JKR owns the people and places, I own Karista, Julia, Amaia, Vanessa and the dream...
Chapter 16: Strange dreams
Harry, although strangely unaware of where exactly he was, knew that it was somewhere that he'd been before. He looked around himself and realized that it was littered with shops. He was in Diagon Alley. Looking up at the sky revealed it was twilight hour, the moon gone from the night sky. Even stranger was his desire to look for a hidden alleyway. The ambition was driving him mad as he approached a wall. As he touched it, it dissolved away. The street seemed to wind and curve down and impossible slope, yet that didn't stop him. He began to move forward, all the while wondering what was at the end that was so important for him to see.
Up ahead of him, Harry could see a faint light bobbing away from him until it disappeared completely. He quickened his pace until finally he came upon a street, which he recognized as Knockturn Alley. He glanced up the street towards the bobbing light and followed quickly until he came upon a man in long black robes and a mask hiding his features. Harry followed the Death Eater through a crack in the wall, which magically expanded with a touch from his wand and into a dimly lit room.
"Hongton, we have her inside. What do we do now?" a sharp voice asked from another hooded figure.
"Question her. Ask her about the Potters, Diggory, Michael's and Johnston. See if she knows their whereabouts," the figure who he followed answered, tapping his wand impatiently in his hand.
"But Vanessa won't speak," the other figure answered worriedly, twiddling his thumbs.
"MAKE HER," the other figure bellowed, turning to leave. "And another thing, keep an eye out for any more aurors, including Lily Potter."
"Yes, sir," the robbed figure answered, exiting the room into an adjoining door and shutting it tight.
Gradually, the room spun itself around until he was back inside of his own bed where he so happened to be twisted up in the sheets. It was quite chilly inside the dorm room, considering it was the middle of December. He slipped out of bed and put on his bathrobe before heading down the stairs into the common room, debating whether or not to tell Dumbledore about this.
"In the morning? But they were going to hurt her now," Harry mumbled, stopping between the portrait hole and the boy's door scratching his head as he went. "Not only that, they mentioned my mum."
Harry decided it was best to tell Dumbledore as soon as possible, as he didn't know who Vanessa was, let alone anything about her situation at the present moment. He headed outside of the portrait hole and down the sets of stairs and corridors until he was finally in the entrance hall. As soon as he got to the doors of the Great Hall, Harry heard a murmur of voices. Dumbledore's voice quieted them down.
"Now, we must keep looking. There may be more people appearing," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling strangely in the light of the Great Hall. Harry now stood in front of the crack in the doors, watching the various aurors and familiar faces begin to interrupt again.
"Harry! Come in here," Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody called, causing the hall to become silent. He pushed open the doors, grimacing as the bright light caught his eyes and faces. He squinted his eyes just enough to see that everyone was smiling, if not smirking, at his appearance.
"What brings you in here at this hour, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, glancing at his watch and smiling.
"A dream," Harry said. Dumbledore's face immediately changed.
"About what, Harry?" James asked, rising from his chair and coming to stand in front of Harry.
"Someone named Vanessa."
Snape seemed to wake up at this. He sat on the edge of his seat, sweat obvious from his brow.
"What happened, Harry?" He asked quietly, folding his hands in front of him. The various aurors around him glanced nervously at him.
"Well, I didn't see her. Instead, I followed a death eater to somewhere…" Harry paused. He couldn't remember the exact location, yet he knew it was somewhere he had been before. "I'm afraid I cannot remember where exactly, but they mentioned 'questioning' her about the whereabouts of my dad, my mum and a few other people that I don't know."
Dumbledore rose steadily from his seat and came around the large table that had been set up.
"Harry, can you remember anything else from your dream? Who was the death eater?"
Harry thought for a moment, a name forming on the tip of his tongue. He furrowed his brow as he tugged at any memory. Finally, he gave up.
"One of them was something like Hompton, Honton," Harry muttered, trying to recall what the death eater said.
"Hongton?" Snape asked idly from his place.
"Yeah! Hongton. The other death eater, I never got his name," Harry nodded his assent.
"Harry, I cannot tell you how invaluable this information is," Dumbledore smiled, turning his back and returning to his seat. "If anything else happens, you can probably find me in my office. Oh, and tell Karista to come see me as soon as she wakes up."
Harry nodded and said goodnight to his father, Sirius and Remus before heading back towards the Gryffindor common room. He wasn't really tired, let alone in the mood to listen to a decades worth of snoring from his dorm mates, so he plopped down into one of the plush chairs by the fire and stared mercilessly into the flames, wondering about the dream and the mentioning of his mother.
***
Karista walked out of the Gryffindor common room late that afternoon. For some reason, she couldn't sleep and she wasn't even hungry as she usually was. This had only happened at least four times before, yet now it was beginning to worry her.
"Why me?" Karista muttered as she made her way past the Great Hall towards the stone gargoyle leading towards Dumbledore's office. For some reason, he had wanted to speak with her as soon as she woke up, or so Harry had told her when she had lugged herself into the common room.
"M & M's," Karista said to the Gargoyle as it sprang away to reveal a revolving staircase in front of her. She made her way up to the oak doors that lead into Dumbledore's office yet paused before knocking.
Why does he want to see me? Karista asked, tugging recklessly on a strand of hair that had come loose from the knot at her neck. Oh well, best to find out.
She knocked and cracked the door open to reveal Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore talking in slightly hushed whispers.
"Ah, Miss Flannigan. Another late sleeper?" Dumbledore asked, his usual cheeriness making her smile.
"More like no sleep except for early morning hours," Karista said slightly, crossing the room to sit in another chair between McGonagall and Snape.
"Hmmm, interesting Karista," Dumbledore thought as he leaned back in his chair. "So, have you spoken to your Uncle yet?"
Karista froze. No one, except Snape knew about it. Snape! Her brain seemed to scream at her. He told Dumbledore!
She turned her gaze towards Snape, making it as icy as possible. He merely flinched before returning the same stare.
"Glaring daggers at each other will not help, Karista. How long has this happened?"
Karista, still shocked and mad at Snape's willingness to tell Dumbledore thought for a moment. The first time? Well, that would have been with Harry.
"Well…it happened not long after school ended. When I was in New York, I 'gave' Harry his necklace while I was asleep. If you mean with Voldemort, It was probably my second night at the Weasleys."
Dumbledore seemed to consider the facts until a sudden realization seemed to dawn upon him.
"You must be able to do this whenever the stone releases another soul. It would make sense," Dumbledore said, more to himself than to the others.
"Sir, I think that you may have a point. Of course, the other matter," Snape said icily, glaring at Karista again through the corner of his eye.
"Ah yes, the other matter. Karista, why your 'abstinence' from the Order? I would completely understand, of course, if you didn't feel up to it," Dumbledore asked lightly.
"The Order. Yes, well…as no doubt Professor Snape already told you, ye olde Voldie made an 'offer' to me. He asked me to join him."
Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape became considerably pale at the last words of her sentence, yet edged her on.
"What I have been thinking is that I could 'infiltrate' him from the inside. If I do away with him, the Death Eaters will have to follow me, and I'll turn them in."
Dumbledore actually seemed to consider this for a moment when she continued.
"But, I realize now that he probably means it to be a trap. I join…I am weaker…he kills me before I can greet anyone," Karista gestured her hands dramatically at this. "So, therefore I am a part of the Order, if that is okay still."
Dumbledore smiled while McGonagall let out her breath, which she had been holding since Karista mentioned her scheme.
"Yes, I am sure the aurors can put you to good work, Karista," Dumbledore chuckled as he rose from his seat and crossed to the fire where he took a pinch of floo powder and threw it into the flames. "Alastor, come to my office a minute."
The flames grew bigger until Moody was standing in front of the fire, looking as if he was a bit tired.
"Yes Albus?"
"Miss Flannigan here needs some…er…training if you will. I think you will find her very valuable."
Moody smiled, allowing his discolored teeth and face to wrinkle into a smile.
"Ah, yes. Come with me then, Miss Flannigan. We have a lot to discuss."
Chapter 16: Strange dreams
Harry, although strangely unaware of where exactly he was, knew that it was somewhere that he'd been before. He looked around himself and realized that it was littered with shops. He was in Diagon Alley. Looking up at the sky revealed it was twilight hour, the moon gone from the night sky. Even stranger was his desire to look for a hidden alleyway. The ambition was driving him mad as he approached a wall. As he touched it, it dissolved away. The street seemed to wind and curve down and impossible slope, yet that didn't stop him. He began to move forward, all the while wondering what was at the end that was so important for him to see.
Up ahead of him, Harry could see a faint light bobbing away from him until it disappeared completely. He quickened his pace until finally he came upon a street, which he recognized as Knockturn Alley. He glanced up the street towards the bobbing light and followed quickly until he came upon a man in long black robes and a mask hiding his features. Harry followed the Death Eater through a crack in the wall, which magically expanded with a touch from his wand and into a dimly lit room.
"Hongton, we have her inside. What do we do now?" a sharp voice asked from another hooded figure.
"Question her. Ask her about the Potters, Diggory, Michael's and Johnston. See if she knows their whereabouts," the figure who he followed answered, tapping his wand impatiently in his hand.
"But Vanessa won't speak," the other figure answered worriedly, twiddling his thumbs.
"MAKE HER," the other figure bellowed, turning to leave. "And another thing, keep an eye out for any more aurors, including Lily Potter."
"Yes, sir," the robbed figure answered, exiting the room into an adjoining door and shutting it tight.
Gradually, the room spun itself around until he was back inside of his own bed where he so happened to be twisted up in the sheets. It was quite chilly inside the dorm room, considering it was the middle of December. He slipped out of bed and put on his bathrobe before heading down the stairs into the common room, debating whether or not to tell Dumbledore about this.
"In the morning? But they were going to hurt her now," Harry mumbled, stopping between the portrait hole and the boy's door scratching his head as he went. "Not only that, they mentioned my mum."
Harry decided it was best to tell Dumbledore as soon as possible, as he didn't know who Vanessa was, let alone anything about her situation at the present moment. He headed outside of the portrait hole and down the sets of stairs and corridors until he was finally in the entrance hall. As soon as he got to the doors of the Great Hall, Harry heard a murmur of voices. Dumbledore's voice quieted them down.
"Now, we must keep looking. There may be more people appearing," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling strangely in the light of the Great Hall. Harry now stood in front of the crack in the doors, watching the various aurors and familiar faces begin to interrupt again.
"Harry! Come in here," Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody called, causing the hall to become silent. He pushed open the doors, grimacing as the bright light caught his eyes and faces. He squinted his eyes just enough to see that everyone was smiling, if not smirking, at his appearance.
"What brings you in here at this hour, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, glancing at his watch and smiling.
"A dream," Harry said. Dumbledore's face immediately changed.
"About what, Harry?" James asked, rising from his chair and coming to stand in front of Harry.
"Someone named Vanessa."
Snape seemed to wake up at this. He sat on the edge of his seat, sweat obvious from his brow.
"What happened, Harry?" He asked quietly, folding his hands in front of him. The various aurors around him glanced nervously at him.
"Well, I didn't see her. Instead, I followed a death eater to somewhere…" Harry paused. He couldn't remember the exact location, yet he knew it was somewhere he had been before. "I'm afraid I cannot remember where exactly, but they mentioned 'questioning' her about the whereabouts of my dad, my mum and a few other people that I don't know."
Dumbledore rose steadily from his seat and came around the large table that had been set up.
"Harry, can you remember anything else from your dream? Who was the death eater?"
Harry thought for a moment, a name forming on the tip of his tongue. He furrowed his brow as he tugged at any memory. Finally, he gave up.
"One of them was something like Hompton, Honton," Harry muttered, trying to recall what the death eater said.
"Hongton?" Snape asked idly from his place.
"Yeah! Hongton. The other death eater, I never got his name," Harry nodded his assent.
"Harry, I cannot tell you how invaluable this information is," Dumbledore smiled, turning his back and returning to his seat. "If anything else happens, you can probably find me in my office. Oh, and tell Karista to come see me as soon as she wakes up."
Harry nodded and said goodnight to his father, Sirius and Remus before heading back towards the Gryffindor common room. He wasn't really tired, let alone in the mood to listen to a decades worth of snoring from his dorm mates, so he plopped down into one of the plush chairs by the fire and stared mercilessly into the flames, wondering about the dream and the mentioning of his mother.
***
Karista walked out of the Gryffindor common room late that afternoon. For some reason, she couldn't sleep and she wasn't even hungry as she usually was. This had only happened at least four times before, yet now it was beginning to worry her.
"Why me?" Karista muttered as she made her way past the Great Hall towards the stone gargoyle leading towards Dumbledore's office. For some reason, he had wanted to speak with her as soon as she woke up, or so Harry had told her when she had lugged herself into the common room.
"M & M's," Karista said to the Gargoyle as it sprang away to reveal a revolving staircase in front of her. She made her way up to the oak doors that lead into Dumbledore's office yet paused before knocking.
Why does he want to see me? Karista asked, tugging recklessly on a strand of hair that had come loose from the knot at her neck. Oh well, best to find out.
She knocked and cracked the door open to reveal Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore talking in slightly hushed whispers.
"Ah, Miss Flannigan. Another late sleeper?" Dumbledore asked, his usual cheeriness making her smile.
"More like no sleep except for early morning hours," Karista said slightly, crossing the room to sit in another chair between McGonagall and Snape.
"Hmmm, interesting Karista," Dumbledore thought as he leaned back in his chair. "So, have you spoken to your Uncle yet?"
Karista froze. No one, except Snape knew about it. Snape! Her brain seemed to scream at her. He told Dumbledore!
She turned her gaze towards Snape, making it as icy as possible. He merely flinched before returning the same stare.
"Glaring daggers at each other will not help, Karista. How long has this happened?"
Karista, still shocked and mad at Snape's willingness to tell Dumbledore thought for a moment. The first time? Well, that would have been with Harry.
"Well…it happened not long after school ended. When I was in New York, I 'gave' Harry his necklace while I was asleep. If you mean with Voldemort, It was probably my second night at the Weasleys."
Dumbledore seemed to consider the facts until a sudden realization seemed to dawn upon him.
"You must be able to do this whenever the stone releases another soul. It would make sense," Dumbledore said, more to himself than to the others.
"Sir, I think that you may have a point. Of course, the other matter," Snape said icily, glaring at Karista again through the corner of his eye.
"Ah yes, the other matter. Karista, why your 'abstinence' from the Order? I would completely understand, of course, if you didn't feel up to it," Dumbledore asked lightly.
"The Order. Yes, well…as no doubt Professor Snape already told you, ye olde Voldie made an 'offer' to me. He asked me to join him."
Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape became considerably pale at the last words of her sentence, yet edged her on.
"What I have been thinking is that I could 'infiltrate' him from the inside. If I do away with him, the Death Eaters will have to follow me, and I'll turn them in."
Dumbledore actually seemed to consider this for a moment when she continued.
"But, I realize now that he probably means it to be a trap. I join…I am weaker…he kills me before I can greet anyone," Karista gestured her hands dramatically at this. "So, therefore I am a part of the Order, if that is okay still."
Dumbledore smiled while McGonagall let out her breath, which she had been holding since Karista mentioned her scheme.
"Yes, I am sure the aurors can put you to good work, Karista," Dumbledore chuckled as he rose from his seat and crossed to the fire where he took a pinch of floo powder and threw it into the flames. "Alastor, come to my office a minute."
The flames grew bigger until Moody was standing in front of the fire, looking as if he was a bit tired.
"Yes Albus?"
"Miss Flannigan here needs some…er…training if you will. I think you will find her very valuable."
Moody smiled, allowing his discolored teeth and face to wrinkle into a smile.
"Ah, yes. Come with me then, Miss Flannigan. We have a lot to discuss."
