A/N: Wow! Thanks to all who reviewed. I will respond to you personally at the end. I like having responses to my reviews, and if you don't like that, just skip it. On we go.
Disclaimer: See first chapter. From now on, the disclaimer will be implied.
Harry Potter and the Prophecy of the Phoenix- Chapter 2
The peaceful blackness that Harry had fallen into was disrupted all too soon by the demons of his subconscious.
Sirius and Lupin were burning, skin charring horribly under the flames.
Harry's godfather turned pleading eyes to him. "Help us, Harry!"
Harry tried desperately to get to them, but the faster he ran, the farther away they seemed to get. His lungs didn't seem to be working correctly, and he finally collapsed to the ground in defeat and exhaustion.
"Why won't you help us?" Both men kept repeating as the words began to echo around Harry.
"I can't." He yelled mournfully, and his voice echoed hollowly, mixing with the incessant pleas.
"Harry!"
Once again, Harry awoke to Dumbledore's worried voice.
"Thanks." He whispered, grateful to be out of the nightmare as his hand reached for his scar, which he found bandaged.
There was an odd glint in Dumbledore's eyes, but they seemed sadder and cracked with age. Voldemort's return had taken a toll on the elderly wizard as well. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell Madam Pomfrey that I woke you. She made it quite clear that she would hex me into oblivion if I disturbed you."
Harry could not help the small curve to his lips. "Then you have nothing to worry about. It wasn't you who disturbed me."
Dumbledore acknowledged the statement with a slight nod of his head and then continued regretfully, "Harry, I'm sorry, but I need to know what you saw tonight."
All of the muscles in Harry's body tightened, and distantly, he heard his voice recapping his vision. Although Dumbledore remained quiet, at the end he seemed thoughtful, as if considering something Harry had not.
"Thank you, Harry. There's one more order of business we need to take care of."
Harry paled, seeing the seriousness in his headmaster's features, and the intensity of his gaze was almost frightening.
"Madam Pomfrey found some cracked ribs and severe bruising when she examined you."
Harry looked away in shame, but Dumbledore gently turned Harry's head so that he met the gaze of the aged wizard.
"How long has this been going on?"
There was just something about Dumbledore's azure eyes that was almost hypnotic, and Harry felt the words tumble out of his mouth as if not of their own accord.
"My uncle lost his job this summer and started drinking."
Dumbledore sighed, "I see. Needless to say, you will not be returning to the Dursleys' care. Arrangements will be made for you summer care."
He paused for a moment, and Harry could read an emotion in his headmaster that he was all too familiar with: guilt.
"I'm afraid, Harry, that I tried to protect you from one monster by sending you to another one."
"It's not your fault, sir. You couldn't have known."
That statement did little to appease the culpability Dumbledore felt. "It's my job to know. Would you like to press charges?"
"No."
Guilt was replaced by disappointment. "I wish you'd reconsider. There is no excuse for how you were treated."
"No. As long as I don't have to go back, I'd rather leave the whole thing behind me."
"I cannot force you to act, but if you change your mind, just let me know. Now, Madam Pomfrey left a Dreamless Sleep potion. I'd like you to take this and get some rest. It looks as if you use some, if you don't mind me saying."
Harry shook his head. "Classes start tomorrow. If I take that, I won't wake up." Seeing Dumbledore about to argue, Harry continued, "It's the first day. I don't want to start the term in the hospital wing. Please."
Dumbledore looked reluctant as he replied, "All right. I'll have a discussion with Madam Pomfrey in the morning, but if you change your mind, you can be excused from classes tomorrow. And Harry, if you ever need to talk, my door is always open."
The sarcastic comment about the stubborn stone gargoyle died before it hit Harry's lips as a sudden jolt of panic hit him. "Does - does anyone else know? About my uncle I mean."
"Professor McGonagall and Hagrid were here when your injuries were discovered, but rest assured. The information will remain in our confidence. Whether or not you tell your friends is up to you, but I would suggest that they could be a great help to you."
"I'll think about it." Harry knew that he had no intention of telling Ron or Hermione, but he said the words to appease the headmaster.
Dumbledore was not fooled. "Very well. Take a sip of the potion. It will let you rest for a bit, but you'll wake in time for classes. I'll see you in the morning."
Dumbledore could not help the smile that spread across his face as he heard the boy mumble, "Miss the first day of classes. Hermione would never let me hear the end of it."
Harry found himself rushing to the dungeon the next morning. As fate would have it, the first class of the first day would have to be Double Potions with the Slytherins, and he was running late. Madam Pomfrey refused to release him until he finished a very large breakfast.
Right now, his stomach was aching miserably, and his running was only causing it to threaten him with revisiting his breakfast.
He skidded into Potions classroom with only seconds to spare.
"It's very nice of you to join us, Potter." Snape sneered. "However, fame or not, you are expected to come to class on time like the rest of your classmates. Ten points from Gryffindor."
Normally, Harry would have protested, but the instincts telling him to take the punishment and get it over with that he inherited over the summer reared their ugly heads, and Harry slunk silently to his seat.
Hermione and Ron shot him worried looks, and Harry felt grateful that the bandage had been removed earlier that morning and his scar appeared normal.
Snape almost seemed disappointed that Harry made no protest. "Well, let's see how you all wasted your summer holidays. Potter, what is arviteserum?"
The words came out mechanically as Hermione's hand shot up, "Arviteserum is a derivative of veritaserum. But arviteserum only causes the person's greatest secret to be revealed instead of having the person tell the whole truth."
Snape scowled, and Hermione lowered her hand, looking almost dejected.
"All right, Potter. Since you seem to know so much about it, I'm sure you won't mind giving us a demonstration."
Harry's blood ran cold, knowing what a demonstration would reveal. The Boy-Who-Lived, who defeated Voldemort as a baby could not hold his own against his muggle relatives.
Harry began to mix his potion, feeling detached and continuing only on pure instinct. Meanwhile, his mind was whirling frantically, trying to decide whether or not to deliberately sabotage his potion.
He was so immersed in his internal debate that he jumped when Neville's cauldron exploded behind him, causing green growths to appear and spread on Neville's skin.
"MR. LONGBOTTOM! HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING IN FIVE YEARS! TWENTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR! REPORT TO THE HOSPITAL WING, AND REPORT TO ME TONIGHT FOR DETENTION!"
Neville scampered off, and Harry quickly decided that risking another explosion would not be in his best interest.
Soon the potion bubbling before him was the desired hypnotic blue, reminding him decisively of the headmaster's eyes.
Snape approached his cauldron, seeming frustrated that he could find nothing physically wrong with Harry's potion. "Very well, Potter, let's see what's hiding inside that head of yours." Snape announced, dipping the vial into Harry's cauldron and shoving it toward the young wizard.
"No." The word that fell from his lips surprised Harry more than anyone else in the room.
Snape's sallow face darkened, and his eyes narrowed. "You will drink this potion, or it will be one hundred points from Gryffindor and detention for a week."
Harry would have suffered with the detention sentence, but he refused to have his entire house punished for his foolish pride. Begrudgingly, he took the vial from Snape's hand and downed the contents.
His bottom lip and the circumference around his left eye were tingling. Harry focused on the feeling, trying to suppress it much like he fought the Imperious curse. Considering the disappointment plainly evident on Snape's face, his effort was working, but it was taking a lot of energy to keep it up.
"Well, once again it has been proven that Potter's talents do not extend to Potions. Twenty points from Gryffindor. I want a two feet on truth potions due next lesson. Dismissed." With that, Snape turned sharply and buried himself in something at his desk.
Harry was still battling the potion and knew that he was beginning to lose. He could feel his bottom lip begin to swell slightly.
"Coming Harry?" Ron and Hermione were waiting on him.
"Go on. I need to talk to Snape for a moment."
Both examined Harry warily but left without further questions.
As soon as the dungeon was deserted with the exceptions of Harry and Snape, Harry stopped fighting the potion.
It was a strange sensation feeling his eye swell shut and his lip swell and split.
He lowered his head in shame as if the shadows could hide what he no longer could, and his voice sounded softly, "Professor Snape."
"What do you want, Potter?" Snape did not look up from what he was looking at.
"Could I have the antidote to the potion, please?"
"What do you need with the antidote? Your potion didn't w-" He cut himself off as Harry raised his head. Immediately, Snape was on his feet. "What is the meaning of this?" He hissed sharply.
Harry gulped as Snape approached, taken aback by his anger and not knowing how to respond.
"Answer me, Potter!"
"My uncle." He murmured softly.
Snape was obviously furious, but Harry was unsure what exactly he was furious about.
"Have you reported this to anyone?"
"Professor Dumbledore has been informed. Can I have the antidote now?" His words were flat and emotionless.
Snape shoved a vial with a canary yellow potion into his hands.
Harry swallowed the potion gratefully and felt a tingling sensation run through his body as the swelling receded and the split repaired itself.
"What class do you have now?"
"Transfiguration."
"Very well. Come along then."
McGonagall shot Harry a look as he slipped quickly into his seat, but the look molded into one of surprise as Snape entered the classroom.
"Forgive Potter's tardiness. It was I who detained him." He then turned with a swish of his robes without waiting for a response.
With Snape gone, the class turned their surprised gazes at Harry, wondering what could have happened in the dungeon.
"Miss Granger, will you please explain the assignment to Mr. Potter. The rest of you may begin."
As the trio left Transfiguration, two of them seemed pale and shaky.
They had been transfiguring spiders into cats.
Hermione of course had completed the process in only a couple of tries and hardly any trouble.
Ron, whose fear of spiders was known to all of the fifth year Gryffindors due to the Boggart lesson in their third year, had simply stared at the arachnid, swallowing spastically for the first half of the lesson. When he had finally picked up his wand, his hand was shaking so hard as he spoke the incantation that he could not get it right. He had left the class with an eight-legged calico.
Harry, however, who was not known for greatness in Transfiguration, had surprised them all, including himself. Something very strange had happened. It felt as if a surge of energy had flowed from his body into his wand. There was a blinding flash, and the spider had become an orange tabby.
The effort had left him feeling lightheaded, as if all of his energy had been drained, and he had to admit to himself that after the surge and fighting the potion for so long, most of his energy probably had been spent.
The corridor was beginning to spin around him, and Harry made a split- second decision.
"I'm going to go take a nap before Divination. I'll see you two later."
"But Harry," Hermione protested, "you need to eat something."
Besides, she and Ron were hoping to find out what was going on over lunch.
Harry was silently praying that the world would hold still. "I'm not hungry." Without waiting for further protests from his friends, he headed unsteadily towards his dormitory.
Harry climbed the ladder to Divination. His nap was far from restful. He had made a silent plea for just a few moments of rest, but he was immediately assaulted by images of Voldemort, Cedric, his parents, Sirius, and Lupin. The latter two, once again, were being consumed by flames.
His throat felt raw, and Harry felt grateful that no one else had been there to hear him screaming.
Now his scar was throbbing softly, and he was in no mood for Trelawney's death predictions today. At least he did not need actual magic for this class. All he had to do was see a death sign, the grim was a favorite, and the professor was happy.
Harry took his customary seat next to Ron, who was eyeing him critically.
Before either could say anything, Trelawney's voice floated through the air, "My dears. The start of another year has come, and I fear that some of us will not return for the start of the next."
She turned her attention to Harry as she said this, and Lavender and Parvati gasped in terror.
Really, you would think that they would expect it by now.
"My inner eye has informed me that you should learn the art of fire gazing. We will start off with candles and then move to the fireplace after you get the hang of the less intense visions."
Ron and Harry glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. Trelawney's inner eye indeed.
Ron stared into his candle. "I see orange. Maybe the Cannons will win a match this year."
Harry shook his head. "You're dreaming, Ron, not fire gazing."
"What do you see then?"
Harry stared into the flame, at first only seeing it flicker. Then suddenly, it seemed as if he fell into the flame.
Trelawney shrieked as Harry's eyes were once again leeched of color and the aura of a flame surrounded him.
Harry found himself exactly where he had found himself the night before, and, if possible, the pain in his scar was worse than it had been then.
Why am I back here again?
"Are you sure they're in there?"
"Y-yes. The werewolf won't leave the house in fear of hurting someone, and his friend won't leave him alone."
Harry felt like he was going to be sick, and there was a strange sort of whispering in his head. The world spun around him.
"Are you sure they're in there?"
"Y-yes. The werewolf won't leave the house in fear of hurting someone, and his friend won't leave him alone."
Harry's body, unable to handle the pain any longer began to retch, and the whispers seemed louder in his head but jumbled. He could not tell what they were saying. The world spun again.
"Are you sure they're in there?"
What's going on? Someone help me, please! I can't take this much longer.
"Y-yes. The werewolf won't leave the house in fear of hurting someone, and his friend won't leave him alone.
The whispers sounded like voices now, but Harry could not understand what they were saying. The words seemed to tumble on top of one another, and Harry was hit by another wave of vertigo.
I have to get out of here. I have to get out.
Harry gagged as his lungs drew in the perfumed air of the Divination tower.
Immediately, he was assaulted by voices demanding to know if he was all right, and he barely suppressed a moan of pain.
He pressed the palm of his hand firmly to his scar, and he felt it split open into a gaping gash.
Blood streaked down his face, and the room had lost its focus.
He collapsed, and his body began to convulse in some sort of seizure.
The darkness that descended upon him was not inviting like the night before. Instead it was crushing, bringing fresh waves of pain. The darkness was tightening upon him, choking him.
As if finally to bring some credibility to Trelawney and her profession, Harry Potter stopped breathing and lay as still as death.
Okay, don't kill me for the ending of the chapter. I promise I won't leave you like that for long. Don't worry, Harry will have a better time next chapter. I promise. He deserves a break.
baasheep: I hope you remember to review this chapter. Thanks for the words of encouragement.
angelhitomi: I continued. I hope you like this chapter too.
Fin-Phoenix: Your English looked just fine to me. I didn't banish the story, see.
Akiko SkywalkerGreenleafPotter: Thanks.
Corie: This soon enough?
ratgirl: I hope that it stays interesting for you.
Stonehenge: I'll hold you to reading more.
Litchy5: Yes, poor Harry. I like him, really. kelly: Hope I remembered to e-mail. and thanks.
Ariel: I did that on purpose. I figured no one would be reading this if they hadn't read the book.
I HAVE A DREAM: Wait no longer. It's here.
