Harry Potter and the Curse of the Gypsy

Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews! I hope you like the story, it hit a snag and slowed down for awhile but now it's right back on track! I hope you like it, and be sure to review, read my other works, and please e- mail me at megx87@yahoo.com with any questions, comments, requests to read your masterpiece, or whatever. I'd love to hear from you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I own only Cory Johnson and the plot. Bah.

Chapter Nineteen

"No!" Harry heard the scream as if his body and his mind were apart from one another...which they most likely were. 'Why is it dark?' he thought stupidly. 'Where am I?' His eyes jerked open when he felt somebody pushing relentlessly at his shoulder. "Leave me alone." He muttered, rolling over. "I feel ill."

"He's awake!" he heard Hermione gleefully shout. He watched them all, seeing the relief that coursed through all his friends faces. Hermione, Ron, Sirius, Remus...and Cory. She was smiling softly, on her knees at his side.

"Are you...do you feel okay?" she said quietly. He nodded to her, sitting up slowly, ignoring the nausea that gripped his stomach.

"How about you?" he murmured. "You were practically...well, you know." He said in embarrassment.

"Yeah." She sighed. "Look at us. Just how often do you almost get killed, Harry?" she said, smiling.

"I don't know...on my count, this is the fifth or sixth time...well, and then there's all the times I've fallen off my broom to near death."

"Ahh..." she said, raising a brow. "We can't forget those, can we?"

Harry smiled at her before getting to his feet. Remus helped him to the couch. "What happened?" he said after a moment. "What happened to the gun?" he said again, feeling his forehead where the gun had exploded.

"It didn't shoot." Remus said. "I guess you somehow used a bit of uncontrolled magic...it blew up in Isabelle's hand, and within seconds she just apparated away. All of the Death Eaters did...it must have been a summons."

Harry groaned and sat back, squeezing his eyes shut. It was too much...having all this going on. Why couldn't he just have a normal life? And Sirius...

He froze. Cory was glancing up at Sirius shyly, wringing her hands. "Cory, do you know...you know who that is, don't you?"

"Of course." She said sheepishly. "But...but you don't have to tell me anything. I already know he's innocent."

"What?" Everybody in the room said at once.

"Fudge. He keeps a record of everything that goes on. I was looking for something for him once, and I accidentally got the record of the night that...well, you know, that...happened. And I read all the statements...even though, you know, Fudge had it marked that all of that was just some sort of spell. But I listened up...I didn't mean to listen in, Harry, but I heard you talking to him on a trip to Hagrid's...

"Oh." Harry leaned back, a strange feeling in his chest. "Well, I guess...that's all right, anyway. You are part of this now, whether any of us likes it or not."

"Oh...okay." Harry glanced quickly at her...he had meant the last part to be a bit of a joke, but she wasn't doing all right and didn't seem to have noticed. She was quite pale, and still shivering.

"I think we had better get back to the castle." Said Hermione quietly. "All the Death Eaters are gone now, right?"

"Yes, but we aren't even going to consider letting you go back to the castle alone. We're coming with you." Remus said. Sirius nodded and transformed back into a dog, making Cory jump slightly.

"Come on..." Harry put an arm around Cory's waist and followed Remus, Hermione and Ron behind him, Sirius walking along at his side, looking warily at Cory, who didn't seem to notice. Her eyes were shadowed and her gaze was trailing along the ground.

"Are you okay? I mean, tell me the truth." Cory glanced into Harry's eyes, blushing.

"I'm...I'm fine. I'm trying to figure out what happened...I can't even remember anything that happened, until right after you got shot...or almost shot, anyway. I was so scared Harry."

"Yeah." He said, uncomfortably. They were walking along the street now. Many people were roaming around, surveying the damage done, which surprisingly wasn't very much. A few houses had burnt, and The Three Broomsticks had some smoke damage, and a broken window, but that appeared to be about it.

All of the students were gathered in a large group in front of the inn. Fred and George glanced over and shouted when they saw Harry. Although he hadn't been shot---which all of the group still considered a miracle---he was scratched up pretty badly and a large bruise was forming over his left eye.

"What happened to you?" Fred said. "You look like you just...oh, no..."

Harry grinned, feeling every muscle in his face ache as he did so. "Oh, nothing to worry about Fred." He said in a casual tone. "I got shot by a muggle gun, that's all..."

"What?" Fred was staring at him, his eyes opened wide. George was gaping. "You've got to be joking."

"He's not." Remus said darkly.

"Professor Lupin!" the twins said at the same time. "You're here!"

"Yes, and we have to get these four back to the castle immediately, if you will just..."

"There is a carriage waiting over here...mind you, I was only able to get one, seeing as it was such a short notice. Dumbledore sent me to get it...he's around here somewhere, surveying the damage." Everybody glanced up. Professor Snape was standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. He was glancing at Harry's face---Harry felt, as he had last year, when he had caught Snape looking at him after he had almost been killed---that he was looking at him rather strangely, as if...

As if he almost felt sorry for him? Harry scoffed at the idea---sure, he had been almost killed more than anybody he knew of (except perhaps Voldemort) but certainly Snape didn't care, unless...Snape wasn't as bad as Harry thought he was.

And, oh yes, there was Draco Malfoy playing a harp and giving candies to small children.

Harry needed to stop imagining things---he was getting to be quite odd in the head.

"Thanks." He muttered as he led Cory into the carriage. With Remus, as well as Hermione and Ron, and the two of them plus Sirius, even though he was in dog form, it was very cramped. They jolted as the carriage started up the hill to Hogwarts.

"That was the same Isabelle that...well, you know..." Harry said after a long moment. Remus nodded.

"As I've said, something changed in her. I knew her in my school days, she was nothing like that. She was always the nicest Slytherin that..."

"A nice Slytherin?" Harry scoffed. "There must have been something wrong with her."

"Yes, well..." Remus sighed. "She was also the most intelligent person I had ever met. She created the Wolfsbane potion, I've never known why seeing as gypsies and werewolves have never gotten along..." he smiled at Cory, "sorry about that."

"It's all right." She smiled faintly. "I'm not prejudiced. I hate everybody who tries to kill me."

"An interesting philosophy." He grinned at her. "But as I was saying, Isabelle was a wonderful person, and..." he froze here, as if debating what he would say next.

"What is it, Remus?" Harry asked, seeing the strange look in his eyes.

"It's just..." he paused a moment before sighing. "Well, Harry, I hadn't planned on telling you, it didn't seem like that big of a deal, but...now, I guess you should know. Isabelle Black...was also Isabelle Snape once. She was...is...Severus Snape's sister."

Harry felt his jaw drop in astonishment. He glanced over at Hermione and Ron---they appeared just as surprised as he did. He turned back to Remus, who was nodding.

"You mean...you mean that Sirius' brother and...and Snape's sister..."

Remus chuckled. "The same reaction we all had when we found out. Isabelle became what she was today shortly before Voldemort's fall. It was a shock to all of us...she killed him, for no reason any of us have understood. And she fled to his side, shortly before...before what happened. She was taken to Azkaban shortly after...we all thought she had died..." Remus sighed. "But apparently she's been gone for years. We don't know exactly how long...but it was long enough for her to get back to her master's side."

"So...you think she's the spy?"

"I'm not sure...she may have an accomplice. We'll all be on the alert, but if Dumbledore agrees with me, security will have to be severely heightened...in that case, no more Hogsmeades visits for any student, nobody can be on the grounds after dark, and certainly Quidditch should be canceled for the rest of the..."

"WHAT?" Harry and Ron said, quite loudly, at the same time.

"It's for your own good Harry." Remus said quietly.

"Yeah...I know." Harry mumbled as he sat back. "I'm tired of people having to do things for my good...why doesn't somebody need me for a change?"

"You could always give me all your gold and move to Albania." Ron quipped. Harry glanced over and grinned.

"Oh great...Cory, watch out. We have another comedian in our midst."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "What a time to be cracking jokes."

"Hey, we're just trying to lighten the mood." Ron said. "Come on, Mione, you try one."

"Okay..." she thought for a moment, "What has a million warts, bugged eyes, greasy hair, and a load of galleons coming out his arse?"

Harry stared at Hermione. She grinned. "Every Slytherin who ever lived."

"Good one." Ron said, rolling her eyes. "Never mind joking, leave the comedy to us..."

"Okay...tell me when you start, I don't think I've seen any yet."

Cory grinned at her. "Good job, girl. You're getting there."

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Harry laid down on his bed, taking off his glasses and laying them on his nightstand. Although Madam Pomfrey had healed him up quickly, and the bruise had already faded to only the lightest purple, she hadn't been able to do anything about the headache that pounded away at the base of his skull.

"This is coming out to be an awful day." he thought miserably. Remus had been right...the first thing Dumbledore had done when he got back to the castle was to cancel all future activities and to immediately put into act a newer curfew stating that any student found outside the castle after sunset would receive detention for at least two weeks and would have double the amount of homework as usual.

Cory has finally got over being shaken up, and had confessed to Harry that, terrifying as the ordeal was, she had started to look at it as all one grand adventure...of course, when she said it, she went a little pale and her voice went a little higher than usual. He highly suspected that she was trying to save face...people in the castle couldn't start actually liking her for a change, now could they?

He glanced over at the Marauder's Map and thought for a moment. It was much too late to be going out...he knew he would be in trouble if he was found outside his bedroom. But he was unsettled---hoping perhaps to find somebody in the Gryffindor common room, he slipped on his cloak and stepped outside the door. He landed with a jerk in the great hall and slowly began making his way up the stairs.

He froze when he heard the voices. "Albus, I've been telling you that you need to face facts...you've kept her around here, knowing what she was. You need to understand that Cory Johnson is a menace...I wouldn't be surprised if she weren't in league with Isabelle!"

It was Fudge...what was he doing here? And wasn't he related to Cory somehow?

"I do not find her to be a threat, Cornelius." Dumbledore sighed. "Certainly, she has her problems, but I do not think that she is a threat to the school. Isabelle is in league with Voldemort---she doesn't need the assistance of a fifteen-year-old girl."

"Stop this madness, Albus! You-Know-Who hasn't returned, and you need to stop saying he has! You'll...you'll cause a panic."

"There's already a panic. This was the fifth Death Eater attack in eight months...people are beginning to believe it, even if you aren't ready to admit it. Voldemort is back. And he is more powerful now than he ever was before."

"But...but Albus! Surely you can understand...I've known Cory for years, I've seen what she's capable of! She's shrewd, and manipulative, and---and- --"

"And she's also one of the most intelligent students in this school. She herself has been the object of a recent attack, by none other than Michael Avery...you've seen Avery, haven't you? Why would he do this, in the open, if it weren't certain that Voldemort hadn't returned?"

"Then...then if it wasn't her, it's who I've been saying it was all along! She is his sister, after all..."

"I would trust Severus Snape with my life...as I would with any other member of my staff." Dumbledore said coldly. "Leave now, Cornelius...before I become angry." Dumbledore rose a finger and pointed to the door. Fudge walked out in a huff. Harry began creeping away, but stopped when he heard Dumbledore's voice.

"You can come out from under you cloak, Harry. I heard you arrive a good five minutes ago."

Harry was bright red when he took the cloak off and stood facing Dumbledore. "I'm sorry, Professor. I didn't mean..."

"Certainly, you didn't." he sighed. "But I do not regret what you know, Harry. You are a part of this, after...perhaps the greatest part of this. It has long been my hope that, after what happened when you were only a year old, you would be able to leave all this and lead a normal, happy life." Dumbledore placed a hand on his temple. "Unfortunately, that has never been the case."

Harry took a deep breath. "What Fudge was saying...I don't think any of it is true. I don't trust Fudge very much...he's trying too hard, not to believe."

"Cornelius Fudge is afraid, Harry. As are many people...even I would be lying if I didn't say I am troubled over what will happen in the coming years. But what Fudge is doing is dangerous...his unwillingness to believe may lead to more deaths..." Dumbledore stopped and shook his head, smiling. "But what troubles I burden you with. Why are you out of bed, Harry? It is almost midnight."

"I was...I was just going to the common room...maybe hoping somebody was up. You know...so I could talk to them."

"Of course. You don't mind if I escort you, though? We don't need you wandering around."

"Fine..." Harry said. He and Dumbledore walked in silence to the dormitories. Harry turned around, nodding. "Thanks for...just thanks."

"I understand." Dumbledore watched as Harry said the password and climbed through the portrait hole and into the common room. At first, he thought nobody was there, until...

"Neville...what's wrong?" Harry walked quickly over to Neville Longbottom, who was sitting in a chair slumped down, tears streaking his face.

"I...Harry, it's..." Neville choked back a sob and put his head on his knees, handing a tear-stained letter to Harry. Harry glanced down at it and felt his insides freeze.

Neville,

I regret to have to tell you that your father has passed away. It was in the night...none of us are certain how it happened. Please don't be upset dear, this is for the best. We all knew it would happen, someday. Get some rest, Neville, and try hard to do good in school.

With love, Gram

"I'm sorry." Harry said, moving over to sit next to him. "Want to...talk about it?"

Neville shook his head sadly. Harry sat with him in silence for a moment. "Come on." He said suddenly, pulling Neville up by the arm. "We're going to the kitchens."

"But...what?" Neville said, looking at Harry with his eyes wide.

"Listen, they have to have something stronger than butterbeer in there." Harry said. Neville's eyes went wide.

"What...you mean you've drunk the stuff before?"

"Nope." Harry grinned. "But there's a first for everything."

"What's going on?" Ron muttered stupidly, coming down the stairs. "What're you doing?"

"We're going to go and try to get drunk." Neville said, snorting. "Want to come with us?"

Ron stared at them for a moment before shrugging. "Sure, why not?"

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"Would sir like some more Firewhiskey?" the house-elf said quickly, extending a bottle to Harry. Harry glanced at it, choking, shaking his head fiercely.

"No way...I think I'm going to be sick already." He lurched over to Neville. "You doing all right?" he muttered incoherently.

Neville looked up at him and started laughing. "You look like a goat, Harry! What's this? I'm fine...fine...you got more of that stuff? I'm thirsty!" he took a swig of the bottle that Ron handed him.

It had tasted awful at first...but then, all three of them had tasted too many potions to not be able to stand the first taste of any drink. And after awhile, none of them had really minded the taste...

"Ugh...the room's spinning..." said Ron, trying to stand. Harry and Neville jumped out of the way when he fell flat on his face. After a worried moment, Ron began laughing loudly. "Hah! I'm an idiot...look out, everybody, I'm turning into Neville Longbottom!"

Neville snorted before getting out his wallet and handing it to Harry. "Look...I've got no money. That makes me Ronald Weasley!" Ron laughed loudly, getting to his knees and clapping Neville on the back.

"Good show, mate." He said grinning. He looked down at the floor. "Look, I've shrunk...now I'm Harry Potter."

"Nope..." Neville snorted. "You haven't got a scar, and nobody has ever tried to kill you."

"If you two don't shut up, I'm going to kill you." Harry mumbled. The three of them burst out laughing. "Wow...this stuff is strong...what do you reckon they keep it here for? I've never seen any of the teachers drink it."

"Ahh, that's the secret, Harry." Ron said, putting an arm around his shoulder. "You see, this is how they entertain themselves late at night. Snape keeps it for all his hot dates..."

"What?" Harry said, feigning astonishment. "Oh, of course. I thought there were more trolls than usual around here...how do you reckon he tells which are male and which are female? I don't think they wear skirts..."

"He doesn't know...least not till he..."

"Shh..." Harry said, clapping a hand over Ron's mouth. "I think I heard something..." They froze when they heard a faint scratching outside the door...it sounded like somebody touching the painting, about to open the door..."Hide us!" he said quickly, to the nearest house-elf. The creature nodded quickly and pushed the stumbling trio to a corner, throwing several large towels over them.

"They're here somewhere..." Harry heard a faint voice. Ron and Neville protested as he stood.

"Oy, Cory! We're over here!" He grinned when Hermione and Cory turned to face him. Ron and Neville quickly stood on either side of him. Ron snorted when Neville drunkenly fell over onto Harry's side.

"What have you two been..." Hermione froze when she saw the empty Firewhisky bottles on the floor. "Oh, please don't tell me you three have been..."

"Drinking?" Ron said, chuckling. "Yep, we sure have been...drunk as a skunk, as mum says..."

"Drunk as a rowdy pirate!" Neville interjected, stumbling over into Ron this time.

"Arggh...pirates we arrr....matey..." Harry said. The three began laughing loudly.

"Curvy scur..." Ron said, furrowing his brow... "Scurvy cur? Curvy scur...scur curvy, cur..."

"Oh, stop this right now." Cory said, catching Hermione's eye. "You three are insane."

"Oy...we have a right to be...after what's happened..."

"We've all had a bad day." Hermione huffed. "But do you realize that you are probably breaking about, oh, I don't know, fifty school rules right now? Heck, you're probably breaking at least ten ministry rules!"

"Leave me alone, Mione." Ron slurred. "We're having...fun..."

Hermione sighed. "How are we going to get these three back to their rooms?"

"Well, we can't get Harry back to his room...maybe you could throw the Invisibility cloak over them and use a levitation charm?"

"I guess...but what if one of them falls?" she said worriedly.

"Listen, if they try to walk by themselves they're probably going to fall anyway." Cory sighed. "Let's go ahead and try, at least we can get them up there and then figure out what to do next..."

"Wait!" Hermione said suddenly. "I know...we can get them to the prefect's bathroom...mine. I share it with the Ravenclaw prefect girl, and she never uses it at night." She did a quick charm on the boys.

"Hey...I'm flying!" Neville said loudly. Ron snorted and poked him in the gut.

"My, that's something I've never seen...a flying pig!"

"A lopsided one, at that." Harry said wisely. Hermione shook her head.

"Let's go." Said Cory exasperatedly.

Harry watched the ceiling as he floated by...he actually felt quite peaceful, with his brain muddled and the slow rocking as they floated down the hall. "Wow..." he said after a moment, "I feel lighter than air."

"That's because you are, genius." Cory said, rolling her eyes. "How much further, Mione?"

"A few feet...watch for that statue of Morgana the Beauty...you know, she actually was a hunchback, she just bewitched it so any history book says she was a ravishing vixen, who had to beat men with sticks to keep them off..."

"Interesting." Cory said. "Not." She grinned as Hermoine pretended and failed miserably to give her a hurt look. After a long moment they came across the statue.

"Rose Water." Hermione said. Slowly the statue slid aside, revealing a large door. Hermione and Cory tugged the boys in before pulling the statue closed.

"Endo Levitatum." Hermione said. Harry moaned as he landed on the floor, toppled together in a pile with Neville and Ron.

"Did you have to do that?" Ron moaned, rubbing his head.

"Yeah...it was just getting good." Neville pouted.

"I swear, I don't know how I'm dealing being friends with you boys." Hermione said, shaking her head. "Every year you get stranger...at least when you weren't talking, it wasn't the power of weird times two..."

"Oy, Hermione, you're hilarious." Ron said, getting to his feet. He threw his arms around her and gave her a large kiss. "I love you, you know. Wanna be my girlfriend?"

"Ugh...get off me." Hermione said, though she was grinning. Ron just held tighter. Hermione kept pushing and pushing until...

Splash! Everybody glanced over. Ron was laying face up in the water, paddling his arms to propel him along. "Come on in." he said. "The water's fine."

With a grin to Neville, Harry nod. "Come on." He and Neville quickly jumped in, despite Hermione and Cory's protests.

Cory and Hermione walked over cautiously, looking down at them. The three boys were splashing in the warm water, laughing. "Too bad it wasn't cold...that would have ended this nonsense." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

They both looked in as Neville paddled over. He looked up at them innocently. "I'm---I'm sorry..." he said nervously, looking back down at the water. "I just...I just wanted to say..." He looked up and grinned. "Gotcha!" He reached out quickly and grabbed Cory and Hermione's ankles, pulling them back with him into the water. Both girls shrieked as they emerged, soaked.

"Great job, Neville!" Harry said, beaming. "You're coming along nicely."

"Yes." Ron nodded. "Never knew you had it in you chap. Great, just wonderful."

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Tee-hee-hee...after such depressing stuff, I had to have a bit of fun. Harry got DRUNK! Bet you didn't see that one coming, eh? No evil cliffies this time...thought I'd cut you kids a break. Tell me what you think, I love to hear what you guys have to say. I think it's great when you review me!

Special thanks to Lycr and Jasmine, and Osunale---you three are the triforce of coolness, guys! And to all of the rest of you, if you have any questions, comments, ideas or whatever that you'd like to share, and don't wanna review, feel free to e-mail me, again, at megx87@yahoo.com, with the subject FF.NET! Love's ya, and see ya!