In Every Darkness
Chapter Fifty Nine: Movements from the Dark
2.10.1996
Harry shot upright from the grips of a nightmare, and then lay back, panting softly for breath. It had been some time since he'd had a nightmare, but this one had, at least, been of a fairly ordinary sort.
Voldemort had stood, howling with laughter, over the dead bodies of Remus, Sirius, Ron, Hermione and Harry's parents. All looked only recently dead, eyes wide and staring. Around the laughing dark lord, more bodies piled.
Everyone who Harry cared about, lying dead, eyes wide, staring accusingly at Harry. Harry had spun, around and around, the dead gazes boring into him from all sides.
Finally, when he was about to scream his grief and fury, he woke, panting and sweating.
Harry forcibly relaxed himself, all of his muscles, one by one, and then finally his mind and breathing.
He sat upright against his pillows, just breathing, blanking his mind and relaxing himself. From within the Centre, he mentally tested his shields, and quickly asserted that everything was strong and fine.
Bit by bit, his mind slowed down, until sleep reclaimed him. Again, he had the dream, the same as the night before.
He circled warily, his eyes watching a spinning silver blade. It looked familiar, and it felt so … right in his hands. He spun it, fast and faster, over his head, behind his back, jumping into the air to whirl it round his feet.
Suddenly his rhythm changed, though he made no conscious decision to start something new. Now he was moving as if blocking something, then parrying.
Somehow, his body knew the patterns he had to make, his mind felt devoid of any thoughts, let alone those that might control his movements.
His body moved in perfect sync with the sword in his hands, twisting, leaping, a dance of death that he had no control of.
This time, it was waking that interupted the dream. It was early in the morning, the sun was not yet rising, but it would – soon. Harry rose and dressed in casual clothes, picking up his Firebolt.
Rather than bother with walking down to the pitch, Harry mounted the broom in the Gryffindor Common Room, and flew out of the window. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but he managed it.
Hurtling downwards through the cold morning air, Harry headed to the Quidditch pitch at breakneck speed, revelling in the freshness of the air and the sheer speed he could achieve.
Reaching the pitch, Harry corkscrewed across its length, then dove down to two feet off the ground before pulling up, hurtling back into the sky, twisting and turning, leaving life and all it's problems hanging back on the ground.
He'd told Ron and Hermione about killing that Death Eater yesterday at lunch time. They'd been sympathetic and kind – on the outside. But Harry was sure that he could see a hint of revulsion in their eyes, convinced himself that they shied away from him whenever he came too close.
He couldn't tell if this was real, or just some trick his mind was playing on him.
As the dawn light tinged the sky pale gold, Harry returned to the common room, changed his clothes into school uniform, then went to the Room of Requirements to finish off some homework.
Severus was waiting for one of Lupin's stupid comments or meaningless questions as he walked from the Dark Lords chambers back to his own.
He didn't get one. Lupin? He asked, cursing himself as he did so. No response. Lupin, are you there? He asked again.
He continued trying this for five or so minutes, then, receiving no response, reached into the pocket of his robes to lift out the Dream Catcher and make sure there was nothing wrong with it.
His surprised fingers found nothing in the pocket. Oh shit.
Remus managed to slip into the meeting chamber when the door opened to admit another Death Eater – one of the Inner Circle, and, using his ability to move the Dream Catcher with his mind, he climbed up the wall a little ways, just to make sure nothing accidentally brushed against him.
"Hello, my faithful," Voldemort hissed, prowling around the circle created by the six Death Eaters who remained. "I have a job for you."
"Your will, Master," the Death Eaters spoke as one.
"You, my faithful, will go to Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Kill anyone who resists you, capture those who remain. Bring them here – my ranks will grow!"
"Your will, Master," the Death Eaters intoned in union.
"Tell no one else in my fortress, faithful, what your orders are. Not even Severus, who numbers of one of you," Voldemort ordered.
"Your will, Master," chanted the Death Eaters.
"Leave, go about your tasks!" the Dark Lord snarled.
"We live to serve," the Death Eaters replied, backing out.
Remus decided that they must have had some threads of the Imperious Curse laid over them, he knew that Severus never acted like this with Voldemort … Maybe it was something else, he didn't know. But the only thing he did know was that he would have to contact Sirius, who would in turn contact Harry, to let Dumbledore know what was going on…
It was lunch time, Harry had kept his head down in classes all day and avoided Ron and Hermione as much as possible. Now he was feeling incredibly tired, but he didn't understand why.
"Perhaps your godfather wants to speak with you," Grypis mused. "He can, after all, only speak with you in sleep."
"Quite so. I think I'll go and have a quick nap in the Room of Requirements then. You'll guard the door for me?"
"Of course, Gryfas," Grypis replied. "You will always be safe with me to look over you."
"I know," Harry replied, and closed his eyes, letting his mind and body relax on the bed that had appeared in the room when he came in.
Almost immediately, he was enfolded in the shrouds of sleep. "Harry!" Sirius's voice called out.
"Hi Sirius! So you were trying to talk to me? That's why I got all sleepy?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Sirius replied. "Listen, I don't want to keep you long. Remus just got in contact with me – Voldemort's attacking Beauxbatons and Durmstrang today, soon! You have to tell Dumbledore!"
"I'm going," Harry replied, "thanks for the warning, I'll try and talk to you tonight."
Sirius nodded, making shooing motions. Harry concentrated on waking, and did so, almost immediately.
Rolling to his feet, he took off running out of the door, Grypis racing at his side, making straight for the headmasters office, since lunch had only just finished.
"What's the rush, Harry?" Dumbledore's soothing voice came from behind him, and Harry wheeled around.
"Sir," he panted heavily.
Dumbledore held up a hand, "calm down, dear boy, catch your breath, come up to my office and have something to drink."
"No time," Harry replied, trying to get his breathing under control. "Just got word from … Padfoot … that Voldemort's attacking Durmstrang and Beauxbatons today! You have to get the Order there."
Dumbledore's face turned old and grave. "You are right, Harry. This is not something that can wait. Come with me up to my office, I'll send Phineas over to the Black house."
Harry hurried after Dumbledore up the moving staircase, and moments later they emerged into Dumbledore's office. "Phineas!" Dumbledore barked. "Go and get the Order now! Tell them they are to come here, immediately."
"But," Phineas muttered, half-heartedly.
"Go!" Snarled the rest of the portraits. With a disdainful sniff, Phineas walked out of the portrait.
"Now, Harry, did you get any more information?" Dumbledore asked.
"No," Harry replied, shaking his head. "Sirius got the news from Remus, but either Remus didn't learn any more, or Sirius didn't tell me, he just sent me to get you."
"Ah … Harry, I do not feel that it is right to involve you in this fight, but at the same time, I do feel that it is wrong not to let you, therefore I leave the decision up to you. If you want to help the Order, you may come with us," Dumbledore said slowly.
"I want to help," Harry replied immediately.
Dumbledore nodded sadly. "Very well. Tatsu will be coming, I want you to stay with him at all times in the fight, if it comes to fighting. We have to get the students out, though, so you may be helping with that."
Harry nodded. "Ok then…" he said slowly, but before he could say anything else, Order wizards and witches started pouring out of the fire place.
Harry was slightly surprised, at first, to see that everyone fitted into the office quite easily – then he laughed at himself. Of course the office was magic!
When people stopped coming, there were some seventy or so people in the office, talking softly amongst themselves. "Silence, please," Dumbledore asked, and immediately got his wish.
"Mr. Potter has heard – by sources that are reliable but will go unmentioned – that Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be attacked today by Death Eaters of the Inner Circle. We must, of course, go to help."
There were sounds of agreement as well as surprise from everyone. "Silence," Dumbledore asked again. "I will be going to Durmstrang with half of you, the other half will go to Beauxbatons … You may each choose which school you go to."
Tatsu slipped up to Harry's side. "Are you fighting?" he asked Harry.
"Yes. Dumbledore said I could if I wanted to, so long as I stayed near you," Harry murmured back.
"Ok then. We'll be going to Durmstrang, I think. They'll probably need the most help there – half of the students will probably be against us, as well as whichever Death Eaters come," Tatsu said.
"Ok then," Harry said, as the both of them walked over to take up positions beside Dumbledore, who smiled gently at them both.
Slowly the mass of wizards and witches separated. "Those of you who are going to Beauxbatons, you'll have to take Portkeys to just outside the grounds. After the events of two years ago, security has been set up so as not to allow anyone to enter or leave the grounds with a Portkey unless they have the Headmistresses express permission. I have ten Portkeys here," he reached into a draw on his desk and took out ten palm-sized rocks.
"The same goes for you," he added to the people who were coming to Durmstrang with him. Dumbledore took out another ten rocks, holding them out to his companions.
Harry, Tatsu, the woman Katharine, and several other people that Harry didn't know took one of the stones, and Dumbledore joined their group at the last moment.
A second later Harry felt the pull behind his naval, and a moment later his feet left the ground, then slammed down forcefully. When his vision cleared, Harry saw a wall of black stone, and through the gate, a huge mountain rearing into the sky, with a large set of wooden doors.
"Durmstrang is located within the mountain face," Dumbledore called. "Follow me, please."
He walked through the imposing looking gates with Harry, Tatsu and the rest following behind him.
"Vat are you doing here?" A voice demanded.
They turned to see a hulking boy watching them mistrustfully. "You don't belong here."
"We wish to speak with your headmaster," Dumbledore replied. "Take us to him, please."
"Who are you?" the boy demanded.
"My name is Albus Dumbledore. I wish to speak with your headmaster," Dumbledore replied.
"This way."
The boy headed over towards the doors, with Dumbledore behind him, and everyone else behind Dumbledore.
Soon enough, they were within Durmstrang castle. Harry saw what Krum had meant, when he said that the castle was a dark place. "This way," the boy repeated, turning up a set of stairs and leading them through a complex set of passageways.
Finally they emerged into a large hall, where there were several tables, like at Hogwarts, but this place was dank and dreary and silent, where Hogwarts was the opposite.
A tall, middle aged man with greying black hair and tired brown eyes looked up from his position at a head table. Seeing Dumbledore he jumped to his feet, dismissing the boy who'd led them here.
"Dumbledore! Albus Dumbledore! What brings you here?" The man cried, jumping upright.
"Bad news, unfortunately, Kennith Lander," Dumbledore sighed.
The man – Kennith Lander – paled slightly, and his smile faltered. "What bad news do you bring?" he asked, voice tired.
"Death Eaters will be attacking here shortly. We strongly suggest you evacuate your students. There is a simultaneous attack being launched on Beauxbatons, but I offer Hogwarts to you as a temporary accommodation, as I have, via proxy, to Madam Maxine," Dumbledore replied.
"I accept, of course. Give me a few moments, I'll get all the students and teachers down here as soon as I can, and the house elves can bring our belongings …" Kennith Lander said, about to hurry away.
"Do that, there will be Hogwarts elves waiting for yours to arrive," Dumbledore said. "They will show everyone where to go … You have enough ships to get your students to Hogwarts safely?"
"Yes, yes. A moment, Dumbledore!" then he was gone.
"We can only wait, now," Dumbledore sighed. "Some of you, remain here, others, please go and man a lookout on the walls, you know how to contact everyone if you see Death Eaters … Some more, please go to the lake, I'm sure you'll find a house elf willing to show the way, be ready to guard the students from attack while they are getting away from here. Tatsu, could you and Harry go to the lake, please?"
"Certainly," Tatsu replied, and noted the disappointed look on Harry's face. "I know you wanted to help with the proper fight, Harry, to prove that you can still fight … But you'll most likely see fighting where we are going."
Harry nodded. "I know …" he said. "I just wanted to prove to myself that even if I can't kill them, I can still fight them with everything I have."
"You'll get the chance, all too soon, I think," Tatsu replied as a house turned up to lead the way.
"Follow me, Sirs and Misses," it squeaked. "Jibbo will take you to the lake and the ships."
***
That'll do for now. Sorry this took awhile, my dads computer broke down yesterday, and I was staying at his house. Also, I was visiting a friend in hospital. Review please!
~WolfMoon~