Edited by the mighty pazed!

Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!

READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!

Chapter 69

Tannim adjusted the bag that hung across his back, concealing his crowbar laced through its loops within easy arm's reach. "Do you really think all of this is necessary?" he asked.

Keighvin shrugged. "Better to have it and not need it," he said simply.

Chinthliss nodded his agreement. "While I do not personally fear him, he is still quite formidable, and I do not believe I could defend you both adequately if he proves to be volatile."

Tannim moved his shoulders around, making sure the bag didn't move from the position he had placed it in. "Fine… I just... I just find it hard to believe that he did all of this! And for what? Just to raise a 'Leader of the Light' in his own image? It doesn't make any sense!"

Keighvin understood his friend's confusion all too well, "That's why we are doing this, we need those answers, just as much as Harry."

The trio fell into an uneasy silence as the made their way towards the small cottage on the outside of the town.

Keighvin knocked on the door, but it was Tannim who spoke when the ancient wizard opened the door. "Mr. Dumbledore, we would like to speak with you."

Albus looked at each of the men in turn, then nodded slowly. "I've already seen this morning's Prophet… Such a shame that Harry-"

"DON'T!" Tannim growled loudly. "Just don't!" he said stepping forward and jabbing two fingers into the man's chest. "Harry is not the one that has something to answer for here! YOU do!"

Albus's eyes were wide as he stepped back into the entryway and the three angry men entered, and the door shut behind them.

Chinthliss gestured toward the sitting area. "I believe we should all sit, and endeavor to remain calm during this discussion," he said, allowing some of his power to drift to his eyes causing them to change to a copper color. "If you would lead the way Mr. Dumbledore."

Slowly the agitated elderly man turned and made his way to an overstuffed chair, sitting slowly as the others found places to sit and face him.

Keighvin studied the man as they moved; despite his age he moved well and he could tell from the man's aura that he was still quite powerful. He was not someone to underestimate.

"We have come for some answers, Mr. Dumbledore," said the elf, as he casually laid the case containing his sword across his knees, his hand only a scant few inches from the hidden hilt.

"Answers?" the old man asked, a confused look on his face.

"Cut the games!" snarled Tannim. "What you have done is inexcusable!"

Dumbledore's head snapped back as if he had been slapped. "I did what was necessary, young man! It was for the Greater Good!" he answered automatically.

"And just whose greater good is that, Mr. Dumbledore?" asked Chinthliss. "It was certainly not Harry's!"

Albus waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "The Greater Good of the Wizarding world! Of course! None of you can even imagine how important being a Leader of-"

Keighvin was on his feet in a flash, sword drawn, tip at the older man's throat. "I am LORD Keighvin Silverhair of the Elvin people! You dare to say that I do not understand the sacrifices that must be made for my people? I have been the Lord of Fairgrove for over three hundred years! I have sent MY people to battle on more than one occasion, and stood with them as they died around me many times!"

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "You know nothing of war!" he hissed, as his sword began to glow a golden color. "Your gravest threats, Grindelwald and Voldemort, were nothing more than thugs! Thugs that you allowed to flourish!"

His sword flickered and Dumbledore's robes made a ripping sound as his wand clattered to the floor and rolled to Tannim's feet. He bent over and picked the knobbed piece of wood up and placed it on the table beside him.

"At the height of his influence in Europe Grindelwald was hardly a boil on the ass of the things that were threatening the world! The Thule Brotherhood was imbedded deep within the SS, and they had spanned the globe in search of magical power! They hunted us! Stole our heritage! We fought, Seleighe and Unseleighe alike, side by side with humans, weres and even vampires!"

"I was here, in this country leading my people into the midst of war! And where were you? Chasing your old chum around as he tried to take advantage of the chaos!" The elf snarled. "Only to capture him just as everything ended, and take the accolades of your people for ending a 'war' you never were a part of!"

He smirked as Albus's eyes grew wide. "Then there is Voldemort." He leaned closer. "Or should I call him Tom Riddle?" he asked. "Not only did you know him, but you taught him! You could have helped stop him before his Deatheaters had fully formed! Led your law enforcement to him!"

"But did you?" he asked rhetorically. "No!"

"You didn't even support your own Head Auror, a man you may well have hand picked yourself for the job, when he wanted to take off the kid gloves and face the Deatheaters on an equal footing, spell wise," he continued.

"HIS MEN WERE DYING!" yelled the elf. "Your people! Because all they could use were non-lethal spells! Because you wanted to give those damn Deatheaters a chance to 'see the light'! How many more died after they bought or lied their way out? How many of them are still plaguing your society today?" he asked. "He had at his height sixty or so people! Yet they killed hundreds!

"Then, after his defeat," he began again, "did you take the initiative and try to make sure something like that couldn't happen again? Take the chance offered to rebuild afterwards?"

He shook his head. "No! It was business as usual!" He swished his sword away from the frozen man's neck. "You were intent on keeping things the way you liked them! And your world locked away, lost in time!"

Keighvin returned to his chair, sitting heavily, with his sword tip down and both hands resting lightly on the hilt, "You are not a leader, and you insult those of us that are every time you call yourself one."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I live for my people. Their wellbeing is everything to me. They are the first thing I think of when I wake, and the last thing I think of every night. How can I make their lives better?" He shook his head slowly. "A wise man once said, 'A government works for the people, the people do not work for the government.' Ask yourself Dumbledore, do you work for your people? All of them? Is it their Greater Good you are working for? Does it help them grow, and prosper? Learn new things? Broaden their perception of the world?"

Chinthliss sighed. "Enough Keighvin, this is not the reason we are here."

Keighvin turned to glare at the dragon in human form, his face slowly relaxing till he nodded. "Of course you are correct, my friend." He turned back towards the aged wizard. "We are here to discuss what happened in Godric's Hollow! Why there is now further damage done to the one remaining Potter home! And why one of the finest young men it has ever been my good fortune to know is now back in Charlotte being watched around the clock by his mother, grandmother, and Margo! And what possessed a supposed great man to be the source of such pain throughout his life!"

Chinthliss sighed as he stood, placing a hand on the elf's shoulder. "Calm yourself my friend. Your rage is doing none of us any good, especially young Harry."

Keighvin took a deep cleansing breath, and tugged his sword tip from the floorboards, returning it to its sheath. "Very well, I'll let you handle things from here."

Chinthliss stepped forward, looking out the window. "As you know we took Harry to Godric's Hollow yesterday, to visit his family's graves as well as their cottage," he said sadly. "We now wish we had more time to look in on those before we took him, but due to the restrictions placed in our way by the Ministry for Magic, the window of time we had to enter the cottage was limited at best, especially if we wanted to do it without Fudge and his toadies underfoot."

He turned to face the old wizard. "So we bundled up, and arrived in the early morning hours, Harry and the rest of us going to the cemetery first, as Keighvin went to check over the cottage accompanied by Madam Bones. Do you know what they found when they entered?"

If he had not been looking at the man when he asked, studying his every move, he may have missed it, a slight change in the pallor of his skin and a hitch in his breathing. "Of course you do!" he chided, "As you were the one that said he would oversee their son! Arrange for him to be raised by his loving family, after you sealed away everything!" he said slapping a thick stack of papers onto the table next to the man.

"Bureaucracy! If it can do one thing well is preserve paperwork!" he said glaring down at th old man, eyes glowing copper and smoke wafting from his mouth and nostrils as he spoke. "You were a busy man right after the attack on the Potters, overseeing their son! Less than twenty four hours and everything to do with his life had been sealed away! From his parents' Hogwarts records to securing his trust vault key for him! Not to mention making sure he was delivered to his new home! Personally!"

"I've talked at length with both Hagrid and McGonagall!" he continued. "They were both there when you left him! McGonagall is livid, and doesn't understand why she let you leave him there! At night, in November, OUTSIDE! But she trusted your judgment! She believed in you! As a friend, a colleague, and as a mentor! You spat on that!"

He stood up straight. "As for Hagrid… That poor man is more child than adult! Something you allowed to happen! To him you were a god among men! I saw the name of the man that accused him all those years ago on the paperwork, it was Tom Riddle! He used him as a scapegoat for whatever he was doing that cost that poor girl her life! All the while you just stood aside and let him be expelled! You stole his future from him!"

He took a deep breath. "Just like you did Sirius Black!" he accused. "You could have advocated for the man! He deserved a trial! Just like the others! Strange how Harry's Godfather ended up in that… place! You even knew he had been around Harry after the attack! Hagrid told you as much! He borrowed his motorcycle!"

He stared at the man accusingly. "Sirius remembers it now Dumbledore, it was lost in the haze of anger and dementors before, but now he remembers! Harry's scar looked horrible and he was covered in blood, head wounds bleed so freely, when he met Hagrid at the healer's house in Godric's Hollow, and offered him his motor bike to help transport Harry, as he was too young for apparition, and the healer advised against taking him through the floo with a head injury. He even cast the warming charm himself!"

Albus's eyes went wide. "Hagrid never made the connection, after he was jailed for Pettigrew's murder, and Sirius holds no grudge against him… but you… I'd stay away from him and Harry if I were you!"

Chinthliss sighed. "But again we are drifting away from the questions we have remaining, and one is the most central, why? Why Harry?" he asked. "We saw your family name in the graveyard where the Potters were buried… Did you hate them?"

Albus immediately shook his head. "No! Of course not! I considered them some of my dearest students!"

"Then why has any memory of them been nearly destroyed?" he asked, "Their Hogwarts records were kept under lock and key in your personal files? Their every accomplishment and picture hidden from view? Their possessions left to rot in their damaged home after the attack?"

Albus cringed internally, only the barest hint of his discomfort evident at the edges of his eyes. "I-I did my best… things were so..."

Tannim was on his feet in a flash and across the room in a single hop on his stiff leg. "No more! I will not listen to another one of your half truths! I want to know why the Potters were so important! There were only two families that rated your personal protection, the Potters, and the Longbottoms! Both of them were attacked! And we want to know why!"

Albus sagged. 'How had they figured out so much?' he thought. 'How?'

Chinthliss placed a hand on his protégé's shoulder and pulled him away lightly. "We have let you play your games long enough while we worked to uncover as many of your machinations as possible. The final question we have is why those two families? We know they were close friends, both fighters against Voldemort, and both boys were born within hours of one another, Neville on the thirtieth and Harry on the thirty-first of July but what we don't know is why them?"

He stepped closer. "What was so special about those dates? Why those boys? What made them so different from all the others? And you are going to tell us one way or another!" He said as he allowed wisps of smoke and fire to curl out of his mouth.

Albus sat transfixed by the sight, then slowly he nodded, as his right hand moved to rub his left arm. "A prophesy…" he said softly, "there was a prophesy…"

Harry sank deeper into the seat of his Mustang, as the radio played Nobody's Child by the Traveling Wilburys.

(Go listen to it then come back.)

A solid sounding 'thunk' came from the passenger side of his car, along with the sound of someone sliding into the seat next to him. The sound of the radio clicked off before the song ended, and the sound of his mother's voice filled the silence moments later.

"Harry…" she began, then pausing. "Harry… It will be okay. I promise," she said taking his hand in hers. "We'll figure something out… Sirius and Remus are looking into things… we'll get what we can fixed… and learn as much about them both as we can…" she said softly.

"I just don't understand…" he said, curling up against her shoulder.

She sighed. "Neither do I sweetheart… neither do I."

"I didn't mean to…" he said, "I was just so…"

"Shhhh…" she said cradling his head. "No one is mad at you."

"B-but… I lost control," he said dejectedly. "I could have hurt you, Tannim… or the b-baby," he cried softly.

"Harry," She pulled his head up so she could look him in the eyes. "Nothing happened to us! Your father, Chinthliss, Keighvin and your grandmother were all there! What happened was an accident! It had been a trying day already! We should have done things differently, not tried to do it all in one day despite what the Ministry was pushing us to do! Seeing what was left of your birthparents' home and what had been allowed to happen to it was just too much!" she said earnestly.

She smiled at him and drew him back into her embrace. "You lost control of your magic… It happens sometimes, you're still young, learning, and this was an extreme. You can't blame yourself for this," she said, praying he would listen to her.

She felt him relax slightly in her arms. Taking it as a good sign, she continued to hold him as he fell asleep.