HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE
I own nothing. Harry Potter and co. belongs to She-Who-Must-be-Worshipped, J. K. Rowling.
Chapter 3: Of O.W.L.s and Dark Wizards
Harry was once again running in the Department of Mysteries. As he knows where to go by now, he manages to find the veil without any difficulty.
And just like before, Sirius Black was standing in front of it.
Harry ran quickly towards him, hoping against hope that this time he would be able to stop Sirius in time before stepping through the veil. But as he stepped up to the dais, some unseen force sends him flying backwards, furthering the distance between him and Sirius. Harry stood up, completely ignoring the pain in his back, to see Sirius smiling sadly at him.
"Help me Harry, there is no much time left."
"I don't understand! Where are you Sirius? How do I help you?" cried Harry desperately.
"The time is near Harry. I'll be waiting for you," whispered Sirius as he stepped back through the veil. Harry watched helplessly as Sirius finally disappeared into the veil. The image then started to swirl, multitudes of color blending with one another. Moments after, the swirling stopped, the image now replaced with the man inside the prison.
"You! What did you do to Sirius? Where is he? Who are you?" demanded Harry angrily. But the man ignored Harry's questions completely and started as if Harry hadn't spoken at all.
"The time is near. Prepare what is to come, Potter of the Hollow Hills."
"What are you on about? And why do you keep on calling me Potter of the Hollow Hills?"
"The time is not yet ripe for you to know the answers to your questions. Someday we will meet, and the answers you seek will be yours to take."
"Then why are you sending me these dreams? Are you warning me of something? Or should I be warned against you?"
"I am neither your friend nor your foe. Time will answer that. And these dreams do not serve as a warning of something that is bound to happen but a reminder, a reminder for you lest you forget your path. We will meet again, Potter of the Hollow Hills, and when that time comes you should be prepared."
Harry woke up drenched in sweat. He quickly removed the offending clothes and head to take a shower. When he emerged, he was still feeling thoroughly confused and afraid. Was there another enemy out to get him? Harry never seems to run out one of those. He was sure that Voldemort had nothing to do with these dreams for his scar never hurt during and after one of these dreams. And Dumbledore said that his mind was now better protected against Voldemort.
So, again, who? Who would send these dreams to him and why? Who was the prisoner in his dreams?
As the mighty falls, the veil will call and open up the skies of Ardeth!
What the?! Where did that come from? Harry thought. But as Harry pondered more on this, flashes from his previous dreams came to his mind. Now he remembers every little bit of detail from his dreams regarding Sirius and the figure inside the prison. So what does this mean? If the prisoner from his dreams, for Harry was pretty sure it was he behind all of these, makes Harry forget all of it after, why make him remember now?
The time is near, prepare for what is to come.
A reminder for you lest you forget your path.
Harry could make neither heads nor tails to all of these. So he sat down, grabbed a piece of parchment and start scribbling down. When he finished, he tied it to Hedwig and carried her to the window.
"This is for Professor Dumbledore, Hedwig. Make sure he gets it personally," Harry said before letting Hedwig fly out the window.
"Interesting," Professor Dumbledore commented as he sipped from his cup of tea. Harry had just finished narrating all of his dreams to him and was now waiting anxiously what the Headmaster make of it. They were currently inside Mrs. Figg's house as Professor Dumbledore decided it was best to talk here after receiving the message from Harry. Hermione was currently with her parents right now visiting some old friends of the family, which is fine by Harry for he didn't want to tell Hermione about his dreams. He wasn't sure why but he had this feeling that he should keep the people who knows his dreams to minimum.
"Interesting? Is that all you can say?" Harry asked incredulously. Here he was expecting something that will enlighten Harry to everything that was happening and all he got from the most powerful wizard of these times is 'interesting'?
"What do you want me to say, Harry?" Professor Dumbledore chuckled.
"Well, you can start by telling me what all these means."
"Harry, Harry, Harry. Even I cannot pretend to know how to discern the meaning of dreams. All I can say is what will happen will happen. You just have to be brave to face it head on."
"Some help you turn out to be," Harry grumbled. But Harry knew that there was nothing they could really do but wait.
"Yes, it seems I have been pretty useless these past times," Professor Dumbledore said dejectedly
"Err.... Professor, about that," Harry begun guiltily but was cut off by the Headmaster.
"Past is past, Harry. We cannot do anything about it. But we must face the future and live the present in order to survive these difficult times."
"Err.... I have a question Professor. It's about Sirius. Remus and I had talked about the goblin account. Well, some of it anyway. And I was wondering...."
"Yes Harry, I've already checked. Sirius is now truly gone from us," Professor Dumbledore said somberly.
Harry already knew that Sirius was truly gone but hearing another proof of it, Harry couldn't help but feel depressed and disappointed. "How does that work anyway? The goblin magic I mean."
"There are different types of magic. These are wand magic, blood magic, mind magic, alchemist's magic, flesh magic, and sacrificial magic. We wizards use, obviously, the wand magic. We cannot contain our raw magic to a specific spell, so we needed a wand to change raw magic to what we want. Of course, there are wizards that can do some spells without a wand and that falls to mind magic. Some wizards, but it is very rare, can do spell on their will alone. I myself can do some wandless magic but the spells I can do are very limited. Then there is blood magic. You yourself had some experience on blood magic, am I right? Blood magic is one of the strongest types of magic. It involves, of course, blood directly or indirectly. Instead of a wand, if the catalyst used were blood, the effect would be longer and more powerful. But as it is very dangerous in using directly, blood magic is considered one of the dark arts. Of course there are exceptions. Then there is alchemist's magic. It is one of the oldest types of magic known to man. Potions are a huge part of this magic. From that, I believe you can already discern the meaning of this type. Then there is flesh magic. This is the darkest type of magic. For it involves using body parts as catalyst. But the effect of flesh magic is the most powerful and destructive known to wizards. Sacrificial magic is the longest lasting type of magic there is. Its effects lasts a lifetime if not forever. Sacrificial magic, most of the time, is used with will magic so it can be very powerful. You already know the power of sacrificial magic as you yourself experienced it. Now the magic the goblins used in a wizard's account is blood magic with alchemist's magic and will magic combined to it. If a wizard opens an account in Gringotts, a drop of his blood is mixed with a goblin potion for lasting effects and store in a stone kept someplace known only by goblins to avoid tampering. You must understand Harry, that the main store for magical energy is the blood. And every blood dropped is bound to its originator. So when the magical energy inside the stone in Gringotts dissipates, and that means that the something happened to its originator. And the only thing that can remove the magical energy from a person, as you can see, is death. And Sirius' stone in Gringotts has no magical energy left in there Harry. I'm sorry,"
Harry can feel the tears forming in his eyes again. But he doesn't care anymore if Dumbledore saw him like this. So many thoughts and information were going through his head that he can hardly understand them all. But one idea stuck to him though.
"Professor, how was it then that nobody knows that Wormtail was still alive if the goblins can know if a wizard died?"
Dumbledore smiled sadly at Harry before replying, "You must remember Harry that even though Peter is a spineless coward, he was a part of the Marauders. By hanging out with your father and his friends, Peter learned how to cover his tracks very well. He did disappear for 12 years, you know. A week before the attack on your parents, Peter had cleared and closed his account in Gringotts, completely destroying all attachments of Gringotts to him. He said then that he didn't anything worth for an account and believed that he never would have. As we had no basis to be suspicious of him then, we simply ignored and accept his excuse for we know that Peter was very poor indeed. How could have we known that it would be such a huge mistake?"
Silence engulfed them for a few moments broken only when Professor Dumbledore spoke again. "I believe your O.W.L.s will be arriving any day now, so I believe a week from now you will be visiting Diagon Alley to get what you need for the next term."
"You're, you're allowing me to go?" Harry asked skeptically, not allowing his hopes to get up.
"Of course you will be accompanied by Ms. Granger. And I believe Mr. Lupin and Ms. Tonks would like to go also."
Guards huh, Harry thought, fine by me. Harry was so thrilled to visit Diagon Alley once again that he couldn't care less if the whole Order of the Phoenix accompanies him. It had been a long time since his last visit for it had always been Mrs. Weasley who bought his things for him.
"That's fine by me," Harry said excitedly.
Professor Dumbledore chuckled pleasantly at Harry's sudden change of mood. "It's all set then. Remus and Tonks will arrive at your house next week for your trip to Diagon Alley."
Morning came and with it the owl delivering the results of his O.W.L.s. Harry and Hermione decided that they would be looking through their results at the same time so they agreed to meet at the park that day.
He quickly changed his clothes after taking a shower and went downstairs for breakfast. As he approached the kitchen room doors, he heard Dudley mentioning Hermione's name. He stopped and eavesdropped on them.
"She's really pretty and I want her to be my girlfriend," Dudley announced forcefully.
"Oh, our little Diddikins is all grown up," Aunt Petunia sobbed happily.
"Who is this girl anyway? How come I've never heard of her?" Uncle Vernon asked.
Aunt Petunia answered quickly, excited to impart the knowledge she acquired from their neighbors. "They're new here in Little Whinging. Her parents are dentists, Vernon; rich and well respected."
"Really know?" Uncle Vernon asked, clearly impressed. "The little tyke sure knows how to pick a girl! She'll be yours in no time Dudley. Who could resist the Dursleys' charm, eh?"
Harry almost snorted when he heard that. He is already having a hard time stopping himself from laughing out loud. Dudley fancies Hermione! Wait till she hears this!
"But Harry is already friendly with her. And he may had already told her all sort of rubbish against me!"
"What? Well, we'll see about that," Uncle Vernon grumped then shouted loudly, "BOY! GET DOWN HERE!"
"What is it Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked as he stepped through the kitchen doors.
"What? Have you been listening to us, boy?" growled Uncle Vernon. It seems the silent treatment was finally over. Or he just forgot about it. Well, perhaps he needed to remind them once again.
"No Uncle Vernon. I was just at the stairs when you called me," Harry lied.
Uncle Vernon eyed Harry suspiciously and then growled, "you better not be! You listen here, boy. You will stop seeing that nice new girl. She's different from your kind. She's normal and you're a freak! You will not tarnished her name anymore!"
"And who's going to stop me? You? You and what army?" Harry asked, making sure that they understood what he meant. He saw then to his satisfaction that Uncle Vernon paled almost immediately. That's right. Remember the group at the train station.
Harry immediately grabbed a piece of toast and went outside, not waiting to hear what their reaction would be. Stupid muggles. He hurried towards the park where Hermione would be waiting for him.
When he arrived, he saw Hermione already waiting near the swings, pacing back and forth; her hands were twitching to open the envelope in front of her. When she saw him approached, she faced him immediately and admonished him.
"Finally! What took you so long? I've been waiting here for ages!"
"Hermione, I'm only three minutes late," Harry pointed out, amused at Hermione's behavior. "And I was sidetracked by Dudley."
"Why? What happened? Did he hurt you?" Hermione asked Harry concernedly, looking around him to see if he had bruises on him.
"No, but I would be careful if I were you," Harry warned mischievously.
"Why?" Hermione asked, clearly confused.
"It seems that Diddikins fancies you."
"What?! Harry, that is the most disgusting thing I've heard all summer. It would do you good if you don't mention this ever again," Hermione warned, openly disgusted at the idea of Dudley fawning over her. "Now, I suggest we get to this O.W.L. results as we had planned on doing."
Hermione looked at her envelope then at Harry and sheepishly asked. "So, how are we going to do this?" Clearly, the envelope on her hands had cleared out any idea on her head, including a disgusting muggle called Dudley.
"You can open yours first," Harry suggested.
"Oh alright. Uhm.... Wait, you go first. No, open mine first! Wait! Let me do it! Ohhh.... I'm too afraid to look. Let's just do it at the same time," suggested Hermione as she looked at her letter with apprehension.
Harry ripped his envelope open. He didn't show it but Harry was as just nervous at looking at his results as Hermione was. He looked at the contents and saw two parchments inside. He took the more official looking one first and read,
Dear Mr. Potter,
Listed below are your results in the O. W. L. s (Ordinary Wizarding Level):
Theory Practical Overall
Astronomy A A A
Care for Magical Creatures O NA O
Charms EE O O
Defense Against the Dark Arts O O O
Divination EE A A
Herbology EE NA EE
History of Magic D NA D
Potions EE O O
Transfiguration EE EE EE
We are delighted to inform you that you received 6 out of possible 9 O. W. L. s.
Sincerely,
Anita Headly
Head of Wizarding Tests
Ministry of MagicHarry couldn't believe it! He received an O in potions! He would be able to take it for his Auror Training. Wait till Snape hears about this, Harry thought, grinning madly. He glanced at Hermione and saw that her eyes were now wide with glee.
"I passed! I passed them all! I got 11 O.W.L.s out of the possible 11!" she shouted happily. She started jumping up and down now and reached to embrace Harry. Harry couldn't help but join her in her exuberance. They both started dancing while chanting loudly, "We passed! We passed! We passed!"
"So, how should we celebrate?" Harry asked momentarily.
"How about going to Diagon Alley?" asked a person behind them.
"Remus!" "Professor Lupin!" they both shouted at the same time. Lupin grinned at the both of them and motioned to quiet down.
"I asked Professor Dumbledore if we could visit Diagon Alley today instead of next week. And he agreed. So prepare whatever you need. Tonks will be arriving here in half an hour to join us."
Both of them hurriedly went to their separate homes. After an hour they returned with backpacks and different clothes. Tonks was already at the park with Remus.
"Wotcher Harry! Hermione!" she greeted. Her hair was a shade of green this time.
"Hiya Tonks!" Harry greeted back. He noticed Hermione was wearing a skirt and a fitted top this time. She's gorgeous! No wonder Dudley fancies her. If Ron just noticed Hermione was a girl, wait till he sees her in this! Hermione raised an eyebrow at Harry when she noticed him staring at her. Harry just smiled sheepishly then shrugged.
"Alright! Everyone ready? Diagon Alley, here we go!" shouted Tonks jovially as she raised her wand. Seconds later, the Knight Bus stopped in front of them with a loud Bang!
"Alright, everyone aboard," Remus called as he pushed Harry in first. Harry immediately covered his scar with his bangs so as not to be noticed by the people inside.
"Hey! You're Harry Potter!" Stan Shunpike, the conductor, announced loudly after Lupin paid for their fares.
Harry cursed inwardly. What follows afterwards were the customary shaking of hands.
"I always believed in you, Mr. Potter."
"We knew Fudge was a joke!"
"Keep up the good work Mr. Potter."
"We're behind you all the way."
"Marry me, Harry!"
"We knew you were telling the truth, Mr. Potter."
"You're a very brave young man."
Harry was already contemplating on cursing them all when he saw Hermione smiling on him. It miraculously calmed him down and sat beside her when everyone finally stopped congratulating him for whatever it is they thought he did.
Hermione took hold of his hand and whispered to him, "You should get used to it Harry, your famous."
Harry pouted at her sadly, making her laughed quietly. The trip to Leaky Cauldron was uneventful not counting the bumps and bruises Harry acquired. But Hermione's hand never left Harry's the entire trip.
The Leaky Cauldron was unusually empty. Tom, the barkeep, was the only person inside.
"Slow day, Tom?" Remus inquired.
"Nah, it's still early. By lunch time, this place will be full."
"As you say, Tom. See you later," Lupin said, ushering everyone towards the back. Tonks pulled out her wand and tapped the appropriated bricks, and then the entrance to Diagon Alley opened before their eyes.
Harry never gets tired seeing Diagon Alley. For him, it's always like the first time when Hagrid showed him this place. It was still as lively as ever. People were already milling around, looking at store windows for the latest displays. Various objects could be seen, from golden cauldrons to dragon hide boots.
"C'mon, Harry. First stop is Gringotts," Remus said, leading them to the wizarding bank.
They head to Gringotts without any preamble and talked to the available goblin in the counter.
"We would like to withdraw some galleons please," remus asked politely.
"Key please," the goblin asked. He then called for another goblin to lead them to his vaults after inspecting Harry's key. Hermione and Tonks were left in the hall, as Hermione has to exchange her muggle money for galleons.
The trip to the vaults was as exciting and dizzying as ever and Harry was surprised to see that his vault was still like before as if galleons had never been taken out of them. He asked the goblin why.
"Interests rate sir. Your account is so vast that the annual interest mostly covers your expenses alone."
After grabbing a bagful of galleons, sickles, and knuts, they head back to the main hall. They found Hermione and Tonks sitting in one of the benches, waiting for them.
"So where to first?" Tonks asked.
"To Flourish and Blott's of course. The books we need for next term are already available. We should buy them already before they run out," Hermione pointed out.
"All right. How about you Harry?"
"Err.... I need new robes."
"Of course, your old ones are already a couple of inches shorter. You're growing Harry," Hermione beamed at him. Harry just scratched the back of his head and looked down, trying to hide his blush.
Remus laughed at them and suggested that they can go to Madame Malkin's first for measurement and buy their books while waiting for their robes to be finish. Everyone agreed. After shopping and a couple of hours just looking around, they went to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch.
Harry was having a time of his life! Hermione was sitting beside him while Remus was in front beside Tonks. Tonks kept changing her nose during lunch, which caused Lupin to laugh so hard that he spilled his food in front of them much to Hermione's disgust.
They were laughing so hard that it took a few moments before they noticed that people were running panicky inside the Leaky Cauldron. Some of them went to the fireplace to floo out while some apparated. Remus and Tonks quickly stood and asked a man running towards them what was happening.
"Death Eaters! Death Eaters on Diagon Alley!" he shouted.
NA: Bit off a cliffhanger. Sorry about this chapter. It's a bit hurried. I got a lot on my plate lately so sorry about that. Anyway, thanks for the reviews.
