A/N: To those who haven't read the new chapter 13, go read it now. I replaced the contents instead of removing it coz I couldn't bear to lose at least 26 reviews. The title of the chapter can't be changed though. Any ideas or tips?

Chapter 14: The Banshai

As the tigercats too disappeared in the grey clouds, Professor Dumbledore kneeled beside Sirius' unconscious form.

"How is he, Dumbledore?" McGonagall asked.

"He is still breathing. We need to get him to the Hospital Wing." Professor Dumbledore conjured a stretcher and Sirius was floated to the Hospital Wing.

After an initial check-up, Madam Pomfrey announced that he was stable but in a coma-like state.

"When will he wake up?" McGonagall looked questioningly at Madam Pomfrey.

"I am afraid it will not be that simple" Professor Dumbledore answered for her.

He heaved a weary sigh as the other two looked at him.

"He is not suffering from any physical injuries. His state is caused by banshee magic. It was lucky they stopped the attack when they did, a little longer and he might have died. Sirius has been so heart-broken these days since Harry's rejection. I am very relieved that he has survived it. It was more than I expected."

"But if his state is caused by banshee magic, then how will he wake up?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"That remains to be seen" Dumbledore rose from his seat.

"However, right now we have a frantic student body that needs to be reassured." Dumbledore left the Hospital Wing followed by Professor McGonagall while Madam Pomfrey returned to her duties.

The other teachers had herded the students back to the Great Hall and tried to calm them as much as they could. The prefects had been sent out to bring back all of the students who had left the Great Hall. The students as well as teachers calmed down somewhat when Dumbledore entered the Great Hall. Once everyone had been assembled and seated, Professor Dumbledore began to speak.

He explained that Professor Black was currently in a sleep-like state and would not be able to teach. Then he asked the teachers to explain what had happened in the Great Hall during breakfast when he wasn't there. It was Professor McGonagall who told him about Harry's outburst and the memory he had shown them all. Everyone else was quiet throughout the explanation. Dumbledore's expression grew even graver when he heard what had happened.

"Professor Dumbledore, wh-what's going to happen to Harry?" Hermione asked as soon as McGonagall had finished.

She and Ron sat side by side, still deeply shocked and miserable. Both of them felt guiltier than ever before for the pain that Harry had endured because of them. They were more composed than some of the other students which was surprising to the others but after having been through so much with Harry through the years, they had learnt to deal with such situations without overreacting.

"I am afraid, Miss Granger that Harry has been turned into a banshai" Professor Dumbledore's sober statement echoed in the Great Hall.

Hermione was looking horrified, as were some other students but the rest of them wore confused expressions. Despite seeing the evidence with her own eyes earlier, Hermione had been hoping that Professor Dumbledore would tell them it was a mistake or something else had happened and come up with some miraculous solution to rescue Harry. But hearing Dumbledore say that made Hermione lose all hope.

Dumbledore began to explain what had happened to Harry to the students who were listening quietly, knowing that leaving it a mystery would make the students come up with crazy speculations. Dumbledore tried to explain how the grief and pain from Harry's past made it possible for him to be turned into a banshai. He knew some of the students would feel guilty, but he explained how Harry must have felt all this time. It had been a mistake not to do this from the start. The other students' insensitivity and callousness had been the last straw for Harry. Harry should have had their compassion and understanding instead of more expectations on how he should behave and what he should do. Dumbledore had hoped coming back to Hogwarts would help heal Harry but instead all of them had pushed him over the brink.

Dumbledore wanted Harry to have a happy life in the end now that the war was over. But pure happiness could not be achieved while holding pain and grudges in your heart. You had to let go of the past to be able to step into the future. He knew Harry could have lived a relatively peaceful and calm life away from them all as he had wanted all along, but it would not be the best life. Deep down inside, he would always feel anger and resentment towards them all and that feeling would fill his life with bitterness. Dumbledore had allowed one of his students to carry that kind of resentment inside him once before. That boy's resentment had been towards the muggles whom he had grown up with. That boy had grown up to become a monster named Voldemort that wanted to inflict his pain on the rest of the world, who wanted every muggle to pay for the pain caused by a few.

Every time Dumbledore remembered the smart young man named Tom Riddle, he regretted not interfering with his life. If only Dumbledore had made him see that not all muggles were as horrible as those at the orphanage where he lived, that those muggles were just ignorant fools. If only he had made Tom work out his feelings and forgive the muggles who had wronged him, maybe today Tom Riddle would have been the Minister for Magic with a happy family and a son who was Head Boy at Hogwarts and a daughter who was an Auror. Instead he had devoted his life to destroying muggles and ruling the world and in the end it had been all for nothing. So many people had died, so many families torn apart because Dumbledore hadn't interfered and stayed away as Riddle had asked him to.

Dumbledore had vowed never again to allow any of his students to waste away with such empty emotions. He had done his best to get Harry back and he had planned to spend the next two years doing everything he could to help Harry get over everything so that Harry wouldn't be lost like Tom had been. He had planned to get Harry back with his friends or at least make new ones. He had planned for Harry to have a family like he always wanted with Sirius taking his father's place. He had planned for Harry to be happy again. And he would not give up on him. But what could he do now?

Dumbledore finished explaining about the banshai and he could see many of the students looking guilty. He ended his speech with a strong caution to the students that the incident must remain a Hogwarts secret and no one was to give anymore interviews to the reporters. If any student leaked the news about Harry to anyone outside of Hogwarts, the consequences would be dire. Classes for the day were cancelled and the students drifted out. Professor McGonagall explained Sirius' condition to the other teachers all of them set out to research and try and to find some clue to save him.

Many students were strolling on the grounds and one such group consisted mainly of Hufflepuffs who were gathered around Ernie McMillan trying to console him. Even his closest friends, Justin Flinch-Fletchly and Hannah Abbot hadn't ever seen him so desolate. Ernie could sometimes be very insensitive but he wasn't mean on purpose, just clueless and slightly pompous. It really had been his cousins and their parents who died in that vision Harry had showed them all. Last year, attending their funeral had been so painful to him. He had grown up with his cousins and they were very close, they had dreamt so many things together for when they all grew up. Their deaths had been a great blow to him. Seeing the way they had been tortured to death that morning was beyond anything Ernie had ever imagined. He knew Death-eaters were vile and cruel and they murdered people but watching them torture his relatives, hearing his cousins keening screams had shown him the reality of it all for the first time. He felt that he could never get over this.

His friends looked at each other helplessly not knowing what to say to make him feel better. They had been quite appalled by what they had seen and they hadn't even known the McMillans. Justin remembered the many times Ernie had spoken fondly of his cousin, Abby who was always so nice to Ernie. She would share her piece of cake with him but not with her big brother. She would steal his broomstick and borrow it to Ernie. She would do the sweetest things for him and irritate her brother to no end. Her loss had been hard enough on Ernie, but watching her scream in agony under the Cruciatus for an eternity before being killed must have been unimaginably painful. It had been unbearable even for Justin and he only knew about her from what Ernie had told him. Justin didn't know what to say to Ernie. He didn't know how Ernie felt right now, he couldn't imagine what he must be thinking. So he just sat there, by Ernie's side, offering his silent support and the other took their cue from him. The group sat under a tree by the lake in the gloomy morning.

Once the pain had numbed slightly, Ernie couldn't help but relive Harry's every single word over and over again. Ernie would never ever forget the things Harry had said that morning. It was as if every word was engraved on the inside of his skull, being replayed over and over again. He had said he had seen many such death-visions throughout his stay in Azkaban.

"How many deaths has Harry witnessed?" he asked his silent friends.

Justin and Hannah were relieved that Ernie wasn't crying or screaming but speaking in a calm if somewhat flat tone. That is, until his question sunk in. Everyone looked at each other uneasily.

"He said he had visions from his connection to You-Know-Who through his scar. Last year, so many people died at the hands of Death-Eaters. At one time, the Daily Prophet could only print lists of names since there were too many of them who had been killed. And that was just witches and wizards, not counting muggles. Do you think Harry saw each of them die?" Ernie finally took his eyes off the lake and looked at his friends.

None of them could answer. They hadn't even thought of the visions Harry must get until Ernie mentioned it. They had only found out about it this morning when Harry told them all.

"I was really unfair, wasn't I? I had never imagined that Harry had been through anything like this. I just thought he was locked up in a boring cell. He said Dementors are his worst fears. Did you know that? Did anyone know that they were his worst fears?" Ernie looked desperately at his friends who only shrugged and the silence stretched.

"My dad says the dementors are always patrolling in Azkaban. They don't sleep and they feed on all the prisoners' happy feelings and memories so they just keep gliding around the cells all the time. My dad says that's why most prisoners go crazy, because they have no good feelings or happy thoughts left. Most prisoners try to kill themselves. That's why the boat going to Azkaban has chains on it…….because the prisoners will try to drown themselves by jumping out of the boat. Because of the dementors." Hannah shuddered then fell silent again.

"And…..and those prisoners don't even have dementors as their worst fear, do they? I read a book on dementors, last year. I didn't really finish it, it was too depressing. Dementors make people relive their worst memories." Lisa Turpin, the smart Ravenclaw informed them all.

"Yeah, you remember that time in the Third Year when the dementors came on the Hogwarts Express? When one of them entered our cabin, I began to feel really cold and I heard a hissing sound. And then, just for an instant I could see the basilisk, like when I saw it in Second Year, through Nearly-Headless Nick's ghost body. I forgot about it once the dementor left our compartment. That was caused by the dementors?" Justin asked Lisa, who nodded her head vigorously.

"God knows what Harry must have seen all the hundreds of times a dementor passed his cell" Ernie's bleak words brought back the gloom that had slightly lightened a moment ago.

"He must have lots of bad memories, worse than any of us. I mean, Justin, you only got petrified by the basilisk after looking at it for a few seconds, Harry was the one who fought and killed it, wasn't he? He was right. He has had so much more to worry about than exams and tests like us." Hannah's voice grew subdued.

"He watched his parents die. I read about it in 'A Modern History of Wizards'. He was a year old when You-Know-Who came after his family and killed them." Lisa said.

"And he got new ones like the one where my relatives died. He was right, I was unfair to say all those things. It's all my fault. And now he has been taken away by a group of banshees. Because of me. I did this to him, I pushed him over the edge." Ernie was sinking back into depression.

"Ernie, it's not your fault. Lots of things happened.." Justin's words trailed off.

"No, it's my fault. You heard what Professor Dumbledore said. It became too much for him. He survived all these years fighting so many times against You-Know-Who, killing him, staying in Azkaban. He survived all that but it was too much for him to come back to Hogwarts. I was his friend. I should have helped him get through this, not add to his problems."

"Ernie, don't say that! You can't blame yourself for what happened. We don't even really understand what happened with the banshees." Hannah tried to coax him out of the dismal mood.

That group of disheartened students was just one of many all around the school. There was a silence around Hogwarts. The teachers were sitting in their offices, reading upon Sirius' state or in the library searching information on Banshees. Dumbledore and McGonagall were in the Hospital Wing with Flitwick who had a specialist brought in from St. Mungo's through some connections. Madam Pomfrey hovered continuously over Sirius, feeling unnatural because there was nothing she knew that could help him or cure him. No one had seen Severus Snape since he had parted ways from Dumbledore who was floating Sirius to the Hospital Wing. Snape was probably in his office in the dungeons and even the Slytherins prayed they wouldn't run into him for the day. No one could predict what kind of mood Snape must be in currently.

Seeing the discouraged faces of the students picking at their lunch in the Great Hall, Dumbledore conferred with the teachers. Then he rose to announce that the First, Second and Third Years were to go to the Green houses for a joint Herbology lesson on some rare plants that Hogwarts had received the last week and all the upper years were to stay in the Great hall for an extra Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Not all students were present, some of the students were so traumatized by the events and they had to take Dreamless sleep potions and were asleep in their dorms. Surprisingly the people whom everyone expected to be the most traumatized were still there. While the students finished up their lunch and the younger ones left for the Green houses, Dumbledore once again made his way to the Hospital Wing where a tired and downcast Remus Lupin was standing watch over his only remaining best friend. After some wise words and a subtle order from Dumbledore, Remus found himself gently pushed out of the Hospital Wing and directed towards the Great Hall. Entering a Great Hall devoid of the House Tables, he noticed the glum faces and decided to pull himself together for their sake. Once the students were in place, the class was started by McGonagall.

"Today, you will all be learning how to perform the patronus charm. Now this is a very difficult charm and only very powerful witches and wizards can perform it flawlessly, but you will still practice it. It is highly unlikely that you will perform it well but even a poorly cast patronus can still give you a small amount of protection. The patronus charm is a defense against dementors…." Remus tuned out Professor McGonagall's lecture as he surveyed the students.

There were others who were also not paying attention, like Ron, Hermione, Ernie, Katie, friends of Harry who felt most guilty about what had happened. He knew they still had a thousand questions but they couldn't bring themselves to ask things about what had happened to Harry. Remus couldn't hold back the sigh. He felt guiltier than ever. It was bad enough that Harry had grown up with those hateful muggles and Remus couldn't do anything about it. It was bad enough that Sirius was imprisoned in Azkaban for thirteen years and Remus never helped him. And now he might lose both of them. Chances of Harry returning from the banshees and Sirius recovering from this state were not good. There, that was as positive as he could be and no amount of consoling words from friends and colleagues could help beyond that.

Remus was snatched away from his musings by the students' questions. They wanted to know why they were learning this as it was NEWT level Defense. Professor McGonagall handed the class over to him and Remus composed himself before launching into a sad explanation.

"All of you saw the memory, the vision that Harry…Harry showed this morning in the Great Hall." God, even saying his name was painful. Many of the students winced at the reminder.

"It was a horrible thing to see and I believe it was the worst thing that most of you have ever been through. There might be some of you who are unfortunate enough to have suffered something worse than having to watch the vision this morning, but for the rest of you, it is the worst possible thing you have witnessed, isn't it?" Remus continued after getting nods from almost all the students.

"As Professor McGonagall explained earlier, dementors suck all happy thoughts and memories and bring up the worse memories we have. Most wizards are lucky enough to have only a few bad memories and don't suffer that much but watching anyone tortured and killed before your eyes makes you very vulnerable to dementors. You might remember back in Harry's Third Year all the dementors came to the Quidditch pitch during the match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. All the other players remained in the air, but Harry fell off his broom. That was because Harry relived his parents' deaths every time a dementor came close enough to affect him. His parents hadn't been tortured before their deaths and Harry was barely a year old, so the memory should have been very dim but it affected him like that. After having seen what you did this morning, I think from now on some or all of you might have reactions to dementors similar to Harry's. That is why you must learn to cast the patronus charm." Remus ended the explanation and the real work began.

For the next two hours, the students practiced the charm. It was hard to think happy thought when they were feeling so miserable but with teachers constantly walking around, telling them to practice, the students had to make the effort. As predicted by Dumbledore, the class managed to lift the spirits of all the students who had never been close to Harry. As for Harry's friends, the teachers knew it would take a lot of time before they felt better and disregarded their lack of attention. The unusual day set with the same grey clouds of the morning. After dinner, Ron and Hermione went to visit Sirius and found Professor Lupin sitting by his bedside. Ron wondered if they looked as bad as Lupin did. No words were exchanged, none needed. The three of them only had to look at each other and know that their grief was the same. They sat by Sirius' unmoving form in silence until Dumbledore came an hour later.

"Professor Dumbledore, where is Harry now? Will we ever see him again?" Ron's voice was devoid of its usual energy.

"I'm afraid I don't know, Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore looked like he would keel over at any minute.

"But surely there is something that can be done, Professor. Even if he is a banshai now, there must be a way out, a solution. Harry has overcome so much. He even defeated You-Know-Who. This cannot be the end. This cannot be where he finally loses. There must be a way to get him back. You will get him back, won't you Professor? You will save Harry from the banshees. You will, won't you?" Hermione was hysterical enough that she was tugging at Dumbledore's sleeve until Ron pulled her back.

"Please, please Professor. Please tell us you know a way to fix this. You must get Harry back. There must be something we can do…." Ron trailed off, his hands gripping Hermione's shoulders tightly.

There was silence as they waited for Dumbledore's answer. Even Remus was waiting to hear what he would say. Dumbledore looked at the three broken people in front of him and closed his eyes. They had to get Harry back, no matter what it took. Dumbledore heaved a sigh and opened his eyes.

"I do not know a way to get Harry back right now. But all the teachers are working to find a way out. Harry is in no danger from the banshees, they wouldn't hurt their banshai. Other than that he also had his wand with him when he……left. I don't know whether he can use it or not but he has it. His tigercats also went after him and they will be able to protect him from certain threats. For now, Harry is safe."

"But where is he? What is he doing? What if he goes somewhere we can't find him? You know banshee colonies are almost untraceable." Remus' agitated voice echoed in the Hospital Wing.

"We will know soon enough how he is. We will be able to see him" knowing it was inevitable he beckoned the three to follow him.

On the way to the dungeons, Dumbledore explained the observation spell he had cast on Harry with the help of Snape and McGonagall. Fearing something like this would happen, Dumbledore had cast a complex far-sight spell on Harry without his knowledge, at least his conscious knowledge. Now they could use the mirror in Snape's office which had been enchanted for this purpose to see Harry. The four of them found everything ready when they reached Snape's office. McGonagall helped Dumbledore cast the activating spell on the mirror. Snape avoided looking at anyone directly, the lack of sneer making him very unusual. Then there was no time to look at Snape as the far-sight spell came into effect and the mirror stopped reflecting the office and showed another place instead.

It looked like a forest, only it wasn't dark there. The ground was covered with sand and big and small rocks jutted out in some places. There were a few trees in sight but none of them had any leaves, only bare branches spreading out desolately. And then there were the banshees, their gray, flowing robes blowing back as they walked, their white hair blowing gently away from their faces as if caught in a breeze. And there was Harry. He was sitting on a flat piece of rock roughly the size of his four poster bed. His robes were exactly the same as the banshees' only his were black. His white hair flowing away from his face just like theirs. His expression was serene.

There was a banshee behind him on the rock, kneeling supported by her knees. She had something clutched in her raised hand. It looked like a thick piece of wood, maybe a branch. The top half of it was covered in long, spiky thorn-like things. The lower half was just the wood clutched in the banshee's hand. She raised her hand to his head. In Snape's office, Professor McGonagall clutched her heart, Hermione clamped a hand to her mouth and Ron balled his fists. Was she going to hit him, bury those thorns in his head until blood oozed out? They needn't have worried. The banshee took a lock of Harry's pure white hair and ran the thorny wood through it. It was some sort of brush, she was brushing his hair. In the office, they heaved a sigh of relief.

Another banshee came and sat on a rock close to where Harry was sitting. She held what looked like a wooden bowl of fruit. She offered it to Harry who pushed it back gently. The banshee placed the bowl near Harry.

"What is she doing?" McGonagall asked pointing to another banshee who was much closer to the point from where they were watching.

The banshee was sitting on the ground in front of a rock that must work as a table and she was working very cautiously on something. They couldn't see her hands and what she was working on except when she occasionally lifted a hand and they caught the sight of a dark-coloured string or rope. Her nails were black. Dumbledore explained that it was a symbol that identified her as the leader of this colony.

Whatever work she had been doing, it was finished. As they watched, she stood up and walked over to Harry. As she approached, the banshee who had been brushing Harry's hair got up and moved away respectfully. The banshee with the black nails was carrying that string in her hands as she moved behind Harry. Resting one knee on the rock where Harry was seated, she brought the string over Harry's head and lowering it to his throat, pulled it to the back.

"Is she choking him?" Ron couldn't help but ask.

No one bothered to answer. It wasn't really necessary. On a closer look, the string looked more like a strip of blue-black silk with diamond-like studs on it.

"The necklace" Remus sucked in his breath.

It was indeed the banshai necklace, similar to the banshees' necklaces yet different. Harry's necklace was studded with six white stones, two large ones in the middle with two small ones on each side.

"Why does his necklace have so many stones? None of the other banshees have that many stones. Does it signify rank?" Hermione questioned.

"It can't. Even the leader only has two stones in her necklace. And there are others who have three." McGonagall replied almost absentmindedly.

"The stones are his tears." Dumbledore said somberly.

"What?"

"They are his tears. The ones he shed when the banshees turned him into a banshai this morning. Each banshee collected his tears after her scream. That is what banshee necklaces hold. A banshee's tears." Dumbledore's words rang through the office.

The banshee who had fastened the necklace around Harry's throat came to stand beside him. When he looked up, she opened her mouth and nudged her head forward slightly. Harry nodded and the banshee smiled. Apparently it was some form of communication. The banshee moved forward and kneeled once again by the 'table' rock. The slight smile on her face froze all of a sudden. Whatever she had been doing stopped when she looked up straight at Dumbledore and the others. It was as if she could see through the mirror and look straight at them. She looked angry. In a sudden movement she waved a hand in front of her, palm facing them. Before her wave was even complete the mirror in Snape's office exploded into pieces. Everyone was dazed for a few moments. After that the questions began.

Dumbledore made everyone calm down and explained what he thought. The far-sight spell had been cast by him, McGonagall and Snape one night. Harry had been asleep in his dorms and rightfully shouldn't have realized that the spell had been cast on him, but knowing Harry, he probably sensed it. The spell should have enabled them to view Harry at anytime, no matter where he went. They had been hoping to track him down through clues from the viewing. What they hadn't anticipated was the banshees detecting this spell. Dumbledore knew almost all past attempts to observe banshees had failed but he had thought that the magic cast before Harry was turned into a banshai might have gone undetected. Now that the spell was broken, Dumbledore couldn't think of any other way to get to Harry. But they would all continue to search for a solution.

The days turned into weeks and no one was able to come up with anything to help either Harry or Sirius. Everyone at Hogwarts had dedicated themselves to trying to find a way out for those two. Another experienced specialist had been called to Hogwarts from his work in Bulgaria. He explained Sirius' situation to them. It was almost hopeless.

Banshees' screams had magical properties. They caused pain to any living creature that heard them. Banshee screams were lethal to heart broken people. So mainly there were two groups of people; those who felt momentary pain upon hearing a banshee scream and those who died because of it. However, there were some cases of this coma-like state. The specialist had seen it before. There was that young lady in Japan. An only child, she had been distraught when her father died. Her mother had been heartbroken. Two banshees came, hearing the beating of her broken heart. The daughter was there when the banshees screamed and the grief killed her mother. The mother died but the daughter didn't. Instead she went into the coma state. The daughter too died several months later.

However coma cases weren't completely hopeless. There were the two best friends who had both lost someone recently. The guy who loved his wife very much was getting divorced and the girl had finally separated from her boyfriend. When a banshee attacked them, the man died on the spot but the girl went into the coma state. When her estranged boyfriend came to see her everyday, spoke to her, told her he loved her, she woke out of the coma state without any side effects.

The specialists' words gave them a little hope. Sirius wasn't completely lost. He could still come back to them but only if Harry was there for Sirius, which meant they had to get Harry back before they could do more for Sirius.

In the meantime, somehow the news about Harry being a banshai had leaked out. At first the reporters had written the wildest stories and the parents had owled the school with absurd questions and demands. Harry Potter gone Dark! This clearly proved that Potter was evil from the very beginning. He should never again be allowed to attend Hogwarts or even anywhere in the magical community. Potter should be captured and imprisoned. All banshees should be hunted and put to death. But as all the students stood by Harry and defended him against every accusation and insinuation, the parents regained their senses and the reporters realized that bad-mouthing Harry Potter wouldn't pay this time.

The search for Harry Potter spread across the magical community. Everyone was trying to find out his whereabouts. Different theories and methods were put into practice but none of them worked.

Nothing worked until one day the banshai showed up at Hogwarts, gliding calmly over the trees of the Forbidden Forest to land gently down in the school grounds. It was another morning, not cloudy like the day he left over a month ago but a sunny morning. Harry Potter, dressed in his flowing black banshai robes strode calmly towards the castle, ignoring the gasps and shouts from the Care of Magical Creatures class that had watched him glide into Hogwarts.

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A/N: I'm gonna change this fic's title. It's gonna be 'Curse of the Banshees' unless I think up / come across a better title. I will start writing another fic which will contains whatever bits and pieces of romance that I was gonna put in this fic and name that one 'The Reluctant Playboy'. That way those who don't wanna read it can just stick to this fic and ignore the romance and those who wanna read it can do so and those who search for my fic by this name will still find it. Last time I checked, there were 14 reviewers who said don't cut the romance and 3 who said it's better off without romance. Hope this satisfies both categories.