After a week of training for six hours a day Harry had learned much.

The primary thing he had learned was that Oliver Wood's fanatic Quidditch training regiment was a breeze compared to what Albus considered to be a beginner training schedule. Oliver would take advantage of inclement weather for his training. Albus used a series of wards and spells to create the inclement weather in the section of the Bordale estate that Pierre had said he could afford to rebuild after they left France. On the bright side, Harry could now manage a full thirty minutes of dodging before needing a long break to recover.

As for the spells, that was a mixed bag. Albus had been right about how Harry had internalized how to forge his own paths. When using his wandless techniques, he was able to quickly figure out how to create the effects that he wanted. With a simple touch he could now set an object ablaze or banish it across the field. Out of necessity he had learned to immediately banish whatever he set ablaze (a nasty burn on his hand acted as great motivation). He was still figuring out how to stun by touch by visiting the abattoir that supplied meat for the local magical community. For some reason the effects ranged between making the victim a bit woozy to (on one occasion) ceasing all bodily functions. For obvious reasons, Albus was not keen on Harry trying the spell on humans.

Unfortunately, other than his Hyper Jumps (Harry gave up on convincing Albus to call them something else), his wandless magic required physical contact. Even the distance of a millimeter was enough to stop the spell from taking effect. Which meant that he had to learn to cast the spells with his wand.

Harry had decided to forgo learning Albus's method for the moment, what with the threat of self-liquification or putting himself into a coma for a year. This left him with learning spells the old-fashioned way. On the bright side, his tighter connection with his magic meant he could learn the new spells quickly and could cast them silently once he had internalized the pronunciation and wand movements. It also seemed like the more he cast the spells with his wand, the better his wandless versions became.

Of course, the learning of spells was outside of the six hours of training. After breakfast, for half an hour, Albus would stand next to a training dummy and fire a ceaseless barrage of stinging jinxes as Harry would try to take down the dummy. Any stinging jinx that connected would count as a kill, and Harry would start over again. This continued until Harry would collapse. Harry had yet to take down the dummy.

After resting for half an hour, Harry would then go on the defensive. He was still working on getting a shield to work properly, so it was primarily a session of him diving and running around the field and Hyper Jumping whenever he had the magical reserves. For every session, Albus would have conjured a new set of obstacles and areas where Harry could hide for a few seconds before Albus's spell barrage would destroy the barrier.

After another half hour of rest (primarily lying on the grass in exhaustion), Harry would then get an hour to practice and perfect his spells or experiment with combinations of magic and spell chains. Albus stood watch to offer ideas, or to act as a sounding board, or to stop Harry if it looked like he was about to try something that could cause liquification (it hadn't happened yet, so Harry wasn't sure if Albus was serious or not).

Following that, they spent half an hour perfecting what Albus called the Jump and Hit, where Harry would Hyper Jump to the dummy and cast a spell. Each Hyper Jump would be followed by a different spell. Albus had a timer to track how long it took for each Jump and Hit combo. The slowest combo would get repeated the most. Albus called it the first of Harry's secret weapons, with hopefully more secret weapons to be discovered over time.

After that was lunch, followed by a repeat of the morning's schedule.

On the second day, Harry asked why they bothered with the rest of training, when Harry could use the Jump and Hit to take anyone out at will. In response, Albus volunteered to take the place of the dummy. Albus stood in the middle of the field, not using his ability to see magic, with eyes closed, facing away from Harry, with no magic active, wand held loosely in his hand. He had told Harry to take his time and attack when he felt he had the maximal chance to get the drop on Albus. After seven minutes, Harry made his Hyper Jump without a noise and thrust his arm forward to cast a wandless levitate on the old man. The next thing he knew, Albus was waking him up from the ground as it was dinner time. Harry stopped questioning the training at that point.

It was during his morning hour of spell experimentation on that seventh day when Harry took a break to speak out loud a thought that had been bothering him since learning of Black's escape.

"Albus… why do you want Black to be captured? Don't you think I deserve to have my vengeance? Why are you so adamant about keeping him alive?"

Albus peered over his glasses at Harry, eyes full of contemplation. With a deep sigh, he conjured a pair of chairs and took a seat. Harry continued to stand, though Albus did not indicate he had taken offense.

"Whether Sirius lives or dies, is only a minor concern to me. If he dies by someone else's hand, I will not lose a minute of sleep. What is of concern to me is saving you from taking a life."

Harry's expression turned indignant, but Albus put up his hand before Harry could speak.

"I know that you aren't asking for me to save you from your desires, Harry. And I know that you technically contributed to Quirinus's demise, but that was primarily Tom's fault and you were mainly attacking him to incapacitate rather than kill. You have yet to truly intentionally take the life a sapient being. The idea of ending a person's life as an act of justice is an appealing one, but the actual act is… no matter how righteous, it may not feel the way you expect."

Harry felt his initial burst of righteous indignation drain away as he saw the far away look in Albus's eyes. Silently, he sat in the chair facing the older man.

"Have you ever taken a life before? Intentionally, I mean?"

"Yes… oh, yes. Do you recall Philippe talking about how I was downplaying the assistance I provided him during the war?"

Harry nodded. "I remember that you didn't want him to talk about it."

Albus ran his hand down his face before responding. "It's not something I like to talk about. For you, though, I will deal with the discomfort. During the war, Phillippe was a young man who had yet to marry or have children. As a pureblood who had not taken a position of obvious defiance, he was not a target of Gellert's forces. With his parents deceased, the estate was his to do with as he saw fit. He chose to pursue the rather noble goal of acting as a place to hide for those who were targets. For six months he managed to remain undetected, but his luck failed him one day. Before all transportation and communication was blocked, he managed to send an owl out to ask me for help. It was mere luck that I was close enough for the owl to find me quickly enough that I arrived ten hours after the start of the assault. I had sent the owl on to request backup, but it seems it was killed before reaching its next destination. When I arrived, optimistically, the wards had an hour left in them before they would fall."

Albus looked down at his hands wringing themselves in his lap. "I arrived outside the wards, amongst Gellert's forces. They turned to attack me as their compatriots continued to chip away at the wards. According to Philippe's letter, there were over two dozen families and assorted orphans hiding in the house, at least fifty of the people being innocent children. If the wards fell… Gellert's forces were not known for their mercy. So, I did not hold back as I rushed to the house, having been keyed into the wards on a previous visit. Before the attackers could find cover, I had already killed five of the fifteen."

Albus's eyes met Harry's eyes. "Over the next day, I reinforced the wards and took shots whenever the attackers showed themselves from their transfigured bunkers. I offered them so many chances to surrender or retreat, but it must have been one of the missions that Gellert designated as 'Victory or Death'. So, I killed. I killed every one of them except for the last. When she saw she had no chance, she must have decided that she would complete the mission while taking me down with her. She cast Fiendfyre."

"What's that?"

"A sentient flame that lives to consume magic and will chase after the strongest nearest sources it can find. The more magic it consumes, the more powerful it becomes. There are ways to contain its power, but it is immensely difficult to control and very few things can withstand its fury. I watched in horror as the woman sent her horrid creation at a house full of innocents. I could see the madness in her eyes as she intentionally flicked the fire to her side so that it would consume her and massively increase the fire's power. By the time I brought it under control and extinguished it, it had been mere inches away from the walls."

Harry looked at Albus with a sense of awe. "You saved all those people. You did the right thing."

Albus smiled sadly. "I know I did the right thing, Harry. I killed fourteen men and women, some of them probably too young to even have graduated from school. Every single one of them… I could see their eyes as the life left them. And it was the right thing to do. They weren't the first, and they weren't the last. Wherever Gellert or I went, death followed. I took guilty lives to save the lives of countless innocents. I did the right thing, over and over. With magical and non-magical people alike, I did the right thing. Nearly every time, I was close enough to look in the eyes of the person as they experienced their final moments, and it was always the right thing. Sometimes… sometimes I wish I could have lived myself doing the wrong thing."

Harry felt his eyes welling up as he saw a tear run down Albus's cheek. The man looked so lost as he continued speaking.

"In my youth, I thought I had the heart of a warrior. But I was wrong. I have the heart of a teacher. To keep myself sane, I created a room in my mind to hold the memory of the enemies I killed in the war. As the war progressed, I kept expanding the room. By the time I had my final duel against Gellert, the room was a stadium packed to bursting. Each body bearing the face of the first person whose death I am responsible for causing, my poor Ariana. A stadium packed with evidence of my doing the right thing."

"And then… I defeated Gellert in a duel which left him drained and defenseless. I had him at my mercy. After killing so many up to that point, killing Gellert must have been the rightest thing in the world. He wanted me to do it. I wanted to do it. I needed to do it. I had the curse ready. I thought, what was one more body in the stadium? And, that thought… that broke me. The doors to the stadium exploded, and my mind was flooded by the enormity of what I had done. With that, I looked down at Gellert and… I couldn't do it. I had reached my limit of killing. I couldn't kill Gellert. I handed him over to the ICW and they sent him off to his prison. Ironically, he had built the prison to specifically ensure he could keep me imprisoned there, and he did so by ensuring even he couldn't escape himself. He still lives in that inescapable cell all these decades later."

Albus shook his head sadly. "I broke so thoroughly that I wasn't even able to try to kill Tom as his Death Eaters began the reign of terror. I wanted to do it, but I couldn't bring myself to follow through on that desire. I could look the other way when it came to the members of the Order who were willing to take permanent measures and ensure they never suffered legal consequences, but I just no longer had the capability in me to take a direct hand. One positive from my breaking is that my stadium is now what I use to hold back all my physical pain, and how I can handle adjusting my magic through so many layers of wards. That is… something."

Albus regained his focus on Harry. "Taking a life leaves a scar on your soul, Harry. Some people can take on a thousand scars without breaking. Some people break with the first scar. If I can save you from finding out how many scars you can take, then I will gladly hope that someone else catches Sirius before you find him. But I won't try to stop you from doing what you feel is the right thing."

Harry felt confused emotions as he wiped the moisture from his eyes. The two sat in silent companionship for several minutes.

"You know, Albus, I think I could use a break from training. What do you say we call it a day, and get some crepes at the Mirror Tower?"

Albus smiled.

The end of the second week brought an unexpected visitor.

For the first time since starting his training, Harry managed to avoid Albus's volley of spells long enough to reach the dummy, without even using his Hyper Jumps. It was a close call, but he was starting to almost feel as if he could sense the spells as they neared him. Of course, that usually just meant he had an extra fraction of a second to know he was about to be stung, as opposed to it being a surprise. This time though, he had been in a zone. He had ducked, weaved, and managed to pull off a cast of a disarming charm while sloppily executing a forward roll.

Harry had been so excited by his unexpected victory that he ignored the dozen stinging jinxes Albus tagged him with as he did a victory dance around the field. To be fair, Harry could tell by their lowered power that Albus was just casting out of principal and was also pleased with his victory.

With an exuberant yelp of joy, Harry threw himself forward into a handspring. For a change he didn't land on his butt. He landed on his face. Albus's laughter replaced the jinxes.

"I see you have replaced underpowering the spring with overpowering it. That's… progress I suppose. Have I reminded you today that flipping around like that is not remotely helpful during a fight?"

Harry grinned as he stood up and spit grass from his mouth. "It works for Luke Skywalker."

Albus rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, let's get you aiming better than a Stormtrooper before we move on to strapping Dobby to your back for your Jedi training."

Harry chuckled. Ever since Albus told him about the war, he had found himself feeling oddly lighter. Whenever he found himself delving into his darker moods, he would look at Albus's bright demeanor and feel inspired to find the brighter side of things. If Albus could carry so much weight on his soul, and still find happiness, Harry knew he could do the same. Additionally, it made him happy to amuse Albus with his attempts at teaching himself to perform a forward handspring.

"So, Albus, you ready to lose to me again?"

Albus's eyes twinkled. "Nothing would make me happier, Harry. But I think we should take a break and greet our visitor. Hello Remus."

Harry turned around and saw a haggard looking man with light brown hair and a face worn with lines that spoke of a life filled with stress. Harry was aware that he might be seeing what he wanted, but he believed he could see guilt filling the man's eyes when he caught Harry's eye.

Remus looked over to Albus. "Hello Headmaster. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. Travel between countries is always a bit… troublesome for me. I was in Germany when I received your letter."

Albus smiled in response. "It's quite alright, Remus. And please, call me Albus. I'm neither a Headmaster nor a Professor anymore. And, as I am sure you have already deduced, this is young Harry. Harry, this is Remus Lupin."

Remus looked back to Harry, and this time Harry was sure they were filled with guilt. Remus's arms moved awkwardly as he seemed to try to figure out if he should move in for a hug, a handshake, or just keep his hands to himself. He decided on grasping them in front of himself as he nodded curtly. "Hello, Harry."

Harry stopped himself from rolling his eyes as he extended his hand. "Hello, Mister Lupin."

Remus smiled as he shook Harry's hand. "Please, call me Remus. It is wonderful to see you again. The last time I saw you… well your hand wouldn't even wrap around my pinky. And now, here you are looking like a miniature James. Except your eyes, you have your mother's eyes. It's… it's good to finally meet you."

Harry returned the smile. While he had heard the comparison before, it was still nice to hear. "It's nice to meet you as well. To be honest, all I really know about you comes from the detentions you served with my dad. Well, and the werewolf thing. So, when you dosed your Potions Professor with a hair coloring potion to give him Gryffindor colored hair, how did you manage to get him to consume it?"

Remus's gaped open in shock. "What?"

"Well, I doubt Snape is the only Potions Professor who would be paranoid about consuming foreign potions, so I have no idea how you did it. I'm sure Albus could tell me ten different ways to do it which all require me to have spent three decades studying mystical flutes or something weird like that. Assuming it wasn't something equally odd, how did you do it?"

"Snape… What!?"

Harry frowned and looked over at Albus. "I thought he was supposed to be the smart one."

Albus chuckled. "I suspect he's still stuck on you mentioning he is a werewolf."

Harry shrugged. "Huh. I thought he already knew he was a werewolf. Remus, I am sorry to break the news to you. I suspect it will help explain some things in your life, especially around full moons. Feel free to come inside when you have come to terms with your condition. What do you say, Albus, do you want an early lunch?"

"At this time, I believe it would be called brunch."

"I stand corrected."

As they were halfway back to the house, Harry heard Remus shout. "Wait! Did you just prank me!?"

Harry smirked.

Brunch was a pleasant affair. Harry and Albus lightly, while Remus a surprisingly large amount (luckily, he also had impeccable table manners). Remus filled Harry in on the key to slipping potions to a paranoid Potions Master and regaled him with the complete stories hinted at by some of the more interesting detention notes Harry had read. The conversation had loosened Remus up, and Harry could finally see the reason that his father could have been friends with the man.

It was nice to spend time with the man. Harry had long since forgiven Remus for not being present during his life, as his last year at Hogwarts had given him a great insight into the mind of a person abandoned by one's friend for no other reason than have an uncommon magical ability or curse. If it hadn't been for Albus, Harry could easily see himself possibly walking down the same path as the man laughing before him.

"So, Harry…" spoke a smiling Remus. "Just two more weeks until you start your third year at Hogwarts. Are you excited? What electives did you choose?"

Harry frowned. "I… I'm not going back to Hogwarts."

Remus's smile dimmed. "Is this another prank? If so…"

Albus cleared his throat. "It's not a prank, Remus. Neither Harry nor I are returning to Hogwarts."

"But… but… what about… his education?"

Albus quirked an eyebrow up. "He will have to make do with my personal tutelage. One hopes that it shall be sufficient."

Harry looked at Remus in confusion. "You saw Albus teaching me earlier with the training dummy. What do you think was going on?"

"I don't know. The Headmaster just does weird things sometimes. I learned long ago to not question it."

Harry smirked at Albus. "He's got a point, Albus. OUCH!"

Albus ignored Harry's mock glare as Harry rubbed his backside from the stinging jinx he just received.

Remus stared at the duo in confusion, and mild panic. "This isn't a joke! Headmaster, you must take Harry back to Hogwarts. You know about… about…"

Albus's eyes hardened. "We both know about Sirius. I have made sure Harry is FULLY aware of his family's history when it comes to Sirius."

"Then you know you can't be out in the open like this. You need to be somewhere where Harry can be kept safe. What if Sirius shows up here when you aren't around to defend Harry?"

Albus looked over at Harry with a critical eye. Harry looked back in curiosity. "Based on the past two weeks of training… I would expect Harry to make one pass at defeating Sirius, and then fleeing on the off chance his attack doesn't succeed. If it takes longer than five seconds for him to be either be victorious or gone, I will be most disappointed."

Harry felt a warm feeling of pride fill his heart at hearing Albus's blunt assessment of his progress. He knew it was based on his secret weapon of the Jump and Hit, but it felt nice to know that Albus believed he had a good chance of winning.

Remus clearly did not feel as encouraged. "You would let him actually attack… but, he's… this is madness! What if the Dementors come following Sirius?"

Albus paused. "I had not considered that possibility. In that case, I would expect Harry to flee. At least at until he can defend himself with a Patronus charm."

"But… but…"

Albus sighed. "Remus, perhaps you should head home for the evening. If you can accept that Harry is not returning to Hogwarts and I will be supporting regardless of if he chooses to fight or flee from Sirius, then feel free to return tomorrow. For now, though…"

"Wait! This is whole thing is crazy, but… if you are going to be so reckless… I should have said something long ago anyway…"

Harry caught Albus's eyes curiously. Albus merely shook his head and shrugged in response. The two then turned their gazes to Remus, both sharing identical inquisitive looks upon their faces.

"Sirius can… Sirius is… damn it! Sirius is an animagus! He can turn into a big black dog. So, if you see a dog, do not trust it."

Albus's eyes narrowed. "He isn't registered. When did he achieve the transformation?"

Remus's eye turned downcast. "Fifth year."

Albus's eyes widened in shock. "Very impressive! I assume you didn't tell me before because you were taking advantage of the fact that werewolves won't attack a wizard in their animagus form unless provoked. I wish you had. That would have been helpful to know when he was in the Order. He could have possibly spied for us… of course knowing he was spying on us… it was probably for best that he wasn't used for spying I suppose… still…"

Albus groaned. "I can't picture James letting Sirius become an animagus without making an attempt of his own… so?"

Remus spoke silently. "A brown stag."

Albus chuckled. "That would have been less useful for spying. I don't suppose Peter completed the set?"

"A grey rat."

Albus pinched the bridge of his nose. "Now that would have been perfect for spying. No one even pays attention to a ra…"

Both Harry and Remus looked up at Albus as he stopped speaking mid-word. They watched in confusion as he stared into the middle distance, moving his lips without noise. After two minutes, he took his glasses off and ran his hands up and down his face as he muttered.

"No! No no no! No, that would be… It must be a coincidence… but, what if… then… but, why… unless… no that would be stupid! … damn it, I did the same with the troll… it does fit their boxes better… even their forms match… damn it, Gilderoy, now you have me thinking of your boxes… NO! NO! NO! … still … I better check."

Albus shook his head slowly and then put on his glasses. He stood up and grabbed a plate from the table.

"Harry, I need to go check on something and it would best if I do it sooner rather than later. I hope I'm wrong about this, I really do because being right would mean… well, something you would hate. I promise to tell you everything afterwards, but I think you would be happier if I gather the information before letting you know what is going on. I know you haven't had much positive experience with trusting adults to be competent and helpful, and my secrecy doesn't help with that, but I ask you to risk extending that trust to me. If you can't take the risk, then I will tell you everything right now."

Harry looked into Albus's eyes, seeing the desperate hope in them. Had Albus given him this choice before he left Hogwarts, he would have insisted to be told everything. Now… now he felt willing to extend that trust to Albus. The man had earned this chance to do… whatever it is he felt he needed to do.

"What should I do while you're gone?"

Albus smiled gratefully. "Remus was concerned about the Dementors. Have him teach you about them and give a shot at teaching you the Patronus charm."

"Any hints?"

Albus tilted his head as he thought, and then smiled mischievously. "Remember the mirror."

With that, Albus's plate glowed gold and he disappeared a second later.

Harry looked over at an utterly confused Remus.

"So… the Patronus?"

Remus looked back at Harry, shaking the confusion from his mind. "What?"

Suddenly, Albus appeared on top of the table.

"Sorry, I forgot they were still in Egypt."

A letter flew through the door and was deftly caught by Albus. He skimmed the letter and nodded. He picked up a second plate, paused, pointed his wand at the table where an egg and cheese sandwich quickly assembled and wrapped itself in a napkin. The wrapped sandwich flew into Albus's pocket, Albus's plate briefly glowed gold, and the man disappeared again.

The two looked at where Albus had been standing, his shoe print easily visible in the chocolate custard. Harry felt a grin forming on his face.

"So… the Patronus?"

"Thirteen is a bit young for learning that particular spell."

Harry nodded. "That makes sense. Want to talk about how you never bothered to contact me since the day I lost my parents?"

"… so, the key to the Patronus…"

It was shortly before midnight when Albus returned. Harry and Remus were lounging in the library. Harry read Perenelle's book on wards. Remus was absorbed in a French book on defensive magic. Fawkes had flamed his pedestal to the library to keep them company, while Hedwig was off hunting.

Harry perked up when he saw an exhausted Albus walk into the room. Albus summoned a quill and parchment and wrote a quick letter. He then pulled out an official looking document from his robes and showed it to Fawkes.

"Fawkes, would you mind terribly delivering this letter? I'll provide the means to travel back. It will be password based and it will be his choice to come or not."

Fawkes stared deeply into Albus's eyes for several seconds. When he nodded, Albus sighed.

"Thank you, Fawkes."

The letter in his hand glowed golden. He then summoned an envelope and placed both the official document and letter in the envelope and sealed it. Albus paused and then wrote a quick note on the front of the envelope. Fawkes took the envelope in a talon and flamed out of the office.

"Busy day?"

Albus looked back at Harry with a smile. He sank into a free chair.

"Very! In case he is not as paranoid as I would be, here is the quick summary. Sirius was innocent. Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper who betrayed your parents and framed Sirius. Fawkes is delivering a letter to Sirius in the hopes he will take the portkey back here."

As one might expect, Remus's mouth hung agape. As one might not expect, Harry nodded his head with a triumphant smile.

"There, now you know not to attack him if he appears while we are talking. So… questions?"

Remus's mouth moved soundlessly, as he seemed to be at a loss for where to start.

Harry did not feel as lost for words. "Two to start with. First, where is Pettigrew now?"

Albus tilted his head to the side while he looked at Harry, after a moment his eyes widened in delighted surprise.

"He is in a cell in Azkaban. Lucius, for some reason, seemed extraordinarily eager to get Cornelius to help me. There was an emergency session of the Wizengamot where Peter was given Veritaserum, a truth potion, and he admitted to all his crimes. His Order of Merlin was revoked, he was convicted for his crimes, and he is now serving a life sentence. He is also a wearing a collar that will shrink and grow with him and is permanently stuck to him. It will be connected to a leash that will keep him tethered to his cell, as is normal protocol for Animagus prisoners. Though, who knows, perhaps the shock of his capture and conviction was severe enough to knock out the memory of how to transform and the leash will be overkill."

As Remus mumbled his doubt at that idea, Harry smirked as he remembered their visit with the Malfoys and their specific punishment.

"Well, better overkill than underkill. Second, was he really Ron's rat Scabbers?"

Remus jerked his head to the side to stare at Harry in surprise.

"WHAT!?"

"How long did it take you to figure it out, Harry?"

Harry smiled. "So, I was right! I didn't know if I was guessing correctly, but I came up with my guess that you thought Scabbers might be Peter about ten minutes after you left. Remus helped me to figure it out."

"I did?"

Harry felt a bit of perverse pleasure in seeing Remus in a constant state of trying to catch up. He now could understand why Albus did it to people so often.

"Of course. You were talking about how the Patronus was advanced magic, and not many adults can do it, and a bunch of other ways of saying it was going to be impossible for me to learn. As Albus says, nothing is impossible, and that's what triggered the thought to occur to me."

Harry turned his attention to Albus. "When you said you were going to Egypt, I obviously thought of the Weasleys. They're the only people I personally know who have been to Egypt. And since you got sidetracked on the word rat, well… there is only one rat I could think of. When I remembered to think that nothing was impossible, I thought about what sort of impossible coincidence could get you so worked up and came up with Pettigrew. Pettigrew being alive wouldn't make me angry, unless he was the real betrayer, so…"

Albus beamed as Harry trailed off with a shrug. "That was a wonderful deduction Harry. I also tend to connect rats to the Weasley family. After all, for the past decade, I have had to approve Molly's request to allow them to bring the non-standard pet of a grey rat that happens to be missing a toe. That you made the same connection is wonderful. I am very proud of you."

Harry smiled. "I guess there was some value in you making me constantly figure things out on my own. And… I have had time to think on it. Thank you for convincing me to stay but giving me the chance to come. If you were wrong, I would have had to see the Weasleys in person for no good reason, and I don't think I'm ready for that. If you were right… I've gotten better at not letting my emotions control me, but I am not sure I am good enough to not have had a relapse of two weeks ago. I know you would have helped me over anything else, and Pettigrew would have had a chance to escape. I wouldn't forgive myself if I let my own emotions allow him to go free."

Albus smiled warmly at Harry. "You continue to impress me Harry. You will get to that level of self-control soon enough."

The quiet moment of warmth was ended by the sound of Remus loudly smacking his forehead.

"Just to be clear… the entire time I was teaching you the Patronus, you were thinking that Sirius might be innocent and Albus was off to capture Peter. And you didn't think of telling me?"

Harry looked at Albus and frowned. "Huh… I guess Albus has rubbed off on me more than I thought. It didn't occur to me that it wouldn't also occur to you. Albus was taking care of it, and I find learning a new spell really works wonders at helping process my anger while also make the time really pass quickly."

Albus perked up. "Did you have any progress?"

Harry responded with equal enthusiasm. "Your hint really helped. My initial happy memories weren't doing the trick. But then I remembered the mirror from first year and figured the memory didn't have to be of something that really happened. I just thought about my heart's desire and came up with a false memory of spending a day playing Quidditch with my dad while mum and you laughed below as you talked about the weird nature of magic. It was the happiest fake memory I could conjure. Then I convinced myself it was real by placing it my room of real memories."

Remus groaned. "And I told him that was not how any of it worked."

"Which told me it was the correct path to take."

Albus's eyes twinkled. "So…"

Harry performed the appropriate wand motion, and a brilliant glowing white phoenix burst out of the tip. As it flew around the room, Fawkes flamed back into the room and proceeded to playfully chase after Harry's phoenix Patronus.

"Fawkes keeps flaming in to play with my Patronus when I cast the spell."

Albus grinned. "He often does the same for me".

A second later, Albus's wand added another phoenix Patronus to the room. Albus's Patronus being a few inches larger than Harry's Patronus. Fawkes stopped his chase of Harry's Patronus, and stared at the newcomer. With a melodic trill, Fawkes returned to chasing after the smaller Patronus.

Albus chuckled. "Traitor."

With a thud, a filthy man appeared in the room. He rolled to his feet with his wand at the ready.

"Hello Padfoot" spoke an unsurprised Remus, as he rubbed his forehead where it appeared the werewolf was gaining a headache.

"Moony? Moony! It was Wormtail! He was the Secret Keep…"

"Yes, yes, we have moved on from that Padfoot. Apparently, Harry here figured it out half a day ago."

"Harry? Harry's here!?"

Sirius's head swiveled around the room, taking it fully in. His eyes then settled on Harry.

"Harry?" he croaked with a voice full of emotion.

Harry looked back up at the half-crazed man. "Hello Sirius."

"You look just like… is that a phoenix sulking in the corner?"

They all turned their heads to the corner. Albus answered. "That's my Patronus."

"Ah… why is your Patronus sulking in the corner?"

"Fawkes won't play with it?"

"And who is Fawkes playing with then?"

Harry piped up. "My Patronus."

"Of course. Of course. Why not? I have always wondered what going crazy would be like. I should have suspected when I received an official pardon accompanying a letter telling me Wormtail was captured and had confessed. The portkey's pass phrase should have really tipped me off."

Albus responded with a chuckle. "I needed to make sure you wouldn't say it by accident."

Sirius barked out a laugh as he tossed the letter on the floor near Harry and collapsed into a chair. "At least my hallucination has a sense of humor… and comfy chairs… and a warm fire… and…"

His exhaustion must have caught up with him, as he began to snore lightly.

Harry looked down at the open letter on the floor. When he got to the pass phrase, he rolled his eyes.

The three awake people continued to speak in low tones as Sirius snored.

Harry did have to give it up to Albus. He was certain he would never accidentally say a phrase like "I Love Severus Snape."