Chapter 4: Prophecy, Loyalty & Meetings
Harry guessed candies for about five minutes in front of the gargoyles, and entered where Mcgonogal was there along with Dumbledore. He knocked, entered, and sat down. Fawkes came and sat on his lap, and Harry ran his hand through his plumage. Dumbledore was looking at him, eyes twinkling.
"Hello, Headmaster, Professor," he said respectfully, bowing to both.
"Hello, Harry, how can I help you today," Dumbledore asked, and Harry sighed, took a lemon drop, and sucked on it while Dumbledore blinked. Nobody accepted a lemon drop nowadays, so he stopped offering, but it looks like Harry liked them. He frowned as he saw Harry thinking very seriously, which confused him as he thought he had not done anything wrong and that Harry had to distrust him so much.
"I trust and respect you both the most in this world," Harry said, trailing off and thinking again while they both looked at each other in shock at such a massive statement, but the following statement shocked Dumbledore.
"But you have broken the trust by keeping necessary information I should know. So, I am here to know if my trust is misplaced. I know you think of me as a child, so you try not to burden me with such information, but it is needed, which you also know deep down but could not bring yourself to reveal due to your more than pure heart," He said shocking them both to the core. Dumbledore felt happy and disturbed at the same time.
Dumbledore was happy that Harry had come to him even after thinking he had broken the trust to mend. Also, Harry's understanding of his reason made him feel steady. The troubling thing was Harry's behavior, as if he was about to reveal something he would not like. McGonagall felt pleased that Harry trusted her so much, then she frowned as she heard him speak about Dumbledore breaking his trust and why and saw the older wizard's face and knew that Harry was right.
"I am going to make the decision easy for you, Headmaster, so I will give all my memories till age 11 to be watched in a pensive and decide if I am ready or not," he said, looking at the older wizard who nodded. McGonagall frowned at such a request but nodded nonetheless. She could see how difficult it was for Harry to reveal this, yet he did it to show the Headmaster how much he trusted the older wizard and her.
They entered the pensive and saw the memories that shocked them. They had never made such a grave error in judgment before. They saw how Harry was abused, starved, forced to do chores since he was three, burned, and beaten daily. They saw him crying to sleep daily, curling in a ball, his cousin bullying him. They saw Marge sending her dog behind him.
Dumbledore looked like he had seen a ghost, and tears slipped through his eyes before he could stop them. He had sent Harry to them. Harry had requested to let him live at Hogwarts in the first year, but he refused. He felt regret and remorse for such a ridiculous decision. If he had known this, he would have raised Harry himself. McGonagall looked like she was about to retch. She had never thought she would see something like this. She should have raised him herself if she had known this. She felt remorse like never before. They were pulled out of the reflective and sat at their chairs. Harry looked at them and felt terrible to make them see that, but it was necessary.
"Harry, I am so sorry if I had.." Dumbledore said, not believing that he had performed such an unforgivable act. He was still crying, and so was McGonagall. They felt a tap on their shoulders and looked at the smiling and reassuring face of Harry Potter.
"I forgive you, sir. You did what you thought was best at that time. They were animals. I know you would have taken me away if you had known. I want you to understand that I did not show this to make you feel bad, sir, but to help you understand that I have never been a child, and you can give me the information. Also, I think Professor McGonagall should be included in this discussion as she should be your most trusted since she has worked for and with you for about 40 years now." he said, surprising them with his maturity. Dumbledore understood why Harry had done this. He had never been a child.
"A war is coming. You know this already, Dumbledore," Harry said, shocking them both.
"What war is he talking about, Albus?" McGonagall asked incredulously to Dumbledore, who nodded.
"Yes, Minerva, Harry is right, and I should have prepared him from the beginning. But I wanted him to have a childhood. Now I understand how foolish I have been. Harry had never been a child. I should reveal everything to Harry. Could you please give us some?" he said thoughtfully while Mcgonogall bristled at being left out of the loop but stopped at seeing Harry's hand to halt her movements.
"I think she should stay," he said to Dumbledore, looking very serious.
"Harry, the information is sensitive." he was cut off by Harry again.
"I know that otherwise, you would have told me already. I trust her completely, and so should you. She has worked closely for you for 40 years and has never broken your trust. Shouldn't that be enough? Doesn't she deserve your complete trust after the way she trusts you enough to do your best even when she is left out of the loop? She admires you as an apprentice, and you are doing a disservice thinking like that about her." Harry said passionately, and McGonnagal was floored. No one has ever stood up for her that way; it made her feel happy and bad for her mentor, who was being given a dressing down.
"Also, your trust for her should come way before Snap. She had been working for decades before she was born. Yet you include him in your plans but not her. And if you were trying to protect her by not giving 'sensitive' information, you were wrong, as we all know she is more than capable of protecting herself as she is the best Transfiguration Practitioner alive in the world after You and Grindelwald." he said looking at Dumbledore fiercely.
"You can talk about that apology later, Headmaster. Right now, I want you to reveal what you can." Harry said, getting on topic.
"Before you were born, a prophecy was made "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...." " Dumbledore explained the prophecy, and Minerva felt shocked that such a thing was kept under wraps for so long and was unaware. She looked at Harry expecting anger but was shocked to see confusion and thoughtfulness.
"Okay. I understand the prophecy and have deduced it to some extent and so have you from what I can guess. I will explain it to you in some time. Is there anything else you can reveal?" he asked, shocking both professors with a calm attitude.
"No. Harry, I cannot. You need to learn Occumulency before that to protect your mind." Albus said remorsefully,
"I am a Level 4 professor, learning Level 5. But it's better to wait till I reach level 5, then no one can extract the information. You can test it later," Harry said, shocking them again.
"How?" was all Dumbledore asked, and Harry became severe again.
"I had started taking my studies seriously after the Chamber incident. I was furious that I could not fight and win against someone who had killed my whole family, and I was about to die without giving my family justice. I started studying from that day on to become as good as I can be so that the day I face Tom, he will be the one running away, not me." Harry said passionately in the end.
Mcgonagall was again in shock at such a passionate speech from Harry and understood the shocking grades last year.
"How far you are, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, leaving his thoughts for later.
"I am currently at NEWT level in Potions and DADA, sixth-year level in Transfiguration and Charms. I am also learning Occumulency, Duelling, and family magic." Harry said, surprising them both again with his progress and how much they had underestimated him
"Amazing, Harry. I did not know you had come so far already. I would have offered teaching, but you are doing well already." He said he was proud of his student
"I have one more thing to confess. This is my most closely guarded secret, and I would like both to come with me on a detour," he said, holding out his hands expectantly, and they held them as fast as possible as they knew this was very important to him according to his face.
"Can I ask where we are going, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked, and she saw Harry smile fondly in thought.
"Potter Manor. Password is pride," he said with a smile, and a second later, they flooed to Potter's ancestral home.
They stepped out only to step back in shock as a girl with black hair like Harry's and green eyes was reading a book, and then she ran and hugged Harry, who was smiling more than they had ever seen him, looking genuinely happy and twirling her around.
"Why haven't you slept, Em? It's past your bedtime," he asked, looking at her seriously.
"Nightmares," she mumbled, looking down, and Harry looked sadly at her.
"Come then, you can sleep on the sofa while I talk to them. I will introduce you to them in some time. You can sleep on me till then," he said, smiling at her, and motioned the frozen adults to sit on the sofa; while sat on the bigger one, he placed her head on his lap and started running fingers and reading her and running fingers along her scalp, and she was fast asleep under 3 minutes.
He turned to them seriously and explained how he had found her, protected her, and why he had told her to live with him.
"Also, I have blood adopted her as her parents were muggles, and she would have no protection when she entered the magical world. Now she is known as Emily Lily Potter," he told them seriously.
"You made the best decision as you always have, Harry," Dumbledore said, smiling at him proudly. So was Mcgonogall.
"The reason you are both here is that I want you both to be her Godparents," he said, shocking them both. Minerva let out a gasp, and Dumbledore looked quiet. Well. Shocked eyes wide
"The reason is that I am trying to do my best for her, and I know that it may not be enough, and she will need other people to look for. And if something happens to me, which is quite possible, I want you to look after her. I trust you more than anyone in this world. Please accept, as I can look for no bigger role model," he said, looking at them hopefully.
Dumbledore and Minerva were shocked again and looked at each other, having a silent communication with eyes, and they nodded to each other and saw Harry's hopeful face.
"Of course, Mr. Potter, we accept," Minerva said, smiling widely, being given such an opportunity, and Dumbledore nodded.
"And Dumbledore, you were right; the power is love. My love for my daughter, my family, my heritage, my love for you." Harry said passionately before looking at his daughter before kissing her temple.
"Dobby" a pop was heard and an house elf appeared in front of them.
"Please take Emily to bed. She is asleep. I will be arriving in an hour. Also, take care of her during my classes; she can access the Library except for the Black arts. Do you understand, Dobby?" Harry asked
"I understand, Master Harry," Dobby said, leaving with a pop.
"We should go back, sir," Harry said to the wide-eyed professors, and they returned to the Headmaster's office.
"You both can visit anytime; just don't enter my study, or the wards will react," he said, smiling at them both.
"Also, I got emancipated this summer, and I will not be sleeping in Gryffindor Tower but will be leaving daily to stay with Emily as she still has nightmares. You can call it Lord business if you wish." Harry said, smiling at them.
"Can I leave? I have to go to Potter Manor and am quite tired. Stupid Dementors," he said, asking for permission.
"Of course, Mr. Potter, you can," she said, looking at Dumbledore, who nodded.
"Also, you should listen to her. She may not be as old as you, but she is quite experienced; she can give you a good second opinion, even about the information you wish to reveal to me, and she is the most trustworthy person one can think of. Also, Professor, please call me Harry," Harry said to Dumbledore and left.
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