Harry's eyes widened, and he coughed in surprise. "You thought I was a vampire?!" He was beyond relieved the man was so far off base with his guess.
"Apparently you are not," Snape frowned sternly at the dementor in front of him. "Ok, Potter, now is the time I ask, and you answer. What exactly are you?"
Harry looked between Snape, Umbridge, and the door, hoping for some means of escape. Trying to think clearly, he realized they needed to prioritize their actions. "Professor, this is more than a one-minute explanation," he almost pleaded with Snape to understand. "We should really handle Umbridge before she comes around and then we can talk about me. I'm positive, if you can obliviate the last hour from her memory, she should be fine. What I did was more mental than physical."
Snape frowned, he seemed to be trying to figure out what creature Harry was and coming up blank. "This is highly illegal, you know," he sneered in distaste (Harry wasn't sure if it was towards him or the professor) as he took a couple steps towards Umbridge.
"Says the former Death Eater," Harry mumbled under his breath, forgetting Snape had vampire hearing.
He tried to look apologetic when the man shot him a scathing look. "I could let you handle this on your own, you know," Snape raised an eyebrow in warning. "I'm sure you would cause a political nightmare though if I did leave it to you. Entitled, just like your father," Snape added on in his own mumble at the end.
Harry bit his tongue, feeling too sick to get into it with the greasy git at the moment. "Sorry," he said unapologetically.
The vampire ignored him and gave a flick of his wand, "Accio blood quills!" He called out. The one quill on the bloodstained student desk floated to him as well as a second quill from a drawer in Umbridge's desk. Snape put both in his pocket before turning to the blubbering woman on the floor. "Obliviate!" He cast as Umbridge became quiet and her eyes unfocused. "Your detention with Potter went as you expected. He left just before curfew and you cleaned everything up before retiring for the night." With a quick scourgify at the desk, Snape swept over to Harry and pushed him out of the classroom before Umbridge could come to.
"My office. Now," the professor growled and continued to push Harry through the hallways.
"Why did you think I was a vampire, sir?" Harry asked as he stumbled along in front of his professor's graceful stride…that should have been a clue in itself that he wasn't a vampire.
"There are very few creatures you can be turned into and not born as, Potter," Snape scowled, obviously irritated that he was wrong. "Of the available options, vampire seemed the most fitting since light creatures have developed a distaste for you, though I have never seen the severe reaction you've been getting before. Also, you have been drawn to darker locations like Grimmauld and the dungeons. Though I am a born vampire, it is possible to be turned into one instead. I admit not everything fits, but I'm at a loss for what other creature you could be. I expect to be filled in completely momentarily."
"Er…ok," the dementor grumbled, really not looking forward to the impending conversation.
Harry was about ready to just give up on consciousness and pass out when they reached the Potion Professor's office in the dungeons once more. He figured he must look terrible because when the vampire rounded on him to demand answers, he instead paused and cast a diagnostic spell at the student. After the spell, Snape pushed Harry into an uncomfortable chair. Harry was getting sick and tired of being manhandled, as well as just plain sick and tired. Before he could protest though, Snape stood in front of him and took his hand in a quick jerk. "Healing first," he sneered as he intensely studied the infected writing on the swollen hand.
"Fine with me," Harry grumbled, really not wanting to ever get to having to explain what he was.
The Potions Master prodded the hand with his wand slightly, causing Harry to suck in a breath in a hiss of pain. "What have you been putting on it?" He asked clinically.
"Essence of Murtlap," Harry glared at him, not thinking the prodding was exactly necessary.
Snape just nodded until a look of disgust washed over his face and disappeared just as quickly. "All right, Potter," Snape dropped Harry's hand like some sort of slimy potions specimen and proceeded in a business-like tone. "You've been consistently using a cursed artifact, so the dark magic has built up in your hand."
"It wasn't my fault," Harry grumbled with a glare.
"Be that as it may, the Essence or Murtlap, or even Dittany at this point, will work little better than muggle antibiotic cream since it is also fighting off the dark magic," Snape explained as he sat on the edge of his desk and stared at Harry.
"That still means it's working though, right?" Harry asked with a questioning look. "You took the quills away from her, so it'll have time to heal now."
Snape nodded slowly. "Yes, however, your hand is severely infected. You will need to stay a couple days in the infirmary as the infection has also caused you a fever, and it is making you very ill."
Harry groaned in distress. He had DA to teach and the first quidditch match against Slytherin was in a couple days. "You just don't want me to play against Slytherin," he pouted, perhaps not very maturely, but he'd just been tortured so he deserved a bit of a break.
The professor smirked at him but then waved a hand dismissively. "There is, however, another option. One you may find distasteful, but which would keep you from needing to spend any time in the infirmary."
"Yes! I'll take that one!" Harry exclaimed quickly. "What is it?!"
Snape's face went into his teacher mode of explaining something. "I know your Defence Against the Dark Arts instruction has been abysmal, so I assume you know nothing of vampires considering that you apparently aren't one."
The dementor glared at Snape, but he couldn't really defend their instructors, besides Remus…which he made a mental note to ask about at some point. Why would Snape have outed him if he was a vampire himself? Anyway… "I actually looked up vampires, if you must know."
"Good, then you know that in order to maintain our secrecy when we feed from humans, we have evolved strong pain relieving and healing properties in our saliva. The human must not feel the pain and we cannot leave a mark if we wish to remain hidden," Snape explained as if he were lecturing on a new potion. "That combined with a mild memory charm has insured that we are never caught by our prey."
It took Harry a minute before what the professor was offering finally sank in. Harry's face mirrored Snape's quick look of disgust from earlier, which he now understood, and stayed there. "Are you actually saying you want to lick my hand?!"
Snape's face twisted into a sneer. "Potter, there are few things in this world I'd wish to do less than lick your hand…However, yes, that is the solution to this issue. I can easily clear up the infection and begin the healing process better than any of my potions since I am a dark creature, and a dark magic infection means little to the healing properties I possess."
The dementor looked like he had just seen Voldemort come out of the cauldron in the graveyard once more in his expression. "That's just…unsanitary!"
The vampire sighed in exasperation. "If Mr. Weasley licked your hand, then yes, it would be unsanitary, but he isn't a vampire. I have already explained the healing properties. Make your decision. I will be ecstatic to hand you off to Madam Pomfrey and not have to deal with you or taste the loathsome Potter blood. I'm sure Malfoy and Montague will rejoice to hear Gryffindor will be playing a reserve player as seeker in the upcoming match as well."
Harry's nose crinkled in disgust still, but he slowly held out his hand. He really did feel terrible. "I'm sure I taste wonderful," he groaned. "Ew, just do it. I can't watch!"
Harry did in fact close his eyes and turn his head away as Snape sighed and took his hand once more. Almost immediately the sting subsided, and the throbbing stopped. "Hey!" Harry exclaimed as he opened his eyes to see Snape glaring at him with a look of disgust and disdain on his face. "That's awesome!" The swelling in his hand was visibly going down and it looked like the cuts were days old instead of from an hour before.
"Let's never do that again, Potter," Snape grimaced as he summoned a glass of water from somewhere in the office and downed the whole thing.
"Thank you!" Harry was still looking at his hand in awe. "You know, I wish I was a vampire if I could do that."
Snape swore under his breath as he looked at the clock on his wall. "We need to go to the headmaster now, there's only a little over an hour before the Order meeting tonight."
"What?!" Harry looked at his professor in betrayal. "No! We can't go to Dumbledore."
"For Umbridge…to report the blood quill," Snape said slowly as if talking to a child. "There are aurors in the Order, and they may be able to find a way to get her out of the school if they know what's happening and before she branches out to first years."
"Oh," Harry blanched, not having considered that she may move on to torturing the younger students, or any other students besides himself. "Right, yeah."
Snape glared at him warningly. "We will be coming back here after, and you will be telling me all about what you are. I am allowed to be fashionably late to the Order meeting, unlike the headmaster."
"Right," Harry nodded, secretly vowing to find some way of getting out of that by the end of the meeting with the headmaster.
They hurried in silence to the headmaster's office, Harry marveling the whole way about just how much better his hand felt. He really, really wanted to find a minute to go thoroughly wash it though, but he was certain Snape wouldn't take it well if he asked. "Cauldron Cake," Snape growled in disgust at the stone gargoyle guarding the office.
Harry hurried up the steps behind his professor who seemed to glide soundlessly as he walked as much as Harry did when he was outside of Jamie. "Ah, Severus…and Harry! How can I help you both?" Dumbledore turned questioning eyes up to them from the papers on his desk.
"Umbridge has to go," Snape growled, obviously trying to push down his anger once more.
"I admit, she's not a pleasant person and not the best teacher, but what has she done to warrant this visit, after curfew might I add?" The headmaster seemed happy to see Harry and Severus together, even if he was confused about the reason.
"Albus," Snape visibly took a deep breath and pulled the quills from out of his robe pocket, throwing them onto the headmaster's desk. "She's been using a blood quill to torture students!"
It took a couple heartbeats, but all of a sudden, the pressure in the room built up, causing Harry's ears to pop. Dumbledore completely shed the image of a kindly grandfather and stood, staring at the quills looking like an avenging angel of death. "Who?" Dumbledore asked simply as he turned burning eyes towards Harry.
"Who else?" Snape sneered with an elegant wave towards his companion. Harry for his part could completely believe this was the person that Voldemort feared most as he took a step back and tried to keep himself from hiding behind Snape's robes.
"May I see your hand, Harry?" The older man reached out, visibly trying to keep his voice calming and not dripping with anger.
"Er…um, well, the professor healed me up pretty good," Harry shuffled forward nervously and held out his hand for the headmaster.
"Thank you, Severus," Dumbledore said quietly as he inspected Harry's hand. "It has already started to scar. She must have been doing this for a while?" He said more as a question than a statement. Harry just nodded and hurried back when his hand was returned to him. "What have you already done to her?" He asked Snape with a look that promised no rebuke no matter what the answer was.
"I only took the quills, and circumstances dictated that she needed to be obliviated of the end of Potter's detention so she would not blame the theft on him," the vampire explained, expertly skirting why she really needed to be obliviated.
Dumbledore nodded and continued to glower. "So, she doesn't know they are gone yet. That will give us some time since Hogwarts' wards will not allow illegal torture devices to be flown in with the post. She'll need to go in person to get replacements."
"It may be best to get Shacklebolt and Tonks involved," Severus suggested.
"Indeed," Dumbledore said contemplatively. His face cleared some as he took in Harry's concerned expression. "Sit, Harry. I must apologize; I've completely lost my manners. Would you like a lemon drop?"
"Er, no sir," Harry almost laughed at the change in atmosphere. He did sit in the armchair beside where the potion master sat as well.
After they were both seated, the headmaster sat at his desk once more. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I knew she was unpleasant, but I had no idea she would do something on this level of atrocity."
Harry shrugged. Honestly, he'd had worse, and that wasn't even mentioning getting his soul sucked out of his body. "I'm fine now. Sn—Professor Snape healed me up."
Snape sneered at Harry brushing off what happened, but since it seemed the headmaster didn't believe it was nothing either, the man let it drop. "Harry…the fact remains that this never should have happened to you. Trust me, I'll do my best to get this rectified before she can replace the quills," Dumbledore assured him. "I lack the political influence I used to have, but I'm not without resources."
Harry nodded, but wasn't going to hold his breath. He'd believe it was handled when the woman was effectively moved out of the castle and not before. "Yes, sir," was all he mumbled though as he pulled out his habitual tube of lip balm and applied it unconsciously.
"Since you are both here, I had a proposition for you two I had meant to bring up shortly," Dumbledore changed the subject, his eyes twinkling madly which caused Harry and Snape both to be suspicious of the proposition. "I think it would serve Harry well to learn Occlumency from you Severus."
Harry just looked confused and Snape immediately started protesting. "That's a terrible idea, Albus!" He was talking over Dumbledore's continued explanation about what Occlumency was. "It's not like the Dark Lord can get into his head anyway. You're only setting me up to be killed later if I teach him and the Dark Lord finds out!"
Dumbledore immediately quieted and looked confused. "What do you mean Voldemort can't get into Harry's head?"
"Er, I haven't had any dreams or visions all term, sir," Harry added in, not really sure what they were talking about.
"Albus, I already told you this," Snape sighed in exhaustion. "I told you the Dark Lord was trying to find a way to influence Potter's mind."
"Yes, hence the Occlumency lessons…" Dumbledore still looked confused.
"If he was able to get into Potter's mind through Legilimency, he'd already have done it. He's a master Legilimens!" Snape growled. "He's looking for other ways because he can't get into the boy's thick head!"
Both men glared at each other, seeing their mistakes in communication. "He can't get into Harry's head?" Dumbledore asked in clarification, an amazed look on his face. "But, there is a connection. He created it through the killing curse rebounding and evidenced by Harry's knowledge of Parseltongue. Harry was having visions last year as well. A connection like that doesn't just go away."
Harry was positive they had forgotten he was in the room at this point as he watched the back and forth. "Regardless, the boy is blocking him somehow," Snape shrugged in a very un-Snape-like fashion, the man must be tired. "None of the Death Eaters have been able to help either. He's not been…pleasant recently."
Harry snorted at this, though neither man paid him any attention. Dumbledore seemed to be deep in contemplation. "It may be best to send Harry to his relatives for the holidays then instead of Grimmauld. There will be less people for him to come into contact with, and much more security than the castle as well. It would be a good opportunity for Tom to try something."
Now things were just spiraling in Harry's opinion, and this train of thought was unacceptable. "No!" He said loudly and clearly so the two would realize he was still in the room and capable of making decisions for himself.
"But, my boy…" Dumbledore turned his blue eyes on the dementor. "It's for…"
"If you say it's for my own safety, I may scream," Harry glowered at the man. "First of all, there is a one hundred percent chance my relatives will refuse to allow me back for the holidays. That was always their condition for allowing me to go to school, that they only have to deal with me over summers. Honestly, I planned to deal with this later, but there's also a good 90% chance they won't allow me back this summer, coupled with a 10% chance they will either try to kill me in my sleep or kick me out onto the streets to be homeless. The Dursley's are no longer an option."
Dumbledore and Snape both stared at him. "What did you do, Potter?" Snape sneered.
"What were we just talking about in your office moments ago?" Harry narrowed his eyes at the man who effectively glowered back but seemed to understand what must have happened. "They always hated me from the minute they were forced to take me in. Now, they fear me…if I'm to be killed in my sleep, I'd rather Voldemort do it than Uncle Vernon, at least then I'd have a better shot at not being prosecuted for retaliating."
Snape seemed completely stunned while Dumbledore just looked like he didn't believe Harry, which coupled with the fact that the entire magical community didn't believe him at the moment made Harry almost lose his grasp on his aura once again. "Please explain what happened this past summer, I'm sure it's not as bad as you believe it to be," Dumbledore tried to soothe him, but Harry wasn't having it. "The connection you have with Tom will not just go away. He'll find out how to open it once more, or he'll send someone to reach you. They're your family; that's important."
"Tell that to them!" Harry exploded. "Grimmauld is teeming with Order members, why wouldn't I be safe there?"
"It's not that you wouldn't be safe, but you'd be safer with your aunt," Dumbledore continued to protest.
"Albus, maybe staying with the mutt isn't such a horrible idea," Snape added in, realizing that Harry was on the verge of snapping.
"And it's not like I wasn't already attacked at the Dursleys' and sort-of killed!" the dementor exclaimed. "Harry died over the summer and no one noticed! Where was that protection when I actually needed it?!"
The room got deadly quiet as Harry ranted. Looking at both men, he slapped a hand over his mouth, wishing with every fiber of his being he could take back his last couple sentences. "Er, you know…I'm just being over dramatic," Harry tried to brush it off. "Ignore me. I'm fine," he continued before trying to curl in on himself.
Snape shook his head ruefully; Harry wasn't going to get himself out of his one. Dumbledore pinned the boy with a piercing glare. "Who are you? What happened to Harry Potter?" He asked, the pressure rising once more in the room.
"I'M HARRY!" Harry yelled again, tired of all the secrecy and no one believing him.
"Just tell us what happened, Potter," Snape said calmly, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Yes, I believe that's best," Dumbledore continued to look dangerously at the teen in front of him.
"Er…I should probably start with the fact that I can't talk to snakes anymore," Harry rubbed his hands up and down his cold arms. He'd tried to open his locket many times and finally determined it must be sealed in Parseltongue, which he seemed no longer able to access.
Dumbledore looked almost comically shocked while Snape gave a deep sigh. "I don't believe that's the best place to start, try from the beginning."
The Gryffindor looked around the room hoping for an escape, but even Fawkes wasn't currently present to be an ally. Honestly, with his luck with magical creatures, it was more likely Fawkes would attack him anyway. Seeing none, he finally steeled himself to tell everything. "Well…I guess I should start with my first kiss then…"
Snape rolled his eyes. "Spare us the teenage hormones and skip to the important parts. We don't have all evening to cater to your melodrama."
Dumbledore cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yes, my boy. That may be best."
"Yeah, well my first kiss was with a dementor," Harry sneered at the vampire, secretly loving the melodrama as both professors gasped.
"How did… but… Merlin," Snape seemed to be putting everything together from Harry's odd behavior to what had happened with Umbridge. "That's just not…possible…"
"I think you must explain that more, Harry," Dumbledore's mind seemed to be thinking similar thoughts to Snape's.
"It's probably best if I just show you," Harry sighed and got more comfortable in his chair. "Er, professor," he looked to Snape. "Would you catch Jamie if he falls over, please? I don't want him to get hurt any more after what he's been through."
"Jamie?" Snape asked in confusion.
"It's what I call my Harry-suit," the dementor explained. "It's what's left over from the me from before. He's a bit like my pet, I guess. Look…you'll understand in a minute," Harry finished as he continued to see confused looks turned his way. Harry took a deep breath and shot one last pleading look Dumbledore's way before releasing Jamie and floating up from the body.
Before he could blink (if he had eyes), Snape was standing with his wand trained on the dementor, but Dumbledore just looked at him like he'd been delivered a terminal prognosis from a healer. "I don't feel his aura, and the room hasn't gotten any colder," Snape remarked as he glared at the creature. "Are we sure that's Potter…frankly, are we sure that's a dementor?"
Harry really wished he could roll his eyes, but instead impatiently motioned to Jamie who was slumping over and about to fall off the chair. The Potions Professor automatically reached out a hand and straightened the soulless teen back up onto the chair. At that Dumbledore finally stood and started casting diagnostic charms at Jamie. "He seems to be asleep," the headmaster remarked.
Snape joined him in casting diagnostic charms while the dementor was ignored in the corner. "His health appears to be good," the professor commented.
"A bit anemic though," Dumbledore added.
"That would be the blood quill," Snape nodded.
Harry cursed his dementor vocal chords as he didn't appreciate being ignored. Yes, Jamie was quite the anomaly, but he was Harry and Jamie was just the shell. They seemed less than concerned about his current state of being and more concerned about the Harry-suit. While Dumbledore and Snape muttered together about what might have happened (and not including Harry), he finally had enough. "Dobby!" Harry called out in a screech, making both men jump.
The house elf popped into the office, causing another jump of surprise from the men. Dobby's eyes widened as he took in the situation. "How can Dobby help you Harry Potter, sir?"
Harry sighed in relief, then he unconsciously pulled out the tube of lip balm he kept in his magical dementor robes next and applied it. He crossed his arms and tried to glare at the men who were sending a wave of shocked amusement his direction. "Dobby, would you mind acting as translator for me for just a few minutes?"
"Yes sir. Dobby is going to translate," the house elf told the older men.
"You can understand him, Dobby? A dementor?" Dumbledore asked in amazement.
"House elvses understand all languages, Headmaster Dumblydore, sir," Dobby explained simply.
"Great, Dobby, would you tell those two prats that I'd like to be included in this conversation and that I'm still bloody well a person even if I'm a dementor," Harry angrily screeched at the two.
"He was less annoying as the brat," Snape winced as the screeches grated on his vampire ears.
Dobby glared at him. "Harry Potter, sir, says he is…Sir, I can't say that…" Dobby looked at him in a wave of embarrassment. Harry crossed his arms and tried to glare at the house elf next. The little elf sighed and turned back to the men. "Fine, Harry Potter, sir, says that he's still bloody well a person even if he's a dementor and wants to be included in this conversation."
"I'm sorry, my boy," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in amusement. "We just got so caught up in the fact that your body was still alive without a soul in it. Normally they would have died by now if you were attacked over the summer."
Harry nodded his hooded head. "Dobby, tell them I'm taking really good care of Jamie. I make him eat, and he gets enough exercise throughout the day that when I leave him at night, he naturally falls asleep. Tell them I'm taking better care of him than anyone else ever has."
"Yes, Dobby knows sir," the elf nodded and patted Harry approvingly on his bony elbow. "Harry Potter takes good care of Jamie. He makes him eat, and he leaves him to sleep at night. He's much better taken care of now than before. Dobby and Winky thinks Harry Potter not very healthy before this year, but Jamie much healthier now. New Harry still needs to take care of himself though," Dobby sent a glare up to the dementor.
"What do you do at night then if you leave…Jamie, right? I don't believe dementors sleep," the headmaster asked, looking slightly less like his favorite student was dead and gone. It seemed the fact that Harry was still actually there was sinking in.
The dementor shrugged and sent a long series of screeches to Dobby. The elf nodded and turned to translate. "Dementorses don't sleep. Harry does homework, researches what happened to him, and spends time with Hedwig, Dobby, and Winky. He also leaves the castle to release his aura some, it makes him very cold and cranky to keeps it pulled in all the time."
"There is a curfew, Mr. Potter," Snape sneered with less venom than normal.
"One which we can't exactly expect him to follow if he doesn't sleep," Dumbledore cut him off as he ran a hand down his long beard.
Another long rant of angry screeches showed Harry's displeasure. Dobby continued to translate though. "Harry Potter says that he been fine, and no one has caught him. Besides what the evil b-word woman did to his hand, he's stayed outs of trouble and is doing better in classes…" Dobby stopped and turned questioning eyes to Harry. "Harry Potter, sir…what did b-word woman do to yous hand?"
Harry motioned to Jamie's hand and Dobby walked over to look at it. Harry sent a shrug to Dumbledore and Snape clearly communicating that Dobby took some liberties with his translation. "Winky!" Dobby yelled out in more anger than any of them had ever seen in a house elf, and they had all met Kreacher.
A loud pop sounded in the room, and the tiny, female house elf appeared in their midst. Winky had once been in a terrible shape after being fired from her former position in the Crouch family; however, after a year of Dobby's optimism and feeling needed by the students, she was thriving in her new environment. "Dobby?" Was all she got out before the other elf pulled her over and showed her Jamie's hand.
Dumbledore actually took a step back as both house elves turned accusing eyes on him. "What yous going to do about this?!" Winky asked slowly with a glower as a wave of magic crackled around the room, equal but different to the power exhibited by Dumbledore before.
"I'm going to handle it; I assure you Winky," the headmaster said emphatically.
"See you do, or Winky will," the elf threatened before popping out of the room once more.
"Now I know why you threatened me with Winky," Harry said quietly to Dobby who nodded and hugged him around his middle, sad that he had been injured. "Dobby, please ask them if they know what happened to me, and why I'm a dementor now."
After Dobby translated, Dumbledore and Snape both shook their heads in confusion. "I've never heard of this happening," Snape told them both.
"I haven't either," Dumbledore added. "I must admit that my knowledge of dementors is limited. I never figured out for certain why they were so attracted you in your third year either. It would have helped if I knew the house elves could translate."
Harry nodded. "That's what I've decided from the books I've read," he told them through Dobby.
"I'll do some research myself," the headmaster offered. "I hate to say it…but it may be a good idea to talk to a dementor, my boy. I doubt they can do anything more to you now that your soul is no longer in your body."
"That would necessitate him going to Azkaban," Snape raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Personally, I refuse to accompany him if that is your next misguided suggestion."
"It was not," Dumbledore assured his spy. "I will go with him myself if he should decide to go, but it's Harry's decision."
Harry looked between the two and sighed. Everything kept coming back around to that. He would eventually need to talk to a dementor. "I'll think about it," was the best he could offer. "I'm not going to the Dursleys though. I didn't have the best control over my aura when this first happened to me, and I think they reached their fear limit by the end of the summer."
"Is Sirius affected by your presence?" Dumbledore asked with a nod, understanding a little more now.
Harry shook his head. "I got my aura under control before I left Surrey. It's bloody uncomfortable for me, but Sirius doesn't seem affected."
Harry drifted back towards Jamie and picked up the body once more. He felt better rested and less unwell than he had when they had entered the office but still groggy. "Headmaster…you aren't going to tell anyone are you?" Harry asked with a grimace. "Especially Sirius?"
Dumbledore sighed and looked sadly at the Harry-coated dementor in front of him. "Harry, I think it best that as few people as possible know of this, especially Sirius."
"Absolutely!" Harry nodded emphatically. Snape just snorted, but seemed to be in agreement, so that's how Harry took it. "It's almost Jamie's bedtime, and you two have an Order meeting, right?" Harry prompted.
"Ah, yes, right," Dumbledore nodded and seemed to snap out of his somber thoughts. "Severus, I think based on this new information we can discontinue the guard duty at the ministry. I only had them posted to keep Voldemort from luring Harry into a trap. If he can't access Harry's mind…and well, since Harry is now also a dementor, I don't see the point. If Voldemort goes himself, one Order member will make no difference."
"Albus, you know I never agreed the guard detail was necessary in the first place," Snape glared.
"Er, so don't get lured into any traps at the ministry, got it," Harry grinned at them both. "What's at the ministry?"
"That's a conversation for another day. It is well past curfew now," Dumbledore smiled at him with his eyes twinkling once more. "And Harry, I'm so sorry for what you've been through, but I'm glad you're handling it so well. You truly are a remarkable young man."
Harry shrugged in embarrassment. "I have good days and bad days. With the blood quill gone, maybe there will be more good days now."
Dumbledore looked at him with sad and regretful eyes. "Dobby, would you be so kind as to escort Mr. Potter to Gryffindor Tower?
"Yes, sir, Headmaster Dumblydore, sir!" Dobby gave him a little salute and pulled Harry towards the door, which was much harder to do when he wasn't floating.
"I'll hold you to that future conversation, sir," Harry called back as a pushy elf shut the door behind them. "Well, that went better than expected," he commented to Dobby, fully aware the men were still talking about him back in the office and very curious about it.
"Harry Potter is spending tonight with Dobby and Winky in the kitchens," he ordered.
"Yes, sir, Mr. Dobby, sir," Harry smiled at him, getting the elf to laugh as they continued to the tower.
A/N: Thanks for reading and please vote and comment!