Chapter 46: The Dream

His body felt smooth, powerful and flexible. He was gliding between shining metal bars, across dark, cold stone... he was flat against the floor, sliding along on his belly... it was dark, yet he could see objects around him shimmering in strange, vibrant colours... he was turning his head... at first glance the corridor was empty... but no…. a man was sitting on the floor ahead, his chin drooping on to his chest, his outline gleaming in the dark ...

Harry put out his tongue... he tasted the man's scent on the air ... he was alive but drowsy... sitting in front of a door at the end of the corridor...

Harry longed to bite the man... but he must master the impulse... he had more important work to do ...

'Harry, what's going on?' said a scared voice. It seemed out of place, yet somehow familiar.

the man was stirring – a silver Cloak fell from his legs as he jumped to his feet…

The voice came again, piercing through his mind. 'Harry!'

But he wouldn't be distracted from his task… Harry saw the man's vibrant, blurred outline towering above him, saw a wand withdrawn from a belt… he had no choice…

'Harry, no! Fight it!'

he reared high from the floor…

'STOP!'

There was a blinding blue flash and pain seared through his head. Images flickered across his vision, with such intensity he felt dizzy and sick.

He felt himself fall to the floor… the man was standing over him, wand out. There was a loud bang… another flash of light… pain filled his senses once more…

'Harry! HARRY!'

He opened his eyes. Every inch of his body was covered in icy sweat; his bedcovers were twisted all around him like a strait-jacket; his body was aching as though it had been beaten.

'Harry!'

Lissa was standing over him looking terrified. Ron stood at the foot of Harry's bed, white-faced and scared. Harry sat up quickly.

'Harry, what happened?' Lissa whispered shakily. 'Hey – where are you going?'

Harry had thrown his bedcovers aside and was scrambling out of bed. 'Ron's dad,' he panted as he grabbed for his shoes and dressing gown. 'There was a huge snake…'

'What?' said Ron uncomprehendingly.

'It was Mr. Weasley in that corridor?' said Lissa, shocked. 'Oh, no.'

'What?' Ron said again, louder. 'Has something happened?'

'Keep your voice down, Ron,' Lissa warned.

From two beds away, Seamus let out a loud snore. They all glanced his way, but they heard nothing else.

'What's this about Dad?' Ron whispered urgently.

'I – I think he's okay.' Harry picked up his wand and pocketed it. 'But it wasn't a normal dream.'

'We should tell someone,' said Lissa worriedly. 'Should we get Ben to pass a message to Sirius and Em?'

Harry shook his head. 'He's too far away; it'd use a lot of energy. Come on, we can tell Dumbledore – he'll let them know.'

'McGonagall's closer, maybe we should go to her first,' said Ron uncertainly as he and Lissa followed Harry out of the dormitory down the spiral stairs into the common room.

Lissa paused at portrait hole. She started to pull something long and shimmery out of her pocket. 'Wait a moment. We'd better put this on.'

'This' turned out to Harry's Invisibility Cloak.

'What?' Lissa protested as Harry sent her an exasperated look. 'I only borrowed it. Pranks don't happen by themselves you know.'

Shaking his head, Harry ducked under the Cloak and together they scrambled through the portrait hole and off along the Fat Lady's moonlit corridor.

They passed Peeves, who was hovering upside-down as he loosened the weapons held by suits of armour. In a few minutes they had reached the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

Harry stared at the gargoyle.

'So, d'you know the password?' Ron asked.

'Er,' said Harry.

'Fizzing Whizzbee,' said Lissa confidently.

The gargoyle sprang to life and leapt aside; the wall behind it split in two to reveal a stone staircase that was moving continually upwards like a spiral escalator.

'How'd you know that?' asked Harry, staring at her.

'Ben,' Lissa said, grinning.

Harry rolled his eyes. 'Of course.'

The three of them stepped onto the moving stairs; the wall closed behind them with a thud and they were moving upwards in tight circles until they reached the highly polished oak door with the brass knocker shaped like a griffin.

Though it was well past midnight there were voices coming from inside the room, a positive babble of them. It sounded as though Dumbledore was entertaining at least a dozen people.

Harry rapped three times with the griffin knocker and the voices ceased abruptly as though someone had switched them all off. The door opened of its own accord and Lissa and Ron followed Harry inside.

The room was in half-darkness; the strange silver instruments standing on tables were silent and still rather than whirring and emitting puffs of smoke as they usually did; the portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses covering the walls were all snoozing in their frames. Behind the door, a magnificent red and gold bird the size of a swan dozed on its perch with its head under its wing.

Dumbledore was sitting in a high-backed chair behind his desk; he leaned forward into the pool of candlelight illuminating the papers laid out before him. He was wearing a magnificently embroidered maroon and gold dressing gown over a snowy white nightshirt, but seemed wide-awake, his penetrating light blue eyes fixed intently upon Harry.

'Ah, Harry, what can I do for you?' If the headmaster was surprised to have students pay him a visit at two in the morning, he didn't show it.

'Professor Dumbledore, I had this dream, but it wasn't an ordinary dream… it was real… I saw it happen…' He took a deep breath, 'Ron's dad – Mr. Weasley – has been attacked by a giant snake.'

The words seemed to reverberate in the air after he had said them, sounding slightly ridiculous, even comic. There was a pause in which Dumbledore leaned back and stared meditatively at the ceiling. Ron looked from Harry to Dumbledore, white-faced and shocked.

'How did you see this?' Dumbledore asked quietly.

'Well ... I don't know,' said Harry. 'Inside my head, I suppose-'

'You misunderstand me,' said Dumbledore, still in the same calm tone. 'I mean... can you remember-er-where you were positioned as you watched this attack happen? Were you perhaps standing beside the victim, or else looking down on the scene from above?'

This was such a curious question that Harry gaped at Dumbledore; it was almost as though he knew ...

'I was the snake,' he said. 'I saw it all from the snake's point of view.'

Nobody else spoke for a moment, then Dumbledore, now looking at Ron who was still whey-faced, asked in a new and sharper voice, 'Is Arthur seriously injured?'

'No… at least, I don't think so. Lissa interrupted the dream… She stopped m – she stopped the snake. Then Mr. Weasley hit it with a spell of some sort.' Harry didn't mention that he had felt the force of the spell. He didn't think he could handle their reactions.

Dumbledore opened a draw in his desk and pulled out a sheet of parchment and a magnificent red-brown quill. His hand swept over the parchment as he jotted down a quick message. Then he stood up, so quickly it made Harry jump, and moved toward Fawkes' perch. He stroked the plumed golden head with one finger. The phoenix awoke immediately. He stretched his beautiful head high and observed Dumbledore through bright, dark eyes.

'Take this to Arthur Weasley,' Dumbledore said very quietly to the bird. 'Be sure to be discreet.'

There was a flash of fire and the phoenix had gone.

Dumbledore now turned to Lissa. 'Is there anything you can add, Miss Black?' He surveyed her curiously through his half-moon glasses.

'Well,' Lissa began slowly, 'I was asleep too. I was dreaming about something else – you know, just a normal dream – but then suddenly, a different one interrupted it, only it didn't feel like any dream I've ever had. This one… it felt… dark, evil. I was in a dark stone corridor and there was a man sitting against the wall. He seemed to be a guard or something, and he had an Invisibility Cloak. He was falling asleep. I heard something sliding across the stone and when I turned to look – ' Lissa swallowed nervously. '- it was a giant snake.'

'I see,' said Dumbledore, looking at her intensely. 'And your position?'

'I was above them.'

Dumbledore nodded slowly, his expression indecipherable. 'What happened next?'

'The snake – it felt evil – but somehow I could feel Harry in it – like they were bound together – connected somehow. I called out to him a few times, but he didn't answer. The snake slithered down the corridor toward the man, and he woke up. He jumped to his feet and pulled out his wand. I realised it was Mr. Weasley. The snake rose up like it was going to attack him, and I knew I had to stop it.'

'And how did you do that?' Dumbledore prompted.

'I – I used our bond. I connected my mind with Harry's. But it wasn't easy; I had to force my way in. The snake stopped moving and I saw Mr. Weasley send a spell at it, then the dream disappeared and I woke up. That's when I ran into Harry's dormitory. He was thrashing around when I got there, it took a while to wake him –'

There was a flash of flame in the middle of the office, and Fawkes reappeared, a folded scrap of parchment clamped in his beak. He dropped it into Dumbledore's awaiting hand.

Harry, Ron and Lissa waited impatiently as Dumbledore unfolded the parchment and read it.

'Is Dad okay?' Ron asked anxiously.

'Yes, he's perfectly fine,' said Dumbledore, not looking up from the letter. 'He's back at headquarters now and – ' A look of utter surprise crossed his face and he broke off, staring at the parchment.

Harry leaned forward. 'What is it?'

Dumbledore looked momentarily at loss for words. He looked up at them as though he'd forgotten they were in the room. 'Arthur has asked me to come immediately to headquarters. I'm afraid I can't say anything yet, it's vial that this information stay within the Order. For now you should return to your dormitories.'

Dumbledore reached into a draw in his desk and pulled out a small drawstring bag with elaborate red and gold patterns weaved into the fabric. He tugged it open and offered it to them. 'Floo powder,' he explained, gesturing to his fireplace. 'It wouldn't do for you to be caught out of bed.'

'But, sir –' began Harry.

Dumbledore held up his hand. 'I'm afraid I can't answer your questions at this point. But rest assured, they will be answered in due course.'

Lissa was the first to move. She took a handful of the glittering powder and stepped up to the fireplace. 'Gryffindor tower!' she said clearly, and then she was gone.

Ron slowly reached for his own Floo powder. He paused in front of the fireplace and turned to Dumbledore. 'Are you sure Dad's okay?'

'Yes, I'm sure. He's just arrived safely at headquarters,' said Dumbledore reassuringly. 'I'll have him contact you.'

'Thanks,' said Ron, a bit tersely. He took a deep breath and stepped into the fire, calling out his destination.

Only Harry was left. Dumbledore regarded him carefully. 'Is there anything you'd like to tell me?' he asked.

Harry thought about the horror he'd felt after realising he'd almost attacked Mr. Weasley. He could have seriously injured him or even…

Harry shook his head. 'No, sir,' he said, and grabbed his Floo powder and stepped into the fire.

'Gryffindor tower!'