A/N: Chapter three...hope you like it! Let me know!
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Chapter Three
Harry, for the second time in a week, could not believe what he was hearing. "...What?" he whispered. "Luna was attacked? Is she all right? Well? Answer me, Professor!" Harry yelled. "And what about the Death Eater? Did you catch him? Where is he?"
"Calm down, Harry. I'm going to escort you all to the infirmary. Luna should be fine in a week or two. We didn't catch anyone. I wasn't on the scene until after she was attacked..." Lupin answered all his questions. "Now come on, we've got some things to figure out...but Luna will want you all to be there when she wakes up."
Ron frowned. "Shouldn't we be glad that Seamus, Dean, and Collin are the only people left in Gryffindor? I mean, it is kind of odd that everyone else left, but at least now there aren't whole bunches of people wondering what on Earth we're doing..." he couldn't help but laugh.
"True," Hermione nodded. "It would be a little hard to explain, wouldn't it?"
"I'm not worried about explaining anything to anybody," Harry snarled. "Someone hurt Luna. She's the only one of us that isn't in Gryffindor, and she was alone, and somebody hurt her..."
Ginny reached for Harry's shoulder. "We know, Harry. We heard what Professor Lupin said, too, you know? He also said that Luna would be fine in about a week, remember?" she tried to comfort him.
"Maybe we can do something about that," whispered Lupin.
"About what? What are you talking about?" asked Neville.
Lupin blinked. "Huh? About Luna being alone, of course. Maybe we could have her transferred? I know it's unorthodox, and it hasn't really been done before, but maybe in this case, it would work..."
"Can we worry about that after we get there?" Harry groaned hotly.
Madam Pomfrey was hovering worriedly over Luna's bed when they got to the infirmary. Luna was covered in cuts, and the blanket on her bed was drawn up to her midsection. Harry stared at her with a look of empathy as no one had ever seen before.
"She looks peaceful...you know, considering what happened and all..." Neville commented. He reached out and touched Luna's hand. "She's so warm, Harry..." he was in awe.
Hermione pivoted on her heel so that she was facing Professor Lupin. "What was she hit with? Does anyone know what hit her?"
"Remember my lecture in Defense Against the Dark Arts this morning, Hermione?" Lupin asked her instead of giving a direct answer.
Hermione nodded. "But you said that..."
"Not the Adavara Kadavara." Lupin shook his head. "Think about the frog..."
Hermione flinched. "Ouch...poor Luna. And you're sure you didn't see anyone when you found her?" she asked.
"No one was there, and I got there right after I heard the screaming," Lupin explained. "I didn't see anyone at all. Not even a ghost."
Dumbledore was coming into the infirmary now. He took a seat across from the bed where Luna was laying. He stared at her a few moments before he sighed loudly. Everyone's attention was directed at him.
"Remus, I have used the map. Whoever was here is certainly long gone now. I wasn't expecting an attack so early. It was so right into the school..." Dumbledore was thinking out loud.
"But sir, I thought the castle was charmed? People aren't supposed to be allowed to just walk right in from outside all the time!" Hermione yelled.
Dumbledore frowned, and nodded. "Hermione, think back to your first year...to the mountain troll that found its way into Myrtle's bathroom. What was it I said about that after the whole ordeal was over? Do you remember what I told you at all?"
"They can't!" Harry realized. "You said unfamiliar things can't enter the castle by themselves! Someone had to have let them in! Whoever attacked Hermione was either let in by a student, or let in by a teacher!"
Ron blinked. "Great memory, mate. I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday..."
Dumbledore pointed. "Exactly the point, Harry. Exactly. Now, who would let a Death Eater into the castle? Why don't I retrace my steps for you? An hour ago, I saw Luna in my office. I was discussing the possibility of switching her from her current house into Gryffindor so she wouldn't be alone. She left my office at around 9:20 pm." Dumbledore paused, and everyone, confused as they were, nodded. "At 9:30, Lupin ran into my office to tell me he had found Luna outside his classroom...near the grand staircase, I believe...and had taken her to the infirmary..."
"Yes, but how can we use this information?" demanded Neville.
"A time-turner!" Hermione whispered. "We can go back and try to see who let the Death Eater into the castle...and that will tell us who attacked Luna!"
"If we're going to do that, why don't we try to help her out, then?" asked Harry. He and Hermione had used the time-turner in their third year to rescue Buckbeak the Hippogriff and Sirius.
Hermione threw her hands into the air. "We can't interfere like that, Harry!"
"We did last time!" Harry growled.
"That had nothing to do with an Unforgivable curse, Harry. We could end up making things worse for Luna...and you know what would happen if we were seen..."
"Would somebody please explain to me what in bloody hell you two are talking about?" screamed Ron in confusion. "What is a time-turner? What last time? What do you mean? Tell me!"
Hermione blushed. "Sorry, Ron. We weren't allowed to say anything. And you were confused enough when we got back anyway, so..."
"I would prefer only Harry and Hermione go. After all, they went last time, and they know how to work it, so I think that would be best. Here it is..." Dumbledore handed Harry the time-turner. "Be very careful. And when you return, please be sure to tell me anything you saw that should not have been. Good luck." He smiled.
Hermione turned the time turner back once. When she stopped turning it, Harry and Hermione found themselves one and a half hours in the past, back when the school was having dinner.
"There we are!" Hermione whispered. "Wait! Harry! Professor Sprout is leaving the teacher's table! She's headed this way!" Hermione and Harry both ducked behind a large plant in the hallway, and watched Professor Sprout leave Hogwarts through the main entrance. Out the window, they could see her talking to someone...a woman. She looked strangely familiar. They listened hard to hear the conversation.
"Here's the polyjuice potion. You'll have an hour to get your business done and get out of the castle. I snatched this off that idiot Lupin. Drink up..." Professor Sprout handed the bottle to the woman.
Suddenly, Harry realized who it was. "Hermione, it's Bellatrix Lestrange!" he hissed in her ear. "Drinking a polyjuice potion made by Professor Sprout!"
"I can see that...look...she's changing into Lupin now..." Hermione pointed. And we need to get out of here right now...they're coming! Hurry! Upstairs! We'll hide in the Transfiguration classroom!"
Nearly an hour passed. Bellatrix's polyjuice potion was only good another twenty minutes. Hermione and Harry waited outside of Dumbledore's office. Luna came out just when Dumbledore had said she would...at about nine twenty. They quietly followed her. She made her way up a staircase...but it had started to change. They were on the Defense Against the Dark Arts Floor now. Then, at the other end of the hallway, they saw her. Bellatrix "Lupin" Lestrange, just standing there near the grand staircase.
"Oh, hello, Professor!" Luna smiled, and Harry cringed. It wasn't Lupin, damn it!
"Hello. Headed back to your dormitory, I hope?" Bellatrix even sounded like Lupin! Man, she was good!
Luna nodded. "I was just coming from Dumbledore's office, sir. But everything is fine. My dormitory is only the next floor up. I should be fine..."
"No, you won't dear." Fake Lupin smiled.
"Huh? Professor..." Luna was reaching for her wand. There was a note of panic in her voice as she realized fake Lupin already had his wand pointed at her.
"Crucio!" Fake Lupin screamed. Luna flew backwards, and narrowly missed falling down a staircase that wasn't at the moment even there. She screamed. Hermione and Harry heard Lupin's classroom door open, heard his footsteps...
"Harry! We have five minutes to get back to the infirmary!" Hermione warned.
The two of them ran as fast as they could all the way to the hospital wing, and were in place just in time for the time on the time-turner to run out. They sighed with relief, but they had a story to tell.
"Did you get the information we needed?" Dumbledore smiled.
"What the bloody tar just happened? You were over there...and now you're over there! How did you do it?" demanded Ron.
Hermione was panting. "Sir...it was...we saw..." she choked.
"It was Professor Sprout who let the Death Eater in, sir. She gave Bellatrix Lestrange a vial of polyjuice potion with some of Professor Lupin's hair in it. Luna thought it was Professor Lupin. She could even talk like him, sir. And then she just attacked her. Luna thinks Professor Lupin tried to kill her...least, that's what she's going to tell us when she wakes up...because Bellatrix Lestrange showed up on campus in a Lupin suit and used Crucio on her!" Harry's anger was rising.
Dumbledore nodded. "Sprout, you say? I have no other choice but to call Azkaban. I'll be back in a few minutes..."
"Poor Luna...how awful...she must have been so scared...thinking I attacked her when I was supposed to be protecting her..." Lupin sunk into a chair with his head in his hands.
Soon, Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shakebolt were in the infirmary. "We heard there was an attack!" Moody growled. "Are the children all right?"
"Luna Lovegood was attacked, Alastor.... by Bellatrix Lestrange in a 'me' costume..." whispered Lupin gloomily.
A/N: Hate to leave it like this, but if I reveal any more in this chapter, I won't get to have any fun in the next chapter! Hope you liked it!
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Chapter Three
Harry, for the second time in a week, could not believe what he was hearing. "...What?" he whispered. "Luna was attacked? Is she all right? Well? Answer me, Professor!" Harry yelled. "And what about the Death Eater? Did you catch him? Where is he?"
"Calm down, Harry. I'm going to escort you all to the infirmary. Luna should be fine in a week or two. We didn't catch anyone. I wasn't on the scene until after she was attacked..." Lupin answered all his questions. "Now come on, we've got some things to figure out...but Luna will want you all to be there when she wakes up."
Ron frowned. "Shouldn't we be glad that Seamus, Dean, and Collin are the only people left in Gryffindor? I mean, it is kind of odd that everyone else left, but at least now there aren't whole bunches of people wondering what on Earth we're doing..." he couldn't help but laugh.
"True," Hermione nodded. "It would be a little hard to explain, wouldn't it?"
"I'm not worried about explaining anything to anybody," Harry snarled. "Someone hurt Luna. She's the only one of us that isn't in Gryffindor, and she was alone, and somebody hurt her..."
Ginny reached for Harry's shoulder. "We know, Harry. We heard what Professor Lupin said, too, you know? He also said that Luna would be fine in about a week, remember?" she tried to comfort him.
"Maybe we can do something about that," whispered Lupin.
"About what? What are you talking about?" asked Neville.
Lupin blinked. "Huh? About Luna being alone, of course. Maybe we could have her transferred? I know it's unorthodox, and it hasn't really been done before, but maybe in this case, it would work..."
"Can we worry about that after we get there?" Harry groaned hotly.
Madam Pomfrey was hovering worriedly over Luna's bed when they got to the infirmary. Luna was covered in cuts, and the blanket on her bed was drawn up to her midsection. Harry stared at her with a look of empathy as no one had ever seen before.
"She looks peaceful...you know, considering what happened and all..." Neville commented. He reached out and touched Luna's hand. "She's so warm, Harry..." he was in awe.
Hermione pivoted on her heel so that she was facing Professor Lupin. "What was she hit with? Does anyone know what hit her?"
"Remember my lecture in Defense Against the Dark Arts this morning, Hermione?" Lupin asked her instead of giving a direct answer.
Hermione nodded. "But you said that..."
"Not the Adavara Kadavara." Lupin shook his head. "Think about the frog..."
Hermione flinched. "Ouch...poor Luna. And you're sure you didn't see anyone when you found her?" she asked.
"No one was there, and I got there right after I heard the screaming," Lupin explained. "I didn't see anyone at all. Not even a ghost."
Dumbledore was coming into the infirmary now. He took a seat across from the bed where Luna was laying. He stared at her a few moments before he sighed loudly. Everyone's attention was directed at him.
"Remus, I have used the map. Whoever was here is certainly long gone now. I wasn't expecting an attack so early. It was so right into the school..." Dumbledore was thinking out loud.
"But sir, I thought the castle was charmed? People aren't supposed to be allowed to just walk right in from outside all the time!" Hermione yelled.
Dumbledore frowned, and nodded. "Hermione, think back to your first year...to the mountain troll that found its way into Myrtle's bathroom. What was it I said about that after the whole ordeal was over? Do you remember what I told you at all?"
"They can't!" Harry realized. "You said unfamiliar things can't enter the castle by themselves! Someone had to have let them in! Whoever attacked Hermione was either let in by a student, or let in by a teacher!"
Ron blinked. "Great memory, mate. I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday..."
Dumbledore pointed. "Exactly the point, Harry. Exactly. Now, who would let a Death Eater into the castle? Why don't I retrace my steps for you? An hour ago, I saw Luna in my office. I was discussing the possibility of switching her from her current house into Gryffindor so she wouldn't be alone. She left my office at around 9:20 pm." Dumbledore paused, and everyone, confused as they were, nodded. "At 9:30, Lupin ran into my office to tell me he had found Luna outside his classroom...near the grand staircase, I believe...and had taken her to the infirmary..."
"Yes, but how can we use this information?" demanded Neville.
"A time-turner!" Hermione whispered. "We can go back and try to see who let the Death Eater into the castle...and that will tell us who attacked Luna!"
"If we're going to do that, why don't we try to help her out, then?" asked Harry. He and Hermione had used the time-turner in their third year to rescue Buckbeak the Hippogriff and Sirius.
Hermione threw her hands into the air. "We can't interfere like that, Harry!"
"We did last time!" Harry growled.
"That had nothing to do with an Unforgivable curse, Harry. We could end up making things worse for Luna...and you know what would happen if we were seen..."
"Would somebody please explain to me what in bloody hell you two are talking about?" screamed Ron in confusion. "What is a time-turner? What last time? What do you mean? Tell me!"
Hermione blushed. "Sorry, Ron. We weren't allowed to say anything. And you were confused enough when we got back anyway, so..."
"I would prefer only Harry and Hermione go. After all, they went last time, and they know how to work it, so I think that would be best. Here it is..." Dumbledore handed Harry the time-turner. "Be very careful. And when you return, please be sure to tell me anything you saw that should not have been. Good luck." He smiled.
Hermione turned the time turner back once. When she stopped turning it, Harry and Hermione found themselves one and a half hours in the past, back when the school was having dinner.
"There we are!" Hermione whispered. "Wait! Harry! Professor Sprout is leaving the teacher's table! She's headed this way!" Hermione and Harry both ducked behind a large plant in the hallway, and watched Professor Sprout leave Hogwarts through the main entrance. Out the window, they could see her talking to someone...a woman. She looked strangely familiar. They listened hard to hear the conversation.
"Here's the polyjuice potion. You'll have an hour to get your business done and get out of the castle. I snatched this off that idiot Lupin. Drink up..." Professor Sprout handed the bottle to the woman.
Suddenly, Harry realized who it was. "Hermione, it's Bellatrix Lestrange!" he hissed in her ear. "Drinking a polyjuice potion made by Professor Sprout!"
"I can see that...look...she's changing into Lupin now..." Hermione pointed. And we need to get out of here right now...they're coming! Hurry! Upstairs! We'll hide in the Transfiguration classroom!"
Nearly an hour passed. Bellatrix's polyjuice potion was only good another twenty minutes. Hermione and Harry waited outside of Dumbledore's office. Luna came out just when Dumbledore had said she would...at about nine twenty. They quietly followed her. She made her way up a staircase...but it had started to change. They were on the Defense Against the Dark Arts Floor now. Then, at the other end of the hallway, they saw her. Bellatrix "Lupin" Lestrange, just standing there near the grand staircase.
"Oh, hello, Professor!" Luna smiled, and Harry cringed. It wasn't Lupin, damn it!
"Hello. Headed back to your dormitory, I hope?" Bellatrix even sounded like Lupin! Man, she was good!
Luna nodded. "I was just coming from Dumbledore's office, sir. But everything is fine. My dormitory is only the next floor up. I should be fine..."
"No, you won't dear." Fake Lupin smiled.
"Huh? Professor..." Luna was reaching for her wand. There was a note of panic in her voice as she realized fake Lupin already had his wand pointed at her.
"Crucio!" Fake Lupin screamed. Luna flew backwards, and narrowly missed falling down a staircase that wasn't at the moment even there. She screamed. Hermione and Harry heard Lupin's classroom door open, heard his footsteps...
"Harry! We have five minutes to get back to the infirmary!" Hermione warned.
The two of them ran as fast as they could all the way to the hospital wing, and were in place just in time for the time on the time-turner to run out. They sighed with relief, but they had a story to tell.
"Did you get the information we needed?" Dumbledore smiled.
"What the bloody tar just happened? You were over there...and now you're over there! How did you do it?" demanded Ron.
Hermione was panting. "Sir...it was...we saw..." she choked.
"It was Professor Sprout who let the Death Eater in, sir. She gave Bellatrix Lestrange a vial of polyjuice potion with some of Professor Lupin's hair in it. Luna thought it was Professor Lupin. She could even talk like him, sir. And then she just attacked her. Luna thinks Professor Lupin tried to kill her...least, that's what she's going to tell us when she wakes up...because Bellatrix Lestrange showed up on campus in a Lupin suit and used Crucio on her!" Harry's anger was rising.
Dumbledore nodded. "Sprout, you say? I have no other choice but to call Azkaban. I'll be back in a few minutes..."
"Poor Luna...how awful...she must have been so scared...thinking I attacked her when I was supposed to be protecting her..." Lupin sunk into a chair with his head in his hands.
Soon, Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shakebolt were in the infirmary. "We heard there was an attack!" Moody growled. "Are the children all right?"
"Luna Lovegood was attacked, Alastor.... by Bellatrix Lestrange in a 'me' costume..." whispered Lupin gloomily.
A/N: Hate to leave it like this, but if I reveal any more in this chapter, I won't get to have any fun in the next chapter! Hope you liked it!