Changes and Secrets

Chapter 13

Owls came carrying letters for the students at the Great Hall on their first morning back. That included Hedwig who came bearing a letter and a care package for Harry who had written to his father at dawn. Harry was glad and comforted to know what it felt like to have a parent who wrote to him and send him care packages. It was nice to have family who thought about him and cared about him.

He enthusiastically opened the letter which read:

Dear Harry,

It's only been a day and I miss you already. I've attached a package with your favorite treats.

Enjoy your classes. The new ones should especially be fun as a new experience.

Please let me know if you face any problems at all. Take care and I'll see you during your first Quidditch match.

Send my regards to Abby, Byron and the Wealseys. Your three uncles and Aunt Danielle send their love.

Love, Dad.

Harry grinned as he put away his first letter from home. The Dursley had sent him notes before, but this was different. It was from his own father who loved him and he now had an actual home away from school.

______________________________

James sat across from Dumbledore in the Potter Manor hall, glaring at his former headmaster. He had reluctantly let the old man inside when he insisted that he wanted to discuss something important. James figured there was no harm in hearing Dumbledore out if he was vary enough to not be fooled or manipulated by the latter again.

Dumbledore stroked his beard and adjusted the cuffs of his robes. "I received the legal notice you sent."

"Professor, if you're here to change my mind about the legal notice, you're wasting your time," said James, determined.

"I was hoping we could reach some sort of compromise. An out of court settlement is you must."

"What kind of compromise do you think you could possible offer after all that you've done?" James shook his head disbelievingly.

"As I'm sure Harry had told you, he has a part of Voldemort residing in him. This is more serious than you presume. I have information that could help in exchange for us reaching a compromise out of court," Dumbeldore offered.

James narrowed his eyes at Dumbledore and tightened his lips. "How can I trust you're telling the truth?"

"You could hear me before deciding," Dumbledore appealed.

"Alright. Go on then. What information do you have about Harry's scar?"

"You'll withdraw the case then?" asked Dumbledore hopefully.

"We'll see. It depends on what information you have and how much help you are," said James.

"Very well. As you've probably heard, Voldemort went through great lengths to become immortal. It wasn't until I examined Tom's diary that Harry gave me that I realized Voldemort became immortal through hocruxes," Dumbledore explained.

"Horcruxes?"

"It's one of the darkest forms of magic where a person can split their soul by killing someone and putting a part of their soul into an object. That object becomes a horcrux. And anchor for their soul to remain on earth even after they die. An anchor that can bring them back to life, hence making them immortal. The diary was one such horcrux."

James looked disgusted and horrified. "But the diary is destroyed. Doesn't that mean Voldemort doesn't have a horcrux anymore?"

"I'm afraid he made more than just one horcrux. I deduce this from how his looks gradually deteriorated over time. This doesn't happen from just one horcrux. As much as it pains me to say it, Harry became a horcrux the night he received his scar. Voldemort's soul had split many times that it became unstable enough to split when the killing curse backfired on him. The split soul latched onto the only living being in the room," Dumbledore explained.

James had gone pale as his eyes were wide with fright. "How do I know you're not just making this up?"

"If you don't believe me, you can read about hocruxes yourself." Dumbledore pulled out a book from his robes and handed it to James.

It was a very old book that looked dated from centuries ago that was titled "Ancient Dark Arts". James suspected it came from the restricted section at the Hogwart's library. He flinched as he slowly took the book in his hands. It made him feel dirty even touching it.

"But for now, we need to find out how many horcruxes were made so that we can start looking for them to destroy them," said Dumbledore.

"Whoa ... wait a minute ... I hope that by destroying the hocruxes, you aren't referring to Harry. Because there's no way in HELL that I'm going to let you harm my son. I don't care if Voldemort has an anchor to this world in him. But I won't let you harm him for the greater good." James crossed his arms as he shot Dumbledore a venomous look.

"Calm yourself, James. I certainly wasn't planning on harming Harry. I was referring to Voldemort's other horcruxes. I was thinking that if we found them and destroyed them, his chances of returning to vastly decrease. It would give us plenty of time to figure out a way to remove the horcrux in Harry without harming him," Dumbledore explained. "I truly am sorry I planned on using him as a weapon. Now, I'm trying to atone for it by figuring out another way to destroy Voldemort that would also benefit Harry." he added as James's expression softened.

"But how are we supposed to figure out how many horcruxes there are and what Voldemort chose to make as horcruxes?" asked James.

"Knowing Voldemort, he chose things that held significance. That would be something to figure out once we figure out how many there are. Professor Slughorn might be able to help us."

"Slughorn?"

"He was quiet close to Tom back when he was his professor. Judging by Tom making his school diary a horcrux, he knew about horcruxes back in school. And there's no way he found out about it all by himself as a student. If there's anyone he went to for help, it would have been Horace," said Dumbeldore a matter-of-factly. "Perhaps you could pay him a visit."

"But why me and not you? You'd probably be better at getting information out of Slughorn."

"Because Slughorn is not going to be giving out this information willingly. He's probably riddled with guilt over it. He would more likely to be swayed by an emotional appeal from Lily's husband for her son. He was quiet fond of her. You as her husband would be better fit to evoke those emotions."

"But I don't know where Slughorn lives."

"I do. I'll give you the address."

"Alright, I'll try to talk to Slughorn. Umm ... thank you professor." James's arms were still crossed even if he was no longer glaring at Dumbledore.

"So you'll withdraw the case?" asked Dumbledore hopefully.

But what about how you run your school? My son is in constant danger there."

"I promise to be more careful about the safety of the students and the professors that I hire. But you would also have to discipline Harry as a father as I can't be fully held responsible if he puts himself in danger that he wouldn't otherwise be in if it weren't for him meddling or breaking rules," said Dumbledore.

"Alright But I'll have to discuss this with Sirius and Remus first and do my own verification of what you said," James held up the book Dumbledore showed him. "But even if I do withdraw my case, it won't be permanent as I'll file again if you repeat the same mistakes."

"Very well. Fair enough" said the headmaster.

"But don't think this is any way means I forgive you," said James. "After all that you did to me, my son and Sirius, you have a lot of atoning to do before I even think about forgiving you."

Dumbledore nodded in understanding before departing Potter Manor.

=to be continued=

A/N: Please, please review, so I know where to improve on. Let me know what you'd like to see. What you want me to add or reduce. Please follow the story if you want updates and please favorite the story if you likes it so far.

I know it's odd that James is partially accepting Dumbledore's compromise. But he hasn't forgiven Dumbledore yet. He's just letting Dumbledore atone for his sins because (a) for Harry and (b) he himself has made grave mistakes in the past and is hence more open to the atonement of sins. He's putting Dumbledore on prohibition even if he's letting him atone.