Chapter 14: Harry's Revenge

Harry was woken around midnight by Professor McGonagall ushering Ron out of bed. She was saying something about a third floor corridor, and the Hospital Wing. His friend looked worried, and mouthed 'Ginny' when he saw Harry sitting up. Harry immediately tried to follow them, but McGonagall sent him back to bed with a stern glare. Harry glowered after her as she left, followed by Ron and his brothers, before opening his trunk and pulling out his father's Cloak. He draped it over his shoulders, before hurrying down the stairs and out of the portrait door, much to the confusion of the Fat Lady.

However, instead of following the others, he veered off towards the third floor, eager to find out why McGonagall had mentioned it. He desperately wanted to know what had happened to Ginny of course, but Dumbledore was likely to be there, and if anyone could see through an Invisibility Cloak, it would be him. He didn't have to search the third floor long. There were two Aurors standing in one of the corridors, their wands illuminating the wall, where there was another message. This one was not carved into the wall, but painted on in what looked suspiciously like blood. Harry felt a shiver go down his spine as he read.

She was an unworthy vessel; but there are so many unworthy here, so many for me to kill, to maim. You know now that I can be anywhere, anybody. No-one is safe from me. I will fill the castle with the worthless dead, and their blood shall serve me and restore me.

I shall return.

Lord Voldemort, the Heir of Slytherin.

Harry almost gasped in horror at the signature. He doubted very much that the message could be removed, and soon everyone would know who was stalking the school. Dumbledore might even be forced to close Hogwarts! At least people might stop blaming Harry for everything now; the message made it pretty clear who was ultimately responsible. He wondered what Dumbledore would say about it.

Harry was sitting on his bed when Ron returned, anxiously awaiting news of Ginny. Ron woke Neville up, before quietly conveying the news that Ginny was physically fine, or would be after Madame Pomfrey's ministrations. Her mental state was another matter. Her memory had been fractured severely; while her brain was in surprisingly good condition, she could remember hardly anything from the last few months, and some memories were irretrievably lost. As Ron explained, Harry leapt from the bed, pacing the room to relieve his frustration and anger in the absence of anything to destroy.

Ron finished explaining, and silence fell over the dormitory, punctuated only by Seamus' snoring reverberating around the room. Then, a moment later, Harry told them what he had seen on the third floor. He paused briefly before telling them who had signed it, preparing himself for their reactions.

They were fairly predictable.

Ron started swearing profusely, breaking into terms that Harry wasn't familiar with. Neville went pale, and said nothing.

"You mean my sister's been possessed by You-Know-Who? That's just great! How can it have happened? He's supposed to be dead!"

"Remember, Dumbledore was saying something about lingering enchantments earlier Ron… He might have done something while he was still alive, and Ginny was just unlucky enough to get caught up in it" Neville pointed out.

Harry shuffled on the bed. He did not think that Ron would take the news that he had known about Voldemort's involvement for a while now very well. Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice Harry's discomfort, still too concerned about Ginny's plight to think about anything else. Neville however looked at him in curiosity, but refrained from saying anything.

They sat there for a few hours more, discussing what might have happened to the diary since Ginny had fled the common room. They were still talking as dawn began to break, by which time they were nearly falling asleep where they sat.

The next morning proved to be an interesting one. Dumbledore made another announcement at breakfast, explaining what had happened, and the content of the message. He left Ginny's name out of it, while warning the rest of the students that attempts at retribution would not be tolerated; nobody could be blamed for falling victim to such a dangerous opponent. He levelled a stern glare at the Hufflepuff table as he spoke, and many of them cringed in embarrassment.

As they had been leaving the Hall, Susan Bones had appeared, calling Harry's name. He had ignored her, his friends following suit, but had been forced to acknowledge her when she started to run after him. Since she was now standing in front of him, he had to listen to her apology, which she made with a very red-face. Ron had sneered at her in disgust, and Harry was tempted to agree, but the apology seemed to be genuine, and at least she was making the effort. Macmillan was nowhere to be seen. As she left, stuttering her thanks, Harry called after her.

"How are Carter and Pechorin?"

Susan stopped dead, her shoulders tense. She turned back to them, plastering an innocent expression on her face.

"They're fine I think. I don't really hang round with them though, not my idea of a friend at all…"

Harry smiled grimly. Her lie was obvious; she knew precisely why he was asking about them, and was trying to seem uninvolved. But he said nothing, just nodded and walked away.

By lunchtime, rumours were flying around the school with surprising speed. People had noticed that Ginny was absent, despite the Gryffindor's unspoken vow of silence about the matter, and her friends and family were being inundated with questions. They were unanimously met with silence at best, anger at worst. As if that wasn't enough to spark up the rumour mill, Umbridge and her Aurors had been taking over classes, questioning students vigorously. Apparently all the staff had already been checked, to no avail. As a result, there was a distinctly nervous atmosphere over the school.

Reminded of his encounter with the Undersecretary, Harry recounted his experience to his friends. The news that she had been trying to paint Ginny as a Dark witch did wonders for Ron's complexion; he was glowing a positively disturbing shade of red. Hermione was angry as well, so angry that she didn't even reprimand Ron for his language.

As it turned out, they were able to experience her first hand; Umbridge and the Aurors turned up to Charms that afternoon, much to Flitwick's irritation. Since he had already been questioned in the Hospital Wing, Harry was excused, and, lacking anything else to do, he wandered off to the Hospital Wing to see if Ginny was awake.

She was. She was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, a miserable expression on her face. She looked up as Harry approached, and a nervous smile flashed briefly across her face. Harry flopped down into a chair next to her bed and grinned at her.

"Still lying around? I'd have thought you could have shaken this off fairly easily – you're supposed to be the feisty one!"

Ginny's lips twitched, but she said nothing.

"Right… Well, you'll be pleased to know that no-one's saying anything about your… accident. Of course, people have noticed you aren't around and are putting two and two together, but the twins are getting them to be quiet, so don't worry."

She still said nothing. Harry stared at her, and made up his mind. Desperate times and all that…

"So. Are you actually now incapable of speech, or are you just embarrassed about something?"

That got a reaction. Not a verbal one admittedly, but her sharp glare and attempt to throw her pillow at him went some way towards showing she was still alive.

"Well what do you expect? The last few years, you've never been too shy or upset to speak to me; even when you're upset you say what's wrong. So talk to me now; I'm your friend Ginny!"

"I put the Cruciatus curse on you!"

There was silence in the ward. Ginny rolled over on her side, too ashamed to even look at him. Harry sighed heavily.

"You didn't you know. It wasn't you. Have they told you what they found where they found you?"

Nothing. He shrugged and carried on.

"Another message, basically declaring open war. And it was signed Voldemort."

Ginny stiffened at the name, but gave no other reaction. Harry guessed that she had already heard this, but didn't want to speak to tell him to stop. So he carried on.

"You were possessed by Voldemort. It wasn't your fault, he took over your mind. How were you supposed to stand up to that? He's one of the most powerful wizards ever, and you're a first year. What were you supposed to do? And I felt the power in that diary, it was incredible. I reckon you'd have to be as powerful as Dumbledore not to be affected somehow. So it wasn't you. Not really, just someone using your magic. And that's awful, but it isn't your fault, I swear."

He fell silent, watching her carefully. Her shoulders were shaking slightly, and she was breathing heavily, in bursts. He reached out and clasped her shoulder tightly.

"I killed him."

Harry sighed again.

"No you didn't. Like I said, it was Voldemort, using you. You had no control, you'd never do anything like that. You're too good a person."

"That's not what she thinks."

"She? Who do you mean?"

"That woman from the Ministry. Umbridge."

There was a crack from the other side of the room. Harry jumped guiltily, before scurrying over to grab the potion vial that his magic had broken. He sat down on the other side of her bed, flushing in embarrassment and anger, grabbing her hand to stop her rolling over again. Her eyes were sparkling with tears, but she met his gaze steadily. He spoke carefully, seriously.

"Umbridge is a bitch Ginny. She's a fanatic, obsessed with the light. She even gives a blessing at the end of each conversation she's so obsessed. Of course she thinks you're a Dark witch; by her standards, so's Dumbledore, so you're in good company."

Ginny smiled for the first time.

"Just ignore her. She doesn't know what she's talking about. You were possessed, it wasn't your fault, and I'll spend the rest of my life shouting that in your ear if that's what I have to do to get you to realise it. You're a good person, and you are my friend."

She was crying again, but not from sorrow or shame this time he thought. He pulled her forward into a hug, and she clung to him, sobbing into his shoulder.

Despite the gruesome message, the Heir remained quiet in the weeks leading up to Easter. There were more Aurors now, in response to the last message, and they were patrolling the school at all hours. It was entirely possible that wherever the shade of Voldemort was, it was too scared to do anything.

Ginny left the Hospital Wing at the end of February, much improved in mind and spirit. After her conversation with Harry, she had accepted that she had been powerless, and changed her feelings into anger rather than shame. Her reappearance had attracted much comment, not all of it pleasant. Of course, anyone insulting her openly attracted comment themselves soon after, courtesy of whatever the Weasley twins thought up to pay them back. It was generally highly embarrassing; the highlight was a fourth year Slytherin who turned up at lunch bright pink and fervently proclaiming his love for Snape. Harry and Ron dealt with a few people as well, rather more directly than the twins, although they took greater pains to ensure that they couldn't be linked.

It was useful practice for Harry, who was studying hard for something outside class, much to Hermione's astonishment. He wouldn't say what it was, but Neville had seen him practicing curses, and they were well aware that the matter of Carter and Pechorin hadn't been resolved as yet. Many of the Hufflepuffs had apologised to Harry now, but Macmillan and the two beaters were still holding their silence. Of course, given what Carter and Pechorin had done, Harry likely wouldn't have accepted an apology anyway.

By the final week of term, Harry had collected a fairly impressive range of spells. He was by no means a master duellist, but he felt confident enough to finally tackle the older Hufflepuffs.

Hufflepuff had Quidditch practice on a Tuesday, and Harry picked that evening to take his revenge. About six, he collected his Invisibility Cloak and snuck down to the pitch. It was disgracefully easy to avoid the Aurors he passed, and once he left the castle there was no-one to see him until he got to the pitch. The team was still practicing when he arrived, so he settled in to wait.

Half an hour later, they finally packed up. Harry watched them put the balls away, Carter and Pechorin struggling with the bludgers. He grinned as one of them got away, smacking Carter in the chest. It was caught again easily enough, but it did hold them up. They seemed to have fallen out of favour; most of the team left without them, but Diggory stayed behind to lock up after them. It was perfect.

Harry stepped away from his bench, removing the Cloak and putting it in his robes. Diggory looked up, and frowned. However, he said nothing, merely folding his arms in disapproval. Harry took a couple of steps forward, and called their names.

They looked up in confusion, and did not look happy to see him standing there. Pechorin stood up slowly, drawing his wand as he did so. Harry let him. The whole point of this was for him to be in the right. Well, as far as one could be when preparing to engage in a duel that would get them all expelled if they were caught. He wanted to prove that he was better than them as well as get his revenge. Encouraged by his friends success, Carter hurriedly drew his own wand. When it was in his hand, a slightly scary look appeared on his face. Harry recognised it for what it was; Carter was potentially dangerous, someone who liked to fight. Pechorin was icily calm, as if Harry was nothing to worry about.

The three wizards stared at each other for a long moment. Then Harry spoke.

"Aren't you even going to try and apologise? You could have killed me."

Pechorin sneered.

"We were just doing what we thought was right. No shame in that."

"Even though you weren't right."

"Details."

Harry was impressed, he had to admit. Pechorin was clearly so much of a Slytherin that he had managed to convince the Sorting Hat to hide him in a different house. That was the only explanation for a Hufflepuff being so totally without morals. It was going to be a pleasure to pound Pechorin into the ground. Carter was beginning to pant slightly in anticipation.

Harry shrugged.

"Fair enough."

And he threw himself forward into a crouch, ducking beneath Pechorin's curse. He felt it ruffle his hair as he aimed his wand, crying out a spell. A flock of birds flew out of the end of his wand, and with a cry of 'oppugno!' Pechorin's head was obscured by them. Harry turned his attention to Carter just in time to drop to the ground once more.

Harry fired off two rapid 'Flipendo' jinxes, and was rewarded by a cry of pain from Carter, who stumbled back, falling to the ground. Harry moved into finish him off, the spell on his lips when Pechorin finally dispelled the birds. Harry dived to avoid what sounded scarily like a Severing curse, and swore as his opponent sent a stream of fire at him. It licked at his robes, but they didn't even begin to smoke. Pechorin clearly wasn't that powerful. He heard Diggory cry out from the sidelines in shock, but concentrated on his own spell. It flew through the flames, which abruptly stopped as Pechorin cast a Shield charm. Fortunately for Harry, the spell bounced off into the night sky. Beginning to breath heavily, Harry cast the same spell that Ron had tried to use against Nott; he was rewarded by the sound of Pechorin beginning to vomit.

Harry grinned in triumph, only to cry out as he was suddenly dragged up into the air by an unheard spell from Carter. He almost dropped his wand, but managed to keep hold of it, firing off spells in all directions. He heard Carter swear foully, and he dropped from the air, landing with a painful twinge in his leg. He stood up, and whirled on his heel, sending a Blasting curse at Carter, who was staggering to his feet, his nose bleeding. The older boy cried out in pain as it struck his leg, shattering several bones by the sound of it, and he sank to the floor once again.

Harry turned back to Pechorin, his chest heaving. He was expecting to have to dodge another curse. Instead, Pechorin paused, and actually bowed to Harry, acknowledging him as a worthy opponent. Caught off guard, Harry missed the volley of stinging hexes that struck him across the chest. He swore in pain, and retaliated with a Levitation charm; Pechorin yelled in surprise as he floated in the air. Then Harry cancelled the spell, and his opponent had to worry about controlling his descent. The moment he hit the floor, Harry hit him with a Disarming charm, grabbing Pechorin's wand from the air.

The Hufflepuff looked up at him from the floor with an air of grudging respect, breathing heavily and clearly a little irritated at having been beaten.

"So what now Potter? You go round bragging about your little victory while we hide in shame?"

Harry shook his head.

"Perhaps you don't recall what happened to me. I've paid Carter back in full, just you now."

Pechorin looked at his friend in confusion, but his expression cleared when he saw Carter's broken leg.

"Ah. Tit for tat eh?"

"Yes. Reducto!"

Pechorin cried out as his arm broke, both boys now sporting the same injuries as Harry had received in the match. Harry holstered his wand, throwing the Hufflepuff's wands to Cedric. He turned back to Pechorin.

"One question. What did you do to the Bludger?"

"Nothing; we put a tracking charm on your robes instead. Slightly less obvious we felt."

Harry nodded, pleased to have cleared it up. He nodded to Cedric, and walked back up to the castle, a huge, satisfied smile on his face.

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