Hello! Thank you to everyone who reviewed!
Okay this chapter may get a little weird, I'm not sure, so if it does get confusing, just bare with me please! I am going to be switching point of views a lot to...hope that's okay.
Chapter two- Visions and Potions
Much to Harry's luck, most of his injuries had already healed over, besides the most recent ones, leaving long, pale, white lines criss-crossing his back in every direction.
To say Remus had been furious had been an understatement. The man had practically marked Vernon Dursley for his 'plaything' during his next transformation. Maybe that had been one of the main reasons the usually calm man had been so violent, the full moon wasn't that long from now.
Madame Pomfrey had surprised him slightly, when she had first laid eyes on his back, tears had gathered in the eyes of the normally stern woman but when she had announced the potential of Harry's injuries, she had looked as furious as Remus.
Harry never knew so many people cared...
Madame Pomfrey had tried to make him stay but Harry wouldn't have it. Since his recent beating hadn't been as violent as the others, Harry hadn't had that many injuries. So after downing three disgusting Healing Potions, and after much pleading from Harry, he was finally allowed to leave the Hospital Wing with promises to Madame Pomfrey that he would take it easy the next day and come back for a check-up later on.
Hermione and Ron were waiting for him in the common room. Hermione stood as he entered, "How'd it go?" she asked, concern evident in her brown eyes.
"Ya mate, I thought Madame Pomfrey would make you stay at least over night..." Ron continued.
Harry shrugged, "Luckily most of my injuries were already healed and scarred over..... She let me go after I asked her about a thousand times and promised her that I wouldn't do anything drastic tomorrow...."
Hermione sighed, "Maybe you should have stayed at least the night there...." Ron snorted, "Right, could you imagine the look on Malfoy's face if Harry were to stay in the Hospital Wing on the first night? He'd never let Harry live it down!"
The bushy-haired girl scowled in disapproval, "Nevertheless Ron if it would have meant Harry's health then I'm sure he would have been willing to take the chance.....right Harry?" Hermione asked him cautiously.
Harry glanced from one friend to another and yawned, "I'm going to bed..." he muttered.
"But..." Ron began, but was cut off as Hermione elbowed him and said, "Yes, you should get your rest Harry."
Harry nodded and bid 'good-night' to the two before turning in early for the night.
As Harry prepared for bed he thought about the most recent night's he had had. They had been terrible some nights, plagued with dreams of Sirius and the Prophecy but mostly he had been having this strange dream about a dark- haired man, his arm around a red-haired woman, as they both looked upon him with unmistakable love and pride.
He didn't know what to make of it but the dream kind of.....comforted him somewhat, though it really did suck when he'd wake up from it at midnight and be unable to get back to sleep.
Harry finally lay down on the soft bed gratefully as his eyes slide shut and almost immediately, he began to dream, but this one was different from the others.....
########ENTER DREAM SEQUENCE##############
The last thing the man remembered was the look of panic and terror on the boy's face before everything went black.
He awoke with a splitting pain in his head and reached up to touch his forehead, realizing that he was bleeding. "It will go great with the other scars..." he thought dully as he lifted himself from the ground, dusting off his pants and looking around at the alien place before him.
He was in an enormous room, but he could almost smell the heartbreak in the room as if it were a strong perfume.......he seemed to be in a line of a sort since there was many people in front of him as well as in back of him, all in an orderly fashion.
What they were all waiting for, he didn't know but when he tried to get out of line, a blue-looking man with a clipboard barked at him to get back in line.
The man sighed in annoyance, trying to stand on his tiptoes as he tried to see what they were waiting for, but the line seemed to stretch on for forever and he huffed, angrily tapping his right foot. He began to think of the boy, hoping to God that he was okay and cursing himself for leaving him even if he didn't know how it had happened...
'This is going to take forever....' He thought with a feeling of trepidation. But no sooner after he had thought those words he was at the front of the line.
The man blinked in confusion but shrugged it off as he stepped up to a large desk, which was a little taller then he was. A man, roughly the size of the Hogwart's Care of Magical Creature's professor was seated in the desk. He had a well-trimmed beard and a bored expression on his face as he looked down at the man.
"Name?" he asked in a bored, drawling voice. The man blinked and cleared his throat, "Sirius.... Sirius Black...."
#######END DREAM SEQUENCE################
Harry awoke instantly, shooting up in bed and panting, his eyes wide with alarm. Glancing around, Harry found that it was still dark outside and all his other dorm mates were fast asleep.
He sat up more in bed, still taking in deep, calming breaths at what he had just seen. Harry placed both hands on either side of his head, trying to remember what had happened after Sirius had said his name.....but it was to blurry.
He remembered.....he remembered Sirius walking up to the big man and introducing himself and then......the big man...he had said something before Harry had woken up....but what?
He knew he had to find out.....the dream hadn't seemed like a dream at all. Instead, it had felt more like a vision, like the one with Mr. Weasley and the snake....
Harry squeezed his eyes tightly shut, concentrating, wracking his memory so hard that his head started to pound.
And then....it came to him as he remembered it so very sudden, as if it had happened to Harry himself......
"Sirius....Sirius Black..." Sirius whispered to the large man. The man's head shot up so rapid, that a slight pop from his neck was heard.
"Sirius Black?! What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here!"
Harry let out a breath as he realized that that had been all that the man had said before he had woken up but he wanted to know more!
Where had Sirius been? Why wasn't he supposed to be there? Was the dream a vision? Was the vision a ploy? Just like the last one of Sirius had been?
Questions flew through Harry's head at a mile a minute and he felt his head starting to hurt again. He suddenly gave a yawn as his eyelids started to droop.
No! He couldn't go to sleep! Not yet! Not now, he had to figure this out and if he went to sleep then he might forget it all.....
Harry reached for his glasses and slipped them on as he grabbed his wand and waved it to see the time. Two in the morning....way to early to be getting up. What time had he gone to sleep? Eight maybe? Six hours of sleep were definitely not enough.
And this was the first time in weeks that Harry had been tired enough to fall asleep again after a dream.....
Harry slipped out of to retrieve a spare piece of parchment with a quill and an inkbottle that had been laying on Ron's bedside table (he had unpacked them to write a letter to his mother) and quickly wrote down a rather compelling description of his dream before it faded away.
He read over it a couple times before nodding, satisfied as he put the parchment in the drawer of his own bedside table.
Afterwards he got back into bed and, thankfully, fell into a blissful, dream free sleep.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sirius narrowed his eyes at the giant. "What do you mean I'm not supposed to be here?" he asked suspiciously.
The other man stared at him, "Do you not know where you are?"
Sirius huffed in annoyance and folded his arms, scowling, "And how in the hell would I know where I am? I don't even know how I got here!"
The giant frowned and shuffled through some papers on his desk. "What is the last thing you remember?" he asked Sirius as he continued to shuffle through the papers.
Sirius said instantly, "I was in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic because my Godson, Harry, had a false vision that I was being tortured there and he went to the Department of Mysteries to 'save' me and was ambushed by Death Eaters and I had to save him!" he told the other man very quickly, in one breath.
The giant starred at him and furrowed his brow, "Now hold on!" he said, holding up his two plate sized hands. "You're saying that.." he paused as he leaned closer to look at one of the papers on his desk. ".....that...Harry Potter....is your Godson and..." he once again squinted his eyes at the paper on his desk as he tried to make out another name, "....and Lord Voldymort...no Voldemort..yes Voldemort sent Death Eaters to kill him and you went to save him when you're supposed to stay at the Order's HQ!"
Sirius stared at the man and felt a slight chuckle rise in his throat when the man had called Voldemort, Voldymort. He stubbornly pushed it down though and nodded in consent. "I had to..." he murmured.
The giant huffed in disapproval and said wearily, "And?"
"And.." Sirius continued, "I was fighting with Lestrange and she threw a curse at me which knocked me through a veil of some sort and I ended up here!" he finished.
"You didn't happen to be fighting in the Death Chamber did you?" the giant asked, looking thoughtful.
Sirius wracked his memory and slowly nodded, "Ya, I think that was what it was called..."
The giant seemed to understand immediately and told Sirius, "Well you are dead, Mr. Black..."
Sirius' eyes widened, "WHAT?!" he yelled, making a nearby blue guy with a clipboard jump in surprise.
The giant nodded, "Yes, you are in the judging area....the gateway between Heaven and Hell, where we decide if you are granted Heaven or sentenced to Hell...."
"But I cant be dead! What about Harry? He needs me! It will kill him when he finds out!"
"When he finds out? He already has!" the giant said and Sirius blinked in confusion. The giant glanced at one of the many calendars behind him. "He's known for.......a couple months now..."
Sirius's eyes widened even more as the giant pointed to the date, September second, "B-But....but...no..this..this cant be...no!" he shook his head vigorously.
"Now hold on! You didn't let me finish!" the giant said. "You're dead but you're not supposed to be..." Sirius blinked and the giant went on, "that veil is only meant to kill people who are sentenced to death and who are guilty...and you are none of those..."
"So....what am I supposed to do? What's going to happen?" Sirius almost feared the answer.
"Well the only thing we can do!" the giant looked at him as if he were an idiot. "It wasn't your time so we have to send you back...."
"Really? You're going to bring me back to life?"
"Well.... technically you weren't really dead in the first place....you just didn't exist..." the giant said simply.
"Okaaay....." Sirius murmured in confusion. "Okay, I'll go with it..."
The giant nodded and rubbed the place between his eyes, "We haven't had a mistake like this in centuries...." With that the man reached under his desk and pressed a large red button that said above it, "Emergency" and Sirius knew no more.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Harry explained the dream to Ron and Hermione the next morning at breakfast. "I just wish I knew what it meant!" he whispered sadly to them. "Maybe Sirius is trying to tell me something.....maybe he isn't dead!"
"Harry..." Hermione began gently, "Please don't try to trick yourself into believing these false illusions..." she said to him pleadingly. "It could really hurt you if you really start to believe that he's still alive......it might just be another one of Voldemort's false visions..."
Harry stared down at his half-eaten plate of food. He knew Hermione was right but he knew that that dream had meant something! He just knew it! He felt slightly resentful toward his bushy-haired friend for stating the truth but at the same time, he felt slightly grateful for the fact that she, unlike everyone else, was not walking on eggshells around him when talking about Sirius.
Professor McGonagall was passing out schedules and Ron grinned as he got his, "Hey! I'm free this class period!" he announced, looking expectantly at Hermione and Harry, who were both frowning at theirs.
"Potions..." Harry muttered glumly and Hermione nodded, "Yep..."
Harry felt rather glad that at least one of his best friends was going to be in Potion's with him. "We'd better get going..." Hermione sighed, checking her watch as she shouldered her bag. Harry nodded and stood up, "See ya, Ron..." he murmured miserably.
"See ya, mate..." Ron said, looking at Harry and Hermione pitifully.
The two Gryffindors made their way out of the Great Hall and headed down to the dungeons, which was nearly empty except for Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott, who looked at them nervously.
Hermione and Harry carefully unpacked their things and waited for the rest of the class to file in.
It was quite strange to have students from all four houses in one class, especially in Potion's. Harry could only imagine how Snape would act now.
Thankfully, there were about as many students in the class as there usually were in normal classes. Unfortunately, that included Draco Malfoy.
The door banged open and Snape strode in looking rather grouchy, much to the students' horror. He stopped at the front of the classroom and whipped around, glaring at them all through cold, onyx eyes from behind a curtain of greasy, black hair.
"I expect each and every one of you to make at least an 'E' on all class work and if anyone performs otherwise..." he paused to watch them tremble slightly in their seats, "...then I shall find you a rather....unpleasant way that will hopefully teach you dunderheads to pay attention in class...." He smirked in pleasure as quite a few students shuddered. "That includes quizzes and tests."
Harry and Hermione exchanged glances.
He continued speaking in a cold, emotionless voice, "You are now in the NEWT classes.....I expect the best from you and you will now be dealing with the more dangerous of Potions....poisons, some that may cause you so much pain that you'll wish you were dead if you screw it up, and some that could be fatal if you happen to miss a single step..."
Snape's gaze locked with Harry's and Harry blinked quickly before the man could read his mind. Snape narrowed his eyes in utmost loathing at Harry before continuing to glare at everyone else.
"You will be brewing the 'Razor Edge Potion', which is often used in a distracting manner in wars. It causes the mind to believe that it is in pain, when it really isn't......the potion only ends when the drinker realizes that the pain is not real, which may take a while. Many have gone insane from the use of this potion for the reason that it is quite similar to the 'Cruciatus Curse'." Snape said with a malevolent sneer at the students.
Whispering broke out at Snape's last sentence and Hermione whispered fearfully to Harry, "Dumbledore wouldn't really let him teach us how to brew a potion that's similar to an unforgivable would he?" she looked terrified at the thought.
"Silence!" Snape barked and everyone immediately fell still, every eye focused on their Potion's Professor.
Snape waved his wand at the board and instructions appeared, "Partner up in pairs..." When no one moved, Snape snapped irritably, "I suppose you all are wondering why I am allowing you to brew this potion?" only a couple of students (Slytherins) nodded hesitantly to Snape's indifferent question.
Snape folded his arms, "There is a war coming up, no matter what those bloody idiots at the Ministry say...." Snape said bitterly. "The headmaster obviously thinks its important for you to learn these things....however tactless I believe you all to be, he still believes it reasonable to teach you some means of protection...." Snape sneered at the last part.
Everyone was still silent, every eye focused on Snape.
"Well what are you all waiting for? The instructions are on the board!" he barked and they all immediately jumped into action.
Harry gathered their ingredients and felt an enormous wave of gratitude toward Hermione, who immediately took control.
"Alright, I'll boil the water and you prepare the ingredients." She said and added three cups of water to the cauldron and set it to boil (as the instructions said).
Harry cautiously chopped the Devil's Snare (it was dead) into half-inch pieces, careful not to mess everything up.
After the ingredients were all prepared they started to follow the instructions, ahead of everyone else, and once again, Harry felt an enormous wave of gratitude toward Hermione.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"So...how was Potion's" Ron asked Hermione and Harry as they seated themselves for lunch in the Great Hall. Harry groaned. Hermione huffed.
"Two-feet of parchment on the bloody potion's effect and how to prevent it! Two-feet! And we all got it right and we still had to do it!" Harry snapped.
"We brewed a potion that was similar to the Cruciatus Curse!" Hermione snapped.
"And the git took ten points because I 'didn't even out the Devil's Snare pieces enough'! I checked to make sure it was even ten times! Why can't he just give me a break!" The Boy-Who-Lived snarled.
"What are they thinking? Do they want us to be tortured to death!" The Know- It-All snarled.
"And another ten points because I 'was sitting there staring off into space like an idiot'! I was waiting for the potion to boil and he knew it! He just wants to make my life a living hell doesn't he!" he ranted.
"They know there is at least five Death Eater's children in this school-" she ranted.
"I'd think after Snuffle's death-" he interrupted.
"-who would gladly use it against us!" she interrupted.
"-which was entirely his fault...." he declared.
"It was entirely unethical...." she declared.
".....he'd be a tad more considerate!" he hissed.
".....I never knew they could be so stupid!" she hissed.
Ron stared at his two friends, his eyes moving back and forth between the two like a tennis match. They weren't arguing with each other, just trying to outdo one another.
For Harry, this was kind of unusual since he was usually a boy who never really showed his emotions, but it was kind of understandable, Ron supposed that it was good for him to get his anger out of him though.
For Hermione it was a totally different story. What was up with her? She was acting completely out of character! She was practically insulting the teachers of their teaching methods.... The last time he had heard his 'goody- goody' friend talk this badly about a class was when they had taken Divination in their third year.
"Harry?" Remus' voice cut through the two's ranting. The DADA teacher looked at Hermione curiously, who had spoken last, "Don't tell me they were using House Elf parts for potions...." He muttered, wondering what the usually soft-spoken girl was so upset about.
Ron and Harry grinned at each other and Hermione bristled, "Don't joke about that! Professor Snape made us brew the 'Razor Edge Potion'". Remus didn't look surprised, he only nodded, "Yes, they taught us that in our sixth year to, mainly because of the war that was going on....I suppose they're doing the same thing..."
"But the Death Eater's children could use it against us!!" Hermione interrupted impatiently, "What was Dumbledore thinking!"
Remus smiled, "Professor Dumbledore, Hermione and the Death Eater's children probably would've already known how to brew that potion, so it wouldn't have made that much difference and we teachers do need to teach our students how to protect themselves, especially during a war..."
Hermione opened her mouth to respond but Remus said, "Harry I need you to come to the headmaster's office after dinner."
"Is there anything wrong?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.
Remus shook his head, "No, no, but it is important that you be there...."
Harry nodded and glanced at his two friends as Remus walked away.
() Okay, hope I didn't freak you out with the whole 'Gateway between Heaven and Hell' thing. Its based off the same thing on Dragon Ball Z just in case there are any DBZ fans out there.
Third chapter is almost done, I think.
Okay well, review please!
Okay this chapter may get a little weird, I'm not sure, so if it does get confusing, just bare with me please! I am going to be switching point of views a lot to...hope that's okay.
Chapter two- Visions and Potions
Much to Harry's luck, most of his injuries had already healed over, besides the most recent ones, leaving long, pale, white lines criss-crossing his back in every direction.
To say Remus had been furious had been an understatement. The man had practically marked Vernon Dursley for his 'plaything' during his next transformation. Maybe that had been one of the main reasons the usually calm man had been so violent, the full moon wasn't that long from now.
Madame Pomfrey had surprised him slightly, when she had first laid eyes on his back, tears had gathered in the eyes of the normally stern woman but when she had announced the potential of Harry's injuries, she had looked as furious as Remus.
Harry never knew so many people cared...
Madame Pomfrey had tried to make him stay but Harry wouldn't have it. Since his recent beating hadn't been as violent as the others, Harry hadn't had that many injuries. So after downing three disgusting Healing Potions, and after much pleading from Harry, he was finally allowed to leave the Hospital Wing with promises to Madame Pomfrey that he would take it easy the next day and come back for a check-up later on.
Hermione and Ron were waiting for him in the common room. Hermione stood as he entered, "How'd it go?" she asked, concern evident in her brown eyes.
"Ya mate, I thought Madame Pomfrey would make you stay at least over night..." Ron continued.
Harry shrugged, "Luckily most of my injuries were already healed and scarred over..... She let me go after I asked her about a thousand times and promised her that I wouldn't do anything drastic tomorrow...."
Hermione sighed, "Maybe you should have stayed at least the night there...." Ron snorted, "Right, could you imagine the look on Malfoy's face if Harry were to stay in the Hospital Wing on the first night? He'd never let Harry live it down!"
The bushy-haired girl scowled in disapproval, "Nevertheless Ron if it would have meant Harry's health then I'm sure he would have been willing to take the chance.....right Harry?" Hermione asked him cautiously.
Harry glanced from one friend to another and yawned, "I'm going to bed..." he muttered.
"But..." Ron began, but was cut off as Hermione elbowed him and said, "Yes, you should get your rest Harry."
Harry nodded and bid 'good-night' to the two before turning in early for the night.
As Harry prepared for bed he thought about the most recent night's he had had. They had been terrible some nights, plagued with dreams of Sirius and the Prophecy but mostly he had been having this strange dream about a dark- haired man, his arm around a red-haired woman, as they both looked upon him with unmistakable love and pride.
He didn't know what to make of it but the dream kind of.....comforted him somewhat, though it really did suck when he'd wake up from it at midnight and be unable to get back to sleep.
Harry finally lay down on the soft bed gratefully as his eyes slide shut and almost immediately, he began to dream, but this one was different from the others.....
########ENTER DREAM SEQUENCE##############
The last thing the man remembered was the look of panic and terror on the boy's face before everything went black.
He awoke with a splitting pain in his head and reached up to touch his forehead, realizing that he was bleeding. "It will go great with the other scars..." he thought dully as he lifted himself from the ground, dusting off his pants and looking around at the alien place before him.
He was in an enormous room, but he could almost smell the heartbreak in the room as if it were a strong perfume.......he seemed to be in a line of a sort since there was many people in front of him as well as in back of him, all in an orderly fashion.
What they were all waiting for, he didn't know but when he tried to get out of line, a blue-looking man with a clipboard barked at him to get back in line.
The man sighed in annoyance, trying to stand on his tiptoes as he tried to see what they were waiting for, but the line seemed to stretch on for forever and he huffed, angrily tapping his right foot. He began to think of the boy, hoping to God that he was okay and cursing himself for leaving him even if he didn't know how it had happened...
'This is going to take forever....' He thought with a feeling of trepidation. But no sooner after he had thought those words he was at the front of the line.
The man blinked in confusion but shrugged it off as he stepped up to a large desk, which was a little taller then he was. A man, roughly the size of the Hogwart's Care of Magical Creature's professor was seated in the desk. He had a well-trimmed beard and a bored expression on his face as he looked down at the man.
"Name?" he asked in a bored, drawling voice. The man blinked and cleared his throat, "Sirius.... Sirius Black...."
#######END DREAM SEQUENCE################
Harry awoke instantly, shooting up in bed and panting, his eyes wide with alarm. Glancing around, Harry found that it was still dark outside and all his other dorm mates were fast asleep.
He sat up more in bed, still taking in deep, calming breaths at what he had just seen. Harry placed both hands on either side of his head, trying to remember what had happened after Sirius had said his name.....but it was to blurry.
He remembered.....he remembered Sirius walking up to the big man and introducing himself and then......the big man...he had said something before Harry had woken up....but what?
He knew he had to find out.....the dream hadn't seemed like a dream at all. Instead, it had felt more like a vision, like the one with Mr. Weasley and the snake....
Harry squeezed his eyes tightly shut, concentrating, wracking his memory so hard that his head started to pound.
And then....it came to him as he remembered it so very sudden, as if it had happened to Harry himself......
"Sirius....Sirius Black..." Sirius whispered to the large man. The man's head shot up so rapid, that a slight pop from his neck was heard.
"Sirius Black?! What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here!"
Harry let out a breath as he realized that that had been all that the man had said before he had woken up but he wanted to know more!
Where had Sirius been? Why wasn't he supposed to be there? Was the dream a vision? Was the vision a ploy? Just like the last one of Sirius had been?
Questions flew through Harry's head at a mile a minute and he felt his head starting to hurt again. He suddenly gave a yawn as his eyelids started to droop.
No! He couldn't go to sleep! Not yet! Not now, he had to figure this out and if he went to sleep then he might forget it all.....
Harry reached for his glasses and slipped them on as he grabbed his wand and waved it to see the time. Two in the morning....way to early to be getting up. What time had he gone to sleep? Eight maybe? Six hours of sleep were definitely not enough.
And this was the first time in weeks that Harry had been tired enough to fall asleep again after a dream.....
Harry slipped out of to retrieve a spare piece of parchment with a quill and an inkbottle that had been laying on Ron's bedside table (he had unpacked them to write a letter to his mother) and quickly wrote down a rather compelling description of his dream before it faded away.
He read over it a couple times before nodding, satisfied as he put the parchment in the drawer of his own bedside table.
Afterwards he got back into bed and, thankfully, fell into a blissful, dream free sleep.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sirius narrowed his eyes at the giant. "What do you mean I'm not supposed to be here?" he asked suspiciously.
The other man stared at him, "Do you not know where you are?"
Sirius huffed in annoyance and folded his arms, scowling, "And how in the hell would I know where I am? I don't even know how I got here!"
The giant frowned and shuffled through some papers on his desk. "What is the last thing you remember?" he asked Sirius as he continued to shuffle through the papers.
Sirius said instantly, "I was in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic because my Godson, Harry, had a false vision that I was being tortured there and he went to the Department of Mysteries to 'save' me and was ambushed by Death Eaters and I had to save him!" he told the other man very quickly, in one breath.
The giant starred at him and furrowed his brow, "Now hold on!" he said, holding up his two plate sized hands. "You're saying that.." he paused as he leaned closer to look at one of the papers on his desk. ".....that...Harry Potter....is your Godson and..." he once again squinted his eyes at the paper on his desk as he tried to make out another name, "....and Lord Voldymort...no Voldemort..yes Voldemort sent Death Eaters to kill him and you went to save him when you're supposed to stay at the Order's HQ!"
Sirius stared at the man and felt a slight chuckle rise in his throat when the man had called Voldemort, Voldymort. He stubbornly pushed it down though and nodded in consent. "I had to..." he murmured.
The giant huffed in disapproval and said wearily, "And?"
"And.." Sirius continued, "I was fighting with Lestrange and she threw a curse at me which knocked me through a veil of some sort and I ended up here!" he finished.
"You didn't happen to be fighting in the Death Chamber did you?" the giant asked, looking thoughtful.
Sirius wracked his memory and slowly nodded, "Ya, I think that was what it was called..."
The giant seemed to understand immediately and told Sirius, "Well you are dead, Mr. Black..."
Sirius' eyes widened, "WHAT?!" he yelled, making a nearby blue guy with a clipboard jump in surprise.
The giant nodded, "Yes, you are in the judging area....the gateway between Heaven and Hell, where we decide if you are granted Heaven or sentenced to Hell...."
"But I cant be dead! What about Harry? He needs me! It will kill him when he finds out!"
"When he finds out? He already has!" the giant said and Sirius blinked in confusion. The giant glanced at one of the many calendars behind him. "He's known for.......a couple months now..."
Sirius's eyes widened even more as the giant pointed to the date, September second, "B-But....but...no..this..this cant be...no!" he shook his head vigorously.
"Now hold on! You didn't let me finish!" the giant said. "You're dead but you're not supposed to be..." Sirius blinked and the giant went on, "that veil is only meant to kill people who are sentenced to death and who are guilty...and you are none of those..."
"So....what am I supposed to do? What's going to happen?" Sirius almost feared the answer.
"Well the only thing we can do!" the giant looked at him as if he were an idiot. "It wasn't your time so we have to send you back...."
"Really? You're going to bring me back to life?"
"Well.... technically you weren't really dead in the first place....you just didn't exist..." the giant said simply.
"Okaaay....." Sirius murmured in confusion. "Okay, I'll go with it..."
The giant nodded and rubbed the place between his eyes, "We haven't had a mistake like this in centuries...." With that the man reached under his desk and pressed a large red button that said above it, "Emergency" and Sirius knew no more.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Harry explained the dream to Ron and Hermione the next morning at breakfast. "I just wish I knew what it meant!" he whispered sadly to them. "Maybe Sirius is trying to tell me something.....maybe he isn't dead!"
"Harry..." Hermione began gently, "Please don't try to trick yourself into believing these false illusions..." she said to him pleadingly. "It could really hurt you if you really start to believe that he's still alive......it might just be another one of Voldemort's false visions..."
Harry stared down at his half-eaten plate of food. He knew Hermione was right but he knew that that dream had meant something! He just knew it! He felt slightly resentful toward his bushy-haired friend for stating the truth but at the same time, he felt slightly grateful for the fact that she, unlike everyone else, was not walking on eggshells around him when talking about Sirius.
Professor McGonagall was passing out schedules and Ron grinned as he got his, "Hey! I'm free this class period!" he announced, looking expectantly at Hermione and Harry, who were both frowning at theirs.
"Potions..." Harry muttered glumly and Hermione nodded, "Yep..."
Harry felt rather glad that at least one of his best friends was going to be in Potion's with him. "We'd better get going..." Hermione sighed, checking her watch as she shouldered her bag. Harry nodded and stood up, "See ya, Ron..." he murmured miserably.
"See ya, mate..." Ron said, looking at Harry and Hermione pitifully.
The two Gryffindors made their way out of the Great Hall and headed down to the dungeons, which was nearly empty except for Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott, who looked at them nervously.
Hermione and Harry carefully unpacked their things and waited for the rest of the class to file in.
It was quite strange to have students from all four houses in one class, especially in Potion's. Harry could only imagine how Snape would act now.
Thankfully, there were about as many students in the class as there usually were in normal classes. Unfortunately, that included Draco Malfoy.
The door banged open and Snape strode in looking rather grouchy, much to the students' horror. He stopped at the front of the classroom and whipped around, glaring at them all through cold, onyx eyes from behind a curtain of greasy, black hair.
"I expect each and every one of you to make at least an 'E' on all class work and if anyone performs otherwise..." he paused to watch them tremble slightly in their seats, "...then I shall find you a rather....unpleasant way that will hopefully teach you dunderheads to pay attention in class...." He smirked in pleasure as quite a few students shuddered. "That includes quizzes and tests."
Harry and Hermione exchanged glances.
He continued speaking in a cold, emotionless voice, "You are now in the NEWT classes.....I expect the best from you and you will now be dealing with the more dangerous of Potions....poisons, some that may cause you so much pain that you'll wish you were dead if you screw it up, and some that could be fatal if you happen to miss a single step..."
Snape's gaze locked with Harry's and Harry blinked quickly before the man could read his mind. Snape narrowed his eyes in utmost loathing at Harry before continuing to glare at everyone else.
"You will be brewing the 'Razor Edge Potion', which is often used in a distracting manner in wars. It causes the mind to believe that it is in pain, when it really isn't......the potion only ends when the drinker realizes that the pain is not real, which may take a while. Many have gone insane from the use of this potion for the reason that it is quite similar to the 'Cruciatus Curse'." Snape said with a malevolent sneer at the students.
Whispering broke out at Snape's last sentence and Hermione whispered fearfully to Harry, "Dumbledore wouldn't really let him teach us how to brew a potion that's similar to an unforgivable would he?" she looked terrified at the thought.
"Silence!" Snape barked and everyone immediately fell still, every eye focused on their Potion's Professor.
Snape waved his wand at the board and instructions appeared, "Partner up in pairs..." When no one moved, Snape snapped irritably, "I suppose you all are wondering why I am allowing you to brew this potion?" only a couple of students (Slytherins) nodded hesitantly to Snape's indifferent question.
Snape folded his arms, "There is a war coming up, no matter what those bloody idiots at the Ministry say...." Snape said bitterly. "The headmaster obviously thinks its important for you to learn these things....however tactless I believe you all to be, he still believes it reasonable to teach you some means of protection...." Snape sneered at the last part.
Everyone was still silent, every eye focused on Snape.
"Well what are you all waiting for? The instructions are on the board!" he barked and they all immediately jumped into action.
Harry gathered their ingredients and felt an enormous wave of gratitude toward Hermione, who immediately took control.
"Alright, I'll boil the water and you prepare the ingredients." She said and added three cups of water to the cauldron and set it to boil (as the instructions said).
Harry cautiously chopped the Devil's Snare (it was dead) into half-inch pieces, careful not to mess everything up.
After the ingredients were all prepared they started to follow the instructions, ahead of everyone else, and once again, Harry felt an enormous wave of gratitude toward Hermione.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"So...how was Potion's" Ron asked Hermione and Harry as they seated themselves for lunch in the Great Hall. Harry groaned. Hermione huffed.
"Two-feet of parchment on the bloody potion's effect and how to prevent it! Two-feet! And we all got it right and we still had to do it!" Harry snapped.
"We brewed a potion that was similar to the Cruciatus Curse!" Hermione snapped.
"And the git took ten points because I 'didn't even out the Devil's Snare pieces enough'! I checked to make sure it was even ten times! Why can't he just give me a break!" The Boy-Who-Lived snarled.
"What are they thinking? Do they want us to be tortured to death!" The Know- It-All snarled.
"And another ten points because I 'was sitting there staring off into space like an idiot'! I was waiting for the potion to boil and he knew it! He just wants to make my life a living hell doesn't he!" he ranted.
"They know there is at least five Death Eater's children in this school-" she ranted.
"I'd think after Snuffle's death-" he interrupted.
"-who would gladly use it against us!" she interrupted.
"-which was entirely his fault...." he declared.
"It was entirely unethical...." she declared.
".....he'd be a tad more considerate!" he hissed.
".....I never knew they could be so stupid!" she hissed.
Ron stared at his two friends, his eyes moving back and forth between the two like a tennis match. They weren't arguing with each other, just trying to outdo one another.
For Harry, this was kind of unusual since he was usually a boy who never really showed his emotions, but it was kind of understandable, Ron supposed that it was good for him to get his anger out of him though.
For Hermione it was a totally different story. What was up with her? She was acting completely out of character! She was practically insulting the teachers of their teaching methods.... The last time he had heard his 'goody- goody' friend talk this badly about a class was when they had taken Divination in their third year.
"Harry?" Remus' voice cut through the two's ranting. The DADA teacher looked at Hermione curiously, who had spoken last, "Don't tell me they were using House Elf parts for potions...." He muttered, wondering what the usually soft-spoken girl was so upset about.
Ron and Harry grinned at each other and Hermione bristled, "Don't joke about that! Professor Snape made us brew the 'Razor Edge Potion'". Remus didn't look surprised, he only nodded, "Yes, they taught us that in our sixth year to, mainly because of the war that was going on....I suppose they're doing the same thing..."
"But the Death Eater's children could use it against us!!" Hermione interrupted impatiently, "What was Dumbledore thinking!"
Remus smiled, "Professor Dumbledore, Hermione and the Death Eater's children probably would've already known how to brew that potion, so it wouldn't have made that much difference and we teachers do need to teach our students how to protect themselves, especially during a war..."
Hermione opened her mouth to respond but Remus said, "Harry I need you to come to the headmaster's office after dinner."
"Is there anything wrong?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.
Remus shook his head, "No, no, but it is important that you be there...."
Harry nodded and glanced at his two friends as Remus walked away.
() Okay, hope I didn't freak you out with the whole 'Gateway between Heaven and Hell' thing. Its based off the same thing on Dragon Ball Z just in case there are any DBZ fans out there.
Third chapter is almost done, I think.
Okay well, review please!