Of Lies and Deceit and Hidden Personas

Chapter 37

parseltongue, mind talking, newspaper, direct speech reference , notes

He should have known that Dumbledore's absence from the Great Hall was more than just the man having a hissy fit, he cursed to himself. Of course the old man would be latching on to his precious weapon in desperate times, if things came crashing down for him it would be Harry as the scape goat, which meant the man had to come up with a plan. A plan that involved Harry. Harry cursed his luck, he had things to do, he was supposed to be meeting with Lucius tonight, he needed to get the final article sent off for Rita to work her magic. The headmaster was on his last limbs now so he was extremely unpredictable, and unpredictable meant dangerous. Harry had informed Luna of where he was going, she was going to wait for him in his rooms and if he didn't come back within an hour she was going to alert the others. Harry sighed as he got to the statue and took a deep breath, he had to get it together and be prepared for anything.

"Acid Pops," the gargoyle leapt aside and Harry ascended the spiral staircase, he knocked politely and sneered when the grandfatherly voice called for him to enter. That wouldn't do, he took another deep breath to centre himself, and, after altering his expression, Harry stepped in with a small smile.

"Good evening, sir," He greeted, taking the seat he was pointed to. He noticed immediately that the old man was tense, his blue eyes were twinkling madly, insanely almost and Harry was immediately on edge. He forced himself to remain relaxed, not to show anything was afoot and kept his expression clear.

"Good evening, Harry, how are you my boy?" Dumbledore asked and even his voice held a strained note, this wasn't good, Harry noted.

"I'm ok, thanks, sir." Harry replied, keeping his voice soft and warm, despite his instincts telling him to get out of that room. "Um, how are you, sir? You seemed stressed earlier." He didn't want to ask that, but it was expected of him, he was supposed to care when the man was not at his best instead of rejoicing.

"I am feeling much better now, thank you, Harry." Dumbledore answered and it was obvious he forced himself to remain calm. "Rita Skeeter seemed to have gained a taste for attacking me needlessly. It is unfortunate, but nothing I cannot handle."

"She should have been fired a long time ago." Harry said, scowling at the wall.

"She is in place to sell papers, nothing more." Dumbledore assured him, "Just like with yourself, she will eventually become bored."

"I hope so, this is getting ridiculous. I mean, who does she think she is!?" Harry exclaimed, "Shouldn't the ministry shut her down?"

"Cornelius is more interested in saving his own rapidly crumbling image, that stopping Rita Skeeter from trying to get at me is the least of his priorities." Dumbledore told him, and Harry frowned.

"Sounds about right, Fudge would only save his own skin."

"The happenings of the ministry is not what I called you up here for, however." Dumbledore said, obviously wanting to get on to the topic in which he wanted. "I called you up here to see if you could satisfy an old man with tea." Harry had to squash a shudder of disgust; that was really worded wrong. Just the mere thought, oh good Merlin that was horrific. Harry ignored the questioning feeling Tom sent him and focused on the headmaster.

"Of course, sir. I would be happy too." He agreed instead of voicing his actual thought process. Harry knew better than to actually drink anything, if it wasn't dosed with Veritaserum then he wasn't a Potter.