Chapter 16: Dream

May 31, 2002

Dawn was riding on the back of an eagle owl, soaring through the clear blue sky toward an old, ivy-covered house set high on a hillside. Lower and lower they flew, the wind blowing pleasantly in Dawn's face, until they reached a dark and broken window in the upper story of the house and entered. Now they were flying along a gloomy passageway, to a room at the very end… through the door they went, into a dark room whose windows were boarded up…

Dawn had left the owl's back… she was watching, now, as it fluttered across the room, into a chair with its back to her… There were two dark shapes on the floor beside the chair… both of them were stirring…

One was a huge snake… the other was a man… a short, balding man, a man with watery eyes and a pointed nose… he was wheezing and sobbing on the hearth rug…

"You are in luck, Wormtail," said a cold, high-pitched voice from the depths of the chair in which the owl had landed. "You are very fortunate indeed. Your blunder has not ruined everything. He is dead."

"My Lord!" gasped the man on the floor. "My Lord, I am… I am so pleased… and so sorry…"

"Nagini," said the cold voice, "you are out of luck. I will not be feeding Wormtail to you, after all… but never mind, never mind… there is still Harry Potter…"

"That may not be the case any longer," said a second man standing in a corner.

"Explain," said the cold voice.

"His elder sister has taken his place in the tournament."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Dawn! Dawn!"

Dawn opened her eyes and saw Hermione standing next to her bed looking down at her with a worried expression. As she rubbed at her scar, she could feel it was burning so badly that her eyes were watering.

"You all right?" Hermione asked.

"Dang connection to Harry," Dawn said. "Scar hurts."

It was at that moment that Ginny burst in to the dormitory with Buffy.

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

"Dream," Dawn said as Buffy sighed.

"What did you see?"

"I think Voldemort knows that you have taken Harry's place in the tournament," Dawn said.

"Come with me," Buffy said as Dawn got out of bed and got dressed. She led Dawn to Dumbledore's office. "Cockroach Cluster."

The gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside. Buffy and Dawn hurried through the gap in the walls and stepped onto the foot of the spiral stone staircase, which moved slowly upward as the doors closed behind them, taking them up to a polished oak door with a brass door knocker.

They could hear voices from inside the office. Buffy knocked.

"Come in," came Dumbledore's voice.

Buffy opened the door and she and Dawn stepped inside. Cornelius Fudge was standing beside Dumbledore's desk.

"Elizabeth!" said Fudge jovially, moving forward. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks," Buffy answered.

"We were just talking about the night when Mr. Crouch turned up on the grounds," said Fudge. "It was you who found him, was it not?"

"Yes," said Buffy.

"Yes, well," said Fudge, "we're about to go for a short walk on the grounds, Elizabeth, if you'll excuse us…"

"Dawn and I need to speak to Albus in private," Buffy said.

"Wait here for me," Dumbledore said. "Our examination of the grounds will not take long."

They trooped out in silence past Buffy and Dawn and closed the door.

"Why do we need to talk to Dumbledore?" Dawn asked.

"Remember Albus said something about shielding your mind from Harry's when we met him last summer," Buffy said.

It was at the moment there came a knock on the door.

Buffy walked over to the door and opened it to find Harry. She sighed; she should have known. "You too had a dream?"

Harry looked past Buffy and realized why she was there as he saw Dawn. "Sorry, Dawnie," he said as he walked into the room.

"It wouldn't bother me so much if my scar didn't hurt every time," Dawn said.

"Alright what …" Dumbledore said as he entered the room. He saw Harry had joined his sisters and realized what this might be about. "You two shared another dream, didn't you?"

"Yes," Harry said. "A dream about Lord Voldemort. He was torturing Wormtail… you know who Wormtail—"

"I do know," said Dumbledore promptly. "Please continue."

"Voldemort got a letter from an owl. He said something like, Wormtail's blunder had been repaired. He said someone was dead. Then he said, Wormtail wouldn't be fed to the snake—there was a snake beside his chair. He said—he said he'd be feeding me to it, instead."

"Then there was another man," Dawn said. "Explained that Buffy was now the fourth champion. It was at that moment I woke up with my scar hurting badly."

"Other than the dreams you two have told me about. Has your scars hurt at any other time this year?"

"No," Dawn and Harry said.

Dumbledore began walking up and down behind his desk. Every now and then, he placed his wand tip to his temple.

"Professor?" Harry said quietly, after a couple of minutes.

Dumbledore stopped pacing and looked at the siblings. "My apologies," he said quietly. He sat back down at his desk.

"D'you—d'you know why our scars are hurting us?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore looked very intently at the siblings for a moment, and then said, "I have a theory, no more than that… It is my belief that Dawn's hurts because of her connection to you, Harry. Yours hurts because of your connection to Lord Voldemort, when he is either near you, or when he is feeling a particularly strong surge of hatred."

"Harry is connected because of the curse," Buffy said as Dumbledore nodded. "So instead of Dawn seeing Harry's memory. She saw what he had, and he had a vision of Voldemort today."

"I believe so, Buffy," said Dumbledore. "Harry, Dawn—did either of you see Voldemort?"

"No," said Harry. "Just the back of his chair. But—there wouldn't have been anything to see, would there? I mean, he hasn't got a body, has he? But… but then how could he have held the wand?"

"How indeed?" muttered Dumbledore. "How indeed…"

"Professor," Harry said, "do you think he's getting stronger?"

"Voldemort?" said Dumbledore. "Once again, I can only give you my suspicions. The years of Voldemort's ascent to power were marked with disappearances. Bertha Jorkins has vanished without a trace in the place where Voldemort was certainly known to be last. Mr. Crouch too has disappeared… within these very grounds. And there was a third disappearance, one which the Ministry, I regret to say, do not consider of any importance, for it concerns a Muggle. His name was Frank Bryce, he lived in the village where Voldemort's father grew up, and he has not been seen since last August. You see, I read the Muggle newspapers, unlike most of my Ministry friends. These disappearances seem to me to be linked. The Ministry disagrees."

"Albus, you mentioned something about shielding Dawn and Harry from each other's minds, last summer," Buffy said. "Maybe they should start learning that now."

Dumbledore nodded. "We can definitely try. The best person to teach them would be Severus. That will be something for next year I believe since we are close to the end of the term."

June 24, 2002

Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor table on the morning of the third task. The post owls appeared, bringing Buffy 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 Buffy appreciated it all the same. A screech owl arrived for Hermione, carrying a copy of the Daily Prophet. She unfolded the paper, glanced at the front page, and spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over it.

"What?" said Harry and Ron together, staring at her.

"Nothing," said Hermione quickly, trying to shove the paper out of sight, but Ron grabbed it. He stared at the headline and said, "No way. Not today. That old cow."

"What," Buffy said as she stood up from between Harry and Dawn. She walked around to look over Ron's shoulder. She cursed at what she read.

ELIZABETH POTTER

"DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS"

Elizabeth Potter is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent.

Alarming evidence has recently come to light about the eldest Potter's strange behavior, which casts doubts upon her suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend or teach at Hogwarts School.

Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses, and is often heard to complain of headaches. At the end of May this Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Ms. Potter storming through the castle complaining that her head hurt.

"Gone off me a bit, hasn't she?" said Harry.

"I would like to know how she was able to get into the castle unseen," Buffy said.

"The story is eerily similar to what Harry and I were experiencing," Dawn said. "She changed enough of it up to paint you in a bad light, Buffy. After all you have been very vocal against her. Even threatening to sue her."

An odd, dreamy expression suddenly came over Hermione's face. She slowly raised a hand and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Hermione," Buffy said noticing the expression.

"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… 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."

Just then McGonagall came walking alongside the Gryffindor table toward them. "Buffy," she said. "Champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she said.

"But the task's not till tonight!" said Harry.

"I'm aware of that, Potter," she said. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. Which means, you, Buffy and Dawn will be there as it is a chance for them to greet you and you them."

The siblings finished his breakfast in the emptying Great Hall. They 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. Buffy was the next to stand up. "Come on, Dawn, Harry. Better get this over with. Besides it sounds like you two are getting out of at least one exam."

Harry, Buffy and Dawn walked across the Hall and opened the door into the chamber. Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French to her mother. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, was holding her mother's hand. Fleur and Gabrielle both waved at Buffy who smiled and waved back. They motioned for Buffy to join them for a moment as they introduced Buffy to their mother who like her daughters thanked Buffy for what she had done during the second task.

When Buffy rejoined Harry and Dawn they were standing next to Mrs. Weasley and Bill in front of the fireplace.

"Surprise!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly as he smiled broadly. "Well the intent originally was to come and watch, Harry. But when you revealed you were doing the tasks, Buffy. We decided to come and watch you."

"You two all right?" said Bill, looking at Harry and Dawn knowing that they would be the ones to worry the most about their sister.

"Just want this to be over," Dawn said. "I'm tired of Buffy having to face insurmountable foes every year."

Mrs. Weasley and Bill both nodded in understanding. After all they remembered the story the sisters had told them last summer.

"It's great being back here," said Bill, looking around the chamber. "Haven't seen this place for five years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan?"

"Oh yeah," said Harry.

"And the Fat Lady?" said Bill.

"She was here in my time," said Mrs. Weasley. "She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning—"

"What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?" said Bill, surveying his mother with amazement.

Mrs. Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling. "Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll," she said. "He got caught by Apollyon Pringle—he was the caretaker in those days—your father's still got the marks."

"Fancy giving us a tour?" said Bill as he looked at the siblings.

"Sure," Dawn said, and they made their way back toward the door into the Great Hall. As they passed Amos Diggory, he looked around.

"There you are, are you?" he said, looking Buffy up and down. "Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?"

"What?" Buffy said.

"Ignore him," said Cedric in a low voice to Buffy, frowning after his father. "He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament—you know, when she made out that you, when you were pretending to be Harry, were the only Hogwarts champion."

"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did she?" said Amos Diggory, loudly enough for the siblings to hear as they started to walk out of the door with Mrs. Weasley and Bill. "Still… you'll show her, Ced."

"Rita Skeeter goes out of her way to cause trouble, Amos!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily. "I would have thought you'd know that, working at the Ministry!"

Mr. Diggory looked as though he was going to say something angry, but his wife laid a hand on his arm, and he merely shrugged and turned away.

"Mrs. Weasley," Buffy said. "Did Ginny tell you…" she said as the Potters walked the sunny grounds with Bill and Mrs. Weasley, showing them the Beauxbatons carriage and the Durmstrang ship.

"Molly, dear, remember," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Sorry, Molly, did Ginny tell you…"

"About Dawn and her," Mrs. Weasley said. She looked at Dawn and smiled. "I'm happy for her and you Dawn."

"How's Percy?" Harry asked as they walked around the greenhouses.

"Not good," said Bill.

"He's very upset," said Mrs. Weasley, lowering her voice and glancing around. "The Ministry wants to keep Mr. Crouch's disappearance quiet, but Percy's been hauled in for questioning about the instructions Mr. Crouch has been sending in. They seem to think there's a chance they weren't genuinely written by him. Percy's been under a lot of strain. They're not letting him fill in for Mr. Crouch as the fifth judge tonight. Cornelius Fudge is going to be doing it."

They returned to the castle for lunch.

"Mum—Bill!" said Ginny and Ron, looking stunned, as they joined the Gryffindor table. "What're you doing here?"

"Come to watch Buffy in the last task!" said Mrs. Weasley brightly as she saw Dawn take Ginny's hand in her own. She knew from what Ginny had written that Ginny and Dawn were indeed in love, but seeing them there holding hands drove it home for her. "I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. How was your exam?"

"Oh… okay," said Ron. "Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few. It's all right," he said, helping himself to a Cornish pasty, while Mrs. Weasley looked stern, "they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard."

Eventually Fred and George came to sit next to them before Hermione finally showed up also.

"Are you going to tell us—?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head warningly and glanced at Mrs. Weasley.

"Hello, Hermione," said Mrs. Weasley, much more stiffly than usual.

"You do know the article that Skeeter wrote was fabricated," Buffy said.

"Hermione's not my girlfriend," Harry added.

"Oh!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Of course, I knew!"

The siblings, Bill, and Mrs. Weasley whiled away the afternoon with a long walk around the castle, and then returned to the Great Hall for the evening feast. Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge had joined the staff table now.