Author's Note:
Hello, my dear readers!
Another update's here. One thing I can tell you in here is that to read this chapter and the coming ones as closely as you can because they have a LOT of hints. Also, place your final bets about the mysterious person, because he's coming in the next chapter. Woooh! I did a Flint I think; I told you the gender of that person! -gasp!-
So, place your bets, readers!
I think the fic will stretch to 31 chapters, but I'll keep you updated on that front. I'm planning to end this by the end of this month so, all of you, keep your fingers crossed for me and tell me whatever you think about the progress of story!
And yeah, as these are the last chapters of the fic, most of them will end in a cliffie. Sorry, folks, end chapter flocking and all that. But, rest assured I'll be updating regularly.
About Colin, he was sure upto something. You'll find it out in Chapter 28 or 29.
On to the dedication: This chapter is dedicated to Macy and Mctrozzo (a new and an old reader). Thanks you two for showering reviews. I very much appreciate it!
Thanks to my beta: LadyBrannon, for returning this chapter within two days. I can bet, my readers are more than happy. -smiles-
Also, Thank you, Nimbirosa, Arch, mctrozzo, The-Lone-Marauder, MoA, Omair, Thee-Unknown-Factor, MissyMay, Silver Warrior, Seirra, Macy, yorvillebird, NuvaChaos and RyougaZell, who took out the time and reviewed this fic. I write for you guys!
-HUGS!-
Nimbirosa, Hey, I will read your current fic, as soon as I get some free time, which means after finishing this fic. So wait one-two weeks and I'll be right with ya. About fluff, oh, it's coming! -nods-
Arch, Hiya matey! Thankies for all your support! And so glad that you introduced me to TGB. Willa advertise it in my next chappie. Sorry about the cliffie but they will be more so I'll simply blush now. -winks- And yeah, you finally nudged me to LJ, so congrats/thanks to you!
Mctrozzo, Thanks, my dear! Enjoy your own chapter. :D
The-Lone-Marauder, Er… Was that a try at flame or reaction to the chapters? Let me know.
MoA, Well, it's in his vault all right. And as you said Dumbledore couldn't let him out of his site but don't worry, he's always keeping an eye on him—one way or another. -winks- As explained in A/N, Colin-thing will be soon revealed but you can have your guesses till then. -smiles-
Omair, Yes, HAPPY:D Anyhow, I'm the Cliffie Queen or you haven't figured that out yet. ;) Mushy stuff alert. Yes, it starts from this chapter and will be there till the end. Can't help it. You have to give in to reader demand. Best of luck for the results! (Yeah, yeah, I DO remember!)
Thee-Unknown-Factor, -LOL- Nice expressions there. ;) Here's next and more dun-dun-dun follows. ;)
MissyMay, Here's another one for you. And I'm telling you a secret as well: I have no intentions of killing anybody off right now. Even Dumbledore for that matter, who's being ousted by the whole fandom these days. JKR can do whatever she wants with HBP but I can't kill-off any main characters, period. So, stay assured! -smiles-
Silver Warrior, Oh, what a direct question! –ponders some way to slink off this one- Um…Er… Okay, he was there to look for something, he didn't find it and Harry's arrical caused a reaction. That's all I can say right now. You'll find out more later.
Seirra, Thank you! And also for the mistake. Meh, totally looked over it, but now it's fixed! I never mind readers criticizing or pointing out mistakes. I'm not perfect and I do learn from my mistakes. A LOT! ;D And, yes, I 'lurve' cliffies, but then again it's a part and parcel of mystery fics and that's what I'm writing.
Macy, Hiya dear girl! You are sweet as well for leaving so many reviews. –glomps readers- :D There are hints all over, so count them in your next review! Ta!
Yorvillebird, Thankies. Here's more for you!
NuvaChaos, Thank you!
RyougaZell, Hehe. He was upto something all right. Read, A/N and my answer to Silver Warrior to get some more info. ;)
So, without further ado. Next chapter, up for grabs!
Chapter 25 – Detour at Gringotts
Harry stared at Colin in disbelief as he toppled to the floor in a crumpled heap.
"Colin!" Harry hurried towards his falling body. He didn't know what Colin had been doing in his room, but he sure would like to find out.
"Harry!" Ron and Ginny burst into the room just then, closely followed by Hermione.
They could only see the faint silhouette of Harry with his Lumosed wand hovering uncertainly over Colin's body. Harry turned towards them in confusion as they stared at the stunned body. As if on reflex, they all started to explain simultaneously why they were there, where they had been and what they had found, along with lighting their wands.
Harry wanted Dumbledore to enter his room and utter in his authoritative voice, "Silence!" even if it was wishful thinking.
Hermione filled in for the Headmaster and shut the babbling Ron and fidgety Ginny to silence, with, "Would you two calm down? Honestly!" She lit the torches and candles of the room and stared at Harry, silently asking for an explanation.
In the light, the scene looked more melodramatic. Colin was lying senseless on the floor, while Harry guiltily hovered over the body.
"I didn't do anything," said Harry, simply.
"We are not blaming you, mate," Ron assured, and swooped down to check Colin's pulse. "He's fainted, I reckon."
Hermione double-checked and made sure of any other indications but got none. Colin seemed just out cold.
"Maybe you scared him to death?" Ron cracked, and received disapproving glares from the girls and a half-smile from Harry.
Ginny took out the Marauder's Map from her robe pocket and pointed towards it. "Well… we got a little worried after your departure from the Great Hall; so we took the map out of your trunk and used it. We had been guarding Dumbledore's office entrance until—"
"Filch arrived and we had to scram." Ron made a face.
"And just as we dodged the tailing Mrs. Norris, we saw that you were out of the office already. So we moved towards a short-cut, seeing later that Colin was already examining your room," Hermione finished.
Harry shook his head in frustration. "I dunno what he was doing here… It was dark when I entered the room, but I felt that there was someone else here. And I somehow knew that it couldn't be Ron, Neville, or even Dean or Seamus." Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"As soon as I lit my wand and saw Colin, he was already falling into a heap. I didn't even stun him!" Harry sounded perplexed.
He was aware of the dormant powers in him that he had first tasted in his human transfiguration class. He tested it on Malfoy—not voluntarily—but still it had produced the desired results. Had he involuntarily stunned Colin because of his own shock of seeing a person flitting through his things? Was he responsible for this? Honestly, he didn't know.
"We better take care of him," Hermione said worriedly, looking towards Ginny.
She got the signal and conjured a stretcher.
At that exact moment, Dean and Seamus entered the room and their chatter died down, as they looked at the slumped body of Colin's, hovering above the ground in a stretcher guided by Hermione and Ginny.
"It's a long story, you two. Why don't you help us carry him and we'll fill you in on what exactly happened?" Hermione offered, and winked at Harry.
Harry was more than grateful of this gesture. What he didn't need right now was more questions about the mysterious appearance of a junior Gryffindor in their room.
"Look, that drawer is open." Ginny whispered to Harry, before moving out of the room, indicating towards the side-table near his four-poster. The same drawer, in which he had sealed all his sixteenth birthday gifts, except for the orange globe that Dumbledore had gifted him.
He checked and saw that everything was still there, along with the mirror that Sirius had given him. However, the contents looked strewn, as if hurriedly shoved back inside. "I can't think of a single reason why Colin would go through this, unless he's the one plotting to kill me," Harry said uncertainly, not wanting to believe what his common sense was telling him.
"I don't think so, mate," Ron said, doubtfully. "You are his hero, Harry. How could he plot to kill you?"
"Then what was he doing in here?" Harry indicated towards the foe-glass and Sirius's mirror and even his diary.
"I dunno… He doesn't look the type, that's all I'm saying. It doesn't match," Ron concluded, vaguely.
"That reminds me. I don't see anything special going on between you and Hermione."
Ron flushed. "I—I… I'll ask her tomorrow. It's the Hogsmeade weekend, remember?" Seeing Harry roll his eyes, Ron continued, "I swear, I'll tell her tomorrow."
"Yeah, riiight." Harry shook his head derisively. "What happened the last time you were all fired up for it?"
"She started talking about the history of scrolls, and I just lost it."
-x-
Harry awoke to a dim room. The twilight sky welcomed him as he opened his eyes. He hadn't dreamt and the sleep had been short and peaceful. He felt refreshed after a long time. His limbs were moving and he was not injured.
Good thing, that, he thought, ruefully, sliding out of his four-poster.
As it was quite early, everyone else was sleeping quite peacefully; soft snores punctuated the air, while the morning light tried to penetrate the bed curtains of his roommates.
After freshening up and putting on his school robes, Harry stretched elaborately. No one was awake still, and he realized that this was a great time to relocate some sensitive stuff out of his drawer.
So he took out the Foe-glass, Sirius's diary and mirror and placed it into the inside pocket of his invisibility cloak, and then shrunk the cloak to fill one of the inside pockets of his school-robe. With a second thought, he took out the mirror that Lupin had given him and made for downstairs.
As he had predicted, the Gryffindor common room was totally deserted and he had more than an hour before it started to fill with students.
He plopped down on his favorite couch and took out the mirror, calling out, "Remus Lupin!"
He was about to call the second time when Lupin's tired, but totally awake face peered out of the mirror. "Harry? Up so early?"
"I should ask you the same thing." Seeing Lupin fidget, Harry concluded, "On an Order mission?"
Lupin's smile answered his query. "We'll be meeting up today, Harry. Dumbledore told me that you were very insistent on going to Gringotts. Was it because of that dream you had?"
"Yeah, I think… No, I'm sure that I will find it in my vault."
"The Air Scroll… Are you sure, Harry? The Order could always do that for you—"
"No, you don't understand. I want to do it myself; see it for myself..."
"Harry—"
"I did not call to talk about this, Lupin," Harry said edgily. "I wanted to find out about what kind of work my parents did."
"Didn't Dumbledore tell you that they were Unspeakables?"
"He did, but I want to find out more… Do you know how many worlds they explored? Was it one or more than one?" Harry asked urgently, remembering the world of the broken sun, and about the unknown destinations of the Scrolls of Earth, Water, and Fire, which according to Dumbledore were scattered around worlds.
"Harry, you know what happened in the last years… even when they joined forces, they were not allowed to divulge whatever they did to outsiders, not even to their friends. When we found out that Voldemort was bent on finding your parents, we distrusted each other. Sirius thought I was the sneak while I had my doubts over him and Peter. Obviously, Peter saved himself because he seemed so harmless and devoid of any intellect….
"How wrong we were about him, I realize that now." Lupin's face creased with disgust. "I think you know more than me, Harry. You have Sirius's diary; you can go and find out. Sirius quit early on, but still during their training he was usually assigned with them."
"Sirius quit!" Harry's eyes dilated in shock.
"He drifted out of it. He told us that he wasn't interested anymore. But the unofficial reason was that he wanted to work for the Order, fulltime. His training as an Unspeakable had always been an asset to him."
"Is that—" Harry faltered, hearing a rustle and a gasp just behind him. Swiftly, he hid the mirror in his robe and turned to find Crookshanks making his way towards him. However, it was not Crookshanks who had made that sound; it was Ginny, who now looked mortified, standing near the girls' dormitory's entrance.
Crookshanks must have startled her, while making his way to the common room. The ginger fur ball of a cat sauntered towards him leisurely and started rubbing himself against his legs.
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop…" Ginny stuttered, while a flush rose in her cheeks. She seemed to Harry, a little girl who had just been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar.
"How long—" Harry started, "How long have you been standing there?"
The flush deepened as, Ginny mumbled, "Er… from Gringotts?"
Harry sighed. "Just don't tell anyone about it."
"I wouldn't… You can count on me, Harry."
These simple words did wonders for Harry. It produced a genuine smile out of him. "Er… Thanks."
Harry did a double take and stared at Ginny. As she plodded into the common room, he noted that the black circles that he had depicted to be shadows across her face were in fact prominent black-circles around her eyes.
"Can't sleep?" he asked.
Ginny sat across Harry with her eyes downcast. "Yeah… I keep on having these nightmares—" she cutoff, realizing too late that she had spilled more than she ever wanted to.
"Go on," Harry urged.
"They are very incoherent; so I dunno what they really mean, but I keep on seeing this inferno… This huge inferno rising from some place…."
Harry was more than interested. He remembered his dream of the smoky snake; the way it always tried to sting him. "Maybe it's OWLs stress?"
"I guess." She didn't meet his eyes.
Crookshanks, after romping around the common room, jumped up and curled up on Ginny's lap. She, in turn, patted him affectionately.
It was then that Harry realized: he and Ginny were all alone in the common room. This awareness sent butterflies fluttering in his stomach.
"Why are you going to the Diagon Alley?" Ginny asked, curiously.
He thought of making an excuse. Ginny knew a few of the developments, but not all of them. However, looking at her, propped serenely on the chair across from him, he blurted out the truth. "I need to fetch something important from my vault."
She glanced at him inquisitively as if scanning for a catch, she didn't get any.
Changing the subject, Harry asked what first came to his mind, "How's Colin?"
From Ginny's expression, it was quite evident that something serious had happened. Her forehead momentarily creased with worry as she hesitated before finally speaking. "Even Madam Pomfrey doesn't know what's wrong with him…"
"What?" Harry couldn't believe his ears. "Wasn't he simply stunned?
"What's wrong with him?"
Ginny took a deep breath, and continued, "According to Madam Pomfrey, it is some advanced magic. He is stunned but somehow can't be enervated. Obviously a basilisk couldn't be lurking around your room, so that's out of question." She looked at him curiously. "Madam Pomfrey has requested Mandrake's Potion from Professor Sprout and that would be the last resort for Colin."
Harry felt guilty for some reason. Did Colin get stunned because of his unknown powers? Could he use it even without knowing?
"Harry, it isn't you fault," said Ginny, looking at his worried expression. "He was the one snooping around your room, not vice versa."
Harry was just thinking of something witty to say, when a few fifth-year girls showed up from their stairway. They giggled seeing Harry alone with Ginny. They, in turn, increased their distance by sliding in the opposite directions as if hit by an electric bolt. Crookshank's comfort was frayed; he huffily stalked off towards a lonesome chair in the corner and curled up on it.
There goes another chance, Harry thought, dully. He looked at Ginny's back as she stood up to leave the common room, probably with her classmates.
What are you doing? Shouldn't you ask her out to Hogsmeade? his mind screamed at him.
Reflexively, he bolted towards her. "Ginny?"
She turned around and looked at him warily. Her brilliant brown eyes seemed to question his motives.
"Would you go to Hogsmeade with me?" he blurted out in one breath.
Ginny's breath caught in her throat as her face split with a surprised smile. "Yes…" She looked down, while brushing some lose hair behind her ear.
Harry's heart thumped painfully in his chest. Adrenaline rushed throughout his body as he grinned stupidly at her. He was totally oblivious to the fifth-year girls who were giggling non-stop.
Ginny left the common room with a red face while Harry settled on a couch—he never liked, as it sagged—totally unconscious of the students that milled about him. Ron and Hermione soon joined him and he snapped out of his reverie after many nudges from the ruffled pair to tell them what he planned to do.
"Are you insane, Harry? You could get killed! Kidnapped—"
"Hermione, relax, a few Order members will be with me—"
Ron wasn't even swayed, as he quickly asked, "We are coming - right?"
Harry's face fell. "Er… I dunno…"
"We can't let you go alone! We'll go with you," Hermione insisted, while Ron nodded along.
"It's out of my hands." Harry shrugged uncomfortably.
Hermione sighed derisively. "This is the last time we are letting you go somewhere alone, Harry." She folded her arms. "And I mean it!"
"Put your hair on. I'll be fine."
Hermione looked on disapprovingly, while Ron tried his best to be normal and whisper dueling strategies in his ear.
As an afterthought, Harry elbowed Ron and cocked his head at Hermione. Just as he had predicted, Ron still hadn't ask her out for the Hogsmeade trip.
"Hermione," Harry turned towards her, while Ron kicked him below the table, but to no avail, "you're not planning to spend the afternoon in the library, are you?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "No. I was thinking of—"
"Why don't you go with Ron?" Harry chirped uncharacteristically. Ron colored and Hermione raised her eyebrow.
It was Harry's turn to painfully poke his best mate.
"Yeah, Hermione… Will you…" Ron's ears flamed red as he stuttered.
"Yes, Ron," Hermione said in a business manner.
However, Harry noted that there was nothing businesslike about the smile that she tried best to hide, but couldn't.
-x-
After breakfast, Professor McGonagall swooped in on the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, startling most of the students. However, to the relief of the House, her attention was completely fixed on Harry Potter.
"That's the signal, Harry," Hermione said, looking towards the tall and upright figure of their Head of House.
"Not that we could look over that steely glare," Ron muttered, while Hermione shushed him.
Harry stood up and waved a final goodbye to them. He was quite disappointed at not finding Ginny among them, even when she had been one of the early risers.
However, all the thoughts of Ginny raced out of his mind, as he was beckoned by Professor McGonagall, "Come on, Mister Potter."
She guided him towards Dumbledore's office, where he was happy to see, Lupin, Tonks, and Kingsley. Tonks greeted him with her usual, "Wotcher, Harry!", while Lupin and Kingsley nodded at him.
"This is still quite unusual, Harry," said Dumbledore, attracting his attention. "Just promise me that you'll remain with the group, come hell, water, or Death Eaters?"
"I promise." Harry had no intention of doing anything foolish. He wanted to get to the bottom of this whole mystery, and fast.
-x-
Harry's unruly hair whipped around his face, as he looked at the many stone passageways of Gringotts bank; however, the journey was so fast that he couldn't glimpse a single detail except for a blur of flame torches streaking past their cart along the uneven and unending tunnels.
The journey from Dumbledore's office to Diagon Alley had gone quite smoothly for Harry. Fawkes had transported him along with his guard in a flash of orange flames. It had been more relaxing than a Portkey journey. He had only felt weightlessness for a moment and in a flash he had been standing in a quiet, dark alleyway of Diagon Alley.
Harry had been so ready for an ambush that seeing no suspicious hooded figures near the Gringotts bank almost disappointed him. He was glad that none of his escorts knew Legilimency.
Their Goblin guide today was Griphook. Harry had smiled at him in recognition, only to receive a blank stare in return.
Maybe these goblins were taught to be discreet? Harry had shrugged, and holed up in the cart along with his guard. It was a miracle that the three in question—Kingsley, Lupin, and Tonks—had fit in the tiny cart somehow. Griphook had sat beside him across from the three stuck adults, who looked quite uncomfortable. Tonks had specifically gone bald for the cart-travel to save her and her neighbors' eyes. Kingsley didn't have to worry over such hairy matters. Lupin on the other hand had closed his eyes for the occasion.
Harry became alert seeing the familiar underground lake, decorated with huge stalagmite and stalactites. The cart shuddered to halt beside his vault and Griphook slid out, totally unruffled and trooped onwards. Tonks was helped out by Lupin and they both took a while to steady their breaths, Tonks more so. Kingsley looked ready as go.
With an angry green hiss, Harry's family vault opened up to reveal his usual fortune. Harry could almost swear that his fortune had increased almost twofold since the last time he had been there. The sparkling Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts, however, weren't able to hold his attention, as he plunged into the vault, looking for something else altogether. Griphook looked questioningly at the Order members who stood guard outside the vault—Lupin, peering in, standing just beyond the vault door, while Kingsley and Tonks maintained an outside lookout—without uttering a single word.
Harry went crazy and started looking around for something mysterious, something ominous, anything at all.
This was the first time that Harry actually saw the vault's back, which was filled with yet more golden Galleons. The middle heap looked higher than the rest of the columns, so he disturbed it, digging into the stacked coins with his hands. He could almost feel the angry glare of Griphook's on his back for making a mess of his vault, but it was his money wasn't it? It was his to make a mess of, right?
He nodded his head to answer his own questions, and continued his pitch. Just as he was about to leave the central heap, his hand touched a cold and uneven surface.
Lupin understood Harry's elated expression as he came closer to help him with the digging. With few more strokes, they were able to expose an extremely old chest. It was carved out of a single huge rock, sealed by magical means.
Harry and Lupin shared grins. They could almost feel that they had come to some juncture. However, all the elation withered down when they tried to lift the chest. It was quite heavy, and they simply couldn't do it.
Seeing their struggle, Kingsley and Tonks joined them as well.
"Maybe we ought to open it as it is?" Kingsley suggested, after he had tried his hand on it.
Harry was totally exhausted from all the digging and trying at lifting. The humid air of the vault was a part of it as well, which was making them perspire heavily.
Lupin wiped his brow and tried the easiest spell first. "Alohamora!"
Nothing happened.
"Apertio!" Lupin looked at Kingsley and Tonks.
"Effringo!"
"Erumpo!"
"Patesco!"
No response.
Kingsley, Tonks, and Lupin, all looked at Harry for some input.
He said what came to him first. "Open up!"
The adults exhaled air and exchanged looks. While Harry disappointedly thought, The blundering Boy-Who-Lived, who'll save the whole magical community… Can't even open a silly old chest. What a joke!
"There are no markings whatsoever on this chest," said Tonks, examining the chest closely. "It's not even apparent what kind of magic sealed it."
Harry ran all the Unicorns of his mind, but came up with nothing. He looked helplessly at the guard with the realization that this chest could contain what he came looking for.
"You knew my parents, Remus… Can't you think of any intimate term that they used between them?"
"Well, Marauders what comes to mind, but Lily wasn't part of it." Lupin tried "Prongs!" on the chest. The old chest kept shut dully.
After thinking it over, Lupin suggested, "Can't you remember anything from the dreams or memories that you've been seeing?"
It was this comment which struck Harry. Maybe he knew something after all. With a hint of dread and veiled excitement, Harry repeated the words, which for some time had even mystified himself.
"Let those who rest more deeply sleep,
Let those awake their vigils keep..."
The chest shuddered, and with a loud thunk the stone chest opened, issuing white brilliant fumes. Harry's couldn't see the contents of the chest as he slid back in shock, seeing the two tiny projected gossamer figures, just above the chest. It seemed as if the opening of the chest had awakened them.
As the image cleared, everybody gasped.
Harry's heart jumped in his chest as he realized who those tiny figures were. He was suddenly reminded of the time Dumbledore had told him about the prophecy; how the projected image of Professor Trelawney over the swirling contents of the Pensieve had told him about his future destiny.
The two figures in question, however, were his parents, Lily and James Potter. They stood hand in hand looking at a specific point in front of them.
"Harry," his mother started, "if you have found this. It means that we are not among the living… I hope you are all right, my son." Lily gave a dry sob and Harry's heart went out to her.
He watched them hungrily, not even blinking, as the emotions welled in his heart, totally oblivious to the three Order members huddled close beside him.
James pressed Lily's shoulder, as he started, "This chest contains a very important piece of a powerful puzzle, and shouldn't in any way find its way in the hands of Voldemort." James's expressions became grave, as he continued on, "This is the Ventosus Scroll, a part of the Vita Scroll. Lily acquired it after bonding with a mystical Griffin. We swore that we wouldn't let it fall in the wrong hands and so we protected it just as we protected you from harm's way."
"Dumbledore must have informed you about what's to come next and we feel awful that we are not there beside you." Pure pain punctuated Lily's voice.
"I hope that you are well, Harry. You were vibrant from day one, grasping my thumb as if to break my bones—"
"James!"
"And you do play Quidditch - right?"
"James Harry Potter!" Lily bellowed, while James smiled and winked at Harry.
"We love you, son. Just remember that!" said James, his face quite serious.
"Yes, we love you more than life itself." His mother blew him a kiss.
"You don't have to tell me," Harry whispered to himself, as their image started wavering. He thought it was because of his tears but blinking them back, he found that the message was ending.
"Protect the scroll, Harry."James' voice echoed in the vault, and the cloud of white fumes on which their images were projected dispersed to reveal the Ventosus Scroll inside the chest.
Harry took it out carefully, and shrank it to fit in his robe-pocket, not even opening it. Lupin looked at him solemnly and Harry nodded towards him, taking a deep ragged breath.
Both of them made for the entrance, where Kingsley, Tonks, and Griphook were waiting for them.
-x-
Come out! Come out, wherever you are! You are not getting any further from here, Potter.
This is your last day on this earth! He smiled his first satisfactory smile in months.
-x-X-x-
You know what to do! Place your bets for the mysterious person. I mean NOW!
Next Chapter: (Taken by Surprise): So, what happens when Death Eaters flock Gringotts? And some very interesting developments come about? -Coming Soon!-
