Harry Potter and the Dark Lord

Chapter 53 Hogsmeade

Summary: Set in Harry's sixth year. He encounters far more than he ever could have expected, but he does not have to go through it alone. An old friend returns to help him. Harry's defeat of Voldemort rests on him getting The Scepter of Light and Dark, something that would allow Voldemort to destroy the world if he can get the whole thing. Voldemort's powers are getting stronger and Harry has more than one encounter with him.

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This Chapter: Harry and Ginny go to Hogsmeade

Now...on with the story!


Harry awoke the morning of his date with Ginny feeling extremely nervous. He knew that he shouldn't be, after all, he had been dating Ginny for five months now. He dressed in his best Muggle clothes and headed for the Common Room to meet Ginny. They had all agreed to meet later at the Three Broomsticks so they would have plenty of time with their dates.

Once they had completed the walk to Hogsmeade, Ginny turned to his and asked, "So where should we go now?"

"Oh, anywhere. As long as it isn't Madam Puddifoots." replied Harry. Anywhere was fine, as long as he was with Ginny.

"Don't worry. I don't like that place either. Why don't we just take a walk?" said Ginny. Harry nodded his assent and they headed down the road, holding hands and going nowhere in particular, when suddenly, Harry was pushed to the ground by something heavy. He jumped to his feet, wand raised. He immediately lowered it when he saw who had pushed him. He was met with the sight of a very angry black dog.

"Uh oh." muttered Harry under his breath. In a flash, the black dog became Sirius, who stood glaring menacingly at Harry.

"He looks like Snape." muttered Harry.

"You're not in a position to be making jokes Harry! I thought you would know better than to go wandering into Hogsmeade with just Ginny!" said Sirius angrily.

"Sorry, I forgot." said Harry. He had honestly forgotten about Sirius needing to guard him. His terror over his date had completely wiped it from his memory.

"You just need to be more careful Harry. I won't follow you around all day like this, though." said Sirius and changed into the dog.

"Great, now we're never going to have any fun." mumbled Harry. Sirius barked loudly, indicating that he'd heard what Harry had said.

Sirius's POV

They continued their walking, while Sirius padded quietly behind them, keeping an eye out for any sign of danger. Harry seemed to have calmed down about being followed again, but Sirius distinctly heard Harry mutter something about stupid babysitters. He needed to realize that he had to be kept safe at all costs. Without him, the world would be destroyed. He turned his attention back to the couple. Ginny was shivering slightly and Harry had wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"It's freezing out here. Why don't we get something to drink?" asked Ginny.

"The Three Broomsticks or The Hog's Head?" asked Harry.

"Umm, let's go up to the Hog's Head. It'll be much quieter there." said Ginny. Sirius followed the pair, who were holding hands again, the rather dingy bar.

"Three butterbeers." said Harry, and handed the bartender six sickles.

They went to a table in a corner and sat down. Sirius transformed and took the butterbeer Harry held out. He looked around the room and saw that several heads were turned his way. At least they weren't screaming in terror, he thought bitterly. His attention was brought back to his won table when he heard Harry gasp. He turned around to see that Harry had some hand on his forehead.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." replied Harry, removing his hand from his forehead.

As they drank their butterbeer, Sirius noted that Harry's eyes darted back and forth, like he was looking for something. Finally, they finished their butterbeer and Sirius suggested that they go back outside. He didn't feel comfortable with all those people staring at his.

At least outside he could be in his dog form. Harry and Ginny agreed and he transformed. The trio walked out of the bar. They had gotten no more than a few steps away when Sirius saw a flash of orange light come towards them. He saw Harry fall to the ground and quickly transformed, pulling his wand out of his pocket.

He saw a Death Eater standing across the street and quickly said, "Stupefy," just as Ginny said, "Expelliarmus."

Sirius ran over to the fallen Death Eater. He took his wand away and cast Anti-Apparition wards and Binding Charms on him. Whoever it was, they weren't getting away. He went back over to Harry, where Ginny was kneeling by his side, tying to wake him up.

"Harry, wake up." pleaded Ginny. Harry simply lay motionless on the ground.

"C'mon Ginny. We have to get out of here. There could be more Death Eaters anywhere. We need to get to Honeydukes." said Sirius. He figured it would be safer to take Harry up a passage to Hogwarts that few people knew about, then take the long, open walk back to Hogwarts.

He picked up Harry and said, "Keep your wand out, Ginny."

They walked as quickly as they could to Honeydukes. Luckily, it was as crowded as usual, and they were able to slip behind the counter and into the basement unnoticed. When they reached the basement floor, he carefully put Harry down and said, "We have to find the trapdoor."

"Okay," said Ginny. They walked throughout the room, trying to locate the trapdoor through the thick coat of dust on the floor. Finally, he spotted it in a corner of the room. "Ginny, hold it open so I can get down with Harry." he said, pointing to the trapdoor then going over and retrieving Harry. Ginny held the trapdoor open and he carefully walked down the steps with Harry.

He heard the trapdoor shut and then, "Lumos."

Ginny had lit her wand so they could see. Finally, they reached the bottom of the seemingly never-ending stairs and began walking through the passageway, which he knew like the back of his hand, having traveled through it many times during his years at Hogwarts. What seemed like hours later, they reached the statue of the one-eyed witch.

Sirius tapped the statue with his wand and whispered, "Dissendium." The statue opened up and they walked out into the hallway.

"Ginny, go tell Dumbledore what happened. I'm going to take Harry to the hospital wing." said Sirius. When he arrived at the hospital wing, he put Harry on a bed and went to get Madam Pomfrey, but she was already coming out of her office.

"What happened this time?" she asked.

"I'm not really sure." replied Sirius.

"Looks like he got hit with an advanced Stunner. Who did it?' asked Madam Pomfrey.

"It was a Death Eater. I think there was only one there, but they could have been hidden. He got hit with an orange light and I Stunned the Death Eater and placed Anti-Apparition wards on him." said Sirius. He sat down in a chair and watched Madam Pomfrey examine Harry. That was all he could do, sit and watch.

"Now, we wait." said Madam Pomfrey. She gathered up numerous potion bottles she had collected from her office and went back to it. Sirius scooted his chair closer to the bed. Suddenly, Harry's eyes opened and Sirius jumped.

"What am I doing in here?" asked Harry.

"There was a Death Eater in Hogsmeade. They hit you with some kind of curse." said Sirius.

"Oh. Well, I'm awake now, so let's go." said Harry.

"Let me ask Madam Pomfrey first." said Sirius. He walked over to Madam Pomfrey's office and knocked on the door.

She opened the door and he said, "Harry's awake,. He wants to leave."

"I want to look him over first." said Madam Pomfrey. After several minutes, Madam Pomfrey finally declared Harry fit to leave. Ginny met them just outside the hospital wing doors.

"Hey Harry. Feeling better?" asked Ginny.

"Yes, much." replied Harry.

"Professor Dumbledore said to tell you that he's sent someone to collect the Death Eater in Hogsmeade, Sirius." said Ginny.

"Okay. Thank you Ginny." said Sirus.

"No problem." replied Ginny.

They walked back to Gryffindor Tower, where they spent the rest of the day with Ron and Hermione, who had returned from Hogsmeade and wanted to know why they hadn't met them at the Three Broomsticks.


Next Chapter: Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw