Harry shot a variety of spells at Pettigrew, some of which included a bone breaker that Harry aimed at Peter's legs, it connected on Peter's foot right foot. Dumbledore was not quite sure where Harry learned that but was not able to call him out on it without revealing that he had read Harry's mind. Though he realised that he likely learnt it from Barty Crouch junior. Dumbledore watched as Harry approached Peter only for Peter to manage to cut Harry on the arm with his knife, Peter tried crawling away while Harry recovered from the attack and shock of it.
Then Harry ran after Peter and tackled him onto the portkey. Dumbledore could not help but notice how Peter no longer had the knife when the portkey activated, he was about to continue reading when Harry closed his eyes, cutting off the connection.
"Professor," Harry said, slowly opening his eyes. "can you come here a moment?" Harry asked politely. Dumbledore moved closer only for Harry to grab him by the beard with his left hand and pull down before his right hand punched the old headmaster straight in the nose, Dumbledore stumbled back and was only able to remain standing thanks to the help of an empty bed.
"Mr Potter!" Fudge and McGonagall gasped in shock.
"You know Professor, " Harry said to Dumbledore, ignoring the other two. "I do not have the best occlumency shields in the world but I can tell when someone is reading my mind."
"Reading your mind?!" Fudge blurted out before turning to Dumbledore. "Dumbledore you tried to read his mind?!"
"I do apologise," Dumbledore said, waving his wand over his face to clean the blood and repair the damage. Dumbledore was surprised that Harry had any mental defences at al but hid his surprise masterfully. "I truly am sorry Harry but a situation like this..."
"Would of course allow you to illegally read my mind." Harry glared at Dumbledore. "Do that again and I promise I will aim lower." Harry's eyes glanced towards where he would aim so that Dumbledore would definitely know what he meant.
"Once again I am sorry, but I could not help but notice Pettigrew lost his knife before you two portkeyed away."
"What does that have to do with anything?!" An irritated Fudge asked, still trying to get over the part where Dumbledore tried to read the mind of the boy-who-lived. Did that mean that Dumbledore read other people's minds? Had Dumbledore read his own mind in the past? Fudge knew that if he tried calling Dumbledore out on it then Dumbledore would easily get away with it as there was no real proof that he had read Harry Potter's mind.
"The knife would have young Harry's blood," Dumbledore began explaining. "there are many rituals, many dark rituals, that can be used with that. It is my belief that Pettigrew was attempting to use Harry's blood in a certain ritual."
"To do what?" Harry asked.
"I believe he wanted to bring back Voldemort." Dumbledore answered, McGonagall did the expected shiver while Fudge let out a very unmanly squeak.
"But...but you-know-who is dead!" Fudge spluttered. "He can't be back! Preposterous! You-know-who is dead!"
"Cornelius," Dumbledore said calmly. "it is my belief that Voldemort..."
"Stop saying his name!" Fudge hissed.
"It is my belief that he had never truly perished," Dumbledore continued. "I believe that he has simply been biding his time, trying to return to his former glory."
"That can't be!" Fudge said, shaking his head.
"My reason for having Severus here was to show you his mark," Dumbledore added. "the dark mark is a mark that Voldemort himself would place on his followers, he can use it to summon them and recently Severus's mark had been growing darker and darker. Voldemort..."
"Stop saying his name!" Fudge shouted.
"Minister, control yourself!" McGonagall said, glaring at him for his outburst.
"...placed the dark mark brand on his followers' inner left forearms both as a sign of their loyalty to him and as a method of summoning them to him when he desired." Dumbledore continued as if nothing had happened. "The deepness of the mark's colour is connected to Voldemort's physical health. When Voldemort suffered his first defeat, the marks on the Death Eaters faded, but as he began regaining his strength, the faded marks became clearer, and burnt slightly, a sign of Voldemort's return to his Death Eaters."
"This cannot be!" Fudge said, shaking his head. "There is no way he is back! What on earth would possess you to think that he could be back?! A tattoo?!"
"That is not my only reason, there is one dark ritual which involves taking the blood of an enemy." Dumbledore said. "I believe that Voldemort has used it to regain a body. If we bring in Severus then I can show you his mark."
"I don't want to see his mark!" Fudge said as if Dumbledore was offering him poison. "You," Fudge said to Harry. "did you see any sign of you-know-who?"
"The only person I saw was Pettigrew, which reminds me, you and I have something important to discuss Minister Fudge."
"Oh?" Fudge asked, raising an eyebrow.
"My godfather, Sirius Black, I told you in my third year that he was innocent. You did not believe me and accepted Snape's story about me being confounded. I would think now, that you've seen Pettigrew alive and witnessed Snape's behaviour, you might be willing to change your mind."
"Ah," Fudge's face screwed up in thought. Now that he thought about it he realised that Harry might have a point. Snape hardly seemed stable even back then and it was clear that he had a dislike for Harry Potter and vice versa, plus it was clear that the man disliked Black as well so maybe he wasn't being entirely truthful. Plus Snape, unlike Lucius, was never an imperius victim. The man had only gotten free because Dumbledore claimed that Snape was a spy.
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