Regaining Strength
Harry saw a bright light shining in his eyes. He slowly opened them to see the sun shining in his face. He couldn't sit up because he was still very weak. He could feel his breathing back to normal and his pulse going at a normal rate. He gently turned his head to see Ron, Hermione, and to his surprise the first year Kate. She was no doubt the girl that had saved Harry's life. All three of them were sleeping in their chairs. Have they been there all night?
Harry then turned his head back to where it was and tried to think about what happened. He reviewed Moody's class through his head. Did that really happen or was it a dream? It must have been real, what else would have brought me here. Harry heard a yawn come from his right and looked over to see that Kate had woken up.
"Harry? Oh, are you alright?"
Harry went to answer her by saying he would be fine, but no voice came when he opened his mouth, so he just decided to nod his head.
"Oh thank god. And thank god that girls are allowed in the boys' dorms. When I saw you crippled there on the ground…and with that black stuff coming from your scar… oh Harry, with all that I have read, I never thought that… all that bad happens to you." Then she got to Harry and gave him a hug, "oh Harry I was so scared that you were gone."
Harry couldn't really breathe when she was doing this, and since his voice wasn't working for him he couldn't tell her to get off of him either. So he just sat there and let the little girl pour her heart out. Within a couple minutes Hermione and Ron arose also.
"HARRY!" Both of them screamed.
"Harry, with Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the Boggart, and now this!" Hermione screamed.
"Harry, I should have followed you, but I thought that you might've wanted to be alone. I got your books for you. Jenna was actually going to take them and give them back to you next class, but I told her that I would see you later. She looked really upset. Moody grabbed your wand, which you left on the floor; he doesn't trust me with it. Go figure." Ron told Harry. Harry just nodded for that's all that he could do to let them know that he acknowledged what they were saying.
"Oh Dumbledore said that he'd be here at ten thirty. We have an excuse to miss our first class. I only have Ancient Runes now anyway." Hermione told Harry.
"Well I'm going to go now, I just wanted to make sure that you were going to be okay. I'll see you later Harry." Kate bid goodbye. As soon as she shut the door behind her Hermione began to talk again.
"Harry, I feel so bad about Sirius. I wanted to run up and give him a hug also, but I was glued to my seat. I can't believe that he is your greatest fear. I thought he was your path to happiness." Hermione was telling him. "Oh yes and Dumbledore wanted you to take this." Hermione handed Harry a purple drink. "It's a throat clearer. He didn't want you to take it in front of Kate for some reason. Maybe he didn't want you to tell her anything or something." Harry drank the antidote and licked his lips before speaking.
"Maybe Sirius is my biggest fear."
"Harry what do you mean?" Hermione wanted to know.
"Maybe he is my biggest fear in the sense that…that…that I'm too afraid to think of him as a father for I don't want to be hurting anymore. But when I saw Sirius standing there, I couldn't help my emotions. The Boggart felt so real. He felt like Sirius, and smelt like Sirius. When I saw what I didn't want to believe, that he wasn't real, I couldn't help but need to be by myself. I had just hugged the man that I have wanted to see for months."
"When you ran out of the classroom, Jenna actually ran after you. When she came back she looked terribly upset, like she felt your pain."
"No one can feel my pain Hermione, no one."
"Well everyone in the class wanted to know the bond that you and Sirius had. Moody explained to them the whole thing, his impact on you, and his death." Ron explained.
"What happened when you ran back to your dorm Harry?" Hermione wanted to know.
"Voldemort talked to me."
"WHAT?"
"He—he was with me the whole time. All through Defense Against the Dark Arts, and when I looked through my photo album. He talked to me, told me that he could bring Sirius back if I gave him my powers. I didn't know who he was at first, but when I found out and refused his offer he cast the Crusatious Curse upon me. I tried to use my Occlumency lessons to fight against him, but he was just too strong. I was an inch from… dieing, when Kate came to find me like this. I thought I was gone, until I woke up."
"Oh Harry, Harry I'm so sorry. We both are. When we found out that you were in the hospital wing, and we saw how you looked, we thought that we had lost you to." Hermione's voice was very soft and went down lower with every word she spoke.
"I hope Voldemort doesn't know that it was Kate who saved me. He will go after her because he was about to get what he has wanted for sixteen years now, and she ruined it for him." Harry told them.
"Harry I'm just glad that you are okay." Hermione continued.
Harry looked away from them. Now he did feel like he wanted to be alone. He knew that what happened with the Boggart was real, but Harry felt no regrets about how he reacted to Sirius standing in front of him.
"Alright Dumbledore's going to be here in ten minutes so I want everyone out!" Came Madam Pompfy's voice.
"Bye Harry. We'll come back during lunch." Ron told Harry as he was being shooed away by Madam Pompfy. "Oh no you won't! Mr. Potter will be needing his rest!"
"Ok I guess we won't see you at lunch then. Dinner?"
"Nope. NOT DINNER EITHER!"
"Ok in that cause I'll be glad if I ever am allowed to se you again!" Ron yelled sarcastically from the other side of the door in which was slammed into his face.
"Well I see that you have taken your antidote. Now can you move at all?"
"Just my head." Harry told her.
"Well I would give you an antidote to cure that, but Dumbledore doesn't want you going anywhere, so he thinks that this is best."
"Well—"
"Oh look here he comes now." Madam Pompfy interrupted Harry.
"Alright Dumbledore don't be too long, Mr. Potter needs his rest." And with that She walked off.
"Well hello Harry."
"Hi Professor Dumbledore."
"Now you know what I'm going to ask you, for this isn't the first time that this has happened." Dumbledore joked.
"Yeah. Well it all started in my Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Since I had been experienced in dealing with riding dementors, Moody wanted me to demonstrate on a Boggart. The thing is, the Boggart didn't turn into a dementor, instead it-it-it…" Harry got the picture in his mind of his godfather staring back at him. "It turned into Sirius." Harry finished softly.
"Peculiar that Sirius, the man you loved as a father should be the one you most fear. Continue please."
"Well my reactions were first denial, and then I ended up running into his arms, he felt so real. Tears erupted from me and onto his beaten shirt. He felt so warm, and smelt like peppermint. I wanted to stay there forever; I didn't want to think that it wasn't real. When Moody changed its form, I felt so embarrassed with myself that I ran to my room and started pounding my pillow. I was so frustrated. I looked through my photo album and I looked into the two-way mirror that Sirius had given me. Then I heard a voice talking to me. This voice was telling me that he would bring Sirius back if I gave him the one thing he wanted. The one thing that he wanted was my powers. From this I figured out that it was Voldemort talking to me. I refused and then started to try and clear my mind, but he was too strong. His power took over me. He caste the Crusatious curse on me. I continued to try and clear my mind, but I couldn't. I thought I was gone when Kate came and saved me. Even still I thought I was drifting away, I felt my breath become shorter and my pulse slow down. I thought I was dieing and I couldn't hold on any longer. I was too weak. Then I thought I died when I woke up here." Harry finished.
"Well Harry, Voldemort is now able to be with you at all times if he wishes. We also know that he can try to persuade you to do things that are beyond your control. He can listen in on even your personal life. You now more than ever need someone constantly with you for we now know that he can kill you through just the connection of your scar. The Occlumency lessons are now vital to your survival. He continues to get stronger, but Harry you can beat him out if you put everything that you can into your lessons. Oh yes and I think you'll be needing this." Said Dumbledore as he handed Harry back his wand.
"Thanks Professor."
"Alright Harry I must be off, but Madam Pompfy will be at your constant aid. Trust your own instinct, you're brave Harry, not to mention how strong you are, and continue to grow. I'll be back shortly." And Dumbledore called Madam Pompfy back into the hospital wing to watch Harry before taking off.
"Alright drink this sleepless dream potion, you need your rest." Before Harry could do otherwise, the antidote was forced down his throat. Harry's mind drifted off and became blank before falling into a deep black sleep.
"Shush Ron or you're going to wake him!" Hermione yelled at Ron.
"Oh but I can't wait to tell him whose trying out to be the seeker for Hufflepuff!" Ron responded.
"Oh man Ron you're obsessed with that girl. It's weird how she doesn't have an accent like the other people from Drumstrang."
"You mean like Krum. How is you old boyfriend doing anyway?"
"Oh well we still write, he read the article about what happened to Harry after he touched the Triwizard Cup. He feels so awful. He even thinks that he can get a position for Harry on a famous team! But don't tell Harry that I want to surprise him."
"Harry might even get to face Krum and beat him!"
"Ron don't get your hopes up, it was just an idea that Krum had. Now stop talking about it Harry can wake at any second I don't want him to hear that!"
"Alright, alright, but aww man that's so cool how she's tying out for seeker. I heard she was a keeper in her last school, and she always saw the snitch, but her seeker was too blind to see it so they always lost. I guess she wants to try being a seeker."
"Who's going to try out to be a seeker?" Harry now wanted to be a part of their conversation.
"Your Defense Against the Dark Arts partner. Isn't that funny! If you two have a bad game you are going to want to kill each other in class!" Ron joked.
"Not another girl as seeker! Remember Cho Chang? I wasn't up to my best ability with her because I didn't want to slam her too hard."
"Oh Harry she isn't going to technically make the team, she's just trying out, plus you are the best seeker this school has seen for years." Hermione convinced. "As a matter of fact you are so good that Krum even brought the idea up to me about seeing if he could get you to play for a famous team!"
"Really?" Harry tried to act as though he never knew this. "Oh but I'm not that good."
"Harry please. Don't try to flatter yourself too much." Ron chuckled.
"Hey! Did we get a lot of homework last night?" Harry wondered.
"Well we actually haven't been getting too much all year, which has only been like a week, but even still. Last year we were piled on top of a mountain of homework." Hermione answered.
"True. So you didn't get any?"
"Well Moody wants us to continue practicing the Patronous spell. Everyone that went up against the Boggart in the form of a Dementor collapsed on the ground scared cause they couldn't do it. It was rather funny actually. IT took me like five times for my gray wisp to take its actual form against the Dementor."
"What shape does yours take?" Harry wondered.
"An otter, remember last year in the DA meetings? (Harry shook his head remembering only Cho's Patronous, which took the shape of a swan) Well mine took that form last year also."
"How bout you Ron, what form does your Patronous take?"
"Well mine hasn't taken a form yet, every time I get up to the Boggart it still turns into a spider so I haven't been able to practice on a dementor yet. Moody was threatening me that if I didn't get it that I would have to face a real dementor. He gets so mad." Ron replied.
"Oh well that stinks. Has he said anything about my absence?"
"Well he grunted to himself when he saw that you weren't there, but otherwise he still hasn't said anything about it to us." Ron replied.
"Oh yes and Harry in Potions we have to write a full twelve inches about the truth potion. He said that when we make it he's going to pick one of us and ask us all of these personal questions, and he's going to pick by who did their paper the worst."
"Snape seriously thinks of ways to make us miserable… you're lucky you don't have to put up with him this year Ron."
"Well Harry, he's now going to miss saying 'Weasly you added an ounce too much of Oyo powder, twenty points from Griffyndor!'" Then Ron reenacted Snape's walk away with great pleasure of knowing that he had made all of the Griffyndor's miserable.
"Harry I'm sorry, but we are going to miss our first class, did Dumbledore tell you when you are going to be allowed out of the hospital? I mean the first week doesn't even go by and already something has happened to you." Hermione explained.
"Well, I hope Dumbledore lets me out after Snape tests his Vertassium truth potion on someone, because if not, Snape will definitely test it out on me." Harry joked.
"Ha ha ha Harry. Well lets go Ron, oh yes we have to get Madam Pompfy to watch Harry before we go." So Hermione and Ron went and told Madam Pompfy that they were going to be leaving now so she would come and watch Harry.
"Bye Harry." Hermione bid.
"See you later." Ron mumbled.
"Bye guys."
"Out out everyone out!" Madam Pompfy screamed at the students.
"That's what we were planning on doing!" Ron yelled as she shoved them out the door.
"No Harry you need—"
"I just woke up, when's Dumbledore coming?"
"I don't know! But you need your r—"
"Can I please write a letter to someone?"
"As long as you sleep afterwards! You need to heal!" Madam Pompfy went to a cabinet and got out a quill, ink, and a piece of parchment. She then brought them over to Harry and went and refolded all of the hospital beds.
Harry took the quill in his hand and dipped it into the inkbottle.
Lupin,
You said to keep in touch this year, so I thought 'why not a better time that now' because I'm in the hospital right now. I can't even get through the first week. Remember the thing that happened to me at the order last summer? Well it happened again only worse. Yesterday when I woke up from the incident I couldn't move anything below the neck, now I can't move anything below the waist. Dumbledore probably informed everyone at the Order about what happened already, I hope he did because I can't write too much incase this letter is intersected. Hope you're well; tell Mrs. Weasly I said Hi.
Harry
Harry reread his letter to make sure that it didn't sound weird, and then he put it on his nightstand.
"Finished are you? Well I will wake you when Dumbledore arrives, and then I can have him send out your letter. Now get some rest!" Madam Pompfy yelled.
"Madam Pompfy I'm not even tired. Can't I just—"
"Nope, you need your rest. So here's a sleeping potion." Harry tried to reject it, but was already drinking it, and before he knew it, he was soundlessly asleep.