Chapter 5: Invisible Fear
He woke up the next morning and at first he wondered what happened -- where he was. He was used at staying at the Dursleys and when he woke up, he usually saw the small room on Privet Drive -- but this time he was in a darker room.
But suddenly he remembered the last day's events. And the first thing he thought about was what he was going to do all the day, even if he was at Hogwarts. At first it seemed nothing after living two months with the Dursleys, but Harry found it as boring as it was before.
He walked out of the dark bedroom he slept in and saw that the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room was lit up. The thought of sitting in that room the entire day wasn't welcoming, because he was tired of waiting -- so he decided to go to the least boring place he could find in a holiday - the library... That wasn't made only for Hermione after all.
But walking towards the library, he realized that he was hungry. Dumbledore was there, and everyone had to eat, and he was no exception, so he decided to pay a visit to the Great Hall. He remembered in his third year's Christmas Holiday when everyone ate at a single table in the Great Hall - and Harry thought it had to be as it was before. Or was it?
Entering the Great Hall, he saw that he was right. But there were less people inside than in the Christmas Holiday, the only ones who were sitting at a small table were Dumbledore, Hagrid and Filch.
"Harry!" said Dumbledore, "Come and take a seat..."
"How're yeh?" asked Hagrid.
Filch seemed the only one who looked as he didn't notice Harry entering. Harry was sure that he did, but he wasn't interrested in it. Every student hated him, mainly because he hated them. In Harry's second year, he had found out that Filch was a squib -- a person born by two wizards but with no magical powers. Because of that, he didn't like children too much -- he was jealous because they had magic inside and he didn't.
"I am bored," Harry answered Hagrid's question.
"Bored? heh," Hagrid answered.
"Yes, Hagrid. Bored," answered Harry, surprised himself by his words -- it was another strange thing happening lately. He started saying words he had never thought saying... and that was really strange -- not to forget that it was quite bad. What if he said something bad to Dumbledore?
Dumbledore conjured some food on the table for Harry to eat. They stood in a complete silence, which was rarely broken by the light sounds created by the spoons and forks touching the golden plates. Harry was thinking of what he could do at Hogwarts, forgetting what brought him at the castle before the beginning of the term.
After breakfast, he wanted to go to the library due to his boreness, but he saw something that made him go to living off memories again: he saw the Ravenclaw entrance to their common room. Besides of thinking about Cho, without wanting to, his mind went again to what happened the day when Cedric died. He wondered what Cho thought of Harry that day... was it something good or bad? Of course it was something bad -- how else could someone think of the person who caused her boyfirend die...
Later, the last thing that he remembered was going back to the Gryffindor Common Room. But what did he do the whole day?
He could barely remember what happened the last days. He felt that he was at Hogwarts for many days, but none of the things he had done at the castle came back to his mind. He had slept, but he didn't know how long. Again, he felt exactly like he did the first day back at Hogwarts - he wondered where he was and why he wasn't at the Dursleys. Then he remembered that he came with Dumbledore... because of a Death Eater who kept troubling him. But he couldn't remember anything else. But how could that be; the Death Eater who tried to erase Harry's memory couldn't come to Hogwarts... the castle was way too protected so there was no possibility that a Dark Wizard was in the castle after Harry...
Going to the Great Hall, which was empty, was useless. He had just hoped he would see Dumbledore... then he decided to go and look for him. Out of the Great Hall, he went straight to the spiral staircase that lead to Dumbledore's office... and he found himself in front of the stone gargoyle once again, not knowing the password.
Thinking about the passwords to the common rooms, he just hoped that it would work. "Move!" he said to the Gargoyle, and it jumped exactly the same way as it did when it was told the password.
But Dumbledore wasn't in his office.
The circular office was as usual. The pictures of the previous headmasters were still placed on the walls, and the sorting hat was waiting placed in a corner. Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, wasn't alone this time. Harry noticed that the phoenix owl was flying free in the room, carefully avoiding anything that he could damage.
But even though Dumbledore wasn't there, Harry felt someone around... he didn't know how, he just felt it.
He looked around and saw that there was no one inside. Thinking that it was just his imagination, he turned back to leave the room, thinking where Dumbledore could possibly be. But then --
"Gradis Obliviate," someone could be heard whispering in the room. And suddenly, Harry felt, again, as he did not have any worry. His mind was partly erased again... but still he could remember some things. And he knew that he had this feeling before, at the Dursleys. Then, he remembered that someone was casting Memory Charms at him.
He had nothing else to do than to run away -- his brain felt lighter without lots of worries pressing him. It was much easier to decide on something. And he just feared the only thing he could remember... the Memory Charms...
He ran. Out of the office, down on the spiral moving staircase, upstairs, running randomly hoping that he would escape, hoping that the Death Eater lost him...
And then, to his relief, he ran straight into Dumbledore. Before he could say anything, Harry started very quick:
"Professor, Memory Charms..." He pointed to Dumbledore's office, "The Death Eater -- just met him... invisible --"
"Calm down, Harry. While I am around, no one can hurt you. Follow me."
They both went to Dumbledore's office. The pressure on Harry seemed to lighten, and suddenly he felt more normal... thoughts were coming back to his head. The only thing he didn't know was how many thoughts didn't return...
Once they reached the office, Dumbledore started, "So, tell me, Harry. What happened?"
"I have met the death eater who keeps casting memory charms on me. He was exactly in this room... I came here to tell you that after I woke up, my mind seemed lighter and I didn't know what happened the last days here. The memory charms started having an effect. And while I was looking for you, someone -- I think he was invisible -- cast a spell - something with Obliviate inside..."
"Total Obliviate?" Dumbledore asked.
"No,"
"Gradis Obliviate?" Dumbledore asked again.
"Yes... I guess that was it..."
"That spell is a very good one - the caster tries to erase your memory but not all at once. You forget only a few things everytime it is casted. The thoughts are chosen by the caster, or else they are randomly chosen by the spell. I guess the Death Eater must be very smart..."
Dumbledore then paused and Harry had nothing to say.
"I will try to do something to prevent these things from happening..." said Dumbledore, with a very serious voice. "Because, whoever the person is, he won't give up that easily now that he had come that far. And if he will manage to erase your memory, it won't be good... However, I doubt that he will try anything after Hogwarts will be full of students."
Harry's mind just wandered around the words Dumbledore said to him, and after a time, he decided that Dumbledore was completely right, as he always was. But how could they keep Harry's memory intact until the other students came to Hogwarts?
That question was answerd soon.
"Go to your common room. I will try to cast some protective spells on the Gryffindor tower... be careful though. If you will go out of that room, it won't be good..." He paused and then stood up. "I hope I can cast that spell -- it needs many wizards to do it... well, you and Hagrid may help... Come, let's get Hagrid."
They went to Hagrid's hut and Dumbledore explained the entire situation. Hagrid just nodded to Dumbledore and told him that he hoped he could do magic after being expelled fifty-three years ago.
When they reached the common room, Dumbledore told Harry to enter becase he wouldn't be needing him. Harry wondered why, because only minutes ago Dumbledore said he couldn't do it by himself... but he had always trusted Dumbledore's words, so he did exactly as he was ordered. He pushed the painting with the Fat Lady open and stepped inside the quiet common room... the fire was still burning in the fireplace.
The only thing that was haunting him was that a Death Eater was after him and at any time he could cast a spell to make Hary forget -- everything... He wondered if the protective spell Dumbledore wanted to use was of any effect. But, as usual, he trusted Dumbledore. He had to. He knew that Dumbledore couldn't do everything as he desired, thing that Harry, Ron and Hermione learned it at the end of their third year, when Dumbledore couldn't do anything to make Fudge understand that Sirius was innocent...
He spent the entire day alone. Because Dumbledore said that it would be dangerous to leave the Gryffindor Tower, he decided to use his invisibility cloak so the death eater couldn't see him when he wanted so.
It was evening, and his stomach was growling and asking for food. Harry remembered that he hadn't eaten anything for lunch, so he hasted to the Great Hall, wondering if the House Elves were the ones preparing food in the summer. And if they were, he just hoped that Hermione wouldn't find out. Harry knew that she was obsessed with house-elves, saying that they had to be paid.
The Great Hall was as lit as everytime, even if there were only three, and with Harry, four, people inside. Harry went to the table and Dumbledore clapped his hands once, resulting in a plate full of tasty food being conjured in front of Harry.
"Anything new?" asked Dumbledore.
"Yes," said Harry. "My memory seems to be intact."
"Good!" replied Dumbledore while looking at the bewitched ceiling which looked like the sky outside. "There are only four more days until the school starts."
"Four?" asked Harry, wondering how it could be possible -- he thought there had to be five or six days until he would see the other schoolmates again. It had to be a previous memory charm that made him forget that.
Days passed very slow. His fear of the invisible Death Eater that kept trying to modify his memory decreased, because the protection Dumbledore used worked very well. Harry went to the library to take a book, and, surprisingly, he took another book about the Dark Arts called "Dark Wizards and their spells". Even he didn't know what exactly made him take that book, he wanted to read something 'good' in the beginning...
The days became as monotone as they were at the Dursleys. Harry found it a relief when he heard that there was only one more day until the Hogwarts Express would reach Hogwarts -- the only things he did the last days were reading, sleeping and eating. There was only one better thing than at the Dursleys. He could read any book from all the library -- even from the Restricted section.
He finished reading the book he took about Dark Wizards, and went back to the library... He wondered how the books were looking like moved by an invisible person. And he didn't wonder that for long, because he saw it immediately --
A book from a nearby shelf was slowly moving itself and without any noise. It was someone in an invisiblity cloak, Harry was sure -- and then he stood petrified, hoping to not make any noise... the Death Eater was near him...
He hid the book under his invisibility cloak, and then Harry lost him. Forgetting why he came there in the first place, he started running to Dumbledore's office -- the headmaster had to know it, and Harry was the only person who knew about that.
After exiting the library, he came back to his senses... and he knew that he had done a very big mistake. Running surely made a loud noise -- and the Death Eater now knew he was watched...
Harry felt the fear that the Death Eater knew where he was, and soon after, he found out that he was right.
"STUPEFY!" the Death Eater said quite loud. Harry was hit by the spell, and he fell to the floor...
Harry knew he was unconscious for a quite long time. He just knew it, something told him... He was lying on a soft bed, eyes closed, and many voices were echoing through his ears, though he couldn't understand them.
Only a question was in his mind: What happened? He only knew that he had been hit by a stunner. Then, he started understanding what the people around him were tlaking --
"...not work, then what can save him?"
"It will work. I wonder what kind of stunner did the attacker use."
"A stupefy spell, of course."
"Impossible. If it was a stupefy, we would have been able to revive him with the ennervate spell, but it didn't work!"
"Then, we just have to wait and see... be patient, he will be back to normal."
The only voice Harry recognized was Dumbledore's. He was the one who said the last sentence. Harry was partly back to normal, but still too weak to be able to do anything. As Dumbledore suggested, he just had to wait and see...
But -- the ennervate spell didn't work?
He woke up later, and his powers were back. He knew he had fallen asleep -- and it did him a lot of good. The first thing Harry did was to open his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the hospital wing around him. He had never seen it that empty; it was clear that the students weren't back yet.
Madam Pomfrey was sitting at her office. That meant the teachers were back, so Harry wasn't in the danger he had been in before. He wanted to get up, and as soon as he moved, Madam Pomfrey rushed towards him --
"Mr. Potter, I think it is not good if you try to stand up now --"
"It's nothing. I'm feeling perfect."
With that, he left the Hospital Wing, with Madam Pomfrey telling him that he should go back. But all he did was to ignore her. One thing came back to his mind -- the invisibility cloak. What happened to it? He was wearing it when the Death Eater casted the stupefy spell. What if the Death Eater took it?
But then, remember that he still was in danger when walking on the corridors alone - the Death Eater could be anywhere... even with the entire staff back into the castle. Harry took his wand and started doing what Professor Moody told him - Constant Vigillance. He had to be aware of every sound around him, because the Death Eater had an invisibility cloak -- or maybe two.
He then wondered where to go -- still the school was almost empty. The only person who he could go to was, of course, Dumbledore. He headed for the staircase that leaded to Dumbledore's office, and he saw that the Gargoyle still hadn't asked for a password. Dumbledore was in his office, and Harry's fear that Dumbledore could be gone was ended.
"Harry! You woke up."
"Yes, professor."
"I guess you are the only one who can tell us what happened?"
Harry started explaining everything. How he went to the library, how he saw the book moving... Then he proceeded to explain how he ran, maybe making quite loud noises. Even before Harry said that running wasn't a good thing running in that situation, Dumbledore told him that it wasn't the best choice.
After Harry finished everything, Dumbledore started telling what he knew.
"If it was a stupefy spell, it had to be a very strong one. All the teachers tried the ennervate spell on you at once and we weren't succesful to revive you." Dumbledore didn't have a face that told you that something was wrong, anyone could tell that he was quite happy. Harry knew that Dumbledore was always like that... but he never thought that in days like those he wasn't looking like he had any fear inside as the other people had... but, Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort ever feared.
"Oh, one thing... when you found me, did you see my invisibility cloak?"
Dumbledore's smile faded away. He opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped. Harry never saw him acting like that. It seemed the first time when Dumbledore didn't know exactly what to say.
"No," Dumbledore said, "We didn't see it."
Harry felt like the night when his parents died repeated in that moment. He had lost his most prized posession - the invisibility cloak which he inherited from his own father. His mind seemed to have only one word inscripted on it - 'Revenge'. He wanted to meet the Death Eater, and torture him until he gave him the cloak back. And Dumbledore seemed to read Harry's mind, and continued,
"All we have to do is wait. The Death Eater will be very careful now that the teachers are back, and even more from this evening, when the Hogwarts Express arrives with the students. With one thousand people around him, he won't have the courage to do anything foolish. And that will make him even harder to find." He paused, before asking, "Anything else, Harry? Is there anything you want to tel me?"
"Er --" There were more things, but he didn't know what to say. Should he tell him about Errol's death? Or about his trip to the burrow? He couldn't do as he did in his second year and ignore everything -- Dumbledore looked the only one who could solve the mystery. "Yes, there are a few things..."
"Go ahead."
"When I was at the Dursleys..." Harry started, pausing a few moments to think, "My Uncle killed the Weasley Family Owl."
"Oh, and did you pay them back?"
"But when I went at the Burrow," Harry continued, ignoring Dumbledore's last words, "Errol was there, and Mrs. Weasley said that -- Errol didn't die... But how can that be? I even owled them telling that I was sorry and that I had to pay back, and they said they never recieved a letter..."
Dumbledore looked at Fawkes, who slowly flew to him.
"This is a strange thing," Dumbledore continued. "It may be the Death Eater's work... Memory Charms... Someone modified your memory. There are more advanced spells that can make you more than forget... And if planned and casted right, you will have no doubts that it really happened..."
Harry looked at Dumbledore as he sopke. If that was true, that meant the Death Eater had to be very strong -- if he was able to cast spells like that. And that would have explained the trip to the Burrow, too. He didn't tell Dumbledore that, because it was quite obvious that it had to be the Memory Charms...
After leaving Dumbledore's office, Harry started analysing the situation. As if it wasn't bad enough, he had to lose the invisibility cloak! What could he to without it? The Death Eater could see him at anytime... but then, Harry had to listen to Dumbledore. The Death Eater couldn't try to do anything to Harry with so many people around him, walking in the school at any time of the day.
After he ate in the afternoon, he didn't go to the Common room. He walked with Hagrid to his hut, because the Hogwarts Express arrived in only a few hours. Harry had the same feeling as he had when he had to leave the Dursleys - seconds seemed minutes, even with Hagrid around. Both of them were quite quiet, no one had anything to say. Harry's fear for the Death Eater was back, and it was even stronger then before. Harry wondered where the Death Eater was at that moment. And he thought that if he was in the Death Eater's place, he would have attacked before the students arrived.
And the Death Eater seemed to think just like Harry. Hagrid saw the door moving, and it was no one near it -- Harry was scared of losing his memory, and he hid himself in a corner. Too bad that he went exactly in the corner where the Death Eater was hiding in...
"Gradis Obliviate," Harry heard someone whispering, and the next moment Harry jumped to his feet and a scream escaped him -- Hagrid turned back to see what happened and saw Harry whose terrified face was looking back at the corner where he had met the Death Eater. Not pausing to think, Harry took his wand and --
"STUPEFY!" he yelled so loud that he thought even Dumbledore could hear from his office. The next moment Harry saw that something fell and hit the table in Hagrid's hut. "Gotcha!" Harry said and looked at the table with some very evil eyes.
All the time, Hagrid stood silenced and watched everything that happened. He looked very confused, and Harry didn't blame him. He couldn't have known that the Death Eater was back, and he couldn't know what Harry was shooting at.
Harry went very fast to the table, and he hit the invisible and unconscious Death Eater. "There you are!" he said, and took the invisibility cloak off him. He saw that it wasn't his dad's cloak, his evil grin fading away. He just told himself that he would find out from the Death Eater...
He took another look at the unconscious Death Eater, and saw who he was. He had met him only once before - at the Little Hangleton's churchyard where Voldemort had reborn. All he knew was that his name was Avery. He had a look of terror on his face - Harry supposed that he had seen the Stupefy spell closing him.
Harry turned to Hagrid, still quiet. None of them said a word, they were waiting for the other to start.
"I think we will need a small quantity of the Veritaserum," Harry said after some minutes. "Or someone who knows the Cruciatus Curse." He just imagined himself performing the Cruciatus, and pointed his wand at the Death Eater. "Crucio," he said joking.
But that had an effect as he had never thought -- a jet of light emitted from the top of his wand and hit Avery. The next moment, the Death Eater was rolling on the floor in pain, his face told Harry that if he hadn't lost his voice, he would be screaming loudly...
Harry had just performed the Cruciatus Curse! He stopped the curse and cast Stupefy again to render Avery unconscious again, because the Cruciatus had woken him up. He was looking at his wand, and at Hagrid; he couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe the spell he had just casted. He never imagined that he could do that curse -- and he was just in fifth year...
The Cruciatus!
Hagrid still didn't say anything. He seemed stunned by Harry's performance, and he was waiting for Harry to continue.
"We need to go and get Professor Dumbledore," said Harry while taking the Invisibility Cloak and hurrying out of the hut. The time until he reached Dumbledore's office seemed an eternity. And when he reached the Gargoyle, he saw Dumbledore teaching him the new password - 'Canary Creams'. He may have found out what the Weasley Twins were secretly creating.
"Harry!" he said, and than he noticed that Harry had a very strange look on his face - a mixture between tryumph and fear. After all, he had just performed the Cruciatus Curse...
"Professor, I have just met the Death Eater -- and it looks like he waits for us to talk to him," he said.
"Where is he?"
"Hagrid's hut."
"What do you mean, he waits for us?"
"Er... A stupefy spell managed to do it," said Harry thinking that the Triwizard Tournament did a lot of good - they learned some good new spells. "And... something very strange happened again."
Dumbledore turned his head to Harry, still hurrying to Hagrid's hut.
"I... cast the Cruciatus curse."
That moment, Dumbledore stopped from running, his eyes looking at Harry. He had a look on his face that expressed both admiration, and worry.
"Cruciatus?" he asked.
"Yes."
"How did you manage it?"
"I don't know... I was just saying Crucio, hoping that I would be able to do it... I was just kidding, and then I saw the curse hitting him..."
"Come, we will talk about that later."
They both hurried again towards the hut, and by the time they were there, Harry suggested that it was a good idea if they used a Veritaserum.
Hagrid was still waiting in the hut, and Avery was still unconscious. "Ennervate!" Dumbledore said, and soon after, Avery started moving. "Stop!" came Dumbledore's voice again, pointing his wand at the Death Eater, and Harry saw the seriousness on Dumbledore's face that told him why he was called the strongest wizard of the time.
Avery was looking at Harry and Dumbledore. He was very scared by the time he noticed that his invisibility cloak was in Harry's hands.
"Where is MY cloak?" Harry asked noticing the silence. But Avery was as quiet as before, not saying a word. "WHERE IS IT?"
"Harry, calm down!" said Dumbledore, but Harry felt like he couldn't calm himself. All he wanted was his dad's cloak back. "Harry!" Harry could see that Dumbledore's voice was almost sounding like the disappointed voice he rarely had, and Harry knew hearing that was worse than being shouted at. At last, he seemed to calm down a little. "Guard him!" Dumbledore ordered, while running out of the hut.
"Want another Cruciatus casted on you?" Harry asked Avery, who still didn't say anything. "Tell me where my cloak is." But Avery still didn't move at all. "Well, you asked for it! Crucio!"
But it had no effect. "CRUCIO!" he said again, but still nothing happened. "Tell me where the cloak is..."
Avery stood as quiet as he was when he was stunned, and that was making Harry quite angry. And why couldn't he do the Cruciatus anymore?
Dumbledore returned with a Veritaserum potion, which Harry knew by then. Avery didn't want to drink it, but a small quantity fell on his mouth, and down his neck. They could see its effects; Harry knew those, too, because he saw a Veritaserum in use just two months ago.
"Tell us," Dumbledore started, "Who sent you here and why?"
"My Lord and his second in command," he started in a very monotone voice, "sent me to erase Harry Potter's memory. But they told me not to do it all at once, they told me to erase thought by thought until everything would be gone, so he couldn't realize what I was doing..."
"Who is the second in command?"
"My Lord was very wise when he chose Mr --" but he couldn't say more. It looked like something hurt him. He only let a small pain sound, and then his entire body fell to the ground.
Harry, Dumbledore and Hagrid stood there looking around to see what killed Avery. But Harry didn't need to know that, because one thing was sure. It was another Death Eater, who stopped him from giving away very important information. And then Harry was reminded of his invisibility cloak -- if Avery was dead, how would he find out where the cloak was?
It didn't matter that he had Avery's. The only thing he wanted was to have his dad's cloak back -- nothing could be as comforting as that. He prized the things he had inherited from his parents the most -- and the Cloak was the only one, if he wouldn't consider the Marauder's Map.
"Well, he is gone," said Dumbledore with his serious voice.
"No..." Harry spit out without wanting to. "My dad's cloak is gone..."
"Harry, we will find it. Only confide in yourself. Now I think it is time I should get prepared -- soon the Hogwarts Express is about to arrive... Sorry, but I have no time to talk now. Hagrid, you should get prepared too."
Dumbledore went out of the hut. Harry and Hagrid were staring at each other. "I think he is right," said Hagrid. "I should prepare for the students to come -- but there are not many things to be done... you know that my job is to lead the first years... What are you going to do, Harry?"
Harry sat and thought for a little -- what would he want to do -- surely, the thing he wanted to do was to go and meet his friends -- he didn't see them for a long time -- especially Hermione... and his memory slowly went to Cho, but he forgot her when Hagrid went out of the hut and took him, saying, "Let's go."
He woke up the next morning and at first he wondered what happened -- where he was. He was used at staying at the Dursleys and when he woke up, he usually saw the small room on Privet Drive -- but this time he was in a darker room.
But suddenly he remembered the last day's events. And the first thing he thought about was what he was going to do all the day, even if he was at Hogwarts. At first it seemed nothing after living two months with the Dursleys, but Harry found it as boring as it was before.
He walked out of the dark bedroom he slept in and saw that the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room was lit up. The thought of sitting in that room the entire day wasn't welcoming, because he was tired of waiting -- so he decided to go to the least boring place he could find in a holiday - the library... That wasn't made only for Hermione after all.
But walking towards the library, he realized that he was hungry. Dumbledore was there, and everyone had to eat, and he was no exception, so he decided to pay a visit to the Great Hall. He remembered in his third year's Christmas Holiday when everyone ate at a single table in the Great Hall - and Harry thought it had to be as it was before. Or was it?
Entering the Great Hall, he saw that he was right. But there were less people inside than in the Christmas Holiday, the only ones who were sitting at a small table were Dumbledore, Hagrid and Filch.
"Harry!" said Dumbledore, "Come and take a seat..."
"How're yeh?" asked Hagrid.
Filch seemed the only one who looked as he didn't notice Harry entering. Harry was sure that he did, but he wasn't interrested in it. Every student hated him, mainly because he hated them. In Harry's second year, he had found out that Filch was a squib -- a person born by two wizards but with no magical powers. Because of that, he didn't like children too much -- he was jealous because they had magic inside and he didn't.
"I am bored," Harry answered Hagrid's question.
"Bored? heh," Hagrid answered.
"Yes, Hagrid. Bored," answered Harry, surprised himself by his words -- it was another strange thing happening lately. He started saying words he had never thought saying... and that was really strange -- not to forget that it was quite bad. What if he said something bad to Dumbledore?
Dumbledore conjured some food on the table for Harry to eat. They stood in a complete silence, which was rarely broken by the light sounds created by the spoons and forks touching the golden plates. Harry was thinking of what he could do at Hogwarts, forgetting what brought him at the castle before the beginning of the term.
After breakfast, he wanted to go to the library due to his boreness, but he saw something that made him go to living off memories again: he saw the Ravenclaw entrance to their common room. Besides of thinking about Cho, without wanting to, his mind went again to what happened the day when Cedric died. He wondered what Cho thought of Harry that day... was it something good or bad? Of course it was something bad -- how else could someone think of the person who caused her boyfirend die...
Later, the last thing that he remembered was going back to the Gryffindor Common Room. But what did he do the whole day?
He could barely remember what happened the last days. He felt that he was at Hogwarts for many days, but none of the things he had done at the castle came back to his mind. He had slept, but he didn't know how long. Again, he felt exactly like he did the first day back at Hogwarts - he wondered where he was and why he wasn't at the Dursleys. Then he remembered that he came with Dumbledore... because of a Death Eater who kept troubling him. But he couldn't remember anything else. But how could that be; the Death Eater who tried to erase Harry's memory couldn't come to Hogwarts... the castle was way too protected so there was no possibility that a Dark Wizard was in the castle after Harry...
Going to the Great Hall, which was empty, was useless. He had just hoped he would see Dumbledore... then he decided to go and look for him. Out of the Great Hall, he went straight to the spiral staircase that lead to Dumbledore's office... and he found himself in front of the stone gargoyle once again, not knowing the password.
Thinking about the passwords to the common rooms, he just hoped that it would work. "Move!" he said to the Gargoyle, and it jumped exactly the same way as it did when it was told the password.
But Dumbledore wasn't in his office.
The circular office was as usual. The pictures of the previous headmasters were still placed on the walls, and the sorting hat was waiting placed in a corner. Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, wasn't alone this time. Harry noticed that the phoenix owl was flying free in the room, carefully avoiding anything that he could damage.
But even though Dumbledore wasn't there, Harry felt someone around... he didn't know how, he just felt it.
He looked around and saw that there was no one inside. Thinking that it was just his imagination, he turned back to leave the room, thinking where Dumbledore could possibly be. But then --
"Gradis Obliviate," someone could be heard whispering in the room. And suddenly, Harry felt, again, as he did not have any worry. His mind was partly erased again... but still he could remember some things. And he knew that he had this feeling before, at the Dursleys. Then, he remembered that someone was casting Memory Charms at him.
He had nothing else to do than to run away -- his brain felt lighter without lots of worries pressing him. It was much easier to decide on something. And he just feared the only thing he could remember... the Memory Charms...
He ran. Out of the office, down on the spiral moving staircase, upstairs, running randomly hoping that he would escape, hoping that the Death Eater lost him...
And then, to his relief, he ran straight into Dumbledore. Before he could say anything, Harry started very quick:
"Professor, Memory Charms..." He pointed to Dumbledore's office, "The Death Eater -- just met him... invisible --"
"Calm down, Harry. While I am around, no one can hurt you. Follow me."
They both went to Dumbledore's office. The pressure on Harry seemed to lighten, and suddenly he felt more normal... thoughts were coming back to his head. The only thing he didn't know was how many thoughts didn't return...
Once they reached the office, Dumbledore started, "So, tell me, Harry. What happened?"
"I have met the death eater who keeps casting memory charms on me. He was exactly in this room... I came here to tell you that after I woke up, my mind seemed lighter and I didn't know what happened the last days here. The memory charms started having an effect. And while I was looking for you, someone -- I think he was invisible -- cast a spell - something with Obliviate inside..."
"Total Obliviate?" Dumbledore asked.
"No,"
"Gradis Obliviate?" Dumbledore asked again.
"Yes... I guess that was it..."
"That spell is a very good one - the caster tries to erase your memory but not all at once. You forget only a few things everytime it is casted. The thoughts are chosen by the caster, or else they are randomly chosen by the spell. I guess the Death Eater must be very smart..."
Dumbledore then paused and Harry had nothing to say.
"I will try to do something to prevent these things from happening..." said Dumbledore, with a very serious voice. "Because, whoever the person is, he won't give up that easily now that he had come that far. And if he will manage to erase your memory, it won't be good... However, I doubt that he will try anything after Hogwarts will be full of students."
Harry's mind just wandered around the words Dumbledore said to him, and after a time, he decided that Dumbledore was completely right, as he always was. But how could they keep Harry's memory intact until the other students came to Hogwarts?
That question was answerd soon.
"Go to your common room. I will try to cast some protective spells on the Gryffindor tower... be careful though. If you will go out of that room, it won't be good..." He paused and then stood up. "I hope I can cast that spell -- it needs many wizards to do it... well, you and Hagrid may help... Come, let's get Hagrid."
They went to Hagrid's hut and Dumbledore explained the entire situation. Hagrid just nodded to Dumbledore and told him that he hoped he could do magic after being expelled fifty-three years ago.
When they reached the common room, Dumbledore told Harry to enter becase he wouldn't be needing him. Harry wondered why, because only minutes ago Dumbledore said he couldn't do it by himself... but he had always trusted Dumbledore's words, so he did exactly as he was ordered. He pushed the painting with the Fat Lady open and stepped inside the quiet common room... the fire was still burning in the fireplace.
The only thing that was haunting him was that a Death Eater was after him and at any time he could cast a spell to make Hary forget -- everything... He wondered if the protective spell Dumbledore wanted to use was of any effect. But, as usual, he trusted Dumbledore. He had to. He knew that Dumbledore couldn't do everything as he desired, thing that Harry, Ron and Hermione learned it at the end of their third year, when Dumbledore couldn't do anything to make Fudge understand that Sirius was innocent...
He spent the entire day alone. Because Dumbledore said that it would be dangerous to leave the Gryffindor Tower, he decided to use his invisibility cloak so the death eater couldn't see him when he wanted so.
It was evening, and his stomach was growling and asking for food. Harry remembered that he hadn't eaten anything for lunch, so he hasted to the Great Hall, wondering if the House Elves were the ones preparing food in the summer. And if they were, he just hoped that Hermione wouldn't find out. Harry knew that she was obsessed with house-elves, saying that they had to be paid.
The Great Hall was as lit as everytime, even if there were only three, and with Harry, four, people inside. Harry went to the table and Dumbledore clapped his hands once, resulting in a plate full of tasty food being conjured in front of Harry.
"Anything new?" asked Dumbledore.
"Yes," said Harry. "My memory seems to be intact."
"Good!" replied Dumbledore while looking at the bewitched ceiling which looked like the sky outside. "There are only four more days until the school starts."
"Four?" asked Harry, wondering how it could be possible -- he thought there had to be five or six days until he would see the other schoolmates again. It had to be a previous memory charm that made him forget that.
Days passed very slow. His fear of the invisible Death Eater that kept trying to modify his memory decreased, because the protection Dumbledore used worked very well. Harry went to the library to take a book, and, surprisingly, he took another book about the Dark Arts called "Dark Wizards and their spells". Even he didn't know what exactly made him take that book, he wanted to read something 'good' in the beginning...
The days became as monotone as they were at the Dursleys. Harry found it a relief when he heard that there was only one more day until the Hogwarts Express would reach Hogwarts -- the only things he did the last days were reading, sleeping and eating. There was only one better thing than at the Dursleys. He could read any book from all the library -- even from the Restricted section.
He finished reading the book he took about Dark Wizards, and went back to the library... He wondered how the books were looking like moved by an invisible person. And he didn't wonder that for long, because he saw it immediately --
A book from a nearby shelf was slowly moving itself and without any noise. It was someone in an invisiblity cloak, Harry was sure -- and then he stood petrified, hoping to not make any noise... the Death Eater was near him...
He hid the book under his invisibility cloak, and then Harry lost him. Forgetting why he came there in the first place, he started running to Dumbledore's office -- the headmaster had to know it, and Harry was the only person who knew about that.
After exiting the library, he came back to his senses... and he knew that he had done a very big mistake. Running surely made a loud noise -- and the Death Eater now knew he was watched...
Harry felt the fear that the Death Eater knew where he was, and soon after, he found out that he was right.
"STUPEFY!" the Death Eater said quite loud. Harry was hit by the spell, and he fell to the floor...
Harry knew he was unconscious for a quite long time. He just knew it, something told him... He was lying on a soft bed, eyes closed, and many voices were echoing through his ears, though he couldn't understand them.
Only a question was in his mind: What happened? He only knew that he had been hit by a stunner. Then, he started understanding what the people around him were tlaking --
"...not work, then what can save him?"
"It will work. I wonder what kind of stunner did the attacker use."
"A stupefy spell, of course."
"Impossible. If it was a stupefy, we would have been able to revive him with the ennervate spell, but it didn't work!"
"Then, we just have to wait and see... be patient, he will be back to normal."
The only voice Harry recognized was Dumbledore's. He was the one who said the last sentence. Harry was partly back to normal, but still too weak to be able to do anything. As Dumbledore suggested, he just had to wait and see...
But -- the ennervate spell didn't work?
He woke up later, and his powers were back. He knew he had fallen asleep -- and it did him a lot of good. The first thing Harry did was to open his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the hospital wing around him. He had never seen it that empty; it was clear that the students weren't back yet.
Madam Pomfrey was sitting at her office. That meant the teachers were back, so Harry wasn't in the danger he had been in before. He wanted to get up, and as soon as he moved, Madam Pomfrey rushed towards him --
"Mr. Potter, I think it is not good if you try to stand up now --"
"It's nothing. I'm feeling perfect."
With that, he left the Hospital Wing, with Madam Pomfrey telling him that he should go back. But all he did was to ignore her. One thing came back to his mind -- the invisibility cloak. What happened to it? He was wearing it when the Death Eater casted the stupefy spell. What if the Death Eater took it?
But then, remember that he still was in danger when walking on the corridors alone - the Death Eater could be anywhere... even with the entire staff back into the castle. Harry took his wand and started doing what Professor Moody told him - Constant Vigillance. He had to be aware of every sound around him, because the Death Eater had an invisibility cloak -- or maybe two.
He then wondered where to go -- still the school was almost empty. The only person who he could go to was, of course, Dumbledore. He headed for the staircase that leaded to Dumbledore's office, and he saw that the Gargoyle still hadn't asked for a password. Dumbledore was in his office, and Harry's fear that Dumbledore could be gone was ended.
"Harry! You woke up."
"Yes, professor."
"I guess you are the only one who can tell us what happened?"
Harry started explaining everything. How he went to the library, how he saw the book moving... Then he proceeded to explain how he ran, maybe making quite loud noises. Even before Harry said that running wasn't a good thing running in that situation, Dumbledore told him that it wasn't the best choice.
After Harry finished everything, Dumbledore started telling what he knew.
"If it was a stupefy spell, it had to be a very strong one. All the teachers tried the ennervate spell on you at once and we weren't succesful to revive you." Dumbledore didn't have a face that told you that something was wrong, anyone could tell that he was quite happy. Harry knew that Dumbledore was always like that... but he never thought that in days like those he wasn't looking like he had any fear inside as the other people had... but, Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort ever feared.
"Oh, one thing... when you found me, did you see my invisibility cloak?"
Dumbledore's smile faded away. He opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped. Harry never saw him acting like that. It seemed the first time when Dumbledore didn't know exactly what to say.
"No," Dumbledore said, "We didn't see it."
Harry felt like the night when his parents died repeated in that moment. He had lost his most prized posession - the invisibility cloak which he inherited from his own father. His mind seemed to have only one word inscripted on it - 'Revenge'. He wanted to meet the Death Eater, and torture him until he gave him the cloak back. And Dumbledore seemed to read Harry's mind, and continued,
"All we have to do is wait. The Death Eater will be very careful now that the teachers are back, and even more from this evening, when the Hogwarts Express arrives with the students. With one thousand people around him, he won't have the courage to do anything foolish. And that will make him even harder to find." He paused, before asking, "Anything else, Harry? Is there anything you want to tel me?"
"Er --" There were more things, but he didn't know what to say. Should he tell him about Errol's death? Or about his trip to the burrow? He couldn't do as he did in his second year and ignore everything -- Dumbledore looked the only one who could solve the mystery. "Yes, there are a few things..."
"Go ahead."
"When I was at the Dursleys..." Harry started, pausing a few moments to think, "My Uncle killed the Weasley Family Owl."
"Oh, and did you pay them back?"
"But when I went at the Burrow," Harry continued, ignoring Dumbledore's last words, "Errol was there, and Mrs. Weasley said that -- Errol didn't die... But how can that be? I even owled them telling that I was sorry and that I had to pay back, and they said they never recieved a letter..."
Dumbledore looked at Fawkes, who slowly flew to him.
"This is a strange thing," Dumbledore continued. "It may be the Death Eater's work... Memory Charms... Someone modified your memory. There are more advanced spells that can make you more than forget... And if planned and casted right, you will have no doubts that it really happened..."
Harry looked at Dumbledore as he sopke. If that was true, that meant the Death Eater had to be very strong -- if he was able to cast spells like that. And that would have explained the trip to the Burrow, too. He didn't tell Dumbledore that, because it was quite obvious that it had to be the Memory Charms...
After leaving Dumbledore's office, Harry started analysing the situation. As if it wasn't bad enough, he had to lose the invisibility cloak! What could he to without it? The Death Eater could see him at anytime... but then, Harry had to listen to Dumbledore. The Death Eater couldn't try to do anything to Harry with so many people around him, walking in the school at any time of the day.
After he ate in the afternoon, he didn't go to the Common room. He walked with Hagrid to his hut, because the Hogwarts Express arrived in only a few hours. Harry had the same feeling as he had when he had to leave the Dursleys - seconds seemed minutes, even with Hagrid around. Both of them were quite quiet, no one had anything to say. Harry's fear for the Death Eater was back, and it was even stronger then before. Harry wondered where the Death Eater was at that moment. And he thought that if he was in the Death Eater's place, he would have attacked before the students arrived.
And the Death Eater seemed to think just like Harry. Hagrid saw the door moving, and it was no one near it -- Harry was scared of losing his memory, and he hid himself in a corner. Too bad that he went exactly in the corner where the Death Eater was hiding in...
"Gradis Obliviate," Harry heard someone whispering, and the next moment Harry jumped to his feet and a scream escaped him -- Hagrid turned back to see what happened and saw Harry whose terrified face was looking back at the corner where he had met the Death Eater. Not pausing to think, Harry took his wand and --
"STUPEFY!" he yelled so loud that he thought even Dumbledore could hear from his office. The next moment Harry saw that something fell and hit the table in Hagrid's hut. "Gotcha!" Harry said and looked at the table with some very evil eyes.
All the time, Hagrid stood silenced and watched everything that happened. He looked very confused, and Harry didn't blame him. He couldn't have known that the Death Eater was back, and he couldn't know what Harry was shooting at.
Harry went very fast to the table, and he hit the invisible and unconscious Death Eater. "There you are!" he said, and took the invisibility cloak off him. He saw that it wasn't his dad's cloak, his evil grin fading away. He just told himself that he would find out from the Death Eater...
He took another look at the unconscious Death Eater, and saw who he was. He had met him only once before - at the Little Hangleton's churchyard where Voldemort had reborn. All he knew was that his name was Avery. He had a look of terror on his face - Harry supposed that he had seen the Stupefy spell closing him.
Harry turned to Hagrid, still quiet. None of them said a word, they were waiting for the other to start.
"I think we will need a small quantity of the Veritaserum," Harry said after some minutes. "Or someone who knows the Cruciatus Curse." He just imagined himself performing the Cruciatus, and pointed his wand at the Death Eater. "Crucio," he said joking.
But that had an effect as he had never thought -- a jet of light emitted from the top of his wand and hit Avery. The next moment, the Death Eater was rolling on the floor in pain, his face told Harry that if he hadn't lost his voice, he would be screaming loudly...
Harry had just performed the Cruciatus Curse! He stopped the curse and cast Stupefy again to render Avery unconscious again, because the Cruciatus had woken him up. He was looking at his wand, and at Hagrid; he couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe the spell he had just casted. He never imagined that he could do that curse -- and he was just in fifth year...
The Cruciatus!
Hagrid still didn't say anything. He seemed stunned by Harry's performance, and he was waiting for Harry to continue.
"We need to go and get Professor Dumbledore," said Harry while taking the Invisibility Cloak and hurrying out of the hut. The time until he reached Dumbledore's office seemed an eternity. And when he reached the Gargoyle, he saw Dumbledore teaching him the new password - 'Canary Creams'. He may have found out what the Weasley Twins were secretly creating.
"Harry!" he said, and than he noticed that Harry had a very strange look on his face - a mixture between tryumph and fear. After all, he had just performed the Cruciatus Curse...
"Professor, I have just met the Death Eater -- and it looks like he waits for us to talk to him," he said.
"Where is he?"
"Hagrid's hut."
"What do you mean, he waits for us?"
"Er... A stupefy spell managed to do it," said Harry thinking that the Triwizard Tournament did a lot of good - they learned some good new spells. "And... something very strange happened again."
Dumbledore turned his head to Harry, still hurrying to Hagrid's hut.
"I... cast the Cruciatus curse."
That moment, Dumbledore stopped from running, his eyes looking at Harry. He had a look on his face that expressed both admiration, and worry.
"Cruciatus?" he asked.
"Yes."
"How did you manage it?"
"I don't know... I was just saying Crucio, hoping that I would be able to do it... I was just kidding, and then I saw the curse hitting him..."
"Come, we will talk about that later."
They both hurried again towards the hut, and by the time they were there, Harry suggested that it was a good idea if they used a Veritaserum.
Hagrid was still waiting in the hut, and Avery was still unconscious. "Ennervate!" Dumbledore said, and soon after, Avery started moving. "Stop!" came Dumbledore's voice again, pointing his wand at the Death Eater, and Harry saw the seriousness on Dumbledore's face that told him why he was called the strongest wizard of the time.
Avery was looking at Harry and Dumbledore. He was very scared by the time he noticed that his invisibility cloak was in Harry's hands.
"Where is MY cloak?" Harry asked noticing the silence. But Avery was as quiet as before, not saying a word. "WHERE IS IT?"
"Harry, calm down!" said Dumbledore, but Harry felt like he couldn't calm himself. All he wanted was his dad's cloak back. "Harry!" Harry could see that Dumbledore's voice was almost sounding like the disappointed voice he rarely had, and Harry knew hearing that was worse than being shouted at. At last, he seemed to calm down a little. "Guard him!" Dumbledore ordered, while running out of the hut.
"Want another Cruciatus casted on you?" Harry asked Avery, who still didn't say anything. "Tell me where my cloak is." But Avery still didn't move at all. "Well, you asked for it! Crucio!"
But it had no effect. "CRUCIO!" he said again, but still nothing happened. "Tell me where the cloak is..."
Avery stood as quiet as he was when he was stunned, and that was making Harry quite angry. And why couldn't he do the Cruciatus anymore?
Dumbledore returned with a Veritaserum potion, which Harry knew by then. Avery didn't want to drink it, but a small quantity fell on his mouth, and down his neck. They could see its effects; Harry knew those, too, because he saw a Veritaserum in use just two months ago.
"Tell us," Dumbledore started, "Who sent you here and why?"
"My Lord and his second in command," he started in a very monotone voice, "sent me to erase Harry Potter's memory. But they told me not to do it all at once, they told me to erase thought by thought until everything would be gone, so he couldn't realize what I was doing..."
"Who is the second in command?"
"My Lord was very wise when he chose Mr --" but he couldn't say more. It looked like something hurt him. He only let a small pain sound, and then his entire body fell to the ground.
Harry, Dumbledore and Hagrid stood there looking around to see what killed Avery. But Harry didn't need to know that, because one thing was sure. It was another Death Eater, who stopped him from giving away very important information. And then Harry was reminded of his invisibility cloak -- if Avery was dead, how would he find out where the cloak was?
It didn't matter that he had Avery's. The only thing he wanted was to have his dad's cloak back -- nothing could be as comforting as that. He prized the things he had inherited from his parents the most -- and the Cloak was the only one, if he wouldn't consider the Marauder's Map.
"Well, he is gone," said Dumbledore with his serious voice.
"No..." Harry spit out without wanting to. "My dad's cloak is gone..."
"Harry, we will find it. Only confide in yourself. Now I think it is time I should get prepared -- soon the Hogwarts Express is about to arrive... Sorry, but I have no time to talk now. Hagrid, you should get prepared too."
Dumbledore went out of the hut. Harry and Hagrid were staring at each other. "I think he is right," said Hagrid. "I should prepare for the students to come -- but there are not many things to be done... you know that my job is to lead the first years... What are you going to do, Harry?"
Harry sat and thought for a little -- what would he want to do -- surely, the thing he wanted to do was to go and meet his friends -- he didn't see them for a long time -- especially Hermione... and his memory slowly went to Cho, but he forgot her when Hagrid went out of the hut and took him, saying, "Let's go."