Chapter One: A Curious Return
Five weeks. It had been five weeks (one month, a week, and a day since the Halloween Hogsmeade trip, in fact) since the last time anybody had seen Harry Potter. Nobody really knew where he was, though most of the students speculated that he had been captured and killed by Death Eaters. That is to say, very few people at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry knew where he was. Certain Slytherin students with rather influential parents had a reason to feel smug, for their parents told them that Harry had indeed been captured by Deatheaters, though he certainly wasn't dead. The important thing was that nobody who truly cared about Harry Potter knew where he was, and the Slytherins that did know intended to keep them in the dark. For Gryffindor students Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Ginny Weasley, the last five weeks were torturous, a (seemingly) never-ending affair of never knowing whether their friend (or love interest, as was the case for Ginny) was alright, or even alive. In the time that had passed since Harry had disappeared, the beleaguered Gryffindors mentioned started to develop the pale faces and ringed-eyes that were trademark of Harry Potter. They knew that even Headmaster Dumbledore had no idea where he might be, though he had informed them that he had some of his most trusted agents combing Great Britain for any sign of the Boy Who Lived. The fact that one of the said wizards had suddenly turned up missing-in-action was of no comfort at all.
So it was that five weeks and a day after Ron and Hermione had reported to the Headmaster that Harry had not returned from Hogsmeade, they were to be found in the Great Hall for dinner, trying to make Ron's younger sister Ginny eat.
"Please, Ginny, you have to eat something!" Hermione said in exasperation. Ginny just sat there miserably, looking at her full plate of food, neither picking up her fork nor responding to Hermione's pleading.
"Leave her alone, Hermione. It's not as though you're eating much yourself," Ron said, though he spoke so low that only Hermione or Ginny could have heard him. The last few weeks had taken their toll on him; had he been in a right state of mind, he would have insulted her for not minding her own business. Of course, Hermione was not up for an argument in her condition either, and merely gave him a withering look before returning to her own meal.
Ginny looked up at the Staff Table, to see that Professor Dumbledore was also not inclined to eat this evening. Instead, he seemed to be in a pensive mood, with both of his arms propping his chin up. Even Professor Snape hadn't seemed quite as nasty lately, with his favorite victim now missing for over a month. A loud snickering from behind her caused Ginny to turn toward the Slytherin Table, the only table where anybody had the gall to be jovial during mealtimes. The whole school had felt Gryffindor's loss, as Harry Potter was always a shining beacon of hope for the non- Slytherin students – whenever he wasn't being used as a scapegoat for some weird happening or another, that is.
"Cads," Ginny thought mutinously, "They all know where he is. They all know, and none of them will ever say anything...". Her eyes stun as a fresh wave of tears was fighting to escape. She blinked several times, and turned back to her own table in time to see Ron charming his mashed potatoes to fly. She had to duck to avoid the missile, though it cleared the other two House Tables with little difficulty and found a new home on top of Draco Malfoy's overly-large head. This stopped the laughter at the Slytherin table and caused a tidal-wave of laughter at the other three House Tables. Only the Gryffindor's actually saw who sent the potatoes flying, and Ron's plate immediately filled up with more potatoes from the Kitchens, so nobody made any accusations. Professor Dumbledore was suddenly on his feet, not because of the unaccustomed lightheartedness in the Great Hall, but because 4 men had suddenly entered the Great Hall. Or, rather, two men had entered the Great Hall, one of them dragging the unconscious third man, while the other held the fourth, shortest man out in front of him, holding a knife up to his throat. Ginny recognized the unconscious man as Lucius Malfoy, though he was bleeding heavily out of his nose and his left eye was very dark. Ginny didn't know who the short man was, though she noticed that his hand appeared to be made of... silver? It took a few moments before she was able to determine who his captor was, but then remembered the photo from the Daily Prophet, and the time he tried to kill Ron... "Sirius Black!" she heard somebody shriek. It took her a moment to realize that the voice she heard was her own.
"Shut up, Ginny!" Ron hissed at her, but it was too late – half of the school had already echoed Ginny.
"Ron! What's the matter with you? He's –..."
"Harry!" Hermione cried out. Ginny's heart leapt up into her throat, and turned back to the entryway, expecting to see her hero deliver them from the clutches of Sirius Black and...
"Come to think of it, why would Sirius Black and... that other guy be dragging Death Eater's into the Great Hall at knife point?" Ginny thought to herself, "And who is that other man? He looks like..." Ginny cut off her thoughts as she studied this stranger. "He looks like... Harry... the messy hair, the green eyes, but... Harry..."
Ginny knew that he could not be Harry. The Harry she knew had eyes full of adventure and kindness. This... thing... that was wearing Harry's features could not be her Harry – his eyes looked as dead as Cedric Diggory's had after the Tri-Wizard Tournament ended.
It was a few moments after Ginny decided that he was not Harry, when the room erupted with voices shouting Stunning spells and aiming them at the entrance. The imposter-Harry stepped in front of Black protectively, dropped the elder Malfoy, and screamed out an incantation. He held no wand in his hand; he wouldn't stand a chance . Just when the first Stunners should have reached their target, a field of pure energy emitted from the imposters hand, absorbing the hundred-odd Stunners and protecting him and Sirius Black.
The room fell silent, not a person moving. To be able to conjure a Shield that powerful, and without a wand! This Harry-imposter must have been very powerful, possibly more so than Professor Dumbledore...
The silence was cut by a scream of rage from the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy had just noticed his captive father. He let off a salvo of curses at the imposter, none of which ever reached their target. The imposter walked forward, shield deflecting all of Draco's attacks. Malfoy drew back, but not quickly enough; the imposter shot out his free arm and seized Malfoy by the throat. With more strength than any child of 15 could ever manage, he threw Draco high into the air. The imposter held his hand out in front of him, where wisps of power caressed his fingers. He mentally shaped it into orbs, and fired them into Draco's descending form. Though the attack didn't seem to do much damage, the few orbs that missed their mark exploded violently when they came into contact with the walls. With a sickening crunch, Malfoy landed on his arm, unconscious.
Harry may have despised Malfoy, but Ginny knew that he would never attack any student so violently. He was compassionate, and would never... do that! Ginny didn't even try to stop her tears from flowing, as she saw that this monster was not her Harry, but some demon come to torment her over his absence.
The imposter was moving again, toward the immobile form of Malfoy, preparing, no doubt, to finish him off. He stopped, knelt down next to his opponent, held his hand out, and muttered another incantation. Ginny prepared to duck beneath the table in case Draco's death was a messy one, when she noticed that Malfoy was stirring under the magic that the imposter was working.
"He's back," Hermione said quietly, with a very tiny smile on her face. Ron's face mirrored Hermione's, as he quietly said his friends name for the first time in weeks. Ginny briefly entertained the notion that they were both insane, when she realized that no Demon would actually heal his opponents. This was something that... Harry would do... Her heart was racing again as she let herself hope that maybe her beloved had returned.
"Don't get up, the sickness won't pass for another... three minutes." Harry said this quietly to Malfoy, who responded by becoming violently sick all over his singed robes. Yes, Harry would tend to even his enemies injuries, though, Ginny noticed for the first time, his robes were stained with what she hoped wasn't his own blood.
Ginny turned back to her brother. "What is he doing with Sirius Black, though? Wasn't he working for Voldemort when he was thrown into Azkaban?" Ron looked at her for a long moment, before saying, "I'll tell you about it later."
So that was it. It was another one of their adventures that she was excluded from, that he never told her about. She was a little over a year younger than Harry, yet they still treated her with 'kid gloves.' Despite the joyousness of the occasion, she felt hurt that there was yet another thing that they never told her about, another adventure that they didn't share with her. Hermione was looking at her with something akin to sympathy on her face. Ginny was tired of having everybody's sympathy and nobody's trust, and defiantly turned her attention back to Harry and... Sirius Black, and their captives.
Harry had picked up Lucius Malfoy again, and was motioning for Sirius to follow him. Professor Dumbledore, meanwhile, had already conversed with the staff, and the Head's of House were now starting to herd their reluctant student's towards the exits of the Hall. Ginny was not going to move, and saw that Ron and Hermione were already getting up to go talk to Harry. She noticed Dumbledore talking to him and Sirius in low tones, and motioning frantically toward the same room where last year's Tri-Wizard Champions were briefed on the Tournament.
"Where do you think you're going?" Professor McGonagall called out to them.
"We need to talk to Harry!" Ron said, without turning around, though he did stop.
"I can't allow that right now. The Headmaster needs to speak with him and Mr. Black."
"We've been through everything together, Professor! We need to know what happened just as much as Professor Dumbledore does!" Hermione had never spoken out against a Professor before (except for Bartemius Crouch Jr., last years DADA teacher), and was clearly surprised by her own daring. Apparently, so was Professor McGonagall, though she didn't seem angry by her outburst. She seemed to be weighing the situation in her mind, then said, "I stand firm. You are not to go to him right now. However... you may wait here in the Great Hall, if you feel so inclined." With that, she left to guide the rest of her charges to Gryffindor Tower.
"...What do we do now?" Ginny asked.
"I guess... we'll just have to wait." Ron answered. With nothing else to do, Ginny sat down at the Gryffindor table, to wait to be reunited with her hero, her love.
Five weeks. It had been five weeks (one month, a week, and a day since the Halloween Hogsmeade trip, in fact) since the last time anybody had seen Harry Potter. Nobody really knew where he was, though most of the students speculated that he had been captured and killed by Death Eaters. That is to say, very few people at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry knew where he was. Certain Slytherin students with rather influential parents had a reason to feel smug, for their parents told them that Harry had indeed been captured by Deatheaters, though he certainly wasn't dead. The important thing was that nobody who truly cared about Harry Potter knew where he was, and the Slytherins that did know intended to keep them in the dark. For Gryffindor students Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Ginny Weasley, the last five weeks were torturous, a (seemingly) never-ending affair of never knowing whether their friend (or love interest, as was the case for Ginny) was alright, or even alive. In the time that had passed since Harry had disappeared, the beleaguered Gryffindors mentioned started to develop the pale faces and ringed-eyes that were trademark of Harry Potter. They knew that even Headmaster Dumbledore had no idea where he might be, though he had informed them that he had some of his most trusted agents combing Great Britain for any sign of the Boy Who Lived. The fact that one of the said wizards had suddenly turned up missing-in-action was of no comfort at all.
So it was that five weeks and a day after Ron and Hermione had reported to the Headmaster that Harry had not returned from Hogsmeade, they were to be found in the Great Hall for dinner, trying to make Ron's younger sister Ginny eat.
"Please, Ginny, you have to eat something!" Hermione said in exasperation. Ginny just sat there miserably, looking at her full plate of food, neither picking up her fork nor responding to Hermione's pleading.
"Leave her alone, Hermione. It's not as though you're eating much yourself," Ron said, though he spoke so low that only Hermione or Ginny could have heard him. The last few weeks had taken their toll on him; had he been in a right state of mind, he would have insulted her for not minding her own business. Of course, Hermione was not up for an argument in her condition either, and merely gave him a withering look before returning to her own meal.
Ginny looked up at the Staff Table, to see that Professor Dumbledore was also not inclined to eat this evening. Instead, he seemed to be in a pensive mood, with both of his arms propping his chin up. Even Professor Snape hadn't seemed quite as nasty lately, with his favorite victim now missing for over a month. A loud snickering from behind her caused Ginny to turn toward the Slytherin Table, the only table where anybody had the gall to be jovial during mealtimes. The whole school had felt Gryffindor's loss, as Harry Potter was always a shining beacon of hope for the non- Slytherin students – whenever he wasn't being used as a scapegoat for some weird happening or another, that is.
"Cads," Ginny thought mutinously, "They all know where he is. They all know, and none of them will ever say anything...". Her eyes stun as a fresh wave of tears was fighting to escape. She blinked several times, and turned back to her own table in time to see Ron charming his mashed potatoes to fly. She had to duck to avoid the missile, though it cleared the other two House Tables with little difficulty and found a new home on top of Draco Malfoy's overly-large head. This stopped the laughter at the Slytherin table and caused a tidal-wave of laughter at the other three House Tables. Only the Gryffindor's actually saw who sent the potatoes flying, and Ron's plate immediately filled up with more potatoes from the Kitchens, so nobody made any accusations. Professor Dumbledore was suddenly on his feet, not because of the unaccustomed lightheartedness in the Great Hall, but because 4 men had suddenly entered the Great Hall. Or, rather, two men had entered the Great Hall, one of them dragging the unconscious third man, while the other held the fourth, shortest man out in front of him, holding a knife up to his throat. Ginny recognized the unconscious man as Lucius Malfoy, though he was bleeding heavily out of his nose and his left eye was very dark. Ginny didn't know who the short man was, though she noticed that his hand appeared to be made of... silver? It took a few moments before she was able to determine who his captor was, but then remembered the photo from the Daily Prophet, and the time he tried to kill Ron... "Sirius Black!" she heard somebody shriek. It took her a moment to realize that the voice she heard was her own.
"Shut up, Ginny!" Ron hissed at her, but it was too late – half of the school had already echoed Ginny.
"Ron! What's the matter with you? He's –..."
"Harry!" Hermione cried out. Ginny's heart leapt up into her throat, and turned back to the entryway, expecting to see her hero deliver them from the clutches of Sirius Black and...
"Come to think of it, why would Sirius Black and... that other guy be dragging Death Eater's into the Great Hall at knife point?" Ginny thought to herself, "And who is that other man? He looks like..." Ginny cut off her thoughts as she studied this stranger. "He looks like... Harry... the messy hair, the green eyes, but... Harry..."
Ginny knew that he could not be Harry. The Harry she knew had eyes full of adventure and kindness. This... thing... that was wearing Harry's features could not be her Harry – his eyes looked as dead as Cedric Diggory's had after the Tri-Wizard Tournament ended.
It was a few moments after Ginny decided that he was not Harry, when the room erupted with voices shouting Stunning spells and aiming them at the entrance. The imposter-Harry stepped in front of Black protectively, dropped the elder Malfoy, and screamed out an incantation. He held no wand in his hand; he wouldn't stand a chance . Just when the first Stunners should have reached their target, a field of pure energy emitted from the imposters hand, absorbing the hundred-odd Stunners and protecting him and Sirius Black.
The room fell silent, not a person moving. To be able to conjure a Shield that powerful, and without a wand! This Harry-imposter must have been very powerful, possibly more so than Professor Dumbledore...
The silence was cut by a scream of rage from the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy had just noticed his captive father. He let off a salvo of curses at the imposter, none of which ever reached their target. The imposter walked forward, shield deflecting all of Draco's attacks. Malfoy drew back, but not quickly enough; the imposter shot out his free arm and seized Malfoy by the throat. With more strength than any child of 15 could ever manage, he threw Draco high into the air. The imposter held his hand out in front of him, where wisps of power caressed his fingers. He mentally shaped it into orbs, and fired them into Draco's descending form. Though the attack didn't seem to do much damage, the few orbs that missed their mark exploded violently when they came into contact with the walls. With a sickening crunch, Malfoy landed on his arm, unconscious.
Harry may have despised Malfoy, but Ginny knew that he would never attack any student so violently. He was compassionate, and would never... do that! Ginny didn't even try to stop her tears from flowing, as she saw that this monster was not her Harry, but some demon come to torment her over his absence.
The imposter was moving again, toward the immobile form of Malfoy, preparing, no doubt, to finish him off. He stopped, knelt down next to his opponent, held his hand out, and muttered another incantation. Ginny prepared to duck beneath the table in case Draco's death was a messy one, when she noticed that Malfoy was stirring under the magic that the imposter was working.
"He's back," Hermione said quietly, with a very tiny smile on her face. Ron's face mirrored Hermione's, as he quietly said his friends name for the first time in weeks. Ginny briefly entertained the notion that they were both insane, when she realized that no Demon would actually heal his opponents. This was something that... Harry would do... Her heart was racing again as she let herself hope that maybe her beloved had returned.
"Don't get up, the sickness won't pass for another... three minutes." Harry said this quietly to Malfoy, who responded by becoming violently sick all over his singed robes. Yes, Harry would tend to even his enemies injuries, though, Ginny noticed for the first time, his robes were stained with what she hoped wasn't his own blood.
Ginny turned back to her brother. "What is he doing with Sirius Black, though? Wasn't he working for Voldemort when he was thrown into Azkaban?" Ron looked at her for a long moment, before saying, "I'll tell you about it later."
So that was it. It was another one of their adventures that she was excluded from, that he never told her about. She was a little over a year younger than Harry, yet they still treated her with 'kid gloves.' Despite the joyousness of the occasion, she felt hurt that there was yet another thing that they never told her about, another adventure that they didn't share with her. Hermione was looking at her with something akin to sympathy on her face. Ginny was tired of having everybody's sympathy and nobody's trust, and defiantly turned her attention back to Harry and... Sirius Black, and their captives.
Harry had picked up Lucius Malfoy again, and was motioning for Sirius to follow him. Professor Dumbledore, meanwhile, had already conversed with the staff, and the Head's of House were now starting to herd their reluctant student's towards the exits of the Hall. Ginny was not going to move, and saw that Ron and Hermione were already getting up to go talk to Harry. She noticed Dumbledore talking to him and Sirius in low tones, and motioning frantically toward the same room where last year's Tri-Wizard Champions were briefed on the Tournament.
"Where do you think you're going?" Professor McGonagall called out to them.
"We need to talk to Harry!" Ron said, without turning around, though he did stop.
"I can't allow that right now. The Headmaster needs to speak with him and Mr. Black."
"We've been through everything together, Professor! We need to know what happened just as much as Professor Dumbledore does!" Hermione had never spoken out against a Professor before (except for Bartemius Crouch Jr., last years DADA teacher), and was clearly surprised by her own daring. Apparently, so was Professor McGonagall, though she didn't seem angry by her outburst. She seemed to be weighing the situation in her mind, then said, "I stand firm. You are not to go to him right now. However... you may wait here in the Great Hall, if you feel so inclined." With that, she left to guide the rest of her charges to Gryffindor Tower.
"...What do we do now?" Ginny asked.
"I guess... we'll just have to wait." Ron answered. With nothing else to do, Ginny sat down at the Gryffindor table, to wait to be reunited with her hero, her love.