Part 59
In the deep of the forest a white wolf sat on a rock and looked up at the moon. It could feel it. Something was coming, something bad. It looked around in the darkness. In the grass around the rock lay most of its pack. Four members were missing. With a sigh the white wolf soundlessly jumped off the rock and trotted out into the darkness. It knew its pack was safe, after all… who would dare disturb a pack of werewolves? It trotted out into the night and soon came upon what it was looking for. By a tree stood a lone figure. It's hair long, it's skin light even in the dark. The clothes it carried looked as if it belonged in medieval times and not the 90s. The wolf trotted up to the being and followed its gaze. The being was looking at the moon as well. The being turned its head and its eyes locked with that of the werewolf.
"It has been a long time has it not Jemima?" it asked and Jemima nodded its head. "I thought you were not to come near my people again."
"It was not on purpose", Jemima replied.
"So you say…" the being looked at the moon. "Things are moving in the world of man."
"Isn't it always? Time for them runs forever forward whereas yours as well as mine stays still."
"Yes but big things is moving in the darkness. The rising of former darkness… a dark lord long thought defeated and the rising of a new one. The unknown one."
"And at the same time the light is moving onward as well."
"Ah yes… the chosen one is there and the Audientis moves in the shadows as well."
"You too have felt his powers I presume."
"I have as have you."
"Is it for the better good or the worse?"
"Why do you ask me?"
"Because you have the gift of foresight… I do not."
"True, if you had you would have not been in this situation I guess."
"I regret nothing."
"You say that now."
"And I will continue to say it. I love my life, I love my circus and I love my family. The thing that makes it all okay… my family loves me."
"Yes but you are the only constant in that pack, the rest are just guests at your table for a short while."
"That may be so but even though the ones I love pass while I march on I will still continue with my head held high and for my pack."
"The coming of the Dark Lord is near."
"I know and I take it you are not joining the fight this time either."
"Why should we fight for a world that denies our existence and has shunned us for a very long time? Why should we ride to the aid for those that did not come to ours? What do we owe them?"
"Nothing. But what if they lose? He will come for you."
"Let him come." The being turned around and left the werewolf alone. It sighed and looked up at the moon again. It smiled and hurried back to its pack. Yes, the Dark Lord was coming and he was coming soon.
Harry told Blaise, Hermione and Neville everything he had seen in the Pensive in Dumbledore's office. The news about Snape was not new news for any of them, but it was still strange to them that everyone seemed to trust the man. Everyone except Blaise's guardians and Harry's father and godfather.
"But your mum trusts him", Hermione said and looked at the fire. They'd snuck into a classroom that had a fireplace. Harry wasn't sure which classroom this was, he'd never been in it before. Come to think of it he'd never known there was a classroom here. They had walked past this wall many times and he had never seen this door before today. Harry didn't linger on it and turned to Hermione. She seemed to be thinking aloud.
"She really trusts him even though he was a Death Eater", she said.
"Well she and Snape were friends way back when right Harry?" Neville asked.
"Yeah", Harry replied.
"Has she ever told you why they aren't friends now?" Blaise asked.
"Not really… I think it has something to do with her picking my dad over him. I mean dad hates Snape and Snape hates my dad… maybe she just realized how nasty he is."
"Da-Remus told me the five of them kept fighting during their time at Hogwarts", Blaise said and looked into the fire. "He said they weren't always the nicest to Snape and he was as nasty to them. At few times your dad and Sirius went too far but Remus did nothing to stop them. I know he feels ashamed of that… P… He told me Pettigrew", Blaise wasn't sure who could hear them here so decided to use Peter's last name instead to act as if there was no familiarity between them. "He told me Pettigrew was just in awe of James and Sirius, like hero worshipping them. Especially James."
"Dad told me that as well", Harry said. "I know he was very immature and that he and Sirius sometimes took things way too far in their pranks and tormenting of Snape. But they changed and mum said they tried to apologize."
"Then they found out Snape was a Death Eater?" Neville asked.
"Yeah and I guess that made them hate him again. Anyway-"
"Rita Skeeter", Hermione interrupted.
"What?" the three boys asked confused.
"I'm just thinking… remember what she said to me in the Three Broomsticks? 'I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl.' This is what she meant, isn't it? She reported his trial, she knew he'd passed information to the Death Eaters. And Winky too, remember. 'Ludo Bagman's a bad wizard. ' Mr. Crouch would have been furious he got off, he would have talked about it at home."
"Yeah, but Bagman didn't pass information on purpose, did he?" Neville said and turned to Harry and Blaise, both whom shrugged.
"And Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?" Blaise asked, turning back to Harry.
"Yeah," said Harry, "but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage. "
"She wouldn't though", Blaise said calmly. "Da-Dorian told me Maxie is a good friend of the circus… something about someone she knew being a werewolf and the circus protected them from the city where she lives. He has nothing but the utmost respect for her… even though she claims she is not part giant." He looked at his arm, where the bite was hidden by his shirt. "I can't blame her though… like what happened to Hagrid when he annoyed Skeeter."
"Exactly", Hermione said and nodded. "Fudge is just jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth."
"Or just ignore her and give her the Ice-Queen death glare like Daphne", Neville teased slightly. "Say Blaise."
"What?" Blaise asked.
"When Skeeter went off on you and your friends… was all what she said true?"
"Which part?" Blaise asked calmly. "Everyone knows about my mum and about Theo's dad so I guess you mean the girls."
"Yeah I mean… is Daphne really a princess?"
"Of course not Neville", Hermione scolded. "Don't be ridiculous. She is just from a very powerful family. So are you remember?"
"Tracey then?" Neville asked curiously. "Is her mum really Annika the Crazy?"
"Yes but Mrs. Davies is the sanest person I have ever met", Blaise said. "In fact she reminds me of you Granger. Mrs. Davies was a Ravenclaw but got the title crazy when she started lecturing about… some stuff."
"What stuff?" Harry asked curiously.
"Just stuff… kind of like Luna about her nargles and stuff. People think Luna is weird and crazy because of it but she-"
"She is not crazy", Neville cut in almost angrily. "She is smart and amazing and different and intelligent and sweet and nice and-"
"Easy there Longbottom or do I need to give you a speech about being good to my Luna?" Blaise teased and Neville blushed crimson.
Later that night, after Harry and the others had returned to their dorms Harry was lying in the darkness of his bed. He felt a rush of anger and hate toward the people who had tortured Neville's grandmother. He remembered the jeers of the crowd as Crouch's son and his companions had been dragged from the court by the dementors. He understood how they had felt. Then he remembered the milk-white face of the screaming boy and realized with a jolt that he had died a year later. It was Voldemort, Harry thought, staring up at the canopy of his bed in the darkness, it all came back to Voldemort. He was the one who had torn these families apart, who had ruined all these lives. The last thing Harry thought of before he fell asleep was that he would make sure it never happened again… somehow.
The next day Harry found Hermione, Blaise and Neville in the same place as last night. They were not alone however. Blaise's Slytherin friends were there as well. All of them, including Harry, were supposed to study for exams but they all gladly sat that aside to help Harry prepare for the last task. They all wanted him to do well… and to survive.
"Besides I doubt we won't pass DADA", Tracey said. "Professor Taylor-Lupin's lessons are always great and easy to remember so we'll all pass with flying colours."
"Do you think he will put up an obstacle course again?" Neville asked and they all heads turned to Blaise. Blaise chuckled and locked his lips.
"Da-Remus", Blaise said and the Slytherins rolled their eyes. Would he never just call them dads? "Has been very tight-lipped about it. Not even da-Dorian knows what he is planning."
"I bet it is driving him crazy", Neville sniggered.
"Isn't he already crazy?" Hermione tried to joke.
"There is a brilliance to his madness", Daphne said and smiled. "At least I think so. I mean he is a muggle and he is still a better potions master than Snape… and a better teacher."
"Oh please everyone is a better teacher than Snape", Tracey said. "Well… not Lockhart but he was just a crook anyways."
"Totally, though he was rather nice to look at." Daphne, Tracey and Hermione let slip little sighs. The boys stared at them and then shook their heads. Blaise said that not even he though Lockhart was that good looking and he'd known his sexuality for years.
"I think you'd make a good teacher Blaise", Daphne told him. "But you are aiming for a Potions Master degree right?"
"And master duellist", Theo grinned. "Overachiever."
"I am not overachieving!" Blaise objected. "If anything Granger is the overachiever."
"Am not!" Hermione objected.
"What do you want to do after Hogwarts then Hermione?" Neville asked.
"Not sure yet… hm maybe a defence attorney or an Auror or a curse breaker or-"
"We get it", Harry cut in. "I want to become and Auror like dad and Sirius."
"I want to study Herbology", Neville admitted and blushed a little.
"I'm gonna be a nice journalist", Tracey said excitedly. "And Daphne-"
"I am going to become a curse breaker", Daphne said with confidence.
"I'm aiming for Auror too", Theo admitted and Harry, Neville and Hermione stared at him. "Yeah that is the usual reaction I get."
"Sorry", Hermione said. "It's just… well…"
"My dad being a Death Eater? Well that is the reason I want to fight dark wizards. My dad is a bastard, an evil jerk and a monster. I want to stop other people like him."
"Why isn't he in Azkaban?" Neville asked.
"Kindness on Mr. Crouch's part", Theo replied in a mock voice. "Mum had been killed by Aurors, but she was innocent. I had no one else that wanted to take me in so they sent my dad in for a couple of months and now he is on house arrest until he dies. He can't floo, apparate or leave the house at all."
"That was… descent of Crouch", Hermione said.
"No he was trying to save face", Tracey said and huffed. "This was after his son was sentenced and had died. His Aurors killed an innocent witch so he had to save face by showing compassion for a young baby that would be orphaned if he sent the evil man away."
"Dad is also too weak nowadays to do anything", Theo said and sighed. "They broke his wands as well and the family is forbidden from giving him another one."
"How about yours then?" Neville asked. "Doesn't he try to steal it?"
"Yeah but I hand it in to McGonagall whenever I go home", Theo said and Harry, Neville and Hermione stared at him. Theo blushed a little and waved them off. Harry couldn't imagine having to hand his wand in whenever he left Hogwarts. He wondered if there where more kids like Theo who had to live without their magic because of their homelife being so messed up. Where there kids who had to hide all of their magic stuff or maybe there were kids that got locked in and treated like trash because of what they could do. He shivered at the thought and by the look on Hermione's face she was thinking the same thing. Daphne noticed.
"Stop it", she said. "It will do you no good just thinking about ifs. If there are kids that have it worse than Theo just keep an ear out for them and help them then."
"That's what we do", Tracey said.
"What?" Neville asked.
"Slytherin house is filled with many abused kids", Blaise said and the Gryffindors stared at him. "Harry hasn't Sirius ever told you about how his homelife was when he was a kid?"
"A few times", Harry said and took Blaise's hand.
"That's a common theme in Slytherin", Theo said. "Adrian Pucey needs to pass all classes he takes or his parents will punish him with different curses."
"And one of the first years gets stuck in a room with Cornish pixies if she loses house points", Daphne added.
"And don't forget Timmy in second year", Blaise said. "He gets howlers every Saturday telling him how he needs to become the best in his year or else."
"Is this… is this a common thing in the Snake Pit?" Hermione asked worriedly and the four snakes shrugged. "Don't shrug at me!"
"What else can we do?" Tracey asked her. "It has always been that way. The first thing the seventh year Slytherins do each year is sit down and have a talk with the first years, assuring them they are safe here… as long as they stand together. Together against… the rest of the school."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked outraged.
"It's the truth", Theo said. "Everyone always hates on Slytherins, calling them evil. So who would stand up for the Snakes? No one but Snape does… he goes about it the wrong way though."
"Yes but everyone, except professor Taylor-Lupin, act as if we are little dark lords in the making", Tracey said sadly. "Even McGonagall but not as often as most others do."
"If all the teachers are so against the Slytherins why did Flitwick make Blaise his apprentice?" Hermione asked angrily.
"Because he's good Granger", Daphne spat. "Now you are acting like the rest of the school! Don't you think others have asked that, people that aren't Slytherins?"
"Many people wrote me letters", Blaise said calmly. "Mostly bitter Ravenclaws. They demanded I break my curse on Flitwick. But after the duel competitions we've had those letters have stopped coming."
Neville, Harry and Hermione looked at each other. They had never thought about it that way. Tracey noticed their sullen looks.
"Enough of the drama, let's do what we came here for", she pulled her wand. "Rictusempra!" she called and aimed at Harry. Harry yelped and managed to cast Protego. Tracey gave him a predatory grin and Harry replied in like. Then they went at it. Daphne, Theo and Blaise laughed and scrambled out of the way.
The mood in the castle as they entered June became excited and tense again. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the end of term. Harry was practicing hexes at every available moment. He felt more confident about this task than either of the others. Difficult and dangerous though it would undoubtedly be, Harry was confident in his abilities this time around. Hermione and Blaise were the smartest students at Hogwarts. Daphne had killer hexes, she was a real ice queen when it came to hexes and Harry meant that with utmost respect. Theo was really good with defensive spells and Tracey was so creative with her casting that Harry couldn't help but be impressed. Dorian hung around them to observe and if it was something they had problems with he went and fetched Remus. Harry and Blaise suspected he was doing it to keep an eye on them for Harry's parents. With all his friends around to help Harry had soon mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers; the Reductor Curse, which would enable him to blast solid objects out of his way; and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione's that would make his wand point due north, therefore enabling him to check whether he was going in the right direction within the maze. He was still having trouble with the Shield Charm, though. This was supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around himself that deflected minor curses; Hermione managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs Jinx, and Harry wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before she had looked up the counter-jinx.
"You're still doing really well, though," Hermione said encouragingly, looking down her list and crossing off those spells they had already learned. "Some of these are bound to come in handy. "
"Come and look at this," said Neville, who was standing by the window. He was staring down onto the grounds. "What's Malfoy doing?"
Harry and Hermione went to see. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. Malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it.
"He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie," said Harry curiously. He had seen his dad and Sirius use his mum's old walkie-talkies so he knew what it was.
"He can't be," said Hermione, "I've told you, those sorts of things don't work around Hogwarts. Come on, Harry," she added briskly, turning away from the window and moving back into the middle of the room, "let's try that Shield Charm again."
"But this time let me show you how", Theo said and Hermione glared at him, but stepped aside.
Sirius and his dad were sending daily owls now. Like Hermione, they seemed to want to concentrate on getting Harry through the last task before they concerned themselves with anything else. They reminded Harry in every letter that whatever might be going on outside the walls of Hogwarts was not Harry's responsibility, nor was it within his power to influence it. Even his mum wrote.
"If Voldemort is really getting stronger again", she wrote. "my priority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to lay hands on you while you are under Remus and Dorian's protection, but all the same, take no risks: Concentrate on getting through that maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters. I know your father and Sirius are writing you daily, telling you the same thing. Listen to them, listen to your friends and listen to Remus, Minerva, Dorian, Jem, Flitwick and how hard it may seem you must listen to Severus as well."
Harry's nerves mounted as June the twenty-fourth drew closer, but they were not as bad as those he had felt before the first and second tasks. For one thing, he was confident that, this time, he had done everything in his power to prepare for the task. For another, this was the final hurdle, and however well or badly he did, the tournament would at last be over, which would be an enormous relief. Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor table on the morning of the third task. The post owls appeared, bringing Harry a good-luck card from Sirius. It was only a piece of parchment, folded over and bearing a muddy paw print on its front, but Harry appreciated it all the same. A screech owl arrived for Hermione, carrying her morning copy of the Daily Prophet as usual. She unfolded the paper, glanced at the front page, and spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over it.
"What?" said Harry and Neville together, staring at her.
"Nothing," said Hermione quickly, trying to shove the paper out of sight, but Neville grabbed it. He stared at the headline and said:
"No way. Not today. That old cow. "
"What?" said Harry. "Rita Skeeter again?"
"No," Hermione said and tried to hide it again.
"It's about me, isn't it?" said Harry.
"No," said Neville, in an entirely unconvincing tone. But before Harry could demand to see the paper. Draco Malfoy shouted across the Great Hall from the Slytherin table.
"Hey, Potter! Potter! How's your head? You feeling all right? Sure you're not going to go berserk on us?"
Malfoy was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet too. Slytherins up and down the table were sniggering, twisting in their seats to see Harry's reaction.
"Let me see it," Harry said. "Give it here. "
Very reluctantly, Hermione handed over the newspaper. Harry turned it over and found himself staring at his own picture, beneath the banner headline:
"HARRY POTTER
DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS
The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behaviour, which casts doubts upon his suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School.
Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming that his scar was hurting too badly to continue studying.
It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potters brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You-Know-Who, and that his insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion.
"He might even be pretending," said one specialist. "This could be a plea for attention. "
The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public.
"Potter can speak Parseltongue," reveals Draco Malfoy, a Hogwarts fourth year. "There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a duelling club and set a snake on another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do anything for a bit of power. "
Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers. " Similarly, "anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence. "
Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening.
Over at the Slytherin table, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were laughing at him, tapping their heads with their fingers, pulling grotesquely mad faces, and waggling their tongues like snakes.
"You know Malfoy", Blaise said loud enough for everyone to hear. "Harry isn't the only one that can converse with snakes."
"Oh?" Malfoy asked and cocked an eye. "Who else?"
"Well I am conversing with you am I not?" Blaise asked to which his friends in Slytherin and a few of the other snakes laughed. "I mean we are all Snakes at this table. So what if Harry can talk to you? I can too, although I really don't want to unless I have to."
"Fuck off Zabini!" Malfoy yelled and flew to his feet. "Ever since third year you have become one big prick! You constantly talk down to people and act like you are better than everyone else in this house!"
"The only person I talk down to is you", Blaise replied calmly. "And we all know I am better than you."
"You are nothing like me!"
"Which I am eternally thankful for."
"Shut your trap! Don't forget that I know your secret Zabini! If everyone knew what the other fourth years and I know you wouldn't be this cocky!"
"And if you mention it to anyone you know what will happen."
"Don't threaten me Zabini!"
"I am not, just reminding you of what's at stake… for you."
"Oh and you wouldn't suffer for it?"
"Probably, but unlike you I would be able to take it, can I say the same about you?"
"Shut your trap!"
"Actually no. I have had enough of you badmouthing my boyfriend and treating everyone else around you like they are less than you. You act like you are the king of this school, the most important person in Slytherin House but everyone wearing the emerald snake knows that it is not true." Blaise crossed his arms. "One day the Snakes will have to make a stand and they will have to choose sides. Look at yours Draco and see who stands with you." Draco looked beside him and noticed Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent there. "Then look at my side Malfoy… who stands with me?" Malfoy did just that and noticed Theo smirking, Tracey waving cheerily at him, Daphne levelling him with an icy glare and Adrian Pucey smirking at him. Blaise looked around the hall.
"Rita Skeeter is a lying cow and if you believe her bullshit you prove that you are just as stupid as she wants you to be", he looked at the newspaper in his hand. "Me? I am way too intelligent to believe anything that comes out of her mouth or from her pen. Can't we just focus on today's final task and cheer on our favourite champions?" With that he sat down again and winked at Harry who grinned at him. Blaise sure knew how to make a nice speech and make a small impact. Hermione looked a little huffy though.
"What's wrong", Neville asked her.
"How come people listen to him when he speaks but not me? If I say the same things people ignore me! Blaise says it and people do as he says!"
"Two reasons", Parvati giggled. "He is hot and he doesn't come of as strongly as you do Hermione. You are trying to force your opinions on others while Zabini gives them options to think about."
"How did she know your scar hurt in Divination?" Neville said, ignoring Hermione and Parvati continuing their discussion. "There's no way she was there, there's no way she could've heard-"
"The window was open," said Harry. "I opened it to breathe."
"You were at the top of North Tower!" Hermione cut in. "Your voice couldn't have carried all the way down to the grounds!"
"Well, you're the one who's supposed to be researching magical methods of bugging!" said Harry. "You tell me how she did it!"
"I've been trying!" said Hermione. "But I… but…"
An odd, dreamy expression suddenly came over Hermione's face. She slowly raised a hand and ran her fingers through her hair.
"Are you all right?" said Ron, frowning at her.
"Yes," said Hermione breathlessly. She ran her fingers through her hair again, and then held her hand up to her mouth, as though speaking into an invisible walkie-talkie. Neville and Ron stared at each other.
"I've had an idea," Hermione said, gazing into space. "I think I know… because then no one would be able to see... even Moody... and she'd have been able to get onto the window ledge... but she's not allowed... she's definitely not allowed... I think we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library - just to make sure!"
With that, Hermione seized her school bag and dashed out of the Great Hall.
"Oi!" Ron called after her. "We've got our History of Magic exam in ten minutes! Blimey," he said.
"She must really hate that Skeeter woman to risk missing the start of an exam", Dean sniggered. "What're you going to do in Binns's class Harry? Read again?" Exempt from the end-of-term tests as a Triwizard champion, Harry had been sitting in the back of every exam class so far, looking up fresh hexes for the third task.
"S'pose so," Harry said to Dean; but just then. Professor McGonagall came walking alongside the Gryffindor table toward him.
"Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she said.
"But the task's not till tonight!" said Harry, accidentally spilling scrambled eggs down his front, afraid he had mistaken the time.
"I'm aware of that, Potter," she said. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them."
She moved away. Harry gaped after her. His parents were going to come? Harry finished his breakfast in the emptying Great Hall. He saw Fleur Delacour get up from the Ravenclaw table and join Cedric as he crossed to the side chamber and entered. Krum slouched off to join them shortly afterward. Cedric stuck his head out.
"Harry, come on, they're waiting for you!" he called. Harry hurried towards him, before Sirius came out and embarrassed him.
TBC
