Chapter 8 - Betrayal

Harry was constantly on edge. Ever since the fight between him and the five Slytherins two months ago, he fell into a habit of moving about with the Marauder's Map open. Such was the case when he exited Snape's office after yet another Occlumency lesson. His eyes automatically moved towards the Gryffindor Common Room where he saw Ron, Neville and Hermione sitting near the fireplace. His eyes then moved towards the Slytherin Common Room where he found Tracey and Blaise also in the Common Room while Daphne was in her dorm. Folding the map after scanning his surroundings, but not deactivating it, he started moving towards the Room of Requirement at a rapid pace, utilising every shortcut and hidden passage available.

Another habit he had gotten into was actually living within the confines of the Room of Requirement. The bitter sting of the defeat he had suffered at the hands of Malfoy and his ilk lived inside his mind rent free, fueling his drive to become better and stronger, and living in the Room provided everything he could possibly need to train, both physically and magically. He wasn't worried about getting in trouble with his dorm mates; he let them know of his actions and decisions and everyone decided to back him up and provide much needed cover – even Seamus, who eventually came around after the fight.

All in all, things were going fine for him. Umbridge was still a massive pain and the ever-expanding list of educational decrees was getting worse by the week. Snape, on the other hand, was… neutral. He no longer lashed out at Harry too much, and lessons with him were actually fruitful – even Potions was somewhat enjoyable and Harry felt, for the first time in his five years, that he actually had fun brewing. Harry was proving to be extremely proficient in Occlumency for his age, according to Dumbledore, and Harry couldn't lie to himself, having to lay at least some of the credit on the greasy haired professor's teaching.

Earlier that day, they had begun construction on Harry's mindscape. His assignment for the coming week was to continue laying the foundations for it, and present his initial structure at next week's lesson. A multitude of ideas were floating in his mind, Hogwarts itself being the most prominent of them. As he stood in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy however, a new idea formed within his head and by the time he opened the door to his room he'd decided he'd use it.

He had to actually see the place at least once for that to happen though.

"Dobby."

A loud pop echoed in the spacious room Harry called home for the last one and a half months. "Yes, Master Harry sir?"

"I want you to go to Professor Dumbledore and ask if it is a good time for me to visit his office," he commented as he started sending some spells towards the target dummies near the corner of the room. His speed and accuracy had improved, but not to the level he wanted. Rush-casting was possible, but when a Reducto failed to create more than a small crack on the dummy it proved quite useless still.

Dobby vanished with a soft pop and a couple of moments later Harry was blinded by a bright flash of light right in front of him, eliciting a surprised yelp from him. Before he even managed to rub the white spots from his eyes, he felt a weight on his shoulder followed by yet another flash and a feeling akin to being submerged in warm water. 

Completely bewildered, he opened his eyes and saw the amused visage of Dumbledore sitting right in front of him. Adding to his bewilderment, he saw that he was in his office.

"What hap-" A soft trill right next to his ear interrupted his question and he saw Fawkes perched on his shoulder with a smug look on its avian face.

'Can a phoenix look smug?' He mentally asked himself as the phoenix flew from Harry's shoulder to his perch.

"Harry, my boy. To what do I owe the pleasure of this late night visit?" Dumbledore asked with clear amusement in his twinkling eyes.

"It was supposed to be a visit, Professor, but it ended up more like a kidnapping situation," Harry retorted as he took a seat across from the Headmaster, shaking himself of the slight daze he had from the method in which he arrived there, which Dumbledore met with a chuckle.

"Well, we shouldn't dwell on petty details. Is there anything you need?"

"Actually, sir, there is," Harry answered in a serious tone and Dumbledore's face adopted an equally serious expression. "I want to visit Godric's Hollow."

The Headmaster didn't bother to contain his surprise at the admission and he leaned forward, his head resting on his aged fists. "I was expecting you to ask this at some point, but every time I thought of it I was certain you'd ask around Halloween. What caused this in the early days of April?"

"Well… I always wanted to visit… them," Harry answered and took a deep breath. "But now, I need to make a mindscape and I decided to make mine Godric's Hollow."

Dumbledore hummed and leaned back, seemingly in deep thought. Many moments passed in complete silence and Harry prepared to accept the refusal which never came as the Headmaster abruptly stood up.

"Professor?"

"Take my hand, Harry," Dumbledore said softly and Harry complied. Almost immediately he felt an extremely unpleasant feeling, akin to being sucked through a straw, forcing him to expel the air from his lungs. Before the feeling became unbearable, however, it ended, fresh oxygen filling his lungs in copious amounts as he tried to not lurch forward into the pavement.

"Apparition is always unpleasant at first," Dumbledore commented jovially, earning an unamused scowl from the dry-heaving Harry. "Welcome to Godric's Hollow."

After regaining his wits, Harry stood straight and looked around him. His first impression was that the village looked cosy; extremely so. Mostly wooden Tudor homes with two floors lining the street and with the road seeming to lead towards a central location, a humble stone church with a clock tower. Fauna and flora thrived between and in front of the houses, giving a warm – alive – feeling. Despite the late hour, crickets and various animals could be heard, preventing silence from blanketing the village. The church also sat in front of the centre of the town square, around which also lay a pub, a post office and a couple of shops. Behind the little church a comparatively massive graveyard could be seen with row upon row of tombstones.

"It's… cosy. It feels homey, as much as a village can feel homey to someone who grew up in a large town at least," Harry remarked, earning a chuckle from the Headmaster as they paced towards a marble obelisk near the church.

"I know. It was a magnificent place to grow up in," Dumbledore commented, causing Harry to stop walking.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that my family moved here shortly before I started Hogwarts Harry. I grew up in Godric's Hollow."

Harry remained silent for some moments, digesting the information before resuming his path towards the church. "I didn't know that. It seems that there is a lot about you that I don't know, Professor."

The elder wizard turned his eyes towards his younger companion, mirth and amusement clear in his ever-twinkling eyes. "You will know a lot about me in due time, Harry. Hopefully, you'll know everything about me. I simply hope that you don't judge me too harshly."

Feeling bold for some unknown reason, Harry returned his gaze to the Headmaster and spoke. "I don't mind starting now, Professor. I know that there are things I should know that I don't know yet."

"Quite right, my boy. I often forget that you are not 'just a child' like Molly keeps saying, despite my foolish attempts to give you a normal life."

"I wasn't allowed to be 'just a child', Professor."

Dumbledore abruptly stopped in front of the obelisk. "I know, my dear boy. And I am terribly sorry for that." The obelisk suddenly started melting and shifting into something else entirely. "And now we are where it all began."

Under Harry's shocked gaze the liquid marble morphed into two recognisable human figures. Despite the lack of colour, the unruly mop of hair and the pair of round glasses on the man's face, so much like his own, could not be mistaken. Next to him, a cascading wave of straight hair framing a kind, pretty face ended right next to something that looked like a bundle of blankets, through which a little head with its own tuft of unruly hair could be seen. When the obelisk stopped shifting, Harry felt a tear escaping his eye which he promptly wiped away.

"It is not a shame to cry, Harry," Dumbledore softly commented.

"I know, but I have cried enough in my life. Besides, I doubt they'd want me to cry. Not now."

Dumbledore smiled and started moving towards the graveyard. "I was the one that decided you should be placed with your aunt and uncle. I never knew… I knew that they would be difficult, but I never expected them to be such beasts."

"Why did you send me there, Professor?"

"I thought it was safe. I specifically ordered Hagrid to get you back to Hogwarts and not let anyone get to you, especially not Sirius since I didn't know about his innocence. When I returned from France later that morning, I was notified about the attack on Longbottom Hall. I failed to protect both residences that night and you were left without a suitable home. Then I thought about your mother's sister," the Headmaster elaborated and his shoulders visibly sagged. "The complete truth is that I abused the protection your mother bestowed you with to create several blood wards around Privet Drive. It worked. I protected you from leftover Death Eaters and sympathisers, as well as from the 'good will' of some unsavoury individuals. Despite all of that… I couldn't protect you from your own family. For that, I am very sorry." A surreptitious glance towards his mentor gave pause to Harry as he noticed him looking older than his actual age. Albus Dumbledore looked tired, weak and defeated. "I never expected your aunt, her jealousy notwithstanding, to be abusive towards you nor for her to allow her husband to abuse you. But what I discovered during your first year…"

"I forgive you, Professor Dumbledore." The soft, almost soothing voice of Harry Potter was heard, causing Dumbledore to nearly stumble and come to a full stop. "I have read my parent's will. I know that I was supposed to end up with either Sirius or the Longbottoms. I also know that you didn't perform the Fidelius; Frank Longbottom performed it, so you couldn't know about the Secret Keeper change. I understand why you sent me there. I was safe there. Beaten, belittled, abused, broken. But safe."

"I only wanted you to grow up as a normal child," Dumbledore whispered. "When I discovered the treatment you received during your first infirmary visit, I ordered Madam Pomfrey to feed you the necessary potions to fix the damage. Nutritional potions and supplements that would work over long periods of time, since I still wanted you to grow normally. Thankfully, I can see they worked. The next moment, I visited your aunt. Unfortunately, the protection was still necessary. I only performed a complicated compulsion charm within the wards that caused your relatives to be unwilling to physically harm you. I couldn't keep you at Hogwarts to avoid claims of preferential treatment-"

"- which failed spectacularly," a surprisingly amused Harry responded, earning a chuckle from the teary-eyed wizard.

"Indeed. Still, I didn't want to alienate you from the childhood a proper Hogwarts student should have. Which…"

"Also failed."

"Quite." The headmaster chuckled without any mirth. "I hope you can forgive my failures, Harry. It seems that I failed in everything I attempted. I should have known that you couldn't grow to be a normal child…"

"I know, Professor."

By that point in the conversation they were walking between rows of tombstones, looking around for names they might know. It was at that moment that Harry noticed a familiar name.

Kendra Dumbledore

1851-1899 

And her daughter Ariana

1885-1899

'Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.'

"Is that…"

"Yes. My mother and…" the Headmaster took a shaky breath, "my sister."

"She… died young," Harry lamely remarked.

"We should not dwell on the dead, Harry, lest we forget how to live," Dumbledore sadly remarked.

"But we should not ever forget them whilst we live, Professor," Harry responded as he conjured a misshapen bundle of flowers that caused him to scowl. It then transformed to a beautiful bundle of white flowers that descended softly on the ground in front of the headstone.

"Wise words, Harry," the wizened professor said as he moved forward towards other graves. "Since when have you been able to conjure items?"

"I am trying to learn advanced forms of combat. Conjuration is extremely useful in combat."

"That it is."

"But I simply cannot get it to work properly, everything I try to conjure either fails to appear or appears distorted and wrong."

"When dealing with transfiguration and all its aspects, your visualisation is the most important factor. You must be able to visualise an object changing to another object perfectly. Let's take the first ever lesson in transfiguration. Matchstick to needle. You must visualise the wood changing to metal, slowly getting a refined, silver sheen to it. You must visualise the end point of the matchstick morphing into a sharp point. You must visualise the other end point morphing into a wider form with a hole in the middle. You must visualise the match turning from brittle wood to solid, but bendable, metal. When dealing with transfiguration you must always visualise. You need to see the change. The more detailed your visualisation, the better result you get. Same applies to conjuration. You must visualise the flower blooming from a stem that appears and grows."

Harry, much to Dumbledore's amusement, was paying rapt attention to his words. A frown of concentration marred Harry's face and he slowly moved his wand. Slowly, but surely, a bouquet of beautiful, blooming daphne flowers appeared in his hand, held together by a beautiful emerald green ribbon. A genuine smile appeared on his face following his success.

"I did it. It's easy," Harry exclaimed.

"No, it's not," Dumbledore laughed, causing Harry to frown. "You see Harry, everyone is capable of both transfiguration and conjuration at its highest level. In that regard, yes, it's quite easy to create something beautiful. Let me show you what I mean and I believe you will understand."

Dumbledore pulled his wand out and with nary a flicker a massive bouquet of a wide assortment of flowers appeared in his hand, held together by a purple silk blanket tied with a white ribbon adorned with small crystals. A gaping, wide-eyed Harry never noticed his own bouquet leave his hand and softly land on the ground. Something he quickly rectified as he reached down to lift the bouquet up and after a quick cleaning charm he pocketed the bouquet in his expanded pocket. A few moments later, Harry spoke.

"Speed. No matter how hard I try, it will take me several minutes to create something you made in a single second."

"Yes, but you are wrong in your assessment of your abilities. If you try hard, you can reach this level. Transfiguration on its highest levels requires speed and precision. You need to know what you want to create with nary a thought. Visualisation is the basic principle of Transfiguration and it is honed by the mind. To visualise quickly and precisely you need to train it. You will know when you reach your NEWTS, but Transfiguration is graded not by the end product itself, but by how quickly and how precisely you reach said end product. Transfiguration is then dictated by your own magical power. It's the reason why transfiguring magical creatures is near impossible; you need to be able to overpower the creature's own magic. It's also the reason why self-transfiguration is arguably one of the easier types of transfiguration, as your magic will work with you to achieve the desired result on your body."

"Thank you for the lesson, Professor. I will keep it well recorded in my memory."

"It was my pleasure, Harry. Besides, you gave me a rare joy. Oh how I have missed teaching…" Dumbledore said with a light tone and a twinkle in his eyes, causing Harry to chuckle.

"Perhaps you can teach me more about magic?"

"Oh that will certainly happen. As early as summer; though, you will not start your education with me."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"We shall discuss this particular topic when we return to Hogwarts. For now… Look here, Harry."

Harry turned his gaze toward the tombstones in front of the Headmaster and he was immediately silenced.

James Potter Lily Potter

 Born 27 March 1960 Born 30 January 1960

 Died 31 October 1960 Died 31 October 1960

'We rise from the ashes.'

Harry remained silent for a couple of minutes and the Headmaster respected it. His eyes were taking in the sight of his parents' final resting place, from the words written on the tombstone to the type of marble it was crafted from. Neither visitor made a sound nor moved from the spot they were on. When Harry appeared satisfied with the silence, he raised his hand once more to create a wreath of flowers – lily flowers, specifically – which he carefully, almost reverently, laid on his parents' grave.

As he stood to leave, however, his eyes caught the side of an oddly empty patch of ground behind his parents' grave. A lone, ancient tombstone was visible on the top most corner of the empty patch of ground. Harry, in a weird trance, walked towards it, followed by his Headmaster. When he reached he read the ancient tombstone.

Ignotus Peverell

12 July 1214 – 19 May 1292

'The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death.'

Below the ancient text a mark could be seen carved on the weathered marble; a beaded, straight vertical line, surrounded by a circle and a triangle enclosing the complete shape.

"Huh…. Wonder what he's doing all the way back here," Harry remarked, not knowing who this man was.

"This, Harry, is a discussion for a later date," Dumbledore remarked as he somewhat hastily made his exit through the back door of the graveyard, leaving a completely puzzled Harry behind that moved to follow him.

"Professor?"

"I just want you to trust me on this, Harry. That is something bigger than the both of us at this moment. I promise to inform you when you return from your trip, should you choose to follow my advice."

"My trip? What trip? Professor Dumbledore, while I will trust you with this matter, I will not stand idly by while you organise my own future," Harry responded, somewhat coldly as he channelled Daphne's lessons on the manners of nobility. Dumbledore was pleasantly surprised; very much so. Harry, at that particular moment, spoke with authority and power. Something extremely valuable in the political arena when used properly. Something that he should have been teaching the boy since he turned thirteen.

'Alas, my failures never cease to surprise me when they appear.'

"My apologies Harry, but you should have noticed that I stated you would travel 'should you follow my advice'. While I wanted to discuss this later, I won't mind telling you right now that I was thinking of sending you to Greece for the summer."

"Greece? Why would you send me to Greece?"

"Why to train, of course," the Headmaster responded with a smirk – that looked completely foreign on his wrinkled face – and the ever present twinkle in his eyes. "But that will be our discussion when we return later. For now…" the twinkle disappeared as the building in front of which they stopped started to change. "This… was your home Harry."

Harry stood in silence in front of the half-ruined home of his infancy. While one half of the building and its bottom floor looked intact and in pristine condition, the other, upper half was completely blown outwards. His scar tingled as he saw the moment it all began. A brief vision of a pair of red eyes behind round glasses passed through his thoughts and he quickly dismissed it. His eyes roamed towards the front yard where he saw a plethora of wilted flower bouquets and a sign on which people wrote various, inconsequential well-wishes and thank you's. He promptly dismissed every single wish.

While he understood the sentiment of the people of Wizarding Britain, he could not share the sentiment. To them, it was the day Dark Lord Voldemort died. To him, it was the day his parents died. It was the day that decided he would grow up under the loving care of the Dursleys.

Besides, the Dark Lord they thought was dead was alive once more.

A dry chuckle escaped his lips as he thought of the irony. Wizarding Britain believed a one-year old boy their hero. Now, that same hero, aged fifteen tells them that Voldemort is alive and kicking and Wizarding Britain refuses to believe him.

"I would tell you to go inside, but the cottage was emptied when the Ministry claimed it as a state memorial," Dumbledore said with a slight hint of disdain. "I wish I could stop the motion when it was made, but I couldn't fight against that particular unanimous vote."

"I understand," Harry said as he banished the wilted remnants of past offerings. Once again, he created a wreath of lily flowers which he stuck to the entrance of the cottage.

"Have you got what you needed from this excursion?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Splendid. I'm afraid, however, that it is time to return to Hogwarts." The elder wizard said as he lifted his arm. The moment Harry took it, they both disappeared with a soft pop.

XXXXXX

Exactly one week after his visit to Godric's Hollow, Harry was sitting inside Severus Snape's private office for his weekly Occlumency lesson, with the aforementioned professor testing his mindscape.

"Acceptable, Potter," Professor Snape drawled the moment he exited Harry's mind. "You have a solid basis for your mind palace. I admit that I have expected something that would better reflect your fame and your status. A castle, perhaps?"

"Professor Snape, if I may?" Harry calmly inquired as he rubbed his temple. A curt nod from the greasy haired professor gave him all the confirmation he needed. "Why do you continuously delude yourself about my character?"

"Ten points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter. As for your question, it is obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes."

"I hate my fame, Professor. I came to this world, the wizarding world as a child with no friends, no caring parents, nor even personal items other than the necessities for a Hogwarts student. Suddenly, I find out that I am some sort of celebrity for something my mother did."

Suddenly, the raven haired student stood up and stared at his professor with a cold look in his emerald eyes. "I don't deserve my fame, professor. My parents do. My father died in order to give us a chance to escape, then my mother died in order to give me a chance to live. Yet, despite all that, every year during Halloween they are never even remembered. But I remember. I remember the fact that I'm famous because they died."

Severus Snape, stunned into silence as he was, could do nothing except stare into the all-familiar emerald green eyes that originally belonged to his childhood friend – to the only woman he had ever loved. Harry, for his part, noticed that there was no malice in the black eyes – perhaps something akin to respect and realisation. It didn't stop him from turning towards the exit.

"One last thing, professor," Harry said as he turned the handle of the door. "I am famous, yes. But if I could trade my fame to have my parents back, I would do it in a heartbeat. And for the final time, I am not my father. Good evening."

"Wait, Potter," the silky smooth voice of the Potions Master of Hogwarts was heard, causing Harry to stop.

"Yes, professor?"

"You did well two months ago."

"Sir?"

"Don't act daft now, Potter. I'm certain you are better than that," Snape drawled as he moved towards a row of shelves full of weird potion ingredients. "Despite the fact that you started the fight, the fight itself happened in broad daylight and in public. No one could – and honestly, no one would – defend Draco Malfoy and his friends when it came to their punishment. That also means that I was completely unable to defend them from… repercussions."

"I'm afraid I don't understand why you would praise me for that. I thought your goal was to always protect your students?"

"My role, not only as a Death Eater but also as Draco's godfather, would require me to deflect any and all repercussions that come from their actions; as I have all these years. Your choice of battlefield rendered me unable to do that very job with little consequence on myself. Furthermore, you proved yourself capable enough to fight them and win without suffering from damage."

A completely perplexed Harry Potter was staring his Potions Professor slightly slack jawed. A hiss of irritation was heard from the man in question as he motioned for his student to sit in the chair once more.

"I honestly don't understand how you think I did well against them, especially since I ended up in the infirmary for two days."

"Then you are more stupid than people give you credit for," the Potions Master said as he fixed him with a cold glare. With sharp, quick and efficient movements he pocketed 3 ingredients before he took a seat opposite of Harry. "I saw the memory. Draco used a reckless spell against you that would greatly damage you should you not defend yourself from it, but you did and the spell spread itself towards the students, leading you to spread your shield to protect them as well. That was your downfall. You didn't lose because you were not enough, you lost because you are not a god. Answer me, Potter. Are you capable of vanishing airitself, or any element for that matter?"

Harry thought for a few moments before he shook his head. "No, sir."

"The fact that you manipulated the wind in that manner with a spell I've never seen before is a feat in and of itself. The fact that no one was actually harmed from all of this chaos is an even bigger feat. You lost because you protected everyone and you couldn't defend yourself against the curses sent your way."

"That-"

"I didn't finish, Potter," Snape hissed in irritation. "You focus on the moment you lost, not in the fight in its entirety. You defended yourself sufficiently and attacked all of them whilst you denied Miss Greengrass the chance to enter the fight. It was like watching a professional duelist handling five children. I am honestly disappointed in my students for that."

"It is still not enough, sir."

"It isn't," Snape nodded. "Your… destiny," Snape continued though he looked like he bit something foul as he said that word, "is to fight the Dark Lord and his followers. Despite your apparent skill against their children, senior Death Eaters could fight you one on one and win. Wizards on my level or, Merlin forbid, Bellatrix's level would beat you soundly. You need to train, Potter, lest you end up dead like your parents."

A flicker of anger passed through Harry's eyes at the mention of his parents, yet he couldn't respond as he got cut off by a dry snort from the bat-like professor.

"You must work on that, Potter. You cannot let words get to you. While anger can be a powerful drive during a fight, you cannot let it cloud your judgement. You are too easy to rile up and that is something your enemies can take advantage of. Thankfully, under my constant pressure, you have developed a thick skin against insults. Yet not thick enough."

"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked, forgetting all of his decorum.

"You honestly think that everything I did was me antagonising a child? Let me tell you something so simple that even you can understand it. In this school, apart from the Headmaster, I am the only person that knew of your destiny since before your birth. I was certainly the only person that knew of your fate when you walked through the gates of Hogwarts. I always knew where you would end up, and I knew what you needed to do in order to fit that impossible role you were tasked with. My role was to help you get there."

Harry, trying to make sense of the words, asked the thing that was at the forefront of his mind. "When you say 'it is my destiny'… What do you mean by it? Was there a prophecy about me?"

"Obviously," Snape drawled. "I was the one that overheard part of it and served its words to the Dark Lord."

"Wh- what?" Harry stuttered as he was slowly getting consumed by his anger. Then suddenly, he found himself bound to his chair and his eyes got a dangerous glint as he stared at the impassive face of his professor.

"Work through your rage, Potter. Yes, ultimately, I am the reason your parents are dead." Snape witnessed Harry's eyes dilating and his irises getting a slight emerald glow, giving the slight illusion of a vortex. "I did not know, Potter. While you will be told the full prophecy by the Headmaster when we both deem you at least near a Master Occlumens, I can tell you a specific portion of it. Born as the Seventh month dies. That is the date of birth of the one with the 'power to vanquish the Dark Lord'. You are not the only one targeted by the prophecy, Potter."

Harry, despite his rage, felt some confusion that was reflected in his eyes.

"You were born July 31st, Neville Longbottom was born July 30th and Susan Bones was born midnight between July 31st and August 1st. All of them were targeted by the Dark Lord and his forces. The Potters were targeted by the Dark Lord himself because your mother, your father fought him successfully and lived three times. Furthermore, out of all three of the potential candidates, you were the only half-blood, just like him. And yes, I know his secret. I am the only one capable enough to keep such knowledge from him."

The greasy-haired professor then stayed silent for a few moments, as if contemplating his words. Finally, with a shaky breath, he spoke.

"I never wanted your parents to die. Despite my intense dislike for James Potter and his friends, they made Lily happy. Especially Lily… I would die before I let her die. I begged the Dark Lord to let her live… But I knew it wasn't enough. I searched for and spoke with Professor Dumbledore. I begged him to keep her safe, and told him of what I'd done. I pledged my allegiance to him and henceforth worked as his agent in the inner circles of the Dark Lord. Your parents were then put under the Fidelius and eventually betrayed by Wormtail."

Harry felt his limbs moving once more and knew that he had been freed from the full body bind. Yet he no longer had the will to attack the man. He only had a single thought.

"You loved my mother." It was a simple statement, yet it was enough to cause the usually cold and impassive professor to wince.

"I did. More than you will ever know…" Snape trailed off with a lost look in his eyes. A simple motion with his hand was enough for Harry to know that he was dismissed. Once again, he stood from his chair and went towards the exit.

"Should you and your group get caught by the Inquisitorial Squad, don't attempt to fight. They are authorised to subdue you should you fight back. Just let them take you to the Headmaster."

"If that happens, the Headmaster will be kicked from Hogwarts. We-"

"I know, Potter. He knows it too. Trust in his plans."

"Alright. I will not let anyone be harmed, however."

"You don't need to state the obvious, Potter. And take this," Snape moved his wand in an intricate pattern and a brick from the back wall flew off, a leather-bound tome flying out of the hole and straight into Harry's hands. He turned it to see the title.

'Η Φύση της Μαγείας'

του Αλέξανδρου Χαριστάνη.

"'The Nature of Magic' by Alexander Charistanes," Snape supplied.

"Why would you give me this, Professor? And how am I supposed to read it?" Harry inquired. He also found it odd that he heard of the same Greek man twice in the span of a week.

"It is my belief that you will find his publication… Enlightening. You should also be more familiar with your summer mentor. Furthermore, I will brew a Babel Potion to rectify your ignorance of the Greek Language."

"I haven't decided whether I'll go to Greece during summer, Professor."

Snape scoffed. "Don't lie to yourself, Potter. You have the unique opportunity to study under one of the greatest magical philosophers of our age. Not to mention he has a mastery in one of the oldest areas of magic."

"He is a Warlock, yes? A Battle Magic Master."

"Precisely. If you decide to waste this opportunity, then you are truly as stupid as I insist you are. Dismissed."

With one last, bewildered look, Harry bowed slightly and exited the room. In the silence of his now empty personal office, Severus Snape opened a bottle of Ogden's and quickly poured a glass.

The contents of the glass didn't last more than a single minute.

Xxxxx

Harry, still reeling from his earlier lesson with Professor Snape, was watching his own 'students' enter the Room of Requirement. His eyes lingered on Daphne when she entered, earning him a radiant smile from the Slytherin in return.

Harry and Daphne never had the chance to go on their promised date; Umbridge had banned them from going to Hogsmeade as punishment for their part in the fight. Despite Harry's protests that Daphne didn't participate in it, Umbridge was adamant in Daphne being an instigator. Harry still couldn't forget the hungry, almost manic look in her eyes as she served them their punishment. He had a feeling that she would do much worse if she could.

Despite all of that, they still enjoyed their time together, doing so at every chance. They had random walks around the castle, they sometimes studied together and they still kept up with their etiquette and culture lessons, despite Harry knowing almost everything surrounding wizarding nobility by that point. They only did it because they wanted the excuse to be together, to talk and laugh. For Harry, it was a great friendship. Yet something in the back of his mind was bothering him and it grew stronger every time he saw her. Just like now.

'It's not enough. I need to see her more. I want her more involved in my life.'

"Welcome to another meeting," Hermione's voice pierced through Harry's thoughts and he belatedly noticed that everyone was gathered in front of him. A quick scan also revealed that Marietta Edgecombe and Cho Chang didn't show for the third time in a row.

Something was definitely wrong with that but he couldn't waste time thinking about it.

"During the first couple of lessons, I promised that I would teach you the Patronus Charm. I have seen you master a whole range of spells and then creatively use them in combat. My lessons about unpredictability and quick thinking have helped you all. I also hope most, if not all of you have kept up with your physical training. As I have said multiple times, an immobile target is a dead target and you must strive to be agile."

Another thing that took a turn during the D.A. lessons was Harry's demeanour. While it started relatively light-hearted, he quickly changed the pace. He turned strict and very grim with his lessons. While he did teach several useful spells, he mostly encouraged the group to look up spells on their own and master them on their own. Since he realised that not everyone was capable of silent casting, nevermind rush-casting, the lessons themselves covered actual combat. He often brought up life or death situations as hypotheticals or as cases of study. Even if they didn't believe him or didn't believe they'd need the training, Harry was satisfied because they followed it nevertheless. When the situation arised, they would be ready to defend themselves and their loved ones to the best of their abilities.

"Now, we don't have much to cover in combat, so the rest of these lessons will be on spells. Obscure spells, difficult spells and powerful spells. And we will start with this. Expecto Patronum."

A very bright white mist erupted from his wand and morphed into a massive shield in front of him. The mist itself was cascading like a waterfall from the shield, flooding the floor around him.

"This is a first stage Patronus," Harry explained to the gobsmacked audience. "Most, if not all practitioners always start with a shield Patronus," with a flick of his wand, he dispelled the Patronus. "In order to successfully create a Patronus, you need to think of your happiest memory. You need to revel in it. Superfluous things like a nice gift you wanted or a good report card for your grades usually don't suffice. You need true happiness, and true happiness is often associated with love, so bear that in mind as well. You need a memory that fills your heart with that kind of happiness. You don't need to simply remember the event, you need to feel the memory. Feel the happiness. Don't just imagine it."

Almost immediately, he saw people concentrating on their thoughts, trying to think of a happy enough memory for the spell. Suddenly, however, Zacharias Smith spoke.

"Aren't you supposed to be able to produce a corporeal Patronus?"

His question caused every single head to snap towards Harry.

"Yes?" He inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, why did you only cast a shield then?"

Murmurs of agreement were heard around the Room. Only his closest friends, the Gryffindors and the Slytherins didn't speak, they instead watched him with undivided attention and some measure of hunger in their eyes. His eyes landed on Daphne, who had seen his Patronus before as well as her group. Apparently, they wanted to see it again.

Harry smirked.

He tried to bring forth a whole assortment of happy memories. Moments with his friends, the realisation he had at the lake as he figured he had the power and the ability to protect the ones he loved. He even went through the image of his parents in the Mirror of Desire, but that sidetracked him. His mind was immediately assaulted with the image of lush green fields, his aged self and a pair of sapphire eyes piercing into his soul. Instinctively, his eyes sought Daphne.

Emerald green locked with sapphire blue. His breath hitched.

He instead thought of a recent memory. The bones in his right arm turning to dust as a blonde finally had enough and tried to use an obscure curse, standing in front of him to protect him from further harm. Then the same blonde holding him tenderly as she lowered him to the ground. Her sapphire eyes looking at him with concern, resolve and a seemingly endless amount of affection.

"Please rest. Don't worry, I'll take care of you. You'll be fine."

Despite what he did to keep her out of the fight in order to not involve her further in the conflict - in hindsight, an extremely foolish notion since she had already agreed to a date with him in their presence - she still disregarded everything in order to help him.

Harry smiled.

"Expecto Patronum!" A bright light erupted from his wand and the previously disk-shaped mist exploded everywhere before it started gathering in front of Harry.

Immediately, he knew something was wrong. The ones that knew him and had seen his Patronus also knew something was wrong.

"Where's Prongs?" Ron asked dumbly, yet got no response.

Harry was focusing on his spell, trying to will its shape into the familiar stag that always came to him, yet he only succeeded in causing the misty orb in front of him to rapidly cycle between different features. It was rotating with great speeds and everyone could see several features appearing within the swirling mass of mist. Hooves, a horned head, a whip-like tail and wings?

Realisation dawned on Harry as he relaxed and let the spell take its course. His Patronus was changing.

The moment it dawned on him, the mist started to expand to a great size, and the first features became visible. Four strong paws, a pair of wings and a whip-like tail connected to a big, strong feline body that ended with a woman's head. With a last pulse of energy, the Patronus solidified in its final shape and everyone was staring at it slack jawed, even Harry himself.

"It's a sphinx," Hermione whispered.

The sphinx lifted its head and spread its eagle wings as it roared silently, causing the energy around it to ripple. Its serpentine tail was slowly moving back and forth as it settled down and observed the room it found itself in. Its ethereal eyes finally landed on Harry and it lowered its head to touch Harry's forehead before it dissipated into mist.

"I didn't know a Patronus could become a magical beast," Fred commented.

"I didn't know it could change at all," George added rather unhelpfully.

"Change? Was it different before?" Susan Bones asked.

"It was a stag," Daphne whispered, still in awe.

Harry awkwardly coughed and raised his hand to make the voices quell. "A Patronus can take any form best suited to its caster, except any kind of human form. Apparently, a sphinx is the exception. A Patronus expresses the caster's soul, their inner, true self. When a Patronus changes, it is usually after the caster experiences a change within their life, and its new form expresses those changes as best as possible."

"So what would a Greek sphinx signify?" Blaise asked the room at large.

"No idea," Harry replied honestly. "But that is not the point of this day. Today, you will learn to conjure a Patronus. Remember to immerse yourself in a memory powerful enough that you can feel the happiness from it. Don't select a simple happy memory. Let the feeling well up within you, until you feel as if you could burst from it. This is the reason why people struggle with this spell; they don't know the correct approach."

"And how do you know?" Smith, as always, challenged.

"Because my memory isn't a memory of achievement or success. My memory is based on something I recently realised." Harry announced. He knew what came next. And he was ready to answer honestly. Well, mostly.

"What is your memory, Harry?" Neville was the one to ask the question everyone was thinking of.

"I won't tell you the exact memory, as it is quite personal. But it is the realisation and the feeling I have knowing that I don't stand alone. It is the realisation that I have friends, true friends that stand beside me and are there to hold me when I fall." His eyes locked with Daphne's once more and, with some sort of smug satisfaction, he saw her eyes widen as realisation dawned on her. "Just as I would do for them. But that is enough about me, it is your turn to attempt this spell. So, line up against the dummies and start. The incantation, as you know, is Expecto Patronum and it has no specific wand movement. It is not possible to cast silently. You may begin."

With his final words, the group quickly moved towards an empty space and incantations, both loud enough to echo, and soft enough that they could barely be heard in the din, assaulted his ears.

One person, however, did not immediately find a spot to cast the spell. The blonde Slytherin moved towards Harry instead.

She slowly moved her hand and her open palm rested on Harry's torso, feeling the wiry, well trained frame underneath the shirt. She didn't get the chance to revel in the feeling as she needed to file in to train, so she simply went directly to his ear to whisper.

"Instead of looking at the sphinx, think of its parts. Lion's body, eagle wings, serpent's tail… Pretty telling, no?" Not waiting for his response, she moved away, slowly moving her palm from his torso to his stomach and side, making him shiver from the intimate contact. A sweet trail of vanilla and cherry was left in her wake, clouding Harry's thoughts significantly.

Taking a shuddering breath, his eyes scanned his students as he gave the signal for them to begin.

For the next forty-five minutes, Harry was moving around the Room of Requirement, providing assistance and tips to any and all that were struggling with the charm. Much to his delight, almost every D.A. member had managed an incorporeal Patronus of assorted size. He had a sneaking suspicion that they had tried the spell before in anticipation of the day it would be taught. Their progress, although significant, was also quite sudden. Unnaturally sudden.

Spirits were high, morale was peaking when suddenly a gasp was heard near the back of the room, causing all eyes to turn towards the source of the sound.

It was Hermione who gasped and the reason was right in front of her. It was a sphere of pure white energy that radiated a warm, kind aura. A Patronus attempting to assume a corporeal form.

The caster was Ron.

Everyone stopped casting in order to witness the birth of a Patronus as Ron was sweating in order to hold the spell as it completed its course.

The wait was over when the swirling mass of energy collapsed onto the floor, taking the form of a Jack Russel terrier. It looked around for a few moments before it disappeared as Ron collapsed on the floor, panting.

The assembly of students started cheering for the redhead's success, some with significantly more exuberance than others, those individuals being the Gryffindors. Harry rushed to his best friend's side and offered his arm.

"Brilliant work, Ron. You were the first to manifest a corporeal Patronus, well done."

Ron looked up in shock as he took the offered hand. "I really did it first?"

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "You sell yourself short, Ron. Although it was close, Neville over there almost had it."

Neville sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "It was unsteady though. It had power, yes, but I couldn't quite control it. Like always…" the last part was whispered, yet Harry caught it. He turned his gaze towards Neville, having noticed it as well before.

Neville was overpowering his spells. Every spell. As if his wand was refusing to cooperate. His gaze then moved towards the hand in his friend's hand and he noticed it appeared rather worn. Rather like how Ron's first wand had been when he met him on the Express for the first time.

He couldn't deal with that in this instance, however. He would speak with him after the session.

"Very well. Congratulations Ron, keep trying to master the spell so it comes naturally," he said with a smile to his beaming, yet tired friend. "The rest of you-"

A loud crack was heard in the room, right next to Harry.

"Master Harry," the elf said with a panicked expression.

"Dobby?" Harry questioned.

"You need to-"

Suddenly, a loud bang was heard from the wall of the Room of Requirement. The elf twitched.

"-go," Dobby followed with a dejected expression. "Miss Toady commanded all elves of Hogwarts to not speak to anyone of this, but Dobby is Master Harry's elf."

Another bang, this time stronger followed and cracks appeared upon the wall.

"Everyone run!" Harry yelled and a door materialised behind him. Most members ran towards the door, shocked to find it leading to somewhere within the dungeons. Yet he knew not all of them would flee.

"Dobby?" he inquired as he quickly started removing evidence of people being inside the room with his wand. He turned his gaze behind him. Ron and Hermione stubbornly stayed rooted behind him, wands drawn, along with Neville, Luna, Susan and Ginny. A few feet behind them Daphne was quickly ushering her friends out with no intention of leaving herself. He almost snorted when he saw her banish Blaise out of the door.

"Yes, Master Harry?" the elf questioned, yet it already knew what his master - his friend - needed from him.

Suddenly, Harry whirled around as another loud crash was heard from the wall that was under attack. He didn't have much time. The smell of ozone permeated the room as his friends watched him in shock. With a swift slash of his wand he summoned Daphne by her robes towards the stationary group. A follow up gently banished Astoria and Tracey, closing the door behind them.

"Vacuus." 

Harry's spell created a complete atmospheric vacuum between his friends and he kept it just enough for everyone to be pulled within it before releasing it. He winced a bit when he heard their shouts of protest, or in the case of Neville, the grunt of pain as he got sandwiched in the middle of the group. Yet he couldn't hesitate. The Potter family spell was followed by Harry conjuring a rope that bound the group together.

"To the Chamber, Dobby," Harry commanded and the last thing the group saw was the apologetic look in Harry's emerald vortexes.

As he was left alone in the Room, he heard a loud crash behind him and the wall collapsed.

He whirled around and lifted his wand the moment he saw the hideous pink cardigan of the most loathed professor in Hogwarts, followed by her lackeys, the newly appointed Inquisitorial Squad. Raising his wand further, an incantation right behind his lips when he suddenly remembered something.

"Should you get caught by the Inquisitorial Squad, don't fight."

He gritted his teeth and with a blindingly fast slash of his wand he summoned a piece of parchment from the board which he lit on fire mid air.

It didn't burn fast enough, as Cassius Warrington put the fire out the moment Umbridge summoned it to their side.

'I failed.'

Suddenly, he felt a banishing charm hurl him across the Room of Requirement, followed by laughter from the group.

"He had his wand raised, professor. He was about to attack us, he also cast a spell," the obnoxious voice of Theodore Nott was heard. Harry grit his teeth and lifted his head to take a look at the group and immediately noted the predatory, almost manic grin on Umbridge's face.

'Don't fight. Don't fight. Don't fight. Merlin, that's a tall order.'

"Quite so, Mr. Nott," she simpered as she neared the raven-haired Gryffindor who was in the process of standing up. "So, Dumbledore's Army? Our brilliant Minister was right, after all. The Headmaster is raising an army to fight the Ministry." With her stubby hands she waved the piece of burned parchment in front of him.

A triumphant grin spread on Harry's face as he saw its state. 

Dumbledore's Army

Harry Potter

He'd managed to burn off all the members aside from himself. He'd succeeded.

"Who else was on this list, Mr. Potter?" she asked with faux sweetness.

"Me."

"Yes, who else, Mr. Potter?"

"I was on the list."

"Who else was on this list, Potter?" the toad screeched, dropping all pretence of sweetness.

"I was on the list, Professor. I wrote my own name thirty times," Harry answered with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

A sharp crack was heard as the ministry lackey slapped Harry across the face.

"No one saw me slapping a student, isn't that right?" Umbridge barked at the group behind her.

"You did nothing of the sort, Professor Umbridge," the group behind her responded in complete unison. Yet some faces looked uncomfortable in doing so.

'Now who has the army here? Don't fight. Don't fight.'

"It doesn't matter either way," Umbridge said as she banished Harry towards the group, where he was roughly picked up by two Slytherin students and forced to stand straight. "We have our way of knowing who exactly was on that list anyway. For now, this will suffice to bring down the Brutus that reigns over Hogwarts."

Harry internally scoffed at the cute - and completely ironic - nickname Umbridge chose to give to the Headmaster. He turned his head to the side to better see the members of the squad and his eyes locked to one person's in particular. The only student not belonging in either Slytherin or the Inquisitorial Squad.

His eyes widened as he locked his gaze to the dark brown eyes of Cho Chang. Unbridled fury filled him as his magic flared outwards, causing Cho and several of Umbridge's lackeys to step back in instinctual fear. A faint smell of ozone permeated the air as he realised one simple thing.

'Don't fight. Don't. Fight.'

They weren't tracked down or observed all this time. They tried but his map provided more than enough security. They didn't get ratted out by anyone seeing a group of people leaving for the seventh floor. No convoluted plot was in play. As he saw the forehead of Cho Chang being riddled by boils that spelled SNEAK, his thoughts came to one simple conclusion before a stunner took his consciousness.

They were betrayed.

X

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" Susan Bones screamed as she landed on something that felt like cold leather the moment they appeared within the Chamber of Secrets.

"Th- that…" Neville stuttered as his eyes observed the corpse of the thirty foot long basilisk.

"Harry… He fought that…?" Ron contemplated as he hesitantly touched the hide of the dead serpent. "He fought that to save my sister?"

The sister in question wasn't even there.

"The rumours… They weren't true after all. They were severely underestimating what happened…" Daphne whispered as her gaze continued moving upwards towards the head of the statue of Salazar Slytherin. "He sent us to the Chamber of Secrets."

"Master Harry only has one Chamber," Dobby commented, effectively startling everyone.

"Why did he send us here, Dobby?" Hermione inquired as she moved towards the elf.

"It was the safest place Master Harry could think of," the elf responded. "The connection between elf and master provided Dobby with the location of the Chamber of Secrets the moment the master thought of it. Only Miss Gin was sent straight to her dormitory because the master's mind was screaming for her to not come here."

Ron was silently extremely thankful that Harry had thought of that.

"But why did he send us here? We wouldn't abandon him!" Neville nearly shouted in frustration.

"Dobby doesn't know," the elf responded curtly.

"The moment I lay my hands on him-"

"You'll do nothing. None of us should do anything. Harry must have had a reason to send us here. We should trust him," Ron smoothly interrupted Daphne, drawing a couple of surprised looks at how he handled it.

Daphne wasn't having it.

"It doesn't change the fact that I'll choke the beautiful light out of his eyes," Daphne growled.

"Not the eyes, Daph. They're too good to ruin, as I'm sure you already know," Susan quipped light heartedly, causing Daphne to narrow her eyes despite the light pink that tinted her cheeks.

"Will you two stop the awkward foreplay? We have bigger issues than that, like figuring out what we're supposed to do here, or how to get out," Neville ground out; his confidence and momentarily bold attitude yet another surprise for the impromptu group.

"I have a better question," Luna said airily, as her eyes seemed to focus on the basilisk. "Why is the corpse intact?"

Her seemingly random and completely irrelevant question managed to draw the attention towards the younger Ravenclaw.

"Luna that makes no-"

"No no, she is right," Susan cut Hermione off as she had a better look at the basilisk. "As the slayer of a Class XXXXX magical creature he has rights of conquest and can harvest the corpse for parts."

"He should even check for the possibility of an egg being in stasis within the basilisk," Daphne added.

"Wait, an egg? A basilisk egg?!" Hermione interrupted. "I thought a basilisk was only made by hatching a chicken egg beneath a frog?"

"Basilisks like other creatures created prior to the Ban on Experimental Breeding can also reproduce on their own. Female Basilisks, discerned by the lack of plume on their head, can occasionally hatch basilisk eggs on their own. Yet they are kept under stasis within the mother until she wants to hatch it. No one yet knows how it works exactly." Susan explained.

"I didn't know that," Hermione muttered.

"It is obscure knowledge and heavily regulated," Susan shrugged. "In general, no one really knows how basilisks came to be in existence other than the obscure method used and the name of the first person who claimed to do it. The only reason we're not swarmed by the deadly beasts, apart from global laws that prevent breeding them, is that Parselmagic is needed to hatch one. As you know, Parselmouths are extremely rare."

"Can we please focus on reality?" Neville snapped, Ron nodding in agreement beside him. "We need to get out! We will bother Harry about this place after we make sure he's alright."

That drew nods of agreement by everyone as they attempted to move towards the very obvious exit.

Only to be stopped by Dobby.

"I'm sorry, Master Harry's friends, but you cannot exit the Chamber."

"What?" Daphne asked incredulously.

"We can only wait for Master Harry to come," Dobby said with an overly excited manner, completely ignoring the incredulous looks the group was giving him.

Xx

"Dolores, how can I help you?" Dumbledore said in faux pleasantness as the door to his office swung open.

Of course, the venerable Headmaster knew she wasn't alone.

Dumbledore always knew.

"Good evening, Dumbledore," Fudge greeted as a form of announcing his presence.

"Ah, Cornelius. I would say that I'm pleasantly surprised, but in all honesty, your visit finds me extremely busy, I'm afraid."

Behind the portly man several more people followed, namely two Aurors in Kingsley Shacklebolt and John Dawlish alongside Junior Undersecretary Percy Weasley, followed by Cassius Warrington, Cho Chang and an unconscious Harry Potter.

The twinkle in the eyes of Albus Dumbledore vanished.

"Now listen here, Dumb-"

"Rennervate the student," the Subduer of Grindelwald commanded. A shiver went down the spine of Warrington as he ignored the protests of the officials and promptly cast the counter spell upon Harry, who groggily opened his eyes.

Within mere moments, the raven-haired wizard was fully aware of his situation. Thankfully, the teen knew what to do. He turned his eyes towards him and allowed him to use Legilimency upon him.

Within mere moments, Dumbledore knew everything that had happened from the moment Dobby appeared until he lost consciousness.

Pride at his student and rage against the mockery of a Professor danced beneath his well-trained Occlumency barriers.

He hated the fact that he needed to let Dolores Umbridge temporarily take the headship of Hogwarts, yet it needed to be done. Everything was in place; plans that needed his absence from Hogwarts were ready for execution and safety measures in place for the duration. Dolores wouldn't be able to harm students using artefacts - specific wards to disable blood quills were applied, courtesy of Gringotts - and any and all offensive spellcasting around her location would be recorded. His teachers, nay, his friends and colleagues would also work to protect the students without fear, Severus included.

Most importantly, Dolores would never be able to access the Headmaster's office.

"Now. Care to inform me as to why Ministry officials swarmed my office with three students, of which one was stunned?"

"Your clever ploy is over, Dumbledore," Umbridge, the insufferable woman she was, simpered as she slammed the burned parchment upon his desk. "We know of your plan to raise an army to fight the Ministry."

The moment her speech ended, Fawkes silently flew towards the Headmaster and perched on his shoulder. "Well. The game is up, I suppose."

The shocked eyes of Fudge and Umbridge landed on Dumbledore. "You really planned this?" the Minister said.

"I did," he responded in a jovial manner.

"How long, Dumbledore?"

"Oh today would be the first meeting. I'm afraid, however, only Harry showed up."

"You lie, Dumbledore," Dolores hissed. "We know the students have been gathering for months!"

"Where is your proof?"

"What?" Dolores asked incredulously.

A well concealed nod towards Kingsley had everything covered as his ally discreetly casted a memory alteration spell towards the near catatonic Cho Chang.

"Where is your proof, Dolores?"

"My proof is right here," Dolores said as she dragged the Asian student to the front. "Miss Chang has been most cooperative in helping us track down your group of soldiers," Dolores simpered as she stroked the hair of the Asian student. A barely concealed look of disgust marred the boil-scarred face of Cho Chang, further fueling Albus' amusement at the situation.

"Ah, Miss Chang. I wasn't made aware that House Ravenclaw valued such actions. Would you mind telling me why you betrayed a group that welcomed you with open arms? Regardless of that fact, I wonder why you'd lie about Dumbledore's Army."

No response came from Cho Chang, as he expected.

"We know the group was formed months ago!" Umbridge shrieked. "Tell him, girl!"

"I lied," was the simple response.

The twinkle in the Headmaster's eyes intensified as he saw the faces of Fudge and Umbridge contort into rage.

"I will not accept this mockery! This girl has and will help us!"

The twinkle intensified. "She will need better qualifications, I'm afraid. Being… sneaky isn't enough in the political arena you are trying to plunge Hogwarts into, Cornelius. Besides… She lied to you about fantastic gatherings of some army that I definitely had no part of, to cover up the little book club she has held with three of her friends from Ravenclaw for the last few months."

"But we have been tracking your students down for months, Potter here chief amongst them!"

"Alas, I cannot know how the teenage mind works. It has been a rather long time since I was a teenager myself."

Seeing the man in the green bowler hat seethe in anger and turn red filled the Headmaster with immense joy. When you lived as long as he had, you developed certain quirks, like being cryptic with your words in order to create an aura of mystery around yourself.

Aggravating certain individuals beyond the point of coherence was one such quirk Dumbledore had. It was more like a guilty pleasure, in fact; one of the rare joys in a life as hectic and long as his.

"Enough of this nonsense!" Fudge yelled as he pulled his wand. "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, you are under arrest and stripped of your position as Headmaster of Hogwarts. You will come with us quietly and our Aurors will escort you to Azkaban where you shall await trial."

A shrill, avian sort of laughter filled the office, coupled with the Headmaster's own chuckles.

"Your- your bird is laughing at me?"

"I don't see why my familiar wouldn't laugh at you, Cornelius. Not only you claim that you can strip my title of Headmaster, you are also under the delusion that I will come - how did you put it? Quietly?" The Headmaster jovially commented. "' I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course - but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing." 

"So you intend to fight all five of us single-handedly now, Albus?" The Minister hissed.

"Oh, Merlin's beard, no," said Dumbledore, smiling. "Not unless you are foolish enough to force me to."

"Enough of this. Shacklebolt, Dawlish, take him."

A loud sound like metal crashing against metal was heard and a bright silver streak of light danced around the room, followed by a loud crashing sound that filled the office with dust. Several groans, followed by dull thuds of bodies falling to the floor was heard before silence reigned. A quick Ventus later, Dumbledore saw the five Ministry officials unconscious on the floor and the students behind shimmering shields cast by the disillusioned pair of Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape. Much to his delight, Cho Chang and Warrington were unconscious behind the barriers. Harry Potter was conscious and alert, yet didn't seem surprised by the development.

Of course, Dumbledore already informed Harry of his plan when he entered his mind.

"Thank you Minerva, Severus. You may go."

"Are you sure about this, Albus?" Minerva asked with a certain amount of concern in her voice.

"I am. You already know of the measures I took to ensure the safety of the students and all three of you know what needs to be done about the prophecy." His gaze landed on Harry and he was reminded of Christmas. How the boy - nay, the man - absorbed the truth about Voldemort. About his immortality. He gave his student the raw, unfiltered truth under a heavy application of oaths and in his paranoia, several privately executed rituals after the fact, all of them with clauses that would free Harry from their hold when he deemed the boy a capable enough Occlumens. Yet he didn't share the prophecy. No, he wouldn't yet. He could do something else, however.

"As for that, Harry, I know the prophecy in its entirety. I only ask of you to let me deal with it and I will show you a Pensieve memory of its conception."

Harry could only nod. Despite the rocky start they had at the start of the year - caused by Dumbledore's paranoia - they were on good terms of mutual trust.

Yes, Harry could trust him with those matters as he trusted Harry to move accordingly while he was gone.

"Now. I believe you should leave - not you, Harry. The office will eject everyone inside when I leave."

The Heads of Slytherin and Gryffindor left the room with curt nods as Dumbledore returned to his desk and repaired the damage he had caused.

"I should thank Kingsley for the magnificent application of the memory alteration charm," the Headmaster mused as he turned his wand to the four unconscious hostiles. "Don't worry about a thing, Harry. Umbridge may be tyrannical in her methods, but she will not harm the students. I can't promise she will be that way for the whole duration, but her favourite methods have been blocked. Especially you, Harry. I'm afraid I can't promise you safety against her."

"I figured that much," Harry scoffed. "But what are you doing to them, exactly?"

"Compulsion charms with the aid of Legilimency," Dumbledore commented calmly, almost as if discussing the weather. "Cornelius, Percy and John will be compelled to ignore you completely. Simple application since they will leave momentarily. Dolores, however… A complex charm to compel her to not harm a student physically. But it will wear off before this is over. I want you to move with caution, Harry. You will continue your lessons with Professor Snape under the pretence of detention, since your grades have improved significantly in potions, but you will need to disband the D.A."

"I'm well aware. Speaking of the D.A, Expecto Patronum." A brilliant Greek sphinx appeared from Harry's wand. "I'm alright. Dumbledore is leaving the school so you need to tread carefully. The group members were not compromised, so you're all safe. We will speak in the common room. Susan, we will speak during Herbology. Luna, Ginny will tell you everything you know. Daphne… We will find a way to speak, alright? We cannot be seen together at this time. Trust me, please. Dobby, return everyone to their dorms. And I'm sorry I left you all in the Chamber of Secrets, I couldn't think of a safer place."

The Patronus left through the floor and Harry turned to the Headmaster once more.

"Your Patronus changed," he softly commented in slight awe. "Wisdom, cunning and courage."

"Headmaster?" Harry dumbly said as he cocked his head towards his Professor, eliciting a chuckle from him.

"I'm sorry. What I meant to say, you've grown, Harry. Eagle wings, a serpent's tail and a lion's body. Wisdom, cunning and courage. It seems those aspects of yours have grown greatly. Perhaps you experienced a revelation or a sudden growth of character?" The Headmaster mused. "Spurred on by a certain young lady perhaps."

'Perhaps both.'

"You see, a natural Patronus is an animal that best expresses you as a wizard. When a Patronus changes, it is either an animal that expresses your growth and its origin or a derivative, like your sphinx. A Patronus can also change when you are deeply in love with someone. As for you, whilst a sphinx isn't necessarily an accurate description of you, its parts do accurately describe you."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Harry's face when he remembered something similar to what his Professor said.

"Why is your Patronus a phoenix, Professor?" He asked, flipping the subject to the elder wizard as he needed not comment further on his Patronus.

At that moment, the Ministry officials began to stir from their slumber.

"Why, because I'm immortal, of course," Dumbledore said jovially with his eyes twinkling madly. He turned his gaze towards the officials that lifted their heads to look at him. Without a single word uttered, Fawkes flew above him and perched on his hat. The Headmaster lifted his wand and with a brilliant golden flash, he disappeared in a curtain of flame, by the time Harry's vision recovered from the sudden flash, all trace of it was gone.

Before they could register his departure, everyone was forcefully ejected from the office by the wards of Hogwarts, the doorway locking itself behind them.

X

The moment the Patronus message ended, the impromptu group members looked at each other.

"Dumbledore's gone?" Hermione gasped in shock.

"I think… I think they planned this whole thing," Susan commented. "If this goes wrong for the Ministry, which it will if You-Know-Who is alive, then Fudge will be ousted from office and Dumbledore will return even stronger than ever."

"We will see how it goes. For now, we should trust Harry," Ron commented, although he did look pretty put-off at the whole situation. "Take care, guys," Ron grabbed Dobby's hand and the Gryffindors disapparated.

"At least Fudge's insidious schemes will come to an end," Luna commented airily with a dreamy smile, eliciting a chuckle from Susan and Daphne. Dobby appeared and Luna was gone as well.

"Well, at least you will be forced to be up close and personal to chat with your boyfriend," Susan smirked, causing Daphne to get another pink tint on her cheeks.

"I fail to see what you mean," the blonde huffed.

"Come on Daph, I know you have a massive crush on him. You told me so last year during Yule as you watched him awkwardly dance with Patil," Susan teased, causing Daphne's eyes to narrow.

"That might be the case, but he isn't my boyfriend."

"Not yet. I can see how much he adores you anyway. Don't think I didn't catch the look he gave you when he spoke of his Patronus memory."

"Yes, yes, big bad Bones catches everything," Daphne snarked with a roll of her eyes. Dobby then appeared again.

"Just be careful in your house. If need be, you must renounce any and all ties with him."

"I have enough influence to make it work. The fact I own the Devil's Snare is an open secret within our house, it also means that they know I have enough dirt to ruin most of their lives. I might not be favoured by them right now, but that doesn't mean they want an enemy out of me."

"You sure?"

"They would have made a move these past two months otherwise. Some tried, but were promptly silenced," the blonde said with a sniff of disdain and an uplifted nose.

"Great work, Heiress Greengrass," Susan quipped as she disappeared with Dobby.

"Thank you, Heiress Bones," Daphne commented to no one. Now that she was completely alone, her eyes fell on the corpse of the basilisk once more. To think that beast was killed with a sword… It was mind boggling. If anyone could do it, however, it was Harry. A ghost of a smile appeared upon her face as she thought of Harry again.

It was always just a crush. A dumb, juvenile crush as she had no reason to actually like a guy she hadn't spoken a word to. Yet now that she got to know him better, the more she fell upon the sword that was her feelings. Harry Potter was better than she ever thought. She cared little of his monikers or his titles like many other girls in school liked to fantasise about. To her, Harry was important, not the Boy-Who-Lived. Honest, loyal, brave, kind, brilliant Harry Potter.

'Also hot. Don't forget he's fucking hot. And those eyes… Merlin, those eyes, how they look at me...'

Dobby decided to appear with a pop at that moment, causing Daphne to shriek in shock as she was violently awoken from her progressively lewder daydreams.

"Is Miss Daphy okay?" The elf asked with concern as her fear was seen as unfounded.

"Y- Yes, Dobby, I'm perfectly fine and ready to return to my bed," Daphne responded with a flush.

"Very well," the elf shrugged and grabbed Daphne's hand to disapparate with a soft pop.

X

Rain kept falling with a steadily increasing tempo in a location far from Hogwarts, far from Britain in general. The constant downpour kept violently whipping the walls and windows of a small wooden shack surrounded by thick and seemingly infinite trees, located in the middle of a forgotten island near the eastern coast of the United States of America. Grass and dirt looked like a muddy soup, constantly flowing around the wooden cabin towards the coast due to the deluge.

The cabin itself looked abandoned and old. A relic of some forgotten resident that had either lived and died on the premises or simply left for the mainland. It was misshapen, poorly crafted and no light came from within the flimsy walls made of stacked logs. The sky above it was a dark grey, a telltale sign of a violent thunderstorm poised to attack the earth and sea under it, living beings be damned.

Yet someone actually lived within the pathetic walls that somehow refused to let even the tiniest amount of water inside them. Two people, in fact.

Lightning struck near the coast of the island, its impact both blinding and deafening for anyone near it.

The two residents of the dilapidated building cared not.

The momentary flash of light revealed someone standing behind one window of the cabin. The man looked fairly simple, with luscious black hair tied in a ponytail that ended just below his nape, coupled with a pair of dark violet eyes, framed by aristocratic features and a chiselled jaw. He was of considerable height and very well trained; he was neither lean nor buff. Even at that point in time, in a poor shack, he stood with a regal air unparalleled by simple men. Even despite his lacklustre attire - a sleeveless black top and a pair of black jeans - lesser men, especially those of lesser status would flee and cower from the imposing visage, which was only amplified by the complete lack of a left arm.

His eyes held a steely look in them, betraying the man's resolve and dedication.

'It is time. It's abrupt, but I need to get going.'

"I told you a million times already, stop turning off the lights during a thunderstorm," a female voice, dripping exasperation and resignation was heard behind the man. A ball of light left the woman's wand and hung freely above the residents near the wooden ceiling.

"And I have responded that I simply adore the feel of a thunderstorm in the dark," the man responded in a casual tone. His voice straight, unwavering and youthful still, despite walking the earth for thirty five long and trying years.

"You adore anything black," the woman scoffed. "I seriously wonder when I'll be free to return to the ministry. I've been on this Merlin forsaken island for the past eighteen months to help you finish that cute book you're holding."

"Come on, I know you don't wanna leave me like that. You positively hate deskwork. Also, this book isn't cute at all and you know it, Jessica."

"Yes, yes, dark scary spells and what not that I cannot study, passed down generation after generation, never to be shared. And even if I did study them, I don't have the blood to use them. Honestly, you British people are too hung up on your traditions and your limitations. You should broaden your horizons and share."

"Traditions exist to set a path on which we prosper and evolve. Abandon them and there is no path for us to walk on," the man retorted with a mischievous glint in his violet eyes, completely dodging the subject of sharing knowledge. He turned around to face his companion, loudly closing the thick tome in his right - his only - hand.

"Besides, this book is everything I have left, at least for now. Plus, my whole goal was to literally learn its contents perfectly. And it certainly didn't ever stop me from broadening my horizons, as you delicately put it."

"It is the only thing you had left for the last seventeen years, and it's not even the real thing," the woman, Jessica, deadpanned. "You don't even own your own clothes at this point. I own them since you dumped them in my apartment for who knows what reason."

"I couldn't possibly take the real copy, you know that," the man said, completely dodging the whole 'clothing' discussion for the millionth time.

"Yes, yes, and again, too hung up."

"Don't be like that, it's not like I only studied spells from here," he said as he shook the book in his hand. "I also studied whatever your Ministry gave me access to."

"I'm well aware. I'm your instructor."

"Well… not anymore, you're not," he said in an oddly deep and serious tone.

"Wait, what?"

"I'm done, Jessica. It is time for me to return."

"B- but, isn't it early?" Jessica asked with genuine worry and a healthy dose of panic in her voice. "I knew you'd leave the moment you finished that book, but still…"

"No, Jessica. I'm actually afraid I might even be late. He is back. How the public treats the Potter boy is completely irrelevant. I know the facts and I always knew he'd be back. I've been training for Merlin knows how long, just to return and do this properly. Even while everyone was still reeling from his reign and celebrating his false demise, I kept working," the man stressed and his eyes grew shaky, yet they froze and his gaze hardened as he renewed his resolve. "I should even be thankful he came back fourteen years after the fact. I had the chance to be the best I could."

"Well, judging from the fact you defeated our very own Head of Magical Law Enforcement in single handed combat, I'd say you're pretty good," the woman said with a toothy grin, ignoring the completely unamused expression of the man that didn't enjoy her pathetic pun. "But even so, you'll really leave without a proper goodbye fuck?"

Jessica Steelwater really had a funny way of concealing genuine worry. Yet she managed to make the man laugh heartily.

"Really? That's on your mind, even after I denied you that very offer numerous times?"

"I know you want this," she said as she gestured towards her body with her hands. The man closed the distance between them and held her by the small of her back.

"You know I do. But you know I want more than that delectable body you possess," he said in a gruff voice, causing her to shiver. "I really like you, Jessica. But you know I cannot commit. Not yet. We have discussed this numerous times."

A single tear ran down her left cheek, yet the woman tried to smile. "I know," she whispered. Then she smacked the man's stump that used to be his left arm. "You will come back, you hear me? If you don't, I'll find you in the afterlife and I will tear off your other arm. Maybe even your third leg if I'm particularly irate."

The man chuckled and kissed her softly on the lips. It was the first time he had ever kissed her upon the lips, yet it had a significant impact. That kiss was a promise.

"I didn't die when I should have. I don't plan on dying now. Not while you wait for me."

"You'd better," she responded weakly as he left her arms and grabbed his travelling cloak.

Aided by magic, the cloak hung from his shoulder and covered his right arm. He took a deep, shaky breath and the book in his hand started glowing and burning.

"I'll miss you, Jess," he said, receiving a teary-eyed nod from the Auror. He closed his eyes and activated the password tied to the book that functioned as an International Portkey. An obscure, untraceable and very much illegal portkey.

"Toujours Pur."

As the man vanished in a brilliant flash of light that rivalled the flashes of lighting from the thunderstorm violating the island on which everything took place, the only thing left behind him was a smouldering stream of paper that had long since turned to ash.

Jessica, the sole resident of the dilapidated shack exhaled a deep breath and gathered her resolve.

"Be safe, Regulus. I love you."

A sharp crack of apparition later and the last resident of the cabin was gone along with the light she conjured.