Chapter 11

Stepping out into the hallway brought Harry into the middle of an argument. "I don't care what you think is best Albus, Harry is coming home with me!" said Sirius.

"But he would be with others his age here, that would be for the best. It will help him come to terms with returning," Albus replied.

"And if he does not wish to return?"

"It's what his parents wished for him, his name has been down in the rolls of Hogwarts from just after Lily knew she was with child. It was what they felt was best for him," Albus stated with authority.

"And you would know what is best for me? Just like you knew what was best for me when you left me in that hell-hole of the Dursley's?" Harry said with venom filling his voice, as he approached the arguing pair from behind.

He looked the old man directly in his eyes as he spoke. "Let me ask you something, you whiskered prick, do you have any children?"

"I have been a professor here for over fifty years, I feel that they are all my children in some way," he said, his eyes twinkling.

Harry laughed. "Your own children you moron, family. Fruit of your loins, apple of your eye…. Or are you...?" Harry tilted his hand back and forth.

"And what would that be?" He mimicked the motion.

Harry looked at him oddly. "Gay."

He smiled. "Why yes I am frequently quite gay, but what would that have to do with having a family?"

Harry was once again laughing. "Gay… not gay you idiot. Batting for the other team? You know, homosexual…Do you like guys not girls?" He looked at Sirius. "Just how out of touch are you people?"

Albus sputtered, "I-I-I"

"It doesn't matter, if they were good parents then they would want their child to pursue what they loved, and do well," he said as he turned back to the old man.

"Now let me tell you something. According to the laws of this country, I AM NO LONGER YOUR CONCERN. I have a family that takes great care of me, they have allowed me to find something that I am passionate about then helped me pursue it."

"I have some of the top grades in my classes. I have a rewarding career starting, complete with contracts that give me a substantial paycheck. I have feelers from most of the major owners in NASCAR. Hell Fairgrove has even been thinking of forming a team.

"I have worked hard to get where I am, and have further to go. Now here you and your group of backward…" He took a deep breath, and unclenched his hands trying to push back the anger that had been building. "What in the hell do you think you could offer me that would pull me back to a place I was never happier than to get away from?"

Trying to ignore the pain that had returned to his arm, Albus spoke. "It is your home Harry. Your heritage is here. This is where your parents went to school, where they learned to be the great witch and wizard that they were."

Harry looked at Sirius then back at Dumbledore. "Witch and wizard..." Harry broke out in laughter. "You want me to give up everything I have been working for to learn to be a wizard?

"You want me to give up the family that took me in and made me feel wanted. The career that I have spent the last few years working on, the sacrifices that I have lived with to make it happen? To come here and live in the past?"

"But Harry, my b-" Albus stopped himself remembering the boy's displeasure with the phrase. "Here you will learn the magic that is a part of your heritage. The ability to transfigure one object to another, just as your father was so adept at, or the charms and potions your mother excelled in."

"Let me ask you something, Dumbledore. What kind of education does this place offer? How does it compare to the one I'm getting at home? Other than the 'magical' classes? Algebra? Geometry? Physics? Literature? Chemistry? Biology? Computers? World History? Government? What kind of jobs can any of your 'children' expect to have once they have left this august bastion of education? Hell this place doesn't even have electricity or phones, that leads me to wonder how well any of you function."

Albus was furious, never had anyone challenged him in this way. How dare he call his school's credentials into question let alone call his sexuality into question. "Now see here…"

"I will not! You drag me halfway around the world with that little cup of yours, then try and tell me that it is 'for the best' that I stay here. You… you old fossil… you lost any right you or even Mr. Black ever may have had the day I was left with the Dursleys." He stepped closer to Albus and poked him in the chest. "Do you have any idea what it was like to live with them?

"If I was so important to you and others, no offence Mr. Black your situation was beyond your control, why did no one come and check on me? I had meetings weekly with Child Protective Services, when I started living with my family. They still come by every four months and check on everything, and the British Consulate calls once a year. What a damn farce!

"As it is, I will make the decision on where I stay." He turned to Sirius. "Did your friend find out when someone from home will be here?"

"My friend, Remus Lupin, said that they will be arriving early tomorrow morning. They have set up a place to meet in the morning at 9:00, then he will bring them to wherever you are staying."

"Did they say who was coming?" Harry asked even though he knew the answer.

"Lady Ako, the woman you asked for and someone named Shar," Sirius replied.

Harry nodded. "With the time change it is still early in the day for me, only late afternoon. What is there to do around here?"

"Truthfully, Harry," Sirius said, "Not much, it's getting late."

Harry looked at his watch and added the time difference. "It's only 10:00! What do you mean it's late?"

Albus spoke up. "Curfew is soon and students are in bed by that time normally."

Harry rolled his eyes. "On the way to bed at 10:00 on a Saturday night? Just another example of why this is not the place for me." He shrugged then said, "But I will take you up on a place to stay for the night."

Albus's eyes brightened. "If you will follow me to my office I'll get you sorted, and then I'll get Madam Pomfrey to bring you a sleeping draught, it will allow you to sleep tonight and deal with the time difference." He turned and began walking down the hallway.

"Now about your sorting, there are four…" He slowed to a stop seeing that Harry was not following him and Sirius was standing next to him chuckling.

Harry looked over at Sirius. "I said I was staying for the night, not sleeping here, and not knowing what is in your sleeping concoction, no thank you, it may be something that would show up on my drug test. Is there a music room? Or a library? I'll find something to entertain myself with."

Albus looked stunned. "Poppy would never give any student something harmful!" he said.

"Oh, I doubt she would, but I have a strict policy on drug use enforced on me, and only a board certified doctor could sign a waiver. As for the lack of sleep? It's not a big deal I'll be home soon." Harry continued, "If Sirius wants to hang around we may even talk a while, I am curious about my parents."

"I'd be honored," said Sirius, placing his hand on the young man's shoulder. "I think we can find somewhere out of the way." The look he gave Albus dared him to say differently.

Albus slowly nodded. "If you insist but I request that you stay together, and please be aware of the Grand Staircases, they can be mischievous at times."

The pair turned and Harry followed Sirius down a different empty hall. Finally they turned into a classroom, Sirius drew his wand and waved it a few times clearing away the dust. He sat on the edge of the desk and conjured a comfortable wingback chair for Harry.

Harry sat. "Nice, comfy too. Thank you."

Sirius waved the compliment off, and smiled. "Ok out with it, why did you choose to stay here tonight? And don't give me any half answer, I know the look you had when you were talking to the headmaster. It was the same one your mother had when she had a plan." Harry smiled lightly. "One that was going to bring hell down on someone's unsuspecting head."

"Really? You must have known her very well then, my family misses it all the time." The smile had grown into a smirk. "The only person that called it on me before is my pit chief, as the look usually ends with someone in the wall."

Sirius looked at him, so Harry explained with a sigh. "Usually it starts as a… disagreement with another driver." He shrugged a little. "I never start it but I have been known to finish it in a spectacular fashion.

"But this, well… why should I want to avoid the explosion that is bound to happen when they arrive? Seeing me first will just make them focus on me, if I'm here they will focus on the threat first…that would be the man that is presently stewing in his office. Chances are he won't sleep, or at least won't sleep well. I'll just present the facts and let them go, in the Great Hall during lunch. Instant fireworks."

Sirius nodded. "Ok, so I guess they are a part of your family then?" Harry nodded, Sirius laughed a little. "Yes it will be funny to see him dressed down in front of everyone, too bad they can't use more than words."

Harry nodded. "It will be fun though. Anyway, tell me about my parents."

"First how about you tell me how you managed to get that egg?" Sirius said.

"I told you, I walked over and took it," he said with a smile.

"Harry, come on," he pleaded.