Chapter 5 Adaptation and Realization
Hermione went and hugged Harry again. "It's alright Harry, we're here for you." She said crying as well. "It'll be ok mate." Ron said as he laid his hand on Harry's shoulder. "There's no way I can beat him though, he's taken everyone I've ever cared about. I can't do the things he does, I can't possess people, or...or kill them." Harry said, crying into Hermione's shoulder. "Harry, we'll help you. We can practice, learn new spells, and help you. You just need some confidence. We believe in you Harry, you've never let anyone down before, and I don't think you will now." Hermione said lifting Harry up and looking into his eyes. "Thanks... I don't deserve friends like you two." Harry said as he wiped some tears from his face. "I know, but I'll put up with you, but only because I need someone to help me in Potions." Ron said jokingly to lighten the mood. Hermione scowled at Ron, then said, "You're right Harry, you deserve so much better than us. We need to go to bed if we want to be able to do well in any classes tomorrow." The trio stood up and made their ways to their respected rooms. Harry and Ron went into their dorm, where the other 6th year boys had already begun sleeping, and changed clothes. Harry put a silencing charm around his bed to make sure that no one heard his tears. Harry stretched out on his bed and cried. After a while sleep slowly came over him.
Harry was in a dark clearing in some woods. He looked up to see a cloaked figure making his way to another person on the ground. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" Harry screamed. Red eyes looked up at him, with slits for pupils, "So you love this mudblood Potter. Maybe her death will teach you that you will never win." Voldemort lifted his wand. "STUPEFY!" Harry yelled and Voldemort disappeared. Suddenly Harry was caught in the grips of an animal, fused together by pain. Then a voice in his head spoke to him. "You will kill her Potter, because I will make you." "NEVER" Harry screamed as he sat bolt upright in bed, scar searing as if it was touched next to a hot iron. He was breathing heavily, it was still dark outside. Harry was glad that his silencing charm had blocked out his scream. He got up and changed clothes, not wanting to go back to bed in fear of having another nightmare. He went down to the common room, where he saw Hermione pacing back and forth, looking worried. She looked up when she saw Harry walking down the steps. "Harry, what's wrong, why are you up so early," she said ushering him to sit down. "I'm fine, I just couldn't sleep." Harry said, not looking at Hermione. "Harry, you know for a fact that whenever you say, 'I'm fine' you aren't. What was the dream about?" She asked, looking straight at him. "Nothing, don't worry." He said. He was not going to tell her he had dreamt of Voldemort, much less the fact that she was on the ground and hurt also. "Harry, if it's about Voldemort, you should go to Dumbledore. He'd want you to." Hermione said gently. Harry was suddenly on his feet and shouting, "YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I DREAMED?! REALLY? I DREAMED VOLDEMORT WAS ABOUT TO KILL YOU, AND THEN HE POSSESSED ME OK?!?!?! I HAVE REASONS FOR NOT TELLING YOU HERMIONE! WHY? BECAUSE I'M SCARED! EVERYONE I'VE EVER CARED FOR DIES, AND THAT MEANS THAT BOTH YOU AND RON ARE IN DANGER. I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU HURT, MUCH LESS KILLED. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH, ANYONE WHO GETS CLOSE TO ME DIES! AND IT ALWAYS SEEMS THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT!" Hermione was stunned. Harry stood for a second, and then walked right past her and out passed the portrait. He walked towards the Room of Requirement, walked passed it 3 times thinking I need a place to rest, relax, and practice , A door appeared, Harry turned it and stepped through the door.
The room was a lot smaller than it had been when the DA had used it the previous year. There was a couch and a fire on one side, as well as a mat and book shelf, full of books on different defensive spells, on the other side. He made his way towards the book shelves. He pulled off one of the books, 1001 Defensive Spells and Charms , his curiosity slowly overtaking his anger. He sat down and began to read the book, which was full of moving pictures of each curse. He took the book and sat down on the couch, forgetting all about the dream and the confrontation with Hermione. He was enthralled by the book, and knew that he would have to come back here to work on a few of the spells he was reading about. He looked at his watch, realizing that it was almost time for classes. I need some breakfast he thought, not wanting to waste the time to go down to the Great Hall. A plate of eggs and bacon appeared in front of him. He ate it quickly and headed towards his first class, Charms.
When he arrived, he sat down at an empty desk, since he had arrived a little earlier owing to the fact that he did not have to get there from the Great Hall. Hermione came in as students began to make there way throughout the castle to their respected classes. She sat next to Harry and remained silent. Ron came in a short time later and sat in the empty desk to the right of Hermione. The class began with Professor Flitwick telling them how the N.E.W.T. level charms was very difficult and that they would need to concentrate to perform the spells correctly. They began working on charming a 16 pound bowling ball to weigh less than a feather. As was usual for the Charms class, chatter, as well as a few explosions, filled the room as people attempted to charm their objects. Hermione finally began to talk to Harry, knowing that no one would hear he over their own conversations. "Harry, I'm sorry about this morning, it's just that I was worried about you. You really should go tell Dumbledore about it." She said as she said the spell and lifted her bowling ball with extreme ease. "Don't apologize, I shouldn't have yelled at you." He said as he charmed the bowling ball, ignoring Hermione's comment about going to Dumbledore. I might, I might not, it's not like he never kept me in the dark he thought as Professor Flitwick came by and congratulated them on performing the charm correctly, and now told them to charm it so that is would weigh 50 pounds. "Harry, you really should go to Dumbledore, what if it's a premonition or something?" Hermione said, looking up to Harry. "Fine, I'll talk to him Thursday when I see him. I'm supposed to have some training that night with him." He said as put the bowling ball on the scales that they had been given, and charmed the bowling ball; the scale immediately rested on 50. She nodded, a slight grin at getting him to do what she asked, and charmed her bowling ball. The class went well; though Ron was asked to practice the charm for homework (he hadn't been able to add weight to it, though not many people had). The trio then went to Herbology, which passed with no major occurrences, and from there they went to lunch in the Great Hall.
Lunch was a quiet affair, Harry picking at his food, Hermione throwing worried glances his way, and Ron stuffing his face as usual. "I'll meet you two in Potions." Harry said as he stood up, slung his bag over his shoulder, and left the Great Hall. He went to the dorms a sat in an empty chair near the fire. The common room was empty owing to the fact that everyone was still eating lunch. Crookshanks walked over to him and sat down on his lap. Harry stared into the fire, deep in thought. He didn't hear the portrait hole open or see the person who walked in. It wasn't until Crookshanks stood up and jumped off of him that he realized he wasn't alone. "Hey Harry, classes start in 10 minutes, so you might want to get your stuff ready." Hermione said, petting Crookshanks. Harry grabbed his bag and proceeded to the cool dungeons with Hermione, who was still wearing a worried expression on her face. The entered the class with only moments to spare. Harry took a seat next to Ron, a little frustrated that he was banned from having the right to choose his partner. Snape entered and the class immediately fell silent. "Silence, today we will be working on a very complicated Frenzying Draught, you will need the entire class period to prepare, it will also need 48 hours to set, so you will finish this particular potion in two days, begin." Snape said as he waved his wand and the board, as usual, filled with the steps and ingredients. Towards the end of class, Harry and Ron stored their cauldron, which was full of the correct steel grey solution, next to Hermione and Neville's, which was also full of a similar solution, when an explosion issued from behind them. They turned and saw Malfoy yelling on the floor, covered in a thick black slime. Snape was out of his seat in a second, vanishing the slime. "Someone get him to the Hospital Wing. Potter, what did you do to Mr. Malfoy's cauldron?" Snape said as he turned to Harry. Harry looked up at him surprised, "What are you talking about Professor, I didn't do anything to Malfoy's potion." "Detention Potter, because I know your lying." Snape sneered. The bell rang and the trio left, all of them seemed to be fuming at the injustice of it all. "Great, just great, that git gave me detention because he doesn't want to blame Malfoy for making a mistake with his potion." Harry said as they went to their dorms.
Harry's temper, which had subsided during dinner, began to grow every step he took down to the dungeons. He entered the potions master's office determined to do whatever horror he would be forced to do as quickly as possible. As he entered he saw Snape's cloaked figure rummaging through a trunk towards the back wall. Harry cleared his throat, causing the professor to look at him menacingly. "Potter, what are you doing here, I have business to attend to." "You gave me detention tonight, sir , or something I clearly didn't do." Harry said scowling back. "Well go, now, I can't be bothered about your punishment at the moment, I'll deal with it later." Snape said as he found what he was looking for in his trunk, pulling out a dark Death Eater mask. "Now OUT!" He said and Harry turned on a heal, and made his way to the common room, wondering what had forced Snape to be called by Voldemort while he was still at the school.
Harry went upstairs to the common room to find Ron, Hermione, as well as a few other students still working. "Well that was fast, what happened." Ron said, suprosed to see Harry back so soon. "He didn't have time to give me a detention tonight." Harry said and then, dropping his voice so the fifth years in the corner couldn't hear him, "He was answering a call by Voldemort, he had his mask and everything." Ron immediately went off on Snape about double crossing Dumbledore, with Hermione making the strong point that, if Snape was supposed to be a spy, he needed to be at the meetings. Harry, a more than tired of hearing them bicker constantly, picked his bag from his room and left through the portrait hole. He went the familiar path to the Room of Requirement. I need somewhere quiet, somewhere I can study in peace. After passing the third time, he saw the door appear and walking into a small room. A fire was burning merrily in the fire and there was a comfortable looking chair in front of a nice hearth rug. He sat down and pulled out his Charms homework and began his essay. He had been working for about half an hour when he heard the door open. He turned around to see Hermione walking towards him, her face showing relief. "Harry, we've been looking all over for you. Why did you come here, instead of working in the common room." She said as she approached his chair. "Because the rather ridiculous argument you and Ron were having was giving me a headache, and I needed a place to relax, no a room with two people constantly arguing." Said Harry as his gaze returned to his work. He was putting the final touches to it when Hermione looked at it over his shoulder. She then proceeded to pull out a piece of parchment and make notes. "Hermione, what are you doing" Harry said as he closed his Charms book. "I'm adding some things to my essay, what does it look like I'm doing." "Well," Harry said grinning, "it looks to me like you are copying my homework, an act I believe you have despised for the past 5 years." Hermione immediately stopped writing, "Fine, then I'm going to the library," and she turned around and made her way to the door. Just before she reached it, Harry interrupted her, "Hermione, it is 10 o'clock at night, the library is closed; however, this is the Room of Requirement, so just require the books." Harry said grinning even broader as he walked past her and headed back to the tower. He saw her coming into the common room 10 minutes after he had, with 6 different, and very thick, books.
Hermione went and hugged Harry again. "It's alright Harry, we're here for you." She said crying as well. "It'll be ok mate." Ron said as he laid his hand on Harry's shoulder. "There's no way I can beat him though, he's taken everyone I've ever cared about. I can't do the things he does, I can't possess people, or...or kill them." Harry said, crying into Hermione's shoulder. "Harry, we'll help you. We can practice, learn new spells, and help you. You just need some confidence. We believe in you Harry, you've never let anyone down before, and I don't think you will now." Hermione said lifting Harry up and looking into his eyes. "Thanks... I don't deserve friends like you two." Harry said as he wiped some tears from his face. "I know, but I'll put up with you, but only because I need someone to help me in Potions." Ron said jokingly to lighten the mood. Hermione scowled at Ron, then said, "You're right Harry, you deserve so much better than us. We need to go to bed if we want to be able to do well in any classes tomorrow." The trio stood up and made their ways to their respected rooms. Harry and Ron went into their dorm, where the other 6th year boys had already begun sleeping, and changed clothes. Harry put a silencing charm around his bed to make sure that no one heard his tears. Harry stretched out on his bed and cried. After a while sleep slowly came over him.
Harry was in a dark clearing in some woods. He looked up to see a cloaked figure making his way to another person on the ground. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" Harry screamed. Red eyes looked up at him, with slits for pupils, "So you love this mudblood Potter. Maybe her death will teach you that you will never win." Voldemort lifted his wand. "STUPEFY!" Harry yelled and Voldemort disappeared. Suddenly Harry was caught in the grips of an animal, fused together by pain. Then a voice in his head spoke to him. "You will kill her Potter, because I will make you." "NEVER" Harry screamed as he sat bolt upright in bed, scar searing as if it was touched next to a hot iron. He was breathing heavily, it was still dark outside. Harry was glad that his silencing charm had blocked out his scream. He got up and changed clothes, not wanting to go back to bed in fear of having another nightmare. He went down to the common room, where he saw Hermione pacing back and forth, looking worried. She looked up when she saw Harry walking down the steps. "Harry, what's wrong, why are you up so early," she said ushering him to sit down. "I'm fine, I just couldn't sleep." Harry said, not looking at Hermione. "Harry, you know for a fact that whenever you say, 'I'm fine' you aren't. What was the dream about?" She asked, looking straight at him. "Nothing, don't worry." He said. He was not going to tell her he had dreamt of Voldemort, much less the fact that she was on the ground and hurt also. "Harry, if it's about Voldemort, you should go to Dumbledore. He'd want you to." Hermione said gently. Harry was suddenly on his feet and shouting, "YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I DREAMED?! REALLY? I DREAMED VOLDEMORT WAS ABOUT TO KILL YOU, AND THEN HE POSSESSED ME OK?!?!?! I HAVE REASONS FOR NOT TELLING YOU HERMIONE! WHY? BECAUSE I'M SCARED! EVERYONE I'VE EVER CARED FOR DIES, AND THAT MEANS THAT BOTH YOU AND RON ARE IN DANGER. I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU HURT, MUCH LESS KILLED. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH, ANYONE WHO GETS CLOSE TO ME DIES! AND IT ALWAYS SEEMS THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT!" Hermione was stunned. Harry stood for a second, and then walked right past her and out passed the portrait. He walked towards the Room of Requirement, walked passed it 3 times thinking I need a place to rest, relax, and practice , A door appeared, Harry turned it and stepped through the door.
The room was a lot smaller than it had been when the DA had used it the previous year. There was a couch and a fire on one side, as well as a mat and book shelf, full of books on different defensive spells, on the other side. He made his way towards the book shelves. He pulled off one of the books, 1001 Defensive Spells and Charms , his curiosity slowly overtaking his anger. He sat down and began to read the book, which was full of moving pictures of each curse. He took the book and sat down on the couch, forgetting all about the dream and the confrontation with Hermione. He was enthralled by the book, and knew that he would have to come back here to work on a few of the spells he was reading about. He looked at his watch, realizing that it was almost time for classes. I need some breakfast he thought, not wanting to waste the time to go down to the Great Hall. A plate of eggs and bacon appeared in front of him. He ate it quickly and headed towards his first class, Charms.
When he arrived, he sat down at an empty desk, since he had arrived a little earlier owing to the fact that he did not have to get there from the Great Hall. Hermione came in as students began to make there way throughout the castle to their respected classes. She sat next to Harry and remained silent. Ron came in a short time later and sat in the empty desk to the right of Hermione. The class began with Professor Flitwick telling them how the N.E.W.T. level charms was very difficult and that they would need to concentrate to perform the spells correctly. They began working on charming a 16 pound bowling ball to weigh less than a feather. As was usual for the Charms class, chatter, as well as a few explosions, filled the room as people attempted to charm their objects. Hermione finally began to talk to Harry, knowing that no one would hear he over their own conversations. "Harry, I'm sorry about this morning, it's just that I was worried about you. You really should go tell Dumbledore about it." She said as she said the spell and lifted her bowling ball with extreme ease. "Don't apologize, I shouldn't have yelled at you." He said as he charmed the bowling ball, ignoring Hermione's comment about going to Dumbledore. I might, I might not, it's not like he never kept me in the dark he thought as Professor Flitwick came by and congratulated them on performing the charm correctly, and now told them to charm it so that is would weigh 50 pounds. "Harry, you really should go to Dumbledore, what if it's a premonition or something?" Hermione said, looking up to Harry. "Fine, I'll talk to him Thursday when I see him. I'm supposed to have some training that night with him." He said as put the bowling ball on the scales that they had been given, and charmed the bowling ball; the scale immediately rested on 50. She nodded, a slight grin at getting him to do what she asked, and charmed her bowling ball. The class went well; though Ron was asked to practice the charm for homework (he hadn't been able to add weight to it, though not many people had). The trio then went to Herbology, which passed with no major occurrences, and from there they went to lunch in the Great Hall.
Lunch was a quiet affair, Harry picking at his food, Hermione throwing worried glances his way, and Ron stuffing his face as usual. "I'll meet you two in Potions." Harry said as he stood up, slung his bag over his shoulder, and left the Great Hall. He went to the dorms a sat in an empty chair near the fire. The common room was empty owing to the fact that everyone was still eating lunch. Crookshanks walked over to him and sat down on his lap. Harry stared into the fire, deep in thought. He didn't hear the portrait hole open or see the person who walked in. It wasn't until Crookshanks stood up and jumped off of him that he realized he wasn't alone. "Hey Harry, classes start in 10 minutes, so you might want to get your stuff ready." Hermione said, petting Crookshanks. Harry grabbed his bag and proceeded to the cool dungeons with Hermione, who was still wearing a worried expression on her face. The entered the class with only moments to spare. Harry took a seat next to Ron, a little frustrated that he was banned from having the right to choose his partner. Snape entered and the class immediately fell silent. "Silence, today we will be working on a very complicated Frenzying Draught, you will need the entire class period to prepare, it will also need 48 hours to set, so you will finish this particular potion in two days, begin." Snape said as he waved his wand and the board, as usual, filled with the steps and ingredients. Towards the end of class, Harry and Ron stored their cauldron, which was full of the correct steel grey solution, next to Hermione and Neville's, which was also full of a similar solution, when an explosion issued from behind them. They turned and saw Malfoy yelling on the floor, covered in a thick black slime. Snape was out of his seat in a second, vanishing the slime. "Someone get him to the Hospital Wing. Potter, what did you do to Mr. Malfoy's cauldron?" Snape said as he turned to Harry. Harry looked up at him surprised, "What are you talking about Professor, I didn't do anything to Malfoy's potion." "Detention Potter, because I know your lying." Snape sneered. The bell rang and the trio left, all of them seemed to be fuming at the injustice of it all. "Great, just great, that git gave me detention because he doesn't want to blame Malfoy for making a mistake with his potion." Harry said as they went to their dorms.
Harry's temper, which had subsided during dinner, began to grow every step he took down to the dungeons. He entered the potions master's office determined to do whatever horror he would be forced to do as quickly as possible. As he entered he saw Snape's cloaked figure rummaging through a trunk towards the back wall. Harry cleared his throat, causing the professor to look at him menacingly. "Potter, what are you doing here, I have business to attend to." "You gave me detention tonight, sir , or something I clearly didn't do." Harry said scowling back. "Well go, now, I can't be bothered about your punishment at the moment, I'll deal with it later." Snape said as he found what he was looking for in his trunk, pulling out a dark Death Eater mask. "Now OUT!" He said and Harry turned on a heal, and made his way to the common room, wondering what had forced Snape to be called by Voldemort while he was still at the school.
Harry went upstairs to the common room to find Ron, Hermione, as well as a few other students still working. "Well that was fast, what happened." Ron said, suprosed to see Harry back so soon. "He didn't have time to give me a detention tonight." Harry said and then, dropping his voice so the fifth years in the corner couldn't hear him, "He was answering a call by Voldemort, he had his mask and everything." Ron immediately went off on Snape about double crossing Dumbledore, with Hermione making the strong point that, if Snape was supposed to be a spy, he needed to be at the meetings. Harry, a more than tired of hearing them bicker constantly, picked his bag from his room and left through the portrait hole. He went the familiar path to the Room of Requirement. I need somewhere quiet, somewhere I can study in peace. After passing the third time, he saw the door appear and walking into a small room. A fire was burning merrily in the fire and there was a comfortable looking chair in front of a nice hearth rug. He sat down and pulled out his Charms homework and began his essay. He had been working for about half an hour when he heard the door open. He turned around to see Hermione walking towards him, her face showing relief. "Harry, we've been looking all over for you. Why did you come here, instead of working in the common room." She said as she approached his chair. "Because the rather ridiculous argument you and Ron were having was giving me a headache, and I needed a place to relax, no a room with two people constantly arguing." Said Harry as his gaze returned to his work. He was putting the final touches to it when Hermione looked at it over his shoulder. She then proceeded to pull out a piece of parchment and make notes. "Hermione, what are you doing" Harry said as he closed his Charms book. "I'm adding some things to my essay, what does it look like I'm doing." "Well," Harry said grinning, "it looks to me like you are copying my homework, an act I believe you have despised for the past 5 years." Hermione immediately stopped writing, "Fine, then I'm going to the library," and she turned around and made her way to the door. Just before she reached it, Harry interrupted her, "Hermione, it is 10 o'clock at night, the library is closed; however, this is the Room of Requirement, so just require the books." Harry said grinning even broader as he walked past her and headed back to the tower. He saw her coming into the common room 10 minutes after he had, with 6 different, and very thick, books.