Harry Potter: Lethal Injection

Chapter 1: A Poisonous Partnership (Part 4)

She belongs with us, Harry. Venom assured from within his mind, in what he clearly thought was a comforting manner.

"What!?" Harry was so taken aback he shouted his response rather than thinking it. "Luna is just my friend, Venom! We only met 5 minutes ago!"

Whatever helps you sleep at night, Harry. The amusement in Venom's voice was palpable.

"Wait! Are you teasing me!?" Harry was outraged at the symbiote's gall.

Might be. Said symbiote was clearly unaffected by his host's outrage. Before Harry could retort, an almost inaudible pop sounded behind him and he found himself spinning around faster than he would've believed possible. Before him stood a tall old man with twinkling blue eyes, half-moon spectacles, and a very long crooked nose; it looked to have been broken at least twice. The man's hair and beard were extremely long too, so long he could've easily tucked them into his belt, his robes were bright blue with twinkling constellations that seemed to shimmer and shift across the fabric.

"Hello, Harry, are you having a pleasant evening?" The man asked agreeably as if he hadn't just materialised from thin air.

Well, that's not creepy at all. Venom murmured into Harry's mind slowly, Didn't you get a lecture about strange men? I'm sure I can find the memory in here somewhere. After another moment of speculative staring, he continued: If this guy offers you free sweets, We're leaving.

"Would you care for a Sherbet Lemon, Harry?" The man asked kindly holding out a small wrapped sweet.

We're leaving. Harry nodded in agreement, but, before he could turn to try and make his escape, the man flicked a long and knobbly stick, as if tracing a chair in the air, and suddenly a very plush and comfortable armchair appeared out of thin air in front of Harry. This brought him up short, he didn't remember anything about men conjuring furniture out of thin air from those lectures in school. Magic, Venom murmured, sounding distinctly impressed with the feat as they turned back to face the old man.

"Please sit, Harry. We have much to discuss before I take you back to the Dursleys." The man's voice was gentle, but Harry still wasn't quite ready to trust him, so he stayed tense, ready to flee at the slightest prompting. Not to mention the whole 'take you back to the Dursleys' comment, which hardly did anything to endear the man to him. After a long moment, the man sighed, "Harry, my name is Albus Dumbledore, and I promise that I mean you no harm." As he spoke the man gazed deep into Harry's eyes with his piercing blue ones, twinkling softly with a sort of gentle humour.

Dumbledore, isn't that who Luna said would be coming to speak with us? Venom asked, sounding relieved.

I think it is, Harry thought back, just as glad as his symbiotic other that the old man would not in fact be a problem. "Ok, Mr. Dumbledore." He said aloud, gingerly sitting down in the armchair, somewhat concerned it might disappear from under him. Finding it exceedingly comfortable, he quickly relaxed into the plush seat, even as Dumbledore conjured another chair for himself and sat down.

"As you have no doubt deduced by now, Harry, I am a wizard." Dumbledore began, "I am, in fact, the headmaster of a school for people like you and I." He paused for a moment, clearly expecting Harry to have some sort of stunned reaction to learning he was a wizard. When Harry exhibited no such reaction Dumbledore's brows furrowed slightly, but he continued without comment. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I had the pleasure of knowing your parents very well during their time there, and after they graduated."