Chapter 33
Harry cleared his throat and addressed the white-haired wizard. "May I have a word with you Professor?"
"We will finish our conversation later" the headmaster said and lead Harry out of the Great Hall. They settled in an empty classroom and Dumbledore looked expectantly and the young wizard
"So Harry what is bothering you?"
"Professor Dumbledore, why have you never told me I had other family than the Dursleys?" The headmaster massaged the bridge of his nose and then looked right in Harry's face
"You have every right to ask this and also to be angry with me, but the only thing I can tell you now is that your mothers' blood is protecting you. Your aunt Petunia is your mothers' sister and it's more about her than you might know. The bond between sisters is a lot stronger than between cousins and this is the reason, why it was so important that the Dursleys took you in."
Harry nodded disappointedly "I have another question Professor. Why are all of a sudden so many old friends of my parents around me?"
"This is easy to answer. Your parents were in the Order of the Phoenix, just as the Warrens, Remus and Sirius. Now that the Order is re- established, they all have different jobs to do. My great-granddaughter was too young for the original Order, but she has helped me all these years in case Voldemort returns"
"Hold it right there! Who's your great-granddaughter?" Harry asked, not understanding what this was all leading to.
"Professor Wells, your new potions instructor" Dumbledore chuckled when he watched Harry's jaw hit the table. "She is a member of the Order now and although she can't cover all of Professor Snape's tasks, she will do what's in her power to protect the students, if...when it comes to the worst."
"I just hope she's not as mean as Snape" Harry replied gloomily.
"There's more to Professor Snape that meets the eye, Harry. He is my most valuable asset in the fight against Voldemort and he's putting his life on the line for all of this very minute" Dumbledore said sternly.
"Although I can't explain why he's projecting the rage he's holding for your father on you, I know that he does not hate you personally"
So you're trying to tell me he is humiliating and intimidating me out of love, Harry thought.
"No not out of love, out of worry" Dumbledore's answer to his unspoken question startled Harry. "You don't know it, but Professor Snape saved your life more than once"
"The only time I know about was at the quidditch game in my fist year" Harry answered curiously.
"He saved your life long before you came to Hogwarts. He delayed Voldemort's attack and gave your mother time to complete the spell, which caused the killing curse to backfire. Lily was extraordinary gifted in Charms. And Professor Snape saved your life again at the graveyard this year."
"Wait, no... He wasn't even there" Harry interrupted the headmaster angrily.
"Believe me Harry he was. When Voldemort summoned his deatheaters, he was among them and while all the others were firing curses at you Professor Snape did everything in his power to deflect the most dangerous ones." The headmaster looked quite amused, when Harry's jaw dropped once more. "I know for quite a while that the scar of yours gives you a lot of powers"
"All I know is the scar is giving me a lot of pain" Harry almost shouted.
"No Harry, not only pain. The scar is just the visible mark of your connection with Voldemort, but in fact this goes a lot deeper. You can see in his mind, maybe only in your dreams, but still... You can speak parsel, and because you've survived the killing curse already you have some sort of immunity. The unforgivable curses do not affect you like other people." This time Harry just nodded, but his eyes glittered conspiratorially.
"But before you start doing anything inconsiderately, let me tell you that the killing curse can very well kill you. You only have the ability to dodge them but you won't survive, when you get hit with full force. Now that Voldemort is back we need everybody who is willing and able to help us fighting, but unfortunately these are not many"
"Fudge still doesn't believe me, does he?" Harry asked gloomily.
The headmaster sighed deeply "Unfortunately the minister for magic doesn't believe you or me and in his point of view, you're just seeking more attention and I'm an old fool. We have to get through this crisis without official help. There is one more thing I need to tell you Harry. You know already that Voldemort is seeking immortality and he can only gain this with a specific ritual. He needs you for this... not just your blood this time. He will sacrifice you to the ancient Egyptian god Seth to gain an everlasting life and if this happens, our world as we know it will end." Harry gasped and shivered slightly.
"This is the reason why you have to stay out of trouble this year, under all circumstances." the headmaster insisted.
"Can I return to the Great Hall now?" Harry asked weakly.
"Why don't you go up to your common room? You have a lot to digest." The headmaster suggested.
"No I'd rather go back to the feast" Harry answered, before he left the class room.
When he entered the Great Hall, everybody was chatting animatedly. The ghosts were floating around and the Bloody Baron made sure to keep Peeves away from the festivities. Harry found his friends quickly. They were talking to Remus and the new potions instructor as he approached them.
"There you are" Ron called "We were almost ready to send a search party after you"
"So how do you like it here, Professor Wells?", Hermione asked the blond witch.
"I don't really feel like a Professor yet" the teacher admitted. "I haven't been here since my graduation and right now I'd rather sit at my old housetable."
"And to be the replacement for Snivellus doesn't help?" Remus asked in mock innocence.
"Oh drop it Remus. Severus is not that bad. I never understood why you all despised him so much." the witch replied slightly annoyed.
"Let's see" the werewolf mused. "One reason could be because he's a greasy git and a Slytherin"
"And he's unfair to the students who are not in his house" Ron spoke up.
"He also hates me just because I'm James' son" Harry added.
"Severus has never been a person you could easy get along with, but I never had any problems" Kimberly replied, now a little less confident.
"Has it ever occurred to you that the fact that you're a pureblood and related to the headmaster could have anything to do with that?" Remus said firmly.
The blond witch closed her eyes and shook her head. "Sev never found out that I'm Albus' great-granddaughter"
"I wouldn't count on that" Remus said, before he looked at four shocked students. Harry suddenly realized that none of his friends knew that the potion instructor and the headmaster were related.
"You can close your mouths now" Remus chuckled. "In these times you need as many people you can trust around you as possible. I can't wait for the next great event here. Right now we need as much entertainment as we can get."
The werewolf saw five faces frown in unison and so he explained "The headmaster has decided, that because he had to cancel quidditch and shorten the Hogsmead weekends, everybody would enjoy another Yule Ball"
The two teachers started to laugh when Ron, Harry and Kelsey groaned and shuttered immediately, while Hermione and Kayla exchanged wide grins.
I'm going to play matchmaker, Kayla thought, while Hermione dragged her over to a corner. The boys knew that couldn't mean anything good, so they decided to leave them alone. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Kayla whispered, when they were hidden from view by an oversized pumpkin.
"If you're thinking about Ginny and Zara, then I'm thinking what you're thinking." Hermione whispered back.
"I know for sure that Ginny really likes Harry and I mean REALLY really. She told me so the night the school was attacked." Kayla said, leaning back against the stone wall. "And I have seen Zara's dreamy face every time she just catches as much as a glimpse from my brother"
"So we're on a mission then" Hermione stated and Kayla couldn't ignore the mischievous glimmer in the prefects' eyes. "You should have been there last year. Ron and Harry were so helpless" Hermione giggled.
Kayla was surprised by the way her friend acted. The Gryffindor prefect always acted so mature and seemed to despise everything that looked like fun, or at least what ordinary people considered as fun.
"I don't think we will have a big problem with Zara and my brother. They just need a little encouragement, but I'm worried about Harry and what's that chick's name he wanted to ask out last time?"
"Cho Chang" Hermione added.
"Yes right, do you think he'll ask her again?"
Hermione bit her lip and tilted her head slightly, assessing the options. "He hasn't talked about her since the end of the last term. I don't know if he still has a crush on her or not."
"Then I will have to find it out" Kayla said firmly. The girls walked back to the housetable and had to stifle a giggle when they recognized who else was sitting with Ron, Harry and Kelsey. The Weasley twins had finished their detention and were raging about Professor Binns.
"...and when we were done dusting all the books and scrolls in his office, Binns fell asleep in his chair and we tried to sneak out.." George almost yelled in anger and so Fred finished his sentence "..the dead lunatic woke up and found some more stuff for us to do"
"He didn't let us go until the room was squeaky clean. Just because he has no life doesn't mean nobody else has" George spat.
"You can be glad Dumbledore didn't expel you. Nobody would give you a job when you don't take your N.E.W.T.s ", Hermione interrupted the twins' tirade.
"We won't need N.E.W.T.s anyway" Fred countered and smiled. "We will use this year for doing some market research before we open up our joke shop in Diagon Alley" and George nodded in agreement.
"The party is almost over and my arms body hurts more than after Oliver's drill" Fred sighed. "Yes, let's go to the common room and check on our new..." George's voice trailed off after a look at Hermione.
"Be careful brother or she might send the please-men after us" The twins left the Great Hall, holding on to each other while shaking with laughter.
The rest of the Gryffindors also decided to return to the tower and left the hall. In the entrance hall, they ran into Ginny, who was also on her way to the common room and the boys' worst nightmare started. As Harry had feared as soon as he had heard about it, the ball became the girls' favorite topic.
The slightly tired expression on Ron's face turned to completely annoyed instantly, while Kelsey and Harry just exchanged disgusted looks. While the girls walked chatting animatedly about who would ask out whom and what they were going to wear, the boys' stayed a little back.
They were already close to the common room, when they saw Fred and George running back towards the marble staircase in high-speed. Harry couldn't see their faces, but decided to detain his friends from walking any further, assuming that an explosion might follow the twins' fast escape; but nothing happened.
The Gryffindors shrugged and walked on. The girls' had already turned the last corner, when Harry, Ron and Kelsey decided now it might be safer for everybody to catch up. Harry had a strange feeling that the twins had not pulled a prank this time and then he heard Ginny screaming. Ron dashed forward and yelled his sisters' name, while Harry and Kelsey followed him quickly.
When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, its occupant had left. "Oh my...Harry whispered and grabbed his cousins' arm.
"What is that" Kelsey gasped.
Harry remembered very well the last occasion he had seen this... the Quidditch World Cup.
"This is the Dark Mark" Ron was holding his sister tightly, who had turned white under her freckles, while Harry and Kelsey were walking closer to the portrait. An emerald-green skull with a serpent coming out of its mouth like a tongue covered the portrait of the fat lady.
"What does that mean? Why do you all look so scared? I bet this was just another prank of Fred and George" Kelsey said and waved his hand dismissively.
Kayla, who was also tending to Ginny, looked sceptically at her brother and countered "I doubt they would do something that crazy. Can anyone please explain me what sign this is?"
Hermione answered her question in a hollow voice. "The Dark Mark is the deatheaters' sign. The used a special spell and the sign appeared over the houses where they had murdered the last time. Everybody was terrified who saw and hoped it was not floating over their house"
Kayla didn't reply. She just pushed the now deserted painting aside, entered the common room and all she saw was havoc. The arm chairs had been slashed so forcefully that padding and fabric was scattered on the floor. All the tables were turned upside down and partly shattered. Kayla drew her wand and walked slowly forward while she scanned the room for possible dangers.
Kelsey and Ron rushed at her side, while Hermione stayed with Ginny at the portrait hole. When Kelsey turned a table over, they all heard a distant moan. Under a pile of shattered chairs he recognized a foot.
"I need help here" he called desperately and started pulling. Harry and Ron cleared away the fragments and freed a body.
"GO AWAY....GO AWAY... AAAAAAAAARGH" A shadow dashed forward and hit Kelsey, who was still kneeling down, with full force.
"NEVILLE" Harry yelled and tried to pull the boy away from his cousin.
"Neville what are you doing?" Kayla couldn't move. She just stood there and stared at the boys in shock. Neville was still handing out blows in all direction without recognizing who or what he was hitting.
Then finally Hermione shouted "STUPEFY" and Neville hit the floor. Harry and Ron carried the stunned boy to the couch, while Kelsey and Kayla finally turned over the limb body. The handsome Gryffindor pulled away the robes, which covered the entire head, and flinched heavily when he recognized who it was.
The round face and the short and red hair were covered with blood and the girl didn't move.
"Zara" he whispered. Kayla felt suddenly very cold. Her friend's skin had looked like white marble under all the blood and the Gryffindor couldn't see if she was breathing. Kelsey just sat there, his hands covering his face, and stared into space. Hermione knew she had to do something, so she turned on her heals and ran out of the common room.
"We need to know what happen" Harry shouted and dragged Ron over to the couch. "Hold him down in case he starts freaking out again" Ron nodded grimly and placed his hands on Neville's shoulders.
"Enervate" Harry called and Neville started moving. The boys were prepared for the worst, but fortunately Neville seemed to be quite calm and confused. "Where is she? Is she ok?" he cried.
Harry sat down next to his classmate and looked at him sternly. "Do you know what happened here, Neville? Who did this to Zara and what was she doing here?"
"All I remember is that Zara was looking for Kelsey and Kayla and ... and... I met her in the entrance hall... she wanted to accompany me but I said she should wait around the corner. When I came to the common room and went up to the boys' dorm ... OH MY GOD...this dark figure was tearing up the room" Neville started sobbing, rocking back and forth.
"It's ok now. Could you see who it was?" The rocking movements increased and he started choking, but he didn't say a word. "Ok Neville, do you know how Zara got hurt?" Harry urged.
"I ran downstairs but the deatheater followed me, then Zara came in and a curse hit her, but I can't say which one." Ron and Harry's' eyes locked and they both knew they couldn't press it any further. At this moment Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall entered the common room, accompanied by Fred and George.
"Minerva we need to take the children to the hospital wing. Neville, can you walk?" Dumbledore looked at the three boys on the couch and when he saw Harry shaking his head slightly, he conjured a stretcher.
"What happened here? Another attack?" Madam Pomfrey panted. She just arrived with Hermione and stared at the headmaster, her eyes wide in shock.
"We don't know anything for sure yet. Poppy please take care of Miss Rawle immediately, we will follow with Mr Longbottom. It seems that he has a shock, but no physical injuries." The nurse nodded and walked up to the unconscious student on the floor. It took a lot of effort from Ron, Harry and Hermione to move Kelsey, so Madam Pomfrey could place Zara on a stretcher. Kayla glared at her brother, who hadn't said a single word since they had found the Ravenclaw.
She sat next to him and whispered gently "Come on Kel. They take her to the hospital wing and I think we should go along. You need help too and I'm sure you don't want to leave her alone now" Her brother nodded slowly and got up from the floor. Like in trance they followed the headmaster, who accompanied Neville. Professor McGonagall had already left to get Professor Flitwick, the head of House Ravenclaw.