Chapter 9: The Scarred Ones
Jack was heading toward where the teachers were heading, but a prefect found him first and directed him to the Gryffindor common room. That was fine with Jack. He could take care of other business.
When he entered the crowded common room, he made his way to the fireplace and stood on the mantel. "Listen!" he ordered in a louder than usual voice. "I want all of you to pay attention and answer me. Which one of you is named Potter?"
No one stepped forward. Everyone just looked at him funny and mumbled to each other. Very well, he will find out himself. If he remembered right, Potter was the last name. Collin and Dennis couldn't be it. Their last name was Creevey. Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny were the Weasleys, so it couldn't be them. Lee's last name was Jordan. But Jack was not sure about anybody else.
Jack pointed at one of the girls who have hounded him since he first showed up. "Lavender. It's you, isn't it? Lavender Potter."
"I wish," she answered. "But no, it's Brown."
He pointed next to her. "Parvati Potter. It has alliteration."
"Close. It's Parvati Patil."
Jack pointed to the female Quidditch players in the back. "Katie Potter!"
"Katie Bell."
"Angelina Potter!"
"Angelina Johnson."
"Alicia--"
"Spinnet!"
Movement in the crowd showed people coming forward. Ron, Hermione, and Neville were moving up front. "Neville?"
Neville cowered. "No! It's Longbottom!" He ran back into the crowd.
"Hair--Herme--no time for this, is it you?"
"Sorry. It's Granger."
"You know who it is, Jack," Ron said. "Think."
Jack tried to think, when a voice yelled in the crowd, "Oh, come off it!" Movement occurred at the back again, and someone Jack knew came before him. "Quit playing your twisted game, Samson. I'm Potter!"
"Potter," Jack whispered. "Harry . . . Potter."
"Yeah. You know you're not only nutters. You're also rather dense."
Jack was only looking at Harry in complete shock. "All this time. All this time," he whispered to himself. "We were friends."
"No we weren't," Harry muttered. Many in the group gasped.
Jack looked vengefully at his other friends. "You knew! You knew all along who he was, and you never said a word!"
"Everyone knows who Harry Potter is," Ron answered in a flat voice. "Even Muggle-borns."
"We only assumed that you knew as well," Hermione added.
"Oh, I know who Harry Potter is," Jack replied solemnly. He got off the mantel and looked Harry straight in the eyes. "Harry, you can feel however you wish about me, but do me one favor."
Harry rolled his eyes. "What is it Samson? I'm probably not going to do it, but tell me anyway."
"Tell me it's not true."
Harry was bewildered. "What?"
"Tell me you're lying! Tell me there is someone else!" Jack couldn't hide the tears in his eyes, and he nearly screamed as he grabbed Harry's shoulders. "Tell me you're not Harry Potter!"
Harry pulled away from him. "I wish I could! Darn it, I wish I could! Do you think I like it? Living my life with no parents? Famous for something I can't even remember? Sometimes I hate it! Sure, it's better than living with my aunt and uncle, but still. Yet, I can't deny who I am. When I try, it stares me in the face." He pulled back his hair and revealed his lightning bolt scar, which seemed to be more inflamed than the time Jack had first seen it.
"Of course," Jack whispered. "It was there, right in front of me all along! Why did I not see?"
"Hang on," Collin said. "You don't want Harry Potter to be Harry Potter? That's what makes him so cool!"
"Yeah, everyone wants to be friends with Harry Potter," Ginny said.
Jack heard many more confused comments all around him, all asking why he was speaking against Harry Potter. "You poor, innocent children!" Jack cried. "You do not know what shall befall you!" All went silent again. Everyone looked at Jack. Jack took a deep breath and stood on the mantle again. "It is probably better that you know now that you may be ready.
"Hear me! I know what I say is true. I have seen it. The day is coming when those who know magic will lose their souls. All those of your world will become puppets to the One Who You Fear. When he encounters a problem that he cannot control otherwise, he sends them. They are his last resorts, for they are his most secret, most dangerous weapons. They hide among mortals and are not distinguished, save for one mark of a shape of their choosing. This is why they are called the Scarred Ones. The mark is either on the head, the neck, the back, the wrists, even over the heart. For these have tasted death once and yet have survived. Because of this, they are given the power to speak two secret words. They speak these word to whomever the One Who You Fear desires, and those words are always the last things the victims ever hear. They are called the two words of death."
"The Killing Curse," Hermione whispered.
"Oh, there are those who resist this fate. Some hide from him and do good works to others, but they will be discovered before their lives are over. Others have successfully resisted the One Who You Fear but at a terrible price. They lose their minds and perform their magic haphazardly.
"And how do the wizards fall into his hands? Does he attack them and take over, as he has done to mortal nations? No. For centuries, he has tried, but there is some barrier between them that he could not cross for years. Instead, they were handed over by a fifteen-year-old young man. A young man who practically worships the One Who You Fear, a young man who becomes the first dictator of the Scarred Ones and tortures his colleagues to be scarred and join the regime. A young man named Harry Potter."
There were cries of disbelief in the crowd. Harry just looked at Jack in utter horror. "You are mental! Completely mental!"
"It's all right, everyone," Ron said. "Jack's just horribly confunded. He doesn't know what he's saying."
"Yes Ron, I do!" Jack said. "I cannot tell you how many people I talked to who told me of the horrors of the Scarred Ones, how they lost families members either to death or to the scar. They blamed a wizard named Potter. This is surely he! Do you not see?" Jack took Harry and pulled back his hair over his forehead. "He is the first Scarred One!"
There was commotion all over the place. The Gryffindors just didn't know what to make of Jack's accusation. They couldn't decide if it was true or if Jack was crazy. Harry was completely beside himself.
"Am I interrupting something?" Professor McGonagall's voice broke in. Everything went silent again. "Good. I have an important announcement, and I am ashamed to say that it is not pleasant." She paused for a moment. "Professor Dumbledore has been attacked."
More cries of horror arose from the crowd.
"That can't be!" Hermione cried.
"I know, I know. We teachers don't understand it either. If it were up to me, the school would be immediately closed. However, certain members of the Board of Governors have ordered us to keep the school open until the end of the year."
"You're listening to that idiot?" Ron yelled.
"DON'T YOU DARE CALL GOVERNOR UNDERTAKER AN IDIOT!" Harry screamed. Ron looked at him in shock and sat down.
"I don't want to, Mr. Weasley, but I have no choice," Professor McGonagall replied calmly. "He has said he will take over the school if I do not comply, and he does have a considerable amount of power. Too much in my opinion, but that is my opinion. However, as the Headmistress of the school with Dumbledore indisposed, I have made the following regulations for your safety. For the remainder of the night, you are to remain in the common room. At six o'clock, supper will be served in the common room. You are allowed no more than two bathroom breaks tonight, and you will be accompanied by a teacher to the toilet. Lights out will be at 8:30 sharp, and I urge you to keep quiet. More rules will be administered in the morning."
The professor turned to leave, but Jack followed her. "Professor, is there anything I can do?"
Professor paused and looked at him for a long time. "No Jack, I do not believe there is."
"The One Who You Fear is coming tonight. I have the means to his destruction. At least let me watch."
"Who told you that You-Know-Who was coming?"
"The sibyl. She had a true vision, as other sibyls had."
But Professor McGonagall shook her head. "Jack, if You-Know-Who reveals himself tonight, the best you can do is . . . pray. Our best line of defense has been destroyed. If we can't do anything, you can't. Now, if you excuse me, I have three other houses to which I must read these rules."
Everyone was filing into the dormitories, but Harry remained. He looked at Jack with total loathing. "Samson, you have done so many absurd things since you have come here, but this takes the cake! How can you say this about me? Why would I worship him after all that he has done to me? And I'm certainly not going to hand my friends over to him! Jack, I'm not evil!"
"Prove it," Jack said.
"And how do you expect me to do that?"
"Never go back to Undertaker again."
"I can't do that! He's protecting me from him! He's showing me how I can get my revenge!"
"He's lying! Harry, he's going to hand you over to the One Who You Fear. He's coming tonight!"
"Brilliant! We'll get to stop him once and for all!"
"Harry, I mean it. If you go to Undertaker tonight, you will forever be lost."
"Don't tell me what to do, Samson! That's all I got to say to you."
Harry turned to the staircases. Ron also was standing behind. "Ron," Jack said. "I am sor--"
"Don't even talk to me," he answered. "I thought you were cool, but nobody who talks that way about Harry can be my friend." He also walked on to the dormitory.
Hermione, though, was going to her dorm, but then she stopped. She ran to the other staircase and called, "Harry, can I borrow your cloak tonight?"
"GET YOUR OWN!" Harry screamed and walked on his way. Hermione looked shocked and also walked down to the common room.
Fred and George advanced to Jack. "Whoa, Strong Man," Fred said. "You're coming on a little too strong tonight."
"I am sorry, but I know what I have heard."
"We don't disbelieve you," George said, "but it can't be Harry."
"Yeah," Fred asked. "George and I have been talking about it. Maybe you're looking for another Harry Potter."
"Perhaps a Harold Potter from Australia."
"Who goes to . . . Warthog School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"Good one, Fred."
"Yes, quite clever," Hermione spoke up. "Too bad there's no such school, at least not listed in--"
"Don't even tell us where you read it, Hermione. We made it up."
"Yeah, thanks a lot, killjoy."
"What makes you think that it could be another?" Jack asked. "The evidence points to the contrary."
"Because Harry is a hero!" Fred answered. "Didn't you even listen to us, about he got that scar?"
"You told me that the One Who You Fear killed his parents and tried to kill him."
"Yeah, but that's only the beginning of it," George answered. "You-Know- Who said those 'two words of death' that you talked about to Harry when he was a baby. That's how Harry got that scar on his head, everybody knows that."
"But something strange happened," Fred continued. "The curse rebounded, and it nearly killed You-Know-Who. He disappeared until a few years ago."
"Then Harry kept him from getting the Philosopher's Stone," Hermione interjected. "That was his first year. The next year he killed the basilisk that You-Know-Who set free. And last spring, he held You-Know-Who off somehow. None of us really know the details of that, but he didn't attack our school then."
"So you see," Fred concluded, "it can't be Harry. It wouldn't make sense. Why would he protect us from You-Know-Who for so long, and then change his mind?"
"He could be allowing you to believe a lie," Jack answered.
"No," Hermione shook her head. "I've known Harry longer than you. He wasn't leading us on to anything. However, it could be possible that something has changed. I mean, just tonight he yelled at both Ron and me. You saw that. That's not like him at all. Throughout the year, Harry's demeanor has been growing more and more sour. I do believe You-Know-Who has something to do with that, and with him coming back tonight--"
"Wait, he's coming here?" George said.
"How do you know, Hermione?" Fred asked.
"Well, it's rather obvious," Hermione answered. "Every time You-Know-Who has come for Harry, Dumbledore has been absent. And of course, the whole old crowd in which Dumbledore so trusted has all been attacked. I bet You- Know-Who somehow managed for whatever happened to Dumbledore to happen."
"Probably so," Jack nodded. "I must get out somehow. I must face the One Who You Fear."
"Jack, do you really know what you're up against?" George asked.
"Yes. Better than you do. It is why I have been sent here."
"But you got here by accident, didn't you?" Fred said.
"That's what we thought, but it is not so. Perhaps the whole reason I am here is to stop Harry, that the Scarred Ones will never be."
"You may be too late," Hermione asked. "What you described sound much like You-Know-Who's supporters, who call themselves Death Eaters. There are plenty of those."
"Perhaps. Tonight, one way or another, I will know."
Jack went up to his dormitory and rested on his bed for some time. His roommates passed by his bed and looked at him in contempt. Jack just mulled over troubling thoughts. That seemed the only thing he got out of this experience, troubling thoughts. Finally, he decided to take a walk outside to clear his head.
He walked out the common room and was confronted by Professor McGonagall. "I thought I told you to stay in your common room."
"Please, I need to take a walk. I am armed. If I meet trouble, I will take care of it." She looked unconvinced. "Dumbledore would have trusted me enough to let me go."
"Very well, but be careful."
Jack bowed to her in thanks. He found his window/door and went outside. He decided the forest would be the best place to go.
The forest actually looked somewhat cheerful in the sunset. Yet as Jack walked into the forest, he blinked. The scenery was changed when he opened his eyes. He saw cherry trees and imperial palaces. He was home. Yet he blinked again, and he saw the misty world of his dreams. It looked bleaker than usual, with everything black and the trees were all dying. A bitterly cold wind blew through the woods. Jack continually blinked inadvertently, and the scenery kept changing; yet the misty world seemed to be the most consistent. The only sound he heard was a crying bird. He wasn't sure if it was Buckbeak's call or if the bluebird of his dreams was singing in pain. Whatever it was, it didn't do much for his troubled mind.
As he walked on, a black dog trotted by his side. Jack looked at it once and nodded. He walked on a few more paces than looked to his side. The dog was no longer there; it was Sirius.
"What was that you were saying about my godson?"
"How do you know?"
"He owled me, immediately. How dare you?"
"Hear me out." He explained what he told the Gryffindors, then what he discussed with Fred, George, and Hermione. "They probably are right."
"Of course they're right!" Sirius answered. "You should never believe what people say about who's evil and who's not. I'm living proof of that."
"What do you mean?"
"You remember when I told you that I was on the run? Well, I'm wanted for . . . murder."
Jack felt he could guess that. "Self-defense."
"No."
"You were fulfilling the last wishes of a friend, granting him a good, honorable death."
"Uh-uh."
"He was your enemy."
"Jack, you don't get it. They say I killed thirteen people, mostly Muggles, with one curse."
"You didn't!"
"No. I'm not guilty of any of those deaths. It went like this. One of my best friends in school was Harry's father, James Potter. After school, we remained good friends. He made me Harry's godfather. But then, for reasons I still don't understand, the Dark Lord came after Harry. Dumbledore told us that the best to hide them with the Fidelius Charm. It's a hard spell to really understand, but it puts a secret into one person. The only way to break the spell is for the Secret-Keeper to divulge the secret. James wanted me to be his Secret-Keeper, and I almost did it. But then I decided that this was exactly what the Dark Lord was expecting. I was James' best friend. Once he made me Secret-Keeper, the Dark Lord would come after me. So, at the last moment, I suggested that he make the Secret-Keeper a certain weakling who tagged along with us. The Dark Lord would never expect that." Sirius sighed and looked away. "I still regret that."
"He told him?"
"More than that. He was the Dark Lord's servant. His name is Peter Pettigrew. We called him Wormtail because he could turn into a rat. He told the Dark Lord where the Potters hid, and the Dark Lord killed James and Lilly."
"Nothing like I pictured," Jack thought.
"Just the next day, Peter cornered me on a busy street. He openly accused me of betraying Lilly and James. I tried to kill him there, but he had a wand hidden behind his back. He made the curse, and killed everybody that happened to be around. Then he turned into a rat and scurried into the sewers. Just before he transformed, he cut off his finger. So everyone thought I blew Peter and all those Muggles to smithereens, but I was framed.
"Only five other people know the whole, true story: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and my friend who was attacked. Everyone else still believes that I am evil. Until I can bring proof that Peter is still alive, I will have to hide. Do you see?"
Jack bowed his head. "Yes. I see." They had walked into the same clearing as where they met last time. Buckbeak was there. Jack bowed to the bird briskly, and Buckbeak bowed back. Jack stroked its feathers, but then he sat upon a log. "I do not belong here."
"What do you mean?"
"I have no magical abilities. I do not know your ways. I've haven't had enough of a chance to be myself. All I have done is fouled things up."
"Nonsense," Sirius said sitting beside him. "Dumbledore says you belong here, so you belong here."
"Why did Dumbledore summon me?"
"You know, I'm not really sure. It certainly didn't make sense to me after Remus was attacked when Dumbledore said he was going to summon a Muggle samurai warrior who was trapped in the future. But Dumbledore is wise, and he knew what he was doing. Look, if you don't feel confident, I'll come with you."
"I would appreciate that."
They walked back toward the school. At the main entrance, they saw something quite remarkable. Five columns of energy lined the way. Sirius ran to the first one he saw, which contained someone in tattered robes who looked more like a beast than it did a man. "Remus! Remus! It's me, Sirius! Can you hear me? Moony, it's Padfoot! Answer me!"
As Jack came to get a closer look, Remus looked to him and solemnly bowed his head. "That's strange. He saw you, but he didn't see me," Sirius whispered.
A middle-aged wizard beside Remus also bowed to Jack as he passed. Next to him was an elderly witch who bowed her head. Next to her were Arthur and Molly Weasley, and they also bowed. They didn't look frightened, as when Jack first saw them. They looked resigned.
Jack wondered why Dumbledore wasn't next in line, but actually he was. He stood in front of the door, free. "Professor Dumbledore," Jack greeted with a bow.
Dumbledore looked at Jack with solemn eyes. "There is still hope," he said in a weak tone of voice. He opened his hands to Jack and revealed an old- fashioned, ornate, golden key. Jack looked at it for a moment. What was it meant for? Did it open the door behind Dumbledore? How will it help? He turned back to Sirius, who only shrugged. The others were looking imploringly at Jack, as though they were urging him to take it.
So, Jack stretched his hand forward and took the key from Dumbledore's open palm. Immediately, Dumbledore lurched as though he was having a heart attack. He stiffened and fell. His body rolled into line, and he was trapped in the black lightening column.
"Dumbledore!" Jack and Sirius cried at once. Jack almost drew his sword, but Dumbledore held up his hand to stop him. He looked toward the door.
The lock had the same decoration as the key, so it must work. Jack unlocked the door and opened it.
Darkness filled the other side. Aku's laughter came forth along with a burst of energy. Sirius didn't see it coming and stepped forward first. It got him, and Sirius was also trapped.
"Sirius!" Jack cried, but then Sirius was gone. Jack found himself in his bed with the curtains wide open. It was all another dream. The moon was high in the sky. Midnight was approaching fast.
So, what did this dream mean? "There is still hope." What hope? What could be accomplished by Dumbledore's attack? The sibyl said it tore the barriers away, but--wait, that's exactly it! Aku would not attack with Dumbledore here. He had to get rid of the headmaster and every defense he set up. The only way for him to come was for them to be out of the way. That's the mysterious reason of why such strong, powerful wizards were so easily beaten. They allowed it to happen! They put themselves in the line of fire so that Jack could get to Aku! What a brave plan! Jack made sure to remember it.
Then, there was a loud groan. "He's coming! He's coming! I can feel him!" Harry screamed. Jack could feel him too. The evil presence was stronger than ever. Jack was almost sure that he heard a whisper. "Now? Now is the time? Is it safe? OK, I'm coming."
The curtains to Harry's bed opened, and Harry got out. He was clearly in a trance. He left the dorm room whispering once again, "The time is now."
Jack was heading toward where the teachers were heading, but a prefect found him first and directed him to the Gryffindor common room. That was fine with Jack. He could take care of other business.
When he entered the crowded common room, he made his way to the fireplace and stood on the mantel. "Listen!" he ordered in a louder than usual voice. "I want all of you to pay attention and answer me. Which one of you is named Potter?"
No one stepped forward. Everyone just looked at him funny and mumbled to each other. Very well, he will find out himself. If he remembered right, Potter was the last name. Collin and Dennis couldn't be it. Their last name was Creevey. Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny were the Weasleys, so it couldn't be them. Lee's last name was Jordan. But Jack was not sure about anybody else.
Jack pointed at one of the girls who have hounded him since he first showed up. "Lavender. It's you, isn't it? Lavender Potter."
"I wish," she answered. "But no, it's Brown."
He pointed next to her. "Parvati Potter. It has alliteration."
"Close. It's Parvati Patil."
Jack pointed to the female Quidditch players in the back. "Katie Potter!"
"Katie Bell."
"Angelina Potter!"
"Angelina Johnson."
"Alicia--"
"Spinnet!"
Movement in the crowd showed people coming forward. Ron, Hermione, and Neville were moving up front. "Neville?"
Neville cowered. "No! It's Longbottom!" He ran back into the crowd.
"Hair--Herme--no time for this, is it you?"
"Sorry. It's Granger."
"You know who it is, Jack," Ron said. "Think."
Jack tried to think, when a voice yelled in the crowd, "Oh, come off it!" Movement occurred at the back again, and someone Jack knew came before him. "Quit playing your twisted game, Samson. I'm Potter!"
"Potter," Jack whispered. "Harry . . . Potter."
"Yeah. You know you're not only nutters. You're also rather dense."
Jack was only looking at Harry in complete shock. "All this time. All this time," he whispered to himself. "We were friends."
"No we weren't," Harry muttered. Many in the group gasped.
Jack looked vengefully at his other friends. "You knew! You knew all along who he was, and you never said a word!"
"Everyone knows who Harry Potter is," Ron answered in a flat voice. "Even Muggle-borns."
"We only assumed that you knew as well," Hermione added.
"Oh, I know who Harry Potter is," Jack replied solemnly. He got off the mantel and looked Harry straight in the eyes. "Harry, you can feel however you wish about me, but do me one favor."
Harry rolled his eyes. "What is it Samson? I'm probably not going to do it, but tell me anyway."
"Tell me it's not true."
Harry was bewildered. "What?"
"Tell me you're lying! Tell me there is someone else!" Jack couldn't hide the tears in his eyes, and he nearly screamed as he grabbed Harry's shoulders. "Tell me you're not Harry Potter!"
Harry pulled away from him. "I wish I could! Darn it, I wish I could! Do you think I like it? Living my life with no parents? Famous for something I can't even remember? Sometimes I hate it! Sure, it's better than living with my aunt and uncle, but still. Yet, I can't deny who I am. When I try, it stares me in the face." He pulled back his hair and revealed his lightning bolt scar, which seemed to be more inflamed than the time Jack had first seen it.
"Of course," Jack whispered. "It was there, right in front of me all along! Why did I not see?"
"Hang on," Collin said. "You don't want Harry Potter to be Harry Potter? That's what makes him so cool!"
"Yeah, everyone wants to be friends with Harry Potter," Ginny said.
Jack heard many more confused comments all around him, all asking why he was speaking against Harry Potter. "You poor, innocent children!" Jack cried. "You do not know what shall befall you!" All went silent again. Everyone looked at Jack. Jack took a deep breath and stood on the mantle again. "It is probably better that you know now that you may be ready.
"Hear me! I know what I say is true. I have seen it. The day is coming when those who know magic will lose their souls. All those of your world will become puppets to the One Who You Fear. When he encounters a problem that he cannot control otherwise, he sends them. They are his last resorts, for they are his most secret, most dangerous weapons. They hide among mortals and are not distinguished, save for one mark of a shape of their choosing. This is why they are called the Scarred Ones. The mark is either on the head, the neck, the back, the wrists, even over the heart. For these have tasted death once and yet have survived. Because of this, they are given the power to speak two secret words. They speak these word to whomever the One Who You Fear desires, and those words are always the last things the victims ever hear. They are called the two words of death."
"The Killing Curse," Hermione whispered.
"Oh, there are those who resist this fate. Some hide from him and do good works to others, but they will be discovered before their lives are over. Others have successfully resisted the One Who You Fear but at a terrible price. They lose their minds and perform their magic haphazardly.
"And how do the wizards fall into his hands? Does he attack them and take over, as he has done to mortal nations? No. For centuries, he has tried, but there is some barrier between them that he could not cross for years. Instead, they were handed over by a fifteen-year-old young man. A young man who practically worships the One Who You Fear, a young man who becomes the first dictator of the Scarred Ones and tortures his colleagues to be scarred and join the regime. A young man named Harry Potter."
There were cries of disbelief in the crowd. Harry just looked at Jack in utter horror. "You are mental! Completely mental!"
"It's all right, everyone," Ron said. "Jack's just horribly confunded. He doesn't know what he's saying."
"Yes Ron, I do!" Jack said. "I cannot tell you how many people I talked to who told me of the horrors of the Scarred Ones, how they lost families members either to death or to the scar. They blamed a wizard named Potter. This is surely he! Do you not see?" Jack took Harry and pulled back his hair over his forehead. "He is the first Scarred One!"
There was commotion all over the place. The Gryffindors just didn't know what to make of Jack's accusation. They couldn't decide if it was true or if Jack was crazy. Harry was completely beside himself.
"Am I interrupting something?" Professor McGonagall's voice broke in. Everything went silent again. "Good. I have an important announcement, and I am ashamed to say that it is not pleasant." She paused for a moment. "Professor Dumbledore has been attacked."
More cries of horror arose from the crowd.
"That can't be!" Hermione cried.
"I know, I know. We teachers don't understand it either. If it were up to me, the school would be immediately closed. However, certain members of the Board of Governors have ordered us to keep the school open until the end of the year."
"You're listening to that idiot?" Ron yelled.
"DON'T YOU DARE CALL GOVERNOR UNDERTAKER AN IDIOT!" Harry screamed. Ron looked at him in shock and sat down.
"I don't want to, Mr. Weasley, but I have no choice," Professor McGonagall replied calmly. "He has said he will take over the school if I do not comply, and he does have a considerable amount of power. Too much in my opinion, but that is my opinion. However, as the Headmistress of the school with Dumbledore indisposed, I have made the following regulations for your safety. For the remainder of the night, you are to remain in the common room. At six o'clock, supper will be served in the common room. You are allowed no more than two bathroom breaks tonight, and you will be accompanied by a teacher to the toilet. Lights out will be at 8:30 sharp, and I urge you to keep quiet. More rules will be administered in the morning."
The professor turned to leave, but Jack followed her. "Professor, is there anything I can do?"
Professor paused and looked at him for a long time. "No Jack, I do not believe there is."
"The One Who You Fear is coming tonight. I have the means to his destruction. At least let me watch."
"Who told you that You-Know-Who was coming?"
"The sibyl. She had a true vision, as other sibyls had."
But Professor McGonagall shook her head. "Jack, if You-Know-Who reveals himself tonight, the best you can do is . . . pray. Our best line of defense has been destroyed. If we can't do anything, you can't. Now, if you excuse me, I have three other houses to which I must read these rules."
Everyone was filing into the dormitories, but Harry remained. He looked at Jack with total loathing. "Samson, you have done so many absurd things since you have come here, but this takes the cake! How can you say this about me? Why would I worship him after all that he has done to me? And I'm certainly not going to hand my friends over to him! Jack, I'm not evil!"
"Prove it," Jack said.
"And how do you expect me to do that?"
"Never go back to Undertaker again."
"I can't do that! He's protecting me from him! He's showing me how I can get my revenge!"
"He's lying! Harry, he's going to hand you over to the One Who You Fear. He's coming tonight!"
"Brilliant! We'll get to stop him once and for all!"
"Harry, I mean it. If you go to Undertaker tonight, you will forever be lost."
"Don't tell me what to do, Samson! That's all I got to say to you."
Harry turned to the staircases. Ron also was standing behind. "Ron," Jack said. "I am sor--"
"Don't even talk to me," he answered. "I thought you were cool, but nobody who talks that way about Harry can be my friend." He also walked on to the dormitory.
Hermione, though, was going to her dorm, but then she stopped. She ran to the other staircase and called, "Harry, can I borrow your cloak tonight?"
"GET YOUR OWN!" Harry screamed and walked on his way. Hermione looked shocked and also walked down to the common room.
Fred and George advanced to Jack. "Whoa, Strong Man," Fred said. "You're coming on a little too strong tonight."
"I am sorry, but I know what I have heard."
"We don't disbelieve you," George said, "but it can't be Harry."
"Yeah," Fred asked. "George and I have been talking about it. Maybe you're looking for another Harry Potter."
"Perhaps a Harold Potter from Australia."
"Who goes to . . . Warthog School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"Good one, Fred."
"Yes, quite clever," Hermione spoke up. "Too bad there's no such school, at least not listed in--"
"Don't even tell us where you read it, Hermione. We made it up."
"Yeah, thanks a lot, killjoy."
"What makes you think that it could be another?" Jack asked. "The evidence points to the contrary."
"Because Harry is a hero!" Fred answered. "Didn't you even listen to us, about he got that scar?"
"You told me that the One Who You Fear killed his parents and tried to kill him."
"Yeah, but that's only the beginning of it," George answered. "You-Know- Who said those 'two words of death' that you talked about to Harry when he was a baby. That's how Harry got that scar on his head, everybody knows that."
"But something strange happened," Fred continued. "The curse rebounded, and it nearly killed You-Know-Who. He disappeared until a few years ago."
"Then Harry kept him from getting the Philosopher's Stone," Hermione interjected. "That was his first year. The next year he killed the basilisk that You-Know-Who set free. And last spring, he held You-Know-Who off somehow. None of us really know the details of that, but he didn't attack our school then."
"So you see," Fred concluded, "it can't be Harry. It wouldn't make sense. Why would he protect us from You-Know-Who for so long, and then change his mind?"
"He could be allowing you to believe a lie," Jack answered.
"No," Hermione shook her head. "I've known Harry longer than you. He wasn't leading us on to anything. However, it could be possible that something has changed. I mean, just tonight he yelled at both Ron and me. You saw that. That's not like him at all. Throughout the year, Harry's demeanor has been growing more and more sour. I do believe You-Know-Who has something to do with that, and with him coming back tonight--"
"Wait, he's coming here?" George said.
"How do you know, Hermione?" Fred asked.
"Well, it's rather obvious," Hermione answered. "Every time You-Know-Who has come for Harry, Dumbledore has been absent. And of course, the whole old crowd in which Dumbledore so trusted has all been attacked. I bet You- Know-Who somehow managed for whatever happened to Dumbledore to happen."
"Probably so," Jack nodded. "I must get out somehow. I must face the One Who You Fear."
"Jack, do you really know what you're up against?" George asked.
"Yes. Better than you do. It is why I have been sent here."
"But you got here by accident, didn't you?" Fred said.
"That's what we thought, but it is not so. Perhaps the whole reason I am here is to stop Harry, that the Scarred Ones will never be."
"You may be too late," Hermione asked. "What you described sound much like You-Know-Who's supporters, who call themselves Death Eaters. There are plenty of those."
"Perhaps. Tonight, one way or another, I will know."
Jack went up to his dormitory and rested on his bed for some time. His roommates passed by his bed and looked at him in contempt. Jack just mulled over troubling thoughts. That seemed the only thing he got out of this experience, troubling thoughts. Finally, he decided to take a walk outside to clear his head.
He walked out the common room and was confronted by Professor McGonagall. "I thought I told you to stay in your common room."
"Please, I need to take a walk. I am armed. If I meet trouble, I will take care of it." She looked unconvinced. "Dumbledore would have trusted me enough to let me go."
"Very well, but be careful."
Jack bowed to her in thanks. He found his window/door and went outside. He decided the forest would be the best place to go.
The forest actually looked somewhat cheerful in the sunset. Yet as Jack walked into the forest, he blinked. The scenery was changed when he opened his eyes. He saw cherry trees and imperial palaces. He was home. Yet he blinked again, and he saw the misty world of his dreams. It looked bleaker than usual, with everything black and the trees were all dying. A bitterly cold wind blew through the woods. Jack continually blinked inadvertently, and the scenery kept changing; yet the misty world seemed to be the most consistent. The only sound he heard was a crying bird. He wasn't sure if it was Buckbeak's call or if the bluebird of his dreams was singing in pain. Whatever it was, it didn't do much for his troubled mind.
As he walked on, a black dog trotted by his side. Jack looked at it once and nodded. He walked on a few more paces than looked to his side. The dog was no longer there; it was Sirius.
"What was that you were saying about my godson?"
"How do you know?"
"He owled me, immediately. How dare you?"
"Hear me out." He explained what he told the Gryffindors, then what he discussed with Fred, George, and Hermione. "They probably are right."
"Of course they're right!" Sirius answered. "You should never believe what people say about who's evil and who's not. I'm living proof of that."
"What do you mean?"
"You remember when I told you that I was on the run? Well, I'm wanted for . . . murder."
Jack felt he could guess that. "Self-defense."
"No."
"You were fulfilling the last wishes of a friend, granting him a good, honorable death."
"Uh-uh."
"He was your enemy."
"Jack, you don't get it. They say I killed thirteen people, mostly Muggles, with one curse."
"You didn't!"
"No. I'm not guilty of any of those deaths. It went like this. One of my best friends in school was Harry's father, James Potter. After school, we remained good friends. He made me Harry's godfather. But then, for reasons I still don't understand, the Dark Lord came after Harry. Dumbledore told us that the best to hide them with the Fidelius Charm. It's a hard spell to really understand, but it puts a secret into one person. The only way to break the spell is for the Secret-Keeper to divulge the secret. James wanted me to be his Secret-Keeper, and I almost did it. But then I decided that this was exactly what the Dark Lord was expecting. I was James' best friend. Once he made me Secret-Keeper, the Dark Lord would come after me. So, at the last moment, I suggested that he make the Secret-Keeper a certain weakling who tagged along with us. The Dark Lord would never expect that." Sirius sighed and looked away. "I still regret that."
"He told him?"
"More than that. He was the Dark Lord's servant. His name is Peter Pettigrew. We called him Wormtail because he could turn into a rat. He told the Dark Lord where the Potters hid, and the Dark Lord killed James and Lilly."
"Nothing like I pictured," Jack thought.
"Just the next day, Peter cornered me on a busy street. He openly accused me of betraying Lilly and James. I tried to kill him there, but he had a wand hidden behind his back. He made the curse, and killed everybody that happened to be around. Then he turned into a rat and scurried into the sewers. Just before he transformed, he cut off his finger. So everyone thought I blew Peter and all those Muggles to smithereens, but I was framed.
"Only five other people know the whole, true story: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and my friend who was attacked. Everyone else still believes that I am evil. Until I can bring proof that Peter is still alive, I will have to hide. Do you see?"
Jack bowed his head. "Yes. I see." They had walked into the same clearing as where they met last time. Buckbeak was there. Jack bowed to the bird briskly, and Buckbeak bowed back. Jack stroked its feathers, but then he sat upon a log. "I do not belong here."
"What do you mean?"
"I have no magical abilities. I do not know your ways. I've haven't had enough of a chance to be myself. All I have done is fouled things up."
"Nonsense," Sirius said sitting beside him. "Dumbledore says you belong here, so you belong here."
"Why did Dumbledore summon me?"
"You know, I'm not really sure. It certainly didn't make sense to me after Remus was attacked when Dumbledore said he was going to summon a Muggle samurai warrior who was trapped in the future. But Dumbledore is wise, and he knew what he was doing. Look, if you don't feel confident, I'll come with you."
"I would appreciate that."
They walked back toward the school. At the main entrance, they saw something quite remarkable. Five columns of energy lined the way. Sirius ran to the first one he saw, which contained someone in tattered robes who looked more like a beast than it did a man. "Remus! Remus! It's me, Sirius! Can you hear me? Moony, it's Padfoot! Answer me!"
As Jack came to get a closer look, Remus looked to him and solemnly bowed his head. "That's strange. He saw you, but he didn't see me," Sirius whispered.
A middle-aged wizard beside Remus also bowed to Jack as he passed. Next to him was an elderly witch who bowed her head. Next to her were Arthur and Molly Weasley, and they also bowed. They didn't look frightened, as when Jack first saw them. They looked resigned.
Jack wondered why Dumbledore wasn't next in line, but actually he was. He stood in front of the door, free. "Professor Dumbledore," Jack greeted with a bow.
Dumbledore looked at Jack with solemn eyes. "There is still hope," he said in a weak tone of voice. He opened his hands to Jack and revealed an old- fashioned, ornate, golden key. Jack looked at it for a moment. What was it meant for? Did it open the door behind Dumbledore? How will it help? He turned back to Sirius, who only shrugged. The others were looking imploringly at Jack, as though they were urging him to take it.
So, Jack stretched his hand forward and took the key from Dumbledore's open palm. Immediately, Dumbledore lurched as though he was having a heart attack. He stiffened and fell. His body rolled into line, and he was trapped in the black lightening column.
"Dumbledore!" Jack and Sirius cried at once. Jack almost drew his sword, but Dumbledore held up his hand to stop him. He looked toward the door.
The lock had the same decoration as the key, so it must work. Jack unlocked the door and opened it.
Darkness filled the other side. Aku's laughter came forth along with a burst of energy. Sirius didn't see it coming and stepped forward first. It got him, and Sirius was also trapped.
"Sirius!" Jack cried, but then Sirius was gone. Jack found himself in his bed with the curtains wide open. It was all another dream. The moon was high in the sky. Midnight was approaching fast.
So, what did this dream mean? "There is still hope." What hope? What could be accomplished by Dumbledore's attack? The sibyl said it tore the barriers away, but--wait, that's exactly it! Aku would not attack with Dumbledore here. He had to get rid of the headmaster and every defense he set up. The only way for him to come was for them to be out of the way. That's the mysterious reason of why such strong, powerful wizards were so easily beaten. They allowed it to happen! They put themselves in the line of fire so that Jack could get to Aku! What a brave plan! Jack made sure to remember it.
Then, there was a loud groan. "He's coming! He's coming! I can feel him!" Harry screamed. Jack could feel him too. The evil presence was stronger than ever. Jack was almost sure that he heard a whisper. "Now? Now is the time? Is it safe? OK, I'm coming."
The curtains to Harry's bed opened, and Harry got out. He was clearly in a trance. He left the dorm room whispering once again, "The time is now."
