Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.  Warner Brothers bought me out.

"Why are you always out here talking with me?"

Harry opened Hector's cage and said, "What?  You don't want to talk with me?"

"Of course I do," Hector hissed.  "But why do you?  Surely there are others you could spend your time with."

"Ok, I'll be honest," Harry answered.  "There aren't many people that can talk with wisps, so nobody knows much about you.  Besides just enjoying talking with you, I'm gathering information so others can know a little more about wisps."

"Why?" Hector asked in confusion.

"I don't know," Harry answered.  "I guess we're just curious."

Hector laughed and asked, "What do you want to know about tonight?"

"Very funny," Harry replied.  "I'm not here just to interview you."

"Fine," Hector hissed.  "I'll ask the questions tonight, then."

Harry laughed.  "Ok, go ahead."

"You talked about being a parseltongue from an encounter with the evil spirit."

"Vol- I mean, You-Know-Who.  What about it?"

Hector asked, "What happened?"

Harry took a minute and then launched into the story every person he had ever met knew before he even met them.  "When I was less than a year old, You-Know-Who attacked my family.  He killed my father and mother who tried to protect me.  But when he tried to kill me, his curse rebounded and hit him instead.  He almost died, and spent 14 years before without form.  Anyway, Dumbledore believes that when he tried to kill me, he lost a bit of his powers inside of me.  That's why I can speak Parseltongue."

"Why did he try to kill your family?" Hector asked.

Harry answered truthfully.  "I don't know.  Dumbledore says there's a reason, but he hasn't told me yet."

"Very interesting," Hector replied.  "Yes, very interesting indeed.  I do believe this story could help snake-wisps learn what humans are like.  Maybe I should write a book."

"Haha," Harry groaned.  "Look at me, I'm spending my time talking with a dead sarcastic snake."

"Yes," Hector said.  "Others should aspire to your greatness."

"Ack" Harry said, looking at his watch.  "I've got to get to the entrance hall - I've only got four minutes before cleaning duty."

"I'll see myself to my cage then," Hector replied.  Harry looked confused, and Hector flew over to his cage.  Suddenly, the door flew open and Hector went inside.  The iron bars slammed shut again and Harry heard the unmistakable sound of the lock.

"What?" called Hector with a trace of humor.  "Did you think Hagrid can keep a ghost locked up in bars?"

Harry shook his head and hurried to the entrance hall, laughing at the odd sense of humor that his wisp had.

Harry sat down at breakfast the next day, and a few minutes later he heard the same sort of gawking cry from Hermione that he had heard yesterday from Ron.  Sure enough, she was reading the Daily prophet, but no one else in the Great Hall seemed alarmed.  He even saw Dennis Creevey read the paper and calmly put it back down on the table with a snort.  Puzzled, Harry waited for Hermione to finish.

Hermione finished reading with a knowing smile and handed him the parchment.

Ministry Attack Follow-Up

Ministry officials have finished the cleanup of the attack two days ago.  Like was earlier reported, all individuals have been accounted for.  Also, the Ministry Archive staff has managed to restore the department to its earlier status with few problems.  A few minor books, scrolls, and artifacts were damaged beyond repair by stray spells, and only one artifact has gone missing - an amethyst that the archive assured us is not very noteworthy.

Clearly the attack failed, and this writer believes we should all be grateful of the skillful handling of the affair by the Ministry aurors.

Harry looked up and said, "A jewel!"

"That's right!" Hermione said, "He didn't attack to kill people - he did it to get that gem!"

Ron appeared to be joining in and said, "But the Ministry Archives said that the gem isn't important."

Hermione quickly answered.  "The other jewel wasn't 'important' either.  It was in a muggle jewelry store, after all.  But Voldemort must want it for some reason!  I'm going to check the library - maybe I can find something before Ancient Runes in an hour."

She left the table hurriedly, leaving Ron and Harry staring at each other.  Neither knew what to say, and after a tense and silent moment, Harry said, "I'm going to tell Dumbledore."

Ron grunted and turned back to his toast.

Harry walked up to the head table and said, "Dumbledore, can I talk with you?"

Dumbledore smiled kindly and said, "Of course, Harry."

Harry looked a Dumbledore who was calmly sitting at the staff table, and he said, "I mean, in private?"

Dumbledore chuckled, and led the way to an adjoining room.  When they were both inside, Dumbledore conjured a diffuse light about the walls and shut the door.  "Well, what is it you wish to talk about?"

"In the summer and the first part of the school year, Voldemort led attacks on several muggle towns.  And now he attacks the ministry."

"Harry," Dumbledore said soothing, misinterpreting Harry's reason.  "Although you were part of what revived Voldemort, none of this guilt falls on you."

"What?" Harry asked, confused for a moment in what Dumbledore was talking about.  "No, I'm not talking about that.  I wanted to talk about the reason he's attacking those specific targets."

"Ah," Dumbledore said, although Harry could see a bit of the sparkle leave the headmaster's eyes.  "And what specifically do you want to talk about."

Harry shifted in his seat, getting the impression that the headmaster was dodging the issue.  "Hermione and I believe that he attacked the muggle cities looking for a jewel, and then attacked the ministry to get another one.  I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

Dumbledore took a moment to reply.  And instead of a concrete answer, Dumbledore asked, "Why do you think he's looking for jewels?"

Harry looked carefully at Dumbledore and decided to lay down all his cards.  "Hermione noticed that Voldemort's attacks seemed to center around muggle jewelry stores.  The only thing all the stores had in common were that they had jewels.  Suddenly, the attacks stopped on the stores - obviously Voldemort had found what he was looking for.  Hermione and I visited Pretoria's in Exeter - the last shop he attacked - and we found that a 3 cm topaz had been conjured to replace what was stolen.  Obviously Voldemort has the original.  And then he attacks the ministry and the only thing missing is an amethyst."

Dumbledore smiled at Harry's logic, and calmly replied, "Very astute."

Harry pressed the issue and asked, "So do you know anything about this?"

Dumbledore laughed.  "Harry," he said, "sometimes your curiosity is unwarranted, and it seems as though it's rubbed off on Hermione as well.  Yes, I know what Voldemort is after and why he sought those two gems.  However, trust me when I say that I've already taken steps to stop him from his goal and I ask you not to worry about this.  Now, I believe you have divination in 10 minutes?"

Harry took his cue and went back into the Great Hall, wondering exactly what was going on.

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Don't you love it when I purposely avoid having Dumbledore say anything about what's going on?

Chaser: Thanks!

Kaelli: Well… you now have no more answers than you did before.  Haha!

Erinamation: Thanks!  Maybe I should throw in a suspense chapter for you (ending on a cliffhanger, of course)

MicroChick: Yep.  Hermione's obsessed.  But S.P.E.W.'s going to be an important part of the story – it won't have many chapters, but it will be an integral part of the plot.

Lakergurl13: Actually, you shouldn't know what the Slytherins are up to (at least I haven't left any hints).  But you'll find out next chapter.


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