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Chapter 34
Just as they came to the closed door of the room, a dozen other professors met in the entrance hall, all but Dumbledore looking very confused and more than a little frightened.
"Albus, what is going on? Severus said it has something to do with Harry, he and Ginny Weasley are on their way to the defense room" said the head of Gryffindor
"I only have time to tell you that since Harry returned, he has been in possession of Voldemort's spirit, and he has been able to keep him from taking control of his body and powers until now. I don't know what happened to make Harry loose control, but I do know that we will not be fighting with Harry, we will be fighting Voldemort. Please try to immobilize Harry without injuring him if you see him, because if he dies, then Voldemort is free to take on another host" said the headmaster is a very firm tone to the gathered teachers "I will go find Severus and Miss. Weasley, the rest of you split up, I want two professors in each common room and the rest stationed around the school to prevent him from escaping if possible" he said and immediately all of the other professors left and he made his way to the defense hall.
The pair stayed close to the ground as they entered the classroom, hiding their entrance by staying behind the desks, which for the most part were all tipped over. As they surveyed the room, they realized it was nearly destroyed, all the windows, like in the rest of the castle, had been shattered. The massive bookshelf that stood along the back wall had fallen over and the books were scattered all over the floor of the room. Anything and everything that could be broken was broken and the entire room was shrouded in a thick layer of dust, making the images blurry and difficult to see. As they surveyed the room, they caught sight of the students huddled together against a wall that was partially destroyed with bits of stone littering the floor all around them. Cautiously, Severus and Ginny eased over to the frightened group and took refuge behind the desks with them.
"Are you all alright?" whispered Snape, and they all nodded their heads at him, all their eyes wide and frightened.
"Good, now listen carefully. Where are Remus and Sirius?" asked Snape, and it was Hermione who answered in a shaky voice
"Up front, they were standing next to Harry when Remus cast the imperious curse on him, but then the something happened, the glass all shattered and everything started shaking. What happened to Harry?" she asked desperately
"Not now Granger, get the rest of the students out of here, but be quiet and don't let Harry see you. There should be a professor at the end of the hall who will take you all somewhere safe. Go on, get out of here!" he exclaimed in a whisper as he looked around the turned over desk, trying to catch a glimpse of Harry or the two marauders through the thick cloud of dust.
The seven students crept toward the doorway as Ginny and Snape headed toward the front of the room, all apprehensive. Suddenly, they heard a loud slam and the open door shut hard right as the students had gotten to it, startling them all. Then they heard a voice coming from the front of the room, a very familiar voice, but speaking harshly and with bitter cold.
"Now that isn't very polite, I didn't give you permission to leave did I? You all look so frightened of me, where is that famous Gryffindor courage everyone keeps going on about?" he said with a harsh, humorless laugh
The dust suddenly cleared from the room and they got their first look at the one who had caused this terrible destruction. Harry Potter was standing at the front of the room surveying the huddled students with a look of disdain on his face, but his face was what shocked them the most. His features were the same as always, complete with the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, but the scar wasn't pink like it had always been, instead, it was the darkest black and a few drops of blood were weeping from it. Just then, the boy turned his attention toward Ginny and Snape who were to his right, and they saw his eyes. Instead of the brilliant emerald green, the eyes were blood red and shaped like that of a snake, causing them both to tremble in fear.
"Ah, Severus Snape, the traitor, it is finally time for my revenge" Harry growled out as he sent a malicious smile at the potions master "But I think the most fitting revenge will be making you watch as I torture and kill your precious students, or maybe the werewolf and Black should suffer first. What do you think?"
Snape got to his feet and held his wand level with the boy before him "Let the students go, if you want revenge on me, take it, but they are innocent, leave them out of it" he said defiantly as he kept one eye on Harry and glanced the area with the other for the two professors. He spotted the pair on the opposite side of the room, both with their wands trained on Harry as well, though they looked hesitant to use them.
"What would be the fun in letting them go? I have so much power now; I have the urge to use it to torture these pathetic mudbloods and muggle lovers" he said as he raised his hand toward the huddled students and Ginny, suddenly, thick ropes wound around each of them and their wands soared into the outstretched hand.
"If I didn't know better, I would think you three were either intimidated or scared of my powers, why don't you come out and face me so we can get this over with already, I am anxious to experiment with my new powers" he said in an almost bored voice.
Slowly, the three men got to their feet and approached the red eyed youth with no small amount of fear. They all knew just how powerful Voldemort had been, and they also knew his powers were minimal when compared to Harry's. If Voldemort had indeed gotten control of all of his powers, the castle, and the entire wizarding world were already lost to them. They all came to a halt in front of the boy with their wands outstretched, praying that they could win but knowing they didn't have a prayer of doing so.
Harry smiled his malicious smile and raised his hand in front of his body "This will be fun indeed" he said under his breath. Suddenly, three beams of red light shot out, one toward each of them. They all jumped out of the way of the curses and simultaneously fired stunning spells at the black haired boy in front of them, but he effortlessly deflected the curses and fired more of his own. They continued in this pattern for several minutes before a Harry succeeded in stunning all three men. Laughing he took their wands before he approached the unconscious form of his godfather. With a wide smile on his face, he held his hand over the man and woke him up. Sirius knew what he was about to do, he was going to cast the cruciatus curse on him and then when he had suffered enough pain, he would kill him. He had been one of the best aurors in the ministry before Voldemort's first down fall and had seen his fair share of the dark lords victims, and he had always hoped he would never be one, but looking up into those crazed red eyes starring at him from the face of his godson, he knew he was going to be like those bodies he had seen so many times before in just a matter of minutes and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable pain, but it didn't come.
"Harry, please don't do this" said a quiet voice from somewhere to Sirius' right, a voice he immediately recognized as that of Ginny, and he opened his eyes and looked into the face over him.
"Harry is dead, you pathetic little witch, and I am in control of his powers now. There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop me" said the cold voice as Harry again turned his attention to Sirius
"Harry, I know you can hear me, fight him, don't let him win, don't let him hurt those you care about, please fight him Harry, you're stronger, you can beat him!" said Ginny with determination while tears fell from her eyes.
"Quiet you muggle loving fool! He is dead!" yelled Harry, and he waved his hand at Ginny and silenced her with a spell. She tried desperately to speak, but even though her mouth would move, no sound would come out. Tears began to spill unchecked down her face as she watched Harry put his hand over the prone form of his godfather again, preparing to torture and kill the man and all she could do was watch and prepare herself for the same fate.
Suddenly though, the hand that was hovering over his body began to tremble ever so slightly, but as they watched, the trembling progressed into violent shaking and Harry backed up hastily as he clutched his head in his hands.
"NOOOOO!!!" he screamed out as he fell to his knees on the hard floor. Sirius hurriedly got to his feet and starred at the figure of his godson who continued to scream and moan in agony. He grabbed the wands that were lying on the floor forgotten and woke the other two professors, not taking his eyes from his godson for an instant. Snape joined him as he watched Harry and Remus hastily released the students and told them to run to the first professor they saw. Most of them did so without question, but Ron, Hermione and Ginny tried to stay behind until Remus physically pushed them out and closed the door behind them before turning his attention back to the still screaming boy on the floor. As suddenly as it began though, the screaming stopped and the body on the floor in front of them fell limp in a heap of black robes.
"Is he ok?" asked Remus as the three cautiously approached the unmoving body
"I don't know, keep your wands on him while I check" said Sirius as he knelt by the boy and slowly rolled him over. His scar had gone from pitch black to a deep, raw red as though the wound were brand new and not sixteen years old, but it was still bleeding steadily. Nervously, Sirius reached for his wrist to feel for a pulse and was shocked to find that his black robes were soaked through with blood on his left arm as well. Once he felt the pulse in the wrist, he pushed Harry's robes up and looked at the dark mark that was burned there. Like his scar, the tattoo was dark red as though new and bleeding freely. Swearing under his breath and hearing the men behind him do the same, he tore a strip from Harry's school robes and wound it tightly around his arm to try and staunch the flow of blood. He then heard Snape whisper from behind him.
"The mark, it's fading," he said in a relieved tone
They all breathed a sigh of relief at those words, Harry had somehow managed to take control again, how, they didn't know, but at the moment all that mattered was that he somehow defied the odds again. After several minutes of silence, they heard a weak moan come from the raven haired boy and he slowly opened his eyes, which they were all relieved to see were green again.
"Harry, are you ok?" asked Sirius in concern as he helped the boy sit up.
"Yeah, I think so" he said weakly as he surveyed the destruction "Oh God, I can't believe I let this happen" he said quietly
"Harry, relax, we can talk about this later" said Sirius in a soothing tone
"Did.did anybody get hurt?" he asked hesitantly as he looked at each one in turn, fear evident in his voice
"No, I don't think so" said Snape "everyone was sent to their common rooms after the explosion"
"Thank Merlin" he said wearily as he closed his eyes and gave into unconsciousness from the exhaustion
Sirius gathered Harry into his arms, and was surprised to find that even though he had been at the castle for several months he was still surprisingly thin and light for a seventeen year old boy, and gently moved him to the stretcher Remus had conjured before he stood and the three professors and student made their way to the hospital wing. Halfway down the hall though, they were met with the headmaster who gave them all a questioning and worried look.
"He's fine, he somehow regained control before Voldemort could do any serious damage" said Snape and they continued on their way, passing only a handful of curious professors before they reached the hospital wing.
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Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were waiting in tense silence in the Ravenclaw common room for word about what had happened in the defense room after they left. They were worried not only for the sake of their friend, but also for their professors who were left with him. When Remus had cast the Imperious curse on Harry, something had happened that none of them had expected and with no warning what-so-ever, an unseen force had reverberated throughout the entire room, causing one wall to partially fall and everything else in the room to shatter. Instinctively, they had dived for shelter under their desks, not having any idea about what had just happened, but several minutes later, Ginny and Snape had come in and the truth had become painfully obvious, Voldemort was in control of Harry and his powers.
They had tried to escape with the rest of the students, but the door to the classroom had slammed shut in Hermione's face. They all spun around when they had heard his cold voice speaking to them, and had been terrified to see red eyes flashing within the face of the-boy-who-lived. Only the three of them had known what was happening, and if possible, they were even more frightened than their classmates since they were aware of the fact that they were in the same room as Voldemort. They had watched in complete silence as he bound them and then went to battle with the three professors. Ginny had tried to plead with Harry, to encourage him to fight back, but he had silenced her with a motion and they had been forced to watch in terror as he stood over the crumpled form of Sirius Black and prepared to kill him, Ginny and Hermione closing their eyes, not wanting to see the man die, but just as they were feeling hopeless that they would all be killed, a small amount of hope had returned to them. Ron had taken a sharp intake of breath when he noticed Harry's arm begin to shake, causing the two girls to open their eyes in hope, and they watched as he backed away and fell to the floor, his entire form shaking violently before he screamed and fell to the cold floor, unmoving. Once Remus had released their bonds, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had not followed their classmates as they ran from the room in terror, instead, they had tried to run to Harry's side, but their professor had insisted they leave, and so they had reluctantly walked down the hall until they met up with the other Gryffindor seventh years who were all crowded around the Deputy Headmistress at the end of the hallway. She had taken them hurriedly to the nearest common room, which had turned out to be that of Ravenclaw, and they had been there for over an hour now, waiting. The room had been eerily quiet since they had arrived, its occupants, a mixture of all four houses, had been speaking to their friends in quiet whispers, speculating on what had happened. It was now common knowledge that Harry had had something to do with the explosions that had racked the castle, thanks to the fact that the only witnesses were all present in this room, and Hermione, Ron, and Ginny could only dread what would happen when the rest of the school found out. The trio was sitting in one of the corners of the room, as far away as possible from the other students and the pair of professors that had been stationed to guard them, Sinastra and Flitckwick, and thus far none of them had spoken a word. Ginny was the first to break the silence.
"What do you think is going on?" she asked in a barley audible whisper
"I don't know" answered Ron meekly
"Do you think Harry is going to be all right?"
"I'm sure he will Gin, he's strong" answered Ron in a reassuring tone
"I feel so terrible about what happened this morning" Hermione said with a muffled sob "what if that was the last time we could have talked to him and I accused him of lying to us?" she asked with a tear stained face, looking to Ron
"I feel the same way Hermione, I feel awful for saying those things to him" said Ron
"What if that was what allowed you-know-who to get control?" asked Hermione with wide eyes
"What do you mean?" asked Ginny
"From what I've seen, he probably gets stronger and Harry weaker when he feels negative emotions or negative curses are put on him" she said logically
Ginny just looked at her older friend in shock as the pieces of the puzzle slid into place. Ron though, had doubts.
"I don't know Hermione, I mean, surely if just thinking something negative could cause Voldemort to take over, why hasn't he before now? I mean, he dueled with that Auror and stayed in control and he said you-know-who has been inside him since the beginning of summer" he said
"No, I think she's right Ron" said Ginny with certainty
"What do you mean Gin?" he asked his little sister
"Listen, you remember the morning Sirius and everyone returned from the ministry, right before Christmas?" asked Ginny
"I will never forget that night" said Ron with a shiver, remembering the horrors of seeing Harry receive the dark mark
"Well, that morning, I went with Harry to meet with the headmaster and Sirius, Snape, and Remus and Harry told us a few things" she began
"What things?" asked Ron impatiently
"Well, that was the day he told us about you-know-who being inside of him. He said that anytime he had doubts or was angry that you-know-who spoke to him, trying to get him to do things that he normally would not even think about doing"
"What kind of things did he try to get him to do?" asked Hermione in a small voice
"During the meeting, he told him that we would all turn away from him now that we knew the truth, and that he would get expelled and sent to Azkaban and have the kiss. He said that I would break up with him too. And during the duel, he tried to make him kill that Auror, and when he refused, he cast some sort of curse on him" she explained, noticing that both Ron and Hermione's faces were now void of all color
"What does this have to do with Hermione's theory?" asked Ron when he finally found his voice
"You see, during the duel, Harry was angry because he had just been stabbed, and Voldemort was able to speak to him and curse him, and when we were in Dumbledore's office, he was worried about how we would react and Voldemort was speaking to him again. He told me that any time that he is afraid about something or angry with someone then Voldemort speaks to him more than normal, trying to convince him that his worries are true. What happened this morning was probably a combination of him being angry with you two and then having an unforgivable curse cast on him. It probably made Voldemort strong enough to take control of him!" Ginny finished in triumph
"But why wasn't he able to get control when Harry was put under the cruciatus curse?" asked Ron
"I'm not sure, but I do know that Harry said Voldemort was getting increasingly stronger, so maybe he was just now strong enough to take over with the combination of the fight and dark magic being cast on him" said Ginny
"Ok, this is starting to make sense now" said Ron "But are you saying that Voldemort has been trying to get Harry to doubt us by telling him lies all year and he has ignored everything he has said?" asked Ron in amazement
"Yes" said Ginny
"Bloody hell" was all he could say before the portrait hole to the royal blue room opened up to reveal Professor Snape.
Utter silence fell over the room as everyone took in his dirty and snagged robes and disheveled hair. He gazed around the room until his eyes fell on the three in the corner and he made his way over to them. When they saw he was headed their way, they all stood and began to worry about what he was going to say.
"Ginny, Ron, Hermione, please come with me" he said quietly when he had reached them. Nodding mutely and not even realizing that he had called them by their first names for the first time ever, they followed him from the room with all the other students looking at them curiously.
They followed Snape in silence from the Ravenclaw common room all the way to the hospital wing, all three of them in surveying the damage to the school in shock. The Ground was covered in a thin layer of glass and dust that had fallen from the high beams while the castle had been shaking, and they had to be careful to watch where they were going to avoid tripping over toppled suits of armor or fallen paintings. Due to the state of the castle, it took them twice as long as normal to reach their destination, and when they did, they were met by Dumbledore and Remus, who looked just as bad as Snape at the moment, covered in dust, but he had a painful looking bruise on his forehead. His once new robes were now slightly torn from the falling debris, but his expression was one of relief.
"Thank Merlin you three are all right" he breathed as the three students approached
"Yes, we were fortunate that there were no serious injuries" said Dumbledore with a small smile
"Sir, what happened to Harry? Is he ok?" asked Ginny in a shaky voice
"Yes Miss. Weasley, Harry will be fine in a couple of days. His powers were almost completely exhausted when Voldemort took control of them, and the struggle he went through exhausted him physically as well, but other than that, he is completely fine" said the headmaster in reassurance to the young girl. When they heard this, all three students relaxed and let out breaths that they hadn't realized they had been holding.
"When will we be able to see him?" asked Ron
"He's asleep right now, Sirius is with him, but we will let you know when he wakes up" said Remus with a small smile
"What I wanted to speak to you about is rather important" said the headmaster suddenly "It is probably common knowledge by now that Harry was the one who was behind what happened this morning" he said while he surveyed the students, who all nodded to show what he said was true "besides Harry himself and Sirius, we are the only other people who know the truth about what happened, and we need to keep it that way. Unless I am very much mistaken, the rest of the remaining death eaters noticed the return of their dark marks and will be searching for their master now, but it must be kept secret that Harry is holding Voldemort" he said forcefully.
"Albus, what are you planning on telling the rest of the school, as well as the press, they are undoubtedly on their way already" said Snape
"The other professors are currently fixing the main areas of the castle so that the students can congregate in the great hall and then return to their proper common rooms. I will address the entire school tonight at dinner, and the story they will receive will not be too different from the truth. I will tell them that a dark wizard somehow cast a mind control spell on Harry and tried to make him harm the students and staff, but that he managed to resist the urges. That is all they need to know, and all they will find out" said Dumbledore, as though he were daring anyone to contradict his wishes, which of course, no one would.
"Do you have any idea what allowed Voldemort to become powerful enough to take control of Harry all of a sudden?" asked Snape
"The only thing we know is that as soon as Remus cast the imperious curse on him, he lost control" Dumbledore said in a tired voice
"Headmaster, we may have come up with something more" said Hermione hesitantly, looking up to the aged man, seeking permission to continue
"Please Miss. Granger, enlighten us" said the headmaster with a slight twinkle in his eyes
"We were talking about the times that Harry said the voice was the strongest, and the time you-know-who cursed him. During all of these times, Harry was either feeling very negative emotions, such as hate, anger, or fear" she explained "and then this morning, we got into an argument with him, and he was very angry about the things we said, and then he was subjected to one of the most evil curses, which combined probably made him weak enough to allow him to loose control" she finished in a rush
The three professors studied her for a few moments while they considered what she had said before Snape voiced his opinion.
"It makes sense Albus, that night in the hallway, he was terrified by seeing me holding that dagger, and that probably allowed for Voldemort to keep him under the curse for so long" he said thoughtfully
"What are you talking about Severus? When was Harry cursed!?" demanded Remus and the students just looked at him accusingly
"Christmas night, I called Harry up here to discuss a few things with him, and Severus tried to present him with the dagger of Slytherin, but before he could give it to him, Harry banished it and collapsed on the floor, and Voldemort held him under the curse for several minutes before releasing him" explained the headmaster "What you are saying though does explain several questions, I believe you have discovered the truth Miss. Granger" he said with a small smile "The question now is what to do to prevent this from happening again and prevent the remaining death eaters from finding him" he said gravely
"What can we do? There is no way we can help Harry with this, is there?" asked Remus
"The only thing we can do to help him is help him train to increase his mental strength to make it harder for Voldemort to take control again, and try to keep him away from any dark magic until he is strong enough to withstand it, but until he is strong enough, he must remain hidden from the death eaters, he won't be powerful enough to fight off Voldemort again for some time" he said in a voice filled with emotional pain
"Surely you aren't thinking about sending him away from the castle, this is the safest place there is against dark wizards" said Remus in shock
"I'm afraid we have no other choice Remus, the remaining death eaters are nearly impossible to identify due to the lack of the mark, any one of them could come onto the grounds at any time. Harry must be kept far away from them until he is strong enough to face them"
"Where is he going and for how long?" asked Ginny
"I'm afraid I can't tell any of you that, but he will be able to speak to you before he leaves, I promise. You must not tell any of your school mates about this conversation though, I will tell them that Harry has gone away to recover, but that is all" he answered "Now, I must ask you three to go to the great hall, and help the professors there repair the damage as quickly as possible, Severus, go with them. Remus, you had better get your head looked at by Poppy, it can't be to pleasant" he said in closing as he turned and headed toward the entrance hall to do his share in the clean up efforts.
Dejectedly, Ginny followed Ron, Hermione, and Snape to the great hall, refusing to believe that Harry would be gone again in just a couple days, and she would have no idea where to, or when he would return again.
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A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter! I really appreciated them! Ok, time to answer a few more questions:
Pouchie: I will tell you now that Shaw is not Voldemorts descendant, and how he got the dagger will be discovered later
John: Did this answer your question about the imperious curse, if not, here it it-Voldemort is stronger whenever Harry is feeling negative emotions, or is hit by dark magic, and those two things combined caused Voldemort to take control of him
Pudadingding: yes, Voldemort did leave some of his powers in Harry when he tried to kill him, but at no point did Voldemort give Harry any of his blood, so they are not related in that sense. I guess they could be blood brothers now that Voldemort has Harry's blood, but that doesn't help Harry at all since the only way he can destroy Voldemort is by using three people, a relative of Harry, a relative of Voldemort, and Harry himself, and Harry can't act as two of those people, so they need someone else. About Voldemort now having Gryffindor blood, he does, but remember that only the first born son of one of Gryffindor's descendants will have his power, and Voldemort wasn't born to a Gryffindor descendant, so he doesn't have the power, but yes, Harry does. Does that make sense? If not, e-mail me and I'll try to explain it better.
Greer Harper: look at the answer to John's question if this chapter didn't explain that.
Everyone else: sorry if I gave some of you panic attacks with the cliff hanger, but was it worth it? Probably not since you are probably going to kill me now for what just happened huh? Well, too bad! If you have any questions, leave them in a review. I hope you liked this chapter, and please review it to let me know what you think!
Chapter 34
Just as they came to the closed door of the room, a dozen other professors met in the entrance hall, all but Dumbledore looking very confused and more than a little frightened.
"Albus, what is going on? Severus said it has something to do with Harry, he and Ginny Weasley are on their way to the defense room" said the head of Gryffindor
"I only have time to tell you that since Harry returned, he has been in possession of Voldemort's spirit, and he has been able to keep him from taking control of his body and powers until now. I don't know what happened to make Harry loose control, but I do know that we will not be fighting with Harry, we will be fighting Voldemort. Please try to immobilize Harry without injuring him if you see him, because if he dies, then Voldemort is free to take on another host" said the headmaster is a very firm tone to the gathered teachers "I will go find Severus and Miss. Weasley, the rest of you split up, I want two professors in each common room and the rest stationed around the school to prevent him from escaping if possible" he said and immediately all of the other professors left and he made his way to the defense hall.
The pair stayed close to the ground as they entered the classroom, hiding their entrance by staying behind the desks, which for the most part were all tipped over. As they surveyed the room, they realized it was nearly destroyed, all the windows, like in the rest of the castle, had been shattered. The massive bookshelf that stood along the back wall had fallen over and the books were scattered all over the floor of the room. Anything and everything that could be broken was broken and the entire room was shrouded in a thick layer of dust, making the images blurry and difficult to see. As they surveyed the room, they caught sight of the students huddled together against a wall that was partially destroyed with bits of stone littering the floor all around them. Cautiously, Severus and Ginny eased over to the frightened group and took refuge behind the desks with them.
"Are you all alright?" whispered Snape, and they all nodded their heads at him, all their eyes wide and frightened.
"Good, now listen carefully. Where are Remus and Sirius?" asked Snape, and it was Hermione who answered in a shaky voice
"Up front, they were standing next to Harry when Remus cast the imperious curse on him, but then the something happened, the glass all shattered and everything started shaking. What happened to Harry?" she asked desperately
"Not now Granger, get the rest of the students out of here, but be quiet and don't let Harry see you. There should be a professor at the end of the hall who will take you all somewhere safe. Go on, get out of here!" he exclaimed in a whisper as he looked around the turned over desk, trying to catch a glimpse of Harry or the two marauders through the thick cloud of dust.
The seven students crept toward the doorway as Ginny and Snape headed toward the front of the room, all apprehensive. Suddenly, they heard a loud slam and the open door shut hard right as the students had gotten to it, startling them all. Then they heard a voice coming from the front of the room, a very familiar voice, but speaking harshly and with bitter cold.
"Now that isn't very polite, I didn't give you permission to leave did I? You all look so frightened of me, where is that famous Gryffindor courage everyone keeps going on about?" he said with a harsh, humorless laugh
The dust suddenly cleared from the room and they got their first look at the one who had caused this terrible destruction. Harry Potter was standing at the front of the room surveying the huddled students with a look of disdain on his face, but his face was what shocked them the most. His features were the same as always, complete with the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, but the scar wasn't pink like it had always been, instead, it was the darkest black and a few drops of blood were weeping from it. Just then, the boy turned his attention toward Ginny and Snape who were to his right, and they saw his eyes. Instead of the brilliant emerald green, the eyes were blood red and shaped like that of a snake, causing them both to tremble in fear.
"Ah, Severus Snape, the traitor, it is finally time for my revenge" Harry growled out as he sent a malicious smile at the potions master "But I think the most fitting revenge will be making you watch as I torture and kill your precious students, or maybe the werewolf and Black should suffer first. What do you think?"
Snape got to his feet and held his wand level with the boy before him "Let the students go, if you want revenge on me, take it, but they are innocent, leave them out of it" he said defiantly as he kept one eye on Harry and glanced the area with the other for the two professors. He spotted the pair on the opposite side of the room, both with their wands trained on Harry as well, though they looked hesitant to use them.
"What would be the fun in letting them go? I have so much power now; I have the urge to use it to torture these pathetic mudbloods and muggle lovers" he said as he raised his hand toward the huddled students and Ginny, suddenly, thick ropes wound around each of them and their wands soared into the outstretched hand.
"If I didn't know better, I would think you three were either intimidated or scared of my powers, why don't you come out and face me so we can get this over with already, I am anxious to experiment with my new powers" he said in an almost bored voice.
Slowly, the three men got to their feet and approached the red eyed youth with no small amount of fear. They all knew just how powerful Voldemort had been, and they also knew his powers were minimal when compared to Harry's. If Voldemort had indeed gotten control of all of his powers, the castle, and the entire wizarding world were already lost to them. They all came to a halt in front of the boy with their wands outstretched, praying that they could win but knowing they didn't have a prayer of doing so.
Harry smiled his malicious smile and raised his hand in front of his body "This will be fun indeed" he said under his breath. Suddenly, three beams of red light shot out, one toward each of them. They all jumped out of the way of the curses and simultaneously fired stunning spells at the black haired boy in front of them, but he effortlessly deflected the curses and fired more of his own. They continued in this pattern for several minutes before a Harry succeeded in stunning all three men. Laughing he took their wands before he approached the unconscious form of his godfather. With a wide smile on his face, he held his hand over the man and woke him up. Sirius knew what he was about to do, he was going to cast the cruciatus curse on him and then when he had suffered enough pain, he would kill him. He had been one of the best aurors in the ministry before Voldemort's first down fall and had seen his fair share of the dark lords victims, and he had always hoped he would never be one, but looking up into those crazed red eyes starring at him from the face of his godson, he knew he was going to be like those bodies he had seen so many times before in just a matter of minutes and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable pain, but it didn't come.
"Harry, please don't do this" said a quiet voice from somewhere to Sirius' right, a voice he immediately recognized as that of Ginny, and he opened his eyes and looked into the face over him.
"Harry is dead, you pathetic little witch, and I am in control of his powers now. There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop me" said the cold voice as Harry again turned his attention to Sirius
"Harry, I know you can hear me, fight him, don't let him win, don't let him hurt those you care about, please fight him Harry, you're stronger, you can beat him!" said Ginny with determination while tears fell from her eyes.
"Quiet you muggle loving fool! He is dead!" yelled Harry, and he waved his hand at Ginny and silenced her with a spell. She tried desperately to speak, but even though her mouth would move, no sound would come out. Tears began to spill unchecked down her face as she watched Harry put his hand over the prone form of his godfather again, preparing to torture and kill the man and all she could do was watch and prepare herself for the same fate.
Suddenly though, the hand that was hovering over his body began to tremble ever so slightly, but as they watched, the trembling progressed into violent shaking and Harry backed up hastily as he clutched his head in his hands.
"NOOOOO!!!" he screamed out as he fell to his knees on the hard floor. Sirius hurriedly got to his feet and starred at the figure of his godson who continued to scream and moan in agony. He grabbed the wands that were lying on the floor forgotten and woke the other two professors, not taking his eyes from his godson for an instant. Snape joined him as he watched Harry and Remus hastily released the students and told them to run to the first professor they saw. Most of them did so without question, but Ron, Hermione and Ginny tried to stay behind until Remus physically pushed them out and closed the door behind them before turning his attention back to the still screaming boy on the floor. As suddenly as it began though, the screaming stopped and the body on the floor in front of them fell limp in a heap of black robes.
"Is he ok?" asked Remus as the three cautiously approached the unmoving body
"I don't know, keep your wands on him while I check" said Sirius as he knelt by the boy and slowly rolled him over. His scar had gone from pitch black to a deep, raw red as though the wound were brand new and not sixteen years old, but it was still bleeding steadily. Nervously, Sirius reached for his wrist to feel for a pulse and was shocked to find that his black robes were soaked through with blood on his left arm as well. Once he felt the pulse in the wrist, he pushed Harry's robes up and looked at the dark mark that was burned there. Like his scar, the tattoo was dark red as though new and bleeding freely. Swearing under his breath and hearing the men behind him do the same, he tore a strip from Harry's school robes and wound it tightly around his arm to try and staunch the flow of blood. He then heard Snape whisper from behind him.
"The mark, it's fading," he said in a relieved tone
They all breathed a sigh of relief at those words, Harry had somehow managed to take control again, how, they didn't know, but at the moment all that mattered was that he somehow defied the odds again. After several minutes of silence, they heard a weak moan come from the raven haired boy and he slowly opened his eyes, which they were all relieved to see were green again.
"Harry, are you ok?" asked Sirius in concern as he helped the boy sit up.
"Yeah, I think so" he said weakly as he surveyed the destruction "Oh God, I can't believe I let this happen" he said quietly
"Harry, relax, we can talk about this later" said Sirius in a soothing tone
"Did.did anybody get hurt?" he asked hesitantly as he looked at each one in turn, fear evident in his voice
"No, I don't think so" said Snape "everyone was sent to their common rooms after the explosion"
"Thank Merlin" he said wearily as he closed his eyes and gave into unconsciousness from the exhaustion
Sirius gathered Harry into his arms, and was surprised to find that even though he had been at the castle for several months he was still surprisingly thin and light for a seventeen year old boy, and gently moved him to the stretcher Remus had conjured before he stood and the three professors and student made their way to the hospital wing. Halfway down the hall though, they were met with the headmaster who gave them all a questioning and worried look.
"He's fine, he somehow regained control before Voldemort could do any serious damage" said Snape and they continued on their way, passing only a handful of curious professors before they reached the hospital wing.
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Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were waiting in tense silence in the Ravenclaw common room for word about what had happened in the defense room after they left. They were worried not only for the sake of their friend, but also for their professors who were left with him. When Remus had cast the Imperious curse on Harry, something had happened that none of them had expected and with no warning what-so-ever, an unseen force had reverberated throughout the entire room, causing one wall to partially fall and everything else in the room to shatter. Instinctively, they had dived for shelter under their desks, not having any idea about what had just happened, but several minutes later, Ginny and Snape had come in and the truth had become painfully obvious, Voldemort was in control of Harry and his powers.
They had tried to escape with the rest of the students, but the door to the classroom had slammed shut in Hermione's face. They all spun around when they had heard his cold voice speaking to them, and had been terrified to see red eyes flashing within the face of the-boy-who-lived. Only the three of them had known what was happening, and if possible, they were even more frightened than their classmates since they were aware of the fact that they were in the same room as Voldemort. They had watched in complete silence as he bound them and then went to battle with the three professors. Ginny had tried to plead with Harry, to encourage him to fight back, but he had silenced her with a motion and they had been forced to watch in terror as he stood over the crumpled form of Sirius Black and prepared to kill him, Ginny and Hermione closing their eyes, not wanting to see the man die, but just as they were feeling hopeless that they would all be killed, a small amount of hope had returned to them. Ron had taken a sharp intake of breath when he noticed Harry's arm begin to shake, causing the two girls to open their eyes in hope, and they watched as he backed away and fell to the floor, his entire form shaking violently before he screamed and fell to the cold floor, unmoving. Once Remus had released their bonds, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had not followed their classmates as they ran from the room in terror, instead, they had tried to run to Harry's side, but their professor had insisted they leave, and so they had reluctantly walked down the hall until they met up with the other Gryffindor seventh years who were all crowded around the Deputy Headmistress at the end of the hallway. She had taken them hurriedly to the nearest common room, which had turned out to be that of Ravenclaw, and they had been there for over an hour now, waiting. The room had been eerily quiet since they had arrived, its occupants, a mixture of all four houses, had been speaking to their friends in quiet whispers, speculating on what had happened. It was now common knowledge that Harry had had something to do with the explosions that had racked the castle, thanks to the fact that the only witnesses were all present in this room, and Hermione, Ron, and Ginny could only dread what would happen when the rest of the school found out. The trio was sitting in one of the corners of the room, as far away as possible from the other students and the pair of professors that had been stationed to guard them, Sinastra and Flitckwick, and thus far none of them had spoken a word. Ginny was the first to break the silence.
"What do you think is going on?" she asked in a barley audible whisper
"I don't know" answered Ron meekly
"Do you think Harry is going to be all right?"
"I'm sure he will Gin, he's strong" answered Ron in a reassuring tone
"I feel so terrible about what happened this morning" Hermione said with a muffled sob "what if that was the last time we could have talked to him and I accused him of lying to us?" she asked with a tear stained face, looking to Ron
"I feel the same way Hermione, I feel awful for saying those things to him" said Ron
"What if that was what allowed you-know-who to get control?" asked Hermione with wide eyes
"What do you mean?" asked Ginny
"From what I've seen, he probably gets stronger and Harry weaker when he feels negative emotions or negative curses are put on him" she said logically
Ginny just looked at her older friend in shock as the pieces of the puzzle slid into place. Ron though, had doubts.
"I don't know Hermione, I mean, surely if just thinking something negative could cause Voldemort to take over, why hasn't he before now? I mean, he dueled with that Auror and stayed in control and he said you-know-who has been inside him since the beginning of summer" he said
"No, I think she's right Ron" said Ginny with certainty
"What do you mean Gin?" he asked his little sister
"Listen, you remember the morning Sirius and everyone returned from the ministry, right before Christmas?" asked Ginny
"I will never forget that night" said Ron with a shiver, remembering the horrors of seeing Harry receive the dark mark
"Well, that morning, I went with Harry to meet with the headmaster and Sirius, Snape, and Remus and Harry told us a few things" she began
"What things?" asked Ron impatiently
"Well, that was the day he told us about you-know-who being inside of him. He said that anytime he had doubts or was angry that you-know-who spoke to him, trying to get him to do things that he normally would not even think about doing"
"What kind of things did he try to get him to do?" asked Hermione in a small voice
"During the meeting, he told him that we would all turn away from him now that we knew the truth, and that he would get expelled and sent to Azkaban and have the kiss. He said that I would break up with him too. And during the duel, he tried to make him kill that Auror, and when he refused, he cast some sort of curse on him" she explained, noticing that both Ron and Hermione's faces were now void of all color
"What does this have to do with Hermione's theory?" asked Ron when he finally found his voice
"You see, during the duel, Harry was angry because he had just been stabbed, and Voldemort was able to speak to him and curse him, and when we were in Dumbledore's office, he was worried about how we would react and Voldemort was speaking to him again. He told me that any time that he is afraid about something or angry with someone then Voldemort speaks to him more than normal, trying to convince him that his worries are true. What happened this morning was probably a combination of him being angry with you two and then having an unforgivable curse cast on him. It probably made Voldemort strong enough to take control of him!" Ginny finished in triumph
"But why wasn't he able to get control when Harry was put under the cruciatus curse?" asked Ron
"I'm not sure, but I do know that Harry said Voldemort was getting increasingly stronger, so maybe he was just now strong enough to take over with the combination of the fight and dark magic being cast on him" said Ginny
"Ok, this is starting to make sense now" said Ron "But are you saying that Voldemort has been trying to get Harry to doubt us by telling him lies all year and he has ignored everything he has said?" asked Ron in amazement
"Yes" said Ginny
"Bloody hell" was all he could say before the portrait hole to the royal blue room opened up to reveal Professor Snape.
Utter silence fell over the room as everyone took in his dirty and snagged robes and disheveled hair. He gazed around the room until his eyes fell on the three in the corner and he made his way over to them. When they saw he was headed their way, they all stood and began to worry about what he was going to say.
"Ginny, Ron, Hermione, please come with me" he said quietly when he had reached them. Nodding mutely and not even realizing that he had called them by their first names for the first time ever, they followed him from the room with all the other students looking at them curiously.
They followed Snape in silence from the Ravenclaw common room all the way to the hospital wing, all three of them in surveying the damage to the school in shock. The Ground was covered in a thin layer of glass and dust that had fallen from the high beams while the castle had been shaking, and they had to be careful to watch where they were going to avoid tripping over toppled suits of armor or fallen paintings. Due to the state of the castle, it took them twice as long as normal to reach their destination, and when they did, they were met by Dumbledore and Remus, who looked just as bad as Snape at the moment, covered in dust, but he had a painful looking bruise on his forehead. His once new robes were now slightly torn from the falling debris, but his expression was one of relief.
"Thank Merlin you three are all right" he breathed as the three students approached
"Yes, we were fortunate that there were no serious injuries" said Dumbledore with a small smile
"Sir, what happened to Harry? Is he ok?" asked Ginny in a shaky voice
"Yes Miss. Weasley, Harry will be fine in a couple of days. His powers were almost completely exhausted when Voldemort took control of them, and the struggle he went through exhausted him physically as well, but other than that, he is completely fine" said the headmaster in reassurance to the young girl. When they heard this, all three students relaxed and let out breaths that they hadn't realized they had been holding.
"When will we be able to see him?" asked Ron
"He's asleep right now, Sirius is with him, but we will let you know when he wakes up" said Remus with a small smile
"What I wanted to speak to you about is rather important" said the headmaster suddenly "It is probably common knowledge by now that Harry was the one who was behind what happened this morning" he said while he surveyed the students, who all nodded to show what he said was true "besides Harry himself and Sirius, we are the only other people who know the truth about what happened, and we need to keep it that way. Unless I am very much mistaken, the rest of the remaining death eaters noticed the return of their dark marks and will be searching for their master now, but it must be kept secret that Harry is holding Voldemort" he said forcefully.
"Albus, what are you planning on telling the rest of the school, as well as the press, they are undoubtedly on their way already" said Snape
"The other professors are currently fixing the main areas of the castle so that the students can congregate in the great hall and then return to their proper common rooms. I will address the entire school tonight at dinner, and the story they will receive will not be too different from the truth. I will tell them that a dark wizard somehow cast a mind control spell on Harry and tried to make him harm the students and staff, but that he managed to resist the urges. That is all they need to know, and all they will find out" said Dumbledore, as though he were daring anyone to contradict his wishes, which of course, no one would.
"Do you have any idea what allowed Voldemort to become powerful enough to take control of Harry all of a sudden?" asked Snape
"The only thing we know is that as soon as Remus cast the imperious curse on him, he lost control" Dumbledore said in a tired voice
"Headmaster, we may have come up with something more" said Hermione hesitantly, looking up to the aged man, seeking permission to continue
"Please Miss. Granger, enlighten us" said the headmaster with a slight twinkle in his eyes
"We were talking about the times that Harry said the voice was the strongest, and the time you-know-who cursed him. During all of these times, Harry was either feeling very negative emotions, such as hate, anger, or fear" she explained "and then this morning, we got into an argument with him, and he was very angry about the things we said, and then he was subjected to one of the most evil curses, which combined probably made him weak enough to allow him to loose control" she finished in a rush
The three professors studied her for a few moments while they considered what she had said before Snape voiced his opinion.
"It makes sense Albus, that night in the hallway, he was terrified by seeing me holding that dagger, and that probably allowed for Voldemort to keep him under the curse for so long" he said thoughtfully
"What are you talking about Severus? When was Harry cursed!?" demanded Remus and the students just looked at him accusingly
"Christmas night, I called Harry up here to discuss a few things with him, and Severus tried to present him with the dagger of Slytherin, but before he could give it to him, Harry banished it and collapsed on the floor, and Voldemort held him under the curse for several minutes before releasing him" explained the headmaster "What you are saying though does explain several questions, I believe you have discovered the truth Miss. Granger" he said with a small smile "The question now is what to do to prevent this from happening again and prevent the remaining death eaters from finding him" he said gravely
"What can we do? There is no way we can help Harry with this, is there?" asked Remus
"The only thing we can do to help him is help him train to increase his mental strength to make it harder for Voldemort to take control again, and try to keep him away from any dark magic until he is strong enough to withstand it, but until he is strong enough, he must remain hidden from the death eaters, he won't be powerful enough to fight off Voldemort again for some time" he said in a voice filled with emotional pain
"Surely you aren't thinking about sending him away from the castle, this is the safest place there is against dark wizards" said Remus in shock
"I'm afraid we have no other choice Remus, the remaining death eaters are nearly impossible to identify due to the lack of the mark, any one of them could come onto the grounds at any time. Harry must be kept far away from them until he is strong enough to face them"
"Where is he going and for how long?" asked Ginny
"I'm afraid I can't tell any of you that, but he will be able to speak to you before he leaves, I promise. You must not tell any of your school mates about this conversation though, I will tell them that Harry has gone away to recover, but that is all" he answered "Now, I must ask you three to go to the great hall, and help the professors there repair the damage as quickly as possible, Severus, go with them. Remus, you had better get your head looked at by Poppy, it can't be to pleasant" he said in closing as he turned and headed toward the entrance hall to do his share in the clean up efforts.
Dejectedly, Ginny followed Ron, Hermione, and Snape to the great hall, refusing to believe that Harry would be gone again in just a couple days, and she would have no idea where to, or when he would return again.
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A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter! I really appreciated them! Ok, time to answer a few more questions:
Pouchie: I will tell you now that Shaw is not Voldemorts descendant, and how he got the dagger will be discovered later
John: Did this answer your question about the imperious curse, if not, here it it-Voldemort is stronger whenever Harry is feeling negative emotions, or is hit by dark magic, and those two things combined caused Voldemort to take control of him
Pudadingding: yes, Voldemort did leave some of his powers in Harry when he tried to kill him, but at no point did Voldemort give Harry any of his blood, so they are not related in that sense. I guess they could be blood brothers now that Voldemort has Harry's blood, but that doesn't help Harry at all since the only way he can destroy Voldemort is by using three people, a relative of Harry, a relative of Voldemort, and Harry himself, and Harry can't act as two of those people, so they need someone else. About Voldemort now having Gryffindor blood, he does, but remember that only the first born son of one of Gryffindor's descendants will have his power, and Voldemort wasn't born to a Gryffindor descendant, so he doesn't have the power, but yes, Harry does. Does that make sense? If not, e-mail me and I'll try to explain it better.
Greer Harper: look at the answer to John's question if this chapter didn't explain that.
Everyone else: sorry if I gave some of you panic attacks with the cliff hanger, but was it worth it? Probably not since you are probably going to kill me now for what just happened huh? Well, too bad! If you have any questions, leave them in a review. I hope you liked this chapter, and please review it to let me know what you think!