Chapter twenty-three- The Eye of the Enemy
When Harry looked back on what had happened, he had only scattered memories of it. Seeing the Dursley's trapped; the death of Kevin; he knew that he had to bring his mind back to the present. There were things that he had to focus on now, and one of them, was something he had looked forward to for ages; Human Transfiguration.
April finally arrived, bringing warmer and drier weather over the grounds, and the castle grounds were bursting back into life, with its emerald green grass, and the beech trees blossoming and blooming. It was a bright Monday morning, and the only thing the Gryffindor sixth years had on their mind was Human Transfiguration. Luckily for them, Transfiguration was their first lesson.
"I heard that it's the best thing McGonagall teaches us!" said Ron excitedly, as he started buttering toast.
"I remember hearing Percy talk about it," Hermione said. "He said it was a hard bit of magic, but it worked out well"
Ron snorted.
The bell sounded, and the sixth years dashed out of the hall so quickly, it looked as though many of them disapparated. They headed up to Professor McGonagall's classroom, in which the door was already ajar. The Slytherins filed in after the Gryffindors, and everyone took their seats. Harry and Ron sat in the front of the room, near Hermione and Neville. Professor McGonagall emerged from her office, and looked suspiciously at the class.
It appeared that everyone had their quills ready, wands in front of them, and their hands folded upon their desks. Not one head was faced in another direction, and no whispering was heard. Everyone's attention was on Professor McGonagall.
"Good-"
"Good Morning Professor McGonagall" the class chanted, before she could even say good morning. She looked slightly taken aback, but said nothing.
"Ms. Granger, would you kindly hand back these essays," Said Professor McGonagall, pointing to a large stack of parchment on her desk. It happened in a split second. Hermione dashed up to the desk, whipped out her wand, muttered something, and the papers soared to their rightful owners. Harry glanced at his paper, which was lying directly in front of him, and saw that he received an "E". He smiled, and turned his attention back to McGonagall.
"Thank you Ms Granger" she said slowly. She whipped out her wand, and held it firmly in her hand. "It seems quite clear to me, why your behavior is rather strange. You have all made it to the part of the year in which will test your magical abilities; Human Transfiguration."
"Now, many wizards around the world, have never realized the true nature of this bit of magic, but they have concluded that it's very important. Over the years, I have stated to my students, that if you fail to pay attention, you will surely fail," she continued, as she scanned the class. Everyone's attention was still on her.
"So, let us begin! Human Transfiguration begins with the thoughts of one's mind, and the power of one's magic" and with that, everyone picked up their quills, and began scribbling across their parchment. Professor McGonagall was slightly taken aback, but said nothing. When everyone had finished, they looked up at her.
"Ms. Granger, would you kindly stand up here please?"
Hermione beamed, and stood up. She walked around her desk, and stood next to Professor McGonagall, beaming at the rest of the class. Pansy Parkinson whispered darkly to a blonde haired girl next to her.
"Now, I am going to demonstrate the usage of Transfiguration on Ms. Granger. Note, what is happening before she takes the shape of the thing I want her to become" McGonagall said. She pointed her wand, directly at Hermione. "Note, a wand must point at a one-hundred and eighty degree angle. Any more or any less will endanger the subject's life," she said sharply. "And now, you transfigure"
"Putanis" she said. A flash of blinding yellow light engulfed Hermione, and she began to change shape. Lavender and Parvati gasped, and Pansy went ghostly white. Hermione had become a dictionary. There was no sign of anything human about the dictionary either. It looked completely real. Harry and Ron gave each other significant looks of approval.
"That was brilliant Professor!" said Seamus.
"Excellent!" said Dean.
"Amazing" Neville said.
"Thank you. Now, let me change Ms. Granger back" said Professor McGonagall. She pointed her wand at Hermione and saw "Finite". Hermione reappeared with a pop.
"Thank you Ms. Granger. Five points to Gryffindor"
Hermione smiled, and returned to her seat. For the rest of the class, Professor McGonagall made them read and copy so many notes, it was hard to say that anyone would miss anything. When the booming bell sounded, everyone began to head to his or her classes.
"So," said Ron, as they entered the bustling and busy. "How did it feel?"
"It felt weird, because everything looked as though it would if I were normal. I mean, I could think and stuff"
"But how could you see? We didn't see any eyes," Harry said.
"Trust me, you don't need eyes in a dictionary to see" Hermione chuckled. She waved good-bye to them as she set off for Arithmacy, and they headed to the North Tower. Harry dreaded going up there, but he was certain that next year, he would definitely drop it. They reached the magical ladder, which was already down, and they ascended it into the sweltering heat of Professor Trelawney's room.
The room was dimmed today, for there was no sunlight penetrating through the hidden window. There were velvet curtains blocking it from view. In the center, there was a large circular candle, which was burning, not orange, but blue. The fireplace was roaring with a strong fire, which made the room even hotter than it already was. There was no one in the classroom yet. Harry and Ron moved toward the window, and sat down on the pouf.
"Why does she insist on closing the window, when the fireplace is lit?" Ron complained. Harry leaned over, and opened the window, as a cool breeze swept across the room. It was refreshing. Harry closed his eyes, and let the cool breeze pass across his face.
The class began to file in, climbing the stepladder, and chatting away. Parvati and Lavender were still talking about Professor McGonagall's lesson.
"I can't wait until we start transfiguring ourselves. Its going to be so exciting" said Lavender happily.
"Maybe I'll transfigure myself into a rose, and give it to someone" Parvati sighed. They sat down, while Harry and Ron grinned.
"Good Morning" came a misty voice from beyond. Professor Trelawney glided down from her tower room, and looked as though she had seen something lovely. Her shawls made her look more like a rag doll, and her enormous glasses magnified her eyes twice their normal size.
She reached the class, and cast a dreadful look over at Neville. He looked up at her, confused.
"My dear, I will give you whatever work you miss due to your illness" she said and walked around the room. She reached Harry, and his insides squirmed painfully.
"Death will be coming for you soon my dear, so do not fear it. Just accept it" and she walked to the center of the room and sat down upon her high chintz chair. She stared at the class.
"While in my tower, I w as able to meditate with the spirits of the beyond, and have found that it was very useful. Today, we will be studying the effects of the planets and how the path of souls is affected from their movements," she said, her voice still misty as she waved her wand and a mess of parchment flew into her hand. "My dear, would you kindly hand this out, after you spill you ink?"
And no sooner had she said that, Parvati knocked over her ink bottle as she reached out for the parchment. She flushed red, and immediately whipped out her wand, and said "Scroufingy" as the ink vanished. She took the parchment and began to hand it out.
"This is going to be one uninteresting lesson" Ron muttered darkly. Harry however, was enjoying the breeze that was soaring in through the window. He hardly heard a word that was going on at the moment, because he was drifting off into sleep, until Ron nudged him and caused him to open his eyes quickly. Parvati had just put their charts on their desks, and walked away.
"You will use your books A Clearer Future to complete the charts. First read chapter twelve," said Professor Trelawney.
The class emerged into a low chatter, as everyone began to open their books and read the chapter. Harry opened his book carelessly, ripping a page.
"So, how are we going to play against Hufflepuff?" Ron asked, opening his book.
Harry had completely forgotten about the last Quidditch Match of the year. He hadn't even booked the Pit for Gryffindor yet, and he didn't organize the Training schedule.
"Well, I was thinking we'd have to practice almost every night," he said, pretending he did know about the upcoming match which was only a month away. Ron nodded in approval. When the booming bell sounded, they were more than happy to leave the sweltering room. (Because they didn't begin their Charts)
They headed back down to the Great Hall for lunch, where they saw, to a sudden amazement, that Hermione was not there.
"Where is she?" Ron asked, as he sat down, and began helping himself to some stew.
"Probably the Library," Harry said. "You know how Hermione is"
"Harry," came a familiar voice. Harry looked up, and saw that Malfoy was standing above him. He had a mild look on his face, and seemed to be attracting a lot of attention because many Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws kept craning their necks to get a better look at Malfoy.
"Hey Malfoy, What's up?" Harry asked.
"We need to talk," Malfoy said urgently.
"Er, okay" Harry said. He stood up, grabbed his bag, and said "See you in Potions" to Ron. Then, he and Draco headed out of the Great Hall out into the bright sunlight.
"What's the matter?"
"It's the dark lord," Malfoy said.
"Sorry?"
Malfoy dug into his pocket, and pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment. Harry took it, unrolled it, and to his amazement, the parchment was blank.
"It's blank," Harry said, staring at Malfoy with disbelief. Malfoy took out his wand, and muttered something that did not sound like Hogwarts Magic. Suddenly, the parchment burst into life, and to Harry's amazement, he was staring down at a map of Hogwarts. It looked exactly like the Marauders Map, except there weren't little dots that showed who people were. It was detailed in terms of an outline for a building. Harry saw that Classrooms were labeled, staircases, the grounds, the Quidditch field, and offices.
"What is this?" Harry asked.
"The Dark Lord had this. I've been meaning to give it to you but remember; my father still thinks I'm on his side. I nicked this up during the summer holidays. I wasn't sure what it was for," Malfoy said.
Harry remembered seeing something like this when the Order had been trying to protect the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries. Lupin had it one day, and Harry got a quick glance at it. But there couldn't be something that Voldemort was protecting inside Hogwarts, so he had to instead, want something out of Hogwarts.
Harry did not say anything. Malfoy had not been with them when they ventured towards Fawkes' layer.
"Look it over, and tell me what you get from it," Malfoy said quickly, as he dashed back into the castle, leaving Harry standing in the sunlight, able to think clearer now.
Voldemort had maps of Hogwarts, which showed the location of Offices, and Classrooms, and everything else, which means that someone had to have used a powerful Dark piece of magic to give him such a map. However, he knew what it was that Voldemort wanted out of Hogwarts, and that was the Orbs of the Phoenix. But, could Voldemort really think himself walking into Hogwarts undetected? Or was he planning something bigger? Something that would cripple the school, and Dumbledore's forces. Could Voldemort really be planning, an Invasion?
When Harry looked back on what had happened, he had only scattered memories of it. Seeing the Dursley's trapped; the death of Kevin; he knew that he had to bring his mind back to the present. There were things that he had to focus on now, and one of them, was something he had looked forward to for ages; Human Transfiguration.
April finally arrived, bringing warmer and drier weather over the grounds, and the castle grounds were bursting back into life, with its emerald green grass, and the beech trees blossoming and blooming. It was a bright Monday morning, and the only thing the Gryffindor sixth years had on their mind was Human Transfiguration. Luckily for them, Transfiguration was their first lesson.
"I heard that it's the best thing McGonagall teaches us!" said Ron excitedly, as he started buttering toast.
"I remember hearing Percy talk about it," Hermione said. "He said it was a hard bit of magic, but it worked out well"
Ron snorted.
The bell sounded, and the sixth years dashed out of the hall so quickly, it looked as though many of them disapparated. They headed up to Professor McGonagall's classroom, in which the door was already ajar. The Slytherins filed in after the Gryffindors, and everyone took their seats. Harry and Ron sat in the front of the room, near Hermione and Neville. Professor McGonagall emerged from her office, and looked suspiciously at the class.
It appeared that everyone had their quills ready, wands in front of them, and their hands folded upon their desks. Not one head was faced in another direction, and no whispering was heard. Everyone's attention was on Professor McGonagall.
"Good-"
"Good Morning Professor McGonagall" the class chanted, before she could even say good morning. She looked slightly taken aback, but said nothing.
"Ms. Granger, would you kindly hand back these essays," Said Professor McGonagall, pointing to a large stack of parchment on her desk. It happened in a split second. Hermione dashed up to the desk, whipped out her wand, muttered something, and the papers soared to their rightful owners. Harry glanced at his paper, which was lying directly in front of him, and saw that he received an "E". He smiled, and turned his attention back to McGonagall.
"Thank you Ms Granger" she said slowly. She whipped out her wand, and held it firmly in her hand. "It seems quite clear to me, why your behavior is rather strange. You have all made it to the part of the year in which will test your magical abilities; Human Transfiguration."
"Now, many wizards around the world, have never realized the true nature of this bit of magic, but they have concluded that it's very important. Over the years, I have stated to my students, that if you fail to pay attention, you will surely fail," she continued, as she scanned the class. Everyone's attention was still on her.
"So, let us begin! Human Transfiguration begins with the thoughts of one's mind, and the power of one's magic" and with that, everyone picked up their quills, and began scribbling across their parchment. Professor McGonagall was slightly taken aback, but said nothing. When everyone had finished, they looked up at her.
"Ms. Granger, would you kindly stand up here please?"
Hermione beamed, and stood up. She walked around her desk, and stood next to Professor McGonagall, beaming at the rest of the class. Pansy Parkinson whispered darkly to a blonde haired girl next to her.
"Now, I am going to demonstrate the usage of Transfiguration on Ms. Granger. Note, what is happening before she takes the shape of the thing I want her to become" McGonagall said. She pointed her wand, directly at Hermione. "Note, a wand must point at a one-hundred and eighty degree angle. Any more or any less will endanger the subject's life," she said sharply. "And now, you transfigure"
"Putanis" she said. A flash of blinding yellow light engulfed Hermione, and she began to change shape. Lavender and Parvati gasped, and Pansy went ghostly white. Hermione had become a dictionary. There was no sign of anything human about the dictionary either. It looked completely real. Harry and Ron gave each other significant looks of approval.
"That was brilliant Professor!" said Seamus.
"Excellent!" said Dean.
"Amazing" Neville said.
"Thank you. Now, let me change Ms. Granger back" said Professor McGonagall. She pointed her wand at Hermione and saw "Finite". Hermione reappeared with a pop.
"Thank you Ms. Granger. Five points to Gryffindor"
Hermione smiled, and returned to her seat. For the rest of the class, Professor McGonagall made them read and copy so many notes, it was hard to say that anyone would miss anything. When the booming bell sounded, everyone began to head to his or her classes.
"So," said Ron, as they entered the bustling and busy. "How did it feel?"
"It felt weird, because everything looked as though it would if I were normal. I mean, I could think and stuff"
"But how could you see? We didn't see any eyes," Harry said.
"Trust me, you don't need eyes in a dictionary to see" Hermione chuckled. She waved good-bye to them as she set off for Arithmacy, and they headed to the North Tower. Harry dreaded going up there, but he was certain that next year, he would definitely drop it. They reached the magical ladder, which was already down, and they ascended it into the sweltering heat of Professor Trelawney's room.
The room was dimmed today, for there was no sunlight penetrating through the hidden window. There were velvet curtains blocking it from view. In the center, there was a large circular candle, which was burning, not orange, but blue. The fireplace was roaring with a strong fire, which made the room even hotter than it already was. There was no one in the classroom yet. Harry and Ron moved toward the window, and sat down on the pouf.
"Why does she insist on closing the window, when the fireplace is lit?" Ron complained. Harry leaned over, and opened the window, as a cool breeze swept across the room. It was refreshing. Harry closed his eyes, and let the cool breeze pass across his face.
The class began to file in, climbing the stepladder, and chatting away. Parvati and Lavender were still talking about Professor McGonagall's lesson.
"I can't wait until we start transfiguring ourselves. Its going to be so exciting" said Lavender happily.
"Maybe I'll transfigure myself into a rose, and give it to someone" Parvati sighed. They sat down, while Harry and Ron grinned.
"Good Morning" came a misty voice from beyond. Professor Trelawney glided down from her tower room, and looked as though she had seen something lovely. Her shawls made her look more like a rag doll, and her enormous glasses magnified her eyes twice their normal size.
She reached the class, and cast a dreadful look over at Neville. He looked up at her, confused.
"My dear, I will give you whatever work you miss due to your illness" she said and walked around the room. She reached Harry, and his insides squirmed painfully.
"Death will be coming for you soon my dear, so do not fear it. Just accept it" and she walked to the center of the room and sat down upon her high chintz chair. She stared at the class.
"While in my tower, I w as able to meditate with the spirits of the beyond, and have found that it was very useful. Today, we will be studying the effects of the planets and how the path of souls is affected from their movements," she said, her voice still misty as she waved her wand and a mess of parchment flew into her hand. "My dear, would you kindly hand this out, after you spill you ink?"
And no sooner had she said that, Parvati knocked over her ink bottle as she reached out for the parchment. She flushed red, and immediately whipped out her wand, and said "Scroufingy" as the ink vanished. She took the parchment and began to hand it out.
"This is going to be one uninteresting lesson" Ron muttered darkly. Harry however, was enjoying the breeze that was soaring in through the window. He hardly heard a word that was going on at the moment, because he was drifting off into sleep, until Ron nudged him and caused him to open his eyes quickly. Parvati had just put their charts on their desks, and walked away.
"You will use your books A Clearer Future to complete the charts. First read chapter twelve," said Professor Trelawney.
The class emerged into a low chatter, as everyone began to open their books and read the chapter. Harry opened his book carelessly, ripping a page.
"So, how are we going to play against Hufflepuff?" Ron asked, opening his book.
Harry had completely forgotten about the last Quidditch Match of the year. He hadn't even booked the Pit for Gryffindor yet, and he didn't organize the Training schedule.
"Well, I was thinking we'd have to practice almost every night," he said, pretending he did know about the upcoming match which was only a month away. Ron nodded in approval. When the booming bell sounded, they were more than happy to leave the sweltering room. (Because they didn't begin their Charts)
They headed back down to the Great Hall for lunch, where they saw, to a sudden amazement, that Hermione was not there.
"Where is she?" Ron asked, as he sat down, and began helping himself to some stew.
"Probably the Library," Harry said. "You know how Hermione is"
"Harry," came a familiar voice. Harry looked up, and saw that Malfoy was standing above him. He had a mild look on his face, and seemed to be attracting a lot of attention because many Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws kept craning their necks to get a better look at Malfoy.
"Hey Malfoy, What's up?" Harry asked.
"We need to talk," Malfoy said urgently.
"Er, okay" Harry said. He stood up, grabbed his bag, and said "See you in Potions" to Ron. Then, he and Draco headed out of the Great Hall out into the bright sunlight.
"What's the matter?"
"It's the dark lord," Malfoy said.
"Sorry?"
Malfoy dug into his pocket, and pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment. Harry took it, unrolled it, and to his amazement, the parchment was blank.
"It's blank," Harry said, staring at Malfoy with disbelief. Malfoy took out his wand, and muttered something that did not sound like Hogwarts Magic. Suddenly, the parchment burst into life, and to Harry's amazement, he was staring down at a map of Hogwarts. It looked exactly like the Marauders Map, except there weren't little dots that showed who people were. It was detailed in terms of an outline for a building. Harry saw that Classrooms were labeled, staircases, the grounds, the Quidditch field, and offices.
"What is this?" Harry asked.
"The Dark Lord had this. I've been meaning to give it to you but remember; my father still thinks I'm on his side. I nicked this up during the summer holidays. I wasn't sure what it was for," Malfoy said.
Harry remembered seeing something like this when the Order had been trying to protect the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries. Lupin had it one day, and Harry got a quick glance at it. But there couldn't be something that Voldemort was protecting inside Hogwarts, so he had to instead, want something out of Hogwarts.
Harry did not say anything. Malfoy had not been with them when they ventured towards Fawkes' layer.
"Look it over, and tell me what you get from it," Malfoy said quickly, as he dashed back into the castle, leaving Harry standing in the sunlight, able to think clearer now.
Voldemort had maps of Hogwarts, which showed the location of Offices, and Classrooms, and everything else, which means that someone had to have used a powerful Dark piece of magic to give him such a map. However, he knew what it was that Voldemort wanted out of Hogwarts, and that was the Orbs of the Phoenix. But, could Voldemort really think himself walking into Hogwarts undetected? Or was he planning something bigger? Something that would cripple the school, and Dumbledore's forces. Could Voldemort really be planning, an Invasion?