Chapter X: Shadows of the Past
From about four o'clock until 8 o'clock, Harry locked himself in his room and did two hours of NEWT Herbology, one hour of Potions and another hour of the Dark Arts History homework. He had about four minutes until he had to be in Snape's office.
And so, Harry grabbed his wand, bag of parchment and his glossy black Dark Arts book. He headed down the stairs into the common room where he passed by Ron. Just as Harry was about to leave, Ron said,
"Look, I understand why you yelled at Snape. He deserves it most of the time. But, I still don't understand why you announced to everyone who you think I like."
This is not a good time to be asking questions, Harry thought. But, I will not burst out, I will not burst out…
"We can have a long talk later, Ron. I'm late as it is for detention with Snape."
"Oh, I see. I don't want to be bothering you then, Almighty. Good night, King Harry."
Usually, Harry would make a funny comment back and everything would be peachy after they laughed about the whole thing, but there was no time for that. Harry ran out of the common room and down the corridors as fast as he could. Twenty-one seconds until it was o'clock! He had to run faster.
"You're just on time," said Snape who stood outside the doorway. Harry looked at him with slanted eyebrows as he tried to catch his breath. Snape then stepped out of the way so Harry could enter the room.
"Sit down, Mr. Potter. Right in the front."
Harry tossed his bag on the table and slumped his body down without care.
"You will do one hundred lines about why I am such a horrible teacher."
Harry looked up slightly in surprise.
"Yes, you heard me, but you must back up your answers! I will be grading it."
"Are you sure?" Harry asked, knowing fully well he'd write some pretty cruel stuff.
"Yes, now begin."
Snape sat in the front desk grading papers and frowning at the moronic mistakes that were made. And every few seconds he would laugh and mumble to himself.
Harry pulled out blank parchment and his ink feather. He began writing everything that came to his mind without much thought to paragraph structure. The word 'bastard' appeared at least five times within the first paragraph. It only took thirty minutes for him to write the whole thing. Harry felt a bit better afterwards and looked up to see that Snape was still grading things and completely ignoring him.
I can't leave; I have no other work to do… I guess I'll just start sleeping…What if Snape sees me and gives me more detention? No, that won't do…
Harry just sat there, staring off into nothingness. He shifted his chair over at an angle so he could look out the window. The Forbidden Forest was in view, and he looked carefully to see if there was anything interesting going on. Ever since Hagrid's little brother died last year, Hagrid did not mentioned him once. It was about six months or so ago when the terrible act occurred. But that was in the past…
A sudden chill covered Harry's chest that was extremely cold and striking him very hard. Harry reached down inside his robe and lifted the pendant he had found earlier. Its green color was now incased in white frost, but he had no idea why. Just as Harry was about to try to take off the necklace, his mind felt numb. The classroom disappeared around him, and everything became slow.
Blackness surrounded him, but Harry knew he was not unconscious. He heard muffled voices, but he could not recognize what they were saying. Actually, he wasn't even sure if they were human or not.
Where am I? It's so very cold here…What was that? Harry felt a breeze rush by him, and then a flash of green light surrounded him, filling his eyes and blinding him completely. All he saw was bright green. For a brief second he swore he saw a figure of man standing over something. It could have been a log or a broom or a person…
"Daydreaming, Mr. Potter?"
Snape's voice pulled him out of the strange world. He had not left the classroom. Where had he gone then? Harry blinked his eyes a few times and rubbed them. He was seeing in shades of green and blue.
"Not exactly."
Snape sneered. "It is ten o'clock. You are free to go."
Harry grabbed his bag and jolted toward the door. He did not want to wait and hear if he had more detention due to his 'daydreaming'. But wait, what about his Firebolt? He almost forgot to ask.
"Professor Snape, where is my Firebolt?"
Snape walked toward Harry and smiled. "The Ministry has taken it for now. I do not know when or if you will get it back."
Harry's heart sank. That meant he could not try out for the Quidditch Team. Or if he did, he'd have to use the school's brooms. It was not fair.
"It's late. I'd better walk you to your tower," Snape suggested as he moved outside the doorframe tugging Harry along.
"But, you're a Slytherin. You can't go into the Gryffindor Tower!" Harry pleaded, not wanting anyone to see him with Snape at 10 o'clock at night.
"I will not go into your dormitory... But to insure you do not cause trouble, I have promised Professor Dumbledore to escort you each night." Snape paused and observed the disgusted face belonging to Harry. "Don't you think I would rather leave you locked up somewhere? Back in my day, punishment was just that, a punishment."
"And my father always punished you," Harry said, then immediately he covered his mouth with cupped hands. Why did I just say that?
"Listen here, boy," Snape bawled, grabbing Harry's shoulders. "You will never, ever speak about my past. And if you do, you shall find worse punishment yet. Do I make myself clear?"
Harry nodded. "Yes, loud and clear."
Snape tugged Harry's robe that he wrinkled and approached the Gryffindor painting. The three little pigs were asleep and completely ignored the presence of a Slytherin Headmaster.
"Same time, same place, Mr. Potter," Snape said as he was leaving.
"I can't believe him," Harry muttered as he stepped in front of the painting. "Red Riding Witch!"
One pig awoke. It opened one eye slightly, snorted and waved its left hoof somewhat. The door opened, and Harry rushed inside to find Ron sitting on the couch. He was pretending to do homework but obviously was not.
"Ron," Harry began, "how's Cho?"
Ron smirked. "She's doing better than before. Harry, I want to know the truth."
"Truth?"
"Yes, the whole truth."
"About what?"
"First off… Do you like Hermione?"
Harry laughed at the question. "Of course, as a friend, Ron. Nothing more than that."
"All right. Why did you tell everyone I liked her?"
"Because you do."
"I do not."
"Really?"
Ron hesitated. "Maybe. But that doesn't give you the right to tell others. I don't understand what has gotten into you lately. Ever since Malicia tossed you into the Forbidden Forest, you've been acting strange. Really strange, mate."
At least I'm his mate again. Harry laughed to himself, and as he was about to respond, he felt the coldness again. This time though, it lasted only for a second.
"What? Why did you just flinch now?" Ron asked, knowing something was wrong.
"It's nothing!" Harry yelled back.
"No, let me look. Are you having heart problems? 'Cause you keep grabbing your chest. It's nothing to be ashamed of, Harry. If there's any problem at all, you must—"
"I mustn't do ANYTHING!" a very deep voice came out of Harry's mouth. His eyes changed to a royal blue, and his hands began to shake just like they had done before.
"Holy smokes! Blimey, you don't need to shout. How did you change your eyes? They seem darker somehow." Ron reached forward as if to touch them, but Harry snapped back and covered his eyes with his right hand. His left hand clutched his emerald pendant.
"What is that? Let me see it!" Ron shouted and tried to grab the leaf from Harry's grasp. As they struggled, both of them tumbled to the ground. Ron was on top of Harry, and then, Harry was on top of Ron. They kept switching back and forth until Harry finally smacked Ron across the face with his fist.
Just as blood started to trickle from Ron's nose, Ron punched Harry back, right at his gut. Harry rolled over to his side to gasp for air, and when he did, he briefly loosened his grip on the pendant. Within a second, Ron snatched it and stared at it closely.
"What in bloody hell is this?" Ron asked, examining it closely. He didn't recognize the symbols; but the leaf was very cold. "Has this been bothering you? It's hurting you! I know it! Whatever it's doing, it better be destroyed. End the madness now, Harry."
Before Ron could do anything, Harry had crawled to his knees and grabbed the pendant back. He placed it on his neck, and a surge of energy flew through his body. Harry now had his wand pointed at Ron's head. His hand quivered terribly, and his eyes were almost black. Who was this boy? It was not Harry at all, not the Harry that Ron knew.
"You will do nothing," Harry hissed and steadied his hand a bit. "I'm sorry, boy."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm sorry but you went too far. I can't let you destroy that."
"Why? What power does it have over you? It's just a green hunk of jewelry."
"That's where you're wrong. It is much more than that. It is a keeper of life. And if you destroy it, the life dies as well."
"What life? What are you talking about?"
But Harry continued to point his wand at Ron. "This must be done." Harry took a deep breath and shouted in a much deeper voice than before. "Obliviate!"
Light flew from Harry's wand, and Ron fell back to the floor hard. His eyelids were completely shut, and he did not move.
"With his memory gone, he can tell no one about us," the same voice emerged from Harry that did not belong to him at all. It was a man's voice but whom? Harry looked around the common room and placed Ron's body on the couch. He gently moved his head on top of a scroll.
"Good night, boy," the voice said.
***
The next morning, Harry awoke to the scream of Neville Longbottom. He ran down the stairs to find Ron lying on the couch motionless.
"What happened?" Harry asked innocently.
"I, I don't know! I found him here!" Neville said in a panicking voice. "Is he," he gulped, "dead?"
Harry checked Ron's pulse. It was faint but still there. "He's alive. You better call Madame Pomfrey to take him to the hospital wing. He may have had a relapse from his old injuries."
This is very odd, Harry thought. I don't remember going to bed the other night. The last thing I remember was fighting with Ron on the ground. I, I punched him really hard. But that's all… What happened afterward? Why can't I remember?
"Harry!" Neville yelled. "Madame Pomfrey will be here as soon as she can. Want me to stay with him?"
Harry nodded. "I'll stay too."
He didn't want to leave until he figured out what happened to him the other night, but his mind was fuzzy. Even simple things such as what classes he took the other day seemed distant, as if they happened several years ago.
"Mister Weasley! My word," Madame Pomfrey exclaimed as she entered the room. She checked for Ron's pulse and examined his body quickly.
"He is unconscious. But what caused this? Do you two know anything about this? And this blood… He was bleeding recently."
Harry knew about that, but if he told her that he was fighting with Ron, Madame Pomfrey would think he was the one that hurt Ron. I couldn't have done that, could I? I mean, I could have but did I? Harry asked to himself.
"It seems you two are useless. Ah, here is the stretcher. Mister Longbottom, you are requested by Albus Dumbledore. He stopped me on the way here to tell you that."
"What? But I'm not dressed… All right, I'll go now. I wonder what he wants."
After Neville left the room, Pomfrey turned to Harry. "Mister Potter. I see you have a tear in your robe. Care to explain why you seem all ruffled up, and Mister Weasley here is unconscious?"
Harry shook his head. "I honestly do not know how Ron got that way. I can tell you that I look ruffled, because I just woke up you know."
Pomfrey didn't seem satisfied at all. However, she nodded and helped Ron onto an invisible stretcher. Ron's body floated in the air, and he was taken out of the room quickly. Harry stood there flabbergasted.
Oh know, Harry thought. I'm going to be late for Snape's Dark Arts History class! And with that he got dressed and ran off to class, trying to forget about the visions he had in detention, the dragons, and Cho and the brawl with Ron.