Harry spent sixteen hours a day in the chair for seven total days with a three-day break in the middle. Unlike the other few repositories the Alterans had left scattered around the galaxy, the outpost computer could regulate the flow of information to Harry's mind. Rose was keeping the flow of information low so as not to damage Harry's mind. Low being relative to how fast Harry's mind was absorbing the information.
The first day after sending Moody back to Hogwarts and raising the shields was dedicated to Alteran history, politics, and ethics. With that information Harry was even more dedicated to the rebuilding of the Alteran society than before, though he didn't agree with everything the Alterans did ethically, especially about helping lesser races. He was also interested in finding out the status of the four great race alliance.
He would help and protect others, it was basic to his nature after all. He wouldn't be giving out advance technology but he was going to use it to protect what he cared about. Right now that was a short list of things compared to the vastness of the universe and only included himself, his friends, and earth.
The second day in the chair was all about Alteran culture, art, music, architecture, the things that the Alterans found beautiful. They had a very rich culture outside of science though science was a fundamental part of their culture. Harry commented to Rose at the end of the second day that he felt like he had an Alteran doctoral degrees in politics, history, the arts, and culture. Rose told him that he essentially did.
She explained that while he was getting all of their knowledge, it would only come to the forefront of his mind when needed. He wouldn't be thinking about that knowledge constantly.
On the third day, Rose skipped Alteran knowledge and downloaded all of the information she had gathered from the wizarding world here on earth. At the end of the day, Harry had gotten up from the chair and walked into the room he was using at the outpost as a bedroom and didn't come out for three days. Harry had made several revelations based on the information he received that was upsetting to him. During those three days he somewhat came to terms with the knowledge and started making plans.
When Harry finally emerged from his room, he just sat in the chair and had Rose continue. That day he received his first chunk of Alteran advanced science. It would take another four days to finish the download of all that information.
In the end, Harry's mind was swimming in information. So much so he was getting a bit of a headache from it. As soon as he had that thought the solution to the problem came to him, Occlumency. While the Alterans were very good in the mind arts, the wizards of Terra had become masters of the mind arts. Granted today not many wizards or witches practiced the art but as a whole they were still masters of it.
So for the next week, Harry spent almost every waking moment practicing it. With all the knowledge he now had on the subject compared to just "Clear your mind" he got from Snape, Harry was able to find his center and his mind relatively quickly while in meditation.
He started organizing his mind and building defenses but Harry was not under any illusion that this process was going to be finished overnight, it was going to take him years to get through all the information. He did at least get a good start on it. He was able to build a good shield around his mind and at least organize everything by subject. Further organization was just going to take time. One benefit of it though was that he had slightly better control over his emotions.
-oo00oo-
July 25th
It was early in the morning toward the end of that week, when Rose woke Harry with an emergency. Harry got out of bed and walked into the control room, sleep still evident in his eyes.
"What is it Rose…?" Harry asked.
"I have detected the activation of an Astria Porta in what the humans call America, specifically at what appears to be a military base in Colorado Spring, Colorado. It is not the Astria Porta that was left with the outpost. That one is unpowered and located about five hundred yards from the outpost in an ice cave."
"How did the outpost Astria Porta end up there?" as soon as he asked the question the information came to his mind. "Oh, right glacial drift. Ok transport our Astria Porta and Clavis to a room in the outpost. We can set it up later." Harry then walked over to the command chair and sat down.
"Transport complete"
Once sitting back in the chair he accessed the outpost scanners and focused in on the other stargate. "Rose access that stargate's control and memory systems. See what you can find out. Now that it has an active connection it should be receiving data from the Astria Porta network."
"Accessing…" Rose's hologram actually flickered for a moment. "I am receiving updated network information and activity reports. Stellar drift calculations complete… The stargate network is being heavy used in a large portion of the galaxy. The American stargate is connected to a planet fifty light years from Terra. It is the closest gate to Terra."
"I am not detecting a Clavis on that military base, how are they dialing the gate?" Harry asked.
"It appears they have accessed the gates controls and connected primitive computers to it. They are bypassing some of the safety and security protocols in the gate to get it to dial and make a connection. I am not sure if they are aware of this though."
"Try gaining access to the base computer." Harry instructed.
"I have gained access." Replied Rose.
"Where did this gate come from, Terra only had one gate."
"It appears it was found buried in the Egyptian desert at an archeological dig in 1928 in Giza by a Dr. Langford. The gate was activated once in 1945, one human used the gate at that time and never returned, a Dr. Ernest Littlefield.
This is interesting, the address dialed in 1945 was to Heliopolis. How this gate got to earth is unknown, I can only postulate that it was brought here by ship, by whom I cannot say."
"Heliopolis, the meeting place of the four great races, right?" asked Harry.
"Yes Harry. It appears the Americans have sent a primitive probe of some find through the gate… The Gate has shut down." Rose informed him since he wasn't paying attention at the time.
"Let's get the outpost Astria Porta powered up, then I am going to Heliopolis."
"The outpost Astria Porta Clavis is damaged and I do not have the necessary resources in the outpost to fix it Harry. You would have to access the gate mentally which you are not capable of doing yet. You need to practice Alteran mental control or wandless magic before you will be able to." Rose informed him.
"Well shit. Ok where is the Clavis that paired with the other gate?"
"I have been scanning the Giza area for it but I have not yet found anything. I will expand the search and let you know. If it is not powered, it will take me time to find it."
"Keep me informed."
"Since I detected the Astria Porta activation, I have also detected another wormhole energy signature emanating from London. This one has a 5.9% deviation from the norm and since I have been monitoring, it has not shut down."
"Show me." Asked Harry. The energy signature was displayed above the control chair along with its location. "That's the Ministry for Magic building in London." Harry then scanned more deeply. "What in Merlin's name… that's the Veil of Death in the Death Room of the Department of Mysteries."
Harry tried to think on all the information he had received about the wizarding world and there was nothing about the Veil except what the Department of Mysteries knew about it, which was next to nothing.
"You're correct Harry. There is nothing in the repository about the Veil. I can only hypothesis that it was someone's attempt at building an Astria porta with magic before the Alteran history or knowledge was completely forgotten by the wizarding world."
"So it's possible that Sirius is alive on some distant planet." Harry exclaimed excitedly.
"Hypothetically yes, I would not get your hopes up though, there is something wrong with the wormhole…" Rose started to explain before Harry cut her off. Harry had leaned back in the chair and was interfacing completely with the outpost. A moment later a sensor probe was transported to the Death Chamber of the Ministry and it shot through the entrance of the Veil of Death.
Harry wasn't stupid, even with his hopes that his godfather could still be alive somewhere, he did notice what Rose was saying. This was a stable wormhole but it looked like it had never shut down. It took an enormous amount of energy to open a wormhole and while it took far less to hold it open, the requirements were still high. Where was the wormhole getting the energy to stay open? The possible answers to that question popped into his head and none of them were good. The other end could be close to a black hole or large star. The Veil wasn't experiencing time dilation though so those options were unlikely.
Before he could consider the other options the probe exited the far end of the wormhole and he had his answer. The other end of the wormhole was in a high energy subspace layer. The Alterans called it Hyperspace since it was the layer of subspace their spacecraft used to travel faster than the speed of light. Nothing could survive there, not without a shielded ship.
As his mind started to receive more detailed reading from the probe, the connection was cut by Rose. The probe had detected organic matter in the space around the wormhole exit. The organic matter was practically atomized but it was still there.
Harry sat up from the chair and without a word left the control room, tears running down his cheeks.
-oo00oo-
July 28th
It was three more days before Harry returned to the control room. He had spent most of that time meditating or working on the Clavis for the outpost Astria Porta. He hadn't been able to get it working though. He had tried directly interfacing with the gate mentally several time, he could feel the gate in his mind like an itch at the back of his head but that was it.
Rose had kept him up to date with what was happening with the stargate the American's had. They had activated it a second time and sent a team of soldiers and one civilian through it. Harry's concern centered on the atomic device they had sent with the team though. From the computer records at the base, only Colonel Jack O'Neill knew of the device and was under orders to use it if he determined there was a threat to earth.
Neither the outpost or Harry knew the current status of the galaxy, all they did know was the Astria Porta network was being used. So there very well could be threats to the earth out there. It was on Harry's list of things to find out.
It really concerned Harry when he found out about O'Neill's mental state from the medical records. The Colonel was on a hair trigger for suicide because of the death of his son, which he blamed himself for. Harry's concern was so great that Rose had to talk Harry out of going after them. He was prepared to go to America and use their gate if needed. In the end he was talked into taking a wait and see approach to the problem.
The one civilian that had been sent through the gate, Dr. Daniel Jackson, was supposed to be able to open the gate from the other side. That had not happened yet and had been expected to happen quickly. Jackson was a Ph.D. in Archaeology and linguistics. From everything they could find about the man Harry though he would be fun to talk with. The guy had some very interesting theories.
Harry was disappointed though when the stargate activated and only three of the group returned, Dr. Jackson not among them. O'Neill did return though. Rose expected some kind of report to written and entered into the computer systems at the base. They would just have to wait until then to find out what had happened.
When the report was finally entered into the computer system, Harry became even more concerned. Some alien called a Goa'uld going by the name of Ra had enslaved the population of the planet called Abydos. From the report, O'Neill had detonated the atomic weapon destroying the alien's spaceship and the gate on the planet. His report indicated that Daniel Jackson was one of the casualties.
Part of his report indicated that Dr. Jackson thought the people of Abydos were brought there from Earth. It also indicated that the Egyptian God Ra was this same alien. Harry figured there was a lot more to it then what was officially reported. This was just another problem Harry would need to look into.
This incident did indicate that there was more going on in the galaxy and that he would need to be careful when he started exploring.
The last of the reports from the military base indicated they thought the gate only went to the one location and that they were going to shut down testing. The gate was going to be left where it was for now, buried deep in the mountain base.
-oo00oo-
It was July 31st before Harry felt he was ready to deal with the troubles in the Wizarding world. He had extensively discussed his plans with Rose to the point that they had several contingencies in place if anything happened that Harry couldn't handle and that depended on what information he found out.
Harry had also been practicing some of the magic he had learned through the repository. He had used some of the knowledge to enlarge the room he was using as a bedroom and partition it off into smaller areas. He now had a bedroom, a small kitchen, lounge, and an area where he could practice the spells he thought he would need in the coming days. The British wizarding world didn't know what was coming, neither did Voldemort.
Harry walked into the control room and to one of the walls on the day the big events were to begin. He pressed a few Alteran symbols on the wall and part of it slide sideways to reveal a small storage area. He grabbed two of the device off the shelves. The first went on his wrist and was his link back to the outpost. He would be able to mentally communicate with Rose and have her transport him wherever he needed. The second was a personal shield device and went around the waist like a belt.
Neither of these devices were the most advanced examples of Alteran technology, in fact they were a few million years old, but it was the best the outpost could offer. While the returning Alterans had upgraded the outpost in some ways they had not upgraded everything. The outpost didn't have any constructors or personal Alteran Data Pads.
He would have to go to Atlantis to gain access to nanite constructors and pads. He knew where the city was, and its status as of ten thousand years ago. He could dial it up once he got the outpost gate working. There just wasn't any reason to at the moment and he had other things to do.
With the two devices and his wand on him, Harry mentally instructed Rose to transport him. In a flash of white light, he was gone from the outpost.
Harry didn't like stealing but while he was at the outpost he had needed new clothes both normal and wizarding. What Harry needed, Rose provided, even if that meant she had to transport things to the outpost from around the world, which she did. Some department stores in the normal world got a chance to experience the white light event, just as a couple magical stores got to experience it again. It was how she was providing Harry with food too.
Harry was dressed in normal street clothes, the kind you would find any kid his age in London wearing. He appeared in an alley not far from the Leaky Cauldron. He had a hat on that wouldn't look to out of place in either the normal or magical world. It covered what was left of the scar that had been Voldemort's Horcrux.
He had figured out that the scar had been a horcrux five minutes after receiving the magical knowledge from the repository. He hadn't been happy about that, not in the slightest. That had been the first revelation he had made. Another of the revelations he had was that of the love and loyalty potions. After they had been removed from his system his feelings toward Dumbledore had not changed, but his feelings toward Ginny and Ron Weasley had. He needed more information though before he dealt with them.
Harry wasn't too concerned with people recognizing him. He had put on a few inches, standing at five foot eleven and had also gained a few pounds in muscle. He wasn't wearing his glasses either. The Bio-bed had corrected his vision to perfection. The only scar the bio-bed had been unable to completely remove was what was left of the curse scar.
So anyone looking for short, scrawny, glasses wearing, scar head Harry Potter was looking for disappointment. Harry walked to the Leaky Cauldron then through to the back where he opened the portal to Diagon Alley. He didn't try to blend in nor stand out, he just walked casually down the alley to Gringotts. Once in the bank, Harry found an open teller.
"I would like to speak with an account manager, please." Harry asked in Gobbledegook. Learning languages was easy through the repository.
The teller looked a bit surprised that he had been addressed in their language though some of Gringott's wizard employees were taught the language, so it wasn't a completely uncommon occurrence. "And who should I say is requesting this meeting?" the goblin asked.
In response Harry just lifted his hat enough so the goblin could see what was left of his scar. That got the goblins attention. "Griphook" the goblin called over his shoulder. "Take this wizard to see his account manager."
Griphook ran up to Harry. "This way wizard." Then turned around and walked away at a fast pass.
-oo00oo-
Three hours later Harry left the bank walking toward the Leaky Cauldron and normal London. He was in a mixed mood. The goblins had been trying to reach him for a couple years, but had always received replies from Dumbledore saying that he was unavailable at the time of the request.
Harry found a few other things out while at the bank too. The first being that because of the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the age requirement, he had been emancipated by the Ministry for Magic. He had also been emancipated by Sirius in his will. So Harry was a legal adult in the wizarding world, that would have been nice to know at the end of fourth year.
Harry had Sirius's will read, he was now Lord Harry Potter Black, head of two families, one he didn't know much about and one he didn't want to be part of, well maybe not a complete part of. There were a few good apples in the bunch.
He could cause a few people in the Black family a lot of trouble as Lord but figured they wouldn't be around much longer to matter anyway. He did make a few former members happy though by re-instating them. They didn't know it yet of course. Having the will read had brought up some raw emotions again but he was able to get through it.
Between the Potter and Black family accounts he was rich. Not the richest guy in the world, not even close, but three hundred forty million galleons was a good chunk of change. In the wizarding world he was in the top five richest. The Black family contributed most of that. The Potters were doing well by wizard standards but nowhere near what the Blacks had.
He found out the Potters had two properties, the cottage in Godric's Hollow and Potter Manor in Wales, both having been destroyed in the last war. He would scan or visit them later for valuables then sell the properties. The Blacks had several properties all of which Harry was going to liquidate after retrieving any valuables. He was going to have fun kicking Dumbledore's little bird club out of Number 12.
He had his accounts reviewed and found that Molly Weasley had been moving money from his trust account to her personal account, not the Weasley family account. That was the nail in the coffin for her and the two youngest. He didn't think any of the other Weasleys had been involved though. Harry couldn't do anything about the money through Gringotts since she had his vault key and that was considered legal by the goblins.
What had really surprised Harry had been that Dumbledore was managing the Potter account very well. He had expected to find out that Dumbledore was stealing from him as well but the opposite was true. This restored a little bit of Harry's trust in the Headmaster. Dumbledore had actually increased the Potter account by six percent.
All in all, it was good news for Harry. It was going to be bad news for the goblins in a few weeks when Harry cleaned out his two family vaults and transferred all the money to a normal bank. The exchange rate, Galleon to Pound Sterling was too good to pass up. He was going to need a fake identity in the normal world soon though.
Harry had closed his trust account and moved all the money to the Potter family vault, Molly wasn't going to be getting any more money.
Harry walked through the Leaky Cauldron back out in to normal London. He slowly walked back to the alley he had used to transport here earlier and mentally request that Rose scan Hogwarts to see if the Headmaster was in his office, he wasn't. In a flash of white light, Harry disappeared.
-oo00oo-
Harry appeared in the Headmaster's office with a flash of white light. As he appeared he heard a bird call from the perch in front of him. "Hi to you to Fawkes. Now shhhhh." Harry held his finger up to his lips. Fawkes just nodded.
Harry pulled his wand and waved it in the direction of the portraits in the room, they all froze in place. Harry loved magic.
-"Harry, Dumbledore is heading your way."- Rose informed Harry mentally.
-"Is he in a hurry?"- Harry asked.
-"No Harry, he appears to be walking leisurely."-
-"Thank you Rose."-
Harry moved over to the corner that had the window in it. He conjured a comfortable chair with big red and gold cushions and sat down. He waved his wand again, this was a new spell he had learned from the repository. As he waved his wand, the corner and chair became shadowed. It wasn't invisibility, he could have done that too, but Harry felt this would be more theatrical.
He didn't have to wait long before the door to the office opened and Dumbledore walked in. The corner was at an angle that took it out of Dumbledore's vision as he walked from the door to his desk. Harry watched the Headmaster as he walked to his desk and sat down behind it. Dumbledore picked up some parchment and started reading it. Harry could hear him making little noises about whatever it was he was reading. "hmmmm", "mhmmm", "no". apparently Dumbledore talked to himself as he read.
"It's not love." Harry spoke out in a casual voice.
Even after watching Dumbledore fight Voldemort at the Ministry, he didn't think the Headmaster could move as fast as he did. Dumbledore was on his feet with his wand out and pointing in Harry's general direction in less than a second.
"Who are you…?" Dumbledore demanded.
"It's not love" Harry spoke again as he let the shadow fade and he became visible.
Dumbledore's eyes widened as it looked like Harry appeared out of shadow. "Harry?"
"It's not love Professor."
"Harry, where have you been?" Dumbledore said excitedly. Harry did notice that the Headmaster's wand hadn't been lowered yet even if he seemed excited and relieved to see him.
"I see you are having trouble believing that it's me, Professor. Let me alleviate your worries.
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...
You told me that at the end of last term and I ended up destroying your office. I am sorry about that. I'm glad to see you got it all repaired." Harry said remorsefully.
Dumbledore lowered his wand and sat back down in his chair. He didn't put his wand away though, leaving it laying on the desk in front of him.
"I'll ask again where have you been Harry, I have been very worried about you."
"Where I've been…, isn't important right now, but I will make you a deal, if you answer my questions truthfully and don't try to sidestep them, I will do more then tell you where I've been, I'll show you. I have made a few important revelations about my life in the past few weeks. I respect you Professor for who you are and your many positions. I even trust you, but only to a point. If you are honest with me, that trust will increase." Harry wasn't excited, or being emotional, he spoke casually as if talking to a longtime acquaintance but not a friend.
"Very well, Harry, I will indulge you, for now." Replied Dumbledore.
"You see Professor, that's not good enough. I am not to be indulged like you would a child, not anymore. If you cannot see fit to treat me as an adult and with respect, I will leave, I will do what needs to be done, and you will never see me again." Again this was all said casually with very little emotion.
Dumbledore stared at Harry for several moments.
Harry stared right back at the Headmaster "Professor, please stop trying to read my mind, you won't be able to."
Dumbledore broke the staring contest first. "Very well, Harry, what do you want to know?" Dumbledore didn't look happy.
"First, Professor, by your own words you knew my years with the Dursleys would be difficult. Did you know how difficult?" Harry asked, there was a bit of emotion in the question.
Dumbledore looked down at his desk for a minute before looking back up and answering. "I didn't know how difficult it turned out to be. I knew your aunt had some issues with her sister, your mother. You have to understand Harry, children are special in the wizarding world, it is inconceivable to treat a child the way she did you."
"When you found out why didn't you come get me?"
"By the time I found out how bad it was, it was too late. The wards I used to protect you required a family member. Your aunt was your closest family."
"You still could have checked on me and stepped in to make things better."
"I could have Harry but I couldn't be there all the time. I was worried that if I interfered it would only make it worse. My only hope was that as you got older, your aunt would see you were a good kid and the difficulties would stop."
-"I believe him Harry"- Rose injected mentally. -"I am not reading any falsehood in his voice."-
Harry sat quietly for a few minutes. He wasn't completely satisfied with the answer. Harry finally decided that Dumbledore believed he had been doing the right thing even if it did cause Harry a lot of pain.
"I don't like it Professor but I understand your choices. In the end all we are is the sum of our choices… Let me start the next question by saying you are not going to like it."
"Go ahead Harry." Dumbledore nodded.
"When were you going to tell me that I had a piece of Voldemort attached to my scar, a Horcrux?" Harry asked. This was one of the revelations he'd had. He figured it out within minutes of receiving the wizarding knowledge. Oh were the wizards of Britain in for a surprise and Voldemort should be counting his time left in hours.
"Harry how do you know about Horcruxes?" He was back on his feet with his wand pointed at Harry.
"You're worried the one in my scar has finally taken over, it hasn't, it has been removed." Harry replied casually. He definitely wasn't displaying his inner feeling on this outwardly.
"That is the only answer to how you could have come by this knowledge." Dumbledore started to cast but was stopped when Fawkes flew down and landed on Harry's knee. Fawkes chirped at Harry.
"Yes, it's gone…" Harry stared at Fawkes as he replied.
Fawkes just started chirping at him, it almost sounded like laughter.
"I haven't decided yet… he's still pointing his wand at me… oh, come on you know I could… I know… I should just… what stop laughing… yes it's going to be funny… you want to watch… Ok, OK… I still have questions…"
"Harry?" this was Dumbledore who had been watching and listening to the one-sided conversation.
"Just a second Professor…"
Fawkes started chirping again after being interrupted by the Headmaster.
"You want to what…? Really…? ok you can come… yes it's going to be fun… I don't know yet… We'll just have to look around…"
"Harry!" Dumbledore interrupted again.
Fawkes gave one more chirp causing harry to start laughing before flying back to his perch.
"Sorry Professor, Fawkes had a lot of questions."
"You can understand Fawkes?" asked Dumbledore as his wand literally slipped from his hand onto the desk.
"Yes professor, you could to if you just listened." Harry chuckled.
"I listen to him all the time…" Dumbledore replied.
"Do you Professor? You listen with your ears but do you listen with your magic?" Harry asked. Fawkes just started laughing. "You should try it sometime. He is a bit of a chatter box." Harry teased. Fawkes just gave an indignant squawk.
"I've had to listen to him for years…" the sorting had interjected from the shelf near the Headmaster's desk. "I can't get him to shut up most of the time."
Another indignant squawk from Fawkes followed.
"We are getting away from the question here… So Professor when were you going to tell me I had a piece of him in me? Harry turned a serious eye back to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore was lost for words. He hadn't planned on telling Harry anything about the Horcrux in his scar. He was hoping that circumstances would allow the horcrux to be destroyed when Harry sacrificed himself out of love for the wizarding world. In other words, he knew Harry had to die for the greater good. If the Horcrux was already gone, and he wanted to believe it was, it changed everything.
"I…" Dumbledore started.
"Be honest here Professor, our future relationship depends on your answer." Harry forewarned him.
"I wasn't going to tell you Harry." Dumbledore finally stated. "The only way I knew of to remove or even destroy it was for you to die. It wasn't an outcome I wanted but it was the only one I believed would work. A willing sacrifice by you, for the love of the wizarding world, I hoped would transfer the protection you have from Voldemort to everyone."
"Professor…"
"Let me finish Harry. I have many theories, none can be proven until they happen, but I also believe you would survive the death of the horcrux if your 'Death' was at Voldemort's hands. The ritual he used to get a body back, it used your blood… I think that, plus the protections you already have, if he cast the killing curse on you, it would kill the horcrux. He, I believe is a horcrux for you." Dumbledore finished.
To say that Harry was upset would be like saying that stars can go supernova. If it wasn't for his occlumency and Rose talking to him mentally, Dumbledore would be seeing his last moments of life.
-"Harry, his theory is sound but incomplete. You die in a way, by cross referencing wizard knowledge and Alteran, I believe you would have been force ascended. The other ascended would have given you a choice to stay or return since your body would have still been alive."- Rose informed Harry.
-"Yeah, Dumbledore didn't know that though, he wanted me to sacrifice myself like some hero in shining armor…"-
-"Exactly Harry. He doesn't have the knowledge that you do or access to a repository of knowledge. He made a choice based on the knowledge he has. Logically, I cannot find fault in his choice."- Rose defended Dumbledore.
It was a couple more minutes while Harry processed it all. Finally, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Professor, I don't agree with the choice that you made but I do understand why you made it. I understand you didn't see any other way and the prophecy didn't help matters." Harry took another breath. "Thank you for being honest with me. I do have one more question. It doesn't directly relate to the war though."
"Thank you Harry for understanding but if the horcrux has been removed as you say, that changes things."
"Yes professor it does. You don't need to worry about it though, I have a plan. My last question though may interest you. Did you know I was being feed love and loyalty potions keyed to Ginny and Ron Weasley and that Molly Weasley has been stealing money from my trust vault?" Wow, Harry thought. Even after seeing it twice already, he was still surprised at how fast the Headmaster could move when sufficiently provoked.
"WHAT!?" yelled Dumbledore as he again jumped to his feet.
-"Harry, there is another professor walking toward the Headmaster's Office. I believe it is professor Snape."- Rose mentally informed Harry. -"Thank you Rose"- Harry acknowledged.
"Professor Dumbledore…" Dumbledore was pacing behind his desk. "Professor Snape is coming in this direction; I do not want him to know I am here. Please keep my being in the room secret." With that Harry faded into the shadows again. He even applied a true invisibility spell to himself and his chair as the door to the Headmaster's office opened.
-oo00oo-
"Albus, I have news." Snape started even before both his feet were through the door to the Headmaster's Office. "I was with him when one of his watchers reported that they had seen Potter in the Alley. I don't know who the watcher is, they were tortured for not reporting it sooner."
Dumbledore stopped pacing and looked at Snape in surprise. "Severus, when did you get here?" Dumbledore's eyes flicked to where Harry was but he wasn't there. Snape followed Dumbledore's look and turned in the direction of the corner window, he didn't see anything.
"Are you alright Albus?" Snape turned back and asked.
"What…? Oh, yes, I'm fine. I just received a bit of personal news and it had me distracted. You said Harry was spotted in the alley, how long ago?"
"At least an hour ago, he was sighted leaving the Leaky Cauldron. The watcher tried to follow him but he disappeared into an alley in muggle London."
"I'll notify the Order and have them start a search in that area. Return to Tom and tell him I knew nothing of this." Albus instructed Snape.
"Very well Albus, I will report back if I hear anything else." Snape turned and left the office.
-oo00oo-
Once the door was closed, Harry reappeared sitting in his chair in the corner. "I didn't think anyone would recognize me, I wonder who it was, it had to be someone that has spent time around me, a student…?" Harry was basically thinking out loud.
"Harry, what were you doing out in the open, in Diagon Alley no less?" Dumbledore asked.
"Oh, I had to go to Gringotts. I had business there." Harry held up his hand with the two Head of House rings on his fingers. "This was a surprise but not completely unexpected."
-"Rose is Snape out of the castle yet?"-
-"Yes"-
-"Initiate transport, keep him unconscious, scan his mark. I'll deal with him later."-
-"Orders acknowledged"- Rose responded. -"Transport complete. I will let you know what I find out."-
"Harry it is too dangerous for you to be going about unprotected."
"Professor, I think you realize by now that I know things you don't. So please don't patronize me. Now back to the question I asked. From your reaction, I assume you knew nothing of the potions or the money. On a side note thank you for taking good care of the Potter accounts."
Dumbledore stared at harry for a moment before taking his own deep breath. "No I did not know about the potions or the money, I will get to the bottom of it though."
"I will leave that in your capable hands then Professor. Might I make one suggestion though."
Albus nodded.
"Don't just let them off with a warning. People don't learn from their mistakes if there are no consequences." Harry suggested.
"I will keep that in mind Harry. Now that I have answered all of your questions, are you going to tell me where you have been?"
"Like I said Professor, I'll show you but first, I need your oath that what I tell you and show you will stay between us. You cannot tell anyone else without my permission, verbally, in writing, or even using hand gestures… I think for the next three hours should cover it."
"Is this really necessary Harry?"
"Yes Professor it is. If you can't make the vow, I will just leave and you will not be seeing me again. If you make the vow, I'll let you in on some secrets, and I'll promise to stop by from time to time in the future." Harry gave Dumbledore an expectant look.
"Very well." Dumbledore then gave Harry a vow on his life and magic that anything he learned in the next three hours was strictly between him and Harry for as long as either lived.
Harry excitedly stood up from his chair, it disappearing behind him. Clapping and rubbing his hands together Harry asked. "Ready?"
Dumbledore barely got the word yes out before he, Fawkes, and Harry were enveloped in a bright white light.