Harry Potter and Future's Past

Chapter 29

July 1st continued.

Albus Dumbledore sat wearily behind his desk pondering the latest confrontation with Minerva McGonagall. Normally he would have been able to sway McGonagall's opinion to match his own, but everywhere he turned recently he found resistance to his ideas. He'd even discovered that he could no longer rely on Nymphadora Tonks to provide him information concerning the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Sirius, Tonks, and now even McGonagall," Dumbledore thought. "Everyone used to be sensible and now people are arguing with me at every point. Why do they not listen?" Though Dumbledore asked the question, he already knew the answer. It all came back to Harry Potter. His thoughts moved to the young man who had changed so much in the recent months.

"Most of the change seemed to have occurred when the bond between him and Miss Granger occurred. He is definitely more confident now and the two of them are becoming very formidable in their own right. Now he seems to be attracting loyalty very much like...." Dumbledore paused before he murmured "Like Tom Riddle," He knew there were definitely similarities. Before he could think further on the subject, his fireplace blazed up in green flames and the head of Arthur Weasley appeared.

"Albus?" The head moved until he saw Dumbledore at his desk. "Excellent, I'm glad I caught you."

"Is there a problem Arthur?"

"Yes," Arthur replied, "We had another altercation this morning between Harry and Ron. It escalated to a point where Harry pulled his wand on Ron when he said something about Hermione."

"Did anyone get hurt?"

"No, not this time, but to tell you the truth Albus, Molly and I are worried," Arthur explained. "I think it would be best if we take the kids and move back to the Burrow."

"That seems a bit severe Arthur, I'm sure the matter will be forgotten in a matter of days."

"No Albus, it is not," Arthur argued. "I can't take a chance with my children. Harry's already killed one man who threatened Hermione and earlier..." Arthur paused but then continued. "Earlier Harry and Hermione destroyed Walburga's painting."

"But..." Dumbledore started in surprise but then collected himself. "Destroyed it? Do you know how?"

"No, but Molly heard the painting yelling 'mudblood'. By the time she got there, it was destroyed."

"Defending Hermione again..." Dumbledore said softly and paused as he considered the latest revelation. Dumbledore was very concerned that the latest manifestations of violent acts were the beginning of Riddle's soul piece's influence while at the same time he also believe that Harry's power peaked when he was defending a person he loved. "Love and Violence?" The divergence of the actions puzzled Dumbledore. "Is it possible that Riddle's influence is being controlled by the love of the marriage bond?" He was still considering that possibility when he realized Arthur was still speaking.

"...so you see Albus, we can't stay," Arthur was saying. "What if Ron or Ginny tries to hurt Hermione? It's best if we get them away and see if the matter can be settled by them being apart."

"Very well," Dumbledore sighed as he realized the truth of the matter. If Ron or Ginny were to put Hermione in jeopardy, Harry very well might lash out at them. Dumbledore knew that the regrets from such an action would leave permanent scars upon Harry's heart; scars Dumbledore was quite familiar with. His own memories of a childhood friendship that ended in violence and the death of his own sister came readily to mind as well as the grief that always accompanied them.