Ok. Everyone knows the drill. Still here goes nothing -
Harry Potter & the other characters of J.K. Rowling are strictly hers (though this plot here is mine :)). I am not the original writer (though I wish I could be) & I do not wish to make money from this. Most Importantly, I DO NOT want to get sued. So if anyone has any problems with anything I write, then just tell me.
There's plenty more...blah blah blah....forget it & let the story begin :).
Note: US English has been used here.
HARRY POTTER & THE POWER OF HOGWARTS
Chapter 14 - Waiting For Something
…Harry Potter - it always comes down to him at Hogwarts. He helps people, doesn't care what happens to him, has fought You-Know-Who several times and is still alive, is famous but never uses it for anything and is unaffected by my veela charm. I don't know but the more I see of him, the more I feel that he is a puzzle which I can't solve.
Who is this person named Harry Potter?
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Harry looked at himself in the mirror as he wiped the sweat from his face with a towel. There had been quite some changes in his features from the last time he had carefully looked at his reflection. His eyes seemed a bit more sunken now, even though they still had their bright shining sparkle, and his jaw line was also more pronounced than before. Though his rigorous training routine, along with his school work, seemed to be taking their toll on him (he thought he looked thinner than what he was a month ago), somehow he thought that he looked much calmer than before. He attributed this to the fact that his daily meditation had made him much aware of his mind and had helped him gain control of his emotions.
Emotions - that was the keyword to everything going on in the wizarding world nowadays. It had led to the rise of a dark wizard like Voldemort who was being driven by his emotions to become the supreme authority in the wizarding world. Emotions had led to people following Voldemort, emotions had led to so many deaths, emotions had led to the complete destruction of people's minds, emotions had led to light wizards rising up to the challenge, emotions had led to the battle which was going on, emotions had led to Harry's own existence.
Harry sighed at the thought of his parents. They had seemed so happy with him in their photographs and looked so hopelessly in love with each other. He had pondered on the thought many times as to how it would have been if they had been still alive but could never actually visualize it properly. Mrs. Weasley had been the closest thing to a mother for him but somewhere deep down, his heart told him that his own mother would not be that protective. After all, she had married James Potter and would have known that Harry would inherit some of his genes. That would be the most obvious reason why she wouldn't try to protect him too much - after all, he would still get his things done like his dad. But…
But - this had been another stumbling block in Harry's mind. But maybe his mother would have been more protective than others. Maybe his father would have tried to stop him from taking too many risks in the initial stages of his life. Maybe his father had made up his mind that his son would not, or rather should not, lead the kind of adventurous life which he had been living. Maybe they wanted him to be a ministry official. Or maybe they just wanted to be left alone and remain happy. These thoughts seemed to be plaguing him much more than usual today so Harry decided that the best way to take his mind off these matters was to practice harder. And this he did.
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Tonks had got up for a quick snack in the middle of the night. Well, it was the middle of the night for her in her room's timeline but she knew that once she got out of her room, she would find Harry working on something or the other as his timeline was always set to a faster one than the real timeline. Today though, it seemed to her that everything seemed unnaturally quite as she stumbled out of her room. Calling out to Dobby and asking him to fix a quick snack for her, she made her way towards the dining table. What she saw was not what she was used to.
There were 10 Harry Potter's in the dueling area (which seemed to have been expanded) adjoining the dining room and it seemed like a 9 to 1 fight was going on. Tonks was used to seeing a 4 to 1 fight training and lately, a 5 to 1 training schedule but a 9 to 1 was unprecedented. Tonks was sure that she was seeing things but even after rubbing her eyes twice, none of the Harry's seemed to disappear. Now that she looked on more carefully, she realized that a serious fight was going on and the real Harry seemed to have a lot of emotions on his face. Not wanting to interfere, Tonks sat down quietly at the dining table and started to eat the snack Dobby had provided. As she looked on, she saw something in Harry's features which had not been there for quite some time now. He seemed troubled and restless.
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Harry had become really upset regarding all the thoughts which had come up in his mind and all he wanted now was revenge. Revenge for what he could have had but he didn't, revenge for the life he had been forced to live, revenge for Sirius and most importantly revenge from Voldemort. He didn't know what had caused him to take on 9 opponents but somehow he knew that something inside him was itching to be released. His thoughts were filled with the deepest hatred he had ever felt as he dodged another spell from one of his opponents. As he jumped behind a couch, he fired a stunning spell at one of his opponents but was disappointed to see that he had missed his opponent by a long way.
Behind the couch, Harry calmed himself consciously by breathing deeply. He knew that even though he had taken on 9 opponents in a spur-of-the-moment decision, this could very well be a real-life situation and if he wanted to defeat death eaters, it better start from defeating his opponents here. With this thought in his mind and also a deep hatred in his heart, he looked up from behind his couch. He just had the time to see that his opponents were within 10 meters when a spell came blasting towards him and he had to duck behind the couch again. Making up his mind on the course of action, he turned himself invisible with the help of his glove. This was the first time he was using this feature in a duel and he really hoped that he would be able to pull it off. Standing up slowly, he saw that his opponents were within 7 meters from him in a semi-circular formation and everyone had their wands raised. All at once, he saw nine Reducio spells shooting towards the couch and he jumped away just in time, firing a spell in mid-air, which had become one of his specialties.
Just as the spell was fired, his opponents immediately pointed at the spot from where the streak of light had emerged and fired off stunning spells but they all missed by a mile as Harry was already in another corner of the room. The real Harry gave a wave of his wand and a huge stone block, which he had conjured up with the spell he had just fired, came down crashing on the other side of the room. All his opponents turned around to look at what had caused the sound and immediately they blew apart the whole conjured block with splinters going off in all directions. But the time which took them to look around and blast the conjured block was exactly the time Harry had been asking for.
"Diversionary tactics are best used when you are outnumbered by your opponents." Harry remembered this line from the book of tactics he read from time to time. Another line which was going through his mind was from a dueling book "If you see that the number of opponents are too large and very close to you, then try to take them out with one single spell, which may range from a group stunning spell to some other creative option. A group stunning spell requires immense amount of magical power and hence can be performed by powerful wizards". Harry knew that he was not powerful enough to perform a group stunning spell and hence he needed a better, more intelligent option which could knock out all his opponents. He already knew what he would prefer to do but it needed some time, which he had managed to obtain. Still invisible to the others, but having the advantage that they wouldn't be able to pin-point his location as they had their backs towards him, Harry made a quick wand movement and said "Arceo Cella".
As soon as Harry said the spell, a bright white rectangular room seemed to form around his opponents. "Chalybs Ballista Plurimus Cella Propero" came the next complicated and ancient spell from Harry even as his opponents had turned to face their unseen foe. Harry had read about this spell a week back and he had practiced for 5 days before he could finally manage to master the spell. Even as his spell took effect, Harry's opponents started firing random curses towards the area in which they believed Harry was. Unknown and unseen to them, Harry had already moved away to the other corner of the room and was watching the effect of his second spell - a huge iron ball which had appeared in the enchanted room which he had created. Slowly the iron ball started moving around the room and upon hitting one of the walls, it bounced back and headed towards another wall. All of Harry's opponents had now forgotten about their original foe and were firing curses at the moving iron ball which seemed to be gaining in speed. One of the curses hit the ball breaking it into numerous pieces but instead of those pieces crumbling to the ground, each of them seemed to shape itself into another iron ball and started to zoom around.
Harry watched in wonder at how the complex spell worked and wondered why the wizarding schools didn't teach all the ancient spells. Around 12 iron balls were now zooming around the enchanted room in all sorts of directions and they were picking up pace at an incredible rate. Soon one of his opponents had been hit by one of the balls and had vanished, which was the room's way of withdrawing its competitors once they were defeated. As Harry watched, one by one each of his opponents were being taken down even as they kept on blasting the iron balls, generating multiple others. Some of them were even trying to break through the enchanted room but were having little success. Within a minute, the whole of the enchanted room created by Harry was filled with over 50 iron balls and the last of his opponents had been struck down. With a wave of his wand and muttering the counter spell, both the room and its contents vanished and Harry proceeded towards the dining area deep in thought. He knew he would have to come up with a new strategy the next time because the duplicate Harry's would now have the knowledge of the two advanced spells he had used.
"That was awesome". Harry's thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Tonks who now looked wide awake. "I mean, those spells you used were quite advanced and you easily took care of so many opponents"
"Well…" Harry replied a bit tiredly "…all it needed was a bit of common sense really. Once your opponents are quite close in…hold on, what are you doing here right now?" It was most unlike Tonks to be at the dining table in front of an empty plate. Harry knew about Tonks's habits and according to his knowledge, Tonks should be in dreamland by now.
"Well, I had got up for a snack and saw you dueling. I just thought that I better watch out for you" Tonks replied with a smile. "But you don't look so great today". The look on Tonks face had changed to one of concern as she said this and went on to add "Is something bothering you or are you having any visions lately?"
"No. I…I…" Harry stammered slightly before saying "…I am not feeling ok today". Looking at the look Tonks was giving him, he quickly added "I think it was something I ate yesterday".
"If you say so" Tonks replied, though her face told Harry that she didn't believe him. Tonks surveyed him curiously for a few uneasy seconds before finally got up with a yawn. Harry was relieved when she said that she felt sleepy once again and he said a quick 'good night' to her as she proceeded towards her room.
Harry sat down at the dining table even as he watched Tonks enter (or stumble into) her room. He knew that there was no hiding from Tonks or Remus as they could read his features too well. Remus let him have his space but Tonks always seemed to pounce on him and bombarded him with all sorts of questions. He sighed as he thought of how close Tonks had been this time when she said that he didn't look great today. He himself had been feeling quite out of sorts and this was mainly due to the fact that his mind was preoccupied with the thoughts of his mom and dad. Giving his head a vigorous shake, as if it would get rid of his thoughts, he got up and headed for an extra training session.
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"Hi Neville" Harry greeted his room mate as they were getting ready for classes. It had been quite a long time since he himself had approached Neville and now that he thought about it, he didn't remember greeting Neville himself ever since school had started. 22 days were a long time indeed.
"Hi Harry" Neville said with a smile as he looked around to find only Harry and himself in the room. "You don't seem to be sleeping in your bed lately"
"Actually…" Harry said "…I sleep in my trunk. It has a bedroom in it and I feel more comfortable in there"
"Oh…" Neville said as he understood that the trunk must be one of the multi-compartment trunks.
"So, how is the D.A. coming around?" Harry asked. He had wanted to ask this question for a long time but never had had the chance with everyone else present around all the time.
"Fine I suppose" Neville replied. "Cho and I now understand what kind of pressure and frustration you must have gone through when you were teaching us"
Ignoring the hidden compliment in Neville's words, Harry continued "So, any new members?"
"Yes" Neville seemed excited. "We have got a lot of new members. To be precise, we are trying to recruit 40 students just like the headmaster had told us". Harry only nodded to this remembering the conversation Neville and Cho had with the 'headmaster' in the trunk.
"So Neville, how many have you managed?"
"24" Neville replied. "Recruitments from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw are over. Hufflepuff have 4 members and we hope to finish their selection in 2-3 days"
"What about the Slytherins?" Harry knew that the Slytherins would be the hardest to convince.
"Well…actually there have been some enquiries by some students but they are afraid" Neville said in a voice which carried a hint of helplessness in it. "They are too afraid to do anything which might be seen as shameful in the eyes of their seniors"
"Hmm…" Harry seemed lost in thought for a moment. Of course, being taught by a Gryffindor or any member of any other house would be a shameful thing in the eyes of many Slytherins.
"Hey, we are getting late" Neville's shout bought Harry out of his thoughts. Looking at his watch he saw that Neville was indeed right and that they had only 30 minutes left before their first class and they still had not taken their breakfast! Harry told Neville that he would think about how to convince the Slytherins and rushed off towards the great hall. Neville followed just behind Harry and if Harry had turned around, he would have seen a very thoughtful looking Neville behind him.
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Another horrible day, Harry thought as he entered the trunk for the night outside. He had been able to perform well in all his classes but what made his day terrible to bear was the amount of homework assigned. Already McGonagall was talking about N.E.W.T's and she wanted them to study even harder than they were doing now. Surprisingly Fleur had also asked them to study well because each and every potion they were brewing could well lead to a question in their final examinations. Only Flitwick seemed to be a sane man and the work he assigned was short and to the point while Snape seemed to be asking for 12 inches of parchment daily.
After a quick shower, Harry proceeded towards the dining table where Remus and Tonks were already waiting for him. It had become a daily routine for the others to wait for him if he was late or vice-versa. Basically, they loved to have dinner along with each other and all of them used this time period to talk about both light and serious issues.
"Wotcher Harry. Why are you so late? I am starving" Tonks looked ready to attack the food which Dobby had placed before them but couldn't do so as Harry still had not taken his seat. Harry, after his terrible day, wanted to make most of the situation and walked right past the dining table.
"HEY!" Tonks shouted. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" With a scream, she got up from her seat and knocked over her chair once again. Harry didn't even bother to look back and went into the dueling room whose transparent walls instantly turned opaque. Tonks started to run after him but stumbled on her own chair.
"Ouch" Tonks rubbed her knees as she got up. "I will get that boy today" she said through gritted teeth. At the tone of her voice, even Remus looked quite alarmed. As Tonks entered the dueling room, another door appeared on the other side of the room and Harry came running out, a smile spread over his face. Quickly taking his seat, he questioned Remus loudly "Now where did Tonks go? I am starving here." Just then, in walked Tonks or rather in flew a rage filled Tonks.
"There you are" Tonks said in a deadly whisper. "It won't take a dark lord to kill you Potter" Tonks maintained her tone as she walked slowly towards the table. Even Harry had a concerned look on his face now. "Don't you want to know why?"
"N…no Tonks" Harry stammered, looking quite alarmed. "I…I don't want to know…I…I want to ea…eat"
"No Potter" Tonks was very near to Harry now. "Today you will have dinner with Peeves because…I WILL KILL YOU" Tonks shouted and jumped towards Harry. Harry, using his quidditch honed skills, jumped out of her reach and immediately took off at full speed with Tonks at his heels. In all this excitement, anger and fear, both of them had forgotten that they could do magic and had decided to deal with the other in the old fashioned muggle way which was to run.
Remus, on the other hand, was quietly looking on and was eating the plate of meatloaf in front of him. Even though Tonks and Harry were not there, all of them had been seated at the dinner table that night and, technically, he had started his dinner after the last member had taken the seat. Watching quietly, he saw Tonks stumble and land hard on her stomach while Harry had turned around and was looking concerned. For all Remus knew, this was a trick of Tonks and he knew that Harry would fall for it because he had a tendency to help people. As if on cue, Harry walked towards Tonks and tried to help her up.
"GOTCHA" Tonks shouted as she got up with great speed and pinned Harry to the ground. "I am going to kill you now". Tonks hissed through gritted teeth. If Harry hadn't known better, he would have bet 100 galleons that Tonks was a madwoman. "Hold on" Tonks said, her sneer had changed somewhat giving way to an awkward expression. "Stay here" she said as she got up and let Harry go.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked in bewilderment.
"SHUT UP" Tonks bellowed. "And don't move. I'll be back"
"When?" Harry asked in amusement now.
"After I finish my dinner. I need strength to finish you off." Tonks said with a glare towards Harry. "And don't you dare move from your place" came the added warning. Harry was smiling openly now and got up slowly. He knew Tonks was not serious but also acknowledged the fact that she really had a way of making things look unique each time.
"Sorry Tonks" Harry said meekly as he approached the dining table. Remus was halfway through his dinner and seemed least concerned in all the dramatics which were going on around him and missed out on the glare which Tonks gave Harry.
"I said 'sorry'." Harry repeated, emphasizing on the last word. Still getting no response, Harry knew that there was only one way to get out of this and that was to trade something for what had happened. "Ok, what do I have to do to make up?" Harry could have sworn that there had been a flicker of triumph on Tonks face but he couldn't be sure.
"Liar" Tonks said offhandedly as she continued her muching.
"No. I really mean it" Harry said as he took his seat and started on his dinner. "What do I have to do?"
"Well, you can start by fixing me an appointment with that veela teacher of yours" Tonks said, her face breaking into a genuine smile this time.
"Who?" Harry asked sternly as he looked up from his dinner and immediately Tonks knew she had made a mistake by calling Fleur a veela. Even though everyone knew that she was a veela, Tonks knew that Harry hated discrimination of people based on their breed or origins or on any other thing for that matter. There was only one thing which Harry wouldn't argue against and that was the differentiating of people based on their gender.
"I…I meant that beautiful potions teacher of yours" Tonks said putting up her most innocent smile. Harry couldn't help but smile at her.
"And why would you want that?" Harry asked as he took a bite of his own meatloaf.
"It's private" Tonks replied.
"Hmmm…" Harry replied, nodding his head slightly, giving neither a positive nor a negative reply. Remus, who had been watching from the sidelines for some time now, seemed to be counting something.
"It's a girls thing" Tonks said, frustration creeping into her voice. She didn't like it when Harry made a non-committal gesture.
"Hmmm…" came the same response again. Remus seemed to continue on his counting regardless of what was going on. All of a sudden, Tonks got up and started to stomp off towards her room.
"Hey Tonks" Remus called out. On seeing that Tonks had stopped and was listening to what he wanted to say, Remus added "You were able to hold on for 54 seconds this time".
"You..." Tonks screeched and tried to make a grab at Remus's neck when Harry stopped her.
"Ok...ok...calm down" Harry said as he separated Tonks from Remus. Looking at the rage on Tonks face, Harry knew that this time his teasing had continued for too long and he decided to make up for it. "I will ask Fleur when she will be free. Happy?" Harry knew that Tonks would be happy with this arrangement and saw her smile confirming his thoughts. Harry loved this nature of Tonks - she could forget all her anger in a minute just as a child would stop crying after he or she had got hold of their favorite toy.
"Thank you Harry" Tonks said before settling down to finish the rest of her dinner.
"Guys…" Harry said. "…I got to go for some time. Don't worry I will be in the visitor's room. I got to meet some people". With this said Harry said good night to both Tonks and Remus and proceeded to the guest room which had appeared as if it had been always there.
"Hello guys" Harry said to his two guests as soon as they 'appeared' in the room.
"Hi buddy" Fred and George chorused. "First tell us how our equipment is working". The twins had delivered the centralized listening device to Harry about 10 days back and seemed excited at the prospect of hearing about it's performance.
"Well…" Harry said, fingering the air just below his left ear. "…it is picking up all sorts of sounds. It hasn't picked up anything useful yet"
"Well, it will mate…"
"Give it time…"
"We are selling a lot of stuff…"
"And many people are getting gifts with spying devices in them"
"By the way" Harry interrupted the twins "What are you giving away as gifts?" Both the twins seemed pleased at this question and it was obvious to Harry that they had thought of something which was quite ingenious and which most of the wizards wouldn't think of.
"Hats" Both the twins said.
"Muggle hats?" Harry queried.
"Do we look like fools?" Fred asked with a hurt expression. Harry put up both his hands in a surrendering gesture. At this, George continued "We are giving away wizarding hats. But this is just one of the items"
"What are the others?" Harry asked.
"We made a list of what the death eaters wear" George said.
"And…" Fred continued "…for every purchase above 50 galleons, we offer a hooded kids robe and for every purchase of over 100 galleons, we are giving the customer a full fledged hooded robe for an adult member of the family. Mind you, these are the total amount for a month's purchase"
"WHAT!" Harry exclaimed. "These gifts must be expensive"
"Not as much as you think" Fred winked. "We have entered into a wholesale contract with Madam Malkin and she is giving us robes at a discount"
"But how the hell do you get a death eater or anyone else to come in and give the measurements?"
"We don't" George answered. "We just ask the customer for the size of the person's gown they would like. Also we ask for an old gown, if possible, which would fit them and then we give the measurements to Madam Malkin. She makes them stretchable up to 6 inches"
"But do these have prospect?" Harry still had his doubts.
"What do you mean?" Fred asked, as if Harry had committed a sacrilege. "We are making sales like never before"
"But…" Harry still seemed thoughtful. "…well, you guys aren't earning too much out of it. I mean, you must be making a loss out of it"
"No mate" George replied. "We have gone on a different strategy altogether. We are going for profits on bulk. Though our profits have lessened on a per sale basis, we are making more profits on the overall amount of sales"
"If you say so" Harry shrugged his shoulders even as his left hand was fingering thin air near his left ear.
"Hey" Fred said. "Don't keep touching the ear-ring otherwise people will wonder what you are doing. I must say it was a stroke of genius that made us come up with an invisible ear-ring as the receptor device."
"Yeah…" George said. "…My genius"
"Hey, it was my idea" Fred exclaimed.
"In your dreams brother" George replied.
"Exactly" Fred said. "I dreamt about the whole thing"
"Will you two guys stop?" Harry exclaimed. "It was your combined efforts and idea"
"You sure?" Fred asked with a questioning look. George looked on as if Harry had disrespected something sacred.
"Yeah. And if you still have doubts then you can forget about the new business I was about to talk to you about" Harry replied sternly.
"Oh yeah…" George looked thoughtful. "…I think I remember Fred giving some advice"
"Yeah" Fred said. "I also remember us talking about the ear-ring. Well, it's settled then that we both contributed to the idea"
"Right" Harry said. "But tell me one thing; can't your devices be detected by some magic detectors?"
"Of course" George exclaimed. "But the thing is that we have camouflaged the magic. If someone detected it, they would come across a self-cleaning spell or a polishing charm or a joke charm."
"Right" Harry seemed satisfied with the explanation and was marveling at what the twins could, or rather could not, do. "Now we can talk about the new business". With that, Harry went on to explain the whole concept behind 'Sknoher Security Services' without the twins interrupting him once. Harry guessed that it was because the twins had matured enough to understand that talking rubbish during important business matters doesn't help in moving along matters.
"Great idea Harry" Fred said after Harry had finished his explanation. "We will start working on the required details from tomorrow"
"Ok" Harry said. "You two better start having some employees in your shop as you will be busy with this new thing"
"We already have Angelina working with us" George said before adding with a wink "A bit of glamour helps sales". Harry just smiled at this.
"But mate…" Fred looked thoughtful "If everything goes according to plan, then you will need people for full time monitoring"
"Don't worry about that" Harry replied. "I have trusted people with me"
"If you say so" this time it was George who said this with a shrug. "And what about the employees to run your shop?"
"I will have to think about it a bit. I will let you guys know about it soon" Harry said.
After that, the talk shifted to some lighter issues. Harry queried about Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and was happy to learn that they were doing well. The only matter of concern for the Weasleys was that Percy was not in contact with any of them and he never even came to visit them. All of Harry's instincts were pushing him to tell the twins about Percy but he decided not to do so. Instead, he suggested to the twins about why they didn't move from The Burrow to a better place now that they had a successful business running. The twins said they had such plans and were hoping to move within a year or so and it was supposed to be a surprise for the whole of the family. They made Harry promise that he wouldn't tell anyone about this which Harry gladly did.
Harry went on to offer them a loan to buy a new home which they could repay in 24 installments. The twins informed him that they would think about it and will let him know about it later on. Finally, after setting a deadline of October 10'th for the opening of Sknoher Security Services, the twins took a portkey from Harry and went back to their homes.
Harry also thought that it was getting late and went to his bed after thanking Dobby for providing the twins with the portkey which brought them here, which made Dobby misty eyed. Before going to sleep, Harry meditated for about 20 minutes and then made a mental note of finishing off his homework the first thing the next day. After all, he had to make good use of all the extra time which the trunk could provide.
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"It seems Mr. Potter that you have prioritized you works" Professor McGonagall said to Harry as she finished her explanation of the theory behind conjuring of objects of more than 100 vertexes. Harry always had a 45 minute break before the potions classes and for the past 3 days, he had requested McGonagall for some theoretical explanations in private.
"I am trying to" Harry replied softly as he gathered his notes.
"Ever thought of bringing in Quidditch in your priority list?" McGonagall asked. Minerva McGonagall was not known to ask the same thing to the same person over and over again but obviously, quidditch meant a lot to her. On not getting a prompt reply from Harry and seeing his squirming, she quickly changed the topic "How long do you want to continue these classes?"
For all Harry knew, McGonagall wouldn't have been happier if he had said 'forever' as she was quite similar in nature to Hermione. Harry guessed that Hermione would grow up to become like McGonagall but as he didn't have any plans to continue forever, he replied "As soon as I get hold of the basics I will stop bothering you ma'am". Harry thought that he had seen a smirk on the face of McGonagall but then thought that he must have been mistaken.
"Very well Mr. Potter. You may go now"
Harry walked slowly towards the Potions classroom and failed to notice some people staring at him strangely. He was lost in thought, mainly regarding Dumbledore who had been present at breakfast today after an absence of 2 days. It was most unlike Dumbledore to go missing for 2 days added to the fact that no announcement had been made. One part of Harry reasoned that if Dumbledore had left Hogwarts for 2 days, then someone must have taken over and an announcement should have been likely made. But the other part of him reasoned that an announcement would have made Hogwarts more vulnerable to external attacks as Voldemort would have taken up that opportunity. A third voice in Harry's mind questioned the fact whether Dumbledore had indeed left Hogwarts or not and if he hadn't left Hogwarts, then why didn't he attend the meals? One question led to another which, inevitably, led to another and Harry felt as if his mind was falling apart. Thinking so deeply was Hermione's department but now Harry had to do it himself.
Hermione and Ron. How much Harry missed them was beyond his words and he always tried to keep himself busy so that he wouldn't be plagued by guilt. He hadn't given an explanation as to why he was 'leaving' them but he also knew that an explanation would have been the last thing they would have listened to. They were great friends to have and seeing them from a distance hurt him even more. Well, he reasoned as he entered the potions classroom, at least they are back to talking to each other.
"Today you will learn ze Phantom Potion. Can anyone tell what it iz?" Professor Fleur Delacour asked as she took charge of the class. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Hermione's hand shooting up and then coming down when she had got permission from Fleur to speak.
"The Phantom Potion is a potion which basically does nothing. It can take on the appearance and taste of any of the potions which have been made till date. It cannot be totally categorized as a potion because it also requires a magic spell for it's preparation but since the potion work is greater, hence it is classified as a potion"
"Ms. Granger" Fleur's voice was quite stern and the whole class looked slightly surprised with some envious students hoping that Hermione had been wrong. "If you continue to give such detailed and correct explanations..." at this Fleur smiled "...then I will most probably lose my job. 10 Points to Gryffindor". Hermione blushed deeply at this compliment and Harry could see that there was a slight trace of relief on her face but he quickly turned back to face Fleur again. After all the work he had done in avoiding his friends, he didn't want them to catch him staring at them. Soon, all of them were busy taking notes about the Phantom Potion.
"Damn" Harry cursed himself inwardly as he reached the Gryffindor tower. He had planned to ask Fleur when she would be free to talk to Tonks but had entirely forgotten about it. Well, Harry thought, I would have to ask her some other time but more importantly, I will have to remember that I have something to ask. As Harry entered the common room, he saw Ron, Hermione and Ginny sitting near the fireplace with Ginny occupying what used to be Harry's chair. He again felt a pang of guilt but decided to hold onto his emotions and proceeded towards his room. As he was climbing up the stairs, he remembered that he had not checked on a certain friend for a long time - Hagrid.
Hagrid might be able to provide some clues as to what was wrong with Dumbledore and what exactly was going on. Deciding not to wait any longer, he quickly grabbed his father's invisibility cloak and proceeded out of the Gryffindor tower. When he was sure that no one was watching him, he put on the cloak, proceeded towards the grounds and finally found himself in front of Hagrid's hut. He knocked sharply twice and was at once greeted by the barking of Fang from inside. Within seconds, the half-giant opened the door and was surprised to see no one outside.
"It's me, Harry" Harry whispered before Hagrid closed the door or did something else.
"Oh..." Hagrid understood that Harry was under his dad's invisibilty cloak. "Go inside, I will follow you soon" Hagrid said. As Harry was proceeding inside, he saw that Hagrid seemed to be pretending to shout at Fang for making a mess inside. Even Fang was stunned into silence for a few moments before Hagrid finally came inside, closing the door behind him, and patted him on his head for being a good boy.
"Ya shoul be in the castle" Hagrid said to Harry as soon as his eyes rested on the boy.
"I know" Harry replied as he surveyed Hagrid. Now that Hagrid was so close to him, he seemed to have grown somewhat 'slimmer' than what he had previously been. Also, Harry saw a lot of bruises, some recent ones while others looked around 2-3 months old. The recent ones were inflicted by the giants during the attack on 1'st September while the older ones, Harry guessed, would be from Hagrid's 'meetings' with other giants.
"You look different" Hagrid's voice brought Harry back to reality and Harry thought it was quite obvious that Hagrid would have been looking at him closely too.
"Yes. Rectified my vision" Harry said with a smile trying to lighten up the situation. "Sorry I took so long to come here. How are you?"
"I am fine as long as ya people are fine" Hagrid said as he got up to make dinner for himself and Fang. "I 'eard ya had a fight with your friends"
"Kind of" Harry replied. "By the way, how are the prisoners doing?"
"Ya mean the lot You-Know-Who sent? They agreed to come on our side once I told Dumbledore won't leave 'em. Great man Dumbledore"
"That's great" Harry felt quite excited at the prospect of these giants joining them. He knew that each could be sent as an envoy to other giants and possibly could convince them to at least stay neutral unless, of course, they decided to join the light forces. "So, what's on with Dumbledore?" Harry asked in a conversational tone.
"He's got a lot on 'imself" Hagrid gave a shake of his head as he said this. "Now he's protecting Hogwarts with ever…no…I shouldn't have said that" Hagrid almost scolded himself for almost completely messing up another situation. He looked back hard at Harry and said "Shouldn't ya be hurrying up to the castle?"
"Oh yeah…" Harry said as he looked at his watch. "It's getting late and also I have some homework to finish. I don't want to keep everything for the Hogsmeade weekend". With this, Harry got up and put on his father's cloak while Hagrid opened the backdoor for him. Saying a quick 'good bye', Harry proceeded towards the castle, more thoughtful than ever before.
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"Did you ask her?" Tonks jumped up as soon as Harry came in. Harry gave a negative reply but Tonks didn't seem dispirited. "No problem, ask her tomorrow or some other day"
Harry narrowed his eyes at Tonks and looked at her for some long moments. He found Tonks squirming under his stare and just when he thought that the moment was right, he spoke "Ok…spit it out. No…I don't mean literally. Tell me what is going on?"
"Nothing out of ordinary" Tonks replied with a smile but Harry knew it was one of her made-up smiles and not a genuine one.
"Are you going to tell me or do I have to perform legilimency on you?" Harry asked. Tonks turned a shade deeper at the thought of someone performing legilimency on her and she also had doubts that Harry would ever do so. But not daring to test Harry's intentions and also knowing fully well that she would finally have to tell Harry about the thing, she decided to give in.
"Remember you told us that the day after tomorrow is your first Hogsmeade weekend?" Harry just nodded in reply. "Also, I and Remus were going to give you a party?" Again a nod followed from Harry. "We won't be able to be there on Saturday as some Order business has come up" Tonks said meekly. Harry looked at Tonks for sometime and then smiled inwardly at the expression on her face which resembled that of a 10 year old child awaiting punishment from the headmaster (or headmistress).
"Hmmm…" Harry said maintaining a cool composure on the outside and pretended to be thinking about this topic. He was thinking alright, but it was more on the lines of whether he should grab this opportunity to tease her or not. Finally deciding that he sometimes overdid the teasing, he decided to let go of this option this time. "Ok" Harry said finally. "When is it rescheduled?"
"Next Hogsmeade weekend?" Tonks asked brightly seeing that Harry hadn't been too upset.
"Yeah, how about next Hogsmeade weekend?" Remus asked as he came up to the two of them who were sitting on a couch beside the dining room. Apparently he had heard the latter parts of the conversation.
"Ok" Harry said with a smile before asking in a serious voice. "By the way, any update on what's happening?"
"No Harry" Remus said as he sat down opposite to Harry and Tonks. "The Order is trying very hard but locating the missing people is becoming very hard. Two of them have turned up dead but another 15 are still missing"
"15!" Harry exclaimed. "That would make his strength to more than 100. He almost had so many death eaters at Azkaban battle." According to Harry's own information, Voldemort had a much larger strength but he couldn't reveal it to Tonks and Remus without telling them the source of information.
"We know" Tonks said seriously and looking quite like the auror she was. "But we have also been building our forces. We have recruited many auror trainees and hope to get the best sorted out within 2 months. They will get a special training to deal with the basic situations. Also, it is rumored that Fudge is talking to some european wizarding ministries to set up a collaboration of sorts". Harry didn't say anything about this as he had given Fudge this idea in their last meeting about a week back.
"But…" Harry was lost in deep thought. "What is holding him back? With such a large force, he can easily destroy Hogwarts within a day"
"No dear" Tonks corrected Harry. "There are 20 aurors around Hogwarts round the clock. 10 are trainees while the other 10 are the aged aurors. We also have a team of 5 top class aurors on standby for emergency. So, even if You-Know-Who came, we can hold him long enough for help to arrive".
This was news for Harry and he felt much better at hearing this. It was apparent that Dumbledore had taken quite some measures after the attack on Hogwarts and Fudge had co-operated with him. All for the better, Harry thought, but he still had doubts on what Voldemort was up to. From his past experiences, Harry knew that Voldemort could spend loads of time planning something and putting it to execution but somehow they didn't work out due to Harry's interventions. Still, he had claimed 2 important lives and that was something Harry was not prepared to do this time.
"He is up to something" Harry said finally. "Something big"
"How can you be sure?" Remus asked.
"Look Remus, there is no prophecy now. Also, everyone knows that he is back. He has freed his supporters from Azkaban. He has an army of around 100 to 150 and yet…yet…he is not attacking people like he used to. Why?" Harry looked questioningly at Tonks and Remus but both of them seemed to have no answer to his questions. "C'mon…he could at least attack some innocent people and instill some fear in them. Even if he lost 2 death eaters and killed 1 auror, that would make people fearful and they would know that there was no escaping him. People would know that he was coming for them even if it meant that he would be losing his forces. I tell you, he is waiting for the right time. He is waiting for something to happen" Harry said as he remembered the vision which he had had at Privet Drive. He could still remember the words clearly.
"Sorry Master, I couldn't get inside. They are there but they are too protected." Wormtail had said. "But I tried."
"Don't worry Wormtail, I didn't expect you to get inside. But luckily, you have got me enough information."
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Harry sat in his room as he watched Neville get ready for the first Hogsmeade weekend. Seamus and Ron had already proceeded before Neville who had intentionally waited back on Harry's signal. Harry had then informed Neville of 2 ideas he had thought of about including the Slytherins in the A.D.A. According to his first idea, he asked Neville to talk to Snape at which Neville looked downtrodden. But when Harry exclaimed that Snape could at the maximum reject the idea and do nothing else, Neville thought that it was worth a shot.
Secondly, Harry asked Neville to talk privately to the Slytherins who had approached him and then explain to them that they would be trained in anonymity unless they themselves wanted to make their names known to the other A.D.A. members. Harry also informed Neville that the Room of Requirements would easily provide different rooms for each of the Slytherin students. The downside of this plan was that their identity would be known to the D.A. members but the upside was that ONLY the D.A. members would know about them and they would also learn to protect themselves from others. Harry warned Neville not to try to trick any of the Slytherins because that would lead to a situation where they would never again trust the D.A. and also asked him to target the students ranging from the first to the fourth years.
Neville seemed to like the second idea better and said he would try it before asking Snape to help (Yuck!). After thanking Harry profusely for his help Neville proceeded downstairs while Harry watched from his dormitory room as everyone walked happily towards the Hogwarts gates. As Ron and Hermione passed beneath the tower, he noticed Hermione looking up and he quickly moved away from the window. Let's just hope they have a good time without me, Harry thought. Once Harry was sure that all the second year students and above were gone, he wrote down a note and proceeded towards the school owlery. As soon as the note was sent on its way, Harry took a long, winding route towards the library.
"Hi" Harry said to Rowena who was seated at the table where they had talked once previously.
"Hello" Rowena said as she picked up a book to read. Harry did the same and asked "No one suspected that it was my note, right?"
Rowena nodded her head affirmatively and asked "Why did you want to see me?"
"Do you know anything about the A.D.A.?" Harry asked. On getting a negative reply from Rowena, Harry explained the whole concept of the A.D.A. to the little girl. Rowena listened to each and every word carefully and lifted her head twice from the book, but it was more to see whether someone was coming or not.
"So, would you like to join?" Harry asked as he finished his explanation. He could see the enthusiasm on her face but there was also a tinge of fear mixed with it.
"But the others…" Rowena's voice trailed off but not before Harry understood what she meant by 'others'. Harry then went on to explain the concept he had told to Neville and said that preparations can be made to teach her in anonymity. This seemed to brighten up the girl but she still seemed to have a lot of questions on her mind and she cleared her queries one by one. Harry knew that Slytherins never trusted others too much but he was also surprised at how much depth Rowena went into with her questions. It seemed to Harry that she left no stone unturned and finally Harry was relieved to find that she had run out of questions. Harry again queried as to whether she would like to join the A.D.A. or not and was relieved to get an affirmative answer but the icing on the cake came when Rowena asked him whether she could ask a couple of her classmates to come along. Harry replied affirmatively and asked her to talk to Neville or Cho once she had talked to her friends. Finally Rowena thanked Harry for the information and proceeded towards her dormitory and it was then that Harry noticed that they had been talking for over 30 minutes. All for the greater good, Harry told himself with a smile.
As Harry walked towards the great hall, he remembered that he hadn't flown for a long time and now seemed quite a good time for flying.
"Dobby" Harry called out.
"Yes Harry Potter?" a voice came from his left side and Harry assumed that Dobby didn't want to be seen in the Hogwarts corridors.
"Could you bring me my Firebolt please?" No sooner had Harry said this that his broomstick appeared floating in mid-air beside him. Thanking Dobby for his help again, Harry proceeded towards the grounds with his broomstick slung over his shoulder. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs of the school, Harry immediately took off in his broom and started circling the ground.
Harry felt great to be up in the air and it seemed to him as if a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He proceeded towards the quidditch field and did some stunning moves and dives. He then sped across the great lake and felt thrilled at having such a wonderful broom to fly on. Something inside him asked him to push the Firebolt to its maximum limit and he started a steep climb at a 30 degree angle to the ground. The air got colder as he got higher and higher and soon Hogwarts seemed like a small peck on the ground and the great lake seemed like a big pond. Knowing that he had reached high enough to gather full speed on the Firebolt, he started to make a dive.
Harry just couldn't believe the speed of his broom as he continued in his dive nor did he have any words to describe the exhilaration which he felt. The lake seemed to get bigger and bigger with the passing of every millisecond and Hogwarts also became the imposing castle that it was. Harry flattened himself against his broomstick and continued in his dive, thoroughly enjoying the rush of the air through his hair. Soon he had reached the top speed of the Firebolt as everything around became a blur but he knew he couldn't enjoy it for too long as the lake came nearer and nearer. When he was still 100 meters above the lake, he decided he had to pull out of the dive or he would get soaked wet but pulling out of the dive at that speed seemed much more difficult than he had thought. Seeing no other option left, he stood on the Firebolt and pulled out of the dive with all his strength and he felt the direction changing. Thankfully, he came parallel to the waterline about a meter and a half above it and started to glide along. Having enjoyed his flying thoroughly, he flew at almost top speed across the lake when he saw something coming closer and closer to him. He rolled over on his broomstick just as he was about to hit the object and he saw something slivery blonde go past him.
"Fleur!" Harry exclaimed as he came to an abrupt stop and turned around to see his potions professor. "Are you ok?"
"Yes" Fleur said with one hand on her chest to steady her breathing. She had seen Harry flying before at the tournament but had never guessed that the Firebolt could approach the speed that she saw today. She had tried her best to avoid Harry but had found out that Harry's broom could move like a bolt of lightning. "Minerva azked me to check on you" Fleur said as she calmed down.
"Professor McGonagall? But why?" Harry looked puzzled.
"She zaw you flying like a madman and thought you might get injured" Fleur replied. She had now come beside Harry and they started to slowly glide over the waters.
"I just wanted to enjoy myself a bit and people start getting worried" Harry said in a sarcastic tone. Fleur knew that Harry's life always seemed to be under the scanner and refrained from making any comment but to tell the truth, Harry's dive could have had anyone's heart in their mouths.
"You fly well" Fleur tried to make the mood a bit lighter.
"Thank you" Harry said with a sigh. "So, how are your classes going?"
"Kind of ok" Fleur replied. "But tell me, why didn't you go to ze village today?"
"I was not feeling ok" Harry lied. "Also I was not in the mood to go".
"Anything wrong?" Fleur asked concernedly.
"No" Harry replied. "How is Gabrielle?"
"She's very 'appy" Fleur replied. "She iz planning to give you a grand tour of France 'erself". Harry laughed out at this.
"Oh…" Harry said as he slapped himself on his forehead. "I forgot to ask you something. Tonks would like to talk with you. Can you spare some time for her?"
"Of course" Fleur said as both of them landed near the castle. "What does she want to talk 'bout?"
"Don't know" Harry replied truthfully. "Said it was some girl talk"
"Maybe she wantz to know about Paris and wants to go zere" Fleur wondered aloud.
"Yeah…" Harry said slowly. "She did mention something about Paris but how did you know that?""Girl mentality" Fleur said and burst out laughing along with Harry. "Anyway" Fleur said after she had regained her breath "I will be free tomorrow as it iz Sunday. I can meet 'er at 3:00 in the afternoon"
"Perfect" Harry replied.
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"So, how did you like Hogsmeade?" Harry asked Soha when they met at the library in the evening.
"It's a great place" Soha tried to keep her tone down so that Madam Pince wont notice but Harry could clearly make out the excitement in the voice. "There are so many fun things there"
"Good" Harry replied. "At least you liked something in England after all"
"I like many things about England except for the climate" Soha replied. "In Russia, we had much better climate and it didn't rain as much as it does here"
"Do you mean to say that we have corrupted the weather gods?" Harry asked in mock anger. "Maybe you had corrupted the weather gods there"
"Shut up" Soha replied, matching Harry's mock anger to perfection.
"Ok…ok…" Harry put up his hands. "By the way, has anyone talked to you about the A.D.A.?"
"Yes. Cho did." Soha replied.
"Are you joining?" Harry asked hoping for a positive reply.
"Yes" Soha replied. "I think it will be a good idea. Cho also said that my skills could see me through to the D.A. soon though I don't know what it exactly is"
"Don't worry, you will know about it soon enough" Harry said. "And Cho is right, your level is right for the D.A. but some initial things have to be taken care of". Harry knew that Soha could get into the D.A. initially but he understood that the D.A. members will try to see whether Soha could be trusted or not. Well, that's basically what it was, Harry thought. The D.A. was a group of wizards and witches who could trust each other with their lives and these members had every right to decide who can be trusted or rather, who cannot be trusted.
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"Hey Remus" Harry said as he entered the trunk. "How are you doing?"
"As good as a werewolf can when the next day is the full moon" Remus replied wearily. Harry knew that the conversion to a werewolf drained a lot of energy and its effects could be seen on Remus's health even after 2 days from the full moon. Sometimes he pitied Remus but at other times he thought that it was the way of life. No one on this earth was happy with what they have or the direction in which their life was going but still, the mentally strong people tried to make the most of the happiness which they had.
"I understand" Harry said in a soft voice.
"Thankfully this room can provide the wolfsbane potion" Remus said in a lighter tone. "At least I don't end up killing you and Tonks and Dobby"
"Who mentioned my name?" Tonks said as she entered the room. From the look on her clothes Harry guessed that she had been out of her office all day long, probably on some Order mission as she had said but then again, Tonks could very well get dirty in a clean room.
"Nothing to worry about Tonks" Harry said. "Remus was just suggesting not to take the wolfsbane potion tomorrow and to roam around freely. We were discussing how it can be a good exercise to practice our dueling skills."
"WHAT!" Tonks shouted. "No wolfsbane…roaming…dueling…" Tonks just managed to stammer out these words but soon understood that Harry was pulling her leg again. "Ok…I am ready" Tonks said with her nose high up in the hair.
"That's more like it" Harry replied with a smile. "So, how did your missions go?"
"We are still analyzing the information we collected. We have a meeting in an hour from now" Remus replied with a scowl on his face which was most unlike him and Harry attributed this to the fact that Remus didn't like attending meetings just before the full moon.
"Tonks…" Harry said "Would you like to meet Fleur tomorrow at 3:00 in the afternoon?"
"You talked to her?" Tonks squeaked in delight. "She will talk to me?"
"Only if the time is right for you" Harry said.
"Yeah…it's fine with me" Tonks said with a huge grin.
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"Come in" Fleur said in response to a knock on the door and saw Harry enter while a blue-haired witch stumbled at the doorway behind him.
"Hello Fleur, this here is Nymp…ouch" Harry was cut short by a jab in his ribs.
"Tonks" Tonks said as she extended her hand. "Call me Tonks"
"Fleur Delacour" Fleur said taking Tonks's hand. "Nice to meet you"
"I hope I am not disturbing you" Tonks thought some formality on her part was also due.
"Tonks, I am still here. So, it is not 'I' but 'we'" Harry spoke from behind. Tonks turned around and gave him a glare but Harry pretended as if he had seen nothing.
"Harry, shouldn't you be going along?" Tonks asked sweetly though her glare was still in place.
"I think I will stay here for the moment" Harry replied. "Fleur knows I am weak in potions and I think I will do some extra practice"
"Really?" Tonks asked in a sugar-laced voice even as Fleur was silently watching the exchange. "Why don't you come back after an hour?"
"No, I can't" Harry replied and he started to tick off a list of things he had to do. "I will do potions for an hour now, then I will concentrate on transfiguration, then…". By now, Tonks had started tapping the floor with her left foot and Harry knew it was a sign of impending danger and decided to back out of any fight. "But I think I should do transfiguration first" Harry wondered aloud.
"Yes. I was also going to suggest that" Tonks said sweetly. Fleur kept on smiling all the while this 'discussion' was going on.
"Ok then, see you soon" Harry said with a wave. "Talk to you later Fleur"
"See you 'arry" Fleur said with a smile as Harry left the office. She then invited Tonks to have a seat and started to talk about what Tonks had in mind when, all of a sudden, Harry came back in.
"Sorry to disturb you but have you seen my transfiguration books?" Harry asked Tonks. Tonks knew that Harry just wanted to disturb her but she had had enough and she whipped out her wand.
"Potter" she said menacingly "Get out"
"No offense meant" Harry replied defensively and went out. Within a minute however, he was back and he peeked inside and asked "Tonks, I…". The next moment a curse came hurtling towards Harry who took off at full speed.
&&&&
Later on Sunday evening Tonks came back looking very happy. She had talked to Fleur for quite a long time and both seemed to have hit off quite well. She kept on saying what a lovely person Fleur was until Remus stepped in and reminded her that it was the 13'th time she had repeated the sentence. Soon Remus retired to his room as the moon would come up and Tonks and Harry were left alone.
Harry tried again and again to find out what had been the topic of discussion between Tonks and Fleur but failed miserably each time. It seemed that Tonks was having the time of her life as her smile grew wider and wider with each of Harry's failed attempts. Finally Harry gave up when Tonks told him that he sounded just like a curious gossiping girl like herself. Harry then proceeded towards the dueling area and practiced for over an hour before returning to his room for the night.
Harry had kept a very important topic for meditation today and it was the events leading to the death of Sirius. He kept meditating for well over an hour and a half and continued to replay each and every event at the DoM thoroughly through his mind but finally a peaceful expression replaced the uneasiness on his face. He fully understood that Sirius was not dead because of him but because of Voldemort but still he felt a pang of guilt at having been a pawn in the hands of Voldemort. Somewhere deep down, he still had hard feelings towards Dumbledore for not telling him about the prophecy beforehand but he knew that what was done was done. He knew that Sirius or his parents wouldn't want him to waste his life by thinking about the past but rather, they would want him to prepare for the future.
Harry went to sleep with thoughts of what was going to come in the future and what he still had to do. There was a sense of relief inside him today and he dreamt about celebrating Christmas with his family. He was near the Christmas tree in his mother's arms while his father continued to decorate the tree when, suddenly, the image started dissolving. The next thing he knew, he was standing in front of a hooded figure that was kneeling in front of him.
"How much longer will I have to wait?" Harry heard a ruthless voice speak but found to his horror that his own lips were moving.
"Not much longer My Lord" the hooded figure replied and Harry had a feeling that the figure was shaking slightly. Somehow inexplicably, Harry liked the feeling that someone was shaking in fear of him.
"That's good" said the voice again and Harry felt his lips curl up in a smile.
With a jerk, Harry woke up in his bed, sweating profusely. He had had another vision of Voldemort and still Voldemort had been unable to detect him. Maybe it was a trick which Voldemort was playing with him or maybe it was not. In either case, Harry was now sure of one thing which he had told to Tonks and Remus.
Yes, Voldemort was waiting for something.
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A/N:
Ok guys, here's the 14'th chapter. Well, I passed 100 reviews with my last chapter and really, it feels great. I would really like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed my story and also, I would like to say a special thanks to all those who have been with me from the start of this fic. Thanks :)
About the trio – They will get back but in some unusual circumstances.
icaro – Sorry but I cant really answer your questions now. As for clues – follow this story.
linky2 – Harry has been keeping up his training. That's why he is sleeping in his trunk daily.
DewNymph – I had the same idea about making the letter an English translation of French but I rejected it later on. This would lead to problems when Harry gets to France and all of a sudden, I have to make everyone talk in French!! So, in this fic Fleur and her family will speak english most of the time.
TuxedoMac – I don't think the new business will pull away anything too much from the story. Rather it will add something in the coming chapters.
To all those people whose names I don't mention here - Thanks. Each and every word you write in your reviews is of great importance to me and I always take your suggestions/comments very seriously.
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