(Word Count: 1,382)
The next day Harry ended up sleeping in until 8, much later than he normally woke up, but far earlier than he felt like he needed. Still, he rolled out of bed and dragged himself through the process of getting dressed in a thick sweater under some robes and down to the great hall, where he loaded himself up with some coffee.
'Sweet, sweet caffeine!' Harry cupped the warm mug in his hands to heat himself up. Despite the roaring fireplaces, they could only do so much against a cold morning like this one.
Luckily today was Sunday, so there wasn't anything to do today. Well, besides the business with Dumbledore. He needed to know about their vision last night.
After a hearty breakfast to wake himself up, he went to the Headmaster's office.
"Biscoff cookie butter," he said to the gargoyle, and he made his way in.
Dumbledore was already up, standing in front of his bookshelves examining the contents of one of the books. He looked up as Harry entered, and gently placed the old book back in its place. "Harry! I trust you've had a good night's rest?"
"Not as well as I'd have liked, Professor. As you know, Professor Trelawney and I held a divination ritual last night, and, well… It wasn't good."
Dumbledore's smile faded into a frown. He sighed, and gestured to the desk. "Perhaps we should sit then. Tea?"
"Yes, please."
They sat, and some tea cups appeared between them. They sipped, taking a moment to adjust themselves, and Harry began explaining everything he had seen. He also explained how this breakout initially should have happened in his fifth year but was moved up, and how he believed that it was Fate's "correction" for him freeing Sirius before.
By the time he finished his explanation, Dumbledore wore a heavy frown. "Thank you for telling me this, Harry. No matter what happens, you mustn't blame yourself for this. It was a noble thing you did, freeing Sirius."
Harry just nodded.
"Nonetheless, this doesn't change the seriousness of this matter. I will have a talk with Fudge about increasing the security around Azkaban," Dumbledore continued.
"Make sure he knows the harm it could do to his reputation should a breakout happen while he's in office," Harry said wryly.
Dumbledore chuckled, "Yes, that should be a proper motivation for him."
"And if he needs proof, I imagine that this vision would be stored in the Hall of Prophecy," Harry urged.
He didn't know how it worked, but the Hall of Prophecies was able to capture any prophecy or vision of the future that was made within Magical Britain and stored them within the orbs. The best Harry could figure out, is that it didn't have anything to do with the Mind Arts. If it did, he would have felt something try to take his memory of the vision to store it. Instead, it was as if it had a connection with the tapestry of fate and whenever something from the future was revealed, it was simultaneously revealed to the Hall of Prophecies and recorded.
"You can leave it to me, Harry. I will make sure this is handled appropriately," Dumbledore soothed. "I've had to deal with Fudge for a decade now. I know what makes him tick. Today is Sunday, you should go out and enjoy it with your friends."
With nothing else to add, Harry said goodbye and left.
As Harry descended, he wondered what to do next. There was no study group or dueling club today, and most of his friends were probably all still asleep. So he decided to get some more reading in at the library. There were way too many books he needed to get through.
He made his way into the library, taking a moment to take in the beautiful sight of the full shelves. There really was something beautiful about a library. Generations of people that came before left behind what they had learned, and now all of that knowledge was accumulated in one place.
He moved to the section he had left off on, and picked up the next armful to bring to the table to continue.
After nearly two hours of going back and forth like this, he had gone through two full shelves. He had just picked up the latest armful to put back when he had caught sight of someone out of the corner of his eye.
Blaise Zabini was sitting alone at one of the tables reading.
This would be a good chance to talk to him. Blaise had stopped coming to their study group, and it seemed like he had been avoiding him ever since. He had even stopped hanging out with Daphne and Tracey, and had been hanging out with Theodore Nott, and the Carrow twins. They came from some dark families, both politically speaking and, well, Death Eaters. The Carrow twins, Flora and Hestia, were nieces to the infamous Carrow twins, Alecto and Amycus. Theodore Nott's own father was a Death Eater himself.
'At least, they don't go around bullying people,' Harry thought. Theodore and the twins were somewhat loners and rarely interacted with anyone outside of classes. So Blaise was moving away from the more grey-aligned circles, and towards the dark-aligned. According to Daphne, she had heard that his mother had told him to. They seemed less extreme than the other Slytherins. Perhaps he could have a talk with them as well to bring them to the greys?
Harry quickly placed his books back and went to sit down across from the boy.
"Hey, Zabini. Mind if I sit for a bit?"
Blaise glanced up from his book, the corner of his mouth twitched up. "It's a bit late to ask that, Potter."
Harry just smirked and moved on. "I haven't seen you around our study group anymore."
Blaise looked back down to his book, pretending to read. "My mother has asked me to stay away from you. She says you're not a good influence on me, and said I should find some friends elsewhere."
"Can I ask why this sudden change? She seemed okay with me during the last Yule Ball," Harry said.
Blaise sighed heavily, and Harry could feel a surge of frustration and shame. He stared intensely at the pages of his book, but he was obviously not reading anymore. "Apparently, she had a falling out with your godfather."
"And what does that have to do with me? Or Daphne and Tracey for that matter. I noticed you don't hang out with them anymore."
Blaise closed his book and tossed it onto the table. He looked Harry in the eyes. "Mother has decided to change her affiliations. Or, at least, to make her actual affiliations more formal. She has always leaned dark, but now she is joining them officially."
"And you? How do you feel about this?" Harry asked. "You've been friends with Daphne and Tracey for how long? Are you content to just abandon them at your mother's request?"
Blaise's jaw clenched. "I cannot abandon my mother. She's the only family I have left."
Harry couldn't help but feel sympathetic. He knew better than most what it was like to cling to the family you had left, even when they did not always deserve it. While Harry didn't know exactly what his home situation was like, his mother was definitely leading him down a road he didn't like. Still, how did he reply without sounding condescending or dismissive?
He began very carefully. "Blaise, I understand wanting to follow your mother's footsteps, but… at the end of the day, you are living your own life. You have to think about the kind of person you want to be, and stand for the things you believe to be right. Even when your family doesn't agree. I know I don't agree with a lot of things my grandfather Arcturus believes in, and that's okay. Just think on that."
Harry stood up. "If you ever want to come back to the study group, you know where to find us."
He left Blaise there, who was staring at his book blankly, and left the library. He wasn't really in the mood to continue his studying.
It left a bitter taste in his mouth.