Disbelief

Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts, May 29 th

It was late. Past one in the morning, but no one would know that from the large group that had congregated in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts.

"Where is Nathan now?" Lily asked nervously.

"On the Headmaster's orders, I gave Nathan and Ron a light sleeping potion, and let them return to Gryffindor tower. Ms. Weasley however, will be spending some time in the infirmary," Madam Pomfrey explained. Seeing the look of distress forming on Molly Weasley's face, she added, "Ginny's stay in the hospital wing is purely precautionary, Molly. There is no reason to suspect that she is still being possessed."

If he hadn't just watched Nathan's memory of the Chamber of Secrets in Professor Dumbledore's Pensieve, Harry wouldn't have believed his brother capable of it. Slaying a basilisk at the age of twelve was impossible! Yet, somehow, Nathan had managed it with some help from Fawkes, the Headmaster's phoenix.

Harry had been terrified when he heard his mother scream in the middle of the night. Not knowing what to expect, he grabbed his wand and quickly rushed downstairs. He found his parents about to depart to Hogwarts with Professor McGonagall, and he demanded to know what was going on. His father had briefly explained how Nathan had gone, along with Ron Weasley, into the legendary Chamber of Secrets and managed to save Ginny Weasley from the Heir of Slytherin. Harry was told to go back to bed, and that Sirius was coming over to watch him just in case.

His parents left through the floo with Professor McGonagall. Once they were gone, Harry had returned to his room and quickly changed out of his pajamas. He made it back downstairs just as Sirius arrived at Godric's Hollow. Sirius had tried to stop Harry from flooing to Hogwarts, but, as he wanted to know what was going on himself, Harry was eventually able to convince his godfather that they both had to find out what was happening.

Stumbling out of Professor Dumbledore's floo, Harry was met with several wands pointed at him. Before anyone could tell him to go home, however, Sirius stepped out of the floo, and everyone's ire shifted to the man who was supposed to have been keeping Harry away from the floo. While his parents yelled at Sirius for letting Harry come to Hogwarts, Harry looked around the Headmaster's office. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were both present and appeared exhausted. Likewise, Professor McGonagall looked uncharacteristically tired and emotionally drained. Harry was surprised to see that Professor Dumbledore had retaken his position as Headmaster, and he greeted his pseudo-grandfather with a hug.

While Harry's parents both felt he should not be present for the meeting, Professor Dumbledore said it was unlikely that Nathan would keep such an adventure from his brother, and by showing him what happened, Harry would not pester Nathan for information about the incident. Lily and James eventually conceded, and Harry was allowed to stay and watch Nathan's memory of the Chamber of Secrets in Professor Dumbledore's Pensieve.

"Can I go talk to Nathan?" Harry asked once the memory ended.

"Harry, it's late," Lily said. "Your brother has been through a lot. Let him sleep."

"Speaking of sleep, I think you should get home as well." James said, placing his hand on Harry's shoulder. "You know Nathan's alright, and you saw what happened."

"Alright," Harry said, fighting back a yawn. "I just wanted to tell him I was proud of him."

Dumbledore smiled. "I will certainly pass the message on for you, Harry."

"Thank you, sir. I'm glad you're back at Hogwarts."

"As am I, Harry. I confess that the old castle has become my home, and I missed it terribly when I was away."

As Sirius led Harry back towards the Floo, Harry stopped and turned to Fawkes, who was watching the meeting with an air of detached interest. Harry approached the bird and petted its plumage. "Thank you for helping Nathan, Fawkes."

The phoenix let out a content chirp and fluttered over to land on Harry's shoulder. Fawkes rubbed his head against Harry, who continued to pet the bird.

"I think I might be jealous, Harry," Dumbledore chuckled cheerfully. "First Fawkes comes to Nathan's aid, and now he is sitting on your shoulder. James, Lily, what exactly did you do to raise two incredible boys?"

Harry blushed as Fawkes let out a short amused thrill before flying back over to his perch.

"We kept both of them as far away from Sirius as we could," Lily joked.

"Oi," Sirius said indignantly, "Fawkes loves me! don't you Fawkes?"

Fawkes simply looked at Sirius with a bored expression on his face causing everyone in the room to laugh.

Harry was ready to go home when he noticed the large bookshelves next to Fawkes' perch, and an idea popped into his head. He hadn't had any luck finding information on Occlumency in his family's library. Although, if Calypso was to be believed, Occlumency was a form of mind magic, something that Harry had never even heard of, let alone seen a reference to in his family's small library. Professor Dumbledore, on the other hand, was the smartest person Harry knew. Surely, he had heard of it!

"Professor Dumbledore, can I ask you a question before I leave?"

"Harry," James said, exasperated. "You need to go home. It's way past your bedtime, and your mother, the Weasleys, and I still have a lot of things to discuss with Albus."

"Now now, James, it's alright," Dumbledore placated. "Harry, you may ask me one question, but then you need to be getting home. It is, as your father said, quite late."

"Have you ever heard of a magic called Occlumency?" Harry asked. "I've been looking for it in our library since I got home, but I can't seem to find anything about it."

Albus was unable to hide his surprise at the question. "Harry, why are you looking for information about Occlumency? And for that matter, how did you learn of it?"

"A friend of mine at Durmstrang suggested I study it. She said it was a form of mind magic I might be interested in learning," Harry said evasively. "But I can't find any reference to it in our library."

"No," Albus said after a moment. "I would not expect any information on Occlumency to be in your family's library, Harry. The few books that there are on Occlumency are coveted by many private collectors and magical governments alike."

"Do you know Occlumency, sir? Or do you have a book I could borrow that talks about it?" Harry asked hopefully. "I swear I'll take very good care of it."

Dumbledore hesitated for only a moment before saying, "I do know Occlumency, Harry, as does Professor Snape; however, I am sorry to say that I do not possess a book on the subject."

"Oh," Harry said dejectedly. "Well, thank you anyway, sir."

"It's quite alright, Harry. I do hope you have a pleasant summer," Dumbledore said as Sirius ushered Harry over to the floo.