18th June cont'd…

Bellatrix Lestrange let out a triumphant scream.

Sirius did not reappear.

"SIRIUS!" Harry screamed, "SIRIUS!" he ran to the dais and made to pull himself up. His breathing was erratic. Lupin grabbed him around the chest, holding him back.

"There's nothing you can do, Harry."

"Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!" Harry pleaded, fighting Lupin's strength.

"- it's too late Harry." Lupin's voice broke.

"We can still reach him -" Harry continued to struggle.

Lupin then spoke the words I didn't want to hear, "There's nothing you can do, Harry … Nothing … he's gone."

Sirius Black was dead.

I bowed my head.

"SIRIUS!" Harry bellowed, "SIRIUS!" he continued to fight off Lupin, the man who had just lost another of his best friends, "HE – IS – NOT – DEAD!" Harry roared, "SIRIUS!"

Bellatrix tried to make a run for it, but Kingsley started to duel with her. Then the remaining Death Eaters were all rounded up by Dumbledore. I climbed down the remainder of the stone steps to comfort both Harry and Lupin as Lupin dragged Harry away from the dais.

"Harry?" I approached my friend, "Harry, I'm so sorry…"

I then looked up at Lupin and his eyes were wide as they met mine. I placed my hand on his arm and gave it a sympathetic squeeze, knowing that this was tough for him, too.

Neville climbed down the steps and gave Harry his condolences, "Was dab man – was Sirius Black a – a friend of yours?"

Harry nodded.

"Here, Neville, let me fix your nose…" I pointed my wand at him, "Episkey."

His badly broken nose was as good as new, the remainder of dried blood was the only evidence remaining, "Thanks, Kathryn."

Lupin's face was pale as he turned to Neville, "Let's – let's find the others." Every word was causing him pain.

"They're back there," Neville pointed, "A brain attacked Ron but I think he's alright – and Hermione's unconscious, but we could feel a pulse -"

There was a loud bang and a yell from behind the dais. Kingsley hit the ground yelling in pain: Bellatrix turned tail and ran as Dumbledore whipped around. He aimed a spell at her but she deflected it; she was halfway up the steps when Harry ripped through Lupin's grip.

"HARRY! NO!" I called out after him along with others.

"SHE KILLED SIRIUS!" Harry bellowed as he ran, "SHE KILLED HIM – I'LL KILL HER!" he scrambled up the stone benches and was out of sight in seconds.

I made to run after him, but Neville grabbed onto me, his eyes implored with mine, "She's dangerous, Kathryn -"

"Yeah, that's why I've got to go help him!"

"Kathryn – it's not safe – she -" Lupin began.

I watched as Dumbledore stood there, "AREN'T YOU GOING TO HELP HIM?" I yelled, "OR ARE YOU WILLING TO SACRIFICE HIM, TOO?" Neville tried to hold me back, but I broke free and stormed up the stairs to face Dumbledore, "HARRY IS THE ONE THAT MATTERS IN ALL OF THIS! I CAME HERE BECAUSE HARRY NEEDED SUPPORT, I CAME HERE BECAUSE EVERYONE LEFT HOGWARTS AND I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE! NOW YOU GO AFTER HIM AND YOU KEEP HIM SAFE FROM HER! FROM THAT MONSTER! THEN YOU NEED TO TELL HIM EVERYTHING."

Dumbledore took a step back from me and his blue eyes stared at me, stared into my soul, "You're right." He stopped what he was doing, all of the Death Eaters were unconscious held by invisible ropes in the centre of the room and he went to help Harry.

I turned to Neville whose face was riddled with shock.

"Excellent." I said to no one in particular as I ran up the stone steps and into the Brain room where I saw that Luna was semi-conscious, Ginny was sitting up now extremely pale, Hermione was lying in the heap we left her in and Ron was still giddy. The floor was now soaking wet, covered in brains that were making their way back into the tank again.

"Kit-Kat – what's -?"

I had no time to stop, I needed to catch up with Dumbledore. I had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to go and be with Harry. I followed Dumbledore through the door in the black circular room and watched as he went down in the lift. Dumbledore did not say a thing as he saw me push the button to follow.

When I arrived in the atrium I saw Dumbledore duelling Voldemort. A statue of a witch was holding back Bellatrix at the far end of the atrium, near the fireplaces. Harry was being guarded by a headless statue, being forced to stay out of the way, against the wall. A golden stone centaur circled Dumbledore and Voldemort.

"You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?" called Voldemort, who had not been alerted to my presence, "Above such brutality, are you?"

"We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom," Dumbledore spoke calmly, walking without a care in the world, "Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit."

"There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!" snarled Voldemort.

That is so not true. I thought to myself.

"You are quite wrong," Dumbledore responded, closing in on Voldemort, talking as though they were two friends having a drink together, "Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness -"

A jet of green light flew from behind the silver shield that I had only just noticed. The one-armed centaur galloped in front of Dumbledore and took the hit, shattering itself into millions of pieces. Dumbledore immediately appeared to have brandished a whip which wrapped itself around Voldemort. Voldemort then made the rope become a snake, which relinquished its hold at once.

Voldemort vanished; the snake reared from the floor, ready to strike.

There was a burst of flame in mid-air above Dumbledore just as Voldemort reappeared, standing on the plinth in the middle of the pool where water-spurting statues had once been.

Another jet of green light flew at Dumbledore from Voldemort's wand and the snake struck.

Fawkes swooped down in front of Dumbledore, opened his beak wide and swallowed the jet of green light whole: he burst into flame and fell to the floor, small, wrinkled and flightless. The snake that was, seconds ago, trying to sink its fangs into Dumbledore vanished into thin air, forming a dark smoke, that Dumbledore enforced upon Voldemort, which he struggled to dispel.

Then he was gone.

"MASTER!" I could hear Bellatrix scream and she continued sobbing.

Has Voldemort decided to flee?

"Stay where you are," Dumbledore sounded frightened, looking at Harry, meaning the two of us as I was about to make a run for it to get to Harry.

Harry let out a scream. It was high pitched and sounded as though he was in immense pain. He collapsed onto the floor behind the stone statue and was writhing on the floor.

I hurried over to him and crashed onto my knees at his side, "Harry! HARRY!" I shook his shoulders.

"Kill me now, Dumbledore…" said Voldemort's voice through Harry's mouth.

Harry screamed.

"If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy…"

"Harry!" I called out, "Harry listen to me, Harry you can do this," I pleaded, not knowing what was going on, but I knew that my best friend was lying there in pain, "Harry, fight through this, fight back!" I could feel myself shake as Dumbledore approached cautiously. Harry began shivering violently on the dark, wooden floor. The pain was getting too much to bare. His glasses flung off his face.

"Keep talking to him, talk to Harry."

Harry was being possessed by Voldemort.

I turned back to Harry and touched him, "Harry! You're doing so well! Ron was asking about you and Ginny and -" I stopped, "Fight this, Harry. Fight this so you can see them again."

Harry opened his eyes.

Voldemort appeared at the other side of the atrium and set Bellatrix free and the two of them disappeared together. I held Harry in my arms as he came back to his own mind and body again. I heard voices behind me, people were arriving in the Ministry of Magic. I grabbed Harry's glasses and handed them back to him. Dumbledore was on his knees beside me.

"Are you alright, Harry?" he asked.

"Yes," he said, though he was shaking so much he couldn't hold his head up, I stroked his hair as he spoke, "Yeah, I'm – where's Voldemort? Where – who are all these – what's?"

Cornelius Fudge was walking towards us. Green lights appeared around the atrium as people filled the Ministry of Magic.

"He was there!" I heard someone yell.

"I know, Williamson, I know, I saw him, too!" gibbered Fudge, who was wearing pyjamas under his pinstriped cloak and was gasping as though he had run miles, "Merlin's beard – here – here – in the Ministry of Magic! – great heavens above – it doesn't seem possible – my word – how can this be?"

"If you proceed downstairs into the Department of Mysteries, Cornelius," Dumbledore was now on his feet, addressing the Minister, "you will find several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disapparition Jinx and awaiting your decision as to what to do with them."

Fudge's eyes were wide, "Dumbledore! You – here – I –"

"Kathryn," I heard Harry murmur, "What happened?"

I leaned down and whispered, "I think you were possessed, you don't remember a thing, do you?"

Harry shook his head.

"Do you remember me talking to you?" I asked him calmly.

"No…" he said, trying his best to sit up.

"We can discuss that after I have sent Harry back to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said.

Fudge spun around and stared at Harry and me, both of us were getting to our feet, "Harry – Harry Potter?" he was bamboozled, "What is this all about?"

"I shall explain everything," Dumbledore repeated, "when Harry is back at school."

Dumbledore walked away from where we were standing and lifted the head of the statue that had been guarding Harry. He pointed his wand at it and made it into a Portkey. The head glowed a blue colour, trembled for a few seconds and became still once more.

"Now, see here, Dumbledore!" Fudge said as Dumbledore walked towards Harry and me, "You haven't got authorisation for that Portkey! You can't do things like that right in front of the Minister for Magic, you – you -"

Dumbledore looked at Fudge over the top of his half-moon spectacles, "You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts. You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can return to work. I will give you… half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think shall be more than enough time to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my school. If you need more help from me you are, of course, more than welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the Headmaster will find me."

Dumbledore turned to Harry and me, "Harry, take this Portkey, Kathryn please go with him… I will see you both in thirty minutes." He said quietly, "One… two… three…"

I had a familiar sensation of being hooked around my bellybutton and the Ministry of Magic disappeared in front of my eyes. Harry and I were flying forwards in a whirlwind of colour and sound…

Harry and I landed in a heap in Dumbledore's office, there was a clunk as the golden wizard's head hit the floor. All the portraits appeared to be asleep. Out the window, the sun was rising.

"Harry, I -"

"Please don't say it." His eyes pleaded with mine.

I stepped closer to him to embrace him, but he pushed me away, "I just want to be left alone…"

I knew the best thing to do was to support him and accept his wishes. The way he walked away from me showed just how much he was hurting, that he was trying to process what had just happened, what went wrong. He also had to come to terms with the knowledge that nothing could be changed. I leaned up against a wall and sunk to the floor, exhausted. There wasn't a scratch on my body, surprising given everything that happened. I drew my knees up to my chest and watched as Harry loitered, waiting for Dumbledore to return. The truth could be postponed no longer.

The empty fireplace burst into emerald flame, making Harry leap out of the way of the door, his hand poised on the doorknob. All the portraits jerked awake, many of them giving cries of welcome.

"Thank you," said Dumbledore softly as he placed baby Fawkes into the tray of ashes just below the golden post the full grown bird was often perched. He then turned and nodded to me. I stood to leave and he raised his hand to delay me.

"Well, Harry," Dumbledore looked at him, "you will be pleased to hear none of your fellow students are going to suffer any lasting damage from the night's events."

Thank goodness. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Madam Pomfery is patching everybody up. Nymphadora Tonks may need to spend a little time in St Mungo's, but it seems she will make a full recovery."

Harry didn't seem to move. I imagined that he was numb inside, that he didn't care about much else, that his mind was on Sirius and Sirius alone.

"I know how you're feeling, Harry," Dumbledore said very quietly.

"No, you don't." Harry's voice was loud and strong.

"You see, Dumbledore," said the portrait of Phineas Nigellus slyly, "Never try to understand the students. They hate it. They would much rather be magically misunderstood, wallow in self-pity, stew -"

"That's enough, Phineas."

Harry walked over to the window and stared determinedly out of it.

"There is no shame in what you are feeling, Harry," Dumbledore's voice was low and calm, "On the contrary… the fact that you can feel pain like this is your greatest strength."

Not exactly something you want to hear when your closest family member dies.

"My greatest strength, is it?" Harry's voice shook, "You haven't a clue… you don't know…"

"What don't I know?" asked Dumbledore.

"I don't want to talk about how I feel, alright?"

"Harry, suffering like this proves you are still a man! This pain is part of being human-"

Harry turned to Dumbledore and roared, "THEN – I – DON'T – WANT – TO – BE – HUMAN!"

Harry seized a delicate looking silver instrument from the spindle table and flung it across the room. It shattered into hundreds of pieces across the room. Several of the portraits let out shrieks, others rebuked.

"I DON'T CARE!" Harry yelled at them, snatching up a lunascope and throwing it into the fireplace, "I'VE HAD ENOUGH, I'VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANY MORE-" Harry grabbed the table the instruments had been on and threw that, too. It broke apart and the legs flew in different directions.

"You do care," Dumbledore said. He hadn't flinched or made any attempt to stop Harry from destroying his belongings, he was calm. "You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it."

"I – DON'T!" Harry screamed, his voice screeching and becoming hoarse.

"Oh yes you do," Dumbledore said still more calmly, "You have now lost your mother, your father, and the closest thing to a parent you have ever known. Of course you care."

"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL!" Harry roared once again, he was getting difficult to watch, "YOU – STANDING THERE – YOU –"

Harry stopped moving. He was deciding what to do next, he was going to try and escape, he was going to run. He put his hand back on the doorknob and stared at Dumbledore as the door was locked. "Let me out," Harry was shaking head to toe.

"No," Dumbledore said simply.

"Let me out," Harry repeated.

"No," Dumbledore repeated, sitting down behind his desk, hands clasped together, watching Harry.

"If you don't – if you keep me in here – if you don't let me -" then Harry's eyes found mine, "Kathryn, please -"

I carefully strode across the room towards the exit and placed my hand gently on top of Harry's. He looked at me, he was desperate to escape how he was feeling, desperate to go anywhere other than this office. "Harry…" I sighed, "Harry, Dumbledore has something he needs to tell you, and you're going to want to hear it." I began, "During the summer, I made a promise to the Order to try and keep you safe, they told me about the Department of Mysteries, they warned me that the weapon was a prophecy and that prophecy was about you and Voldemort. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I'm really sorry…"

"It's my fault that Sirius died," Dumbledore said clearly, "Or, should I say, almost entirely my fault, I cannot take responsibility as a whole. Sirius Black is an energetic man, a brave man, a clever man… such men are not content to sit at home and do nothing while others are in danger. Nevertheless, you should never have believed for an instant that he was in the Department of Mysteries tonight."

"I tried to stop him, Professor, I did. I even tried to ask Professor Snape for help -" I explained myself.

Dumbledore nodded, "I know. You did the right thing. I could not have asked any more of you." He then turned back to Harry, "I should have been open with you, Harry, you should have known long ago that Voldemort may have tricked you into going there tonight. And Sirius would not have come after you. That blame lies with me, and with me alone."

Harry was still standing at the door beside me, his hand still on the doorknob, gazing at Dumbledore.

"Please sit down, Harry," this was a request, not a demand from Dumbledore.

Harry and I both walked across the room which was getting lighter and lighter by the second. I could see the sun rising in the sky. The warm orange light danced on my skin as I sat on the second chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. The carriage clock in front of me told me it had just gone 0445.

"Am I to understand that my great-great-grandson – the last of the Blacks – is dead?" Phineas Nigellus spoke slowly.

"Yes," was Dumbledore's response and Phineas left his portrait.

"I recall you two are comfortable discussing what needs to be said in each other's presence?" Dumbledore glanced at both Harry and me and we nodded.

"Unless you want me to go, Harry?" I asked him, turning on my seat.

Harry shook his head.

"Harry, I owe you an explanation," Dumbledore said, "An explanation of an old man's mistakes. For I see now that what I have done, and not done, with regard to you, bears all the hallmarks of the failings of old age. Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was like to be young… and I seem to have forgotten lately…" Dumbledore paused and continued speaking calmly, "I guessed, fifteen years ago when I saw the scar on your forehead, that it might be the sign of a connection forged between you and Voldemort."

"You've told me this before, Professor," Harry said bluntly.

Dumbledore spoke apologetically, "Yes, but you see – it is necessary to start with your scar. For it became apparent to me, when you joined the magical world that your scar was giving you warnings when Voldemort was close to you, or else feeling powerful emotion. This ability – to detect Voldemort's presence, even when he is disguised, and to know what he is feeling when his emotions are roused – has become more and more pronounced since Voldemort returned to his own body and full powers." He paused, "More recently, I believe Voldemort became aware of this connection between you on the night that Arthur Weasley was attacked."

"Yeah, Snape told me."

"Professor Snape, Harry." Dumbledore corrected him quietly, "But do you not wonder why I did not teach you Occlumency? Why I hadn't so much as looked at you in months?"

"Yeah," Harry mumbled, "Yeah, I wondered."

Dumbledore continued, "I believed that it wouldn't be long before Voldemort attempted to force his way into your mind, to manipulate and misdirect your thoughts, and I was not eager to give him more incentives to do so. I was sure that if he realised that our relationship was – or had ever been – more than that of headmaster and pupil, he would seize the chance to use you to spy on me. I feared that he might try and possess you Harry, just as he had done so tonight. It was on those rare occasions when we had close contact, I thought I saw a shadow of him stir behind your eyes… Voldemort possessing you would not have been my destruction, but yours. He hoped that by possessing you, that I would sacrifice you in the hope of killing him. So I have tried to protect you, Harry, through distancing myself. An old man's mistake…"

"Sirius told me that you felt Voldemort awake inside you the very night that you had the vision of Arthur Weasley's attack. I knew then that my worst fears were correct: Voldemort realised he could use you. In an attempt to arm you against Voldemort's assaults on your mind, I arranged Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape."

Harry was staring out of the window. He didn't care about all of this now… all he wanted was Sirius. He needed to know this information months ago, to know that last night was a trap, to understand what was going on inside his head.

"And thanks to your very good friend Kathryn and Professor Snape," Dumbledore glanced at me, then back to Harry, "I was kept up to date on major dreams you had experienced and how you were reacting."

Harry glanced at me and I mimed the word, 'Sorry'.

"When you saw Rookwood," Dumbledore continued, "he informed Voldemort of how to get the prophecy without suffering madness: either he would have to go into the Ministry of Magic and risk exposing himself to collect it – or else you would have to take it for him. It became a greater urgency then, that you should master Occlumency."

"But I didn't," Harry said, realising that the efforts of Hermione and me were not without good cause, "I didn't practice," he confessed, "I didn't bother. I could've stopped myself having those dreams. Hermione told me that I should never have been able to see where to go, and – Sirius wouldn't – Sirius wouldn't -" he couldn't say it, "I tried to check he'd really taken Sirius, I went to Umbridge's office, I spoke to Kreacher in the fire and he said Sirius wasn't there, he said he'd gone!"

"Kreacher lied," Dumbledore spoke calmly, "you are not his master, he could lie to you without needing to punish himself. Kreacher intended for you to go to the Ministry of Magic. He has been serving more than one master for months…"

Harry's chin dropped, "He – he sent me on purpose? How? He hasn't been out of Grimmauld Place for years."

"He left at Christmas, didn't he?" I remembered the scene clearly, "Sirius told him to get out and Kreacher took it literally. And the only other Black I can think of is… Narcissa." I realised, gasping, "and then Bellatrix escaped from Azkaban…"

Dumbledore nodded.

"How do you know Kreacher's intentions?" Harry asked.

"He told me last night," Dumbledore confessed, "You both gave Snape warnings yesterday, he deduced that you had seen a vision of Sirius trapped in the Department of Mysteries. He, like you, tried to contact Sirius at once. Members of the Order of the Phoenix have more reliable methods of communicating than the fire in Dolores Umbridge's office. Professor Snape found that Sirius was alive and well in Grimmauld Place. He was tending to Buckbeak's injuries, caused by Kreacher himself, on the order of Narcissa Malfoy, to lead you to believe that Sirius was not at home. So when you did not return from your trip into the forest with Dolores Umbridge, Professor Snape grew worried that you still believed Sirius to be a captive of Lord Voldemort's. He alerted certain Order members at once. Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Remus Lupin were at Headquarters and agreed to go to your aid at once. Sirius delegated to Kreacher the task of telling me what happened and so it was when I arrived at Grimmauld Place that the elf told me where Sirius had gone." Dumbledore paused, "Kreacher also informed me that he gave Narcissa Malfoy valuable information, which had perhaps seemed too trivial for Sirius to forbid him from repeating."

"Like what?" Harry asked.

"Like the fact that the person Sirius cared about most in the world was you," Dumbledore said quietly, "Like the fact that you were coming to regard Sirius as a mixture of father and brother, and Kreacher's information made Voldemort realise that the one person for whom you would go to any lengths to rescue was Sirius Black."

Harry's lips parted.

Dumbledore then looked to me, "During the summer, Lucius Malfoy had tried, and failed to get information about Harry and the Order of the Phoenix from you. Instead, Kathryn, you alerted me to a whole lot more and despite your suffering, you served the Order a great deal by residing in Malfoy Manor last summer and you proved to me, that you are loyal and care a great deal about Harry -"

I nodded, "I do. He's the brother I wish I had."

Harry looked at me and was blinded by the sun, which was now pouring through the window.

"But you also told me that I should also be aware of Narcissa," Dumbledore told me, "as you so delicately alerted me that Narcissa has a foot in the trousers in her relationship with Lucius. So when I heard these things from Kreacher, I was -"

"Hermione kept telling us to be nice to him -" Harry whispered.

"She was quite right, Harry," Dumbledore agreed, "I warned Sirius when we adopted twelve Grimmauld Place as headquarters that Kreacher ought to be treated with kindness and respect. I do not think Sirius took me very seriously, or that he ever saw Kreacher as a being with feelings as acute as a human's -"

"Don't you blame – don't you – talk – about Sirius like -" Harry could hardly get the words out in rage, "Kreacher's a lying – foul – he deserved -"

"Kreacher is what he has been made by wizards, Harry," Dumbledore explained, "Yes, he is to be pitied. His existence has been as miserable as your friend Dobby's. He was forced to serve Sirius even though he felt no loyalty to him. And whatever Kreacher's faults, it must be admitted that Sirius did nothing to make Kreacher's lot easier -"

Harry slammed his feet on the ground and stood, "DON'T TALK ABOUT SIRIUS LIKE THAT!" Harry spat angrily, "And what about Snape?" He demanded, "He goaded Sirius about staying in the house – made Sirius out to be a coward – he stopped giving me Occlumency lessons – he threw me out of his office!"

"He threw you out?" I turned to Harry.

"I am aware of it," Dumbledore said heavily, "It was a mistake for me not to teach you myself, though I was sure that opening your mind to Voldemort would be more dangerous in my presence -"

"Snape made it worse, my scar always hurt more after lessons with him, how do you know he wasn't trying to soften me up for Voldemort, make it easier for him to get inside my -"

"I trust Severus Snape," Dumbledore said simply, "I was wrong that Professor Snape had overcome his feelings about your father – I was wrong."

Harry's voice was cracking, "And Sirius hated staying in that house and you made him stay, that's why he wanted to get out last night -"

"I was trying to keep Sirius alive."

"People don't like being locked up!" Harry said furiously, rounding up on Dumbledore, "You did it to me all last summer!"

Dumbledore closed his eyes and buried his face in his long-fingered hands. He looked defeated, he appeared weak, that this was too much for him, that Harry's emotion was overbearing. He lowered his hands and stared at Harry through his half-moon spectacles. "It is time," he said, "for me to tell you what I should have told you five years ago, Harry. Please sit down. I am going to tell you everything. I ask only a little patience. You will have your chance to rage at me – do whatever you like – when I have finished. I will not stop you."

I sat myself up a little straighter in my chair as Harry flung himself back down. Outside the sun was high in the sky, morning was well and truly upon us.

"Five years ago you arrived at Hogwarts safe and whole, as I had planned and intended. Well – not quite whole. You had suffered. I knew you would when I left you on your aunt and uncle's doorstep. I knew I was condemning you to ten dark and difficult years. You may ask why it had to be so? Why you couldn't have lived with a wizarding family? Many would have done so more than gladly, would have been honoured to raise you as a son. My answer is that it was my priority to keep you alive. You were in more danger than anyone but I realised. Voldemort may have vanished – but many of his supporters were still at large – and I had to make a decision about the years ahead. Did I believe Voldemort was gone forever? No. Did I know when he would return? No. But I knew that he would not rest until he killed you.
"I knew that Voldemort's knowledge of magic is perhaps more extensive than any wizard alive, but I also knew where he was weak. And so I made my decision to protect you with an ancient form of magic of which he knows, and despises, and which he has always, therefore, underestimated – to his cost. I am speaking, of course, of the fact that your mother died to save you. She gave you a lingering protection he never expected, a protection that flows in your veins to this day. I put my trust, therefore, in your mother's blood. I delivered you to her sister, her only remaining relative."

"She doesn't love me," Harry said at once, "She doesn't give a damn."

"But she took you," Dumbledore cut across him, "Begrudgingly yes, yet she took you, and in doing so, sealed the charm I placed upon you. Your mother's sacrifice made the bond of blood the strongest shield I could give you. So whilst you can still call home the place where your mother's blood dwells, you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort. Your aunt knows this. I explained this in the letter I left, with you, on her doorstep. She knows that allowing you houseroom may well have kept you alive for the past fifteen years."

Harry breathed heavily, "Wait a moment – you sent a Howler. You told her to remember – it was your voice."

"I reminded her of the pact she had sealed by taking you. I suspect that the Dementor attack might have awoken her to the dangers of having you as a surrogate son."

Harry spoke quietly, "It did. Well – my uncle more than her. She said I had to stay, after the Howler. But what has this got to do with -"

He couldn't say Sirius' name.

"Five years ago, then, you arrived at Hogwarts and you were not a pampered little prince, but as normal a boy as I could have hoped for under the circumstances. Thus far, my plan was working well. Then in your first year, much sooner than I expected, you faced Voldemort and delayed his return to power and strength, fighting a man's fight. I was prouder of you than I can say… Don't you remember asking me, as you lay in the hospital wing, why Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a baby?"

Harry nodded.

"Ought I to have told you then?" Dumbledore asked, "you do not see the flaw in the plan, yet? No… perhaps not… Well, as you know, I decided not to answer you. Eleven, I told myself was too young to know. The knowledge would be too much at such a young age. In your second year, once again, you acquitted yourself beyond my wildest dreams. You did not ask me again, however, why Voldemort had left that mark on you. We discussed your scar – we came very close to the subject. Why did I not tell you everything? Because I still believed that twelve was hardly better than eleven to hear such information. I didn't want to spoil that night of triumph…"

Dumbledore paused, "Do you see, Harry? The flaw in my plan? – I cared about you too much," he said simply, "I cared more for your happiness than your knowledge of the truth, more for your peace of mind than my plan."

Dumbledore tried to explain his reasoning. He told Harry that he acted out of love, that he stopped himself from telling Harry the truth all these years out of love, to protect him. All it has done has left Harry confused and, potentially in even more danger of what is out there because of his naivety. I learnt that I should have told Harry, I shouldn't have trusted the man, I shouldn't have listened to him. I should have told Harry the truth when I had the chance. Dumbledore was a coward and he was beating around the bush. Claiming Harry wasn't ready after finally learning who Sirius was, or when Cedric died in front of him.

"I know you have been ready for the knowledge I have kept from you for so long, because you have proved that I should have placed the burden on you long ago -"

I cleared my throat rather rudely, "For the love of God, tell him already!"

Dumbledore nodded, "Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a child because of a prophecy made shortly before your birth. He knew the prophecy had been made, though he did not know its full contents. He set out to kill you when you were still a baby, believing he was fulfilling the terms of the prophecy. He discovered, to his cost, that he was mistaken, when the curse intended to kill you backfired. And so, since his return to his body, and particularly since your extraordinary escape from him last year, he has been determined to hear that prophecy in its entirety. This is the weapon he has been seeking so assiduously since his return: the knowledge of how to destroy you."

Harry sat there, a blank look on his face. Out the window I could see that the sun was now high in the sky, and both Harry and I had been awake for well over 24 hours. The clock in front of me told me it was now breakfast time for all the other students, yet I was far from hungry. I realised my mind was wandering due to the lingering silence in the office as Dumbledore let Harry process the news.

"The prophecy smashed," Harry said aloud, "I was pulling Neville up those benches in the – the room where the archway was, and I ripped his robes and it fell…"

"The thing that smashed was merely the record of the prophecy kept by the Department of Mysteries. But the prophecy was made to somebody who has means of recalling it perfectly -"

I let out a small laugh, "It was you. Trelawney told the prophecy to you. S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D!"

Dumbledore nodded, "On a cold, wet night sixteen years ago, in a room above the bar in the Hog's Head Inn. I had gone there to see an applicant for the Divination post, and yes, Kathryn, it was Sybill Trelawney. The great-great-granddaughter of a very famous, very gifted Seer. It appeared, when we met that she didn't have a trace of the gift herself. I turned to leave."

Dumbledore got to his feet and walked past Harry and me towards a black cabinet that stood behind Fawkes' perch. He bent down, slid back a catch and took from inside it a shallow stone basin, carved with runes around the edges. Dumbledore placed it on his desk and raised his wand to his temple. From it, he withdrew silvery, fine strands clinging to the wand and deposited it into the basin. This must have been the Pensieve Harry told me about. After a few seconds, Dumbledore took a seat and prodded the silvery substance with his wand tip.

A figure rose out of it and Trelawney spoke in the same voice I had heard her use once before, at Christmas in second year, when she spoke to me.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…"

The silvery Trelawney sank bank into the silver mass below and vanished.

There was a deadly silence in the office. I found myself staring at the Pensieve.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry's voice was barely a whisper, "It… did that mean… what did that mean?"

"It meant," Dumbledore said, "that the person who had the only chance of conquering Lord Voldemort for good was born at the end of July, nearly sixteen years ago. This boy would be born to parents who had already defied Voldemort three times."

Harry let out a strangled breath, "It means – me?"

Dumbledore took a deep breath, "The odd thing, Harry, is that it may not have meant you at all. Sybill's prophecy applied to two wizard boys, both born at the end of July that year, both with parents in the Order of the Phoenix, both sets of parents narrowly escaped Voldemort three times. One, of course, was you. The other was Neville Longbottom."

"But then… why was it my name on the prophecy and not Neville's?"

"The official record was re-labelled after Voldemort's attack on you as a child."

Harry questioned, "Then it might not be me?"

"I am afraid," Dumbledore looked at Harry with great effort, "there is no doubt that it is you, as in the prophecy Voldemort would mark him as his equal. And so he did, Harry. He chose you, not Neville. He gave you that scar which has proven both blessing and curse. He chose the boy he thought would most likely be a danger to him. And notice this, Harry: he chose not the pureblood, but the half-blood, like himself. He saw himself in you before he had ever seen you, and in marking you with that scar, he didn't kill you as intended, but gave you powers, and a future, which have fitted you to escape him, not once, but four times so far – something that neither your parents, nor Neville's parents, ever achieved."

"Why did he do it then?" Harry asked, "Why did he try and kill me as a baby? He should have waited to see whether Neville or I looked more dangerous when we were older and tried to kill whoever it was then -"

"That might have proven a more practical course," Dumbledore said, "But Voldemort's information about the prophecy was incomplete. In the Hog's Head, as you have learnt, it is a place it is never safe to assume you are not being overheard. But how was I to know what I was to overhear that evening? My – our – one stroke of luck was that the eavesdropper was detected only a short way into the prophecy and was thrown from the building. So he only heard the beginning, foretelling the birth of a boy in July to parents who had thrice defied Voldemort. Consequently, he could not warn his master not to attack you and risk transferring his powers to you, and marking you as his equal. He did not know that you would have power the Dark Lord knows not -"

"But I don't!" Harry said in a strangled voice, "I haven't got any powers he hasn't got, I couldn't fight the way he did tonight, I can't possess people or – or kill them -"

Dumbledore interrupted, "There is a room in the Department of Mysteries that is kept locked at all times as it contains a force more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature."

"Love." I said.

"Love was what saved you from possession tonight because Voldemort could not bear to reside in a body so full of the force he desists. In the end, it mattered not that you could not close your mind. It was your heart that saved you."

Harry closed his eyes, let out a deep breath and there was silence in the room for several minutes. Harry then said, "The end of the prophecy… it was something about … neither can live…"

"… whilst the other survives," I finished.

"So," Harry said very slowly, realising what the prophecy truly meant, "so does that mean that… that one of us has got to kill the other one… in the end?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore.

I gasped. My hand raised to my mouth in shock. It was up to Harry to save the day; the prophecy was made when Lily was pregnant with him. He really didn't have a chance.

There was an even longer silence this time. I moved my chair closer to Harry's and took hold of his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze and he squeezed back.

"I feel I owe you another explanation, Harry," Dumbledore filled the silence, "You may, perhaps, have wondered why I never chose you as prefect? I must confess… that I rather thought… you had enough responsibility to be going on with."

There was no doubt now that the school was awake and ready to function for the day. There was the sound of voices, shouting, laughing. I didn't feel much like any other emotion than sympathy for Harry. I wanted to sit here, to be here for him, as long as he wanted me.

A period of time later, there was the clicking sound of a walking stick on wooden steps and the door to Dumbledore's office flew open.

"Professor McGonagall?" I couldn't believe my eyes, I jumped off my seat and ran over to her, "How are you? You look great!" I took her carpet bag and travelling cloak and gave her my hand to balance on.

"Albus we need to tell her."

I glanced between Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore, "Tell her what?"

"I quite agree, Minerva." Dumbledore said, drawing up a chair for McGonagall, his head then fell into his hands, "Please, Kathryn, take a seat. There is also something Professor McGonagall and I should have told you a long time ago."

The smile disappeared from my face, "What is it?"

"Do you remember back in your third year, at Christmas, Sybill Trelawney joined us for dinner?" Dumbledore asked me.

"Yeah," I nodded, "She made… a prophecy." I locked eyes with Dumbledore, "But – but – that's already fulfilled -"

Dumbledore interrupted, "Do you remember what the prophecy said?"

"The prophesy -" I felt shivers running down my spine, "it said…

'Kathryn my dear, listen carefully, the future looks mixed for you. One member sitting at this table will provide you with the worst news of your life, and another will provide you with some more. This information will either make or break you… Please stay strong.'

… But… you said that you had nothing to tell me!" I looked at McGonagall.

She pursed her lips slightly, "I lied…"

"But it was fulfilled, Harry and Ron turned their backs on me when I supported Hermione, and Hermione was too busy to notice that I was hurting. My nightmares had come back and I had no one to talk to, and I had never felt more alone. Ron had said something really hurtful and then he blamed me for Crookshanks attack on Scabbers. The prophecy drove me mad, I convinced myself that my only option left was to leave Hogwarts and go back home. I packed everything and made to leave -" I paused, "That was the day George dragged me into your office and we Floo'd to the Burrow." I said to McGonagall.

"It wasn't fulfilled that day," Dumbledore said, "You were just the victim of nasty teenage hormones spouting cruel words."

"Well, what is the prophecy relating to then?" I asked, I rested my shaking hands onto my skirt and smoothed it nervously.

There was a long, painful pause as Dumbledore closed his eyes. McGonagall was staring at the floor. Neither of the Professors wished to tell me.

"Please…" I said, "Just… say it."

Dumbledore's blue eyes met mine, "Kathryn… Helen and Richard Pink adopted you just before your first birthday…"

"Oh…" I said slowly.

"Your birth mother," Dumbledore said slowly and clearly, "is Bellatrix Lestrange."