Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Chimera: More Snake than Lion
Reviews:
Thor_uk: Thanks, man. I appreciate the review very much. Yeah: Cho will not become a submissive, 2-dimensional character. I certainly intend for her to be a strong, capable woman, an equal partner to Harry. I con't much like fics where they simply write her off as a crybaby, or a whore. She's his first love, and you don't just forget something like that. Have fun with this chapter. By chap 6 or so, there will be some Cho, i hope.
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"Alright. What do you know about Dumbledore?" Harry asked in a noncommittal tone.
Blinking at the unexpected question, she answered "Well, he's 122 years old, and went to Hogwarts. I'm not sure what House he was in, but it was probably Gryffindor. Uh...after school he apprenticed with Nicholas Flamel for five years, and then worked with him for the next twenty years, and invented the twelve uses of Dragon's blood. Then he returned to Hogwarts to teach Transfiguration in about 1920, and worked that job for the next twenty something years until he became Headmaster in 1948. Right before that, in 1942, he defeated Grindelwald, and got the Order of Merlin and got an honorary membership in the Dark Force Defense League. About five years after that, he became the Mugwump of the Wizengamot, and a few years later became the Supreme Mugwump. Uh...then You-Know-Who popped up about twenty years after he became Headmaster, and he's been fighting him since then. He created the Order in 1973...I think your parents were in their fifth year or so then. Then 1981 happened, and things calmed down for a while."
Harry nodded thoughtfully.
"Okay, you have all the facts right, but I'll have to explain my problems with him. In 1927, a young muggle-raised half-blood started at Hogwarts. His name was Tom Riddle. He lived in an orphanage most of his life, and they treated him pretty bad over there. Naturally, as he found out that he could do something supernatural like magic, he wished to pay them back for the pain that they caused him. So he studied hard, and was an exceptional student. Now, at the end of each year, he would beg and plead with the teachers and Headmaster to stay at school over the summer. He hated returning to the orphanage, where they would beat him and torture him each summer.
"But each time, he was refused. Each time, the teachers flat out told him that he could not stay there for the summer, believing that whatever happened over the summer was none of their business. Now, think about this hard. In the summer, there are a grand total of ten people staying in the castle. Barely any of the facilities are used, and the dormitories remain empty. Now, there are a minimum of two hundred House Elves at Hogwarts at any time, and it is in their nature to care for people. Was it really such a stretch of imagination to think that they would refuse to take care of one kid for a period of two months? He would need no supervision, he could simply be allowed to visit the library, walk down to Hogsmeade or fly on one of the school brooms.
"Each time he was refused, Albus Dumbledore would sympathize with him. He would put on his grandfatherly face of utmost regret, and say how sad he was that Headmaster Dippet did not allow the boy to stay. And each time he would whisper these little nothings into Tom's ears, the boy grew more and more angry. He found out in his Fifth year that he was the direct heir to Salazar Slytherin. He found the Chamber of Secrets, and found that there was a beast of terrible power in there, a Basilisk. Perverting his Forefather's ideals, Tom used the Basilisk to try and purge the school of those that he thought unfit for the benefits of magic: Muggleborns. Eventually, one girl was killed in the school. You know her as Moaning Myrtle, the ghost who hangs around in the U-bend in the girls toilets on the second floor. Now, Dumbledore became suspicious, and Tom didn't want to get caught. He sealed the Chamber again, and through sheer luck found out that a student at Hogwarts had a dangerous pet. He blamed the attack on Rubeus Hagrid's pet, a young Acromantula, and Hagrid's wand was snapped then he was expelled and thrown into Azkaban for a while. Luckily for him, there wasn't enough evidence, so he was released, but still not allowed to attend Hogwarts.
"When he finally graduated, receiving top honors, Tom left the school, and became an apprentice to Grindelwald. For the next five years, he learnt the blackest of arts, and his first murder apart from Myrtle was that of Headmaster Armando Dippet, the man he believed to have caused his torment during each summer before school. That was the only killing that he ever felt guilty about. As Dippet was dying, he told Tom that he had kept trying to arrange for him to live at Dippet Mansion in the summers, but Albus Dumbledore, who was more respected due to his spectacular work on Alchemy, had repeatedly dissuaded him. As he was dying, he said that Dumbledore had said that Tom needed to build 'good moral fiber' and that he needed to learn to ignore the muggles and forgive them. Then, he finally died, and Tom nearly snapped. He descended into the darkness like no-one had in centuries, and went through a horrendous amount of rituals. He received his wish to become magically more powerful than Dumbledore, but underwent several mutations because of the Dark Magic and the rituals. In 1967, Tom Riddle returned to the mainstream of the Wizarding World as Lord Voldemort."
Tonks' expression had grown steadily paler as Harry told his story, realizing where this was going. Yet, as he spoke the last two words, she found herself gasping out of surprise rather than fear. She was beginning to understand what Harry felt towards Dumbledore.
"Harry, how do you know about this stuff? How do you know his life so intimately, and know that Voldemort felt guilty about killing Dippet?" Tonks asked in a voice that sounded far from accusing.
He smiled sadly, and replied "I'm not the only one who has nightmares. He does too, terrible ones, and sometimes I used to see them. The rest I found out from...listen, you cannot tell anyone about this next bit, okay?"
She nodded, and he continued "I heard it from the portrait of Salazar Slytherin which lies in the Chamber of Secrets. He is my Master, and I am his Apprentice. He imbued the portrait with some of his lifeblood, so he would be magically capable of apprenticing any of his descendants that ventured into the Chamber. In the last four hundred years, I am the only one he trained, as he felt that Tom was perverting his ideals and would use his teachings for disgusting purposes."
Tonks was staring at him in shock, not knowing what to say. She was sitting in front of the most famous wizard in the world, and had just heard him admit to being the apprentice of a reputed Dark Wizard of incredible power, not to mention one that was dead for a whole millennium. She blinked, shaking her head amusedly.
"Only you, Harry, could do something like that. Only you." He tossed her a grin and opened the door to the diner for her, hearing the bells attached to the door jingle. She smiled at him appreciatively as he held the door for her as she walked by. "It's great that you put in such effort, Harry, but why exactly would you work this hard? I mean, when you're twelve years old you don't really feel like studying more than you already have to."
He smiled tightly at her in reply, and softly said "If you were in my place, Tonks, a child living in a cupboard for years, would you not take any advantage you could get to learn something as wondrous as magic?"
She looked at him sadly and squeezed his hand comfortingly.
"The end of second year was not the first time that I did more than just class work. After Dumbledore returned my father's invisibility cloak to me, I made full use of it to raid the library and explore Hogwarts at night. I've never been a deep sleeper, so I just did it originally to while away the time. Then, when we missed the sorting in second year, McGonagall conjured a plate of sandwiches and juice for us with a simple wave of her wand. After spending a summer being fed through a cat-flap, Tonks, being able to do something that impressive and useful was quite an attractive prospect. I still felt as if I was living a fantasy, and I was determined to make the best of it, and be the best wizard possible."
He blinked, his moodiness disappearing, and grinned comfortingly as they grabbed a table slightly far from where most of the business was. Just as a precaution, Tonks placed a silencing charm around the table so that they could talk, and it showed a second later as the waitress was a bit confused at the sudden lack of sound from the crowd behind them. They ordered healthy food, quite content to eat it rather than some gunk made for bovines.
As they waited, Tonks motioned for him to continue, and he did, interspersing his speech by chewing on a few saltine crackers.
"Now, in 1967, when Tom Riddle began killing again, he was magically more powerful than Dumbledore, but in realistic terms, was nowhere near a match for him. Dumbledore was the superior duelist, and could have, with time, defeated Riddle. Now, as Tom turned into a Dark Lord and began gathering support, Dumbledore dueled him many times. Each time, when he could have won, he foolishly let Tom escape. This, I don't understand...if he could have killed Tom then, why didn't he do it? More than eight thousand deaths, wizards and muggles, could have been prevented if Dumbledore had just said two words and ended it all. If he had spread the word about Tom being a half-blood, then the pureblood faction would not have responded to his calls regardless of the fact that he was the Heir of Slytherin. My opinion is that Dumbledore was waiting for Voldemort to become a much bigger threat to the Wizarding World to take action. Already, he had waited eleven years until Grindelwald was a huge threat to defeat him, and I think he wanted Tom to be so large a threat that the Wizarding world would see him as their ultimate savior. But he waited too long.
"In 1980, a prophecy was made due to his inaction. He was the only one who could have defeated him at that point, but he didn't, and he cursed this world to so much pain and death. The prophecy stated that only one person would have a chance at defeating Voldemort, and that person was not Dumbledore. Because he had done nothing, magic itself decided to make sure that it would happen. Now, Dumbledore had no chance of being the savior, so immediately, he began to maneuver himself into the position where he would be able to control this savior, and mould him to the point where he could take credit for the win at the end."
Here, Tonks looked at him sadly, tightly grasping his hand in hers. "It's you, isn't it? You're the savior." He nodded, a haunted look in his eyes that made her let out a tear. He smiled weakly and flicked the tear away with a finger, squeezing back on her hand.
"Now, the oath that you took yesterday simply said that you would not divulge anything I said, it gave no time limit. You did it on purpose, didn't you?"
She nodded, a slight smile on her face. He gave her a smile, and continued. "The prophecy basically states that the person who can defeat Voldemort would be born at the end of July, and that could have meant either Neville Longbottom or me. The next part said that Voldemort would mark the one that would ultimately be the prophecy child, and he did that in 1981, when he cursed me, leaving the scar. The last bit states that if and when we fight to the death, only one of us can walk away, although I am supposed to have a special power that Voldemort doesn't know of."
Tonks looked at him sadly. "You will win, Harry. I'm sure you will." He nodded, not knowing how to reply.
"Okay, you know that my family went into hiding under the Fidelius Charm in 1980. What I think is that Dumbledore arranged things so that my family would be attacked. What makes me think this is the fact that the Longbottoms did not go into hiding, and there are other things that I'll tell you as well. Why didn't they hide? Because Dumbledore didn't tell them about the prophecy. Neville was born the day before me, so he correctly assumed that I would be the target. He was basically taking a gamble on the lives of an innocent family just so that he could control what would happen. Now, he knew that Sirius was my Dad's best friend, and that he would be too obvious a choice for the Secret Keeper. Remus was not the best choice either, as he had sown the seeds of doubt in their minds, something that Sirius told me about last year. The only option left was Pettigrew, because my mom's best friend was dead. He knew that Pettigrew was on the other side, something that would be obvious by looking into his eyes even once during Order meetings. He is a powerful legilimens, and Pettigrew is not an Occlumens. His passive legilimency would have picked up the thoughts of betrayal from the forefront of Pettigrew's mind.
"Pettigrew had already been passing information to the other side for a year, which was why the Order was singularly useless from the summer of 1980 until Voldemort died. Dumbledore would have taken the first chance to hunt for spies, but he did nothing about it once he found out, especially since he knew that Pettigrew would end up being the Secret Keeper once he convinced my parents to go into hiding. So he did convince them, and by summer 1981, they went into hiding. He never once told them anything about the Fidelius charm, and when they went into hiding, he never gave them the means to research such an arcane spell themselves, since the only real information about it is in the Hogwarts Library and in some extremely old texts. Otherwise, they would have known that the charm does not hide people, but places. I researched it myself, and asked Salazar about it, and do you know what I found out? My mother, being the charms mistress, could have cast the spell, and made my father the secret keeper, thus making them ultimately safe. They would never betray their own family, Dumbledore knew, so he needed them to know as little as possible about the charm so that they would choose Wormtail, and he could betray the secret to Voldemort. In fact, my mother could have cast the spell and held the secret herself; that is what Dumbledore did with Grimmauld Place. He is the only one powerful enough to cast the spell, and he is the Secret Keeper of the Order."
Tonks had a tear running down her cheek as she held onto his hand with a death-grip.
"Now, we all know what happened: the secret was betrayed, and Halloween night happened. Now, here's another part that makes me suspicious. I think that Dumbledore somehow attached himself to the wards, especially the Fidelius Charm, because the night that my parents died, he knew about it immediately. What happened was the Voldemort, knowing the secret, blasted open the door and entered, killing my parents. He did not try to disable the charm; it would have expended too much energy to do so since he wasn't the caster. But then, as soon as it happened, Dumbledore knew. He didn't come to collect me himself, instead he was absently ambling down Privet Drive and writing a letter to the Dursleys. He sent Hagrid to collect me from Godric's Hollow. Now, how would Hagrid have known where the house was? The Fidelius should still have been standing, regardless of the fact that the cottage was torn down. Sure, Hagrid might be a nice guy, but I doubt that my parents would trust him with the secret to where they were living. Dumbledore disabled the Fidelius, and told Hagrid where to go. And then, he arbitrarily decided to circumvent the law, sticking his nose where it didn't belong. Sirius, the only other person who was supposed to know where my Parents were, was there as well. He tried to take me, but Hagrid denied him, he told him that Dumbledore said that he was to take me with him. Who gave Dumbledore the right to take me away from my true guardian? If Sirius had had to take care of me at the time, he wouldn't have gone after Wormtail, he wouldn't have been falsely charged with murder and thrown into Azkaban. Instead, in his grief, he did exactly what Dumbledore hoped for, and got himself out of the way, getting thrown into Azkaban without even a bloody trial."
Tonks looked visibly deflated, which was understandable considering that she had just had her ideals smashed. While she wanted to believe that Dumbledore was a good person, what Harry was saying was undeniable in its truth. There was simply no way that everything could have happened so brilliantly that Dumbledore became the only person in control of Harry's life.
"Now, I have to disabuse you of another piece of fiction that he created. The special power that I am supposed to have...he tells me that it is love. He tells me that my ability to love will help me win. What do I think? I think he wants me to falsely believe in this, so that when everyone I care for dies, my emotions will charge my magic and I will explode, taking Voldemort with me. Then, he can come in as the savior of the day, telling of how he figured out how to defeat Voldemort, and that it could only have been done if I died too. He will turn me into a martyr, and pretend that he was the one who guided me into the selfless decision, saying that I initially didn't want to do it, but that he convinced me. He has gone around telling people that the reason that I survived the Killing curse was because my mother created a shield of pure love to counter an unblockable curse. While it helps towards his fabrication of a fairy tale, it holds not a single grain of truth. My mother died while trying to shield me, but she did not succeed in protecting me. I know as well as anyone that there is no shield to the Killing Curse; it was created with the use of hate, and that, by far, is the most powerful emotion there is. No, the reason that the killing curse was reflected was because of the Prophecy.
"The Prophecy states that I would be marked by the Dark Lord. My scar is that mark, as I told you, and so I was marked because the prophecy stated so. Now, if he had taken a knife and cut me on the shoulder or wherever, I would have a mark there that would show that he marked me. It would be similar to my current scar. I would not have died, and since it was physically done, nothing would have reflected back at him. Now, since he was supposed to mark me, and he fired the Killing Curse, magic knew that the first time that he touched me either physically or magically, I could not be allowed to die. So, in order to make sure that the first touch was not fatal, it caused the curse to be reflected, simply leaving a mark. Voldemort was simply in the wrong place, and he got hit by his own curse. There was no love involved. If he had poked me with a knife to make a mark, the connection would have been made. Then, all he would have to do was to fire another killing curse at me, and he would be the winner, and I would have been dead.
"Now, I don't have a clue as to what this special power is. I doubt that it is the fact that I am a Metamorphmagus...the prophecy was made after I was conceived, and I doubt that the prophecy or the killing curse gave me such a power. Being a metamorph doesn't really help me against Voldemort, although as you showed, it certainly has its advantages. The power is something else, and I have to find out what it is quickly."
Tonks nodded, musing "Hmm...I don't really think that love can empower you enough to kill him. Sure, emotion-driven magic is powerful, but it is definitely not a power that he doesn't know about, he uses the killing curse often enough to disprove that. And no matter how evil he is, love is love, it's not something that you can be entirely blind to. I'm sure, even though he is a snake-y bastard; he probably had a crush or two in his school days."
Harry nodded, taking a sip of water before he continued.
"So, my parents died, Sirius went to Azkaban, Wormtail escaped and Lupin nearly went mad. I was packed off to the Dursleys in a basket with a letter written by Dumbledore. Now, as things seem to have happened, after he left me there, against the advice of McGonagall, he returned. He then proceeded to put power blocks on me."
Here, he was interrupted by Tonks, who went white and slammed her fist against the table in anger. "He did WHAT?" she snarled, small hints of red in her cheeks. "How dare he do that to you?! Tampering with someone's magic is the greatest insult to a wizard that you can have! It's illegal unless done by parents or to criminals! You could challenge him to a duel of honor!"
Harry gently grasped her balled fist, his thumb stroking her tensed fingers soothingly as he whispered "Shh...it's okay Tonks. Relax. The maturation will get rid of them."
Breathing heavily after her outburst, she slowly relaxed, but said in a heated voice "What are you gonna do about this, Harry? It's a positively disgusting thing to do!"
He continued to stroke her hand with his, and said "Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do. Despite how powerful I can become, Voldemort is still better than me, in terms of dueling at least. Until I establish a few years worth of experience, I will not be a match for him. Right now, I doubt that I could last more than ten minutes in a duel with him, and even the prophecy doesn't seem to matter anymore. He fired the killing curse at me in the Ministry. No...I might hate Dumbledore, but I cannot take the risk that it would create if I was to have him arrested. He has to be around to defend Hogwarts, or it will be taken by Voldemort."
She nodded, but still had the slight blush of anger on her cheeks that indicated just how irritated she was with Dumbledore.
"Okay, when I was about four months old, I apparently had a block put on me by my parents. I was probably doing some rather potent accidental magic, so they put the standard block on my magic, the sort that degrades into nothingness by the time I reach eleven years of age. Now, when Dumbledore placed blocks on me, he went and froze the one that my parents put, making sure that it didn't deteriorate with time. He put eight blocks on my core-"
Here, Tonks exploded in anger once again, and Harry had to silence her quickly lest the other patrons notice that she was screaming but that no sound was emerging. Quickly, he slid around the table to sit next to her, and grabbed her into a hug, pushing her face into the crook of his neck. She stopped screaming, but was still talking angrily, reluctantly circling her arms around his waist to hug him back.
When she eventually grew silent again, he whispered "Are you done?" She blushed and nestled further into his neck, squeaking a reply back in embarrassment. He grinned at her when she finally drew away, making her crack a reluctant grin herself.
"Okay, he put eight blocks on me. Now these blocks are of a different variety. They don't limit the amount of magic that I use but rather they circle my core like a helix, and squeeze it into a tiny ball. It compresses my magic, and with the block from my parents not having disappeared, I only have about 15 percent of my magic available to me. So, you see, my maturation will mean that I'll have to work on controlling my magic all over again, lest I exhaust myself. Now, he obviously means to replace the blocks on my core; he is an incredibly knowledgeable wizard, and he knows that my maturity will break the blocks. By doing this, he will have restrained my magic to the point that when I release my emotions during battle by casting the Killing Curse, they will burn away the blocks, and cause me to explode both magically and physically, taking Voldemort with me due to the scar connection. Of course, I won't let that happen, as I've nearly isolated the connection and shielded it away."
She nodded, astonished, and absently noted that she had not moved out of his arms. "But you can cast a patronus...exactly how powerful are you? If your 15 percent allows you to drive away a hundred Dementors, then you must be ridiculously powerful!"
He nodded, replying "I'm exactly as powerful as Voldemort, which is that I am, or rather, I will be once my maturation takes place. I've been learning the theory on how to use a stave from Salazar over the past three years, but I'll have to wait until I get control over my magic again until I can use it for the first time. With what I have now, I can barely use the unlocking charm once through a stave before I become fully exhausted. In any case, I doubt that I will continue to learn how to use one...the Druid tongue is hard to speak, and during a duel, I doubt I will have the time to use such long incantations.
"Right...let's get back to Dumbledore. Now, I lived with my Aunt and Uncle for three months shy of 10 years. Considering that I am Dumbledore's only defense against Voldemort, and that I am the one he will martyr, don't you think that he would have checked on me at least once? I'm pretty sure he did, because he never made a remark about the fact that I lived in a cupboard for ten years. Frankly, I'm too valuable for him to discard like that with nothing more than some old squib lady to watch from afar. So, the only conclusion that I can come to is that he knew, and did nothing about it. He knew that I was being beaten and starved, and he let it go on. Why did he do it? I can't tell, but what seems most likely is that it would make sure that I would see Hogwarts as my true home; and him as my savior. Now, every once in a while when I was dragged around with my aunt to carry her things when she went shopping, I would occasionally run into a Wizard. Now that I met the Order last year, I find it odd that the only wizards I met just so happened to be Order members. I met Daedalus Diggle once, Sturgis Podmore once and Algernon Steeple once. That leads me to believe that he had me watched through my whole childhood, and that he did nothing about it.
"Now let's move onto my school years. When I finally did get my letter, after a month where my relatives absolutely refused to let me touch them, it was brought to me by Hagrid. Why Hagrid? When sending a letter to a Muggleborn or a Muggle-raised student, one of the Head of Houses or at the very least a qualified teacher goes. Hagrid, being nine feet tall and bloody scary, was the right incentive to stop the Dursleys from at least beating me in the future. So, he gave me some cake, put the fear into the Dursleys, etc, and then took me to Diagon Alley. Now, while I was there, Hagrid quite conveniently mentioned more than once how Dark Magic was bad, how Slytherin was a bad house, and how the Purebloods were far from nice people. Good information to know, but it tends to form an opinion in a star-struck little kid. I was being exposed to a new world by a kind guy, and I was more than ready to take his words at face value. An accident? I don't think so. Then Hagrid took me down to my vault, and quite conveniently decided not to inform me that that Vault was nothing more than a Trust Fund, and that the Potter Vault was far bigger and fuller than that one. Then, he takes me to pick up the Philosopher's Stone, thus making me intrigued as to what it is. Of course, since I was new to the Wizarding World, I could be trusted to try my damndest to find out what that grubby little package was.
"So, I go back to Privet Drive, all happy about the fact that I can do something as cool as magic. When the time comes for me to get on the Hogwarts Express, I find that Hagrid had conveniently forgotten to inform me of how to actually get on the platform. So there I am, standing on platform nine with my trunk and owl, with no clue how to get to school. Coincidentally, at the same time the Weasley family is getting to the train, and I hear Molly Weasley ask what the Platform number was. Now, she herself went to school using the train, and each of her children used the train, so why would she ask a question like that? The only answer I have is that she was told to do so, at the exact time that I would be there, so that I would ask them for help. Now, as soon as I got on the train, the first people I met were Fred and George, and that was entirely harmless. Then, Ron came and sat with me for the rest of the trip, and quite frankly informed me that Malfoy and the other Slytherins were bad news. He was sure that he would be in Gryffindor, and as he was my first friend, I decided that I wanted to be in Gryffindor as well.
"So, the sorting took place, and I argued with the Hat and refused to let it put me in Slytherin. Now, let me make things clear: I am not a Gryffindor. For ten years, I had to basically take care of myself and rely on my wits to get me out of situations, and into the good graces of others. I was Slytherin material even then, and I was more than ambitious in my spur of the moment decision to become the best Wizard possible. Living with the Gryffindors this far has certainly made me more bold and obtrusive in my actions, but I still keep secrets and am a cunning person. I needed to be, for otherwise I would fail to keep my affairs in the Chamber a secret.
"Classes started, and everything was going great. I got on the Quidditch team, I had friends for the first time, and I was getting great food everyday. Then, things started turning to the worse after Halloween; the whole business with the Troll in the Dungeons happened. I got involved with the Stone, and I began trying to find out more about it. By Christmas, I got my invisibility cloak from Dumbledore, and a few nights later, I found the mirror of Erised. Dumbledore met me there and talked to me, so that I would get a basic idea of how the mirror worked before I finally tried to get the stone out of it a few months later. Eventually, we found out about Nicholas Flamel, and realized that it was the stone that was being hidden there."
Here, Harry paused as the waitress brought their burgers, and they dove in with relish as their hunger was slowly sated.
Between bites, but without speaking with food in his mouth, Harry continued the story.
"At the end of the year, we still didn't have things right. Ron, being the idiot he is, kept drawing me away into chess and Quidditch. We thought that the person trying to steal the stone was Snape, not Quirrel, and the three of us headed down to 'rescue' it. Now...what are the chances that a chess board, a dog, a plant, some keys and a troll would stop someone as powerful as Voldemort? Not only that, but the tasks were specifically geared to the three of us. Ron is good at chess, so there was a chessboard. Hermione has a lot of knowledge, so there were two tasks that she would be needed in. I was good at general magic and flying, so there were brooms for me to find a key, and a troll to be taken out like we did earlier in the year. I didn't see it then, but it was nothing more than a test. Doubtless, Dumbledore was probably following us invisibly.
"The tasks that needed to be passed were incredibly easy. A simple killing curse would have taken care of the dog, no matter how big it was. The door that led into the whole thing was locked with a simple locking charm that a first year could break. The dog was guarding a trapdoor, and under it was a Devil's Snare, a plat that Voldemort could have defeated even without his wand. Conjuring a small ball of fire wandlessly, or using a lumos spell is hardly taxing for someone of his power and knowledge. A simple summoning charm would have taken care of the keys fluttering about near the door. In any case, why would the correct key be there at all? The point was supposed to be to stop someone from finding the stone, not to make it a tiny bit harder. In any case, another killing curse would have taken care of the door, even if it was shielded. Being first years, we then had to go through the chessboard, McGonagall's contribution. We had to play them, and I must say...I played harder games in the common room with Ron before. Voldemort, on the other hand, would have simply blasted the pieces away, and rebuilt them as he walked through the next door.
"The last task, before the final one, was Snape's. There were a rack of potions, and a scroll that had a riddle that needed to be deciphered. The doors that went in and out were barred by dragon's fire. Since we were First Years, we actually had to decipher the riddle. Voldemort, on the other hand, would have known immediately what the potions were, and he would have used the right one to go through to the end. So, Hermione went back, and I went through. I found Quirrel, and he wasn't stuttering anymore, and rather than act like a squib, he was performing wandless magic with ease. The final task was the Mirror of Erised, which Dumbledore had 'coincidentally' shown me earlier in the year. Now, the enchantment on it was specific; one had to want the stone, but not want to use it themselves to actually get it. Voldemort couldn't have removed the stone from it at all, so the other tasks were simply to slow him down on the way.
"In the end, the stone appeared my pocket, and Voldemort knew about it, even if Quirrel didn't. When he tried to get the stone from me, he got burned when he touched my skin. Now, this in itself is odd...why would he get burnt by touching me when my mother didn't actually do anything to protect me? I don't mean to sound unappreciative of her sacrifice...but she had no time at all to place such a deep enchantment on me, if it is possible at all. The only reason that comes to mind is that since Voldemort was already possessing Quirrel, he could not touch me, for it is impossible to control two bodies at once. Perhaps my mother did cast a spell on me at some point, but she would not have had the time to perform a full enchantment that night. I've seen the whole thing in my dreams and when I'm around Dementors, and she only had about thirty seconds from when my father died to place any enchantments on me. Considering that a locking enchantment takes about ten seconds to incant and perform, I doubt something as powerful could have been performed in thirty seconds. Perhaps whatever protective enchantment she put on me reacted badly with the curse, making me untouchable to him."
Tonks nodded, entirely engrossed in the story she was being told. A lot of her preconceptions had been shattered today, but she knew that what Harry was saying was undeniable in its truth. Of course, she had no basis to make that judgment by herself, but the events had happened to him, and his explanation sounded more plausible than any she could come up with or any that were offered by others. She only had the barest shreds of loyalty left to Dumbledore, and the last hour had changed even that. She now bore him no trust at all, for after all, it was hard to trust someone who wanted to use you in the worst way possible.
"Well, Quirrel got burned to death because I grabbed onto him before he could fire a killing curse at me. Voldemort's spirit got blown away from the room when he lost his host, and since he couldn't use me because of whatever protection it is, his time ran out and he was banished from Hogwarts. Apparently, he fled back to Albania, where Wormtail found him two summers later. So the year ended, and when I finally woke up in the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore was sitting next to me. I asked him then why Voldemort was after me, but he wouldn't reply...he said it was not the time to tell me. When I found out about the prophecy a few days ago, he told me that he wanted me to have a happy childhood before putting the weight of the prophecy on my shoulders. A happy childhood? I don't think he made an adequate effort."
Tonks grinned at his sarcasm, causing a piece of onion to fall out of her full mouth. She stared at it oddly, almost inquisitively, and Harry burst out laughing at the expression of confusion on her face.
He made to continue, but decided against it. "You told me last year that you left Hogwarts at the end of my second year, right? You probably know what happened that year...the entire school knew about the Chamber of Secrets business. I guess there isn't much to tell about that year, and I can't tell you about what happened over the next few years. Suffice it to say that after Lord Slytherin opened my eyes, I quickly became aware of what was happening. I mostly went along with things for the sake of it...Dumbledore would have come crashing down around my ears if he had even the slightest inkling that I was aware of what he was doing."
Tonks nodded thoughtfully, still munching on her burger. "What I don't understand is the standard of Defense Teachers that he hired. I had Lockhart the same year that I took my NEWTs! I nearly failed my Defense NEWT because the man was incompetent. Luckily, I studied on my own and got it done. The year you came, the Defense Teachers started going bad...first Quirrel, then Lockhart. Before that, we had Steeple for a year, and a whole bunch of others. The curse exists, I guess, but at least they were competent teachers, and nothing like death or memory loss happened to them."
Harry nodded, replying "Of course. It wouldn't do for me to learn too much, would it? Dumbledore knew that I would be a rival to his power someday. Why expose me to more magic when all that was needed was for me to explode at some point in life?"
She grinned, saying "You make it sound so dramatic, Harry."
He scowled playfully, making a rude gesture with his hand. "Oi! I'm the one who's gonna blow up, so I'll thank you to keep your snarky comments to yourself." She grinned in return, and finished off the burger quickly.
Looking up, she started in disbelief. "Harry, how the hell did you finish your burger faster than me when you were talking the whole time?" He shrugged, muttering something about 'growing boys'.
Harry tossed a ten-pound note on the table, another wonder of magic. He had cast a duplication spell on a note that he took from Vernon's wallet. That, however, was the last of his money, since he had returned the original bill. They left the diner in silence, enjoying the growing heat. It was a relief, considering that it was almost never this pleasant outside, what with the rapidly fluctuating weather that England was supposedly famous for.
As they walked back, Tonks asked "Will you ever tell me about what happened in your other three years at school? I understand that it's a trust issue, and if I was in your place, I would probably feel the same way. You have my oath of silence, but tell me sometime, huh? When I prove my loyalty, or whatever."
He grinned, replying "Yeah. Maybe."
"So you hate Dumbledore then? I would too, if I went through the same shit that he put you through," she asked.
Harry smirked at her, and said "Nope. I don't hate him. Frankly, I admire the man."
At her incredulous look, he grinned and continued, "Don't misunderstand me. What I mean is that the man is a master at manipulation. He has incredible skill at it, and I've had to rely on my own wits and Salazar's guidance to keep from falling for his tricks. Until halfway through my fourth year, I regularly let Salazar go through my mind to check up on what was happening so that he could point out anything that I missed. Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you...his portrait has the same legilimency that the sorting hat uses. Dumbledore has literally controlled the entire Wizarding World for over sixty years. He is, by far, the most powerful man in the world in terms of political positioning. Everyone owes him favors, everyone treats him like the benevolent grandfather. If he needs something done, people are simply lined up to do it for him. The man is good at what he does, but I will hopefully be smart enough to get myself out of his grasp.
"I dislike him, rightfully, I might add, for what he has done to me. However, I can't really fault him, especially since it would be hypocritical. I'm set to do the same thing to people once I take over my Lordship."
Tonks looked at him doubtfully when he mentioned that he couldn't fault Dumbledore for what he had done. "Tonks, think of it from his position. He is practically the head of the Wizarding World. He's been in control for years, working behind the scenes subtly to enhance his control. There's a Dark Lord that he can't kill himself, and he knows that no-one but young Harry Potter can do it. In his position, would you take even the slightest chance that someone with a different agenda might influence the only person that can deliver the Wizarding World from Voldemort? He did things a bit harshly, but it was a smart move. If I was to be deviated form my set path of defeating Voldemort, then all would be lost. If I don't feel up to killing Voldemort, then he effectively has immortality, at least until another prophecy is created citing another chosen one."
Tonks nodded hesitantly, understanding his reasoning, but still not fully convinced.
"Don't get me wrong, Tonks. I don't like the man, since it was my life that he screwed up. I will never ally myself with him, I will never take his advice at face value, and I will certainly never trust him. That, however, doesn't mean that I can't admire the way in which he solidified his control over the Wizarding World. Let's just say that if I was Dumbledore on Halloween 1981, I would have made damn sure that the prophecy boy placed his trust solely in me. I wouldn't have thrown the child to the dogs like he did, but I would have raised the child myself, making sure that the kid thought of me as a trustworthy father-figure. Now, I have to establish myself as a major player in the war, and I have to do it without revealing the Prophecy. That makes it all the more hard, since no-one has a reason to think that a sixteen year old kid is worth their allegiance. I will have to manipulate some people in the same way that he did, except for the fact that I'm not doing to make myself the Supreme Leader of the Wizarding World. After this war, if I survive, I fully intend to go relax on a beach somewhere."
She grinned at his dreamy expression. "I told you that I had my own reasons to dislike Dumbledore, right?"
At his nod, she composed herself and said "Well, Harry, he wanted me to do something filthy. A few months ago, after an Order meeting, he assigned me to scope out Knocturn Alley. He told me to try and get information in any way possible. It was suggestive enough that I nearly slapped him across the face. I nearly quit the Order, but he folded, and assigned me to something else."
She looked up at Harry, her cheeks burning in embarrassment, and nearly tripped out of shock. His eyes were blazing a powerful shade of green as he stared forwards resolutely, the bright emerald of the Killing curse. His jaw had tightened visibly, and his hands were balled into fists, the muscles on his forearms shifting as he squeezed his fists tightly. Finally, he took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. A second later, his demeanor was back to normal, and she was taken aback by his extreme control over his emotions. His body language had indicated only in the slightest way that he was angry, but he never burst out yelling like a child. It struck her again how old he seemed, far more mature than his age.
He looked at her, and ground out through tight, thin lips "I see."
She squeezed his forearm comfortingly, although the action seemed to comfort her more than it did him.
Trying to change the topic, she asked "So...what's Salazar Slytherin like? Is he a pureblood elitist or is he a nice chap but misunderstood?" He cracked a wry grin at her attempt at humor.
"He truly believes in pureblood honor and heritage, as do I. However, he doesn't hate Muggles or Muggleborns, or mixed-bloods, the same as me. I've taken after him a lot over the years of learning from him. The basilisk was supposed to be a defense against the Church...in the year 1,024, the Church found out about Hogwarts. They nearly attacked, and the Basilisk would have been the one to defend Hogwarts, just by lying there and staring at them. But, things cooled down later, because an Archbishop had a magical child, and before the kid was killed, someone from Hogwarts went to visit them, and explained the Magical world to them. I'm sure you heard about the treaty between the Magical Nations and the Church in 1,058. They signed the Treaty in the Ministry in Rome and in London. The Pope, apparently, liked the floo very much. At that point, he didn't have the heart to set the Basilisk free in some jungle, so he kept it in the Chamber."
Tonks grinned in reply. She was slightly taken aback when Harry had spoken of how he believed in pureblood honor, but his next lines cleared her doubts up.
"So, what sort of relationship do you have with him? He sounds like a polite version of Lucius Malfoy...without the pureblood stigma."
Harry laughed at her description, and then grinned at her slyly.
"Well, Tonks, since it started as a Master/Apprentice relationship; that is what it's like when he instructs me. At other times? A father/son relationship. He is my father, after all."
Tonks fainted for the second time in twenty four hours.
'Goddamn Hufflepuffs' Harry smirked.
Thor_uk: Thanks, man. I appreciate the review very much. Yeah: Cho will not become a submissive, 2-dimensional character. I certainly intend for her to be a strong, capable woman, an equal partner to Harry. I con't much like fics where they simply write her off as a crybaby, or a whore. She's his first love, and you don't just forget something like that. Have fun with this chapter. By chap 6 or so, there will be some Cho, i hope.
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"Alright. What do you know about Dumbledore?" Harry asked in a noncommittal tone.
Blinking at the unexpected question, she answered "Well, he's 122 years old, and went to Hogwarts. I'm not sure what House he was in, but it was probably Gryffindor. Uh...after school he apprenticed with Nicholas Flamel for five years, and then worked with him for the next twenty years, and invented the twelve uses of Dragon's blood. Then he returned to Hogwarts to teach Transfiguration in about 1920, and worked that job for the next twenty something years until he became Headmaster in 1948. Right before that, in 1942, he defeated Grindelwald, and got the Order of Merlin and got an honorary membership in the Dark Force Defense League. About five years after that, he became the Mugwump of the Wizengamot, and a few years later became the Supreme Mugwump. Uh...then You-Know-Who popped up about twenty years after he became Headmaster, and he's been fighting him since then. He created the Order in 1973...I think your parents were in their fifth year or so then. Then 1981 happened, and things calmed down for a while."
Harry nodded thoughtfully.
"Okay, you have all the facts right, but I'll have to explain my problems with him. In 1927, a young muggle-raised half-blood started at Hogwarts. His name was Tom Riddle. He lived in an orphanage most of his life, and they treated him pretty bad over there. Naturally, as he found out that he could do something supernatural like magic, he wished to pay them back for the pain that they caused him. So he studied hard, and was an exceptional student. Now, at the end of each year, he would beg and plead with the teachers and Headmaster to stay at school over the summer. He hated returning to the orphanage, where they would beat him and torture him each summer.
"But each time, he was refused. Each time, the teachers flat out told him that he could not stay there for the summer, believing that whatever happened over the summer was none of their business. Now, think about this hard. In the summer, there are a grand total of ten people staying in the castle. Barely any of the facilities are used, and the dormitories remain empty. Now, there are a minimum of two hundred House Elves at Hogwarts at any time, and it is in their nature to care for people. Was it really such a stretch of imagination to think that they would refuse to take care of one kid for a period of two months? He would need no supervision, he could simply be allowed to visit the library, walk down to Hogsmeade or fly on one of the school brooms.
"Each time he was refused, Albus Dumbledore would sympathize with him. He would put on his grandfatherly face of utmost regret, and say how sad he was that Headmaster Dippet did not allow the boy to stay. And each time he would whisper these little nothings into Tom's ears, the boy grew more and more angry. He found out in his Fifth year that he was the direct heir to Salazar Slytherin. He found the Chamber of Secrets, and found that there was a beast of terrible power in there, a Basilisk. Perverting his Forefather's ideals, Tom used the Basilisk to try and purge the school of those that he thought unfit for the benefits of magic: Muggleborns. Eventually, one girl was killed in the school. You know her as Moaning Myrtle, the ghost who hangs around in the U-bend in the girls toilets on the second floor. Now, Dumbledore became suspicious, and Tom didn't want to get caught. He sealed the Chamber again, and through sheer luck found out that a student at Hogwarts had a dangerous pet. He blamed the attack on Rubeus Hagrid's pet, a young Acromantula, and Hagrid's wand was snapped then he was expelled and thrown into Azkaban for a while. Luckily for him, there wasn't enough evidence, so he was released, but still not allowed to attend Hogwarts.
"When he finally graduated, receiving top honors, Tom left the school, and became an apprentice to Grindelwald. For the next five years, he learnt the blackest of arts, and his first murder apart from Myrtle was that of Headmaster Armando Dippet, the man he believed to have caused his torment during each summer before school. That was the only killing that he ever felt guilty about. As Dippet was dying, he told Tom that he had kept trying to arrange for him to live at Dippet Mansion in the summers, but Albus Dumbledore, who was more respected due to his spectacular work on Alchemy, had repeatedly dissuaded him. As he was dying, he said that Dumbledore had said that Tom needed to build 'good moral fiber' and that he needed to learn to ignore the muggles and forgive them. Then, he finally died, and Tom nearly snapped. He descended into the darkness like no-one had in centuries, and went through a horrendous amount of rituals. He received his wish to become magically more powerful than Dumbledore, but underwent several mutations because of the Dark Magic and the rituals. In 1967, Tom Riddle returned to the mainstream of the Wizarding World as Lord Voldemort."
Tonks' expression had grown steadily paler as Harry told his story, realizing where this was going. Yet, as he spoke the last two words, she found herself gasping out of surprise rather than fear. She was beginning to understand what Harry felt towards Dumbledore.
"Harry, how do you know about this stuff? How do you know his life so intimately, and know that Voldemort felt guilty about killing Dippet?" Tonks asked in a voice that sounded far from accusing.
He smiled sadly, and replied "I'm not the only one who has nightmares. He does too, terrible ones, and sometimes I used to see them. The rest I found out from...listen, you cannot tell anyone about this next bit, okay?"
She nodded, and he continued "I heard it from the portrait of Salazar Slytherin which lies in the Chamber of Secrets. He is my Master, and I am his Apprentice. He imbued the portrait with some of his lifeblood, so he would be magically capable of apprenticing any of his descendants that ventured into the Chamber. In the last four hundred years, I am the only one he trained, as he felt that Tom was perverting his ideals and would use his teachings for disgusting purposes."
Tonks was staring at him in shock, not knowing what to say. She was sitting in front of the most famous wizard in the world, and had just heard him admit to being the apprentice of a reputed Dark Wizard of incredible power, not to mention one that was dead for a whole millennium. She blinked, shaking her head amusedly.
"Only you, Harry, could do something like that. Only you." He tossed her a grin and opened the door to the diner for her, hearing the bells attached to the door jingle. She smiled at him appreciatively as he held the door for her as she walked by. "It's great that you put in such effort, Harry, but why exactly would you work this hard? I mean, when you're twelve years old you don't really feel like studying more than you already have to."
He smiled tightly at her in reply, and softly said "If you were in my place, Tonks, a child living in a cupboard for years, would you not take any advantage you could get to learn something as wondrous as magic?"
She looked at him sadly and squeezed his hand comfortingly.
"The end of second year was not the first time that I did more than just class work. After Dumbledore returned my father's invisibility cloak to me, I made full use of it to raid the library and explore Hogwarts at night. I've never been a deep sleeper, so I just did it originally to while away the time. Then, when we missed the sorting in second year, McGonagall conjured a plate of sandwiches and juice for us with a simple wave of her wand. After spending a summer being fed through a cat-flap, Tonks, being able to do something that impressive and useful was quite an attractive prospect. I still felt as if I was living a fantasy, and I was determined to make the best of it, and be the best wizard possible."
He blinked, his moodiness disappearing, and grinned comfortingly as they grabbed a table slightly far from where most of the business was. Just as a precaution, Tonks placed a silencing charm around the table so that they could talk, and it showed a second later as the waitress was a bit confused at the sudden lack of sound from the crowd behind them. They ordered healthy food, quite content to eat it rather than some gunk made for bovines.
As they waited, Tonks motioned for him to continue, and he did, interspersing his speech by chewing on a few saltine crackers.
"Now, in 1967, when Tom Riddle began killing again, he was magically more powerful than Dumbledore, but in realistic terms, was nowhere near a match for him. Dumbledore was the superior duelist, and could have, with time, defeated Riddle. Now, as Tom turned into a Dark Lord and began gathering support, Dumbledore dueled him many times. Each time, when he could have won, he foolishly let Tom escape. This, I don't understand...if he could have killed Tom then, why didn't he do it? More than eight thousand deaths, wizards and muggles, could have been prevented if Dumbledore had just said two words and ended it all. If he had spread the word about Tom being a half-blood, then the pureblood faction would not have responded to his calls regardless of the fact that he was the Heir of Slytherin. My opinion is that Dumbledore was waiting for Voldemort to become a much bigger threat to the Wizarding World to take action. Already, he had waited eleven years until Grindelwald was a huge threat to defeat him, and I think he wanted Tom to be so large a threat that the Wizarding world would see him as their ultimate savior. But he waited too long.
"In 1980, a prophecy was made due to his inaction. He was the only one who could have defeated him at that point, but he didn't, and he cursed this world to so much pain and death. The prophecy stated that only one person would have a chance at defeating Voldemort, and that person was not Dumbledore. Because he had done nothing, magic itself decided to make sure that it would happen. Now, Dumbledore had no chance of being the savior, so immediately, he began to maneuver himself into the position where he would be able to control this savior, and mould him to the point where he could take credit for the win at the end."
Here, Tonks looked at him sadly, tightly grasping his hand in hers. "It's you, isn't it? You're the savior." He nodded, a haunted look in his eyes that made her let out a tear. He smiled weakly and flicked the tear away with a finger, squeezing back on her hand.
"Now, the oath that you took yesterday simply said that you would not divulge anything I said, it gave no time limit. You did it on purpose, didn't you?"
She nodded, a slight smile on her face. He gave her a smile, and continued. "The prophecy basically states that the person who can defeat Voldemort would be born at the end of July, and that could have meant either Neville Longbottom or me. The next part said that Voldemort would mark the one that would ultimately be the prophecy child, and he did that in 1981, when he cursed me, leaving the scar. The last bit states that if and when we fight to the death, only one of us can walk away, although I am supposed to have a special power that Voldemort doesn't know of."
Tonks looked at him sadly. "You will win, Harry. I'm sure you will." He nodded, not knowing how to reply.
"Okay, you know that my family went into hiding under the Fidelius Charm in 1980. What I think is that Dumbledore arranged things so that my family would be attacked. What makes me think this is the fact that the Longbottoms did not go into hiding, and there are other things that I'll tell you as well. Why didn't they hide? Because Dumbledore didn't tell them about the prophecy. Neville was born the day before me, so he correctly assumed that I would be the target. He was basically taking a gamble on the lives of an innocent family just so that he could control what would happen. Now, he knew that Sirius was my Dad's best friend, and that he would be too obvious a choice for the Secret Keeper. Remus was not the best choice either, as he had sown the seeds of doubt in their minds, something that Sirius told me about last year. The only option left was Pettigrew, because my mom's best friend was dead. He knew that Pettigrew was on the other side, something that would be obvious by looking into his eyes even once during Order meetings. He is a powerful legilimens, and Pettigrew is not an Occlumens. His passive legilimency would have picked up the thoughts of betrayal from the forefront of Pettigrew's mind.
"Pettigrew had already been passing information to the other side for a year, which was why the Order was singularly useless from the summer of 1980 until Voldemort died. Dumbledore would have taken the first chance to hunt for spies, but he did nothing about it once he found out, especially since he knew that Pettigrew would end up being the Secret Keeper once he convinced my parents to go into hiding. So he did convince them, and by summer 1981, they went into hiding. He never once told them anything about the Fidelius charm, and when they went into hiding, he never gave them the means to research such an arcane spell themselves, since the only real information about it is in the Hogwarts Library and in some extremely old texts. Otherwise, they would have known that the charm does not hide people, but places. I researched it myself, and asked Salazar about it, and do you know what I found out? My mother, being the charms mistress, could have cast the spell, and made my father the secret keeper, thus making them ultimately safe. They would never betray their own family, Dumbledore knew, so he needed them to know as little as possible about the charm so that they would choose Wormtail, and he could betray the secret to Voldemort. In fact, my mother could have cast the spell and held the secret herself; that is what Dumbledore did with Grimmauld Place. He is the only one powerful enough to cast the spell, and he is the Secret Keeper of the Order."
Tonks had a tear running down her cheek as she held onto his hand with a death-grip.
"Now, we all know what happened: the secret was betrayed, and Halloween night happened. Now, here's another part that makes me suspicious. I think that Dumbledore somehow attached himself to the wards, especially the Fidelius Charm, because the night that my parents died, he knew about it immediately. What happened was the Voldemort, knowing the secret, blasted open the door and entered, killing my parents. He did not try to disable the charm; it would have expended too much energy to do so since he wasn't the caster. But then, as soon as it happened, Dumbledore knew. He didn't come to collect me himself, instead he was absently ambling down Privet Drive and writing a letter to the Dursleys. He sent Hagrid to collect me from Godric's Hollow. Now, how would Hagrid have known where the house was? The Fidelius should still have been standing, regardless of the fact that the cottage was torn down. Sure, Hagrid might be a nice guy, but I doubt that my parents would trust him with the secret to where they were living. Dumbledore disabled the Fidelius, and told Hagrid where to go. And then, he arbitrarily decided to circumvent the law, sticking his nose where it didn't belong. Sirius, the only other person who was supposed to know where my Parents were, was there as well. He tried to take me, but Hagrid denied him, he told him that Dumbledore said that he was to take me with him. Who gave Dumbledore the right to take me away from my true guardian? If Sirius had had to take care of me at the time, he wouldn't have gone after Wormtail, he wouldn't have been falsely charged with murder and thrown into Azkaban. Instead, in his grief, he did exactly what Dumbledore hoped for, and got himself out of the way, getting thrown into Azkaban without even a bloody trial."
Tonks looked visibly deflated, which was understandable considering that she had just had her ideals smashed. While she wanted to believe that Dumbledore was a good person, what Harry was saying was undeniable in its truth. There was simply no way that everything could have happened so brilliantly that Dumbledore became the only person in control of Harry's life.
"Now, I have to disabuse you of another piece of fiction that he created. The special power that I am supposed to have...he tells me that it is love. He tells me that my ability to love will help me win. What do I think? I think he wants me to falsely believe in this, so that when everyone I care for dies, my emotions will charge my magic and I will explode, taking Voldemort with me. Then, he can come in as the savior of the day, telling of how he figured out how to defeat Voldemort, and that it could only have been done if I died too. He will turn me into a martyr, and pretend that he was the one who guided me into the selfless decision, saying that I initially didn't want to do it, but that he convinced me. He has gone around telling people that the reason that I survived the Killing curse was because my mother created a shield of pure love to counter an unblockable curse. While it helps towards his fabrication of a fairy tale, it holds not a single grain of truth. My mother died while trying to shield me, but she did not succeed in protecting me. I know as well as anyone that there is no shield to the Killing Curse; it was created with the use of hate, and that, by far, is the most powerful emotion there is. No, the reason that the killing curse was reflected was because of the Prophecy.
"The Prophecy states that I would be marked by the Dark Lord. My scar is that mark, as I told you, and so I was marked because the prophecy stated so. Now, if he had taken a knife and cut me on the shoulder or wherever, I would have a mark there that would show that he marked me. It would be similar to my current scar. I would not have died, and since it was physically done, nothing would have reflected back at him. Now, since he was supposed to mark me, and he fired the Killing Curse, magic knew that the first time that he touched me either physically or magically, I could not be allowed to die. So, in order to make sure that the first touch was not fatal, it caused the curse to be reflected, simply leaving a mark. Voldemort was simply in the wrong place, and he got hit by his own curse. There was no love involved. If he had poked me with a knife to make a mark, the connection would have been made. Then, all he would have to do was to fire another killing curse at me, and he would be the winner, and I would have been dead.
"Now, I don't have a clue as to what this special power is. I doubt that it is the fact that I am a Metamorphmagus...the prophecy was made after I was conceived, and I doubt that the prophecy or the killing curse gave me such a power. Being a metamorph doesn't really help me against Voldemort, although as you showed, it certainly has its advantages. The power is something else, and I have to find out what it is quickly."
Tonks nodded, musing "Hmm...I don't really think that love can empower you enough to kill him. Sure, emotion-driven magic is powerful, but it is definitely not a power that he doesn't know about, he uses the killing curse often enough to disprove that. And no matter how evil he is, love is love, it's not something that you can be entirely blind to. I'm sure, even though he is a snake-y bastard; he probably had a crush or two in his school days."
Harry nodded, taking a sip of water before he continued.
"So, my parents died, Sirius went to Azkaban, Wormtail escaped and Lupin nearly went mad. I was packed off to the Dursleys in a basket with a letter written by Dumbledore. Now, as things seem to have happened, after he left me there, against the advice of McGonagall, he returned. He then proceeded to put power blocks on me."
Here, he was interrupted by Tonks, who went white and slammed her fist against the table in anger. "He did WHAT?" she snarled, small hints of red in her cheeks. "How dare he do that to you?! Tampering with someone's magic is the greatest insult to a wizard that you can have! It's illegal unless done by parents or to criminals! You could challenge him to a duel of honor!"
Harry gently grasped her balled fist, his thumb stroking her tensed fingers soothingly as he whispered "Shh...it's okay Tonks. Relax. The maturation will get rid of them."
Breathing heavily after her outburst, she slowly relaxed, but said in a heated voice "What are you gonna do about this, Harry? It's a positively disgusting thing to do!"
He continued to stroke her hand with his, and said "Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do. Despite how powerful I can become, Voldemort is still better than me, in terms of dueling at least. Until I establish a few years worth of experience, I will not be a match for him. Right now, I doubt that I could last more than ten minutes in a duel with him, and even the prophecy doesn't seem to matter anymore. He fired the killing curse at me in the Ministry. No...I might hate Dumbledore, but I cannot take the risk that it would create if I was to have him arrested. He has to be around to defend Hogwarts, or it will be taken by Voldemort."
She nodded, but still had the slight blush of anger on her cheeks that indicated just how irritated she was with Dumbledore.
"Okay, when I was about four months old, I apparently had a block put on me by my parents. I was probably doing some rather potent accidental magic, so they put the standard block on my magic, the sort that degrades into nothingness by the time I reach eleven years of age. Now, when Dumbledore placed blocks on me, he went and froze the one that my parents put, making sure that it didn't deteriorate with time. He put eight blocks on my core-"
Here, Tonks exploded in anger once again, and Harry had to silence her quickly lest the other patrons notice that she was screaming but that no sound was emerging. Quickly, he slid around the table to sit next to her, and grabbed her into a hug, pushing her face into the crook of his neck. She stopped screaming, but was still talking angrily, reluctantly circling her arms around his waist to hug him back.
When she eventually grew silent again, he whispered "Are you done?" She blushed and nestled further into his neck, squeaking a reply back in embarrassment. He grinned at her when she finally drew away, making her crack a reluctant grin herself.
"Okay, he put eight blocks on me. Now these blocks are of a different variety. They don't limit the amount of magic that I use but rather they circle my core like a helix, and squeeze it into a tiny ball. It compresses my magic, and with the block from my parents not having disappeared, I only have about 15 percent of my magic available to me. So, you see, my maturation will mean that I'll have to work on controlling my magic all over again, lest I exhaust myself. Now, he obviously means to replace the blocks on my core; he is an incredibly knowledgeable wizard, and he knows that my maturity will break the blocks. By doing this, he will have restrained my magic to the point that when I release my emotions during battle by casting the Killing Curse, they will burn away the blocks, and cause me to explode both magically and physically, taking Voldemort with me due to the scar connection. Of course, I won't let that happen, as I've nearly isolated the connection and shielded it away."
She nodded, astonished, and absently noted that she had not moved out of his arms. "But you can cast a patronus...exactly how powerful are you? If your 15 percent allows you to drive away a hundred Dementors, then you must be ridiculously powerful!"
He nodded, replying "I'm exactly as powerful as Voldemort, which is that I am, or rather, I will be once my maturation takes place. I've been learning the theory on how to use a stave from Salazar over the past three years, but I'll have to wait until I get control over my magic again until I can use it for the first time. With what I have now, I can barely use the unlocking charm once through a stave before I become fully exhausted. In any case, I doubt that I will continue to learn how to use one...the Druid tongue is hard to speak, and during a duel, I doubt I will have the time to use such long incantations.
"Right...let's get back to Dumbledore. Now, I lived with my Aunt and Uncle for three months shy of 10 years. Considering that I am Dumbledore's only defense against Voldemort, and that I am the one he will martyr, don't you think that he would have checked on me at least once? I'm pretty sure he did, because he never made a remark about the fact that I lived in a cupboard for ten years. Frankly, I'm too valuable for him to discard like that with nothing more than some old squib lady to watch from afar. So, the only conclusion that I can come to is that he knew, and did nothing about it. He knew that I was being beaten and starved, and he let it go on. Why did he do it? I can't tell, but what seems most likely is that it would make sure that I would see Hogwarts as my true home; and him as my savior. Now, every once in a while when I was dragged around with my aunt to carry her things when she went shopping, I would occasionally run into a Wizard. Now that I met the Order last year, I find it odd that the only wizards I met just so happened to be Order members. I met Daedalus Diggle once, Sturgis Podmore once and Algernon Steeple once. That leads me to believe that he had me watched through my whole childhood, and that he did nothing about it.
"Now let's move onto my school years. When I finally did get my letter, after a month where my relatives absolutely refused to let me touch them, it was brought to me by Hagrid. Why Hagrid? When sending a letter to a Muggleborn or a Muggle-raised student, one of the Head of Houses or at the very least a qualified teacher goes. Hagrid, being nine feet tall and bloody scary, was the right incentive to stop the Dursleys from at least beating me in the future. So, he gave me some cake, put the fear into the Dursleys, etc, and then took me to Diagon Alley. Now, while I was there, Hagrid quite conveniently mentioned more than once how Dark Magic was bad, how Slytherin was a bad house, and how the Purebloods were far from nice people. Good information to know, but it tends to form an opinion in a star-struck little kid. I was being exposed to a new world by a kind guy, and I was more than ready to take his words at face value. An accident? I don't think so. Then Hagrid took me down to my vault, and quite conveniently decided not to inform me that that Vault was nothing more than a Trust Fund, and that the Potter Vault was far bigger and fuller than that one. Then, he takes me to pick up the Philosopher's Stone, thus making me intrigued as to what it is. Of course, since I was new to the Wizarding World, I could be trusted to try my damndest to find out what that grubby little package was.
"So, I go back to Privet Drive, all happy about the fact that I can do something as cool as magic. When the time comes for me to get on the Hogwarts Express, I find that Hagrid had conveniently forgotten to inform me of how to actually get on the platform. So there I am, standing on platform nine with my trunk and owl, with no clue how to get to school. Coincidentally, at the same time the Weasley family is getting to the train, and I hear Molly Weasley ask what the Platform number was. Now, she herself went to school using the train, and each of her children used the train, so why would she ask a question like that? The only answer I have is that she was told to do so, at the exact time that I would be there, so that I would ask them for help. Now, as soon as I got on the train, the first people I met were Fred and George, and that was entirely harmless. Then, Ron came and sat with me for the rest of the trip, and quite frankly informed me that Malfoy and the other Slytherins were bad news. He was sure that he would be in Gryffindor, and as he was my first friend, I decided that I wanted to be in Gryffindor as well.
"So, the sorting took place, and I argued with the Hat and refused to let it put me in Slytherin. Now, let me make things clear: I am not a Gryffindor. For ten years, I had to basically take care of myself and rely on my wits to get me out of situations, and into the good graces of others. I was Slytherin material even then, and I was more than ambitious in my spur of the moment decision to become the best Wizard possible. Living with the Gryffindors this far has certainly made me more bold and obtrusive in my actions, but I still keep secrets and am a cunning person. I needed to be, for otherwise I would fail to keep my affairs in the Chamber a secret.
"Classes started, and everything was going great. I got on the Quidditch team, I had friends for the first time, and I was getting great food everyday. Then, things started turning to the worse after Halloween; the whole business with the Troll in the Dungeons happened. I got involved with the Stone, and I began trying to find out more about it. By Christmas, I got my invisibility cloak from Dumbledore, and a few nights later, I found the mirror of Erised. Dumbledore met me there and talked to me, so that I would get a basic idea of how the mirror worked before I finally tried to get the stone out of it a few months later. Eventually, we found out about Nicholas Flamel, and realized that it was the stone that was being hidden there."
Here, Harry paused as the waitress brought their burgers, and they dove in with relish as their hunger was slowly sated.
Between bites, but without speaking with food in his mouth, Harry continued the story.
"At the end of the year, we still didn't have things right. Ron, being the idiot he is, kept drawing me away into chess and Quidditch. We thought that the person trying to steal the stone was Snape, not Quirrel, and the three of us headed down to 'rescue' it. Now...what are the chances that a chess board, a dog, a plant, some keys and a troll would stop someone as powerful as Voldemort? Not only that, but the tasks were specifically geared to the three of us. Ron is good at chess, so there was a chessboard. Hermione has a lot of knowledge, so there were two tasks that she would be needed in. I was good at general magic and flying, so there were brooms for me to find a key, and a troll to be taken out like we did earlier in the year. I didn't see it then, but it was nothing more than a test. Doubtless, Dumbledore was probably following us invisibly.
"The tasks that needed to be passed were incredibly easy. A simple killing curse would have taken care of the dog, no matter how big it was. The door that led into the whole thing was locked with a simple locking charm that a first year could break. The dog was guarding a trapdoor, and under it was a Devil's Snare, a plat that Voldemort could have defeated even without his wand. Conjuring a small ball of fire wandlessly, or using a lumos spell is hardly taxing for someone of his power and knowledge. A simple summoning charm would have taken care of the keys fluttering about near the door. In any case, why would the correct key be there at all? The point was supposed to be to stop someone from finding the stone, not to make it a tiny bit harder. In any case, another killing curse would have taken care of the door, even if it was shielded. Being first years, we then had to go through the chessboard, McGonagall's contribution. We had to play them, and I must say...I played harder games in the common room with Ron before. Voldemort, on the other hand, would have simply blasted the pieces away, and rebuilt them as he walked through the next door.
"The last task, before the final one, was Snape's. There were a rack of potions, and a scroll that had a riddle that needed to be deciphered. The doors that went in and out were barred by dragon's fire. Since we were First Years, we actually had to decipher the riddle. Voldemort, on the other hand, would have known immediately what the potions were, and he would have used the right one to go through to the end. So, Hermione went back, and I went through. I found Quirrel, and he wasn't stuttering anymore, and rather than act like a squib, he was performing wandless magic with ease. The final task was the Mirror of Erised, which Dumbledore had 'coincidentally' shown me earlier in the year. Now, the enchantment on it was specific; one had to want the stone, but not want to use it themselves to actually get it. Voldemort couldn't have removed the stone from it at all, so the other tasks were simply to slow him down on the way.
"In the end, the stone appeared my pocket, and Voldemort knew about it, even if Quirrel didn't. When he tried to get the stone from me, he got burned when he touched my skin. Now, this in itself is odd...why would he get burnt by touching me when my mother didn't actually do anything to protect me? I don't mean to sound unappreciative of her sacrifice...but she had no time at all to place such a deep enchantment on me, if it is possible at all. The only reason that comes to mind is that since Voldemort was already possessing Quirrel, he could not touch me, for it is impossible to control two bodies at once. Perhaps my mother did cast a spell on me at some point, but she would not have had the time to perform a full enchantment that night. I've seen the whole thing in my dreams and when I'm around Dementors, and she only had about thirty seconds from when my father died to place any enchantments on me. Considering that a locking enchantment takes about ten seconds to incant and perform, I doubt something as powerful could have been performed in thirty seconds. Perhaps whatever protective enchantment she put on me reacted badly with the curse, making me untouchable to him."
Tonks nodded, entirely engrossed in the story she was being told. A lot of her preconceptions had been shattered today, but she knew that what Harry was saying was undeniable in its truth. Of course, she had no basis to make that judgment by herself, but the events had happened to him, and his explanation sounded more plausible than any she could come up with or any that were offered by others. She only had the barest shreds of loyalty left to Dumbledore, and the last hour had changed even that. She now bore him no trust at all, for after all, it was hard to trust someone who wanted to use you in the worst way possible.
"Well, Quirrel got burned to death because I grabbed onto him before he could fire a killing curse at me. Voldemort's spirit got blown away from the room when he lost his host, and since he couldn't use me because of whatever protection it is, his time ran out and he was banished from Hogwarts. Apparently, he fled back to Albania, where Wormtail found him two summers later. So the year ended, and when I finally woke up in the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore was sitting next to me. I asked him then why Voldemort was after me, but he wouldn't reply...he said it was not the time to tell me. When I found out about the prophecy a few days ago, he told me that he wanted me to have a happy childhood before putting the weight of the prophecy on my shoulders. A happy childhood? I don't think he made an adequate effort."
Tonks grinned at his sarcasm, causing a piece of onion to fall out of her full mouth. She stared at it oddly, almost inquisitively, and Harry burst out laughing at the expression of confusion on her face.
He made to continue, but decided against it. "You told me last year that you left Hogwarts at the end of my second year, right? You probably know what happened that year...the entire school knew about the Chamber of Secrets business. I guess there isn't much to tell about that year, and I can't tell you about what happened over the next few years. Suffice it to say that after Lord Slytherin opened my eyes, I quickly became aware of what was happening. I mostly went along with things for the sake of it...Dumbledore would have come crashing down around my ears if he had even the slightest inkling that I was aware of what he was doing."
Tonks nodded thoughtfully, still munching on her burger. "What I don't understand is the standard of Defense Teachers that he hired. I had Lockhart the same year that I took my NEWTs! I nearly failed my Defense NEWT because the man was incompetent. Luckily, I studied on my own and got it done. The year you came, the Defense Teachers started going bad...first Quirrel, then Lockhart. Before that, we had Steeple for a year, and a whole bunch of others. The curse exists, I guess, but at least they were competent teachers, and nothing like death or memory loss happened to them."
Harry nodded, replying "Of course. It wouldn't do for me to learn too much, would it? Dumbledore knew that I would be a rival to his power someday. Why expose me to more magic when all that was needed was for me to explode at some point in life?"
She grinned, saying "You make it sound so dramatic, Harry."
He scowled playfully, making a rude gesture with his hand. "Oi! I'm the one who's gonna blow up, so I'll thank you to keep your snarky comments to yourself." She grinned in return, and finished off the burger quickly.
Looking up, she started in disbelief. "Harry, how the hell did you finish your burger faster than me when you were talking the whole time?" He shrugged, muttering something about 'growing boys'.
Harry tossed a ten-pound note on the table, another wonder of magic. He had cast a duplication spell on a note that he took from Vernon's wallet. That, however, was the last of his money, since he had returned the original bill. They left the diner in silence, enjoying the growing heat. It was a relief, considering that it was almost never this pleasant outside, what with the rapidly fluctuating weather that England was supposedly famous for.
As they walked back, Tonks asked "Will you ever tell me about what happened in your other three years at school? I understand that it's a trust issue, and if I was in your place, I would probably feel the same way. You have my oath of silence, but tell me sometime, huh? When I prove my loyalty, or whatever."
He grinned, replying "Yeah. Maybe."
"So you hate Dumbledore then? I would too, if I went through the same shit that he put you through," she asked.
Harry smirked at her, and said "Nope. I don't hate him. Frankly, I admire the man."
At her incredulous look, he grinned and continued, "Don't misunderstand me. What I mean is that the man is a master at manipulation. He has incredible skill at it, and I've had to rely on my own wits and Salazar's guidance to keep from falling for his tricks. Until halfway through my fourth year, I regularly let Salazar go through my mind to check up on what was happening so that he could point out anything that I missed. Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you...his portrait has the same legilimency that the sorting hat uses. Dumbledore has literally controlled the entire Wizarding World for over sixty years. He is, by far, the most powerful man in the world in terms of political positioning. Everyone owes him favors, everyone treats him like the benevolent grandfather. If he needs something done, people are simply lined up to do it for him. The man is good at what he does, but I will hopefully be smart enough to get myself out of his grasp.
"I dislike him, rightfully, I might add, for what he has done to me. However, I can't really fault him, especially since it would be hypocritical. I'm set to do the same thing to people once I take over my Lordship."
Tonks looked at him doubtfully when he mentioned that he couldn't fault Dumbledore for what he had done. "Tonks, think of it from his position. He is practically the head of the Wizarding World. He's been in control for years, working behind the scenes subtly to enhance his control. There's a Dark Lord that he can't kill himself, and he knows that no-one but young Harry Potter can do it. In his position, would you take even the slightest chance that someone with a different agenda might influence the only person that can deliver the Wizarding World from Voldemort? He did things a bit harshly, but it was a smart move. If I was to be deviated form my set path of defeating Voldemort, then all would be lost. If I don't feel up to killing Voldemort, then he effectively has immortality, at least until another prophecy is created citing another chosen one."
Tonks nodded hesitantly, understanding his reasoning, but still not fully convinced.
"Don't get me wrong, Tonks. I don't like the man, since it was my life that he screwed up. I will never ally myself with him, I will never take his advice at face value, and I will certainly never trust him. That, however, doesn't mean that I can't admire the way in which he solidified his control over the Wizarding World. Let's just say that if I was Dumbledore on Halloween 1981, I would have made damn sure that the prophecy boy placed his trust solely in me. I wouldn't have thrown the child to the dogs like he did, but I would have raised the child myself, making sure that the kid thought of me as a trustworthy father-figure. Now, I have to establish myself as a major player in the war, and I have to do it without revealing the Prophecy. That makes it all the more hard, since no-one has a reason to think that a sixteen year old kid is worth their allegiance. I will have to manipulate some people in the same way that he did, except for the fact that I'm not doing to make myself the Supreme Leader of the Wizarding World. After this war, if I survive, I fully intend to go relax on a beach somewhere."
She grinned at his dreamy expression. "I told you that I had my own reasons to dislike Dumbledore, right?"
At his nod, she composed herself and said "Well, Harry, he wanted me to do something filthy. A few months ago, after an Order meeting, he assigned me to scope out Knocturn Alley. He told me to try and get information in any way possible. It was suggestive enough that I nearly slapped him across the face. I nearly quit the Order, but he folded, and assigned me to something else."
She looked up at Harry, her cheeks burning in embarrassment, and nearly tripped out of shock. His eyes were blazing a powerful shade of green as he stared forwards resolutely, the bright emerald of the Killing curse. His jaw had tightened visibly, and his hands were balled into fists, the muscles on his forearms shifting as he squeezed his fists tightly. Finally, he took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. A second later, his demeanor was back to normal, and she was taken aback by his extreme control over his emotions. His body language had indicated only in the slightest way that he was angry, but he never burst out yelling like a child. It struck her again how old he seemed, far more mature than his age.
He looked at her, and ground out through tight, thin lips "I see."
She squeezed his forearm comfortingly, although the action seemed to comfort her more than it did him.
Trying to change the topic, she asked "So...what's Salazar Slytherin like? Is he a pureblood elitist or is he a nice chap but misunderstood?" He cracked a wry grin at her attempt at humor.
"He truly believes in pureblood honor and heritage, as do I. However, he doesn't hate Muggles or Muggleborns, or mixed-bloods, the same as me. I've taken after him a lot over the years of learning from him. The basilisk was supposed to be a defense against the Church...in the year 1,024, the Church found out about Hogwarts. They nearly attacked, and the Basilisk would have been the one to defend Hogwarts, just by lying there and staring at them. But, things cooled down later, because an Archbishop had a magical child, and before the kid was killed, someone from Hogwarts went to visit them, and explained the Magical world to them. I'm sure you heard about the treaty between the Magical Nations and the Church in 1,058. They signed the Treaty in the Ministry in Rome and in London. The Pope, apparently, liked the floo very much. At that point, he didn't have the heart to set the Basilisk free in some jungle, so he kept it in the Chamber."
Tonks grinned in reply. She was slightly taken aback when Harry had spoken of how he believed in pureblood honor, but his next lines cleared her doubts up.
"So, what sort of relationship do you have with him? He sounds like a polite version of Lucius Malfoy...without the pureblood stigma."
Harry laughed at her description, and then grinned at her slyly.
"Well, Tonks, since it started as a Master/Apprentice relationship; that is what it's like when he instructs me. At other times? A father/son relationship. He is my father, after all."
Tonks fainted for the second time in twenty four hours.
'Goddamn Hufflepuffs' Harry smirked.
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