J Hi it¡¦s me. Yes the person who hasn¡¦t
wrote for a long long long long long LONG time. Sorry! Did you all enjoy my
little treat??? I liked it too! But see now people want me to write more of
those and I can¡¦t! But I got pass my writing block for this one! Thanks for
everyone¡¦s support! And if you are wondering what that is ¡V it¡¦s all your
reviews! I get so HYPERED reading all the reviews! It makes me feel so good to
know someone is reading my story! By the way I don¡¦t own any of Harry Potter
people¡K things¡K etc. Okay? And I¡¦m not gonna go on and make a precise list. But
they are all creations of the best person on earth JK (if she writes more than
7 hp book¡K) Okay no more blabbing.
Here goes the Chapter you¡¦ve all been
waiting for (drum roll) enjoy J
Chapter 8: Losing
¡§Fine try it on me!¡¨
¡§Alright¡¨ He picked up the
knife.
A scream of pain, than many
screams rose all around.
Blood. The pendent.
***
¡§Come
on Harry or we will be late for DADA class!¡¨ Ron called from way ahead of him. ¡§Why
are you walking so slow?¡¨
¡§Harry. Are you feeling okay?¡¨
Hermione asked dropping back to wait for Harry to look at him. Harry seemed to
look much worse than he was before Christmas.
¡§I¡¦m fine.¡¨ Harry said quickly.
Hermione didn¡¦t look convinced. Harry smiled weakly. ¡§I promise I will see
Madam Pomfrey after class when we have break okay?¡¨
¡§Come on! Let¡¦s go!¡¨ Ron shouted.
***
¡§Welcome back to class!¡¨
Professor Lockhart said cheerfully. ¡§I trust you¡¦ve all done the written part
of your last assignment on our last unit.¡¨ The class groaned and took rolls of
parchment out of their bags. ¡§Accio homework.¡¨ Professor Lockhart collected all
their homework and she took out a little knife from her bag and placed it on
her desk. ¡§Now class! I would like to get started right away on our next unit.
Turn to page 634 ¡¥How to protect yourself against dark magic.¡¦ I will assign
the reading for homework. I would like to teach you some spells now.¡¨ She
picked up the knife and slit her palm. Half of the class gasped. She pointed
her wand at the cut and said ¡§Medicor¡¨ the cut immediately disappeared. ¡§That
class is the healing curs for healing small cuts and wounds. If you¡K¡¨ Malfoy
cut her off.
¡§It¡¦s just a fancy trick of
yours.¡¨ He sneered, ¡§you probably put a curse on that knife so it makes a cut that
only looks like a cut. You are trying to make us cut ourselves.¡¨ Malfoy looked
at Professor Lockhart sending her a challenging glance.
¡§Fine you try it one me!¡¨
¡§Okay!¡¨ Malfoy said simply. He
grabbed the knife on his desk.
¡§Wait!¡¨ Harry cried out. Everyone
looked at him ¡§Why don¡¦t you try it on me?¡¨
¡§Why should I?¡¨ Malfoy
questioned.
¡§She could have put an protective
spell on herself. So why not try it on me?¡¨ Harry challenged. Hermione and Ron
were confused. Suddenly, their stones both begin to glow around their necks.
¡§Alright Potter.¡¨ Malfoy laughed
before Professor Lockhart had a chance to object. ¡§You have a death with.¡¨ He
mouthed to Harry. Something glimmered at the collar of Malfoy¡¦s robes.
¡§No Harry! Please! Don¡¦t go!¡¨
said Hermione quietly pulling on Harry¡¦s sleeve, ¡§He would try and hurt you!¡¨
Ron agreed with Hermione silently.
¡§I have to go! Besides there¡¦s a
teacher he wouldn¡¦t dare.¡¨ Harry said to his friends then walked forward.
Malfoy stood at the front waiting with the knife. With out a word Harry walked
over and pulled up his robe sleeve. He braced himself for the blade¡¦s contact
with his flesh. He wanted to close his eyes, but he could not and would not
show fear to Malfoy. He watched as Malfoy jabbed the sharpen piece of metal
deep into his flesh. Blood flow freely on to the floor as Malfoy pulled out the
blade. Screams and gasps rose all around him. Harry¡¦s arm shook in effort to
keep it still held out in mid air.
¡§Draco Malfoy I order you to stop
this instance.¡¨ Professor Lockhart screamed, but Malfoy didn¡¦t move. He pointed
his wand at Harry¡¦s wound and said ¡§Inflatus¡¨
Harry wound split open. It didn¡¦t
stop until the horrible gash has gone all the way up and down Harry¡¦s arm. The
bones in Harry¡¦s arm shattered into a thousand pieces. Harry couldn¡¦t stay
standing for the pain was over whelming. He felt his legs buckle beneath him
and he collapsed onto the floor. Ron and Hermione rushed to his side to help
him up.
¡§Ron and Hermione dears please
take Harry to the infirmary.¡¨ Professor Lockhart instructed, ¡§The rest of you
just sit and do your homework till class end. And Malfoy you come with me.¡¨
***
¡§Harry why did you have to go up
there?¡¨ Ron demanded as they walked down the hall. ¡§You knew he would do this.¡¨
¡§I had to.¡¨ Said Harry, ¡§I knew
he would do this I dreamed¡K¡¨
¡§If you knew then why did you go?¡¨
Hermione spoke before Harry could finish.
¡§No!¡¨ Harry replied ¡§If I didn¡¦t
he would do it to Professor Lockhart. And what would be there to stop him from
doing anything to us? He has some how gone mad. I think it¡¦s the pendent he
wears. I think it¡¦s possessing him.¡¨
¡§He don¡¦t need a pendent to
posses him into doing things like this.¡¨ Ron muttered examining Harry¡¦s arm.
When they reached the infirmary Madam Pomfrey was outside waiting.
¡§A student sent word.¡¨ She said
without wasting time. Taking Harry by his uninjured arm and led him into the
infirmary. Just as Hermione and Ron were about to follow Harry they heard angry
voices down the hall coming towards them. They stopped and listened.
¡§That must be taken away from
him. It¡¦s possessing the boy!¡¨ They heard Professor Lockhart shout. She sounded
really upset.
¡§Are you suggesting that I would
give my son something that would posses him?¡¨ The angry shout that answered
obviously belonged to Lucius Malfoy. ¡¥What was he doing here?¡¦ Hermione
wondered.
¡§Cassie I know you are upset but
it could have been a mistake.¡¨ Snape sounded unusually nice. It made Hermione
uncomfortable.
¡§A mistake?¡¨ Professor McGonagall
practically shrieked, ¡§Think reasonably for a second here? How could anyone accidentally
say Inflatus instead of Medicor?¡¨
¡§They boy was obviously panicking
seeing all the blood!¡¨ Snape argued.
¡§Panic?¡¨ Professor Lockhart was
really angry now, ¡§He drove the knife deep into Harry¡¦s arm. He smiled as the
blood started to pour out!¡¨
¡§Will you stop talking about my
son as if he is not here?¡¨ Lucius Malfoy snapped. ¡§Why don¡¦t we ask him for the
truth.¡¨
¡§Mr. Malfoy.¡¨ Professor
McGonagall began, ¡§I know you trust your son. But how are we to know that he is
telling the truth?¡¨ Malfoy opened his mouth to object but was silenced by a
much calmer voice.
¡§Mr. Malfoy. Valuables such as
that pendent your son bears should not be at school.¡¨ Said Dumbledore. ¡§Someone
might attempt to steal it. I suggest you hold on to the admirable pendent for
your son and return it to his possession over the summer.¡¨
Lucius Malfoy didn¡¦t have
anything to say. He took the pendent off Draco¡¦s collar, turned and left.
¡§Serves would you see to Mr.
Malfoy here?¡¨ Dumbledore instructed. Snape gestured to Malfoy and he followed
close behind Snape down the hall. ¡§No we must go see how Harry¡¦s doing.¡¨ As
they walked down the hall toward the infirmary Ron and Hermione quickly ducked
in through the doors.
***
Once inside Hermione hurried to
Harry¡¦s side. He looked tired there were trace of cold sweat on his brow. His
face was pale his eyes closed, but the ugly wound on his arm has been closed.
Harry seems to have sensed her presence, because he opened his eyes and looked
straight at her.
¡§How are you?¡¨ She asked softly.
Her voice washed over him like a wave of cool water. The ache he has in his arm
seemed to have lessened.
¡§Better.¡¨ He said smiling at her.
Behind her Dumbledore, Professor Lockhart, Professor McGonagall and Ron have
also arrived.
¡§Oh Harry! Are you alright?¡¨
Professor Lockhart sounded extremely worried.
¡§I¡¦m fine.¡¨ Harry answered
smiling, but Professor Lockhart went on frantically.
¡§Oh this is the second time. And
both in my class! You could have been killed! TWICE! I can see why they say
this position is cursed oh¡K¡¨
¡§Professor Lockhart!¡¨ said Harry.
Lockhart stopped and looked at him. ¡§There¡¦s no such thing as a cursed
position. If anything is cursed it¡¦s me! Thing like this always happen to me!
But at least you didn¡¦t try to kill me like all my other DADA teacher with the
exception of Professor Lupin. And personally I think you are a great teacher.¡¨
Harry¡¦s words seemed to have reached her heart, for she burst out crying but
smiled.
¡§Harry. Would you tell me why you
volunteered as the test subject?¡¨ Professor Dumbledore asked with a twinkle in his
eyes behind his half moon glasses.
¡§Well I some how knew¡K that he
was going to do that.¡¨ Harry replied.
¡§Than why did you go up?¡¨
Professor McGonagall exclaimed.
¡§No! Not to me!¡¨ Harry explained,
¡§I dreamed that Malfoy would do that, but not to me. To Professor Lockhart.
Sir, Malfoy was possessed or something. The Inflatus curse is one requiring a
high source of magic. I think the pendent is the source. In my dream after he
hurt Professor Lockhart he started hurting everyone else there was no one there
to stop him. So I volunteered to prevent this from happening.¡¨ At this Harry
could see Professor Lockhart bursting out into tears again. The others were all
silent. None of them knew what to say. Harry put his hand on the crying
professor¡¦s tightly clutched hands. She looked up.
¡§Please don¡¦t cry anymore.¡¨ Harry
pleaded, ¡§I¡¦m fine now see?¡¨ Harry painfully stretched out his stiff left arm.
The effort involved made him wince. Even if the wound is closed the flesh was
still tender and it¡¦s painful to move. Professor Dumbledore stood up his eyes
twinkling.
¡§I think you should all return to
class now. I¡¦d like to have a word with Harry.¡¨ Dumbledore waited till everyone
was gone and he turned back to Harry. ¡§Harry that was really brave of you to do
what you¡¦ve just done.¡¨ He smiled at Harry. ¡§Have you been having any other
dreams like the ones you have recently had?¡¨
¡§Er¡K¡¨ Harry thought back, ¡§Well
they weren¡¦t all that clear. The recent one was the clearest. And the other
ones are all of far away places and people I don¡¦t know. I didn¡¦t think they
were true until two days ago I dreamed that a wizard by the name of Angus
Greenfield was murdered. That morning when Hermione got her Daily Prophet on
the front page was ¡¥Angus Greenfield of Cornwall murdered¡¦ it had happened the
previous night.¡¨
¡§That¡¦s very interesting.¡¨ Harry
couldn¡¦t decipher the look on his headmaster¡¦s face, but before he had a chance
to look again Dumbledore continued, his face normal again. ¡§Well Harry. Have
some rest. I believe you would be back in your dormitory tonight.¡¨ With that
Dumbledore turned and walked out of the room. He was heading towards the
library. He was glad that the boy didn¡¦t notice his worried expression.
***
When Harry finally stepped out of
the infirmary he let out a sigh of relief. Madam Pomfrey had insisted Harry
stay in the infirmary overnight, but Harry was determined to get out. Now he¡¦s
learned one thing: never mess with Madam Pomfrey or go against her will unless
you have back up.
Harry¡¦s Flash Back
Madam Pomfrey had almost won when
Harry said the magic words. ¡§Well Professor Dumbledore said¡K¡¨ he needed to say
no more. Madam Pomfrey had given in. She knew exactly how it would end.
¡§All right. Leave but I will see
you tomorrow evening!¡¨
Harry¡¦s Flash Back End
Harry made his way back into the
Gryffindor tower. It wasn¡¦t that far from the infirmary, but Harry felt extremely
worn out by the time he reached the portrait of the fat lady who guards the
Gryffindor tower. Harry was puzzled but his mind was quickly taken off the
subject. As soon as he stepped through the portrait hole a book came flying
towards him missing him by a hair slamming into the wall next to him..
¡§Sorry Harry!¡¨ Fred was laughing
as he apologized, ¡§We were teaching Ron the levitating spell!¡¨ Harry looked
around him. That was when he noticed there were books, parchments, quills, and
even some small furniture lying around the common room. They must have really been
practicing.
¡§Harry! How are you feeling?¡¨
Hermione asked rushing to greet him.
¡§I¡¦m fine.¡¨ Said Harry giving
Hermione a hug.
¡§Harry! Give us a hand.¡¨ George
called ¡§We need to clean this up!¡¨ Hermione and Harry sigh and pulled out their
wands.
¡§Densuego¡¨ said Harry
pointing his wand at a flower vase. The vase rose up slowly into the air. Then
it dropped to the ground and shattered. Everyone in the room turned and looked
at him. Harry himself stood in shock. His magic didn¡¦t work! Hermione instantly
understood what had happened.
¡§Harry! It¡¦s no time to play
around now!¡¨ she said quickly to cover for him ¡§ We need to get this cleaned up
before we go to bed.¡¨
¡§Sorry.¡¨ Harry caught on and
played along. Everyone turned back to work totally forgetting the resent incident.
In minuets the room was once again restored to normal. Harry and Hermione
followed behind the others up stairs.
¡§Thanks.¡¨ Harry whispered still
looking worried and puzzled.
¡§It¡¦s okay.¡¨ Hermione replied, ¡§don¡¦t
worry about it. Your probably just tired.¡¨
¡§Yeah probably.¡¨ Harry felt
really unsure. ¡§I hope.¡¨ He added to himself in a quiet whisper
***
¡§Harry.¡¨ Harry¡¦s best friends
studied him closely ¡§Are you sure you are all right? I mean¡K¡¨
¡§Oh come off it Ron! I¡¦m fine!¡¨
Harry said for the hundredth time, ¡§Besides Malfoy is pulled from class
remember?¡¨
¡§But your magic¡K¡¨ Ron argued
¡§Look.¡¨ Harry took out his wand
and pointed it at Ron¡¦s book bag filled with books. ¡§Densuego¡¨ The bag
went shooting up in the air whirled around the torch nearest to them. Missing
the flames only by a hair it flew safely back into Ron¡¦s arms.
¡§That was quit a show.¡¨ Hermione
said clapping as she walked towards them.
¡§See it works.¡¨ Harry smiled
weakly. The smile was faked though. Right then smiling is the last thing Harry
felt like doing. Harry felt scared and puzzled ¡V how come he feels so tired
after such a simple spell?
¡§Harry?¡¨ Hermione¡¦s concerned
voice snapped Harry out of his thoughts. ¡§Are you alright?¡¨
¡§Oh sorry.¡¨ Harry smiled again. ¡§Did
I dose off on you guys again?¡¨ Seeing his friends still unconvinced he quickly
changed the subject. ¡§You know we¡¦d better be getting to class or we¡¦ll be
late.¡¨
***
¡§Alright class take out ¡¥The Dark
Forces: A Guide to Self Defense¡¦ and turn to page 196.¡¨ Professor Lockhart said
as the class settled down to begin. ¡§Mr. Potter please read the first paragraph
above the picture.¡¨ Harry opened his book and begins to read.
¡§The Dark Mark is¡K¡¨ Harry saw the
glimmer of the piece of glass with the Dark Mark, the jet-black branding on Wormtail¡¦s
arm, and heard Voldemort¡¦s laugh. Harry felt a sharp pain in his chest where
the glass had cut him and from the scar on his forehead. Soon everything went
black.
¡§Harry?!¡¨ Harry felt a cool hand
against his face. He looked up and saw Professor Lockhart and all his other
classmates looking down at him. He sat up.
¡§Harry dear! Are you all right?
You gave me a right!¡¨ Professor Lockhart looked extremely pale and frightened. ¡§You
dropped your book and passed out grabbing at your chest gasping for breath.¡¨
The professor looked as if she was going to pass out.
¡§I¡¦m fine Professor, but I think I
will go to the infirmary.¡¨ Harry slowly got up with the help of many hands
reached out to support his swaying body.
¡§Ron sweet and Hermione dearest
would you two be kind enough to escort him?¡¨ Professor Lockhart took in a deep
breath. ¡§ All right class, back to your seats.¡¨
***
¡§Harry.¡¨ Hermione asked as she
and Ron led Harry slowly down the corridors. ¡§What happened?¡¨
¡§I¡K I don¡¦t really know.¡¨ Harry
spoke shakily ¡§one second I was reading. The next second I found myself back in
the Great Hall with the glass flying around, then the grave yard with
Voldemort.¡¨ Harry paused to gasp for breath. ¡§And my chest hurt, my scar too¡K¡¨
at those words Harry felt his knees weaken and almost buckled. Ron and Hermione
quickly reached out to steady him.
¡§Maybe we shouldn¡¦t go to the infirmary.¡¨
Ron suggested. ¡§Maybe we should go straight to Professor Dumbledore.¡¨
¡§Yeah I think so.¡¨ Hermione
agreed looking at Harry. Her face filled with worry.
¡§I¡¦m fine now Herm.¡¨ Harry said
weakly trying as reassuring as possible.
¡§Alright let¡¦s go.¡¨
***
After trying half a dozen
different sweets names they got to the door of the Headmaster¡¦s office.
¡§Professor Dumbledore? Are you in
there?¡¨ Hermione called as Ron pounded on the heavy wooden door. Harry stood
behind them. Suddenly he felt as if something was sucking the life out of him.
He felt faint and his knees gave away. As he fell back a pair of strong arms
caught him.
J Ha! I did it! I did it! A cliffhanger!
Yes! Yes! I know I¡¦m bad¡K (evil laugh) don¡¦t worry I won¡¦t leave you hanging on
by your fingers too long. Right till next time!J
