Observations
Disclaimer: As usual, characters and imagery from the Harry Potter series are not owned by this writer.
The room was dark, the only remit from the gloom was a flickering candle on the large desk, it's feeble light allowed an observer to see a leather chair at the desk. In the chair sat a robed covered figure, only the red eyes of the face could be made out under the hood. Voldemort was writing something on a piece of parchment at the desk while listening to a man standing behind his chair. The man's face was covered in the traditional mask of a Death Eater, his robes completely black.
".. and the Ministry has no idea who has assassinated the Deputy Director or killed her family. They have ruled out any involvement from our forces, they still do not believe you have returned. I also regret to inform you that we have been unable to track who has committed this act either." The Death Eaters voice identified the man as Lucius Malfoy.
"So this upstart group thinks it can challenge the Ministry, what do you think I should do, Lucius? Should I make an example out of them? They use muggle methods as well as wizarding, they taint our world and they think that this act and the ones that the ministry covered up are the way to gain power?" Voldemort's voice was a quiet hiss in the room but Malfoy heard every word as if it were shouted.
"My Lord, I think that you should do what you think is best, you are the most powerful wizard in the world and they should fear you and bow down to you. However, letting this group continue may play into your hands. They have created unrest in the Ministry and are most likely going to continue to do so, there is no link to you so the Ministry will not be ready for you when the time comes. This group will fall to you just like the Ministry will, letting them fight amongst themselves merely ensures your victory." Malfoy answered, keeping a reverent tone to his voice.
"You have made a good point, Lucius, if this group keeps the Ministry off-balance we shall be able to prepare more easily than ever. I think I like this idea, we could defeat the Ministry ourselves but why not let someone else do the work. Our eventual victory will come no matter who is in power. You must ensure that the Ministry does not hear a word of our dealings. Also, ensure that that old fool Dumbledore and his followers are also involved in this, he is a fool but he is powerful enough to slow us down a bit, let him deal with this other group while I prepare my forces."
"As you wish, My Lord"
Voldemort rose from his chair, and pointed his wand to a map above the desk tapping lightly on a location a few miles from Durham, the map shifted focus to that point, enlarging it so that it could be seen clearly.
"I will summon my Death Eaters to this point, go and bring my newest followers here so that I can welcome them into the ranks of Voldemort." Voldemort ordered.
Malfoy bowed to his master, as he did so he said, "Yes, my Lord, I shall go now."
As he rose to leave, Voldemort called his name, as he turned the Dark Lord pointed his wand and said, "Crucio"
Malfoy fell to the floor, reeling in agony.
Harry shot bolt upright in bed, his scar throbbing painfully, his breathing ragged and sweat pouring from his body soaking his light clothing. As he cleared his eyes the fuzzy image of the fifth year dorm came into view, it had been another dream. He moved quickly to write down what he had seen before it left his mind, as he did so, he heard a voice, a voice he had heard before, the voice of Morrigu saying, "You must learn to see past the illusion".
--
Harry was not having a good week after the duel, not a good week at all. He was constantly tired now from training, although he had begun to adapt to it, the tiredness had just crept up on him with everything he was doing. His training in the mornings, Quidditch several times a week, the duelling clubs, classes, teaching and his personal magic practices were beginning to come down on him hard, he seemed to have little if any time to relax.
Not only was his life becoming harder, but the situation in the rest of the wizarding world was becoming more grim after the new England Quidditch seeker was found dead in his home. The seeker, Michael Smith had been found by his coach, nailed to the floor with his eyes frozen but his blood boiled. The scene had been described as particularly gruesome and many people have suggested that the same people were responsible for the deputy director and her families' deaths a short time ago. Investigators had released to the public descriptions of the death and had said to many reporters that the perpetrators of the crime were particularly cruel and vicious as Smith had been conscious up until he died; a potion similar to the one found at the director's home had been present. Harry was worried about these deaths, even more so as Voldemort seemed to know little about them and it was distracting the Ministry from investigating the return of Voldemort. From what his dream had showed him, Voldemort was content to sit back and build his forces until he was ready before showing himself, which would leave the Ministry unprepared.
As if his workload and the happenings in the world were not enough, Ron was pissed off at him, maybe more than pissed off more like completely furious at him. Things just kept on coming which drove Ron further away from him.
Ron had been exceptionally proud when he made prefect, Harry had been happy for him but his behaviour since getting his badge had started to remind Harry a little of Percy although not quite as concerned with rules but more with image. He always made sure people heard him when he was talking about prefect business, when he caught Harry coming in from the DADA offices a few minutes after curfew. When Hermione or one of the older prefects caught him, they quietly spoke to him about it but when it was Ron who caught him, everyone knew.
It wasn't just the prefect stuff; Ron was constantly interrupting conversations Harry was having with Hermione and Ginny, attempting to take over them. This infuriated Harry and he could see it was pissing off Ginny big time while Hermione seemed almost depressed at it. Harry hoped everything was okay with her, she seemed a lot quieter this year and slightly less sure of herself.
After the duel where Harry had beaten Hermione and Ron, Ron had been annoyed. Ron couldn't accept that Harry had beaten both of them at his first official duel this year, Harry knew Ron was quite good, he generally won more than he lost and the only people he lost in any great amount to were Hermione and Draco. He could understand that Ron might be a bit annoyed but Ron kept going on about it, he had overheard a conversation between Ron and Dean in the dorms the other night where Ron had said that Harry must have cheated, thankfully Dean managed to dissuade him from this pointing out that Harry wouldn't cheat and also that Harry didn't want to duel in the first place. It placated Ron slightly but he was still cold to Harry.
If he had remained like this, Harry would probably been able to handle it but unfortunately it didn't remain like this, it got worse after the Quidditch team tryouts for the keeper position. Ron had thought that he would be the best choice and had turned up just a little overconfident.
Ron had been a good keeper, not brilliant but certainly capable but he was not the best at the tryout. Harry thought that if it had been anyone else that beat him, Ron would not have been so angry afterwards but he wasn't sure. The new keeper for the team turned out to be Ginny, she had surprised everyone but the twins when she announced she was going to tryout, and when she was tested she was found to be the best. She wasn't perfect but she could read fakes better than any of the other candidates and held her nerve well. The twins were ecstatic when she made it and Harry had congratulated her as well, happy that one of his friends had managed to make the team and would be there when the other five left the following year. Ron didn't take it well at all, he was angry at the twins, Harry and Ginny, he claimed they were jealous of him and was spouting nonsense at them. Hermione had tried to calm him down but this action just got her included in the rant because she had congratulated Ginny. Eventually Hermione managed to get him to leave with her, but Harry felt bad for her, he could see tears forming in her eyes at Ron's words, similarly in Ginny's eyes. Harry and the twins were angry with him, he should have been happy for his sister but he couldn't see past himself.
Unfortunately it didn't stop there, when the team had elected its new captain Alicia Spinnet, they also announced that Ginny would be trained as next years captain. They decided to do this so that she would be prepared and because Harry had said she would do a far better job than him and would also have the time to do it. He also stated that she grew up with Quidditch and he didn't, so she would have far more knowledge about the game to use in planning for games. When Ron heard this, he stormed out of the common room, dragging Hermione with him.
Ron still hadn't calmed down and Harry wasn't sure what was going to happen with him but it hurt him to see how Ron treated his brothers, his sister and Hermione. Harry was used to being outcast but to see someone do it to their own family hurt Harry, Harry would have given anything to have a family like the Weasleys but Ron was damaging what he had.
Only two bright spots were alleviating the gloom settling over Harry, the first was his new found friendship with Ginny. Up until this year, she had barely been able to talk to him but this year she had become more vibrant and outgoing towards him. She frequently visited him in his office, where they worked on their assignments or talked about Quidditch or other things they liked. After only knowing her vaguely as a girl who blushed every time she was near him or as Ron's little sister, this change was more than welcome especially since he couldn't talk to Hermione as much anymore.
The other bright spot in his life just now was helping the first year Gryffindors, the first years didn't seem to hold him in awe as the Boy-Who-Lived, they seemed happy to accept him as Harry. Samantha was the most frequent visitor he had along with Ginny and she brought along some of the other first years as well. They would come to him with problems with their work and he would help them in the DADA classroom, he knew he wasn't the best for doing this, Hermione would have been far more appropriate but Ron seemed to have scared all of the first years into staying away. He found he actually enjoyed his time helping them, he gave him some much needed contact with groups of people and he knew that if they were with him, then Malfoy and his Slytherin followers wouldn't be hassling them. Ginny also came along when the first years visited and they asked her for help as well, she was slightly better in Harry in some areas and vice versa, neither were the best in the school but they managed to help the first years with all their problems.
Harry worried about what was going to happen, he worried about Hermione, he wanted to be able to talk to her again without Ron butting in or dragging her off, he understood they were dating but that didn't make her his appendage or property. He was glad that he could talk to Ginny, Remus and Hagrid. He had his first years to look after and he was happy to do this, they had a joy for life that was slightly infectious, especially Samantha who was becoming more and more like a little sister to him. He just hoped that he would be able to protect them all, he knew that he had to stop Voldemort and anyone else from harming them. He had to stop him and wouldn't stop until he did.
--
Harry was flying, he could feel the air rushing past his head but something was different, his vision was incredibly sharp and his movements were more fluid than ever before. He heard a sound to his left, he moved his head to look and saw a black raven flying next to him keeping an easy pace with him. He was confused, a Firebolt could outpace almost any bird, certainly a raven but this one was there beside him, he looked down to check his broom.
He looked down and panicked, there was no broom. How was he flying with out a broom? He looked down again, then to the sides and realised that he was a bird, more precisely a raven like the one next to him, which now looked like it was attempting to laugh at him. It wasn't succeeding very well, ravens are not know for their jovial qualities, but this raven had something else about it. He was trying to figure out what was different about the raven, it looked like any other raven, flew just as well but something seemed just a little unusual about the bird.
The other raven made a motion that indicated it wanted him to follow it as it changed direction, heading closer to the ground. Harry followed, observing the ground below, there was a river, sunlight shining off the surface, cutting through a forest. The trees were tall and widely spaced, a car could easily fit through the gaps in the forest, the floor of the forest was covered in small plants, dead branches and had animals running away from the direction in which he was heading.
The other raven made a noise, trying to tell him to keep up, or at least that's what Harry thought it was trying to tell him. He began to hear new noises, clanging sounds and shouting from up ahead, the river had a slight colour change to it. He realised what the sounds were, what the colour was, he prayed he was wrong but it didn't seem likely. The other raven forged its way ahead, every so often looking back to make sure he was still there.
He was approaching the edge of the forest; he could see a wooden bridge over the river ahead. On the bridge, around the edges of the river and at points in the river, he could see a horde of people fighting. The raven flew to a branch on the nearest tree and settled itself, watching the fighting below. Harry flew to join it, as he settled he looked at the people fighting.
He didn't recognise their clothing, it looked like the clothes out of history books in the library, most people wore brown clothing with the occasional bit of colour. A lot of them also had leather padding and patches on their clothes in specific places, he realised they were covering vital organs and joints. Only a few however wore leather or metal helmets, most of they going without, their hair flying about them as they clashed.
He watched in morbid curiosity as a tall woman with a short sword carved up a huge man that was attacking her, she stabbed into the mans stomach, his eyes bulged in their sockets, his hands trying to hold the sword in place as the woman drove it upwards. As the sword approached his chest, the mans fight began to leave him, his eyes growing duller, his hands slipping from the sword as blood began to seep from his mouth. The woman pulled the sword back and slashed across the man's throat, the body fell to the ground, the blood soaking into the earth staining it. The woman turned to face another attacker as he approached but the attacker fell to the ground as a man crushed his skull with a large club. The club had come down directly on his skull cracking it like an egg, the man's mouth had started to open but as the impact came he had bitten off his own tongue. The man saluted the woman with his club and in response she raised her sword before they both turned to face new enemies.
Scenes like this were playing out all over the bridge and banks of the river, the clash of weapons and the cracking of bones could be heard over the screams of the injured and the war cries of the victorious. The fighting wasn't fancy, it wasn't like anything you would see in a play or a movie, it was pure violence, gruesome and brutal. Harry watched as person after person fell to the ground, the blood staining the ground, the weapons and the attackers. The warriors all had rage in their eyes, he could feel the intensity coming off them, for them it was about survival, about being the only ones left standing, there was no second place and there was no retreat in this fight.
The raven next to him was silent as it watched him, seeing the comprehension dawn in him. The boy was learning that the life of a warrior, the defender of others was not to be romanticised, it was a brutal path, it had few rewards for the one on it and peril at every turn but the raven could see in this boy, who had called unknowingly to the Morrigu, that he could follow the path, he would not fall from it like so many others. Some believe that destinies are prewritten, that everyone has a destiny to fulfil, but true destinies are made only by those willingly to make the hard choices, and this boy had made his choice, not a choice by others for him like many other things in his life but a choice for himself, to live doing what he thought best.
The raven let out a cry one last time, Harry turned towards it as the scene faded. Just before he woke up, he could have sworn he saw Morrigu sitting beside him with a wry smile on her lips as she waved him back to the land of waking.
--
Harry and Remus stood at the front of the DADA classroom, they were waiting for their class to enter. They looked out at the empty classroom, Harry asked, "Do you think they'll be confused when they come in and see all the desks and chairs piled up in one corner?"
Remus chuckled, "Probably, but then they'll think who their teachers are and wonder what type of trick we are about to play on them."
As he said this, the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins entered the room, young Samantha slightly ahead of the rest, eager to get to her second favourite class, Care of Magical Creatures was by far her favourite. The class entered the room and then almost as one stopped and looked round. They then turned to look at the two teachers, who were attempting to look completely innocent as if everything was normal.
"Right, everyone come in, put you bags against the far wall, you'll only need your wands for this class." Remus said to the class.
The class hurried to put their bags down and after a couple of minutes the class had assembled in front of the teachers.
"You are probably wondered why the desks are all piled up and the room is cleared?" Remus continued.
The class merely nodded, looking confused at the happenings.
"Today we are going to start something a little different, you are the first class we are going to try it with, and if it works we will probably do this once every six lessons or so. To see if it works we need everyone to work really hard and carefully today."
Harry took over at this point, "As you will no doubt know already, the older years have a duelling club run by Professors Lupin, Flitwick and Snape, the younger years aren't allowed to have one because you aren't experienced enough yet and are a little too young as well. Well we have decided to try and let you prepare for the duelling clubs so that you have a little bit of an idea for when you get older."
One young girl raised her hand and in a very shaky voice asked, "Are you and Professor Lupin going to curse us?"
Harry looked at her, "No, Professor Lupin and I are not going to hurt any of you, what we are going to do is let you start practicing how to dodge things, you are going to dodge objects that aren't as fast as curses but will get you prepared for the motions you will need."
"First we need to know how many of you can properly perform the Wingardium Levosia charm?" Remus asked.
The whole class raised their hands.
"Excellent that is part of what you need to know for today's exercise. Harry and I will demonstrate what you will be doing today, so if you could all take a few steps back."
Harry and Remus took positions, facing each other about fifteen feet apart at the front of the room. Remus reached into his pocket and took out a small purple ball, he tapped it once with his wand. The ball lit up and became a light purple colour, it sat on the floor in front of Remus as if waiting for something.
"This ball is a contraption that Harry and I had designed for you, its called a Stinger. If it hits you, it will send a little shock into you letting you know you've been hit. The object of today is to make sure that your opponent doesn't strike you with the Stinger. To make the ball fly at your opponent, we want you to direct it and make if fly with the levitation charm."
Harry stood waiting, Remus quickly said the charm and the ball floated at a reasonably fast speed towards Harry. He easily saw it coming, his seeker abilities coming to the fore as he shifted to the left of the ball letting it fall by him until Remus let it fall to the ground. Harry then responded, the ball flew at Remus, who ducked it and stood back up but Harry was waiting on this and drew the ball back and tapped him on the shoulder with it. Remus jumped as the ball shocked him. The class laughed as Remus glowered at Harry.
"Okay, that's the basics of what you are to do, although you aren't allowed to keep a hold on the ball once you've missed like Harry did, you don't get a chance to redirect your curses in a real duel and you don't here. Once you've got a good practice in with just one of you sending the ball at the other, we'll move on to using a ball each so that you have to cast the charm and dodge at the same time. Does everyone understand?"
A boy in the class raised his hand and asked, "Does the sting from the ball hurt?"
Harry shook his head, "No, its just a little shock, like static just enough to let you know its there. We aren't going to hurt you in this class, dark wizards may do that and in later years you will be shown how to defend yourself against most of those curses but for now your best defence is not to be there when the curse arrives."
The class visibly relaxed at this, even brighten at the practical exercise they were about to begin. Everyone was split into pairs, all save Samantha who was left on her own, due to the odd number of people in the class. Each pair was given a Stinger between them. Remus then started putting the pairs in spaces over the class and using small ward stones erected some simple barriers between each of the pair just in case an accident were to happen. While Remus was doing this Samantha was looking worried at the front of the room, standing by herself, she had no one to work with and appeared slightly upset at this.
Harry went up to her and said, "Samantha, as there isn't anyone available to work with you, you will have the severe misfortune of with me today."
Samantha looked up at him and smiled, "Really?"
He nodded as he summoned a Stinger to him and moved to his spot opposite Samantha. He raised the ball and directed it with his wand, the ball flew towards the young girl. She tried to move out of the road but was a fraction of a second too late and it clipped her shoulder, she let out a little squeal of surprise.
"Don't worry about it, just remember to watch the ball, not me or my wand, just the ball" Harry said encouragingly as he saw what she did wrong.
Samantha had a look of concentration on her face as she fired the ball back at Harry, who ducked out of the way, the ball just missing the tips of his hair as it went past.
"I'll get you before the class finishes." Samantha said, her voice totally serious. Harry had to give a little grin at the girl's determination.
The other pairs were getting on fine but the aiming of the balls was hard for the young students at this stage and no one was ready to try two balls in a pair. Just before the end of the class, Samantha was about to fire the ball at Harry when Remus said something to him. Harry turned away just as Samantha let the ball go at him. It struck him on the back of the knee and his leg jerked making him stumble. Remus laughed at him, "Well done, Samantha"
Samantha however looked mortified, as she attempted to apologise for hitting him as he turned away.
"Its okay, Samantha" Harry said trying to soothe the girl's feelings, "I turned away when I should have been concentrating, you did what you were supposed to and no one is going to say you did anything wrong."
She looked up at him, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. And you did say you were going to get me, didn't you?"
The young girl giggled as she nodded.
"Well you got me, and I deserved it. Professor Lupin is just jealous because you managed it and he can't." Harry said with humour dancing in his eyes.
Remus at this point dismissed the class for the day and watched them as they left the room, as she left Samantha waved to the two teachers.
Once she had gone, Harry said, "That was a kind thing you did there, you made it so I wouldn't look obvious when she got in her hit."
"I did that, I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about." Remus replied, pure innocence on his face like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.
--
Hermione entered the common room, she had just returned from an Arithmancy class, which had overrun as the professor wanted to finish off the section they had been working on. It had been a fascinating class and the last one of the day for Hermione, she was now looking for any of her friends in the common room. Harry wouldn't be there, he would be in the office of the DADA teachers, probably marking the first years' work, Hermione envied him, she would have loved to help teach a class but she was a prefect and her duties took up a good proportion of her time. Ron wasn't there, who knew where Ron went sometimes but today she was glad, they were fighting a lot, seemingly increasing in ferocity every time they fought and the toll it was taking on her was becoming more than what she could handle.
As she looked round, she spotted Ginny sitting at a table off in a corner reading a book. She made her way over to the girl and sat on the opposite side of the table.
"Hello, Hermione" the redhead looked up as Hermione took a seat.
"Hi, Ginny, what are you reading?"
"The History of Goblin Rebellions for a paper Binns wants next week."
"It's a fascinating subject, the Goblin Rebellions were one of the main times the stability of wizarding society has been threatened by something other than dark wizards, they control a lot of the financial power in the world and are good at hiding things away." Hermione said after hearing what Ginny was reading.
Ginny looked bored, "Its not really that interesting, I much prefer Charms or Transfiguration to History but this work needs to get done."
"Its important to learn about mistakes made in the past to ensure we don't repeat them in the future, although people tend to continue making mistakes along the way"
"I suppose" Ginny mumbled, not looking convinced.
"Ginny, I haven't been able to talk to Harry much lately, you know he always at the DADA rooms and he doesn't get back here till just before the curfew when I've got to go on prefect patrol, I only really see him in classes and sometimes at lunch, do you know if he's okay?" Hermione asked, a tinge of worry evident in both her voice and her face.
"I'm not sure what you mean, I've gone and spoken to Harry in his office, we sometimes help the first years in the classroom next door. You do know you are allowed to go and speak to him, don't you?" Ginny replied.
"I.., I just didn't want to disturb his work" Hermione said, she hadn't known that she could go see him but then Ron had been taking up all her time and interrupting any of the few conversations she had had with Harry, "Its just he looks tired, he always looks like he wants to go and sleep for days on end, do you if he's having nightmares or other troubles?"
"He has nightmares every so often, bad ones, but I don't think that why he's so tired just now, I think it's the getting up early everyday that's getting to him but he says he's starting to adapt and it isn't as hard any more." Ginny answered.
"Getting up early? Why is he getting up early everyday? I know he isn't always at breakfast but I didn't know he was always getting up early, he must be gone before I get up." Hermione looked confused, a strange expression to see on the smart girl's face.
"I found out by accident, I got up early about two weeks ago to do some work I had to finish for that day and ran into him as he was leaving the tower. He said he was in a hurry and would speak to me later. I went to see him later in his office and asked him. He told me he has been doing physical and muggle fighting training with Professor Lupin in the mornings. He wants to be ready to fight and knows he needs to be fit and have a great deal of stamina to face the Death Eaters and Voldemort. I've seen him working with Lupin a few times out the window, from what I've seen of the fighting, I 'm surprised he isn't in the hospital wing everyday but he is getting better." The younger girl explained to Hermione, a slight tinge of pride in her that Harry has chosen her to confide in rather than anyone else.
"Harry has been training since the start of term and didn't tell us?"
"He hasn't really had the chance to tell you, you haven't seen much of each other and with all the problems he is having with Ron, do you blame him? He doesn't really want to tell Ron with the way he is acting and he's trying to protect you from ending up in the middle by not telling you, he wants to make sure that he doesn't affect your relationship." Ginny answered her, attempting to convey that Harry was trying to make sure that Hermione was not going to end up in the middle of the feud between himself and Ron.
"It wouldn't put me in the middle, I care about Harry too. He shouldn't have to hide things from me just because my boyfriend can't take loosing to him. I think I'll go and see him in his office at times just to make sure he knows he can talk to me and I won't say anything to Ron. I do have another question though, do you know if Harry has any tattoos?" Hermione said, a bit of anger at the start with the way Harry was trying to protect her from, to her mind, a non-existent situation.
Ginny looked confused, "I don't think so, why do you ask?"
"The other night as I was leaving to go on patrol Harry rushed into the tower, he wasn't wearing his robes and had a short sleeved shirt on. As he went by, the sleeve moved up slightly and I could have sworn I saw part of a tattoo or something. The colour was black and stood out from his skin quite a bit, I'm sure I wasn't imagining it." Hermione explained.
"He hasn't said anything to me about having a tattoo, but then again he doesn't tell me everything. Maybe you should ask him or I could ask him next time I see him."
"Its okay, it probably doesn't matter, I was just curious. If he has one and wants to tell us, he will, until then just keep quiet about it." Hermione said, her tone not matching the words she spoke.
She bid goodbye to Ginny and made her way upstairs to her dorm. Ginny watched her go upstairs thinking that Hermione probably wouldn't let it rest until she found out whether or not she had seen something. Ginny thought to herself that she would find out as well, just to make sure nothing was wrong.
--
A/N: Thanks to my friend Ben for reading this to help me. Also thank you to those who have reviewed my story.
Disclaimer: As usual, characters and imagery from the Harry Potter series are not owned by this writer.
The room was dark, the only remit from the gloom was a flickering candle on the large desk, it's feeble light allowed an observer to see a leather chair at the desk. In the chair sat a robed covered figure, only the red eyes of the face could be made out under the hood. Voldemort was writing something on a piece of parchment at the desk while listening to a man standing behind his chair. The man's face was covered in the traditional mask of a Death Eater, his robes completely black.
".. and the Ministry has no idea who has assassinated the Deputy Director or killed her family. They have ruled out any involvement from our forces, they still do not believe you have returned. I also regret to inform you that we have been unable to track who has committed this act either." The Death Eaters voice identified the man as Lucius Malfoy.
"So this upstart group thinks it can challenge the Ministry, what do you think I should do, Lucius? Should I make an example out of them? They use muggle methods as well as wizarding, they taint our world and they think that this act and the ones that the ministry covered up are the way to gain power?" Voldemort's voice was a quiet hiss in the room but Malfoy heard every word as if it were shouted.
"My Lord, I think that you should do what you think is best, you are the most powerful wizard in the world and they should fear you and bow down to you. However, letting this group continue may play into your hands. They have created unrest in the Ministry and are most likely going to continue to do so, there is no link to you so the Ministry will not be ready for you when the time comes. This group will fall to you just like the Ministry will, letting them fight amongst themselves merely ensures your victory." Malfoy answered, keeping a reverent tone to his voice.
"You have made a good point, Lucius, if this group keeps the Ministry off-balance we shall be able to prepare more easily than ever. I think I like this idea, we could defeat the Ministry ourselves but why not let someone else do the work. Our eventual victory will come no matter who is in power. You must ensure that the Ministry does not hear a word of our dealings. Also, ensure that that old fool Dumbledore and his followers are also involved in this, he is a fool but he is powerful enough to slow us down a bit, let him deal with this other group while I prepare my forces."
"As you wish, My Lord"
Voldemort rose from his chair, and pointed his wand to a map above the desk tapping lightly on a location a few miles from Durham, the map shifted focus to that point, enlarging it so that it could be seen clearly.
"I will summon my Death Eaters to this point, go and bring my newest followers here so that I can welcome them into the ranks of Voldemort." Voldemort ordered.
Malfoy bowed to his master, as he did so he said, "Yes, my Lord, I shall go now."
As he rose to leave, Voldemort called his name, as he turned the Dark Lord pointed his wand and said, "Crucio"
Malfoy fell to the floor, reeling in agony.
Harry shot bolt upright in bed, his scar throbbing painfully, his breathing ragged and sweat pouring from his body soaking his light clothing. As he cleared his eyes the fuzzy image of the fifth year dorm came into view, it had been another dream. He moved quickly to write down what he had seen before it left his mind, as he did so, he heard a voice, a voice he had heard before, the voice of Morrigu saying, "You must learn to see past the illusion".
--
Harry was not having a good week after the duel, not a good week at all. He was constantly tired now from training, although he had begun to adapt to it, the tiredness had just crept up on him with everything he was doing. His training in the mornings, Quidditch several times a week, the duelling clubs, classes, teaching and his personal magic practices were beginning to come down on him hard, he seemed to have little if any time to relax.
Not only was his life becoming harder, but the situation in the rest of the wizarding world was becoming more grim after the new England Quidditch seeker was found dead in his home. The seeker, Michael Smith had been found by his coach, nailed to the floor with his eyes frozen but his blood boiled. The scene had been described as particularly gruesome and many people have suggested that the same people were responsible for the deputy director and her families' deaths a short time ago. Investigators had released to the public descriptions of the death and had said to many reporters that the perpetrators of the crime were particularly cruel and vicious as Smith had been conscious up until he died; a potion similar to the one found at the director's home had been present. Harry was worried about these deaths, even more so as Voldemort seemed to know little about them and it was distracting the Ministry from investigating the return of Voldemort. From what his dream had showed him, Voldemort was content to sit back and build his forces until he was ready before showing himself, which would leave the Ministry unprepared.
As if his workload and the happenings in the world were not enough, Ron was pissed off at him, maybe more than pissed off more like completely furious at him. Things just kept on coming which drove Ron further away from him.
Ron had been exceptionally proud when he made prefect, Harry had been happy for him but his behaviour since getting his badge had started to remind Harry a little of Percy although not quite as concerned with rules but more with image. He always made sure people heard him when he was talking about prefect business, when he caught Harry coming in from the DADA offices a few minutes after curfew. When Hermione or one of the older prefects caught him, they quietly spoke to him about it but when it was Ron who caught him, everyone knew.
It wasn't just the prefect stuff; Ron was constantly interrupting conversations Harry was having with Hermione and Ginny, attempting to take over them. This infuriated Harry and he could see it was pissing off Ginny big time while Hermione seemed almost depressed at it. Harry hoped everything was okay with her, she seemed a lot quieter this year and slightly less sure of herself.
After the duel where Harry had beaten Hermione and Ron, Ron had been annoyed. Ron couldn't accept that Harry had beaten both of them at his first official duel this year, Harry knew Ron was quite good, he generally won more than he lost and the only people he lost in any great amount to were Hermione and Draco. He could understand that Ron might be a bit annoyed but Ron kept going on about it, he had overheard a conversation between Ron and Dean in the dorms the other night where Ron had said that Harry must have cheated, thankfully Dean managed to dissuade him from this pointing out that Harry wouldn't cheat and also that Harry didn't want to duel in the first place. It placated Ron slightly but he was still cold to Harry.
If he had remained like this, Harry would probably been able to handle it but unfortunately it didn't remain like this, it got worse after the Quidditch team tryouts for the keeper position. Ron had thought that he would be the best choice and had turned up just a little overconfident.
Ron had been a good keeper, not brilliant but certainly capable but he was not the best at the tryout. Harry thought that if it had been anyone else that beat him, Ron would not have been so angry afterwards but he wasn't sure. The new keeper for the team turned out to be Ginny, she had surprised everyone but the twins when she announced she was going to tryout, and when she was tested she was found to be the best. She wasn't perfect but she could read fakes better than any of the other candidates and held her nerve well. The twins were ecstatic when she made it and Harry had congratulated her as well, happy that one of his friends had managed to make the team and would be there when the other five left the following year. Ron didn't take it well at all, he was angry at the twins, Harry and Ginny, he claimed they were jealous of him and was spouting nonsense at them. Hermione had tried to calm him down but this action just got her included in the rant because she had congratulated Ginny. Eventually Hermione managed to get him to leave with her, but Harry felt bad for her, he could see tears forming in her eyes at Ron's words, similarly in Ginny's eyes. Harry and the twins were angry with him, he should have been happy for his sister but he couldn't see past himself.
Unfortunately it didn't stop there, when the team had elected its new captain Alicia Spinnet, they also announced that Ginny would be trained as next years captain. They decided to do this so that she would be prepared and because Harry had said she would do a far better job than him and would also have the time to do it. He also stated that she grew up with Quidditch and he didn't, so she would have far more knowledge about the game to use in planning for games. When Ron heard this, he stormed out of the common room, dragging Hermione with him.
Ron still hadn't calmed down and Harry wasn't sure what was going to happen with him but it hurt him to see how Ron treated his brothers, his sister and Hermione. Harry was used to being outcast but to see someone do it to their own family hurt Harry, Harry would have given anything to have a family like the Weasleys but Ron was damaging what he had.
Only two bright spots were alleviating the gloom settling over Harry, the first was his new found friendship with Ginny. Up until this year, she had barely been able to talk to him but this year she had become more vibrant and outgoing towards him. She frequently visited him in his office, where they worked on their assignments or talked about Quidditch or other things they liked. After only knowing her vaguely as a girl who blushed every time she was near him or as Ron's little sister, this change was more than welcome especially since he couldn't talk to Hermione as much anymore.
The other bright spot in his life just now was helping the first year Gryffindors, the first years didn't seem to hold him in awe as the Boy-Who-Lived, they seemed happy to accept him as Harry. Samantha was the most frequent visitor he had along with Ginny and she brought along some of the other first years as well. They would come to him with problems with their work and he would help them in the DADA classroom, he knew he wasn't the best for doing this, Hermione would have been far more appropriate but Ron seemed to have scared all of the first years into staying away. He found he actually enjoyed his time helping them, he gave him some much needed contact with groups of people and he knew that if they were with him, then Malfoy and his Slytherin followers wouldn't be hassling them. Ginny also came along when the first years visited and they asked her for help as well, she was slightly better in Harry in some areas and vice versa, neither were the best in the school but they managed to help the first years with all their problems.
Harry worried about what was going to happen, he worried about Hermione, he wanted to be able to talk to her again without Ron butting in or dragging her off, he understood they were dating but that didn't make her his appendage or property. He was glad that he could talk to Ginny, Remus and Hagrid. He had his first years to look after and he was happy to do this, they had a joy for life that was slightly infectious, especially Samantha who was becoming more and more like a little sister to him. He just hoped that he would be able to protect them all, he knew that he had to stop Voldemort and anyone else from harming them. He had to stop him and wouldn't stop until he did.
--
Harry was flying, he could feel the air rushing past his head but something was different, his vision was incredibly sharp and his movements were more fluid than ever before. He heard a sound to his left, he moved his head to look and saw a black raven flying next to him keeping an easy pace with him. He was confused, a Firebolt could outpace almost any bird, certainly a raven but this one was there beside him, he looked down to check his broom.
He looked down and panicked, there was no broom. How was he flying with out a broom? He looked down again, then to the sides and realised that he was a bird, more precisely a raven like the one next to him, which now looked like it was attempting to laugh at him. It wasn't succeeding very well, ravens are not know for their jovial qualities, but this raven had something else about it. He was trying to figure out what was different about the raven, it looked like any other raven, flew just as well but something seemed just a little unusual about the bird.
The other raven made a motion that indicated it wanted him to follow it as it changed direction, heading closer to the ground. Harry followed, observing the ground below, there was a river, sunlight shining off the surface, cutting through a forest. The trees were tall and widely spaced, a car could easily fit through the gaps in the forest, the floor of the forest was covered in small plants, dead branches and had animals running away from the direction in which he was heading.
The other raven made a noise, trying to tell him to keep up, or at least that's what Harry thought it was trying to tell him. He began to hear new noises, clanging sounds and shouting from up ahead, the river had a slight colour change to it. He realised what the sounds were, what the colour was, he prayed he was wrong but it didn't seem likely. The other raven forged its way ahead, every so often looking back to make sure he was still there.
He was approaching the edge of the forest; he could see a wooden bridge over the river ahead. On the bridge, around the edges of the river and at points in the river, he could see a horde of people fighting. The raven flew to a branch on the nearest tree and settled itself, watching the fighting below. Harry flew to join it, as he settled he looked at the people fighting.
He didn't recognise their clothing, it looked like the clothes out of history books in the library, most people wore brown clothing with the occasional bit of colour. A lot of them also had leather padding and patches on their clothes in specific places, he realised they were covering vital organs and joints. Only a few however wore leather or metal helmets, most of they going without, their hair flying about them as they clashed.
He watched in morbid curiosity as a tall woman with a short sword carved up a huge man that was attacking her, she stabbed into the mans stomach, his eyes bulged in their sockets, his hands trying to hold the sword in place as the woman drove it upwards. As the sword approached his chest, the mans fight began to leave him, his eyes growing duller, his hands slipping from the sword as blood began to seep from his mouth. The woman pulled the sword back and slashed across the man's throat, the body fell to the ground, the blood soaking into the earth staining it. The woman turned to face another attacker as he approached but the attacker fell to the ground as a man crushed his skull with a large club. The club had come down directly on his skull cracking it like an egg, the man's mouth had started to open but as the impact came he had bitten off his own tongue. The man saluted the woman with his club and in response she raised her sword before they both turned to face new enemies.
Scenes like this were playing out all over the bridge and banks of the river, the clash of weapons and the cracking of bones could be heard over the screams of the injured and the war cries of the victorious. The fighting wasn't fancy, it wasn't like anything you would see in a play or a movie, it was pure violence, gruesome and brutal. Harry watched as person after person fell to the ground, the blood staining the ground, the weapons and the attackers. The warriors all had rage in their eyes, he could feel the intensity coming off them, for them it was about survival, about being the only ones left standing, there was no second place and there was no retreat in this fight.
The raven next to him was silent as it watched him, seeing the comprehension dawn in him. The boy was learning that the life of a warrior, the defender of others was not to be romanticised, it was a brutal path, it had few rewards for the one on it and peril at every turn but the raven could see in this boy, who had called unknowingly to the Morrigu, that he could follow the path, he would not fall from it like so many others. Some believe that destinies are prewritten, that everyone has a destiny to fulfil, but true destinies are made only by those willingly to make the hard choices, and this boy had made his choice, not a choice by others for him like many other things in his life but a choice for himself, to live doing what he thought best.
The raven let out a cry one last time, Harry turned towards it as the scene faded. Just before he woke up, he could have sworn he saw Morrigu sitting beside him with a wry smile on her lips as she waved him back to the land of waking.
--
Harry and Remus stood at the front of the DADA classroom, they were waiting for their class to enter. They looked out at the empty classroom, Harry asked, "Do you think they'll be confused when they come in and see all the desks and chairs piled up in one corner?"
Remus chuckled, "Probably, but then they'll think who their teachers are and wonder what type of trick we are about to play on them."
As he said this, the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins entered the room, young Samantha slightly ahead of the rest, eager to get to her second favourite class, Care of Magical Creatures was by far her favourite. The class entered the room and then almost as one stopped and looked round. They then turned to look at the two teachers, who were attempting to look completely innocent as if everything was normal.
"Right, everyone come in, put you bags against the far wall, you'll only need your wands for this class." Remus said to the class.
The class hurried to put their bags down and after a couple of minutes the class had assembled in front of the teachers.
"You are probably wondered why the desks are all piled up and the room is cleared?" Remus continued.
The class merely nodded, looking confused at the happenings.
"Today we are going to start something a little different, you are the first class we are going to try it with, and if it works we will probably do this once every six lessons or so. To see if it works we need everyone to work really hard and carefully today."
Harry took over at this point, "As you will no doubt know already, the older years have a duelling club run by Professors Lupin, Flitwick and Snape, the younger years aren't allowed to have one because you aren't experienced enough yet and are a little too young as well. Well we have decided to try and let you prepare for the duelling clubs so that you have a little bit of an idea for when you get older."
One young girl raised her hand and in a very shaky voice asked, "Are you and Professor Lupin going to curse us?"
Harry looked at her, "No, Professor Lupin and I are not going to hurt any of you, what we are going to do is let you start practicing how to dodge things, you are going to dodge objects that aren't as fast as curses but will get you prepared for the motions you will need."
"First we need to know how many of you can properly perform the Wingardium Levosia charm?" Remus asked.
The whole class raised their hands.
"Excellent that is part of what you need to know for today's exercise. Harry and I will demonstrate what you will be doing today, so if you could all take a few steps back."
Harry and Remus took positions, facing each other about fifteen feet apart at the front of the room. Remus reached into his pocket and took out a small purple ball, he tapped it once with his wand. The ball lit up and became a light purple colour, it sat on the floor in front of Remus as if waiting for something.
"This ball is a contraption that Harry and I had designed for you, its called a Stinger. If it hits you, it will send a little shock into you letting you know you've been hit. The object of today is to make sure that your opponent doesn't strike you with the Stinger. To make the ball fly at your opponent, we want you to direct it and make if fly with the levitation charm."
Harry stood waiting, Remus quickly said the charm and the ball floated at a reasonably fast speed towards Harry. He easily saw it coming, his seeker abilities coming to the fore as he shifted to the left of the ball letting it fall by him until Remus let it fall to the ground. Harry then responded, the ball flew at Remus, who ducked it and stood back up but Harry was waiting on this and drew the ball back and tapped him on the shoulder with it. Remus jumped as the ball shocked him. The class laughed as Remus glowered at Harry.
"Okay, that's the basics of what you are to do, although you aren't allowed to keep a hold on the ball once you've missed like Harry did, you don't get a chance to redirect your curses in a real duel and you don't here. Once you've got a good practice in with just one of you sending the ball at the other, we'll move on to using a ball each so that you have to cast the charm and dodge at the same time. Does everyone understand?"
A boy in the class raised his hand and asked, "Does the sting from the ball hurt?"
Harry shook his head, "No, its just a little shock, like static just enough to let you know its there. We aren't going to hurt you in this class, dark wizards may do that and in later years you will be shown how to defend yourself against most of those curses but for now your best defence is not to be there when the curse arrives."
The class visibly relaxed at this, even brighten at the practical exercise they were about to begin. Everyone was split into pairs, all save Samantha who was left on her own, due to the odd number of people in the class. Each pair was given a Stinger between them. Remus then started putting the pairs in spaces over the class and using small ward stones erected some simple barriers between each of the pair just in case an accident were to happen. While Remus was doing this Samantha was looking worried at the front of the room, standing by herself, she had no one to work with and appeared slightly upset at this.
Harry went up to her and said, "Samantha, as there isn't anyone available to work with you, you will have the severe misfortune of with me today."
Samantha looked up at him and smiled, "Really?"
He nodded as he summoned a Stinger to him and moved to his spot opposite Samantha. He raised the ball and directed it with his wand, the ball flew towards the young girl. She tried to move out of the road but was a fraction of a second too late and it clipped her shoulder, she let out a little squeal of surprise.
"Don't worry about it, just remember to watch the ball, not me or my wand, just the ball" Harry said encouragingly as he saw what she did wrong.
Samantha had a look of concentration on her face as she fired the ball back at Harry, who ducked out of the way, the ball just missing the tips of his hair as it went past.
"I'll get you before the class finishes." Samantha said, her voice totally serious. Harry had to give a little grin at the girl's determination.
The other pairs were getting on fine but the aiming of the balls was hard for the young students at this stage and no one was ready to try two balls in a pair. Just before the end of the class, Samantha was about to fire the ball at Harry when Remus said something to him. Harry turned away just as Samantha let the ball go at him. It struck him on the back of the knee and his leg jerked making him stumble. Remus laughed at him, "Well done, Samantha"
Samantha however looked mortified, as she attempted to apologise for hitting him as he turned away.
"Its okay, Samantha" Harry said trying to soothe the girl's feelings, "I turned away when I should have been concentrating, you did what you were supposed to and no one is going to say you did anything wrong."
She looked up at him, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. And you did say you were going to get me, didn't you?"
The young girl giggled as she nodded.
"Well you got me, and I deserved it. Professor Lupin is just jealous because you managed it and he can't." Harry said with humour dancing in his eyes.
Remus at this point dismissed the class for the day and watched them as they left the room, as she left Samantha waved to the two teachers.
Once she had gone, Harry said, "That was a kind thing you did there, you made it so I wouldn't look obvious when she got in her hit."
"I did that, I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about." Remus replied, pure innocence on his face like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.
--
Hermione entered the common room, she had just returned from an Arithmancy class, which had overrun as the professor wanted to finish off the section they had been working on. It had been a fascinating class and the last one of the day for Hermione, she was now looking for any of her friends in the common room. Harry wouldn't be there, he would be in the office of the DADA teachers, probably marking the first years' work, Hermione envied him, she would have loved to help teach a class but she was a prefect and her duties took up a good proportion of her time. Ron wasn't there, who knew where Ron went sometimes but today she was glad, they were fighting a lot, seemingly increasing in ferocity every time they fought and the toll it was taking on her was becoming more than what she could handle.
As she looked round, she spotted Ginny sitting at a table off in a corner reading a book. She made her way over to the girl and sat on the opposite side of the table.
"Hello, Hermione" the redhead looked up as Hermione took a seat.
"Hi, Ginny, what are you reading?"
"The History of Goblin Rebellions for a paper Binns wants next week."
"It's a fascinating subject, the Goblin Rebellions were one of the main times the stability of wizarding society has been threatened by something other than dark wizards, they control a lot of the financial power in the world and are good at hiding things away." Hermione said after hearing what Ginny was reading.
Ginny looked bored, "Its not really that interesting, I much prefer Charms or Transfiguration to History but this work needs to get done."
"Its important to learn about mistakes made in the past to ensure we don't repeat them in the future, although people tend to continue making mistakes along the way"
"I suppose" Ginny mumbled, not looking convinced.
"Ginny, I haven't been able to talk to Harry much lately, you know he always at the DADA rooms and he doesn't get back here till just before the curfew when I've got to go on prefect patrol, I only really see him in classes and sometimes at lunch, do you know if he's okay?" Hermione asked, a tinge of worry evident in both her voice and her face.
"I'm not sure what you mean, I've gone and spoken to Harry in his office, we sometimes help the first years in the classroom next door. You do know you are allowed to go and speak to him, don't you?" Ginny replied.
"I.., I just didn't want to disturb his work" Hermione said, she hadn't known that she could go see him but then Ron had been taking up all her time and interrupting any of the few conversations she had had with Harry, "Its just he looks tired, he always looks like he wants to go and sleep for days on end, do you if he's having nightmares or other troubles?"
"He has nightmares every so often, bad ones, but I don't think that why he's so tired just now, I think it's the getting up early everyday that's getting to him but he says he's starting to adapt and it isn't as hard any more." Ginny answered.
"Getting up early? Why is he getting up early everyday? I know he isn't always at breakfast but I didn't know he was always getting up early, he must be gone before I get up." Hermione looked confused, a strange expression to see on the smart girl's face.
"I found out by accident, I got up early about two weeks ago to do some work I had to finish for that day and ran into him as he was leaving the tower. He said he was in a hurry and would speak to me later. I went to see him later in his office and asked him. He told me he has been doing physical and muggle fighting training with Professor Lupin in the mornings. He wants to be ready to fight and knows he needs to be fit and have a great deal of stamina to face the Death Eaters and Voldemort. I've seen him working with Lupin a few times out the window, from what I've seen of the fighting, I 'm surprised he isn't in the hospital wing everyday but he is getting better." The younger girl explained to Hermione, a slight tinge of pride in her that Harry has chosen her to confide in rather than anyone else.
"Harry has been training since the start of term and didn't tell us?"
"He hasn't really had the chance to tell you, you haven't seen much of each other and with all the problems he is having with Ron, do you blame him? He doesn't really want to tell Ron with the way he is acting and he's trying to protect you from ending up in the middle by not telling you, he wants to make sure that he doesn't affect your relationship." Ginny answered her, attempting to convey that Harry was trying to make sure that Hermione was not going to end up in the middle of the feud between himself and Ron.
"It wouldn't put me in the middle, I care about Harry too. He shouldn't have to hide things from me just because my boyfriend can't take loosing to him. I think I'll go and see him in his office at times just to make sure he knows he can talk to me and I won't say anything to Ron. I do have another question though, do you know if Harry has any tattoos?" Hermione said, a bit of anger at the start with the way Harry was trying to protect her from, to her mind, a non-existent situation.
Ginny looked confused, "I don't think so, why do you ask?"
"The other night as I was leaving to go on patrol Harry rushed into the tower, he wasn't wearing his robes and had a short sleeved shirt on. As he went by, the sleeve moved up slightly and I could have sworn I saw part of a tattoo or something. The colour was black and stood out from his skin quite a bit, I'm sure I wasn't imagining it." Hermione explained.
"He hasn't said anything to me about having a tattoo, but then again he doesn't tell me everything. Maybe you should ask him or I could ask him next time I see him."
"Its okay, it probably doesn't matter, I was just curious. If he has one and wants to tell us, he will, until then just keep quiet about it." Hermione said, her tone not matching the words she spoke.
She bid goodbye to Ginny and made her way upstairs to her dorm. Ginny watched her go upstairs thinking that Hermione probably wouldn't let it rest until she found out whether or not she had seen something. Ginny thought to herself that she would find out as well, just to make sure nothing was wrong.
--
A/N: Thanks to my friend Ben for reading this to help me. Also thank you to those who have reviewed my story.
