Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K Rowling.

A/N: Okay, I know, I've been giving Harry a lot of shit. He's had a tough year, to say the least. I can assure all of you that he won't live the rest of his life with a smile plastered to his face, however, maybe, just maybe, things will start to get better for him. Does he deserve it? I can't tell you -that's for you, the reader, to decide.

Anyways, I appreciate reading all of the comments, it's been interesting to see what you think about the story thus far.

Enjoy!

Chapter 26: Possible Mistakes

My stomach growled loudly as soon as I awoke. Still, I felt better than I had for a good while. It felt like someone had pulled away a heavy sheet which had shrouded me for the last couple of weeks. I hadn't even realised it was there until it was gone. A constant weight, always present. Never thought about.

I hadn't done anything after my conversation with my master yesterday, even if my fingers itched to pick up a book to read or flick my wand to practice a spell. I somehow understood she was right, something about what she said just clicked. Like finding the fitting piece in a puzzle.

My puzzle was far from completed, I had lost a couple of pieces the last couple of months. Now it was time to piece it together again. Better than before.

I'd simply lain in my bed all day, doing absolutely nothing. Only thinking about the last couple of weeks and what she had told me. Then, I regretted not having eaten anything since breakfast the previous day, it felt like I could eat an entire banquet all by myself right there. Going to breakfast meant going to the assembly hall and going there meant people. A lot of them. Stares and glances weren't anything new to me though, it couldn't be that bad, right?

The pathways across the branches felt more alive than usual, there was always someone walking somewhere or just standing around. Perhaps people had always done that, I hadn't just thought about it until they stopped to glance at me or whisper to their mate. I wasn't sure if they actually thought I couldn't hear the chuckles or see the smirks; but they seemed to think of themselves as subtle. Either way, I held my head high and completely ignored them -or I tried to tell myself that I did.

The other Hogwarts competitors were conversing when I entered but it died down quickly when I sat down. Did I always have that effect?

The porridge tasted delicious to my literally starved tongue. A relieving journey of satisfaction. I didn't eat just one bowl or two bowls, but three entire ones. Montague glanced at me as if I was a little mad. Which I probably was; who wouldn't be after getting beaten up and then starving?

The silence was almost oppressive when we sat there doing nothing but eating our food, I felt as if I should say something. That would just be strange though, I'd never started a conversation with any of these people before. I had literally learned the name of one of them mere days prior.

The dragon inside of me whined in frustration, begging to get out. It was almost subdued now. It rarely reared its head.

This was where I went wrong, I realised. If I had to add another piece of the puzzle somehow, this was as good of a start as any.

"So Montague," I said, turning all of my companions' heads' towards me. "When is your next duel?"

He smiled, or grimaced. "Well, you missed my duel against the Göran." Montague snorted. "Although there wasn't much to miss."

"He lost ten nill too," Dolohov added coolly.

"What about you then?" I asked and nodded at Dolohov.

She pinched her nose, as if my very presence was repulsive. "I lost," she said succinctly.

I arched an eyebrow. "How much?"

She huffed indignantly and turned away.

"She got two points," Montague supplied for her.

I nodded slowly. "So Hogwarts got four points out of forty available in the first round," I stated.

Montague snorted and Ida hid a smile behind her hand. "We are really making our school proud, aren't we?" Montague said with amusement.

I smiled hesitantly. "We've got a lot to make up for next round."

"That we do," Montague said with a grimace.

Then a thought struck me. "By the way," I began. "Was anyone from Hogwarts allowed to come and visit your duels?"

Ida shook her head. "No, Professor Umbridge has apparently enforced a couple of new educational degrees."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course she has."

"I've heard they are allowed back for the next round of duels," Dolohov interrupted.

"Why?" I asked.

"Umbridge has been convinced that the small price of lost education hours for the travelling students is justifiable with the gained experience."

I snorted. "Do you really believe that?"

Dolohov raised her eyebrows challengingly. "I believe nothing, I only know."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, what you know is-"

"Anyway," Montague interrupted before I could reply. "How are you preparing for your next duel, Ida?"

I glared at Dolohov and she did the same back. At least we were on the same page in that arena.

Ida twirled her fork nervously. "I've read 'Twinkling Tranquilities" and was planning to practice some counter curses," the black haired girl said with a frown. "I don't think it will do much, but if I can get more points than last time, I'll be satisfied."

"Isn't 'Twinkling Tranquilities' a book about charmswork?" I asked curiously.

Ida nodded. "What about it? Charms can be used in a duel…"

I shrugged. "Yeah, of course. But to me it seemed like your biggest issue was more about experience," I explained. "You should try to study duels to see when people chose to attack, and why they chose those just moments."

Ida raised her eyebrows. "And you, with zero points, are an expert on the matter?"

I sighed. I wanted to say that I was better than her, that she wouldn't stand a chance against me. That the three of them wouldn't stand a chance against me. Thing was, the numbers told another story; and that was my own fault.

Ida and Dolohov were better duellists than I was, according to the statistics.

"It's just an observation, most of your opponent's points were scored when you were attempting an offensive yourself."

Ida actually seemed to think my words over at least a little bit. Who knew, she could have some potential.

"What are you doing to prepare, Potte?" Montague said with a smile. I could see a sharp golint in his eyes.

"I know what I did wrong before the last duel. I will just have to make sure I don't make the same mistakes again."

-()-

Umbridge wore a big, bright, beaming smile on her face during breakfast. Students had bags under their eyes and the only conversation was that of yawns between the tables. Whose idea it had been to begin having classes at 7 o'clock in the morning wasn't any mystery. I could have testified under oath that Umbridge's pink dress had been charmed to glow brighter than usual. It hurt to look at, although that effect was probably heightened by the fact that it hurt to keep myself from falling asleep.

Ron had fallen asleep. He was resting his head against his defence textbook and was breathing rhythmically.

Umbridge had been in too good of a mood ever since the news from China broke out. The school had been in uproar ever since, rumours about what on earth could have happened to make Harry lose by ten points to zero spread faster than weeds.

I never considered myself to be interested in the rumours going around at Hogwarts but this time was different. No one had been allowed to attend Harry's duel because apparently it clashed with 'too many classes'. Which was strange, since his duel was on a Sunday. Either way, Umbridge had announced that every other of Harry's duels would be open to attend.

No one said a word when we had gathered outside the potions classroom and the door swung open with a 'bang'. Even Snape looked a little paler than usual, Umbridge's newest regulation to reduce the amount of sleep wasn't only getting to students, it appeared.

I met Ron's eyes and looked at him pointedly. We had to do something. We had to resist Umbridge. We had to reignite the furnace of hope Umbridge had shattered with her decrees of ice.

-()-

"Hey! Alice!" I shouted and put a bit of haste in my step to catch up.

She turned around quickly and surveyed me with her warm, brown eyes. "Hello Harry," she said with a small smile. "What's up?"

I walked the last few steps up to her and tried to relax. There have been countless different scenarios in my head over the last couple of days. Somehow, none of them had expected something so…normal.

"I…uhhh, was wondering if there was something wrong."

Alice frowned and looked at me. "Why would there be?"

I opened my mouth and closed it. Had all of my observations just been silly? Perhaps I had never seen her because she was busy, not because she was avoiding me.

"Look," I began. "I know we aren't really friends… but we spoke every now and then during meals and such." I looked up from where I was staring at the ground to meet her eyes. "I just feel like you're… avoiding me."

There it was. It was out.

"I just thought you wanted to be left alone after the duel…you didn't look like you wanted to talk to anyone."

I swallowed. "I guess it was like that, but not really…" I trailed off. I ran a hand through my hair. "Look, I'm just not very good at talking to other people…"

Alice nodded slowly, but didn't say anything.

I scrambled through my mind to continue. "I mean it's not like we're really close, or friends at all. I just thought that we…I didn't mind having someone to talk to."

She nodded again. "We could try to be."

"Uhhh…try to be what?"

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Friends."

I stretched out my hand. "Is this how people make friends nowadays?"

She chuckled, took my hand and shook it firmly. "If not, I pity them. This was a fun way."

I forced a smile. "Yeah…"

She saw my look and her eyes widened. "I'm sorry! Excluding the whole getting impaled and beaten up part, of course."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure it was enjoyable from the stands."

We looked at each other awkwardly for a few moments.

"This won't work," Alice said.

My heart sank to the bottom of the sea. Had she already given up?

"We must get to know each other first," she said and arched an eyebrow at me. "But I have a question first."

I couldn't help but smile. "Ask away."

"Why are we forcing some kind of friendship between us?" She smiled impishly. "I mean...this is the most unnatural relationship ever."

I chuckled. "I guess it is…" I paused. "I suppose that you're the only one I can get to know here."

She arched an eyebrow at me. "So you're saying that you only want to be my friend because no one else wants to be your friend? I'm your last option?"

I opened my mouth but closed it quickly. "When you put it like that, it sounds rather horrible."

She nodded. "It is actually very disrespectful towards me."

I frowned, there was no telling if she was joking or not. "Perhaps so, but I disagree. I guess you're the only one good enough to be friends with me."

She snorted. "How humble of you."

I rolled my eyes. "You know what I mean, no one else was nice enough to befriend the rude recluse who spoke to no one."

"That's better, but you don't have to either compliment yourself or degrade yourself." She smiled wryly. "Just find a good spot somewhere in between."

I chuckled. "I'll try."

She clapped her hands together. "So, when do we meet up to do something?"

I scratched my chin. "I don't know."

"There is a party coming up for the tournament," she suggested.

I frowned. "That seems…excessive, I was thinking more about taking a walk around the tree or something."

She arched an eyebrow. "I'm surprised your proposal didn't include any 'studying'."

"Now that you mention it, I guess we could study together."

Alice rolled her eyes. "I was being sarcastic. Come one, let's go to the party. It'll be fun."

"We could be spending our time in a more productive way."

Alice looked me square in the eye for a moment. Her brown eyes flashed in annoyance. "As you said, I know we are not really friends and I hope you don't feel that I overstep some boundary." She paused. "I don't get why you're so dead set in not allowing yourself to have any fun."

It wasn't me who was enforcing that. It was destiny.

I sighed. "Perhaps I can tell you one day, but I really don't have a choice."

She nodded but didn't look convinced. "My grandma used to say that school sucked."

I raised my brows. "That's a sudden change of topic."

She glared at me, but smiled non the less. "Let me finish. She said it sucked because it didn't work on its own. She thought that school failed with the most fundamental thing: having fun." Alice smiled broadly, lost in memory. "My grandma always said that fun was most important to grow as a person, not school, not duelling. Fun." Alice met my eyes with a determined look. "I wonder if that is your problem, you have everything you need, but not fun."

I shifted my weight to the other leg.

"You tried your way for the first duel; studying until you fell to the floor dead in exhaustion. You know, you looked closer to an inferi than a human during the duel. Even Alex said so." The dark skinned girl smiled challengingly. "Let's try another way for the next duel," Alice concluded.

I clapped my hands together. "Sure, let's go to this party then."

Alice raised her hand and we did a high five, my part didn't emanate quite the same enthusiasm as hers. "Good, perhaps I should mention this as well, it is not really a party, but a ball."

I gave her an incredulous stare. "That means that I'll have to find a date?"

She stared at me blankly for several seconds. "I mean this in the best way possible, but you're an idiot." Alice gestured to herself. "What the fuck am I?"

"You want to be my date?"

She rolled her eyes and giggled. "We just decided that we were going to do this together and you thought we would do it without being each other's date?"

I snorted. "Fair enough." I sent her a big smile. "I should warn you though, the last person I went to a ball with, I ended up leaving to be ravaged by a giant butterfly."

-()-

I didn't manage to wipe the smile off my face for the entire walk back to my room. The feeling was hard to explain, it felt both relieving and exhausting at the same time. Still, for the first time since I arrived at Nanshu, I felt some sort of accomplishment.

It worries me slightly that I considered one conversation an achievement.

Perhaps it was more about that fact that I had taken the leap and done something I had thought about doing for days. Something I had doubted for days. But it went well. She hadn't cursed me, or laughed in my face or turned into one of Voldemort's most devout followers.

The sun was emitting a tired orange glow from the horizon, just about touching the edge of obscurity.

I entered the small apartment and closed the door firmly behind me. Surprisingly, the entirety of our Hogwarts crew was assembled in the living room. There was no question as to why though, because a tall, old man in glowing blue robes stood and waited with a warm smile.

What on earth was Dumbledore doing here?

"Ahh, Good evening Mr. Potter. I hope you enjoyed your evening walk," Dumbledore greeted warmly.

"It was nice," I commented vaguely.

He nodded and gestured for me to sit down in an armchair. "I have a little promise to make up on, I believe."

I heard a sharp intake of breath come from Ida and Montague's eyes widened almost comically. Dolohov must have done her best to show no reaction but I thought she sat a little straighter afterwards.

Dumbledore's private lessons were on the agenda.

"Who wants to begin?"

Three hands flew into the air like they'd been shot from a crossbow. Antonia was lucky enough to go first, with Montague succeeding her. Ida would be third place, then, me. None of us spoke a word between ourselves as we sat on the couches. Ida was reducing her nails to a mess of blood and sharp, uneven edges; the constant thrumming of Montague's foot against the floor was the only reminder that he too was excited.

Flitwick sat in one of the armchairs with a contemplative look and reading a book, seemingly oblivious to how his students were in a state of complete nervousness. Antonia came out of the room with a frown adorning her pale features. Montague returned with an equally serious look. I couldn't help but feel slightly apprehensive about it all, what exactly could Dumbeldore say to me to cause me a reaction like that? I dearly hoped that the prophecy was the largest bombshell he would drop on me for at least this lifetime.

Ida appeared in the doorway again, causing me to exhale slowly and walk inside the room with rigid steps. Although I'd been inside the small training room more times than I'd like to admit, it felt completely foreign with the bespectacled man inside of it. His presence seemed to make everything else blur into the blurry background, he stood out in the room like a star on a cloudy night. That could be attributed to his colourful choice of robes though.

"And finally, Mr. Potter," Dumbeldore greeted with a warm smile. He flicked his wand smoothly and two chairs of steel appeared between us. I took the hint and sat down at the hard and harsh frame of steel. Dumbledore sat down in front of me and looked me square in the forehead. I frowned, something he was sure to notice. Why was he still doing that?

"What do you think went wrong in your first duel, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked curiously. He tilted his head slightly, but still didn't look me in the eyes.

"Everything," I stated simply. If he wasn't about to even grant me the smallest of respect by looking me in the eye, I wouldn't make this easy for him.

Dumbledore hummed thoughtfully and stroked his beard. "If I may, I believe that one thing was most detrimental to your duel. Just your mindset." He folded his hands in his lap. "Do you understand what I mean?"

I nodded jerkily. "I do understand actually. But there is something else I don't understand."

"Oh?"

"Yes…" I paused and raised my eyebrows. "Why are you refusing to look me in the eye, Professor?"

The smile fell away from his face steadily and settled with a small crease in the forehead.

"Are you afraid of Voldemort seeing you, through me?" I asked cautiously.

His eyes snapped sharply to meet mine; he leant back with narrowed eyes. "What makes you think that?"

I shrugged. "Well, I had visions from him, and I know that eye contact is required to read someone's mind…"

Dumbledore stroked his beard with a faraway look on his face. "You had visions? Does that mean you don't have them anymore?"

"I haven't had one for months, no," I said truthfully.

He smiled weakly. "I'm not sure that is a good thing."

I met his eyes blankly. "Respectfully Sir, but you don't know anything about my connection with him. How it feels, what it does."

The headmaster nodded. "Enlighten me."

"It's…It's always been there, like carrying a backpack with you all the time. Since the graveyard though, something's just been different. Like that backpack was removed from me."

He looked at me with a sharp glint in his eyes. "Are you saying that the connection between you is gone?"

I shrugged. "I don't even know how the connection came to be but it sure feels like it is gone."

Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully. "The magic bringing the two of you together is unprecedented. No one alive knows how it works. Still, couldn't this be a trick by Tom to bring your guard down?"

I nodded. "I've considered that possibility, but no. He just feels…gone."

Dumbledore didn't look convinced.

"Sir, haven't I done enough for you to trust me?"

He chuckled. "You've surpassed my expectations by more than I could have imagined, Harry." Dumbledore removed his golden frames and cleaned the glass with a purple napkin. He slid the glasses on again and met my eyes with a odd look. "I trust you on this, but if you turn out to be wrong…" he trailed off.

"I'm not," I declared confidently. He didn't know why I was that confident, but I knew that Voldemort's clutches on my mind had long since been pried away. A comfortable silence fell between us which neither of us felt compelled to break.

When my bosom was starting to ache from the hard surface of the chair, I had to ask the question which had stayed in my mind ever since I received the news of his sacking as Headmaster of Hogwarts.

"Sir, why did you get fired?"

The bearded, old man smiled weakly. "I was simply asked to step down."

I rolled my eyes. "I've heard the official version, we both know that it was not the actual reason. The ministry wanted you gone…" I trailed off.

He chuckled. "You are right that it is not the actual reason, but you're also wrong."

"How so?"

His piercing blue eyes met mine. "I resigned myself, albeit temporarily."

My mouth fell open at his announcement. I spluttered for a reply. "Why would you leave the students when they need you the most? I swear, Umbridge is…evil."

He grimaced, a heavy sigh emerged from him. "It pains me more than you can understand to leave the castle."

"Why though? What could possibly make you abandon the castle?"

He frowned and stared off into space, seemingly contemplating something. "I can tell you, but you have to promise you won't tell anyone about what I tell you."

I nodded. "I promise."

The headmaster appeared frozen in his seat for a moment before he leaned back and folded his wrinkled hands neatly. "At the beginning of your summer vacation, there was an…incident in Albania," he began solemnly.

I raised my eyebrows. "Where Voldermort was rumoured to have been?"

He gave me a nod. "Indeed, in a village just by the forest he was staying in, or that was as much as I was able to conclude."

"You went there?"

"Yes, but not in search of Voldemort. No, I was requested to visit by the ICW."

I blinked a few times to wrap my head around it all. I didn't know much about the ICW apart from that Dumbledore had been the British representative up and until a couple of months ago. As far as I had understood, it was the magical equivalent of the United Nations, but older, much older.

"In the village, a group of ten wizards were found, murdered," he continued gravely.

"Voldemort's work? Some kind of revenge perhaps?"

He stroked his beard slowly. "I thought so too, but it wasn't his style at all. There were no signs of torture, and mainly, no uses of the killing curse."

"How did they die?" I asked hesitantly.

He met my eyes blankly. "I think it is best if that part is left out, but it wasn't pretty." He leaned forwards in his chair. "The interesting thing was that several of the other villagers mentioned a foreign, hooded man visiting the town that particular day."

"Could be anyone of Voldermort's followers?"

"That was my assumption, but this man stood out. He lacked an arm." Dumbledore leaned back again. "As far as I know, not one single of his followers lacks an arm."

I smiled weakly. "It wouldn't be too out of character for him to…take an arm away for disobedience or something."

"Perhaps, but either way, the trail went cold and I was forced to concede defeat. As such, I returned to Britain in time for the term to begin and went on with my business until something else happened…" Dumbledore swallowed. "This is all under heavy wraps as of now, top secret."

"I understand," I responded quickly with an enthusiastic nod.

He sighed. "There was a break in at Nurmengard."

I felt an icy shiver run down my spine. Azkaban was the most horrible prison on earth, but it didn't hold all of the most horrible criminals. That honour went to the old fortress turned prison, Nurmengard. "Did anyone escape?"

"No, but whoever got inside reached the maximum security cell."

I held my breath. "Grindelwald."

"Yes," Dumbledore confirmed. "But as I said, no one escaped. What did happen is perhaps even more concerning." He paused and his eyes glinted in the lamplight. Dusk had fallen over us, shrouding the two of us in an eerie darkness with just a small lightbulb of light. "He was killed," Dumbledore said…dare I say, sadly?"

I swallowed audibly. "Did you catch the killer?"

The headmaster chuckled mirthlessly. "No, whoever did it got through the most impressive defences in this world, apart from Hogwarts. I found something in his cell though, a drawing." He got up and walked over to look out of the window. "A drawing he had painted in his own blood, on the floor."

My hairs stood up on my arms; the evening breeze suddenly felt much colder. "What was it?" I asked in nothing but a whisper.

He turned around to look at me. "It was a man." My headmaster's eyes shone brightly in the room. "A man with one arm."

I did a sharp intake of breath. "So whoever killed all those people in Albania, killed him too?"

"It appears so," Dumbledore said with a weak smile.

I nodded in understanding. "Okay, but why do you have to deal with all of this? Doesn't the ICW have capabilities of their own?"

"They do." The old man sighed tiredly. "But this matter is rather personal to me, I'm afraid."

"Is it more important than the safety of your students?" I asked sceptically.

"Who is to say that one excludes the other?"

A/N: Thanks for reading! I'd love it if you left a review :)