Ginny retreated hastily away from Harry. Arabella Figg quickly pulled her even further away, with a look of shocked disbelief on her face.
Madame Pomfrey took a step back and withdrew her wand nervously.
The only person in the room who moved towards Harry was Sirius.
"Harry. What are you saying? This isn't you. What's happened to you?"
Harry glared at his Godfather.
"I wouldn't expect you to understand Black. You always idolised my parents, you never allowed yourself to see their darker side let alone mine! I might have hidden it well, but it was always there. Now I can reveal it to you all." Snarled Harry, his face a sculpture of dark shadows.
"Harry, please stay calm. D-Don't get yourself worked up." Stuttered Ginny nervously.
"Or what? You'll stun me? Do you think that any of you have to power to control me?"
Harry's face was contorted with anger and haughtiness which would have been more befitting Malfoy.
"We want to help you Harry." Said Lupin moving up to join Sirius.
"I don't want your help, I don't need your help and I resent the offer." Replied Harry with a sneer.
Suddenly the whole room was abounded with light and everyone had to look away to shield their eyes.
When sight was restored to their blinking eyes Sirius and Remus were the first to realise that Harry had gone.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Dumbledore made his way back to the castle. There was an air of anticipation, something was looming, ominous, in the way the light fell about Hogwarts.
The headmaster had no doubt that the centaur's had further secrets. He glanced upwards and saw the stars beginning to emerge in the sky as the sun fell.
A sudden noise caught Dumbledore's attention.
He looked towards the giant entrance doors. They were open, and standing in the slice of light that came from them, casting his shadow across the pathway was Draco Malfoy.
The young Slytherin didn't seem to notice Dumbledore. He seemed a trifle nervous and was dragging something behind him.
Dumbledore approached silently, the soft grass cushioning his steps.
Draco had paused, looking back at the sweeping stairway and grandeur of Hogwarts.
Dumbledore came beside him.
"You don't need to leave Draco," he said gently.
The pale boy went even whiter and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Professor!" He exclaimed.
"I didn't have much of a chance to speak with you before. Why don't you tell me what is bothering you so much that you would run away?"
Draco frowned and tilted his head defiantly.
"I'm not running away. At least not the way you think." He replied icily.
"Why are you leaving Draco?" Asked Dumbledore seriously.
"I'm doing what's expected of me." Replied Draco shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.
"Seeing as you will not tell me your motives for leaving us, perhaps you will tell me where you are going." Suggested Dumbledore, his eyes never leaving the Slytherin's face.
"I'm going to…" Draco stopped. He frowned even more deeply than before. "Okay, so I don't know where." He mumbled eventually. "I just know I have to get out of here."
"Perhaps you might want to make some plans, if you come to me with them I can help you do what you want to do." Suggested Dumbledore with a slight smile.
Draco looked up at the old wizard in disbelief.
"You're not going to keep me here?" He asked.
"Draco, this is a school, not a prison. I'm here to help you. I suggest you go back to your dormitory and think things over rationally."
Draco scowled.
"I don't want to go back there." He said maliciously.
"Well, why don't you wait for me in my office and we'll talk things over later. There shouldn't be anyone in there..."
And that was how Draco found himself five minutes later, sitting in Dumbledore's office, his hastily packed trunk by his side, wondering what on Earth he would choose to do.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Harry had disappeared into thin air.
"But it's impossible to disapparate out of Hogwarts!" Exclaimed Remus in surprise.
"Apparently not Moony." Said Sirius sitting heavily on Harry's empty bed.
"Where do you think he's gone?" Asked Dawn vacating her own bed to join Remus and Sirius.
Ginny and Arabella suddenly found all eyes on them.
Ginny looked up at the older witch in question.
"I could find him. But it would take some time." She said to no one in particular.
"Maybe you should get onto that right away then Bella." Said Dumbledore from the doorway having just arrived.
"Headmaster. What has happened to Harry now?" Demanded Poppy Pomfrey. "He wasn't himself at all."
"You're right Poppy. He wasn't."
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
The dark, dank halls of Azkaban seemed to wail and moan with the echoes of screams from their former occupants.
The two Death Eaters who knelt at last at their master's feet once more had to fight hard to hold back the tremors of fear.
"Lestrange. You and your wife are my most loyal servants. You shall resume your rightful places by my side... Dumbledore must be overcome by fear. Not only do I continue to grow in strength and numbers, but now he is losing his precious Potter boy as well."
The Lestranges did little to acknowledge their master. Both were still fragile in mind, but with wands in their hands and spells at their lips they would boost the Death Eater ranks.
A small rat scurried along the wall of the dungeon, and as he did so Peter Pettigrew marvelled at the thought of what he was about to do.
Voldemort smiled as he held Harry Potter's wand.
"I can feel the hate and anger. Soon Harry will come to me. And he will stand along side us and fight against all that he believes."
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Dumbledore almost sighed as he took in the bemused faces before him. It seemed so often that he was the only one who could explain what was going on.
"The changes in Harry are all down to the Anillia Equanimia spell."
"But I thought we countered that!" Interrupted Sirius loudly, his face mingled with panic and anger.
"The memory restoring charm only countered the effects of memory loss which the curse induces. The other effects are beyond our control Sirius. It's up to Harry to do the rest."
Dumbledore felt guilty for revealing this to Sirius. The look of hopelessness, which flooded to the faces around him, struck hard.
"I hate to say it, but there's nothing we can do. I should have told you before. But I believed that Harry had already managed to overcome that part of the curse. I underestimated the darkness that was in him."
Sirius looked like he was about to say something in response, but whatever words had been about to come died on his mouth as another voice filled their ears.
"I'm sorry. I should have fought harder."
All eyes swivelled to the corner of the room where Harry had appeared.
"Harry!" Yelped Sirius in surprise.
"I've got to try and find him. But I need something first Professor." Continued the shimmering image of Harry addressing Dumbledore.
"The sword… " Said Dumbledore smiling slightly. "...is in my office. Take it Harry. And good luck."
With that Harry once more disappeared but not before shining a reassuring grin at Sirius.
Sirius was dumbstruck.
Beside him he knew that Remus was the same,
It was as if they'd just seen James again.
"Dumbledore. Why did Harry look and act different, he seemed like, a ghost." Said Ginny unsurely.
"Harry's identity has been split. His body can only be used by one of his personas at a time. Whilst the other is reduced to a ghost-like state. Harry looked different because his 'light self' has been symbolised by his father.
I assume that his 'dark self' will have, I'm afraid to say, taken a rather more menacing appearance."
"What sword were you talking about Albus?" Asked Remus having partially recovered from his shock.
"The sword of Gryffindor. For Harry's 'light self' to fight his 'dark self' he will need a light magic power source. There is none better for him to use than the sword of Gryffindor."
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Procyon Equuleus sat in his death eater chamber, which was actually an old cell in the Azkaban fortress. He was more of a prisoner than a death eater. He shivered with cold and shoved his icy hands into the pockets of his new black robes.
He could barely comprehend the changes in his life since the day he'd met Harry Potter.
Just a boy.
A damn good quidditch player.
But just a boy.
"All I wanted was to get him to play for England. Now I'm being used in a plot to kill him. How the hell did that happen?" he muttered to himself.
The answer of course lay with Mundungus Fletcher.
"Stupid Fletcher. I should never have trusted him, the fool.
I wonder what Sirius would do to him if he found him.
My stupid cousin… He'd give up his life if he thought it would help his god-damned godson."
As Peter listened, his whiskers quivered in fright. Perhaps he would have to forget his plan. Sirius' cousin sounded quite as insane as Padfoot himself. But as he watched the man curl up on his plain death-eater bedstead, he knew that he would need the cowardly man's help willing or not.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Disclaimer : I do not in any way shape or form claim any of this as my own. Anything original is purely the work of a strange voice in my head. All the rest is from the mind of a Miss JK Rowling… I don't claim to know where she gets it from.
A/N : Okies, so, another chapter bites the dust…
Hope you guys liked it.
I'm still working away. I promise I don't just wait for ages to post so that I can annoy people! *grins*
Thankyou to everyone who reviewed recently… kudos to anyone who's read the whooooole thing from start to this point recently… I salute you!
As always your encouragement and comments are warmly received. (Unless they're from you Rob! You're just biased! hehehe)
Luv
jona
xxx