Chapter 118: The Weight of Regret
Harry stepped away to collect his thoughts. "The bad man then turned his attention to the young couple and set them up to be murdered but by accident, their one and a half year old son survived. At first, the bad man was upset by this turn of fate but then he saw an opportunity to gain control over the house by controlling every aspect of the baby's life. He sealed the young couple's will and then called in some favors to have himself given the position of guardian to the child and on his own authority, he dumped the child on his mother's sister who was well known for her hatred of magic as well as her sister."
Minerva put a hand to her mouth.
"I think Professor McGonagall finally put the pieces together and realizes who I am speaking about since she was one of the ones who helped perpetrate the crime. Anyway, the boy was dumped in the muggle world where he was beaten, starved, and treated no better than a slave for the next ten years of his life. This boy who was the heir of a Most Ancient and Most Noble House was not told his name until he was six years old and was told his parents were drunks who killed themselves in an automobile accident. The kindest name they had for him was 'boy' but he also answered to 'freak' since that was what he was called most often."
Harry sarcastically said "When the young man turned eleven, a miracle happened and the boy was rescued and brought into a whole new magical world where he found out he was famous. There were high expectations placed on the young man and each year, he found himself thrust into more and more dangerous situations. In first year, he fought a troll, killed a man and found out there was a bad man that wanted to kill him. In second year, he grieved over his friend who was petrified and fought a sixty five foot basilisk to save the sister of his other friend. He almost died that night but was saved by the Headmaster's phoenix only to almost have his soul sucked out by Dementors in his third year. That year he also found his godfather but the bad man did everything he could to keep him away from the young man. In fourth year, he was made into an outcast and found out that the two people he loved more than anyone else were paid to be his friends and were reporting back to the bad man. He felt he couldn't trust anyone at that point so he forced anyone who tried to get close to make oaths for him to even trust them. He competed in a tournament against his will and almost died and at the end of the second task, the second bad man cast a curse at him that gave the young man something he had never had before. A choice."
Everyone was sitting there stunned. He once again said "Whether you believe this story or not, it is the truth from the young man's point of view but one thing you must remember is that one way or another, his death was always guaranteed by the man who set up his family to die."
Lord Greengrass stood "Milord, may I ask if you know the reason behind the denial of the young man's heritage?"
"Yes as it was obvious when we spoke to the Goblin king. It was done to hide the fact that the man was robbing the young man blind of his inheritance. We can only assume that it was done since the young man was never expected to survive his education."
Augusta Longbottom stood "Not that any of us have any doubts but could you name the man responsible for all this? And is Mr. Potter truly better off now?"
Harry chuckled. "Madam Longbottom, as I'm sure you have guessed, the man who orchestrated this whole thing is none other than your esteemed Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. If you would like me to name his accomplices in the circumstances surrounding Mr. Potter, I would have to say the entire staff except for the Healer and the entire student population save eight. As to your second question, as I answered earlier for Madam Pomphrey, he was given a choice, he could stay here and continue in his miserable existence or he could step through the Veil and take a chance that there was something better for him on the other side. It took him all of a second to make that choice as he thought oblivion would be better than what he had."
There were tears falling from quite a few eyes after hearing all this. Augusta reached out for Amelia and grabbed her hand. Amelia stood "Houses Bones and Longbottom failed to do our duty to House Potter and therefore we seek your punishment for our transgression."
"I find it extremely refreshing that you want to atone for what was done. It almost restores my faith in wizard kind. If you truly wish to atone then it is only fitting that your Houses suffer the same fate that House Potter did due to your inaction. My recommendation would be for you to sterilize your heirs and let the lines die out just as the Potter line has."
The whole hall gasped at this suggestion. Augusta stepped forward and said "It is only fair. I will see it is done."
Everyone turned around as they heard a thump as Neville passed out on the floor. Susan did the same when Amelia agreed as well saying that it was a just punishment.
Harry chuckled out. "I don't think that will be necessary at this time. House Potter does not feel you are to blame for what has happened as it was manipulated so that you couldn't do your duty. However, I would not tell your heirs for some time as they need to understand the severity of their actions."
Amelia said "It will be as you say Milord but may I say in my experience, you know way too much from a mere investigation."
Harry chuckled again "Then I'd suggest you stick around for the second act. I promise it will be even more revealing."
Albus broke his bindings and stood. He pointed his finger at Harry and yelled "Everything you have said is all lies and fabrications. I don't know what you are trying to accomplish here other than to ruin my reputation but I can assure you I won't stand for it. Even if it were true, you are telling us things that you could not possibly know. I don't know how you can expect anyone to believe these outrageous lies."
Harry stood there for a minute. "Hmmm, I can see your point. I would be willing to take an oath that everything I said was the truth."
Madam Bones said "I'm sorry Milord but that would not be acceptable as you cannot legally swear to hearsay as it allows for rumor and conjecture."
Harry was trapped and he knew it. He could reveal himself now or he could back down. He had cast doubts on Dumbledore and it would hopefully be enough to get people looking in the right direction now. His eyes moved to Reginald who gave a nod. He then moved back over to Dobby who whispered "You'll never have a better chance. Finish the old goat off."
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