My name is Harry Potter.
And I was running.
I was running for my life down a corridor that looked vaguely familiar. Something—I don't know what—was chasing me. I didn't want to know what was chasing me. All I knew that if it got me, something horrible would happen.
I heard a kind of murmur ahead of me. I dashed down the corridor, trying to reach it. My scar was throbbing. It felt like my head would split in half.
Cold, high-pitched laughter rang behind me. I hesitated, but only for a second.
Just how long was this corridor, anyway?
The pictures on the wall laughed at me. They pointed and howled with mirth. The sound of their laughter seemed to slow me down, so I clapped my hands to my ears and continued on.
Suddenly, I saw it! The end of the corridor was just ahead of me! It was a door. Through the keyhole in the door, light blared out. It was so dark…
I ran faster, forcing my tired legs to speed up. As I got closer, I could make out people near the door. Ron was one of them. He grinned when he saw me. "Hey, Harry!" he called, his voice echoing strangely.
"Ron! Ron, don't let it get me!" I yelled.
He snorted and yelled back, "Want to play chess?"
I was getting closer. With every step, though, the corridor seemed to stretch. Yet, I was close enough to make out another of the shapes: Cedric Diggory.
"Why, hello, Harry!" he beamed, "That was one heck of a Triwizard Tournament, wasn't it?"
"Help!" I gasped.
"What? Couldn't catch that!"
"HELP!"
There was no reply. The other two people were becoming clearer. They were holding hands, I could see. I squinted. Their hulks looked so familiar…
"Run, run, as fast as you can," sang a voice behind me, neither male nor female, "Run, little Harry! You can't hide, but you can run!"
I pushed my legs to go faster. When I looked up, I could see the other two people. I would have stopped if instinct and fear hadn't kept me going.
My Mum and Dad—Lily and James Potter—were standing by the door, beaming at me. My Mum had a hand on Ron's shoulder. She was smiling. She beckoned to me and nodded as I sped up.
Tears blurred my vision. I whipped my glasses off and wiped my eyes furiously. When I put them back on, she opened her mouth to speak. All that came from her mouth was a scream.
"No! No! Not Harry!"
She wasn't really saying this; her lips moved but the right words didn't come out, as if she were being dubbed. Her screams filled my ears.
She stopped talking and beamed, thinking I had understood what she had said when I hadn't. Dad started talking, but the same thing happened: words that he wasn't saying left his lips.
"Lily! Take Harry and go! He's here!"
Ron swung the door open. Light so bright that it was blinding to look at shone out. He laughed when I cringed back and slowed. "What's the matter, Harry? There's nothing to be scared of! It's just home." He walked in and disappeared in the glare.
"See you on the other side," Cedric said, smiling and waving. He walked in and stood in the doorway for a moment. He looked amazed and delighted. Without so much as a backward glance, he vanished.
Mum opened her mouth, saying goodbye, but only her terrified scream sounded in the corridor. Tears filled my eyes again.
"No! Don't go! I'm so close! Wait! Wait for me! Please… Mum!"
She laughed and shook her head. She stood the doorway and gestured for Dad to follow with mock impatience.
He laughed too and stood by her side. They waved at me, looking just like they had in Mirror of Erised.
I was so close! I was only a few feet away…
I stretched my hand out to them. "Wait for me! Mum! Dad! Don't go without me!"
They suddenly stopped smiling and looked completely serious. Mum even looked fearful. She held out her hand for me to take. There were only a few inches separating our fingers… only a few centimeters more…
Voldemort's high-pitched laughter froze my insides. I saw the door wobble dangerously, as if it were about to shut. I prepared to spring…
The door swung forward. "HARRY!" Mum screamed. "HARRY!" Dad bellowed.
"MUM! DAD!" I screamed. So… close…
The door slammed shut with a sound that echoed throughout the corridor. I hit the door full on and crumpled. I jumped to my feet, sobbing. I turned the doorknob and pulled. The door remained shut. "NO!"
"Yes," said Voldemort, stepping from the shadows. I pulled more violently. The door wouldn't budge.
"Bow to death, Harry!" laughed my tormentor. He pointed his wand at me and said two words that he had used countless times, "Avada Kedavra!"
Green smoke issued from the tip of his wand. It blazed my eyelids. I screamed and clapped my hands to my face. Green light… a blinding pain on my forehead…
"Harry!"
My eyes popped open, only to see my fingers pressed over my eyes. I was trembling. My pajamas were soaked through with cold sweat. My scar was pounding. I removed my hands from my face and groaned.
Dean and Neville were crouched over me. It was then I realized I was on the floor. Rubbing my scar furiously, I sat up. I grabbed my glasses from the bedside table and put them on.
"It was just a nightmare, Harry," Dean said, "You were screaming like a banshee. You nearly made Seamus wet the bed. Then you rolled off the bed, holding your scar."
I found that there were tears on my sweaty cheeks. I quickly wiped them away and got to my feet. "It's nothing. It was just a nightmare about… you know…" I indicated my scar. He nodded with understanding.
They ambled back over to their beds. I sat down on mine and rubbed my face. I peeked at the clock through my fingers. It was five in the morning. We had, amazingly, got home at twelve-thirty. It had seemed much later when we had been in the forest.
I couldn't
go back to sleep, so I got dressed and went down into the common room. Hermione
was all ready there, staring at the dying embers. She looked up at me when I
sat down and smiled mirthlessly. "Couldn't sleep?"
"Yeah. I had a nightmare and
couldn't get back to sleep."
She nodded and looked back into the fire. Her eyes were glassy.
"Did you get any sleep?" I asked.
She nodded. "About an hour. That… battle we had was pretty intense. I just wasn't ready for…" She fell silent. "I guess I sound like an idiot. You never have nightmares about the things that happened to you."
I snorted. "Yeah, right. I wish. You don't know how many times I've woken up at night sweating because I was dreaming about what happened last year. Dudley told me how I screamed in my sleep…"
"You should. That was horrible, what you went through. I would have fainted. I don't think I'll ever be as brave as you."
"You're
brave! Why would the Sorting Hat have put in you in Gryffindor instead of
Ravenclaw? You've done tons of things."
"Um… Harry?" asked Hermione
timidly.
"Yeah?"
"I have to tell you something… just incase we, you know, die…"
"What?"
"I—I… Harry, I—"
"Harry!" squeaked a voice behind me.
I nearly fell out of my chair. I turned around and saw Colin Creevey. I could barely suppress a groan. He was holding his camera up. "Can I have a picture of you and your girlfriend?"
Hermione and I let out identical yells of horror.
"She isn't my girlfriend!" I spluttered.
"Who said he was my boyfriend?" she demanded.
Colin laughed. "I thought… with the way you two were carrying on…"
"Colin," I said warily, "What for the love of Quidditch are you doing in the common room at five thirty in the morning?"
He shrugged, still grinning. "I heard you yelling. I'm surprised it didn't bring Snape up from his office in the dungeons. Screaming like a banshee, you were."
I rolled my eyes and said bluntly, "I've heard."
"All right, then. I'm going back to bed."
We watched as he disappeared up the stairs to the boy's dormitory.
"Well," I said, with a slight cough, "That was—ahem—interesting."
She nodded.
We didn't speak again until it was time for class. I fell asleep in History of Magic, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I almost fell asleep in Transfiguration and Potions, but McGonagall and Snape made sure to keep me awake. Though McGonagall was gentler about it, Snape forced me to make and drink my own Wakefulness Potion. I walked out of that class with my nose shriveled up. Hermione promptly fixed it with a wave of her wand.
So, by the time we got down to the Chamber of Secrets, I was in a horrible mood. I snapped at almost anyone who talked to me. I had even made a group of first year girls run when I yelled at them.
"Hey, Harry," Jake said.
How could he sound so… awake?
"Hi, Jake," I muttered.
Hermione moved over to the puddle Erllon was in. She crouched over him and picked him up, putting him on solid ground. She stood, cleared her throat, and waved her wand. She closed her eyes and said the spell.
Erllon's Yeerk form twisted. In a fluid motion so unlike morphing, I watched Erllon become a merlin, a type of bird. He was on his side on the ground, sopping wet. He used his wings to get unsteadily to his feet. He violently shook the water off and tottered a few steps.
Tobias fluttered down beside the Yeerk-turned-merlin. I think he said something in private thought-speak, because Erllon squawked. Tobias must have been explaining how to fly, because, pretty quickly, Erllon was gliding above our heads.
"We should tell Dumbledore today," I said firmly.
Jake nodded. "You two have your battle morphs. If we run into any problems, we'll be able to help out."
The Animorphs didn't bother to morph for Dumbledore, but they did put on their robes. Well, Ax morphed human. Erllon, almost as if he knew what was going to happen, fluttered down and perched on my shoulder. I gave him a small smile.
Together, we trekked to Dumbledore's office. I stopped at the griffin in front of his office and frowned. I turned to Hermione. "Do you know the password?"
She shook her head.
I wrinkled my nose at the statue. "Lemon drop? Fizzing Whizbee? Cockroach Cluster?"
Nothing happened.
"Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans? Wait, he doesn't even like those… Exploding Bon Bons?"
Frustrated, I kicked the statue. This did nothing to either help the situation or improve my mood. Erllon shrieked and fluttered off my shoulder. I yelped and jumped up and down, holding my toe. "Oh, come on!" I howled, "I've been in the office tons of times before!"
The Animorphs all gave me funny looks. "I wasn't in trouble," I said grumpily, leaning against the statue.
"Maybe… maybe he isn't in his office," Hermione said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Where would be? The Room of Requirement?"
I fell over when the statue sprang to life and leapt out of the way. I quickly got to my feet. "Hmmm… the Room of Requirement? I'll have to remember that…"
We rode the moving stairs to the office. When we got there, I motioned for everyone to be quiet and pressed my ear to the door. The only sound I could hear was someone humming to himself. I grinned and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" said the cheerful reply.
I opened the door and looked around the office. The portraits of former Headmasters, ever sleeping, didn't stir as I clambered gratefully into one of the chairs. Fawkes cooed softly and flapped over to sit on my shoulder. He rubbed his head against my cheek.
The Animorphs and Hermione couldn't stop gaping as they entered. Dumbledore, who sat at his desk, waved his wand. Several more chairs appeared in front of his desk. He folded his long fingers and smiled at me. I looked into his twinkling blue eyes. Something seemed… different today, but I guess I'm just a little tired. I noticed something that made me squirm though: he didn't give me one of his X-ray looks.
"Hello, Harry!" he said, beaming. "What seemed to be the problem?"
"Professor," I said, "There's something wrong with the school."
"Yes, I know," he said sadly, "With that disease going around. I can't seem to find the cure. I know about this, however. Is there something more about it you wish to tell me about?"
"Yes! It isn't a disease, Professor. An alien race called Yeerk has taken over people's minds. They crawl inside your ear and wrap around your brain. That's why no one can use their magic!" I gestured to the Animorphs. "These American muggles have been fighting them for years. They have the power to morph, which is kind of like being an Animagi only messier and you can become more than one animal. You have to help us!"
"Harry, may I see your wand?" asked Dumbledore.
Frowning, I shrugged. "Sure," I said, handing it over.
He waved my wand and said a spell that shot flowers out of the tip. He examined it carefully for a minute and asked, "Have you told anyone else but these people about this?"
"No," I said, shaking my head violently.
Fingering his own wand, Dumbledore said, "Good." He stood up and pointed his wand… straight at me. It pointed right between my eyes. Heart thundering, I stood.
"Don't move." Dumbledore hissed. All of the warmth in his eyes had disappeared. His face was contorted into a look of fury and disgust. I had never in my life seen him look like this before. It was worse than the look he had given Barty Crouch Jr.
"Professor?" Hermione squeaked.
"Shut up, girl," Dumbledore snarled.
Jake was suddenly on his feet. His chair skidded wildly backward. "Yeerk!" he cried, starting to morph tiger.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Dumbledore said, "Because then Harry Potter will never live his fate."
Oh, for the love of Quidditch, not this fate thing again!
"Sit."
My chair skidded forward and brought my legs out from underneath me, so I fell into my chair. I looked up at him. "Who are you?" I whispered.
"Visser Five," Dumbledore said, swelling with pride.
"Why would Visser Three give someone so powerful to a lowly Yeerk like you?" demanded Rachel, fire in her eyes.
He chuckled. "That fool? He doesn't even know I'm in control of my host's magic. He thinks he controls me. Hah! I will be Visser One by the end of this month."
"But how?" I asked.
"How can I what?"
"Well, I know your not Dumbledore now," I sneered, "Dumbledore is wise."
"You're not in the position to be mouthing off."
"I know and I don't care. How can you be using Dumbledore's magic?"
"It's his own fault, really. If he hadn't read so much, I wouldn't have found how. It's a potion that a wizard can create to give a muggle someone's magic. All you need is a part of the person you're taking magic from. I put the old fool Dumbledore in a contraption that held his ear in the potion and slid out. After soaking it into my Yeerk body, I crawled back in. Now I can use his magic. Unfortunately for him, this is only reversible by death."
I sat in numb disbelief. "No," I whispered.
Visser Five's lip curled. "Yes."
"NO!"
I surged to my feet. One of Dumbledore's silvery objects whirred and hissed. It exploded into a million little pieces. Visser Five waved his wand at me and bellowed, "Perfectus Totalus!"
I ducked and rolled. The spell hit the chair. I jumped up. I held my hand out to my wand and concentrated with all my might. "ACCIO!"
My wand flew up off his desk. I lunged to catch it, but another spell caught me in the chest. I screamed a blood curdling scream as the Crucious Curse surged through my body. My very bones were on fire! It was pain beyond pain! I was suddenly wishing to die, wishing that it would all just end…
It stopped suddenly. I had my wand in hand, but I was too weak to think about using it. I ached all over. Before I even had time to process these thoughts, the Imperious Curse was on me.
That was a mistake.
I felt lightheaded. I smiled vaguely. All my worries disappeared. Though, through this lightheadedness, another voice was calling to me.
Harry James Potter, you idiot, resist!
I blinked a few times, trying to clear my vision.
"Potter, follow me."
I lifted my leg to take a step and obey, but that other voice hissed to me again.
No! He's the enemy! Don't do what he says!
I put my foot on the floor and forced my eyes to focus.
"Potter, come."
I swayed slightly. I was becoming myself. My current situation was suddenly screaming in my mind. My eyes snapped into focus. The stupid smile on my face disappeared. "Protego!"
Visser Five's wand shot up to point at the ceiling. "Expelliarmus!" I yelled, and his wand flew out his hand. I caught it in my free hand and smiled coldly at him.
"Yes," Visser Five murmured, eyes narrowed, "You always were one for dueling."
Before I could react, he lunged at me. Jake dashed forward, but he was too far away. I gasped as Visser Five hit me full in the chest and we tumbled backward. With strength he didn't look capable of having, he wrestled both wands from me. He grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled me to my feet.
He dragged me out of the room and slammed the door behind me. He locked the door with both a key and a spell. I yelled, but then he used the Silencing Charm on me. He shot ropes out of his wand and tied my hands behind my back.
And then he hauled me down to the Yeerk Pool.
My doom.
A/N: Surprise! ::evil, maniacal laughter:: I bet you didn't see that coming. Well, I guess it really isn't a betrayal, but hey! Sure adds a twist to the plot. Warning for future chapters: they will probably all be cliffhangers, 'cept the last 'un.
Stay tuned for "Chapter 26: The Great Escape (Jake)"!
