A/N - JKR owns the idea, all of these characters etc.
A/N - Keep posting ideas and suggestions, it can only help.
A/N - Having Bronchitis is no fun. This is the longest I've ever gone w/o posting and I hope to never do it again - sorry. There's some great stuff here and at Schnoogle and I got caught up in a few of them.
Chapter 44
Painful Portkey
Harry never heard the spell that knocked him unconscious.
All he knew was that when he regained consciousness someone was pointing a wand directly at his forehead. He did also know that he was bound and tied to a tree. Harry was starting to remember the last time he traveled by portkey and was tied to something unable to move. It wasn't a pleasant experience and he doubted that this would be either.
"Don't move," said the owner of the wand. It was a voice Harry didn't recognize though. He wondered who the man was but he couldn't discern anything about the wizard behind the Death Eater's mask. What he did know was that Voldemort was nearby. The reason he knew this was because his scar was throbbing. However, that pain was almost insignificant compared to what was yet to come.
"Crucio"
Every part of his fifteen-year-old body felt like it was on fire. In some ways being on fire would probably be less painful than what he was experiencing now. He knew it was an Unforgivable Curse for a reason. Although some part of his internal clock told him that it hadn't lasted very long, he felt sure that he had been under the spell longer than he ever had been before.
"Harry Potter," called an unmistakable high-pitched voice. Harry was busy trying to breathe in all the air he could without retching in front of the dark wizard who killed his parents. He decided it would be bad form and didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
"You've been busy this year."
Harry was torn trying to decide whether or not to answer. Finally, he decided it was time to engage the dark enemy instead of acting like a child.
"What are you talking about Riddle?"
"SILENCE! You will not call me that."
"That's you're name - Tom Riddle."
"CRUCIO"
The all too familiar sensation of having every fiber of his being aflame engulfed him once again. The ropes tying him to the tree were the only thing keeping him from falling to his knees and writhing on the ground. Just as he was starting to wonder how long the curse had been on Neville's parents before they went insane, the sensation stopped.
"I told you not to call me that. Now on to more important matters."
"Who made the portkey?"
"Harry, Harry, Harry, didn't anyone teach you not to interrupt your elders? Well, I guess since I killed your parents perhaps I should be somewhat forgiving for your lack of manners."
Harry was shaking now, and not from the pain. He couldn't remember ever being so mad in his life. He wanted to calm himself down. He had to calm himself down if he were to have any chance of getting out alive. He was casting his mind around for pleasant thoughts.
"As I was saying, you've had a busy year but that stops now. Before I kill you, you're going to tell me about the raid on Azkaban. How did you know?"
"I asked you a question first. Who made the portkey?"
"Well, what's the harm in telling you since you're going to die anyway? It was my loyal Death Eater at Hogwarts."
Harry's eyes widened to the size of golf balls. "Not another one," was all he could think. He wasn't sure if he said that out loud or not.
Voldemort laughed. "You and that muggle lover of yours have always under estimated me. I have loyal followers everywhere. If you get rid of one, I'll recruit three more to take their place. You cannot hope to defeat me."
Harry couldn't think of anything productive to say to that so he started trying to squirm out of his ropes. This caused Voldemort to laugh louder and longer.
"Harry, what do you possibly hope to accomplish doing that? Now I've been more than patient with you so I will ask you only one more time, how did you all know about the raid on Azkaban? Was it Snape?"
Harry made his eyes widen again. He didn't know for sure if Snape had quit playing the role of double agent or not and Harry didn't want to burn that bridge. He couldn't know if Voldemort was fishing for information or testing him but he wouldn't give anything up - that wouldn't be his legacy. Harry's only other response was to squirm against the ropes with more fury than before. He was giving himself cuts and bruises all over his body because of the fury with which he was attacking the ropes.
"Crucio"
Even through the pain, he could hear Voldemort laughing. This time, when the pain subsided, Harry found himself lying on the ground. The pain from the curse caused him to thrash about and squirm with such ferocity that the ropes finally broke against the constant strain from being rubbed against the tree he was tied to.
"Now Harry, I'm usually a tolerant wizard but you have to admit --- "
Harry, however, wasn't listening to Voldemort because something very strange happened. And it had happened so quickly that Harry's brain barely had time to register it.
The instant that Harry fell to the ground and Voldemort starting laughing, a two-foot tall green blur appeared in front of Harry, dropped something into his arms, and vanished. Instead of trying to discern who it was, he was more focused on what he was now holding that had been dropped into his arms. It looked like some sort of white box.
A WHITE BOX!!!
POP
Harry found himself lying on the grass in a very familiar park in Hogsmeade. Looking down at him was none other than his savior.
"DOBBY!!!"
"Dobby is glad Harry Potter is here but he still isn't safe. You must come back to the castle with Dobby."
"Dobby, I can't thank you enough."
"Harry Potter is welcome sir. But we must be getting back to the castle. You is not yet safe sir. We must be going."
"Dobby, please just let me lie here for a couple of minutes. My body aches."
"Dobby is sorry to have to do this to Harry Potter." With a snap of his fingers, Dobby created a rain cloud right over where Harry was lying down.
SPLAT
"All right already. I'm getting up so turn this ruddy thing off." With another snap of his fingers, the cloud evaporated. They slowly started making their way back to the castle. Harry noticed that Dobby disappeared for a couple of seconds and then reappeared. Although he was a little curious, Harry was too wiped out to ask about it. He just plodded along silently.
Although it seemed like forever, it was actually only a few minutes before the castle was in sight along with what Harry initially thought were arrows coming to get him. "What else can happen today?" he thought to himself. Soon though he recognized them as his friends and professors on broomsticks.
A cacophony of noise rang out as everyone was asking him and Dobby what happened. Harry's head started spinning. He didn't have to answer any of their questions though because once again, he lost consciousness.
This time when he woke, however, he was in a more familiar place. He was lying on a couch in the Headmaster's office. Sirius, Professors McGonagall, Snape and Dumbledore, Ron and Hermione were all in the room watching him.
Harry tried to sit up but somehow it was just too hard. Instead he decided to ask a question. "Where's Dobby?"
"Good question - Dobby,Dobby."
Hermione was gaping at the headmaster. "That's how you summon the house- elves? You call them twice?"
He was smiling at her. "Quite ingenious don't you agree? If they came when you said their name once then they would appear when people were talking about them and not intending to summon them. This is the simplest way to request their presence without doing so by accident."
"You called sir?" Dobby had appeared long before the headmaster had finished speaking to Hermione.
"I asked for you Dobby." Harry still wasn't sitting up, exactly. But he wasn't lying down completely either. "I wanted to thank you properly and ask how you knew?"
"I think we'd all like to hear that," Professor McGonagall said more than a little shakily. Harry briefly wondered how it was that she was one of the hardest on him normally (after Snape) and the easiest on him after his ordeals - she seemed to be the most shaken up by some of his ordeals.
Sirius, who had moved to help Harry sit up and sit beside him, said, "Perhaps if you just started at the beginning."
And so he did. He told them about waking up being tied to a tree. Hermione and Professor McGonagall were the only ones to audibly gasp when Harry told them about the first time he was hit with the Cruciartus Curse but the others in the room paled.
"JUST WHAT IN THE NAME OF BLAZES WERE YOU THINKING???"
Harry visibly cringed at Sirius' reaction when Harry told them about how little Voldemort liked being called by his former name.
"Sirius please," Dumbledore, who seemed to almost smile at Harry's last revelation of using Voldemort's previous name, interrupted, "he's been through a lot today. After a spectacular performance on the Quidditch pitch he was portkeyed to face Voldemort who put the Cruciartus Curse on him twice that we know of. Perhaps those of us who care for him would do best not to shout at him just now."
Harry glanced at his headmaster, trying to silently thank him. However Sirius was not calmed by his words. "I don't know whether to throttle you or buy you a shot of Ogden's Whiskey."
"I know which one I vote for."
"Severus!" Chided the other two professors at the same time. Ron was glaring daggers at his potions master.
Dumbledore prodded Harry to continue and he finished telling them his tale. They spoke for a few minutes about Voldemort's reference to his faithful Death Eater and who it could be. The talk was cut short though because even though the headmaster trusted everyone in the room implicitly, he could not stand for three students and three professors to engage in a conversation about which staff member (the required magic was so advanced that it was not likely for it to be a student) was a traitor.
Harry didn't mind cutting that particular line of thinking short though; he was more interested in hearing Dobby's version.
"Well when Harry Potter disappeared so suddenly after winning the game," Dobby smiled up at Harry before continuing. "Dobby knew it had to be against his will. At first I is wondering why no one went after him but then Dobby remembered that witches and wizards cannot Apparate or Disapparate here. So Dobby decided to follow. I was where no one could see me but I could see everything."
Dobby stopped talking. His eyes were starting to well up. Although it seemed so long ago it really wasn't very long since three people in the office had heard Dobby wailing and none of them were anxious to hear it again. All three of them recognized the signs though.
Hermione and Ron were each standing beside Dobby in no time prodding him to continue with his story and offering their moral support. He looked torn but finally he started talking once again.
"Dobby is sorry he couldn't help Harry Potter before he did. Dobby saw all three times that Harry Potter was put under the Unforgivable Curse and yet he couldn't help."
Dobby stopped talking again and everyone could see the tears well up in his eyes. Harry was still pretty tired and generally out of it so he needed Ron's kick in the shin to make him react.
"Dobby, don't be silly. I owe you my life. I've been under that curse before and I'll probably be under it again. I'll be fine in a few days. If you hadn't come when you did, I'd probably be dead by now."
Dobby sniffed and looked up at Harry. "So Harry Potter is not mad at Dobby?"
"MAD??? How could I be mad? You probably saved my life and at Christmas you probably saved Ron's. We can never be mad at you again. Now please, finish telling them what you did for me."
Dobby cautiously looked around at the other faces in the room. Except Snape, everyone was smiling at him. With a slight nod from Harry, he continued his story.
"I saw that Harry Potter was not thinking to Apparate out."
Everyone turned to watch Harry slap himself on the forehead and then wince in pain. Only Snape found this funny. Harry started shaking his head and mumbling angrily to himself.
Unusually, it was Professor McGonagall that stepped in to comfort Harry. "Potter, you just learned how to Apparate this year. You don't even have your license yet. There is absolutely no reason why it should have occurred to you. Besides, according to your description of the events, one of the first things that happened to you was being put under the Cruciartus Curse, is that correct?"
She waited for Harry to nod. He didn't meet her eyes.
"The aftereffects of that alone make it difficult for the most advanced wizards to successfully Apparate. Who knows where you would have ended up? You might have even splinched yourself leaving half of you extremely vulnerable. I for one am extremely glad that you didn't try to Apparate out without the white box."
"Me too," Hermione said. "Now Voldemort doesn't know that you can Apparate."
Harry looked at her puzzled.
"Now he thinks that the white box was a portkey or something like it. He thinks that you couldn't Apparate without it." Professor McGonagall was positively beaming at her.
"A brilliant deduction Miss Granger."
Eventually Harry nodded and prodded Dobby to finish his tale.
"Dobby then returned to the castle to pick up a white box to help Harry Potter make his way back to the park in Hogsmeade. Unfortunately Harry Potter was still tied up and it took the third curse from You-Know-Who to make him squirm enough to break his bindings. The instant he did, I appeared in front of him, dropped the box in his arms, and went to the park to wait for him. Everyone except for Harry Potter knows that after he got to the park I went to tell you all to come meet us."
Sirius was looking every bit his namesake. Harry hoped that one day he would loosen up but he also knew that twelve years in wizard's prison near Dementors was bound to take its toll. He looked up at Dumbledore. "These wards against Apparating near the castle sometimes do more harm than good. Thank goodness that the same restriction doesn't apply to house-elves."
Dobby was beaming. He only stopped when Hermione asked him a question.
"Dobby, neither one of you told us why Harry was soaking wet when we found him."
As much as it was possible, the house-elf was blushing. "Oh --- er --- um --- " And with a POP, Dobby was gone. Fortunately they decided Harry had been through enough so enough forced him to tell that he had been too tired to get off his bum and get back to the school.
Eventually, Harry convinced the adults to let him skip the traditional visit to see Madame Pomfrey. After all, everyone knew nothing could be done about the effects of the curse he had suffered from so he successfully argued that he might as well be with his friends, celebrating his victory.
"After all, we're in sole possession of first place and the only house with an undefeated record." He couldn't resist saying this and glancing at Snape. Harry didn't know that even Professor McGonagall had stolen a quick glance at the head of the Slytherin house.
Sirius had agreed to go to the party with them. Just as everyone was making to leave Harry stopped them with one question.
"Since I seem to find myself bound to something and hexed with the Cruciartus Curse on occasion, could someone teach me something to do to help in that situation? Please? If not could someone tell me what to do the next time I duel him since the best I can muster up is a draw." And with that, Harry exited the completely silent office. He didn't really like asking for help in Snape's presence but the likelihood was that he would be in that situation again and he didn't want his pride to get in the way of a solution over Voldemort. Harry hoped that the older wizards could come to accept that he would face Voldemort again and try to prepare him for the inevitable instead of trying to protect him - which thus far had not worked very well.
When Harry led his two friends and godfather in to the Gryffindor common room, he thought for a second that he had walked into a funeral.
"Who died?"
Everyone in the packed room turned and looked to see who had said that. One of the twins whooped loudly while the other one answered, "We thought you did you great prat. Boy some guys will do anything to make a spectacular exit won't they?"
Dean Thomas asked, "What happened?"
"Voldemort and I had a quick chit chat. I'd rather not think about right now so are we going to have a party here or not?"
And what a party they had.
On Sunday, Harry wanted to lie in bed and think about nothing but Hermione wouldn't have it. Ever since the Christmas holidays she had become even more obsessed about studying for the OWLs than she had been before - and she had been plenty obsessed before. The worst part was that she was making Ron and Harry study too. At first they tried to ignore her but she was relentless. Nothing would stop her.
She would disrupt their games of chess and Exploding Snap. She charmed all of their Chocolate Frogs so that when they opened them instead of a card they got a pop quiz. She charmed their Standard Book of Spells book to follow them around Gryffindor Tower. She charmed their beds so that they couldn't lie down until they named all of the ingredients for a potion. (The bed would scuttle away from them until they did so every night.) She even charmed their boxers to itch until they transfigured them into an animal and back. All of this the two boys managed to resist and still didn't study properly.
Finally one day a few weeks ago she started sending them modified howlers. Once the owl found them the letter would open by itself. It would ask them a single question. If they got it wrong, it would turn into a howler and berate them for not studying, which sent all of the house tables and usually the staff table into a fit of laughter. Although this proved embarrassing, it wasn't why they finally started studying.
One day, almost by accident, Ron got one of the answers right. He and Harry were both very surprised because that hadn't happened in the first week or two of this new method of torture. Both boys were extremely delighted when instead of a howler, the letter turned into a Bertie's Box of Every Flavor Beans.
"Cool," Ron said before tucking in.
So it came as no surprise that Harry, Ron and Hermione spent most of this day studying. Harry also made a point of telling Draco about what happened to him after catching the snitch. He knew that the Slytherin couldn't do anything about it but he felt it was important to keep him informed about the happenings with Death Eaters and Voldemort after his sacrifice during the Christmas holidays.
Draco, for his part, told Harry that he hadn't heard anything from anyone in Slytherin. Harry pushed him because he remembered how Voldemort had once bragged about getting younger followers and Harry told him so. Draco's sacrifice kept Harry from thinking he was one of them but secretly he thought that Crabbe and Goyle might be new recruits because he knew from the previous year that their father's were Death Eaters. That was when Harry found out how unbelievably worse Draco's life had become.
"I told you, I don't know anything. The Slytherins who support the Dark Lord aren't talking to me because of what I did getting my own father captured. The Slytherins who don't support him don't talk to me because my father supports him and because they grew up thinking that all Malfoy's were dark wizards. The young Slytherins that don't really know one way or the other don't talk to me because I must be a horrible person for turning my own father in. And I don't know who falls into which group because none of them are talking to me. So you'll believe know when I tell you that I DON"T KNOW ANYTHING."
Harry trudged back to the common room once again deciding to make a more concerted effort to be friendly towards Draco, no matter how difficult he made it.
At dinner that night Draco sought Harry out to tell him that he had a plan for their second Capture the Flag game in April so for Harry not to worry about it. Harry thought about asking for more details but was afraid it would come across like he didn't trust Malfoy. Whether he did or not, he didn't want it to come across like he didn't so he just nodded and mumbled his thanks.
The school week was uneventful. Harry went to all of his classes but he spent most of the time thinking of who the Death Eater at Hogwarts was. On Saturday he went to Dumbledore to find out where his godfather was. That's when he found out that Sirius had gone missing for almost three days.
A/N -Share your thoughts with me
A/N - Keep posting ideas and suggestions, it can only help.
A/N - Having Bronchitis is no fun. This is the longest I've ever gone w/o posting and I hope to never do it again - sorry. There's some great stuff here and at Schnoogle and I got caught up in a few of them.
Chapter 44
Painful Portkey
Harry never heard the spell that knocked him unconscious.
All he knew was that when he regained consciousness someone was pointing a wand directly at his forehead. He did also know that he was bound and tied to a tree. Harry was starting to remember the last time he traveled by portkey and was tied to something unable to move. It wasn't a pleasant experience and he doubted that this would be either.
"Don't move," said the owner of the wand. It was a voice Harry didn't recognize though. He wondered who the man was but he couldn't discern anything about the wizard behind the Death Eater's mask. What he did know was that Voldemort was nearby. The reason he knew this was because his scar was throbbing. However, that pain was almost insignificant compared to what was yet to come.
"Crucio"
Every part of his fifteen-year-old body felt like it was on fire. In some ways being on fire would probably be less painful than what he was experiencing now. He knew it was an Unforgivable Curse for a reason. Although some part of his internal clock told him that it hadn't lasted very long, he felt sure that he had been under the spell longer than he ever had been before.
"Harry Potter," called an unmistakable high-pitched voice. Harry was busy trying to breathe in all the air he could without retching in front of the dark wizard who killed his parents. He decided it would be bad form and didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
"You've been busy this year."
Harry was torn trying to decide whether or not to answer. Finally, he decided it was time to engage the dark enemy instead of acting like a child.
"What are you talking about Riddle?"
"SILENCE! You will not call me that."
"That's you're name - Tom Riddle."
"CRUCIO"
The all too familiar sensation of having every fiber of his being aflame engulfed him once again. The ropes tying him to the tree were the only thing keeping him from falling to his knees and writhing on the ground. Just as he was starting to wonder how long the curse had been on Neville's parents before they went insane, the sensation stopped.
"I told you not to call me that. Now on to more important matters."
"Who made the portkey?"
"Harry, Harry, Harry, didn't anyone teach you not to interrupt your elders? Well, I guess since I killed your parents perhaps I should be somewhat forgiving for your lack of manners."
Harry was shaking now, and not from the pain. He couldn't remember ever being so mad in his life. He wanted to calm himself down. He had to calm himself down if he were to have any chance of getting out alive. He was casting his mind around for pleasant thoughts.
"As I was saying, you've had a busy year but that stops now. Before I kill you, you're going to tell me about the raid on Azkaban. How did you know?"
"I asked you a question first. Who made the portkey?"
"Well, what's the harm in telling you since you're going to die anyway? It was my loyal Death Eater at Hogwarts."
Harry's eyes widened to the size of golf balls. "Not another one," was all he could think. He wasn't sure if he said that out loud or not.
Voldemort laughed. "You and that muggle lover of yours have always under estimated me. I have loyal followers everywhere. If you get rid of one, I'll recruit three more to take their place. You cannot hope to defeat me."
Harry couldn't think of anything productive to say to that so he started trying to squirm out of his ropes. This caused Voldemort to laugh louder and longer.
"Harry, what do you possibly hope to accomplish doing that? Now I've been more than patient with you so I will ask you only one more time, how did you all know about the raid on Azkaban? Was it Snape?"
Harry made his eyes widen again. He didn't know for sure if Snape had quit playing the role of double agent or not and Harry didn't want to burn that bridge. He couldn't know if Voldemort was fishing for information or testing him but he wouldn't give anything up - that wouldn't be his legacy. Harry's only other response was to squirm against the ropes with more fury than before. He was giving himself cuts and bruises all over his body because of the fury with which he was attacking the ropes.
"Crucio"
Even through the pain, he could hear Voldemort laughing. This time, when the pain subsided, Harry found himself lying on the ground. The pain from the curse caused him to thrash about and squirm with such ferocity that the ropes finally broke against the constant strain from being rubbed against the tree he was tied to.
"Now Harry, I'm usually a tolerant wizard but you have to admit --- "
Harry, however, wasn't listening to Voldemort because something very strange happened. And it had happened so quickly that Harry's brain barely had time to register it.
The instant that Harry fell to the ground and Voldemort starting laughing, a two-foot tall green blur appeared in front of Harry, dropped something into his arms, and vanished. Instead of trying to discern who it was, he was more focused on what he was now holding that had been dropped into his arms. It looked like some sort of white box.
A WHITE BOX!!!
POP
Harry found himself lying on the grass in a very familiar park in Hogsmeade. Looking down at him was none other than his savior.
"DOBBY!!!"
"Dobby is glad Harry Potter is here but he still isn't safe. You must come back to the castle with Dobby."
"Dobby, I can't thank you enough."
"Harry Potter is welcome sir. But we must be getting back to the castle. You is not yet safe sir. We must be going."
"Dobby, please just let me lie here for a couple of minutes. My body aches."
"Dobby is sorry to have to do this to Harry Potter." With a snap of his fingers, Dobby created a rain cloud right over where Harry was lying down.
SPLAT
"All right already. I'm getting up so turn this ruddy thing off." With another snap of his fingers, the cloud evaporated. They slowly started making their way back to the castle. Harry noticed that Dobby disappeared for a couple of seconds and then reappeared. Although he was a little curious, Harry was too wiped out to ask about it. He just plodded along silently.
Although it seemed like forever, it was actually only a few minutes before the castle was in sight along with what Harry initially thought were arrows coming to get him. "What else can happen today?" he thought to himself. Soon though he recognized them as his friends and professors on broomsticks.
A cacophony of noise rang out as everyone was asking him and Dobby what happened. Harry's head started spinning. He didn't have to answer any of their questions though because once again, he lost consciousness.
This time when he woke, however, he was in a more familiar place. He was lying on a couch in the Headmaster's office. Sirius, Professors McGonagall, Snape and Dumbledore, Ron and Hermione were all in the room watching him.
Harry tried to sit up but somehow it was just too hard. Instead he decided to ask a question. "Where's Dobby?"
"Good question - Dobby,Dobby."
Hermione was gaping at the headmaster. "That's how you summon the house- elves? You call them twice?"
He was smiling at her. "Quite ingenious don't you agree? If they came when you said their name once then they would appear when people were talking about them and not intending to summon them. This is the simplest way to request their presence without doing so by accident."
"You called sir?" Dobby had appeared long before the headmaster had finished speaking to Hermione.
"I asked for you Dobby." Harry still wasn't sitting up, exactly. But he wasn't lying down completely either. "I wanted to thank you properly and ask how you knew?"
"I think we'd all like to hear that," Professor McGonagall said more than a little shakily. Harry briefly wondered how it was that she was one of the hardest on him normally (after Snape) and the easiest on him after his ordeals - she seemed to be the most shaken up by some of his ordeals.
Sirius, who had moved to help Harry sit up and sit beside him, said, "Perhaps if you just started at the beginning."
And so he did. He told them about waking up being tied to a tree. Hermione and Professor McGonagall were the only ones to audibly gasp when Harry told them about the first time he was hit with the Cruciartus Curse but the others in the room paled.
"JUST WHAT IN THE NAME OF BLAZES WERE YOU THINKING???"
Harry visibly cringed at Sirius' reaction when Harry told them about how little Voldemort liked being called by his former name.
"Sirius please," Dumbledore, who seemed to almost smile at Harry's last revelation of using Voldemort's previous name, interrupted, "he's been through a lot today. After a spectacular performance on the Quidditch pitch he was portkeyed to face Voldemort who put the Cruciartus Curse on him twice that we know of. Perhaps those of us who care for him would do best not to shout at him just now."
Harry glanced at his headmaster, trying to silently thank him. However Sirius was not calmed by his words. "I don't know whether to throttle you or buy you a shot of Ogden's Whiskey."
"I know which one I vote for."
"Severus!" Chided the other two professors at the same time. Ron was glaring daggers at his potions master.
Dumbledore prodded Harry to continue and he finished telling them his tale. They spoke for a few minutes about Voldemort's reference to his faithful Death Eater and who it could be. The talk was cut short though because even though the headmaster trusted everyone in the room implicitly, he could not stand for three students and three professors to engage in a conversation about which staff member (the required magic was so advanced that it was not likely for it to be a student) was a traitor.
Harry didn't mind cutting that particular line of thinking short though; he was more interested in hearing Dobby's version.
"Well when Harry Potter disappeared so suddenly after winning the game," Dobby smiled up at Harry before continuing. "Dobby knew it had to be against his will. At first I is wondering why no one went after him but then Dobby remembered that witches and wizards cannot Apparate or Disapparate here. So Dobby decided to follow. I was where no one could see me but I could see everything."
Dobby stopped talking. His eyes were starting to well up. Although it seemed so long ago it really wasn't very long since three people in the office had heard Dobby wailing and none of them were anxious to hear it again. All three of them recognized the signs though.
Hermione and Ron were each standing beside Dobby in no time prodding him to continue with his story and offering their moral support. He looked torn but finally he started talking once again.
"Dobby is sorry he couldn't help Harry Potter before he did. Dobby saw all three times that Harry Potter was put under the Unforgivable Curse and yet he couldn't help."
Dobby stopped talking again and everyone could see the tears well up in his eyes. Harry was still pretty tired and generally out of it so he needed Ron's kick in the shin to make him react.
"Dobby, don't be silly. I owe you my life. I've been under that curse before and I'll probably be under it again. I'll be fine in a few days. If you hadn't come when you did, I'd probably be dead by now."
Dobby sniffed and looked up at Harry. "So Harry Potter is not mad at Dobby?"
"MAD??? How could I be mad? You probably saved my life and at Christmas you probably saved Ron's. We can never be mad at you again. Now please, finish telling them what you did for me."
Dobby cautiously looked around at the other faces in the room. Except Snape, everyone was smiling at him. With a slight nod from Harry, he continued his story.
"I saw that Harry Potter was not thinking to Apparate out."
Everyone turned to watch Harry slap himself on the forehead and then wince in pain. Only Snape found this funny. Harry started shaking his head and mumbling angrily to himself.
Unusually, it was Professor McGonagall that stepped in to comfort Harry. "Potter, you just learned how to Apparate this year. You don't even have your license yet. There is absolutely no reason why it should have occurred to you. Besides, according to your description of the events, one of the first things that happened to you was being put under the Cruciartus Curse, is that correct?"
She waited for Harry to nod. He didn't meet her eyes.
"The aftereffects of that alone make it difficult for the most advanced wizards to successfully Apparate. Who knows where you would have ended up? You might have even splinched yourself leaving half of you extremely vulnerable. I for one am extremely glad that you didn't try to Apparate out without the white box."
"Me too," Hermione said. "Now Voldemort doesn't know that you can Apparate."
Harry looked at her puzzled.
"Now he thinks that the white box was a portkey or something like it. He thinks that you couldn't Apparate without it." Professor McGonagall was positively beaming at her.
"A brilliant deduction Miss Granger."
Eventually Harry nodded and prodded Dobby to finish his tale.
"Dobby then returned to the castle to pick up a white box to help Harry Potter make his way back to the park in Hogsmeade. Unfortunately Harry Potter was still tied up and it took the third curse from You-Know-Who to make him squirm enough to break his bindings. The instant he did, I appeared in front of him, dropped the box in his arms, and went to the park to wait for him. Everyone except for Harry Potter knows that after he got to the park I went to tell you all to come meet us."
Sirius was looking every bit his namesake. Harry hoped that one day he would loosen up but he also knew that twelve years in wizard's prison near Dementors was bound to take its toll. He looked up at Dumbledore. "These wards against Apparating near the castle sometimes do more harm than good. Thank goodness that the same restriction doesn't apply to house-elves."
Dobby was beaming. He only stopped when Hermione asked him a question.
"Dobby, neither one of you told us why Harry was soaking wet when we found him."
As much as it was possible, the house-elf was blushing. "Oh --- er --- um --- " And with a POP, Dobby was gone. Fortunately they decided Harry had been through enough so enough forced him to tell that he had been too tired to get off his bum and get back to the school.
Eventually, Harry convinced the adults to let him skip the traditional visit to see Madame Pomfrey. After all, everyone knew nothing could be done about the effects of the curse he had suffered from so he successfully argued that he might as well be with his friends, celebrating his victory.
"After all, we're in sole possession of first place and the only house with an undefeated record." He couldn't resist saying this and glancing at Snape. Harry didn't know that even Professor McGonagall had stolen a quick glance at the head of the Slytherin house.
Sirius had agreed to go to the party with them. Just as everyone was making to leave Harry stopped them with one question.
"Since I seem to find myself bound to something and hexed with the Cruciartus Curse on occasion, could someone teach me something to do to help in that situation? Please? If not could someone tell me what to do the next time I duel him since the best I can muster up is a draw." And with that, Harry exited the completely silent office. He didn't really like asking for help in Snape's presence but the likelihood was that he would be in that situation again and he didn't want his pride to get in the way of a solution over Voldemort. Harry hoped that the older wizards could come to accept that he would face Voldemort again and try to prepare him for the inevitable instead of trying to protect him - which thus far had not worked very well.
When Harry led his two friends and godfather in to the Gryffindor common room, he thought for a second that he had walked into a funeral.
"Who died?"
Everyone in the packed room turned and looked to see who had said that. One of the twins whooped loudly while the other one answered, "We thought you did you great prat. Boy some guys will do anything to make a spectacular exit won't they?"
Dean Thomas asked, "What happened?"
"Voldemort and I had a quick chit chat. I'd rather not think about right now so are we going to have a party here or not?"
And what a party they had.
On Sunday, Harry wanted to lie in bed and think about nothing but Hermione wouldn't have it. Ever since the Christmas holidays she had become even more obsessed about studying for the OWLs than she had been before - and she had been plenty obsessed before. The worst part was that she was making Ron and Harry study too. At first they tried to ignore her but she was relentless. Nothing would stop her.
She would disrupt their games of chess and Exploding Snap. She charmed all of their Chocolate Frogs so that when they opened them instead of a card they got a pop quiz. She charmed their Standard Book of Spells book to follow them around Gryffindor Tower. She charmed their beds so that they couldn't lie down until they named all of the ingredients for a potion. (The bed would scuttle away from them until they did so every night.) She even charmed their boxers to itch until they transfigured them into an animal and back. All of this the two boys managed to resist and still didn't study properly.
Finally one day a few weeks ago she started sending them modified howlers. Once the owl found them the letter would open by itself. It would ask them a single question. If they got it wrong, it would turn into a howler and berate them for not studying, which sent all of the house tables and usually the staff table into a fit of laughter. Although this proved embarrassing, it wasn't why they finally started studying.
One day, almost by accident, Ron got one of the answers right. He and Harry were both very surprised because that hadn't happened in the first week or two of this new method of torture. Both boys were extremely delighted when instead of a howler, the letter turned into a Bertie's Box of Every Flavor Beans.
"Cool," Ron said before tucking in.
So it came as no surprise that Harry, Ron and Hermione spent most of this day studying. Harry also made a point of telling Draco about what happened to him after catching the snitch. He knew that the Slytherin couldn't do anything about it but he felt it was important to keep him informed about the happenings with Death Eaters and Voldemort after his sacrifice during the Christmas holidays.
Draco, for his part, told Harry that he hadn't heard anything from anyone in Slytherin. Harry pushed him because he remembered how Voldemort had once bragged about getting younger followers and Harry told him so. Draco's sacrifice kept Harry from thinking he was one of them but secretly he thought that Crabbe and Goyle might be new recruits because he knew from the previous year that their father's were Death Eaters. That was when Harry found out how unbelievably worse Draco's life had become.
"I told you, I don't know anything. The Slytherins who support the Dark Lord aren't talking to me because of what I did getting my own father captured. The Slytherins who don't support him don't talk to me because my father supports him and because they grew up thinking that all Malfoy's were dark wizards. The young Slytherins that don't really know one way or the other don't talk to me because I must be a horrible person for turning my own father in. And I don't know who falls into which group because none of them are talking to me. So you'll believe know when I tell you that I DON"T KNOW ANYTHING."
Harry trudged back to the common room once again deciding to make a more concerted effort to be friendly towards Draco, no matter how difficult he made it.
At dinner that night Draco sought Harry out to tell him that he had a plan for their second Capture the Flag game in April so for Harry not to worry about it. Harry thought about asking for more details but was afraid it would come across like he didn't trust Malfoy. Whether he did or not, he didn't want it to come across like he didn't so he just nodded and mumbled his thanks.
The school week was uneventful. Harry went to all of his classes but he spent most of the time thinking of who the Death Eater at Hogwarts was. On Saturday he went to Dumbledore to find out where his godfather was. That's when he found out that Sirius had gone missing for almost three days.
A/N -Share your thoughts with me