JKR owns the people and places, I own Karista and the dream
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Chapter 3: Voldie gets bitch slapped in Diagon Alley
Harry, Karista, Hermione and Ron stepped out of the fireplace into the Leaky Cauldron, where they were greeted by Tom, the innkeeper.
"Nice seeing you all again," Tom smiled smuggly, revealing a few blank spots in his smile. "Many sales going on today, even if it isn't the end of July."
They all smiled generously at the innkeeper and walked out into the abandoned courtyard. It had been more than a week since Karista had shown up at the Weasley's and she was having the time of her life, including with Harry.
"Now, we should first get out school supplies," chirped Hermione from Ron's side. They were gently swaggering around the street, arm in arm.
"Maybe even quality Quidditch supplies," Ron said, his eyes glazing over at the thought of a firebolt of his own. "Hear they have new ball designs, you know."
Karista smiled gently then headed over towards Flourish and Blotts where there was a small crowd forming.
"Wonder whats happening?" Harry quesitioned, standing on his tip-toes to look over the heads of the crowd. It seemed they were all looking at the newsstand outside the store, where dark headlines flashed across many sheets of paper.
BERTHA JORKINS RETURNS TO MINISTRY AFTER A YEAR'S DISAPPEARANCE
Harry walked in between the crowd and bought a copy of the Daily Prophet. He then backtracked through and found Ron, Hermione and Karista.
"Read this guys!" Harry exclaimed, holding the front page out for them all to read.
Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, has reported that indeed Ms. Bertha Jorkins, once rumored to have been killed by he-who-must-not-be-named, has returned to work at the Ministry. Originally Jorkins was discovered missing after September after vacationing with relations in Albania. She was found outside of Surrey by Mr. Remus Lupin, who discovered her wandering about a pasture in his backyard. Mr. Lupin was quoted with this statement on finding Ms. Jorkins:
"My dog and I were leaving my home when he picked up a strange scent coming from the pasture. We headed out ot investigate, and found Ms. Jorkins."
Lupin, Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for Hogwarts, brought Ms. Jorkins to the school and Professor Albus Dumbledore then brought her to St. Mungos hospital two weeks ago. Sources say that after much bedrest and visits from her friends and relatives, she was very forthcoming about going back to work.
Harry stared in awe at the paper. He remembered vividly seeing Bertha coming out of Voldemort's wand during the priori incantetem spell that happened at the end of his fourth year, yet he couldn't place Bertha Jorkins being alive. After all, she had come out of the wand after an old man and- no. He wasn't going to think about it. He was going to push it to the back of his mind, just as he always done. It wasn't till he looked up into Karista's face that he realized something was wrong with her.
"Karista, you look like you've seen death himself!" Ron said happily, taking the paper out of Harry's hands and reading it again. "What's gotten into you?"
She knew what had gotten into her. It was the potion; the bloodstone potion. The one thing that she didn't ever want to have mentioned again. It brought nightmares, bad ones. They left her up in the middle of the night and wouldn't go away, even with a dreamless sleeping potion. That was what scared her the most. Potions of that sort would have been able to stop it, yet for some reason, it wasn't strong enough.
"KARISTA! Honestly, you need your hearing checked," Harry laughed, shaking Karista's arm to get her out of her reverie. She blinked and looked up into his eyes. He looked almost mischievious, as if he threw a dungbomb into the unsuspecting crowd and was about to run. There was a startling noise, however, off in the distance that shook everyone out of their chatter. It was a blood curtling scream, and it was growing closer. In the distance, Harry could see various people running and shouting warnings to other people. Then, he saw it.
Standing in front of Gringotts, a gleam in his eyes unlike one Harry had ever seen, was Voldemort. He had his wand raised and was pointing it at various people, visibly muttering Crucio under his breath.
"We've got to get out of here!" Ron yelled, grabbing Hermione's arm and running towards the Leaky Cauldron where there was already a line out the door. Harry and Karista stood watching as Death Eaters upturned carts and crates, cackling as they broke windows of shops and set fires. It was then that Voldemort noticed them.
"STOP," Voldemort said, his wand pointing at his throat, magically defining every syllable. In one movement the Death Eaters froze and turned to stare at their master, who was moving swiftly towards Flourish and Blotts. The crowd trying to get into the Leaky Cauldron stopped and turned to watch who Voldemort was going after. "Pleasure to see you both here, as I do normally try and make…er…other arrangements. However, this will do."
Voldemort smiled and came closer to both Karista and Harry, who stood side by side. They could both hear startled cries coming from the crowd up ahead, yet they didn't flinch.
"A word to the wise, Potter, you might want to stay away from my presence as you wouldn't like to end up like your parents eventually, would you?" he laughed, dropping his wand to his side. Karista's eyes narrowed upon him, almost studdying him as he took another step forward. "I understand that you are still 'wary' of your powers, Karista?"
Her eyes narrowed to the point of mere slits as she stepped forward nearly touching his robes. "I dare you to try it."
Voldemort's face relaxed almost into fear. Harry knew the triumph in his voice had faded when he spoke.
"It isn't you so much you that I worry about, Flannigan. It's Potter," Voldemort sighed, shrugging his shoulders and attempting to step around her. She impeded his progress by stepping in front of him.
"no, you don't worry about me enough, which is a very, very bad mistake, Voldie," Karista seethed, the redness forming in her cheeks. Harry, unknowing why, took another step closer to stand next to Karista, anger also in his face. Voldemort looked abashed at hearing his name be disregarded in this fashion.
"I'd watch your tongue, Niece," Voldemort spat. He suddenly raised his wand and pointed it at her heart. "CRUCIO!"
Harry could hear the muffled gasps and cries from the crowd, yet Karista didn't flinch. She didn't move at all. Instead, she began laughing. Voldemort however was relentless. He turned on Harry. "CRUCIO!"
The red light hit Harry, yet it bounced off. It didn't even hurt him. Voldemort dropped his wand to his side, his mouth wide with fear. The Death Eaters were beginning to apparate away from Diagon Alley, taking last glares at Karista as she kept her grin across her face.
"Clever…very clever," Voldemort whispered, nearly smiling himself. "Now you two can go back and have a lovely time together while you still can. Your days are marked, Potter."
Karista's face once again changed to pure anger as she raised her arm back and slapped Voldemort's face hard. He looked back at her, his face frozen with shock as he apparated.
"Karista, we should leave…NOW," Harry said, pulling on her arm.
"I agree Harry," she said quietly, rushing past the crowd and into the hearth of the restaurant.
***
"Dumbledore, read this," Snape said, pulling a copy of that evening's Daily Prophet from behind his back and tossing it onto Dumbledore's desk.
HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED WRECKS DIAGON ALLEY, ATTEMPTS TO KILL HARRY POTTER AND GIRLFRIEND YET FAILS!
Dumbledore let out a sigh of relief and continued to read the following article.
This afternoon, Diagon Alley became a mad house with the return of you-know-who. Death Eaters did a considerable amount of damage to shops, as well as critically injure 2 wizards and minorly injure 13. The real news of shock was when Harry Potter, along with girlfriend Karista Flannigan, who were in Diagon Alley at the time were approached by you-know-who and were placed under the Cruiciatus curse. Witnesses remember seeing the curse hit both dead in the heart, yet nothing happened. "We all saw it," States Tom Billykins, innkeeper of Leaky cauldron. "Hit them dead on and they didn't flinch or move a muscle. Just sat and laughed at him." Other witnesses have come forward repeating exactly what Billykins saw. For now we must wonder what the Ministry plans to do about this all. The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, has denied a statement about today's events.
Finally he put the paper down, a grin on his face.
"How did she do it, Severus?" Dumbledore asked happily.
"I am not sure, headmaster. She and Harry weren't even touching. She didn't even fight him. Actually, she dared him to do it," Snape mumbled, sitting down in the chair. Quickly, he snapped his fingers. "That's it, it's the necklace."
"Necklace?" Dumbledore asked with a furrowed brow. "What necklace? And why would it protect Harry?"
Snape gave it some thought, then shook his head. "I don't know about Harry, but I know that necklace helped Karista today."
Dumbledore nodded his head, then rose from his seat. "If you will excuse me, Severus, our new staff has arrived."
Both Snape and Dumbledore exited the room and into the entrance hall where there stood two woman in long dress robes.
"Julia, Amaia, it is so nice to see you all after such a long time!" Dumbledore exclaimed, holding his hand out for the two women to shake.
"Likewise Professor," Julia smiled, taking his hand graciously. "It has been a long time since I have been he-SEVERUS!"
Snape, who had been standing towards the back of the welcoming committee now stepped forward, an evil smile on his face. "Pleasure to see you both again."
"It's been…oh, well at least twenty years or so, has it not?" Amaia said, counting on her fingers. "Jeez, you've changed."
"Well, I imagine you would like to move into your new living quarters?" Dumbledore motioned for the stairs as they began walking.
"So what is it we will be doing, professor?" Julia asked, following Dumbledore along the corridor towards a large portrait at the end.
"Well, first of all, you will be calling me Albus or headmaster…even pinky, but not Professor. Secondly, Julia, you will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts and Amaia will be our Care of Magical Creatures teacher. You see, Hagrid has gone on official bussiness and won't be back for a while, and Remus is doing bussiness for the Order."
Amaia and Julia froze. "Remus? Remus Lupin?"
Dumbledore turned and smiled at them. "Yes, Remus Lupin…your old schoolmate."
**********************************************************
Chapter 3: Voldie gets bitch slapped in Diagon Alley
Harry, Karista, Hermione and Ron stepped out of the fireplace into the Leaky Cauldron, where they were greeted by Tom, the innkeeper.
"Nice seeing you all again," Tom smiled smuggly, revealing a few blank spots in his smile. "Many sales going on today, even if it isn't the end of July."
They all smiled generously at the innkeeper and walked out into the abandoned courtyard. It had been more than a week since Karista had shown up at the Weasley's and she was having the time of her life, including with Harry.
"Now, we should first get out school supplies," chirped Hermione from Ron's side. They were gently swaggering around the street, arm in arm.
"Maybe even quality Quidditch supplies," Ron said, his eyes glazing over at the thought of a firebolt of his own. "Hear they have new ball designs, you know."
Karista smiled gently then headed over towards Flourish and Blotts where there was a small crowd forming.
"Wonder whats happening?" Harry quesitioned, standing on his tip-toes to look over the heads of the crowd. It seemed they were all looking at the newsstand outside the store, where dark headlines flashed across many sheets of paper.
BERTHA JORKINS RETURNS TO MINISTRY AFTER A YEAR'S DISAPPEARANCE
Harry walked in between the crowd and bought a copy of the Daily Prophet. He then backtracked through and found Ron, Hermione and Karista.
"Read this guys!" Harry exclaimed, holding the front page out for them all to read.
Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, has reported that indeed Ms. Bertha Jorkins, once rumored to have been killed by he-who-must-not-be-named, has returned to work at the Ministry. Originally Jorkins was discovered missing after September after vacationing with relations in Albania. She was found outside of Surrey by Mr. Remus Lupin, who discovered her wandering about a pasture in his backyard. Mr. Lupin was quoted with this statement on finding Ms. Jorkins:
"My dog and I were leaving my home when he picked up a strange scent coming from the pasture. We headed out ot investigate, and found Ms. Jorkins."
Lupin, Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for Hogwarts, brought Ms. Jorkins to the school and Professor Albus Dumbledore then brought her to St. Mungos hospital two weeks ago. Sources say that after much bedrest and visits from her friends and relatives, she was very forthcoming about going back to work.
Harry stared in awe at the paper. He remembered vividly seeing Bertha coming out of Voldemort's wand during the priori incantetem spell that happened at the end of his fourth year, yet he couldn't place Bertha Jorkins being alive. After all, she had come out of the wand after an old man and- no. He wasn't going to think about it. He was going to push it to the back of his mind, just as he always done. It wasn't till he looked up into Karista's face that he realized something was wrong with her.
"Karista, you look like you've seen death himself!" Ron said happily, taking the paper out of Harry's hands and reading it again. "What's gotten into you?"
She knew what had gotten into her. It was the potion; the bloodstone potion. The one thing that she didn't ever want to have mentioned again. It brought nightmares, bad ones. They left her up in the middle of the night and wouldn't go away, even with a dreamless sleeping potion. That was what scared her the most. Potions of that sort would have been able to stop it, yet for some reason, it wasn't strong enough.
"KARISTA! Honestly, you need your hearing checked," Harry laughed, shaking Karista's arm to get her out of her reverie. She blinked and looked up into his eyes. He looked almost mischievious, as if he threw a dungbomb into the unsuspecting crowd and was about to run. There was a startling noise, however, off in the distance that shook everyone out of their chatter. It was a blood curtling scream, and it was growing closer. In the distance, Harry could see various people running and shouting warnings to other people. Then, he saw it.
Standing in front of Gringotts, a gleam in his eyes unlike one Harry had ever seen, was Voldemort. He had his wand raised and was pointing it at various people, visibly muttering Crucio under his breath.
"We've got to get out of here!" Ron yelled, grabbing Hermione's arm and running towards the Leaky Cauldron where there was already a line out the door. Harry and Karista stood watching as Death Eaters upturned carts and crates, cackling as they broke windows of shops and set fires. It was then that Voldemort noticed them.
"STOP," Voldemort said, his wand pointing at his throat, magically defining every syllable. In one movement the Death Eaters froze and turned to stare at their master, who was moving swiftly towards Flourish and Blotts. The crowd trying to get into the Leaky Cauldron stopped and turned to watch who Voldemort was going after. "Pleasure to see you both here, as I do normally try and make…er…other arrangements. However, this will do."
Voldemort smiled and came closer to both Karista and Harry, who stood side by side. They could both hear startled cries coming from the crowd up ahead, yet they didn't flinch.
"A word to the wise, Potter, you might want to stay away from my presence as you wouldn't like to end up like your parents eventually, would you?" he laughed, dropping his wand to his side. Karista's eyes narrowed upon him, almost studdying him as he took another step forward. "I understand that you are still 'wary' of your powers, Karista?"
Her eyes narrowed to the point of mere slits as she stepped forward nearly touching his robes. "I dare you to try it."
Voldemort's face relaxed almost into fear. Harry knew the triumph in his voice had faded when he spoke.
"It isn't you so much you that I worry about, Flannigan. It's Potter," Voldemort sighed, shrugging his shoulders and attempting to step around her. She impeded his progress by stepping in front of him.
"no, you don't worry about me enough, which is a very, very bad mistake, Voldie," Karista seethed, the redness forming in her cheeks. Harry, unknowing why, took another step closer to stand next to Karista, anger also in his face. Voldemort looked abashed at hearing his name be disregarded in this fashion.
"I'd watch your tongue, Niece," Voldemort spat. He suddenly raised his wand and pointed it at her heart. "CRUCIO!"
Harry could hear the muffled gasps and cries from the crowd, yet Karista didn't flinch. She didn't move at all. Instead, she began laughing. Voldemort however was relentless. He turned on Harry. "CRUCIO!"
The red light hit Harry, yet it bounced off. It didn't even hurt him. Voldemort dropped his wand to his side, his mouth wide with fear. The Death Eaters were beginning to apparate away from Diagon Alley, taking last glares at Karista as she kept her grin across her face.
"Clever…very clever," Voldemort whispered, nearly smiling himself. "Now you two can go back and have a lovely time together while you still can. Your days are marked, Potter."
Karista's face once again changed to pure anger as she raised her arm back and slapped Voldemort's face hard. He looked back at her, his face frozen with shock as he apparated.
"Karista, we should leave…NOW," Harry said, pulling on her arm.
"I agree Harry," she said quietly, rushing past the crowd and into the hearth of the restaurant.
***
"Dumbledore, read this," Snape said, pulling a copy of that evening's Daily Prophet from behind his back and tossing it onto Dumbledore's desk.
HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED WRECKS DIAGON ALLEY, ATTEMPTS TO KILL HARRY POTTER AND GIRLFRIEND YET FAILS!
Dumbledore let out a sigh of relief and continued to read the following article.
This afternoon, Diagon Alley became a mad house with the return of you-know-who. Death Eaters did a considerable amount of damage to shops, as well as critically injure 2 wizards and minorly injure 13. The real news of shock was when Harry Potter, along with girlfriend Karista Flannigan, who were in Diagon Alley at the time were approached by you-know-who and were placed under the Cruiciatus curse. Witnesses remember seeing the curse hit both dead in the heart, yet nothing happened. "We all saw it," States Tom Billykins, innkeeper of Leaky cauldron. "Hit them dead on and they didn't flinch or move a muscle. Just sat and laughed at him." Other witnesses have come forward repeating exactly what Billykins saw. For now we must wonder what the Ministry plans to do about this all. The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, has denied a statement about today's events.
Finally he put the paper down, a grin on his face.
"How did she do it, Severus?" Dumbledore asked happily.
"I am not sure, headmaster. She and Harry weren't even touching. She didn't even fight him. Actually, she dared him to do it," Snape mumbled, sitting down in the chair. Quickly, he snapped his fingers. "That's it, it's the necklace."
"Necklace?" Dumbledore asked with a furrowed brow. "What necklace? And why would it protect Harry?"
Snape gave it some thought, then shook his head. "I don't know about Harry, but I know that necklace helped Karista today."
Dumbledore nodded his head, then rose from his seat. "If you will excuse me, Severus, our new staff has arrived."
Both Snape and Dumbledore exited the room and into the entrance hall where there stood two woman in long dress robes.
"Julia, Amaia, it is so nice to see you all after such a long time!" Dumbledore exclaimed, holding his hand out for the two women to shake.
"Likewise Professor," Julia smiled, taking his hand graciously. "It has been a long time since I have been he-SEVERUS!"
Snape, who had been standing towards the back of the welcoming committee now stepped forward, an evil smile on his face. "Pleasure to see you both again."
"It's been…oh, well at least twenty years or so, has it not?" Amaia said, counting on her fingers. "Jeez, you've changed."
"Well, I imagine you would like to move into your new living quarters?" Dumbledore motioned for the stairs as they began walking.
"So what is it we will be doing, professor?" Julia asked, following Dumbledore along the corridor towards a large portrait at the end.
"Well, first of all, you will be calling me Albus or headmaster…even pinky, but not Professor. Secondly, Julia, you will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts and Amaia will be our Care of Magical Creatures teacher. You see, Hagrid has gone on official bussiness and won't be back for a while, and Remus is doing bussiness for the Order."
Amaia and Julia froze. "Remus? Remus Lupin?"
Dumbledore turned and smiled at them. "Yes, Remus Lupin…your old schoolmate."
