Through
the night, Harry didn't for once, calmly close his eyes. He kept
worrying about his future. He was beginning to think that this year
will be it. As Dumbledore had said to him before, one of them was
going to die in the end. However, a strong voice in his head kept
telling him about courage, and reminded him about the times when he
had to face Voldemort's evil, and escape in the end. Still, Harry
wasn't comfortable at all.
Next morning, Harry crept out of his
bed, and joined Ron and Hermione for breakfast. He didn't dare tell
them about the horrible vision, because he was to tired to say
anything. He even thought of telling Dumbledore that he couldn't
teach today, but nevertheless, he didn't.
"Good morning
Harry," said Hermione, spreading jam on her toast.
"Good
morning Hermione," replied Harry.
"Had a nice sleep?"
asked Ron.
"Yeah," lied Harry at once.
"Listen,
guess what?" asked Hermione. Harry and Ron were gazing at her
waiting for her to answer herself.
"I knitted about eighty
hats last night," she said, beaming.
"So?" said
Ron, with a blank expression on his face.
"Oh, you never
guessed it? They're for the house-elves!" replied
Hermione.
"There you go Harry, the ruddy house-elves again,"
said Ron, looking bored.
"Ron, how many times must I tell
you? They love the hats," said Hermione, furiously.
"Forget
it, I'm not even going to talk about it," said Ron
immeadietly.
"That's my friend Ron," said Harry weakly,
but still giggling.
Several minutes passed, until at last, Harry,
Hermione, and Ron, finished eating their breakfast. Ever since the
beginning of the year, they've been eating more than usual. Perhaps
they weren't getting enough food. Anyway, they got out of their
seats, and directly marched to the dungeons. Potions was their first
lesson.
"Potty, Weazel, and the mudblood Granger," came
the cool voice of Draco Malfoy.
"Just ignore him Harry,"
said Ron and Hermione together, although Ron was on the verge of
snapping.
"I've had it with him," said Harry, then he
went near to Malfoy.
"Thirty points from Slytherin Malfoy,
want to go for more?"
Draco's face slightly turned pink.
After that, they entered the dark dull Potions classroom.
Everyone was chatting, still waiting for Snape to arrive. A gang of
Slytherins were having a wand fight. Suddenly, the door sprang open,
and a thin, vicious looking man entered.
"Settle down
everyone," spoke Snape. They did as he told them.
"Today,
we will be studying a new potion; one of the most powerful ones in
fact," he continued. The class was intrigued by that statement.
Of course, they've had lots of excitement since the first day of
classes, Fixards, Human Transfiguration, Eagle Crabs, Jellycats, and
lots of other things.
"It's called the Brundy Potion. This
potion can make you lose all the blood in your body within a few
minutes, unless of course, you drank the exact opposite potion that
would return all of the lost blood," explained Snape.
"I
presume that you all have your cauldrons with you?"
Every
one raised their heavy cauldrons in the air.
"Right, these
are the instructions of how to prepare the potion on the board,"
he instantly waved his wand, and the instructions appeared on the
board.
"You have ten minutes to get yourself ready, and
then, when the potion is ready, spill it on your animal's mouth. Be
sure that your animals are in the pans, I don't want blood all over
the class. Quickly, after seeing the animal lose its blood, take one
of these tubes which contains the opposite potion, and spill it on
the animal's mouth to get its blood back. Clear?"
The whole
class nodded.
"Right then, you may start," said
Snape.
Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville all grabbed the
ingredients and started adding them together in the cauldron. It took
them rather a long time, because all of the chopping they had to do,
and the skinning, and the squeezing. At last, the potions were ready.
Neville was shaking, fearing that his potion went all wrong. Slowly,
with a shaking hand, he grabbed Trevor, his toad, and spilled the
potion on his mouth. Nothing happened for seconds, and then, it
worked! Blood was dripping from Trevor's mouth and eyes. It was a bit
repulsive and disgusting.
"You must get the other potion to
return the lost blood Neville, otherwise Trevor will die in a
minute," spoke Harry. Instantly, Neville across the tables, and
headed to Snape's cupboard, and grabbed the other potion. Everything
then went right. All the blood that was lost was returned to Trevor.
Snape, unfortunately for him, has seen Neville doing the right thing.
Lazily, he said:
"Ten points to Gryffindor,"
Harry,
Hermione, and Ron all gave Neville a thumbs-up.
Throughout the
day, Harry taught the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff fifth years, and then,
the Gryffindor and Slytherin third years. He was amused by their
behavior, they did whatever he asked. So, as a treat, he canceled the
test he scheduled for them next week, and decided to postpone it till
two weeks later. Everyone thanked Harry. Some people from Slytherin
even kissed him. He was relieved. Still, something inside him didn't
allow him to be entirely satisfied and comfortable. He felt a bit
guilty for not telling Hermione and Ron about the vision, because he
always knew that they would be there to help him. So then, he decided
to tell them at night, when they all gathered in the Gryffindor
Common Room.
At last, nightfall. Every student in the castle was
heading back to his or her dormitory. Hermione and Ron were shouting
at some people from Slytherin for trying to sneak out after everyone
was in their common rooms. They got themselves landed in detention.
After that, the trio went inside, and relaxed beside the fire in
the common room. It was time, and Harry had to tell them about last
night.
"I've got something to tell you," and then he
told them all about the vision.
"What? Why haven't you told
us any earlier?" asked Hermione, horrified.
"Relax
Hermione," said Ron.
"That's what you saw, wasn't it?"
queried Hermione.
"Yep," replied Harry.
"Well,
this foreshadows your death," said Ron.
"I know it does.
It's just that----I---well, I escaped from him five times now, why
wouldn't I this time?" said Harry, looking scared.
"Harry,
you must not underestimate Voldemort. You know him. After Dumbledore,
he's the most powerful wizard in the entire world," said
Hermione.
"I know Hermione. So, what could we do?" asked
Ron, looking curious.
"I have an idea, why don't you go meet
Firenze?" suggested Hermione.
"Firenze? What's he got to
do with this?" asked Harry, mystified.
"Well, it's
obvious, isn't it? He's a divination teacher. Maybe he could make a
prediction based on the facts of your vision. You know, all that
nonsense of crystal balls, and palmistry," answered
Hermione.
"Now you're saying it's nonsense?" asked Ron,
laughing.
"I don't know anything else to say!"
"Ok,
maybe this is a good idea. I'll go ask him tomorrow," said Harry
at once.
" Allright," said Ron, yawning. He got up, and
climbed the stair to go to sleep.
"Goodnight Harry,"
said Hermione, getting up, leaving Harry alone in the common
room.
For minutes, Harry lay there, with his eyes shut, trying to
recline. And then...
Then, Harry heard some sort of voice coming
out of the fire. There was a quick pop, and someone's head appeared.
Harry jumped, surprised.
"Mad Eye!" he shouted.
"Hello
Potter, pleasant to see you again," replied Mad Eye.
"Professor,
what are you doing here?"
"First of all, I keep telling
you to get rid of the terms 'Professor', and second, I came
here to check on your conditions,"
"Uh...sorry,"
said Harry. " It's great to see you. How are things going on
with you?"
"Aah, they're just fine. The members of the
Order are dying to see you. They've missed you so much. Lupin told me
about his visit to you during the summer."
"Oh, he told
you about that?" asked Harry.
"Yeah. So, let's hear
about you. Anything bothering you Potter? Anything at all?"
For
a few short seconds, Harry considered saying no. But then, he decided
to tell Mad Eye about the vision incident. He answered yes, and then
told him the story.
"Interesting indeed," said Mad Eye.
" I know. Hey, Hermione suggested going to ask Firenze about
it,"
"Firenze? Isn't that the centaur that was banished
last year from his herd? What's he got to do with you?" asked
Mad Eye.
"Well, he got made a divination teacher last year,
after Umbridge sacking Trelawney," replied Harry.
"I see
now," replied Mad Eye, " well, all I've got to say is that
you have to be very careful. Always expect the
unexpected."
"Ok,"
"I've got to get going,
Lupin and Tonks'll be here any moment now," spoke Mad Eye,"
it was nice meeting you again Harry, and remember my advice. Well,
bye!" At once, there was a soft pop, and Mad Eye vanished. Harry
after that got out of his seat, carefully considering the two advices
that were given to him. Ask Firenze, and expect the unexpected. He
climbed up the stairs, opened the boy's dormitory's door, which made
a sharp-annoying creak, and headed to his bed. Thoughts were all over
his head. He was still uneasy about the vision, but satisfied with
having his friends on his side to help him. He didn't know what
Firenze was going to say. He just went to sleep, and waited for dawn.
