Chapter 5-The Plot Thickens
Harry woke up the next morning, very tired. He hadn't slept much the night before, and was lost in thought. He woke up, but stayed in his bed for about 10 minutes, staring into nothing.
After finally dragging himself into the kitchens, he had some breakfast, and decided on a walk around the grounds.
Harry hadn't realized how late he woke, but it was about 12:00 when he began to stroll the school grounds he had secretly roamed in his school years.
There were students on the ground, enjoying the nice weather, and watching the giant squid(which still wasn't dead Harry thought).
Harry had a lot on his mind. Just about all of it was Hermione, though he had been thinking a bit of Ron, and how he might have been a little hard on him last night.
'Well, he invited her without warning. Its like he set you up.'
'He just wanted to help. He wasn't trying to do any harm.'
'But he did. You may not be able to fix what happened with Hermione.'
'Who says I want to fix it? I am happy as I am.'
'No you're not. You're miserable. You love her and want her, and its Ron's fault you may not get to were you want to be with her.'
'Well, I mean I could still fix things with us.'
'How are you going to do that?'
'Maybe I could write a letter, apologizing, and stuff.'
'Oh yea, the key to her heart is written in parchment. Reaaaal smooth.'
And those voices kept arguing back and forth. He wanted to try and fix things, but he didn't know how, and had other things to worry about.
Harry had not once given thought to what Remus had told him, since he left Remus's place, and thought that he should think of it a little bit more now.
What if he was in some real danger. If his life was really at stake. If their really were some dangerous people after him, and plotting to kill him. How would they get past Hogwarts though? Well, its not like it hasn't been done before.
There have been spies in Hogwarts before. There could be one now... But who? Everyone is a suspect, and yet theres nobody Harry could accuse of being a traitor. Harry walked around for some time longer, still deeply lost in thought.
He decided that he would try and fix things with Hermione. He would invite her, and only her to Hogsmeade. He knew she would probably decline, but he had to try right?
If Harry did nothing, he would regret it his entire life. Harry already had too much to regret to add Hermione to the list. Of course leaving everything took the spot of number 1 on his list.
He had said it was to be an Auror, but that wasn't entirely true. He had really left because he wanted to get away. Ron was right. He had ran. At first it was only for a few weeks.
Harry had come back only 2 weeks after he had left. It was like he had taken a small vacation, but on his way home, he saw the Dark Mark over a house. This house he didn't recognize, but he walked in anyway. There. On the floor. An entire family dead.
He didn't know who they were. He had no idea, why they were killed, but he didn't need to know why. There probably wasn't a reason. They were dead, and there was no real reason. Harry stood in shock, though he didn't know why, because people had been murdered in front of him before.
Harry had intended to give up all his training. Throw it all away. He wanted to be with Hermione, and get a career in Quiditch or something.
Thats what he had planned for on his way back home. Thats what he had in his head, but things change. A murdered family changed things. It made everything different. Harry was going to give up helping the world. He was going to give up freeing the world of criminals. For himself. It seemed so selfish.
It seemed as though he was a terrible person. As though it was he who had killed the family there. Then he looked at them, and was filled with anger. He had never been so angry before.
He hopped onto his broom, and chased the people who did this. He chased them, for 11 years. Until finally it was over. He felt like he owed it to the family, like it would end their suffering if he killed the people who killed them.
In the end, he did kill them. Killing them was an understatement. He handed them over to the dementors. They sucked the sole out of the Death Eaters. The dementors had done more than killed them, the dementors had taken their soul.
It was what Harry wanted to do to Voldemort. It was why he had spent 11 years chasing him. 11 years trying to find him. It took 11 years of Harry's life to track him down. And yet, Harry didn't feel relieved when it was over.
He had come home to waves of glory, and yet he wanted to get away from all of that. He wanted to run again. He couldn't. He had learned the hard way that he couldn't run. He stayed, and it died down after only 4 or 5 months.
Now as Harry looked back on it, it seemed like going after Voldemort was more selfish than going to Hermione. He was torn apart, and knew that had he stuck to his plan, the people in that house would be at the top of his list. They would be what he regretted most. Not helping them would tear him apart. It was like a loop.
If he went down one road, he would regret not taking the other. How could anybody get around that. How could anybody decide which road to take?
It was too much to think about, and he dropped it right there, though he knew it was only a matter of time before the thoughts would creep back into his head.
~~~~Meanwhile at Hermione's Apartment~~~~~~
Hermione was furious at Ron, and at Harry, but somewhere inside of her, was a little voice screaming for joy that Harry might come back.
'Why were you so mean to him. You didn't let him say more than 2 words to you.'
'He deserved it. He shouldn't have had the nerve to confront me like that. Out of nowhere, and after 11 years.'
'Did you see his face? He obviously had no idea you were coming.'
'He should have. What else could you expect from that half-wit Ron?'
She got up out of bed. Hermione had slept late that day. She had been working hard the entire week on curing a newly discovered virus. Most of the ones she dealt with where human, but this one was obviously made by magic.
It was supposed to be transfered through certain curses, which could include it, and infect anyone who was hit by them. The virus would cause high fevers, excessive vomating, and, in Hermione's opinion, worst of all, physical transformations.
One of her patients looked more like a porcupine crossed with a banshee than a person, and there was no current way to cure it. Just slow it down.
Anyway, there were about 40 other highly trained witches and wizards on it, so she had agreed to taking her much deserved weekend off.
The alarm clock on her bedstand had read 12:44. She was hungry. Very hungry. After leaving Ron's place, she came home and went to sleep. Having intended to eat dinner with her friend, she hadn't had anything for a while, and decided on a big breakfast.
Hermione walked down the street. She wanted to stretch her legs, so instead of apparating, took a nice walk in the lovely weather. The walk suited her nicely. The breeze was like the kind you see that blows the petals of a flower. Calm, yet cool.
She was headed towards Diagon Alley, but because of her location, had to go up Knockturn Alley, and did, because she had only been there twice.
As she walked up the crowded dusty street, she saw a man walk into a door. The door disappeared as soon as he entered, and Hermione thought that to be a bit suspicous.
The man had just opened a door, and as soon as he went in, the door was gone, and all that was there was an empty alleyway.
She walked over to the alley, and reached forward. Her hand hit something. A wall. There was a building here, and it was being hidden for a reason. Curiousity got the better of her, and she took out her wand, and uttered MAGNIFICO.
'Are you sure it foolproof? Hogwarts has only been infiltrated twice before, and that was with His help.' Said a high-pitched, but feeble sounding voice.
'Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't try something like this if I knew we would risk being discovered earlier than planned.' Came another, colder and drawling voice.
'Well, I'm all for it. Harry Potter deserves to pay." Said a 3rd voice.
'Fangs, you idiot. How many times have I told you not to use names. If we are being followed, you could blow this whole thing.'
'I'm sorry master, its just that the half-blood is finally getting whats coming for him.' said the 1 which went by Fangs.
'May I suggest a couple more days to make sure nobody has d-'
'NO, we do it now, Mortis.'
'Ve..very well Sinco.' Replied the weakest voice of the three.
'The Dark Lord will repay us someday. When we figure out how to use this, he will come back, and repay us.'
Hermione had performed a listening spell, so she could hear inside, but now all she heard were footsteps, and she knew they were leaving.
She apparated, and had she done it any later, the 3 men would have seen her. The men even looked a bit suspicous, because there was a tiny wisp of smoke that was left after every apparation.
Hermione had made it, or so she thought. A couple shops down was a man in a hooded cloack, who had been watching the same invisble wall, in the same seemingly real alleyway, with the same invisible door.
~~~~Back at Hogwarts.~~~~~
Well, even if he wanted to think about himself, Harry couldn't, for he had just ran into something. Not a door this time, but none other than Albus Dumbledore.
"Oh, sorry Headmaster. I was dazing." Harry said, regaining his sense of reality.
"Lucky you, then. Must have much on your mind, if you haven't noticed the entire swarm of first years." Dumbledore said, as he nudged his head backward.
Harry looked, and saw about 15 or so first years, hiding behind a tree that might cover 3 or 4, but wouldn't hide any more than 7 students.
"Oh, well, I haven't had much time to think. Lately I've just been making up for 10 years of lost thoughts."
"Alas, that is a lot of thinking, but I must say that I am here to take you away from your walk. I want to hear the tale of what happened with Voldemort. I want to know how you managed to defeat him. Alone, and un-accounted for, you managed to overthrow him. You and 1 other wizard are the only ones who know how. Please, do step into my office and explain."
"Very well Headmaster, but I'm afraid that I will not be able to do it at the moment, because I can't really tell it to you."
"Really? May I ask why."
"Well, to be honest, I find it hard to think about. It haunts me. What I had to do, I can never forgive myself for, and I couldn't deal with it."
"I am here to help Harry, but to do that I have to know what happened."
"I know that, and I will tell you, but because of the stress, I deposited the memory in a pensieve of my own."
Dumbledore cracked a smile. "Ah the uses of a brain storage. I am glad that you have used one of your own, and will be in my office when you get back your memories. Do hurry Professor, this is one tale I do wish to know."
And with that Harry began the walk to his office, to retrieve the 1 thing he had been dreading the most. The memory of the night he overthrew Voldemort. It huanted him to the point were he had to deposit it, but taking it out would make him relive the entire thing. Inevitable though it was, Harry didn't want to have to do it.
Either way he had to, so he continued to his office, preparing himself to tell the long tale, which had ended sadness on the world, but brought him a search for purpose.
Harry woke up the next morning, very tired. He hadn't slept much the night before, and was lost in thought. He woke up, but stayed in his bed for about 10 minutes, staring into nothing.
After finally dragging himself into the kitchens, he had some breakfast, and decided on a walk around the grounds.
Harry hadn't realized how late he woke, but it was about 12:00 when he began to stroll the school grounds he had secretly roamed in his school years.
There were students on the ground, enjoying the nice weather, and watching the giant squid(which still wasn't dead Harry thought).
Harry had a lot on his mind. Just about all of it was Hermione, though he had been thinking a bit of Ron, and how he might have been a little hard on him last night.
'Well, he invited her without warning. Its like he set you up.'
'He just wanted to help. He wasn't trying to do any harm.'
'But he did. You may not be able to fix what happened with Hermione.'
'Who says I want to fix it? I am happy as I am.'
'No you're not. You're miserable. You love her and want her, and its Ron's fault you may not get to were you want to be with her.'
'Well, I mean I could still fix things with us.'
'How are you going to do that?'
'Maybe I could write a letter, apologizing, and stuff.'
'Oh yea, the key to her heart is written in parchment. Reaaaal smooth.'
And those voices kept arguing back and forth. He wanted to try and fix things, but he didn't know how, and had other things to worry about.
Harry had not once given thought to what Remus had told him, since he left Remus's place, and thought that he should think of it a little bit more now.
What if he was in some real danger. If his life was really at stake. If their really were some dangerous people after him, and plotting to kill him. How would they get past Hogwarts though? Well, its not like it hasn't been done before.
There have been spies in Hogwarts before. There could be one now... But who? Everyone is a suspect, and yet theres nobody Harry could accuse of being a traitor. Harry walked around for some time longer, still deeply lost in thought.
He decided that he would try and fix things with Hermione. He would invite her, and only her to Hogsmeade. He knew she would probably decline, but he had to try right?
If Harry did nothing, he would regret it his entire life. Harry already had too much to regret to add Hermione to the list. Of course leaving everything took the spot of number 1 on his list.
He had said it was to be an Auror, but that wasn't entirely true. He had really left because he wanted to get away. Ron was right. He had ran. At first it was only for a few weeks.
Harry had come back only 2 weeks after he had left. It was like he had taken a small vacation, but on his way home, he saw the Dark Mark over a house. This house he didn't recognize, but he walked in anyway. There. On the floor. An entire family dead.
He didn't know who they were. He had no idea, why they were killed, but he didn't need to know why. There probably wasn't a reason. They were dead, and there was no real reason. Harry stood in shock, though he didn't know why, because people had been murdered in front of him before.
Harry had intended to give up all his training. Throw it all away. He wanted to be with Hermione, and get a career in Quiditch or something.
Thats what he had planned for on his way back home. Thats what he had in his head, but things change. A murdered family changed things. It made everything different. Harry was going to give up helping the world. He was going to give up freeing the world of criminals. For himself. It seemed so selfish.
It seemed as though he was a terrible person. As though it was he who had killed the family there. Then he looked at them, and was filled with anger. He had never been so angry before.
He hopped onto his broom, and chased the people who did this. He chased them, for 11 years. Until finally it was over. He felt like he owed it to the family, like it would end their suffering if he killed the people who killed them.
In the end, he did kill them. Killing them was an understatement. He handed them over to the dementors. They sucked the sole out of the Death Eaters. The dementors had done more than killed them, the dementors had taken their soul.
It was what Harry wanted to do to Voldemort. It was why he had spent 11 years chasing him. 11 years trying to find him. It took 11 years of Harry's life to track him down. And yet, Harry didn't feel relieved when it was over.
He had come home to waves of glory, and yet he wanted to get away from all of that. He wanted to run again. He couldn't. He had learned the hard way that he couldn't run. He stayed, and it died down after only 4 or 5 months.
Now as Harry looked back on it, it seemed like going after Voldemort was more selfish than going to Hermione. He was torn apart, and knew that had he stuck to his plan, the people in that house would be at the top of his list. They would be what he regretted most. Not helping them would tear him apart. It was like a loop.
If he went down one road, he would regret not taking the other. How could anybody get around that. How could anybody decide which road to take?
It was too much to think about, and he dropped it right there, though he knew it was only a matter of time before the thoughts would creep back into his head.
~~~~Meanwhile at Hermione's Apartment~~~~~~
Hermione was furious at Ron, and at Harry, but somewhere inside of her, was a little voice screaming for joy that Harry might come back.
'Why were you so mean to him. You didn't let him say more than 2 words to you.'
'He deserved it. He shouldn't have had the nerve to confront me like that. Out of nowhere, and after 11 years.'
'Did you see his face? He obviously had no idea you were coming.'
'He should have. What else could you expect from that half-wit Ron?'
She got up out of bed. Hermione had slept late that day. She had been working hard the entire week on curing a newly discovered virus. Most of the ones she dealt with where human, but this one was obviously made by magic.
It was supposed to be transfered through certain curses, which could include it, and infect anyone who was hit by them. The virus would cause high fevers, excessive vomating, and, in Hermione's opinion, worst of all, physical transformations.
One of her patients looked more like a porcupine crossed with a banshee than a person, and there was no current way to cure it. Just slow it down.
Anyway, there were about 40 other highly trained witches and wizards on it, so she had agreed to taking her much deserved weekend off.
The alarm clock on her bedstand had read 12:44. She was hungry. Very hungry. After leaving Ron's place, she came home and went to sleep. Having intended to eat dinner with her friend, she hadn't had anything for a while, and decided on a big breakfast.
Hermione walked down the street. She wanted to stretch her legs, so instead of apparating, took a nice walk in the lovely weather. The walk suited her nicely. The breeze was like the kind you see that blows the petals of a flower. Calm, yet cool.
She was headed towards Diagon Alley, but because of her location, had to go up Knockturn Alley, and did, because she had only been there twice.
As she walked up the crowded dusty street, she saw a man walk into a door. The door disappeared as soon as he entered, and Hermione thought that to be a bit suspicous.
The man had just opened a door, and as soon as he went in, the door was gone, and all that was there was an empty alleyway.
She walked over to the alley, and reached forward. Her hand hit something. A wall. There was a building here, and it was being hidden for a reason. Curiousity got the better of her, and she took out her wand, and uttered MAGNIFICO.
'Are you sure it foolproof? Hogwarts has only been infiltrated twice before, and that was with His help.' Said a high-pitched, but feeble sounding voice.
'Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't try something like this if I knew we would risk being discovered earlier than planned.' Came another, colder and drawling voice.
'Well, I'm all for it. Harry Potter deserves to pay." Said a 3rd voice.
'Fangs, you idiot. How many times have I told you not to use names. If we are being followed, you could blow this whole thing.'
'I'm sorry master, its just that the half-blood is finally getting whats coming for him.' said the 1 which went by Fangs.
'May I suggest a couple more days to make sure nobody has d-'
'NO, we do it now, Mortis.'
'Ve..very well Sinco.' Replied the weakest voice of the three.
'The Dark Lord will repay us someday. When we figure out how to use this, he will come back, and repay us.'
Hermione had performed a listening spell, so she could hear inside, but now all she heard were footsteps, and she knew they were leaving.
She apparated, and had she done it any later, the 3 men would have seen her. The men even looked a bit suspicous, because there was a tiny wisp of smoke that was left after every apparation.
Hermione had made it, or so she thought. A couple shops down was a man in a hooded cloack, who had been watching the same invisble wall, in the same seemingly real alleyway, with the same invisible door.
~~~~Back at Hogwarts.~~~~~
Well, even if he wanted to think about himself, Harry couldn't, for he had just ran into something. Not a door this time, but none other than Albus Dumbledore.
"Oh, sorry Headmaster. I was dazing." Harry said, regaining his sense of reality.
"Lucky you, then. Must have much on your mind, if you haven't noticed the entire swarm of first years." Dumbledore said, as he nudged his head backward.
Harry looked, and saw about 15 or so first years, hiding behind a tree that might cover 3 or 4, but wouldn't hide any more than 7 students.
"Oh, well, I haven't had much time to think. Lately I've just been making up for 10 years of lost thoughts."
"Alas, that is a lot of thinking, but I must say that I am here to take you away from your walk. I want to hear the tale of what happened with Voldemort. I want to know how you managed to defeat him. Alone, and un-accounted for, you managed to overthrow him. You and 1 other wizard are the only ones who know how. Please, do step into my office and explain."
"Very well Headmaster, but I'm afraid that I will not be able to do it at the moment, because I can't really tell it to you."
"Really? May I ask why."
"Well, to be honest, I find it hard to think about. It haunts me. What I had to do, I can never forgive myself for, and I couldn't deal with it."
"I am here to help Harry, but to do that I have to know what happened."
"I know that, and I will tell you, but because of the stress, I deposited the memory in a pensieve of my own."
Dumbledore cracked a smile. "Ah the uses of a brain storage. I am glad that you have used one of your own, and will be in my office when you get back your memories. Do hurry Professor, this is one tale I do wish to know."
And with that Harry began the walk to his office, to retrieve the 1 thing he had been dreading the most. The memory of the night he overthrew Voldemort. It huanted him to the point were he had to deposit it, but taking it out would make him relive the entire thing. Inevitable though it was, Harry didn't want to have to do it.
Either way he had to, so he continued to his office, preparing himself to tell the long tale, which had ended sadness on the world, but brought him a search for purpose.