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Harry Potter and the Breeding Darkness	By : Danyealle Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Voldemort Views: 297597 -:- Recommendations : 54 -:- Currently Reading : 184
Disclaimer: I am not J. K. Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter. This is a work of fanfiction and no profit is being made. It is a for-fun endeavor and no infringement is intended.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
This chapter is written by: Aya Macchiato

Beta done by tannne and Danyealle-sama

Again, I remind everyone that the amazing Aya Macchiato has given me permission to continue this story for her. This is another of the chapters that she already had done. All I've done with this one is some basic beta work, nothing more, it's as she wrote it!

Link to the first story...

http://hp.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600095391

-Danyealle

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Chapter 12

When the dizziness of side-along apparition had abated and Harry's vision had cleared, he found himself standing with the large group of Order members on a muggle street in what he knew was still London since he already knew the address of the Order's headquarters, thanks to Sirius's 'gift' on his birthday. Harry blinked once, still clearing his head and looked around at the group expectantly. Kingsley then stepped forward, dug into the pockets of his robes, and handed Harry a piece of parchment.

"Read and memorize that then focus on the words in your mind. Then look straight ahead at the space between numbers eleven and thirteen," he said, motioning forward to the two old muggle townhouses before him.

Harry actually already saw Number 12 there but he certainly wasn't going to tell them that. He looked down at the piece of parchment and read it over. It looked almost identical to the scrap of parchment that Sirius had managed to smuggle to him earlier in the summer. Once that was done, he looked forward and Number 12 was still there. He pretended to be surprised by what he assumed would normally be the shocking appearance of a house that wasn't there then handed the paper back to Kingsley. It wasn't like he needed it. He still had the one from his birthday back at the manor with Tom.

Kingsley promptly burned the parchment and the group set forward towards the Order's headquarters. They climbed the steps to the porch then Lupin pushed the front door open, leading the way inside. The moment he had set foot inside, Harry felt the overwhelming presence of Dark magic inside the house. It was literally absorbed into the walls. Like it had seeped in over a long period of time, leaving it so deeply ingrained that it could never fully be removed. The old house seemed to pulse with darkness and Harry caught himself sighing slightly at the comfortable feeling the place gave him. Lupin looked back at him and gave him a curious look for a moment but seemed to push forward, ignoring it a moment later. Harry looked back and noticed that as each of the others entered through the door they seemed to shudder with discomfort.

The front door opened into a long hallway, lit by a large chandelier and dirty gas lamps. The wallpaper was peeling and faded, the carpet had been worn thin. Harry walked past an umbrella stand, which appeared to either be made to look like a troll's leg or actually was one. He raised a single eyebrow at it but kept going. A moment later, he heard a small yelp and turned to find the young female Auror, Nymphadora Tonks he thought her name was, had tripped over the umbrella stand. Strangely enough, when she did that, her hair changed to hot pink. It was also at that moment that the most ear piercing screams of rage began to pour from a portrait hanging on the wall just ahead of where he was standing.

Curtains flew open and behind them was the portrait of an elderly witch who looked absolutely insane was screaming violently. She was cursing and spitting and yelling things about filthy blood traitors and mudbloods, infesting her noble home. Harry grimaced and sneered at the obnoxious noise but found himself amused at what she was actually ranting about. If he were some old Dark witch and knew that his home had been taken residence by a bunch of Light wizards, he would be pissed too.

Lupin ran forward and began to pull the curtain shut over the portrait again but that only muffled her angry rant of insults.

"OH SHUT UP, YOU MAD OLD COW!" roared a familiar voice from the doorway on the opposite side of the hall from the portrait.

Harry spun to the side, staring in shock at the figure he now saw standing there.

"Sirius?" Harry exclaimed. "Wha... what are you doing here?"

Sirius blinked at Harry for a moment before a small sheepish smile graced his face. He looked a lot better than he had two months ago but he still had that haunted look to his sunken eyes. "I heard my pup was going to be staying here for the last few days of his holiday and I thought I'd drop by and say hello." Sirius said with a shrug.

Harry gaped at him for a moment before he'd recovered himself. "That's... very um... nice of you. It's good to see you again. Really. Er... but you're not staying here after I go back to school, right?"

Sirius scowled and looked around the hall at the now muffled, but still screaming, portrait that Lupin was still trying to subdue. "Most definitely not."

Harry grinned lightly. "Good."

"Wotcher, Sirius!" the girl Auror said in a chipper voice.

"Hello, cousin Tonks," Sirius said with a wolfish grin and an overdone bow.

"Kingsley and me are going to head on out."

"Alright, Tonks. See ya later."

"See you again on September 1st!"

Kingsley and Tonks then made their way down the hallway to the end where there were two sets of stairs. One going up, and one going down. They went down. Harry looked over at Sirius with a questioning look on his face.

"Down the stairs is the kitchen. There's a floo in there."

"Ah," Harry said in understanding as he nodded his head.

A moment later, Hestia Jones, Dedalus Diggle, and Emmaline Vance also bid their farewells, Diggle taking another opportunity to shake Harry's hand, and also went down the end of the hall then disappeared towards the kitchen.

"This is a lost cause," Lupin grumbled as he gave up on the portrait and he, Harry and Sirius disappeared into the doorway Sirius had appeared from, closing the door behind them. The room was a large dining room with a long table lined with delicately carved wooden chairs. Against one wall was a large glass cabinet that had a large shield with what Harry knew to be the Black Family Crest on it. Below it in the shelves were the house china and glass goblets.

The room had clearly been 'cleaned up' and yet it still managed to have that old and dirty feeling to it.

Harry could tell what furniture and objects were original inhabitants of the house and what things had been added since the Order had taken over. Anything that belonged to the house was steeped in Dark taint and tingled at Harry's senses. The newer stuff just felt bland and uninteresting. He wondered what the other two felt here. Lupin, being a werewolf, was Dark, whether he liked it or not. And, of course, Sirius, no matter how badly he wished for it, simply couldn't overcome his heredity and upbringing.

Harry finished his brief look around the room before looking back at Sirius, who was smiling at him with a bit of trepidation.

Lupin looked between the two of them hesitantly and seemed to shift with mild discomfort before he began to edge back. "I... suppose, I'll leave the two of you to talk. You've probably got a lot to catch up on."

Sirius looked over at Lupin thankfully. "Thanks, Remus. I appreciate that. I'll come up in a bit."

Lupin turned and left the dining room as quietly as he could manage, closing the door behind him slowly so as to not alert the screaming portrait in the hall.

Harry gave Sirius another silent, questioning look. Sirius held up a finger to signal Harry to wait, pulled out a wand and cast a privacy ward around them.

"He's staying here right now," Sirius said once the ward was cast. "Dumbledore has him on some ridiculous mission to try and recruit some of the lycan clans."

Harry snorted and rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah, that's going to work," he said, sarcastically.

Sirius grinned weakly and chuckled. "Yeah, he's not exactly optimistic about his chances of success either. But, for now, he came back here to help collect you for this and for a place to stay during the full moon. It's next week."

"I see," Harry said, nodding his head.

The two shuffled a bit in obvious discomfort. The whole thing felt a bit stilted and awkward. Harry huffed out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair.

"You look different." Sirius said.

Harry looked himself over for a moment before grinning a bit and shrugging. "Yeah, well, I finally managed to get myself some respectable wizards clothing. Grew my hair out. That's really about it."

"You look good. So still, um... working out every day with er... your friend." Sirius asked, looking uncomfortable.

Harry chuckled. "Yup. Every morning, all summer. I've been helping out in the training sessions too."

Sirius looked back up at him, curiously.

"His... servants. They've been coming to the manor in groups for extra training. Quite a few have gotten out of shape since they last served him and some of the new recruits needed extra lessons."

Sirius's eyes widened for a moment before he grimaced. "And you've been helping with that?"

"Yup."

Sirius nodded his head slowly, looking at the floor. "So um... how was your summer, then?"

"Fantastic," Harry said with legitimate enthusiasm. "Best summer of my life."

Sirius looked back with a slightly surprised look to his face. "Is that so?"

"Yes. Definitely."

Sirius nodded again and then sighed. "I'm... I'm sorry, pup... that I couldn't... you know."

"Don't worry about it, Sirius. It really wouldn't have worked out, anyway. Honestly, I'm glad we had the manor to ourselves for as much as we did. What did you do this summer, anyway? Where's Buckbeak?"

"Buckbeak is still with me. He's actually up in the master bedroom on the fourth floor right now." Sirius said with a devilish smirk. "It was my dear old mother's room, once upon a time." he chuckled. "As for what I've been up to, well... I've been here and there. Been using glamors to get around most of the time and I've kept myself holed up in various places. Recently rented myself a muggle flat, actually, although no one else knows that. As far as the Order knows, I'm off searching independently to try and track down Wormtail."

"How much longer do you think that's going to work?"

"It's not like they can force me to join up with the Order again, not like they'd let me do anything for them anyway. Since they have to protect me from being discovered by the Ministry. If Dumbledore had his way, I'd be a prisoner in this shitty old house. To hell with that. Aside from the day earlier in the summer when I let Dumbledore in here and let him cast the Fidelius over this place, I hadn't set foot in this house once until yesterday."

"I imagine Remus is probably trying pretty hard to get you to stay here..."

"He is," Sirius said with a sigh. "He's worried. Afraid I'm going to get myself caught and kissed by a dementor before anyone can act to try to help me."

"I've got a few people in the DMLE and two Unspeakables who are under orders that if you're ever brought into the Ministry to try and stall any contact with a dementor for as long as possible so I can try scrounging together some sort of rescue attempt."

Sirius blinked at Harry in obvious surprise. "Wait... what?"

"What part of what I said did you not understand?"

"The part where you said that you have people in the DMLE. What do you even mean by that?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Well, I guess it'd be more appropriate to say that the Dark Lord has people in the DMLE, but they answer to me too and the Dark Lord was okay with the order to assist you. Of course, it's an order to assist as long as it doesn't compromise their position but as long as they can help, they will."

Sirius's mouth floundered slightly and he blinked slowly, as if trying to process something difficult. "Oh–kay... um... why?"

"Why was the Dark Lord willing to do it or why would I bother at all?"

"Er... both?"

"You're my godfather. Aside from the Dark Lord himself, you're the closest thing I've got to family. I want to protect you."

Sirius made a choking sound and looked at Harry incredulously. "You consider the Dark Lord family?"

"Well, technically he is. I did a bunch of genealogy research this summer. It turns out he and I are blood related. We're distant cousins."

"WHAT?"

Harry cringed. "You keep yelling that loud and I don't think even the privacy ward will keep the rest of the house from hearing you!"

"Harry, that's absolutely absurd! How can you be blood related to Voldemort!"

"My mum's great-great-grandmother was a squib who was disowned from the Gaunt family. The Gaunts were the last living descendants of Salazar Slytherin. That same squib was the Dark Lord's great-aunt."

"You've got to be kidding," Sirius said in a weak tone. "Lily was related to Slytherin? Related to Voldemort!"

"Yup. I imagine the only reason she never got sorted into his house was because of all the muggle blood in her. She never manifested any of the blood traits for the same reason. Her blood was too diluted to carry enough power to work the parselmage talents. We figure that I managed to get them because her blood mixed with the powerful magical lineage from my dad's line and it was enough to give me a boost."

Sirius still looked stunned. "So, that's why you're a parselmouth?"

"Yeah. Dumbledore would have me believe it's because the Dark Lord gave me some of his power when he tried to kill me and, while that's a potentially valid excuse, it doesn't explain away all of my abilities. I mean, if I was only a parselmouth, I could buy that excuse. But I'm a full fledged parselmage and that's something that would have to be in my blood."

"Parselmage?"

"It's complicated.

Sirius shook his head and sighed, looking utterly exhausted. "You're really related to him?"

"Yes, I really am. It's a distant relation though. I don't think it matters too awful much. I mean, I'm related to you, Draco and Narcissa Malfoy through my great-grandmother Dorea Potter nee Black. I had no idea about any of that till this summer when I was doing that genealogy research. I mean, bloody hell, Sirius, you and I are actually blood related! Honestly, I think that's kind of... fantastic. I don't know. It just means something to me. I grew up thinking the only blood relatives I had were the bloody Dursley's and to find that I've actually got blood relatives besides them is somehow a great relief. It gives me something more tangible to hold on to, I think. More than this amorphous idea that my dead parents were a witch and wizard. That's one of the main reasons that Tom was willing to allow me to commit some resources to keeping you safe, should it come up."

"Even though I refused to join him?"

"He never expected you to. I was the only one stupid enough to get my hopes up for that."

"I'm sorry Harry..."

"I already told you, it's okay."

The two were quiet again for a few moments before Sirius spoke again. "So how was your birthday? Fifteen now, yeah?"

Harry grinned widely. "It was pretty brilliant. And, yes, fifteen. Although I technically hit fifteen probably a week or two before my actual birthday. I did a lot of time-turner use during the last term of school. Its sounding like I'll be doing even more of it this year."

"A time-turner? Where the heck did you get one of those?"

"Tom. Dark Lords tend to have lots of neat things like time-turners lying around."

"It's so weird to think his name is Tom..."

"Yeah, make sure you don't go repeating that to anyone."

Sirius snorted, but then sighed. "Did you eh... make use of my gift?"

Harry's face hardened and he glared at Sirius faintly for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. "That was rather rude of you, you know."

"I've never been known much for my tact. But you didn't answer my question. Did you use it?"

"Yes I did, and it stayed blue."

"Really?" Sirius asked, looking legitimately surprised.

"Yes," Harry said through slightly clenched teeth.

"Harry..."

"Just... don't, Sirius. Just don't."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something else, but just then the door opened and in popped Molly Weasley's face. A quick wave of Sirius' wand, a silent finite and the privacy ward dissolved.

"Oh, Harry! You are here!" Molly Weasley said in an excited but hushed voice as she shut the door quietly as to not alert the nasty portrait in the hall and quickly raced over to him, enveloping him in a hug. She then proceeded to scold him for running off without telling an adult then insisting that he should have told her sooner about how he was being treated by his horrible relatives. Next, she went on about how he was always welcome to come and stay at the Burrow. Also, if she had anything to say about it, he would never set foot in his muggle relatives' house again.

Finally, she finished up by saying that 'the kids' were all anxious to see him and he should go up to say hi right away. Sirius took that opportunity to offer to give Harry a quick tour and drop him off with the other kids. The three left the dining room and re-entered the hall. Mrs. Weasley took the stairs going down to the kitchen while he and Sirius headed up.

The wall was lined with mounted decapitated house elf heads, each with a brass nameplate. Sirius made some remark about disgusting family traditions before reaching the first floor landing and pointing down the hall.

"Through that door is the drawing room. It's at the front of the house, has nice big windows, and has been cleaned up better than some other places in this house. It's also has the Black Family tapestry mounted to the wall. You said you'd been looking into genealogy, so it might interest you." Sirius said, pointing towards one door. "That's the bathroom and that's the bedroom that Ginny and Hermione are sharing," he continued before heading up the next flight of stairs.

Once at the top of the second flight of stairs Sirius paused again. "That door leads to the Black Family library, that one to the room the twins are sharing, that one to the bathroom, and that one is the room that you'll be sharing with Ron."

Harry grimaced lightly at the thought of sharing with Ron again. He'd definitely be erecting some silencing wards around his bed to keep out the ginger's snoring.

"Third floor has my old room where I'm staying right now and where Remus stays when he visits the house, when he isn't locked in the basement for the full moon. My brother Regulus' old room is across the hall from it and it's currently unoccupied. And, finally, the bedroom that Molly and Arthur are sharing right now.

"Fourth floor only houses a storage attic and the master bedroom where I currently have Buckbeak housed because it's got a large terrace with easy access to outside."

Harry nodded, taking it all in. "Well it's really rather impressive."

Sirius snorted.

"Is Regulus's room not fixed up yet?"

"Why?"

"It just seems weird that there are people doubling up when there's a room going unused. I could stay in there instead of crowding in on Ron. Although I guess it is only for two nights, so it's not a huge deal."

"Regulus' room seems to be sacred territory to the family house elf. Anytime anyone tried to touch the room, he threw a monumental fit. I wasn't around to order him to shut up so they just left the room be."

"House elf?"

"Yes, the little bastard is utterly insane. He stayed in the house for over a decade with nothing but the insane portrait of my mother to keep him company."

"The screaming woman in the entry hall?"

"Right."

"She seemed just lovely, Sirius," Harry said, sarcastically, earning him a snort.

"Harry? Merlin's beard, is that you?" a familiar female voice called from behind him and he turned around, just in time to almost get barreled over by Ginny running up the stairs and grabbing him around the waist. "You great prat! How long have you been here?"

Harry just barely managed to regain his footing and righted himself and the over enthusiastic redhead before separated himself from her. "Not that long. Sirius was just giving me the 'grand tour'."

"Well, everyone's gathered in the drawing room. You should come down! We didn't know you were already here!"

"Alright, alright. I'm coming," Harry said. He glanced back at Sirius who gave him a weak smile.

"I've got to go talk to Remus anyway. I'll see you at lunch."

"See ya, Sirius." Harry said as Ginny began to drag him back down the stairs and through the door that Sirius had pointed out as being the drawing room.

"Harry!" the familiar voice of the twins called out as he was dragged through the door. They were both sitting on a settee facing the door, playing a game of exploding snap on the coffee table before them so they spotted him first. Sitting directly opposite them and the coffee table on a long couch was another familiar redhead that promptly spun around in his seat to look at Harry.

Ron's face initially held expectant excitement and a wide smile. The second he fully processed what was before him his expression slacked to shock. Hermione, who was sitting diagonally from him, turned her head and took on a similar level of surprise as she took in the sight of him.

"Look who I found hanging out on the third floor with Sirius! He came right past this room and didn't even come in!" Ginny said with mock indignation, while propping her hands on her hips. Harry looked at her with an amused smirk.

"Harry! Blimey mate, is that you?" Ron finally managed to get out.

"Yes, Ron." Harry said in a slow drawn out tone that sound the one would speak to a young child, or someone very stupid. "I haven't changed that much."

"Yes you have!" Ron squeaked. "Look at you!"

Harry looked down at himself for a moment before looking back up at Ron with an expression between bewilderment and annoyance. "I bought proper clothes and grew my hair out. It's not that big a difference. I'm sure once I'm in my school robes again, I won't look much different than before."

"It looks like a big difference to me," Ron said, beginning to look a bit embarrassed.

"You look really.. good, Harry," Hermione said, speaking for the first time. "I think you grew some too. A bit taller, perhaps, and you're um... bigger." Hermione blushed suddenly and darted her eyes to the book in her lap.

Harry's brow furrowed, trying to work out what Hermione meant.

Fred and George suddenly burst out, laughing and Hermione looked over and scowled at them.

"Bigger?" Harry asked, still confused.

"I think she means you went and got all buff, mate." Fred said with a smirk, making Hermione blush even deeper.

"He was already kind of buff back at the second task with the swimming though. Remember?" George said in a serious tone as if he were pointing out something very important to his brother. "All the girls were going on about Harry's impressive build even then,"

"Right on, brother dear. That they did."

"Yeah, but he's even um... bigger now then he was then," Ginny said, sniggering at Hermione's clumsy descriptor. "I mean, look at those arms," Ginny added before performing a mock swoon and then bursting into giggles.

Harry blinked at the group before looking down at himself. "It's not that big a difference. I think the fact that I'm wearing fitted robes is the biggest difference. And the fact that it's sleeveless just makes things more obvious. School robes are so baggy you can't tell what sort of build a person is under them."

"Of course, that's it." Hermione said, still averting her eyes a bit and looking terribly embarrassed.

Harry chuckled and rolled his eyes. "So, anyway, what have you guys been up to?"

The group went on to talk about all that they had been up to since coming to Grimmauld Place. Their summer had basically consisted of cleaning, a lot. As well as various attempts, mostly failures, to listen in on Order meetings.

The old house had been infested with doxies, and several boggarts when the Weasley's had arrived. One of the boggarts had turned into a giant acromantula when Ron came across it and he had been traumatized for several days afterwards. Although the others insisted Ron had been mostly faking it to get out of cleaning. Worst, of course, was that Ron, Ginny, and Hermione couldn't use magic to do anything about them since they were all still under age.

The twins could, though, since they'd both turned seventeen the previous April and they had been lording their magic over the younger counterparts' heads gleefully.

The twins had also locked themselves away in their room, continuing their experiments and inventions. The rest of the group had spent a great deal of time sitting around being bored and playing various card games or chess as well as being pestered by Hermione to get their summer homework done.

"You've got yours done, right, Harry?" Hermione asked with a pointed look.

Harry just chuckled. "Yes, Hermione. I got it done ages ago."

"Well good," she said with a curt nod. "Oh! I forgot to ask! Did you get your results from the placement tests you took?"

"I did! I scored high enough to get into the second section of both Arithmancy and Runes. So I'll be in with the 4th years instead of stuck with a bunch of 3rd years."

"Oh!" Ginny squealed. "That means you'll be in my class!"

Harry paused and looked at her. "I didn't know you were taking Runes or Arithmancy. Which are you taking?" Harry asked.

"Both. I considered trying to take Care too but I didn't want to be so overloaded. Charlie was bummed that I wasn't going to take his favorite subject but I, for one, have no intention of ever running off to some Romanian dragon preserve so I don't consider it much of a loss."

"Well it's nice to know I'll have a friendly face in those classes. I'm sure there will be quite a few who find me being there a bit odd," Harry said with a grin.

"I still can't believe your switching into those classes," Ron said with an exasperated sigh. Then he blinked and sat up straight as if he had just realized something. "You're still taking Care though, right?"

"No, sorry, mate. I dropped it. I just didn't think I could deal with that many things all at once. With Quidditch, being a Prefect, and all the other things I'll probably get dragged into this year, I didn't want to deal with three electives at the same time."

Ron groaned and sunk back into his chair, pouting.

"WAIT! Prefect? Harry, did you make prefect?" Hermione gasped.

Harry blinked in surprise. "Didn't I mention that?"

"No! You didn't! Oh my god, Harry! That's fantastic! Congratulations!" Hermione said, beaming at him then added, "I'm the other Gryffindor prefect this year."

A quick glance at Ron showed anything but 'beaming pride' from the redhead. He was openly scowling now and had his arms crossed over his chest indignantly.

"Congrats, mate," the twins said at the same time. "Just make sure you don't go...", "turning into a great ponce ...", "like our dear brother Percy did." They continued, alternating back and forth.

Harry chuckled. "I don't think you've got much to worry about there." He turned back to Hermione. "And congrats to you. If anyone deserves it, it's you."

Hermione smiled widely, clearly happy with her achievement.

"I wonder who will be the new prefects for the other houses," Ginny wondered aloud.

"I know Malfoy made prefect for Slytherin. I think Pansy Parkinson is the other one." Harry said and the group looked at him with mild surprise.

"How do you know that?" Ginny asked, at the same time that Ron burst out with "MALFOY! How can he be a bloody prefect?"

"McGonagall mentioned it when I was at Hogwarts a little over a week ago for my placement tests," Harry easily lied, answering Ginny's question first. "And as for how Malfoy got it... well, despite being a giant prat, he is top of his class out of the Slytherins. He gets even higher marks than Hermione does in Potions and Defense."

"The only reason he gets higher marks than 'Mione in Potions is 'cause Snape's a biased bastard," Ron grumbled, still looking obviously upset.

Hermione looked torn between reprimanding Ron for his disrespect of a Professor, and looking touched that he was sort of defending her. "That may be a bit true, Ron, but Malfoy is quite good at Potions."

"Snape is his godfather, you know," Harry said, making Ron's eyes snap up to his with a look of righteous fury but Harry continued on, "so I imagine that he probably gave Malfoy lessons during the summers while he was growing up. When you've got extra one-on-one lessons with a potions master, it's bound to help."

"He's just a dirty cheat," Ron grumbled. "S'not right for a git like him to be made prefect. He's not going to enforce the rules, he's just going to take advantage of them."

"Prefects are selected by their head of house." Harry pointed out.

"Just more of Snape playing favorites," Ginny said, rolling her eyes.

"Yup." Harry agreed with a dismissive shrug. "But the fact that it's the Head of House who selects the prefects worked out for me I suppose. McGonagall wanted me as prefect. Even though Dumbledore tried to put a stop to it, she was still able to get her way. It was her decision in the end, not his."

"Why would Dumbledore try to stop you being a prefect?" Hermione asked, looking shocked.

Harry snorted. "He doesn't want me having any special privileges or extra power unless he gives them to me. If everything 'good' I get comes from him it's supposed to make me indebted to him. Just like me getting to leave Privet Drive was supposed to only come at his hands so that he could 'save me'. Thing is, it isn't working anymore. Plus, I think he wanted to refuse me the Prefect position like a 'punishment' thing for actually having the balls to stand up for my rights and go where I wanted this summer."

The gathered group shared looks at that, unsure how to take it or what exactly to make of Harry's statement.

"Sooo... Harry, how was your summer?" Ginny asked, trying to break the awkward moment.

Harry grinned widely. "It was absolutely brilliant."

"Speaking of your summer..." Hermione began, suddenly taking on a reprimanding tone. "Harry James Potter, you lied to me!"

Harry blinked. "Lied?"

"Yes! You said that you didn't want to tell anyone about your boyfriend because his family might be upset by finding out he was gay and that he was dating the Boy-Who-Lived! But in one of your letters you said his parents died when he was younger, he was raised by his godmother and she died last summer!"

"Oh... right. That." Harry said, suddenly taking on a sheepish grin. "I did lie about that. Erm... sorry?"

"Sorry? Don't 'sorry' me, Harry Potter! Why did you lie about that?"

"It was easier than telling you the truth?" Harry answered sheepishly with an innocent voice.

"HARRY!" Hermione half yelled and half whined.

"Well what is the truth then?" Ginny asked.

Harry paused for a minute, looking at the five sets of expectant eyes all trained on him, waiting for some sort of explanation. He had anticipated this and had, in fact, planned for it, so he wasn't wholly unprepared, yet he was still unsure exactly how they would take the answer he was going to give them.

"The truth is... the truth is that I don't trust Dumbledore one stinking bit." Harry finally said with a hard sense of finality.

Five sets of eyes widened almost comically. Hermione looked horrified. Ron just looked confused. The twins... Harry wasn't sure what to make of their expressions. They were probably the most accomplished of the bunch of creating a blank mask. Ginny's brow was furrowed. She seemed stunned and bewildered.

"Dumbledore?" Hermione finally said with mild incredulity. "What... what do you mean? And what does that have to do with you lying to us?"

"Dumbledore is a highly skilled Legilimense. I know from experience that he has frequently practices it on me, and most likely, the whole student population. And I'm not just talking about intruding upon the secret thoughts of delinquents when serious crimes are committed or slipping into my mind to see if I'm getting into anything dangerous, I'm talking about the sort of Legilimency where he leaves hidden subconscious suggestions behind to try and lead you in the direction he wants you to. Where he literally manipulates your very thoughts with the subtlety that your average witch or wizard would never even realize anything had been done at all. He's been doing it to me since I first set foot in Hogwarts. It wasn't until I discovered Legilimency and Occlumency, discovered I was an instinctive natural at Legilimency then started teaching myself Occlumency that I was finally able to recognize what he had been doing to me."

The twin's eyes were wide with dawning horror and a bit of realization. Ron and Ginny both looked to be in shock. Hermione's face was a mask of pure denial.

"That's absurd!" she finally exclaimed. "Harry, how can you even accuse him of something like that?"

"You remember that day up in his office just last spring after you went to McGonagall and we ended up in Dumbledore's office to discuss my going back to Privet Drive?"

Hermione's jaw floundered for a moment but she hesitantly nodded her head.

"He tried it there. He tried reading my mind to see what the heck I had been up to and find out what I'd told you. But he also tried to implant a suggestion. Did you notice how I kept my head down the whole time? How I wouldn't make eye contact with him?”

"Yes..." Hermione said hesitantly.

"Without direct eye contact, the Legilimense can't implant subconscious suggestions. So as long as I wouldn't make eye contact, there was no way he could force any ideas into my head. But, when he saw that I was refusing to look him in the eye, he cast a silent compulsion charm at me to force me to look him in the eyes. I fought it off because I knew it was coming and recognized it for what it was. Also, fortunately, he couldn't use a really strong compulsion with McGonagall standing right there."

Harry paused and Hermione's face was a mask of horror and shock. It was as if Harry had just pulled a carpet out from under her feet. Or crushed the foundation of all her faith in the authority figures of the school, which he kind of had. Harry fought off the urge to grin.

Ginny swallowed thickly and then spoke. "So... so what does that have to do with you lying exactly?"

"I can only guess that Dumbledore didn't manage to read from Hermione or Ron's minds that I had made plans to not go to the Dursley's because he seemed legitimately surprised when I turned up missing. But I didn't know that for sure back when we were still at school. For all I knew, he could have been regularly looking into your minds and since none of you know Occlumency, there wouldn't be anything stopping him. I wanted to trust you guys," he said, focusing on Ron and Hermione, "with something at least. But once I'd let slip that I was planning to go somewhere else for the summer, I knew I'd taken a huge risk. One deep Legilimency sweep from Dumbledore and he could find out my intentions. So, once I'd let that detail slip I knew I needed to take extra security steps. I couldn't risk Dumbledore finding out where I was going.”

"At the time, Nick had only just discovered his family's ancestral home back in January when the goblins informed him of his full family inheritance. Before that, he had no idea he even owned any property. He wasn't ready to leave Hogsmeade at the time since he was still studying for his NEWTs, and the house really needed fixing up because it had sat empty for like, twenty years. He used some of his inheritance to buy the contracts of a couple abandoned house elves and got them started on fixing the place up. He also hired the goblins to start fixing up the old wards. The house was already unplottable and already had a bunch of ancient wards on it but, after he got the idea in his head to invite me to stay, he decided that the needed to add in more protections.”

"Anyway, long story short, it wasn't until just before the end of term that the wards were finished. So, if Dumbledore had found out that it was Nicodemus Tomaras that I was dating before that, he could have used his influence to do some digging and maybe find out where the house was. One of the wards that were put up was one that destroyed or obscured any existing copies of the house's address that existed anywhere in writing. It's one of the reasons that Dumbledore hasn't been able to find the place now, even after the article I did back in July where I let Nick's name out into the public. The house cannot be found now. But back when we were still at Hogwarts in the spring, that wasn't true yet. I didn't know if Dumbledore was going to read your minds, so I had to put out some misleading information just in case he did."

The group still appeared stunned into silence and the atmosphere remained thickly strained for several awkward minutes.

"I... I just can't understand this..." Hermione finally said with a frustrated but weak voice. "I mean... how did you develop such mistrust for the Headmaster? I can't believe that he would ever do anything to put you in harm's way. Not intentionally. The Legilimency thing... I just... I mean, I don't know what to think of that. It's just... how did all this mistrust begin? I mean... was it this Nick guy?"

"No. It wasn't Nick. I started figuring all of this stuff out long before I became close with Nick. Before I even met him. You've got to understand something, Hermione... Dumbledore has been messing with my head for years. I can't prove it. But, that's the beauty of Legilimency. If you're good enough at it there's no way to get caught."

"I tried to do some research on Legilimency this summer but it's near impossible to find any books on it," Hermione said with a frustrated growl.

"It's a regulated magic by the Ministry because of, well, what it is. I mean, it is mind reading. It's an extreme intrusion of personal privacy and it's very difficult to defend against."

"Yes, but what I did find said nothing about a person being able to implant subliminal thoughts." Hermione pointed out.

"I..." Harry began but paused and looked pensive for a moment. "Would you be willing to undergo an experiment so I can prove to you this is true?"

Hermione blinked and looked hesitant for a split second before nodding her head. "Alright, what do you want to do?"

"I mentioned that I discovered that I'm an instinctive natural at it."

"Yes, you said that. What does that even mean? And how did you 'discover' that you could do it?"

"What it means is that I can just do it even though I'd never been taught it and hadn't even ever read about it. I didn't even know that there was a name for what I was doing until second term. As for how I discovered it, well... it was kind of a fluke. You remember back when Rita Skeeter wrote that article outing me, how I told you that if Fleur had been the one who let it slip I'd be able to find out? And then later I was positive that it wasn't her?"

"Yes..."

"I read her mind. But, that wasn't the first time I'd done it. There was some point where I was looking into someone's eyes and I thought they were lying to me. I wished I could just read their thoughts to know for sure and the next thing I know, it's like part of my consciousness slipped inside their mind and I could see everything. It's actually really overwhelming. Anyway, I only did it a few times to test out what I could and couldn't do. But, after a bit, I realized it was seriously intrusive and didn't do it anymore after that. However, experimenting with it made me realize that if others could do it too, there were some seriously dangerous implications in the whole thing. Anyway, I'm going to do a demonstration to show you want I'm talking about. Ready?"

Hermione took in a deep breath and gave a determined nod.

"Okay, do you have a piece of parchment?"

Harry proceeded to take a piece of parchment and a borrowed quill then wrote down a quick note while hiding it form Hermione. He handed it to Ginny but told her not to look at it and keep it hidden.

Next, he sat Hermione down directly opposite him and looked directly into her eyes.

"I'm going to go into your head and implant a subliminal message," Harry explained and Hermione's expression became worried. "Nothing big, just something small. If you do it and it matches what I've written on the paper I gave to Ginny then that will prove to you that this is possible, yes?"

"Alright..." Hermione said, hesitantly.

They locked eyes and Harry, wandlessly and silently, slipped into her mind. Her emotions were a storm, her thoughts were filled with doubts and second-guessing. In some part of her mind, she had been recently going over every memory she could dig up of interacting directly with Dumbledore, questioning and second-guessing every little thing. Harry found himself greatly pleased by this but pushed it aside, focusing on her conscious mind and her awareness of her surroundings. He latched onto the image and thought of Ginny sitting not-too-far away then implanted a thought. A moment later, he slipped out and she blinked at him expectantly.

"Well?" she asked, clearly expecting something to happen.

"I already did it." Harry said with a slightly smug smile.

"You did?" she exclaimed. "But I didn't feel anything!"

"Nope. And you wouldn't feel anything from Dumbledore doing it either. Now take a look around the room."

Hermione's brow furrowed in confusion but she did. As her eyes landed on Ginny, she tilted her head to the side, looking thoughtful.

"You know, Ginny. I think you might look good with short hair. Have you ever considered cutting it?" Hermione said, seemingly out of the blue. The gathered group looked confused.

Harry grinned and nodded at Ginny. "Look at the paper."

Ginny blinked, unfolded the paper Harry had handed her and her eyes instantly went wide. She looked back at Hermione who was now looking even more confused.

"It says 'I'm going to make Hermione think you could use a haircut'." Ginny said with obvious shock.

Hermione's jaw dropped and she let out a small gasp.

Her eyes went back to Harry with dawning horror. "I didn't notice anything." she exclaimed. "I... I mean, I look at Ginny and I really think that... but... but, wait... I've never thought that before! I mean... honestly, I don't believe that. I think you're hair's beautiful, Ginny. Don't get it cut," Hermione suddenly said, refocusing on Ginny, who gave a slightly sheepish grin and ducked her head a bit.

"But for that moment, you really believed that was how you thought, right?" Harry prodded. "And if you hadn't realized that it was all a trick, you would have gone on thinking that too."

"Oh my god..." Hermione said in a horrified whisper.

"He's been doing that to me since I first got to Hogwarts," Harry said in a suddenly cold, hard, voice. "I can look back and pinpoint several instances where I'm sure he messed with my head. Made me think things I didn't really think. Made me do things I didn't really want to do, or wouldn't have normally done."

"But why?" Hermione exclaimed with a desperate voice.

"I don't know, Hermione. And that scares me. What does he want with me? Why is he doing this to me? I know it has to have something to do with Voldemort. But why Dumbledore needs me as a part of his plans I just don't know. But I'm not going to be his ignorant pawn anymore. I'm not going to let him just use me and trick me."

"But... but this is Dumbledore we're talking about!" Ron finally exclaimed, looking pale and in obvious denial. "He's the Lightest wizard alive! He's, he's... he's Dumbledore! He defeated the Dark Lord Grindlewald!"

"Grindlewald wasn't a real Dark Lord though. He was just a really ambitious Dark wizard," Harry interjected and Ron just looked confused.

"What? What does that have to do... never mind. I just... Harry, you make it sound like you're against Dumbledore now! I just..."

"Ron," Harry interjected with a soft reassuring voice. "There seems to be this automatic expectation that since I'm the bloody Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Die that I have to follow Dumbledore. That I have to swear my allegiance and loyalty to him. But I don't have to do anything. He's a man. A powerful wizard, yes, but he's still just a man. He's the headmaster of my school and, because of that, he has authority over me. But I'm not going to be at Hogwarts forever. After seventh year, I'll graduate then go off to do whatever I end up doing and, as far as I'm concerned, that thing doesn't have to have anything to do with Albus bloody Dumbledore. I know that you all are really getting interested in this whole Order of the Phoenix thing, and I bet even the members of it have some sort of expectation that I'll join it after I'm seventeen, because both my parents were members. But I won't. I have no intention, or desire, to ever join Dumbledore's little secret vigilante group. The man comes off as a kind, brilliant, and somewhat senile, old grandfather, but I'm convinced it's just a mask. It's a disguise to hide the manipulative master beneath the surface.”

"It's just like Quirrell back in our first year..." Harry paused hold up his hand to halt the obvious outburst that was clearly on the tip of Ron's tongue. "Quirrell came off as an incompetent, stuttering fool. But it was all an act. The purpose of that was to get people to lower their guard. To lower their expectations and to not consider him a threat so no one would suspect that he was really after the Philosopher's Stone. That's what Dumbledore does. He acts like a crazy old man to get people to lower their guards. To make it so no one will suspect him. But do you really think that a mostly-senile, dottering, crazy old man could really hold as much power as he has for as long as he's held it? Not just over Hogwarts but in the ICW and the Wizengamot. And all the influence he has over at the Ministry."

Harry paused again, allowing his statements to sink in to his fellow Gryffindors' minds. He knew that this was one of the hardest ideas for him to drive through their thick skulls since loyalty to Dumbledore had basically been drilled into the Weasley offspring their entire lives. Hermione had an instinctive submission and reverence for authority figures, especially really intelligent, powerful ones.

However, this was also an incredibly important step. If he could get them to second guess Dumbledore then start to question the man and his motives, it would really help with pushing them further.

"But I just don't understand why Dumbledore would do that to you," Hermione said weakly with an utterly defeated air around her.

Harry shrugged. "I'm sure that he thinks he's justified. That it's all for the greater good or something. He thinks he needs me and doesn't trust me to follow his grand plan the honest way. Maybe he thinks that whatever his end goal is, is just too important to risk some stupid teenager exhibiting stupidity or free will and screwing it all up. But at this point, even if I knew what he was aiming for, understood his motives and found myself agreeing with his goals, I still wouldn't work with him. Maybe I'll strive for those goals on my own but I won't be working with him. Not after what he's done to me. Not after he's used me the way he has."

The group sat in stunned silence for a long uncomfortable minute.

"Harry?" Ginny's voice breaks through the thickness.

"Yes?"

"What things exactly do you think he put into your head? What things do you think he changed or made you do?"

"I only have theories, you know. I obviously can't prove anything, and even what I do think I know, is just speculation. I can only look back in my memories and pick out the things that always seemed strange. Instances where I just suddenly seemed to realize something or I suddenly got the impulse to do something insanely reckless. I don't know but I think he was also guiding us slowly. There's also all those times where my, well, my saving people thing kicked in to an irrational extent. I never used to stick my neck out for people the way I have in the last few years. I always kept my head down and looked after my own hide. It was necessary to survive in the environment I grew up in. No one was going to look after me so I had to look out for myself. Admittedly, I never had anyone I cared about enough to feel it was warranted to risk my own neck for someone else, but still... Hermione, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Back in second year when you decided to brew Polyjuice Potion and we needed a place to brew, how did you come to the conclusion to use Myrtle's bathroom?" Harry asked.

"Oh... um... well I... I was just trying to think of somewhere that no one ever went into. I was sitting in the great hall at breakfast one day and... and... oh Harry..."

"What?"

"I remember feeling the oddest urge to look up at the head table and Dumbledore was smiling right at me. I remember because I rarely made direct eye contact with the Headmaster. Usually, when I looked up at the head table, he would be busy talking with one of the other professors or something. But he was looking right at me. It was just after leaving the Great Hall that I suddenly knew for sure the perfect place. Harry, what do you think it means?"

"Dumbledore already knew that Myrtle's bathroom was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets." Harry said with absolute conviction.

Hermione gasped, Ginny paled, and Ron's face suddenly looked furious. So did the Twins, for that matter.

"Harry, how can you say that?" Hermione asked.

"He sent Fawkes down there after me when I went in to get Ginny. My loyalty didn't call Fawkes to me, Dumbledore sent him. Sent him down the tunnel that I'd left open when Ron, Lockhart, and I went down it. For that, he had to already know where the entrance was, he just couldn't open it himself, for that he needed someone who spoke parseltongue. I'm positive of that. Even back fifty years ago, Dumbledore was sure that Tom Riddle was the one who opened the chamber. Dumbledore knew that the girl that died from it was Myrtle and that she died in that bathroom. Fifty years is plenty of time to figure it out. He subliminally implanted the idea for us to brew our potion in that bathroom so that we would have extended exposure to it. It would be too strange and inexplicable for me to suddenly just know where the entrance was if I'd never even been in that bathroom so the Polyjuice brewing was the perfect excuse for me to get familiar with that room."

"But Dumbledore was gone from Hogwarts when you figured out where the entrance to the Chamber was so he couldn't have put that into your head that day," Ron pointed out. "He'd been kicked out by Malfoy and the Governors before then."

"True," Harry said, nodding his head, "But I think he may have implanted the knowledge before he left, but maybe he made it so deep in my subconscious that it would take certain events for it to really surface. Like, maybe I had to know that someone was down there before the knowledge of where the entrance was would come to the surface. I don't really know, I mean, he's been doing advanced Legilimency a lot longer than I have so he could have figured out how to do all sorts of tricks like that."

"But why would he do all that?" Ginny asked, looking slightly shaken.

"I don't know, Gin. I really really don't know. I mean, if I'm right, he put the whole school at risk for this. If he knew where the entrance was, once he learned that I was a Parselmouth he should have just taken me there so we could go down then he and the teachers could take out the basilisk."

"But that just shows that you've got to be wrong!" Ron said suddenly. "Dumbledore wouldn't put the whole school at risk like that!"

"Dumbledore may have known where the entrance to the Chamber was, and probably even that the monster was a basilisk but he probably didn't know how it was being opened. What he did know was that Voldemort was probably involved in some way. He knew that Tom Riddle was the one who opened the Chamber fifty years ago, even if no one else realized it, and the message written on the wall said 'enemies of the heir, beware', which is apparently the same thing that happened 50 years ago when it was Voldemort as a teen."

Harry noticed Ginny cringe out of the corner of his eye and sent her an apologetic encouraging smile.

"So even though he knew where the entrance was, and could have stopped the attacks on the students, if he had done that he may not have been able to find how Voldemort was involved or actually catch him. He chose to wait so that he could try and discover that or for me to figure it out. Which I guess is what he actually did. For some reason, he has apparently been convinced that it had to be me to do it. But why, I have no idea.”

"The way I look at it, the only way to discover the person behind the attacks was for me to enter the Chamber when it was known for sure that the perpetrator was already down there. That's why I think that was probably the trigger for the information implanted in my mind. If I was sure that someone was down there, then I would figure out where the entrance was and I could go catch them in the act.”

"Theoretically, if Dumbledore or the teachers had gone down there any sooner, we may have never discovered that it was Ginny and that she was being possessed by that diary. I don't know. It's so convoluted and messed up. Just the same, it seems like a huge risk. Especially if he knew it was a basilisk. I mean, it was a total fluke that no one actually got killed. It was pure luck that everyone who ran into it had some sort of object in the way that made it so they only got... petrified... " Harry trailed off, appearing to have made a sudden realization.

"Dumbledore knew... I wonder if he was somehow... but how? I mean, it happened far too many times to have been a coincidence. But if he had been there to prevent the deaths, why still allow anyone to get petrified at all? Surely he wouldn't do something like that just to guarantee that I would... Surely not..."

"Harry, are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Hermione said in a hoarse whisper.

Harry shook his head. "I don't know what I'm suggesting, Hermione. I honestly don't know what to think anymore. Half the time I wonder if I'm just being excessively paranoid or if the world really is this utterly insane." Harry sighed and ran his hand through his hair, roughly, pulling at it a bit.

"I get that Dumbledore has got some 'bigger-picture' plan and he's working towards some huge hidden agenda. He probably thinks that what he's doing is right and that the end result is worth the small sacrifices along the way. I don't think Dumbledore is doing this out of spite or to make my life a living hell but I still don't trust him one damn bit." Harry finally concluded.

The thick heavy atmosphere returned and the whole group of them looked both glum and stunned. Each one's face gave Harry the distinct impression that they had a lot of thinking to do.

Finally, Ron spoke up. "Harry, are you suggesting that if Dumbledore hadn't planted some... I don't know, some idea in your head about going down to the Chamber that you wouldn't have gone down there to save Ginny?"

Harry sighed and took on an air of defeat. "That's just it, Ron. I don't know. I don't know if I would have gone down there or not. But I would like to have been given that choice of my own total free will and right now I'm not convinced that I did. I don't know if I saved Ginny because it was something that I would really have done or if it was just because Dumbledore had been implanting hypnotic suggestions into my head. I know that you can't implant subliminal thoughts into a person's head with Legilimency that are seriously counter to their own thoughts and beliefs, so he couldn't have made me do something that I would never ever do but he could still nudge me towards choices I wouldn't have naturally made on my own. Thing is, I don't know which nudges he gave me and which were really my choices. I hate not knowing. I hate not knowing what other stuff he's done to me. It's got me questioning everything I know about myself and my choices over the last few years. I know I'm protected from it now that I'm studying Occlumency so he can't mess with me anymore. But what about you guys? He can still mess with your heads. What if he's been doing this to you guys too?"

Suddenly the whole group of them paled. Ginny and Hermione both looked like they were about to be sick.

"If you're right about the Polyjuice and Myrtle's bathroom, then he's already done at least one thing to me." Hermione whispered in horror.

Ron shot to his feet and began to pace furiously while shaking his head and mumbling under his breath. Things like 'This isn't possible!', 'He's the good guy!', and 'Light Wizards don't do things like this!' were passing from his lips. Ginny trailed his pacing with her eyes, looking more and more upset by the second.

"Worst of all," Harry began, finally drawing Ron's attention away from his own frantic muttering, "I feel like it's partially my fault if he has been messing with your guys' heads."

"Harry, that's absurd!" Ginny exclaimed.

"You guys are my friends, and that's the only reason that Dumbledore would have any valid reason to mess with you. It's obvious that I'm the center of whatever crazy scheme he's got brewing. It's all about the bloody Boy-Who-Lived. He wants to control me so he controls everything around me, which includes you."

"Harry, do you have any books on Occlumency?" Hermione asked suddenly with a determined voice. "Like I said, I had a hard time finding any books on the mind arts and those that I did find only summarized it. None of them actually taught any of it."

"I've got a couple," Harry said, nodding his head. "One of them is Nick's but I'm sure he wouldn't mind me lending it to you."

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said with a grateful, but weak smile.

"Oh Merlin!" Ron whispered suddenly, looking extraordinarily pale. "I... I think Dumbledore might have done something to my head too."

"What, Ron?" Harry asked looking concerned and suppressing the elated glee at how well this was progressing.

"He... he visited us at the Burrow the summer before I started at Hogwarts. You remember that?" he asked, suddenly turning to the twins and Ginny who all nodded their heads slowly in dawning horror. "He... he really only spoke to me for a moment. Mum and dad were having tea with him, which was really odd. I mean, he'd never come over before. They called me downstairs into the kitchen and he asked me if I was looking forward to starting at Hogwarts. Of course I said yes. I was really excited to meet him but that was it. It was nothing special. But... but he looked me in the eye and held it for longer than seemed normal. I remember thinking it was a bit odd but ignoring it because I was just so excited to be meeting him in person."

"I remember thinking it was really odd, too. They didn't call any of the rest of us down to meet him. Just you. What do you think he did?" Ginny asked.

Harry took on a pensive look for a moment as all eyes trained on him. "I bet he set the idea in your head to befriend me on the train," Harry said with a slow nod.

"But why would he want Ron, specifically, to befriend you?" Hermione asked.

"Because the Weasley's are loyal to him and a trusted Light family. He wanted me to be friends with people he had the firm belief he had control over."

Ginny sucked in a sharp breath and the twins looked murderous again. Ron looked sick.

"He also probably knew from Hagrid, and from the squib he had spying on me from down the street at Privet Drive, that I didn't have a single friend before Hogwarts. He probably realized that any friend I made, I'd be terribly loyal to. There's never been a single Weasley placed in any house but Gryffindor but Potter's aren't so predictable. My dad, James Potter, and granddad, Charlus Potter, were both Gryffindors but my great-granddad, Harrison Potter, was a Slytherin, and his brother, Daniel, was a Ravenclaw. Harrison Potter arranged the marriage between Charlus Potter and Dorea Black, who was a Slytherin, because he was good friend with Dorea's father, Cygnus. I'm sure Dumbledore was really worried that I might get sorted into Slytherin and I'm sure the Boy-Who-Lived being a Slytherin would have destroyed his plans. Both Hagrid and you specifically told me stories about how horrible and evil Slytherins are. Then how great and amazing Gryffindors are. I bet that was Dumbledore's doing."

Ron's eyes were as big as saucers at this point. "Your great-grandfather was a Slytherin? And your grandmum was a Black!"

Harry gave Ron a flat, blank stare for a long minute before the ginger seemed to realize how stupid and inappropriate his outburst was given the situation then ducked his head sheepishly.

Another long and heavy silence fell upon the group before, finally, Harry let out a long, loud sigh. "I think we need to move on to another subject for a while. I've had months and months to come to terms with the whole thing then slowly unravel all of this and it's still hard for me to grasp it all sometimes. Having it all unloaded on your heads all at once has got to be murder. Look, these are the conclusions that I came to but I won't expect you all to follow me on this. You need to come to your own conclusions and I think that it would be beneficial if you all had some time to think on this before we talk about it anymore."

The group reluctantly nodded their heads, but awkward silence mostly prevailed. Finally, Ginny asked Harry what sorts of things he did to keep busy all summer, and he gave her a convincing, grateful smile to show his appreciation for her changing the subject. He told them stories of him and Nick spending the first few weeks cleaning then fixing up Nick's ancestral manor. Stories of the pair of them spending relaxing days reading, studying, practicing dueling, talking about the world, their beliefs, and politics.

Hermione seemed rather surprised that Harry had suddenly developed opinions on politics and Harry admitted that Nick had played a large role in his growing realization that politics are far more important that he had ever been willing to accept before. This also brought forth a discussion on the interview he had done about a month earlier in the Prophet as well as the ideas he had stated then in relationship to magical and muggleborn babies raised by muggles.

He and Hermione then found themselves in a deep-heated discussion as they debated their varying ideals on the subject and, in the end, Harry actually felt rather accomplished since he knew he had got her thinking about things that she hadn't really thought about before. He could also see signs of Viktor's ideals and words affecting her opinions, which pleased him.

Ginny seemed to openly agree with Harry's ideas on a magical childcare system needing to be established and the idea of regularly checking up on any magical child being raised in a muggle home, as well as the magical community's responsibility to take any child being mistreated away, placing them in a magical home or in some sort of magical foster system. Ron admitted that he'd never even thought about any of it before, but seemed more than willing to say it sounded like a good idea to him. Hermione didn't seem to like the idea of any government having the power to forcefully take children from their families but admitted that if the family was abusing the child, it should be taken away.
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Harry Potter and the Breeding Darkness