Harry did not immediately realize what exactly had been strange about that week. Then again, there had been far too many strange things, and so such trifles as the temporary loss of his ability to use magic, especially against the backdrop of the preceding events, were simply taken for granted. But something really was wrong. There had been no letters yet. None at all. And yet the owls carrying the newspapers arrived every morning! Harry even briefly suspected Kreacher, and then Dobby as well, but the latter appeared and swore that he would never, ever dare take the great Harry Potter's mail. After asking the elf not to help anyone, including Dumbledore, enter this house, Harry had only just been about to return to his reflections on life when fate decided to correct its mistake.
A whole flock of owls flew into the drawing room, where the owner of the house was currently sitting. And at least one of the letters was of an extremely unpleasant nature. Well, that was to be expected. Especially from Molly Weasley. The Howler did not wait to be opened and began shouting throughout the entire house, but Silencio worked on it as well. Not as it should have, but at least its volume dropped to that of ordinary human speech. The letter was very long, but its entire essence could be reduced to a few phrases: "And I treated you like a son?! Don't you dare go near my children! Murderer! Go to the Dark Lord!" The events of Harry's second year involving the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets were also mentioned in passing... Harry calmly endured all these outpourings, especially since he himself did not know how he felt about what he had done, but when Molly's voice began a tirade about his relationship with "some foreign whore," the letter was destroyed immediately.
Deciding not to put the matter off, Potter began sorting through the mail. Many of the letters were exactly like the Howler, and some even expressed ideas such as, "When did you go over to the side of You-Know-Who?"... It was sad to see a letter from Hagrid among them, who could not even bring himself to be angry, he was simply too kind... But why had even he decided that something was wrong with Harry?.. Another group of letters, however, began with one from Ron, which had been attached to an envelope signed by Lupin—it was immediately clear that the redhead had not been allowed to send a message to his friend. He wrote that he did not know what to do, but believed that his friend could not have gone over to the dark side. At the same time, he explained the reason for the mail's long absence—the newspapers made everything seem calm, but in reality, throughout the entire week following that ill-fated Sunday, Voldemort had been trying to take revenge, and therefore the entire Order had been occupied; and Ron's mother really had forbidden him from speaking to "that filthy snake"; it was fortunate that Lupin was at the school, otherwise Pigwidgeon would have been taken away... Lupin himself, incidentally, was not so certain that Harry had nothing to do with the use of Dark magic, but he had persuaded Tonks not to take Molly's side. In the end, the boy decided that he absolutely had to invite his former teacher over for a conversation.
There were several more letters of that sort, but three stood out sharply from all the others. The first was from Bill and Fleur. There could be no doubt that they had been informed of what had happened, especially since otherwise they would have had no reason to wait so long. Bill apologized for having come up with the idea of inviting Harry to the celebration without ensuring proper security, while Fleur's first concern was to learn about Flamia's current condition. Perhaps she was the only person who had remembered the girl at all, apart from her mother-in-law. Their letter carefully avoided the subject of the killings, yet it did not create the impression that they simply wanted to forget about it; but how else could they express their support in such a situation? They could hardly write, "You did the right thing by dealing with those bastards," after all!
The second unusual message came from Mad-Eye. It was quite short: "Potter! I don't know what you've done to yourself, and I don't particularly want to know; knowing you, I doubt anyone suffered because of it! Many people condemn you, but I'll tell you this: war is war! I wouldn't mind having a fighter like you in my squad at all! If you don't object, I'll give you a couple of private lessons! P.S. Constant vigilance!"
The third letter, or rather note, came from Dumbledore: "Harry, we need to talk. Three o'clock in the afternoon." Harry had not expected that at all. Of course, it was difficult to draw conclusions from a couple of lines, but even so... For some reason, it was immediately clear that the conversation would not be an easy one. And its main subject would be THAT act. The only thing that encouraged the boy was the fact that the Headmaster was not one of those wizards who judged others according to completely absurd signs—or at least concealed it very carefully. Judging by the letters in the first pile, many people were not actually displeased by the brutal killings themselves—of course, they would hardly have approved of him throwing Killing Curses around, but...—but by what Harry was turning into. And they did not care in the slightest that the girl might have died had he not transformed into that monster, or that he himself had actually suffered as well; he simply did not care about it... Someone unused to such things might even have been horrified. There were deep scars and burns all over his body—or rather, six severe wounds. But his concern for Flamia had made the boy forget about them completely.
There were still several hours left until three. So as not to waste time, Harry replied to Lupin's and Moody's letters, asking the former to come the following day at noon and the latter closer to evening. Potter then decided to make himself presentable before the Headmaster arrived, especially since he had no intention of once again finding himself in the position of the weaker side, listening to the decisions of the great old man. And so, after going to the bathroom, which, incidentally, he had not entered for almost a week—what use was washing when Kreacher still had to persuade him even to eat?—Harry resolutely set about improving his appearance. He put on an emerald-colored silk shirt, dark-green trousers, and a black robe with a silvery sheen; to complete the outfit, he chose polished shoes made from a special kind of dragon hide. At the same time, he was not at all surprised by how the house-elf, who had provided his master's wardrobe, had managed to determine his measurements so precisely. Then came the turn of his glasses and hair. The glasses were restored to a respectable state with a couple of spells, but he was still unable to properly tame his hair. Looking into the bedroom one last time and once again cursing his powerlessness, his inability to help his beloved, he went downstairs to the drawing room.
The Headmaster was punctual, as always. As the clock finished striking three, the Great Wizard appeared in the center of the room together with his faithful phoenix. Obviously, in this way he intended not only to immediately eliminate any question about the authenticity of his identity, but also to demonstrate that even this barrier was within his power to overcome. The first thing that stood out was the worried look in Albus Dumbledore's eyes; Harry immediately disliked that look.
"Well then, my boy, it seems to me that it is time for you to explain a few things..."
"Excuse me! You are demanding explanations from ME???" The young man was extremely indignant at the way the question had been framed.
"But, Harry, I need to know what you have done. You simply could not have achieved in such a short time..."
"Oh, please, Dumbledore, just don't tell me that you have joined Mrs. Weasley's henhouse as well! Next you'll say that I sold my soul to the Dark Lord, and that the Death Eaters killed at the celebration were disobedient curs on whom I was supposed to demonstrate my skills! By the way, as I understand it, the witnesses to those events can no longer say anything?"
Albus was initially so taken aback by such insolence from the boy that he even began explaining what measures had been taken, but then he once again returned to his old refrain:
"...But that does not change the fact that you somehow managed to perform not only a direct transformation into a basilisk, but also the reverse transformation! Even Tom would hardly have managed to defeat such a monster, although he possesses far greater power as a wizard!"
"And you are saying that to me! You, who have more than once named love as the cause of every anomaly! So now you can have the same answer! And now it is your turn! May I ask what the hell Snape was doing at Bill and Fleur's wedding???"
"Professor Snape, Harry!.."
"It makes no difference! The moment the Death Eaters appeared, he vanished!"
"I have told you more than once, and I will repeat it again: I have good reasons to trust Severus Snape."
"So that's how it is, then? That greasy-haired bat deserves more trust than the Chosen One? Or is all of that nonsense, and you only need me as a weapon against Tom?"
"That is exactly what I wanted to speak to you about. Even though you do not wish to tell me what you have done to yourself..."
"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
"It does not matter. I have discovered the location of another Horcrux, and I need your help..."
"Really? Don't you think you already have a loyal assistant? A greasy-haired, antisocial Potions master..."
"Enough! Answer just one question: whose side are you on?"
"Let us put it this way: I am against Tom."
"I am very sorry, Harry, that you did not wish to fight side by side with us."
"And I am sorry that you do not wish to tell me the whole truth, Professor. It is time for you to leave."
And Albus Dumbledore departed for the ill-fated seaside cave, where what was kept was not a fragment of the Dark Lord's soul at all, but merely a fake left behind by his former servant...
___
[Please leave a few reviews and Power Stones]
The work on patreon is now complete.
If you enjoy my work, you can support me on Patreon and get early access to additional chapters:
patreon.com/cw/Phoenixfic
____