Chapter 20 – More Dreams.
'Things may seem to double over night.' The words of the phoenix always creped their way into Harry's dreams, mainly because he still hadn't worked them out yet. 'You'll understand soon. Trust me.' What did he mean by soon? How soon? He still didn't understand, even though it had been quite a while since the phoenix, from Dumbledore's office, had spoken these words to Harry. How can a person double? But Sirius wasn't just a person! He was an Animagi! Maybe that had something to do with it, but how? How could that possibly have anything to do with it?
Sirius' face loomed into Harry's vision. Then it slowly changed into a dog, a black dog that was, undoubtedly, Sirius' dog form. It began to bark at him, with his large, sharp, yellow teeth growling at Harry through a lot of drool. Then the noise gradually disappeared into the background, with the picture of the terrifying black dog, Snuffles. The headline 'Serious Trouble for Sirius!' from the daily prophet newspaper, flashed into Harry's dream. Sirius had nearly been caught. He could easily be caught again. What if someone waved their wand at him? What if they split him into two, a wizard and a dog? Harry pictured the farmer from the newspaper, waving his wand around, with flashes of red and green light shooting out of the end. Then one of them striking Sirius. Splitting him into two parts, wizard and dog. "NO!" Harry dreamt him standing by the field, watching his godfather suffering extreme pain. "NO!" He heard himself echoing into the background.
"NO!" Harry sat up, with sweat pouring down his face. "It was just a dream. Just a dream." He told himself. Wait a minute… Where was he? He was not at Hogwarts, where he fell asleep. He looked around the room. Grey. There were grey walls, a grey floor and a grey ceiling. Harry tried to stand up but found he couldn't. He looked around. There was no door, or any windows. How did he get in if there were no doors or windows? Where was he?
Then he realised. If there were no windows or doors he must have been put in here by a wizard, unless he was still dreaming. He pinched himself to find out, but he felt the small pain in his arm and so he must be awake, and conscious. Who would take him there? Why? Why would anyone want him there? But someone did want him! Someone wanted to kill him, and had done for many years! Voldemort!
Harry knew Voldemort was after him. This year he knew it more than ever. But Harry was still confused. 'How? Voldemort couldn't get into Hogwarts. There were too many wizards surrounding the place.' He thought. 'How?' Harry shivered. Although he had fallen asleep in his robes, he knew that it probably didn't matter what he was wearing, he would still be shivering, if not with coldness, then with fear.
'Snape!' Harry thought. 'Snape was a Death eater! He'd have done it! He'd have to do it! He wouldn't have a choice!' Harry's scar was burning, so he rubbed it gently. 'But surely he wouldn't be able to. How would he get into the Gryffindor tower? He'd have to know the password.' He lay down on the hard concrete floor. All the thinking and trying to find an explanation was wearing him out, and the fear of probably soon meeting Voldemort was making his lightning scar on his forehead sting like mad.
'How could Voldemort get the password? How could Snape get the password? Maybe he didn't. Maybe he ripped the painting of the fat lady, or slashed out at her.' Harry pictured the torn drawing lying face down on the stairs. 'But surely someone would hear him. Someone would hear Snape striking at the painting and come to see what was going on. What was going on?' Harry thought. He couldn't find any explanation of how he got where he was, or where he was for that matter. And so just lay there silently, waiting, in fear, for something to happen.
'Things may seem to double over night.' The words of the phoenix always creped their way into Harry's dreams, mainly because he still hadn't worked them out yet. 'You'll understand soon. Trust me.' What did he mean by soon? How soon? He still didn't understand, even though it had been quite a while since the phoenix, from Dumbledore's office, had spoken these words to Harry. How can a person double? But Sirius wasn't just a person! He was an Animagi! Maybe that had something to do with it, but how? How could that possibly have anything to do with it?
Sirius' face loomed into Harry's vision. Then it slowly changed into a dog, a black dog that was, undoubtedly, Sirius' dog form. It began to bark at him, with his large, sharp, yellow teeth growling at Harry through a lot of drool. Then the noise gradually disappeared into the background, with the picture of the terrifying black dog, Snuffles. The headline 'Serious Trouble for Sirius!' from the daily prophet newspaper, flashed into Harry's dream. Sirius had nearly been caught. He could easily be caught again. What if someone waved their wand at him? What if they split him into two, a wizard and a dog? Harry pictured the farmer from the newspaper, waving his wand around, with flashes of red and green light shooting out of the end. Then one of them striking Sirius. Splitting him into two parts, wizard and dog. "NO!" Harry dreamt him standing by the field, watching his godfather suffering extreme pain. "NO!" He heard himself echoing into the background.
"NO!" Harry sat up, with sweat pouring down his face. "It was just a dream. Just a dream." He told himself. Wait a minute… Where was he? He was not at Hogwarts, where he fell asleep. He looked around the room. Grey. There were grey walls, a grey floor and a grey ceiling. Harry tried to stand up but found he couldn't. He looked around. There was no door, or any windows. How did he get in if there were no doors or windows? Where was he?
Then he realised. If there were no windows or doors he must have been put in here by a wizard, unless he was still dreaming. He pinched himself to find out, but he felt the small pain in his arm and so he must be awake, and conscious. Who would take him there? Why? Why would anyone want him there? But someone did want him! Someone wanted to kill him, and had done for many years! Voldemort!
Harry knew Voldemort was after him. This year he knew it more than ever. But Harry was still confused. 'How? Voldemort couldn't get into Hogwarts. There were too many wizards surrounding the place.' He thought. 'How?' Harry shivered. Although he had fallen asleep in his robes, he knew that it probably didn't matter what he was wearing, he would still be shivering, if not with coldness, then with fear.
'Snape!' Harry thought. 'Snape was a Death eater! He'd have done it! He'd have to do it! He wouldn't have a choice!' Harry's scar was burning, so he rubbed it gently. 'But surely he wouldn't be able to. How would he get into the Gryffindor tower? He'd have to know the password.' He lay down on the hard concrete floor. All the thinking and trying to find an explanation was wearing him out, and the fear of probably soon meeting Voldemort was making his lightning scar on his forehead sting like mad.
'How could Voldemort get the password? How could Snape get the password? Maybe he didn't. Maybe he ripped the painting of the fat lady, or slashed out at her.' Harry pictured the torn drawing lying face down on the stairs. 'But surely someone would hear him. Someone would hear Snape striking at the painting and come to see what was going on. What was going on?' Harry thought. He couldn't find any explanation of how he got where he was, or where he was for that matter. And so just lay there silently, waiting, in fear, for something to happen.