
"Kreacher must keep the secrets of all the Master Blacks even if they are no longer alive, but Kreacher does not want Master Harry to get in trouble for something he didn't do."
"Okay, Kreacher, what do you know about this?" Sirius asked with a smile.
"Master Phineas did not say Kreacher could discuss it," Kreacher said.
"I understand," Dumbledore said. "I'll speak to his picture when I return to my office. I'm assuming that since he saw you trying to destroy a horcrux, he somehow led you to the book. I still don't understand how it ended up in Flourish and Blotts, but at least I know Harry didn't steal it."
"I would never steal," Harry said.
"I believe you," Dumbledore said. "I apologize for hurting you. That was never my intention. I think everyone will need some time to process what you told us today, although before I could allow myself the luxury of that time, I need to speak to your friends to make sure they're processing the information they received without holding it against you. I ask you to give everyone time by themselves and whenever they are ready to speak to you, they will contact you. Can you do me that favor, Harry?"
Harry nodded.
"I want to ask Harry a question before I leave," Snape said.
Harry looked up expectantly.
"I always thought it was Voldermort taking over your head when you came to me with suspicions. That was why I always tested your occlumency. Now that I know what it really is, how should I handle it?"
"Just hit me on the head a few times," Harry said. "Maybe you'll knock some sense in to me again."
"Again?" Sirius asked with raised eyebrows.
"The first time was an accident," Harry said. "I lost my balance during detention and slammed my head against the floor. Professor Snape felt bad about it and let me go, but I decided to thank him for knocking some sense into me."
"We could discuss everything after we have time to think," Dumbledore said firmly. "I'm assuming in a house this size, you could each find a room to be alone."
Harry went upstairs to his room. He felt relieved that he finally told the truth but was anxious about everyone's reactions.