Training and Confrontations

Chapter XLV Thursday, July 3, 1997

Harry met with Dumbledore just after breakfast. "How are you feeling this morning, sir?" Harry asked in a slightly worried voice.

Dumbledore smiled. "Harry, I am not dying, at least not at the moment," Dumbledore reminded his young pupil gently. "You also know that I have great faith that there is a new adventure for us after this life is over. You have had more evidence for an afterlife than almost any Muggle has ever directly witnessed. Try and have some faith, too, my boy, as I do."

"If what comes after this life is the next great adventure, then why did you go into the Chamber first?" Harry demanded. "It was me who was supposed to destroy Voldemort. . . ."

"And you did so," Dumbledore pointed out. "It was your power that tipped the balance."

"But I really believe I could have halted the ritual, and destroyed him!" Harry protested. "You didn't have to rush in first, and . . . damage yourself."

"I believe you are wrong all around," Dumbledore said firmly. "I realized as I saw what was happening in the Chamber that you could not do both. Whoever stopped the ritual would absorb the backlash. I could have let you do that by yourself. Tom Riddle would have been stripped of his transformations, and you would be the one with a limited life span."

"And you could have killed or captured Tom Riddle," Harry pointed out.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Remember, there was only an instant before his automatic portkey kicked in. I do not believe I, or anyone, could have caught him. Tom Riddle would have been on the loose in either scenario. In the current situation, I have a few years, and you could have well over a century. The other way, you would have a few years, and I would have had at most a few decades. Even if what comes next is, as I have oft-said, a grand adventure, we should all try to live this life to the utmost." Dumbledore smiled. "As I have said, have faith, Harry."

"It's not easy, either having faith or getting used to the new situation," Harry said.

"How do you see the 'new situation'?" Dumbledore asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Things were coming to a head with Voldemort," Harry said. "I knew how to fight him; I knew how to destroy him. That Pure Magic spell is just beyond my powers right now. I might have to kill him using, well, you know."

"No, I do not know," Dumbledore said sternly. "Because of your power, you will likely have to help capture Tom Riddle. Remember, there are not twenty wizards alive who come close to your power, and I doubt if any surpass you. There are several ways of holding him forever, or at least longer than any wizard will naturally live. You will have to go to Rushak to learn some of them later this summer. You, Miss Granger, and Miss Lovegood can go, allowing your other friends time to bond."

"I'll mention the idea to them." Harry frowned. "What about Remus and Dora?"

"Remus and Nymphadora need not go. All three of you are quite capable of transporting yourselves to Rushak."

"But it does still have to be me, doesn't it?" Harry insistently demanded.

Dumbledore admitted, "In terms of the Prophecy, perhaps not. Should a group of aurors or hit-wizards come across Riddle, they certainly may triumph. However, it is not more than possible. You are likely to still be called upon to make the final capture." Dumbledore looked at Harry. "What is bothering the most, Harry?"

Harry sighed a deep sigh of longing and despair. "There's no way I can get that power back, is there?" Harry frowned. "I miss it."

"There is." Harry's face brightened. "All it would take is becoming an amoral killing machine, like Voldemort. Voldemort has also lost about a third of his power, just as you have."

Harry sighed again, more in sadness this time. "I was afraid of that."

Dumbledore was relieved. Harry might always long for that lost power, but he was unlikely to pursue the Dark Arts to recover it.

"When should we go?" Harry asked.

"If it pleases both you and your friends, I was thinking of having you go from the Eighteenth to the Twenty-fourth, but we can decide the exact dates later. That will give you some two weeks with your cousin and the Weasleys, and bring you back early enough to prepare for your birthday and the weddings in August. If you prefer, you could leave earlier, but I do not think it wise to put it off much later."

Harry nodded, "Like I said, I'll talk to them."

Saturday, July 5, 1997

Rose stared the the barn owl in the cage. "He's really mine? To keep?"

"She is, if you promise to take really good care of her, and share her," Harry said.

"She's beautiful," Rose said, mesmerized.

"Here's a book on owl care," Hermione said. Rose took the package and ripped it open, smiling at the book, Your Flying Familiar: Owl Care for Young Witches.

"And you'll need these, too," Luna said, pointing at the other gifts. Rose quickly ripped open the presents: matching water and food dishes; owl treats; owl kibble; and even a mouse lure on a long piece of string, so Rose could play with her owl.

"You'll need to name her," Ron said. "Try and do it before Ginny does it for you."

"Hey!" Ginny protested.

Rose ignored the byplay and leaned close to the owl in the cage. "Do you like the name 'Agnes'?" she asked.

The bird gave a dissatisfied squawk.

"No?" Rose thought for a few moments. "How about 'Gretel'?"

This time, the bird gave a happier squawk. "Right. Gretel it is."

"Come on, Sirius," Ginny said, "let's help Rosie get Gretel settled in up in her room." Ginny turned to Rose. "Come on. We can start reading over your book."

"Okay!" she said, and then turned back. "Thank you, Uncle Harry, Aunt Luna, Aunt Hermione."

Harry bent down and kissed her forehead. "You're very welcome, sweetheart. Now run along. You know your Aunt Hermione will be along to quiz you on owl care pretty soon."

"Hey!" Hermione now protested.

Rose giggled. She looked at Luna. "They're both so silly. It's a good thing you look after them."

"I do my best," Luna said gravely. After Rose left, Luna looked at Harry and Hermione. "See, some people understand my rôle quite well."

"Be that as it may," Molly said, "are you certain you want to leave so soon?"

Harry shrugged. "The sooner we go, the sooner we come back. The headmaster wants us to spend up to six days away. I'd just as soon try and get back before Remus' next transformation on the morning of the Twentieth, and of course we have to be here for Bill's wedding in early August, not to mention Remus and Dora's later."

"Have you spoken with Rosie about leaving?" Molly asked.

"Not yet," Harry answered.

"Hermione and I needed to speak with my father first," Luna pointed out. "I could hardly go off without his permission."

"True," Molly answered. "And what did he have to say?"

"That I should go with Harry, of course," Luna answered. "Whatever Harry has to do to entrap Tom Riddle will need more than just Harry doing it to make it work. If Hermione and I understand also the procedures, then we can help people like Ron and Ginny learn them."

Molly sighed. "Yes, they will want to keep going, won't they? Just like the three of you won't stop. We can't stop now, just because the danger is partially over."

"No, we can't," Harry said gently. "And you, more than most people, know why."

"Because Tom Riddle is evil. He was evil at sixteen," Molly said. "That's how old he was when he created that accursed diary. That means, he was not only evil at sixteen, he was powerful."

"I couldn't create something like that diary by myself," Hermione said. "Luna, Ginny, and I, working together, might be able to do it, but I doubt it."

Harry frowned, but said nothing. Molly did not notice, and said, "Make certain you talk with Rosie tonight."

"We will," Harry promised.

"So you will come back?" Rose asked for the third time.

"I promise, we will come back," Harry said. "We'll be gone for eight days, all together. Dobby and Mister Moody will come with us part way."

Rose thought for a moment. "Will you see Sirius' mum?"

"We might," Luna said.

"But you're not going to take Sirius away, are you?"

"No," Hermione said firmly. "You'll go away first, when you go to Hogwarts in three years."

Harry smiled, and said, "Just think, by then Natalie will be a Seventh year and the Quidditch captain. Bonnie will be a Fourth year."

"That's the nature of time," Hermione said. "It does tend to march along."

"And you'll be here the rest of the time?" Rose asked, not caring about those details.

Harry shrugged. "I should be staying here most of the time, just like Luna and Hermione will be at the cottage. I would imagine Ron will visit Tracy, and Ginny will visit Neville. We might go to Diagon Alley, or Hogsmeade, or into Muggle London. We certainly plan on spending most of our time at Ottery St. Catchpole."

"Remember, we also have two weddings to attend," Luna pointed out. "We'll have to take you to Diagon Alley for a nice set of dress robes, so you can be the flower girl for Remus and Dora."

"Okay, then!" Rose kissed each of the three, and went off to play some more with her toys, and to read about taking care of post owls.

This left the two girls in Harry's room. As per Mrs. Weasley's strict orders, the door was kept open.

"Harry," Luna asked, "what odd thought struck you today when we were talking about Riddle's enchanted diary?"

"I just wondered how different it really was from the Map. That's pretty interactive and magical as well."

"Have you had any conversations with it?" Hermione demanded.

"Actually, I have had a few," Harry admitted. "I really didn't until after Pettigrew was executed. I couldn't stand the idea of interacting with his younger self. But since then, I have talked to all of them, and, well, I don't know what made Wormtail turn on them, or maybe I should say I don't know what made him go over to Voldemort, but I have enjoyed talking to all four of them as they were at sixteen."

"Oh," Hermione, "I didn't realize. To answer your question, I suppose Luna or I could create something with the personality, or personalities, like the Map or the diary, without a tremendous strain. But the diary also brought you inside it, possessed Ginny, and released that avatar of Tom Riddle. That took huge power as well as knowledge to create. You have the power, we have the knowledge. Tom Riddle had both."

Harry sighed. "Fate would have been better off giving either of you this much power. You would have been intelligent enough to know how to use it. And don't tell me again how good and moral I am. In your own ways, you both are, too."

"Thank you, Harry," Luna said. "That was a true compliment."

Friday, July 11, 1997

"Can't sleep, lad?"

"No," Harry admitted to Alastor Moody. It was just before midnight, and Harry, his two lovers, Moody, and Dobby were back on the island in the Adriatic. Harry, Luna, and Hermione would travel to Rushak the next morning.

"Why not?" Moody asked, carefully sitting down next to Harry on the large piece of driftwood. Moody looked out over the small waves, just as Harry was.

Harry sighed. "I was hoping that everything with Riddle would be finished by now, that I could try and get on with my life."

"Still on that, hey? Well, I suppose I cannot blame you for that."

"Well, I might feel a bit better if I had any idea where the bastard was, what condition he is in, and what he's up to," Harry pointed out in a somewhat quarrelsome tone.

"Well, I wish I could tell you differently, but there's not been even a hint, anywhere," Moody admitted.

"Has anyone scoured Albania?" Harry asked. "He wasn't a disembodied spirit the entire time before Quirrell picked him up. He must have some secret hiding places there. He wasn't floating around in the woods, you know."

"Really?"

"Really," Harry said. "I know I told Dumbledore that he may have possessed other people. At least that's what he claimed when he was talking out of the back of Quirrell's head." Harry shrugged. "I don't say he was telling the truth."

"Interesting. Dumbledore may have organized something. I'll find out, and I'll also pass it along as a hint through back-channels. I do know no one has brought it up in any open meetings."

"Be careful," Harry warned.

"I will, Harry." Moody gave Harry his widest twisted smile. "And don't worry. There's little I can do here but take in the sun."

Tom Marvolo Riddle paced a cave in the mountains of Albania, his last and most secret retreat. It was into this enchanted cavern complex that Salazar Slytherin had finally settled. Tom Riddle had absorbed the lessons contained in the Dark Arts tracts Slytherin and some of his descendants had accumulated here on and off over a millennium. It was here that Riddle had undergone the first physical transformations, which had nearly led him to true immorality.

All of which were lost.

While objectively Tom Riddle was in much better shape than he had been when he was just the shadowy mist which had survived the Killing Curse that had rebounded off of the toddler Harry Potter, in most ways Riddle knew he was worse off now.

He had gambled in numerous ways, and lost all of them. Had he been able to overlay those old transformations, Lord Voldemort would have been replaced, and the mysterious powers Potter had gained might have been negated, or made irrelevant.

Now all those transformations were lost and perhaps gone forever. Several weeks of studies had shown him that trying to recapture any of those transformations save one yet again were certain to fail at this point. He now had to decide on a course of action.

Tom Riddle knew he was still an immensely powerful and knowledgeable sorcerer, but he also knew he was much less powerful than he had been just the previous October. He was also a great deal more vulnerable, and without nearly all the resources which had laid outside these caves.

On the plus side, the Prophecy, whatever it had exactly been, might be considered fulfilled. The 'Dark Lord' was gone, destroyed when Harry Potter had added his power into the balance. No one had seen 'Tom Riddle' in some forty years. To a Muggle, he would appear as a somewhat worn man in his late forties or early fifties, who was obviously recovering from some sort of accident. He was moving stiffly, and had a limp, which was only slowly getting better. With a little work, he could pass anonymously through most of the magical world until he was ready to act.

"Not more than a week," Riddle mumbled aloud, "I need to decide what to do in a week or less. Less would be better." He sighed. No, he would not need that time to decide. There was only one place, one group, he could go to for help. What he needed to do was steel himself to ask for that help and leave as soon as possible.

July 4, Rushak Calendar Day 1

Harry looked up into the bright, hot sky. "I forgot to ask, what's the date here?"

"I'm not exactly certain," Hermione admitted. "It's early July, ten years after we first arrived. Rora would have aged over six years since we saw her at Christmas."

"Today is July Fourth," a familiar voice said.

The three teens stood and hurried out of the circle. "Sibyl!" Luna cried out, embracing the older woman.

"Welcome back, my wonderful apprentice," the Sibyl said to her. "Welcome back, Harold, Hermione."

Harry and Hermione returned the greeting, while Luna gave the Seer another hug. "Come along, my friends," the Sibyl said. "We shall apparate to the Oak Cottage where you spent that September nearly ten years ago. We shall talk there."

"Yes," the Sibyl said, sitting in the tiny sitting room of Oak Cottage, "Albus has given us access to all the reports on what has happened in your world." She turned to Harry. "You did well, Harold."

Harry shrugged. "I wish we had done a bit better and ended it, but I know I shouldn't be dwelling on that."

"Well, you have at least taken the first steps to dealing with your conflicts over these events." The Sibyl squared her shoulders. "I shall be teaching you three ways to ensnare this Tom Riddle's soul. Any of you will be able to ensnare Riddle, if he is under restraint. The three of you, working together, will be able to seal him away from the rest of the worlds for the rest of his life, no matter how long that might be."

"I shall also be teaching you various ways to restrain this beast. Those, you will be able to teach your friends. Finally, I shall teach the three of you to join together in one final spell. This one will allow you to accurately track this monster, should he ever be within some three hundred of your miles. Should he be within approximately four hundred and fifty of your miles, you should be able to get a general direction."

The three younger people looked very pleased and excited about these prospects. It was Hermione who asked, "How long do you think this will take?"

"That is not possible to say," the Sibyl admitted. "You will likely learn the basics very quickly. However, you should not return until these spells and rituals have been mastered. It may take you as little as twenty days, it may take your full allotment of sixty-five. We shall see."

Saturday, July 12, 1997

Sibyll Trelawney approached the staff table in the great hall. Dumbledore and the four Heads of House (the only staff present) looked up in slight surprise. She had not attended the table since the end-of-year feast.

Just as she had come close enough for Dumbledore to greet her, Trelawney halted and proclaimed, in a voice Dumbledore recognized as the Voice of Prophecy:

A Prophecy has been shattered, Yet the Pieces remain true. The Dark One is gone, Yet the Seed of Darkness remains. The Sacrifice of the interfering Phoenix May therefore have been in vain.

The Bearer of the Prophecy Must still crush the Seed Before the Seed germinates And a new Dark Movement arises, For out in the East, Darkness gathers.

The Bearer and his partners Must face the Dark Seed alone. Failure brings on Darkness. A Prophecy has been shattered, Yet the Pieces remain true.

Trelawney shook her head. "Please pardon me, I seem to have been a bit faint for a moment."

Dumbledore sighed. "It is past time we discussed your Gift," he said. When Trelawney looked panicked, Dumbledore added, "You may be partially pleased."