Harry Potter Breaking Free

Pulling out his wand, Dumbledore took a deep breath before he began the intonation. "I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, swear on my magic that for the next hour, while inside of this room, I will speak only the truth. So mote it be." Once Dumbledore was finished making his oath, he completed a quick Lumos proving that, so far at least, he still had access to his magic. "Harry if you would?" Dumbledore gestured at Harry to follow his lead.

Harry slowly pulled his wand while keeping Fleur in his peripheral vision. She was still staring at him and it was keeping him on edge. "I, Harry James Potter, swear on my magic that for the next hour, while inside of this room, I will speak only the truth. So mote it be." Harry's attention was briefly diverted by Fleur's gasp of surprise, but then he quickly produced a Lumos and put his wand back into his pocket.

Adrien pulled out his wand next and intoned "I, Adrien Noel Delacour swear on my magic to keep any information given to me during this meeting to myself, so long as it remains a secret. So mote it be." Adrien also performed a Lumos before putting away his wand. He gestured for his family to follow his lead and they quickly completed the same vows with exactly the same results.

Adrien leaned back into his chair and then smiled at both Harry and Dumbledore. "I am very much looking forward to this story. It has been built up so much by the circumstances, but I think for once it might deliver to the... what is the word?... Hype."

Dumbledore gave Harry a look that was clearly meant to convey that he would be the one telling the story. It was pretty obvious that he didn't want Harry talking any more than was necessary with the honesty oath in effect.

Harry nodded, relieved that he could continue being a wallflower.

Next Dumbledore turned towards the Delacours, assuming a very calm storytelling posture. "I assume that you all know quite well the circumstances of Harry's childhood, up until the night of his parent's murder?"

"Yes," Adrien admitted in a very solemn voice. "My condolences Harry... I met both of your parents once at a Ball and they were wonderful people."

While nodding his head, Harry noticed himself starting to feel a little down. Right away, he thought about flying again, and the atmosphere around them became light and carefree as a result.

"What almost nobody knows is that after that night Harry was taken to live with his Muggle relatives. It's unfortunate but those relatives hate magic with a violent passion." At Adrien's extremely unhappy look, Dumbledore put up his hands in a defensive gesture. "There are circumstances in regards to that decision and I've recently been apologizing about doing so quite often regardless. If you would at least allow me to explain why I did so first..."

Adrien nodded but he still looked extremely unimpressed.

Harry found that he appreciated Adrien's protective attitude and warmed up to the man quite a bit in that moment.

Dumbledore saw that everyone was listening again so he continued with his story. "Yes. Harry was taken to live with his Muggle relatives because of a ritual his mother performed on him just moments before she sacrificed her life for him."

All of the sudden, Adrien looked as if he was experiencing a eureka moment. "The-Boy-Who-Lived, the most famous boy in the magical world... When in reality it was his mother's magic that..." Adrien suddenly stopped in his tracks to look apologetically at Harry.

After noticing Adrien's look, Harry nodded his understanding and lack of offense. Then he remained quiet for a few moments longer, before adding his thoughts to the conversation. "I've never believed that I, as a one and a half year old baby, was able to kill anyone, let alone Voldemort. At everyone but Dumbledore's wince, Harry quickly apologized for making them feel uncomfortable and then he summarized his thoughts. "The moniker "The-Boy-Who-Lived means absolutely nothing to me. I'd much rather the general public celebrate my parents' bravery..."

Adrien nodded his approval at that statement and then gestured for Dumbledore to continue his story…

"Lily Potter's sacrifice conveyed to Harry the protective blood magic that saved him, and it continued to work even after that night ended. Unfortunately, the stipulations to the magic were that Harry continue to live with blood relatives." Dumbledore sighed and adopted an unhappy expression before he continued. "The Dursleys, his relatives, are uniquely unkind people, and Harry didn't have anything even close to resembling a happy childhood..."

At this point Harry was staring at Dumbledore, because this was the very first time he'd ever been told about the blood wards.

Dumbledore looked at Harry for several moments with that sad look still in his eyes. "You have my apologies Harry... I know it wasn't easy up until now, but I believe it was absolutely necessary."

For several moments in a row, Harry didn't do or say anything at all. He didn't know what would be safe to say considering the oath of honesty. Finally, he came to a decision and simply nodded his acceptance. Truthfully, Harry didn't agree with his Headmaster's decision… like, at all, but he didn't believe that the man's intentions had been overtly malicious.

....

Join my P*atreon for 90 premium chapters ahead of the public release. 

Link: pa*treon.com/MysticVerse (Remove the *)

Free members also get 2 advanced chapters for free.