Disclaimer-I do not own Harry Potter.

A/n-I'd like to thank all those who reviewed, we finally reached the big Five-O. Thank you all very much, and I'm glad you're enjoying this story, and don't worry very soon things are going to get good.

      Chapter 14

                                                                The Longest Night

                That night, even though he was very tired, Harry had a hard time falling asleep. Aside from Neville's snoring, it was Harry's thoughts that kept him awake most of that night. He was thinking about what Dumbledore had told him, about the book that he found on platform nine and three quarters, about what the unicorn had told him, and of course about Hermione.

                In fact, it was the thought of Hermione that encircled his mind most of the night. After thinking about it for many hours, he still didn't understand why he told her everything he did. This was definitely not something that Harry had planned. It was more of a spur of the moment type of thing.

But why? Why did he do it? That was what was on his mind the entire time he was thinking about her. 'Was it because I was afraid to lose her? Or was it because I thought she had a right to know? She spent so much time worrying about me, maybe by telling her, it would at least give her mind a little peace? But still, it was wrong. I should never have involved her. I should never have burdened her with all of this. Now she'll probably be more worried than ever, and that's the last thing she needs. This was my burden to bear and now I placed it on her.' Those were the type of thoughts that went through his mind for most of the night. 'But still, this is what she wanted,' was the last thought he had before he was finally able to fall asleep.

Harry was once again finding himself walking in darkness; a darkness that never seemed to end. The only difference between this time and the last was, that he was self-aware, and self-conscious. He wasn't a blanked faced zombie walking in a single direction like last time. He was cautious of every single step he took, he listened intently for any sound at all, and he was waiving his hands in front of him in order to try to feel his surroundings. It was like he was actually awake, only in his mind he knew that it was a dream, because he remembered that he had one just like it before.

"HELLO!" He called out. "IS ANYONE HERE?" When he couldn't hear any answer at all, he continued walking; hoping that he would find whatever it was he was looking for. He walked for what seemed like hours, until he finally gave up and sat down on the floor to rest. "This is ridiculous," he said to himself. "If this is all a dream then I should just wait it out." Harry looked around and seeing that nothing was happening around him, he just lied down on his back, and put his hands under his head for comfort. "Still, it seems so real. I can think clearly, and remember everything that happened in the real world. What does this mean?" Harry sat back up. "This is definitely something that Dumbledore will want to know. I'll tell him as soon as I wake up. It might even have something to do with Voldemort. But if it does, will I remember everything that happened here." Harry looked around one more time. "Not that anything weird did happen, except for the fact that I actually know this is a dream and I'm surrounded by darkness, and if I keep walking, I'll just end up in more darkness."

Harry continued sitting there, hoping that sooner or later the dream will end and that he will be back at Hogwarts in his bed, ready to go classes. But after hours of waiting, nothing happened. "This is ridiculous!" Harry shouted, getting extremely frustrated. "I've been here for hours, why haven't I woken up yet? I probably already missed all of the morning classes. I'm going to be in even more trouble than I am in now. Last time I had a good excuse and I still got five detentions and a Saturday detention. What am I going to tell McGonagall now, that I overslept!" Harry started to pinch himself hoping that that would wake him up, but the only thing that it did was hurt him, and make his skin red. "Why hasn't anyone awakened me yet? I'm sure they must have realized that I'm in the dormitory, in my bed sleeping, while classes are in session."

                "Nobody will wake you up, for nobody can wake you up," a cold voice whispered out of nowhere.

                Harry looked around cautiously and yelled, "Who's out there? Is anyone there?"

                "A dream is like a doorway to another dimension, another world, another time, another place. This place seems to be very, very cold and frightening. In fact I'm surprised that you're not scared right now." The voice continued speaking, getting a little louder.

                "Why should I be afraid of a dream?" Harry said defiantly, while trying to find the originator of the voice.

                "Because this is no ordinary dream, it is a dream from which you can't awake, from which you can't escape. This is a spirit world, and if your spirit dies here, then it will become a lost soul and will be sent off to Spiral Tower for eternity."

                Harry's eyes immediately went wide. He was obviously becoming more afraid of his situation now.

                "Ah now I see that I have gotten your attention."

                "Who are you?" Harry shouted out. "What do you want from me?"

                "All I want is to play a little game with you, if you win I let your spirit return to the real world, but if you lose you will become a lost soul trapped in spiral tower, are we agreed?"

                Harry was definitely afraid now. "No way." He yelled out trying to mask his inner fear.

                "My poor boy, you're acting as if that were a request. Let me put it another way. You are going to participate in my little game and if you lose, you'll lose your soul, and if you don't participate in my game you'll lose your soul anyway!"

                Harry knew that he was stuck, he had to buy some more time, hope that he would somehow wake up. That someone in the dormitory would awaken him, or take him to Dumbledore, who would definitely know of a way to wake him up.  "Er… What do you mean by lost soul, do you mean a ghost, and what exactly is Spiral Tower?" He said.

                "So, you're hoping to buy yourself some time by keeping me distracted. Well I can assure you that no one will wake you up. Time passes by differently in this world than it does in yours. Although you have been here for many hours, only a few minutes have passed in the real world."

                "What," Harry coughed out.

                "That's right, all of your friends are still asleep, they do not even know that you are in the room with them. Of course, the truth is, that even if they knew what was happening, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. There is no way to awaken you with out causing you to lose your soul."

                Harry's eyes went wide as he took a step back into the darkness. His mouth opened once again to say "Who are you?", but nothing came out. He tried again, but still nothing came out. It was as if his voice had been taken away from him.

                "Now, now, it's very rude to interrupt me when I'm about to answer your previous questions. And besides, who I am is not your concern; your concern is keeping your soul where it is.

                "Anyways, I was about to enlighten you, by answering your ridiculous questions. For your first one, the answer is no, a lost soul is not like a ghost. A ghost is one that is simply dead, but whose soul has decided not to cross over-the keyword there being decided. For you see, a ghost is still self-aware. He knows exactly what is going on with him, and around him. He makes decisions for himself, just like living being. He can choose beneficial decisions, or costly ones. He can choose, between good and evil.

                "A lost soul on the other hand is not so lucky. For they will become enslaved within their own minds, and forced to wander for eternity, not knowing who they, are what they were, or even if they exist. It's like, how would you say, 'the lights are on, but nobodies home'," the voice gave a sinister chuckle. "It is truly the worst thing that can happen to any being. Being forced to suffer within their own heads for eternity.

                "And as for your second question, Spiral Tower is a place that houses millions of lost souls. That fool, thought that it would be better if the souls did not interfere with the real world."

                "Who?" Harry asked. He had obviously gotten his voice back, and went back to buying himself some more time by trying to keep the voice talking.

                "Enough questions!" The voice growled. "You have stalled long enough. We shall begin right now!"

                Harry got ready for whatever the voice was going to throw at him.

                "I want you to perform two tasks fro me.

                "Are we ready, because this will definitely be a blast from the past."

                Harry frowned furiously, and nodded.

                "The first task is a riddle. Here we go

                "In ancient times, in the land of myth,

                A very feared creature did once exist,

                Its master always called it his pet,

                But others would look at it with dread,

                For this creature was like no other,

                It didn't even fear fire,

                And as all beings could obviously see,

                To stop it you would need help, at least in numbers three,

                The master used this creature for one reason,

                To guard the most precious things to anyone,

                The most precious things to any woman or man,

                For once they are gone you will never see them again.

                "There, simple is it not. I have taken the liberty of engraving it in your head. That way I won't have to bother to repeat it. You have all the time you need, however don't take too long, you still have classes. And don't even try and fish for an answer, because I am going to stop speaking after this, and I will only respond once you have given your answer. If your answer is wrong then your soul will be sent to Spiral Tower with the others, if you do not wish to answer then you will remain here for eternity. And if you get the answer correct then it's on to the second task. If you wish to answer just shout out, 'the answer is: whatever.' Good luck."

                "Wait!" Harry yelled out. "What's the second task, and how much time do I have here, until I have to go to class!" But no one answered him.

                Harry quietly sat down and began to work out the clues that were given to him.

                'In ancient times, in the land of myth-probably a place where legends were very popular. A very feared creature did once exist-That could be any dangerous creature in the monster book of monsters. Its master always called it his pet-sounds a lot like Hagrid. But others would look at it with dread-definitely sounds like Hagrid. For this creature was like no other, it didn't even fear fire-so it's a monster that is immune to fire, could be a dragon. And as all beings could obviously see, to stop him you would need help at least in numbers three-so you would need at least three people to stop him, that doesn't make sense. If he was 'very feared' and can be defeated by three people, there's probably a deeper meaning to that one. The master used this creature for one reason, to guard the most precious things to anyone, the most precious things to any woman or man, for once they are gone you will never see them again- so he was a guardian of something very valuable. And the voice also said that it would be a blast from the past. He probably meant my past. So what did I do in my past that would help me with this riddle? The giant spiders Ron and I saw are used to guard many objects, but there's nothing about them in lands of myth. The sphinx is used to guard many things, and it's a popular myth. But I never heard of it not being afraid of fire." Harry sighed and continued thinking for the next few hours, still not having a clue of what the answer might be.

It was harder for him to concentrate on the riddle, because the stakes here were very high. If he got the answer wrong then he would lose his soul, to that heartless being who was subjecting him to this. Who was this being and why was he doing this to Harry. Could it have been Voldemort? Was he the one who was doing this to Harry? No it couldn't have been. If Voldemort had the power to seal souls away, then he wouldn't subject Harry to this game, he would just seal Harry's soul up and that would be the end of it. It was someone or something else. But who or what would have that kind of power?

Harry immediately snapped out of his thoughts. "I'll figure this out later, now I have to figure out the riddle." Harry continued trying to figure out the riddle for the next few hours, but with no luck. The thoughts of whom the voice belonged to, kept resurfacing and distracting him.

"Oh, I give up!" Harry sighed. "What kind of nutter would want a creature like that for a pet? Only nutters like Hagrid would want something like that. Before he had a dragon, giant spiders, blast ended skrewts, Fluffy-"

Then suddenly, light in Harry's head turned on. "Fluffy, of course!" Harry shouted. "There was another three headed dog in Greek mythology. He was lord Hades' pet, who guarded the souls in the underworld, he wasn't afraid of fire, because he guarded the gates of Tartarus, he had three heads so to keep an eye on him you would need at least three people, and he resembles Fluffy, who is in my past."

Harry stood up, took a deep breath and shouted, "The answer is: Cerberus, guardian of the the Greek underworld!"

   "Congratulations," a voice said out of nowhere. "You have solved my riddle, and it only took you three hours thirty seven minutes and seven seconds, not bad."

"Okay!" Harry shouted. "Now you have to keep your end of the bargain, let me go back to my world!"

"Let you go back?" The voice said lazily. "Aren't you forgetting about the second task? You have to do one more and then I'll let you go back to your miserable world."

"But that's not fair!" Harry protested. "Why do you get to make the rules?"

"Because this is my world, and in my world I make the rules, I decide what is fair and what isn't. Last time you were here, I let you live, I allowed you to return to your world, in return for nothing. However, if you wan to return this time, you have to do things my way."

 Then suddenly the darkness started to swerve out of control. It was forming a shape, a room, and a dark room. In about a minute a room that looked like a dungeon, a very familiar dungeon, replaced the darkness. Harry looked around the room, and realized that it wasn't a dungeon at all. It was a corridor, the third floor corridor, the one that was forbidden in Harry's first year. Harry looked down at himself and realized that he was wearing Hogwarts robes, and that a wand was in his hand.

"Now your challenge," The voice began. "Is to defeat this enemy from the past."

Harry looked to his left, and saw that a monster was forming out of nowhere. Although he couldn't tell what it was at first. Harry knew already the he was going to face Fluffy-Hagrid's giant three headed dog that Harry had met in his first year. Without thinking twice, Harry ripped a piece of his robe off and using a great deal of concentration (considering his situation) transfigured it into a flute. He was about to start playing it, but he was too late, Fluffy was already charging at him full speed. Harry tried to jump to the left, in order to get out of the way of Fluffy's charge, but the right head caught Harry's right leg in his mouth, and threw him across the room. Harry hit the wall so hard, that his head began bleeding, he tried to standup, but the bite that he received from Fluffy's right head hurt him too much. He looked down and saw that his leg was also bleeding. He looked back up and saw tat Fluffy was once again charging at him. Harry picked up his wand took aim and yelled out, "Lumos Flarous", and a very bright beam of light shot out of Harry's wand and went straight into Fluffy's eyes, blinding the creature. Fluffy yelled out a painful growl as he struggled to try to open his eyes and see its surroundings. Harry quickly seized this opportunity, and started to play the flute as best as he could. After about a minute of playing, Harry could see that Fluffy was losing its balance, and that its growls were becoming weaker. After about another two minutes Fluffy was completely out cold.

Harry slowly put down the flute, and gave a small sigh of relief, all the while not taking his eyes off Fluffy.

"Congratulations, you were excellent." The voice said once again. The corridor was now disappearing and the darkness that Harry started out in was returning.

"Will you now let me go," Harry said weakly. He was bleeding from his head, and his right leg, plus he was also short of breath from playing the flute all that time.

"A promise is a promise," The voice said. "But before I let you go, I must ask you this: why did you come here in the first place?"

Harry eyes became wide once again. "What do you mean, don't you know?"

"No, I do not, I was never able to find that answer in your mind."

"I never wanted to come here!" Harry yelled. He was getting some of his strength back, as well as his anger. "I was just supposed to be sleeping."

"No one comes here without good reason, it is impossible, and you would never have been allowed. You probably do not know yourself why you are here. Your subconscious must have sent you here for answers."

"Answers to what?" Harry asked, now very confused and angry. "I don't even know the questions."

 "Still I'm sure that whatever reason you have come here for has been obliged to you. You have proven yourself worthy, and are now granted passage back to your world, but take heed, the knowledge that you have gained here, you must never reveal to anyone, for this is the forbidden knowledge, that is only sought when there is no other hope."

"What knowledge! I haven't learned anything!"

"Ah, but you have, no one ever leaves without learning what they needed. Goodbye Harry Potter!"

Harry's eyes opened up, and all he saw was the top of his four-poster bed. He slowly sat up, and opened his curtains only to see that it was still dark outside. Harry rubbed the back of his head, only to feel something warm and moist there. Harry looked back at his hand and saw that his hand was covered in blood.

'How did that happen?' Harry wondered. Clearly, everything that had just occurred was erased from Harry's memory. 'I must have hit my head when I went to sleep. I better go to the Hospital wing.' Harry slowly stepped out of bed, only to fall on the floor. His right leg was aching so much that he couldn't stand on it. Harry looked at it and saw that it was bleeding as well. His eyes widened, as a mixture of fear and confusion struck him at once.

"I better go to the hospital wing and see what's going on." He said to himself. He slowly got up, being very careful not to put too much pressure on his right leg, and headed off to the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey was in a very grouchy mood, but she agreed to take Harry in and heal him. She placed him on a bed, and said, "I'll be back in a second Potter, so don't move." Sure enough she was back very quickly with some potion and a washcloth. "Now sit still, while I treat your wounds."

Harry did as he was told, and sat still for a few moments. But the entire time he didn't seem to notice a change at all, he was still feeling pain in his head, and right leg. He was about to ask her what was wrong, but was stopped by her very shocked looking face.

Immediately she pushed Harry down on the bed and said for him to "lay still", rather tensely.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked.

"To get professor Dumbledore." Madam Pomfrey answered, as she headed towards the door.

"Why?" Harry asked, seemingly very confused.

"Because, the treatment doesn't seem to be working!" She said, and walked out the door.

A/n-I'm going to have to apologize once again, because this chapter ran long as well, it was supposed to be longer again, so I separated, the chapters once more. Sorry.