Chapter 34
Apparently keeping that Voldemort is teaching students at Hogwarts Defence Against the Dark Arts a secret, was more difficult than Harry imagined.
His parents definitely knew something was going on after they found Harry staring blankly at a wall. Apparently he didn’t notice they were there until his dad clapped very loudly into his ear. Sirius and Pete were there as well, which would have been reassuring but Harry never liked it when his family looked sympathetically at him, they told him Remus would’ve come too but he went back to school early as he always does.
“Harry, love, you can tell us if anything’s wrong, you know that right?” His mum said.
“Of course.” replied Harry.
“And you know we will always love you no matter what?” His dad added.
“It- it’s nothing to worry about.” Harry said awkwardly.
His mum grabbed his hands. “You may think that, my darling, but it’s been a week since the Christmas Party and you just haven’t been the same. You didn’t keep the weed, did you?”
“I know I say die young and leave a pretty corps but that doesn’t mean I want you to actually do it.” Sirius joked tightly.
“There’s no weed.” Harry muttered.
Peter leaned in closely to look thoroughly at Harry’s eyes. “He’s right, his eyes aren’t the bright red colour Moony’s used to get.”
“Are you getting sick?” His mum asked, putting her palm on his forehead. “I knew I shouldn’t have let you fly yesterday, the radio predicted a snow storm!”
“I’m fine mum!” snapped Harry. He shook her hand off and stood up. “There’s just a lot on my mind, is all.”
Sirius and Peter must’ve noticed the shift and realised this was a family matter and they muttered a goodbye and left the living room. Harry swallowed heavily and sat back down, putting his head in his hands.
“Please talk to us, Harry, we’re all worried about you.” His dad whispered, ruffling Harry’s hair lightly.
Harry took a deep breathe but kept his face covered. “Is just- it’s just my friends and I, at the Christmas party, we…erm… we found something out that we probably shouldn’t’ve.”
“What is it?” They asked at the same time.
“Erm…” He had no idea how to say this but it was better than keeping it between him and his friends. “I- I know where Voldemort is.”
“What?” His dad screeched.
“Was it from your scar?” questioned his mum. “Did it hurt or something?”
“No, no…” Harry shook his head. “It was- it was from a prophecy.”
“Which prophecy, Harry?” His mum shook out, looking terrified.
“The one about- about a boy born at the end of July with defying parents being the only one able to kill Voldemort.”
His mum put a hand over her husbands and closed her eyes tightly. Harry’s dad whispered something in her ear so softly that Harry had no way of hearing it. She opened her eyes and it was filled with tears.
“I’m sorry mum, I- I didn’t mean to-“ Harry started, feeling guilty all of a sudden.
“No. Don’t you dare apologise. You deserved to see that prophecy more than anyone else.” His mum demanded.
“You know about it?” asked Harry.
“Of course, it’s about our son after all.” His dad chuckled darkly. “Dumbledore told us all about it when he found out the Dark Lord knew about it.”
“He made us go into a safe house.” His mum said.
“At Godrics Hollow, I remember you telling me of that.” Harry whispered.
“Then he and Wormtail became our secret keepers but Voldemort found a way to us anyway, almost killing you.” His mum whispered, still sounding heartbroken. “I didn’t know how you survived until-“
“A Healer explained.” Harry’s dad finished.
“Do you know who told Voldemort?” Harry shivered.
His parents exchanged glances. “Yes.”
“Are they in Azkaban?”
“Unfortunately not.” His dad scowled.
Harry had why more questions to ask them but his mum put them back on their original path.
“So, where is Voldemort?”
Harry sighed. “He’s in Hogwarts.”
“Hogwarts?” His mother screeched.
“That dirty, vile, scumbag, of a man.”spat his dad.
His parents seemed to have figured out more than Harry knew, by the way they were talking about Dumbledore like he was the devil. Harry wasn’t sure how his headmaster has anything to do with Riddle being Voldemort and every students defence against the dark arts teacher. But who was he to dish out his parents.
“But why would Dumbledore do this?” His dad asked.
“I don’t know,” Harry’s mum sighed, “they could have made an alliance of sorts.”
“Dumbledore is the lightest wizard of the century, why would he choose the other side?”
“The thing is,” his mum said slowly, “he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s working with Voldemort, he hasn’t told the order or even the other teachers. You don’t think he’s on about his ‘for the greater good’ stuff again?”
“Gellert Grindlewald?” Harry gasped.
“How do you know about that, Harry?” His dad frowned, they seemed to have forgotten he was in the rom.
“My friends mentioned him a while ago and- and I did some research about him.” Harry shrugged.
“If Dumbledore wanted to rule over the world ‘for the greater good’, he could do that without infiltrating with the enemy.” His mum mentioned. “He’s been begged to be the Minister of Magic for years now.”
“Maybe he want’s to use necromancy?” His dad suggested.
“For Grindlewald? That’s illegal, darling.”
“As if that’s ever stopped anyone.” Harry’s dad turned to him. “Which teacher is Voldemort?”
“Professor Riddle.” said Harry quickly.
“Fuck.”
“Language!” His mum berated.
“We let that man give our son private lessons! We let that man under our roof!”
“Oh Merlin.” His mum groaned.
“Dumbledore said he wished me luck while we were in your office at the party, dad.” Harry said.
“So what exactly were you in my office for if you weren’t doing weed?”
“Using your pensieve…” Harry whispered.
James Potter was about to say something (probably rude) when his wife interrupted.
“Harry love, how did you get a prophecy to put in the pensieve in the first place?”
Harry should’ve guessed this question was coming but he was tired of keeping all these secrets and feelings to himself as if he and his friends are the only ones who are allowed to know them. He told his parents the whole story: what Riddle told him, how they got the prophecy, what the prophecy said, even about Draco thinking Riddle was some scary pedophile. His parents listened in shock and anger and all five stages of grief.
“Bambi…” His dad whispered.
“We have to tell someone in the ministry, we have to tell the minister.” decided Lily.
“As if they’re going to believe that.” Harry grumbled.
His dad chuckled. “I knew Dumbledore snitched on us, I fucking knew it.”
“But no one else believed us so it didn’t matter.” Harry’s mum added.
“Surely they’ll believe me, right?” Harry tried. “I’m the Boy Who Lived!”
His parents pondered.
“I’m not sure your word will count for this, my love.”
“I could ask Lucius? He’s close with the minister.”
His dad raised an eyebrow. “Malfoy?”
“Draco talks about their dislike for Dumbledore all the time, I never hear the end of it during the school year.”
“I’m trying not to get involved with politics.” His dad smirked.
“This is the most political we could possibly get.” Harry’s mum smiled.
“I don’t have the prophecy anymore, how will anyone know I’m not making this up?” Harry asked.
“Veritaserum.” His mum said. “We used it to figure out Peter wasn’t the traitor during the first war. It makes the drinker tell the truth, the ministry uses it for interrogations.”
“Will they- will they make me drink it?” Harry asked.
His mum looked pitiful. “If you want to bring Dumbledore and Voldemort down then you’ll have to.”
Harry bit his lip but nodded. He barely knew what was happening they were moving so quickly. If Harry knew he would be making accusations towards his headmaster and the darkest wizard of the century then he probably would never have gotten involved in the first place, but he did get involved and now he was here. He was just glad his parents supported him and knew the rest of his family and friends were going to be on his side too.
“When should we go to the minister then?” Harry asked.
James kneeled on the ground and put both hands on Harry’s shoulders, he did this whenever he was giving Harry a task. Harry warmed at the familiarity.
“School starts in three days yeah?” Harry nodded. “When you have a private lesson with Riddle, ask him as many questions about what he and Dumbledore are up too.”
“You want me to be a spy?” Harry smiled.
His dad’s smirk widened. “Padfoot can lend you his two way mirror and you can bring it with you to the lessons so you don’t have to remember everything he says since we’ll be on the other side.”
“This idea seems very dangerous, James.” Harry’s mum frowned. “Harry darling, you don’t have to do this if you’re not up to it, your father is just being silly-“
“I want too, mum,” he reassured her, “anything to keep us safe, yeah?”
“If you do this, don’t tell any of your friends.” His dad demanded. “I know you trust them right now, but when it comes to the Dark Lord and all that political nonsense, it can turn friends into foes.”
“My friends aren’t into all that, they’re the good guys.”
“No one, Harry.” His dad repeated seriously.
Harry sighed in defeat. “I won’t tell a soul.”
His dad nodded and licked his lips. “Okay, good. But when you ask Riddle questions, don’t straight up ask what he and Dumbledore are doing, make him trust you, make him think you’re on his side.”
“You want our son to side with Voldemort?” Lily shouted.
“What? Of course not, it’s an act to get Voldemort to trust him.”
Sirius and Peter poked their heads around the doorway with unnaturally pale faces.
“Please tell me you have context with what you just said?” Peter squeaked.
Harry’s parents held eye contact and seemed to be having a private conversation with their eyes. His mum nodded and gestured for Sirius and Peter to follow her out of the living room. She must be telling them of their plan.
“Oh Salazar.” Harry whispered, feeling frightened.
“Harry, my darling, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want too. We can go to the minister whenever you’re ready and present him with our information as it is.” His dad reminded him, running his warm hands up and down Harry’s arms.
“No, no, I do want to do this. I do want to help.”
His dad looked unconvinced. “If you feel at any moment that you’re in danger then you can tell us and the plan is over.”
“Of course, I trust you.” Harry laughed breathlessly.
“You can go on until Riddle trusts you enough to tell you of his and Dumbledores plan, if you feel like you’re unsafe-“
“I can stop, I know.” Harry finished impatiently.
His dad sat back on the couch and looked at Harry in wonder.
“It’s at times like this I wonder how a person of such bravery and courage, like you, aren’t in Gryffindor.”
Harry rolled his eyes and pulled on the hem of his dark green shirt. “Red’s never been my colour, dad.”
“Ahh yes, a Gryffindor never focuses so much on their outfit as a Slytherin does.” His dad teased.
“What about Mary?”
“Mary is the exception.”
“What about Padfoot?” Harry’s grin widened.
“Okay you, shut up before you say something you might regret.” His dad jumped up from the couch and tackled Harry into a tickle fight on the carpeted ground.
“Stop! STOP!” Harry screamed out around his laugh. He tried to squirm away but his dads tickling fingers on his sides kept him still.
“At least I’m on the quidditch team!” Harry tried to say under all his squealing.
His dad pulled off then, looking rather pleased with himself.
“Well why didn’t you lead with that?”
“You started tickling me!” Harry scowled.
His dad shrugged and jumped up, reaching out a hand to help Harry up too. “You should know by now that quidditch is my one true weakness.”
“Not mum and I in danger?” Harry pouted teasingly.
His dad’s smile disappeared and he looked longingly through the archway that led from the living room to the kitchen where his wife’s and best friends voices could be heard.
“That will always be my weakness, Harry, always.”
Harry opened his arms and he and James shared a big hug, his dads face pressed tightly into Harry’s hair. Harry sighed and melted into the embrace and knew he was going to miss this the most over the rest of the school year. 1994 was going to be fine, Harry was going to be fine.