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The Corruption of Lily Potter	By : jamspectrum1274 Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 93627 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 6
Disclaimer: I do not own anything described in this story. All original works to the Harry Potter franchise belongs to J.K. Rowling. No copywright infringement is intended. I do not make any money off of this, as I am only doing this for fun.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
The Corruption of Lily Potter
Chapter 7
The Stone of Flamel: Part 3
(Hogwarts Express & The Sorting)
September 1, 1991-Hogwarts Express

          Lily followed Harry and Neville as they entered the first empty compartment they found and sat down next to each other, with Neville getting the window spot. Soon after, they were joined by Neville’s friend Dean Thomas and a small, bushy haired girl who had her head nearly buried in a thick bound book titled Hogwarts: A History. Harry watched as Neville and Dean waved their goodbyes to their families as the train whistle sounded and it slowly began to move. Lily placed her hand on her son’s shoulder as a tear slid down his face. She understood how Harry felt at that moment, even though Alice and Augusta were there to see him and Neville off, Harry missed his family. Lily felt saddened herself as she desperately wanted to stand next to James and watching her son board the Hogwarts Express for the first time. However, she couldn’t deny the fact that she was able to travel with him and this made her smile. As the train pulled away from the station and began steadily moving, Harry looked up at his mother and sighed.
          “What’s the matter, Harry?” Lily asked him as another tear slid down Harry’s face.
          “Nothing. I just miss Dad.” Harry answered, sighing again as he turned towards to view outside. “What’s Hogwarts like?”
          “The best way for me to describe Hogwarts is magical.” Lily replied. “It’s the best place to learn magic and everything involving the magical world. The seven years that I was there was simply amazing. In fact, I was considering becoming a teacher there before, well, I died.”
          Harry looked back up at Lily and slowly began to smile. Dean looked at Harry strangely during their conversation, even though both Neville and Harry explained to him that Lily’s spirit was bonded to Harry and Harry was able to see and talk with her. The bushy haired girl was still reading her book, not bothering to pay attention to what was going on around her. Neville was watching the view of the countryside pass by through the compartment’s window for a while before chatting with Dean talking with each other about what they expected once they got to Hogwarts. Harry looked at the bushy-haired girl for a moment and was about to introduce himself, but right at that moment, the compartment door jerked opened as a red-haired, freckled boy entered and looked right at Harry and smiled widely.
          “So, it’s true!” He said enthusiastically, nearly shouting at him. “You’re Harry Potter! Oh, sorry. Where are my manners? I’m Ron, Ron Weasley.”
          Ron offered his hand to Harry quickly, to which Harry slowly reached out to shake it. Ron nearly shook Harry’s arm off with his handshake, which got a laugh from both Neville and Dean. After Ron released Harry’s hand, he approached Neville and Dean, offering his hand to both of them in turn. Neville, smiling at Ron, shook his hand mildly.
          “Neville Longbottom.” He said to Ron while shaking his hand.
          “Ah, my dad knew your dad.” Ron said, still smiling. “He worked with your dad in the Ministry. Not in the same department, of course, with your dad being an Auror after all, but my dad said they were good friends before he died. Still, sorry about that.”
          “It’s alright.” Neville responded, releasing Ron’s hand. Ron then turned to Dean and began shaking the dark-skinned boy’s hand.
          “Dean Thomas.” Dean introduced himself to Ron. “Pleased to meet you.”
          “Pleased to meet you too.” Ron said. “I know most of the wizarding families around here. Are you muggleborn?”
          “Yes, I am.” Dean responded, releasing Ron’s hand almost abruptly. “That’s not a problem, is it?”
          “Are you kidding? My family loves muggles!” Ron almost proudly exclaimed. “My dad works in the Muggle Artifacts office, investigating misuse of any item from the muggle world being used in ours. My dad thinks muggles are quite fascinating really. Although he does get annoying sometimes he can’t stop talking about them.”
          Lily chuckled at hearing Ron go on about his dad’s love of muggles. So much in fact, that she barely noticed the bushy-haired girl finally pop her head out of her book and say: “I’m muggleborn too.”
          At the sound of the girl’s voice, all four boys immediately turned to her and stared at her as she looked at Ron. She didn’t even flinch at their shocked expressions as she put her book down beside her and introduced herself. “I’m Hermione Granger. Sorry about not introducing myself earlier, but I was fascinated by this book.” She told them, indicating the book she had just put down. She then looked back at Ron and said: “You’ve got dirt on your nose, do you know?”
          “So, the rumors are true.” A thin, blonde haired boy spoke, standing at their compartment’s door surrounded by two brunette boys. “Harry Potter is coming to Hogwarts.”
          Harry frowned immediately as he looked at the boy who rudely interjected himself into their conversation. Lily herself frowned at this boy’s familiar attitude as something about him reminded her of someone she didn’t like.
          “This is Crabbe and Goyle,” The boy arrogantly introduced his two friends behind him as he took a step forward into the compartment. “And I’m Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.”
          Both Ron and Neville chuckled a bit at hearing Draco’s name, but Lily actually sneered at the fact that the boy was a Malfoy. As Draco snapped his head at Ron and Neville, Lily sneered at hearing that Draco was Lucius’ son. She remembered back when she was Harry’s age that it was Lucius who kept her and Severus apart during their time at Hogwarts. As a matter of fact, she believed that Lucius was the main reason she saw Severus in a darker light after their friendship ended.
          “You two think my name’s funny, do you?” Draco snapped at the both of them. “I’ve no need to ask for yours, as I overheard you talking. You, Weasley, are traitors to our kind, associating with them!” Indicating Hermione and Dean. “And you’re just as bad, Longbottom. To think that your father was a semi-famous Auror.” At that, Neville and Dean stood up to face Malfoy as Crabbe and Goyle enter the small compartment. Without taking his eyes off of the three standing boys, Draco said to Harry. “You’ll soon learn that some wizarding families are better, than others, Potter. You don’t want to make friends with the wrong sort, especially with Mudbloods.”
          At that, Harry jumped up and faced Malfoy, as Hermione followed suit right after, and glared at the blonde-haired boy. Lily almost knew that Harry was about to lose control of his powers at that point, however, something she did not expect to happen occurred as both Crabbe’s and Goyle’s underwear was yanked up from behind them by an unseen force. As they yelled out in pain, Draco turned around just as his underwear was pulled up from his pants. Draco screamed like a little girl as two red-headed boys step forward into view just behind Malfoy’s goons smiling widely.
          “Hate to but in on you first-years,” One boy said.
          “But we couldn’t help ourselves.” The other boy said.
          “Especially with three greased-up gits.” The first one finished.
          “Fred, George, I wish you two would stop talking like that.” Ron said to them. “Annoying you two are at times.”
          The rest of them chuckled at seeing the discomfort on Draco’s and his two goons’ faces. Lily however just smiled a little as there was something particularly familiar was about that situation. As Fred and George, who Harry assumed were Ron’s brothers, released their wedge spell on the three boys, Draco and his two goons ran out of the compartment with Draco shouting to them before he left. “My father will hear about this!”
          As soon as they left, Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean, Fred, and George all laughed loudly at Malfoy’s discomfort. Lily chuckled silently as Hermione just smiled and went back to reading her book. After a while, Ron introduced his two older brothers and Fred and George told Harry that his father was one of their personal heroes. After hearing that, Lily finally realized where she saw that spell; it was from James. He used it on Severus several times during their time at Hogwarts. The fact alone that the Weasley twins declared that James was their hero, and the fact that they knew that spell, made Lily wonder if Fred and George were Marauders.
          After a while, all three Weasley children left as Hermione mentioned that it was time to change into their robes. Harry, Neville, and Dean left the compartment and closed the door behind them as they allowed Hermione to change first. Lily stay against the other side of the door making sure that her son didn’t peek. She couldn’t do anything if Neville or Dean peeked, but even though she trusted them, she knew that boys were very curious with the opposite sex, especially at their age. Lily herself couldn’t help it but to look at Hermione as she changed and she couldn’t help but admire her tiny frame as she reminded Lily of herself at that age, minus that unruly hair. What Lily didn’t notice while she did this was Harry was peeking on Hermione through Lily’s transparent body.
          The three boys dressed afterwards and they waited the long ride in silent reflection until the sun had sat and night had come. The train slowed noisily as they approached Hogsmeade station as the boys started grabbing their bags and Hermione did the same. When the train finally stopped, the compartments quickly emptied as scores of children filed off the train and headed towards horseless carriages at the far end of the station. Harry and the rest of the first-year students got off of the train and walked towards the front of the station where Hagrid stood waving a large lantern.
          “First-years! This way! First-years!” Hagrid shouted to them as all the first-year students grouped up around him. As they did so, Lily couldn’t help but remanence about her first time seeing Hagrid as she got off the train all those years ago. Ron, Dean, and Hermione gave an audible gasp at seeing the large man for the first time, which Harry and Neville smiled at seeing their reactions to him.
          “Hi, Hagrid.” Harry said to the half-giant, as Neville gave the same greeting.
          “’ello Harry. ‘ello Neville.” Hagrid smiled at them as the other children waited. Hagrid then looked up at all of the first-years and nodded. “Right. This way to the boats! This way, come on!”

**********************************************************
Hogwarts Castle

          The doors to Hogwarts opened wide as Hagrid led them into the main hallway. Every single first-year looked around the large castle wide-eyed in amazement as they walked up the first flight of steps. Hagrid stopped and turned as he was about to motion the children up to the next flight of stairs that led to the Great Hall. However, he froze as stared at a ghost of a person he had not seen in ten years.
          “Lily Potter?” Hagrid said in a gasp, unbelieving his own eyes. “That can’t be you, can’t it?”
          At that point, all of the children, Harry included, turned around to see the ghostly form of Lily Potter standing at the entrance looking at everybody shocked.
          “You can all see me?” Lily asked everyone around her. When the children all slowly nodded, she tearfully smiled a bit. “How can this be? Up till now only Harry could see and talk to me.”
          “That’s a very excellent question, Mrs. Potter.” The voice of Minerva McGonagall spoke as the elderly witch walked down the flight of stairs that led to the Great Hall. “I have several myself; like how is it that you are back here in Hogwarts?”
          “It’s a long story, Professor.” Lily answered as she stepped forward next to Harry. “I don’t know all of the details yet, but I know that I’m bonded with Harry. Where he goes, I go.”
          “I see.” McGonagall replied, showing no emotion to seeing her former student’s ghost standing a few feet from her. “Well, this is something Professor Dumbledore will want to know about. However, for the time being, there is the Sorting that must commence.” She took a deep breath before turning her attention to the first-years. “Now, before you join your classmates, you must first be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While you are here, your houses will be your family. Your triumphs will earn you points, however any rule-breaking will lose you points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will when the House Cup. Any questions?”
          “Yes, Professor.” Harry spoke up, frowning intently ever since Dumbledore was mentioned. “What about individual rewards? Are there any for a student who earns the most points, or has the highest grades?”
          “Well, Mr. Potter, that is a very good question.” McGonagall smiled at him, and giving him a slight wink. Harry blinked, and looked around, wondering why she winked at him. “However, I’m afraid that besides ‘Special Awards to the School’ that only the Headmaster himself decides to give to whomever he deems worthy for whatever reason, there are no such prizes for individual accomplishments. We do select prefects based upon grades and triumphs, but that will not happen for you lot until your fifth year. Are there any other questions?”
          “Yes, Professor.” Ron spoke up enthusiastically. “Is it true that we get sorted by facing up against a troll?”
          Everybody laughed around Ron at that moment, with the exception of Harry, Neville, and Hermione, who all wondered how dense Ron actually was. McGonagall, however, raised her hand sternly silencing the laughter immediately.
          “You must be Ronald Weasley.” McGonagall said, frowning at the red-headed boy. “Trust me, your brothers Fred and George have given me plenty of trouble throughout their tenor here, so them telling you that lie is no surprise to me. We do not use a troll to sort you children into your houses. We simply place a magical hat on top of your head and it will decide which house you will be placed. Oh, if you are sorted into Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley, will you please tell your brothers that I will be taking ten points each from them for their extremely bad joke.”
          Ron gave a very audible gulp as everyone, Harry included looked at Ron’s reaction to that piece of news. After McGonagall gave a stern look around for other questions, she motioned the first-years up the stairs to the doorway to the Great Hall. Before entering, McGonagall turned back to Lily for a moment and asked “Is it possible for you to wait outside these doors Lily? I simply do not wish to startle the teachers with your sudden reappearance. Our Potions Professor will definitely become distraught over seeing you again.”
          “Professor Slughorn’s still teaching?” Lily asked, bewildered. “I thought he would at least be retired by now?”
          “You are correct in that assumption, Lily.” McGonagall told her. “I am talking about your old friend Severus Snape. He has been our Potions Professor these last ten years. He is also the Head of Slytherin House too.”
          Lily gasped loudly at the thought of seeing her former best friend again after so long. The last time she saw him alive was just after they left Hogwarts, and they both ended their friendship by taking opposite sides in the last war. However, she believed that Severus changed after she saw him in Harry’s bedroom the night she died. Now, after ten years, Lily was going to see him again, and she really didn’t know what to feel. She was not surprised at finding out that he became Potions Professor and the Head of Slytherin, as Severus was in Slytherin when they went to school, and he was always better at potion making than she was. However, for some reason, Lily felt that Severus being at Hogwarts was due to Dumbledore’s planning, and she didn’t trust it.
          “I can wait by the doors until after the feast.” Lily answered her. “However, I expect to see Dumbledore immediately afterwards in his office. I have several things to discuss concerning my son’s safety.”
          “I understand.” McGonagall said to her before turning her attention back to the first-years. “Follow me, please.”
          The doors slowly opened to reveal a large hall stretching across several acres. McGonagall led the first-years across the hall as each one of them looked around the large room. To either side of them stood four long wooden tables with students of various ages sitting and watching the first-years approach the main table where the Headmaster and teachers sat. Harry, however, looked back at his mother as the doors slowly closed with a soft thud. Harry then looked forward toward the main table and locked his eyes onto the elderly man with a long white beard sitting at the center of the table. As he pretty much glared at the man he believed to be Dumbledore with hatred, he overheard Hermione saying something about the bewitched ceiling. This caused a groan from one of the first-year boys, although Harry was almost sure that it was Ron. However, his attention was turned back to McGonagall as she gathered them in front of the main table where an old, brown hat sat on top of a stool. As their attention was drawn now to the Sorting Hat, it wrinkles soon turned to a face and began to sing.

“Oh, you may not think I’m pretty,
But don’t judge on what you see,
I’ll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There’s nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can’t see,
So, try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you’ve a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You’ll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So, put me on! Don’t be afraid!
And don’t get in a flap!
You’re in safe hands (though I have none)
For I’m a Thinking Cap!”

          The entire student body erupted in loud cheers and applause for a full minute and a half before McGonagall raised her hand to silence them. As they students stopped applauding, McGonagall began to speak.
          “Now, before you get sorted, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words.” She said and turned to the standing elderly man with the long white beard. Harry glared at the man again as he began to speak.
          “Thank you, Minerva.” Dumbledore said to her as he glanced around the Great Hall. “Greetings to all, and welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Now, as promised, here are my few words: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!”
          Every student laughed except for certain students over at the table to the far end on the left side. Harry himself didn’t laugh as he kept glaring at the man who was responsible for his childhood with the Dursleys. The laughter soon died down and Dumbledore continued.
          “Thank you. Now I would like to remind you all that the Forbidden Forrest is restricted to all students.” Dumbledore stated to them. “Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, would like me to inform you that the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out-of-bounds, except for those who wish a most painful and gruesome death.”
          “Now, when I call your name,” McGonagall said as she lifted the Sorting Hat off of the stool. “You will sit upon the stool, where I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. Abbott, Hannah.”
          A blonde-haired girl stepped forward with a look of fear on her face as she walked up to the stool and sat down on top of it. McGonagall placed the over-sized hat on top of Hannah as everyone watched in silence while the Sorting Hat muttered for a moment. After the moment had passed, the Sorting Hat made its first selection: “HUFFLEPUFF!”
          The table on the far right erupted in loud applause as the blonde-haired girl joined them. The applause died down and McGonagall called the next name on her list. “Bones, Susan.”
          A long, red-haired girl walked up to McGonagall, winking at Harry as she passed by. As she sat down, McGonagall place the hat on her head, and a moment later, it said: “HUFFLEPUFF!”
          Another round of applause rang out from the Hufflepuff table as Susan ran over to the table and sat next to Hannah. As the applause died down, Susan looked over at Harry again and gave him another wink.
          “Boot, Terry.” McGonagall said.
          “RAVENCLAW!” The Sorting Hat said a moment later.
          “Brocklehurst, Mandy.”
          “RAVENCLAW!”
          “Brown, Lavender.”
          “GRYFFINDOR!”
          “Bulstrode, Millicent.”
          “SLYTHERIN!”
          Each first-year smiled as they were sorted into their houses and they took their seat at their respective tables. However, Harry noticed that each girl winked at him in passing with the exception of certain Slytherin girls. He then realized that two identical girls were standing very close to Harry and Neville. Neville looked at Harry at that point and silently let him know that he noticed them standing there too. McGonagall kept calling each first-years’ name, and each one took a seat on the stool as the Sorting Hat was placed on their head and they were sorted into their houses. Soon McGonagall called Hermione Granger’s name as she boldly walked up to the stool and sat down waiting to be sorted. After the hat was placed upon her bushy-haired head, though, the Sorting Hat took a very long time in deciding where she belonged. After several minutes had passed, the hat finally shouted: “GRYFFINDOR!”
          The Gryffindors cheered and applauded as Hermione took her place with the other Gryffindor first-years. Several more names were called before it became time for Neville to be sorted. Neville slowly made his way up to McGonagall, and just as slowly sat down upon the stool. Once the Sorting Hat was placed on Neville’s head, however, it quickly shouted: “GRYFFINDOR!” and Neville quickly joined the Gryffindor table as they applauded him, Harry included. After Neville, the pompous blonde-haired Draco Malfoy took his turn on the stool. The hat barely touched Draco’s head before it shouted: “SLYTHERIN!” The Slytherin table applauded as Draco smugly walked over to them. Harry watched him with a large frown on his face, thinking about how much Draco’s attitude reminded him of Dudley. After Draco took his seat, McGonagall called another first-year, and another one after that, until a brunette named Pansy Parkinson walked up to the Sorting Hat, intently separating the two twin girls away from Harry and brushing up against him as well. She sat down on the stool, smiling and winking at Harry as she did, and waited as McGonagall placed the hat into her head. After she was sorted into Slytherin, she walked over to the Slytherin table and blew a kiss at Harry. Next came the two twin girls who were next to Harry, Padma and Parvati Patil, as each of them took their turns at the Sorting Hat. Padma was sorted into Ravenclaw, while her sister went to Gryffindor, both of them smiling and winking at Harry as they went to their perspective tables. Harry looked wide-eyed at all of these girls and wondered why they were being so friendly towards him.
          “Potter, Harry.” McGonagall said with a smile on her face. Every teacher sitting at the main table straightened themselves up in attention as they heard Harry’s name mentioned, Dumbledore included. As Harry made his way up to McGonagall and the Sorting Hat, he could feel every student’s eyes locked onto him with intensity. As he sat down upon the stool, he found the silence in the Great Hall very uncomfortable as he looked upon the faces of every student who were waiting on hushed breaths to see where The Boy Who Lived would be sorted into.
          As the Sorting Hat was placed onto Harry’s head, Harry felt a presence inside of his own mind. Closing his eyes, Harry began searching his mind for the intrusion, using Thaddeus’ teachings as a gift. However, he found his need to block the presence unnecessary as the presence identified itself almost instantly after Harry began searching.
          ‘There’s no need for that, Potter.’ A voice that Harry recognized as the Sorting Hat said from inside of his mind. ‘I need to be inside your mind to see which House you might be better sorted for. It also allows me to talk with students that I find very interesting, and you are very, very interesting.’
          Harry tilted his head in slight confusion at the Sorting Hat’s words. ‘Why do you find me interesting?’ Harry thought to the hat. ‘You didn’t find Neville just as interesting?’
          ‘Ah, Mr. Longbottom will definitely become a powerful wizard.’ The hat responded. ‘However, his mind is quite simple and direct. It was quite easy for me to see that Gryffindor would suit your god-brother best. You are not simple, Potter. As a matter of fact, you are more complicated than someone else that I just sorted.’
          ‘I’m complicated?’ Harry thought to the hat. ‘What do you mean?’
          There was a slight pause before the Sorting Hat answered him. ‘You are fully aware of the power inside of you, yet you are hesitant to use it. You are very protective of your mother, and you will risk your own life to save her, even though she is only a spirit. You love her deeply, and I also sense something else inside of you that has yet to be awakened. I don’t know what it is, but it is something dark. You see the Longbottoms as family, and this Thaddeus Flamel as a great mentor for you and Neville. As for these Dursleys, your emotions are quite clear as you wish for the ultimate worst to happen to all of them. Your thoughts are very, very dark concerning the four of them, especially towards your Uncle Vernon and his sister, Marge. Oh yes, I see much darkness in you concerning them, and your magical guardian as well.’
          Harry bit back his anger at hearing the hat mention Dumbledore, which caused the hat to chuckle inside Harry’s head. ‘Oh, I know that you blame Albus for placing you with the Dursleys, and you are aware that Dumbledore is using his power to make sure you stay with them. It does make me wonder why he is doing this if he knows that this Vernon and Marge are Supremacists as you believe. However, I’m not here for Albus, I’m here for you. Now, where should I put you?’
          ‘You have the mind much like your mother, Lily.’ The Sorting Hat continued. ‘Ravenclaw would help put that mind in good use. I see that you are concern over your god-brother, Neville. Such loyalty is a great quality for a Hufflepuff. I also see that you have much courage, that quality is best for a Gryffindor. However, that darkness inside of you, combined with the last three traits, would serve you best as a Slytherin. Yes, Slytherin would definitely help you on the way to greatness.’
          ‘Wait a minute!’ Harry said in his mind. ‘That’s the House that Malfoy kid and his two goons went to. If it’s all the same, I’d rather not put up with Malfoy more than I’d want to.’
          ‘Yes, Malfoy was easy to sort.’ The hat answered. ‘He is simple-minded, a typical daddy’s boy. I see in your mind that he reminds you of your fat cousin, Dudley. A bully with no real magical talent, I assure you. At least not when compared to you.’
          ‘If I can choose, I would want to be in Gryffindor.’ Harry told the hat. ‘Neville’s my god-brother, and I want to be in the same House as him. We need to stick together.’
          ‘Yes, your family is important to you. After all, your parents were both in Gryffindor.’ The Sorting Hat responded. ‘Well, if you are sure, then better be…’ “GRYFFINDOR!”

**********************************************************
After feast-Headmaster’s office

          Harry sat across the desk from Dumbledore, glaring at the man who placed his childhood in the hands of the Dursleys, who was sitting at his desk with his fingers crossed together. Standing to either side of him was McGonagall and Snape, a tall slender man with greased-up black hair and wearing a black robe. They were all listening to the loud shouts of the spirit standing next to Harry, the ghost of someone that Dumbledore didn’t expect to see, Lily Potter.
          “You had absolutely no right to leave Harry in my sister’s custody.” Lily angrily said to Dumbledore as McGonagall and Snape looked stunned at Lily. McGonagall was shocked at hearing Lily’s tone towards Dumbledore, while Snape, who usually showed no emotion other than disdain, now looked at the ghost of the woman he once loved. However, Lily was uninterested with McGonagall and Snape, as her anger was completely directed towards the Headmaster. “James and I explicitly told you that under no circumstance that my sister and her husband take care of my son. Why would you consider leaving Harry with them, especially if you knew what type of people Vernon and Marge are.”
          “I am aware of who Vernon and Marge Dursley are.” Dumbledore admitted the her, his calm composer never wavering. “However, I will admit to you that I didn’t know about them when I placed him in you sister’s care. As for why I did so, I can say that at the time there was no other option.”
          “No other option?” Lily almost cried out at him as her pale face turned a bright shade of red. “We wanted Harry to stay with either Sirius or Alice if something happened to us. I know that there was nothing wrong with giving Harry to Alice, as she and Augusta would have gladly taken care of Harry. Also, you haven’t mentioned what happened to Sirius, and as I saw Hagrid riding Sirius’ motorcycle, I can only assume that he didn’t make it, but after everything you have done, I’m beginning to think that you might have something to do with that.”
          “Please calm yourself, Lily.” Dumbledore said, lowering his hands from his face. “Sirius is very much still alive, but his health is not the same as it once was. He’s currently in Azkaban, at the mercy of his captors, the Dementors.”
          “Why is he there?” Lily asked, letting herself calm down a bit.
          “He was put there for the mass-murders of Muggles who lived in a city block.” Dumbledore answered, his composer never wavering. “He was found covered in their blood shortly after your and James’ deaths. We also have reason to believe that he also murdered your Secret Keeper, Peter Pettigrew. It was Sirius who betrayed you to Voldemort, not Peter.”
          “How can this be?” She said, shocked at hearing this bit of news.
          “When the Aurors captured Sirius, they found Peter’s finger next to a sewer access nearby.” He explained to her, focusing on her shocked face. “We believe that Sirius lured Peter out there, killed the Muggles around them as a way to scare Peter, then tortured him for the location of where you were hiding. After he had the information, Sirius must have killed Peter and destroyed his body in such a way that only Peter’s finger was left behind. I know that you don’t want to hear this Lily, but we believe that Sirius contacted Voldemort somehow moments after he did all of those things, before he succumbed to magical exhaustion and passed out.”
          Lily looked intently at Dumbledore as he told her about Sirius, none of which she actually believed. She knew Sirius, and besides the other members of the Black family, he was literally the polar opposite of his Pureblood family, who saw Muggles and Muggleborns as worthless. Sirius, on the other hand, saw Muggles as fascinating people and would gladly go out into their world to study them up close. Most times he would go out in is Animagus form, while there were other times when James and Remus had to either carry him home after being passed out in a pub, or save him from an angry boyfriend or husband after they found Sirius in their significant other’s bed. She knew Dumbledore was lying about Sirius, but by the way Dumbledore explained it to her, there was simply no way to refute it at the moment. However, that didn’t mean the she believed what he was telling her. As a matter of fact, it was now clear to Lily that Dumbledore was lying to her.
          However, Lily decided to drop the matter of Sirius for now, and decided to attack another issue instead. “Then what about Alice?” She asked sternly to Dumbledore. “I know that after Frank’s death there might have been questions about Harry’s safety with the Longbottoms, but as Neville has had a normal life under his mother’s and grandmother’s care, I don’t see why you didn’t immediately remove Harry from my sister and place him with the Longbottoms.”
          At that, Dumbledore gave a loud, audible sigh as he turned his head at Harry. “Harry, would you be so kind as to wait outside with Professor McGonagall. I need to have a private conversation with your mother.”
          “And what about him?” Harry finally spoke to the man sitting across from him, indicating Snape who was still standing next to Dumbledore. “Why do you need him to stay?”
          “He is Professor Snape, Harry.” Dumbledore stated matter-of-factly. “He is staying because of his friendship with your mother, and because there are some details he already knows that you currently do not need to know.”
          “Stay seated, Harry.” Lily said to her son, before turning her attention back to Dumbledore. “If you have something to tell me, you can tell Harry. He’s already been through hell with my sister’s family, so he has the right to know why he has to stay there.”
          Dumbledore gave another loud, audible sigh as he looked at both Lily and Harry. It was at that point that Lily noticed that Dumbledore was intently frowning at the both of them. After a long moment, he nodded to the both of them and finally said: “Alright, if you must really know, it’s because Vernon and Marge Dursley are Human Supremacists.”
          Lily this time gave an audible gasp as Dumbledore continued. “You see, after you and James died, I had no idea about either Sirius’ or Alice’s safety. All I knew at that time was that Harry was alive and very much still in danger, I did not know who Vernon actually was until much, much later. So, even though you specifically forbade me to place him in your sister’s care, after you made your sacrifice for Harry, your very blood became the one thing that would protect Harry from any and all harm. Thus, Petunia became the only viable option to protect Harry from Voldemort’s followers.”
          At that moment, Lily looked over to Snape, who at that moment, turned his gaze away from his former friend, his face now showing guilt. Lily knew that Snape was no longer one of Voldemort’s followers, but even after all these years, it was good to know that he still felt guilt over the things he had done as a Death Eater. However, Snape stayed quiet as Dumbledore kept on talking.
          “Over time, I found out about Sirius, as well as Augusta’s special protections regarding Alice and Neville, so removing Harry at such an early time in his life simply was not an option, even though I was aware of his life while living there. The protection that your sister provides Harry is simply too strong for me to ignore. Even after the events of the earthquake that Harry caused, the protection of Harry was still my primary concern. However, it was then that I learned about Vernon’s and Marge’s affiliation with the Human Supremacists. While this was clearly not ideal for Harry’s protection, this created an opportunity that I simply could not ignore.”
          “Wait a minute!” Harry almost snapped at Dumbledore. “Why are you saying my aunt protected me? She hasn’t done one damn thing to protect me from those two?”
          “Harry, there is a spell known as a Fidelius Charm.” Lily explained, now understanding why Dumbledore originally placed Harry with the Dursleys. “With my sacrifice, any person who shared my blood would be able to help create a Fidelius Charm, meaning that any person who wanted to do you harm wouldn’t be able to find you unless they knew who your Secret Keeper was.”
          “And I made sure that the Fidelius Charm is constantly active by making sure that you stay in that house, Harry.” Dumbledore told him. “Mainly because your Secret Keeper is none other than me, and for the charm to continue working, you need to be in that house at least one day per year. However, getting back to Vernon and Marge, finding out that these two were Supremacists, thanks to your American friend, Thaddeus Prendergast I might add, was unfortunate, but created an opportunity. One that could finally rid us of that bigoted group once and for all.
          “You see, while I know that these Supremacists have plans for Harry, as that was the only reason they could want him to be alive, I also know that they have others in their mists, and to reveal them to the whole world once and for all, Harry needed to stay where he was.” Dumbledore said to them, pausing a moment to let that bit of information sink in. “However, I did realize that after Harry realized his magical powers had awakened, he needed training to control his powers. So, I allowed him to begin visiting the Longbottoms twice a month as well as the entire month of July. I would explain more, and I promise to do so, but given the lateness of the hour, I do believe that it’s best that Harry retires to Gryffindor Tower for the night.”
          Lily looked at Dumbledore for several moments before answering. “Alright, Albus, but this isn’t the end of this. Come on Harry, Professor McGonagall will take us to Gryffindor Tower.”
          Harry rose from his seat, staring intently at the man he felt gave no real explanation to why he had to stay with the Dursleys, before turning away and walked towards the Headmaster’s door. McGonagall nodded to both Dumbledore and Snape before meeting Harry and Lily at the door. Before exiting, Lily looked at the two men across the room and gave one last thought: ‘You’re full of shit, Albus, and I intend to find out why you are lying to Harry.’

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The Corruption of Lily Potter