Harry Potter & the Dark Lord – Chapter 9
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. I sooooo envy her!!!
A/N: Thank you all for reviewing and I'm terribly sorry it's taken me so long to post. I had hoped to get this up by Halloween, but alas, it was not to be. Please, please, please read & review!!
Harry faintly heard Dumbledore's magically magnified voice – everything was growing hazy. He saw Ron and Hermione's concerned faces looking down upon him before darkness enveloped him. Harry sank into the cool shadows, feeling peculiarly calm. The pain in his scar subsided and Harry began to feel oddly content. Out of the silence, Harry thought he heard a weak sound. The sound grew stronger, until eventually it turned out to be a voice, although it still seemed very far away. But it seemed to be growing closer, and sounded strangely familiar.
"Not Harry! Please…have mercy…have mercy…."
Harry, already familiar with the scene, dreaded what he knew was going to happen. Sure enough, there was Voldemort's cold laugh and his mother's blood-curdling scream. He saw a blinding flash of green light and his mother's voice was silenced. Then Harry heard something he hadn't heard before…a clamor, as if something was dragging along the floor, and a man's voice.
"NOOO!!!! LILY!!!!! Why??? Why???" The man began to sob. "GODDAMN YOU!!! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!!!"
Harry jolted awake. He saw Dumbledore staring down at him, his blue eyes flooded with concern. Harry glanced around and saw he was still outside by the bench, although he was now lying on the floor. Ron and Hermione were still there – Ron looked terrified and Hermione's eyes were red, as if she had been crying. Harry tried to sit up, but his head began to swim.
"Lay back Harry, don't try to move. Madam Pomfrey will be here in a moment," Dumbledore said. True to his word, Madam Pomfrey appeared shortly, took one look at Harry and shook her head, as if Harry had done this to himself on purpose.
"Everything seems to happen to this one, doesn't it? Poor dear..." she muttered as she lifted Harry's head up and held a vial of green potion to his lips. It's not like I want to relive my parent's deaths, Harry thought indignantly. He grimaced as he swallowed the bitter liquid, but as it filled his insides, the pounding in his head slowed, eventually easing to a dull ache. "Let's get you inside now."
Madam Pomfrey magically conjured a stretcher, but Harry waved it away. "I can walk," he said irritably. Harry hated feeling that he had to be taken care of, as if he were a child. He had just heard his parents' voices from when he was a child and he could do nothing to stop their deaths. They were brave and strong in their last moments, Harry thought, and he felt a need to prove that they didn't leave behind a weak son. He owed that to them.
Dumbledore led the group into the castle, but instead of going to the hospital wing, Harry noticed they were heading to the stone gargoyle that hid the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Madam Pomfrey must have noticed this too, for she looked extremely annoyed, saying "I really think the boy needs his rest…"
"He'll rest soon enough, Poppy. I need to speak to him first." Madam Pomfrey held her tongue with one look at the serious expression on Dumbledore's face. Soon they were standing on the spiral staircase, magically moving them up to Dumbledore's office. Once inside, Harry took a seat, while Ron and Hermione hung back. Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, was standing on his perch. He flew over to Harry and rested on his arm. Dumbledore let a small smile escape as he noticed this.
"So, your scar hurt again Harry. Did you see Voldemort?" Harry noticed the glint in Dumbledore's eyes was sharper than ever. He hesitated a moment, not sure if he should tell what he heard, but he remembered what Sirius had asked of him and immediately made up his mind.
"No," Harry said firmly, "I relived my parents death, like when the Dementors were around. Except…" Harry paused – this was the part that had him confused, and he wasn't sure how to explain it, "Except it was all wrong. I heard Voldemort kill my mum, but…" Harry faltered.
"Go on Harry, what did you hear?" Dumbledore urged gently.
Harry licked his lips. His mouth had all of a sudden gone very dry. He took a deep breath before continuing, more quietly, "I…I heard my dad. After my mum was killed. He was swearing to kill Voldemort for what he had done." Harry stopped as he saw a hint of surprise in Dumbledore's eyes.
"Are you absolutely sure, Harry?"
Was he sure? Yes, that was definitely his father's voice. After hearing it the first time in his third year, he knew he would never forget it. Harry nodded slowly, "I'm positive. I've heard his voice before…but I've heard him taking on Voldemort himself to give my mum a chance to get away. I always thought he died first…"
"Yes, that is what we all had believed." Dumbledore was deep in thought. "Although this does explain something that has been bothering me the last few months."
Harry was confused and wanted Dumbledore to continue, but Dumbledore remained silent, not adding anything to his statement. Madam Pomfrey was looking impatient, as if the were all wasting valuable time that Harry should be spending recuperating. Ron and Hermione were standing very close to each other in the corner, looking extremely frightened. Hermione gathered her courage and spoke up, breaking the silence.
"Professor Dumbledore," her voice sounded very loud after the short period of silence, "why did you send everyone to the common rooms? You didn't know about Harry until I came and got you."
Dumbledore's head snapped towards Hermione as if he had awoken from a trance. His blue eyes sparkled as he answered, "You're correct, Miss Granger, very perceptive of you. No, I did not call everyone back to the common rooms because of Harry, although it may very well be connected. Voldemort has appeared in Hogsmeade."
Everyone gasped. So that explained his scar hurting, Harry thought. But why had he seen his parents, and not Voldemort's current victims? Harry decided to ask Dumbledore. "Professor, if Dumbledore was nearby, why didn't I see what he was doing? Why did I see my parents instead?" He looked at Dumbledore anxiously, hoping he would choose to answer.
Dumbledore reflected for a moment. "I can't answer that for sure because I don't know myself. Your scar hurting fits with our previous theory, with Voldemort so close by. My guess is that something or someone in Hogsmeade may have reminded Voldemort of that day. That night was likely the worst night of Voldemort's life, so if he were reliving it for some reason, his hatred could be so strong that it made you relive it along with him."
Ron, his voice shaky, asked, "Did anyone get hurt in Hogsmeade?"
Dumbledore's eyes grew almost angry, and he answered bitterly, "Yes. Three wizards were killed. Three good wizards – they were former students of mine. The Ministry is there now, cleaning up the mess. If Fudge would only have listened, greater precautions could have been taken…"
Just then an owl raced in, hooting loudly and dropping a letter on Dumbledore's desk, before reversing course and zooming back out the window. Dumbledore picked up the note and scanned it quickly. Harry saw his face cloud over as he read, finally looking up at Madam Pomfrey.
"Poppy, go get Minerva. And have her bring the Weasleys along." Madam Pomfrey immediately jumped up, and with one puzzled, concerned fleeting look in Ron's direction, headed off. Hermione's face had gone white and she glanced up at Ron, whose hands were grasping the back of a chair, his knuckles white.
"What does the letter say?" Ron demanded, with his jaw clenched. "What's it got to do with my family?"
Dumbledore looked directly into Ron's eyes, "I'm afraid your father has disappeared, Mr. Weasley. It seems that Voldemort has taken him as a prisoner."
Harry felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. Ron's father, gone? His insides went cold and a million thoughts rushed through his head at once. Harry remembered every moment he had spent with Mr. Weasley, not quite believing that Voldemort had got to him. Not to the Weasleys, Harry thought, he felt safe when he was with the Weasleys. They weren't supposed to be in danger. He had just imagined them as immune to everything that was happening around them. In that one instant Harry realized just how fragile the fantasy world he had conjured up was. He looked over at his best friend, who was leaning on Hermione for support. All the color had drained from his face and he seemed to have trouble standing. Hermione, thoroughly distressed, helped Ron to a chair and took his hand, kneeling on the floor beside him. Harry felt he should be comforting Ron, but he was as shocked as he was, and had no idea what he could say that would help. A minute later, Professor McGonagall entered, with Fred, George and Ginny following closely behind, still in their costumes and looking utterly confused. Professor McGonagall spoke first.
"Poppy told us to come right away…" she paused, looking expectantly and worriedly at Professor Dumbledore.
"Yes, perhaps you had better sit down," he said to the Weasleys, conjuring up some extra seats. Harry stood up, causing Fawkes to fly back to his perch, and let Ginny take his seat. She looked up at him as she sat down, a mixture of fear and bewilderment on her face. Harry's heart ached at the thought of what she was about to hear, and he put a comforting hand on her shoulder, making Ginny appear even more worried. Professor Dumbledore continued, "I'm sorry to inform you that your father appears to have been taken by Voldemort. He was called to Hogsmeade to investigate the killings, and no one has been able to locate him. They found his wand at the scene of the incident."
Harry felt Ginny begin to shake uncontrollably beneath his hand, so he gave her shoulder a squeeze, not certain that it would help, but at a loss for what else to do. Fred was struggling to hold back tears, but Harry was surprised to see that George appeared angry. His suspicion was confirmed when George heatedly asked, "Why on earth was our dad investigating the killings? Who sent him to deal with You-Know-Who?? What does any of it have to do with the misuse of bloody Muggle artifacts?"
Dumbledore replied calmly, "There were some Muggle deaths earlier in the day, so the Ministry was understaffed. It seems your father bravely volunteered to chip in with the investigation."
Fred cut in, "Has anyone told our mum yet?" His lip trembled as he looked imploringly at Dumbledore.
"The ministry has sent someone," Dumbledore responded solemnly. "I'm sure she'll be brought here as soon as she is informed." He turned to Professor McGonagall, who was looking rather pale herself, her normally stern eyes sympathetic. "Minerva, perhaps you can have Poppy prepare a couple of rooms in the hospital wing for the night. I don't think anyone is quite ready to face the rest of the school yet." McGonagall nodded and led the group out. George left first, still seeming angry, with Fred close behind. Ron let Hermione lead him out by the hand, his expression unreadable. Harry helped Ginny to her feet – she hadn't stopped shaking and silent tears were streaming down her ashen face. In an attempt to calm her, Harry put an arm around her shoulders, her crumpled wings beating weakly underneath, briefly reminding Harry of the wondrous evening that had come to such a startling, unexpected end.
Madame Pomfrey had prepared four beds for the boys, and a separate room for Ginny. Hermione was refusing to leave Ron's side, and Madam Pomfrey finally gave up and left her sitting in a chair by his bed. Since there were curtains at each bed, she figured the other boys could get privacy enough if they wanted it. She had left a sleeping draught by everyone's beds, ordering them to drink up and go to sleep before she herself went to bed. No one listened to her though, and Madam Pomfrey uncharacteristically didn't insist they follow her orders, thinking it might do them good to comfort each other. They all lay awake lost in their thoughts. After a while, George spoke aloud.
"I can't believe dad would do something so stupid. He had no business getting involved!!!"
Fred sat up in his bed, his tear-stained face bright with indignation, "Take that back!! How dare you say anything against dad! He was only trying to help protect us all!"
Ron sat up, glaring at both Fred and George, "Will you two stop bickering?" he spat out. "Of course dad was trying to help, but what good is that now! We've got to figure out how to get him back!" Ron seemed to have recovered from his shock and his face held a very determined, and to Harry, a very frightening expression. Harry knew Ron was not joking around, and would not easily be talked out of whatever he planned to do. Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and tried to pull him back down, but he shook her off. "Come on, you guys have to help me!" He looked around at his brothers and at Harry.
"I'll help," Harry answered at once. He would never let Ron face this alone. Hermione gave Harry an alarmed stare.
"So will we," Fred added, his brown eyes unwavering as he looked at George, who after hesitating a moment, nodded determinedly.
"You can't be serious," Hermione pleaded. "You'll all get killed! Promise me you won't try anything stupid! Promise!!" Her voice was getting panicky as she looked from face to face, but Ron was as stubborn as ever.
After a tense moment, Harry quietly conceded, "Look, we can't do anything right now anyway. Let's get a good night's sleep and we'll talk about it in the morning." This seemed to satisfy Hermione, and she settled back in her chair. Ron lay back and stared at the ceiling as Hermione sat watching him worriedly. Harry had no intention of giving up on finding a way to get Mr. Weasley back, but he knew there was no point in arguing about it with Hermione in that state. She was just as stubborn as Ron and they would've been up all night without any resolution. Harry slipped out of bed quietly and crept towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Fred asked, eyeing Harry from his bed.
"Ginny shouldn't be left alone," Harry said simply. Fred just nodded and closed his eyes, and Harry continued into the next room. Ginny was lying in her pajamas with a blanket barely covering her, as it was half falling off the bed. She was facing away from Harry, her back towards him, but he could see she was still awake as her shaking had not subsided, and he could hear her crying quietly. "Ginny?" She didn't respond.
Harry walked closer and hesitantly touched her arm, "Ginny, are you all right?" he whispered.
Ginny sat up and turned towards Harry. Tears were spilling down her face. "Oh, Harry!" she whimpered, as he gathered her in his arms, holding her tight as she cried into his shoulder. Harry couldn't stand to see her like this. He wanted to take away all her pain, to make her smile again, but he didn't know how. He felt useless, and kept muttering "It's all right" even though he knew very well that it wasn't all right, that as a matter of fact it was the furthest thing from being all right and that he didn't know how he would be able to make it all right.
"Harry," Ginny choked out between sobs, "I keep remembering when Tom Riddle had me…and how tried to take my soul and left me to die…" Ginny's shaking intensified and Harry held her tighter. "Harry, he's so wicked and so powerful. How's my dad ever going to get away??" Ginny had seen first hand just how evil Voldemort was, and at that point he had been just a shadow of himself. Harry knew words wouldn't be enough to convince her that her father was safe – he was having a hard enough time convincing himself. He figured he was still alive; if Voldemort wanted Mr. Weasley dead he surely would have killed him already. But that didn't mean that Voldemort couldn't use the most painful means possible to get what he wanted.
"Don't worry Ginny, Voldemort won't hurt your father," Harry said. Well, he won't kill him at least, I hope, Harry added to himself. "He's probably using him to get to me." If Harry thought this would comfort Ginny, he was wrong. Ginny sobbed even harder, burying her face in Harry's pajamas. Harry pulled her up, lifting her chin so that she was facing him. She struggled to choke down her sobs, but Harry could see her shoulders were still shaking.
"Ginny, listen to me," Harry said firmly, "We are going to get your father back. Trust me." Ginny nodded, but the fear remained in her eyes. Harry hugged her again, and after a while, she finally seemed to calm down. Harry tucked her into bed and sat beside her, deep in thought.
"Harry," Ginny spoke softly, staring up at the ceiling. "Voldemort is never going to stop until he kills you, is he?"
Harry's head snapped up in shock, both because of what Ginny had said and because she had used Voldemort's name. He sat silently a moment as he figured out what to say. "Probably not, Ginny," he answered cautiously, "unless we stop him first. And that's what we're going to do."
Ginny sat up and turned to face Harry. "I'm going to help." Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Ginny's expression made him stop. "I can't just sit here like a helpless little girl, doing nothing but crying, while my dad is in danger. And you can't do it alone." Harry just nodded, and Ginny lay back down and soon fell asleep, content now that she had come to a decision. Harry knew he should try to talk her out of it the next day – he certainly didn't want her putting herself in danger, he had enough things to worry about – but for the moment he felt an odd sense of relief knowing that she was on his side.
Harry woke up the next day to the sound of someone entering the next room, but he didn't want to open his eyes just yet. His body was aching, and Harry remembered he had fallen asleep in the chair by Ginny's bed the night before. Everything that had happened came rushing back and Harry's eyes popped open. He heard voices in the next room, and seeing that Ginny was still asleep, tiptoed to the door and eased it open. It was Mrs. Weasley.
"Harry, darling, are you all right?" Mrs. Weasley ran up to Harry and enveloped him in a hug, practically smothering him in her cloak, which she hadn't taken off yet. Harry could still feel the cold from outside clinging to her. Ron, Fred, and George were all awake, as was Hermione, and they all looked relieved to have Mrs. Weasley around. Molly Weasley herself was looking rather pale, and her eyes were rimmed in red as if she had been crying. Her face was all business now, though.
"Mum!" Ginny cried as she ran into the room, apparently woken by Mrs. Weasley's voice. Ginny ran into her mother's arms, and it was a while before Mrs. Weasley had her fill of hugging her children and Harry, finally convinced they were all okay. By that time, Dumbledore had returned to the hospital wing.
"Molly, I see you have found your children safe and sound."
"And it's no thanks to the Ministry, I'll tell you that," Mrs. Weasley responded indignantly, "Can you imagine dropping that bombshell on me and not letting me come see my family! They kept me there all night, questioning me! Cornelius Fudge himself came by himself to try to convince me that Arthur just disappeared on his own! Didn't want the Daily Prophet getting wind of it. If you ask me, Fudge has already lost the battle – everyone already believes the Dark Lord has returned. The kidnapping of a Ministry official will just eliminate all doubts." With this, Mrs. Weasley's eyes began tearing up and she turned away as she pulled out a handkerchief.
Dumbledore patted her back comfortingly, "Now Molly, you really should get some rest. You know we are doing all we can to bring Arthur back. Severus will soon be able to get us information and I've been in contact with Sirius. He was in Hogsmeade at the time of the attacks and may have seen something."
Harry noticed Fred and George looking at each other in confusion. "You don't mean Sirius Black?" asked Fred, a look of horror mixed with shock on his face. "Didn't he try to kill Ron and Harry a couple of years back?" Ron, Harry and Hermione looked at each other guiltily. They hadn't told the twins about Sirius, figuring the fewer people that knew, the safer he would be.
Ron now jumped in, "Er, actually, Sirius is innocent. He's in hiding, but he's been helping us ever since he escaped." Dumbledore, with a few interruptions by Mrs. Weasley, quickly explained all that had transpired to the twins and to Ginny. Fred and George appeared to take the news rather calmly, although that may have been because they couldn't absorb anything else after the last night.
"Why didn't you tell us Mum?" George asked, appearing very hurt at having been left out.
"I suppose Percy knew," Fred added bitterly.
Mrs. Weasley tried to explain, "But Percy's with the Ministry, love. He had to know, so he can get those that would listen on our side. I'm sorry, I just thought if I could keep you all isolated from what was happening, you would be safe. I sometimes forget you're nearly grown." She looked at her sons fondly, mussing up their hair as the boys tried to duck.
Harry glanced nervously at Ginny. She hadn't said a word since Sirius' name had emerged. He tried to read her expression, but her face remained totally impassive. She sat quietly in the corner taking everything in. Harry couldn't believe that just hours earlier, he had been dancing in the Great Hall, with Voldemort the furthest thing from his mind. Last night seemed like a different lifetime. He glanced around the room, seeing Fred and George murmuring to each other, and Ron and Hermione sitting very close together raptly watching Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore talking.
"Well, you can all head to the Great Hall for breakfast, if you feel up to it," Dumbledore said, forcing a smile. "Molly, if you'll come to my office we can talk further." With that, the bedraggled group headed back to Gryffindor Tower to get dressed and to prepare to face the school.
A/N: Kind of an awkward place to stop, I know, but if I continued from here, this chapter would be just too long. Anyway, this whole chapter was kind of dark (sorry about that) and I'll try to lighten the mood next time. By the way, I noticed there's another Ginny Potter out there (except I have no space in my name)! Don't confuse us, please!!! Anyway, please review and tell me if this chapter was too depressing. Next time, they face the school and Sirius and Snape head into action!