Yippee! I have over 100 reviews!!! I love all of you who review!
I'm sorry for the long wait, I had to write some of chapter six before I could post this because I need the end of the fighting to match up with what happens. As a result I have a lot of Chapter Six written, so hopefully it won't be too long before it's out.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Would anyone reading this story actually not know that? I mean obviously everything is J.K. Rowling's.
& & & & & & & & & & & &
Keeping Harry Sane
Of Lovesick Ghosts, Upset Statues, and Arguments
Part Five
Humming an old Beatles tune, Albus Dumbledore rounded a second floor corner. He was having a very good day…well maybe except for the fact that a student was missing and in position of Death Eaters—but would you let that get you down? At breakfast he had "accidentally" overheard an interesting argument between Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Granger concerning Mr. Potter. After Lunch his shipment of fizzing wizzbies had come from Honeydukes, along with a box of fake wands, that were so much fun to plant in the teachers lounge. During dinner, Minerva and Severus had a very interesting argument about 'cats in society.' Then there had been his brilliant idea to send Harry and Ginny with the laundry. He wasn't sure why he did this or why it was brilliant, but it had given him a good few minutes of laughter. And, of course the highlight of the day had been walking in on Harry and Ginny in the watch duty room. He knew it was wrong to think so, but he found that very amusing. At the moment he was coming back from tea with the house elves.
Dumbledore stopped dead and looked around. He had to think a moment before he realized where he was. Right outside the gargoyle in front of his office.
"Hello Buster," Dumbledore said to the stationary statue. He paused, as if waiting for an answer, then laughed. "Oh right, of course. Turtle Taffies."
The statue sprang to life and marched aside. "G'night sir."
"Time?"
"11:30, sir."
"Thanks, Buster." Dumbledore started up the staircase.
"Yup, and can you let your students know that I don't find getting hit on the head very funny."
Dumbledore jumped backwards, back down the stairs that he had climbed. "Come again?"
"Just because I can't move, doesn't mean I can't fell."
The old headmaster stared at the statue, not sure what to make of this news. "So you're saying someone ran by and, and, knocked on you?" Buster nodded seriously. "Could you describe this person to me?"
Buster's face screwed up in a would-be thoughtful face, but on a stone carving, it looked rather odd. "There were two, a, uh, boy and a girl. The girl had long hair—don't remember the color. The boy had black hair and a hard hand."
Dumbledore continued to give the statue a piercing look. "How long ago did this happen, Buster?"
"About 25 minutes ago, Sir."
"Well then, I better go." He turned around and sprinted off at a speed that you would have not thought possible for someone of his age. "You can close the door," he yelled over his shoulder at the statue. Buster saluted and walked back in front of the door.
He arrived several minutes later outside a door with a large "out-of-order" sign taped on. Totally ignoring this, and the little figure of a woman, he pushed open the door and entered the bathroom.
Moaning Myrtle, the only one inside, was peering into a large gapping hole, in the place that the end sink should have been. However, hearing the door creak open she turned around. Her large pearly white eyes widened behind her glasses when she realized who it was. "Good evening, Myrtle."
Myrtle was still blinking her eyes as if making sure he was really there. "Headmaster sir, this is unexpected. You. In my bathroom. But sir," she shook her head sadly as if reporting a death. "This is a girls bathroom. I must insist that you leave."
"I am well aware of what gender usually uses this bathroom, Myrtle. But, You see, I really don't have a choice," he tried to explain. Reaching into one of his many robe pockets, he pulled out his pocket watch. All the swirling colors, revolving planets, and many hands must have made sense to him, as he said, "I am really on a tight schedule."
"Now, Headmaster, as honored to have you here as I am, I do not think you could have to go that badly. I happen to know that a men's toilet is located just down the hall." She paused as if waiting for him to leave. "If you don't mind, you might want to go there."
Dumbledore didn't leave. Instead he shook his head as if he found this situation, even though time was fast ticking away, funny. "No, no, no, you misunderstand, I don't have to use the bathroom, I need to go down that hole." He pointed to the hole next to Myrtle.
Myrtle moved in front of the hole, as if protecting it. "I'm sorry Headmaster, sir, but with all due respect, I must insist that you go and find a different hole, in a men's bathroom."
"Now, please don't be stupid, students could die if you don't move."
Myrtle ignored this comment; she was shacking her head. "Can't allow it sir, just can't allow it. I can't and won't let boys into my girls' bathroom. What would the headmaster say if he found out? He probably would kick me out, and then where would I be? Out in the corridors, I'd probably get bullied by all the other ghosts." She shivered.
"Myrtle," Dumbledore said, very calmly despite the situation. "I am the headmaster, and I would never kick you out of this bathroom."
The young ghost gave Dumbledore a very disapproving look. "A very likely excuse Headmaster, sir. Saying that you are the headmaster. I've heard it all before. Boys wanting to get a look at the girls with their robes down. No, I have a zero tolerance policy."
Dumbledore thought for a moment. "If you don't mind me asking, then how did this hole get here."
"Oh, that." She smiled. "Well, I was in my toilet, down at the U-bend, crying. And I heard someone come in, so I came up, and watched. It was that little girl, Ginny Weasley, and Harry Potter." Here her smile got bigger. "Harry walked over to the tap and started talking in that funny language, and then the hole appeared."
"So," said Dumbledore scratching his chin, "You don't let any boys into this bathroom, right?" She nodded. "And yet, Harry Potter, who I believe is a boy, opened the hole. Unless I am mistaken on his gender?"
Myrtle suddenly looked very bashful. "Oh, well, of course he's a boy, but well, he's different."
"How so?"
"Well you know, he's the boy who lived, and," she added in an undertone, "He is very, very cute."
"I see. Now please Myrtle, let me by."
"No."
He resisted the urge to say, 'you don't think I'm cute?' Instead he said, "Myrtle, down that hole are two, possibly three, students who could be in mortal danger, and if I don't get down there I don't want to know what will happen."
Myrtle dismissed the idea of students in mortal danger. "I am sorry, sir, but you need to find another way in."
Dumbledore decided it was time for drastic action. Harry and Ginny could be dying, for all he knew. "Myrtle, either move aside or I will have to walk through you." Usually, Dumbledore was very considerate to all the ghosts, who he knew could be very touchy about the subject of being dead, especially Myrtle, who was touchier than most, but he needed to get down that hole.
Myrtle, of course, being Myrtle, burst into expected tears, and regarded Dumbledore with teary eyes. "You didn't need to make it personal, sir. If you feel that strongly about it, then go ahead, but I wouldn't want to be you when I tell the staff." She gave one last sniff and sulked off into her end stall.
He knew that by tomorrow, Myrtle would have forgotten all about it, and not think any less of him, but leaving her in her present state gave Dumbledore an uneasy feeling. He took it as a bad omen, which was definitely not what he needed. However, he did not have time to broad on bad omens, he needed to get into that chamber.
Ten minutes later, after a slimy slide, and a long trek, Dumbledore stood staring at the doubledoors that led into what he figured was the Chamber of Secrets.
He had never been down into the chamber himself, and although he had found out some information from Harry five years ago, he was actually curious to see it. But, there was no way for him to see it if he couldn't get through these doors. There was no keyhole, no doorknob or handle. He had tried several simple magical charms, none of which had worked. The thing that kept coming to him was dark magic, but surely Harry wouldn't know that, and even if he did know a little, he wouldn't have know any as a second year. After a few moments of pondering other magical ways of locking a door, he decided it must be a password. Harry would not know the password, unless he was told, but by who? Tom could have told him, but he didn't think that likely. That was when it hit him. Tom was a parseltongue, so was Harry, as well as Slytherin. The password must be in Parseltongue. This did not help Dumbledore, as he didn't speak the snake language. His only hope would be a highly powerful spell that would break the enchantment, or a spell that hadn't been invented until after Slytherin's time.
He tried the charms they use in the castle to change regular paintings or statues into password ones, and back again. It didn't work. He tried Hadus Morcus, which is such a powerful opening charm that if said to a skyscraper, every window, door, cabinet, and drawer would spring open instantly. He knew that this charm was invented in 1535, when a group of people were trapped in a burning building. It didn't work. Getting desperate, he tried a spell that makes wood rot on the spot. Apparently the wood in the door was none rottable. It was now 11:47, taking into account the time to get to the chamber, he calculated how long Harry and Ginny had been there. About thirty minutes. And as it only takes three seconds for the Avada Kedavra curse to be used, this didn't cheer him.
Dumbledore knew that he always came up with his brilliant ideas while his mind was wondering. The whole Mirror of Erised/Sorcerers Stone thing had come to him while brushing his hair and thinking about the previous night's dinner of meat pie. So, he stood there for three-ish minutes thinking about the next days Halloween feast. When nothing came to him, the days events flashed through his head. Getting up…breakfast of eggs and cereal…sending Ginny and Harry to the kitchen…their encounter with Draco and Goyle…Goyle not seeing them because of the gasodic charm….walking in—the gasodic charm! That was how he could get through the doors. Not even wizard door makers could make doors with out a tiny hole. Sure there were ways to seal a door, but they aren't perfect and rotted away if left untreated. And if there was even the smallest crack, a gas could go through.
Dumbledore closed his eyes and began muttering the words of the spell. He could almost feel the particles in his body spreading out and moving faster. He opened his eyes a sliver and stepped forward, willing his body to find a separation in the door. Eventually finding it, he moved through it and into the Chamber of Secrets he had heard so much about.
He re-closed his eyes and made himself solid. When he opened his eyes, he blinked in the sudden light. Someone had done a very good job of illuminating the chamber. On his first glance around the large room, it appeared to be empty, but he could hear the raspy breathing of someone in pain echoing off the high ceiling and stone walls.
He knew he should find Harry and Ginny, but he had to stop for a moment. The carvings of snakes on the pillars were like nothing he had ever seen. They looked ready to pounce at any moment. Slytherin was not famous for being an expert carver, but he must have had some talent, or knew someone who did. Dumbledore had to resist the urge to go over and touch them, partly to see what they felt like and partly to make sure they weren't real.
But, knowing he had a mission, Dumbledore tore his eyes away from the carved snakes and strode purposefully forward. As soon as he passed the nearest pillar to him, he found what he had been looking for. Behind the pillar, which had been obstructing his view, were six figures. Three dressed in black cloaks, the other three in black school robes. Three lying on the ground, three were standing. The only problem was, that two of the standing figures were in black cloaks.
Harry was still standing, but it had been his breathing that Dumbledore had heard, and he was leaning heavily on his right leg. About ten feet from Harry were the others still standing—Lucius Malfoy and Peter "Wormtail" Pettigrew. Dumbledore seemed to have walked in on a lull in the fighting. Harry was struggling to stay upright, while keeping an eye on Ginny (who was lying a few feet away). She wasn't moving except for the steady rise and fall of her chest. Wormtail and Malfoy were engaged in a conversation, and hadn't noticed him. The only good news that Dumbledore could see from his viewing point, was that Lisa was there—and alive, also he figured the fact that one Death Eater was out cold, could be considered good.
Dumbledore reached into his pocket and dug around for a moment before pulling out his wand. 12 and one half inches, mahogany, and unicorn hair—he had had this wand for 68 years, ever since his first year at Hogwarts. He paused only for a moment before barking out several words in another language—presumably Latin because things like that always seem to be in Latin. A thin line of bright blue light shot out of Dumbledore's wand. The light formed a kind of rope thing between Harry and the Death Eater.
The light exploded, up and down, creating a wall, which extended from Dumbledore to the chamber wall, dividing Harry from his foes. Harry looked at the wall for a second, before looking at Dumbledore, relief and pain etched all over his face. This gave Dumbledore a good look at him. There was a cut just above his left eyebrow, causing blood to trickle down behind his glasses. His right eye was red and puffy, and his left leg stuck out at a not-normal angle. All-in-all, Harry looked ready to collapse.
Malfoy was giving Dumbledore an incredibly ugly look, full of loathing he didn't bother to hide. He seemed to have accepted the fact that they had company, and was trying to do something about it, but Wormtail, on the other hand, was staring at Dumbledore's blue wall as if he didn't really think it could be there. Obviously not wanting to believe that Dumbledore had cast some sort of protection wall, and hoping it was decoration, Wormtail cast a few simple spells, all which bounced back, and getting frustrated even tried Avada Kedavra. As a last straw he threw his hand at the wall. It bounced back with an odd crunch.
Without wasting any time, Dumbledore sent ropes from his wand to tie up Malfoy, Wormtail, and the Unidentified Death Eater. Wormtail could be heard muttering a severing charm, to no avail.
Dumbledore walked calmly towards the two still standing, even though they were bound, Death Eaters. "Nice of you to come," he said to them. "Let's heard up to the castle, shall we?" His calm appearance didn't extend to his eyes, which were steely and cold, not one trace of a twinkle.
But if Dumbledore's eyes were scary, it was nothing compared to Malfoy's. If he wasn't tied up, he looked about ready to take Dumbledore on, wands or not. Wormtail just looked scared and confused as to how their plan—which had seemed to be working—had gone so wrong. He was looking more like the scared little man he had been in the shrieking shack so many years ago, and less like the Death Eater he had been before Dumbledore arrived. Harry had moved over to the nearest pillar, and was using it to support himself.
Malfoy spoke up. "Dumbledore, you think you have stopped us? Ha! Capturing us will do nothing to help your side. I am afraid nothing can help you now. Putting us away will only make my master angrier. Nothing can stop him when he is angry. You hear me? NOTHING! Not even Harry Potter. My master has learned from what happened sixteen years ago, and had taken precautions. And to prove it, my master will kill him."
Dumbledore didn't know whether or not to believe Malfoy, but didn't have time right now to think it over. Not wanting to take any chances, Dumbledore stunned the three Death Eaters as he walked over to Harry.
Harry had one of the raised stone carvings in a death grip as he fought to stay standing. He was staring at Ginny. Dumbledore looked him up and down. "I would have brought Fawkes, if I had thought to."
Harry gave him a half smile. "I'm fine, it's…" he paused to catch his breath, "it's Ginny."
"What happened to her?"
"Stupefy Betimus," Harry winced.
Dumbledore nodded seriously, he knew what that was. "Well then, no time to waste. What should I do about you? If there is anything I can't do, it's fix bones, never really got the hang of it. I'm assuming that your leg is broken." He looked at Harry, who nodded. "Ok, stretchers." He snapped his fingers, and six stretchers appeared.
Dumbledore got the five people out cold onto stretchers with out problem. Harry put up a small protest ("I'm fine, I'll walk"), but eventually he saw it Dumbledore's way ("If you don't get on that stretcher, I'll stun you.") Dumbledore took care of the blue shield wall with an almost lazy finite incantatum. And when they got to the exit, another one plunged the chamber back into darkness.
Madame Pomfrey, in her night cap and pajama's (they had broomsticks on them), bustled toward three empty beds. She disappeared a for a moment, as she went behind the first set of curtains surrounding a bed. This happened two more times, as she fixed the sheets and pillows.
Dumbledore sent the three air-borne stretchers bearing students into the infirmary. "Thanks Poppy. Please just make them comfortable. I'll talk to you about how to treat them, and what's wrong when I came back in the morning. I should be back around 5:30. Right now I need to run down to my office to bring some things down there, and send a few owls. From what I heard from Harry, Ginny is under Stupefy Betimus, and I'm not sure about Lisa. Harry passed out about five minutes ago. I'll leave them to you now." He turned and exited the Hospital Wing.
Out in hallway the three unconscious Death Eaters awaited him. "Now comes the fun part," he said with a small smile.
It was ten passed midnight, and Ron and Hermione were still in the common room, although Ron wasn't sure why. Only three other people were up: two fifth years, and a sixth year who had just come back from a date. Hermione was studying, Ron wasn't.
"God, Hermione, I know you do!" Ron said, breaking a silence they had fallen into.
Hermione looked up from her potions notes, and blinked, confused. "Do what?"
"Why don't you just go out with him? Any idiot can see he's in love with you, and you refused to go to Hogsmeade without him. You and Harry are perfect for each other."
"Wait a minute. I refused to go with just you because Harry is our friend. I didn't want him left out. And I could swear the several hours ago you were accusing Harry of, of trying to…you know… with Ginny—something he would never do, by the way—and now you are saying he likes me. I'm not following…"
She had expected Ron to go red, and trip over his words, trying to explain, but he didn't. He was nodding his head, as if Hermione had just explained all the mysteries of life. "Exactly. Don't you see? He doesn't like Ginny, but he knows that she has always loved him, so he is just using her."
"What would he be using her for?"
"To get you!" he yelled, as though this was extremely obvious. The fifth years looked up from their homework.
This was when both of them noticed someone was standing right behind them.
Dumbledore.
Hermione tried to suppress a smile. Dumbledore thought about all the things he had walked in on in the past twelve hours. Ron turned a brilliant red, wondering, how much had he heard?
Apparently enough, as the first thing that he said was, "I would rethink your conclusions, Mr. Weasley."
This made Ron go even brighter red. He was so embarrassed that it didn't even cross his mind that this was the first time he had seen Dumbledore in the common room. Hermione had thought of it though. "Professor, not offense or anything, but why are you hear? I mean I have never seen you in a common room."
Dumbledore sighed. "I am afraid that the reason I am here is not a happy one. As you can tell, Harry and Ginny are not here, nor are they in their dormitories. They are in the hospital wing. I am afraid it is fairly serious."
Ron's red face turned white. "What did he do to her?" This comment earned him a very stern look from Hermione.
Dumbledore, however, laughed. "He did nothing, I can assure you, except maybe save her life. I am not totally sure of what happened, for all know they may have just fallen down the stairs. But from the looks of it, they didn't fall down the stairs. Anyway, I must ask that you don't go and visit them now, neither are conscious. Wait until the morning, they may not be awake, but I'll let you see them. Goodnight, both of you. And I suggest you go to sleep."
He left without giving anymore information. Hermione and Ron were left to wonder if their injuries were serious enough that they may never see their friends alive again. Dumbledore had been extremely vague, which was not comforting.
On Halloween morning, at 5:30, Hermione's alarm went off. Even though she had only gone to bed four hours earlier (she and Ron had stayed up another hour discussing Harry and Ginny. Ron would not admit to maybe being wrong) she jumped up quickly, and got dressed. After pulling on clean robes, she ran out of the dormitory.
The common room was deserted. 5:30 was early even for a Hogsmeade trip, when people tend to get up early.
Hermione wondered briefly how Ron could sleep, not knowing if his best friend and sister were okay. But Ron wasn't in the common room, so she headed to the hospital wing alone.
When she got to the infirmary she could her load whispers from inside, as if two people were arguing, but trying to keep their voices low. She pushed open the door, and saw a red faced Ron arguing with Madame Pomfrey.
"I don't care if they are sleeping! Look she's my sister, and he's my," he took a big breath and shot Hermione, who he had just notice enter the wing, a look, "he's my best friend. I need to see them. An hour ago you told me I could see them in a few minutes. It's been 60!"
Madame Pomfrey pursed her lips and shook her head. "I'm afraid that I can't allow that at the moment. I need to talk to the headmaster first. Hello Miss Granger, are you here to see Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley."
Hermione nodded, she couldn't talk. She was giving Ron a very teary eyed look. Ron just looked confused. "What?" he said.
She gave a big sniff, and threw her arms around him. "I knew you would come around."
"Come around what?" Hermione was flat out crying now, and Ron tried desperately to calm her.
She pulled back and wiped her nose. "Harry is your best friend."
Ron turned red and shuffled his feet. "Well, I thought about everything you and Dumbledore said, and I figured maybe I am wrong." Madame Pomfrey seemed to have realized that it would much more polite to leave, so she did. "I'm not admitting to being wrong, but I felt kind of bad having said all those bad things, and then Harry goes and gets hurt. I mean, what if he had died?" This started Hermione on a fresh wave of tears, and once again she gave Ron a big hug.
And once again, Dumbledore chose the moment to walk in, when occupants of the room would not have wanted him to. He walked in and saw Hermione crying while she hugged Ron, Ron trying to quiet her, and Madame Pomfrey watching interested from her office. He waved at Madame Pomfrey to come over, and Hermione and Ron broke apart. Hermione's eyes were red and she was still sniffling.
Dumbledore grinned at Ron and Hermione. "You two are up early today. It's here to see Harry and Ginny I assume. Well, I need to talk to Madame Pomfrey first, then, as long as it is okay with her, you can see them." He gave them one last smile as he followed Madame Pomfrey to the back of the hospital wing, where her office was.
She took a seat behind her desk, and riffled through her papers for a minute. Dumbledore seated himself in front of the desk and waited politely for Madame Pomfrey to get ready.
At long last, after she seemed to have looked through every paper on her desk, she muttered a small, "ah ha," and looked up at Dumbledore. "Now, I have examined the three of them. No treatments have been applied, except for some pain killer for Harry. He woke up in the middle of the night. Anyway, I was waiting to talk to you first. Now, Miss Turpin is probably the least of our worries. She suffered a blow to her head, and is still out cold. There will be no lasting harm. When she wakes up she might have a bit of a headache, but that's all. Now Ginny, you and I know both know what can happen to someone placed under that spell. I can't say what the lasting affects will be, if any, but more than likely there will be. There is a very good reason that spell is considered Dark Arts." She took a breath and looked back down at her papers. "Now for Harry." She continued to look at her papers, and seemed to read off a list. "Many breaks in his left leg, slightly dislocated left knee cap, skull fracture, several broken ribs, three fairly deep cuts, and one black eye." She raised her eyebrows at Dumbledore. "What I really need to discuss is Harry's treatment. His leg is very—"
Dumbledore held up a hand to silence her. "Before you continue I would like to speak with Harry. I would take him to my office, but after what you said, I don't want to risk it. I'll just step outside and wait for him to wake up. Thank you, Poppy."
The first thing Harry knew when he woke up was that the pain killer had worn off. His left leg felt as though someone had chopped it off with a blunt axe, and he could have sworn there were several daggers in his head and chest. The next thing he knew, was a pair of eyes hovering a few feet above his head. Then he saw red hair. Ron.
"Madame Pomfrey!" Ron screamed, causing Harry head to pound. He winced, but Ron didn't seem to notice. "Madame Pomfrey… Professor… he's awake!" Two people came running in to Harry's cubical, and even without his glasses Harry could tell they were Madame Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore.
Madame Pomfrey grabbed a goblet from the side table and shoved the contents down his mouth. Immediately his head stopped spinning and the pain in his leg dulled. One or two of the daggers were pulled out. He reached blindly out towards the night table, and located his glasses. The whole cubical came into focus as he slipped them on his nose, and sat up. All three of them were looking at him like he might explode.
"Um…hi?" he said, slightly uncomfortable in the silence.
"Hello, Harry," Dumbledore said calmly. No one said anything more. Harry felt like an animal at the zoo. Then Dumbledore smiled. "May I talk to Harry alone for a moment?"
Madame Pomfrey and Ron blinked and looked away, as if they had just realized they had been staring. "Of course, Professor," Madame Pomfrey said and left, with a look at Ron that said 'you had better leave or else.'
After Ron had left as well, Dumbledore pulled up a chair next to Harry. "Harry, I have to ask you to tell me what happened."
Harry nodded. He knew that was coming. But first he wanted some information. "How long have I been here? How's Ginny? And Lisa? What happened to the death Eaters? Who was the other Death Eater?"
Dumbledore grinned. "Whoa, slow down. You were asleep for about twelve hours, Ginny is still out, Lisa is okay, she woke up a few hours ago, and the Death Eater's are in the company of several nice hit wizards." He smiled, but Harry didn't look satisfied. "Oh right the other Death Eater, Kilrain Nott. You know, the father of the Mr. Nott Draco had been following."
Harry nodded, and adjusted the pillow behind him. "So what happened. Ok well, we saw movement in screen 83. Actually Ginny did…"
& & & & & & & & & & & &
Next: Find out what happened down in the chamber, find out what the spell that Ginny is under is all about, there might (key word: might) be some kissing, I change PoV's a lot, Ginny wakes up, and my first ever thank you section ( I know you are all excited, so review if you want to be in it.)
Please Read: I know that at times my writing (please excuse my French) sucks, and I am trying to make it better. So, I am looking for a beta-reader. From what I have gathered about them, it is someone who reads over your story and tells you what stinks, (if I'm wrong please tell me). Anyway I would love you all to bits if someone would volunteer to do it for me. Someone who will be very honest. If you are willing, you can say so in your review or can e-mail me. If you say something in your review, please leave your e-mail address, and I'll e-mail you.
Thanks so much,
*Ice Lily*