A/N: Sorry if I forgot to mention this, but I have no clue how to work the html format, so I can't change the font. Please! Someone e-mail and tell me what to do to get the html. My e-mail is under my profile.
A/N (2): Soo sorry to all those people who waited and waited for an update.... let's just say I have a wonderful excuse. Summer school + hyper dentist + giant Calculus packet for HW= No time for fan-fics. Sorry once again. Hope this extra-long chapter means you'll forgive me...:-) Of course, this just means it'll take longer to get to you all.
As always, remember to R/R!!!!!!!!!!! My reviews have sort of stagnated and it's making me depressed.
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Chapter 13
Allies and Enemies Closer to Home
Harry and Draco circled eachother, their wands pointed steadily at the other's chest. For a few, terse seconds, the entire room lay gripped in deathly silence, broken only moments later by Draco and Harry yelling spells simultaneously.
"Adheria!" They screamed in unison.
Draco managed to duck, at the last second, under Harry's spell. Harry however, caught the spell at the tip of a finger, from where he had tried to doge sideways to escape it.
The effects were instantaneous. Harry felt his legs come together with a *plop* before his sense of balance left him. "No..." he thought frantically. "I'm going to lose...lose to Draco!"
The eyes of his enemies and friends bore into him, silent and watchful. Harry tottered, and regained his balance. There was a barely noticeable sigh of relief from Hermione and Ron before Harry began swaying once more. Their relief had been premature.
"Ha!" cried Draco. "I beat the famous Harry Potter!"
Harry's mind worked quickly, despite Draco's smugness. Realizing he still had the use of his arms, and that Draco didn't look too keen on preforming the Degracia Spell on him ("Draco wanted to savor his victory," Hermione told him afterwards) he waved his wand, just as he began to tip toward the floor, and shouted, "Protecious!"
Harry shut his eyes and prayed for a miracle. He felt himself tip and tip....until he came to the point where there was nothing left to do but hit the floor... and felt nothing but air. Opening his eyes hesitantly, he saw that his half-baked plan had worked. The shield had acted as a barrier for his body, and he was now resting comfortable against the *shield* and not the floor. In fact, he was floating above the ground, above even Draco.
Draco was panicking now. He moved his lips and waved his wand around, but Harry couldn't hear the spells. Without another thought, he shouted, "Degracia!" with all his strength, and watched gleefully as Draco promptly fell to the floor.
Dumbledore, just as promptly, declared Harry the winner, and Harry disabled the shield with a flick of his wand and rejoined his friends.
Everyone stared at him mutely, some in awe (the Gryffindors) and some in jealousy and hate (Slytherins). Draco was still on the floor, and unable to shoot Harry any stares of any kind. "What?" he said, self-consciously.
The silence broke after that.
"Harry, how did you do that?" asked Ron.
"That's was impossible!" cried Hermione.
"Can you teach me that?!" said Seamus.
"Cheater!" cried Crabbe.
"uhh...yeah...Cheater!" echoed Goyle.
"Memumph......" said Draco, with his face still smothered by the floor.
The list of responses varied. Poor Harry had no clue what was going on. He had done what half the class had already done, that was all. He had beaten his dueling partner.
"Harry, see me after class," said Dumbledore over the noise. "Draco, I want to talk to you later, after Harry."
"But, what did I DO?" Harry finally cried out, exasperated.
"Class dismissed," shouted Dumbledore, and all the students filed out, eager to tell the rest of the school what had just happened. Draco managed to get off the floor with Crabbe and Goyle assisting him and stumbled out with the rest. Ron and Hermione waited by the door.
Dumbledore, glancing at Ron and Hermione, walked up to the door and apologetically ushered them out, closing the door behind him.
"Um, Sir," began Harry. "Did I do something wrong? I thought I was following all the rules!"
"No Harry, you did everything accordingly," soothed Dumbledore. "But, you know what you are. You may experience a bit more...er...*strength* behind your spells and we can't give away that you're the Phoenix. Especially with Voldemort loose. Harry, I'm going to have to ask you to hold back a bit when you're in class."
"Professor! How am I supposed to train if I hold back?"
"We'll arrange some special tutoring for you... maybe this would be the appropriate time to apply to the Ministry for a time turner. No doubt, Hermione has told you a lot about it."
A time turner?! Harry hadn't envied Hermione's. It had just given her extra work.
Seeing the disgust in Harry's eyes, Dumbledore laughed.
"Harry, you have to buckle down and work sometime or other." Then, more soberly, "You have to be safe and prepared. These extra sessions will provide you with both. I'll send for you when the time turner arrives. Oh yes, and Harry, I'm going to have to suspend your powers whenever a spell involving power-guaging capabilities arise."
Dumbledore turned away, and Harry took this to mean it was time to leave. He opened the door and Ron and Hermione tumbled to the floor.
"Er....Hi Harry," said Ron sheepishly.
With a quick look at Dumbledore, Hermione added, "We didn't hear a thing! Honest."
"That would be the silencing charm on the door, I suppose," said Dumbledore gravely, but with a twinkle in his eye.
They trio bid a hasty retreat.
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Once alone in the hallway, Harry asked, "Really, why were you all staring at me in there, acting as if you all had never seen a duel before?"
"You don't know?" asked Ron, disbelief plainly written on his face.
"Just tell me what happened already!" grumbled Harry.
"Everything was pretty average until that shield charm," said Hermione. "Remember how Dean's barely even showed up, and Dumbledore's lasted for only a few seconds? Well, yours was different. It was gigantic! It lifted you up in the air, that's how powerful it was!"
"I remember being above the ground, but all that other stuff....wow!" said Harry, impressed with himself.
"That's not all," said Ron grimly. "Once Draco saw you, he yelled a bunch of spells. He tried to use that disabling charm we learned from Snape, and the jelly-legs curse, too. They all bounced off. I think one hit Parvati, but I'm not sure. Anyway, you shook everyone up pretty badly."
"I did all that?" said Harry, amazed. "Must've been something in my breakfast..."
"Don't you get it?" said Hermione shrilly. "Dumbledore said a shield generated power *according to the strength of the wizard.* Your shield was... was... phenomenal! Why, I bet you could've held it for hours!"
Ron and Harry gazed at her blankly.
"Ugh! Stupid boys!" cried Hermione in exasperation before stalking off.
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Harry was walking with Hermione and Ron when he shuddered, as if a wave of some sort passed through him.
"Did you feel that?" he cried.
"What?" said Hermione, who had forgiven them quickly enough after a few minutes of conversation with Neville.
"Er, nothing I suppose," he muttered.
"Wasn't DADA fun?" said Ron. "The look on Draco's face when he finally figured out he had lost! I'm almost glad I lost, because that means I can challenge Draco and hex him again."
Harry tried to shut Ron up. Wasn't this the exact same subject that had gotten Hermione into a rage? To his surprise, Hermione just nodded pleasantly.
"It was a shame only Dean tried the shield, though."
Harry couldn't believe his ears. "What? I *thought* I tried it, too!"
Hermione gave Harry a hard stare. "Come to think of it, I can't really remember what happened during your duel, just that you won..."
Ron had heard enough about school. With a tug at Harry's arm, he asked, "When are the Quidditch tryouts?"
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Dumbledore strode quietly down the winding passageways. He wondered briefly if it had been wise to erase a certain moment in time from the school's memory, but alas, there had been no other option.
The Headmaster was well aware that one spy remained elusive on the school grounds, but who? The Slytherin house was, of course, under scrutiny. Snape was doing his best to blend in with the Slytherin crowd, a thing he did remarkably well, and earning their trust day by day.
He briefly wondered how much time they had left before Voldemort overcame his fear of Hogwarts and attacked. Dumbledore was aware of his advancing years, he didn't need a cocky Draco to point it out.
"Harry, discover your center soon!" he prayed. "Before it's too late."
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Walking through the hallways and classrooms, Harry was surprised to find that Hermione and Ron were not the only ones to forget his duel. Malfoy was just his usually snobby self, though occasionally he rubbed a bewilderingly sore nose. None of the Gryffindors bugged him over the shield charm, for which he felt grateful. He decided to take this as a good omen as went about his day, trying to forget about it himself.
"Harry Potter?"
He slowed his steps. "Oh no," he thought. Perhaps someone DID still remember.
He turned and gasped in shock. That woman! She looked so.... familiar!
Green eyes stared into equally intense green eyes. The woman said hesitantly, "You ARE Harry Potter, correct?"
Realizing he had been gaping at her like a fish, Harry closed his mouth quickly. "I'm sorry," he apologized, "yes, I am."
"Well ..." the woman hesitated, then said hurriedly, "I thought, seeing a fifth year such as yourself, I'd ask you to pass on the word for me. I wouldn't want you all to get such a shock tomorrow seeing as no one here knows me at all ..."
"What would you like me to pass on?" said Harry curiously.
"Next week, I shall be presented to your DADA class as your new teacher," she said. "I will be sitting in on your classes for the rest of this week to see how things work before I officially take over the job."
That was something Harry had not suspected. He stared for another few seconds, and then remembered in time to say, "I will, Professor ..."
She smiled brightly. "Professor DeBourgh my dear."
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Once alone in her own room, Dianna sighed, still rebuking herself for talking to Harry. She hoped the simple shock of finding the new DADA teacher so soon was enough to keep him occupied. If he ever got around to thinking about it, she was sure a bright child like Harry would figure out something had been amiss, especially in the way she had singled him out like that. But she had been unable to help it. Seeing her nephew, her own flesh and blood, had been too much. It was one thing to gaze at his reflection, another to finally meet him face to face. "He'll be so happy once we finally reveal ourselves... that he does have a family after all," she thought happily.
She gazed into her mirror thoughtfully. She hadn't change her appearance at all, which she felt was a mistake. Keeping her own name had been troublesome enough, but the open animousity developing between Fudge and Dumbledore made her feel safer within the Hogwarts castle. Fudge never came here personally anymore, and Ministry influence here was minimal.
Well, if she didn't want Harry to discover their connection too soon, she'd have to do something about her eyes! The unusual emerald color betrayed her parentage, even if her birth hadn't exactly been a natural one ... She shook her head. "No use dwelling on the past, Harry needs me now!" she thought fiercely. "I must save him!"
Filled with purpose, she waved a hand over the mirror, which revealed her Hogwarts informer. "I see why you wanted me here," said Dianna softly to the figure. "But I'm not sure if my powers are enough to protect him ..."
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"Ron! Hermione!" Harry yelled once he got to the Gryffindor common room.
They looked at him inquisitively. "What?" they said in unison.
"I saw the new DADA teacher!"
"So who is it? Anyone we know?" asked Hermione.
"Someone called DeBourgh, I think," he replied. "But listen, there's something strange about her. I feel as if I should know her ..."
"DeBourgh?" said Hermione. "That sounds so familiar, I wonder why?"
"Maybe you've read about her somewhere?" said Ron helpfully.
Hermione just shook her head. "I don't know."
Harry reflected, "She said no one aound here would know her, so she's definitely not local."
"Can you give me a description?" said Hermione, still frowning. "Without a first name, I'm going to need all the help I can get."
"She seemed sort of young for a professor," said Harry thoughtfully, "but what I remember most was the eyes. They were bright green. I think her hair was brown, but most of it was under her hat, so I'm not too sure."
"I'll start working on that," said Hermione resolutely.
"Don't you have homework and stuff from all those advanced classes you're taking?" said Ron.
Hermione winked. "I've gone through the books already. I'll catch up fast enough."
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The Gryffindor Tower was dark and silent. The moonlight streamed in through open windows and lit the faces of the slumbering students there. Something sifted through the curtains, but remained unseen by any living thing. Had they been awake, they still would have remained blind to the malignant threat that wallowed in though the window.
Nearly Headless Nick shivered, something he hadn't done in hundreds of years. His eyes widened slightly as he thought he detected something foreign and invasive, but the moment of fear passed, and he continued on his way.
This hideous thing, unhindered, made it's way slowly through the room. Students shivered and pulled there covers closer about them unconsciously as it moved past them. It wandered from bed to bed, looking for one face in particular.
It came upon a black-haired boy, with a strange, lighting bolt scar peeping through the bangs. A pair of glasses rested on a table nearby. Here, the shade rested a while, staring at the young man, knowing that something marked him above the others. But it had a duty, and it overcame it's momentary curiousity to move on, searching for the preordained victim.
The victim was found. The boy moved about restlessly, still asleep. As the shade came closer, the boy shifted his body away from it, but it was not to be put off. It shifted as well, and hesitantly moved closer. It found the boy's face and, like vapor, quickly and surely was absorbed into the victim's head through the nose and ears. It passed on the words of its master into the boy's unsuspecting brain, and a few moments later, drifted back out the window, a harmless breeze.
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"Harry ..." cried a familiar voice.
"Who's there?" Harry shouted. The voice haunted him, crying out his name sadly over and over.
He closed his eyes and realization struck him. "Mum? Mum?! Is that you?"
"Harry," the voice repeated.
"Mum! Where are you?" he cried out desparately.
The next few words came from far off, a distant echo. He strained his ears to catch his mother's voice.
"In your dreams, Harry! Listen to your dreams ..." The words carried urgency and angst.
"But Mum! I want to see you!" he shouted.
Hazily a shape formed, Harry squinted as the foggy figure drifted toward him until it stood a few inches from his face ...
"Harry! Wake up!"
"Wha ... Ron!"
"You were tossing and turning again. What did you see this time?"
"What did I see?"
"In your dream! Come out with it already. You know it could be important."
Harry stared off into space and said remotely, "I saw two green eyes, staring at me."
Ron couldn't understand that one, and decided to leave Harry alone with whatever vision he had had. "But don't you want to know?" A voice nagged inside him. "You're his best friend. Friends tell each other everything. Bet he'd tell Hermione in a flash ..."
"Come on Harry, I've known you for years. I know when something's up," he blurted out.
Harry supposed it wasn't fair to leave Ron in the dark, especially if he couldn't tell him his biggest secret of all. "I think they were my mum's eyes, Ron. And she was trying to tell me something. Something about dreams."
Ron silently congratulated himself. He was still Harry's *best* friend. "Well, tell me when you get them," he said seriously. "Let's go eat now. We have Potions today."
They shuddered to walked off to the Great Hall.
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During breakfast, the daily crowd of owls flew into the Great Hall, intent on delivering mail. Hedwig flew in a bit later than the rest with not one, but two letters for Harry. "Wow! I suppose Professor McGonagall is done routing through my mail," said Harry gleefully as he fed Hedwig a piece of his toast. Hermione started at that.
"Look! A letter from Sir... I mean Snuffles!" said Harry.
Seeing the attention they were getting from the rest of the Gryffindors, as well as a few Slytherins, they finished their breakfast quickly and moved toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
"What's in the letter?" asked Ron excitedly once they were alone.
Quickly scanning the letter, which was a few scrawled words anyway, Harry said, "Sirius says we're in danger, and that he wants to meet with me in the Forbidden Forest tonight!"
"What's up with you, Hermione?" asked Ron, seeing her frown.
"Something's fishy about this Harry. Why would Sirius want to meet with you, alone, in the Forbidden Forest? He knows you're in a lot of danger!"
"Come off it Hermione," said Ron. "Remember the time you had Professor McGonagall dissect Harry's Firebolt?"
"Hermione, you know he's right," said Harry. "You're too suspicious of everything."
"Ugh!" she yelled. "You guys can be so blind sometimes!" she stomped off.
"Think she went to warn McGonagall?" said Ron fearfully.
"Probably," he agreed. "We have to stop her."
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They managed to catch up with Hermione halfway back to the Great Hall.
"Hermione!" shouted Ron. "Wait up!"
Hermione slowed up a bit, just enough for them to catch up.
"Listen," said Harry. "I can't take a chance on *not* meeting Sirius. He's my godfather! But if it *is* a trap ... you guys can follow me. We'll all share the invisibility cloak to get out of the castle, and then you guys and follow me in it so Sirius can't see you."
Hermione looked hesitant. "I suppose that might work out better. I still think we should tell Professor McGonagall."
"Hermione," said Harry. "If you go to her, we'll still try and get to Sirius. You'll just make it tougher on us."
Hermione bit her lip and finally said, "Alright! But I'm going to go over some advanced spells to make sure we're prepared, just in case this *is* a trap."
"Thanks, Hermione!" said Harry and Ron, and they returned to the Hall together.
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Harry, Hermione, and Ron arrived later than usual to Potions. They were all out of breath, and stumbled into the dungeon. Even though they obviously looked as if they had tried their best to arrive on time, Snape was having none of that.
"Harry Potter," he sneered. "I should have guessed you'd arrive... what's the muggle term for it? Ah yes, 'fashionably late' as usual. Think you're above the rules, don't you? A point from Gryffindor!" He stared down with contempt at Hermione and Ron. "Well, well, anything Harry does, his fans must do as well! A point off the each of you two as well!"
Snape started the lesson. When Draco Malfoy arrived five minutes after Harry, Snape was conveniently staring down at his Potions book long enough to miss Draco's slow swagger to his seat next to Crabbe and Goyle. Harry hated the injustice of it all, but wisely held his tongue. He knew Snape might explode and take off a couple more points from Gryffindor.
"Now ..." Snape's eyes roamed over the nervous students' faces, and predictably landed on Harry's. "Mr. Potter!" he said derisively. "Can you tell me what the root of a mustard plant, when combined with wormwood and a hair from a cat, make?"
"I don't know, Sir."
"What does a rope woven with sweet grass and nettle under a full moon produce?"
"I don't know, Sir."
"As you can see," Snape said triumphantly, "Mr. Potter has fogotten to read his potions book once again! And furthermore..." Snape's voice wandered off as he saw a figure from the corner of his eye. A woman was standing in the doorway, staring straight at him. He caught her glance and was shaken to find two emerald green eyes peering at him. "Lily!" flickered through his brain before he regained his train of thought and turned back to Harry.
"And ... Furthermore ... " What had he been trying to say? Oh yes. "Furthermore, the root of the mustard plant, when combined with wormwood and a cat hair, will reveal any person attempting to diguise themselves as another witch or wizard. A rope woven under a full moon with sweet grass and nettle can cling and trap all but the strongest of creatures in it's embrace for weeks or even years. Take notes! We will be brewing these things today!"
Snape saw the students bend there heads, busily copying everything down. Especially the Granger girl, who was desparately writing foot after foot of notes on her scroll. He glanced back toward the doorway where the woman had been, and found it deserted. He shook his head and returned to his class.
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A/N: Okay you guys, that's the most I can write in one sitting! My brother is calling me a freak for sitting here for hours on the last day of summer vacation. I suppose that means this needs to end for now. I'll update later... It might take awhile as I have LOTS of classes. R/R!
A/N (2): Soo sorry to all those people who waited and waited for an update.... let's just say I have a wonderful excuse. Summer school + hyper dentist + giant Calculus packet for HW= No time for fan-fics. Sorry once again. Hope this extra-long chapter means you'll forgive me...:-) Of course, this just means it'll take longer to get to you all.
As always, remember to R/R!!!!!!!!!!! My reviews have sort of stagnated and it's making me depressed.
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Chapter 13
Allies and Enemies Closer to Home
Harry and Draco circled eachother, their wands pointed steadily at the other's chest. For a few, terse seconds, the entire room lay gripped in deathly silence, broken only moments later by Draco and Harry yelling spells simultaneously.
"Adheria!" They screamed in unison.
Draco managed to duck, at the last second, under Harry's spell. Harry however, caught the spell at the tip of a finger, from where he had tried to doge sideways to escape it.
The effects were instantaneous. Harry felt his legs come together with a *plop* before his sense of balance left him. "No..." he thought frantically. "I'm going to lose...lose to Draco!"
The eyes of his enemies and friends bore into him, silent and watchful. Harry tottered, and regained his balance. There was a barely noticeable sigh of relief from Hermione and Ron before Harry began swaying once more. Their relief had been premature.
"Ha!" cried Draco. "I beat the famous Harry Potter!"
Harry's mind worked quickly, despite Draco's smugness. Realizing he still had the use of his arms, and that Draco didn't look too keen on preforming the Degracia Spell on him ("Draco wanted to savor his victory," Hermione told him afterwards) he waved his wand, just as he began to tip toward the floor, and shouted, "Protecious!"
Harry shut his eyes and prayed for a miracle. He felt himself tip and tip....until he came to the point where there was nothing left to do but hit the floor... and felt nothing but air. Opening his eyes hesitantly, he saw that his half-baked plan had worked. The shield had acted as a barrier for his body, and he was now resting comfortable against the *shield* and not the floor. In fact, he was floating above the ground, above even Draco.
Draco was panicking now. He moved his lips and waved his wand around, but Harry couldn't hear the spells. Without another thought, he shouted, "Degracia!" with all his strength, and watched gleefully as Draco promptly fell to the floor.
Dumbledore, just as promptly, declared Harry the winner, and Harry disabled the shield with a flick of his wand and rejoined his friends.
Everyone stared at him mutely, some in awe (the Gryffindors) and some in jealousy and hate (Slytherins). Draco was still on the floor, and unable to shoot Harry any stares of any kind. "What?" he said, self-consciously.
The silence broke after that.
"Harry, how did you do that?" asked Ron.
"That's was impossible!" cried Hermione.
"Can you teach me that?!" said Seamus.
"Cheater!" cried Crabbe.
"uhh...yeah...Cheater!" echoed Goyle.
"Memumph......" said Draco, with his face still smothered by the floor.
The list of responses varied. Poor Harry had no clue what was going on. He had done what half the class had already done, that was all. He had beaten his dueling partner.
"Harry, see me after class," said Dumbledore over the noise. "Draco, I want to talk to you later, after Harry."
"But, what did I DO?" Harry finally cried out, exasperated.
"Class dismissed," shouted Dumbledore, and all the students filed out, eager to tell the rest of the school what had just happened. Draco managed to get off the floor with Crabbe and Goyle assisting him and stumbled out with the rest. Ron and Hermione waited by the door.
Dumbledore, glancing at Ron and Hermione, walked up to the door and apologetically ushered them out, closing the door behind him.
"Um, Sir," began Harry. "Did I do something wrong? I thought I was following all the rules!"
"No Harry, you did everything accordingly," soothed Dumbledore. "But, you know what you are. You may experience a bit more...er...*strength* behind your spells and we can't give away that you're the Phoenix. Especially with Voldemort loose. Harry, I'm going to have to ask you to hold back a bit when you're in class."
"Professor! How am I supposed to train if I hold back?"
"We'll arrange some special tutoring for you... maybe this would be the appropriate time to apply to the Ministry for a time turner. No doubt, Hermione has told you a lot about it."
A time turner?! Harry hadn't envied Hermione's. It had just given her extra work.
Seeing the disgust in Harry's eyes, Dumbledore laughed.
"Harry, you have to buckle down and work sometime or other." Then, more soberly, "You have to be safe and prepared. These extra sessions will provide you with both. I'll send for you when the time turner arrives. Oh yes, and Harry, I'm going to have to suspend your powers whenever a spell involving power-guaging capabilities arise."
Dumbledore turned away, and Harry took this to mean it was time to leave. He opened the door and Ron and Hermione tumbled to the floor.
"Er....Hi Harry," said Ron sheepishly.
With a quick look at Dumbledore, Hermione added, "We didn't hear a thing! Honest."
"That would be the silencing charm on the door, I suppose," said Dumbledore gravely, but with a twinkle in his eye.
They trio bid a hasty retreat.
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Once alone in the hallway, Harry asked, "Really, why were you all staring at me in there, acting as if you all had never seen a duel before?"
"You don't know?" asked Ron, disbelief plainly written on his face.
"Just tell me what happened already!" grumbled Harry.
"Everything was pretty average until that shield charm," said Hermione. "Remember how Dean's barely even showed up, and Dumbledore's lasted for only a few seconds? Well, yours was different. It was gigantic! It lifted you up in the air, that's how powerful it was!"
"I remember being above the ground, but all that other stuff....wow!" said Harry, impressed with himself.
"That's not all," said Ron grimly. "Once Draco saw you, he yelled a bunch of spells. He tried to use that disabling charm we learned from Snape, and the jelly-legs curse, too. They all bounced off. I think one hit Parvati, but I'm not sure. Anyway, you shook everyone up pretty badly."
"I did all that?" said Harry, amazed. "Must've been something in my breakfast..."
"Don't you get it?" said Hermione shrilly. "Dumbledore said a shield generated power *according to the strength of the wizard.* Your shield was... was... phenomenal! Why, I bet you could've held it for hours!"
Ron and Harry gazed at her blankly.
"Ugh! Stupid boys!" cried Hermione in exasperation before stalking off.
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Harry was walking with Hermione and Ron when he shuddered, as if a wave of some sort passed through him.
"Did you feel that?" he cried.
"What?" said Hermione, who had forgiven them quickly enough after a few minutes of conversation with Neville.
"Er, nothing I suppose," he muttered.
"Wasn't DADA fun?" said Ron. "The look on Draco's face when he finally figured out he had lost! I'm almost glad I lost, because that means I can challenge Draco and hex him again."
Harry tried to shut Ron up. Wasn't this the exact same subject that had gotten Hermione into a rage? To his surprise, Hermione just nodded pleasantly.
"It was a shame only Dean tried the shield, though."
Harry couldn't believe his ears. "What? I *thought* I tried it, too!"
Hermione gave Harry a hard stare. "Come to think of it, I can't really remember what happened during your duel, just that you won..."
Ron had heard enough about school. With a tug at Harry's arm, he asked, "When are the Quidditch tryouts?"
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Dumbledore strode quietly down the winding passageways. He wondered briefly if it had been wise to erase a certain moment in time from the school's memory, but alas, there had been no other option.
The Headmaster was well aware that one spy remained elusive on the school grounds, but who? The Slytherin house was, of course, under scrutiny. Snape was doing his best to blend in with the Slytherin crowd, a thing he did remarkably well, and earning their trust day by day.
He briefly wondered how much time they had left before Voldemort overcame his fear of Hogwarts and attacked. Dumbledore was aware of his advancing years, he didn't need a cocky Draco to point it out.
"Harry, discover your center soon!" he prayed. "Before it's too late."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Walking through the hallways and classrooms, Harry was surprised to find that Hermione and Ron were not the only ones to forget his duel. Malfoy was just his usually snobby self, though occasionally he rubbed a bewilderingly sore nose. None of the Gryffindors bugged him over the shield charm, for which he felt grateful. He decided to take this as a good omen as went about his day, trying to forget about it himself.
"Harry Potter?"
He slowed his steps. "Oh no," he thought. Perhaps someone DID still remember.
He turned and gasped in shock. That woman! She looked so.... familiar!
Green eyes stared into equally intense green eyes. The woman said hesitantly, "You ARE Harry Potter, correct?"
Realizing he had been gaping at her like a fish, Harry closed his mouth quickly. "I'm sorry," he apologized, "yes, I am."
"Well ..." the woman hesitated, then said hurriedly, "I thought, seeing a fifth year such as yourself, I'd ask you to pass on the word for me. I wouldn't want you all to get such a shock tomorrow seeing as no one here knows me at all ..."
"What would you like me to pass on?" said Harry curiously.
"Next week, I shall be presented to your DADA class as your new teacher," she said. "I will be sitting in on your classes for the rest of this week to see how things work before I officially take over the job."
That was something Harry had not suspected. He stared for another few seconds, and then remembered in time to say, "I will, Professor ..."
She smiled brightly. "Professor DeBourgh my dear."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once alone in her own room, Dianna sighed, still rebuking herself for talking to Harry. She hoped the simple shock of finding the new DADA teacher so soon was enough to keep him occupied. If he ever got around to thinking about it, she was sure a bright child like Harry would figure out something had been amiss, especially in the way she had singled him out like that. But she had been unable to help it. Seeing her nephew, her own flesh and blood, had been too much. It was one thing to gaze at his reflection, another to finally meet him face to face. "He'll be so happy once we finally reveal ourselves... that he does have a family after all," she thought happily.
She gazed into her mirror thoughtfully. She hadn't change her appearance at all, which she felt was a mistake. Keeping her own name had been troublesome enough, but the open animousity developing between Fudge and Dumbledore made her feel safer within the Hogwarts castle. Fudge never came here personally anymore, and Ministry influence here was minimal.
Well, if she didn't want Harry to discover their connection too soon, she'd have to do something about her eyes! The unusual emerald color betrayed her parentage, even if her birth hadn't exactly been a natural one ... She shook her head. "No use dwelling on the past, Harry needs me now!" she thought fiercely. "I must save him!"
Filled with purpose, she waved a hand over the mirror, which revealed her Hogwarts informer. "I see why you wanted me here," said Dianna softly to the figure. "But I'm not sure if my powers are enough to protect him ..."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ron! Hermione!" Harry yelled once he got to the Gryffindor common room.
They looked at him inquisitively. "What?" they said in unison.
"I saw the new DADA teacher!"
"So who is it? Anyone we know?" asked Hermione.
"Someone called DeBourgh, I think," he replied. "But listen, there's something strange about her. I feel as if I should know her ..."
"DeBourgh?" said Hermione. "That sounds so familiar, I wonder why?"
"Maybe you've read about her somewhere?" said Ron helpfully.
Hermione just shook her head. "I don't know."
Harry reflected, "She said no one aound here would know her, so she's definitely not local."
"Can you give me a description?" said Hermione, still frowning. "Without a first name, I'm going to need all the help I can get."
"She seemed sort of young for a professor," said Harry thoughtfully, "but what I remember most was the eyes. They were bright green. I think her hair was brown, but most of it was under her hat, so I'm not too sure."
"I'll start working on that," said Hermione resolutely.
"Don't you have homework and stuff from all those advanced classes you're taking?" said Ron.
Hermione winked. "I've gone through the books already. I'll catch up fast enough."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Gryffindor Tower was dark and silent. The moonlight streamed in through open windows and lit the faces of the slumbering students there. Something sifted through the curtains, but remained unseen by any living thing. Had they been awake, they still would have remained blind to the malignant threat that wallowed in though the window.
Nearly Headless Nick shivered, something he hadn't done in hundreds of years. His eyes widened slightly as he thought he detected something foreign and invasive, but the moment of fear passed, and he continued on his way.
This hideous thing, unhindered, made it's way slowly through the room. Students shivered and pulled there covers closer about them unconsciously as it moved past them. It wandered from bed to bed, looking for one face in particular.
It came upon a black-haired boy, with a strange, lighting bolt scar peeping through the bangs. A pair of glasses rested on a table nearby. Here, the shade rested a while, staring at the young man, knowing that something marked him above the others. But it had a duty, and it overcame it's momentary curiousity to move on, searching for the preordained victim.
The victim was found. The boy moved about restlessly, still asleep. As the shade came closer, the boy shifted his body away from it, but it was not to be put off. It shifted as well, and hesitantly moved closer. It found the boy's face and, like vapor, quickly and surely was absorbed into the victim's head through the nose and ears. It passed on the words of its master into the boy's unsuspecting brain, and a few moments later, drifted back out the window, a harmless breeze.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Harry ..." cried a familiar voice.
"Who's there?" Harry shouted. The voice haunted him, crying out his name sadly over and over.
He closed his eyes and realization struck him. "Mum? Mum?! Is that you?"
"Harry," the voice repeated.
"Mum! Where are you?" he cried out desparately.
The next few words came from far off, a distant echo. He strained his ears to catch his mother's voice.
"In your dreams, Harry! Listen to your dreams ..." The words carried urgency and angst.
"But Mum! I want to see you!" he shouted.
Hazily a shape formed, Harry squinted as the foggy figure drifted toward him until it stood a few inches from his face ...
"Harry! Wake up!"
"Wha ... Ron!"
"You were tossing and turning again. What did you see this time?"
"What did I see?"
"In your dream! Come out with it already. You know it could be important."
Harry stared off into space and said remotely, "I saw two green eyes, staring at me."
Ron couldn't understand that one, and decided to leave Harry alone with whatever vision he had had. "But don't you want to know?" A voice nagged inside him. "You're his best friend. Friends tell each other everything. Bet he'd tell Hermione in a flash ..."
"Come on Harry, I've known you for years. I know when something's up," he blurted out.
Harry supposed it wasn't fair to leave Ron in the dark, especially if he couldn't tell him his biggest secret of all. "I think they were my mum's eyes, Ron. And she was trying to tell me something. Something about dreams."
Ron silently congratulated himself. He was still Harry's *best* friend. "Well, tell me when you get them," he said seriously. "Let's go eat now. We have Potions today."
They shuddered to walked off to the Great Hall.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
During breakfast, the daily crowd of owls flew into the Great Hall, intent on delivering mail. Hedwig flew in a bit later than the rest with not one, but two letters for Harry. "Wow! I suppose Professor McGonagall is done routing through my mail," said Harry gleefully as he fed Hedwig a piece of his toast. Hermione started at that.
"Look! A letter from Sir... I mean Snuffles!" said Harry.
Seeing the attention they were getting from the rest of the Gryffindors, as well as a few Slytherins, they finished their breakfast quickly and moved toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
"What's in the letter?" asked Ron excitedly once they were alone.
Quickly scanning the letter, which was a few scrawled words anyway, Harry said, "Sirius says we're in danger, and that he wants to meet with me in the Forbidden Forest tonight!"
"What's up with you, Hermione?" asked Ron, seeing her frown.
"Something's fishy about this Harry. Why would Sirius want to meet with you, alone, in the Forbidden Forest? He knows you're in a lot of danger!"
"Come off it Hermione," said Ron. "Remember the time you had Professor McGonagall dissect Harry's Firebolt?"
"Hermione, you know he's right," said Harry. "You're too suspicious of everything."
"Ugh!" she yelled. "You guys can be so blind sometimes!" she stomped off.
"Think she went to warn McGonagall?" said Ron fearfully.
"Probably," he agreed. "We have to stop her."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
They managed to catch up with Hermione halfway back to the Great Hall.
"Hermione!" shouted Ron. "Wait up!"
Hermione slowed up a bit, just enough for them to catch up.
"Listen," said Harry. "I can't take a chance on *not* meeting Sirius. He's my godfather! But if it *is* a trap ... you guys can follow me. We'll all share the invisibility cloak to get out of the castle, and then you guys and follow me in it so Sirius can't see you."
Hermione looked hesitant. "I suppose that might work out better. I still think we should tell Professor McGonagall."
"Hermione," said Harry. "If you go to her, we'll still try and get to Sirius. You'll just make it tougher on us."
Hermione bit her lip and finally said, "Alright! But I'm going to go over some advanced spells to make sure we're prepared, just in case this *is* a trap."
"Thanks, Hermione!" said Harry and Ron, and they returned to the Hall together.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Harry, Hermione, and Ron arrived later than usual to Potions. They were all out of breath, and stumbled into the dungeon. Even though they obviously looked as if they had tried their best to arrive on time, Snape was having none of that.
"Harry Potter," he sneered. "I should have guessed you'd arrive... what's the muggle term for it? Ah yes, 'fashionably late' as usual. Think you're above the rules, don't you? A point from Gryffindor!" He stared down with contempt at Hermione and Ron. "Well, well, anything Harry does, his fans must do as well! A point off the each of you two as well!"
Snape started the lesson. When Draco Malfoy arrived five minutes after Harry, Snape was conveniently staring down at his Potions book long enough to miss Draco's slow swagger to his seat next to Crabbe and Goyle. Harry hated the injustice of it all, but wisely held his tongue. He knew Snape might explode and take off a couple more points from Gryffindor.
"Now ..." Snape's eyes roamed over the nervous students' faces, and predictably landed on Harry's. "Mr. Potter!" he said derisively. "Can you tell me what the root of a mustard plant, when combined with wormwood and a hair from a cat, make?"
"I don't know, Sir."
"What does a rope woven with sweet grass and nettle under a full moon produce?"
"I don't know, Sir."
"As you can see," Snape said triumphantly, "Mr. Potter has fogotten to read his potions book once again! And furthermore..." Snape's voice wandered off as he saw a figure from the corner of his eye. A woman was standing in the doorway, staring straight at him. He caught her glance and was shaken to find two emerald green eyes peering at him. "Lily!" flickered through his brain before he regained his train of thought and turned back to Harry.
"And ... Furthermore ... " What had he been trying to say? Oh yes. "Furthermore, the root of the mustard plant, when combined with wormwood and a cat hair, will reveal any person attempting to diguise themselves as another witch or wizard. A rope woven under a full moon with sweet grass and nettle can cling and trap all but the strongest of creatures in it's embrace for weeks or even years. Take notes! We will be brewing these things today!"
Snape saw the students bend there heads, busily copying everything down. Especially the Granger girl, who was desparately writing foot after foot of notes on her scroll. He glanced back toward the doorway where the woman had been, and found it deserted. He shook his head and returned to his class.
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A/N: Okay you guys, that's the most I can write in one sitting! My brother is calling me a freak for sitting here for hours on the last day of summer vacation. I suppose that means this needs to end for now. I'll update later... It might take awhile as I have LOTS of classes. R/R!