Disclaimer:

J.K. Rowling is the owner of Harry Potter. Stories she has written and characters that she created are not mine. I don't take credit for any of her work. I do thank her for providing such a wonderful universe to dream about and write in.

Harry Potter and the Shadow of Evil

By: Starwin

Chapter 24 – Don't Believe Everything you See

Harry had sent off another letter to Mr. Olivander, this time enclosing a phoenix tail feather, from his animagus self and the vial of Nightmare flame from Ginny. He wasn't entirely sure if Olivander would be able to us either of the items but it was worth a try at the very least as his school wand was becoming, if possible, worse.

The week moved by quickly. His lessons seemed dull since he was unable to take a practical part in any of his magical classes requiring a wand. Leaving only Harry's least favorite classes, such as potions and a history of magic, for Harry to take an active part in.

Harry had been hoping that Solaris would be teaching more wandless spells, but he had not done so in their Monday class. It wasn't a boring lesson by any means, Harry just wasn't content to sit and take notes in a class that involved launching objects at people. Particularly since Malfoy was in the room.

The following day was Hagrid's magical creatures class. Hagrid seemed especially cheerful this lesson, which Harry knew was always bad news. The lesson had gone well at first until Hagrid produced the creature they were to be studying. A small floating orb like creature with many eyes.

The lesson had ended with Hagrid wrestling it into a sack and hiding it back inside his cabin. It had still been more pleasant than their visit from the goblin at the start of the year.

Harry hung back after class. He had hadn't visited with Hargid for a long time and he wasn't overly excited to get to his next class, where he knew he would be sitting and taking notes. He also had a question for Hagrid, something that had occurred to him during class but he still wasn't sure he wanted to ask. Hagrid spotted Harry and waved him over.

"Doin alright 'arry?" Hagrid asked putting a large heavy hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry smiled up at the large man. He hadn't talked with Hagrid a long time and Harry had almost forgotten how much liked being around him.

"Uh, yeah," Harry said. "how've you been Hagrid, I'm sorry I haven't come to visit you lately."

"That's alright 'arry," Hagrid said. "I've been fine thought I had a bit of trouble with the centaurs a couple weeks ago, after Ferenze came into class. But otherwise things 'ave been okay. I sent a letter off to the Seraphim asking if one might be willing to fly down to talk to us, but I 'aven't 'eard anything back from em yet. Though I don't really expect one to come, they don't like wizards much."

"Yeah," Harry said distractedly thinking about Solaris. So Dumbledore hadn't told the other teachers about him. Or they knew, but were told to keep it a secret, something Hagrid wasn't very good at. "Hey Hagrid I have a question about a magical creature," Harry said trying to form up the thoughts in his head.

"About Blinkly?" Hagrid said jerking his thumb over his shoulder at his hut. Blinky had been the name Hagrid had given to the monster they had seen in class today. A vicious little thing called a beholder. Fully grown they could shoot deadly rays from their eyes causing everything form extreme pain to death and even turning people to stone.

"No," Harry said shaking his head, "about another magical creature."

"Well, I'll tryen answer it for ya if I can," Hagrid smiled. "Which creature did you 'ave in mind?"

"I was wondering," Harry said. He was starting to feel guilty about what he was going to ask. "Do you know anything about Nightmares? The horse, I mean." Harry added quickly.

"Nightmares eh?" Hagrid said rubbing his beard. For the first time ever Harry was sure he saw a look of distress in Hagrid's eyes. "Well, they're extinct for one, mind you even if they weren't I wouldn't bring one to class, Nightmares are bad luck." Harry felt his stomach turn. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear any more of this. But Harry just stood there nodding for Hagrid to continue.

"They're demon horses from the astral plane. Can walk right into your dreams as you sleep," Hagrid shivered. "Makes me shiver just thinking about them."

"So they're evil?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.

"Well not evil in any way we would understand. They feed on bad dreams," Hagrid said. "I guess if you were to say Unicorns were 'good' then, yeah, Nightmares would be 'evil' I guess. After all dark wizards used to use them ya know, to put fear in people's hearts. Horses of fire fly'n through the sky on a trail of flame would be enough to frighten anyone I guess. They also had powerful magic in um, making um very resistant to magical attacks. But they've been hunted to extinction."

"Thanks," Harry said dully.

"Uh any time, 'arry," Hagrid said confused as Harry walked away.

---

Harry had not been able to pay attention in any other class that day. He cursed himself for even asking such a thing. Was he looking for an excuse to fight with Ginny? An excuse to hate her?

Or was it something else. Something that Hermione had told him once. Was he trying to make the future he had seen come true? No! Harry told himself. Why would he ever want those horrible things to happen? Even still, the image of Ginny that had been all but lost over the last week was becoming more prominent in his mind after his conversation with Hagrid. And when he closed his eyes horrible images almost always seemed to be waiting for him.

Harry ignored the warnings in his head, ignored the dark things that he saw. They weren't real. It was just his mind being paranoid. He wouldn't let things that hadn't happened, and wouldn't happen, interfere in his relationship with Ginny any longer.

---

Quidditch practice on Thursday was not practice at all. Instead Harry sat his team down and talked about the strategy they would use on Saturday in their match with Slytherin. Harry was confident they could win the game if they stuck to the plan. He did his best not to make this meeting like one of Woods pep talks that he'd had to endure in the past. But all the same he found himself pacing back and forth in front of them near the end of the meeting. Talking much less about the strategy of winning and much more about beating Slytherin, and how he knew they could do it.

His team was eager and ready and Harry was starting to feel excited about the match. He had a good feeling that they were going to win this and send the Slytherin team home crying.

---

Friday was a nervous day for Harry. He had still not received a letter back from Mr. Olivander yet and he was beginning to worry about getting his new wand. That, along with the coming Quidditch game put him on edge all through breakfast. It would be the first time his new team would compete against anyone else. And even though he was very confident in their abilities he didn't know how they would do in a real game.

However after breakfast Harry had little time to worry about such things. He, Ron and Hermione headed up towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. But when Harry arrived he found that the door to the room was not there and that no other students waiting in the hallway.

For a moment Harry thought he had taken a wrong turn but when he looked over to ask Hermione he found that she wasn't standing next to him anymore. Neither was Ron. It was like they had both vanished into thin air. Harry felt panic for a moment. Was this some sort of trap? Harry reached inside his robe taking hold of the metal baton, waiting for an attack.

When none came Harry pulled his wits back about him. This had to be another one of Solaris' illusions. Somehow he had hidden Harry's friends and the class room. Looking at the doors on either side of a blank stone wall where room 412 should be, Harry was able to read the room numbers 411 and 413.

Harry racked his brain trying to think of what it could be and what he needed to do next. Finding his friends was the first thing he should try and do. However, not even knowing what kind of illusion this was, Harry had no idea how to even go about finding anyone. But Harry already knew the answer. It was there, in his mind but for some reason he couldn't reach it. It was almost like the memory wasn't inside his head. Like it was just behind his skull out of reach of his brain.

Harry put his hand against the stone. He had to think. Illusions, he knew, only lasted as long as the perception of something was real. If Solaris had used some kind of concealment spell to hide the door then feeling the wall should break the illusion for Harry. The wall however was solid stone and Harry could find no doors between rooms 411 and 413.

Harry took a step back examining the wall. Even if the door was concealed here it didn't explain where Hermione and Ron had vanished off to.

The next step was deduction. If he could figure out what it couldn't be then he would be left with only with what it must be. The problem of course was that Harry wasn't sure he knew enough about illusion spells to stumble upon the right one.

"Okay," Harry said thinking aloud. "The door isn't here. But how do you move an entire room?" Nothing was coming to mind. Harry looked around for more hints and noticed the biggest one of all. There was no one else here. The last time Solaris had preformed an illusion like this the whole class had been trapped in it. So, if Harry was standing where the door should be, why wasn't anyone else?

Had Solaris decided that only Harry should be faced with the challenge of overcoming this illusion? That didn't seem likely.

Harry turned slowly searching the hallway for a sign of anything or anyone else. He noticed something odd about the doors that had been behind him. They also read 411 and 413, the same numbers as the ones directly across from them. Harry turned around to look at the other set of doors. They still read 411 and 413.

Something was starting to form in Harry's head. He knew what was going on but at the same time he didn't. Like his mind was holding back the answer to the question 'guess what?' and asking him over and over, 'do you give up yet?'

"No," Harry said softly turning and walking slowly down the hall. Every pair of doors on every side read 411 and 413. Harry reached a staircase and moved down a floor. The doors here also read 411 and 413. Some of Gryffindor students from Harry's Defense against the Dark Arts class were walking around down here. Many looked relieved to see Harry.

"Oh, Harry," Lavender cried as the group moved up to him. "We've been wondering around for fifteen minutes now and we can't find the class. We think Professor Solaris did something to hide it." Harry nodded. He counted eleven Gryffindor students here and no Slytherins.

"Yeah," Harry said. "Every door seems have turned into rooms 411 and 413."

"We tried going into a couple of the rooms, but they're all locked and we can't seem to get them open with magic." Seamus said. Something in Harry's head clicked, almost like he had unlocked the door to the answer.

"It's a misplacement charm," Harry said smiling. "For us all the doors look the same. And we can't open them because they're not the right way out of the charm."

"So how do find the right door? How do we… get out?" Seamus asked.

"Well," Harry said thinking, information seemed to be flowing much faster to him now. "The charm has a very short life span, an hour at most. But we should be able to get out by taking any door that isn't one of these." Harry said pointing at rooms 411 and 413.

"Except," Lavender said. "That every door is a 411 or a 413."

"Well then, we will just have to change that," Harry pulled out his school wand and pointed it at the nearest door number. "Eraducus." Harry said. Nothing happened. "Fucking piece of junk," Harry put the wand back in his pocket and moved over to the door, tapping the numbers with his finger and whispering, "Eraducus."

The numbers glowed white for a moment and then sunk away. Harry drew with his finger the numbers four, one, two into the door, took hold of the handle and pushed the door open.

Ron and Hermione were already seated inside and Solaris was leaning against his desk at the front of the classroom. It appeared that no one else had made it yet.

"Ah," Solaris said waving them in. "You're late, go a head and take a seat. It seems that most of the class is still having a bit of trouble finding the room."

Harry moved up rows of desks and sat next to Ron, who was seated next to Hermione.

"What happened to you two?" Harry asked.

"To us?" Ron said surprised. "What happened to you, one moment you were there and the next moment you were gone."

"It was a misplacement spell," Hermione said beaming. "The professor did a really good job with it too. I realized what it was right away, of course. We would have come looking for you Harry but I was sure you could figure it out on your own."

Harry nodded thinking back. Had he figured it out on his own? For some reason he didn't think he had. A disturbing thought crossed Harry's mind.

"Hermione," Harry said. "You know that connection that Ginny said she closed between us." Hermione nodded.

"It's already opening again," Hermione said. "It's not as bad as last time though and I can't hear your voice as loudly. I really have to concentrate to hear you."

"Yeah," Harry said. "Well, I think I sort of just reached out, into your mind, and you showed me the way out." There was a little surprise in Hermione's eyes.

"So you cheated then?" She said with a smile.

---

After a half an hour of sitting Solaris finally left to go gather the rest of the students who had not been able to make it to the classroom. The rest of the lesson had been a refresher course in the basics of illusion.

As class ended Solaris warned that there would be a test the next Friday and that everyone had better study very hard for it.

Harry was thankful that Solaris had not used the misplacement charm on the great hall as Harry was very hungry as lunch rolled around. He was also looking forward to seeing Ginny.

For some reason seeing her smile put his mind at ease. It seemed to override the dark images that crept in about her whenever they were apart from each other. Harry hadn't yet told her, or anyone about the troubles in his mind. Mostly because he didn't want people to worry but really it was because he was afraid he might frighten Ginny off.

Lunch was over all too soon and Harry was not looking forward to his divinations class. Hermione had bid them a cheery farewell as she headed off to Arithmancy.

"You know," Ron said as Hermione vanished around the corner. "sometimes I think she enjoys watching us go off to divination to get tortured by Trelawney."

"Ron," Harry said with a smile. "You don't know how right you are."

When Harry and Ron arrived in the divination classroom they found that Trelawney was not to be their teacher today, instead, to Harry's great surprise, Solaris stood at the head of the room.

Harry had not been able to wait until the start of class, he had to ask Solaris what he was doing here.

"Professor," Harry asked walking up to the man in the white cloak. "Why are you here, you're not going to be teaching divination today, are you?" Solaris looked down at Harry. Something was different about him. The smile that had never seemed right, was not on his face. His eyes looked sullen. If Harry didn't know better he might think that Solaris had been crying right before class.

"I am your teacher for today, yes." Solaris said irritably. "Take a seat and I will explain when the rest of the class arrives." Harry had wanted more of an answer but Solaris' tone had a finality to it that said Harry should sit.

"He seems different," whispered Ron as Harry sat down next to him. Harry nodded. It was almost like he wasn't the same person.

"Professor Trelawney is out ill today," Solaris said quieting down the class. "So I have been asked to be your teacher.

"The art of divination is a wholly unpredictable field of magic," Solaris said looking slowly around the room at the students. "Some wizards are cursed with the gift of foresight, but they are very rare. Others will themselves to see things and then cause them to happen by believing that it is the future." Solaris took a deep breath.

"Does anyone know what this is?" Solaris pulled form his robe a small golden colored orb that had a warm inner light. Lavender raised her hand. Solaris pointed her out.

"It's a prophecy, Professor," She said with a smile.

"Yes, it is." Solaris said with an approving nod. "Prophecies are considered to be the most precise form of foresight. However they are often cryptic and their meanings are often misinterpreted. Many would argue that the real field of divination is in attempting to find the truth of a glance into the future."

Solaris held the orb up for all to see and then, producing a wand from his pocket, tapped the top of the orb gently and whispered words under his breath. The orb began to glow and from it emerged a man. His eyes were very large and his face was taunt. As he spoke his voice echoed out as though someone else were speaking it.

"As the sun sets, they move, as the stars shine, they creep, as the men leave, they follow, as the doors close, they steal." The man vanished back into the orb and Solaris put it back into his pocket.

"This message was recorded almost twenty years ago. It is a teaching tool provided by the Ministry of Magic to teach students about prophecies. Can anyone tell me what they think its meaning is?" Solaris asked. Lavender raised her hand again, Solaris pointed her out.

"Someone is stealing something at night?" She guessed.

"Perhaps," Solaris said almost like he was bored. Lavender looked uneasy. "What do you know about this man? Would knowing anything about him make the prophecy clearer in any way? Too many questions are unanswered, too many things are left to speculation. All we are left with are guesses about what it could mean.

"This particular message actually refers to cockroaches that were stealing food from this man's floor." Solaris said shaking his head. "If you try and look into the future you will see only what you want to see, not mater how plainly you might think the future is spelled out for you. By simply knowing the future, you change it."

The rest of the lesson was much less about performing divination and much more of a rant about all the bad points. Harry didn't really care much for divination but even he thought Solaris carried it a bit too far. It was almost like he hated the subject with all his heart. Why he had stepped up to teach it this day was beyond Harry.

Harry stayed behind after class. Solaris wasn't just his professor he was also a friend. And Harry could plainly tell that something was bothering him.

"Professor," Harry asked once everyone had gone. Harry had told Ron he would meet up with him at dinner. "If you don't mind my asking, why did you volunteer to teach divination. You don't seem to like it at all." Solaris looked down at Harry for a long moment considering him.

"I didn't volunteer," Solaris said. "Dumbledore asked me to fill in."

"But why you?" Harry asked. Solaris raised an eyebrow at Harry.

"Did you not think my lesson was informative?" Solaris said darkly, it was the first time Harry had ever heard a hint of anger in his voice. "Did you not learn anything?"

"No," Harry said quickly trying to make his tone sound apologetic. "That's not what I meant, I mean you… well you just seem to hate it." To Harry's surprise Solaris laughed, a genuine laugh. For a split second Solaris almost looked truly human.

"You have no idea," Solaris said the smile vanishing from his face. He looked very serious now, almost frightening. "Nothing good can come of knowing your future."

"I don't think so," Harry said defensively. "If I hadn't seen the prophecy telling about the attack on Hermione I might not have been able to help her in time."

"You don't understand," Solaris said shaking his head.

"Then tell me," Harry said. "Why do you hate divination so much?" Solaris' eyes fixed on Harry for a long moment.

"On the day I was born my mother looked into my eyes and saw my future," Solaris said. "She said that it would be my fault, that I would cause many people to die. The darkness inside me would escape and an evil not known for thousands of years would be unleashed upon the world."

"Your mother saw that in you?" Harry asked shocked.

"You misunderstand my meaning. My mother, Titania, was Queen of Avalon," Solaris said. "She had a great power of foresight."

"But it didn't come true," Harry said. "You're not evil, you don't go around killing people."

"That's not what I said," Solaris said calmly. "And it did come true." Solaris laughed again. "I was so convinced that there was nothing I could do to stop it that I didn't even try. I believed the future was absolute and that nothing could change it. In a way I ensured the prophecy would come true because I believed it would." Solaris looked down at Harry again. "You have no idea what its like to know about a dark future that you will cause and feel there is nothing you can do to stop it."

"I do," Harry said. He paused for a long moment debating whether he wanted to tell Solaris more. Solaris had shared his secret and Harry felt compelled to share his as well. "When we were using that stone thingy it took us was the future, at least that what I thought…" Harry continued to tell Solaris the events of what had happened. Once he started though it seemed hard to stop. With his friends he hadn't told them everything but with Solaris the whole story seemed to pour out. Harry wasn't sure why, it was just like Solaris understood every part of it.

"It's not the first time you've had a vision of the future," Solaris said, it wasn't a question. "You have also seen what might be well you were on Avalon."

"Yeah," Harry said, he didn't recall ever telling Solaris about that. "Everyone keeps telling me it's not the future I see."

"Do they?" Solaris said. Harry waited for Solaris to elaborate but he did not.

"Why do you say that?" Harry asked.

"Who is to say what the future is," Solaris said. "Everything we do shapes what is to come. But some would disagree. They would argue that the future is absolute, that it cannot be changed. You may have seen the future because it was the answer you were looking for."

---

Saturday was a prefect day for flying. The sky was cloudless and sun was shinning. Harry's team stood out on the field facing the Slytherins. The whole school looked like it was outside for this match.

"Captains shake hands," Harry stepped forward, so did Malfoy, it figured. Harry took Malfoy's hand, both of them squeezed each other fingers trying to crush them. Madam Hootch finally had to pull them apart. "Now see here, I want a clean game." She said fiercely to both captains. Harry nodded. Malfoy smiled wickedly.

With her foot Madam Hootch kicked open the Quidditch box and the bludgers leapt into the air zooming off. A moment later the snitch exploded out of the box and rushed high into the sky.

"Players mount your brooms!" Madam Hootch said. Her whistle moved up to her lips and with a sharp blast of sound players launched themselves into the air.

Harry was already high above the field searching for the Snitch. Oddly enough Malfoy was not up here with him. He was close to the ground taking up almost an opposite position from Harry.

"And Gryffindor scores!" shouted the voice of the announcer. Harry squinted down at the box. He had forgotten that last year had been Lee Jordan's seventh. There was a new announcer in the box. Harry wasn't sure who it was but at the moment he didn't have time to keep watching he had to find the snitch.

"Lead chaser for the Gryffindors is Ginny Weasley, she played seeker last year on the team but she can really move as a chaser! And Gryffindor scores again!" Harry looked down at his team below. The chasers were keeping tight to Ginny as they moved around the Slytherins. Harry had to admit he was impressed. They were outmaneuvering the Slytherins at every turn. The Slytherin chasers had yet to touch the Qualful. "And Gryffindor scores again fifty to zero!"

Harry pulled a large loop around the field the snitch had yet to show itself. Harry looked down at Malfoy who was still sitting in the same spot, low to the ground. It was an odd strategy. In all the things Harry had read about Quidditch the tactics Malfoy was using had to be the worst idea of a seeker. Looking up meant you were looking into the sun ,making a small gold object very hard to spot. It was also much faster to fly down then up and not moving at all, well that was just stupid.

"Ouch that had to hurt!" shouted the announcer. Harry looked down over his shoulder as one of the Slytherin chasers made a slow spiral on their broom towards the ground. "That's Melanie Boil, a fourth year Gryffindor, she just joined this year! She has one wicked arm on her. And Gryffindor has the Qualful again, the chasers are rushing for the goal…oh look out… Gryffindor scores!"

Harry watched with a smile. It was like his chaser team was unstoppable. They were flying circles around the Slytherins. Harry looked over at the scoreboard, 170 to zero. It was a slaughter like Harry had never seen before. Now if only he could find the snitch they would have this game set and be well in the lead for overall points.

"And a beater goes down this time, my word that girl can hit!" shouted the announcer as Crabbe, playing as a Slytherin beater toppled backwards towards the ground, clinging to his broom. "Slytherin is down two players now, its not looking good for them, they need to get their heads back in the game and score some points!"

But Gryffindor continued to score. Ginny's expert flying was astounding, Harry wasn't even sure how she was moving so fast. Some times her chasers even had trouble keeping up with her. Harry looked around again, still no snitch and Malfoy still sat in that same spot, waiting… waiting? A horrible thought had just occurred to Harry.

What if Malfoy knew where the snitch would be? What if he did have a time turner and he had used it to travel back so he could cheat?

"The Gryffindor chasers are starting another run and…" a stunned silence came from the announcer, people in the crowed were suddenly shouting. Harry turned to see what had happened. Ginny had fallen from her broom, she was racing towards the ground spinning through the air.

For an instant Harry's eyes saw past where she had been and into the crowd. Standing, wand pointed out at the spot Ginny had been was Malfoy. Without giving anymore time Harry turned his broom downwards and rushed after Ginny. It was no good he was too far behind her, he would never be able to catch her in time.

And then something wholly unexpected happened. Everything seemed to shake for a second and then fire spread out in a quick burst around Harry. Suddenly Ginny was in his arms. They were only feet from the ground and Harry's broom was still pointed down. With all his might Harry pulled up on the handle. The tail end of his broom cut along the ground. Harry put his feet down hard, breaking the speeding broom as he held Ginny in his arms.

Harry came to a stop and looked down at Ginny with concern. There was a large patch of red on top of her right breast. Blood was soaking out down her robes.

Harry looked up. Tears were running down his face. Ginny had been attacked, by Malfoy. He had tried to kill her. Harry was trying to call for someone to help him, to help Ginny but his voice didn't seem to be working.

Madam Pomfrey appeared at Harry's side taking Ginny from his arms and resting her on the ground. Harry put his hand over his mouth. The crowds were shouting so loudly that the voice of the announcer was drowned out.

Madam Pomfrey pointed her wand at the wound in Ginny's chest. Nothing seemed to happen.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked concerned seeing the look of concern and confusion on Madam Pomfrey's face.

"Nothing is," Madam Pomfrey said, she moved her wand quickly making two slashes in the air. The blood around the wound vanished revealing the top of Ginny breast and part of a nipple. But there was nothing else, no wound, not even a cut or a scar. It was impossible. Only a moment ago Harry had seen the great gash in her chest.

"I'm going to take her to the hospital wing." Madam Pomfrey said magicing Ginny into the air. Harry couldn't help but turn to look back at the field. He knew he should stay here and win game but he wanted to go and make sure Ginny was really alright. But to Harry's surprise Quidditch players on both sides were coming down to land on the ground. It was odd, the game usually didn't stop for injuries. Ron came over and put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Come on mate," Ron said.

"What happened?" Harry asked confused, "why is everyone stopping?"

"Malfoy caught the snitch, almost right after…" Ron looked after his sister, pain in his eyes.

"Did you see what happened?" Harry asked urgently.

"I saw a flash of light," Ron said. "But I don't know where from."

"Come on," Harry said taking Ron under the arm and pulling him along as they followed after Ginny. "It was Malfoy," Harry whispered when they were far enough from the people celebrating on the field. "I saw him standing in the crowd with his wand out. And the whole game he waited in one spot, like he knew the snitch was going to be there for him. I think he has a time turner and that's how he's been doing this all year long."

"Yeah," Ron said not following entirely. "I guess, but why would he want to attack Ginny?"

"I don't know," Harry said. In actuality there were hundreds of reasons that he could think of, of why Malfoy would want to attack Ginny. At the top of the list was because Harry cared for her very much.

---

Harry sat in the hospital wing talking with Ginny. She had fainted during the fall from her broom but otherwise was entirely unharmed.

"That was some fast flying," Ginny smiled at Harry as he held her hand. "I guess you really are a better seeker."

"Well it was you that won that game," Harry said. "Malfoy caught the snitch, but we were 230 points ahead when he did." Ginny smiled.

"I guess you were right, I do make a good chaser," Ginny smiled. Harry nodded. "I hope Madam Pomfrey lets me out soon, I feel fine." Harry looked over at Madam Pomfrey who was treating Crabbe for a broken nose from the bludger that had hit him.

"I wouldn't count on that," Harry whispered. "But you can always sneak out." Ginny giggled which drew Madam Pomfrey over to them.

"Alright Mr. Potter, that's quite enough, you can visit later but right now she needs some rest," Madam Pomfrey said shooing Harry away.

The hospital wing door closed behind Harry.

"So, Potter," a drawling voice said from the wall next to Harry. Harry turned his head to see Malfoy leaning against the wall, the snitch in his hand and a grin on his face. "Looks like I beat you." Malfoy held out the snitch. "I'm going to keep it as a trophy, maybe put it up in my room." With a burst of anger Harry lunged forward grabbing Malfoy's robes.

"I know it was you," Harry snarled. "I know you have a time turner, I know you cheated to get that. You almost cost Ginny her life." Malfoy looked startled but regained his nasty look quickly, his hands moved up and stuck Harry's away. Malfoy took a few steps back.

"You're insane Potter," Malfoy snarled. "Someone should put you out of your misery." Almost at the same moment Harry and Malfoy both drew their wands. The snitch fluttered into the air buzzing about as Harry and Malfoy stared each other down.

"Atracuratus!" Malfoy shouted. Harry's school wand bust into flames. Harry tossed it away without a second thought. His hand rushed down into his robe and pulled the metal baton from his pocket. With a quick flick of his wrist the baton sprang outwards extending into the blunt metal rod. A low hum vibrated the air and without a moment's hesitation Harry swung at Malfoy's hand striking the wand. The piece of wood spun out into the air. Malfoy cradled his injured hand. Rage overtook Harry's mind and with another brutal swing he struck Malfoy again, across the face.

Malfoy screamed cradling the side of his face. Blood was running between his fingers. Harry flicked the baton closed and put it back inside his robe. With a quick movement he hand shot out and caught the snitch as it tried to zoom by.

"At least you're close to the hospital wing," Harry said with a snarl and he turned away leaving Malfoy cursing at him from the floor.

Authors Notes:

Ah my fingers its like I've type 24,000 words in only a matter of days, oh wait I have, ah my fingers!

Okay for anyone who is lost here is a quick summer of the last 24 chapters.

Bad shit has gone down.

What, not descriptive enough? Well then luck you, there happen to be 24 chapters explaining all of that in more detail!

Important points in this chapter include, the disclaimer, because I don't want to be sued for copywirte infringement, the title, because every chapter needs a title and of course the authors notes, which often seem to note nothing about the author or the story!

Oh yeah and well I guess some of the events in this chapter are important too. It's one step closer to the ending, which I acted out in my apartment last night, yeah I'm a nerd I know, but man is it fun to play all the characters and talk to yourself!

For the most part I do try an act out everything I write before I write it or at least talk out some of the parts of the characters to get a feel for what works and what doesn't. The biggest problem is that I never do it the same way twice so I usually end up with a whole bunch of different versions of events.

Silmarwen1119 gets the faithful reviewer award for writing 14 reviews spanning across most of the chapters! Thank you for reading and reviewing! Your insight and comments have been very helpful to me!

That doesn't mean that anyone else has done less (except for you readers that haven't written a review, come one write a review!) every review, opinion and idea is important to me. So please keep them coming. Even if you already reviewed once feel free to leave another review. You can leave 1 per chapter so that gives everyone like 24 slots to review in!

Left Note (because I couldn't get my notes to go sideways)

Because book six is coming very soon, and because even at a faster pace I don't think I can finish before its release I have been considering updating the story to reflect year 7 instead of six. At the moment it's only a thought. Many of the events throughout the story would be much better off as a year 7 experience in my opinion. The time frame that this story takes place (and I know this sounds silly) is not really that important. Six, Seven, its all the same really there just might be some extra events I have to include.

I am wondering what you the readers think about such a thing. I know, since you're in chapter 24, that the prospect of rereading the whole book over again because of a few changes across many chapters, most likely does not sound appealing. And for me it would be a massive undertaking. But I'm really not a fan of AU fiction (that's a couple page rant in itself).

In any case it might be a moot point since the events in book six, and the events in my version of year six may not be compatible. For all I know she might kill off Ginny in her story which would really kind of screw me.

What do you all think?

(Alex says no I shouldn't, by the way, mostly because he doesn't want to reread it)