Chapter 6
Meeting Prongs
"I can't bloody believe we are ACTUALLY doing this! After a death and all, Harry, you must be positively out of your mind!" Hermione cried as she came out of the Girls' Dorm to meet Harry and Ron.
Harry walked over to her, carrying the map and cloak. "No one said you had to come."
"Oh, and let you two go alone? I think not!" Hermione exclaimed as Ron came out of the Boys' dorm, yawning. He looked as though he was still half asleep.
"Harry, you know we re-really shouldn't be doing this." Ron said, trying to stifle a yawn.
Harry looked at Hermione and Ron. "Voldemort killed my parents. If it wasn't for Voldemort, I wouldn't be stuck with the Dursleys." Hermione and Ron both flinched at the sound of his name.
"Quit saying You-Know-Who's name!" Ron yelled.
"Be quiet! We don't want to wake up half the house, do we?" Hermione hissed at Ron.
"Sorry," he mumbled back to Hermione.
Hermione sat down with her jaw set. "Harry, don't go. It's too dangerous."
"Listen, I've run into Voldemort enough times to know how to deal with him."
"Yes, but you never faced him at fully power," Ron pointed out. "He's a full grown wizard and you're only a kid."
"Voldemort's smart enough to know not to stick around at the scene of a crime." That shut both Hermione and Ron up.
"I still say it's not a very good idea," Ron said.
Harry shrugged and threw the cloak over his shoulders, and grabbed the map. "I'm still going, with or without you two."
Hermione and Ron walked over to Harry and got under the cloak. "Well, there's not much else to do..." Ron mumbled as they walked out of the common room.
*~*~*~*~*~*
As the group snuck through the castle, they talked in low voices.
"What are we looking for?" Ron asked.
"Clues from Voldemort," Harry replied, sounding quite annoyed. "Haven't I told you two enough times?" he asked, almost tripping over Mrs. Norris.
Ron sniggered. "If you keep tripping over things, Filch is going to catch us."
Harry threw off the cloak, giving it to Hermione, and then climbed into the secret passageway leading to Hogsmeade. "Hermione, you stay here and guard the entrance. Ron and I will go to Hogsmeade."
She sat onto the hard, cold floor on the dungeon. "And how exactly am I suppose to do that?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Make sure no one follows us. "Watch out for anything unusual," he said as Ron and he climbed through the passageway and disappeared from sight.
Hermione pulled the cloak around herself, sighing. It wasn't like she had a crush on Harry, far from it, she just got quite worried about him when he did stupid things. 'Of course, he's always doing something stupid,' she thought, smirking to herself. 'Sometimes Harry can be so annoying. It's like he doesn't even care about his life anymore.'
Then there was the thing with Malfoy. She didn't really know WHY she had decided to go out with him. In fact, it was quite strange the way his attitude had suddenly changed. One day he is cussing out muggles, and the next day he is practically going out with one. 'Oh well,' Hermione thought. 'Boys will be boys,' she thought, wondering just how long Harry and Ron were going to be gone.
*~*~*~*~*~*
"Harry, we aren't going to the Shrieking Shack, are we?"
"Yes, Ron, of course we are going there. How many more times do I have to explain this to you?" That shut Ron up right away.
"Geez, someone's in a bad mood today."
Harry sighed, staring at the ground as Ron and he continued walking through the streets of Hogsmeade. The rip through the secret passage had been quiet uneventful, which was bothering Harry. It had been too quite, as though someone had been watching them. He didn't trust it and was keeping his eyes peeled. Harry hadn't told Ron this, yet. No reason for getting Ron into an uproar over nothing.
As they neared the shack, Ron suddenly let out a violent shudder. "I really don't trust this place."
"Hey, we know all about it. No reason to be afraid."
"Yeah, but it still is a pretty creepy place to be. Never knowing if someone is hiding in the dark."
Harry pulled the boards off a window and climbed in. "What isn't there can't hurt you."
"Er, right," Ron replied, following him into the shack.
As they entered the shack, the first thing they noticed was the lack of dust. It looked like someone had tried to clean the shack, but Harry knew that wasn't it. There were even pieces of new furniture throughout the house. It LOOKED like someone was moving into the house.
"What was that?" Ron mumbled, his voice cracking with fear.
"What?"
"It sounded like...Harry, I don't think we are the only ones here right now!"
"Oh, well," Harry said. "Just keep walking."
Ron screamed bloody murder as a cold hand grabbed him roughly. Both Harry and Ron spun around to find themselves face to face with none other than A.J..
"What are you doing here?!" Harry asked.
"I was wondering the same thing about you," she replied .Her voice was filled with coldness and her eyes looked stony cold. "Shouldn't both of you be at the school?"
"No crap, and you?" Harry coldly replied.
"Listen, it's none of your business WHAT I'm doing here," A.J. snarled.
"We will just get out of your way then." Ron said, trying to push past her.
"I-I wouldn't go exploring this house if I were you." Her voice was suddenly full of fear.
"Well, you're not us," Ron said as Harry and he walked past her and deeper into the house.
A.J. sighed as Harry and Ron walked away. 'They have no idea WHAT or WHO they are going to run into,' she thought. 'But hey, it won't be my fault. I mean, I did warn them...'
*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ron, I just thought of something," Harry said as Ron and he walked through the darkened halls of the Shrieking Shack.
"What?"
"What the heck was Maret's sister doing at Hogsmeade, if it wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend?
Ron stopped in his tracks. "Good point. In fact, really good point."
"Do you think she was looking for something?"
Ron shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe we should talk to Maret about this."
Harry shook his head. "I'm not talking to Maret unless I have to do it."
"I told you guys not to come in here!"
Harry and Ron spun around to find A.J. staring at them.
"Since when did we have to start listening to you?" Harry snarled.
A.J. stared at him. "Since NOW."
"Bossy, aren't we?" Ron asked, crossing his arms.
"I just don't want to be responsible for anything," A.J. replied. "If you two don't go back to the castle, now, I'll just have to talk to Dumbledore."
"You're out here, too. How the heck are you going to explain that?" Harry asked.
A.J. slowly looked at him. "Say I found the map, watched both of you leave." She took the map out of her pocket, holding it in front of them. "Your choice."
"Fine," Harry snarled, and Ron and he started walking back to the open window, with A.J. close at their heels.
*~*~*~*~*~*
"Nothing?" Hermione asked, sounding quite disappointed. Harry, Ron, and she were sitting in the common room by the fire, drinking hot chocolate. It was January and the common room could get quite cold if the wind was blowing hard enough.
Harry shook his head sadly. "Nope. A.J. stopped us before we could find anything."
"She must have gotten to Hogsmeade before you because no one else went to that secret passage," Hermione said.
"Yeah, maybe watching and following us," Ron suggested.
Harry sighed and stood from his chair. "We'll just have to figure it out in the morning. We've got classes tomorrow, remember?"
Ron stood up and started following Harry up to the Boys' Dorm. "Yeah, who could possibly forget THAT?"
*~*~*~*~*~*
"I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!" Professor Louv're said as the class filled into the room. "Since we are preparing for the rise of You-Know-Who, I will be having you do a lot more love potions."
Hermoine's hand shot into the air.
"Yes, Miss Granger?" Professor Louv're asked.
"Just wondering, what do love potions have to do with preparing for the rise of You-Know-You?" Hermione asked as she lowered her hand.
Professor Louv're opened her mouth to reply as Professor McGonagall walked into the room. She looked quite angry, "Dumbledore wants to talk to you now, Louv're," McGonagall said. Her lips had gone completely white.
Professor Louv're smiled. "Of course! I shall go right now," she said as McGonagall and she walked out of the classroom.
"I wonder why Dumbledore needs to talk to Louv're?" Ron asked Harry after the professors had left.
"I don't really know..."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Professor Louv're walked into Dumbledore's office and sat in a huge armchair. "You wanted to talk to me?"
Dumbledore smiled at her. "Yes, actually, I do. I've been hearing some mighty strange things that have been going on lately."
"Like what?"
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Like love potions. Did you not know that love potions are banned from Hogwarts?"
The color starting draining from Louv're's face. "No...I mean yes, NO! Of course not!"
"Alina Louv're, you will be leaving this school in one week. I suggest you use that time wisely," Dumbledore gravely said.
"Please! Don't do that! Who will you get to teach potions?"
"I shall find someone else. In the mean time, I suggest you start packing your belongings."
*~*~*~*~*~*
"Since I cannot have you running around telling everyone my secret, I shall have to use a memory charm on you," the man said, staring out a window.
A.J.'s face suddenly went pale. "M-memory charm? But then I won't even remember who I am!"
"That is the idea."
"Dad, please! I'll do anything, ANYTHING!"
"Then you shall go to Hogwarts and kill HIM. No complaints."
A.J. gulped and then slowly nodded her head. "Yes, sir."
"That's more like it!" her father said, smiling. He turned to her, still smiling. "You may go to your room now."
A.J. turned away, and started walking towards her bedroom. Her face was almost pure white now, as though she had just seen a ghost. 'Something isn't right,' A.J. thought. 'Dad almost never smiles. Wait, he isn't even my real father! Maybe I should just start calling him by his first name. Of course if I do that, I'll probably just end up like AFIN, dead.'
*~*~*~*~*~*
"Harry, this is so stupid," Ron said as Harry and he walked down the streets of Hogsmeade the next night. "What if A.J. catches us again?"
Harry continued staring straight ahead. "She shouldn't. I asked Fred and George to keep an eye on her."
"Like that will do anything?"
Harry shrugged. "Hey, it's worth a try."
As Harry and Ron climbed through the open window of the Shrieking Shack, they both suddenly stopped.
"Sirius?" They said in unison. A huge, black and shaggy dog was lying in the middle of the floor. The dog transformed into a human revealing Sirius Black.
"I thought I would be seeing both of you here tonight," Sirius said. "Harry, didn't I tell you not to go wondering out at night?"
Harry gulped. "Yeah, but you said alone. I'm with Ron! Hey! Did you just see that?" he asked, blinking his eyes.
"See what?" Ron and Sirius asked in unison.
"That figure..." Harry replied, with a very mysterious voice.
Harry turned away from Ron and Siruis to look at the figure again. The figure looked as though it was the ghost of someone Harry had known, or at least seen. The man looked so familiar. He even had the same messy black hair as Harry. It could have only been-
"D-dad?" Harry stuttered.
The figure looked at Harry with pain all through his eyes, and slowly nodded a yes.
Harry closed his eyes for a moment, not sure if he should believe what he had just seen. Harry opened his eyes again, but James Potter had disappeared, as though he had never really been there. Harry spun around to see Ron and Sirius staring at him. "I saw my dad!" He was completely breathless.
Sirius sighed. "Harry, sit down." Harry sat. "As Voldemort gets more powerful, the ghosts of all the people he has killed start coming back to life. The ghosts only stay for a few seconds, but they are still here, even if we can't see them. Voldemort is as powerful as he was the night he tried to kill you, Harry. I would not be surprised if by the time he has reached full power, the ghosts will be living and breathing people. This is truly the rise of Lord Voldemort."