The Revelation
Seven minutes later it was just Harry walking behind the tall form of Dumbledore.
After he had interrupted the Duel, Harry looked in fascination as threads of magic danced out of Dumbledore's wand, repairing the damage to the Hall with structured finesse and touching the minds of Daphne, Draco and Flint as well. He didn't know what the headmaster had done but it was interesting to see those threads of purple enter their minds through the middle of their forehead. After that, he had given them all detention with Argus Filch; the janitor of Hogwarts and dismissed them.
Harry wanted to see Dumbledore use his magic again. This was a man who was worthy of magic. He knew how to use it, how to command it and bend it to his will. Harry reached into the void and pushed it towards Dumbledore with curious intentions. He was surprised when the void parted before touching the old man and came back to him feeling confused.
"Control yourself Harry," Dumbledore chided. "My magic and will is too strong for you. If you poke, it will poke back. It will not be a pleasant experience."
Harry scowled and retreated into the void, embracing the emptiness, the peace.
He vaguely noticed they were in front of a pair of scary gargoyles who leaped aside as soon as Dumbledore neared them to reveal a spiralling staircase behind them.
"Come," Dumbledore said, his voice reaching Harry like a whisper.
Harry took a step onto the staircase and it starting moving with unbelievable smoothness. Harry stared with wide eyes at the magic powering the stairs. It was like a blue river, flowing steadily, without a ripple in its flow.
He was lead to a single door that looked as old as Dumbledore, except it looked like it had aged well and had a certain beauty about it. A golden doorknocker was in its centre which had the Hogwarts crest engraved into the knocker.
The door opened silently.
Harry walked in, his eyes wandering curiously.
The office was circular with a high dome ceiling that had curious patterns engraved in it. The walls were lined with shelf's that were cluttered with strangely shaped curios and mysterious books. Some were vibrating, others still. Above them were lined, side by side, portraits of men and women. Some were waving in welcome, others looking grumpy and some snoozing. The floor was covered with a thick red carpet and Harry could see the stone floor beneath the carpet in front of a fireplace opposite the door that was spitting fire and crackling merrily, casting a warm glow all over the office.
In the centre was a grand looking polished table that had a neat stack of parchment on one side, a lamp on the other and a crystal bowl containing strange yellow edible items. The headmaster's chair was a high back one with a comfortable cushioning running from the top to bottom. Opposite were three wooden chairs meant for visitors and students.
Harry wondered what the metal structure next to the chair was for. It had two legs, a single steel bar joining the two at the top and below was an oval steel bowl that looked like it had been exposed to too much fire. The bowl radiated magic like a sun rising behind mountains.
"Have a seat Harry."
Harry sat. His green eyes rose and met the calm blue eyes of the headmaster.
Dumbledore, picked the round thing from the crystal bowl and offered it to Harry. "Lemon drop?"
Harry stared.
Dumbledore smiled and popped it into his mouth.
"You were going to kill Mr Malfoy and Mr Flint weren't you?" he said without bothering to sugar coat the incident.
"You did something to their minds," Harry said softly instead. He was most curious about that magic. What was it? What did it accomplish?
"I changed their perception of the way you used your magic," Dumbledore said. "To them, you used your wand and defeated them with a well performed banishing charm. Well done Harry. Banishing charms are second year material."
Harry frowned. Was the headmaster covering up his use of the void? He didn't like to hide his abilities.
"I can read your mind Harry. What you call the void is mutated magic. How you accomplished this I do not know but I do have an idea."
"You said but," Harry replied. "By saying but you negate the fact that you do not know and mean you know how I accomplished this."
Harry was a bit surprised with himself. Was he having a conversation with another human being? He had never done that before. It was quite refreshing. Especially since it was with a man who was worthy of magic. He was liking the feeling and he smiled.
Dumbledore was startled. The boy was unbalanced, he knew that. This, however, was a surprising bit of clarity and mental sharpness. Maybe there was hope after all. And then he felt the boy use what he called the void to mingle with the devices he had on his shelf's and his hope faltered when the boy giggled.
"What is that!?" he asked in fascination. "It feels like swimming in memories!"
"It is a pensive. An enchanted bowl a wizard uses to store his memories for perfect recall."
The pensive rose from the shelf and Dumbledore subtly used his wand to cut Harry's connection to it and let it float back to its place.
Harry scowled. Why was the headmaster so insistent on stopping his fun!
"I have been watching you Harry. Watching as you stumble in the world of magic. Watching your interest in the nature of magic grow. You might be fascinated by dark magic, powerful magic, elemental magic. But the truth is, the truth you haven't seen yet, is that you are obsessing over the truth of magic. What is it? Where did it come from? What is its potential? Is there a source for it?"
There was passion in Dumbledore. And a bit of reminisce.
Harry was captured by Dumbledore's speech.
"You love magic. Do not let the horror of your past control your future. Open yourself to friends. Learn about human nature. Human nature is essential to magic. Your intentions can change magic. Power is not everything. Love is. If you let go of your hate and embrace love. You will find a greater power than you can possibly imagine."
Harry wondered what books he would find in the library the girl was talking about. He had lost Dumbledore with the mention of love.
"Your parents would not want to see you like this."
"My parents?" Harry said strangely. He had parents? How odd. Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon had never said much about them.
"Lily gave up her soul for you and James, his sanity. Do not let their sacrifice be in vain Harry. I can see the road you're travelling down. It will not lead to happiness."
Harry wondered what his parents looked like.
Dumbledore sighed. Perhaps it was not the time to introduce Harry to his parents. It would only damage his psyche even more than it was. He had no idea how to reach out to the boy.
The fact was he was a murderer. His magic was not normal. If the Department of Mysteries got wind of it, they would lock him up as a risk to society. There were three souls merged in the child. Lily's after her sacrifice, the fragment from Tom after his defeat and the boy's.
Three powerful souls combined to create what Harry called the void. A potential to surpass the most powerful of spells. Dumbledore feared what the boy would do with it as he grew up, in age and power.
The lightning scar no longer held a mutilated soul, he had sensed that the first time he met Harry after leaving him on Privet Drive. Dumbledore hypothesized the incident where he killed his relatives had been the trigger to absorb that evil soul. What he didn't know, and couldn't figure out was, if Voldemort's soul was influencing Harry's mind.
"Tell me Harry. Why do you avoid socialising with your housemates? Or even Ms Greengrass who has made such a marvellous effort to befriend you?"
For this Harry had an answer. "They are worthless," he hissed. "They treat magic like a toy. They don't know the potential, the power!"
Dread pooled in Dumbledore. This was not a good sign.
"They are children," he said calmly. He had to do something to deviate Harry from this derisive mind set. "Once you graduate from Hogwarts you will find careers where magic is revered and treated with the respect it is worth. You are eleven, not seventeen."
Harry didn't understand what age had to do with this.
Dumbledore sighed. "Now, for your punishment for illegal duelling and almost killing a fellow student, you are assigned detention with Hagrid until the end of term every Wednesday and Saturday."
"Who?"
"Hagrid. He is the gamekeeper. You will obey him and do ask he asks."
Harry stared. Obey? He giggled.
Dumbledore's magic flared. Dwarfing the void like an ocean to a pond.
"I will not warn you again. Control your magic or I will have no choice but to expel you."
Harry nodded with wide eyes.
"Now run along back to your common room," Dumbledore said tiredly.
Harry got up and turned away and left without a second glance. A full minute later, there was a shimmer in the air and Severus Snape removed the fabled cloak of invisibility masking his presence.
"Well?" Dumbledore asked.
"I was wrong to push Draco to duel him," Snape said simply. "That and the boy's mind is… well… not normal. I wouldn't call him insane… more of a sociopath."
"What did you see?"
"A desert," Snape said hesitantly. "And a desire…" he trailed off. "I couldn't make it out. There is a desire, an ambition in him which he is not yet aware of. It is the will of his magic or…?" Snape didn't understand it and he looked at Dumbledore helplessly. "The only thing I'm sure of is, exposing the boy to more magic will only make his desire more pronounced. The day he figures out what he wants is going to be the day we mourn."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "Have you been smoking Severus?"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Slytherin Common Room
Daphne couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Do you intend to keep to your promise?"
Draco sneered, standing straight as an arrow, oozing arrogance and anger. "I am a Malfoy. We never betray our word. I expect you and Potter to be at Malfoy Manor at eight hours past noon on the twenty fourth of December."
Daphne folded her arms and smirked.
"Good night, Greengrass," he said bitterly and turned regally on his heel.
Daphne smiled to herself as she watched him disappear towards the boy's dormitories. "I'm close father. So very close," she whispered.