Black Truth

Chapter Two: Aspectus

Harry hated Mondays. No, he really hated Mondays. Because Mondays always seemed to start off badly, which set the entire mood of the day to be a bad one. Why? One word: Potions. That was all that was needed to be said on the matter, that word. And it didn't help that there were lucky people like Ron who weren't trying to be an auror and therefore could afford to sleep late on Mondays if they so wished, because they weren't taking Potions. Of course, Ron never did sleep late on Mondays. He figured it was the least he could do to give his friend some encouragement before that... there wasn't a word bad enough to describe that class in Harry's opinion.

And speaking of Ron... it was Ron who was currently dragging Harry down the stairs to the Great Hall for breakfast as par the normal Monday routine. And like every Monday, Hermione was already there, ensconced in a book. Ron and Harry slid into seats next to her that she had saved for them as she did every morning, and began loading food on to their plates.

"Oh, Harry, did you hear? No Potions today," Hermione said as if she was commenting on the weather.

Harry's looked up hopefully. "Really?"

Hermione nodded, eyes not leaving the book. "He's not here today. Class was canceled."

Both Ron and Harry turned to look at the staff table and, sure enough, their Potions master was not there.

I wonder why he's not here," Harry murmured.

"Who cares why he's not here," Ron muttered. "I hope he never comes back!"

Both boys ignored Hermione's, "Ron!" of disapproval.

"But it's strange. He's never 'not here'." Harry persisted.

Hermione sighed. "This might have something to do with it." She handed Harry a copy of the Daily Prophet. "Our favorite Slytherin isn't here either," she added sarcastically.

Harry took one look at the headline, frowned, and passed the paper to Ron, while glaring at the spot at the Slytherin table that Draco would have been sitting at were he in school at the time.

"WHAT?" Ron stuttered, ignoring looks from the surrounding Gryffindors and a few other students who had heard him.

"Yeah. Wonder how they're going to pull that off," Harry muttered darkly.

"Well, logically, it's within rights to have another trial," Hermione pointed out. "The only real 'trial' after the Department of Mysteries issue was a mass trial of everyone they caught. No details were looked into for every single person. And if, as the article says, Lucius Malfoy doesn't have the Dark Mark... well, it's harder to convict him."

"But how can he not have the Dark Mark? He's a Death Eater! We all saw him," Ron hissed under his breath so only Harry and Hermione could hear.

"He probably planned for it," Harry spoke sullenly. "Being a Slytherin and all."

"The Ministry of Magic may have made a terrible error- oh please," Ron scoffed.

"Well, we'll know by tomorrow I guess," Hermione spoke.

They ate in silence for a while until Ron broke it. "Oh look who decided to grace us with his presence," he muttered.

Harry looked up from his breakfast to see that Draco Malfoy had entered the Great Hall and was being greeted by his Slytherin groupies. Probably being congratulated or something like that. Harry rolled his eyes and continued eating.

The Minister of Magic looked very nervous, Lucius decided when he was shown into the Minister's Office with Snape.

"Minister." Lucius spoke quietly and Fudge jumped slightly.

"Mr. Malfoy. I am dreadfully sorry about the mix-up. The Ministry should have known in your case that there would be an explanation. But it did look bad Lucius, all those Death Eaters in the black robes-"

"Fudge," Lucius drawled. "Have you ever seen me wear anything other than black in public?"

"Well, no, but it just looked too coincidental, Lucius. I still don't understand why you would be in the Department of Ministries that late at night anyway."

Lucius pretended to be shocked. "Why Minister, you know what it's like living in the public eye. Were it to be widely known that the Malfoys had an item stored in the Department of Mysteries... well you can guess what people would assume."

"Yes, yes. I suppose that makes sense. You won't be opposed to house arrest for a little while, just until this whole thing simmers down?"

"Of course not. In fact, arrangements have already been made for my stay at Hogwarts."

Fudge seemed to visibly relax. If Dumbledore found no problems with Lucius's innocence, then there must not be any problems. "That's good."

"Good day, Minister." Lucius spoke, and he and Snape left the Minister's office.

After Apparating to Hogsmead, the two sat in silence for the carriage ride up to the castle, until Snape spoke.

"I didn't think the Malfoys had items stored in the Department of Mysteries." He raised an eyebrow as Lucius smirked.

"We have the storage space, yes."

Snape frowned. "And may I ask what's in that space?"

"Absolutely nothing. But only a Malfoy can open it so no one's going to find that out."

Snape chuckled. "How Slytherin of you Lucius."

"I try."

"Now about Draco-"

"What about Draco?"

"Calm down, Lucius. Nothing's happened yet. This morning Dumbledore gave him his own dorm, so no students have caught on yet."

"Good. Hopefully we'll keep it that way."

"When should he start the Aspectus?"

Lucius frowned slightly. "I'm surprised it hasn't started already. Traditionally, the Aspectus happens very soon after the first Rebirth."

"So that's almost a month now."

"Right."

Draco shifted uneasily in his chair, fighting back the urge to massage his temples. Stupid headache. Why in Merlin's name wouldn't it go away? Was it even possible to have a dull ache in the back of your skull for a full day? And then there was the glitter. Draco was sure of it now, he was starting to see flashes of... well, glittery light out of the corner of his eyes. It was driving him crazy. Bloody glitter, bloody headache, bloody teacher for not letting class out early so he could go relax somewhere. What was she talking about? Oh, it didn't matter anyway. He'd figure it out later.
Harry had almost succeeded in forgetting all about Lucius Malfoy's trial until just before dinner when he found Ron sitting in the Common Room, looking as if Christmas had been canceled.

"Did you hear?" Ron asked glumly.

"What?"

"The trial. Malfoy's not convicted anymore."

Harry looked at Ron as if his friend was crazy. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, Dad wrote me this afternoon. They checked. Malfoy doesn't have the Dark Mark."

"How can he not have the Mark? He's a Death Eater."

"Well, it's not there now. Even Dumbledore said there wasn't an illusion spell on him."

"So are people just going to forget that he was in the Department of Ministries that late at night?"

"Well, that was explained too. Apparently the Malfoys have something stored in the Department of Mysteries that he was retrieving."

"Again... at that time of night?"

"Publicity. Even Dad admits that it's a good alibi. If we had something stored in the Department of Mysteries, we wouldn't want it public either. And Malfoy was given a key to the Department earlier that day so that he could get in when no one was around to watch."

"I bet that's how the Death Eaters got in then." Harry muttered.

"Yeah, probably so."

"Was it said what it was they were storing?"

"No. And only a Malfoy can open it, so they couldn't even look for trial purposes."

"Well that's a stupid rule."

"Maybe, maybe not. Some families store the bones of their ancestors in there."

"What?"

"Read it in the Quibbler."

Harry shook his head. "Let's just go down to dinner."

The two joined their fellow students in the Great Hall and Ron filled Hermione in on what his father had written to him. She didn't say anything at first, but any reply she would have made was cut off by Dumbledore signaling for silence in the Great Hall.

"I have an important announcement to make. Hogwarts is going to be receiving a guest for a few months. I ask that you all be especially courteous to him during his stay here. He will be arriving later tonight. Now tuck in."

As the food appeared as it did every night, Harry looked suspiciously at Dumbledore. A guest? Harry had a sinking suspicion he knew who that guest was, but he hoped he was wrong.

"Any guesses who that is?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"Obviously it's Malfoy," Hermione spoke quietly.

"Wonder why he didn't just announce it," Harry wondered.

"Can you imagine what that would have started?" Hermione asked. "I think he was smart not to announce it. Wait until the students' parents are told that he's innocent before telling the school."

"That does make some sense," Ron admitted.

"But does that mean Dumbledore believes Malfoy?" Harry asked. "I mean, Dumbledore was there. He saw Malfoy. How can he believe that Malfoy isn't a Death Eater?"

"Maybe Malfoy's a spy like Snape." Hermione spoke low so that only Harry and Ron could hear.

"If he is, he's sure a great actor," Ron muttered darkly. Then, "You know something strange? Ferret hasn't spoken about it once."

"That is strange," Harry murmured.

Through the pressure in his head, Draco felt his heart leap. So his father was coming to Hogwarts? Of course Dumbledore didn't come out and say that, but it made sense after all. Fudge would want someone like Dumbledore to confirm that his father wasn't a Death Eater... which in itself was really funny because Dumbledore knew that his father was a Death Eater. Then again, Dumbledore was the Headmaster of the school, so shouldn't he have the characteristics of the school's founders? He certainly was smart like Ravenclaw, and he was brave like Gryffindor. The number of Hufflepuff qualities in Dumbledore was startling... but Slytherin? Well, he just proved he had Slytherin qualities. Lying to the Minister of Magic. Well, Fudge was an idiot, so maybe that didn't really count.

"Draco?"

Draco turned to look at Pansy, who was sitting across from him. "What?"

"Ummm, your eyes are really silver today."

That got Draco's attention. "Really? More so than usual?"

Blaise, sitting next to Pansy, looked at Draco closely. "Much more so... maybe even a little gold."

Draco's eyes widened. Silver and gold? Oh no. Outwardly he scoffed, "You must be seeing things."

Pansy shrugged. "They're your eyes, Draco."

All through dinner Draco couldn't concentrate. The aching in the back of his skull had spread to his temples, and he was starting to see a strange glowing if he looked at something long enough. Suddenly the pain broke. Draco blinked and the world went from normal, to glowy. That was the only way to describe it. Everything, even the wood of the tables glowed. Some of the students near him were almost blinding. Time seemed to slow; a dull roaring began in his ears... as if he was underwater. The voices of the students talking were muffled and seemed far away. And as he looked around the Great Hall, it was just too much. Many, if not half of the students were glowing like miniature suns of different colors. Blues, violets, greens, whites, reds, all the glowing colors seemed to swim before his eyes before all went black. He only barely heard Pansy's scream.

The effect was instantaneous. There was an uproar in the Great Hall. Those on the opposite side of the Hall (Gryffindors mostly) had no idea what was going on. Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws also only barely knew what was going on. And there was almost complete chaos at the Slytherin table. Suddenly Dumbledore's voice rang out.

"SILENCE!" Another instantaneous effect. "All Houses will please return to their dormitories in an orderly fashion."

Harry frowned. What was going on? Pulling Ron behind a statue just outside the Great Hall, he whispered, "I'm going to find out what's going on."

Ron gaped as he pulled his invisibility cloak out of his bag.

"You carry that with you?"

Harry looked at him briefly before putting it on. "Of course. I'll tell you what I find out."

"Okay mate, but if Hermione tries to bite your head off, don't turn to me for help. This is a bad idea."

"You're starting to sound like Hermione, Ron. I have to talk to Dumbledore anyway."

And with that Harry slowly snuck back into the Great Hall, which was no easy feat, considering everyone else was trying to move in the other direction.

About half of the students had filed out when the doors to the Great Hall opened and Snape walked in. Harry almost laughed at the stunned look on the Potions Master's face. Then something seemed to click as he looked at the Slytherin table (and the Slytherins that were loath to just leave Draco like that) and he walked a little ways outside the door. He yelled something that Harry couldn't hear to someone Harry couldn't see, and as the last few students were being escorted out of the Great Hall (again, most of these were Slytherins) Lucius Malfoy walked in.

I was right, Harry thought. It was Malfoy that was coming to Hogwarts.

Lucius walked quickly to where the teachers were now gathered around something on the floor that Harry couldn't see. Madam Pomfrey rose from where she had been kneeling on the floor and spoke.

"He seems for all purposes to be asleep, Mr. Malfoy."

"Of course he is. His body needs time to adjust." Lucius turned to Dumbledore. "When did it start?"

"Dinner."

The elder Malfoy nodded and bent down. When he straightened, Harry caught sight of what, or more accurately who, had been on the floor. Draco. Harry felt a twinge of... what exactly? Jealousy? At seeing the care etched on Draco's father's face. No... sympathy? Couldn't be. Just something. For Malfoy? There was something wrong here. Harry shook it off. He couldn't have felt a twinge of anything for Malfoy. Just couldn't. The world didn't work that way.

Harry was brought out of his reverie by Lucius speaking. "Where is Draco's room?"

Harry blinked. Draco had his own dorm? He scowled. Money really spoke too much these days.

"Mr. Malfoy, I think it would be wiser to put him in the Hospital Wing-" Madam Pomfrey started.

"Are you stating that I can not look after my own son?" Lucius cut her off, hissing slightly.

Snape winced, and Harry agreed with him. He had only seen Lucius this furious once... and at that time he was soooo thankful that Dobby was in-between him and the elder Malfoy. Come to think of it... Harry hadn't even seen Lucius that angry at the Department of Mysteries... maybe the elder Malfoy wasn't as loyal to Voldemort as he thought.

"It's school policy-"

"Have you ever treated a Veriae, Madam Pomfrey? I guarantee you haven't," Lucius snarled.

"Draco is a wizard, Mr. Malfoy, not a Veriae."

Again Snape winced, but this time so did Dumbledore. Lucius smirked.

"You think I don't know what my son is?" A slight ripping sound was heard as huge black wings erupted from Lucius's back. They reached up towards the ceiling of the Great Hall, taller in fact than two full grown men. The light of the Great Hall shone off them, as if they were coated in metal. They even looked sharp, nothing like the wings in Harry's dream.

Snape whispered something in Poppy's ear that Harry didn't hear, but the nurse backed down.

"I'll show you where it is," he muttered in Lucius's direction.

The elder Malfoy nodded. His wings twitched and then receded back into the skin of his back, almost as if the feathers were folding in on themselves and dissolving.

Snape and Lucius left the Hall, the elder Malfoy still carrying a sleeping Draco. Dumbledore turned to the rest of the teachers present. "We need to have a staff meeting."

Many of the teachers had a "duh" expression on their faces, and Harry almost laughed at the thought of someone else not knowing what was going on for once.

"In my office, now." Dumbledore decided, and the teachers, one by one, walked out of the Great Hall. Dumbledore himself walked past the spot where Harry was hiding and stopped.

"I would like to see you in my office as well, Harry. You're not in trouble but we have things to discuss."