Dumbledore nodded.
"Solly" he called.
A house elf wearing an apron with the Hogwarts crest popped into the room and bowed before the man.
"Could you ask Professor Slughorn if he would consent on providing me with some veritaserum?" he asked. "Tell him I will of course replace it" he finished and the elf popped away.
The two sat in an amiable silence for the elf to return which he did after a few minutes, clutching a small vial of the clear liquid. After handing it to Dumbledore he popped away leaving the two alone again.
"Are you familiar with veritaserum Harry?" Dumbledore inquired.
Harry nodded.
"Yes sir, though I've never taken it willingly" he explained.
"Ok" Dumbledore nodded as he rose from his seat and made his way over to the teen. "Open your mouth please" he requested.
Harry complied and the headmaster placed 3 drops of the potion onto his tongue and waited for the tell tale glazing of the eyes to occur, indicating that it had taken effect.
"What is your name?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry immediately felt as though he could fight off the potion but decided to let it run its course, he had to make the man trust him after all. "Harry James Potter" he answered truthfully. "What is your date of birth?" Dumbledore inquired.
"The 31st of July 1980" Harry replied.
"Who are you parent's?" Dumbledore questioned further.
"Lily and James Potter" Harry returned immediately.
"And why did you come here?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"To kill Tom Riddle and stop him from ending our kind and to save my family" Harry finished with a choke as thoughts of Sirius and his parents came to the forefront of his mind. Dumbledore sighed and took his seat, waiting for the potion to wear off.
Harry felt the effects stop and he looked at Dumbledore and swallowed deeply. "I am sorry for the last question my boy, but I needed to know" Dumbledore explained. "So you are very much aware of our problems" he stated.
Harry nodded.
"And you have experienced the man?" Dumbledore asked with a frown.
"Since I was born" Harry confirmed darkly.
"Could you explain?" the headmaster requested.
Harry sighed.
"Why don't you look for yourself? I'm sure a man of your calibre is versed in Legilimency" Harry offered. "I will drop my occlumency shields around my memories of the man if you promise to only look at those and not into anything else, most of it is personal" he added seriously. "You know Occlumency?" the old man asked, clearly surprised.
"It's necessary to hide my secrets" Harry pointed out.
"Indeed, well Legilimency is illegal Mr. Potter" Dumbledore pointed out. "But I do have a pensieve, that way you can choose what memories I see" he offered.
'And the use of veritaserum is heavily regulated' Harry thought to himself.
However, he nodded and Dumbledore summoned the stone bowl and placed it on his desk between them.
Harry sighed and removed the memories from his mind with the tip of his wand and placed them into the device.
"I don't want to see them again" he stated and gestured for Dumbledore to enter on his own. Dumbledore nodded his understanding and plunged himself into the mass of dark memories.
It was quite some time later that he emerged looking both grave and very upset, his eyes shining with the emotion he was feeling.
Without saying a word he opened a draw at the bottom of his desk and poured himself a generous measure of brown liquid and drained it in one.
While the headmaster was busy Harry took the opportunity to retrieve and replace his memories.
"I am very sorry for the difficult life you've led Harry" Dumbledore whispered sincerely. "But killing him for revenge makes you no better than him" he added pleadingly.
"It's not just for that, there are other reasons that I am not willing to share just yet" Harry explained. He had decided not to share the prophecy with the man and risk him trying to garner some form of control over him. He needed him as an ally, not a protector after all.
"I hope in time that you can trust me enough my boy" Dumbledore replied in understanding.
"So do I" Harry responded quietly.
Dumbledore nodded and took a deep breath.
"So you wish to attend Hogwarts?" he asked.
"Yes sir" Harry answered. "I still need to complete my last two years" he explained.
"Of course" Dumbledore acknowledged with a nod. "But what do you intend on doing about your family? You are the same age as your father here" he pointed out.
"I really don't know" Harry answered honestly. "I was hoping I could get to know him and maybe we could be friends" he shrugged. "You look too much alike for that" the headmaster stated with a shake of his head. "And we can't have you taking polyjuice potion" he added with a frown.
Harry grimaced at the thought.
"You would not be willing to change your name and appearance" Dumbledore said questioningly, already knowing the answer.
"No" Harry answered firmly.
"Then there is only one thing for it" the headmaster sighed as he stood and approached the fireplace.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked urgently, jumping to his feet.
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