They're fools... idiots... Harry isn't like that... Harry considers them his friends, and they talk nonsense about him behind his back.
I felt so angry. I don't know how long we were flying, but when my mind finally stopped dwelling on what happened in the common room, I was starting to consider telling Harry, and possibly Hermione too, what I know... With everything that's about to happen, I don't think I can handle it all on my own in time, and if I talk to them, they'll probably have better ideas about what can be done.
I also need to find out more about Dumbledore, since there are several things about his behavior that I don't quite like. I'll have to leave an invisible clone to keep an eye on him in case I can uncover any important information.
If I don't like what I discover, I think I'll have to send him for the ring. I had thought about using clones and Amaterasu's fire to deal with that Horcrux and thus save Dumbledore's life, since he was supposed to be the leader of the good guys, and although some of his decisions caused too many deaths, I couldn't blame him. After all, he's human too and makes mistakes, so I would try to prevent those deaths by acting beforehand.
Uncle Salazar once told me that it's better to be cruel to those who hurt the ones we care about than to be cruel to the ones we care about by letting those who hurt them go free. Perhaps my actions seem wrong, but if they can keep those I care about safe, I won't hesitate in what I have to do, even if it means they end up distancing themselves from me.
I just hope Harry believes me... but the thing is... how do I tell him?
I flew around for a while longer, thinking about possible ways I could tell Harry, and after getting a rough idea of what I could do, I had Artemis return to Gryffindor Tower near a window—in fact, it was the same window I'd left through.
"Thanks, Artemis, you can drop me off here now.
"Hey, rascal."
I was thinking about possible scenarios where I could try to tell Harry, and as I was climbing in through the window, Harry's voice startled me.
"Harry!... You scared me."
I heard him chuckle softly as I tried to calm my racing heart. I walked over to Harry and said,
"What are you doing here all alone?... I thought everyone would be asleep.
"I... umm... couldn't sleep?"
I laughed a little at his answer and sat down on the loveseat in front of the fireplace, where Harry was standing next to it.
"Why are you asking me?"
Harry shrugged and sat down on the same sofa as me, as I asked him.
" What happened with the tournament? What did they tell you?"
Harry sighed before answering
"They said I have to participate. If I don't, I could lose my magic because of a binding contract with the Goblet of Fire."
"They're still blaming you for putting your name on it?"
"No, thanks to the oath you made me swear in the Great Hall, they didn't blame me, but they suspect someone who wanted to hurt me put my name on it... Is something wrong?"
Seeing that I was a little uneasy, Harry looked me in the eyes and asked... When I saw his worried eyes, I couldn't help but think about telling him everything at once... If he has to explode, he might as well explode now.
"Um... Harry, there's something I want to tell you."
"What is it? Is something bothering you?"
"No... it's nothing like that... it's just... I think it would be better to talk about it somewhere else... Can you get the map you mentioned last time? We'll go to the Room of Requirement, climb out the window, I'll ask Artemis to take us. We just have to make sure no one sees us."
Harry went to his room for the map, and when he returned, Artemis was already ready to take us both. I had to apologize to her since she seemed a little annoyed that I wasn't letting her sleep, but she calmed down after I promised her a meat feast for breakfast. Harry used the map to check that the corridor was clear, and soon we were in the living room. It was a simple room with a couple of armchairs and a fireplace. I was a little nervous, but I didn't want to delay things any further.
"Um... Harry, if... if I told you I knew the future, would you believe me?
"Like in Divination class?"
"Not exactly like that... but something similar... would you... believe me?"
"I would... I... I feel like I can completely trust you..."
My eyes welled up, and my voice cracked a little when I heard his answer.
"Thank you... that means a lot... The reason I'm telling you this... is because there's something I think you need to know..."
"Is it about the future?"
"Yes."
"Are you a seer?"
"I'm not a clairvoyant... but it might be more like memories... memories from a different place, a place from where I could see you, Hermione, and the others... I don't know everything exactly, since I only saw certain moments and some events... important events... for you... and for all of Wizarding Britain."
I paused to see Harry's expression and saw that he was looking at me intently, waiting for my next words.
"In my memories, I saw moments of your life from when you turned 11 until you were 17... but my memories aren't 100% accurate... but most of the things I saw did happen to you... I confirmed this when you stayed at my house and told me about the things that happened here at Hogwarts.
"You saw my name come out of the Goblet of Fire too?"
"Yes... but I didn't want it to be like in my memories, that's why I made you take the oath... in my memories I wasn't here at Hogwarts... and when your name came out of the Goblet of Fire, everyone started seeing you as a cheat, no one believed you and they made fun of you... I didn't want you to go through something like that, that's why I tried to change things, even if it was a little... there were times when I thought about preventing your name from coming out, but... I think it's better that you participate, that's why I wanted to tell you about this, so you're prepared and... so you know what you might be facing... You know about Tom Riddle, right?
"Yes... I know him."
"The person who put your name in the Goblet of Fire is one of his followers... they want you to win the tournament because they want to use you for a ritual... but by letting you compete, it also gives us a chance to finish him off once and for all."
"What do you mean?"
"You see, from what I remember, Riddle used dark magic that allowed him to fragment his soul and place those fragments in objects or living beings. This magic is called Horcrux, and it grants him a kind of immortality as long as those objects remain intact. Riddle made a total of seven Horcruxes. You already dealt with one of them when you were in your second year, and if we manage to destroy all the Horcruxes, we can defeat Riddle for good."
"Was the diary one of those Horcruxes?"
"Yes, although the person who was supposed to guard it didn't know the diary's importance to Riddle and wanted to use it for personal revenge. And although indirectly, they helped to destroy it."
"If I've already destroyed one, that means there are still six left. Do you know where the others are?"
"Yes... in fact, I've already taken care of eliminating two more with the help of the goblins, so there are only four left... and of those four, Riddle is unaware of the existence of one since he created it without realizing it... the remaining Horcruxes are... the Gaunt family ring, which I understand is in the old Gaunt family hut, but it's difficult to obtain and I'd like to investigate a few things before making a decision about this Horcrux. I'll explain why later... another is Salazar Slytherin's locket. This is one of the easier ones to obtain, but to do so we need your godfather's help, and there's also something he needs to know about that locket since it has to do with his younger brother... another is a snake that's always by his side, so it's more difficult to eliminate. Perhaps we can do it on the day of the final task of the tournament..."
Harry seemed to want to ask some questions, but I continued.
" I promise I'll explain everything in more detail in a moment... there's something important you need to know first... it's about the last horcrux..."