Potter47 ~ Part Three ~
Prisoners of the Mind "We have met the enemy and he is us."
~ Walt Kelly ~ Chapter Eleven ~
Not at Home
"So," asked Ginny, once she could open her eyes again, "when do you think we are?"
"Dunno," said Harry. "But I certainly hope we're home. I think I've run out of relatives."
"Only one way to find out," she said, standing up.
She walked to the door of the Head Boy's room, and Harry followed. He couldn't help but think of how close that had been.
What's it to you?
Yes, that had been close.
They made their way down the stairs, to the common room. Harry had greatly hoped that Ron or Hermione would be there, so he could know right off when they were, but, as it was the middle of the night, it was empty. Not a creature was stirring. Not even a mouse.
So they left through the portrait hole. The Fat Lady was snoozing. No one was in the hallway. They made their way toward Dumbledore's office - at least, what they hoped was Dumbledore's office. Harry could just imagine running into his great grandfather and his red haired girlfriend....
No! Don't think of red hair right now!
For Harry was having quite a bit of trouble tearing his sight away from the back of Ginny's head. It seemed that nothing would distract him from the fiery mane....
"Potter!"
That did. Harry's head snapped up at once. For he knew that voice. He could never forget that voice. It was the very voice that had greeted him in nineteen seventy-eight....
"Professor Snape!"
They had arrived at the stone gargoyle, and it had just moved aside to reveal the Potions Master. Who would've thought...Harry was happy to see Snape. And Snape actually didn't seem that disappointed to see him either.
"Follow me," the Potions Master said, and turned right back around, leading the way up the stairs.
Harry and Ginny followed, and this time Harry purposely went before Ginny, so as to not stare.
When they reached the top, Dumbledore was there waiting for them. "You're back!" he said, not sounding his age at all.
"So are you," said Ginny, and Harry remembered that Dumbledore had indeed not been at Hogwarts when they left.
"Well, yes, but technically Severus is headmaster at this time. I just happen to be here."
"Snape?" said Harry incredulously, completely forgetting the fact that the Potions Master was standing not two feet from him. "Headmaster?"
"Professor Snape, Harry," corrected Dumbledore.
"Excuse me," said Snape, "but I believe there are more important things at hand right now than discussing my position in this school."
"Of course, Headmaster," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.
"More important things?" said Ginny. "Something happened?"
"I'm afraid so, Virginia," said Dumbledore, serious once again. "Three of your friends, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, and Miss Lovegood, have been kidnapped."
"Kidnapped?" said Harry. "Why? What does Voldemort want with them?"
But Ginny seemed to be thinking along other lines. "Three?" she repeated. "What about Neville?"
"Ah," said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling just a bit, "we come to the good part of the tale. Mr. Longbottom is, as one might put it, the monkey that got away."
"Monkey?"
"Oh, I recently read a Muggle book, called 'Curious George,' and-" He stopped short at a look from the Potions Master. I mean, a look from the Headmaster, excuse me.
"Not the time," Dumbledore said. "But Mr. Longbottom did indeed get away. He outran Bellatrix Lestrange through the school, until he ran into our Potions Master. Mrs. Lestrange must have thought her luck incredible that she happened to run into a loyal Death Eater. Professor Snape hid him in a nearby closet, and Bellatrix ran right by. Mr. Longbottom is currently safe in his dormitory. His parents would be proud."
Dumbledore looked down for a moment, as if contemplating telling something else, but he thought better of it. He shook his head slightly as if to say, 'Soon, but not now. Soon.'
"What about the others?" said Harry urgently. "Where are they? Are they all right?"
"Harry," said Dumbledore calmly, "you of course remember last year. In the graveyard, by his father's grave. You remember?"
Harry nodded. He realised that this was the first time since that night, June 24, that Dumbledore had spoken directly at him. Looked him in the face. It felt oddly reassuring, as though everything was back to normal, even though it was so far from the truth.
"There was a house. By the graveyard. It was on a hill, overlooking a village. The village of Little Hangleton. It was called 'the Riddle House,' as the Riddle family had lived there, many years before. The house was not a usual house. It was Muggle, of course, but it was quite old. The owners had a dungeon built in the basement. That is where your friends are being held."
"How do you know?" asked Ginny. "How do you know where they are?"
"Voldemort summoned the Death Eaters there. Severus, having a quite good excuse, as he is the Headmaster at the moment, did not report to him. He did however, tell me where Voldemort is."
"I was just about to go there, actually, when you two turned up," said Snape. "I hope to be able to speak with them. Granger might actually be able to think of something to get them out of there. We certainly haven't."
It was odd, hearing Snape's voice without any sarcasm. Not teasing, or mocking. As if he actually did think Hermione might have an idea. It seemed Snape actually might care about the outcome of the odyssey they were all so very wrapped up in. It was actually clear, if only for a moment, that he wanted the right side to win.
Ron would be shocked.
Sniff, sniff.
All the way up the stairs, up from the dungeon, that was what Hermione heard. It seemed as though Wormtail was smelling her. It really was disgusting.
"Will you stop that?" she said, irritated, over her shoulder.
"Stop what?" asked Wormtail, as if he didn't know.
"Stop...sniffing," she said, annoyed.
As soon as she said it, she wished she hadn't, as now the pathetic man behind her purposely sniffed loudly. Right in her ear. It was taking all the self control she possessed to keep herself from ripping his nose right off.
The hallways of the house looked quite old. The walls were covered with dust, and the floor looked as though it would have been too, had it not been walked on quite a bit recently. There were no pictures on the walls, but, of course, that was to be expected. The house had been empty for decades.
They kept walking. When they reached the second floor landing, Hermione could see where they were headed. A door, at the very end of the passage, stood ajar. They walked up to it, Wormtail never ceasing his sniffing.
As they came to the door, Wormtail stepped in front of Hermione, as if something horrible would happen if it was her and not him who touched the doorknob.
"Here she is, my lord," said Wormtail, opening the door.
"Very good, Wormtail. Shut the door behind her," came a high voice from the armchair in the chamber. It was faced toward the fire, and once again, memories flashed through Wormtail's mind.
"Very well, my lord." Hermione stepped into the room, and he closed the door. It shut with a loud click.
"So," asked Dumbledore, after Snape had left the office, heading toward Little Hangleton, "what have you two been up to?"
"Well," said Ginny, "once we got out of the Ministry, we took the Knight Bus to Hogwarts..."
"You met Frank?" asked Dumbledore, smiling.
"Frank?" asked Harry. He did not remember a Frank. Unless...no, it couldn't be....
"The conductor. Frank Franklin. A great fan of the Muggle cinema. He was a good friend of mine, until he was killed by Grindelwald..."
...People always are interrupting me, and frankly, I don't like it...frankly, I don't like it when people try to ride the Knight Bus for free...I don't know why, but frankly, I just love those Muggle films...
"Oh, yes. We did," said Ginny. "He didn't tell us his name, though..."
They told him of how Riddle kidnapped Ginny. Of the Tempus Fugit spell. Of their escape. Everything that happened in between their meetings with the Headmaster.
"Did you mind sharing the Head Boy's room?" he asked, eyes twinkling. "I am greatly sorry, that there was no where else available..."
Harry blushed brightly, and Ginny said, "No, not at all."
Then they told of meeting Harry's parents.
"And then," said Ginny, "Harry's father took him aside for something, I dunno what, and..."
Dumbledore looked up, as if to question Harry, but thought better of it. Harry thought positive that his face was redder than Ginny's hair, which was the very thing that made his face such a hue. Dumbledore clearly had put two and two together, for he did not question further.
"...then we Obliviated them. I did Harry's mum and Professor Lupin, Harry did his dad, Sirius, and Wormtail."
"You were concentrating when you did so, correct? If your mind was to wander, then the charms might not have worked correctly."
"Yes," said Ginny confidently.
"Er..." Harry was thinking back. When he did the charms on James and Sirius, he was sure he concentrated. But on Wormtail...that was when his father had whispered in his ear. His mind may have wandered. Wormtail might remember. "I think so...."
"Well, it doesn't really matter does it?" said Ginny. "We're both back, so if anyone remembered anything, it didn't affect the future."
"I suppose so," said Dumbledore. He was looking shrewdly at Harry. Harry was sure that Dumbledore was looking through him.
"AHHH!" Harry screamed, collapsing forward, onto the desk. His scar seared. Ginny got up at once and helped Harry back into his chair. Dumbledore sat back in his seat, as though afraid. As if he was deadly afraid of the young man in front of him. His eyes were wide, and mouth slightly open.
But Harry was unaware of this. He was unaware of anything but the pain. His head was ripping apart, it seemed. And there was no end in sight.
The Dark Lord sat, in his high backed chair, facing the fire. Nagini was curled around his feet, warming her head.
"How nice it is to meet you at last, Miss Granger," he said to the girl in the doorway. He couldn't see her of course, but Lord Voldemort hadn't needed to see someone enter a room for quite a while. He could sense her. Smell her. Feel her. Her very presence invaded his mind, announcing her arrival.
"Can't say the same," came Hermione's voice, "Voldemort."
"Well," he said, "it's taken long enough for Dumbledore to convince someone to call me by that name."
"He didn't. Harry did. Without even trying to."
Voldemort could smell the bile rising in her throat. She would vomit soon, if she wasn't careful.
"Why don't you come over here, like a nice little Gryffindor, and we can have a nice chat," the Dark Lord asked.
"I'd pr-prefer not to."
She held the vomit down. Impressive.
"Fine then."
The Dark Lord stood, his snake uncoiling itself from his feet. He turned, to see the girl struggling to keep still. To stop herself from shaking.
She was about a foot shorter than him. He towered above her, and she kept her gaze down.
"So," he said, "you cursed Lucius?"
She tried to keep silent, but an invisible hand seemed to seize the top of her head, and pushed, forcing her to nod.
"I daresay he deserved it," he said. "It's his own fault you had a wand. He felt it was too easy to simply kidnap you, like the rest. That he had to make your kidnapping special. Look at how that turned out."
"Why did you kidnap us?" asked Hermione, looking up into his face. "Just because we're his friends? There must be another reason."
"Yes, well, everything does seem to happen for a reason. Maybe there's more than one, maybe there's not."
"Why did you want to speak to me?" she asked.
"I wanted information," informed the Dark Lord. "Potter believed that Black was at the Ministry once, but he won't again. Who's next? Who would Harry Potter give his life for? Who would he give anything to save?"
"Like I'd tell you."
"Ah, but you already have."
Her gaze snapped back up. Brown eyes met red, and that was exactly what the Dark Lord wanted. He saw everything, when their eyes met. He saw her thoughts, her secrets. For he did not need a wand for Legilimency. Especially when there was eye contact.
"Miss Weasley?" he said. "I heard he saved her before. In his second year. From me, actually...but...I didn't think..."
This was not good. For the Dark Lord, that is.
"AHHH!"
Harry's eyes suddenly sprang open. He had been there. In the Riddle House. In that room. In Voldemort.
"What is it, Harry?" asked Ginny worriedly. "What did you see?"
"Yes, Harry," said Dumbledore, sitting straight once again, and looking into Harry's eyes. "What did you see?"
"Voldemort...he...he was with Hermione. Talking...talking about me."
"About you?" asked Dumbledore. "What about you?"
"Well, first, Voldemort said that Hermione had cursed Malfoy. I dunno how, I would of thought they'd of taken her wand..."
"And?"
"Hermione was trying not to throw up. I could..."
"You could what, Harry?" asked Dumbledore, still looking into the depths of Harry's emerald eyes.
"I could smell it."
Dumbledore's eyes narrowed. "You were Voldemort again, weren't you? You saw what he saw?"
"Yes."
"Say no more, Harry. Say no more." Dumbledore stood up from his chair.
"Wait," said Ginny. "Wait. Don't you want to know what Voldemort was saying? About Harry? Don't you care?"
"I already know, Virginia," said Dumbledore, looking into Ginny's eyes now. "And deep down, you do, too."
No one said anything for a few moments.
"What do we do now?" asked Harry.
"You wait here," he said. "And rest."
"Where are you going?" Ginny asked.
"I need to retrieve something that was borrowed before I left the school. I think it may be useful."
And he left. Walked right out the door.
"Won't people see him?" said Ginny, to herself, or to Harry. She wasn't sure. "Won't people tell the Ministry where he is?"
"No," said Harry, shaking his head. "If he doesn't want to be seen, he isn't seen."
They were silent after that. Harry, his eyes closed, rubbing his forehead, and Ginny, eyes wide, her gaze never leaving the door. The only sound was the comforting trills of Fawkes, who had settled himself on the arm of Harry's chair.
Someone to Trust "There is none so blind as they that won't see."
~ Jonathan Swift ~ Coming Soon ~
