Breaking Point

Chapter XIV

"Normal Speech."

'Normal Thought.'

"Spells/Translations."

Books/Letters.

So, before we begin, I'm going to clarify something. I've decided to change Daphne's hair to black hair, I do believe I've updated previous chapters to reflect this, but if I've missed it then this is just to let you know so there's no confusion from this point on. Anyway, here are the people the characters are based off:

Harry Potter – Sebastian Stan.

Fleur Delacour – Margot Robbie.

Nymphadora Tonks – Emilia Clarke (Original/Base Form), Gal Gadot, Blake Lively and Emma Stone.

Daphne Greengrass – Alexandra Daddario.

Tonks had never seen Harry like this before, this quiet anger that bubbled beneath the surface. As long as she had known him, he was always expressive, wearing his heart on his sleeves. It was easy to tell how he was feeling at any point in time, his most-eye catching feature, his emerald, green eyes, also his most expressive feature.

Yet things were different this time around.

His face was set in stone, his eyes with their usual unnatural shine, distant and withdrawn. But there was a tenseness in his neck and jaw, the occasional flex that showcased how hard he was fighting to suppress his brewing anger. To Tonks it was clear that he was trying his best to supress his anger with Occlumency and his anger was winning.

'What did Garth Greengrass say to him?' She wondered, the two passing by numerous students and making their way through the corridor before coming upon an empty broom closet. "Did you want to talk or did you simply want to have your wicked way with me?" Tonks teased, trying to alleviate some of the tension, though it failed from the deepening of his frown. 'Okay, this is obviously not the time for jokes.'

Entering into the broom closet, the door shut behind them, Harty silently flicking his wand, casting a Silencing Charm upon it. "Did you know about the Werewolf Concentration Camps?" He questioned angrily, Tonks beginning to realise why he was so angry. "Did you?"

"Yes." She admitted, nodding her head, Harry scoffing. "But you're not a Werewolf, Harry."

"But I'm also not human anymore." His response was sharp, Tonks having no response to that. "Did you also know about the fact that Werewolves are evolving?" The look of surprise on her face was all the answer he needed, Harry chuckling humourlessly. "Wow, how much more do I not know?"

"There's nothing." She answered quickly, Harry raising a brow. His disbelief at her words was palpable. "I'm being serious, Harry. There's a reason Dumbledore doesn't want you to be part of the Order meetings. It's because we don't do anything in them. We don't have a clue what the Dark Lord's doing, none of his followers do either. As for Fenrir, we know as much about his movements as the Ministry do. We can't do anything."

Which was exactly why Dumbledore didn't want Harry part of the meetings. Harry had shown in the past a great capability for anger and frustration at the perceived lack of action of adults. A major example of this was him walking directly into Voldemort's trap, leading to the endangerment of his friends and death of Sirius Black.

They couldn't do anything at this point in time because they had no information with which to act upon. Wherever Voldemort was residing it was under a Fidelius Charm, every Death Eater meeting requiring Snape to arrive at a different location to receive the information for the real meeting ground. As soon as the meeting was over though, his memory would be wiped of the location.

The Death Eater meetings themselves didn't reveal much either with Snape recently coming back to simply explain the frustration the Inner Circle had at how little they knew of Voldemort's plans. He often only explaining the actions a small group or a single individual should take and never describing his overall plans.

The Order, much like the Death Eaters only had bits of Voldemort's plans to act upon and there was not much even then. Voldemort was being cautious and careful, his movements slow and calculated.

The only group of the Death Eaters making the most moves was the Werewolves, they launching raids upon the Muggle world, attacking the homeless and a few homes here and there. The Auror Department was working hard alongside the Hit Wizards and Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes who had mobilised all of their employees, not just the Obliviators Department to deal with these incidents.

They had managed to avoid Fenrir breaking the Statue of Secrecy, just barely. His change of targets to the Werewolf Concentration Camps was a welcome grace, but the Auror Department was spread thin as it was. They were still dealing with troubles in the Muggle World, but they were also working with Hit Wizards to protect populated areas, especially after the attack upon Diagon Alley.

They simply didn't have the manpower to defend the Concentration Camps, which would be precisely what Fenrir's plan was. Except that was too smart of a plan for him to come up with. Voldemort was playing them all, moving his pieces in a way that maximised their effectiveness while keeping the others and his enemies in the dark. He wasn't doing much, but he was already winning the war and they couldn't do anything without more information.

Dumbledore didn't want Harry to be a part of the Order meetings precisely because he didn't want that to come to light. "Voldemort's playing with us and he's winning. We don't know what he's doing, where he's planning to strike next or with how many soldiers. Right now, all we can do is simply monitor Fenrir and hope that the Death Eaters make a mistake. We don't have the resources or the manpower to be able to make a difference. The Ministry are divided and their forces spread thin. We're losing this war and we've barely even begun."

Harry was silent, looking to see if Tonks was lying to him.

Part of him hoped that she was, a large part of him. He wanted to think that she was withholding information from him, that the Order was doing more than what she said and he was being kept in the dark. Harry didn't want to think or fathom the idea that this war had only just begun and that with only a few small moves, Voldemort was on the verge of winning.

If he believed that, Harry didn't know how he was meant to turn the tides. But as he looked into Tonks eyes, he knew that she wasn't lying and the already crushing weight of burden he had felt upon his shoulders increased a hundredfold.

"Do you have any idea at all as to what he could be doing?" Harry asked, hoping that maybe someone had an idea.

Tonks though shook her head. "We all hoped that maybe Dumbledore or Remus might have a clue, but neither did. Remus has been following Fenrir for a while now, ever since he started hunting in the Muggle world. But he doesn't have a clue on what Fenrir could be doing, outside increasing the size of his Pack. Dumbledore himself doesn't know what this could contribute to Voldemort outside of again, increasing the size of his army."

It doesn't make sense either, to any of them.

In the First Blood War, Voldemort had allowed Magical Creatures into his army, to bolster their numbers, but he had never awarded them a position within his Inner Circle. Now however, Fenrir Greyback, someone who openly challenged Voldemort's authority on a number of occasions was given such a position? It didn't make any sense at all.

This was something that made it so difficult to tell what Voldemort was planning for the future. He wasn't acting in the same way as the First Blood War, he was acting completely different. His war of terror, guerrilla warfare tactics and all that were gone. Now Voldemort was instead engaging in a shadow war, using subterfuge and manipulation, moving slowly and cautiously with a patience that didn't match his previous actions.

Something had changed within him and it left Dumbledore unsure on how to respond.

"Remus is following Fenrir? On his own?" Harry questioned urgently, panicked at the thought.

Tonks hesitated for a moment. "He's not alone, he has a partner." She didn't want to say any more than that, if she did, Tonks imagined that Harry's bad mood would only get worse. His anger had dissipated somewhat, all of it mostly revolving around the fact that Werewolf Concentration Camps were a thing and were kept from him. The revelations of just how bad the war was going for them at this point had turned Harry's attention away from that.

Tonks wouldn't lie to herself by saying he had forgotten about it, she doubted she would if Harry and her swapped places. But his focus was purely upon the situation of the war and no doubt, what that could mean for him in the future.

"Who is it?" Harry pressed. "Tonks, I need to know that he's alright." The last thing he wanted was to lose someone else.

"Damnit." She muttered frustratedly. "Harry, you need to understand, she personally requested to join the Order herself. So, don't freak out, please."

"Tonks, who is it?"

Pulling down the mask, Lord Goyle read over the most recent letter detailing his son's condition. He was recovering, slowly, but the damage to his internal organs was extensive and would require expensive treatment to help him fully recover. However, he was also going to serve a long stint within Azkaban, Lady Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had been very firm with the punishment for his son.

Exposure to the Dementors would only worsen his son's treatment and possibility of survival. 'I can't allow that to happen. My son must live.' Lord Goyle would not allow his son to die and the only way to ensure that was to make sure his lords orders were fulfilled.

Lord Greengrass and the Greengrass family must be destroyed.

Pulling on his mask, Lord Goyle burned the letter and stepped out of his lavish tent, seeing the gathered Death Eaters all waiting, two high-ranking members of the Death Eaters, indicated by the additional decorations on their masks stood in front of the group. Behind them lay the location of House Greengrass, it hidden behind numerous protective wards.

During his previous visit, Lord Goyle had met with Lord Greengrass to talk the payment necessary to avoid a Blood Feud between their two houses. However, that was never the case, Lord Goyle had his orders and he would fulfil them. It would be impossible though to kill them all, if he didn't know how to locate their home, the protection of a Fidelius Charm made it impossible to find it, or would have.

Once the meeting between he and Lord Greengrass had come to an end, he had expressed a need to use the bathroom. As a host, Lord Greengrass had summoned a House Elf to direct him towards one.

It was a ruse.

While there, Lord Goyle had inscribed a rune upon the back of the toilet, hidden from view. A rune that was acting as a beacon, piercing through the veil of the Fidelius Charm and all the other wards that surrounded the household.

Moving forwards, Lord Goyle pulled out an artefact, one shaped like a bug and extended his arm. The bugs legs latched onto the wards and it glowed brightly, the ward scheme melting away and Lord Goyle smiled beneath his mask. 'I told you, Lord Greengrass. Payment for my sons' actions will come soon.' The artefact he had was something Voldemort had personally crafted himself, one that much like the parasitic bug it was crafted to look like, ate away at wards.

It was not something they had in the previous war, but something that would come in excellent use this time around.

Lord Goyle need not give the order, as the ward scheme put in place for the Greengrass family melted away, the Death Eaters behind him cast their own series of wards. Ones that would stop those inside from escaping.

The home of House Greengrass would be its grave.

The occupants around the table were quiet, Garth looking to his wife, Antiope Greengrass, a beautiful blonde-haired woman, who still retained much of her youthful beauty despite her age. Beside her, his eldest daughter, Daphne Greengrass, possessing his wife's sharp features, piercing blue eyes, but with his black hair.

She was beautiful, Garth may be her father, but he was not blind to the beauty his daughter possessed and what that did to the men he interacted with. Business partners, employees, friends, fellow lords and their heirs, they all desired his daughter and not purely for the position she could provide.

Garth had always been careful about who he interacted with because of past issues. But he had thought Hogwarts would be safe for his daughters and now look at what had happened.

"Are you certain you do not wish to remain at home. Daphne?" Antiope questioned worriedly.

The two had decided that they would keep Daphne at home, even considering pulling out Astoria though her engagement to Draco would afford her more protection. However, after what Theodore Nott, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle had done, they knew that they could not allow Daphne to remain in Hogwarts.

Daphne however had been adamant on returning for reasons they could not fully understand. "I am, mother." Daphne responded quietly, her voice calm and collected, almost monotone. She was gifted with the mind arts, had been from a young age and even now as he sat across from her, Garth couldn't imagine a thing that was going through her mind. Her face was relaxed, letting nothing show, no emotion and no thoughts.

She was in full control of herself.

"Why?" Antiope pressed, concerned for her daughter's well-being. "You have nothing to prove and you'll be safe here."

"It is not about proving anything to anyone." Daphne replied, calmly eating the last bit of her meal, a smaller portion than she would usually have. Even though she was in full control of herself, the attempted rape was not something she could simply brush off. "I am simply not going to hide away."

"From who?" Garth spoke up. "From your housemates? From the school in general? You may not think you have something to prove, but it does not sound like you believe that."

As always, Garth knew that his daughter could be stubborn, almost foolishly so. An amusing contrast considering she and all those in their family prided themselves on intelligence and thinking logically. Despite her gifts in Occlumency which allowed her to keep her emotions in check, appearing almost emotionless at times, Daphne was perhaps the most emotional of them all.

It was something Garth knew well and despite not wishing to press, he had no choice. He did not wish for his daughter to return to the place in which she had nearly been raped. Garth did not like the fact that Astoria refused to return, but at least she had her engagement with Draco Malfoy that afforded her immunity.

This recent incident proved that Daphne did not have that protection.

Daphne narrowed her eyes, looking to argue only for their house to shake violently, Garth recoiling roughly, one hand bracing against the table. "Dear!" Antiope exclaimed worriedly, he wiping his nose, pulling his hand away to see the blood dribbling down from it.

"We're under attack." He muttered quietly, reaching into his robe and pulling out his wand. "Both of you, head towards the Floo Network and head to the Davies."

"The Wards are still in place; we should all go." Antiope argued.

"The Wards have been destroyed." He said grimly, frowning heavily as he moved towards the entrance of the dining room, hearing the tell-tale pops of people arriving directly outside of his home. Keeping the door closed, he looked out across the corridor and towards the main entrance of his house, the two, big wooden doors being struck by spells. "Quickly, to the Floo Network, the enchantments on the door won't hold for long!"

"But," Daphne went to resist, but Antiope upon seeing her husband's countenance and knowing he would not budge, grabbed her daughter's arm and ran through the entrance and up the stairs directly across from it. Garth had been following behind them, only for the door to burst open as the enchantments wore off.

Taking position at the front of the stairs, he stared out at the group of Death Eaters that entered inside. 'What are they doing here? Do they know that I am allied with Lord Potter? Or are they here for something else? A threat? A show of force to try and make me submit?' All different scenarios crossed Garth's mind as he watched the dozen or so masked figures form up around him in a semi-circle.

The most worrying thought that came to his mind was that his wife and daughter couldn't escape through the Floo Network. Death Eaters were meticulous in their attacks. Before they attacked, they made sure to be able to speedily cast their own Wards over an area, stopping anyone from inside escaping through means of magic.

If the Death Eaters were attacking his home, that meant the Floo Network would not work. Luckily for them, their house was built with passageways beneath their home that led to exits miles away from their home, directly outside of the Wards. His wife knew both aspects and would no doubt be making her way there as soon as she could. But he needed to buy time for them to get there.

"If you are here to ask for my aid, then I can assure you that this is not the way to go about it." Garth told them; wand raised as he slowly moved back up a few stairs to a higher position. It would allow him a much better vantage point, allowing him to see everyone and with the bannisterss providing him some cover on the flanks.

"Lord Greengrass." The one whose mask was more elaborate moved forwards, wand down by his side. "The Dark Lord has decreed that House Greengrass is to be destroyed. Only your daughter, Astoria is to be spared, long enough for her to bare an heir. Bring forth your wife and daughter, Daphne Greengrass and we shall make your deaths quick." He then rose his own wand, pointing it at Lord Greengrass, the other Death Eaters doing the same. "If you do not, we shall tear this house apart and hunt down your family. We shall make their deaths slow and force you to watch it all."

Garth despite the threat, gave a sardonic smile. "I know the way Death Eaters work." He stated, grip tightening around his wand. "Quick deaths are not things you provide to women. You think I would give up my daughter and wife and count on the mercy of a Death Eater, I am no fool."

"I see." The figure replied. "You had your cha..."

Before he could finish, Garth struck, spells firing from his wand. They were lethal and powerful spells, not aimed to incapacitate an opponent, but to kill and maim them and they did just that. Though a family not known for its skill in combat, havng rose to prominence due to political scheming and their smuggling ventures, the Greengrass family had access to many secret spells, all very dangerous and powerful.

They had even produced a few powerful and skilful Wizards and Witches during their long history. Garth may not be like those few, but he was not about to simply do nothing as his family came under threat and he attacked, unleashing every spell in his arsenal to make them pay for threatening his family and trespassing on his families' lands.

Two Death Eaters fell to the ground instantly, crying out as they clutched their profusely bleeding wounds, one missing an arm, the other a chunk of his side, guts spilling out onto the floor. However, the rest were able to deflect or summon a shield in time to avoid the first wave of spells. Yet, Garth did not let up, he knew the moment he stopped firing spells was the moment he would die. The moment he chose to defend instead of attack, was the moment he would be defeated.

His wand whipped and flicked through the air furiously, spells slamming into shields that shimmered dangerously, some Death Eaters getting knocked back, the emotions that gripped Garth fuelling his spells tenfold. He never let up, continuing to fire more and more, even mixing in a few Unspeakable, a Killing Curse bypassing one shield and striking another Death Eater.

At this point, Garth had little care for the punishment he might face for using such spells. Whatever would give him an edge he used in full force, the grim frown never once leaving his lips as sweat dribbled down his brow, jaw clenched tight as he breathed heavily. Grip upon his wand so tight that he could feel his skin blistering and callouses ripping off, blood dripping from his hand. Yet his spells never once let up and continued to hammer away at the Death Eaters, each temporarily caught completely surprised by the aggressive and dangerous assault they came under.

They had come in confident and assured of their victory.

The resistance they were facing was not what they had expected nor did they like it one bit.

The mask of the Death Eater that was struck by the Killing Curse was slightly different, denoting a higher status, her female form flying through the air and slamming into the wall behind her, crumpling to the ground lifelessly. The man, wearing a similar mask, cried out in rage, dropping his shield and returning fire. Even as one of Garth's cutting spells hit his side, he just kept firing.

It was a shocking act, one that caught Garth temporarily flat-footed, his feet nearly tripping over the steps. The Death Eaters capitalised, all pointing their wands and aiming to fire. Only for the House Elf to appear, a click of its fingers flinging the group through the air.

Yet it was struck moments later with a curse that killed it instantly.

However, it's sacrifice had spared Garth, allowing him the chance to regain his footing and bearings, once again pushing off the ground and throwing everything he had at the encroaching Death Eaters. But they were firing back this time, Garth needing to deflect and dodge a few. Even as some curses grazed his skin though, he refused to summon a shield and hunker down behind it.

That was a death sentence.

Even as more and more spells came his way, he violently slashed his wand through the air, smacking spells to the side and firing back as much as he could, the Death Eaters continually moved towards the stairs, he moving further and further up them. Yet even as he felt the beginnings of exhaustion take hold, Garth refused to give up, the knowledge his wife and daughter were upstairs pushed him beyond his limits.

Out of the corner of his eye though, he watched the Death Eater who had cried out in rage, leading three of his compatriots down one of the corridors. These stairs here may be the main way upstairs, but they were not the only ones and there was nothing he could do to stop them as the remainder continued to pressure him, keeping his attention fully upon them.

All around him, the stairs he was one broke apart, the walls at the top of the stairs being blasted with hols as debris showered onto his back. It made for unstable footing, yet even despite that, Garth never stopped, even as his footing gradually became more and more unstable.

He couldn't stop, not while his family was in danger.

As the last of their members filtered into the room, Dumbledore looked around at the table. There was a dull muttering, people making small talk as they waited for the meeting to begin, all completely unaware as to why they had been called.

"Now that we're all here," the chattering began to peter out as people turned to look upon him. "Shall we begin?" As the last of the talking finished, all those around the table, looking to him, Dumbledore took a deep breath. "As of a few hours ago, Greengrass Manor was attacked."

There was a pause, no one saying anything, but a shift came over the room.

For weeks they had been dealing with Werewolf attacks and been unable to do much to stop it. However, they had taken some measure of comfort that the Werewolves weren't targeting Wizards, mostly Muggles. The homeless were the most affected, with only a few family homes also being targeted.

It made it easy for the Ministry of Magic to cover it up, but it showed just how different Voldemort was acting. Not only was he allowing Fenrir Greyback, a Magical Creature be a member of his Inner Circle, but he was also attacking the Muggle World as well? That was the one thing no Dark Lord had done, not since the Great War when Grindelwald nearly broke the Statute of Secrecy.

Voldemort had been many things, but foolish was not one of them. With their magic, they could do a great deal of damage, but the Muggles nuclear weaponry would be incredibly dangerous weapons. From their history with Muggles and how they reacted to magic, they knew that Muggles would not be afraid to unleash those weapons upon themselves, just to get rid of them. There was a reason that the Muggles had discovered little about what had happened during the Dark Ages.

It was a brutal time in history in which the worlds of both magical and non-magicals interacted openly. Beginning initially as a prosperous time for all people, and ending in cruel and ruthless warfare.

In order to avoid such a thing happening again, Wizarding Kind had gone into hiding, erasing nearly every record that they could pretraining to what happened in the Dark Ages, even wiping the memories of the Muggles to ensure the secret was kept. It was easier back then, the populace of those times was much smaller, compare that to modern times. A similar feat would be all but impossible.

Voldemort knew this and so the fact that he was unleashing the Werewolves on the Muggle World was worrying to many. But he had been smart about it, a few families that made the coverup easy. Focusing most of his attention on the homeless, he made it so that he teetered just on the edge of breaking the Statute of Secrecy.

He forced the Ministry to focus its resources to not only combatting him, but making sure that the Muggle World did not become aware of them. He split their forces nearly in half from this action alone, then further split them apart when he launched the raid upon Diagon Alley and then upon the Werewolf Concentration Camps. But never once had he openly attacked a Pureblood like this, not in this war at least.

As if sensing their train of thoughts, Moody spoke up. "There was no Dark Mark above the Greengrass home." Despite those words, none believed that it was anyone but the Death Eaters behind this, but it was a small comfort.

"It's true." Dumbledore concurred. "No Dark Mark has been found. Nor has there been any bodies found, besides Garth and Antiope Greengrass. Daphne however, has not yet been found. It is our belief that she is hiding somewhere within the surrounding areas of the Greengrass Manor, or with House Davies. However, the worst-case scenario is that she has been kidnapped by the Death Eaters."

Another moment of silence befell the room at that thought.

Death Eaters were cruel people, especially to women. They did not show mercy except to those who held purpose, and even then, they were not treated kindly. It was better to be killed than taking captive by the Death Eaters, that was something they were taught very early within the First Blood War.

If Daphne had been captured by the Death Eaters, then there was nothing they could do. They had no idea where she would be held and even if they did, it would be a Death Eater garrison where she would be nothing more than a toy for the Death Eaters, unless she held some use that meant she was to be left untouched. But the likelihood of that was slim.

"Severus is already attending to a meeting; we shall know more when he returns." Dumbledore continued. "As for now, I need all of you to be searching the surrounding areas of Greengrass Manor. If Daphne has not been captured, we need to be the ones to find her first. From what we do know, Voldemort has been recruiting members of the Auror Department to his cause, how many and how they are, we do not know. But we need to operate under the assumption that all Aurors are Death Eaters."

Keeping his head bowed, Severus peeked out of the corner of his eyes, looking to his fellow, masked Death Eaters at his sides. The room was silent, none daring to look upon the Dark Lord, of course, except for Fenrir who stood blatantly in the corner of the room. His arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall. It was a miracle the Werewolf was still alive, if it had been the First Blood War, Voldemort would have killed him long ago.

However, the Dark Lord had changed drastically.

Before, he could be counted as insane, intelligent but insane. Yet as the war had dragged on, his levels of insanity grew rapidly, his intelligence declining in turn. But his power remained, in fact only growing stronger. It was the reason why the Death Eaters stayed loyal, they feared for their lives, they had seen the power he possessed.

Now however, the Dark Lord was completely different.

He was calm, collected and dare he say it, charismatic, even charming. No longer did he use the Cruciatus Curse liberally when someone made even the slightest mistake or to vent his anger. The Dark Lord gave second chances, a firm but fair ruler who rewarded those for their achievements, but punished them for their failures.

Yet most worrying of all, was his intelligence and how he used it. Severus had always known, even when insane, that the Dark Lord was intelligent, a genius even. The things Dumbledore had told him, all painted the picture of a genius the likes of which this world had perhaps, never seen since the time of Merlin. But there was a fine line between genius and insanity and at some point in his life, Voldemort fell.

The man that now led the Death Eaters was similar in many ways to the Dark Lord who led them in the First Blood War in the beginning and even towards the end. His power still remained, radiating from his body as he sat upon his throne-like chair and bearing down upon them.

Yet his insanity was gone, seemingly disappeared from sight as if it was never there to begin with. That's what scared Severus more, at least before, he had been able to tell when the Dark Lord was feeling simply by looking upon his countenance. Now however, he could not tell a thing, there was nothing, no indication of what he was thinking or feeling, not an inclination of what he was planning.

That scared Severus more and it did for many around him.

"Come forth." Voldemort's voice was quiet and calm, but clearly heard within the auditorium in which they had gathered. Carrying across the room and into the ears of the hundreds of Death Eaters gathered, each kneeled before him.

All who looked up slightly to see a member of the Inner Circle rise up.

Severus, struggled to make out who it was from his position, a high-ranking member though he may be, but he had not yet fully earned the trust of the Dark Lord. However, he knew that this figure had to be the one behind the attack upon House Greengrass.

The figure moved up, a large, slightly rotund man and from the profiles he had made from the members of the Inner Circle, that had to be Lord Goyle. It made sense really, his son had been one of the preparators behind the attempted rape of Daphne Greengrass. Which meant that there had been a meeting with the Inner Circle members alone, where the order had been given.

'I need to become a member of the Inner Circle.' It was a rumour, but one that had become quite far spread amongst all the Death Eaters. One that said old members of the Inner Circle, did not have to wear their masks within those meetings. Some said it was to shame those that failed in the First Blood War, others said it was because it was unnecessary.

No one really knew the truth.

However, if Severus could become a member of the Inner Circle, he would be privy to more information than he was now. He may even be able to learn who the new members were. Voldemort still insisted that his Death Eaters be clad in masks, even Inner Circle members during big meeting like these.

"Remove your mask, Lord Goyle." Voldemort decreed and while none dared whisper, many looked up eagerly as the man in question did so. "Hand it to me." Lord Goyle moved up the stairs, quickly falling onto one knee as he bowed his head, arms extended and mask presented to the Dark Lord.

As soon as his fingers grasped hold of the mask, it seemingly crumbled into dust, Voldemort then latching onto Lord Goyle's arm. His own hand seemingly melting away as the man cried out in pain. 'No, it's not melting. It's eroding away.' Severus realised, horrified by what he was seeing.

Releasing Lord Goyle, the man collapsed back, clutching at his wrist that was now a stump. "Rise, Lord Goyle." Voldemort, leaned back into his chair. "You should be thankful I did not take your entire arm. You had the task of killing House Greengrass and capturing Astoria. Yet you failed, Daphne Greengrass is still missing and Astoria is yet to be in my grasp. Why is that?"

Gritting his teeth to bear the pain, Lord Goyle kneeled upright, bowing lowly. "I was not aware of the tunnels hidden beneath Greengrass Manor. After killing Lord and Lady Greengrass, we followed Daphne down into the tunnels, but lost track of her. It is a labyrinth, with many paths. However, the Aurors had arrived and we had to abandon the search. But I have not yet finished, my lord. I promise you; Daphne will be killed and Astoria will be taken from Hogwarts. That has not changed, I will see it completed, even at the cost of my life."

Voldemort said nothing, just waving his hand dismissively.

As the door to the Headmasters office opened, Harry stepped inside, looking upon the paintings and books that decorated the room. It had at one point, being quite impressive to him, not so much the room itself, but the fact that someone could possess so many things. Considering at the time, he had been a young child deprived of much in the way of personal belongings, it had been impressive.

Now though, it just looked like a clutter to him.

Something needless and unnecessary.

Dumbledore himself was sat behind his desk, waiting. "Harry, please sit." There was a tone to his voice, a firmness to it and Harry took the offered seat. "I believe, that what had at one point, being a profitable relationship, has deteriorated in recent weeks. It's time we decided on how to progress from this point on."

Saying that their relationship had deteriorated was an understatement.

After the incident with Daphne Greengrass and the Junior Death Eaters, as many people were calling them, Harry and Dumbledore were rarely ever in each others company. For many days afterwards, Harry had not gone to the Room of Requirement for their training sessions and even now, it mostly involved Harry duelling with Filius Flitwick, Dumbledore making rare appearances.

Even then, Harry barely listened to his instructions, preferring to instead do his own thing. It was only because Tonks had asked him personally to go meet with Dumbledore that Harry was even here.

"You don't respect me." Dumbledore stated simply. "You believe I am going about this war wrong. That the way I have treated you in the past is wrong. Quite frankly, Harry, let me ask you something, what would you have done differently?"

Harry rose a brow. "What do you mean?"

"It's as I said, what would you have done differently? If you were me, how would you have handled the First Blood War and the actions leading up to this?" Dumbledore asked.

"I would done a lot of things differently."

"Then tell me." Dumbledore challenged, Harry narrowing his gaze.

"Alright. First off, I would have never let Tom build up any sort of following in Hogwarts." Harry started off, going to continue until Dumbledore cut him off.

"Just as I should not allow you to build up any followers?" That question through Harry off, looking to Dumbledore questioningly. "You said I should not have allowed Tom to build up a following. Yet, as much as I was suspicious of Tom, there was no proof of his actions. I simply had a gut feeling. His followers, were belonging to powerful families and if I attempted to arrest or stop him, my position and past achievements would not have made things easy. Even if they had, the damage done to my reputation for simply stopping a young child from making friends as they no doubt would have spun the tale, would have lost me influence."

Harry grit his teeth. "And what have you done with that influence exactly? After the war you did nothing except allow the Death Eaters to get off with nothing but a slap on the wrists."

"Again, you seem to believe that passing such an act that would have limited their influence would be easy. Do you believe that simply because I am Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot means I can just pass laws and legislations with ease? Are you truly naïve as to believe such a thing. That those families belonging to the Death Eaters, or even those part of my own would allow such a thing to happen. You see, any legislation pertaining to Pureblood families would also affect my own followers. Or did you forget that?"

"You could have changed the legislation to former Death Eaters and so on."

"The same people that used the Imperious Curse as their defence, which automatically gives them immunity for their actions by law. A law that I changed once the war was over. Ensuring that when this is done, any and all Death Eater, no matter who they are will be sent to Azkaban for their actions." Dumbledore stated, continuing to possess an answer for everything Harry said. "You seem to believe that politics is so easy, are you truly this naïve?"

That word, "naive" once again made Harry grit his teeth in anger, fists clenching tightly upon the chair. Yet Dumbledore did nothing in the face of Harry's anger, nor did he shy away from the shining eyes that glared out at him. Though they possessed the colour of the Killing Curse, he had seen that spell come towards him on many occasions.

He did not fear that colour as many others did.

But this meeting was for one purpose only, to get Harry to open his eyes. Dumbledore was not foolish as to not see the bridge between he and Harry was perhaps, beyond the point of repair. They were allies now, only because they had a shared enemy, but if it was not for Voldemort, Dumbledore knew Harry would have nothing to do with him.

To Dumbledore, that was fine.

He knew now that trying to get Harry to see him as a true ally, a friend and a mentor was beyond impossible. However, Harry was not prepared, no one was, not even himself. Voldemort had proven quickly that Dumbledore had underestimated the Dark Lord and now, everyone was playing catchup.

Yet all was not lost, though Dumbledore's time was approaching, Harry's was not. But first, Dumbledore needed Harry to understood that just because one could think of a solution, or look back upon the past and see the faults of another, did not mean he could put it into action or accurately judge the character of someone. Harry needed to understand that in hindsight, yes Dumbledore had made mistakes something he acknowledged. But just because Harry could see those faults and see the obvious solutions, did not mean they were easy to implement.

If it was, Dumbledore doubted they would have ever gotten into this situation in the first place. When Harry rose to lead the fight against Voldemort, he would have to not only navigate the war, but also the turbulent and complicated political landscape of his own faction.

As he was now, Harry would not be able to do both.

This meeting was a means to air their grievances and for Dumbledore to hopefully impart valuable lessons upon Harry. At least, that's what Dumbledore hoped would happen.

"What about killing then? Why did you never try and kill the Death Eaters you fought, instead constantly preaching about second chances." Harry questioned, a question many had asked of him back during the course and aftermath of the First Blood War. But it was so easy to judge him for that, ignoring the simple fact that he was human.

"Do you know how destructive the Great War was? How many wizards and witches were killed in that war? How many I killed? I drowned entire cities in blood, even now, my hands are stained with the hundreds, possibly thousands that I have killed in that war. At the time, it meant little to me, so focused on ending the war that the deaths I caused did not register. But once the war ended, I was haunted by them all." Dumbledore said, voice low. "I am not a God, Harry. I am a man, someone who after killing so many was afraid to kill another. Forgive me for having a human emotion and aversion to killing after all those I had killed in the past."

It was not the response Harry expected or wanted to hear, he instead going quiet. There was no way to reply to that without coming across as, like Dumbledore said, naïve. It was all well and good to say you could and would kill someone, but until that choice actually came around, it was so much harder.

Back during the Battle at Diagon Alley, Harry had killed Death Eaters, but he had been so focused on just doing his part that they had not registered. Even now, Harry wondered if they even did register in his mind.

Following that, he had been focused on his possible Werewolf position and then on trying to figure out what he was when he did not turn on a Full Moon. Then it was just throwing himself fully into his training and trying to push himself to getting ready. 'Now that I think about it, I have never given myself a chance to focus on those I have killed.' But Harry dismissed the thought from his mind, focusing fully upon the here and now.

He would not allow himself to dwell upon it, could not allow himself to.

If Dumbledore was saying the truth, then if he did, it would be a weakness that he could not afford. Not with the war seemingly progressing upon the path that it was. "Alright, say I believe you, then what about your handling of me?" Harry said, wanting to know more about Dumbledore's reasoning for how he had been treated. "You raised me like a pig to slaughter. Why not simply kill me and be done with it?"

"Because if I had, Tom would know that I knew of his Horcruxes. The moment he knew, that would be the moment that he would hide those left in even more secure locations. It was better to keep you alive for the opportune moment. When the others were destroyed and only you remained." Dumbledore's words were harsh and straight to the point, but they were the truth and even more irking, they made sense.

"I'm not doing this anymore." Harry responded. "Clearly you won't ever admit you're wrong."

"And clearly you can't admit your own faults." Dumbledore returned without pause. "You do not respect me, that is fine. Like I said, I do not need your respect, your friendship or anything or the sort. Continue to act rebelliously, build your own powerbase, it matters little to me. In fact, all you are doing is helping me by seeking allies of your own. It makes the passage of leadership to you much easier. But contrary to what you believe Harry, you are far from ready to face Tom. Perhaps you are ready for war. Perhaps you are ready to lead. But if you face Tom as you are, this war will end before it even begins."

"Seems to me like that's already the case." Harry retorted.

So, another chapter done and I do apologise for how long it took me to get this chapter out, university has been hectic these past few weeks. Had two 3,000-word assignments to do, a 2,000 word, a 1,000 word as well as two presentation projects. All on top of my dissertation, but finally, I am mostly done, all that's left is my dissertation so hopefully I will be able to update a bit mor regularly. As you can see things are starting to heat up so get ready.

Harry's attempts at building a power base failed, Voldemort cleaning up loose ends as quickly as he can, which just so happened to impact Harry. But that is war, there's no guarantee who's going to survive and for how long. Which as we can see, Voldemorts actions are putting him well on the path to success and victory. The Order basically helpless to do anything to stop his movements.

However, Harry is still at odds with Dumbledore, differences in who they are as people and leaders making working together difficult. This leads to the last bit with Harry highlighting all the faults in Dumbledores actions in the past, and the ones you have also highlighted about canon Dumbledore. This was my way of explaining why Dumbledore acted the way he did in canon as best as I could. Think I did a pretty decent job as it shows that Harry while charismatic, doesn't really think things through as much as he should.

Politics is messy, war is brutal and Dumbledore at the end of the day is a human. This is something I want to make clear, but a main reason for Harry's frustrations this chapter and for a while now is how he has had this bad feeling that they're losing the war. This is something Tonks all but admitted and now Harry is faced with the daunting task of trying to turn the tides. He feels a huge weight upon his shoulders and one that keeps getting heavier with everyday.

Anyway, now that that's done, let's get on with the questions:

Ladis11: This is exactly one of the problems with Harry, he's naïve like Dumbledore said this chapter. As for why the King is asking, well he's speaking more generally about getting information to Harry.

Guest: I'm building up to it, there's a series of events that break down Harry mentally until he eventually reaches that breaking point.

highlander348: Fleur will be making an appearance soon, the reason I haven't included her much so far is to develop Harry's relationship with Tonks without things getting too cliched with two women competing for his attentions. However, she will be making an appearance soon.

Axccel: Not necessarily, eventually a civil war like the Second Blood War, will result in a divide forming so wide that it will be impossible to bridge. If the Light and the Dark spend so long fighting each other, if the Goblins wait long enough for both sides to do enough damage to each other, they will be unable to come together to fight the Goblins when the time comes due to the amount of hate both sides share for each other.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and let me know if you have any questions, please let me know.