A/N: I just want to say a quick thank you to all my reviewers! Do you know
how many reviews I got on the first day? 36!!! That's the most I've ever
gotten on a single day! Yay! You should all pat yourself on the head. Go
on. You know you want to.
Gilthas: They're not dogs.
Me: Inuyasha is a dog and you don't see him complaining.
Gilthas: There's nothing wrong with dogs! But generally humans don't pat each other on the head.
M: I do it all the time.
Gilthas: But you're weird and unusual.
Me: Fine. Pat yourself on the back. Are you happy now, Gilthas?
Gilthas: Ecstatic.
~
Chapter 12: Notes and Spells
Harry took a deep breath. He looked at Grander as if asking if he really had to do this.
Grander tried to give him an encouraging smile.
Harry reached out and pushed open the doors of the Great Hall. Immediately he had the strong urge to shut it again as cameras flashed and voices shouted. Taking another resolute step, he found himself in front of many more people than he wanted to, along with, he saw, many students from the school.
He walked up to the teachers table. The other tables in the hall had been moved aside to accommodate everyone. The teachers themselves were attempting to regain some semblance of control. Reporters attempted to push pass electrical barriers. The teachers, yelled for attention but no one was listening.
It was worse than Harry had expected. He pulled out his wand. The sound in the hall dropped several knots, but the next second it returned 10 fold.
Harry waved his wand and the electrical barriers (which did not shock, simply stood as if a wall) dropped only to be replaced seconds later by a silver mist. If Harry's presence before had not halted the noise, that certainly did.
Harry walked to the front of the room and whispers broke out again. Harry climbed onto the top table and looked around, his green stare silencing everyone.
"Good evening," Harry said, his voice sounding quite loud. "I was informed there was some questions that people would like to ask me—" Some reporters shouted.
"Is it true you faced down the Dark Lord?"
"Can we get a comment?"
"You say that he knows advanced magic. Can you be more specific?"
Harry was forced to raise his voice this time. "I will not be answering questions, but I will tell you what is going on to the best of my ability. As you may have guessed, I am Harry Potter."
The noise did not even grow this time. People were waiting for him to speak.
"I cannot tell you how I came back, but I can tell you that while I have been here, I have deduced that it was fortunate indeed that I have returned. Voldemort has been resurrected as well and from the looks of things, you can not defeat him."
No one responded to this. They did not need someone to tell them they were loosing to know.
"Hogwarts was the very safest place in the world when I was alive. That was 1000 years ago, I admit, but that doesn't change the principle. This school has been around for 2000 years now. That not something just anyone can claim. That is why I have chosen to remain at Hogwarts. I will be working on charms and magic to protect this place. If you need help, I will be here."
Harry caught the look on Crocker's face. He tried to ignore it.
"Voldemort has risen again," Harry said. "And it's going to take a lot more than one man to defeat him. He has already used his magic to build an army who knows more magic than the professors at this school. I must ask everyone that if they see him, their only priority is to get themselves and those they love out of there before you can be hurt. Voldemort attacked the hospital—the sick and injured. He will not care if you plead for your life. And he will kill you last so that you might witness him killing your family first."
Silence filled the hall. Harry saw many nervous faces.
"Every terrible thing," Harry said, his voice lowering slightly. "That you have read about Voldemort is true. He murdered hundreds of people and none could stand in his way. I know. I was there!" His voice rose again. "I saw those people die! I saw Voldemort murder them and not care! I know what it's like to think you have nothing left and wish that Voldemort would just kill you too! I know what it's like and yet I'm still fighting. And you should too. I know that there isn't a person in this room who really knows the magic needed to stand against these people, but I am willing to help. I will be at Hogwarts, if I am needed. I will spend the next few days working on castle defenses."
Harry turned and walked from the hall. As soon as he was safely out, he dropped the silver shield he had placed around the people and, waving his wand, Disapparated back to his room.
Someone was waiting for him.
"Oh, bloody hell," Harry said when he saw the pen and notebook in the man's hand. His other hand was in his pocket. "Listen, I already said everything I was going to say downstairs. I have things to do!" The man was staring at him. "So go away," Harry said, not liking the look on the man's face.
"Indeed," the man said. "I was wondering if you might answer a few questions."
"No," Harry said. "Now leave my room."
"No," the man said. Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so annoying. Why didn't he just leave?
"Listen, I'm not answering questions," Harry said. "If you could just—"
"You think you can stand against the Dark Lord's power?" the man asked, cutting him off. Harry's guard was up in an instant.
"Who are you and why are you here?"
"I already told you," the man said. "I am here because I need you to answer a few questions."
"And I already told you I would not."
"Don't even think of cursing me," the man said. "I am under the Dark Lord's protection."
To Harry's horror the man pulled his hand out of his pocket to reveal a stump where his hand had been cut off. "I have quite a lot of the Dark Lord's protection."
"You brought him back," Harry said, anger surging through him. "You made the sacrifice."
"If you know that much," the man said. "You know that you cannot hurt me."
"If you know that much," Harry repeated. "Then you know you can't hurt me."
The man smirked. "The Dark Lord does not want me to hurt you. After all, why simply defeat you when he can crush your spirit?"
Harry scoffed. "If Voldemort believes my spirit breakable, he is even more of a fool than I thought he was."
"The Dark Lord has asked that I give you a message," the man said.
"Then say it and be gone," Harry said coldly.
"We have him."
"What?"
"The Dark Lord's message," the man said. "Is, 'We have him'."
"You have who?"
"That is not my job," the man said. "I have delivered the message."
"Then leave!" Harry yelled. His wand whipped in front of him. The next second the man was gone, leaving Harry pointing his wand at nothing. The door opened.
"Harry?" Grander asked. "There you are! What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Harry said. Quick as a flash Harry's wand was back in his pocket. "Step one: Put back up the Anti-Apparition field."
"What's that?" Grander asked. Harry looked and saw that the pen and notebook the man had had in his hand had not Apparated with him. Harry picked it up. In bold letter on the front, it said clearly, 'WE HAVE HIM."
* * *
All students were confined to their dormitories. The teachers were in their rooms. The house elves were in the kitchen cooking lunch. They were not allowed to leave. Harry was alone. He had even convinced the Headmistress to stay in her room.
He placed his hand on the smooth stone walls and, taking a deep breath, closed his eyes and concentrated hard.
Magic flowed through him. It was much more than he had channeled in a long time. His body shook a little from the strain, but he held strong, repeating under his breath the words, "Allees et venues cesser. Allees et venues cesser."
His eyes were closed, but he felt rather than saw the rippling stone beneath his fingers, moving like jello. He pushed harder, concentrating firmly on the objective.
Suddenly the magic stopped and Harry fell to the ground, nothing supporting him. He was breathing hard and he felt drained. The castle was the biggest thing he had ever placed the Anti-Apparition charm on. He supposed the founders must have all done it together, combining their strengths. That was the smart way to do it, but Harry was afraid letting another help him with their limited magical abilities might make them hold more magic than they could safely hold and the strain might kill them. He could not risk it.
Breathing heavily still, he made himself get to his feet. His legs felt heavy and stiff but he turned to the room that he was in. It was his old potions classroom. He had thought the strain might be less if he started below ground rather than attempting to push the magic below from above.
A cauldron was sitting on the table with various potions ingredients sitting around it. He scowled when he remembered the amused look on Grander's face when he had asked for a cauldron.
He ran his index finger down the page of a book, rereading the ingredients list. His eyes scanned the ingredients he had and he nodded in satisfaction. The demand for potions ingredients was not great and there had been no trouble getting them.
He had chosen to make the potion after placing the charm on the building. That way he could rest before the massive amount of magic he was going to do.
He carefully measured and added the ingredients to the cauldron, watching as the mixture turned from murky gray to crystal clear in a matter of seconds. Grander had begged to be allowed to watch, but Harry had refused. Grander was to remain in his room with the rest.
When the potion was finished, Harry filled 20 vials with the liquid and stopped them firmly, putting them in his cloak.
He felt better now that he had his small rest. He still felt tired beyond imagining as he attempted to climb the steps. He dared not use magic to help him. He would need everything he had to finish the charm around the grounds.
Harry did not stop at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He went quite a ways in until he could hardly even see the castle. The grounds were larger than only the castle. When he did finally make it to the edge of the grounds, he pulled out a single vial. He threw it to the ground, smashing it. The liquid in it glowed as it hit the ground and splattered. Harry walked another 100 or so feet and threw another. It glowed as well and if anyone had taken the time to notice, the splatter that resulted was exactly the same size and shape as the previous.
Harry continued this routine until he had surrounded the entire of the Hogwarts grounds with the potions. When he had a single one left, he fingered it for a moment. He was about to channel quite a lot of magic the second this one left his fingers. He shook away his fatigue and, in one quick motion, threw the bottle to the ground.
The next second he was on his knees, his hand pressed firmly to the ground, his face screwed up as he muttered, "Allees et venues cesser. Allees et venues cesser," again and again.
A light shone from where his hands were on the ground spread out around him in all directions. It stopped abruptly in the circle Harry had made with the potions. Harry did not remove his hands and pushed hard against the unyielding ground, his low mutter becoming a shout as he struggled to keep his tiring hold.
Suddenly it stopped and Harry fell to the ground, breathing heavily. He rolled onto his back and just lay there, blinking away little dots that appeared before his eyes. He was not sure how long he lay there, but gradually he felt his strength returning and stumbled to his feet.
Wearily he made his way to the school. He was greeted by Grander, looking at him with wide eyes. Grander started speaking, but Harry didn't hear anything in his tired mind except for a low murmur. He nodded when Grander paused and said, "Yeah" occasionally.
Finally they made it to his room and Harry collapsed on the bed. He was half asleep by the time his head hit the pillow.
* * *
Harry awoke later that day. There was a general mumble of noise outside his room. He was half ready to fall back asleep again, but his stomach rumbled angrily and he realized that he could not lie there any longer.
Groaning slightly, he pushed himself into a sitting position. His head swum a little, but he stood up and made his way to his door, stumbling slightly.
When he opened his door, the mumble of voices hushed slightly. Before this day, he had never realized how close his door was to the classes. Some of the students stared at him, their mouths opened slightly.
He moved as quickly as he could, but he felt drained, as if all the energy had been sapped out of him.
He stopped to rest several times before finally reaching the kitchens. When he arrived, he was breathing heavily again and the house elves scrambled to get him a chair.
His mouth actually got tired of chewing after the third bite and Harry asked for something less solid.
He was eating yogurt when a teacher came in.
"Good Lord!" said the woman, surprised.
Harry looked at her, putting on a weakly innocent grin. "I was hungry."
"I thought you would still be sleeping," the woman said. "You were out cold for hours."
Harry shrugged. "I couldn't sleep as hungry as I was. Guess I needed some sort of energy."
"Food can do that," the woman said, nodded. She looked at a moment before saying, quite quickly. "It all feels different, you know?"
"What?" Harry asked blankly.
"The castle!" the woman said. "You get this prickling feeling every time you touch the walls. It's not bad! It's just different."
"Well," Harry said, shrugging. "At least no one can Apparate in here."
The woman shook her head in wonder. "Very few people can Apparate at all."
Harry surprised himself by how much the knowledge did not come as a shock. He shook his head wearily. "It has ceased to amaze me."
The woman smiled a little. "Quite unlike you."
"I suppose the school's buzzing by now, is it?" Harry had to ask.
"You expected less? Classes had to be postponed so you can't even begin to hope that someone didn't notice."
"This is only the beginning," Harry said firmly. "I have quite a bit to do before this castle can be back to what it is."
The woman nodded.
Harry stood up, rubbing his eyes. "I'm off to get more sleep. I suppose I'll see you."
The teacher nodded again and Harry left, hardly paying attention to where he was going as he stumbled along. The students were all in classes by this time.
He found himself, once again, outside the gargoyle. He shook his head in wonderment. He always ended up here.
Harry gave the password and stood on the moving staircase. He was pleased to see that the usual sluggishly, barely moving, pace of the staircase had increased slightly. It no longer made a scraping noise as it moved upward.
He couldn't bring himself to actually walk up the slowly moving steps so he stood and waited for the stairs to bring him to the top at their sluggish pace. He wearily opened the door when he reached the top and managed a little wave as the portraits greeted him.
"You look exhausted!" A woman in a portrait exclaimed.
"That's only to be expected," a man replied. "He put the Anti-Apparition spells around the entire castle! All by himself!"
"It feels so good to have the magic increased here," another witch said, looking happily around at the stone walls. "After all my years being here, I've been somewhat more in tune with the castle. I didn't notice how much I missed the magic until I realized just how much was gone."
"Have you slept at all?" Phineas Nigellus asked, scowling. "You look like you've been through hell and back, all in one long trip!"
"Phineas!" a witch scowled. "Leave the poor boy alone!"
"Have you slept?" asked another wizard.
Harry nodded, running his fingers through his hair to push it out of his face.
"Then you need some more rest," Dumbledore said. Harry noticed that he was frowning at him slightly. "You'll kill yourself at this rate."
Harry shrugged guiltily. "It's nothing really."
A witch scoffed at him. "That's ridiculous, child!" Harry scowled at the name. The witch remained firm. "If you're going to mistreat yourself like that, I don't see why you deserve to be called anything else. There's a bed in the other room where the Headmasters and Mistresses slept. Stay in there." She nodded to a door.
Harry looked at it and hesitated. It was the Headmaster's room...
"There are no portraits in there," the witch continued, misinterpreting his hesitation. "We won't bother you. It's not like you can make it to your room."
Harry knew she was quite right about the last thing and that was what finally won him over. Slowly, he started over to the door and reached out a tentative hand. He gasped and jerked it away the second it touched the knob.
Dumbledore smile. "All the magic of Hogwarts remains in that room, Harry. Nothing has been removed from it in all these years."
"All the magic?" Harry asked, looking at the room in disbelief.
"Every bit of it," Dumbledore said, nodding. "It's disconnected, in a way, to the rest of the castle. As the magic in the rest slowly diminished, nothing in the room changed."
"How is it disconnected?" Harry asked, momentarily forgetting his tiredness.
"It isn't there."
"What do you mean?"
"Let me put it this way," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "If you walked around the other side of the wall, there would be no place there where the room should be. Like your Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher your forth year. His trunk. What was his name again?"
"You mean his fake name or his real one?"
"That's right!" Dumbledore said. "That was the imposture year. I remember now. The years just seem to run together eventually."
Harry nodded. He opened the door again and he found himself looking into the most wonderful room he had ever seen.
A 4-poster bed sat at the side of the room. A huge oak dresser sat at the foot of it. The room was decorated in all the colors of the houses with a giant painting of the Hogwart's seal painted perfectly on the ceiling.
But it was not what was in the room that grabbed Harry's attention. It was the feeling of it. He now understood what the teacher had been talking about when she said the school felt 'different'. The room was simply alive with magic—so much that it seemed to tingle in the very air. Harry had not noticed it in the school because it was not that great of a change and he was mentally and physically exhausted. But the room's magic was simply too great to be ignored...
Harry had not realized he was gawking until a wizard yelled, "Are you going to stand there all day?" and he realized what he was doing.
He jumped slightly.
"There are pajamas in the dresser," Dumbledore said helpfully from behind him. Harry nodded though he had no intention of changing clothes. It seemed like a lot of effort.
He closed the door behind him and took a moment to stare at the room before going over to the wonderful 4-poster and collapsing on top of it. His last conscious thought was that it felt good to not be able to see the ceiling again...
~
A/N: Gasp! No one can Apparate or Disapparate on the Hogwart's grounds—again! And I had to give Harry a 4-poster. Besides, the previous Heads had to sleep somewhere!
Gilthas: Unless they didn't.
Me: But they did.
Gilthas: But if they didn't they wouldn't have.
Me: They would have because they did.
Gilthas: But if they didn't need sleep then they wouldn't have slept there.
Me: But they did—oh never mind.
Gilthas: Just respond to reviewers already!
Me: Right.
~
HiddenFlame42: You reviewed every chapter!!! Not only this fic, but BTBT as well! I'm writing a sequel to that one. It's not going too good. I completely agree with your philosophy about evil people. Why don't they die and just stay dead? Well...other than the fact that I'm the author and I brought him back. Ug. The one thing miss about BTBT that I can't write much in this fic is the sarcastic remarks. I find myself writing some and then having to go back and erase it because the Harry in this story wouldn't say that! Sadness. That's why I seized the chance in his encounter with Voldemort. :)
sara*magic: Sorry your review got scrapped! I was sad when I didn't see one. America's pretty spiffy. People are fatter than in Europe because of fast food (not me of course. I'm practically perfect in every way. Ga! Mary Poppins! Hehe...Simpsons...). Most everyone eats fast food everyday. That includes me. What's your opinion on McDonalds? Real meat or fake meat? Personally, I think if it were real meat, they'd advertise it that way. Like Arby's. I think it was Arby's. Maybe it was somewhere else. Anyway, I have the first chapter written in my sequel. I scratched the first version and then rewrote it. I did the same to the second chapter, which is why I don't have it done yet. I reread it and was like, "What?" So I rewrote it (or have started the rewriting process) to make it better. It's hard! Don't worry. I think when I have chapter three finished to satisfaction I'll post the first chapter.
keebler-elmo: Did you know that I have an unofficial list of people (that's not actually a list because I don't have it written down or anything) that I recognize by their names on their reviews? You're on it! Maybe it's just the name, 'keebler-elmo' but I recognize you. Thanks for the review!!!
ssjztrunks: Thanks!
Anemosys: Dreams are always confusing and I tried really hard to make this one so. I think I made it so that only the author who knew how the final battle would go will understand exactly what it means. Go me. Way to be cryptic.
Darkmoon Fleur: I think all dreams are confusing. Like this one time recently, I had this dream and I was riding on this elephant. Then, when I gave someone the reins (yeah, it was wearing a horse halter and reins. Weird?) so that I could get down, they kept walking with it and I couldn't get down! Then, the reins came loose and I was on top of the elephant with no way to control it... Yeah. Not pleasant. No idea where that elephant came from...
mashimaromadness: I might use that. I know how the final battle's going to go, but I haven't written it yet. I really need to write some more chapters. Everyone almost got an extra long, like 20 page chapter, before I realized how long it was a broke it into two. I'm evil.
Sea-Turtles: The dream was rather spur of the moment. I thought, 'I'm going to need to start some serious hinting here'. Hehe! I bet I confused everyone a little more on this chapter with Voldemort's message! Try to connect the two confusing things... Ga! I've said too much.
insanechildfanfic: Thanks a lot!
My Conscience: I like your name. Ga! The 'slash' word. It's one of those things why you have to be very careful when looking at fan art. My friend can tell you...
Rhinemjr: Oh! Thank you! That's a very high compliment!
feenamoon16: You're another one of the 'Harry should teach a class' reviewers. I don't want to give away too much (and that probably gave away much too much just by saying that) but just wait until the next chapter!
lady sakura: Sakura...sakura...I've heard that name somewhere. I swear I have. Is that from something or am I simply convincing myself that I've heard it and I really haven't?
FreedomStar: You know, they have author alerts that tell you when an author has updated. Though, I've been known to ignore that and simply look anyway even though I know they won't have updated. *sigh*
Draken Smythe: Waiting is the hardest part... Sorry. That's a Tom Petty song I think. It popped into my head randomly, you know, like those musicals where people randomly burst into song?
abhisek: Boy, is your name hard to remember, or what? I'm glad you like my story!
Y401-F4N: Sorry I took so long! I was swamped in homework and soccer. Well, that and Inuyasha. I think I'm becoming a fan...
Madrid-c16: Are you Spanish? ;) Thanks. I really do try hard to get the personalities right. If you don't, sometimes you wind up with completely unwanted...SLASH!!! Ah!!! It burns! It hurts so much!!!
star estrella: You've been hacking into my computer, haven't you?
Greyhound Master: I've got the 4-poster! The broom is in the works. :)
Savi2070 And Catc10: You read it all aloud? Are you okay? Are your voices sore?
Hilel: Whoo-who! Do'h! (Aka: Top ten!!! No more reviews?)
john: I liked the little girl. Elizabeth Wently, wasn't it? Something like that anyway.
waunderingwolf: They didn't give it up! It just became too complicated. If you can't perform the little things properly, then eventually you can't perform the big things and then, if no one can perform the big things, people eventually forget it.
Constance Truggle: Hehe. Did you know that your name sounds like 'Constant Struggle'? ...Yeah. You probably knew that. Anyway, all I can safely say is, All will be revealed! *does weird fortune teller thing* Yep. All revealed...
~
Me: Thank you for all the reviews!!!
Gilthas: Now please review again.
Me: Say please!
Gilthas: *blink* I just did.
Me: Oh right. What he said. The first time.
Gilthas: They're not dogs.
Me: Inuyasha is a dog and you don't see him complaining.
Gilthas: There's nothing wrong with dogs! But generally humans don't pat each other on the head.
M: I do it all the time.
Gilthas: But you're weird and unusual.
Me: Fine. Pat yourself on the back. Are you happy now, Gilthas?
Gilthas: Ecstatic.
~
Chapter 12: Notes and Spells
Harry took a deep breath. He looked at Grander as if asking if he really had to do this.
Grander tried to give him an encouraging smile.
Harry reached out and pushed open the doors of the Great Hall. Immediately he had the strong urge to shut it again as cameras flashed and voices shouted. Taking another resolute step, he found himself in front of many more people than he wanted to, along with, he saw, many students from the school.
He walked up to the teachers table. The other tables in the hall had been moved aside to accommodate everyone. The teachers themselves were attempting to regain some semblance of control. Reporters attempted to push pass electrical barriers. The teachers, yelled for attention but no one was listening.
It was worse than Harry had expected. He pulled out his wand. The sound in the hall dropped several knots, but the next second it returned 10 fold.
Harry waved his wand and the electrical barriers (which did not shock, simply stood as if a wall) dropped only to be replaced seconds later by a silver mist. If Harry's presence before had not halted the noise, that certainly did.
Harry walked to the front of the room and whispers broke out again. Harry climbed onto the top table and looked around, his green stare silencing everyone.
"Good evening," Harry said, his voice sounding quite loud. "I was informed there was some questions that people would like to ask me—" Some reporters shouted.
"Is it true you faced down the Dark Lord?"
"Can we get a comment?"
"You say that he knows advanced magic. Can you be more specific?"
Harry was forced to raise his voice this time. "I will not be answering questions, but I will tell you what is going on to the best of my ability. As you may have guessed, I am Harry Potter."
The noise did not even grow this time. People were waiting for him to speak.
"I cannot tell you how I came back, but I can tell you that while I have been here, I have deduced that it was fortunate indeed that I have returned. Voldemort has been resurrected as well and from the looks of things, you can not defeat him."
No one responded to this. They did not need someone to tell them they were loosing to know.
"Hogwarts was the very safest place in the world when I was alive. That was 1000 years ago, I admit, but that doesn't change the principle. This school has been around for 2000 years now. That not something just anyone can claim. That is why I have chosen to remain at Hogwarts. I will be working on charms and magic to protect this place. If you need help, I will be here."
Harry caught the look on Crocker's face. He tried to ignore it.
"Voldemort has risen again," Harry said. "And it's going to take a lot more than one man to defeat him. He has already used his magic to build an army who knows more magic than the professors at this school. I must ask everyone that if they see him, their only priority is to get themselves and those they love out of there before you can be hurt. Voldemort attacked the hospital—the sick and injured. He will not care if you plead for your life. And he will kill you last so that you might witness him killing your family first."
Silence filled the hall. Harry saw many nervous faces.
"Every terrible thing," Harry said, his voice lowering slightly. "That you have read about Voldemort is true. He murdered hundreds of people and none could stand in his way. I know. I was there!" His voice rose again. "I saw those people die! I saw Voldemort murder them and not care! I know what it's like to think you have nothing left and wish that Voldemort would just kill you too! I know what it's like and yet I'm still fighting. And you should too. I know that there isn't a person in this room who really knows the magic needed to stand against these people, but I am willing to help. I will be at Hogwarts, if I am needed. I will spend the next few days working on castle defenses."
Harry turned and walked from the hall. As soon as he was safely out, he dropped the silver shield he had placed around the people and, waving his wand, Disapparated back to his room.
Someone was waiting for him.
"Oh, bloody hell," Harry said when he saw the pen and notebook in the man's hand. His other hand was in his pocket. "Listen, I already said everything I was going to say downstairs. I have things to do!" The man was staring at him. "So go away," Harry said, not liking the look on the man's face.
"Indeed," the man said. "I was wondering if you might answer a few questions."
"No," Harry said. "Now leave my room."
"No," the man said. Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so annoying. Why didn't he just leave?
"Listen, I'm not answering questions," Harry said. "If you could just—"
"You think you can stand against the Dark Lord's power?" the man asked, cutting him off. Harry's guard was up in an instant.
"Who are you and why are you here?"
"I already told you," the man said. "I am here because I need you to answer a few questions."
"And I already told you I would not."
"Don't even think of cursing me," the man said. "I am under the Dark Lord's protection."
To Harry's horror the man pulled his hand out of his pocket to reveal a stump where his hand had been cut off. "I have quite a lot of the Dark Lord's protection."
"You brought him back," Harry said, anger surging through him. "You made the sacrifice."
"If you know that much," the man said. "You know that you cannot hurt me."
"If you know that much," Harry repeated. "Then you know you can't hurt me."
The man smirked. "The Dark Lord does not want me to hurt you. After all, why simply defeat you when he can crush your spirit?"
Harry scoffed. "If Voldemort believes my spirit breakable, he is even more of a fool than I thought he was."
"The Dark Lord has asked that I give you a message," the man said.
"Then say it and be gone," Harry said coldly.
"We have him."
"What?"
"The Dark Lord's message," the man said. "Is, 'We have him'."
"You have who?"
"That is not my job," the man said. "I have delivered the message."
"Then leave!" Harry yelled. His wand whipped in front of him. The next second the man was gone, leaving Harry pointing his wand at nothing. The door opened.
"Harry?" Grander asked. "There you are! What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Harry said. Quick as a flash Harry's wand was back in his pocket. "Step one: Put back up the Anti-Apparition field."
"What's that?" Grander asked. Harry looked and saw that the pen and notebook the man had had in his hand had not Apparated with him. Harry picked it up. In bold letter on the front, it said clearly, 'WE HAVE HIM."
* * *
All students were confined to their dormitories. The teachers were in their rooms. The house elves were in the kitchen cooking lunch. They were not allowed to leave. Harry was alone. He had even convinced the Headmistress to stay in her room.
He placed his hand on the smooth stone walls and, taking a deep breath, closed his eyes and concentrated hard.
Magic flowed through him. It was much more than he had channeled in a long time. His body shook a little from the strain, but he held strong, repeating under his breath the words, "Allees et venues cesser. Allees et venues cesser."
His eyes were closed, but he felt rather than saw the rippling stone beneath his fingers, moving like jello. He pushed harder, concentrating firmly on the objective.
Suddenly the magic stopped and Harry fell to the ground, nothing supporting him. He was breathing hard and he felt drained. The castle was the biggest thing he had ever placed the Anti-Apparition charm on. He supposed the founders must have all done it together, combining their strengths. That was the smart way to do it, but Harry was afraid letting another help him with their limited magical abilities might make them hold more magic than they could safely hold and the strain might kill them. He could not risk it.
Breathing heavily still, he made himself get to his feet. His legs felt heavy and stiff but he turned to the room that he was in. It was his old potions classroom. He had thought the strain might be less if he started below ground rather than attempting to push the magic below from above.
A cauldron was sitting on the table with various potions ingredients sitting around it. He scowled when he remembered the amused look on Grander's face when he had asked for a cauldron.
He ran his index finger down the page of a book, rereading the ingredients list. His eyes scanned the ingredients he had and he nodded in satisfaction. The demand for potions ingredients was not great and there had been no trouble getting them.
He had chosen to make the potion after placing the charm on the building. That way he could rest before the massive amount of magic he was going to do.
He carefully measured and added the ingredients to the cauldron, watching as the mixture turned from murky gray to crystal clear in a matter of seconds. Grander had begged to be allowed to watch, but Harry had refused. Grander was to remain in his room with the rest.
When the potion was finished, Harry filled 20 vials with the liquid and stopped them firmly, putting them in his cloak.
He felt better now that he had his small rest. He still felt tired beyond imagining as he attempted to climb the steps. He dared not use magic to help him. He would need everything he had to finish the charm around the grounds.
Harry did not stop at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He went quite a ways in until he could hardly even see the castle. The grounds were larger than only the castle. When he did finally make it to the edge of the grounds, he pulled out a single vial. He threw it to the ground, smashing it. The liquid in it glowed as it hit the ground and splattered. Harry walked another 100 or so feet and threw another. It glowed as well and if anyone had taken the time to notice, the splatter that resulted was exactly the same size and shape as the previous.
Harry continued this routine until he had surrounded the entire of the Hogwarts grounds with the potions. When he had a single one left, he fingered it for a moment. He was about to channel quite a lot of magic the second this one left his fingers. He shook away his fatigue and, in one quick motion, threw the bottle to the ground.
The next second he was on his knees, his hand pressed firmly to the ground, his face screwed up as he muttered, "Allees et venues cesser. Allees et venues cesser," again and again.
A light shone from where his hands were on the ground spread out around him in all directions. It stopped abruptly in the circle Harry had made with the potions. Harry did not remove his hands and pushed hard against the unyielding ground, his low mutter becoming a shout as he struggled to keep his tiring hold.
Suddenly it stopped and Harry fell to the ground, breathing heavily. He rolled onto his back and just lay there, blinking away little dots that appeared before his eyes. He was not sure how long he lay there, but gradually he felt his strength returning and stumbled to his feet.
Wearily he made his way to the school. He was greeted by Grander, looking at him with wide eyes. Grander started speaking, but Harry didn't hear anything in his tired mind except for a low murmur. He nodded when Grander paused and said, "Yeah" occasionally.
Finally they made it to his room and Harry collapsed on the bed. He was half asleep by the time his head hit the pillow.
* * *
Harry awoke later that day. There was a general mumble of noise outside his room. He was half ready to fall back asleep again, but his stomach rumbled angrily and he realized that he could not lie there any longer.
Groaning slightly, he pushed himself into a sitting position. His head swum a little, but he stood up and made his way to his door, stumbling slightly.
When he opened his door, the mumble of voices hushed slightly. Before this day, he had never realized how close his door was to the classes. Some of the students stared at him, their mouths opened slightly.
He moved as quickly as he could, but he felt drained, as if all the energy had been sapped out of him.
He stopped to rest several times before finally reaching the kitchens. When he arrived, he was breathing heavily again and the house elves scrambled to get him a chair.
His mouth actually got tired of chewing after the third bite and Harry asked for something less solid.
He was eating yogurt when a teacher came in.
"Good Lord!" said the woman, surprised.
Harry looked at her, putting on a weakly innocent grin. "I was hungry."
"I thought you would still be sleeping," the woman said. "You were out cold for hours."
Harry shrugged. "I couldn't sleep as hungry as I was. Guess I needed some sort of energy."
"Food can do that," the woman said, nodded. She looked at a moment before saying, quite quickly. "It all feels different, you know?"
"What?" Harry asked blankly.
"The castle!" the woman said. "You get this prickling feeling every time you touch the walls. It's not bad! It's just different."
"Well," Harry said, shrugging. "At least no one can Apparate in here."
The woman shook her head in wonder. "Very few people can Apparate at all."
Harry surprised himself by how much the knowledge did not come as a shock. He shook his head wearily. "It has ceased to amaze me."
The woman smiled a little. "Quite unlike you."
"I suppose the school's buzzing by now, is it?" Harry had to ask.
"You expected less? Classes had to be postponed so you can't even begin to hope that someone didn't notice."
"This is only the beginning," Harry said firmly. "I have quite a bit to do before this castle can be back to what it is."
The woman nodded.
Harry stood up, rubbing his eyes. "I'm off to get more sleep. I suppose I'll see you."
The teacher nodded again and Harry left, hardly paying attention to where he was going as he stumbled along. The students were all in classes by this time.
He found himself, once again, outside the gargoyle. He shook his head in wonderment. He always ended up here.
Harry gave the password and stood on the moving staircase. He was pleased to see that the usual sluggishly, barely moving, pace of the staircase had increased slightly. It no longer made a scraping noise as it moved upward.
He couldn't bring himself to actually walk up the slowly moving steps so he stood and waited for the stairs to bring him to the top at their sluggish pace. He wearily opened the door when he reached the top and managed a little wave as the portraits greeted him.
"You look exhausted!" A woman in a portrait exclaimed.
"That's only to be expected," a man replied. "He put the Anti-Apparition spells around the entire castle! All by himself!"
"It feels so good to have the magic increased here," another witch said, looking happily around at the stone walls. "After all my years being here, I've been somewhat more in tune with the castle. I didn't notice how much I missed the magic until I realized just how much was gone."
"Have you slept at all?" Phineas Nigellus asked, scowling. "You look like you've been through hell and back, all in one long trip!"
"Phineas!" a witch scowled. "Leave the poor boy alone!"
"Have you slept?" asked another wizard.
Harry nodded, running his fingers through his hair to push it out of his face.
"Then you need some more rest," Dumbledore said. Harry noticed that he was frowning at him slightly. "You'll kill yourself at this rate."
Harry shrugged guiltily. "It's nothing really."
A witch scoffed at him. "That's ridiculous, child!" Harry scowled at the name. The witch remained firm. "If you're going to mistreat yourself like that, I don't see why you deserve to be called anything else. There's a bed in the other room where the Headmasters and Mistresses slept. Stay in there." She nodded to a door.
Harry looked at it and hesitated. It was the Headmaster's room...
"There are no portraits in there," the witch continued, misinterpreting his hesitation. "We won't bother you. It's not like you can make it to your room."
Harry knew she was quite right about the last thing and that was what finally won him over. Slowly, he started over to the door and reached out a tentative hand. He gasped and jerked it away the second it touched the knob.
Dumbledore smile. "All the magic of Hogwarts remains in that room, Harry. Nothing has been removed from it in all these years."
"All the magic?" Harry asked, looking at the room in disbelief.
"Every bit of it," Dumbledore said, nodding. "It's disconnected, in a way, to the rest of the castle. As the magic in the rest slowly diminished, nothing in the room changed."
"How is it disconnected?" Harry asked, momentarily forgetting his tiredness.
"It isn't there."
"What do you mean?"
"Let me put it this way," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "If you walked around the other side of the wall, there would be no place there where the room should be. Like your Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher your forth year. His trunk. What was his name again?"
"You mean his fake name or his real one?"
"That's right!" Dumbledore said. "That was the imposture year. I remember now. The years just seem to run together eventually."
Harry nodded. He opened the door again and he found himself looking into the most wonderful room he had ever seen.
A 4-poster bed sat at the side of the room. A huge oak dresser sat at the foot of it. The room was decorated in all the colors of the houses with a giant painting of the Hogwart's seal painted perfectly on the ceiling.
But it was not what was in the room that grabbed Harry's attention. It was the feeling of it. He now understood what the teacher had been talking about when she said the school felt 'different'. The room was simply alive with magic—so much that it seemed to tingle in the very air. Harry had not noticed it in the school because it was not that great of a change and he was mentally and physically exhausted. But the room's magic was simply too great to be ignored...
Harry had not realized he was gawking until a wizard yelled, "Are you going to stand there all day?" and he realized what he was doing.
He jumped slightly.
"There are pajamas in the dresser," Dumbledore said helpfully from behind him. Harry nodded though he had no intention of changing clothes. It seemed like a lot of effort.
He closed the door behind him and took a moment to stare at the room before going over to the wonderful 4-poster and collapsing on top of it. His last conscious thought was that it felt good to not be able to see the ceiling again...
~
A/N: Gasp! No one can Apparate or Disapparate on the Hogwart's grounds—again! And I had to give Harry a 4-poster. Besides, the previous Heads had to sleep somewhere!
Gilthas: Unless they didn't.
Me: But they did.
Gilthas: But if they didn't they wouldn't have.
Me: They would have because they did.
Gilthas: But if they didn't need sleep then they wouldn't have slept there.
Me: But they did—oh never mind.
Gilthas: Just respond to reviewers already!
Me: Right.
~
HiddenFlame42: You reviewed every chapter!!! Not only this fic, but BTBT as well! I'm writing a sequel to that one. It's not going too good. I completely agree with your philosophy about evil people. Why don't they die and just stay dead? Well...other than the fact that I'm the author and I brought him back. Ug. The one thing miss about BTBT that I can't write much in this fic is the sarcastic remarks. I find myself writing some and then having to go back and erase it because the Harry in this story wouldn't say that! Sadness. That's why I seized the chance in his encounter with Voldemort. :)
sara*magic: Sorry your review got scrapped! I was sad when I didn't see one. America's pretty spiffy. People are fatter than in Europe because of fast food (not me of course. I'm practically perfect in every way. Ga! Mary Poppins! Hehe...Simpsons...). Most everyone eats fast food everyday. That includes me. What's your opinion on McDonalds? Real meat or fake meat? Personally, I think if it were real meat, they'd advertise it that way. Like Arby's. I think it was Arby's. Maybe it was somewhere else. Anyway, I have the first chapter written in my sequel. I scratched the first version and then rewrote it. I did the same to the second chapter, which is why I don't have it done yet. I reread it and was like, "What?" So I rewrote it (or have started the rewriting process) to make it better. It's hard! Don't worry. I think when I have chapter three finished to satisfaction I'll post the first chapter.
keebler-elmo: Did you know that I have an unofficial list of people (that's not actually a list because I don't have it written down or anything) that I recognize by their names on their reviews? You're on it! Maybe it's just the name, 'keebler-elmo' but I recognize you. Thanks for the review!!!
ssjztrunks: Thanks!
Anemosys: Dreams are always confusing and I tried really hard to make this one so. I think I made it so that only the author who knew how the final battle would go will understand exactly what it means. Go me. Way to be cryptic.
Darkmoon Fleur: I think all dreams are confusing. Like this one time recently, I had this dream and I was riding on this elephant. Then, when I gave someone the reins (yeah, it was wearing a horse halter and reins. Weird?) so that I could get down, they kept walking with it and I couldn't get down! Then, the reins came loose and I was on top of the elephant with no way to control it... Yeah. Not pleasant. No idea where that elephant came from...
mashimaromadness: I might use that. I know how the final battle's going to go, but I haven't written it yet. I really need to write some more chapters. Everyone almost got an extra long, like 20 page chapter, before I realized how long it was a broke it into two. I'm evil.
Sea-Turtles: The dream was rather spur of the moment. I thought, 'I'm going to need to start some serious hinting here'. Hehe! I bet I confused everyone a little more on this chapter with Voldemort's message! Try to connect the two confusing things... Ga! I've said too much.
insanechildfanfic: Thanks a lot!
My Conscience: I like your name. Ga! The 'slash' word. It's one of those things why you have to be very careful when looking at fan art. My friend can tell you...
Rhinemjr: Oh! Thank you! That's a very high compliment!
feenamoon16: You're another one of the 'Harry should teach a class' reviewers. I don't want to give away too much (and that probably gave away much too much just by saying that) but just wait until the next chapter!
lady sakura: Sakura...sakura...I've heard that name somewhere. I swear I have. Is that from something or am I simply convincing myself that I've heard it and I really haven't?
FreedomStar: You know, they have author alerts that tell you when an author has updated. Though, I've been known to ignore that and simply look anyway even though I know they won't have updated. *sigh*
Draken Smythe: Waiting is the hardest part... Sorry. That's a Tom Petty song I think. It popped into my head randomly, you know, like those musicals where people randomly burst into song?
abhisek: Boy, is your name hard to remember, or what? I'm glad you like my story!
Y401-F4N: Sorry I took so long! I was swamped in homework and soccer. Well, that and Inuyasha. I think I'm becoming a fan...
Madrid-c16: Are you Spanish? ;) Thanks. I really do try hard to get the personalities right. If you don't, sometimes you wind up with completely unwanted...SLASH!!! Ah!!! It burns! It hurts so much!!!
star estrella: You've been hacking into my computer, haven't you?
Greyhound Master: I've got the 4-poster! The broom is in the works. :)
Savi2070 And Catc10: You read it all aloud? Are you okay? Are your voices sore?
Hilel: Whoo-who! Do'h! (Aka: Top ten!!! No more reviews?)
john: I liked the little girl. Elizabeth Wently, wasn't it? Something like that anyway.
waunderingwolf: They didn't give it up! It just became too complicated. If you can't perform the little things properly, then eventually you can't perform the big things and then, if no one can perform the big things, people eventually forget it.
Constance Truggle: Hehe. Did you know that your name sounds like 'Constant Struggle'? ...Yeah. You probably knew that. Anyway, all I can safely say is, All will be revealed! *does weird fortune teller thing* Yep. All revealed...
~
Me: Thank you for all the reviews!!!
Gilthas: Now please review again.
Me: Say please!
Gilthas: *blink* I just did.
Me: Oh right. What he said. The first time.