occulta proditione - tomarry

Chapter 16

Revised: May 10, 2022

Words: 4865

Chapter 16

"I'm taking the silencing charm down now, don't say anything you might regret..." Harry told Regulus quietly before taking out his wand and whispering the counter-spell, the ward immediately dropping.

"What was that about?" Phoebe Black asked, "You were chatting to him for quite awhile..."

"Nothing important," Harry said and every Black in the room didn't comment as they knew they wouldn't get any answers from Harry if he didn't want to give them.

"It's rather rude not to allow us your name, boy!" Orion Black piped up from one of the portraits and Harry would have blushed if he could. He didn't even think of introducing himself other than Lord Black.

Harry coughed in embarrassment and cleared his throat, "Sorry about that, my apologies. I am known as Harry James Potter-Black." Harry scrunched up his eyebrows when he heard a gasp but didn't turn around to look because every Black was looking at him in curiosity.

"And how, Mr. Potter, are you related to the Noble House of Black?" Orion questioned him.

"My grandmother, for one, is Dorea Potter nee Black..." Another gasp and a cry came from behind him again and Harry decided to turn around to see who it was. Harry's eyes focused on a woman with pitch black hair with flecks of grey from age, her eyes shown like the night sky reminiscent of every other Black in the room and she was very pale. Harry was a vampire and he'd think this woman was one if he didn't know any better. Harry knew he was related to her.

"My grandson!" She cried happily, "I knew you looked familiar but I wasn't entirely sure if you were from our Potter line. Now that I can get a good look at you, you're the spitting image of myself. You have a very androgynous face and I knew it to be true as soon as you said that your middle name was James."

Harry smiled warmly at her, "Yes, it's nice to finally meet you, grandma."

Dorea smiled back, her dark eyes alight with happiness, "What has happened to my son...your father?"

Harry's smile dropped abruptly and his eyes turned dark, "Albus Dumbledore happened. He was killed along with my mother."

"Killed? Albus Dumbledore? What has been going on all these years?" She asked, appalled.

"Albus Dumbledore made a fake prophecy about how I was to defeat the Dark Lord when he received this information from a loyal Death Eater, he planned to track us down. It was me or Neville Longbottom. The Dark Lord picked me and I was 15 months when we were under the Fidelius charm. The secret keeper, Peter Pettigrew gave the location to him and he arrived on Samhain night, October 31, 1981. The Dark Lord killed them both and almost killed me but the killing curse rebounded, hitting him instead, leaving the man a spirit until a few weeks ago when he was resurrected. All of this could have been avoided if Dumbledore hadn't created that prophecy out of sheer desperation. It's all his fault!"

Harry shut his eyes when he heard sniffles coming from his grandmother and opened them again, eyes like cold chips of emerald, "My son!" Harry's grandmother cried.

"It'll be fine soon, grandma. Tom and I will kill Albus Dumbledore and he will not be in this world any longer," Harry placated his grandmother.

"Tom?" A familiar voice asked curiously.

Harry sighed, realizing he had said Tom's name again. It was hard not to because he was so used to saying it, "Yes... Tom," Harry said calmly, turning around to look at the portrait, surprised to see the same woman that had hinted this place to him, "Walburga..."