Chapter 3 Broadening the Mind

Harry walked into Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and expected to see what it looked like last time. Last time it was dirty and it had an annoying screaming Mother. All the dust was put away, and the mother was still there although she didn't scream. She was actually jolly. Lots of people were standing in the entry way to greet Harry. Harry didn't care too much for them and it took 20 minutes to finally reach the upstairs bedrooms. People kept patting his back and a few others introduced themselves. Mostly it was people Harry had already known. It looked like more people had joined the Order and everyone Harry already knew that was in the Order was here to greet him as well. Before Harry had the chance to walk upstairs, his eye caught Dumbledore's and Harry could tell it was a glimpse of, "are you ok?"

Harry finally carried his trunk up the stairs and Hermionie was rambled on about a book on ghouls that she had read and thought it might interest Harry. "So anyways Harry, there are these really weird ghouls called diamond ghouls who live under the ground and they are looking for treasure and." Hermionie kept drowning on but Harry wasn't listening. Grimmauld Place now looked a lot like Aunt Petunia's place, clean and tidy. It looked like something out of a Martha Stuart Magazine. When Harry got into his new room (which he was sharing with Ron), he jumped back on the bed and just laid there.

At last, Ron butted in on Hermionie's boring lecture, "Oh cut it out Hermionie," he said. "I don't think Harry really cares about all the ghouls you learned about in that book of yours."

"Yes but..." she said, "I was trying to distract his mind. Oh I can't wait any longer, how are you Harry?" Hermionie waited for an answer but didn't receive one. Instead she signed and left the room.

Ron walked over to his bed and sat down. For several minutes, there was silence. Ron finally said, "So Harry, Hermionie and I are really worried. Why aren't you speaking? Harry I know you are going through some troubling times right now but if you just keep yourself busy it will help you get it off your mind." Harry sat still, not wanting to listen. Ron continued, "Harry, I know that you are upset but look at you. You are still alive and once again you made it past Voldemort. Death is something all of us have to go through and it's just a phase. Death is not the end Harry. I just wanted you to know that." He got up and left Harry alone. Harry lay in the bed and drifted off into a dream.

Harry walked into a large library. Silence let Harry hear every footstep he took. There were tons and tons of books and they were all kept in tight bookshelves. A bunch of large windows scattered the library bringing in light. A fire place and a chair stood at the far wall opposite Harry. He walked towards it and took a seat. Looking around he sat and enjoyed the warmth coming from the fire. Harry suddenly heard a noise and turned to look. Lord Voldemort was standing where Harry had been only a few minutes earlier. He was waiting for something although Harry wasn't quite sure what. Finally another Wizard suddenly appeared and Harry knew very well that it was Wormtail. Wormtail handed Voldemort a wand and then disappeared. Lord Voldemort took two steps and then stopped. Looking at his wand he said, "Harry you have escaped me one too many times. I am willing to let you fight me in a duel for the last and final time. It is time that you show yourself to be a man and not a child. Looking around, you will see that we are alone. No one will enter and you will not have any help. Fight your best Harry for I want a fair fight. Otherwise I will kill you as I failed to do 16 years ago." Harry looked at Voldemort and then started running. Harry could hear Voldemort laughing and then said, "You cannot run. We are standing amongst the underworld and up above, in the coliseum of Grease and the mountains of China, through the oceans surrounding Hawaii and the landlocked Mongolia. We are surrounded by the world itself." Harry sat up and took out his wand. He was about to yell a curse but Voldemort beat him to it. Voldemort called out, "IMPERIO." Suddenly, Harry felt a huge pain in his forehead that he couldn't control. It felt like a thousand knives were stabbing Harry and Harry couldn't get away. Voldemort flick his wand and Harry was doing cartwheels and tumbling that was puncturing his back. Voldemort was laughing and then calmed himself down enough to say, "Thought you could use some pain before I kill you." Then he started laughing again. At last He finally stopped and let Harry come out of the curse. Voldemort threw Harry against a wall and Harry tumbled to the floor. Harry took large deep breaths trying to gain control of his body. The pain was irresistibly perfect. No one could stand pain as he had felt.

Harry got up slowly and yelled, "Expelliarmus!" Voldemort was too fast for Harry though. He blocked Harry's force and yelled, "Avada Kedavra." Harry hadn't expected a sudden attack so fast and could not block the powerful force that came from Voldemort's wand. Harry was blasted from the force and hit the wall he had hit seconds earlier. A flash of green light drowned Harry to sleep. Things past through Harry's eyes fast and Harry saw the green light he saw when he was one, Harry saw when Dudley got all the presents for his birthday, Harry watched the scene at the zoo, when he received the letter to Hogwarts, and when he was making friends. Harry saw when Harry faced Voldemort in his first year. When Harry went into the Chamber of Secrets, when Harry met Sirius, when Harry got his name called out of the Goblet, when Harry saw Cedric die, when Harry saw Sirius die and finally Harry watched the scene that had occurred moments before. Harry lay uncontrollably onto the ground while Voldemort was jumping up and down very happy. Voldemort took one more glace at Harry and made sure he was dead before apparating. Harry watched Dumbledore apperate into the scene and ran towards Harry. Grabbing Harry's body, he was crying.

Harry's body was brought to Hogwarts and remained in the hospital ward for a long time. Harry's mind watched his body over a white veil. Harry kept watching his body and saw people coming to mourn for him. Aunt Petunia came to see Harry and Harry could see a teary eye. Harry watched Ron watching over Harry's body and Ron didn't speak a word to anyone. Hermionie came but didn't stay long. She kept running away from Harry's body and couldn't stop crying. Remus and Moody came and wouldn't leave Harry's side for a couple of days. Everyone Harry loved came to the scene. Even Malfoy managed to come and look at Harry. Harry finally grew tired of watching everyone mourn of him that he turned around and peered at clouds.

Harry looked back at his scene and noticed a veil. He tried and looked beyond the veil and saw a room that looked like the Department of Mysteries. He then turned back and walked into the clouds. Beyond the clouds were flowers and waterfalls, food of all kinds, everything. Inner beauty was the scene here and Harry wondered if this was heaven. Three people called out to Harry although Harry couldn't make out their faces. Finally they came closer and Harry noticed his father, mother and Sirius. They were all happy and looked like they were waiting for him. "Harry," said Lilly, "You have grown up so much. We are so proud of you. We have waited a long time for us to join together again."

"Good to see you again Harry." Sirius said

"Son, I am so proud of you. You tried you hardest and I am proud of how far you got."

"Harry I want you to know that I was waiting for you in the veil. You couldn't see me but I was watching you. Don't be mad at yourself for not making it in time to catch me. It was my time to go and I got to see your parents again. It's not your fault that you forgot the mirror, and it's not your fault for worrying about me. It's so nice to see you Harry." Sirius said.

"Harry, I see that you used my cloak well. I am glad that it got in your possession," said James.

"Harry wake up, wake up, WAKE UP! Dinner's ready," said Ron.

Harry sat up, it was the best dream that Harry had ever had. He had never realized what life would be like after death. He growled at Ron, "Why did you wake me up? Why couldn't you just let me sleep?"

"Mum wants you to eat and I had no choice. You have slept all day and mum wanted you to eat, so let's go!" Ron answered back.

Harry rubbed his eyes and stood up. He walked down the stairs a bit dizzy but made it to the table. A huge table decorated with a table clothe and floating candles had decorated the room. The room looked spectacular and Harry and Ron took a seat next to Hermionie. For dinner Harry had beef and Yorkshire pudding for desert. The beef was tasty and the pudding was exactly what Harry was looking for. Fred and George kept the conversation going about their business and everyone was interested with what they were working on next. Harry didn't say much and he liked it that way. This was how he wanted it to be, he was able to see his friends but not participate yet. Harry wasn't ready for that giant step yet of participating. After dinner, everyone in the Order gathered in the Order's conference room including Fred and George who were now old enough to join, and had a meeting. This left Harry, Ron, Hermionie, and Ginny together. Ron tried to start a conversation by saying, "So Hermionie, what have you done this summer so far?"

She simply replied back, "Oh not much, I just have been you know, hanging around." She blushed naturedly and looked at a pot across the room.

Harry blurted out, "She's dating Malfoy."

"Harry, that's a good one," said Ron. "Yea so how is that dating coming along?" Ron laughed at this and Hermionie's face was as red as a tomato. "Have you guys you know nener nener nener?" he continued to laugh. Ron couldn't control himself. Hermionie's face was now so red that she looked like she was about to explode.

"Thanks Harry," she said. She got up and stormed up to bed. Ginny got up and left too and it left Ron and Harry alone.

"You know, she really is dating him. I saw them at Diagon Alley and they looked really happy." Harry said. Harry then got up and left the room. He climbed the stairs and got to Ron and Harry's bedroom. He changed into his pajamas and then went to bed. A few minutes later Ron came into the room and sat on his bed.

"She really is dating him huh?"

"Yup," Harry said.

"I bet Malfoy treats her like shit."

"I wouldn't know." The conversation went downhill from there. Harry doused off into another dream but not just any dream, the dream. He continued to talk with his parents and Sirius about his time before school.

He talked about Aunt Petunia, and Lily said, "My sister always was jealous. She got a letter too, but she didn't accept it. It was her choice. She still had no right treating you like that though." Harry kept going on and on about everything. He felt like he kept all this information in his body for years and needed to spill out but couldn't. Harry, Sirius, and his parents walked around paradise and talked about everything. They couldn't stop talking and they were having fun. They talked for hours until finally the sunset came and they were looking out at the pink and purple skies enjoying it.

At last Sirius said, "Well I'm going to bed, See you."

"Yea we should go to bed too." James said. James and Lilly took Harry to a beautiful estate house that beat Petunia's any day. They gave Harry his own room, and Harry went to bed on a nice fluffy mattress with silk sheets.

He slept so comfortable until finally someone said, "Harry, wake up wake up." Although it wasn't anyone in the dream who woke Harry up, it was Ginny. "Harry, wake UP!" Harry finally woke up and grabbed for his glasses.

He put them on and barely awake said, "What's wrong Ginny?"

"It's Hermionie," she said. "She's really mad at you for telling her about Malfoy. I don't think she wanted you to tell Ron. I think inside Hermionie has a thing for Ron."

Harry felt bad he didn't know what to do. "So why are you telling me this? I don't know what to do."

"Because I'm worried and you're her friend. Just talk to her."

"Oh all right," Harry slowly got up out of bed and followed Ginny into her bedroom. It was dark going down the hall and Harry could hear the snoring of busy people sleeping. When Harry and Ginny finally got to Ginny's room, Harry walked in and saw Hermionie crying.

"Hermionie," he said. "Are you ok?"

"Oh coarse I'm not ok. You told Ron, I asked you not to tell him."

"I'm sorry, it just slipped out. I really didn't mean to tell him."

"I think you really hurt her Harry," Ginny said with a look of concern.

"Hermionie, what do you want me to do?" Harry said in command.

"Just walk away," said Hermionie.

"I should have known." Harry mumbled.

"Harry, just walk away." Harry left Hermionie and Ginny's room with guilt. Why did I have to open my big fat mouth? He thought. If only I just kept my mouth shut. I always make the wrong mistake. Harry realized that he was walking around the house as he was thinking. Harry looked around at the room that he now stood and saw Kreacher looking though his stuff in the cupboard.

"YOU," Harry roared.

"I...I..." Kreacher didn't have anything to say so he started running. Harry chased after him and gained on Kreacher's speed. "Master must not be mad." Kreacher said.

"You are going to DIE Kreacher. You KILLED SIRIUS. He's DEAD. You killed your Master and my god father. YOU KILLED HIM. I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO KILL YOU. YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!!!" screamed Harry.

"I'm so sorry sir. I didn't mean to. I got taken advantage. I...I... sir don't be mad at me," pleaded Kreacher.

"I am going to rip you from your bones and hang your head with the others," threatened Harry. Harry reached into his pants pocket and grabbed his wand. He pulled the wand out and flicked but was interrupted before he could chant a spell.

"Harry, wait. HARRY NO!" Moody pleaded. "He's not worth it. Don't steep to his level. Don't do it." Harry turned around to look at who was talking and when he lowered his wand and turned back to look at Kreacher, he was gone.

"WHERE DID HE GO?" roared Harry. "Where is he?"

"Wherever he is Harry, he's long gone."

"But...But."

"Harry I know. It's not fair but you can't do that."

"He betrayed us and was a servant for Voldemort. You're going to give him a free ride on the cause of killing Sirius? I thought you were his FRIEND? I thought you cared for Sirius. You're letting him walk away with a free pass. I can't give up the one thing I need and you stopped me. What did I do to deserve? Huh? What did I deserve? I get nothing in return and he gets to walk all over me." By this time Harry was crying. He couldn't control his anger. He couldn't deal with the things that were happening around him. Everyone was awake and watching Harry from the entry way when Harry looked up at them and then Harry barfed.

The next week Harry was sick. Harry stayed in bed all day and just rested. He didn't talk to people much but people came to talk with him. Hermionie was worried about him once again and she urged Mrs. Weasley to take her to a library to see if anything could cure him. Mrs. Weasley ignored Hermionie's pleads and continued to say, "He just needs his rest."

Ron brought Harry his food twice a day, which usually was a soup but Harry barely hate. He wasn't hungry and He didn't care for food. Ron kept informing Harry with any details from the Order, but it wasn't much. Ron told Harry that the Order was working on something and that they were looking for Voldemort. Ron couldn't get many details though. Conversations downstairs were talking a lot about Harry's health and he heard what they said. "Should we take him to the hospital?" "Poor guy, He's been through a lot." "He'll be fine, he's strong." "If he doesn't eat then he won't get his strength back."

Harry was tired of people talking about him. Harry could tell that he was losing weight but he didn't care. He wasn't hungry and if he dies of hunger then it would be doing him a favor. Two weeks had passed and at last Harry finally was feeling better. Harry got up one day and walked around the upstairs. He finally decided to go downstairs and Harry watched from the last step Ron and Hermionie fighting.

"Well he is my BOYFRIEND and I have every right to want to be with him."

"He hates mudbloods and his father is a DEATH EATER. Don't you forget? Do you remember what happened at the Department of Mysteries or should I remind you?"

"Don't you dare talk about my father Goodwill!"

"Make me," Ron replied.

"Ron, just let it go. I am with Malfoy now and you are going to live with it. He likes me and I like him and you're not going to get in the way of our relationship. Besides what do you care about me for?"

"I...I...uh I don't. I just wanted to remind you that his father is a DEATH EATER and that you could get hurt," Ron said with a bit more anger.

"Well don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Besides you should be taking care of Harry. Harry is going through a hard time and he needs all the help he can get."

"Speak for yourself Hermionie. Why don't you help him? Everyday I'm in the room helping Harry and you don't do a thing. Don't think for a second that I am not taking care of him. You barely even look at him."

"Watch what you say Weasley." Malfoy said.

"Cram it Malfoy. This is between Hermionie and Me. Why don't you go and join Voldemort like your father." At that very moment, Harry walked into the scene. Malfoy and Ron were still looking at each other like they were about to start World War III.

They were about to start attacking each other when Hermionie said, "Oh hello Harry. How are you feeling?" Ron turned his head to look at Harry when Malfoy's fist rammed into Ron's face. Ron turned around and in seconds they were both on the ground fist fighting. Hermionie was screaming, "Stop it. STOP. STOP IT!" She ran towards them and tried to pull Malfoy off of Ron but Malfoy turned around and hit Hermionie. He didn't mean to and when he noticed that he hit her, she ran up the stairs crying. At that point, the fighting stopped. Harry stood in shock and Ron looked angrier then he had when they started the fight.

Ron said, "Nice Malfoy. Go and hit your girlfriend. Looks like you're not getting another call."

"Say one more thing Weasley and I'll pin your head to the ground."

"Don't talk about my friends like that." Harry said.

"No thanks. I don't need to take advice from you."

"Save all your bull shit for some other day." Harry said to Malfoy. Malfoy walked towards Harry and was ready to attack.

"What is all this commotion?" Lupin walked into the room furious. "What is exactly happening?" Lupin asked again. "Well? Someone better speak."

"Nothing," Ron answered.

"Nothing? It surely seems like something." Lupin replied.

"Nothing," repeated Malfoy. He took one nasty snare at Harry and Ron and left.

"Well then do you want to go to Diagon Alley?"

"No thanks Lupin. We have things that need to be settled here." Harry replied.

"That's a good answer." Lupin said approvingly. "Well Harry it looks like you got out of bed. How are you feeling?"

"Fine," lied Harry.

"Alright, well off to Diagon Alley. See you."

"Bye," Ron muttered.

Ron and Harry walked up the stairs to Hermionie's room. They were worried about Hermionie and they wanted to comfort her. When they saw Hermionie, she was crying on her bed.

Ron thoughtfully said, "Sorry Hermionie, I just erupted. I didn't mean to cause a commotion."

"I am so stupid. Why did I ever think that I had a chance with him? It's my entire fault. What was I thinking?" blamed Hermionie.

"Well I told you so," Ron said. Hermionie buried herself in her pillow again and started crying deeply. "Hermionie, I didn't mean it that way. Malfoy is a fool and I just didn't want you to get hurt."

Hermionie looked up at Ron and laughed. "I'm such a fool." She took a deep breath and said, "Let's go and see what Mrs. Weasley is making for lunch."

"Good idea," added Harry.

Hermionie, Ron, and Harry walked down the flight of stairs and when they reached the bottom and walked to the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was startled by their appearance and started nagging at Harry. "Harry, how are you feeling? Harry sit down? Harry are you hungry? Harry do you need something? Harry Sit down!"

Harry replied, "I'm fine, yes I'm hungry, I don't need anything, and I would prefer standing."

Mrs. Weasley growled back, "I really would like it if you sat Harry."

"Mom," snapped Ron. "He said he was fine. He doesn't want to sit down. Besides for two weeks he has been lying down. I think the least thing he would want to do is sit."

"Oh alright," losing confidence. "Well if you need anything, let me know," she said.

"So mum," Ron said, "What's for lunch?"

"Cucumber sandwiches and butterbeer; Nothing fancy," she replied.

"Oh yum!" Hermionie called out.

The rest of the day was really slow. Harry, Hermionie, and Ron didn't do much. They mostly just hung out all day playing wizard's chess or talking. Harry was glad to be feeling better and he was glad to be hanging with his friends like old times. When it was finally dinner time, Harry had a great dinner. He participated in the conversations and everything. He even slept comfortably that night with no bad dreams until....

Hours later, it was different however. Lots of commotion woke Harry up at 3:30 in the morning. Slamming doors and whispers woke the whole house up. Finally Harry couldn't take it so he walked to the foot of the stairs and eavesdropped.

"Dumbledore, what are we going to do? Another muggle dead, we can't hide from this forever. The muggles will need to know too. This is out of our hands. Voldemort is dangerous. What about Potter? He is in grave danger. Voldemort is going to come after Harry and Harry won't be able to run. He will gain on us Professor." A familiar voice told Harry that it was Professor McGonagall.

"I have no idea. Potter will have to go into hiding but I am not sure what do to about the attacks. With no minister at the ministry, we are in danger. Someone will need to take Fudge's place. The governors will take action. Lucius is on the board. I expect terrible things will be happening this year. We mustn't tell Harry. No, we shouldn't worry the boy," Dumbledore replied. Harry thought, why does my name always come up? I can handle myself. I wish everyone wasn't so paranoid. Harry soon lost interest with his thinking and returned to the murmuring of Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"So who is the boy who was killed?" McGonagall asked.

"Mark Evans. A very odd boy," Dumbledore chuckled.

"And at a park?" questioned McGonagall.

"Yes that's correct Professor." Mark Evans. Harry thought, why does that name ring a bell? I know it from somewhere. Oh yea. He beat me up one time. To Harry's horror he remembered, he is one of Dudley's friend! Harry knew it was too late to wake up Ron and Hermionie, so he reluctantly went to bed.

Harry dreamed that he was at private drive and he went for his daily walk. He chose to go to the park since it was deserted. He lay on the grass comfortably and he daydreamed. He hadn't realized that it was getting late and the sun was setting. Dudley and his gang were gaining on Harry and Harry looked up. They reached Harry and Dudley said, "Oh, it's only Harry. Let's go." Some of the boys wanted to hit Harry though. "Can't we pound him a little?" Dudley was about to answer when four people magically appeared (apparated) next to Harry. Harry recognized them to be Voldemort himself, Macnair, Kreacher, and Bellatrix. Dudley and his gang ran away, although one of them tripped on a rock. Mark Evans was lying on the grass next to Harry with a face full of horror. Harry had never seen someone so afraid. Voldemort walked closer to Harry but stopped when he saw Mark Evans. He told Macnair and Bellatrix, "Well we can't have someone in the way of our killing of Harry Potter. AVADA KEDAVRA." Without hesitation, Mark Evans died right next to Harry.

Harry woke up with sweat on his face. He took a few deep breath and looked around. He wasn't in Grimmauld Place. To Harry's surprise, he was in the hospital wing in Hogwarts. He looked around and then saw Madam Pomfrey look up from her office she then ran out of the Hospital. Minutes later, she returned with Dumbledore. He looked at Harry and with a smile on his face, he ran towards him. Harry was confused.

"Welcome back Harry." Dumbledore said.

"Welcome back? What do you mean welcome back? I have been at Grimmauld place. How did I get here?" questioned Harry.

"Hold on Harry. Lets take things one pace at a time. Harry I can assure you that you haven't been to Grimmauld Place since your 5th year. But there is more important things then telling you that you haven't been to Grimmauld Place, wherever you got that idea from. Harry take a deep breath. What I am about to tell you will shock you. Harry, do you know what month it is?"

"Of coarse I know what month it is. What kind of question is that?"

"Harry, please just answer my question."

"The last time I checked, it was August."

"Harry....Harry....you a far behind with the times. It was August three months ago. Today Is November 18th. You see, the start of your 6th term has already started."

"What? What are you talking about?" Harry was confused. Why would Dumbledore lie to me? Dumbledore must be playing a joke.

"Harry please don't interrupt me. As I was saying, the day is November 18th. You have been in a Coma for five months. How you woke from the coma still confuses me but we are grateful to see you back. The new Minister of Magic, you may know as Court Scribe who was at your hearing in your 5th year suggested that you were to go to Hogwarts incase you "woke up." Miraculously you have and now you will be able to start school in about three days."

"But how?" Speechless, Harry could tell that Dumbledore wasn't lying.

"Harry, you went a bit insane when you went back to Private Drive. You wouldn't eat, sleep, talk, or do anything. You were so upset about Sirius you couldn't take all the uproar. A week later, you went into a Coma. You were removed from Private Drive and taken to St. Mungo's. Finally when school started, they moved you here." Harry, a bit confused listened hard. "There is a lot to tell you Harry but I don't think now is the time."

Dumbledore called out to Madam Pomfrey, "I think it is time to alert Professor McGonagall, Ron, and Hermionie."

"Dumbledore, I think that Harry shouldn't get visitors yet. He needs all the rest he can get. Can't we wait till tomorrow?" she replied back.

"No, this cannot wait. Plus I think that Harry has had enough rest."