Hello, is anyone still reading this? Has anyone thought that I had died? That Sirius had taken a permanent vacation, and I was too distressed to write? Sadly, no, Sirius is still here and I still am writing, I've just been a little overworked and . . .

Sirius: A little lazy.

Whisperer: Anyway to make up for it I have an extra long, chuck-full of interesting stuff chapter for you.

Sirius: So what are doing here reading our stupid author's notes? Go read the chapter!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter four, especially those who wished me a Happy Birthday! It was wonderful!

Special Thanks: My extreme thanks to my two Betas; Dumbledore's True Love and Star4ever. They rock! They encouraged me the whole time, and they deserve a hand! *claps*

Sequel to Harry Potter and the Emerald Eye. (I suggest you read that first, but you don't have to, it's just a good idea.) Harry's in for quite a year when he starts seeing things that no one else can, is it a dream? Or is he really going crazy? Questions start arising like what did Voldemort do to his victim after he killed them? This has it all; mystery, insanity, a lot of Sirius and Remus, and everyone calls Harry a lunatic at least once! ;)

Disclaimer - This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. I own the plot and a few original things.



Chapter 5: All Hollow's Eve

"What are those things?" were the first words Harry heard out of Professor Snape's mouth Friday afternoon.

"Pookas, Professor," Hermione tried to explain. "They are part of our Care of Magical Creatures O. W. L.; they must survive the school year in our care."

Snape shook his head disdainfully, "Trust Black to come up with such a bone-brained assignment as this."

Harry bit his tongue to not say something in Sirius's defense.

"Keep them outside," commanded Snape.

"We tried that in Transfiguration, Professor," Neville Longbottom said feebly. "They broke down the door, hinges and all."

Snape didn't even blink, only said in his silky voice, "Then keep them quiet in here, but I doubt that will be possible since you can barely keep yourselves quiet while in this classroom."

Ron rolled his eyes as they walked to their seats, "Lousy git, 'you can barely keep yourselves quiet,' what classroom has he been in? If we were any quieter while in here, we'd be dead."

Harry and Hermione giggled at Ron's joke as they unpack their potion ingredients.

"This term," Snape began in his typical teaching voice. "We will be making, and some of us will be trying to make," he looked over at the Gryffindors while saying this, "the Eros Potion."

Immediately, Hermione's hand shot into the air, "Professor! The Eros is a love potion, and aren't love potions forbidden in Hogwarts?"

"Thank you, Ms. Granger for pointing out the overly obvious," said Snape. "Yes, love potions are forbidden on Hogwarts grounds, but the ones that are forbidden are the ones that actually make people fall in love, not ones that are fatal to certain dark creatures."

Harry turned to Hermione, "What does he mean by that?"

Putting her hand down, Hermione sighed, "Don't you ever read? Love is a very powerful thing, and deadly to certain dark creatures, like when You-Know-Who couldn't touch you because of your mum's protection, it was probably a kind of motherly-love spell she placed on you, and if, a demon for example, had touched you it would have died completely."

"Oh, I see," Harry muttered, before turning to Ron, whispering so Hermione wouldn't hear. "What is she talking about?"

Ron shrugged, "Hermione language."

Harry nodded.

"And half a cup of rose pedals," Snape said finishing up the list of ingredients needed to make the potion. "I will be walking around if you need help."

Harry flinched, had he missed the entire list of ingredients? Great way to start the year, Potter. "Umm, Hermione, what was before half a cup of rose pedals?"

"A teaspoon of belladonna."

Harry scribbled it down, "And before that?"

"Did you get any of the ingredients?"

"Besides half a cup of rose pedals, and a teaspoon of belladonna, no," Harry said innocently.

Hermione huffed, and rattled off the list of ingredients.

"Next time you might pay attention when I speak, Potter, and then Ms. Granger wouldn't have to save your pathetic hide," said a voice right in Harry's ear, Snape. "Ten points off Gryffindor for each of you."

"But!" Ron snapped.

"Did any one ask for your two knuts, Weasley? No, which I doubt your family could afford," said Snape icily.

Ron's ears reddened, but said nothing.

Snape turned to leave, but Harry started to get to his feet.

"Don't," Ron warned, grabbing Harry's sleeve, and pulling him back down. "We don't want to lose Gryffindor any more points."

Reluctantly, Harry started to make his potion, which was turning out horrible, not that he needed Snape to point that out several times.

"I really hate that . . .!" Harry grumbled, calling Snape something that even Sirius would have looked down on him for saying.

"Harry," Hermione warned, looking around to see if Snape had heard him.

"He's right, Hermione, Snape is . . . what Harry called him," Ron said, opting not to repeat what Harry said since Hermione was giving him a hard look. "What'd we have next, Har'?"

Harry pulled out his schedule, and scanned it quickly, "Defense with Gudgeon, oh joy."

"Wonder if he's any good," Ron mused.

"He is!" said Hermione earnestly. "He's one of the few wizards to ever subdue a female Hungarian Horntail!"

"Yeah, Charlie's mentioned him once! He was the one responsible for getting the dragons for the first task."

"He's just like Snape!" Harry dead-panned as they reached the Defense classroom. "He gave me detention Wednesday night, remember?"

Ron shook his head, "What? Your hair is back to normal now, and so is everyone else's."

"But he's unbearable! 'Potter, that trophy still isn't clean; can't you properly polish a simple Quidditch trophy?'" Then for some reason Harry hit himself in the forehead as they took their seats. "I almost forgot!"

"Forgot what?" inquired Hermione.

"Nothing, I'll tell you later, Gudgeon's coming," Harry whispered as he saw the professor coming down the hall.

A moment later, Gudgeon entered, lugging a huge briefcase. "Hello," he said cheerfully, while opening the briefcase, and taking out several strange-looking devices. "This year is one of the most crucial of your wizarding education, and especially in your Defense Against the Dark Arts education. This year you will be learning how to recognize cursed objects, and break the curses on them." He held up a package of Chocolate Frogs, and grinned, "How many of you have heard the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves?"

Every hand in the class went up.

"Well, the Grimm's brothers got it wrong, it wasn't a poisoned apple, it was a cursed apple that the Evil Queen gave to the incredibly gullible Snow White," Gudgeon said, tossing the frog from hand to hand when one frog became two frogs, and three became four, and so on, until Gudgeon was juggling eight packages of Chocolate Frogs, before tossing one package to each person in the class. "Now, don't eat them, yet. Each one of them bares a curse, but no two are the same. Your job is to figure out which curse it is, and use the appropriate counter-curse, and when that works, then you may eat the frog. So what are you waiting for? Go on, start."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other, then at Gudgeon, then back at their frogs. Maybe this Defense teacher wouldn't be so bad after all.

By the time the bell rang, almost everybody was munching happily on their Chocolate Frogs, but Gudgeon had warned them although they did a very good job, this was only a warm up, and the curses to come would be much, much harder.

"You know," Ron said before taking another bite out of his frog, "we might finally have a normal Defense professor that isn't a psychopath, a clueless prat, a werewolf although Professor Lupin still rocks so don't scowl Harry, or an imposter who was working for You-Know- Who."

All three Pookas barked in agreement.

"Have you guys named your Pookas yet?" Neville asked, walking up alongside them.

"Nope," all three said in unison.

"Have you named yours, Neville?" asked Hermione.

Neville grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, I read somewhere that they like to be named after things in mythology that reflect their personality or something in their master life that means something to them, it increases their power, and loyalty to their master. So he's Kingsfoil, but King for short."

Hermione nodded, "That's a fine name for him," she said looking down at Neville's Pooka, who had large green eyes. "I think I'm going to research a name for mine after diner tonight."

"Me too," Ron agreed.

"Me three," Harry added.

"Think again, Harry," said Katie Bell as she causally slung an arm around Harry's shoulders. She was a tall girl with dark brown hair that was tried back in a ponytail, and was a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Huh? What? Why?" sputtered Harry.

"Because we have a team meeting," she said, grinning.

"But it isn't even the second week of school yet!"

"Yeah, but we need to start early, we need to hold try-outs next week and the week after that, and think of new plays, and a ton of other things so we're starting early. Now, let's go. Chop! Chop!" She grabbed Harry's robe, and started to drag him toward the Quidditch pitch. "See you, Ron, Hermione, Neville!" she called back.

"Bye guys!" Harry sighed as he was pulled along.

"We'll save you some dinner!" Hermione promised before Harry was dragged around a corner, and out of sight.

"Katie," Harry protested, "I don't even have my Firebolt, and I kind of want to change into my regular clothes."

"I took the liberty of getting them from your room, you can change in the locker room, your duffle bag is there too," Katie said quickly.

Harry gave her a look of complete astonishment. "You're beginning to sound like Oliver."

Katie gave him a satisfied smirked.

"Oh Lord," Harry gasped realizing it at last. "You're the captain, right?"

"Yup, and next year will be," she said happily.

"Me?" Harry said blankly.

"Well, yeah," she said as they reached the locker rooms. "Your stuff is in there, I have to go find Fred and George. Angie and Alicia should be in there changing too, I'll explain everything when I get back." With that she dashed off to find the Weasley twins.

Carefully, he opened the locker room door. "Angelina? Alicia?"

"In here, Harry!" Angelina called. Then added, "It's okay, you can come in, and get changed. Just let us grab our brooms, and we'll be out."

"Er, okay," Harry replied, and a minute later Angelina and Alicia walked out of the locker room. He entered the room, changed, grabbed the Firebolt, and headed back outside. He bumped into Fred and George. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's okay,"" George said. "Did Katie drag you out of class too?"

"Yeah, you too?"

"She's going to be another Wood," Fred added, shouldering a duffle bag. "See ya in five minutes."

"Okay," Harry agreed.

Five minutes later, the entire team was assembled on the newly restored Quidditch pitch. Katie was walking up, and down the line of players with a serious look on her face. "Okay, guys and girls," she said sternly. "This is going to be a big year for everyone on this team; we will be inducting a new teammate, facing harder opponents, and for some of us it will be the last year we will ever play on the Gryffindor House Quidditch team," she paused for a moment before continuing, "but there are some things that I would like you to take away from this season like knowing that you are going to do your best every time you step onto this pitch, and try and make this season one for the record books."

"Yeah!" the other members of the team chorused.

Katie grinned, "Good, now, the first thing we have to do is hold tryouts for a Keeper, those will take place next week. We'll start serious practices the following week, and our first match is scheduled for the second Saturday of November, we're playing Slytherin as usual. Today, we're just having a little warm up practice since we didn't have a season last year." With that she tossed the Quaffle into the air, and the practice began.

Two hours later, Harry entered the Gryffindor common to see Ron working at one of the back tables poring over books.

"Hey," he said walking over, and collapsing in a free chair.

"Hey," Ron grunted from behind a large book. "How does Thor sound to you?"

"It's okay, why?"

"'Cause I need a name for him," Ron pointed at his Pooka.

Harry looked down at his; it was playing poker with Dean's and Seamus's. "No research needed for mine, Psycho will do just fine."

Harry's Pooka jumped up on the table, spraying cards everywhere, and gave Harry the dirtiest look it could muster.

"I think Psycho is out," Ron muttered.

"Oh yeah."

The portrait hole was opened just then, and Hermione scrambled in with a load of books under her right arm. She walked over, placed the books on their table, saying hello to Harry.

"Found a name for your Pooka yet?" Harry asked.

"Not yet, she doesn't seem to like any of the names I pick out," Hermione sighed. Her Pooka leapt up on the mahogany table, opened one book with her paw, and started to read.

Harry took a book off Hermione's stack and started to skim through it. As time wore on they rattled off names to their Pookas, none of which they liked. As a last resort Hermione just flipped to the index, running off every word there until her Pooka barked sharply at one. "Athena?" Hermione repeated slowly. "Do you like that?"

Her Pooka a nodded so hard that its ears flapped up and down. Hermione smiled, petting the dog.

Harry took a moment to enjoy Hermione's success before going back to rattling off names to his Pooka. About fifteen minutes later he closed the book, and reached for another, his elbow hitting one of the books, knocking it to the floor. It must have opened because half a minute later Harry heard the sound of paper being crumbled. He looked down to see his Pooka pawing at one page. He picked the book up, and looked at the page. "Apex?"

The Pooka shook its head.

"Apis?"

It shook its head again.

"Apollo? What do you think of Apollo?" Harry asked his Pooka.

"Ruff!"

~~~~~~~~~

Exactly one week later Harry was once again standing on the Quidditch along with the rest of the team. Katie was standing next to him holding a clipboard.

"What do you think of them?" she whispered.

Harry looked at the rag-tag group of Gryffindors in front of them. It was about an even mix of boys and girls, all of who looked slightly out of place on the field. "They look a little nervous," he mumbled back.

Katie nodded, and stepped forward. "Welcome to Quidditch try-outs," she began. "Today you will be trying out for the position of Keeper. When Harry calls your name you will step forward, tell us if you've ever had any previous Quidditch experience, then mount your broom, fly in front of the goal hoops, and try and block the chasers shots. The person who gives the best performance will be on the team." She handed the clipboard to Harry.

"Colin Creevy?" he called.

After a few performances Harry noticed something, Ron wasn't there. He mentioned it to George Weasley.

"Said that he wanted to wait for next year so he could have a go for Chaser, don't asked me why," George whispered, watching a try-out. "Look at this bloke, one good Bludger comes his way, and we'll be wiping him off the field."

An hour later, things weren't going very well. It seemed, to Harry, that all the Keeper hopefuls could be sorted into three categories: the bad, the horrible, and the 'how about you try Quodpot instead?' But what had really astonished Harry was that Ron hadn't shown up for the try-outs. He had made a mental note to ask him about it later as he read off the last name, "Norman Longo!"

A boy Harry had never seen before stepped forward. He was wiry, with a thin face, and wore a Muggle baseball cap that hid his face.

"What year are you in?"

"Fourth."

"Have you ever played on a Quidditch team before?" Harry asked for what felt like the millionth time.

"Yeah, last summer," Longo said in a deep voice.

"What position?"

"The position I'm tryin' for," Longo said sardonically.

Harry repressed a sigh as he checked the labeled Keeper experience. Another "I'm God's gift to Quidditch," he thought. "All right, mount your broom and see how you fair against our Chasers, you'll be scored accordingly."

Longo mounted his broom, and kicked off with ease; rising faster and higher then any of the others could without pulling their broom out of their ascent first. He positioned himself in front of the goal posts. Harry watched as everything Angelina, Alicia, and Katie tried to score a goal failed. Longo was everywhere at once; he seemed to be reading their minds.

"Blimey, he's good," Fred whispered.

Harry nodded, looking down at the paper at the eight lines that were meant for comments, and started scribbling furiously. Things like, Good control over the broom, nice reflexes, and he's blocking every one of your shots!

When Longo's try-out had ended, the Chasers landed, and Katie turned to the Keeper hopefuls. "Thank you for coming today," she said hastily. "You are all great athletes but, unfortunately, we only have one position open. My teammates and I will go over your performances, and will be in touch. Bye!"

The boys and girls, shouldered their brooms, and started to leave while Katie rushed over to the rest of the team. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Longo is bank!" Angelina grinned.

"Agreed?"

The team nodded.

Katie turn around, yelling, "Longo! Hey Longo! Come over here!"

Longo, who was fiddling with his broom, got to his feet, and walked over to them, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. "Yeah?"

"How would you like to play Keeper for Hogwarts reigning Quidditch champions?" Katie asked, extending her hand.

"You mean?" Longo gasped in disbelief.

She nodded.

Longo's face broke into a wide smile, "Sure." He shook Katie's hand.

"Welcome to the team."

~~~~~~

A golden sun dawned bright on October 31st, slowly drying the grass that was drenched from the previous day's storm. It was still a little slippery by the afternoon, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione could be seen sprinting across it to Care of Magical Creatures. McGonagall had kept them working on transfiguring a rock into a razorback down to the last second.

"We're going to be late," Hermione grumbled, as she ran alongside Harry.

"No we're not," Ron said, stretching his long legs.

Harry gritted his teeth as a stitch formed in his side as he ran; he could see the other Gryffindors and Ravenclaws by now. He ran faster, his sneakers sliding on the slick grass. He started to lose his balance.

Ron made a grab for Harry's robes to stop him from falling, but crashed into him instead.

"No! No!" Hermione yelped as she skidded into them.

They tumbled for a few minutes, finally ending up in a crumbled heap.

"Well, that's one way to get to class on time," said a cheery voice.

"Sirius," Harry groaned, his glasses dangling precariously off one ear.

Sirius smirked, helping them up. "Go get ready for class. Moony's teaching to day so be good."

Harry smirked, and followed Ron and Hermione to where the rest of the Gryffindors were standing.

"Today," Lupin began, "we will be having a little review---"

They groaned.

"Don't worry, this will be fun," he assured them, twirling his wand between his fingers. "This review is sort of a game, a Halloween treat you could say."

"What kind of game?" Parvati Patil asked curiously.

Lupin smiled deviously, "A favorite of mine, Pitch Black."

Suddenly, Sirius jumped to his feet, "D-did you say Pitch Black?"

"And if I did?" Lupin said mildly.

Sirius's face darkened, "There is no way in the—Remus, put your wand away, right now! Remus, NO-" In the very place Sirius had been standing sat a black and white hacky sack that was about the size of a baseball.

Lupin picked up the hacky sack, and tossed it from hand to hand, looking at the students astonished faces. "Sirius?" he asked the hacky sack.

"Yeah," a decidedly grumpy voice came from the hacky sack.

Lupin nodded, "Good, you still have your voice." Then he turned to the class, "The rules of Pitch Black are simple. I will pitch Professor Black to you and whoever catches him must answer my question correctly then toss him back to me, but if you answer incorrectly then you may throw Professor Black in the dirt and kick him back to me. Any questions?"

The class was stunned; no professor had ever asked them to do something this crazy. They loved it.

"Ron!"

Ron caught the hacky sack deftly as Lupin asked him where did Kappas originate from. "Japan?"

"Correct," the hacky sack whimpered as Ron tossed it back to Lupin.

The game proved to be extremely entertaining, and rather funny wherever Sirius would cry out to no in particular, "What did I do to deserve this?!" or "Remus, I'm going to get you for this!" All too soon, Lupin had to say, "I think it's time to end our game of Pitch Black for today, dismissed."

"Thank the mother ship!" the hacky sack mumbled as the throng of students passed.

"Harry, hold up a moment," Lupin called.

Harry jogged back over to Lupin, "Yes sir?"

"Would you mind waiting until I transfigure Sirius back to normal?"

"Okay, but why?"

Lupin grinned wryly, "Because I don't want him to kill me." He waved his wand around the hacky sack three times in a tight circle each time, then in one smooth, motion he pitched the hacky sack as hard as he could. As it rotated through the air, Harry noticed it beginning to stretch and flatten out, by the time it hit the ground it was no longer a hacky sack but a crabby-looking Sirius Black.

Sirius got slowly to his feet, blinking furiously, grumbling. He brushed the dirt from his robes, and gave his head a good shake before turning around to look at Lupin. "Remus, old pal," he said in a friendly voice as he made his way over to Lupin. "How are you doing? Having a fun day?"

Lupin nodded slowly, gripping his wand tightly.

Sirius drew his wand and pointed it at Lupin, "Well, now, it's my turn for some fun, Snod-" Before Sirius could finish the spell; Harry stepped in front of Lupin, shielding him. Flabbergasted, Sirius lowered his wand, "Harry, what are you doing?"

"Making sure you don't turn Professor Lupin in to a rotten tomato," said Harry.

Sirius's eyes widened, "Harry, what makes you think I'd do such a thing?"

"You wouldn't?" Harry asked doubtfully.

"Would I lie to you?" Sirius gave Harry a half smile.

Harry shook his head, and strode over to his godfather. He whispered something in Sirius's ear.

Sirius nodded, and nonchalantly flicked his wand at Lupin.

Lupin was utterly confused, looked and felt normal, at least on the outside. He open his mouth to ask what had Sirius done, but instead a long howl came out. Lupin's face reddened as he scowled at Sirius.

"See what you get for turning me into a hacky sack, and trying to use Harry to avoid revenge?" Sirius said slinging an arm around Harry's shoulders.

Lupin snarled at the both of them before pulling out a piece of parchment and scribbling; "When I get my voice back I'm going to turn the both of you into laughing hyenas!"

~~~~~

The Great Hall that night was in all its Halloween splendor. Live bats fluttered about the pitch black ceiling, and the giant jack-o-lanterns were lighted with a special type of candle that gave off an eerie green light. The usual candy filled feast filled the golden plates as the students talked, or ate, or did both at the same time.

Harry and Ron were talking about Longo. Ron had seen Longo fly at the team's last practice and was already proclaiming that the Quidditch Cup would be theirs again. No one outside of the team knew much about Longo, only that he was something of a loner. "Have you ever heard of him before?" Harry asked before taking a bite of his baked potato.

"I know him," Ginny piped up, she was sitting next to Hermione.

Ron opened his mouth to tell Ginny to go sit with her own friends, but Harry stopped him. "What do you know about him?" Harry asked, almost feeling like a detective in an old movie.

"Well," said Ginny, "I know that he's really smart, has a great sense of humor, but a bit of a loner though. I suppose we're friends, but it's hard to tell because he always seems to have a chip on his shoulder."

"He sounds like an enigma," Hermione said, interested.

Harry sighed, turning his head toward the staff table. Poor Lupin, Sirius had not yet taken the jinx off, so he still had writing everything down he wanted to say. Also Harry was mildly surprised to see that Sirius wasn't there. "Wonder where he got to," Harry mumbled looking down at his plate.

"Harry."

Harry jerked his head up sharply, he gasped. No longer was he at the Halloween feast, but in a deserted corridor near the Transfiguration classroom. Cautiously, he walked down the corridor, but found that he could not pass statue of Wendalin the Weird. He walked up to the statue, and felt it, looking for a handle or lever. Finding none, he grabbed Wendalin's long nose to help pull himself up.

The nose broke off like it was on a hinged, and the next thing Harry knew he was careening down a dark passageway. He shot out the end of the passage, landing with a flump! Dazed, Harry scrambled to his feet, and looked about. A fierce hissing hit his ears.

Kill them! Kill all of the Hogwartssss sssstudentssss.

"HARRY!"

Harry jumped; he was back in the Great Hall. There was laughter all around him. Ron had yelled in his ear.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione asked concerned. "You face went completely white, and your eyes froze . . . Harry, where are you going?! Harry!"

Harry had leapt out of his seat, sprinting out of the Great Hall, Apollo at his heels. "Find Sirius, I'll be right back!" he yelled to Ron and Hermione.

Once outside the Hall, Harry had no intention of finding Sirius, instead he headed for the Transfiguration corridor. He looked about frantically for the statue, seeing at the far end. He ran toward it full speed, Apollo on his heels. Tenitively, Harry grabbed the nose and yanked it down.

Nothing.

He waited for a few seconds, still nothing.

Harry sighed, he was just being paranoid. He started to turn around when . . .

. . . what must have been a secret passage had opened beneath his feet, sending him hurtling down a long, dark tunnel. The tunnel ended suddenly, causing Harry to fly several feet in the air before landing with a flump!

"Argh," Harry moaned as his fingers brushed against something furry in the darkness, Apollo. "You!" he snarled as the Pooka gave him a cheeky grin. To tell the truth Harry found something comforting about having the sprite with him in the darkness.

The darkness was another problem. A fixable one for now, but could later be a deadly one. "Lumos," Harry muttered as a dim light appeared at the end of his wand.

With a thunderous crack! troches that lined the passageway ignited, providing Harry with more light than his wand ever could.

Harry mumbled, "Nox," then peered down the long, winding passage.

Apollo growled as a shadow flitted across the wall.

Harry spun around, his wand held high—nothing. Sighing, Harry gathered up his courage and started down the passageway.

He walked slowly down the unfamiliar passageway, his footsteps echoing eerily of the slime covered walls. Apollo walked nervously beside Harry as if he knew of the danger that they would soon face. All too soon, Harry turned one final corner that brought him to an arched opening that served as an entryway to a cobweb covered chamber. As Harry feared the chamber was not deserted.

It was as thick as an oak tree. As it slithered across the debris covered floor causing a strange sort of path its green scales glittered in the flickering torch light like emeralds that had been dipped in a fatal potion.

Harry felt his whole body began to tremble as he realized what it was. One word escaped his lips, "Basilisk."

Apollo, as terrified as his master, yelped before running out of the room.

But that small yelp caused the snake to swing its head around—Harry gasped. What he had thought was a basilisk was not one at all for the simple reason that ¾ of the way up the snake's body the hard scales turned to flesh. The snake had the torso, chest, arms, neck, and head of a man.

~~~~~~~

A brisk wind caused the surface of the lake to ripple. The same wind tugged playfully at the loose strands of Sirius Black's ponytail as he walked listlessly around the lake. He knew that he was suppose to be inside enjoying the feast with the other professors and the kids, but he . . .couldn't. Couldn't because tonight was night that, fourteen years ago, his whole world had come crashing down.

Crazed thoughts flashed across his mind's eye, memories that Sirius had seen over in over in his head while in Azkaban. Over and over like an endless movie reel that seemed more real tonight then it had on any other year.

He remembered the argument he had had with Hagrid that night or had it been early the next morning? He didn't remember. He wondered what Harry was doing right now. Did he even know that tonight was their Deathday? Maybe.

Sirius suddenly found himself wanting—no he had—to know that Harry was all right. That he was safe, that he was . . . a sharp pain shot up Sirius's arm. A statue, a dark tunnel, a passageway lighted by torches, a cobweb covered chamber, a giant snake, and Harry flashed across his mind's eye.

He stood there for a moment, his heart racing, and his breath came in huge gasps. Harry was in danger kept flashing across his mind in big, bold letters.

A sharp bark awoke his senses, and a tugging on his cloak made his turn a around. It was a Pooka. A Pooka with golden eyes.

The rouge, Sirius thought with a small smile. "What's up?"

Apollo barked frantically, tugging at Sirius's cloak with all his might.

Sirius tried in vain to make sense of the Pooka's crazed barks until finally shouting, "Hold it!" With a small pop! Sirius transformed into Padfoot.

Apollo quickly explained the situation, "And there's this snake man thingy, and Harry's gonna die!"

Padfoot paled drastically. "Where is he?" Padfoot said sharply.

"Follow me," Apollo turned on a heel, and bound toward the castle, Padfoot on his heels.

Apollo led him straight to the statue.

"Now what?" Padfoot demanded as he watched Apollo jump up and down trying to bite Wendalin's nose.

"I—ah!—can't—ah!—reach—ah!—it!" Apollo panted, snapping at the limestone nose.

"Oh brother," Padfoot muttered, lying down so the Pooka could climb on his back. Once Apollo did, Padfoot slowly rose to his feet adjusting to the added weight. He felt the Pooka shifting his weight on his back, and dig his claws into his thick fur.

"Damn," Apollo swore. "I still can't reach; you're going to have to stand on you hind legs."

Padfoot nodded, and in one swift motion stood on his hind legs, leaning on the statue for balance. Apollo scrambled onto the larger dog's head (much to Padfoot's displeasure) and pushed down on the nose with his fore legs as hard as he could. It broke off sending them flying down the secret passage.

~~~~

Harry had never been in a worst spot in his life. This creature was worst then a basilisk. There seemed no way to kill it; every spell he sent at it was deflected by the scales.

"You sssssseeeeee boy," it hissed as Harry backed away. "All the Hogwartssss sssstudentssss will die."

"No!" Harry hissed vehemently.

The creature laughed a high cruel laugh. It swung its tail around causing Harry to trip over it falling to the floor.

Harry shuddered; he was surrounded by green scales.

The creature smiled (revealing a mouth of fangs that were practically oozing with venom), "Sssstttaaarrtting with you."

It's all over but the funeral, Harry thought, shutting his eyes. But no pain came, no sickening feeling, nothing. Harry opened his eyes slowly; the creature had turned away from his and was staring at something beyond his view.

A sudden scream—something between a man's shout and a snake's pained hiss-- pierced his ears. Something had bitten the creature.

When Harry saw what had distracted the creature, he could have smiled, Padfoot. The massive mutt dodged every swipe the creature made at him.

"You think you can ssssaaavvveee the boy?" the creature snarled.

Padfoot growled.

"I'd like to sssssseeeeee you try."

Padfoot kicked a piece of debris at the creature's eye.

The creature shouted in pain.

Harry raised his wand, but was knocked to the floor by Padfoot. Padfoot motioned to Harry's wand, shaking his head fiercely, before getting off his godson, and dragging him into a corner. There he transformed back to normal. The first words out of his mouth were, "Are you all right?"

Harry nodded slowly, feeling as if he had been struck dumb.

"Put your wand away for now Harry," Sirius commanded. "Curses and jinx can't kill it."

Harry shoved his wand into his pocket while finally finding his voice. "Then what will?"

Sirius drew his wand, and pointed it at two pebbles. The small stones became thin, and lengthened until forming two swords. Sirius examined the swords before handing one to Harry. "This will."

Perplexed, Harry took the sword, "I don't think I cam do thi—"

"Duck!" Sirius yanked Harry down as the thick tail swung over their heads. The tail hit a near by column shattering it, covering Harry and Sirius in small chunks of rubble.

Kicking and pushing furiously, they managed to scramble out of the rumble, swords in hand. Sirius looked at Harry and jerked his head to the right while he when to the left.

With its one good eye, the creature saw Harry edging along the wall, and lunged.

Silver flashed!

Blood stained on the floor!

The snake half of the creature flared, nearly sending Sirius to the rock hard ground.

Another flash of silver! Harry had struck.

Back and forth they went, one distracting the monster while the other attacked. If one was in peril, the other would dart about the room, striking his sword into the scales. The creature eventually caught on to this bit of trickery though. And with one good smack of his huge tail the ground trembled sending both godfather and godson to the floor. Their swords skidded across the floor, well out of reach.

"Oh bugger," they swore as the creature, with its fanged mouth, sneered at them.

The blasted monster hissed furiously at Harry. Harry hissed back in a cold, bitter tone that even Sirius (who had no idea what they were saying) could sense.

Behind his back Harry was trying to mime to Sirius to get the swords, but he quickly realized that his godfather wouldn't leave his side. So suddenly, that not even Harry could explain what had happen just then, Harry leapt to his feet and jumped, scrambled, and skirted around, over and under the debris with a cat-like grace that even the most highly trained gymnastic might have envied. He grabbed his sword, and pieced the hard, scaled flesh, pushing it as deep as he could without having difficulty yanking it back out.

The creature twisted around, obviously pained by this blow, and looked into Harry's eyes as if trying to freeze them with the frigid fury that its own eye held.

Mesmerized by the creature's eye, (which was a swirling orb of yellow, red, and green) Harry stepped back. He retreated or, in some cases herded, until his back was against the wall. He was as good as dead.

The creature slithered forward giving Harry an oddly cynical grin. "It iiissss an honor to haaavvveee Haarryy Potteer aas an appeeetttiiizzzeeerrr."

Harry watched in horror as the monster drew itself up high, unhinged its jaw, prepared to strike.

Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw a streak of silver, as straight as an arrow and twice as deadly, it plunged straight though the creature's human chest, piercing its heart. The creature swayed unsteadily as its eyes rolled over white. Harry dived out of the way as it fell forward, dead.

Without thinking, Harry leapt over the monster's carcass and bounded toward his godfather.

Sirius smiled as Harry flung his arms around his neck rambling "Thank you" over and over again. "It was nothing," Sirius mumbled, clinging to Harry. His eyes traveled back over to the motionless body, a chill ran up his spine. "Let's get out of here," he said quickly.

Harry nodded, letting go of Sirius.

Bruised and bloody, they walked toward the arched entryway when a low hiss reached Harry's ears. He glanced over his shoulder at the carcass, the tail was twitching. "Sirius!"

"Yes?"

Harry pointed at the tail, "Please tell me that's nerve endings."

The color drained from Sirius's face, "Ah . . ."

A half human roar, half snake cackle like battle cry filled the room. Harry and Sirius spun around to see eyes gleaming, forked tongue waving, and venom dripping fangs. The creature was still alive.

Simultaneously, Harry and Sirius dived to the side as the creature lunged at them. Harry rolled into a clump of debris while Sirius rolled, cracking his head on a column.

Dazed and confused, Sirius did not see the creature slinging toward him.

"Hey!" Harry screamed in desperation, getting the snake's attention. "Why eat him when you can have me? The famous Boy-Who-Lived! Besides, Sirius is all tough and bony anyway!"

The snake stopped as if weighing the possibilities.

While it was doing this Harry's mind whirled, how was the blasted thing still alive? He tried to remember everything his professors had ever said about hybrid monsters. What had Binns said about the three- headed species of Chimera? Then it clicked. If the three-headed Chimera had three hearts, then this damn thing must have two hearts. A human one and a snake one. He needed to spear both to kill it completely.

At that moment the snake made its decision and slithered toward Harry.

Fear flooding his veins, Harry looked about wildly for his sword—it was tucked safely over the snake's monstrous tail. "Damn," he grumbled as he watched the snake edge closer—then he saw it. Right where the scales turned to flesh there was one scale missing, right where a snake's heart would be.

Harry shouted in pain as the monster slithered on his leg, crushing it. His hand scratched up against something sharp. Sharp enough to draw blood.

Harry's eyes darted to it as the monster's rancid breath filled his nostrils. A sharp silver point was peeking out from over a piece of debris. He grabbed it as the snake's scaled body slithered across his other leg. What had scratched him proved to be a jewel encrusted dagger.

The creature hissed some sort of farewell that Harry did not hear because in one swift motion he plunged the dagger into the creature's exposed flesh, piercing its snake heart.

The creature screamed in agony as it rolled to the side, breathing its last putrid breath.

Without needing to check whether or not the damned monster was still breathing, Harry stumbled over to Sirius, collapsing next to him.

"Hey," Sirius said weakly giving Harry a small smile, a bit of blood had stained his hair.

Harry started to say "Hey," but was cut off by a voice he never expected to hear.

"Oh my Lord!" gasped McGonagall.

Sirius and Harry looked to the entryway; all the professors were peering into chamber taking in the dead monster and Harry and Sirius lying in a crumpled heap, chest heaving.

Turning away from the professors, Harry whispered to Sirius, "Are you okay?"

"I'm good, you?" Sirius mumbled.

"Good," was the last word Harry managed to say before closing his eyes.

"Good," Sirius repeated, also closing his eyes in exhaustion. "Good."