Ch 10: A Dumbledore interlude part 2
It was the morning of September first and Albus was excited. 'Harry and Severus will come back to Hogwarts and all will be right. I have no idea where they disappeared this summer but I will find out.' he mused as he picked a sherbet lemon from the container on his desk. He was able to get some information from his spies in the alley that Harry went into Gringotts the day before Severus did and both men have not been seen since which concerned him. He could not let those two unravel all his well developed plans. Minerva taking the summer off concerned him a little at first but she had a point. Minerva has earned the time off and hasn't really taken time off in decades. What bothered him is she was being so secretive of where she was spending her time off. 'Is she with Severus and Harry?' he mused, 'No that is silly Albus, my spies would have seen her in the alley going to the bank.' Albus spent the rest of the morning plotting on how to keep Harry unaware of his true heritage.
Albus was sitting on his throne like chair at the head table observing all the students enter the hall. Severus was there and seemed to be his normal dungeon bat self so Albus felt good about that. 'I see he is glaring at Remus so they haven't remembered their friendship.' Albus thought. He was scanning the hall for Harry but he hasn't noticed him yet. What was strange was Ron and Hermione were already at the Gryffindor table but the other half of the trio was not there with them. Before Dumbeldore could react to that information he noticed all eyes turn towards the door and he couldn't believe his eyes. 'What is he doing with those four?! They shouldn't be this close.' Albus glared for just a moment but remembered to school his features. Albus knew he would need to talk to Harry as soon as the feast was over. After the sorting Albus leaned over to Minerva and whispered, "Minerva can you please bring Harry up to my office before he heads up to Gryffindor tower?" Minerva nodded and headed over to Harry to let him know the headmaster wished to see him.
When Harry came to his office, Albus got a closer look at the changes in the young man. He no longer looked like a carbon copy of James, instead he looked like the perfect combination of Lily and Severus. Harry also looked healthier and it seems he gained a little more muscle to his wiry frame. Albus put a look of grandfatherly concern on his face as he spoke to Harry about his new friends. As Harry spoke to him Albus had to tighten his occlumency shields so his true nature didn't show. 'How dare this brat tell me to mind my own business! I am the great Albus Dumbledore and he should follow what I say!' Albus counted to ten in his head before agreeing with Harry and then sending the boy on his way to his tower. Once Harry and Minerva left the office, Albus threw a mighty tantrum, destroying many objects in the office. The portraits, the sorting hat, and Fawkes (who was not Albus's familiar like many thought) watched the old wizard in disbelief.
The next morning
Albus was sitting down enjoying breakfast, plotting some ways to keep Harry on his side, when the owls flew into the hall. He was surprised to see an owl heading his way. 'I wonder what this could be' he mused and then he paled when he read the letter. 'Those damn goblins!' he thought, 'How dare they insist I pay Harry back. The brat is rich enough, he doesn't need all that money. I need that money to fund my plans. Plus money equals power and I need to have all the power.' He then glanced up from his letter and noticed five sets of eyes on him coming from the Gryffindor table. Albus stormed out of the hall and went up to his office.
Once in the quietness of his office, Albus sat down and grabbed a sherbet lemon. 'This doesn't mean the brat knows everything.' He tried to calm himself down. 'This just means he knows I stole his money. I haven't noticed anything different between him, Severus, Minerva and Remus. Although the goblins do a thorough job when one of their clients are being wronged. If Harry looks like his father then he knows about his heritage and they are all hiding what they know from me. I cannot have them reunited with Sirius and Tom. If that happens I am done for.' Albus spent all day locked in his office worrying and trying to plot a way for him to keep his status as the leader of the light. 'I can pay back the money since I do have more stolen money from other families.' He mused. 'Once I pay Harry back then he will think I am once again on his side and all will be forgiven.' Albus sucked on another sherbet lemon and felt a lot better about the situation.