Chapter 4

Not Again!

Once again, Order members gathered in Dumbledore's office; this time, however, they were discussing a slightly different matter.

"What are you going to do, Albus?" Lupin asked.

"Well, the only thing I can do—tell the truth; lying won't do me any good."

"Maybe not, but telling the truth isn't much better in this case," grunted Moody.

"Albus, do you really think Harry would want this? It will only cause more people to talk about him; you know how much he hates that!" Molly Weasley said indignantly.

"Don't attack him he's only doing what he thinks is best for Harry!" McGonagall defended him.

"No, no, Minerva, it's quite all right; but my word is final, there is nothing more to discuss," Dumbledore said, in a tone that clearly meant the meeting was over.

Defeated, they flooed back home, while Dumbledore and McGonagall went to visit Harry.

Not to their surprise, Harry wasn't awake. They each say on opposite sides of Harry's bed, and watched him. Suddenly, McGonagall noticed something strange.

"Albus, look! His face is wet! He's…he's crying! But that means…Albus, he's conscious again!" she looked at Dumbledore, grinning. Dumbledore's eyes were watery; Dumbledore obviously got very emotional this past month.

Suddenly, Harry grabbed McGonagall's wrist. Harry knew McGonagall and Dumbledore were both there, he could hear their voices; but when he tried to open his eyes, the light stung him. Dumbledore noticed, and dimmed the lights; Harry slowly and cautiously opened his eyes.

He saw two figures crouching over his bed whom he knew to be Dumbledore and McGonagall. Dumbledore put his glasses on him, and then Harry realized that both Dumbledore and McGonagall seemed very concerned. He didn't want them to worry about him; he caused enough trouble as it is, he put them all in danger; he didn't deserve to have someone worrying about him. He smiled at them weakly, and they grinned back at him.

"How are you feeling?" McGonagall asked him.

"I'm ok…but I need to go check on the Dursleys, I need to see if they're ok," he said, and tried to get up. Dumbledore and McGonagall both put a hand on his chest and gently pushed him back down.

"You're not going anywhere in this state, you can barely walk…but you have nothing to worry about, your family got back home safely," McGonagall said. "And don't tell me you're ok, how are you really feeling?" she added.

"I'm…I've been better…" he answered, barely able to breathe.

"Yes, of course you have! 230 times with the Cruciatus, that's insane! You gave us quite a scare!" McGonagall said sorrowfully.

"I'm so sorry…I…didn't mean to…should have fought them….or something…sorry…" he managed to say half sentences, and then diverted his look away from them down to his hands.

"Harry, what are you saying? No one's blaming you-- how could we? There was nothing you could have done," Dumbledore said gently.

"I felt so…helpless…should have tried to duel…but I just let them--" he broke off mid-sentence; he suddenly turned very pale and could not breathe. His heart was beating faster, hammering rapidly.

"Albus, what's happening to him? Poppy! Poppy, get over here!" McGonagall called urgently, but Poppy was nowhere to be seen.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Harry screamed, panting. Dumbledore and McGonagall didn't know if this was out of pain or fright, but whatever it was, they didn't like it; nevertheless, they couldn't do anything about it. Dumbledore conjured a Patronus over to Madame Pomfrey, and quickly went over to Harry's side again; Harry seemed as if he was sleeping, since his eyes were closed, though his loud screams indicated that he was indeed awake. All of a sudden, Harry stopped screaming.

"No! Go away! Get out!" Harry yelled in agony.

Inside his mind, Harry was panicking. Voldemort had gotten access to his mind, his defenses being so low.

"Harry Potter, in the Hogwarts hospital wing?" Voldemort sneered, "What a pleasant surprise! What, you didn't like the little surprise I had for you? It's only too…unfortunate that I didn't encounter you earlier…Crucio!"

"Not again," Harry thought to himself, his body aching like no other; however, he found himself speaking aloud, and realized that this is his mind, and Voldemort would hear all of his thoughts as if they were spoken.

"Not again? Why, how could you say that? We're having so much…fun…"

"No! Go away! Get out!" Harry yelled in agony.

"No, I don't think I will," Voldemort hissed. "Crucio!" he bellowed.

Harry screamed in agony again. He had just woken up from being unconscious for who knows how long, and now he's being attacked again. He wondered how much more of this he would have to endure.

"Oh, this is just the beginning…I don't intend on leaving any time soon," Voldemort said cheerfully.

"Please, kill me…don't hurt me, just kill me!" Harry pleaded.

"Believe me, Potter, if I could kill you I would…but unfortunately, it is impossible to kill someone by simply being inside his mind. I'm still going to have my fun entertainment though…Crucio!"

Harry screamed once more. There was only one thing to do, and though he didn't know if it would work, he had to try. He felt his mind drifting into blackness and knew he had to act quickly.

"Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, if you can hear me grab my wrist!" he said, not knowing if his plan would work.

"No! What are you doing, boy! Trying to escape, eh?" Voldemort laughed, "Crucio!" he roared. Harry screamed again, but he suddenly felt a hand gripping his hand, and that soothed him. He felt himself shaking uncontrollably, but continued nonetheless.

"Please, if you can hear me, get help! Voldemort is inside my mind, he's attacking me with the Cruc—AHHHHHHHH!" Voldemort had attacked him again. He tried to fight the unconsciousness that was slowly taking over him- he didn't want to be unconscious while Voldemort was still in his mind- but no matter how much he tried to resist, he couldn't stay awake any longer. At that second before he completely passed out, he heard Voldemort say, "See you soon, Potter," and that was all he witnessed.

Back in the hospital wing, Dumbledore and McGonagall were terrified.

"Please, kill me…don't hurt me, just kill me!" they heard Harry shout. It was almost as if he was talking in his sleep, only his voice indicated pain.

"Albus, what do we do? What's going on? And where in Merlin's beard is Poppy!" McGonagall bombarded questions, frustrated.

Then they heard Harry scream again.

"Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, if you can hear me grab my wrist!" Harry said.

He then started screaming in pain once more, and McGonagall quickly grabbed his wrist, not only because Harry asked them to, but because she wanted to soothe him, to help him in any way she could. She felt Harry shaking, and held his hand now, even tighter.

"Please, if you can hear me, get help! Voldemort is inside my mind, he's attacking me with the Cruc—AHHHHHHH!"

Dumbledore and McGonagall exchanged a quick significant look, worry and tears present in both of their eyes.

Dumbledore, who was leaning over Harry, started whispering an incantation in Latin. The spell was more powerful than simple Occlumency, yet he wasn't sure it would work; it was meant to block invasion of the mind, but not literally.

Slowly, Harry stopped shaking. His body calmed down, and so did his expression. Though Dumbledore was sure Voldemort was gone from Harry's mind, it did not calm him one bit; Harry was unconscious again. McGonagall ran out of the room, crying; Dumbledore, despite his age, ran after her.

Dumbledore reached McGonagall, gently grabbed her shoulders, and turned her around to face him. Her eyes were red and puffy, having cried so much. She burst into tears again, and buried her face in his shoulders.

However much he wanted to, he could not say anything to comfort her. He wanted to tell her that everything would be fine, that Harry would get through this; but he knew that was something he could no longer promise, so he just let her cry, and pulled her into a big, teddy bear-like hug.

Soon enough, Madame Pomfrey came running towards them.

"Albus! Minerva! What happened? Is everything all right?" she asked worriedly, but stopped in shock the minute she saw McGonagall crying.

"Albus, what happened?" she asked quietly.

"Poppy….there's been another attack on Harry," he answered, sounding depressed and deeply concerned.

"Here, at Hogwarts? How is that possible?"

"Well…not exactly inside the castle…more like inside Harry's mind," he answered.

When Madame Pomfrey still looked puzzled and confused, Dumbledore added, "Lord Voldemort got access to Harry's mind and attacked him with the Cruciatus from inside his mind. Harry was awake for a while, but now he's unconscious again."

Madame Pomfrey didn't say anything, but rushed to the hospital wing. Dumbledore and McGonagall followed.