Something Wicked This Way Comes
The dark room dissolved. I had the sensation that I was flying very
fast backwards. A blur of colours and shapes rushed past me. I tried to
yell but I couldn't hear my own voice -
I was standing next to Hermione in the deserted Entrance Hall and a stream
of golden light was falling across the paved floor from the open front
doors. We had gone back in time... I looked wildly around at Hermione, the
time turner cutting into my neck. It was a tiny sparkling hourglass.
"You must not be seen!" Hermione recited Headmaster Dumbledore's
words. It was late in the afternoon; someone was bound to come down the
marble staircase at any second.
"In here. Quick!" Hermione seized my arm and dragged me across the
hall to the door of a broom closet; she opened it, pushed me inside among
the buckets and mops, then slammed the door behind us. "We've gone back
exactly three hours. That should give us enough time to recover the Potion
Phial!"
"What Potion Phial? Why would we need it?" What was Hermione talking
about? Though it was dark in the broom cupboard, and judging by the quite
sobs from Hermione, I knew she was crying. But why? I found my leg and gave
it a very hard pinch. It hurt a lot which seemed to rule out every
possibility that I was having a bizarre dream.
Hermione pressed her ear against the cupboard door. "Doesn't sound
like anyone's there ... come on, lets go..."
I pushed the door open and bolted down the stone steps. We ran as
fast as we could to the edge of the Dark Forest. Safe in the shadow of the
trees, I sat down next to Hermione.
"What do we do now?" I asked her, totally lost. What was the 'Potion
Phial' for? What's going to happen to me? Or should I ask myself, what has
already happened to me.
The sun was slowly sinking behind the Forest. The sky a blood red,
tinged with flecks of deep blue. The warm afternoon suddenly became ice
cold.
"Look Harry quick!" Hermione grabbed my arm and pointed to... us. I
gaped at myself, it was me with Hermione, running! They, or should I say,
we, were running from what seemed to be very tall hooded creatures, gliding
a least a foot from the ground.
"Dementors," Hermione muttered. Tears started streaming down her cheek. I
didn't know what they were, but I guess I didn't want to know.
"What do we do? What are they going to do to us if they get us? Hermione-"
I got up.
"Harry no!!! We can't be seen! What would you do if you saw yourself
then? You would probably attack or even try to kill your other self. No
Harry, sit down!"
I watched my other self with Hermione disappear behind the other side
of the forest. I never felt so helpless. "Who where those 'Dementors', what
was the Phial for?" I asked Hermione, not know what was going on. I was
getting angry.
She didn't answer.
We sat in silence as night fell and the moon glowed. The deep blue
sky was speckled with shimmering stars.
"Come Harry, its time, its time to get the Phial, it's in the greenhouse!"
We set off at a sprint to the direction of the greenhouse. But it couldn't
be. No, not now!!! It was Snape. The potions master, he standing right in
front of the door. He was hook nosed, had extremely greasy hair and had a
very gaunt face. What would he be doing down on the lawns at this time of
day? We dashed behind a tree hoping he didn't see us.
"Oh no!" Hermione looked very worried indeed, "He's going to ruin
everything! Hold on let me think... a diversion!"
"That's a good idea, but how are we going to distract him without
being seen?"
"Leave it to me!"
Hermione dashed through the forest leaving me alone in my very
confused thoughts. Suddenly there was a loud crack from deep in the forest.
Seconds later, Hermione returned breathing deeply. She answered me before I
could ask.
"Exploding Charm. I set of a few fire works"
I looked back at Snape and the plan seemed to have worked. He looked
around for the direction of the noise and hurried into the forest.
We opened to door of the greenhouse and entered. It was dark, and smelt
strongly of mud.
"It's on one of these shelves. Quick, we only have a few minutes
before it's destroyed!"
We rummaged the though shelves and shelves of books about magical
plants and fungi. After several minutes, I had finally found it. I could
not tell whether the substance inside was liquid or gas. It was a bright,
immaculate gold and was stirring ceaselessly. I picked it up and brought it
over to Hermione.
"Oh Harry, thank goodness! Hurry, lets get out of here, there will be
people looking for it!"
"Why? Which people?"
We walked out of the greenhouse and Hermione closed the door behind her.
She looked at her watch.
"Harry, run, we've only got three minutes to take this to the
Hospital Wing!"
We darted towards the castle in the dark grounds. Soundlessly, I pushed the
large oak doors open. Thankfully, the hall was deserted. All the students
must have been sleeping by now. We crept along the hall and up the shinning
marble staircase, and up the many stairs. We soon reached the fourth floor
of the hospital wing.
"Hermione, tell me what was the point of all this? Who would want the
Phial? What are Dementors?"
Hermione drew a deep breath and spoke nervously.
"Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They
infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they
drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. Get too near a
Dementor and every good feeling; every happy memory will be sucked out of
you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to kill you. The
Phial is a potion that can bring someone who has been killed by a Dementor
back to life. As soon as the potion drips down your mouth, it will kill the
Dementor that killed you. The reason we were in a hurry to get the potion,
is because the Dementors new it would be used to bring someone who was
attacked back to life."
"You make it sound like someone was attacked!"
"Someone was." she answered shortly.
We reached the door of the Hospital Wing and Hermione pushed it open.
We walked in. The ward was cold and dark and was lined with beds. In the
centre of the room was... I couldn't believe my eyes: there I was, on the
floor, eyes wide open, lying there, dead...
The dark room dissolved. I had the sensation that I was flying very
fast backwards. A blur of colours and shapes rushed past me. I tried to
yell but I couldn't hear my own voice -
I was standing next to Hermione in the deserted Entrance Hall and a stream
of golden light was falling across the paved floor from the open front
doors. We had gone back in time... I looked wildly around at Hermione, the
time turner cutting into my neck. It was a tiny sparkling hourglass.
"You must not be seen!" Hermione recited Headmaster Dumbledore's
words. It was late in the afternoon; someone was bound to come down the
marble staircase at any second.
"In here. Quick!" Hermione seized my arm and dragged me across the
hall to the door of a broom closet; she opened it, pushed me inside among
the buckets and mops, then slammed the door behind us. "We've gone back
exactly three hours. That should give us enough time to recover the Potion
Phial!"
"What Potion Phial? Why would we need it?" What was Hermione talking
about? Though it was dark in the broom cupboard, and judging by the quite
sobs from Hermione, I knew she was crying. But why? I found my leg and gave
it a very hard pinch. It hurt a lot which seemed to rule out every
possibility that I was having a bizarre dream.
Hermione pressed her ear against the cupboard door. "Doesn't sound
like anyone's there ... come on, lets go..."
I pushed the door open and bolted down the stone steps. We ran as
fast as we could to the edge of the Dark Forest. Safe in the shadow of the
trees, I sat down next to Hermione.
"What do we do now?" I asked her, totally lost. What was the 'Potion
Phial' for? What's going to happen to me? Or should I ask myself, what has
already happened to me.
The sun was slowly sinking behind the Forest. The sky a blood red,
tinged with flecks of deep blue. The warm afternoon suddenly became ice
cold.
"Look Harry quick!" Hermione grabbed my arm and pointed to... us. I
gaped at myself, it was me with Hermione, running! They, or should I say,
we, were running from what seemed to be very tall hooded creatures, gliding
a least a foot from the ground.
"Dementors," Hermione muttered. Tears started streaming down her cheek. I
didn't know what they were, but I guess I didn't want to know.
"What do we do? What are they going to do to us if they get us? Hermione-"
I got up.
"Harry no!!! We can't be seen! What would you do if you saw yourself
then? You would probably attack or even try to kill your other self. No
Harry, sit down!"
I watched my other self with Hermione disappear behind the other side
of the forest. I never felt so helpless. "Who where those 'Dementors', what
was the Phial for?" I asked Hermione, not know what was going on. I was
getting angry.
She didn't answer.
We sat in silence as night fell and the moon glowed. The deep blue
sky was speckled with shimmering stars.
"Come Harry, its time, its time to get the Phial, it's in the greenhouse!"
We set off at a sprint to the direction of the greenhouse. But it couldn't
be. No, not now!!! It was Snape. The potions master, he standing right in
front of the door. He was hook nosed, had extremely greasy hair and had a
very gaunt face. What would he be doing down on the lawns at this time of
day? We dashed behind a tree hoping he didn't see us.
"Oh no!" Hermione looked very worried indeed, "He's going to ruin
everything! Hold on let me think... a diversion!"
"That's a good idea, but how are we going to distract him without
being seen?"
"Leave it to me!"
Hermione dashed through the forest leaving me alone in my very
confused thoughts. Suddenly there was a loud crack from deep in the forest.
Seconds later, Hermione returned breathing deeply. She answered me before I
could ask.
"Exploding Charm. I set of a few fire works"
I looked back at Snape and the plan seemed to have worked. He looked
around for the direction of the noise and hurried into the forest.
We opened to door of the greenhouse and entered. It was dark, and smelt
strongly of mud.
"It's on one of these shelves. Quick, we only have a few minutes
before it's destroyed!"
We rummaged the though shelves and shelves of books about magical
plants and fungi. After several minutes, I had finally found it. I could
not tell whether the substance inside was liquid or gas. It was a bright,
immaculate gold and was stirring ceaselessly. I picked it up and brought it
over to Hermione.
"Oh Harry, thank goodness! Hurry, lets get out of here, there will be
people looking for it!"
"Why? Which people?"
We walked out of the greenhouse and Hermione closed the door behind her.
She looked at her watch.
"Harry, run, we've only got three minutes to take this to the
Hospital Wing!"
We darted towards the castle in the dark grounds. Soundlessly, I pushed the
large oak doors open. Thankfully, the hall was deserted. All the students
must have been sleeping by now. We crept along the hall and up the shinning
marble staircase, and up the many stairs. We soon reached the fourth floor
of the hospital wing.
"Hermione, tell me what was the point of all this? Who would want the
Phial? What are Dementors?"
Hermione drew a deep breath and spoke nervously.
"Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They
infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they
drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. Get too near a
Dementor and every good feeling; every happy memory will be sucked out of
you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to kill you. The
Phial is a potion that can bring someone who has been killed by a Dementor
back to life. As soon as the potion drips down your mouth, it will kill the
Dementor that killed you. The reason we were in a hurry to get the potion,
is because the Dementors new it would be used to bring someone who was
attacked back to life."
"You make it sound like someone was attacked!"
"Someone was." she answered shortly.
We reached the door of the Hospital Wing and Hermione pushed it open.
We walked in. The ward was cold and dark and was lined with beds. In the
centre of the room was... I couldn't believe my eyes: there I was, on the
floor, eyes wide open, lying there, dead...