“Thank you, Headmaster,” Professor McGonagall replied politely.
“However, Mister Potter specifically requested my presence during this meeting.”
A flicker of surprise crossed Dumbledore’s face.
“I’m quite certain that won’t be necessary, Minerva,” he said smoothly.
“You may leave.”
Before the Head of Gryffindor could respond, Harry stepped forward.
“Nevertheless, Headmaster, I requested Professor McGonagall’s attendance.”
His voice remained calm, but there was steel beneath it.
“And as I understand it, that is my right.”
The reaction was immediate.
“Arrogant boy!”
Snape’s voice cut through the room like a whip.
“Exactly like your father.”
Harry slowly turned toward him.
Oddly enough, he felt nothing.
No anger.
No fear.
Only cold contempt.
“I wouldn’t know, Professor.”
His reply was almost conversational.
“After all, my parents were murdered when I was barely a year old.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
Harry’s eyes never left Snape’s.
“Though I’ve heard someone betrayed them.”
A pause.
“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
Snape exploded upward from his stool.
His robes billowed dramatically as fury twisted his features.
“Potter!”
“Severus.”
Dumbledore’s raised hand halted whatever curse or insult had been about to follow.
“That was unnecessary.”
The old wizard’s tone was stern.
“Control yourself.”
“It was absolutely unnecessary,” McGonagall snapped before Snape could answer.
Her eyes flashed dangerously.
“Professor Snape, another outburst of that nature and I shall formally recommend disciplinary action.”
“Now, Minerva—”
“No, Albus.”
The sharpness of her interruption startled everyone.
“Do not ‘Now, Minerva’ me.”
She pointed directly at Snape.
“Either Professor Snape learns to conduct himself like a member of staff, or he can explain his behavior before the Board of Governors.”
Snape looked moments away from spontaneous combustion.
Dumbledore released a quiet sigh.
“Severus.”
The Potions Master reluctantly shifted his attention toward him.
“You will cease directing your personal grievances toward Harry.”
A brief pause.
“He is not James Potter.”
Snape’s lip curled.
He returned to his seat without another word.
Satisfied the immediate crisis had passed, Dumbledore turned back toward Harry.
“Of course,” he said pleasantly.
“Since you specifically requested Professor McGonagall’s presence, she may remain.”
Harry couldn’t stop the snort that escaped him.
Nor the slight shake of his head.
Every person in the room noticed.
Even Dumbledore’s expression tightened slightly.
“Please sit down, Harry,” the Headmaster said, gesturing toward the solitary chair positioned before his desk.
Harry glanced around the room.
“I’m afraid that would be rather rude of me, Headmaster.”
Dumbledore blinked.
“Would it?”
Harry nodded.
“There are three ladies present.”
His gaze moved briefly toward Hermione, Daphne, and Professor McGonagall.
“It would hardly be proper for me to take the only seat.”
For a moment Dumbledore simply stared.
Then he smiled.
“Quite right, my boy.”
With a casual wave of his wand, three additional chairs appeared beside the first.
Harry immediately stepped aside.
Hermione sat first.
Daphne followed.
Only after Professor McGonagall chose a chair did Harry finally sit between the two girls.
Daphne to his left.
Hermione to his right.
The positioning was deliberate.
Dumbledore certainly noticed.
Once everyone had settled, Dumbledore folded his hands atop the desk.
His famous grandfatherly smile returned.
“Now then, Harry.”
His gaze swept across all three students.
“I would very much like to understand how this… bond… came into existence.”
“No.”
The answer came from Daphne.
Immediate.
Flat.
Absolute.
The room blinked.
Daphne calmly met the Headmaster’s gaze.
“That is a private matter between the three of us.”
A faint chill entered her voice.
“It is not your concern.”
For a brief instant, the twinkle vanished from Dumbledore’s eyes.
Then it returned.
“Harry?” he prompted gently.
Harry smiled.
“Headmaster?”
“I would like an explanation.”
“I already gave you one.”
Daphne’s voice sharpened.
“The answer is no.”
She turned toward Harry.
“You are not to discuss it.”
Harry nodded immediately.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
That earned him a small approving smile.
Looking back toward Dumbledore, he said,
“As we’ve already stated, that subject is closed.”
The room became very quiet.
Then Harry felt it.
A wave.
Subtle.
Almost impossible to notice.
Except he knew exactly what it was.
Compulsion magic.
At virtually the same moment came something else.
A probe.
Thin.
Sharp.
Slipping toward his mind.
Legilimency.
Harry almost laughed.
The old man had actually tried it.
What Dumbledore didn’t know was that Harry had arrived prepared.
His enhanced Occlumency barriers detected the intrusion instantly.
The probe never came close to reaching anything important.
Harry found it immediately.
Seized it.
And destroyed it.
Completely.
The backlash erupted down the connection like a magical explosion.
Dumbledore’s head snapped backward.
A scream tore from his throat.
The sudden cry startled everyone in the room.
The Headmaster’s hands flew to his temples.
His wand launched from his grasp.
Then the old wizard toppled sideways.
Harry moved before anyone else reacted.
A tiny burst of wandless magic pulled the Elder Wand from the air.
Its flight path altered ever so slightly.
A second later it vanished neatly into Harry’s pocket.
Nobody noticed.
At least, Harry hoped nobody noticed.
Drawing his own wand, he surged to his feet.
“You bastard!”
His shout echoed through the office.
But the accusation was wasted.
Dumbledore had already collapsed behind the desk.
Unconscious.
Very unconscious.
Realizing the Headmaster was no longer a threat, Harry immediately swung his wand toward the next most dangerous person in the room.
Severus Snape.
The Potions Master had also risen and drawn his wand.
For several tense seconds, both stood frozen.
Two wands.
Two hardened expressions. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Neither willing to blink first.
“What is the meaning of this?”
McGonagall’s voice finally shattered the standoff.
Her own wand was now drawn.
“The Headmaster just attempted Legilimency on me,” Harry growled.
Professor McGonagall stared.
“He what?”
The disbelief in her voice was unmistakable.
Interestingly, Snape showed none.
At the very mention of Legilimency, the man hadn’t even twitched.
Harry filed that away.
Carefully.
“He attacked my mind.”
Harry lowered his wand slightly.
“So far as I know, that’s what happened.”
Daphne immediately rose from her chair.
“Legilimency against a minor without consent is illegal.”
Without hesitation she turned toward the fireplace.
“I’m contacting the Aurors.”
That finally produced the smallest reaction from Snape.
A barely noticeable tightening around the eyes.
Most people would have missed it.
Harry didn’t.
A moment later came the familiar whoosh of Floo powder.
Then Daphne’s voice echoed through the fireplace.
“Aurors! Hogwarts Headmaster’s Office!”
Hermione, who had remained silent through the entire confrontation, suddenly spoke.
Her voice sounded worried.
“Shouldn’t somebody call Madam Pomfrey?”
Everyone turned toward her.
“The Headmaster might actually be injured.”
That seemed to break the paralysis gripping the room.
McGonagall immediately conjured her Patronus.
A silver tabby cat burst from her wand.
“Medical emergency. Headmaster’s Office.”
The cat vanished through the wall.
Harry lowered his wand completely.
When he looked back toward the desk, Snape was kneeling beside Dumbledore’s unconscious form.
After several moments of examination, he stood.
“He’s alive.”
Relief flickered across the room.
“But deeply unconscious.”
Snape’s expression darkened.
“I cannot revive him.”
“Nor should you.”
McGonagall sounded genuinely offended.
“This is not a Stunning Spell, Severus.”
Her eyes moved toward Dumbledore.
“If this truly resulted from a failed Legilimency attempt, then magical backlash may be involved.”
She shook her head firmly.
“Leave him alone until Poppy arrives.”
“Aurors are already on their way,” Daphne announced as she returned to Harry and Hermione.
For the first time, genuine discomfort appeared on Snape’s face.
“Is that really necessary, Miss Greengrass?”
“Yes.”
Her answer was immediate.
“Whether the Headmaster committed a crime or not, he has suffered a serious magical injury.”
Snape didn’t argue.
The first person to arrive wasn’t an Auror.
It was Madam Pomfrey.
The matron swept into the office with professional urgency.
One glance at the unconscious Headmaster was enough.
“What happened?”
“It appears Albus attempted Legilimency on Mister Potter,” McGonagall replied.
She pointed toward the figure behind the desk.
“That was the result.”
Pomfrey muttered several things under her breath that sounded distinctly unprofessional.
Then she began casting diagnostic charms.
Blue light.
Green light.
Silver pulses.
The scans continued for nearly a minute.
Finally she straightened.
Her expression was not pleased.
“Which idiot attempted to revive him?”
Without hesitation, Snape sneered.
“That would be me.”