Disclaimer: Harry Potter and associated characters belong to J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 17: The Dream
The morning after, Harry awoke with his scar burning again. He had another horrible nightmare, only this time it seemed so real that he was drenched in cold sweat.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In a cold, dark chamber, three men were present. The first, kneeling on the ground, was dressed in a hooded black robe with the hood up and is carrying a sword underneath it. The second man was standing, also dressed in a black robe, however, his face was skull white and he had a flat nose with slits for nostrils. Finally, the third was whimpering at the second man's side in fear.
"My lord," said the kneeling Death Eater. "Everything is now ready. The downfall of all those who would oppose us will come soon."
"Excellent. What do you plan to do with that bumbling fool, Fudge?" Voldemort asked coldly.
"He is still unaware of the danger that lies before him. I will make sure he remains that way," the Death Eater replied.
"See that you do. - Now what of this news that I have heard about?"
"What news my lord?"
"Don't play games with me," Voldemort said giving the Death Eater a stare that made him shiver. "You know very well what I mean; about Potter's bold raid on our little enclave within Kilndar."
"I set an ambush for him," the Death Eater replied. "He shouldn't have survived."
"HE SURVIVED!" Voldemort hissed loudly. "AND THEY CAPTURED FIVE OF OUR OWN!"
The Death Eater withdrew in fear at the remark, but continued to talk.
"My l-lord, my ap-ologies for my failure. I s-shall make it up to you," the Death Eater stuttered.
"See that you don't fail me again or I will make sure it's the last mistake you ever make," Voldemort said softly, but menacingly enough that the Death Eater got the idea to leave.
"M-Master is merciful. I shall take care of it," the Death Eater said, withdrawing quietly out the door, making sure not to turn his back on Voldemort.
"Wormtail," Voldemort said.
"Y-Yes my master?" Wormtail whimpered.
"Keep an eye on him and if he fails again, take care of him,"
"As you wish my lord," Wormtail said, sounding relieved that nothing would happen to him, and got up to leave.
"Oh, Wormtail," Voldemort called, causing Wormtail to freeze in place, "See that you don't fail either or I will make sure you regret it."
"Y-y-yes my l-l-lord," said Wormtail cringing in fear, but he managed to leave the chamber.
The scene changed to what looked like a dungeon. Five Death Eaters were shackled in chains connected to the wall.
The door opened and a man entered. It was the same Death Eater that Voldemort had talked to earlier. He approached the first Death Eater and woke him.
"Wh- Who are you?" the chained Death Eater asked.
"I'm here to liberate you," the hooded Death Eater said coolly drawing his sword from underneath his robes.
"T-Thank you," the Death Eater replied, looking relieved, however, the look changed to one of surprise when the hooded Death Eater plunged the sword into his stomach.
"Wh-What are y-you do-ing?" the Death Eater choked, blood coming out of his mouth.
"I can't have you telling our secrets to Dumbledore, now can I?" the Death Eater replied gleefully as he twisted the sword in the Death Eater's stomach before withdrawing it.
The chained Death Eater collapsed onto the floor, dead and the hooded Death Eater went over to each of the chained prisoners and thrust his sword into the heart of each one.
Once he made sure each one was dead, he wiped the blood on the robes of the nearest Death Eater, sheathed the sword again and hurried out of the dungeon.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry sat up in bed, his hand going to his scar, which was still burning painfully. It eventually stopped burning and he looked around. It was 5:00 in the morning and no one was awake yet, so he quickly changed and went down to the common room.
The common room was empty and the fire was still burning brightly. Harry took a seat in the armchair by the fire so that he could think about the dream he had. It certainly seemed real. Maybe it was true and the prisoners they captured were dead, but they were still alive last night, so how could anyone kill them unless there was a Death Eater at the school.
No one fit that profile except for Snape, but he was now working as a spy and wouldn't do that. Of course there was also Professor Sepet. The count was always dressed in black and he did fit the profile of the Death Eater in his dream. He also was the only professor who carried a sword around. Now the question would be: Why would Professor Sepet go to great lengths to kill every Death Eater and get them out of the house that they were trapped in, but then go and kill the five prisoners?
*I need to sort this out, * Harry thought. *Maybe a little walk will help. *
With that, Harry got up and exited the common room through the portrait. Although students weren't allowed to go outside on their own, due to Voldemort's return, Harry decided that it wouldn't hurt if he went out for a while. It would be another two hours until breakfast was served anyway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry walked down the stairs leading down the tower and started walking towards the lake. However, along the way, he passed the infirmary and thought he would see Cho for a while. After all, she was a friend and what harm would it do to visit her? She was the one to find the information they needed for their next mission.
Harry entered the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey came out to see who it was.
"What do you want Mr. Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked warily.
"I just would like to see Cho," Harry replied, looking over at Cho who was still lying in the bed. However, the two aurors he saw yesterday weren't present.
"Alright, but you'll have to be very quiet, she's still sleeping," Madam Pomfrey said and went back into her office.
Harry walked over to where Cho was and pulled up a chair so that he could sit next to her bed.
"Hello Cho," Harry whispered. "I just came to visit you but you're still asleep so.."
Harry didn't get to finish as Cho stirred in her sleep and her eyes fluttered open. She looked around sleepily until her eyes fell on Harry sitting in the chair next to her bed.
"Good morning Harry," Cho said giving him a weak smile. "How long have you been here?"
"I just arrived. You've been out since yesterday," Harry explained. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling fine but what happened? Did we succeed?" Cho asked.
"Two Death Eaters in the room you entered cursed you. Professor Moody last year would have had a fit," Harry teased.
"Oh shut up, I thought the room was clear," Cho retorted.
"It was, but the window was open."
"I guess I'll have to watch my back on the next mission, won't I?"
"You sure will," Harry said grinning.
"So what are you doing up so early?" Cho asked.
"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a walk, but I passed by here and so here I am."
"That's very sweet of you," Cho said, blushing. "Thank you."
"For what?" Harry asked with a confused look.
"For helping everyone get out of the house and for visiting me," Cho said with a smile. "Professor Lupin told me that it was you who had told Hermione to get me out of there."
"You're welcome then, but you know I wouldn't want anyone left behind," Harry said.
"I'm grateful, but why couldn't you sleep?"
"I had a nightmare, that's all."
"Oh, care to tell me about it?"
"Uh, I guess, since I have no one else to talk to at the moment."
"I understand. Hermione would be the one you'd talk to, wouldn't she?"
Harry blushed slightly at the question, but he nodded. "She's my best friend and stood by me even though everyone didn't believe me in my second year and last year when everyone thought that I put my name in the Goblet instead of the fake Professor Moody."
"I see," Cho said, her face dropping at what Harry had said. " - Well, you might as well tell me what you were dreaming."
So Harry told Cho about his dream and the hooded Death Eater killing the prisoners. Cho was a good listener and she took in everything better than anyone else, save Hermione and Dumbledore, would have taken it.
"What do you plan to do?" Cho asked once he had finished.
"I don't know. I've had these dreams before and something tells me this might happen, but I don't know what I could do," Harry replied.
"Talk to Dumbledore, he could do something about it," Cho suggested.
"I think you might be right in this case, but if it turns out that everything is alright, then I'll have wasted his time over some crazy nightmare of mine."
"Well, its better that you waste our time trying to prevent something like that from happening than we find out its true and we lose our chance to find out important information that could save lives," Cho pointed out.
"You're right. I'll go talk to Professor Dumbledore about it," Harry said as Madam Pomfrey walked in from her office.
"Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey said quietly, but with a tone that indicated her displeasure. "Miss Chang needs her rest. I told you not to disturb her, now out with you."
"I think you should go. Sorry that you got into trouble, Harry," Cho said apologetically.
"It's alright. If the situation were reversed, she'd throw you out too," Harry said with a small smile.
"Bye Harry," Cho called quietly as Harry got up and exited the medical wing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once Harry exited the room, he realised that he still had another hour before breakfast, so he decided to go visit Hagrid. He hadn't seen Hagrid except in Care of Magical Creatures. However ever since Malfoy was attacked by Buckbeak the hippogriff in their 3rd year, Hagrid hadn't introduced any potentially dangerous creatures for fear that something like that would happen again.
When Harry got to Hagrid's hut, he knocked on the door and heard a loud voice.
"Jus' a minute," the voice said.
The door opened seconds later revealing Hagrid's large frame. Hagrid looked down and when he saw Harry, his face broke into a large grin.
"Harry!" Hagrid said enthusiastically. "Come in! How are yeh?"
"I'm doing great Hagrid," Harry relied grinning. "I couldn't sleep so I decided to take a walk."
"Care for some rock cakes?" Hagrid asked, offering him a plate.
"No thanks Hagrid. I'm not hungry."
"Suit yerself. Madam Maxine made them this time," Hagrid said happily.
"Oh? Did you go visit her over the summer?" Harry asked.
"O' course I did. Dumbledore sent me on a mission with her to see if the gi- ," Hagrid started to say.
"Forget I said anythin'," Hagrid said gruffly.
"Why? You're working for Dumbledore now as part of the Phoenix Order right?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but how'd yeh know about that?"
"Because I'm in the Order too," Harry stated.
"Oh, in that case. I guess I could tell yeh. - We went on a mission fer Dumbledore to see if we could get the giants to join us," Hagrid explained. "But they're too wary of either side to want to join us."
"But that's alright. I guess yeh can't have everythin'," Hagrid said sadly.
"Well, I should be going to breakfast now," Harry said. "I'll see you later Hagrid."
"Bye Harry," Hagrid replied as Harry got up and walked outside. "And say 'hello' to Hermione and Ron for me."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Harry got to the Great Hall, he noticed Hermione was there, eating breakfast and reading what looked like the Daily Prophet, but Ron wasn't present.
"Hi Hermione," Harry said, walking up to her.
"Hi Harry! Look at this!" Hermione said, handing him the paper as he sat down.
Death & Destruction at Kilndar
Yesterday afternoon, a small group of aurors belonging to our own Ministry of Magic forcibly entered a house in the town of Kilndar. It appears that the house belonged to a group of You-Know-Who's Death Eaters due to the Dark Mark that was found above the house.
The aurors who entered the house appeared to have been looking for something and a skirmish ensued between the Death Eaters and the ministry aurors. They managed to kill at least 40 of the Death Eaters as the halls were lined with dead bodies. A few of the Death Eaters have been identified as wanted criminals; however it appears that the aurors were ambushed and wiped out.
Due to the amount of damage done and the use of weapons other than wands, it is estimated that at least two aurors with swords or some other weapons escaped. Traces of floo powder were found in the fireplace on the first floor.
According to a statement by Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, "This is just an isolated incident. You-Know-Who has not returned and I would like the public to know that these are just a group of terrorists who are being hunted down by the Ministry."
The whereabouts of the auror who escaped the house is unknown and no leads have been found.
Maria Screech, Daily Prophet
"So they don't suspect that we were even there. That's good," Harry said, looking up from the paper and handing it back to Hermione. "Where's Ron anyway?"
"I expect he's still asleep. He never wakes early. Really, I wonder how's going to manage his prefect duties like that," Hermione said, shaking her head and putting the paper in her bag.
"I went to visit Hagrid earlier," Harry said. "He's doing alright and he told me to say hello for him. He'll also be coming to the next meeting we have."
At that moment Ron came running into the Hall, looking as if he was at his wit's end.
"HEY HARRY - HERMIONE!" Ron shouted, causing many of the students to look in his direction.
"Shh, not so loud," Hermione scolded. "What's wrong?"
"Killed - Death Eaters - east tower," Ron said quickly.
"Calm down Ron, you're not making much sense," Hermione said. "Now explain what happened."
"You see I passed by the East tower along the way because that's where my route takes me and I heard someone coming," Ron explained, calming down. "Well, I hid behind a suit of armour and I saw someone in a hooded robe come around the corner."
"They entered the tower and he looked suspicious so followed him up," Ron continued. "- He entered the room and I saw five people chained to the walls. They looked like Death Eaters and he said something to one of them. It sounded like he would free them, and he drew a sword from underneath his robe. But instead of cutting the chains, he thrust the sword into the Death Eater's stomach. He killed him - and the others too. I hid behind the door when he exited. "
"What? Why didn't you go to Professor McGonagall instead of coming to us?" Hermione said alarmed.
"I didn't know where she was, and I thought you two would know," Ron countered.
"We should go see Professor Dumbledore. You coming Harry?" Hermione said, turning to look at Harry who was sitting there with a horrified look on his face. His mouth was moving but no words were coming out.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked worriedly, getting his attention.
"Uh, nothing," Harry replied.
"It's not nothing because you've got a look on your face that says you know something," Hermione countered. "Now tell us."
"Alright," Harry gave in. "I had a nightmare last night and I woke up with my scar burning. Well, what you told us Ron, that was my nightmare."
"WHAT?" Hermione said loudly, causing people to look in her direction, but she shook it off. "You mean to tell me that you knew that this might happen and you didn't wake me up?"
"I couldn't have just strolled into the girls' dorms, I'd get into trouble, you know that," Harry pointed out.
"I don't care if you had to do that, but this was important. Now we need to go see Dumbledore," Hermione said.
"Am I missing something that you two know about?" Ron cut in.
"Well, from the description of the person, it was probably Professor Sepet," Harry suggested thoughtfully. "He's the only teacher that carries a sword around."
"That's true," Ron agreed. "But you carry one too, and so did Malfoy."
"Malfoy got his sword taken away. It couldn't be him and are you saying that I killed those Death Eaters?" Harry asked not surprised that Ron might even suggest such a thing.
"Well, you did say you had a dream about it, so that would mean that you knew where they were," Ron said before thinking.
"RON - Do you have any idea how absurd that is? You're accusing your best friend of murdering people that he doesn't know about?" Hermione defended.
"Sorry," Ron said sheepishly.
"Enough of this. We need to see Dumbledore," said Harry finally and the trio went to find him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They ran all the way over to the stone gargoyle outside of Dumbledore's office, but this time they didn't have to guess the password since Cho had used it yesterday.
"Chocolate Frogs," Harry said and the gargoyle hopped aside, allowing them entrance.
"Hey, how come you knew the password?" Ron asked suspiciously as they entered and walked up the stairs.
"Because we served detention with him yesterday and we had to come here anyway," Harry replied to Ron's satisfaction.
"Oh, I forgot about that. - I also heard some students talking about some attack on a Death Eater house by the ministry. You know anything about that?" questioned Ron.
"Yes, it was in the Daily Prophet," Hermione said. "Honestly, don't you ever read the paper?"
"No, I don't. - But Fred and George were also telling me that they saw some blood all over the floor yesterday. Wouldn't have something to do with you two would it? I mean you two were walking barefooted into the common room yesterday."
Fortunately they got up to Dumbledore's office by then and Harry and Hermione were saved the trouble of having to answer his question.
Professor Dumbledore was sitting at his desk when they came in.
"Hello you three," said Dumbledore. "What can I do for you?"
Harry quickly explained to Dumbledore about his dream and Ron immediately backed it up by telling him what he had seen earlier that morning, while Hermione added her theory on who it was based on the description of Ron's Death Eater.
"I see," Dumbledore said calmly. "So the prisoners are dead. This certainly does call for extra security. I shall inform the others immediately."
"Is that all? What about Professor Sepet?" Hermione asked. "He's clearly the Death Eater."
"He's out on a mission that I sent him on, but don't worry, I will deal with him when the time comes. This isn't the first accusation that someone's made against him," Dumbledore said.
"WHAT?" Hermione said exasperated. "He just killed five Death Eaters which could be useful to us and he's gone?"
"Please calm down Miss Granger," Dumbledore said calmly.
"Who made the first accusation against Professor Sepet?" Ron asked.
"Alas, I cannot answer that Mr. Weasley. You understand due to safety concerns, the accusing party must be kept confidential," said Dumbledore. "Now run along. I will take care of this."
Seeing that they wouldn't get anywhere arguing with him, the three of them grudgingly left the room and returned to the common room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The common room was fairly empty with the exception of a few students when they got there but just in case, they went over to a corner so that they could chat by themselves.
"What do you think Sepet is up to?" Ron asked.
"I don't know. If he is a Death Eater, he killed them because he doesn't want them to be questioned and he's gone now," Hermione stated irritably.
"We have that much, but what are Death Eaters doing at this school?" said Ron.
"I don't know. It might have something to do with the auror attack on Kilndar yesterday," Harry said.
"Why bring them here instead of Azkaban?" asked Ron.
"You heard Dumbledore last year, Azkaban is full of dementors, they would turn on us the moment they got the chance. They are You-Know-Who's natural allies," Harry pointed out. "So this would be the safest place to keep them without any trouble."
"Well trouble seems to follow us around," Ron said sarcastically.
"We should try to do something about it even if Dumbledore isn't," Hermione said.
"Alright, but how do we get past his shield?" Harry asked.
"Shield? What shield?" Ron asked, giving them a quizzical look.
"Every time someone attacks Sepet, a shield appears and defends him," Hermione explained. "I saw it used when he was duelling Harry."
"Oh that could be a problem," Ron said. "Is there anything we could do about it?"
"I don't know but Sepet sure is acting very suspiciously," Hermione said.
"Yeah, he has been gone during the daytime and he rarely eats anything," Ron said.
"Well, I'm off to the library," Hermione said finally.
"What for?" Harry asked.
"I'm going to see if I can find something to help us defeat Sepet," Hermione said getting up. "Are you coming?"
"Yeah, I'll come," Ron said getting up as well.
"Sure, why not," Harry echoed, however Professor McGonagall decided to enter the common room at that moment and call them back.
"Mr. Potter - Miss Granger," she said seriously. "Follow me."
They knew better than to question her, so Harry and Hermione followed her out of the common room while Ron looked at them with jealousy.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Moments later, the two of them found themselves back in Dumbledore's office, only Hagrid and the two aurors that were present as well, however, Professor Sepet was not present as Dumbledore had said earlier. Harry took a seat next to Cho, who apparently had recovered fully, while Hermione sat to his right.
"Feeling better Cho?" Harry whispered to her.
"Yes, thanks for asking, though Madam Pomfrey was grumbling about letting me go early," Cho whispered back giggling slightly, and they both turned their attention to Dumbledore as he got up to speak.
"As you know, yesterday, we conducted a raid on the Death Eaters in the town of Kilndar. Although we lost 8 excellent aurors, we did manage to get the information we needed, thanks to Miss Chang," Dumbledore said. "As an added bonus, we also captured five Death Eaters, however, this morning, one of the prefects, Mr. Ron Weasley (To the surprise of Arthur, Percy and Bill), informed me that they were killed by someone in this school."
"I do not know how they found out about the Death Eaters, but the fact that there is a Death Eater around the school, we must take counter measures for our own safety. Therefore, I will petition for some aurors to be stationed at this school," Dumbledore continued. " - Rubeus Hagrid will now present some information on his mission during the summer, followed by Professor Laikov presenting the information that he managed to gather yesterday interrogating the five Death Eaters before they were killed."
Hagrid stood up and walked over to the centre of the room.
"Over the summer, I was sent on a mission by Professor Dumbledore to see if we could get the giants teh join us," Hagrid said proudly. "Unfortunately, they decided teh stay neutral since they were tired of having both the Dark Wizards and us tell them what teh do."
"Thank you Rubeus. Professor Laikov, you may now make your presentation," Dumbledore said as Hagrid returned to his seat and Walter stood up.
"Last night, Professor Snape and myself questioned the Death Eaters under veritaserum and they yielded only one useful bit of information. They told us that they were there because they wanted to gather forces so they could take over the town first. From there, they planned to free the Death Eaters from Azkaban," Walter said and sat down once again.
"Thank you Professor Laikov. - Now, we must plan for our next mission, which will be preventing the Death Eaters in Azkaban from being freed," Dumbledore said. "Professor Laikov, did you get the approximate time that they would be attempting to free them?"
"Yes I did," Walter replied. "They said it would take place around the middle of November, which gives us more than a month to prepare. The information that Miss Chang obtained for us also mentioned an attack on Hogsmeade, however, it appears that it will not go through. As for the town of Kilndar, I doubt that the Death Eaters will return there since the public is now on the lookout for any suspicious activity and our opponents will have to change their timetables a bit."
"Very well. - Serverus, I must ask you to go gather some information for us once again. We will need to gather the approximate time that they will be making the attempt," Dumbledore said.
"I shall do as you wish, headmaster," Snape replied affirmatively.
"Now, does anyone have any comments or questions?" Dumbledore asked.
At that, an auror, which Harry didn't recognise, stood up.
"I just would like to ask as to why you hired this cold bastard," he said in an accusing tone, pointing to Walter. "I saw him and that inhumane thing, kill every Death Eater that stood in their way rather than deal with them in a civilised manner yesterday. If it weren't for Sirius Black and Mr. Lupin, I don't think we would have gotten any prisoners. Our ministry wouldn't have even considered hiring such merciless aurors."
Walter then stood up to meet the accusation. "I don't know why you go to great lengths to avoid killing them; these are terrorists and must be dealt with mercilessly. If you aren't going to wipe out the ones within your own territories, how to you expect to wipe out Voldemort's (At which everyone but Harry and Dumbledore flinched) followers anywhere else? They will not hesitate to kill you, as you had seen them do to your comrades yesterday and might I remind you that I was the one who helped make sure that those that who weren't killed, returned safely."
"Then why didn't your master do something about those on the first floor?" the auror returned sharply.
"Watch your tongue or I will teach you to respect members of the nobility. He couldn't do anything about the ones on the first floor because they were already dead when he got to them," Walter said calmly, though it was clear that he was starting to lose his patience.
"Or did he kill them himself? If he wasn't hesitant to kill the Death Eaters, he probably wouldn't have a prob-" the auror started to say, but never finished as Walter got up faster than Harry thought was possible and in one swift motion, he had an arm around the auror's chest and a knife up against his throat.
"That's enough Professor," Dumbledore intervened. He wasn't at all pleased with the way the meeting was turning out. "Might I remind you that we are all on the same side and shouldn't be throwing accusations against each other. Now please put away your weapon."
"As you wish," Walter said and he withdrew his knife from the auror's throat and sheathed it. The auror quickly backed away in fear, rubbing his throat.
"To avoid further unpleasantness, I believe that is all for today. You are all dismissed," Dumbledore closed.
Once that was said, everyone got up and exited the room. Harry and Hermione made their way back to the Gryffindor tower.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When they arrived, they said the password to the tower (Chimaera) and entered. They found Ron still in the common room, sitting in one of the armchairs looking dazed.
"Hey Ron," Harry said, as they walked up to him.
"Oh, hi you two," Ron said, looking a bit disappointed. "Did you find anything?"
"No, Professor McGonagall just wanted to help her with something," Hermione explained. "Though she did mention that Sepet was acting suspiciously."
"I see," Ron said, still staring ahead as if in thought.
"Is something wrong?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"No, nothing's wrong with my two best friends disappearing at different times during the day and not coming back for a couple hours," Ron snapped and he got up and stormed out up the stairs to the boys' dormitories causing some people to turn their heads.
"I wonder why he snapped so quickly," Harry asked, confused.
"I think he's just mad that we're together so often and he feels left out," Hermione said. "He'll get over it eventually. There hasn't been a year where he hasn't accused one of us of being up to something."
Harry grinned at that comment. "Yeah, you're right Hermione. He always does get over it."
"Care to join me in the library? I still need to do the research I've been wanting to do before Professor McGonagall interrupted us," Hermione asked.
"Sure, why not. I don't have anything better to do and I need to get some of my homework done before tomorrow," Harry replied. " - Oh darn, my books are upstairs and Ron's probably in there. I don't want to have to meet him when he's in a bad mood."
"You're actually trying to get your work done?" Hermione teased.
"Yes, its better than having to deal with Professor McGonagall or Snape when I don't do it," Harry said dryly.
"I'll go up and get my textbooks so that you can use them and we can go to the library," Hermione said. "How does that sound?"
"Thanks Hermione," Harry said, relieved that he wouldn't have to see Ron when he was in a bad mood.
"You're welcome," she replied and went up to her dorm to get her books.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: My apologies that this chapter took far too long but you get 2 chapters to make up for the time loss.
Messages to people who reviewed:
" ", GazzadaSpazza & Sirius B: Thank you for the review. I'm glad you all like my fic.
Phoenix of Light: Hermione telling Harry what she wanted to? Hmm, she may not get the chance to do that.
The Game: Yeah, I'm using a time turner, and I really don't care much for the rules.
Bri Bri: Hey, I'm trying to finish this quickly. Even though I'm trying to post the chapters up once every 24 hours, the chapters are getting longer so I can't really do that each time. The story is 50% complete though.
Angelis: Sorry, I can't have Harry kill stuff, though it would make things interesting. It just doesn't fit his personality. I'll leave the killing to Sepet & Walter since it's in their personality to be ruthless. If you liked the blood & guts chapter, don't worry, there's probably going to be more those
Phoenix of Light & Heather: Are Sepet & Walter Death Eaters? Take a guess. This chapter may or may not help you with that one.
Forever Zero: Well, true he could use the dimension door spell to get out, but he'd be the only out transported out of there. If you read the description of the spell, it only transports the caster out.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 17: The Dream
The morning after, Harry awoke with his scar burning again. He had another horrible nightmare, only this time it seemed so real that he was drenched in cold sweat.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In a cold, dark chamber, three men were present. The first, kneeling on the ground, was dressed in a hooded black robe with the hood up and is carrying a sword underneath it. The second man was standing, also dressed in a black robe, however, his face was skull white and he had a flat nose with slits for nostrils. Finally, the third was whimpering at the second man's side in fear.
"My lord," said the kneeling Death Eater. "Everything is now ready. The downfall of all those who would oppose us will come soon."
"Excellent. What do you plan to do with that bumbling fool, Fudge?" Voldemort asked coldly.
"He is still unaware of the danger that lies before him. I will make sure he remains that way," the Death Eater replied.
"See that you do. - Now what of this news that I have heard about?"
"What news my lord?"
"Don't play games with me," Voldemort said giving the Death Eater a stare that made him shiver. "You know very well what I mean; about Potter's bold raid on our little enclave within Kilndar."
"I set an ambush for him," the Death Eater replied. "He shouldn't have survived."
"HE SURVIVED!" Voldemort hissed loudly. "AND THEY CAPTURED FIVE OF OUR OWN!"
The Death Eater withdrew in fear at the remark, but continued to talk.
"My l-lord, my ap-ologies for my failure. I s-shall make it up to you," the Death Eater stuttered.
"See that you don't fail me again or I will make sure it's the last mistake you ever make," Voldemort said softly, but menacingly enough that the Death Eater got the idea to leave.
"M-Master is merciful. I shall take care of it," the Death Eater said, withdrawing quietly out the door, making sure not to turn his back on Voldemort.
"Wormtail," Voldemort said.
"Y-Yes my master?" Wormtail whimpered.
"Keep an eye on him and if he fails again, take care of him,"
"As you wish my lord," Wormtail said, sounding relieved that nothing would happen to him, and got up to leave.
"Oh, Wormtail," Voldemort called, causing Wormtail to freeze in place, "See that you don't fail either or I will make sure you regret it."
"Y-y-yes my l-l-lord," said Wormtail cringing in fear, but he managed to leave the chamber.
The scene changed to what looked like a dungeon. Five Death Eaters were shackled in chains connected to the wall.
The door opened and a man entered. It was the same Death Eater that Voldemort had talked to earlier. He approached the first Death Eater and woke him.
"Wh- Who are you?" the chained Death Eater asked.
"I'm here to liberate you," the hooded Death Eater said coolly drawing his sword from underneath his robes.
"T-Thank you," the Death Eater replied, looking relieved, however, the look changed to one of surprise when the hooded Death Eater plunged the sword into his stomach.
"Wh-What are y-you do-ing?" the Death Eater choked, blood coming out of his mouth.
"I can't have you telling our secrets to Dumbledore, now can I?" the Death Eater replied gleefully as he twisted the sword in the Death Eater's stomach before withdrawing it.
The chained Death Eater collapsed onto the floor, dead and the hooded Death Eater went over to each of the chained prisoners and thrust his sword into the heart of each one.
Once he made sure each one was dead, he wiped the blood on the robes of the nearest Death Eater, sheathed the sword again and hurried out of the dungeon.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry sat up in bed, his hand going to his scar, which was still burning painfully. It eventually stopped burning and he looked around. It was 5:00 in the morning and no one was awake yet, so he quickly changed and went down to the common room.
The common room was empty and the fire was still burning brightly. Harry took a seat in the armchair by the fire so that he could think about the dream he had. It certainly seemed real. Maybe it was true and the prisoners they captured were dead, but they were still alive last night, so how could anyone kill them unless there was a Death Eater at the school.
No one fit that profile except for Snape, but he was now working as a spy and wouldn't do that. Of course there was also Professor Sepet. The count was always dressed in black and he did fit the profile of the Death Eater in his dream. He also was the only professor who carried a sword around. Now the question would be: Why would Professor Sepet go to great lengths to kill every Death Eater and get them out of the house that they were trapped in, but then go and kill the five prisoners?
*I need to sort this out, * Harry thought. *Maybe a little walk will help. *
With that, Harry got up and exited the common room through the portrait. Although students weren't allowed to go outside on their own, due to Voldemort's return, Harry decided that it wouldn't hurt if he went out for a while. It would be another two hours until breakfast was served anyway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry walked down the stairs leading down the tower and started walking towards the lake. However, along the way, he passed the infirmary and thought he would see Cho for a while. After all, she was a friend and what harm would it do to visit her? She was the one to find the information they needed for their next mission.
Harry entered the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey came out to see who it was.
"What do you want Mr. Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked warily.
"I just would like to see Cho," Harry replied, looking over at Cho who was still lying in the bed. However, the two aurors he saw yesterday weren't present.
"Alright, but you'll have to be very quiet, she's still sleeping," Madam Pomfrey said and went back into her office.
Harry walked over to where Cho was and pulled up a chair so that he could sit next to her bed.
"Hello Cho," Harry whispered. "I just came to visit you but you're still asleep so.."
Harry didn't get to finish as Cho stirred in her sleep and her eyes fluttered open. She looked around sleepily until her eyes fell on Harry sitting in the chair next to her bed.
"Good morning Harry," Cho said giving him a weak smile. "How long have you been here?"
"I just arrived. You've been out since yesterday," Harry explained. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling fine but what happened? Did we succeed?" Cho asked.
"Two Death Eaters in the room you entered cursed you. Professor Moody last year would have had a fit," Harry teased.
"Oh shut up, I thought the room was clear," Cho retorted.
"It was, but the window was open."
"I guess I'll have to watch my back on the next mission, won't I?"
"You sure will," Harry said grinning.
"So what are you doing up so early?" Cho asked.
"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a walk, but I passed by here and so here I am."
"That's very sweet of you," Cho said, blushing. "Thank you."
"For what?" Harry asked with a confused look.
"For helping everyone get out of the house and for visiting me," Cho said with a smile. "Professor Lupin told me that it was you who had told Hermione to get me out of there."
"You're welcome then, but you know I wouldn't want anyone left behind," Harry said.
"I'm grateful, but why couldn't you sleep?"
"I had a nightmare, that's all."
"Oh, care to tell me about it?"
"Uh, I guess, since I have no one else to talk to at the moment."
"I understand. Hermione would be the one you'd talk to, wouldn't she?"
Harry blushed slightly at the question, but he nodded. "She's my best friend and stood by me even though everyone didn't believe me in my second year and last year when everyone thought that I put my name in the Goblet instead of the fake Professor Moody."
"I see," Cho said, her face dropping at what Harry had said. " - Well, you might as well tell me what you were dreaming."
So Harry told Cho about his dream and the hooded Death Eater killing the prisoners. Cho was a good listener and she took in everything better than anyone else, save Hermione and Dumbledore, would have taken it.
"What do you plan to do?" Cho asked once he had finished.
"I don't know. I've had these dreams before and something tells me this might happen, but I don't know what I could do," Harry replied.
"Talk to Dumbledore, he could do something about it," Cho suggested.
"I think you might be right in this case, but if it turns out that everything is alright, then I'll have wasted his time over some crazy nightmare of mine."
"Well, its better that you waste our time trying to prevent something like that from happening than we find out its true and we lose our chance to find out important information that could save lives," Cho pointed out.
"You're right. I'll go talk to Professor Dumbledore about it," Harry said as Madam Pomfrey walked in from her office.
"Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey said quietly, but with a tone that indicated her displeasure. "Miss Chang needs her rest. I told you not to disturb her, now out with you."
"I think you should go. Sorry that you got into trouble, Harry," Cho said apologetically.
"It's alright. If the situation were reversed, she'd throw you out too," Harry said with a small smile.
"Bye Harry," Cho called quietly as Harry got up and exited the medical wing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once Harry exited the room, he realised that he still had another hour before breakfast, so he decided to go visit Hagrid. He hadn't seen Hagrid except in Care of Magical Creatures. However ever since Malfoy was attacked by Buckbeak the hippogriff in their 3rd year, Hagrid hadn't introduced any potentially dangerous creatures for fear that something like that would happen again.
When Harry got to Hagrid's hut, he knocked on the door and heard a loud voice.
"Jus' a minute," the voice said.
The door opened seconds later revealing Hagrid's large frame. Hagrid looked down and when he saw Harry, his face broke into a large grin.
"Harry!" Hagrid said enthusiastically. "Come in! How are yeh?"
"I'm doing great Hagrid," Harry relied grinning. "I couldn't sleep so I decided to take a walk."
"Care for some rock cakes?" Hagrid asked, offering him a plate.
"No thanks Hagrid. I'm not hungry."
"Suit yerself. Madam Maxine made them this time," Hagrid said happily.
"Oh? Did you go visit her over the summer?" Harry asked.
"O' course I did. Dumbledore sent me on a mission with her to see if the gi- ," Hagrid started to say.
"Forget I said anythin'," Hagrid said gruffly.
"Why? You're working for Dumbledore now as part of the Phoenix Order right?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but how'd yeh know about that?"
"Because I'm in the Order too," Harry stated.
"Oh, in that case. I guess I could tell yeh. - We went on a mission fer Dumbledore to see if we could get the giants to join us," Hagrid explained. "But they're too wary of either side to want to join us."
"But that's alright. I guess yeh can't have everythin'," Hagrid said sadly.
"Well, I should be going to breakfast now," Harry said. "I'll see you later Hagrid."
"Bye Harry," Hagrid replied as Harry got up and walked outside. "And say 'hello' to Hermione and Ron for me."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Harry got to the Great Hall, he noticed Hermione was there, eating breakfast and reading what looked like the Daily Prophet, but Ron wasn't present.
"Hi Hermione," Harry said, walking up to her.
"Hi Harry! Look at this!" Hermione said, handing him the paper as he sat down.
Death & Destruction at Kilndar
Yesterday afternoon, a small group of aurors belonging to our own Ministry of Magic forcibly entered a house in the town of Kilndar. It appears that the house belonged to a group of You-Know-Who's Death Eaters due to the Dark Mark that was found above the house.
The aurors who entered the house appeared to have been looking for something and a skirmish ensued between the Death Eaters and the ministry aurors. They managed to kill at least 40 of the Death Eaters as the halls were lined with dead bodies. A few of the Death Eaters have been identified as wanted criminals; however it appears that the aurors were ambushed and wiped out.
Due to the amount of damage done and the use of weapons other than wands, it is estimated that at least two aurors with swords or some other weapons escaped. Traces of floo powder were found in the fireplace on the first floor.
According to a statement by Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, "This is just an isolated incident. You-Know-Who has not returned and I would like the public to know that these are just a group of terrorists who are being hunted down by the Ministry."
The whereabouts of the auror who escaped the house is unknown and no leads have been found.
Maria Screech, Daily Prophet
"So they don't suspect that we were even there. That's good," Harry said, looking up from the paper and handing it back to Hermione. "Where's Ron anyway?"
"I expect he's still asleep. He never wakes early. Really, I wonder how's going to manage his prefect duties like that," Hermione said, shaking her head and putting the paper in her bag.
"I went to visit Hagrid earlier," Harry said. "He's doing alright and he told me to say hello for him. He'll also be coming to the next meeting we have."
At that moment Ron came running into the Hall, looking as if he was at his wit's end.
"HEY HARRY - HERMIONE!" Ron shouted, causing many of the students to look in his direction.
"Shh, not so loud," Hermione scolded. "What's wrong?"
"Killed - Death Eaters - east tower," Ron said quickly.
"Calm down Ron, you're not making much sense," Hermione said. "Now explain what happened."
"You see I passed by the East tower along the way because that's where my route takes me and I heard someone coming," Ron explained, calming down. "Well, I hid behind a suit of armour and I saw someone in a hooded robe come around the corner."
"They entered the tower and he looked suspicious so followed him up," Ron continued. "- He entered the room and I saw five people chained to the walls. They looked like Death Eaters and he said something to one of them. It sounded like he would free them, and he drew a sword from underneath his robe. But instead of cutting the chains, he thrust the sword into the Death Eater's stomach. He killed him - and the others too. I hid behind the door when he exited. "
"What? Why didn't you go to Professor McGonagall instead of coming to us?" Hermione said alarmed.
"I didn't know where she was, and I thought you two would know," Ron countered.
"We should go see Professor Dumbledore. You coming Harry?" Hermione said, turning to look at Harry who was sitting there with a horrified look on his face. His mouth was moving but no words were coming out.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked worriedly, getting his attention.
"Uh, nothing," Harry replied.
"It's not nothing because you've got a look on your face that says you know something," Hermione countered. "Now tell us."
"Alright," Harry gave in. "I had a nightmare last night and I woke up with my scar burning. Well, what you told us Ron, that was my nightmare."
"WHAT?" Hermione said loudly, causing people to look in her direction, but she shook it off. "You mean to tell me that you knew that this might happen and you didn't wake me up?"
"I couldn't have just strolled into the girls' dorms, I'd get into trouble, you know that," Harry pointed out.
"I don't care if you had to do that, but this was important. Now we need to go see Dumbledore," Hermione said.
"Am I missing something that you two know about?" Ron cut in.
"Well, from the description of the person, it was probably Professor Sepet," Harry suggested thoughtfully. "He's the only teacher that carries a sword around."
"That's true," Ron agreed. "But you carry one too, and so did Malfoy."
"Malfoy got his sword taken away. It couldn't be him and are you saying that I killed those Death Eaters?" Harry asked not surprised that Ron might even suggest such a thing.
"Well, you did say you had a dream about it, so that would mean that you knew where they were," Ron said before thinking.
"RON - Do you have any idea how absurd that is? You're accusing your best friend of murdering people that he doesn't know about?" Hermione defended.
"Sorry," Ron said sheepishly.
"Enough of this. We need to see Dumbledore," said Harry finally and the trio went to find him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They ran all the way over to the stone gargoyle outside of Dumbledore's office, but this time they didn't have to guess the password since Cho had used it yesterday.
"Chocolate Frogs," Harry said and the gargoyle hopped aside, allowing them entrance.
"Hey, how come you knew the password?" Ron asked suspiciously as they entered and walked up the stairs.
"Because we served detention with him yesterday and we had to come here anyway," Harry replied to Ron's satisfaction.
"Oh, I forgot about that. - I also heard some students talking about some attack on a Death Eater house by the ministry. You know anything about that?" questioned Ron.
"Yes, it was in the Daily Prophet," Hermione said. "Honestly, don't you ever read the paper?"
"No, I don't. - But Fred and George were also telling me that they saw some blood all over the floor yesterday. Wouldn't have something to do with you two would it? I mean you two were walking barefooted into the common room yesterday."
Fortunately they got up to Dumbledore's office by then and Harry and Hermione were saved the trouble of having to answer his question.
Professor Dumbledore was sitting at his desk when they came in.
"Hello you three," said Dumbledore. "What can I do for you?"
Harry quickly explained to Dumbledore about his dream and Ron immediately backed it up by telling him what he had seen earlier that morning, while Hermione added her theory on who it was based on the description of Ron's Death Eater.
"I see," Dumbledore said calmly. "So the prisoners are dead. This certainly does call for extra security. I shall inform the others immediately."
"Is that all? What about Professor Sepet?" Hermione asked. "He's clearly the Death Eater."
"He's out on a mission that I sent him on, but don't worry, I will deal with him when the time comes. This isn't the first accusation that someone's made against him," Dumbledore said.
"WHAT?" Hermione said exasperated. "He just killed five Death Eaters which could be useful to us and he's gone?"
"Please calm down Miss Granger," Dumbledore said calmly.
"Who made the first accusation against Professor Sepet?" Ron asked.
"Alas, I cannot answer that Mr. Weasley. You understand due to safety concerns, the accusing party must be kept confidential," said Dumbledore. "Now run along. I will take care of this."
Seeing that they wouldn't get anywhere arguing with him, the three of them grudgingly left the room and returned to the common room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The common room was fairly empty with the exception of a few students when they got there but just in case, they went over to a corner so that they could chat by themselves.
"What do you think Sepet is up to?" Ron asked.
"I don't know. If he is a Death Eater, he killed them because he doesn't want them to be questioned and he's gone now," Hermione stated irritably.
"We have that much, but what are Death Eaters doing at this school?" said Ron.
"I don't know. It might have something to do with the auror attack on Kilndar yesterday," Harry said.
"Why bring them here instead of Azkaban?" asked Ron.
"You heard Dumbledore last year, Azkaban is full of dementors, they would turn on us the moment they got the chance. They are You-Know-Who's natural allies," Harry pointed out. "So this would be the safest place to keep them without any trouble."
"Well trouble seems to follow us around," Ron said sarcastically.
"We should try to do something about it even if Dumbledore isn't," Hermione said.
"Alright, but how do we get past his shield?" Harry asked.
"Shield? What shield?" Ron asked, giving them a quizzical look.
"Every time someone attacks Sepet, a shield appears and defends him," Hermione explained. "I saw it used when he was duelling Harry."
"Oh that could be a problem," Ron said. "Is there anything we could do about it?"
"I don't know but Sepet sure is acting very suspiciously," Hermione said.
"Yeah, he has been gone during the daytime and he rarely eats anything," Ron said.
"Well, I'm off to the library," Hermione said finally.
"What for?" Harry asked.
"I'm going to see if I can find something to help us defeat Sepet," Hermione said getting up. "Are you coming?"
"Yeah, I'll come," Ron said getting up as well.
"Sure, why not," Harry echoed, however Professor McGonagall decided to enter the common room at that moment and call them back.
"Mr. Potter - Miss Granger," she said seriously. "Follow me."
They knew better than to question her, so Harry and Hermione followed her out of the common room while Ron looked at them with jealousy.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Moments later, the two of them found themselves back in Dumbledore's office, only Hagrid and the two aurors that were present as well, however, Professor Sepet was not present as Dumbledore had said earlier. Harry took a seat next to Cho, who apparently had recovered fully, while Hermione sat to his right.
"Feeling better Cho?" Harry whispered to her.
"Yes, thanks for asking, though Madam Pomfrey was grumbling about letting me go early," Cho whispered back giggling slightly, and they both turned their attention to Dumbledore as he got up to speak.
"As you know, yesterday, we conducted a raid on the Death Eaters in the town of Kilndar. Although we lost 8 excellent aurors, we did manage to get the information we needed, thanks to Miss Chang," Dumbledore said. "As an added bonus, we also captured five Death Eaters, however, this morning, one of the prefects, Mr. Ron Weasley (To the surprise of Arthur, Percy and Bill), informed me that they were killed by someone in this school."
"I do not know how they found out about the Death Eaters, but the fact that there is a Death Eater around the school, we must take counter measures for our own safety. Therefore, I will petition for some aurors to be stationed at this school," Dumbledore continued. " - Rubeus Hagrid will now present some information on his mission during the summer, followed by Professor Laikov presenting the information that he managed to gather yesterday interrogating the five Death Eaters before they were killed."
Hagrid stood up and walked over to the centre of the room.
"Over the summer, I was sent on a mission by Professor Dumbledore to see if we could get the giants teh join us," Hagrid said proudly. "Unfortunately, they decided teh stay neutral since they were tired of having both the Dark Wizards and us tell them what teh do."
"Thank you Rubeus. Professor Laikov, you may now make your presentation," Dumbledore said as Hagrid returned to his seat and Walter stood up.
"Last night, Professor Snape and myself questioned the Death Eaters under veritaserum and they yielded only one useful bit of information. They told us that they were there because they wanted to gather forces so they could take over the town first. From there, they planned to free the Death Eaters from Azkaban," Walter said and sat down once again.
"Thank you Professor Laikov. - Now, we must plan for our next mission, which will be preventing the Death Eaters in Azkaban from being freed," Dumbledore said. "Professor Laikov, did you get the approximate time that they would be attempting to free them?"
"Yes I did," Walter replied. "They said it would take place around the middle of November, which gives us more than a month to prepare. The information that Miss Chang obtained for us also mentioned an attack on Hogsmeade, however, it appears that it will not go through. As for the town of Kilndar, I doubt that the Death Eaters will return there since the public is now on the lookout for any suspicious activity and our opponents will have to change their timetables a bit."
"Very well. - Serverus, I must ask you to go gather some information for us once again. We will need to gather the approximate time that they will be making the attempt," Dumbledore said.
"I shall do as you wish, headmaster," Snape replied affirmatively.
"Now, does anyone have any comments or questions?" Dumbledore asked.
At that, an auror, which Harry didn't recognise, stood up.
"I just would like to ask as to why you hired this cold bastard," he said in an accusing tone, pointing to Walter. "I saw him and that inhumane thing, kill every Death Eater that stood in their way rather than deal with them in a civilised manner yesterday. If it weren't for Sirius Black and Mr. Lupin, I don't think we would have gotten any prisoners. Our ministry wouldn't have even considered hiring such merciless aurors."
Walter then stood up to meet the accusation. "I don't know why you go to great lengths to avoid killing them; these are terrorists and must be dealt with mercilessly. If you aren't going to wipe out the ones within your own territories, how to you expect to wipe out Voldemort's (At which everyone but Harry and Dumbledore flinched) followers anywhere else? They will not hesitate to kill you, as you had seen them do to your comrades yesterday and might I remind you that I was the one who helped make sure that those that who weren't killed, returned safely."
"Then why didn't your master do something about those on the first floor?" the auror returned sharply.
"Watch your tongue or I will teach you to respect members of the nobility. He couldn't do anything about the ones on the first floor because they were already dead when he got to them," Walter said calmly, though it was clear that he was starting to lose his patience.
"Or did he kill them himself? If he wasn't hesitant to kill the Death Eaters, he probably wouldn't have a prob-" the auror started to say, but never finished as Walter got up faster than Harry thought was possible and in one swift motion, he had an arm around the auror's chest and a knife up against his throat.
"That's enough Professor," Dumbledore intervened. He wasn't at all pleased with the way the meeting was turning out. "Might I remind you that we are all on the same side and shouldn't be throwing accusations against each other. Now please put away your weapon."
"As you wish," Walter said and he withdrew his knife from the auror's throat and sheathed it. The auror quickly backed away in fear, rubbing his throat.
"To avoid further unpleasantness, I believe that is all for today. You are all dismissed," Dumbledore closed.
Once that was said, everyone got up and exited the room. Harry and Hermione made their way back to the Gryffindor tower.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When they arrived, they said the password to the tower (Chimaera) and entered. They found Ron still in the common room, sitting in one of the armchairs looking dazed.
"Hey Ron," Harry said, as they walked up to him.
"Oh, hi you two," Ron said, looking a bit disappointed. "Did you find anything?"
"No, Professor McGonagall just wanted to help her with something," Hermione explained. "Though she did mention that Sepet was acting suspiciously."
"I see," Ron said, still staring ahead as if in thought.
"Is something wrong?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"No, nothing's wrong with my two best friends disappearing at different times during the day and not coming back for a couple hours," Ron snapped and he got up and stormed out up the stairs to the boys' dormitories causing some people to turn their heads.
"I wonder why he snapped so quickly," Harry asked, confused.
"I think he's just mad that we're together so often and he feels left out," Hermione said. "He'll get over it eventually. There hasn't been a year where he hasn't accused one of us of being up to something."
Harry grinned at that comment. "Yeah, you're right Hermione. He always does get over it."
"Care to join me in the library? I still need to do the research I've been wanting to do before Professor McGonagall interrupted us," Hermione asked.
"Sure, why not. I don't have anything better to do and I need to get some of my homework done before tomorrow," Harry replied. " - Oh darn, my books are upstairs and Ron's probably in there. I don't want to have to meet him when he's in a bad mood."
"You're actually trying to get your work done?" Hermione teased.
"Yes, its better than having to deal with Professor McGonagall or Snape when I don't do it," Harry said dryly.
"I'll go up and get my textbooks so that you can use them and we can go to the library," Hermione said. "How does that sound?"
"Thanks Hermione," Harry said, relieved that he wouldn't have to see Ron when he was in a bad mood.
"You're welcome," she replied and went up to her dorm to get her books.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: My apologies that this chapter took far too long but you get 2 chapters to make up for the time loss.
Messages to people who reviewed:
" ", GazzadaSpazza & Sirius B: Thank you for the review. I'm glad you all like my fic.
Phoenix of Light: Hermione telling Harry what she wanted to? Hmm, she may not get the chance to do that.
The Game: Yeah, I'm using a time turner, and I really don't care much for the rules.
Bri Bri: Hey, I'm trying to finish this quickly. Even though I'm trying to post the chapters up once every 24 hours, the chapters are getting longer so I can't really do that each time. The story is 50% complete though.
Angelis: Sorry, I can't have Harry kill stuff, though it would make things interesting. It just doesn't fit his personality. I'll leave the killing to Sepet & Walter since it's in their personality to be ruthless. If you liked the blood & guts chapter, don't worry, there's probably going to be more those
Phoenix of Light & Heather: Are Sepet & Walter Death Eaters? Take a guess. This chapter may or may not help you with that one.
Forever Zero: Well, true he could use the dimension door spell to get out, but he'd be the only out transported out of there. If you read the description of the spell, it only transports the caster out.