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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
- 3
- 4
- 5
This chapter was written by Aya Macchiato

Beta 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 3

That morning progressed just like any other. Workout for a little more than an hour. Showers, breakfast, thirty minutes of Arithmancy review then a group of Death Eaters arrived for a meeting. This was where things diverged for the first time. Instead of Harry being sent off to entertain himself, Tom had him attend the meeting as well, in his 'Evan Harris' persona, of course. None of it specifically pertained to Harry but Tom said he wanted him to start getting acquainted with the Death Eaters as well as become more familiar with Tom's plans and how his organization ran.

Harry certainly had no qualms with any of this and took a seat in the conference room to Tom's right. It was another group gathering. This time, all of those who had been called were influential high society pure-bloods with political power or seats in the Wizengamot. Tom had, apparently, already personally debriefed everyone who came so it was now a planning and assignment session.

It was slightly boring. Mostly because Harry simply had no idea what most of the things they were talking about were or what they meant. But he tried to stay focused and absorb as many details as he could manage. He also took notes for Tom when directed.

Throughout the morning Harry had had the strangest feeling in the back of his head but he hadn't really paid it much attention. It was almost like an echo and, at times, it almost felt like the times he was in classes back at Hogwarts when his companion had entered his mind . The feeling made him suddenly realize that he hadn't entered his mindscape in nearly two weeks and that his companion was almost constantly absent from his conscious mind. He actually felt a bit guilty about this, feeling like he was neglecting the bit of Tom's soul inside him when it had helped him out so much for so long. Harry realized that he had let himself get distracted by his ponderings when Voldemort instructed him to record something in his notes and he quickly refocused on the meeting.

To say that the high-society Death Eaters present at the meeting did not appear pleased with 'Evan's' presence would be an understatement. But they were also cowed enough by Voldemort's glares to try and hide some of their disdain.

When the meeting came to an end, the Death Eaters were dismissed from the manor and Harry, still wearing his glamor ring of course, and Voldemort sat for a late lunch while Voldemort explained several things from the meeting that Harry hadn't entirely understood.

It was just as they were finishing up their meal that Mixey appeared with the first batch of letters from Harry's post box in France. Harry went a bit wide-eyed at the number of them but set them aside so he could finish his meal.

Tom had another meeting scheduled for later that afternoon, and once again, wanted Harry to attend but they had two hours until then. Voldemort suggested that the two of them skip the dueling training for that day and retire to the study so he could finish up some preparations for the coming meeting. Also, so Harry could go through his mail.

Once in the study, Voldemort reverted back to Tom but cast a locking ward on the door. Not that any Death Eater who entered the manor would have the gall to enter Voldemort's personal study without knocking first but Tom was never one to deny his own strong sense of paranoia.

He sat down in the chair behind his desk and quickly set to going through the notes that Harry had taken as well as making a number of notes of his own and opening up a planning book that Harry had often seen him writing in. Harry slipped down into his usual place beside Tom's chair and began to sort through his letters.

There was one that was addressed to just 'Harry Potter' in Albus Dumbledore's long, slanting, loopy scrawl. Harry scowled at it and moved it to the bottom of the pile. There were three separate letters from the Weasleys. One from Ron, one from Ginny, and one from the twins. They were all addressed to his post box address so, obviously, Ron had shared it with his siblings.

Another letter was from Hermione. Again, it was addressed to his post box address. And the last letter in the pile was a mystery.

Harry decided to read Hermione's first so he quickly opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

Dear Harry,

How are you? You better write back right away because I want to make sure that you're really alright and that you're really getting this letter!

How's France? Are you having fun wherever it is that you're hiding out at?

I have a confession to make. I wasn't entirely honest with you and Ron about what I'm doing this summer. I would have told you the truth but, every time it came up, Ron was always there and it just kept slipping my mind.

So I told you that my parents were taking me to Italy for the first three weeks of the holiday but I'm not here with just my parents. I'm also here with Viktor and his parents. They were planning a trip to Greece and Italy as well so when we both realized that our summer plans were so similar we ended up making arrangements to vacation together. Again, I would have told you but I'm sure you can imagine how Ron would react if he knew and I just didn't want to start up some new petty feud with Ron so late in the year.

It's been just lovely so far, Harry. I'm having so much fun! Viktor has been such a romantic gentleman. You would never expect it, but Viktor is a real 'mamma's boy'. It's so cute to see him around his mother. His father is a very proud and strict man on the outside but when he's with his wife, he's very loving. It's really amazing to see how his family works in private. They're really nice people.

I was a little worried how they would take to my parents at first since they are very old-blood and Viktor's father is a member of the Dark Party in the Russian magical government. Did you know that Russia's magical governing system is split into three political parties based on one's magical affinity? The legislature is separated between representatives from the Light, Dark, and Neutral Parties. I must admit that I really had no idea and it was quite a shock when I first discovered it. I hope that this doesn't make you uncomfortable. But Viktor's mother, Akilina, has explained to me that in Russia, one's magical affinity isn't so strongly associated with concepts like 'good and evil' as it is in Britain. And they're really such nice people. It's been quite an eye opening experience seeing how magical people from another country approach these ideas and concepts.

Anyway, I've digressed... I was worried about how his parents would react to my parents since they're muggles but they've been nothing but kind and polite. Viktor's father is a bit cold to them but Viktor assures me that it's really just how he acts with anyone he doesn't know very well.

So, Rome has been absolutely amazing. It's so beautiful and there is so much old magic buried deep and hidden throughout the city. We're going to be going to Greece next week and visit Athens. I'm really looking forward to it.

You were right about underaged magic being allowed here. The only requirement is that a magical adult is somewhere around for supervision. And with Viktor's parents here, I've been able to perform magic without anything to worry about getting in trouble. It's been really great to finally be able to demonstrate some magic for my parents. With the restriction for underaged wizardry in place in Britain, I really haven't ever been able to show them anything during the summers so they haven't even been able to see any of the results from the education they're paying for.

Let's see... oh! Alright, well you know me, I'm not one to kiss and tell, or to ever get involved in that giggly girl nonsense, but I'm just so excited, and seeing as how I've caught you a few times after your snogging sessions with your secret-someone-special, it's only fair that you have some dirt on me in return. So let's just say that I'm glad that I was there that morning that Ginny taught you those glamor and healing charms or else I'm sure I would be answering some very uncomfortable questions to my parents!

I'm going to miss Viktor so much when he and his family leave. They're only able to stay for the first two weeks of summer holiday because then Viktor's father has to return to Russia for his work and Viktor tells me that he has some very important meetings lined up for some work opportunities now that he's graduated.

I'm being just awful, going on and on about Viktor, aren't I? You're probably bored to tears. Anyway, how are things going with your special beau? You're there with him right? I hope the two of you are being safe and not going too far, but then again, you're there with his parents, right? So I imagine that there's only so much you can do without upsetting them.

Make sure you don't get so distracted by him that you put off starting your summer homework till the last minute. You're not with those awful relatives of yours so there's no reason you can't start on your assignments right away.

Write back soon, Harry! I miss you! Hope you're having a wonderful holiday.

Love,

Hermione

Harry stared at the letter for a moment with a small smirk on his lips. He couldn't help but wonder about that bit with Viktor Krum's parents and their association with Russia's Dark Magic party.

From the letter, it didn't look like Hermione had been approached by Dumbledore about Harry's disappearing act yet. But she had gone straight out of country as soon as she was home from Hogwarts so the old goat probably hadn't had the opportunity.

Harry set that letter aside and opened up Ron's. It was much shorter, as Ron's letters always were.

Hey Harry,

Dumbledore showed up the day after we got back from school and questioned us about you being gone. He found out fast, didn't he?

I didn't want to tell him anything but my mum threw a big fit and they think that You-Know-Who might be back! Do you think it's true? They were in a real panic though. Apparently, they thought that you got kidnapped by Death Eaters or something. You'd better write back real fast so I know that you're really okay.

Oh, and I gave your address to Ginny and the twins. They threatened to string me up by my ankles if I didn't fill them in a little. Sorry mate.

Hope you're having a fun summer so far!

Ron

Harry set that one aside and moved onto Ginny's next.

Dear Harry,

I cannot believe you didn't warn me! I won't get too angry because I realize that the fewer people who knew you were going to run away the better but it still irks me that you told my loud-mouth brother and didn't tell me at all! You better really be okay because we overheard mum and dad talking with Dumbledore and mum said something about You-Know-Who being back, which is just terrifying, something I hope isn't true.

I know you probably didn't want the details of your homelife with those awful muggles getting around but Ron sort of blew up at Professor Dumbledore when he came here. Ron said that they beat and starved you. Merlin, Harry, is it true? I always knew that something had to be going on, and I feel terrible that I never said anything. You would always come back so thin and miserable after a summer with those people. Then there was that time when my brothers went to rescued you in our dad's car and they had to break bars off your window. And of course there was how they acted when we went to fetch you for the Quidditch World Cup...

Awful, awful people! I hope they rot in hell!

After mum heard some of what Ron had to say she threw a big fit at Professor Dumbledore. It's fun to watch when it's not directed at you! Mum is downright terrifying when she's upset and she was definitely upset with Dumbledore for making you stay with people who would treat you like that.

They're still dead set on finding you though. The whole You-Know-Who thing has them all freaked out and they want to find you to make sure you're somewhere 'safe'. I have to agree with Ron though, if even Dumbledore can't find you, I doubt that You-Know-Who or any Death Eaters can either. Mum did make Dumbledore promise that, no matter what, you wouldn't be sent back to those muggles. It sounds like you'd probably end up coming to stay with us, but who knows?

So anyway, France, huh? Does that mean all those hickeys were from some Beauxbaton's boy? Here Hermione and I were trying to figure out which house your boyfriend was from and we never even stopped to think that maybe you'd hooked up with one of the boys from the other schools! We should have thought of that! I mean, Hermione's been seeing Viktor from Durmstrang so I don't know why we never thought of that for you.

Anyway, I miss you! I hope you're having fun this summer with that boy of yours and you'd better write back soon so I know you're really okay. Just don't include anything that might give away where you are because I'm almost positive that mum will try to read any of our mail that comes from you.

Gin

Harry chuckled at the mental image of Mrs. Weasley laying into Dumbledore and Tom glanced down at him.

"Interesting letters?"

"Ginny Weasley. Apparently when Dumbledore went to the Weasley's to question them about my disappearance. Ron then went and blurted out how the muggles treated me. It set off Molly Weasley and she ripped into Dumbledore something fierce."

"I can imagine that might have been amusing to witness," Tom said airily with a small smirk.

"Molly Weasley can be a rather terrifying person to go up against when she's in her 'mother hen' mode. So, yes, I imagine it would have been fun to witness."

Harry set Ginny's letter down in the pile with Ron and Hermione's then opened up the twins letter. It was basically a mix of the letter from Ron and Ginny, repeating a lot of the same things, but also added in a status report on their work on their inventions. They had a whole slew of products in the works and plans for more. They were, apparently, setting aside a portion of Harry's winnings to use to pay test subjects the following year at school. Harry could just imagine the chaos that would result from that.

Once he was through with that one he moved onto the mystery letter, opting to put Dumbledore's letter off until last.

The mystery letter was simply addressed to 'Mr. Harry Potter' with no additional address on it. The back was sealed in wax with a stamp on it that, upon closer examination, Harry realized was the emblem of the Ministry of Magic. His eyes widened slightly and he broke the seal and pulled out the letter.

It was on rather official looking stationary from the Office of the Minister for Magic. It was a simple and polite invitation to tea for July 12th at 2pm at an old proper teahouse towards the ritzier end of Diagon Alley.

Harry smirked. "I got an invitation to tea from the Minister," he said.

Tom's pen stopped mid-stroke and he looked down at Harry with raised eyebrows. "Did you now? When?"

"July 12th at a teahouse in Diagon Alley at 2pm. Kind of a public place but I suppose that's sort of the point since it's intended to look like I'm endorsing him. This is just a political move, after all."

"Of course," Tom said dismissively.

"Do you think I can do it? I mean... mightn't Dumbledore be able to track me down?"

"I have an amulet that you'll need to wear whenever you leave the manor that will prevent any tracking spells from being able to lock onto you. I wear one anytime I'm outside the safety of the wards."

"Oh... brilliant."

"We can get some of our own shopping done that day. Get our own things out of the way before the meeting. Since it will be out in the public, the chance remains that someone working for Dumbledore could see you there and report it to him. But you can keep your portkey on you and use it to leave if anyone tries to approach you. Diagon Alley has designated apparition zones with anti-apparition wards around everything else but it doesn't have anti-portkey wards."

"Legal portkeys have to be issued by the Ministry though. Won't there be the chance that someone might question what I'm doing with my own personal portkey?"

"Well, obviously, you'd be best served by not using it when anyone else is watching," Tom said with a pointed look.

"Right," Harry said ducking his head and grinning sheepishly. "Anyway, he wants a response to confirm the meeting so I'll probably want to get that taken care of soon."

"I can conjure you a chair and you can use my desk," Tom offered as he refocused on his own work and resumed scratching away on his own piece of parchment.

"Uhm... maybe. I'll write out all my responses at once. I've still got one letter left, one from Dumbledore, and I'm probably better off getting his letter read and out of the way first."

"Dumbledore? Well, let me know if he has anything of interest to say."

Harry snorted quietly and set the Minister's invitation aside. He picked up Dumbledore's letter in his hands and stared at it with considerable reluctance. Finally, he let out a huff of air and broke the seal.

Mr. Harry Potter,

Harry, it has come to my attention that you have not returned to your relatives home for the summer holidays. When I first discovered your absence, I'll admit I was quite concerned. Until I spoke with your friend, Mr. Ronald Weasley, and he confirmed that you had made alternative plans for the summer, I had been worried that you may have been abducted. I was quite concerned for your welfare and several other individuals were brought in as a small search was begun to try to locate you so we could verify your safety. Mr. Weasley now assures me that you are somewhere safe, although he does not know where you are exactly.

I had thought that we had an understanding as to just how important it is that you return to Privet Drive every summer to maintain the wards that protect you there thanks to your mother's sacrifice but, clearly, I was wrong.

I understand that you are not entirely happy there but I do wish that you would have come to me before making such a rash decision. We are all very worried about you and only want what is best for your overall well-being. There are dangers growing all around us and it is simply not safe for you to be without the protection of your mother's wards. If you return right away, we can still salvage the situation and make sure that you can guarantee a place to stay that is safe until you come of age.

I am disappointed, Harry, but I can see now that you quite desperately don't wish to return to your relatives home. I promise that I can guarantee your safety with them, and you will not have to remain with them for long. Two weeks is all that is necessary and then you can go stay with your friend, Ron. Molly Weasley has already offered her home to you.

Please, Harry, wherever you are, it is not safe enough to guarantee complete protection from Voldemort or his followers. I insist that you tell me, right away, where you are, then I'll send a team of trusted witches and wizards to come collect you then bring you somewhere safe so we can work through our disagreements on this issue.

Time is of the essence, Harry. Please respond as soon as possible so that I know you are well and can send someone to collect you.

Sincerely Yours,

Albus Dumbledore

Harry snorted loudly causing Tom to pause and look down expectantly.

"Bloody lying, deceitful old codger," Harry grumbled bitterly.

"What does the old fool have to say?"

"First off, he makes it sound like the wards at Privet Drive are still there and as long as I return soon and stay with the fucking muggles for at least two weeks this summer, they'll be fine. He also mentions that I'm not safe from your followers but doesn't make any mention of him knowing that you're back. How nice of him to be so open with his intel," Harry said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Even the Weasley kid's letters mentioned you being back."

"Did they now?" Tom replied with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, apparently they eavesdropped on some private conversation between Dumbles and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, overhearing Molly freaking out about you 'being back' as well as them wondering if you'd kidnapped me."

"Such impressive security," Tom sneered sarcastically, causing Harry to snicker.

Finally, Harry decided to get started on his responses and he allowed Tom to conjure him a chair that was placed diagonally from his so that Harry had a space along one side of the desk. Using some spare parchment and a quill from Tom, Harry began to write his responses.

To Ron, he thanked him for the information and told him not to worry about anything he may have let slip to Dumbledore since Harry had already assumed that it would happen.

To Hermione, Harry said that what he had seen of the French countryside was beautiful but he hadn't yet been into any towns and had very little exposure to the country outside the manor house he was staying in. He also made a few friendly jokes about her relationship with Krum, gave her a few tips on hiding especially dark hickeys and healing bite marks, then told her that it didn't bother him at all if Krum's father was a member of the Dark Magic party. He said that the more he learned about different magical affinities from foreign points of view, the more he came to realize that wizarding Britain had a very skewed view on magic that seemed extremely biased. He said that in Britain people vilified Dark as evil because of a few bad apples who were both Dark Wizards and evil bastards. But that being a Dark Wizard did not necessarily make you evil, it was just a circumstantial connection, not a direct relation. It sounded like a logical enough argument that would probably both ease Hermione's fears as well as get her thinking more open-mindedly on the subject.

To Ginny, he apologized for not telling her more and thanked her for her report on Dumbledore's visit. He told her he was safe, happy and thoroughly enjoying his first summer far, far, away from the Dursley's. He also told her that just because he was in France did not necessarily mean his mystery boyfriend was from Beauxbatons but refused to give her any additional details on the subject just to keep her guessing.

To the twins he mostly just commented on their joke invention enterprises and told them that if they ran low on finances in the next year that he would be willing to invest a bit more should the need arise.

Finally, he got to the Minister's invitation. He thanked the man and graciously accepted the offer. He had Tom read over it to make sure it was good enough and, once it met his approval, Harry moved on to the final letter; the response to Dumbledore.

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

I apologize if I worried you but I'm afraid that I simply refuse to return to the Dursley's ever again. You say that it is the only place that I am truly safe, however, you and I fundamentally disagree on this point. Even if I'm safe there from Death Eaters, I'm not safe there from my uncle.

I will not go back.

Where I am now is extremely safe and has very powerful, very old wards that I have been assured are some of the most powerful available in the wizarding world. I'm also with people who I trust to only have my best interests and welfare at heart. I'm quite happy where I am and intend to stay here until the end of my summer holidays. Thank you for your concern but I have no intention of going anywhere else.

See you in the fall.

Sincerely,

Harry J. Potter

Harry had Tom read over the letter before he sealed it into an envelope and added it to his pile. He called Mixey to him then had her take all of the letters back to the French post office to have them mailed out. He managed to get all of this finished up just in time for the next meeting. Tom returned to his Voldemort appearance and the two left the study to make their way down to the conference room.

Albus Dumbledore was legitimately concerned. The subject of more than a decade and a half worth of effort was apparently rebelling against him and he was finding himself entirely helpless to do anything about it at the moment. As the previous school year had worn on, he had slowly begun to second guess his decision to allow, and even encourage, Harry Potter's participation in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He knew, after Trelawney made that prophecy about Peter Pettigrew the previous spring, then after the Death Eater attack on the World Cup that fall, that something big was coming. Voldemort was moving again and when Harry Potter's name came out of the cup he knew that it was had to be connected. Lord Voldemort would not sit by idly without some plan involving the young Harry Potter who was supposedly prophesized to be his vanquisher.

Whatever Voldemort plans were concerning Harry and the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Dumbledore was sure that it would inevitably bring the two of them together in some sort of direct conflict and that was, fundamentally, the end goal. If the true prophecy was to be believed, the bond that connected Harry and Voldemort mandated that for either of them to die, it had to be at the hands of the other.

If Dumbledore's suspicions were correct, Voldemort had intended to guarantee his immortality that fateful Halloween night by committing one of the most atrocious and unforgivable of Dark Magic's; he had intended to create a horcrux, and use the murder of the infant Harry Potter as the catalyst. Dumbledore suspected that it had actually succeeded, even though Voldemort likely believed it failed, and it was the piece of Voldemort's soul that had come to accidentally reside inside Harry Potter that had kept the Dark Lord from truly dying that night. It also explained why only the two trying to kill each other would succeed in either's death. Voldemort, in his attempt to 'kill' Harry, would actually destroy the piece of his soul that resided within the boy, thus weakening him, then Harry would have to kill Voldemort. It made perfect sense... to Dumbledore, anyway. Although it didn't entirely explain why the prophecy suggested that Harry couldn't die...

However, things had become a bit more complicated at the end of Harry's second year with the discovery of Tom Riddle's diary. Dumbledore had been unsure at first, but after some more research and testing, he had, in fact, confirmed that the diary had once been a Horcrux.

While the diary had proven that Voldemort was able, and had previously, accomplished the creation of a Horcrux, confirming Dumbledore's suspicions that this truly was Voldemort's chosen method of immortality, it brought forth some legitimate concerns.

The diary horcrux that he had created had been made when he was still a student at Hogwarts, meaning it was created many, many decades earlier, thus showing that Voldemort had been able to create a Horcrux long before his assault on the Potters. The biggest concern, however, was the nature of the Horcrux itself. It was obvious that Voldemort had created it with the intent of it getting back into the school, into the hands of a student, to reopen the Chamber. This would leave the diary Horcrux in a precarious position. He was risking it's destruction, which went directly against the intention of a Horcrux. When one created a Horcrux, they kept it safe. Kept it hidden. They did not risk it getting loose into the hands of children where it could be destroyed.

If Voldemort was willing to risk that Horcrux, it suggested that he had another that performed the role of safe-guarding his immortality. And this was all over fifty years ago. If he had at least two Horcruxes back when he was still a student at Hogwarts, and he inadvertently made another in Harry Potter, it suggested that there were others.

It was possible that there was more than just Harry Potter standing in the way of Voldemort's demise, which could cause some serious complications for Dumbledore's plans if it were true.

Dumbledore had begun to theorize in recent years that if Harry and Voldemort came head to head then both came out alive, again, that it would confirm that there really was still more to it than the horcrux in Harry and the now destroyed diary. That there were more Horcruxes keeping Voldemort alive. And, while Voldemort was alive, Harry was alive. It wasn't until Harry was the only Horcrux left that they could both be killed.

Still, back to the matter presently at hand. At the start of the school year, Harry Potter being in the tournament had seemed necessary in order to guarantee that much needed next round between the two prophesized adversaries. Either to finally bring about Voldemort's demise or to at least prove whether or not there were more horcruxes. Something had apparently gone wrong with those plans because now Voldemort was back and Harry had gone the entire school year without once encountering the man.

According to Severus' report, the plan that Voldemort had regarding Harry and the tournament had been tossed aside at some point during the school year. Dumbledore wished, desperately, that he understood specifically what plans had been made and discarded then what plans had been made in their stead. He was convinced that, no matter what, Voldemort would not give up on his quest to remove the threat that Harry's continued existence posed to him and his return. He would be going after Harry again. It was inevitable. But what was he planning?

Severus was being kept mostly in the dark and it was proving most inconvenient.

So, not only had Harry Potter's participation in the tournament not resulted in a confrontation between he and Lord Voldemort, it had also had the exceedingly unfortunate effect of making the boy more powerful, independent, and confident. The solitude that resulted from his exile from his friends early on in the year had somehow led to the boy becoming more studious and he apparently became quite a bookworm. The pressure of competing in a deadly tournament had made him focus on his defense skills and his performance in classes had dramatically improved. So much, in fact, that now Minerva was insisting that Harry be made a prefect for Gryffindor next year! Dumbledore still wasn't sure how he should handle that request. He didn't want to give the boy any more freedoms or responsibilities than necessary but Minerva was being quite insistent.

Dumbledore had hoped that things would smooth out once Harry had re-established his friendship with the two Gryffindors but his hopes had not been fulfilled. The boy had continued to isolate himself and study. Harry wasn't supposed to become any sort of defense prodigy. He needed Voldemort to be the one to shoot the first killing curse at Harry, not the other way around. The soul piece in Harry had to die first. It wasn't a real concern though. No matter how much Harry practiced, he would never win a duel against Voldemort.

Over the course of the school year, he had tried to keep an eye on his prized weapon but he honestly had so many other responsibilities to attend to on a daily basis that there was only so much he could do regarding Harry. Plus, his plan had been to remain a bit distant from young Harry Potter for some time longer. Now he wondered if, perhaps, that had been another mistake.

While he had mild concerns throughout of the school year, he hadn't given them a lot of weight. He had felt secure in his belief that his plans were proceeding, basically, as expected and that things were still well within his control. When the Granger girl had gone to Minerva expressing concern over Harry's summer living arrangements, Dumbledore had been a bit put out but had managed to get things back in control. At least he had thought so.

Minerva had made quite a fuss but it wasn't anything he couldn't perform damage control and correct. He was good at that.

The fact that Harry had actually confided in his friends about his living environment had been a bit unexpected, and slightly concerning, since it went outside of Dumbledore's expected behavior of the boy. But, again, he had still felt secure in the belief that he had things under control. He had a better understanding of human nature than most and had always been skilled at predicting people's reactions in any number of different scenarios.

Growing up with the Dursley's had made Harry submissive to authority, desperate for positive reinforcement, and easily susceptible to a good 'guilt trip'. He knew that Harry hated to disappoint people. He was always searching for others' approval and wanted to prove himself worthy of his supposed fame, even if he didn't want said fame in the first place. Dumbledore was confident that Harry still saw him as his own personal savior, looking up to him with all the awe and respect that a young Gryffindor should.

And then the last day of term had arrived, the students had boarded the Hogwarts Express to return home for their summer holidays, and he had retired to his office to relax a bit before gathering up some papers in preparation for gathering the Order back together before continuing his search for information that could lead him to Lord Voldemort's horcruxes.

When the alarms had sounded, signaling that the wards around Privet Drive had collapsed, he had a moment of stunned confusion and disbelief followed by a powerful surge of cautious hope. There were not many things that could cause those wards to suddenly fall from full power. It had not yet been a full year since Harry had set foot in the house, so it wasn't possible for them to have fallen apart because of a lack of his presence in the house. Besides, that would happen gradually, not all at once.

Chances were slim that Harry would have mentally and emotionally abandoned the dwelling either since he really had no alternative home to call his own. While he may have considered Hogwarts castle his 'home', it wasn't a dwelling that was his nor was it a place that he could stay at all year round. He still needed the Dursley's home and, as long as part of him relied on it as his home during the holidays, the wards would not fall.

No, for them to instantly fall like this, he would have had to die! If Harry had died, and the prophecy was to be believed, then so had Voldemort! There was a brief period of time where Dumbledore wondered if maybe Lord Voldemort's revised plans that he had mentioned during the Death Eater meeting that Severus had attended was to intercept Harry somewhere between the train and Privet Drive.

Dumbledore had jumped into action, apparating to Privet Drive to investigate.

However, when he got there he learned that the Dursley's had never even gone to collect Harry at King's Cross because they had been under the impression that he was going to be spending the holiday with an unnamed friend. This was curious but it was still possible that a Death Eater had forged then spelled a letter to keep them away, leaving Harry exposed and alone at Kings Cross, so he could have been abducted at that point and taken to Lord Voldemort. After all, Harry had promised that he was going to return to his relatives that summer.

The theory of Death Eaters intervening with Harry's pick up from King's Cross had continued in Dumbledore's mind until he visited the Weasley's and spoke with their son Ronald. It was at that point that Dumbledore felt true dread fill his veins like ice.

He hadn't felt it was really necessary to intrude upon the mind of Miss Granger during his meeting with her a month prior but he would not make that mistake this time. Reading the boy's cluttered mind had been effortless and had only left him even more upset than before.

The more he learned, the more certain he was that Harry had not been abducted. Harry had run away and he had been planning to do so for quite some time. He had clearly set his plans in motion long before he even made his promise to Dumbledore that he would return to the Dursley's. Harry had flat out lied to him and had felt justified in doing it. At some point, Harry had lost faith in Dumbledore and the old headmaster hadn't even realized it. Harry no longer trusted him and it seemed his treatment as well as forced return to the Dursley's was the primary source of that distrust. He hadn't expected Harry to come to understand and rebel against his living situation so soon. When had the boy become so independent? Damn that tournament!

The most concerning detail that he had siphoned from the young Weasley's mind was the fact that Harry had somehow learned what Legilimency and Occlumency were and he knew that both Severus and Dumbledore were capable of using them. The children had seemed far more focused on the fact that Severus was able to read their minds and they hadn't seemed to put any worries towards Dumbledore himself doing it,but the fact that Harry was apparently teaching himself Occlumency was concerning.

He doubted that Harry could get very far with it on his own but, still, if he progressed even a small amount he would be able to at least detect a mental intrusion. This could complicate Dumbledore's efforts, considerably.

What was truly a mystery though was how Harry would have even heard of those two branches of magic or how he would have learned that both he and Severus were practicing Legilimense. The only theory that Dumbledore could come up with was that perhaps Alastor had let it slip. Harry had been spending quite a lot of time with the Defense teacher that year. Alastor had sort of taken the boy under his wing, taking it as his own personal duty to try to help make sure the boy was prepared for the dangers of the tasks. That, perhaps, was another mistake. Perhaps he should have tried harder to persuade Alastor to keep his distance from Harry. He would have to send the man an owl, asking him if he had told Harry about the mind arts at some point.

Dumbledore could easily imagine it coming up. According to Ronald's memories, Harry had somehow become aware that Severus was a former Death Eater. If Harry had mentioned this discovery to his Defense professor, Alastor would have no doubt confirmed it and warned Harry further. Alastor never trusted Severus. Why the man had felt it was necessary to inform Harry that Dumbledore himself was also a Legilimense he could only imagine.

Perhaps, when young Harry returned to school in the fall, Dumbledore would have to push forward his plans a bit. He hadn't intended to make his move so early but circumstances might dictate the need to move up his plans. He needed to get the boy back under his control and he needed to reform some bonds of trust. If Harry did not trust him, it would be disastrous. And he had to make sure that Harry never directly blamed him for his need to live with the Dursley's. That blame had to remain with Lord Voldemort! Dumbledore realized that the best way to regain the boy's trust would be to show Harry that he trusted him in return. Perhaps it was time to inform the boy of his destiny...

But that would come in the fall. The summer was his current pressing concern and, at the moment, Harry was missing and nothing Dumbledore did in an attempt to locate him was working. What sorts of wards was the boy behind anyway? The strength of those wards was almost cause for concern since there were only so many people alive capable of making wards strong enough to block the more advanced spells he was using. And one of those people was Voldemort himself. But Dumbledore knew that was a ridiculous concern.

If Dumbledore had succeeded in nothing else, he had at least succeeded in instilling a deep hatred for Voldemort in the young Potter heir. Voldemort had murdered Harry's parents. Their death had resulted in Harry having to be left with his cruel aunt and uncle. Voldemort was an evil, bigoted, mass-murdering psychopath. All of these fundamental beliefs had been ground into Harry since the day he set foot back in the wizarding world and Dumbledore was secure in the knowledge that those beliefs had taken a firm hold in the boy's mind. He had implanted and strengthened them himself numerous times over the years through his legilimency intrusions.

Harry would rather die than join forces with the Dark Lord. No, Harry wasn't with Voldemort. That idea was just ludicrous. But, still, the question remained;where was he?

Ronald didn't seem to know any really useful details that could lead to the Boy-Who-Lived's location. From the young Weasley's mind, it looked like Miss Granger might know more but Dumbledore had found tracking her down annoyingly difficult. She and her family were apparently on holiday in Italy and Greece for the first month of summer holidays so Dumbledore was forced to wait until she and her family returned.

He hoped that by the end of July he would have a new Order headquarters acquired and ready for habitation. He assumed that he could expect the Weasley family to spend a great deal of time there. Perhaps they could extend an invitation to Miss Granger and he could gain access to her there.

Of course, hopefully, he would have managed to locate Harry by then anyway.

No matter what, however, he knew he needed to rework his plans. Things had managed to begin slipping beyond his control at some point and he hadn't really even noticed. He needed to tighten his grip and reestablish things before they slipped any further away.

He needed to find Harry Potter.
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Harry Potter and the Breeding Darkness