Albus was reading the sensational news splattered from cover to cover over today's Prophet, he'd taken a risk to get his hands on a copy but information was everything to him at the moment.
The information he craved was actually giving him a headache, part of his brain rejoiced at the demise of the dark lord. It recognised the truth of what was printed in the paper. Tom Riddle using Hogwarts founders items to store his horcruxes made perfect sense and as to the goblins having a procedure to destroy them, Albus was embarrassed to admit he never even thought of that solution.
Unfortunately, accepting this as the truth would mean admitting that the great Albus Dumbledore was wrong about so many things. This was something his mind couldn't concede. Albus could only live with the many questionable deeds he'd carried out in his life if he could justify them as being for the greater good. To admit he was mistaken about these events would lead to him having to re-examine events in his life that he had hidden away in his subconscious. There were events there that the old wizard had no intention of reliving to see if his intentions actually were as light as he'd painted them.
If Albus wasn't wrong then the article had to be lies, simple really. Albus began to chuckle, "Oh Tom, this is sheer genius. It put's you in the clear while painting me as the villain. You really are a worthy opponent but I'll get you in the end."
Even with his deteriorating mental capacity, Albus understood this was going to make it much more difficult to get close enough to the boy to carry out his task. He would have to bide his time and await his opportunity. Reading that Hogwarts was reopening also put a smile on his face. Albus Dumbledore was a wizard who had steps in place for every eventuality and was certain one of those plans would get him the boy.
Once he had done the deed, the wizarding world would soon see how badly they had been deceived. Albus wasn't one to hold grudges though, once they recognised the truth he would forgive them, eventually.
Wizarding Britain though was a changed country, the ministry was becoming efficient and pushing through reform after reform. The revelations about just how much, and for how long, Dumbledore had kept this to himself would totally destroy his reputation. It also forced wizards and witches to face up to their problems and pass laws declaring that never again could one person hold so much power.
The whole story was now there for everyone to read and it shocked them to the core. One they trusted above all others had deceived them and put their children's lives at risk. That another, who'd been imprisoned without trial for a crime he didn't commit, had helped his godson engineer the demise of Voldemort emphasised just how wrong they were.
Changes usually happened very slowly in the wizarding community but the pace of these events left everyone reeling. Pureblood pillars of their society had been proven to be murdering death eaters while the supposed leader of the light had just been convicted of criminal activities and gross negligence that led to the death of a minor. In all this, only one person stood without reproach. Harry Potter may have been idolised before as the boy who lived, his actions now elevated him even higher in the public's opinion. There was no debate about who the leader of the light was now, Lord Harry James Potter stood unopposed in the minds of the magical community.
His treatment as a baby under the orders of Dumbledore was the final nail in the old wizard's coffin. Should Albus succeed in his quest he would get his wish to never see the inside of Azkaban, the magical public would tear him apart in the street.
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Long haul flights can be mind-numbingly boring, that was never going to be the case on this one. With this being the first time on a plane for Harry, Sirius, Hestia, Luna and Ginny, it became an adventure from the instant they portkeyed into a quiet corner of the airport. With the number of things the groups had to catch-up on, the time flew past. Their seating arrangements were fluid as they swapped regularly, allowing everyone the chance to chat.
Emma and Hestia were chatting excitedly with each other, both ladies were on their way to start new lives in a place they'd only seen pictures of. Setting up home in a different country maybe a daunting task but they both welcomed the challenge for different reasons. Those reasons were all on this plane though.
Sirius was sitting chatting to Dan, more certain than ever that he'd made the right decision. When he'd left Hestia the other day a little doubt had set in that perhaps he'd acted a bit compulsively, the very thing he was trying to fight against. One glance at Hestia in the airport and his doubts vanished quicker than free beer down the pub. When Hestia had said she would come with him to Australia, the elation he had felt was overwhelming. Just her smile in the airport gave him such a good feeling, he was grinning the entire flight. He was forced to face facts, Sirius Black was in love and he didn't care who knew it. This feeling was wonderful.
Harry was also having wonderful thoughts as Luna's laughter washed over him, the musical tone of her laughter was a sound he would never tire of hearing. Their friend had blossomed due to the simple act of having friends, good friends who she could trust to be there for her. Harry and Hermione had long suspected the persona that became loony was part defence mechanism against people who wanted to hurt her but also a way to keep people at arm's length so she couldn't be hurt by them leaving.
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