Reborn As Harry Potter - 24 I Will Tell You Everything

“My fight with the troll helped out a lot,” replied Harry. “At that time my body was too weak to handle the amount of Mana Particles in my body. Remember how I was that day? If the troll hadn’t punched me and expelled majority of the magic from my body when I used the Mana Shield, I would most likely have died from Mana Overload. So keep training your bodies and take things one step at a time.”

Ron, Hermione and Daphne’s faces went pale when they remembered how Harry had been behaving during Halloween. However, they quickly cheered up with Harry’s encouragement and happily started walking towards their dorms for a hot bath.

“Fred, George, how’s the other training going?” Harry whispered to the twins.

They slowed down their speed so that the others wouldn’t hear them.

“It’s great,” said Fred excitedly.

“We’re ready to go whenever you are,” said George, smiling from ear to ear.

“Good, I’m going to ask Dumbledore to get the Minister for Magic to pay us a visit,” said Harry smiling.

“We’re going to give him a few prototypes to try out before we start taking orders,” said Harry.

“Harry, you habe a good mind for business,” asked Fred. “I still can’t believe you have came up with so many different ideas.”

“Fred, one step at a time,” said Harry.

“System, can I teach the Shadow Clone Jutsu to others?” asked Harry in his mind.

[Yes, there should be no problem. However, you should place the requirement as Stage 5 for them to learn since you’re basically halving your Mana Reserve everytime you create a clone.]

“There is a new spell I am working on which is SUPER awesome,” said Harry, smiling widely. “I’ll teach it to you two as soon as I’m done learning it. But you two should be at Stage 5 at the minimum since it uses a huge amount of Mana.”

“That’s awesome, Harry! What spell is it?” asked Fred and George in unison.

“I can’t ruin a surprise, now can I?” said Harry, grinning slyly. “Don’t worry, it will be ready by the time you two hit Stage 5. One more thing, bring the team to our morning training starting tomorrow.”

Later that day, Harry decided to head over to Hagrid’s hut to visit him since it was Saturday. Harry liked the half-giant a lot. Harry would make sure to visit him in his house every Saturday and he was always warmly welcomed. Although Harry could not say the same thing about the Hagrid’s cooking. Hagrid had no skill whatsoever in that aspect. Harry had tried many times to teach him how to cook, only to end up in complete disaster. Harry ended up bringing food from the kitchen with him during his visits and they both enjoyed it a lot.

“Hagrid!” called Harry as he knocked on Hagrid’s door. “Hagrid, are you home?”

“Harry, I’m out ‘ere,” came Hagrid’s voice from behind his hut.

“What are you doing out in the cold, Hagrid?” asked Harry as Hagrid came to open his hut’s door.

“I had gone to the library,” replied Hagrid.

“Looking up books on dragons maybe?” asked Harry following Hagrid inside his house.

“How do you know that?” asked Hagrid, slightly nervous.

“A wild guess,” replied Harry as he looked at the roaring flame in his fireplace. “So it’s true. You do have a dragon’s egg.”

“Seriously, how do you know?” asked Hagrid.

“I saw you with books on dragons in the library,” said Harry, walking up towards the fireplace. “When is the egg going to hatch, Hagrid?”

“It’s going to take a couple weeks. I can’t wait till it hatches,” replied Hagrid excitedly.

“You should get in contact with Charlie Weasley and ask him to raise it for you,” said Harry. “You know you can’t raise it here in Hogwarts.”

“Sigh … I know Harry,” said Hagrid with a sigh. “Please don’t tell anyone about it.”

“Your secret’s safe with me, Hagrid,” said Harry with a smile. “How did you get the egg anyway?”

“I won it last night from a guy,” said Hagrid happily. “I was down at the pub in the village having a few drinks when I got into a game of cards. He seemed glad to get rid of.”

“Hmm … do you know what dragon this egg will hatch into?” asked Harry curiously despite knowing the answer.

“Of course, it’s a Norwegian Ridgeback,” said Hagrid proudly. “Quite rare, they are.”

“By the way, I wanted to ask about something important, Hagrid,” said Harry, looking at the half-giant.

“What do you want to know, Harry?” asked Hagrid.

“Can you tell me about my parents?” asked Harry, sitting down on a chair in front of Hagrid.

“Your father was a clever student while here at Hogwarts but also very mischievous,” said Hagrid with a smile. “He always got into trouble. He was very proud and always showed off. But he was a very good person. He had a strong rivalry with Professor Snape. They never liked each other.

Now your mother was an uncommonly gifted woman. She was a very smart witch and very popular. She was very kind. She was a Muggle-born like your friend Hermione. She was a great beauty and had a lot of boys were attracted to her.”

“What can you tell me about my father’s friends?” asked Harry.

“I don’t know much about his friends, Harry,” said Hagrid frowning. “I’m not the best person to ask about them.”

“Come on, Hagrid, I know you knew them,” Harry urged Hagrid. “There’s no way you didn’t know them.”

“I’ve already told you, Harry,” said Hagrid, abruptly standing up. “It’s best you go for now.”

“There’s a secret, isn’t there?” asked Harry with a frown. “Something happened to them, didn’t it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Hagrid, refusing to say anything.

“Hagrid, please,” pleaded Harry. “I just want to know more about my parents and their friends.”

“I already told you I know nothing, of you go you,” said Hagrid, ushering Harry out of his hut.

“Hagrid, did one of my father’s friends betray him?” asked Harry, standing in front of Hagrid’s hut.

“Now what makes you asked such a thing?” asked Hagrid angrily.

“Because you were so happily about both my mother and father, but as soon as I mentioned their friends, you turned weird and stopped talking about them,” said Harry. “Tell me about them. I have a right to know.”

“I know nothing, Harry,” said Hagrid, slamming his hut’s door shut.

“Well, a lot of good talking to him did,” muttered Harry, walking away. “And here I thought it would be easy to get information from him. Sigh … Dumbledore’s my best choice, I guess. I really don’t like dealing with that old man. He tells me one thing but keeps the rest a secret.”

Harry slowly made his way back towards the castle in deep thought. Getting information out of Dumbledore was no easy task and Harry knew that. The old man was a sly old fox and tricking him into revealing information was next to impossible. Harry also could not come up with a good enough reasoning to ask about Sirius and Pettigrew without drawing suspicions to himself.

“Maybe I should try that …,” thought Harry, rubbing his chin. “That seems like the only method I can think of that might even remotely work. Lashing out on him in anger right off the bat might backfire.”

A few minutes later, Harry was sitting in front of Dumbledore in his office.

“What can I do for you, Harry?” asked Dumbledore. “You don’t seem to have gotten much sleep.”

“Sleep doesn’t seem to come to you when all you have is nightmares,” said Harry grimly.

“About the Vampires?” asked Dumbledore.

“No, not the Vampires,” replied Harry, waving his hand. “Professor, how can you still not tell me anything about my parents?”

“Harry …!”

“I don’t want to hear anymore excuses, Professor,” said Harry, cutting off Dumbledore. “I’m not an idiot. It’s so obvious you knew them. Don’t I have a right to know about my parents? Why are you keeping information about them a secret from me?”

“Harry, you’re not ready yet,” said Dumbledore sadly.

“Is this a joke to you?!” said Harry, his voice raising. “You’re personally training me to fight against the man who killed my family! But you say I’M NOT READY TO KNOW ABOUT MY PARENTS?! WHAT KIND OF AN ILLUSION ARE YOU LIVING?!”

“Harry -!”

“Don’t Harry me! Look at you! The most powerful wizard alive is too scared to reveal how two wizards were killed to their own son! Do you even understand what you’re doing to me?”

“Do enlighten me Harry, what am I doing to you?”

“You are pushing me away! You are fully aware that I’m prepared to face off against the man who killed my parent! But you are STILL not willing to trust me with the knowledge of why Voldemort killed my parents and how!”

“I’m not pushing you away, Harry.”

“That is exactly what you’re doing, old man! What is it that is tying me down in Hogwarts? What is it that is stopping me from leaving this place? What is it that is making me place my trust in you? What? TELL ME!!!”

“Harry, I will tell you everything when the time comes. You have to trust me.”

“No, old man. No. I already trusted you when I came to you the on the first day of term in September. I trusted you the day after Halloween in the Hospital Wing. I trusted you with my secrets. I trusted you as my parents trusted you with me. Yet you betrayed their trust and you sent me to an abusive family. You are also betraying my trust by withholding information from me about my parents. Why should I trust you? I have no reason to trust you.”

“Harry, I’m doing this for your own good.”

“My own good? What is good for me is to live with my parents who love me instead of an aunt and uncle who hate the sight of me. What is good for me is to know why my parents died. What is good for me is for you to return the trust I placed in you. Can you do these things for me?” asked Harry, tears rolling down his cheeks. “How do you even sit there not feeling guilty? How can you just sit there and not realise what you’re doing is worse than what Voldemort did to me? Just how?”

“Very well, Harry,” said Dumbledore in a grave tone. “I will tell you everything.”

Dumbledore started off with when Harry’s parents first entered Hogwarts. He then explain their brilliance and how they never got along until their seventh year. Dumbledore told Harry of the rivalry James built with Snape to how they were always at odd’s end. He described James’ friendship with Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Dumbledore told Harry of James and Lily’s marriage and when he was born. He then – in a very grave tone – told Harry how Sirius Black betrayed them as their Secret Keeper and how Peter Pettigrew confronted Sirius and got blown up by Sirius alongside all those Muggles. Dumbledore also mentioned how Sirius is in Azkaban now.

Harry remained silent and simply listened. He did not say anything as he sat there in Dumbledore’s office in deep thought, thinking over and over about what Dumbledore had revealed to him.

“I know it’s a lot to take in, Harry,” said Dumbledore in a sad tone.

“Was Pettigrew a skilled duelist?” asked Harry suddenly.

“No, the poor fool was no match for Sirius,” said Dumbledore.

“And he got blown up by Sirius and nothing of him was found except for his finger?”

“That’s right.”

“And the Muggles? Was their body parts found?”

“Yes.”

“Was Remus and Sirius the most likely choice of becoming the Secret Keeper?”

“Of course, since they were much more likely at surviving an encounter with Voldemort.”

“Would you have suspected Pettigrew to have secretly become the Secret Keeper?” asked Harry, looking at Dumbledore straight in the eye.

“Harry, you can’t possibly be saying that the Secret Keeper was changed to Peter!” exclaimed Dumbledore in shock.

“Why not?” asked Harry, tilting his head. “You said it yourself. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were the obvious choices. Who would consider a weak and cowardly Pettigrew to be the Secret Keeper?”

“Even if you’re right, Harry, it still doesn’t change the fact that Sirius betra-!” Dumbledore suddenly stopped and looked at Harry in shock.

“You get it now?” asked Harry. “If Sirius Black was truly the traitor, why would he make Pettigrew the Secret Keeper?”

“That still does not explain – oh my God!” said Dumbledore, slumping back on his chair, his face aghast.

“Yes, you’ve hit the nail in the head, Professor,” said Harry with a small smile.

“They were all Animagi!” exclaimed Dumbledore. “That would explains it all! Oh how blind I have been, Harry!”

“Can’t argue with that, Professor,” said Harry, shaking his head. “Do you know what kind of an animal Pettigrew would transform into?”

“Something small, like a guinae pig or a hamster -!” said Dumbledore, stroking his beard.

“Or a rat?” asked Harry, raising an eyebrow.

“Quite possibly,” said Dumbledore with a nod.

“Oh no!” exclaimed Harry, showing a shocked expression. “Professor, come with me!”

“What’s wrong, Harry?” asked Dumbledore, following Harry.

“I have a hunch I need to confirm,” said Harry.

Harry did not say anything more and rushed towards the Gryffindor Common Room with Dumbledore in tow. Once they arrived, all the students who were present looked at their Headmaster in surprise. It wasn’t everyday Dumbledore paid a Common Room a visit.

Harry looked around and saw Ron and Hermione at their favourite place next to the roaring fireplace.

“Ron, where’s Scabbers?” asked Harry, slightly panting.

“In our dorm room, why?” asked Ron.

“It’s important, can you go get him?” said Harry in a hushed voice.

“OK,” said Ron nervously as he went away. Moments later, he returned holding his pet rat. “What’s going on, Harry?”

“Come with us and you’ll find out,” said Harry, taking Scabbers from Ron before leaving the Common Room.

Dumbledore and Ron followed behind Harry. Harry was gripping Ron’s rat tightly as it squeaked, trying to break free. The more it struggled, the tighter Harry held it until it stopped struggling. Not long after, they reached Dumbledore’s office.

Harry placed Scabbers on Dumbledore’s desk as he muttered, “Petrificus Totalus!”

Harry then turned around and looked at Ron. “Ron, how long has Scabbers been in your family?”

“About ten years now,” said Ron, looking from Harry to Dumbledore in confusion.

“An awfully long lifespan for a common house rat, don’t you think, Professor?” asked Harry, looking at Dumbledore.

“Yes, an extremely long lifespan considering a domesticated rat of this specie only lives up to three years,” said Dumbledore with a glint in his eyes.