Here's seven. I got so many pretty reviews. You guys really do love me.
I don't like a lot of stuff before a chapter, so I'm going to put comments to the reviews at the end. So I will say that I don't own Harry Potter and let you get on with the chapter.
Enjoy ^__^
~*~*~*~*
Chapter 7
Occlumency
The atmosphere in Gryffindor Tower after the discovery of Colin was dismal at best. The good news was that the boy wasn't dead, as Harry had first thought. The bad news was that he didn't have much longer to live. Colin had been poisoned with basilisk blood. There was no true cure for it, only potions that could slow the progress of the poison. Mindy had told Hermione Professor Snape was doing all he could to concoct an antidote, but the prognosis didn't look good. Harry just couldn't understand why Colin had been poisoned in the first place. If ever there was a random strike at the student body, this was one.
Dennis was absolutely miserable. From what Harry understood, his parents wanted to take him home, but he had refused. He didn't want to leave his brother who, according to Madam Pomfrey, was in no condition to be moved. He spent his days in the hospital wing and when ever he did return to Gryffindor Tower, he sat by himself, speaking to no one.
If there was anyone as miserable as Dennis, it was Ron. Ron blamed himself for what happened to Colin. He kept saying he should have stopped it from happening at all. No matter how Harry and Hermione tried to convince him it wasn't his fault, Ron wouldn't hear it. He would only shake his head and say, "I knew something was going to happen and I didn't do anything about it."
Hermione was immensely worried about Ron, trying everything she could to cheer him up. Eventually, she hit on the idea of the three of them attempting to find a cure for the basilisk blood. Ron claimed the whole endeavor was pointless, hopeless and an incredible waste of time. But it gave him something to focus on and it made him feel useful. Harry had to agree with Ron's assessment of the project, but if it made his friend feel better, he'd gladly search through every book in the school.
"Well, this one's a dude too." Hermione frowned tossing an old tome on ancient magical remedies aside. "Any luck, Harry?"
They were in the library, once again, sifting through the vast literature on magical cures. Harry looked up from 'Modern Magical Maladies' and shook his head. "Nothing of any use." He answered.
"We're looking for the wrong thing." Ron said, pushing his book aside.
"What should we be looking for?" Hermione asked, already nose deep in another book.
"The person who did this to Colin in the first place." Ron answered.
Harry looked up. They had been through this several times before, and always drew a blank. They had no clues, nothing to go by. "We've tried that." Harry said. "This isn't like any of the other times. There's nothing particularly characteristic about what happened to Colin. Anybody could've slipped him poison."
Ron shook his head. "I've been working it through." He said. "Who ever did it, had to have been able to get their hands on basilisk blood. That's not easy stuff to come by. You can't just walk into any old shop and order a pint." He leaned in close and said quietly, "And listen, I think I know who did it."
Hermione frowned. "How could you possibly know who did it, Ron? Harry's right, there really isn't anything to go on."
"The basilisk blood is more than enough." Ron argued. "It had to be some one with major ties to dark magic, like someone who is in with You- Know-Who. It had to have been one of the Slytherins." Hermione gave Ron a disapproving look. "Oh, come on." Ron said defensively. "Don't tell me the thought hadn't crossed both your minds."
Harry nodded and Hermione turned that look on him. "Well, the thought had crossed my mind."
"Alright." Hermione said. "Let's say it was one of the Slytherins, which one was it?"
"Pansy Parkinson." Ron answered with out hesitation.
"What makes you sure it was her?" Hermione asked.
"It had to be her. She was pissed off about Malfoy..."
"Then why would she take it out on Colin?" Harry asked. "It's me she blames for Malfoy not being here."
Ron frowned. "I don't know. She's Slytherin and all Slytherin are bloody, evil gits."
"You're going to need a bit more evidence than that." Hermione said.
Harry shook his head. "Nothings adding up." He said. "It would make sense to think it was one of the Slytherins considering who most of their parents are friendly with, but why would they pick on Colin Creevey, of all people."
"We're missing something." Hermione agreed. "If we could just figure out what that was, I know we can figure out what really happened to Colin."
Ron looked down at his book, then back up at Harry. "What about that owl feather you found?"
"Oh, yeah." In the week that had past since Colin's discovery, Harry had completely forgotten about the owl feather. He had picked it up that night, before Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore had arrived. He had pocketed the feather, and allowed it to slip to the back of his mind. Now, Harry reached into his pocket and felt around for the feather. He found it and pulled it out. He looked at it and remembered the identical one on his night stand next to his bed. "It's just an owl feather." He said, twirling it in his fingers. "There all over the castle. I found one on the first night here."
"You did?" Hermione asked, taking the feather from Harry and studying it. "When?"
"When I was going up to talk to Professor Dumbledore." Harry answered. "I thought I saw a shadow pass over my head. I figured it was Peeves, but when I looked around, there wasn't anything there. Then I found the feather on the floor."
"Is it just like this one?" Hermione asked, waving the feather in front of Harry's face.
"Yeah, I think so." Harry answered.
"Why didn't you tell us you had already found one?" Hermione asked frowning.
Harry shrugged. "It's not like it's uncommon to find owl feathers at Hogwarts, given the enormous amount of owls here."
"But there are no black owls at this school, Harry." Hermione said.
Harry frowned. "Are you sure?"
Hermione nodded. "In the past six years, I have never seen a black owl."
"So." Ron shrugged. "Someone got a new owl."
"But don't you see?" Hermione said. "It's possible that whoever owns that owl is probably the person who hurt Colin."
"Oh." Harry said, catching on to Hermione's line of reasoning. "And if the owl is new, that would mean there is probably only one."
Hermione nodded. "If we can find the owl, it's very likely we can find the culprit."
Ron grinned. "Then what're we waiting for. Let's go to the owlery; see if we can't find this owl."
"We can't go tonight." Hermione said. "It's late. It'll be dark and most of the owls would be out for the night anyway. We should wait till morning, and you should probably get that other feather, Harry, just to make sure they're from the same bird."
Harry nodded. "It's on my night stand. I'll bring it down in the morning."
"I think for the first time, we actually got some where." Ron said, slamming his book shut. "Maybe we should quit while we're ahead."
"That might be a good idea." Hermione agreed, gathering up a few of the scattered books. "Here, I'll take these out, just in case there's something in them that might help Colin. You guys go ahead."
"Alright." Ron said, standing. "Come on, Harry."
"Bye, Hermione." Harry said, before turning and following Ron out of the library.
They walked back to Gryffindor tower, mostly in silence, though Ron was in much better spirits now that they had something substantial to follow up on. Soon they were standing in front of the portrait of the fat lady. Harry opened his mouth to say the pass word, when the portrait swung open and Mindy stepped out.
She stopped, looked at the two in front of her and blinked. "Oh, hi." She said.
" 'Lo." Ron answered. "Where're you going?"
"To see Professor Dumbledore." She replied. "To discuss my behavior in Snape's class." She glanced over at Harry. Their eyes met for a second, but she quickly glanced away. "So. I'll see you both later." She said, and hurried off.
Ron looked after her, raising an eyebrow. He looked over at Harry. "What's going on with you two?"
Harry turned to watch Mindy go. Every since that night in the Great Hall, Mindy had been avoiding him. She still walked to classes with him and ate with him, but she always made sure to put a good bit of distance between them. She never looked him in the eye, and she hardly spoke to him, unless it was about class work. Harry regretted more than anything that he had kissed her. He'd be happy if they could just go back to being friends again, though he was afraid things would never be same.
Harry looked over at Ron. "I don't know."
~*~*~*~*
Mindy knocked tentatively on Professor Dumbledore's door. She waited for him to call "Come in" before pushing the door open and stepping into the Headmasters office. Professor Dumbledore looked at her and smiled. Professor Snape was standing next to Dumbledore's desk and it looked like the two of them had been in the middle of a discussion. For a second Mindy thought that she might really be there to discuss her behavior.
"Have a seat, Ms. James." Professor Dumbledore said, waving a hand at one empty chair in front of his desk.
Mindy sat and looked at the headmaster questioningly. Nothing particularly significant had happened since Colin, and she didn't really know what she was doing there.
"Tell me, Ms. James, how are things between you and Mr. Potter?"
"Wha-?" Mindy asked looking at Professor Dumbledore with what she knew must have been the dopiest expression imaginable. Last thing she expected was to come in here and discuss her relationship with Harry.
"I've noticed," Professor Dumbledore went on. "That you and Harry don't seem as close as you had once before. Is something wrong?"
"Oh...um, no." Mindy lied. "Everything's fine."
"You're lying, Minerva." Professor Snape said.
"I am not." Mindy lied again.
"Then why don't you sit next to Potter in class. You never look at him. The first couple weeks you two were in my class, I couldn't get you to stop talking. Now, you won't say a word to him."
"I do sit next him." Mindy said defensively.
"Yes, but there is a good ten feet between the two of you."
"That's incase my potion explodes or something."
"That's a very poor excuse, Minerva." Snape smiled nastily. "Did the two of you have a little spat?"
"No." Mindy shot back, glaring at Snape. "We did not have a little spat."
"Then what is wrong, Minerva?" Professor Dumbledore cut in. "You do remember that you are trying to get close to Harry, to protect him don't you?"
"Yes." Mindy answered turning back to the headmaster.
"Then why are you pushing him away?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
Mindy shrugged and looked down at the floor. "Things are complicated." She said.
"Why don't you explain it to me?" Professor Dumbledore suggested. "Maybe I can help."
Mindy shook her head, wondering how she could ever explain to Professor Dumbledore what happened. She still wasn't sure what exactly happened herself. One minute she was just talking to Harry, and the next... Mindy took a deep breath, and never moving her eyes from the point on which they had fixated on Dumbledore's rug, said, "Harry likes me."
There was silence for a moment, then Snape broke it with the dumbest question possible. "Isn't that what you were going for?"
Mindy looked at him. "No. Not like me. Like like me."
Professor Snape looked at her curiously. "Like like you? What is that suppose to mean?"
Mindy rolled her eyes and looked at Professor Dumbledore. She could tell by the expression in his eyes, he knew exactly what she meant. "I don't know what to do about it." She said truthfully. "I've never even considered this as a possibility. He's a boy. He's young enough to be my grandson."
"Not at the moment, he's not, Minerva." Professor Dumbledore said.
"He's my student." Mindy went on.
"He doesn't know that." Professor Dumbledore said. "It's perfectly reasonable for him to start to develop feelings for you."
"Develop feelings..." Professor Snape looked over at Mindy completely taken by aback. "You're supposed to be protecting the boy, not dating him."
"I'm not dating him." Mindy said.
"Not yet." Professor Snape frowned.
Mindy decided to ignore that, and looked back at Professor Dumbledore. "What should I do?" She asked. "I'm afraid if I tell him I only want to be friends, he'll feel rejected and start to pull away. But I can't...I can't...he's my student. I just don't know what to do."
Professor Dumbledore folded his hands in front of him, and looked at Mindy over the top of his half moon glasses. After a while he asked, "How do you feel about it?"
Mindy looked at the headmaster. "I think it's wrong." She said. "I'm a professor. A much, much older professor."
"All right. I certainly understand that." Professor Dumbledore said. "Now answer my question. How do you feel about it?"
Mindy bit her lip and looked back down at that spot on the rug. That was the question she had been asking herself all week. How did she feel about it? She had known Harry was going to kiss her, when he touched her cheek, by the look in his emerald eyes. Her mind was screaming at her that it was wrong. That it was very, very wrong. She should get away, before it was too late. But her body had a will of its own, and its will was to be as close to Harry as possible. Every time she thought about it, she felt guilty and strangely happy at the same time. She had never been so conflicted.
She looked up at Professor Dumbledore and said truthfully, "I don't know. It's confusing. A part of me is going 'No. He's your student', but a bigger part me is going 'Woo-hoo!'" She shook her head. "I don't know what to make of it."
"Woo-hoo." Professor Snape said. "Interesting choice of expression."
Mindy shrugged. "You got my point didn't you?"
Snape nodded. "It's the potion." He said. "You are sixteen. Plus, these teenage desires might actually be amplified because of the potion's modifications. It's much stronger than a normal de-aging potion."
Mindy nodded. "I guessed as much." She said. "If I had known this would happen..."
"Would you have not done it?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
Mindy looked at Professor Dumbledore. Would she have not turn back the clock? Especially now, considering that there was someone or something in the school. She shook her head. "I don't know. I would have thought about it a bit more at least."
"I could probably modify the potion more, so that you merely look sixteen." Professor Snape suggested. "That would reduce the confusion you're feeling. Help you think more like an adult."
"Could you really do that?" Mindy asked.
Snape nodded. "I could probably combine some of the properties of a polyjuice potion with the de-aging potion. It would take some time to get right..."
Mindy shook her head. "Then don't bother with it. I don't want you to be distracted from finding a cure for Colin because I'm having trouble dealing with raging adolescent hormones."
Snape shrugged. "If that's what you want."
"It is." Mindy assured him. "Now the only question is what should I do about Harry?"
"Simple." Snape answered. "You go to him, profess your love, and become a couple."
"What?" Mindy asked. "Are you mad, Severus?"
Professor Snape shook his head. "You said it yourself, Minerva. If you tell him you only want to be friends, he'll feel rejected and pull away. That would be completely counterproductive to what you're trying to do. There's something in this school. Something that is hurting students. Eventually, it's going to go after Potter. If there's any hope at all that the boy won't end up in the hospital wing, or worse, by the year's end, it's you Minerva."
Mindy stared at Snape disbelievingly. He made perfect sense, but she couldn't date Harry. She couldn't, could she? She looked at Professor Dumbledore. "What do you think?"
"I'm inclined to agree with Professor Snape." Dumbledore answered. "But don't do it, Minerva, unless you feel completely comfortable about it."
Mindy blinked at Professor Dumbledore. Feel completely comfortable? Of course she wouldn't feel completely comfortable. She was sure she would feel very uncomfortable, indeed.
"In other words." Snape said, catching the expression on her face. "Can you keep those raging adolescent hormones under control?"
Mindy looked at him. "Yes. Of course I can."
"Then problem solved." Snape said with finality.
"But what about when all of this is over?" Mindy asked. "I'll have to break up with him. What if it breaks his heart?"
"He's young." Snape answered. "He'll bounce back."
"You had better get back." Professor Dumbledore said. "You don't want to be caught in the halls after curfew."
Mindy didn't move. She looked back at the headmaster. "You really want me to date Harry?"
"No." Professor Dumbledore answered. "I do not. This was...unexpected. But that's the way life is, completely unpredictable. Some things have been set in motion and it is best we move with it. Go on, Ms. James."
Mindy stood slowly. She looked at Professor Dumbledore then Professor Snape. "Alright. I'll tell Harry I like him, too. But I don't think it's a very good idea."
"No one here does." Professor Snape assured her. "I'll see you class, Ms. James. Good-night."
Mindy nodded and left the office, more confused than ever.
~*~*~*~*
Harry and Ron awoke early the next morning, leaving before any of their room mates had begun to get up. Harry made sure to get both owl feathers, and after a quick look over by Hermione in the Gryffindor common room, determined they both came from the same owl.
"Come on." Hermione said, hurrying them out of the portrait hole. "All the owls should be back by now."
They hurried down the empty halls, heading for the high tower room. They turned down one of the corridors and nearly ran over Neville. He looked up surprised, his face flushing slightly pink.
"Hi, Neville." Harry said.
"Oh, hello." Neville returned. "You're up early."
"We're headed for the owlery." Hermione explained. "I've got a letter to be sent."
"What're you doing up so early?" Ron asked.
"Oh, I'm, um, going down to help Professor Sprout...with a plant."
Lavender stepped out of an empty class room just behind Neville. "Neville, are you...oh, hi Harry, Ron, Hermione."
"Lavender." Hermione said, astonished. "I never expected to see you up this early."
Lavender shrugged. "Sometimes a girl has things to do." She said brightly. "Where are you three going?"
"Owlery." Harry answered. "Hermione's got a letter."
"Oh, that's nice." Lavender said.
"So what are you..." Hermione started, but Ron, who had been staring at both Neville and Lavender rather hard, cut her off.
"We have to go." He said, taking Hermione by the arm and steering her towards a connecting corridor. "See you at breakfast."
"Okay." Lavender smiled brightly, before turning and walking off.
Neville waved slightly, then hurried away in the opposite direction, back towards the school entrance.
"I wonder what she was doing up." Hermione said. "Lavender never gets up this early. She and Parvati are usually the last to rise."
"You didn't notice she wasn't in her bed when left you this morning?" Harry asked.
Hermione shook her head. "Her drapes were drawn. I just assumed she was still asleep."
They reached the owlery shortly, and climbed the ladder into the high tower room. Harry wrinkled his nose, as the not so pleasant sent of the many, many owls wafted down. He stepped into the room and looked around. Owls were every where. Big, small, speckled and stripped. They sat around on rafters rising high above them. Many of them were still coming back from their night jaunt.
"How are we supposed to find one owl in all of this?" Harry asked, staring up at the sea of birds.
"Well, it'll be the only that's all black." Hermione said, looking around.
"Hey, there's Pig." Ron said, pointing up. "Hey Pig!" He called. A tiny owl zoomed down from above and buzzed around Ron's head. A large snowy white one followed, and landed on a rafter just above Harry's right shoulder.
"Hi, Hedwig." Harry said, reaching up to stroke the owl. Hedwig hooted softly and he shook his head. "Sorry, I don't have a letter for you. Actually, I'm looking for an owl. An all black one. Have you seen one like that?" Hedwig gave him an answering hoot, and Harry smiled, wondering if he should take that as a yes or a no.
"I suppose we should split up." Hermione suggested. "I'll take this end. You guys start over there."
"Okay." Ron agreed, heading off to the left, Pig still buzzing around his head.
Harry headed off in the opposite direction, and Hermione walked towards the back of the room. They spent most of the morning, trouncing through hay and owl droppings, searching through the birds. They examined any darkly colored bird, but they all were speckled or spotted in some kind of way. The owl they were looking for would be purely black, with no feather pattern what so ever.
"It's not here." Ron announced after awhile, wrinkling his nose up at a particularly large pile of droppings. "Let's go before we smell permanently of owl."
"I don't get it." Hermione frowned. "If there are black owl feathers in the school, there has got to be a black owl."
"Maybe it's out." Harry suggested. "Delivering a letter or something."
"Maybe." Hermione agreed, though she sounded very doubtful.
They left the owlery and washed up, before heading down for breakfast. As they stepped into the Great Hall, Harry found himself scanning the Gryffindor table for Mindy. He was a little disappointed to see that she wasn't there, though he wasn't at all surprised. He followed Ron and Hermione to an empty spot at the table and sat down across from them.
"We'll just have to try again tomorrow." Hermione was saying. "There's got to be a black owl around here somewhere."
Ron nodded, shoveling bacon into his plate. "We'll find it." He said, confidently. "Pass the eggs, will you Harry."
Harry slid Ron a plate of eggs and started to reach for toast when someone touched him on the shoulder. He looked back to see Mindy looking at him nervously. "Hi." She said.
"Hi." Harry answered.
"Do...do you want to go for a walk? Around the lake?"
"Um, sure. I have to get my cloak."
"I brought it down." Mindy handed Harry his cloak and gloves. She swung her own around her shoulders and, without another word, headed towards the Great Hall doors. Harry quickly donned his cloak and followed after her, relieved that after a week of being all but ignored by her, she finally wanted to talk to him.
They stepped out side; the frosty air bit at his nose. The cold weather came early this year. The first snow of the year had fallen three days ago, covering everything in a blanket of white.
"I love this time of year." Mindy said, as they tracked towards the lake. "I like how everything looks when it's covered in snow. Snow make old things look...new and pretty." She looked over at Harry. "Don't you think?"
Harry shrugged. "I guess."
Mindy smiled. They walked the rest of the way to the lake in silence. When they reached it Mindy stopped and stared out at the water for a bit. The lake hadn't quite frozen over yet. Chunks of ice floated on top. A long tentacle raised lazily out of water, before disappearing below the surface again.
"I think we should talk about the other night." Mindy said, never looking away from the lake.
Harry felt himself blushing and he looked away from her, back towards the school. "Yeah." He said. "About that. I'm..."
"I'm sorry." Mindy said, quickly.
Harry looked over at her. "You are? For what?"
"For the way I behaved this past week." Mindy answered, glancing over at Harry, then turning to follow the path around the lake.
Harry hurried after her. "I don't blame you." He said. "I was..."
"No, Harry." Mindy cut him off. "Let me finish." She was silent for a moment, then taking a deep breath said, "You caught be surprised. I wasn't...expecting you...I never thought you liked me that way." She walked over to the beech tree at the edge of the lake; the same beech he, Ron, and Hermione spent so much time under; the tree his father and his three best friends had sat under. Mindy rested her back against the trunk and looked at Harry. "I was being stupid, Harry. I was nervous around you, because I...I like you too."
"You...you do?" Harry asked, more than a little bewildered.
Mindy looked away, and nodded. She pushed away from the tree, looking up at Harry, again. "Can we forget what an idiot I was, Harry, and be okay, again?"
Harry walked towards her. "I never thought you were an idiot." He said.
Mindy smiled at him, then stepping close, wrapped her arms around him. She rested her head on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "So you forgive me?"
Harry felt tinglely all over. He held Mindy close. She smelled like cinnamon.
"Harry?" Mindy asked.
"All's forgiven." Harry said, quietly.
Mindy pulled back and looked up at Harry smiling. If Harry had been paying close attention he would have saw something behind the smile. Something that didn't quite fit the face of a girl who had just told her crush she loved and he had responded positively. But Harry wasn't paying close attention. All he saw were Mindy's bright grey eyes shining at him; that tiny blush working its way across her nose.
"Let's go back in." Mindy said. "It's starting to get cold out here."
"It doesn't seem so cold to me." Harry said.
Mindy grinned brightly at him. Looping one of her arms through one of his, she turned and headed back towards the school. Harry felt like he was floating. This was the last thing he had expected to happen to him this morning. He couldn't believe how happy he felt, to know that Mindy cared for him the way he cared for her. They walked back in silence, but they didn't need to speak. All that needed to be said, had been
~*~*~*~*
The next few days past quickly for Harry. He felt extremely happy, but guilty too. It didn't feel right to be this happy when one of his housemates was absolutely miserable. Word spread quickly about Harry and Mindy, though Harry wasn't sure how it got out in the first place. He hadn't told anyone, and he didn't think Mindy had mentioned it. Nevertheless, by the end of the week everybody knew.
"These things have a way of getting around." Hermione said.
"Yeah, well, I wish Cho would stop giving me dirty looks." Mindy frowned.
They were once again in the library pouring over the limitless amounts of literature on magical aliments and remedies. Hermione had recruited Mindy into the researching club, as Ron so fondly referred to it, and she had gladly joined. She was willing to do anything she could to help. Harry was glad she was there. Not just for the company, but because Mindy seemed to know a lot about poisons and the potions that could help. She was able to narrow their search quite a bit, though not enough to keep them from digging through what Harry was beginning to believe nearly every book in the library.
"Cho's jealous." Ron said, casually.
"How do you know?" Harry asked, surprised. He never thought Cho Chang would be jealous over him.
"I can see it." Ron answered. "It's like a big, blinking, green sign is hanging over head screaming jealous."
"You're starting to pick up people's emotions then?" Mindy asked, looking at Ron over the top of her book.
Ron nodded. "Only strong ones though. I guess my training with Firenze must be getting somewhere."
"Speaking of training." Hermione said, turning towards Harry. "When are you going to start Occlumency?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know? Professor Dumbledore hasn't asked me back to his office since that first night."
"You're learning Occlumency?" Mindy asked. She didn't sound at all surprised by the news, only minorly interested.
"Oh. Yeah." Harry answered, wondering if maybe at her old school that was a regular class. "But while we're on the subject..."
"Of Occlumency?" Ron asked.
"No," Harry said. "Training. I'm thinking of upping the Quidditch practices to three a week. The first match is a little less than a month away and I want to be ready. What do you guys think?"
"I vote no." Ron said quickly.
"Yes, Harry, I think that's fine." Mindy said, shooting Ron a disapproving look, not unlike the one Hermione had perfected. "It's not unreasonable with a match coming up. I don't think the rest of the team will mind."
"Thank you, Mindy." Harry said. "I guess I should let everybody know, so they'll be ready."
Mindy nodded, then asked. "How goes the search for the owl?"
Harry had told her about the owl feathers and Hermione's theory. She had immediately shown them the black owl feather she had found in the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. It was their general belief that whoever owned the owl must have stayed at the pub for a short bit, at least right before the start of school.
"No luck yet." Hermione shook her head. "I'm sure there were other Hogwarts students staying at the Leaky Cauldron over the summer. I just wish I knew which ones. That would help narrow things down."
"I may be able to find out." Mindy said, thoughtfully.
"How?" Ron asked.
Mindy smiled. "Let me worry about that." She glanced at the magical clock above the library doors, "I have to go." She stood, scooping up the books in front of her. "I'll take these out, Hermione. They look promising."
Hermione nodded.
Mindy looked at Harry. "I'll find you later and we'll do potions, alright?" She said.
Harry sighed. "Why don't you just let me flunk out?"
"Because then, luv, I'd be so terribly lonely."
Harry smiled. "I suppose when you say it that way."
Mindy gave him a bright smile in return. "I'll see you all later." She said, before turning and walking away.
Ron watched her leave then asked. "What do you suppose she means she can find out?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know, but if she can, I say let her. That'll make things easier for us."
Ron nodded and went back to work. They spent most of the evening researching which, once again, turned up nothing. Harry was really beginning to loose faith in the project, but he didn't want to give up so easily, not that Hermione would let him. They made plans to come start again the following evening and headed back to Gryffindor Tower.
Ron was repeating the new pass word ("Weasley is our king.") when Professor Lupin walked up.
"Harry, I'm glad I caught you." He said.
Harry looked back. "Is something wrong?"
Lupin shook his head. "No, no. Professor Dumbledore needs to see you."
"Oh, okay." Harry looked back at Ron and Hermione. "I'll see you guys in a bit."
Ron nodded. "Yeah, okay." He said. Hermione gave him a smile before disappearing into the portrait hole behind Ron.
Harry turned and walked with Professor Lupin back the way he had come. Professor Lupin smiled at Harry and asked. "So how are things for you?"
"They're good." Harry answered.
Professor Lupin's smile turned into a grin. "I hear you're making new...friends."
Harry looked at Professor Lupin and, not knowing what to say, nodded.
"Your parents started to become good friends during their sixth year." Lupin said, casually.
"Yeah?" Harry asked, rubbing his arm, not quite believing he was having this conversation. For one heart stopping moment, Harry wondered if Professor Lupin was about to give him the talk. He was greatly relieved when the next question out of Lupin's mouth seemed to be leading in a different direction.
"So you are okay then, really?"
Harry nodded again. "I'm fine."
Lupin looked at him. The smile that had lit his face was gone. "Really, Harry?"
Harry knew then what he was referring to. He was asking if he was okay about Sirius. The answer to that would be no. He would never be okay about that. "Yes." Harry said.
Lupin nodded, stopping in front of the hall leading back to his office. "If you ever need to talk about anything." He looked at Harry. "About girls or anything else. Come see me, alright."
Harry nodded. "Alright."
Lupin gave Harry a pat on the shoulder. "See you in class."
Harry nodded and started off.
"Oh, Harry." Professor Lupin called. "Professor Dumbledore's password has changed. It's chocolate truffles."
Harry nodded his thanks and left Professor Lupin. He arrived at Dumbledore's office before long, and saying the password, headed on up. Harry knocked, but didn't get an answer. Deciding to go in anyway, he pushed the door open and stepped into the office. Professor Dumbledore was not at his desk when Harry walked in. Harry looked around but did not see the Headmaster immediately. Deciding he must be around somewhere, Harry sat in the chair in front of his desk and waited. There was a silver pensive on Professor Dumbledore's desk; silvery smoke was churning lazily inside. Harry wondered what memories were stored in it this time, though he was not curious enough to take a peek. The last time he did that had not turned out so well.
It was not long before Dumbledore appeared from between his upper bookshelves. He walked over to his desk, reading a book. He sat down behind his desk, nose still in his book. It was a full minute before he looked up and noticed Harry sitting in front of him.
"Hello, Mr. Potter." He said, completely unfazed. "I didn't hear you come in."
"I knocked." Harry said.
"Yes." Professor Dumbledore nodded. "But I don't always hear. Fawkes usually alerts me to when someone is at the door. He's away right now."
Harry nodded, noticing Fawkes empty perch. "Where is he?"
"Taking care of some business for me." Professor Dumbledore answered. "Now we must get to business Mr. Potter. I believe it is time you start your Occlumency lessons."
Harry nodded. "I was wondering about that this evening." He said. "When will my first lesson be?"
"Now." Professor Dumbledore answered.
"Now?" Harry asked.
"Yes, now." Professor Dumbledore repeated.
"But, I--I don't know if I'm ready." Harry stuttered.
"That's alright." Professor Dumbledore said, standing and walking to the large open space in the middle of his office. "We'll go slowly. Over here, Mr. Potter." He waved Harry over, directing the boy to stand directly before him.
Harry obeyed, pulling his wand from his robe pocket. He looked Professor Dumbledore in the eye, doubting seriously that he would be any good. His last Occlumency lessons didn't go very well.
"You may use your wand to defend yourself in anyway, but try to push me out with your mind. That is the only way you will learn to master Occlumency."
Harry nodded.
"I'm sure Professor Snape told you last year the importance of letting go emotion."
Harry nodded again.
"Good." Professor Dumbledore said, his long wand appearing from almost no where. "Do that now, Mr. Potter. Try to make your mind blank and calm."
Harry nodded, closing his eyes. He took a deep breath, trying to push out all the emotions he felt over the past few days; trying to think of nothing.
"Brace yourself, Harry. Legilimens!"
Harry had barely heard the word before he was under the influence of the spell. Memories were flickering past his eyes so fast they were almost only flashes of color and light. Suddenly, it was near the end of his third year again and he had just found out he had a god father...He and Dudley were being chased by Dementors...He had blown up his aunt Marge after she said something nasty to him...He had caught the snitch from right under Draco Malfoy's nose...He was watching Sirius fall through that arch...
"No!" Harry yelled. He opened his eyes, surprised to find himself on his knees, his wand raised. He looked up, panting. Professor Dumbledore was looking down at him, a slightly surprised expression on his face. Behind him one of the portraits (Phineas's portrait to be exact; the headmaster within looked none too pleased) was on the floor, a smoldering burn in the upper left hand corner.
"That was a very nice stunning spell, Mr. Potter, if a bit miss- aimed." Professor Dumbledore said, ignoring Phineas's outraged shouts.
Harry stood shakily, panting for breath. "Sorry." He mumbled.
"Nothing to be sorry for." Professor Dumbledore said kindly. "Shall we try again?"
Harry nodded.
"Good. Clear your mind, Harry. It is very important to feel nothing. This time try to push me out with your mind. You must release all emotions. You must be perfectly calm. Here we go...Legilimens!"
Harry felt himself being swept away by the spell once again. He tried to not think, to keep his mind clear, like Professor Dumbledore had said. For a bit, it seemed to be working. No memories surfaced. But in a tidal wave of color and light his small amount of success was washed away. It was the beginning of last summer and he was cleaning out the gutters for Uncle Dursley...Rita Sketcher was interviewing him for the Quibbler...A black owl with crimson eyes flew over his head...Voldermort and Dumbledore were dueling in the Ministry of Magic's lobby...He was sitting beside Mindy leaning in...
'No!' Harry thought. He didn't want to share that memory. Not even with Professor Dumbledore. He felt a strong desire to push, to bulk against the spell, and then, like a bubble bursting, the color and light stopped. No more memories surfaced. His vision cleared. He was still standing this time, but it was hard for him to catch his breath. He looked at Professor Dumbledore, panting hard.
The headmaster was grinning at him. "Good, Harry." He said. "You pushed me out. You ended the spell."
"I....did?" Harry asked, between gasps of air.
Professor Dumbledore nodded. "Take a seat, Harry."
Harry walked back to the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk and gratefully collapsed into it. He waited until he caught his breath before speaking again. "How did I do it?"
"It's a matter of will." Professor Dumbledore stated, as he waved his wand and caused Phineas' portrait to float back to its spot on the wall. "I'll have to have someone look at that burn mark." He said casually. "I'm afraid I can't do anything about the paint. I'm not much of an artist."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked. "About the will. My mind wasn't clear. I was thinking lots of stuff."
"Your mind doesn't have to be empty of thoughts." Dumbledore said. "It should be clear in the sense of calm. Letting go of emotions help you to calm your mind. When you are calm you are able to react rationally and take control. Then you are able to assert your will and push any intruder away."
"But I don't think I was free of emotions." Harry said.
"No. You weren't." Professor Dumbledore agreed. "You'll need to work on that."
"Then how was I able to push you out?"
"As I said before, it was a matter of will." Professor Dumbledore answered. "I think that is enough for tonight. As outside work, I would like you to spend one hour everyday in meditation."
"Meditation?" Harry asked.
"Yes, Mr. Potter. Meditation. It will help. Professor Lupin will let you know when our next lesson will be. For now, go rest. You had quite a work out tonight."
Harry nodded and left Professor Dumbledore's office. As he headed slowly back to Gryffindor Tower, he thought over what Professor Dumbledore had said. It was a matter of will. Just like when he resisted the Imperius curse. Learning Occlumency must require the same skills that it takes to resist Imperius. Snape had mentioned that, but he had forgotten it as their lessons progressed. His lesson with Professor Dumbledore was and a good deal different from Snape's. Professor Dumbledore didn't threaten him, or talk down to him. He didn't irritate him. With Professor Dumbledore as his teacher, maybe he would learn to master Occlumency after all.
There was one other thing different about his lesson with Professor Dumbledore: his scar didn't hurt.
Harry unconsciously rubbed his scar, wondering about that. Maybe it didn't hurt because Voldermort was keeping himself closed off to Harry. Maybe he didn't want Harry to know what he was feeling. All Harry knew was that every since the end of last year, his scar hadn't even prickled. Thinking of the Dark Lord made him think of the duel between Voldemort and Professor Dumbledore. And shortly behind that the memory of Sirius falling through the arch in the department of Mysteries floated up.
Harry closed his, forcibly squashing that memory down, willing himself to think of anything else. He thought of the memories that had appeared during his lesson. He grinned at the one of him blowing up his aunt, and thought fondly the memory of Mindy. Then another memory came back. A black owl flying over his head. Harry stopped in mid-stride. When had that happened? "Oh." He said aloud, realizing it must have happened that first night, when he was going up to see Professor Dumbledore. He must have caught a glimpse of the owl, and hadn't noticed. Now that he thought back, he saw that he had seen the owl, just after a long black feather fell from it and landed on the floor ahead of him.
So there was a strange owl in the school. And one like he had never seen before.
~*~*~*~*
Well, this chapter seems to be slowing things down a bit to me, but I decided against keeping it going. It was getting to be pretty long. Things'll pick up a bit next one. Promise.
And now, here are the comments to the reviews, just like I promised.
First of all, I would like to say that I'm surprised I surprised (even shocked and horrified) so many of you with the Harry/Mindy pairing. Come on, people. It's the only thing that hadn't been done to death, brought back, and done to death again. But if you're having trouble thinking of those two together, I've come up with three easy steps to help you get through it:
Step 1: Don't think of Mindy as Professor Minerva McGonagall. Think of her as a regular sixteen year old girl. That should reduce the "ew" factor that I seem to have gotten from many of you.
Step 2: Remember that Harry doesn't know who she is (not yet, any way) and therefore is perfectly happy to be with her.
Step 3: There is no step three. Saying there were three easy steps just sounded better than saying there were two.
Anyhow, I hope everyone can learn to love (or at least tolerate) the pairing. I started to swing things back the other way. I even tried it. But it was just unrealistic. Sure Harry would say he would be happy being friends, but he wouldn't mean it. What guy would take rejection with a happy little grin, especially after they've opened up that way? None, unless the guy was a complete idiot or a total jerk. I don't see Harry as either of those. So, I'm afraid the pairing is here to stay. I like it anyway. At least it's original.
Sorrow1: How perceptive are you? Very. You're really seeing into this story. I loved your review by the way. And I didn't even realize I wrote "angle". I must have read over that section a million times and never even caught. But it is kinda funny. He's not a square either, by the way.
Yugi's Little Sister: I haven't decided what the disastrous consequences will be yet. You'll know as soon as I do.
Riley: I know I made some mistakes in the earlier chapters. My HP books were packed up. I shouldn't be making anymore though (unless I'm feeling very lazy and don't want to get up and walk all the way to my bookshelf and search out a reference, in which case I will say close enough go with it. As I did with the Colin's name. Sorry superhpfreak).
Natalie38: I'm not planning on extending this story into the seventh year. If I did that it would be as a sequel.
Paladin3030: Thanks. I thought as much. And making Minerva get stuck 16... hmm, that's something to think about.
czypc( ): Thanks for reviewing. This is my first fan fic, and to know that I wrote well enough to entice someone to review for the first time...Oh, that just makes me so happy.^_^
gaia-moore: You just paid me the best compliment a girl could ask for. You are my fav reviewer of the week, no the month, no the year. Heck, you can be my fav reviewer of the millennium.
ping*pong5: Yes.
juss-cuss: I'm from the great old U. S. of A. My home state is Louisiana. Not the greatest state out there, but at least we have Mardi Gras and Cajun cuisine.
slayeR( ): Thanks. I hope one day I can be an author. And I actually am considering a triangle. I just have to see how it'll fit in with the over all plot.
superhpfreak: Love the review per chapter. Thanks. You get a long comment because you left so many reviews. Or asked so many questions. However you want to look at it.
About Ron being a diviner; that was actually a spur of the moment type thing, but it's working out nicely. The way I figure the class system work is you get put in the class you qualify for, but you can get out of it if you think it won't be beneficial to your career goals. Harry is still in potions because he will need it if he intends to be an Auror. The transfigurations class shrunk, 'cause not everybody scored high enough to get back in.
Tree nymphs are little muddy brown things with wings and are related to pixies. They are a menace to trees everywhere, but only cause major damage if they are in large populations. Unicorn trees are, well, trees. I imagine they are pretty trees, though. No, neither were in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I just made them up. Yep, pulled both species out of the air between my ears. There may be other references to tree nymphs out there. Tree is a very common word; nymph is a very common word. If the two haven't been put together already, I'd be very surprised. But I think Unicorn tree is totally new.
It was impressive you noticed the prophesy/ prophecy thing. I just hit spell check and went with what popped up. And you picked up on the brunette/feather thing too. But I'm telling who it's in reference to. It will be painfully obvious when we get to that point in the story, though.
Somebody asked but I'm not quite sure who, I think of it was superhpfreak (you asked so many questions), how Mindy/Minerva's brain worked. Well, the de-aging potion turned Minerva into a sixteen year old. She hasn't forgotten any of the stuff she learned in however many decades she has been alive, but all of that information is wound up in the emotions and feelings of a teenager. So she has a lot of info crammed into the brain of sixteen year old. This was an unforeseen side effect of the potion. Another unforeseen side effect will be popping up towards the end of the story. But I won't say what.
To everybody else who reviewed: thanks a bunch.
That is all for now. Qwest over and out.
Oh, and you see that little box at the bottom of the screen. You know, the one that says leave a review. Yeah, that one. Please use. Thankies ^_^
I don't like a lot of stuff before a chapter, so I'm going to put comments to the reviews at the end. So I will say that I don't own Harry Potter and let you get on with the chapter.
Enjoy ^__^
~*~*~*~*
Chapter 7
Occlumency
The atmosphere in Gryffindor Tower after the discovery of Colin was dismal at best. The good news was that the boy wasn't dead, as Harry had first thought. The bad news was that he didn't have much longer to live. Colin had been poisoned with basilisk blood. There was no true cure for it, only potions that could slow the progress of the poison. Mindy had told Hermione Professor Snape was doing all he could to concoct an antidote, but the prognosis didn't look good. Harry just couldn't understand why Colin had been poisoned in the first place. If ever there was a random strike at the student body, this was one.
Dennis was absolutely miserable. From what Harry understood, his parents wanted to take him home, but he had refused. He didn't want to leave his brother who, according to Madam Pomfrey, was in no condition to be moved. He spent his days in the hospital wing and when ever he did return to Gryffindor Tower, he sat by himself, speaking to no one.
If there was anyone as miserable as Dennis, it was Ron. Ron blamed himself for what happened to Colin. He kept saying he should have stopped it from happening at all. No matter how Harry and Hermione tried to convince him it wasn't his fault, Ron wouldn't hear it. He would only shake his head and say, "I knew something was going to happen and I didn't do anything about it."
Hermione was immensely worried about Ron, trying everything she could to cheer him up. Eventually, she hit on the idea of the three of them attempting to find a cure for the basilisk blood. Ron claimed the whole endeavor was pointless, hopeless and an incredible waste of time. But it gave him something to focus on and it made him feel useful. Harry had to agree with Ron's assessment of the project, but if it made his friend feel better, he'd gladly search through every book in the school.
"Well, this one's a dude too." Hermione frowned tossing an old tome on ancient magical remedies aside. "Any luck, Harry?"
They were in the library, once again, sifting through the vast literature on magical cures. Harry looked up from 'Modern Magical Maladies' and shook his head. "Nothing of any use." He answered.
"We're looking for the wrong thing." Ron said, pushing his book aside.
"What should we be looking for?" Hermione asked, already nose deep in another book.
"The person who did this to Colin in the first place." Ron answered.
Harry looked up. They had been through this several times before, and always drew a blank. They had no clues, nothing to go by. "We've tried that." Harry said. "This isn't like any of the other times. There's nothing particularly characteristic about what happened to Colin. Anybody could've slipped him poison."
Ron shook his head. "I've been working it through." He said. "Who ever did it, had to have been able to get their hands on basilisk blood. That's not easy stuff to come by. You can't just walk into any old shop and order a pint." He leaned in close and said quietly, "And listen, I think I know who did it."
Hermione frowned. "How could you possibly know who did it, Ron? Harry's right, there really isn't anything to go on."
"The basilisk blood is more than enough." Ron argued. "It had to be some one with major ties to dark magic, like someone who is in with You- Know-Who. It had to have been one of the Slytherins." Hermione gave Ron a disapproving look. "Oh, come on." Ron said defensively. "Don't tell me the thought hadn't crossed both your minds."
Harry nodded and Hermione turned that look on him. "Well, the thought had crossed my mind."
"Alright." Hermione said. "Let's say it was one of the Slytherins, which one was it?"
"Pansy Parkinson." Ron answered with out hesitation.
"What makes you sure it was her?" Hermione asked.
"It had to be her. She was pissed off about Malfoy..."
"Then why would she take it out on Colin?" Harry asked. "It's me she blames for Malfoy not being here."
Ron frowned. "I don't know. She's Slytherin and all Slytherin are bloody, evil gits."
"You're going to need a bit more evidence than that." Hermione said.
Harry shook his head. "Nothings adding up." He said. "It would make sense to think it was one of the Slytherins considering who most of their parents are friendly with, but why would they pick on Colin Creevey, of all people."
"We're missing something." Hermione agreed. "If we could just figure out what that was, I know we can figure out what really happened to Colin."
Ron looked down at his book, then back up at Harry. "What about that owl feather you found?"
"Oh, yeah." In the week that had past since Colin's discovery, Harry had completely forgotten about the owl feather. He had picked it up that night, before Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore had arrived. He had pocketed the feather, and allowed it to slip to the back of his mind. Now, Harry reached into his pocket and felt around for the feather. He found it and pulled it out. He looked at it and remembered the identical one on his night stand next to his bed. "It's just an owl feather." He said, twirling it in his fingers. "There all over the castle. I found one on the first night here."
"You did?" Hermione asked, taking the feather from Harry and studying it. "When?"
"When I was going up to talk to Professor Dumbledore." Harry answered. "I thought I saw a shadow pass over my head. I figured it was Peeves, but when I looked around, there wasn't anything there. Then I found the feather on the floor."
"Is it just like this one?" Hermione asked, waving the feather in front of Harry's face.
"Yeah, I think so." Harry answered.
"Why didn't you tell us you had already found one?" Hermione asked frowning.
Harry shrugged. "It's not like it's uncommon to find owl feathers at Hogwarts, given the enormous amount of owls here."
"But there are no black owls at this school, Harry." Hermione said.
Harry frowned. "Are you sure?"
Hermione nodded. "In the past six years, I have never seen a black owl."
"So." Ron shrugged. "Someone got a new owl."
"But don't you see?" Hermione said. "It's possible that whoever owns that owl is probably the person who hurt Colin."
"Oh." Harry said, catching on to Hermione's line of reasoning. "And if the owl is new, that would mean there is probably only one."
Hermione nodded. "If we can find the owl, it's very likely we can find the culprit."
Ron grinned. "Then what're we waiting for. Let's go to the owlery; see if we can't find this owl."
"We can't go tonight." Hermione said. "It's late. It'll be dark and most of the owls would be out for the night anyway. We should wait till morning, and you should probably get that other feather, Harry, just to make sure they're from the same bird."
Harry nodded. "It's on my night stand. I'll bring it down in the morning."
"I think for the first time, we actually got some where." Ron said, slamming his book shut. "Maybe we should quit while we're ahead."
"That might be a good idea." Hermione agreed, gathering up a few of the scattered books. "Here, I'll take these out, just in case there's something in them that might help Colin. You guys go ahead."
"Alright." Ron said, standing. "Come on, Harry."
"Bye, Hermione." Harry said, before turning and following Ron out of the library.
They walked back to Gryffindor tower, mostly in silence, though Ron was in much better spirits now that they had something substantial to follow up on. Soon they were standing in front of the portrait of the fat lady. Harry opened his mouth to say the pass word, when the portrait swung open and Mindy stepped out.
She stopped, looked at the two in front of her and blinked. "Oh, hi." She said.
" 'Lo." Ron answered. "Where're you going?"
"To see Professor Dumbledore." She replied. "To discuss my behavior in Snape's class." She glanced over at Harry. Their eyes met for a second, but she quickly glanced away. "So. I'll see you both later." She said, and hurried off.
Ron looked after her, raising an eyebrow. He looked over at Harry. "What's going on with you two?"
Harry turned to watch Mindy go. Every since that night in the Great Hall, Mindy had been avoiding him. She still walked to classes with him and ate with him, but she always made sure to put a good bit of distance between them. She never looked him in the eye, and she hardly spoke to him, unless it was about class work. Harry regretted more than anything that he had kissed her. He'd be happy if they could just go back to being friends again, though he was afraid things would never be same.
Harry looked over at Ron. "I don't know."
~*~*~*~*
Mindy knocked tentatively on Professor Dumbledore's door. She waited for him to call "Come in" before pushing the door open and stepping into the Headmasters office. Professor Dumbledore looked at her and smiled. Professor Snape was standing next to Dumbledore's desk and it looked like the two of them had been in the middle of a discussion. For a second Mindy thought that she might really be there to discuss her behavior.
"Have a seat, Ms. James." Professor Dumbledore said, waving a hand at one empty chair in front of his desk.
Mindy sat and looked at the headmaster questioningly. Nothing particularly significant had happened since Colin, and she didn't really know what she was doing there.
"Tell me, Ms. James, how are things between you and Mr. Potter?"
"Wha-?" Mindy asked looking at Professor Dumbledore with what she knew must have been the dopiest expression imaginable. Last thing she expected was to come in here and discuss her relationship with Harry.
"I've noticed," Professor Dumbledore went on. "That you and Harry don't seem as close as you had once before. Is something wrong?"
"Oh...um, no." Mindy lied. "Everything's fine."
"You're lying, Minerva." Professor Snape said.
"I am not." Mindy lied again.
"Then why don't you sit next to Potter in class. You never look at him. The first couple weeks you two were in my class, I couldn't get you to stop talking. Now, you won't say a word to him."
"I do sit next him." Mindy said defensively.
"Yes, but there is a good ten feet between the two of you."
"That's incase my potion explodes or something."
"That's a very poor excuse, Minerva." Snape smiled nastily. "Did the two of you have a little spat?"
"No." Mindy shot back, glaring at Snape. "We did not have a little spat."
"Then what is wrong, Minerva?" Professor Dumbledore cut in. "You do remember that you are trying to get close to Harry, to protect him don't you?"
"Yes." Mindy answered turning back to the headmaster.
"Then why are you pushing him away?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
Mindy shrugged and looked down at the floor. "Things are complicated." She said.
"Why don't you explain it to me?" Professor Dumbledore suggested. "Maybe I can help."
Mindy shook her head, wondering how she could ever explain to Professor Dumbledore what happened. She still wasn't sure what exactly happened herself. One minute she was just talking to Harry, and the next... Mindy took a deep breath, and never moving her eyes from the point on which they had fixated on Dumbledore's rug, said, "Harry likes me."
There was silence for a moment, then Snape broke it with the dumbest question possible. "Isn't that what you were going for?"
Mindy looked at him. "No. Not like me. Like like me."
Professor Snape looked at her curiously. "Like like you? What is that suppose to mean?"
Mindy rolled her eyes and looked at Professor Dumbledore. She could tell by the expression in his eyes, he knew exactly what she meant. "I don't know what to do about it." She said truthfully. "I've never even considered this as a possibility. He's a boy. He's young enough to be my grandson."
"Not at the moment, he's not, Minerva." Professor Dumbledore said.
"He's my student." Mindy went on.
"He doesn't know that." Professor Dumbledore said. "It's perfectly reasonable for him to start to develop feelings for you."
"Develop feelings..." Professor Snape looked over at Mindy completely taken by aback. "You're supposed to be protecting the boy, not dating him."
"I'm not dating him." Mindy said.
"Not yet." Professor Snape frowned.
Mindy decided to ignore that, and looked back at Professor Dumbledore. "What should I do?" She asked. "I'm afraid if I tell him I only want to be friends, he'll feel rejected and start to pull away. But I can't...I can't...he's my student. I just don't know what to do."
Professor Dumbledore folded his hands in front of him, and looked at Mindy over the top of his half moon glasses. After a while he asked, "How do you feel about it?"
Mindy looked at the headmaster. "I think it's wrong." She said. "I'm a professor. A much, much older professor."
"All right. I certainly understand that." Professor Dumbledore said. "Now answer my question. How do you feel about it?"
Mindy bit her lip and looked back down at that spot on the rug. That was the question she had been asking herself all week. How did she feel about it? She had known Harry was going to kiss her, when he touched her cheek, by the look in his emerald eyes. Her mind was screaming at her that it was wrong. That it was very, very wrong. She should get away, before it was too late. But her body had a will of its own, and its will was to be as close to Harry as possible. Every time she thought about it, she felt guilty and strangely happy at the same time. She had never been so conflicted.
She looked up at Professor Dumbledore and said truthfully, "I don't know. It's confusing. A part of me is going 'No. He's your student', but a bigger part me is going 'Woo-hoo!'" She shook her head. "I don't know what to make of it."
"Woo-hoo." Professor Snape said. "Interesting choice of expression."
Mindy shrugged. "You got my point didn't you?"
Snape nodded. "It's the potion." He said. "You are sixteen. Plus, these teenage desires might actually be amplified because of the potion's modifications. It's much stronger than a normal de-aging potion."
Mindy nodded. "I guessed as much." She said. "If I had known this would happen..."
"Would you have not done it?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
Mindy looked at Professor Dumbledore. Would she have not turn back the clock? Especially now, considering that there was someone or something in the school. She shook her head. "I don't know. I would have thought about it a bit more at least."
"I could probably modify the potion more, so that you merely look sixteen." Professor Snape suggested. "That would reduce the confusion you're feeling. Help you think more like an adult."
"Could you really do that?" Mindy asked.
Snape nodded. "I could probably combine some of the properties of a polyjuice potion with the de-aging potion. It would take some time to get right..."
Mindy shook her head. "Then don't bother with it. I don't want you to be distracted from finding a cure for Colin because I'm having trouble dealing with raging adolescent hormones."
Snape shrugged. "If that's what you want."
"It is." Mindy assured him. "Now the only question is what should I do about Harry?"
"Simple." Snape answered. "You go to him, profess your love, and become a couple."
"What?" Mindy asked. "Are you mad, Severus?"
Professor Snape shook his head. "You said it yourself, Minerva. If you tell him you only want to be friends, he'll feel rejected and pull away. That would be completely counterproductive to what you're trying to do. There's something in this school. Something that is hurting students. Eventually, it's going to go after Potter. If there's any hope at all that the boy won't end up in the hospital wing, or worse, by the year's end, it's you Minerva."
Mindy stared at Snape disbelievingly. He made perfect sense, but she couldn't date Harry. She couldn't, could she? She looked at Professor Dumbledore. "What do you think?"
"I'm inclined to agree with Professor Snape." Dumbledore answered. "But don't do it, Minerva, unless you feel completely comfortable about it."
Mindy blinked at Professor Dumbledore. Feel completely comfortable? Of course she wouldn't feel completely comfortable. She was sure she would feel very uncomfortable, indeed.
"In other words." Snape said, catching the expression on her face. "Can you keep those raging adolescent hormones under control?"
Mindy looked at him. "Yes. Of course I can."
"Then problem solved." Snape said with finality.
"But what about when all of this is over?" Mindy asked. "I'll have to break up with him. What if it breaks his heart?"
"He's young." Snape answered. "He'll bounce back."
"You had better get back." Professor Dumbledore said. "You don't want to be caught in the halls after curfew."
Mindy didn't move. She looked back at the headmaster. "You really want me to date Harry?"
"No." Professor Dumbledore answered. "I do not. This was...unexpected. But that's the way life is, completely unpredictable. Some things have been set in motion and it is best we move with it. Go on, Ms. James."
Mindy stood slowly. She looked at Professor Dumbledore then Professor Snape. "Alright. I'll tell Harry I like him, too. But I don't think it's a very good idea."
"No one here does." Professor Snape assured her. "I'll see you class, Ms. James. Good-night."
Mindy nodded and left the office, more confused than ever.
~*~*~*~*
Harry and Ron awoke early the next morning, leaving before any of their room mates had begun to get up. Harry made sure to get both owl feathers, and after a quick look over by Hermione in the Gryffindor common room, determined they both came from the same owl.
"Come on." Hermione said, hurrying them out of the portrait hole. "All the owls should be back by now."
They hurried down the empty halls, heading for the high tower room. They turned down one of the corridors and nearly ran over Neville. He looked up surprised, his face flushing slightly pink.
"Hi, Neville." Harry said.
"Oh, hello." Neville returned. "You're up early."
"We're headed for the owlery." Hermione explained. "I've got a letter to be sent."
"What're you doing up so early?" Ron asked.
"Oh, I'm, um, going down to help Professor Sprout...with a plant."
Lavender stepped out of an empty class room just behind Neville. "Neville, are you...oh, hi Harry, Ron, Hermione."
"Lavender." Hermione said, astonished. "I never expected to see you up this early."
Lavender shrugged. "Sometimes a girl has things to do." She said brightly. "Where are you three going?"
"Owlery." Harry answered. "Hermione's got a letter."
"Oh, that's nice." Lavender said.
"So what are you..." Hermione started, but Ron, who had been staring at both Neville and Lavender rather hard, cut her off.
"We have to go." He said, taking Hermione by the arm and steering her towards a connecting corridor. "See you at breakfast."
"Okay." Lavender smiled brightly, before turning and walking off.
Neville waved slightly, then hurried away in the opposite direction, back towards the school entrance.
"I wonder what she was doing up." Hermione said. "Lavender never gets up this early. She and Parvati are usually the last to rise."
"You didn't notice she wasn't in her bed when left you this morning?" Harry asked.
Hermione shook her head. "Her drapes were drawn. I just assumed she was still asleep."
They reached the owlery shortly, and climbed the ladder into the high tower room. Harry wrinkled his nose, as the not so pleasant sent of the many, many owls wafted down. He stepped into the room and looked around. Owls were every where. Big, small, speckled and stripped. They sat around on rafters rising high above them. Many of them were still coming back from their night jaunt.
"How are we supposed to find one owl in all of this?" Harry asked, staring up at the sea of birds.
"Well, it'll be the only that's all black." Hermione said, looking around.
"Hey, there's Pig." Ron said, pointing up. "Hey Pig!" He called. A tiny owl zoomed down from above and buzzed around Ron's head. A large snowy white one followed, and landed on a rafter just above Harry's right shoulder.
"Hi, Hedwig." Harry said, reaching up to stroke the owl. Hedwig hooted softly and he shook his head. "Sorry, I don't have a letter for you. Actually, I'm looking for an owl. An all black one. Have you seen one like that?" Hedwig gave him an answering hoot, and Harry smiled, wondering if he should take that as a yes or a no.
"I suppose we should split up." Hermione suggested. "I'll take this end. You guys start over there."
"Okay." Ron agreed, heading off to the left, Pig still buzzing around his head.
Harry headed off in the opposite direction, and Hermione walked towards the back of the room. They spent most of the morning, trouncing through hay and owl droppings, searching through the birds. They examined any darkly colored bird, but they all were speckled or spotted in some kind of way. The owl they were looking for would be purely black, with no feather pattern what so ever.
"It's not here." Ron announced after awhile, wrinkling his nose up at a particularly large pile of droppings. "Let's go before we smell permanently of owl."
"I don't get it." Hermione frowned. "If there are black owl feathers in the school, there has got to be a black owl."
"Maybe it's out." Harry suggested. "Delivering a letter or something."
"Maybe." Hermione agreed, though she sounded very doubtful.
They left the owlery and washed up, before heading down for breakfast. As they stepped into the Great Hall, Harry found himself scanning the Gryffindor table for Mindy. He was a little disappointed to see that she wasn't there, though he wasn't at all surprised. He followed Ron and Hermione to an empty spot at the table and sat down across from them.
"We'll just have to try again tomorrow." Hermione was saying. "There's got to be a black owl around here somewhere."
Ron nodded, shoveling bacon into his plate. "We'll find it." He said, confidently. "Pass the eggs, will you Harry."
Harry slid Ron a plate of eggs and started to reach for toast when someone touched him on the shoulder. He looked back to see Mindy looking at him nervously. "Hi." She said.
"Hi." Harry answered.
"Do...do you want to go for a walk? Around the lake?"
"Um, sure. I have to get my cloak."
"I brought it down." Mindy handed Harry his cloak and gloves. She swung her own around her shoulders and, without another word, headed towards the Great Hall doors. Harry quickly donned his cloak and followed after her, relieved that after a week of being all but ignored by her, she finally wanted to talk to him.
They stepped out side; the frosty air bit at his nose. The cold weather came early this year. The first snow of the year had fallen three days ago, covering everything in a blanket of white.
"I love this time of year." Mindy said, as they tracked towards the lake. "I like how everything looks when it's covered in snow. Snow make old things look...new and pretty." She looked over at Harry. "Don't you think?"
Harry shrugged. "I guess."
Mindy smiled. They walked the rest of the way to the lake in silence. When they reached it Mindy stopped and stared out at the water for a bit. The lake hadn't quite frozen over yet. Chunks of ice floated on top. A long tentacle raised lazily out of water, before disappearing below the surface again.
"I think we should talk about the other night." Mindy said, never looking away from the lake.
Harry felt himself blushing and he looked away from her, back towards the school. "Yeah." He said. "About that. I'm..."
"I'm sorry." Mindy said, quickly.
Harry looked over at her. "You are? For what?"
"For the way I behaved this past week." Mindy answered, glancing over at Harry, then turning to follow the path around the lake.
Harry hurried after her. "I don't blame you." He said. "I was..."
"No, Harry." Mindy cut him off. "Let me finish." She was silent for a moment, then taking a deep breath said, "You caught be surprised. I wasn't...expecting you...I never thought you liked me that way." She walked over to the beech tree at the edge of the lake; the same beech he, Ron, and Hermione spent so much time under; the tree his father and his three best friends had sat under. Mindy rested her back against the trunk and looked at Harry. "I was being stupid, Harry. I was nervous around you, because I...I like you too."
"You...you do?" Harry asked, more than a little bewildered.
Mindy looked away, and nodded. She pushed away from the tree, looking up at Harry, again. "Can we forget what an idiot I was, Harry, and be okay, again?"
Harry walked towards her. "I never thought you were an idiot." He said.
Mindy smiled at him, then stepping close, wrapped her arms around him. She rested her head on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "So you forgive me?"
Harry felt tinglely all over. He held Mindy close. She smelled like cinnamon.
"Harry?" Mindy asked.
"All's forgiven." Harry said, quietly.
Mindy pulled back and looked up at Harry smiling. If Harry had been paying close attention he would have saw something behind the smile. Something that didn't quite fit the face of a girl who had just told her crush she loved and he had responded positively. But Harry wasn't paying close attention. All he saw were Mindy's bright grey eyes shining at him; that tiny blush working its way across her nose.
"Let's go back in." Mindy said. "It's starting to get cold out here."
"It doesn't seem so cold to me." Harry said.
Mindy grinned brightly at him. Looping one of her arms through one of his, she turned and headed back towards the school. Harry felt like he was floating. This was the last thing he had expected to happen to him this morning. He couldn't believe how happy he felt, to know that Mindy cared for him the way he cared for her. They walked back in silence, but they didn't need to speak. All that needed to be said, had been
~*~*~*~*
The next few days past quickly for Harry. He felt extremely happy, but guilty too. It didn't feel right to be this happy when one of his housemates was absolutely miserable. Word spread quickly about Harry and Mindy, though Harry wasn't sure how it got out in the first place. He hadn't told anyone, and he didn't think Mindy had mentioned it. Nevertheless, by the end of the week everybody knew.
"These things have a way of getting around." Hermione said.
"Yeah, well, I wish Cho would stop giving me dirty looks." Mindy frowned.
They were once again in the library pouring over the limitless amounts of literature on magical aliments and remedies. Hermione had recruited Mindy into the researching club, as Ron so fondly referred to it, and she had gladly joined. She was willing to do anything she could to help. Harry was glad she was there. Not just for the company, but because Mindy seemed to know a lot about poisons and the potions that could help. She was able to narrow their search quite a bit, though not enough to keep them from digging through what Harry was beginning to believe nearly every book in the library.
"Cho's jealous." Ron said, casually.
"How do you know?" Harry asked, surprised. He never thought Cho Chang would be jealous over him.
"I can see it." Ron answered. "It's like a big, blinking, green sign is hanging over head screaming jealous."
"You're starting to pick up people's emotions then?" Mindy asked, looking at Ron over the top of her book.
Ron nodded. "Only strong ones though. I guess my training with Firenze must be getting somewhere."
"Speaking of training." Hermione said, turning towards Harry. "When are you going to start Occlumency?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know? Professor Dumbledore hasn't asked me back to his office since that first night."
"You're learning Occlumency?" Mindy asked. She didn't sound at all surprised by the news, only minorly interested.
"Oh. Yeah." Harry answered, wondering if maybe at her old school that was a regular class. "But while we're on the subject..."
"Of Occlumency?" Ron asked.
"No," Harry said. "Training. I'm thinking of upping the Quidditch practices to three a week. The first match is a little less than a month away and I want to be ready. What do you guys think?"
"I vote no." Ron said quickly.
"Yes, Harry, I think that's fine." Mindy said, shooting Ron a disapproving look, not unlike the one Hermione had perfected. "It's not unreasonable with a match coming up. I don't think the rest of the team will mind."
"Thank you, Mindy." Harry said. "I guess I should let everybody know, so they'll be ready."
Mindy nodded, then asked. "How goes the search for the owl?"
Harry had told her about the owl feathers and Hermione's theory. She had immediately shown them the black owl feather she had found in the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. It was their general belief that whoever owned the owl must have stayed at the pub for a short bit, at least right before the start of school.
"No luck yet." Hermione shook her head. "I'm sure there were other Hogwarts students staying at the Leaky Cauldron over the summer. I just wish I knew which ones. That would help narrow things down."
"I may be able to find out." Mindy said, thoughtfully.
"How?" Ron asked.
Mindy smiled. "Let me worry about that." She glanced at the magical clock above the library doors, "I have to go." She stood, scooping up the books in front of her. "I'll take these out, Hermione. They look promising."
Hermione nodded.
Mindy looked at Harry. "I'll find you later and we'll do potions, alright?" She said.
Harry sighed. "Why don't you just let me flunk out?"
"Because then, luv, I'd be so terribly lonely."
Harry smiled. "I suppose when you say it that way."
Mindy gave him a bright smile in return. "I'll see you all later." She said, before turning and walking away.
Ron watched her leave then asked. "What do you suppose she means she can find out?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know, but if she can, I say let her. That'll make things easier for us."
Ron nodded and went back to work. They spent most of the evening researching which, once again, turned up nothing. Harry was really beginning to loose faith in the project, but he didn't want to give up so easily, not that Hermione would let him. They made plans to come start again the following evening and headed back to Gryffindor Tower.
Ron was repeating the new pass word ("Weasley is our king.") when Professor Lupin walked up.
"Harry, I'm glad I caught you." He said.
Harry looked back. "Is something wrong?"
Lupin shook his head. "No, no. Professor Dumbledore needs to see you."
"Oh, okay." Harry looked back at Ron and Hermione. "I'll see you guys in a bit."
Ron nodded. "Yeah, okay." He said. Hermione gave him a smile before disappearing into the portrait hole behind Ron.
Harry turned and walked with Professor Lupin back the way he had come. Professor Lupin smiled at Harry and asked. "So how are things for you?"
"They're good." Harry answered.
Professor Lupin's smile turned into a grin. "I hear you're making new...friends."
Harry looked at Professor Lupin and, not knowing what to say, nodded.
"Your parents started to become good friends during their sixth year." Lupin said, casually.
"Yeah?" Harry asked, rubbing his arm, not quite believing he was having this conversation. For one heart stopping moment, Harry wondered if Professor Lupin was about to give him the talk. He was greatly relieved when the next question out of Lupin's mouth seemed to be leading in a different direction.
"So you are okay then, really?"
Harry nodded again. "I'm fine."
Lupin looked at him. The smile that had lit his face was gone. "Really, Harry?"
Harry knew then what he was referring to. He was asking if he was okay about Sirius. The answer to that would be no. He would never be okay about that. "Yes." Harry said.
Lupin nodded, stopping in front of the hall leading back to his office. "If you ever need to talk about anything." He looked at Harry. "About girls or anything else. Come see me, alright."
Harry nodded. "Alright."
Lupin gave Harry a pat on the shoulder. "See you in class."
Harry nodded and started off.
"Oh, Harry." Professor Lupin called. "Professor Dumbledore's password has changed. It's chocolate truffles."
Harry nodded his thanks and left Professor Lupin. He arrived at Dumbledore's office before long, and saying the password, headed on up. Harry knocked, but didn't get an answer. Deciding to go in anyway, he pushed the door open and stepped into the office. Professor Dumbledore was not at his desk when Harry walked in. Harry looked around but did not see the Headmaster immediately. Deciding he must be around somewhere, Harry sat in the chair in front of his desk and waited. There was a silver pensive on Professor Dumbledore's desk; silvery smoke was churning lazily inside. Harry wondered what memories were stored in it this time, though he was not curious enough to take a peek. The last time he did that had not turned out so well.
It was not long before Dumbledore appeared from between his upper bookshelves. He walked over to his desk, reading a book. He sat down behind his desk, nose still in his book. It was a full minute before he looked up and noticed Harry sitting in front of him.
"Hello, Mr. Potter." He said, completely unfazed. "I didn't hear you come in."
"I knocked." Harry said.
"Yes." Professor Dumbledore nodded. "But I don't always hear. Fawkes usually alerts me to when someone is at the door. He's away right now."
Harry nodded, noticing Fawkes empty perch. "Where is he?"
"Taking care of some business for me." Professor Dumbledore answered. "Now we must get to business Mr. Potter. I believe it is time you start your Occlumency lessons."
Harry nodded. "I was wondering about that this evening." He said. "When will my first lesson be?"
"Now." Professor Dumbledore answered.
"Now?" Harry asked.
"Yes, now." Professor Dumbledore repeated.
"But, I--I don't know if I'm ready." Harry stuttered.
"That's alright." Professor Dumbledore said, standing and walking to the large open space in the middle of his office. "We'll go slowly. Over here, Mr. Potter." He waved Harry over, directing the boy to stand directly before him.
Harry obeyed, pulling his wand from his robe pocket. He looked Professor Dumbledore in the eye, doubting seriously that he would be any good. His last Occlumency lessons didn't go very well.
"You may use your wand to defend yourself in anyway, but try to push me out with your mind. That is the only way you will learn to master Occlumency."
Harry nodded.
"I'm sure Professor Snape told you last year the importance of letting go emotion."
Harry nodded again.
"Good." Professor Dumbledore said, his long wand appearing from almost no where. "Do that now, Mr. Potter. Try to make your mind blank and calm."
Harry nodded, closing his eyes. He took a deep breath, trying to push out all the emotions he felt over the past few days; trying to think of nothing.
"Brace yourself, Harry. Legilimens!"
Harry had barely heard the word before he was under the influence of the spell. Memories were flickering past his eyes so fast they were almost only flashes of color and light. Suddenly, it was near the end of his third year again and he had just found out he had a god father...He and Dudley were being chased by Dementors...He had blown up his aunt Marge after she said something nasty to him...He had caught the snitch from right under Draco Malfoy's nose...He was watching Sirius fall through that arch...
"No!" Harry yelled. He opened his eyes, surprised to find himself on his knees, his wand raised. He looked up, panting. Professor Dumbledore was looking down at him, a slightly surprised expression on his face. Behind him one of the portraits (Phineas's portrait to be exact; the headmaster within looked none too pleased) was on the floor, a smoldering burn in the upper left hand corner.
"That was a very nice stunning spell, Mr. Potter, if a bit miss- aimed." Professor Dumbledore said, ignoring Phineas's outraged shouts.
Harry stood shakily, panting for breath. "Sorry." He mumbled.
"Nothing to be sorry for." Professor Dumbledore said kindly. "Shall we try again?"
Harry nodded.
"Good. Clear your mind, Harry. It is very important to feel nothing. This time try to push me out with your mind. You must release all emotions. You must be perfectly calm. Here we go...Legilimens!"
Harry felt himself being swept away by the spell once again. He tried to not think, to keep his mind clear, like Professor Dumbledore had said. For a bit, it seemed to be working. No memories surfaced. But in a tidal wave of color and light his small amount of success was washed away. It was the beginning of last summer and he was cleaning out the gutters for Uncle Dursley...Rita Sketcher was interviewing him for the Quibbler...A black owl with crimson eyes flew over his head...Voldermort and Dumbledore were dueling in the Ministry of Magic's lobby...He was sitting beside Mindy leaning in...
'No!' Harry thought. He didn't want to share that memory. Not even with Professor Dumbledore. He felt a strong desire to push, to bulk against the spell, and then, like a bubble bursting, the color and light stopped. No more memories surfaced. His vision cleared. He was still standing this time, but it was hard for him to catch his breath. He looked at Professor Dumbledore, panting hard.
The headmaster was grinning at him. "Good, Harry." He said. "You pushed me out. You ended the spell."
"I....did?" Harry asked, between gasps of air.
Professor Dumbledore nodded. "Take a seat, Harry."
Harry walked back to the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk and gratefully collapsed into it. He waited until he caught his breath before speaking again. "How did I do it?"
"It's a matter of will." Professor Dumbledore stated, as he waved his wand and caused Phineas' portrait to float back to its spot on the wall. "I'll have to have someone look at that burn mark." He said casually. "I'm afraid I can't do anything about the paint. I'm not much of an artist."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked. "About the will. My mind wasn't clear. I was thinking lots of stuff."
"Your mind doesn't have to be empty of thoughts." Dumbledore said. "It should be clear in the sense of calm. Letting go of emotions help you to calm your mind. When you are calm you are able to react rationally and take control. Then you are able to assert your will and push any intruder away."
"But I don't think I was free of emotions." Harry said.
"No. You weren't." Professor Dumbledore agreed. "You'll need to work on that."
"Then how was I able to push you out?"
"As I said before, it was a matter of will." Professor Dumbledore answered. "I think that is enough for tonight. As outside work, I would like you to spend one hour everyday in meditation."
"Meditation?" Harry asked.
"Yes, Mr. Potter. Meditation. It will help. Professor Lupin will let you know when our next lesson will be. For now, go rest. You had quite a work out tonight."
Harry nodded and left Professor Dumbledore's office. As he headed slowly back to Gryffindor Tower, he thought over what Professor Dumbledore had said. It was a matter of will. Just like when he resisted the Imperius curse. Learning Occlumency must require the same skills that it takes to resist Imperius. Snape had mentioned that, but he had forgotten it as their lessons progressed. His lesson with Professor Dumbledore was and a good deal different from Snape's. Professor Dumbledore didn't threaten him, or talk down to him. He didn't irritate him. With Professor Dumbledore as his teacher, maybe he would learn to master Occlumency after all.
There was one other thing different about his lesson with Professor Dumbledore: his scar didn't hurt.
Harry unconsciously rubbed his scar, wondering about that. Maybe it didn't hurt because Voldermort was keeping himself closed off to Harry. Maybe he didn't want Harry to know what he was feeling. All Harry knew was that every since the end of last year, his scar hadn't even prickled. Thinking of the Dark Lord made him think of the duel between Voldemort and Professor Dumbledore. And shortly behind that the memory of Sirius falling through the arch in the department of Mysteries floated up.
Harry closed his, forcibly squashing that memory down, willing himself to think of anything else. He thought of the memories that had appeared during his lesson. He grinned at the one of him blowing up his aunt, and thought fondly the memory of Mindy. Then another memory came back. A black owl flying over his head. Harry stopped in mid-stride. When had that happened? "Oh." He said aloud, realizing it must have happened that first night, when he was going up to see Professor Dumbledore. He must have caught a glimpse of the owl, and hadn't noticed. Now that he thought back, he saw that he had seen the owl, just after a long black feather fell from it and landed on the floor ahead of him.
So there was a strange owl in the school. And one like he had never seen before.
~*~*~*~*
Well, this chapter seems to be slowing things down a bit to me, but I decided against keeping it going. It was getting to be pretty long. Things'll pick up a bit next one. Promise.
And now, here are the comments to the reviews, just like I promised.
First of all, I would like to say that I'm surprised I surprised (even shocked and horrified) so many of you with the Harry/Mindy pairing. Come on, people. It's the only thing that hadn't been done to death, brought back, and done to death again. But if you're having trouble thinking of those two together, I've come up with three easy steps to help you get through it:
Step 1: Don't think of Mindy as Professor Minerva McGonagall. Think of her as a regular sixteen year old girl. That should reduce the "ew" factor that I seem to have gotten from many of you.
Step 2: Remember that Harry doesn't know who she is (not yet, any way) and therefore is perfectly happy to be with her.
Step 3: There is no step three. Saying there were three easy steps just sounded better than saying there were two.
Anyhow, I hope everyone can learn to love (or at least tolerate) the pairing. I started to swing things back the other way. I even tried it. But it was just unrealistic. Sure Harry would say he would be happy being friends, but he wouldn't mean it. What guy would take rejection with a happy little grin, especially after they've opened up that way? None, unless the guy was a complete idiot or a total jerk. I don't see Harry as either of those. So, I'm afraid the pairing is here to stay. I like it anyway. At least it's original.
Sorrow1: How perceptive are you? Very. You're really seeing into this story. I loved your review by the way. And I didn't even realize I wrote "angle". I must have read over that section a million times and never even caught. But it is kinda funny. He's not a square either, by the way.
Yugi's Little Sister: I haven't decided what the disastrous consequences will be yet. You'll know as soon as I do.
Riley: I know I made some mistakes in the earlier chapters. My HP books were packed up. I shouldn't be making anymore though (unless I'm feeling very lazy and don't want to get up and walk all the way to my bookshelf and search out a reference, in which case I will say close enough go with it. As I did with the Colin's name. Sorry superhpfreak).
Natalie38: I'm not planning on extending this story into the seventh year. If I did that it would be as a sequel.
Paladin3030: Thanks. I thought as much. And making Minerva get stuck 16... hmm, that's something to think about.
czypc( ): Thanks for reviewing. This is my first fan fic, and to know that I wrote well enough to entice someone to review for the first time...Oh, that just makes me so happy.^_^
gaia-moore: You just paid me the best compliment a girl could ask for. You are my fav reviewer of the week, no the month, no the year. Heck, you can be my fav reviewer of the millennium.
ping*pong5: Yes.
juss-cuss: I'm from the great old U. S. of A. My home state is Louisiana. Not the greatest state out there, but at least we have Mardi Gras and Cajun cuisine.
slayeR( ): Thanks. I hope one day I can be an author. And I actually am considering a triangle. I just have to see how it'll fit in with the over all plot.
superhpfreak: Love the review per chapter. Thanks. You get a long comment because you left so many reviews. Or asked so many questions. However you want to look at it.
About Ron being a diviner; that was actually a spur of the moment type thing, but it's working out nicely. The way I figure the class system work is you get put in the class you qualify for, but you can get out of it if you think it won't be beneficial to your career goals. Harry is still in potions because he will need it if he intends to be an Auror. The transfigurations class shrunk, 'cause not everybody scored high enough to get back in.
Tree nymphs are little muddy brown things with wings and are related to pixies. They are a menace to trees everywhere, but only cause major damage if they are in large populations. Unicorn trees are, well, trees. I imagine they are pretty trees, though. No, neither were in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I just made them up. Yep, pulled both species out of the air between my ears. There may be other references to tree nymphs out there. Tree is a very common word; nymph is a very common word. If the two haven't been put together already, I'd be very surprised. But I think Unicorn tree is totally new.
It was impressive you noticed the prophesy/ prophecy thing. I just hit spell check and went with what popped up. And you picked up on the brunette/feather thing too. But I'm telling who it's in reference to. It will be painfully obvious when we get to that point in the story, though.
Somebody asked but I'm not quite sure who, I think of it was superhpfreak (you asked so many questions), how Mindy/Minerva's brain worked. Well, the de-aging potion turned Minerva into a sixteen year old. She hasn't forgotten any of the stuff she learned in however many decades she has been alive, but all of that information is wound up in the emotions and feelings of a teenager. So she has a lot of info crammed into the brain of sixteen year old. This was an unforeseen side effect of the potion. Another unforeseen side effect will be popping up towards the end of the story. But I won't say what.
To everybody else who reviewed: thanks a bunch.
That is all for now. Qwest over and out.
Oh, and you see that little box at the bottom of the screen. You know, the one that says leave a review. Yeah, that one. Please use. Thankies ^_^