If there ever was a time when getting ridiculously drunk was totally and absolutely justified, this was it, thought Dumbledore. After leaving Harry's house he had apparated around until he found a bar and now he was trying his best to get ridiculously plastered.
There was no fire whiskey, which was unfortunate but he supposed that the muggle stuff would do as well. He just had to drink more of it to compensate. He gulped down his drink, single malt taken neat, and ordered another.
He burrowed his spinning head into his hands as he waited for his next drink. The problem was that he had no rebuttal to many of Harry's complaints. Yes, he was only too aware that he could have done more. He could have pushed for stiffer sentences and stringent verification of those Imperius curse claims. He should have investigated Black's case more thoroughly. He should have insured that Harry had a happy childhood. He should have insured that the boy had more ties to the magical world. He should have... he should have... His failures and mistakes swam around and around in his head.
The bartender was giving him the eye as he downed yet another drink and signalled for a refill. Stupid fellow should be used to people drinking heavily. Was this a bar or a teashop? No, he would not let that bother him. He was going to sit here and drink until he passed out or a solution presented itself.
He could not bear the thought of returning to Hogwarts and confessing his failure to the few followers and allies he had left. Not that the boy had left him much leeway to do that. He could not even discuss the boy with anyone thanks to that ridiculous contract Harry had forced him to sign.
Bloody bartender was looking at him again and telling him to slow down... Buddy... he called him buddy! Why, the sheer cheek of the man. Here's a confundus charm, now keep serving me you bloody idiot. Aah yes, there it was. Ridiculous of the man, as if he was going to get drunk on these weak muggle drinks. Now fire whiskey there was a drink that...what was he thinking...yes, how to convince Harry and that bloody contract...can't talk about him, have to make sure that he takes precautions that no Death Eaters can follow him... wait a minute...
Ok... he could not talk about Harry... could not lead Death Eaters to his house... but had the boy put in anything about getting a friend to accompany him to his house... no he hadn't, which meant that... yes... yes... there was a way.
Harry was not a hopeless case, he thought. The boy had talked a good line about not wanting revenge but at the same time he had spoken of tossing Dumbledore through a window. Clearly the boy was not above thoughts of revenge no matter what he said. The problem was that the boy was being unreasonably antagonistic towards Dumbledore.
All he had to do, thought Dumbledore was find someone else that might help convince Harry. People like the Weasley family. They had all moved to Romania shortly before Voldemort took over the Ministry. Yes, he could grab Ron Weasley and have him tell Harry how miserable he was living away from England...but then...oh dear, Molly Weasley might come to know of it and she had really not left him on the best of terms. He shuddered as he remembered her last howler, which she had sent after his little faux pas with Ron Weasley. Looking back... yes that had probably not been very wise. Not Ron, then. Best to not risk another Howler.
Another drink was required.
Who else? Well, the boy had mentioned Sirius Black. Despite their difficult past Sirius had always been loyal. He could not even blame him for disappearing the way he had. After his godson had vanished, Sirius too had nothing to keep him in England. Yes, he would fetch Sirius and make him convince the boy. Hmmm, would that work? Sirius should not be that difficult to find, the last he heard the boy, well man he supposed, was living in Brazil. The only problem would be getting Sirius to accompany him without him being able to tell the man why he needed him. Well, if there was one thing he was good at, it was convincing people. Most people anyway, he amended as he recalled his conversation with Harry, which made him order and down yet another drink.
Still, Sirius might not be enough; the man had not really spent much time with Harry. He needed someone who knew Harry well, someone like... yes, someone like Hermione Granger... Perfect, yes. The poor girl had been forced to live in a former penal colony. Yes, she would do perfectly to show Harry how people he knew were suffering because he would not do his duty.
He lurched unsteadily to his feet and weaved his way to the door where he disappeared in a brief flash of Phoenix flame not really caring if anyone was around to see.
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