CHAPTER FOURTEEN: INTO THE MIND

Harry, Ron and Hermione were on their way to breakfast the next morning when they bumped into Malfoy and his goons.

"If it isn't Potty, Weasel and Mudblood." Malfoy said with a sneer. Crabbe and Goyle sniggered and cracked their knuckles.

"You know Malfoy, you should try a new routine. This five year old one is a bit old, don't you think?" Harry said dryly. "But then again, you only have half a brain.and these idiots don't have any." Ron and Hermione laughed.

Ron and Hermione had their wands out, Harry did not. Crabbe and Goyle were cracking their knuckles, most probably because of not really knowing how to use their wands. Harry and Draco were lazily facing eachother, feeling more powerful than the other does.

"Watch it Potter, you don't want to be in the hospital wing at the moment." Malfoy said with a smirk.

"What's that suppose to mean Malfoy?" Harry looked at his nemesis in confusion.

"What I mean Pot-head -" But what Malfoy meant, Harry would never find out because Professors Snape and McGonagall arrived from different directions at the exact same time, both calling their opposite house students.

Professor McGonagall spoke up first. "What is going on here? Why are you students not at breakfast? Have you been doing magic?" Eyeing Ron and Hermione.

"Which question should I answer first?" There was a complete silence. All present were in shock. But the professors were more shocked. It was not Draco who asked but Harry. And it was not until thirty seconds later until Harry realized what he said.

But it was not McGonagall who spoke, but Snape. Minerva was still in shock, that not only a student, but also one from her own house spoke back to her. "How dare you speak to a professor with such impertinence. That will be detention for you and you will eat dinner down in the dungeons. Go to lab 3. I'll send a house elf with your dinner. I will meet you after I have eaten to give you your detention. Go now Mr Potter." Harry stood their looking at Malfoy and his friends then to Hermione and Ron, who all were looking at him in shock.

Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall ushered the other students into the Great Hall. "NOW Potter or you'll receive a week worth of detention." Harry spun around and stomped towards the potion labs.

He sat down and an elderly looking house elf, looking sullen at that brought him a roast meal and a goblet of pumpkin juice before disappearing without saying a word. But Harry did not want to eat. He poked at his food before clearing up with his wand.

"WHY ME?" He yelled into the empty dungeon. He was really getting tired for the first time in his life, of the wizarding world. And it made him angry. He didn't want to be. He loved hanging around Ron and Hermione, he relished every moment he was at Hogwarts.

As Ron was jealous, Harry was angry. Fame isn't everything, Harry kept hearing in his brain everytime he thought of it. Professor Snape had told him that in his first year. "I DON'T WANT IT!" Glass shattered as Harry got angrier by the minute. Potions were spilling to the floor.

He crouched down on the floor getting frustrated. The public conference was running through his mind. 'Are you going to really believe a boy who can speak Parsel tongue and has hallucinations?'.'Can you hear me Harry?'.'Mr. Potter, can you please again explain how you knew where exactly to find Colin Creevy?'.'You lie, Mr. Potter and I must once ask again for this conference to stop.

"GO AWAY!" Harry ran out of the room, running further into the dungeons and ended up in Snapes office. Harry and Ron had been there before in there second year when Snape had caught them flying a car to school.

More glass broke at the thought of his second year and he turned to go when he spotted something shimmering in a cupboard. Letting his curiosity get the better of him as it usually did, Harry went to it and opened the door fully. There in front of him, stood a Pensieve.

It was Snape's Pensieve. Harry looked around. Snape would be halfway through his dinner by now. Without giving a second thought he prodded the pensieve with his wand before plunging face first into it. He felt the familiar lurch into it and landed in a toadying position.

He was in the charms corridor. He stood up quickly as he saw Snape hiding behind a tapestry and looking behind him. Harry turned around quickly to see Sirius and Peter talking to one another. "So we'll meet at Green house 3 and wait till midnight, okay?"

Peter nodded and headed away from Harry. Sirius frowned and shook his head at Peter before heading towards Snape. Once Peter was out of sight and Sirius walked past Harry, Snape jumped out. "I've got you now Black. Would you like to tell me where you're going at midnight? I could just inform a teacher of your whereabouts if you like?" Snape had his wand raised and had an incomparable sneer on his face.

Sirius looked at Snape with disgust. It was as if Sirius was looking at dirt. "Keep your mouth shut, Snape. I would hate to have to turn you into a rat and feed you to Mrs Norris." He kept walking, but Snape stood in front of his path. "Get out of my way Snape, I've warned you." Sirius said drawing his wand.

"Don't you dare, I know better jinxes than the puny ones you use. So are you going to tell me where you're going tonight or not? I can't wait to watch you and your idiotic friends get expelled!"

Sirius looked bored when first talking, but as soon as Snape mentioned his friends, he looked livid. He looked like that for a whole minute, before forming the most frightening grin Harry had ever seen - worse than Snape.

"All right, ill tell you." It took Snape a whole thirty seconds to realize what Sirius said. Sirius by that time walked over to a window. Harry was able to see the whomping willow. "You see the whomping willow? Go down to it. See how Hagrids hut is diagonal to the willow? Do the same on the other side to for a triangle with the hut and the willow. When you achieve this, get a long enough branch and you'll see a knot in the base of the trunk. Press it and you can find out what we're doing."

Without even looking at Snape to see if he understood the extremely fast instructions, he walked off. Harry tried to follow Sirius, as Snape was standing there like a gold fish, but the scene changed and he was walking towards the Whomping Willow.

Snape was in front of him looking constantly around him. He walked in a fast place, as Harry had to jog to keep up with him. Harry looked towards the greenhouses and saw two shadows in greenhouse 3. But he had no time to dwell as Snape approached the willow; he drove into a sprint. By the time they reached the tree, Harry could barely breathe. Snape was very fast at running. Maybe that's why he's not dead yet, Harry mused.

Snape looked around before picking up a long stick and looking towards Hagrids hut. There was a dim light from his window but no movement. It must be nearly midnight, Harry said to himself as he tried to look unsuccessfully at his watch.

Snape prodded the knot after taking a few minutes to look for it. He watched in amazement and even took a step back in surprise as the willow froze like a statue. No branches swung, no wood creaked. He moved to the base of the trunk and noticed a hole. He stuck his head in with his wand in hand, before disappearing completely. Harry followed suit.

As Harry slid down, he heard Snape say in a shaky whisper, 'Lumos', and stood up. Harry remembered being in this tunnel, in his third year and had not returned since then. He remembered how it was dark and dusty. And that's how it was when his father went to school.

They continued to walk down the tunnel, as long as Harry remembered. He noticed Snape was running out of breath at the length of the tunnel. Their pace slowed even more, before Snape and Harry both saw a dim light turning left in tunnel. That made Snape run and Harry had to follow. Harry couldn't see Snape when he turned the sharp corner and ran right through him. It didn't feel like running through a ghost and feeling like ice water was poured over him, but like running through fog. It felt misty and muggy. Snape looked around for a bit, prodding old paintings and chairs to make sure they weren't enchanted to do things.

He heard a scratching sound upstairs and looked up with a sneer. 'I've got you now Marauder's!' Snape was heading towards the stairs, putting his wand away, oblivious to anything, but Harry heard a shout in the tunnel, but could not make out who it was or what he or she was saying.

The stairs creaked very badly and Harry not surprised watched as Snape got caught in the second top step as it fell through. As he tried to get out, he let out a gasp as he heard a howl from the door he was trying to get through. Harry heard the shout again. Still not clear enough, the voice sounded deep so it was a male in the tunnel.

Snape straightened his torn dirty robes and held his hand to the door. But then he took it away because he just noticed the thundering footsteps coming towards the shack. Snape looked frightened at first, but then spat on the floor. "Oh, no you don't Potter." Unknowing to Harry, Snape knew the yell to 'get-away-from-the-door was Harry's father.

Snape turned around and tried to open the door, but it was locked. Snape took out his wand once more and pointed it at the handle. 'ALAHOMORA!' he shouted and there was a click. Snape pushed it open and froze on the spot. Harry could hear a growl and scratching on the ground. Harry bounded up the stairs and stood right behind the young, now frozen Snape.

Harry was hopeless to do anything. What Harry knew to be Remus Lupin, now a werewolf was crouching and ready to jump. When he did jump, Snape yelled in fright and collapsed on the floor. Harry spun around as a spell hit Moony and he was frozen in mid-air.

Standing, brave as he could muster, as he looked completely out of breath and could collapse any second, with his wand out in front of him, was James Potter. "Let's go! My freezing charm doesn't last long!"

Seeing that Snape wouldn't move from either, shock or just being stubborn, James didn't care. He ran up the stairs and threw his arm under Snapes and hoisted him down the stairs. With a bit of help from Snape, whose legs decided to work, they ran out of the shack.

They made it out in time, as they heard Moony's growls in the distance. Harry close at hand, watched as the Whomping Willow came to life as Moony tried to escape.

James dragged him all the way to Dumbledore's office and up the moving stairs. He rapt the golden talons and the door opened. From what Harry could see, Dumbledore was behind his desk with Padfoot leaning on the wall next to Fawkes and Wormtail sitting across the headmaster.

After placing Snape carefully on the chair, who was still gawking at him for saving his life, James grabbed Sirius. "You idiot! You bastard! Even if we hate the slimeball, you still can't go out and try to get him killed! What."

The memory dissolved and Harry decided it was time to leave. He stood up and felt him self fly into the office once more. Feeling a bit better, he walked back to the classroom. But Harry didn't understand why Snape hated him soo much. After all, James Potter saved his life.

And as Snape walked into the classroom, Harry just kept staring at him, trying to figure him out. He remained silent as Snape, who looked uneasily at Harry, as he could feel Harry searching his mind, told him to clean out the potion cupboard and wash all the vessels by hand.

Harry figured it out. Snape at the time, he presumed would have been recruited to the dark side. James on the other hand, stayed in the light. Snape had fallen into Voldemort's trap and thought there was no good and evil, but only power. But there was. 'Now Snape sees it in me,' Harry thought as he left for the Gryffindor Tower. And as he slept, he continuously dreamt the memory, but by the next morning, couldn't remember his thesis.