Harry Potter and the Curse of the Gypsy
Author's Note: Yeah! The end is near...only five more chapters to go after this one. I hope you've liked this story as much as I have...I will just be glad to get it done though, I am bogged down with stories and I am about to start a new story on fictionpress.net. If you like this story, you should really check out Tobias Dragonheart with the penname Megx.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series. That sucks, doesn't it?
Twenty-Six
"Harry...Harry, wake up." Hermione was shaking Harry's shoulder softly. He looked up groggily, blinking.
"What is it?" he muttered.
"You went to sleep in History of Magic." She said quietly. "Don't worry, nobody noticed." Harry moaned as he stood, wearily stuffing his books and parchment back into his bag and started with her down the hall. "Haven't you been getting any sleep?" she said nervously.
Harry shook his head. "Some. Not much, really. It's strange, you know. I just can't figure things out. I can't understand it. And my dreams..." he paused, unwilling to go any further. Hermione understood and said nothing. Ron, standing nearby, looked at him nervously.
"But...you'll be okay, right? I mean, you've been through worse." Ron said anxiously. Harry nodded.
"Of course." He said absently. The truth was, he didn't know. He had gone without sleep before, but now it was worse than ever. Every night he was waking with voices talking in his head, and every night they became worse and worse. He didn't know what he was going to do...and neither of them understood. Nobody did.
"Figg's been nervous ever since Cory was taken away." Hermione commented after a moment of silence. "I mean, she really seems afraid."
"Of course." Harry muttered. "She got one of Voldemort's best spies. And Isabelle Black can't exactly be in the school, can she? Not like Cory was."
"You never know." Hermione said darkly. "She went to school here, she might know some of the secret passageways. I mean, we never expected Sirius to know about Honeyduke's or the Whomping Willow, and he was one of the people that made the Marauder's Map." Hermione said.
"Yeah, I know." Harry sighed. "It just doesn't seem right. I wish I could understand this. But I don't."
"None of us do." Ron said. He nudged Harry. "Come on, we have to get to Divination." He muttered.
"Bye." Hermione squeaked as they ran away. Harry and Ron waved back as the scrambled up to Professor Trelawney's tower. When they got there most of the class had already ascended the rope ladder. Harry climbed up, followed by Ron, and the two of them took their usual spot at their table. Looking at the empty seat next to him made his stomach lurch--he tried to put Cory out of his mind.
"Class..." Trelawney said as she emerged from the shadows, "today we begin our final few lessons with the tarot." She sighed, waving a hand through the air. "Please cut your decks, and lay them out before you."
Harry rolled his eyes and shuffled his cards before laying them out on the table. Tarot cards had become a bit predictable lately...either death or the liar had the unfortunate tendency to show up lately. Professor Trelawney stopped at his table and made a small noise, as if in pure woe. Harry ground his teeth and prepared to hear the worst--as usual.
"My dear," she said in her misty whisper, "Why don't you flip the first card for me?"
"All right." Harry said. He flipped the first card.
"Hmm...fate." she said quietly. He flipped the second. "The liar..." a third card revealed, "Death, my dear, how terrible." And then Harry flipped the last card.
"What is that?" Ron said, leaning close to see the card. "I don't remember that card."
"That's because it is not a card!" Professor Trelawney shrieked, backing away. "The fates have warned you! The spirits have sent an omen!"
The rest of the class huddled around as Harry looked at the card. It was labeled "The Royal Court", and showed figures huddled around two thrones, on which sat...
"Me and Cory." Harry whispered. He looked up in anger. "Who did this?" he said angrily. He threw his cards back together. "That's a sick joke, you know?"
Professor Trelawney blanched. "I don't think, my dear, that you should question..."
"Listen, it's somebody's idea of a disgusting joke." He growled. He jumped up, throwing his things into his bag, and scrambled down the ladder. He paused and took a deep breath. In a moment he heard two people coming after him.
"Are you okay?" Ron said quickly, his face pale.
"That was wrong, Harry. If I find out who did this, I'll..." Neville shuddered, as if he couldn't fathom the thought.
"Listen, why don't you go to your room?" Ron said. "Come and talk to Hermione and me tonight, okay? I'll try and explain to McGonagall..."
"Thanks." Harry said simply. He turned and walked through a doorway, feeling the familiar rotation as he entered his room. He walked in slowly and sat down on his bed, trying to sort out the thoughts in his head. But he couldn't figure it out...how had somebody gotten to his cards? It wasn't Cory...he had been through the deck the night before, and there hadn't been any sign of an extra card. And loathe as he was to admit it, it couldn't have been a Slytherin...none of them were in his Divination class, and they had never seen his deck. At the most it would have taken a Chameleon spell, and there simply hadn't been time.
So what? Harry sighed as he walked over to his cabinet. Slowly he shuffled through his chest, through the book that Sirius had given him that he had only just began filling with his ideas for plays. He found the drawings of his mother and smiled before he put those down and turned, stroking the Invisibility cloak. And then he turned to the bottom shelf and froze.
The Marauder's Map. It was gone. He thought wildly for a second that Cory must have stolen it before vaguely remembering the night he had 'comforted' Neville. He must have left it in the bathroom--at least he hoped so. He would ask Hermione to get it for him.
But such a thought couldn't come close enough to comforting him. He sat down and crossed his legs. He needed some cheering up...but what? There wasn't anything...
Hogsmeade. It was a wild thought but then again...nobody would know. Everybody thought he was in his room and only Dumbledore knew how to get in--and he had only ever been in once. Of course, it was dangerous, but Harry was tired of living in fear. He was going to do it.
He tucked the remains of his aging potion in his pocket and put on some of Dudley's old loose clothes before throwing a large cloak on. He took a sip of the draught and felt himself grow bigger suddenly...he glanced in the mirror and grinned at his taller older version before throwing the invisibility cloak over his head and leaving. He wandered quickly down the hall and when nobody was around tapped the hump of the old hag in the hall. "Dissendium!" he hissed.
The hump opened slightly and he pulled himself in--a task that was slightly more difficult being larger. He walked for a while in the tunnel before reaching the cellar of Honeyduke's and walking quickly up the stairs. He waited until somebody passed and exited the store after him before slipping into a dark space and whipping the invisibility cloak on before he pulled the other cloak up to hide his face and, especially, his scar. He knew with the amount of potion he had taken he must look at least twenty--he also knew that he would have only a few hours before he went back to normal.
He walked slowly, desperate not to attract attention to himself, and slipped into the Three Broomsticks. On second thought he ducked behind a tree and did a quick color-changing charm to change his hair color, though the effect was only slight--his hair went from jet-black to a chestnut sort-of brown. He also slipped off his glasses, which made his vision slightly fuzzy but took away any instant notice.
He started to order a butterbeer but paused for a second and, with a sly grin nobody could see, ordered a Firewhisky from Madam Rosmerta. He took the drink and headed back to his table, sitting down. He took a slow sip of the drink--only slightly accustomed to the taste--and let his gaze wander around the bar. He froze when he saw the nearby table.
"Padfoot, you shouldn't have come." A man hidden in a dark cloak hissed.
"Moony, I'm angry, I'm irritated, and I need a drink--and not at home. Here, where I won't be in danger of smashing something." Harry choked on his drink when he heard Sirius' gruff voice.
He peered intently over his glass. The man in the dark cloak--Remus--had black hair and dark brown eyes, though the facial features were clearly his. The man sitting across from him was blonde, though his hair was streaked with a strange bluish color--clearly Sirius hadn't mastered the color-changing spell. His eyes were blue also.
Sirius took a large draught of his drink and clapped the glass back on the table. "We should have done something." He hissed, looking around to see that nobody was listening. Harry looked quickly down at the table. "I knew she was trouble...I knew Harry should have left her alone."
"Sirius, this isn't the place." Remus said quickly.
"I think it's ridiculous." He said in irritation. "I should have done something. I should have done something to protect him, that's what I'm supposed to do."
"There was nothing you could have done." Remus sighed. "We're just lucky that she didn't get him into any trouble. That she didn't take him straight to Isabelle...she already tried to kill him once."
"I don't know. It's more than that, Moony." Sirius said darkly. "What else did she do? Donovan found out about Isabelle right before she murdered him, and I got to talk to him once afterward."
"I know, Padfoot." Remus sighed. "I know, but we can't do anything right now."
"I understand that." Sirius took a deep breath. "But there's the other..."
"I don't think that's something to dwell on." Remus said quietly.
"I don't' understand why you're sticking up for him, Moony." Sirius said harshly. "He's her brother..."
"Half-brother...."
"Whatever. He's her half-brother...Snape has to be the other spy. Isabelle is still getting information somehow..."
"It isn't Snape." Said Remus. "I don't think it could be. She betrayed him too, Sirius."
"So he says. How are we to know it isn't as big a farce as the next? It didn't begin with Isabelle...it began with her mother. Snape's mother."
"Padfoot..."
"How do you think she knew the gypsies were going to die? You know she came before the killings began in Albania. She brought them three months before that." Sirius said in a hard whisper. "She was acquainted with Voldemort, you can be sure of that. I wouldn't doubt that she was the gypsy who betrayed her clans secrets, just for the power that Voldemort could bring..."
"Yes, but heritage isn't everything." Remus said quietly. "You can't judge..."
"Can't I? There isn't a gypsy who has ever done something good. It's a lie...the day the gypsies are truly on our side is the day when Lucius Malfoy does something out of the pure goodness of his heart."
"Do you want a refill?" Harry jumped. Madam Rosmerta was standing right above him, holding a pad. Harry shook his head without talking and she shrugged and walked away.
Putting a few coins on the table he slowly got up and walked out of the door, nervously passing Sirius and Remus who thankfully didn't notice him leaving. He walked slowly to the back alley outside Honeyduke's before slipping in and following the tunnel back to the castle and finally to his room. He sat down on the edge of his bed and thought for a long while.
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"It couldn't be Snape." Hermione snorted. "You know that...he's been proven on our side every time we suspect him of anything."
"I'm not accusing Snape." Harry sighed. "I'm telling you what Sirius said."
Hermione wrinkled her nose. "That was horrible, Harry. You should definitely not have done that...you might have been put in serious trouble!" she cried.
"I needed a break." Harry sighed. "And there was no other way to catch a break." He leaned back in the chair.
"Next time bring me with you." Ron said. "I've never tried the aging potion, you should have let me come."
"You were in class." Hermione said harshly. "Where you should have been!" she said in irritation, looking pointedly at Harry. "I mean, I know that thing with the card was strange..."
"Strange?" Ron snorted. "Freaky is more like it. And it's okay, McGonagall understood." He said.
"Thank goodness for that." She sighed. "But it wasn't smart, Harry. You're just lucky that Sirius and Remus were there...then you might have had some protection if anything happened." She wrinkled her nose. "Not that it was very smart for Sirius to be there, either."
"Remus agrees, but that isn't the point." Harry sighed. "The point is Isabelle is still getting information from somewhere, and I'm still in danger." He shook his head.
"Do you really think that her mum...Snape's mum...might have been one of You-Know-Who's supporters?"
"Probably his first big fan." Ron snorted. "Look at the family we're talking about here."
"But it's just that..." Hermione paused suddenly, her eyes widening. "Harry, what did that card look like?" she said softly.
"Excuse me?" he said, frowning.
"Give me the card." She whispered. Harry gave her a strange look before reaching into his bag and pulling out the card. He handed it to her and she gasped.
"I...oh no!" she cried, dropping it.
"What, do you believe it?" Ron snorted.
"No...no, I don't...Harry, listen to me, I have to go and see Sirius and Remus, right now." She said quickly.
"What?" Harry said in confusion.
"I need to ask him a few questions." She said quickly. "I think I understand it all now...come on, but get the Marauder's Map..."
"What are you going on about?" Ron snorted.
"I don't have the map." Harry said, standing. "It's in your bathroom, from when..."
"Get it." she said sharply. "Meet me in the Shrieking Shack." She started to turn and rushed out of the door.
"Ron, go." Harry said.
"What? But you..."
"I've got the Invisibility Cloak, and I'm more likely to be stopped. Just go with her...and both of you keep safe. I think I might have an idea what Hermione's just gotten at." He said sharply--in reality, he had no idea.
"O-okay." Ron stammered. He shook his head and followed after Hermione.
Harry closed his eyes and slipped the card into his pocket. He took a deep breath and left for his room.
He knew it--he felt it. It was about to end...and somebody was going to get hurt. And even if it wasn't him...he knew it might be somebody he cared about.
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Yeah, an evil cliffie! Hahaha! I love to torture you! Well, tune in next time and see what Hermione's big secret is all about! And as always...
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