Chapter 20: The Truth

"I think you need to tuck your elbow in a bit more during the second phrase," Hermione said as she glanced down at Marcellus's spell notes. She and Ron were trying to help Harry learn the spell, but it was slow going at best. They'd found an unused classroom where they could work uninterrupted, and were sitting atop old desks while they watched Harry and Fawkes practice.

Harry made the adjustment. "Like this?"

"Yes, that's better. At least I think it is," Hermione said as she double checked the diagram. "It's a bit difficult to say based on the drawings alone. And I honestly have no idea how to tell if Fawkes is doing his part correctly."

"Well, the good news is that Fawkes has done this before," Harry pointed out. "It's been a few hundred years, but he's at least proved he's capable of doing it."

"Even if you manage to get the spell right, what are you going to do about Malfoy's mum?" Ron asked. Harry chose to ignore the 'if' in his statement. "It's not like she's just going to stand there and let you do it, and I'm pretty sure she knows more spells than just Depulso."

"I'm not sure," Harry admitted. "How do you think Marcellus did it? It's a pretty long spell and I doubt Primrose Bitterwood was just standing politely while she was being sealed away."

"I'm not sure, Harry, but if he was able to pull this spell off he had to have been an extraordinarily powerful wizard," said Hermione. "Maybe we should ask a teacher for help."

"But I'm the only one who can do the spell, it has to be a wizard who has a bond with a phoenix."

"I mean help learning the spell. None of us are equipped for this, you're going to need help from someone with more experience."

Harry considered this for a moment and realized that Hermione was right. Fawkes was the only one who could travel to the witch's prison with him and help him perform the spell, but that didn't mean that he couldn't get help from others to prepare. And he was certainly going to need a ton of help if he was going to learn this spell. "Okay, let's go see Lupin."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stuck around after class the next day to talk to Professor Lupin. They explained everything they'd learned after gaining access to Marcellus's secret study, showing him the note they'd found and describing the hourglass that was rapidly running out of sand.

"Merlin's beard, she's about to return, then?" Lupin said once they were finished. He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it a mess but not seeming to care. He took a deep breath and furrowed his brow, lost in thought for a moment. "Okay. I appreciate you three letting me know, and I don't want you to worry, alright? No matter what happens, we'll all be quite safe at Hogwarts. I'll let Dumbledore know, he'll likely alert the Ministry of Magic…"

"Could you help me practice the spell?" Harry interjected. He pulled out Marcellus's notes. "It's a bit complicated, and I really don't have much time to learn it."

Lupin's eyes widened in surprise. "Harry, you… you don't intend to face these people, surely? A centuries-old evil witch and whoever is plotting to unleash her?"

Harry's face fell. "Well… yes. I have to go, you saw what Marcellus wrote. The only people who will be summoned are me, Fawkes, and Bitterwood's descendants, I'm the only one who can stop her from escaping! And we spoke to Professor Trelawney, and I know Divination usually isn't real or whatever, but while we were pretending to read her tea leaves she started having a real vision. She said that 'the witch' would be opposed by 'the one who the phoenix has chosen.'" He was rambling now, thinking that Lupin would surely understand where he was coming from if he had all the context.

Lupin stared at Harry with a confused expression, taking a moment for the boy's words to sink in before replying. "Harry, this is far too dangerous! This Marcellus fellow can't honestly expect a first year student to handle this alone. You could get yourself killed."

"But, Remus," Harry said, abandoning professorial respect in an effort to appeal to the man who had always been like an uncle to him. "This is my chance to face the people responsible for killing my parents. They died so that I could live on with Fawkes to carry out Marcellus's plans."

Lupin placed his hands on Harry's shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "You know I loved your parents very much, and I want justice for their deaths just as badly as you do. But I can't imagine that they'd want their son to throw himself in harm's way like this. And as someone who loves you very much, I cannot allow you to risk your life trying to do the impossible. Let her escape for now, the aurors will track her down. It's their job, they were trained for this, okay?"

Harry looked toward his friends as one last-ditch effort for backup. They both stared back at him with deep concern in their eyes.

"Don't do it, Harry," Hermione whispered.

"You'll just get yourself killed, mate," said Ron.

Harry sighed. It was clear that he wasn't going to win this argument, and he was even starting to doubt what he was saying. If everyone else thought this was a bad idea, did that mean they were right? Admitting defeat, Harry simply nodded.

"Promise me, Harry," said Lupin. "Promise me that you won't go anywhere near that witch or her sympathizers."

"I promise," Harry said.

"Good," Lupin said, giving Harry a quick hug and a pat on the back. "We'll make sure the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is well aware of what's going on, I don't want you to worry any more about it."

Harry had a hard time letting everything go, but after Lupin validated the fears that his friends already had, he knew he wasn't going to get any support from anyone else. He even found his own conviction dwindling as the days passed by, realizing how foolish he was to think he could cast such an advanced spell when he hadn't even mastered all of the beginner level spells he was learning in his classes. And besides, he'd promised Lupin that he'd drop it. So he stopped talking about Marcellus and Bitterwood, and tried to stop thinking about them, too.

One day as Harry was leaving the Charms classroom after his lesson, he felt a sudden tug on his arm. Before he could even react, a hand clamped over his mouth and a second later he was pulled behind one of the school's many tapestries that adorned the corridors. But instead of finding himself squished up against the wall, he ended up in a hidden corridor that he never knew existed.

Harry was quickly dragged down the corridor. Operating under a confused panic, he struggled against the rather large arm that held him, and when that didn't work he reached for the hand that was clamped over his mouth, but it wouldn't budge. It figured that he would be attacked on one of the rare times that Fawkes wasn't with him. As a last resort, he licked the unknown palm, causing it to finally relinquish its control.

"Yuck!" said the familiar voice of his kidnapper. He turned around to face Dudley, his panic from moments ago turning to rage.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Wiping the nasty spit off my hand!" Dudley said as he wiped his hand on his robes.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I mean why did you grab me and drag me in here? I don't know what you think you're playing at but your stupid plan didn't work. So you can let Malfoy know that he's going to have to try a lot harder if he wants to get to me." Harry turned to walk back toward the tapestry that covered the corridor's secret entrance, eager to catch back up with Ron and Hermione who were probably confused about why he was no longer behind them.

"Wait! I'm not working for Draco. I'm-I'm sorry!"

This got Harry to pause. He'd never heard his cousin apologize to anyone in their entire lives, much less to him. "Is this part of your trap?"

"This isn't a trap. I'm sorry that I've been working with Draco, but I honestly didn't know what all of this was about. If I'd known it wasn't just about stealing some worthless painting, I never would have done any of it." Dudley's tone was pleading, his facial expressions pained. Harry had never seen him like this. As manipulative as his cousin often tried to be, he didn't think Dudley had it in him to fake sincerity this convincingly.

"Malfoy didn't tell you what his mum was planning?"

Dudley shook his head. "Not until the other day. When you said that Draco's mum was responsible for killing your parents… I realized there was a lot more going on that I needed to know. I asked him about it."

Harry's heart skipped a beat. "What did he say?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"He said that rich people don't commit murder. They hire people to do it for them. But he basically confirmed it. I guess she found out about your bird, and she thought you were going to grow up to ruin whatever she's planning, so she hired someone to kill you. But your parents got in the way, and, well you know how that ended." Harry listened silently, his breathing growing heavier. "I'm so sorry, Harry, I never would have been friends with him if I'd known, you have to believe me. We may not get along but… We're still family. And it's your parents we're talking about. My aunt, even if I never really got to know her."

Harry took a deep, shaky breath. The truth was out. And he'd all but known this was the case since the start of the term, but for some reason the confirmation felt different. His parents were dead, and it was Narcissa Malfoy's fault. His eyes burned as they filled up with tears, feeling as if a new fire had been lit within him. "After all these years, I finally get the truth. Why did Malfoy tell you all of that?"

"I guess he thinks I hate you as much as he and his family do. But, he's wrong. I really am sorry," Dudley said again. Harry nodded and wiped the tears from his eyes. He then knew that there was no way that he could allow Narcissa Malfoy to get away with this. He would confront her and fulfill his destiny, no matter how inexperienced a wizard he was.

"Thank you for telling me," Harry said, his voice barely above a whisper. Dudley nodded.

"Well, that's all I wanted to say," Dudley said awkwardly after a moment of silence. "I should go. You should probably clear out, too. Draco's spies like to use these hidden tunnels to sneak around." Dudley turned to walk deeper into the tunnel.

"Dudley, wait." Dudley turned back to look at Harry. "That lie you told Snape to get the painting back… It was actually pretty clever."

Dudley's face lit up, clearly flattered. "Yeah, well, thanks. And I guess it turns out you're not so much of a freak, after all. This magic stuff is actually pretty cool."

Harry smiled and offered Dudley his hand, and his cousin accepted the handshake before the two of them parted ways.