a/N: This has been the funnest part to write so far, and hopefully to read as well. I've put in a small, almost unmoticible hint as to one thing that will happen next. If you can figure out what it is, more power to you, if you can't you'll find out soon, because I'll probebly have the next, last and finil part posted with in a few days (or hours) Then I can start on my sixth year story (Yeah!). I already have everything in my time line planned out untl they graduate, so you can expect 2 more seven to eight part fics. Hopefully I won't bore you too much. Hmm...what else did I want to say? Oh, yes. I know exactly how meny people have read each story (it's magic) and how many haven't reviewed, and it's real discouraging for an author. So please..please...review. That is all.
Part Six: Tears and Whispers
When Harry walked in late for Defense Against Dark Arts the only seat left was next to Gretchen. He sat down next to her and tried to say hello, but her mind was somewhere so far away that Harry couldn't reach it.
He sighed. He missed Gretchen's friendship. It had been nice to know someone how seemed so sure of herself, but lately the girl had been anything but. Whatever Gretchen was hiding, it was having a visible effect on her. Her pale colored skin was nearly white, her once perfectly braided hair was now not touched and tangled, and her brownish-black eyes seemed to have lost something....that glow that you have when you smile. She couldn't smile with her eyes anymore. Harry didn't know what to do.
He had talked to Hermione and Ron about it. They assumed she was joking when she said "if I live till summer holidays" but Harry knew she wasn't. The only thing that seemed good about her at all was her influence of Neville who was now twice as confident and twice as skillful. But with all this excitement of his own success, Neville failed to see what Harry did, her unhappiness.
Harry knew that he couldn't have been the only one to notice that something was wrong? Where was Professor McGonagall, the house leader? Where was Hermione, her best friend? Or Ron, who had formerly loved her? Where was anyone? Harry didn't care who helped her, he just wanted someone to, because he had tried and it didn't work.
Only Professor Dumbledore had noticed something. He eyed her carefully during meals, but never made a mover to speak with her. He had said, "She has a secret that I cannot make her speak of. Whatever it is, though, it's eating her away." A scary thought entered Harry's head, what if Gretchen really was insane? She had been in Mungo's for eleven years, what if it was all for good reason?
Harry quickly pushed that thought aside. No, she could be... "Mr.Potter would you please pay attention," Professor Elistor demanded. Harry looked towards her. She was sitting at her desk, which was perfectly cleared of all clutter except for the white package she had received many months ago. "Now, as I was saying, the O.W.L.s you took last week will be graded by our next lesson....Miss.Locus? Are you paying attention?" Gretchen made no move to even acknollage that she heard the professor. "Miss. Locus.....Ahh!" As the professor had been yelling she pounded her arm on the desk, sending the white box and it's silvery content flying. Harry and Gretchen were cover in goo. The world around them began to fade.....
"You'll have to stay here, my sweet," a cold voice said. Two people came bursting into the small dark kitchen. One was around thirty-five, the other was around four. Harry for some reason knew that he was eleven years in the past, when he was already five and she was still four (Gretchen's birthday was the day before term started). She was small, he brown hair short. When standing next to the dark-magic filled form of her mother Gretchen seemed to glow. She glowed with innocence, and compassion.
"Why can't I go with you," the girl asked. Harry felt a hand grab his. Gretchen, the real fifteen year old Gretchen, had grabbed it. She was with him. She was Ron, and Hermione, and the rest of the class was. They were all inside Gretchen's memory.
"You've already caused enough trouble, child. That one, Mad-eye Moody, he knows my secret, and do you want to know why?" Little Gretchen trembled. "Because you told you nanny all about me! Now it's your fault that I have to leave!"
"Mummy, mummy, I didn't know," Gretchen sobbed.
"Yes, you did you...," the kitchen door burst open. Three figured emerged. One was of Mad-eye Moody, the next was Albus Dumbeldore, and the third was Severus Snape. Harry blinked what was he.....
"It's been a look time," Snape said. "I see you still follow the dark ways. You still believe Voldemort will return."
"He'll come back," the evil woman said. "When he returns my sacrifice will be ready." The woman smiled coldly at her daughter, who was suddenly still.
"Enough," Moody said. With that the exchanged of spells began. Curses and hexes were muttered, but to no gain until finally and strong voice yelled..
"Stuperfy!" A body fell to the ground. Albus Dumbeldore still had his wand pointed at the body of Winetta Locus. Moody bound her with ropes while Albus moved towards Gretchen, extending his hand as she stared at him blankly.
"What did she mean by sacrifice, Severus," Moody asked.
"Winny was going to give her daughter to the dark lord, all ready has in most ways. She's a poor kid. I don't know why, but they put a great many of curses and hexes on the child already........"
"Enough wandering in Gretchen's thoughts. They are not yours to see," a strong voice addressed. Albus Dumbledore stood before them, dragging all of them back to their real lives. Professor Elistor must have been making her own pensive and gotten careless...
Harry looked down as a sharp pain filled his left hand. He looked down and saw that Gretchen was still grasping it, but that didn't make sense.....She started to run out of the class room, not noticing Harry's grip. Her fingers slipped from his hand and she was gone. Before he knew what was happening, Harry was following her, Neville, Ron, and Hermione behind him.
He grabbed her arm and she stopped running so that she could turn around and see him. "Harry...," she started to say as a tear ran down her check.
"Gretchen are you all right?" Neville asked as he walked up to her and grabbed her, forcing Harry to let go of her arm. He held her in his arms for a moment, then noticed that she was trembling. "Here...," he said as he took of it button up sweater and put it around her shoulders. It was three times to large for her, but she smiled an empty smile just the
same.
"Thank you Neville," she said. "Weird isn't it? That none of us are covered with that stuff anymore?" They all nodded. Hermione was about to say something when Albus Dumbeldore walked up behind them.
"Ah, there you are Miss. Locus. Harry, Neville, Hermione, Ron, I need to speak with Gretchen alone on this matter, so please go with the rest of your class to the Gryffindor Common room and wait for you next class." He saw the desperate look on Neville's face and added, "This won't that long." Everyone nodded. For a second Harry thought he heard Gretchen say something. Tonight's the night, please don't let him follow me...., but no one else seemed to hear anything, so Harry dismissed the thought and went back with his friends to the common room. He peered back once to see Gretchen peering back at him with a look of confusion on her face, but they both turned away quickly.
"Was that her mother?" Neville asked. Harry nodded. The others looked at him, as if trying to ask a question, but were silent. "What do you guys know that I don't?"
Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione, who nodded. "Her mother was a deatheater." That was that. There was silence.
Harry could hardly bare to stay in his common room all day. It was just too much. A few minuets before lunch he told Ron and Hermione that he was going for a brief walked and that he'd see them for lunch. Now he was walking, lunch was halfway over, and he still felt restless. From a distance, he heard a faint sob. Harry followed the sound.
"Gretchen, what are you doing?" Harry asked when he found her crying in the trophy room. She quickly wiped her eyes.
"Nothing, Harry. I just needed some time to myself," she explained. Good bye, Harry, and don't come after me....
Good bye, Harry thought bewildered, but terms doesn't end till.....
A look of confusion spread across both faces. Gretchen quickly got up and left the common room. Harry headed for the Great Hall, where dinner was almost over. He didn't eat. He just sat there, not knowing what to say or think.
"Hermione, could you go up and see if Grtechen's still in the girl's dorm. I want to talk to her," Harry half-asked half-ordered as soon as they were back in the common room. She nodded and ran up the stairs.
"Do you suppose that the memory we saw was bothering her, the one with her mum?" Ron asked when Hermione was out of sight.
"Perhaps. All I know is......"
"She's gone!" Hermione shouted as she ran towards Ron and Harry. The whole common room went silent from her yelling, but Hermione didn't notice. "She's gone! Gretchen's gone! She left Neville's sweater on her bed along with letters for us."
"What!" Neville asked as he pushed his way threw the crowd. Hermione handed everyone their letters. Harry read his silently.
Dear Harry,
I think you already know somehow, but I'm going to explain anyway. Harry, I had to go. My mother considers me a trader, and the only way to keep her from killing me is to pretend to be like her. This was the plan: I would become good friends with you and when they "kidnapped" me you would try to save me. DON'T FOLLOW ME HARRY! I'll be safe here. If you stay at Hogwarts, you will be, too. It all works out better this way.Thank you, for being the best friend I've ever known. Sure as the sun will rise, I'll never forget you.
With all my love
Gretchen
"Can I read yours," Harry asked Ron. The tall, lanky, red head handed him the letter. It was short, sweet, and to the point.
Dear Ron,
I'm afraid I cannot stay at Hogwarts anymore. I've felt alone for a long time, and I just can't take anymore. I'll miss you.
Gretchen
Harry thrust Ron's letter back into his hands and stormed out of the common room, down the stairs, and to Professor McGonagall's office. He knock loudly and barged in before getting a response. "Mr. Potter...," Professor McGonagall, who was deep in conversation with Professor Snape, raged.
"Gretchen's gone," Harry thrust the latter into the profrssor's hands. "She went to her mum. Read it." Professor McGonagall, who's lips were very thin, began to read, irritation spreading onto every expression on her face. Then suddenly her features softened, her eyes grew wide, and her jaw opened slightly. She passed the paper genitally to Snape, who read it was a puzzeled expression on his face. For a few moments everything was still. To Harry it felt like hours.
"Dumbledore," Professor McGonagall said, "now." She got up from her chair and ran to the door, grabbing Harry's hand somewhere along the way. She raced to the office, ushering Harry though the halls along the way as he struggled to keep up with her. "Green bean," she said quickly. The gargoyle swung aside and she started up the stairs at a pace twice as fast as the one she had just traveled by, dragged Harry behind her. Snape followed, though he didn't run. The puzzeled expression was still lingering about his face.
The three walked through the office door. Dumbledore was siting at his desk reading a News Paper, the comics in the news paper. He looked up, "Minerva, Severus, Harry to what do I owe the pleasure?" He was smiling, but that faded quickly as he at the faces of his visiors."What has happened?"
"Gretchen Locus. She ran away. When to her mum. She wrote this to Potter, and some to her friend, but according to this they don't know....," Professor McGonagall quickly explained. Snape, who was the last to read the letter, handed it to Dumbledore. He skimmed it quickly, and then looked up towards Harry.
"Any idea where she's headed?" he asked. Harry shock his head. Dumbledore sighed. He sank into his chair resting his elbows on his desk. He placed his head on his left hand. "I should have known. The girl has been acting strangely since Christmas. You could see the changes in her aura......."
"She's cursed," Snape interrupted. "They fear her, you know," he shot a look at Harry. "She doesn't know the power she holds. That's why they hurt her. However, they wont kill her, not yet. We have a chance. We can still save her."
"I know, Severus. And I would go after her myself, if I knew where she was," said Dumbledore. "But that's the problem. She doesn't want to be found."
Harry was speechless. How could he have let this happen? He knew something was wrong. How could she have done something like this, though? Even if she was desperate? She could have told Dumbledore, of Harry, or anyone....but she didn't. Harry felt confused. According to the letter she was happy with them..in a way. Thank you, for being the best friend I've ever known. Sure as the sun will rise, I'll never forget you, the letter had said. Sure as the sun will rise.......
"East," Harry whispered. "The sun rises to the east."
"What? But how does that...," Professor McGonagall began.
"Yes. The east," said Albus Dumbledore. "It was the east. Severus, I'm calling a staff meeting. All classes are to be dismissed to common rooms. Harry, how else received a letter?"
"Hermione, Ron, and Neville."
"Minerva, grab them please and lead them to my office. Harry, come with me." The two professors scurried out of the office as if they were running from a fire. Dumbledore and Harry followed them in silence. When they were at last out of ear shot the old man spoke. "There is a way to find Gretchen, Harry. It is a magic so old that it is all but forgotten, but I know the spell, and I believe we can perform it.
"You see, Harry, the oldest of magic was not performed with wands. No, wands came only two thousand years ago, when humans were in the habit of carrying around staffs and arrows and other such things. You see, Harry, our minds developed quicker, as did our emotions. For the most ancient of magic is based upon that Harry. It is made with the soul itself. It is that magic that enabled your mother to save you all those years ago. It is that magic that has saved Voldemort from his bodiless existence. It is that magic which is perhaps the strongest of all."
They were in the hall now. Dumbeldore clapped his hands and a once dusty armor suite became clean and shinny. "You see, Harry? That's almost like what we're doing, but that is magic of the mind. Spells with wands a recent next to that. Potions and Transfiguration. Those were the first two magics. Then came divination, and Herbology. Then charms, curses and hexes. Wand Spells. More and more things kept happening, some before, some after. The Dark Arts emerged. Of course, there were always darks arts. But wands is what really made everything happen. You see, those who practice the dark arts are looking for an easy way of magic. Wands made the dark short cuts easy. But that is not our concern now. Finding Gretchen before it is too late, that is."
"What are we going to do Professor?" Harry asked.
"A spell," he said, "an ancient spell. A spell so old that no one remembers its name. Not even I. Let us call it a love spell, for it is made with love. Back in ancient times, people were more easily lost. When that happened their most intimate friends and family members would make a potion, think of the lost one, drink it and instantly find themselves next to that loved one. They would drink a seconds sip and the loved one and they would be back in their previous location." Harry nodded.
"So we'd go to her, grab her, and bring her back," Harry asked. Dumbledore nodded.
"I have performed this spell only once before, back in the days of my youth after childhood. I am not entirely sure how it will work this time. That is why I want you to prepare to be sent to her alone."
"Alone?" Harry questioned.
"Yes. You were her closest friend," Dumbledore said.
"No. She was dating Neville. They spent all their..."
"Yes, she was dating Neville. But, it seems to me, that was just a well crafted way to avoid you. Gretchen has never known anyone deeply, much less someone who wakes her up in the middle of the night, or how she trusts with a picture of her mother, or the secret of the blood bind. You see, Ron and Hermione don't know about that. Nor does Neville, or he would have not been so shocked upon hearing you call Gretchen's mum a deatheater. You see Harry, she trusted you, and then got scared when she knew she would be forced to leave you. She didn't want to leave Ron and Hermione either, so she went to Neville, who she would miss. But he was one. You were three," the Professor explained "As I was saying, there is a good chance that only you, who knows her best, will be able to go to her. Now, get your cloak, get your wand. Then go to the kitchens and have Dobby show you to the stone hall. He will know what that means. Go, Harry. Go now."
Harry nodded and then ran off. He almost knocked over Collin Creevy as he raced into his dorm to get his cloak. His wand was already in his pocket. "Did you find Gretchen," Seamus asked as Harry tore through his trunk. Dean was standing next to him.
"Not yet. Soon." With that Harry was off, this time nearly tackeling Iris Indigo, the Quiddich keeper. He was racing though the hall when....
"There you are, Harry," a voice said, "I didn't see you at dinner." Harry spun around and was met by Mandy's smiling face.
"Hello. Look, I'd love to chat but there's just no time...."
"Harry why on Earth are you running though the halls like an animal?" Mandy questioned. Harry walked up to her and gave her a short kiss.
"I'd love to explain, but I haven't got time. If I don't hurry Gretchen...."
"Gretchen? Gretchen! Are you dumping me fore Gretchen!"
"No!" Harry said fiercely. "Gretchen ran way and......I'll explain it soon." Harry ran off leaving a bewildered Mandy in the hall all alone. He ran up to the paint of the fruit and tickled the pear. Swinging the picture back, he ran into the kitchen where he was met by a mob of eager house elves. Including Dobby.
"Harry Potter! Harry Potter! You come to see Dobby!" the elf shouted.
"Yes," Harry Potter lied. "I need you to show me to the stone hall. Dumbledore said you would know what to do."
"The stone hall," Dobby said in a more serious voice then Harry had ever heard him use. "Harry Potter must go this way." Dobby started walking towards the fire. He knocked on the third stone up from the floor on it's right side three times. A door swung open revealing a narrow set of winding stairs. The house elf started down. Harry followed.
There were many stairs probably hundreds, but it only seemed that he had walked down ten when he reached the bottom. "Magic," the house elf muttered. Harry looked around the room. It was large and circular, a bit larger that Dumbledore's office, and Harry reckoned that the Office was in the same place a few floors up. The walls of the room where made of cold gray stone, just as the floors and walls. There were four statues hanging from the walls. One was at the south-east, an eagle. One at the south west, a snake, one at the north west, a badger, and the finial at the north east, a lion. Under the statues burned torches. The flames were each the color of the house they represented.
Harry heard a rumbling noise behind him. The stair case that had lead him there was gone, replaced by wall. Dobby had left. There was a rolling noise in front of him. A new piece of wall slid out. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Professor McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbeldore came parading down the stairs. As soon as the wall had slid back into place, Dumbeldore spoke. "Welcome to the stone hall. This is where all the Hogwarts headmasters would perform there most intimate spells. The last professor to use it before me was Headmistress Constance Mistimy over two hundred years ago. I started using when Voldemort came to power. How appropriate that because of him it must be used again.
"Now, all of us here will try our luck with the potion. Severus, do you have everything you will need?"
"Yes, Headmaster," the man replied. He took three leather pouches, all small enough to fit in his palm at the same time, out of his pocket. One was green, the next white, and the third black. Dumbeldore nodded and stepped to the middle of the room where he tapped on the center brick once. A piece of the floor subsided and a large black cauldron emerged in it's place. It was a thick cauldron, Harry noted, so Percy couldn't have
complained about it.
Dumbledore lit a black flamed fire underneath the cauldron. Snape walked up to it. He took the green pouch and added all it contained into the cauldron. A small pop sound was heard then quickly replaced by the sound of boiling water. Green boiling water. He next added the white pouch, only half, and a heavenly sound filled the air. It quickly vanished. Snape waited a few moments before adding the powder from the black pouch. He added only a pinch, but it had a greater effect then anything. Black smoke filled the air and loud shrikes could be heard everywhere. Harry couldn't decide whether he should cover his ears or hold his nose. "Stay still," a voice commanded. Harry froze where he stood. The smoke began to clear. Dumbeldore and Snape were standing by the cauldron, putting some bubbling potion into a bottle, and then more of it the second. The two retreated back to the circle the small group had formed.
"After you Severus," Dumbeldore said.
Snape took a sip from the first cup. "To help a girl."
He passed it to Professor McGonagall, who also took a sip. "To save a furture."
Hermione had it next. "To find a friend." After sipping, she handed it to Ron.
"To prevent a death," he said awkwardly as sipped and handed it to Neville.
"To strength the one who has given me strength," he said quietly, but in a sure steady tone. He took a sip and passed the sup to Harry.
Time seemed to stop. A picture of Gretchen formed in her mind, Gretchen who had danced with him on Halloween, who always smiled and laughed and was so sure. Gretchen who trusted him. The Gretchen who he though of sometimes when he wasn't sure of himself, the one he would wake in the middle of the night.
"To find the one who I can count on ad who trusts me blindly." The word escaped his mouth before he knew he was talking. Harry raised the bottle to his lips and took a very small sip. A feeling out weightlessness over took him. He handed the bottle to Albus Dumbledore, who handed him the second bottle which was closed with a stopper. Harry slipped it into his pocket. Dumbeldore smiled.
"To find the light held in the darkness," he said proudly. He took a sip. The weightlessness overtook Harry and a field of white filled his eyes. There was no sound save for the heavenly music he had heard earlier when Snape added the white powder and the ever fading sound of Albus Dumbledore humming continently to himself as the spell began.
Then it all stopped. Harry opened his eyes. He was standing in the middle of a forest, a hot forest. There were voices in the distense. One Harry recognized immediately, for it was one her could never forget. The voice wasn't speaking, it was laughing. A cold, high pitched laugh. It was the sound of Lord Voldemort.
Part Six: Tears and Whispers
When Harry walked in late for Defense Against Dark Arts the only seat left was next to Gretchen. He sat down next to her and tried to say hello, but her mind was somewhere so far away that Harry couldn't reach it.
He sighed. He missed Gretchen's friendship. It had been nice to know someone how seemed so sure of herself, but lately the girl had been anything but. Whatever Gretchen was hiding, it was having a visible effect on her. Her pale colored skin was nearly white, her once perfectly braided hair was now not touched and tangled, and her brownish-black eyes seemed to have lost something....that glow that you have when you smile. She couldn't smile with her eyes anymore. Harry didn't know what to do.
He had talked to Hermione and Ron about it. They assumed she was joking when she said "if I live till summer holidays" but Harry knew she wasn't. The only thing that seemed good about her at all was her influence of Neville who was now twice as confident and twice as skillful. But with all this excitement of his own success, Neville failed to see what Harry did, her unhappiness.
Harry knew that he couldn't have been the only one to notice that something was wrong? Where was Professor McGonagall, the house leader? Where was Hermione, her best friend? Or Ron, who had formerly loved her? Where was anyone? Harry didn't care who helped her, he just wanted someone to, because he had tried and it didn't work.
Only Professor Dumbledore had noticed something. He eyed her carefully during meals, but never made a mover to speak with her. He had said, "She has a secret that I cannot make her speak of. Whatever it is, though, it's eating her away." A scary thought entered Harry's head, what if Gretchen really was insane? She had been in Mungo's for eleven years, what if it was all for good reason?
Harry quickly pushed that thought aside. No, she could be... "Mr.Potter would you please pay attention," Professor Elistor demanded. Harry looked towards her. She was sitting at her desk, which was perfectly cleared of all clutter except for the white package she had received many months ago. "Now, as I was saying, the O.W.L.s you took last week will be graded by our next lesson....Miss.Locus? Are you paying attention?" Gretchen made no move to even acknollage that she heard the professor. "Miss. Locus.....Ahh!" As the professor had been yelling she pounded her arm on the desk, sending the white box and it's silvery content flying. Harry and Gretchen were cover in goo. The world around them began to fade.....
"You'll have to stay here, my sweet," a cold voice said. Two people came bursting into the small dark kitchen. One was around thirty-five, the other was around four. Harry for some reason knew that he was eleven years in the past, when he was already five and she was still four (Gretchen's birthday was the day before term started). She was small, he brown hair short. When standing next to the dark-magic filled form of her mother Gretchen seemed to glow. She glowed with innocence, and compassion.
"Why can't I go with you," the girl asked. Harry felt a hand grab his. Gretchen, the real fifteen year old Gretchen, had grabbed it. She was with him. She was Ron, and Hermione, and the rest of the class was. They were all inside Gretchen's memory.
"You've already caused enough trouble, child. That one, Mad-eye Moody, he knows my secret, and do you want to know why?" Little Gretchen trembled. "Because you told you nanny all about me! Now it's your fault that I have to leave!"
"Mummy, mummy, I didn't know," Gretchen sobbed.
"Yes, you did you...," the kitchen door burst open. Three figured emerged. One was of Mad-eye Moody, the next was Albus Dumbeldore, and the third was Severus Snape. Harry blinked what was he.....
"It's been a look time," Snape said. "I see you still follow the dark ways. You still believe Voldemort will return."
"He'll come back," the evil woman said. "When he returns my sacrifice will be ready." The woman smiled coldly at her daughter, who was suddenly still.
"Enough," Moody said. With that the exchanged of spells began. Curses and hexes were muttered, but to no gain until finally and strong voice yelled..
"Stuperfy!" A body fell to the ground. Albus Dumbeldore still had his wand pointed at the body of Winetta Locus. Moody bound her with ropes while Albus moved towards Gretchen, extending his hand as she stared at him blankly.
"What did she mean by sacrifice, Severus," Moody asked.
"Winny was going to give her daughter to the dark lord, all ready has in most ways. She's a poor kid. I don't know why, but they put a great many of curses and hexes on the child already........"
"Enough wandering in Gretchen's thoughts. They are not yours to see," a strong voice addressed. Albus Dumbledore stood before them, dragging all of them back to their real lives. Professor Elistor must have been making her own pensive and gotten careless...
Harry looked down as a sharp pain filled his left hand. He looked down and saw that Gretchen was still grasping it, but that didn't make sense.....She started to run out of the class room, not noticing Harry's grip. Her fingers slipped from his hand and she was gone. Before he knew what was happening, Harry was following her, Neville, Ron, and Hermione behind him.
He grabbed her arm and she stopped running so that she could turn around and see him. "Harry...," she started to say as a tear ran down her check.
"Gretchen are you all right?" Neville asked as he walked up to her and grabbed her, forcing Harry to let go of her arm. He held her in his arms for a moment, then noticed that she was trembling. "Here...," he said as he took of it button up sweater and put it around her shoulders. It was three times to large for her, but she smiled an empty smile just the
same.
"Thank you Neville," she said. "Weird isn't it? That none of us are covered with that stuff anymore?" They all nodded. Hermione was about to say something when Albus Dumbeldore walked up behind them.
"Ah, there you are Miss. Locus. Harry, Neville, Hermione, Ron, I need to speak with Gretchen alone on this matter, so please go with the rest of your class to the Gryffindor Common room and wait for you next class." He saw the desperate look on Neville's face and added, "This won't that long." Everyone nodded. For a second Harry thought he heard Gretchen say something. Tonight's the night, please don't let him follow me...., but no one else seemed to hear anything, so Harry dismissed the thought and went back with his friends to the common room. He peered back once to see Gretchen peering back at him with a look of confusion on her face, but they both turned away quickly.
"Was that her mother?" Neville asked. Harry nodded. The others looked at him, as if trying to ask a question, but were silent. "What do you guys know that I don't?"
Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione, who nodded. "Her mother was a deatheater." That was that. There was silence.
Harry could hardly bare to stay in his common room all day. It was just too much. A few minuets before lunch he told Ron and Hermione that he was going for a brief walked and that he'd see them for lunch. Now he was walking, lunch was halfway over, and he still felt restless. From a distance, he heard a faint sob. Harry followed the sound.
"Gretchen, what are you doing?" Harry asked when he found her crying in the trophy room. She quickly wiped her eyes.
"Nothing, Harry. I just needed some time to myself," she explained. Good bye, Harry, and don't come after me....
Good bye, Harry thought bewildered, but terms doesn't end till.....
A look of confusion spread across both faces. Gretchen quickly got up and left the common room. Harry headed for the Great Hall, where dinner was almost over. He didn't eat. He just sat there, not knowing what to say or think.
"Hermione, could you go up and see if Grtechen's still in the girl's dorm. I want to talk to her," Harry half-asked half-ordered as soon as they were back in the common room. She nodded and ran up the stairs.
"Do you suppose that the memory we saw was bothering her, the one with her mum?" Ron asked when Hermione was out of sight.
"Perhaps. All I know is......"
"She's gone!" Hermione shouted as she ran towards Ron and Harry. The whole common room went silent from her yelling, but Hermione didn't notice. "She's gone! Gretchen's gone! She left Neville's sweater on her bed along with letters for us."
"What!" Neville asked as he pushed his way threw the crowd. Hermione handed everyone their letters. Harry read his silently.
Dear Harry,
I think you already know somehow, but I'm going to explain anyway. Harry, I had to go. My mother considers me a trader, and the only way to keep her from killing me is to pretend to be like her. This was the plan: I would become good friends with you and when they "kidnapped" me you would try to save me. DON'T FOLLOW ME HARRY! I'll be safe here. If you stay at Hogwarts, you will be, too. It all works out better this way.Thank you, for being the best friend I've ever known. Sure as the sun will rise, I'll never forget you.
With all my love
Gretchen
"Can I read yours," Harry asked Ron. The tall, lanky, red head handed him the letter. It was short, sweet, and to the point.
Dear Ron,
I'm afraid I cannot stay at Hogwarts anymore. I've felt alone for a long time, and I just can't take anymore. I'll miss you.
Gretchen
Harry thrust Ron's letter back into his hands and stormed out of the common room, down the stairs, and to Professor McGonagall's office. He knock loudly and barged in before getting a response. "Mr. Potter...," Professor McGonagall, who was deep in conversation with Professor Snape, raged.
"Gretchen's gone," Harry thrust the latter into the profrssor's hands. "She went to her mum. Read it." Professor McGonagall, who's lips were very thin, began to read, irritation spreading onto every expression on her face. Then suddenly her features softened, her eyes grew wide, and her jaw opened slightly. She passed the paper genitally to Snape, who read it was a puzzeled expression on his face. For a few moments everything was still. To Harry it felt like hours.
"Dumbledore," Professor McGonagall said, "now." She got up from her chair and ran to the door, grabbing Harry's hand somewhere along the way. She raced to the office, ushering Harry though the halls along the way as he struggled to keep up with her. "Green bean," she said quickly. The gargoyle swung aside and she started up the stairs at a pace twice as fast as the one she had just traveled by, dragged Harry behind her. Snape followed, though he didn't run. The puzzeled expression was still lingering about his face.
The three walked through the office door. Dumbledore was siting at his desk reading a News Paper, the comics in the news paper. He looked up, "Minerva, Severus, Harry to what do I owe the pleasure?" He was smiling, but that faded quickly as he at the faces of his visiors."What has happened?"
"Gretchen Locus. She ran away. When to her mum. She wrote this to Potter, and some to her friend, but according to this they don't know....," Professor McGonagall quickly explained. Snape, who was the last to read the letter, handed it to Dumbledore. He skimmed it quickly, and then looked up towards Harry.
"Any idea where she's headed?" he asked. Harry shock his head. Dumbledore sighed. He sank into his chair resting his elbows on his desk. He placed his head on his left hand. "I should have known. The girl has been acting strangely since Christmas. You could see the changes in her aura......."
"She's cursed," Snape interrupted. "They fear her, you know," he shot a look at Harry. "She doesn't know the power she holds. That's why they hurt her. However, they wont kill her, not yet. We have a chance. We can still save her."
"I know, Severus. And I would go after her myself, if I knew where she was," said Dumbledore. "But that's the problem. She doesn't want to be found."
Harry was speechless. How could he have let this happen? He knew something was wrong. How could she have done something like this, though? Even if she was desperate? She could have told Dumbledore, of Harry, or anyone....but she didn't. Harry felt confused. According to the letter she was happy with them..in a way. Thank you, for being the best friend I've ever known. Sure as the sun will rise, I'll never forget you, the letter had said. Sure as the sun will rise.......
"East," Harry whispered. "The sun rises to the east."
"What? But how does that...," Professor McGonagall began.
"Yes. The east," said Albus Dumbledore. "It was the east. Severus, I'm calling a staff meeting. All classes are to be dismissed to common rooms. Harry, how else received a letter?"
"Hermione, Ron, and Neville."
"Minerva, grab them please and lead them to my office. Harry, come with me." The two professors scurried out of the office as if they were running from a fire. Dumbledore and Harry followed them in silence. When they were at last out of ear shot the old man spoke. "There is a way to find Gretchen, Harry. It is a magic so old that it is all but forgotten, but I know the spell, and I believe we can perform it.
"You see, Harry, the oldest of magic was not performed with wands. No, wands came only two thousand years ago, when humans were in the habit of carrying around staffs and arrows and other such things. You see, Harry, our minds developed quicker, as did our emotions. For the most ancient of magic is based upon that Harry. It is made with the soul itself. It is that magic that enabled your mother to save you all those years ago. It is that magic that has saved Voldemort from his bodiless existence. It is that magic which is perhaps the strongest of all."
They were in the hall now. Dumbeldore clapped his hands and a once dusty armor suite became clean and shinny. "You see, Harry? That's almost like what we're doing, but that is magic of the mind. Spells with wands a recent next to that. Potions and Transfiguration. Those were the first two magics. Then came divination, and Herbology. Then charms, curses and hexes. Wand Spells. More and more things kept happening, some before, some after. The Dark Arts emerged. Of course, there were always darks arts. But wands is what really made everything happen. You see, those who practice the dark arts are looking for an easy way of magic. Wands made the dark short cuts easy. But that is not our concern now. Finding Gretchen before it is too late, that is."
"What are we going to do Professor?" Harry asked.
"A spell," he said, "an ancient spell. A spell so old that no one remembers its name. Not even I. Let us call it a love spell, for it is made with love. Back in ancient times, people were more easily lost. When that happened their most intimate friends and family members would make a potion, think of the lost one, drink it and instantly find themselves next to that loved one. They would drink a seconds sip and the loved one and they would be back in their previous location." Harry nodded.
"So we'd go to her, grab her, and bring her back," Harry asked. Dumbledore nodded.
"I have performed this spell only once before, back in the days of my youth after childhood. I am not entirely sure how it will work this time. That is why I want you to prepare to be sent to her alone."
"Alone?" Harry questioned.
"Yes. You were her closest friend," Dumbledore said.
"No. She was dating Neville. They spent all their..."
"Yes, she was dating Neville. But, it seems to me, that was just a well crafted way to avoid you. Gretchen has never known anyone deeply, much less someone who wakes her up in the middle of the night, or how she trusts with a picture of her mother, or the secret of the blood bind. You see, Ron and Hermione don't know about that. Nor does Neville, or he would have not been so shocked upon hearing you call Gretchen's mum a deatheater. You see Harry, she trusted you, and then got scared when she knew she would be forced to leave you. She didn't want to leave Ron and Hermione either, so she went to Neville, who she would miss. But he was one. You were three," the Professor explained "As I was saying, there is a good chance that only you, who knows her best, will be able to go to her. Now, get your cloak, get your wand. Then go to the kitchens and have Dobby show you to the stone hall. He will know what that means. Go, Harry. Go now."
Harry nodded and then ran off. He almost knocked over Collin Creevy as he raced into his dorm to get his cloak. His wand was already in his pocket. "Did you find Gretchen," Seamus asked as Harry tore through his trunk. Dean was standing next to him.
"Not yet. Soon." With that Harry was off, this time nearly tackeling Iris Indigo, the Quiddich keeper. He was racing though the hall when....
"There you are, Harry," a voice said, "I didn't see you at dinner." Harry spun around and was met by Mandy's smiling face.
"Hello. Look, I'd love to chat but there's just no time...."
"Harry why on Earth are you running though the halls like an animal?" Mandy questioned. Harry walked up to her and gave her a short kiss.
"I'd love to explain, but I haven't got time. If I don't hurry Gretchen...."
"Gretchen? Gretchen! Are you dumping me fore Gretchen!"
"No!" Harry said fiercely. "Gretchen ran way and......I'll explain it soon." Harry ran off leaving a bewildered Mandy in the hall all alone. He ran up to the paint of the fruit and tickled the pear. Swinging the picture back, he ran into the kitchen where he was met by a mob of eager house elves. Including Dobby.
"Harry Potter! Harry Potter! You come to see Dobby!" the elf shouted.
"Yes," Harry Potter lied. "I need you to show me to the stone hall. Dumbledore said you would know what to do."
"The stone hall," Dobby said in a more serious voice then Harry had ever heard him use. "Harry Potter must go this way." Dobby started walking towards the fire. He knocked on the third stone up from the floor on it's right side three times. A door swung open revealing a narrow set of winding stairs. The house elf started down. Harry followed.
There were many stairs probably hundreds, but it only seemed that he had walked down ten when he reached the bottom. "Magic," the house elf muttered. Harry looked around the room. It was large and circular, a bit larger that Dumbledore's office, and Harry reckoned that the Office was in the same place a few floors up. The walls of the room where made of cold gray stone, just as the floors and walls. There were four statues hanging from the walls. One was at the south-east, an eagle. One at the south west, a snake, one at the north west, a badger, and the finial at the north east, a lion. Under the statues burned torches. The flames were each the color of the house they represented.
Harry heard a rumbling noise behind him. The stair case that had lead him there was gone, replaced by wall. Dobby had left. There was a rolling noise in front of him. A new piece of wall slid out. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Professor McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbeldore came parading down the stairs. As soon as the wall had slid back into place, Dumbeldore spoke. "Welcome to the stone hall. This is where all the Hogwarts headmasters would perform there most intimate spells. The last professor to use it before me was Headmistress Constance Mistimy over two hundred years ago. I started using when Voldemort came to power. How appropriate that because of him it must be used again.
"Now, all of us here will try our luck with the potion. Severus, do you have everything you will need?"
"Yes, Headmaster," the man replied. He took three leather pouches, all small enough to fit in his palm at the same time, out of his pocket. One was green, the next white, and the third black. Dumbeldore nodded and stepped to the middle of the room where he tapped on the center brick once. A piece of the floor subsided and a large black cauldron emerged in it's place. It was a thick cauldron, Harry noted, so Percy couldn't have
complained about it.
Dumbledore lit a black flamed fire underneath the cauldron. Snape walked up to it. He took the green pouch and added all it contained into the cauldron. A small pop sound was heard then quickly replaced by the sound of boiling water. Green boiling water. He next added the white pouch, only half, and a heavenly sound filled the air. It quickly vanished. Snape waited a few moments before adding the powder from the black pouch. He added only a pinch, but it had a greater effect then anything. Black smoke filled the air and loud shrikes could be heard everywhere. Harry couldn't decide whether he should cover his ears or hold his nose. "Stay still," a voice commanded. Harry froze where he stood. The smoke began to clear. Dumbeldore and Snape were standing by the cauldron, putting some bubbling potion into a bottle, and then more of it the second. The two retreated back to the circle the small group had formed.
"After you Severus," Dumbeldore said.
Snape took a sip from the first cup. "To help a girl."
He passed it to Professor McGonagall, who also took a sip. "To save a furture."
Hermione had it next. "To find a friend." After sipping, she handed it to Ron.
"To prevent a death," he said awkwardly as sipped and handed it to Neville.
"To strength the one who has given me strength," he said quietly, but in a sure steady tone. He took a sip and passed the sup to Harry.
Time seemed to stop. A picture of Gretchen formed in her mind, Gretchen who had danced with him on Halloween, who always smiled and laughed and was so sure. Gretchen who trusted him. The Gretchen who he though of sometimes when he wasn't sure of himself, the one he would wake in the middle of the night.
"To find the one who I can count on ad who trusts me blindly." The word escaped his mouth before he knew he was talking. Harry raised the bottle to his lips and took a very small sip. A feeling out weightlessness over took him. He handed the bottle to Albus Dumbledore, who handed him the second bottle which was closed with a stopper. Harry slipped it into his pocket. Dumbeldore smiled.
"To find the light held in the darkness," he said proudly. He took a sip. The weightlessness overtook Harry and a field of white filled his eyes. There was no sound save for the heavenly music he had heard earlier when Snape added the white powder and the ever fading sound of Albus Dumbledore humming continently to himself as the spell began.
Then it all stopped. Harry opened his eyes. He was standing in the middle of a forest, a hot forest. There were voices in the distense. One Harry recognized immediately, for it was one her could never forget. The voice wasn't speaking, it was laughing. A cold, high pitched laugh. It was the sound of Lord Voldemort.