Harry Potter and the Golden Bell
Chapter 9
Lethifolds
A/N: Finally back on after a week. It's actually just in time because I finished this chapter last night (Thursday night) at three in the morning. I have a new story, A Day In Fantasyland, but it can't be found on here because it's written in script form, and it's really stupid and really random. To find it, you have to go to my website, . Look around it and stuff, read stories, leave reviews, and don't forget to sign the Guestbook on the Homepage! Allright...read Chapter 9 now. I left you all at a real cliffhanger there. I'm not sorry at all. Ha.
Harry ran down the stairs of the boys' dormitories to the common room, sure he would catch up with Hermione; she had only left a few seconds ago. When he got through the portrait hole, he peered around the corridors and found that Hermione was nowhere to be seen. He started walking, and broke into a run, toward the direction of the school's library. As he progressed down the corridor, the darkness grew thicker, until that it was just as black as when Harry shut his eyes.
"Lumos," he muttered to his wand. Its tip lit the corridor and he could see where he was going now. When he finally got to the library, he ran around calling her name, but she didn't answer. Something had happened to her. Harry finally gave up and headed back to Gryffindor Tower. He began running his Nearly Headless Nick was laying on a banister near the portrait of the Fat Lady and lifted his head when he saw Harry coming. He had forgotten to replace his invisibility cloak over him.
"Hello, Mr. Potter...what are we doing out of bed?" Harry looked at Sir Nicholas and sighed.
"Hermione went to the library and I came after her, but I didn't see her. Did you happen to?"
"Yes I did...but it was the strangest thing...this girl...she had black hair I believe...her name slips my mind..."
"Anna-Nicole?" asked Harry incredulously.
"Yes, that's it. Well, she came and put her hand on Miss Granger's mouth and dragged her off somewhere. I tried to stop her, but...well...I couldn't do anything..." he poked Harry with a finger, and it went right through him. Sir Nicholas shrugged.
"Anna-Nicole...did she look...normal?"
"Well...all except her eyes. They were - "
"Red?"
"Precisely. And, I suggest, that you go and see Dumbledore about this."
"Exactly what I'm doing tomorrow. I'll have all day...it's Saturday." Harry paused, then said, "Was Anna-Nicole...just standing outside of the Fat Lady's portrait?"
"Yes she was...as if she knew Miss Granger was coming."
"Thank you Sir Nicholas - Diricawl feathers." The portrait swung open and Harry climbed inside. He clambered up the stairs to his dormitory and went inside. Seamus and Neville had both gone back to sleep, so he decided to bother Ron with the information. He parted Ron's curtains and sat at the end of his bed.
"Ron..." he whispered, just loud enough for his friend to hear. Ron moaned.
"Don't touch...the hippogriff...It's...rabid.."
"RON!" Ron sat up and looked at Harry.
"Listen...Hermione's gone."
"That's interesting." Ron laid back down and closed his eyes. Harry frowned.
"Ron! Listen to me...Hermione's been kidnapped! Voldemort took her somewhere! I just don't know where..." This seemed to peak Ron's interest.
"Voldemort kidnapped her?" He opened his eyes and sat back up. Harry told Ron all about Hermione leaving for the library, but not getting there. When he was finished, Ron looked depressed.
"You okay?" asked Harry.
"Well...it's just...the last thing I said to her was...'Harry's your best friend'." (A/N: aww poor Ron...) Harry looked down and he sat with his friend in silence for a little, until he decided to go back to bed. It was getting rather late, and he'd have to catch Dumbledore early in the morning, when the headmaster was out of his office. He pat Ron on the back, got out of his friend's bed, and then back into his own. He got himself comfortable and began thinking. He thought about everything. He began with the golden bell. What I was /I it? How did it work? Why did Voldemort want it? And, it wanted to kill him...it wanted to kill Hermione. What if it already had? Well, it couldn't have...Anna-Nicole kidnapped her; she wasn't dead....was she? She couldn't be dead! She just couldn't! But...where could Anna-Nicole have taken her? It was all so frustrating to Harry. If something had happened to his friend, he would never forgive himself. After all, he could have stopped her from going to the library. Well...he did. But, he knew he could have tried harder. He could have prevented anything from happening. He could have gotten rid of the bell, along with any problems involving it. He could have forced Ron to go with her. But, then there was a problem even so. Harry remembered Voldemort's words on the night of the third task of the Triwizard Tournament in his fourth year at Hogwarts. I Kill the spare. /I Voldemort would have captured Ron as well and brought him with Hermione, who had the bell. That was the only reason that he had kidnapped Hermione, was because she had the bell. The other alternative, of course, was giving it to Malfoy when he had asked. And, that was another thing. Why I did /I Malfoy ask? Well...that had been figured out...Draco wanted it for his father, who was a Death Eater...to give to Voldemort. His tiredness was now getting the better of him. After a while, he gave himself up to sleep, his own words ringing in his ears: "I can only say that I can try. The last thing I want is to be killed."
Harry woke up at 10:00 the next morning. He luckily had had a dreamless sleep. It was the first one in a long time. He got up after a few minutes of just laying there, telling himself that he was going to get up in 5 minutes. Then, 5 more minutes. Then, maybe 10 more. He pulled on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and some socks, brushed his hair (though it stayed askew on his head - there was no taming it), and headed down to the common room. He stopped when he saw Ron sitting in front of the fire, which was crackling joyfully, and dancing about the hearth. Harry approached him cautiously and sat next to him. Ron glanced at Harry and then looked back at the fire. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes.
"Hey," Ron said blankly and unsurely, as though he had been thinking about it the entire time.
"Hey," Harry replied, "Are you sure you're allright?" Ron nodded. "Just a little...depressed. That's all." he shook his head. "I feel so guilty, Harry. If I didn't get mad at her and just had gone with her, nothing would have happened."
"I feel guilty too," said Harry, pondering the fact that if Ron had gone with her, he would have had the chance to be kidnapped as well; but he didn't say anything about it.
"I could have stopped her. But, there's nothing we can do now," said Harry thoughtfully, "Except to talk to Dumbledore."
"You're going to talk to Dumbledore?" asked Ron, finally deciding to look Harry in the eye.
"Yeah," replied Harry, "Do you want to come?"
"I suppose," he said, sighing, "What else am I to do, now that Hermione's gone?" There was a pause, and then Harry said slowly, "You don't by any chance I like /I Hermione, do you?" It was the first time that he had brought up the question, and the response was just as he had expected. Ron looked offended, then said, "Are you mad? Liking Hermione... whatever would make you think that?" Harry sighed and stood up.
"Just a thought. Come on, let's go." Harry and Ron crawled through the portrait hole and headed down the corridor to the Great Hall. Breakfast was over at 9:45, but Harry was sure that Dumbledore was still hanging around the Hall (A/N: I was looking for a synonym for chatting and I found tinkling...but Harry was sure that Dumbledore was still hanging around the Hall tinkling with the other staff members ((giggles 13 year old-ish-ly...cuz that's what I am)) ) conversing with the other staff members, or if not, walking back from breakfast. Harry and his friend proceeded quietly down to the Hall and walked up the aisle to the teacher's table, where, coincidently Dumbledore was sitting talking to Professor McGonagall. A gasp and a crash came from Harry's left. He looked past Ron to a table where Colin Creevey was sitting next to his brother, Dennis. He had attempted to get up, but had fallen backwards off of the bench. Harry stopped walking and Ron followed suit. Colin scrambled up and made his way over to Harry and Ron.
"Hi, Harry!" He said enthusiastically, "Do you want to see my collection?"
"Collection of what?"
"I've compiled an entire bundle of things about...you!" he squeaked, triumphantly. (A/N: this doesn't tell the story at all so don't even consider it..I just love Colin Creevey and this shows how downright obsessive he is) Harry looked at Ron, who shrugged.
"Sure," said Harry, looking back at Colin, trying to hold back laughter. Colin beamed, then led Harry and Ron to a table, where a load of things lay. He started at the end of the collection.
"This is a list of quotes...from the first day i saw you at Hogwarts...I'll start at 113. "Where is my sock?" "Maybe he hid it somewhere." "My toe itches." "I think that kid is crazy." "Colin, please get your camera out of my face." "Colin, I won't say it again." "I'll see you later." "Let go of my hand." "Stop - " "
"Okay that's enough."
"Allright," said Colin, putting down the stack of papers. He moved on to a photo album. He opened it. It consisted mostly of Harry's profile. There was one of him tying his shoe, one of him dropping his books, an embarrassing one of him with juice coming out of his nose from laughing too hard and trying to stop it, one of his shoes, one of his hand trying to cover the camera lens, and even a pitch black one. Colin explained that he had zoomed in on Harry's robes too far. If Ron had been drinking something, Harry was sure that whatever he was drinking would be coming out of I his /I nose. Colin also revealed a display of a few of Harry's possessions, including socks, a muggle pen, a toothpick, a lock of hair, ((Harry felt his head...it was a rather large lock of hair)), a black T-shirt, and many other items. After a while, Ron tapped Harry on the shoulder. When he looked, Ron pointed toward the staff table, where Dumbledore should have been sitting. Instead, only his empty chair stood there. A few empty chairs stood around Dumbledore's and Harry assumed that a few other teachers had left with Dumbledore.
"And, I found this wad of rubbery pink stuff. I don't know exactly what it is...but it had your - "
"Uh, Colin...we have to go...this has been fun. Maybe we can do it again sometime," said Harry, barely thinking about what he was going to say before he said it. Ron chuckled.
"Loads of fun," he said.
"See you later, Colin," said Harry, grabbing Ron by the wrist and pulling him up the aisle toward the door before he could say goodbye to Colin.
"I swear...that kid is insane," said Ron, now seemingly happier that he had been when he had left the Common Room with Harry.
"Great, so now I know that all I need is an insane kid with my chewed bubblegum to cheer you up," said Harry thickly. Ron frowned. "Meanwhile, you sit in front of the fire and mope about Hermione, deny that you fancy her - "
"I don't fancy her! I've already told you!" exclaimed Ron. He tried not to get too angry with his friend. He knew that Harry had been under so much stress these past few days, and understood that if he had gotten angry, it was only a moment's time until he had vented on Ron. Harry shook his head and realized what he had just said. "Come on," he said gruffly, pulling Ron along in the direction of Dumbledore's office. They turned a corner, and found Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Professor Dumbledore walking together and chatting conversationally.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry called without thinking. He didn't want to lose the Headmaster, right when he had him in front of him. The group halted, and its three members turned their heads. Harry jogged to catch up with them and plainly said, "Professor Dumbledore, I need to talk to you right now. The golden bell...it's inside Hogwarts. But...I'm not sure if it still is...it was taken. Listen, I need to talk to you." The white-blue fire in Dumbledore's eyes flickered briefly, though his face remained expressionless.
"Very well then. Follow me. Goodbye, Minerva, Severus. It was nice talking to you." Harry realized that he was still clutching Ron's wrist, and let go. He, Ron, and Dumbledore continued forward towards the large entrance of Dumbledore's office.
"Wait," said Snape. The three turned around. "The golden bell. Where did you find out about such a thing?"
"Divination," Harry lied. He wasn't going to tell anyone except Dumbledore about his dreams, especially Snape. The greasy-haired Professor eyed him with suspicion, and became lost in thought. "Good day, Professor," said Harry, ending the conversation. He wanted to talk to Dumbledore immediately, if not, sooner.
"Good day, Mr. Potter," hissed Snape. After Harry, Ron, and Dumbledore had gotten a few meters away from he and McGonagall, Harry was sure that he had heard his Transfiguration Professor ask Snape what this was "all about." When the trio reached the entrance, Dumbledore spoke very clearly, "Tarantula Pastry Puff." The large stone gargoyle spun around, and the three of them climbed the stairs, Dumbledore at the head. Once they were all up the stairs, the gargoyle spun around once more and the door vanished. Harry found himself in the familiar office of his Headmaster; the room he had been in countless times, when any other student of the school would barely even give the thought that Dumbledore even had an office.
"Please sit down," Dumbledore said hoarsely. Harry and Ron did as they were told, and the old Headmaster took a seat behind his desk. Dumbledore, as many knew, was completely imperturbable and would always hear out any student. He was particularly patient with Harry, as he came to visit him often. His blue eyes, now back to their frozen, twinkling state, stared at both Harry and Ron for a while, until he focused on Harry and spoke.
"Speak," he said merely. Harry hesitated, then explained the entire thing to Dumbledore...from his first dream, to the night before when Hermione was taken. When he had finished, Dumbledore stared at him still, with the exact same expression that he had possessed when he had entered his office with his two students. If he was worried at all about the matter, one wouldn't be able to identify that feeling from looking at him. Ron sank into his chair, feeling intruded by Dumbledore's gaze.
"Curious...very curious..." Harry had half expected him to act up upon hearing this information.
"Would...you want to talk to Anna-Nicole?" asked Harry awkwardly.
"This, Harry, is one time in my life, in which I do not know what to do," he said, "But I do know, however, that what ever is to be done, shall be resolved by a certain group of people...and that group of people does not include two sixteen year old wizards." Harry frowned.
"I can't do ANYTHING? Anything at ALL?"
"If you can think up a plan as to get Voldemort out of Miss Ginnesbrook's body and far away from Hogwarts that would be better than any thought up by a member of the Ministry, then yes. You may help...but Mr. Potter...I do not advise you to get close to Miss Ginnesbrook, as Miss Granger has told you many times, I'm sure. Voldemort will kill you any chance he gets. Be on the lookout, Harry." His eyes shifted to Ron, "And you may help spy." Harry felt that Dumbledore was treating this whole thing as a game, and it angered him a bit. He tried to tell him in a more condensed version of his thoughts.
"But sir...this is serious. Shouldn't you tell someone?"
"The only people that will know, are the people that already know, with the addition of a few selected individuals of my choice. Anna-Nicole's parents will not be warned now. And, neither will Anna-Nicole."
"But she's in danger! He could very well kill her! I'm certain that you haven't forgotten four years ago with Ginny Weasley - "
"I shall deal with Miss Ginnesbrook, and the Ministry. For now, I want the both of you to head back Gryffindor Tower, or where ever you were planning to go for the day. Off you go, then." Harry and Ron both stood, said good day, and headed out the door.
"He's treating this as if it's a game! As if it's some...some...Nintendo game."
"A what?" Harry shook his head.
"Muggle game system. Dudley plays it...I've gotten my hands on it a few times...it's allright. Anyway, I think he should be more serious about this. Voldemort is in the school again. That's what my dream meant, when it said he was back; he's back in the school. But...if he's possessing Anna-Nicole, then what happened to his body?"
"I don't know. Something might've happened to it. He's probably gone parasitic again." Ron chuckled, "Either that or the space for his brain was too large and it rolled around in there when he walked." It wasn't really very funny, but Harry and Ron laughed out loud all the same.
It was the following Thursday, now brinking on the next Hogsmeade weekend, and Harry's date with Voldemort. Er...Anna-Nicole. He was none too excited about this, and wished that he had more time than two days. Saturday was the day. Harry and Ron walked from class to class together, chatting, and trying not to think about Hermione not being with them. They walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts room and found that Snape was teaching the class again today. Once everyone was in place, he emerged from a dark corner and went to the front of the room.
"Open your books to page 251." The class got out their books and began flipping though the pages to find 251. When Harry got to the page, he was staring at a picture of a large black cloak, though it wasn't exactly like a cloak. It looked alive. And, surely it was; the heading at the top of the page said: Lethifolds.
"Now, today the lesson is on Lethifolds. I have many doubts that any of you will come across a Lethifold in your ordinary travels, but for some of us," he looked at Harry, "this information may be valuable. If you read down the page, you will see what the purpose for a Lethifold is. They are almost always used illegally and if you see a Lethifold, well...you won't. Unless of course someone near you is sleeping, as they only kill sleeping humans. If you see one however, you will have to use the Patronus Charm. Now, the steps to doing the Patronus Charm may seem easy, but in reality, are not." Snape paused. "Think of your happiest memory and point your wand at the Lethifold and say: Expecto Patronum. They are very much like dementors. Along with killing, they will take away all of your happy memories." Snape was now pacing up and down the aisles with his hands behind his back. He passed Harry and wiggled his fingers. When Harry looked, he noticed that there was a small piece of folded up parchment. He dropped it on Harry's desk and continued walking and talking. Harry opened up the parchment and read: "Come to my office tomorrow after your last class. Come alone."
"Because I am feeling extra...lighthearted today, I am giving two rolls of parchment on the Lethifold. Due tomorrow." The groans from the class weren't really from the amount of homework, but just the homework itself.
"And your foul complaining will only increase the assignment to three!" Many were quiet after that and Snape displayed his horrid grin.
Harry and Ron headed down to the Great Hall after Transfiguration for dinner. As they traveled through the corridors, Harry noticed an increase of smiles in his direction. It felt very much like first year again.
"What happened to all of the girls?" asked Ron, "I think they all went crazy."
"They've always been crazy." Harry waved at someone who had been waving at him.
"But, I mean...there are more staring at you then usual."
"Hi, Harry!" Anna-Nicole bounced in front of her and he came very close to another head-on with her. She was beaming, and Harry put two and two together.
"What did you say to them?"
"What did I say to who?" asked Anna-Nicole.
"Them - all of them!" said Harry, gesturing to a small cluster of whispering Hufflepuff females.
"Oh, nothing. I'll see you Saturday, Harry. The coffee shop, right?"
"Er...right," said Harry.
"Allright. And, I'll see you at dinner too! Actually, do you mind if I walk with you and your red-haired friend?"
"It's Ron," Ron retorted irritably.
"Oh, right. Ron. Where's that other girl? Hermione is it?"
"Sure, she remembers her name," he muttered to himself.
"Yeah, Hermione. She's uh...hey, Anna-Nicole, can I talk to you for a second? I'll see you in a few minutes, Ron. You can start eating without me."
"You sure? Allright then. See you." Ron headed off, as Harry grabbed Anna-Nicole's hand and dragged her to a corner.
"Listen...you are in great danger."
"What do you mean, Harry?"
"Have you ever...have you ever felt anything weird? Any..odd sensations? Like you want to kill someone?" She was silent for a moment and then she nodded.
"What do suppose that's from?"
"I don't know," she said shaking her head. After a long time of staring at each other, she put her hands on his shoulders and he felt his scar burn. He ignored it though and put his hands on her waist. He knew what was coming and he was just going to let it happen. She leaned forward, he leaned forward and they both engaged themselves in a slow kiss. After a few seconds, footsteps came near them.
"I suppose you're enjoying yourself making out in the hallways, Potter, but now is not the time." Harry pried himself off of Anna-Nicole and looked at Snape.
"I expect to see you tomorrow, Potter," he said, with a hinting look. "Good night." And with that, the greasy haired Potions master continued on to the Great Hall. Harry looked at Anna-Nicole and said hastily, "I'll see you later, okay?"
"O-okay. Bye, Harry." He smiled briefly and shot down the halls to dinner. When he got there, he took his place next to Ron, just as Dumbledore was quieting the Hall for announcements.
"Slap me, will you?"
"Why?" asked his friend.
"I think I like her."
"Who?"
"Who else?" A grin spread across Ron's face and he pat Harry on the
back.
"Way to go, mate."
"Ah yes, the end of the year is sliding around the bend. Already, our last Hogsmeade trip is this weekend, the seventh years are graduating, and next year our sixth years will take their place. The outcome of the House Cup as of now seems to be Ravenclaw house as the winners. But I'm sure that the other three houses shall bring themselves up this coming week to the example that has been set. I also do believe, that in this next week, seventh years will be taking N.E.W.T.s. I wish them all very good luck on their exams and I am announcing that all exams start Wednesday morning. All of you must be down here at 7:00 sharp. Not a minute too late, or too soon. I am also sure that you have noticed that there was no Quidditch game today. The last game has been moved to Sunday, as tomorrow you need to be in classes, and Saturday studying after you get back from Hogsmeade Village. Again, good luck on exams, and let's all have a good night's sleep tonight so we're not all tired for the last day of classes. That will be all, thank you." Dumbledore sat down, and food appeared on the tables.
"So...you got Anna-Nicole?" asked Ron, grabbing a drumstick.
"I don't "got" anything," said Harry. He speared some turkey and put it on his plate.
"Hm. Well. Judging by the fact that you smell like women's perfume..." Harry rolled his eyes and toyed a bit with the turkey fat on his plate.
"Hermione's missing NEWTS," said Harry in a desperate attempt to change the subject.
"Yeah," said Ron sadly, "Maybe she'll be back before Wednesday," he added brightening.
"I don't know...depending on where An... - Vo - ...You-Know-Who took her."
"I sure hope she's allright..." said Ron distantly. Harry shook his head.
"You do like her, Ron."
"So what?" he choked. Harry smiled and shook his head.
"Why don't you ask her out?"
"I'm not asking her out! You're mad! She'll skin me!" Harry laughed.
"I don't know if she'd go that far."
"OKAY! Change of subject! Merlin, the turkey's good tonight. M, m. Better hurry up and eat it, Harry; there's not going to be any left in a few seconds."
After dinner, Harry slipped into his pajamas and settled into bed. He lay there for a while and closed his eyes.
I "Harry Potter..." /I Harry's eyes flashed open, and he looked around the room.
"Who's there?" he said carelessly. He waited a few seconds, and then closed his eyes again.
I "Harry Potter!" /I Harry finally sprang up out of bed and jumped into Ron's.
"Harry...are you hearing voices again? There's no one there. Go back to your own bed."
"No I need to sleep with you," said Harry. Ron opened his eyes and he looked at him.
"You're mad! Get out of my bed!"
"But - "
"Harry!"
"Fine." Harry got up and got back into bed and went straight to sleep.
A/N: Before I get a review about this, you notice that the beginning of the story isn't on the Hogwarts Express...it's actually almost at the end of the year anyway. And Quidditch..well there was too much to put into this chapter to do a Quidditch Game. There will be in Chapter 12...but don't get worked up about that...you'll still get some good stuff in Chapters 10 and 11. I know exactly what's going to happen still. Sorry about the Quidditch thing, really I am. I'm working on literally five stories at once. Two of which haven't even been posted on my website, nor on I'm almost done with Chapter 1 of one of them - Harry Potter and the Diamond Studded Compass - that one should be good. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Send lots of reviews!!