Disclaimer: Maybe when I'm the supreme tyrant of the world, then I'll buy the rights to the Harry Potter universe. However for the moment, I don't own them, and I hardly have enough money to buy food.
Chapter 10
Two days after the Halloween incident, Harry was released from the hospital wing and not a moment too soon. Madam Pomfrey was driving him crazy with her overbearing care. One more temperature taking and Harry was going to break the thermometer in half. As Harry left the hospital wing, he slowly walked back to Gryffindor tower. He was afraid of what he would find there, how everyone would react. This year had been going so well too.
He climbed the stairs and approached the Fat Lady. "Hogwash," he said and she swung open. It wasn't time for classes to start yet, so the common room was completely deserted. Harry was thankful for this reprieve and headed up to the dormitory. He reached for the doorknob and paused for a moment. From inside the dorm, Harry heard muffled grunts and banging. I know what that means. When Harry opened the door he saw Ron hopping around the room, trying to pull on one of his socks.
"Running late again, eh?" Harry asked.
Ron stopped hopping and smiled. "Hey mate! How're you doing?"
"Better, conscious," he replied. "How did the costume contest go?"
"I won! It was great!" Ron yelled ecstatically. "I didn't believe it when Dumbledore announced that I won."
Harry smiled. "That's great, Ron. You deserved it. I mean, you worked really hard on that costume."
"Yeah, it was great and all, but what happened to you? I came up here looking for you, and there you were on the floor over there." Ron gestured towards the window by Harry's bed. "Was it another letter?"
Harry nodded and told Ron everything that had happened, what the letter said and what Dumbledore said. "And so now I have to worry about who's going to show up here."
"Well, at least you can stop worrying about Anita. You've got confirmation from both sides that she's okay."
"Are you going to dismiss her that easily as well? There's always the possibility-"
"There's always the possibility that a hippogriff will descend from the sky and kiss you on the bum, but those odds are slim to none. It seems as though you have more immediate threats to deal with."
"Did I wake up in an alternate universe or are you making sense?"
"Well, someone has to since Hermione's gone AWOL," said Ron matter-of-factly. He had finally gotten his socks on and was now tying his shoes.
"You're right. I should minimize my list of worries," Harry sighed. He grabbed his bagged and started to cram books into it. Just as the two boys finished getting ready, the door burst open.
"There you are!" Hermione exclaimed. She looked a bit out of breath and also a bit worried. A napkin with a few pieces of toast wrapped in it was in her hand. "I went by the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey said she'd already released you. I brought you some breakfast." She offered Harry the toast.
"Thanks," said Harry. He took the toast and nibbled on it. He didn't feel terribly hungry.
"What happened? I was in the library on Halloween and when I came back here, Ron said he found you..." Tears swelled up in Hermione's eyes. "Oh Harry! I'm so sorry I've been so out of it lately. If you hadn't of gone looking-"
"Hermione! Calm down!" Harry jumped up and hugged his soon-to-be-sobbing friend. "That letter was going to come no matter what. It's okay, really."
He released her and she dried her eyes. "Well... I still feel bad."
"You can make it up by dropping this prefect and over-achiever nonsense," Ron suggested.
"You can then help me figure out what in the world is going on," added Harry.
Hermione thought for a moment and smiled at them. "Alright. That seems fair."
"Fine, then it's settled," Ron said. "Now do you mind? This is the 'boys' dorm."
Hermione rolled her eyes and flippantly said, "Oh please. Like I haven't been in here before. Besides, you two need to hurry up or else we'll be late for potions."
*****
As with everything that happens at Hogwarts, the whole school knew about Harry's incident. Before the incident, the majority of the students didn't treat Harry that different. They didn't seem to think that Harry should've been in the nut house. Now everyone gave him plenty of room in the hallways, and whispered as he walked by. Sadly this wasn't anything new for Harry; he had been down this road before. Yet it wasn't something that got easier with time. All Harry could do was act as though it didn't bother him and go on as normally as possible.
On his first day back, Snape gave him a nice detention for the evening. There was no acceptable excuse for an absence in this professor's eyes. Of course, Harry was furious about this injustice, but there was nothing that he could do. Grin and bear it, he thought. Grin and bear it.
However, things went from bad to worse after class.
"Hey Potter! Nice to see that you're still alive," yelled Malfoy. "So what happened? Did you see an icky spidee and faint?"
All of the Slytherins laughed and a few pretended to swoon and faint. Harry could feel the anger rising in him. He was incredibly sick of this treatment. His left hand tightened the grip he had on the strap of his bag. His right twitched, longing to reach for his wand inside his robe. "Well, if you really want to know, I had received a letter from Lord Voldemort. Aside from the various sundries of threats to my life, it also made this silly scar burn and it sent blinding pain throughout my body. However, I thank you for your sincere concern." As Harry finished, he watched as the smile faded somewhat from Malfoy's face. I don't think he expected all that.
"Sure Potter," Malfoy said after regaining the composure that he had lost. "And I'm really a mudblood. If you don't mind your behavior, they're going to prepare a special room for you at St. Mungos."
This added fuel to the fire already burning inside Harry. His eyes fixed on Malfoy with a stare of pure, loathing malevolence. Harry felt such hatred for the other boy. Does he only care about himself? Does he even stop to think that perhaps others are truly in pain and he does nothing to help? What would he do, if for once, he felt such pain? Harry's hand slowly pulled out his wand, almost as though it wasn't under his control anymore. Draco saw this. In response he too reached for his wand, but only while backing away.
"What's going on here?" Professor Snape apparently didn't appreciate the gathering outside of his classroom. He looked around and caught sight of the showdown between Harry and Draco "This had better not be a fight, Potter."
Harry was snapped out of his anger-induced state and looked up at Snape. "I was just seeing if Draco here had the notes that I missed."
"You need to lie better, Potter," the professor drawled. Harry didn't think that was going fly anyway.
"No really," Draco spoke up. Harry's jaw almost dropped, as did Snape's. "I'll let you borrow them at lunch time."
As Draco turned and walked off, both Harry and Snape could only watch with perplexed looks on their faces. Harry couldn't believe that Draco covered for him. Someone up there must love him or some place down there just froze over.
"Fine then," Snape spat. He turned and as he walked back to the class, he said, "Go bother someone else."
Everyone quickly cleared out. Harry fell to the back of the crowd, as did Hermione and Ron. The realization of what just happened began to sink in for Harry. He couldn't believe his behavior. I just wasn't myself then .Why?
"What was that all about? That look you had was bloody frightening," Ron said with a small shiver.
Sweat was building on Harry's forehead. "I don't know."
"It was downright unnerving, Harry. It didn't seem like you at all." Hermione voiced what Harry was thinking. He didn't want to admit however; the implications were too discomforting to think about.
"I don't know," Harry said again. He picked up that pace and walked briskly to class.
*****
Their next class was Defense. Harry went straight to the back of the class and sat down. He knew that he wasn't going to pay much attention; he just didn't want to be too conspicuous about it. A few minutes before class began, Professor Skeeter walked in with a few books in her arms. She set them down on the desk and turned to the class.
"Right-o, today we're going to continue our work on with blocking curses. Let's review real quick." She looked around the room. "Ron!"
Ron jumped in his seat. He didn't expect that Skeeter would actually call on him. "Uh, yes ma'am?"
"What is the name of the block that is the most versatile?"
Ron shuffled through his notes quickly, searching for the answer. "It's... the... polymetis block."
"Excellent. And who can tell me what its down side is?" Again, Skeeter surveyed the room. "Lavender, would you tell us the answer?"
"Well, it depends on how strong you are," she answered.
"How so?"
"Its effectiveness depends on how strong your magic is in comparison to your opponent's."
"Very good. You and Ron just earned Gryffindor five points each. The polymetis block can be used to deflect most curses and if yours isn't strong enough, you can usually at least diminish some of the force of the curse. Now I want you to pair up and practice the block. One person will block while the other attacks. Use only jelly legs, disarming, and leg-locker spells." After she had finished giving instructions, everyone got up and found their partners. Everyone moved to the perimeter of the room so that Skeeter could move the desks out of the way. With a flick of her wand, the desks were moved and stacked at the front of the room. "Alright. You may begin."
And they were off. Ron had paired up with Neville to make sure that Hermione didn't try to curse him to death. However, they were off to a rocky start. Neville forgot how to perform the polymetis block, and he go struck by Ron's jelly leg hex. Harry and Hermione were doing fine together; they both showed great proficiency with the block. The other pairs were getting by.
"Harry?" Hermione asked after a few minutes of blocking.
"Yes?" Harry knew where this road was going.
"Well, what happened back there? You behaved and looked the same way like when we ran into Mr. Malfoy back in Diagon Alley," she explained.
Harry knew this but didn't answer. "Can't we talk about this later? I don't think this is the best setting," he said skirting the issue.
"Fine, but we will talk about this later." She attacked him again with the disarming spell, and they continued with the exercise. After about twenty minutes, Skeeter called an end to it. Everyone stopped and a few had to shake off hexes that they were hit with.
"How did everyone fare?" Skeeter asked as she returned the desks to their original positions. There were a few grumbles and a couple of moans from the students. "That well? Hmmm... we'll work on this some more another time. For your homework, I want you all to research and write a report on blocks. Two feet in three days."
The students packed up their books and filed out of class. Harry still lagging behind everyone as he made his way towards the door. However, his journey to the hall experienced a bit of a detour.
"Harry, could I speak to you briefly?" Skeeter asked.
The pit of Harry's stomach sank. "Sure." He walked over and stood in front of her desk.
"Harry, I'd like to apologize for our little run in in Diagon Alley this past summer. If there weren't a reason for me to have done that, then I wouldn't have. You've been through an awful lot, and I have no desire to add to that. Please accept my sincerest apologies."
Harry was speechless. This truly must have been a dream because he could have sworn that Anita Skeeter just apologized to him. He took a deep breath and said, "Come again?"
"I know, you weren't expecting this. I could tell that you've been pretty apprehensive about me since day one. I honestly didn't know what to do. However I talked to Headmaster Dumbledore, and he told me that you were asking about my... mmm, let's say 'intentions.' I just want to assure you that I'm on your side, and that if you ever need help or whatnot, I'll be here."
I think she's serious! "Well, I guess, alright then." Harry honestly didn't know what to say. He was so sure that she had something to do with all the strange occurrences. Yet, at this moment, he could see that she was sincere and really meant to help him.
"Well, good then," the professor said. She smiled and held out a hand towards Harry. He shook it and felt somewhat relieved. He look up at her and smiled back. "Now that that is out of the way, may I ask you a question?"
"Sure." Harry was feeling better about her by the second.
"How are you doing? You seemed bit preoccupied when you came in to class today."
"Oh, I'm fine," Harry managed to stammer. "I was just thinking about what happened on Halloween."
"I can imagine. Try not to worry about it too much. Dumbledore and many others are working this whole Voldemort mess."
"You seem pretty confident that this will be resolved rather quickly."
"Actually, I'm not, but I try to keep things optimistic. Usually if you squint enough, you can at least trick yourself in to thinking that there's a light at the end of the tunnel." Skeeter leaned back in her chair and she got a rather distant look in her eyes. "This fight has been fought for so long, though; it just gets harder to delude yourself."
Harry started feeling a bit uncomfortable, watching his teacher zone out. You'd think that she was the one out there, fighting deatheaters on a daily basis. "Uh, excuse me, Professor Skeeter. May I go now? I would kind of like to grab something to eat before Herbology."
Skeeter snapped back to reality and stared at Harry for a moment. "Sure. I just wanted to apologize to you. I hope that your day gets better."
Harry picked up his bag and headed for the door once again.
"Oh and one more thing," Skeeter called behind him. "Good luck with your game on Saturday."
Harry stopped and turned around. "Excuse me?"
"Your game on Saturday against Slytherin. You are playing, aren't you?"
"Yes.... Thank you," Harry replied. He had completely forgotten about the quidditch match on this weekend. And against Slytherin, to boot. That means that practice will be twice as long this evening. No sleep, and no time to ponder. Maybe that would be a good thing...
Harry got into the Great Hall. Whispers followed as he walked down the length of the table and sat with Hermione and Ron. He grabbed a sandwich and began to viciously eat it. Maybe I should've eaten that toast this morning.
"What did she want? A private interview?" Ron asked.
"Nope," Harry answered and took another bite of his sandwich.
"What did she want then?" Hermione asked. Harry's two friends seemed rather keen to know what had just happened.
Harry swallowed. "She wanted to apologize."
"Right, now what really happened?" Ron laughed. Harry gave him as serious a look as he could muster, and Ron's laughter subsided. "You're not joking, are you?"
"Nope. She wanted to apologize for what happened in Diagon Alley. It threw me off as well," Harry explained. He took another sandwich and paused. "I almost forgot that we had a match on Saturday and against Slytherin none-the-less."
"How could you forget?! It's only the most important game of every year," Ron exclaimed.
"Honestly, Ron! Give Harry a break," Hermione chided. "Did Skeeter at least give you an explanation as to why she did what she did?"
"I forgot to ask, but I suppose that she had her reasons." Harry finished his sandwich and reached for another.
"Well, looks like I was right this morning," said Ron proudly.
"Don't read too much into it," sighed Hermione.
*****
Thankfully, the rest of Harry's classes passed by without any other surprises. Professor Sprout had them trimming leaves off a rather vicious plant, the Morsure Tiqure. It was small and resembled a violet, except that in the middle of the petals, there was a mouth with tiny, sharp teeth. The students had to stun the plants first, or they would bite. Professor Sprout warned them that the bite of the Mosure Tiqure would result in paralyzation for at least a week.
"You won't be able to walk or talk or do anything. Certainly not conducive to playing quidditch," she said while looking directly at Harry. He had just pulled his hand away from one of the snapping mouths. There were many flowers in each pot, and Harry had forgotten to stun one.
"Sorry," he muttered to the professor and continued with the trimming. He, Hermione, and Ron were pretty subdued that class. There was much to consider. Plus no one really was near them or really talked to them. Dean and Seamus would occasionally try and make small talk, but it would fizzle out shortly after.
Class ended and everyone filed out of the greenhouses. One more class and the day would be over.
"One more class and it's over!" exclaimed Ron.
"My thoughts exactly," Harry said. "We just have to make it through-" Harry stopped. Had he forgotten everything today? Their last class was...
"Divination," Ron finished.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Trelawney is going to have a field day with you, Harry. Five sickles says that she'll tell you you're in mortal danger and that someone of ill-intentions is watching you."
"Don't you think that that is a little too obvious?" Ron asked.
"It right on target because all Trelawney does is state the obvious and make a bunch of silly guesses."
"As long as she doesn't predict my death again, I think I'll be fine," said Harry. The three split up once they were inside the castle again, Harry and Ron to Divinations and Hermione to Arithmacy. The two boys climbed the flights of stairs up to the tower, and finally up the ladder into the stuffy, dark classroom. Harry and Ron sat in some squishy chairs near the window, which was cracked open slightly. A few minutes later once everyone was present and seated, Professor Trelawney glided in with her gauzy robes floating behind her. She sat down in the armchair next to the fire and sighed deeply.
"Good afternoon, class," she whispered. "Today, I was informed by my inner eye that we should stop reviewing for the moment and add to our array of divination techniques."
"I'm starting to think that her 'inner eye' is really just the voices inside her head," Ron whispered to Harry. They stifled their laughter as Trelawney continued.
"Very few people know the fine art of reading coffee grounds," Trelawney began. There was cough of disbelief from someone in the room. The professor ignored it and continued. "Coffee was discovered in the 5th century in Ethiopia and spread throughout the world. Many Arabian mystics used coffee to aid in there dervishes, prayer, and meditation. However, after time, some began to see coffee as a tool for divination. Reading coffee falls in the field of tasseography, which includes reading tea leaves. The process is the same as reading tea leaves, so you all should be able to do this. Come on up, pick up a cup, and I will pour some for each of you."
Everyone got up and grabbed a cup. Trelawney sat in her armchair and poured coffee for each student. Its pungent aroma didn't strike too many people's fancies.
"Professor, do we have to drink this?" Pavarti asked. She looked especially displeased with the dark liquid.
"Yes my dear. It's the only way to get an accurate reading," she replied softly.
The students, once they had their coffee, sat back down and slowly drank. Many faces soured as they took their first sips of the bitter liquid. Others sat back, waiting for it to cool; their strategy was to chug it and get it over quick. Yet, there a couple of students that just lamented not having some cream and sugar to help the coffee down.
"Professor," Neville raised his hand, "there's grounds in my cup."
Trelawney sighed and shook her head. "Yes, Mr. Longbottom. There's supposed to be grounds in the cup. You use those to make your predictions."
"Oh."
"Good thing Hermione wasn't in here for that one," Harry said under his breath to Ron.
"Now, once you've finished all of your coffee, turn the cup upside down over the saucer. Then turn the cup, while it's upside-down, three times to the right. Trade cups with some, turn the cups right side up and begin to interpret what you see. The clumps of grounds should show you signs."
The sounds of the last slurps and the tinkling of porcelain filled the room. Ron and Harry did what Trelawney had told them, and began reading each other's cup.
Ron was having just as much difficulty as he had with tea leaves. "I dunno. This looks like a hill of soggy dirt," he said pointing to a large mass of the grounds. He picked up the cup and turned it and tilted it. "Hey, if these pieces were closer together, they would look kinda like a heart. Perhaps you're going to fall in love." Ron laughed and jokingly punched Harry in the arm.
"That'll happen," he murmured. He examined Ron's cup, hoping to find such misfortune in his grounds. "Hmmm. I think I see a grim in yours. Well, it's been nice knowing you."
"You're just saying that because the last time we did this, you had a grim in yours."
"Maybe it's your turn to have a run in with death."
"I didn't know you cared so much."
Trelawney was walking around the room and helping those who needed it and those who didn't. Finally she got around to Harry and Ron. She stopped next to them and looked at Harry, her eyes were almost tearing up behind her insanely thick lenses. Harry wanted to crawl under the table. He had grown tired of Trelawney's concern over his future.
"Is this your cup, Harry?" she asked as she grabbed it out of Ron's hands. "My, my... It is so sad that there must be so much turmoil in your life. Are you feeling alright?"
Harry gave Ron a puzzled look. Did he look like something was wrong? He felt pretty good. Ron just shrugged. Harry figured it was just Trelawney and her 'inner eye' thinking that something was up. Or her "inner eye" heard about the incident on Halloween. "I feel fine," Harry told her. "What do you see in my cup?"
She looked intently into the cup and studied the patterns. After a few seconds, she looked back at Harry, her eyes filled with more worry and concern than before. "Oh my! The grounds show a broken heart. That certain isn't good."
"Told you it was a heart! Some girl is going throw you for a loop," Ron laughed.
Trelawney flashed a reprimanding look at Ron. "It could be, but a broken heart can mean more. It can represent the loss or perhaps even betrayal of anyone close. Plus it's located further inside of the cup."
"What does that mean?" Harry was actually feeling rather curious about all this.
"The closer a pattern is to the lip of the cup, the closer to the present time it is. Anything on the bottom represents events and such that are awhile away yet." Trelawney continued to examine the cup and it's contents. "Oh dear! A dagger!"
Harry knew it. "Let me guess. Someone is going to cause me great harm?"
"Very perceptive," Trelawney nodded solemnly. "It's a little higher in the cup than the heart, and it is also opposite of the handle."
"And that means…" Ron began.
"A stranger, someone you hardly know. The handle can represent familiarity, and the heart is right next to the handle. The dagger is on the completely opposite side."
"Good for me. I suppose I'll be on the look-out for a complete stranger who wants to do me in." Harry had had enough of the "inner eye" for one class.
"Don't be flippant about such matters. You must use this knowledge to your advantage," warned Trelawney. She walked back to her armchair and announced the end of class. The students washed out their cups and returned them to the shelves. Harry and Ron quickly did this and were the first students down the ladder. They walked briskly to Gryffindor Tower.
"I don't know why, but for some reason I believe all that," Harry told Ron as they walked. "My gut is telling me that there was something to all that coffee nonsense."
"I'm there with you," agreed Ron. "Let's tell Hermione. She's skeptical enough to make us forget all about it."
They got up to Gryffindor tower and found Hermione hunkering down for another afternoon of intense studying. She looked up as they approached her. "What's up with you two? You both look like you've gotten some bad news."
"You could say that," Harry said. "It was quite strange what happened in Divination just now."
"Please tell me that woman denounced divination as mere guess work and is going to do something productive with her life from now on."
"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nope."
"Anyway," Harry said a bit impatiently, "we were reading coffee grounds today and it was rather strange what she said about my grounds."
"Yeah," Ron jumped in. "Trelawney said that his grounds showed that someone close to him will betray him and that there's a complete stranger out to get him."
Hermione stared at them rather blankly. "Doesn't that mean that someone owes me five sickles?"
"In that letter from Voldemort, he said that someone was coming here from Hogwarts. What if it's someone I don't know? And this may be a stretch but what if they want to do me in? I can only assume that this person is in cahoots with Voldemort."
Hermione sighed. "Perhaps, but then again I don't put much stock in that divination stuff and neither should you. If I were you, I'd wait until a strange person showed up here or some other strong evidence to support all this. Besides, shouldn't you be at quidditch practice?"
"Bloody hell! I almost forgot again!" Harry ran upstairs, grabbed his broom and sprinted out to the quidditch pitch. He changed as quickly as possible in the locker room and ran out onto the field. As he ran he mounted his broom and flew up to where Angelina was hovering.
"Sorry," Harry panted, "I'm late."
"It's ok," said Angelina reassuringly. "We just started anyway. Everyone seems to be behind today."
"Well, what are we up to at the moment?" Harry was anxious to get out there. It had been a few days since he last practiced.
"Actually, I need to speak to you for a moment," she solemnly said. "Are you feeling ok?"
Harry rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'm feeling just fine, and Halloween was not an indication as to how well I will perform in the game on Saturday. I'm perfectly ok to play."
"Well, I just worry. We're playing Slytherin you know."
Harry didn't know that. Well, he knew that earlier in the day when Professor Skeeter reminded him. Yet again that important fact was somehow forgotten. "Uh, yeah. Sure. I know we're playing them. Now can I go and practice now? I want to be in top knotch shape."
"Go ahead. I just wanted to make sure you were up to this."
"Sure am," Harry said as he flew off to join the rest of the team. Throughout the entire practice, Harry worked really hard, concentrating intensely on the snitch. This proved difficult since there were so many things buzzing around in his head. He knew that there was very little that he could do about everything, but the anxieties were still there distracting him. The two most distracting things were "who is coming" and "why did I behave that way," both of which he had nothing to go on.
Practice finally ended after some time and Harry quickly got dressed. He left before the rest of the team, so he wouldn't have to answer any more questions. All Harry wanted to do was eat dinner, do some homework and go to bed. However, that wasn't going to happen because he had a detention to serve that night after dinner. I really don't think that this day is going to end.
*****
Dinner was proceeding uneventfully. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat a little apart from everyone else. Not so much because they wanted the privacy. It was more or less the apprehensive looks from their classmates that caused the trio to keep their distance.
"It'll blow over after a while," reassured Hermione. They mostly sat there in silence, eating their stew. Harry noticed, towards the end of their meal, no one was getting up and leaving the Great Hall.
"Is something up?" Harry asked after noticing this. "Why isn't anyone leaving?"
"Didn't your last teacher tell you? There's going to be some big announcement after dinner," Hermione explained.
"Hmmm. We missed that one," Ron said thoughtfully. "Trelawney's inner eye probably overlooked that announcement."
"Figures," sighed Harry. They sat there with the rest of the students, waiting with bated breath for whatever announcement was supposed to come. "What is the announcement supposed to be about anyway?"
Hermione shrugged. "Professor Vector didn't say."
"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Ron said. He indicated towards the front of the Great Hall. Dumbledore had just walked in with McGonagall at his side and a stranger right behind the two of them. The stranger seemed to be a wizard who was in his late fifties. He had thin, balding, gray hair that was impeccably combed into place. His robes were of the drabbest of grays with wide, black bands around the cuffs. All in all, he looked like a boring professional. However, his eyes caught Harry's attention. The stranger's face was incredibly neutral, but his eyes darted about from behind his thick framed glasses. It was as though the stranger was searching for something.
Dumbledore and McGonagall's feelings were clearly written on their faces. They didn't seem the least bit pleased, either about the announcement, the stranger, or perhaps both. The two professors strode up to the staff table and took their seats. The stranger kept up with their quick pace, but was a bit shocked to see that there was no seat for him. With an exasperated look on her face, McGonagall conjured a rather rickety old chair for him and placed it between her and Dumbledore.
"Wow. This doesn't look like it's going to be pleasant," Ron muttered.
"Yeah," agreed Harry and Hermione.
Dumbledore took a few moments to breathe before standing up again to make the announcement. No words were necessary to quiet the students, and as soon as the Great Hall was silent, Dumbledore cleared his throat and began.
"As promised by your professors, I have an announcement, one of the utmost importance." Dumbledore seemed barely able to squeeze out these last two words. "To my right is a new face you will be seeing around Hogwarts for only a short while hopefully. His name is Dr. Goody, and he was sent here at the ministry's request. Dr. Goody is charged with observing and monitoring you all in light of last year's unfortunate events. I am told he is merely here to help, so let's give him a warm welcome."
The students began to applaud, but only tentatively. No one seemed to know what to think about Dr. Goody or his purpose here at Hogwarts. There's something strange about all this, thought Harry. It seemed to be the end of the announcement, so the students began to filing out of the Great Hall. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stayed and watched for a few minutes as some of the teachers got up and introduced themselves.
"I think there's some work that we have to tend to," Hermione said finally.
"I'm sure there is," Harry sighed. They got up and were some of the last students to leave the hall. They slowly trudged up the stairs heading towards Gryffindor Tower. Hermione stopped once the three of them were alone.
"Harry, I hate to say this but," Hermione began, "I'd stay away from that doctor if I were you."
Harry and Ron stopped as well. "What makes you say that?" Harry asked. He had a similar feeling, but wanted to hear Hermione's reasoning.
"Well, we know that Dumbledore and the Ministry are on the outs. Plus we know that there are those in the Ministry who question you." Harry nodded. This was all made apparent at the end of last year, when the headmaster and Cornelius Fudge essentially parted ways after the Triwizard. Hermione continued, "Well, all that plus the mention of a new arrival in your most recent letter lead me to believe that this is not good."
"Hey! There's also Trelawney's coffee ground predictions. A stranger who wishes you harm!" Ron added a little too eagerly.
"Let's not give her any credit, please," said Hermione impatiently.
I definitely don't get a good feeling from him," said Harry as he considered everything.
"You're going to have to be careful, especially after what happened today," added Hermione. "Speaking of that, it's later, so what's your explanation?"
"And again I say, I don't know," Harry said. "I know I didn't seem like myself and somehow I don't think I was. That's all I can say really. I just don't know. I wish I knew because it scared the bejeesus out of me when it happened. It's like I lose control."
"Don't worry mate," Ron assured him. "We'll get to the bottom of this. We're your friends, so we're going to help you."
"Is it me, or is he making sense?" Hermione asked.
*****
Harry left Hermione and Ron after their short conversation. He had a detention to get to, and if he was late, Snape would give him another. And that would start some sort of vicious cycle. When Harry finally arrived in the dungeon, he was out of breath but on time. Snape was sitting behind his desk waiting.
"Just barely on time Potter," he sneered. "Fortunately for you, I don't have all night to deal with you, so we'll keep this short."
"The usual, then?" Harry asked.
"Which is…"
"Clean all the cauldrons with a toothbrush and no magic."
"Almost as good as a trained monkey. Now get to work." Snape went back to the papers he was grading, and Harry got started on his work. There was virtually no talking, except when Snape came to inspect Harry's progress. Two hours and thirteen cauldrons later, Snape dismissed Harry with a wave and an irritated grunt.
Harry gently massaged his hands as he walked back to Gryffindor Tower. At this rate, I'm going to have carpal tunnel syndrome by the time I graduate. His quiet walk was soon interrupted by voices coming down a corridor just ahead of him. Instinct kicked in and Harry ducked behind a tapestry. He pulled on the bottom slightly to make the tapestry still. Once he was sure he was hidden, Harry listened.
"Look, I don't see why we can't just tell him to get lost. He has no right to spy on us." It was Anita Skeeter, and she sounded quite miffed.
"You know our position is precarious. Such an act would jeopardize everything." McGonagall was there too.
"We have to play by the rules for the time being." Dumbledore's voice sounded weary. Harry held his breath as they walked closer and stood in front of the tapestry.
"Well, what about Harry? He told you what the letter said, and we know what kind of 'patients' this doctor's has dealt with." Skeeter must have been talking about Dr. Goody.
"Yes I know about the doctor," assured Dumbledore. "And I have a feeling Harry knows this man isn't a friend. Isn't that right Harry?"
Harry felt his face turn red as he peaked out from behind his hiding place. "Good evening Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Skeeter. Pleasant weather we've been having."
"Nice try, Mr. Potter," said McGonagall with a stern look on her face. "Shouldn't you be in your dormitory?"
"I would love to be but I had a detention with Professor Snape and we just got done." He held out his reddened and dirty hands as proof.
A smile crept up on Dumbledore's face. "Assuming that you heard us now, what do you think about Dr. Goody, granted you haven't met him yet."
"Well, I'm not too sure about him I suppose," replied Harry after a minute. "There is that part in the letter that makes me a bit wary about him."
Dumbledore nodded when Harry finished and turned to Skeeter. "I told you he has the good doctor pegged." Dumbledore then turned back to Harry, but with an air of complete seriousness. "I do suggest that you keep your distance from the doctor. He is here to find something, and I am willing to bet Fawkes that that something has to do with you. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir," Harry answered.
"Good now run along. There's still class tomorrow." Dumbledore and the two other professors began their walking again, and Harry set off in the direction of the tower once again. He replayed everything that he heard. What did Skeeter mean by Dr. Goody and his 'patients'? That can't be good.
A few minutes later, Harry was standing in the common room telling Ron and Hermione about everything that had happened. Ron and Hermione took everything in and sat in silence once Harry finished.
"I wonder if there is anyway to get information about this Dr. Goody, about where he works usually and his past," pondered Hermione out loud.
"He was probably a deatheater," Ron suggested.
"Just because someone is potentially bad doesn't automatically mean they're a deatheater," Hermione told him.
"I could probably ask Skeeter," Harry suggested. "She seemed to know about him, and I'm pretty she would tell me if I asked."
"You do that and we'll go from there," agreed Hermione.
The clock on the mantle struck midnight, and the three bid goodnight to each other and went to their dorms. Harry got into his pajamas and crawled into his bed. As he pulled back the curtains on his bed and layed down, he thought about everything that had happened. This had to be the most bizarre day ever…
Author's Note: Right, so I know I suck a lot because I haven't posted in a gazillion years. Terribly sorry about that. I'm a horrible human being and I don't deserve anything less than death. My life has decided to pick up in so many ways that I never could have imagined. For instance, I've produced and edited a PSA for a local Habitat for Humanity organization and it is going to be aired here in Athens. Lots of fun there. Plus the usual work excuse. Yada yada. Recently, I've been torn between stopping my fanfic and continuing. As y'all have noticed, I don't update frequently, and it's only going to get worse if I continue. Tentatively, I say that I am going to continue, but only on a trial basis. The beginning of fall semester will be the true test of this. I thank you all for your reviews of Becca's chapter (chapter 9.) They were very nice J I make no promises on my next posting, so if you want a heads up when I do, leave a review with this request and your email in it. Thanks for reading and please review. God speed, little doodle.
