A/N: I just wanted to thank all of my reviewers before I continue with my story. THANK YOU! I really appreciate the reviews; they keep me going on with the story. I never actually thought I'd get this far, or even get so many reviews. THANK YOU! (Again) but now I'll let you get on with the story because that's what you're really here to read:
Chapter 33: Patronus'"Which way?" asked Ron, turning to look at Harry and Draco.
"I dunno," replied Harry. "Should we take them to Dumbledore's office?"
"Yeah, I think that's the only choice we have," said Draco. The three guys took one step forward and then stopped again.
"Which way?" asked Ron, turning to look at Harry and Draco again.
"I dunno," replied Harry. "Should we ask a painting?"
"Yeah, I think that's the only choice we have," repeated Draco. The three walked up the grand staircase and stopped at the first painting they saw. It was of a rather large man sitting at a table and eating pie. "Excuse me, sir," said Draco. The man looked up, blueberry jelly dribbling down his front.
"Yes?" the man asked gruffly, looking at them suspiciously and putting his arms around his pie as if protecting it.
"We were wondering where Dumbledore's office is," Draco told him. The fat man kept eyeing them and then asked:
"What'd you do to those girls?"
"Nothing," replied Harry swiftly. "Could you please tell us where Dumbledore's office is?"
"No can do," the man replied. "I don't have the time for your silly mission. You go find someone else." Harry and Draco glared at the man and then went back downstairs to the landing where there rooms where.
"Rude," huffed Ron at the fat man and then followed the others. Harry and Draco lifted the girls a bit higher, trying to get a better grip and then looked around, wondering what to do now.
"Do you hear that?" asked Draco, looking around.
"Hear wha-" began Harry.
"Shhh," Ron pressed a finger to his lips. There was a faint clattering sound that grew louder and louder. The three guys looked at each other as the clanking noise came nearer. When it sounded as though the source of the noise should be right beside them, a familiar voice asked:
"Did someone say: 'mission?'" Harry, Ron and Draco spun around to stare at a painting of a forest in which sir Cadogan was, sitting on his fat little pony.
"Erm… yes, just a few moments ago," replied Ron, wondering how on earth the knight could have heard.
"And what exactly is this mission?" demanded sir Cadogan, pulling out his sword and threatening them with it.
"We want to know where Dumbledore's office is," replied Draco, readjusting Nora in his arms again.
"Ah, well then, follow me!" shouted sir Cadogan. He kicked his pony in the sides and it cantered into the next painting. The others followed him but Harry and Draco weren't able to run too fast while carrying the two girls.
"Why don't we use a levitating charm or something?" asked Harry after a while. Draco nodded in relief.
"Why didn't we think of that before?" he muttered as he laid Nora down beside Hermione.
"Locomotor," he said and Nora slowly lifted into the air. Harry did the same thing to Hermione and together he, Ron and Draco followed sir Cadogan, the girls floating in front of them. After a while of climbing steps and hurrying down corridors sir Cadogan stopped in a painting that hung in front of the stone Unicorn that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office.
"I'll be off, now!" said sir Cadogan. "If ever you need my help for a quest just call for me!" he told them and then his plump pony cantered out of sight.
"Right," muttered Ron. "What was the password again?"
"Canary Creams," said Harry. The stone Unicorn came into life and moved to the side to let the three guys go through the door it had been guarding. Harry, Ron and Draco entered the splendid hallway again, closing the door carefully behind them. They directed the two floating girls down the hall towards the next door. Ron opened the door for them without knocking and the three of them stormed inside, guiding the girls in last. Dumbledore looked up from his desk where he had been inspecting a piece of parchment.
"Doesn't he ever sleep?" muttered Ron as Dumbledore hurried from behind his desk and was before them in an instant.
"What is it? What happened?" he asked worriedly, seeing Hermione and Nora floating unconscious in midair.
"We're not sure. They had a nightmare and shortly after they fainted," answered Harry as he took the spell off of Hermione and laid her carefully on the floor.
"What kind of nightmare?" inquired Dumbledore.
"Something with that maze again," replied Draco as he carefully lay Nora next to Hermione.
"I had it, too," said Ron quietly. Everyone looked at him.
"You did?" asked Harry.
"Yes. I saw them in my nightmare. It was just as they had explained a few days ago. It was awful."
"But then why didn't you faint like they did?" asked Harry.
"I believe," began Dumbledore, coming to a quick conclusion, drawing everyone's attention to him. "That it was all too exhausting for them. They had not had much sleep and then that nightmare for the second or third time, it was too much for them to take."
"But we stayed up late, too," argued Ron. "I didn't faint."
"That is because it is only the first time you have had this nightmare," answered Dumbledore. "Did either of you have a nightmare?" he questioned, turning to Harry and Draco. The two guys nodded.
"Yes," they replied at the same time.
"About?"
"Voldemort," answered the two, again at the same time.
"Ah, I believe you were both Voldemort?"
"Yes." And the two began explaining about their nightmare of Voldemort and his meeting with his Death Eaters. They did not include that they had had a feeling of someone being there with them during the nightmare. It was explained now; Harry had felt Draco's presence and Draco had felt Harry's.
"So it really has been Nagini who had thrown off all of Hogwarts' protection spells. Now, would you all please reach for Hermione's Amulet to regain your strength," ordered Dumbledore and the three did as they were told. Harry went first and let go of the Amulet immediately. He was now so familiar to the Amulet that his color did not even light the room anymore. Ron's color shone only very faintly and Draco's was still visible, though a lot less than before. Dumbledore muttered some kind of spell and both Hermione and Nora opened their eyes and hurriedly sat up straight on the ground.
"What happened?" asked Hermione. "What are we doing here? And why am I on the floor?" she questioned while frowning at the ground.
"You two fainted after you had a nightmare," answered Dumbledore. A dark look spread over Hermione's face, replacing her confusedness.
"Oh, right," she said, glaring at no one and nothing in particular. She stood up and then helped up Nora who was glowering, too.
"You remember it, then, the nightmare?"
"Yes," replied both girls rather fiercely.
"And you remember seeing Ron in it?"
"Yes," this time a lot softer.
"You had that nightmare too, then?" asked Nora. Ron nodded.
"It was horrible. I now understand why you yelled so much last time you had it. I think I shouted myself when I woke up earlier," replied Ron.
"I think we all shouted when we woke up," said Draco. Harry nodded.
"Hermione, Nora," began Dumbledore. "Touch the Amulet of Era's and then we'll go and have some breakfast." Hermione and Nora did as they were told. Both girls had fully mastered regaining strength from the Amulet, and like Harry their color did not shine anymore. "Let us go, then," Dumbledore told them and he led them out of the office and into the splendid hall. They walked by the Unicorn that guarded the door, walked down the corridors they had passed earlier, descended the grand staircase, past the painting of the fat man that had denied them the directions to Dumbledore's office earlier, and entered the Dining Room, taking their usual seats.
"I'm starving," muttered Ron. "What time is it?"
"Quarter past six," replied Harry after a glance at his watch.
"That early?" asked Hermione. Harry nodded. Dumbledore clapped his hands and called out to no one in particular. Almost instantly the house-elf named Taury appeared.
"What is you liking, sir?" she asked in her high-pitched voice.
"Is it possible for you to make us breakfast so early in the morning?" asked Dumbledore.
"Oh yes, master, yes," replied Taury while nodding her head vigorously.
"Then we would like some," said Dumbledore with a smile. Taury bowed and then disappeared. "I am afraid," began Dumbledore with a slightly gloomy smile. "That Voldemort now has all of the Dementors fully on his side and he might use them in battle. Therefore it is important that you all practice your Patronus'. We will begin training after breakfast."
"How will we practice?" questioned Hermione. She feared that real Dementors were going to be their opponents.
"I have a set of Boggarts we can exercise on," replied Dumbledore. "That would be the best way to practice." Hermione gave a slight sigh of relief. Just then food appeared on the table and the six of them began munching on whatever they had piled on their plates.
After breakfast was done and the plates had been cleared Dumbledore got up and led them to the room they used for training. In the middle stood a few boxes that probably held the Boggarts.
"First we will practice without the Boggarts. Take out your wands," ordered Dumbledore. The five students did as they were told. "Concentrate on a happy memory and then say: 'Expecto Patronum'." Again the five students obeyed, Harry feeling like there wasn't any point since they had already covered this in the DA meetings last year. Harry's stag galloped around the room with Nora's Unicorn and Draco's stallion while Hermione's otter gamboled around Ron's salamander, which breathed silver fire every now and then.
"Very well done," said Dumbledore with a smile. "I see the DA's been very helpful. Now Harry, I want you to stand here so the Boggarts will change into Dementors and not into whatever the others fear," continued Dumbledore while showing Harry his position in front of the boxes. Harry stood in front of them, took a deep breath and then exhaled very slowly. Dumbledore took the lids off of the five boxes and at first nothing happened. Then, as there was a sharp intake of breath from the two girls and Harry staggered backwards, a Dementor rose slowly from each box, its face covered, it's rattling breath sucking all of the happiness from the room. Each of the Dementors made for one of the students.
"Now cast your Patronus'," said Dumbledore. Harry cast around for a happy memory. 'When Sirius asked me to move in with him… no, that won't do, he's gone now,' and as he thought it he felt sadness again and voices, other than those of his friends or Dumbledore, began to wave in and out of tune. Harry knew they belonged to his parents and maybe Voldemort so he quickly cast around for a happier memory. 'When I received my OWL's,' he thought. 'I got seven, that certainly was a proud moment. Yes, but not happy enough to throw off a Dementor.' Harry could see his Dementor drawing ever closer, his rattling breath sucking away every bit of happiness, its rotten slimy hands protruding from its cloak. Harry looked at his friends, noticing they were having as much trouble as he was. Then it hit him. What else in this world could make him happier than he ever was? His friends of course. How could he have been so stupid? Harry cleared his throat and then said very loudly while thinking of Parvati, Ron, Hermione, Nora and even Draco:
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" His parents' voices grew louder. His silver stag erupted out of the end of his wand and ran down the Dementor that had been nearing. The Dementor stumbled and tripped over his cloak.
"Riddikulus!" said Dumbledore and the Dementor turned into a shapeless gray blob, which Dumbledore put in its box. Harry was watching his friends, who were still struggling, while petting his stag. Then it disappeared, leaving Harry feeling quite empty. He had remembered how his father would turn into a stag once a month while Sirius turned into a great shaggy dog, just to keep Lupin company. Harry turned his attention back on his friends. Hermione's otter had just run into the Dementor and it stumbled and fell flat on his back.
"Riddikulus!" said Dumbledore and he put Hermione's Dementor back in its box, too. Hermione walked over to Harry, looking a little flushed.
"It occurred to me a bit late that my happy memory was you guys," she said, blushing a little. Just then the others walked over, too.
"I just couldn't find a memory happy enough to cast my Patronus until it was almost too late," said Ron looking extremely relieved. "Finally I remembered you guys and Lavender," he added, looking embarrassed. He, Harry and Hermione turned to look at Nora and Draco, wanting to know what their happy thought had been.
"Oh, my happy memory was you guys, it just took me a while to realize," lied Nora. It had really been about only one of them: Draco. The others nodded and looked at Draco.
"First Nymphirah, but then I remembered she had been killed so that didn't work and then I recalled you guys," he told them. Again the others nodded, but what they did not know was that his happy memory had been the girl standing next to him: Nora.
"All right. We will keep practicing until you can fully throw off the Dementors in record time. And when you can we will practice with more than one Dementor per student," explained Dumbledore. He lifted the tops off the boxes again and Dementors rose out of them. Harry walked away again and thought hard about his friends. He turned around, shouted: "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" and watched as the Dementor ran away from his stag and into the box. Draco's stallion erupted from his wand, charged at the Dementor and then returned to Draco as Dumbledore put the Boggart in its box. Nora's Unicorn had gored her Dementor with it's horn and Ron's salamander set his Dementor on fire while Hermione's otter, despite its small size, ran her Dementor down.
Practice with one Dementor for each kept going until it went fully well and all of them had no trouble at all keeping the Dementor away. Then each of them got two Dementors and when that had also been 'mastered' each student got three Dementors to go up against. It went on like that until all of them could fully throw off ten Dementors at once. Dumbledore clapped his hands once, smiling at them very proudly.
"I would keep you going even longer but as it is already half past two and we have been practicing for about eight hours straight I believe you would prefer to rest and have some free time," he told them. The others nodded. "I am almost sure that Voldemort will use his Dementors against you in the next battle and I know that you will be able to throw them off fully, even though they are with a large quantity. I have already seen Harry overthrow over a hundred Dementors in his third year and I have no doubts that he will not be able to overcome even more of them," Dumbledore smiled. "You may go." The five students exited the training room.
"Where to now?" asked Ron but Hermione had already walked off into the left direction and the others hurried to keep up with her, wondering how on earth she knew which way to go.
"'Mione. 'Mione? Hermione Catharine Granger!" shouted Nora as she tried to keep up with her friend. Finally Hermione stopped and turned around.
"What?" she asked.
"Where on earth are you taking us and why are you going so darn fast?" asked Nora, trying to steady her breath. Harry, Ron and Draco had arrived now, too, and were waiting for an answer.
"Well I tried to memorize how we got here and if I'm right this is the right way back," replied Hermione.
"And why are you going so fast?" demanded Ron.
"Because I want to get to the part of this castle I know and feel safe in," replied Hermione. The others stared at her. "Because I'm afraid I'll forget the right way out of here if I take too long," Hermione told them.
"Well why didn't you say so!" shrieked Nora and she grabbed Hermione and ran down the hallway as fast as she could, not wanting to get lost in this castle again, Harry, Ron and Draco following. Nora finally let go of her friend and Hermione was now running in front, hoping she still knew the way. The five of them hurried down all sorts of gloomy halls and corridors, but luckily they looked familiar, so it must be the right way. They rushed through a large set of doors and found themselves in the Entrance Hall of the Concave Castle.
"Bless your highly intelligent brain," said Nora while patting Hermione gently on the head. Harry, Ron and Draco smiled and thanked their brilliant friend, too.
"Now what?" asked Hermione, while looking at the others.
"Well, we agreed you'd take us to that lake in the forest," replied Harry.
"Oh, right," both girls said together.
"How about we all go upstairs and get changed into our swimsuits and we meet outside, in front of the castle," suggested Hermione. The others agreed, they hardly argued with each other, and together the five went upstairs to change. Nora and Hermione exited their rooms at the same time nearly fifteen minutes later. They walked through the hall, down the stairs, into the Entrance Hall and out through the main doors. A warm breeze brushed against them as they walked into the clearing in front of the castle, holding their towels in one hand.
"What took you guys so long?" asked Ron as the girls walked outside.
"Yeah, we've been waiting for ages," agreed Draco, trying hard not to goggle at his ex.
"We were ready after less than five minutes," said Harry.
"Well, excuse us," huffed Hermione. "But if you keep nagging we're not gonna show you were it is." When they remained silent she said: "Let's go, then," and she and Nora headed off to the forest, Harry, Ron and Draco following quietly behind. When they finally reached the clearing the two girls threw their towels down, kicked off their sandals and ran into the water, laughing. The guys stood still for the first five minutes, admiring the beauty of the lake and the waterfall and the plants and, in Draco's case, Nora.
"Come on!" the two girls shouted as they splashed each other. The three guys laid their towels down, took their sneakers off and then ran into the water.
"Now where was that climbing rock you told us about?" asked Draco, looking around. Both Hermione and Nora swam promptly to the waterfall and ran out of the water. Together they climbed the large boulder-like rocks, watched carefully by the guys. When they could not climb any further they stood on the edge and waved at the other three.
"Is that even safe?" asked Ron. Hermione and Nora looked at each other, shrugged and then nodded.
"Who goes first?" asked Nora.
"I'll go," replied Hermione, eyes gleaming, and she jumped into the air, did two forward somersaults and dived into the water. Harry, Ron and Draco clapped and, when Hermione had come back up to the surface, the four watched Nora. She jumped into the air, ignoring her butterflies, did three backward flips and then entered the water in a perfect diving position. Again Harry, Ron and Draco clapped.
"That was amazing," Harry told the two girls.
"Yeah, it really was," agreed Ron and Draco nodded. The two girls smiled and started swimming, soon joined by the guys. Hermione gave a shriek as Harry grabbed her foot and pulled her under the water. Nora turned around, trying to see what had happened only to see Ron and Draco advancing on her. She slowly back away and then began swimming as fast as she could. She reached firm ground and ran out of the water shrieking her head off. Then she started running around the lake while Draco was chasing her, threatening to tickle her if he ever caught up.
"Oh no you don't!" yelled Nora as she ran around the lake for the fourth time. "I am not letting anyone tickle me!"
"Well then you'll just have to keep running as fast as you can, won't you?" replied Draco.
"You'll never catch me!" shouted Nora but when she heard no reply she slowed down and looked behind her. There was no one to be seen. She looked into the water where Harry and Ron were teasing Hermione, who was unable to escape. Nora looked at the climbing rocks and got an idea. She would jump into the water and startle Harry and Ron, allowing Hermione to escape. Nora ran towards the rocks and began climbing as fast as she could. When she finally reached the top she paused to catch her breath. She walked towards the edge and looked down, the waterfall flowing rapidly a few feet beside her. She tried to find Draco, but he was nowhere to be seen. She looked everywhere, scanning the grounds carefully but still he couldn't be found. When she was about to jump, a rustling sound made her look behind her. She shrieked as she saw Draco charge at her. He put his arms around her and jumped in the air, then falling and nearing the water, Nora shrieking all the while. They entered the refreshingly cold water, Draco holding on to Nora tightly, and a small tidal wave erupted, saving Hermione from Harry and Ron. When Nora reached the surface she took a large breath of air and glared at Draco who emerged too, though he was laughing.
"I hate you," said Nora, glaring at the laughing boy in front of her. "That is the second time you did that to me in two, three months!" she exclaimed, though she wasn't really mad. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Aw, can't handle a little pressure? Boy you should have heard yourself shrieking. I nearly went deaf," mocked Draco, still laughing.
"I'll give you something to shriek about," threatened Nora. Draco gave a very girly scream and then started making his way back towards the side, trying to get out of the water, Nora chasing him. They all spent the next few hours chasing each other and later on Hermione and Nora showed the three boys how to jump off of the rocks.
A/N: Rather short, isn't it? I tried extending it a little, but I really couldn't think of anything else, so this'll have to do. Thank you reviewers! And everyone else who has the great power of being able to read my story without dozing off or switching to another story after reading the first few lines of mine.
I also wanted to say that after this chapter I'm going to take a break because I've really neglected my revision and the end of term exams are in like eight or nine days so I've really got to get studying. I really hope you guys don't mind! Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.