CH 95

"Can't you see beyond that, Harry?" begged Dumbledore. "Everyone should be given a second chance."

"A second chance to kill me, you mean Albus?" asked Harry. "The Dursleys had ten years to show remorse and change their ways. They failed every opportunity given to them. And only a naïve fool would think them capable of changing their ways after so long."

"I meant me, Harry," said Dumbledore. "I admit it was a grave mistake, on my part, to place you with the Dursleys. But you were safe from the magical world there. My intentions were good and just."

Thinking a moment, Harry said, "Aldous Huxley, a novelist from earlier this century once said, 'Hell isn't merely paved with good intentions; it's walled and roofed with them. Yes, and furnished too'.

"And Albert Camus, a French Philosopher, said, 'The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding'.

"You lacked properly understanding what my relatives were capable of. It was a mistake that would have killed me if not for my bouts of accidental magic in self-healing," replied Harry. "There were quite a few times that, had I not been born a wizard, should have killed me. "No, your mistakes - multiple - were not that you just placed me with the Dursleys when you had no right to do so; nor understood how they would react to me for my very presence. No, your other mistakes were - not regularly coming and checking up on me, not having my placement properly registered as you were legally bound to do, and not teaching me my proper place in the wizarding world.

"Then there's the ones I know you did but have not been pursued through the courts over; and only because I see no benefit from it for myself. There clearly must be an owl-redirection or blockage ward placed on either me or on Privett Drive, and it can only be you who put it there; that's illegal. Included in that, you blocked my mail from Gringotts; that's a breach of the Treaty. You never took me in for my mandatoryinoculations against wizarding diseases, such as Dragon Pox, Scrofungulus, and Vanishing Sickness; that's recognised as child abuse in wizarding Britain, each case. And, finally, you currently have in your possession property that rightfully belongs to House Potter you were obliged to return to me on the passing of my father, and have not; that's theft."

Leaning forward, Harry said, "You need to atone and show true remorse for all those matters, Albus; plus others I didn't mention and of which I know you're fully aware. And you can make a good start by returning my property to me withoutfurther prompting. Until you recognise and publicly accept your crimes against me and atone for them - you have no right to ask for forgiveness for them. You will not have deserved it.

"And, as I mentioned in our previous meeting, I'll also need a full accounting from you as to why you did the things you did. And none of that sidestepping of the question you employed in the courts, either. You cannot expect me to consider forgiveness if you're not willing to come clean. You can start with why you took a personal - some might say unhealthy interest in me in particular; when there were a great many orphans created by Voldemort and his Death Eaters you otherwise ignored.

"You want my forgiveness, Albus? Earn it!"

Harry then sat back and waited.

After a few moments, Dumbledore sighed and with a note of sadness said, "You are, of course, correct, Harry. You have given me a lot to think about; and I shall be up at nights doing just that. You have sacrificed a lot for the wizarding world." "I have sacrificed nothing, Albus. Everything was stolen from me."

With a second sigh, the old man said, "Thank you for your time, Harry."

Recognising the dismissal, Harry rose and assisted Daphne to her feet. " Take down that mail redirection ward immediately, Albus; tonight. Otherwise, have a good evening, Headmaster," he said, as he led Daphne and Professor Flitwick from the room.

After the door closed behind them, Snape said, "The brat might be arrogant, but he's right, you know."

"I know," said Dumbledore sadly. "However, there are a great many things he is not yet ready to hear."

"And, if you leave out even one thing and he knows of it, he'll never trust you again," said Snape. Nodding, Dumbledore said, "Thank you, Severus." Effectively dismissing the Potions Master.

Out in the hallway beyond the gargoyle Professor Flitwick walked with the two back towards the main part of the castle. Daphne had her hand firmly in Harry's elbow and was almost hard up alongside him.

The Professor said to Harry, "You've also given me a lot to think about, Mister Potter."

"Yes, Professor, I suspected as much," replied Harry.

"May I discuss with other members of staff what you discussed with the Headmaster tonight?" asked the Professor.

"If you wish, Professor," replied Harry. "Nothing I said you should construe as a secret." "Thank you, Mister Potter," said the half-goblin just as they arrived back at the grand staircase. "I take it you're safe to find your own ways back to your common rooms from here?"

"Yes; thank you, Professor," replied Harry while Daphne nodded in agreement.

"Then I shall bid you good night," he said, giving a short bow before leaving.

"It's still quite early," said Daphne. "I suspect the others will be in the library. Shall we see if they're there?"

Harry nodded and said, "Sounds like a good idea to me."

As they walked towards the library, Daphne suddenly ducked to the side of the hallway dragging Harry with her. She opened a door, dragging Harry in behind her. It looked like a disused classroom. As soon as Harry regained his balance from almost being dragged off his feet, Daphne spun him towards her, grabbed each side of his head, and planted a long kiss on his lips.

When she let him go, Harry staggered back half a step and looked back at her in shock. "What was that for?"

"That, Harry, was for both keeping yourself calm and speaking so eloquently back there in the Headmaster's office," she replied. "You make me so proud to be your betrothed."

Quite befuddled, it took Harry a few moments to respond. "I - guess I need to do that more often, then," he stammered.

"Definitely," she replied with a smile.

Professor McGonagall had just finished marking the assignments of her Seventh Year NEWTS students when her wards alerted her to someone at her office door.

She set the marked assignments aside and went to the door. Opening it, she saw Professor Flitwick standing on the other side holding his pensieve tucked under his arm.

"Minerva," he said. "Do you have a few minutes?"

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