Chapter 31
“Professor Dumbledore, I came because I felt like this called for more than just letters. Thank you for accepting my request.” The scruffy man said coolly as he passed through his old Professor’s floo.
“Please, you’re an adult now. Call me Albus. And indeed, come sit down. Would you like sugar and milk in your tea?”
“Errr, I would like my tea with one sugar, no milk please. So Albus, tell me about Harry.”
The older man stiffed, clearly wishing that was not what he asked. Nervousness fluttered in him, usually his old Professor wasn’t hesitant to answer him. Albus gave him a cup of tea, and said regretfully, “There is one thing you must understand about Harry, he is a product of his own environment… He is polite, intelligent and remarkably cunning. But…”
“But what, Albus?”
“Remus, Harry was raised in an orphanage… One of the worst ones in the UK, mind you. He is defensive, and unnaturally apathetic with most situations. And I suspect he is in contact with Voldemort. After all, we all know he’s back, but we cannot do anything since he has not done anything yet. He hasn’t even called for Severus. Harry is also close to the youngest Malfoy, Draco, and had gone to their residence on most holidays. The Malfoys would be the perfect hiding place for someone like Voldemort, and the man would do anything to take advantage of Harry’s mind.”
His breath hitched when Professor Dumbledore stated where Harry had lived and what he suspects. How did this happen? Oh merlin… James would be so upset if he learned what his son has done. How could Harry have done that? Be in contact with the murder of his parents? But at the same time, an uncharacteristic anger crept up in him. How had the older man let this happen, and go on for so long? Taking a long sip on the too hot liquid he said quickly, “How did you let this happen? Albus, you said he would be safe! How did he even get into an orphanage if you gave him to the Dursleys?”
“He was sent to an orphanage around the age of six due to Vernon Dursley beating him to near death. That’s what his muggle file says anyway. If I had known the Dursleys would do this, I would have never trusted them with Harry. Re-”
He wasn’t ready to let Dumbledore finish, he hated the fact that he let Harry suffer through that. Interrupting Albus he snapped, “That doesn’t change the fact that he did live with the Dursleys, and it was your fault! You knew Petunia hated magic; Lily told us all that!”
Dumbledore sighed and said, “I believed it would be the best for the boy, I had thought that the Dursleys would set aside their hatred for magic for Harry. The blood ward-“
“Blood wards my ass, I’m sure we could have found a better solution.”
Dumbledore put up his hand and snapped in his voice that left Remus speechless, “Let. Me Finish. Now, Remus my boy, I am trying to fix this problem now please listen.” He then paused and continued, we need to put Harry in a better position, we cant just let him suffer in the orphanage for another year. That’s why you’re here, will you take him? I cannot take him personally simply because I have work to do and can not take care of a child.”
Remus frowned and sunk into his chair in defeat, he wanted to take Harry in with him. Bit “You know I can’t take Harry in, no matter how much I want to… A new law passed last three month forbidding werewolves to adopt a human child, we are only allowed to have biological children. Perhaps my ex-girlfriend Tonks? S-She and I are still on good terms, she wouldn’t refuse, I think. Especially since she is starting to think of adopting a child, I think she would be a good influence with Harry. And I could visit occasionally too…”
Professor Dumbledore sagged slightly at the answer but nodded. Remus felt bad that he said no, but he would be dangerous to Harry, especially on full moons. And his mental health isn’t the best, Tonks had broken up with him last month and everything sort of fell apart. Suddenly his thoughts where interrupted by Dumbledore saying, “I understand Remus, I do appreciate you coming anyway. Why don’t we catch up while we finish our tea?”
“Sounds good to me. So, Dumbledore…”
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He noticed he was unnaturally angry, sudden burst of anger or sadness would swell up in randomly. Sometimes it was debilitating anger, like last week when he was trying to sleep and shot up awake in a rage. Or he could be hit with sudden sadness, sometimes slight or crushing sadness that made him want to curl up and cry. He also dreamt about Potter more than usual, he knew the boy was a horcrux, but it was to the point where it was every night. Perhaps Potter was influencing his emotions? It could certainly be a possibility, after all Potter is a very angry person. And he has more of a reason given the fact that his magical guardian had refused to give the Malfoys custody of the boy. The Dark Lord smiled to himself at that, anger was such a beautiful emotion. He knew he would manipulate it and turn it into something darker than normal anger, and if Potter was affecting his emotions, then it could already be happening. His smile faded when he realized that this could be what Severus was talking about. Sighing, he concluded that this cannot continue. But he concluded that he needed to see Harry. But the problem was how, he could not see him in person due to his school schedule, but he needs to put some peace in the boy. He hated dreaming about Potter- The idea came to his mind, perhaps he could try to visit Potter in his dreams… He had never tried to talk to him, but it could work if he tries hard enough.
Suddenly he heard a knock on his door, pointing his hand to the door it unlocked immediately. “Come in” He said coolly as he regained his composure. The door opened revealing Lucius walking through the door. He quickly came in and bowed in greeting and said, “My Lord.”
“What is it?”
“I already promised this to Potter, and my son, but I do wish to get your full permission.”
Voldemort quirked an eyebrow and said, “And what did you promise?”
“Well as we both know Potter’s living arrangements are not adequate for him, I wanted to take custody of him. Unfortunately, Albus Dumbledore is the boy’s magical guardian, and we need his confirmation for it to happen. The problem is that I have received a letter from Potter stating that Albus refuses and plans to replace him in a different home- a lighter one. I am asking permission to take Potter to court over this, I have enough evidence to win”
The Dark Lord remained silent, thinking of the possible situations. Yes, Har-Potter would be happier with the Malfoys, but he could also gain another spy. Yes, Severus is a good spy, but it would be better to have two. After all, Albus would probably reveal more to the boy then Severus. But it could also give the old fool more time to manipulate the boy, that he could not have. Concluding that it would be better to have Harry be with the Malfoys he said, “Yes continue with the legal process, it would be best if we get Dumbledore as far away from Potter as possible. But don’t underestimate Dumbledore, he has his own tricks to get his way.”
Lucius nodded in agreement, and said, “Yes, My Lord, I will be sure to leave no legal loopholes. If I may ask one last thing?”
“And what is that?”
“If it is not too rude of me of course, when will we reveal that you are alive? I know that the majority of the inner circle (Excluding the ones in Azkaban) knows, but I feel like this is all talk and no action.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Lucius you have no idea how disappointed I am that you doubt me. But if you must know I am already coming up with some plans. Soon I plan to break the rest of the death eaters, including Sirius Black. Since Mr. Black has been falsely accused of being a follower, we will frame him for the escape. Then when everyone is healed mentally and physically, I will show that I am indeed alive. I am collecting information about it; I will only tell the others once I am certain. Now Leave.”
Lucius kneeled before him obviously ashamed for his question. He said, “Yes My Lord, and thank you for telling me this.” He watched Lucius as he got up and headed for the door.
When Lucius got to the doorknob, he smirked as he pointed his wand at the man. And he quickly muttered, “Crucio!” Lucius fell to the floor, as his limbs twitched in agony. Walking up to him slowly he said, “Oh and Lucius, take this as a reminder to never doubt me.”
The man shakily nodded, and Voldemort released the spell.
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(Next day)
Harry was a six again, he was sitting on his moth-eaten mattress staring at the wall. He had just gotten beaten by some of the of the children at the orphanage, and everything ached. Sometimes he wished he was at the Dursleys, in the comfort of his broom cupboard. Suddenly he heard a voice,
“Potter.”
He quickly turned around to face the voice, terror already striking his mind. It was a tall man, he had dark brown hair and red eyes, he was also wearing funny robes Harry has never seen before. “W-Who are you?” He asks quietly, not wanting to anger the man.
“Potter, don’t you remember me? Voldemort. I am speaking to you through your dreams, it seems I have done the spell wrong since you are acting… like this.”
Suddenly his mind was flooded with memories, and he suddenly remembered he was asleep. The room shifted and he was in blackness, and he shifted back to his normal form. He sighed in relief; he was now aware that he was dreaming. Looking up at the Dark Lord he asked, “How are you here? Are you even real?”
The Dark Lord sneered and stated, “Of course I’m real, you would still believe you were six if I wasn’t. I used our mind connection, luckily you are still shit at occlumency, so I easily just broke your weak shields.”
“Oh. That makes sense. What did you need?”
“I was testing a theory mostly, but I do believe we should talk about the plans forward.”
“Yes sir.”
Voldemort waved his hand and the darkness shifted to a nice park, it looked oddly muggle for Voldemort. But he did not comment on it. “Harry, you do realize that you will not go to the orphanage again, right? No matter who wins this custody war you will not return to such abuse. Do not think about the Dursleys or the Orphanage, they are your past, not your future. Now walk.”
“I know sir, but its still frustrating. And its not like I choose to dream about them, it sort of just happens.”
“Okay, I was just reminding you. Now, I believe I could train you through your dreams, it may not train you magically, but as the saying goes. Knowledge is power.”
They continued talking, and he started to feel lighter. He suspects that it was the point of the whole visit, but he still got updated on what was happening. It still wasn’t enough to extinguish the uncomfortable feeling, but it silenced it for now. And for the first time since Yule break he had fun.
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(Time skip of a few days)
He heard someone walk up to his table in the library and stop. He quickly recognized the footsteps as it was Theo, putting down the book Harry slowly went to face him. His friend was smiling, but there was still obvious wariness around him. A small tinge in him stomach popped up when he realized this, sighing he said, “Hey Theo what’s up?”
“Harry, can we talk in the common room? I want to tell you something important…”
“Sure, let’s go.”
When they arrived, Harry sat down on the couch, and motioned for Theo to do the same. As they both sat next to each other he asked, “Soooo What is it?”
“Harry, you have been acting differently these past few days, I just wanted to know what’s wrong.”
He tensed slightly, he knew he felt different, but he didn’t know he was acting that different. Shrugging he asked, “And how have I been asking different?”
“I-I mean you just seem angrier; you snap at us a lot more often. You have been isolating yourself, I mean we spoke about it, and we all agree something is wrong.”
“I’ve just been stressed, it’s not that serious. And please don’t talk about me when I’m not there, even if it’s in good intentions.”
Theo frowned sadly and said, “What is stressing you out! Harry I- we want to help; we just don’t know what to do. And I’m sorry, we shouldn’t have spoken about you, but we don’t know what else to do. It’s been a month now.”
“It’s none of your business Theo! I’m glad you care, but I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“I don’t care! You need to, it might make you feel better.”
Sighing in frustration he said calmer, not wanting to start a fight, “Look its just a buildup of different situations. It may be worse than it normally would be since…”
“Since what?”
Embarrassment flooded his veins; he really didn’t want to tell Theo that it relates to the abuse he suffered at the hands of the orphanage. There was more to what was bothering him, but we wouldn’t say it. After all, he couldn’t just tell Theo that he talks to Voldemort through his dreams, or the fact that he is currently learning occlumency by Professor Snape, and they are slowly starting to be one okay terms. Not good but okay. That would be a secret… For now, at least. Taking a deep breath he said, “Its more personal matters. L-Look I was raised-mostly- in an orphanage, and they weren’t very nice. And I learned that it was all because of the headmaster I was stuck with them, I wanted the Malfoy’s to take custody of me, and he said no. He’s forcing to stay with some Dumbledore supporter for the rest of my summers, I rather stay at the orphanage then! I don’t want to be stuck with another stuck up idiot who thinks Dumbledore is some amazing God! Her name is Nymphadora Tonks or some shit. And I am supposed to go to court tomorrow.”
Theo looked surprised as he said, “Oh Harry, I’m so sorry… Is there anything I can do?”
Harry got up and quickly said, “No. Just ignore what I told you, things will be normal now I swear.” He was about to walk away from his friend, but Theo took his hand and engulfed him in a hug. He wanted to pull away, as he already felt weak admitting it to another person that he was indeed abused. But his body ignored his please and he seemed to have leaned into the embrace, instead of getting out of it.