Chapter 17
Secrets
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing on fanfiction.net
Author's Note: Hey people! For recap: Harry and his friends overheard a conversation between Malfoy and Voldemort to kill Dumbledore, and they went to tell Dumbledore right away. They thought they'd be able to prevent the attack of Death Eaters to kill Dumbledore, but alas, the attack still happened. However, Harry and his friends followed Dumbledore in Ron's via-mobile and saved Dumbledore from his murder. Now they're back at Hogwarts. Read on and find out what happens!
It didn't take too long for the news of the attempted attack on Professor Dumbledore to be heard from every witch or wizard in the castle. The minute Harry had woken up and gone down to the common room, there was an enormous crowd of already-woken Gryffindors waiting there. As he took one step down the stairs into the room, loud cheers and applause welcomed him, and all the Gryffindors rushed to him in excitement, treating him like a hero. This happened four times for each of the four who saved Dumbledore from the Death Eaters.
With a large crowd of cheering Gryffindors behind them, the four friends walked to the Great Hall, with various cheers and applause in the hallways. When they entered the Great Hall, a round of welcoming cheers echoed around the large room. A large sign was put up in the Great Hall, reading:
'WELCOME BACK, PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE!
GREAT JOB, PRINCESS JOY, HARRY POTTER, RONALD WEASLEY AND HERMIONE GRANGER!
YOU'RE HOGWARTS' HEROES!'
Harry smiled once he read the sign. A Hogwarts hero... It had been a long time since he had been called that, and he was happy to be praised with his three friends.
"We're heroes, Harry!" said Ron in amazement, his face lit up with joy.
"Wow," said Hermione, who was blushing with excitement.
"Come on," said Harry. "Let's go join the Gryffindor table."
The four of them sat down at the table, with more compliments given from their peers. Blinding lights surrounded Harry, as he found out that Colin Creevey and his brother Dennis were snapping photos of him.
After Harry and his friends ate their breakfast (which was a bit hard, considering that everyone was asking them so many questions), Dumbledore rose from his chair and called for silence, which he received quickly.
"Good morning to you all!" he greeted. "I expect that you know all about what had happened last night. As you all know, I received a threat of... murder... a few days ago. Even with all the top security, my visit to Mr. Fudge was still unsuccessful. For further and more accurate information, you may check in The Daily Prophet. If it wasn't for four brave students, I would have suffered a horrible death. These students are of course," he said, pointing to the big sign above him, "Princess Joy, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger from Gryffindor House."
Hands clapping in applause were heard from every corner of the room. Ron and Hermione were gloating, Harry was absolutely happy and Joy gave them all one of her famous smiles.
"Because of their heroic deeds, each of them will be given Special Awards for Services to the School."
At that moment, Professor Dumbledore waved his wand onto a small table in front of him.
"Prixo apparatus!" he shouted, as four large awards with each of their names on them, and four medals laid on the table. Everyone cheered while glaring in awe at the beautiful trophies.
"Would these four wonderful students come up to the front, please?"
Harry, Joy, Hermione and Ron rushed to the front of the Great Hall and stood in front of the table. Harry glared at his shining trophy, which stated:
'SPECIAL AWARDS FOR SERVICES TO THE SCHOOL
HARRY J. POTTER, 6TH YEAR
1996-19997'
Harry remembered when he and Ron had received awards in their 2nd year, but they never received them like they did that day, and neither did they get medals.
"The presentation of the awards is actually a new tradition we have brought to Hogwarts, which came from Professor Luigi," he said. Everyone applauded for Professor Luigi, the smiling teacher who stood up and took a bow. "He told us this is what they usually do at Nero Gatto Academy. They keep the awards in the school, yet they give medals or miniature trophies to the winners.
"There are also photographers from The Daily Prophet who will be taking pictures," he said, pointing at the photographers with their cameras in their hands. Colin and Dennis grinned in awe at them. "Now without further ado, I'd like to give these medals out. To Princess Joy."
Joy walked in front of Professor Dumbledore as he laid the ribbon of the medal around her neck and shook her hand. A round of flashing lights took pictures of the Princess. She stepped aside so the next person could go up.
"To Hermione Granger," he said, as Hermione walked to him. He gave the medal to her, putting it around her neck and shaking her hand (which was trembling in excitement). More pictures were taken.
"To Harry Potter." Harry, with a smile, walked toward the grinning Headmaster, who lowered the medal onto his neck, and gave him a hearty handshake.
He looked around the Great Hall at everyone in the room. Everyone was cheering for him, except the Slytherin table (especially Malfoy and his friends who were sneering in anger). Surprisingly, Princess Glory and her four friends applauded very much. He even saw Cho with Madame Pomfrey at the door. She applauded loudly and blew Harry a kiss, which made him blush dearly. Flashes and flashes of light were seen from every angle. Harry wished Remus was there... and if only his parents and Sirius were there too...
Harry noticed he was wasting his time, and walked to the side.
"To Ronald Weasley," said Professor Dumbledore, as Ron went up to him, received his medal, shook Dumbledore's hand and walked to the side. He was positively glowing.
"I present to you Hogwarts' heroes!"
Cheers and more cheers were heard all around the Great Hall, and a bright smile could have been seen across Harry's face. For once, all my friends and I are heroes together, he thought.
*****
Harry, Joy, Hermione and Ron were given nothing but compliments and congratulations that week. Harry felt very proud for his friends, and quite glad that they had the chance to save Dumbledore from his terrible murder. Harry read a large article in The Daily Prophet about what had happened the evening that Dumbledore was attacked, and about the awards given to Harry and his friends. He read closely the part of the article when he and his friends were mentioned when they saved Dumbledore:
...Just when Dumbledore thought that he was cornered, and that his death was near, three courageous students from Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry (the fourth one came later) ran into the gaping space in the forest. These students were none other than Princess Joy, Professor Dumbledore's great-great-great-granddaughter, Hermione Granger, a Gryffindor girl at the top of her class, and Harry Potter, the famous hero of the wizarding world and 'the boy-who-lived'. With their wands held up high in their hands, they battled the furious masked witches and wizards victoriously. After several minutes, Harry rescued Dumbledore from a couple of masked wizards in a corner and told him to hide into the woods.
"I had already battled a few- er..... masked witches and wizards, when I saw Professor Dumbledore against a large tree, badly hurt, with three masked wizards injuring him with their wands and fists," said Harry Potter, who was questioned later on by an Auror. "I couldn't believe my eyes. I rushed to Professor Dumbledore's rescue and cast a duelling spell on the three of them. Dumbledore was stuttering and gasping for air. I told him to save himself, to hide out of where we were battling. I battled more of the wizards afterwards."
Harry, who has come face-to-face with many forms of the Dark Arts, battled victoriously that night. Yet again, the wizarding world's boy hero came to a magnificent rescue again.
Harry blushed at the comment. The wizarding world's boy hero... Finally after accusing him of being an attention-crazed hero wannabe, they gave him recognition. At the bottom of the page, he saw a group picture of Professor Dumbledore, his friends and himself who had just received their awards. Everyone looked so happy in the photo.
Harry turned to the next page, which showed a curious article entitled,
'ATTEMPTED DUMBLEDORE ASSASSINATION AND OTHER ATTACKS
THOUGHT UP BY HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED'S FOLLOWERS:
NEW AUROR RESEARCH STATES THAT CURRENT ATTACKS HAVE BEEN PLANNED BY DEATH EATERS'
Harry eagerly read the article, wondering what the Aurors found out:
After the terrible yet unsuccessful attack on Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Aurors had interviews and enquiries to the heroes of the evening, the victim and the masked wizards and witches involved.
"Did you recognize any of the attackers?" asked Henry Richardson, a chief Auror who investigated the scene, to Professor Dumbledore at the interviews.
"No, I'm afraid not," said Professor Dumbledore, who was still a bit stunned by what had happened. "I didn't see their faces at all, because of their masks. Their disguises looked a lot like Death Eater costumes. A few of their voices sounded familiar as well. They sounded like thought-to-be Death Eaters from 16 years ago and from the war."
In fact, a few of them were thought-to-be Death Eaters from 16 years ago and the war, at least twelve of them. A few of these former Death Eaters were Danielle Anderson, George Dinkleham, William Monty, Sam Robertson, Ashley Sint and Montgomery Smith. There were also the children of thought-to-be Death Eaters, and a few others who weren't a part of the follower circle a long time ago, nor from last year. All of these attackers were sent to Azkaban and were questioned further more.
The driver, who lured Dumbledore to the forest, as well as damaging a carriage, was a young man of the name Sam Rovershire,, whose family was thought to be linked with You-Know-Who's inner circle. He was caught later on in the evening, and was brought to Azkaban.
The Aurors' research shows that most of the crimes this year and terrorist attacks were committed by people like this. So, why were there so many Death Eaters at the attack? The Ministry and the Aurors think that the Death Eaters are trying to continue the former Dark Lord's work, or maybe, they are trying to bring back He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
"Obviously, our research shows that there is a large connection between the attacks this year and You-Know-Who," said Remus Lupin, a chief Auror. "There was, of course, the Dark Mark which appeared at the attack at the Princesses' Birthday Ball. Someone is trying to bring back You-Know-Who or is trying to do his deeds, although we don't know for sure if there is a certain someone who would try and continue his work, and if there was someone trying to bring him back, how could they?"
Harry smiled at the inclusion of his mentor, Remus. He was so proud that Remus' name was in The Daily Prophet, and that everyone recognized Remus' talents in defence against the Dark Arts. He was glad, also, that the Aurors realized Lord Voldemort was behind all the attacks. So after about 6 months of researching these attacks, thought Harry, they finally find out that Lord Voldemort is behind it all some way or another.
Harry thought to himself about what Remus had said about Lord Voldemort returning: 'and if there was someone trying to bring him back, how would they?' He knew Lord Voldemort was back, one way or another. He had seen Voldemort talking to Malfoy. His scar even burned a few times with anger and frustration a few times that week, as if Voldemort was angry. He's probably mad Dumbledore wasn't killed, he had thought to himself. Even with the proof, how could they have brought Lord Voldemort back to life? It seemed impossible to Harry, but he was willing to find a way.
He passed the day thinking about how Lord Voldemort could have come back to life. Was there a way? And if there was, what was it? Maybe he was never dead in the first place, and Joy and Glory had killed someone pretending to be Lord Voldemort? All these questions swirled in his head during the whole entire day. It was hard to concentrate on anything his friends were saying. He only thought of any possible ways Lord Voldemort, or even anymore, could come back from the dead.
"Joy, we've talked a lot about the scheme concerning Voldemort and Malfoy," said Harry, as him and his friends were walking in the hallways, "but we never discussed how Voldemort came back to life."
"You're absolutely right," admitted Joy.
"So, how would he be able to?" he asked.
"We're not sure in the first place if Voldemort has returned to his original form," added Hermione. "We've only seen shadows and silhouettes of him."
"That's true," admitted Ron.
"But my scar has been burning this week," said Harry, feeling his scar. "Remember that I can sometimes feel Voldemort's feelings?"
"That's true too," said Ron.
"Maybe it's just warning you that he's somewhere near us," suggested Hermione. "It even burned in our first year, Harry, and remember he was attached to Quirrell, not in original form?"
"I think it was him feeling something," said Harry. "It felt as if he was angry and frustrated, probably that his plans to destroy Dumbledore had failed."
"That is possible, but even a formless thing can have feelings, can it?" implied Ron.
Harry and his friends walked in the corridors leading to the common room, when he spotted Glory talking to her friends. He noticed that Glory wasn't with Malfoy at the time, and he wondered why she wasn't with her boyfriend. While walking in the hallway, Harry and Glory happened to collide into each other by accident.
They both fell on the floor after banging into each other, their school bags and books flew into the air and dropped. It took a few seconds for Harry to realize what had happened. He picked up his books from the floor and swung his bag on his back.
He saw that Glory was still on the floor, trying to retrieve her books, and was being helped by her friends. Harry decided to pick up the few of her remaining books on the floor, and he gave her his hand to stand up. Glory recognized Harry's extended hand, and looked delighted and blushed at the polite gesture. She grabbed his hand as he helped her up, and he handed her the books he picked off the floor.
"Thank you so much, Harry!" she said blushing. "Thank you very much."
"No problem," said Harry. He was thankful that Glory wasn't ruthless at the moment. "Where's Malfoy?"
"Oh..." she said, trailing off. Her four friends looked at each other, their eyebrows raised. "Well, I'm just a bit mad at him at the moment," she admitted. "I'm a bit disappointed in him. The driver that night was a friend of Malfoy's father, and I couldn't believe he knew the driver who was in the plot to... to destroy..."
Glory didn't continue her sentence, and she looked down at her shoes with a glum voice.
"I'm sure everything will get better with time," said Harry, not knowing what he said really meant, and if he really meant it.
"Thank you," said Glory shyly. "I guess I'll see you around?"
"Of course," he said, as he watched her and her friends walk away.
*****
"I don't get it! What happened?" asked Harry.
"She's extremely sick," said Hermione. "She's in complete pain, has a high fever, she's weak... Whatever you name, she has it!"
"How could this have happened?" questioned Ron.
"I have no idea," responded Hermione.
They were discussing what they had found out that morning when they were in the Great Hall: Joy was extremely ill. No one knew what virus she had, nor did they know how she got the virus. All they knew was that Joy wouldn't be attending classes for a while, but Hermione was told that she still wanted notes and homework from all the classes.
"She's terribly sick in bed," said Ron. "She shouldn't be doing homework!"
"There's nothing wrong about not wanting to fall behind!" scolded Hermione.
The bell rang, signalling the start of the school day. Harry, Ron and Hermione headed on their way to Herbology. On the way there, Harry was stopped by a hand pulling him to the side. He found out it was Tiffany Sealious, Glory's freckled, cherry-blonde haired friend.
"Hello, Tiffany," greeted Harry, who was quite startled. "What is it?"
"I'm sorry for pulling you over like this, but I needed to talk to you," she said in a whisper. "Actually, the others and I need to talk to you."
"You mean, Ruth, Lucy, Vicky and you?" asked Harry.
"Yes! We need to talk to you concerning... concerning Glory."
Harry was surprised at what he heard.
"What about her?" he asked curiously.
"You've noticed that she's been acting strange these past months, right?"
"Of course."
"Well, the three and I know that you and your friends are always investigating crimes and things like that," she explained. "You're probably researching the reasons for those attacks, aren't you?"
Yet again, Harry was in shock. He was surprised they knew.
"Yes, yes we are."
"You see, Ruth, Vicky, Lucy and I researched ourselves, and we found out everything."
"Everything?" asked Harry.
"Yes, everything. We found out Princess Glory's secret. It's absolutely horrible. No wonder she's been acting so strange! Anyway, we wanted to tell the Aurors, but we're afraid. We thought it better to tell you."
Harry couldn't believe his ears. All the things that they were busting their brains to find out, they knew!
"What exactly are the things you found out?" he asked.
"Everything about Malfoy, You-Know-Who trying to gain power by the Monarchy, the kidnappings, how You-Know-Who returned from the dead - everything!" So Voldemort did come back from the dead! he thought.
"What are all these secrets?" he asked eagerly.
"I can't tell you right now," she said. "We wanted to meet you and your friends in the Room of Requirement, at 5 o'clock today. You know where the Room of Requirement is, right?"
"Of course, I used it last year," he said.
"Great, I'll see you then!" she said happily, skipping to class.
Harry smiled and rushed to Herbology, which he had just made the bell and wasn't late. It was hard for him to concentrate during class. He just had to speak to his friends about it. And Joy! He wished he could speak to Joy, but she was too ill; there could be a chance he could catch what she had!
After class while Harry and Ron were on their way to Divinations (which was a helplessly boring class) and Hermione was on her way to Muggle Studies, Harry told Hermione and Ron all about what Tiffany Sealious had told him.
"You mean, she knows how Voldemort has come back to life?" questioned Hermione eagerly.
"Exactly! She also told me that it's absolutely horrible and it's no wonder why Glory's acting so strange."
"How can you not?" asked Ron. "Her boyfriend is working against her to bring this awful wizard back to power, right after she went through a whole entire war to get rid of him, and with Death Eaters attacking the world that she'll be reigning someday!"
"Good point, but I don't think she meant that," said Harry.
"Do you think we should tell Joy?" asked Hermione.
"Wouldn't we get her germs?" said Harry.
"Yeah, that's true."
"Maybe we can send an owl to her," said Ron. "I know it sounds weird since we're in the same castle, but it might work. I could get Pig to go and tap at Joy's window and to give a letter to one of her house-elves. They could deliver it to Joy."
"Great idea!" said Hermione. "You know, I'm glad Joy knows how to treat house-elves fairly. There are just so many wealthy people who treat house-elves like vermin."
"Oh no!" shouted Ron in frustration. "You and that SPEW! I thought you were over that."
"I cannot believe you refuse to realize how poorly treated they are!"
"They like being treated like that. They like serving wizards and witches, is that so hard to understand?"
"How would you know? Are you a house-elf?"
Ron should his head, laughing to himself. Hermione scowled at him and turned her head the other way.
Hermione left the two of them and walked to her Muggle Studies class. Harry and Ron climbed up the tower and then up the ladder into the steamy and perfumed classroom of Divinations, with Professor Trelawney sitting at her desk, tapping at her glass ball as she stared into it with her large bug-like eyes. They sat down at a table in the room, as Glory and her friends came in. Tiffany and Lucy Landerville, Glory's blonde pig-tailed friend, quickly walked to Harry and Ron.
"Hello!" greeted Lucy with a smile, flopping her pig-tails around.
"Hi," they said back.
"Did you all talk about the meeting we wanted to have with you?" asked Tiffany in a whisper.
"Yeah, we did," said Ron, who was actually quite excited about the meeting that evening. "We're all excited, but Joy can't attend. She's very ill."
"Oh, we know all about it," said Lucy.
"Glory's really sad about that," added Tiffany.
"That's also something that we're going to talk about at the meeting," said Lucy.
"What about it?" asked Ron suspiciously.
"It has something to do with Glory and everything we'll talk about. It's not a virus or illness she has."
"Then tell us!" shouted Ron, who was eager to know what had happened to his beloved girlfriend.
"Well- Oh, we have to go," said Tiffany, spotting Professor Trelawney standing up and ready to start class. "We'll be waiting at the Room of Requirement!"
Tiffany and Lucy ran back to the table Glory and her friends were sitting at. Ron looked very uncomfortable during that lesson, thinking of what Lucy and Tiffany said. Harry couldn't concentrate either, because he wanted to know everything Tiffany, Lucy, Ruth and Vicky had to say.
When the bell rang, Harry and Ron rushed to meet Hermione who was just coming out of Muggle Studies. She smiled at them, but was quite suspicious at their eager looks.
"Hey, guys! Why did you look so... anxious and eager?"
"We found out something about Joy," said Harry.
"Actually, we found it out from Lucy and Tiffany who found it out," said Ron.
"What did you find out?" she asked.
"We found out that Joy doesn't have a virus or illness," said Harry. "It has something to do with Malfoy, Voldemort and Glory."
"Really?" gasped Hermione. "My goodness! I never knew. We've got to find out! Ron, write what you found out in your letter to Joy you're going to send at lunch, all right?"
"Sure."
"Do you think Joy knows what she has and how she got it?" asked Harry.
"I don't think so," said Hermione. "One of her house-elves told me about it. They said how horrible she was feeling, and that she was perfectly fine at night and when she woke up, she was dreadfully sick. The house-elf said that Joy couldn't remember a thing of what happened at night."
"It's a good thing those Ravenclaw girls are going to explain this all to us tonight!" said Harry gladly.
"If I find Malfoy did something to her," mumbled Ron, gritting his teeth, "I'll-"
"No, you're not going to do anything," said Hermione. "He'll know that we know his plan. We could be in danger!"
"It feels like I'm always going to be in danger," sighed Harry.
It was true. Every year, whatever he did, Lord Voldemort or some evil Dark Arts were after him. The year before, he found out Lord Voldemort was after him because of a strange prophecy, concerning him and Lord Voldemort, that at the end, one would have to kill the other. Would it be then that he'd find peace? When Voldemort was gone, or when he died? He tried not to think about the subject, and continued listening to the conversation.
"You know, I haven't done much for SPEW lately," stated Hermione.
"You're making it seem like it's a bad thing to not do SPEW!" said Ron.
"Ron, you just don't understand the issue at hand, do you?" questioned Hermione. "I was thinking of setting up a computagram website encouraging witches and wizards around the world to help the cause. I could ask Glory to help set it up, and I'll ask help from Joy when she gets better!"
"Hermione, you realize that you're asking two very important people to help you with one little silly and unimportant thing."
"They're very nice to their house-elves if you haven't noticed."
"And if you haven't noticed," said Harry, "they have hundreds and hundreds of house-elves who do hard work and don't have freedom. They also don't get paid, nor are they given clothes, if you don't count uniforms as clothes, but that's a different story. I found out that the house-elves are given very strict instructions, too."
"But don't you see?" questioned Hermione. "They're not tortured or treated like most house-elves. They get food and things. They're mostly like maids and butlers. Besides, both of them are very nice to them."
"They're nice to everyone!" implied Harry.
"But of course, Glory's nice attitude can change very quickly, including when she's with Malfoy," added Ron.
"That's not the point!" said Hermione. "You don't understand!"
"Hermione, I think you're the one who doesn't understand!"
After they're little debate, they went to their next classes, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms, looking at the clock every 5 minutes. Professor Luigi's class was interesting of course (they had just finished learning about dementors are were learning about basilisks, something Harry wish he had learnt in his 2nd year), but it was hard for Harry not to keep his mind on what Tiffany, Ruth, Vicky and Lucy would reveal to them that evening.
In Charms, they learned how to cast Attention Charms. Considering Ron's charms he practiced on Harry weren't very good, Harry still paid attention to what he was thinking. Ron, of course, couldn't keep his mind off of what Voldemort and Malfoy might have done to his girlfriend, which affected his charms.
Once the two last classes of the morning were done, Harry and his friends rushed to the Great Hall, where Ron brought some ink, parchment and a quill. They all discussed what they wanted to put in the letter. After eating their hurried and simple lunch, they followed Ron to the school Owlery where they gave the letter to Pig, Ron's tiny, fluffy and annoying owl, to send to Joy.
"I need you to go to the window of Joy's rooms," said Ron, as he struggled to attach the parchment to its tiny leg as the owl hooted about. "Tap on the window, and give the letter to one of the house-elves. I suppose they'll know what to do with it."
"They're not stupid, Ron!" commented Hermione.
As Ron muttered to himself and gave a dirty look at Hermione, he let go of his puny bird which flew away out of the window. Afterwards, they went to Transfiguration and Potions. Potions was, as usual, the worst class, and it wasn't just because Snape was commenting on Harry about how dreadful his Anti-Nightmare Potion was and how he would never pass his NEWT Potion class. It was the last period, and Harry counted every second left of the class.
After what seemed like hours, the bell rang to finish the school day and Harry and his friends rushed to the common room so they could get ready for their meeting.
"It's a shame Joy's sick," said Hermione. "She should know the stuff they'll tell us."
They quickly put away their books and school things. Ron was going to get parchment, ink and quill to take notes, but then Hermione stopped him from bringing them.
"If anyone found those notes, we could be in big trouble," stated Hermione.
They were just about to leave the common room, excited that they could finally find out Malfoy's schemes, when they heard faint screams.
"What are those sounds?" questioned Ron, who was looking around to find a cause for the noises.
"I don't know," said Hermione. "Maybe Moaning Myrtle is moping around again."
"No, the noise sounds like faint shrill screams, not faint shrill sobs," implied Harry. "Besides, that dreadful ghost has sobbed so many times I think I've memorized her cries by now."
"So true, Harry!" said Ron in a laugh. "So true."
The screams didn't stop, and everyone in the Gryffindor common room was looking in suspicion to find out what the sounds were. As everyone listened attentively, Harry's scar burned with fury. Could those screams have something to do with Lord Voldemort? He thought it best to investigate the sounds. With others exiting the room to investigate in the hallways, Harry and his two friends walked out of the entrance and through a couple of corridors, trying to find the source of the noise. Their search was unsuccessful, so they turned back to where they came from.
"It's probably Peeves pestering a girl," said Ron.
"Let's forget about Peeves' problem for getting on nerves and go to the Room of Requirement," said Harry. "Because of those screams, we're already a few minutes past 4 o'clock."
"You're right," said Hermione. "We should hurry up before it's too late."
Harry thought about what they said. If those screams were from someone being bothered by Peeves, thought Harry, why is my scar burning? He tried to ignore it, wanting to hurry up and go to the Room of Requirement.
They walked through the corridors leading to the Room of Requirement. The Room of Requirement room was quite magical, which Harry had used a few times the year before. It was a room that appeared whenever someone needed it most. The room would always change, depending on the person's needs. If the person needed to go to the washroom, the room would turn into one. If someone needed to hide, it would turn into a broom closet. Harry, his friends, and Glory's four friends needed the room urgently to talk about top secret information, so it was bound to appear. Harry wondered how the room would appear that time.
They had arrived at the corridor of the Room of Requirement, yet alas, it was tightly crowded with teachers and students, as if it was some kind of crime scene. Harry and his friends looked at each other disappointedly. What were they going to do now?
"Great!" shouted Ron sarcastically. "The thing that we were waiting anxiously for the whole entire day is obviously impossible to do. We can't go in the room now! There are students and teachers around it."
"Maybe the four Ravenclaw girls are around here somewhere," said Hermione.
"I don't think so," said Harry. "I wonder why everyone's crowded around here anyway."
"I have no - Oh my goodness!!" shouted Hermione, covering her mouth with her hands.
"What? What's the matter?" questioned Ron.
"I think I know what happened. Follow me!"
She grabbed both of them by the hand and led them to the front of the crowd who surrounded the room. Once at the front, they noticed the door to the room was open, and Madame Pomfrey, Professor Sprout and Professor Dumbledore were in front of the open door. Harry couldn't quite see what was going on inside the room. He could only see a few teachers with stretchers and a few figures lying motionless on the floor.
"Alas, there has been another attack," sighed Professor Dumbledore. "It seems most like the attack on Cho Chang."
Harry's eyes widened as he became more eager to listen. Someone else had been sucked of their magic, energy and blood? He wondered curiously who it was. Cho had already suffered horribly, and that event replayed continuously in his head. He listened carefully to Dumbledore, Pomfrey and Sprout's conversation.
"I just don't understand," said Madame Pomfrey. "It has already happened once. It is such a peculiar way of attacking."
"Its effects seem exactly like the Venimi Monstro, a dangerous plant I taught my 6th-year students this year. I don't think one of those can be roaming the school."
"The Aurors have been reported of the attacks," said Dumbledore. "They think this might have something to do with the Death Eaters."
"But how do these students have anything to do with them?" questioned Madame Pomfrey.
"I suppose they knew something," said Dumbledore. "Something the attackers didn't want them knowing."
"They were intelligent," said Professor Sprout. "One of them was a Ravenclaw prefect. They were very close to Princess Glory. Could that have anything to do with the attacks?"
"It could be," said Dumbledore. "I'll tell the Aurors that."
A few teachers and some 7th-year students came out of the room with four stretchers. On them laid four shrivelled-up and stunned 6th year girls in Ravenclaw robes. Harry's mouth gaped, for he recognized the poor souls.
"Who exactly are these students?" asked Madame Pomfrey, as she gasped at their bodies.
"They're Tiffany Sealious, Ruth Simmore, Vicky Phlumer and Lucy Landerville of Ravenclaw," he sighed.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and the students behind them stared at the pruned bodies of the four girls. Harry couldn't believe his eyes. All that top-secret information is lost now, thought Harry. He remembered how Cho couldn't remember anything from the attack, so the four girls probably wouldn't remember what happened either, nor their secrets. He wondered what Glory would say when she saw her friends in that horrible state. If he was horrified at Cho's attack, Glory would probably be horrified as their attacks. He felt so sorry for Glory, and for the four. They seemed like nice people, and they didn't deserve what they got.
"What's going on?" asked a voice from the back.
The person pushed into the front to where Dumbledore was standing. It was Glory, who was looking around in confusion. She had no idea what had happened.
"What's going on?" asked Glory again.
"Glory, I'm afraid we have some bad news about your friends," said Dumbledore.
"What about them?"
"They have been attacked," sighed Dumbledore. "I'm sure you recall the attack on Ms. Cho Chang?"
He pointed at the four girls on the stretchers being carried away to the Hospital Wing. Glory shrieked, her eyes filling up with tears. She shook her head, not realizing it could be true.
"W-what? H-h-how could this be?" she stuttered.
"We think they might have known some secret information about the Death Eaters," said Dumbledore. "Come, I think we should talk about this over a cup of tea, shall we?"
Professor Dumbledore led Glory to his office, while her friends were carried away to the Infirmary. The professors were trying to shoo away students from the scene, but Harry couldn't move or take his eyes off the Ravenclaws on stretchers, nor could Ron or Hermione. If that is what 'they' would do to those who found out too much, how long would it be until Harry, or any of his friends, would be attacked?
*****
"Are there any clues to show who attacked Glory's four friends?" asked Hermione to Ron and Harry in the common room the next day, while she and Ron were doing prefect duties.
"No, I don't think so," said Ron. "I tried to check for clues, but there weren't any at all."
"Do you think we should check again?"
"I tried looking in the Room of Requirement this morning, but I didn't find anything," said Harry. "I guess they made sure that no clues could be found this time."
"I agree about what Dumbledore said," said Ron. "They knew a lot of information, everything in fact! They were even about to tell us."
"But how would whoever's behind Malfoy and Voldemort's scheming find out?" asked Hermione.
"Maybe Malfoy noticed them snooping around and asking Glory a lot of questions," said Ron. "Voldemort also has the power to go into people's minds, remember?"
"That's true," said Harry, remembering the previous year when Lord Voldemort was going through his thoughts, and how Harry was going through his. He shivered at the memory of it. "You know, when I heard those screams, my scar started to burn."
"That's a clue that Voldemort's behind it!" said Ron. "It's just that we're still not sure he's back to his true form. Do you think Malfoy could have done it again?"
"He wasn't anywhere at the attack," added Hermione. "But last time, Malfoy was very strong in his classes and Glory wasn't. Did that happen this time?"
"I don't know," said Harry. "None of us were paying attention."
"That's true," agreed Ron.
"Maybe Malfoy doesn't need Glory's powers anymore," said Hermione. "Maybe he's strong enough without her."
"Are you saying he's becoming as strong as Glory?" gasped Ron.
"No, of course not! You know how strong Glory is, don't you? Remember when she knocked out Cho Chang with that one single punch?"
"Can we not talk about that?" said Harry. He didn't like to remember what Glory did to Cho that day; it was so cruel.
"Anyway, it's not that Malfoy's becoming as strong as Glory. He's probably getting stronger or strong enough to help Voldemort."
"Do you think Voldemort is living off Malfoy like Quirrel?" asked Ron.
"We saw Malfoy and his father talking to Voldemort. He can't be attached to Malfoy, nor his father. Maybe he's being hypnotized, like Ginny. It was reported that a hypnotist was kidnapped. Voldemort could have used it to hypnotize Malfoy."
"I still shiver at the thought of that guy controlling my little sister," said Ron. "I don't think that's the case though. He's so evil that he could have wanted to help Voldemort in the first place. Besides, if his father helped him, why wouldn't he?"
"He's probably power-hungry too," added Harry.
"The only thing we haven't found out is the hex Malfoy used," said Hermione. "Have any ideas?"
"No, I don't think so," said Ron. "Why don't we ask Joy afterwards?"
"That's a good idea," said Hermione, and then she looked down at her watch. "It's almost dinner, we should go to the Great Hall."
"You're right," said Harry. "Let's go."
"Yeah, I'm starving!" said Ron.
Harry and his friends stood up and walked to the Great Hall. As Harry and Ron were talking about the Chudley Cannons game in a few weeks, Harry spotted Glory and Malfoy. Glory was looking down sadly at her shoes. An empathetic feeling swooped over him. Glory didn't need to be abused by Malfoy like that, nor did she need to lose her friends. As Harry looked at Glory more, he felt like he had to do something. At that moment, he made a decision.
"I'm going to tell her," said Harry to his friends.
"Tell what?" asked Ron. "Tell who?"
"I'm going to tell Glory about Malfoy's plans," said Harry.
"Harry, you can't!" said Hermione. "Malfoy's right next to her. He'll find out and you'll be attacked next!"
"And we all know he'll be happy to do that," added Ron.
"I don't care. Glory shouldn't deserve to suffer this."
"He's always trying to be the hero," muttered Hermione to Ron. "I hope he doesn't get into serious trouble because of that someday."
Harry heard them muttering to each other, and couldn't believe what his friends had said. They had said that last year, and it got him in trouble with Lord Voldemort. He didn't care this time though; he was meant to be a hero.
He walked to Glory, who looked up from staring at her large shoes.
"Oh, hi Harry!" she said with a smile spreading across her face.
"Harry, what are you doing here?" scowled Malfoy.
"I wanted to talk to Glory about something," said Harry, looking at Glory.
"The Princess doesn't want to talk with- "
"Of course, Harry! You can talk to me," she said with a grin.
"Great. I wanted to talk to you about your friends, and some other things you should know."
He shot a quick glare at Malfoy to check if he would recognize what Harry was trying to tell her.
"Of course you can tell me! I just wish they hadn't suffered that way...."
Her grin completely wiped off her face, and what seemed to be a tear ran quickly down her face. He felt utterly sorry for her. As Glory tear dropped down the side of her gloomy face, Malfoy stared at her with a depressing look, as if guilty.
He's responsible for it and he knows it! thought Harry. He deserved to feel guilty and awful like that. It was quite a strange look that Malfoy had, Harry had never seen it on him before (considering that all the evil things he had done, he was completely proud of). Malfoy patted her on the back to comfort her.
"Glory, I think I should tell you something too," blurted Malfoy. "I've been keeping this secret from you for too long, and you especially of all people should know. It concerns everything: the attack of your friends, Death Eaters, all of it."
"What do you mean?" questioned Glory in a surprised look.
"Come in this empty classroom and I'll tell you," he said.
Malfoy lead Glory into an empty classroom. Harry couldn't believe his ears. Malfoy was going to tell Glory about his schemes! If only he could listen in, but they had locked the door (it was soundproof), and he couldn't do magic in the corridors. Suddenly, Harry felt a light burning in his scar. He felt a burst of emotion in him, a scared emotion. Lord Voldemort is scared, he thought. He's scared Malfoy's going to tell her all their secrets. But Harry was worried too. He was anxious to see her reaction when she came out of the classroom.
Unexpectedly, a sharp burn was felt in Harry's scar, as he put his hand to his face. He clutched his chest, for he felt a great stress pain. He could feel more of Voldemort's stress, anxiety and shock, and the pain was so horrible that he felt that he couldn't handle it. During the light noises of students rushing to the Great Hall and his overwhelming pain, a piercing scream from the empty classroom was heard, a high-pitched cry as if someone was being murdered. Harry recognized Glory's voice in the shriek, and rushed to the door to meet her out.
Immediately, the heavy door was slammed open, making Harry jump, and out ran Glory crying with her face buried in her hands. She ran through the hallway, probably heading to her room. There was no way Harry could have caught up to her.
As Glory ran through the corridors, Malfoy burst out of the classroom, looking around for Glory.
"Where is she?" questioned Malfoy at Harry rudely.
"She went that way, crying with her hands buried in her face," he said with his arm pointing out in her direction, trying to exaggerate to make Malfoy feel worse.
"Oh great," muttered Malfoy to himself. He ran after her, trying to follow her as much as he could. "Honey, come back!"
Harry turned to Ron and Hermione in the corner, who were completely dumbfounded. They looked at Harry in a gasp.
"He told!" said Ron, who couldn't believe was he had seen. "He, that evil snake, plotted slyly of those horrible attacks, making a mess out of everything, abusing Glory even if she didn't know it, and suddenly when we could have told Glory about what has been happening, Malfoy tells her!"
Harry was insulted at what Ron said.
"'We' could have told Glory?" questioned Harry furiously. "You mean, I was going to tell her. You were the ones who didn't even want me to tell her. After muttering that I'm always trying to be the hero, you make it seem as if it was good what I was going to do."
"It was, Harry!" told Hermione. "It was a good thing, but just because it's a good thing doesn't mean it's not a dangerous thing. You're constantly putting your life on the line for everyone else. You've got to relax."
"Yeah, Harry!" agreed Ron. "Chill out."
"Chill out?" questioned Harry. "If I had 'chilled out' when Professor Quirrell was trying to capture the Philosopher's Stone, Voldemort could have come to power a lot quicker and with a lot more powerful. If I had 'chilled out' when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, Ron's sister Ginny would have died, and yet again Voldemort would have come back to power. If I had 'chilled out' when Sirius Black was near the school, I would never have found out that my godfather was innocent, and that it was Peter Pettigrew who was Voldemort's sidekick all along."
"Harry, you're making a huge fit like you did last year," said Hermione.
"I'm not making a fit," said Harry. "I'm telling you that if I 'chilled out' in a lot of circumstances, the consequences would have been more drastic."
"Listen, you can't keep on risking your life for all of us," said Ron.
"So? Joy always risks her life and putting herself on the line!"
"She's stronger than you!" implied Hermione. "She, with her sister, defeated Voldemort with their army."
"You mean they thought they did," said Harry. "Even if they're that strong, they can never defeat Voldemort. Only I can!"
"That's what the Prophecy made it seem to be," said Hermione. "What if the Prophecy only meant that one had to die but the other could survive, but someone else could kill either one?"
"No, Hermione, the Prophecy said one had to die at the hand of the other."
"But Dumbledore said-"
"Well I think Dumbledore's wrong."
"Harry," started Ron, "just because of that, doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself."
"I want to! I have to!"
"Harry, Ron, I think we should go into the Great Hall for dinner," sighed Hermione, heading towards its entrance.
"You know, despite my complaints of hunger and the smell of delicious Italian sausages, I think I've lost my appetite," sighed Ron.
Author's Note: The next chapter's going to be called "The Potion of the Undead". DUNDUNDAAA!!!!!!! Oh, and PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Secrets
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing on fanfiction.net
Author's Note: Hey people! For recap: Harry and his friends overheard a conversation between Malfoy and Voldemort to kill Dumbledore, and they went to tell Dumbledore right away. They thought they'd be able to prevent the attack of Death Eaters to kill Dumbledore, but alas, the attack still happened. However, Harry and his friends followed Dumbledore in Ron's via-mobile and saved Dumbledore from his murder. Now they're back at Hogwarts. Read on and find out what happens!
It didn't take too long for the news of the attempted attack on Professor Dumbledore to be heard from every witch or wizard in the castle. The minute Harry had woken up and gone down to the common room, there was an enormous crowd of already-woken Gryffindors waiting there. As he took one step down the stairs into the room, loud cheers and applause welcomed him, and all the Gryffindors rushed to him in excitement, treating him like a hero. This happened four times for each of the four who saved Dumbledore from the Death Eaters.
With a large crowd of cheering Gryffindors behind them, the four friends walked to the Great Hall, with various cheers and applause in the hallways. When they entered the Great Hall, a round of welcoming cheers echoed around the large room. A large sign was put up in the Great Hall, reading:
'WELCOME BACK, PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE!
GREAT JOB, PRINCESS JOY, HARRY POTTER, RONALD WEASLEY AND HERMIONE GRANGER!
YOU'RE HOGWARTS' HEROES!'
Harry smiled once he read the sign. A Hogwarts hero... It had been a long time since he had been called that, and he was happy to be praised with his three friends.
"We're heroes, Harry!" said Ron in amazement, his face lit up with joy.
"Wow," said Hermione, who was blushing with excitement.
"Come on," said Harry. "Let's go join the Gryffindor table."
The four of them sat down at the table, with more compliments given from their peers. Blinding lights surrounded Harry, as he found out that Colin Creevey and his brother Dennis were snapping photos of him.
After Harry and his friends ate their breakfast (which was a bit hard, considering that everyone was asking them so many questions), Dumbledore rose from his chair and called for silence, which he received quickly.
"Good morning to you all!" he greeted. "I expect that you know all about what had happened last night. As you all know, I received a threat of... murder... a few days ago. Even with all the top security, my visit to Mr. Fudge was still unsuccessful. For further and more accurate information, you may check in The Daily Prophet. If it wasn't for four brave students, I would have suffered a horrible death. These students are of course," he said, pointing to the big sign above him, "Princess Joy, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger from Gryffindor House."
Hands clapping in applause were heard from every corner of the room. Ron and Hermione were gloating, Harry was absolutely happy and Joy gave them all one of her famous smiles.
"Because of their heroic deeds, each of them will be given Special Awards for Services to the School."
At that moment, Professor Dumbledore waved his wand onto a small table in front of him.
"Prixo apparatus!" he shouted, as four large awards with each of their names on them, and four medals laid on the table. Everyone cheered while glaring in awe at the beautiful trophies.
"Would these four wonderful students come up to the front, please?"
Harry, Joy, Hermione and Ron rushed to the front of the Great Hall and stood in front of the table. Harry glared at his shining trophy, which stated:
'SPECIAL AWARDS FOR SERVICES TO THE SCHOOL
HARRY J. POTTER, 6TH YEAR
1996-19997'
Harry remembered when he and Ron had received awards in their 2nd year, but they never received them like they did that day, and neither did they get medals.
"The presentation of the awards is actually a new tradition we have brought to Hogwarts, which came from Professor Luigi," he said. Everyone applauded for Professor Luigi, the smiling teacher who stood up and took a bow. "He told us this is what they usually do at Nero Gatto Academy. They keep the awards in the school, yet they give medals or miniature trophies to the winners.
"There are also photographers from The Daily Prophet who will be taking pictures," he said, pointing at the photographers with their cameras in their hands. Colin and Dennis grinned in awe at them. "Now without further ado, I'd like to give these medals out. To Princess Joy."
Joy walked in front of Professor Dumbledore as he laid the ribbon of the medal around her neck and shook her hand. A round of flashing lights took pictures of the Princess. She stepped aside so the next person could go up.
"To Hermione Granger," he said, as Hermione walked to him. He gave the medal to her, putting it around her neck and shaking her hand (which was trembling in excitement). More pictures were taken.
"To Harry Potter." Harry, with a smile, walked toward the grinning Headmaster, who lowered the medal onto his neck, and gave him a hearty handshake.
He looked around the Great Hall at everyone in the room. Everyone was cheering for him, except the Slytherin table (especially Malfoy and his friends who were sneering in anger). Surprisingly, Princess Glory and her four friends applauded very much. He even saw Cho with Madame Pomfrey at the door. She applauded loudly and blew Harry a kiss, which made him blush dearly. Flashes and flashes of light were seen from every angle. Harry wished Remus was there... and if only his parents and Sirius were there too...
Harry noticed he was wasting his time, and walked to the side.
"To Ronald Weasley," said Professor Dumbledore, as Ron went up to him, received his medal, shook Dumbledore's hand and walked to the side. He was positively glowing.
"I present to you Hogwarts' heroes!"
Cheers and more cheers were heard all around the Great Hall, and a bright smile could have been seen across Harry's face. For once, all my friends and I are heroes together, he thought.
*****
Harry, Joy, Hermione and Ron were given nothing but compliments and congratulations that week. Harry felt very proud for his friends, and quite glad that they had the chance to save Dumbledore from his terrible murder. Harry read a large article in The Daily Prophet about what had happened the evening that Dumbledore was attacked, and about the awards given to Harry and his friends. He read closely the part of the article when he and his friends were mentioned when they saved Dumbledore:
...Just when Dumbledore thought that he was cornered, and that his death was near, three courageous students from Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry (the fourth one came later) ran into the gaping space in the forest. These students were none other than Princess Joy, Professor Dumbledore's great-great-great-granddaughter, Hermione Granger, a Gryffindor girl at the top of her class, and Harry Potter, the famous hero of the wizarding world and 'the boy-who-lived'. With their wands held up high in their hands, they battled the furious masked witches and wizards victoriously. After several minutes, Harry rescued Dumbledore from a couple of masked wizards in a corner and told him to hide into the woods.
"I had already battled a few- er..... masked witches and wizards, when I saw Professor Dumbledore against a large tree, badly hurt, with three masked wizards injuring him with their wands and fists," said Harry Potter, who was questioned later on by an Auror. "I couldn't believe my eyes. I rushed to Professor Dumbledore's rescue and cast a duelling spell on the three of them. Dumbledore was stuttering and gasping for air. I told him to save himself, to hide out of where we were battling. I battled more of the wizards afterwards."
Harry, who has come face-to-face with many forms of the Dark Arts, battled victoriously that night. Yet again, the wizarding world's boy hero came to a magnificent rescue again.
Harry blushed at the comment. The wizarding world's boy hero... Finally after accusing him of being an attention-crazed hero wannabe, they gave him recognition. At the bottom of the page, he saw a group picture of Professor Dumbledore, his friends and himself who had just received their awards. Everyone looked so happy in the photo.
Harry turned to the next page, which showed a curious article entitled,
'ATTEMPTED DUMBLEDORE ASSASSINATION AND OTHER ATTACKS
THOUGHT UP BY HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED'S FOLLOWERS:
NEW AUROR RESEARCH STATES THAT CURRENT ATTACKS HAVE BEEN PLANNED BY DEATH EATERS'
Harry eagerly read the article, wondering what the Aurors found out:
After the terrible yet unsuccessful attack on Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Aurors had interviews and enquiries to the heroes of the evening, the victim and the masked wizards and witches involved.
"Did you recognize any of the attackers?" asked Henry Richardson, a chief Auror who investigated the scene, to Professor Dumbledore at the interviews.
"No, I'm afraid not," said Professor Dumbledore, who was still a bit stunned by what had happened. "I didn't see their faces at all, because of their masks. Their disguises looked a lot like Death Eater costumes. A few of their voices sounded familiar as well. They sounded like thought-to-be Death Eaters from 16 years ago and from the war."
In fact, a few of them were thought-to-be Death Eaters from 16 years ago and the war, at least twelve of them. A few of these former Death Eaters were Danielle Anderson, George Dinkleham, William Monty, Sam Robertson, Ashley Sint and Montgomery Smith. There were also the children of thought-to-be Death Eaters, and a few others who weren't a part of the follower circle a long time ago, nor from last year. All of these attackers were sent to Azkaban and were questioned further more.
The driver, who lured Dumbledore to the forest, as well as damaging a carriage, was a young man of the name Sam Rovershire,, whose family was thought to be linked with You-Know-Who's inner circle. He was caught later on in the evening, and was brought to Azkaban.
The Aurors' research shows that most of the crimes this year and terrorist attacks were committed by people like this. So, why were there so many Death Eaters at the attack? The Ministry and the Aurors think that the Death Eaters are trying to continue the former Dark Lord's work, or maybe, they are trying to bring back He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
"Obviously, our research shows that there is a large connection between the attacks this year and You-Know-Who," said Remus Lupin, a chief Auror. "There was, of course, the Dark Mark which appeared at the attack at the Princesses' Birthday Ball. Someone is trying to bring back You-Know-Who or is trying to do his deeds, although we don't know for sure if there is a certain someone who would try and continue his work, and if there was someone trying to bring him back, how could they?"
Harry smiled at the inclusion of his mentor, Remus. He was so proud that Remus' name was in The Daily Prophet, and that everyone recognized Remus' talents in defence against the Dark Arts. He was glad, also, that the Aurors realized Lord Voldemort was behind all the attacks. So after about 6 months of researching these attacks, thought Harry, they finally find out that Lord Voldemort is behind it all some way or another.
Harry thought to himself about what Remus had said about Lord Voldemort returning: 'and if there was someone trying to bring him back, how would they?' He knew Lord Voldemort was back, one way or another. He had seen Voldemort talking to Malfoy. His scar even burned a few times with anger and frustration a few times that week, as if Voldemort was angry. He's probably mad Dumbledore wasn't killed, he had thought to himself. Even with the proof, how could they have brought Lord Voldemort back to life? It seemed impossible to Harry, but he was willing to find a way.
He passed the day thinking about how Lord Voldemort could have come back to life. Was there a way? And if there was, what was it? Maybe he was never dead in the first place, and Joy and Glory had killed someone pretending to be Lord Voldemort? All these questions swirled in his head during the whole entire day. It was hard to concentrate on anything his friends were saying. He only thought of any possible ways Lord Voldemort, or even anymore, could come back from the dead.
"Joy, we've talked a lot about the scheme concerning Voldemort and Malfoy," said Harry, as him and his friends were walking in the hallways, "but we never discussed how Voldemort came back to life."
"You're absolutely right," admitted Joy.
"So, how would he be able to?" he asked.
"We're not sure in the first place if Voldemort has returned to his original form," added Hermione. "We've only seen shadows and silhouettes of him."
"That's true," admitted Ron.
"But my scar has been burning this week," said Harry, feeling his scar. "Remember that I can sometimes feel Voldemort's feelings?"
"That's true too," said Ron.
"Maybe it's just warning you that he's somewhere near us," suggested Hermione. "It even burned in our first year, Harry, and remember he was attached to Quirrell, not in original form?"
"I think it was him feeling something," said Harry. "It felt as if he was angry and frustrated, probably that his plans to destroy Dumbledore had failed."
"That is possible, but even a formless thing can have feelings, can it?" implied Ron.
Harry and his friends walked in the corridors leading to the common room, when he spotted Glory talking to her friends. He noticed that Glory wasn't with Malfoy at the time, and he wondered why she wasn't with her boyfriend. While walking in the hallway, Harry and Glory happened to collide into each other by accident.
They both fell on the floor after banging into each other, their school bags and books flew into the air and dropped. It took a few seconds for Harry to realize what had happened. He picked up his books from the floor and swung his bag on his back.
He saw that Glory was still on the floor, trying to retrieve her books, and was being helped by her friends. Harry decided to pick up the few of her remaining books on the floor, and he gave her his hand to stand up. Glory recognized Harry's extended hand, and looked delighted and blushed at the polite gesture. She grabbed his hand as he helped her up, and he handed her the books he picked off the floor.
"Thank you so much, Harry!" she said blushing. "Thank you very much."
"No problem," said Harry. He was thankful that Glory wasn't ruthless at the moment. "Where's Malfoy?"
"Oh..." she said, trailing off. Her four friends looked at each other, their eyebrows raised. "Well, I'm just a bit mad at him at the moment," she admitted. "I'm a bit disappointed in him. The driver that night was a friend of Malfoy's father, and I couldn't believe he knew the driver who was in the plot to... to destroy..."
Glory didn't continue her sentence, and she looked down at her shoes with a glum voice.
"I'm sure everything will get better with time," said Harry, not knowing what he said really meant, and if he really meant it.
"Thank you," said Glory shyly. "I guess I'll see you around?"
"Of course," he said, as he watched her and her friends walk away.
*****
"I don't get it! What happened?" asked Harry.
"She's extremely sick," said Hermione. "She's in complete pain, has a high fever, she's weak... Whatever you name, she has it!"
"How could this have happened?" questioned Ron.
"I have no idea," responded Hermione.
They were discussing what they had found out that morning when they were in the Great Hall: Joy was extremely ill. No one knew what virus she had, nor did they know how she got the virus. All they knew was that Joy wouldn't be attending classes for a while, but Hermione was told that she still wanted notes and homework from all the classes.
"She's terribly sick in bed," said Ron. "She shouldn't be doing homework!"
"There's nothing wrong about not wanting to fall behind!" scolded Hermione.
The bell rang, signalling the start of the school day. Harry, Ron and Hermione headed on their way to Herbology. On the way there, Harry was stopped by a hand pulling him to the side. He found out it was Tiffany Sealious, Glory's freckled, cherry-blonde haired friend.
"Hello, Tiffany," greeted Harry, who was quite startled. "What is it?"
"I'm sorry for pulling you over like this, but I needed to talk to you," she said in a whisper. "Actually, the others and I need to talk to you."
"You mean, Ruth, Lucy, Vicky and you?" asked Harry.
"Yes! We need to talk to you concerning... concerning Glory."
Harry was surprised at what he heard.
"What about her?" he asked curiously.
"You've noticed that she's been acting strange these past months, right?"
"Of course."
"Well, the three and I know that you and your friends are always investigating crimes and things like that," she explained. "You're probably researching the reasons for those attacks, aren't you?"
Yet again, Harry was in shock. He was surprised they knew.
"Yes, yes we are."
"You see, Ruth, Vicky, Lucy and I researched ourselves, and we found out everything."
"Everything?" asked Harry.
"Yes, everything. We found out Princess Glory's secret. It's absolutely horrible. No wonder she's been acting so strange! Anyway, we wanted to tell the Aurors, but we're afraid. We thought it better to tell you."
Harry couldn't believe his ears. All the things that they were busting their brains to find out, they knew!
"What exactly are the things you found out?" he asked.
"Everything about Malfoy, You-Know-Who trying to gain power by the Monarchy, the kidnappings, how You-Know-Who returned from the dead - everything!" So Voldemort did come back from the dead! he thought.
"What are all these secrets?" he asked eagerly.
"I can't tell you right now," she said. "We wanted to meet you and your friends in the Room of Requirement, at 5 o'clock today. You know where the Room of Requirement is, right?"
"Of course, I used it last year," he said.
"Great, I'll see you then!" she said happily, skipping to class.
Harry smiled and rushed to Herbology, which he had just made the bell and wasn't late. It was hard for him to concentrate during class. He just had to speak to his friends about it. And Joy! He wished he could speak to Joy, but she was too ill; there could be a chance he could catch what she had!
After class while Harry and Ron were on their way to Divinations (which was a helplessly boring class) and Hermione was on her way to Muggle Studies, Harry told Hermione and Ron all about what Tiffany Sealious had told him.
"You mean, she knows how Voldemort has come back to life?" questioned Hermione eagerly.
"Exactly! She also told me that it's absolutely horrible and it's no wonder why Glory's acting so strange."
"How can you not?" asked Ron. "Her boyfriend is working against her to bring this awful wizard back to power, right after she went through a whole entire war to get rid of him, and with Death Eaters attacking the world that she'll be reigning someday!"
"Good point, but I don't think she meant that," said Harry.
"Do you think we should tell Joy?" asked Hermione.
"Wouldn't we get her germs?" said Harry.
"Yeah, that's true."
"Maybe we can send an owl to her," said Ron. "I know it sounds weird since we're in the same castle, but it might work. I could get Pig to go and tap at Joy's window and to give a letter to one of her house-elves. They could deliver it to Joy."
"Great idea!" said Hermione. "You know, I'm glad Joy knows how to treat house-elves fairly. There are just so many wealthy people who treat house-elves like vermin."
"Oh no!" shouted Ron in frustration. "You and that SPEW! I thought you were over that."
"I cannot believe you refuse to realize how poorly treated they are!"
"They like being treated like that. They like serving wizards and witches, is that so hard to understand?"
"How would you know? Are you a house-elf?"
Ron should his head, laughing to himself. Hermione scowled at him and turned her head the other way.
Hermione left the two of them and walked to her Muggle Studies class. Harry and Ron climbed up the tower and then up the ladder into the steamy and perfumed classroom of Divinations, with Professor Trelawney sitting at her desk, tapping at her glass ball as she stared into it with her large bug-like eyes. They sat down at a table in the room, as Glory and her friends came in. Tiffany and Lucy Landerville, Glory's blonde pig-tailed friend, quickly walked to Harry and Ron.
"Hello!" greeted Lucy with a smile, flopping her pig-tails around.
"Hi," they said back.
"Did you all talk about the meeting we wanted to have with you?" asked Tiffany in a whisper.
"Yeah, we did," said Ron, who was actually quite excited about the meeting that evening. "We're all excited, but Joy can't attend. She's very ill."
"Oh, we know all about it," said Lucy.
"Glory's really sad about that," added Tiffany.
"That's also something that we're going to talk about at the meeting," said Lucy.
"What about it?" asked Ron suspiciously.
"It has something to do with Glory and everything we'll talk about. It's not a virus or illness she has."
"Then tell us!" shouted Ron, who was eager to know what had happened to his beloved girlfriend.
"Well- Oh, we have to go," said Tiffany, spotting Professor Trelawney standing up and ready to start class. "We'll be waiting at the Room of Requirement!"
Tiffany and Lucy ran back to the table Glory and her friends were sitting at. Ron looked very uncomfortable during that lesson, thinking of what Lucy and Tiffany said. Harry couldn't concentrate either, because he wanted to know everything Tiffany, Lucy, Ruth and Vicky had to say.
When the bell rang, Harry and Ron rushed to meet Hermione who was just coming out of Muggle Studies. She smiled at them, but was quite suspicious at their eager looks.
"Hey, guys! Why did you look so... anxious and eager?"
"We found out something about Joy," said Harry.
"Actually, we found it out from Lucy and Tiffany who found it out," said Ron.
"What did you find out?" she asked.
"We found out that Joy doesn't have a virus or illness," said Harry. "It has something to do with Malfoy, Voldemort and Glory."
"Really?" gasped Hermione. "My goodness! I never knew. We've got to find out! Ron, write what you found out in your letter to Joy you're going to send at lunch, all right?"
"Sure."
"Do you think Joy knows what she has and how she got it?" asked Harry.
"I don't think so," said Hermione. "One of her house-elves told me about it. They said how horrible she was feeling, and that she was perfectly fine at night and when she woke up, she was dreadfully sick. The house-elf said that Joy couldn't remember a thing of what happened at night."
"It's a good thing those Ravenclaw girls are going to explain this all to us tonight!" said Harry gladly.
"If I find Malfoy did something to her," mumbled Ron, gritting his teeth, "I'll-"
"No, you're not going to do anything," said Hermione. "He'll know that we know his plan. We could be in danger!"
"It feels like I'm always going to be in danger," sighed Harry.
It was true. Every year, whatever he did, Lord Voldemort or some evil Dark Arts were after him. The year before, he found out Lord Voldemort was after him because of a strange prophecy, concerning him and Lord Voldemort, that at the end, one would have to kill the other. Would it be then that he'd find peace? When Voldemort was gone, or when he died? He tried not to think about the subject, and continued listening to the conversation.
"You know, I haven't done much for SPEW lately," stated Hermione.
"You're making it seem like it's a bad thing to not do SPEW!" said Ron.
"Ron, you just don't understand the issue at hand, do you?" questioned Hermione. "I was thinking of setting up a computagram website encouraging witches and wizards around the world to help the cause. I could ask Glory to help set it up, and I'll ask help from Joy when she gets better!"
"Hermione, you realize that you're asking two very important people to help you with one little silly and unimportant thing."
"They're very nice to their house-elves if you haven't noticed."
"And if you haven't noticed," said Harry, "they have hundreds and hundreds of house-elves who do hard work and don't have freedom. They also don't get paid, nor are they given clothes, if you don't count uniforms as clothes, but that's a different story. I found out that the house-elves are given very strict instructions, too."
"But don't you see?" questioned Hermione. "They're not tortured or treated like most house-elves. They get food and things. They're mostly like maids and butlers. Besides, both of them are very nice to them."
"They're nice to everyone!" implied Harry.
"But of course, Glory's nice attitude can change very quickly, including when she's with Malfoy," added Ron.
"That's not the point!" said Hermione. "You don't understand!"
"Hermione, I think you're the one who doesn't understand!"
After they're little debate, they went to their next classes, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms, looking at the clock every 5 minutes. Professor Luigi's class was interesting of course (they had just finished learning about dementors are were learning about basilisks, something Harry wish he had learnt in his 2nd year), but it was hard for Harry not to keep his mind on what Tiffany, Ruth, Vicky and Lucy would reveal to them that evening.
In Charms, they learned how to cast Attention Charms. Considering Ron's charms he practiced on Harry weren't very good, Harry still paid attention to what he was thinking. Ron, of course, couldn't keep his mind off of what Voldemort and Malfoy might have done to his girlfriend, which affected his charms.
Once the two last classes of the morning were done, Harry and his friends rushed to the Great Hall, where Ron brought some ink, parchment and a quill. They all discussed what they wanted to put in the letter. After eating their hurried and simple lunch, they followed Ron to the school Owlery where they gave the letter to Pig, Ron's tiny, fluffy and annoying owl, to send to Joy.
"I need you to go to the window of Joy's rooms," said Ron, as he struggled to attach the parchment to its tiny leg as the owl hooted about. "Tap on the window, and give the letter to one of the house-elves. I suppose they'll know what to do with it."
"They're not stupid, Ron!" commented Hermione.
As Ron muttered to himself and gave a dirty look at Hermione, he let go of his puny bird which flew away out of the window. Afterwards, they went to Transfiguration and Potions. Potions was, as usual, the worst class, and it wasn't just because Snape was commenting on Harry about how dreadful his Anti-Nightmare Potion was and how he would never pass his NEWT Potion class. It was the last period, and Harry counted every second left of the class.
After what seemed like hours, the bell rang to finish the school day and Harry and his friends rushed to the common room so they could get ready for their meeting.
"It's a shame Joy's sick," said Hermione. "She should know the stuff they'll tell us."
They quickly put away their books and school things. Ron was going to get parchment, ink and quill to take notes, but then Hermione stopped him from bringing them.
"If anyone found those notes, we could be in big trouble," stated Hermione.
They were just about to leave the common room, excited that they could finally find out Malfoy's schemes, when they heard faint screams.
"What are those sounds?" questioned Ron, who was looking around to find a cause for the noises.
"I don't know," said Hermione. "Maybe Moaning Myrtle is moping around again."
"No, the noise sounds like faint shrill screams, not faint shrill sobs," implied Harry. "Besides, that dreadful ghost has sobbed so many times I think I've memorized her cries by now."
"So true, Harry!" said Ron in a laugh. "So true."
The screams didn't stop, and everyone in the Gryffindor common room was looking in suspicion to find out what the sounds were. As everyone listened attentively, Harry's scar burned with fury. Could those screams have something to do with Lord Voldemort? He thought it best to investigate the sounds. With others exiting the room to investigate in the hallways, Harry and his two friends walked out of the entrance and through a couple of corridors, trying to find the source of the noise. Their search was unsuccessful, so they turned back to where they came from.
"It's probably Peeves pestering a girl," said Ron.
"Let's forget about Peeves' problem for getting on nerves and go to the Room of Requirement," said Harry. "Because of those screams, we're already a few minutes past 4 o'clock."
"You're right," said Hermione. "We should hurry up before it's too late."
Harry thought about what they said. If those screams were from someone being bothered by Peeves, thought Harry, why is my scar burning? He tried to ignore it, wanting to hurry up and go to the Room of Requirement.
They walked through the corridors leading to the Room of Requirement. The Room of Requirement room was quite magical, which Harry had used a few times the year before. It was a room that appeared whenever someone needed it most. The room would always change, depending on the person's needs. If the person needed to go to the washroom, the room would turn into one. If someone needed to hide, it would turn into a broom closet. Harry, his friends, and Glory's four friends needed the room urgently to talk about top secret information, so it was bound to appear. Harry wondered how the room would appear that time.
They had arrived at the corridor of the Room of Requirement, yet alas, it was tightly crowded with teachers and students, as if it was some kind of crime scene. Harry and his friends looked at each other disappointedly. What were they going to do now?
"Great!" shouted Ron sarcastically. "The thing that we were waiting anxiously for the whole entire day is obviously impossible to do. We can't go in the room now! There are students and teachers around it."
"Maybe the four Ravenclaw girls are around here somewhere," said Hermione.
"I don't think so," said Harry. "I wonder why everyone's crowded around here anyway."
"I have no - Oh my goodness!!" shouted Hermione, covering her mouth with her hands.
"What? What's the matter?" questioned Ron.
"I think I know what happened. Follow me!"
She grabbed both of them by the hand and led them to the front of the crowd who surrounded the room. Once at the front, they noticed the door to the room was open, and Madame Pomfrey, Professor Sprout and Professor Dumbledore were in front of the open door. Harry couldn't quite see what was going on inside the room. He could only see a few teachers with stretchers and a few figures lying motionless on the floor.
"Alas, there has been another attack," sighed Professor Dumbledore. "It seems most like the attack on Cho Chang."
Harry's eyes widened as he became more eager to listen. Someone else had been sucked of their magic, energy and blood? He wondered curiously who it was. Cho had already suffered horribly, and that event replayed continuously in his head. He listened carefully to Dumbledore, Pomfrey and Sprout's conversation.
"I just don't understand," said Madame Pomfrey. "It has already happened once. It is such a peculiar way of attacking."
"Its effects seem exactly like the Venimi Monstro, a dangerous plant I taught my 6th-year students this year. I don't think one of those can be roaming the school."
"The Aurors have been reported of the attacks," said Dumbledore. "They think this might have something to do with the Death Eaters."
"But how do these students have anything to do with them?" questioned Madame Pomfrey.
"I suppose they knew something," said Dumbledore. "Something the attackers didn't want them knowing."
"They were intelligent," said Professor Sprout. "One of them was a Ravenclaw prefect. They were very close to Princess Glory. Could that have anything to do with the attacks?"
"It could be," said Dumbledore. "I'll tell the Aurors that."
A few teachers and some 7th-year students came out of the room with four stretchers. On them laid four shrivelled-up and stunned 6th year girls in Ravenclaw robes. Harry's mouth gaped, for he recognized the poor souls.
"Who exactly are these students?" asked Madame Pomfrey, as she gasped at their bodies.
"They're Tiffany Sealious, Ruth Simmore, Vicky Phlumer and Lucy Landerville of Ravenclaw," he sighed.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and the students behind them stared at the pruned bodies of the four girls. Harry couldn't believe his eyes. All that top-secret information is lost now, thought Harry. He remembered how Cho couldn't remember anything from the attack, so the four girls probably wouldn't remember what happened either, nor their secrets. He wondered what Glory would say when she saw her friends in that horrible state. If he was horrified at Cho's attack, Glory would probably be horrified as their attacks. He felt so sorry for Glory, and for the four. They seemed like nice people, and they didn't deserve what they got.
"What's going on?" asked a voice from the back.
The person pushed into the front to where Dumbledore was standing. It was Glory, who was looking around in confusion. She had no idea what had happened.
"What's going on?" asked Glory again.
"Glory, I'm afraid we have some bad news about your friends," said Dumbledore.
"What about them?"
"They have been attacked," sighed Dumbledore. "I'm sure you recall the attack on Ms. Cho Chang?"
He pointed at the four girls on the stretchers being carried away to the Hospital Wing. Glory shrieked, her eyes filling up with tears. She shook her head, not realizing it could be true.
"W-what? H-h-how could this be?" she stuttered.
"We think they might have known some secret information about the Death Eaters," said Dumbledore. "Come, I think we should talk about this over a cup of tea, shall we?"
Professor Dumbledore led Glory to his office, while her friends were carried away to the Infirmary. The professors were trying to shoo away students from the scene, but Harry couldn't move or take his eyes off the Ravenclaws on stretchers, nor could Ron or Hermione. If that is what 'they' would do to those who found out too much, how long would it be until Harry, or any of his friends, would be attacked?
*****
"Are there any clues to show who attacked Glory's four friends?" asked Hermione to Ron and Harry in the common room the next day, while she and Ron were doing prefect duties.
"No, I don't think so," said Ron. "I tried to check for clues, but there weren't any at all."
"Do you think we should check again?"
"I tried looking in the Room of Requirement this morning, but I didn't find anything," said Harry. "I guess they made sure that no clues could be found this time."
"I agree about what Dumbledore said," said Ron. "They knew a lot of information, everything in fact! They were even about to tell us."
"But how would whoever's behind Malfoy and Voldemort's scheming find out?" asked Hermione.
"Maybe Malfoy noticed them snooping around and asking Glory a lot of questions," said Ron. "Voldemort also has the power to go into people's minds, remember?"
"That's true," said Harry, remembering the previous year when Lord Voldemort was going through his thoughts, and how Harry was going through his. He shivered at the memory of it. "You know, when I heard those screams, my scar started to burn."
"That's a clue that Voldemort's behind it!" said Ron. "It's just that we're still not sure he's back to his true form. Do you think Malfoy could have done it again?"
"He wasn't anywhere at the attack," added Hermione. "But last time, Malfoy was very strong in his classes and Glory wasn't. Did that happen this time?"
"I don't know," said Harry. "None of us were paying attention."
"That's true," agreed Ron.
"Maybe Malfoy doesn't need Glory's powers anymore," said Hermione. "Maybe he's strong enough without her."
"Are you saying he's becoming as strong as Glory?" gasped Ron.
"No, of course not! You know how strong Glory is, don't you? Remember when she knocked out Cho Chang with that one single punch?"
"Can we not talk about that?" said Harry. He didn't like to remember what Glory did to Cho that day; it was so cruel.
"Anyway, it's not that Malfoy's becoming as strong as Glory. He's probably getting stronger or strong enough to help Voldemort."
"Do you think Voldemort is living off Malfoy like Quirrel?" asked Ron.
"We saw Malfoy and his father talking to Voldemort. He can't be attached to Malfoy, nor his father. Maybe he's being hypnotized, like Ginny. It was reported that a hypnotist was kidnapped. Voldemort could have used it to hypnotize Malfoy."
"I still shiver at the thought of that guy controlling my little sister," said Ron. "I don't think that's the case though. He's so evil that he could have wanted to help Voldemort in the first place. Besides, if his father helped him, why wouldn't he?"
"He's probably power-hungry too," added Harry.
"The only thing we haven't found out is the hex Malfoy used," said Hermione. "Have any ideas?"
"No, I don't think so," said Ron. "Why don't we ask Joy afterwards?"
"That's a good idea," said Hermione, and then she looked down at her watch. "It's almost dinner, we should go to the Great Hall."
"You're right," said Harry. "Let's go."
"Yeah, I'm starving!" said Ron.
Harry and his friends stood up and walked to the Great Hall. As Harry and Ron were talking about the Chudley Cannons game in a few weeks, Harry spotted Glory and Malfoy. Glory was looking down sadly at her shoes. An empathetic feeling swooped over him. Glory didn't need to be abused by Malfoy like that, nor did she need to lose her friends. As Harry looked at Glory more, he felt like he had to do something. At that moment, he made a decision.
"I'm going to tell her," said Harry to his friends.
"Tell what?" asked Ron. "Tell who?"
"I'm going to tell Glory about Malfoy's plans," said Harry.
"Harry, you can't!" said Hermione. "Malfoy's right next to her. He'll find out and you'll be attacked next!"
"And we all know he'll be happy to do that," added Ron.
"I don't care. Glory shouldn't deserve to suffer this."
"He's always trying to be the hero," muttered Hermione to Ron. "I hope he doesn't get into serious trouble because of that someday."
Harry heard them muttering to each other, and couldn't believe what his friends had said. They had said that last year, and it got him in trouble with Lord Voldemort. He didn't care this time though; he was meant to be a hero.
He walked to Glory, who looked up from staring at her large shoes.
"Oh, hi Harry!" she said with a smile spreading across her face.
"Harry, what are you doing here?" scowled Malfoy.
"I wanted to talk to Glory about something," said Harry, looking at Glory.
"The Princess doesn't want to talk with- "
"Of course, Harry! You can talk to me," she said with a grin.
"Great. I wanted to talk to you about your friends, and some other things you should know."
He shot a quick glare at Malfoy to check if he would recognize what Harry was trying to tell her.
"Of course you can tell me! I just wish they hadn't suffered that way...."
Her grin completely wiped off her face, and what seemed to be a tear ran quickly down her face. He felt utterly sorry for her. As Glory tear dropped down the side of her gloomy face, Malfoy stared at her with a depressing look, as if guilty.
He's responsible for it and he knows it! thought Harry. He deserved to feel guilty and awful like that. It was quite a strange look that Malfoy had, Harry had never seen it on him before (considering that all the evil things he had done, he was completely proud of). Malfoy patted her on the back to comfort her.
"Glory, I think I should tell you something too," blurted Malfoy. "I've been keeping this secret from you for too long, and you especially of all people should know. It concerns everything: the attack of your friends, Death Eaters, all of it."
"What do you mean?" questioned Glory in a surprised look.
"Come in this empty classroom and I'll tell you," he said.
Malfoy lead Glory into an empty classroom. Harry couldn't believe his ears. Malfoy was going to tell Glory about his schemes! If only he could listen in, but they had locked the door (it was soundproof), and he couldn't do magic in the corridors. Suddenly, Harry felt a light burning in his scar. He felt a burst of emotion in him, a scared emotion. Lord Voldemort is scared, he thought. He's scared Malfoy's going to tell her all their secrets. But Harry was worried too. He was anxious to see her reaction when she came out of the classroom.
Unexpectedly, a sharp burn was felt in Harry's scar, as he put his hand to his face. He clutched his chest, for he felt a great stress pain. He could feel more of Voldemort's stress, anxiety and shock, and the pain was so horrible that he felt that he couldn't handle it. During the light noises of students rushing to the Great Hall and his overwhelming pain, a piercing scream from the empty classroom was heard, a high-pitched cry as if someone was being murdered. Harry recognized Glory's voice in the shriek, and rushed to the door to meet her out.
Immediately, the heavy door was slammed open, making Harry jump, and out ran Glory crying with her face buried in her hands. She ran through the hallway, probably heading to her room. There was no way Harry could have caught up to her.
As Glory ran through the corridors, Malfoy burst out of the classroom, looking around for Glory.
"Where is she?" questioned Malfoy at Harry rudely.
"She went that way, crying with her hands buried in her face," he said with his arm pointing out in her direction, trying to exaggerate to make Malfoy feel worse.
"Oh great," muttered Malfoy to himself. He ran after her, trying to follow her as much as he could. "Honey, come back!"
Harry turned to Ron and Hermione in the corner, who were completely dumbfounded. They looked at Harry in a gasp.
"He told!" said Ron, who couldn't believe was he had seen. "He, that evil snake, plotted slyly of those horrible attacks, making a mess out of everything, abusing Glory even if she didn't know it, and suddenly when we could have told Glory about what has been happening, Malfoy tells her!"
Harry was insulted at what Ron said.
"'We' could have told Glory?" questioned Harry furiously. "You mean, I was going to tell her. You were the ones who didn't even want me to tell her. After muttering that I'm always trying to be the hero, you make it seem as if it was good what I was going to do."
"It was, Harry!" told Hermione. "It was a good thing, but just because it's a good thing doesn't mean it's not a dangerous thing. You're constantly putting your life on the line for everyone else. You've got to relax."
"Yeah, Harry!" agreed Ron. "Chill out."
"Chill out?" questioned Harry. "If I had 'chilled out' when Professor Quirrell was trying to capture the Philosopher's Stone, Voldemort could have come to power a lot quicker and with a lot more powerful. If I had 'chilled out' when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, Ron's sister Ginny would have died, and yet again Voldemort would have come back to power. If I had 'chilled out' when Sirius Black was near the school, I would never have found out that my godfather was innocent, and that it was Peter Pettigrew who was Voldemort's sidekick all along."
"Harry, you're making a huge fit like you did last year," said Hermione.
"I'm not making a fit," said Harry. "I'm telling you that if I 'chilled out' in a lot of circumstances, the consequences would have been more drastic."
"Listen, you can't keep on risking your life for all of us," said Ron.
"So? Joy always risks her life and putting herself on the line!"
"She's stronger than you!" implied Hermione. "She, with her sister, defeated Voldemort with their army."
"You mean they thought they did," said Harry. "Even if they're that strong, they can never defeat Voldemort. Only I can!"
"That's what the Prophecy made it seem to be," said Hermione. "What if the Prophecy only meant that one had to die but the other could survive, but someone else could kill either one?"
"No, Hermione, the Prophecy said one had to die at the hand of the other."
"But Dumbledore said-"
"Well I think Dumbledore's wrong."
"Harry," started Ron, "just because of that, doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself."
"I want to! I have to!"
"Harry, Ron, I think we should go into the Great Hall for dinner," sighed Hermione, heading towards its entrance.
"You know, despite my complaints of hunger and the smell of delicious Italian sausages, I think I've lost my appetite," sighed Ron.
Author's Note: The next chapter's going to be called "The Potion of the Undead". DUNDUNDAAA!!!!!!! Oh, and PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!