A/N: Yet another chapter! I'm running out of things 2 say... Thanks for reading keep reviewing! Enjoy the chapter!

CHAPTER 27

"Harry? Can you hear us?" Harry opened his eyes. He was in bright light. The hospital wing. Madam Pompfrey was leaning over him with a bottle of something. Ron and Hermione were also there.

"What happened?" He asked weakly. He could only vaguely remember the events of the night before. Then a fully-grown werewolf entered his mind. He was filled with despair. He looked down at his arm to see that it was heavily bandaged.

"You're so lucky Harry! Out of all the werewolves!" Hermione gasped, smiling at him.

"How am I lucky?" Harry asked miserably. He knew that there was no cure for werewolf bites.

"You're ok!" Hermione said happily. "I knew at once how to do it of course, one look at the snout of the werewolf to tell whether it was dangerous or not. I looked at the snout and, it was just a wolf Harry! I've no idea how it got there though..."

Harry felt all his despair and loss vanishing, "you mean I don't... I'm not a werewolf?"

"That's right." Smiled Hermione. "But we were still really worried about you! Some wolves inject poison, but you seem alright."

"How did I get here?" Harry asked.

"Firenze." Said Ron. "He and the centaurs. They took you to the castle. You've been here all night, but then it was quite a big bite. That thing really took quite a chunk out of you!"

Madam Pompfrey was unbandaging him and dabbing at the rapidly purpling wound with the liquid. "Shouldn't take too long to heal." She said. "This repairs the skin. It went quite deep you know, but we should have you out of here soon. Wolf bites are hard to prevent bleeding though, I'm going to badger Professor Sprout for some more Murtlap essence." She hurried out, leaving Harry free to talk to Ron and Hermione in peace.

"So, Voldermort's at Sharing cross at the moment, but he's moving to Hogwarts?" Harry said in shock. It didn't seem possible having the most evil wizard in the world so close to them.

"Yes." Said Hermione. "I wonder what hidden relatives there are that we haven't discovered already."

"Anna Chang?" Ron suggested.

"Yes," Hermione said thoughtfully. "That's true. Danger, they said. Vol- Voldermort's sending messages."

Ron flinched slightly, but recovered from the shock of hearing his name sooner than usual. "Yeah, he wants revenge. For what?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione snapped. "You're not obeying his orders! You defeated him so many times before! He wants to prove he's greater than you are Harry! I wonder if he sent those wizards to the hogs Head, or were they just there out of their own free will."

"I dunno, probably, they were obviously working for him." Harry said.

Madam Pompfrey came hurrying back in with a small bottle in her hand. She began dabbing at the bite with it. It at once stopped all further pain. "You can go soon." She said, watching as the skin began to enclose the bite.

"Now?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Well, maybe. Wolf bites aren't that serious, yes go on." She decided.

They spent many evenings puzzling over the interesting news they had discovered from the centaurs. Voldermort was moving near Hogwarts? Maybe in Hogwarts? Did he know the secret passages?

Meanwhile, Andrew, William and Ingrid were giving Hermione a hard time. They entered the common room straight after their charms test. The one in which Gretchen was supposed to receive 0%. They surrounded Hermione, wrinkly skinned and completely blue with boils and green spots erupting from it. They appeared to be wearing dragon skin. They were certainly acting like dragons. "How could you!" Roared Ingrid, rounding on Hermione.

"I'm sorry, but I did the right thing!" Hermione spluttered, backing away as the smell of blue dragon skin with green spots was not a pleasant smell.

"You should have seen what the Slytherins were like!" William said sounding equally annoyed.

"Yeah." Muttered a blue spotty Andrew who apparently could think of nothing more to say.

"Why don't you go to the hospital wing?" Harry suggested in the hope that they would leave Hermione alone.

To make everything worse, Gretchen came skipping in, let out a shriek of laughter upon seeing them then she came running over. "I would have thought," she laughed, "that it would have gone by now! It was so funny! At the end of the charms test, suddenly..." She collapsed into a heap of giggles and bounced off again, Ingrid, Andrew, William and Ron snarling after her. They turned back to Hermione, Ron included, and he looked equally outraged and disappointed.

"Hermione, you should have let them!" Ron said angrily.

Hermione had had enough. She grabbed her school bag and books and hurried out of sight. "Now look what you done!" Harry snapped at all four of them. He too left the common room.

He was walking along one of the corridors when he almost tripped over Luna Lovegood who was sitting on the ground by the small remainder of swamp that Fred and George had left as a landmark the previous year. Her school bag was next to her; she was fishing out bits of swamp and letting it drop in again. "Where have you been?" Harry asked her suspiciously.

"Oh, I just went to see Professor Snape. I've just heard the good news." She said.

"What good news?" Harry asked her, frowning slightly.

"About the werewolf bite, I wanted to tell you something..." She began.

"Oh, it was just a wolf, why is that good?" Harry asked her, utterly bewildered.

Luna looked at him for a while, then shrugged. "No reason." She said quietly and got to her feet and slipped away upstairs. "Wait!" Harry called after her, but she had gone, leaving Harry feeling very puzzled. How could that be good news? Unless... Harry shook his head firmly. His imagination was running wild. Was Luna still visiting the forest? He had asked Hagrid yesterday if he had seen her and he had said no. Why did she need to see Snape? He needed to write to someone. Write about what the centaurs had said. He decided on Lupin, so he headed down to the owlery to find Hedwig who had not delivered a letter in ages.

He was not the only one in the owlery, careful not to tread in dead rat skeletons; he stepped over to Hedwig's usual perch. "Harry?" Came a muffled voice.

It was Hermione. She was desperately trying to prevent Crookshanks from escaping her grasp. "Hermione! Why did you bring..."

"I didn't." Hermione said as Crookshanks hissed at several owls, who hooted indignantly and moved away. Hermione gave up and put Crookshanks down. "He just followed me."

"Did you know the dragon skin wouldn't work?" Harry asked her quietly.

Hermione nodded. "It's just, I like Gretchen. She's not that bad and Ginny says she's really nice once you get to know her. She said she agrees with me. But, it's Ron as well. I just couldn't let them do it!" She whispered, gently stroking Crookshanks who was watching the birds in hope.

"I agree with you Hermione." Harry said. Finding Hedwig and picking her up. "I'm just sending a letter to Lupin."

Ron was in a continuous bad mood with Hermione, which she was finding hard to cope with. "It's just silly!" She snapped, looking over at Ron who was sitting with Dean and Seamus by the window. "All over a stupid trick! It doesn't even matter!" But Ron didn't keep it up, Harry often caught him glancing over at them, then looking quickly back out of the window, eventually, he approached.

"It's not that, I think they should have done... well it's... OK, Gretchen's alright." Ron muttered lamely. Hermione seemed to accept this as the best apology she was going to get from Ron, so Harry decided he'd tell both of them about his encounter with Luna Lovegood.

Shortly after, Ingrid, Andrew and William came over as well. "Look," Ingrid began. "We've been thinking... well maybe it's best the dragon skin didn't work. Gretchen's ok. Like William said, no one deserves to get 0%. Except Andrew of course." She smiled at them. "It doesn't matter." She said. It didn't. They spent the rest of the evening trying to beat William Shakklebolt at Gobstones, Ron came the closest, but made a bad move towards the end, eventually, they went to bed.

Harry lay awake on his four poster bed, thinking once again about what the centaurs had told them... "Harry Potter. I see you have not obeyed me. I warned you against it... It was I who sent that werewolf after you... worse will happen if you disobey me again... I know all you know..." Harry however, remained asleep and when he awoke in the morning, he couldn't remember it at all.

"Harry! Behind you!" Harry turned; the snitch was fluttering just centimetres from his right hand. He could not concentrate on it though, it made his head spin to think what things could be going on outside Hogwarts while he was just flying about on the quidditch pitch. Voldermort with his death eaters, plotting revenge on him. Anna Chang, Luna Lovegood, Hagrid, Firenze... Then quite surprisingly, he found himself thinking about Remus Lupin... then... "Harry?" Dennis was waving his hand in front of Harry's face. It jolted him back to his senses; his fingers clasped round the struggling golden ball. Katie blew her whistle.

"We're going to play right into the night if it takes you that long to get the snitch next month!"

Harry let the snitch go, still thinking why Lupin kept creeping in and out of his thoughts. Harry found Ron and explained what he was thinking.

"Yeah," and "mmm." Was all Ron seemed able to manage so Harry gave up.

It wasn't only quidditch that it was affecting. "Who can tell me how a manticore differs from a flobberworm?" Snape hissed one potions lesson. Hermione's hand shot into the air; Harry was only half-aware of the breeze that had just passed his face as Hermione's hand rose. "Anyone?" Snape asked, pointedly ignoring Hermione. Hermione put down her hand.

"It's just pointless isn't it." Hermione snapped. Harry didn't say anything. Her was prodding the mandrake skeleton with his wand. "Why does he bother asking? It's as though he knows..."

"I want you to copy down these instructions." Snape said waving his wand at the blackboard, so vigorously it set fire, at the same time, Harry's mandrake skeleton erupted into flames.

"What carelessness." Snape smirked over at Harry, quickly putting out the blackboard flames in the hope that no one would notice. "You can go and get some more Potter."

"Now come on, you're not even trying to try!" Said Professor Lovegood sounding slightly exasperated. Harry and Ron were supposed to be having a duelling session.

"Expeliarmus!" Ron shouted. Harry's wand fell to the floor. Custodis!" Ron shouted, clearly enjoying himself. "Erm, Wingardium Leviosa! Oh no that's charms isn't it..." He muttered as Harry began to rise.

To top it all off, Gretchen entered the common room with last week's test clutched in her hand. "102%!" She announced to the common room who were either not listening or glaring at her, and frowning down at their own result.

"77%!" Came Andrew's happy voice. "It's a record."

"I got 82!" Ingrid exclaimed.

"Yeah, well me..." William flashed his paper proudly, so they could see the two 9s on it. "99%! I missed the one about the leprechaun."

Harry smiled, he was glad they weren't annoyed with Hermione any more, but he still couldn't help but feel a bit wistful...

Then night fell. "I see I am making myself clearer inside you... You will not defeat me this time... I shall soon find Dumbledore, but schools are petty things, why bother when I am powerful enough to rule..."

Then something very different happened. Although still in the same dark space, Harry heard another voice, his own.

"You're not... It's Albus Dumbledore..." His own voice echoed. They were the exact same words he had once spoken to Voldermort in his second year. He was not speaking them, it was a memory.

"Oh, but I am... I will need you on my side Harry Potter... mmm let me think... Imperi-" Harry suddenly sat up in bed. He could remember everything, he had to go to Dumbledore, Voldermort had almost got him under his own control! Harry knew that the Imperius curse was one that enabled the user to control whoever they chose to use the curse on.

He ran all the way to Dumbledore's office and approached the stone Gargoyle, just as Dumbledore entered himself. "Ah, Harry. I was expecting you." He said and ushered him inside. Though it was midnight, it was pleasantly comfortable and warm in Dumbledore's office. His Phoenix Fawkes still sitting on it's same perch.

"How did you know I was coming?" Harry asked him.

"What you don't seem to understand," Dumbledore began, blue eyes twinkling behind his moon shaped glasses. "Is that I am already far ahead of Voldermort. I know exactly what he is doing and the Order and I are out to stop him. Many Hogwarts students will have had that dream, although I doubt any will have replied, as you are the only one to have had an encounter with him."

"He tried to put me under the imperius curse!" Harry said frantically. He couldn't understand why Dumbledore was being so calm about this.

"Did he..." Dumbledore muttered. "Yes, he is getting a move on. I will inform the order."

"So... what's he doing?" Harry asked, doubting he would get a response.

"I will tell you when we are certain Harry, but until then, you must understand that you are safe."

He was safe? Was that all Dumbledore could bother to tell him? Why was he not contacting the ministry straight away? Harry hated the way Dumbledore was acting so calm.

"There is nothing you can do Harry," Dumbledore said as though he was addressing a young child who had dropped a bottle of milk. "Voldermort will do whatever he needs to for revenge and neither you nor me can stop him, until of course, we need to."

"But we do need to!" Harry shouted in frustration. "He's put the imperius curse on Anna, and almost on me! It's important!"

Dumbledore continued to smile. "Don't worry Harry, no harm will come to any of my students, I suggest you go back to bed, thank you for informing me."

Harry wanted to stay, to convince Dumbledore that he was wrong, but he returned to bed, hardly daring to fall asleep, in case the same thing happened, but when he did eventually drift off, nothing happened.