Chapter Nine

The Midnight Library Visit

There was a large crowd gathered round the Gryffindor notice board when Harry and Ron entered the Common Room the next morning. Students were chatting happily as they waited to get to the front of the group; many of them clutching feathered quills.

"What's going on?" Harry asked Hermione as they joined her in the queue.

"Everyone's signing up for Defence Club. The enrolment sheet has been put up".

"Oh right" Ron yawned. "I thought for a moment they were vandalising the new Quidditch team list". Harry laughed.

His encounter with Snape yesterday in the Great Hall turned out to be the only real upset of the day. The whole team turned up for the tryouts; Harry's message somehow having managed to get to Ginny even though Harry had spent most of the day looking for her.

It had been a cool, dry evening and well over half of Gryffindor must have turned up to try out for the team. Ron was particularly relieved, however, when Hermione handed over the broomstick she had carried on to the Quidditch pitch to Ginny. This was of course only after she had stood patiently in the try out queue for ten minutes waving and smiling at Ron whenever he turned round to check if she was still there.

"Thank god" he muttered to Harry quietly so that Ginny wouldn't hear. "Can you imagine what would have happened when you had to tell Hermione she wasn't very good at something!"

"Hey, hang on! What do you mean when I told her!" Harry exclaimed.

"Well no offence mate but she's my girlfriend! I'd rather keep all my body parts thank you very much! Besides …" Ron laughed "you know there are loads of things I'll do for you, but risking the wrath of Hermione aint one of them. Give me a group of death eaters any day!"

The tryouts had gone rather well, even if it had seemed like they were taking forever. Even Madam Hooch, who had come down to supervise, had given Harry a few pointers on what to look for. It was Ron that had been kept the busiest though as there were only two chaser positions available and he had to catch all the Quaffles. 'Least he was getting plenty of practise' Hermione had joked.

As Harry had watched Colin Creevey clumsily trying to avoid the bludger Andrew Kirke had shot at him and hang on to the Quaffle and his broomstick, he realised just how much extra work he'd let himself in for. Not that he minded; it finally felt like he was getting back to some kind of normality after all that had happened in the last few months.

It had been hard work picking only two people, and a shame really as they could easily have put a second team together this year. In the end though, Harry narrowed it down to five students and then consulted the rest of the team to see what they thought. All the Gryffindors had crowded around them restlessly when Harry called them together to make the announcement. Seamus Finnegan and Erin Dowill, a blonde third year, were chosen as the new Gryffindor Chasers.

Most of the Gryffindors had then stayed up late celebrating; and though it had seemed like a good idea at the time, Harry was definitely regretting it now. Wednesday morning had arrived far to quickly with Harry only having had five hours sleep. Professor Mcgonagall had appeared at two o'clock in the morning to herd them all of to bed after Owen Cauldwell and Euan Abercrombie , having taken it upon themselves to become the new Fred and George, decided to demonstrate Weasleys Wizardly Wheezes new Supersonic Belching Mints. As entertaining as it was, none of them had realised that their belches were echoing throughout the entire school. Fifty house points less later they all went to bed but Seamus, however, had been so excited that he didn't want to sleep and kept wanting to talk about training tactics while the other boys were trying hard to drop off. Still, as Harry looked around the room now, most of the Gryffindors still looked in high spirits despite the lack of sleep, even Ginny who smiled and waved to Harry as she headed towards the Fat Lady with Parvarti Patil.

Having finally got to the front of the notice board, Harry, Ron and Hermione added their names to the long list of Gryffindor students who had already signed up for the Defence Club and then went downstairs to the Great Hall for breakfast. They didn't rush through breakfast though, as no one was particularly looking forward to the prospect of a full morning of Potions. Neville, for once, was in very good spirits and sitting at the table with a huge grin on his face. "Bet Perenology doesn't look so silly now does it!" he said happily. To Harry the prospect of studying a tree all morning did seem more appealing now even if it did sound boring.

The only thing that got Harry through a morning of hell was the thought of

Defence class after lunch. Snape was his usual evil self and took great delight in pointing out all of Harry's mistakes to the entire class. Despite the fact that if Snape hadn't been constantly hovering behind him and watching over his shoulder then he probably wouldn't have made them at all. That and Draco Malfoys look of utter glee when Professor Snape reminded Harry about his remedial potions lesson, had Harry seriously reconsidering his choice of NEWTs and he was first out of the dungeon when lunch time finally arrived.

Much to Harry's disappointment, after lunch double Defence flew past. Bill still wouldn't tell them who the new teacher was despite Hermione's constant questions. Their first double Herbology lesson went quickly as well.

This year they had moved in to Greenhouse Eight. Ever since Harry had first come to Hogwarts he had always wondered what was behind the dark, blacked out windows as only the sixth formers were allowed in. Fred and George used to tell them stories about killer plants and strangling trees but Harry was very disappointed to end up standing in what looked like a tropical jungle, swatting biting insects away from his face, while he disentangled Ron from a singing and dancing Poppy Vine plant. Hermione, who had partnered Neville, was having no problems whatsoever and their plant hopped around playfully as Neville held out its tendrils for Hermione to measure.

Dinner in the Great Hall came and went, and Harry walked slowly to the dungeons on his own as Ron and Hermione had to go to a Prefects meeting called by Eddie Carmichael, the new Head Boy. Eddie was a Ravenclaw and Harry had seen him around a few times but didn't really know a lot about him.

"You are late Mr Potter!" Harry snapped out of his trance quickly and came face to face with professor Snape who was stood imposingly, in the dungeon doorway. "Taking your lessons as seriously as ever, I see!" Snape's voice boomed down the empty dim corridor. Harry went to respond but Snape had already turned around and re-entered his classroom. Harry followed him in sombrely and closed the door behind him.

"Now Mr Potter, have you been practising what I taught you last time?" Snape asked, his eyes boring in to Harry's. "No I didn't think so!" he replied to himself sneeringly. With a flick of his wand Professor Snape cleared the large benches from the middle of the room and piled them neatly against the side of the dungeon. "Right well, lets see what you remember shall we!" He gestured for Harry to step in to the centre of the room. Harry stepped forward and took out his wand.

"On the count of three then; one … two … Legilimens!" Snape struck before Harry was ready and he had no time to rouse any resistance. Suddenly images were racing through his mind … Dudley and Piers chasing him through the park when he was seven … Hagrid giving him Hedwig for his eleventh birthday … his first flight on Buckbeak over the Forbidden Forrest … Sirius' face … "No!" yelled Harry and he dropped heavily on to his knees on the floor as the dungeon came rushing back in to focus.

"How many times must we go through this Mr Potter, control!" Snape snapped irritably, as he doused the green flames that had burnt a hole in the right sleeve of his robes. "Focus! Clear your head" he said coldly. "Use your mind to repel me. Let go of all thoughts and feelings no matter how trivial they are!"

"How?" Harry shouted back at him. "How am I supposed to stand here and clear my head when YOUR standing there bellowing and pointing your wand at me. It's not exactly a calming situation is it!"

"DO NOT RAISE your voice at ME!" Snape roared back. "You INSOLENT child! Dumbledore is a fool for thinking that YOU are capable of learning this".

"Well maybe it's the teacher who's at fault and not the student!" Harry spat back, giving Snape a filthy look. Harry had changed and they both knew it. The way he saw it now was that he had nothing to lose. He had two more years of Hogwarts left, that is if he didn't die first, and with no Sirius to stick up for him he would be damned if he was going to let Snape ruin the time he had left.

"Whether you like it or not, I HAVE to teach you this!" Snape hissed through gritted teeth and he leant forward towering over Harry who was still on his knees on the floor; both of them were tightly gripping their wands.

"The Dark Lord will not wait until you are in a good mood to attack you" Snape continued. "He will NOT announce himself first and he WILL NOT count to three to give you a chance to empty your juvenile little HEAD! He has already read you once to see that he could manipulate you through the one person you pathetically cared about. What will he see if he reads you again? Ronald Weasley maybe, or perhaps Miss Granger or even … Ginny Weasley?" Snape said simultaneously as the thought of Ginny being taken popped in to Harry's head and Snape smiled.

How had he seen that? Had he seen it or did he out it there? No one knew about the way Harry had been thinking about Ginny lately, not even Harry had been entirely sure until now. But as angry as Harry was, the thought of him endangering his friends did sober him up rather quickly. His head still throbbing he got up to face Snape again, wand ready.

"Right, well, we'll try again shall we?" Snape straightened his robes and stepped back in to position. "One … two … legilimens!"

Harry shut his eyes and surrounded himself with blackness. It worked for a few seconds but then a memory popped in to his head … it was Dumbledore and the glass orb in the Ministry car a couple of days ago. Harry took a deep breath and concentrated on the blackness. It worked again for a few seconds but then another image popped in to his head. He was sat in Dumbledore's office. Delicate silver instruments were whirring gently on spindly-legged tables; Fawkes was chirping happily on his stand in the corner and the portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses were asleep in their frames. Harry turned and saw a table standing on its side and a lunascope shattered by the fireplace. He heard Dumbledore beckon him to come and sit down by the fireplace and that's when he remembered this memory. Dumbledore was going to tell him about the prophecy. Then he remembered Snape; he had to stop it. Snape couldn't know about the prophecy, he mustn't. Dumbledore may trust him but Harry certainly didn't. He focused harder than he thought possible especially as his head was throbbing even more. Dumbledore had started talking now and he had to stop it. Blackness, everything went black and Harry could have sworn he heard Snape growl in frustration but he carried on concentrating, trying to keep his head blank.

But the darkness went again and to Harry's utter horror he found himself stood in the Department of Mysteries. Stone benches ran all around the room and came down in steep steps. Harry was stood at the bottom next to the raised stone dais that was in the centre of the room. On the middle of the dais was an old stone archway and from it hung a tattered black veil, which fluttered ever so slightly, even though there was no breeze. All of a sudden people appeared around him and sparks shot past Harry and chaos appeared as witches and wizards fired spells at each other. Up on the steps Harry watched himself with Neville and saw Sirius rescue them from Anton Dolohov. This memory had played over and over in Harry's head all summer; he hadn't been able to stop it then and he doubted he'd be able to stop it now. He saw Dumbledore appear at the top of the steps and knew what was coming. Back in his body at the top of the stairs, Harry looked down to see Sirius goading Bellatrix Lestrange from beside the arch. Then Harry saw him; Snape, standing a couple of metres from Harry as they were positioned in the classroom, but he had turned; watching Sirius with a huge smile across his face as Sirius was hit in the chest by a jet of red light and fell slowly backwards with a look of complete shock on his face. As he fell backwards though, his eyes locked with Harry's up on the steps. Harry hadn't told anyone that Sirius had called to him for help with his eyes before he went through the veil; begging him to help. No one had known until now and Snape just stood there smiling; smiling at the veil.

"NO!!" screamed Harry loudly and as the dungeon came rushing back in to view again, he heard a loud bang and a crash. He feel to his knees again and clutched at his head to try and stop the incessant banging and shooting pains. He pushed his glasses back up off the end of his nose and brought his eyes back in to focus. Professor Snape was now lying in a heap against the wall at the front of the dungeon, surrounded by broken jars which were oozing green smelly liquids. He was out cold. Harry knew that he had done it but he didn't care.

The dungeon door flew open and Harry spun round with his wand still raised, to face Professor Mcgonagall and Professor Dumbledore.

"Oh my lord!" Mcgonagall cried as she hurried forward to the unconscious form of Professor Snape. "Severus, Severus?" she shouted shaking his shoulder as Dumbledore walked slowly forwards towards Harry.

Harry lowered his wand; tears streaming down his face but the anger still boiled through him. Dumbledore looked deeply in to Harry's eyes for a moment and then spoke to him. Harry thought he would be furious but he just calmly said "You're tired. I think you've had enough for your first lesson. Go back to your dormitory and we will talk tomorrow".

Harry pocketed his wand and after glancing over at the still unconscious form of Professor Snape, he turned and meekly left the dungeon, not even daring to meet Dumbledore's eyes.

Back in his dormitory, Harry climbed in to bed and pulled the curtains of his four poster shut. All the others were already in bed asleep; he must have been in the dungeon for hours. Lying in his bed and staring up in to the dark, all Harry had just seen again, played over and over in his mind. He couldn't sleep and he couldn't stop seeing the memory of Sirius' death. Sirius' eyes locked with his; Sirius scared and pleading for help. But again and again he fell backwards through the veil and disappeared. Harry, in that moment, powerless to stop it.

Harry tossed and turned, frustrated that he couldn't switch off. But then that was the problem wasn't it. To stop Snape getting in he had to be able to switch off, to blank everything out but he couldn't. If he learnt how to do this then maybe it would help him sleep as well.

Harry quietly pulled back the curtains and crept to the end of his bed, opening his Trunk. Pulling out his father's invisibility cloak, he wrapped it around himself and quietly made his way through the dormitory in the dark.

Ten minutes later Harry was creeping in to the library. If Snape wasn't going to teach him properly then Harry would do it himself. "Lumos" Harry muttered quietly, igniting his wand so that he could make his way through the large book shelves without bumping in to anything. The last thing he needed to do tonight was get caught by Mr Filch and reported to Dumbledore, when Dumbledore had already told him to go back to the dormitory. Though technically he HAD been back to the dormitory, he just hadn't stayed there. Though he doubted Professor Dumbledore would agree with his view on this. He was in enough trouble already.

Harry slowly made his way to the back of the library to the Restricted Section. Harry figured that as Occlumency was supposed to be an obscure branch of magic and Voldemorts use of Legilimency as a dark art would mean any useful information on it would be restricted. The Restricted Section of the Library, however, whilst restricted, was also very large. Harry wandered up and down the rows for a while holding up his wand to illuminate the book spines. It took him twenty minutes to find one relating to Occlumency. He pulled it out and carried it over to a desk. He spent the next hour reading it; trying to memorise passages as he had forgotten to bring parchment and a quill.

Feeling his eyes start to get heavy and his mind starting to wander, Harry decided enough was enough; it was time to go to bed. He had learnt a bit more about Occlumency and hopefully his better understanding of it would help him to deal with Snape's next onslaught. He still hadn't found an easier way to clear his mind though but at least now he had a plan. There were more books here to read and at least tomorrow he might be able to get Hermione to help him find what he wanted. Also tomorrow, as they were now sixth formers, they could wander around the restricted Section freely and wouldn't have to huddle under Harry's cloak in the dark. Harry had only come now because he hadn't been able to wait until morning.

Rising from the desk, Harry closed the book and walked back to the shelf that he had gotten it from. He carefully slid it back in to the gap not wanting to disturb the books on either side in case they suddenly screamed out or made a noise; as some books in the Dark Arts section had been known to do.

Harry lowered his hand back down but the light from his wand illuminated the row of books on the next shelf down and the one right in the middle caught his eye. Harry just stared at it for a moment dumbstruck, a hundred thoughts shooting through his mind. Reaching slowly forward and pulling the dark green leather book out of its row, Harry turned it over to read the front cover. There, in bright gold italic lettering, Harry read 'The Unforgivable Curses and their Uses in History by Lily Rose Evans'.

Any thought of going back to his dormitory and going to sleep evaporated just as suddenly as him finding the book. Throwing back the hood of his cloak so that he could see better, Harry lifted the book closer to check he hadn't misread it. He hadn't and all his tiredness gone, he rushed back to the library table, this time lighting the candles that were on it, not caring if he got caught, just as long as he could look inside the book. Harry went straight to the contents page to see if he could find anything that said whether it was his mother that had written it. After all, there couldn't really be that many witches called Lily Evans could there? Flicking rapidly through the pages Harry saw that each of the curses had been broken down and there were sections on how they were used and suggested methods of defending against them. There were also some pretty gruesome pictures. There were stories of famous aurors and how they had dealt with them and there was also a large chapter on Dumbledore and the dark wizard Grindelwald. As much as Harry realised this book could be very useful to him, he was still desperate to find out something about his mother. Coming to the last page Harry found a short biography about the author, right at the back of the book. There, smiling up at him and waving, was his mother stood at the front doors of Hogwarts in black Professor's robes, cuddling the large bump that was her tummy. 'She was here when she was pregnant with me' Harry thought to himself. Her red hair and bright green eyes were unmistakable. Underneath her picture was a short biography of her.

'Lily Evans' first book 'Unusual Hexes and Curses from

Asia and Africa' was a national bestseller. A former Auror

for the Ministry of Magic in the United Kingdom, Lily Evans

now works as the Defence Against the dark Arts Teacher in

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she

has been helping to prepare and train the next generation

of witches and wizards, for the past three years. She is

currently working on a new book, details of which will be

released shortly.'

Harry quickly flicked back through all the pages but that was all there was. He couldn't believe what he had just read. His mother used to teach here. Why had no one mentioned it before? Or that she had written books about the Dark Arts. Lupin surely would have known. And Dumbledore definitely would have.

A bang suddenly echoed through the Library and Harry quickly extinguished the candles with his wand.

Pulling up the hood of his invisibility cloak, Harry hugged the book tightly to his chest and got up. This one he was taking back to the dormitory with him to show Ron and Hermione first thing in the morning. He was tired of secrets. Dumbledore may have been expecting to talk about the Occlumency lesson tomorrow but Harry wanted some answers about his mother.

As he approached the Library doors Argus filch, the school caretakers, entered with his cat, Mrs Norris. Harry froze and waited for them to pass before he crept out and made his way back quietly to Gryffindor Tower; his mothers' book still clenched tightly in his arms and his desire to sleep long gone.