Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any of J.K. Rowlings' things...so don't sue.
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Chapter 21 – The Torch, Part 2
Harry stared at the torch for a moment, listening to the quickened footsteps headed his way. He had no idea how to turn it off – he didn't even know how he had turned it on!
"Off!" he hissed, "Turn off!"
If anything, it seemed to shine more brightly.
"Please, torch, just go off, please!" Harry begged.
It shut off, plunging him into darkness except for a faint light that was growing brighter coming from the bottom of one of the other staircases. He frantically backpedaled up the staircase he had come, and once the spiraling staircase had turned a corner he stopped, breathless, and stayed as still as he could.
"There's no light," the first one was saying.
"Narcissa, listen, I saw a light," The other one replied.
Narcissa? Harry thought, Draco's mom? He frowned. Okay, so one of them was Narcissa. But who was that other one? That achingly familiar voice...
"Oh, hogwash. Who would be down here? And anyway, only our kind know about these passageways," Narcissa replied.
"I suppose," the other one replied dubiously.
Harry was thinking so hard his head hurt. Whose voice was it? Why was it so familiar?
"So what did we come down here for anyway?" Narcissa demanded.
"It's the only place nobody will hear us," the other voice replied, "Let's get to the point. We need to find her. The Dark Lord grows impatient, and he will have our heads if we don't have the dratted girl the next time we are summoned!"
"Ha," Narcissa replied, her strange laugh echoing, "I doubt it. He's got bigger fish to fry. He's lost track of Potter."
The other woman snorted. "How can he lose track of him in Hogwarts?"
"That's just it – he's not there anymore. He must have gone somewhere for Christmas, and he's not at his friend's houses or his relatives," Narcissa informed her.
"He's probably pining away for Sirius somewhere," the voice said tauntingly.
Harry felt a rush of anger, both at how she said Sirius' name and how he could not, for the life of him, figure out who she was. He considered peeking around the corner, but his stomach churned in protest when he thought of what they would probably do if they saw him there...take him straight to Voldemort, no doubt.
"Well, whatever he's doing, he's doing a good job of hiding," Narcissa said, sounding rather annoyed.
Harry grinned. Little did she know that he was right around the corner at that very moment.
"I bet Snape's going to be in for it," the other one said, sounding mildly disappointed.
"No doubt – sometimes I wonder about him. He seems like a smart fellow, but how dense can he be to have just let Potter slip through his fingers like that?"
"Well, it's not like he can just abduct Potter at any random moment. The Dark Lord needs him at Hogwarts to keep up-to-date on Dumbledore's plans, as well," the other one informed Narcissa in a know-it-all voice.
"I guess," Narcissa agreed.
Harry began to silently backpedal up the stairs. The two women's conversation faded out and his own thoughts consumed him. Who had the second woman been? Why should Snape be in trouble for the fact that he disappeared? It wasn't as if Snape could know what was happening if Dumbledore didn't want him to know; Voldemort had to realize that. And this girl they were talking about...he was certain it was Silver. He bumped his head on the ceiling...or rather, the floor, and fumbled to find a knob, or a handle...anything...to open it with. The torch was still in his hand, and almost as if he had summoned it's light, a faint glowing emitted from the tip. He spotted a small handle and yanked hard. It creaked softly as it opened. He emerged into Sirius' closet feeling both relieved and annoyed. Wondering if the two women had heard the creak, he shut the floorboards and dragged a trunk over from the corner to sit on top of it.
The words of the mysterious, yet familiar second woman echoed in his head: "He's probably pining away for Sirius somewhere..."
Then it hit him. He gave a half yelp, half gasp, as he realized that he had just been listening to a conversation between Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. Still clutching the torch, he stumbled out of the room and down the stairs.
He entered the study wordlessly and sat down in front of Lupin. Lupin looked up with a smile, but it faded when he saw Harry's face.
"Harry, what happened?" he asked quickly.
"Lestrange," he croaked, waves of hatred pouring over him.
"What about her?" Lupin asked, confused, "Is this about Sirius?"
Harry shook his head.
"I found a passageway," he said, his voice sounding hollow to him, "And then...Lestrange...I should have killed her."
"A passageway?" Lupin echoed confusedly.
Harry took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts together. Then he proceeded to explain to Lupin what had happened. He repeated Narcissa's and Lestrange's conversation word for word, and then waited. Lupin looked positively stunned.
Harry suddenly stood up and made for the door. Hatred had overcome him and he felt a reckless urge to go and shout at Lestrange for a while.
"Harry," Lupin said sharply, "Where are you going."
"I'm going to kill Lestrange," he said simply, "Want to help?"
"You're not going to kill anybody," Lupin told him, yanking him back down into his chair, "You are not going to go down that passageway again. What is that?"
Harry followed Lupin's gaze down to the torch in his hand. It was a deep brown, and the shape of a small, but long, ice cream cone. It glinted in the light, and managed to look dangerously beautiful.
"A torch," he said, "It lit up and went out when I asked it to."
He turned it over in his hands, thinking but not speaking of how it had given off the perfect amount of light to help him find the small handle on the bottom of the trap door.
"Light it up," Lupin told him.
Harry looked at the torch. "Light," he tried. Nothing happened.
"Please light?" he tried hopefully. Same response.
He concentrated very hard. I need light, he thought, staring at the torch, I need light...
A small ball of bright white light suddenly came from the bigger end. It seemed to rest just above the surface.
"Put it out," Lupin commanded.
Harry concentrated again, staring at the torch intently. "Go out," he whispered. Immediately the light vanished.
He looked up at Lupin, who was studying the torch intently.
"May I try?" Lupin asked.
Harry almost said no. He felt suddenly as if the torch belonged to him – as if nobody else should be able to even touch it. He held it out to Lupin and forced his fingers to let go when Lupin reached for it.
"Light," Lupin commanded. The torch did nothing. Lupin squinted his eyes in concentration, and even closed them for a moment. Still nothing.
"Light," Lupin ordered again, concentrating so hard Harry thought he would break it with his grip. The torch didn't even give off a flicker of light.
"Light," Harry told it. A bright ball of white light seemed to burst from within it, making Lupin jump and drop it. Instead of falling, it sailed straight into Harry's hand.
Harry surveyed the torch for a moment. "I think it likes me," he finally commented.
Lupin looked a bit put out. Harry found that he could adjust the brightness. Not so bright, he thought, I don't need so much. Just a bit, like in the passageway. Immediately the ball of light shrunk so that it was smaller than a marble. More, Harry thought, Brighter! The ball expanded so that it was bigger than the torch, causing Harry and Lupin to shut their eyes.
"Out!" Harry yelled, "Out!"
The light vanished. Harry thought he might have been blinded by the excruciating force of the light, but after blinking a few times things almost looked normal.
"Ouch," Lupin commented, rubbing his eyes.
"Can I keep it?" Harry replied, smiling at the torch.
Lupin grinned. "Well, I'm not sure what it is, so we'll have to show it to Dumbledore. I'm going to go see if we can go visit him now – promise not to try and kill Lestrange while I'm gone?"
"Yeah," Harry replied, "I'll come with you."
They walked into the living room, Harry experimenting with the torch the entire time. Lupin threw some Floo Powder into the fire and stuck his head in, leaving Harry to play with the torch in his halfway-absence. Lupin knelt in the fire for a long time, while Harry discovered that he could make it blink or bounce up and down on the torch. Finally, Lupin emerged.
"Come now, Harry, he wants to see it immediately," Lupin said.
Harry nodded and threw some Floo Powder into the fire, wondering why Lupin and Dumbledore were getting so worked up about a little torch. Sure, it was cool, but wasn't his meet-up with Narcissa and Lestrange more important? He stepped into the fire and said clearly, "Dumbledore's office."
He clung tightly to the torch as he spun around, and finally got spit out in Dumbledore's office. He would have landed on his feet had he not tripped over a chair.
"Ah, Harry, so nice to see you," Dumbledore greeted as Harry struggled to his feet.
Lupin arrived soon afterwards, and took a seat next to Harry. He and Dumbledore exchanged significant glances, and then Dumbledore turned to Harry, who held the torch up, figuring it was what Dumbledore wanted to see.
"And there it is," Dumbledore commented, squinting at the torch. "Will you demonstrate what you can do with it for me, Harry?"
Harry turned it on so that it was of medium brightness and made the ball of light bounce up and down, blink, grow extremely bright and then vanish. He then made it appear at the size of a marble and roll around on the surface of the torch.
"Very interesting," Dumbledore said as Harry stopped, "Yes, and you are doing all this with mindpower?"
Harry nodded.
"Would you mind giving me a turn?" Dumbledore asked politely.
Harry felt the same reluctance he had with Lupin, but he surrendered it to Dumbledore all the same. Dumbledore stared intently at the torch for some time, and Harry didn't know if he was trying to make it work or simply thinking about it.
"Interesting," Dumbledore said, "But I think that with just the right amount of force..."
Dumbledore pointed his wand at it, and a small ball of light appeared. Dumbledore's wand quivered, and his face was etched with concentration as he forced the ball to grow bigger and bigger. However, it simply refused to grow past the size of a tennis ball.
Dumbledore put his wand down, and the light vanished.
"Well, well, that was a very stubborn torch," he commented as he handed it back to Harry, "I do believe it wants to be yours, Harry, and who are we to stop it?"
Harry grinned. He felt as if Dumbledore had just told him he could keep a friend.
"Now, Harry, tell me about your encounter with Bellatrix and Narcissa," Dumbledore requested.
Harry repeated almost word-for-word what he had told Lupin, absently playing with the light on the torch as he did so. When he finished, Dumbledore didn't say anything for a while. Then he sighed and sat down, and Harry realized that Dumbledore was very old.
"It seems we are fighting quite a battle," Dumbledore said at last, "I simply wish that Miss Riddle would tell me whatever she is hiding so that we may proceed with our plans."
"Why don't you ask her to?" Harry asked. He was sure Silver would tell Dumbledore if she was asked – wouldn't she?
"No, Harry, I'm afraid that would be an unwise course of action," Dumbledore replied.
Harry looked at him questioningly.
"You see, Miss Riddle is very sensitive to what she perceives as forcefulness – and she is very stubborn. If she thought that I, for any reason, was trying to force information out of her, she would take that information with her to the grave. No, she must come to me. And I trust that she will, eventually. And, hopefully, before it is too late."
Harry was silent. He knew that Silver would eventually come to Dumbledore, but he didn't know when. The night before Voldemort was planning something terrible, when it would be too late to stop him? Did she realize the seriousness of the situation? She must, he thought, She'll tell him before it's too late. However, he wasn't quite sure if he believed himself.
"Harry," Dumbledore commented, "I have an idea of what that torch is. If I am correct, you may have yourself an extremely valuable weapon. I would suggest that you keep it with you at all times, and do not let anybody else know that you have it."
Harry nodded, looking at the torch with newfound respect. He supposed that if he made it shine brightly enough, he could blind his enemies with it...
"Are you two hungry?" Dumbledore asked suddenly.
Harry's stomach grumbled. "Um, yeah," he said a bit sheepishly.
"Yes," Lupin agreed.
Dumbledore smiled, picked up his bell, and rang it three times. Harry wondered how the elves knew when to bring what kind of food. Soon enough, three house-elves appeared, and one of them gave an excited squeal.
"Harry Potter!" Dobby exclaimed, running over and pushing a plate into his hands.
"Hi, Dobby," Harry said, looking down at the overdressed elf with amusement.
Dobby was wearing two huge scarves, a badly knit orange and green sweater that Harry supposed he had made himself, and what looked like five pairs of soccer shorts, which were really very baggy pants for Dobby. On his feet he sported one red and sparkly sock, and on the other an old-looking black one. He also had two hats on his head.
"Dobby has wanted to see Harry Potter for a very long time, sir!" Dobby squeaked, "A very long time! But Harry Potter has come to Dobby!"
At this, Dobby seized Harry's leg and squeezed it so hard Harry thought it might break.
"Erm...thanks, Dobby," Harry said, desperately hoping Dobby would let go soon.
One of the other house-elves cleared it's throat and looked at Dobby with it's hands on it's hips.
Dobby released Harry and looked up at him earnestly.
"Dobby knows that it is disrespectful to interrupt his master's eating, so he will leave. Have a Happy Christmas, Harry Potter, sir!"
With that, Dobby and the other elves vanished.
"Friend of yours?" Lupin asked amusedly.
"Yeah," Harry said, smiling, "A very enthusiastic friend."
Lupin and Dumbledore both chuckled.
After lunch, Lupin and Dumbledore discussed what Lupin had done so far with the house, and Dumbledore expressed absolute delight in the fact that it had been cleaned up so nicely. After that, Lupin and Harry went back to the Black house via Floo Powder.
Once they were back, Harry looked over at the waterfall picture and groaned.
"We didn't tell Dumbledore about the picture!" he exclaimed.
Lupin looked disappointed. "Oh...well, I guess we'll tell him next time we see him," he replied.
Harry nodded. "Alright."
"I'm going to get back to the study – and I don't want you going down any more passageways," Lupin told him.
Harry smiled. "Okay," he agreed.
Lupin left, and Harry stared at the waterfall picture. Two unicorns came and splashed playfully in the small pond. Harry felt mesmerized by their graceful movement, even in play. Finally, they frolicked out of the picture, leaving Harry to wonder about the picture.
Harry looked over at the Christmas tree, which had been bending sideways to look at him. When he turned to it, it quickly snapped upright. He smiled.
"I think there's something special about that picture," he told it confidentially.
The tree nodded.
Harry sighed and stretched out against the couch. Talking to trees wasn't such a bad thing, he decided.