Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 58: The Visitor
Dumbledore was resting at his desk with his eyes closed when he detected that someone was at the door.
"Come in… Severus."
A very tired Severus Snape walked up the stairs leading to his office and went inside.
Dumbledore immediately took note of how exhausted he looked. His sweaty hair was now sticking to his face, and his black robes were filled with cuts and holes.
"I presume the task is not going well?"
"The task… is done," said Snape.
"Already? I thought it would take a bit longer to process two creatures of that size." Dumbledore had tasked Snape and Hagrid with the job.
He couldn't rely on others, as he wanted to keep that incident a secret in order to avoid causing panic.
"Yes, Headmaster, it is done, and it was not easy," Snape grumbled with annoyance. "The materials have been stored near Hagrid's cabin, since there was nowhere else to leave them."
"Thank you, Severus. I can imagine it was not easy. I wish I could have done more to help, but… I'm a bit old for that kind of work."
"I didn't ask any questions before, but I would like to know now where those two dragons came from. According to Hagrid, the biggest one was hundreds of years old and would have been considered an ancient dragon. Creatures like those are supposed to be extinct," Snape said.
"Well…" Dumbledore took a moment to think about his next words. He wasn't very sure how much of this he should share, as it might end up in the ears of the Dark Lord.
"It appears that when I brought Harry here, we also got the attention of someone else. Someone who had been going after him."
"What do you mean? Like… besides the Dark Lord?" Snape asked.
Dumbledore nodded. "I'm afraid so."
"Who? Is it another dark wizard? Is he a foreigner?"
"I don't have a lot of information yet. All I know is that it is not just one individual, but it appears to be an entire group of dangerous people." Dumbledore avoided telling Snape that this group seemed to be composed of Muggles, because he didn't think the Potions professor would believe him if he told him that a Muggle had attacked Hogwarts while riding a red dragon.
"A group…" Snape glanced at the Headmaster with suspicion.
"Severus, I assure you that I will tell you more as soon as I can. And not just you, but… perhaps it's time to bring the full Order of the Phoenix together. We could certainly use the help," Dumbledore said.
"What about Potter? Did the boy just take off after leaving this mess to us?" Snape asked.
"He… ehm… will be back soon. Harry understands that he must take part in the tournament." Also, he had promised Harry that he was going to tell him when the dragon parts were ready to be picked up.
He also avoided telling this to Snape, as he was aware of his mixed feelings when it came to Harry Potter.
"Tsk! If you don't mind, Headmaster, I'm going to go lie down for a few hours," Snape said.
"Yes, of course. Thank you for your help, Severus," Dumbledore said as he watched the man leave his office.
Once he was alone, he took some parchment and a quill and began to write. "It is time to send Harry a message. I will tell him that his materials are ready and ask him to bring me the… fragment." The Horcrux that used to be in Harry's scar.
He stopped writing for a moment and wondered what he should do afterwards.
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The gates of the Main Hall were suddenly opened, and Harry walked inside.
Immediately, hundreds of heads turned to look at him, and he realised that he had interrupted the students' breakfast.
"Oh… I should have come a bit later." After receiving Dumbledore's message, he didn't want to wait for too long before collecting those materials.
He planned to spend some time in isolation to study the black tome properly and without interruption.
Before doing that, he wanted to leave the materials with Morgan so she could decide what she wanted to keep and what to sell.
Harry was not planning any more rituals at the moment, so he didn't require any particular materials. However, what he did need was money to buy information and a few artifacts.
"Are you… Harry Potter?"
"Hmm?" Harry glanced at a young girl with bushy brown hair who was staring at him with an intense look.
"I am. Is there something you need, Miss…?"
"I'm H-Hermione Granger. Ehm…"
"You can't be Harry Potter!" A brown-haired boy rose from his seat and pointed at him.
"Seamus, shut up!" His friend was trying to pull him back into his seat.
"But it's true. Everyone is saying it," Seamus insisted. "He looks nothing like the real Harry Potter."
"The real Harry Potter?" Harry wondered what this boy was talking about. Who was more real than him?
The bushy-haired girl produced a book from her bag and showed it to him. "He is talking about this."
Harry grabbed it and took a better look. He finally understood what that boy was saying.
This was one of those children's books that had been written about him.
Morgan had shown him a couple of them. They were full of nonsensical stuff about him growing up in a castle and fighting dragons.
'Actually… that is not too far off from my previous life. Although I was mostly an adult when I started living in Camelot, so I didn't grow up there.' Harry found the coincidence somewhat amusing.
"I see. So you are all disappointed because I don't look like this depiction in these books." Harry glanced down at the drawing on the cover.
The boy depicted there had short brown hair and round glasses, as well as a clearly visible lightning bolt scar on his forehead.
'It's kind of funny, but I did look similar to this when I was living with the Dursleys. Before I made some changes.' Whoever this artist was, he had been very accurate.
Unfortunately for those present, he had left behind those looks in favour of something that reminded him more of his old self.
By the looks he was receiving from the other students, it seemed like most of those present shared the same opinion.
"Mister Potter." Professor McGonagall decided to approach before things went out of control in the hall. "Do you mind accompanying me for a moment?"
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