Moving Forward

'So, you found a way to predict the future,' started Harry while massaging his temples.

'Not the future,' corrected Rowena, 'the behavior of wizards and witches.'

'Right,' replied Harry. 'And from that you have gathered that Hogwarts will be destroyed.'

'From now on,' said Salazar with patience, 'the Wizarding World is going to take a series of action that will lead to the school destruction.'

'And you want me to stop it,' finished Harry with a low voice.

'Precisely,' said Godric with a joyful voice.

'How?' Asked abruptly Harry.

'We are going to tell you what you need to know,' said Helga with an appeasing voice, sensing the boy's growing anger. 'But if you are the one who found us tonight, you are the one who has what it takes to save Hogwarts.'

'You should be proud,' said Godric a bit disappointed by the boy's lack of enthusiasm. Salazar discreetly tried to make him understand that this was not the time, but Godric went on. 'You are a Gryffindor, and you should rejoice that you have been judged worthy of such a noble task.'

'Rejoice!?' Exclaimed Harry. 'Why would I want to save Hogwarts? Why would I want to save a school who called me a liar, a cheater and even a murderer?'

Godric looked at him in disbelief.

'Well then,' said Salazar with a peaceful voice, 'maybe we got it wrong and you're not the one we are looking for.'

Helga and Godric looked at him with a shocked face while Rowena, after a quick glance to Salazar, added:

'I guess even the best of us can be wrong sometimes.'

'If you think of anyone, young man,' continued calmly Salazar, 'send them our way, in the meantime, we wish you a pleasant night.'

The bald wizard snapped his fingers and they all disappeared. Harry's anger fell as quickly as it had risen. What, in the name of Merlin's beard, had just happened? He looked at where the Founders had stood a few seconds before and sighed. Again, he hadn't been able to control his temper and regretted his words. Of course, he wanted to help Hogwarts. Of course, if the school was threatened, he would do anything in his power to save her. Hogwarts was Home. He had been caught off guard and had badly reacted.

As he walked through the Fat Lady portrait, he still hadn't fully understood what had just happened to him. If what he had seen was real, then the school was in danger. But what was it exactly? Could the Founders have figure it out with their prediction method? What was this method exactly? If it was so successful, couldn't it be used to prevent more catastrophes such as, for example, the rise of Dark Lords?

Harry didn't find sleep immediately. These questions were running through his head, and he had a lot of trouble understanding what was happening to him. Why was he always reacting with anger? A snore from one of his classmates drew him out of his thoughts and he rolled over under his blankets.

Monday morning never feels good, especially when you had a two-hour night. When Harry opened his eyes, he was not only still confused from last night but also exhausted. He dragged himself to the Great Hall for breakfast. He was contemplating the jar of Pumpkin juice when a huge gasp Hermione let out while retrieving the newspaper startled him.

"Ministry Seeks Educational Reform Dolores Umbridge Appointed First Ever High Inquisitor"

Harry let his half eater piece of toast slips through his fingers.

'Umbridge… "High Inquisitor"? What does that mean?' He asked.

Hermione read the article to him. By the end of it, Harry's foggy thoughts had been replaced by dark ones. Umbridge had now the power to inspect teachers. Harry felt the scar on his hand itch him again, but he wasn't the angriest about this news. Hermione was outraged.

They were still digesting this information when Snape gave them back their essay from last week, graded according to the rating scale of the O.W.L.s.

'I expect to see a great deal of more effort for this week's essay on the various varieties of venom antidotes, or I shall have to start handing out detentions to those dunces who get a "D".'

Harry felt his cheeks burn and knew this snide remark had been specially designed for him. His pride was stung and, determined to not give Snape an excuse to fail this lesson, he carefully read every instruction on the blackboard before acting on them. He was too tired to brew a potion worthy of the effort he had put in, but at least it had the correct color. He tried to stand straight as he was delivering it to Snape's desk and was more than happy to go back to the Great Hall for lunch.

His mind was swimming in a grey fog, and he barely heard his friends discuss the grading system as he was trying to eat whatever he could grab. Only the arrival of Umbridge in his Divination class pulled him out of his thoughts. Her horrible smile on, she proceeded to bully the professor Trelawney. Harry shared a look with Ron. They both didn't take Trelawney seriously, but their shared hate for Umbridge was stronger. And to be honest, nobody deserved to be treated the way she had treated Trelawney. She had undermined the Divination teacher in front of the whole class. Umbridge wasn't here to truly inspect teachers. She was here to remind them who was the one in charge at Hogwarts and make sure they understood it wasn't Dumbledore. This was just a power play. And Harry was feeling so powerless against this injustice. Hogwarts was home, and Umbridge was on her way to destroy everything that has given Harry a purpose to live and survive.

When he arrived in his DADA class, this feeling of injustice increased when she took five points from Gryffindor because a student had the audacity of discussing the lesson during her class… And this student was none other that Hermione Granger. This was too much for Harry.

'And why are you taking those points away?' Asked Harry angrily above the outbreak of muttering at the teacher decision.

'For disrupting my class with pointless interruptions!' Said Professor Umbridge smoothly. She then proceeded to explain how hard she was trying to teach them Ministry approved methods that none of her predecessors had respected but Professor Quirell. Speaking of Quirell…

When Harry got out of Umbridge's office later in the evening, holding his bleeding hand, he knew he shouldn't have mentioned that Lord Voldemort had been sticking out of the back of Quirell's head. He was on his way to Gryffindor's tower, trying to conceal his hand. Luckily for him it was late, and the corridors were desert. He stopped near a window and took a deep breath, assessing the situation.

His would learn nothing this year to help him defend himself should he ever face Lord Voldemort again. He was considered as a liar by the Wizarding World, and the only adult believing him, Albus Dumbledore, had decided to ignore him completely. Harry didn't know why and to be honest it hurt to think about it. He needed help. He needed support and he needed guidance. And no one was here to give him what he needed.

Why was nobody telling him anything? Wasn't he worthy?

He had done so much and witnessed more. Everything was so… unfair. Dumbledore was unfair! He had saved this school so many times and without him no one would have known about the growing danger the Wizarding World was facing. The same school that was apparently on the verge of destruction. The same school he had been chosen to protect.

He looked at his hand. He couldn't even protect himself, so why bother?

'You would let it crumble?' Said the voice in his head. 'You would close your eyes and turn your back to the only place that ever brought you happiness?'

He sighed. Soon everything he loved about Hogwarts would be gone, destroyed by Umbridge. Then, an idea occured to him. What if Umbridge and the Ministry were the threat? What if the danger had something to do with the rebirth of a certain wizard? Helga Hufflepuff had informed him they would tell him about what he needed to know. If his guess was right, he would get the answers he needed.

He glanced right and left and retrieved his Invisibility Cloak from his bag.