They both ran for the portrait hole, and flew through it into the hallway.
"Let's go back towards the library, that's the last place we saw her!" shouted Harry. They tore off in the direction of the library. When they got there, they went inside and started looking through all the aisles. There was no sign of Hermione anywhere. They stepped back out into the hall again and stopped, neither of them sure where to go.
"Maybe the great hall? Ron asked. He was looking very pale now and very nervous.
"Let's go!" Harry answered. Hermione, however, was not in the great hall either.
"Where else could she be? It's dark outside and she'd never go outside on her own at night! I think we better find Sirius or Lupin or anyone and tell them. I don't even care if it's Snape! Harry we have to find her!" Ron was looking downright scared. He had no color left in his face and he was shaking a bit.
"Ron, calm down," Harry said firmly. "We will find her, but we have to concentrate. Are you going to be able to do that because if not than you won't be able to help."
Ron looked at Harry angrily for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and nodded.
"Now, let's go find someone and tell them." Just as they stepped into the corridor, they saw someone coming towards them.
"Hermione!" Ron cried. He ran over and gave her a big hug.
"Where've you been?" Harry asked anxiously. "We've been looking everywhere!"
"I'll tell you but not here, we need to go somewhere less open," Hermione said.
"Let's use an empty classroom." Ron suggested.
"Good idea. Let's go"
They started off down the hall.
As the great hall was not right next to any classrooms, they had to walk for a few minutes. Ron kept asking Hermione to just tell them where she had been, but she didn't want to say anything. Harry and Ron both thought she was acting funny. Ron figured it had something to do with what just happened. Harry had another idea.
"Hermione, did you run into Su Chang at all tonight?"
"Harry I told you I don't…"
"Please just answer the question," he interrupted her. "I really want to know right now."
"Can't this just wait until…"
"You seem very anxious to get to a classroom," he said suddenly. "We've had plenty of discussions in the great hall and common room. Why do we need to have this one completely alone?" Harry asked. He felt it was wrong to be asking at all but something made him continue.
Hermione turned and looked at him.
"You don't trust me all of a sudden? Is that it?" she asked angrily.
"I just want you to answer the question."
Just then they heard footsteps behind them, they all turned and looked.
"Hermione!" Ron cried! "But, how…"
"Get away from her!" the second Hermione cried, running up to them.
They spun around to look at the first Hermione, and both starting stepping backwards.
Her eyes had gone black.
"This way, come on!" the real Hermione yelled.
Harry and Ron turned and ran, not looking back. When they finally stopped they saw the corridor was empty. Gasping for air they looked at Hermione.
"What just happened?" Harry asked between breaths.
"I've found out who, or what I should say, the cloaked man is," she said as they started walking. "It's a shapeshifter. I knew I'd heard a little about them before, but I didn't find out until earlier for sure."
"What's a shapeshifter?" Ron asked.
"Well, they are able to take the shape of anything they want. But they have to come in contact with that thing first. It can be a person or an animal, it doesn't make a difference, as long as they touch it."
"So then, what happened? How did it become you?" Harry asked anxiously.
"I was in the library, I had found the information I'd been searching for just after you both left. It was in a book about ancient magic believed to be extinct now and shapeshifters definitely fit in that category. They were even before You-Know-Who's time. Then Su walked in. I didn't see her until I felt someone watching me and turned around. She was standing right over my shoulder and saw what I was reading. She knew immediately that I had figured out what she was and…"
"What!" Ron exclaimed. "Su's a shapeshifter!"
"Well yes. It was her eyes that really gave it away. That's what I had thought I'd heard about them. Not to say that other kinds of magic don't change the color of your eyes. But ever since you told us about there being two Lupins and how Sirius realized it couldn't be the Polyjuice Potion, I started thinking about the shapeshifters. I thought it was very silly at first, but when you told us about Su's eyes going black, I really felt I was right then. I just had to be sure, which is why I've been at the library every day."
"So then what did she do to become you? Why couldn't we find the real you?"
"Well when I saw her behind me I immediately closed the book, and started to get up. She actually let me get out of the chair and towards the door, then I realized we were alone. No one else was in the library with us, so I started to run, but she was too fast. She grabbed my hair pulled me back and then she must've hit me with something because the next thing I remember is waking up in one of the classrooms. I'm just glad I woke up and found you guys before she got the both of you!"
"Let's go straight to Sirius. We can at least have her out of the school and…" Harry stopped, thinking for a moment. "Wait a minute. What about the real Su? This thing would have to touch her to change into her right. And the sorting hat…it put her in Gryffindor. It wouldn't have sorted a shapeshifter, would it?"
"No it probably wouldn't, especially not into Gryffindor anyway. As for the real Su, she's still alive. Shapeshifters can keep a shape for a few days, but not indefinitely, and they can't take the shape of a dead person. She would have to be alive and at least close to the castle for this one to keep her shape for so long."
"Harry, I agree let's go to Sirius, now!" Ron said.
They all headed off for Dumbledore's office, fast as they could go.
When they got to the statue that lead to Dumbledore's office, Harry said the password and they all ran in.
"Sirius!" Harry called. "Sirius we need to talk to you! Are you here?"
Silence.
"Where is he?" Ron asked. "He can't exactly just go strolling around the corridors as he pleases!"
"Well if he's in his dog form he can," Hermione said.
"I'm going to wait for him here," Harry said, "you two can do what you want."
"No, we'll wait with you," Hermione told him.
They sat down to wait. At first nobody said anything, they were all busy thinking about what had just happened. Inevitably, Harry's thoughts drifted to Cho, and a new thought occurred to him.
"It must have been a shapeshifter in Diagon alley! When I thought it was Cho, remember?" he asked them.
"I'm sure it was. I don't know when she would have come in contact with one of them but now that we know they are after you, I think it's safe to assume it was a shapeshifter," Hermione stated.
"Do you think they're working for, for…You-Know-Who?" Ron asked nervously.
"I would think they would have to be. I don't see a reason why they would suddenly decide to come after me, and if they're against Voldemort, then they wouldn'tve threatened to kill Lupin or knocked Hermione out, right?" Harry asked.
"You're quite right, Harry," came a voice from across the room. The three of them looked up to see Sirius, Lupin and –
"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed. "I thought you would be gone until Monday. That's what Snape told us."
"Because that is what I told Snape, and I wasn't planning to be back so soon, until Sirius and Remus were able to contact me. Please, tell me what has happened."
They told him everything they knew about Su, shapeshifters, and how she knew that they knew what she was.
"We have to find the real Su, professor." Harry said. "The one that was impersonating her…well…"
"Has no reason to keep her alive now that it's been found out. It knows that disguise won't work anymore," Dumbledore finished for him. "I've thought of that also."
"Professor, I have a question," Hermione said. "Why do you think the shapeshifter that took my place didn't chase after us when I found it with Ron and Harry? When I tried to run from it in the library it was too fast for me to escape."
"I will explain it to you, Miss Granger. You've found out much about the shapeshifters, but there are a few things that you won't find in any book."
"First of all," Dumbledore began after they were all seated, "the level of energy and power needed to master shapeshifting is tremendous. Many wizards who went that route were able to do nothing else. It requires extreme concentration for them to do any other kind of magic while they are in a different form."
"Well I know the night I found Professor Lupin the shapeshifter didn't do anything until he went back to his true form," Harry said. "He didn't do much magic either, just to tie up Professor Lupin and push me backwards. But when I put him in the full body bind, it didn't last as long as I thought it would."
"I can imagine. Any spells, curses, hexes, or charms you try to perform on them are muted. Stronger ones, like the body bind, will work, but for a shorter amount of time. Weaker spells won't even phase them," Dumbledore said. He turned to Lupin; "I am betting that he brought you along for a couple of reasons. One, in case he needed to take your form again, and two, because he is probably not very powerful in other forms of magic. He probably would have put you both in the body bind if he could have and it seems he didn't even have the strength to tie both of you up. So he used you, Remus to make Harry come, and he believed neither of you had your wands. The fact that he was able to use a wand shows he is one of the more powerful ones."
"So all shapeshifters start out as regular wizards?" Hermione asked.
"Yes. They chose to lessen the abilities they were born with by submitting to a darker kind of magic.
"I still don't quite understand why that Su – one didn't chase us earlier," Ron said.
"Probably because there were three of us with wands and it couldn't do magic against all of us. But it definitely would have been able to catch up to us, if it wanted to," Hermione answered.
"Miss Granger is correct, the speeds that they can reach are faster than any normal person would be able to move. It's another side effect of shapeshifting as is the glassy black that their eyes take on. When you see this it can mean only two things. Either they are about to change form or they are re-energizing."
"What do you mean, re-energizing?" Harry asked.
"Holding onto the shape. I believe Miss Granger has already told you that they can keep a shape for a few days. If they do this, they need to re-energize themselves. If they don't they will fade back to their true form."
"So what do we do now?" Harry asked.
"We are going to find them!" Sirius said immediately. "There's no way to be safe if they are loose in the school! We don't even know how many there are!"
"Sirius, please calm down, we also have no way of finding them if they don't wish to be found," Dumbledore said. Sirius was about to protest but Dumbledore spoke, "What we need to do is be aware. If anyone is acting strange, even in the slightest, we have to watch them carefully. And if you should see something out of the ordinary," he said with a meaningful look at Harry, Ron and Hermione, "I want you to find either Sirius, Remus or myself and tell us immediately." They all nodded at him.
"We also have to find the real Su Chang. She is definitely in danger now," Lupin reminded them.
"The Shrieking Shack!" Harry exclaimed suddenly. "On Halloween we saw Su, err, the shapeshifter, going into the Shrieking Shack. That would be a good hideout! No one from the village would bother them and there's a path from there to the school!"
"I believe you might be right, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Remus, please go and get Severus, Minerva and Arabella and tell them we will be needing their assistance. Tell them to meet us in my office in 10 minutes so we can go there and search for the young girl." Lupin nodded at him, then turned and went out to find the others.
"You three," he continued to Harry, Ron and Hermione, "go back to your tower and please stay there. I don't want you wandering around tonight, especially since most of the staff will be away. I will let you know if we've found her tomorrow." The three of them promised they would not go anywhere but to the tower, then they said goodnight and started their walk. As they walked they realized they were all very tired, so when they got to the portrait of the fat lady and finally got inside, they all said goodnight and went up to bed.
The next morning they all woke up very late, but as it was Sunday, they took advantage of any extra sleep they could get. They met each other in the common room when they were all dressed and decided to go and see if Su was found.
When they stepped out into the hall, they saw Lupin coming towards them.
"Did you find her?" Harry asked as soon as he saw him.
"There was no one there," he answered. "We searched the entire place and couldn't find a trace of her."
"Where else could she be?" Hermione asked. "She would have to be close by in order for the shapeshifter to keep her shape for so long."
"We are looking everywhere we can think of," he replied, "the dungeons, the towers, corridors or rooms that are hidden and even more open areas. The entire castle is being searched, if she is here we will find her."
They thanked Lupin for letting them know what happened, and went down to the great hall. Upon entering, Fred and George came up to Harry, followed by the rest of the Gryffindor team. They didn't appear to be bringing good news.
"What's going on?" Harry asked.
"The Ravenclaw team captain wants to speak with you," Fred began in a low voice. "They want to drop out of the match on Saturday."
"Why?"
"Well, their keeper," he began awkwardly, "someone in his family, passed away. He's going back home for two weeks, maybe more. They have a replacement though, Harry, so it's your call."
"If they have a replacement then why do they want to drop out?"
"He isn't any good," George replied, flatly.
"Well, it isn't fair that we make them play without their keeper. I'll tell their captain I'm ok with whatever he decides. Who would they be switching with? Who would we play instead?"
"Hufflepuff," Angelina answered. "Their new captain already informed me they would be looking forward to beating us again."
Harry was not too keen on facing Hufflepuff. Not only were they the only team to defeat Gryffindor since Harry became seeker, but he felt personally responsible for the death of their last captain, Cedric Diggory.
"Well then we'll have to put in extra practice this week to make sure we're ready. I'm not going to force a team to play without one of its members. Are we agreed?"
They all agreed even though Fred was still clearly unhappy about it. Harry told the Ravenclaw captain that he was fine with postponing their match. When he came back to his table he told everyone that the new practice schedule would be every night this week. They had to decide on new strategies, as the ones they had been using were to defend against Ravenclaw. When they finished talking, everyone went off to enjoy what was left of the weekend.
"This is gonna be a tough week," Ron said as they got up.
"This is nothing," Harry said. "Wait'll we have to do this and study for finals. This week will be a breeze compared to that." Ron looked at Harry incredulously and Harry just smiled back.
Saturday arrived in no time at all. They had spent the whole week training from the moment classes ended until as late as they were allowed into the night. Madam Hooch supervised every practice at Dumbledore's request.
Harry woke up early Saturday morning feeling ready. He had made sure that the practice didn't run late on Friday night so the team would have enough rest. He even told Fred and George they needed to get to sleep when he saw they planned on staying up with their friends. They had thought he was joking at first, but when they realized he was serious they mumbled something about Oliver Wood Jr. and went up to bed.
"Are you up?" he heard Ron call from behind the curtains on his four-poster.
"Yes, ready for today?" he responded.
"As I'll ever be."
They both got out of bed and dressed quickly. Harry grabbed his Firebolt and then he and Ron went downstairs. Ron had been using Seamus Finnigan's broom, which was a Cleansweep, as his Shooting Star wouldn't cut it for a real game. It was a better broom, but he still would rather use one that was his own.
They met Hermione and Ginny in the common room and they all left for the great hall together. They had breakfast with the rest of the team, and very soon, it was time to go down to the pitch.
Harry and Ron changed into their scarlet team robes with everyone else and then waited for Harry to speak.
"Well we've had a very grueling week," Harry started, "but it will all payoff today. The last time we faced the Hufflepuff team is in the past. We are going to win this game today." He looked at all of them in turn as he spoke. "Now, are we ready?" They all shouted their support and their adrenaline was pumping. They turned and ran out onto the field.
Madam Hooch came out, and called the two captains forward. Harry stepped up and was surprised to see Justin Finch-Fletchley in front of him, with his hand outstretched. They grinned at each other, confidently, shook hands and took a step back. Everyone mounted their brooms, waited for the whistle, and kicked off.
Harry watched as Angelina took control of the ball and quickly tossed it to Katie. Lee Jordan's commentary could be heard above the crowd. He was just shouting about Katie heading towards the goal, when a bludger flew at her and she veered off course. Then she spun around and headed away from the goal.
"It didn't hit her did it? Why is she going the wrong way?" Lee Jordan screamed. "Katie, turn around!"
"Jordan! Stop talking to the players and continue with the commentary!" came Professor McGonagall's voice.
"Sorry professor."
Harry smiled; he knew what was going on. He watched as Katie streaked away from the Hufflepuff goal. Angelina was a few feet in front of her, Katie held of the quaffle and was ready to toss to Angelina. The Hufflepuff chasers all moved to intercept, but when Katie's hand was in midair, she let it go behind her. It flew back away from everyone to where Alicia was waiting for it. She caught it with her left arm and flung it through the right hoop.
"TEN – ZERO, GRYFFINDOR TAKE THE LEAD!" Lee shouted.
Harry had already turned away looking around for the snitch. He noticed that Justin was marking him as most of the other seekers did. He heard Gryffindor score 6 more times before he heard:
"Hufflepuff scores, don't worry Ron, no one could have blocked that. It was rotten of them to…""JORDAN!"
"Sorry…Seventy – Ten for Gryffindor."
Harry glanced over and saw Ron appeared a bit shaken, but he would have to ask him what happened later. He swung around again and moved up higher to get a better view. Suddenly, he spotted the snitch. It was all the way down near the ground in the very center of the field. Harry leaned forward, and broke into a dive.
The entire crowd were on their feet cheering and shouting. Harry raced forward, the ground rushing up at him. He concentrated only on getting to the snitch, he didn't even notice where Justin had gone to, but in the next second it didn't matter. He closed his fingers around the snitch and pulled out of his dive a split second before he would have crashed. The whistle blew.
"GRYFFINDOR WINS 220 TO 10!"
The crowd's roar was deafening the cheering was so loud. Even a few Hufflepuffs were cheering, though the Slytherins were booing as loudly as possible. Harry landed and the rest of the team ran over to him. They were surrounded instantly by the whole of the students yelling and congratulating them. Harry looked around and saw Justin Finch-Fletchley grinning at him.
"Good game," Harry said to him after making his way over.
"Yes it was. Congratulations, your dive was amazing."
"Thanks," Harry said.
"It was too fast for me. I tried to keep up with you, but you saw it first and head a big head start. You won fair and square," he held out his hand. Harry took it and they shook. Then he turned and made his way over to his friends. Dumbledore had come down to congratulate them as well.
Everyone seemed to be getting ready for a night of celebration, when they saw Snape, who had decided not to watch the game, walking down the hill from the castle. He went over to Dumbledore the moment he spotted him. Harry crept closer to hear what he had to say.
"Headmaster, we need you back at the castle immediately," Snape said sounding very urgent.
"What has happened Severus, is something wrong?"
"We've found the girl Professor, the real Su Chang."
The weeks passed. Harry had heard from Sirius and Lupin that Sirius had found Su in the great hall, laying on the Gryffindor table. He was searching the school again as most everyone was watching the game. As soon as he checked to see if she was alive he thought of bringing her to the hospital wing, but knew he couldn't let Madam Pomfrey see him. Then he tried to find Dumbledore, but couldn't go out to the field, so he had to tell the only person he could find, Snape.
Now it was two weeks until the Winter Holidays and Harry was finally going to be allowed to see Su. Her parents were coming to get her and he would be meeting them as well. They had been away, so it had taken some time before they were found, and notified of their daughter's condition. Ron and Hermione were waiting with Harry, as Dumbledore was going to explain what had happened to them, then come and get him when it was time.
"Why does Dumbledore want you to meet her parents?" Ron asked.
"Probably because this is all my fault," Harry said glumly.
"Don't say that, Harry! There's nothing you could have done to prevent this," Hermione scolded him. He knew she was right but he still felt immense guilt whenever he thought about it all. She was only hurt because of him, whether he could have stopped this or not.
"What I want to know, she continued, "is why they brought her back, and why she's alive. Not that I'm unhappy about either of these things but, it just doesn't seem to fit."
"Whatever the reason, I'm sure we'll find out," Harry said.
"Well I just want to find out before they decide to show us," Hermione replied.
At that moment, Dumbledore came through the portrait hole.
"Harry, are you ready to come downstairs?" he asked.
"Yes, um…how is Su? How are her parents?"
"They are, still adjusting to the news, but happy that she is alive."
"Well, I'm ready then. Let's go."
They walked downstairs in silence. Harry wanted to ask Dumbledore the same questions Hermione had asked but thought it would be better to wait. When they walked in to the hospital wing, Su's parents were sitting by the side of her bad. They both looked at Harry and he could see how distraught they were.
"So," Su's father began through clenched teeth, "you're Harry Potter. You're the reason my daughter was almost killed."
Harry was stunned. He had been expecting them to blame him; he blamed himself, but it still came as a shock.
"Mr. Chang! It was not Harry's fault!" Dumbledore said severely before Harry could respond. "I explained everything that happened before bringing him here specifically to avoid this. Neither Harry, nor anyone else here, had any way of knowing what had happened. There was no way to prevent it. Let's just be glad Su is safe."
Mr. Chang sat back down, throwing a disgusted look at Harry, before turning again to his daughter. Harry didn't know what to say. He wanted very much to leave, as he was clearly unwanted here. He was about to say he would go when Mrs. Chang stood up. Harry braced himself for what was coming.
"Would you like to come sit with her?" she asked him. He was again shocked. He looked at Mr. Chang who was looking furiously at his wife.
"I don't want him near her! He's caused enough…"
"This isn't about what you want. This poor boy had nothing to do with what happened to Su and he obviously feels very bad about it. We," she said pointedly, "are not going to make him feel worse. Plus you know how much Su admires him from everything she's read."
She looked into Harry's eyes and smiled at him. It was a warm smile and it made him feel better. He walked over to the other side of the bed and sat down.
"Thank you," he said. "I feel horrible about all of this, truly. I never meant…"
"We understand," she cut him off.
"How long has she been asleep? Has she woken up at all?"
"Yes she's been up for a bit here and there. She is always so tired though, that it isn't usually for very long."
Harry sat with the Changs for a few more moments. When he was about to get up he looked down at Su one more time. She was looking back at him, wearing a big smile.
"Harry Potter!" she said. She was very excited, but her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Hello Su. How are you feeling? I'm so sorry about all of this…"he said, all the guilt rushing back to him. She was horribly exhausted.
"I am so happy that you're here! I've wanted to meet you my whole life!" she turned her head and looked at her parents. "He came to see me! Harry Potter came to see me!"
"It's the least he could do for you…" Mr. Chang mumbled. Mrs. Chang gave him a look full of warning.
"I'm glad you're okay," Harry said to her. "I'm going to go and let you have time with your parents. I hope to see you better soon and back with the rest of us in Gryffindor."
"I don't know about…"Mr. Chang began again.
"We'll talk about that at home," Mrs. Chang cut him off. "Su's coming home with us for the winter holidays, we're leaving today," she explained.
"Oh, but mum…"
"No buts, you need rest and home is the best place for you."
Harry said goodbye again as Su continued to plead with her mom to be allowed to stay, but secretly he agreed with Mrs. Chang. Su would be better off far away from this place, for a little while at least. He headed back up to the tower, feeling much more relieved.
When he got back to the tower, he told Ron and Hermione about his visit with Su. Hermione was very angry that Mr. Chang would blame Harry, but at least things had turned out okay in the end, so she let it go. An announcement had been put up while he was gone; there would be another Hogsmeade trip on the day before the winter holidays. Harry wasn't as excited as last time upon hearing this news.
"Dumbledore will never let me go this time," he said. "Not after our last trip. The only time my scar burned since…last year, was at Hogsmeade."
"Well you haven't been told no yet, have you?" Ron asked.
"No, but the announcement just went up. They haven't had time to tell me."
"I think it's better this way," Hermione spoke up. "You really will be much safer in Hogwart's. Don't you see that?"
"I see the reason in what you're saying, I just don't want to live my life in fear and hiding. I have been able to live through every encounter with Vol- You-Know-Who so far. It's not like I want to go out to run into him, I just want to do things that other kids do!"
"I just don't want to lose my friend," Hermione said looking at him. He stared back at her, but didn't say anything. Ron broke the silence.
"Well, we better get the rest of our potions homework done, or Snape'll take more points from Gryffindor."
"I'm sure he'll do that even if it's perfect," Harry replied, "but you're right, coming Hermione?"
"Already finished."
"There's a surprise." They headed upstairs to get their books, and spent the rest of the evening doing homework, and then headed off to bed.
That week, after their transfiguration lesson, Professor McGonagall again asked Harry to stay after. He knew exactly what was coming and didn't act surprised or even angry when she told him he would not be allowed to Hogsmeade this time. He told Ron and Hermione, who were waiting for him outside of class.
"That's okay. I've been there a few times now, and there will be other trips," he told them, unconvincingly.
"Do you want us to stay?" Hermione asked. "I know I'll stay if you want me to. Ron? How about you?"
Ron nodded, though he really didn't want to, he would do this for Harry.
"No," he told them. "I don't want you to stay because I have to. I expect you to bring back lots of candy and trick toys for me!"
"Absolutely!" Ron said immediately.
"Well, if you're sure…" Hermione trailed off.
"I am," Harry answered.
When the last day of term finally came, Harry saw his friends off, then turned and headed back towards his tower. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do yet. He had homework to get done, but he had all the holiday to do that and wanted to wait for Ron so they could help each other. He wasn't allowed outside the castle without a teacher and he didn't feel like walking around with a chaperone. So he decided he would just go to the common room and see who else had stayed.
When he got to the portrait, he was just about to say the password, when he heard something down the hall. He could hear people talking, arguing just out of sight, he was about to ignore them, as it was none of his business, until he heard something that turned his blood to ice.
"Imperio!"
Someone had used the Imperius Curse! He had to go look; the other person could be in danger! Slowly, he crept along the wall…
When he reached the end of the hall, he peered around the corner. It was too dark to see anything; he pulled out his wand and whispered:
"Lumos."
The wand tip lit, and he looked around again. He could barely make out two figures walking in the opposite direction down the hallway. He started after them, knowing the whole time that he shouldn't be doing this alone, but unable to leave whoever was being controlled by the curse. He didn't know if he left to get help, would he be able to find them again?
He was now passing by some classrooms that were in the upper regions of the castle, when he turned the last corner; it was a dead end. How could he have lost them? He spun around to retrace his steps when someone stepped out of one of the classrooms and blocked his way. He looked up into the eyes of Arabella Figg.
She didn't move, just stared at him. Then another figure came out behind her, one wearing a black cloak. A death eater.
"Professor Figg! We have to get out of here now!" He yelled. But Figg just continued to stare at him, not moving. Harry realized she was the one who had been put under the Imperius Curse. He couldn't believe he had walked into this! He was trapped in a dead end with no one who knew he was there.
Harry heard the death eater mumble something, and watched as Figg raised her wand, and pointed it at him.
"Crucio."
Harry was hit with the curse he remembered so well from the last time it was used on him. He writhed on the floor in agony and knew nothing, except how much it hurt. Finally, when it seemed he would pass out, when he could take no more, it stopped. He didn't move, he couldn't. He saw a shadow above him and could barely make out the shape of Figg looking down at him. She again pointed her wand at him, and tight ropes wound themselves around him. He was lifted in the air, and she directed him down the hallways, followed closely by the death eater.
As they moved he began to regain some of his strength, though his head was pounding. He struggled against the ropes holding him, but it was no use. Even if he could get free, he had dropped his wand and had nothing to use against the death eater or Figg. Suddenly, they stopped; he craned his neck around to try to see what was happening. He saw Figg looking a little shaken, and very weak, but more like her usual self. The death eater was just raising his wand toward her, probably to use the Imperius curse again, when she spun on him.
"Expelliarmus!"
In her weakened state, the spell didn't work as well as normal, but it caused him to lose the wand, when he dove down to get it, she turned quickly back to Harry. She brought him down to the ground and released him from the ropes.
"Run!" she shouted at him.
"But, what about y-"
"Just go! Quickly"
The death eater was advancing on them again; he raised his wand but pointed it at Harry this time.
"Crucio!"
Figg shoved Harry out of the way, hard, and took the full force of the curse. Harry didn't have a choice. He could do nothing to help her so he turned and ran.
He didn't stop running until he reached Dumbledore's office, yelled the password and went inside. He was a little shocked to see Professor Snape there, and no one else. Snape was looking at him with a shocked expression on his face, and he had gone a little pale.
"Professor Snape, we have to…Figg…a death eater, where's Professor Dumbledore…" He couldn't continue and fell to his knees, shaking with exhaustion. Snape came over to him, and helped him off the floor, then he steered him over to the nearest chair and let him sit down.
"Mr. Potter, I am going to leave you for a moment. I will get Professor Dumbledore so you can explain to us what has happened," Snape said, then he turned and left the room.
Harry found it strange that Snape was acting so nice to him, but he didn't dwell on it. He had to talk to Dumbledore as soon as possible so they could help Professor Figg, and hoped very much she was still okay or at least alive.
A few moments later, Snape came back in with Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin and McGonagall. Sirius ran over to Harry immediately to see if he was okay.
"Harry! What happened? Who did this to you?" he asked anxiously.
"What do you mean-" he started. How could Sirius tell by just looking at him what was done to him? Then he put his hand up to the side of his head, when he pulled it away there was blood on it. He had been hit so hard with the Cruciatus Curse, that one of his ears was bleeding. That's why Snape looked so shocked.
"Harry," Dumbledore said, "Professor Snape told us you mentioned Professor Figg's name, and that there was a death eater. Is this true?"
"Yes," Harry answered him. He told them as quickly as possible everything that had happened since he first heard the argument near his common room.
"I couldn't help her," he said, "so I ran. I'm so sorry but…"
"Don't be sorry," Lupin told him, "If you had stayed then you'd be with that death eater now. There was no other choice for you."
"Why didn't he chase after me?" Harry asked. "He could have stopped hitting Professor Figg with the curse and done so."
"I suspect," Dumbledore began, "that he was here to take Professor Figg. When he saw you, he saw an opportunity, which thankfully he missed."
"What would he want with Professor Figg though?" he asked.
"I promise you I will explain everything to you, later tonight. I want you to go to the hospital wing right away. Minerva, will you please accompany him down there? Remus, please go with Severus and see if you can find Harry's wand."
Harry left feeling quite confused. All he could think of was that this must have something to do with the secret Figg must have been keeping. When they got to the hospital wing, McGonagall left him with Madam Pomfrey, who, after Harry was changed and in the bed, gave him a potion so he fell straight asleep.
When Harry awoke later that evening, he felt very well rested. He grabbed his glasses off of the table next to him and saw that Hermione and Ron were at his bedside. They both were looking very worried.
"Harry," Hermione began in a weak voice, "are you alright?
"Dumbledore told us you were attacked," Ron added. "He said you would tell us what happened if you wanted us to know. I guess keeping you away from Hogsmeade didn't work the way they hoped, did it?"
"There was a death eater in the castle," Harry told them, "and he wasn't here for me, I just happened to come along, that's what Dumbledore thinks anyway."
"Who was he here for then?" Hermione asked. Harry sighed and explained the events of that day for the second time.
"Professor Figg? What would You-Know-Who want with her?" Ron asked.
"I don't know. Dumbledore said he would explain it all to me tonight. I have a feeling I know what he's going to tell me though."
"What?"
"That Professor Figg is my Secret-Keeper."
"So you figured it out, did you Harry?"
The three of them looked up to see Dumbledore standing at the foot of the bed. He walked around to the side and sat down.
"Arabella Figg has been your Secret-Keeper for over 14 years now. Somehow, Voldemort was able to discover who she was, and sent one of his followers to get her. He also must've known that the school would be mostly empty today, or he never would have tried it."
"But why? Why would he go after her here? I'm not at the Dursley's right now so knowing where I live won't help them at all!"
"True, but it may help him later. We don't know exactly when he plans to attack you. That death eater this morning was not sent for you but that didn't stop him from trying. It will always be this way, no matter what his plans he won't pass up an opportunity to get to you, nor will any of his followers."
"How did he find out about Professor Figg?" Ron asked.
"I don't kn-" Harry started.
"Su," Hermione said. "The fake one, the shapeshifter. She was listening to us that day in the common room, remember? We were talking about what Professor Figg had said to you, Harry, when you asked her why she never told you she was a witch. You told us about her having a secret that she still kept, and the shapeshifter heard the whole thing!"
"You're right Hermione, I remember that! We saw her standing near the doorway. When she saw us listening she turned and ran upstairs, that must be what happened; she told Voldemort what she heard!" Harry exclaimed.
"It could have been. We have no way of knowing how many shapeshifters were around the school and we have to entertain the notion that they are not all gone." Dumbledore said. "What we have to do now is find out what Voldemort is really up to. I am going to go away again for a short while after the holidays. I believe we may be very close to discovering what went wrong during his rebirth and why he needs you," he said looking at Harry. "I want you to promise me you will not go off on your own, for any reason. If you think someone is in trouble then come and tell me and I will take care of it. I would also rather you not wander around on your own. I know this isn't what you want to hear but it's necessary, please understand."
Harry nodded, "I promise, professor."
"Good. Now please try and get a bit more rest, I will check in on you later." With that, he stood up and the three of them watched as he left the room.
There wasn't much more that Hermione and Ron could do, and it was getting late, so they said goodnight to Harry and went back up to their tower. Harry sat there thinking about all the problems going on this year. Two people were now hurt so that Voldemort could get to him, one of them was missing. He just hoped that Professor Figg was still alive.
Madam Pomfrey came over to him then with a potion to make him fall asleep. He drank it all, and immediately felt his eyes begin to droop. He laid down fell into a dreamless sleep.
The next day he was allowed to go back to his tower. Everyone had left to go home for the holidays that morning so it was very quiet when he got there. Ron, Hermione and Ginny had all stayed behind though and were waiting for Harry when he got there. They didn't bring up anything about the day before and for this Harry was grateful. They spent the afternoon playing games of exploding snap and even did a bit of homework (at Hermione's prompting). Ron and Harry played a bit of chess later on in the evening while Hermione and Ginny watched, giving Harry their advice here and there.
The next morning, Harry woke up by Ron shaking him awake.
"Happy Christmas Harry! C'mon get up! We've got presents!"
Harry sat up and put his glasses on, he saw a small stack of presents at the end of his bed. He looked over at Ron's stack, which was a bit bigger, and noticed one especially familiar shaped package.
"Ron, what do you suppose that could be," Harry said pointing at the package.
"I'm opening that one first!" Ron said excitedly. He ran over to it and began tearing the paper away. When he saw it his face broke out in the biggest grin Harry could ever remember him making. Ron was so happy Harry was beaming for him.
"A Nimbus 2000!" Ron cried. "I can't believe it! I've got a Nimbus 2000!"
"Who's it from?" Harry asked still smiling.
"My parents," Ron said looking at the note attached to it. "They got it because I made keeper. They said they wanted to give it to me before the first game but couldn't get one in time for that. Harry this is wonderful! I can use my own broom in games now!"
"Yes you can, and with this broom, and your already amazing skills as a keeper, nothing will get past you!"
At that moment Hermione and Ginny came in carrying presents.
"Happy Christmas!" they said at the same time.
"Hermione, you do know this isn't the girls'…" Ron started, but stopped when she glared at him. He was only teasing her anyway and was glad to see her.
They spent the rest of the morning exchanging and opening presents. They all got their usual sweaters from Mrs. Weasley and Harry got an eraser from the Dursley's with a note that just said 'The Dursley's' on it. He gave it to Ron to give to his dad, as he knew Mr. Weasley loved muggle things.
When they were done exchanging presents, they got dressed and spent another day having fun and playing games. Soon it was dinnertime and they all left the common room and started for the great hall.
When they got down to the great hall they saw there was only one table, Dumbledore had once again gotten rid of the other tables as so few students stayed for the break. They also noticed that not only was Professor Figg missing, so was Snape.
"Dumbledore must've sent him back to spy on You-Know-Who," Hermione whispered.
"I bet he did, probably to find out if Professor Figg is still alive and if she told him anything," Harry said.
"Let's not talk about this now guys, please?" Ginny pleaded.
"You're right, let's just enjoy dinner, it's Christmas, after all," Hermione said.
They walked up to the front of the room and sat down at one end of the table.
"Happy Christmas to all of you!" Dumbledore said with a big smile. "Please, eat up!"
Their plates filled with all of their favorite foods and they ate until they were stuffed. After they finished, Dumbledore asked Harry if he could take some food up to his office, for "Snuffles." Harry said yes and Ron wanted to come too so they both grabbed as much food as possible and set off for Dumbledore's office.
"Thank goodness!" Sirius exclaimed when he saw them come in. "I was beginning to think Dumbledore had forgotten to send you!"
"Happy Christmas Sirius!" they both said to him.
"Haw-pee Kish-mush!" he said through a mouthful of food.
They stayed with him as he ate his dinner. When he was finished he heaved a big sigh. Then he reached behind him and turned back with a small box, which he gave to Harry.
"What's this?" Harry asked, turning the box over in his hands.
"It's your Christmas present from me. It's not anything special, or even particularly useful, but I thought you would like it" Sirius told him.
Harry pulled the lid off of the box and peered inside. Inside was a silver pocket watch, it looked like any other pocket watch, but when he turned it over he saw something engraved on it, "James Potter."
"Sirius!" Harry gasped. "This belonged to my father? Thank you!"
"Like I said," Sirius began with a grin, "nothing big, but I thought you might like to have it. It was one of his favorite possessions from the muggle world because your mother gave it to him. I'm glad you like it."
"I love it!" Harry was ecstatic for now he had two things that once belonged to his father! The invisibility cloak, and this.
"Now, I think it's time you two were on your way. Merry Christmas, and please head straight back to your tower."
They promised him they would and left the room.
The winter holidays went by without any incidents. Harry was glad for this and also a bit surprised. He had thought if anyone were going to try to attack again, it would be while the school was mostly empty. Though he also had been doing exactly what Dumbledore had asked, staying with his friends everywhere he went and not running off where he shouldn't be.
Soon the holidays were over, everyone returned to the school and classes resumed. Dumbledore left as he said he was going to, Harry hoped it wouldn't be for too long, and Snape had returned. The first potions lesson back was different than any other. While he and Ron were at their cauldrons, Malfoy was whispering something to Crabbe and Goyle. Then he grabbed something from his bag, turned, and tossed it into Harry's cauldron. Almost immediately, the potion, which had been red, turned black, and dark smoke was billowing up from it. Harry jumped backwards, choking and waving his arms to try to clear the air in front of him.
"Having trouble Potter?" Malfoy laughed. "Can't even make a simple potion, can you?" Crabbe and Goyle were snickering behind him.
"It appeared he was doing fine until you threw a toad's liver into it," Snape said coming up behind Malfoy.
"Sir, I – I…" Malfoy stammered.
"Twenty points from Slytherin, now get back to your work," Snape hissed at him. "Potter! Go dump that mess and start again. I suggest you hurry as there isn't much class time left."
Malfoy looked as though he had been slapped in the face, but turned and continued working on his potion. Harry stood there not moving. He couldn't believe Snape had not only took points from his own house, which he had never heard him do before, but he took Harry's side over Malfoy's! He stayed there until Ron elbowed him in his side, which brought him back to reality, and began to drag the cauldron over to the side to dump it.
"Can you believe that?" Ron asked as they left potions. "He took points from Slytherin! From Malfoy!"
"I know, I wonder why. Do you think something happened over the winter holidays?" Harry asked.
"Whatever it was, we should be thankful for it," Hermione put in.
"If he's trying to keep Voldemort's trust, I wouldn't think this is the way to go about it. I mean, Malfoy will be sure to tell his father, who will pass the information along.
"Don't say that name…" Ron said.
"He must realize that," Hermione added. "There must be a different reason. Not to mention what he did wasn't too suspicious. Draco threw something in your potion and Snape saw it. Any teacher would have taken points off for that."
"Hermione, have you forgotten entirely what potions has been like for the last four years?" Harry asked. "He would never blame someone in his house for anything, no matter whose fault it was! There is definitely something up, I just wish I knew what."
They stopped talking then, as they had to split up, Hermione to Arithmancy and Harry and Ron to Divination.
Divination was, as always, a joke. Professor Trelawny had been showing them how to read the future using tarot cards. So of course she happened to walk by Ron turned over a 'death' card in front of Harry.
"Your time is almost up, my child!" she exclaimed "It's so sad really, but all the signs have been pointing to it since you first came here."
They watched her float away with tears in her eyes. Ron looked at Harry, they both burst out in silent laughter.
"I think we should seriously consider changing this course for next year," Ron said to Harry. "We aren't learning anything, we can't predict anything or read tea leaves or see things in crystal balls."
"Well, as long as we can keep pretending that we can predict our own deaths, we'll keep passing. She can't see anything either and the one time she did, she had no idea she'd seen it," Harry said laughing.
When they left there, they went down to the great hall for lunch, then it was off to Care of Magical Creatures.
"I wonder who'll be teaching?" Hermione said as they walked down the hill. "Now that Professor Figg is gone and all…" she trailed off.
When they got to the hut they went around to the back where the other students were, and waited for the instructor to arrive.
After a few moments their question of who would be teaching the class was answered. Professor Dumbledore came around the corner of the hut, carrying a small, sad looking, greenish black bird that resembled a vulture.
"Hello class," he said to them "due to the fact that Professor Figg has…unexpectedly left…I will be teaching until either she or Hagrid returns."
Harry felt a bit guilty when he mentioned Professor Figg, but he was still happy despite that. Dumbledore came around to the center of where the students were sitting and sat down.
"I know that just before the winter holidays you finished up with the Doxies, fortunately, Professor Figg left a schedule of what she had planned to go over next. Can anyone here tell me, the name of this bird I'm holding?"
As expected, Hermione's hand shot in the air.
"Yes, Miss Granger?"
"An Augurey. It's also known as an Irish Phoenix," she answered him.
"Quite right, very good. Can anyone tell me where they are from?" Hermione started to raise her hand again but before she could say anything someone else answered.
"Ireland?" Malfoy called out. He sounded as though this should be perfectly obvious.
"Yes, where else?" Dumbledore continued.
"Britain," Hermione said, taking a cue from Malfoy and not bothering to raise her hand.
"That is correct. They are also sometimes found elsewhere in Northern Europe but they are native to those two countries. They are extremely shy animals. They have a distinctive low and throbbing cry, once believed to foretell death. Wizards avoided their nests for fear of hearing that cry, and more than one wizard is believed to have suffered a heart attack on passing and hearing an unseen Augurey wail." He stopped for a moment, seeming to consider something.
"That reminds me of an interesting story. Uric the Oddball is known to have slept in a room containing no fewer than fifty pet Augureys. During one particularly wet winter, Uric became convinced by the moaning of his Augureys that he had died and was now a ghost. His subsequent attempts to walk through the walls caused what was called a 'concussion of ten days.'" He chuckled to himself and then continued.
"Later research revealed that the Augurey merely sings at the approach of rain, and has since been used as a home weather forecaster, though many find its continual moaning during the winter months difficult to bear.
Dumbledore went on to explain how to care for Augureys, how they needed to nest in bramble and thorns and that they ate large insects and fairies but in heavy rain would also eat flies. He told them that starting next week they would be caring for baby Augureys and then class was dismissed.
"At least they don't look like spiders!" Ron said with a shudder. Harry and Hermione laughed at him as they walked back up to the school.
After they got back to the common room, they saw that a notice had been posted near the door. There was going to be another ball, this time in February.
"Well now I can use my new dress robes," Ron said.
"Who are you going to ask to go with you?" Harry asked him.
"I definitely don't want to wait until the last minute again that's for sure," Ron said more to himself than to anyone else. He looked up and glanced around the room. "Be right back," he told Harry. He walked right across to where Hermione was talking with Ginny and watched as he pulled Hermione over to the side. A moment later he was walking back over to Harry with a big grin on his face.
"Hermione and I are going together," he said.
"That was quick! You didn't waste any time at all!" Harry said, amazed.
"Well I didn't want to end up having you ask Parvati to have her sister go with me again. I also didn't want to watch her dance with someone else all night," Ron answered looking at Hermione. "So, you gonna ask Cho?"
"I don't know about that, especially after last year and all," Harry said.
"Come on Harry! If you want to ask her than do it before someone else does. If she says no to you then she says no."
"Listen to you, suddenly you're an expert!" Harry said with a laugh. "I'll have to think about it later anyway, we've got quidditch practice tonight. Our next match is with Ravenclaw, the one that was postponed from last time."
They walked down to practice together and met up with the rest of the team. Ron was very eager to show off his new Nimbus 2000 and passed it around for all to see. They stayed out for a little over two hours practicing many of the same maneuvers they had done the first part of the year, when they had originally been planning to face Ravenclaw. When it was getting hard to see, they ended the session and went back up to the castle.
No sooner had they stepped through the portrait hole, than McGonagall came in the room.
"Mr. Potter," she said looking at Harry, "I need you to come with me right away to see Professor Dumbledore."
"But I thought he was going to be gone for a few days," Harry said.
"He returned only moments ago and asked that I find you right away, it's very important so if you please," she said gesturing towards the portrait hole.
Harry nodded and stepped through the hole, followed by McGonagall. She was walking very fast for her size and Harry had to trot a bit to keep up with her. They passed through the entrance and into Dumbledore's office, where he was waiting with Lupin, Sirius and Snape.
"Please come in and sit down Harry, there is something we need to talk to you about," Dumbledore said to him. He didn't look at all like usual; something was bothering him a great deal. Harry sat down and looked at Dumbledore again.
"What's the matter?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to know.
"We've found out what went wrong during Voldemort's rebirth," he began grimly, "and why he needs you very badly, in order to stay alive."
