Chapter 20: Fugitive
. . .
"Mr Harry Potter, you are under arrest of the Ministry of Magic."
Harry paled.
** +++++ **
For a moment Harry Potter only stared into the hateful eyes of the auror, too shocked to react.
They had found out.
It had been one of his greatest fears that, some day, the Ministry of Magic would, somehow, discover his true identity. Now they had. How had they found out? Hadn't he made sure there was no way they could find him? He was under disguise, and nobody but his most trusted friends knew. And they would never tell the Ministry, never. Where was the leak, how had it happened?
But it didn't really matter how, did it? All that mattered was the fact that they knew, and now they were there to get him. To arrest him. Again. But no, they wouldn't arrest him this time. They'd give him the Dementor's Kiss the instant he arrived there. Yes, that was the most likely thing to happen. And he, Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, a fighter for the light and finally an innocent convict, would be worse than dead.
It was then that something clicked in Harry Potter's mind, and it won over the overwhelming panic.
He didn't want to die.
He definitely didn't want to start a relationship with a dementor.
So he just wouldn't let this happen.
The Ministry of Magic would have no power over Harry Potter. Not this time.
Colour finally came back into his face. With a quick plan already in his mind, Harry slowly, very slowly, stood up from his sitting position; never releasing Neville Longbottom's gaze. Nobody noticed him cast a good defence charm onto himself, since he was neither speaking the words nor using a wand.
"Your looks have changed since I last saw you, Neville. And for the better, I might add." Harry stated, his voice calm and steady.
In the background he saw all students and teachers staring at him, most looking more shocked than he felt. He could practically hear the questions zooming through the children's heads:
'Oh my God! This man is Harry Potter, the evil dark wizard and world-wide known mass murderer? But that cannot be true; he's our DADA teacher! We were taught by a dangerous criminal all the time?! God help!'
Neville looked even more furious after Harry's little comment.
"I don't understand you, Potter. How can you be joking about your current situation? It's you who's going to die, not me, you know. You'll finally get what you deserve, you stupid murderer!" he spat in rage.
Harry's offered a false smile. "I'd be surprised if you finally believed me this time, Neville, but I am not a murderer." He quietly said, but because of the absolute silence in the Hall it was heard by many. "And" , Harry added, "I don't think I'm going to die as just soon as you want me to, thank you very much."
Neville sneered. His voice was getting louder and louder, until in the end he was almost yelling. "You think we'll have mercy with you? Well, think again, you monster. I wanted you to be properly punished when you were found guilty, but no, not the Boy-Who-Lived, he'll get better treatment of course! You were just imprisoned! For THREE BLOODY MURDERS, only Askaban! But this time they will listen to me! My position at the Ministry is a very good one, and anyway. . . everybody who knows your story - and those who do not yet know will hear it soon I can promise you - will agree with the Ministry that you deserve no less than the Kiss, Potter. And that's exactly what you will get!"
Harry's face showed mixed emotions. Sadness, anger, and somewhere a little remain of his false smile could even be seen. "I disagree with very many things that you have just said, Neville." He answered. "And I wouldn't be so certain you will see me 'punished' the way you just suggested. In fact, I'm absolutely sure that you won't."
"And how would that be?" Another auror asked the 'trapped' Harry Potter.
Harry grinned. A real grin. "Oh, I'll show you, all of you. Just watch me."
Neville Longbottom, clearly standing in Harry's way, was the first one hit by a strong 'Stupefy' charm. Several other aurors followed.
Strangely enough, none of the quite advanced curses that were shot at Potter immediately seemed to have any effect on the man.
It was Ronny Longbottom who ended the shocked silence in the Great Hall. "DAD!!!" he yelled, terrified that Potter, a known mass murderer, had just done something awful to his father.
Many people followed. The Great Hall was suddenly filled with panicked screams as Potter and the aurors shot curses back and forth. Then the supposed to be murderer suddenly. . . vanished.
Mor a moment, there was this shocked silence again.
"B. . . but you c. . . can't apparate out of Hogwarts!" somebody stuttered.
Soon the aurors were busy taking some nasty hexes off each other. Finally having been released of the 'Stupefy' curse, Neville Longbottom was probably the most furious of all. The students were terrified. Hermione Granger was busy hiding the relief in her expression, so was Minerva McGonagall. Draco Malfoy had gone even paler than he usually was, but for reasons that nobody would have thought of. Most other staff members were just shocked at the thought of a murderer having worked amongst them for months. . . without anyone knowing.
Albus Dumbledore barely managed to keep from grinning widely as it occurred to him that, in all the trouble, nobody really was guarding the door, which the aurors had left open as they'd stormed in. Such fools they were.
** +++++ **
Harry Potter did not stop running until he was off Hogwarts' grounds, on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
It would be an understatement to say that he was surprised he'd come out of this 'incident' completely unharmed. Those aurors had, after all, been ten men fighting him alone. On the other hand, he knew most aurors were incompetent in those days. But really, leaving the door open! Those prats had put way too less effort into the really important things, and way too much into their 'Mighty Ministry Men' appearance.
Such fools they were.
All he had done was shoot a few rather harmless curses, let a very simple shield block what they shot, and then, as he grew tired of the game, cast a full silence charm that included his footsteps on himself, cast an invisibility charm, and plainly run out of the door. It had looked as if he had apparated.
He really had expected finding a solution to this auror problem to be a bit harder.
Then, Harry Potter reminded himself, the problem was not yet solved at all.
The question what the hell he should do now still remained.
Sitting down on the trunk of a fallen tree and still invisible, Harry pondered on his current situation.
He couldn't possibly return to Hogwarts, that much was sure. The Ministry would probably guard the castle now, and anyway it was impossible to return there after all that had happened without anyone recognising him. No Hogwarts anymore. So Harry needed a place to stay, and he had to come up with something soon if he didn't want to spend the night in the Forbidden Forest, surrounded by creatures which he was sure not many knew. He didn't want to know. So first, come up with a place to live, even if it was only temporary for the night. He might come up with a better solution later if he didn't find a good option that evening.
The second thing to do was definitely to contact Albus, or Herm, or Minerva. It didn't really matter who. But those three needed to know he was safe, and a bit of what he was doing. They'd be worrying to no end if he didn't tell them anything. But Harry had already decided he wouldn't tell them too much, in case the Ministry questioned them someday. Anyway he didn't want the Ministry to suspect they had anything to do with him or his escape from Askaban, or they'd be in really bad trouble.
And then. . . well, he'd see what he could do. Maybe, Harry thought, he could even get his stuff from his rooms, which he was sure the Ministry was having a close look at right now. Well, they wouldn't find anything that was useful for them, and with a bit luck they'd even be too stupid to get their hands at the most valuable stuff anyway. Yet of course Harry knew he couldn't just walk in there and get them personally. . . but he'd come up with something. Perhaps Albus could smuggle them out of the castle for him. . . no, that was far too risky. If Albus got caught. . . Harry decided he'd find a spell that would also work for long distances. Somehow it would work. It had to. There was everything he owned in his rooms, and he couldn't live without at least the most important items.
'Well' , Harry thought, 'That would be all. Now, where to go. . .'
"Your thoughts are very troubled, Harry. Where are we? And what is this all about?" came a hiss from near Harry's shoulders. He jumped.
Harry had not realised that Sammy was still wound around his neck. But of course, like usual, the snake had spent supper with him in the Great Hall.
"What do you mean 'What is this all about'? You've been with me all the time, Sammy." Harry answered.
"I've been with you, true, but I've fallen asleep after a while, while you were still eating, and now I wake up still around your neck but in the middle of a forest, and you have more worries on your mind than ever before since I know you. I want to know what's going on."
Harry grinned. Only Sammy could sleep through an attack of ten aurors. Then Harry gave the snake a quick but complete report of what had just happened.
"So we are looking for a place to stay?" Sammy asked after Harry had finished. "Well, I know a few caves. . . even some that are suitable for humans like you. . . near a big city somewhere in Australia. . . I've been there with the man that owned me before, you know. . . what was the place called. . ."
Harry sighed. "Whatever it's called, Sammy, it won't be of any use for us if it's in Australia. I need to stay somewhere near. . . just in case something happens. . . something Voldemort, I mean. . . that's the very reason I ever returned to Hogwarts anyway, you know. . ." he explained.
"Voldemort. . . the evil human who always tries to kill you, isn't he?"
"Yes. . . though I don't think he is all human."
"Oh."
There was a moment of silence.
"I need a place as near as possible to the castle, but still hard for the aurors to find, and very safe. That should be hard to find, I fear." Harry stated.
They both thought about a solution.
Several minutes later, Harry had yet not come up with any good plan. Hogsmeade would be near, but there were far too many people around for his liking. There he could not look out of a window without fearing to be seen, recognised. . . and caught. The Forbidden Forest would be the only other place near that he could think of. . . but he didn't like the idea of sleeping somewhere in that creepy place for only time would tell how long. Besides, he was afraid that he might just not wake up again someday because some monster had found a way through his protection. Also Harry found it was probable that the Ministry would take the time to search both Hogsmeade and the Forest for him very carefully, and he didn't want them to find anything if they did.
"Do you remember the day you told me about your past, Harry?" Sammy suddenly asked.
Harry looked at his snake and nodded, wondering why Sammy was thinking about that scene now.
"Well, you told me about some big place right under Hogwarts. . . like a very big hall, I believe. Didn't you tell me you killed a Basilisk there? Well, how about that place?"
Harry felt like kissing his snake.
"You're a genius, Sammy, do you know that?" he exclaimed, grinning widely. "Brilliant idea."
And it was. Nobody would think about the place. Not many people even knew about it, and those who did would certainly never consider looking for him there. Better even, nobody except for him and maybe Voldemort could go in there. It was just perfect for his purposes.
Harry Potter would once again go to the Chamber of Secrets.
The only problem was the fact that they could only go in there through Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He had to go to Hogwarts again. Go past the aurors, through several corridors. . . then into the bathroom, to the sink. . . and downwards. He hoped at least the Chamber wouldn't look any worse than he remembered it, which was bad enough.
And Harry knew Sammy and he would meet several people. Well, they would see several people, but Harry would of course make sure that nobody could see them. He could also put that silencing spell onto him again; then he only had to be careful not to touch anyone, or hit any objects standing in the corridors, but the later should not be too hard. He was not that clumsy.
"We will go tonight when it's dark, Sammy." Harry said, deciding to take all the risks that going back into the castle brought along. "We will go to the Chamber of Secrets."
** +++++ **
Neville Longbottom was in a very bad mood all evening.
Sirius Black had been notified about Potter's second escape immediately of course, and he had personally come to Hogwarts. He was furious with Neville's failure.
Then there was the damned security problem that Potter had just caused. The students were terrified. Neville understood their fear well, though. They had been taught by a murderer for months, they had constantly been in contact with Potter, they had been in constant danger of their lives. It had to be awful for them to know that they could have been hurt. . . or even killed. . . by that lunatic. . . and that any time they were around him. It was a wonder they were all unharmed, really. And his son had been one of Potter's students, too. . .
Neville decided that if he ever got the chance, he would make sure Potter paid for it. For everything and everybody.
But now there were other things that had to be taken care of immediately.
The Ministry - him, together with Black and a few other high-ranked officials - had decided that all students would spend the night in the Great Hall for their safety. After all it was not that unlikely that Potter would come back to take his revenge, and the students had to be guarded. Neville had been surprised when Albus Dumbledore in person had argued that Potter would not dare to return to Hogwarts with all the aurors around, and that his students would feel more comfortable in their beds than in some sleeping bags on the floor. Many students complained too that they were not afraid of Potter, but Neville knew they were just trying to show off. Dumbledore's behaviour though. . . normally he tended to be a bit overprotective of his students, and now he seemed to think that he didn't need to put up any measures of protection at all, while a lunatic murderer was somewhere around. The man was definitely a bit mad. . . but well, in this case the Ministry's opinion counted more than Dumbledore's anyway, so it didn't really matter.
Another problem were the kids' parents.
It was up to the headmaster of course to inform them of what had happened, but of course most kids were writing frantic letters home before the man even got the chance. The students wanted to see their parents, to feel reassured. . . and the parents would be worried to no end too, Neville was sure. At least he was. He probably felt a bit better because he knew exactly what good a protection a group of well trained aurors could be, since he was leading them, but Neville was sure those who knew not much about the Ministry at all would feel safest with their children at home with them. Neville decided he would personally write them, too, and inform them about the new protection, and tell them not to worry. He liked Hogwarts a lot and wouldn't let some murderer who didn't deserve to live anyway cause the school to be closed. He would order hundreds of aurors here if that was the only way to reassure the parents not to take their kids home.
Neville smiled grimly. Dumbledore would have tons of owls to answer, soon, and God knew how the press would react to all the mess once they found out. And they were famous for knowing about things so fast most people wouldn't have thought it possible.
Neville expected they'd be there any time now.
Poor Dumbledore.
Currently, Neville knew, the headmaster was going through Potter's rooms with some professionals from the Ministry. Yes, those rooms were another problem. Of course every nook and cranny had to be searched for any hint on Potter's personality, and for deep dark magic that had to be got rid of as soon as possible, as not to put people in even more danger. So there were now Dumbledore and some of the best Dark Arts Fighters there were.
And Neville knew they'd probably be working on those rooms for days.
It had taken them two hours just to break the locking spell on the front door.
** +++++ **
It had already gone dark when Harry and Sammy walked through the secret passage leading up to the castle from Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. Harry had figured it would be easier to break into the shop and use the passage leading straight to a Hogwarts corridor, instead of using the front gate, having to avoid several aurors. And he had been right: Honeydukes had not been guarded at all. It had been easy.
Arriving at the statue of the one-eyed witch, Harry regretted not having the Marauder's Map with him. Well, at least it was safely locked away in his little 'treasure box', so no auror should be able to get his ruddy hands at it anytime soon, he expected. They could not see him through the map. The disadvantage was the fact that he, too, could not see anybody with it. He hoped that the corridor he would come out in would not be guarded.
But it was.
There were several aurors walking around in that particular corridor. The men stared at the statue, dumbfounded, as it suddenly moved away and revealed, it seemed, a black hole in the wall. As suddenly as it had sprung aside, it moved back into place again. . . as if nothing had happened.
Of course the men neither saw nor heard anything of Harry and his snake.
Harry loudly clapped his hands a few times to check the silence spell that prevented everyone but Harry and Sammy to hear each other. There was no reaction from the aurors, who were still staring at the statue stupidly until one of them shrugged and said: "Well. . . probably just another magical object that keeps moving wherever it wants at this place. Typical Hogwarts." The other aurors agreed.
Moving carefully, Harry did not have to shock anyone on his way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, though he did have to pass several Ministry officials. It had been particularly disturbing when he carefully rounded a corner only to almost run into a furious looking Deputy Minister Sirius Black, who kept walking awfully fast all around the place, checking on things and looking very much the important and respectable man he was supposed to be. Harry found that his 'Beloved Godfather' was not that man in any way.
Luckily Moaning Myrtle did not notice him enter her territory, because if she had Harry was sure her shrill wails of "Won't you ever stop bothering me!" or something similar would have caught someone's attention.
Getting the sink to move away was easy, too, and it was not long afterwards when he landed on the ground of the huge hall leading to the Chamber itself. His robe was as slimy and dirty as he remembered it.
"That was interesting." Sammy spoke for the first time since their arrival.
Harry smiled. "Yes, I agree."
"So. . . this is the Chamber of Secrets? I thought it looked. . . different."
"No, this is not the Chamber, yet. . . just a dirty old hall leading there."
"Oh. . . good."
So they made their way through the cave. The stones that had crushed down in Harry's second year were still lying there, but Harry had no problems carefully taking them aside with a good spell.
Harry grinned and Sammy hissed approvingly as, a few minutes later, the entrance opened at Harry's orders.
He was once again standing in the Chamber of Secrets.
His new home, at least until everything was over.
And now Harry Potter had a lot to do.
** +++++ **
Albus Dumbledore found it harder and harder not to show his worry on his face. He was not worried about the same thing as most others, though. He was not worried that a crazy mass murderer would attack his students. He was not worried that his former DADA teacher might have cast tons of very dangerous dark curses onto the castle. No, Albus was worried for his friend. Worried that he would find no place to stay, would get no proper things to eat and to drink. . . would live on rats. . . just like Sirius Black had done in that situation. Or worse, what if Harry got caught. . . he had escaped very easily this time, but next time the aurors got the chance, they would be more careful. Even Harry Potter could be overpowered if his opponents were too many and too powerful, Albus thought sadly. Luckily the 'boy' was good at taking care of himself.
At the moment, Albus was sitting in Harry's living room, on the bright green sofa. Minerva was sitting next to him, and they were talking. It would have been more comfortable, though, if there were more pleasant things to talk about, and if there were less aurors around. And if he could stop pretending things. . . like hating Harry Potter, or fearing his friend. . . or like wanting the Ministry to discover all the little secrets about these rooms. But he had to go through this now. And he should be glad it was only this. . . God knew how worried Harry had to be at the moment.
"The aurors do not seem to make much progress, Albus." Minerva said, sounding grim, but Dumbledore read reassurance in her eyes.
He smiled back grimly. Minerva knew exactly what he was thinking about at the time. "Yes, my dear Minerva, it certainly seems that way." He said. "And I'm glad it does." He whispered so quietly he could be sure nobody but Minerva heard it.
A moment later the door opened and Neville Longbottom walked in, looking every bit the powerful auror people believed him to be. Just like Sirius Black, he had spent most of the evening wandering between the Great Hall, where all students were staying, the many Hogwarts entrances that were all specially well guarded, and Harry's rooms.
All aurors immediately greeted Neville with a respectful 'Sir!', which Albus found pretty funny, having known the boy for so long. Minerva, too, seemed to be amused by this.
"Why don't you sit down, Neville, and talk to us?" Albus offered with a smile.
"No, thank you, Albus, but I've only come to check on the progress we are making here. Got any further?" he asked.
"No, not at all. And I fear I cannot help much here at all. Your people really are professionals, there is not much that I know and they don't." Albus lied.
Neville sighed. "Well, that was to be expected. Potter must have a damned great knowledge of deep dark magic, after everything he's. . . done. His curses will not be easy to break, I'm sure. But our men will manage somehow. Deputy Black will make them work on this until they do, believe me. He is really obsessed with the idea of capturing Potter. . . boy, he hates him, I can tell you. But I think I'd react pretty similar if a person I. . . well, loved. . . turned into. . . what Potter is now, if you know what I mean. But anyway, you don't need to worry about these rooms at all, that problem will be solved sooner or later."
"Yes." Albus replied, "We can only hope."
Minerva smiled at the irony of this conversation.
"So Albus, how are you holding up in this mess? It must be damned hard for you. . . being the headmaster of this place, I mean."
Now it was Albus' turn to sigh. "Yes, it is." He answered. "The place is full of security, the students are panicking, everybody is worried, I expect to get death threads from the parents soon. . . just about everything is going wrong. I'm just glad the press hasn't arrived yet, but that too is probably only a matter of time."
The door opened and closed again, and Sirius Black came in, looking even angrier than before. He got the same 'Sir's Neville had.
Sirius Black glared at his best auror as soon as he noticed him sitting there and chatting calmly. Neville saw this and paled. . . had he done something else wrong?
"What is it now?" he carefully asked the man. Albus and Minerva turned around to face the Deputy Minister, who they both had not noticed before.
"What it is?" Black burst out so loudly everyone stopped working for a moment and turned around curiously.
"Your stupid men are completely incompetent, that's the big problem here, Longbottom!" he raged.
Neville defended his people at once. "My men are incompetent? And why would that be?" he calmly asked.
"Why?" Black shouted now, "Why? BECAUSE THEY LET POTTER INTO THE CASTLE, LONGBOTTOM, THAT'S WHY!!!"
Neville's face became white. "P. . . Potter is. . . here?" he squeaked, terrified. "B. . . But. . . how?"
"I'll tell you how!" Black growled.
** +++ **
Sirius Black walked down a corridor and approached the security Longbottom and he had placed in front of the one-eyed witch. He would have to spend all night running around in the ruddy castle and checking on things, it seemed, and the thought annoyed him. And all because Longbottom, his supposedly best auror, had let Potter escape. . .
"So, anything wrong here? Anything unusual?"
"No, Mr Black, Sir. Everything in order." the auror answered and Black was about to walk away again, when something caught his ears and made him turn around again sharply.
"You should have told him about that statue moving. . ." one man whispered.
"Nah." The guy he'd just spoken to replied, "Moving things are nothing unusual here. . . why bother him with it? The man is busy enough as it is. . . oh shit. . . how the hell did he just hear that?"
Sirius was back with the aurors very fast. "Excuse me?" he said, "But did you just say a statue moved aside? You wouldn't happen to be talking about this very statue, would you?" he asked, his voice rising with anger, pointing at the one-eyed witch."
"Uh. . . yes, Sir, this statue. . . but we thought it was not important, so we. . ."
"It moved aside?" Black interrupted, "Just like this?" And he pointed his wand at the statue and muttered the password. It opened.
"Yes, like this." Came the answer.
"Really?!" Black said, getting louder and angrier. "And you thought that was just a normal thing for a statue to do?"
"Well. . ." an auror replied, "Everything moves here, doesn't it. . ."
"And what do you think is this thing behind this damned statue?"
The men looked startled at the Deputy Minister's reply. "Well. . . a big, black hole in the wall?"
"It's not a fucking hole in the wall, you great prats! It's a secret passage!!! Why do you think we wanted you to guard this corridor?" he yelled.
"A. . . a secret p. . . passage?" some started to stutter. "B. . . but then. . . then. . ."
"EXACTLY!" Black yelled. "YOU FOOLS JUST LET POTTER ENTER HOGWARTS!!!"
And with that the Deputy Minister just stormed off. He needed to talk to some people.
** +++ **
"So he's in here now." Neville stated, finally having regained his self- control. "Oh my God. . . that's the worst thing that could happen."
"Yes." Black spat. "And we need to do something about it."
"What is there to do?" Albus said. "Hogwarts is safer than ever before as we speak. Even if Potter really is in the castle, what could he possibly do? There are Ministry aurors all over the place, Sirius, and some of the best men you have, if I got that right."
"Yes, I can assure you that this is true. Only the most capable men here." Neville confirmed.
"Good." Albus continued, "Then what is there to worry about, really? Potter might be as evil and ruthless as it is possible to be, but the man is certainly not dense, or he would not have made it so far. I'm sure he would not risk everything he has reached by walking the best men of the Ministry of Magic straight into the arms."
"There is no telling what Potter will do." Black argued, "The man is totally insane, that much should be clear to everyone of you by now, or do you not agree?"
There was a moment of silence.
"You see! And if Potter had nothing planned, then why go into the castle again? He must be here for some purpose, or else he would not have come. Just going as far as Potter did and enter the castle was a great risk. . . or at least it would have been, if your men were not quite so deaf." Black said, glaring at Neville.
Neville looked down.
"So we know Potter will do something. And as long as I am responsible for this great mess, I will make sure nobody gets hurt, and there will be no successful attack, because I will increase all security measures, especially those concerning the students. In some way, headmaster, the attitude you are showing tonight makes me doubt you care enough for the safety of those under your care. I might want to do something to ensure that your unacceptable stupidity does not put them in even more danger than they already are in." Black spat.
It was one of the rare occasions that made Albus Dumbledore seriously angry.
"You have no idea what you are talking about!" he replied, his voice sounding as perfectly calm as always, but his eyes shining with anger. "If you knew anything about me, Sirius Black, then you would know that the students of this school have always been, are now, and will always be my greatest concern. I would never, believe me, never do anything if I thought there might be even the slightest bit of a chance that the consequences of my action could harm them in any way. But in this case, Mr Black, I am 100%ly sure that Harry Potter would never, not ever, deliberately hurt a child at this school. That is why I request that you do not increase the number of your security men at all. Those men look ready for war with all the weapons they are carrying, you must admit it is ridiculous if anything, and certainly not necessary. Besides it only frightens the children more than it helps them feel safe."
The anger slowly faded from Albus Dumbledore's eyes.
After a moment of stunned silence, a bright grin suddenly appeared on Sirius Black's face.
"If that really is your opinion, headmaster, then I'm sincerely glad the matter does not lie in your hands. It is not enough that the students really feel safe, they must be safe. I will do what I find the right thing to do, and I'm sorry to say that nobody, really nobody else has anything to say in that matter. That is my last word." Black said with a tone of authority.
As another person suddenly spoke up, all of the very brave Ministry aurors in the room let out terrified screams of shock, and most tried to hide behind whatever they found the best thing near to hide behind.
"Well, Sirius, I must agree with Albus though. I will certainly never attack any Hogwarts students, simply because I do not see any reason I should. There is no need to increase the security. And I agree with Albus in another point, too. I can very well imagine the effect those wannabe Dark Arts fighter you've spread all over the place must have on the children, especially the younger ones. Though personally I was more tempted to laugh out loud than to scream in fear as I first came in contact with them. . . but well. Anyway, how are you holding up, Sirius? This must be a very stressful evening for the Deputy Minister of Magic."
It was half a minute before anyone reacted other than staring at Harry Potter's head, which seemed to be floating in mid-air in front of a wall.
"Potter!!!" Sirius Black suddenly screamed in shock.
Not a second later the first dangerous curses were aimed at the head.
** +++++ **
Harry had taken a quick walk, having a close look at everything in the chamber again. Of course there was nothing evil in there anymore, like there had been in second year. . . but Harry still didn't really trust the place.
Probably the most annoying thing he found was the half-rotten body of a full grown Basilisk. Somehow Harry hadn't expected it still to be there. . . or to stink quite that much. Just how long did it take for a dead Basilisk to rot till there was nothing left?
Harry cast a quick charm so the thing wouldn't spread its smell everywhere. He'd deal with the disgusting body later.
After half an hour of looking at every wall and each of the gigantic stone pillars very closely, and even casting a few of the most powerful magic detection spells he could come up with, Harry had finally been convinced that there were no hidden spells anywhere. Finally he was satisfied, and he had sat down on one of the huge feet of the statue of Salazar Slytherin, to think.
"What will you do now, Harry?" Sammy hissed.
Harry sighed. "Well. . . I think I'll check on the situation." He said.
A moment of silence.
"I do not understand, Harry. Have you not been doing that for the past half of an hour?" Sammy replied.
"Not like that, Sammy." Harry enlightened the snake on his plans, "I've done everything I could to make sure this place is safe. . . which it apparently is and has been al the time. Now I want to know what's going on outside this hall. . . up in the castle. I think I'll check on my rooms. . . there'll probably be lots of aurors now, and I want to see how they're doing. . . and what they're doing to my belongings. . . and make sure they do not succeed. Then I want the most valuable stuff here with me. . . which will be about everything I own. . . except perhaps for the furniture. . . but well, I'll see."
"But isn't that too dangerous?" Sammy objected. "Those evil people will capture you, and imprison you again, will they not? Is that not what they usually do? Then you cannot just walk in there and take your belongings out, or can you?"
Harry actually smiled. "Have I ever told you that you're an extraordinarily bright snake, Sammy?"
"No."
"That was a rhetorical question."
"A what?"
Harry grinned. "Never mind. Anyway, what you said was right. . . I can not just walk in there and out again. I am not actually planning to go there. . . I will just seem to be there. Or, to be precise, my head will. It will only be a picture, though, so they cannot harm me at all. Not the tiniest risk, Sammy. The real me, down here, will seem in some kind of trance, I've read. . . never done the spell before, you know. . . and the image of my head will be able to see everything going on. . . even talk, I believe. It will be interesting to try out. I'll try to apparate everything here. That should not be easy, though. If it doesn't work at all, because of the trance, I'll just have to try again once I'm. . . awake again. We'll just see, shall we?"
Sammy gave a nod. "If you say so, that will probably be fine with me. Your plans always seem to work satisfyingly well."
Harry smiled at the compliment.
"Then should I go off your shoulders now?" Sammy asked. "Then you can get yourself into that. . . trance."
"Good idea, mate." Harry agreed. After Sammy had slid off the man's shoulders, Harry got himself as comfortable as possible on the ground, closed his eyes, and concentrated.
** +++ **
The first dangerous curses were aimed at Harry's head.
"Hey!!! . . . Calm down, will you? There is no point in what you are doing!" Harry exclaimed.
After a while, Sirius Black shouted "Stop!!!", and there was immediate silence.
Harry turned his head around. There were several little holes in the empty wall behind him, where the spells had hit.
For a while everybody stared at the imaginative head of the fugitive, while Harry Potter stared at Sirius Black all the time. Sirius Black, his godfather, the man that had once been the closest to a father he had. The man that had once been one of his best friends, a trusted one, a loved one. The man that, Harry felt, had betrayed him in the end. . . because of the power the Ministry of Magic had offered.
Now the man was nothing but a Ministry robot.
"I don't know what you are doing, or how you did this, Potter, but I can assure that we will catch you in the end, and that you will get what you deserve! You're a bloody murderer, Potter! How could you. . ." the Deputy Minister suddenly spat full of hatred.
Harry blinked. His face's expression turned from one of self-confidence to one of sadness as he spoke: "The last time we talked we were still on first name basis, do you know that? And now I'm just 'Potter' to you? You were my godfather once. . ."
"I'm not the godfather of a threefold murderer!" Sirius almost yelled.
Now it was Harry who got angry. "No, you aren't the godfather of a threefold murderer, Sirius, because I never murdered anyone! Do you get it? I'm innocent!!! And I want to talk properly to the lot of you now, if you don't mind." He said in a tone that matched Black's.
"You came to talk?" Neville suddenly said. It was the first time in Harry's presence that he had said anything. "What is there to talk about, Potter? Did you come to threaten us? What are you planning, murderer?" he spat.
Harry smiled slightly. Finally they got to the point. "I'm not threatening anybody, Neville. . . more the opposite, in fact. . ."
"Why are you in Hogwarts, then?" Black interrupted.
Harry paled. "W. . . What?"
"We know you're in the castle, Potter. You were seen." Albus Dumbledore said, fake anger in his voice.
"Oh. . . well, it doesn't really matter, does it? You won't find me anyway. And I won't give you much time to search, because I'll be gone as soon as I'm done here. It just gets harder to apparate objects from one place to another the further away you are. . . and I want my thing with me, don't I? Besides I wanted to look how you are doing. . . and how you are treating my things."
PLOP!
Everybody turned around to see that the treasure box that had been brought there from Harry's office had suddenly vanished. The man who had been working on it gave out a shocked gasp.
"Aah. . . it seems to work excellent, doesn't it?" Harry declared cheerfully.
"Stop his Dark Magic!" Black ordered, starting to panic.
Immediately curses were pointlessly shot at the imaginative head again. Only Neville Longbottom thought a bit further that his colleagues and put a good safety charm on the thing nearest to him. . . the bed.
"Aah, but I do need something comfortable to sleep on, don't I, Neville? Let's see whose curse is stronger. . ."
With a PLOP!, the bed, too, was gone.
After a few minutes of Plops, curses from the aurors and loud angry shouts like "Somebody stop this now!!!", mostly produced by Sirius Black, the room, as well as the office next door, were completely rid of everything. . . really everything. The aurors were exhausted, Black was furious, Minerva McGonagall looked astonished and even though Albus Dumbledore's face was grim, there was an amused sparkle in his eyes, which could only be read by those who knew him well.
"And now the talking part, okay?" Harry said.
But nobody felt like answering after all that had just happened.
"Fine, then it will be a monologue, it's not like I care. Just listen to me: I will not attack any students, nor anybody else. You do not need to place any special security on anyone. Let the students have their freedom, okay? It's awful when everything is cancelled or forbidden. . . I remember it only too well from third year. I give you my word that I will never hurt anybody. . . you'll just have to trust me with that. Then, I do not exactly know how I'll get around. . . having to deal with the fucking situation you've just brought me in and all. . . though I must say I don't think I'll stick to every stupid rule of yours. . . that's just become impossible for me to do, as you probably realise as well as I do. You must excuse that, but I see no other choice on my part. Yet that should not worry you the least. I can only repeat that I will not hurt anybody in the progress. . . believe me, I'd rather get caught. Then I must tell you that I will not leave you a way to contact me, that would only bring disadvantages for me. . . I'm sure you understand that. If there's anything I want you to know, like if I'm not pleased with something you're doing. . . or if there's anything I want you to do for me, I'll come up with some way to let you know. Okay?"
Every body just stared. Even Albus seemed astonished by what Potter was saying.
"Fine then. Now, I've made it to one of my main tasks to protect the world against Voldemort, so now that there's no more teaching to be done, I'll spend all my time preparing and training for the attacks I know he is already planning. I will, of course, also try to get some information on Voldemort and his group of Death Eaters. I might tell you some of them. . . or I might not. . . that depends on the things I find out, and on your behaviour. So if you want to know about what I'm doing, you better behave. I'll check on you."
Stunned silence.
"Now, stand at ease!" he commanded amused, and with one more POP, the imaginative head of Harry Potter vanished.
Yet people kept staring at the space it had been.
"Now, that didn't sound the least like the speech a normal fugitive gives the investigators." Neville suddenly stated.
Sirius Black glared at him.
** +++ **
It was several minutes later when Harry Potter finally woke up. He looked around and saw that all things he had apparated over were lying somewhere on the floor around him. After the treasure box had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, Sammy had fled onto his master's body, so there wouldn't be any objects landing on him. Harry grinned, remembering the shocked faces of all those stupid aurors.
"All went well, I take it?" Sammy asked.
"Yes." Harry answered. "All went fine. Very fine, in fact. . . you should have seen their faces."
"I've been guarding your emotions." Sammy informed. "Very different, they were. First sadness and anger. . . blinding anger. . . then only amusement. Your visit must have been very strange indeed."
Harry nodded. "It was." He confirmed.
"So. . . what are you doing now?"
"Now? Well. . ." Harry had a look at his clock, which was lying near. "Now I'm going to sleep. It's late, and God knows I'm awfully tired. But tomorrow, Sammy. . . tomorrow will be a ver busy day."
"Why, if I may ask?" Sammy hissed.
"Why? Well. . . we're getting company, I've decided. I'm not going to be the only human living in the Chamber of Secrets." Harry answered with a small smile, thinking about what he had talked about with Albus at breakfast that very same morning. Hopefully there would not be much damage beyond repair done, but Harry knew anyone was bound to have changed after years in Askaban. He certainly had.
Sammy wondered what exactly her master meant by 'getting company', but the snake didn't ask, because her master had already taken off his robes and slumped into bed.
+ + + + + + + + + + +
Author's Notes:
HA! Another chapter done. . . hard enough it was, hoped you like it. They're getting longer and longer, I notice. . . but well. Thanks for reading!!! And. . . I'm sorry it took me so long. . . especially after that cliffhanger.
I'll keep writing!
You do know who Harry's going to get, don't you?
Do me a favour and review, okay?
Ottilchen
. . .
"Mr Harry Potter, you are under arrest of the Ministry of Magic."
Harry paled.
** +++++ **
For a moment Harry Potter only stared into the hateful eyes of the auror, too shocked to react.
They had found out.
It had been one of his greatest fears that, some day, the Ministry of Magic would, somehow, discover his true identity. Now they had. How had they found out? Hadn't he made sure there was no way they could find him? He was under disguise, and nobody but his most trusted friends knew. And they would never tell the Ministry, never. Where was the leak, how had it happened?
But it didn't really matter how, did it? All that mattered was the fact that they knew, and now they were there to get him. To arrest him. Again. But no, they wouldn't arrest him this time. They'd give him the Dementor's Kiss the instant he arrived there. Yes, that was the most likely thing to happen. And he, Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, a fighter for the light and finally an innocent convict, would be worse than dead.
It was then that something clicked in Harry Potter's mind, and it won over the overwhelming panic.
He didn't want to die.
He definitely didn't want to start a relationship with a dementor.
So he just wouldn't let this happen.
The Ministry of Magic would have no power over Harry Potter. Not this time.
Colour finally came back into his face. With a quick plan already in his mind, Harry slowly, very slowly, stood up from his sitting position; never releasing Neville Longbottom's gaze. Nobody noticed him cast a good defence charm onto himself, since he was neither speaking the words nor using a wand.
"Your looks have changed since I last saw you, Neville. And for the better, I might add." Harry stated, his voice calm and steady.
In the background he saw all students and teachers staring at him, most looking more shocked than he felt. He could practically hear the questions zooming through the children's heads:
'Oh my God! This man is Harry Potter, the evil dark wizard and world-wide known mass murderer? But that cannot be true; he's our DADA teacher! We were taught by a dangerous criminal all the time?! God help!'
Neville looked even more furious after Harry's little comment.
"I don't understand you, Potter. How can you be joking about your current situation? It's you who's going to die, not me, you know. You'll finally get what you deserve, you stupid murderer!" he spat in rage.
Harry's offered a false smile. "I'd be surprised if you finally believed me this time, Neville, but I am not a murderer." He quietly said, but because of the absolute silence in the Hall it was heard by many. "And" , Harry added, "I don't think I'm going to die as just soon as you want me to, thank you very much."
Neville sneered. His voice was getting louder and louder, until in the end he was almost yelling. "You think we'll have mercy with you? Well, think again, you monster. I wanted you to be properly punished when you were found guilty, but no, not the Boy-Who-Lived, he'll get better treatment of course! You were just imprisoned! For THREE BLOODY MURDERS, only Askaban! But this time they will listen to me! My position at the Ministry is a very good one, and anyway. . . everybody who knows your story - and those who do not yet know will hear it soon I can promise you - will agree with the Ministry that you deserve no less than the Kiss, Potter. And that's exactly what you will get!"
Harry's face showed mixed emotions. Sadness, anger, and somewhere a little remain of his false smile could even be seen. "I disagree with very many things that you have just said, Neville." He answered. "And I wouldn't be so certain you will see me 'punished' the way you just suggested. In fact, I'm absolutely sure that you won't."
"And how would that be?" Another auror asked the 'trapped' Harry Potter.
Harry grinned. A real grin. "Oh, I'll show you, all of you. Just watch me."
Neville Longbottom, clearly standing in Harry's way, was the first one hit by a strong 'Stupefy' charm. Several other aurors followed.
Strangely enough, none of the quite advanced curses that were shot at Potter immediately seemed to have any effect on the man.
It was Ronny Longbottom who ended the shocked silence in the Great Hall. "DAD!!!" he yelled, terrified that Potter, a known mass murderer, had just done something awful to his father.
Many people followed. The Great Hall was suddenly filled with panicked screams as Potter and the aurors shot curses back and forth. Then the supposed to be murderer suddenly. . . vanished.
Mor a moment, there was this shocked silence again.
"B. . . but you c. . . can't apparate out of Hogwarts!" somebody stuttered.
Soon the aurors were busy taking some nasty hexes off each other. Finally having been released of the 'Stupefy' curse, Neville Longbottom was probably the most furious of all. The students were terrified. Hermione Granger was busy hiding the relief in her expression, so was Minerva McGonagall. Draco Malfoy had gone even paler than he usually was, but for reasons that nobody would have thought of. Most other staff members were just shocked at the thought of a murderer having worked amongst them for months. . . without anyone knowing.
Albus Dumbledore barely managed to keep from grinning widely as it occurred to him that, in all the trouble, nobody really was guarding the door, which the aurors had left open as they'd stormed in. Such fools they were.
** +++++ **
Harry Potter did not stop running until he was off Hogwarts' grounds, on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
It would be an understatement to say that he was surprised he'd come out of this 'incident' completely unharmed. Those aurors had, after all, been ten men fighting him alone. On the other hand, he knew most aurors were incompetent in those days. But really, leaving the door open! Those prats had put way too less effort into the really important things, and way too much into their 'Mighty Ministry Men' appearance.
Such fools they were.
All he had done was shoot a few rather harmless curses, let a very simple shield block what they shot, and then, as he grew tired of the game, cast a full silence charm that included his footsteps on himself, cast an invisibility charm, and plainly run out of the door. It had looked as if he had apparated.
He really had expected finding a solution to this auror problem to be a bit harder.
Then, Harry Potter reminded himself, the problem was not yet solved at all.
The question what the hell he should do now still remained.
Sitting down on the trunk of a fallen tree and still invisible, Harry pondered on his current situation.
He couldn't possibly return to Hogwarts, that much was sure. The Ministry would probably guard the castle now, and anyway it was impossible to return there after all that had happened without anyone recognising him. No Hogwarts anymore. So Harry needed a place to stay, and he had to come up with something soon if he didn't want to spend the night in the Forbidden Forest, surrounded by creatures which he was sure not many knew. He didn't want to know. So first, come up with a place to live, even if it was only temporary for the night. He might come up with a better solution later if he didn't find a good option that evening.
The second thing to do was definitely to contact Albus, or Herm, or Minerva. It didn't really matter who. But those three needed to know he was safe, and a bit of what he was doing. They'd be worrying to no end if he didn't tell them anything. But Harry had already decided he wouldn't tell them too much, in case the Ministry questioned them someday. Anyway he didn't want the Ministry to suspect they had anything to do with him or his escape from Askaban, or they'd be in really bad trouble.
And then. . . well, he'd see what he could do. Maybe, Harry thought, he could even get his stuff from his rooms, which he was sure the Ministry was having a close look at right now. Well, they wouldn't find anything that was useful for them, and with a bit luck they'd even be too stupid to get their hands at the most valuable stuff anyway. Yet of course Harry knew he couldn't just walk in there and get them personally. . . but he'd come up with something. Perhaps Albus could smuggle them out of the castle for him. . . no, that was far too risky. If Albus got caught. . . Harry decided he'd find a spell that would also work for long distances. Somehow it would work. It had to. There was everything he owned in his rooms, and he couldn't live without at least the most important items.
'Well' , Harry thought, 'That would be all. Now, where to go. . .'
"Your thoughts are very troubled, Harry. Where are we? And what is this all about?" came a hiss from near Harry's shoulders. He jumped.
Harry had not realised that Sammy was still wound around his neck. But of course, like usual, the snake had spent supper with him in the Great Hall.
"What do you mean 'What is this all about'? You've been with me all the time, Sammy." Harry answered.
"I've been with you, true, but I've fallen asleep after a while, while you were still eating, and now I wake up still around your neck but in the middle of a forest, and you have more worries on your mind than ever before since I know you. I want to know what's going on."
Harry grinned. Only Sammy could sleep through an attack of ten aurors. Then Harry gave the snake a quick but complete report of what had just happened.
"So we are looking for a place to stay?" Sammy asked after Harry had finished. "Well, I know a few caves. . . even some that are suitable for humans like you. . . near a big city somewhere in Australia. . . I've been there with the man that owned me before, you know. . . what was the place called. . ."
Harry sighed. "Whatever it's called, Sammy, it won't be of any use for us if it's in Australia. I need to stay somewhere near. . . just in case something happens. . . something Voldemort, I mean. . . that's the very reason I ever returned to Hogwarts anyway, you know. . ." he explained.
"Voldemort. . . the evil human who always tries to kill you, isn't he?"
"Yes. . . though I don't think he is all human."
"Oh."
There was a moment of silence.
"I need a place as near as possible to the castle, but still hard for the aurors to find, and very safe. That should be hard to find, I fear." Harry stated.
They both thought about a solution.
Several minutes later, Harry had yet not come up with any good plan. Hogsmeade would be near, but there were far too many people around for his liking. There he could not look out of a window without fearing to be seen, recognised. . . and caught. The Forbidden Forest would be the only other place near that he could think of. . . but he didn't like the idea of sleeping somewhere in that creepy place for only time would tell how long. Besides, he was afraid that he might just not wake up again someday because some monster had found a way through his protection. Also Harry found it was probable that the Ministry would take the time to search both Hogsmeade and the Forest for him very carefully, and he didn't want them to find anything if they did.
"Do you remember the day you told me about your past, Harry?" Sammy suddenly asked.
Harry looked at his snake and nodded, wondering why Sammy was thinking about that scene now.
"Well, you told me about some big place right under Hogwarts. . . like a very big hall, I believe. Didn't you tell me you killed a Basilisk there? Well, how about that place?"
Harry felt like kissing his snake.
"You're a genius, Sammy, do you know that?" he exclaimed, grinning widely. "Brilliant idea."
And it was. Nobody would think about the place. Not many people even knew about it, and those who did would certainly never consider looking for him there. Better even, nobody except for him and maybe Voldemort could go in there. It was just perfect for his purposes.
Harry Potter would once again go to the Chamber of Secrets.
The only problem was the fact that they could only go in there through Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He had to go to Hogwarts again. Go past the aurors, through several corridors. . . then into the bathroom, to the sink. . . and downwards. He hoped at least the Chamber wouldn't look any worse than he remembered it, which was bad enough.
And Harry knew Sammy and he would meet several people. Well, they would see several people, but Harry would of course make sure that nobody could see them. He could also put that silencing spell onto him again; then he only had to be careful not to touch anyone, or hit any objects standing in the corridors, but the later should not be too hard. He was not that clumsy.
"We will go tonight when it's dark, Sammy." Harry said, deciding to take all the risks that going back into the castle brought along. "We will go to the Chamber of Secrets."
** +++++ **
Neville Longbottom was in a very bad mood all evening.
Sirius Black had been notified about Potter's second escape immediately of course, and he had personally come to Hogwarts. He was furious with Neville's failure.
Then there was the damned security problem that Potter had just caused. The students were terrified. Neville understood their fear well, though. They had been taught by a murderer for months, they had constantly been in contact with Potter, they had been in constant danger of their lives. It had to be awful for them to know that they could have been hurt. . . or even killed. . . by that lunatic. . . and that any time they were around him. It was a wonder they were all unharmed, really. And his son had been one of Potter's students, too. . .
Neville decided that if he ever got the chance, he would make sure Potter paid for it. For everything and everybody.
But now there were other things that had to be taken care of immediately.
The Ministry - him, together with Black and a few other high-ranked officials - had decided that all students would spend the night in the Great Hall for their safety. After all it was not that unlikely that Potter would come back to take his revenge, and the students had to be guarded. Neville had been surprised when Albus Dumbledore in person had argued that Potter would not dare to return to Hogwarts with all the aurors around, and that his students would feel more comfortable in their beds than in some sleeping bags on the floor. Many students complained too that they were not afraid of Potter, but Neville knew they were just trying to show off. Dumbledore's behaviour though. . . normally he tended to be a bit overprotective of his students, and now he seemed to think that he didn't need to put up any measures of protection at all, while a lunatic murderer was somewhere around. The man was definitely a bit mad. . . but well, in this case the Ministry's opinion counted more than Dumbledore's anyway, so it didn't really matter.
Another problem were the kids' parents.
It was up to the headmaster of course to inform them of what had happened, but of course most kids were writing frantic letters home before the man even got the chance. The students wanted to see their parents, to feel reassured. . . and the parents would be worried to no end too, Neville was sure. At least he was. He probably felt a bit better because he knew exactly what good a protection a group of well trained aurors could be, since he was leading them, but Neville was sure those who knew not much about the Ministry at all would feel safest with their children at home with them. Neville decided he would personally write them, too, and inform them about the new protection, and tell them not to worry. He liked Hogwarts a lot and wouldn't let some murderer who didn't deserve to live anyway cause the school to be closed. He would order hundreds of aurors here if that was the only way to reassure the parents not to take their kids home.
Neville smiled grimly. Dumbledore would have tons of owls to answer, soon, and God knew how the press would react to all the mess once they found out. And they were famous for knowing about things so fast most people wouldn't have thought it possible.
Neville expected they'd be there any time now.
Poor Dumbledore.
Currently, Neville knew, the headmaster was going through Potter's rooms with some professionals from the Ministry. Yes, those rooms were another problem. Of course every nook and cranny had to be searched for any hint on Potter's personality, and for deep dark magic that had to be got rid of as soon as possible, as not to put people in even more danger. So there were now Dumbledore and some of the best Dark Arts Fighters there were.
And Neville knew they'd probably be working on those rooms for days.
It had taken them two hours just to break the locking spell on the front door.
** +++++ **
It had already gone dark when Harry and Sammy walked through the secret passage leading up to the castle from Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. Harry had figured it would be easier to break into the shop and use the passage leading straight to a Hogwarts corridor, instead of using the front gate, having to avoid several aurors. And he had been right: Honeydukes had not been guarded at all. It had been easy.
Arriving at the statue of the one-eyed witch, Harry regretted not having the Marauder's Map with him. Well, at least it was safely locked away in his little 'treasure box', so no auror should be able to get his ruddy hands at it anytime soon, he expected. They could not see him through the map. The disadvantage was the fact that he, too, could not see anybody with it. He hoped that the corridor he would come out in would not be guarded.
But it was.
There were several aurors walking around in that particular corridor. The men stared at the statue, dumbfounded, as it suddenly moved away and revealed, it seemed, a black hole in the wall. As suddenly as it had sprung aside, it moved back into place again. . . as if nothing had happened.
Of course the men neither saw nor heard anything of Harry and his snake.
Harry loudly clapped his hands a few times to check the silence spell that prevented everyone but Harry and Sammy to hear each other. There was no reaction from the aurors, who were still staring at the statue stupidly until one of them shrugged and said: "Well. . . probably just another magical object that keeps moving wherever it wants at this place. Typical Hogwarts." The other aurors agreed.
Moving carefully, Harry did not have to shock anyone on his way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, though he did have to pass several Ministry officials. It had been particularly disturbing when he carefully rounded a corner only to almost run into a furious looking Deputy Minister Sirius Black, who kept walking awfully fast all around the place, checking on things and looking very much the important and respectable man he was supposed to be. Harry found that his 'Beloved Godfather' was not that man in any way.
Luckily Moaning Myrtle did not notice him enter her territory, because if she had Harry was sure her shrill wails of "Won't you ever stop bothering me!" or something similar would have caught someone's attention.
Getting the sink to move away was easy, too, and it was not long afterwards when he landed on the ground of the huge hall leading to the Chamber itself. His robe was as slimy and dirty as he remembered it.
"That was interesting." Sammy spoke for the first time since their arrival.
Harry smiled. "Yes, I agree."
"So. . . this is the Chamber of Secrets? I thought it looked. . . different."
"No, this is not the Chamber, yet. . . just a dirty old hall leading there."
"Oh. . . good."
So they made their way through the cave. The stones that had crushed down in Harry's second year were still lying there, but Harry had no problems carefully taking them aside with a good spell.
Harry grinned and Sammy hissed approvingly as, a few minutes later, the entrance opened at Harry's orders.
He was once again standing in the Chamber of Secrets.
His new home, at least until everything was over.
And now Harry Potter had a lot to do.
** +++++ **
Albus Dumbledore found it harder and harder not to show his worry on his face. He was not worried about the same thing as most others, though. He was not worried that a crazy mass murderer would attack his students. He was not worried that his former DADA teacher might have cast tons of very dangerous dark curses onto the castle. No, Albus was worried for his friend. Worried that he would find no place to stay, would get no proper things to eat and to drink. . . would live on rats. . . just like Sirius Black had done in that situation. Or worse, what if Harry got caught. . . he had escaped very easily this time, but next time the aurors got the chance, they would be more careful. Even Harry Potter could be overpowered if his opponents were too many and too powerful, Albus thought sadly. Luckily the 'boy' was good at taking care of himself.
At the moment, Albus was sitting in Harry's living room, on the bright green sofa. Minerva was sitting next to him, and they were talking. It would have been more comfortable, though, if there were more pleasant things to talk about, and if there were less aurors around. And if he could stop pretending things. . . like hating Harry Potter, or fearing his friend. . . or like wanting the Ministry to discover all the little secrets about these rooms. But he had to go through this now. And he should be glad it was only this. . . God knew how worried Harry had to be at the moment.
"The aurors do not seem to make much progress, Albus." Minerva said, sounding grim, but Dumbledore read reassurance in her eyes.
He smiled back grimly. Minerva knew exactly what he was thinking about at the time. "Yes, my dear Minerva, it certainly seems that way." He said. "And I'm glad it does." He whispered so quietly he could be sure nobody but Minerva heard it.
A moment later the door opened and Neville Longbottom walked in, looking every bit the powerful auror people believed him to be. Just like Sirius Black, he had spent most of the evening wandering between the Great Hall, where all students were staying, the many Hogwarts entrances that were all specially well guarded, and Harry's rooms.
All aurors immediately greeted Neville with a respectful 'Sir!', which Albus found pretty funny, having known the boy for so long. Minerva, too, seemed to be amused by this.
"Why don't you sit down, Neville, and talk to us?" Albus offered with a smile.
"No, thank you, Albus, but I've only come to check on the progress we are making here. Got any further?" he asked.
"No, not at all. And I fear I cannot help much here at all. Your people really are professionals, there is not much that I know and they don't." Albus lied.
Neville sighed. "Well, that was to be expected. Potter must have a damned great knowledge of deep dark magic, after everything he's. . . done. His curses will not be easy to break, I'm sure. But our men will manage somehow. Deputy Black will make them work on this until they do, believe me. He is really obsessed with the idea of capturing Potter. . . boy, he hates him, I can tell you. But I think I'd react pretty similar if a person I. . . well, loved. . . turned into. . . what Potter is now, if you know what I mean. But anyway, you don't need to worry about these rooms at all, that problem will be solved sooner or later."
"Yes." Albus replied, "We can only hope."
Minerva smiled at the irony of this conversation.
"So Albus, how are you holding up in this mess? It must be damned hard for you. . . being the headmaster of this place, I mean."
Now it was Albus' turn to sigh. "Yes, it is." He answered. "The place is full of security, the students are panicking, everybody is worried, I expect to get death threads from the parents soon. . . just about everything is going wrong. I'm just glad the press hasn't arrived yet, but that too is probably only a matter of time."
The door opened and closed again, and Sirius Black came in, looking even angrier than before. He got the same 'Sir's Neville had.
Sirius Black glared at his best auror as soon as he noticed him sitting there and chatting calmly. Neville saw this and paled. . . had he done something else wrong?
"What is it now?" he carefully asked the man. Albus and Minerva turned around to face the Deputy Minister, who they both had not noticed before.
"What it is?" Black burst out so loudly everyone stopped working for a moment and turned around curiously.
"Your stupid men are completely incompetent, that's the big problem here, Longbottom!" he raged.
Neville defended his people at once. "My men are incompetent? And why would that be?" he calmly asked.
"Why?" Black shouted now, "Why? BECAUSE THEY LET POTTER INTO THE CASTLE, LONGBOTTOM, THAT'S WHY!!!"
Neville's face became white. "P. . . Potter is. . . here?" he squeaked, terrified. "B. . . But. . . how?"
"I'll tell you how!" Black growled.
** +++ **
Sirius Black walked down a corridor and approached the security Longbottom and he had placed in front of the one-eyed witch. He would have to spend all night running around in the ruddy castle and checking on things, it seemed, and the thought annoyed him. And all because Longbottom, his supposedly best auror, had let Potter escape. . .
"So, anything wrong here? Anything unusual?"
"No, Mr Black, Sir. Everything in order." the auror answered and Black was about to walk away again, when something caught his ears and made him turn around again sharply.
"You should have told him about that statue moving. . ." one man whispered.
"Nah." The guy he'd just spoken to replied, "Moving things are nothing unusual here. . . why bother him with it? The man is busy enough as it is. . . oh shit. . . how the hell did he just hear that?"
Sirius was back with the aurors very fast. "Excuse me?" he said, "But did you just say a statue moved aside? You wouldn't happen to be talking about this very statue, would you?" he asked, his voice rising with anger, pointing at the one-eyed witch."
"Uh. . . yes, Sir, this statue. . . but we thought it was not important, so we. . ."
"It moved aside?" Black interrupted, "Just like this?" And he pointed his wand at the statue and muttered the password. It opened.
"Yes, like this." Came the answer.
"Really?!" Black said, getting louder and angrier. "And you thought that was just a normal thing for a statue to do?"
"Well. . ." an auror replied, "Everything moves here, doesn't it. . ."
"And what do you think is this thing behind this damned statue?"
The men looked startled at the Deputy Minister's reply. "Well. . . a big, black hole in the wall?"
"It's not a fucking hole in the wall, you great prats! It's a secret passage!!! Why do you think we wanted you to guard this corridor?" he yelled.
"A. . . a secret p. . . passage?" some started to stutter. "B. . . but then. . . then. . ."
"EXACTLY!" Black yelled. "YOU FOOLS JUST LET POTTER ENTER HOGWARTS!!!"
And with that the Deputy Minister just stormed off. He needed to talk to some people.
** +++ **
"So he's in here now." Neville stated, finally having regained his self- control. "Oh my God. . . that's the worst thing that could happen."
"Yes." Black spat. "And we need to do something about it."
"What is there to do?" Albus said. "Hogwarts is safer than ever before as we speak. Even if Potter really is in the castle, what could he possibly do? There are Ministry aurors all over the place, Sirius, and some of the best men you have, if I got that right."
"Yes, I can assure you that this is true. Only the most capable men here." Neville confirmed.
"Good." Albus continued, "Then what is there to worry about, really? Potter might be as evil and ruthless as it is possible to be, but the man is certainly not dense, or he would not have made it so far. I'm sure he would not risk everything he has reached by walking the best men of the Ministry of Magic straight into the arms."
"There is no telling what Potter will do." Black argued, "The man is totally insane, that much should be clear to everyone of you by now, or do you not agree?"
There was a moment of silence.
"You see! And if Potter had nothing planned, then why go into the castle again? He must be here for some purpose, or else he would not have come. Just going as far as Potter did and enter the castle was a great risk. . . or at least it would have been, if your men were not quite so deaf." Black said, glaring at Neville.
Neville looked down.
"So we know Potter will do something. And as long as I am responsible for this great mess, I will make sure nobody gets hurt, and there will be no successful attack, because I will increase all security measures, especially those concerning the students. In some way, headmaster, the attitude you are showing tonight makes me doubt you care enough for the safety of those under your care. I might want to do something to ensure that your unacceptable stupidity does not put them in even more danger than they already are in." Black spat.
It was one of the rare occasions that made Albus Dumbledore seriously angry.
"You have no idea what you are talking about!" he replied, his voice sounding as perfectly calm as always, but his eyes shining with anger. "If you knew anything about me, Sirius Black, then you would know that the students of this school have always been, are now, and will always be my greatest concern. I would never, believe me, never do anything if I thought there might be even the slightest bit of a chance that the consequences of my action could harm them in any way. But in this case, Mr Black, I am 100%ly sure that Harry Potter would never, not ever, deliberately hurt a child at this school. That is why I request that you do not increase the number of your security men at all. Those men look ready for war with all the weapons they are carrying, you must admit it is ridiculous if anything, and certainly not necessary. Besides it only frightens the children more than it helps them feel safe."
The anger slowly faded from Albus Dumbledore's eyes.
After a moment of stunned silence, a bright grin suddenly appeared on Sirius Black's face.
"If that really is your opinion, headmaster, then I'm sincerely glad the matter does not lie in your hands. It is not enough that the students really feel safe, they must be safe. I will do what I find the right thing to do, and I'm sorry to say that nobody, really nobody else has anything to say in that matter. That is my last word." Black said with a tone of authority.
As another person suddenly spoke up, all of the very brave Ministry aurors in the room let out terrified screams of shock, and most tried to hide behind whatever they found the best thing near to hide behind.
"Well, Sirius, I must agree with Albus though. I will certainly never attack any Hogwarts students, simply because I do not see any reason I should. There is no need to increase the security. And I agree with Albus in another point, too. I can very well imagine the effect those wannabe Dark Arts fighter you've spread all over the place must have on the children, especially the younger ones. Though personally I was more tempted to laugh out loud than to scream in fear as I first came in contact with them. . . but well. Anyway, how are you holding up, Sirius? This must be a very stressful evening for the Deputy Minister of Magic."
It was half a minute before anyone reacted other than staring at Harry Potter's head, which seemed to be floating in mid-air in front of a wall.
"Potter!!!" Sirius Black suddenly screamed in shock.
Not a second later the first dangerous curses were aimed at the head.
** +++++ **
Harry had taken a quick walk, having a close look at everything in the chamber again. Of course there was nothing evil in there anymore, like there had been in second year. . . but Harry still didn't really trust the place.
Probably the most annoying thing he found was the half-rotten body of a full grown Basilisk. Somehow Harry hadn't expected it still to be there. . . or to stink quite that much. Just how long did it take for a dead Basilisk to rot till there was nothing left?
Harry cast a quick charm so the thing wouldn't spread its smell everywhere. He'd deal with the disgusting body later.
After half an hour of looking at every wall and each of the gigantic stone pillars very closely, and even casting a few of the most powerful magic detection spells he could come up with, Harry had finally been convinced that there were no hidden spells anywhere. Finally he was satisfied, and he had sat down on one of the huge feet of the statue of Salazar Slytherin, to think.
"What will you do now, Harry?" Sammy hissed.
Harry sighed. "Well. . . I think I'll check on the situation." He said.
A moment of silence.
"I do not understand, Harry. Have you not been doing that for the past half of an hour?" Sammy replied.
"Not like that, Sammy." Harry enlightened the snake on his plans, "I've done everything I could to make sure this place is safe. . . which it apparently is and has been al the time. Now I want to know what's going on outside this hall. . . up in the castle. I think I'll check on my rooms. . . there'll probably be lots of aurors now, and I want to see how they're doing. . . and what they're doing to my belongings. . . and make sure they do not succeed. Then I want the most valuable stuff here with me. . . which will be about everything I own. . . except perhaps for the furniture. . . but well, I'll see."
"But isn't that too dangerous?" Sammy objected. "Those evil people will capture you, and imprison you again, will they not? Is that not what they usually do? Then you cannot just walk in there and take your belongings out, or can you?"
Harry actually smiled. "Have I ever told you that you're an extraordinarily bright snake, Sammy?"
"No."
"That was a rhetorical question."
"A what?"
Harry grinned. "Never mind. Anyway, what you said was right. . . I can not just walk in there and out again. I am not actually planning to go there. . . I will just seem to be there. Or, to be precise, my head will. It will only be a picture, though, so they cannot harm me at all. Not the tiniest risk, Sammy. The real me, down here, will seem in some kind of trance, I've read. . . never done the spell before, you know. . . and the image of my head will be able to see everything going on. . . even talk, I believe. It will be interesting to try out. I'll try to apparate everything here. That should not be easy, though. If it doesn't work at all, because of the trance, I'll just have to try again once I'm. . . awake again. We'll just see, shall we?"
Sammy gave a nod. "If you say so, that will probably be fine with me. Your plans always seem to work satisfyingly well."
Harry smiled at the compliment.
"Then should I go off your shoulders now?" Sammy asked. "Then you can get yourself into that. . . trance."
"Good idea, mate." Harry agreed. After Sammy had slid off the man's shoulders, Harry got himself as comfortable as possible on the ground, closed his eyes, and concentrated.
** +++ **
The first dangerous curses were aimed at Harry's head.
"Hey!!! . . . Calm down, will you? There is no point in what you are doing!" Harry exclaimed.
After a while, Sirius Black shouted "Stop!!!", and there was immediate silence.
Harry turned his head around. There were several little holes in the empty wall behind him, where the spells had hit.
For a while everybody stared at the imaginative head of the fugitive, while Harry Potter stared at Sirius Black all the time. Sirius Black, his godfather, the man that had once been the closest to a father he had. The man that had once been one of his best friends, a trusted one, a loved one. The man that, Harry felt, had betrayed him in the end. . . because of the power the Ministry of Magic had offered.
Now the man was nothing but a Ministry robot.
"I don't know what you are doing, or how you did this, Potter, but I can assure that we will catch you in the end, and that you will get what you deserve! You're a bloody murderer, Potter! How could you. . ." the Deputy Minister suddenly spat full of hatred.
Harry blinked. His face's expression turned from one of self-confidence to one of sadness as he spoke: "The last time we talked we were still on first name basis, do you know that? And now I'm just 'Potter' to you? You were my godfather once. . ."
"I'm not the godfather of a threefold murderer!" Sirius almost yelled.
Now it was Harry who got angry. "No, you aren't the godfather of a threefold murderer, Sirius, because I never murdered anyone! Do you get it? I'm innocent!!! And I want to talk properly to the lot of you now, if you don't mind." He said in a tone that matched Black's.
"You came to talk?" Neville suddenly said. It was the first time in Harry's presence that he had said anything. "What is there to talk about, Potter? Did you come to threaten us? What are you planning, murderer?" he spat.
Harry smiled slightly. Finally they got to the point. "I'm not threatening anybody, Neville. . . more the opposite, in fact. . ."
"Why are you in Hogwarts, then?" Black interrupted.
Harry paled. "W. . . What?"
"We know you're in the castle, Potter. You were seen." Albus Dumbledore said, fake anger in his voice.
"Oh. . . well, it doesn't really matter, does it? You won't find me anyway. And I won't give you much time to search, because I'll be gone as soon as I'm done here. It just gets harder to apparate objects from one place to another the further away you are. . . and I want my thing with me, don't I? Besides I wanted to look how you are doing. . . and how you are treating my things."
PLOP!
Everybody turned around to see that the treasure box that had been brought there from Harry's office had suddenly vanished. The man who had been working on it gave out a shocked gasp.
"Aah. . . it seems to work excellent, doesn't it?" Harry declared cheerfully.
"Stop his Dark Magic!" Black ordered, starting to panic.
Immediately curses were pointlessly shot at the imaginative head again. Only Neville Longbottom thought a bit further that his colleagues and put a good safety charm on the thing nearest to him. . . the bed.
"Aah, but I do need something comfortable to sleep on, don't I, Neville? Let's see whose curse is stronger. . ."
With a PLOP!, the bed, too, was gone.
After a few minutes of Plops, curses from the aurors and loud angry shouts like "Somebody stop this now!!!", mostly produced by Sirius Black, the room, as well as the office next door, were completely rid of everything. . . really everything. The aurors were exhausted, Black was furious, Minerva McGonagall looked astonished and even though Albus Dumbledore's face was grim, there was an amused sparkle in his eyes, which could only be read by those who knew him well.
"And now the talking part, okay?" Harry said.
But nobody felt like answering after all that had just happened.
"Fine, then it will be a monologue, it's not like I care. Just listen to me: I will not attack any students, nor anybody else. You do not need to place any special security on anyone. Let the students have their freedom, okay? It's awful when everything is cancelled or forbidden. . . I remember it only too well from third year. I give you my word that I will never hurt anybody. . . you'll just have to trust me with that. Then, I do not exactly know how I'll get around. . . having to deal with the fucking situation you've just brought me in and all. . . though I must say I don't think I'll stick to every stupid rule of yours. . . that's just become impossible for me to do, as you probably realise as well as I do. You must excuse that, but I see no other choice on my part. Yet that should not worry you the least. I can only repeat that I will not hurt anybody in the progress. . . believe me, I'd rather get caught. Then I must tell you that I will not leave you a way to contact me, that would only bring disadvantages for me. . . I'm sure you understand that. If there's anything I want you to know, like if I'm not pleased with something you're doing. . . or if there's anything I want you to do for me, I'll come up with some way to let you know. Okay?"
Every body just stared. Even Albus seemed astonished by what Potter was saying.
"Fine then. Now, I've made it to one of my main tasks to protect the world against Voldemort, so now that there's no more teaching to be done, I'll spend all my time preparing and training for the attacks I know he is already planning. I will, of course, also try to get some information on Voldemort and his group of Death Eaters. I might tell you some of them. . . or I might not. . . that depends on the things I find out, and on your behaviour. So if you want to know about what I'm doing, you better behave. I'll check on you."
Stunned silence.
"Now, stand at ease!" he commanded amused, and with one more POP, the imaginative head of Harry Potter vanished.
Yet people kept staring at the space it had been.
"Now, that didn't sound the least like the speech a normal fugitive gives the investigators." Neville suddenly stated.
Sirius Black glared at him.
** +++ **
It was several minutes later when Harry Potter finally woke up. He looked around and saw that all things he had apparated over were lying somewhere on the floor around him. After the treasure box had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, Sammy had fled onto his master's body, so there wouldn't be any objects landing on him. Harry grinned, remembering the shocked faces of all those stupid aurors.
"All went well, I take it?" Sammy asked.
"Yes." Harry answered. "All went fine. Very fine, in fact. . . you should have seen their faces."
"I've been guarding your emotions." Sammy informed. "Very different, they were. First sadness and anger. . . blinding anger. . . then only amusement. Your visit must have been very strange indeed."
Harry nodded. "It was." He confirmed.
"So. . . what are you doing now?"
"Now? Well. . ." Harry had a look at his clock, which was lying near. "Now I'm going to sleep. It's late, and God knows I'm awfully tired. But tomorrow, Sammy. . . tomorrow will be a ver busy day."
"Why, if I may ask?" Sammy hissed.
"Why? Well. . . we're getting company, I've decided. I'm not going to be the only human living in the Chamber of Secrets." Harry answered with a small smile, thinking about what he had talked about with Albus at breakfast that very same morning. Hopefully there would not be much damage beyond repair done, but Harry knew anyone was bound to have changed after years in Askaban. He certainly had.
Sammy wondered what exactly her master meant by 'getting company', but the snake didn't ask, because her master had already taken off his robes and slumped into bed.
+ + + + + + + + + + +
Author's Notes:
HA! Another chapter done. . . hard enough it was, hoped you like it. They're getting longer and longer, I notice. . . but well. Thanks for reading!!! And. . . I'm sorry it took me so long. . . especially after that cliffhanger.
I'll keep writing!
You do know who Harry's going to get, don't you?
Do me a favour and review, okay?
Ottilchen