Harry
sat bolt upright in his bed, his breath coming out it rasping gasps. The wind was billowing through the window
but Harry couldn't see anyone there. This didn't fool him though. The
burning in his scar was a painful reminder that there was danger.
Could
Voldemort be here at Hogwarts?
Harry
jumped out of bed grabbing his wand, he started searching the room, terrified
of what he might find. Then it occurred
to him that this was stupid, he raced back to his bed and flung open his trunk,
he pulled out the marauder's map and the familiar blueprint of the school
appeared. He scanned Gryffindor Tower,
he was a little surprised to find nothing unusual, but then his eyes were drawn
to Dumbledore's office, and his heart stopped.
There
in the office were Dumbledore and Sirius but they were not alone, there with
them were Peter Pettigrew…
And
Voldemort himself.
Harry
couldn't move, his eyes were frozen on the office, the figures were darting
about… fighting.
Harry
sprang into action, without really thinking, he grabbed his invisibility cloak
and ran out of the dormitory.
He
didn't realise he was being followed until when nearing his destination he
paused to put the cloak on.
Hearing
the footsteps behind him, Harry turned, drawing his wand and pointing it at the
follower.
Neville's
eyes widened and he stumbled back against the wall in shock on seeing the look
of panic, fury and power in Harry's eyes.
Harry
stared at Neville in surprise before the relief ran through him, he yelled at
Neville to go and get as many teachers as he could. The stunned boy nodded, still open-mouthed and stumbled off as
quickly as his shaking legs would take him.
Harry
was about to turn onto the corridor that would lead him to the gargoyle when
the pain in his scar intensified unbearably. He fell to his knees clasping his head in terror. He could hear Voldemort's cold, cruel
laughter ringing in his head, then the pain was too much and his vision
clouded, Harry was drawn into the darkness and slumped to the ground.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Dumbledore
had been unable to sleep that night.
It
was the night before Halloween and he felt the same feeling of uneasiness that
he'd known just hours before Lily and James had been killed, on the same day,
at the same time, all those years ago.
He
could hear Sirius' soft snoring from the room next door. He knew he'd done everything possible to
protect Harry and his godfather, but Minerva's worried voice was repeating in
his mind, He always finds a way…
He
had been taken completely by surprise by the appearance of the two death
eaters, at first he was sure he was dreaming, but when the two dark figures
raised their wands at him Dumbledore knew that this was really happening. Death Eaters had found their way into
Hogwarts, into his office… He always finds a way…
Dumbledore saw the two stunning spells rushing towards him,
he blocked them both and aimed his wand shouting,
"Petrificus Totalus!"
The taller Death Eater dodged the spell almost lazily, as
he reached up to remove his hood Dumbledore realised with a sickening jolt that
this was not just any Death Eater, it was Voldemort himself.
Sirius had been woken by the noise and had stuck his head
through the door. On seeing the two
Death Eaters he had jumped backwards in shock, he turned to get his wand but
before he could even reach for it he'd been hit by a body bind. He watched helpless as the smaller Death
Eater approached him, as the figure knelt down beside him the mask was removed
and the face that stared impassively at him belonged to the one who had
betrayed them all, the only person that Sirius hated as much as Voldemort,
Peter Pettigrew. Sirius' eyes blazed in
anger but Peter simply smiled coldly and shouted,
"Obliviate!"
And Sirius knew no more.
In the meantime, Dumbledore and Voldemort had come face to
face, Voldemort's eyes showed no sign of the legendary fear that he was
rumoured to have of the old wizard, instead he seemed indifferent.
Dumbledore's eyes blazed with defiance, he was not going to
let this happen, he would not let them get to Sirius, or Harry.
He had not broken eye contact with Voldemort until he'd
heard the yell of 'Obliviate!' from Peter Pettigrew, Dumbledore's shocked
recognition of the voice was all the distraction Voldemort had needed, he sent
his spell at Dumbledore and smiled coldly as the muggle-loving fool was finally
beaten.
Seeing that Pettigrew had for once succeeded in his task
and was floating a bound and unconscious Sirius behind him Voldemort's smile
grew and he began to laugh, Peter shivered at the sound of that inhuman noise
but followed his master in silence as they left the castle with an inaudible
pop.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Neville had run down the corridor, he realised that he'd
been more worried about getting away from Harry than about where he was
heading, he realised that he didn't know where the teachers would be, he
wondered what on Earth could have put that look on Harry's face, what could
have brought that fire to his eyes? He
raced down the corridor and banged heavily into Professor Snape.
His heart felt like it might explode in panic, but then he
remembered that he was meant to be looking for a teacher anyway!
"Longbottom! What
in Hell's name are you doing?!" Yelled
Snape angrily,
"Professor Snape! Something's happened! Harry said
to get as many teachers as possible. He
was going that way!" Said Neville with
surprising poise.
"Potter? Oh
God! Longbottom, you must go to the
great hall, there is a room at the back, go into it. You should find Professor McGonagall there. Tell her to go to Professor Dumbledore's
office at once, then get back to your dormitory."
Said Snape whose face was drawn and who looked afraid.
Neville saw the fear in Snape's face and ran towards the
Great Hall in disbelief.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Snape ran down the corridor that Neville had pointed to,
his arm was really sore, it had to be something to do with Voldemort,
Dumbledore had been worried, but he hadn't been expecting this.
He was just turning the corner when something sent him
flying.
He shook his head and looked back at what had caused him to
trip, he had to do a double take, Harry Potter was slumped on the floor. Snape gathered himself and reached towards
the pale boy his whole arm shaking, he felt the wrist for a pulse, his breath
held.
For a few moments he couldn't feel anything, his hand was
shaking too much, he panicked and pressed his fingers to the boy's neck, he
finally let himself breathe as the faint pulse emerged.
Snape caught his breath and ran his shaking hands through
his greasy hair, he wondered for a moment why he was so relieved that the boy
he hated so much was alive but then he was interrupted by the arrival of
Minerva McGonagall,
"Oh my! He's not
d-d-dead…" she shrieked
Snape shook his head,
"We'd better take him to Dumbledore though."
McGonagall nodded and together they set off towards the
headmaster's office, the first strange thing they noticed was that the Gargoyle
was wide open.
"Severus, you don't think…" Said Minerva shakily.
"We have to go and see," Said Snape looking apprehensively
at the open entrance.
They headed slowly up towards the office floating Harry
behind them.
What they saw when they got there was even more horrifying
than they'd feared.
I guess I'll never learn!
CLIFFHANGERS!!!!!!
If you guys write enough reviews I will
try my best to get the next chapter up by the end of the weekend, if not… well,
who knows when I'll get round to it, my exams start next week!
Nah! I'd never do that to you guyz! I'll write it anyway, but I still need your reviews!!!! J
Luv
Jona
xxx