A New Potter - Chapter 13

• Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore Dead at 114 years old
  By Etrigan Watson

• The Magical World has lost a legend. It was discovered this morning that Headmaster Dumbledore had passed peacefully in his sleep sometime during the night. The loss…

A picture of Dumbledore from the previous year during the TriWizard Tournament graced the front page. It was one of the many promotional shots that were stylish and obviously staged.

I stopped reading after that. The Great Hall was a mixture of shocked silence, denial, and crying. I reread the headline once more letting the words sink in. Dumbledore was dead. I had killed him, there was no way I could deny that. The horocrux had been bait that I knew he couldn't resist.

Calling Moody for help had been the right call. The grizzled wizard had taken the death in stride and treated it like a standard crime scene. He questioned me, of course, and I answered them truthfully. I brought him here to destroy a horocrux, that bit of information had distracted Moody for a few minutes. It had been cursed, I couldn't do anything to help, so I stunned him, and then called for help. Why had I stunned him? He was in pain. I didn't want him to suffer while waiting for someone.

It was all the truth to some extent. Remember, dear folks, the best way to lie is not to. That or add a couple of details that make you look bad in some way. Regardless, Moody cleaned up the area and moved Dumbledore to the Headmaster Office. He knew how to freeze the paintings and handle the House Elves so they wouldn't be able to tell anyone. Even knowing that it was Moody, the fact that it could be done was rather unnerving. Well, I guess it made sense. There were plenty of times in the books when people did dastardly deeds on castle grounds. Either the portraits and House Elves weren't very good at noticing things, or I was vastly over-estimating their capabilities.

Professor McGonagall had been the one to find him. Fawkes had woken her up in the morning by appearing above her bed in a fireball. McGonagall had hurried to Dumbledore's private quarters once she was awake. The announcement had come at breakfast shortly before the Daily Prophet released a Special Edition.

I didn't have to fake being shell-shocked too hard since I was stuck in my head. The fact that I wasn't feeling bad about killing Dumbledore made me worried that I wasn't feeling bad. He was the second death that I was my doing. The first to be at my hand. I had lived long enough in this world to know that I wasn't going back wherever I had been before. These people weren't just words on a page, they were real, and I was perfectly fine. I wasn't going to justify things by saying it was for the greater good. The deal had been a selfish one. Hogwarts and Hogsmeade were safe from Voldie and his minions.

Unfortunately, I couldn't take control of Hogwarts. There would be a new Headmaster or Headmistress. Tradition dictated that McGonagall would be the next in line as Deputy Headmistress.

"Harry," Hermione whispered beside me.

We had returned to the Gryffindor Common Room at some point. I sat in a chair near the fireplace and Hermione stood beside me. Her eyes were red and puffy. Ron sat across from me with a chess board set between us, but none of the pieces had been moved. He didn't seem bothered by the fact that I had been elsewhere mentally.

Maybe this was taking more of an effect than I had thought.

"What?" I asked.

"You've ignored everyone today," she said softly.

"Oh," I replied. "I've just been lost in my own thoughts."

I guess this hit me harder than I had thought. That was a relief and annoying at the same time. It turned out that I was not cold-hearted but disconnected enough to misidentify my feelings.

"What are we going to do now?" Fred asked.

I realized that the others had joined us as well. Fred, George, Ginny, Katie, Angelina, Alicia, Lavender, Parvati, and Neville were gathered around as well. Everyone was mourning, but we were some of the few that knew the greater implications. Voldemort didn't have any real opposition with Dumbledore gone. He could go on a bloody rampage down Diagon Alley if he wanted to without fear.

"Did you talk to him?" Fred asked.

I tried to figure out what he meant. It dawned on me that at least the twins knew that I had negotiated with Voldemort via the journal. Well, fuck. I guess I had to at least discuss this with them. We would need somewhere private to speak. The Room of Requirement would work perfectly. It struck me then that I hadn't handled the diadem yet either. Damn, what had I been doing with my time?

"Wait here," I said before rushing up to my dorm.

The upgraded trunk did wonders for organization. I found the goblin silver knives easily and tucked one in my pocket. With that finished I returned to the others.

"Come with me," I said before any more questions could be asked.

The group did. I led them through the castle to the seventh floor and the tapestry.

I need a private room to talk to my people.

The thought repeated in my head two more times. I knew I was successful when one of them gasped. It wasn't anything special, just another door along the hallway, except it hadn't been there until now. I stepped inside and waved the others to follow. The room looked like a bigger version of the Gryffindor Common Room with more seating and a comfortable fire.

I waited until everyone had settled before I started to speak.

"This summer I asked Fred and George to create a pair of linked journals," I explained. "I used it to negotiate with Voldemort."

The group erupted into a loud barrage of words. They all mingled together making it hard to understand.

"Quiet," I ordered.

They instantly went quiet. It struck me how little I had used these guys this year. We trained as a squad and kept our skills up until school started. I wasn't going to lead them into combat, but I had neglected to do utilize any of it.

"I was able to arrange peace for Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. Anything outside is open for whatever he planned," I continued. "The price was a prophecy and for me to leave things alone. I will defend myself, and my loved ones, but I'm not going out to fight him. It was a prophecy that led Voldemort to come after me. Basically, it will come down to him and me in the end."

"But, if you don't fight then no one can beat him!" Ron yelled.

I shook my head.

"There were a lot of things he didn't know," I continued. "The journal and the locket were both a horocrux. Voldemort split his soul into a number of vessels, and he can't fully die until they are destroyed. The reason why I was supposed to be able to defeat him was that he accidentally made me one too." I pointed to my faded scar. "This summer something happened to make the one in me to self-destruct. I don't know why, or how, but I knew where the others are. Destroying them will make him mortal."

I closed my eyes and willed the room to show me where the diadem was. Before anyone could act, I levitated it closer, drew one of my knives, and carefully sliced it in half. It looked like it could have been easily put back together. Unfortunately, that didn't work with magical artifacts. The twisted swirl of thick, black smoke screamed as it dispersed.

"That was another one," I levitated the diadem gently onto a small table that had emerged from the floor. "Dumbledore didn't die in his sleep. I was able to identify where one horcrux had been hidden. It needed a Parselmouth to disable the traps. We went there, I told the defenses to let Dumbledore in, and then he handled it." I paused. "Except, it was cursed. We were able to destroy it, but it cost him his life."

The others stared at me for a long, silent stretch. I scrunched my brow in confusion as I counted the group. At some point we had gained another member. Luna smiled and gave me a wave when she saw I was looking at her.

"Hello, Harry Potter," Luna said.

"Hello, Luna," I replied. "When did you get here?"

"Since the start," she answered easily.

I nodded. Couldn't argue with that.

"How do we know if he'll keep his word?" Hermione asked.

"We made a contract," I explained. "Whoever breaks the contract would lose their magic."

"Harry!" Hermione gasped.

"Death wouldn't matter until we destroyed the horcruxes," I said firmly. "As I was saying," I continued. "Voldemort didn't know that the prophecy isn't valid anymore. The only reason I would be able to kill him would be the connection with the horcrux. He couldn't kill me without destroy it and I couldn't kill him without destroying the others."

"But Dumbledore died!" Neville yelled.

I had almost forgotten he was there. He was good at that; I would need to keep that in mind.

"Dumbledore knew that it was dangerous, we knew that Voldemort had prepared defenses, and we were able to destroy it. There are still two more that need to be handled and I know where they are," I said. "All we have to do is destroy them."

"Where are they?" Katie asked.

"The first is in the Lestrange Vault in Gringotts," I answered. "And the other is his pet snake."

The stunned silence was deafening.

"We're supposed to just break into Gringotts, destroy an ancient artifact, and waltz right back out like nothing happened?" Ginny snapped out the question.

"No," I shook my head. "That's suicide."

"Glad you're seeing-" Ginny started to say.

"That's Plan B," I said before she could continue.

"And what is Plan A!?" She yelled.

I didn't like being yelled at, not many people do, but I enjoyed this side of Ginny. Seeing her more than just the 'little sister' that hung around in the background was fun. It was like her character development got a jumpstart by a book or two. If this was still the original timeline.

"I'll let you know when I think of it," I replied with a shrug. "Does anyone have an idea?"

"A horcrux is dark magic," Hermione said. "It has to be illegal. The goblins wouldn't be happy to hear that they have been tricked into protecting it."

"Why would they believe that I'd know?" I asked in reply.

"It's worth a shot," Hermione said.

I replied with a shrug. A writing desk, complete with a comfy chair, parchment, and a set of quills.

"Where did that come from?" Hermione asked as she took a closer look at the new addition.

"The Room," I took a seat. "It's basically the lost and found of Hogwarts."

"Awesome," Fred and George said in unison.
"How did we not know about this place before?" One of them asked.

I couldn't see which one. The desk was facing the other direction.

"Can we look through more?" Ron asked.

"Sure," I shrugged.

The room shifted around us. I busied myself in writing the letter. It took longer than I had expected. Getting the right tone to correspond with goblins was a tricky thing. Still, I sent off the letter and turned my attention to my friends. There were rows upon rows of storage racks filled with all sorts of things. Old texts books, forgotten trunks, discarded brooms, and countless others stretched into the distance.

"Woah," I muttered. "Let's go shopping."

We spent the rest of the afternoon through the lost items in the Room of Requirement. It was a nice distraction. We all walked away with quite a few new and interesting items. The coins we split among the group. I took a lesser share since I wasn't hurting for money, but having some on hand was always nice.