Professor Potter Chapter 26 Halloween

The next week flew by fast compared to the first month of the school year. A mass outbreak of jokes played on the unsuspecting followed the first Hogsmeade weekend and Filch was spending all his time tracking down joke products, punishing students who got caught, and cursing the Weasley brothers to no end. The prefects were also busy confiscating joke products and all the professors, including Hermione and Harry, who could not avoid their duty, had to stop and punish students in the halls and dormitories. The jewels in the four glass cases in the Great Hall denoting house points were much diminished after the first few days, and then slowly began to rise again after the enthusiasm for jokes began to wear off and students concentrated on gaining the points they had lost after the house leaders and prefects reminded them of their dismal standings and how the House Cup was something worth striving for.

McGonagall was in a foul mood the whole week, and Harry feared she would carry out her threat against punishing Ron and Ginny academically, but nothing happened. Perhaps she had softened, or maybe she thought after Harry's near death experience that it would be inappropriate to punish his girlfriend and best friend.

As for Ron, he had almost sold out everything in the shop in one day and did not even care when Harry told him that Filch and McGonagall were furious at him. Ron even thought about quitting Hogwarts for good but Hermione put him straight telling him that Hogsmeade days were few and far between and the pile of Galleons he had now would not last forever. That point was driven home when Ron had to prepare his shop's tax report for September, and his pile of Galleons started to grow less already.

Harry returned to work on the Monday following getting out of the hospital wing. He also began his Auror classes again, while twice helping Charlie George, Lucy, Robert, and the other Aurors run down tips on the Stone brothers, which all turned out to be false. There was no real sign of them, and Harry and the others continued to worry about what they might be up to. The Ministry of Magic finally opened its purse strings and larger rewards were posted for the apprehension of Wallace Stone and the other at large Death Eaters.

As for the Death Eaters already in Azkaban, it seemed to Harry that they might get a reprieve from the Dementors. A ground swell of protest from the Death Eater's families was beginning to make waves, with some offers of gold no doubt leading to a number of articles in the Daily Prophet calling the continued use of the Dementors a death sentence, not a prison sentence. Since wizarding law had no death sentence for crimes, those in favor of the Dementors argued that it was just punishment for the crimes committed by those imprisoned. The debate was growing heated and Minister Shacklebolt was under pressure to make a decision one way or the other on the Dementor issue. Narcissa Malfoy was conspicuously absent from the debate, not wanting to make waves, Harry believed, since her husband was not confined to the prison anymore. Reports from the supply station in Scotland said that Lucius Malfoy was behaving well and was now used to the flights to and from Azkaban several times a week.

Hermione thought the whole position of the Death Eaters' families was very hypocritical seeing as they had been allied with the Dementors not six months earlier. She gave her scathing indictment of the whole thing the Friday evening following Harry's return to work as they sat in Harry's quarters.

"Typical," she huffed as she sat at Harry's desk translating the spell book like she had been doing for the past two hours. "Always wanting things in their favor."

"Doesn't everyone?" Harry replied as he sat on his sofa warming himself by his fireplace, the Daily Prophet in his hands, opened to an article on the Dementor issue.

"I suppose," she agreed with some reluctance as she flipped a page in the book, her mind already moving from the Dementor debate back to the spell book. She quickly grabbed her French Muggle dictionary and began translating on a piece of parchment, the Dementor issue already forgotten.

As Harry looked at her working on the book, he once more questioned the wisdom of not destroying it and the phoenix feather. He fought an urge to get the feather from its hiding place and grab the book from Hermione and throw them both in his blazing fire. He knew the book would burn, but what about the feather. Would it burn, he thought again for the umpteenth time. The feather in his wand had been destroyed, but that was by a powerful magic curse. He knew phoenix feathers did burn, but then they regenerated. Did they have to be part of the whole phoenix or not? He had asked Hagrid but he didn't know, mostly because he didn't have much experience with phoenixes. Fawkes was the only phoenix he had ever seen in England and Dumbledore had never let him examine Fawkes. After Dumbledore's death and funeral no one had seen Fawkes again and Hagrid believed the majestic bird may have also died, seeing as the bond between it and Dumbledore had been so strong. Harry thought maybe he should go ask Dumbledore's portrait but the opportunity had not yet arisen.

Neither had he had the chance to talk to McGonagall about the Elder Wand. He didn't know if it was still in her office or if she had returned it to Dumbledore's tomb. He had only seen her briefly a few times last week, once to get an update on what she had taught in his classes while he was in hospital and once at breakfast for a few moments. A chance to talk about the Elder Wand time had not presented itself as either students or other professors had been about. She was also still in her bad mood about the joke products so Harry let it slide. Both Ginny and Hermione had pushed him to find out what had happened to the wand and he decided he definitely would go see her before the weekend was out.

As for Harry's new wand, it was working fine, but he still felt odd using it, like he had felt when using the substitute wands after his had been damaged. Your first wand was always the best wand he thought. Hagrid's magic lessons were already started, with Hermione giving him a study schedule so he could prepare for his O.W.L.s. Hagrid had blanched at the idea of book study, saying he only wanted to learn practical magic, but Hermione told him that she wouldn't teach him anything unless he strived for both his O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. After that Hagrid reluctantly agreed, and there was even talk of him joining some classes in his free time, but that might not work out since he was so busy. Hermione was also busy, with the book, so Ginny and Harry had been the ones to help Hagrid with the first few lessons of practical magic.

"Ah, just as I thought, the Confundus Charm," said Hermione as she made some notes and then turned to another page. "Greek," she said and then took her Greek dictionary from the many books in front of her. Just then there was a knock on the door. Harry quickly crossed to the door and opened it to find Ginny, looking tired and also a little mad. She strode in without saying hello or even giving him a kiss or a hug. He knew right away what was wrong.

"That bad?" he asked.

"The worst practice ever," she said as she sat on the sofa. "They just don't work as a team. Seamus and Dean kept arguing over positions, the Keeper is dismal, worse than Ron with a bad case of nerves, and I've never seen so many dropped Quaffles since the Chudley Cannons lost to the Holyhead Harpies 350 nil. The only bright spot is William, the new Seeker. Maybe he can catch the Snitch before Ravenclaw scores too many goals."

"You'll do fine," Harry said as he sat with her. "The first game is always the worst on the nerves."

"I know," Ginny replied. "But I was never captain before. How did you do it?"

"Just relax, and trust your players and your plan," Harry said. "Ravenclaw is not that strong this year. And remember, you're the best Chaser to ever play for Gryffindor. Just keep scoring and keep the Quaffle away from Ravenclaw until William gets the Snitch. I know you'll win."

"I wish you were with us," she said with longing in her voice and Harry wished he was too but couldn't now that he was a staff member.

"Ah, Episkey, a Healing Charm," Hermione was saying from the desk. She then began turning pages again as she made more notes, not even paying attention to Harry and Ginny.

"Still hard at it, I see," said Ginny, glancing at Hermione for a brief moment.

"Time is almost up," said Harry. "I promised her ten days and it will be, come Tuesday."

"Has she found any connection to the Deathly Hallows?"

"No," said Hermione very loudly from the desk, still working, not turning to look at them. "Please don't talk like I am not in the room."

"Sorry," Ginny said in a little sing song way, which Harry knew meant she wasn't really sorry. Hermione did not comment but kept working.

"Still no sign of Snape?" Ginny asked next and Harry shook his head.

"Be a week tomorrow."

"Did you check the map?"

"Morning and night," said Harry. "No sign of him. Of course I haven't been watching it all day. And he could have left the school grounds."

"I thought the Hogwarts ghosts couldn't leave the castle," Ginny said.

"There is a lot we don't know about them," said Hermione from the desk. "I bet they can leave, they just don't want to."

"I should have asked Nick that when I saw him," said Harry.

"So Nick and none of the other ghosts have seen him?" Ginny asked.

"If they have they aren't talking," Harry answered. "I got the feeling Nick knew something but he wouldn't say. Maybe Snape has put the fear of his ghostly wrath into them all."

"Sounds like him," said Ginny with a nod of her head. "Maybe he's really gone for good though, passed on to the afterlife."

"I don't know," said Harry thoughtfully. "But, and I know it sounds strange, but I hope not."

"You can't be serious?" Ginny asked with slightly widened eyes.

"He did save my life."

"Which wouldn't have needed saving if not for him," Ginny reminded him, her voice rising a bit. "Harry, getting that phoenix feather almost killed you."

"I know."

"You should destroy it."

"Certainly not!" Hermione said suddenly, her chair quickly turned toward them again, deciding to join in more fully now that something important was being discussed. "It's a highly valuable magical item and should be preserved."

"I think you're forgetting where it came from!" Ginny said heatedly. "That feather was part of a wand that killed dozens of people, including Harry's parents. Sorry." The last was for Harry.

"It's okay," he said to her.

"It's just a feather now," Hermione said. "The evil it caused was because of who controlled the wand, not the feather itself."

"You both have good points," Harry said, starting to get a headache from their debate. "But…let's just leave it for now."

"Fine," said Hermione in a slightly mollified way as she turned back to her translating.

"Fine," said Ginny, a little bit huffy, and Harry could tell she was not fine with it and he knew they would argue over this again. Why did they always have to argue? As soon as he asked himself that question he knew the answer. Hermione thought with her head, deciding what to do based on the intellectual importance of the issue to her and the magical world as a whole. Ginny thought with her heart, and wanted to destroy those things that could cause harm to those she loved. Harry saw both sides of the issue and was more inclined to agree with Ginny, not because she was his girlfriend, but because he knew what harm could come from not doing the right thing at the right time.

"It's getting late," Harry said after an awkward silence. "Almost 9 o'clock, curfew time. And you've got a big day tomorrow."

Ginny sighed. "Right. Walk me back?"

"Come on, Hermione," Harry said.

"What? Oh…can I just spend some more time? I don't have a curfew."

"Sorry," Harry answered. "I need to rest, too. You can stay in here all day tomorrow if you want."

Hermione seemed to brighten at that notion. "Great! Just one second…there." She stuck a small piece of parchment to mark her place in the book and then handed it to Harry. He quickly replaced the book in its hiding place next to the phoenix feather and then all three went out and headed for Gryffindor Tower. As they passed the place where the entrance to the Slytherin dorm was located a section of the stone wall suddenly slid open and Professor Slughorn stepped out into the hallway. He did not notice them at first as he stopped to close the door with a whispered word they could not hear. As he turned and spotted them he gave a small start like he was up to no good, a look Harry had seen before when Slughorn had been in the greenhouses the night Harry had retrieved the hidden memory from him. Why Slughorn should look like that coming out of his own house dormitory was a mystery.

"Ah, Harry, Professor Granger, Miss Weasley," Slughorn said, regaining his composure. "Bit late to be roaming the halls, yes?"

"Just walking the girls back to the dorm," Harry told him.

"As am I. Off to bed, I mean."

"Professor Slughorn, have you set a time for your party?" Hermione asked him as they started walking together.

"Party?" Slughorn said in puzzlement. "Whatever do you mean?"

"The dinner party you had planned before Harry got hurt," Hermione said. "Harry told me you wanted to start the club again and have a party with myself, Ron and Harry as special guests."

"Ron?…Oh, yes, your boyfriend."

Hermione turned a bit pink at that. "Yes. So…the party?"

"Haven't set a date yet," Slughorn said. "Might have to wait till after Christmas holidays. Yes, that is best I think."

Hermione and Harry shared a puzzled look. "Whatever you think is best," said Harry, who had the impression Slughorn had been eager to have this party.

They walked in silence for a few moments and then Harry asked him about Snape. "Professor, you haven't seen Snape around have you?"

"What? Severus? Oh, right, his ghost…no. Haven't seen him. Why? Is he missing?"

"We haven't seen him for a week," Ginny told him.

"Perhaps he is busy," opinioned Slughorn. "Any reason why you need to see him?"

"Er…no, just wondering what happened to him," said Harry, who had lied to Slughorn about many things or did not tell him. Slughorn did not know that Snape had been trying to make a potion of resurrection for one thing or that the phoenix feather survived or anything at all about the book of spells.

"I would check your lovely map if I were you," Slughorn suggested.

"Already looked," said Harry. "But we haven't seen him on it."

"Peculiar," said Slughorn thoughtfully. "Perhaps now that this wand business is over he has decided to depart the mortal world."

"That's what I said," Ginny told him.

"Can ghosts leave Hogwarts grounds?" Hermione asked Slughorn, ignoring Ginny's comment.

"Not sure," replied Slughorn. "Perhaps you should ask a ghost. But I wouldn't ask the Baron. Nasty a ghost as they come. Ah, this is the way to my quarters. Good night." They said goodnight to him and soon reached the stairs to Gryffindor Tower where Harry said goodnight to Ginny and Hermione.

The next day Hermione came to Harry's rooms early and started looking through the book right away, barely saying goodbye to Harry as he left for breakfast and the Quidditch match. He didn't even bother asking her if she wanted to come to the match, knowing she was more interested in that damn book than anything else right now.

As he left his quarters and walked to the Great Hall he got a glimpse of the weather outside. It was bright and sunny and it looked like there was very little wind, a perfect day for the first game of the Quidditch season. All the students were up early for a Saturday and having breakfast when Harry arrived in the Great Hall. A lot of betting was going on and good natured teasing between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables. Ginny, Dean, Seamus, William and the rest of the team were at the Gryffindor table, dressed for the match in their scarlet uniforms. Harry felt a twinge of envy for a brief moment, wanting to be going with them, flying around and not having a care about anything except finding the Snitch. He came by and wished them all luck and started chatting about strategy. Luna also came over to wish them luck, despite getting some glares from her Ravenclaw housemates.

"Where's Hermione?" Luna asked, looking around.

"Ah…don't know," lied Harry. "Maybe she'll meet us at the pitch."

Harry excused himself and went to the head table and had breakfast. Professor Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw House, tried to get Harry to bet on the game but Harry felt it might bring bad luck to his old house's team if he did so. Hagrid was not so worried and took Flitwick's bet, making it an even ten Galleons. Flitwick tried to get McGonagall in on the action but she claimed it would be inappropriate seeing as she was no longer Head of Gryffindor House and was now Headmistress of Hogwarts. Despite this declaration of neutrality, Harry couldn't help but notice she was wearing a Gryffindor House scarf. After breakfast, everyone was in high spirits as they trooped down to the pitch. Harry, Neville, and Hagrid met Ron by the pitch and then they took seats in the stands with the rest of the Gryffindor fans, having good seats where they could see all the action. Ron had decided not to open the shop until one o'clock since he badly wanted to see the match. Harry could tell Ron was a bit mad that Hermione didn't come, but he knew about her obsession with the book and said nothing about it.

Then after all the excitement and build up to the match it was over in less than twenty minutes. Gryffindor was up 60 to 20, with Ginny scoring four of the goals for her team, when suddenly William dove out of the sky over the pitch, streaked down with the Ravenclaw Seeker right behind him, and he grabbed the Snitch right in front of the announcer's box. The Gryffindor fans went wild and soon they poured out of the pitch with William held high, his face with a look of disbelief that Harry was sure he had on his own face the first time he had caught the Snitch in a match.

The after match celebrations continued in the Gryffindor common room, with Harry happy that Ginny's first foray as captain had gone so well. Ginny looked relieved that they had won and now had plenty of time before their next match in February to fine tune the team. Ron offered to help her Keeper but Ginny said she wanted to win the next match, not lose by fifty goals. That touched a raw nerve and Ron's face turned red and he was just about to start a fight with his sister when the portrait opened and Hermione came flying into the room, a distraught look on her face. She came right up to them and they immediately knew something was wrong.

"I don't know how it happened," she said, her face and voice full of anguish. It was hard to hear her because of the noisy party in the room.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked with concern, his voice a bit loud in the din.

"Come on," she said and the three of them followed her, ignoring the shouts from the others to stay.

As they raced down the stairs Hermione started to explain. "I was getting hungry since I missed breakfast so I went to the kitchens to ask Winky for something. She and I got talking and so I spent some time there and when I got back to Harry's room…someone had been in there."

Harry felt a cold shudder pass through his body and knew right away why she was upset. "What's missing?"

"The book," she said in anguish. "And the feather!"

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed.

"I knew this was going to be trouble!" Ginny added with some heat, casting a glare at Hermione who couldn't look any of them in the eye.

"Come on!" Harry shouted and nothing more was said as they raced to Harry's quarters. The door was locked and Harry quickly took out his new wand and said "Open sesame". Inside everything looked normal, just as he had left it this morning.

"Where was the book?" he asked.

"In the hiding place," said Hermione in a distraught tone. "I put it there before I left and closed it tight and locked like you showed me. I went to get it when I got back and it was gone and so was the feather!"

Harry went right to the secret hiding place and confirmed what she said was true. "They're gone."

"You locked the door when you left?" Ginny asked Hermione in a suspicious tone.

"Of course she did," Ron said, coming to his girlfriend's defense. "She's not an idiot!"

Hermione gave him a weak smile. "Yes, I locked the door and the hiding place, with that spell Harry has been using, the one Snape taught him."

"Snape," said Harry in a quiet voice as he sat on his bed, feeling deflated, all the joy from the Quidditch win gone. "It was Snape."

"How could he have taken it?" Ron asked in a skeptical tone. "He's a ghost!"

"Yeah, but who knew it was here?" Ginny said next. "Only us four and Snape!"

"McGonagall," added Hermione. "And Charlie George."

"But they don't know about the hiding place," Harry said next. "And why would they take it? Nothing makes sense except Snape did it."

"But how?" Hermione asked. "He's a ghost. He can't touch anything or do magic."

"I don't know," said Harry with a shrug.

"I bet it was Stone," Ron stated firmly. "He's been behind everything else. Or he got Filch to do his dirty work again!"

"Don't be an idiot," Ginny answered him and he glared at her. "Stone already has a feather according to what Ollivander said and he had the book long enough to copy the potion ingredients page."

"And Filch was at the game," said Harry. "I saw him in the stands with Madam Pince."

"Snape could have recruited someone to help him," suggested Hermione next.

"Who's dimwitted enough to help that old git of a ghost!" Ron exclaimed.

"I was," said Harry quietly.

Ron looked a little embarrassed. "Oh…yeah, right…but you had good reason to. Who else does?"

"No one," said Hermione. "But it's the only thing that makes sense."

They were silent for a few moments. Then Harry stood. "Come on, let's look for clues."

For ten minutes they examined the room, the door, the locks, the secret hiding place, the desk, everything, using spells Harry had learned in Auror training. There were no footprints or fingerprints to be seen since there was no dust as the room was cleaned daily by the house elves. Nothing had been moved out of place. It was if the person knew exactly where to look. Then Harry had one more agonizing thought.

"My mother's hair," he said out loud and as they looked at him in surprise he reached for the book on the shelf that had his mother's hairs folded inside a piece of parchment. Harry flipped through the book. Nothing. He turned it upside down and shook it. Nothing happened.

He sat on the chair by the desk and let out a big sigh. "It's gone." He stared off as if in shock. Ginny immediately went to his side and put a comfortaing hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, God," said Hermione. "It's Snape. It has to be."

Harry nodded. "He was the only one who knew where it was. None of you or anyone else knew."

"This only means one thing," said Ginny. "He's trying to make the potion."

They all looked at each other and knew she was right. "Yes," said Harry. "But who will drink it?"

Ron spoke up. "You don't think he could have tricked some student into doing his dirty work, do you?"

"Perhaps," said Hermione, her voice breaking. "It's…it's all my fault. I should have let you destroy the book and the feather." She looked like she was on the verge of tears and Ron quickly put an arm around her shoulder. Ginny said nothing but Harry could tell by her look she agreed with Hermione's statement.

"We can't change what's has happened now," said Harry, trying to head off a fight. "If anyone is to blame it's me. For trusting Snape, for not being honest with everyone in the beginning, for not destroying the book and feather once we knew what the truth was."

They were silent for a few moments and then Ginny spoke. "What do we do now?"

"Find Snape," said Harry.

"The map," said Hermione and Harry quickly got out the Marauder's Map. But after fifteen minutes of examining it there was no sign of Snape's ghost.

"Now what?" asked Ron.

"We do what Slughorn said," Hermione answered. "We talk to the ghosts again, find out what they know about Snape."

"And the paintings," said Harry. "You three get on that. I'm off to see McGonagall and tell her what happened."

They quickly agreed. Harry looked once more on the map and saw McGonagall was in the Great Hall with Flitwick, Hagrid and many of the other professors. Then they left his rooms, Harry giving them the map so they could look for ghosts and possibly spot Snape. He said goodbye and quickly made his way to the Great Hall. Many of the professors were at the Hufflepuff table, having tea or something stronger, as he guessed Hagrid was having by the jovial way he greeted Harry.

"There's me savior!" Hagrid shouted as Harry walked up to the table. "Helped me get back my wand rights!"

"I always knew you were innocent," said Flitwick, who wasn't in as jovial mood as the rest, seeing as his house had lost today.

McGonagall was now looking at Harry. "How goes the party?"

"Er…fine, they are…happy," he said and it sounded foolish. "Er...Professor McGonagall, can I have a word?"

"Can't it wait?" she asked, looking a bit uneasy as she spoke.

"Afraid not," Harry said.

"Come on Harry, have a drink," said Hagrid. But McGonagall was already standing up.

"My office," she said to Harry as she started walking from the hall. He quickly followed her through the corridors which had many students going about, with the Ravenclaws looking glum and the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins talking about their chances in their game which would be in a few weeks time.

As they walked McGonagall looked at Harry. "Not to worry, it's still in my office, but surely this could have waited."

"Sorry?"

"The Elder Wand. That is what you want to talk about, isn't it?"

"Oh…yes…but…later," Harry and then he spoke in a rush. "The book and phoenix feather have been taken from my quarters!"

She stopped in her tracks and had a look of total surprise on her face. "Taken? When?"

Harry quickly started to explain but the halls were crowded so she motioned to a classroom which was empty. Harry finished his story and told her what the others were doing to try to find Snape.

"Are you sure it was him?" McGonagall asked as she paced, worry etched into her face.

"I can't think of anyone else, not even Wallace Stone." They hashed over the same arguments Harry had with the others and McGonagall quickly came to see sense of Harry's accusations toward Snape once he told her his mother's hairs were also missing.

"Very well," said McGonagall as if deciding something. "I will also have a word with the Baron since he can better control the ghosts and Peeves as well. Then there is nothing more we can do for the moment. We cannot bring anyone else into our circle of trust, not without revealing too much."

"I should have destroyed it all when I had the chance," Harry said with a glum look on his face.

"Why didn't you?" McGonagall asked, not as a reprimand, but as a mere question of curiosity.

Harry knew why and it had nothing to do with Hermione's desire to look through that book. "I thought…I thought there might be a chance…a way to bring her back. Now I may have caused more harm."

McGonagall looked at him with sympathy. "Do not judge yourself too harshly. We will find Professor Snape one way or the other."

"Can the ghosts leave Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"I am not sure," said McGonagall. "The ghosts that are here are afraid of death, that is why they are ghosts. And as part of Hogwarts they are welcome, whereas in the Muggle world or even in a wizard home they would almost certainly be not welcome. Professor Snape, however, is a special case. He was not afraid of death. In fact, he faced it almost daily in deceiving Voldemort for as long as he did. He is here for a purpose so the limits of Hogwarts may not apply to him."

"I should never have trusted him."

"It is not always easy to know who to trust or not. Now…about the Elder Wand. What should we do with it?"

That took Harry by surprise. "I think it should go back in Professor Dumbledore's tomb."

"Too many know it was there now and the tomb is too accessible," said McGonagall. "I could modify everyone's memories again but perhaps it should remain in my office for now. Only a few of you know it is there and only I can get in and out."

"I guess that is best for now," Harry said. With that they left the classroom and McGonagall went off to find the Baron and Harry went looking for the others.

They did not find Snape, despite the help of the ghosts and paintings. None had seen him for several days, although Nick did admit seeing him a few days after his dramatic exit from Harry's quarters. Nick had seen Snape floating along nearby the corridor leading past the Slytherin dorm towards Harry's quarters one night. Besides that, Snape was not seen anywhere in the castle.

Harry reported it all to Charlie George and that's where things lay for the next few weeks. No sign of the Stone brothers and none of Snape's ghost. Harry continued to look at his map at odd times but could not find Snape on it. Maybe he did fade away. Maybe the Stone brothers were on the run, unable to translate the potion ingredients, unable to find anyone to help them, giving up on the plan to resurrect Voldemort. But Harry knew that was wishful thinking. It was all so frustrating that he had trouble concentrating on his teaching and Auror training.

The only bright spot in Harry's days was when he found time to be alone with Ginny, which was still not enough for either of them. The weather turned colder, and several mornings snow was on the ground but not yet enough to build up. He made one more trip to Azkaban, in a cold swirling rainstorm, during which Lucius Malfoy had almost fallen off his broom and would have fallen into the sea if Mundungus had not grabbed him in time. Hagrid's magic lessons continued, and he was learning more, although he did not know how to Apparate yet.

As the last week of October came, the school prepared for the traditional Halloween feast. It was on a Saturday this year and everyone was looking forward to it, a day to sleep in and then enjoy a lovely feast at night. The school was lavishly decorated with pumpkins and other assorted Halloween items and in the kitchens the house-elves were working not stop to prepare the feast.

Harry woke up around 10 AM and then just lay in bed for a long time, not even bothering to light his lamps or his fire despite the chill.

October 31. Not his favorite date in the year. "My parents died on this day," he thought, and for a brief moment felt an overwhelming sorry engulf him. It was seventeen years to the day they died. Maybe he should go to Godric's Hallow, visit them. But he didn't want to go alone and Ginny couldn't go with him so he put that thought out of his head.

Gradually he summoned the energy to get out of bed. He sat for a few moments and flexed his left hand. It was still not one hundred percent, still some pain in there, and Madam Pomfrey had said that might last for some time. Harry felt for his wand and found it on the bed nightstand and then lit his bedside lamp. He held the wand, which was beginning to feel more comfortable the more he used it. But it was not the same.

Slowly he got out of bed, put on his slippers and bathrobe and lit his fire. Then he did what he always did these past few weeks. He took out his map and looked for Snape. He looked for twenty minutes and as usual found nothing. Then came a knock to his door and he knew it was Ginny. They had planned to have breakfast and then spend the day together, doing whatever they pleased, just to relax and have fun.

"Morning," Ginny said as she gave him a hug. "Happy Halloween."

"Happy Halloween," he replied but he had no enthusiasm in his voice. Ginny looked at him with worry as she came into the room.

"Not a happy day, is it?" she said as they sat on the sofa.

"No, not much," he answered and she hugged him and held him for a long moment, not having to say anything, knowing what was bothering him.

"I'm okay," he said after a bit. "Let me get dressed and then we'll head out."

"We could…stay here?" she said, with a hopeful look on her face. "I mean…spend the day…here?"

Harry grinned despite his unhappy mood. "You mean, here?" he asked, pointing to his bed.

Ginny grinned also. "We can just…you know, lie here, and we can…do whatever we want." She moved over to the bed, took off her jacket, and then sat on it. She patted the spot next to her. Harry sat and looked at her.

"Let me take care of you today," she said softly as she put her arms around him.

"I haven't brushed my teeth yet or taken a shower."

"We can shower together."

Harry felt his heart thump as she said this with a mischievous look on her face.

"This is dangerous," he said in a slight teasing tone. "You aren't supposed to be in here."

"I'm tired of hiding our love. I'm tired of sneaking off to the Room of Requirement," she said and then closed her eyes and leaned in for a kiss. But Harry did not lean back or kiss her and after a moment Ginny opened her eyes.

"The Room of Requirement," said Harry quietly, his eyes getting wider.

"What about it?"

"Snape."

"What?"

"Snape could hide in there. It's Unplottable. It's not on the map!"

"Bloody hell," Ginny whispered. "Of course that's where he is!"

"It's the only thing that makes sense," Harry replied as he stood, and started taking off his robe and pajamas. "I'm going to wash up. You run and find Hermione."

Ginny just nodded and got off the bed and picked up her coat. Harry was now down to his underwear and she was staring at him. She stepped toward him and kissed him full on the mouth and then pulled back after a moment. "You owe me a day in bed."

Harry gulped. "For sure."

Ginny grinned. "We'll meet you on the seventh floor."

"Right," Harry said, his pulse racing. And then she was gone, leaving Harry with a feeling of frustration in more ways than one. A cold shower was definitely in order. Oh, why did his brain have to reach such conclusions at such inopportune times! But he also kicked himself as he turned on his shower. Why didn't we think of this sooner?

There was no time to worry about that. He quickly washed, brushed his teeth, and got dressed in blue jeans and a sweater, grabbing his jacket, wand, and map as he left his room. Ten minutes later he saw Ginny by herself outside the entrance to the Room of Requirement.

"Where's Hermione?" he asked right away.

"Gone to Hogsmeade according to Neville," said Ginny. "She left after breakfast to see Ron and help in the shop."

"I guess we can do this by ourselves," Harry said. "He's just a ghost after all. So…what should we think about?"

"How about 'a place where a ghost can hide'?" Ginny suggested.

They tried that and nothing happened. Then they tried many more versions of the same idea, all of which came to nothing. To test if the room was working they asked for a place where they could be alone, like they always did on date nights. This time the room opened. They walked inside and it was as it was normally for their dates, with a bed and candlelight. But no Snape.

"Severus?" Harry called out, his voice echoing in the room. Nothing happened.

"Professor Snape?" Ginny tried. Harry gave her an odd look. "He hates when we call him Severus," she said.

"Right," Harry replied. They waited a bit but nothing happened. "I guess I was wrong."

"He could still be hiding near here, just not showing himself," Ginny surmised. "Or maybe he floated away when we entered." They quickly checked the map but Snape was not seen nearby the room.

"Another dead end," Harry said, feeling deflated again.

"Maybe our timing is just wrong," said Ginny, trying to sound positive. "We know he can go in here. Remember how he interrupted us?"

"How could I forget," Harry replied, then he just turned toward the exit. "Come on, let's eat before breakfast is over. We'll check back here later."

"Wait!" Ginny said. "Not here, but what about there? The Here and There Room! It's also Unplottable!"

They raced outside to the corridor where the entrance to the room was. Then Harry stopped and went to reach into his jeans pocket for the Key to Hogwarts and realized he had made a blunder. "It's in the pocket of the trousers I was wearing yesterday, my ones I wear for teaching. I left the key in my room."

"Oh…I guess we can go get it and come back."

But Harry wasn't so sure. "If he's here, he'll just float away again. Besides, if we go in there we'll end up in some far off place and have to call Kreacher to get out."

Ginny nodded. "Bloody ghost," she swore quietly.

"Nothing we can do about it."

They went down to the Great Hall and then realized breakfast was over. The decorated hall was empty and the tables cleared of dishes and only a few students were moving through the corridors. Just then Hagrid came from the hallway leading to Harry's quarters.

"Harry, Ginny, there yeh is," he said in his booming voice. "Was jus' lookin' fer yeh."

"Anything wrong?" Harry asked, wondering what other bad news could fall on this day.

Hagrid was taken aback for a second. "Wrong? Nope, not that I knows of. I jus' wanted ter ask if you'll help me go look fer Grawp."

"Is he missing?" Ginny asked with concern.

"Don't rightly know," said Hagrid. "He might be jus' off by himself. Went up ter his cave the other day and he wasn't there. I haven't seen him in more than two weeks."

"Is that unusual?" Harry asked next.

"Sometimes he goes off fer awhile," Hagrid answered. "But it's getting' colder so…"

"You're worried about him, aren't you?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah," said Hagrid. "He's all alone and I'm only one he's got so…kin yeh help me?"

"Of course," said Harry.

"Thanks," Hagrid answered. "Best go now when the light is good. Might have a bit of walkin' ter do."

"I can't leave the school grounds," Ginny said glumly.

"Right," said Hagrid. "Jus' me and you Harry, like old times."

"I'll meet you by the main gates, okay?" Harry said to Hagrid. "I need to do something first."

"It's a plan," said the half-giant. "I needs to get me crossbow and Fang anyways. See yeh there."

Hagrid left, and Harry quickly turned to Ginny. He took out the map and gave it to her. "I have an idea. Take the map and go to the seventh floor and watch out for Snape."

"What if he sees me first?"

"You still have my Invisibility Cloak, right?" Ginny had been using it to sneak around to meet Harry.

"Sure," she said. "But…if I see Snape, what do I do?"

"Nothing," Harry answered. "I just want to know if he is still here and then we'll find a way to confront him about the missing things. Just wait in the corridor between the Room of Requirement and the Here and There Room. If Snape floats by you are bound to spot him."

"Okay, but I famished and neither of us has had breakfast."

"Go to the kitchens, Winky will fix you something. I'll get something in Hogsmeade before we head to the hills."

"Be careful," Ginny said and then they had a quick kiss and parted.

Harry found Hagrid by the gates by himself with his crossbow. It was cloudy and cold and a little snow was on the ground.

"Where's Fang?" Harry asked.

"Lazy dog," Hagrid grumbled. "Didn't want ter leave the fire. He's gettin' bit old fer this kinda thing anyways. Come on then."

They moved to the village and Harry told Hargid he hadn't had breakfast yet. They stopped by the Three Broomsticks and Harry had a quick meal of oatmeal and tea, while Hagrid fortified himself from the cold with a large glass of brandy. Harry had the feeling Hargid wanted more so he quickly ate and had them on their way before they ended up spending too much time in the pub. They stopped by the joke shop to say hello, and tell Ron and Hermione where they were going. Both wanted to come but Hagrid told them there was no need and the shop was rather busy as it was Saturday. Harry found a chance to take Hermione and Ron in the back room and told them what they suspected and what Ginny was doing. Hermione quickly told Ron she needed to go back to the school, and he wanted to go too, but couldn't. She said goodbye to them and raced back to the school to help Ginny.

Soon Harry and Hargid were on their way again, walking past the Hogs Head and heading up towards the hills outside of Hogsmeade. Hagrid's footsteps seemed to be heading toward the pub but Harry reminded him that they only had a little daylight seeing as they were so far north, it was near winter, and it was already nearly lunchtime.

The fresh snow left one set of very large and one set of regular sized footprints in the snow. Harry felt cold and wanted to Apparate to Grawp's cave but Hagrid couldn't do it yet and after their last fiasco at Apparating Harry didn't want to chance it again. As they walked through the snowy boulder strewn landscape, Hagrid speculated on where Grawp could be. They would check his cave first and then look for his tracks if he was gone somewhere. If the trail went too far they would go back to Hogwarts and come back tomorrow, flying thestrals this time to cover more ground.

Soon they were approaching the place where Sirius' cave was located. Harry recalled the thin fissure that led to the dank cave where Sirius had hidden for months.

"That's where Sirius had hidden during my fourth year," Harry told Hagrid.

"I've seen it from the outside before," Hagrid said. "Bit too big ter fit inside though. Come on. Grawp's cave is jus' up past here about another ten minutes walk."

They walked towards the entrance to Sirius' cave and then suddenly there was a familiar popping sound behind them. Instinctively Harry pulled out his wand and turned, ready for anything. Hagrid was a bit slower and as he turned too he let out a booming laugh, his crossbow loosely held at his side.

"It's just Aberforth," said Hagrid, walking toward Dumbledore's brother, who stood there in the snow, dressed in his usual robes. "What yeh doin' up here on a Saturday?"

But Aberforth said nothing, just stared at them in genuine surprise, and Harry's hairs stood up on his skin and knew something was not right when he saw a wand in Aberforth's hands. Hagrid also stopped and looked at Dumbledore's brother in puzzlement.

"Aberforth?"

Then Harry knew, and as Aberforth's wand came up Harry knew that wand and shouted a warning to Hagrid. "It's not Aberforth!" But it was too late.

"Avada Kedavra!" shouted Aberforth as he pointed the wand at Hagrid.

"NOOOOO!" screamed Harry as the bolt of green flew toward the shocked Hagrid who had still not taken out his wand or fired his crossbow. The spell hit Hagrid in the chest and he let out a sound as if all the air was expelled from his body at once and then to Harry's horror his friend toppled over backwards in the snow and landed with a thud, his eyes staring, blank, and lifeless.

It couldn't be, it can't be, get up, get up Hagrid, you're part giant, you can't be dead, spells don't hurt you, get up, help me, save me, but Harry knew he couldn't get up and he also knew he had no time to grieve, no time to think. Then his wand was coming up and pointing at the killer, the man who was not Aberforth Dumbledore, and the Killing Curse formed in his mind and his mind boiled with all the rage that had built for seventeen years, all the rage that had been born of these people who had killed his parents, attacked his world, forced him to flee, and to hide, and to be terrified and to lose those he loved most in the world, and he knew he was about to really kill someone for the first time, he knew it would work, that he would blast this killer into an oblivion.

But the chance never came, as Harry realized he couldn't move. He was paralyzed, just like when he and Ginny had been attacked near the Dursleys home last summer. Harry pitched over in the snow and landed besides Hagrid's body, face down in the cold snow.

Hands touched him and he was turned over. Then he heard a shocked voice he had not heard in over a month. "It's Harry Potter!"

"Yes," said another voice with some satisfaction. "An unexpected turn of events."

A face came into view. Harry was looking at Winston Stone, who was now looking a bit ragged. He had the start of a beard and mustache and long hair, but it was Winston alright, the startling blue eyes staring at Harry, looking unfocused and Harry knew he was still cursed. He had a wand in his hand and Harry guessed that it was he who had paralyzed him from behind.

"Get him in the cave," said the other voice and he knew this would be Wallace Stone. As Harry was raised from the ground with a Hover Charm he saw Aberforth slowly change back into Wallace Stone, the Polyjuice potion he had taken wearing off.

Wallace Stone bent over Harry as he was floating toward the cave entrance and looked him in the eye. He was also long haired and bearded, and had a demented look in his eye. "Now, Potter, you are going to tell me everything I need to know. And then when it's completed, you shall be his first victim. Then I will be rewarded, and placed at his right hand, to become the Dark Lord's most trusted apprentice."