Chapter 15

• Missing at the Feast •

There was a whole week before school started and Harry had no problem avoiding Snape even though he wasn't trying. After he'd calmed down he was angry at himself for letting Snape have the upper hand. Snape should have been the one running, after all he had faced Voldemort before and compared to him, Snape was a pussycat.

When he left the common rooms during the day he always was prepared, hoping and wishing that Snape would try again. It was not the case though. Harry had wished for the Marauders Map so that he could come face to face with Snape again and he regretted leaving it behind to burn with his house.

Harry took meals just like normal, showing up at the Great Hall to eat with only a few other teachers. To his dismay the teachers he wanted to see, Snape, Dumbledore and the new teacher Hadwin, didn't seem to appear at mealtimes at all. Harry suspected all of them were avoiding him. McGonagall showed up twice, dressed up like a batty muggle which didn't surprise Harry at all. Now that the headquarters had been penetrated there had to be a base camp somewhere else, and it seemed that Hogwarts would be the most logical place.

No other out of the ordinary people showed up though, just the normal teachers. Most of them were a bit surprised to see Harry the first time, but no one said anything. The tables had been pushed to the side and everyone dined silently at a single center table. There were never more than 12 people eating at once, and there was rarely much group conversation.

After breakfast was served Harry would return to the common room immediately. Now that he was back at Hogwarts he assumed that he was allowed to use magic and had begun practicing again whether he was allowed or not. The common room of the Gryffindor classroom had been transfigured piece by piece until it barely resembled its former self.

Harry practiced other spells besides transfiguration, things he and Tonks had practiced on the island. It wasn't much, but he could barely remember what Tonks had shown him so, until he could use his Pensieve, he simply practiced everything he could remember.

There was personal transfiguration spells, things to help him disguise who he was, charms to change his voice and hair color, clothing transfiguration spells, which he seemed to have almost mastered, inconspicuous charms so that he wouldn't stand out in a crowd. He was trying desperately to get the unmemorable charm Tonks had taught him to work, but since he didn't have anyone to try it on he didn't know how to test himself. Some of them he never could be sure if they worked at the moment, but he still spent a great deal of time trying to master them.

He had also begun practicing the duplication spell. Now it was little more than a waft of air, not even as strong as his original replica he'd performed to stop Snape. But, he'd seen Snape's and it was real, he knew he could do better.

As the days flew by Harry occasionally found himself knocked to the floor when a memory was imparted to him. They didn't come in intervals, but rather when something or someone triggered them.

Once, just after he'd taken lunch, leaving before the other professors, he spotted McGonagall leaving the castle and he was thrown against the wall as another memory wracked his brain. It was of a young Gryffindor named Minny. Who seemed to be, by far, the bossiest Gryffindor Harry had ever known.

It was during a second year transfiguration class that she had stomped in and demanded to be allowed to take it, rather than deal with the inadequacies of the first year class. After stating how easy the first year class was and demanding to be allowed to take the second year class Harry simply excused himself from the class, leaving Higgens in charge, and taken her to professor Dipper. There she had been subjected to a test to prove that she was above the first year Transfiguration class. She failed, miserably, and was forced to deal with the 'inadequacies' of the first year transfiguration class. Though, she did extremely well and might have been able to take a more advanced class her second year if she'd pushed herself.

Harry had been surprised when he had the memory of Professor McGonagall and he'd had to fight a snicker every time he did see her at meal times – the muggle attire made things even worse. When she was eleven she hadn't had glasses, but she had a funny looking face, as if she were trying to look proper but couldn't decide whether it was suppose to look as if she were going to be sick or if she'd just been caught in her knickers.

Hadwin elected no memories, but Harry began having a feeling as if he'd met him and not just a few weeks prior, but much earlier in his lifetime. He was a strange fellow, but whatever he was Harry knew one thing, he was very good with spells and entering other peoples minds.

The day the students arrived Harry was to be found in the common room just like every other night, but he was changing the common room back to its former state so that no one would know he'd been doing magic. There was a slight popping sound in between spells and Harry turned to find himself staring into two large eyes.

He took a few steps back, startled, but knew who it was immediately. His wand, which had been pulled as a reflex, was pocketed immediately. "Dobby!" he exclaimed, happy to see the house elf. He'd been meaning to go and see both Dobby and Hagrid, but somehow the time had just passed too quickly.

Dobby smiled softly, the pile of hats gone from his head. He seemed . "Harry Potter sir," he said reverently, "Dobby is hearing... Dobby is hearing Harry Potter is back in the castle and is waiting to come see the young master. But Dobby can wait no more. Dobby hears that master is betrayed sir, betrayed by a house elf. The others is hearing it too, they is all sad sir. They is wanting to make amends but they is not knowing how sir."

There was a moment that Harry was betrayed by the emotions that filled him. His face turned sour and his thoughts drifted to Sirius. He pushed them away though, he couldn't let them stand in his way. Dobby seemed to have shrunken back a little at Harry's reaction but he was waiting quietly for Harry to say something.

"It's alright Dobby," Harry said quietly, after he'd forced himself to loose the saddened look he knew adorned his face. "I don't blame any of the elves here. I know you'd never do something like that."

The house-elves ears wiggled and he smiled brightly, seeming much more like his normal self. "Dobby is also hearing sir," he said a bit brighter, "that sir is able to make a club this year. He is wanting to know if he can help at all."

The DA, Harry knew that he must have heard that he'd be able to continue it and likely knew who from. He was sure he'd be able to, but felt comforted knowing that Dobby had heard it somewhere. "We don't need anything right now Dobby, but I'll make sure to find you if we do."

Dobby's head bobbed vigorously backwards and forwards. "Sir is needing some help?" he asked, staring around the room and noticing some of the abhorrent transfiguration Harry had done. It was easy to change things, but not always as easy to change them back.

If Harry had given himself another day he knew he'd be able to get it all done, but it wasn't something he wanted to work all night doing. "Maybe a little Dobby, I was thinking of redecorating Gryffindor, but it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped," he lied, trying to keep that he'd been practicing magic the whole time. He didn't like to lie, but he wasn't sure how many people would know about it if Dobby found out. Dumbledore was his master after all, and what house-elf could keep secrets from their master? Dobby was the only one he'd known could, but that was when he was house-elf for the Malfoy's and had hated them.

"Dobby is helping sir," he said and with a snap of his fingers things began to change.

"How do you do that Dobby?" Harry asked, watching in awe as the room transformed around him. He recalled Dobby doing some magic before, but had never seen transfiguration done so easily, except by McGonagall.

There were a few more snaps before the house-elf answered. Harry was watching in amazement as the room was transformed before his eyes. "House-elves is having strong magic sir," Dobby finally said as he transformed a cushion on the far wall to a seat that extended along one whole side of the common room. It was almost as if Dobby knew what some of the Gryffindors had wished for in the past and he was making the room fit their needs.

"Did some one teach you?" Harry asked in awe.

"Oh no sir," Dobby said happily, seeing that Harry very much liked the changes, " Dobby is knowing how to do it since he was very little. It is a thing all house-elves knows sir. They is supposed to do magic to help their masters and they is always finding a way sir."

A thought occurred to him, he remembered Dobby the first year he'd met him, when he'd come to the hospital while Harry was mending his boneless arm and then, just now how he'd shown up. "You can apparate in Hogwarts grounds, can't you?" he asked curiously. Hermione would be dejected to find out that Hogwarts, A History wasn't perfect.

Another change was made in the tower and Harry felt a memory rush upon him. The far wall next to the fireplace had once contained a cage. Harry grabbed a hold of the corner of the couch as the memories rushed back to him.

It was night time, and he'd been sneaking around the castle trying to catch Gilbert pulling a prank on the Gryffindors, he wasn't going to allow them to happen if he could help it. And, if he caught Gilbert in the act he'd get his just reward. But, unfortunately the night was quiet and he'd snuck back into the Gryffindor common room unnoticed by anyone.

The common room was empty except for the creature on the far side of the common room who was pacing. "Godric," Harry said quietly, "are you hungry? I've got some meat I picked up in the kitchens for you."

The lion stopped its pacing and sat down quietly near a small opening in the cage. Harry unwrapped a large slab of meat that had weighed down his pocket on the way back and then, with his other hand opened the door of the cage instead of slipping the meat in through the opening.

Godric, the lion took the meat carefully and began gnawing at it while Harry petted him. "You're not going to last much longer in this cage, are you?" he asked quietly. "It's alright, just hold on a little longer and I'll find a way for you to go free."

The giant cat purred which didn't surprise Harry as he continued stroking his mane. After several minutes Harry left the cage again, latching the lock carefully and then headed up to his bed.

Jerking from the memory, Harry found himself laying on the ground with two huge green eyes peering down at him. "Is Harry Potter alright sir?" Dobby asked, a little scared. "Should Dobby be taking Harry Potter to the hospital sir?" he continued questioning Harry.

"No," Harry said, trying to sit up and sending Dobby scuttling off him. "It's just these memories I keep having, they sometimes come at odd times and it's hard for me to stay balanced because my brains in a different place it seems. It's alright, really."

Though Dobby didn't look entirely convinced he nodded just slightly, enough for Harry to know that he accepted the story for now. "Is Master Harry excited sir?" Dobby asked, moving back to the redecoration of the common room. "About the new school year? Dobby is hearing many things is planned for the students."

"Yeah," Harry said quietly, waiting for the throbbing in his head to go away. His scar tingled just slightly, but Harry didn't worry about it, Voldemort may try to show him things but he could block it anytime he wanted now.

It occurred to Harry that Dobby might know a bit more about Professor Hadwin and so he turned to the elf who was snapping his fingers at things all through the common room looking as though he were having the time of his life.

"Dobby," Harry asked quietly, "do you know the new professor, Professor Hadwin?"

The snapping stopped and Dobby turned, looking rather nervously to Harry. "Yes sir," he said weakly. "Dobby knows of him. The others is knowing as well, we senses him."

The next question drifted away in Harry's mind, Dobby was acting rather peculiar and Harry wondered why. "Senses? You feel him?" he asked puzzled.

It was pretty obvious Harry was onto something from the way Dobby reacted. He gripped his ears and shut his eyes, slamming his head into a nearby table. It took Harry a moment to get a hold of Dobby and stop him from hurting himself. "It's alright Dobby. Can you tell me why you sense him?"

The only response Harry got was more violence, Dobby quivered and waved his finger, making a chair fly at him. Harry dove out of the way, pulling Dobby with him and groaned. "Alright, I won't mention him again Dobby," he said trying to decide how he might glean the information without forcing Dobby to hurt himself. At the moment there wasn't a way that he could think of, but he'd definitely be visiting Dobby soon.

Almost before Harry could think of an apology Dobby had disappeared from the common room leaving it nearly completed. Harry looked around before waving his wand and continuing the transfiguration he'd been doing. Dobby had done a lot of the work, but there was still a few things that he needed to take care of.

When he finished up there was just enough time to change and then get to the great hall and be there when the others arrived. He planned on slipping into the mass of students as they entered into the castle so that no one noticed him.

As Harry had descended the second set of stairs and was passing through a secret passage his pocket began to grow increasingly warmer. He stopped, hiding himself in the shadows and searched out what was burning in his pocket.

From his pocket came a galleon. This was, however, not an ordinary galleon. It had been in Harry's pocket at all times as a reminder of what he and the DA had been able to accomplish by the end of the year. When he and Tonks had flown off it had been with him, and it was the only other thing that hadn't been destroyed.

By the time he got it close enough to examine the date on the side it was burning hot. He read the little inscription on the side. Instead of a time and date it had a single word, now.

Abandoning the previous path Harry found himself at the entrance to the room of requirements. There was only one person who could be using the coin to call him, Hermione. She was the only one that understood the spell that had been put on them.

Harry was curious though, the carriages hadn't even been in site from the third floor corridor, and he wondered why Hermione was so insistent that he go now? It didn't matter to Harry, he'd already missed more than half of the feasts the first night anyway, it didn't matter to him much, missing another one.

It really didn't matter to Harry though, if Hermione needed him there he was going to be there. If she was calling him, most of the others would probably be coming too. So, he focused on the room, making sure it was perfect for a meeting. There would be no fighting tonight.

He only had to pass the wall twice before the doorway appeared and he entered into it. A long table was in the center of the room, sized so that it could accommodate more than all of the DA students. Harry drew up a soft chair and then sat, waiting.

The wait wasn't as long as he expected it to be, the door cracked open and a robed figure slipped in, it turned and the wind from the hallway swept the hood from her head, whipping her brunette hair with it. The door closed and there was a click of the lock.

Harry gaped as he saw one of the most unlikeliest of people approach him. A Slytherin, a female Slytherin at that. Though he had never been formally introduced to her he knew who she was. She had a serpents tongue, and even Malfoy feared her wrath. It may have been why she was a singled out Slytherin, or because, but she was rather quick to speak when it was about her.

There was however one thing Harry had noticed, her strange impartiality, she didn't take sides like the Slytherins did, she created debts and used them. A year ago, during some scuffle the twins had created she had told Professor Umbridge that she had witnessed the whole event, effectively clearing the twins of the blame. Even longer before that she'd helped Hannah Abbott when she'd been unable to get her work done for Herbology. While they weren't huge debts, Harry was sure she made sure to keep track of them. She was a Slytherin after all.

Now she was as composed as usual, her eyes drilling into Harry's. "Good," she said quietly as she approached. "I wasn't sure if the coin would work."

The revelation that she'd been the one to use the coin to call Harry stunned him and his hand found its way into the pocket of his cloak, gripping his wand tightly. His mind noted that his other wand was hiding in it's usual place even before he had to think about it.

Harry was so shocked that it took him a moment for words to come from his mouth. "You called me?" he asked, utterly aghast. Had one of the DA members betrayed them again? Was this Slytherin here for some dark purpose – trying to prove her loyalty to Voldemort?

"What do you want?" he demanded before she could answer his first question.

She did not even make the slightest recognition of him speaking. Instead, she waved her wand and a seat slid across the floor to her feet. After she had taken a seat, she looked at him, the queerest of looks on her face. "You look so much different up close," she said quietly as she inspected him. "Much different than I remember. It is odd, isn't it, that such a small person could stand up to the greatest wizard of this age?"

The wand in Harry's hand wavered just slightly as he prepared for some sort of spell, but nothing came. Blaise Zabini seemed remarkably calm. Harry wondered if someone else had followed her in under an invisibility cloak. But, knowing what it was like under a cloak he doubted that there had been enough time and besides, there hadn't been any signs of it.

"Alright," Harry said, finally understanding that Blaise would simply ignore him if he spoke to her as he had already. "Why am I here?" he asked, this time trying to keep himself calm. Whatever Blaise had to say she had certainly done a great deal to get him alone before saying it.

"You and I have a common goal," she said, her hands coming together theatrically. She looked at him with an over-zealous smile. "We both want Voldemort to fall."

Such a simple statement, but to Harry it was much more. It wasn't the fact that she'd used the name of the man so much as the lack of fear she showed towards it. And there was another thing, an onslaught of memories struck him and he stepped backwards, falling over the chair behind him and crashing to the ground.

"We have a common goal you and I," a haughty voice said from the shadows. "I have come to know the mistakes I have made. The only way I know that I am to atone for such mistakes is to stop him. We now have a common enemy Albus, I think it would be best if we worked together to stop him."

Harry was standing in a large library, stacks of papers scattered across the desk in the center. No one else was around, they were away, some at the headquarters. "Well Severus," he said quietly. "How do you propose we go about this?" he asked, softly even though his mind was filled with thoughts, he wished to do much more than be gentle and calm.

The Jargens were gone; he'd only just received the letter from the ministry. It had happened a few hours previous and there was no doubt that Severus Snape had played a part in their killing. But, there was something about the way he was speaking, something that said he was being sincere.

From the shadows a ghastly version of Snape appeared, his skin so pale that he resembles a ghost, his eyes having fallen back in their sockets as if they were trying to die before the rest of him did. There was a look of horror on his face, as if he were seeing his own death unfold before him. However, what caught Harry's attention was his hands. He did not hold a wand, nor any other mechanism for violence but it was obvious that they had seen it and not long before. For they were covered in a deep red substance that Harry knew was blood, it extended up the sleeves of Snape's robes and then down the front of them, making him seem almost like he'd lain in a pool of it.

Sitting bolt upright Harry looked around, getting his bearings again. The Snape of his dreams was going to give him nightmares.

"Are you alright?" a voice said, and Harry turned towards Blaise Zabini, his eyes alight. The acidic smell of blood still hung in his mouth, it stayed as if bits of copper had been ground into his nose. He could barely hold back the urge to be sick. He spat, trying to get the taste from his mouth and then he looked up to find Blaise staring at him wide eyed.

"You're having another attack, aren't you? Is he angry at someone?" she asked, then her hands shot to her mouth as if she'd uttered some heinous thing. It wasn't something Harry would have ever thought to see her do, she never lost control as far as he had ever seen.

It took Harry a minute for the world to fall into its correct place and when it did he looked to her, more than a little surprised. "You know about my scar attacks?" he asked her, curious as to how she'd come across that information. The whole school knew of the attacks of course, the whole wizarding world knew, but no one knew what they really meant except a select few.

"Such a special gift," she said, acting slightly malicious. "And yet, such a burden. There are a lot of things I know about you Harry Potter, I have spent the last year of my life studying you. I knew what would happen after you came back from the third task of the Triwizard Tournament spouting about Voldemort being back. I was there, just beyond the minister, I heard everything. There had been whispers of course, nothing serious, but enough to get my attention. My parents were loyalists, though they never joined as Death Eaters, not then, but now that he has returned... well I knew that I had to make plans of my own."

"A fortnight ago my parents called me to a meeting, which is unusual, they rarely bother me when I'm doing something that they want me to do. I was ready, but startled. The place I went was putrid, wreaking of vile things I hate to imagine. But there I was told a great many thing, most I don't doubt you already know. There were other things too, plans that Voldemort was enacting, promises he had made. They thought it was the best thing for them and myself, to prove my loyalty early on. They want me to join his Death Eater ranks as soon as he'll admit me."

"They do not know of how I loath the man, how much I would rather see him die than to join his forces. That is a good thing, because had a made any reaction which was against Voldemort I was to be killed, it was the first part of my initiation into his throng. I will not be a death Eater for some time, but I must take order from him."

"Still, I knew the choice was coming, and in being prepared I saved myself from openly showing disrespect. They believed I would hold true to the things my parents had told me and gave me my first mission. Because my life is in such grave danger I accepted the mission without thought, and so here I am. The mission was simply really, penetrate the DA club you've formed and report activities and abilities. Apparently there was a great deal of them upset about how five children could go against such a death eater force and walk away. I applaud the effort."

Blaise paused briefly, allowing some of the words to sink in. She was very apt at making things go in her favor and had a way with words. It was just natural for her to allow some of the impact to sink in before continuing on. Harry was speechless, Blaise was making it obvious that she hated Voldemort and wanted to be on the side of good, but she was a Slytherin, and weren't all Slytherin's bad?

"Now that I have told you what has happened I want to make an agreement with you. I may not be the greatest spy in Voldemorts forces, and I'm not even ranked as a Death Eater, but I can provide you with information. I want you to use that information to stop him and destroy him," she paused again, taking a deep breath as if calming herself. It was still quite a bit of information for Harry to process and he was thankful that she wasn't pushing it as fast as she could.

"Other than using the information against him I must still look as if I am completing my assignment. That means I must be a part of the DA – at least for the time being. When there are meetings I be there, or look as if I've gone. There will understandably be a little contention and that can keep me out of some things for a while, but how long that lasts is also important. I can't allow it to continue through the whole year, I must look as if I'm getting closer friends."

"Besides that I will be given a safe place to study, perhaps even be able to benefit from your teachings, I've heard some teachers regard you as almost an equal. One even suggested you be given the DADA position this year under supervision. Though, I'm not sure how reliable my source is," she sighed. "I do know that every single fifth year student who was in the DA got an O on their OWLs and at least an E in charms while the rest of the students got no better than an E in the DADA test."

It struck Harry as funny that any of the teachers would have suggested he be the DADA teacher, he had no where close to the necessary requirements to be a teacher, and there was no way he could do it with all the other work he had to do in other classes. He may have enjoyed teaching the DA, but there was no way he could teach the whole of Hogwarts.

Blaise eyes him for a minute. "You will teach my Occlumency. I understand you were studying it last year and I expect you're very good at it now."

Harry almost shook his head, he was good at it, but not because he'd studied it last year. He'd cheated his way through that one. Besides, he still didn't trust the girl, she had a great deal of information more than she should have, even if she had heard things in the hall.

"Why?" Harry finally was able to ask, not sure if she would give him the reason. He wanted to know why she didn't like Voldemort, all Slytherins did.

"Occlumency? If I am ever put face to face with Voldemort I do not want him to enter my mind. I know I will not for a while, I am only reporting to Draco Malfoy for the time being."

"No," Harry started but paused. Draco Malfoy? She'd just plainly identified him as a future, if not current, Death Eater. "I meant..." he began again, but couldn't continue, his mouth had lost the words he was thinking.

"You meant why am I doing this? Why am I coming to you? Why am I making this decision?"

Harry nodded mutely, still thinking about Draco.

"I hate Voldemort, that should be enough," she stood up and walked around the room, her hand searching for something she could not see. Eventually it came to rest on the cracked foe glass. "As for why I came to you there are multiple reasons. Don't be so presumptuous as to assume it was because I believed you could protect me. I do believe, given your past success that you were the best choice to funnel the information to, I know where your loyalties lie. And besides, the best reason was because it deviated very little from the proposed plan. I am being watched, of that I am sure, and if I were to go to Dumbledore my reasons would be apparent. In order for me to stay alive I must do something which I would normally do in my position. Meeting you is one of those things."

Harry was hard set to accept the truth of her words, he didn't trust Slytherins at all, there was always something in it for them. But, given the circumstances, he wasn't going to turn her away – at least not yet. "Alright I won't say yes immediately, I am far from trusting you. However I don't expect the information to be given to me immediately either. I'll have to talk it over with some people, and decide what the best decision is."

A smile crept over Blaise's face. It was as though he'd already given her an answer that she had liked. "You're made out to be much more rash than you seem to be," she said calmly. "But you're really a Slytherin at heart, I can't believe the sorting hat didn't chose you to be one."

Though Blaise seemed to know a lot of things Harry was glad she did not know how close he had come to becoming one. He smiled as sweetly as possible, but gave her no answer. He felt as if simply talking would give away something, some hint of what she'd just spoken about.

"Alright, I can accept that. But, there is however a matter which is rather urgent. In order for me to gain your trust I was to tell you of the attack on the castle that was to happen tomorrow evening, after everyone and everything had settled down. I wasn't given too many specifics, because they did not want me to know too much, but I believe it will not be just witches and wizards that will be attacking the castle. I don't know exactly what he is planning, but there is a darker purpose than just gaining your trust. What it is, I haven't the slightest clue."

"Now," she said, a coin appearing in her hand almost magically. "You might want to call a meeting with your little club and speak with the headmaster as well. I am going to go see Draco and tell him that I told you of the meeting. Don't spend too long deciding about my offer, while it is because I hate Voldemort, I will not let it risk my life if I think you will not follow through on your part."

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