Chapter 9
Dumbledore Returns
How Harry managed to survive the next weeks without any major punishments or mishaps was a mystery to him. He had thought Snape would have been much stricter on him. There were now three weeks before the first Quidditch match of the season and Harry's head pounded. Excitement flowed through him, but constantly his fear managed to take over. They had been practicing for two and a half hours a day and six days a week ever since the beginning of the term. Harry felt a satisfaction run through him as he watched one of the Chaser practices from the ground. Although Zachary Lyons still seemed a bit out of place, their play was flawless. Ron's confidence had somehow skyrocketed and at times his saves could have even outmatched those of Oliver Wood.
"Great job, you guys," Harry said at the end of practice. "I've never seen a Gryffindor team more prepared than we are now. For the next three weeks, we'll only have practice on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. We don't want to practice too much before the match."
Exhausted but energetic cheers echoed through the empty stadium. "Hit the showers, everyone!" Harry called out. Everyone flocked towards the locker rooms, except for one member, who snuck out of the Quidditch pitch still sweaty and in their scarlet Quidditch robes. Curiosity got hold of Harry and he followed, recognizing Zachary Lyons' tall and lanky form. He headed for the Forbidden Forest again. Harry followed, but at a distance. Zachary turned around before entering the trees, so Harry hid in the shadow of one of the goalposts as Lyons entered the forest.
* * *
Knowing fully well that the Hogwarts staff deemed this forest forbidden for a decent reason, Harry still followed his teammate at a distance. They followed an overgrown trail towards the heart of the forest. Lyons abruptly stopped in his tracks, so Harry did as well, curious at first. He heard the howl of a werewolf that sent shivers down his spine. Ahead of him, Zachary shuddered, but they had apparently reached their destination. Harry stood in the shadows of the trees while Zachary stood in the middle of a clearing. They waited.
* * *
After what seemed like twenty minutes, Harry almost gave up on trying to determine what Lyons was doing. A noise stopped him in his tracks.
"Lyons," a familiar cold, drawling voice said from the other side of the clearing. "So you've decided to come after all."
"Yes, about that..."
"Did you get it?"
"No, not yet. Potter has kept an annoyingly close watch on me."
"We don't have much time," the voice continued as the form of Draco Malfoy stepped out from behind a tree.
"I know that, it's just that I didn't have any chance to..."
"Silence! I don't have time for your pitiful excuses. Listen, Dumbledore will return sooner than you may expect. That injury was only temporary to buy us time to put the Dark Lord's plan into play. Meet back here next week. Same time, same place. You had better have it by then, or else."
Together, Lyons and Malfoy disappeared through the trees.
* * *
Harry's heart pounded in his chest. He had no clue what they had been talking about, but he did know it had a dangerous power in the hands of Voldemort. He waited a few minutes for Lyons and Malfoy to get a head start back to the castle before he started heading in the same direction. He had to tell someone about what he had overheard. Ideally that someone would be Dumbledore, who still was not available at the moment. Tonks would want to know, but Harry thought he had better go to McGonagall first.
The castle loomed in the darkness. Harry's mind was racing. He had to tell her about what he had overheard, and quickly. His steps quickened as he neared the steps up to the castle. Still in his Quidditch robes, now dirty and torn, he raced around to find the temporary headmistress. Where could she be? he asked himself.
Frantically, Harry searched the castle. He had to find some authority figure who would believe him. He heard footsteps around the next corner. It was Snape.
With a look of disgust at Harry's disheveled state, the Potions master stopped the teenager in his tracks. "And why might the high and mighty Potter be doing wandering the halls late at night, still in his Quidditch robes?" he sneered.
"Listen, Professor, I have to see Professor McGonagall, and quickly. It can't wait."
Snape's sneer turned into a nasty grin. "Quickly, you say? Well, I have to say that she is a bit—busy at the moment and I'm afraid she can't come to see her dear little Potter, hero of Gryffindor Quidditch matches..." Snape's sarcasm almost set Harry off, but he resisted.
"Please, sir, I have to talk to her."
"I told you, Potter, she's busy at the moment." Harry hadn't realized that he was almost as tall as Snape until now. Had he grown over the last couple weeks? "You could come back later...unless it's as urgent as, perhaps, a lost Quidditch match?"
Harry heard Professor McGonagall's quick step walking in their direction. Relief washed over him. "Severus, what are you doing? Didn't I appoint you to a watch at this hour?"
Sneering at Harry, Snape walked off in the opposite direction without another word. Harry could now see nothing but McGonagall's stern face. "Potter? What do you want?"
"Professor, I have to talk to you about something that happened...just now in the Forbidden Forest."
"Does this have to deal with Quidditch?" she asked, motioning to his dirty and torn robes.
"Yes, and no. It involves a player."
"You don't have to come to me with those type of incidents anymore, Potter. Professor Dumbledore can deal with those kinds of things."
* * *
Harry was flabbergasted. "He's here? Professor Dumbledore is well again?" he asked with great excitement. Hogwarts would soon return to its normal state.
"Yes, Potter. You may go see him in his office, if you wish. He just changed the password to 'chocolate frog'." Her face still remained firm, even due to the good news.
"Thank you, professor." She nodded and started to leave again. "But Professor? Why are you still grim? Shouldn't Professor Dumbledore's return be a happy event?"
She stopped, and sighed. "This is indeed a happy occasion, Potter, but with him Dumbledore brings tidings of great sadness. Lord Voldemort is gaining a new power, one that we have not foreseen. I am afraid it will take quite a bit more to defeat him than we first thought." Pausing, the professor turned around to look at Harry. "Your task is greater than we had anticipated. You must keep on with your studies, but especially your Auror training sessions. The sooner the Dark Lord is vanquished, the better." With that, she turned and walked slowly away.
More confused than ever, Harry walked on to the headmaster's office. The gargoyle sprang away at Harry exclaiming, "Chocolate frog!" Harry stepped onto the moving spiral staircase, still pondering what McGonagall had told him. The staircase moved faster than his thoughts did, and soon Harry had entered the headmaster's circular office. Professor Dumbledore stood in front of his desk, Fawkes the phoenix on his shoulder. He smiled at his student. "I've been expecting you, Harry."
"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed. He had many questions in which Dumbledore would have the answer to, but did not know where to start.
"Hello, Harry," the headmaster said wearily. Harry looked into Dumbledore's eyes. They had become full of pain and suffering, lacking their usual sparkle.
"Professor?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"Tell me everything."
The elderly man sighed. "Has Professor McGonagall talked to you yet?"
"Yes, we met in the hall not five minutes ago."
"Then I suppose she has told you Voldemort is in the process of gaining a massive power, bigger than we had all anticipated?"
"Yes."
"I'm afraid that's about all I can tell you, as it is all we have learned lately in the Order of the Phoenix." Dumbledore walked to sit in the chair in front of his desk, Fawkes still on his shoulder. "We are working on details for this theory of a new power. For now it idles, perhaps leading us to yet another dead end. My proposition is that this power is a weapon of some sort."
"Sir? What happened the night you were attacked?"
The old man took in an even larger sigh than the one before. "You know much already. As you have heard, I was checking up on the situation of the Auror shortage in the Ministry of Magic. Voldemort has spies everywhere, evidently even in the Ministry. I did not have a chance to see my attacker, as the spell led to unconsciousness for quite some time. I woke up two weeks later in St. Mungo's. That night I had learned of Voldemort's increasing power. The attacker probably knew I had learned about this, and wanted to clear my memory of all my knowledge. An unsuccessful task, I might add.
"When I woke up, I remembered learning of this unseen power Voldemort has gained. Immediately, I alerted the Order of the Phoenix who came directly to my aid. I told them of my knowledge and they set to work to pick up more clues. None have emerged thus far."
An awkward silence set itself upon the office. In the quiet, Harry could hear previous headmasters and headmistresses snoring in their frames around the office.
Harry then remembered what he had seen in the forest and realized his Quidditch robes still ripped and dirty draped over his shoulders. "As you know, Professor, I'm the Quidditch Captain of the Gryffindor team."
Dumbledore smiled weakly. "So Minerva has told me."
"Well, I filled the vacated positions from last year with Ginny Weasley, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and a third year student named Zachary Lyons. The team started to fit together with the new players, but Zachary refused to get along with anyone. He has kept to himself most of the time and is always sulking. After today's practice, I saw him walking into the Forbidden Forest and followed him, since it's my responsibility to keep the players safe."
Dumbledore nodded, his smile fading even more. "I understand how you would want to protect him. Please continue."
"Zachary reached a clearing and stopped, looking as if he were waiting for something or someone. I stopped behind a tree. Sure enough, Draco Malfoy stepped out from the other side of the clearing. He asked if Zachary had brought with him something. I don't know what the thing was, as Malfoy referred to the object as 'it'. He then said something about your injury and that the attack on you was in order to buy them time. My instincts tell me it has something to do with Voldemort."
Dumbledore sank into his chair, closing his eyes. The old man's face seemed to have aged many years over the time since the Death Eaters attacked him. "We're running out of time, Harry," he said, his voice wispy. Dumbledore was exhausted, Harry could tell. The headmaster opened his eyes. "Harry, how are your training sessions coming along?"
"Fairly well. Sir, may I ask what is 'it'?"
"As far as I can tell it has to do with a weapon of great magnitude. I'm not sure exactly, but we're going to have to alert the Order about this. I will do so in the morning. For now, Harry, keep up with your schoolwork, training, and Quidditch. During practices and games, however, keep a close watch over Zachary Lyons. His family is and always has been vulnerable to the corruption and power of Lord Voldemort. I will summon you if anything unexpected comes up."
"Thank you, sir."
"You're welcome, Harry."
Dumbledore Returns
How Harry managed to survive the next weeks without any major punishments or mishaps was a mystery to him. He had thought Snape would have been much stricter on him. There were now three weeks before the first Quidditch match of the season and Harry's head pounded. Excitement flowed through him, but constantly his fear managed to take over. They had been practicing for two and a half hours a day and six days a week ever since the beginning of the term. Harry felt a satisfaction run through him as he watched one of the Chaser practices from the ground. Although Zachary Lyons still seemed a bit out of place, their play was flawless. Ron's confidence had somehow skyrocketed and at times his saves could have even outmatched those of Oliver Wood.
"Great job, you guys," Harry said at the end of practice. "I've never seen a Gryffindor team more prepared than we are now. For the next three weeks, we'll only have practice on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. We don't want to practice too much before the match."
Exhausted but energetic cheers echoed through the empty stadium. "Hit the showers, everyone!" Harry called out. Everyone flocked towards the locker rooms, except for one member, who snuck out of the Quidditch pitch still sweaty and in their scarlet Quidditch robes. Curiosity got hold of Harry and he followed, recognizing Zachary Lyons' tall and lanky form. He headed for the Forbidden Forest again. Harry followed, but at a distance. Zachary turned around before entering the trees, so Harry hid in the shadow of one of the goalposts as Lyons entered the forest.
* * *
Knowing fully well that the Hogwarts staff deemed this forest forbidden for a decent reason, Harry still followed his teammate at a distance. They followed an overgrown trail towards the heart of the forest. Lyons abruptly stopped in his tracks, so Harry did as well, curious at first. He heard the howl of a werewolf that sent shivers down his spine. Ahead of him, Zachary shuddered, but they had apparently reached their destination. Harry stood in the shadows of the trees while Zachary stood in the middle of a clearing. They waited.
* * *
After what seemed like twenty minutes, Harry almost gave up on trying to determine what Lyons was doing. A noise stopped him in his tracks.
"Lyons," a familiar cold, drawling voice said from the other side of the clearing. "So you've decided to come after all."
"Yes, about that..."
"Did you get it?"
"No, not yet. Potter has kept an annoyingly close watch on me."
"We don't have much time," the voice continued as the form of Draco Malfoy stepped out from behind a tree.
"I know that, it's just that I didn't have any chance to..."
"Silence! I don't have time for your pitiful excuses. Listen, Dumbledore will return sooner than you may expect. That injury was only temporary to buy us time to put the Dark Lord's plan into play. Meet back here next week. Same time, same place. You had better have it by then, or else."
Together, Lyons and Malfoy disappeared through the trees.
* * *
Harry's heart pounded in his chest. He had no clue what they had been talking about, but he did know it had a dangerous power in the hands of Voldemort. He waited a few minutes for Lyons and Malfoy to get a head start back to the castle before he started heading in the same direction. He had to tell someone about what he had overheard. Ideally that someone would be Dumbledore, who still was not available at the moment. Tonks would want to know, but Harry thought he had better go to McGonagall first.
The castle loomed in the darkness. Harry's mind was racing. He had to tell her about what he had overheard, and quickly. His steps quickened as he neared the steps up to the castle. Still in his Quidditch robes, now dirty and torn, he raced around to find the temporary headmistress. Where could she be? he asked himself.
Frantically, Harry searched the castle. He had to find some authority figure who would believe him. He heard footsteps around the next corner. It was Snape.
With a look of disgust at Harry's disheveled state, the Potions master stopped the teenager in his tracks. "And why might the high and mighty Potter be doing wandering the halls late at night, still in his Quidditch robes?" he sneered.
"Listen, Professor, I have to see Professor McGonagall, and quickly. It can't wait."
Snape's sneer turned into a nasty grin. "Quickly, you say? Well, I have to say that she is a bit—busy at the moment and I'm afraid she can't come to see her dear little Potter, hero of Gryffindor Quidditch matches..." Snape's sarcasm almost set Harry off, but he resisted.
"Please, sir, I have to talk to her."
"I told you, Potter, she's busy at the moment." Harry hadn't realized that he was almost as tall as Snape until now. Had he grown over the last couple weeks? "You could come back later...unless it's as urgent as, perhaps, a lost Quidditch match?"
Harry heard Professor McGonagall's quick step walking in their direction. Relief washed over him. "Severus, what are you doing? Didn't I appoint you to a watch at this hour?"
Sneering at Harry, Snape walked off in the opposite direction without another word. Harry could now see nothing but McGonagall's stern face. "Potter? What do you want?"
"Professor, I have to talk to you about something that happened...just now in the Forbidden Forest."
"Does this have to deal with Quidditch?" she asked, motioning to his dirty and torn robes.
"Yes, and no. It involves a player."
"You don't have to come to me with those type of incidents anymore, Potter. Professor Dumbledore can deal with those kinds of things."
* * *
Harry was flabbergasted. "He's here? Professor Dumbledore is well again?" he asked with great excitement. Hogwarts would soon return to its normal state.
"Yes, Potter. You may go see him in his office, if you wish. He just changed the password to 'chocolate frog'." Her face still remained firm, even due to the good news.
"Thank you, professor." She nodded and started to leave again. "But Professor? Why are you still grim? Shouldn't Professor Dumbledore's return be a happy event?"
She stopped, and sighed. "This is indeed a happy occasion, Potter, but with him Dumbledore brings tidings of great sadness. Lord Voldemort is gaining a new power, one that we have not foreseen. I am afraid it will take quite a bit more to defeat him than we first thought." Pausing, the professor turned around to look at Harry. "Your task is greater than we had anticipated. You must keep on with your studies, but especially your Auror training sessions. The sooner the Dark Lord is vanquished, the better." With that, she turned and walked slowly away.
More confused than ever, Harry walked on to the headmaster's office. The gargoyle sprang away at Harry exclaiming, "Chocolate frog!" Harry stepped onto the moving spiral staircase, still pondering what McGonagall had told him. The staircase moved faster than his thoughts did, and soon Harry had entered the headmaster's circular office. Professor Dumbledore stood in front of his desk, Fawkes the phoenix on his shoulder. He smiled at his student. "I've been expecting you, Harry."
"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed. He had many questions in which Dumbledore would have the answer to, but did not know where to start.
"Hello, Harry," the headmaster said wearily. Harry looked into Dumbledore's eyes. They had become full of pain and suffering, lacking their usual sparkle.
"Professor?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"Tell me everything."
The elderly man sighed. "Has Professor McGonagall talked to you yet?"
"Yes, we met in the hall not five minutes ago."
"Then I suppose she has told you Voldemort is in the process of gaining a massive power, bigger than we had all anticipated?"
"Yes."
"I'm afraid that's about all I can tell you, as it is all we have learned lately in the Order of the Phoenix." Dumbledore walked to sit in the chair in front of his desk, Fawkes still on his shoulder. "We are working on details for this theory of a new power. For now it idles, perhaps leading us to yet another dead end. My proposition is that this power is a weapon of some sort."
"Sir? What happened the night you were attacked?"
The old man took in an even larger sigh than the one before. "You know much already. As you have heard, I was checking up on the situation of the Auror shortage in the Ministry of Magic. Voldemort has spies everywhere, evidently even in the Ministry. I did not have a chance to see my attacker, as the spell led to unconsciousness for quite some time. I woke up two weeks later in St. Mungo's. That night I had learned of Voldemort's increasing power. The attacker probably knew I had learned about this, and wanted to clear my memory of all my knowledge. An unsuccessful task, I might add.
"When I woke up, I remembered learning of this unseen power Voldemort has gained. Immediately, I alerted the Order of the Phoenix who came directly to my aid. I told them of my knowledge and they set to work to pick up more clues. None have emerged thus far."
An awkward silence set itself upon the office. In the quiet, Harry could hear previous headmasters and headmistresses snoring in their frames around the office.
Harry then remembered what he had seen in the forest and realized his Quidditch robes still ripped and dirty draped over his shoulders. "As you know, Professor, I'm the Quidditch Captain of the Gryffindor team."
Dumbledore smiled weakly. "So Minerva has told me."
"Well, I filled the vacated positions from last year with Ginny Weasley, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and a third year student named Zachary Lyons. The team started to fit together with the new players, but Zachary refused to get along with anyone. He has kept to himself most of the time and is always sulking. After today's practice, I saw him walking into the Forbidden Forest and followed him, since it's my responsibility to keep the players safe."
Dumbledore nodded, his smile fading even more. "I understand how you would want to protect him. Please continue."
"Zachary reached a clearing and stopped, looking as if he were waiting for something or someone. I stopped behind a tree. Sure enough, Draco Malfoy stepped out from the other side of the clearing. He asked if Zachary had brought with him something. I don't know what the thing was, as Malfoy referred to the object as 'it'. He then said something about your injury and that the attack on you was in order to buy them time. My instincts tell me it has something to do with Voldemort."
Dumbledore sank into his chair, closing his eyes. The old man's face seemed to have aged many years over the time since the Death Eaters attacked him. "We're running out of time, Harry," he said, his voice wispy. Dumbledore was exhausted, Harry could tell. The headmaster opened his eyes. "Harry, how are your training sessions coming along?"
"Fairly well. Sir, may I ask what is 'it'?"
"As far as I can tell it has to do with a weapon of great magnitude. I'm not sure exactly, but we're going to have to alert the Order about this. I will do so in the morning. For now, Harry, keep up with your schoolwork, training, and Quidditch. During practices and games, however, keep a close watch over Zachary Lyons. His family is and always has been vulnerable to the corruption and power of Lord Voldemort. I will summon you if anything unexpected comes up."
"Thank you, sir."
"You're welcome, Harry."
