Harry Potter & The Veela That Wouldn't Go Away
By: Darkmoore
Author's Note: This chapter contains a scene that most people will find offensive and if you don't, then you should.
'Damn,' Harry thought, 'Parvati never did that!'
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chapter Eighteen – the Assault
For the next week after the Order of Merlin ceremony Harry had avoided being alone with Seamus, as he felt incredibly awkward towards his friend at the moment. Harry had enjoyed what happened between them and would have loved for Seamus to teach that little thing he did to every girl in the school, but he really didn't want a repeat performance.
Though most of the Gryffindors hadn't realized that Harry was keeping his distance from Seamus, Hermione did. She wasn't Head Girl for nothing you know.
"Harry?" she asked him one day, "Did you have a fight with Seamus?"
Harry looked shocked, "No Hermione, why do you ask?"
"You've been avoiding him for the past week and Ron said that you haven't really spoken to him much either, so I thought that maybe something happened between you."
"Seamus is a great guy and a good friend," Harry said.
"Did he make a pass at you again? You know he flirts with everyone Harry. Don't take it so personally," said Hermione knowingly.
Harry looked around to see if anyone was listening to them. He saw that Ginny and one of her dorm mates talking over by the fire, while Ron was playing chess with Neville at one of the tables near the boy's dormitory stairway, and he saw Parvati and Lavender were over on one of the couches looking through what looked like the newest issue of Witch Weekly. Turning back to Hermione and leaning in a bit closer he said quietly, "This is a secret and you can't tell anyone this."
She nodded at him.
"The night of the Order of Merlin ceremony, I had a nightmare that woke me and I decided to take a shower. While I was in there, Seamus came in to see if I was all right. While we were in the showers, he, er…did something, and I don't know what to do about it now," Harry admitted, blushing.
"What did he do?" Hermione asked, completely oblivious about what two seventeen year old boys might do in the shower together.
Harry rolled his eyes at her, took a deep breath, leaned over and whispered what happened into her ear.
"OH!" she said rather loudly, and then looked sheepish for the outburst, as Harry allowed his head to fall unto the table with a great thud.
Composing herself quickly, Hermione whispered back to him, "I see what you mean, now. How do you feel about it?"
"It was great, but do you think that means I might be gay?" he whispered back worried.
Now it was Hermione's turn to roll her eyes at him. "What makes you think that he's turned you gay?"
"I enjoyed it more than I did with Parvati."
"That's only because Seamus is more a slut than Parvati," Hermione explained. "Do you want to be with Seamus again?"
"No."
"Do you want to be with any other boy like that?"
"No."
"If Parvati could do it like Seamus did, would you beg to get back with her?"
"Yeah, but I'd beg now anyway, if I thought it would do any good," Harry admitted.
"You're not gay, so stop thinking about it," she said, and went back to her homework.
"You don't think it's weird that I let Seamus do that to me do you?" asked Harry worriedly.
Hermione smiled and said, "Not really. I'm just surprised it took him this long to get it done."
Harry looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"Don't you know? He's already done that to Dean, Neville and Ron."
"What?" Harry said in a very high pitched voice. Catching himself he finished in a voice several octaves lower than he normally spoke in, "What are you talking about? Ron never told me that."
"He was afraid that you'd think he was gay."
"Why did he tell you then?" Harry asked, feeling a little hurt and left out.
Hermione was smiling again, "He didn't mean to tell me, it kind of slipped out." Then she thought about it, "Harry, don't let it worry you, Seamus and Justin are still together, and he has no interests in dating you."
"Oh no," Harry said, "What's Justin going to think of me? He'll think I'm horrible to do that with Seamus."
"Somehow, I don't think that's the thought that'll be going through his mind. I bet he'll just be jealous that Seamus got to do it and he didn't."
Harry groaned, letting his head drop to the table again with a thump while Hermione giggled at him.
- - - - -
Later that night, Harry went down to the dungeons to have a meeting with Professor Thorgood. It was Harry's first private tutorial on how to use the spells the vampire had placed into his mind.
"Professor Thorgood?" Harry called, stepping into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
"Ah, Professor, right on time I see," the vampire said, coming out of his office.
Harry smiled. "So, what are we going to be working on tonight? Are you going to teach me how to use the Charm of Making?"
"No, Harry, the Charm of Making is a far more advanced type of magic than what we will be working on tonight. The spell we are going to practice is called 'Multi-phasic Movement'," Thorgood said.
"What's the incantation for that?" Harry asked, as he had never heard about this spell before.
Thorgood smiled. "There is no incantation, Harry. There is no wand movement, just body movement." Harry looked confused, but then Thorgood smirked and gave a demonstration. His movements were fluid, like flowing water, and he was so fast that his figure was a blur of motion. "This kind of movement cannot be sustained for very long, as it causes the user to become overly exhausted if used too often or for too long of a duration," Thorgood instructed. "However, when dueling, it can be very effective when dodging particularly nasty curses."
"And you're going to teach me this?"
"No, Professor," the vampire said as he smiled at Harry. "You already now this, and now it's my job to teach you how to access it. Of course, knowing that you accessed the Charm of Making so successfully without instructions, I have no doubt that you can do this without too much trouble."
Harry blew air out between his teeth, and then he began to try to move as his teacher had shown him.
- - - - -
A few hours later, Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower very tired. He had been unable to maintain the difficult and exhausting multi-phasic movement for more than a few moments, but Thorgood had been delighted with his progress.
Harry sat down at one of the study tables to work on his transfiguration homework, but he quickly realized that he was too tired to write the essay that Professor McGonagall had assigned him. He was also supposed to practice transforming into his smaller animagus form, that of a small black house cat. He had gotten behind in that project and he knew he should do the work, but right now, all he wanted was to fall into bed and sleep for a week. Setting aside his work, he somehow found the strength to climb the stairs. When he finally reached the seventh years' dormitory, he staggered over to his bed and fell into it without even removing his clothes. He was asleep within seconds.
The next thing Harry knew, he was walking in a small Muggle village somewhere in England. It was night, but he could see clearly. All around him were the sounds of explosions and people screaming. He paid it no heed for the moment, because he had arrived in front of a large Muggle house. Somehow, he knew that this was his destination.
Harry walked through the front door into the house and saw a man in the familiar black robes and white mask. The man bowed to Harry, saying, "My lord."
"Is everything going as planned tonight?" Harry asked the hooded man.
"Yes, my lord, exactly as you planned," said the Death Eater. "They are in here."
"Excellent," Harry said He followed his servant into the next room, which had been filled with children, dozens of them. They were all wearing pajamas and looked very frightened. There were both boys and girls, and not a one of them could have been over the age of five, not quite yet old enough for primary school. Some of them had bruises forming on their arms and faces, and some of them were crying, obviously wanting their mommies and daddies.
Harry surveyed the shaking and terrified children. Then he asked them, "Do you know why you're here?"
None of the children knew. Harry felt himself smile at them. This seemed to terrify the children even more.
"You're here to help me teach a young man a very important lesson this evening," Harry hissed at them in delight. "He seems to be under the impression that he has the power to stop me, but tonight we are going to show him just how wrong he is."
Then Harry nodded to his servants in the room, and as one the men began to move about the room. They randomly grabbed children, and one by one brought them up to him for his inspection. Harry shook his head at each one in turn, until he was presented with a little blonde haired girl. She had the face of an angel, and tears fell helplessly down her puffy cheeks.
"This one, I think. Yes, this one will do nicely," Harry said.
The Death Eaters shoved the other children and furniture out of the middle of the room, and then threw the little girl into the space they had cleared
"Girl, have you a name?" Harry asked.
Clearly terrified, she managed to nod that she did.
Harry grew impatient. "What is it, girl?"
The girl whispered something, but he couldn't hear her.
"Once again," he commanded.
"Brianna Sloan," she repeated louder this time.
"Brianna, what a lovely name," said Harry. "Now tell me, Brianna, have you ever heard of a boy named 'Harry Potter'?"
She shook her head 'no.'
"It doesn't matter. He'll know your name for the rest of his life," Harry hissed, pulling out his wand. He pointed it at the girl and said, "CRUCIO!"
Young Brianna Sloan screamed and jerked on the floor in agony. She had obviously never felt this kind of pain before, and she screamed so loudly that her voice began to crack. Finally, Harry pulled his wand away from the girl. He nodded to his servants standing around the room, and they sprang into action and moved in on Brianna. Within moments they had ripped the pink pajamas from the girl's body, leaving her naked in the middle of the room as the other children watched in horror. One of the Death Eaters cast a spell, and markings appeared on the floor. They appeared to be written in some ancient language.
Still twitching from the after effects of Cruciatus, the girl sat up slowly and wrapped her tiny arms around her naked body. She shivered in both cold and terror, as a breeze suddenly swept through the room. She started to tentatively try to crawl out of the center of the room, toward the other children.
"Oh no, my dear," Harry said sarcastically. "We're not done with you yet."
Brianna's lip trembled in fear and she screamed.
Three masked men dove for the girl and pushed her down on her back. Two of the Death Eaters each grabbed one of Brianna's hands and pinned them to the floor by stabbing all the way through them with ceremonial daggers, while the third man did the same thing to her feet. The small girl was effectively crucified to the floor, which was soon covered in her blood.
Watching with amusement, Harry strode over to the girl and once again took out his wand. This time he chose to perform a very nasty and very deadly curse on her. Harry watched as the poor girl's skin began to crack open and even more blood began to pour from her little body, as her eyes bulged and then exploded from their sockets, as the girl's very flesh began to smoke as if all her internal organs were on fire.
Harry stood by and watched as Brianna Sloan, this angelic little girl, died in a very painful and violent manner.
Once it was obvious that no life remained in the small body before him, Harry turned around and beckoned to one of his servants, who quickly approached with a large mirror. Harry looked into it and saw his reflection: that of a human-shaped serpent, with deep red eyes, slits for a nose and a thin line for a mouth. He smirked at his own reflection and said to himself. "So, Harry, did you enjoy the show I provided for you? I prepared it especially for you, something for you to dream about while you sleep. Dream of how you contributed to be the death of that little girl and the damnation of all these children here tonight, just as you did to your dear, deceased godfather."
- - - - -
Moments later, Harry awoke in his dormitory at the top of Gryffindor Tower, screaming like mad with his scar burning like it never had before. Harry had jumped and jerked so hard in his bed that he had become tangled in his bed coverings.
"Harry, what's wrong?" someone said, but Harry didn't know who. He couldn't answer, as he was still screaming uncontrollably from the vision. He felt someone's hands trying to help him out of the tangled bed covers.
"Something's wrong with him," someone else said.
"Harry? Talk to us, mate. Can you hear us?" yet another person said.
"I'm going to get help for him." Then Harry heard someone run off and the dormitory door slammed shut.
Harry didn't know what to do. When he was finally able to stop screaming, he leaned over the side of his bed and emptied the contents of his stomach unto the floor. He continued heaving long after his stomach was empty, and when his stomach finally calmed, he began to cry. Apparently no one knew what to make of this. They knew that Harry hardly ever cried, and even then it was never like this.
"What happened?" asked a new voice as the dormitory door swung open forcefully and a commotion was heard in the hall.
"I don't know, Hermione. We think Harry had a vision, and from the way he's acting it must have been horrible," Ron replied. At least Harry thought it was Ron, he wasn't quite sure. The door had remained open, and the sounds of concerned Gryffindors coming out of their own dorms to see what had happened echoed from the hall and the stairway.
"Let me through, let me through," a new voice said from the hall, getting louder as it came into the room. "Harry, what happened?"
Harry just sat there in his bed with his head held in his hands, shaking and crying uncontrollably. He was rocking back and forth and muttering incoherently. Harry felt someone sit down next to him and take his head into her arms, stroking his hair soothingly.
"Scourgify," someone said to his right, removing the vomit from the floor, while another person sat on that side of the bed and began to rub his back.
Harry finally began to calm down under the ministrations of his friends. He was still muttering things, but at least now they could understand his words more clearly.
"She was a baby … All my fault … Damned Death Eaters … All my fault … How could they do that … Damn them all … All my fault."
"No, Harry, it is not your fault," Hermione said into his ear, trying to calm him down further.
Suddenly everyone heard yelling from out in the hall. "Out of the way! Everyone get back to your rooms this instant!" Then Professor Minerva McGonagall strode quickly into the room and over to Harry's bed. "Mr. Potter, what is it? Are you hurt?"
Harry was able to shake his head 'no', but Ron had to speak for him. "No, Professor, he had another vision of You-Know-Who, and…" Ron then turned to his best friend, "… it was a bad one."
Looking worried, she turned to the Head Boy and said, "Get up, Mr. Potter; we're going to the Headmaster's office."
Somehow, with Ron's and Hermione's help, Harry followed their head of house through the corridors and into Dumbledore's office, where he was forced to recount his vision for them.
- - - - -
The next day, Harry woke up in the infirmary after sleeping most of the morning away under the influence of the dreamless sleep potion.
"Mr. Potter, you're awake," said Madame Pomphrey. "Good, I was beginning to wonder if I gave you too much potion last night when the Headmaster brought you in."
"What time is it?" Harry asked groggily.
"Half past ten. Are you hungry? I imagine that you must be."
"I need to go to class," Harry began, but he was cut off.
"You've been excused for the day," the school nurse said. "After you have had your breakfast, you may go up to Gryffindor Tower to shower and change your clothes. After that, you are to go see the Headmaster."
"I saw him last night."
Madame Pomphrey glared at him for a moment and said, "Well, you will see him again this morning."
Harry didn't try and protest as a house elf just arrived with a tray of food for him to eat. "Thanks Dobby."
"You's is welcome Harry Potter," Dobby replied before popping away.
- - - - -
A short time later, Harry arrived at the stone gargoyle and realized he did not have the password. He looked at the gargoyle tiredly, and started to go through his normal process of rattling off various wizarding sweets in an attempt to gain entrance to the office. However, he stopped himself. He wasn't up to playing Dumbledore's usual game, so looking at the stone guardian, he asked, "I don't suppose if I ask you to let me in, you'd just do it would you?"
The gargoyle smirked at Harry and leapt aside, allowing Harry entrance to the Headmaster's office. He started to pass by and ascend the stairs when something occurred to him. Stopping in his tracks and turning back to the statue, Harry asked, "You would have let me in like this a long time ago if I had just asked, wouldn't you?"
The gargoyle just grinned at him. Harry shook his head and went up the stairs.
"Professor?" said Harry as he entered the office. "You sent for me?"
"Yes Harry, I did," Dumbledore said, twinkling at the Head Boy. "I wanted to see how you were doing this morning."
"I'm feeling better today."
"Yes, I can see that, but last night you were very upset and you were very adamant about blaming yourself for what happened to that little girl."
"Brianna Sloan," snapped Harry. "Her name was Brianna Sloan."
"Yes, I know," Dumbledore replied with concern in his eyes. "I just received the reports from the Aurors this morning about the massacre in that village. They found the house where the children were kept, from what you said last night. I'm sorry to say that I do not believe any of them survived."
Harry dropped heavily into the chair that sat in the corner of the office. "Damn."
"I am very concerned about what happened to you, Harry. Voldemort has not been able to break into your mind like that since the beginning of last year when you were taking Occlumency lessons. Have you been practicing every night before you go to sleep?"
"Usually, but last night I had a long training session with Professor Thorgood, and then I had homework to do. I tried to do it, but I was so tired that I gave up and went to bed. I don't remember if I practiced last night or not, but I have made a point of doing it every night."
Dumbledore sighed. "I suspected as much. Voldemort must be trying harder and harder to break through your defenses in order to torture you. Because of that, I want to have another lesson with you today."
Harry groaned. He really wasn't in any mood or condition to deal with Occlumency. However, it seemed that he had no choice in the matter.
"Legimens."
The first image in Harry's mind was Brianna Sloan's naked body lying in a pool of her own blood, and Harry immediately responded to it defensively. Suddenly, Harry was seeing many things that he had never seen before. 'I must be in Professor Dumbledore's memories,' Harry thought.
The image that Harry became interested in was that of a much younger Dumbledore apparently training a young Tom Riddle in the use of Occlumency.
"Tom," Dumbledore said, "You must concentrate. You must be able to keep Grindelwald from your mind when you face him."
"Yes, sir, I am trying," Tom answered.
'Tom was going to fight Grindelwald?' Harry thought. 'But Dumbledore battled him, not Voldemort.'
"I know you are lad, lets try again," Dumbledore said, and then cast "Legimens" once again.
Harry watched as Tom Riddle fell to the floor once again. Then the memory ended, and Harry was back in the Headmaster's office looking into the aged face of Albus Dumbledore, who was looking both impressed and concerned.
"That was impressive Harry. You are a highly skilled Occlumens," Dumbledore said.
"What was that?" asked Harry calmly.
"A mistake I once made years ago."
"You were teaching Voldemort to fight Grindelwald, weren't you? You were going to send him into battle to kill that dark wizard, just like you're going to send me to do battle with Voldemort. Is that why he turned dark?"
Dumbledore looked very old at that moment. "Yes, Harry. I was training him to do battle with Grindelwald, but not in the same capacity that I have done with you."
Harry backed away from the Headmaster, remembering all the lies he had caught the old man in since last summer. 'He kept my parents' graves from me,' thought Harry. 'He tried to keep my wealth from me. Is he lying to me again?'
"Harry?" asked Dumbledore.
"I have to leave," Harry said, and bolted from the Headmaster's office.
To Be Continued ...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed.
From the advice from a friend, I have decided to stop answering reviews as it is considered to be enteraction with readers, which disapproves of.
By: Darkmoore
Author's Note: This chapter contains a scene that most people will find offensive and if you don't, then you should.
'Damn,' Harry thought, 'Parvati never did that!'
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chapter Eighteen – the Assault
For the next week after the Order of Merlin ceremony Harry had avoided being alone with Seamus, as he felt incredibly awkward towards his friend at the moment. Harry had enjoyed what happened between them and would have loved for Seamus to teach that little thing he did to every girl in the school, but he really didn't want a repeat performance.
Though most of the Gryffindors hadn't realized that Harry was keeping his distance from Seamus, Hermione did. She wasn't Head Girl for nothing you know.
"Harry?" she asked him one day, "Did you have a fight with Seamus?"
Harry looked shocked, "No Hermione, why do you ask?"
"You've been avoiding him for the past week and Ron said that you haven't really spoken to him much either, so I thought that maybe something happened between you."
"Seamus is a great guy and a good friend," Harry said.
"Did he make a pass at you again? You know he flirts with everyone Harry. Don't take it so personally," said Hermione knowingly.
Harry looked around to see if anyone was listening to them. He saw that Ginny and one of her dorm mates talking over by the fire, while Ron was playing chess with Neville at one of the tables near the boy's dormitory stairway, and he saw Parvati and Lavender were over on one of the couches looking through what looked like the newest issue of Witch Weekly. Turning back to Hermione and leaning in a bit closer he said quietly, "This is a secret and you can't tell anyone this."
She nodded at him.
"The night of the Order of Merlin ceremony, I had a nightmare that woke me and I decided to take a shower. While I was in there, Seamus came in to see if I was all right. While we were in the showers, he, er…did something, and I don't know what to do about it now," Harry admitted, blushing.
"What did he do?" Hermione asked, completely oblivious about what two seventeen year old boys might do in the shower together.
Harry rolled his eyes at her, took a deep breath, leaned over and whispered what happened into her ear.
"OH!" she said rather loudly, and then looked sheepish for the outburst, as Harry allowed his head to fall unto the table with a great thud.
Composing herself quickly, Hermione whispered back to him, "I see what you mean, now. How do you feel about it?"
"It was great, but do you think that means I might be gay?" he whispered back worried.
Now it was Hermione's turn to roll her eyes at him. "What makes you think that he's turned you gay?"
"I enjoyed it more than I did with Parvati."
"That's only because Seamus is more a slut than Parvati," Hermione explained. "Do you want to be with Seamus again?"
"No."
"Do you want to be with any other boy like that?"
"No."
"If Parvati could do it like Seamus did, would you beg to get back with her?"
"Yeah, but I'd beg now anyway, if I thought it would do any good," Harry admitted.
"You're not gay, so stop thinking about it," she said, and went back to her homework.
"You don't think it's weird that I let Seamus do that to me do you?" asked Harry worriedly.
Hermione smiled and said, "Not really. I'm just surprised it took him this long to get it done."
Harry looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"Don't you know? He's already done that to Dean, Neville and Ron."
"What?" Harry said in a very high pitched voice. Catching himself he finished in a voice several octaves lower than he normally spoke in, "What are you talking about? Ron never told me that."
"He was afraid that you'd think he was gay."
"Why did he tell you then?" Harry asked, feeling a little hurt and left out.
Hermione was smiling again, "He didn't mean to tell me, it kind of slipped out." Then she thought about it, "Harry, don't let it worry you, Seamus and Justin are still together, and he has no interests in dating you."
"Oh no," Harry said, "What's Justin going to think of me? He'll think I'm horrible to do that with Seamus."
"Somehow, I don't think that's the thought that'll be going through his mind. I bet he'll just be jealous that Seamus got to do it and he didn't."
Harry groaned, letting his head drop to the table again with a thump while Hermione giggled at him.
- - - - -
Later that night, Harry went down to the dungeons to have a meeting with Professor Thorgood. It was Harry's first private tutorial on how to use the spells the vampire had placed into his mind.
"Professor Thorgood?" Harry called, stepping into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
"Ah, Professor, right on time I see," the vampire said, coming out of his office.
Harry smiled. "So, what are we going to be working on tonight? Are you going to teach me how to use the Charm of Making?"
"No, Harry, the Charm of Making is a far more advanced type of magic than what we will be working on tonight. The spell we are going to practice is called 'Multi-phasic Movement'," Thorgood said.
"What's the incantation for that?" Harry asked, as he had never heard about this spell before.
Thorgood smiled. "There is no incantation, Harry. There is no wand movement, just body movement." Harry looked confused, but then Thorgood smirked and gave a demonstration. His movements were fluid, like flowing water, and he was so fast that his figure was a blur of motion. "This kind of movement cannot be sustained for very long, as it causes the user to become overly exhausted if used too often or for too long of a duration," Thorgood instructed. "However, when dueling, it can be very effective when dodging particularly nasty curses."
"And you're going to teach me this?"
"No, Professor," the vampire said as he smiled at Harry. "You already now this, and now it's my job to teach you how to access it. Of course, knowing that you accessed the Charm of Making so successfully without instructions, I have no doubt that you can do this without too much trouble."
Harry blew air out between his teeth, and then he began to try to move as his teacher had shown him.
- - - - -
A few hours later, Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower very tired. He had been unable to maintain the difficult and exhausting multi-phasic movement for more than a few moments, but Thorgood had been delighted with his progress.
Harry sat down at one of the study tables to work on his transfiguration homework, but he quickly realized that he was too tired to write the essay that Professor McGonagall had assigned him. He was also supposed to practice transforming into his smaller animagus form, that of a small black house cat. He had gotten behind in that project and he knew he should do the work, but right now, all he wanted was to fall into bed and sleep for a week. Setting aside his work, he somehow found the strength to climb the stairs. When he finally reached the seventh years' dormitory, he staggered over to his bed and fell into it without even removing his clothes. He was asleep within seconds.
The next thing Harry knew, he was walking in a small Muggle village somewhere in England. It was night, but he could see clearly. All around him were the sounds of explosions and people screaming. He paid it no heed for the moment, because he had arrived in front of a large Muggle house. Somehow, he knew that this was his destination.
Harry walked through the front door into the house and saw a man in the familiar black robes and white mask. The man bowed to Harry, saying, "My lord."
"Is everything going as planned tonight?" Harry asked the hooded man.
"Yes, my lord, exactly as you planned," said the Death Eater. "They are in here."
"Excellent," Harry said He followed his servant into the next room, which had been filled with children, dozens of them. They were all wearing pajamas and looked very frightened. There were both boys and girls, and not a one of them could have been over the age of five, not quite yet old enough for primary school. Some of them had bruises forming on their arms and faces, and some of them were crying, obviously wanting their mommies and daddies.
Harry surveyed the shaking and terrified children. Then he asked them, "Do you know why you're here?"
None of the children knew. Harry felt himself smile at them. This seemed to terrify the children even more.
"You're here to help me teach a young man a very important lesson this evening," Harry hissed at them in delight. "He seems to be under the impression that he has the power to stop me, but tonight we are going to show him just how wrong he is."
Then Harry nodded to his servants in the room, and as one the men began to move about the room. They randomly grabbed children, and one by one brought them up to him for his inspection. Harry shook his head at each one in turn, until he was presented with a little blonde haired girl. She had the face of an angel, and tears fell helplessly down her puffy cheeks.
"This one, I think. Yes, this one will do nicely," Harry said.
The Death Eaters shoved the other children and furniture out of the middle of the room, and then threw the little girl into the space they had cleared
"Girl, have you a name?" Harry asked.
Clearly terrified, she managed to nod that she did.
Harry grew impatient. "What is it, girl?"
The girl whispered something, but he couldn't hear her.
"Once again," he commanded.
"Brianna Sloan," she repeated louder this time.
"Brianna, what a lovely name," said Harry. "Now tell me, Brianna, have you ever heard of a boy named 'Harry Potter'?"
She shook her head 'no.'
"It doesn't matter. He'll know your name for the rest of his life," Harry hissed, pulling out his wand. He pointed it at the girl and said, "CRUCIO!"
Young Brianna Sloan screamed and jerked on the floor in agony. She had obviously never felt this kind of pain before, and she screamed so loudly that her voice began to crack. Finally, Harry pulled his wand away from the girl. He nodded to his servants standing around the room, and they sprang into action and moved in on Brianna. Within moments they had ripped the pink pajamas from the girl's body, leaving her naked in the middle of the room as the other children watched in horror. One of the Death Eaters cast a spell, and markings appeared on the floor. They appeared to be written in some ancient language.
Still twitching from the after effects of Cruciatus, the girl sat up slowly and wrapped her tiny arms around her naked body. She shivered in both cold and terror, as a breeze suddenly swept through the room. She started to tentatively try to crawl out of the center of the room, toward the other children.
"Oh no, my dear," Harry said sarcastically. "We're not done with you yet."
Brianna's lip trembled in fear and she screamed.
Three masked men dove for the girl and pushed her down on her back. Two of the Death Eaters each grabbed one of Brianna's hands and pinned them to the floor by stabbing all the way through them with ceremonial daggers, while the third man did the same thing to her feet. The small girl was effectively crucified to the floor, which was soon covered in her blood.
Watching with amusement, Harry strode over to the girl and once again took out his wand. This time he chose to perform a very nasty and very deadly curse on her. Harry watched as the poor girl's skin began to crack open and even more blood began to pour from her little body, as her eyes bulged and then exploded from their sockets, as the girl's very flesh began to smoke as if all her internal organs were on fire.
Harry stood by and watched as Brianna Sloan, this angelic little girl, died in a very painful and violent manner.
Once it was obvious that no life remained in the small body before him, Harry turned around and beckoned to one of his servants, who quickly approached with a large mirror. Harry looked into it and saw his reflection: that of a human-shaped serpent, with deep red eyes, slits for a nose and a thin line for a mouth. He smirked at his own reflection and said to himself. "So, Harry, did you enjoy the show I provided for you? I prepared it especially for you, something for you to dream about while you sleep. Dream of how you contributed to be the death of that little girl and the damnation of all these children here tonight, just as you did to your dear, deceased godfather."
- - - - -
Moments later, Harry awoke in his dormitory at the top of Gryffindor Tower, screaming like mad with his scar burning like it never had before. Harry had jumped and jerked so hard in his bed that he had become tangled in his bed coverings.
"Harry, what's wrong?" someone said, but Harry didn't know who. He couldn't answer, as he was still screaming uncontrollably from the vision. He felt someone's hands trying to help him out of the tangled bed covers.
"Something's wrong with him," someone else said.
"Harry? Talk to us, mate. Can you hear us?" yet another person said.
"I'm going to get help for him." Then Harry heard someone run off and the dormitory door slammed shut.
Harry didn't know what to do. When he was finally able to stop screaming, he leaned over the side of his bed and emptied the contents of his stomach unto the floor. He continued heaving long after his stomach was empty, and when his stomach finally calmed, he began to cry. Apparently no one knew what to make of this. They knew that Harry hardly ever cried, and even then it was never like this.
"What happened?" asked a new voice as the dormitory door swung open forcefully and a commotion was heard in the hall.
"I don't know, Hermione. We think Harry had a vision, and from the way he's acting it must have been horrible," Ron replied. At least Harry thought it was Ron, he wasn't quite sure. The door had remained open, and the sounds of concerned Gryffindors coming out of their own dorms to see what had happened echoed from the hall and the stairway.
"Let me through, let me through," a new voice said from the hall, getting louder as it came into the room. "Harry, what happened?"
Harry just sat there in his bed with his head held in his hands, shaking and crying uncontrollably. He was rocking back and forth and muttering incoherently. Harry felt someone sit down next to him and take his head into her arms, stroking his hair soothingly.
"Scourgify," someone said to his right, removing the vomit from the floor, while another person sat on that side of the bed and began to rub his back.
Harry finally began to calm down under the ministrations of his friends. He was still muttering things, but at least now they could understand his words more clearly.
"She was a baby … All my fault … Damned Death Eaters … All my fault … How could they do that … Damn them all … All my fault."
"No, Harry, it is not your fault," Hermione said into his ear, trying to calm him down further.
Suddenly everyone heard yelling from out in the hall. "Out of the way! Everyone get back to your rooms this instant!" Then Professor Minerva McGonagall strode quickly into the room and over to Harry's bed. "Mr. Potter, what is it? Are you hurt?"
Harry was able to shake his head 'no', but Ron had to speak for him. "No, Professor, he had another vision of You-Know-Who, and…" Ron then turned to his best friend, "… it was a bad one."
Looking worried, she turned to the Head Boy and said, "Get up, Mr. Potter; we're going to the Headmaster's office."
Somehow, with Ron's and Hermione's help, Harry followed their head of house through the corridors and into Dumbledore's office, where he was forced to recount his vision for them.
- - - - -
The next day, Harry woke up in the infirmary after sleeping most of the morning away under the influence of the dreamless sleep potion.
"Mr. Potter, you're awake," said Madame Pomphrey. "Good, I was beginning to wonder if I gave you too much potion last night when the Headmaster brought you in."
"What time is it?" Harry asked groggily.
"Half past ten. Are you hungry? I imagine that you must be."
"I need to go to class," Harry began, but he was cut off.
"You've been excused for the day," the school nurse said. "After you have had your breakfast, you may go up to Gryffindor Tower to shower and change your clothes. After that, you are to go see the Headmaster."
"I saw him last night."
Madame Pomphrey glared at him for a moment and said, "Well, you will see him again this morning."
Harry didn't try and protest as a house elf just arrived with a tray of food for him to eat. "Thanks Dobby."
"You's is welcome Harry Potter," Dobby replied before popping away.
- - - - -
A short time later, Harry arrived at the stone gargoyle and realized he did not have the password. He looked at the gargoyle tiredly, and started to go through his normal process of rattling off various wizarding sweets in an attempt to gain entrance to the office. However, he stopped himself. He wasn't up to playing Dumbledore's usual game, so looking at the stone guardian, he asked, "I don't suppose if I ask you to let me in, you'd just do it would you?"
The gargoyle smirked at Harry and leapt aside, allowing Harry entrance to the Headmaster's office. He started to pass by and ascend the stairs when something occurred to him. Stopping in his tracks and turning back to the statue, Harry asked, "You would have let me in like this a long time ago if I had just asked, wouldn't you?"
The gargoyle just grinned at him. Harry shook his head and went up the stairs.
"Professor?" said Harry as he entered the office. "You sent for me?"
"Yes Harry, I did," Dumbledore said, twinkling at the Head Boy. "I wanted to see how you were doing this morning."
"I'm feeling better today."
"Yes, I can see that, but last night you were very upset and you were very adamant about blaming yourself for what happened to that little girl."
"Brianna Sloan," snapped Harry. "Her name was Brianna Sloan."
"Yes, I know," Dumbledore replied with concern in his eyes. "I just received the reports from the Aurors this morning about the massacre in that village. They found the house where the children were kept, from what you said last night. I'm sorry to say that I do not believe any of them survived."
Harry dropped heavily into the chair that sat in the corner of the office. "Damn."
"I am very concerned about what happened to you, Harry. Voldemort has not been able to break into your mind like that since the beginning of last year when you were taking Occlumency lessons. Have you been practicing every night before you go to sleep?"
"Usually, but last night I had a long training session with Professor Thorgood, and then I had homework to do. I tried to do it, but I was so tired that I gave up and went to bed. I don't remember if I practiced last night or not, but I have made a point of doing it every night."
Dumbledore sighed. "I suspected as much. Voldemort must be trying harder and harder to break through your defenses in order to torture you. Because of that, I want to have another lesson with you today."
Harry groaned. He really wasn't in any mood or condition to deal with Occlumency. However, it seemed that he had no choice in the matter.
"Legimens."
The first image in Harry's mind was Brianna Sloan's naked body lying in a pool of her own blood, and Harry immediately responded to it defensively. Suddenly, Harry was seeing many things that he had never seen before. 'I must be in Professor Dumbledore's memories,' Harry thought.
The image that Harry became interested in was that of a much younger Dumbledore apparently training a young Tom Riddle in the use of Occlumency.
"Tom," Dumbledore said, "You must concentrate. You must be able to keep Grindelwald from your mind when you face him."
"Yes, sir, I am trying," Tom answered.
'Tom was going to fight Grindelwald?' Harry thought. 'But Dumbledore battled him, not Voldemort.'
"I know you are lad, lets try again," Dumbledore said, and then cast "Legimens" once again.
Harry watched as Tom Riddle fell to the floor once again. Then the memory ended, and Harry was back in the Headmaster's office looking into the aged face of Albus Dumbledore, who was looking both impressed and concerned.
"That was impressive Harry. You are a highly skilled Occlumens," Dumbledore said.
"What was that?" asked Harry calmly.
"A mistake I once made years ago."
"You were teaching Voldemort to fight Grindelwald, weren't you? You were going to send him into battle to kill that dark wizard, just like you're going to send me to do battle with Voldemort. Is that why he turned dark?"
Dumbledore looked very old at that moment. "Yes, Harry. I was training him to do battle with Grindelwald, but not in the same capacity that I have done with you."
Harry backed away from the Headmaster, remembering all the lies he had caught the old man in since last summer. 'He kept my parents' graves from me,' thought Harry. 'He tried to keep my wealth from me. Is he lying to me again?'
"Harry?" asked Dumbledore.
"I have to leave," Harry said, and bolted from the Headmaster's office.
To Be Continued ...
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Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed.
From the advice from a friend, I have decided to stop answering reviews as it is considered to be enteraction with readers, which disapproves of.