Mending ties
Chapter 13:
It was late when Harry and Luna were forced to finally part to return to their respective dormitories. By the position of the moon in the sky, he estimated that it was around 1:00 a.m.
Despite this, he still felt as if it was far too soon. After so long, he had found a peace of him that he had not even known he was missing. And now he was forced to leave that part of him, even if only for the night. She had assured him that they would see each other the next day.
Still, it was unfortunate that they were both in different years and in different houses. It made interacting with each other that much difficult. Thankfully, they had already discussed when they could meet again in private.
Another thing that they discussed was how to behave in public. As far as anyone knew, they had only just met on the train. Therefore, it would seem strange if they were suddenly in a romanic relationship. Hence, they were forced to act as if they only had a budding friendship between them, until enough time had passed for them to begin a public courtship without anyone getting too suspicious. Harry could handle this, as having her back was enough to satisfy him. After all, their relationship had been like this in Camelot, as public displays of affection were greatly frowned upon during such times. He could handle having to wait a month or two before being able to show his feels for Luna in public.
He felt that the only hard part would be to keep his relationship a secret from his friends and siblings. Despite them giving him hardly any information during the summer, he knew that they had only done so because the old puppet-master was forcing them to.
Speaking of whom, Harry had many, many thoughts about Dumbledore.
After much thought and discussion with Luna, it became apparent that the old wizard had very likely gained his memories somehow. Neither knew how. Luna hypothesised that something tragic must have happened to him earlier in his life to trigger his memories, just as hers had been awakened by her Mother's death.
Harry did not care how tragic the event was, as it seemed that Dumbledore felt not one bit of remorse for his actions. Worse than that, he was up to his old tricks again.
Looking back on his life, it was apparent that Dumbledore had been manipulating him this entire time. From the moment that his parents had died to the return of Voldemort, Dumbledore had been preparing him as some sort of weapon.
They theorised that Dumbledore had seen him, an orphan hero, and decided to control him as he had once controlled Arthur.
In his first year, Dumbledore had hid the hers Stone behind obstacles which could easily be defeated by three first years. He should have easily sensed that Quirrell had Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head. And he could have easily gone from his office, to the ministry and back again in a matter of minutes. But no, instead he decided to fly there and give him time for fall into the trap of confronting Voldemort. And then, instead of punishing his friends and him for breaking several school rules, he rewarded him with house points and the victory of the house cup.
In second year, Dumbledore could have easily hired someone from the ministry to investigate the situation with the petrified students. Surely, if a thirteen year old muggle-born could figure it out, someone who had lived in the magical world for years could have as well. Even without the added variable of Harry being a parselmouth and him hearing voices all over the place, there was enough evidence to identify the monster as a basilisk. Dead was everywhere, spiders fleeing from the castle, and hello, Slytherin's monster. What other creature would it be if it wasn't snake related?
They even had a witness in the form of Myrtle.
Dumbledore had been at Hogwarts the last time the chamber had been opened. He would have known that she might have some idea of where it came from at least.
But no, Dumbledore left it up, yet again, to three students. The school had almost shut down, but it was worth it in Dumbledore's mind if it meant he could still use his little puppet.
Even when he wasn't a! the school, Dumbledore was still manipulating him. After all, he had sent fawkes along with the sorting hat.
Harry had almost laughed when he thought of how he had pulled Gryfindore's sword from the hat, just as Arthur had pulled caliburn from the stone so long ago.
Dumbledore had been the chief warlock on the Wizengamot. Therefore, he would have bore witness to all of the death-eater trials. Surely, if Sirius was seen as one of Voldemort's greatest supporters, then surely his trial would have been a high priority, even during those confusing times just after the war. And surely a trial would have revealed that Sirius had been innocent and that Petagrew had been the one who betrayed the Potters. So therefore, Sirius wouldn't have ended up in Azkaban.
However, as Harry and Luna thought about it, it seemed that this may not have been the case. A sudden feeling of horror hit Harry as he came to the terrible idea that Sirius had been sent to Azkaban without a trial. Harry knew he had to ask Sirius about this. If he hadn't, then Harry would have another reason to hate the old fool. He absolutely hated the thought that his eldest brother had been imprisoned for almost twelve years without even a trial, due to the manipulations of Dumbledore.
And last year, oh...
Dumbledore had been one of the judges. He had been one of the people meant to guard the goblet of fire. Surely he would have been able to detect when someone was tampering with it, to make it spit out four names instead of three.
And then, how could he have not noticed that the cup had been turned into a portkey? Surely if he was so powerful, he could have noticed something like this.
Even Harry's constant holidays in hell, AKA the Dursleys made sense. Dumbledore knew that they abused him. He knew that they hated him. He knew that, after all that he had been through, the last place Harry needed to go was to the Dursleys.
But he did not care. Dumbledore was using the negative environment of the Dursleys to make him seem like some sort of sanctuary.
Well, all of that was now null and void. Now, Harry could see through the lies and manipulations. He and Luna had unwoven the web of deceit and had cut the puppeteer's strings. Dumbledore intended to use him to destroy his enemy, just as he had done with Arthur.
But Harry was no longer blind. He had played this game before. And this time, he intended to win.
When Harry reached the portrait hole, it was thankfully easy to get back into the common-room. The Fat Lady was too drowsy to realise that he was breaking curfew. She merely muttered something, half asleep, and swung upon when he told her the password.
He quietly went up to his dormitory, where the other four were still sleeping. Quietly, he put away his invisibility cloak and got into his pajamas.
As he lay in his bed, his head still raced with thought. He turned to looked at Neville's bed, where the teen had drawn his curtains shut.
Luna had said that he would most likely be the next to remember, and that, if they were to succeed in changing their fates, then he would have to ally with him.
Harry was dreading when Neville would finally remember his previous life. Harry wondered if Neville would even be able to recognise him. If not, would he have to tell Neville who he was? Harry almost laughed at the thought.
"Oh, hi Neville. I know all about those dreams you've been having. And guess what, I'm your long lost inbred bastard son/nephew. Don't worry, I don't have any hard feelings about you skewering me with a spear if you don't have any hard feelings about me stabbing you. Oh, and by the way, sorry about the whole, you know, stealing your kingdom, starting a civil war, and marrying your X. But hey, no hard feelings, right?"
Yeah, that was going to go down very well.
Harry shook his head. It was better not to worry about this now. And anyway, he needed to get some sleep.
Maybe if he tried to be nicer to Neville now, then once he did finally remember, his memories of Harry would be enough to balance out the memories of Mordred.
It was a long shot, but he had to try. Their lives literally depended on it.
The next morning, despite his going to bed late, Harry managed to get up pretty alert. He looked around the dormitory to see that Seamus was avoiding his gaze, quickly getting dressed and his stuff ready for the day.
He looked to see that Neville did not appear to have slept well, if the shadows under his eyes were any indication.
"Hey, Neville," Harry began. "You okay?"
"Wa?" Neville said, startled. "Oh, yeah, I'm okay."
He took a deep breathe. He had to do this. He quickly got dressed and walked over to Neville.
"Hey, about last night," He began. "Thanks for saying that about me after Seamus... You know..."
Neville's head popped out of the top of his robes to reveal that his face had turned a light shade of pink.
"O oh, it was nothing."
Harry smiled.
"No, really. It was very brave of you. I mean, after how everyone was looking at me last night, it's nice to know that at least someone's in my corner."
Neville's blush deepened.
"Thanks."
"Hey, I've been think," Harry continued. "You're always sitting on your own and, I thought that maybe you would like to sit with Ron Hermione and I. You don't have to, I just thought you might want the company."
Neville looked down.
"You don't have to feel sorry for me." He muttered.
Harry shook his head.
"No, that's not why. I genuinely want to try to be your friend."
He put a hand on Neville's shoulder.
"You're a great wizard Neville, you just have trouble being confident enough to show it. You showed just how strong you can be last night. And remember in first year when you tried to stop Hermione Ron and I from going down the third floor corridor? And what about earlier that year when you tried to warn us about mouth's scheme? Those are only a few examples."
Neville looked down, obviously embarrassed.
"I I was only trying to do what I thought was right."
"Exactly." Harry replied, smiling. "You have it in you, you just need to learn to be more confident."
He looked down.
"What happened last year, with Cedric and everything, it made me realise that we need to treasure the good people in our lives, as we never know when we might lose them."
Neville looked down for a long time.
"O okay, if Ron and Hermione don't mind."
Harry smiled.
"I'm sure they won't."
They then went to leave the dormitory. Ron was waiting at the door.
"Hey, Ron, you don't mind if Neville hangs with us?" Harry asked.
Ron blinked in surprise. Then, much to their surprise, he smiled.
"Sure." He replied.
Neville's smile grew a little more confident.
They walked down the stairs to where Hermione was waiting for them. The witch raised an eyebrow when she saw Neville with them, but she didn't comment.
"Hey, Hermione," Harry began. "Neville's going to hang with us, okay?"
Hermione smiled.
"Okay." She replied.
The four left the portrait hole and began to walk down to breakfast. Harry's spirits had lightened considerably. Things going as planned. He was assimilating Neville into his circle of friends and Ron and Hermione were okay with it. Now all he needed to do was to help the relationship between himself and Neville to strengthen. And he had an idea of how.
"Hey, Neville And I were talking," He began, addressing Ron and Hermione. "You both think he's a good wizard, don't you?"
"Sure." Ron replied. "I mean, yeah he's not the best at magic and he sometimes seems a little afraid of well, everything..."
Harry shot him a glare.
"But," Ron continued, a little nervous at Harry's glare. "You're brave when the situation calls for it. Remember that time we beat up Malfoy Crab and Goyle at the Quidditch game? I mean, you did get nocked out cold, but at least you stood up to them."
Neville smiled.
"And I must admit," Hermione began. "You might not be good at spell casting, but you have got to be the best at Herbology."
"Really?" Neville asked.
Hermione smiled.
"If you were a bit more confident, I believe you could even be top of the year in the subject."
Neville looked down in embarrassment.
"Tha thanks." He muttered.
They reached the great hall. Harry saw Luna sitting at the Ravenclaw table. He smiled at her and gestured to him going to sit with Neville. She smiled and nodded her head in encouragement.
The four sat at the Gryfindore table.
"Hey, maybe we could form a little study group." He suggested. "We could help each other with our homework. And hey, Neville, since your such an expert with magical plants, I thought you could help me with something."
"Really?" Neville asked.
"Yeah." Harry replied. "My Aunt used to always make me tend her garden, and I was curious if it was possible to cross-breed any magical plants with non-magical ones."
Neville smiled, and it appeared to Harry that he became more confident.
"Yes, that does seem very interesting." He began. "It would be interesting to see if we enhance the health benefits of vegetables by cross-breeding with some forma of magical plant..."
And so they began discussing the possibilities. Much to Harry's delight, Neville was leading the conversation, with some suggestions from him and the other two, such as when Ron suggested the try to find a way to make vegetables taste better, without reduce the health benefits.
They were actually enjoying themselves. Then, professor McGonagall came around with the timetables.
Ron groaned.
"Great, History of Magic, Potions, divination and Defense Against the Dark Arts. What a Monday."
Harry shrugged as he looked over the timetable.
"I was actually thinking of skipping History of Magic."
Hermione choked on her pumpkin juice.
"Harry," She said sternly. "You can't just skip History of Magic."
Harry shrugged.
"Hermione, Bins never notices who is and who isn't in his class. I'm pretty sure he never does the roll, and all he does is go on about goblin rebellions."
"Yes, but.." Hermione tried.
"Everyone falls asleep in that class, and it is honestly a waist of time." He continued. "We could just as easily teach ourselves, and still probably get a good grade."
"Well I..." Hermione tried again, but then she deflated. "I guess you're right."
Harry smiled.
"Great, so how about we go up to the library and do some real studying?"
"Great." Ron said, grinning. "Why didn't we think of this before?"
"We would still have to see what we have to cover." Hermione argued. "Remember, we do have our O W Ls this year."
"Don't worry," Harry argued. "I'm sure the library has some old files on what the course covers."
And so, once the first lessons began, the four walked into the library. They first went looking for old course outlines for fifth-year. However, once they did, they realised that they were frightfully unprepared for the O W Ls.
Ron groaned.
"How are we meant to learn all of this in one year?"
Hermione was also frowning.
"I can't believe that this could have gone on for so long. Surely someone, Dumbledore, could have noticed."
Harry looked over the many topics that they should have learnt over the past five years. Yes, first and part of second year did cover the goblin rebellions. But they also covered other topics. While the witch-trials had only briefly been touched upon during homework after second year, the entire topic was meant to be the primary focus for third year. Then there were many over topics, such as the ancient order of Celtic sorcerers, the druids, the augurs of Rome and many other orders of magic in the ancient world. And then... Oh...
"Harry are you okay?" Neville asked.
Harry's hands were shaking. Neville took the list of topics from him and read through them. Then, his gaze ,reached where Harry had just been looking, and he, too, turned pale.
"Hey, are both of you okay?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Harry replied.
"I... I don't know why I feel this way." Neville replied. "I mean, I've heard these names plenty of times before, but they've never made me feel like this."
"What are you looking at?" Hermione asked, snatching the list from Neville.
She looked at where he had been looking.
"It says here that we are supposed to be starting this year on the conflict between Merlin Emrys and Morgana Le Fay, the two most powerful sorcerers of the ancient world."
Both Harry and Neville flinched at the names, though he could tell that only he knew why.
"What is wrong with you two?" Ron asked.
"Nothing." Harry replied.
"I don't know." Neville said, confused. "I've heard those names before, but I've never had this reaction."
"Wait, where did you hear this?" Harry asked.
Neville shrugged.
"My Gran used to always tell me stories about Merlin and Morgana, and how they were two of the most powerful sorcerers to ever live, even more than the founders."
He smiled.
"She used to always say that everyone thought Dumbledore was some sort second coming of Merlin, and that they were stupid for thinking that, as Merlin could easily beat Dumbledore."
Harry had to grin at the irony.
"Well, seeing as we have a lot to catch up on, maybe we should all pick a topic, take notes and share them with the rest." He suggested.
The other three nodded in agreement.
"Great," Harry said, smiling. "I for one are curious about these ancient orders. And seeing as it seems like such a big topic, Neville, would you like to join me?"
"Err, sure." Neville replied.
Harry smiled. This was much easier than he thought.
Once the bell went for the next lesson, the four of them packed up their books and what notes they were able to gather and went down into the dungeons.
Harry was nervous. This would be the first time he would be in such close proximity to Snape after regaining his memories. Snape was usually unbearable, due to his constant harassment. In his old life, he had been a harsh man and a tough teacher. But now... It seemed that he had become an even stricter teacher.
Harry was not sure if Snape would regain his memories, though Luna seemed to imply that eventually he would. Oh, that would truly be an awkward day. Though, Harry thought that he should at least try to mend whatever ties he had to the man, as he knew that he would need as many allies as possible if he and Luna were to rewrite the stars. And even without that excuse, he still wished to reconnect with the man that was once his father, even after the years of bullying.
He, Neville Ron and Hermione sat at a table near the back of the room. Snape entered the room, his cloak bellowing in the same overdramatic fashion. He began the lesson by telling them, very strictly, about the standards expected of them to achieve an O W L in this subject. Harry had to suppress a chuckle. Once a hard task-master, always a hard task-master.
Harry thought it was strange, to have both people who were once his fathers in the same place. It was even stranger to see one of them, once so brave and strong, afraid of the other.
Even after all these years, Neville was still frightened of Snape. Whenever the professor would pass them, he would shrink back in fear. Harry attempted to comfort him with a reassuring smile.
Before, Harry had never understood why Snape was so strict. He always thought that it was just because the teacher was mean.
But now, after his memories of Mordred, he realised that, while Snape was still a little too mean, being strict was necessary. In many of his childhood memories, when Morgana would teach him how to brew different potions, she would always tell him to be careful, as potion brewing was a delicate art and that the slightest mistake could have disastrous results. Part of him was still surprised that she even let him learn such a delicate art, as there was always the risk of him seriously hurting himself. And heaven forbid something happened to her precious Guileless Son.
Thanks to his memories as Mordred, he felt that he had become better at potion brewing. After all, Morgana had been very careful in ensuring that he could preform a wide variety of magical disciplines.
Once he was done, Hermione stared at his caldron in shock. He didn't blame her, this potion looked better than his usual concoctions.
"Harry," She began. "Since when are you good at potions?"
Harry shrugged.
"Don't know."
Just then, Snape approached, his cloak bellowing behind him. The potions master sneered down at the caldron, but Harry could have sworn that there was a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
"What's this Potter?" Snape sneered. "Finally decided to put in some effort?"
Before, Harry would have most likely replied with a snarky remark, which would have resulted in the lose of points. That was another thing. After his memories as Mordred, Harry realised that he was partly at fault for feeding the flames of conflict between himself and Snape with his constant disrespect of the professor. Harry decided to change his behaviour, and at least be somewhat civil to him. After all, despite Snape's attitude problems, the man had saved him on more than one occasion. And anyway, he was trying to mend bridges, not burn them.
"Well Professor," He began, attempting to sound respectful. "I guess that recent events have made me wish to not want to waist my time when I could be learning something valuable."
Snape continued to sneer, but the man walked away without even taking a single point.
"Blimey." Ron said in surprise. "Who are you and what have you done with Harry Potter?"
Harry shrugged.
"This summer I guess I have gained a greater respect and appreciation for things that I have previously taken for granted."
For the rest of the lesson, he continued to help with Neville. He suggested that, to get over his Snapephobia, Neville try to imagine happy thoughts while preparing the potion, so that he may stay calm during the task at hand. At the end of the class, Harry told his friends that he wanted to stay behind for a little bit. The three looked at him suspiciously, but left without a comment.
When Harry was the last in the classroom, Snape sneered at him.
"What are you doing Potter?" He asked suspiciously.
Harry shrugged.
"I just wanted to say something."
"Well, go on and say it, I don't have all day." Snape snapped.
Harry sucked in a deep breathe.
"I just want to say, I think we got off on the wrong foot." He began. "I mean, yeah you did ask me those difficult questions during the very first lesson, but I could have handled it a bit better."
He sucked in a breathe.
"From what I've heard, you had a rivalry with my father. I only ask that you do not deliver the sins of the father upon the son. I'm sorry that my dad and you never got along, but please, can we stop this constant conflict between the two of us. Yeah, you could try to be a bit less mean at times, but I understand now that you need to be strict, as potion brewing can be very dangerous. I guess now I actually respect you for putting up with all this for so long. And, sorry for being so disrespectful in your lessons, but in my defense, you were targeting me specifically."
"Does this have a point?" Snape asked.
"Yeah," Harry replied. "Can we pease start over? I promise to try harder in my lessons if you try to easy on the throttle and stop punishing me for my father's crimes."
Snape leveled him with a cold stare for a long time. Finally, he replied.
"Fine. was He said. "But I will be holding you to that."
Harry smiled.
"Great, thanks."
Harry turned to leave. However, before he left the door, he turned to face Snape again.
"Oh, and professor?"
"What?"
Harry grinned.
"You work so hard, I think you deserve a holiday."
Snape raised an eyebrow.
"And where do you think I should go?"
Harry's grin widened.
"Have you ever been to Orkney? I hear it's wonderful this time of year."
Once he reached the entrance to the great hall, he saw that Luna was waiting for him, holding what appeared to be a large plate of food.
"Hey," He greeted.
She smiled. Then, without a single warning, she grabbed him with the hand that wasn't holding the food and dragged him to the doors leading outside.
"I thought we could have lunch out near the lake." She explained. "Somewhere private where we could chat."
Harry smiled and walked beside her.
"Here let me take that." He said, taking the large plate of food from her.
"Oh, such a gentleman." She said, chuckling.
He attempted a dramatic bow, but it was difficult as he was attempting to balance the plate and ensure that none of the food fell off. This caused Luna to laugh even more.
Soon, they reached the lake and sat under a tree that was one of Harry's favourite spots. There was hardly anyone around, so they could discuss private matters without anyone accidentally overhearing them.
He lent back against the tree, Luna next to him with the plate in between them.
"So, how was your morning?" He asked.
She hummed.
"It was fine, obviously not as eventful as yours."
Harry smiled.
"I have begun to assimilate Neville into my friend-group. I am hoping to build a strong connection between the two of us, before he regains his memories. So that if he is unable to forgive me for my actions as Mordred, he still may have memories of me as Harry to combat the bad memories."
Luna smiled.
"That is a good idea. The two of you need to work together, and while I still feel that he still loves you, regardless of what you did, it would still be wise to establish to good connection in this life."
Harry smiled, then sighed.
"I believe that he will remember soon." He began. "He is already beginning to feel uneasy whenever someone even says the names Merlin and Morgana, when he tells us that he never had such a reaction before."
He played around with some peaces of cheese on the plate.
"During my hearing at the ministry, Dumbledore came in and I completely froze. I do not know if I should compare the reaction of a name to the presence of the man himself, but it could still be an indication."
He continued to play with the food.
"I also seemed to remember a different part of Morgana's lullaby whenever my dream contained a seen which correlated with a particular part, the verse about how Arthur was a thief when Gawain first went to Camelot and Morgana felt that he was trying to take her sons from her, the verse about Guinevere after she betrayed you and I began to plot my revenge against her..."
He looked down at the plate. Luna her and on his. He looked up to meet her eyes and smiled.
"Anyway, if he's reacting this badly to Morgana, perhaps it's because he's reached the point when there began to be conflict between the two of them, maybe around the time of my conception."
Luna hummed in agreement.
"It would make sense. This is the first time the two of you have seen each other since the dreams began, so it would make sense if you were to enter the dreams."
Harry nodded.
"Yeah, I mean, I did first dream of you after the dementor attack, when I most needed something positive."
Luna smiled and pushed his shoulder. Harry chuckled.
"So, I estimate that he will remember around mid to late October, maybe even late November."
"Perhaps you could ask him how much he remembers of his dreams?" Luna suggested. "Did you remember anything from your dreams before you remembered everything?"
Harry frowned in concentration.
"Well, I did have a general idea about what happened in the dream, even if I didn't remember the fine details like names and face. I even began to keep a journal."
He rummaged through his bag and pulled out his journal. He handed it to Luna, who began flipping through it. After a few minutes, she handed it back to him.
"Maybe you could suggest he keep a journal." She suggested.
"Maybe." He replied.
They sat in silence for a few minutes.
"I've also reached out to Snape." He began.
Luna hummed.
"It will be a bit hard, due to the conflict between us from the past few years." He continued. "But I've extended the olive branch and have talked to him. I will be less disrespectful to him as long as he tries to stop using me as a verbal punching-bag."
Luna smiled.
"Good." She replied.
Harry smiled, though there was a note of sadness in his eyes.
"Will he ever remember his past?"
Luna nodded.
"Eventually, everyone will remember." She replied. "We just need to wait for the last of the most important players to remember. Once Neville does, the rest will soon follow."
"Good." Harry replied.
He then sighed and looked down.
"What do I do Luna?" He asked. "He had warned me time and again to not give in to Morgana's manipulations. And yet, I failed him."
Luna put a hand on his shoulder.
"Do not worry." She said. "He will forgive you. Even if he does not remember yet, he loves you."
Harry scoffed.
"I highly doubt that he loves me now. He's horrible to me."
Luna frowned.
"Yes, he has been quite cruel. But I believe this is only due to his current life, and has nothing to do with his previous life."
Harry was still unsure. Luna lent over and pecked a kiss on his cheek.
"Do not worry my Tarnished Silver. Once he remembers, he may still be angry, but he will forgive you. Both of your fathers will forgive you."
Harry smiled.
"I'm holding you to that."
She chuckled.
Harry quickly checked !o see if any were watching. Then, once he made sure the cost was clear, he wrapped an arm around her and drew her into his side. She lent against him, her head on his shoulder. She could feel her hair tickling his chin.
As he looked over the great lake, his love by his side, he temporarily felt his troubles drift away. He has made the first steps. Now, he needs to work on mending the ties between himself and the ones he cares for from his past.