Harry Potter and the Unexpected Powers
Disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter characters you might recognise! I do own Rhianna Lupin and M.'s book (you'll see!).
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Chapter 6
Surprises
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Harry didn't sleep well that night. He tossed and turned, and then he had a nightmare.
~*~
He was in the graveyard again. He saw a figure approaching and desperately tried to warn Cedric, but it was of no use. The pain in his scar forced him to his knees and he had to watch Wormtail kill Cedric again.
But then, instead of simply lying there, Cedric fixed his hollow, lifeless eyes on Harry and whispered,
"You killed me! How could you, Harry? How could you!"
Harry's eyes widened in horror.
"No! Cedric, I didn't mean to kill you, please, you have to believe me, I didn't know....."
"Liar!" hissed Cedric. "So many people have already died for or because of you, but you don't care, do you, Harry? Your own parents..... Professor Quirrel..... Bertha Jorkins..... that old muggle gardener..... myself..... all those muggles Voldemort has tortured..... it's all your fault!"
"No," Harry whispered, blinking back tears, "No! Cedric, please, I didn't know the cup was a portkey! I didn't want those people to die! Please, Cedric, you have to believe me....."
"Liar!" Cedric shouted again. "It's all your fault, Harry Potter, you're a murderer, everything is your fault!"
Harry's vision blurred from all those tears, and Cedric's face changed into Voldemort's.
"Harry Potter....." he hissed, "Do you know what you have done? It's your fault that I am back..... you are responsible for everyone who has to die..... give up, Harry..... join me..... together we can rule the world, and I promise not to hurt those who are dear to you....."
Harry screamed. "NO! I won't believe you! You're lying!"
Voldemort snarled at Harry. "You'll regret this, Potter! I will kill everyone around you, until you are left completely alone, and then I will kill you, too!"
Voldemort broke into a fit of high, cold, maniacal laughter that sent shivers down Harry's spine..... and then the scenery changed again, Harry could still hear Voldemort laughing, but now he was back at his parents' house.
He watched his father duel with Voldemort, then his mother plead for his life. Harry screamed at her to move, tried with all his might to run forward..... but invisible bonds closed around him, and he had to watch Voldemort kill his mother..... before Voldemort pointed his wand at little Harry, however, his mother suddenly turned on the floor to look at him and everything else faded away.
"Harry," she said, her voice monotone, "It's your fault that I am dead..... you killed James and me....."
Harry stumbled back in horror, suddenly able to move again. "No," he whispered, then louder, "NO!"
His mother faded away, and Harry was left alone in the cold, dark space. Whispers engulfed him, wafting all around him, getting louder and louder by the second.
"It's your fault..... murderer..... you killed me....... you killed us..... it's all your fault..... you deserve to die..... pity you didn't die together with your parents..... useless..... murderer..... your fault..... murderer....."
Harry screamed.
~*~
Harry shot up in his bed, gasping for breath. He was shaking all over, and noticed that his pillow was drenched with sweat and tears. His scar hurt like hell and that dream had been so horrible! It had seemed so real.....
Before he could think further, the portrait was thrown open violently and Sirius burst into the room, closely followed by Remus.
"Harry!" Sirius shouted, running over to his bed quickly. "Are you alright?"
Harry wanted to tell his godfather and friend that everything was fine, but found himself unable to.
The next moment he felt warm arms wrap themselves around him. Sirius had drawn him into a hug. The three of them just sat there silently for a few minutes, Harry in Sirius's protective embrace and Remus sitting on the bed next to them, stroking Harry's hair soothingly.
Finally, Harry's tears subsided and he stopped shaking. Sirius released him.
"Harry, what was that dream?"
Harry started.
"How did you know about my dream?"
Remus sighed and rubbed his eyes He looked tired.
"The connection, Harry. Your dream, while it was obviously a nightmare, not a vision, involved Voldemort. All Council members saw it."
Harry blanched and looked down.
"Oh no."
This was worse than he had thought. Now they would all know about his nightmares whenever he had one- how humiliating!
"Don't worry, Harry," Sirius said reassuringly, "It doesn't matter."
Then, suddenly, Harry noticed something strange. His head snapped back up.
"Sirius! Remus! This was no nightmare."
The two marauders frowned in confusion.
"What do you mean, it was no nightmare?" Remus asked.
"Do you remember Voldemort's threat?"
The adults nodded.
"I would never dream of anything like that. It was too horrible, I'm telling you, this was no normal nightmare. And he asked me to join him. Why in the name of Merlin would I have a nightmare about Voldemort asking me to join him? That's just ridiculous! I think Voldemort must have sent the dream."
Silence filled the room as Sirius and Remus stared at Harry.
"Harry," Sirius said finally, in a deadly serious voice.
"Are you aware of what you're saying? If Voldemort has really found a way to manipulate your dreams, then this is very grave indeed. Dreams are a very important thing for the human mind, in your dreams you deal with things that you were unable to handle while you were awake. If Voldemort has found a way to deprive you of that, he could destroy you slowly and systematically. We'll go to Dumbledore with you first thing in the morning."
Harry nodded and sighed. Then another question arose in his mind. "Sirius, Remus, why are you here? I didn't wake you, did I? Or did you wake up after the dream? But then, why are the others not here?"
Sirius and Remus glanced at each other uneasily.
"Dumbledore included a wakening spell in our connection with you,"Sirius said, "Whenever you have a dream about Voldemort, the Order will wake up immediately even if you might not. There might be the need for us to act quickly."
Harry nodded.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I didn't mean to wake you because of something as stupid as this."
He felt a hand brush over his hair again and looked up into Remus's concerned eyes.
"It doesn't matter, Harry," the werewolf assured his young friend, "Don't feel bad about it. I'm glad we came."
"Yeah," Sirius agreed, "What kind of godfather would I be if I weren't there for you after a nightmare?"
Sirius looked so mortally offended, that Harry had to smile.
"Oh, and Harry," Remus said, "I hope you didn't take that dream too seriously. We already told you that Cedric's death wasn't your fault, and if Cedric was here, I'm sure he would tell you the same thing.
"And neither was your parents' death. Lily and James chose to die for you, Harry, because they loved you very much. If they had seen that nightmare of yours, they would have been rolling in their graves. Lily would never, ever want you to feel guilty about her and James's deaths. Never forget that, Harry. They gave their lives so that you could live. This is the most valuable gift they could have given you, my young friend. And they would never take it back."
Harry nodded, and smiled tentatively at Remus. He felt like a very big weight had just been lifted off him. Coming from Remus, he knew that this was true. After all, nobody in this world had known Harry's parents better than Sirius and Remus.
"See, you're smiling again," Remus said, smiling himself. "Do you want to try to go back to sleep now, Harry?"
Harry shook his head vehemently.
"I'll only have another nightmare," he mumbled.
"We can give you some Dreamless-Sleep Potion, Harry," Sirius remarked.
Harry thought about it for a minute and nodded. Remus smiled and left the room. He returned not two minutes later and Harry assumed that he'd fetched the potion from his room.
Harry opened the bottle and raised it to his lips before he remembered something that had been on his mind ever since he'd seen his room.
"Sirius, Remus, what do your rooms look like? Are they like this one?"
Sirius shook his head with a mischievous grin.
"Oh no, Harry. Every room here is different. Mine is a landscape with many green hills..... Irish, I think. In the background there is a small village. I also have a stream like this running through my room.
"Remus's is a forest with a stream, too, but while your room resembles a clearing, his looks like a meadow at the edge of a forest.
"If I heard Minerva correctly, you can dive under the wall and arrive directly in the lake, right?"
Harry nodded, completely fascinated.
Remus took over where Sirius had left off.
"You see, Harry, each room has a different secret. I can walk through my wall and land at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, which will be very useful every full moon.
"Sirius can walk through his wall as well, only he will land behind some bushes in Hogsmeade.
"I believe that every room in the teachers' wing has its very own secret. I know for sure that Severus has a connection to his potions lab. Madam Hooch can get onto the Quidditch field. Your godmother can get into a secret room in Hogwarts that is full of books on Transfiguration. Albus, I believe, has a secret passage to a room with enchanted instruments that will always play the music he wants to hear the most when he enters the room..... he likes chamber music. Of course you can always get back into your rooms the same way. So every room is different and magical in its very own way."
Harry nodded. He would never get tired of learning about the peculiarities of the magical world.
"How about you take your potion now, Harry?"
Harry was brought out of his reverie by Remus's voice. He nodded.
"Right. And Sirius, Remus..... thank you. For everything."
The two smiled at him and Harry was grateful that they seemed to understand that he wasn't only thanking them for tonight, but also for the past two years when they had been there for him.
"You're welcome." They both replied. Then Harry raised the goblet again and downed the sleeping potion in three large gulps. He fell back into his pillows immediately and felt someone take the goblet from his limp fingers..... then he was fast asleep.
~*~
When Harry awoke again it was still rather early, though it was light outside. Looking around the room, Harry's eyes came to rest upon the stream. He was very curious if what Minerva had told him was true, so he got out of his bed quickly and stripped off his clothes. Then, he went over to the cupboard and put on his new swimming trunks (they fit perfectly) and slid into the stream.
The water was wonderful, not too warm and not too cold. Harry began to swim around for a while, simply enjoying the water. Then he held his breath and dived under the wall..... and splash! Harry landed in the lake. Harry looked behind himself quickly, but there was nothing, just air. A bit uncomfortably, Harry realized that he was almost in the middle of the lake and that the water here was much colder. Deciding that it wouldn't do to freeze on the spot, Harry began to swim, slowly, to the South end of the lake. The problem was that Harry wasn't a good swimmer. He had never had lessons like Dudley and the second task last year had really been the first time Harry had ever swum. He supposed that the Gillyweed had helped him- the only other logical explanation would be that he was a natural at swimming.
However, what Harry lacked was practise. Harry mentally chided himself for being so stupid, he should never have come out here in the first place.
Harry almost collapsed from relief and exhaustion when he finally reached the end of the lake. His arms and legs were heavy from the exertion and coldness and at the same time burning as though there was fire in his veins instead of blood.
Fortunately, Harry managed to find the entrance to his rooms quickly: there was a group of big rocks, right at the shore. Harry inhaled deeply, then dived again. Under the water, he found immediately what he was looking for; there, between the two largest rocks, was a cleft. Harry swam through it quickly, and with a quiet gurgling sound found himself in 'his' stream again.
Gratefully Harry stayed in the warm water for another few minutes, then he got his shampoo and soap and took a bath in the now wonderfully hot river.
Harry decided that he would swim every morning from then on until he wouldn't have any problems with reaching the shore anymore.
After he was clean, Harry climbed out of his stream and noticed with astonishment that a lot of time had passed while he had swum and that he would be late for breakfast if he didn't hurry.
He dried himself quickly and put on some of his new clothes: a green (Harry realised that it really did bring out the colour of his eyes, like Mrs. Weasley had claimed the year before) lightweight summer robe (as it was quite hot this day) and his brand new sports shoes. Like everything else they fit perfectly and were very comfortable. Then, with another happy smile at his room, Harry left for breakfast.
It took him quite a while to find his way to the great hall, he didn't know his way around in this part of Hogwarts. After ten minutes of straying through unfamiliar corridors Harry was thoroughly lost and getting a little desperate. What if he couldn't find his way into the great hall at all? What if he couldn't even find his way back to his room?!? Harry broke into a run. He bit his lip worriedly as he rounded the next corner and-
"OMPH!"
Harry had quite literally bumped into another person and both he and the other had crashed to the floor.
Harry scrambled to his feet hastily and looked down at the person staring up at him in annoyance. It was Professor Snape.
Even though Snape had been nice the day before Harry didn't quite know how to react, so he started to gush out apologies.
"Oh my god, Professor! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I shouldn't have run, really Professor I'm sorr-"
Snape eyed the boy in front of him in disgruntled amusement.
"Don't worry, Mr. Potter, I'm not going to bite your head off."
He got up again and brushed the dirt off his robes.
Looking up, he noticed that Harry was still looking at him anxiously. Severus sighed and wished for the thousandth time in those past few days that he hadn't been so hard on the boy in the past.
"Anyway," he continued, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "Why where you running down this corridor as if Voldemort himself was chasing you?"
Harry flushed in embarrassment and looked down.
"I, kind of, got lost." Harry mumbled.
To his surprise, Snape laughed.
"Yes, the teachers' wing is the most complex part of the castle there is, probably to keep the students from snooping around. It took me three months to know my way around. I presume that you were on your way to breakfast?"
Harry nodded, feeling relieved that Snape wasn't angry at him. On their way towards the great hall, Harry caught the Professor stealing sidelong glances at him several times.
After a while, Harry got annoyed. He hated it when people stared at him. He stopped so abruptly that the armours along the corridor flinched (noisily).
"Professor, why are you staring at me?"
Harry asked bluntly. Snape looked away hastily, seemingly embarrassed at having been caught by Harry.
"It's nothing," Snape mumbled and continued his walk down the corridor.
But Harry wasn't going to let his potions master off the hook so easily. He grabbed the teacher's arm and spun him around. They held a silent staring contest for almost a minute, then Snape had to look away.
"It's just..... that was your dream tonight, wasn't it?" Harry flinched. Now he wished that he hadn't asked.
Snape was staring at him with something akin to pity in his eyes. Harry flinched again. He hated pity! But he supposed that he did owe his professor an answer. Harry lowered his gaze to the floor.
"Yes," he admitted quietly, "that was my dream."
Harry looked up again into the beetle black eyes still fixating him and smiled definatly.
"It's okay, though. Remus and Sirius came into my room afterwards and..... well..... comforted me."
Harry flushed slightly in embarrassment and gave Snape a tentative smile- which, to Harry's ultimate surprise, was returned.
"That's good." Snape commented simply and then continued on to the great hall, Harry in tow.
~*~
They arrived at the Great Hall a few minutes later.
Snape pushed open the doors and they entered. Harry noticed immediately that the hall was different now that there weren't any students around.
The banners usually decorating the walls had been removed (for cleaning, Harry assumed), the house tables were pushed against the walls and the staff table stood in the middle of the hall. It reminded Harry a little of Christmas, without the trees and decorations, of course.
Sitting at the table was the most of the staff of Hogwarts, plus Sirius. Harry and Snape made their way over quickly and sat down in the last two remaining seats: Harry between Minerva and Sirius, Snape next to Dumbledore and Flitwick.
After the usual polite exchanges of 'good morning' and 'how are you' everyone returned to their previous conversations.
Harry meanwhile was busy eating (after his morning swim he felt truly famished). He looked up when he felt a pair of eyes on him.
"Harry, about that dream last night....." Minerva said reluctantly. Harry sighed, noticing that the conversation at the table had died down and everyone was looking at him with curiosity and apprehension, as well as compassion.
He put down his fork, sat up a little straighter and forced himself to look everyone in the eye while answering.
"As I already told Sirius, Remus and Professor Snape, that was no normal nightmare. I believe that Voldemort somehow sent it."
Harry noticed that Dumbledore had gone a bit pale and was leaning forward in his seat slightly.
"And what, Harry, makes you think that?"
Harry hesitated. Seeing all eyes still fixed on him, he decided that he had to tell them the truth.
"There is something I haven't told anyone about, not even Ron and Hermione," he started quietly.
"It happened down in the dungeons with Professor Quirrell and Voldemort. I had looked into the Mirror of Erised and somehow got the philosopher's stone, and then Quirrell took off his turban.....
***********************FLASHBACK*************************
Harry would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face Harry had ever seen.
It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.
"Harry Potter....." it whispered.
Harry tried to take a step backward but his legs wouldn't move.
"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapour..... I have form only when I can share another's body..... but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds..... Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks..... you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the forest..... and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will also be able to create a body of my own..... Now..... why don't you give me that stone in your pocket?"
So he knew. The feeling suddenly surged back into Harry's legs. He stumbled backward.
"Don't be a fool," snarled the face, "Better safe your own life and join me..... or you'll meet the same end as your parents...... They died begging me for mercy......"
"LIAR!"
**************************END FLASHBACK***************************
Harry stared ahead unseeingly.
"You see?" he said quietly. "Voldemort asked me to join him in my first year and I refused. He never approached me on the subject again, he must have seen that it would have been useless. And now, after three years, I'm having nightmares about Voldemort trying to get me to join him?"
Harry shook his head again doubtfully.
"That just doesn't make any sense. No, I'm telling you, that dream didn't come from my mind. That was Voldemort's work."
Everything was silent for a few seconds, then most of the teachers nodded and went back to their food.
Dumbledore however was frowning deeply.
"Thank you, Harry. Of course we'll have to do something about those dreams. Severus, do you think that you could make Harry some dreamless-sleep potion for the next two weeks until his birthday?"
The Potions Master nodded in agreement, but asked,
"Of course, Albus. But why only until his birthday?"
The wizened old wizard smiled gently at the still-fourteen-year-old boy.
"Because in two weeks, Severus, young Harry here will be so powerful that Voldemort will be unable to mess with his mind."
Before anyone could react to that statement, the doors of the great hall opened again. Everyone looked up in surprise. There, in the doorway, stood Professor Trelawney. Harry could barely suppress a groan, earning himself looks of sympathy from his godmother and godfather.
Dumbledore however, being his usual cordial self, had stood up from the table and greeted Professor Trelawney, drawing her a chair that plopped down between himself and Snape.
Harry was sure that if looks could kill, the headmaster would be six feet under, judging by the way the potions master was glaring at him.
Professor Trelawney seemed oblivious to the less-than-enthusiastic greetings she was receiving from everyone else and glided toward the table in her usual glittery-insect-fashion. But just as she was about to sit down, she let out an ear-piercing shriek.
"Headmaster, I dare not! If I sit down at this table, we'll be thirteen! You know that the first person to get up from a table of thirteen will die within the next week!"
Harry looked around the table. Trelawney was right (for once). There were Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout, Sinistra, Vektor and Lupin, and Sirius, Madam Hooch, Hagrid and Harry himself. All in all twelve people.
Dumbledore kept up his smile, though to Harry it looked a little strained, and said pleasantly,
"Ah, my dear Sibyll, I'm sure that won't be a problem. If I remember correctly, we had that same situation at Christmas two years ago, and none of the people sitting at that table have died as of yet. If you would be so kind as to sit down now, I'm sure the bacon tastes better as long as it is still warm, don't you agree?"
Trelawney sat with a face as though someone was forcing her to look at something extremely disgusting.
Harry just rolled his eyes and continued to eat his breakfast, idly chatting away with his godparents.
"So, Harry, what do you plan on doing today?" Minerva asked.
Harry shrugged.
"Oh, I'm not sure yet. I was thinking of going to the library and getting a start on my homework, and maybe take a swim in the afternoon. I might also go flying..... yeah, I haven't done this in a much too long time!"
Harry's godparents smiled at the boy's enthusiasm, both thinking the same thing: Just like James!
After finishing his bacon and eggs, Harry excused himself and got up from the table, thinking of what he would really look up in the library. A piercing shriek brought him out of his reverie.
"Oh sweet Merlin! You poor boy! Oh no, I knew it, I always knew it....." Trelawney's voice faded.
Harry looked at her in confusion.
"Um, what, sorry?" he asked, completely stumped.
Trelawney's eyes widened, making her look more like an overgrown dragon fly than ever.
"Don't you remember, boy?" Trelawney whispered dramatically, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. "The first one to leave a table of thirteen is going to die within the week! Oh you poor boy, you poor boy, I always knew it!"
Harry crossed his arms and frowned at his Divination Professor. He was getting really fed up with her.
Meanwhile, Trelawney didn't notice Harry's dangerous mood swing and continued to rant on.
"Oh poor boy..... poor boy..... yes, I saw it in your first lesson..... it is coming closer..... death is looming over you....."
That was it. Harry had had enough. He looked pointedly up at the sky and said, feigning a thoughtful look:
"Oh really? Death is looming over me? And there I thought it was the ceiling! Gee, thanks, I wouldn't have noticed!"
And then, ignoring the flustered Divination Professor and the chuckles of the other teachers, Harry turned on his heel and left the great hall.
~*~
The library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was huge.
There were thousands of shelves with millions of books, Harry doubted that any wizard or witch could read them all in a lifetime. Then again, Hermione probably had.
The problem was that Harry didn't know where he should start looking and he definitely didn't want to ask Madam Pince for advice as she was sure to tell the other Hogwarts staff about Harry Potter reading up on the subject of werewolf offspring.
Harry had forgotten about Rhianna Lupin the day before, but this morning, in the river, the memory of Hermione telling him and Ron that lycanthropy was heritable had come back. Harry intended to find out if that was true.
Deciding that he might as well start looking, Harry picked one corner of the library and started to work his way systematically through it.
"Merlin..... famous wizards of the past millennium..... Herbology..... Potions, ugh, definitely not..... and..... oh my god-"
Harry blushed a deep red. Looking up, he noticed that he had somehow ended up in the "just for sixth years and above"-section. Harry could see why.
He quickly moved away and passed the restricted section. Harry hesitated. Maybe the book he was looking for was there? –No, he decided. He would look through the 'legal' part of the library first before moving on to the forbidden.
"History of Goblin Revolutions..... Elven Wars..... Hogwarts: A History, oh, Hermione would love it if I read that..... Magical Beasts and where to find them..... getting closer....." and finally: "The history of lycanthropy".
Harry picked up the book and flipped through the pages quickly, but decided that it was not the right book for him.
He noticed that werewolves had a whole section dedicated to them. Looking over the books, Harry searched for a title that seemed promising.
"'Werewolves: The monsters in your town' by A. Paranoyd - nope, definitely not. 'What to do when the worst has happened' by Th. E. Pessymyst - no.
'Werewolves- a scientific study by M. I. Earnest'" Harry smiled. That sounded good. He pulled the unbelievably thick book down from the shelf and quickly left the library.
~*~
Back in his room, Harry sat down in one of the extremely comfortable chairs (Harry suspected that they had cushioning charms on them) and started on the book.
Checking the index, Harry noticed quickly that he already knew most of the stuff in the book. However, there was one chapter that peaked his interest. 'Werewolves: Genes and Heritage' page 3427.
Harry went to the page quickly and started reading. Most of the chapter was clear, stating that werewolves could reproduce just like normal people. But then, finally, Harry found the thing he had been looking for:
'It is a scarcely known fact that lycanthropy is indeed heritable.
When receiving the bite, the human's DNA changes considerably, it will
still be that of a human being but with some parts of the wolf in it.
The more werewolf blood the child's parents have in them, the more
likely it is for the child to become a werewolf.
'Children whose parents are both cursed with lycanthropy will always
be born as werewolves.
Children with only one werewolf-parent have a small chance of being
what most people consider normal.
'However, werewolf genes are extremely dominant and the chances for
children born from a liaison of a werewolf and normal human of not
being werewolves themselves are about 1:25.
'However, children born from such "second-generation-werewolves" have
more often than not been completely human. Scientists have speculated
for years, but have not come up with a clear answer. Fact is that
there has never been a "fourth-generation-werewolf"- unless their
parents, grandparents and great-grandparents had all been werewolves.
Since lycanthropy is rather rare on the planet Earth, such a case has
only been recorded once in history, in 189 B.C.
In that time, a family called 'Sheppard'...'
Harry stopped reading and lowered the book, looking out of the window thoughtfully. So lycanthropy was indeed heritable..... and even though Rhianna Lupin's mother might be a normal witch or even a muggle, Rhianna herself was most likely a werewolf.
Harry wondered what she would be like. Would they become friends? Harry smiled at the thought of the famous Gryffindor trio becoming a quartet. He liked the thought. The trouble with being a trio was that one person was often excluded. Whether it was in a fight or while just talking normally, it was almost always him and Ron or him and Hermione or Ron and Hermione talking or joking or working together, and the third member of their group just listened or did something else.
Yes, Harry thought smiling. He couldn't wait to get to know Rhianna.
Harry decided that he should probably better take the book back to the library before Madam Pince noticed anything.
He got up quietly, still lost in his thoughts, and walked back into the library and to the werewolf section. He put the book in its original place and slowly walked along the shelves. Harry let his eyes stray over the millions of books in the huge library.....
And then, something caught his eye. It was a small, blue book with a pretty gold pattern on its back, looking strangely out of place between all the heavy, dusty, old volumes on transfiguration around it.
Harry felt entranced by the book, it was calling to him, he could feel it..... Harry kneeled down and very carefully extracted the book from between the others. He wiped the dust off of it and slowly turned it over.
The title was written in a strange language, Harry didn't understand it..... He ran his finger gently across its cover, and suddenly, there was a tingling feeling in his scar. Harry blinked in confusion and looked around the room. Nobody was there. Harry just shrugged it off, thinking that he must have imagined it, and turned back to the book.
Harry gasped. Where only seconds before there had been strange symbols, there was now, clear as day, a title written in English:
'ANIMAGI'
In the right corner of the book it said 'by M.'
Harry stared. It was a book on Animagi! Brilliant! And it looked as though it hadn't been read in centuries.
Looking around and making sure that nobody was watching, Harry quickly stuffed the small book into his pocket and left the library.
Checking his watch, Harry noticed that it was already lunch time. Had he been reading the book on werewolves for so long?
Shaking his head in amazement, Harry shoved all thoughts of the mysterious blue book aside and made his way down to the great hall.
~*~
Upon entering the great hall, Harry noticed immediately that some of the Order members had returned.
Charlie and Bill Weasley were sitting there, waving at him merrily, Arabella Figg and Mundungus Fletcher had also returned.
There was another man at the table, he was tall, had dark hair, piercing blue eyes (much like Dumbledore's) and seemed to be in his late thirties. From the conversations Harry quickly gathered that this man was called Mr. Skillridge and was here on 'business'.
~*~
Harry had just finished his second helping of pork chops when Charlie leaned across the table and said,
"Hey, Harry. Fancy a game of Quidditch?"
Harry looked at him in surprise, but then he grinned and raised an eyebrow.
"Is this supposed to be a challenge?"
Charlie grinned back, and Harry suddenly realized that the whole table was listening to their conversation with rapt attention.
"If you want to put it that way, yes. I'm always listening to Ron, Ginny, Fred and George talking about your Quidditch talent, and so I thought I'd like to see you fly myself."
Harry nodded. He knew that Charlie had been a legendary seeker in his time at Hogwarts- good enough, in fact, that he would have played for England, had he not been more interested in dragons.
"Alright," he said. "What are the teams?"
But Charlie shook his head.
"No teams. Just the snitch and the two of us. I know that you've got a Firebolt and so do I. It'll be a Seeker's competition. Deal?"
He extended his hand toward Harry, who shook it.
"Deal."
"I've got to see this."
Harry and Charlie looked up, realising only then that everyone was watching them. Especially Mr. Skillridge.
Dumbledore nodded and said: "We can all go. I think we all need a break from the work. Harry, Charlie, you don't mind us watching, do you?"
Charlie shook his head, smiling brightly.
Harry shook his head hesitantly. He did not like the attention, but then again, he supposed he might as well get used to it. He was The-Boy-Who- Lived after all, attention would be following him around all his life.
Soon after that, everyone was outside on the Quidditch pitch.
Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout, Sinistra, Vektor and Lupin along with Sirius (in human form), Hagrid, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher, Bill Weasley and Mr. Skillridge sat in the stands. Madam Hooch had brought out the Quidditch balls. Harry and Charlie shook hands, the official sign for the challenge to begin.
"Alright, boys," Madam Hooch said, "On my whistle." She released the snitch which quickly vanished from sight. Then the flying instructor raised her whistle and said, "One- Two- Three!"
Pheeeeeeet! The whistle blew and Harry kicked off. The wind rushed by his face, and Harry couldn't help laughing in ecstasy. Flying was great, he felt at home, he felt free, this was where he belonged, there on his broom a hundred feet up in the air.
Charlie turned to him and smiled.
"Haven't flown in a while, have you?" he asked kindly.
Harry nodded, still smiling widely.
"Not since the first task last year."
He responded and then started looking for the snitch.
The sky was clear and blue, the perfect weather for Quidditch.
However, Harry soon discovered that seeker competitions were extremely boring. Without the other players, there wasn't much to do, and Harry decided to do some more difficult flying before the snitch decided to show itself. Harry had long ago forgotten about the spectators of their little game.
He started with some loops before flying three times around the Quidditch pitch at top speed. He noticed Charlie looking at him with a stunned expression on his face and said a little defensively,
"What? I'm bored."
Ignoring the Weasley Son's chuckles, he went on with his occupational therapy. Harry did all tricks that came to his mind. He rolled over a few times in midair, stood up flying on the broom, dived at full speed and pulled out just in time (Personally, Harry thought that the Wronski Feint wasn't as difficult as it looked) and did all sorts of other things.
Harry was just about to do another somersault when he spotted a golden glimmer at the far end of the pitch. Immediately, he was back on his broom and started to race toward the small golden ball.
But Charlie had seen it too. And he had been closer to the snitch by almost 30 feet.
Harry flattened himself against the broomstick and started to fly like never before. But Charlie, Harry realised, was one hell of a flyer.
Harry gritted his teeth, pushing his broom even further..... and slowly, ever so slowly, he was gaining ground..... just five feet..... now he was tailing Charlie..... they were head-to-head.....
The snitch loomed right ahead. Taking both hands off the broom handle, Harry stretched as far as he could without toppling off the broom and—
"YES!"
He had caught the snitch.
Grinning like mad, Harry slowed his broom and turned to Charlie. The second-oldest Weasley son was smirking at him.
"Well done, Harry! Now I know what the others were talking about! Your flying is truly incredible."
Harry blushed at the compliment.
"Thanks," he mumbled.
Charlie extended his hand again and shook Harry's smaller one firmly. Together they made their way to the ground.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER!"
Harry jumped about a feet high and whirled around. His godmother was standing there, her hands on her hips and looking angrier than Harry had ever seen her. He gulped and took a step backward. What had he done wrong?
"DON'T YOU DARE EVER DO THAT AGAIN! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOU SCARED US?"
Harry stared at Minerva, feeling even more agitated. What was she talking about? Minerva was now walking toward him and Harry backed away in fear.
Scenes from the Dursleys flashed across his mind.
Minerva grabbed Harry's arm, still looking mad, and Harry was getting ready to beg for his life, when suddenly.....
Minerva hugged him fiercely. Harry stood stiffly in the embrace, not quite knowing how to react. Had his godmother lost her mind? One minute she was screaming bloody murder and the next she was hugging him like there was no tomorrow.
Harry met Sirius's eyes looking over his godmother's shoulder and threw him a perplexed glance, but Sirius only shrugged helplessly and mouthed something that looked suspiciously like 'women'.
Finally Minerva released Harry, whose attention was immediately diverted by Mr. Skillridge. The man had a strange gleam in his eyes.
Harry noticed that all the teachers and Order members had now joined their little group and Dumbledore had stepped up beside Mr. Skillridge.
"Harry," the old mage said kindly, an odd light twinkling in his eyes, "May I introduce to you a very old friend of mine, Mr. Skillridge, coach of the E.N.Q.T., also known as the English National Quidditch Team."
Harry's eyes went wide. The only thing he could think was 'Oh. My. God.'.
Mr. Skillridge stepped forward and extended his hand to Harry, who shook it, still in a daze.
"Mr. Potter. Would you like to play for the English National Quidditch Team starting from this season on?"
Harry gaped in shock. The man couldn't be serious! Vaguely, a memory came to Harry's mind. It was in his first year on the Quidditch pitch, after Wood had explained the rules of the game.....
***************************FLASHBACK*******************************
Wood pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch.
Harry didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted. After half an hour, night had already fallen and they couldn't carry on.
"That Quidditch cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."
***************************END FLASHBACK***************************
Yes, that's what Wood had said. But he had never thought it to be true..... never thought that he, Harry, would actually get an offer from the Quidditch team..... Harry's head started to spin. He shook himself out of his daze.
"Um..... what?" He managed to get out.
The coach smiled at Harry kindly, and Harry instantly decided that he liked this man.
"The English national team, Harry, is very strong.
"We have a keeper, Alex McDougal, who has won the 'B. K.O.Y., Best Keeper Of the Year- Award three times in the past five years.
"Our beaters, Jean Iron and Gill Kane, are unbeatable (no pun intended), they are like human Bludgers.
"Our three chasers, Matthew Curdigen, Samantha Strey and Ann Lee, are the best chasers we have ever had and when working together, no move is too difficult for them to perform.
"Our only problem, Harry, is that we don't have a good Seeker. The last one, Jess McKinley, had to be fired after last year's World Cup because it turned out that she had made a deal with our opponents; she corrupted our chasers' moves seemingly by accident and blocked our keeper (a substitute by the way, Alex was injured during the World Cup) for almost the whole game.
"We held try-outs, of course, but none of the candidates were good enough to play on the national team.
"What I'm asking you to do, Harry, is to save the team from our predicament and play seeker for us. I know that this is a lot to ask, especially with you still being in school, and I won't hide from you the fact that with your barely fifteen years you'd be the youngest international Quidditch player ever. Even Mr. Krum was seventeen years old when he started.
"But we desperately need a good Seeker, Harry, and Merlin help me if I have ever seen anyone flying as good as you do!"
There was a brief silence, Harry didn't know what to say.
He didn't get the chance to answer, anyway, as Mr. Skillridge started talking again. "Harry. I don't want you to feel pressured to accept my offer in any way, but please, consider it wisely. England needs a Seeker with your talent. You do not need to decide now, I'll be here until tomorrow waiting for your answer."
With that, Mr. Skillridge turned on his heel and went back up to the castle, most of the teachers and Order members following him, giving smiles and winks to Harry.
In the end, only Harry, Dumbledore, Minerva, Sirius, Hagrid, Snape and Remus remained. All seven of the adults were smiling at Harry with pride in their eyes. Even Snape smirked. It made Harry feel both nervous, embarrassed and very warm inside.
The shock started to wear off and Harry's legs felt like they were about to give in. Harry promptly sat down on the grass, a strange ringing sound in his ears.
"Harry?" Remus's voice came from a seemingly great distance. "What are you going to tell Mr. Skillridge?"
Harry shook his head slowly and looked into his mentor's gentle chocolate brown eyes.
"I....." Harry swallowed. "I don't know. What should I tell him?"
Remus sighed.
"That, my young friend, is your own decision. The question is: Do you want to play?"
Harry considered this. Did he want to play? The answer came to him quickly and clearly. Harry smiled at his adult friends and got up again.
"Well?" Minerva asked curiously. "Have you made up your mind?"
Harry grinned at her and nodded.
"An' wha's yer answer, Harry?" Hagrid asked anxiously.
Harry's smile widened.
"Just wait and see."
He said simply and started up to the castle, ignoring the protesting grown- ups behind him.
~*~
The rest of the day passed in a blur for Harry. He was still slightly shocked because of Mr. Skillridge's offer.
That evening, Harry couldn't sleep for a very long time. Excitement, apprehension, nervousness, happiness, shock..... all those emotions and many more were coursing through Harry, and when he finally did fall asleep, it was well past midnight and Harry was way too exhausted to dream.
~*~
The next day was grey and cloudy. Harry, true to his promise, took a swim in the lake. He almost froze to death, but found reaching the far end of the lake much easier than the day before.
After a very hot bath in his river, Harry dried himself and pulled on blue jeans and a dark red sweatshirt.
That morning, Harry found the way to the great hall on his own, though it took him almost twenty minutes to get there.
The seats around the staff table were already occupied, all except for one of course, Harry's chair. Harry made his way over to the table, exchanging the usual cheerful 'Good Morning, sleep well?'s with everyone.
Then, he plopped down on his chair. On his right side there was Dumbledore, who gave his student a brilliant smile.
On Harry's other side sat Mr. Skillridge. Harry doubted that the seating arrangement was coincidental.
The three of them, and occasionally Sirius and Remus, chatted lightly during the whole meal, and Harry discovered that Mr. Skillridge not only had a wonderful sense of humour, but was also very kind, understanding and compassionate.
He reminded Harry a lot of Dumbledore- or the grandfather that he had never had. Harry found himself trusting the man instinctively and more than one time had to stop himself from spilling a secret to the man. There was something about Mr. Skillridge that made Harry want to tell him everything.
After everyone had finished eating, the food disappeared.
Mr. Skillridge turned to Harry and fixed him with his piercing blue eyes.
"Harry." The man said in a friendly, yet serious voice. "Have you thought about my offer?" Harry noticed that the whole table had fallen silent again and everyone waited with bated breath for Harry's answer.
(A/N: Such a good place to end the chapter *readers advance, tomatoes and eggs in their hands* Oh..... well..... if you put it that way..... geez, calm down, I'll continue!!! *runs away screaming*)
Harry nodded.
Mr. Skillridge's gaze did not waver as he asked his next question, calmly.
"And what is your decision?"
Harry looked around the staff table, at the anxious faces pleading with him to finally tell them.
Harry looked back, straight into Mr. Skillridge's eyes. He took a deep breath and said, quietly but firmly,
"I'll do it."
Smiles broke out on all faces, the tension in the hall dissipated, everyone cheered or clapped Harry on the back and congratulated him.
Mr. Skillridge, too, looked extremely pleased. He shook Harry's hand warmly.
"Thank you Harry. Now, we have to set up a schedule with your training. The team usually meet every day, but of course for you, being in school, that will be impossible. I suggest the following.
From what your professors have told me, you have Wednesday and Friday afternoons as well as the weekend off.
If it is okay with you, you could participate in the practices on Wednesday from three o'clock until seven o'clock, Friday from four to eight o'clock, Saturday from Eleven to five o'clock in the afternoon, and on Sunday from three to five. Now, since today in Sunday, your first practice will be on Wednesday in three days, I will meet you at 2.30 in the entrance hall. You need to bring nothing but your broom. Alright?"
Harry nodded. It would be hard keeping up this schedule once school started, but Harry was willing to do his very best.
Some of his determination seemed to be showing on his face because Mr. Skillridge ruffled his hair affectionately before excusing himself, saying that he had to get back to London now.
~*~
Harry's head was still whirling with thoughts half an hour later when he finally left the hall. He decided to take a walk outside to clear his mind.
As he walked around the great lake, Harry had the feeling that he had forgotten something..... something important.....
Harry racked his brain trying to think of what it was..... and then the answer came to him. The book! The book on Animagi he had found in the library the day before!
Harry turned on his heel and sprinted back to the castle at full speed. How could he have forgotten!
He reached his room in next to no time.
"El- Elven Clearing!" he panted.
Merlin smiled down at him jovially.
"Indeed it is, my dear friend!"
The portrait swung open and Harry stumbled into the room. There, on his bedside table, was the book. Harry plopped down on his bed and opened the book curiously. For a second, the page remained blank, but then writing appeared.
'Hello, reader. My name is Merlin, you have probably heard of me. If
you are reading this, then it means that you are my heir, or one of
them. For only those with my blood in their veins can read this
writing. For everyone else it will appear to be just strange symbols.
So you have decided to become an Animagus? This book will help you to
become whatever animal you wish in an extremely short amount of time.
How short will depend on how powerful you are.
To become an Animagus, you first have to think of the animal you want
to become. Don't try for a magical animal in the beginning as they are
far more complicated than normal animals. Pick an animal you can
envision clearly in your mind, maybe a certain cat or dog.....'
Harry soon found out that the book worked like Tom Riddle's diary: You could write questions and the book would answer. It explained to Harry about the advantages and disadvantages of every animal form, and told Harry the six steps of becoming an Animagus:
Envision the animal you want to become clearly in your mind. Pay attention to small details, like the colour of the animal's eyes and length of its fur.
When you have a clear picture in your mind, try to imagine what it feels like to be this animal.
Close your eyes (If you haven't already closed them before) and say
'Muto in (Latin name of the animal you want to become)!'
Make sure to stay absolutely still until the transformation is complete. Don't panic if it
hurts a little, that's perfectly natural in the beginning.
To transform back into your human form, just imagine what it felt like to be in your
human body and say: 'Muto in Hominem!"
With time you should be able to transform by just imagining yourself in your
alternate body without saying the incantation.
Harry spent all day reading the book, only leaving his room for lunch and dinner. The book explained to Harry that the transformation he was trying to achieve was not the standard Animagus, it was more of a shape-shifting ability. In the evening, Harry felt confident that he could try to transform the next day.
That night he was again so exhausted that he didn't have any dreams.
~*~
The next morning, after his swim and breakfast with his godparents, Harry left the castle and went down to the lake.
He made sure that he wasn't visible from the castle and sat down, concentrating deeply on clearing his mind, which was harder than Harry had imagined it to be.
He envisioned a wolf in his mind. A beautiful Grey Wolf, like the one he had seen that one time he had been to the zoo almost five years before.
The wolf's fur was grey with a bit of white, black and golden, its teeth brilliantly white and its eyes a bright green, just like Harry's.
When he had envisioned the beautiful animal so clearly that he had the feeling he could almost touch it, Harry concentrated on being inside of it.
What would it be like, singing to the moon, running through the forest with other wolves, feeling the leaves and sticks crunch under his paws. Drinking from a clear river somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, smelling the other animals and the trees and the moist ground..... Harry felt an odd tingling sensation and whispered, his eyes tightly closed,
"Muto in lupum!"
It was the most weird feeling Harry had ever known. It felt like his body was being taken apart and put back together differently, but it didn't hurt much, just prickled and burned slightly.
This went on for almost a minute, Harry didn't move, was almost afraid to breathe.
Then it was over. Harry opened his eyes and gasped, only that it came out as a strange whining sound. Harry jumped at the noise he had produced.
Looking down, Harry noticed that he didn't have hands or feet anymore, he had paws. Quickly, Harry trotted over to the lake and stared into the water.
Looking back at him was a beautiful Grey Wolf with blazing emerald green eyes, just like Harry had wanted it to be.
Harry's heart leapt in happiness, and it took him a while to register that his tail was wagging wildly.
Harry-wolf yelped in shock and stilled it quickly.
'Right', Harry thought, 'I'd better turn back then.'
The reversed transformation went a lot quicker than the other one.
"Niccccccce going."
A strange voice behind him said.
"Thanksssssss." Harry answered, still grinning.
"HUH?"
Harry whirled around, coming face-to-face with- a giant snake.
It was a Boa Constrictor, from what Harry could see, like the one he had accidentally freed from the zoo almost five years before.
"Oh, hello," Harry hissed, "How did you get here? Aren't you ssssssupposssed to be from Brazzzzzil?"
The snake shook its head indignantly and said,
"Not very bright, are you? I told you before that I have never been to Brazzzzil."
Harry blinked in shock.
"Wait a sssssec. Are you the ssssnake I ssssset free from the zzzzoo almosssst five yearssssss ago?"
The snake hissed its laughter.
"How many Boa Consssstrictorssssss do you know in Britain?"
Harry grinned.
"It'sss great to sssssee you again! But what are you doing here?"
If a snake could puff out its chest, Harry was sure that this Boa Constrictor would have done so now.
"I'm here to bring you a messssage, Harry Potter. And yesssss, I do know your name, all of usssssss ssssssnakessssss do, assssss there are only two humanssssss in the world who can talk to usssssssssssss.
"The dark lord hasssss assssked ussss to fight with him againssssst the light. However, mossssst of ussssss, in fact about 98.5 % of the world sssssnake population, have agreed to sssssstay on the light ssssside and ssssssserve you, not the dark lord. We want to improve the ssssssssnake reputation that hasss been ruined by people like the dark lord.
"We will join the dark lord'sssss army and ssssssspy on him. Every week on Sssssssunday evening at ssssseven o'clock, one of ussssssss shhhhhhhall be here and tell you the newesssssst thingssssssssss we could find out.
Fare well, Harry Potter, may the great sssnake be with you in thissssss fight between the light and the dark ssssside!"
And with that, the snake turned and slithered away into the forest. Harry stared after it dumbstruck, unable to believe what he had just heard.
After a few minutes of sitting there and staring off into space, Harry got up and walked back to the castle, lost in thoughts about wolfs, snakes, dark lords and magical wars.
***************************************************************************
OOOF! That was it! Can you believe it? I never thought I'd write a chapter this long! 26 pages! *collapses in exhaustion*.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!!!
See ya,
Felinity ^_^
Disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter characters you might recognise! I do own Rhianna Lupin and M.'s book (you'll see!).
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Chapter 6
Surprises
***************************************************************************
Harry didn't sleep well that night. He tossed and turned, and then he had a nightmare.
~*~
He was in the graveyard again. He saw a figure approaching and desperately tried to warn Cedric, but it was of no use. The pain in his scar forced him to his knees and he had to watch Wormtail kill Cedric again.
But then, instead of simply lying there, Cedric fixed his hollow, lifeless eyes on Harry and whispered,
"You killed me! How could you, Harry? How could you!"
Harry's eyes widened in horror.
"No! Cedric, I didn't mean to kill you, please, you have to believe me, I didn't know....."
"Liar!" hissed Cedric. "So many people have already died for or because of you, but you don't care, do you, Harry? Your own parents..... Professor Quirrel..... Bertha Jorkins..... that old muggle gardener..... myself..... all those muggles Voldemort has tortured..... it's all your fault!"
"No," Harry whispered, blinking back tears, "No! Cedric, please, I didn't know the cup was a portkey! I didn't want those people to die! Please, Cedric, you have to believe me....."
"Liar!" Cedric shouted again. "It's all your fault, Harry Potter, you're a murderer, everything is your fault!"
Harry's vision blurred from all those tears, and Cedric's face changed into Voldemort's.
"Harry Potter....." he hissed, "Do you know what you have done? It's your fault that I am back..... you are responsible for everyone who has to die..... give up, Harry..... join me..... together we can rule the world, and I promise not to hurt those who are dear to you....."
Harry screamed. "NO! I won't believe you! You're lying!"
Voldemort snarled at Harry. "You'll regret this, Potter! I will kill everyone around you, until you are left completely alone, and then I will kill you, too!"
Voldemort broke into a fit of high, cold, maniacal laughter that sent shivers down Harry's spine..... and then the scenery changed again, Harry could still hear Voldemort laughing, but now he was back at his parents' house.
He watched his father duel with Voldemort, then his mother plead for his life. Harry screamed at her to move, tried with all his might to run forward..... but invisible bonds closed around him, and he had to watch Voldemort kill his mother..... before Voldemort pointed his wand at little Harry, however, his mother suddenly turned on the floor to look at him and everything else faded away.
"Harry," she said, her voice monotone, "It's your fault that I am dead..... you killed James and me....."
Harry stumbled back in horror, suddenly able to move again. "No," he whispered, then louder, "NO!"
His mother faded away, and Harry was left alone in the cold, dark space. Whispers engulfed him, wafting all around him, getting louder and louder by the second.
"It's your fault..... murderer..... you killed me....... you killed us..... it's all your fault..... you deserve to die..... pity you didn't die together with your parents..... useless..... murderer..... your fault..... murderer....."
Harry screamed.
~*~
Harry shot up in his bed, gasping for breath. He was shaking all over, and noticed that his pillow was drenched with sweat and tears. His scar hurt like hell and that dream had been so horrible! It had seemed so real.....
Before he could think further, the portrait was thrown open violently and Sirius burst into the room, closely followed by Remus.
"Harry!" Sirius shouted, running over to his bed quickly. "Are you alright?"
Harry wanted to tell his godfather and friend that everything was fine, but found himself unable to.
The next moment he felt warm arms wrap themselves around him. Sirius had drawn him into a hug. The three of them just sat there silently for a few minutes, Harry in Sirius's protective embrace and Remus sitting on the bed next to them, stroking Harry's hair soothingly.
Finally, Harry's tears subsided and he stopped shaking. Sirius released him.
"Harry, what was that dream?"
Harry started.
"How did you know about my dream?"
Remus sighed and rubbed his eyes He looked tired.
"The connection, Harry. Your dream, while it was obviously a nightmare, not a vision, involved Voldemort. All Council members saw it."
Harry blanched and looked down.
"Oh no."
This was worse than he had thought. Now they would all know about his nightmares whenever he had one- how humiliating!
"Don't worry, Harry," Sirius said reassuringly, "It doesn't matter."
Then, suddenly, Harry noticed something strange. His head snapped back up.
"Sirius! Remus! This was no nightmare."
The two marauders frowned in confusion.
"What do you mean, it was no nightmare?" Remus asked.
"Do you remember Voldemort's threat?"
The adults nodded.
"I would never dream of anything like that. It was too horrible, I'm telling you, this was no normal nightmare. And he asked me to join him. Why in the name of Merlin would I have a nightmare about Voldemort asking me to join him? That's just ridiculous! I think Voldemort must have sent the dream."
Silence filled the room as Sirius and Remus stared at Harry.
"Harry," Sirius said finally, in a deadly serious voice.
"Are you aware of what you're saying? If Voldemort has really found a way to manipulate your dreams, then this is very grave indeed. Dreams are a very important thing for the human mind, in your dreams you deal with things that you were unable to handle while you were awake. If Voldemort has found a way to deprive you of that, he could destroy you slowly and systematically. We'll go to Dumbledore with you first thing in the morning."
Harry nodded and sighed. Then another question arose in his mind. "Sirius, Remus, why are you here? I didn't wake you, did I? Or did you wake up after the dream? But then, why are the others not here?"
Sirius and Remus glanced at each other uneasily.
"Dumbledore included a wakening spell in our connection with you,"Sirius said, "Whenever you have a dream about Voldemort, the Order will wake up immediately even if you might not. There might be the need for us to act quickly."
Harry nodded.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I didn't mean to wake you because of something as stupid as this."
He felt a hand brush over his hair again and looked up into Remus's concerned eyes.
"It doesn't matter, Harry," the werewolf assured his young friend, "Don't feel bad about it. I'm glad we came."
"Yeah," Sirius agreed, "What kind of godfather would I be if I weren't there for you after a nightmare?"
Sirius looked so mortally offended, that Harry had to smile.
"Oh, and Harry," Remus said, "I hope you didn't take that dream too seriously. We already told you that Cedric's death wasn't your fault, and if Cedric was here, I'm sure he would tell you the same thing.
"And neither was your parents' death. Lily and James chose to die for you, Harry, because they loved you very much. If they had seen that nightmare of yours, they would have been rolling in their graves. Lily would never, ever want you to feel guilty about her and James's deaths. Never forget that, Harry. They gave their lives so that you could live. This is the most valuable gift they could have given you, my young friend. And they would never take it back."
Harry nodded, and smiled tentatively at Remus. He felt like a very big weight had just been lifted off him. Coming from Remus, he knew that this was true. After all, nobody in this world had known Harry's parents better than Sirius and Remus.
"See, you're smiling again," Remus said, smiling himself. "Do you want to try to go back to sleep now, Harry?"
Harry shook his head vehemently.
"I'll only have another nightmare," he mumbled.
"We can give you some Dreamless-Sleep Potion, Harry," Sirius remarked.
Harry thought about it for a minute and nodded. Remus smiled and left the room. He returned not two minutes later and Harry assumed that he'd fetched the potion from his room.
Harry opened the bottle and raised it to his lips before he remembered something that had been on his mind ever since he'd seen his room.
"Sirius, Remus, what do your rooms look like? Are they like this one?"
Sirius shook his head with a mischievous grin.
"Oh no, Harry. Every room here is different. Mine is a landscape with many green hills..... Irish, I think. In the background there is a small village. I also have a stream like this running through my room.
"Remus's is a forest with a stream, too, but while your room resembles a clearing, his looks like a meadow at the edge of a forest.
"If I heard Minerva correctly, you can dive under the wall and arrive directly in the lake, right?"
Harry nodded, completely fascinated.
Remus took over where Sirius had left off.
"You see, Harry, each room has a different secret. I can walk through my wall and land at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, which will be very useful every full moon.
"Sirius can walk through his wall as well, only he will land behind some bushes in Hogsmeade.
"I believe that every room in the teachers' wing has its very own secret. I know for sure that Severus has a connection to his potions lab. Madam Hooch can get onto the Quidditch field. Your godmother can get into a secret room in Hogwarts that is full of books on Transfiguration. Albus, I believe, has a secret passage to a room with enchanted instruments that will always play the music he wants to hear the most when he enters the room..... he likes chamber music. Of course you can always get back into your rooms the same way. So every room is different and magical in its very own way."
Harry nodded. He would never get tired of learning about the peculiarities of the magical world.
"How about you take your potion now, Harry?"
Harry was brought out of his reverie by Remus's voice. He nodded.
"Right. And Sirius, Remus..... thank you. For everything."
The two smiled at him and Harry was grateful that they seemed to understand that he wasn't only thanking them for tonight, but also for the past two years when they had been there for him.
"You're welcome." They both replied. Then Harry raised the goblet again and downed the sleeping potion in three large gulps. He fell back into his pillows immediately and felt someone take the goblet from his limp fingers..... then he was fast asleep.
~*~
When Harry awoke again it was still rather early, though it was light outside. Looking around the room, Harry's eyes came to rest upon the stream. He was very curious if what Minerva had told him was true, so he got out of his bed quickly and stripped off his clothes. Then, he went over to the cupboard and put on his new swimming trunks (they fit perfectly) and slid into the stream.
The water was wonderful, not too warm and not too cold. Harry began to swim around for a while, simply enjoying the water. Then he held his breath and dived under the wall..... and splash! Harry landed in the lake. Harry looked behind himself quickly, but there was nothing, just air. A bit uncomfortably, Harry realized that he was almost in the middle of the lake and that the water here was much colder. Deciding that it wouldn't do to freeze on the spot, Harry began to swim, slowly, to the South end of the lake. The problem was that Harry wasn't a good swimmer. He had never had lessons like Dudley and the second task last year had really been the first time Harry had ever swum. He supposed that the Gillyweed had helped him- the only other logical explanation would be that he was a natural at swimming.
However, what Harry lacked was practise. Harry mentally chided himself for being so stupid, he should never have come out here in the first place.
Harry almost collapsed from relief and exhaustion when he finally reached the end of the lake. His arms and legs were heavy from the exertion and coldness and at the same time burning as though there was fire in his veins instead of blood.
Fortunately, Harry managed to find the entrance to his rooms quickly: there was a group of big rocks, right at the shore. Harry inhaled deeply, then dived again. Under the water, he found immediately what he was looking for; there, between the two largest rocks, was a cleft. Harry swam through it quickly, and with a quiet gurgling sound found himself in 'his' stream again.
Gratefully Harry stayed in the warm water for another few minutes, then he got his shampoo and soap and took a bath in the now wonderfully hot river.
Harry decided that he would swim every morning from then on until he wouldn't have any problems with reaching the shore anymore.
After he was clean, Harry climbed out of his stream and noticed with astonishment that a lot of time had passed while he had swum and that he would be late for breakfast if he didn't hurry.
He dried himself quickly and put on some of his new clothes: a green (Harry realised that it really did bring out the colour of his eyes, like Mrs. Weasley had claimed the year before) lightweight summer robe (as it was quite hot this day) and his brand new sports shoes. Like everything else they fit perfectly and were very comfortable. Then, with another happy smile at his room, Harry left for breakfast.
It took him quite a while to find his way to the great hall, he didn't know his way around in this part of Hogwarts. After ten minutes of straying through unfamiliar corridors Harry was thoroughly lost and getting a little desperate. What if he couldn't find his way into the great hall at all? What if he couldn't even find his way back to his room?!? Harry broke into a run. He bit his lip worriedly as he rounded the next corner and-
"OMPH!"
Harry had quite literally bumped into another person and both he and the other had crashed to the floor.
Harry scrambled to his feet hastily and looked down at the person staring up at him in annoyance. It was Professor Snape.
Even though Snape had been nice the day before Harry didn't quite know how to react, so he started to gush out apologies.
"Oh my god, Professor! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I shouldn't have run, really Professor I'm sorr-"
Snape eyed the boy in front of him in disgruntled amusement.
"Don't worry, Mr. Potter, I'm not going to bite your head off."
He got up again and brushed the dirt off his robes.
Looking up, he noticed that Harry was still looking at him anxiously. Severus sighed and wished for the thousandth time in those past few days that he hadn't been so hard on the boy in the past.
"Anyway," he continued, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "Why where you running down this corridor as if Voldemort himself was chasing you?"
Harry flushed in embarrassment and looked down.
"I, kind of, got lost." Harry mumbled.
To his surprise, Snape laughed.
"Yes, the teachers' wing is the most complex part of the castle there is, probably to keep the students from snooping around. It took me three months to know my way around. I presume that you were on your way to breakfast?"
Harry nodded, feeling relieved that Snape wasn't angry at him. On their way towards the great hall, Harry caught the Professor stealing sidelong glances at him several times.
After a while, Harry got annoyed. He hated it when people stared at him. He stopped so abruptly that the armours along the corridor flinched (noisily).
"Professor, why are you staring at me?"
Harry asked bluntly. Snape looked away hastily, seemingly embarrassed at having been caught by Harry.
"It's nothing," Snape mumbled and continued his walk down the corridor.
But Harry wasn't going to let his potions master off the hook so easily. He grabbed the teacher's arm and spun him around. They held a silent staring contest for almost a minute, then Snape had to look away.
"It's just..... that was your dream tonight, wasn't it?" Harry flinched. Now he wished that he hadn't asked.
Snape was staring at him with something akin to pity in his eyes. Harry flinched again. He hated pity! But he supposed that he did owe his professor an answer. Harry lowered his gaze to the floor.
"Yes," he admitted quietly, "that was my dream."
Harry looked up again into the beetle black eyes still fixating him and smiled definatly.
"It's okay, though. Remus and Sirius came into my room afterwards and..... well..... comforted me."
Harry flushed slightly in embarrassment and gave Snape a tentative smile- which, to Harry's ultimate surprise, was returned.
"That's good." Snape commented simply and then continued on to the great hall, Harry in tow.
~*~
They arrived at the Great Hall a few minutes later.
Snape pushed open the doors and they entered. Harry noticed immediately that the hall was different now that there weren't any students around.
The banners usually decorating the walls had been removed (for cleaning, Harry assumed), the house tables were pushed against the walls and the staff table stood in the middle of the hall. It reminded Harry a little of Christmas, without the trees and decorations, of course.
Sitting at the table was the most of the staff of Hogwarts, plus Sirius. Harry and Snape made their way over quickly and sat down in the last two remaining seats: Harry between Minerva and Sirius, Snape next to Dumbledore and Flitwick.
After the usual polite exchanges of 'good morning' and 'how are you' everyone returned to their previous conversations.
Harry meanwhile was busy eating (after his morning swim he felt truly famished). He looked up when he felt a pair of eyes on him.
"Harry, about that dream last night....." Minerva said reluctantly. Harry sighed, noticing that the conversation at the table had died down and everyone was looking at him with curiosity and apprehension, as well as compassion.
He put down his fork, sat up a little straighter and forced himself to look everyone in the eye while answering.
"As I already told Sirius, Remus and Professor Snape, that was no normal nightmare. I believe that Voldemort somehow sent it."
Harry noticed that Dumbledore had gone a bit pale and was leaning forward in his seat slightly.
"And what, Harry, makes you think that?"
Harry hesitated. Seeing all eyes still fixed on him, he decided that he had to tell them the truth.
"There is something I haven't told anyone about, not even Ron and Hermione," he started quietly.
"It happened down in the dungeons with Professor Quirrell and Voldemort. I had looked into the Mirror of Erised and somehow got the philosopher's stone, and then Quirrell took off his turban.....
***********************FLASHBACK*************************
Harry would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face Harry had ever seen.
It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.
"Harry Potter....." it whispered.
Harry tried to take a step backward but his legs wouldn't move.
"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapour..... I have form only when I can share another's body..... but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds..... Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks..... you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the forest..... and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will also be able to create a body of my own..... Now..... why don't you give me that stone in your pocket?"
So he knew. The feeling suddenly surged back into Harry's legs. He stumbled backward.
"Don't be a fool," snarled the face, "Better safe your own life and join me..... or you'll meet the same end as your parents...... They died begging me for mercy......"
"LIAR!"
**************************END FLASHBACK***************************
Harry stared ahead unseeingly.
"You see?" he said quietly. "Voldemort asked me to join him in my first year and I refused. He never approached me on the subject again, he must have seen that it would have been useless. And now, after three years, I'm having nightmares about Voldemort trying to get me to join him?"
Harry shook his head again doubtfully.
"That just doesn't make any sense. No, I'm telling you, that dream didn't come from my mind. That was Voldemort's work."
Everything was silent for a few seconds, then most of the teachers nodded and went back to their food.
Dumbledore however was frowning deeply.
"Thank you, Harry. Of course we'll have to do something about those dreams. Severus, do you think that you could make Harry some dreamless-sleep potion for the next two weeks until his birthday?"
The Potions Master nodded in agreement, but asked,
"Of course, Albus. But why only until his birthday?"
The wizened old wizard smiled gently at the still-fourteen-year-old boy.
"Because in two weeks, Severus, young Harry here will be so powerful that Voldemort will be unable to mess with his mind."
Before anyone could react to that statement, the doors of the great hall opened again. Everyone looked up in surprise. There, in the doorway, stood Professor Trelawney. Harry could barely suppress a groan, earning himself looks of sympathy from his godmother and godfather.
Dumbledore however, being his usual cordial self, had stood up from the table and greeted Professor Trelawney, drawing her a chair that plopped down between himself and Snape.
Harry was sure that if looks could kill, the headmaster would be six feet under, judging by the way the potions master was glaring at him.
Professor Trelawney seemed oblivious to the less-than-enthusiastic greetings she was receiving from everyone else and glided toward the table in her usual glittery-insect-fashion. But just as she was about to sit down, she let out an ear-piercing shriek.
"Headmaster, I dare not! If I sit down at this table, we'll be thirteen! You know that the first person to get up from a table of thirteen will die within the next week!"
Harry looked around the table. Trelawney was right (for once). There were Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout, Sinistra, Vektor and Lupin, and Sirius, Madam Hooch, Hagrid and Harry himself. All in all twelve people.
Dumbledore kept up his smile, though to Harry it looked a little strained, and said pleasantly,
"Ah, my dear Sibyll, I'm sure that won't be a problem. If I remember correctly, we had that same situation at Christmas two years ago, and none of the people sitting at that table have died as of yet. If you would be so kind as to sit down now, I'm sure the bacon tastes better as long as it is still warm, don't you agree?"
Trelawney sat with a face as though someone was forcing her to look at something extremely disgusting.
Harry just rolled his eyes and continued to eat his breakfast, idly chatting away with his godparents.
"So, Harry, what do you plan on doing today?" Minerva asked.
Harry shrugged.
"Oh, I'm not sure yet. I was thinking of going to the library and getting a start on my homework, and maybe take a swim in the afternoon. I might also go flying..... yeah, I haven't done this in a much too long time!"
Harry's godparents smiled at the boy's enthusiasm, both thinking the same thing: Just like James!
After finishing his bacon and eggs, Harry excused himself and got up from the table, thinking of what he would really look up in the library. A piercing shriek brought him out of his reverie.
"Oh sweet Merlin! You poor boy! Oh no, I knew it, I always knew it....." Trelawney's voice faded.
Harry looked at her in confusion.
"Um, what, sorry?" he asked, completely stumped.
Trelawney's eyes widened, making her look more like an overgrown dragon fly than ever.
"Don't you remember, boy?" Trelawney whispered dramatically, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. "The first one to leave a table of thirteen is going to die within the week! Oh you poor boy, you poor boy, I always knew it!"
Harry crossed his arms and frowned at his Divination Professor. He was getting really fed up with her.
Meanwhile, Trelawney didn't notice Harry's dangerous mood swing and continued to rant on.
"Oh poor boy..... poor boy..... yes, I saw it in your first lesson..... it is coming closer..... death is looming over you....."
That was it. Harry had had enough. He looked pointedly up at the sky and said, feigning a thoughtful look:
"Oh really? Death is looming over me? And there I thought it was the ceiling! Gee, thanks, I wouldn't have noticed!"
And then, ignoring the flustered Divination Professor and the chuckles of the other teachers, Harry turned on his heel and left the great hall.
~*~
The library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was huge.
There were thousands of shelves with millions of books, Harry doubted that any wizard or witch could read them all in a lifetime. Then again, Hermione probably had.
The problem was that Harry didn't know where he should start looking and he definitely didn't want to ask Madam Pince for advice as she was sure to tell the other Hogwarts staff about Harry Potter reading up on the subject of werewolf offspring.
Harry had forgotten about Rhianna Lupin the day before, but this morning, in the river, the memory of Hermione telling him and Ron that lycanthropy was heritable had come back. Harry intended to find out if that was true.
Deciding that he might as well start looking, Harry picked one corner of the library and started to work his way systematically through it.
"Merlin..... famous wizards of the past millennium..... Herbology..... Potions, ugh, definitely not..... and..... oh my god-"
Harry blushed a deep red. Looking up, he noticed that he had somehow ended up in the "just for sixth years and above"-section. Harry could see why.
He quickly moved away and passed the restricted section. Harry hesitated. Maybe the book he was looking for was there? –No, he decided. He would look through the 'legal' part of the library first before moving on to the forbidden.
"History of Goblin Revolutions..... Elven Wars..... Hogwarts: A History, oh, Hermione would love it if I read that..... Magical Beasts and where to find them..... getting closer....." and finally: "The history of lycanthropy".
Harry picked up the book and flipped through the pages quickly, but decided that it was not the right book for him.
He noticed that werewolves had a whole section dedicated to them. Looking over the books, Harry searched for a title that seemed promising.
"'Werewolves: The monsters in your town' by A. Paranoyd - nope, definitely not. 'What to do when the worst has happened' by Th. E. Pessymyst - no.
'Werewolves- a scientific study by M. I. Earnest'" Harry smiled. That sounded good. He pulled the unbelievably thick book down from the shelf and quickly left the library.
~*~
Back in his room, Harry sat down in one of the extremely comfortable chairs (Harry suspected that they had cushioning charms on them) and started on the book.
Checking the index, Harry noticed quickly that he already knew most of the stuff in the book. However, there was one chapter that peaked his interest. 'Werewolves: Genes and Heritage' page 3427.
Harry went to the page quickly and started reading. Most of the chapter was clear, stating that werewolves could reproduce just like normal people. But then, finally, Harry found the thing he had been looking for:
'It is a scarcely known fact that lycanthropy is indeed heritable.
When receiving the bite, the human's DNA changes considerably, it will
still be that of a human being but with some parts of the wolf in it.
The more werewolf blood the child's parents have in them, the more
likely it is for the child to become a werewolf.
'Children whose parents are both cursed with lycanthropy will always
be born as werewolves.
Children with only one werewolf-parent have a small chance of being
what most people consider normal.
'However, werewolf genes are extremely dominant and the chances for
children born from a liaison of a werewolf and normal human of not
being werewolves themselves are about 1:25.
'However, children born from such "second-generation-werewolves" have
more often than not been completely human. Scientists have speculated
for years, but have not come up with a clear answer. Fact is that
there has never been a "fourth-generation-werewolf"- unless their
parents, grandparents and great-grandparents had all been werewolves.
Since lycanthropy is rather rare on the planet Earth, such a case has
only been recorded once in history, in 189 B.C.
In that time, a family called 'Sheppard'...'
Harry stopped reading and lowered the book, looking out of the window thoughtfully. So lycanthropy was indeed heritable..... and even though Rhianna Lupin's mother might be a normal witch or even a muggle, Rhianna herself was most likely a werewolf.
Harry wondered what she would be like. Would they become friends? Harry smiled at the thought of the famous Gryffindor trio becoming a quartet. He liked the thought. The trouble with being a trio was that one person was often excluded. Whether it was in a fight or while just talking normally, it was almost always him and Ron or him and Hermione or Ron and Hermione talking or joking or working together, and the third member of their group just listened or did something else.
Yes, Harry thought smiling. He couldn't wait to get to know Rhianna.
Harry decided that he should probably better take the book back to the library before Madam Pince noticed anything.
He got up quietly, still lost in his thoughts, and walked back into the library and to the werewolf section. He put the book in its original place and slowly walked along the shelves. Harry let his eyes stray over the millions of books in the huge library.....
And then, something caught his eye. It was a small, blue book with a pretty gold pattern on its back, looking strangely out of place between all the heavy, dusty, old volumes on transfiguration around it.
Harry felt entranced by the book, it was calling to him, he could feel it..... Harry kneeled down and very carefully extracted the book from between the others. He wiped the dust off of it and slowly turned it over.
The title was written in a strange language, Harry didn't understand it..... He ran his finger gently across its cover, and suddenly, there was a tingling feeling in his scar. Harry blinked in confusion and looked around the room. Nobody was there. Harry just shrugged it off, thinking that he must have imagined it, and turned back to the book.
Harry gasped. Where only seconds before there had been strange symbols, there was now, clear as day, a title written in English:
'ANIMAGI'
In the right corner of the book it said 'by M.'
Harry stared. It was a book on Animagi! Brilliant! And it looked as though it hadn't been read in centuries.
Looking around and making sure that nobody was watching, Harry quickly stuffed the small book into his pocket and left the library.
Checking his watch, Harry noticed that it was already lunch time. Had he been reading the book on werewolves for so long?
Shaking his head in amazement, Harry shoved all thoughts of the mysterious blue book aside and made his way down to the great hall.
~*~
Upon entering the great hall, Harry noticed immediately that some of the Order members had returned.
Charlie and Bill Weasley were sitting there, waving at him merrily, Arabella Figg and Mundungus Fletcher had also returned.
There was another man at the table, he was tall, had dark hair, piercing blue eyes (much like Dumbledore's) and seemed to be in his late thirties. From the conversations Harry quickly gathered that this man was called Mr. Skillridge and was here on 'business'.
~*~
Harry had just finished his second helping of pork chops when Charlie leaned across the table and said,
"Hey, Harry. Fancy a game of Quidditch?"
Harry looked at him in surprise, but then he grinned and raised an eyebrow.
"Is this supposed to be a challenge?"
Charlie grinned back, and Harry suddenly realized that the whole table was listening to their conversation with rapt attention.
"If you want to put it that way, yes. I'm always listening to Ron, Ginny, Fred and George talking about your Quidditch talent, and so I thought I'd like to see you fly myself."
Harry nodded. He knew that Charlie had been a legendary seeker in his time at Hogwarts- good enough, in fact, that he would have played for England, had he not been more interested in dragons.
"Alright," he said. "What are the teams?"
But Charlie shook his head.
"No teams. Just the snitch and the two of us. I know that you've got a Firebolt and so do I. It'll be a Seeker's competition. Deal?"
He extended his hand toward Harry, who shook it.
"Deal."
"I've got to see this."
Harry and Charlie looked up, realising only then that everyone was watching them. Especially Mr. Skillridge.
Dumbledore nodded and said: "We can all go. I think we all need a break from the work. Harry, Charlie, you don't mind us watching, do you?"
Charlie shook his head, smiling brightly.
Harry shook his head hesitantly. He did not like the attention, but then again, he supposed he might as well get used to it. He was The-Boy-Who- Lived after all, attention would be following him around all his life.
Soon after that, everyone was outside on the Quidditch pitch.
Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout, Sinistra, Vektor and Lupin along with Sirius (in human form), Hagrid, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher, Bill Weasley and Mr. Skillridge sat in the stands. Madam Hooch had brought out the Quidditch balls. Harry and Charlie shook hands, the official sign for the challenge to begin.
"Alright, boys," Madam Hooch said, "On my whistle." She released the snitch which quickly vanished from sight. Then the flying instructor raised her whistle and said, "One- Two- Three!"
Pheeeeeeet! The whistle blew and Harry kicked off. The wind rushed by his face, and Harry couldn't help laughing in ecstasy. Flying was great, he felt at home, he felt free, this was where he belonged, there on his broom a hundred feet up in the air.
Charlie turned to him and smiled.
"Haven't flown in a while, have you?" he asked kindly.
Harry nodded, still smiling widely.
"Not since the first task last year."
He responded and then started looking for the snitch.
The sky was clear and blue, the perfect weather for Quidditch.
However, Harry soon discovered that seeker competitions were extremely boring. Without the other players, there wasn't much to do, and Harry decided to do some more difficult flying before the snitch decided to show itself. Harry had long ago forgotten about the spectators of their little game.
He started with some loops before flying three times around the Quidditch pitch at top speed. He noticed Charlie looking at him with a stunned expression on his face and said a little defensively,
"What? I'm bored."
Ignoring the Weasley Son's chuckles, he went on with his occupational therapy. Harry did all tricks that came to his mind. He rolled over a few times in midair, stood up flying on the broom, dived at full speed and pulled out just in time (Personally, Harry thought that the Wronski Feint wasn't as difficult as it looked) and did all sorts of other things.
Harry was just about to do another somersault when he spotted a golden glimmer at the far end of the pitch. Immediately, he was back on his broom and started to race toward the small golden ball.
But Charlie had seen it too. And he had been closer to the snitch by almost 30 feet.
Harry flattened himself against the broomstick and started to fly like never before. But Charlie, Harry realised, was one hell of a flyer.
Harry gritted his teeth, pushing his broom even further..... and slowly, ever so slowly, he was gaining ground..... just five feet..... now he was tailing Charlie..... they were head-to-head.....
The snitch loomed right ahead. Taking both hands off the broom handle, Harry stretched as far as he could without toppling off the broom and—
"YES!"
He had caught the snitch.
Grinning like mad, Harry slowed his broom and turned to Charlie. The second-oldest Weasley son was smirking at him.
"Well done, Harry! Now I know what the others were talking about! Your flying is truly incredible."
Harry blushed at the compliment.
"Thanks," he mumbled.
Charlie extended his hand again and shook Harry's smaller one firmly. Together they made their way to the ground.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER!"
Harry jumped about a feet high and whirled around. His godmother was standing there, her hands on her hips and looking angrier than Harry had ever seen her. He gulped and took a step backward. What had he done wrong?
"DON'T YOU DARE EVER DO THAT AGAIN! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOU SCARED US?"
Harry stared at Minerva, feeling even more agitated. What was she talking about? Minerva was now walking toward him and Harry backed away in fear.
Scenes from the Dursleys flashed across his mind.
Minerva grabbed Harry's arm, still looking mad, and Harry was getting ready to beg for his life, when suddenly.....
Minerva hugged him fiercely. Harry stood stiffly in the embrace, not quite knowing how to react. Had his godmother lost her mind? One minute she was screaming bloody murder and the next she was hugging him like there was no tomorrow.
Harry met Sirius's eyes looking over his godmother's shoulder and threw him a perplexed glance, but Sirius only shrugged helplessly and mouthed something that looked suspiciously like 'women'.
Finally Minerva released Harry, whose attention was immediately diverted by Mr. Skillridge. The man had a strange gleam in his eyes.
Harry noticed that all the teachers and Order members had now joined their little group and Dumbledore had stepped up beside Mr. Skillridge.
"Harry," the old mage said kindly, an odd light twinkling in his eyes, "May I introduce to you a very old friend of mine, Mr. Skillridge, coach of the E.N.Q.T., also known as the English National Quidditch Team."
Harry's eyes went wide. The only thing he could think was 'Oh. My. God.'.
Mr. Skillridge stepped forward and extended his hand to Harry, who shook it, still in a daze.
"Mr. Potter. Would you like to play for the English National Quidditch Team starting from this season on?"
Harry gaped in shock. The man couldn't be serious! Vaguely, a memory came to Harry's mind. It was in his first year on the Quidditch pitch, after Wood had explained the rules of the game.....
***************************FLASHBACK*******************************
Wood pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch.
Harry didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted. After half an hour, night had already fallen and they couldn't carry on.
"That Quidditch cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."
***************************END FLASHBACK***************************
Yes, that's what Wood had said. But he had never thought it to be true..... never thought that he, Harry, would actually get an offer from the Quidditch team..... Harry's head started to spin. He shook himself out of his daze.
"Um..... what?" He managed to get out.
The coach smiled at Harry kindly, and Harry instantly decided that he liked this man.
"The English national team, Harry, is very strong.
"We have a keeper, Alex McDougal, who has won the 'B. K.O.Y., Best Keeper Of the Year- Award three times in the past five years.
"Our beaters, Jean Iron and Gill Kane, are unbeatable (no pun intended), they are like human Bludgers.
"Our three chasers, Matthew Curdigen, Samantha Strey and Ann Lee, are the best chasers we have ever had and when working together, no move is too difficult for them to perform.
"Our only problem, Harry, is that we don't have a good Seeker. The last one, Jess McKinley, had to be fired after last year's World Cup because it turned out that she had made a deal with our opponents; she corrupted our chasers' moves seemingly by accident and blocked our keeper (a substitute by the way, Alex was injured during the World Cup) for almost the whole game.
"We held try-outs, of course, but none of the candidates were good enough to play on the national team.
"What I'm asking you to do, Harry, is to save the team from our predicament and play seeker for us. I know that this is a lot to ask, especially with you still being in school, and I won't hide from you the fact that with your barely fifteen years you'd be the youngest international Quidditch player ever. Even Mr. Krum was seventeen years old when he started.
"But we desperately need a good Seeker, Harry, and Merlin help me if I have ever seen anyone flying as good as you do!"
There was a brief silence, Harry didn't know what to say.
He didn't get the chance to answer, anyway, as Mr. Skillridge started talking again. "Harry. I don't want you to feel pressured to accept my offer in any way, but please, consider it wisely. England needs a Seeker with your talent. You do not need to decide now, I'll be here until tomorrow waiting for your answer."
With that, Mr. Skillridge turned on his heel and went back up to the castle, most of the teachers and Order members following him, giving smiles and winks to Harry.
In the end, only Harry, Dumbledore, Minerva, Sirius, Hagrid, Snape and Remus remained. All seven of the adults were smiling at Harry with pride in their eyes. Even Snape smirked. It made Harry feel both nervous, embarrassed and very warm inside.
The shock started to wear off and Harry's legs felt like they were about to give in. Harry promptly sat down on the grass, a strange ringing sound in his ears.
"Harry?" Remus's voice came from a seemingly great distance. "What are you going to tell Mr. Skillridge?"
Harry shook his head slowly and looked into his mentor's gentle chocolate brown eyes.
"I....." Harry swallowed. "I don't know. What should I tell him?"
Remus sighed.
"That, my young friend, is your own decision. The question is: Do you want to play?"
Harry considered this. Did he want to play? The answer came to him quickly and clearly. Harry smiled at his adult friends and got up again.
"Well?" Minerva asked curiously. "Have you made up your mind?"
Harry grinned at her and nodded.
"An' wha's yer answer, Harry?" Hagrid asked anxiously.
Harry's smile widened.
"Just wait and see."
He said simply and started up to the castle, ignoring the protesting grown- ups behind him.
~*~
The rest of the day passed in a blur for Harry. He was still slightly shocked because of Mr. Skillridge's offer.
That evening, Harry couldn't sleep for a very long time. Excitement, apprehension, nervousness, happiness, shock..... all those emotions and many more were coursing through Harry, and when he finally did fall asleep, it was well past midnight and Harry was way too exhausted to dream.
~*~
The next day was grey and cloudy. Harry, true to his promise, took a swim in the lake. He almost froze to death, but found reaching the far end of the lake much easier than the day before.
After a very hot bath in his river, Harry dried himself and pulled on blue jeans and a dark red sweatshirt.
That morning, Harry found the way to the great hall on his own, though it took him almost twenty minutes to get there.
The seats around the staff table were already occupied, all except for one of course, Harry's chair. Harry made his way over to the table, exchanging the usual cheerful 'Good Morning, sleep well?'s with everyone.
Then, he plopped down on his chair. On his right side there was Dumbledore, who gave his student a brilliant smile.
On Harry's other side sat Mr. Skillridge. Harry doubted that the seating arrangement was coincidental.
The three of them, and occasionally Sirius and Remus, chatted lightly during the whole meal, and Harry discovered that Mr. Skillridge not only had a wonderful sense of humour, but was also very kind, understanding and compassionate.
He reminded Harry a lot of Dumbledore- or the grandfather that he had never had. Harry found himself trusting the man instinctively and more than one time had to stop himself from spilling a secret to the man. There was something about Mr. Skillridge that made Harry want to tell him everything.
After everyone had finished eating, the food disappeared.
Mr. Skillridge turned to Harry and fixed him with his piercing blue eyes.
"Harry." The man said in a friendly, yet serious voice. "Have you thought about my offer?" Harry noticed that the whole table had fallen silent again and everyone waited with bated breath for Harry's answer.
(A/N: Such a good place to end the chapter *readers advance, tomatoes and eggs in their hands* Oh..... well..... if you put it that way..... geez, calm down, I'll continue!!! *runs away screaming*)
Harry nodded.
Mr. Skillridge's gaze did not waver as he asked his next question, calmly.
"And what is your decision?"
Harry looked around the staff table, at the anxious faces pleading with him to finally tell them.
Harry looked back, straight into Mr. Skillridge's eyes. He took a deep breath and said, quietly but firmly,
"I'll do it."
Smiles broke out on all faces, the tension in the hall dissipated, everyone cheered or clapped Harry on the back and congratulated him.
Mr. Skillridge, too, looked extremely pleased. He shook Harry's hand warmly.
"Thank you Harry. Now, we have to set up a schedule with your training. The team usually meet every day, but of course for you, being in school, that will be impossible. I suggest the following.
From what your professors have told me, you have Wednesday and Friday afternoons as well as the weekend off.
If it is okay with you, you could participate in the practices on Wednesday from three o'clock until seven o'clock, Friday from four to eight o'clock, Saturday from Eleven to five o'clock in the afternoon, and on Sunday from three to five. Now, since today in Sunday, your first practice will be on Wednesday in three days, I will meet you at 2.30 in the entrance hall. You need to bring nothing but your broom. Alright?"
Harry nodded. It would be hard keeping up this schedule once school started, but Harry was willing to do his very best.
Some of his determination seemed to be showing on his face because Mr. Skillridge ruffled his hair affectionately before excusing himself, saying that he had to get back to London now.
~*~
Harry's head was still whirling with thoughts half an hour later when he finally left the hall. He decided to take a walk outside to clear his mind.
As he walked around the great lake, Harry had the feeling that he had forgotten something..... something important.....
Harry racked his brain trying to think of what it was..... and then the answer came to him. The book! The book on Animagi he had found in the library the day before!
Harry turned on his heel and sprinted back to the castle at full speed. How could he have forgotten!
He reached his room in next to no time.
"El- Elven Clearing!" he panted.
Merlin smiled down at him jovially.
"Indeed it is, my dear friend!"
The portrait swung open and Harry stumbled into the room. There, on his bedside table, was the book. Harry plopped down on his bed and opened the book curiously. For a second, the page remained blank, but then writing appeared.
'Hello, reader. My name is Merlin, you have probably heard of me. If
you are reading this, then it means that you are my heir, or one of
them. For only those with my blood in their veins can read this
writing. For everyone else it will appear to be just strange symbols.
So you have decided to become an Animagus? This book will help you to
become whatever animal you wish in an extremely short amount of time.
How short will depend on how powerful you are.
To become an Animagus, you first have to think of the animal you want
to become. Don't try for a magical animal in the beginning as they are
far more complicated than normal animals. Pick an animal you can
envision clearly in your mind, maybe a certain cat or dog.....'
Harry soon found out that the book worked like Tom Riddle's diary: You could write questions and the book would answer. It explained to Harry about the advantages and disadvantages of every animal form, and told Harry the six steps of becoming an Animagus:
Envision the animal you want to become clearly in your mind. Pay attention to small details, like the colour of the animal's eyes and length of its fur.
When you have a clear picture in your mind, try to imagine what it feels like to be this animal.
Close your eyes (If you haven't already closed them before) and say
'Muto in (Latin name of the animal you want to become)!'
Make sure to stay absolutely still until the transformation is complete. Don't panic if it
hurts a little, that's perfectly natural in the beginning.
To transform back into your human form, just imagine what it felt like to be in your
human body and say: 'Muto in Hominem!"
With time you should be able to transform by just imagining yourself in your
alternate body without saying the incantation.
Harry spent all day reading the book, only leaving his room for lunch and dinner. The book explained to Harry that the transformation he was trying to achieve was not the standard Animagus, it was more of a shape-shifting ability. In the evening, Harry felt confident that he could try to transform the next day.
That night he was again so exhausted that he didn't have any dreams.
~*~
The next morning, after his swim and breakfast with his godparents, Harry left the castle and went down to the lake.
He made sure that he wasn't visible from the castle and sat down, concentrating deeply on clearing his mind, which was harder than Harry had imagined it to be.
He envisioned a wolf in his mind. A beautiful Grey Wolf, like the one he had seen that one time he had been to the zoo almost five years before.
The wolf's fur was grey with a bit of white, black and golden, its teeth brilliantly white and its eyes a bright green, just like Harry's.
When he had envisioned the beautiful animal so clearly that he had the feeling he could almost touch it, Harry concentrated on being inside of it.
What would it be like, singing to the moon, running through the forest with other wolves, feeling the leaves and sticks crunch under his paws. Drinking from a clear river somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, smelling the other animals and the trees and the moist ground..... Harry felt an odd tingling sensation and whispered, his eyes tightly closed,
"Muto in lupum!"
It was the most weird feeling Harry had ever known. It felt like his body was being taken apart and put back together differently, but it didn't hurt much, just prickled and burned slightly.
This went on for almost a minute, Harry didn't move, was almost afraid to breathe.
Then it was over. Harry opened his eyes and gasped, only that it came out as a strange whining sound. Harry jumped at the noise he had produced.
Looking down, Harry noticed that he didn't have hands or feet anymore, he had paws. Quickly, Harry trotted over to the lake and stared into the water.
Looking back at him was a beautiful Grey Wolf with blazing emerald green eyes, just like Harry had wanted it to be.
Harry's heart leapt in happiness, and it took him a while to register that his tail was wagging wildly.
Harry-wolf yelped in shock and stilled it quickly.
'Right', Harry thought, 'I'd better turn back then.'
The reversed transformation went a lot quicker than the other one.
"Niccccccce going."
A strange voice behind him said.
"Thanksssssss." Harry answered, still grinning.
"HUH?"
Harry whirled around, coming face-to-face with- a giant snake.
It was a Boa Constrictor, from what Harry could see, like the one he had accidentally freed from the zoo almost five years before.
"Oh, hello," Harry hissed, "How did you get here? Aren't you ssssssupposssed to be from Brazzzzzil?"
The snake shook its head indignantly and said,
"Not very bright, are you? I told you before that I have never been to Brazzzzil."
Harry blinked in shock.
"Wait a sssssec. Are you the ssssnake I ssssset free from the zzzzoo almosssst five yearssssss ago?"
The snake hissed its laughter.
"How many Boa Consssstrictorssssss do you know in Britain?"
Harry grinned.
"It'sss great to sssssee you again! But what are you doing here?"
If a snake could puff out its chest, Harry was sure that this Boa Constrictor would have done so now.
"I'm here to bring you a messssage, Harry Potter. And yesssss, I do know your name, all of usssssss ssssssnakessssss do, assssss there are only two humanssssss in the world who can talk to usssssssssssss.
"The dark lord hasssss assssked ussss to fight with him againssssst the light. However, mossssst of ussssss, in fact about 98.5 % of the world sssssnake population, have agreed to sssssstay on the light ssssside and ssssssserve you, not the dark lord. We want to improve the ssssssssnake reputation that hasss been ruined by people like the dark lord.
"We will join the dark lord'sssss army and ssssssspy on him. Every week on Sssssssunday evening at ssssseven o'clock, one of ussssssss shhhhhhhall be here and tell you the newesssssst thingssssssssss we could find out.
Fare well, Harry Potter, may the great sssnake be with you in thissssss fight between the light and the dark ssssside!"
And with that, the snake turned and slithered away into the forest. Harry stared after it dumbstruck, unable to believe what he had just heard.
After a few minutes of sitting there and staring off into space, Harry got up and walked back to the castle, lost in thoughts about wolfs, snakes, dark lords and magical wars.
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OOOF! That was it! Can you believe it? I never thought I'd write a chapter this long! 26 pages! *collapses in exhaustion*.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!!!
See ya,
Felinity ^_^