We had paused our training for lunch. Blinky had set a table with five chairs and prepared a small feast, as we were quite hungry from all the energy we were expending. While sipping some juice, I made a small grimace when I received the memories of the clone who attended the meeting in my place... well, it seems I've just become Hagrid's least favorite person... that was a shame, as Hagrid is a nice guy, although he is a bit naive and doesn't seem to see some of the dangers around him... if he was annoyed with me just for asking him to make some changes to the creatures he wanted to show the students and to stop crossbreeding between species, I don't want to know how much he'll hate me when he finds out what I'm going to do with all the Acromantulas in the forest.
The five of us trained together until 3 pm. After that, it was just Harry and me, as the others still had other things to do. I was sure Hermione would go to the library to recharge her batteries, since today was the longest day she'd gone without a book in her hand. Luna probably went to look for the Nargles or Wrackspurts, since she sometimes disappears without us knowing where she goes. And Neville was surely tending to his plants in his dormitory, or perhaps helping Professor Sprout in a greenhouse.
When it was just the two of us, Harry took a short break from his training and came over to the Vanishing Cabinet, saying,
"I noticed something bothered you during lunch... Did something happen that worried you?"
I stopped what I was doing and sighed as I turned to look at him.
"How did you know?"
"You frowned for a second and seemed distracted by something... Do you want to talk about it?"
"I didn't think anyone would notice... it's not really a problem... it's just that... as the heir to Ravenclaw, there are things I'm responsible for, and I have to make certain decisions that some people might not like, even if those people are some I consider friends. But even knowing that because of my responsibilities I have to do something they might not like, I still have to do it, even if it means those people stop considering me their friend... and let's say something like that happened."
Harry and I sat on the floor, leaning against the wardrobe, and after hearing what I was saying, he thought for a moment before speaking.
"I think if that person also considers you their friend, they'll understand why you did what you had to do and won't stop being your friend."
Hearing Harry's words, I unconsciously rested my head on his shoulder as I spoke.
"I really hope so... I wouldn't want to lose a friend, and I can't neglect my responsibilities either, since what I'm doing is something I consider important, not only because of my responsibility as heir but also as a daughter, as it's related to something my mother and uncles worked very hard to achieve... speaking of important..."
I lifted my head from his shoulder and turned to look at him.
"Did you send the letter to Sirius so we can talk to him?"
"I received a letter from him after we parted this morning, and I sent him a letter asking to meet with him... In his letter, he said he'd reconsidered what we'd discussed about meeting with Madam Bones... He said something about Dumbledore not seeming too keen on the idea and that it wasn't advisable for us to meet with her, and that regarding the Pensieve you mentioned to prove his innocence with our memories, it wasn't possible... that those are rare and hard-to-obtain objects, and that even Dumbledore didn't have one...
"Wait... how does Sirius know Dumbledore doesn't have one?"
"He said he'd mentioned it to Dumbledore, and his response was that even he didn't have one, so it would be difficult to use our memories as evidence... What's wrong?"
I frowned at his answer and said.
"That's strange. From my memories, I know Dumbledore has a Pensieve, since he used it to show you part of Tom Riddle's past... and I think... he already had it at this moment... it should be in his office...
"If that's the case... then why did he tell Sirius he doesn't have one?"
"I'm not sure... I told you my memories weren't 100% accurate... so far I've found several things very different, especially in the behavior of some people, but there are others who are exactly as I remember them..."
I remained silent for a moment, having received the memories from the clone that was following Dumbledore, and I didn't like what my clone discovered at all.
Seeing that I stopped abruptly and that my expression wasn't good, Harry asked,
"What's wrong?... Did something bad happen?"
I had mixed feelings about telling Harry what I'd just discovered. I didn't want him to feel betrayed again, but I also didn't want him to remain ignorant. In the end, I decided to tell him, since it was important for him to know the truth so he wouldn't be upset with me for what I'd just decided to do with Dumbledore.
"Um... do you remember the clone that turned invisible when you arrived for training?"
Seeing him nod, I continued.
"I had that clone following Dumbledore, and... well... I just found out something you're not going to like at all..."
"What do you mean?"
"Dumbledore met with someone to talk about you... the meeting took place at Dumbledore's brother's pub..."
"Dumbledore has a brother?"
"Yes, he owns the Hog's Head pub in Hogsmeade, though they don't get along very well... don't distract me, Harry, this is important."
"Sorry... umm, who did Dumbledore meet with?"
" He met with Mrs. Weasley and... let me finish, Harry, please ask questions last... my clone had barely found him when he had to follow Dumbledore to that place... there Mrs. Weasley started complaining about how a little vixen was ruining their plans. Dumbledore wanted her to calm down, but Mrs. Weasley seemed very angry and started listing every plan they had and how they had been ruined when the vixen appeared. I don't know if what she mentioned were all their plans, but what she said was already outrageous..."
" The first plan consisted of how they would approach you and make you trust them so that you would see them as family. For this, they would use Ron, who would become your friend, and since he was treated well by them compared to your aunt's family, you would see them as your real family... Mrs. Weasley would be in charge of making the necessary potions so that you would blindly trust Ron, and they never expected you to find out about it... and... those weren't the The only potions they would give you..."
" For their second plan, they would use Ginny. They wanted you to fall in love with her so you could marry in the future, but since you didn't seem interested in her, they would use love potions, dosing them slowly so your sudden infatuation wouldn't seem suspicious. While they waited for the potion to take full effect, Ginny would be practicing to be a good girlfriend for you. The love potion plan wouldn't only affect you; they would also use it on Hermione because they needed to introduce new magical blood into their family, as their magic was waning. Ron seemed to be the most affected, and they hoped that by marrying him to Hermione, their children would have better magical abilities. The plan to make you fall in love with Ginny was because Dumbledore had promised them they could inherit the Potter fortune if they managed to get Ginny pregnant before you had to face Riddle, which would likely lead to your death."
Harry was clenching his fists tightly and was visibly very angry. He suddenly stood up and looked like he wanted to cast a spell on someone. I quickly stood behind him and hugged him from behind to hold him back.
"Harry!... Please calm down... I promise we'll do something."
"I don't understand... Why would you do something like that?... What do you gain by doing that to me?"
Harry's voice sounded like he was suppressing both tears and anger at the same time.
Harry, I need you to calm down a little... there's still more they had planned... let me finish telling you everything and what I think might be the reason why they did it, then we can plan a way to make them pay for what they've done...