Breakfast was fucking boring.
Harry spent the whole time waiting for the summons to come.
' Surely Dumbledore's gonna tell me? Someone murdered my family! He has to tell me I was threatened!'
He managed to keep his laugh from turning into a cackle, managed to play it off as a reaction to Blaise's last joke.
He was far too tense to deal with Dumbledore. It also didn't help that he was fucking exhausted too.
After getting back the night before, he had taken Daphne to the Room of Requirement.
' If someone had told me years ago, that I would be telling my girlfriend how I tortured and murdered my only living family, and that I would use it as an aphrodisiac. I'd probably have thought they were crazy'
He started giggling and stopped abruptly when someone put their hand on his shoulder.
He spun around, managing to hold back from drawing his wand, to see Cedric Diggory there, hands raised.
"Whoah! Relax. The Headmaster asked to meet with you after breakfast, he says he's already cleared it with Professor Vector"
"Thanks. Sorry, you just-gave me a fright"
"No problem," Cedric said, flashing a bright smile and walking away, stopping to say something to a group of Gryffindors.
Harry just sat there, letting his heart go back to its normal speed.
' Does he know for sure? Is he gonna try to kill me? Fuck, we really need to get the cabinet working'
"Harry? You ok?"
"Yeah," He said, putting his hand on Daphne's. "I'm fine"
' Those noises their kid made. They were so funny'
He started giggling again.
"Harry. Please, take a seat"
As soon as he was sitting and had his hands hidden from view, he gripped his wand tightly under the table.
"Sir? Are we continuing our last discussion now? You said you wanted to do some more research?"
Looking exhausted, Dumbledore simply sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. His blackened hand ran through his beard.
Behind him, the headmasters of times past were silent.
"Not yet. We will meet before Christmas break, however. Unfortunately, I- I have some bad news for you"
Dumbledore paused for a few seconds, as he stared intently at Harry.
"Last night" he finally said, "your muggle aunt, uncle, and cousin were attacked by Death Eaters. They-they were killed. I'm sorry"
' I'm sorry we had so little time'
He made his eyes widen, tried to make himself go pale and look shocked.
"But-why? I don't-I don't know them? W-why?"
The old man looked incredibly sad as he spoke.
"There was a message left there, threatening your life. The purpose of this attack was to target you, Harry"
' Look horrified. Make yourself cry, a bit'
But he couldn't make tears come, try as he might.
"They-they died because of me" he managed to say, thickening his voice.
"You must not blame yourself, Harry. You have done nothing to warrant their deaths"
' Except enjoy them'
"Voldemort wishes to destroy you. Not to kill you, but to utterly destroy any joy of life, any hope that you have. You cannot allow him to win, Harry. Not within your mind, not within your emotions. He cannot gain that battlefield, not unless you allow him to"
Harry nodded, looking down.
"Your safety is of paramount importance"
' Until you decide to kill me'
"Will you be returning to Grimmauld Place for Christmas break?"
"I-I was planning on it. I'd like to-to spend some time with Sirius"
Dumbledore nodded slowly. "Very well. But you will not take the Hogwarts Express back. Too much could go wrong. I will apparate you there"
' Unless you decide to drop me into a volcano or something like that'
"Surely the train is safe though?"
"The train itself is. I admit I am far more worried about what the reception would be, at platform nine and three quarters"
There wasn't really much Harry could say to that. He just nodded again.
"And Harry. I want you to be aware, that some of your friends may be in very precarious positions"
' What'
"I mean nothing against the boys themselves. But we have great reason to believe that Lucius Malfoy and Thaddeus Nott are actively serving Lord Voldemort. There are other parents of your classmates in his service as well, but none of those you are as close with. I know they are your friends, I know you like and trust one another. But I simply do not know what they may be hearing from their homes"
' You're trying to tear me away from my friends. You fucking asshole! Trying to make me mistrust them! Fuck you! And then you'll kill me!'
Seemingly of its own accord, his hand tightened on his wand.
' I'm going to kill you'
"I just want you to be aware. To be prepared for anything, no matter how terrible it may seem to think of it. Your friends will not betray you, not of their own volition. But family pressure can be a powerful thing, and it may strain your relationships"
"They're my friends"
Dumbledore looked at him sadly.
"And I hope they will remain so for many, many years. I just don't want to see you hurt, Harry. That is all"
' You only want to see me die! Is that why you took me to that place? Hoping someone else would do the dirty work for you?'
Once more, Harry just nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak right then. It was all he could do to not start shooting off curses.
"If you wish, you may take the rest of the day off. I'll have a word with your professors. Go for a fly, relax with a book. Take your mind off of things"
"I will," he said, tucking his wand back into his pocket and rising.
As he was about to leave the room, Dumbledore spoke again.
"We will have another one of our meetings before Christmas break. I have a feeling over Halloween I will be successful in gathering more information. If indeed I am, it will be sooner, rather than later"
He did take the day off but didn't use it to go flying. Even though it would have been good practice for the game against Gryffindor the following week, he had something far more important to do.
He sat in front of the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Hidden Things, staring at the runes engraved on it, trying to figure out where to even start from.
By the time he left for lunch, he hadn't even finished identifying the top line of runes. And there were thirty lines of them, carved into the wood. With over half the runes looking indecipherable.
' I'm an absolute idiot' he thought, stopping just outside the Great Hall. ' I should ask the Dark Lord if he could get someone to take a picture of the runes on the one in Borgin and Burke's. That way I'll be able to see exactly what it should look like. And I should have taken my rune dictionary too!'
"Hey, Draco," he said, sidling into the seat next to him.
"Hey yourself. What did Dumbledore want?"
"Oh, nothing much," he said casually. "Just wanted to tell me that someone murdered my muggle family last night and left a death threat for me. You know, the usual"
Draco turned a shocked face toward him.
"I'll tell you all about it later" he promised and dropped his voice to a whisper. "But I wanted to tell you, that we should start work on the Cabinet. Like, as soon as possible"
"You-it's part of the pair?" Draco whispered back, quickly recovering his composure.
"Yup. I'm gonna talk to you and Alaine about it tonight, after our meeting. Show it to you guys"
"Yeah" Draco whispered, sounding shell-shocked. "Merlin, Harry. It's-wow. It's crazy"
"Yup. See you then"
Harry left the room. He did want a chance to fly that day after all.
"Ok, so before we start tonight, I wanted to know if anyone's had any ideas about other people we could bring in? After Christmas break, they can start coming, so that gives us a nice amount of time to prepare and to work on them. Any ideas?"
Daphne spoke first. "Hard to say right now, but Tori might be interested. I'll only know after the break though"
He nodded. "No problem"
"In the meantime," she continued, "Meredith Fowler and Andrea Lucas. They both might be interested"
He paused to consider it. He didn't really know either of them, being that they were two years ahead of him.
"But Andrea's dad? He's a muggle, isn't he? Surely she-"
"She hates him"
He nodded. That could definitely work.
' Hate is a powerful force'
"Blaise might be interested. He's-he's said a few things that make it seem like he might be amenable"
"Cool, I'll leave that up to you"
Theo nodded, looking absurdly grateful.
' I wonder if anyone else knows about them?'
"Horatio West. In my year, Ravenclaw also. He-I think he's appropriate"
He stared at Alaine for a few seconds, thinking about it.
"Ok. You'll stand surety for him?"
Alaine gulped, before nodding.
"Ok, cool. Anyone else? Draco? Graham? Cassius? No? Cool. So before Christmas break, we'll discuss all these people again, see what we think then"
He walked to the little dais the Room had given them, next to the blackboard, and started the lesson.
"So, I've been told the Dementors are going to be leaving Azkaban shortly and publicly joining us. So they'll be swarming all over, feeding as they like. Supposedly, they're only gonna feed on our enemies. I don't know about any of you, but I don't trust those things. So I think we should try to get the Patronus down. And besides its use against Dementors, it's pretty damn useful. Dumbledore apparently invented a way to use them to send messages. They can't be tracked, can't be imitated, can't be blocked by wards, and deliver messages almost instantly. So let's get started on getting a Patronus going, and then we'll work on that"
As the session was ending, he looked around the Room proudly.
They were doing bloody well. Everyone there had managed to at least create mist, and Theo and Alaine both looked pretty close to getting it down to a corporeal form.
Of course, having Harry and Draco demonstrate with their own raven and panther Patronus' probably helped things along.
"Awesome! So just, try to practice that over the course of the week. You can only use them for messages once they're corporeal, so the sooner you manage that the better. Also, you should all keep up the Occlumency practice. Just try to clear your mind every few hours, and before you go to bed. Any questions about Occlumency, ask Draco or Snape. See you all next week!"
As they started filing out of the Room, Harry waved to Alaine. "Hey! Westman! Hold up! I need to talk to you and Draco!"
Alaine stopped a few meters away from the door. His body language screaming his reluctance, he turned back, shoulders set, and walked to the center of the Room.
"Harry, I-"
"Relax. Just relax. You're not in trouble. Quite the opposite, in fact"
His face gained a bit of color back at that.
"Oh, ok. So, what's up?"
"You're taking Runes, right?"
"Yeah" he answered, sounding a bit puzzled.
"Great! I need to show you guys something. A little project. Let's just step out of the Room for a moment"
He led them out of the Room, letting Draco and Alaine just watch as he walked in front of the door three times until the handle appeared.
"Welcome, gentleman, to the Room of Hidden Things"
They gasped, as they took in the sight.
"Holy shit, Harry. You never said it was this big"
"I know. But come, we don't have years to spend just looking around"
When they arrived at the Cabinet, he cast a revelio on the back and gestured to it. "This is a Vanishing Cabinet. And as you can see, it's in a pretty shitty shape. So we need to fix it"
"Mate," Draco said weakly, "it's gonna take ages! Look at it!"
"Alaine, you recognize these runes?" Harry asked, ignoring Draco's whining.
"Uh. Kind of. It's hard to tell with some of them because of the damage, but just from a glance, I'd say I recognize most of them"
"Great! Listen, the Dark Lord wants this done by the end of the year, latest. We're gonna use it to kill Dumbledore!" He said brightly.
Shocked silence met those words.
"I'm-I'm assuming we have the other one in the pair?" Alaine asked.
"Oh! Sorry, I meant to tell you. The other ones at Borgin and Burke's"
"Do you think you could get a picture, or at least a diagram, of the runes on that one?"
Harry smiled and clapped the Ravenclaw on his back, making him wince.
"We'll have one by Thursday. But I was warned that some of them might be different"
"Still," Alaine said, stroking his chin and staring at the fucked-up runes, "it'll give us an idea of how it should look"
"Exactly! You know, I like the way you think. Were you planning on going home for Christmas break?"
"No. What with my NEWTS coming up, I thought-"
"Perfect! So over the break, you can do work on this also. Snape'll be able to help during the break. During term he's just too busy, you know? But once we get the runes all identified, then we can really start work. Just ask for the Room of Hidden Things, and come to the Cabinet when you've got spare time. Before you know it, well be done, and we can kill that old fucker!"
He looked at his watch.
"Time to head out. Just wanted to show this to you guys, so we could start working on it as soon as possible"
"Yeah, we should," Draco said, face set.
Alaine just nodded, lost in thought.
"Alaine?"
"Yeah?"
"I like you. But if you tell anyone about this, I'll flay you alive. Got it?"
The way the older boy paled really lifted Harry's heart.
For the first time since he had arrived at Hogwarts, Halloween passed without incident.
Fine, the previous year there hadn't really been anything to compare to his first three years, but the choosing of the Triwizard Champions definitely counted as something major.
This year though, there was nothing. Just an awesome feast. No trolls. No basilisk attacks. No escaped convicts breaking into the castle.
Just an amazing feast.
Of course, the Daily Prophet the following day carried some interesting news.
" DEMENTORS ABANDON AZKABAN! SIDE WITH YOU-KNOW-WHO, ATTACK FAMILY!"
Apparently, the Grimnet family had been attacked in their home, leaving the entire family, both parents and their three children, soulless on the floor. The Dark Mark had been left above the house, and carved into the wall of the room where the bodies were found was a message promising safety to the families of all who join the Dark Lord.
Totally coincidentally, of course, Mildred Grimnet had been a member of the Wizengamot. In fact, she had recently laid forth a proposal to allow the Aurors all sorts of extra emergency powers.
' I wonder how they did it? If Dementors feed off of despair, who did they kill first? Parents or the kids?'
In the week after Halloween, the Quidditch season kicked off. The first game, as for some reason it often was, was Gryffindor versus Slytherin. In some ways, it was the hardest game Harry had ever played.
In terms of the game itself, it was easy. They beat the Gryffindors quite soundly. Harry, Montague, and Pucey had really learned to play with one another over the last few years. And even though he wasn't quite as skilled as Miles had been, Warrington proved to be a good enough keeper.
Even Crabbe and Goyle, idiots though they clearly were, proved to be very productive members of the team. In fact, Harry was sure that he would always cherish the memory of the time Crabbe got Weasley so hard with a bludger that the twat almost fell off of his broom.
Draco, as usual, played pretty well and managed to get the snitch before Thomas did.
What made the game so fucking frustrating then, was Weasley's presence. Since Harry supposedly had patched up his difficulties with the arsehole, he couldn't taunt him, couldn't insult him, couldn't threaten him. And since Harry was a chaser and a pretty damn good one at that, he was quite often near the opposing teams' keeper.
It took everything he had to keep himself from drawing his wand and just letting loose on Weasley. He managed, by the skin of his teeth, to prevent himself from actually killing him.
The only way he even managed his aggression that game, was by channeling it into his playing. So when Slytherin won 330-100, it didn't surprise him to find out that he had scored the vast majority of their teams' goals.
' Why do I hate him so much?' He wondered as he lay in bed that night, thoughts drifting like smoke from all the firewhisky at the game's after party.
' I hate him more than I hate Dumbledore. That doesn't make any sense. He's barely ever done anything real against me, other than a few stupid comments'
And a quiet, small, sad voice, one that he hadn't heard for ages, spoke in his mind then.
' Because you're jealous of him. He doesn't need to hurt people to feel happy. And with his big, loving family, he's the epitome of everything you wished you had. And a part of you wishes you could be like him, a carefree Gryffindor, who-'
He cleared his mind, as his hands balled themselves into fists and his face twisted into a scowl.
"I am not jealous of him!" He muttered angrily. "I am not!"
' If you say so' the voice spoke again, falling silent once more.
As he eventually drifted off to sleep, he felt glad that at least the voice wasn't screaming about his murders. Not anymore.
The days began to move toward Christmas, bringing with them colder weather and a huge increase in workload. Of course, Harry didn't find the practical work in Charms, Transfiguration, and Defence to be any more difficult than it had been. It was really just the massive amounts of homework the teachers started piling on them. Not to mention the increased difficulty in his other classes.
He was managing to keep up with the work in Herbology, Potions, History, and Astronomy well enough. None of those were really classes that he had a passion for, but he was still set on keeping his reputation near the top of the class.
In Runes, he and Draco began rapidly outpacing their classmates. All the work with the Vanishing Cabinet, the hours spent sitting and staring at it, comparing it with the picture of the other one in the pair and trying to decipher its Runes were really paying off. Having a NEWT student helping them almost constantly, not to mention the occasional assistance from Snape and the Dark Lord, made its mark on their abilities. By the first week of December, they had managed to identify every rune on the Cabinet and now could finally begin working on repairing them.
In Arithmancy, Harry was still holding his own quite comfortably.
And in Theory, he continued getting O's. All in all, his days were incredibly busy. From the time that he read the Daily Prophet in the mornings and found out who had died most recently until he fell asleep at night with a book threatening to fall on his face, he was incredibly busy.
Somehow though, he still found time to relax and release stress.
He lay there, one arm curled around her. She lay with her head on his chest, her hand making trails down his skin.
' At least I'm not that scrawny thing I was when I first came here'
"Harry?"
"Yeah?" He said, absentmindedly pushing his glasses back up his nose.
"What" she hesitated for a moment before plunging onward. "What aren't you telling me?"
His heart started pounding. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, ever since you went to deal with your family you've been hiding something"
"I-I can't say"
"Harry. You know-"
"Daph, I love you. I trust you more than anyone else. More than anyone I've ever trusted. But He-He told me not to say. And He was dead serious. He told me, anyone that I tell, He'll kill. And then He'll punish me, too. Please, babe. Don't put me in this position. Please"
"I just-" she fell silent, her brow furrowed in thought.
"I just don't want to be left out" she finally said.
"I promise you," he said seriously, "anything I can tell you, I will. Always. I just can't for this. And-and at some point, I'm sure you'll figure it out, but not now"
' At least, once I tell you about Horcruxes in general, you'll figure out that He has. I doubt you'll ever know that I'm one. And fuck, but I wish I could tell you'
He looked around the Room proudly. They were all progressing so amazingly, and it was all thanks to him.
He looked at Daphne's raven Patronus preening itself and managed to smother his grin.
"Ok, so I think we've got Patronus' down. Good work everyone, apparently most wizards and witches don't know how to cast them"
"They're learning now, aren't they?" Theo asked.
He grimaced. The Prophet lately had been full of notices for where and when lessons on casting the Patronus would be held and had exhorted all adults who didn't know the spell to come and learn. After all, it was the only thing that could fight off a dementor.
"True. Still, I doubt most of them can cast it properly and none of them will be expecting us to use it for messages"
"Anyways, this will be our last meeting for this term. How're we looking for next term? In terms of new recruits?"
Alaine was the first to answer. He'd really put himself back together since they had started working on the Cabinet. He didn't flinch when Harry looked at him anymore.
"Horatio will come. And there's a sixth year I've been thinking of, Jason Gilson. But I'll know about him for sure after the break"
"Great. Daphne, what about the girls?"
"Meredith and Andrea are in. Maybe Tori"
"Good. Theo?"
"Blaise will come. And Morag"
"Morag? Your cousin?"
He nodded.
"Ok. Cool. Any other ideas?"
No-one else said anything.
"Ok, excellent. I mean, we'll have to be careful around them, at least at first, but it should be great. Draco says you've all made progress with the Occlumency. So just keep practicing that. Also work on conjuration, on getting the speed up. Next term, I want to start with spell deflection before moving onto the Imperius"
None of them really reacted to that, so he just carried on talking.
"Spell deflection can be really good. I'm not exactly an expert, but supposedly it can work on everything except the Killing Curse. But it works through your will. You have to focus all your will on the oncoming spell and overpower your enemy's will. So it can be a lot harder with emotion-based spells. But anyways, just work on focusing your will into one point, and then we can jump right into it. And uh, I think that's it. See you all"
"So, Harry. How would you say the term has treated you?"
"Well enough, sir" he answered.
"But I'm sure you're ready for a break, and to spend some time with your godfather"
He nodded, actually being honest with the old man for once.
He really was looking forward to spending time with Sirius. There was something about the man, something just… refreshing. And he couldn't help but like someone who so clearly simply loved him. Loved him and cared about him, with no ulterior motives. Hell, from the letters Sirius had been sending recently, it was obvious how much the man was looking forward to Harry coming.
"Well, in a week you'll be at headquarters, relaxing. For now, let us continue where we left off last time"
"With Voldemort's mother in London"
"Precisely," Dumbledore said, nodding his head gravely. "And that is where she died, mere minutes after she gave birth to him in an orphanage"
Harry gritted his teeth.
"And eleven years later, I went to introduce him to the world of magic and to give him his Hogwarts letter. It was during our meeting that I discovered many things about him. That he was a Parselmouth, that he believed himself better than the other children, and that he had been a bully. And what should have been most worrying, that he had developed enough rudimentary control over his magic to terrify the other children"
' I wish I'd been able to do that'
"But nevertheless, he seemed… perfectly fine. A courteous, charismatic,
and all-around wonderful boy. I'll admit, I never quite trusted him, but I did not allow that to bias me against him. He had the entire school, staff, and students, in his pocket. He controlled them all, blinding us with his genius and his accomplishments. He was made prefect, and later Head Boy. And it was during his fifth year that I believe he discovered his lineage"
"The Gaunts?"
"Partially. But also the fact that he was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. You see, during his fifth year, the Chamber of Secrets was opened"
"How-how did it get closed?"
"After a student was killed by the basilisk, Tom was told that the school would doubtless close unless the perpetrator was found. Purely coincidentally, that very night he apprehended a student with an Acromantula, and that was that"
"And people accepted that?" He asked, not even feigning astonishment.
"You will find," Dumbledore said gravely, "that when people are afraid they do not think critically"
He nodded slowly.
' Isn't that the same thing that Auror said?'
"But let us focus on these memories for tonight. If you please"
He followed Dumbledore's gesture and entered the Pensieve.
He settled back into his chair and shook the dizziness out of his head.
' No matter how many times I go into one of those, I still get the same feeling when I leave'
"What happened afterward?" He asked quietly.
"The three muggles living in the house were found dead. They were Tom Riddle and his parents. The Muggle authorities had no idea what did it of course, but the Department of Magical Law Enforcement quickly ruled it murder, by way of the Killing Curse. Murders, for which Morfin Gaunt was arrested"
"Why? I mean, it clearly wasn't him!"
' So that's how he knew I would enjoy it. Taking care of those muggles who abandoned me'
"His memory was altered. He happily confessed to murdering them, showing pride in it. The only thing he was upset about, was that he had lost his ancestral ring"
Harry looked at the golden tray on Dumbledore's desk, on which the ring in question sat.
"Voldemort took it. But, sir. How did you get it? And-"
Dumbledore waved his healthy hand carelessly. "That, Harry, is a story for another day. Now, Morfin was sent to Azkaban, where he eventually died. Meanwhile, Tom Riddle finished his years at Hogwarts. It was during his final years that he began to collect a group of friends around him. Friends, who would later form the core of the Death Eaters. I do not know exactly when, but at some point during this time, he began to answer to the name 'Voldemort'. And then he finished school. None of us knew exactly what he planned to do after school, as he would always find a way of avoiding such questions. But we all expected something spectacular. Even I did, and I had begun to worry about him. But he did not do as we expected"
' I'll bet He didn't'
"He did not go into politics or research. He did not take time off to travel the world and learn from other magical cultures. No, he took a job in a store in Knockturn Alley. A store specializing in the Dark Arts by the name of Borgin and Burke's"
He managed to keep his eyes from widening, managed to keep his shock from showing on his face. But only by an inch.
' How much about Borgin and Burke's does he know?'
"Tom's primary job was as a buyer. It was up to him to convince people to sell their ancient treasures. And it was a job he was most successful at"
"I'm not surprised" Harry muttered, causing Dumbledore to give him a wry smile.
"Indeed. This next memory comes from a house-elf named Hokey. Hokey served a very old, very rich witch by the name of Hepzibah Smith. After you"
Again, Harry joined Dumbledore in the Pensieve and viewed a memory. And again, he came out and asked: "What happened afterward?"
"Hepzibah Smith died a few days later. Hokey was convicted. Apparently, she had accidentally placed a rare poison in her mistresses' tea instead of sugar. And when Hepzibah's descendants divided their inheritance, they discovered that Hufflepuff's Cup And Slytherin's Locket were gone"
"So Voldemort took them?"
Dumbledore nodded slowly.
' I have to get that Locket. Fuck, what if Dumbledore's found it? If it's at headquarters, he could have!'
"Where are they now?" He asked, no tremble showing in his voice.
"Now? That is a very good question. In fact, that is the question. Hopefully, I will find one of them soon. I have a few leads, but nothing certain. Not yet"
"Sir? Why is- why are these things so important?"
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily as he replied "all will be explained in its proper time. Hopefully, next term I will be able to answer that question"
Dumbledore glanced at his pocket-watch. "Well, I believe that is all for now. I will be apparating you to Grimmauld Place next week. Let's plan to leave around the time when the carriages head off to the Hogwarts Express, shall we?"
Harry shrugged. "Sounds good"
"Excellent. I hope the rest of the term treats you well. Have a lovely evening"
" $So he knows of the Locket? But he does not have it in his custody?$"
" $It would seem not, my lord. Hopefully, I'll find it quickly. Snape gave me some veritaserum, and from what I've read-$"
"$Yes. That should work on the elf. You should place it under the Imperius first, to be particularly sure. And kill it afterward. Memory Charms can be broken, as Dumbledore has proven$"
" $I will$"
" $And report to me as soon as it is found. I will want it, to examine it and redouble the protective enchantments. I may send it back to you, to place in the Chamber of Secrets$"
" $As you wish, my lord$"
" $How has the work on the Cabinet been progressing?$"
" $Its been moving along. We've managed to identify all the runes, and we've started work on fixing them. Alaine should be receiving a book on Vanishing Cabinets over the break, and that should help us increase our pace. Also, Snape said he would be able to help with it over the break$"
"$Good. I want Dumbledore dead as soon as possible. And I want you to be the one who does it. The effect that will have on the public -The Boy Who Lived, siding with me and killing their leader. It would be unparalleled$"
" $I-I'd like that$"
" $I know. How has the group been? No more issues?$"
" $None, my lord. It's been going very well. We're planning on expanding next term, and hopefully will soon be bringing six or seven more Hogwarts students into your service$"
" $Excellent. You have done very well. Keep me informed of your search of the Black home$"
" $I will, my lord$"
He walked next to Dumbledore, through the wrought-iron gates. Through the boundaries of the wards.
"Take my arm, if you please"
He did so, gripping with perhaps slightly more force than was strictly necessary.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes, sir"
"Lovely. In that case, let us depart"
And Dumbledore turned, dragging Harry through nothingness.
Dragging him to where his godfather waited.
And perhaps, to where he would be able to rescue one of his chosen master's Horcruxes.