Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 18: Rash Conclusions
As they were walking towards the Headmaster's office, McGonagall was stealing glances at Harry.
"You have been awfully quiet since you came back from the Ministry," she pointed out.
The professor had found it very odd, as Harry had always been very temperamental and not one to remain silent for so long after what had happened to him.
"Harry?" She realized that he wasn't paying attention to her and just kept walking while looking ahead with almost empty eyes.
"He is just tired." It was the hat that finally responded to her.
The professor stared at the strange, magical hat on Harry's head. When questioned about it, Harry became dismissive and merely said that it was his and that he did not steal it from anywhere, even though no one could believe that.
"Is that so…" For some reason, she felt compelled to say something in response to the hat's words, but she remained silent after that until they arrived in front of the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office.
She spoke the password out loud, and this one moved away. "Go on then, the Headmaster is waiting for you."
McGonagall usually enjoyed spending time with Harry, but now she was kind of eager to send him on his way. She did not like seeing him like this.
Without saying a word to her, Harry walked up the stairs, leaving the professor behind.
"Come in, my dear boy." Dumbledore greeted him with a grin on his face, pointing at one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Please, close the door and take a seat."
Harry nodded and did as told.
Once he was properly seated, the Headmaster began speaking again.
"I know that you had a rough night, but we have much to discuss…" The old wizard gave the hat a passing glance. "Though first, is there anything you wish to ask me?"
"Ask you?…" Harry lifted his gaze for a moment.
Dumbledore became alarmed when he saw Harry's eyes. He looked like someone who had gone through Hell and back. The emotionless, empty look on his face was already cause for concern.
'Madam Pomfrey didn't mention this when I talked to her,' the Headmaster recalled.
He decided to push the conversation forward anyway. "Yes, about the… Prophecy. You asked me about its contents, and I could not reveal them to you, lest that information fall into the wrong hands. But—"
Harry interrupted him. "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..."
"Harry! You should not have said it out loud. What if…" Dumbledore's eyes moved to Harry's forehead. He wanted to confirm the state of his scar right now. However, he could tell that the boy was in a fragile state, and he wanted to act with care.
"You are worried about the mental connection between him and Voldemort," the hat said. "You don't need to be. It's gone now."
Dumbledore glanced up at the hat. This was another matter that he wanted to speak with Harry about. He was extremely curious about the origins of this magical artifact, and that curiosity had skyrocketed now that he realized how much the hat seemed to know about Harry and the Dark Lord.
"Gone? That's not possible…" Dumbledore refused to believe the words of a talking hat.
"Harry. Show him your forehead," the hat told him.
He gently put his hands on the hat and pulled it off his head before allowing it to rest on the table. Then he lifted the hair out of the way so Dumbledore could get a clear view.
The Headmaster gasped. "It's gone!" He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Harry's forehead looked immaculate. There were no traces of his famous lightning bolt scar...not even the tiniest of marks. It was like the scar had never been there.
"How can that be…" The reason Dumbledore had such a hard time accepting this was because he already had a good idea of what that curse scar represented.
The moment he learned about Harry's dreams and the mental connection between him and Voldemort, Dumbledore had concluded that a piece of the Dark Lord's soul must have become attached to Harry on the day of his first death.
This meant that Harry Potter was a Horcrux, and as far as Dumbledore's extensive research had proven… once a piece of a soul becomes attached to something, it becomes impossible to separate it unless the 'container' is destroyed.
And even if Harry had found a way to remove the piece of soul from him without dying… where would the fragment go?
At that moment, Dumbledore's eyes moved to the hat.
"Old man… before you do something stupid, it would be good if you heard what happened to Harry while he was in the Ministry," the hat said.
A deep frown appeared on Dumbledore's face. His demeanor completely changed from that of the gentle old wizard.
He stood up from his chair and pointed the Elder Wand at the hat. "What did you do to Harry?!"
"See? You are already doing something stupid, as I suspected." The hat appeared to let out a sigh.
"It's you!, isn't it? Tom!" Dumbledore realized that the sudden appearance of this talking hat and the disappearance of Harry's scar had to be related.
Now, the strange mental state that Harry was in made a lot of sense. The fragment of Voldemort's soul must have done something to the boy.
"I need to take you away from him to break the spell before it's too late," the Headmaster muttered.
"Oh… now you have done it…" the hat said.
Harry's eyes snapped into place, and his focus appeared to return. "You want to take V away?..."
Harry's green eyes became alight like flames.
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