A/N - PLEASE READ THIS NOTE - PLEASE say things like "I can't believe it
was him," or her, or that person. BUT DON'T TYPE THE NAME. A lot of
people read the reviews to decide whether or not they're going to read a
story and I don't want to ruin it for anyone. PLEASE HELP ME OUT ON THIS.
Chapter 59
RIDDLE REVEALED
Harry's quick escape from Gryffindor Tower didn't go unnoticed. Pausing only to spare a quick glance to each other, Ron and Hermione made their way deftly through the thick crowds of excited and raucous Gryffindor students toward the Fat Lady reaching it at practically the same time. They flung her open so hard that she bounced off the back wall earning themselves a slight chastise ("gently if you please, I have feelings you know"). The two friends scampered out of the portrait hole. They jogged for a few seconds down the corridor until they were almost upon ---
"HARRY!" Hermione shouted as they caught up to him.
"What?" He called over his shoulder not stopping nor even slowing down his pace towards the kitchens.
"Don't 'what' me. You know what. You shouldn't leave Gryffindor Tower alone at night, or any time for that matter."
"Oh really," Harry said in what he hoped was a menacing voice. This was not a conversation his was eager to have. A quick glance toward Ron told him that he successfully conveyed his message. But Hermione would not heed it.
"Yes Harry. We're your friends. We want to go with you anyway. But most importantly none of us should be running around the school alone. Weird things seem to happen to you and those around you now don't they?"
"You think I'm a baby who needs protecting don't you? Think you and Ron can deal with Voldemort do you?"
"You think --- "
"Harry, don't be ridiculous. Of course I don't."
And with that, the trio walked the corridors silently on their way to the kitchens. He knew that his two friends were only looking out for his well being but nothing set him off these days like people treating him like a little kid. No one knew everything about him. Different people knew different troubles that he had but no one knew the whole story. No one knew what he was capable of and he was tired of being treated like a little boy --- especially since when he was a little boy nobody seemed to care very much about him.
They didn't speak again until they had almost reached their destination, each lost in his or her own thoughts. Being the tallest of the three, the honor of opening the pathway fell to the red head of the group. Just as Ron started to reach up to tickle the giant pear in the portrait, Harry whipped his head around to his right.
Startled, Ron froze and asked, "Er --- What is it mate?"
Just as quickly as he did the first time, Harry whipped his head back to the other side to look at his best friend. "Something moved over there just now." Harry pointed to the corner. " Didn't you all see it?"
"No," Ron and Hermione said together.
Harry didn't miss the sidelong glances they threw at each other.
"I'm not nutters. I saw something move," Harry said defiantly.
"We don't think you're crazy Harry," Hermione said in her best reassuring tone of voice.
Harry started walking slowly towards where he thought the movement came from. "It was over here."
"Harry, there's no one there mate." Ron offered.
Undeterred by Ron's amazing ability to state the obvious, he continued searching for the source of the movement determined not to make any comments for the sake of their friendship. If anything, his pace quickened.
"Harry, be careful. Wait for us --- Harry, wait up!" Hermione added taking her wand out. She nudged Ron in the ribs indicating that he too should take out his wand. Tired of being poked in the ribs, Ron pulled out his wand and held it at the ready. He and Hermione continued to follow Harry towards what they were both sure was nothingness.
Unaffected by Hermione's words of caution, Harry kept walking towards the movement he knew for a fact he had seen a few moments earlier in the shadows. Ron and Hermione closely followed him although both of them were holding their wands at the ready (and Ron was also feeling extremely stupid letting Hermione's and Harry's imagination spook him).
As they followed Harry around the corner Ron saw something on the floor several meters down toward the other end of the corridor.
"LUMOS"
Ron extended his wand as far as he could to help shed light on the object lying on the floor. He couldn't yet tell what it was. It was something familiar though --- he could feel it. Something about it --- something so familiar ---
"LOOK! The dots on that parchment are moving!"
Indeed they were.
Harry's face (and Ron's and Hermione's as well) practically glowed with delight as he called out, "The Marauder's Map!"
They quickened their pace towards the Map lying on the ground as Harry remarked, "Whoever I saw moving must have dropped the Map. Which probably means that whoever it was must have had the Map all year. I bet we can figure out who it was by looking at the dots. At least we could narrow it down to a few people."
Hermione asked, "Who do you think had it all this time?"
That was an excellent question.
Unfortunately, he didn't know. Ron and Harry both shrugged their shoulders. "Dunno," Ron answered. Harry didn't care about the answer anywhere near as much as he cared about getting his hands back on his former rule-breaking tool.
Harry sprinted the last few steps toward the Map.
All Harry knew was that he was finally going to get back another possession that once belonged to his dad and his two best friends, Padfoot and Moony. Suddenly nothing mattered except getting his hands on the Map. He screeched to a sudden stop in front of it. As Harry reached down to get it he spoke shamelessly to the Map, "I'm just glad to get you back."
He shouldn't have been ignoring his surroundings.
What he didn't notice was that the person who dropped the Marauder's Map was kneeling down just inside the classroom (next to where the Map had conveniently been dropped) watching the dot labeled "Harry Potter" as it drew nearer and nearer to the Map's location. What he didn't notice was that that unseen person, kneeling patiently in the classroom, was waiting until the exact right second to act. What he didn't notice was that the Map, if he would have looked at it properly before picking it up, would have told him the name of the Death Eater waiting for him right inside of the classroom.
The dots labeled "Hermione Granger" and "Ronald Weasley" were also close but there was no doubt that the "Harry Potter" dot was the closest. The "Harry Potter" dot was the only one that concerned the hidden person in the classroom.
Harry practically sprinted the last few steps to the Map (exactly as the person in the classroom hoped he would). Without delay, he bent down to pick it up off the floor. Not even a second before Harry grasped the Map another arm reached out from the classroom the Map was laying next to and also grabbed the Map.
The two separate arms belonging to two separate people grabbed the Map at the same instant. However only one of those people was surprised when they were hit by the sensation of a hook being jerked from somewhere in the middle of their respective bodies.
Regrettably, this mode of travel wasn't as unfamiliar as Harry would have liked. He was getting more proficient traveling by Port Key. And so this time when he landed on a grassy field in the dark England night, Harry was able to keep his footing although just barely so. He didn't have time to take pride in that though.
The first thing his brain registered was that he had just been transported away from Hogwarts --- away from safety --- away from Dumbledore. The second thing he registered (not even a second later) was that he was not the only one who had been transported.
Harry and his traveling companion momentarily looked at each other. The companion was the only one of the two that knew that something was amiss. Harry was mistakenly glad that he didn't find himself alone in the field.
Admittedly it wasn't his favorite person --- not even a useful person --- but at least it was a member of the Hogwarts Staff. It was an adult at least. It was someone who should have some experience dealing with rough situations.
Remembering the previous year, Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket. He wasn't surprised that he was the only one to do so.
"How did we both get here?" Harry asked the other traveler barely able to control his quickly rising level of panic.
He received no answer except for an eerie smile.
Harry asked again, "What happened?"
Harry was greeted by a deep and long dark laugh.
He continued to wait for an explanation.
"Er---," Harry began increasingly unsure of his current predicament.
"Er --- can't you hear me?"
More dreadful laughter.
"Er --- "
"Don't you get it yet Potter? --- No? --- Not Yet??? How dumb are you? I knew that my Master should have let me deal with you last year instead of Moody."
"YOU???" Harry challenged. His mouth hanging wide open and his wand hanging uselessly from his fingertips with just barely enough pressure to keep his wand from tumbling out of his grasp. Harry stood there gaping until he could formulate a complete sentence.
"YOU'RE THE DEATH EATER???" He continued.
Laughter --- long, deep laughter.
"But why? How? You're not even a real wizard," He finally concluded.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds. One wizard was standing with his mouth hanging completely wide open. The other one was wearing the ultimate grin showing pleasure and delight like someone whose wildest dreams had just come true.
A horrible laugh filled the night air leaving an eerie silence in its wake.
"Aren't I Potter?" Argus Filch retorted. "My Master would be so displeased to hear that. What makes you say such a horrible thing?"
Harry finally realized that he was standing with his wand pointing uselessly at the crickets chirping below. When he first saw Filch next to him the last thing he expected was that Filch would pose any sort of threat with a wand --- he was after all --- well he was a Squib.
But what Harry didn't miss was the fact that Filch held a wand that was aimed directly at Harry's heart.
"ANSWER ME BOY!" Filch bellowed.
Harry continued to stare mutely, unable to form any coherent thoughts or sentences.
"ANSWER ME!"
"You --- you can't be a --- a Death Eater! You're a --- a --- a --- Squib."
Filch let loose another dark and maniacal laugh.
"A Squib am I? Think about it." Filch challenged.
Not wanting to die with a mystery on his hands and looking to stall in order to exponentially increase his life expectancy, Harry did think about it. He thought about it hard. He wanted to know what the scummy Caretaker was talking about. But he didn't really come up with anything. "You are a Squib! Voldemort wouldn't want you!"
"Potter, don't be ridiculous. Of course I'm a wizard. Think about when Snape wanted to kill all the prisoners back around Christmas time --- all I had to do was nudge Dumbledore and his group in the right direction to spare the lives of all of my peers."
Harry thought and thought and thought.
He remembered that Filch didn't say very much. All he did was ensure that the conversation headed in the right direction --- and he had to admit that Filch had played the role perfectly. He started to wonder how long Filch had been playing this role.
"Is it all coming back to you Potter?"
Harry continued to stare into those evil eyes of the Hogwarts Caretaker.
A different memory entered his mind.
"Shortly after Christmas --- you --- you made a move to get your wand. Back when Ron blew the Fat Lady off of her portrait --- you --- you made a grab for your wand before you caught yourself. You wanted to take me then."
Another roar of laughter came from Filch's mouth.
"That's right Potter. Perhaps you're not as dumb as you look. I did consider doing something then but thought better of it. My Master wanted me to wait until the end of year so I waited. Is that all you can think of? No other times?"
Gradually coming to his senses, Harry tightened his grip on his wand but kept it pointed to the ground so as not to attract Filch's attention. He stayed mute concentrating instead on his wand movement and keeping eye contact with Filch. Slowly, painfully so, he began raising his wand so he would be in a better position to duel. At any cost, he needed to keep Filch distracted. He needed to continue the conversation.
"Think," he muttered to himself under his breath.
Finally Harry thought of something to say. "We've seen the books in your office. The Weasley twins and I all saw the Squib books that are in your office."
More laughter --- the sound of his laugh grated on Harry's nerves worse than fingernails against a chalkboard.
"Yes that was a stroke of genius wasn't it? I had to keep up appearances. I played my role for years until my Master told me I could finally act and prove my worth. I kept those books around for nosy little brats --- and headmasters --- to notice so that I could explain away any little bit of magic I might have been caught performing."
Harry was getting dizzy. It was all starting to sink in. He was going numb.
"Is that all Potter?"
Harry stood there mute trying to fight back the dizziness.
"I said, IS --- THAT --- ALL?"
"All what?"
"How daft are you boy? Is that all you can remember? Did you not pick up on the biggest clue of them all?"
Harry searched his memory to no avail. He started thinking back to other years when Filch grew tired of waiting.
"How about when I saved your life?"
Now this was going too far. He was definitely growing tired of being helped by Death Eaters. "When you WHAT??? When do you think you did that?"
Laughter
"I don't think I saved your life Potter, I know."
Forgetting himself and his predicament Harry shouted, "YOU DID NO SUCH THING!"
More laughter.
"Don't you remember the attacks by the Dementors at the end of February?"
There was no need to rack his brain to remember that horrible day months ago.
"Yes I remember it but what does that have to do with --- "
"There at the entrance to the Castle. When you were on your knees about to have your soul sucked out. Does any of this ring a bell yet stupid boy?"
"I cast the PATRONUS CHARM! You just watched. You did nothing."
Laughter
"DID NOTHING DID I? I did nothing except save your life."
"I cast the charm! I saved YOUR life!"
"You cast the charm until you passed out. When the last five Dementors surrounded us, you barely produced a wisp of smoke before succumbing to their effects."
"WHAT? NO!"
"I cast the Charm. I drove off the Dementors. I saved your life."
Harry started shaking his head vigorously as the words sunk in. The more Harry thought about what Filch said the more he realized that he spoke the truth.
He felt sick.
Filch was laughing his loud, dark, menacing laugh but Harry didn't hear it. Instead Harry was focusing every ounce of concentration he had on not getting physically ill. He didn't want to give Filch the satisfaction. He didn't want to get sick.
He was winning the fight with his stomach when suddenly he felt like his head was going to burst wide open like a water balloon that's been dropped onto cement from a skyscraper.
"Harry Potter," a loud high pitched voice hissed from somewhere nearby.
Harry didn't even hear the wizard call his name. He was on the ground writhing in pain. He was barely aware of the fact that at least this time he was managing to hold onto his wand --- although he was completely aware of the fact that he was in no condition to use it. His scar hurt so badly that he couldn't open his eyes or tear his hands away from his face. He was vaguely aware that Voldemort must be close if his scar was hurting this much but that was all he knew.
He didn't know that Filch had finally quit laughing and was on his knees bowing so deeply that his head actually touched the ground.
He didn't know that Voldemort ignored Filch as he walked quickly towards Harry.
And he didn't hear Voldemort say; "Now boy, finally you will get what you deserve."
A/N - So who thought it would be him? Any input on who saves Harry? On who dies? Please remember, no naming names on the Reviews - don't spoil it for other people.
Chapter 59
RIDDLE REVEALED
Harry's quick escape from Gryffindor Tower didn't go unnoticed. Pausing only to spare a quick glance to each other, Ron and Hermione made their way deftly through the thick crowds of excited and raucous Gryffindor students toward the Fat Lady reaching it at practically the same time. They flung her open so hard that she bounced off the back wall earning themselves a slight chastise ("gently if you please, I have feelings you know"). The two friends scampered out of the portrait hole. They jogged for a few seconds down the corridor until they were almost upon ---
"HARRY!" Hermione shouted as they caught up to him.
"What?" He called over his shoulder not stopping nor even slowing down his pace towards the kitchens.
"Don't 'what' me. You know what. You shouldn't leave Gryffindor Tower alone at night, or any time for that matter."
"Oh really," Harry said in what he hoped was a menacing voice. This was not a conversation his was eager to have. A quick glance toward Ron told him that he successfully conveyed his message. But Hermione would not heed it.
"Yes Harry. We're your friends. We want to go with you anyway. But most importantly none of us should be running around the school alone. Weird things seem to happen to you and those around you now don't they?"
"You think I'm a baby who needs protecting don't you? Think you and Ron can deal with Voldemort do you?"
"You think --- "
"Harry, don't be ridiculous. Of course I don't."
And with that, the trio walked the corridors silently on their way to the kitchens. He knew that his two friends were only looking out for his well being but nothing set him off these days like people treating him like a little kid. No one knew everything about him. Different people knew different troubles that he had but no one knew the whole story. No one knew what he was capable of and he was tired of being treated like a little boy --- especially since when he was a little boy nobody seemed to care very much about him.
They didn't speak again until they had almost reached their destination, each lost in his or her own thoughts. Being the tallest of the three, the honor of opening the pathway fell to the red head of the group. Just as Ron started to reach up to tickle the giant pear in the portrait, Harry whipped his head around to his right.
Startled, Ron froze and asked, "Er --- What is it mate?"
Just as quickly as he did the first time, Harry whipped his head back to the other side to look at his best friend. "Something moved over there just now." Harry pointed to the corner. " Didn't you all see it?"
"No," Ron and Hermione said together.
Harry didn't miss the sidelong glances they threw at each other.
"I'm not nutters. I saw something move," Harry said defiantly.
"We don't think you're crazy Harry," Hermione said in her best reassuring tone of voice.
Harry started walking slowly towards where he thought the movement came from. "It was over here."
"Harry, there's no one there mate." Ron offered.
Undeterred by Ron's amazing ability to state the obvious, he continued searching for the source of the movement determined not to make any comments for the sake of their friendship. If anything, his pace quickened.
"Harry, be careful. Wait for us --- Harry, wait up!" Hermione added taking her wand out. She nudged Ron in the ribs indicating that he too should take out his wand. Tired of being poked in the ribs, Ron pulled out his wand and held it at the ready. He and Hermione continued to follow Harry towards what they were both sure was nothingness.
Unaffected by Hermione's words of caution, Harry kept walking towards the movement he knew for a fact he had seen a few moments earlier in the shadows. Ron and Hermione closely followed him although both of them were holding their wands at the ready (and Ron was also feeling extremely stupid letting Hermione's and Harry's imagination spook him).
As they followed Harry around the corner Ron saw something on the floor several meters down toward the other end of the corridor.
"LUMOS"
Ron extended his wand as far as he could to help shed light on the object lying on the floor. He couldn't yet tell what it was. It was something familiar though --- he could feel it. Something about it --- something so familiar ---
"LOOK! The dots on that parchment are moving!"
Indeed they were.
Harry's face (and Ron's and Hermione's as well) practically glowed with delight as he called out, "The Marauder's Map!"
They quickened their pace towards the Map lying on the ground as Harry remarked, "Whoever I saw moving must have dropped the Map. Which probably means that whoever it was must have had the Map all year. I bet we can figure out who it was by looking at the dots. At least we could narrow it down to a few people."
Hermione asked, "Who do you think had it all this time?"
That was an excellent question.
Unfortunately, he didn't know. Ron and Harry both shrugged their shoulders. "Dunno," Ron answered. Harry didn't care about the answer anywhere near as much as he cared about getting his hands back on his former rule-breaking tool.
Harry sprinted the last few steps toward the Map.
All Harry knew was that he was finally going to get back another possession that once belonged to his dad and his two best friends, Padfoot and Moony. Suddenly nothing mattered except getting his hands on the Map. He screeched to a sudden stop in front of it. As Harry reached down to get it he spoke shamelessly to the Map, "I'm just glad to get you back."
He shouldn't have been ignoring his surroundings.
What he didn't notice was that the person who dropped the Marauder's Map was kneeling down just inside the classroom (next to where the Map had conveniently been dropped) watching the dot labeled "Harry Potter" as it drew nearer and nearer to the Map's location. What he didn't notice was that that unseen person, kneeling patiently in the classroom, was waiting until the exact right second to act. What he didn't notice was that the Map, if he would have looked at it properly before picking it up, would have told him the name of the Death Eater waiting for him right inside of the classroom.
The dots labeled "Hermione Granger" and "Ronald Weasley" were also close but there was no doubt that the "Harry Potter" dot was the closest. The "Harry Potter" dot was the only one that concerned the hidden person in the classroom.
Harry practically sprinted the last few steps to the Map (exactly as the person in the classroom hoped he would). Without delay, he bent down to pick it up off the floor. Not even a second before Harry grasped the Map another arm reached out from the classroom the Map was laying next to and also grabbed the Map.
The two separate arms belonging to two separate people grabbed the Map at the same instant. However only one of those people was surprised when they were hit by the sensation of a hook being jerked from somewhere in the middle of their respective bodies.
Regrettably, this mode of travel wasn't as unfamiliar as Harry would have liked. He was getting more proficient traveling by Port Key. And so this time when he landed on a grassy field in the dark England night, Harry was able to keep his footing although just barely so. He didn't have time to take pride in that though.
The first thing his brain registered was that he had just been transported away from Hogwarts --- away from safety --- away from Dumbledore. The second thing he registered (not even a second later) was that he was not the only one who had been transported.
Harry and his traveling companion momentarily looked at each other. The companion was the only one of the two that knew that something was amiss. Harry was mistakenly glad that he didn't find himself alone in the field.
Admittedly it wasn't his favorite person --- not even a useful person --- but at least it was a member of the Hogwarts Staff. It was an adult at least. It was someone who should have some experience dealing with rough situations.
Remembering the previous year, Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket. He wasn't surprised that he was the only one to do so.
"How did we both get here?" Harry asked the other traveler barely able to control his quickly rising level of panic.
He received no answer except for an eerie smile.
Harry asked again, "What happened?"
Harry was greeted by a deep and long dark laugh.
He continued to wait for an explanation.
"Er---," Harry began increasingly unsure of his current predicament.
"Er --- can't you hear me?"
More dreadful laughter.
"Er --- "
"Don't you get it yet Potter? --- No? --- Not Yet??? How dumb are you? I knew that my Master should have let me deal with you last year instead of Moody."
"YOU???" Harry challenged. His mouth hanging wide open and his wand hanging uselessly from his fingertips with just barely enough pressure to keep his wand from tumbling out of his grasp. Harry stood there gaping until he could formulate a complete sentence.
"YOU'RE THE DEATH EATER???" He continued.
Laughter --- long, deep laughter.
"But why? How? You're not even a real wizard," He finally concluded.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds. One wizard was standing with his mouth hanging completely wide open. The other one was wearing the ultimate grin showing pleasure and delight like someone whose wildest dreams had just come true.
A horrible laugh filled the night air leaving an eerie silence in its wake.
"Aren't I Potter?" Argus Filch retorted. "My Master would be so displeased to hear that. What makes you say such a horrible thing?"
Harry finally realized that he was standing with his wand pointing uselessly at the crickets chirping below. When he first saw Filch next to him the last thing he expected was that Filch would pose any sort of threat with a wand --- he was after all --- well he was a Squib.
But what Harry didn't miss was the fact that Filch held a wand that was aimed directly at Harry's heart.
"ANSWER ME BOY!" Filch bellowed.
Harry continued to stare mutely, unable to form any coherent thoughts or sentences.
"ANSWER ME!"
"You --- you can't be a --- a Death Eater! You're a --- a --- a --- Squib."
Filch let loose another dark and maniacal laugh.
"A Squib am I? Think about it." Filch challenged.
Not wanting to die with a mystery on his hands and looking to stall in order to exponentially increase his life expectancy, Harry did think about it. He thought about it hard. He wanted to know what the scummy Caretaker was talking about. But he didn't really come up with anything. "You are a Squib! Voldemort wouldn't want you!"
"Potter, don't be ridiculous. Of course I'm a wizard. Think about when Snape wanted to kill all the prisoners back around Christmas time --- all I had to do was nudge Dumbledore and his group in the right direction to spare the lives of all of my peers."
Harry thought and thought and thought.
He remembered that Filch didn't say very much. All he did was ensure that the conversation headed in the right direction --- and he had to admit that Filch had played the role perfectly. He started to wonder how long Filch had been playing this role.
"Is it all coming back to you Potter?"
Harry continued to stare into those evil eyes of the Hogwarts Caretaker.
A different memory entered his mind.
"Shortly after Christmas --- you --- you made a move to get your wand. Back when Ron blew the Fat Lady off of her portrait --- you --- you made a grab for your wand before you caught yourself. You wanted to take me then."
Another roar of laughter came from Filch's mouth.
"That's right Potter. Perhaps you're not as dumb as you look. I did consider doing something then but thought better of it. My Master wanted me to wait until the end of year so I waited. Is that all you can think of? No other times?"
Gradually coming to his senses, Harry tightened his grip on his wand but kept it pointed to the ground so as not to attract Filch's attention. He stayed mute concentrating instead on his wand movement and keeping eye contact with Filch. Slowly, painfully so, he began raising his wand so he would be in a better position to duel. At any cost, he needed to keep Filch distracted. He needed to continue the conversation.
"Think," he muttered to himself under his breath.
Finally Harry thought of something to say. "We've seen the books in your office. The Weasley twins and I all saw the Squib books that are in your office."
More laughter --- the sound of his laugh grated on Harry's nerves worse than fingernails against a chalkboard.
"Yes that was a stroke of genius wasn't it? I had to keep up appearances. I played my role for years until my Master told me I could finally act and prove my worth. I kept those books around for nosy little brats --- and headmasters --- to notice so that I could explain away any little bit of magic I might have been caught performing."
Harry was getting dizzy. It was all starting to sink in. He was going numb.
"Is that all Potter?"
Harry stood there mute trying to fight back the dizziness.
"I said, IS --- THAT --- ALL?"
"All what?"
"How daft are you boy? Is that all you can remember? Did you not pick up on the biggest clue of them all?"
Harry searched his memory to no avail. He started thinking back to other years when Filch grew tired of waiting.
"How about when I saved your life?"
Now this was going too far. He was definitely growing tired of being helped by Death Eaters. "When you WHAT??? When do you think you did that?"
Laughter
"I don't think I saved your life Potter, I know."
Forgetting himself and his predicament Harry shouted, "YOU DID NO SUCH THING!"
More laughter.
"Don't you remember the attacks by the Dementors at the end of February?"
There was no need to rack his brain to remember that horrible day months ago.
"Yes I remember it but what does that have to do with --- "
"There at the entrance to the Castle. When you were on your knees about to have your soul sucked out. Does any of this ring a bell yet stupid boy?"
"I cast the PATRONUS CHARM! You just watched. You did nothing."
Laughter
"DID NOTHING DID I? I did nothing except save your life."
"I cast the charm! I saved YOUR life!"
"You cast the charm until you passed out. When the last five Dementors surrounded us, you barely produced a wisp of smoke before succumbing to their effects."
"WHAT? NO!"
"I cast the Charm. I drove off the Dementors. I saved your life."
Harry started shaking his head vigorously as the words sunk in. The more Harry thought about what Filch said the more he realized that he spoke the truth.
He felt sick.
Filch was laughing his loud, dark, menacing laugh but Harry didn't hear it. Instead Harry was focusing every ounce of concentration he had on not getting physically ill. He didn't want to give Filch the satisfaction. He didn't want to get sick.
He was winning the fight with his stomach when suddenly he felt like his head was going to burst wide open like a water balloon that's been dropped onto cement from a skyscraper.
"Harry Potter," a loud high pitched voice hissed from somewhere nearby.
Harry didn't even hear the wizard call his name. He was on the ground writhing in pain. He was barely aware of the fact that at least this time he was managing to hold onto his wand --- although he was completely aware of the fact that he was in no condition to use it. His scar hurt so badly that he couldn't open his eyes or tear his hands away from his face. He was vaguely aware that Voldemort must be close if his scar was hurting this much but that was all he knew.
He didn't know that Filch had finally quit laughing and was on his knees bowing so deeply that his head actually touched the ground.
He didn't know that Voldemort ignored Filch as he walked quickly towards Harry.
And he didn't hear Voldemort say; "Now boy, finally you will get what you deserve."
A/N - So who thought it would be him? Any input on who saves Harry? On who dies? Please remember, no naming names on the Reviews - don't spoil it for other people.