Chapter 4: The Pensive, Truth Potion, and Legimins
By: stu14688
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Please don't sue.
It had been three weeks since the birthday party. The Order had been busy keeping tabs on Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It seemed that the evil wizard was lying low for a bit.
The house had undergone more cleaning. Now it was only Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley to take care of it, but they were slowly getting rid of the grime.
Harry was much happier since his birthday. He still had his moments, but they were getting fewer and farther apart. His friends noticed this and breathed a sigh of relief. He was also living up to his promise to be less difficult. Which was another good thing. What made Hermione the happiest, though, was that Harry's clockwork nightmares had lessened. He now only had them two or three times a week. When he did have them, it seemed that they were not as intense and they did not last as long. This resulted in more sleep and a happier, healthier Harry.
All was going well that August. They had gone to Diagon Alley about a week after Harry's birthday to get their school supplies. There had been nothing bad about it at all. They had not even seen Malfoy. For the first time, Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione had visited Fred and George's shop. The twins had been busy. There was shelf upon shelf of products. It was a busy place. Harry was thankful that their business venture was doing well. He did not buy anything at the time because he had not used anything from his sampler. He would be trying that out when he got back to school. Everyone else bought something, though. Even Hermione had.
Once they left the shop, the group went to buy their school supplies. They had to stay together this year because of the Order guard that was with them. Eventually they finished shopping and had even been given a chance to visit some of their other favorite shops. As they were about to return to Grimmauld Place, Harry remembered his pensive and reminded Mrs. Weasley. She told him that Lupin had already picked it up and would give it to him when they returned. Satisfied that the task had been cared for, Harry reached out and touched the portkey just seconds before it activated.
Ron and Hermione had not forgotten their mission to extract Harry's secret from him. Actually, they had joined forces with Lupin because he too wanted to know what kept bothering Harry from time to time. Ron and Hermione had told their former professor that Dumbledore definitely knew what was on Harry's mind, and that maybe they could find out from him. For the remainder of the summer, Harry and Dumbledore were frequently questioned about what had transpired after the Department of Mysteries battle. Though, for all the information that they received, they may as well have interrogated the kitchen sink.
"This calls for drastic action." Ron was sitting at the table after lunch. He and Hermione had once again failed at discovering Harry's secret. Angry at their persistence to ask him about it, Harry had left to cool down. It had been the first time that Harry had yelled the entire summer, and both Ron and Hermione knew that the time for asking him had ended. They did not want another bitter Harry on their hands for the entire year.
"Okay. So what 'drastic action' do you think this calls for? We can't go and invade his privacy." Ron knew that Hermione was right, but he also knew that they had to know what was going on inside Harry's head. He thought on it for minute and suddenly an idea came to him.
"I got it, Hermione! Snape!"
"Ron, what are you talking about? What does Snape have to do with anything?"
"We'll do what we've been doing. Just ask the question. Only this time make sure that Harry has had some truth potion before hand. Lupin can get Snape to brew the stuff. We can even give some to Dumbledore if necessary."
"RONALD WEASLEY! THAT IS THE STUPIDEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD! WE CANNOT GIVE HARRY A TRUTH POTION TO GET HIM TO TELL US! JUST BECAUSE HE WOULD BE TELLING US DOES NOT MEAN THAT IT IS WILLINGLY. THEREFORE, IT IS STILL INVADING HIS PRIVACY!"
Ron was taken aback by Hermione's reaction. He figured that she would agree. He still had hope though. If Lupin agreed to the plan, then she would be overruled. He made a mental note to ask Lupin first. He did not want Hermione to influence the man's decision.
Ron did beat Hermione to talking to Lupin. He seemed hesitant at first, but after Ron told him that it would be for Harry's own good and that Sirius would have supported the venture, Lupin finally gave in.
"Let me do the planning, Ron. Getting Snape to brew the potion will be tricky. I think that I can do it, but it'll take some careful planning." This was Lupin's only request. His next statement, though, put Ron on tenterhooks.
"We need to go put the idea before Hermione. She may be a little resistant, but I think that she'll come around. I figure that she can be trying to find a way to get Harry to drink it."
"Uhh. Erm, Moony? Well, you see. Hermione's already heard the idea. Put simply, she didn't like it – at all. She seems to think that we'd be invading Harry's privacy. So, you may want to be careful how you approach her."
Lupin looked deep in thought for a moment. Finally he answered, "Well, in a way she's right, but you're right also. We need to know what is going on. That way we can better help Harry. Come on. We'll go talk to her together. Maybe she's thought of a better way."
Hermione was not only resistant, but also appalled. "You're a teacher. Well, was. Never the less, you're level-headed. I cannot believe that you support this idea. I never would've thought that you – Professor Remus J. Lupin – would have ever stood behind such a crackpot idea."
Lupin gave a mischievous grin and only replied, "Well, I am a Marauder. I may be 'level-headed,' Hermione, but I still enjoy a good prank."
If looks could kill, Lupin would have been dead. Hermione was shooting daggers at him and Ron. In her anger, she once again spouted off her opinion. "Well, I hate to be the one to inform you, Moony, but this is not a prank. It is a life. The life of my best friend to be exact. IF I agree to do this, then it will be for that reason. Not to get a laugh at Harry's expense."
Ron was scared senseless. He knew what this girl was capable of if given the chance. He also knew that what she just said was as close to consent as they would get. Then he remembered what Lupin had said about her having a better idea, and decided that he should run with the thought. "Well, do you have another idea? It wouldn't be bad to have a back-up plan. Harry'll be on the lookout for sneaky things from us. And Snape's never been one to do the bidding of his students or the Marauders – no matter what the reason is."
Hermione began to think. They're right. We need to know. I guess we can try the truth potion, but Ron does have a point. We do need a plan B. If Harry's mind is still able to be broken into, then maybe he keeps the memory in his pensive. It would be safest from Voldemort in there, but then it would be accessible to anyone in the world. Maybe he does keep it in his mind. Well, with a weak mind any person skilled in Legimincy could break into his head and find the memory. The only person to do this – other than Dumbledore – would be Snape again. He does pose a problem. I suppose that he could be overcome, though. I guess I should tell these two my ideas.
Hermione looked at Lupin and Ron. They seemed to have been trying to come up with ideas also. "Alright, I thought of a couple of things. Neither one of them is guaranteed to work, but they're worth a try.
"My first idea is that maybe Harry keeps the memory in his pensive. He never managed to master occlumancy last year. Therefore, if his mind is still in danger of Voldemort's attacks, he might decide to keep it somewhere other than his mind. Remember, Ron, he said Voldemort should not know about it.
"My next idea is to use legimincy. The problem with this plan is that we are back to Snape. Other than Dumbledore, I think that he's the only one that can break into Harry's mind. At least anyone on our side. What do you two think?"
Lupin thought the plans over while Ron questioned Hermione. "Hermione, if Harry keeps the memory in the pensive, then how would breaking into his head help?"
Hermione was exasperated. She rolled her eyes and sighed before she explained it all to her rather thick best friend. Just after she finished with her explanation, Lupin spoke up. "You're right when you say that they're not guaranteed to work, but this needs to be done. You were wrong on one part, though. I'm also a legimins. I admit that I am not as skilled as Severus, but I think that I could break into Harry's mind." The two teens looked at him with confusion. He decided that he would tell them why he had learned it.
"In the first war, we marauders played some rather important roles. We went on some of the most dangerous missions, so in order to help protect ourselves and everyone else, we learned occlumency and legiminacy. Peter was the exception to our dangerous missions. He could never master the art of occlumency and was too scared to go on anything very important. The funny thing is that James was one of the best occlumens we had. He was right up next to Snape and Dumbledore. I'm surprised that Harry has such a hard time with it.
"Speaking of Harry, where is he? I haven't seen him since this morning at breakfast."
Ron had not seen him since lunch, and that was when Harry had left the room angry. Hermione, on the other hand, had gone to apologize after giving him some time to cool off. They had talked for a couple of hours about mostly homework. Then Dumbledore had came and requested that he speak with Harry alone. That had happened about every other day since Harry's arrival. Nobody knew what the two talked about, and they did not ask. Hermione told her fellow conspirators this.
Ron looked irritated. He wanted to know what was going on between the headmaster and his best friend. "What in the world could they be talking about? Harry never says and I don't suppose that Professor Dumbledore does either." Lupin just shook his head in answer to Ron's questioning glance.
Hermione was about to suggest that they begin to make plans, but was cut off by Harry entering the room. "Hey guys. I'm sorry for getting so upset earlier. I hope that you can forgive me… I just came up here to tell you that supper is ready. If you're hungry, then come and eat."
The mention of food caused any other thoughts to leave Ron's mind. He got up and followed Harry out of the door. Lupin laughed and looked at Hermione, "Well, I guess we'll have to go eat and plan later. Come on." Together they walked into the kitchen to the sounds of laughter and the smells of good cooking.
A/N: I have been informed that using a truth potion is illegal, and now that I think about it, I do remember Snape telling Harry that. Sorry for that, but it's not going to matter in the end anyway. Well, I hope that you liked this chapter. Thank you to all who have reviewed. You are wonderful people who are much nicer to me than I am. Just a few more chapters left. Take care! ; )
