Chapter 18

Harry awoke with the all too familiar ceiling of the Hospital Wing over his head, the bright light of early morning streaming in from the tall windows. Vim was lazily sleeping near the ceiling as usual. He amazingly didn't feel any pain as he reached up to touch his previously broken nose.

"I love magic."

"Oh, you're awake." Harry looked to the side and saw the boy that had punched him in the face sitting anxiously by his side.

"Oh, George. I… um…"

"Before you say anything, I fessed up. Got 30 points off Gryffindor when I brought you up here and everything. I'm sorry." Harry got a good look at his face and it was clear that george hadn't slept much last night. "I came up here soon as the hospital wing opened."

"It's alright George." Harry looked down at the blankets momentarily before recalling all that had happened last night. "So I guess the cat's out of the bag, eh?"

"What does that mean?" George looked perplexed at his muggle influenced idioms like many pure-blood wizards did. Their culture was so far removed from muggle society is was a grace that they even spoke modern english at times.

"I mean, well, essentially that everyone knows about me now."

"Just the club."

"Still."

There was silence for a few moments. Madam Pomfrey came by with a house elf at her heels that gave them breakfast before scurrying off.

"We're not going to do it, you know. Fred and Hermione made all the right points. It would be madness." George said, whispering now.

"What would be?" Harry said, perplexed. George looked around to make sure madam pomfrey was far away before leaning forward.

"Going for the Philosopher's Stone."

"Oh!" Harry said far too loudly. He realized Madam Pomfrey's ears had perked up and quickly started whispering as well. "Wait, so even though Ron was all for it, Fred's not willing to take the risk? Remind me who's the Gryffindor again?"

George sighed as he responded.

"I know. My blood's boiling at the thought. All I want to do is run past that three-headed monster and save my brother's life. I think I freaked him out a bit by… punching you."

"So what are we going to do? Did you guys decide anything?"

"I don't know. Can you tell me a bit more about this divination you do? Ron gave me the basics but I thought you might know more details."

"Not much else I can say." Harry couldn't help but stare at the red numbers hovering over George's head now. His shinigami eyes felt heavy for some reason. "I just know the date everyone I see is going to die."

"Wow." George stared absently for a moment before continuing. "Wow. So… is everyone else in my family safe?"

"For now, yes. Fred's the only one with an abnormally young death date." Harry made a mental note to check photographs of the weasley parents as soon as possible.

"Well then. That's good."

Madam Pomfrey came by shortly after, hurrying George out citing Harry's need to be checked again before he could be released.

"We'll talk again soon, alright Harry?"

"Yeah, see you George."

"I'm still angry." Hermione said, as Harry hurried to keep up with her. They were walking through the windswept and frosty meadows east of the black lake where Harry had run into a spell practicing Hermione. She had promptly left.

"Yes, I know, I know. I said I'm sorry." She turned around quickly to speak but kept walking.

"An apology doesn't change the fact you told Ron about your 'prophecies' from magic shinigami eyeballs, but not me. I thought I was as close a friend as him."

"I think she's right." said Vim, floating along after the first years. "There was this one time…"

"Shut up!" The witch and wizard said in unison.

"You are as close a friend!" Harry grabbed her arm. She wrenched it free easily from his weak grip but stopped marching off. "I told you about the Death Note. You've saved my life. I trust you more than anyone." He heard the words and realized their truth. Ron and his relationship had soured slightly after the meeting three days earlier. They still were friends, but Harry refused to fully let go how Ron had let out his power and secrets. Hermione had never done that.

"All right. I'll forgive you." Hermione said.

"Great!" Harry's heart felt elated.

"If," Harry's heart sank, imagining the worst. "You give me a page of the Death Note."

"What?"

"You heard me. We're in this together. I know you've…" Hermione clearly didn't like to think of how her friend had killed people, even if she agreed with the results. She gestured at Vim. "And I get why. I'm not just some little girl. But if you trust me, you'll feel safe enough to trust me with the same power you have."

"I don't even know if it works like that." Harry pulled the invisible book out of his pack and undid the charm. The black leather notebook felt so normal, but Harry still felt a chill down his spine knowing what he held. "I bet the pages don't work if you rip them out."

"Oh they still work." said Vim, turning his attention back to the couple. "Anyone who you loan pages to will work. Or if someone kills you and steals it. Or…"

"Allright, we get it." They said in unison again. The humor was apparent and the two smiled at each other.

"Ok." Harry said, tearing out a page and handing it over. "Just don't kill anyone I like."

March and April passed and the snows finally melted. Life continued with a pall of anxiety, with Task Force members coming up to ask Harry about his divination lessons as the weeks passed. Harry was starting to come to despair that Trelawney would never be the source he could use to actually try to save Fred's life. Fred kept up a surprisingly happy attitude in the face of his impending death, but Harry was concerned that this was just a mask, and pushed onward with his studies.

Every night, Harry, Ron, and Hermione would spend time after homework studying divination and magical beast books from the library, trying to find any mention of his type of predictive magic or shinigamis.

"This is hopeless!" Ron cried out. It was a wednesday and nearing midnight, so the common room was empty. "Remind me again why aren't we getting the rest to look up this nonsense?"

"Because we don't need to tell everyone that we've got a Death God following me." said Harry, closing his book titled Prophecies of Merlin.

"We must have looked through every book in that library at this rate. If we ever take Care of Magical Creatures or Divination we're going to be experts…."

"Well, not every book." said Hermione. Closing her copy of Rare Monsters of the Magical Orient. "There's the restricted section."

"You three are demonic." said Emily, absentmindedly rubbing out a gobstones stain from her robes. "First you want to steal the Philosopher's stone. We give that pipe dream up, and now, you want to sneak into the restricted section?"

"You realize even the three of us haven't succeeded at that?" said George, sulking in one corner with Lee and Fred.

"Well, it's the only thing we can think of." said Hermione, standing up in front of the group. "How do people usually use the restricted section?"

"If you're old enough and get professor permission they'll let you check out a specific book." said Julius. "I had to get a book out of there once for Astronomy. Madam Pince would kill anyone who went near the place, and Filch would find you after dark."

"What about a disillusionment charm?" Harry asked, thinking of his invisible Death Note.

"Won't last. Works maybe 15 minutes on a person, and you just kind of look watery." said Julius. He was busily working on an essay while the others talked. As a fifth year, Julius was constantly busy with O.W.L. prep. Harry appreciated that Julius kept coming to these meetings despite his oppressive workload. "Now if you had an invisibility cloak…"

"Ha!" said Marietta. "Demiguise fur cloaks cost nearly 3000 galleons. No way any of us can get one." The weasleys looked a mixture of sick and gleeful at the idea of accumulating so much wealth. Harry thought back to the massive piles of gold and silver sitting underneath the streets of London, but thought it probably wouldn't be a good way to honor his parents memories by flushing half their savings all in one go. Hermione spoke up again.

"Ok. So then we need a professor's help. Any ideas?"

Madam Pince raised her miniscule glasses to her birdlike eyes.

"Trelawney?"

"Yes Madam Pince." Harry smiled up at the vulture-esque woman. Harry could hardly begin speaking to Trelawney before she was signing the permission form for her young protege. She wailed something about the trivialness of books but was excited that the increasingly detached Harry was taking a new level of 'interest' in his divination studies.

"Dark Creatures of Death: The Grim and other Unpleasant Beasts of the Shadows?"

"Yes. Very important divination studies."

Madam Pince pulled out her wand to verify the signature's authenticity and reluctantly unlocked the steel gate to the restricted section. Harry was not allowed to wander the shelves but caught a glimpse of some very nasty looking books on the shelves, and thought he heard someone faintly screaming from behind a shelf…

The thin librarian arrived minutes later holding a book that looked startling like a massive Death Note, with the same strange black leather binding. When she handed it to him, Harry felt like he could barely lift the thing. Hermione grabbed the book to help him lift it and the trio marched to the nearest desk to begin combing its depths.

"This thing looks a lot like the de- ouch!" Harry punched Ron's arm to shut him up.

"Shhhhh!" came from several directions at once as other library going students glared.

"Right, right. So, does this thing have what we're looking for."

"It doesn't have an index, most of it's not in English, I only know grade school French." said Hermione, carefully lifting the vellum pages at the front and back. "But there are some awful illustrations."

On several pages were a massive black dog designated as The Grim, which signalled that a person was near death if it was seen. Another chapter was on Dementors, and the illustration of the Dementor's Kiss made Harry shiver and nearly retch.

"I'm so happy those monsters aren't at the school anymore."

Dozens of brutal creatures had designations in the book. There were beasts with only a single recorded sighting. Some magical diseases so terrible they were locked away for study and not even death was a worthy punishment for letting them out. There was the Obscurious, the Lethifold, and a thousand other myths and legends, until hours later a note in the margins caught their attention.

"Do Not Investigate further." The note was written in reddish-brown ink that had smeared on the page. There was a one paragraph entry with no illustration titled Ankou/Cù-Sith.

"Could be something. It's a celtic death spirit." whispered Hermione. "Either of you know any gaelic?" The boy's blank looks told her all she needed to know.

"Well then. Who can we trust to read this?"

"Harry!" Boomed the enormous man as the trio stood in front of the hut's door. "Been ages since I seen ya!" Hagrid lifted Harry up and gave him a surprisingly tender hug. Harry had missed the giant man since their wonderful meeting last July. He wasn't sure if Hagrid would even be amenable to him after all this time and 'politely' refusing several of the kindly man's invitations to tea. Dementors and Heirs of Slytherin and scheming professors and philosopher's stones tend to ruin a young boy's free time.

"Hello Hagrid!" Harry smiled as Hagrid set him down. "I'm sorry to just drop by…." Hagrid's name and death date weren't there. Harry's smile cracked a twinge at this strange development.

"Not a problem at all. Not at all, come on in." Hagrid turned inside and put out tea and biscuits as Harry introduced the group to each other. Ron gave Harry some shifty eyes at the situation, but they took them anyway.

"So, how's your studies been? Must be getting back in the swing of things after that whole disaster at the start of the year."

"Great Hagrid. We actually need your help with something."

"My help?" Hagrid smiled, but looked unconvinced.

"Yes, Mr. Hagrid." said Hermione, who turned the Dark Creatures of Death towards him.

"Just Hagrid, if you please."

"Ok then, Hagrid. Harry told me that you know Scots Gaelic?" Harry had heard the massive man speak to some scotsman during their day in Diagon Alley.

"Of course! Got to be a Gamekeeper round these parts. I've worked for hogwarts nearly 50 years now. Been making contacts all over the highlands. Use the tongue less and less as people lose the skill but I have a few friends round the Hog's Head who speak the Gaelic fluently."

"Can you read this?"

"Sure, sure. No trouble." Hagrid picked up the book in one hand, which looked like a standard notebook to him. "When I was young I met two angels of death. One a man, the other a hound. I lifted a book from my master's collection, and the creatures appeared. They told me the book could…. Are you sure you kids should be reading about this? It seems pretty, adult."

"Please Hagrid! It's part of my divination studies. I'm doing extra classes with Professor Trelawney."

"I knew you'd be a great wizard Harry." Hagrid smiled. "Taking divination at 11. What a sight. Well then, let's continue."

When I was young I met two angels of death. One a man, the other a hound. I lifted a book from my master Ragnar's collection, and the creatures appeared. They told me the book could kill the man who had made me his thrall if I but wrote his name. The creatures did not stir as my master died, clutching his heart. I threw the book into a deep ravine and ran. I still have the dog like beast following me to this day, but none can see it but me. It waits for my day of death. Taunting me. Day after day. No one believes me.

That damned book wrapped in human skin.

With that, Hagrid closed the book. "Seems like the Grim to me. Very creepy story kids."

Vim chuckled in the corner.