Harry Potter and the Dementor's Kiss
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Notes: Thanks to the nice person who pointed out that I mixed up Crucitias and Imperius in the last chapter. D'oh! Seems like such a stupid mistake... anyway...
Chapter Three
Invisible Ink
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"I still can't believe that Percy's being controlled by the Death Eaters," said Ron incredulously. "He's just so... incompetent..."
"Ron," Hermione said with a hint of affection, "you hardly know what the word 'incompetent' means."
"Oh yeah?" said Ron darkly. "I hear it all the time..."
Harry didn't doubt that.
"So Harry," Hermione said suddenly, "how was your summer?" Harry blinked, not at all expecting this change of conversation.
"Good," said Harry, giving her an inquisitive look. He realized what she was talking about when she mouthed, "Percy's coming!"
"Hide!" hissed Ginny, and they all ducked behind a handily protruding bookshelf which Harry had not noticed at all before.
They watched Percy pass. He seemed in a daze, and hardly avoided bumping into several objects, including chairs and the wall.
"He looks like..." observed Harry, remembering the look on Dudley's face from the previous summer. "He looks like he's been near dementors a lot..."
"But all of the ministry's dementors left," said Hermione. "They went to Voldemort, remember?"
They silently followed Percy up the steps and the hallway, where they had to stop because Percy entered his room and closed the door behind him. They listened closely to the door. Nothing could be made out except a slight scratching sound; a quill being dipped in ink and writing out a letter.
"Quick!" Hermione said, her face lighting up as if she had an idea, "follow me."
They crept stealthily downstairs (once again... Harry was getting tired of going up and down the steps) and this time went outside and into the backyard. Harry realized that they had a clear view of Percy's room from where they were.
"Wait here," said Hermione conspiratorially.
"What is she up to?" wondered Ron. "D'you reckon she's gone crazy?" Harry shrugged, but by the looks of it, Ginny did know what Hermione was doing.
"Get your wand ready," whispered Ginny. "We're going to capture the owl and read the letter."
"But won't Percy see?" Ron said, raising his eyebrows.
"What do you think Hermione's doing?"
"Getting ready to distract Percy?" guessed Harry. Ginny nodded.
"You people are mental," muttered Ron, but he obeyed along with Harry. Harry decided to use the Accio spell; they weren't looking to hurt the owl.
They stood alertly on the grass for a few minutes, trying to ignore the increasing amount of lawn gnomes badgering them and biting at their heels. "He's writing a novel up there!" Ron moaned, shaking a few gnomes off that were climbing up his leg and getting uncomfortably high up.
Finally they saw the window open and the owl fly out. Many things happened at once.
There was a crashing sound from in the house. The window shut quickly, and they heard Percy leave his room to see what was happening. Harry said, "Accio owl!" while at the same time Ginny said, "Accio parchment!" Ron gave a frustrated shout and jumped; several gnomes were clawing at his torso and neck. Mrs. Weasley came running out to see why Ron had shouted, and caught them with Percy's owl and letter in hand. Then they heard Hermione yelp from inside the house.
Mrs. Weasley narrowed her eyes, looking straight at Ron (who, incidentally, was the one who hadn't cast any spells or broken anything). "What is the meaning of this, Ronald Weasley!?" she breathed dangerously.
"Er–" said Harry, trying to think of something on the spur. "We... were... the owl... fell out of the sky, and we caught it." He felt absolutely terrible lying to Mrs. Weasley.
She raised her eyebrows as Ginny and Ron both nodded and avoided her stare.
"Right then," said Mrs. Weasley, "well, you three should—" But she was cut off as they heard Mr. Weasley calling, "dear, you might want to have a look at this..." Mrs. Weasley hurried away, leaving the three of them standing in the lawn, thankful but also curious at the interruption.
"Let's read it!" Ginny said brightly. She carefully opened the letter in a way so that it could be resealed by magic and appear not tampered with. The three of them looked eagerly at the letter.
"It's empty," said Ron blankly. And he was right—there was not a scratch nor a letter on the parchment. The owl Harry was clutching was nipping desperately at his arms, trying to escape. Harry didn't feel the owl. Instead, he was remembering a certain blank book from his second year. Tom Riddle's diary had been exactly the same.
"What d'you think it is?" Ginny wondered, flipping the parchment over to see if there was anything on the back. She held it up to the sun, but still, nothing was visible.
"Hermione will know," said Ron.
"What exactly did she do?" Harry asked Ginny.
"She broke some of mum's old china..." said Ginny with a wave of her hand, as if it were nothing important.
"She what!?" cried Ron, horrified.
"She can repair it!" Harry explained hastily. Ron was getting so red he might explode.
"C'mon," said Ginny, beckoning them to follow as they slipped quietly inside and up to Ron's room so that Percy didn't notice them. Hermione appeared a few minutes later, looking slightly winded for some reason.
"So, what does it say?"
"Nothing," answered Ginny.
Hermione gave her a quizzical look. "Let me see." She took the parchment and examined it. "Hmm, I think I know what this is...
But before she could explain, there was a knock at Ron's bedroom door. It slowly opened, revealing—
"Luna?" Ron gaped at her. Of all the people he was expecting in his room, Luna Lovegood was not one of them. "But—but... what...."
Standing in the doorway wearing bright orange shorts and a green jacket which looked all too heavy for the summer, Luna grinned at them all. Ginny beamed at her, while Ron cowered in the corner and Harry and Hermione gave her friendly if not wary expressions. It's very cold in Greenland today," Luna said conversationally, letting Ginny take her jacket and hang it on a hook.
"My bladder is full," Ron said suddenly, practically running out of the room while Hermione rolled her eyes.
"What's that paper?" inquired Luna, staring at the parchment Hermione was clutching in her hands.
"Oh, nothing." Hermione quickly stuffed the parchment into her bag. "So how was your summer, Luna?"
"Very green," replied Luna, waving her hand vaguely. Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Ginny hide a grin. "Like your eyes, they're really green..." continued Luna, now staring intently at Harry's eyes. Harry was unnerved.
"Er, yeah..."
There were a few moments of silence, during which Luna kept watching Harry's eyes, squinting now and then as if she were trying to get a clearer image. Harry was fiddling with his shoelace, trying to ignore Luna and Hermione took out a copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5 from last year and leafed through it.
Finally Hermione said, "I wonder what's taking him so long," and left the room. Ginny frowned, and said, "I hope he hasn't flushed his wand down the toilet again," and she followed Hermione.
Thankfully Luna seemed to be bored with Harry now, and she pulled a copy of The Quibbler from nowhere and started reading it. It wasn't upside-down this time—Harry recognized it as the copy which held his interview with Rita Skeeter.
Then Luna leapt up, throwing down the copy of The Quibbler. She looked around to make sure nobody was watching her (ignoring Harry even though he was quite plainly staring at her) and grabbed Hermione's backpack and pulled out the parchment they had taken from Percy's owl.
"It's blank," Harry said.
"Who wrote this?" asked Luna, not hearing Harry.
"Percy," said Harry automatically. Then he did a double-take. "What do you mean, 'who wrote this?' What does it say?"
"Sir, I've arrived at the Weasley residence and have settled here. They seemed to greet me readily enough. I'm just writing to confirm your predictions. He currently is not being protected by anything other than Arthur Weasley. From... I can't read this signature," Luna read the parchment loud and clear.
Harry snatched it from her. "It's still blank!" he exclaimed. "How...?"
There was a giggling from behind the door. Harry yanked it open, where he found Hermione, Ginny, and Ron were all listening in.
"What the bloody hell are you doing!?" Harry cried out, exasperated. He was utterly confused now.
"Rescuing Ron's wand," replied Ginny sheepishly.
"It was Ginny's idea!" Ron retorted quickly.
Harry blinked. "Explain."
Hermione coughed, Ron started at his shoes, and Ginny kept grinning sheepishly. "We were... err..."
"Why were you listening at the door?" Harry was trying to keep his cool. "What is so important that you can't just come in here and..." slowly recognition dawned upon Harry's face. "Do you really think that Luna... and I..."
"Of course not, Harry!" Hermione said, rather too soon.
Luna was now staring at Percy's parchment upside-down.
"What is she doing?" Ron said, changing the subject swiftly.
Harry replied, "Beats me. She says she can read it, but I can't see a thing..."
"Read it?" interrupted Hermione. "But that parchment is in invisible ink. It takes a really talented wizard or witch to do that." Hermione obviously didn't see Luna Lovegood as a really talented witch.
"I don't understand," said Ron. "Invisible ink?"
"You write it with your wand," said Hermione. "About one out of a thousand wizards can read invisible ink, it's like retracting wand movements that have occurred on the paper." She lowered her voice. "Some people say that invisible ink is most easily read by masters of the dark arts..." Ron looked at Luna suddenly, afraid she might cast Avada Kedavra...
Ginny said, "Luna, could you please read it to us?"
Luna recited what she had just read to Harry, then sat down heavily on Ron's bed as if she was exhausted. She dropped the parchment, and before they knew it, she was curled up on Ron's bed and starting to sleep.
Before they left the room Harry paused and looked at Luna. She didn't look half as crazy when she was asleep. But how could Ron, Hermione, and Ginny possibly think that he and Luna...
He left the room and followed them, shaking his head.
Hermione was in very deep thought as they went back downstairs to have a snack. She didn't seem to be the only one as Mr. Weasley emerged from the basement. Arthur walked straight past them as if in a trance, he only nodded his head in acknowledgment when Ron said, "Hey dad." They watched him go outside, enter the car, and pull out of what was a makeshift driveway.
"Wonder what he's up to?" Ron said.
Ginny shrugged. "He's always doing weird stuff." She then proceeded to tell Hermione about the computer in the basement, although Harry was pretty sure Hermione was not hearing a word Ginny was saying.
Right as soon as they were done snacking Harry received yet another surprise—it must have been the second or third of the day. At the front door there was a loud pounding and the walls shook. Harry knew instantly who it was: Hagrid.
"Why here?" wondered Hermione, who looked startled out of her thoughts.
"'Arry, I know yer in there! 'Urry up and get ou' here! I haven't got much time now!" A booming voice called. "Yeh don' need to pack anythin'... jus' get ou' here!"
