Harry shot up from the bed, covered in sweat and shivering with dread, his wand tightly clutched in his right hand as he tried to take in the contours of his room.

Hedwig screeched, obviously startled by his sudden movements, and when the teenager realized that there was nobody in the room besides him and his owl, he sighed in relief and dropped back down on the bed.

"This is getting out of hand.." He mumbled to himself as he fidgeted his wand in his hands as a way to deal with all the shock that still coursed through his veins.

Again he had dreamt about the graveyard in Little Hangleton, but this time it wasn't Cedric that had been murdered, it had been Hermione.

And it hadn't been Wormtail that used the killing curse on his best friend, no, it had been Ron.

Harry knew that even if he couldn't stand the sight of Ronald Weasley right now, he was one hundred percent sure that the redhead wasn't capable of killing nor joining the death eaters. Whatever he was, he wasn't a dark wizard.

"Though he has a very black heart." Harry thought to himself with a growl, the betrayal of the Weasley still taking it's toll on the raven-haired wizard.

Although he didn't miss Ron the slightest, his thoughts sometimes focused on him, and that was usually when he thought about how he had hurt Hermione with his actions and words.

"I bet she's still dealing with THAT as well.." He sighed before he got up from his bed and went to the only companion he currently had: Hedwig.

"I wish I could give you a letter so at least one of us could leave this place for a few hours.." He told his snow owl as he gently stroked his pet's shiny feathers and she pinched his hand affectionately.

"But you're an owl after all.. You can fly away at any time of the day if you like." He continued and gestured towards the open window but the owl didn't move an inch.

Hedwig hooted at Harry and he chuckled, knowing exactly what that meant.

"What a hungry owl you are, Hedwig." He chuckled when he gave her an owl treat that she immediately ate out of his hand before Harry continued stroking her head.

A few minutes later Hedwig took off into the night sky and Harry sighed contently, knowing exactly that this wouldn't have been possible if his relatives were at home.

"Yeah, where are they anyway? Sirius and Remus didn't kill them, right? But if I think about it.. It was Dumbledore's idea, which means that even if they did, then it would be his fault." He thought to himself and although he didn't mind it the slightest that his abusive "family" was far away from him at the moment, he still would feel bad if they had been harmed for his sake.

"No human being deserves to be killed.. Except Voldemort, but he was resurrected by dark magic, so he isn't human any more." He thought to himself with a weak chuckle.

That was maybe the worst thing about his current situation in his opinion: While his state of isolation brought issues that only concerned him, there was one issue that wasn't his, but rather a problem of the entire wizarding community: The return of the dark lord.

It tormented Harry, knowing that he was kept in the dark, knowing that he wasn't deemed trustworthy enough, knowing that he couldn't help. It was like an itch and it only got worse the more Harry thought about it.

And he knew that if nothing would change about his solitude, then he would soon do something very stupid.

For the moment he could keep his urges at bay, but he couldn't guarantee anything for the future, for with every day that passed by, so did his despair grow…

Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk in his office and massaged his temples.

It had been a week now since Harry had left Hogwarts and returned to his relatives house, but the headmaster of Hogwarts was still struggling to find an answer. An answer that would most certainly decide the war that had yet to come.

"Maybe it was a bad idea to pay Vernon and Petunia Dursley a holiday to France.." Dumbledore thought when he realized what it meant for Harry when he was this unoccupied.

"And here I thought showing some kindness would pay off." He silently told himself and sighed.

Dumbledore wasn't a cold-hearted person: He liked to have a good relationship with the people he trusted or even cared, but like so many other things to him, kindness was just another resource that had to be used carefully.

The professor blamed the conversation with his best 4th year student for his rash decision: Because of her harsh words, he had seen it necessary to find an immediate answer, an answer that would de-escalate things before it was too late to fix them.

Dumbledore thought that Harry would remain under his control if he sent his relatives away, he thought that Harry's gratitude for his actions would be just what it needed to repair the trust that had been lost thanks to Hermione Granger. Which apparently didn't work.

He had given some members of the Order of the Phoenix the task of watching Harry's every step outside the house and what they told him was unnerving: He sometimes talked to himself about how everything was Dumbledore's fault.

The headmaster thus knew that there were only two options to continue from this point. And it was a choice between pest and cholera.

He could either continue the way he originally had planned, which would be foolish in his opinion, or compromise with Harry, which would be an admittance that he was wrong. And Dumbledore hated it when he had to admit mistakes.

He himself always planned things in a way that would be beneficial for the majority of people, neglecting the cause of one for the cause of the many, but now that he had to neglect his own values and principles he suddenly hated that idea.

It made him realize that every time he planned something, he did it in a way that neglected others, but never demanded a sacrifice from himself. His plans were made to protect himself from change.

"Maybe you were right, Gellert." Dumbledore thought with a chuckle as he remembered what his old friend had told him after their historic duel in May 1945.

"No matter how hard you'll try Albus, a part of you will always continue fighting for our plans." Grindelwald's words echoed through his head and the headmaster sighed when he had to admit his defeat.

Although he had been able to adapt to new challenges in his life, the way he handled these issues had always been same: All or nothing and sacrifices for the greater good. Though the definition of the greater good had changed.

Only now did Dumbledore realize how dangerous his plans had been after all, only now when he was the one that had to sacrifice something.

It had always sounded so simple when he inflicted pain on one person and ensured the well-being of the masses, but now that he had to suffer it didn't feel right any more.

"I can't do this." The professor told himself and shook his head in determination, the stubbornness of an old man stronger than the reason of one of the most skilled wizards of all time.

"Even if this means your doom?"

Albus Dumbledore rested his head on his desk. He was bewildered. Broken. Beaten…

Harry knew that he was under surveillance. He had first noticed so when he had gone for his usual walk in the early afternoon on his fifth day in "solitary confinement" as he liked to call it sometimes.

The teen had been sitting on the tree trunk at the brook again when he heard a loud crack not too far away from him and he was one hundred percent sure that it had been the sound of a wizard apparating or disapparating, though he never saw a soul on his walks. But he had his suspicions that said wizard could have been hiding under an invisibility cloak all the time.

Ever since that day he himself decided to only take a walk with his invisibility cloak covering him, though he just used it when he exited the house or returned to it – if his stalker didn't see which way he exited the road or re-entered it, then he or she couldn't follow him; that was Harry's idea.

Of course he had his suspicions that Dumbledore sent these mysterious and invisible ,,guardians" so that he would be protected no matter where he went, but it pissed him off that Dumbledore sent people with the task of protecting him, but nothing more. If they wouldn't speak to him, he could live without them.

"Honestly, I can't even relax when I'm being followed all the time!" Harry mentally said to himself as he once again returned from his daily strolls in the scorching hot midday sun, the invisibility cloak firmly wrapped around his entire body to make sure that whoever currently was on guard would not get wind of his sneaky escapades.

He sneaked through the garden to the back door, completely out of sight for somebody only watching the front, and re-entered the house.

Carefully and quietly he closed the back door, and only when he was in the safety zone that was the bathroom did he yank down the cloak.

"Fuckin' hell!" The teenager swore when he saw his reflection in the mirror, all of his t-shirt soaked with sweat and his face looking like somebody had dipped his head under water.

It dawned on him once again why he only used the invisibility cloak for the first and last three hundred metres of his walk, because even if he wanted to wear it longer, then Harry knew that he would melt like butter in this abnormal summer sun.

"Maybe I should go out at dusk or in the afternoon.." He thought before he got rid of his shirt and trousers to jump under the cold shower for a minute to cool down.

After that he redressed, went up to his room and continued working on his potion's essay for Professor Snape. And how he always hated to work on the subject of his least favourite teacher.

Harry always had the feeling that his grades severely suffered from Snape's dislike for him, and even just the fact that it was Snape teaching was enough to make Harry automatically lose his motivation for potions. Or so he thought for a long time.

Now, being isolated in a house for the entirety of summer, he saw the chances of working on the things he hated: They distracted him from even darker thoughts.

"School stuff is nothing compared to a dark lord trying to kill me or a ministry doing their best to frame me.." He mumbled to himself at one point when he decided to put his quill down for a moment to gather his thoughts again.

"Yeah, I'd do that for the rest of my life if it meant that I could live my life in peace.", Harry thought with a chuckle and shook his head, "But sadly I don't have such a choice.."

Precisely at five in the afternoon, the doorbell rang.

Harry froze in his seat, unsure of what to expect from this unexpected visitor.

"Who is it anyway? A neighbour that doesn't know my aunt and uncle are away or.." He said to himself, looked out of the window to get a glimpse of his visitor and fell silent when he saw Professor Dumbledore standing in front of the main door, hands folded and looking around the garden, apparently interested in his aunt's very withered garden.

He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what this visit might mean for him, but decided that it would be very counterproductive to not open the door for his headmaster.

Harry quickly grabbed his wand before heading downstairs and greeting the professor.

"Good afternoon, Harry." The headmaster said with a small smile.

"Good afternoon, sir." The raven-haired wizard responded in a polite tone.

"You don't seem a bit surprised to see me here." Dumbledore stated with a wink and Harry grinned slightly in response.

"Well, to be honest, I had hoped that you might tell me quite a few things, if you know what I mean." He said with a sarcastic undertone and the professor sighed.

"Ah yes, hope.. Such a remarkable thing." Dumbledore stated before he walked past Harry into the entrance hall, "May I?"

Harry nodded and closed the door before following his principal into the living room.

"I must admit that this house looks far better with a bit of natural messiness inside." Dumbledore stated with an amused smile when he sat down on an armchair by the fireplace.

"I can't help a bit of chaos when I've got more important things to think about." Harry countered with a shrug of his shoulders and Dumbledore smiled in amusement.

"Yes, you really do have more important things to worry about. But between you and me, the room looks quite tidy for a young man like you." He stated and Harry merely nodded in response.

"I don't wish to be rude, but why exactly are you here today, sir?" He asked the headmaster who then went with one hand through the silvery hair of his beard before answering.

"To be blunt with you, Harry." He answered in a way that was everything but blunt.

"About what?" The teen asked in response and Dumbledore closed his eyes for a second to calm himself.

"This is the moment of truth.", He thought to himself, "It's time to take the leap or stay forever."

"About the way I interfered with your life." The principal told his student who gave him a knowing nod.

"I'm very well aware of what shady schemes you've organized." Harry retorted with a tense look on his face and he felt the fury inside himself welling up.

"Of course I know that Miss Granger told you everything I told her, but let me summarize the entire web that I have woven, if you want to call it like that.." Dumbledore said with his usual calm voice and Harry just clenched his fists, not liking the way his headmaster could be this emotionless when he spoke about his abuse.

"I sent you here in autumn 1981 after your parents died when I could have sent you anywhere in the world and you would have had a happier childhood than here. I didn't interfere when I got wind of how terribly you were treated. I mostly didn't help you with all the terrible things that happened to you at Hogwarts. In one sentence: I'm responsible for the vast majority of bad memories that you have of your childhood." Dumbledore summed up and Harry gave the elderly man a suspicious look.

"And now? Do you want to tell me why you did what you did? Because no matter what you say, for me there is no justification for the things that you've done." Harry countered and Dumbledore gave his student a weak smile.

"No, of course there is no justification that would be acceptable for you. But as you probably have guessed, I had my reasons why I did what I did. Do you want to know them?" He asked but Harry's eyes only narrowed in anger.

"Are you here to excuse your behaviour or have you something to say that doesn't inflict pain on me?!" He retorted in an angry voice and Dumbledore sighed.

"No, I'm not here to make you relive all the cruel things that happened to you because of me. I'm here to ask you for cooperation." The headmaster said with earnest eyes and Harry raised his brow.

"And why should I cooperate with you, after all the things you've done to me? I mean, you even said them in my face right now, you can't possibly think that I want to help you." The teenager said with fury and Dumbledore shook his head.

"No.", He said with determination, "I would not have expected you to do so."

For a moment the house was silent as Harry tried his best to keep at least a part of his composure, the calmness of his headmaster something that made his blood boil.

"How can anyone be so emotionless?!" Harry was mentally screaming this thought again and again before Dumbledore continued talking.

"I hope you can see that I am no Voldemort nor Cornelius Fudge. I don't want you dead nor depicted as a lunatic. I want to fight the injustice in this world. But I can't do so without your help." Dumbledore explained and Harry closed his eyes in order to not jump out of his seat and scream at the professor.

"It's always about you, sir. You, your plans, your vision for the future. You made me suffer for more than a decade so that your plans would work out. I'm tired of living my life as some kind of servant. I want to live, professor." Harry growled with gritted teeth, the rage apparent in his voice.

"And now comes the part that is the hardest for me: I must admit that you are right, Harry." Dumbledore declared and the raven-haired wizard opened his eyes as to see if he really understood the professor correctly.

"No, you understood this absolutely correctly: You are right." The headmaster confirmed before taking a deep breath.

"My plans were designed to ensure Voldemort's defeat. And if I might add, I'm still convinced that they would be successful. But have I ever thought about how broken you would have been at this point in time? Perhaps this pain and misery would've eventually made you the next dark lord in history, but I never cared about that. I only thought of you as a tool Harry, and I treated you like a tool: Without care, without love." Dumbledore explained, his eyes fixated on Harry's, and he took another deep breath before he carried on.

"Now, thanks to your brilliant friend, I see myself forced to redesign these plans. You really have found a very, very good friend in Miss Granger, if I might say so." The headmaster stated with a knowing smile and even Harry grinned slightly at the mention of his best friend's brilliance.

"First, before we continue from here I want to clarify something: You do agree with me when I say that Voldemort must be stopped, don't you?" Dumbledore asked and Harry nodded eagerly.

"Yes, without a doubt."

"Good. We both have a common goal. Now, you are the one that will ultimately accomplish both our goal, but I hope you see my point when I say that you need my guidance in order to do so." The professor said and when Harry nodded hesitantly, so did Dumbledore.

"I know that right now I cannot expect you to follow my guidance or trust me, so I'll be blunt about this: What do I have to do to regain your trust?" The headmaster asked and now Harry was grinning brightly.

"Well, it would be a good start if you would allow visitors around me." The raven haired wizard admitted and Dumbledore couldn't suppress a light smile.

"Of course. If I were you, I'd expect Miss Granger by tomorrow midday." The headmaster winked at Harry before he got up from his armchair.

"Now, with everything done, I have.. certain arrangements to make after this decisive conversation." Dumbledore announced and the teen accompanied his principal to the door.

"You know that I'm aware that your change is just a reaction and not an action, right?" Harry sincerely told the elderly man in the entrance hall and Dumbledore turned around to face him again.

"And you know that I'm aware about you sneaking out of the house with the help of the invisibility cloak, right?" He retorted in a similar manner before chuckling when he saw Harry's eyes narrowing slightly.

"Oh no, don't worry, I'm not going to tell your invisible guards what tricks you use to escape them. I won't try to force you into my protection any more, as it would only further deepen the rift between us. Though be warned: If something should happen to you when you're without a protector, then I'm afraid it's your fault. But since I think it's time for you to be in control of your own life, I have to live with these consequences from now on." The headmaster told him Harry muttered a "well, thanks for that."

"Feel free to owl me whenever you like. If I had to guess then you still have questions that have to be asked yet." Dumbledore told him with a knowing look.

"If I should come across such a question, I'll take you up on the offer." Harry replied politely.

"Farewell, Harry." The headmaster said once he was outside again and without even waiting for a response, he disapparated. Without a sound…


Author's note:

Alright, alright! With this chapter I'll redo the text alignment for the entire story. I never had a problem with a centric alignment, but you guys seem to HATE it.. Damn, that really frightened me.

Then, the next thing I wanted to address: Dialogue punctuation.

This is really funny, I must admit. NEVER did I think about the possibility that the English language could have a different dialogue punctuation than my mother tongue. So every time I have a dialogue, I couldn't make it more obvious from which country I am. But you know what? I'll keep that. Not because I want to annoy you, but because I think ,, ... " works just as well as " ... " . And makes the story a bit more unique ;-) Edit: This part of my AN is outdated since January 09, 2023. I just thought it would be funny for the newer readers to see what mistakes I've made in the past.

Last thing: Spacing.

I assume this refers to my habit of leaving a space between the "and the first word of direct speech and I hope I can appease you when I say that I'll alter the spacing, starting with the next chapter I write. The review came too late, or otherwise I would have already started here in chapter 7. Sorry.

I'm really doing my best processing all the feedback from your reviews and thus using your criticism as a base to improve my writing, and I'm thankful for all the honesty, but when somebody writes a review like "your text alignment sucks" (Already changed the spacing here, see?) (And the dialogue punctuation by now) it doesn't only bewilder me but also makes me very sad, because I obviously made a mistake and can't even fix it because it's not a very specific statement :-( . So if you want to criticize something, please be precise with your words..

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter and 'til the next time!

NewOrderFan05