24 Ch 9-A Quest Part 3

"And what about how he was abused in that place," Sirius asked.

"After placing him there I had tried to remain detached from him as much as possible and not form any emotional attachments. I thought it would be hard for me to do what I must if I came to care for him... It would be hard for me to allow him to fight against the strongest dark lord of his generation,"

"So I didn't keep a tab on him, and when he came to Hogwarts, the protection from his aunt had already been solidified. So I thought that less than a month of stay at an unpleasant place in exchange for protection for a year was an adequate exchange,"

"So you made him your pawn all because of some shitty prophecy that Trelawney made," Sirius said, a sliver of emotion breaking out of his Occlumency.

"Don't dismiss a real prophecy out of hand Sirius," Dumbledore serenely said, "You do not understand it, but it is a very strong and mysterious branch of magic. This magic works in ways I don't think any human could ever comprehend. There is a place in the Department of Mysteries and its full of prophecies and without fault as long as a prophecy has appeared there, it would come true in one form or another,"

"Why didn't you train him then if you wanted him to be 'The Saviour,'" Sirius said sarcastically, "Why didn't you prepare him for all he would have to face,"

"You were just admonishing me for being too cruel to him but now you are telling me that I should have made him a child soldier," Dumbledore sighed and shook his head, "I will not deny that the thought had crossed my mind, but ultimately I wanted him to have a childhood as much as possible, without carrying the burden of prophecy,"

"Then why not start when he started Hogwarts when he was old enough?" Sirius asked.

"When I saw him laughing and having fun, enjoying himself with the new friends he had made. I just couldn't bring myself to take all of that away from him," Dumbledore said

"Don't give me that crap!" Sirius said standing up, "I know there is more to this than that—What are you hesitating to tell me now—Dumbledore"

Dumbledore surveyed him through his glasses, "I don't think you quite understand what you are asking for Sirius. I am not sure you are ready for this kind of information,"

"Just tell me!"

"Very well," Dumbledore sighed massaging his forehead, "Did Harry ever mention what happened during the end of his second year," Sirius nodded and Dumbledore continued, "Well when he presented me the diary, one of my worst suspicion had come true. I finally had confirmation of how he had managed to survive all those years ago... The diary was a Horcrux,"

"So that's how," Sirius whispered quietly.

"You seem to be aware of what they are,"

"The blacks have been taught about them at a young age about how they were an abomination and how even thinking about making one would be enough to get you kicked out of the house. Something about tainting the whole line or some rubbish—" Sirius muttered, "Any way you were saying..."

"Harry has a connection with Voldemort that is uncanny and very unusual and it was only when he handed me a soul container that I connected the dots..." Dumbledore hesitated here before he took a deep breath, "Harry's scar contains a fragment of Voldemort's soul,"

Sirius just sat there with a dumbfounded look for a while before he finally found his voice and croaked, "So what— are you raising him as some kind of pig for slaughter,"

"It must be easy for you to stand there on the other side and judge me," Dumbledore said emotionally, "Who cares if some number of nameless and faceless people and creatures were slaughtered in some vague future, who cares as long as the one child whose face you can see, was happy and alive,"

"...But you see, Sirius— I can see all those nameless faces in my imagination," Dumbledore said tiredly, "I remember every face that passed through Hogwarts and I can see it very clearly in my mind, who would be one the to get slaughtered first, who would be Voldemort's prime target, how many mothers who I've seen grow up would lose their child, the children who would be orphaned first..."

There was silence for a while before Sirius asked quietly, "Is there no other way? There must be some kind of solution! Maybe the goblins know something?"

"You think I haven't been searching for that everywhere ever since I found out?" Dumbledore said, "All my free time, all summer holidays I get, I've been looking for a solution—In the muggle world, In the goblin nation, In ancient texts—"

"And you didn't find anything?"

"No there was no concrete solution that I found but..." Dumbledore paused before saying, "There was a lead that I had been pursuing for quite a while but with the tournament being organized, I haven't been able to find if it would pan out,"

"What was it?"

"Do you know about Herpo the foul,"

"Yes, an ancient dark wizard, said to be the inventor of basilisk or something,"

"Well, basically yes," Dumbledore said, "He was said to be one of the pioneers of the Dark Arts, and he was famous for inventing a lot of vile spells that the Dark Lords that came after him used liberally but one of his lesser know feats is that he was the creator of Horcruxes,"

"While searching for the solution, I came across something that makes me believe that located inside a jungle hidden from muggles for centuries, lies the final resting place of Herpo the Foul, his tomb,"

"And you think that the solution to Harry's unique situation could be there,"

"Yes, I am fairly certain that we could find information there that would be mighty useful," Dumbledore said, "And if that doesn't pan out then I had one more resolution in mind but that one would be quite complicated and... dangerous,"

Sirius already knew the solution Dumbledore had in mind from his metaknowledge, "So why didn't you find that place yet,"

"The forest is very huge Sirius and while I've been going there every time I could myself free, but without months of rigorous searching I don't think it would be possible to find the place very soon,"

"Well I am your man for the job then," Sirius said standing up, "If you need time then you are in luck because I've got plenty of that,"

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