Running

Chapter 8

Looking as calm and restrained as ever, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore continued with his breakfast. What had begun as a fairly disappointing morning, had very suddenly turned on its head. Harry Potter had come up to him, unprompted, requesting a meeting. It was completely unexpected; Dumbledore had been completely taken aback when the boy approached him. He left the staff table early, unsure of what to expect from the boy but entirely more excited for the meeting than he appeared to be.

As he headed towards his office, he began thinking to himself. Perhaps he wouldn't need such strong loyalty potions as he had initially expected. Preventing Harry from growing up in a caring household with nurturing guardians had clearly worked as he had hoped - the boy was already reaching out for a parental figure in Dumbledore - or at least this meeting could be the beginning of a relationship as beneficial as that. Whatever the cause for the boy to approach the Headmaster, he knew he could use this as he pleased. It would be all too easy to trick the boy into almost worshipping Dumbledore; a few well-placed comments about his progress here, a memory of his parents there and the boy would be putty in his hands.

He had agreed on the boy coming to see him anytime before lunchtime. He was certain that time would be sooner rather than later considering how much the boy must be looking forward to meeting the Leader of Light. Or maybe it would be later if the boy's nerves got the better of him. It mattered not, either way, everything was going to plan.

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Knowing Hogwarts and all its secret passageways and exits meant that Harry and Hermione couldn't see any real reason to rush into trying to retrieve the Marauders' Map; they could wait a while before getting that back. The invisibility cloak on the other hand, well that was a different matter. No matter how good they were at magic compared to their classmates, they couldn't turn themselves invisible. It wouldn't be surprising if their future plans required not being seen to avoid raising suspicion. But even without all that, it belonged to Harry. It was his birthright, and he'd be damned if he left it in the hands of anyone else for a moment longer.

Before he left for the Headmaster's office, Hermione reminded him for the tenth time over, "You need to be polite Harry," and "You shouldn't lose your cool no matter what" and "Avoid giving anything away because -"

"Hey, Hermione it's ok," Harry laughed, "I'll be in and out before you know it."

Hermione trusted Harry completely, but she couldn't deny that she was terrified of what would happen if he went to the Headmaster alone. He could very easily return to her a vegetable who could only spew propaganda-like nonsense in complete support of Dumbledore. While she had formed several more relationships with people in and out of the Gryffindor Tower, Harry was her first real friend here and she couldn't bear to lose him. There was no one else she could truly confide in. Both she and Harry knew, how 'Gryffindor' Harry was; one slip of the tongue and all of their plans could come crashing down, so of course, Hermione was anxious, she could lose her friend and if she did, she would probably lose her mind too.

Hermione planned on waiting in the common room until he got back. She sat down in an armchair near the window and began to read, hoping to distract herself from Harry's adventure.

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Harry confidently walked up the stairs leading to Dumbledore's office. He could practically feel Dumbledore's glee as he believed the Chosen One was already sitting in his lap. As Harry stepped on an especially creaky floorboard, Albus turned and smiled at Harry, his eyes twinkling with the same look the Leader of Light was so famous for. "Sit Harry," Dumbledore gestured to a chair opposite him, and Harry walked over and sat in the chair. "You know, it's striking quite how much you look like -"