The atmosphere was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Albus glanced around the comfortable study with wonder. He had never been to London Black Manor before. Arcturus had preferred the Black country estate, not that Albus had been there often either given their differing politics and alliances but there had always been an invitation to the Black New Year Ball before Arcturus had gone into seclusion. His gaze landed finally on the young wizard sat behind his desk. Sirius surprisingly radiated a sense of belonging, rightness and authority for all that he had decried his family and heritage in the past.
Albus sat on the other side, contemplating his options and what to do. There were two critical items Albus had to address with Sirius; one was to return Harry to the Dursleys as soon as possible because of the blood protection and the other was to regain some favour with the man who now held Harry's guardianship. He wasn't foolish enough to think it was going to be easy. Evidently, Sirius had been very busy since he had flown away on the hippogriff – he had somehow broken the compulsion Albus had placed upon him for his safety, assumed the Lordship and manipulated events from there to gain custody of his godson. On one level, Albus admired what he'd done; Sirius had gotten Cornelius to do his job, the Ministry to award him guardianship and he'd sent Albus on the proverbial wild nargle chase to keep him away from England while Sirius made his first alliances and they completed the adoption. The love that had prompted Sirius into taking on the mantle of the Black family history he had literally run away from must be great and powerful indeed, Albus mused silently, and it would make Albus's task that much more difficult, all the more so for where they were.
There had been a brief heated discussion on where to meet but Sirius had gotten his way. He had bluntly told Albus that he didn't trust him not to try something but the protections in Black Manor had enough of a reputation that he knew Albus would understand the consequences of trying something within the confines of the Black home. Albus had conceded the location as unimportant but sat within the study he could admit to himself that he was almost intimidated by the magic he could feel around him.
A house elf had popped in and out with refreshments, and Dumbledore picked up his tea, smiling a little at the lemon biscuits that accompanied it. He needed to take the first step towards reconciliation, Albus decided, and cleared his throat.
"Firstly, Sirius, let me begin by apologising to you for my part in the miscarriage of justice that you suffered." Albus began sincerely. He was truly horrified that his inaction had led to Sirius's suffering as an innocent man. "The days following the defeat of Voldemort were chaotic but I confess that when the dust settled I realised I could not remember a trial for you. I believed you guilty as you had been the Secret Keeper and determined if there had not been a trial, it was not worth the pain of dragging up memories that one would cause. I let my anger and grief for James and Lily blind me to doing the right thing. I am very sorry, my boy."
"And your reason for sending two kids to save me at Hogwarts rather than providing me with the protection of the Chief Warlock?" Sirius countered. He leaned back in his chair, regarding Albus almost impassively.
"Ah, well, there I have no excuse."
Albus could see that he'd taken Sirius by surprise in the slight flare of his nostrils; the widening of his eyes.
"Mea culpa as the Romans used to say. Once again in your regard, I did what was easy than what was right." Albus said.
"Why?" asked Sirius baldly.
"Several reasons," Albus prevaricated, taking a sip of his tea, "but I think you know the main one."
"The compulsion charm rather gave it away." Sirius pointed out dryly.
Albus winced. He had known from their discussion on where to hold their talk that Sirius was likely aware of the compulsion Albus had placed on him at Hogwarts and he was honestly embarrassed by it. "I believed it was for the best given Cornelius's determination to have you Kissed. Rather you were abroad and safe, dear boy, than close and…"
"Near to Harry." Sirius interrupted. He picked up his own tea and took a large gulp as though he required fortification.
"I was going to say dead." Albus corrected gently despite Sirius being right in that ensuring distance between the two had been one of Albus's other reasons. "Harry would have been devastated if something had happened to you."
"Forgive me if I think your motivation wasn't quite as pure as you make it out to be. If you'd added a destination to your compulsion, no doubt I'd still be a fugitive," Sirius retorted, "and I'm not certain you've ever made a decision for Harry that took into account his happiness."
His eyebrows shot up that. "Every decision I have made in regards to Harry has been to keep him safe."
"Safe is not the same as happy." Sirius argued fiercely and Albus conceded to himself that the other man had a point. "And I think we have very different definitions of safe."
That…rankled. He felt the first stirrings of annoyance. He frowned at the younger wizard. "I have to admit, Sirius," he said quietly, "that I'm surprised at the level of your animosity." He paused. "I had hoped you would extend to me the same forgiveness and chance for redemption that I showed you after your foolish dare to Severus."
Sirius looked at him with disbelief. Albus was suddenly aware of the anger in Sirius's grey eyes. It was like a potion simmering in a cauldron; one wrong ingredient and the whole thing would explode.
"Seriously? You're going to equate an idiotic dare made by school kid, a dare provoked by Snivellus in the first place and which was probably a set up to get Remus killed and me expelled – something I'm sure you were aware of at the time, with failing your duty as Chief Warlock and incarcerating an innocent man for twelve years? And not only failing once but twice when you decided not to protect me at Hogwarts? And let's not forget the highly illegal compulsion charm you placed on me."
Albus blushed, seeing the inequality of the comparison he'd made too late, and realising he'd erred once again in believing Sirius hadn't known that Albus had known Severus had set up the incident in question.
Sirius waved a hand to forestall Albus launching his defence. "But let's say quid pro quo that your forgiveness of my impetuous youth and decision not to expel me wipes out your part in my Azkaban torment and subsequent continuance as a fugitive even when you knew I was innocent…"
His tone was scathing and Albus winced again.
"…and it wouldn't make any difference to my level of animosity because I am not mad on my behalf so much as I am mad on Harry's." Sirius stabbed a finger in his direction.
Well, at least, Albus considered wryly, they'd gotten to the heart of the matter.
"There is no greater love than a parent for a child." Albus commented, his usual calm and good humour returning with the reason for Sirius's anger. "I assure you once again that I have always acted in Harry's best interests."
He ignored the voice in his head pointing out that he had used the boy as bait for Voldemort in his first year because yes, that had happened, but Albus had learned from it and he hadn't used the boy since. For a long moment, he thought Sirius might hex him but the new Head of the House of Black gave an angry huff and sat back.
"You know I think you actually believe that."
The reply disconcerted Albus.
"You really don't see what you've done wrong, do you?" Sirius gesticulated at him. "You don't see your mistakes as mistakes but as perfectly fine decisions."
Sirius was quite correct and, with the exception of the business with the stone, Albus couldn't see that he had made any major mistakes with the boy; Harry had been kept safe. But he realised that he wasn't going to get very far on the subject of Harry without addressing the mistakes Sirius believed Albus had made with Harry.
"I am willing to explain my actions if it will heal this rift between us, Sirius; for Harry's sake." Albus offered eagerly.
Sirius nodded slowly. "Well, let's start with the first decision: why did you decide to send Harry to his aunt's that night in 'eighty-one?"
It was the perfect opening to explain the blood protection, Albus thought happily.
"Initially, the thought came from one of my last conversations with Lily," Albus admitted, "she joked that if they ran out of safe places to hide, as a last resort there was always her sister's house where she had placed blood wards. She confessed that she'd known they were considered borderline illegal, but she'd lost her parents and despite the fact that she and her sister hadn't spoken in some time, she wanted to do everything in her power to protect her."
He picked up his tea and sipped it.
"The night of the tragedy, my monitoring spells at Godric's Hollow told me Harry was still alive. So my idea when I sent Hagrid to recover Harry was simply to hide him with his muggle relations providing some breathing space in the wizarding world to make sense of what had happened before long term decisions were made." Albus explained. "I thought, you see, that there had to be not one but two spies in the Order because of the information that had leaked out. I believed you were the Secret Keeper and had betrayed them fulfilling one role but I could not be certain of the second. It was imperative that Harry was placed beyond the reach of anyone in the Order. The only people I knew for certain were absolutely trustworthy at that point were Minerva, Poppy and Hagrid."
"I don't disagree with your reasoning yet," Sirius commented, "in fact, I agreed with it at the time bar the stuff on the spy side because I knew it was Pettigrew. You thought there were two spies; you didn't account for your spy being an animagus who could sneak into the meetings where he was excluded. If I hadn't been thrown straight to Azkaban, or if you had visited me or ensured that I'd had a trial, you would have found that out."
Albus frowned but he couldn't deny Sirius's charge. "I have admitted that was a mistake."
"Yes, equivalent to my school day misdemeanour daring Snape." Sirius waved a hand as Albus bristled at the intentional poke for his earlier faux pas. "Let's continue; I know you changed your mind and decided to leave Harry there for the long term by the evening of November 1st. Why?"
"While Hagrid brought Harry to Hogwarts, I tracked down Petunia Dursley and examined the blood wards on her home. Lily was always an impressively bright witch and they were outstanding wards. I added a few more to cover the general neighbourhood." Albus recounted. "Then I returned to Hogwarts and made my way to the infirmary where Harry was in the care of Poppy. Poppy had some unusual readings." He considered the best way to frame the information and decided the most straight-forward would gain him points with Sirius. "Harry was – is – protected by a blood protection ward merged with his very skin."
Sirius didn't react.
Albus searched his expression and made an uncomfortable realisation. "You already knew."
"Harry has talked about his adventures," Sirius said quietly.
That was not good.
"…and when Remus and I theorised about how Harry had survived, Remus informed me that he had discussed such a spell with Lily." Sirius continued, shocking Albus from his rumination of how he was going to do damage control.
"Remus had…" Albus repeated with a splutter. He set his tea-cup down with a shaking hand. "Does he know the exact spell? Which reference book she used?"
"Yes as it happens." Sirius said. "I'm sure he would have told you had you informed him about the blood protection back then."
Another dig and Albus couldn't help but wince at the knowledge that he had missed out on such vital information because he had suspected Remus of being the other spy and hadn't confided in him. Of course in hindsight it was easy to see that Lily might have discussed the spell with someone and the obvious person in that circle would have been Remus given his leaning toward academia.
"But back to you," Sirius said, "you found the blood protection ward and…?" He gestured for Albus to continue.
"And came to the conclusion that Lily had obviously meant for Harry to reside with her sister; the blood ward around Harry and around the house provide him with an unparalleled level of protection. While he can call Privet Drive home, his blood maintains the ward around the house and imbues it with the same lethal nature of the ward around his skin. Voldemort cannot touch him there. But in addition to that, the presence of someone with his mother's blood within the house ward anchors the one around his skin." Albus said eagerly.
Surely now Sirius would see the need for Harry to return there. But there was no look of horror at having taken Harry away from such protection or dismay at possibly losing the protection that Harry carried.
Albus frowned. "If you have talked with Harry about his adventures then you surely realise the blood protection has saved his life twice; once that night when Voldemort attacked, and once when Harry confronted his spirit when it possessed Quirrell."
"I do realise it, Headmaster, and you've confirmed the why of it pretty much for the reasons I and Remus suspected. I'm not sure how you jumped from Lily saying her sister was a last resort and she hadn't spoken to her in years, to believing she meant for Harry to go there," Sirius said. "and we'll come back to the protection no doubt in good time, but right now I'd rather discuss why you left Harry with the Dursleys without any oversight since Minerva warned you that they were the worst kind of muggles."
It was an insightful question. Albus sighed. "I didn't leave him without any oversight; Arabella Figg was soon stationed in the neighbourhood to keep watch once I was certain that she was not the spy. But I believed when Petunia took him in that she had put aside her differences with Lily and committed herself to looking after him regardless of the issues between she and Lily."
"Firstly, I know stationing anybody was Remus's idea," Sirius commented, "and secondly, did Figg ever enter the Dursley residence? Did she check out his bedroom? Investigate his living conditions? Were the Dursleys aware that they were being watched?"
"I had promised Petunia minimal contact and I did not see the need to inform her." Albus said defensively. "Arabella it is true was never able to get inside the house but she baby-sat for Harry albeit on an occasional basis in her own home."
"And she never reported any concerns about how the Dursleys treated him?" Sirius probed.
It was clear the issue Sirius was highlighting and Albus thought it best to tackle it head-on.
"She expressed a concern that the Dursleys might not love Harry as they did their own child following her first baby-sitting experience but she assured me he was fed and clothed. She never raised the matter again and I believed Harry was doing well from the odd photo she sent." Albus sighed. "I realise such an unloving environment isn't ideal but he arrived at Hogwarts a normal child, eager to learn magic, and I believe the Dursleys for all their faults have raised an admirable boy."
Sirius shook his head. "Unbelievable." He held up a hand before Albus could continue to defend the Dursleys and his hands-off position. He opened a desk drawer and pulled out a sheaf of bound parchment. He tossed it on the desk in front of Albus. "That is a report about Harry's home environment compiled by Amelia Bones and Alastor Moody from the visit they made to Harry to interview him about the incident involving me at Hogwarts."
Albus frowned as he warily took in the parchment.
"It's the reason why I was given immediate custody of Harry." Sirius continued in the same hard unrelenting tone. "They didn't deem his home environment unloving, Headmaster, they deemed it abusive." He gestured at the report. "I haven't read it because I prefer to have Harry confide in me of his own accord, but from what little he has confided in me, I have to say I agree with the conclusions of the report." He glared at Albus. "He slept in a cupboard under the stairs until they received his first Hogwarts letter which was addressed there!"
The information stunned Albus. Surely Petunia wouldn't have done that to a child? Surely there had been some mistake…
"He received nothing but second hand clothes and practically no birthday or Christmas presents – if he received something it was a mocking item to instil in him he wasn't worthy of actual presents." Sirius continued. "I know from what Remus found out that Harry was locked up in his bedroom the Summer after his first year and starved! I took Harry with me when I went off to get the healing the Ministry ordered and you know what they found for Harry? Malnutrition and stunted growth. I wonder how that happened."
"I don't know what to say." Albus said dejectedly. Because what could he say? He had missed abuse– actual abuse! Certainly Poppy had told him about the malnutrition but he had dismissed it as the usual childish fussy eating habits he saw with many students – it was the reason why the Hogwarts food was laced with mild nutrient potions. He wanted to say that Harry had exaggerated his claims as Albus had assumed had happened with the story the Weasley twins had told their parents and Remus, but the official report compiled by an Auror that Albus himself trusted and the Head of the DMLE made a mockery of that want.
"You could have told the Dursleys in your letter that minimal contact included a yearly visit by you or Minerva if not Remus. You could have informed them that they were being watched by someone stationed in the neighbourhood. You could have paid more attention to Harry's health and his living situation when he entered Hogwarts."
Sirius berated him and Albus let him because he deserved every word. He ran over the reasons he had given for staying away and couldn't find an acceptable one. He wondered why Arabella hadn't informed him of the abuse – had she too been blind to it?
"Do you know that when we were coming out of the Shrieking Shack, before we got attacked by the Dementors, I asked Harry if he wanted to live with me then? And he said yes. Straight away." Sirius gestured impatiently at Albus. "No hesitation. What child does that? What must happen in a child's home that he believes he would be better off living with a complete stranger?!"
"You may scold me all you wish," Albus said tiredly, feeling every year of his age, "I shall not stop you. It appears that you are correct; I have made a mistake – mistakes in Harry's regard. I thought I was doing the right thing…"
Sirius regarded him with a hard look but he subsided, slumping back in his chair again. "Well, he won't go back there again."
Albus revived a little as a jolt of alarm ran through him. "He must!" He blurted out without thinking and regretted the words as soon as they passed his lips as Sirius straightened and regarded him with pure contempt.
"He will NEVER return to the Dursleys!" Sirius blazed.
"I realise that changes will need to be made," Albus said hurriedly, "but the value of the blood protection is vital now more than ever! I'll talk to the Dursleys obviously and warn them against any abusive behaviour, and perhaps you can stay with Harry to chaperone them and…"
"Are you INSANE?" Sirius rose to his feet and Albus could feel the house magic respond, crackling around him as it rose to meet its Master's anger. He marched away from Albus to a window and took some deep breaths.
Albus remained silent, understanding that Sirius was calming himself and his magic; it would be insane to disturb him.
"You don't send a child back into an abusive home for any reason." Sirius said forcefully, once he'd gotten his magic under control. "Forcing a child to be in the presence of people who hate him openly even with a chaperone…do you really think that does no harm? Merlin, you're supposed to be an educator of children!" He looked over his shoulder and glowered at Albus. "You intend to repeat your mistake, Headmaster? Put the supposed value of your all important blood protection ahead of Harry having a warm and loving environment to nurture him?"
The words were sharply mocking and Albus sighed. "The blood protection is important if Harry is to survive when Voldemort returns. I am…deeply sorry that Harry has suffered to secure his protection but he owes his life to it."
"Yes," Sirius said, turning around and folding his arms over his chest, "let's talk about why he had to be saved by the blood protection again at the end of his first year, shall we?"
Albus blushed, knowing it was his fault. He raised a hand in weary acceptance. "I accept that I made mistakes that year with Harry and the situation with Quirrell and Voldemort. I believed the measures I had taken would guarantee Harry's safety but I admit I underestimated both him and Voldemort."
Sirius walked back to his desk and sat down. "I understand as an educator you prefer to allow children to express themselves and only step in when they go too far; to learn their lesson by getting their hands burned a little in the fire so they realise its hot; to have the opportunity and freedom to learn life lessons on their own."
He had no idea where Sirius was going with his sudden change in subject but Albus assumed it was nowhere good for Albus.
"So I get why you allowed Harry and his friends to investigate the mystery. I'm sure they weren't the only ones; declaring something a no-go area to children is like waving a red flag to a bull." The dryness of his tone was somehow even more chiding than his anger. "I know James and I would have been up to the third floor corridor in a flash."
Sirius pointed at Albus. "But to encourage their curiosity when you knew the danger – when you were responsible for the danger was beyond the pale. You set a trap for a Dark Lord in a school full of children, Headmaster." He said coldly. "You used my son, James's and Lily's son, as bait and he ended up in no less than four life-threatening situations. You allowed a man possessed by Voldemort to teach. You placed dangerous creatures within the school – within the school! You failed to fulfil your duty of care ten times over."
Albus couldn't argue with him. He nodded despondently. "It was not one of my better moments, Sirius, and believe me when I say I learned from it. I would not do the same again."
"Well, the second year disaster when Harry was almost killed by a basilisk wasn't your fault, I give you that," Sirius said.
Dear Merlin; the boy really had talked of his adventures. Albus sighed heavily.
"But you didn't do much to ensure the safety of the school either. What were you thinking allowing the school to remain open when there was a basilisk roaming the corridors?"
"I could not locate the Chamber to deal with the basilisk and there was no information on who was being possessed." Albus defended himself briskly. "If I had merely closed the school, neither issue would have been resolved and the problem would just have reoccurred once the students returned. I confess that I did overlook Myrtle quite badly as a source of information but alas, I assumed her place of death was meaningless as a clue."
Sirius nodded. "OK, I can accept that although there were other additional precautions you could have taken; hiring some more roosters once the first lot were killed, for instance. But then there's the whole matter of allowing Harry to be mostly ostracized for being a parselmouth." He held up a hand. "I know it goes with your theory of education; children need to learn to handle rejection and not always being liked but you fail to realise that not stepping in condones the poor behaviour of prejudiced children being mean to another child. Just as never stepping into stop bullying behaviour allows it to continue and punishes the child being bullied."
"We have recently realised this and have agreed a new bullying policy." Albus rejoined, ignoring that his agreement had been grudging and given only after Minerva's sharp words on the subject.
"Does that include stopping the staff bullying the students too?" Sirius remarked crisply.
"You're referring to Severus." Albus said with a sigh. "I have talked with him about his behaviour with Harry."
Sirius harrumphed.
Albus decided he had been on the defensive too long. "Shall we discuss why Harry was in danger last year?"
Sirius gave a small laugh. "Oh, I accept my part and I'll even admit that I know you were forced to take the Dementors as guards under severe protest since Cornelius already confessed all to me, but you still didn't ward the passageways into the school; didn't think to leave an alarm on the Shrieking Shack; didn't think to specifically alarm Gryffindor tower. I got into the dorm! If I'd really been after killing Harry, I would have succeeded!"
The criticism hurt and Albus could see in hindsight that he should have done those things – it just hadn't occurred to him as he had been confident his security measures were sufficient. "Perhaps there needs to be a security review." He murmured. "I believed the usual wards would inform me if you entered the school which they failed to do."
"I have come this close," Sirius held up his forefinger and thumb showing a distance of less than an inch, "to finding Harry a different school."
Albus's eyes widened with horror. The financial impact if Harry withdrew would be tremendous as others would follow in his wake; the damage to Hogwarts' reputation would be immense; and, sentimentally, Albus wanted Harry himself to simply attend and enjoy Hogwarts as Albus had done, as James and Lily had done.
"However," Sirius said, "Harry loves Hogwarts. So he stays and I will be taking the Black seat on the Board of Governors." He looked over at Albus and for the first time the fire that had been in his eyes had disappeared. "A security review seems to be a good idea especially since you're opening up the school to the Tri-Wizard Tournament."
"I would appreciate your help," Albus said immediately, "and perhaps I can convince Amelia to put some of the new funds at her disposal towards the tournament." He smiled at Sirius proudly. "That was well done today, my boy, very well done indeed."
He could admit that Sirius had played the Wizengamot like a harp; just like Arcturus. The House of Black had always wielded immense wealth and power in pursuit of its political goals. He could even admit that he agreed with most of the decisions Sirius seemed to have made: that he had taken a position that placed the House of Black staunchly against the Dark Lord was fantastic news but his actions in regards to the LeStranges was worryingly ruthless. Everybody deserved a chance for redemption.
Sirius waved away the praise. "We've meandered from the point."
"Yes, we have." Albus admitted. "I concede that Harry going back to the Dursleys would be difficult for him but I don't see any other way to maintain the blood protection. Measures can be taken to ensure Harry had minimal contact with them, but I'm sorry, Sirius, I must insist he return there."
Sirius's eyes fired up again. "You just don't listen, do you? Firstly, you mustn't insist anything. You don't have the authority under any of your many positions to tell me to do anything in regards to MY son; I am his blood, legal and magical guardian NOT you! You are nothing more than his Headmaster and, if you ever get your head out of your arse, a possible friend and ally."
Albus blinked at the caustic tone and harsh language. "There's no need for that, my boy."
"I think there's every reason because you don't seem to understand that: Harry. Will. Never. Go. Back. To. The. Dursleys." He punctuated each word by stabbing his finger onto his desk.
"The blood protection…"
"The Dursleys are no longer at Privet Drive." Sirius cut him off harshly.
Albus froze and examined the younger wizard's intent expression. "What did you do?"
"I gave them a new house with new wards. Petunia was ecstatic about living in her dream town and without Harry." Sirius sat back, looking unconcerned.
"But the blood wards…"
"Will fail very shortly." Sirius pointed out. "With nobody of Lily's blood residing there."
Albus closed his eyes. "Then the blood protection…"
"Is fine." Sirius said.
Albus snapped his eyes open in shock.
"Remus tracked down the spell he and Lily had discussed. It mentioned that the blood protection would erode without an anchor of blood within a home. Luckily, Remus found an adoption blessing within the same text." Sirius explained. "We did the ritual yesterday as it has to be performed by the women of the House. Harry's blood protection is anchored by Black blood now."
"And you couldn't have told me this before?" Albus asked, genuinely irritated at how Sirius had allowed him to believe the blood protection was in danger and gone.
"No." Sirius wagged a finger at him. "I was interested to know if you'd put Harry's best interests first and whether you'd be willing to listen to someone else's view."
"Ah." Albus felt a rush of chagrin and reached for a lemon biscuit in the absence of his comforting muggle sweets. "I rather failed your test, I fear."
"I wouldn't say you'd get a Troll…" Sirius said dryly.
"Just a Dreadful." Albus sighed and munched his biscuit. He wasn't sure how he could patch things up. He'd been so certain that he knew best. On one hand, he was despondent at losing control of the situation and yet, on the other, he admired Sirius's and Remus's ingenuity. They had achieved both securing Harry a happy home where he was loved and the maintenance of the blood protection; something Albus had failed to do.
"If I was your Professor, I would say that you need to stop believing that you're the only one with the answers, share your problems with others and listen to them, and most importantly; acknowledge that there are more important things in raising a child than simply keeping him alive." Sirius said crisply.
Sirius got back to his feet and walked over to the mantelpiece where he looked at the crest of the House of Black for a long moment, leaving Albus to consider his words of advice. Albus took a drink of tea to wash down the biscuit.
"So how is your search for the horcruxes going?" Sirius asked suddenly.
His tea went down the wrong way and Albus coughed violently in danger of choking for a long moment. He took a breath to recover and Sirius passed him a conjured glass of water. Albus drank deeply and sighed with relief as the soreness in his throat eased.
Sirius returned to his seat. "Anything you would like to share?"
Albus stared at him and wondered just how much Sirius knew. Did he know about the horcrux within Harry – he had mentioned that they'd attended a healing clinic…or was his knowledge restricted to the diary that Harry would have described in telling all about his second year adventure with the basilisk? He recalled that the discussion about the blood protection had been a test and he had failed. This was his second chance, Albus realised. If he did not give full disclosure here…
"I believe I have much to share and not all of it good news." Albus offered gravely. "You know of the diary, I presume?"
Sirius gave a slow nod. He propped his head up with one hand, his elbow resting on the table. His Head of House ring glinted at Albus.
"As soon as I saw it I knew what it was. Such a vile act; a vile trick to flee from death, indeed." Albus said, with renewed disgust at what Tom had done. "I'm not certain but I think the diary was an accident created by the death of Myrtle as Tom called the basilisk forth from the Chamber when he was a student at Hogwarts. He poured much of his personality between its pages and when he killed her, the damage to his soul caused it to fracture and a piece sheared away and became one with the diary." He sighed heavily. "Whether Tom's interest in horcruxes predated that incident or whether he had already started to learn of them…I rather believe when he realised that the diary had been turned into more than a journal when it wrote back to him, it prompted his curiosity and led him to a conversation with Horace."
"Old Slughorn?" Sirius grimaced. "Sluggy would have had access to a lot of Dark knowledge through his network. If he didn't know about horcruxes, I'm sure he would have known someone who did to point Tom at."
"And I fear he did." Albus said. "I tracked Horace down last summer but he refused outright to admit to any discussion. His entire demeanour was one of heavy guilt." He sipped his tea. "I believe once Tom had confirmed what the diary was, he stopped writing into it, possibly around the middle of his sixth year. But no doubt Tom made others – he would not have stopped at one. Three may have been his initial goal…seven is more likely. He had an obsession with the number. How many he made before his confrontation with Harry that night…"
Good Merlin, the prophecy! Another piece of vital information he had kept to himself for so long…was he meant to give that up too? Maybe he could offer what was already known by Tom…
His eyes sharpened on Sirius. "Tom believed, you see, that Harry was the one prophesised to vanquish him. The Death Eater who overheard and reported it to him only heard the first part of the prophecy but it was enough to identify Harry and young Neville as possible candidates; it was why I encouraged both families into hiding."
Sirius nodded. "You know the full prophecy?"
"I do but I would not want to burden Harry with the full weight of it at his age." Albus admitted frankly.
For a long moment, Albus thought Sirius was going to press him further and there was a worrying shimmer of rage that flickered across Sirius's face before it faded into an expressionless mask that simply made Albus more anxious.
"So you don't have any idea of the number of horcruxes Voldemort made before he was made a wraith?" Sirius returned to the topic of horcruxes much to Albus's relief.
"My intention this Summer is to start reviewing Tom's life and backtracking to see when and where he could have made them." Albus admitted.
Sirius nodded almost absently. He opened another desk drawer and another piece of parchment drifted out to hover in front of Albus. He took it and thanked Merlin he'd put his tea down. Regulus Black had just made his job much easier!
"Well, this is splendid!" Albus said, delighted. "I can make some guesses as to the items and locations using this list and…"
"The DOM is going to form a team to track them down and destroy them." Sirius said dryly.
Albus looked up in alarm. "You…you told Bertie about the horcruxes?"
"Bertie, Cornelius and Amelia in general terms; I called them objects that kept Voldemort from dying." Sirius confirmed to Albus's horror. "Bertie understood what I meant obviously; the DOM has researched horcruxes before and they know how to dispose of them. As I said, he's going to put a small team together. Bill Weasley will join it to provide his curse-breaking skills in repayment of his sister's life debt to Harry and to give me an inside man. He also knows the full picture; he's come across them in Egypt."
His plans unravelled before Albus's eyes. That Sirius could risk the information from leaking in such a way…
"All the team will be under vows; all capable of Occlumency." Sirius said as though he'd read Albus's mind. "We're calling it Operation Treasure Hunt."
Albus placed the parchment down and regarded Sirius with disappointment. "Nevertheless, the likelihood of this hunt getting back to Voldemort has increased substantially. We could have kept this between us and hunted them down ourselves."
"And how long would that take us?" asked Sirius pointedly. "I want this done quickly before Voldemort regains a body and is operating at full strength. Yes, there's a risk, but this is the DOM's specialty. They're trained for this." He paused. "Just as the DMLE is now on alert that Voldemort didn't die and may be attempting a comeback. They're going to start tracking the known Death Eaters that walked for lack of evidence."
"The Wizengamot today," Albus realised, his mind racing, "you and Cornelius were laying the foundation to undermine Tom's political power."
"And financial." Sirius said.
Albus nodded slowly because he could already see how Sirius would use the power of the House of Black and the House of Potter to control the Ministry and the Wizengamot and reshape the wizarding world – all for the protection of the boy Sirius loved as a son. "Remarkable." He had always believed love was the power Tom knew not.
"There's a War Council," Sirius said, "and you're invited to be part of it. Everyone is agreed your help and advice would be welcome. Penelope will send you the details of the meeting times."
"I would be delighted to assist." Albus said.
He could still backtrack through Tom's life but it seemed he would not do so alone. He remembered Sirius's chiding comments after the blood protection discussion and mused that it might not be a bad thing although he still worried about so much vital information being so widely known.
Albus sighed heavily. "The next piece of information I have for you, I suggest you do not share with anyone." He held Sirius's curious gaze determinedly. "The night Tom attacked Harry I believe he created another accidental horcrux – within Harry." He gestured across the desk. "I bound Harry's core to prevent the remnant becoming powerful and assuming control of the child. It does restrict the conscious amount of power Harry can access although he is capable of overcoming that as his mastering of the Patronus charm demonstrates." He searched for the right words and found none. "To defeat Tom, I'm afraid Harry must also die."
"Harry had the horcrux removed at the healing clinic although he believes he simply had his scar cleansed of Dark magic. They removed your binding afterwards and we've been practicing bringing his magic under control." Sirius told him bluntly. "If you want confirmation you can write to Noshi Blackhawk."
The news that Harry was cleansed of Tom's darkness, that he would not need to die, rushed through Albus, and stole his breath; Harry could live, grow old. He felt his emotions surge; an enormous wave of relief followed immediately by an almost oppressive amount of guilt. Why had it never occurred to him to seek the counsel of someone like Noshi?
"You must think me a monster." Albus thought out loud, blinking back tears of remorse.
"Noshi told me you could have killed Harry that Halloween's night and you didn't so no, I don't think you're a monster." Sirius said calmly. "I'm not happy with you. You could have sought help and advice if not immediately at the time, certainly in the years since and especially before Harry got to school."
And there it was again; Sirius's painful lesson that Albus share information and listen to others. He could have approached Noshi; he knew the man was a good soul and a consummate healer who took issues of confidentiality seriously. He shook his head. "You are right to be angry with me. I have made many mistakes. All I can offer as mitigation is that I believed I was protecting him and that I do care for him tremendously."
Sirius sighed and sat back, looking at Albus pensively. "I'm angry at you, Albus."
The use of his given name didn't go unnoticed by Albus; it was the first time since they had talked that Sirius had consented to use it. He felt a stirring of hope.
"If Harry had been inclined to pursue a prosecution against the Dursleys, and if it wouldn't have completely destabilised our society which considers you a moral icon, I would have encouraged him to bring charges against you too for child endangerment and neglect." Sirius informed him briskly.
Albus flinched sharply.
"You have three important positions in our society, but you have made serious errors of judgement both as Chief Warlock and as Headmaster of Hogwarts." Sirius continued. "Any other person would have resigned following the disclosure that they had failed to give an innocent man a trial yet both you, and Crouch for that matter, have wriggled out of it, placing the blame on Bagnold who is dead and can't defend herself."
Another flinch; he couldn't deny it.
Sirius motioned at Albus. "Your decisions as Headmaster, certainly for Harry's first year if not his second, should also have led to dismissal." He pinned Albus with a hard grey stare. "Again, a noble man would have resigned." He sat back. "Yet, I can't deny that if Voldemort is attempting to rise again, if you were not Headmaster, he'd consider Hogwarts as vulnerable and so I can't demand you to do the noble thing in repayment for all the crap you've put Harry through."
Albus breathed out a little.
"And I'm mostly not the injured party." Sirius continued. "Harry believes you care about him and I…I have attempted to maintain that impression while trying to explain your actions or inaction when he's questioned it – such as your decision not to look in on him after you placed him with the Dursleys. In truth, I rather think he's already forgiven you. Personally I think he's too forgiving because of the self-esteem issues that living with the Dursleys have left him with. But he has too few people in his life who he believes genuinely care for him and I won't deny him any one of those people."
"I will offer him an unreserved apology." Albus said quickly.
Sirius nodded. "Understand this, Albus; Harry is mine to protect now. You're done making decisions about his home, his life and his future. I don't believe that prophecies are written in stone. I will do everything I can to remove Voldemort from existence so Harry doesn't have to face him again. You get in the way of that and I don't care how powerful you are, you and I will come to blows."
Albus bristled slightly at the tone but he knew Sirius meant every word of it and was quite capable of carrying out his threat. Albus was the more powerful wizard but Sirius had shown a sneakiness that had completely overturned all of Albus's plans within the space of a mere month. "I promise to work with you, Sirius, and I promise to do better in sharing and listening to others."
Sirius harrumphed and there was a definite air of 'I'll believe it when I see it' as he got to his feet. "I have to get back to Harry and I think we're done for today." He gestured at the report still on the desk while placing the parchment on the horcruxes back in his desk. "That's your copy."
Albus stifled the urge to ask to see Harry, his want to know where Harry was so that he could monitor him. He picked up the report and let Sirius walk him to the floo. They exchanged brief words of goodbye before Albus entered the flames.
He walked out of the fireplace and into his office at Hogwarts; Fawkes trilled a comforting welcome. He placed the report on his desk, his fingers tracing over it thoughtfully. He wondered if he dared read it, and knew that he would. He had been a Gryffindor once and it was only right that he learn of the consequences of his decision. He glanced over to the set of monitoring instruments and waved his wand to shut down all but the one that kept track of Harry's life force.
He wandered over to the window to look over the grounds, letting the soothing familiarity of the school ease him. His plans were smashed to smithereens, Albus considered with wry amusement. Unsurprisingly when dealing with the Marauders, for he had no doubt that Remus had played his part in the scheme and would continue to do so. The group had been the best of their generation with the exception of Pettigrew who had been inclined to laziness – and their generation had been exceptional; Severus, Lily, Alice – so many wonderful witches and wizards.
It was easy to see the bare bones of Sirius's plan from the events at the Wizengamot; he intended to shut down Tom's second grab for power before it began. The DOM would deal with the horcruxes, the DMLE with the Death Eaters, and the Ministry and Wizengamot would reshape the political and financial landscape and make it unfriendly to Tom, less of a breeding ground for followers which would make recruitment more difficult for him. It was a good plan despite Albus's concerns that it involved too many people knowing critical information.
But Albus felt almost adrift – he no longer held the rudder but was reduced to a passenger in the boat. Oh, he had no doubt he would contribute – especially to the horcrux hunt and to the politics (he did have some sway on the Light side) – and no doubt his expertise would be valued but…he sighed heavily.
He felt so old.
Useless.
Fawkes trilled and swooped over from his perch to sit on Albus's shoulder. Albus stroked his friend's head gently, grateful for Fawke's unwavering support.
Sirius's plan also kept Harry well away from the fight, Albus mused idly, or at least tried to keep Harry away from the fight. But Albus thought Sirius was wrong about the prophecy. He hadn't been a fan of Divination himself before witnessing Sybill's declaration and could understand Sirius's point of view but ultimately it didn't matter because Tom believed the prophecy. So, no; Albus had no doubt that Harry would have face to Tom in battle again.
But, Harry no longer had to be the one to die; Albus didn't need to shape the boy so he would sacrifice his own life. He didn't need to hope beyond hope that Tom would seek to use Harry's blood in creating a body and thus provide an anchor so Harry had an impossible chance to survive death; a long shot if ever there was one. The relief of that made his knees tremble. It had been the part of the plan that Albus had hated; had always hated. To know that he didn't have to groom the boy in such a way, that such a stain would not be added to those already on his soul – ArianaGellert – was a weight off his shoulders.
He pursed his lips.
The problem was that if Harry was not to die in battle he would need to fight Tom and match him if not beat him. Nothing Albus had previously planned involved that scenario. Harry was a gifted DADA student – natural – but beyond that Albus hadn't seen the need to offer additional training or education. In fact Albus would have denied Harry such a thing if he'd asked because when Harry discovered he needed to die, that Albus hadn't given him any training to survive would underscore how much Albus believed that Harry needed to die. That Harry lacked confidence in his own worth because of the Dursleys would have just made convincing him easier albeit Albus hadn't planned it that way and he honestly hadn't realised that they'd been anything other than unloving.
Albus sighed.
Severus had informed him that the Dark Mark was growing stronger. Harry would no doubt meet Tom sooner rather than later. And Harry needed training – probably more than Sirius would allow if he knew the reason for it. But wasn't Harry's core unbound? Albus remembered how powerful Harry had been as a mere babe – everybody in the Order had heard James boast of Harry turning into a puppy at four months. Harry was a powerful wizard and he would need someone who understood that power – who was just as powerful – someone like Albus.
He smiled.
He would do all he could to train Harry to fight Tom and he could do it all in the guise of helping Harry control his power so Sirius didn't worry that he was forcing the issue of Harry fighting Tom. He felt a touch of satisfaction fill him. He nudged Fawkes who flew back to his perch, and hurried back to his desk to start making plans for Harry's education but he stopped short at the sight of the report.
The front parchment with its seal of the Ministry stared up at him. Within was the truth of what Harry had suffered because of the decisions Albushad made. But he needed read it; he needed to understand the damage to Harry's confidence and what would need to be done to correct that.
Albus sat down at his desk, gathered his courage and opened the report.
"Oh, Harry…my poor boy."