Disclaimer – Harry Potter is not ours. We just let our imagination play in JK Rowlings world.
2nd Disclaimer – Our imagination ran dry on house elf/goblin names. We've started borrowing names from a book we have by Vonda N McIntyre which is based on a screenplay by Harve Bennett. Anyone guess what movie?
Chapter 15 Valentine's Day
Saturday dawned bright and chilly. The stands were filled with students breathing steam that gave thoughts to a dragon guarding its egg. Gryffindor was playing Hufflepuff and the Hufflepuffs chasers were doing very well. Zacharias Smith and his cohorts had obviously been practicing hard. They had already beaten Slytherin's team and Gryffindor was being hard pressed to keep in scoring range.
Ron was frustrated. He was falling for their feints and he was mad at himself. Harry hoped he'd calm down. Gryffindors beaters weren't helping matters either. Sloper had a cold and was sneezing. It was interfering with his play. He'd sneeze while swinging his club and miss the bludger or it would end up going in a different direction than he had aimed for. The score was 210 to 50 when Harry finally caught sight of the snitch. It was closer to Sommersby but he wasn't seeing it. Harry had to think of what to do. If he caught it, they would lose. He tried to track it from the corner of his eye. It was coming his way. When it was closer to him than Sommersby he relaxed a little. He still put on a show of searching for the snitch.
In the back of his mind he heard the crowd roar for a goal. Katie just gave them 60. Another roar and Natalie MacDonald had stolen the Quaffle from a Hufflepuff chaser and passed to Ginny. She didn't have a clear shot but was able to do a drop pass to Katie who put it in for another goal. That gave Gryffindor 70 and Harry was off after the snitch. It was a short chase and Gryffindor won the game.
Gryffindor won, but Katie was not happy. Katie had yelled at Jack for not going to Madam Pomfrey before the game to get Pepper Up Potion to rid himself of the cold. Harry felt for Jack, but knew Katie had a point. After Katie had turned away Harry heard Jack say to Andrew Kirke, "I'd usually rather have the sneezing than have that steam come out of my ears. I hate that feeling. But I guess I should've for the game."
Katie was not enjoying being captain and was in a funk for most of the weekend. Most of Gryffindor Tower avoided the seventh year girl.
The next evening Harry met with Professor Dumbledore again for another Occlumency lesson. Over the last three days, Harry had finally been able to block the Headmasters sneak attacks.
"You have done very well, Harry. You are now recognizing the intrusion immediately and blocking it. The next step, which takes quite some effort, is to give misleading information."
Harry frowned. "How can you lie with a memory?"
The Headmaster smiled at him. "There are ways, but for now we are going to concern ourselves with not so much lying as…misdirecting." At Harry's look of continued incomprehension the Headmaster continued speaking. "Sometimes, when someone tries to perform Legilimency they unconsciously give some verbal clues of what they are looking for. If you know what they are looking for you have an advantage. People's attitudes are constantly changing which means they store memories of conflicting feelings."
The Headmaster leaned forward. "Let's take for example your friend, Ron. If I wanted to know what your feelings were towards Ron what do you think I'd find?"
Harry thought this was an obvious question. "You'd find he was my friend."
"Ah! But if you did not want me to know this, do you think you could show me memories of him not being your friend?"
Harry frowned in confusion. Ron was his friend. Had been since he'd met him on the train back in first year. Well, except that time during the Triwizard Tournament when….
Harry's eyes met his Headmaster in realization. "So if I didn't want you to know that Ron was my friend, I could limit what you see to fights we've had or times we weren't talking to each other?"
The old Professors' eyes twinkled at Harry. "Exactly! With practice you can call up certain memories to the front of your mind so those would be the first pulled and can portray a feeling or fact in a false light. Even without having the memories already at the front of your mind, there is a way to eject memories you do not want seen in that tiny bubble of time where you see the memory before the Legilimens. You can forcefully move it aside so the one behind takes its place. With the latter method, you do have to hope that not too many consecutive memories need to be ejected or the Legilimens may realize something is afoot because of the pause. Then again, that can sometimes be attributed to the victim struggling against the curse."
"Why do you think I need to learn this? Wouldn't it be better just to block him? Don't you think Voldemort realizes I must have been learning Occlumency? This past summer he was cut off so abruptly that he must know something is going on."
"It is because of the abruptness that I think he may not realize what, precisely, is going on. As you've learned, Occlumency is an ongoing thing with many slips and back-slides. To come up against a wall so suddenly he must realize you had outside help; the help your stressball afforded you. It could be to our advantage for him to believe he has the upper hand when, in actuality, he does not."
The Headmaster sat back in his chair again.. "Now, to start, I believe you have potions tutoring with Audra Fletcher? Suppose I wanted to find out what you know about her. If you did not want me to discover your tutoring sessions, you would have to consciously put those to the back of your mind and try to focus more on times you have seen her outside of your potions lessons. If you were to go a step further, you would try to recall times where your feelings were slanted a certain way; indifference or antagonistic. Are you ready to give it a try?"
Harry nodded. They practiced for about a half hour and Harry found that his Professor was right in that Harry felt quite drained afterwards. Not only did the headache come from having someone else rummaging around in your brain, but also the stress of trying to keep his focus and only allow certain memories was very tiring.
They decided to step up their meetings to twice a week for practice, as it was something specific that was being searched for when he had warning. The Headmaster would still give the occasional random attack on any given day so Harry would have to keep his guard up. Harry asked what happened if you didn't know what the Legilimens was searching for and Dumbledore replied that was when the thought ejections had to come quickly to protect any sensitive information and hopefully you could figure out the common thread. They would be working on that more at a later date.
As Saturday neared Hermione became more and more wound up. The early days of February had her trying to distract herself by 'helping' her friends get organized. She handed out charmed homework planners that when a deadline approached, the homework turned red. Ron's was the most colorful. He told Harry when they headed for their dorm one night that having so much red just made it look like it belonged in Gryffindor.
Saturday morning the four friends had a light breakfast and then headed back to the dorms and into the trunk. Ron and Hermione stood there nervously.
"When you change, don't try to do anything. Don't try to look at yourself or see what you can do. It only makes it worse." Harry looked over at Ginny. "Do you agree?"
Ginny gave a grimace of remembered pain and nodded. She suddenly had a thought. "Do you want your picture taken?"
Ron shrugged but Hermione nodded eagerly. Ginny ran to get the camera. When she returned, they figured they were ready.
Hermione looked at Ron. "Together?"
Ron nodded. "Together. Start concentrating on the spell on three?" Hermione nodded and they counted. "One, two, three."
Both closed their eyes and concentrated. Hermione started changing first, followed shortly by Ron. Hermione's leopard instantly collapsed on to her side and started panting heavily. Ron's lion let out a growl of pain. Ginny urged Harry to change and try to help.
Harry changed to Flame and called out to them. /Hermione? Ron/ He couldn't understand anything back from them so he started to pipe his music. The two cats calmed enough after some time to look around. Hermione pulled her legs in and inched her way closer to Ron. When she was next to him, Ron leaned over and licked the fur on the top of her head. Hermione licked his paw in reply.
A deep rumble sounded from Ron's chest. Followed by a slightly higher pitched rumble from Hermione. Harry changed back. Ginny started clicking the camera. After she had a few photos she leaned down by the Hermione leopard and started petting her. Hermione closed her eyes and gave a loud purr.
"Does this help? Does it help to pet you? One blink for yes, two for no." Hermione slowly opened her eyes and then closed them again. "Harry, you start with Leo over there. I should have thought of that. Petting Crookshanks helps calm him."
Harry shifted over to Ron's lion form. Harry started running his hand over the mane. It felt quite coarse compared to the fur on his back. Harry felt a little strange at first, thinking this was his best mate, Ron, but then realized that it really was no different than when he would pet Sirius in his dog form. It was just different somehow when they were in an animal form. He let himself get over it.
Harry started to take in some details of Ron's appearance. His head and shoulders seemed extraordinarily large. His mane was tinted a reddish-gold and there was a Mohawk section on the top of his mane that ran down the back of his head to below his shoulder blades in a ruff that was a deeper auburn-red. The tuft of his tail matched the Mohawk section. His paws were huge. His eyes seemed almost as if they had eye-liner across the top and painted white underneath. He had white on his muzzle as well.
He looked across at Hermione. She had the distinctive spots that all leopards have; smaller on her face and legs, larger across her back. The markings on her back seemed to be oddly shaped black rings encircling a brown spot. Harry didn't know of course, but he thought her fur seemed a bit fuzzier than what a normal leopards would be. It almost seemed as if she had too much of it and it bushed out a little.
Harry and Ginny spent two more hours just petting their animal friends. Taking Harry by surprise, Ron lifted his large head and rumbled something towards Hermione. She responded as well and both seemed to tense their bodies.
Harry thought he knew what this meant. "Are you ready to change back? If so, give us a minute to get some bean bags ready." Another rumble Harry took for assent and he got out the bags and enlarged them. Ginny stood as well and they watched as their friends transformed back into themselves. Ron groaned as Harry levitated him onto a bag while Ginny did the same for Hermione.
They let them recover for a while longer until they felt well enough to climb back to their dorms. Harry helped Ron and Ginny helped Hermione. Neville was in the dorm when Harry helped Ron over to his bed.
"What's wrong with him?"
"We're saying he's just not feeling good, but he and Hermione just changed into their form for the first time."
Neville looked a little green. "So what are they?"
Harry spent a few minutes describing to Neville Ron and Hermione's forms. Harry spent the rest of the weekend fetching and carrying for Ron while he recovered.
Hermione was determined not to miss any of her classes and forced herself up on Monday, but Ron didn't care so much about his first period and decided to skive off. He would go to his next class, but he'd give the first one a miss. Harry brought him some toast and left to go to his first class. Something was bothering him. He hadn't been able to communicate with Ron and Hermione, but he knew that his father and his friends did and they were different animal families.
He supposed he could just ask Remus, but he really didn't want to. He knew Remus accepted that he'd done this, but really didn't approve of him putting himself through it. He imagined he'd felt the same conflicting emotions towards his own friends back when they had done it so many years ago. He was well aware of the pain it took as he felt it each and every month when he changed into Moony. Harry wanted the secret to communicating by some other means if he could. He supposed they'd find out more on Wednesday when they all changed.
The group made a plan to make an excursion to the Forbidden Forest Wednesday night after Harry returned from his Occlumency lesson. While Ginny could try her form pretty much anywhere, Ron and Hermione couldn't. They were a little noticeable. There weren't too many lions or leopards running around Scotland. They had thought about waiting until the weekend, but it was a Hogsmeade weekend due to Valentine's Day and they thought there might be a little more activity than would make it safe.
Right before dinner on Wednesday, Katie Bell approached Ron and asked if he'd take over the captain duties for the Gryffindor team for the last game of the year. He had shown he knew the game backwards and forwards and even suggested some plays to her that could fit their team in the past. She was feeling the pressure of her NEWTs and hadn't been enjoying it anyway.
Ron was speechless in his shock until Harry jabbed him in the ribs. Then he blurted out, "Of course!"
Katie took off the Captain's badge and handed it over. She seemed rather relieved. "As much as I liked the idea of being captain, I'd much rather just play and let someone else have the worries."
Ron's eyes were fever-bright when he turned to Harry. Harry could tell his emotions were on a high. "There's only one thing left to do," was Ron's obscure statement. Ron's eyes wandered the room until they landed on Hermione chatting with Ginny in a corner of the room. He straightened his shoulders and strode across the common room to her side.
Harry couldn't hear what he said, but when he approached, she looked up. A smile lit her face and she and Ginny became quite animated and started gesturing towards the new badge on his chest. Ron made some negating movements and stopped them talking. He then obviously asked a question and Hermione's eyes opened wide. Suddenly a brilliant smile lit her face and she nodded. Ron seemed to release a long-held breath and nodded back.
Ron made his way back to Harry. Harry raised one eyebrow in silent inquiry.
"I asked Hermione to go with me to Hogsmeade on Valentine's weekend."
"…And?" He was grinning as he asked the obvious question.
Ron grinned back. "She said 'yes'. This week can't get any better. Last weekend is over with, tonight we explore, Quidditch Captain and a date with Hermione."
Evening came quickly. Harry was on pins and needles all lesson and Dumbledore seemed to know that something was distracting him and let him off easy. Harry had been trying to allow him to see images of Audra only outside of their tutoring. Sometimes, though he still had to try to eject images that came up. He didn't exactly want the Headmaster seeing the little scene with Michelle Avery, either. No, explaining to Audra and Michelle about flying on Sirius' motorcycle during the summer and fighting off those Death Eaters definitely wasn't on the approved list of memories to view.
Fawkes had given Harry a deep look at the end of the lesson and had only given a warning /You are overdoing it, Fledgling/
At 7:30 the friends met in the trunk and Harry flashed them to the outside of the Shrieking Shack.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other nervously. Harry supposed it was only natural to be reluctant to change when the last time hurt so badly. Eventually they got their courage up and transformed. In looking at the picture Ginny had taken when they had first transformed, they decided to keep 'Leo' as Ron's name and chose 'Spots' for Hermione. Flame, Skye, Leo and Spots all looked at each other for the first time in animagi form.
Ron and Hermione became quite playful in their forms as they explored what their new bodies could do. Spots could almost run up the trees with ease whereas Leo didn't care for climbing over much.
Spots also was fast. Not as fast as the birds could fly, but faster than the larger lion. But Leo had a lot of brute strength and had deadly claws and teeth. The only frustration with Harry was that he only could seem to communicate with Ginny, but the two cats were having fun running through the Forbidden Forest and the birds followed. The big cats were playing a sort of tag with each other. Mostly Spots would run off and Leo would slowly track her down. You could tell that he was a hunter.
They had been doing this for some time, with Flame and Skye playing their own sort of tag in the treetops when Harry suddenly realized where they were. He had been making his way along a branch and found a spider's web. /Ginny! We have to get out of here! This is near Aragog's hollow/
/What/
/Aragog! Acromantula's! Giant Spiders! Find Hermione and I'll try to get Ron's attention. Be careful. They can climb trees/
Ginny flew off, but didn't really know where to look. She had sharp eyesight, but it worked best in full daylight, not evening in a dark forest.
Harry swooped down to Ron. He started flying agitatedly around his head. Ron just shook his great mane and lazily continued his way. Harry was frustrated. In his mind he pictured the old spider and practically shouted /Aragog/
Ron suddenly tensed and Harry saw the sudden realization and beginning of fear in his eyes. Ron started sniffing the air and stalking in a much quicker way than he had before. He was heading closer to the Spider's Hollow.
The webs were beginning to be more noticeable and Harry was growing concerned. Then he heard a snarl and was able to catch a glimpse of Spots in the distance. A large spider was in front of her and she was backed into a corner. Leo let out a loud roar and started bounding towards her.
Spots turned to try to climb the tree behind her and Harry saw the spider grab the leopard's hind leg with its pincer. A yelp of pain and the leopard was hanging upside down from the spider's pincer. Ron was still too far away. Harry closed his eyes and flashed right underneath the spider. He hoped the fire caused when he appeared would frighten away the acromantula. He appeared in a burst of flame as planned, but that must have been one straw too many and he felt a burning pain he hadn't felt since he'd first transformed. Suddenly he was engulfed in flames. He let out a cry of pain. The next Harry knew he was in a muffled environment. He could hear a fight going on though. He heard a high squealing whine and a lion roars.
Harry didn't dare transform back, but knew there wasn't anything he could do like this. Soon he could hear his name being called.
"Harry? Harry, where are you?" Ron's voice was frantic and was soon joined by Ginny.
Harry let himself transform. He found himself on his stomach on the forest floor and he quickly turned over. He found there was pain after the transformation when he burned. He was a little shaky but had his wand out and was on his guard.
Ginny threw herself at him. Harry looked and saw Ron and Hermione looking back at him. A little ways off was the smoldering remains of a bloody spider. "We've got to get out of here. There'll be more."
Ginny was worried. "How are we going to do it? You can't take us back anymore and Hermione is hurt."
Harry looked over and saw Hermione was holding her leg and it looked like she had tears in her eyes. Harry shrugged.
Ron looked concerned. "I can carry Hermione. She could ride on my back. But I don't think I could carry two and still make good time."
Ginny tightened her jaw. "I can carry Harry."
The other three looked at her. Ron asked, "How can you carry Harry? He'd much too big for you and you can't as a bird."
"I can if he transforms back." Ginny looked determined.
Harry bit back a groan. He hated being helpless, but this wasn't the time to argue. This was the time to get out of here. "Okay. That sounds like our best plan. Do you know the way out?"
Ron shook his head. "I wasn't paying attention." Hermione was shaking her head, too.
Harry pointed his finger. "You need to head north. Ginny can get above the trees to keep us on track. Let's get moving."
Harry changed back with inward reluctance and Ginny and Ron changed as well. Leo moved over to Hermione and she climbed onto his back and grabbed hold of his mane with both hands. Ginny hopped over to Harry and carefully picked him up in her talons. He definitely didn't like this. Of all the ways to fly, being held helpless in another bird's talons was definitely the bottom of the list. Even if the other bird was Ginny. Not only was he helpless, he was cold. Having no feathers made it awfully chilly.
The friends slowly made their way back up the forest. It was slow going and Harry was extremely tired of being a passenger of the constant up and down flying Ginny had to do. The forest was getting quite dark and it was hard for Ginny to avoid branches and still be careful with Harry.
One time Harry caught a glimpse of a flutter of white flying towards them. The next time Ginny made her way up through the trees a snowy owl came flying towards her. Ginny narrowly missed getting hit by the owl. Then the owl turned and attacked again. Ginny wasn't sure why the owl was attacking. /Hedwig? Is that you? What are you doing/
The owl pulled up short and turned to stare at the other bird with her large eyes. Skye flew to the ground, carefully lay Harry down and briefly transformed back. Hermione looked at her curiously. "I think something's up with Hedwig. She keeps attacking me."
Hedwig flew down and landed on Ginny's shoulder. She started clicking her beak and making soft hooting noises.
"I can't understand you. Let me transform again." Ginny gave Hedwig to Hermione and transformed back to Skye.
/What's the matter, Hedwig/
/I can feel My Harry near, but I cannot see him. I can feel that he could use my help. I could feel him strongest next to you and I thought you must have done something to him, but I know you would not. Where is My Harry/ The snowy white owl was agitated.
Harry transformed as well. He was lying on his side. He sat up. Hedwig gave a squawk and fluttered down to land on him. Harry stroked his pet's feathers. Skye and Hedwig seemed to have a bit of a conversation. Harry waited patiently for it to end, just enjoying not being helpless. Finally Ginny popped back and said, "Hedwig's going to carry you back to the castle. That way I won't have to worry about hurting you while I fly through the branches."
Hedwig was now preening Harry's hair. Harry protested, "I could probably walk the rest of the way."
Ginny gave him a look. "We can move faster if you go with Hedwig. It's dark and you can't move as fast in the dark as Ron can as Leo and Hermione needs to focus on hanging on to Ron so she can't carry you. I could, but it would be constant up and down and I'm afraid I'll hurt you one of these times. Hedwig wants to help and she could fly straight to the castle."
Harry gave up and transformed back. Hedwig gently picked him up and took off through the trees. She was a strong and fast flier and soon they were approaching Hogwarts.
For some reason Harry had assumed that Hedwig would bring him to his dorm. He was mistaken. She brought him to the owlery and settled him in a nesting area high above the ground. Other owls showed their interest in what type of snack Hedwig had brought back, but she protectively settled her wing over Harry's bald and wrinkled form. Harry wished he could communicate, but at this stage he couldn't. He was totally helpless. He would have asked Hedwig to at least bring him to the ground so he could transform back, but as it was, he would just have to wait. Hedwig seemed to be cooing to him soundlessly. He could feel the vibration even though he couldn't hear a noise. He had a sudden memory of Luna talking of Hedwig acting as his adoptive mother. He supposed this qualified. He had to admit he felt much warmer now, nestled next to her body.
An hour passed and Harry was concerned for his friends. As the second hour was nearing a close, the door to the owlery opened. "Harry?" Ginny was removing the invisibility cloak. She had the Marauder's Map in her hand.
Hedwig snapped to attention and gently repositioned Harry so she could grasp him in her talons. She lifted off and flew down near Ginny. She fluttered to the floor and lightly let Harry roll out of her talons. Harry quickly transformed. He felt an overwhelming sense of relief both physically as he stretched his muscles and mentally that he was finally out of that form and shouldn't have to go back to it again that night. Hedwig flew up to his shoulder.
Ginny moved up to him and put her arms around him. "I was getting worried when I couldn't find you."
Regardless of his frustrations, he couldn't be upset with his owl. Harry smiled fondly at her. "I think Hedwig just wanted to make sure I was safe until you returned. Didn't you, girl?" Hedwig gave his ear a light nip in agreement.
"Ron and Hermione are waiting for us. Let's head back." After they both thanked the owl one more time, they covered themselves in the cloak and left.
When they got back to the trunk, Ron and Hermione were there. Hermione had her leg elevated with a charmed cooling cloth on it and bandages wrapped around it. Harry took a look and asked, "Should you go to Madam Pomfrey?"
Hermione shook her head. "I should be fine. If it's still bothering me tomorrow I'll see her. I think it's just bruised, though. But what about you? Why were you still in the owlery?"
Harry explained how Hedwig had him high in the air so he couldn't exactly transform back and couldn't talk to her either. "So what all happened tonight?"
Ginny started with when she went to find Hermione. She hadn't been able to until she heard Ron's roar. Ron mentioned that after he tried to ignore Harry, he saw a sudden image in his mind he could tell came from Harry of Aragog and realized what it meant. He then started to track her in earnest. Hermione said that she had been taken by surprise. She hadn't been able to see much when she was being held by the spider, but he suddenly let her go when there was a flare of light. She then noticed that the spider's hairs were on fire. She hadn't known Harry was there. Even though the spider was on fire, it wasn't through with her yet. It had been advancing on her when Leo reached the scene. He had jumped the spider and rolled it over. The lion's claws and jaws broke through the skin of the spider and he was able to kill it. Harry looked at Ron, impressed. That was quite something to do considering his feelings about spiders. At that time Ginny joined them and Ron transformed back to start looking for Harry. He had realized that Harry was there somewhere and that was where the fire had come from.
After Hedwig had taken Harry back to Hogwarts, the journey through the forest had been relatively quiet. There were a few noises that made them tense, but a growl from Leo kept the creatures at bay. Even though the adventure hadn't been all fun and games, the attitude at the end of the night was that it still was worth it and they just had to be a little smarter about how they went about their exploring.
Harry was the most familiar of the four with the Forbidden Forest. They decided they would try to map out different areas. They would know to avoid the spider's hollow and Harry would show them the paths (if he could find them again) to the centaur village and to Grawp and Minno's cave. Of course, it would have to wait until Harry could participate again. In the meantime, they figured the others could try to figure out how Harry had sent the image to Ron. They could practice that in the trunk in the evenings.
It was well after midnight when the friends said their goodnights and returned to their dorms. Tomorrow morning's classes were going to be coming very early.
Sixth and Seventh year students had special permission to bring their dates into Hogsmeade on Friday evening for a Valentine's Day dinner. Ron and Hermione and Harry and Ginny got ready to go. They planned to walk to the village together, but have their meals at separate tables if they could.
Filch gave them nasty looks as he checked them off his list; especially Ginny as she was a fifth year, but as she was Harry's date she was allowed to go. Everything seemed calm and peaceful as they and several other students made their way to the wizarding village. Most of the students broke off to head for Madam Puddifoot's. Harry shuddered. They were just going to have a small dinner at the Three Broomsticks.
Harry smiled in contentment as he walked along holding Ginny's hand. Ron and Hermione were in front of them holding hands as well. They entered the pub and split up. Harry helped Ginny to her chair. Ginny smiled at him and Harry felt warm inside. He and Ginny spent a wonderful couple of hours just talking about how they felt about things and getting to know each other better. Harry had to admit it was mostly Ginny talking and him answering her occasional question, but that was okay. He liked listening to her and never was one to volunteer too much information on himself anyway. He didn't mind answering her questions, though. He really liked her.
All too soon it was time to go. Actually it was past time to go. Harry and Ginny quickly collected Ron and Hermione and hurried out of the pub. It seemed they had missed when all the other students had returned to the castle.
Ron was moaning, "We are going to be so late. They probably won't let us come back tomorrow. I won't be able to restock my supply of candy and I'm about out of chocolate frogs. I heard Honeydukes had a new type of levitating ball, too, Tornado Twisters. After you float, you spin around. I was really wanting to try one." Hermione was patting his arm consolingly, but Harry could tell she was trying not to laugh at his over-dramatics.
As they nearing the gates of the castle a slight figure in a dark cloak was hurrying away from the castle. Harry got a brief glimpse of huge glasses glinting in the moonlight as she brushed past the teens. Something started tickling the back of Harry's mind. He started to speed up his pace. Ginny and the others looked at him curiously but followed along. As they turned the last corner they could see the gates of Hogwarts in the distance. The four friends were surprised to find they were closed. Filch should have been waiting there to check them back in. The gates never should have been closed while a student was off the grounds. At least not without someone there to let them back in. Something was wrong.
Harry's friends looked to him with their surprise clearly on their faces. Harry looked grim. "Something's wrong." His mind flashed back to the female figure moving up the path. "I think that was Trelawney."
Ginny frowned. "What would she have to do with the gates being closed?"
"Dumbledore seemed quite intent on her not leaving the grounds when Umbridge sacked her last year. I don't think she's really left the school in the fifteen years she's taught here. I mean she rarely comes down from her tower. Now she suddenly up and leaves? There is no way those gates should be closed. I think someone wanted those gates closed to block her return."
Ron looked confused. "Why her though. She's an old fraud."
Hermione's eyes widened. "The prophecy! The copy was destroyed. Voldemort probably figures the only way to hear it now would be to hear it from either the source or the listener. Trelawney or Dumbledore."
Harry nodded. "Since we can't get back in anyway, maybe we should try to stop her. Ginny, could you fly to the castle and try to find Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall? Let them know she's left. I'll bet you anything they don't know." Determined not to repeat his mistake of the previous year he added, "Professor Snape, too." Ginny gave a nod of her head, changed to Skye and flew off towards Hogwarts.
Ron looked to Hermione then said, "We can try to track her. We'll try to pick up her scent." Hermione smiled at him and nodded. They transformed to Leo and Spots. They sniffed the air and started back up the path to Hogsmeade. Harry was hard-pressed to follow the two felines. They were moving rapidly. Spots ran a ways ahead and suddenly stopped and started sniffing around in a circle becoming agitated. Leo came up to her and started sniffing as well and started moving off to the side of the path towards the forest.
Hermione popped back. "There were a lot of people here. Probably Death Eaters. They took her off into the forest that way." Harry followed to where her finger was pointing, the direction Leo was facing.
"We'll have to careful. We'll see where they are and come back to wait for Ginny and the Professors." Hermione nodded and changed back to Spots.
The three friends carefully picked their way through the woods. Leo and Spots moved a ways ahead and Harry followed their general direction a little behind. Up ahead he could see a light flickering through the trees. Harry crouched behind a bush to see what was going on. He could see several backs of black-robed figures. Harry suddenly felt a sharp pain in his scar. A high, chilling voice carried through the air.
"I want a report. What is the old fool doing?"
A Death Eater stepped forward. Harry recognized Snape's voice. "Dumbledore and McGonagall have been fallen for the ruse. They have left the castle. They should not be back for some time." Harry felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Had Snape deliberately led them away and gotten Trelawney to leave the safety of the school? The old suspicions came back strong.
"Very good." Snape stepped back in line. Lord Voldemort turned towards the quaking Professor Trelawney. "You will tell me the prophecy."
Professor Trelawney's voice wobbled as she tried to respond in a misty voice, "The…the power to con…conquer…"
"That is not it! I want the real prophecy and I have ways of getting it!" Sybil Trelawney collapsed in tears. Harry's heart caught. Lord Voldemort raised his wand. "Crucio!"
A scream split the air. Harry jumped. He must have moved a little too loudly because suddenly there was a flash of red and he was caught in a spell. He was hit with a body bind and soon there were several Death Eaters around him. Harry's wand was yanked from his hand. He was dragged into the clearing.
Lord Voldemort was there with a crumpled Sybil Trelawney in front of him. There were about ten Death Eaters forming a circle around them. The body bind was released and Harry was thrown to the ground near Professor Trelawney.
"Harry Potter. What a surprise. I wasn't expecting you. I'm afraid you'll have to wait your turn. I have business to attend to first." The snake-like face turned back to the nearly hysterical woman.
Harry drew up his courage. "She can't tell you any prophecy. She can never remember the real ones."
The red eyes swung back to focus on him. "What do you know of the prophecy?"
"I've heard one." He'd actually heard more than one, but only one in person. Harry tried to skirt the issue; telling the truth, but not the whole truth. He shoved the first prophecy to the back of his mind while bringing up the second made in his third year. Suddenly he felt probing in his mind.
A voice echoed from behind. "IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT."
Harry turned and sitting rigid with eyes unfocused and slack-jawed was his professor. Her eyes started to roll and in a harsh voice unlike her own she said, "THE DARK LORD LIES ALONE AND FRIENDLESS, ABANDONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS. HIS SERVANT HAS BEEN CHAINED THESE TWELVE YEARS. TONIGHT, BEFORE MIDNIGHT…THE SERVANT WILL BREAK FREE AND SET OUT TO REJOIN HIS MASTER. THE DARK LORD WILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVANT'S AID, GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE THAN EVER HE WAS. TONIGHT…BEFORE MIDNIGHT…THE SERVANT…WILL SET OUT…TO REJOIN…HIS MASTER…."
Her head fell to her chest and she made a sort of grunting noise. Quite suddenly, her head snapped up again.
"I'm so sorry, dear boy," she said dreamily, "the heat of the day, you know…I drifted off for a moment…."
Another memory approached.
"Professor Dumbledore – yesterday, when I was having my Divination exam, Professor Trelawney went very – strange."
"Indeed?" said Dumbledore. "Er – stranger than usual, you mean?"
"Yes…her voice went all deep and her eyes rolled and she said…she said Voldemort's servant was going to set out to return to him before midnight…She said the servant would help him come back to power." Harry stared up at Dumbledore. "And then she sort of became normal again, and she couldn't remember anything she'd said. Was it – was she making a real prediction?"
Dumbledore looked mildly impressed.
"Do you know, Harry, I think she might have been," he said thoughtfully. "Who'd have thought it? That brings her total of real predictions up to two. I should offer her a pay raise…." 1
Lord Voldemort lowered his wand. His eyes narrowed. "So it may take a little longer than I expected. There are ways past memories charms," Harry shuddered remembering what he'd heard happened to Bertha Jorkins, "there may be ways past this as well. Bellatrix, take her away and prepare. I might as well take the opportunity to find out some things from Potter as he was so obliging as to come tonight."
With a screech of laughter one Death Eater stepped forward and kicked Trelawney to get her to rise. The whimpering woman did finally make it to her feet and Bellatrix poked and prodded her on her way. She apparently had her wand stinging her like a cattle prod because every time it touched Trelawney's skin she gave a shriek of pain. Harry clenched his fists.
Harry was now standing stiffly alone in the circle of Death Eaters. He wondered what would come next. Voldemort started walking around him the way a shark circles its prey.
The cold voice started speaking again. "I am curious to know what happened this summer. I know our connection was open, then it suddenly was cut off. Tell me how."
Harry knew this was going to be very tricky. "Professor Dumbledore taught me Occlumency this summer." Harry tried to think of what memories he wanted near the surface and in which order.
"You lie! You needn't bother telling lies to me. I can always tell. He can't have taught you Occlumency because I can still get through now."
"Then why bother asking questions? I'm not going to tell you anything!"
"Don't worry. You won't have to. Crucio!"
Harry's bones were on fire. His head was splitting open along his scar. He screamed, he wanted to black out…and then it was done. He found himself on the ground panting heavily. The Death Eater's had started to crowd around to enjoy the entertainment. "Legilimens!" Harry briefly wondered why he bothered to say it out loud when he hadn't before when the memories started coming. Fortunately the curse didn't make the memories leave the order he had put them in.
Harry trying and failing in blocking his Headmaster from his mind and collapsing in a chair.
Again, Harry failing.
The vision of Ron and Harry's confession of how he wasn't looking forward to the rest of the night.
Ginny giving him the magical stress ball.
Phoenix song coming from it and clearing his mind.
"Accio ball." Voldemort lifted his wand.
"I don't have it, you moron! If I did do you think you would have seen that?" There was a hiss that ran through the Death Eater's at Harry's insult.
Rough hands grabbed him from the ground and pulled him to his feet. He felt one Death Eater lean forward and heard Snape's voice hiss in his ear, "Shrieking Shack, Potter," before he was roughly pushed forward.
"You are a very headstrong and foolish young man, Harry Potter. You will learn that I do not take to insults very well. Crucio!"
'Crikey, he hated that curse,' was the last thought he had before he was once again on the ground, feeling his eyes roll up, screams coming from his already raw throat and wishing the pain would end.
When the curse was lifted, Harry was once again pulled up by his shoulders by two Death Eaters. Harry noticed one of them had a silver hand. Harry muttered, "Bet he loves to know how loyal his servants are to their friends." He could feel Wormtail flinch.
Voldemort got a thoughtful look on his snake face. He was looking over Harry's shoulder where Harry suspected Professor Snape was. "…Loyalty…. Yes, it is good to know who is loyal." Harry could feel the Death Eater on his left stiffen.
Harry took a breath. There was going to be another round of Legilimency coming. Here's where he had to decide if he trusted Dumbledore's judgment. Who was Snape loyal to? Did he fool Dumbledore and lead Trelawney out here or was he really spying for Dumbledore?
Harry hadn't quite made his choice when the memories started. The first memory was of Snape reporting in the summer about the attack. He made his choice and forcibly ejected it. The next memory was of Harry's first potions class in his beginning year. 'Our new celebrity…"
Good thing Snape was so snarky. Fourth year's threat with Veritaserum, second year trying to get him expelled, insult upon insult, third year's rant about Harry helping Black escape, detention upon detention, points upon points, memories were not hard to come by. Ejecting one or two took no time at all because there was always a nasty one behind it. By the time Voldemort was done, Harry was back on the ground with a head that felt like it would explode. Voldemort had a satisfied smirk on his face. Harry forced his to look confused and suspicious.
"Wormtail! Take Potter away. We'll take him with us as well. Right now I have a few final words to say." The silver hand gripped Harry's shoulder and hauled him up again. Harry stumbled in the direction the hand was pulling him. He was almost out of earshot when he heard Voldemort say, "Severus, Severus, you've been a bit blatant in your dislike of Mr. Potter…."
Finally the hand stopped. Harry looked around. They were in the middle of nowhere as far as he could see. Suddenly Wormtail pushed Harry's wand into his hand. "Go. My debt to you is paid."
"Where is Trelawney?"
Wormtail's eyes moved to a side path then went back to Harry. "You can't help her. They have more plans for her. Save yourself. Go!"
"What plans?"
"I can't tell you that! Just go!"
"I won't go without Professor Trelawney." Harry started up the path he'd seen his eyes flick to.
Wormtail seemed frustrated. Finally he said in a voice that carried to Harry, "Polyjuice!"
Harry just about groaned. He was grateful for the warning, but now he wouldn't know if the Sybil Trelawney he found was really her or an imposter. He saw a small tent-like enclosure up ahead. He approached slowly. He heard a noise off to his side. He held his wand ready. A low, throaty growl came and he relaxed a little. Leo and Spots came out of the bushes and morphed into Ron and Hermione. Skye fluttered down next and became Ginny.
Ginny started to whisper, "I couldn't find any of the professor's who are Order members. I flew up to the Headmaster's window and Fawkes said he'd left already with Professor McGonagall. Then I came inside and Audra said she'd seen Snape 'swearing his head off' and leaving while holding his arm. I hurried back to the dorm and grabbed this." Ginny pulled out the invisibility cloak. "There's no help coming."
Harry nodded. "I figured as much." He jerked his thumb back towards the group of Death Eater's. "Snape's back there. I think Trelawney's up ahead, but…Wormtail said there's polyjuice."
"Wormtail!" Ron's exclamation was loud.
"Ron, hush!" Hermione tried to quiet him. She turned towards Harry. "Do you think his word can be trusted?"
"Why would he lie about that? Why not just let me take the wrong one away? We've got to move fast whatever we do. Hermione, why don't you change to Spots and if we can find both of them, see if you can smell any difference. Ron, Ginny, will you guys back me up getting Trelawney?"
"Of course, mate." mingled with "Yes, Harry."
Hermione changed back to Spots and the other three tightly gripped their wands and approached the tent. Hermione made a circuit around the tent to make sure there were no other exits. On the count of three they burst into the tent. "Expelliarmus!" Three simultaneous voices shouted. It was obviously a magical tent like the ones at the Quidditch World Cup as it was the size of a regular room on the inside. Two wands came flying forward and two Sybil Trelawneys went crashing back.
Harry waved his wand and thin cords came out to wrap around first the one on the left, then the one on the right.
"Dear boy, what are you doing? You've come to rescue me? You need to release these ropes so we can leave!" one of them said in a misty, but panicked voice.
"No, dear, you need to save me!" Harry growled in frustration. Spots entered the tent and went up to the two women who went slightly hysterical at the sight of the leopard. "Can you tell?"
The leopard growled in frustration and gave her head a shake. Harry grimaced, then had an idea. "You," he pointed to the one on the left. "What animal do you see in my tea?"
A look of slight confusion entered her eyes. "A stag," she choked out.
Harry turned to the second Trelawney and silently asked the same question.
"A grim," she answered. The left Trelawney couldn't help her look of surprise at the right.
Harry smiled a grim smile. "Stupefy," he said and he released the real Trelawney from the ropes.
"What do we do with that one?" Ron asked.
"We don't have time to do anything. Let's just get out of here." They quickly headed off into the surrounding woods. Suddenly Harry threw his arm out and silenced them all.
Death Eater's had just reached the tent. There was a moment of silence then a cry of fury.
Death Eater's spilled out of the enclosure. Voldemort was yelling in fury. "Wormtail! You failed! You were overpowered by a mere child? Avada Kedavra!"
They were back in the trees, but they could still see what was happening. Wormtail had fallen to his knees, sobbing, "Maste…." as the curse hit him and he fell over.
Harry was breathing hard. He was dead. He heard the start of a noise building in pitch and turned to look at his companions. Ron and Hermione had shocked looks on their faces at what they had just seen, but Trelawney was starting to lose it. The noise was generating from her.
Ginny also looked shocked, but came out of it to snap, "Silencio!" in a whisper.
The spell seemed to unlock all the others. "We need to get out of here," Harry whispered. "Let's move. They're going to be looking for us."
Trelawney seemed to be having a nervous breakdown silently. It was hard to get her to move. Finally Harry snapped, "Stupefy!" The flighty woman collapsed. "Ron, can you carry her on your back? We need to get to the Shrieking Shack."
"The Shrieking Shack? Why don't we just go back to the gates? They'll probably open to an unlocking charm."
"I don't know why. Snape just said to go to the Shrieking Shack."
Ron got a stubborn look on his face. "That greasy git probably just wants credit for recapturing you. He probably figured he had his bases covered in case you did get away again."
Harry turned fiercely to Ron. "I ignored him once and Sirius got killed. I'm not going to ignore him again! Now transform so we can get Trelawney out there. Ginny, it'd be better for you to fly back, too. Maybe you can help them find the way back to the castle through the forest. I'll use the invisibility cloak and we'll wait for whatever Snape has planned."
Ginny looked up at him a little desperately. "Can't you transform yet?"
Harry shook his head. "It's still too close to the burning day."
"Maybe I could carry you again." Her eyes were close to tears.
"What about Trelawney? She's hysterical. Leo and Spots can't handle her and still get back to Hogwarts safely. I'll need to get her there. Snape must have some kind of plan. Maybe he knows how to open the shack so we could take the tunnel. He knows I know about it."
Ginny looked frustrated, but leaned forward to give him a hug. "Okay. But you be careful! We'll hang around until we're sure you're on your way."
Ron, Hermione and Ginny transformed and Harry managed to get Trelawney on Leo's back. He put the invisibility cloak over himself, but kept one hand on Trelawney's shoulder to keep her steady. At one point she started to stir and freak out at being on a lion's back, but Harry quickly stupefied her again.
When they neared the shack, Harry suggested they separate, as they were probably too noticeable all together. Harry was hiding under the invisibility cloak with Professor Trelawney out cold, hoping that he was right to trust Professor Snape. He knew Skye, Spots and Leo were keeping near but out of sight, which made him feel a bit better. He wasn't totally alone in this. Their forms wouldn't protect them from magical attack, though.
Suddenly Harry tensed as he heard footsteps approaching. "You don't have to come with me if you're scared. Go on back and search elsewhere!" Professor Snape was coming this way. Was it all a trap? Was it a set up that 'just in case' Harry managed to slip away again he could get the glory in re-trapping him? He didn't know about the invisibility cloak Ginny brought. That was one advantage Harry had.
Lucius Malfoy's voice answered him. "The Dark Lord may trust in your loyalty since whatever spell he performed on Potter, but I don't. You will not be getting out of my sight."
His professor smirked at him. "Is it that you truly don't trust my loyalty or you just want to believe I'm not loyal to put you that much higher in the ranks uncontested?"
To Harry's surprise, Lucius Malfoy seemed to actually give it some thought. "I'm not sure. But tell me again, why would the brat go this way?"
"It's one of the few places people won't go to anymore since the rumors of it being haunted again started. Something I believe your son helped to start. Much as I hate to say it, Potter's not stupid. He must know the gates are guarded and patrols are combing Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest searching for him. There is one other entrance to Hogwarts that he knows and it's here, inside this shack."
Harry was amazed his Professor was complimenting him in a way, but then felt rather stupid since his first instinct had been to make a run straight for the Hogwarts gates. He was finally being praised by the git, but he didn't deserve it.
Lucius' voice became hesitant. "You think he would have gone inside?"
Professor Snape's voice was impatient. "Of course, he would have. He's a Gryffindor. They have no sanity."
"But what about the spirits? Draco swears it wasn't the firewhiskey. Villagers, too, have reported activity again. The old timers' say that the screams were much worse than before. Multiplied even. How could Potter even get inside? Normal charms won't open the Shack. Foolish children have tried for years."
"Doesn't Draco report anything to you? Potter has a little following that studies advanced spells. I'm sure they've run across stronger spells than 'Alohamora'."
Lucius seemed offended. "Of course, Draco reports to me. I'm just saying that no sane person would enter a building with violent spirits reportedly active in it."
"Who ever said Potter was sane? If he was sane, do you think he could have survived this long against our Dark Lord? There is a reason he's continually reported as 'delusional' even if it gets recanted. How many times could they have been wrong?" His tone was filled with total disgust.
Harry felt very odd listening to this conversation about himself. He wondered again what Snape's real feelings were. He really did seem to hate him.
"Maybe we should just keep watch out here. Look for Potter approaching. He may not have arrived yet."
Snape had clearly run out of patience. "If you want to stay out here, fine. But I'm going to check inside." Snape then pointed his wand at the door and shouted, "Erumpo!" There was a small blast of air from his wand and the door was forced open.
So that's what it was supposed to look like. Harry had used that spell before. He used it when he'd blasted the cell door off at the Guard Shack. He supposed he'd used a bit too much force. Snape's looked much more controlled.
Snape and Malfoy approached the door. Malfoy tried one more time. "He couldn't have been here if the door was still intact."
Snape clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Don't you think he knows simple repair charms? Come in if you're coming or feel free to leave if you're not."
Harry followed them at a distance lugging Professor Trelawney with him. As Harry and Trelawney went over the threshold, he heard startled exclamations from inside the house. He wondered what could startle two hardened Death Eaters?
He could hear Malfoy whining, "…But you can see what happened here! Look what they did to the bodies! There's blood everywhere! We could be next!"
"Then go! Go on and run…" Professor Snape's voice trailed off and his gaze focused at something by the door. Harry realized he was looking down towards his and Trelawney's feet. As Harry had crossed the threshold, the cloak had caught on a nail and pulled away. Trelawney's foot was visible. Harry quickly tugged the cloak back down. Now Snape knew that Harry and Trelawney were in the doorway. "…But I do not intend to go back to the Dark Lord with an incomplete search. I intend to search upstairs. Are you coming with me or do you want to face our Master with failure?"
Malfoy looked queasy but followed Snape up the stairway. Harry could see they were walking on a dark path running up the middle of the stairway. He didn't remember that from before. He quickly got Professor Trelawney maneuvered inside. He had to pause at the entrance to the living room as he took in the sight of the room. Blood splattered the walls everywhere. A flashback of the werewolves fighting each other crossed his mind. He had seen it happen, but somehow the dark stained walls looked so much more gruesome. The dark path on the stairs was now explained as well. The large bloody slabs of meat that had been dragged left their dried trails in the wooden floor. Harry felt bile rise in his throat. Even though he knew this wasn't a scene of some gruesome crime it sure looked the part.
Trelawney moaned. She was beginning to come to. 'Please, no. Please no.' Harry whispered to himself.
"What was that noise?" The panicked voice of Lucius Malfoy floated down the stairway.
Sarcasm dripped from Snape's voice, "Maybe one of your ghosts."
Trelawney moaned again. Harry quickly cast a silent silencing charm on her, but the damage was done. Malfoy was descending the stairs and Trelawney was starting to move around. What Harry needed was another noise to distract them. That's when he thought of it.
Harry focused on the instruments he and Remus had used on Malfoy Jr. that day in the fall. He focused on where they were and on the animating spell he'd used so often to practice becoming an animagus. Malfoy was now at the bottom of the stairs and looking Harry's direction. Slowly a moaning came from the upper level. Harry added another instrument and a higher pitched wail was heard. Then he tried for a third and a spine-chilling screech burst forth. Malfoy's eyes were wide and his hand was up protecting his throat, the other hand had his wand gripped tightly and pointed up the stairs. Snape also hurried down the stairs looking more pale than usual. Both looked at each other and ran for the door.
As they left, Harry's concentration on the spell lowered and the sounds decreased. Trelawney was now awake enough to have a good look around the blood-splattered room. While hearing the ghostly accompaniment she shakily asked, "Where are we?"
"The Shrieking Shack."
The shrieks that had issued from the instruments were nothing compared to what his Professor could do. Through the open door a bird flew and a lion and leopard ran in. Trelawney saw them and it was too much for her. She fainted again.
Ginny changed first. She looked around the bloody room. Her eyes were frightened. "Harry?"
Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off of himself and Trelawney. "Let's get in the tunnel. We can all go back that way. Then I'll stop the noise." Harry had to almost shout to be heard.
The others saw that he was calm and calmed themselves. Harry threw a "Reparo" towards the door thinking at least it would buy them some time in their escape if someone should try to come after them. Ron and Hermione helped Harry with Trelawney while Ginny held open the trap door. As soon as the trap door fell closed above them the sounds from above stopped. Hermione performed a mobilicorpus spell to float the unconscious professor. Harry did a wandless lumos spell that shed more light than just the wand tip and they quickly started up the tunnel back to Hogwarts. Quietly Harry asked, "Did I ever tell you about how the Marauders passed time before the full moons?"
1 From Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
A/N – Now we're about to go out and buy book 6. Happy posting!