In Every Darkness
Chapter Fifty Two: Warning
18.9.1996
"Sirius!" Harry called a greeting to his godfather. "How are you?"
Sirius grinned at his godson. "I'm pretty good. How about you?"
"Fabulous!" Harry replied, and the tale of the day poured from his lips in a flood. Sirius looked impressed.
"Tatsu's your guardian now? That's good – he'll be able to keep an eye out for you, but he won't go not letting you do things because they're 'too dangerous' or anything! But listen, Harry, I've got something important to tell you."
Harry sat forward. "What's happened?" he asked worriedly.
"It's time that you told Dumbledore about being able to meet up with me in dreams," Sirius replied. "Remus has been with Snape – Snivellus has to attack Arabella Figg and the court house tomorrow morning. You have to make sure that Arabella isn't there, and that Dumbledore is ready to fight tomorrow!"
Harry winced slightly. "I suppose it is time that I told them, and I certainly can't stand by while people get killed … Alright, I'll go and talk to Dumbledore now … Do you know the times?"
"They attack Arabella's at twelve, and the court house once they've finished there," Sirius replied. "I'll talk to you again soon."
Harry waved, and woke himself up with a practiced ease. "Come on Grypis," he murmured to the griffin. "You heard Sirius, we've got to get to Dumbledore."
"I'll get Tatsu," Grypis replied, leaping from Harry's bed and assuming his other form – that of a hawk.
"Thanks," Harry whispered, waving his wand with a murmured incarnation. Suddenly he was dressed in loose blue jeans, a tight black t-shirt and a set of open robes, with his Prefect badge on the front of them, wearing the doc martens that Tonks had insisted he buy.
For a moment he debated waking Ron, then he decided against it – he didn't want to share his secret with any one but those he had to. Besides, Ron would appreciate his sleep, Harry thought, and strode quickly out of the dormitory.
Walking through the passageways of Hogwarts after hours without the invisibility cloak gave Harry a bit of a kick yet. He wouldn't get in trouble, thanks to the little badge on his chest.
Suddenly he came to a halt – there was the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office. He walked over to it and murmured "mint humbug".
The gargoyle sprang to life and slipped out of the way, as the wall behind it came in half, leaving Harry standing facing a moving staircase.
Harry stepped onto quickly, even as he heard the sound of running footsteps and the flutter of bird wings behind him. Tatsu and Grypis were coming.
"Harry wait up," Tatsu called, breathing easily despite his run. Harry paused, waiting for Tatsu to catch him up. "What's happened?"
"Sirius came to me in a dream just before," Harry muttered quickly. "We have to tell Dumbledore about it now."
"Why?" Tatsu asked. Harry was pleased to see that he was the not the only one unwilling to give up this secret.
"I'll tell you when I tell Dumbledore," he replied, as the spiralling staircase came a halt in front of the door to Dumbledore's office.
Harry lifted the griffin shaped knocker and rapped on the door. "Come in!" Dumbledore's voice called merrily from within.
Harry pushed the door open and he and Tatsu entered the room. "Harry! Tatsu! What a pleasant surprise!" Dumbledore smiled at them, as though this was not after midnight, when most people were asleep. "What can I do for you?"
"I've been hiding something, this year," Harry said quickly, before he lost his never. "But I have to tell you about it now. Tatsu knows too."
"And what is it that you've been hiding?" Dumbledore asked, not seeming surprised that Harry had been hiding anything.
"It's about Sirius," Harry replied. "He's not completely dead. He fell into the Realms of the Dead, but because he was alive when he entered them, he is still actually alive. He can visit people in their dreams. He came to me, and to Tatsu, and Remus, before he died. We've been keeping in touch," Harry was speaking very quickly, but he knew that Dumbledore would have caught every word.
"Well … that is … most unexpected, Harry. But why tell me now?"
"Remus is with Snape," Harry replied. "Sirius and Remus still talk, sometimes, because Remus can go back to the Realms of the Dead. Snape has to lead Death Eaters in an attack against Little Whinging tomorrow."
"Who does he have to attack?" Dumbledore's voice was sudden harsh and insistent. Looking up, Harry saw that Dumbledore, while not angry, was approaching such a state very quickly.
Dumbledore was scary when he was angry, Harry
knew well. "He has to attack Mrs. Figg at midday, but since she's here at
Hogwarts, that won't be a problem, then go around to the court house and catch
me, and kill anyone else who's there," Harry replied.
Tatsu stirred angrily beside him.
"Arabella and I will have to come up with a reason for Severus not knowing about her coming here … As for the court house, we've always got wizards stationed around you, they should be enough to deal with the Death Eaters – if not, Tatsu is with us, and he'll be able to prevent you from being killed," Dumbledore said, then smiled gently at Harry.
"You've done all that you could, Harry. Go and sleep now. You'll have a big day tomorrow," he added.
Harry nodded and stood up. Tatsu moved to follow him. "If I could have a word, Tatsu?" Dumbledore asked, before the man could move.
Harry left the office behind him, hurrying back to the Gryffindor tower. "Hello Harry," a voice came from behind him.
Harry spun around, wand coming out, but then realised it was only Mrs. Figg. "Good boy, good reflexes," she told him with an approving nod. "What are you doing up at this hour of the night?"
"Death Eaters are going to attack your house tomorrow morning," Harry replied. "I was just telling Dumbledore about it – he said that you and he would have to come up with a plan …"
"So we will. I'll go and talk to him now," Arabella decided.
"Um, Arabella, could you tell him not to tell anyone how it was that I found out?" Harry asked. "Tatsu might have asked him to do that already, but I forgot…"
"Well … yes, alright, I'll do that then," Arabella said, obviously wanting to know what was going on herself.
"Thanks" Harry replied, and continued on his way, as Arabella went in the opposite direction.
The next morning Harry awoke, feeling somewhat excited. "Morning Ron," he greeted his friend.
"Morning Harry," Ron replied tiredly, watching in amazement as Harry dressed himself with a wave of his wand, this time not wearing his school robes, but a fairly presentably outfit of black jeans and a loose, white shirt.
"I'll see you later, I have to go and find Dumbledore," Harry said, shrugging into a black jacket and lifting Grypis into his arms.
"See ya," Ron muttered sleepily in reply, looking as though he'd much rather sleep than get up again.
Harry smiled faintly, and headed back down into the school, searching for the Headmaster
He was not hard to find. Waiting in the entrance hall were Dumbledore and Tatsu. "Come on, we have to get to the court house and set up," Tatsu murmured to Harry.
Harry nodded his head slightly. "Ok," he replied. "What do we need to set up?"
"An escape route for you, most importantly," Alastor Moody's voice came from behind him. The old Auror came forward, his wooden leg clunking softly.
"Why is that most important? Isn't the most important thing to keep as many people alive as possible?" Harry asked.
"No, because you are the only who one could defeat Voldemort," Moody replied sternly. "If he catches you, he'll kill you, and we'll be stuck with him forever. The most important thing to anyone on our side of the magical world right now is to keep you alive so that you can, eventually, kill Voldemort!"
Harry could see where Moody was coming from, but didn't mean that he was happy about the decision. He didn't want anyone dying just so he could stay alive …
"Come on boy, don't stand around all day," Moody clunked towards the front doors, and Harry followed him with a sigh, Dumbledore and Tatsu walking with him.
Outside, Moody took a coin from his pocket. "Portkey," he grunted, when Harry asked what it was. "Put your hand on it boy, you too, Albus, Tatsu."
Harry touched the Portkey, feeling somewhat resentful, because he disliked Portkeys immensely.
Today would be an interesting day.
***
There we go!
Hehe, I made a really big mistake two chapters back, in the one where Sev went to Arabella's house, but none of you guys picked up on it. Arabella is the caretaker in Hogwarts now, so she isn't go to be home, is she? Well, I've gone back and changed it. You may want to re-read the chapter, I don't know. It's different now though!
Not many reviews for last chapter *stern look at reviewers* But oh well. I'm thinking of putting up a new story, an AU where Harry is raised by Sirius, not the Dursley's. The first chapter should be up in about five days, if I decide to write it.
~WolfMoon~