47
"That is All I Ask of You..."
00000
Dumbledore didn't know what Voldemort's plan was. It had been a week since Mundungus had reported on a possible break-in into the hall of prophecies and yet, nothing had happened. Some Order members were accusing Fletcher of lying because he had done that before. However, Dumbledore knew that he wasn't. Unless he had something to gain from it Mundungus wouldn't lie. He was more honest that way, which is why Dumbledore had agreed to let him in the Order.
As for Voldemort, not only had he not tried to break into the hall of prophecies, he had even slowed down his other operations. Dumbledore's informants had told him that there was very little movement from the inner circle members who were tasked with the recruitments of death eaters. It didn't make sense because Dumbledore was under the impression that Voldemort would take as little time as possible before making his presence known to the public. However, that didn't seem to be the way it was going for the dark wizard. This had come unpredicted and Dumbledore hated unpredictability.
00000
Lucius stood outside Voldemort's room looking all nervous. He wondered why the dark lord had called him when the doors opened on their own and he saw the nose-less man looking at him while sitting at his throne-like chair. Slowly and nervously, Lucius then walked in as the doors closed behind him.
"You wanted to see me, my lord?" he asked as he stopped in front of the wizard and knelt down on his knees.
Voldemort looked at him for a moment with uninterested eyes. He then took out a piece of paper from his robe and tossed it towards the man. Looking at it in confusion Lucius unfolded it to see what it contained and the first thing that he noticed was Draco's handwriting. Wondering what his son had written he began to read the contents before realizing what it was as his eyes widened in surprise. His hands shook as he slowly looked up at Voldemort, hoping that he could get some explanation.
"Draco sent that to me a week ago," Voldemort said. "He said that it was given to him by Harry Potter."
"I...I don't understand, my lord?" Lucius said.
"I didn't either, at first," Voldemort said, "but then I saw the memory that Draco had sent me along with that piece of paper. It showed me how Harry gave him that prophecy, asking him to give it to me in the in exchange that we don't break into the hall of prophecies."
Lucius stood up slowly as he processed what he had just heard. "Is that why we didn't move on with the plan, my lord?" he asked. Voldemort nodded. "But is this true?" he asked raising the paper.
Voldemort smirked. "What? You don't trust your own son, Lucius?" Voldemort said. "Draco's memory also contained Harry taking a wizard's oath to prove that he wasn't lying about what is written in that paper. I checked the memory myself and it wasn't a fake." He then pointed to the paper in Lucius' hand and smiled. "That right there is the complete prophecy, Lucius. We don't have to break into the department of mysteries anymore. We can focus on other important things now."
Lucius nodded slowly. He didn't know what to make from all of this. He didn't know why Harry would give Draco the complete prophecy to pass along to the dark lord. It couldn't simply be because he wanted to save the lives of a handful of Order members. Voldemort noticed his dilemma. "What are you thinking?" he asked.
The man looked at him. "I was just wondering...why would Potter risk giving you the complete prophecy? That's not something Dumbledore would let happen."
"Didn't you say that Harry no longer trusts Dumbledore?" Voldemort said. "Isn't that why you told your allies to vote in favour of Black during his trial?"
"I did," Lucius said, "but even if that boy no longer trusts Dumbledore and, if this was actually Potter's plan, then what is he thinking? Wouldn't it have been better if he hadn't let you know the complete prophecy?"
"You might be right," Voldemort said, "but knowing the full prophecy has ensured me one thing."
"What is that, my lord?" Lucius asked.
Voldemort smiled as he slowly stood up from his throne. "That I will be the one who kills Harry Potter," he said before coming over to where Lucius was. He then leaned in close to his ear as Malfoy shivered in fear. "We don't have to hurry now, Lucius. We can take our time, gathering our army. In the meantime, let Draco know that I am grateful to him for passing along such important information. Once the term is over, I will reward him by officially making him a part of our movement."
"Yes...my lord," Lucius said. He didn't know why he got a bad feeling out of all of this but he had no other choice but to comply. Once he had left the room he sighed in relief as if he had been holding his breath the entire time while he was in there with Voldemort. "What are you thinking, Potter?" he said to himself as his anger rose for Harry for using Draco like that.
00000
Harry was in the library with Neville and Hermione when Madame Pince came and informed him that Dumbledore wanted to see him. Neville gave him a knowing look while Hermione looked confused as Harry got up and left for the head office.
Ten minutes later he was sitting facing Dumbledore, waiting for him to finish whatever paperwork he was busy with. Once he was done the headmaster looked at him and Harry prepared himself for the incoming questions of which he had some idea as to what they were going to be.
"Why did you do it, Harry?" Dumbledore asked calmly, coming directly to the point.
"I don't understand, professor," Harry responded in a confused tone. He knew he needed to play it out as best as possible and for as long as possible. His trust for the man in front of him was completely gone.
"There are a lot of things which you did that has and will put you in danger," Dumbledore said. "Let's start with Sirius' trial. To get him one you not only allied yourself with a dark house but you also got your emancipation. The latter legally makes you an adult in the eyes of magical law which means that if Fudge wants, he can make you an outlaw and charge you with criminal penalties as severe as possible."
"I did it because I am safer living with my godfather," Harry said. He then paused for a minute before continuing. "You told me that the only reason why I had to stay with my relatives was because of my mother's protection. However, on the night Voldemort came back he used my blood for the ritual, rendering that protection useless. Therefore, I saw no reason as to why I should risk living with a family who did nothing but abused and tortured me. As for the Greengrasses, they were never a dark house. They used to be a neutral family but now they are against Voldemort. They have chosen a side, fully knowing the risks that come with it. Their two daughters are both in Slytherin, a house which is full of students whose parents are death eaters. This puts Daphne and Astoria in constant danger every time of every day. Despite all of that they have decided to take a stand and that should deserve some respect, especially from you. You are the Leader of the Light, after all."
Dumbledore was shocked. And he didn't do any effort to hide that expression. Everything that he had planned for Harry had shattered in front of him. It was as if Harry was a completely different person. Dumbledore slowly removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. All of it felt like a curse more than anything because since last year everything that he had planned for the coming time had been in vain. Maybe he should have thought of another way than to let Barty Crouch Jr. put Harry's name in the goblet. Seeing he wanted Voldemort to come back to life in his original body, Dumbledore had seen an opportunity when one of his informants told him about the dark wizard's plan of using Barty to infiltrate Hogwarts.
No, that wasn't it. It was Daphne, the headmaster thought. Ever since Harry had started spending time with her all of Dumbledore's plans for him had started to go down the drain. At first he thought that maybe it won't do too much damage but he was wrong. Not only did Harry no longer seem to trust him but the boy had gone ahead and gotten his emancipation in order to get his godfather a trial to prove his innocence. After his friendship with Ron was over Dumbledore's only reliance to keep an eye on the boy outside of Hogwarts were the Durseleys. And now Harry no longer lived with them which reminded Dumbledore to ask his next question.
"May I ask where you spent your summer seeing that you no longer live with the Durseleys," he asked.
"My family's ancestral home," Harry said without any hesitation. He knew that the place was heavily fortified to stop anyone from visiting if he didn't want them to. Besides, it wouldn't have mattered hiding the place from Dumbledore because the man would've eventually found it. He was capable of that. "That place is protected with old magic which is at least a hundred times stronger than my mother's blood protection, which as you now know is useless," he continued. "Not to mention, that is my actual home. I spent my summer there with Sirius."
"Would you let me take a look at the place, make sure that it is safe enough to protect you from Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked.
"I'm sorry, professor, Harry said. "Like I said, the place is protected by old magic. Tempering with it might compromise the wards' strength." He then paused as he thought that he needed to play it all carefully. "I know your intentions are good but even you can't deny that you are too controlling. You want to know everything but you can't allow others to do the same. You never told me about the prophecy until it couldn't be hid any longer. You let Sirius rot in Azkaban despite knowing that he was innocent. You shouldn't hide anything from others if not knowing it affects their lives."
Dumbledore looked at Harry knowing that there was no way that this boy could be brought back to his former, innocent self when he didn't know much or rather anything. That ship had sailed. "I know you are angry," he said slowly, "but from where you are, you don't understand the bigger picture. Sometimes, one has to make difficult decisions. Not everyone can do it because of how it affects the lives of others. However, for the greater good, for the betterment of everyone, a handful of sacrifices have to be made. It has always been like that. Having lived through two magical wars I know it better than anyone. You might not understand it but making these decisions, it eats away your soul. I already told you why I had to let Sirius stay in Azkaban. My reason for it remains unchanged, even now. That circumstances prevented it from happening doesn't mean I was wrong. No one could've guessed that Voldemort would be able to find out about your mother's protection and figure out a way to nullify it. Only Lily knew what kind of magic she was using to put that protection on you. She told no one about it. Not even your father. If she had, you know perfectly well that James wouldn't have let her do it because it required Lily to sacrifice herself. It was uncertain whether Voldemort would kill them and yet she did it anyway. You were her whole world and she gave her life for you. Any parent would, for their child. As for me, I have too much responsibility, especially regarding Voldemort because he was my student. I taught him within these walls. But it wasn't just that. What you or anyone else doesn't know is that I had met him before he came to Hogwarts. I was called upon by the matron of the orphanage where Voldemort used to live. That is where I first met him and saw what he was capable of. I couldn't have known back then that it would be the same child who would grow up to be one of the cruellest dark wizards that this world had ever seen and when it had happened I felt guilty. So I took it upon myself to defeat him because I saw it as my duty. After all, it was I who had brought him to the magical world and taught him so the responsibility of dealing with him ultimately fell upon my shoulders. But then the prophecy was foretold and I realised that I wasn't the one who would face him at the end. It was you. And if I am being honest, I was actually angry. Angry because it felt as if someone had snatched that responsibility from me. But then I realised that if I wasn't the one who would face Voldemort I could at least help you do it. I didn't know that your parents would end up dying at his hands but when that happened I realised that there was no one left who would be able to prepare you to face him. Getting a feeling that Voldemort wasn't gone I came up with a plan to isolate you from the magical world by putting you in your muggle relatives' care. The fact that your aunt despised magicals worked in my favour because I knew that she would never tell you anything about magic. I wanted you to find out about it on your own, once you turned eleven. However, I didn't know that they would torture you like that. But when I did, I couldn't do anything about it except warn them as staying there was important for you...because of your mother's protection. I know you are angry with me for all the decisions that I made for your life but I want you to know that I did all of that for you. You have every right to hate me for that and I won't hold it against you. However, I want you to not lose your trust in me because from time to time I will tell you things that you need to know at those moments so you can move forward. That is what I do with everyone who trusts me and that is the very reason why most of them are still alive. I just wanted you to know that."
Harry sat there processing what Dumbledore had just said. It felt surreal. However, he couldn't bring himself to trust the man. "Why not tell me everything right now?" he asked. "If I know things beforehand then I can better prepare myself for it."
"I have," Dumbledore said. "I have told you about the prophecy. You already know that you are fated to face Voldemort. But do you know how you will get to that stage? No one knows that, not even me. However, if I did and I told you about it, what would you do? It will still take you decades to rise up to the level he's at and everything would be lost by then. So the best course of action is to let things move on their own. Fate has put you in the position to face Voldemort so fate must also have laid a path for it. No one can predict when you will clash with him. It can be now, tomorrow or any other time. You told me that I am too controlling but the reality is that we are all controlled by fate. And it is that fate which has put you and Voldemort on the same boat where the two of you will have to face each other and only one of you will come out alive at the end. It is that fate which has given me the sense of responsibility to make sure I do everything in my power to ensure your victory while someone else does it for Voldemort. We each have our roles and moments to perform them. Some are supposed to help you while some are supposed to die for you. It might sound cruel and it definitely is but the truth is we are bound by fate's choice for our lives and it is not up to us to decide otherwise, because then fate finds a way to punish us and no one wants that. So I want you to trust me and let me do my part for you. When the time comes I will tell you some things about Voldemort which will be vital for you to know in order to defeat him. Until then please don't think any low of me and just trust me. That is all I ask of you, Harry."
00000
Thanks for reading...
