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I woke up, gasping for breath. I could feel blood flowing freely from my scar. Dumbledore was hovering over me and I could see the blurry outline of Voldemort getting up on the other side of the atrium. He must have fallen down when I got hit with the killing curse. And instead of securing him, Dumbledore came rushing towards me? But of course, Dumbledore cared about Harry Potter, despite the manipulations.
He helped me on my feet, just as people began arriving at the scene of conflict. Voldemort, meanwhile, was staring at his wand like he wanted to snap it. I guess he will be hunting Ollivander soon. Before anyone could make a move, he grabbed Bellatrix and disappeared, sending me one last hateful look.
And as expected Fudge began sputtering and then arguing with Dumbledore. While all this was happening, I was just staring impassively at what was happening. There was a stinging sensation in my chest, where the Killing curse struck, but it was inconsequential right now, the department would have made sure of that. My vision was still blurry, and as I tried to wipe the blood from my face, I realized what was causing the issues. As per contract, my body had begun healing already, and I did not need the stupid glasses anymore.
I removed the glasses and looked down at them. I could not see my reflection clearly, but I could see that my right eye had already transformed. Good. I could hear Fudge and Dumbledore's conversation coming to an end, so I decided to move. It was time to put on a show.
The glasses dropped from my hand, and once they hit the floor, I crushed them under my feet. The noise caught everyone's attention. I looked up at them and fully opened both my eyes. This seemed to startle a lot of people. I was beginning to love the sheer unsettling effect this eye had. I wiped the blood off the right side of my face and began walking towards Dumbledore.
He seemed to be the one most startled by my new eye. I wondered why? Was it the shade of red, or was it something about the kanji. But then I realized that Grindelwald had heterochromia as well. In his eyes, it must have reminded him about both Riddle and Grindelwald.
"Minister," I said in a low voice. But due to the silence, everyone could hear me. "I hope, you don't try to bury facts once again. Unlike the last two times, there are a lot of witnesses here."
Finished with my piece, I nodded at Dumbledore. He shook out of his stupor and made the portkey to take me to his office. Instead of touching the portkey, I pointed at his pocket.
"Wha-" he then understood what I meant, and fished the tiny, featherless, Fawkes out of his inner pocket. Once I had Fawkes in my pocket, I touched the portkey and was summarily deposited in his office.
While I waited for Dumbledore, I placed Fawkes on the pile of ash that was beneath his perch. I could hear his cute little squeak as he snuggled deep into the ash. I chuckled softly and sat on an armchair. I had to decide how to proceed further. This conversation with him would help me make a lot of decisions. Just as he arrived, I picked my course of action. I had been going for the unsettling effect in the ministry, why not let it continue.
"Harry, please come with me to the hospital wing. We need to get you looked at immediately. We don't know how the killing curse affected you."
"I am fine. We will go there if you wish, but first, we need to talk."
He kept trying to convince me, but he relented at last, still uncomfortable about not getting me medical attention. He had a tired look on his face as he settled on the chair opposite to me and began to talk about how I should not blame myself for the death of Sirius. He began listing his faults; that he should have not distanced himself from me, that he should have confided in me about what was the Department of Mysteries. He kept taking curious glances at my right eye while he kept talking. Then he informed me about Kreacher's betrayal and the reason why I was sent to the Dursleys and all of that tosh. Throughout it all, I kept an impassive face, just motioning him to talk, and that unnerved him even more and he kept spilling.
Finally, he revealed the contents of the prophecy to me and then told me what he believed the power mentioned in the prophecy was. This was it, now was the time for me to find out what version of Dumbledore I was dealing with.
"Harry, please say something. I revealed a lot to you, in hopes that you would understand the reasons for my actions. But you have been silent throughout. Please, talk," he beseeched me. I had to give him credit, not once during the conversation did he use legilimency on me. The sixth path wouldn't have made it easy for him, but it is the thought that counts.
"What do you want me to say?"
"Anything. Shout at me, question my actions? Say anything. This silence makes me afraid that something happened to you."
"What happened, is I DIED," I roared. Unbeknownst to me, my magic lashed out and destroyed the trinkets around the room. Several portraits were punctured due to the shrapnel, and the previous headmasters were shouting in indignation. I looked around and tried to calm myself down. I thought I was putting on an act, but it looked like the memories must have made an impact on me. I needed to realize that I was neither Ray Knight nor Harry Potter anymore. We were not separate entities now, I needed to remind myself that once again.
"I died, and I wanted to stay dead," I continue in a much softer tone.
"What do you mean?" he asked with a pained expression on his face.
"I saw them… my parents. And I saw Sirius. I wanted to go with them. To finally be free. But they convinced me to come back to this cesspit you call the wizarding world."
"What else did you see?" he asked, but I suspected that he already knew. Time for a curveball.
"How long have you known?"
"Known what Harry?"
"Once, you told me that Voldemort transferred some of his powers to me. How long have you known that it was more than just his powers?" I ask heatedly.
He took a long breath and removed his spectacles. He massaged his temple and then spoke slowly.
"Again, I beg your forgiveness for all the secrecy, but please humor me and tell me what happened. I will then answer all your questions."
"When I was talking to them, Voldemort appeared before us. He was weaker, in pain. Bleeding everywhere. But that did not stop him. He said that he was growing tired of me and that only one of us could go back. So, we fought. We fought for a long time. For some reason, mum was the only one helping me. Dad and Sirius just disappeared. I don't even remember how much time I spent there. Even in his weakened state, he was a right menace. What happened next baffles me till now. As we were locked in struggle, his body began to crack and a dark liquid began spewing out of him. The more we fought, the bigger the cracks became. And at last, mum hit him with a curse and his body just crumbled. Next I know, I wake up and I feel better than ever. As if I was bogged down by chains all my life and the shackles finally broke. My eyesight got better, all the throbbing pain in my head disappeared, and my mind and magic felt stronger than ever."
"Is that what happened to your eye as well?"
"What eye?" without answering me, he conjured a mirror in front of me. I did not even have to act startled. The blood had dried and the right side of my face looked scary because of it.
"But I don't feel any difference coming from it…" I said. Dumbledore, still kept looking at me with a thoughtful expression. I guess the story I spun worked. He then pulled his wand and gestured towards the scar. I nodded and let him scrutinize the scar.
"Marvelous, I suspected… but to think it actually worked. My boy, this changes everything," Dumbledore stated.
"What do you mean?"
"Yes, I suppose I should answer your questions. When you asked me how long I had known, I would say, when you bought this to my office," he removed Riddle's diary and pointed towards it.
"The diary?"
"Yes my boy. You see, I had always suspected that Tom had made a horcrux," before I could ask further, he motioned me to stop and then continued, "A horcrux is a vile piece of magic where a person splits his soul and stores a part of it in an object, in order to escape death. Your scar hurting when he was close, your ability to speak parseltongue, and the connection between your minds made me suspicious. But when I saw this, I knew for sure."
"And how were you planning on removing it from me?"
"I… I spent years trying to find a way. I consulted wizards from other communities, I consulted curse breakers, goblins, and what not. Nobody knew how to remove a soul shard from a living container. You were in fact, the first of your kind. Even this mutation of your eye, seems to be a result of the removal."
"So I was just a sacrificial lamb?" I roared, my magic flaring once again.
"No!" he denied vehemently, "I needed to keep you alive at first because of the prophecy, but then I grew to care for you. It broke my heart to send you back to your relatives each year, but the protections the ancient magic provided were absolute. I should strangle Arabella for not initially telling me how bad you had it there, but I believed that they would be tempered in their hatred once you were able to wield magic. I also believed that the blood you now share with Voldemort would ensure that only the horcrux would die if you were struck. And thankfully I was right. Lily's protections are indeed marvelous... Anyway please, forgive me for my follies, Harry, I know I should have done better. My mistakes have cost you a lot, and for that, I apologize."
I did not say anything. We just sat in silence for a while. All the while, during his explanation, I could feel his control over his occlumency wane. Immense grief and guilt was projected from him and I could feel that it was genuine. The Deva path couldn't be fooled that easily. This meant that I was not dealing with an evil version of him. That was a relief.
"I… I can't bring myself to trust you completely."
"I understand my boy. And I will do everything in my power to regain your trust," he said, the aura of grief still projecting from him. Fawkes made a squeaking sound from the ashes and he seemed to snap out of it.
"Now, we need to get you checked. Madam Pomfrey will have my hide for delaying it for as long as we already did."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Demigod_Patronus
Demigod_Patronus Thanks to Blood_Prince and Lucifer for their inputs regarding the changes to the Six Paths. And thanks to you all, who commented about the pairings. I will take your suggestions in mind before finalising it.
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
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