Chapter 47: Harry and Dumbledore, Ginny and Snape
January 5th, 1997
Harry and Hermione had to admit, they hadn't quite anticipated quite such a furor from their little stunt at the Greengrasses. A fair number of people seemed to think that Harry should be fined over the matter. Bryant and Philomena had been adamant that the entire thing was a harmless prank, but a few of the more exclusive families had been quite angry. However, Augusta Longbottom was not among them. She thought that Neville finally having a girlfriend was quite a good development, once she had gotten used to the idea at least.
Still it was enough of a furor that Harry had taken the time to apologize to Bryant. Strangely, Bryant wasn't that angry about the whole thing.
"Well, Daphne did try to warn me," said Bryant with a grin.
Harry guessed that the real deciding factor had been Minister Fudge's reaction. He'd apparently found the whole thing funny. And it made sense. He didn't really like Bryant, so seeing him get embarrassed was useful to the Minister. Meanwhile Bryant was just trying to stay on Fudge's good side for the moment.
But as he returned to school, Harry felt as if suddenly things had shifted into park. It was inevitable really, until things settled down there really wasn't much he could do to track the Death Eaters. But the uncertainty was beginning to get to him. He didn't want to give Voldemort time to recover from his losses, but that was exactly what he was getting.
One thing Harry was sure of, he needed to start planning his next move, because it would likely prove to be decisive. With Hermione and Ginny's help, he felt that he was in a good place.
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January 13th, 1997
"Draco is acting weird," remarked Millicent, "Even for him."
It was only a week back from break, but Harry couldn't help but agree with Millie. Draco was acting weird. He'd practically abandoned his 'friendship' with Goyle before the break had started. Not that Goyle had ever been much more than muscle to Draco, but Harry wondered what this might indicate.
"He basically doesn't respond to anything anymore," said Millie, "not even insults. He's got some sort of plan, and I don't know what it is. But it's clearly taking up a lot of his thoughts."
"Hmmm, that doesn't sound good," said Harry.
"Think he has some sort of mission from Riddle?" asked Ginny.
Harry arched an eyebrow at Ginny's mode of reference to Voldemort. And he made a note to emulate it. He couldn't think of anything that would annoy the man more.
"It's possible," said Harry, "I mean he might try to kill me, I suppose, but Hermione and I have already proven we can handle him."
"Plus it would make no sense to get rid of his more unreliable allies," said Hermione, "We know they won't make a difference, but Malfoy shouldn't be able to."
"I wonder…" thought Harry, "Maybe Riddle's trying to get him to kill Dumbledore. It's exactly the sort of petty revenge he'd take if, for example, the Malfoys were accidentally responsible for leaking the whole of the Death Eater finances to their enemies."
"We should probably warn Dumbledore," said Hermione.
Harry nodded, then stood up.
"Now?" asked Hermione.
Harry shrugged. "No time like the present."
And so he walked up to Dumbledore's office off the Transfiguration classroom and knocked on the door.
"Harry!" said Dumbledore, "You haven't come to me with something for a long time."
"Well, I figured you probably shouldn't be left in the dark on this," said Harry, "I think Malfoy might be trying to kill you."
"He definitely is," confirmed Dumbledore, "I do appreciate the warning though. I hope you aren't intending to get involved in this matter."
"Not really, I figure you can look after yourself," said Harry, "But on the off chance that you didn't know, I figured that I probably should let you know. With the element of surprise, anything is possible."
"Good," said Dumbledore, "I wouldn't want Draco hurt unless we had no other options."
Harry nodded. "That's admirable Professor," he said, "I think Draco is past the point of no return now, but if you want to try and save him, by all means please try. I'd be happy to be proven wrong here."
"You would?" asked Dumbledore curiously, "I was under the impression that you hated Malfoy."
"I do, for many reasons. Not the last of which was the way he treated Hermione when she was sorted into Slytherin," admitted Harry, "But I think everyone should get a chance to redeem themselves. Even if what they do is unforgivable. Even Malfoy. But I think he's been driven too far into Riddle's embrace to really ever escape it."
Dumbledore smiled, "I see you've taken to calling him by his proper name."
Harry shrugged, "Might as well. It annoys the hell out of him. Plus… well, maybe there's some of that young boy left in there. I doubt that even more than that Malfoy is saveable. But who knows?"
Dumbledore seemed almost beside himself. "I agree Harry. It is very unlikely that we will be able to make the slightest difference in that respect."
"Well, I'm not here for any other reason," said Harry, "Just watch your back. Malfoy may very well be desperate. If this is one of Riddle's punishments, who knows what sort of time limit he placed on it."
And so Harry walked off. Something was bothering him, but Harry couldn't quite figure out what it was. It was probably nothing.
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January 18th, 1997
The first Hogsmeade trip of the New Year was a challenge. Security in the village had been tripled, yet Tracey was still very uneasy. There had been a lot of rumours floating about the village, stories of battles taking place outside the village between groups as large as ten people. No one knew what to make of it.
Tracey was part of the Army of the Triumvirate's watch program. Simply put, she was just looking out to make sure no one caused any trouble. It wasn't official or anything, but Harry had been very concerned that someone would try something. The Death Eaters had been too quiet recently.
But it wasn't Death Eaters that worried Tracey, it was Seamus. He was acting very odd. Even worse, the first chance he got, he left the village. So Tracey just had to follow him.
She managed to track him a short way into the forest. There he met with several rough looking wizards and several centaurs. The Irish magical underworld was working with the centaurs!
Moments later, she felt a small prick on the back of her neck when one of the centaurs found her.
"We have a spy!" shouted the centaur.
"What's this?" demanded an older man with the wizards, "Bring 'em out."
The centaur roughly drove Tracey into the clearing.
"Tracey!" said Seamus.
"She's not a Slytherin, is she?" demanded the lead centaur.
"She is, but she's a friend of Blaise's," said Seamus, "She's one of Harry Potter's closest Lieutenants, and a personal friend."
"Ah, that's a different matter," said the man, "Name's Daniel O'Keefe."
"Ol' Danny," said Tracey, "Blaise mentioned you a few times, years back, though nothing other than the name."
"Now what are you doing out here?" asked Danny.
"It's too dangerous," said the centaur.
"Now Bane, if this girl is a friend of Harry Potter's, we won't be hurting her and that is that," said Danny, "Why are you here?"
"I was worried about Seamus," said Tracey honestly, "We know Clarise Zabini would very much like to kill him. I was just keeping an eye on him."
"Perfectly innocent," said Danny, "And you wouldn't go squawking about us being out here? Aside from telling your Triumvirate I mean. Obviously you'll be telling them."
"You're fighting Zabini, so why would I?" asked Tracey, "I say the sooner she's gone, the better for all of us. I'm glad you seem to be helping the centaurs."
"Well, they need a hand," said Danny, "And I always like to lend a hand to a magical in need. In exchange, our people can hide out in the centaur encampments."
"Hey, I'm all for helping the centaurs," said Tracey, "Harry and Hermione have told us all about their problems."
"Have they now?" said Bane, "Well, they haven't tried to help us, have they?"
"They have, actually," said Tracey, "But no one listened to them, of course. You didn't expect the Wizengamot to actually take action, did you?"
Bane laughed angrily, "I know what you mean. I suppose that Harry Potter hasn't done anything to cross us. Very well, be gone from here."
"I'll take her back to the village," said Seamus, taking Tracey by the arm and dragging her away from the meeting place.
"That was very dangerous," said Seamus.
"I know - but you were very obviously sneaking around," said Tracey.
"Ugh, I'm no good at sneaking," said Seamus, "I should have let Blaise do this, but we thought it would be more dangerous for him."
Tracey nodded. But as they got closer to the village, she saw two wizards and a witch patrolling outside the village. Rather rough looking wizards and a witch.
"They with you guys?" Tracey asked very quietly.
"No," said Seamus, "Which is bad."
And at that moment they saw them. "It's Finnegan," said the witch. And they drew their wands.
Tracey was already in motion. She pushed Seamus down, causing their first killing curse to miss them by inches. She fired back with a stunner, as she was firing towards the village. She didn't want to accidentally hit some student in the streets with a blasting curse. One of the wizards went down. Seamus did fire off a blasting curse, but he aimed it at the ground in front of the witch. Both of the two remaining opponents were knocked off their feet. The witch looked pretty messed up; her face and chest were all bloody. The wizard was less obviously injured, yet he was also very clearly dead, which the witch, who was screaming, wasn't.
"Nice reflexes," said Seamus.
"I bet they wouldn't have fired to kill with Blaise," said Tracey.
"Yeah," said Seamus.
Aurors were running up to the scene of the battle. Tracey stood up and helped Seamus up. This was going to be a fun one to explain.
XXXXX
"Blaise, you can't use Hogsmeade trips to do secret rendezvous with the Irish underworld anymore," said Harry. The school investigation into the attack on Seamus had not turned up his links to Ol' Danny. But it had been a near thing. Seamus had claimed that he thought he saw a centaur and went to say hello, Tracey had said she had followed him to get him to go back to the village, and then they were attacked.
"I have to, Harry," said Blaise.
"You put the lives of children visiting Hogsmeade in jeopardy today," said Hermione, "Going into the village is one thing, it is rather meticulously patrolled. But either you or Seamus leaving the village puts everyone at risk."
"Hey, I'm not part of your Army of the Triumvirate, you can't order me around," said Blaise.
"So you say you are okay putting third and fourth year students in danger?" demanded Daphne, "Tracey didn't dare use effective combat curses because she was scared she'd hit someone."
"Of course I'm not," said Blaise.
"Don't use Hogsmeade trips as cover for your meetups," said Ginny, "I don't want to have to take further action, but we will if we have to. The safety of Hogwarts students has to take priority over everything else."
"I… fine, I'll sneak out through one of the secret passages on non-Hogsmeade weekends." agreed Blaise.
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January 30th, 1997
"Why are we doing this?" Harry asked Hermione again.
"Luna wants to show Neville the prefect's bathroom," said Hermione.
"And we are agreeing, why?" asked Harry.
"Because we're suckers," said Hermione.
They reached the entrance to the prefect's bathroom, and Neville and Luna were indeed there. They entered the bathroom, Harry giving the password, and Harry and Hermione were soon getting into their swimwear. Neville and Luna had gone to the other side of the partition set up in there, and were both giggling.
Suddenly both Neville and Luna ran by towards the water. Neither was wearing anything.
"Oh dear," said Hermione.
Harry walked over to the edge of the water, wearing his swimming trunks.
"Really?" he asked.
"I think you are overdressed," said Luna, who was waist deep in the water. Neville was blushing furiously, but he was waist deep in the water as well.
"I should have expected this," said Harry.
"You really should have," said Hermione. Harry turned to her, only to discover that she had removed her swimwear as well. Suddenly Hermione pulled his trunks down to around his ankles.
"You were definitely overdressed," she said, as she slipped into the water.
Harry shook his head in defeat as he looked at his friends, then shook his trunks off of his feet and entered the water.
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March 15th, 1997
Slytherin took the Quidditch match with Ravenclaw, and fairly dominantly as well. Harry had to admit that Gryffindor looked really hard to beat. Still, Gryffindor hadn't beaten Ravenclaw since Colin had become Seeker, so many thought that Slytherin was still in it.
Harry was worried. The war had not produced almost any news since January and it was now March. His sessions with Dumbledore weren't coming as frequently as he'd like, and Dumbledore seemed to be intentionally spacing them out. But Harry assumed that was because the old man was trying to gauge Harry's reactions to things.
But on the third Hogsmeade weekend of the year, things went south fast.
When Harry got back to the castle, there was a buzz all through the halls. Harry couldn't hear much, but what he did hear was that Katie Bell had been injured by some kind of magic artifact. Harry immediately went to Ron.
"Apparently she got it from Madam Rosmerta," said Ron, "And Rosmerta was clearly imperiused. No one knows who set this up."
But Harry had a very good idea of what had happened. He made a note to bring it up with Dumbledore in this week's session. Harry had to admit that he hadn't seen this possible outcome of events. If he had thought of it… but of course he hadn't. And apparently neither had Dumbledore.
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March 20th, 1997
"It was meant for you," said Harry.
"I know," said Dumbledore, his voice troubled.
"I never even thought that allowing Malfoy to continue would put students in danger," said Harry.
"I considered it, but I didn't think that Draco would stoop so low," said Dumbledore.
"That was a mistake," said Harry, "But it isn't even about stooping. Malfoy doesn't have a reliable way to kill you, unless you are seriously considering letting him kill you."
"I… had considered that," said Dumbledore, "Severus has tried to get him to accept help from him, but Draco has been resistant to the idea."
"I can understand why you'd be tempted," said Harry, "But if Draco decides to kill you, he will try to do it. I think he is more than capable of murder."
"He's full of anger at his father's death," said Dumbledore.
"Yes, and that anger has made him dangerous," said Harry, "Please, I know you want to help him, but that's only if you can stop him from becoming a murderer. If the choice is between saving Draco and your life… well you don't have to kill Draco."
Dumbledore nodded. "I know, I know. Sometimes I think I can do more than I actually can though."
"Professor," said Harry, "Just be careful. Our differences notwithstanding, your death would be a powerful victory for Riddle's forces."
"In any case, we aren't here to speak about Draco," said Dumbledore, "I have one last memory to show you."
Harry went over to Dumbledore's Pensieve. It didn't take him long to realize that something was familiar. This was Slughorn's memory! The one where Riddle had asked him about Horcruxes. But in this memory Slughorn shouted Riddle out of his office.
As Harry pulled his head out of the Pensieve, he smiled. It had finally come.
"Notice anything about that memory Harry?" asked Dumbledore.
Harry nodded. "Yeah, Slughorn modified it. It was pretty obvious. He didn't do a very good job of it."
"No, it was quite hastily done," said Dumbledore, "Slughorn is quite possibly the only person alive that Riddle mentioned the term Horcruxes to."
"That's why Slughorn went into hiding," said Harry, "He was afraid Riddle would kill him for that."
"Very good Harry," said Dumbledore, "I am quite glad that you can see the importance of this. But of course, there was something worse hidden under that modified memory."
"Well, horcruxes are quite bad enough, I'd imagine that the fact that Riddle created a horcrux is something he'd want to keep quiet," said Harry.
"Wait, you know what a horcrux is?" asked Dumbledore.
"Oh yes," said Harry, "In my second year, when I was trying to find out who Riddle was, I went and talked to Slughorn myself. I didn't see this memory, but he did tell me what happened. What really happened. Riddle asked Slughorn if it was possible to create multiple horcruxes. Slughorn was very… distrubed by that question. I suppose I would be too, though I probably wouldn't be discussing horcruxes with a student either."
"That is… not something I intended you to know at that point," said Dumbeldore.
"Well, I did," said Harry, "Which made it really annoying when you refused to tell me what Riddle's diary was."
"You knew it was a horcrux?" asked Dumbledore.
Harry nodded. He wasn't giving the old man one iota of information that wasn't forced.
"I am sorry," said Dumbledore, "I thought that a full explanation…"
"I needed to know," said Harry, "But that is in the past. We are trying to work together now."
"Quite right," said Dumbledore, though his face was still very concerned.
"So how many horcruxes did Voldemort intend to create?" asked Dumbledore.
"He thought that seven was a special magical number, so counting his own soul shard, he planned to create six of them," said Harry.
Dumbledore's eyes went wide. "That's… worse than I had hoped."
"It isn't good," agreed Harry.
"You seem oddly at peace with this," said Dumbledore.
"I've known some of this for about four years now," admitted Harry, "I've had a lot of time to think about it. Trust me, my initial reaction was not this mild."
Dumbledore seemed to accept that for now. Yet he was clearly troubled.
"Well, in order to destroy Voldemort, we will need to destroy his horcruxes," said Dumbledore, "Now, I think I have located the locations of two of them. One was in a cave near the coast, the other was left in the Gaunt cottage. I believe that this is so anyway. I have debated which horcrux to go after, but after I lost the Elder wand, I decided against going after either without your assistance, though getting Minerva's permission to leave school grounds will certainly be difficult."
"If we do this," said Harry, "We should go after the horcrux in the Gaunt cottage."
"Why is that?" asked Dumbledore.
Harry laughed. "The horcrux in the cave has already been destroyed," said Harry.
"What?!" asked Dumbledore, shocked.
"Well, technically Regulus Black tried to recover it shortly after it was put there," said Harry, "He died attempting to do so, but he managed to give the real Horcrux to Kreacher, and he replaced it with a fake. Kreacher brought it back to Grimmauld Place, and that was where we found it. It has since been taken care of."
Dumbledore stared at Harry for a moment, then laughed. "Well that is a load off of my mind, though it leaves us in a rather difficult position. We only know where one horcrux is."
Harry sighed. He'd have to come clean, at least a little bit.
"I know where every horcrux is, actually," said Harry, "An advantage of having an in with Riddle's mind."
"Harry, that is incredibly dangerous," said Dumbledore, "He could easily create misinformation to confuse or trap you."
"I know," said Harry, "I've been very careful. But I know every horcrux. Helga Hufflpuff's cup, the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, Slytherin's locket, the Gaunt ring, the diary, and Nagini, his familiar."
"Though I found out about Nagini on my own, as well as the locket," said Harry, "The locket was the one that Regulus stole. Nagini I noticed because I could see through her eyes in the graveyard."
"Clever," said Dumbledore, though he looked concerned as well.
"So where are they?" asked Dumbledore.
"Helga Hufflepuff's cup was in the Lestrange Vault," said Harry, "I inherited that when Bellatrix died, so I destroyed it over break."
"Really? That's amazing news," said Dumbledore, "How have you been doing it?"
"We have developed a means of draining all magic from the horcrux, thus killing it," said Harry, "So the items are still intact. As you can see, I haven't been idle in my summers."
"And the other horcruxes?" asked Dumbledore.
"The diadem was here at Hogwarts," said Harry, "Hermione destroyed that one, against my advice mind you, but it got destroyed. They like to fight back when you try to destroy them."
"It is indeed quite dangerous," said Dumbledore.
"So the Gaunt ring at the Gaunt shack is the last horcrux, aside from Nagini, who Riddle keeps close at all times," said Harry, "I think it is probably the second Deathly Hallow in fact, though I'd have to see it to be sure. Still, I wouldn't use it if I were you. Riddle put a nasty curse on it."
"That is good to know," said Dumbledore, his face going a bit pale, "Well you've done quite well! You've put together a lot of things I hadn't anticipated, like the Deathly Hallows, though I suppose I did know that you were aware of their existence. Still, Voldemort has nearly been made mortal."
Harry looked at Dumbledore for a long moment. Was he really not going to mention this?
"Is there nothing else you have to say on this topic?" asked Harry.
"I've already shown my deep respect for what you've done," said Dumbledore.
Harry shook his head angrily. "No, that isn't it at all," he said the anger growing within him. Could he really be intending to hide this from him? Could he be?
"I don't believe it," said Harry. "Even now, you aren't coming honest with me. I say that I've destroyed all these horcruxes and you still don't trust me enough to tell me the truth."
"The truth?" asked Dumbledore, "The truth about what?"
"THIS!" screamed Harry as he pointed at his own scar, "When were you intending to tell me about this horcrux?"
Dumbledore looked stunned. "How did you know?"
"The advantages of having a friend who was possessed by a Horcrux," said Harry, "one night we were having an… important conversation, Ginny Weasley put her head next to mine and she felt a very familiar presence. My scar was a horcrux."
"Wait, was?" asked Dumbledore suddenly.
"Yes, it's dealt with," said Harry, "No thanks to you."
"But I didn't know how to deal with a horcrux that was embedded in your skull," insisted Dumbledore, "If you know how…"
"It doesn't matter," said Harry, "It's gone, that is all that matters. You know what? Working with you, it was a mistake. You clearly don't trust me yet."
"Harry you have to understand... " started Dumbledore.
"No!" snapped Harry, "I'm done with this! I'll destroy the Gaunt ring when I'm good and ready. I don't need your help. I've made a fool of myself trying to trust you for the last time."
And with that, Harry stormed from the room.
XXXXX
"And that is when I stormed out," said Harry as he recounted what had taken place between him and Dumbledore to Ginny and Hermione.
"I can hardly blame you," said Ginny.
"I can't believe that Dumbledore would try to hide something so important," said Hermione.
"Oh please, of course he would," said Ginny, "Dumbledore doesn't trust anyone."
"I really am starting to think that Snape might be right about Dumbledore," said Harry.
"This really doesn't prove anything, but Dumbledore isn't exactly dispelling our doubts," said Hermione.
"Harry, I cannot believe that you are on the verge of listening to Snape about this," said Ginny, "That insane story about Grindelwald and Dumbledore making you a Dark Lord of Light is just that. Insane."
"Why would Snape tell us such an obvious lie?" asked Hermione.
"Because you'd fall for it," said Ginny, "For fucks sake, am I the only one of us to have picked up that famous Slytherin cynicism? Somehow, Hermione has managed to go through Slytherin essentially unchanged, while Harry has managed to avoid losing his trust in most people. Bravo to the both of you, but let's be real. This is Snape. He has lots of reasons to lie to us. And he is very good at it. We can't tell if he is lying or not. So we have to treat him as if he is lying at all times."
"You are just angry because he creeps you out," said Hermione.
"Yes, he creeps me out!" shouted Ginny, "He should creep me out! And you know who else I think he creeped out? Your mother, Harry! By all accounts they were very close. There is a reason they drifted apart! How he could say that he loved you mother and still call her a mudblood? He sounds no better than Nott. Maybe he's worse. At least Nott and I have some common interests that we engage in together on a regular basis."
"We need some evidence," said Harry.
"But where do we get it?" asked Hermione.
"Well, we could always ask Grindelwald about whether we can trust Dumbledore," suggested Ginny.
"Wait, what would that help?" asked Harry.
"Well Snape claimed that Dumbledore sympathized with Grindelwald's goals," said Ginny, "And Grindelwald would probably know if that was true or not."
Hermione looked at Ginny as if she was crazy for a moment. Then she looked at her like she was a genius.
"That's brilliant!" said Hermione, "We could go to Nurmengard."
"Will they even let us in?" asked Harry.
Ginny shook her head, "We can't go to Nurmengard until the school year ends. We'd best stay focused on our main plan."
"We need to get Sirius to call in the mercenaries again," said Harry an agreement, "And we need to brief the Army."
"Also, I think the time has come in to bring in Parvati," said Hermione, "She has a skill I think we can use."
"I think we're in agreement then?" said Harry.
Ginny and Hermione nodded.
"Then let's set this plan in motion!" said Harry.
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April 14th, 1997
Everything seemed to be going well for their plan. When the Army was briefed on it, there had been no one who objected. The plan itself was simple. There was an alarm that Voldemort had set over the Gaunt shack if anyone tried to enter it. It would actually be a simple matter to disarm it, but Harry didn't want to disarm it. He wanted to trip it. Ginny thought it was a good plan.
And that was the clever thing. The Triumvirate knew exactly what Voldemort would do when he realised they were going after his horcrux. He'd apparate to Riddle Manor with a large group of lackeys and try to ambush whoever was entering the Gaunt shack, which was why the Army and their mercenaries would be outside the Manor. And they would set it on fire. The bulk of Voldemort's people would be disabled, and Voldemort himself might make it to the shack, but he would not be able to prevail against Harry, Hermione and Ginny all at once.
The entire plan was actually dependent on the fact that Azkaban prison was now dementor free. Amelia Bones had confided in Harry that he could now send people to Azkaban, without fear that it might be a revolving door prison. Obviously Voldemort was still capable of breaking in if he wanted to, but Ginny suspected he wouldn't do so for the lowlife thugs that Clarise Zabini had recruited.
The Army could try to kill the people instead to make certain Riddle couldn't rescue them, but Ginny knew that would have disastrous consequences. Amelia still viewed this all as a law enforcement matter, rather than as a war. If Harry's people killed anyone and it wasn't self-defense, she'd back away from the Triumvirate and maybe even turn on them. Harry had admitted that he was somewhat to blame for this. Hitting the Death Eater finances had left their organization weak enough that it wasn't being taken as seriously as Harry thought it should. Not that Ginny wanted to kill people, but she was worried that even Amelia didn't seem to realise how quickly this could turn bad.
Krum had been notified, and even now he was beginning to smuggle in the mercenaries again. It would only be a few weeks until the end of the school year now, and they would move on the night of the day after the last Quidditch match.
Thinking of Quidditch, Ginny was happy at the way the last Quidditch match had turned out. Slytherin had beaten Hufflepuff by a commanding margin. If Gryffindor lost to Ravenclaw, Slytherin could still take the cup.
Ginny arrived back in her bedroom, with Luna following behind her. The meeting had gone a bit long, as it often did when they were planning a big operation. But now things were set up, and while there was still much to do, it was the sort of thing that could be done at their leisure.
Ginny laid down on her bed. Parvati had been delighted to get the challenge of designing an uniform for the Army, but she didn't have a lot of time. Luckily Daphne had already had a few ideas, she just needed Parvati's expertise to actually make the damned things. They'd finally be able to go out with a degree of anonymity. It would be useful. In fact Luna had brought back samples of different materials to test if they would serve well for the outfits. She'd hung them up on a peg in the corner of the room and was casting spells on them.
"That's odd," said Luna, as she cast a spell on some of the materials. "Why is this detection spell not working on this side of the room?"
Ginny sat up. "That is strange," she said. Ginny cast a detection spell. It worked for her.
"It's only in this tiny area in the corner of the room," said Luna.
Ginny looked up at the corner of the room. There was something up there. She couldn't quite see it. It was almost as if… it didn't want her to see it. Focusing hard, she broke through the spell and levitated the object down to her hand.
It was a small orb, and Ginny didn't recognize it. In fact she'd never really seen anything like it. She began probing it with every sort of sensory magic she knew. It was apparently some sort of magical sensor.
"That's designed for scrying," said Luna, "My mum had one, it's sort of like a muggle listening device. Though a person could link their mind to it directly. In that case I suppose it would be more like a muggle video camera."
"Wait…," said Ginny, her voice suddenly sick, "Is someone spying on us? In our room?"
Luna's eyes widened a bit. "That does seem to be the case Ginny. Now I know what you are thinking, that this must almost certainly be a plot by the Rotfang conspiracy to make us think that someone is spying on us, but I can assure you that it simply isn't very likely. No, I think we are being watched, and probably with less than honorable intentions."
"Someone's perving on us you mean," said Ginny.
"A distinct possibility," said Luna.
Ginny considered. It could be Nott, but she honestly didn't think he was the type. He was a creep, but he was the type of creep that would worship the ground she walked on, not the type of creep to watch her undress. It also could be a younger student. That would be galling, but Ginny could deal with that at least. She wasn't sure if she would deal with something like that by reporting it to Flitwick, or whether she would take personal revenge instead.
Yet the sophistication of the method indicated to Ginny that this was probably an adult. Which meant that the list of candidates was very, very short.
"Legilimens," Ginny muttered as she pointed her wand at the beacon. It was a long shot…
Suddenly Ginny found herself overwhelmed by a strong feeling of… something. She couldn't quite process what she was feeling. She realized that she'd entered the mind of another person, but it was shrouded under Occlumency. Somehow she'd managed to enter this mind under some of the layers of Occlumency, but others were in place. Ginny felt like she was being suffocated, as if all her thoughts were somehow disconnected and distant, but she pushed through it all…
And found herself in Snape's office staring out from Snape's seat, looking down at Snape's hands grading papers. Ginny tore herself out of his mind.
"It's Snape's," she said.
Luna seemed unperturbed at that, though with Luna it was hard to be sure.
"Oh dear," said Luna, "If he wanted to see us naked so badly he should have asked us."
"You'd have done it?" asked Ginny dubiously.
"Of course not," said Luna, "But it would have been far better for him to ask for it, be turned down and then not have done it rather than to just have done it without us knowing."
Ginny nodded. "I agree completely, Luna."
"As things stand, I do admit, I feel slightly... violated," admitted Luna, "Maybe we should tell McGonagall."
"Right now," said Ginny, "This can't wait."
Ginny stood up and made sure she had her wand, and she marched out to the common room, Luna right behind her. The common room was brimming with students still, and Ginny saw Harry sitting with Hermione, both studying.
"Harry, we're going to see McGonagall, could you escort us there?" said Ginny, "Hermione, your presence would be helpful too. We have a huge problem."
Suddenly Snape rushed into the common room. He looked around until he saw Ginny and Luna.
I guess he noticed me in his mind, thought Ginny.
"Miss Weasley…" started Snape.
"Sorry Professor," said Ginny, "I'm heading to see the Headmistress."
"I don't think that is necessary," said Snape desperately.
"Well I do," said Ginny, looking to Harry and Hermione for support.
"Well, we'll make sure you get there," said Harry standing besides Ginny. Hermione also leapt to her feet and stood besides Luna.
Snape scowled at them, but didn't move to stop them. He had to realize that Slytherin was all but Harry's at this point. If things came to blows, he'd be massively outnumbered.
"Fine, but I'm coming with you," said Snape.
"This makes you look more guilty, but fine," said Ginny. She led the way out of the common room. As soon as they were out of sight of the other Slytherins, she heard a quick scuffle, then the sound of a spell casting. Ginny turned to see an unconscious Snape on the ground.
"He tried to cast a spell on you," said Hermione, her wand in hand.
"That wasn't smart," said Luna, "I'm a bit disappointed in the Professor to be honest."
"This is very out of character for him," said Harry, "Whatever you have on Snape, it has him really worried, but he's also uncertain enough that he isn't thinking clearly."
"Hmph," said Ginny as she continued on, "Probably for the best that he isn't there anyway."
When they reached the Headmistresses office they were admitted immediately. To Ginny's surprise, her mother was already speaking to Headmistress McGonagall.
"Hello Miss Weasley, Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood and Mr. Potter," said McGonagall, "I was just speaking to Professor Weasley here about how we would handle this summer, as of course she is going to want to go back to the Burrow to be with her family. Is your concern urgent?"
"I found this in my room," said Ginny, holding out the scrying device.
McGonagall frowned, while Molly's eyes narrowed to points. Harry seemed puzzled, but Hermione gasped.
"Is that a remote scrying orb?" asked McGonagall, "Merlin! I haven't seen one of these in years, not since…" McGonagall gave Harry an uncomfortable glance.
"The Marauders used one?" asked Harry, "I hope they didn't use it for what I think they would use it for…"
"Well, they were never able to get up the girl's staircase, thank heavens," said McGonagall, "Not that they didn't try. They mostly used it to spy on Professor Snape. Though there was one time that it got left in the prefect's bathroom..."
"That's funny, because Snape was using this on me!" said Ginny. Molly's eyes somehow seemed to get even harder.
"Wait, are you sure?" asked McGonagall.
"I tried using legilimency on this, it was connected directly to someone's mind" said Ginny, "And I managed a view of a mind. I didn't get very far, but I did see out of his eyes for a while. And I saw the inside of Snape's office, from Snape's perspective."
"Even worse, when Ginny tried to run up here and tell you, Professor Snape tried to stop Ginny from reporting this," said Hermione.
"And then he tried to physically stop her when she left," said Harry, "Luckily Hermione caught that. He's probably still unconscious in the dungeons."
"Well, that is that," said McGonagall angrily, "I'm putting Professor Snape on suspension, effective immediately. We'll have to do a full investigation."
"He's always been creepy towards me," said Ginny, "He constantly pauses before he says my name, or stares at me, and he's been harassing my boyfriend. Even mum doesn't do that."
"You should have said something," said McGonagall.
"There was nothing to report until now," said Ginny, "I just… I feel kind of violated."
"As you should," said McGonagall, "This is very disturbing. I'd never have expected this of Professor Snape. I've known him for a long time, and this is the last thing I'd have believed from him."
"Oh bloody hell," said Harry, causing everyone to turn towards him, "Don't mind me! I just figured something out."
Harry reached into his robes and pulled out a locket. "Look at this!" said Harry after whispering to the locket.
There was a picture inside of a young girl, about 11 years old, sitting at a Hogwarts table and eating and smiling at the camera.
"What a nice picture of Ginny," said Molly, "but what does it have to do with anything?"
"Mum…" said Ginny.
"That isn't Ginny," said McGonagall, "That is a young Lily Potter."
"Nonsense," said Molly, "Ginny doesn't look anything like Lily Potter."
Ginny sighed. "I don't… anymore. But when I was younger I looked just like that."
"Snape was in love with my mother, but he blames himself for her death," said Harry, "Who wants to bet he sees my mother in Ginny, despite the way she has matured differently?"
Ginny gasped. But it made so much sense!
"I don't think anyone is going to be taking you on that bet, Harry," said Luna.
Ginny had to agree with Luna. Suddenly, all of Snape's previous behavior had taken a much more sinister tone. But there was one thing she was suddenly very certain of, thinking back on Snape's reaction to McGonagall trying to get Ginny resorted. Snape had been behind her being sorted into Slytherin.
But why on Earth had he sorted Harry into Slytherin? Why had he forced them into a marriage contract? Something still didn't make sense. But Ginny was determined. She was closer than ever to solving this mystery.
One way or another, Ginny swore she'd pry the answers from Snape.
Author's Note: Harry's main concern with Dumbledore at this point is that Dumbledore doesn't seem to trust him. I think that Harry is fully justified in thinking like that. That being said, not hearing out Dumbledore is the same error Harry made after fourth year. Or rather the problem is that Harry has once again closed off that avenue of communication, and right when they might actually have something to communicate.
Speaking of which, uh, Snape. Yeah. I am don't want to give anything away, but we now know the 'who?' of the big mystery of this story, now we need the 'why?'. And I have given a tiny piece of that answer. But you are not getting the full answer until chapter 59, so strap in, cause there is still a fair bit of story to go.
Next Time: Harry plays a long game, Blaise has a family reunion (it does not go well), and Colin has a very good day.