Explaining the situation to Dumbledore was quite easily the strangest experience he'd had all month.
"It's Ron's dad. He's been attacked by a huge snake" Harry explained, feeling completely out of breath.
"And how did you see this attack?" Dumbledore asked, looking at him in the same manner which often made those in conversation with the headmaster feel as if they were being x-rayed.
"I don't know!" Harry replied angrily. "It was just inside my head I suppose"
"You misunderstood me" Dumbledore replied calmly. "I am asking whether you saw this as if from overhead or from beside the victim" Dumbledore explained.
Harry had not expected that line of questioning at all. Why was that important? With a lurch, Harry remembered how he actually saw Mr. Weasley being attacked.
"Neither, I... I was the snake. I saw it through the eyes of the snake" Harry explained, feeling himself turning red and refusing now to look at Ron. He noticed John's head whipping towards Harry with no small amount of confusion.
"Is Arthur Weasley injured?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes" Harry said. "Badly"
He heard Ron inhale sharply. Dumbledore stood up and looked at some of the portraits in the office.
"Everard! You too Dilys!" he said.
A grey haired, elderly witch and a tall, slender black-haired man turned their attention to Dumbledore.
"You were listening?" Dumbledore asked.
"Naturally" said the witch.
"The man has red hair and glasses. You must raise the alarm. Make absolutely certain that he is found by the right people" said Dumbledore.
Within seconds, the two of them vanished from their portraits.
"They were two of the most well-known and renowned Hogwarts headmasters. They have portraits hanging in the ministry of magic as well as Hogwarts. They will be able to locate Arthur" said Dumbledore, who then strode over to Fawkes, who had been watching the entire conversation, apparently understanding all of it.
"We need a warning" he whispered to the bird.
Fawkes clearly understood more about what type of warning Dumbledore was talking about than Harry did- there was a flash of fire and the bird was gone.
When Harry looked back at Dumbledore, he saw him tinkering with a small, delicate looking silver contraption, which began to make rhythmic clicking noises and puffing out wisps of green smoke, which eventually took the form of a snake's head and open mouth.
"Naturally, naturally" said Dumbledore softly to himself. "But in essence, divided?" he asked.
The smoke expanded into a full snake, then split into two identical copies of the original serpent. Harry dearly wanted to yell out and ask what was going on, likely with profanities, but managed to hold his tongue.
Everard soon returned to his portrait, panting heavily.
"I found him! I yelled until someone came, he was in bad shape" he started. Ron paled again. "There was a lot of blood, but he should be at St. Mungo's by now" Everard explained.
"Good, good. I take it Dilys will have seen him arrive then" Dumbledore mused.
Sure enough, not a moment later, Dilys, the grey-haired witch came back, brining the relieving news that Mr. Weasley had in fact, reached the hospital.
"Minerva, you will need to wake the other Weasley children" said Dumbledore.
"Of course. But what about Molly?" McGonagall asked.
"When Fawkes finishes keeping lookout, he can warn her, though I daresay she already knows. That excellent clock of hers..." said Dumbledore, right before McGonagall headed off to Gryffindor tower.
Harry knew immediately that Dumbledore was talking about the clock in the Weasley living room with hands for each member of the Weasley family, and on the face, numbers were replaced by the status of each Weasley. Mr. Weasley would likely be either at 'hospital' or 'mortal peril'.
Harry's blood ran cold when he remembered Mrs. Weasley's boggart. Dead loved ones were her greatest fear and Mr. Weasley was just attacked by a python as long as a car. But Mr. Weasley wasn't going to die. He couldn't...
The mere idea of someone that close to Harry dying made him feel very dizzy all of a sudden, and also made the dire situation that the wizarding world was in that much more real. It wasn't just Mr. Weasley. It could have been anyone. They'd be leaving behind grieving family members, just like Ron could have been if things went just that little bit worse.
It wasn't long before McGonagall returned with Fred, George and Ginny, all of whom were looking very sleepy and very confused.
"What's going on? Professor McGonagall says dad's been attacked" Ginny asked Ron.
"Ronald, Harry and John can explain when you get there" said Dumbledore.
"Get where?" asked George.
"Headquarters. We just need confirmation..." Dumbledore said, looking around expectantly.
As if on cue, Fawkes returned. There seemed to be some form of mutual understanding between Dumbledore and the bird which no one else could comprehend, for the aged professor nodded at the bird.
"Now is the time. I'm told you have all used portkeys before" said Dumbledore, pointing at a kettle which to a muggle would have looked perfectly innocent.
The yonugsters present reached out and touched the portkey, but right before the world began to spin out of focus, Harry felt an intense hatred and rage for the headmaster bubble up inside him. He had an urge to strike... sink his fangs into the man, before he found himself inside Grimmaud place, feeling far more disoriented than the previous time when he had used a portkey. What was happening to him?
Sirius was waiting with folded arms and a pensive look on his face as he greeted everyone.
"The best thing to do right now is to put it out of your mind. Arthur will be fine, St. Mungo's has him" said Sirius.
"What if the snake that bit him had haemotoxic venom?" John asked.
Ron blinked in surprise and the others stared at him.
"I didn't exaggerate when I said I learned a lot about animals when I became an animagus. Haemotoxic venom attacks blood, makes it curdle and turns it to jelly" said John. Ginny looked like she was going to throw up. Harry couldn't blame her - the mere thought of such a things was... disgusting.
"It's a python, they're not venomous, right?" Harry asked John.
"No they're not, but this one belongs to Voldemort..." John started.
"Trust me, at St. Mungo's, they can sort out much nastier stuff than snake venom. You'll see him tomorrow morning and-" Sirius started.
"Why not now?" George bellowed. "It's our dad!"
"Because it's past visiting hours. Listen, I know how frustrating it is to be in this situation-" Sirius started.
"How? How many times has your dad been attacked by a big fuck-off snake?" Fred interrupted angrily.
"Less times than I'd have liked" Sirius said quietly. "But in the fist war, almost everyone I cared about was getting horrific injuries. Some of them died. Nearly all of them died"
Fred and George exchanged uncomfortable looks.
"Trust me, you're not doing anyone any favours right now. Your dad may be fine, but the healers still have a lot of work to do and it won't do for a bunch of worried kids to be crowding them. If you want him to recover, you'll stay put until morning. Then we'll all visit him. I'll order Kreacher to stay put somewhere and accompany you all" Sirius said, sounding almost uncharacteristically responsible and authoritative.
That was satisfying enough to everyone, bar Harry, who was now being consumed by thoughts that he was the one responsible for Mr. Weasley's current condition. They plagued him throughout the rest of the night as he, Sirius, John and the Weasleys sat, waiting. Even when Mrs. Weasley sent a letter via Fawkes saying that Mr. Weasley was alive and that she'd send news when she could, nothing comforted anyone.
Only when she did arrive, with a relieved looking smile plastered on her face, did the tense atmosphere begin to clear up.
Mr. Weasley seemed genuinely fine when they got to visit him. He was eccentric and cheerful as ever, as if he hadn't been attacked by a snake and hadn't been in a life-threatening condition mere hours earlier.
The problem came however, when the adults were speaking without the youngsters present, and George brought out his extendable ears.
Moody said that Harry was being possessed, and Harry immediately grabbed the ears as everyone else stared at him. Even John.
They must have realised that, for none of them so much as looked at Harry during the journey back home. Harry didn't want to talk to them anyway. He was the weapon. He was precisely what Voldemort was after, even before followers. It made sense. Voldemort had possessed him and used him to attack Mr. Weasley. Who next? Hermione? Ron? John? No... Dumbledore.
This was why Dumbledore wouldn't look at Harry or speak to him. He was worried that Harry's emerald eyes would shift and morph into cruel, scarlet ones and that he would attack on a whim.
Those thoughts consumed Harry to the point where he isolated himself from everyone stubbornly for the rest of the day, pretending to be asleep when Ron and John entered their shared room.
"He'll start talking again, but you know how he gets these days" he heard John saying.
"Yeah, but he doesn't normally avoid human contact like the fucking plague" Ron said.
"We should just wait it out" said John.
They were speaking as if he wasn't a danger, and it made his stomach do a flip. If they didn't even know how dangerous he now was, he absolutely had to do something.
His plans however, were cut short when Delilah arrived, and with Hermione too, two days later. After Hermione jumped Ron and gave him what looked like the most comforting hug Ron could have received, she turned immediately to Harry.
"What're you doing here? Thought you were meant to be skiing with your parents" said Harry.
"I told them that people who were serious about studying are staying at Hogwarts. We took the Knight bus. Skiing isn't my ideal holiday anyway" said Hermione, brushing the snow out of her hair.
"Don't avoid the real topic though" Delilah said sternly.
"You've been avoiding us" said Ginny bluntly.
"No I haven't, you've been avoiding me!" Harry shot back, knowing that Ginny was right.
"Perhaps you've been taking turns trying to catch one another in conversation" said Hermione, her lips twitching upwards. Ron and John smirked, but Harry wasn't amused.
"Alright, fine, I just didn't want anyone talking to me with this 'being possessed by Voldemort' business, alright?" Harry asked angrily.
"You're a fucking idiot" said John, sighing.
"As if I haven't heard that before. What is it this time?" Harry snapped.
John rolled his eyes and nodded towards Ginny.
"What happened to me three years ago?" she asked, her hands on her hips.
Not for the first time that day, Harry felt extremely guilty.
"I forgot" he said sheepishly.
"Lucky you" Ginny said coolly.
"I'm sorry. Honestly" said Harry with sincerity.
"It's alright. All you need to know is that if there are any gaps in your memory, you've been possessed" said Ginny.
"No, none at all" said Harry, feeling slightly more hopeful.
"Then you're fine. You're not being possessed" Ginny said simply.
Harry's heart felt like it was soaring with that revelation. He wasn't a danger. He wasn't responsible for Mr. Weasley's condition. That being said It left the door open for an untold possible number of explanations for the things he was seeing. Was he seeing them at specific times? Was there something he was doing which triggered it? If so, what?
"That dream I had about your dad and the snake though..." Harry started.
"You've been seeing strange things for more than a year though, haven't you? Last year you saw loads of flashes of stuff involved with Voldemort" said John.
"This was different though. It was like I was inside the snake. Did Voldemort transport me to London or something?" Harry wondered.
"One day" Hermione started. "You will read Hogwarts: A history and you'll realize that you cannot magically transport yourself in or out of Hogwarts" said Hermione, clearly exasperated.
"You never left the bed. We saw you thrashing around for a while but you were definitely there the whole time" said Ron.
The elation he felt made Harry realise what a roller-coaster of emotions the past few months had been. He was constantly furious in the summer, pleased for a moment, depressed about the thought that he may be expelled, relieved when the Order picked him up, nervous about the trial, fascinated about Fudge's incompetence and the political upheaval that was currently happening, relieved again that he wouldn't be expelled, excited about Hogwarts, confused about Cho, scared about him possibly being a danger to those around him and yet again, relief. That was all within five months.
What on Earth was in store for him next? Of course he craved for just a single week where he was just... content. He didn't even need a week where he was on cloud nine. Just one week where life didn't feel the need to drop his mood down a well.
"You know having people who care about you means that you're allowed to talk to them... right?" Delilah asked dryly.
"Yeah... sorry" said Harry sheepishly.
John stood up and flicked Harry in the back of the head.
"Ow!" Harry said, rubbing the spot John had flicked.
"You deserve it. Come on, we're spending Christmas with sick and injured people" he said, pointing out that they were to head to Saint Mungo's in about fifteen minutes.
"We're right behind you, just give us five minutes" said Hermione, brushing Ron's arm with her hand.
"Alright" said Delilah, as they left her and Ron alone. Ron gulped. If there was something Hermione wanted to tell him which she actually couldn't in front of the likes of Harry, Delilah, Ginny and John, there was no telling what was about to happen. That wasn't even getting into the secret he'd been harbouring for the last couple of months.
"Okay... so I have something I want to tell you but it's... it's not something I've discussed with anyone before, and I don't know how to say it" said Hermione.
The fact that she sounded nervous as opposed to upset gave Ron a bit more confidence. Not much though.
"You can take your time. I needed to say something anyway, do you mind if I go first? I feel like if I don't just get it out, I'll never build up the guts to say it" said Ron.
Hermione nodded silently.
"Okay... here we go. HermioneIthinkI'minlovewithyou" said Ron.
"W-what?" Hermione gasped, feeling breathless all of a sudden.
"I know it sounds mental, I know you're only sixteen and I'm only fifteen, but we've been friends for ages, and now we've been together for a year, and after all that, I keep randomly thinking about you and how long I want this to last, so... yeah" said Ron, spewing words out at a rate of knots.
An enormous smile slowly started to spread across Hermione's face, before she took Ron's right hand in both of hers.
"Feelings mutual. I love you too" said Hermione.
"Really? You're sure?" Ron asked, eyes and mouth now wide open.
"I am. Honestly, how many other boys am I going to meet that I find utterly irresistible when they eat meat pies with their bare hands?" Hermione asked.
Ron chuckled for a moment.
"Dunno. I can definitely say that you're the only girl I'll meet who I'll actually want to kiss while you nag me about homework though" said Ron.
"You do that to shut me up and you know it" said Hermione, playfully poking Ron in the chest.
"Doesn't mean you nagging me makes me want to not kiss you" said Ron, grinning back at her.
"But it's so unfair... how am I meant to keep my train of thought?" Hermione whispered.
"You're not. But it's not like I can whenever you walk into a room. I'm like 'Oh yeah, moonstone can be used in draughts of peace and in love po-oh, Hermione's here... guess I'm not concentrating for the next twenty four hours'. You ever had that happen?" Ron asked cheekily.
"On occasion" said Hermione, coyly.
"Then you know the struggle" said Ron, pulling Hermione closer to himself.
"Oh, I do" said Hermione, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Oi! We're heading out now, if you two are done having your quickie, let's head out!" came the unwelcome sound of John's voice.
Hermione sighed.
"He certainly knows how to set up a romantic scene for his friends" said Hermione, dryly.
"Bloody idiot probably hasn't worked out that we haven't even seen each other topless since you caught me and John exercising that one time" Ron grumbled.
Hermione blushed at the memory as she and Ron joined the others.
"What was that about?" Harry asked.
"I'll tell you later" said Hermione, nervously casting a sideways glance to Mrs. Weasley. She didn't fancy the idea of the Weasley matriarch thinking that they were diving too fast into the realationship, given their age. Sometimes Hermione herself felt like for their age, they'd progressed far further than they should. This was rather contrary to John's view - he thought the two of them were still too tentative and nervous sometimes. I suppose everyone seems nervous next to him.
Seeing Mr. Weasley still acting as he usually would lifted everyone's spirits further, but while Mrs. Weasley spoke to him alone, presumably in private, the adolescents explored the hospital, only to recognize a familiar face. It was none other than Neville Longbottom. Harry knew exactly why he was there, which made what John did groan internally.
"Neville! Hey, what's up?" John called. He did it too quickly for Hermione to tell him not to.
"What? Uh... hey guys" said Neville uncomfortably. He was sat in between two beds. Both contained frighteningly skinny people. Both had wild, thin, grey hair. It was when Harry looked at the eyes of the man and the nose and jaw of the woman that he confirmed his suspicion. It was Neville's parents.
Before anything further could be said, Neville's formidable grandmother entered the room.
"School friends of yours Neville? Nice to meet you, I'm Augusta Longbottom" she said, without waiting for an answer from Neville. She did however, notice the looks they were giving Frank and Alice Longbottom.
"You're probably wondering what all this is" she said, and Neville gave her a frightened, pleading look, which she chose to ignore.
"There's no shame in this Neville. They're his parents. My son and his wife were both aurors, some of the best. I'm proud of them both to this day" she said.
Hermione looked at them with a face that suggested that she was holding back tears.
"The cruciatus curse" Neville's Grandmother said. "It took four death eaters, powerful ones at that to do this to them"
They all looked and felt shell-shocked when they left that ward.
"Poor Neville" Ginny said softly.
"I never knew that was why he lives with his grandmother" said Delilah, looking guilty.
"He never talks about it" said Ron.
"I knew" said Harry, not knowing why he said as much.
"What? How?" asked Hermione.
"I visited Dumbledore's office last year and saw his penseive. I saw the trial of the death eaters that did that to Neville's parents. Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Rastaban Lestrange and Barty Crouch junior" said Harry, bitterly.
"Wait... you mean to tell me that we were being taught by a man who did... that to the parents of one of our friends?" Delilah asked, horrorstruck.
"Yeah" said Harry flatly.
"Small world, right?" John asked bitterly.
"Can't believe the cruciatus curse can do that" Ron whispered.
"I can" said Harry.
Ron looked apologetically at Harry, who waved it off.
"I'm joining the Order whenever I can. No one is getting away with shit like that if I have anything to say about it" said John, firmly. The others all silently agreed.
The more Harry thought about it, the more he realized how everything came back to Voldemort. The older he got, the more he learned, the more cause he found that he had to despise Voldemort with every fibre of his being. How many other lives were ruined because of him and his followers? More importantly, with the ministry's ineptitude, how would he stop them?
"That right there" John started. "Is why I want to scrap the international statue of secrecy" John said firmly.
"How would that help?" asked Hermione.
"This whole mess is only here because Voldemort and his followers think muggles are inferior. That's because the statue of secrecy creates this bullshit 'us and them' gap that shouldn't be there. Sure, a long time ago, muggles burned us at the stake or drowned us or... whatever, but that was hundreds of years ago" said John.
The others were listening to him with rapt attention. John rarely spoke about what he hoped for his own future, and he was never this passionate about anything outside sports, food or sex.
"Now look. Wizards have barely advanced anywhere, and muggles are building cities that dwarf anything wizards have ever done. They've pretty much stamped out discrimination, at least in developed muggle countries. And here we are, worried about what amounts to... a racist cult that actually has the power to ruin thousands of lives. How long would these maniacs last in the muggle world? A few weeks?" John asked.
"But you don't have the power to do anything like that" said Delilah.
"I know. But that's what I'm going to work towards" said John firmly.
"I thought you hated politics?" Ron asked.
"I do. I'm not doing this because I want to. I'm doing it because I have to" said John.
"You don't have to" said Harry.
"But if not me, who? I've never spoken to anyone interested in wizarding politics who realizes this. It's like... everyone's on a sinking ship, trying to plug up the holes with chewing gum, whilst I've gone out on a rowboat and bought some planks of wood, a hammer and nails" said John.
The others were now unapologetically staring at John, who cleared his throat.
"Anyway, lunch then?" he asked, realizing that he'd opened up in a way he'd never done before.
"So... I'm not the only one who wants to be an auror, am I?" Ron asked, trying to diffuse the tension.
"No, I do too" said Harry, laughing.
"Gilderoy, you naughty boy, where are you off to?" came the voice of a motherly-looking witch, who actually didn't look too dissimilar from Mrs. Weasley.
"Autographs!"
"That can't be-" Ron started, before turning and realizing that none other than Gilderoy Lockhart himself was roaming the ward. He still had the blonde hair and shockingly white teeth he once had, but carried himself with the air of a man who had no idea where he was.
"Oh how lovely, you have visitors!" said the witch.
"Err... we aren't... we're just not sure where we are" said Delilah. The witch nodded and turned back to Lockhart.
"Back you go Gilderoy, no more wandering now!" she said, and Lockhart obeyed, walking away in a childlike manner.
John looked somewhat uncomfortable - he was the one who threw the shield charm which caused his memory loss.
"This is the permanent spell-damage ward. We keep people here when damage done to them is too much for them to rejoin society" said the witch, looking back down the ward sympathetically. John looked even more guilty at that.
Harry however, found John's 'crazy' idea of revealing the wizarding world to be less and less absurd by the minute.