In Pursuit of the Unknown Power

Opening the door and walking into the Kitchen he saw Dumbledore and Tonks coming in the back door. "Wotcher Harry" Tonks greeted him warmly.

"Hey Tonks. Did you try to Apparate into the house? I told the professor how I set the wards up." He asked her. She responded by sending the ugly eye at the Headmaster. Literally seeing as she was a Metamorph her eyes doubled in size and turned bright red. "He neglected to tell me that, I wondered how I ended up in the back garden." She said.

"Alas Nymphadora," her hair began cycling quickly between black, orange and red as her eyes did the same thing. The effect was that she was a flame that was about to explode. "I was not certain if Harry's modifications would work and as this was the first time returning I attempted to Apparate into the sitting room to see what happened. I apologize for not informing you ahead of time." He finished as if all was forgiven.

"Well the wards not only worked, they alerted me that someone had been redirected to the back garden as well. The only reason I am not angry with you is I was actually hoping to catch you the next time you arrived." Harry said.

"Ah and what might I do for you this evening Harry?" he inquired.

"I would like you to check my Occlumency shields sir. I received a book over the summer from which I learned more than Snape ever taught me. I had to spend the first few days repairing the damage from my sessions with him." His temper was getting the better of him so he took a few deep breaths before continuing. In any case. I have some information I would like to share with my friends, but I don't want to put them in danger unless they can protect the information." He said giving the Headmaster a meaningful look.

Dumbledore understood right away what was not being said and agreed. "Very well, shall I do a count or would you like me to surprise you?" He asked. Harry looked him in the eye and said, "A countdown would be fine but I think…" He trailed off as he heard what sounded like a gong being struck inside his head. He shook it off after a few seconds and looked back at the Headmaster who was rubbing his temples as if he were in pain. "Harry, might I ask what substance you imagined for your shield?" he said weakly.

"Adamantium sir, I don't believe it actually exists, but I know enough about it from fiction that I could imagine it." Dumbledore nodded to his explanation still rubbing feebly at his temples. "And what Mr. Potter are the properties of this substance?" he asked.

"Well it is metallic in nature, and after it has been shaped and cooled it is said to be indestructible. The worst the Muggles could throw at it causes only a small dent. Even if it is heated back up to the melting point it remains solid due to its unique molecular structure." Harry quoted from the back issues of Wolverine comics he had nicked from his Cousin's collection. "Why do you ask sir?" He was still curious.

"I have never encountered shields such as yours before Harry. To be honest I did not expect to find anything that could stop my probe so I went in without holding back. I believe you could describe the encounter as placing my brain on your Firebolt and flying it into the castle walls at full speed. Rather unpleasant if I must describe it." He sighed and sat down.

Harry resisted the urge to laugh though Tonks chuckled. He really had not thought it would work that well. "Do you feel up to trying again at a slower speed sir? I am looking for an actual opinion on my defenses. If I am going to teach Hermione and Ginny I want to make sure I do not leave any holes." He stated.

Dumbledore nodded and looked up at Harry. "So on three then.." he trailed off. Once their eyes met Harry saw the twinkle before he felt the pressure against his shield. Closing his eyes he concentrated on his breathing and entered his mindscape. He found a wraith that resembled Dumbledore running his hands along the dome searching for flaws. He followed along watching until they had made a complete circle, at which point he politely coughed. Dumbledore turned quickly and looked around, Harry realized he must be invisible so he imagined himself visible and suddenly he was standing beside the Wraith.

"Ah Harry, a remarkable achievement. I may have to research this metal and reconstruct my shields." Harry chuckled at the thought of the Headmaster reading comic books. "Thank you sir, I think you would enjoy the research as much as I did." He said with a grin.

"What made you think of a dome if I may ask? Most people think of a castle or at the very least walls of some sort." He asked.

"Well it occurred to me that if I left the top open it would allow someone access if they were creative enough. So I covered my entire structure, a dome seemed the easiest solution. After all it is not like there is any light to block out when I enter my construct." He said.

Dumbledore's wraith nodded again before he asked. "Would you consent to let me see your construct? Just for curiosity sake?"

Harry thought for a moment, and decided he could give the old man an overview without revealing his actual organization method. With a thought they were both standing in the middle of the street. Harry could see the dome overhead but there was an ambient light that came from all directions and all points at once. Dumbledore looked surprised. "How did you get us here Harry?" He asked.

"While fiddling around inside my own head I figured that I could do anything I wanted in here. This is my imagination and my mind after all. So I simply decided we would be inside, and we were." Harry said. He didn't know why the esteemed Headmaster was having trouble with a concept that came naturally to him.

"Curiouser and Curiouser," Dumbledore mumbled. "Can you explain why there are so many buildings? And why a town in any case?" He asked.

"Well Headmaster, without revealing too much I can tell you that I started with one building and then to confuse any attackers I added other random buildings. Just in case they make it this far I have added many false trails and false memories for them to find. I believe it would take quite awhile for anyone to find my actual construct let alone decipher my organization method." He said with a smug tone.

"Quite right Harry, Thank you for sharing. I must say you have done remarkably well in the last three weeks." Harry interrupted him here.

"Actually sir I did all this in the last week. I guess you could say once I got started it came naturally to me. Which just goes to prove my point. The man you call a Professor," he said this with as much sarcasm as he could, "could not teach a fish how to swim. He is a biased, bigoted, arrogant bastard and is not fit to teach anyone let alone 11 year olds." Harry finished.

"Harry I know your opinion on this and you know mine. Thank you again for showing me this, now let us return to the waking world." Dumbledore closed his eyes and after a few seconds looked around confused. Harry was waiting for him to leave. "Harry, are you holding me here?" He asked.

Surprised by the idea Harry made a mental note to create a jail. Of course being in his own mind thought became reality and a Jail straight out of the Wild West appeared just off the street. He giggled before turning back to the professor. "I was not consciously holding you here no, but since you attempted to leave without permission I suppose subconsciously I am holding you." Harry smiled.

Dumbledore seemed to struggle for a few moments before giving up and turning back to Harry. "Most strange, will you please allow me to leave now?" he pleaded.

Harry knew that now was the perfect time to share a few memories with his Headmaster. "Not just yet, I think there are a few things you need to see." And with that he thought them into a Pensieve style memory. They flashed by quickly but all of the information was imparted to Dumbledore in the blink of an eye. Harry's first potions class with Snape. Killing Quirrelmort. Slaying a basilisk, Rescuing Sirius from 150 Dementors, Watching Cedric die, Watching Voldemort be reborn. All of his mind rape sessions with Snape. The entire night at the Department of Mysteries beginning with his vision and ending with Sirius falling through the veil. Finally letting go he imagined them both leaving and standing back in the kitchen. He opened his eyes and saw Tonks in the same position as before.

"You gonna count down or do you want me to?" She asked.

Dumbledore took a moment to realize he had been expelled back into his own body. And quickly answered her. "I tested him as he was talking, his shielding is more than adequate. Harry you have my blessing to teach your methods to Ms. Weasley and Ms. Granger. Why did you not mention young Mr. Weasley?" he asked completely ignoring what had gone on inside Harry's head in the space of a second.

Harry nodded, allowing the man time to process what had happened. "Ron said he would help me whether he knew the whole story or not and he did not want to spend all summer doing schoolwork." Harry said still a bit sad that Ron did not want to be included. "They guessed enough from the prophet and our experience in the Department of Mysteries to know most of the truth, but none of the specifics. I gave them a choice to know what the Prophecy says. They earned it, I plan to give the same choice to Neville and Luna if they are willing to learn Occlumency." He stated. Dumbledore just nodded before replying.

"Wait you know the Prophecy?" Tonks exclaimed.

Taking great relish in revealing the fact Harry nodded to her before he replied. "It was given to the Headmaster 16 or so years ago." He grinned as she shot the old man an evil glare.

"Yes Nymphadora, I have known the whole time, which is how I knew we needed to keep it protected, even from the people I trust." She colored again at her name but looked thoughtful.

"I don't like being kept in the dark Albus, but I am willing to trust you on that. I don't have the need-to-know so I won't pry." She said looking at Harry.

"Very well Harry, the information is yours to distribute how you see fit, and I believe you are making very sensible choices, both in whom you are confiding, and in how you are doing so. If you will excuse me I have other members to notify of our location." And with that he turned and disappeared quietly.

"Bloody hell, I really wish I knew how he did that!" Tonks remarked. Harry just looked confused.

"Huh?" He asked eloquently.

"Disapparates with hardly a sound, most people sound more like a crack than a pop. The Twins are pretty good as well but not nearly as quiet as Dumbledore." She finished still staring at the spot where he disappeared.

"I still don't get it, I guess Dumbledore is the only one I ever heard do it." Harry commented.

She looked over at him and winked before she Apparated to the back garden with a loud Crack! Harry heard the muffled Crack as she reappeared almost instantly outside. She walked back in. "See, I have been told I am pretty loud, but I guess that only makes sense seeing as how clumsy I am." She said quietly. That reminded him of his surprise for her.

"Ms. Tonks would you follow me for a moment, I have a surprise for you." He said in his best Dumbledore voice as he left the kitchen heading toward the front door without looking back at her. He stopped by the stairs and waited for her to catch up. When she did she gave him a funny look before looking around.

"You got rid of the old bat?" He nodded.

"Actually she elected to be placed in the Slytherin common room rather than me blast the wall out from behind her or pour a gallon of paint thinner on her." He smiled as she began laughing, and then she let out a snort. She quickly looked at him horrified.

"If you tell a soul I swear I will be wearing your bits as ear rings." She said.

He laughed out loud at that before commenting. "I thought it was cute, " he smiled at her, "but that wasn't your surprise. Notice anything else missing?" He asked her non-chalently. She began looking around again before she squeaked and jumped into his arms kissing him rather thoroughly. Not that he was complaining, she was rather soft and warm and tasted like bubblegum. His arms went around her waist of their own accord. And he enjoyed himself for a moment before he remembered where he was and whom he was kissing. He pulled away softly and smiled at her. "Wow." He said.

Her eyes seemed to have glazed over a bit and she replied, "Yeah Wow." Before she shook herself and stepped away from him. "Uh, sorry bout that, who wouldn't want to kiss some old hag like me when you have two lovelies upstairs waiting for you?" She said nervously.

He replied quickly. "Tonks, you are hardly a hag and I thoroughly enjoyed that. However I think a certain wolf might cause me bodily harm if I continued to think of you that way." He grinned at her face.

"He won't let himself be happy, and besides he keeps going on about the age difference and not being fair to me to be with being a monster." She sniffed. "But don't I get a say in what's fair to me?" She asked.

Harry nodded and pulled her back into a hug. "Maybe you should remind him what Sirius said in his Will. Love has no age, I am sure he'll come round eventually. Just don't give up on him alright?" He looked into her teary eyes. She nodded. Relieving the tension he continued.

"In the meantime feel free to kiss me anytime you feel the need." He grinned at her as she blushed. He almost felt Sirius pat him on the back for making her blush a second time in the same day. "I though it was supposed to be hard to make a Metamorph blush?" he asked her with a grin.

"Prat!" she slapped him on the shoulder. "Well I need to go start my shift at work, but I will see you around here yeah?" She asked. He nodded in response and she winked at him before disappearing with a Crack!

As he headed back up the stairs he decided his life was definitely looking up.