Chapter 4

He knew that he should not be annoyed. This was not the first time after all. But he could not help it. The whispers and stares were really annoying him.

But he guessed it was natural. The first time, he had only survived the Killing Curse. But this time, he had actually come back from the dead. He desperately wished that no one had ever found out about his death, but the damned Ministry had declared it publicly.

In spite of Ron and Hermione's best attempts to keep hm away from the Daily Prophet – not that he was interested in that rag at all – the whispers of the other students clearly told him what was happening. Apparently, he had used some clever Dark Magic to resurrect himself.

Really? How much did they sell their brains for?

He could clearly see the fear in the eyes of many students. The worst part was that even many members of the Dumbledore's Army would avert their eyes when he came across them. So he had decided to wander the grounds instead, but it was a Sunday and he found that he could not avoid the staring eyes even there.

Maybe I should go to the kitchen and head back to bed.

It was the only place where he could avoid them and although it was still noon, he felt it was the better choice.

Harry felt that he had reached his limit. Year-after-year, for some reason or the other, he was always made a scapegoat by the Hogwarts community or the wizarding world. And, he was sick and tired of it.

And that was just one of the reasons he was annoyed. Ever since he had come back to life, he had been feeling strange. The first thing was a peculiar sensation that he felt from within him. He was not sure what it was but it felt alive – well, not exactly alive – as though it was calling out to him. The other thing was that he felt...aware.

It was something small but he was able to know things without having to rely on his senses. Just last night, he had been able to tell that it was Ron who had entered the room, although he had only just entered and not made any sound. And, Harry, hidden by the curtains of his bed, was definitely unable to see him. He had simply known.

He wished there was someone he could ask. But McGonagall would not return till the next day. And nobody knew where Dumbledore was. Dolores Umbridge was still in charge, although she was still in the Hospital Wing. Harry wished Dumbledore had left her in the forest. She would, no doubt, be after his blood.

He entered the Entrance Hall and turned to move towards the kitchens when he suddenly threw himself onto the floor. Three spells whizzed through the space where his head had been a moment ago, from behind him. He snarled and jumped up, wand in hand.

Three Slytherin boys – seventh year, thought Harry – walked towards him, their wands raised and smug grins on their faces.

"What do you want?" asked Harry, scowling. He could feel his blood begin to boil.

"Well Potter, as we are members of the Inquisitorial Squad," he said pointing to the silver badge on his robe, "we think we need to take you out before you hurt other students."

"What?"

"You've heard the Prophet, Potter", came a voice from behind him. Harry turned around and saw, Draco Malfoy, Theodre Nott, Blaise Zabini and two other sixth year Slytherins come from the stairs leading to the dungeons. All of them had their wands out.

"The Ministry says that you obviously possess some kind of evil magic. I think everyone agrees with them. I mean how else could you come back to life. It probably had something to do with some dark magic ritual that your pathetic parents performed."

"My parents?" said Harry, his voice, a deadly quiet.

"You seriously don't read the Prophet, do you, Potter?" asked Malfoy, sneering. "Anyway, we're going to lock you up somewhere till Professor Umbridge can decide what to do with you. For the other students' sake", he said chuckling even as they surrounded Harry.

"Stupefy", Harry said quietly, causing one of the sixth-years to drop immediately.

The others started firing curses at him immediately. A few days ago, being outnumbered, seven against one, should have very easily destroyed him. But now, in spite of all the curses being fired, he was successfully able to dodge them, even as he kept casting a shield charm. He was able to sense the incoming spells, even the ones from behind.

The Slytherins, now became cautious in their casting, having lost another one of their members – a seventh year, this time – to friendly fire.

Harry dodged, and dodged again. He was not able to cast any offensive spells but he kept deflecting as many spells as he could. Although he did not realize this, his abilities were increasing steadily the longer he fought. But it was clearly visible to the Slytherins and the students who had gathered to observe the fight.

But, against six opponents, he could not keep fighting forever. Although his abilities had increased, he kept getting more and more tired. It showed when a curse finally hit him, leaving a deep gash on his shoulder.

He stumbled, and a second spell hit him on the knee. He howled as his knee broke and he fell onto the floor. The others stopped firing curses as they broke out in laughter pointing and jeering at Harry who was now dripping blood on the floor from his wounded shoulder.

"What's wrong, Potter? Had enough?" jeered Malfoy.

Harry gritted his teeth. He was trying not to scream from the pain. He glanced at his leg and saw that it was bent at an odd angle.

There was no way he was going to let Malfoy and the others take him like this. He looked around into the surrounding crowd and realized that he was not going to get any help from them.

Bastards!

There were members of the DA amongst the crowd, but they averted their eyes and made no move to help him. He wanted to scream in frustration. He could feel his blood begin to boil. He paused.

His blood was actually boiling. No, it was something else. And, suddenly he realized that this was the same feeling that he had been having for the last couple of days: as though something was calling out to him. But it was stronger than ever now. He could feel it right underneath his skin.

He saw Malfoy raise his wand. In that instant, he reached out to that feeling.

"AAAAAARGH"

A terrible pain ripped through every single cell in his body for a moment, before there was a blinding flash of light followed by a stunned silence.

Harry opened his eyes and was stunned by what he saw. Malfoy, Nott and the other Slytherin boys lay on the ground unconscious, their bodies smoking slightly. He moved to get up and his eyes widened. He quickly looked down at himself.

What the...

His leg and shoulder had healed completely. The only signs that he had been injured were his torn robes and the dried blood on them. But that was not what truly shocked him.

His entire body was glowing lightly with electric currents appearing throughout. That weird, intense feeling was also gone. He stared at his body for a moment before trying to stop the lightning. To his surprise, the lightning withdrew immediately and his body stopped glowing.

He looked around and saw the other students staring at him with surprise and a little fear. He wondered what those morons were going to think now. He decided to head back to his dormitory and the crowd cleared a path to let him pass.

Harry sat on his bed, watching the little electric currents appear on his hand. This was easy. He was able to summon lightning by merely a thought. He was broken out of his concentration by the sound of running steps. He smiled slightly. The door flung open and Ron and Hermione came running in.

"Harry", panted Hermione, "your version. Now!"

So, Harry explained everything to them. Ron snarled, and was about to get up but was stopped by Hermione.

"Ron! No!"

"Hermione, we can't sit back and do nothing. We..."

"No, Ron", said Harry, "she's right. Malfoy has the backing of Umbridge, the Ministry and his dad. We don't have anyone backing us right now. I'm definitely going to face some serious trouble."

"So, what do you want do?" asked Ron.

Harry looked towards the door again as it swung open once more to let in Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley.

"Harry, are you alright?" asked Ginny, anxiously.

"Yeah mate, we heard what happened", said Neville.

Ron explained what had happened throwing in some violent suggestions about what he would like to do to those Slytherins, while Ginny seemed to be in agreement with those suggestions. Hermione had then exasperatedly explained why they could not simply attack them.

Neville, though, looked at Harry curiously, "Harry, is it true that your body shot out lightning?"

This made the others turn towards Harry, who simply stood up. A second later, his body was lightly glowing enveloped by bluish electric currents.

"Wow, mate," said a wide-eyed Ron.

"Harry, how..." asked Hermione.

"I don't know, Hermione", he replied, turning the lightning off. "All I know is that I'm able to summon it whenever I want."

"So, what are you going to do now?" asked Ginny.

"Right now, nothing.", said Harry, grimly. "Maybe I'll go for dinner later. To the Great Hall."

"To the..." sputtered Hermione. "Harry, is that smart? I mean..."

"I know", interrupted Harry. "But I'm tired Hermione. Tired of being the scapegoat each and every time, tired of the whispers, the stares. They want to say something, they can say it to my face."

"OK Harry", said Ginny. "But you're not going alone. We'll all go together."

"She's right, mate", said Ron.

"But that's not safe. You guys will become targets as well", said Harry, feeling very agitated.

"Not in your hands, mate", said Ron.

"He's right Harry", said Hermione, gently. "After everything we've been through, did you think we would let you go through this alone?"

"We're supposed to be best friends, right?" said Ron.

Harry felt a little overwhelmed. Never before had he appreciated his friends as much as he did now. He nodded.

"So it's decided. I'll meet you guys in the common room around dinner-time", said Ginny. "Coming, Hermione?"

The brunette nodded and moved to join her.

As the girls left the room, Ginny had one last thing to tell Harry, "Oh and Luna sends her regards as well. She wanted me to tell you that she is on your side."

And the girls left, leaving the three boys in surprised silence.

"Luna, huh?" said Ron. "She's not so bad after all."

"Yeah", replied Harry, pensively. "You're right."

Dinner was interesting to say the least. When he had entered the Great Hall, it had fallen silent for a moment before the whispers and stares began. Except for Luna, of course, who waved cheerfully from her table.

The rest of the hall, though seemed to look at him with varying degrees of hostility. The only exceptions were Dean Thomas, the Creevy brothers, the three Gryffindor Chasers and Professor Flitwick, who nodded encouragingly at Harry.

His friends sat surrounding him, trying to shield him from the others. And although Harry wished he could call upon his lightning again, he knew that would be pretty stupid.

Dinner was however interrupted when the doors opened with a bang. Five Aurors entered the Great Hall, their wands drawn. Professor Flitwick rushed from the High Table to meet them. There was a short discussion, with Flitwick growing angrier by the second. Finally, the Auror who seemed to be their leader, produced an official looking document. Flitwick scanned it with a resigned expression on his face.

The lead Auror turned towards the Gryffindor table and said, "Harry potter, by the order of the Minister of Magic, you are hereby placed under arrest for the brutal attack on seven Slytherin students. Anyone who assists you will be charged as an accomplice."

Harry swiftly grabbed Ron's hand and shook his head. He knew what his rash friend would have done.

"I don't want any one of you doing anything. No, you guys," he said quickly, stopping them from protesting, "it will only make things worse."

They nodded reluctantly, and he stood up and walked towards the Aurors.

"Good Potter", said the lead Auror. "Now, surrender your wand and you will be taken in for questioning."

"Mr. Potter", said Flitwick, "I am so sorry..."

"It's ok Professor", he replied, not taking his eyes off the Aurors. "Just make sure nothing happens to my friends."

Harry knew that if he surrendered, he was probably going to end up in Azkaban or as a research experiment in the Department of Mysteries. He would have to escape. There was no other choice.

He drew his wand out, while keeping his left hand hidden from view.

"There's no way I'm going to surrender to you lot", he said coldly.

"As you wish, Potter", said the lead Auror. Another Auror stepped out from the group and quickly cast a silent spell at him. Harry reacted with a Shield Charm and instantly sent torrents of lightning at the Auror with his left hand.

The Auror blocked the lightning and charged towards Harry. It was far worse than fighting the seven Slytherins. The Auror possessed superior skills, power, speed and spell variations. Although Harry's own power and speed had increased, it was no match for the Auror's. Finally, out of sheer desperation, he sent lightning flying in every direction around him. The Auror's spell tore through the lighting sheet covering his body and hit him. Harry was sent flying away and he landed hard on the stone floor. His whole body felt numb. He could barely move.

His friends looked like they wanted to help him but were being held back by Flitwick. Some students, mostly Slytherins, seemed particularly gleeful at his situation. Harry wanted to puke, he wanted to scream. Never had he imagined that there would be such a massive difference in power between him and the Aurors. He made another attempt to move but could barely budge an inch.

"How interesting!" came a sudden, cheerful voice.

Everyone turned towards the doors and saw a man there. He was covered neck-down in a long,black traveler's cloak. He had a lightly tanned skin, shoulder-length black hair, and black eyes. In the hall, Flitwick's eyes widened in recognition and a tiny bit of trepidation.

"Who are you?" asked the lead Auror.

"Me? Nobody," he replied cheerfully. "I am just looking for a Mr. Harry Potter." He looked at the floor where Harry lay, "Hey, you on the floor, you Harry Potter?"

"Mr. Potter is under arrest. I am afraid you will have to conduct your business another time", said the lead Auror.

"I am afraid not", the stranger replied still cheerful. "I have a contract, you see."

"Oh, so you are a Hunter", said the lead Auror.

"It doesn't matter", said the Auror who had attacked Harry. " We still outnumber you five-to-one."

"You outnumber me five-to-one?", the stranger laughed. "How cute!"

There was a flash of red light and all the Aurors lay on the floor, unconscious. The entire Great Hall gaped at the sight.

The stranger moved towards Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder. Warmth trickled through his body and he felt the numbness disappear completely. Harry slowly got up to his feet. He stared at the man in awe.

"Well, Mr. Potter. I've already dealt with your luggage and your pet owl", he said, thrusting a small object into Harry's hand. "And three, two, one!"

Harry felt a familiar jerk on his navel, as the world dissolved into a swirl of colours.