Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the characters contained within belong to JKR. I merely tread upon its bountiful well of muse.
A/N: Thanks to my reviewers! I love getting reviews. I hope that you all like this chapter.
Harry sat contentedly, letting the blood from the three rats he had just killed renew him. This place, it was different. He felt strange, energized. It was almost as if tasting the rats had made him a part of this place, if you could even truly call it a place. It was more like a different plane of existence. Somehow, he felt at home here.
Harry looked lazily over to the portrait. The Erasmus in the frame seemed to be smiling in a knowing way, and this was quite unsettling. It was almost as if the Erasmus in the portrait knew that he had done something – something diabolical, and it pleased him greatly. This should have worried Harry, but instead, Harry simply didn't care. He felt drugged, but couldn't explain how that would even be possible.
The Erasmus in the painting grinned like the proverbial Cheshire Cat. "You see, my dear boy. Rats aren't so bad." The portrait stated in a direct manner, though quietly.
Harry looked over to the portrait, moving about as slowly as a tired sloth. "I feel strange."
The portrait laughed manically. "There is nothing to worry about. All will be revealed in due time."
Harry knew he had gotten himself into one hell of a trap. It just wasn't right. Why did it have to be that every year he lived, someone tried to kill him or make him jump through numerous hoops? Only this time, there was no Triwizard Cup portkey, no cavalry coming to the rescue. He had acted foolishly, and now, he had to pay the price.
Maybe there was a reason that Professor Snape had always been irritated by him. After all, he did tend to go a bit gung-ho towards matters that would make it much easier if he had taken the time to think everything through. Sirius would be alive today if he had only taken the time to think, and for that, Harry could never forgive himself. True, Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange played a huge part in Sirius' death, but if he had thought things through and had taken the time to talk to someone about what he saw, anyone, perhaps Sirius would be alive today.
Harry scratched his head for a moment. But Dumbledore knew what was going on. He always did. Why was it that Dumbledore only seemed to "know" things when it became convenient? If Dumbledore had listened to him and explained everything to Harry, Sirius would probably be alive because Harry would have known everything Voldemort was capable of. But no, Dumbledore had used Sirius like a pawn, as well as himself. Apparently, they were expendable.
He would remember this, oh yes. If it was the last thing he ever did, he would see that Dumbledore would be exposed for the man he truly was. Not the man who showered wizarding kind with kindness, but rather, the man who duped them all. Maybe Voldemort wasn't the only evil wizard in their midst.
Harry turned towards the portrait. "What would you do to someone who betrayed you?" Harry asked in a serious voice.
The portrait turned towards Harry and smiled. Already, the essence was taking hold. Everything was going precisely according to plan. "Oh, my dear boy, I am sure that I could think of many things that would cause me great amusement."
Harry nodded. "Like what?"
The Erasmus in the painting scratched at his chin with long dirty fingernails. "Let's see….Beheading, Evisceration, mutilation, exsanguinations, drowning, crushing, squeezing, smothering, cutting, sawing, pulling, ripping….ahhh, the possibilities are endless!"
Harry couldn't help but look at the portrait with a wide-eyed expression. "Sir, that wasn't quite what I meant."
The portrait looked at Harry with an exasperated expression. "Then, dear fellow, you must learn to make yourself clear. Ask the proper questions. Think before you speak….Now, try again."
Harry took a deep breath. "Ok…um…What if someone had made you think that they could help you, really help you. And instead, when you needed then most, they chose to ignore you; leaving you to draw your own conclusions. Not offering information that you greatly needed about your enemy. And thus, you most trusted friend was killed as a result. What would you do?"
The portrait smiled. "That's much better. Personally, I would take the offending party out to the courtyard. Hitch his body between four horses, and cause the horses to run in opposite directions until he were ripped apart limb from limb."
Harry nodded. "But sir, what if the person who offended you happened to be a wizard?"
The portrait laughed. "Well then, I had better hope to disarm the wizard from his wand and hope that he does not have the gift of wandless magic."
Harry looked at the portrait in shock. "Wandless magic?"
The portrait grinned. "Of course. Didn't anyone even bother to tell you that it existed? Of course, mainly vampires are able to perform it, but once in awhile, a wizard can have the ability from birth or develop it over time. From what I have heard personally, and bear in mind that this was quite a long time ago, it is difficult for a wizard to develop wandless magic if they did not bother to keep it up throughout their childhood."
Harry couldn't believe this. The portrait was stark raving mad. "Sir, I think someone might have lied to you. There is no wandless magic."
The portrait stared at Harry, the boy would, in time, pay for his insolence. "Oh really…Well, Mr. Harry Potter, did you or did you not perform incidental magic before going to Hogwarts?"
Harry looked like he was about to choke up his lunch. "Yes, sir?"
"Well then, that was before you received your wand, correct?"
Harry nodded.
"Well then, if you did not have a wand, didn't you perform wandless magic?"
Harry hated to feel embarrassment, but the portrait seemed to be able to make him feel guilty at the drop of a hat. "I suppose so, sir."
The portrait stared into Harry's eyes. "Well then, if a child never received a wand, and was taught to use that "incidental magic" and control it, wouldn't that make the child have a better grasp on magic?"
"Sir, I really don't know."
The portrait was beginning to become irritated. "Well then, if you don't know. I am hardly going to waste my time explaining it to you any further."
Harry hung his head and burrowed into the corner of the room. He hated this place. He hated Hogwarts. And for now, he had nowhere else to go.
Severus followed Erasmus until they hit the forbidden forest. "Sir, how can you feel so sure that Potter is with your portrait? He may even be hiding in muggle London. We must try the blood link first."
Erasmus glared at Severus. "Sometimes, my boy, you are entirely too level headed. Do you not think that if I didn't know precisely where he was, that I would send us off in the middle of the night to this godforsaken location. Just because I siphoned off a part of myself into that house that does not mean that I don't still feel a link to that part of myself. I know the Potter boy is there because I have seen him…through the eyes of the thing that is kept there."