Dark Memories

Book 3 - Part 9: Assistance

Dumbledore sat up suddenly, coming to an epiphany at the wee hours of the morning.

How could he have been SO BLIND!?

It was so simple! It explained everything!

Was he getting too old? How could he have totally spaced this simple explanation? Missed this thing that was staring him right in the face for months?

Perhaps it was the lemon drops; maybe too much sugar was doing something to his brain. That had to be it; many people kept telling him he ate too much sugar. McGonagall had even dared him to stop eating sweets for just one day.

He hadn't been able to make it to breakfast.

But sugar was so good, and lemon drops....

Dumbledore shook himself, reminding himself why he had suddenly woken up.

Harry and the Custosae, after thinking everything over, went hand-in-hand. He saw it now. Understood it now.

Oh, how had he missed it?!

But it didn't matter now, he saw it now and it made so much sense!

The Custosae hadn't initiated contact with Harry, Harry had made contact with them!

Through Hagrid.

Oh, how could he have forgotten Hagrid was a Custosae?

Harry had gone to him when he had had his first bad nightmare at Hogwarts. Dumbledore remembered that night well, McGonagall coming to his chambers to tell him Neville had woken her up to tell her Harry was having a bad nightmare and that soon after she had escorted a very upset Harry to Hagrid.

Hagrid, who had no doubt listened to Harry explain his nightmare and probably reveal they were more than mere troubled dreams . . . they were memories.

What had Hagrid said?

"...these dreams ...are of a ser'us nature, and I think I can safely tell yuh, without betrayin' Harry's wishes, that he has been havin' 'em for as long as he can remember."

Yeah. As long as he could remember....

Dumbledore sighed, once again wishing Harry did not have to suffer such things, before once again moving on in his thoughts.

Yes, Dumbledore would still ask Mage about how they had brought Harry into the Custosae and how much Harry really knew about them, but at least he had figured out how Harry and the Custosae had gotten so close.

Dumbledore chuckled to himself.

It was all connected through his grounds keeper, the lovable half-giant.

How could he have overlooked such an obvious (and not just because Hagrid is large) puzzle piece?

O o O o O

The following days were relatively peaceful, considering how the previous days had been, though Harry and the Custosae were trying very hard to determine what Riddle's next move would be. However, in the middle of that week, Harry decided to speak to Rook about it, and ask him if he had any ideas.

He did.

"The Dark Lord can be patient when he needs to be," Rook said over the mirror. "I believe he will wait until the holidays to do anything major."

"Hmm," Harry hummed, thinking.

"I imagine he would want to do something directly against his enemies, such as their families."

"Like their children..." Harry whispered, suddenly coming up with the most likely thing Riddle would do. "He'd attack the train."

"It is no doubt a prime target, and one he would exploit."