The Embrace of Darkness

Disclaimer: see Chapter 1

I\'d like to thank everyone for reviewing. I\'m quite surprised by the amount of feedback I\'m getting! Thanks everyone! Concerning some reservations about \'Cookie\', stick with me. Despite appearances, Harry does not automatically become invincible. I don\'t want to give to much away, but she\'s in there mostly for comic relief. Hope you like the update!

Warning: Dumbles bashing ahead!

Chapter 3

\"...\" speech
\'...\' thoughts
0o...o0 parsletongue
*...* communicating with Cookie

-----

Voldemort sat on his throne-like chair, fingers drumming on the arm. His Inner Circle stood assembled around him, heads bowed and eyes on the floor.

\"Lucius, what word from the Ministry? How is Fudge handling the muggles?\" The Dark Lord was furious, with the vicious animals who had hurt his Harry, with Dumbledore, the bloody Fanclub of the Roasted Turkey, the Ministry, but most of all with himself. He knew that something like this was going to happen, but it still rankled that he couldn\'t do anything to protect the teen.

\"The Ministry is in total disarray, my Lord. Many blame Fudge for what has happened. Despite current opinion of Mr Potter, the public is outraged that such an important child was placed with such abusive... creatures.\" The aristocratic blond\'s disdain for the fickle public and the muggles was evident in his speech. \"Right now, Fudge is trying to keep from being expelled from office over this. An emergency Wizengamot meeting was called and it was unanimously agreed that the muggles be put on trial in wizarding court. The muggles are being held in medium security cells in the main Ministry building.\"

Voldemort sat silently for a few minutes, contemplating the information he had just been given. \"Severus, how is Dumbledore explaining his blunder to the Order?\"

\"He is not, my Lord. Not to the satisfaction of the majority of its members at least. He claims that the Dursleys willingly took Harry in -- a lie if I ever heard one -- and that the negative emotions toward the boy built so slowly as to be unnoticeable. When questioned on signs of abuse and neglect in the past, he is silent. There is a great deal of unrest in the Order right now. Most of them are unsure of Dumbledore, if not outright against him, now.\"

Again the Dark Lord sat in private contemplation. \"For now, make no moves concerning the muggles. I want Harry under constant watch. Alert our operatives in St. Mungo¡\', Lucius. I want to know if that boy so much as twitches.\"

-----

For weeks, Harry was kept in isolation at St. Mungo¡¯s. The press clamoured for interviews with Dumbledore, Healers, Aurors, anyone who knew anything. But for once, they were silent. A wall of officials and magic protected Harry in his vulnerable state. He was in a coma and no one knew what to do.

*So, we have decided? With all I have told you, with all that you now know and feel, that is your decision?*

After resting for an indeterminable amount of time later his first meeting with Cookie, she \'awakened\' Harry and they began to talk. She told him many things, past and present. She taught him many skills, gave him a deep and wide ranging knowledge, she told him about herself and their connection. But most importantly, she revealed the truth to him.

*Yes, Cookie. That is my decision.*

*Is that your final answer?*

*Ha ha. Yes.*

*Sigh. My little boy is all grown up.* She pretended to be all choked up and emotional. *Oh well. Time to wake up, Harry. And remember, all you have to do is reach and I\'ll be there.*

Harry had found that Cookie had a rather dramatic and mocking sense of humour. He mentally smiled at her antics, just as she had intended.

*See you around, Cookie.*

-----

Harry cracked an eye open, peering around the room he was in. Slowly, he opened the other eye. No one was there. He shifted and felt a faint throbbing in his skull and neck. \'Some healers. Can¡¯t even fix a busted skull.\' Moving slowly and carefully, Harry shifted upright and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He was about to step down when a Healer entered and espied him.

\"You\'re awake! Please lie down. Do you know who you are? Your birth date?\" He immediately pressured Harry to lie back, and began diagnostic scans. Harry mentally rolled his eyes while he answer the Healer\'s questions. He had him do a number of simple tasks to determine his general mental and physical well-being. Other Healers slowly streamed in, performing tests of their own, recording observations, and generally doing medical things.

Finally they all cleared out except for the original Healer who had found him. \"Headmaster Dumbledore has been alerted to your awakening. He will be showed in momentarily.\"

Various emotions boiled within Harry. Cookie had told him a number of things about the grand-fatherly White Wizard, not all of them good. He was manipulative and deceitful, he was the one to block his connection to Cookie, and he was the one to modify Harry\'s memory, among other nefarious deeds. His actions were what decided Harry. The saviour was most definitely lost to the people.

\"Harry, my boy. How are you doing. You gave us all quite a scare.\" Harry seethed with anger at how casual and nonchalant the old wizard seemed. It was his bloody fault the entire episode had happened, yet he had the nerve to sit across from Harry and twinkle at him? A sly idea crossed his mind, a possible way of making that infuriating twinkle vanish...

\"I\'m doing as well as can be expected, Albus. My injuries are almost completely healed, my memory is my own again, and the block on my power has crumbled.\" Harry smiled at the pale, shocked expression on the Headmaster\'s face. He had obviously not been expecting that.

Slowly he gathered himself, puffed up with pride and indignation. \"I did what I had to do. I did what was needed. You cannot possibly comprehend all the motivations influencing my actions. I do not have to explain myself to you.\"

Harry just smiled benignly at him, a twinkle of his own appearing. The role reversals were not lost on either of them. \"When were you going to tell me about the prophecy? When were you going to tell me about the Order? When, if ever, were you going to tell me that you made, shaped and prodded Tom Riddle into the man he is today? When were you going to tell me that you allowed Snape to snitch back to his master? When were you going to tell me that you ALLOWED MY PARENTS TO DIE?\" Harry\'s voice slowly rose in volume until he was yelling at the old man.

\"Some of it I was going to tell you. Some of it not. I did what was necessary to protect--\"

\"No. You did what you thought was best to further your own interests, further you control of society and consolidate your power. My potential terrified you, so you blocked it. You heard the first prophecy, so ensured that it would come to pass. You placed me with the Dursleys so that I would always look up to you as my own saviour. You allowed Sirius to be falsely accused and arrested. You modified my memory of the events in the graveyard to cut out the possibility of my turning. EVERYTHING you have done has been motivated by self-interest. Know this Albus: I am awake and I am aware. I will return from Hogwarts, but you will have no further influence over me than that of the headmaster of my school. Good day.\"

After his tirade, Harry was too tired to keep his eyes open. He slumped back with his eyes closed, listening to Dumbledore sigh and leave, before finally drifting off to sleep.

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