Chapter 4: Safety
The day when he had to go to Diagon Alley soon came. It was early in the morning, and he wondered at what time would he go to the Weasleys. He decided to leave soon - they usually left to Diagon Alley in the morning.
He got out of the bed, and felt the hunger in his stomach. But he didn't want to go to the Dursleys for food, he didn't want to greet them; all he wanted was to see the Weasleys. He took the portkey - remembering what happened the last time he went to the Weaseys with it. Harry thought he would find out what happened when he will see them -- hoping that the portkey worked as it should have this time. Or was it the Portkey?
He didn't take anything except the key to his vault at Gringotts. Locking the door, so the Dursleys wouldn't enter, he took the portkey and the next moment he was in the Weasley Kitchen. Hoping that he won't find the house empty, he opened his eyes. And he was relieved to see Mrs. Weasley cleaning the dishes.
"Harry! Hello!" she said, and then she shouted, "HEY! HARRY IS HERE!"
Next moment, the entire Weasley family was in the kitchen, except for Ginny. Not having time to wonder where she was, and thinking that she usually avoided him(because everyone knew that she had a crush on Harry from the moment she saw him), he greeted everyone.
Harry saw that Bill and Charlie were home this time, too. He wondered why they were not at work... Bill worked in Egypt for Gringotts and Vharlie was studying dragons in Romania. Harry also hoticed that Mr. Weasley was acting completely normal this time. He didn't look confounded like he did at the Quidditch Cup... Harry just prayed that it wasn't anything very bad.
"Who is he, Mum?" asked Fred. George was looking confused, Harry knew they were just acting another joke, but they were doing it perfectly.
"Fred, stop it!" said Mrs. weasley annoyed. Both Fred and George stopped the joke and normally greeted Harry.
"How is life?" asked Mrs. Weasley in a warm voice.
"How can it be," answered Harry, "with the Dursleys, everything is as bad as possible." The next he wanted to do was to solve the mystery: where were the Weasleys when he was last time at their house. And he continued, "I came to the Burrow the day Ron told me, but no one was here."
"Uh?" she asked confused. She looked to the other family members.
"No way," continued Ron, "We were here... And Mum never left the house in the summer."
With that answer, Harry's intention to solve the mystery had proven to be impossible -- at least for that time. trying to think about it just made things even more complicated and mysterious. That gave him more things to think about, and he didn't want that; there were enough of them already.
"What's up?" asked Fred and George in the same time.
Then, Harry told them more about his previous visit at the Burrow, and everyone remained silent. This was a very unusual story, there was --
"Something evil about it", said Mr. Weasley. "This time, it is not to joke with You-Know-Who. As we know, he had risen again, and we do not know what he is planning. We are lucky that we have half of the ministry by our side - I mean they believed us when we told them that He had came again. Terrible things, terrible. This may be his work..." His face became one of great worry, just as Mrs. Weasley's.
"Damn this Fudge," said Charlie. "He still doesn't want to believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named --"
"Voldemort", said Harry. Everyone looked at him.
Charlie continued, "-- that He is back. This Minister will see how wrong he is very soon..."
"Thinking about this," continued Mr. Weasley, "Recently there were multiple unusual -- extremely unusual -- things. Not only once, we saw the Dark Mark rising exactly near the Ministry Office, and Fudge said nothing happened. He declares that no one is missing, and that he didn't see the mark -- I don't blame him because his office does not have a window. But, really, how can he be so -- how to say --"
"Idiot," continued Harry without thinking.
"-- Er, Harry, --"
"Forget it," said George, "Dad doesn't like when you talk bad things about his boss."
"Shut up, George!" said Mr. Weasley. "Well, let's say like that; how can be so idiot to not believe that You-Know-Who is back? And half of the Ministry thinks he is never wrong... And I heard Dumbledore does not recieve letters anymore from Fudge asking for advice about how to lead the Ministry. They both went their separate ways... I just hope everything will be okay, just as it was before..." Harry thought a little about how things were before: The Sorcerer's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, and then Sirius Black, all these things brought terrible danger... a danger which was always looking for Harry.
"We all hope that everything will be okay," said Mrs. Weasley.
"Harry," said Ron trying to change the subject, "Wanna come to my room? I have to show you something you might like."
Harry got up, and asked Ron, "What?"
"Come up and you will see."
They both hurried up the stairs and went to Ron's room. The house was exactly the same as it was before, and Ron's room was no exception. It was just like before -- Lots of posters with Chudley Cannons, his favourite Quidditch team, were put on the orange wall.
"What was the thing you wanted to show me?"
"Oh, it wass nothing. Just wanted to tell you about what Fred and George invented over the summer."
"What was it?"
Ron grinned. "They played a joke on Mum. The only bad thing was that she wasn't delighted about them and cast a spell to set fire on every suspicious thing... Lucky that they hid some things --"
Then Ron was stopped by Fred and George who suddenly entered the room. They looked angry and disappointed.
"What happened?" asked Ron.
"The things we saved... are gone!" Fred answered.
"WHAT?" asked Ron. Harry knew what they were talking about. Mrs. Weasley got rid of everything they created - the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes were gone. "No, it can't be possible!"
"Unfortunately, they are. Only the plans are left... we have to re-make everything..."
They were very sad, and soon left, leaving Harry and Ron alone.
"What was the thing they did to her?" Harry asked.
"They replaced the dishes with fake ones that melted after they were cleaned up. And you can imagine how angry Mum was after washing the dishes, only to see that they melted away... she had to find the real ones then. And when she did, she went straight to Fred and George's room, and destroyed everything that was connected to their joke shop. Except that, she put them to clean the real dishes..."
They talked about those things, and then they heard Mrs. Weasley say, "It is twelve o'clock, dears! We have to go to Diagon Alley!"
Harry exited the room, and saw something flew to Mrs. Weasley. Harry couldn't believe his eyes - it was something unreal... Errol was standing in front of Mrs. Weasley, and she gave him a letter, saying 'Give this to Fudge. Arthur needs something very important from him."
But Errol died - Harry saw it dead with his own eyes at the Dursleys... what was happening?
It was another owl, definitely. That couldn't be Errol... The Weasleys had just bought a new owl...
"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked filled with couriousty. "Is that Errol?"
"Yes, dear... What a stupid question!"
It was impossible. Either that, or the dead owl, was not Errol... And Mrs. Weasley didn't know it. And Harry was sure the one that Uncle Vernon killed was Errol, because Harry saw it too well...
But the one he had in front of him was Errol, too -- no doubt... Something dark was happening, Harry thought.
He preffered to keep that quiet, to not give the Weasleys reasons to worry - he was sure that was what they would do. And, ingoring the recent events, he continued to listen to what Mrs. Weasley wanted to say before they left to Diagon Alley...
"We're going to go by Floo Powder," said Mrs. Weasley while Harry almost spit out a bad word. Floo Powder was the mean of transport he would want to go the least. "I know we are in a hurry, but... what made us wait until twelve o'clock?"
She collected all the family, and took a little floo powder. They all went to the living room near the fire, and she threw some Floo Powder into the orange flames, that turned green. She was the first to enter the fire. After she was covered in green flames, she disappeared.
Fred and George were next, soon followed by Ron. And, after that, it was Harry's turn to go... He took the floo powder, and, hesitantly, he threw it into the Fire. He entered the fire, and - yet again - his mouth was full of ash. It was almost like the experience he had in his second year. But he wouldn't want that - it caused him to miss the destination, and went to the Knockturn Alley...
"D-Diagon Alley!" he said as clear as he could. The whirling feeling came again to him, and, thankfully, he was in one of the fireplaces in the Diagon Alley.
Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George and Ron were all waiting for the others to come out. The next one was Ginny. And the last who came was Mr. Weasley, surely Bill and Charlie didn't come to Diagon Alley, and Percy was too 'busy' to come, at least that was what he said.
They went their separate ways, to buy the different course books they needed. The only thing was that they didn't meet Hermione. She told them to come that day because she was there, too, but where was she?
After they bought their course books, they met Draco Malfoy. "Oh no," said Harry to himself, knowing that the good day would be destroyed by Malfoy. All of the Gryffindors hated Mafloy because he was too evil, and so did Harry. Especially Harry.
"Potthead and Weasel!!!" said Malfoy in a delighted voice. "How did you manage to buy the new year's books this time, Weasley?"
Both Harry and Ron almost jumped on Malfoy to knock him down, but Mr. Malfoy came, too...
"Leave him alone!" he said to Harry. He was almost ready to jump on Mr. Malfoy in fury too, to give him a punch... But he remembered that he was a wizard. Totally losing control, he took his wand and shouted, "Scurtupa!"
At that moment, his target's - Draco Malfoy's - hair fell on the ground, with a very high speed... the scene was funny though, and Harry was ready to burst into a loud laugh. Just then, he realized the graveness of the situation. It should have made Mr. Malfoy very angry. "Potter, never try to do that again - or you will be in big trouble."
"What? Will you send your master to kill me? He had failed three times by now..." he said, more braver than he felt, still not thinking about what could happen because of his daring. Every word came out of his mouth uncontrolled, and he wished he hadn't said that, seeing Draco's and Lucius's face darken.
"We will settle this later," Mr. Malfoy said befure he shut his mouth, took the hairless Draco and left. Harry quite gave him a fright - saying loudly that he was one of Voldemort's servants, with so many people around... Everyone could understand that the words 'your master' meant Voldemort...
It wasn't long until Harry and Ron started talking about not meeting Hermione. They decided to owl her later, asking her why she wasn't there. And talking about Hermione, his mind flew off slowly... he immeidately thought about Cho. He pictured her in his mind, and then came back to talking with Ron about Malfoy...
They saw the Quality Quidditch Supplies shop and lots of children around it. Harry didn't need to see what they were looking at - He saw Hassan Mostafa at the Quidditch World Cup on a new broom, called RazorBroom. That made him and Ron go and see it from a smaller distance.
-- RAZOR BROOM --
THIS BROOM IS THE NEWEST
INVENTION. IT HAS A GREAT
ACCELERATION AND TURNING,
GIVING THE RIDER A VERY
EASY CONTROL OF THE BROOM.
FASTER THAN THE FIREBOLT
BUT NOT WITH TOO MUCH,
BECAUSE THE RIDER COULD
BE THROWN OFF HIS BROOM
AT A TOO HIGH SPEED.
-- FOR THE PRICE TALK TO THE SHOPKEEPER --
Harry and Ron didn't need to go and ask how much it costed - Harry wondered if his vault would get empty if he tried to buy that...
Never, Harry thought. He had too much money inherited from his parents - a broom couldn't be that expensieve.
While they were looking at the Razor, they heard Mrs. Weasley's voice calling them. "It's time to go home! Harry dear, come on!"
They had no other alternative than to do what Mrs. Wesaley said. And Harry had to go, again, to the Dursleys... He didn't want that, but what else could he do?
He couldn't remember how everything passed - it seemed so fast. They went to the Burrow, and Harry used the Portkey to go to the Dursleys - that was done in less than two minutes... he was back to the bad life at the Dursleys, thinking of the weird things again. He tried to put them off his mind lately, but he just couldn't do that. What happened to Errol? What happened that day when he travelled by the Portkey to the Weasleys and he hadn't found anyone?
One afternoon, Harry felt something very strange. He felt like his mind was empty - his worries left him, and all he did was to lie on his bed in the small room the Dursleys gave him, he stood there for about three hours without thinking of anything -- not history, not Cho -- Harry felt like he didn't spend four years at the Hogwats school, like he didn't meet any onf his friends. However, later on that day, his mind wsa back to normal.
That day he finished his Charms homework. He liked what he had to do, he had to write about Summoning Charms - how they consider it - hard or simple, when he used it and things like that. Harry wondered what Neville would write at that homework - considering that he was almost a Squib, he was hardly able to do any magic at all. And when he did it, it usually was destructive.
And at the evening, something even stranger happened...
A brown owl was at the window, an owl he had never seen. He let it enter, and it left a letter on Harry's bed before flying away. Harry saw a letter like that once before - and that was a bad thing. The last time he saw that kind of letter was before his second year. He knew that it was from the Ministry of Magic, that was an underage magic warning. He had recieved one because a house-elf performed a hover charm, and they thought it was Harry. But this time, it was much weirder, because he didn't do any spell! He started reading it.
Dear Mr Potter,
We have recieved intelligence that multiple Memory Charms were used at your place of residence this afternoon at four minutes past three, and last days we discovered many attempts of this spell, part of them were succesfull.
As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spell work on your part may lead to expulsion from said school(Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C).
We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks noticeby members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlock's Statue of Socrecy.
Enjoy your holidays! Yours sincerely,
Mafalda Hopkirk
IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE
Ministry of Magic
It was as he suspected. He couldn't forget how that letter looked like in his second year. But - who did perform a spell at the Dursley House? It wasn't Harry, and everything he knew was that it was a Memory Charm.
Then it hit him.
That was the reason why he forgot lots of things lately - someone was casting memory charms on him! But what could he do against it? He had nothing to do, except to write some letters telling what happened this time, and asking questions. But who to write first? Ron? Hermione? Sirius? Or, Dumbledore?
That was the answer. The best choice was to tell Dumbledore about it. He was the only one who could do a thing about it -- at least, to give him advice. He took a piece of parchment, and wrote to Dumbledore a letter telling him what he read and what happened. He told him that he forgot things more than once, and that he was given a letter from the Ministry... And after that he called Hedwig, and told her to bring the letter to Dumbledore as fast as he could - before someone would erase his memory completely. He was reminded of Lockhart... He was one who used loads of these charms to trick people into thinking that he was a very good wizard, while he was just a 'stupid brainless git', as Ron described him.
And who -- better asking, which Death Eater -- was casting Memory Charms? He wondered if it was Malfoy or Wormtail - but it wasn't necesarrily to be them. There were loads of Death Eaters who walked free... at the same time Harry was thinking these words, Voldemort was free to do any evil thing his heart -- if he had any -- desired.
After all, what did it matter who was the one casting memory charms on Harry. The important fact was that someone was trying to make him forget something - or everything... Harry couldn't do anything more than just guess, and that was a very scary thing to think about.
Worried, he went to his bed and lied on it. The things that happened that day were unimaginable. Finding out that his enemy tried to erase his memory... or at least a part of it, the last hopes he still had inside were suddenly gone. He couldn't think of anything else -- maybe only about Errol's supposed death. Or revival -- it could be possible that Errol had some unknown powers -- Scabbers, Ron's rat, which he considered useless, turned out to be an animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew.
Hedwig could barely be seen flying in the distance. The sky was a bright blue, promissing a bright future; but Harry doubted it could have been like that to him...
He had fallen asleep, even if it was barely six o'clock, and he was woken up, again, by some owls at the window. He had expected to see Dumbledore's, but there were many of them.
The one Dumbledore sent was the first one Harry picked up - Hedwig was proud of what she had done to Harry. "Hedwig, you saved my life again," he said more in a joke.
He then proceeded to read the letter...
Dear Harry,
This is no surprising news. Lately, I have been informed of lots of murders and other things done by those pesky -- Harry stopped a little, surprised to see Dumbledore use that word -- Death Eaters. You are one of several targets chosen by Voldemort himself, he had sent his Death Eaters to accomplish different things at each target. I guess the Memory Charms he tried to do had an effect. If they had, let me know. Can you remember anything you've forgot? It may give us a clue on what he is trying to make you forget.
P.S. You should come to Hogwarts as soon as possible. You are no longer safe at the Dursleys.
P.S.S. I sent the Ministry a letter telling them to clear the underage magic warning they sent you. They said it was alright.
Albus Dumbledore
Harry looked up the letter again and re-read it. If it was as Dumbledore said, he was in a terrible danger. The Death Eater would try more things than he did before - more than just some 'stupid' Memory Charms. What if the Death Eater would use an Imperius on Harry?
The other letters he read were not as important as Dumbledore's. One was from Sirius, saying mostly the same things as Dumbledore did; the next one was Ron's which told him when they had to go to King's Cross("Pity that I won't go to the King's Cross this year...")
Then, he had nothing else to do than to ask Dumbledore how he would go to Hogwarts before the term started. He looked around searching for a quill and a parchment. He wrote a letter as fast as he could telling Ron that he had to go to Hogwarts before the other students did, and gave it to Pigwidgeon. The owl from Sirius already left so Harry couldn't answer to him. Then, he started concentrating on what he could write to Dumbledore.
But nothing came to his mind. So he decided to put it short and straight to the subject, anyway, he had no alternative than to wait another week until something came to his head.
Dear Professor Dumbledore,
I wanted to tell you that I have forgotten a few things, but they were only minor ones(from all I remember). And I want to ask how will you come to take me.
Sincerly,
Harry Potter
Then he looked outside and saw that it was still dark. The owls had nothing better to do than to wake him up. Lying again in his bed, he had fallen asleep quite soon, and when he got up it was quite late in the morning.
"Damn! I missed breakfast again!" he said to himself running on the staircase to see if there was anything that could be eaten left. But unfortunately the Dursleys were in the living room, and the kitchen was deserted. His stomach was empty and he had no food from his friends... the only thing he had to do was to wait until they would eat lunch, while he hoped that he wouldn't die of hunger -- What the hell am I thinking about, he said, going back to his room and writing a reply to Ron's letter saying that he couldn't go with them to Hogwarts.
After lunch, where Dudley kept arguing with his parents because he was getting too little food, Harry saw a very strange owl. It had a deep red color, had small size and Harry was reminded of Fawkes, who was Dumbledore's phoenix.
He took the letter and read it; the first line was short. "I will come to get you myself." Then Harry continued forward and read that the strange owl was a very rare bird - magically created, effect of mixing an owl and a phoenix. That was, according to Dumbledore, a Phoenix Owl, and Harry looked its beautiful wings. They were just like Fawkes's ones.
While Harry was looking at the Phoenix Owl, he had noticed that there was someone who wasn't pleased at all about Harry admiring it. And that person was Hedwig, who was hooting loudly, and Harry understood that she was angry.
"Hedwig!" he said wondering what she was thinking. "Quiet down!"
She listened to his words and stopped. Dumbledore's owl flew outside the window, and Harry wondered what Muggles would think seeing a strange red bird flying proudly in the air.
Soon after the bird disappeared in the clouds that were forming outside, Harry heard a scream from downstairs.
He stood on his feet and ran downstairs to see what happened again, hoping that he won't see anything that would make him too angry because he may reach an end with the Dursleys. And, as he was hurrying down the stairs, he heard Uncle Vernon telling Dudley, with a scared voice, something about long-bearded wizards.
After that Harry saw that it was nothing to get scared about, it was only Dumbledore who stood amused in front of the terrified Dursleys.
"What," he asked Vernon, "made you run away from me like that?" he continued in a very amused voice.
` "YOU STAY AWAY FROM US!" Vernon replied with a voice that almost made Harry deaf.
"Calm down, because there is nothing to be scared about," he continued before noticing Harry on the staircase. "Harry! I hope things are going -- er, well?"
Harry didn't reply. He seemed to be the only one who could notice the strangeness of scene. Dumbledore was standing amused in front of the Dursleys, who seemed to have long-beard-allergy, according to what Harry heard them talking before.
"Well, come on, because you are in danger here, Harry."
Harry walked slowly towards Dumbledore wondering what would be next. Uncle Vernon was angrier than usual. He seemed to not like Dumbledore at all, and, at a second thought, they couldn't really do it: they had a lack of sense of humour, and what to say about the fact that Dumbledore was a wizard.
"And, be warned, Dursleys," Dumbledore continued noticing their attitude towards him, "I think you are in danger as well."
Harry couldn't think properly, and he couldn't imagine why the Dursleys could be in danger, but it didn't bother him. All he wanted to know was that he left their house and went to Hogwarts as early as possible... but then, what could he do at Hogwarts? No one was there in the middle of the summer... Only two things were better. He had what to eat, and the library would be empty - unless Madam Pince was there in midsummer, which he doubted.
He told Dumbledore to wait until he would get with his trunk - and hurriedly he packed everything he needed. Then, he followed the long-bearded old wizard out of the house.
"Harry, we will go to Hogwarts by Knight Bus. I don't think there are many alternatives, because I have no Floo Powder." Harry didn't like Floo Powder at all, so he decided that it was better with the Knight Bus .
Dumbledore raised his wand hand, and in a few seconds a blinding light penetrated through Harry's eyes - it was just like the last time. The purple bus stopped in front of them, its blinding lights were exactly in Harry's eyes.
Stan Shunpike immediately came out of the bus. Harry knew thim, he had met him twice before - once in the bus and once at the Quidditch World Cup(where he was enchanted by a Veela...).
"Professor Dumbledore, sir!" Stan said noticing who had just raised the wand to call the bus. "And, look! Ern! It's Neville again!" After a small pause, while the driver, Ernie Prang, told him something, he answered, "Harry Potter! Didn't he say he was Neville last time?" He laughed a bit, making Harry a little uncomfortable with Dumbledore standing near him.
"Where to, sir?" he asked, looking at Dumbledore in surprise.
"Hogwarts," Dumbledore continued.
"Fourteen sickles each," Stan cdontinued waiting for the payment. Harry remembered last time when he gave him some gold instead of silver sickles.
Dumbledore and Harry gave him the money. "Sit down -- and -- hold tight..."
Then, Harry felt the great speed of the Knight Bus, and the next moment he was thrown backward again just like the first time. Dumbledore seemed to be holding very well, because Harry didn't notice anything at him -- as if the bus didn't even start.
The bus was not too comfortable, but Harry was sure it was fast. As they were going towards Hogwarts, Harry heard Stan talking about the Ministry and its problems -- mainly the same things that Mr. Weasley had told him before going to Diagon Alley. He had heard them talking about lots of wizards disappearing, and the Ministry building getting emptier with each passing day.
"Look, Ern! Only too 'ours ago... there was another attack in the Ministry! Looks like they wanna get rid of the entire Ministry, dont 'ey?"
Harry didn't like hearing that. How could he like that, when Mr. Weasley was working there?
"I guess there're lotsa' dark ones working at the Ministry. I'd get rid o' them as soon as I could if I were Fudge. But look at 'im! 'ee is denying aniffin' -- how can 'ee when people --"
Stan didn't finish the last word entirely because he was stopped by something that sounded like a crash. They hit something with the Knight Bus, that was Harry's first thought. But then he realized that the Knight Bus couldn't hit things, because everything got out of its way and then went back.
"ERN! WHAT WAZZ THAT?" asked Stan loudly after the bus continued going normal again.
"We hit someone... It's nothing to be scared of."
"NUFFINK TO BE SCARED OF?" he asked. "Ern, you jus' hit someone!"
Harry knew that he was wrong again. After all, not all things were getting out of the bus's way, especially humans.
"Now this's the first time to hit someone," Stan continued while Ernie got out of the bus to see who he had hit. But, soon after, he rushed back on his seat and ran again at full speed. He was very terrified by something -- or by someone. Who had he hit with the bus?
"Ern? Who wazz it?"
But the driver didn't do anything to show that he heard Stan asking him something.
"Ern?"
"It was... Come closer," he said, and then he had talked in such a low voice that Harry couldn't understand.
Harry noticed the weirdest thing -- Dumbledore seemed to not be disturbed by anything. It looked like he knew that would happen...
"Professor?" Harry asked surprised of his quietness.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Who do you think they hit with the bus?"
"I have no idea, Harry, but I am sure that he had deserved it... You saw the way the driver came in? He seemed to have met a Death Eater..."
Harry's mind immediately flew to the Death Eater who kept trying to modify his memory. Maybe he was the same wizard, or maybe not; Harry didn't know where the bus was at that moments. But he was sure of one thing: They had to be very far from the Dursleys.
After a boring time, Stan started to talk. "Harry? Mr. Dumbledore? It's time you shou' prepare. We're soon at Hogwarts."
Harry and Dumbledore stood up and prepared for the bus's stop, which came very soon. "Hogwarts," Stan said while Harry and Dumbledore were getting out of the bus. "See ya! And 'ave a nice day!"
They soon evtered the castle. The big Entrance Hall was in front of them, and Dumbledore told Harry, "Get to the Gryffindor Tower. I think you may want some rest..."
That was exactly what Harry wanted. There were lots of things running through his head, and only a good sleep could drive them off -- at least he hoped it would...
He then went to the empty Gryffindor Common Room(The Fat Lady didn't ask for any password because the term hadn't started yet). He went straight to his bedroom, and he sat on his four-poster. trying to sleep, memories came even faster than usual -- only the new things were haunting him. He didn't think of anything that happened last year at Hogwarts, but he couldn't say that about the big mysteries -- Errol, the Memory Charms, and his visit at the Weasleys... Thinking about his memory, he wondered if there was anything important that he forgot -- he didn't want to forget something exactly at these dark times. And after about half an hour, he fell asleep, thinking that at least at Hogwarts he was at safety.
The day when he had to go to Diagon Alley soon came. It was early in the morning, and he wondered at what time would he go to the Weasleys. He decided to leave soon - they usually left to Diagon Alley in the morning.
He got out of the bed, and felt the hunger in his stomach. But he didn't want to go to the Dursleys for food, he didn't want to greet them; all he wanted was to see the Weasleys. He took the portkey - remembering what happened the last time he went to the Weaseys with it. Harry thought he would find out what happened when he will see them -- hoping that the portkey worked as it should have this time. Or was it the Portkey?
He didn't take anything except the key to his vault at Gringotts. Locking the door, so the Dursleys wouldn't enter, he took the portkey and the next moment he was in the Weasley Kitchen. Hoping that he won't find the house empty, he opened his eyes. And he was relieved to see Mrs. Weasley cleaning the dishes.
"Harry! Hello!" she said, and then she shouted, "HEY! HARRY IS HERE!"
Next moment, the entire Weasley family was in the kitchen, except for Ginny. Not having time to wonder where she was, and thinking that she usually avoided him(because everyone knew that she had a crush on Harry from the moment she saw him), he greeted everyone.
Harry saw that Bill and Charlie were home this time, too. He wondered why they were not at work... Bill worked in Egypt for Gringotts and Vharlie was studying dragons in Romania. Harry also hoticed that Mr. Weasley was acting completely normal this time. He didn't look confounded like he did at the Quidditch Cup... Harry just prayed that it wasn't anything very bad.
"Who is he, Mum?" asked Fred. George was looking confused, Harry knew they were just acting another joke, but they were doing it perfectly.
"Fred, stop it!" said Mrs. weasley annoyed. Both Fred and George stopped the joke and normally greeted Harry.
"How is life?" asked Mrs. Weasley in a warm voice.
"How can it be," answered Harry, "with the Dursleys, everything is as bad as possible." The next he wanted to do was to solve the mystery: where were the Weasleys when he was last time at their house. And he continued, "I came to the Burrow the day Ron told me, but no one was here."
"Uh?" she asked confused. She looked to the other family members.
"No way," continued Ron, "We were here... And Mum never left the house in the summer."
With that answer, Harry's intention to solve the mystery had proven to be impossible -- at least for that time. trying to think about it just made things even more complicated and mysterious. That gave him more things to think about, and he didn't want that; there were enough of them already.
"What's up?" asked Fred and George in the same time.
Then, Harry told them more about his previous visit at the Burrow, and everyone remained silent. This was a very unusual story, there was --
"Something evil about it", said Mr. Weasley. "This time, it is not to joke with You-Know-Who. As we know, he had risen again, and we do not know what he is planning. We are lucky that we have half of the ministry by our side - I mean they believed us when we told them that He had came again. Terrible things, terrible. This may be his work..." His face became one of great worry, just as Mrs. Weasley's.
"Damn this Fudge," said Charlie. "He still doesn't want to believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named --"
"Voldemort", said Harry. Everyone looked at him.
Charlie continued, "-- that He is back. This Minister will see how wrong he is very soon..."
"Thinking about this," continued Mr. Weasley, "Recently there were multiple unusual -- extremely unusual -- things. Not only once, we saw the Dark Mark rising exactly near the Ministry Office, and Fudge said nothing happened. He declares that no one is missing, and that he didn't see the mark -- I don't blame him because his office does not have a window. But, really, how can he be so -- how to say --"
"Idiot," continued Harry without thinking.
"-- Er, Harry, --"
"Forget it," said George, "Dad doesn't like when you talk bad things about his boss."
"Shut up, George!" said Mr. Weasley. "Well, let's say like that; how can be so idiot to not believe that You-Know-Who is back? And half of the Ministry thinks he is never wrong... And I heard Dumbledore does not recieve letters anymore from Fudge asking for advice about how to lead the Ministry. They both went their separate ways... I just hope everything will be okay, just as it was before..." Harry thought a little about how things were before: The Sorcerer's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, and then Sirius Black, all these things brought terrible danger... a danger which was always looking for Harry.
"We all hope that everything will be okay," said Mrs. Weasley.
"Harry," said Ron trying to change the subject, "Wanna come to my room? I have to show you something you might like."
Harry got up, and asked Ron, "What?"
"Come up and you will see."
They both hurried up the stairs and went to Ron's room. The house was exactly the same as it was before, and Ron's room was no exception. It was just like before -- Lots of posters with Chudley Cannons, his favourite Quidditch team, were put on the orange wall.
"What was the thing you wanted to show me?"
"Oh, it wass nothing. Just wanted to tell you about what Fred and George invented over the summer."
"What was it?"
Ron grinned. "They played a joke on Mum. The only bad thing was that she wasn't delighted about them and cast a spell to set fire on every suspicious thing... Lucky that they hid some things --"
Then Ron was stopped by Fred and George who suddenly entered the room. They looked angry and disappointed.
"What happened?" asked Ron.
"The things we saved... are gone!" Fred answered.
"WHAT?" asked Ron. Harry knew what they were talking about. Mrs. Weasley got rid of everything they created - the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes were gone. "No, it can't be possible!"
"Unfortunately, they are. Only the plans are left... we have to re-make everything..."
They were very sad, and soon left, leaving Harry and Ron alone.
"What was the thing they did to her?" Harry asked.
"They replaced the dishes with fake ones that melted after they were cleaned up. And you can imagine how angry Mum was after washing the dishes, only to see that they melted away... she had to find the real ones then. And when she did, she went straight to Fred and George's room, and destroyed everything that was connected to their joke shop. Except that, she put them to clean the real dishes..."
They talked about those things, and then they heard Mrs. Weasley say, "It is twelve o'clock, dears! We have to go to Diagon Alley!"
Harry exited the room, and saw something flew to Mrs. Weasley. Harry couldn't believe his eyes - it was something unreal... Errol was standing in front of Mrs. Weasley, and she gave him a letter, saying 'Give this to Fudge. Arthur needs something very important from him."
But Errol died - Harry saw it dead with his own eyes at the Dursleys... what was happening?
It was another owl, definitely. That couldn't be Errol... The Weasleys had just bought a new owl...
"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked filled with couriousty. "Is that Errol?"
"Yes, dear... What a stupid question!"
It was impossible. Either that, or the dead owl, was not Errol... And Mrs. Weasley didn't know it. And Harry was sure the one that Uncle Vernon killed was Errol, because Harry saw it too well...
But the one he had in front of him was Errol, too -- no doubt... Something dark was happening, Harry thought.
He preffered to keep that quiet, to not give the Weasleys reasons to worry - he was sure that was what they would do. And, ingoring the recent events, he continued to listen to what Mrs. Weasley wanted to say before they left to Diagon Alley...
"We're going to go by Floo Powder," said Mrs. Weasley while Harry almost spit out a bad word. Floo Powder was the mean of transport he would want to go the least. "I know we are in a hurry, but... what made us wait until twelve o'clock?"
She collected all the family, and took a little floo powder. They all went to the living room near the fire, and she threw some Floo Powder into the orange flames, that turned green. She was the first to enter the fire. After she was covered in green flames, she disappeared.
Fred and George were next, soon followed by Ron. And, after that, it was Harry's turn to go... He took the floo powder, and, hesitantly, he threw it into the Fire. He entered the fire, and - yet again - his mouth was full of ash. It was almost like the experience he had in his second year. But he wouldn't want that - it caused him to miss the destination, and went to the Knockturn Alley...
"D-Diagon Alley!" he said as clear as he could. The whirling feeling came again to him, and, thankfully, he was in one of the fireplaces in the Diagon Alley.
Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George and Ron were all waiting for the others to come out. The next one was Ginny. And the last who came was Mr. Weasley, surely Bill and Charlie didn't come to Diagon Alley, and Percy was too 'busy' to come, at least that was what he said.
They went their separate ways, to buy the different course books they needed. The only thing was that they didn't meet Hermione. She told them to come that day because she was there, too, but where was she?
After they bought their course books, they met Draco Malfoy. "Oh no," said Harry to himself, knowing that the good day would be destroyed by Malfoy. All of the Gryffindors hated Mafloy because he was too evil, and so did Harry. Especially Harry.
"Potthead and Weasel!!!" said Malfoy in a delighted voice. "How did you manage to buy the new year's books this time, Weasley?"
Both Harry and Ron almost jumped on Malfoy to knock him down, but Mr. Malfoy came, too...
"Leave him alone!" he said to Harry. He was almost ready to jump on Mr. Malfoy in fury too, to give him a punch... But he remembered that he was a wizard. Totally losing control, he took his wand and shouted, "Scurtupa!"
At that moment, his target's - Draco Malfoy's - hair fell on the ground, with a very high speed... the scene was funny though, and Harry was ready to burst into a loud laugh. Just then, he realized the graveness of the situation. It should have made Mr. Malfoy very angry. "Potter, never try to do that again - or you will be in big trouble."
"What? Will you send your master to kill me? He had failed three times by now..." he said, more braver than he felt, still not thinking about what could happen because of his daring. Every word came out of his mouth uncontrolled, and he wished he hadn't said that, seeing Draco's and Lucius's face darken.
"We will settle this later," Mr. Malfoy said befure he shut his mouth, took the hairless Draco and left. Harry quite gave him a fright - saying loudly that he was one of Voldemort's servants, with so many people around... Everyone could understand that the words 'your master' meant Voldemort...
It wasn't long until Harry and Ron started talking about not meeting Hermione. They decided to owl her later, asking her why she wasn't there. And talking about Hermione, his mind flew off slowly... he immeidately thought about Cho. He pictured her in his mind, and then came back to talking with Ron about Malfoy...
They saw the Quality Quidditch Supplies shop and lots of children around it. Harry didn't need to see what they were looking at - He saw Hassan Mostafa at the Quidditch World Cup on a new broom, called RazorBroom. That made him and Ron go and see it from a smaller distance.
-- RAZOR BROOM --
THIS BROOM IS THE NEWEST
INVENTION. IT HAS A GREAT
ACCELERATION AND TURNING,
GIVING THE RIDER A VERY
EASY CONTROL OF THE BROOM.
FASTER THAN THE FIREBOLT
BUT NOT WITH TOO MUCH,
BECAUSE THE RIDER COULD
BE THROWN OFF HIS BROOM
AT A TOO HIGH SPEED.
-- FOR THE PRICE TALK TO THE SHOPKEEPER --
Harry and Ron didn't need to go and ask how much it costed - Harry wondered if his vault would get empty if he tried to buy that...
Never, Harry thought. He had too much money inherited from his parents - a broom couldn't be that expensieve.
While they were looking at the Razor, they heard Mrs. Weasley's voice calling them. "It's time to go home! Harry dear, come on!"
They had no other alternative than to do what Mrs. Wesaley said. And Harry had to go, again, to the Dursleys... He didn't want that, but what else could he do?
He couldn't remember how everything passed - it seemed so fast. They went to the Burrow, and Harry used the Portkey to go to the Dursleys - that was done in less than two minutes... he was back to the bad life at the Dursleys, thinking of the weird things again. He tried to put them off his mind lately, but he just couldn't do that. What happened to Errol? What happened that day when he travelled by the Portkey to the Weasleys and he hadn't found anyone?
One afternoon, Harry felt something very strange. He felt like his mind was empty - his worries left him, and all he did was to lie on his bed in the small room the Dursleys gave him, he stood there for about three hours without thinking of anything -- not history, not Cho -- Harry felt like he didn't spend four years at the Hogwats school, like he didn't meet any onf his friends. However, later on that day, his mind wsa back to normal.
That day he finished his Charms homework. He liked what he had to do, he had to write about Summoning Charms - how they consider it - hard or simple, when he used it and things like that. Harry wondered what Neville would write at that homework - considering that he was almost a Squib, he was hardly able to do any magic at all. And when he did it, it usually was destructive.
And at the evening, something even stranger happened...
A brown owl was at the window, an owl he had never seen. He let it enter, and it left a letter on Harry's bed before flying away. Harry saw a letter like that once before - and that was a bad thing. The last time he saw that kind of letter was before his second year. He knew that it was from the Ministry of Magic, that was an underage magic warning. He had recieved one because a house-elf performed a hover charm, and they thought it was Harry. But this time, it was much weirder, because he didn't do any spell! He started reading it.
Dear Mr Potter,
We have recieved intelligence that multiple Memory Charms were used at your place of residence this afternoon at four minutes past three, and last days we discovered many attempts of this spell, part of them were succesfull.
As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spell work on your part may lead to expulsion from said school(Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C).
We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks noticeby members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlock's Statue of Socrecy.
Enjoy your holidays! Yours sincerely,
Mafalda Hopkirk
IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE
Ministry of Magic
It was as he suspected. He couldn't forget how that letter looked like in his second year. But - who did perform a spell at the Dursley House? It wasn't Harry, and everything he knew was that it was a Memory Charm.
Then it hit him.
That was the reason why he forgot lots of things lately - someone was casting memory charms on him! But what could he do against it? He had nothing to do, except to write some letters telling what happened this time, and asking questions. But who to write first? Ron? Hermione? Sirius? Or, Dumbledore?
That was the answer. The best choice was to tell Dumbledore about it. He was the only one who could do a thing about it -- at least, to give him advice. He took a piece of parchment, and wrote to Dumbledore a letter telling him what he read and what happened. He told him that he forgot things more than once, and that he was given a letter from the Ministry... And after that he called Hedwig, and told her to bring the letter to Dumbledore as fast as he could - before someone would erase his memory completely. He was reminded of Lockhart... He was one who used loads of these charms to trick people into thinking that he was a very good wizard, while he was just a 'stupid brainless git', as Ron described him.
And who -- better asking, which Death Eater -- was casting Memory Charms? He wondered if it was Malfoy or Wormtail - but it wasn't necesarrily to be them. There were loads of Death Eaters who walked free... at the same time Harry was thinking these words, Voldemort was free to do any evil thing his heart -- if he had any -- desired.
After all, what did it matter who was the one casting memory charms on Harry. The important fact was that someone was trying to make him forget something - or everything... Harry couldn't do anything more than just guess, and that was a very scary thing to think about.
Worried, he went to his bed and lied on it. The things that happened that day were unimaginable. Finding out that his enemy tried to erase his memory... or at least a part of it, the last hopes he still had inside were suddenly gone. He couldn't think of anything else -- maybe only about Errol's supposed death. Or revival -- it could be possible that Errol had some unknown powers -- Scabbers, Ron's rat, which he considered useless, turned out to be an animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew.
Hedwig could barely be seen flying in the distance. The sky was a bright blue, promissing a bright future; but Harry doubted it could have been like that to him...
He had fallen asleep, even if it was barely six o'clock, and he was woken up, again, by some owls at the window. He had expected to see Dumbledore's, but there were many of them.
The one Dumbledore sent was the first one Harry picked up - Hedwig was proud of what she had done to Harry. "Hedwig, you saved my life again," he said more in a joke.
He then proceeded to read the letter...
Dear Harry,
This is no surprising news. Lately, I have been informed of lots of murders and other things done by those pesky -- Harry stopped a little, surprised to see Dumbledore use that word -- Death Eaters. You are one of several targets chosen by Voldemort himself, he had sent his Death Eaters to accomplish different things at each target. I guess the Memory Charms he tried to do had an effect. If they had, let me know. Can you remember anything you've forgot? It may give us a clue on what he is trying to make you forget.
P.S. You should come to Hogwarts as soon as possible. You are no longer safe at the Dursleys.
P.S.S. I sent the Ministry a letter telling them to clear the underage magic warning they sent you. They said it was alright.
Albus Dumbledore
Harry looked up the letter again and re-read it. If it was as Dumbledore said, he was in a terrible danger. The Death Eater would try more things than he did before - more than just some 'stupid' Memory Charms. What if the Death Eater would use an Imperius on Harry?
The other letters he read were not as important as Dumbledore's. One was from Sirius, saying mostly the same things as Dumbledore did; the next one was Ron's which told him when they had to go to King's Cross("Pity that I won't go to the King's Cross this year...")
Then, he had nothing else to do than to ask Dumbledore how he would go to Hogwarts before the term started. He looked around searching for a quill and a parchment. He wrote a letter as fast as he could telling Ron that he had to go to Hogwarts before the other students did, and gave it to Pigwidgeon. The owl from Sirius already left so Harry couldn't answer to him. Then, he started concentrating on what he could write to Dumbledore.
But nothing came to his mind. So he decided to put it short and straight to the subject, anyway, he had no alternative than to wait another week until something came to his head.
Dear Professor Dumbledore,
I wanted to tell you that I have forgotten a few things, but they were only minor ones(from all I remember). And I want to ask how will you come to take me.
Sincerly,
Harry Potter
Then he looked outside and saw that it was still dark. The owls had nothing better to do than to wake him up. Lying again in his bed, he had fallen asleep quite soon, and when he got up it was quite late in the morning.
"Damn! I missed breakfast again!" he said to himself running on the staircase to see if there was anything that could be eaten left. But unfortunately the Dursleys were in the living room, and the kitchen was deserted. His stomach was empty and he had no food from his friends... the only thing he had to do was to wait until they would eat lunch, while he hoped that he wouldn't die of hunger -- What the hell am I thinking about, he said, going back to his room and writing a reply to Ron's letter saying that he couldn't go with them to Hogwarts.
After lunch, where Dudley kept arguing with his parents because he was getting too little food, Harry saw a very strange owl. It had a deep red color, had small size and Harry was reminded of Fawkes, who was Dumbledore's phoenix.
He took the letter and read it; the first line was short. "I will come to get you myself." Then Harry continued forward and read that the strange owl was a very rare bird - magically created, effect of mixing an owl and a phoenix. That was, according to Dumbledore, a Phoenix Owl, and Harry looked its beautiful wings. They were just like Fawkes's ones.
While Harry was looking at the Phoenix Owl, he had noticed that there was someone who wasn't pleased at all about Harry admiring it. And that person was Hedwig, who was hooting loudly, and Harry understood that she was angry.
"Hedwig!" he said wondering what she was thinking. "Quiet down!"
She listened to his words and stopped. Dumbledore's owl flew outside the window, and Harry wondered what Muggles would think seeing a strange red bird flying proudly in the air.
Soon after the bird disappeared in the clouds that were forming outside, Harry heard a scream from downstairs.
He stood on his feet and ran downstairs to see what happened again, hoping that he won't see anything that would make him too angry because he may reach an end with the Dursleys. And, as he was hurrying down the stairs, he heard Uncle Vernon telling Dudley, with a scared voice, something about long-bearded wizards.
After that Harry saw that it was nothing to get scared about, it was only Dumbledore who stood amused in front of the terrified Dursleys.
"What," he asked Vernon, "made you run away from me like that?" he continued in a very amused voice.
` "YOU STAY AWAY FROM US!" Vernon replied with a voice that almost made Harry deaf.
"Calm down, because there is nothing to be scared about," he continued before noticing Harry on the staircase. "Harry! I hope things are going -- er, well?"
Harry didn't reply. He seemed to be the only one who could notice the strangeness of scene. Dumbledore was standing amused in front of the Dursleys, who seemed to have long-beard-allergy, according to what Harry heard them talking before.
"Well, come on, because you are in danger here, Harry."
Harry walked slowly towards Dumbledore wondering what would be next. Uncle Vernon was angrier than usual. He seemed to not like Dumbledore at all, and, at a second thought, they couldn't really do it: they had a lack of sense of humour, and what to say about the fact that Dumbledore was a wizard.
"And, be warned, Dursleys," Dumbledore continued noticing their attitude towards him, "I think you are in danger as well."
Harry couldn't think properly, and he couldn't imagine why the Dursleys could be in danger, but it didn't bother him. All he wanted to know was that he left their house and went to Hogwarts as early as possible... but then, what could he do at Hogwarts? No one was there in the middle of the summer... Only two things were better. He had what to eat, and the library would be empty - unless Madam Pince was there in midsummer, which he doubted.
He told Dumbledore to wait until he would get with his trunk - and hurriedly he packed everything he needed. Then, he followed the long-bearded old wizard out of the house.
"Harry, we will go to Hogwarts by Knight Bus. I don't think there are many alternatives, because I have no Floo Powder." Harry didn't like Floo Powder at all, so he decided that it was better with the Knight Bus .
Dumbledore raised his wand hand, and in a few seconds a blinding light penetrated through Harry's eyes - it was just like the last time. The purple bus stopped in front of them, its blinding lights were exactly in Harry's eyes.
Stan Shunpike immediately came out of the bus. Harry knew thim, he had met him twice before - once in the bus and once at the Quidditch World Cup(where he was enchanted by a Veela...).
"Professor Dumbledore, sir!" Stan said noticing who had just raised the wand to call the bus. "And, look! Ern! It's Neville again!" After a small pause, while the driver, Ernie Prang, told him something, he answered, "Harry Potter! Didn't he say he was Neville last time?" He laughed a bit, making Harry a little uncomfortable with Dumbledore standing near him.
"Where to, sir?" he asked, looking at Dumbledore in surprise.
"Hogwarts," Dumbledore continued.
"Fourteen sickles each," Stan cdontinued waiting for the payment. Harry remembered last time when he gave him some gold instead of silver sickles.
Dumbledore and Harry gave him the money. "Sit down -- and -- hold tight..."
Then, Harry felt the great speed of the Knight Bus, and the next moment he was thrown backward again just like the first time. Dumbledore seemed to be holding very well, because Harry didn't notice anything at him -- as if the bus didn't even start.
The bus was not too comfortable, but Harry was sure it was fast. As they were going towards Hogwarts, Harry heard Stan talking about the Ministry and its problems -- mainly the same things that Mr. Weasley had told him before going to Diagon Alley. He had heard them talking about lots of wizards disappearing, and the Ministry building getting emptier with each passing day.
"Look, Ern! Only too 'ours ago... there was another attack in the Ministry! Looks like they wanna get rid of the entire Ministry, dont 'ey?"
Harry didn't like hearing that. How could he like that, when Mr. Weasley was working there?
"I guess there're lotsa' dark ones working at the Ministry. I'd get rid o' them as soon as I could if I were Fudge. But look at 'im! 'ee is denying aniffin' -- how can 'ee when people --"
Stan didn't finish the last word entirely because he was stopped by something that sounded like a crash. They hit something with the Knight Bus, that was Harry's first thought. But then he realized that the Knight Bus couldn't hit things, because everything got out of its way and then went back.
"ERN! WHAT WAZZ THAT?" asked Stan loudly after the bus continued going normal again.
"We hit someone... It's nothing to be scared of."
"NUFFINK TO BE SCARED OF?" he asked. "Ern, you jus' hit someone!"
Harry knew that he was wrong again. After all, not all things were getting out of the bus's way, especially humans.
"Now this's the first time to hit someone," Stan continued while Ernie got out of the bus to see who he had hit. But, soon after, he rushed back on his seat and ran again at full speed. He was very terrified by something -- or by someone. Who had he hit with the bus?
"Ern? Who wazz it?"
But the driver didn't do anything to show that he heard Stan asking him something.
"Ern?"
"It was... Come closer," he said, and then he had talked in such a low voice that Harry couldn't understand.
Harry noticed the weirdest thing -- Dumbledore seemed to not be disturbed by anything. It looked like he knew that would happen...
"Professor?" Harry asked surprised of his quietness.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Who do you think they hit with the bus?"
"I have no idea, Harry, but I am sure that he had deserved it... You saw the way the driver came in? He seemed to have met a Death Eater..."
Harry's mind immediately flew to the Death Eater who kept trying to modify his memory. Maybe he was the same wizard, or maybe not; Harry didn't know where the bus was at that moments. But he was sure of one thing: They had to be very far from the Dursleys.
After a boring time, Stan started to talk. "Harry? Mr. Dumbledore? It's time you shou' prepare. We're soon at Hogwarts."
Harry and Dumbledore stood up and prepared for the bus's stop, which came very soon. "Hogwarts," Stan said while Harry and Dumbledore were getting out of the bus. "See ya! And 'ave a nice day!"
They soon evtered the castle. The big Entrance Hall was in front of them, and Dumbledore told Harry, "Get to the Gryffindor Tower. I think you may want some rest..."
That was exactly what Harry wanted. There were lots of things running through his head, and only a good sleep could drive them off -- at least he hoped it would...
He then went to the empty Gryffindor Common Room(The Fat Lady didn't ask for any password because the term hadn't started yet). He went straight to his bedroom, and he sat on his four-poster. trying to sleep, memories came even faster than usual -- only the new things were haunting him. He didn't think of anything that happened last year at Hogwarts, but he couldn't say that about the big mysteries -- Errol, the Memory Charms, and his visit at the Weasleys... Thinking about his memory, he wondered if there was anything important that he forgot -- he didn't want to forget something exactly at these dark times. And after about half an hour, he fell asleep, thinking that at least at Hogwarts he was at safety.