CHAPTER 9
~The Last Dream~
When Harry woke up the next day, it was to find himself in the Hospital Wing. He felt very dizzy and his vision was foggy. Then he realised he wasn't wearing his glasses. Silently, he got up and felt around his bedside table. Putting his glasses on, everything seemed clearer. He looked around.
Rays of sunshine were flooding into the room making it nice and warm. On the table lay what seemed about a hundred presents, get well cards and bouquets of flowers. He looked to his other side and noticed that someone had put his Firebolt there.
Slowly and very quietly, he got up. Swaying a little on his feet, Harry walked slowly towards the window. He pushed the flower patterned curtains aside and looked out onto the sunny view. He could just see Hagrid's hut standing tall, just right in front of the dark and mysterious Forbidden Forest.
Unexpectedly, the forest trees rustled, startling Harry. Looking more closely through the dense group of trees, he gasped. Professor Kasender was running away from it again—she looked very similar to what Harry saw the other night when he'd followed her. Her hair was messy, her face was dirty and she was panting heavily. She ran at breakneck speed from the forest then Harry saw another man. He appeared as suddenly as Professor Kasender did. He was quite short, with balding hair and very old and ragged robes. Harry recognised him at once—Peter Pettigrew.
Peter Pettigrew was one of James Potter's friends back in their school days. He also had been Sirius's until Pettigrew betrayed Harry's parents by handing them over to Lord Voldemort. Then Pettigrew faked his own death and everybody had then believed that it was Sirius who had betrayed James and Lily Potter--not Peter. But when Peter escaped from Harry two years ago, he had returned to Lord Voldemort, bringing him back to power.
And so this only meant one thing: If Peter was here in Hogwarts, then Lord Voldemort wasn't too far from him either. In fact, it was possible that Lord Voldemort was with Peter, right in these very grounds.
Harry watched Pettigrew closely, but Peter never left the forest. Harry saw him cursing under his breath as he watched the running Kasender darkly. Then, he turned around and disappeared.
Harry collapsed into his bed. He was in trouble now. But then, he remembered Dumbledore. Everyone said that he was the only one Lord Voldemort was ever afraid of. But if Voldemort could get into Hogwarts, there was nothing to stop Harry from being petrified.
How long had Kasender been meeting with Peter and Voldemort? Why did she always look in a mess every time she came from the forest? Harry wondered. Just then, Madam Pomfrey, the matron, came bustling over and told him to lie down.
"You need rest," she fussed.
And so Harry lied down onto the soft bed, feeling restless. He didn't really want to tell Ron and Hermione about what he just saw. They would panic. But what else could he do?
~~~
The next day, Madam Pomfrey gave Harry permission to start his classes again--rather reluctantly. At once, Harry bolted out of the Hospital Wing just in case she changed her mind. When he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, he said, "Peachypear," and looked up at her expectantly. But she didn't move.
"Sorry, dear, wrong password." she said looking at him with curious eyes.
"Oh…" Harry trailed off wondering what to do.
Then, "Harry! Harry!"
Harry turned around at the sound of Ron's voice. Next to him was a panting Hermione.
"We just came from the Hospital Wing. She said you'd just left, then she shooed us off…you'd think we would have crossed each other wouldn't you?" Ron said. "But, honestly, the way she pushed us out the door, you'd think we let off some dung bombs or something…so! Feeling alright?"
Harry laughed. "Fine. I just want to know what happened after I fell."
"Oh well, it's Professor Kasender you should really thank, she was the one who cast some spell on you and you sort of slowed down before you hit the ground. But then George flew from underneath and caught you," said Hermione.
"Slytherin was laughing their heads off of course, but don't worry about them, Harry! You should have seen Malfoy's face! We thought he would have been laughing too but he looked like he would explode! He was so mad when he knew you had the Snitch!" added Ron. "His team was trying to say comforting things to him, but no, he just pushed them away like an angry bull didn't he?"
"Yes, but Harry's all right now, that's all that matters. Mind you, you have a lot to catch up on." Hermione said sternly. "We've started on learning about Centaurs in Care of Magical Creatures and we're still learning how to turn a pig into a rat in Transfiguration."
"Yeah, I'll catch up in a minute. But—"
"Are you coming in or not?" Harry was interrupted by the irritated voice of the Fat Lady.
"Oops…sorry, yes we are. Meparte Oblivious," said Hermione. This was obviously the new password.
They clambered through the portrait hole and Harry, looking around to make sure no one was listening, told them about what he saw earlier. As he expected, Ron and Hermione panicked.
"What? You-Know-Who's here? But--but…that can't be…he's scared of Dumbledore…"
"That's what everyone says…but don't forget, Dumbledore hasn't got powers like Voldemort…"
"What should we do? I mean, we could tell the teachers but they probably won't believe us…"
"Yeah," said Harry, placing his chin on his hands. "I don't know either…"
~~~
When Harry got to bed that night, he was very tired. The three of them had spent practically all day thinking of ways of how Voldemort and Peter would have gotten inside the walls of Hogwarts. Instantly, he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
He was walking in the Forbidden Forest, his wand held out in front of him, its tiny light shining weakly. He didn't know why he was here in the first place. There was a sudden crunch of leaves nearby and Harry turned around sharply. Professor Leanne Kasender was running straight towards him.
"Harry, dear boy," she panted. "What are you doing here? You mustn't stay…" then her voice turned raucous. "Go…kill Voldemort…you'll see your parents again…" She was breathless. Then, she left Harry and ran once more into a denser clump of trees. He heard a different voice this time. A voice that sent unpleasant chills down his spine.
"Do as I tell you girl, and don't be foolish! Get the boy and bring him to me! Now!"
"No! I won't!"
"You won't? You won't do as I tell you? Very well. Suffer the consequences…Crucio!"
High-pitched screaming filled the still night air. There was a great crackle of leaves and as suddenly as it had come, the screaming stopped.
"Now will you do as I command you? No? Then I shall make you…Imperio! Now, bring me the boy…bring him straight into this forest where I shall deal with him…"
"Yes, Master."
Harry ran.
He didn't know where he was going but he ran, for now he knew whose voices he had heard. Voldemort had been torturing Kasender. She was to bring Harry to Voldemort…
Pain in Harry's scar made his hands fly to his head. It was pain as he never imagined it. He too, screamed just as Kasender had done…screamed as he never had done before…
~~~
When Harry woke up the next morning to bright sunshine, he didn't remember the strange dream at all. It was only when he reached Charms that he became aware that he had a reverie last night.
"Are we still working on those Dream Charms, Professor?" Dean Thomas asked Professor Flitwick eagerly.
"No, Dean. Today we're starting on a completely different subject…"
And off the class went, practicing on how to do the complicated Attracting Charm. For a whole hour, the Charms classroom was chaos. Students were behaving very strangely. Seamus Finnigan was trying to hug a terrified Lavender Brown; Parvati was yelping, attempting to push a love-struck Ron away from her.
Nobody seemed to like the Attracting Charm at all.
After class, the trio went straight to the Gryffindor Common Room in Harry's orders. Once they were inside, he said to both of them urgently, "Hermione, would you be able to cast the Dream Charm on me, please?"
Hemione gave him a bewildered look.
"Why?"
"Well, maybe because I had a dream last night and I can't seem to remember any of it?" Harry answered sarcastically.
"Oh alright, alright…here goes. Ready? Obduro Somnius!"
Harry's eyes rolled to the back of his head so that only the white, milky parts were showing.
"Oooh…freaky." Ron muttered.
Harry's face expression returned to normal. Then, in a hoarse, flat voice, he heard himself starting to retell his dream with Ron and Hermione listening intently. When he had finished, Hermione asked in a hushed voice, "Do you think your dream tells the future Harry? I mean, if it does…jeez…we have to be even more careful from now on…"
"I just don't know what Kasender meant by 'seeing my parents again'."
"Well, how about killing You-Know-Who? I mean, you did it once Harry, but how about doing it again?"
"Think we should tell Dumbledore?"
"Nah…not just yet. Listen, how about next Divination class, take note to what Professor Trelawney says?" Hermione suggested, talking about the bizarre Divination teacher.
"What? Wait a minute…if my memory serves me well, I remember you telling us fortune telling was a bunch of rubbish?" said Ron.
"Yes, I know that," said Hermione irritably. "But just see what she says when she looks at your crystal balls…she did make an extraordinary prediction last time."
Ron laughed.
"I never thought I'd ever hear you say a single good thing about that old hag."
