Sirius turned his attention back to Blackhawk. "You're concerned about the protection in some way?"
"No, not at all," Jordan hurried to reassure him. "The protection actually increases his natural healing abilities and helps his magic."
"What we wished to discussed is the crack in the protection." Blackhawk explained, his eyes shifting to Harry's forehead.
Harry lifted up his fringe and fingered his scar. Sirius was beginning to regret giving Harry the option to stay.
"Exactly," Blackhawk said approvingly. "This is where Voldemort struck you with the Killing Curse, yes? Unfortunately, nothing can stop the Killing Curse except dodging it, or a heavy object thrown into its path, or a huge wave of raw magic that throws it off course. Most wizards do not have the power required for the latter two defences."
"The curse came into contact with the barrier, and where it impacted it heated up the barrier and created your scar. Because you were scared and hurt, we think you must have sent out a huge wave of accidental magic which combined with the protection pushed the curse back towards Voldemort and destroyed his body." Jordan continued.
Sirius rubbed Harry's back to sooth him as his godson shifted restlessly, agitated by the discussion.
"So what's the problem with my scar?" Harry asked bluntly, wanting to get to the point. "Can you get rid of it?"
"We have detected a dark residue of magic around your scar with the signature of your enemy." Blackhawk admitted.
"It's OK, Harry." Sirius kept his arm around Harry who had flinched and glared at Blackhawk who looked back serenely. "You can rid of him of this residue?" He had a horrible suspicion of what it was exactly but Harry did not need to know that he could be carrying around a part of Voldemort's soul.
Blackhawk inclined his head. "We will need to drain his magical core to a low level to pry the residue free. Once it is gone then we can clean the scar with healing and restore his magic. However, there is the consideration that it provides a connection to the enemy." He paused. "I believe if your enemy is weak the connection is dormant but perhaps you would feel pain around your scar in your enemy's presence?"
Harry nodded swiftly.
"If your enemy were to grow stronger, the connection may expand and provide you with visions of your enemy's movements." Blackhawk said. "It could provide an advantage. It is also an area of vulnerability because just as you see him, he may see you."
Sirius felt Harry tremble against him and shifted so he was facing Harry fully, his hands over Harry's. "Harry, look at me."
Harry lifted his eyes slowly until they met Sirius's.
"I said we would discuss important things before making a decision, didn't I? What do you honestly want to do?" Sirius asked simply.
"Get rid of it." Harry blurted out and Sirius felt a rush of relief. "I don't…I don't want any kind of connection to him but…"
"No buts." Sirius said firmly. "We're in complete agreement." He squeezed Harry's hands and despite wanting to pull Harry into a hug regardless of their audience, he knew the thirteen year old boy would hate it if he did. Sirius moved back to his previous position, but put his arm around his godson's shoulders. "We'll do the procedure to cleanse his scar."
Blackhawk nodded and Sirius could see the approval in the old wizard's eyes.
"There is one other additional problem we have and that is a childhood binding on Harry's magical core." Jordan added.
Sirius frowned. "James placed one when he was about four months old, I think. Lily didn't want to but he was displaying a lot of magic, doing spontaneous transfigurations actually, and James eventually convinced her that if they didn't Harry might harm himself or them accidentally."
Harry perked up at the story of his babyhood but he was too pale and Sirius could see the fear in his eyes – the connection business scared him and Sirius couldn't blame him, it was scary.
"The Healer who oversaw it said that the binding would fade around the time Harry turned ten." Sirius added, confused.
"That binding has indeed faded." Jordan replied. "No, there is a second binding which was performed when he was fifteen months old. It restricts the power he can consciously access."
"This binding has ensured the dark residue would not grow stronger than the child." Blackhawk explained. "It has the magical signature of Albus Dumbledore."
Dumbledore. Sirius gritted his teeth and tried to control his rising fury. Remus had been wrong, he realised. Dumbledore didn't think Harry was average and had nothing to do with getting rid of Voldemort. No, Dumbledore had known Harry had power but the meddling old coot had found the soul fragment and rather than getting rid of it, he had bound Harry's core, presumably because Dumbledore had wanted the advantage of the connection. Sirius felt his control slipping and wrestled it back. Harry, he reminded himself; Harry needed him to be calm.
"But it needs to be removed," Blackhawk continued, "so we propose to remove the binding once the cleansing is complete."
"Agreed." Sirius said quickly.
"We'll assess any power issues after the binding is taken away." Jordan said.
Blackhawk regarded both Harry and Sirius thoughtfully. "You must be exhausted from your journey. Perhaps we should discuss your treatment tomorrow, Lord Black."
"It's Sirius," Sirius answered, "and yes; resting and settling in sounds like a good idea." He gave Harry a reassuring smile as they got to their feet.
Everything was going to be OK. They'd get rid of the dark stain of Voldemort and get Harry his power back, get him healthy.
And then Sirius was going to think of a suitable way to totally destroy Albus Dumbledore.
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF with more than 400 chapters, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/gokublack444🎉