Sorry for taking so long as always. But I've been busier than ever lately with school. I also have all my other stories that I'm trying to finish… but the main reason I haven't updated lately is that I'm now actually trying to write an actual novel which has sucked up all the time. I've been getting so many reviews about taking up writing for a profession that I've finally decided to give it a try. I've only just started and I know that it won't be done for a long time, but it's coming along better than I thought. Well, here's the next chapter like I promised.
Chapter 30: Advocate of Illusions
For the next few weeks, things had been unusually calm. If you didn't count all the different ways that the teachers were checking the Firebolt for the slightest trace of Dark Magic. He recently heard that Filius was convinced that it was carrying a Hurling Hex. Albus trusted his staff however, and told them to test it in every possible way until they are certain that it is harmless—though so far they hadn't found anything. And from what he heard from the portraits who have been keeping an eye on Harry lately, it was that his anti-Dementor lessons were going as well as Albus could've hoped for. It had only been a couple more lessons, but Harry was advancing quickly and was now able to produce an indistinct, silvery shadow every time the Boggart-Dementor appeared. It wasn't yet strong enough to drive it away, but enough to create almost a barrier around him. From what he knew from Harry personality, he knew that the boy was expecting more from himself than just a vague silver shimmer as protection.
"He's trying to hard if you ask me," Dilys said one evening, after about a month since the first lesson. "He's only thirteen and he thinks he's getting worse every time he faces that Boggart. He just keeps pushing himself even farther each time."
"Still not enough to help, I've noticed," Phineas said sourly.
"He's come a far way since his first lesson," Albus told them brightly. "You told me that he doesn't pass out anymore from his last lesson correct?"
"No," she answered with a nod. "Just barely, but he's found a way to stay on his feet."
"Then that's good enough for now," Albus said to her, and he thought of what happened the last time that he came in contact with a real Dementor. He then said with a dark look, "If the Dementors ever do come to a match again—which won't end well for them—" he added as he rolled his wand in his hands almost threateningly, "Then Harry should be able to say on his broom long enough for him to reach the ground safely. That's a great relief. I don't think I can stand a repeat of what happened last time."
"There's something else you might want to know," she told him uncomfortably. "He asked Remus what was under a Dementor's hood?"
Albus, who was just about to take a sip of Butterbeer, slowly lowered it as he became grim again. "Did he now? And what did he find out?"
"He's a teenager," Dilys reminded him quickly. "He was just curious. Though from the look of things, I think that he's sorry he asked."
"I don't blame him," Albus nodded as he thought about what was truly under a Dementor's hood with a shudder. Just thinking about it, still made him feel sick to his stomach. "So Remus told him?"
"About the Dementor's Kiss, yes," she said softly. "Harry seems to be greatly disturbed about it. I thought that he was going to be sick when he left the room."
"I would imagine so," Albus said quietly. "But now that he knows, maybe now he'll be more careful than before." Albus had been having a bad feeling that Harry might've found a way to sneak out of the castle and been visiting Hogsmeade without permission. How he knew this… maybe it was because Albus knew his father. It was something that James had been known for doing while he was here, and he dreaded that Harry might've inherited that talent as well. He hoped that now Harry wouldn't try something like that again in a hurry—sneaking pass Dementors was a risky and dangerous thing.
He had always found the idea of Dementors horrible. But their worst power—the ability to take away your soul—a shiver went down his spine again… to have no sense of self… no memory, no emotions… nothing. And when that empty shell dies… to just be lost forever. He looked back to today's Prophet that was still sitting on his desk from this morning:
Black Awaits the Dementor's Kiss
Mass-murderer Sirius Black, who had escaped Azkaban just last July, will be given the Dementor's Kiss when he is caught. This had just been confirmed by Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge yesterday, during his weekly press conference regarding the Ministry's steps to recapture Sirius Black.
This measure was taken in the hopes that Black will be caught as soon as possible by the Dementors, and that all the extra forces that are still searching for Black can be recalled and this scare will finally come to an end.
"Black has escaped the Dementors once. And we are going to make sure that it will never happen again," said Mr. Fudge yesterday. "It will only be a matter of time before he is recaptured, and as soon as he is in custody, it will be over for him once and for all." Meanwhile, the rumors that there have been Black sightings seen as far as Hogsmeade continue, but the Ministry will not confirm when or why. Nor will they confirm the rumors about Sirius Black, breaking into Hogwarts this past Halloween.
See page 7 for a detailed report on the press conference.
Albus sighed as he pushed the disgusting article away from him. If the Prophet continued to bring depressing news like this, he might have to reconsider about getting it. He looked up at Dilys again and asked, "Does Harry know that this is what will happen to Sirius Black if they ever catch him?" he asked her. "Is that why he asked about the Dementor's Kiss?"
"Yes and no," she told him with a shrug. "He seemed pretty surprised when Remus told him that it's Black's fate if they catch him. But Harry certainly does hate him. Said that Black deserved it."
That surprised him. Albus stared up at her, knowing that Harry wasn't the type of person to wish something so horrible onto someone else like that. Even if it was someone like Sirius Black.
"He's a child," she reminded him sadly. "He's upset about what he found about Black—so I can't blame him for hating him. But he's still young. He doesn't know what he's saying. I'm sure that he'll be thinking about it late tonight and wonder if that's true."
"I hope you're right about that," he said softly with a sigh, suddenly wishing that he never asked.
"On a brighter note," Dexter called from the other side of the room which turned everyone else's attention onto him. "Just got back from following Harry to the common room and ran into McGonagall on the stairs. She just gave him back the Firebolt—said that they tried everything they could think of but couldn't find anything wrong with it."
"Ah," Albus said, cheering up greatly. "That is good to hear. I'm guessing that this cheered Harry up?"
Dexter snorted. "You kidding? Barely recognized him with that smile! But I think that it was also McGonagall who looked happy. She's even keener on winning than any of the other Gryffindors."
Albus laughed brightly. "Yes, she is. She may deny it, but she truly loves the game more than anyone else I've ever met. So Harry's back in the common room then?"
"Yep," Dexter nodded while he stretched his stiff arms. "Hopefully he'll be making up with Granger and things will be back to normal with those three. It's so sad when such good friends can't work things out."
"I hope that as well," Albus nodded as he checked his watch and decided to go to bed a little early tonight. "Very well, is he going to Quidditch practice?"
"Soon," Dexter told him.
Albus nodded and asked him to let him know when the Gryffindors returned to the common room before he turned in for the night. But just a few hours later there was an unpleasant surprise waiting for him. His portraits all told him that it now looked like it was the end of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger's friendship. Dexter told him that apparently Hermione's cat had eaten Ron's rat. And now, each was so angry that they refuse to talk to the other.
"I hope that this won't last long," Albus said as he ran his hand over Fawkes plumage. He could understand how difficult it would be if someone would've taken Fawkes away from him… however, he smiled, it would be difficult to do that with a phoenix. He asked if the Gryffindor team was back in their dorms for the night and Dexter told him that Madam Hooch was still overseeing the Gryffindors practices to keep an eye on Harry. He laughed when he heard how she went on about the Silver Arrows when she saw the Firebolt.
"Is she still talking about that?" Albus laughed. She had been moaning the end of those brooms for a long time, and was always more than happy to give her opinion on any broom. Seeing and holding the Firebolt must've been a real treat for her.
"Yep," they all nodded. "We all heard the team talking about it when they came back up. They said that she talked for almost 20 minutes before they were allowed to train." Albus was also informed that Harry and Ron were a little late coming back, because Harry let Ron try out the Firebolt to help take his mind of his rat. "But they're just fine," Armando told him. "Sounds like Hooch dozed off and is a little angry at them for not waking her up before she sent them up to the castle. They're safe and sound back in the common room." Albus nodded as he bit his lower lip in anxiety. Just what was going on here? It had been months since Black had tried anything. No sightings, no attempted break-ins… not even the Firebolt was dangerous. And now… it was almost like he given up. That didn't sound like the Sirius Black that he knew… but he couldn't help but secretly wish that it was that simple. But all this waiting was slowly driving him crazy. What was Black planning now?
He would be sure to keep a very close eye on the match tomorrow.
*Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw match*
He went down to breakfast to see the Gryffindor table was applauding the team. And he watched with amusement when Harry had brought down his broom and had laid it in the middle of the table so that everyone could look at it. Students from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were soon coming over to look.
He smiled when he watched Cedric Diggory came over to shake his hand knew that he was congratulating Harry on getting a wonderful new broom. He had always been very fond of Cedric when Pomona had told him about how modest and kind-hearted he was.
He went back to his breakfast but glanced up when he heard the sound of loud laughter. He had seen Misters Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle walk away from the Gryffindor table with angry expressions and he watched uneasily as the three of them went back to their table and talked together in hushed tones.
The next thing he knew was that he was sitting in one of the many seats in the stands, with most of the other teachers and waiting eagerly for the match to begin. The weather was perfect today… it was clear, with light breezes… perfect to be able to see a Dementor coming from a mile away.
Albus took a seat in one of the back rows, keeping a very close eye on everything, careful not to over look anything until the two teams, both red and blue, came out and were in the middle of the field. The captains shook hands and the balls were released. And the games began. He watched them all with enjoyment and could see young Miss Chang tailing behind Harry very closely; she had decided to keep her eye on him rather than search for the Snitch herself… a good plan, but not a very wise one.
"Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero," Lee Jordan shouted after a short while. "And look at that Firebolt go! Potter's really putting it through its paces now, see it turn — Chang's Comet is just no match for it, the Firebolt's precision — balance is really noticeable in these long —"
"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!"
Albus laughed at that. He always loved Jordan's commentaries, and he knew that Minerva secretly loved them as well. At that second, he heard another angry voice bellowing out from above him:
"HARRY, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN! KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!"
He looked up to see that Harry had to swerve around Cho Chang to avoid colliding with her. The game continued on for a while until he heard shouts of terror from the field and looked down to see them. Dementors… three tall, black hooded Dementors, were coming onto the field and were all looking up at Harry. Albus felt cold rising in his heart, but not in the usual way… he didn't hear Ariana's usual screaming this time, but before he could make sense of what was going on, before he could even reach for his wand, something silver-white, something enormous, erupted from above them. His head jerked up in amazement as a powerful Patronus charged all three Dementors… What happened next happened even faster: the Dementors were not blown away by the spell, but instead they fell, and Albus saw from the corner of his eye that they exposed some feet. At the same time, he tried to watch Harry, who managed to catch the Snitch. Madame Hooch blew the whistle, and the red part of the stadium erupted into cheers and screams, compensating for their relative quiet during the hunt for the Snitch.
Feeling both furious and disbelief he stood up and glanced at the three on the ground before looking up at Harry to see that he and the rest of the team were all in a hug in midair—now heading their way back down to earth. Judging from Harry's face, he honestly didn't realize what he had just done. But that was a full Patronus… one of the most powerful Patronuses he had ever seen.
"Ruddy brilliant!" he heard boomed Hagrid over the heads of the milling Gryffindors as he slowly made his way down to the field. When he reached the grass, he was able to see over the heads of countless students to see Harry and Remus talking—with Harry looking excited. He watched Remus lead Harry out of the crowd until they were in front of the three 'Dementors'.
Albus stared when he realized that it Misters Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Flint in a crumpled heap on the ground, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked as though Mr. Malfoy had been standing on Mr. Goyle's shoulders to make up for his small size. Albus was heading over there, but Minerva, with an expression of the fury on her face, got there first.
"An unworthy trick!" she was shouting, screaming so loudly that her voice couldn't be missed by anyone. "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!"
While Harry was being called away by one of the Weasley twins (after he almost doubled up with laughter), Albus came over and were discussing the incident with Minerva. They both talked about this, while the boys all glared at the two of them. Albus pointed behind them to where Severus was coming and told her that they will decide what kind of punishment they would give them when he arrived. In the meantime, he headed straight over to Remus—who was looking shaken—most likely from what he undoubtedly saw as well.
"I'm guessing that you saw what I just saw?" he asked him pleasantly. Remus nodded, still looking like he saw a ghost. "Well, then I believe you did your job right. Harry produced quite a Patronus there…"
Remus shook his head in disbelief… "I just… I never thought…"
"I told you before, Remus," he smiled brightly. "Harry doesn't give up easily. And he has a gift for surprising everyone."
Smiling with a wink, Albus turned and walked back to the castle with Minerva, Severus, and the three boys to discuss punishments. Feeling as proud as he could be.
After a long lecture, with Minerva talking loudly, and Severus trying to find some way to get them out of trouble, Albus gave all four boys detention for the rest of the weekend before he allowed everyone to leave his office for him to sit in peace. He sat at his desk with his hands folded together as he thought about what he saw back at the field.
Harry—a thirteen year old boy—had performed a true Patronus. Remarkable. He thought back to the moment when he saw the boys disguised as the Dementors gaze up at Harry and he felt a fear creep up in his veins when he thought that they were real. He remembered how his gaze switched from Harry onto the creatures and back; afraid that Harry wouldn't be able to perform the spell on a real Dementor, that he would fall off his broom again. But Harry didn't even seem to make any effort: as far Albus could tell… he pulled out his wand, and repeated the incantation, before he went back to catching the Snitch. And then… Albus just couldn't believe that Harry ever had trouble with the spell at all. He cast it as if he had been doing it for years and conjured a full, corporeal Patronus right in front of him. It was too sunny and there was too much light to see what it was: all Albus could see was that it had four legs and was enormous… almost like a horse?
He thought about what he just saw for the longest time before his portraits reported to him that everyone was in their common rooms and that the Gryffindors were still partying. Knowing that Minerva would take care of everything if it went on for too much longer, he finally traded his wizard's hat for a nightcap and turned in for the night. Little did he know that he wasn't going to be sleeping for much longer?
*Around 3 in the morning*
He was awoken a few hours later when he heard Minerva knocking loudly on his door. "Albus! ALBUS! You need to wake up! We have an emergency!"
Hearing that scared tone was more enough to get him up. He quickly sat up as reached for a bathrobe next to his bed and pulled it on—pulling out his wand as he went. He had just finished tying it when he opened the door to see Minerva was standing there as pale as a sheet, and was out of breath.
"Minerva, what is…?" but before he could finish forming the question, she interrupted.
"Sirius Black!" she gasped and Albus felt his heart freeze as he raised his wand and followed her out of the room. "What happened?" he demanded and she told him.
"I told the Gryffindors to all go to bed a couple hours ago," she told him half angry/half scared. "I went to bed myself after that but then I awoken when I heard shouting and I went up to tell them off again. When I got there, Ronald Weasley told me that Sirius Black was in his dorm with a knife!"
Albus almost stopped dead when he heard that; his worst fears running through his mind. "Is he…?"
"He's just fine!" Minerva told him and he felt a wave of relief crash over him again. "He's shaken up, but unhurt. I thought that he just had a nightmare or something, but Sirius Black was in their dormitory!"
"But how did he get in?" Albus demanded, not knowing how this was possible.
"That fool Sir Cadogan!" she cried, almost hysterically. "He just let him in!"
"But the password…?" he began.
"He somehow got Longbottom's list of passwords," she sounded angry. "I'll deal with Longbottom later… to think he left that lying around when just anyone could've…?"
"And Sir Cadogan just let him in!" he interrupted her, wanting to know every detail. "I'll deal with him myself. But gather up the rest of the staff. I want at least one teacher to guard each of the common rooms. The rest, we will start another search of the castle."
In about 5 minutes, all the teachers—in their bathrobes and pajamas were gathered in the hall and Albus gave them the same instructions he did the first time that Sirius Black broken into the school. Several of the teachers went to go stand guard over the common rooms like he said, and the others began their search.
But as he headed down into the dungeons to begin from the bottom, he overheard Severus and Remus talking. "When I saw you with Potter after the game," Severus hissed to Remus. "I assumed that you would care more about his safety than to let in the person who wants to kill him."
"I would never let Black in, Snape. We've discussed this a million times before," Remus said, fists clenched.
"It's lucky for you," he said with his lip curling. "That Dumbledore still believes that you're on our side…"
"Severus! Remus!" Albus called to them, causing them both to look up at him. "You can argue later. We must make sure that Black is no longer in the castle if nothing else."
Severus gave him a dark look, but Albus could see the spark of revenge shining in his eyes and hurried off. He waited until Severus disappeared before he turned to Remus and bade him over.
"Sir?" he asked, as if worried.
"You must know that I don't blame you for any of this, Remus," Albus said quickly. "But I must insist. If there is anything you need to tell me about Sirius—anything at all—I implore you to tell me now."
Remus was looking fearful… Albus could practically see the turmoil going on inside him. There was no doubt that Remus was keeping something from him. But when he looked up at him, he could see it in the young man's eyes—he was afraid. Afraid of Black… afraid that he would fail to protect his best friend's son. There was confusion… and terrible pain shining from his eyes.
Remus opened his mouth, and Albus thought that he was going to tell him something, but Remus then said, "No, Sir… there's nothing."
He sighed, "Very well, Remus. Go… and if you find Sirius…?"
"You don't need to worry about that," Remus said determined as he pulled out his wand and went off to search the upper levels. Albus sighed again, heading down into the dungeons—wondering what was so painful that Remus couldn't bear to tell him.
*A few days later*
Sirius Black had escaped once again.
Albus wasn't the least bit surprise as he finished writing his letter to Fudge explaining what happened. This was the second time that Black had been able to sneak into and out of the castle, and he had no choice but to tighten security.
Such as Filius teaching the front doors to recognize Black's face; Argus was boarding up every tiny hole he could see in the halls. He personally fired Sir Cadogan and was finally able to convince the Fat Lady to return to her job after he had her restored. But she was still understandably nervous that she would be attacked again. He had promised to give her protection—and though he wasn't happy about it—he had hired security trolls to guard her and the Gryffindors.
As for Ronald Weasley… he was having everyone gawk at him as though he was made the new Minister of Magic. Though still severely shaken by the attack, he told Albus and the other teachers what had happened the next day. Though Albus heard that he had been telling it in much more detail to the other students.
"He said that did he?" Albus asked as he sent the letter off. "He said that Black at a twelve inch long knife? He told me that it was only seven or eight inches."
"Dramatic much?" Phineas said bored. "Doesn't seem to be suffering too much if you ask me."
"Oh, he was frightened terribly, Phineas," Albus disagreed. "I can't tell you how relieved I am that he is safe. But what makes me wonder is what was going through Black's mind?"
Albus had gone over hundreds of possibilities, but he couldn't figure out what was going on here. Black had gotten into the Gryffindor common room and found the right dormitory. And yet he failed to kill the right child? At first he thought that maybe Black got the wrong bed… but then… but then why didn't he just kill Ron and the other boys before running out? Black showed no guilt over killing twelve innocent people… and here he had five boys who were all unarmed and sleeping when he slipped into their dorm. Once again, he felt cold fury going through him at the thought of a murderer anywhere near his students and his fists clenched tightly—his nails cutting their way into his palms. Black could've killed each of them without waking them up… a possibility that made him feel faint.
So what was going on here?
"Harry said that Black must've known he'd have a job getting back out of the castle once Ron yelled and woken people up. Makes sense because then Black might've had to kill everybody just to get out… and then there would be the teachers…?"
"That's one possibility out of many," Albus said softly. "But something tells me that it's much more complicated than that."
He dragged himself from his seat and headed down to the hall to have breakfast. Though it was more eventful than he thought when Mr. Longbottom received a Howler from his grandmother. It was one punishment after another for him. He knew that Neville didn't mean to leave that list around, but he was also very lucky that no one was hurt.
He paid dearly for this though. He had been banned from all future Hogsmeade visits for the rest of the year, been given a detention, and forbidden to have the password into the tower. So now the poor boy was forced to wait outside the common room every night for somebody to let him in, while the security trolls leered at him. After Albus heard Augusta Longbottom's voice shriek how he had brought shame to the family, Albus felt that the boy had suffered enough, and resolved to try and talk to Minerva about this.
To top it all off, he had his portraits all keeping an even closer eye on Harry since the attack. He had the paintings follow the boy's every move, and even ordered some of them to keep an eye inside the common room through the night as well; to alert him should Black ever try to break in again.
The two boys had gone down to Hagrid's hut a little later, and from what he had heard, Hagrid had told them off for not talking to Hermione. While he was glad that there was someone to help remind the boys of their friends, he was, unfortunately, already on pins and needles with everything else that was happening.
