Chapter 8 - The Mystery of Hermione
Ahead was the old and heavily wrinkled face of Dumbledore, with a never-ending white beard standing out, with his blue eyes gleaming behind those usual moon shaped glasses. His crooked nose was sort-of pointing towards Harry, who was seated uncomfortably on a chair opposite of him.
Whoa, Harry thought. I'm watching Dumbledore and myself? I must be dreaming...
He stared intensely.
An immense ill-lighted office that looked cramped because of all the objects in it surrounded Harry. Broken instruments were now shriveled up on the floor and portraits of headmasters and headmistresses were observing himself and Dumbledore with curiosity.
Outside the window, a feeling of early morning was rising in the foggy air, and the cheery and exclamated voices of Hogwarts students were trailing up through the office's window.
Harry could see sadness and regret in Dumbledore's expression, and he said, "There is a room in the Department of Mysteries, that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of many subjects for study that reside there. It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all..."
Suddenly, Dumbledore's face and his office started to fade away into a thick swirl of black and blue. Harry knew he was dreaming, but he recognized Dumbledore's words from before. That was in the past, he thought, as the colors were contorting more fiercely.
Harry's eyes were focusing again in front of him.
A dingy graveyard was facing him. This was bizarre, but he could feel the stormy wind zooming past him like someone bumping straight into you.
There were several shrimpy and vague figures in the daylight background, all dressed in black robes and hoods that covered their whole faces except the murderous-looking eyes.
Again, Harry was seeing himself, making the most tremulous attempt to stand straight up and forward. Blood was gashing from his arm and his dirty mud-face was glaring at another person, straight in the eyes.
There was Voldemort, restored to his full body, with those bloody-red catlike eyes glaring deadly at Harry. He bellowed, "Avada Kedavra!" And at the same time, Harry cried, "Expelliarmus!"
A wisp of green light shot off of Voldemort's wand as Harry's wand gave out a red sparkled beam. As he assumed, a golden band of light formed, and connected both struggling wands as they levitated into the air.
Harry was more of a watcher, and he felt like seeing a good-old movie on Muggle television. He saw something glowing around himself that made his body uneasy. It was patches of vivacious white light illuminating around his skinny figure. He resembled a bulb giving off rays of light.
Harry had never recalled something like that around him, and he didn't have more time to examine, because once more, black-blue swirls were in his eyes.
Soon, something came into view, but Harry had never experienced this scene. He was peering at a suppressed, square room with gloomy-looking walls and a blackish ceiling that appeared more as a closet with no windows and no door.
It front of him were three things: the same pale illuminating glow he had seen in the previous flash, himself, and Neville.
Harry seemed a bit different, because it looked like he had grown an inch or so, dressed in green robes, and he had a barely noticeable mustache. His emerald eyes were gaping at the ball of light, and one of his wands were surrounding it (the other hand was equipped with his wand.) His face was filled with fright but full of excitement as well.
However, Neville had an expression of uttermost terror. He appeared a bit older too, but his timid and nervous-looking face was the same. Red robes were stuck to his sweaty skin and a wand was sticking out of his hand, shaking horribly. He was about a couple of feet away from Harry and the glow, thinking Harry to be mad and reckless to go near something that mysterious.
"I-I don't think you should touch it, Harry." Neville stuttered, with trails of sweat slippering down his face.
Harry glanced at him, "Why not? We need it. Dumbledore mentioned it when-"
"Don't!" Neville interrupted, "Remember what happened when you touched the prophecy? We nearly got killed!"
An irritated look popped up on Harry's face as he spat out, "Then why did you come with me if you didn't want to take it?"
Why Neville did come with him Harry never found out, because he was staring at coils for the third time.
When is this going to stop? He wondered.
Harry was now observing a spacious pale yellow room filled with small toys on the wooden-polished floor. There were different portraits covering the walls all around. A recognizable picture of his mother and father was hanging next to the door, both of them grinning. To the left of it was a double portrait of Harry where he was a baby, and another one of a baby girl, having similar features to Harry. More photos of the baby girl were around the room, along with one more shot that made Harry gulp. It was himself and Hermione, smiling with sparkles in both of their eyes and admiring each other occasionally. Both looked about 16 or 17 years old to Harry.
Figures of puffy and fuzzy teddy bears of every color were scattered on the floor, and a miniature train was zooming around the oval shaped track. To the far left of the room was a huge white crib, and inside it was the baby in the portraits. The cute face of the girl was smiling vividly, with curly black hair and green eyes that seemed big for her skinny shaped face. She was lying down on the yellow blankets of the crib with her matched cotton yellow dress.
Unexpectedly, a door hurled open and entered a full-grown wizard, dressed in black robes that had ruffled hair walked towards the crib.
He swerved his head towards the baby and squeezed her soft cheek with one of his hands.
"Hey little Li-"
The mystery of the baby's name stayed a mystery to Harry because someone was budging him by his arms.
"Harry! Wake up!" Said a familiar voice. It was a fuzzy silhouette of Ron.
After he put his glasses on, Harry arose form his bed. The scar on his forehead was twitching slightly, barely being able to feel it.
"What's wrong? You were talking in your sleep, and I've been in here for minutes tryin' to wake you up."
Harry approached the window and glowered out.
"It was a dream, or at least I think it was." He replied, as he observed a medium sized slimy green car parked near the Number 13 house. He knew it was a Ministry automobile, because he had witnessed an exact one two years previously at Diagon Alley.
"About what? Vol-You-Know-Who?" Said Ron's worried voice. Harry sniggered. His friend had fought the murdering Death Eaters, an inch of danger away from Voldemort, but couldn't say his name.
"Oh, alright, Vol-Vol-Voldemort," he shivered with unease, "So, was it him?"
"Not really, it was-"
"RON!" Mrs.Weasley's rough voice howled throughout the upstairs hallway. Abruptly, she appeared at the doorway, shooting a biting look at Ron.
"Ron, I told you to wake Harry up, not gibber with him! Let's go, you're going to miss the train." In a flicker, she disappeared.
"Tell me later. Come down soon, okay?" Harry nodded. He knew that he was still being watched every minute, but couldn't see them. They're probably under an Invisibility Cloak, he thought. That's why he no more changed his clothes is his room. He would do that in the bathroom, when he would go in and shut the door in a nanosecond so they couldn't follow. What if they Apparated?
A reckless motion towards the bed desk made Harry jump. Well, I was right.
All of his past month's anger was fuming up inside him. Why can't they just leave me alone!
With a bitter voice, he uttered, "Ok, I know you're there, so just come out in the open! I'm not going to get undressed when someone's gaping at me under an Invisibility Cloak!"
He was breathing hardly as he waited for someone to appear.
And they did. Bill Weasley reappeared from his cloak and Lupin Apparated right next to him.
"Sorry Harry. I'm here on orders." Said Bill apologetically, who was dressed in a long tattered blue cloak and was taking the Invisibility Cloak off. He left the room swiftly, not waiting for Harry's retort. Now Lupin and Harry were alone. He was glaring at him unpleasantly. Ever since the day of Sirius's memorial, he was feeling awkward towards Lupin.
"So, I reckon, are you planning to follow me on the train?" He mocked.
"I'm really sorry, but yes, I will be." Lupin declared calmly.
He rolled his eyes, "Why? There's going to be a bunch of people around me!"
"That's not why. I didn't want to tell you, but I'm the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, well, not new, actually." He said as an after-thought.
Harry's eyes widened. Lupin?
"You But I thought you were afraid that parents would complain and-"
"Professor Dumbledore practically begged me into it, so get ready quickly, Harry." He was about to Disapparate when he took a step forward and smiling, he said, "Oh, and one more thing. We don't watch when you get undressed, and for other private maters, we don't watch them either."
CRACK.
A few seconds later, he was in the shower, thinking about his dream. He remembered the friendly encounter with Voldemort and Dumbledore's words in his office as a part of Harry's past. Bu the vision of him and Neville in a dark room was new, as well as the bright room with the baby girl. He didn't want to think about the last two scenes, so he thought about his summer at Grimmauld Palace. It hadn't been as bad as he had anticipated, even with his "STATIONED LOOKOUTS" and the worried looks from Mrs.Weasley.
The day when he and Hermione had kissed for the first time entered his mind. Fred and George had nagged him about this, and Harry found it so annoying that he had almost tore them apart. Their jokes were still on, but they stayed away from Harry for the most part. He figured that Bill's curses might have been an enough of a warning to Fred.
He and Hermione were trying to act normally as they always did when they were around each other, but occasionally, they stared at each other, and smiled.
Luna and Neville had left the house the next day, unexpectedly making the house louder and busier. Unlike last year, Lupin had been in the house almost every day, trying to spend time with Harry, along with Ron and Hermione. Once they went to northern London to watch a Quidditch game between London and Poland, which wasn't as exciting as the Quidditch World Cup, but it was worthwhile seeing. Also, they had gone to Diagon Alley and Rimlock Alley several times. Rimlock Alley was similar to Diagon Alley, but it had a lot of Muggle-related antics and objects, similar to the Quidditch table Hermione had brought to the house.
Grimmuald Palace was still a bit dirty, so, Ron, and Hermione had been intensely purifying it on Mrs.Weasley's orders. Harry remembered the day that Ron and Harry had finally gotten the privilege to talk alone.
He had been in Hermione and Ginny's room, playing with the Quidditch table by shooting Quaffles in the miniature hoops. He stopped abruptly when he saw Harry walk in.
"Oh, hi."
"Hey. Are you angry with me?"
Ron looked away and said, "No."
One of Harry's eyebrows rose.
Ron stared at him, right in the eye, "Yeah."
Harry was surprised at the forwardness of Ron's second response.
"Well?"
Ron didn't say anything, but glanced at the table interestingly.
"Are you mad because of me and Hermione?"
"Yeah." Ron said again. His frontward attitude actually calmed Harry.
"Is it because you saw us kiss in that.that.thing?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"I guess I like Hermione. Do you?"
"No." Ron replied vaguely. Harry snorted. He felt like he was talking to a wall.
"Ron!"
Ron turned his gaze towards and then sat on one of the beds, along with Harry. "Oh, alright! I heard Ginny talking with Hermione before Sirius's er-memorial."
"And?"
"Well," he started, "She told Ginny that she liked you."
A spring-warm feeling suddenly rose inside Harry. Well, he knew why Ginny was giving him those 'looks'.
There and then, Harry had told him everything Dumbledore had said to him in his office, leaving Ron shocked.
He was done showering and put on a clean mint-green t-shirt and black jeans. When he arrived downstairs, he saw trunks and bags gathered up in the entrance hallway, some people were in the kitchen when Harry's feet entered the kitchen, he was facing Lupin once again, Mr.Weasley, and Tonks. Lupin was immersed in an inside page of the Daily Prophet, Mr.Weasley was eating pancakes, and Tonks had been talking to Mr.Weasley, but stopped instantly when Harry came in.
"Good Morning!" Said Mr.Weasley brightly.
Lupin glanced at Harry for a several seconds and then returned to reading the daily prophet.
Tonks twinkled at him.
With a bit of hesitation, he sat down and helped himself to apple pancakes and milk.
He didn't want to go to Hogwarts, but he couldn't stand another day in this house without Ron and Hermione. Almost everyone treated him like he was a treasuring porcelain doll who couldn't be touched so it would be safe. Bu then again, going to Hogwarts meant facing the magical world and the anxious people in it. One thing he anticipated was quidditch, assuming he would get to play again.
And what about the prophecy? Sometimes at night, Harry found himself conjuring up ways to defeat Voldemort, but it seemed absurd that he was the only one competent to beat Voldemort, to kill him-
"So," Interrupted Lupin, with a casual voice, "What did you dream about?"
A feeling of panic came inside, and decided to tell only half, the part about Dumbledore and then Voldemort. He didn't mention the shiny glow that had reflected from his figure, though.
"Are you sure that was it?" Said Lupin.
Don't tell me he's a Ligimens too.
"Yeah, I think so. If there was something else, I don't remember."
"Ah..." Started Tonks, "You now can see the past and the present. What's next? The future?"
Harry cleared his throat noisily.
"Are you almost done Harry?" Said Mr.Weasley.
"Yeah."
"The I can tell Percy to start the car-"
"Percy?" Harry cut him short. "He's here?"
Mr.Weasley sighed, "Yes. He just came an hour or so ago with a ministry car, but I can't imagine how he got it..."
His voice trailed off as Harry thought about Percy. He didn't want to say anything to him, didn't have anything to say either.
Mr.Weasley left the room.
Lupin stared at him, and said, "One more thing Harry."
"What?"
"I will be giving you Occlumency lessons at Hogwarts."
Surprised, Harry looked peered down at his half eater pancakes and took another bite. This was another thing he was looking forward to now, along with Quidditch. The dementor-repelling lessons with Lupin had been fun, and so would the Occlumency ones. He was relieved that Snape was teaching him after what he had contemplated in the Pensieve.
"Ok." Said Harry.
"Dumbledore was planning to give you them but he has gotten awfully busy, so I volunteered that I teach you Occlumency."
Right, he thought.
"Also, we can have a chance to spend some er-time together."
Harry was in the hallway and Percy's face was across from him. His horn-rimmed glasses were perched over his skinny noise, and his freckles appeared brighter than his flaming red hair. He was dressed in a lengthy black cloak.
From him, a glance went to Harry's direction, and then it broke. He was chatting with Mrs.Weasley, who's face was in complete delight while she was handing the trunks one by one to Fred and George to put in the bewitched car. Twice they attempted to levitate them through the door, but the second time a trunk crashed leftwards into a portrait of an ancestor of the Black family.
Mrs.Weasley had been outraged, which had made Fred and George come back to their senses.
"Silencio!" Harry screamed at George, pointing his wand straight at George. He was standing at one of the doors of the Hogwarts Express, bawling at George leaning close to her and saying something in his ear. For a minute, Hermione went beet red, and then her eyes jointed together and she tried to clap her ears, but George froze her with a spell Harry had never heard of. Her face was still moving, but her body was rigid.
How could no one notice? He thought, but Lupin, Mrs.Weasley, Mr.Weasley, Bill, Moody, and Tonks were about four or five compartments talking to Ginny.
He walked down to whey they were standing, "George! Unfreeze her!" He said in a tired voice
"Here to rescue your girl, eh?" George winced, and then muttered the counter curse.
Hermione unfroze and gazed around. She saw Harry first, and then she looked at George despicably.
She pointed her finger at George, with her wand in her other hand. "You...You..." But she considered George for a long moment and then she took Harry's hand and started to trot towards the train.
"What did he say?" Said Harry.
"Nothing." She replied.
"Really? It had to be something."
"No. It was nothing."
He decided not to say anything, but his curiosity was biting him.
Out the window, vivid green trees and hills zoomed past Harry's eyes as he gazed out the window from the train. Ron and Hermione were on the train somewhere, handling Prefect duties.
He wondered where Lupin was sitting, not that he had any fancy to sit with him.
After a couple of minutes, Neville marched in with his toad, and a brand new wand clutched in his right hand. Harry suddenly remembered his dream.
"Hey." He said.
"Hi." Said Neville.
He sat down on the seat across from Harry.
"So, you got a new wand?"
"Yeah," He replied, "Gran got me one a couple of weeks ago, and she had to. Mind you, she was furious when she found out though. Actually, she just found out a few weeks ago when I told her." He snorted.
"Oh, um...sorry for getting you killed." Harry said as casually as he could.
Neville cackled, and unexpectedly, his toad flew out of his hand and leapt towards Harry. He caught it with surprise and held it down.
"No problem. I wanted to do something for months, ever since that...that...Death Eater got out."
"Yeah, I know." Harry blurted out.
Neville's eyebrows rose, "You know?"
"Er-"
Neville was waiting for him to elaborate.
"I saw her get sent to Azkaban in Dumbledore's Pensieve a year and half ago, in his office."
His friend looked like he had been Stunned with a wand. "You knew? All that time?"
"Yeah." Said Harry.
"So, tell me about it. What happened?"
He told Neville the details of the trial as clearly as he could. He recalled when dementors had glided in the trial court and had positioned themselves near Bellatrix Lestrange, Mr.Crouch's son, and two other people Harry didn't remember. He particularly revived Bellatrix Lestrange's last words to Neville, when she had said that the Dark Lord would rise and come to free them.
Neville went into a deep trance, wondering outside the window.
"Sorry." Mumbled Harry. He felt the deepest empathy towards him, knowing how it felt to have evil kill your parents.
"It's alright." He replied with a sad voice. "I'm sorry I broke the prophecy, Harry. I know it was really important from the way Gran was telling me about it."
Harry's heart beat faster. "She told you-what was in the prophecy?"
"No, but she explained that You-Know-Who had been trying for months to get it because it explained the way to kill you or something. Do you know what it meant? Did anyone tell you?"
"Yeah," he said truthfully. There was nothing to hide from Neville any longer.
With a really low voice, he said, "It was a prophecy about me and Voldemort. (Neville flinched.) I only heard it once from Dumbledore's Pensieve, but I remember the exact words. 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
Neville looked extremely confused. "What does that mean."
Harry grinned, "That's exactly what I said when I heard it. It means the person who has the power to defeat Voldemort was born in late July, sixteen years ago, to parents who had defied Voldemort three times."
Neville stared at him in amazement, "You mean...you...and...Late July...I was born in late July sixteen years ago..."
"Dumbledore said that there were two possible people. Me, and you."
All of the color had been knocked out of his face, "ME? That's totally absurd, impossible, I'm just a wimpy little wizard who doesn't know how to do-"
"Don't finish that sentence." Harry intercepted. "You know how to do plenty, you were just afraid. Do you know, you were probably the best in the D.A. last year, and you are."
"But-"
"And remember that night? You saved me and the others a bunch of times and you stood up to them."
Shaking his head, Neville muttered, "It can't be me...I'm just-"
"But it's not, well it could've been, but Voldemort picked me, or that's what Dumbledore said. It could have been either of us, but he attacked me and made me as equal as him, but I'm not so sure about it."
Neville gulped nervously, "You mean that you're the only one who can kill...?"
"Yeah." A plain answer came from Harry's mouth.
They sat in complete silence until Ron, Hermione, and Luna strode in. Ron and Hermione already had their school robes on, but Luna was wearing a freaky-looking orange-colored cotton dress reaching down to her knees.
Ron sat down next to Neville, followed by Luna, and Hermione sat next to Harry.
Out of the blue, Neville's toad started to bump up and down from his hand, and he almost jumped from his release when Hermione uttered, "Sleriat!'
The toad stopped jumping and crouched calmly in Harry's hand. Luna chortled along with Neville, but Ron gave a look to Hermione that said show-off.
Hermione put her wand next to her and got comfortable on her seat, slightly coming in contact with Harry. "Sure is nice to do magic again. I swear, I would've cursed George right in front of the platform if-"
She stopped instantly when she realized everyone was gazing at her. Her cheeks were red again.
"Uh...so, does anyone know who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is?"
"Lupin. He's on the train right now, I think." Said Harry.
Luna glanced at him shortly, and in her normal dreamy voice, she said, "You say that like it's a bad thing. He's really nice, I remember the second year, he was a great teacher, taught us better than that Lockhart bloke."
Ron sniggered, and Harry shot Luna a dirty look. Ever since he had had that apparition in the beginning of his stay at Grimmuald Place, he had thought worse of Luna.
"It's because everyone was keeping an eye on him everyday in the house, he's just afraid that Lupin's going to do the same." Said Hermione.
Now it was Hermione's turn to receive a fierce glare from him.
"What? He is your guardian!" She said.
In a second, something happened that Harry didn't expect. Hermione's shoulder touched his slightly and his scar shot on fire in a flash. He gave a short cry and touched his scar, hoping it would calm it down.
Hermione jumped, and the others were alarmed as well.
"What is it Harry?" Said Ron, now in front of him.
His scar was still burning, but he couldn't feel anything like he had before. No unknown emotions of Voldemort came to Harry, or any visions.
Hermione took her hand out and touched Harry's scar with it. She gasped, and her eyes closed swiftly. He didn't await it, but his scar calmed down.
Luna was still stuck on her seat, staring at usual, and Neville was in shock. Hermione's eyes were still closed, her hand still on his scar. She appeared to be in some sort of trance.
Ron grasped her arm and said, "Hermione! Hermione! Let go!"
Harry and Ron exchanged nervous expressions. A minute or so passed by.
Finally, Ron said, observing Hermione, "Eh-Should I call for help?"
"Yeah, I think-"
But then, Hermione's eyes flicked open. Her face was contorted in terror and confusion.
"What happened?" Ron said, ridiculously.
Hermione gazed at him, then Harry, and then at Neville and Luna, who looked petrified.
"Nothing."
"Hermione," said Harry, "your vocabulary really needs to expand today."
She made a nervous sound and then said, "I'll be right back. I have to go to the bathroom."
"What was that all about?" Said Luna.
"And what's going on with your scar?" Added Neville apprehensively.
"I don't know."
Suddenly, the compartment door slid open, Harry thinking it was Hermione, but it wasn't. The pale face of Draco Malfoy was glaring viciously at him. Crabbe and Goyle were behind him, doing the same thing as Malfoy.
"Get out." Warned Ron. Malfoy's attention went to him.
"Shut up, Weasley King." He sneered at Ron, and then continued glaring at Harry. "I'm going to get you, Potter." He whispered dangerously.
"Oh really? Well, at least you'll be with your sorry-for-nothing father who-"
"Petrifi-"
"Stupefy!" Neville was on his feet as he aimed his wand at Malfoy. A red strand of light hit his chest and he fell to the floor with a clunk. He pointed it at Crabbe and Goyle as a warning, and they glanced at each other and then scrambled out, carrying Malfoy by each arm.
"You shouldn't have done that. You could get in trouble." Said the dazed voice of Luna.
Neville stared incredulously at Luna, "And what? Let him petrify Harry?"
"That was brilliant, Neville." Ron exclaimed, with a look of glee on his face.
"Thanks."
"He sounds pretty bummed about Lucius Malfoy in Azkaban. Poor thing." Ron said sarcastically. "Hopefully he'll get sent too, but we can't start celebrating now."
Luna was the only one who found this amusing.
"What's going on with Hermione, though?" Said Neville.
"Why does you scar hurt?" Asked Luna.
"I have no idea." Said Ron and Harry at the same time.
Ahead was the old and heavily wrinkled face of Dumbledore, with a never-ending white beard standing out, with his blue eyes gleaming behind those usual moon shaped glasses. His crooked nose was sort-of pointing towards Harry, who was seated uncomfortably on a chair opposite of him.
Whoa, Harry thought. I'm watching Dumbledore and myself? I must be dreaming...
He stared intensely.
An immense ill-lighted office that looked cramped because of all the objects in it surrounded Harry. Broken instruments were now shriveled up on the floor and portraits of headmasters and headmistresses were observing himself and Dumbledore with curiosity.
Outside the window, a feeling of early morning was rising in the foggy air, and the cheery and exclamated voices of Hogwarts students were trailing up through the office's window.
Harry could see sadness and regret in Dumbledore's expression, and he said, "There is a room in the Department of Mysteries, that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of many subjects for study that reside there. It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all..."
Suddenly, Dumbledore's face and his office started to fade away into a thick swirl of black and blue. Harry knew he was dreaming, but he recognized Dumbledore's words from before. That was in the past, he thought, as the colors were contorting more fiercely.
Harry's eyes were focusing again in front of him.
A dingy graveyard was facing him. This was bizarre, but he could feel the stormy wind zooming past him like someone bumping straight into you.
There were several shrimpy and vague figures in the daylight background, all dressed in black robes and hoods that covered their whole faces except the murderous-looking eyes.
Again, Harry was seeing himself, making the most tremulous attempt to stand straight up and forward. Blood was gashing from his arm and his dirty mud-face was glaring at another person, straight in the eyes.
There was Voldemort, restored to his full body, with those bloody-red catlike eyes glaring deadly at Harry. He bellowed, "Avada Kedavra!" And at the same time, Harry cried, "Expelliarmus!"
A wisp of green light shot off of Voldemort's wand as Harry's wand gave out a red sparkled beam. As he assumed, a golden band of light formed, and connected both struggling wands as they levitated into the air.
Harry was more of a watcher, and he felt like seeing a good-old movie on Muggle television. He saw something glowing around himself that made his body uneasy. It was patches of vivacious white light illuminating around his skinny figure. He resembled a bulb giving off rays of light.
Harry had never recalled something like that around him, and he didn't have more time to examine, because once more, black-blue swirls were in his eyes.
Soon, something came into view, but Harry had never experienced this scene. He was peering at a suppressed, square room with gloomy-looking walls and a blackish ceiling that appeared more as a closet with no windows and no door.
It front of him were three things: the same pale illuminating glow he had seen in the previous flash, himself, and Neville.
Harry seemed a bit different, because it looked like he had grown an inch or so, dressed in green robes, and he had a barely noticeable mustache. His emerald eyes were gaping at the ball of light, and one of his wands were surrounding it (the other hand was equipped with his wand.) His face was filled with fright but full of excitement as well.
However, Neville had an expression of uttermost terror. He appeared a bit older too, but his timid and nervous-looking face was the same. Red robes were stuck to his sweaty skin and a wand was sticking out of his hand, shaking horribly. He was about a couple of feet away from Harry and the glow, thinking Harry to be mad and reckless to go near something that mysterious.
"I-I don't think you should touch it, Harry." Neville stuttered, with trails of sweat slippering down his face.
Harry glanced at him, "Why not? We need it. Dumbledore mentioned it when-"
"Don't!" Neville interrupted, "Remember what happened when you touched the prophecy? We nearly got killed!"
An irritated look popped up on Harry's face as he spat out, "Then why did you come with me if you didn't want to take it?"
Why Neville did come with him Harry never found out, because he was staring at coils for the third time.
When is this going to stop? He wondered.
Harry was now observing a spacious pale yellow room filled with small toys on the wooden-polished floor. There were different portraits covering the walls all around. A recognizable picture of his mother and father was hanging next to the door, both of them grinning. To the left of it was a double portrait of Harry where he was a baby, and another one of a baby girl, having similar features to Harry. More photos of the baby girl were around the room, along with one more shot that made Harry gulp. It was himself and Hermione, smiling with sparkles in both of their eyes and admiring each other occasionally. Both looked about 16 or 17 years old to Harry.
Figures of puffy and fuzzy teddy bears of every color were scattered on the floor, and a miniature train was zooming around the oval shaped track. To the far left of the room was a huge white crib, and inside it was the baby in the portraits. The cute face of the girl was smiling vividly, with curly black hair and green eyes that seemed big for her skinny shaped face. She was lying down on the yellow blankets of the crib with her matched cotton yellow dress.
Unexpectedly, a door hurled open and entered a full-grown wizard, dressed in black robes that had ruffled hair walked towards the crib.
He swerved his head towards the baby and squeezed her soft cheek with one of his hands.
"Hey little Li-"
The mystery of the baby's name stayed a mystery to Harry because someone was budging him by his arms.
"Harry! Wake up!" Said a familiar voice. It was a fuzzy silhouette of Ron.
After he put his glasses on, Harry arose form his bed. The scar on his forehead was twitching slightly, barely being able to feel it.
"What's wrong? You were talking in your sleep, and I've been in here for minutes tryin' to wake you up."
Harry approached the window and glowered out.
"It was a dream, or at least I think it was." He replied, as he observed a medium sized slimy green car parked near the Number 13 house. He knew it was a Ministry automobile, because he had witnessed an exact one two years previously at Diagon Alley.
"About what? Vol-You-Know-Who?" Said Ron's worried voice. Harry sniggered. His friend had fought the murdering Death Eaters, an inch of danger away from Voldemort, but couldn't say his name.
"Oh, alright, Vol-Vol-Voldemort," he shivered with unease, "So, was it him?"
"Not really, it was-"
"RON!" Mrs.Weasley's rough voice howled throughout the upstairs hallway. Abruptly, she appeared at the doorway, shooting a biting look at Ron.
"Ron, I told you to wake Harry up, not gibber with him! Let's go, you're going to miss the train." In a flicker, she disappeared.
"Tell me later. Come down soon, okay?" Harry nodded. He knew that he was still being watched every minute, but couldn't see them. They're probably under an Invisibility Cloak, he thought. That's why he no more changed his clothes is his room. He would do that in the bathroom, when he would go in and shut the door in a nanosecond so they couldn't follow. What if they Apparated?
A reckless motion towards the bed desk made Harry jump. Well, I was right.
All of his past month's anger was fuming up inside him. Why can't they just leave me alone!
With a bitter voice, he uttered, "Ok, I know you're there, so just come out in the open! I'm not going to get undressed when someone's gaping at me under an Invisibility Cloak!"
He was breathing hardly as he waited for someone to appear.
And they did. Bill Weasley reappeared from his cloak and Lupin Apparated right next to him.
"Sorry Harry. I'm here on orders." Said Bill apologetically, who was dressed in a long tattered blue cloak and was taking the Invisibility Cloak off. He left the room swiftly, not waiting for Harry's retort. Now Lupin and Harry were alone. He was glaring at him unpleasantly. Ever since the day of Sirius's memorial, he was feeling awkward towards Lupin.
"So, I reckon, are you planning to follow me on the train?" He mocked.
"I'm really sorry, but yes, I will be." Lupin declared calmly.
He rolled his eyes, "Why? There's going to be a bunch of people around me!"
"That's not why. I didn't want to tell you, but I'm the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, well, not new, actually." He said as an after-thought.
Harry's eyes widened. Lupin?
"You But I thought you were afraid that parents would complain and-"
"Professor Dumbledore practically begged me into it, so get ready quickly, Harry." He was about to Disapparate when he took a step forward and smiling, he said, "Oh, and one more thing. We don't watch when you get undressed, and for other private maters, we don't watch them either."
CRACK.
A few seconds later, he was in the shower, thinking about his dream. He remembered the friendly encounter with Voldemort and Dumbledore's words in his office as a part of Harry's past. Bu the vision of him and Neville in a dark room was new, as well as the bright room with the baby girl. He didn't want to think about the last two scenes, so he thought about his summer at Grimmauld Palace. It hadn't been as bad as he had anticipated, even with his "STATIONED LOOKOUTS" and the worried looks from Mrs.Weasley.
The day when he and Hermione had kissed for the first time entered his mind. Fred and George had nagged him about this, and Harry found it so annoying that he had almost tore them apart. Their jokes were still on, but they stayed away from Harry for the most part. He figured that Bill's curses might have been an enough of a warning to Fred.
He and Hermione were trying to act normally as they always did when they were around each other, but occasionally, they stared at each other, and smiled.
Luna and Neville had left the house the next day, unexpectedly making the house louder and busier. Unlike last year, Lupin had been in the house almost every day, trying to spend time with Harry, along with Ron and Hermione. Once they went to northern London to watch a Quidditch game between London and Poland, which wasn't as exciting as the Quidditch World Cup, but it was worthwhile seeing. Also, they had gone to Diagon Alley and Rimlock Alley several times. Rimlock Alley was similar to Diagon Alley, but it had a lot of Muggle-related antics and objects, similar to the Quidditch table Hermione had brought to the house.
Grimmuald Palace was still a bit dirty, so, Ron, and Hermione had been intensely purifying it on Mrs.Weasley's orders. Harry remembered the day that Ron and Harry had finally gotten the privilege to talk alone.
He had been in Hermione and Ginny's room, playing with the Quidditch table by shooting Quaffles in the miniature hoops. He stopped abruptly when he saw Harry walk in.
"Oh, hi."
"Hey. Are you angry with me?"
Ron looked away and said, "No."
One of Harry's eyebrows rose.
Ron stared at him, right in the eye, "Yeah."
Harry was surprised at the forwardness of Ron's second response.
"Well?"
Ron didn't say anything, but glanced at the table interestingly.
"Are you mad because of me and Hermione?"
"Yeah." Ron said again. His frontward attitude actually calmed Harry.
"Is it because you saw us kiss in that.that.thing?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"I guess I like Hermione. Do you?"
"No." Ron replied vaguely. Harry snorted. He felt like he was talking to a wall.
"Ron!"
Ron turned his gaze towards and then sat on one of the beds, along with Harry. "Oh, alright! I heard Ginny talking with Hermione before Sirius's er-memorial."
"And?"
"Well," he started, "She told Ginny that she liked you."
A spring-warm feeling suddenly rose inside Harry. Well, he knew why Ginny was giving him those 'looks'.
There and then, Harry had told him everything Dumbledore had said to him in his office, leaving Ron shocked.
He was done showering and put on a clean mint-green t-shirt and black jeans. When he arrived downstairs, he saw trunks and bags gathered up in the entrance hallway, some people were in the kitchen when Harry's feet entered the kitchen, he was facing Lupin once again, Mr.Weasley, and Tonks. Lupin was immersed in an inside page of the Daily Prophet, Mr.Weasley was eating pancakes, and Tonks had been talking to Mr.Weasley, but stopped instantly when Harry came in.
"Good Morning!" Said Mr.Weasley brightly.
Lupin glanced at Harry for a several seconds and then returned to reading the daily prophet.
Tonks twinkled at him.
With a bit of hesitation, he sat down and helped himself to apple pancakes and milk.
He didn't want to go to Hogwarts, but he couldn't stand another day in this house without Ron and Hermione. Almost everyone treated him like he was a treasuring porcelain doll who couldn't be touched so it would be safe. Bu then again, going to Hogwarts meant facing the magical world and the anxious people in it. One thing he anticipated was quidditch, assuming he would get to play again.
And what about the prophecy? Sometimes at night, Harry found himself conjuring up ways to defeat Voldemort, but it seemed absurd that he was the only one competent to beat Voldemort, to kill him-
"So," Interrupted Lupin, with a casual voice, "What did you dream about?"
A feeling of panic came inside, and decided to tell only half, the part about Dumbledore and then Voldemort. He didn't mention the shiny glow that had reflected from his figure, though.
"Are you sure that was it?" Said Lupin.
Don't tell me he's a Ligimens too.
"Yeah, I think so. If there was something else, I don't remember."
"Ah..." Started Tonks, "You now can see the past and the present. What's next? The future?"
Harry cleared his throat noisily.
"Are you almost done Harry?" Said Mr.Weasley.
"Yeah."
"The I can tell Percy to start the car-"
"Percy?" Harry cut him short. "He's here?"
Mr.Weasley sighed, "Yes. He just came an hour or so ago with a ministry car, but I can't imagine how he got it..."
His voice trailed off as Harry thought about Percy. He didn't want to say anything to him, didn't have anything to say either.
Mr.Weasley left the room.
Lupin stared at him, and said, "One more thing Harry."
"What?"
"I will be giving you Occlumency lessons at Hogwarts."
Surprised, Harry looked peered down at his half eater pancakes and took another bite. This was another thing he was looking forward to now, along with Quidditch. The dementor-repelling lessons with Lupin had been fun, and so would the Occlumency ones. He was relieved that Snape was teaching him after what he had contemplated in the Pensieve.
"Ok." Said Harry.
"Dumbledore was planning to give you them but he has gotten awfully busy, so I volunteered that I teach you Occlumency."
Right, he thought.
"Also, we can have a chance to spend some er-time together."
Harry was in the hallway and Percy's face was across from him. His horn-rimmed glasses were perched over his skinny noise, and his freckles appeared brighter than his flaming red hair. He was dressed in a lengthy black cloak.
From him, a glance went to Harry's direction, and then it broke. He was chatting with Mrs.Weasley, who's face was in complete delight while she was handing the trunks one by one to Fred and George to put in the bewitched car. Twice they attempted to levitate them through the door, but the second time a trunk crashed leftwards into a portrait of an ancestor of the Black family.
Mrs.Weasley had been outraged, which had made Fred and George come back to their senses.
"Silencio!" Harry screamed at George, pointing his wand straight at George. He was standing at one of the doors of the Hogwarts Express, bawling at George leaning close to her and saying something in his ear. For a minute, Hermione went beet red, and then her eyes jointed together and she tried to clap her ears, but George froze her with a spell Harry had never heard of. Her face was still moving, but her body was rigid.
How could no one notice? He thought, but Lupin, Mrs.Weasley, Mr.Weasley, Bill, Moody, and Tonks were about four or five compartments talking to Ginny.
He walked down to whey they were standing, "George! Unfreeze her!" He said in a tired voice
"Here to rescue your girl, eh?" George winced, and then muttered the counter curse.
Hermione unfroze and gazed around. She saw Harry first, and then she looked at George despicably.
She pointed her finger at George, with her wand in her other hand. "You...You..." But she considered George for a long moment and then she took Harry's hand and started to trot towards the train.
"What did he say?" Said Harry.
"Nothing." She replied.
"Really? It had to be something."
"No. It was nothing."
He decided not to say anything, but his curiosity was biting him.
Out the window, vivid green trees and hills zoomed past Harry's eyes as he gazed out the window from the train. Ron and Hermione were on the train somewhere, handling Prefect duties.
He wondered where Lupin was sitting, not that he had any fancy to sit with him.
After a couple of minutes, Neville marched in with his toad, and a brand new wand clutched in his right hand. Harry suddenly remembered his dream.
"Hey." He said.
"Hi." Said Neville.
He sat down on the seat across from Harry.
"So, you got a new wand?"
"Yeah," He replied, "Gran got me one a couple of weeks ago, and she had to. Mind you, she was furious when she found out though. Actually, she just found out a few weeks ago when I told her." He snorted.
"Oh, um...sorry for getting you killed." Harry said as casually as he could.
Neville cackled, and unexpectedly, his toad flew out of his hand and leapt towards Harry. He caught it with surprise and held it down.
"No problem. I wanted to do something for months, ever since that...that...Death Eater got out."
"Yeah, I know." Harry blurted out.
Neville's eyebrows rose, "You know?"
"Er-"
Neville was waiting for him to elaborate.
"I saw her get sent to Azkaban in Dumbledore's Pensieve a year and half ago, in his office."
His friend looked like he had been Stunned with a wand. "You knew? All that time?"
"Yeah." Said Harry.
"So, tell me about it. What happened?"
He told Neville the details of the trial as clearly as he could. He recalled when dementors had glided in the trial court and had positioned themselves near Bellatrix Lestrange, Mr.Crouch's son, and two other people Harry didn't remember. He particularly revived Bellatrix Lestrange's last words to Neville, when she had said that the Dark Lord would rise and come to free them.
Neville went into a deep trance, wondering outside the window.
"Sorry." Mumbled Harry. He felt the deepest empathy towards him, knowing how it felt to have evil kill your parents.
"It's alright." He replied with a sad voice. "I'm sorry I broke the prophecy, Harry. I know it was really important from the way Gran was telling me about it."
Harry's heart beat faster. "She told you-what was in the prophecy?"
"No, but she explained that You-Know-Who had been trying for months to get it because it explained the way to kill you or something. Do you know what it meant? Did anyone tell you?"
"Yeah," he said truthfully. There was nothing to hide from Neville any longer.
With a really low voice, he said, "It was a prophecy about me and Voldemort. (Neville flinched.) I only heard it once from Dumbledore's Pensieve, but I remember the exact words. 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
Neville looked extremely confused. "What does that mean."
Harry grinned, "That's exactly what I said when I heard it. It means the person who has the power to defeat Voldemort was born in late July, sixteen years ago, to parents who had defied Voldemort three times."
Neville stared at him in amazement, "You mean...you...and...Late July...I was born in late July sixteen years ago..."
"Dumbledore said that there were two possible people. Me, and you."
All of the color had been knocked out of his face, "ME? That's totally absurd, impossible, I'm just a wimpy little wizard who doesn't know how to do-"
"Don't finish that sentence." Harry intercepted. "You know how to do plenty, you were just afraid. Do you know, you were probably the best in the D.A. last year, and you are."
"But-"
"And remember that night? You saved me and the others a bunch of times and you stood up to them."
Shaking his head, Neville muttered, "It can't be me...I'm just-"
"But it's not, well it could've been, but Voldemort picked me, or that's what Dumbledore said. It could have been either of us, but he attacked me and made me as equal as him, but I'm not so sure about it."
Neville gulped nervously, "You mean that you're the only one who can kill...?"
"Yeah." A plain answer came from Harry's mouth.
They sat in complete silence until Ron, Hermione, and Luna strode in. Ron and Hermione already had their school robes on, but Luna was wearing a freaky-looking orange-colored cotton dress reaching down to her knees.
Ron sat down next to Neville, followed by Luna, and Hermione sat next to Harry.
Out of the blue, Neville's toad started to bump up and down from his hand, and he almost jumped from his release when Hermione uttered, "Sleriat!'
The toad stopped jumping and crouched calmly in Harry's hand. Luna chortled along with Neville, but Ron gave a look to Hermione that said show-off.
Hermione put her wand next to her and got comfortable on her seat, slightly coming in contact with Harry. "Sure is nice to do magic again. I swear, I would've cursed George right in front of the platform if-"
She stopped instantly when she realized everyone was gazing at her. Her cheeks were red again.
"Uh...so, does anyone know who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is?"
"Lupin. He's on the train right now, I think." Said Harry.
Luna glanced at him shortly, and in her normal dreamy voice, she said, "You say that like it's a bad thing. He's really nice, I remember the second year, he was a great teacher, taught us better than that Lockhart bloke."
Ron sniggered, and Harry shot Luna a dirty look. Ever since he had had that apparition in the beginning of his stay at Grimmuald Place, he had thought worse of Luna.
"It's because everyone was keeping an eye on him everyday in the house, he's just afraid that Lupin's going to do the same." Said Hermione.
Now it was Hermione's turn to receive a fierce glare from him.
"What? He is your guardian!" She said.
In a second, something happened that Harry didn't expect. Hermione's shoulder touched his slightly and his scar shot on fire in a flash. He gave a short cry and touched his scar, hoping it would calm it down.
Hermione jumped, and the others were alarmed as well.
"What is it Harry?" Said Ron, now in front of him.
His scar was still burning, but he couldn't feel anything like he had before. No unknown emotions of Voldemort came to Harry, or any visions.
Hermione took her hand out and touched Harry's scar with it. She gasped, and her eyes closed swiftly. He didn't await it, but his scar calmed down.
Luna was still stuck on her seat, staring at usual, and Neville was in shock. Hermione's eyes were still closed, her hand still on his scar. She appeared to be in some sort of trance.
Ron grasped her arm and said, "Hermione! Hermione! Let go!"
Harry and Ron exchanged nervous expressions. A minute or so passed by.
Finally, Ron said, observing Hermione, "Eh-Should I call for help?"
"Yeah, I think-"
But then, Hermione's eyes flicked open. Her face was contorted in terror and confusion.
"What happened?" Ron said, ridiculously.
Hermione gazed at him, then Harry, and then at Neville and Luna, who looked petrified.
"Nothing."
"Hermione," said Harry, "your vocabulary really needs to expand today."
She made a nervous sound and then said, "I'll be right back. I have to go to the bathroom."
"What was that all about?" Said Luna.
"And what's going on with your scar?" Added Neville apprehensively.
"I don't know."
Suddenly, the compartment door slid open, Harry thinking it was Hermione, but it wasn't. The pale face of Draco Malfoy was glaring viciously at him. Crabbe and Goyle were behind him, doing the same thing as Malfoy.
"Get out." Warned Ron. Malfoy's attention went to him.
"Shut up, Weasley King." He sneered at Ron, and then continued glaring at Harry. "I'm going to get you, Potter." He whispered dangerously.
"Oh really? Well, at least you'll be with your sorry-for-nothing father who-"
"Petrifi-"
"Stupefy!" Neville was on his feet as he aimed his wand at Malfoy. A red strand of light hit his chest and he fell to the floor with a clunk. He pointed it at Crabbe and Goyle as a warning, and they glanced at each other and then scrambled out, carrying Malfoy by each arm.
"You shouldn't have done that. You could get in trouble." Said the dazed voice of Luna.
Neville stared incredulously at Luna, "And what? Let him petrify Harry?"
"That was brilliant, Neville." Ron exclaimed, with a look of glee on his face.
"Thanks."
"He sounds pretty bummed about Lucius Malfoy in Azkaban. Poor thing." Ron said sarcastically. "Hopefully he'll get sent too, but we can't start celebrating now."
Luna was the only one who found this amusing.
"What's going on with Hermione, though?" Said Neville.
"Why does you scar hurt?" Asked Luna.
"I have no idea." Said Ron and Harry at the same time.