Harry hadn’t slept that long in the makeshift tent before waking up from the noise outside, he fumbled around next to his pillow for his glasses, and put them on before sitting up from his bed. The tent is empty, with only Professor Hap sitting by the entrance, albeit looking a little distracted.
“You’re awake, Harry.” Felix said.
“Professor? How long was I asleep?” Harry asked in a daze.
“About an hour or so.”
“What about the others?”
“They all had something to do, it’s a long day for some … as if a lifetime passed,” Felix said, still looking outside. He had the Book of Rune in his lap, but didn’t glance at it, “Don’t worry, Ron and the group were sent back to school.”
Harry was slightly relieved to hear that, and then a question came to his mind, “Where is Headmaster Dumbledore? He, I, Bellatrix-”
“Oh, I know what you’re trying to ask, Dumbledore left for that very thing.”
“He went off to look for the Horcrux?” Harry asked hopefully.
“That’s right, he thought of some clues and rushed off to confirm them.” Felix glanced at Harry, who couldn’t hide the joy on his face, so he poured cold water over it, “Don’t be too optimistic, the odds of Dumbledore gaining something are very slim.”
“Why do you say that?” Harry asked, holding his breath.
He knew one thing, something he, Ron, and Hermione had speculated privately combining what Sirius and Neville had said.
Sirius had told him that the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix had secretly assigned people to monitor Death Eaters whose names had been revealed, but they had no solid evidence against them; while Neville had inadvertently mentioned that the Longbottoms had monitored the Malfoy Manor and had sighted Bellatrix.
‘And then Longbottoms foiled the You-Know-Who’ plot and almost caught her!’
Bellatrix, Harry mused that name.
He knew that woman, had even seen her face many times on different occurrences- on wanted notices, in newspapers, and in Headmaster Dumbledore’s Pensieve near the end of the previous school year; Oh, he had also seen her old photographs in Black’s ancestral house before.
It was hard for Harry to connect the young woman in the photo with the insane look she had during her trial inside the Pensieve.
“Even if Voldemort had given Bellatrix Horcrux for safekeeping, there’s no way he’d be comfortable giving it to someone else after today; he’d definitely retrieve it. That was one of Dumbledore’s purposes, to scare the snake out of the grass.”
” So the Headmaster wore the ring to actively reveal that he knew about the Horcruxes?” Harry asked as he knew all the Horcruxes now. “Couldn’t we just quietly collect the Horcruxes and destroy them one by one?” He muttered unhappily.
“It’s hard when you get to this point.” Felix said, “If you see this from the perspective of both Dumbledore and Voldemort, you can understand it more easily. In the case of Dumbledore, he has two primary aims, first, he wants to keep Voldemort under considerable pressure so that he won’t start a full-scale war and keep it at a low intensity; in fact, there have been some conflicts before, but they were just that, the death rate was nothing compared to the war.”
“Secondly he wanted to identify the last Horcrux as soon as possible, and yes, we didn’t expect much, but thanks to you, it went off without a hitch too.” Felix said with a tilt of his head in Harry’s direction, “But back then Dumbledore didn’t factor you in the plan.”
Or maybe he did consider it, Felix thought.
Dumbledore’s thoughts should have been extremely conflicted; because both he and Felix knew one of the easiest ways to destroy the piece of Voldemort’s soul in Harry’s body, but neither of them had mentioned it, and looked for other solutions separately.
But there was no way someone as wise as Dumbledore hadn’t considered the worst-case scenario, and the fact that he had been consciously grooming Harry, including the fact that he had allowed him to stay and watch the battle today, could have been a reflection of that conflicting thought.
“Both of those aims have already met with challenges.” Harry mused as he looked down, “Voldemort has gained the snakewood wand and gained more strength, so even if he doesn’t show up today, there will be other plots. And the Horcrux … Horcrux investigation has reached a deadlock?”
“Before? Yes.” Felix said.
” Well, is it possible that Voldemort would just throw the last Horcrux somewhere,” Harry asked sharply, as he tried to find the flaw in the plan, “in case he threw it into the ocean or buried it in the earth …”
” Not possible.” Felix said curtly.
“Why-”
“Because of you.” Felix gave Harry a deep look, “Voldemort didn’t know about your connection in the past, but you don’t honestly believe that he didn’t notice anything after he possessed you, right?”
Harry’s expression went blank for a moment.
“He knew? Knew I could look into his mind?”
Certainly, Felix thought. The only thing that is unclear is how much Voldemort knows; Voldemort might even know Harry’s Horcrux identity, the odds are somewhere in the middle. But one thing is certain, he must have noticed the connection between him and Harry.
Some things could never be hidden if they were seriously investigated, like Harry’s scar and Parseltongue, both of which are not exactly a secret at school.
And as the sole, no, the only two people who are still alive after being hit by the killing curse, it’s hard to figure out what kind of connection they have, not to mention the protection magic Harry’s mother had cast. It made things even more complicated.
Voldemort might not necessarily be able to make the connection with the Horcrux, as he had never actively split his soul.
But it would be extremely unwise to let the Horcrux out of his sight without knowing exactly how strong the connection is, in case Harry could track the Horcrux, which is highly unlikely, but for Voldemort, it would be a huge risk.
For Voldemort, who is left with only one Horcrux, who is on edge, and who had just suffered a major defeat, would he dare to gamble?
So it is not an exaggeration to say that Harry is Voldemort’s nemesis.
Silence fell over the tent.
After an unknown period of time, Dumbledore’s figure appeared in the tent when both Harry and Felix looked up at the same time, Dumbledore looked exhausted and Harry noticed his wrinkles have returned and, he didn’t know whether it was an illusion or not, there are more wrinkles on his face than before.
Dumbledore shook his head silently and Harry’s heart sank.
“Harry, I’m taking you back to school.” Dumbledore said.
“What about Professor Hap?” Harry asked as he stood up.
“He has his own things to do.” Dumbledore said briefly, Harry was unsure, if ‘this thing’ referred to sitting in his chair at the entrance to the tent and chilling out? But before he could ask, Dumbledore took Harry by the shoulders and Harry spoke with a stutter as he struggled for a moment.
“I-I’m sorry … I got you all in trouble.”
“It’s not your fault.” Dumbledore calmly said.
“But I didn’t listen to you and brought Voldemort’s attention towards me.” Harry blamed himself, “I should have figured you could handle it … but I couldn’t hold back.”
He realized it was because of his impulsiveness that Voldemort had found out about their connection. It would probably be difficult to scoop information out of Voldemort’s mind in the future, and Voldemort would certainly defend against it with extra care …
To Harry’s surprise, Dumbledore smiled for the first time since he had appeared, and so did Professor Hap at the entrance.
“Harry,” Dumbledore said patiently, “of course I want you to become mature and prudent, but I would prefer if your growth didn’t come at the cost of losing all your shining points, like kindness, bravery, and righteousness … which is something many people can’t possess in a lifetime. You have a clear conscience, Harry, and you don’t even know how much I envy you.”
He sighed softly and stroked the black jeweled ring on his hand.
For a long time, neither of them spoke until Fawkes flew in from outside, circled low in the tent twice, and landed on Dumbledore’s shoulder. And with a burst of flame, they disappeared from the tent.
Felix looked out leisurely, and wondered for a moment, Kindness, Righteousness, Bravery, and a Clear Conscience … How many of these qualities does he possess?
————–
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