Chapter 33
The next several weeks passed in a blur for Harry, who, between quidditch, classes, and preparing for his NEWTS had somehow managed to find time to be with Ginny, Ron, and Hermione during the week. He had taken to spending Saturdays with his friends and Saturday night and all day Sunday with his godfather who had lost the deadened look in his eyes when Harry acted as though everything would turn out as it should, some of the optimism rubbing off on the older man.
Their classes were getting increasingly more difficult as the cold months of winter gave way to the chill of early spring and their time at Hogwarts began winding to a close for the trio of Gryffindor students and Draco. Their friendship with the Slytherin had remained strong throughout the weeks and was even getting stronger as they met on a regular basis to study and talk together. True to his word, Harry had kept his conversation with the four professors a secret from Ginny, but he knew she suspected there was something going on, but she didn't press him to tell her anything he wasn't willing to share just yet. She had told him about her conversation with Hermione, and although his best friend was still desperate to know the truth about what was going on, she had not asked Harry or Ginny to tell her, fearing that doing so would shatter their friendship permanently. She knew as well that Harry had his reasons for hiding things from them, and even though she still was worried about him, she ignored her suspicions and instead enjoyed the carefree time spent with him and her other friends.
He had begun private lessons with Sirius to work on his animagus transformations and was surprised when the process was so easy for him to accomplish, especially when he had always been told it took years to become an animagus and he had done so after only two months worth of lessons. That first night he had transformed himself into a jet black raven with green eyes. That still amazed him, he had now transformed into several different animals, just like Dumbledore had said he could do, but every one of them had his brilliant emerald eyes as well as a lightning bolt somewhere on their bodies. There were only three people who knew that he was able to transform into more than one animal, Remus, Sirius, and Dumbledore, he had told his friends and Ginny that he had become an animagus, but the form he had shown them was that of the raven, wanting to keep the rest of the truth a secret in case of emergency.
The professors had continued to search for any other option, but their search still proved futile, and they had almost given up hope. Harry had not been subjected to any more curses from Voldemort, and the evil wizards spirit had been uncharacteristically silent most of the time, in fact, Harry only heard him once a day at most, compared to the almost constant presence of it before Christmas, for which Harry was eternally grateful, but just because the voice was absent during the day, didn't mean that the nightmares were also gone. In fact, the horrors in Harry's dreams had gotten even worse, not only replaying his time with Voldemort, but he was now dreaming about what would happen to his friends and the rest of the world if and when Voldemort finally took control of him. Voldemort was strong enough with just his powers, but if he ever got control of Harry's extraordinary powers, death and misery for everyone was the only thing that would happen. They had tried dreamless sleep potion on several different occasions, but since the majority of Harry's nightmares were the work of Voldemort, it was a useless gesture.
Before they knew it, it was March fourth; a day that will always haunt them, for exactly one year ago today, Voldemort had attacked Hogwarts. When Harry awoke that morning, he was aware of a thick and foreboding silence that permeated the entire Gryffindor tower, and when he when he went to breakfast, he noticed that the feeling was present in every member of the school. He took his seat next to Ginny and looked across the table to Ron and Hermione who were both looking right back at him with apprehensive expressions on their faces that made him feel more than a little uncomfortable.
"Morning" he said to the three of them to break the tense silence "Why are you so quiet?" he asked
"Morning Harry, how are you doing?" asked Ron nervously as though he expected his best friend to break down at any moment
"I'm fine, it's you I'm worried about" he answered as he looked from one face to the other
"How can you be fine Harry?" began Hermione "I keep seeing what happened that day and what we went through is nothing compared to what you must have gone through. I wish you would just tell us what you have been hiding and then I would believe that you are as well as you as you keep trying to make us believe" said Hermione
"What are you talking about Hermione? I said I was fine, and why do you think I'm hiding anything from you?" asked Harry in carefully measured tones
"I know you are hiding something important from us Harry, something that you can tell Ginny, and Sirius, and Remus, and Dumbledore, and even Snape, but that you can't tell your two best friends" she said, her voice full of suppressed emotions of anger and resentfulness and even deep emotional hurt.
"Yeah Harry, you used to tell us everything, but now it's like you don't trust us anymore. Why are you keeping things from us all of a sudden?" asked Ron
What happened next was something that none of them, even Ginny, could have predicted. Harry lowered his fork to his plate silently and lifted his head and looked the head girl in the eyes, and she shuddered under the intensity of his gaze, unable to keep her eyes looking into his for more than an instant. He then stood slowly and deliberately and stayed still and silent for a long moment before he spoke in a low and dangerous voice, loud enough to bee heard by his two best friends but quiet enough not to be over heard by the other students. His voice combined with the expression in his eyes frightened Ron and Hermione more than they would have thought imaginable.
"You what to know what I have been hiding from you Hermione, Ron? Are you sure you really want to know?" he asked and without waiting for an answer, he continued "Well, I'll tell you, but I promise you will regret forcing this out of me. First let me tell you that I was only willing to share with a few people, simply because if anyone else found out, it could mean the end of everything I hold dear, but I will tell you. The truth is this, Voldemort is not really gone, he never has been" and he gave a harsh smile at their shocked expressions before he continued "quite the contrary in fact, Voldemort is still very much alive, but no one can see him right now, do you know why? Well, do you?" he demanded and when Hermione and Ron hesitantly shook their heads no they earned another harsh smile from Harry "The reason you can't see him is because his body has been destroyed, and he is sharing his spirit with another right now. Do you know who the lucky person who has the honor of being called the keeper of Voldemort's spirit is?" again they both shook their heads "Me" he said simply before he turned on his heel and over his shoulder he said one more sentence "What do you think about my deep dark secret now?" and with that he strode from the hall with his scarlet cloak billowing out behind him.
When the doors of the great hall shut behind his retreating figure, Ron and Hermione were pulled from their thoughts by Ginny who was just as furious as Harry had been.
"Are you happy now?" she demanded of her brother and his girlfriend who just looked at the place they had seen Harry in shock
Finally though, Ron spoke up "Is it true Gin" he asked in a whisper and was surprised to see tears well up in his little sisters eyes
"Yes" she whispered back "Voldemort's spirit had been inside Harry since right before he showed up in the muggle hospital"
"Why doesn't he leave Harry?" asked Hermione
"Because he can't" said Ginny simply
"Why not?" asked Ron
"Harry won't let him" and these four words caused Hermione and Ron to pale even more
"What do you mean Harry won't let him leave?" asked Ron once he finally found his voice again
"Because if Harry were to allow that then Voldemort would be free to try to create another body or live in another wizard and use their combined powers for evil, but as long as he can control Voldemort then he can't do any damage" she explained
"Why wouldn't he just tell us though?" asked Hermione
"Because every day Voldemort is getting stronger and is constantly trying to get him to hurt those that are close to him and he knows that it is only a matter of time before Voldemort takes control of him and his powers. He already has enough on his mind trying to keep that from happening, he didn't need to worry about how you would take this as well. If any of the remaining death eaters learned about this, then they would stop at nothing to get to Harry and kill him so that their master would be free again. The more people who know about this, the more dangerous it is" she explained quietly "He was trying to protect you" she added as an after thought as she got to her feet and left the couple behind to digest what they had just found out.
"How could we have been so stupid?" moaned Hermione as she buried her face in Ron's robes
"Because that is what it seems we do best Hermione" he answered as he ran his fingers through her bushy hair trying to stop her shuddering as she cried into his robes "We'll talk to him after defense Hermione, and apologize for being the bloody idiots that we always are"
She nodded her head into his robes and tried in vain to stop her tears for several minutes before the other students began to make their way from the great hall and to their first class. Shakily, she stood and walked hand in hand with Ron to their first class of the day, defense against the dark arts.
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When the Gryffindor students arrived in the defense class, they were slightly surprised to see that both Sirius and Remus were present and looked as though they were both prepared to teach. The only time both professors taught a class together was when it was a particularly difficult practical lesson, such as the lesson about summoning a patronus.
This caused a slight murmur of excitement to run around the room as they all took their seats. When Ron and Hermione sat down though, they realized that Harry was not in his usual seat next to them and began to look around the room for their friend, hoping he had not been angry enough to skip his favorite class. Once all but Harry had found their seats, Remus went to the front of the room and all conversation ceased immediately as the students gave him their undivided attention.
"Good morning" he said pleasantly "As you have probably figured out, today's lesson will be practical." but before he could tell them what they would be doing, the doors burst open and Harry came striding in. Without even glancing at the other students, he made his way to the front of the class and stood by Sirius who gave him a curious look which Harry answered with an expression that clearly said 'not now'
"As I was saying, I know you were given a little practice with the unforgivable curses during your fourth year and we will be continuing those lessons for the next several classes. We will be working primarily on the Imperious curse and how to best throw it off. Keep in mind that this is a very difficult task to master and most fully trained witches and wizards can't even begin to resist this curse so don't be disappointed if you don't succeed. Since Harry has mastered this, I have asked him to help us teach you how to do so as well. Now, one at a time we will be partnering up with each of you and putting you under the curse a couple times to see how well you react to it. The students working with Sirius will be, Seamus and Parvati, I will work with Neville and Lavender, and Harry will take Ron, Hermione, and Dean. Ok, split up and lets get to work" he said and the students all got to their feet and went to the one they were supposed to work with.
Hermione and Ron cautiously approached Harry with Dean not far behind and he watched them skeptically as though he thought they were going to start questioning him again.
"Harry, we wanted to apologize for the way we acted this morning" said Hermione hesitantly, not wanting to say more since Dean was listening.
"Yeah mate, we were being a couple of idiots, can you forgive us?" asked Ron
Harry surveyed the pair for a moment before he spoke "We need to discuss this later" he said without any expression on his scarred face. "Right now though, we had better get started before Remus gets angry. Which one of you wants to go first?"
"I will" volunteered Hermione as she stepped forward and faced Harry
"Ok, what you need to remember is to fight what I am telling you to do with all of your might, and just keep refusing no matter what, got it?"
"I think so" she said hesitantly
Harry lifted his hand toward her and without a word being spoken, she felt he mind empty of all thoughts and worries.
Instantly, Hermione began to do jumping jacks and touching her toes in a rudimentary work out routine. Harry kept her under the curse for only a few minutes before breaking the connection. Hermione looked at him sheepishly as she stepped back to stand next to Ron and Dean.
"That's harder than I remember" she muttered
Harry then cast the curse on Ron and Dean who both had as much luck as Hermione throwing it off. By the time Remus called them back to their desks, they had all been under the curse three times but had come no closer to beating it. Harry walked to the front of the room where Remus and Sirius were speaking quietly.
"Did Ron, Hermione, or Dean have any more luck that the rest of the students?" asked Sirius
"None at all" said Harry dryly, but they could both tell he was distracted by something as he rubbed the bridge of his nose as though fighting a headache.
"Maybe we should give them a demonstration" suggested Remus "I could cast the curse on one of you and they could watch to see how you throw it off"
"We have time, why don't you cast it on both of us?" said Sirius as he looked to Harry for approval. Harry nodded his head and they again went to the front of the classroom.
"Ok students, I'm going to cast the curse on these two and I want you to watch their eyes carefully to see them throw it off" he explained and he turned to Sirius. As soon as he cast the curse, everyone watched as his eyes changed from complete submission, to doubt, and finally defiance and he shook his head forcefully and grinned at Remus who lowered his wand.
"Did you see what I was talking about?" he asked the class and a couple of them nodded their heads. "Your turn Harry, Imperio" said Remus with his wand pointed at the black haired boy.
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Ginny had potions first thing in the morning and she was enjoying it just as much as she always did, not at all. They were brewing a mild pain killing potion, but it seemed as though none of the students could get it right, herself included since her mind was still on what had happened during breakfast. Snape was being just a terrible as usual, and so far Gryffindor had lost 30 points due to three of the students arriving late. Just as she was carefully adding two drops of the rare and expensive phoenix tears, the foundation of the castle shook violently and the windows in the upper areas of the dungeon shattered, showering all the students in fine shards of glass and a thick cloud of dust erupted from off the beams of the ceiling. Shocked, Ginny could only listen as more glass shattered from outside in the hallway and the castle continued to tremble. She was about to join her classmates as they took shelter under their work benches when she heard a gasp from the front of the room. Afraid someone had been injured by the falling glass, she looked up to see the potions master clutching his left forearm tightly, Ginny now knew what was happening. His eyes shot to her and they just starred at each other for an instant before they spoke one word in unison "Harry"
Ginny jumped to her feet and ran toward the door with Snape right behind her, yelling over his shoulder for the class to stay put until someone came for them. As they sprinted up the stairs from the dungeon, Snape spoke to Ginny.
"Where is Harry? What class?" he asked frantically as they were approaching the top of the stairs.
"Defense" said Ginny breathlessly as she set foot in the entrance hall. They both stopped in shock for a moment and surveyed the disaster. The entire floor was covered in broken glass and the paintings were either on the floor or hanging at strange angles on the walls, knocked off by the still trembling walls. The many suits of armor that had been standing around the boarders of the room were all lying on the floor, making passage of the hall nearly impossible. Students were running through the mess as well as confused teachers. Minerva McGonagall ran up to the pair in a breathless huff.
"Severus, do you know what is happening" she asked as she followed the pair who were now running up the marble staircase.
"Yes, get all the students except for Gryffindor to their common rooms and lock them in. Put the Gryffindor students in the other house common rooms, it's not safe for them to go to their tower. Get all of the professors to Albus for instructions when the students are safe" he said as he continued to run down the winding hallways, following the frantic Ginny as she continued to tear down the hall, jumping over the debris as though it weren't there.
"Why Severus, what is happening?" she asked
"Potter" was all he said and this statement caused all color to drain from the deputy headmistresses' face.
"Are you sure?" she asked, refusing to believe that what he was saying was true
"Positive" he muttered as they went up another flight of stairs.
"Very well, come on Weasley" she said to the girl who ignored her and kept running.
"No, she needs to stay with us, she may be able to stop this if it is not too late" said Snape, and the other professor just nodded before turning and gathering a group of first years who had run by.
A couple minutes later Snape and Ginny turned down the hallway the defense classroom was on and he put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from running into the room without caution as he spoke to her.
"Ginny, the mark is back, stringer than it has been in a year which means that Voldemort has complete control. Remember, we are not going to be fighting Harry, but instead the most evil wizard in the world who now has control of Harry's powers, which to say the least are nearly infinite. Take your wand out and be prepared to defend yourself and the other students. We can't let anyone get hurt" he said in a very serious tone. With tears in her eyes, Ginny did as he had told her to do and the pair approached the room slowly with their wands pointed at the closed door as the castle immediately stopped shaking and became deathly silent.
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A/N: I know, this is cruel, but I haven't given you guys a good cliff hanger for a while now, it was past due. Well, I'm going to try to answer some of your questions now, so here goes!
John: No, they couldn't just give Harry a disease because, remember, a natural death is one that has not been inflicted by his or anyone else's hand, and that includes knowingly inflicting him with anything.
Kateydidn't-who-should-sign-in: The descendant power is passed down to the first born son through the Gryffindor/Potter line, and Voldemort isn't a member of that line, but Slytherin, and I never said that the power from this line only went to sons, only Gryffindor's power does.
Lady Lupin: Yeah, his arm and leg are healed now. Remember when he was stabbed by that poisoned blade and while Madame Pomfrey was trying to heal him and the shield thing that was around him went out? Well, she healed them then since it was the first time that had happened and the first time she could.
Nkari: I'll give you a hint, there is something I mentioned back in chapter 30 that may give you a hint about that, but you have to find it yourself, but yes, they will find a blood relative of Voldemort, but not without some hard work, and no, it is not Draco.
Coolone007: don't worry, I have no plans to kill Harry off or making him have a short life
Gabriel: there are still many more chapters to come, don't worry, this is going to be loooong
As for the rest of you, I don't have time to answer all of your reviews, but I really appreciate them, thank you so much for your nice feedback! I feel so happy that you like my story! Well if you want this up tonight, then I had better stop rambling and post it, so again thank you! And please review this chapter, but don't hate me for leaving it here, I do have the next one written and will post it within the next day or so, so review and you'll get it faster!! (hint hint)
The next several weeks passed in a blur for Harry, who, between quidditch, classes, and preparing for his NEWTS had somehow managed to find time to be with Ginny, Ron, and Hermione during the week. He had taken to spending Saturdays with his friends and Saturday night and all day Sunday with his godfather who had lost the deadened look in his eyes when Harry acted as though everything would turn out as it should, some of the optimism rubbing off on the older man.
Their classes were getting increasingly more difficult as the cold months of winter gave way to the chill of early spring and their time at Hogwarts began winding to a close for the trio of Gryffindor students and Draco. Their friendship with the Slytherin had remained strong throughout the weeks and was even getting stronger as they met on a regular basis to study and talk together. True to his word, Harry had kept his conversation with the four professors a secret from Ginny, but he knew she suspected there was something going on, but she didn't press him to tell her anything he wasn't willing to share just yet. She had told him about her conversation with Hermione, and although his best friend was still desperate to know the truth about what was going on, she had not asked Harry or Ginny to tell her, fearing that doing so would shatter their friendship permanently. She knew as well that Harry had his reasons for hiding things from them, and even though she still was worried about him, she ignored her suspicions and instead enjoyed the carefree time spent with him and her other friends.
He had begun private lessons with Sirius to work on his animagus transformations and was surprised when the process was so easy for him to accomplish, especially when he had always been told it took years to become an animagus and he had done so after only two months worth of lessons. That first night he had transformed himself into a jet black raven with green eyes. That still amazed him, he had now transformed into several different animals, just like Dumbledore had said he could do, but every one of them had his brilliant emerald eyes as well as a lightning bolt somewhere on their bodies. There were only three people who knew that he was able to transform into more than one animal, Remus, Sirius, and Dumbledore, he had told his friends and Ginny that he had become an animagus, but the form he had shown them was that of the raven, wanting to keep the rest of the truth a secret in case of emergency.
The professors had continued to search for any other option, but their search still proved futile, and they had almost given up hope. Harry had not been subjected to any more curses from Voldemort, and the evil wizards spirit had been uncharacteristically silent most of the time, in fact, Harry only heard him once a day at most, compared to the almost constant presence of it before Christmas, for which Harry was eternally grateful, but just because the voice was absent during the day, didn't mean that the nightmares were also gone. In fact, the horrors in Harry's dreams had gotten even worse, not only replaying his time with Voldemort, but he was now dreaming about what would happen to his friends and the rest of the world if and when Voldemort finally took control of him. Voldemort was strong enough with just his powers, but if he ever got control of Harry's extraordinary powers, death and misery for everyone was the only thing that would happen. They had tried dreamless sleep potion on several different occasions, but since the majority of Harry's nightmares were the work of Voldemort, it was a useless gesture.
Before they knew it, it was March fourth; a day that will always haunt them, for exactly one year ago today, Voldemort had attacked Hogwarts. When Harry awoke that morning, he was aware of a thick and foreboding silence that permeated the entire Gryffindor tower, and when he when he went to breakfast, he noticed that the feeling was present in every member of the school. He took his seat next to Ginny and looked across the table to Ron and Hermione who were both looking right back at him with apprehensive expressions on their faces that made him feel more than a little uncomfortable.
"Morning" he said to the three of them to break the tense silence "Why are you so quiet?" he asked
"Morning Harry, how are you doing?" asked Ron nervously as though he expected his best friend to break down at any moment
"I'm fine, it's you I'm worried about" he answered as he looked from one face to the other
"How can you be fine Harry?" began Hermione "I keep seeing what happened that day and what we went through is nothing compared to what you must have gone through. I wish you would just tell us what you have been hiding and then I would believe that you are as well as you as you keep trying to make us believe" said Hermione
"What are you talking about Hermione? I said I was fine, and why do you think I'm hiding anything from you?" asked Harry in carefully measured tones
"I know you are hiding something important from us Harry, something that you can tell Ginny, and Sirius, and Remus, and Dumbledore, and even Snape, but that you can't tell your two best friends" she said, her voice full of suppressed emotions of anger and resentfulness and even deep emotional hurt.
"Yeah Harry, you used to tell us everything, but now it's like you don't trust us anymore. Why are you keeping things from us all of a sudden?" asked Ron
What happened next was something that none of them, even Ginny, could have predicted. Harry lowered his fork to his plate silently and lifted his head and looked the head girl in the eyes, and she shuddered under the intensity of his gaze, unable to keep her eyes looking into his for more than an instant. He then stood slowly and deliberately and stayed still and silent for a long moment before he spoke in a low and dangerous voice, loud enough to bee heard by his two best friends but quiet enough not to be over heard by the other students. His voice combined with the expression in his eyes frightened Ron and Hermione more than they would have thought imaginable.
"You what to know what I have been hiding from you Hermione, Ron? Are you sure you really want to know?" he asked and without waiting for an answer, he continued "Well, I'll tell you, but I promise you will regret forcing this out of me. First let me tell you that I was only willing to share with a few people, simply because if anyone else found out, it could mean the end of everything I hold dear, but I will tell you. The truth is this, Voldemort is not really gone, he never has been" and he gave a harsh smile at their shocked expressions before he continued "quite the contrary in fact, Voldemort is still very much alive, but no one can see him right now, do you know why? Well, do you?" he demanded and when Hermione and Ron hesitantly shook their heads no they earned another harsh smile from Harry "The reason you can't see him is because his body has been destroyed, and he is sharing his spirit with another right now. Do you know who the lucky person who has the honor of being called the keeper of Voldemort's spirit is?" again they both shook their heads "Me" he said simply before he turned on his heel and over his shoulder he said one more sentence "What do you think about my deep dark secret now?" and with that he strode from the hall with his scarlet cloak billowing out behind him.
When the doors of the great hall shut behind his retreating figure, Ron and Hermione were pulled from their thoughts by Ginny who was just as furious as Harry had been.
"Are you happy now?" she demanded of her brother and his girlfriend who just looked at the place they had seen Harry in shock
Finally though, Ron spoke up "Is it true Gin" he asked in a whisper and was surprised to see tears well up in his little sisters eyes
"Yes" she whispered back "Voldemort's spirit had been inside Harry since right before he showed up in the muggle hospital"
"Why doesn't he leave Harry?" asked Hermione
"Because he can't" said Ginny simply
"Why not?" asked Ron
"Harry won't let him" and these four words caused Hermione and Ron to pale even more
"What do you mean Harry won't let him leave?" asked Ron once he finally found his voice again
"Because if Harry were to allow that then Voldemort would be free to try to create another body or live in another wizard and use their combined powers for evil, but as long as he can control Voldemort then he can't do any damage" she explained
"Why wouldn't he just tell us though?" asked Hermione
"Because every day Voldemort is getting stronger and is constantly trying to get him to hurt those that are close to him and he knows that it is only a matter of time before Voldemort takes control of him and his powers. He already has enough on his mind trying to keep that from happening, he didn't need to worry about how you would take this as well. If any of the remaining death eaters learned about this, then they would stop at nothing to get to Harry and kill him so that their master would be free again. The more people who know about this, the more dangerous it is" she explained quietly "He was trying to protect you" she added as an after thought as she got to her feet and left the couple behind to digest what they had just found out.
"How could we have been so stupid?" moaned Hermione as she buried her face in Ron's robes
"Because that is what it seems we do best Hermione" he answered as he ran his fingers through her bushy hair trying to stop her shuddering as she cried into his robes "We'll talk to him after defense Hermione, and apologize for being the bloody idiots that we always are"
She nodded her head into his robes and tried in vain to stop her tears for several minutes before the other students began to make their way from the great hall and to their first class. Shakily, she stood and walked hand in hand with Ron to their first class of the day, defense against the dark arts.
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When the Gryffindor students arrived in the defense class, they were slightly surprised to see that both Sirius and Remus were present and looked as though they were both prepared to teach. The only time both professors taught a class together was when it was a particularly difficult practical lesson, such as the lesson about summoning a patronus.
This caused a slight murmur of excitement to run around the room as they all took their seats. When Ron and Hermione sat down though, they realized that Harry was not in his usual seat next to them and began to look around the room for their friend, hoping he had not been angry enough to skip his favorite class. Once all but Harry had found their seats, Remus went to the front of the room and all conversation ceased immediately as the students gave him their undivided attention.
"Good morning" he said pleasantly "As you have probably figured out, today's lesson will be practical." but before he could tell them what they would be doing, the doors burst open and Harry came striding in. Without even glancing at the other students, he made his way to the front of the class and stood by Sirius who gave him a curious look which Harry answered with an expression that clearly said 'not now'
"As I was saying, I know you were given a little practice with the unforgivable curses during your fourth year and we will be continuing those lessons for the next several classes. We will be working primarily on the Imperious curse and how to best throw it off. Keep in mind that this is a very difficult task to master and most fully trained witches and wizards can't even begin to resist this curse so don't be disappointed if you don't succeed. Since Harry has mastered this, I have asked him to help us teach you how to do so as well. Now, one at a time we will be partnering up with each of you and putting you under the curse a couple times to see how well you react to it. The students working with Sirius will be, Seamus and Parvati, I will work with Neville and Lavender, and Harry will take Ron, Hermione, and Dean. Ok, split up and lets get to work" he said and the students all got to their feet and went to the one they were supposed to work with.
Hermione and Ron cautiously approached Harry with Dean not far behind and he watched them skeptically as though he thought they were going to start questioning him again.
"Harry, we wanted to apologize for the way we acted this morning" said Hermione hesitantly, not wanting to say more since Dean was listening.
"Yeah mate, we were being a couple of idiots, can you forgive us?" asked Ron
Harry surveyed the pair for a moment before he spoke "We need to discuss this later" he said without any expression on his scarred face. "Right now though, we had better get started before Remus gets angry. Which one of you wants to go first?"
"I will" volunteered Hermione as she stepped forward and faced Harry
"Ok, what you need to remember is to fight what I am telling you to do with all of your might, and just keep refusing no matter what, got it?"
"I think so" she said hesitantly
Harry lifted his hand toward her and without a word being spoken, she felt he mind empty of all thoughts and worries.
Instantly, Hermione began to do jumping jacks and touching her toes in a rudimentary work out routine. Harry kept her under the curse for only a few minutes before breaking the connection. Hermione looked at him sheepishly as she stepped back to stand next to Ron and Dean.
"That's harder than I remember" she muttered
Harry then cast the curse on Ron and Dean who both had as much luck as Hermione throwing it off. By the time Remus called them back to their desks, they had all been under the curse three times but had come no closer to beating it. Harry walked to the front of the room where Remus and Sirius were speaking quietly.
"Did Ron, Hermione, or Dean have any more luck that the rest of the students?" asked Sirius
"None at all" said Harry dryly, but they could both tell he was distracted by something as he rubbed the bridge of his nose as though fighting a headache.
"Maybe we should give them a demonstration" suggested Remus "I could cast the curse on one of you and they could watch to see how you throw it off"
"We have time, why don't you cast it on both of us?" said Sirius as he looked to Harry for approval. Harry nodded his head and they again went to the front of the classroom.
"Ok students, I'm going to cast the curse on these two and I want you to watch their eyes carefully to see them throw it off" he explained and he turned to Sirius. As soon as he cast the curse, everyone watched as his eyes changed from complete submission, to doubt, and finally defiance and he shook his head forcefully and grinned at Remus who lowered his wand.
"Did you see what I was talking about?" he asked the class and a couple of them nodded their heads. "Your turn Harry, Imperio" said Remus with his wand pointed at the black haired boy.
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Ginny had potions first thing in the morning and she was enjoying it just as much as she always did, not at all. They were brewing a mild pain killing potion, but it seemed as though none of the students could get it right, herself included since her mind was still on what had happened during breakfast. Snape was being just a terrible as usual, and so far Gryffindor had lost 30 points due to three of the students arriving late. Just as she was carefully adding two drops of the rare and expensive phoenix tears, the foundation of the castle shook violently and the windows in the upper areas of the dungeon shattered, showering all the students in fine shards of glass and a thick cloud of dust erupted from off the beams of the ceiling. Shocked, Ginny could only listen as more glass shattered from outside in the hallway and the castle continued to tremble. She was about to join her classmates as they took shelter under their work benches when she heard a gasp from the front of the room. Afraid someone had been injured by the falling glass, she looked up to see the potions master clutching his left forearm tightly, Ginny now knew what was happening. His eyes shot to her and they just starred at each other for an instant before they spoke one word in unison "Harry"
Ginny jumped to her feet and ran toward the door with Snape right behind her, yelling over his shoulder for the class to stay put until someone came for them. As they sprinted up the stairs from the dungeon, Snape spoke to Ginny.
"Where is Harry? What class?" he asked frantically as they were approaching the top of the stairs.
"Defense" said Ginny breathlessly as she set foot in the entrance hall. They both stopped in shock for a moment and surveyed the disaster. The entire floor was covered in broken glass and the paintings were either on the floor or hanging at strange angles on the walls, knocked off by the still trembling walls. The many suits of armor that had been standing around the boarders of the room were all lying on the floor, making passage of the hall nearly impossible. Students were running through the mess as well as confused teachers. Minerva McGonagall ran up to the pair in a breathless huff.
"Severus, do you know what is happening" she asked as she followed the pair who were now running up the marble staircase.
"Yes, get all the students except for Gryffindor to their common rooms and lock them in. Put the Gryffindor students in the other house common rooms, it's not safe for them to go to their tower. Get all of the professors to Albus for instructions when the students are safe" he said as he continued to run down the winding hallways, following the frantic Ginny as she continued to tear down the hall, jumping over the debris as though it weren't there.
"Why Severus, what is happening?" she asked
"Potter" was all he said and this statement caused all color to drain from the deputy headmistresses' face.
"Are you sure?" she asked, refusing to believe that what he was saying was true
"Positive" he muttered as they went up another flight of stairs.
"Very well, come on Weasley" she said to the girl who ignored her and kept running.
"No, she needs to stay with us, she may be able to stop this if it is not too late" said Snape, and the other professor just nodded before turning and gathering a group of first years who had run by.
A couple minutes later Snape and Ginny turned down the hallway the defense classroom was on and he put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from running into the room without caution as he spoke to her.
"Ginny, the mark is back, stringer than it has been in a year which means that Voldemort has complete control. Remember, we are not going to be fighting Harry, but instead the most evil wizard in the world who now has control of Harry's powers, which to say the least are nearly infinite. Take your wand out and be prepared to defend yourself and the other students. We can't let anyone get hurt" he said in a very serious tone. With tears in her eyes, Ginny did as he had told her to do and the pair approached the room slowly with their wands pointed at the closed door as the castle immediately stopped shaking and became deathly silent.
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A/N: I know, this is cruel, but I haven't given you guys a good cliff hanger for a while now, it was past due. Well, I'm going to try to answer some of your questions now, so here goes!
John: No, they couldn't just give Harry a disease because, remember, a natural death is one that has not been inflicted by his or anyone else's hand, and that includes knowingly inflicting him with anything.
Kateydidn't-who-should-sign-in: The descendant power is passed down to the first born son through the Gryffindor/Potter line, and Voldemort isn't a member of that line, but Slytherin, and I never said that the power from this line only went to sons, only Gryffindor's power does.
Lady Lupin: Yeah, his arm and leg are healed now. Remember when he was stabbed by that poisoned blade and while Madame Pomfrey was trying to heal him and the shield thing that was around him went out? Well, she healed them then since it was the first time that had happened and the first time she could.
Nkari: I'll give you a hint, there is something I mentioned back in chapter 30 that may give you a hint about that, but you have to find it yourself, but yes, they will find a blood relative of Voldemort, but not without some hard work, and no, it is not Draco.
Coolone007: don't worry, I have no plans to kill Harry off or making him have a short life
Gabriel: there are still many more chapters to come, don't worry, this is going to be loooong
As for the rest of you, I don't have time to answer all of your reviews, but I really appreciate them, thank you so much for your nice feedback! I feel so happy that you like my story! Well if you want this up tonight, then I had better stop rambling and post it, so again thank you! And please review this chapter, but don't hate me for leaving it here, I do have the next one written and will post it within the next day or so, so review and you'll get it faster!! (hint hint)