"What do you know?" Harry asked innocently. Hermione smiled sweetly at him.
"We know that you are Merlin's heir, Harry." She said in a sugary voice. Harry went white, but he regained composure quickly.
"Caught on, have you Hermione?" He asked. "I really expected that you would have figured out the second day of school." Hermione's smile faltered a little.
"Aren't you going to ask us how we did it?" Ron asked. Harry turned to Ron and gave him a cold gaze, on the brink of a glare.
"No, thank you. I'd rather not know." Harry said shortly.
"Tough cookies, we're going to tell you anyways." Ron said and yanked him into a seat when they reached the common room. "Hermione and I put all the clues you've been dropping us, together, and we figured it out."
"And then we found a picture of Merlin on the fifth floor. You have a striking resemblance." Hermione said lightly. Harry went red.
"And then I suppose you went digging in my trunk for more clues, am I right?" Harry snapped. Hermione and Ron looked at each other and then nodded very slowly.
"We're so sorry-" Hermione began but Harry cut her off.
"Well thank you guys, for snooping around in my personal life!" He said with bitter sarcasm in his voice. "You have just made my day. God! I can't believe you two!" And with that said he stormed up the stairs. Fury coursed through his veins. He needed to vent his anger. Something needed to burn.
Harry looked around the dorm room for something he could set on fire. His eyes fell on a half-written letter he had been writing to Cho before he left. Burn you stupid letter. Burn you pathetic note! He thought to himself and the paper blew up in flames and smoldering remains of paper flew across the room. He inhaled the smoke and coughed. He put the fire out and swept up the remains of the letter.
"Harry! What are you doing?" Came Hermione's voice from the doorway as Harry blew up an old letter he had received from Cho.
"I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count." Harry said without breaking his concentration. He extinguished the small fire. He summoned another letter into the air and started burning it from the upper left-hand corner all the way down to the bottom right hand corner until all that was left was a sheet of ash. It crumpled and fell into a pile on the floor.
"That's wrong, Harry." Hermione said.
"What's wrong?" Harry said coldly as a clean piece of parchment burst into flames. "I see nothing wrong with burning my own property."
"Even so, why don't you just take your anger out on us?" She asked and looked at him with searching eyes.
"You want me to light you on fire?" Harry asked with half a grin. Hermione blushed.
"No, that's not what I meant. I meant why don't you just talk to us for a change?" She said. Harry extinguished the fire and sent the little pile of ashes into the trash can. Harry gave up and collapsed on his bed.
"I give up. Whatever I don't tell you you'll most likely find out in two months. What do you want to know?" He said and sighed. Ron, who had been silent this whole time, was the first to ask a question.
"Why did you come back from the Dursley's just now?" He asked. Harry's face contorted into a very menacing cold expression.
"Dudley attacked me and so did his friend Piers Polkiss. My odds were definitely against me on that fight." He said with bitter hatred in his voice. "So I went down hard."
"Ouch." Was all Hermione said.
"What did that snake- Nagini did you call her, tell you?" Ron asked.
"Oh nothing to special." Harry held up a hand and started ticking off his main points of the conversation with the snake. "That I was going to die. That I was 'the heir.' That I needed to practice my 'talent.' That they were going to use my power against me. You know, the usual." Hermione and Ron were shocked that Harry could say all of this and keep his cool. "Anything else?"
"Do you forgive us?" Hermione asked. Harry looked away for a moment, thinking hard.
"I suppose." He said finally. Hermione wiped the tears that had been gathering under her eyes away and gave Harry a hug.
"We missed you so much." She said quietly.
"I should hope so!" Harry said loudly and Hermione laughed in between a sob. "Hermione, it's all right. I'm your friend. Everything is back to normal. You don't need to cry." Hermione pulled away from Harry and dried off her face. She looked at Harry for a second with a confused expression.
"One more thing Harry." She said. Harry looked up at her.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"Your hair looks really good like that." She said and they all laughed. Hermione linked arms with her two best friends and they walked down the stairs to lunch.
Harry was much happier with his friends all around him. The Christmas holidays were as fun as ever. On Christmas Eve Harry, Hermione and Ron stayed up late drinking mugs of hot chocolate, talking mostly about the new defense teacher.
"Could she be any more boring?" Ron asked. Harry and Hermione shook their heads.
"And to top it off she has a monotone voice and she talks slow to!" Harry exclaimed.
"Well you don't have to worry about not hearing her. I swear she must have been born with the sonorous charm built in." Hermione said. Professor Tool, the new teacher was nobody's favorite. She didn't seem to have a drop of personality. Harry yawned.
"We'd better get to sleep. Santa won't come if we wait up for him." Harry said putting on a childish voice. Hermione half laughed and gave them both hugs before walking up to her room. Harry and Ron slowly meandered up to the dorms to, yawning loudly. They fell asleep quickly.
Harry found himself once again in a dream about his murder.
"My lord, how exactly are you going to kill Harry Potter?" The greasy voice of Severus Snape said from a masked face.
"Severus, I thought you learned not to ask questions." Voldemort said with a grin. A few of the Death Eaters laughed wickedly and clapped their hands together. Snape kind of shook and Voldemort smiled wider. "Oh no, you shall not be punished this time. But next time you might not be so lucky.
"I will not kill Harry in our first encounter this year-if all goes according to my plan. No, no. The best and might I add funniest way to kill a person is to wear them down first. Not physically, but emotionally. The poor boy will be so traumatized when I appear again that he will die for sure. Severus, a great deal of this has to do with you."
"With me, my lord? What could I possibly do to-" Snape started to say, but Voldemort held up a hand to silence him.
"You will need to set up this-" He showed Snape something that Harry couldn't see. "Make sure Dumbledore knows nothing of this. Put a memory charm on him if you have to. Plus it won't kill the boy. Just weaken him. Just weaken him."
Somebody shook Harry by the shoulders. "Hey! Harry! Wake up!" somebody called to Harry, who was still half-asleep. Harry grumbled something about letting people sleep in the morning and rolled over. The curtains around his bed opened and somebody threw a pillow at him. "We don't want to wait for you anymore!" It was Hermione. Harry sat up, grabbed his glasses and put them on. The room slid into focus and Harry saw Ron looking longingly at his large pile of presents, and Hermione at hers.
"Oh just start without me." Harry said and flopped back down into a lying position and thought about the dream he had just had. He was going to see Voldemort. This year. Soon! Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead. His scar hurt quite a bit, but Harry was getting used to this by now. Hermione grabbed Harry by the collar of his pajamas and yanked him up.
"Common Harry its Christmas! Cheer up! Open your presents!" She said and thumped him hard on the back.
"Yeah Harry," Ron added. "I wanna open my presents!"
"Okay, okay, let's get started." Harry said and lifted his six presents on to the bed. Harry froze. Six presents? He counted them again. There was one from Sirius, Hermione, Ron, Cho and Hagrid and then there was another extra present. It was a thin package that only had Harry's name on it. Curious, Harry tore it open.
A necklace fell out of the opening, a silver necklace with a thin chain and a small charm on it. The charm attached to it was also silver, shaped like a sword with a single vine wrapping around it. Harry held it up to the light. It was a very pretty necklace indeed. Harry was about to slip it over his head when he suddenly wondered if it was dangerous. Something told him it wasn't and he slipped it on. The cold silver against his skin made him shiver.
"What did you get?" Hermione asked. She herself was unwrapping a large box.
" A really cool necklace." Harry said.
"From who?" Ron asked. Harry shrugged.
"No idea." He said. Hermione frowned but didn't say anything. "What did you get Hermione?" Hermione grinned from ear to ear and held up a pair of black vinyl flare jeans. Harry nodded.
"What is that?" Ron asked Hermione looking disgusted. Hermione glared at him.
"It's called style, Ron. Have you ever heard of it?" She snapped. Ron went red and quickly shoved the maroon sweater he had received from his mother under his bed.
"What did you have to kill to get it?" Ron asked quietly, but she heard and threw the empty box at him. Harry half smiled and turned to the rest of his presents. He supposed everybody had run out of ideas, because all he received this year was candy. Hagrid, however, had given Harry a pair of thick wool mittens in a grayish brown color. Harry put them in his trunk and watched his two best friends tear off wrapping paper for the next twenty minutes.
"Harry let me see the necklace you got." Hermione said after she threw away all of her wrapping paper. Harry pulled the necklace out from under his pajamas. Hermione walked over to him and looked at it.
"You're right Harry. That is an awesome necklace. I wonder who gave it to you," she said, frowning.
"Its not cursed Hermione. If it were I would have already hit the floor. It's been nearly an hour since I put it on." Harry pointed out. Hermione glared at him.
"You, Harry Potter, are not as concerned about strange gifts as I am. It'll be you're end I swear." She said. Harry glared back at her.
"Well that is very reassuring, Hermione. ' Cheer up, Harry! Open your presents!'" Harry said putting on a high pitched voice. Hermione socked him in the stomach.
"You are a nerd." She said plainly. Harry laughed.
"But I'm also a nerd that can set you on fire." He said. Hermione and Ron both laughed at this but looked rather nervous. "Not that I would ever do that." Harry added hastily.
"Okay students, who would like to show the rest of the class the charm they prepared over the holidays?" Professor Flitwick piped up a week later during Charms class. Hermione shot her hand into the air, but she was the only one. "I'm sorry Miss Granger, but let's give somebody else a chance to go first this time. Let's see. Nobody wants to show me? Well I guess I'll have to pick who gets to - Mr. Malfoy can we help you?"
Draco Malfoy had just entered the room looking dangerous. "No, Professor. I am just here because McGonagall sent me in here. She claimed she didn't want to deal with me right now."
"Professor McGonagall." Flitwick corrected. "Okay you may stay here, just don't disrupt my class to. Who shall go first? Let me see let me see. Mr. Longbottom!"
Neville got shakily to his feet and walked up to the front of the class. He pulled a little clay person out of his pocket and set it on Professor Flitwick's desk. He mumbled something and poked his wand at the piece of clay. It started tap dancing on the desk in a strait line and eventually fell of the other side. Everybody laughed and clapped as Neville picked it up off the floor and walked back to his seat.
"That was great, Neville!" Harry said and smiled at Neville, who was trembling.
"Th-th- thanks Harry." He said.
"Mr. Potter!" Flitwick squeaked from his desk. Harry took a deep breath and walked coolly to the front of the room.
"I um need a volunteer." Harry said. Hermione raised her hand immediately, but Harry didn't want to call on her. He expected she wouldn't want her hair standing on end.
"Mr. Malfoy! Come up here and assist Harry!" Flitwick called to Draco. Malfoy stood up and walked up to the front of the class, glaring at Flitwick. Harry couldn't control a smile. This was going to be excellent.
"Here goes nothing." Harry said quietly and pointed his wand at Malfoy. "Shocfer." Malfoy's platinum blonde hair stood up on end. He looked like a blonde porcupine. The class hesitated for a moment and then burst out laughing. Professor Flitwick fell off his pile of books he was laughing so hard.
"What? What happened? Potter! What did you do to me?" Malfoy demanded, but Harry didn't hear him, he was laughing so much his ribs hurt and his eyes were watering. Ron had fallen off his chair. Harry regained composure and mumbled the counter curse and walked briskly up to his seat. Professor Flitwick stood up again and cleared his throat loudly. The class slowly stopped laughing and looked up at Professor Flitwick.
"That was excellent Potter. Full marks." He said and laughed.
"Thanks for not picking me, Harry!" Hermione muttered out of the corner of her mouth. Harry nodded.
Charms was easily the best class now. Not only did Harry get to talk with his friends; there was always a good laugh involved. Malfoy was also getting constantly made fun of. Even the people in his own house had heard the story and had laughed at him. The only people that didn't find it funny was Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson.
The only thing that worried Harry now was the dream he had over the holidays. He didn't trust Snape at all now, and made that clear to him. Harry sat in the potion class glaring at him the entire time. (Just like Sirius.) One Friday a month later Snape kept Harry after class. Hermione and Ron told him they would be waiting for him at the door. Harry walked up to Snape's desk and glared at him.
"Potter, I need to tell you some things."
"I know already." Harry snapped. "You are going to set up something in the school. It won't kill me, if all goes according to Voldemort's plan but it will wear me down 'not physically, but emotionally.'" Harry quoted Voldemort. Snape's jaw had dropped, but he quickly snapped it shut again.
"Precisely. I am not even sure what he is planning for." Snape said. Harry seriously doubted this. "So all I can say is do not go into the third floor corridor on the left. Do not go down there, no matter how tempting it is. You got that Potter?"
"Yes Professor. You have no idea what it is?" Harry asked.
"No idea. I think it has to do with a picture, but that doesn't make any sense. You are dismissed." Snape said thoughtfully. Harry walked slowly out of the dungeon and head towards lunch with his friends.
"What did he want?" Ron asked fearfully.
"He needed to tell me some stuff." Harry said.
"And that stuff would be-?" Hermione asked. Harry glared at her.
"I was getting to that." He snapped. "He told me that I'm not to go into the third floor corridor on the left."
"Why?" Ron said. Harry shrugged.
"No idea. Say, wasn't that the corridor that was out of bounds in our first year?" Harry asked suddenly.
"Yeah." Hermione said. Harry sighed.
"Voldemort must have a thing for that corridor." Harry said. Hermione gasped.
"This has to do with Voldemort?" She said.
"It always does." Harry said calmly. He didn't know how he did sometimes. He was constantly nervous about Voldemort, but he never looked it. They sat down at the Gryffindor table and started eating.
"What do you think it is?" Hermione said fearfully.
"I asked. Snape doesn't know either. He thought it might have something to do with a picture, but he seemed doubtful." Harry said. Hermione looked up at him, looking confused. She downed the rest of her chicken noodle soup and stood up.
"I'll be in the library." She called behind to them as she walked briskly out of the room.
"She probably has read every book in the library, what does she need to look up?" Ron said and rolled his eyes.
"I have no idea." Harry said and shook his head.
"That is a common reoccurrence with you lately, Harry." Ron said. Harry laughed and punched his shoulder. Ron's elbow landed in the dregs of Hermione's soup.
"Do you want to take this outside, shorty?" He asked. Harry balled his hands into fists and thumped his chest with them a couple of times.
"Bring it on!" He said. They dissolved into laughter and left for the common room.
"Thank god it's Friday. We get the rest of the day off!" Ron exclaimed as they climbed the stairs. They passed the third floor corridor on the left side and stopped. The smell of baking cookies flooded Harry's nostrils.
"Yum. Do you smell that?" Harry asked Ron. Ron stared at him as if he were crazy.
"Uh- no. Harry are you feeling all right?" He asked.
"Never better. Let's go se what it is, shall we?" Harry asked and put a foot down the corridor. He was about to take another step but Ron grabbed his arm and yanked him back.
"No you don't. You aren't supposed to go down that corridor. Who knows what's down there." Ron said and yanked him up the stairs.
"Party pooper." Harry said. "I bet there isn't anything down there. It's probably just Snape trying to scare me."
"Harry! Listen to yourself!" Ron said.
"I am. I just said, 'party pooper. I bet there isn't anything down th-'" Ron slapped Harry.
"Snap out of it!" He said. Harry blinked and rubbed his eyes.
"Thanks. I needed that." He said.
"Any time." Ron said with a slight grin. "Would you like me to slap you again?" He raised his hand into the air.
"No, thanks." Harry said quickly.
Harry wanted to know what was down that corridor. Every time he passed it, it made him more and more curious. The smell of baking cookies. Laughter. Even a shriek. Every time he passed it, a good reason to see what was down that hall. Ron and Hermione made a point to be around him every time they passed it so he wouldn't go down it.
"Harry, what is with you?" Hermione said as she yanked Harry away from the corridor for the seventh time that day.
"I just want to see what's down there." Harry said and struggled out of her grip on his arm.
"No you don't!" Hermione said and pulled him up the stairs. "Do you want to get yourself killed?"
"Of course not! But it's so tempting to see what's down there!" Harry moaned.
"There isn't anything down there!" She said.
"So why can't I go?" Harry said.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it. There is nothing down there that you want to see. I've got a bad feeling about it." She said.
"It can't be that bad Hermione! Come on! Let me just go down-" Hermione had grabbed his arm again and was yanking him up the stairs while Harry tried to go the other direction. Hermione dug her nails into his arm and threw all of her strength into pulling Harry up the stairs. He was skinny, but that didn't mean he wasn't strong. They started slowly moving up the stairs. Harry gave up and walked along with her.
"That's it Harry." She said. Harry crossed his arms and glared at her.
"You suck. You never want to have any fun ever." He said. Hermione glared back at him.
"Excuse me for not wanting you to die." She said.
"But somebody was crying! Didn't you hear it?" Harry said desperately. Hermione shook her head.
"No, I didn't. It's an illusion, Harry. It's a trap. Don't go down there!" She pleaded.
"But- but what if the person was hurt and nobody goes to get her? What if she dies? Then it'll be all your fault that we didn't go down that hall to save her." Harry stopped climbing. Hermione stopped to.
"Harry, you are losing your mind. There was nobody down the hall. Nobody. Snap out of it!" She said.
"How do you know that?" Harry asked and narrowed his eyes at her. Hermione slapped Harry. "Ouch! That really hurt!" Hermione noticed that the air around Harry's left hand was smoking in a strange sphere shape.
"Harry don't you even think about fire!" Hermione cried. Harry shuddered suddenly. The smoke disappeared.
"Oh my god, Hermione, I am so sorry!" He said. "I don't know what came over me!" Hermione sighed and hugged him.
"I'm just glad you stopped acting like that. It scares me when you do stuff like that." She said and pulled away from the hug.
"I don't know what happened. I just start saying and doing things without even thinking. It scares me to. But I want to know what's down there that's doing this to me. It's hard even now not to run down there and walk down that hall." Harry said and shook his head.
"Well then let's get you out of here before you do that." Hermione said and they walked up one more flight of stairs to the common room, all the while Harry heard a girl crying her eyes out in the third floor corridor.
"He's getting worse." Hermione was telling Ron later that night when Harry was out a Quidditch practice.
"Worse?" Ron said bewildered. "How could he be any worse?"
"I dragged him away from the hall today, and a fireball started to form in his hand." Hermione said.
"Are you serious?" Ron said. Hermione nodded solemnly. "Isn't there some way we can avoid that corridor?"
"I checked up on that when we got back this afternoon. There isn't anyway to avoid it. Now we know why they set up that- whatever it is there." Hermione said and sighed. "And what gets me is how not worried Harry is about it." Ron nodded.
"I know. It's like death threats are something he gets everyday." Ron said.
"Uh- Ron, Harry does get a death threat like everyday. I think he just doesn't think anything or anyone can hurt him." Hermione said.
The portrait hole burst open and Amelia and Sirius appeared, fighting Harry who was trying to run away. Amelia was clutching Harry's arm and Sirius was tugging on the hem of Harry's robes.
"Harry come on! There is nothing down there!" Amelia was saying harshly. Harry snapped his head around so he could see her.
"I swear I heard him! If you would just let me go down there, I could prove it to you." Harry said. He sounded very anxious, but sad. "Let me go!" Ron and Hermione looked at each other.
"Harry, whatever you heard isn't really there! Remember, it's all an illusion!" Hermione called to Harry who was still putting up a good fight against Sirius and Amelia.
" It was real, Hermione! I swear it was real! It was not an illusion!"
"What happened?" Hermione asked Amelia.
"We were walking past the third floor corridor on the left hand side and Harry said that he heard something."
"What did you hear Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry suddenly stopped fighting Amelia and Sirius.
"I'd rather not talk about it, thanks." He said and walked heavily up to his room. Panting, Amelia and Sirius walked over to where Ron was sitting. Hermione sat down with them.
"I know that Harry isn't allowed to go down that corridor, and I know it most likely has something to do with Voldemort. What do you guys know?" Amelia said and folded her arms in a business like manner. Ron and Hermione looked at each other again.
"You're right. It has something to do with Voldemort. All we know is that he cant go down there, because Snape told him not to. Ever since the place has been bewitched to lure him down there. It's a trap. Harry knows about it, but he looses control of himself when he's around there." Hermione said. Amelia nodded.
"I thought it had to be something like that." Amelia said."That bastard. " She pounded a fist into the chair she was in.
"What did he hear? He's already told us somebody screaming and a girl crying." Ron asked. Amelia looked sorrowfully at the pair of them.
"He heard his dad." Amelia said.
"That's just sick." Hermione said and shook her head. "That is just sick." Ron was lost for words.
"Well I'm going to bed now. Ron you might want to also, I really wouldn't be leaving Harry alone when he's like that." Amelia said and headed up the stairs, Hermione followed. Ron to headed up the stairs and into his dorm. The first thing he noticed was Harry's silhouette hunched over the large photo album.
Harry heard Ron's head hit a pillow. The coast was clear now; he could leave without anybody noticing. He smiled to himself slightly. Harry opened the hangings around his bed as silently as he could and walked out of the room, still fully dressed. Ron grunted in his sleep as Harry shut the door. Harry froze and didn't move until he was sure that Ron had fallen asleep again. He tiptoed down the halls of the sleeping school, heading for the left-hand corridor on the third floor.
Ron opened his eyes. He looked around for the bump that had woken him. The door to the room was slightly ajar. He supposed Neville had gone for a drink of water. Ron's eyes darted over to Neville's bed. He was still asleep. So were Seamus and Dean. Ron hesitated for a moment knowing what he was about to see as his eyes moved over to Harry's bed. It was empty. Ron jumped out of bed and ran quickly into Hermione's dorm room. He shook her awake.
"He's gone, Hermione! I fell asleep for ten minutes and I wake up and he's gone!" He hissed to her.
"Who's gone, Ron? What are you talking about?" Hermione said groggily. Ron shook her some more.
"Harry! We've got to go save him!" Ron said. Hermione stared for a moment and then jumped out of bed. She was wearing a tank top and some short boxer shorts. Her toenails were painted red. Ron forgot what he was doing in her room for a moment.
"Come on!" Hermione said and grabbed his hand and they ran out of the common room in search of Harry. Hermione led Ron through a few passageways he had never seen before.
"Where are we going?" Ron asked as she yanked him through a tapestry.
"It's a short cut to the third floor. Look, there he is!" Hermione whispered as Harry came into view. He was jogging to the third floor.
"Harry!" Hermione called, but Harry didn't even turn to see who had beckoned to him.
"Cho is that you?" He whispered loudly down the corridor. Hermione shook her head and they started walking towards Harry.
"Harry, help me! I twisted my ankle, and I can't get up!" Hermione and Ron heard Cho's voice this time drifting through the corridor. It sounded like Cho, but something was wrong with the tone of her voice. Something was very wrong.
"I'll be there in a second, Cho. Don't worry!" Harry called to her. He reached the beginning of the hall, hesitated and then put a foot down.
"Harry don't do it! It's a trap!" Hermione cried and started running as fast as she could towards him, but it was too late. Harry had entered the trap. At once a wall of black fire sprang up from nowhere, blocking off the entrance. Hermione stopped running and Ron collided into her back. A cold high pitched laugh echoed through the halls.
"Ron, we need to find Dumbledore. Now." Hermione said breathlessly and they ran up the halls to find him.
Harry saw the flames jump up behind him and his heart skipped a beat. He looked around the hall. Cho was not there. There was nothing that looked the least bit suspicious there except perhaps a little container that looked like a makeup compact that was lying in the middle of the hall. Harry walked over to it and was going to bend down to get a better look at it when it started shaking violently and opened on its own. Suddenly a man stood before Harry. Or was it a man? The man was transparent. The man was Voldemort.
Voldemort stood there, his red eyes gleaming and with his flat nose and spindly hands. He laughed wickedly. Harry's scar however did not burst into pain. This couldn't be the real Voldemort. It was a magical hologram. It had to be.
"Well, hello Harry. How nice of you to join me finally." He said smoothly. Harry ground his teeth together.
"What're you doing here, Voldemort?" He said, trying to keep his cool. "Come to try and kill me again?" Voldemort laughed his horrible laugh.
"Far from it, my dear boy. Far from it." He said. He spat out the word 'dear' like it was poison. "I'm a bit surprised you held out as long as you did. Almost a week, and with all of my telepathic messages I was giving you. But I knew you'd come if your girlfriend were in trouble. And I was right."
"What're you doing here, Voldemort?" Harry repeated. His hand was clutching his wand tightly just incase he did anything.
"Simply to offer you something." Voldemort said and grinned evilly. Harry narrowed his eyes.
"And what would that be?" Harry asked. Voldemort's grin widened.
"This." He said and pulled out a picture Harry recognized as the photo of him and his mother and father.
"Where did you get that?" Harry snarled. "Give it back!"
"I had a death eater do me a favor. He fetched this picture of your- ah parents." Voldemort laughed again and looked at the picture. "Your mother. She was beautiful, was she not? To bad she had to die. Rather stupid of her." Harry chose not to say anything. The picture looked solid even if the rest of Voldemort didn't. Harry didn't want to try anything until he knew what was going on. "This Harry is a picture of temptation. Only one of its kind, too. I want to fight you on even ground Harry. I am not in good health, and you are. That is hardly a fair fight. I want to fight you when I'm good and healthy. If you touch this it will transport you back fourteen years ago, to the week before your parents so foolishly, died. You can have a chance to fight me and if you win Harry, you'll have a life with parents."
A life with parents. Harry went over this silently in his mind. A life without the Dursleys, a life without Dudley, a life with parents. It was all he had ever wanted. But if he didn't beat Voldemort, he would most likely die.
Harry had to make a decision; he couldn't just run for it. He was trapped. In front of him was Voldemort, and he didn't know what powers his hologram possessed and behind him was a wall of flames. Wait a second, I can deal with flames, Harry thought to himself. He turned his head to look at the flames. Go out you stupid, pointless fire. You're blocking my escape route, you dumb wall. The flames went out for three seconds but then jumped back up again. Voldemort laughed.
"Stupid boy, I made sure the fire was bewitched to always be jumping while you are in the corridor, stupid, stupid boy. Have you made you're decision yet? Do you want to go back in time and save your parents or do you want to stay here and be miserable the rest of your life knowing what you could have done? What will it be Harry? A simple yes or no will do just fine."
Half of Harry's mind was screaming NO! The other half was screaming YES! He went numb for a moment weighing his options. He could have parents, real parents. Not the Dursleys.
"No- I mean yes." Harry said quietly. Voldemort laughed.
"Good boy, very good boy. Now all you have to do is touch this picture and you'll be off." Voldemort said. Hermione's words echoed in Harry's mind. Don't do it Harry! It's a trap!
Harry ignored the words and walked over to the hologram of Voldemort. Voldemort put the picture on the floor. Harry grabbed it by the silver frame and looked at it. The baby Harry looked so happy. Harry wanted to be that happy again.
He touched his forefinger to the picture. There was a snap, and Harry Potter vanished from the hallway. The picture fell to the ground and the glass shattered. The firewall went out. Voldemort lingered for ten seconds, and then he disappeared also. The compact on the floor shut.
Harry was spinning around like a top as blurry colors flashed all around him. He held on to his glasses so they wouldn't fall off. He felt like he was moving backwards very fast. The spinning stopped and Harry stumbled and fell in a patch of soft grass. He looked around him. A small cottage was directly in front of him and a pleasant wood was behind him. Harry realized where he was. He was in Godric's Hollow. The picture had worked.
"Professor Dumbledore, Harry! You-know-who! Third floor corridor on the left!" Hermione panted when they finally found Dumbledore. He looked very sleepy for a moment but then snapped out of it. They ran down the halls again and skidded to a stop in front of the hall. It was empty.
"He's gone!" Ron said. He walked to the end of the hall and bent over the picture and glass shards. "I wonder how this got here-" He bent down to pick the picture up.
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Dumbledore cried and walked briskly over to Ron. He drew out his wand and muttered 'reparo' and the picture, glass and the frame suck back together, good as new. Dumbledore picked up the picture by the silver frame and shook his head sadly. "Why did you do it Harry? Why?"
"What did Harry do?" Ron asked. "Where did Harry go?" Dumbledore didn't answer Ron's question and bent down and picked up the container that looked like a powder compact. He stared at it for a moment.
"I should have known." He said quietly. He then looked at Hermione. "Miss Granger, could you go get Miss Chang from the Ravenclaw dorms? I know you know the password." Hermione nodded and took off down the hall. "Mr. Weasley, if you would follow me to my office, I will explain what is going on here."
"Yes sir," Ron said and followed Professor Dumbledore to his office where they found Cho and Hermione waiting for them. Ron took a seat next to Hermione and looked up at Dumbledore.
"Now you three are the closest to Harry, and so you deserve the truth. Do you see these items?" Dumbledore pointed to the compact and the picture. They all nodded. "One of them is illegal, the other isn't. Can you guess which one?"
"The compact?" Cho guessed. Dumbledore shook his head.
"No, the picture is." He said.
"Why?" Ron asked.
"I'll tell you Ron. This isn't an ordinary picture anymore. This has been changed into a picture of temptation. A picture of temptation is like a portkey in many ways, except the picture of temptation transports you back in time instead of transporting you to another country or town or wherever." Dumbledore explained.
"Excuse me Professor, but what is the other thing?" Hermione asked, pointing to the compact.
"This is a recorder of a sort. This one is much different than the others I've seen. This one can have a holographic conversation and record the whole thing at the same time. Do you understand?" Cho, Hermione and Ron all shook their heads, no. Dumbledore sighed. "Well I was going to watch this alone, but you may see what happened to, I suppose." He took the compact in his hands and opened it.
A hologram of Harry sprang out of it and so did one of Voldemort. All three teenagers screamed and hid behind their chairs. When they realized that this was just a recording of what happened, they took their seats again and watched fearfully.
"What're you doing here Voldemort?" Harry said, keeping his cool. Hermione was amazed at how Harry was talking this calmly to Voldemort. She would have fainted if she were in his position. "Come to try to kill me again?" Voldemort smiled wickedly. Hermione shuddered as she watched this recording. Cho was crying. Ron had a death grip on the arms of his chair and Hermione just watched in stunned silence. Harry kept his cool the entire time. Once he looked behind him and stared right at her, but his eyes went strait through her. The fire in Dumbledore's room went out. Hermione supposed Harry had tried to put out the fire to get away. Dumbledore lit it again and everybody went back to watching the 'show.' Harry disappeared and a few seconds later Voldemort did to. Dumbledore took the compact and shut it. He sat back down at his desk and folded his arms on it.
"Now the question is, who should go get him." He said. All three of the students looked at each other.
"I- I'll do it." Cho said and wiped the tears from her eyes. Hermione and Ron were shocked. Cho had always seemed a bit cowardly to them, very smart, but not assertive at all. "I- I'm his girlfriend. H- he'll listen t-to me." Hermione and Ron nodded reluctantly. Dumbledore smiled at the crying girl.
"That is good of you Cho. Cheer up, Harry will be okay, if you follow my instructions." Dumbledore said. Cho did not in anyway cheer up. "Cho, you will need to take this picture of temptation and touch the surface of the picture. Only I need you to have it with you when you arrive at Godric's Hollow, so you can touch it and come back here. Cho you will put the picture in your robes. You will end up in the third floor corridor if I am correct." Cho nodded and reached for the picture but Dumbledore shook his head. "Not tonight, it is to late. We'll give Harry a little while to be alone."
"We know that you are Merlin's heir, Harry." She said in a sugary voice. Harry went white, but he regained composure quickly.
"Caught on, have you Hermione?" He asked. "I really expected that you would have figured out the second day of school." Hermione's smile faltered a little.
"Aren't you going to ask us how we did it?" Ron asked. Harry turned to Ron and gave him a cold gaze, on the brink of a glare.
"No, thank you. I'd rather not know." Harry said shortly.
"Tough cookies, we're going to tell you anyways." Ron said and yanked him into a seat when they reached the common room. "Hermione and I put all the clues you've been dropping us, together, and we figured it out."
"And then we found a picture of Merlin on the fifth floor. You have a striking resemblance." Hermione said lightly. Harry went red.
"And then I suppose you went digging in my trunk for more clues, am I right?" Harry snapped. Hermione and Ron looked at each other and then nodded very slowly.
"We're so sorry-" Hermione began but Harry cut her off.
"Well thank you guys, for snooping around in my personal life!" He said with bitter sarcasm in his voice. "You have just made my day. God! I can't believe you two!" And with that said he stormed up the stairs. Fury coursed through his veins. He needed to vent his anger. Something needed to burn.
Harry looked around the dorm room for something he could set on fire. His eyes fell on a half-written letter he had been writing to Cho before he left. Burn you stupid letter. Burn you pathetic note! He thought to himself and the paper blew up in flames and smoldering remains of paper flew across the room. He inhaled the smoke and coughed. He put the fire out and swept up the remains of the letter.
"Harry! What are you doing?" Came Hermione's voice from the doorway as Harry blew up an old letter he had received from Cho.
"I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count." Harry said without breaking his concentration. He extinguished the small fire. He summoned another letter into the air and started burning it from the upper left-hand corner all the way down to the bottom right hand corner until all that was left was a sheet of ash. It crumpled and fell into a pile on the floor.
"That's wrong, Harry." Hermione said.
"What's wrong?" Harry said coldly as a clean piece of parchment burst into flames. "I see nothing wrong with burning my own property."
"Even so, why don't you just take your anger out on us?" She asked and looked at him with searching eyes.
"You want me to light you on fire?" Harry asked with half a grin. Hermione blushed.
"No, that's not what I meant. I meant why don't you just talk to us for a change?" She said. Harry extinguished the fire and sent the little pile of ashes into the trash can. Harry gave up and collapsed on his bed.
"I give up. Whatever I don't tell you you'll most likely find out in two months. What do you want to know?" He said and sighed. Ron, who had been silent this whole time, was the first to ask a question.
"Why did you come back from the Dursley's just now?" He asked. Harry's face contorted into a very menacing cold expression.
"Dudley attacked me and so did his friend Piers Polkiss. My odds were definitely against me on that fight." He said with bitter hatred in his voice. "So I went down hard."
"Ouch." Was all Hermione said.
"What did that snake- Nagini did you call her, tell you?" Ron asked.
"Oh nothing to special." Harry held up a hand and started ticking off his main points of the conversation with the snake. "That I was going to die. That I was 'the heir.' That I needed to practice my 'talent.' That they were going to use my power against me. You know, the usual." Hermione and Ron were shocked that Harry could say all of this and keep his cool. "Anything else?"
"Do you forgive us?" Hermione asked. Harry looked away for a moment, thinking hard.
"I suppose." He said finally. Hermione wiped the tears that had been gathering under her eyes away and gave Harry a hug.
"We missed you so much." She said quietly.
"I should hope so!" Harry said loudly and Hermione laughed in between a sob. "Hermione, it's all right. I'm your friend. Everything is back to normal. You don't need to cry." Hermione pulled away from Harry and dried off her face. She looked at Harry for a second with a confused expression.
"One more thing Harry." She said. Harry looked up at her.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"Your hair looks really good like that." She said and they all laughed. Hermione linked arms with her two best friends and they walked down the stairs to lunch.
Harry was much happier with his friends all around him. The Christmas holidays were as fun as ever. On Christmas Eve Harry, Hermione and Ron stayed up late drinking mugs of hot chocolate, talking mostly about the new defense teacher.
"Could she be any more boring?" Ron asked. Harry and Hermione shook their heads.
"And to top it off she has a monotone voice and she talks slow to!" Harry exclaimed.
"Well you don't have to worry about not hearing her. I swear she must have been born with the sonorous charm built in." Hermione said. Professor Tool, the new teacher was nobody's favorite. She didn't seem to have a drop of personality. Harry yawned.
"We'd better get to sleep. Santa won't come if we wait up for him." Harry said putting on a childish voice. Hermione half laughed and gave them both hugs before walking up to her room. Harry and Ron slowly meandered up to the dorms to, yawning loudly. They fell asleep quickly.
Harry found himself once again in a dream about his murder.
"My lord, how exactly are you going to kill Harry Potter?" The greasy voice of Severus Snape said from a masked face.
"Severus, I thought you learned not to ask questions." Voldemort said with a grin. A few of the Death Eaters laughed wickedly and clapped their hands together. Snape kind of shook and Voldemort smiled wider. "Oh no, you shall not be punished this time. But next time you might not be so lucky.
"I will not kill Harry in our first encounter this year-if all goes according to my plan. No, no. The best and might I add funniest way to kill a person is to wear them down first. Not physically, but emotionally. The poor boy will be so traumatized when I appear again that he will die for sure. Severus, a great deal of this has to do with you."
"With me, my lord? What could I possibly do to-" Snape started to say, but Voldemort held up a hand to silence him.
"You will need to set up this-" He showed Snape something that Harry couldn't see. "Make sure Dumbledore knows nothing of this. Put a memory charm on him if you have to. Plus it won't kill the boy. Just weaken him. Just weaken him."
Somebody shook Harry by the shoulders. "Hey! Harry! Wake up!" somebody called to Harry, who was still half-asleep. Harry grumbled something about letting people sleep in the morning and rolled over. The curtains around his bed opened and somebody threw a pillow at him. "We don't want to wait for you anymore!" It was Hermione. Harry sat up, grabbed his glasses and put them on. The room slid into focus and Harry saw Ron looking longingly at his large pile of presents, and Hermione at hers.
"Oh just start without me." Harry said and flopped back down into a lying position and thought about the dream he had just had. He was going to see Voldemort. This year. Soon! Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead. His scar hurt quite a bit, but Harry was getting used to this by now. Hermione grabbed Harry by the collar of his pajamas and yanked him up.
"Common Harry its Christmas! Cheer up! Open your presents!" She said and thumped him hard on the back.
"Yeah Harry," Ron added. "I wanna open my presents!"
"Okay, okay, let's get started." Harry said and lifted his six presents on to the bed. Harry froze. Six presents? He counted them again. There was one from Sirius, Hermione, Ron, Cho and Hagrid and then there was another extra present. It was a thin package that only had Harry's name on it. Curious, Harry tore it open.
A necklace fell out of the opening, a silver necklace with a thin chain and a small charm on it. The charm attached to it was also silver, shaped like a sword with a single vine wrapping around it. Harry held it up to the light. It was a very pretty necklace indeed. Harry was about to slip it over his head when he suddenly wondered if it was dangerous. Something told him it wasn't and he slipped it on. The cold silver against his skin made him shiver.
"What did you get?" Hermione asked. She herself was unwrapping a large box.
" A really cool necklace." Harry said.
"From who?" Ron asked. Harry shrugged.
"No idea." He said. Hermione frowned but didn't say anything. "What did you get Hermione?" Hermione grinned from ear to ear and held up a pair of black vinyl flare jeans. Harry nodded.
"What is that?" Ron asked Hermione looking disgusted. Hermione glared at him.
"It's called style, Ron. Have you ever heard of it?" She snapped. Ron went red and quickly shoved the maroon sweater he had received from his mother under his bed.
"What did you have to kill to get it?" Ron asked quietly, but she heard and threw the empty box at him. Harry half smiled and turned to the rest of his presents. He supposed everybody had run out of ideas, because all he received this year was candy. Hagrid, however, had given Harry a pair of thick wool mittens in a grayish brown color. Harry put them in his trunk and watched his two best friends tear off wrapping paper for the next twenty minutes.
"Harry let me see the necklace you got." Hermione said after she threw away all of her wrapping paper. Harry pulled the necklace out from under his pajamas. Hermione walked over to him and looked at it.
"You're right Harry. That is an awesome necklace. I wonder who gave it to you," she said, frowning.
"Its not cursed Hermione. If it were I would have already hit the floor. It's been nearly an hour since I put it on." Harry pointed out. Hermione glared at him.
"You, Harry Potter, are not as concerned about strange gifts as I am. It'll be you're end I swear." She said. Harry glared back at her.
"Well that is very reassuring, Hermione. ' Cheer up, Harry! Open your presents!'" Harry said putting on a high pitched voice. Hermione socked him in the stomach.
"You are a nerd." She said plainly. Harry laughed.
"But I'm also a nerd that can set you on fire." He said. Hermione and Ron both laughed at this but looked rather nervous. "Not that I would ever do that." Harry added hastily.
"Okay students, who would like to show the rest of the class the charm they prepared over the holidays?" Professor Flitwick piped up a week later during Charms class. Hermione shot her hand into the air, but she was the only one. "I'm sorry Miss Granger, but let's give somebody else a chance to go first this time. Let's see. Nobody wants to show me? Well I guess I'll have to pick who gets to - Mr. Malfoy can we help you?"
Draco Malfoy had just entered the room looking dangerous. "No, Professor. I am just here because McGonagall sent me in here. She claimed she didn't want to deal with me right now."
"Professor McGonagall." Flitwick corrected. "Okay you may stay here, just don't disrupt my class to. Who shall go first? Let me see let me see. Mr. Longbottom!"
Neville got shakily to his feet and walked up to the front of the class. He pulled a little clay person out of his pocket and set it on Professor Flitwick's desk. He mumbled something and poked his wand at the piece of clay. It started tap dancing on the desk in a strait line and eventually fell of the other side. Everybody laughed and clapped as Neville picked it up off the floor and walked back to his seat.
"That was great, Neville!" Harry said and smiled at Neville, who was trembling.
"Th-th- thanks Harry." He said.
"Mr. Potter!" Flitwick squeaked from his desk. Harry took a deep breath and walked coolly to the front of the room.
"I um need a volunteer." Harry said. Hermione raised her hand immediately, but Harry didn't want to call on her. He expected she wouldn't want her hair standing on end.
"Mr. Malfoy! Come up here and assist Harry!" Flitwick called to Draco. Malfoy stood up and walked up to the front of the class, glaring at Flitwick. Harry couldn't control a smile. This was going to be excellent.
"Here goes nothing." Harry said quietly and pointed his wand at Malfoy. "Shocfer." Malfoy's platinum blonde hair stood up on end. He looked like a blonde porcupine. The class hesitated for a moment and then burst out laughing. Professor Flitwick fell off his pile of books he was laughing so hard.
"What? What happened? Potter! What did you do to me?" Malfoy demanded, but Harry didn't hear him, he was laughing so much his ribs hurt and his eyes were watering. Ron had fallen off his chair. Harry regained composure and mumbled the counter curse and walked briskly up to his seat. Professor Flitwick stood up again and cleared his throat loudly. The class slowly stopped laughing and looked up at Professor Flitwick.
"That was excellent Potter. Full marks." He said and laughed.
"Thanks for not picking me, Harry!" Hermione muttered out of the corner of her mouth. Harry nodded.
Charms was easily the best class now. Not only did Harry get to talk with his friends; there was always a good laugh involved. Malfoy was also getting constantly made fun of. Even the people in his own house had heard the story and had laughed at him. The only people that didn't find it funny was Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson.
The only thing that worried Harry now was the dream he had over the holidays. He didn't trust Snape at all now, and made that clear to him. Harry sat in the potion class glaring at him the entire time. (Just like Sirius.) One Friday a month later Snape kept Harry after class. Hermione and Ron told him they would be waiting for him at the door. Harry walked up to Snape's desk and glared at him.
"Potter, I need to tell you some things."
"I know already." Harry snapped. "You are going to set up something in the school. It won't kill me, if all goes according to Voldemort's plan but it will wear me down 'not physically, but emotionally.'" Harry quoted Voldemort. Snape's jaw had dropped, but he quickly snapped it shut again.
"Precisely. I am not even sure what he is planning for." Snape said. Harry seriously doubted this. "So all I can say is do not go into the third floor corridor on the left. Do not go down there, no matter how tempting it is. You got that Potter?"
"Yes Professor. You have no idea what it is?" Harry asked.
"No idea. I think it has to do with a picture, but that doesn't make any sense. You are dismissed." Snape said thoughtfully. Harry walked slowly out of the dungeon and head towards lunch with his friends.
"What did he want?" Ron asked fearfully.
"He needed to tell me some stuff." Harry said.
"And that stuff would be-?" Hermione asked. Harry glared at her.
"I was getting to that." He snapped. "He told me that I'm not to go into the third floor corridor on the left."
"Why?" Ron said. Harry shrugged.
"No idea. Say, wasn't that the corridor that was out of bounds in our first year?" Harry asked suddenly.
"Yeah." Hermione said. Harry sighed.
"Voldemort must have a thing for that corridor." Harry said. Hermione gasped.
"This has to do with Voldemort?" She said.
"It always does." Harry said calmly. He didn't know how he did sometimes. He was constantly nervous about Voldemort, but he never looked it. They sat down at the Gryffindor table and started eating.
"What do you think it is?" Hermione said fearfully.
"I asked. Snape doesn't know either. He thought it might have something to do with a picture, but he seemed doubtful." Harry said. Hermione looked up at him, looking confused. She downed the rest of her chicken noodle soup and stood up.
"I'll be in the library." She called behind to them as she walked briskly out of the room.
"She probably has read every book in the library, what does she need to look up?" Ron said and rolled his eyes.
"I have no idea." Harry said and shook his head.
"That is a common reoccurrence with you lately, Harry." Ron said. Harry laughed and punched his shoulder. Ron's elbow landed in the dregs of Hermione's soup.
"Do you want to take this outside, shorty?" He asked. Harry balled his hands into fists and thumped his chest with them a couple of times.
"Bring it on!" He said. They dissolved into laughter and left for the common room.
"Thank god it's Friday. We get the rest of the day off!" Ron exclaimed as they climbed the stairs. They passed the third floor corridor on the left side and stopped. The smell of baking cookies flooded Harry's nostrils.
"Yum. Do you smell that?" Harry asked Ron. Ron stared at him as if he were crazy.
"Uh- no. Harry are you feeling all right?" He asked.
"Never better. Let's go se what it is, shall we?" Harry asked and put a foot down the corridor. He was about to take another step but Ron grabbed his arm and yanked him back.
"No you don't. You aren't supposed to go down that corridor. Who knows what's down there." Ron said and yanked him up the stairs.
"Party pooper." Harry said. "I bet there isn't anything down there. It's probably just Snape trying to scare me."
"Harry! Listen to yourself!" Ron said.
"I am. I just said, 'party pooper. I bet there isn't anything down th-'" Ron slapped Harry.
"Snap out of it!" He said. Harry blinked and rubbed his eyes.
"Thanks. I needed that." He said.
"Any time." Ron said with a slight grin. "Would you like me to slap you again?" He raised his hand into the air.
"No, thanks." Harry said quickly.
Harry wanted to know what was down that corridor. Every time he passed it, it made him more and more curious. The smell of baking cookies. Laughter. Even a shriek. Every time he passed it, a good reason to see what was down that hall. Ron and Hermione made a point to be around him every time they passed it so he wouldn't go down it.
"Harry, what is with you?" Hermione said as she yanked Harry away from the corridor for the seventh time that day.
"I just want to see what's down there." Harry said and struggled out of her grip on his arm.
"No you don't!" Hermione said and pulled him up the stairs. "Do you want to get yourself killed?"
"Of course not! But it's so tempting to see what's down there!" Harry moaned.
"There isn't anything down there!" She said.
"So why can't I go?" Harry said.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it. There is nothing down there that you want to see. I've got a bad feeling about it." She said.
"It can't be that bad Hermione! Come on! Let me just go down-" Hermione had grabbed his arm again and was yanking him up the stairs while Harry tried to go the other direction. Hermione dug her nails into his arm and threw all of her strength into pulling Harry up the stairs. He was skinny, but that didn't mean he wasn't strong. They started slowly moving up the stairs. Harry gave up and walked along with her.
"That's it Harry." She said. Harry crossed his arms and glared at her.
"You suck. You never want to have any fun ever." He said. Hermione glared back at him.
"Excuse me for not wanting you to die." She said.
"But somebody was crying! Didn't you hear it?" Harry said desperately. Hermione shook her head.
"No, I didn't. It's an illusion, Harry. It's a trap. Don't go down there!" She pleaded.
"But- but what if the person was hurt and nobody goes to get her? What if she dies? Then it'll be all your fault that we didn't go down that hall to save her." Harry stopped climbing. Hermione stopped to.
"Harry, you are losing your mind. There was nobody down the hall. Nobody. Snap out of it!" She said.
"How do you know that?" Harry asked and narrowed his eyes at her. Hermione slapped Harry. "Ouch! That really hurt!" Hermione noticed that the air around Harry's left hand was smoking in a strange sphere shape.
"Harry don't you even think about fire!" Hermione cried. Harry shuddered suddenly. The smoke disappeared.
"Oh my god, Hermione, I am so sorry!" He said. "I don't know what came over me!" Hermione sighed and hugged him.
"I'm just glad you stopped acting like that. It scares me when you do stuff like that." She said and pulled away from the hug.
"I don't know what happened. I just start saying and doing things without even thinking. It scares me to. But I want to know what's down there that's doing this to me. It's hard even now not to run down there and walk down that hall." Harry said and shook his head.
"Well then let's get you out of here before you do that." Hermione said and they walked up one more flight of stairs to the common room, all the while Harry heard a girl crying her eyes out in the third floor corridor.
"He's getting worse." Hermione was telling Ron later that night when Harry was out a Quidditch practice.
"Worse?" Ron said bewildered. "How could he be any worse?"
"I dragged him away from the hall today, and a fireball started to form in his hand." Hermione said.
"Are you serious?" Ron said. Hermione nodded solemnly. "Isn't there some way we can avoid that corridor?"
"I checked up on that when we got back this afternoon. There isn't anyway to avoid it. Now we know why they set up that- whatever it is there." Hermione said and sighed. "And what gets me is how not worried Harry is about it." Ron nodded.
"I know. It's like death threats are something he gets everyday." Ron said.
"Uh- Ron, Harry does get a death threat like everyday. I think he just doesn't think anything or anyone can hurt him." Hermione said.
The portrait hole burst open and Amelia and Sirius appeared, fighting Harry who was trying to run away. Amelia was clutching Harry's arm and Sirius was tugging on the hem of Harry's robes.
"Harry come on! There is nothing down there!" Amelia was saying harshly. Harry snapped his head around so he could see her.
"I swear I heard him! If you would just let me go down there, I could prove it to you." Harry said. He sounded very anxious, but sad. "Let me go!" Ron and Hermione looked at each other.
"Harry, whatever you heard isn't really there! Remember, it's all an illusion!" Hermione called to Harry who was still putting up a good fight against Sirius and Amelia.
" It was real, Hermione! I swear it was real! It was not an illusion!"
"What happened?" Hermione asked Amelia.
"We were walking past the third floor corridor on the left hand side and Harry said that he heard something."
"What did you hear Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry suddenly stopped fighting Amelia and Sirius.
"I'd rather not talk about it, thanks." He said and walked heavily up to his room. Panting, Amelia and Sirius walked over to where Ron was sitting. Hermione sat down with them.
"I know that Harry isn't allowed to go down that corridor, and I know it most likely has something to do with Voldemort. What do you guys know?" Amelia said and folded her arms in a business like manner. Ron and Hermione looked at each other again.
"You're right. It has something to do with Voldemort. All we know is that he cant go down there, because Snape told him not to. Ever since the place has been bewitched to lure him down there. It's a trap. Harry knows about it, but he looses control of himself when he's around there." Hermione said. Amelia nodded.
"I thought it had to be something like that." Amelia said."That bastard. " She pounded a fist into the chair she was in.
"What did he hear? He's already told us somebody screaming and a girl crying." Ron asked. Amelia looked sorrowfully at the pair of them.
"He heard his dad." Amelia said.
"That's just sick." Hermione said and shook her head. "That is just sick." Ron was lost for words.
"Well I'm going to bed now. Ron you might want to also, I really wouldn't be leaving Harry alone when he's like that." Amelia said and headed up the stairs, Hermione followed. Ron to headed up the stairs and into his dorm. The first thing he noticed was Harry's silhouette hunched over the large photo album.
Harry heard Ron's head hit a pillow. The coast was clear now; he could leave without anybody noticing. He smiled to himself slightly. Harry opened the hangings around his bed as silently as he could and walked out of the room, still fully dressed. Ron grunted in his sleep as Harry shut the door. Harry froze and didn't move until he was sure that Ron had fallen asleep again. He tiptoed down the halls of the sleeping school, heading for the left-hand corridor on the third floor.
Ron opened his eyes. He looked around for the bump that had woken him. The door to the room was slightly ajar. He supposed Neville had gone for a drink of water. Ron's eyes darted over to Neville's bed. He was still asleep. So were Seamus and Dean. Ron hesitated for a moment knowing what he was about to see as his eyes moved over to Harry's bed. It was empty. Ron jumped out of bed and ran quickly into Hermione's dorm room. He shook her awake.
"He's gone, Hermione! I fell asleep for ten minutes and I wake up and he's gone!" He hissed to her.
"Who's gone, Ron? What are you talking about?" Hermione said groggily. Ron shook her some more.
"Harry! We've got to go save him!" Ron said. Hermione stared for a moment and then jumped out of bed. She was wearing a tank top and some short boxer shorts. Her toenails were painted red. Ron forgot what he was doing in her room for a moment.
"Come on!" Hermione said and grabbed his hand and they ran out of the common room in search of Harry. Hermione led Ron through a few passageways he had never seen before.
"Where are we going?" Ron asked as she yanked him through a tapestry.
"It's a short cut to the third floor. Look, there he is!" Hermione whispered as Harry came into view. He was jogging to the third floor.
"Harry!" Hermione called, but Harry didn't even turn to see who had beckoned to him.
"Cho is that you?" He whispered loudly down the corridor. Hermione shook her head and they started walking towards Harry.
"Harry, help me! I twisted my ankle, and I can't get up!" Hermione and Ron heard Cho's voice this time drifting through the corridor. It sounded like Cho, but something was wrong with the tone of her voice. Something was very wrong.
"I'll be there in a second, Cho. Don't worry!" Harry called to her. He reached the beginning of the hall, hesitated and then put a foot down.
"Harry don't do it! It's a trap!" Hermione cried and started running as fast as she could towards him, but it was too late. Harry had entered the trap. At once a wall of black fire sprang up from nowhere, blocking off the entrance. Hermione stopped running and Ron collided into her back. A cold high pitched laugh echoed through the halls.
"Ron, we need to find Dumbledore. Now." Hermione said breathlessly and they ran up the halls to find him.
Harry saw the flames jump up behind him and his heart skipped a beat. He looked around the hall. Cho was not there. There was nothing that looked the least bit suspicious there except perhaps a little container that looked like a makeup compact that was lying in the middle of the hall. Harry walked over to it and was going to bend down to get a better look at it when it started shaking violently and opened on its own. Suddenly a man stood before Harry. Or was it a man? The man was transparent. The man was Voldemort.
Voldemort stood there, his red eyes gleaming and with his flat nose and spindly hands. He laughed wickedly. Harry's scar however did not burst into pain. This couldn't be the real Voldemort. It was a magical hologram. It had to be.
"Well, hello Harry. How nice of you to join me finally." He said smoothly. Harry ground his teeth together.
"What're you doing here, Voldemort?" He said, trying to keep his cool. "Come to try and kill me again?" Voldemort laughed his horrible laugh.
"Far from it, my dear boy. Far from it." He said. He spat out the word 'dear' like it was poison. "I'm a bit surprised you held out as long as you did. Almost a week, and with all of my telepathic messages I was giving you. But I knew you'd come if your girlfriend were in trouble. And I was right."
"What're you doing here, Voldemort?" Harry repeated. His hand was clutching his wand tightly just incase he did anything.
"Simply to offer you something." Voldemort said and grinned evilly. Harry narrowed his eyes.
"And what would that be?" Harry asked. Voldemort's grin widened.
"This." He said and pulled out a picture Harry recognized as the photo of him and his mother and father.
"Where did you get that?" Harry snarled. "Give it back!"
"I had a death eater do me a favor. He fetched this picture of your- ah parents." Voldemort laughed again and looked at the picture. "Your mother. She was beautiful, was she not? To bad she had to die. Rather stupid of her." Harry chose not to say anything. The picture looked solid even if the rest of Voldemort didn't. Harry didn't want to try anything until he knew what was going on. "This Harry is a picture of temptation. Only one of its kind, too. I want to fight you on even ground Harry. I am not in good health, and you are. That is hardly a fair fight. I want to fight you when I'm good and healthy. If you touch this it will transport you back fourteen years ago, to the week before your parents so foolishly, died. You can have a chance to fight me and if you win Harry, you'll have a life with parents."
A life with parents. Harry went over this silently in his mind. A life without the Dursleys, a life without Dudley, a life with parents. It was all he had ever wanted. But if he didn't beat Voldemort, he would most likely die.
Harry had to make a decision; he couldn't just run for it. He was trapped. In front of him was Voldemort, and he didn't know what powers his hologram possessed and behind him was a wall of flames. Wait a second, I can deal with flames, Harry thought to himself. He turned his head to look at the flames. Go out you stupid, pointless fire. You're blocking my escape route, you dumb wall. The flames went out for three seconds but then jumped back up again. Voldemort laughed.
"Stupid boy, I made sure the fire was bewitched to always be jumping while you are in the corridor, stupid, stupid boy. Have you made you're decision yet? Do you want to go back in time and save your parents or do you want to stay here and be miserable the rest of your life knowing what you could have done? What will it be Harry? A simple yes or no will do just fine."
Half of Harry's mind was screaming NO! The other half was screaming YES! He went numb for a moment weighing his options. He could have parents, real parents. Not the Dursleys.
"No- I mean yes." Harry said quietly. Voldemort laughed.
"Good boy, very good boy. Now all you have to do is touch this picture and you'll be off." Voldemort said. Hermione's words echoed in Harry's mind. Don't do it Harry! It's a trap!
Harry ignored the words and walked over to the hologram of Voldemort. Voldemort put the picture on the floor. Harry grabbed it by the silver frame and looked at it. The baby Harry looked so happy. Harry wanted to be that happy again.
He touched his forefinger to the picture. There was a snap, and Harry Potter vanished from the hallway. The picture fell to the ground and the glass shattered. The firewall went out. Voldemort lingered for ten seconds, and then he disappeared also. The compact on the floor shut.
Harry was spinning around like a top as blurry colors flashed all around him. He held on to his glasses so they wouldn't fall off. He felt like he was moving backwards very fast. The spinning stopped and Harry stumbled and fell in a patch of soft grass. He looked around him. A small cottage was directly in front of him and a pleasant wood was behind him. Harry realized where he was. He was in Godric's Hollow. The picture had worked.
"Professor Dumbledore, Harry! You-know-who! Third floor corridor on the left!" Hermione panted when they finally found Dumbledore. He looked very sleepy for a moment but then snapped out of it. They ran down the halls again and skidded to a stop in front of the hall. It was empty.
"He's gone!" Ron said. He walked to the end of the hall and bent over the picture and glass shards. "I wonder how this got here-" He bent down to pick the picture up.
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Dumbledore cried and walked briskly over to Ron. He drew out his wand and muttered 'reparo' and the picture, glass and the frame suck back together, good as new. Dumbledore picked up the picture by the silver frame and shook his head sadly. "Why did you do it Harry? Why?"
"What did Harry do?" Ron asked. "Where did Harry go?" Dumbledore didn't answer Ron's question and bent down and picked up the container that looked like a powder compact. He stared at it for a moment.
"I should have known." He said quietly. He then looked at Hermione. "Miss Granger, could you go get Miss Chang from the Ravenclaw dorms? I know you know the password." Hermione nodded and took off down the hall. "Mr. Weasley, if you would follow me to my office, I will explain what is going on here."
"Yes sir," Ron said and followed Professor Dumbledore to his office where they found Cho and Hermione waiting for them. Ron took a seat next to Hermione and looked up at Dumbledore.
"Now you three are the closest to Harry, and so you deserve the truth. Do you see these items?" Dumbledore pointed to the compact and the picture. They all nodded. "One of them is illegal, the other isn't. Can you guess which one?"
"The compact?" Cho guessed. Dumbledore shook his head.
"No, the picture is." He said.
"Why?" Ron asked.
"I'll tell you Ron. This isn't an ordinary picture anymore. This has been changed into a picture of temptation. A picture of temptation is like a portkey in many ways, except the picture of temptation transports you back in time instead of transporting you to another country or town or wherever." Dumbledore explained.
"Excuse me Professor, but what is the other thing?" Hermione asked, pointing to the compact.
"This is a recorder of a sort. This one is much different than the others I've seen. This one can have a holographic conversation and record the whole thing at the same time. Do you understand?" Cho, Hermione and Ron all shook their heads, no. Dumbledore sighed. "Well I was going to watch this alone, but you may see what happened to, I suppose." He took the compact in his hands and opened it.
A hologram of Harry sprang out of it and so did one of Voldemort. All three teenagers screamed and hid behind their chairs. When they realized that this was just a recording of what happened, they took their seats again and watched fearfully.
"What're you doing here Voldemort?" Harry said, keeping his cool. Hermione was amazed at how Harry was talking this calmly to Voldemort. She would have fainted if she were in his position. "Come to try to kill me again?" Voldemort smiled wickedly. Hermione shuddered as she watched this recording. Cho was crying. Ron had a death grip on the arms of his chair and Hermione just watched in stunned silence. Harry kept his cool the entire time. Once he looked behind him and stared right at her, but his eyes went strait through her. The fire in Dumbledore's room went out. Hermione supposed Harry had tried to put out the fire to get away. Dumbledore lit it again and everybody went back to watching the 'show.' Harry disappeared and a few seconds later Voldemort did to. Dumbledore took the compact and shut it. He sat back down at his desk and folded his arms on it.
"Now the question is, who should go get him." He said. All three of the students looked at each other.
"I- I'll do it." Cho said and wiped the tears from her eyes. Hermione and Ron were shocked. Cho had always seemed a bit cowardly to them, very smart, but not assertive at all. "I- I'm his girlfriend. H- he'll listen t-to me." Hermione and Ron nodded reluctantly. Dumbledore smiled at the crying girl.
"That is good of you Cho. Cheer up, Harry will be okay, if you follow my instructions." Dumbledore said. Cho did not in anyway cheer up. "Cho, you will need to take this picture of temptation and touch the surface of the picture. Only I need you to have it with you when you arrive at Godric's Hollow, so you can touch it and come back here. Cho you will put the picture in your robes. You will end up in the third floor corridor if I am correct." Cho nodded and reached for the picture but Dumbledore shook his head. "Not tonight, it is to late. We'll give Harry a little while to be alone."