Disclaimer: This story is for entertainment purposes and no money is
changing hands. I do not own any of the 'Harry Potter' characters.
Chapter Three:
He was finally at peace. There were no distractions for him here. It was warm with very quiet comforting music coming from some unknown place. Death didn't seem to be a bad thing so far. Though still tired, he was hoping his parents or even Sirius would come by for a visit. Not ready to go looking for them himself he would just rest a bit and think about exploring later.
He hadn't even bothered to look around yet when a voice that sounded familiar reached his ears. He couldn't remember to whom it belonged; though it was both familiar and comforting. Strangely, he also felt a desire to avoid this person. It didn't come from fear. The desire seemed to be to avoid some task or event that was unpleasant but necessary.
'Well, I'll just wait till they get here and then decide if I want to run and hide.'
The voice was finally close enough that he could understand the words. He wasn't too happy about this, the things he heard were confusing and that disturbed the peace he didn't want to surrender.
"Can't get a decent night of sleep. The term just started and some strange voice calls me out of my warm bed. There's an emergency that they won't explain. No telling who or what the emergency is though. Won't say what might be needed to treat the person. Oh no, just you are needed desperately. Come through this weird door that was never there before. Why couldn't they just bring whoever needs me to the hospital wing like everyone else? Well, I'll be talking to some people about this in the morning I will."
The voice was growing both nearer and louder, but he still couldn't remember who it was or figure out what the words really meant. 'How could there be an emergency here? Could dead people get hurt?'
The voice was quite close now. There was a sudden gasp and he finally decided to look around. He wished he'd hidden when he had the chance. He definitely knew this person, and never wanted to spend more time with her than he absolutely had to. She was a nice enough lady, and he only knew good things about her. The problem was that the time he had spent with her in the past had not been exactly pleasant. Instead of trying to understand what was going on and why she was here, he just decided to greet her and figure everything else out later. She might even be able to explain it to him. "Hello Madame Pomfrey. Are you here for my after death check up?" He thought this was funny for some reason and started to giggle, but stopped at the look on her face. She was not amused. The nurse who had healed his many injuries in the past couldn't seem to decide if she should look shocked, horrified, angry, all three, or maybe something completely different. He was definitely sure that amused wasn't one of the things she was feeling or wanted to express.
"Potter? But you're.. They said. But how?" Poppy Pomfrey decided on looking confused at seeing Harry but then quickly seemed to brush even that aside and settled for a professional look that he remembered quite well. "After all the times I've fixed you up I shouldn't be surprised. No, each time worse than the last. This will take some effort to outdo though." As she spoke the nurse started examining her patient. She kept speaking about unappreciative students, and how people never took proper care of themselves. Still talking and with a look on her face he had never seen before, and couldn't identify, she finished her work. "This must have taken some doing Potter. Well I can tell you that we'll be spending a long time together, and I won't put up with any nonsense. You will do as I say, how I say, and when I say. I can tell from the state you're in everything they said was a lie, so don't you worry about that. Never really believed it anyway. You rest for now, I'll be back soon so we can start trying to fix the new mess you've made of yourself."
The youth was more confused than ever now. He wasn't given a chance to ask questions though. Madame Pomfrey had picked up her bag, poured a nasty tasting potion down his throat, and walked off calling to be let out of wherever they were.
"Well, death is certainly confusing." That was all they boy could say before drifting off to sleep once again with Madame Pomfrey's voice and the soft music the only things he could hear.
**
Albus Dumbledore sat in his office awaiting the return of Professor Snape. Everyone who had been a witness to the events in the teacher's wing was present, save one. It had been decided to allow Miss Lovegood to return to bed. Snape had been seen returning from the main gates, and Miss Granger was sitting silently a little apart from the teachers with a large box in her lap. As the door to the office opened Dumbledore greeted Snape and decided to start the meeting.
"Interesting things seem to be happening tonight, and I think we all need to find out the reasons. Severus I would like you to tell us what you know as a starting place. We need to understand what is happening and what we will need to do next." The Headmaster sounded and looked tired. His great age evident to those around him.
"Draco and I were returning from a scheduled meeting. I still hadn't gained the Dark Lords confidence, though Draco shared what information he had gained. We were discussing what we had learned, and I was thinking how good an agent young Malfoy was becoming for us, when a voice called out to us." Snape paused to take a few breaths before continuing his tale. His face showed a combination of confusion, bitterness, and something the others couldn't identify. He spoke of what he had been told, describing how the magic had driven him to pass on the messages. He only kept one thing secret. He could feel something keeping him from telling of the other voice that he had heard something didn't want people knowing what Potter had said about the school. He knew he could discuss this with the Headmaster later though, in private.
The last thing to be said was painful. He didn't want to believe it, but after the other events he was forced to. "I won't be able to return to the Dark Lord as a spy. Draco belongs to him and was planning to betray all he knows, myself included. Potter told me, and I just confirmed it by confronting Draco. There are still other sources of information for us so not all is lost. I will do what I can for the cause, but my days as a spy are over."
This was as much a shock to those gathered as any of the other events that had occurred. They had relied on the information Snape and Malfoy gathered. That was lost to them now, and they couldn't be sure if any of the previously gathered information was accurate or not. There was also the fact that Draco Malfoy knew a great deal about the plans made by the teachers and ministry. Fortunately he had not yet joined the Order of the Phoenix. They had been discussing asking him to join, but that was as far as they had gotten. He had clearly fooled them as to where his true allegiance lay.
"I knew the boy. He tricked me and I never suspected it Albus. I don't know if I should continue to gather information for you anymore after this. I don't trust myself to do so after what has happened. We need my skills with potions now and will need it even more before this is over. If you don't mind I'll just stick to that for the time being." Having finished what he felt needed to be done Snape took a seat. He didn't feel any self-pity. It was not appropriate, after the service he had already given. He also had other skills of great value. There was a bit of anger though. He had been a fool and tricked. He wouldn't forgive himself for that easily.
Dumbledore stood and began asking questions of the information Snape had just provided. "These events are disturbing. Did Harry tell you who had taken him, and did you see what had been done to him Severus? Also, are you positive that it was him?"
"I didn't see his injuries Headmaster. I couldn't see any part of the boy because of his robes. Even so I am positive it was Potter. There is no one else it could be. As to who was really behind things I can only wonder if Draco took the boy on his own or if the Dark Lord ordered it. Malfoy hates Potter more than anyone else so it could have been a personal thing."
"Well, we will need to consider this later." Saying this the Headmaster began to speak to the others in the room. "It seems that we have made a terrible mistake. If what Severus was told is true we have blamed an innocent for horrible crimes he did not commit. We accepted the guilty party into our council, and did not question what we were told, as we should have. We all saw the evidence against Mr. Potter. The witnesses were to be trusted, and his wand was found at the final crime scene. Those things combined with the other evidence would have convicted anyone. There was no reason for us to question the truth of what we were told."
As these last words left the Headmaster's mouth Hermione looked up for the first time since arriving in the office. "There was a reason to ask questions. There was proof right here in the school that Harry hadn't murdered a single person, let alone the forty-seven he's hated for. I have the proof right here." Saying this she placed the box on Dumbledore's desk and opened it. Reaching in she removed a small ring showing it to the others. No one spoke as she showed the ring. None of the teachers had ever known the young student to interrupt someone as she had just done. They didn't know how a ring could prove guilt or innocence, but Hermione continued speaking, trying to make them understand. "If Harry had really done those things, if he had tortured and killed people the rings would have turned to dust. He couldn't have fallen into darkness since these rings are still here. It's proof that we, no that I should have looked at. I knew about them. He asked me to find several spells for him. He explained what they are, but I forgot. I didn't want to remember with all the pain I was feeling."
Tears began to flow from Hermione's eyes again. She could tell from their faces that the teachers didn't understand what she was telling them. "These are Heart Rings. Someone who is evil can't make them. They will turn to dust if their maker turns evil. Don't any of you understand? Just by being here they prove Harry was innocent. He couldn't have killed Seamus or any of the other students. He couldn't have done any of it."
As soon as she told the teachers what the rings were, they understood what she was saying. Even though Heart Rings were incredibly rare everyone had heard of them. It had been believed that the knowledge of their making was lost centuries before. No newly made rings were known to have been created in the last four hundred fifty plus years. A few rings still existed in very old families and were treasured beyond anything else. Each heart ring held a piece of the maker's heart, and some thought a piece of their soul. No one who was evil could make such a ring. If the maker ever did become evil any ring they had created would turn to dust.
No one knew how powerful one of these rings could be. There were stories in which powerful curses that shouldn't have missed did. Other stories ended with a ring being broken when the one it was made for was killed. Little was known of the rings, but everyone knew that they were real and that by existing a Heart Ring was proof that a Ring Maker was not evil.
Those listening to Hermione now understood her grief. They now knew how easy it would have been to know whether Harry Potter was the monster the rest of the Wizarding World believed him to be. The rings meant something else as well. If they were truly Heart Rings it meant that Harry had created many. No one had ever made more than five in a lifetime. From the size of the box before them, all could see it held many more than that small number.
**
A/N: This seems to be a good place to end this chapter. I thought about continuing, but it feels better to end it here. There will be more information about the rings later on, but I don't want to give everything away yet. That and the fact that I'm not sure exactly what they can do yet. Ok, Ok, yes they are nifty. Yes they will play a part later. But I'm not sure if they will be very important in themselves, or if they will just lead to something else. The rings were originally going to just be something that helped to find something else. Now they seem to be pushing me to do more though. I don't know if I'll let the dratted things be more important or not.
Hope you all enjoyed this.
Once again I want to thank my reviewers. I really appreciate hearing what other people think. Also, if anyone sees an obvious error in language or style please let me know. The way I'm doing this there will be two separate areas, Harry in one and the rest of the world in the other. It may be a little confusing, but I'll try to keep the two parts as clear as possible. After a while the separation should disappear. I'm not sure because I only knew the beginning and a good chunk of the end (with a tiny bit of what happens between) when I started this. The story just sort of shows up as I write it but that's what makes it so fun (and difficult).
Kateydidnt: Thank you for the review. I have been enjoying betrayed for a while now and want to take this opportunity to beg for more of that story ;). I agree that this story is strange and interesting. It seems to be playing with me. I know what I wanted to do, but the story keeps jumping up and telling me to do something a little different, or maybe make something more important than something else. The dang story is taking control and I don't know how to shut it up so I can write what I'd planned. ARRG.
Tropic: Thanks for the review. I hoped you liked the bit about the rings this chapter. There will be more, even though they weren't supposed to have such a large role. The dratted things are trying to take over and I'm struggling to keep them in line.
Shellbert: I'm glad you liked my Snape. I didn't do much with him this time. He will show up again though. The Slimy Git won't take a back seat and keeps pushing for more. I still don't trust him.
BloodRedSword: Thanks for the thumbs up.
AthenaKitty: Thank you for the reviews. I hope that I can make everything clear by the end of this. It's hard to give enough information without giving away everything. Please let me know if the story gets too confusing, or if I try to throw too much in.
Destruxion: Thank you. I'm writing as quick as I can. This chapter took a bit longer than the earlier ones. The trouble was finding the right words to describe what I see in my head. I think the next chapter will be ready in one or two days. It depends on how tough it is to find the words.
Chapter Three:
He was finally at peace. There were no distractions for him here. It was warm with very quiet comforting music coming from some unknown place. Death didn't seem to be a bad thing so far. Though still tired, he was hoping his parents or even Sirius would come by for a visit. Not ready to go looking for them himself he would just rest a bit and think about exploring later.
He hadn't even bothered to look around yet when a voice that sounded familiar reached his ears. He couldn't remember to whom it belonged; though it was both familiar and comforting. Strangely, he also felt a desire to avoid this person. It didn't come from fear. The desire seemed to be to avoid some task or event that was unpleasant but necessary.
'Well, I'll just wait till they get here and then decide if I want to run and hide.'
The voice was finally close enough that he could understand the words. He wasn't too happy about this, the things he heard were confusing and that disturbed the peace he didn't want to surrender.
"Can't get a decent night of sleep. The term just started and some strange voice calls me out of my warm bed. There's an emergency that they won't explain. No telling who or what the emergency is though. Won't say what might be needed to treat the person. Oh no, just you are needed desperately. Come through this weird door that was never there before. Why couldn't they just bring whoever needs me to the hospital wing like everyone else? Well, I'll be talking to some people about this in the morning I will."
The voice was growing both nearer and louder, but he still couldn't remember who it was or figure out what the words really meant. 'How could there be an emergency here? Could dead people get hurt?'
The voice was quite close now. There was a sudden gasp and he finally decided to look around. He wished he'd hidden when he had the chance. He definitely knew this person, and never wanted to spend more time with her than he absolutely had to. She was a nice enough lady, and he only knew good things about her. The problem was that the time he had spent with her in the past had not been exactly pleasant. Instead of trying to understand what was going on and why she was here, he just decided to greet her and figure everything else out later. She might even be able to explain it to him. "Hello Madame Pomfrey. Are you here for my after death check up?" He thought this was funny for some reason and started to giggle, but stopped at the look on her face. She was not amused. The nurse who had healed his many injuries in the past couldn't seem to decide if she should look shocked, horrified, angry, all three, or maybe something completely different. He was definitely sure that amused wasn't one of the things she was feeling or wanted to express.
"Potter? But you're.. They said. But how?" Poppy Pomfrey decided on looking confused at seeing Harry but then quickly seemed to brush even that aside and settled for a professional look that he remembered quite well. "After all the times I've fixed you up I shouldn't be surprised. No, each time worse than the last. This will take some effort to outdo though." As she spoke the nurse started examining her patient. She kept speaking about unappreciative students, and how people never took proper care of themselves. Still talking and with a look on her face he had never seen before, and couldn't identify, she finished her work. "This must have taken some doing Potter. Well I can tell you that we'll be spending a long time together, and I won't put up with any nonsense. You will do as I say, how I say, and when I say. I can tell from the state you're in everything they said was a lie, so don't you worry about that. Never really believed it anyway. You rest for now, I'll be back soon so we can start trying to fix the new mess you've made of yourself."
The youth was more confused than ever now. He wasn't given a chance to ask questions though. Madame Pomfrey had picked up her bag, poured a nasty tasting potion down his throat, and walked off calling to be let out of wherever they were.
"Well, death is certainly confusing." That was all they boy could say before drifting off to sleep once again with Madame Pomfrey's voice and the soft music the only things he could hear.
**
Albus Dumbledore sat in his office awaiting the return of Professor Snape. Everyone who had been a witness to the events in the teacher's wing was present, save one. It had been decided to allow Miss Lovegood to return to bed. Snape had been seen returning from the main gates, and Miss Granger was sitting silently a little apart from the teachers with a large box in her lap. As the door to the office opened Dumbledore greeted Snape and decided to start the meeting.
"Interesting things seem to be happening tonight, and I think we all need to find out the reasons. Severus I would like you to tell us what you know as a starting place. We need to understand what is happening and what we will need to do next." The Headmaster sounded and looked tired. His great age evident to those around him.
"Draco and I were returning from a scheduled meeting. I still hadn't gained the Dark Lords confidence, though Draco shared what information he had gained. We were discussing what we had learned, and I was thinking how good an agent young Malfoy was becoming for us, when a voice called out to us." Snape paused to take a few breaths before continuing his tale. His face showed a combination of confusion, bitterness, and something the others couldn't identify. He spoke of what he had been told, describing how the magic had driven him to pass on the messages. He only kept one thing secret. He could feel something keeping him from telling of the other voice that he had heard something didn't want people knowing what Potter had said about the school. He knew he could discuss this with the Headmaster later though, in private.
The last thing to be said was painful. He didn't want to believe it, but after the other events he was forced to. "I won't be able to return to the Dark Lord as a spy. Draco belongs to him and was planning to betray all he knows, myself included. Potter told me, and I just confirmed it by confronting Draco. There are still other sources of information for us so not all is lost. I will do what I can for the cause, but my days as a spy are over."
This was as much a shock to those gathered as any of the other events that had occurred. They had relied on the information Snape and Malfoy gathered. That was lost to them now, and they couldn't be sure if any of the previously gathered information was accurate or not. There was also the fact that Draco Malfoy knew a great deal about the plans made by the teachers and ministry. Fortunately he had not yet joined the Order of the Phoenix. They had been discussing asking him to join, but that was as far as they had gotten. He had clearly fooled them as to where his true allegiance lay.
"I knew the boy. He tricked me and I never suspected it Albus. I don't know if I should continue to gather information for you anymore after this. I don't trust myself to do so after what has happened. We need my skills with potions now and will need it even more before this is over. If you don't mind I'll just stick to that for the time being." Having finished what he felt needed to be done Snape took a seat. He didn't feel any self-pity. It was not appropriate, after the service he had already given. He also had other skills of great value. There was a bit of anger though. He had been a fool and tricked. He wouldn't forgive himself for that easily.
Dumbledore stood and began asking questions of the information Snape had just provided. "These events are disturbing. Did Harry tell you who had taken him, and did you see what had been done to him Severus? Also, are you positive that it was him?"
"I didn't see his injuries Headmaster. I couldn't see any part of the boy because of his robes. Even so I am positive it was Potter. There is no one else it could be. As to who was really behind things I can only wonder if Draco took the boy on his own or if the Dark Lord ordered it. Malfoy hates Potter more than anyone else so it could have been a personal thing."
"Well, we will need to consider this later." Saying this the Headmaster began to speak to the others in the room. "It seems that we have made a terrible mistake. If what Severus was told is true we have blamed an innocent for horrible crimes he did not commit. We accepted the guilty party into our council, and did not question what we were told, as we should have. We all saw the evidence against Mr. Potter. The witnesses were to be trusted, and his wand was found at the final crime scene. Those things combined with the other evidence would have convicted anyone. There was no reason for us to question the truth of what we were told."
As these last words left the Headmaster's mouth Hermione looked up for the first time since arriving in the office. "There was a reason to ask questions. There was proof right here in the school that Harry hadn't murdered a single person, let alone the forty-seven he's hated for. I have the proof right here." Saying this she placed the box on Dumbledore's desk and opened it. Reaching in she removed a small ring showing it to the others. No one spoke as she showed the ring. None of the teachers had ever known the young student to interrupt someone as she had just done. They didn't know how a ring could prove guilt or innocence, but Hermione continued speaking, trying to make them understand. "If Harry had really done those things, if he had tortured and killed people the rings would have turned to dust. He couldn't have fallen into darkness since these rings are still here. It's proof that we, no that I should have looked at. I knew about them. He asked me to find several spells for him. He explained what they are, but I forgot. I didn't want to remember with all the pain I was feeling."
Tears began to flow from Hermione's eyes again. She could tell from their faces that the teachers didn't understand what she was telling them. "These are Heart Rings. Someone who is evil can't make them. They will turn to dust if their maker turns evil. Don't any of you understand? Just by being here they prove Harry was innocent. He couldn't have killed Seamus or any of the other students. He couldn't have done any of it."
As soon as she told the teachers what the rings were, they understood what she was saying. Even though Heart Rings were incredibly rare everyone had heard of them. It had been believed that the knowledge of their making was lost centuries before. No newly made rings were known to have been created in the last four hundred fifty plus years. A few rings still existed in very old families and were treasured beyond anything else. Each heart ring held a piece of the maker's heart, and some thought a piece of their soul. No one who was evil could make such a ring. If the maker ever did become evil any ring they had created would turn to dust.
No one knew how powerful one of these rings could be. There were stories in which powerful curses that shouldn't have missed did. Other stories ended with a ring being broken when the one it was made for was killed. Little was known of the rings, but everyone knew that they were real and that by existing a Heart Ring was proof that a Ring Maker was not evil.
Those listening to Hermione now understood her grief. They now knew how easy it would have been to know whether Harry Potter was the monster the rest of the Wizarding World believed him to be. The rings meant something else as well. If they were truly Heart Rings it meant that Harry had created many. No one had ever made more than five in a lifetime. From the size of the box before them, all could see it held many more than that small number.
**
A/N: This seems to be a good place to end this chapter. I thought about continuing, but it feels better to end it here. There will be more information about the rings later on, but I don't want to give everything away yet. That and the fact that I'm not sure exactly what they can do yet. Ok, Ok, yes they are nifty. Yes they will play a part later. But I'm not sure if they will be very important in themselves, or if they will just lead to something else. The rings were originally going to just be something that helped to find something else. Now they seem to be pushing me to do more though. I don't know if I'll let the dratted things be more important or not.
Hope you all enjoyed this.
Once again I want to thank my reviewers. I really appreciate hearing what other people think. Also, if anyone sees an obvious error in language or style please let me know. The way I'm doing this there will be two separate areas, Harry in one and the rest of the world in the other. It may be a little confusing, but I'll try to keep the two parts as clear as possible. After a while the separation should disappear. I'm not sure because I only knew the beginning and a good chunk of the end (with a tiny bit of what happens between) when I started this. The story just sort of shows up as I write it but that's what makes it so fun (and difficult).
Kateydidnt: Thank you for the review. I have been enjoying betrayed for a while now and want to take this opportunity to beg for more of that story ;). I agree that this story is strange and interesting. It seems to be playing with me. I know what I wanted to do, but the story keeps jumping up and telling me to do something a little different, or maybe make something more important than something else. The dang story is taking control and I don't know how to shut it up so I can write what I'd planned. ARRG.
Tropic: Thanks for the review. I hoped you liked the bit about the rings this chapter. There will be more, even though they weren't supposed to have such a large role. The dratted things are trying to take over and I'm struggling to keep them in line.
Shellbert: I'm glad you liked my Snape. I didn't do much with him this time. He will show up again though. The Slimy Git won't take a back seat and keeps pushing for more. I still don't trust him.
BloodRedSword: Thanks for the thumbs up.
AthenaKitty: Thank you for the reviews. I hope that I can make everything clear by the end of this. It's hard to give enough information without giving away everything. Please let me know if the story gets too confusing, or if I try to throw too much in.
Destruxion: Thank you. I'm writing as quick as I can. This chapter took a bit longer than the earlier ones. The trouble was finding the right words to describe what I see in my head. I think the next chapter will be ready in one or two days. It depends on how tough it is to find the words.