Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
The Second War: Chapter Two - Revelations & Answers
Time seemed to stand still. It was probably only ten seconds, but to Harry, he felt like he was staring at Dumbledore for at least five minutes. He finally managed to find his voice.
"Professor Dumbledore?"
"Good afternoon Harry," said Dumbledore quietly. "May I come in?"
"Um, sure," Harry replied, still in shock and thinking that it was probably not a good idea to leave Dumbledore out in the rain, which was still coming down hard.
Harry showed Dumbledore into the living room. First, O.W.L results, Snape lets me into N.E.W.T Potions, McGonagall offers me the Quidditch captaincy, Ron's letter and now Dumbledore's here at Privet Drive Harry thought. What next?
"Harry?" Dumbledore's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "The Dursleys not home?"
"No, they went out. I don't know where though. Did you want to talk to them?"
"No, no I wanted to talk to you," Dumbledore said. Harry was starting to feel uncomfortable. Not only were memories of his blow up at Dumbledore ever present in his mind, but this was the first time he had ever spoken to Dumbledore outside of Hogwarts. He was the host this time. He awkwardly motioned for Dumbledore to sit down. Dumbledore gave a small nod and sat down on the couch. Harry himself sat down in the armchair opposite Dumbledore. Another period of silence followed until Harry broke the silence.
"So, why are you here?" he asked tentatively.
Dumbledore hesitated and although he appeared calm, his eyes gave away his nervousness. There was no sign of the usual twinkle that was there. Finally he spoke.
"Harry," he began, and Harry could definitely make out the nervousness in his voice. "There is no easy way for me to say this so I'm just going to say it." Harry sat there looking at Dumbledore with his mind racing.
"There is a more specific reason why Voldemort went after you instead of Neville."
Harry's face showed no emotion to this piece of news, but when he spoke, his emotion definitely showed.
"Oh really?" he said in a sarcastic relaxed tone. "And uh…when were you planning on telling me this?"
The look in Dumbledore's eyes was now almost pleading. "Believe me Harry, I wanted to tell you that morning in my office, but after everything that happened and everything that I had already said, I couldn't bring myself to."
Harry just continued to stare at Dumbledore. "Well, what was the reason?" he asked rather harshly, not feeling sorry at all.
Dumbledore took a steading breath, and began. "You know of course, that Voldemort is the Heir of Salazar Slytherin."
Harry gave Dumbledore an exasperated look. Dumbledore got the point and went on. "Has it ever occurred to you that the other three co-founders of Hogwarts have Heirs as well?"
"Can't say it has," said Harry dismissively. "What does this have to do with me?"
"What a lot of people don't know," said Dumbledore, partly ignoring Harry's question, "is that Cassandra Vablatsky made a prophecy about the Heirs of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw in 1950."
"What was the prophecy about?" Harry asked, still wondering what this had to do with him.
"It prophesised the rise of the Heir of Slytherin, and the discord that he would spread. It was said that with the combined forces of the Heirs of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, they might be able to stop him."
"Well that obviously didn't happen so what happened?" Harry asked.
"Voldemort found out about the prophecy," said Dumbledore sadly. "He investigated deeply and traced the family's whose bloodlines were connected to the other Heirs down. He had every family member killed. He wanted to make sure that he destroyed the bloodlines completely."
"So that meant the prophecy was useless after Voldemort destroyed the first bloodline right?"
"Yes," said Dumbledore. "Hufflepuff's bloodline was destroyed in 1971."
"But he went after Gryffindor's and Ravenclaw's bloodlines didn't he?" Harry asked, already guessing the answer.
"Yes, Voldemort wanted to eliminate all possible threats to his power. Ravenclaw's bloodline was destroyed in 1977."
"All right, that's enough!" Harry interrupted. He rose abruptly from his armchair and paced around the living room. Dumbledore gave Harry a confused look.
"Is there any point to all of this?" he asked angrily. "All you're going to tell me is when Voldemort destroyed Gryffindor's bloodline. You haven't answered my question! What has this got to do with Voldemort going after me instead of Neville?"
Dumbledore hesitated again.
"What!?" Harry asked again.
Dumbledore finally answered. "Gryffindor's bloodline wasn't destroyed," he said quietly.
Harry, slightly taken aback by this answer stopped his pacing by the fireplace. "It wasn't? Why not?"
Dumbledore didn't answer. Harry tried again. "Did he try to kill me before he got the chance to?"
"Not exactly," said Dumbledore quietly.
"Then WHAT!?" Harry shouted in exasperation.
It looked like what Dumbledore was about to say was costing him a lot of effort.
"Harry, you are the last of that bloodline."
Whatever anger was left in Harry all but vanished with that sentence. Anger was replaced with absolute shock. He was speechless. He was stunned beyond all recognition.
Dumbledore went on. "Gryffindor's bloodline has been running through your father's side of the family for centuries. But by Halloween 1981, only two people remained: yourself and your father. Voldemort showed up in Godric's Hollow that night with the intention of destroying the last of it, but thanks to your mother's sacrifice and the fact that Voldemort had not heard all of the prophecy that Sybill Trelawney made, he was not successful. It is this reason why Voldemort went after you instead of Mr. Longbottom."
Still in shock, Harry walked over to the living room window. The rain was still coming down hard, but Harry wasn't seeing anything. His mind was lost. Finally, after staring out the window for a few minutes, he turned to face Dumbledore.
"So…so that means…?"
"It means Harry," said Dumbledore "that you are the true Heir of Godric Gryffindor."
Harry closed his eyes as his brain tried to absorb all the information that he had received that day.
"What does this mean?" he asked as he sat back down on the couch.
Dumbledore reached into his cloak and pulled out a small glass case. Placing it on the floor, he pulled out his wand. "Engorgio."
The glass case blew to its full size. Inside the case, was the sword of Godric Gryffindor.
"As you are Gryffindor's Heir, this now belongs to you." Harry just looked at the sword, which looked in immaculate condition.
"Part of me wanted to tell you this after you came out of the Chamber of Secrets, but…"
"…you thought I would be too young to take it," Harry finished tonelessly, his mind still reeling.
Dumbledore nodded slowly. "I know that excuse must be wearing thin, but that is honestly how I felt at the time."
There was a period of silence as both men just stared at the sword. "Pick up the sword Harry," said Dumbledore suddenly.
"What?" Harry asked, startled.
"Pick it up," Dumbledore repeated. "Trust me."
Harry slowly leant forward, opened up the glass case and took up the sword. It had been over three years since he had held it, but it felt no different. His attention was drawn back to Dumbledore, who was once again reaching inside his cloak, and pulled out another wand.
"You have two wands sir?" Harry managed to ask.
Dumbledore shook his head. "No Harry. This is Godric Gyffindor's old wand."
Before Harry could say anything in response, Dumbledore handed the wand over to Harry, who instinctively took it. As soon as he took hold of it, he almost dropped it. It was as though the power form the wand was travelling into him. It was as if a voice inside his head was telling him what to do. With the sword in his left hand and the wand in his right, he slowly brought the closer together until the tip of the wand touched the tip of the sword.
An invisible surge of power connected between the two, vibrating madly, and Harry desperately tried to drop them both, but it was like holding a portkey. He just couldn't let go.
"What's…happening?" he gasped, as the vibration grew even stronger.
Whether Dumbledore answered or not, Harry didn't know, because at that moment a dazzling scarlet and gold ball shot out of the end of Gryffindor's wand. It travelled all the way down the blade of the sword, causing the sword to alternate between glowing scarlet and gold. The ball then travelled back up to the tips of the sword and wand, and the last thing that Harry could remember before he passed out was the ball shooting out and hitting him in the chest.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He woke to find himself lying on a bed in a gloomy high-ceilinged room. It looked awfully familiar. Looking around, his worst fears were confirmed when he saw the empty portrait of Phineas Nigellus. He was at Grimmauld Place.
Harry slowly sat up and walked over to the one window in the room where he once again found it was raining. He rubbed his head, trying to remember what had happened, but all he could remember was the ball hitting him in the chest. Before he could think anymore though, the door opened and in walked Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore, what happened to me?" Harry asked without preamble.
"Something that should have happened before now," Dumbledore said as he sat down on the other bed. "How do you feel?"
"OK I guess. Just really hungry that's all."
"I'm not surprised at that. You have been unconscious for two days."
"I have? Why? What happened?" Harry asked.
"What do you remember?"
"The last thing I can remember was that ball hitting me in the chest," said Harry. "What was that?"
Dumbledore cleared his throat and began to explain. "Godric Gryffindor, along with the other co-founders of Hogwarts, was a powerful wizard Harry. In fact, no one for sure knows the full extent of his powers."
He paused for a moment, then continued. "Right before he died, he transferred his powers out of himself and into his wand and sword, in the hope that one day, his true heir would be able to inherit them if need be."
"So-so I have Gryffindor's power in me?" Harry asked. "You mean I can just do the stuff that he could do without having to learn it?"
"Yes, but as I said, no one knows the full extent of Gryffindor's power. Not just his power either, but his abilities both magical and Muggle. Unfortunately, it's anyone's guess what these may be."
"Well, what do we know?"
"Unfortunately, I am only sure of two things. Gryffindor's sword, if in the hands of the heir, will be able to deflect spells. So I guess you could say it is something like a lightsabre."
Despite of his amazement of being able to deflect spells, Harry allowed himself small grin. "You've seen Star Wars sir?"
"Oh yes," said Dumbledore. "I've seen quite a lot of Muggle films. Star Wars is one of my favourites."
Harry nodded. "So did you say that the sword can reflect any spell?" Dumbledore nodded. "Even Avada Kedavra?" Harry asked.
"As to that, I do not know," Dumbledore said. "It seems as though Gryffindor himself wasn't game enough to try and find out."
"Can't say I blame him," Harry muttered. "So what was the second thing?"
"It involves the sword as well. You can use it as a normal blade, or you can use it to knock people out."
"You mean it won't hurt them at all?"
"Not as long as you think what you want the sword to do."
"But what about the rest of his power?" Harry asked. "If no one knows, how am I supposed to know?"
"From what I have heard, they will come to you naturally," Dumbledore said.
"How do you know all of this?"
"Your father's side of the family had looked after Gryffindor's wand and sword for generations. Because they knew that Voldemort was after them, Lily and James asked me to take care of them."
"So Voldemort knows about this?"
"He knows that you are the heir, but I am fairly certain that he doesn't know that you know about your new-found power."
Harry studied Dumbledore's face carefully. It appeared normal, but there was still the nervousness in his eyes. For a moment, he double-checked himself, but he asked the question that had been on his mind for the last few minutes.
"Look," he started. "I can appreciate how difficult this was for you to tell me, but…why couldn't I have…known this earlier? Everything could be so much different."
Dumbledore sighed. "Like I told you in my office, my only defence is that I wanted you to be happy. I cared about that too much to worry about what might happen to you if Voldemort returned."
He went silent. Slowly, Harry stood up and slowly paced around the room. His thoughts were interrupted by Dumbledore's voice.
"All I can say Harry, is that I'm sorry. I knew you had proved to me time and time again that you could have handled this if I had told you earlier, but I couldn't bring myself to do it."
Before Harry could respond, his stomach gave off a huge rumbling of hunger.
"Here," said Dumbledore, pulling out his wand and giving it a wave. A plate of assorted sandwiches appeared along with a flask of pumpkin juice. "Eat. Then I suggest that you get some sleep. It will help your body adjust."
"What is the date and time?" Harry asked as he took a sandwich.
"It's July 18, and it's 9pm." Dumbledore rose to his feet.
"Will I see you again? Before school starts again I mean?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore nodded. "I will be back tomorrow."
"Right," said Harry. "I just…have some questions I need to ask you that's all."
Dumbledore nodded. "I figured that you would," he said. "Get some rest Harry. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Good night sir." Dumbledore left the room.
As overwhelming as the last few days had been, Harry didn't think about any of it at all as he hungrily devoured the sandwiches and pumpkin juice. After he finished it all, tiredness rapidly over took him. He fell back onto the bed and was asleep within moments.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Harry woke the next morning feeling refreshed. He found all of his gear at the foot of his bed. Searching through his bag of clothes, he found his watch and discovered that it was already midday. Stretching, he left the room and made his way downstairs.
Upon reaching the bottom, he noticed two things. First, the portrait of Mrs Black was still on the wall covered by the curtains. Swallowing the sudden lump that had appeared in his throat, he tiptoed passed and came across the shelf that had the heads of all of the previous house-elves.
At least it used to. The shelves were glaringly empty. Thinking about house-elves made Harry think of Kreacher, and anger started to surge through him like poison. He managed to keep it in check though. Taking a steadying breath, he entered the living room.
Seated around the table were Tonks, Arthur Weasley and Remus Lupin. All three were engaged in conversation and hadn't noticed Harry, so he cleared his throat to alert them of his presence. All three of them looked up at once.
"Harry," said Mr Weasley, getting up and shaking his hand. "Good to see you."
"Are you hungry at all, Harry?" Tonks asked. "I'll go make us some lunch." She ruffled Harry's hair as she walked into the kitchen.
"I better go give her a hand," said Mr Weasley, making note of Tonks' well-known clumsiness. He too disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Harry alone with Lupin.
"How are you Harry?" Lupin asked quietly as he shook Harry's hand. The terrible sadness in Lupin's eyes almost made Harry's heart break.
"I'm OK. You?"
"I'll be alright," Lupin said as he sat back down.
Harry sat down with him. "Where's Kreacher?" he asked as calmly as possible.
"He's dead," said Lupin quietly. Seeing the surprised look on Harry's face he continued. "He went delirious with delight after what happened to Sirius. He suffered a heart attack. You may have noticed all the heads are gone." Harry nodded, not feeling sorry for Kreacher at all.
The front door open and closed and moments later, Dumbledore walked into the room.
"Good afternoon," he said as he sat down. Harry and Lupin nodded in welcome.
"How are you today Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
"I'm OK," he said again.
Tonks and Mr Weasley re-entered the room with lunch, both of them greeted Dumbledore, and they sat down to eat.
"How has your summer been so far Harry?" Mr Weasley asked.
"Uneventful," Harry replied. "I've already finished all of my homework. I found doing that helped me take my mind off…other things," he finished quietly.
Everyone in the room knew he was making reference to Sirius, but thankfully for Harry, nothing was said on the matter. They all knew he would talk about it when he was ready.
"What's your take on the Azkaban breakout?" Lupin asked, diverting the topic.
Harry sighed in frustration. "I knew it was going to happen, especially with no Dementors there. Draco Malfoy said his Dad would be out in no time."
Dumbledore sighed. "I had hoped that Draco would choose a different path to that of Lucius, but apparently not."
Harry snorted. "I don't know why you bothered to hope sir. He was already gone the very first time I met him on the train."
No one spoke again until everyone had finished. Tonks and Mr Weasley gathered up the dishes and disappeared into the kitchen.
"What is he up to?" Harry asked quietly. Dumbledore and Lupin both knew he was asking about Voldemort.
"I wish we knew Harry," said Dumbledore sadly. "Aside from the Azkaban breakout, he has been very quiet."
"Too quiet," said Lupin.
"Whatever he's doing, it hasn't made my scar burn," said Harry. "It hasn't even twinged once, not even on the Azkaban breakout."
"I don't think that Voldemort felt too much emotion at that," said Dumbledore. "I imagine that he was still fairly unhappy about the events at the end of June."
Harry gave Dumbledore a sharp look, but was thankful that he had not made open reference to the prophecy. He had no idea if anyone else knew.
"No offence," he said looking at Lupin, "but I have some questions that I need to ask Professor Dumbledore."
"Of course Harry," said Lupin. He left the room to help Tonks and Mr Weasley. Harry turned back to Dumbledore. He reached into his pocket, pulled out Ron's letter and handed it to Dumbledore. Dumbledore read it quickly and looked back up at Harry.
"How does Malfoy know?" Harry asked spitefully.
"I can't give you an exact answer, but the only assumption that I can make is that Bellatrix Lestrange has been in contact with the Malfoy family while Lucius was in jail."
Although his face remained emotionless, under the table, Harry's fists were tightly clenched. His hatred for Bellatrix intensified even further. Steading himself, he went on. "What about Occulmency? Will I still need to learn it?"
"An interesting question," Dumbledore answered. "While I still believe that he felt know emotion at the Azkaban breakout, I believe that Voldemort has realised how dangerous it is for you to have access to his thoughts. As so, I believe that he is now employing Occlumency against you." Smiling slightly at the look of surprised relief on Harry's face, Dumbledore continued. "Even so, I think it would be beneficial to you if you did, however I am not going to force you to do so. It is up to you."
Despite this piece of good news, the final decision wasn't too hard for Harry. He didn't want anyone else to pay the ultimate price for a mind trick, even if it meant that Snape had to teach him. "I want to learn sir," he answered determinedly.
Dumbledore nodded. "Originally, if you accepted of course, I was going to have you taught at Hogwarts, but since you have already finished all of your school work, we can do it here if you want. I will teach you. If all goes well, we may be finished before you have to go back to school."
Harry felt some relief at this news. Not only would this not impede his lessons at school, but also he wouldn't have Snape teaching him either. And speaking of Snape…
"Sir, why did Professor Snape accept me into N.E.W.T Potions? I didn't get the required grade." Dumbledore didn't miss the bitterness in Harry's voice when he said Snape's name. He sighed.
"I know this is not what you want to hear, but I convinced him to let you in. I really think that you would make an excellent Auror." The answer was exactly what Harry had feared.
"Why did you do it?" he asked in an exasperated tone. "You both know that we hate each other all because of my father. I suppose he told you about the pensieve?"
"He did mention it."
"Well maybe you can answer me," said Harry quickly, before Dumbledore could say anything. "Everyone tells me that I am, but am I anything like my father?" he asked almost pleadingly. "Besides from looking like him?"
"You are more like your father than you realise Harry," said Dumbledore quietly. "There is one big difference between the two of you though. That's your maturity. You have to understand Harry, that although Voldemort was on the rise when he and Lily were at school, he lived a relatively normal childhood. Something because of Voldemort, you have never been able to experience. You have fought him off more times than anyone. The person you are now Harry, is what James was when he fully matured. That was during his last year at Hogwarts, when Voldemort became a more serious threat. So when someone tells you that you are like your father from now on Harry, you should take that as the ultimate compliment. James Potter, regardless of his antics at Hogwarts and regardless of what Professor Snape may think, was a fine man."
Harry tried to find something to say, but couldn't. He settled on nodding his head slowly. Dumbledore got to his feet.
"I know you probably have a few more questions Harry, but I have an appointment that I need to attend to. I will come back in a few days. Until then, practise clearing your head every night before you go to sleep. As you know, it will help in your Occlumency lessons. In the meantime, Remus will work on your sword skills with you. It can't hurt to practice."
Dumbledore turned to go, but stopped and spoke again.
"I am one hundred and fifty years old Harry. So you can imagine that I have known quite a lot of people during my time. But out of all of them, you are the strongest of them all. You have overcome so many obstacles in your life just to get to where you are now. You're parents would be very proud of you." He paused. "I'm very proud of you."
With those words, Dumbledore turned and left, leaving Harry still trying to find his voice. Finally, about ten minutes after Dumbledore left, Harry managed to drag himself to his feet and almost crashed into Lupin on his way out of the room.
"You OK, Harry?" Lupin asked concernedly.
"I'm fine," said Harry quietly, finally finding his voice again. "I just need sometime alone."
Lupin nodded as Harry wearily made his way back upstairs to his room.
A/N: OK. Blatant steal from HBP about Voldemort employing Occlumency against Harry. So you don't need to tell me I know. Again, not too many changes here.
Some advance warning though. From June 1, I will be away for 2½ weeks, back for a week, gone for another 2½ weeks, back for a week, and then maybe gone for another 2½ weeks after that. Lot of travelling for me over the next month and a half. Hopefully the last 2½ weeks will be cancelled, because Deathly Hallows will be out by then, and if work forces me to miss that, heads will roll I assure you.
Anyway, let me know what you think.
J R Potter