IMPORTANT NOTE – PLEASE READ!
The next update may take a while as I'm going to be really busy in the next few days. On Thursday I get my GCSE results and after that I think I'll be going away till at least Sunday, so there'll be no update until either the Sunday or Monday. However, if we don't go away, then I'll update on Thursday or Friday, but its most likely I'll be away for a while. Please bear with the long wait because the following chapters really bring the story up to the point where Harry begins to discover everything. Thank you, and enjoy this chapter!
A/N) I know this chapter is the shortest but there was not a lot going on in this chapter to warrant a long, over-descriptive chapter.
Review Responses are at the bottom.
Chapter 9 – Questions That Need Answering
Harry could not easily forget the words he had heard that night in the Library. It took him a two days to finally tell Ron and Hermione. It was after Herbology on Wednesday afternoon that he summed up the courage to repeat what he'd heard.
"I'm going to find out about the Veil, anything I can to understand what it is. The Veil is the Key to it all."
"You've found nothing," Hermione stated, "Your best bet is to speak to Dumbledore about it. He will tell you."
"He doesn't want me to know! Look, Dumbledore is shutting me out, obviously he doesn't trust me with anything…"
"He doesn't want you to get hurt, Harry! Rushing off again won't do any good!"
Harry felt angry, his temper flared and he stormed off, leaving Ron and Hermione glancing at each other.
Why couldn't any one understand what he was going through? Why couldn't anyone see that all he wanted was this to end? All the secrets he had…he wished he didn't have them. Sooner or later he'd have to tell Ron and Hermione about the Prophecy. Perhaps…
"Harry!"
He turned around and saw Claire coming towards him, dressed in her Quidditch robes and holding her Nimbus Three Thousand.
"You're missing practice! Katie's really angry with you!"
Harry shook his messy hair out of his face. "I'm not in the mood for Quidditch, Claire. Just leave me alone."
"But-" she started,
"You'll find Ron in the Entrance Hall."
He carried on walking. He needed to get away from people. His head was buzzing and all he could think about was the words of the Prophecy and the words that he heard in the Library.
He didn't even bother having tea instead he went straight to bed. He felt awful, as if something was determined to not leave him alone. What did he have to do? Find Padfoot.
What did it mean? Could it really be true? Could Sirius be alive? The message was implying just that. He wished he could understand what was going on around him.
As he turned round on his bed he caught sight of a figure from behind the curtains standing there and then disappearing. He flung the curtains away and stared. No one was there. He looked to his cabinet. A piece of parchment lay there. Picking it up he read the following words:
Harry,
I want to help you, I want to make you understand what is going on,
If I revealed myself you wouldn't trust me,
I've done terrible things in my life that I am not proud of,
Heed my advice,
Find about the Veil, many questions will be answered when you discover the deeper meaning behind it,
Your Contact,
S
Harry stared at the writing. Another message? He looked around, trying to see where the person he had seen behind his curtains had gone, but there was no one there. No one could apparate inside the Castle, everyone knew that, so where had they gone? Had he been hallucinating? He cleared his head as if he was trying to wake up from a bad nightmare but nothing happened. It was real alright.
He bit his lip: I want to help you, I want to make you understand what is going on,
What was going on? Harry had found himself wondering ever since he had began to receive the messages. Did this contact really mean good? Besides Dumbledore had said in the meeting that he knew of Harry's contact, so was it possible Dumbledore was the contact? But Harry now had the impression that it was someone working for Voldemort who was helping him. So who were they? Who? And why?
He cursed in irritation not knowing what to do, feeling helpless because he couldn't understand, helpless because he couldn't do anything.
He felt worthless.
The first Quidditch Match of the season came quickly: Gryffindor verses Slytherin. It was played on the second Saturday of November which happened to be the 14th. Harry had been practicing hard but been unable to be up to scratch. His thoughts were constantly on the messages, Dumbledore's words in June and in that meeting, as well as trying to keep up in all his lessons to produce quality work. Quidditch just didn't seem fun any more, even though it kept his mind off his troubles for a while, he was finding it difficult to concentrate. Katie had had a go at him, but Professor McGonagall had a word with her, informing Katie about Harry's problems though not in detail. After that Katie had been less harsh with Harry.
He was determined to do his best.
As the match started Harry immediately began looking for the Snitch, Draco Malfoy tailing him closely.
Over the cheering of the crowd Harry could hear the commentary that was being taken by a second year called Jodi Gallagher. Her voice rang high amongst the cheers.
"…and there goes Bell with the Quaffle, passing to Weasley and then to Wright, back to Bell and she shoots…she scores! Ten points to Gryffindor!"
Harry did a 'whoop' and continued scanning.
"…Slytherin in possession, oooo, Griff of Gryffindor beats a Bludger to Kace of Slytherin. The Quaffle is dropped and Wright of Gryffindor retrieves it! Passes to Bell and then to Weasley…Weasley scores!"
Cheers from Gryffindor, boos from Slytherin followed.
Ten minutes passed and Slytherin scored two goals and Gryffindor scored another three.
Harry was still being tailed by Malfoy, but then his green eyes spotted the Snitch, grinning broadly he shot off towards it, Malfoy on his tail.
"Oy! Potter, why not try and get a better broom for you size? One that catches you when you fall off!" Malfoy yelled.
Harry ignored him, he refused to let Malfoy's threats taunt him. He would show him! The Snitch zoomed away, Harry and Malfoy on its trail.
As Harry gained he stretched out his arm to grab hold of the ball, but his mind began to fog over, he felt dizzy, his eyes closed, light-headed he forced to open them, his hand outstretched. And then a voice, like no other he heard echoed through his mind:
"HARRY! HELP ME!"
In desperation he reached forward grasping the Snitch, winning the game, close to the ground he glided down, getting off his broomstick he held the Snitch in the air indicating the games end and then pain exploded across his head and he saw flashes, flashes of his father and mother.
Lily was holding him in her arms cuddling him, whispering: "You're my little angel, aren't you?"
James was next to her smiling, his hand ruffling the tuft of hair on baby Harry's head. They were both smiling, and baby Harry made a small sound, more like a word, that sounded like 'dad'.
Then Harry's vision clouded over and he fell to the ground, unconscious, as cheering round the Quidditch Stadium erupted all around him.
Harry sat up in bed rubbing his eyes. Someone handed him his glasses and he slid them on. The Gryffindor team stood by his bed with Hermione, Neville, Dean and Seamus.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"What happened?"
"You went all sort of funny when you landed…you fainted." Ron said.
"Was it your scar?" Neville asked.
Harry nodded. "I think so. I…heard a voice…I don't know…who's though it sounded familiar…they said 'Harry help me'," he winced as a small bout of pain sped through his head, "I saw my mother and father. A memory I didn't know…I had. They…were happy." Tears seemed to leak into his eyes and he hastily wiped them away.
"You need rest, Harry," Hermione said gently, "Madam Pomfrey orders it of you."
As Harry closed his eyes, footsteps came up the ward, it was Professor McGonagall. "Mr Weasley! Mrs Granger! The headmaster wishes to have a word with you both. It is a matter of great importance. He awaits you in his office. Come along." She nodded to Harry and then departed with Ron and Hermione, both looking rather confused.
One by one the Gryffindor Quidditch Team left to get changed leaving Harry alone with his thoughts.
Who's voice had it been? Why had he seen that memory about his parents or had it even been a memory? Was Voldemort planting images into his head?
He dismissed that idea, he had been practicing Occlumency. He didn't have many funny dreams anymore so what he was doing was working. But why had he heard that voice? Had the voice triggered a memory he had forgotten to resurface?
Laying in the hospital wing he mused over it, contemplating on all the things that had been troubling him this year.
He was getting tired of not having any answers. It was time to find some out.
TBC
Next chapter: We go to Godric's Hollow with Harry for Christmas.
Review Responses:
Galadriel Evenstar: The person sending Harry the notes is not using their true initials. It is another name they went by for many years. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
LunaShadows: Yes, Dumbledore will never learn to tell Harry the truth. Dumbledore doesn't want Harry rushing off if he didn't know the whole truth, he thinks its safer for Harry to work it out bit by bit. Harry doing something stupid? Um, it might come to that but I hope it won't. Thanks for your comments.
Got-lotr: The Plot Bunny has struck! Harry is in for a rough ride in the future! Thank you for reading and reviewing!
Moon Lace: Hope you had a nice holiday! It's becoming difficult for me to keep writing different notes: I'm afraid that eventually one of them will probably give the whole plot away. Dumbledore is lying but only to protect Harry from the truth (don't worry, in later chapters Dumbledore will have to tell Harry the truth but that won't be a while at least, I'm thinking about Chapter 14 I'm not sure). Harry will get more courageous later on but he's just going through a tough time. He hasn't got himself into a situation to prove how courageous he is in this year. In my last author reply to you I said that the sender is related in a way to Sirius? What I actually meant to say is that its someone who he was close to but not actually part of his family, if you get what I mean. Hopefully that clears that little mess up! Thanks for your two wonderful reviews!
KelseyRadcliffe: Your guess could be right, but I'm not saying. You'll be finding out who the sender is around Chapter 14 if all goes to plan. Thank you for reading and reviewing!
Ash Knight: I can't really help with all the cliff-hangers unfortunately. There is just too much going on for it to be like that: sorry! SB is too obvious but there is a deeper meaning behind it all. You'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for the review!
