"Did you know my Grandfather spent his final days searching for how Harry could ultimately defeat Voldemort?" Sirius asked idly.
Albus's eyes widened. "Arcturus?"
"Yes," Sirius placed his teacup down, "Lily and he were friends. She confided in him before they went into hiding. The blood wards around Privet Drive came out of a book my Grandfather gave her. The spell for Harry's protection came out of another book he gave her that used to belong to my Grandmother."
"Oh my." Albus murmured.
"He came across a source about the Hallows – Remus is trying to track it down – anyway, it mentioned that the Hallows were created with the Peverell family magic to help defeat the Dark Lord Severn." Sirius continued. "All three items acting in concert."
Albus remained silent.
Sirius stared him down. "I'm certain your studies into the Hallows must have revealed something similar."
"Uniting the Hallows," began Albus, with an unhappy frown, "is meant to convey the wizard holding all three with the power of Death. It is why the child's tale says the wizard becomes Master of Death. But there is no evidence to substantiate that."
"Apart from the source my Grandfather found." Sirius decided that Albus didn't need to know that his Grandfather had gotten the information from Ollivander. "It apparently made it very clear that all three enabled the defeat of this Dark Lord." His gaze settled on Albus. "We know where the cloak and the stone are…"
"And the wand's location is best kept secret to ensure Tom does not attempt to procure it." Albus interrupted. "You agreed with me that it was for the best when we found the stone."
"I didn't agree; I just didn't pursue the topic. And that was before I had information that the Hallows could be 'the power he knows not' that Harry needs in order to defeat Voldemort." Sirius countered calmly.
"Sirius…"
"Secrets, Albus." Sirius said pointedly. "Haven't we just had this conversation? If you know where the wand is then as the person leading the war effort where that wand could make the difference between winning and losing, and beyond that as the father of Harry, the last of the Peverells who arguably the wand truly belongs to, shouldn't I be told?"
Fawkes flew over to comfort Albus and the old wizard stroked the phoenix on his lap for a long moment.
Albus finally raised his eyes and met Sirius's relentless gaze again. "I assume this is where you inform me that you already know."
"My Grandfather had a theory." Sirius offered, trying to lighten the moment.
There was a soft snort from Albus. He slowly drew his wand out of a large sleeve as Fawkes abandoned him and flew back to his perch. The Elder wand was placed on the desk.
Sirius made no move toward it. "Harry is comfortable that you should have the wand for the time being."
Albus breathed in sharply. "He knows?"
"Yes." Sirius said bluntly.
"But then…"
"We understood why you were keeping it secret, Albus," Sirius said impatiently, "and frankly, Harry and I both agree that the wand is probably safest with you, but we also agree that you need to stop keeping secrets that relate to Harry; relate to how he could defeat Voldemort."
There was another long moment of silence.
"He must hate me." Albus murmured eventually.
"He's annoyed you're keeping secrets about him when you said you wouldn't." Sirius stated firmly. "As am I."
Albus sighed. "I have no defence, Sirius, beyond the truth that for many years I was the one to decide who knew what and when. I fear it has taken me some time to realise the truth that I no longer have that right nor occupy the same role in the war as last time."
Sirius nodded. "Is there anything else that you should have told me by now that springs to mind?"
"Nothing as you say springs to mind but I will review and let you know if there is something else." Albus said dryly.
Sirius nodded.
"What about the Hallows?" asked Albus, motioning at his wand. "Or was that merely an example to prove your point?"
"I wish they were just an example but no," Sirius said, rubbing his hand over his chin. He sighed. "Remus and I are almost convinced that the Hallows are the power that the prophecy speaks about – mostly because when we did Harry's blessing to transfer the blood protection from the Evans' line to the Black, the spirit of Morgana Le Fay turned up and said something about Harry mastering Death."
Albus's eyebrows were so far up his forehead that Sirius wondered if they were going to crawl into his hairline. "The spirit of Morgana Le Fay appeared?"
"Bertie declared the whole thing a magical need-to-know event under the authority of the DOM. Everybody present took a vow not to speak of it." Sirius explained. "Obviously Bertie didn't make me take a vow and I think in the interests of knowledge sharing you should be aware."
"Astonishing." Albus said.
"It was. Anyway, Morgana's words didn't mean anything to us at the time but later when Harry, Remus and I talked about it, in retrospect her words seemed meaningful. To my mind, she pointed to the Hallows as the defining factor which would prevent Harry's death." Sirius gestured across the desk at the wand. "However, Remus and I believe we need to track the original source material that my Grandfather discovered down and see exactly how all three Hallows are meant to work in concert before Harry takes ownership of all three."
Albus nodded. "A sensible approach." His lips twisted. "I will review my own research. It has been some years but I may be able to find something."
Sirius smoothed down the front of his robes. "That would be helpful." He stood up. "I should get home."
"For what it is worth, Sirius, I am sorry." Albus said contritely.
"I think you owe that apology to Harry." Sirius replied.
Albus's blue eyes dimmed and he gave a brief nod. "The password to the Gryffindor Common Room is moonflower."
Sirius inclined his head in acknowledgement of Albus's guess at where Sirius was headed, and left the Headmaster's office. He immediately made for the tower.
He was almost there when he turned a corner and spotted Snape heading in his direction. He had to restrain his urge to dive into an alcove and pretend he wasn't there. Instead, he steeled himself and carried on walking.
Snape sneered as they drew level. "Black."
"Snape."
It was, Sirius considered amused, an almost civil exchange. He carried on walking.
"If you're looking for Potter, he's in the new middle years Common Room next to the library." Snape called after him.
Sirius paused, shot a look over his shoulder to find Snape gazing back at him darkly. "Thank you." He said mildly, and changed direction.
"Black." Snape halted Sirius again.
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