Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and
owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to
Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros.,
Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is
intended.
Chapter 13
A Sense of Normalcy
Harry woke up with a jolt with Aberforth standing over him and the body of his mentor hovering in the background. He couldn't say how long he had been out, however it probably wasn't too long. Aberforth had a deep look of concern on his face as Harry tried to regain his bearings.
"What happened Harry?" Aberforth said frantically as he helped Harry get to his feet. "Are you alright?"
"I don't know." Harry responded. In one sense, he didn't know exactly why he collapsed, but he knew it had to do with Voldemort. He remembered seeing flashes of things in his head as his scar began to emit excruciating pain, but presently he couldn't remember any specific details about those flashes. "My scar started to hurt and then I collapsed."
"You need to do your best to control this connection you have with Voldemort." The professor mentioned as he left Harry and began to attend to the body of his brother. "Occlumency will help you with that."
Harry nodded. "I start Occlumency lessons with Snape again this week."
"Good. Take it seriously Harry. Voldemort has too much access to your mind. He above all over people must not find out about Albus." Harry agreed and together with Aberforth they began to set up a suitable space for Dumbledore to recover. Aberforth conjured a bed and pillows out of thin air and put some sort of barrier charm around the bed that he said would keep a steady flow of clean air going at all times. Harry reasoned that he had not seen many people pull off such complicated magic so easily and thought that Aberforth would surely be able to impersonate Dumbledore effectively.
"Alright then Harry." Aberforth said as he surveyed the room. "It seems as though we have everything in order right now." He motioned for Fawkes and explained to Harry that it would be important for him to check on Dumbledore as often as he could. Harry took one last look at his headmaster and realized how truly lucky was to have such an intelligent wizard in his corner all these years. He just wished that he would wake up. There were so many things he needed to ask him. The most important being whose blood was it that Dumbledore had acquired.
"Are you ready Harry?" Aberforth said as he grabbed ahold of Fawke's tail. Harry nodded in agreement and as Fawkes lifted Aberforth of the ground, Harry grabbed on to his legs. They started flying back up the pipe that had taken them to the Chamber and the wind was whisking past Harry's ears when he had a thought. If he could find out whose blood Dumbledore had acquired, then maybe he could find out what made Dumbledore so ill and they could cure him. He would definitely need the help of his friends if he was going to face a task of that magnitude which would mean that he would have to tell them a lot of things that Dumbledore had instructed not to.
"Brace yourself Harry." Aberforth yelled which instantaneously snapped Harry out of the deep thought he was in. Fawkes shot up through the top of the pipe and came to a quick stop near the ceiling. Aberforth and Harry were whip lashed a little but then settled in on the floor of the bathroom.
Aberforth handed Harry back his invisibility cloak. "Take this and get back to Gryffindor Tower. Remember tomorrow will bring a bit of a shock for a lot of people, be prepared."
"I will sir." Harry responded as he threw the cloak over himself. "By the way sir. Who are you going to get to be the DADA teacher now? Will you just teach it as Dumbledore?"
"No no, I expect that there will be much to do when I take over duties as Dumbledore. I will have a new teacher here on Monday."
"Well." Harry said as he continued to stare at Aberforth. "Who is it?"
"Let's just say that it's a surprise." Aberforth replied with a mischievous look on his face. "But I expect you'll approve of my choice." Harry nodded with a smile and headed out of the bathroom.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Harry told the Maurader's Map as he held it out in front of himself. There wasn't much activity going on. He noticed that Filch was in his office and that McGonagall was in the Astronomy Tower for some reason. So it seemed that he would be able to get back to the common room with no problem.
When he arrived, the fat lady was fast asleep and was not very happy when Harry woke her up to get in. She even told him to get right to bed. It had been a tiring day so he took her advice and he was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.
The next morning, Harry woke up to Ron shaking him very harshly.
"Get up Harry, come on get up there's great news." Harry already knew exactly what this great news was and would have actually liked to sleep a little longer. But appearances had to be kept up and Harry knew that it would seem odd to everyone if he didn't have a reaction to Dumbledore's miraculous recovery. "Dumbledore is awake Harry."
Harry tried to imagine that he had been told something much more revealing and responded by jumping up and down and throwing his close on as quickly as possible. They ran down the stairs to the common room and by the looks of it, you would think that Gryffindor just won the house cup. Everybody was excited and people were actually setting off fireworks. Harry even saw a few Butterbeers being passed around. As he looked around, he saw Hermione, Ginny, and Neville sitting together in the corner of the room. Neville spotted Harry and the three of them jetted across the room.
"Isn't it great Harry?" Hermione said as she threw her arms around him. Ron cringed a little and Harry did his best fake smile.
"Yea, it's wonderful." Harry responded. He saw Ginny give him a peculiar look out of the corner of his eye but when he turned to face her, she flashed him a big smile. Neville was telling Ron and Hermione about how his gran had been so worried when she heard about Dumbledore that she thought about pulling him out of Hogwarts. While they were distracted, Ginny came next to Harry with a curious smile still on her face.
"You don't seem that surprised that Dumbledore is awake." She said, not quite whispering but not talking loud enough for anyone else to hear her.
"Oh I am." Harry said as he threw his arms around her and pulled her into a celebratory hug. He was trying his best to relieve her suspicions and figured it must have worked because she began to blush and smile and she didn't mention her skepticism again. They continued to celebrate with the rest of the Gryffindors until McGonagall came in.
"Mr. Potter." She said as she came through the door of the common room. "The headmaster would like to see you." Everyone turned their attention to Harry as he approached the Transfiguration teacher whose facial expression was similar to Harry's when he was told about Dumbledore's recovery. She led Harry in silence through the corridors until they came to the familiar gargoyle statues that guarded Dumbledore's office. McGonagall said the password, which Harry didn't hear clearly, but he thought it sounded like "Goat's Milk". She then entered the spiral staircase first and Harry followed right after her.
"Ah Harry, come in come in." Aberforth said, doing his best Dumbledore impression. "Pleas sit down." Harry sat across from Aberforth and then noticed his eyes trace upward to focus on Professor McGonagall.
"If you don't mind Minerva." He said motioning to the door with his eyes. McGonagall seemed like she was a little bit taken by surprise initially but then left without another word. As the door closed and Aberforth was convinced that they were alone he looked down at Harry and spoke.
"It seems as though our plan has worked well Harry." He smiled. "If I can fool Professor McGonagall, then I am sure I will be able to fool anyone."
"You do look quite convincing sir." Harry replied.
"Good. Now then, the reason I wanted to see you was to tell you that things must go back to normal now as much as possible. Which means that we cannot have to many meetings together, and when we do, we must keep them a secret. The only difference is that you are going to have to check in on Albus when you can. If there is any change in his condition, let me know immediately."
Harry nodded in agreement. "I will"
"Alright, then I will contact you when I need to speak with you again."
"Ok." Harry responded. "Good luck."
"Thank you Harry." He said as he leaned back in his chair. Harry bid him goodbye and headed back to the Gryffindor common room. When he got there he noticed that the celebration had died down a bit. He headed to the loo to shower and change and when he got back his friends were waiting for him.
"So what did Dumbledore say Harry?" Ron asked excitedly as Harry approached them. "Not much, he just wanted to assure me that he was fine." He wasn't sure if they bought it, but it was all that he could afford to tell them. He tried to change the subject as quickly as possible. "Why don't we head down for breakfast?"
"Great idea." Ron said as he grabbed his stomach. "I'm starving."
"So what else is new?" Hermione said as she poked him right in the stomach. Everyone laughed and they headed down for breakfast. Ron and Hermione were walking ahead of Harry, Ginny and Neville bickering as usual, and Ginny was back to giving Harry queer looks. Thankfully, Harry was able to avoid any questions from Ginny because shortly after they set off down the hall, Neville tripped over his own feet and fell down a flight of stairs. Thankfully he was all right, however it didn't stop everyone from talking about it.
When the reached the Great Hall and sat down, Harry noticed that Aberforth was already there sitting in the headmaster's chair and he had a familiar old friend sitting next to him. Harry reasoned that this would be the Defense Against the Dark Art's teacher and he did indeed approve. Nobody else seemed to notice his presence and before they could Aberforth stood up and everyone, except for some of the Slytherins, broke in to a huge round of applause.
"Thank you everyone," He spoke loudly as he motioned for the crowd to sit down. "I am very fortunate to have the support of so many people here at Hogwarts. I would just like to say a few things and then we can start breakfast. First, I would like to assure everyone that I am in good health. I was suffering from nothing more than exhaustion, which I am now over so I don't want anyone to worry about me. Next, I have a piece of bad news and a piece of good news. I know that many of you enjoyed your first week of Defense Against the Dark arts as well as the new DA club with Professor Altesterio but unfortunately he will not be able to continue his duties as Professor."
A lot of whispering and shocked faces radiated through the hall. Harry did his best to look shocked as many people looked directly at him whenever some sort of news was revealed.
"Not to worry." Aberforth said as he attempted to quiet the crowd again. "I feel that I have found a suitable replacement. I would like everyone to welcome back Professor Remus Lupin."
Lupin stood up and was given a very nice round of applause. Many people had liked him as a professor. Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione and they were both as ecstatic as he was to have their old professor back. Harry felt that Professor Lupin was the last real connection he had to his parents since he was one of his father's best friends. He was the only real Marauder left and to Harry that made him very important.
"Yes, yes welcome back Professor Lupin." Aberforth said as the crowd began to quiet again. "Now not only will Professor Lupin teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he will also lead the DA club. We have decided that the DA club will meet every Tuesday and Thursday after dinner and every student regardless of year will be welcome. Now that we have that all taken care of, dig in." With a clap of Aberforth's hands, food appeared on the plates and they had a great breakfast. When they were done eating, Hermione mentioned that they should try and find Lupin to speak to him but it seemed that he was already gone so they headed back to the common room.
When they got there, Dean and a few other students were trying to organize a pickup game of Quidditch. Harry, Ron, and Ginny said that they would play and they all headed outside. It was a beautiful day with the sun shinning brightly and not many clouds in the sky. It was fairly hot, however there was a nice breeze the made it seem much cooler. Hermione and about ten or so other students came out to watch as they played. The whole Gryffindor team ended up playing (including the reserves). Harry decided that he and Ron should be captains and so they picked teams. They played two games, and Harry's team won them both by a slight margin because Harry had caught the snitch both times. Although, Ron was a little frustrated about his team losing, especially since he had only let up two goals the whole time.
Harry spent the rest of the day with Ron in the common room, playing chess. Hermione and Ginny had gone to the library so it gave Harry a chance to mention something to Ron that he had wanted to ask him about for a while now.
"Ron, if you don't mind me asking." Harry said as Ron made a move with his knight that wiped out one of Harry's pawns. "What is going on with Percy?" Harry could see that Ron tensed up when he heard the question and he glared at the chessboard for a minute before he shifted his attention to Harry.
"We don't really know Harry." Ron replied with a lot of emotion in his voice. "After the uh situation at the Ministry last year, Percy resigned from his job and then disappeared. Mum is completely distraught about it. We all figured that after it came out that you and Dumbledore were telling the truth about You Know Who's return, Percy would realize that he was being a bloody git and come home. But he didn't and no one has seen or heard from him."
"I'm sorry Ron." Was the only thing that Harry could think to say. Ron nodded his head and went back to concentrating on the game, which gave Harry the clue that he didn't want to discuss it any longer. Percy had most certainly been a git over the past year, but Harry never thought that he would go this far. Where was he? And why would he turn his back on his family when he knows deep down inside that they would welcome him back with open arms? There were too many questions and not enough answers Harry thought. But at least one questioned was answered today. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was his old friend Mooney.
Author's Note: A lot of people have been calling me evil for my use of cliffhangers, so I thought I would end this chapter without one. I know that this wasn't a terribly exciting chapter but hey at least we got Lupin back. In the next chapter we will have Harry's first Occlumency lesson, which will be very interesting, and Lupin will be back teaching DADA and running the DA. I appreciate your reviews, keep them up.
Chapter 13
A Sense of Normalcy
Harry woke up with a jolt with Aberforth standing over him and the body of his mentor hovering in the background. He couldn't say how long he had been out, however it probably wasn't too long. Aberforth had a deep look of concern on his face as Harry tried to regain his bearings.
"What happened Harry?" Aberforth said frantically as he helped Harry get to his feet. "Are you alright?"
"I don't know." Harry responded. In one sense, he didn't know exactly why he collapsed, but he knew it had to do with Voldemort. He remembered seeing flashes of things in his head as his scar began to emit excruciating pain, but presently he couldn't remember any specific details about those flashes. "My scar started to hurt and then I collapsed."
"You need to do your best to control this connection you have with Voldemort." The professor mentioned as he left Harry and began to attend to the body of his brother. "Occlumency will help you with that."
Harry nodded. "I start Occlumency lessons with Snape again this week."
"Good. Take it seriously Harry. Voldemort has too much access to your mind. He above all over people must not find out about Albus." Harry agreed and together with Aberforth they began to set up a suitable space for Dumbledore to recover. Aberforth conjured a bed and pillows out of thin air and put some sort of barrier charm around the bed that he said would keep a steady flow of clean air going at all times. Harry reasoned that he had not seen many people pull off such complicated magic so easily and thought that Aberforth would surely be able to impersonate Dumbledore effectively.
"Alright then Harry." Aberforth said as he surveyed the room. "It seems as though we have everything in order right now." He motioned for Fawkes and explained to Harry that it would be important for him to check on Dumbledore as often as he could. Harry took one last look at his headmaster and realized how truly lucky was to have such an intelligent wizard in his corner all these years. He just wished that he would wake up. There were so many things he needed to ask him. The most important being whose blood was it that Dumbledore had acquired.
"Are you ready Harry?" Aberforth said as he grabbed ahold of Fawke's tail. Harry nodded in agreement and as Fawkes lifted Aberforth of the ground, Harry grabbed on to his legs. They started flying back up the pipe that had taken them to the Chamber and the wind was whisking past Harry's ears when he had a thought. If he could find out whose blood Dumbledore had acquired, then maybe he could find out what made Dumbledore so ill and they could cure him. He would definitely need the help of his friends if he was going to face a task of that magnitude which would mean that he would have to tell them a lot of things that Dumbledore had instructed not to.
"Brace yourself Harry." Aberforth yelled which instantaneously snapped Harry out of the deep thought he was in. Fawkes shot up through the top of the pipe and came to a quick stop near the ceiling. Aberforth and Harry were whip lashed a little but then settled in on the floor of the bathroom.
Aberforth handed Harry back his invisibility cloak. "Take this and get back to Gryffindor Tower. Remember tomorrow will bring a bit of a shock for a lot of people, be prepared."
"I will sir." Harry responded as he threw the cloak over himself. "By the way sir. Who are you going to get to be the DADA teacher now? Will you just teach it as Dumbledore?"
"No no, I expect that there will be much to do when I take over duties as Dumbledore. I will have a new teacher here on Monday."
"Well." Harry said as he continued to stare at Aberforth. "Who is it?"
"Let's just say that it's a surprise." Aberforth replied with a mischievous look on his face. "But I expect you'll approve of my choice." Harry nodded with a smile and headed out of the bathroom.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Harry told the Maurader's Map as he held it out in front of himself. There wasn't much activity going on. He noticed that Filch was in his office and that McGonagall was in the Astronomy Tower for some reason. So it seemed that he would be able to get back to the common room with no problem.
When he arrived, the fat lady was fast asleep and was not very happy when Harry woke her up to get in. She even told him to get right to bed. It had been a tiring day so he took her advice and he was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.
The next morning, Harry woke up to Ron shaking him very harshly.
"Get up Harry, come on get up there's great news." Harry already knew exactly what this great news was and would have actually liked to sleep a little longer. But appearances had to be kept up and Harry knew that it would seem odd to everyone if he didn't have a reaction to Dumbledore's miraculous recovery. "Dumbledore is awake Harry."
Harry tried to imagine that he had been told something much more revealing and responded by jumping up and down and throwing his close on as quickly as possible. They ran down the stairs to the common room and by the looks of it, you would think that Gryffindor just won the house cup. Everybody was excited and people were actually setting off fireworks. Harry even saw a few Butterbeers being passed around. As he looked around, he saw Hermione, Ginny, and Neville sitting together in the corner of the room. Neville spotted Harry and the three of them jetted across the room.
"Isn't it great Harry?" Hermione said as she threw her arms around him. Ron cringed a little and Harry did his best fake smile.
"Yea, it's wonderful." Harry responded. He saw Ginny give him a peculiar look out of the corner of his eye but when he turned to face her, she flashed him a big smile. Neville was telling Ron and Hermione about how his gran had been so worried when she heard about Dumbledore that she thought about pulling him out of Hogwarts. While they were distracted, Ginny came next to Harry with a curious smile still on her face.
"You don't seem that surprised that Dumbledore is awake." She said, not quite whispering but not talking loud enough for anyone else to hear her.
"Oh I am." Harry said as he threw his arms around her and pulled her into a celebratory hug. He was trying his best to relieve her suspicions and figured it must have worked because she began to blush and smile and she didn't mention her skepticism again. They continued to celebrate with the rest of the Gryffindors until McGonagall came in.
"Mr. Potter." She said as she came through the door of the common room. "The headmaster would like to see you." Everyone turned their attention to Harry as he approached the Transfiguration teacher whose facial expression was similar to Harry's when he was told about Dumbledore's recovery. She led Harry in silence through the corridors until they came to the familiar gargoyle statues that guarded Dumbledore's office. McGonagall said the password, which Harry didn't hear clearly, but he thought it sounded like "Goat's Milk". She then entered the spiral staircase first and Harry followed right after her.
"Ah Harry, come in come in." Aberforth said, doing his best Dumbledore impression. "Pleas sit down." Harry sat across from Aberforth and then noticed his eyes trace upward to focus on Professor McGonagall.
"If you don't mind Minerva." He said motioning to the door with his eyes. McGonagall seemed like she was a little bit taken by surprise initially but then left without another word. As the door closed and Aberforth was convinced that they were alone he looked down at Harry and spoke.
"It seems as though our plan has worked well Harry." He smiled. "If I can fool Professor McGonagall, then I am sure I will be able to fool anyone."
"You do look quite convincing sir." Harry replied.
"Good. Now then, the reason I wanted to see you was to tell you that things must go back to normal now as much as possible. Which means that we cannot have to many meetings together, and when we do, we must keep them a secret. The only difference is that you are going to have to check in on Albus when you can. If there is any change in his condition, let me know immediately."
Harry nodded in agreement. "I will"
"Alright, then I will contact you when I need to speak with you again."
"Ok." Harry responded. "Good luck."
"Thank you Harry." He said as he leaned back in his chair. Harry bid him goodbye and headed back to the Gryffindor common room. When he got there he noticed that the celebration had died down a bit. He headed to the loo to shower and change and when he got back his friends were waiting for him.
"So what did Dumbledore say Harry?" Ron asked excitedly as Harry approached them. "Not much, he just wanted to assure me that he was fine." He wasn't sure if they bought it, but it was all that he could afford to tell them. He tried to change the subject as quickly as possible. "Why don't we head down for breakfast?"
"Great idea." Ron said as he grabbed his stomach. "I'm starving."
"So what else is new?" Hermione said as she poked him right in the stomach. Everyone laughed and they headed down for breakfast. Ron and Hermione were walking ahead of Harry, Ginny and Neville bickering as usual, and Ginny was back to giving Harry queer looks. Thankfully, Harry was able to avoid any questions from Ginny because shortly after they set off down the hall, Neville tripped over his own feet and fell down a flight of stairs. Thankfully he was all right, however it didn't stop everyone from talking about it.
When the reached the Great Hall and sat down, Harry noticed that Aberforth was already there sitting in the headmaster's chair and he had a familiar old friend sitting next to him. Harry reasoned that this would be the Defense Against the Dark Art's teacher and he did indeed approve. Nobody else seemed to notice his presence and before they could Aberforth stood up and everyone, except for some of the Slytherins, broke in to a huge round of applause.
"Thank you everyone," He spoke loudly as he motioned for the crowd to sit down. "I am very fortunate to have the support of so many people here at Hogwarts. I would just like to say a few things and then we can start breakfast. First, I would like to assure everyone that I am in good health. I was suffering from nothing more than exhaustion, which I am now over so I don't want anyone to worry about me. Next, I have a piece of bad news and a piece of good news. I know that many of you enjoyed your first week of Defense Against the Dark arts as well as the new DA club with Professor Altesterio but unfortunately he will not be able to continue his duties as Professor."
A lot of whispering and shocked faces radiated through the hall. Harry did his best to look shocked as many people looked directly at him whenever some sort of news was revealed.
"Not to worry." Aberforth said as he attempted to quiet the crowd again. "I feel that I have found a suitable replacement. I would like everyone to welcome back Professor Remus Lupin."
Lupin stood up and was given a very nice round of applause. Many people had liked him as a professor. Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione and they were both as ecstatic as he was to have their old professor back. Harry felt that Professor Lupin was the last real connection he had to his parents since he was one of his father's best friends. He was the only real Marauder left and to Harry that made him very important.
"Yes, yes welcome back Professor Lupin." Aberforth said as the crowd began to quiet again. "Now not only will Professor Lupin teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he will also lead the DA club. We have decided that the DA club will meet every Tuesday and Thursday after dinner and every student regardless of year will be welcome. Now that we have that all taken care of, dig in." With a clap of Aberforth's hands, food appeared on the plates and they had a great breakfast. When they were done eating, Hermione mentioned that they should try and find Lupin to speak to him but it seemed that he was already gone so they headed back to the common room.
When they got there, Dean and a few other students were trying to organize a pickup game of Quidditch. Harry, Ron, and Ginny said that they would play and they all headed outside. It was a beautiful day with the sun shinning brightly and not many clouds in the sky. It was fairly hot, however there was a nice breeze the made it seem much cooler. Hermione and about ten or so other students came out to watch as they played. The whole Gryffindor team ended up playing (including the reserves). Harry decided that he and Ron should be captains and so they picked teams. They played two games, and Harry's team won them both by a slight margin because Harry had caught the snitch both times. Although, Ron was a little frustrated about his team losing, especially since he had only let up two goals the whole time.
Harry spent the rest of the day with Ron in the common room, playing chess. Hermione and Ginny had gone to the library so it gave Harry a chance to mention something to Ron that he had wanted to ask him about for a while now.
"Ron, if you don't mind me asking." Harry said as Ron made a move with his knight that wiped out one of Harry's pawns. "What is going on with Percy?" Harry could see that Ron tensed up when he heard the question and he glared at the chessboard for a minute before he shifted his attention to Harry.
"We don't really know Harry." Ron replied with a lot of emotion in his voice. "After the uh situation at the Ministry last year, Percy resigned from his job and then disappeared. Mum is completely distraught about it. We all figured that after it came out that you and Dumbledore were telling the truth about You Know Who's return, Percy would realize that he was being a bloody git and come home. But he didn't and no one has seen or heard from him."
"I'm sorry Ron." Was the only thing that Harry could think to say. Ron nodded his head and went back to concentrating on the game, which gave Harry the clue that he didn't want to discuss it any longer. Percy had most certainly been a git over the past year, but Harry never thought that he would go this far. Where was he? And why would he turn his back on his family when he knows deep down inside that they would welcome him back with open arms? There were too many questions and not enough answers Harry thought. But at least one questioned was answered today. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was his old friend Mooney.
Author's Note: A lot of people have been calling me evil for my use of cliffhangers, so I thought I would end this chapter without one. I know that this wasn't a terribly exciting chapter but hey at least we got Lupin back. In the next chapter we will have Harry's first Occlumency lesson, which will be very interesting, and Lupin will be back teaching DADA and running the DA. I appreciate your reviews, keep them up.