Claimer: I own everything! Everything I tell you! It is mine, all mine!
Mwahaha! *laughs normally*. Of course not! Who do you think I am, J. K.
Rowling? No way, she is the real owner of Harry Potter, not me. And, if she
desires, she can steal a few ideas from me, I don't mind. *people stare at
her*. Jesus! Just kidding, guys! Can't you get a joke? She doesn't need to
steal ideas, anyway. She has greater ones than I do!
Disclaimer: Now that I had my fun with this part of the fic, I must say that I don't own Harry Potter. That if you still didn't get the point. Everything I wrote upper is a joke. So, if you sue for author rights, you're stupid.
Chapter 14: The Attacks
Harry had had a great -if such a thing was possible- detention with Towers. He had taught them a few spells for defence and let them practice. But as they went back to the common room, he decided he wanted some time to himself and stood behind, walking around on the corridors.
Now, he was returning to his common room before he would run into Filch. It was a bit past the time when they were allowed outside and getting detention was not on his to-do list.
He almost made it to his tower, thinking about -coincidentally- Towers since Harry's 'detention' was over.
Suddenly, he bumped into somebody and they both were thrown backwards.
"Watch where you're going, Potter!" cried the other person and Harry recognized him right away: Malfoy.
"You too, Malfoy! What are you doing here after nightfall?
"I could ask you the same thing, Potter."
"I was walking around."
"Good for you. Now get out of the way!"
Oh, well, he had just given him information for nothing. Darn!
"What are you doing here?"
"It's none of your business!"
"Maybe it is."
"Is not. Get. Out. Of. The. Way!"
"No. Where have you been?"
"You're getting on my nerves, Potter!"
"Well?"
"It's none of your business!"
"It is now."
Draco was glaring at him.
"I was in my detention. Are you pleased now, scarhead?!"
Riiight, detention. How could he forget? Yeah, Towers' office was that way. Harry got out of the way, without minding this insult, and Draco passed him. Now, what happened to Draco in detention? Towers was weird, who knew what he made Draco do?!
Harry walked faster towards his tower. He made it to the Fat Lady's portrait and said the password ("Lion heart").
He entered and saw that Ron was alone in the common room.
"Oh, Harry!" he said, seeing him. "Amala came here, looking as if she had been crying, just a few seconds ago. Do you think it has anything to do with her detention?"
Right, Amala's detention! After how mad Snape had been when he heard her talking, he must have done something dreadful. In fact, maybe it was a surprise she was still alive.
"Dunno" he said and shrugged, trying to look casual. "Where is she?"
"Upstairs, in the girl's dorm, with Hermione"
Great, how was he supposed to get there? But then, just as if it was to answer his thoughts, Hermione came down.
"Oh, hi, Harry. Wow, we're not too many, are we?!" she said, looking around. Indeed, there was nearly nobody there -a first year just came in, Harry seemed to remember her-, since the next day it would be a school day and. Good point, why were they so few? "I think Amala will come down in a few minutes too. Um, she had a dreadful detention."
Well, that proved Harry right, but he wasn't happy with it.
Hermione came and sat in an armchair next to Ron. The first year headed to her dorm.
"Good night, Jane" said Hermione and tried to smile.
"Good night" she responded and left, smiling back happily.
"Who's that?" asked Harry.
"A first year, Jane Chase. She's quite bright, you know. But has a lot of trouble by charming things she's not supposed to. She's Muggle born, maybe that's why" Hermione chuckled. "She levitates Filtwick's desk instead of the feather constantly, I've heard. And once even Flitwick!"
Hermione didn't look too happy as she was saying this.
"Snape's a major git, you won't believe what he's done!"
Ron and Harry stared at each other. Poor Amala.
"I wouldn't say that in front of me" said a shaking voice from the direction of the girl's dorms. "It brought me enough trouble, didn't it? Oh, hello, Harry"
Amala was looking pretty bad. She had red eyes and a hand wrapped in a piece of cloth and Harry remembered with horror his detention last year with Umbridge. No, Snape wouldn't! Would he?...
"So, what happened?" he asked.
She sighed.
"I hope I haven't lost him."
Lost him?! Did she look in the mirror?! No matter what had happened, she should definitely stay away from him.
"He doesn't deserve you!" Hermione said, inviting her to sit down, which she did.
"And, besides, who'd want not to lose the greasy git?" Ron asked, seeming to try to comfort her.
"Me" she answered sadly. "Well, this is what happened."
/*-Flashback-*\
Amala was going down the stairs to the dungeons. She used to like this path, now she feared it. After what Snape heard her say. What would happen?
She got on the last corridor before the class and took a deep breath and opened the door. Snape was inside and he looked at her with the worst glare he had. She wouldn't have feared it, but now she knew she was guilty of treachery and that he would probably want his revenge.
"Well, what are you waiting for?! Come inside!" he snapped. Amala gulped and entered. "I couldn't help overhear your. conversation. Fifty points from Gryffindor. Now, do you see those jars over there? Move all the contents from them to the ones I have here. With your hands."
Amala looked at the jars and gulped again. A few slimy creatures were moving around in the jars and she recognized them. The ugly, worm-like things were good for potions and needed to be added after no more than an hour from their death in potions. That meant that they must have been kept alive.
Beside the fact that they were extremely disgusting, they also shocked with a bit of pain whomever might touch them without any protection. Amala could remember that it was a good remedy for some diseases and that their shocks weren't dangerous, but still.
Snape was glaring at her and she took the non-slimy creature and fresh- watered jars Snape had ready and kneeled between the jars. She took a deep breath and put her hand between the creatures, picking one.
The pain was worse than she thought it would be. She gasped in pain and dropped the slimy thing.
"Afraid of a bit of pain?" asked Snape, looking at her with an evil look.
She stared at him for a few seconds with a bit of fear in her eyes and she grabbed another one again and quickly placed it in one of the other jars. Snape had an evil smile on his face. She redid the process and another creature went into a jar. The pain was getting worse and worse, but she could still stand it.
After a few creatures, Snape came near her.
"Let me show you how it's done" he said and took her hand from a bit upper than the wrist and put it in a jar. The creatures started sending shocks to her and she gasped and tried to pull her hand up, but Snape didn't let go. "Get used to the feeling" he said as she was starting to breath really hard, trying not to scream.
It was worse and worse and she was desperately trying to get her hand freed, but Snape didn't let go.
"Please, please" she begged, but he didn't seem to care.
In a few more seconds, tears started rolling down her cheeks.
"Please!"
She was crying, but he didn't care.
Finally, after two minutes, he let her go and she fell on the floor, crying. The pain in her hand was worse than she ever remembered it to be.
"I see you can't do it tonight, you will continue tomorrow" Snape said and grabbed the upper part of her robe and pulled her up. "Good night"
She didn't realize how she did it, but somehow managed to get out the door, holding on to things, but as soon as she was out of the damned dungeon, she fell on the floor again, seeing only a blur of what was around her, everything moving fast, one shade faster than the others. She started crying like she never had before, hot tears rolling down her cheeks, her hand still hurting.
/*-End Flashback-*\
"Well, that's it" she said. "My hand still hurts, but much less."
"The GIT! How can he do that?" Ron said and Harry nodded. "Hurting you like that!"
"He doesn't deserve you" Hermione added. "Not now, nor ever!"
"But I love him" Amala said and tears started rolling down her cheeks again. "I don't care."
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-
The next morning, Amala was still sad, no matter how much the others tried to cheer her up. But when the owl post came, that was forgotten as the Great Hall filled with agitation and nervousness, and even small panic attacks. Harry grabbed the Daily Prophet and started reading.
Death Eaters Attack Town
This night, a large group of Death Eaters have attacked the town of Wick, in northern Britain. There had been twelve dead, five wizards and seven Muggles: Melissa Smith and her husband, Titus Smith, Ronald Opelika, Arthur Laverty, Jacque Michigan, Iris Molder, Jerry Hovers, Molly Scully, Jane Tropes, Diana Richfield and Polly Jius.
The Ministry of Magic has sent Aurors and Obliviators right away, but none of the Death Eaters could be caught.
"They have acted quickly. It was a get-in, get-out attack, to prove their power" says Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. "A proof that He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named is back. We ask the magic community to not panic."
"The wizards and Muggles didn't stand a chance" says Auror Nymphadora Tonks. "The Death Eaters came in the town and attacked everybody on the street with various curses, not caring if they were magical or not. The Dark Mark is now hovering over some houses in the town, although nobody in them was killed."
"We are living through dark days" says a wizard who refuses to tell us his name. "Magical or non-magical, we should be careful. And sometimes, if we looked just in front of our noses, we would see the answers to our problems. This war is not just of the wizards, it is a war of the world, spreading like a plague. If we unite, we could win the war. If we insist in spreading apart, the darkness will conquer us. To all out there, I say that there is always hope. Sometimes, our enemies and the ones will fear will become our friends and together we will defeat darkness."
The town of Wick will always be marked by this attack. A horrible deed such as this will most definitely remain in the history of the world, so much more in the history of the town.
The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge has declared that this reign of terror will end soon. All that is left for us to do is to get prepared and hope for the best.
Harry wondered what exactly the wizard meant. And who was he? Why did he refuse to give his name?
"Silence" boomed Dumbledore's voice. "Please, do not panic! This is a most regretful event, but we must keep calm and see what we can do!"
Everybody quieted as if it were magic.
"Classes will continue as they use to and we will see what will happen next. Please, keep your calm."
Everybody stared at him. He seemed to be twenty years older than he used to.
Harry's attention was attracted, however, by a movement at an end of the table. He turned his head, as did the rest of the Great Hall. Towers stood up.
"I know this must be horrible news to you. But, do you remember what me and Mrs. Rose have taught you? Fear is the worst and most powerful weapon of the Dark. If you give in to your fear, you have already lost. If you do not. Well, then there is always a chance. And even when the worst things happen to you, you will turn out fine. Keep that in mind, young ones and do not give in to fear, for no reason."
Everybody was staring at him. He seemed so calm and powerful, not cheery and joking, not dark. He never used to seem so powerful when he was calm!
"I know that you fear for you and for your loved ones. I know I do. But the difference between losers and winners is that losers will fear and give up, winners will fear and deal with it and fight back. Even the most powerful people fear things, but they don't give up. Never. They acknowledge their fear and think about what has caused it and find ways to deal with it and if they can't, they run. Be winners, not losers!"
"Easy for you to say!" cried Parvati Patil. "You're not in danger, you're a full grown wizard and everything! You probably aren't even afraid!"
He looked at her, sad.
"You're wrong. I'm afraid myself. Not for me, nothing that happens to me can be bad for me. I fear for you and your parents and every goddamned wizard on this planet."
They stared at him. What?!
"Oh, don't pretend you've never heard of me! You have. I know all of you have, but you never brought it up. You never asked, I never told. I will tell you something now. I was not cursed with Sight, but I still feel some things that happen, happened and will happen. And I tell you that a bit before the Green Flame Torch will return to its blessed spot, my body will be dead and my soul will go where it is supposed to."
All the Great Hall was gaping. Including the teachers, and Dumbledore wasn't too far behind.
"But I will be alright, I can deal with that. It is you I worry about. In you stands the future. Now, off to your classes and learn like you never have before. Let fear help you in that, let it be a reason to learn, but turn it into determination. Good luck, young ones."
After a few seconds of complete silence, Towers boomed:
"WELL?! Off to class!"
They all started packing and ran to their classes.
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-
Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing in the middle of the common room, talking about the day's events.
"And to think of all those lives!" Hermione said, thinking about the murdered men in Wick.
"It's just the beginning, Hermione." whispered Ron. "My dad told me about how it used to be. Chaos, murder. They were trying to hide the wizarding world from the Muggles, but they were dying too. It was horrible. I just hope. I just hope it doesn't happen that way now."
"It won't. It can't! The Order is working now!" Harry said, trying to sound determined.
"It also did last time." Ron reminded him. "I hope we make it all out of it ok."
"You know what bugs me?" Hermione asked.
"No" they answered in unison.
"What Towers said."
"About fear?"
"That too. But, I mean the last part of his speech. He said he would die. Do you think he will?" "I. don't know." Harry answered.
"He seemed so calm about it. Maybe he's some kind of a Trelawney with prophecies on himself" Ron said,
"No, he can't be. And he did give a somewhat exact time of his death" Harry replied.
"Wait!" Hermione cried.
"What?!" the boys asked after seeing she wasn't going to continue after a few seconds.
"The somewhat exact time of his death!"
"What about it?!" Harry said, confused.
"He said something about the Green Flame Torch. He said that he would die before the Green Flame Torch disappears!
"Yeah?" Ron motioned her to continue.
"Well, out of what we know, it hasn't even been found yet! Out of what we know, at least. Why don't we ask one of the Order?"
"Because they would ever tell us!" Ron said. "So what if he mentioned the Green Flame Torch?"
"Maybe. We should try to find it! It's somewhere around Hogwarts, remember?! If they didn't find it, maybe we should!"
"And how do you suppose we'll find it, even if it is nearby?" Harry asked. "It's not like we know how to."
"I'll go look at the library. Ron, you send a letter to one of you brothers and try to squeeze the information out of them. Harry, you should probably train or something."
"How and what for?"
"I don't know how, somehow. And because you're the one who always ends up in messy situations, remember?"
"Oh, yeah"
"I'll go to the library. Tomorrow."
"Ok." Ron started saying. "But what do I do about my broth-"
"Write a letter to. Fred. Or Bill. Someone who wouldn't lie to you. And ask about the Order. Try to get the information."
"Sure" he groaned.
"What are you complaining about?" she asked, having that look of steel in her eyes that McGonagall sometimes had. "I'm the one who'll be researching every bit of the library. But, when you finish, you can help Harry and try things yourself."
She sighed.
"It's gonna be hard. Well, Harry, I think we should go to Towers' lesson, shouldn't we?"
"Yeah" Harry answered. He had nearly forgotten.
She grabbed her wand and they all rushed down the corridors to meet the others.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
The group that had detention with Towers was just about to enter the room. Harry opened the door and gaped at the scene. Towers was standing in the middle of the room, in a weird position and with his eyes closed. It reminded him a lot of that Yoga-thingy. Suddenly, the Professor opened his eyes.
"Riiiight, the detention, I forgot!" he said and got up. "Come in!"
"Um, Professor?" asked Harry. "What were you doing?"
"My Yoga techniques" he answered simply and Harry realized he had been right. "Sometimes, it is good to have something to remind you who you are."
O.K., Harry was puzzled. How can you forget who you are?
"So, it is good to see you again!" he said and grinned. "Well, today it's your choice. What would you like to learn about?"
Weirder and weirder. They should decide what they want to learn? But he was the teacher!
"Well, nobody? Hermione, what would you like to learn?"
The girl looked at him in surprise.
"I don't know. What can I choose from?"
Towers smiled.
"Anything you want."
Well, there was a confusing answer.
"How about ways of fighting dark wizards?"
"Do you have anybody in mind? Oh, never mind that question. Sure. Can any of you tell me what a dark wizard is most afraid of?"
They all stared at each other. Duh, no! Harry guessed that it must have been pretty obvious since Towers looked as if he was trying hard not to laugh.
"Well, suppose you're a very powerful dark wizard and have many enemies and many servants who would just love to be in your spot. You wish to rule the world. What would be your worst fear?"
Again, no answer. At least, so Harry thought.
"I'd be afraid of losing my power" answered Luna.
"Of course" Towers answered. "Afraid to lose your power. It is now what keeps you alive. Your enemies would happily cut off your head, your servants also. There is nobody who you can trust if you don't have power. Or three-four people at most. That's why dark wizards are so cruel. To prove their power. To prove that there is still nothing that can stand in their way. But, you know you can't just lose your power. So, what are you afraid of?"
"Being defeated" answered Neville and Towers smiled.
"Indeed. To be defeated. It means that there is somebody more powerful than you. If you're on different sides, you might still have a chance, but if you're on the same side, you are as good as dead. You'll have to obey the man like a new master, as long as you can't defeat him. But let us say that you're not on the same side. That the man is not your ex-servant. That he is somebody powerful from the light side. Which is your fear then?"
"That he's powerful enough to make you look very bad in front of your servants" answered Ginny.
"Not exactly what I had in mind" Towers replied. "I was thinking of powerful enough to make you lose your power, but I guess that you're correct. If you look bad enough in front of your servants, they won't put their trust in you. You've been badly defeated. Then why even bother to stick to you when you lose anyway? And they get themselves in torture because of you. You don't need to be a genius to realize it's time to leave your master. But what could this great wizard have to defeat you? What power? Because you are great. Very great."
Now they were staring at each other, nobody even guessing the answer.
"A power you cannot fight. Something that does not fight, but you can't stand. Remember that lesson Mrs. Rose taught you with the extreme light people that are light enough to be like human Patronuses? That is what you fear most, even subconsciously. Those you can't fight, you can't even get close to because you know that they have help from everywhere if they need it. And they have a great strength of their own. You feel great pain and that you are losing your dark powers when you even get near one."
"You mean these people can't be defeated?" Harry asked, amazed.
Towers smiled.
"No, they can't. They're so powerful, that darkness can't even stand close to them."
"But then, why don't they just come here and save us from Voldemort?" Hermione asked.
"For the same reason that my Master doesn't want to come here and fight in the war. For the same reason why wizards don't interfere with Muggle wars. It is because it wouldn't be fair and if you did it, you might end up with greater enemies than you. Ok, imagine that there was a world war three and Dumbledore decided to interfere. Well, then Voldemort would also interfere, trying to keep Dumbledore from achieving his goal. Muggles would be forgotten as the wizards would join in the war and fight with everything they got. Muggles wouldn't stand a chance. Then, somebody white superior to wizards would see the chaos and deaths and decide it can't go on. And then he or she would interfere and his or her enemy would also strike and they would drag their family, friends, relatives and finally everybody on their side in the war. And then there would be even greater chaos and Muggles would lose, no matter what, and wizards would start to lose control. And so on it would go until the greatest levels of power, the smaller the power of the circle, the more damage done to it. Voldemort's plans would succeed, there would be no more Muggles, but there probably would hardly be any wizards either. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
They nodded.
/*-/*-/*-
Detention was over, Towers had let them go a bit early. Or at least, that was what Harry thought before he saw Draco Malfoy rushing down the corridor.
"Malfoy!" he said.
"Potter and his little freaky friends" he answered. "Weren't you supposed to be in bed by now?"
Harry growled.
"Ha, ha, we're laughing to death" said Ron.
"Nobody asked you, weasel. And what are you doing here anyway? Holding Potty's hand, so he wouldn't be afraid?"
"Well, Harry isn't the one who almost pissed on himself on Towers' first class" Hermione said.
"Shut up, Mudblood"
"Listen here, Malfoy" Neville said in a very sure voice, making the rest look at him in surprise. "You're outnumbered. So, you better shut up if you don't want to get your arse kicked."
"Oooh, I'm so frightened" Draco said, although looking a bit less sure of himself. "And what are you going to do, hit me with one of your famous hexes? Trip yourself to me and then try to hit?"
"Shut up, Malfoy, he's right" Ron said.
"Oooh, I'm so frightened!" Draco said, trying to sound sure of himself, but doing the math. Not good for him.
"Why don't you go to your detention now?" Neville asked.
"Maybe one of your best suggestions, Longbottom. Well, I'll be going now. And watch out, Potter, you don't want to stay up over your bedtime!"
He left, not looking back. Harry, as well as all the others were now looking at Neville.
"Wow, you sure are sure of yourself. It's great to see you like this, Neville!" Ginny said, grinning at him like a maniac.
"Yeah, well, I decided to take Towers' advice and deal with my problems." He said, reddening a bit.
"Wicked!" Ron said.
"As much as I hate to admit it", Hermione said, still grinning, "Malfoy is right. We should be going back to our dorms before we are late and Filch catches us."
"Darn!" Ron replied and they all went towards the dorms.
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-
Well, that's it folks! A new chapter, finally on Fanfiction.net. You're probably wondering what the hell took me so long. A few things, actually. One of them would be the fact that school started. Another would be that I'm working on other parts of the story. Another is that instead of writing I did a lot of reading. And another would be that my mum forgot to pay the phone bill and I ended up phone less and net less. *groan*.
The next chapter will come up sooner -I hope- and. Have you seen the movie Lord of the Rings? Remember a part at the beginning when it said "A lot of things that should not have been forgotten were lost... History became legend. Legend became myth." Remember the words... "A lot of things that should not have been forgotten."
Oh, and I'm not going dark. I really ain't, even if this chapter might seem to prove the contrary.
Well, moving on from my little note -which I hope will keep you curious- and moving on to the reviews!
Thank you all who have reviewed!!! It is my greatest pleasure to read your notes. The longer and more, the better! So, if you like me or my story the least bit, review! Flames with reason are welcomed.
Thanks to:
Naomie: Thank you, thank you *bows*
BABYJAYY: Thank you and. um. what do you consider soon?
Bogdan ag: Thanks and I've no clue yet. Many.
Lauren: Thanks! Here's more!
Bleeding-sword: Thanks. Heh, heh *embarrassed* You know, I'm not veeeery good at English. Could you please re-ask the last question, please? I'm afraid I couldn't quite understand it. My bad English, no hard feelings!
The Red Dragons Order: Please, don't panic! And the snow's gone and school is snowing me with homework and mum forgot to pay the phone bill -as said above- and no you said nothing wrong and said story pips back and I'm starting to lose my whatever you may call it when you write breath and you said nothing wrong and it's not you and it's me and my blasted connection and, whoa, this is a great punctuation less sentence! So, I'm baaaaaack!
Disclaimer: Now that I had my fun with this part of the fic, I must say that I don't own Harry Potter. That if you still didn't get the point. Everything I wrote upper is a joke. So, if you sue for author rights, you're stupid.
Chapter 14: The Attacks
Harry had had a great -if such a thing was possible- detention with Towers. He had taught them a few spells for defence and let them practice. But as they went back to the common room, he decided he wanted some time to himself and stood behind, walking around on the corridors.
Now, he was returning to his common room before he would run into Filch. It was a bit past the time when they were allowed outside and getting detention was not on his to-do list.
He almost made it to his tower, thinking about -coincidentally- Towers since Harry's 'detention' was over.
Suddenly, he bumped into somebody and they both were thrown backwards.
"Watch where you're going, Potter!" cried the other person and Harry recognized him right away: Malfoy.
"You too, Malfoy! What are you doing here after nightfall?
"I could ask you the same thing, Potter."
"I was walking around."
"Good for you. Now get out of the way!"
Oh, well, he had just given him information for nothing. Darn!
"What are you doing here?"
"It's none of your business!"
"Maybe it is."
"Is not. Get. Out. Of. The. Way!"
"No. Where have you been?"
"You're getting on my nerves, Potter!"
"Well?"
"It's none of your business!"
"It is now."
Draco was glaring at him.
"I was in my detention. Are you pleased now, scarhead?!"
Riiight, detention. How could he forget? Yeah, Towers' office was that way. Harry got out of the way, without minding this insult, and Draco passed him. Now, what happened to Draco in detention? Towers was weird, who knew what he made Draco do?!
Harry walked faster towards his tower. He made it to the Fat Lady's portrait and said the password ("Lion heart").
He entered and saw that Ron was alone in the common room.
"Oh, Harry!" he said, seeing him. "Amala came here, looking as if she had been crying, just a few seconds ago. Do you think it has anything to do with her detention?"
Right, Amala's detention! After how mad Snape had been when he heard her talking, he must have done something dreadful. In fact, maybe it was a surprise she was still alive.
"Dunno" he said and shrugged, trying to look casual. "Where is she?"
"Upstairs, in the girl's dorm, with Hermione"
Great, how was he supposed to get there? But then, just as if it was to answer his thoughts, Hermione came down.
"Oh, hi, Harry. Wow, we're not too many, are we?!" she said, looking around. Indeed, there was nearly nobody there -a first year just came in, Harry seemed to remember her-, since the next day it would be a school day and. Good point, why were they so few? "I think Amala will come down in a few minutes too. Um, she had a dreadful detention."
Well, that proved Harry right, but he wasn't happy with it.
Hermione came and sat in an armchair next to Ron. The first year headed to her dorm.
"Good night, Jane" said Hermione and tried to smile.
"Good night" she responded and left, smiling back happily.
"Who's that?" asked Harry.
"A first year, Jane Chase. She's quite bright, you know. But has a lot of trouble by charming things she's not supposed to. She's Muggle born, maybe that's why" Hermione chuckled. "She levitates Filtwick's desk instead of the feather constantly, I've heard. And once even Flitwick!"
Hermione didn't look too happy as she was saying this.
"Snape's a major git, you won't believe what he's done!"
Ron and Harry stared at each other. Poor Amala.
"I wouldn't say that in front of me" said a shaking voice from the direction of the girl's dorms. "It brought me enough trouble, didn't it? Oh, hello, Harry"
Amala was looking pretty bad. She had red eyes and a hand wrapped in a piece of cloth and Harry remembered with horror his detention last year with Umbridge. No, Snape wouldn't! Would he?...
"So, what happened?" he asked.
She sighed.
"I hope I haven't lost him."
Lost him?! Did she look in the mirror?! No matter what had happened, she should definitely stay away from him.
"He doesn't deserve you!" Hermione said, inviting her to sit down, which she did.
"And, besides, who'd want not to lose the greasy git?" Ron asked, seeming to try to comfort her.
"Me" she answered sadly. "Well, this is what happened."
/*-Flashback-*\
Amala was going down the stairs to the dungeons. She used to like this path, now she feared it. After what Snape heard her say. What would happen?
She got on the last corridor before the class and took a deep breath and opened the door. Snape was inside and he looked at her with the worst glare he had. She wouldn't have feared it, but now she knew she was guilty of treachery and that he would probably want his revenge.
"Well, what are you waiting for?! Come inside!" he snapped. Amala gulped and entered. "I couldn't help overhear your. conversation. Fifty points from Gryffindor. Now, do you see those jars over there? Move all the contents from them to the ones I have here. With your hands."
Amala looked at the jars and gulped again. A few slimy creatures were moving around in the jars and she recognized them. The ugly, worm-like things were good for potions and needed to be added after no more than an hour from their death in potions. That meant that they must have been kept alive.
Beside the fact that they were extremely disgusting, they also shocked with a bit of pain whomever might touch them without any protection. Amala could remember that it was a good remedy for some diseases and that their shocks weren't dangerous, but still.
Snape was glaring at her and she took the non-slimy creature and fresh- watered jars Snape had ready and kneeled between the jars. She took a deep breath and put her hand between the creatures, picking one.
The pain was worse than she thought it would be. She gasped in pain and dropped the slimy thing.
"Afraid of a bit of pain?" asked Snape, looking at her with an evil look.
She stared at him for a few seconds with a bit of fear in her eyes and she grabbed another one again and quickly placed it in one of the other jars. Snape had an evil smile on his face. She redid the process and another creature went into a jar. The pain was getting worse and worse, but she could still stand it.
After a few creatures, Snape came near her.
"Let me show you how it's done" he said and took her hand from a bit upper than the wrist and put it in a jar. The creatures started sending shocks to her and she gasped and tried to pull her hand up, but Snape didn't let go. "Get used to the feeling" he said as she was starting to breath really hard, trying not to scream.
It was worse and worse and she was desperately trying to get her hand freed, but Snape didn't let go.
"Please, please" she begged, but he didn't seem to care.
In a few more seconds, tears started rolling down her cheeks.
"Please!"
She was crying, but he didn't care.
Finally, after two minutes, he let her go and she fell on the floor, crying. The pain in her hand was worse than she ever remembered it to be.
"I see you can't do it tonight, you will continue tomorrow" Snape said and grabbed the upper part of her robe and pulled her up. "Good night"
She didn't realize how she did it, but somehow managed to get out the door, holding on to things, but as soon as she was out of the damned dungeon, she fell on the floor again, seeing only a blur of what was around her, everything moving fast, one shade faster than the others. She started crying like she never had before, hot tears rolling down her cheeks, her hand still hurting.
/*-End Flashback-*\
"Well, that's it" she said. "My hand still hurts, but much less."
"The GIT! How can he do that?" Ron said and Harry nodded. "Hurting you like that!"
"He doesn't deserve you" Hermione added. "Not now, nor ever!"
"But I love him" Amala said and tears started rolling down her cheeks again. "I don't care."
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-
The next morning, Amala was still sad, no matter how much the others tried to cheer her up. But when the owl post came, that was forgotten as the Great Hall filled with agitation and nervousness, and even small panic attacks. Harry grabbed the Daily Prophet and started reading.
Death Eaters Attack Town
This night, a large group of Death Eaters have attacked the town of Wick, in northern Britain. There had been twelve dead, five wizards and seven Muggles: Melissa Smith and her husband, Titus Smith, Ronald Opelika, Arthur Laverty, Jacque Michigan, Iris Molder, Jerry Hovers, Molly Scully, Jane Tropes, Diana Richfield and Polly Jius.
The Ministry of Magic has sent Aurors and Obliviators right away, but none of the Death Eaters could be caught.
"They have acted quickly. It was a get-in, get-out attack, to prove their power" says Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. "A proof that He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named is back. We ask the magic community to not panic."
"The wizards and Muggles didn't stand a chance" says Auror Nymphadora Tonks. "The Death Eaters came in the town and attacked everybody on the street with various curses, not caring if they were magical or not. The Dark Mark is now hovering over some houses in the town, although nobody in them was killed."
"We are living through dark days" says a wizard who refuses to tell us his name. "Magical or non-magical, we should be careful. And sometimes, if we looked just in front of our noses, we would see the answers to our problems. This war is not just of the wizards, it is a war of the world, spreading like a plague. If we unite, we could win the war. If we insist in spreading apart, the darkness will conquer us. To all out there, I say that there is always hope. Sometimes, our enemies and the ones will fear will become our friends and together we will defeat darkness."
The town of Wick will always be marked by this attack. A horrible deed such as this will most definitely remain in the history of the world, so much more in the history of the town.
The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge has declared that this reign of terror will end soon. All that is left for us to do is to get prepared and hope for the best.
Harry wondered what exactly the wizard meant. And who was he? Why did he refuse to give his name?
"Silence" boomed Dumbledore's voice. "Please, do not panic! This is a most regretful event, but we must keep calm and see what we can do!"
Everybody quieted as if it were magic.
"Classes will continue as they use to and we will see what will happen next. Please, keep your calm."
Everybody stared at him. He seemed to be twenty years older than he used to.
Harry's attention was attracted, however, by a movement at an end of the table. He turned his head, as did the rest of the Great Hall. Towers stood up.
"I know this must be horrible news to you. But, do you remember what me and Mrs. Rose have taught you? Fear is the worst and most powerful weapon of the Dark. If you give in to your fear, you have already lost. If you do not. Well, then there is always a chance. And even when the worst things happen to you, you will turn out fine. Keep that in mind, young ones and do not give in to fear, for no reason."
Everybody was staring at him. He seemed so calm and powerful, not cheery and joking, not dark. He never used to seem so powerful when he was calm!
"I know that you fear for you and for your loved ones. I know I do. But the difference between losers and winners is that losers will fear and give up, winners will fear and deal with it and fight back. Even the most powerful people fear things, but they don't give up. Never. They acknowledge their fear and think about what has caused it and find ways to deal with it and if they can't, they run. Be winners, not losers!"
"Easy for you to say!" cried Parvati Patil. "You're not in danger, you're a full grown wizard and everything! You probably aren't even afraid!"
He looked at her, sad.
"You're wrong. I'm afraid myself. Not for me, nothing that happens to me can be bad for me. I fear for you and your parents and every goddamned wizard on this planet."
They stared at him. What?!
"Oh, don't pretend you've never heard of me! You have. I know all of you have, but you never brought it up. You never asked, I never told. I will tell you something now. I was not cursed with Sight, but I still feel some things that happen, happened and will happen. And I tell you that a bit before the Green Flame Torch will return to its blessed spot, my body will be dead and my soul will go where it is supposed to."
All the Great Hall was gaping. Including the teachers, and Dumbledore wasn't too far behind.
"But I will be alright, I can deal with that. It is you I worry about. In you stands the future. Now, off to your classes and learn like you never have before. Let fear help you in that, let it be a reason to learn, but turn it into determination. Good luck, young ones."
After a few seconds of complete silence, Towers boomed:
"WELL?! Off to class!"
They all started packing and ran to their classes.
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-
Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing in the middle of the common room, talking about the day's events.
"And to think of all those lives!" Hermione said, thinking about the murdered men in Wick.
"It's just the beginning, Hermione." whispered Ron. "My dad told me about how it used to be. Chaos, murder. They were trying to hide the wizarding world from the Muggles, but they were dying too. It was horrible. I just hope. I just hope it doesn't happen that way now."
"It won't. It can't! The Order is working now!" Harry said, trying to sound determined.
"It also did last time." Ron reminded him. "I hope we make it all out of it ok."
"You know what bugs me?" Hermione asked.
"No" they answered in unison.
"What Towers said."
"About fear?"
"That too. But, I mean the last part of his speech. He said he would die. Do you think he will?" "I. don't know." Harry answered.
"He seemed so calm about it. Maybe he's some kind of a Trelawney with prophecies on himself" Ron said,
"No, he can't be. And he did give a somewhat exact time of his death" Harry replied.
"Wait!" Hermione cried.
"What?!" the boys asked after seeing she wasn't going to continue after a few seconds.
"The somewhat exact time of his death!"
"What about it?!" Harry said, confused.
"He said something about the Green Flame Torch. He said that he would die before the Green Flame Torch disappears!
"Yeah?" Ron motioned her to continue.
"Well, out of what we know, it hasn't even been found yet! Out of what we know, at least. Why don't we ask one of the Order?"
"Because they would ever tell us!" Ron said. "So what if he mentioned the Green Flame Torch?"
"Maybe. We should try to find it! It's somewhere around Hogwarts, remember?! If they didn't find it, maybe we should!"
"And how do you suppose we'll find it, even if it is nearby?" Harry asked. "It's not like we know how to."
"I'll go look at the library. Ron, you send a letter to one of you brothers and try to squeeze the information out of them. Harry, you should probably train or something."
"How and what for?"
"I don't know how, somehow. And because you're the one who always ends up in messy situations, remember?"
"Oh, yeah"
"I'll go to the library. Tomorrow."
"Ok." Ron started saying. "But what do I do about my broth-"
"Write a letter to. Fred. Or Bill. Someone who wouldn't lie to you. And ask about the Order. Try to get the information."
"Sure" he groaned.
"What are you complaining about?" she asked, having that look of steel in her eyes that McGonagall sometimes had. "I'm the one who'll be researching every bit of the library. But, when you finish, you can help Harry and try things yourself."
She sighed.
"It's gonna be hard. Well, Harry, I think we should go to Towers' lesson, shouldn't we?"
"Yeah" Harry answered. He had nearly forgotten.
She grabbed her wand and they all rushed down the corridors to meet the others.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
The group that had detention with Towers was just about to enter the room. Harry opened the door and gaped at the scene. Towers was standing in the middle of the room, in a weird position and with his eyes closed. It reminded him a lot of that Yoga-thingy. Suddenly, the Professor opened his eyes.
"Riiiight, the detention, I forgot!" he said and got up. "Come in!"
"Um, Professor?" asked Harry. "What were you doing?"
"My Yoga techniques" he answered simply and Harry realized he had been right. "Sometimes, it is good to have something to remind you who you are."
O.K., Harry was puzzled. How can you forget who you are?
"So, it is good to see you again!" he said and grinned. "Well, today it's your choice. What would you like to learn about?"
Weirder and weirder. They should decide what they want to learn? But he was the teacher!
"Well, nobody? Hermione, what would you like to learn?"
The girl looked at him in surprise.
"I don't know. What can I choose from?"
Towers smiled.
"Anything you want."
Well, there was a confusing answer.
"How about ways of fighting dark wizards?"
"Do you have anybody in mind? Oh, never mind that question. Sure. Can any of you tell me what a dark wizard is most afraid of?"
They all stared at each other. Duh, no! Harry guessed that it must have been pretty obvious since Towers looked as if he was trying hard not to laugh.
"Well, suppose you're a very powerful dark wizard and have many enemies and many servants who would just love to be in your spot. You wish to rule the world. What would be your worst fear?"
Again, no answer. At least, so Harry thought.
"I'd be afraid of losing my power" answered Luna.
"Of course" Towers answered. "Afraid to lose your power. It is now what keeps you alive. Your enemies would happily cut off your head, your servants also. There is nobody who you can trust if you don't have power. Or three-four people at most. That's why dark wizards are so cruel. To prove their power. To prove that there is still nothing that can stand in their way. But, you know you can't just lose your power. So, what are you afraid of?"
"Being defeated" answered Neville and Towers smiled.
"Indeed. To be defeated. It means that there is somebody more powerful than you. If you're on different sides, you might still have a chance, but if you're on the same side, you are as good as dead. You'll have to obey the man like a new master, as long as you can't defeat him. But let us say that you're not on the same side. That the man is not your ex-servant. That he is somebody powerful from the light side. Which is your fear then?"
"That he's powerful enough to make you look very bad in front of your servants" answered Ginny.
"Not exactly what I had in mind" Towers replied. "I was thinking of powerful enough to make you lose your power, but I guess that you're correct. If you look bad enough in front of your servants, they won't put their trust in you. You've been badly defeated. Then why even bother to stick to you when you lose anyway? And they get themselves in torture because of you. You don't need to be a genius to realize it's time to leave your master. But what could this great wizard have to defeat you? What power? Because you are great. Very great."
Now they were staring at each other, nobody even guessing the answer.
"A power you cannot fight. Something that does not fight, but you can't stand. Remember that lesson Mrs. Rose taught you with the extreme light people that are light enough to be like human Patronuses? That is what you fear most, even subconsciously. Those you can't fight, you can't even get close to because you know that they have help from everywhere if they need it. And they have a great strength of their own. You feel great pain and that you are losing your dark powers when you even get near one."
"You mean these people can't be defeated?" Harry asked, amazed.
Towers smiled.
"No, they can't. They're so powerful, that darkness can't even stand close to them."
"But then, why don't they just come here and save us from Voldemort?" Hermione asked.
"For the same reason that my Master doesn't want to come here and fight in the war. For the same reason why wizards don't interfere with Muggle wars. It is because it wouldn't be fair and if you did it, you might end up with greater enemies than you. Ok, imagine that there was a world war three and Dumbledore decided to interfere. Well, then Voldemort would also interfere, trying to keep Dumbledore from achieving his goal. Muggles would be forgotten as the wizards would join in the war and fight with everything they got. Muggles wouldn't stand a chance. Then, somebody white superior to wizards would see the chaos and deaths and decide it can't go on. And then he or she would interfere and his or her enemy would also strike and they would drag their family, friends, relatives and finally everybody on their side in the war. And then there would be even greater chaos and Muggles would lose, no matter what, and wizards would start to lose control. And so on it would go until the greatest levels of power, the smaller the power of the circle, the more damage done to it. Voldemort's plans would succeed, there would be no more Muggles, but there probably would hardly be any wizards either. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
They nodded.
/*-/*-/*-
Detention was over, Towers had let them go a bit early. Or at least, that was what Harry thought before he saw Draco Malfoy rushing down the corridor.
"Malfoy!" he said.
"Potter and his little freaky friends" he answered. "Weren't you supposed to be in bed by now?"
Harry growled.
"Ha, ha, we're laughing to death" said Ron.
"Nobody asked you, weasel. And what are you doing here anyway? Holding Potty's hand, so he wouldn't be afraid?"
"Well, Harry isn't the one who almost pissed on himself on Towers' first class" Hermione said.
"Shut up, Mudblood"
"Listen here, Malfoy" Neville said in a very sure voice, making the rest look at him in surprise. "You're outnumbered. So, you better shut up if you don't want to get your arse kicked."
"Oooh, I'm so frightened" Draco said, although looking a bit less sure of himself. "And what are you going to do, hit me with one of your famous hexes? Trip yourself to me and then try to hit?"
"Shut up, Malfoy, he's right" Ron said.
"Oooh, I'm so frightened!" Draco said, trying to sound sure of himself, but doing the math. Not good for him.
"Why don't you go to your detention now?" Neville asked.
"Maybe one of your best suggestions, Longbottom. Well, I'll be going now. And watch out, Potter, you don't want to stay up over your bedtime!"
He left, not looking back. Harry, as well as all the others were now looking at Neville.
"Wow, you sure are sure of yourself. It's great to see you like this, Neville!" Ginny said, grinning at him like a maniac.
"Yeah, well, I decided to take Towers' advice and deal with my problems." He said, reddening a bit.
"Wicked!" Ron said.
"As much as I hate to admit it", Hermione said, still grinning, "Malfoy is right. We should be going back to our dorms before we are late and Filch catches us."
"Darn!" Ron replied and they all went towards the dorms.
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-
Well, that's it folks! A new chapter, finally on Fanfiction.net. You're probably wondering what the hell took me so long. A few things, actually. One of them would be the fact that school started. Another would be that I'm working on other parts of the story. Another is that instead of writing I did a lot of reading. And another would be that my mum forgot to pay the phone bill and I ended up phone less and net less. *groan*.
The next chapter will come up sooner -I hope- and. Have you seen the movie Lord of the Rings? Remember a part at the beginning when it said "A lot of things that should not have been forgotten were lost... History became legend. Legend became myth." Remember the words... "A lot of things that should not have been forgotten."
Oh, and I'm not going dark. I really ain't, even if this chapter might seem to prove the contrary.
Well, moving on from my little note -which I hope will keep you curious- and moving on to the reviews!
Thank you all who have reviewed!!! It is my greatest pleasure to read your notes. The longer and more, the better! So, if you like me or my story the least bit, review! Flames with reason are welcomed.
Thanks to:
Naomie: Thank you, thank you *bows*
BABYJAYY: Thank you and. um. what do you consider soon?
Bogdan ag: Thanks and I've no clue yet. Many.
Lauren: Thanks! Here's more!
Bleeding-sword: Thanks. Heh, heh *embarrassed* You know, I'm not veeeery good at English. Could you please re-ask the last question, please? I'm afraid I couldn't quite understand it. My bad English, no hard feelings!
The Red Dragons Order: Please, don't panic! And the snow's gone and school is snowing me with homework and mum forgot to pay the phone bill -as said above- and no you said nothing wrong and said story pips back and I'm starting to lose my whatever you may call it when you write breath and you said nothing wrong and it's not you and it's me and my blasted connection and, whoa, this is a great punctuation less sentence! So, I'm baaaaaack!