Midnight & Destiny | Harry Potter FanFiction

Capitulum Nonum

Distant voices slowly pulled Harry out of his dreamless sleep. He was warm and content where he was in a soft bed that he had slept in a few times before. Opening his eyes, Harry immediately recognized the duvet and knew that he was in Professor Dumbledore's guest quarters. He was lying on his right side, facing the dark wall with the voices behind him. Reflexively, Harry rolled onto his back and turned his head towards the voices that seemed to stop the moment he moved. He blinked a few times and saw two blurry figures, one that was slowly approaching. After a moment he recognized the overabundance of white as Professor Dumbledore but couldn't make out who the other person was that remained in the doorway.

"Good morning, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said pleasantly as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "You just missed Madam Pomfrey. You should be happy to hear that everything is still healing nicely. There are no signs that last night caused any further damage. Madam Pomfrey also left your potion behind so you won't need to visit the hospital wing today. I would also like to thank you for what you did last night, Harry. You pushed aside your own ailments in order to warn me, something that not many would do."

Harry stared at Dumbledore for a moment before rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes. "I just thought you should know, sir," he said as he sat up. "Voldemort was really angry when he found out about the attack on the train. He knows I'm responsible for his coma and he wants to find out how I did it because..." Harry's gaze fell as he remembered what Voldemort said. It had been the second time Voldemort had mentioned Dumbledore being afraid of Harry. Was it true? Was Dumbledore afraid of these outbursts?

"Because?" Professor Dumbledore prodded gently.

Harry returned his gaze to the somewhat blurry figure of Dumbledore with a worried look on his face. "Because you're afraid of it," he admitted in a quiet, fearful voice. "He said the same thing at the graveyard when he found out about the necklace you made me wear. You're not afraid of me, are you, Professor?"

Dumbledore gave Harry's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Of course not, Harry," he said pleasantly. "Voldemort doesn't realize these are outbursts of magic, not a steady flow. If it were a steady flow then I may be a little unsettled. No one would be able to handle so much magic constantly. Remember what happened to your body after you returned from the graveyard. Your body could not handle the strain; no mortal body would be able to handle it, Voldemort included."

Harry shuddered at the memory of the three powerful outbursts that had nearly killed him that night. It had felt like he was going to explode.

"But that is not the only reason, Harry," Professor Dumbledore added in the same gentle voice. "I'm not afraid of you because I know you. I know you would never hurt anyone unless you had no other choice. You have a conscience, Harry, and a heart that pushes you to succeed when others fail. I could never be afraid of someone as caring as you, remember that."

Harry couldn't help but feel relieved. Professor Dumbledore wasn't afraid of him. Voldemort was wrong about that but that didn't mean the outbursts themselves weren't dangerous. This simply knowledge fueled Harry's determination to learn how to control them. This had been the first powerful outburst in a long time and it had taken him by surprise, something Harry wasn't going to let happen again.

"I spoke with Remus and Sirius, Harry," Dumbledore said after a moment of silence. "They are worried that the more powerful outbursts are returning too soon for you but want to leave the decision of giving you another suppression necklace up to you. I realize that this is only delaying a matter that needs to be dealt with but we fear this is just another thing you would have to worry about."

Harry looked at Dumbledore nervously. He really didn't know what to do. He wanted to learn how to deal with it but Professor Dumbledore had a point. He did have a lot to worry about already. "What would you do, sir?" he asked softly.