Disclaimer: I deliberately took some quotes from The Exorcist. I never actually saw the whole movie, but I've seen clips of it on TV. Hang on, because this story is about to get freakier.
Chapter Seven: Possession
"Harry, what's wrong with you?" Hermione asked, terrified. "What's the matter with your ---?"
Before she could finish, Harry leapt to his feet, almost as though an invisible force had lifted him up. Smiling rather sinisterly, he raised his hand and pointed it at Hermione.
"HERMIONE, GET DOWN!" Ron shouted.
A blast of bright light shot out of Harry's palm and sped towards Hermione. Hermione screamed and jumped out of the way just as the blast hit the way and blew a hole in the wall.
"Harry, what the hell are you doing?" Ron demanded, approaching Harry angrily. "You nearly killed her!"
"No, Ron, that isn't Harry!" Lupin yelled. "Look at his eyes --- they aren't his!"
"He's right!" Ginny cried. "Harry wouldn't do a thing like that!" She gasped. "He's being controlled!"
Everyone stared at Harry, numb with shock. "Controlled?" Mrs. Weasley repeated faintly.
"But… that can't be!" sputtered Mr. Weasley. "It's impossible… how could that have happened?"
"I have to contract Dumbledore," Lupin said immediately. "He'll know what to do…"
"Nobody is going anywhere," Harry said coldly, in that strange, high-pitched voice. He raised his hand and pointed at Lupin. Lupin suddenly froze in place.
"I can't move!" he exclaimed. His eyes suddenly widened, as if he'd seen something that the others couldn't see. "Oh no…" he whispered. "Oh, God, no!"
Harry looked amused. "So you've worked it out?" he asked Lupin. "You're much quicker on the uptake than I thought you'd be." He made a clutching gesture in the air, and Lupin started choking. "Well, I guess that just means you'll be the first to die."
"STUPEFY!" a voice suddenly screamed.
A jet of red light struck Harry and he collapsed. Mr. Weasley stood over him, his wand raised, looking grim. Lupin fell to his knees, gasping for breath. He looked shocked and livid.
"Damn!" he wheezed furiously, massaging his throat. He seemed unable to finish his sentences. "I --- told --- him --- to --- clear --- his --- mind! Why --- didn't --- he --- listen!"
"What do you mean, Remus?" Mrs. Weasley cried, looking alarmed. "What's wrong with him?"
Lupin got shakily to his feet. "He's not just being controlled; he's possessed."
"You mean… V-Voldemort?" Hermione faltered.
"Finally got through his mind," Lupin finished gravely.
Everybody gasped in horror. Ginny felt as though the bottom had dropped out of her stomach. You-Know-Who --- the most feared Dark wizard of the century --- was in her house.
"You-Know-Who?" stammered Mrs. Weasley. "Here?"
"But what about the Occlumency lessons?" Mr. Weasley demanded. "He was supposed to be practicing!"
"There have been other things on his mind aside from that," Ron said grimly, white-faced. "What are we going to do?"
"Get Harry to a room and make sure he's secured," Lupin said, his voice trembling. "I'm going to go contact Dumbledore and the Order. We have to get him out of Harry's body before he causes harm to both him and us." He paused. "Only if this has anything to do with Kreacher's murder last night, then we may have already been betrayed."
***
Mr. Weasley and Bill dragged Harry to the master bedroom, the others anxiously following them. None of them were able to speak; their fear and shock were beyond words.
How could this have happened? Ginny wondered despairingly. I knew Harry wasn't too keen on taking Occlumency lessons with Snape, and that he was having those weird dreams…what if they had something to do with this? Did You-Know-Who give him fake visions of Sirius so that he could gain control of his mind?
And Lupin thought that Harry's possession him might have had to do with Kreacher's murder? No, she thought, attempting to reassure herself. No, Harry would never do a thing like that. Oh, yes, he hated Kreacher --- it was perfectly understandable after what had happened to Sirius --- but he'd never do a thing like that.
You think so? a nasty little voice inside her head asked. Harry said it himself that he hated knowing that Sirius's murderers got away scot-free while the Ministry still thought he was a murderer. Maybe he decided to take matters into his own hands…
Harry would never do a thing like that! she thought angrily.
What about the things you did under You-Know-Who's influence?
But… that's different! she thought desperately. Harry's so much stronger than I am…
Are you sure you're not just letting your affection blind you? the voice replied slyly.
Ginny felt her face grow hot with both embarrassment and anger. Of course not! I got over him a long time ago! He's my friend now!
Are you trying to convince yourself or me?
Ginny ignored the voice, unwilling to dignify that question with a response. She was being stupid… arguing with herself, of all people…
Her mind returned to Harry. She couldn't help remembering how distant and angry he had been during the summer. His fight with Hermione… his unsettled rage against Sirius's murderers… Sirius's death had hit him hard, and after what he'd already been through, it might have been understandable that he'd acted would have acted that way. Still… what if that had been Voldemort all along? Voldemort could have possessed him while he was far away from the wizarding world, and chosen not to reveal himself until he was at The Burrow…
She shivered. She knew from experience how a person could be possessed and not know it.
"Arthur…" Mrs. Weasley said hoarsely as Mr. Weasley and Bill conjured ropes and tied Harry's arms and legs to the bedposts. "Arthur, do you think it's true? You-Know-Who is in Harry --- in our house?"
"I don't know," Mr. Weasley replied wearily, checking to see if the ropes were secure, "but I'm going to find out." He pointed his wand at Harry's chest and muttered, "Ennervate."
The red, cat-like eyes snapped open. At once, Harry let out a roar and lunged for Mr. Weasley, only to be restrained by his bounds. Breathing heavily, he glared at them all.
"Who are you?" Mr. Weasley asked quietly, his wand still pointed at Harry's chest.
Harry glared at him. "I'm the Dark Lord," the high pitched voice coming out of his mouth hissed. "Now kindly undo these straps."
"If you're the Dark Lord, then why don't you undo them yourself?" Mr. Weasley replied in a steady voice.
Harry --- You-Know-Who --- smirked. "Well, that would be showing a little too much power, don't you think?"
The red eyes looked around, surveying the room and the people in it. Ginny's brothers blanched at the sight of them and Hermione let out a small, scared squeak. Her mother looked as though she were about to faint.
Do you remember me, Tom? Ginny couldn't help but wonder as the red eyes fixed upon her briefly.
"The Weasleys, I presume?" You-Know-Who asked after a while. "Ah, yes, Potter's memories inform me well…"
"What do you want with Harry?" Mr. Weasley demanded. "You already have your body back, don't you? Why are you using him?"
"Tell me… why do you concern yourself with Potter's fate?" You-Know-Who said with cruel amusement. "Aren't you afraid of what I can do you to you and your family? What is he to you?"
"We're his family," Mr. Weasley said. "He's like a son to us."
"His family?" he repeated, sneering. "Ah, such a trivial sentimentality. But I can see the truth you conceal: to you, Potter is just some poor orphan you took pity on."
"That is not true!" Ron burst out angrily.
"Be quiet, Ron!" Hermione hissed. "He's just doing it to get a rise out of us… he's trying to get us to attack him to hurt Harry!"
"But Potter knows this as well," You-Know-Who went on, his eyes gleaming maliciously. "I can hear his thoughts. He thinks that you have no right to take the places of his parents. To him, his real family died a long time ago…"
"You killed them," Mr. Weasley interrupted coldly.
"Oh, that's right," You-Know-Who mused, twisting Harry's face into an evil smile. "I did."
"You're a monster!" Ginny shouted, shaking with rage. She was unable to control herself. She'd seen for herself how evil Tom Riddle was through her experience with his diary… but at some point, before he turned evil, he had been a human being. Now You-Know-Who didn't have a spark of humanity left inside of him; he was using Harry as a puppet and enjoyed the pain he was causing him.
You-Know-Who glanced at her, keeping Harry's face as blank as possible. Suddenly, she felt as if an invisible hand had punched her in the face. She went flying into the wall and landed on the ground with a crash.
"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley screamed, rushing to her side with Hermione. "Ginny --- oh Ginny --- are you all right?"
"I'm okay, Mum," Ginny groaned as Hermione pulled her upright. "But… how did he do that?"
"Even though you have me restrained, I can still use my powers," You-Know-Who replied coolly. "I transferred some of them to the boy when I possessed… I'd thought they would be useful. Let this be a warning: I could kill all of you right now without moving a finger."
"Then why don't you?" Fred asked boldly.
"Believe me, I would like nothing more to end your meddling lives right now, if I didn't want to find out Dumbledore's plans…" You-Know-Who's eyes widened, staring at something behind Mr. Weasley. "Why speak of the devil," he hissed.
The Weasleys and Hermione whirled around. In the doorway stood Professor Dumbledore himself. Behind him stood Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Mad-Eye Moody, and none other than Severus Snape.
Ginny looked at Dumbledore. The headmaster, usually benign and calm, looked uncharacteristically furious as he stared at You-Know-Who. She could sense a powerful aura radiating from him. He drew out his wand and pointed it at You-Know-Who. "Get out of his body, Tom," he said in a voice of deadly calm.
You-Know-Who started laughing. "And what are you going do to me if I don't?" he taunted. "Kill me? You and I both know that you can't do that… not without harming your precious Potter."
"And we also both know that you can't stay in his body for long," Dumbledore replied. "You can't stand to feel the emotions he feels."
You-Know-Who smiled. "Ah, but that's where you're wrong, Dumbledore. You see, I thought ahead before possessing him… I knew that since his beloved godfather died, he'd be going through a world of pain. Pain that he wouldn't be able to endure…
"I entered his dreams this summer… his rage was powerful… he didn't just want revenge on the people responsible for Black's death --- he wanted them slaughtered. I used this too my advantage, and appearing to him in the form of a specter, offered to take away his pain and give him the power to take revenge. He was skeptical at first… but in the end, he was unable to resist the temptation. He agreed to the deal last night, and in doing so, he rejected his emotions, allowing me to control him as I pleased…"
"And you used him to kill Kreacher," Dumbledore said.
"Well, he didn't know what he was doing," You-Know-Who said, grinning wickedly. "When he discovered what he had done, he was horrified. That's the trouble with weak fools like him… once they actually taste revenge, they find it isn't to their liking. He tried to get rid of me, but it's too late. I have full control of him now!"
There was silence. Ginny and her family stood there in numb horror. Dumbledore's face was a mask of indifference as he stared at You-Know-Who.
"Ironic, isn't it?" You-Know-Who taunted. "You thought the safest way to keep the boy safe was to clear his mind of all emotions… and yet he was even more vulnerable without them."
"How long do you intend on staying in him?" Dumbledore asked finally.
"For as long as I need to," You-Know-Who replied silkily.
"I won't allow you to do this to him," Dumbledore said quietly. "We'll force you out."
"And what then? Haven't you forgotten what possession does to the host? It shortens their lives. Once I leave his body, he'll die. The amount of time he has left is entirely up to you."
Ron approached Dumbledore. "P-Professor," he whispered, looking pale, "it --- it isn't true, is it? Harry --- Harry can't die!"
Dumbledore sighed, looking much older than he already was. "I'm afraid he isn't lying, Mr. Weasley," he said sadly. "The possession will take his life."
Mrs. Weasley clapped her hands to her mouth, looking stricken. "No!" she cried. "He can't die… not like this!"
"What are we going to do?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Everything that is humanly possible," Dumbledore replied gently. "Only I don't know if that will be enough to save him." He turned to the Order members, looking very determined. "Remus, get as many others as you can," he whispered. We have to get Voldemort out of Harry's body… not only does Harry's life depend on it, but perhaps ours as well."
To be continued…