Win The War: Consanguinity

Chapter 17: Department of Mysteries

I'd like to thank Jasmin Kain – my Polish Beta, that she still works with me on thin, and 

With his heart pounding, Harry entered the house. Another confrontation awaited him. It was only now that he seriously began to fear that Tobias might still be angry with the whole "Mr Weasley" incident.

"Hi," Harry greeted tightly. Tobias was lying on the couch in front of the TV, watching a football match.

"Oh, the prodigal son has finally deigned to show up at home," the man said, taking a long gulp of beer from the bottle. Without looking away from the T.V., he added: "Get upstairs and don't disturb me. You can see that I am busy."

Harry swallowed loudly and felt a pang of regret as he remembered what he had been telling Sirius not even an hour earlier.

"Sorry about the other day," he said, even though he felt absolutely no guilt. However, he did not want the man to keep holding their recent fight against him. "Can you not be angry with me anymore?"

Tobias looked at him as if considering the question.

"Alright, alright. But, go now. I brought you some paint; you will start painting the house tomorrow. And tomorrow, well ... you can tell me how it was at that ginger friend of yours. Now, there is an important game on T.V."

"Okay, sure." Harry sighed and slowly walked up to his room.

He was tired. Both his confrontation with Dumbledore and Lupin and his time with his godfather cost him a lot. In the context of the conversation with Sirius, Tobias' behaviour hurt even more. Still, at least the man was no longer angry with him.

Despite the exhaustion, he kept rolling from side to side, unable to sleep. He had to find some way to catch Pettigrew. Of course he could not count on help from the Order...or Dumbledore. Harry was frustrated by the Headmaster's behaviour. He wondered why the man was trying to hide information at all costs from him. For the first eleven years of his life, the boy had no idea that magic even existed. And from what he found out, it was the Headmaster and Hagrid who had left him on the Dursleys' doorstep.

Just like a newspaper or a bottle of milk, he thought bitterly.

What would happen if he woke up in the middle of the night and went somewhere? After all, one-and-a-half-year-old children can walk or at least move on all fours. Not to mention the legality of dumping an unwanted, magical kid on the Dursleys.

Dumbledore was definitely interfering in his life too much. Still, only now had Harry realised that the man didn't necessarily have his best interest at heart. Harry felt somewhat betrayed.

Or maybe, as Lupin had said, maybe Harry was too demanding? After all, Dumbledore was just the Headmaster of the school Harry attended, so he shouldn't expect any special treatment, such as extra defence classes.

Over the past week, Harry had flipped through the book Sirius had given him for his birthday. He had practised all the spells' movements without actually doing any magic. Still, it wasn't even a little as good as casting actual spells. He would be lying if he said he was not afraid of Voldemort. The teen was aware that he had survived only thanks to his luck so far, and he knew that one day it would leave him as well.

The boy sighed. He got up from the bed and started pacing the room.

Suddenly he felt pretty lonely. The most powerful psychopath in the world, someone/who he had no chance of winning against, wanted to kill him, and he could only count on himself. Yes, Sirius would do anything for him, but today the teenager saw with his own eyes how bad the man's mental state was. Harry had no right to cause him any more worries—what's more, he should be the one who supported his godfather and did anything to help him. The teen wondered what was in those potions the man was drinking. When he and Sirius had been sitting in the attic, he had been struck with an impulse to place the empty vials in his pocket. Maybe he will ask Nott about them. The Slytherin owed him a favour for the Plangentine anyway, and this was an opportunity for him to pay back.