Harry couldn't move; he was in more pain than he could ever
remember, far worse than any pain the Cruciatus Curse had ever caused
him. He felt the deadly curse spreading through him and his joints
had simply frozen up. He wanted to scream it hurt so badly, but he
couldn't, so he lay there helpless, wishing for death to come quickly.
He could see very little of what was going on around him, but realized that Ron, Hermione and Ginny were on either side of him. Ron was staring at him in shock while the two girls were sobbing. He could hear yelling going on somewhere nearby, but it was muted, and it didn't seem to be of much importance to him now. Why wasn't he dead? Or was he? He never thought it took this long. When he had seen Cedric die, it appeared as though it happened immediately, he only hoped that Cedric hadn't had to endure this much pain. But then, he supposed, he must appear dead to anyone looking at him. No one was trying to help him, just staring.
Suddenly his vision blurred as his eyes began to water. Tears had sprung to his eyes from the pain consuming him. A single tear slid down his cheek and dripped to the floor.
Hermione saw this and inhaled sharply. Ron and Ginny looked at her anxiously.
"He isn't dead." she whispered, growing pale.
Ron and Ginny gaped at her, disbelief and hope mingled on their faces. But before either of them could speak, Dumbledore appeared at last. He knelt down gently by Harry's side and even though he couldn't see clearly, he was sure the headmaster looked relieved.
All of a sudden, the hold over him broke, and he could move again. Though he almost wished it hadn't because the pain worsened enormously. The smallest of cries escaped from him as he doubled over in pain. He barely heard the collective gasp of all the people nearby. Dumbledore quickly raised his wand and Harry was lifted up on a stretcher.
"Try to relax Harry," he heard Dumbledore say, sounding very far away. He had the vague sensation that they were moving, but kept his eyes squinted shut, willing the pain to end. "I'm taking you to the hospital wing."
If Dumbledore said anything else, Harry didn't hear it. Every part of him felt as if it was on fire, and he finally lost consciousness.
When Harry opened his eyes again, he was in the hospital wing. His vision was still a little blurry, but he could tell just by the scent of the room he was in. He tried to sit up, but immediately found that to be a bad idea as every muscle in his body was screaming for him to stop. There was movement beside him suddenly and he felt a hand on his shoulder, pressing him back down gently.
"Who's there?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"It's me, Sirius," came his godfather's voice.
Harry was filled with relief, glad to have him there; he made him feel safe and secure. As he laid back down the events from earlier slowly came back to him and he had one question he needed answered above all of them.
"Sirius.what happened to me? Why am I still alive?" Harry asked.
Sirius just looked at him, his face a mixture of fear and anger. He stayed silent for a long time, and Harry was beginning to think he wouldn't answer, when he finally spoke.
"I think that now is not the time for questions, Harry. You need rest more than anything else."
This was not what Harry wanted to hear; he pulled his arms up and forced himself into somewhat of a sitting position. He glanced around and saw his glasses on the table next to him, when he reached out for them, he nearly overbalanced, but Sirius had jumped up and caught him in time.
"Please don't Harry, not this time." He said handing the glasses to his godson. "I don't know how you survived, I'm not sure if anyone does. But you were very lucky tonight."
"But Sirius." Harry began stubbornly, not intending to give up.
"Harry, I don't know. You can ask me as many times as you want but it won't change that fact. I don't have the answers you're looking for."
"I do," came a voice from the doorway, they both looked to see Dumbledore standing a few feet away. He slowly walked over to Harry's bedside and sat down. He looked at Harry very seriously and seemed almost upset.
"I think it's time you and I have a little talk."
"Do you know why the curse didn't kill me?" Harry asked, looking anxiously at Dumbledore.
"Yes."
"Albus, is this really the time?" Sirius interrupted. He's been through too much today as it is."
Harry glared angrily at his godfather. But he didn't have to say anything, Dumbledore started to speak right away.
"Sirius, I'm afraid today, that this is more important. If Harry feels well enough to listen, then I'm going to answer his questions. Particularly one that he asked me so long ago, after his second encounter with Voldemort."
Harry's eyes widened. He sat up fully, ignoring any pain now and leaned forward. Dumbledore looked straight into Harry's eyes before taking a deep breath and speaking.
"Have you ever heard of a wizard by the name of Grindelwald?" he asked. Harry stared at him blankly for a moment, before the answer came to him.
"Isn't he the dark wizard that you defeated? In 1945, right?"
"Yes, that is correct. His powers were equal to Voldemort's in every way. People were living in fear of him and his followers and it was a very dark time. When I defeated him, I used something very rare, called Lunis."
"I've never heard of it. How does it work?" Harry asked.
"It has to be given to you, as only one wizard can have control of it. The one who has it, has access to incredible power, beyond what any of us could normally achieve. It works differently for each person that has control of it, so there is no way to explain exactly how it works, but when a person knows that they have Lunis, they can begin to understand how to use it."
Harry barely nodded at him, waiting for him to continue.
"After I defeated Grindelwald, I no longer had any control over Lunis, couldn't use the power it offered anymore. I had to find someone to give it to, but I wouldn't give it to just anyone. I had to be sure whoever had the power would not abuse it. So after many years passed, and Voldemort began gaining support, I knew my time was running out. I asked one of the brightest students ever to attend Hogwart's if he would take on the responsibility. It was your father, Harry. James Potter."
Harry stared at him in disbelief.
"But.how.what.I." he stammered.
"Be patient, I will explain everything. James accepted on the spot, he knew it was an honor to be the holder of Lunis. So I performed the incantation to give the spell to him immediately. He and I went to tell Lily that night and decided then, it would be best for all of you to go into hiding, at least until James was ready to use Lunis. That is why your family needed a secret keeper," Dumbledore said. Harry thought he detected a hint of guilt in his voice, but didn't say anything about it.
"So, Voldemort knows about Lunis then?" Harry asked.
"He knows only a little about it, such as the power it gives you. Though he doesn't realize it is limited to one use. He knows that you can be given Lunis by the person holding it, or take it from them by force."
"How would you take it by force?" Harry asked. Dumbledore looked at Harry for a moment before answering.
"You would have to kill them. If you kill the person holding Lunis then you take possession of it immediately."
Harry looked down at his hands, trying to process all that was being said.
"So, he must have it then, right? Voldemort killed my father so it must've gone to him."
"No, he does not. You see, being the holder of Lunis has another benefit, one that Voldemort thankfully doesn't know of. You become invincible to almost anything. The only way you can be killed, is if you are pierced through the heart."
"But, my father was killed with Avada Kedavra!" Harry said, shuddering when he said the words. "How is that possible if he was the holder?"
"Because, your father knew when Voldemort attacked, that he did not yet have the ability to use Lunis. Once you become the holder, it must adjust to your body before you can use it, which unfortunately does not happen as quickly as we would like. So he performed the same incantation as I had, and gave it to you."
Harry sat there in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Why?" he asked when he found his voice.
"Because you are his son. He realized that neither him, nor Lily would be able to escape, and this was his only option left, to ensure that you lived."
"Then my mother dying for me, isn't what saved me from the curse?" Harry asked.
"Oh she saved you. She's the reason the curse rebounded from you and hit Voldemort, and why you were left with the scar. It's also the reason he can't touch you without feeling the same pain your scar gives you when he is near." Dumbledore paused for a moment before continuing. "Voldemort knew once he had killed your father that he no longer held Lunis because he would have felt it transferring to him. He quickly figured out that James must have transferred it before he arrived, and that's when he went after you. But if he had known everything, he would not have tried to kill you or your father using Avada Kedavra, as it wouldn't work while you have possession of Lunis."
"So then, if my mother hadn't died, I still would have lived?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but everything would be quite different."Dumbledore began.
"Of course it would've! I would have a mother right now!" Harry exclaimed, feeling angry. "Why would she do it when she knew? She knew I would've been fine!"
"She did what she did out of love for you," Dumbledore said firmly. "Consider this, if Voldemort had not killed Lily, and instead tried to kill you first, the curse would not have rebounded. Voldemort wouldn't have lost power, he might've killed your mother anyway and taken you away with him until he figured out how to get the power from you. He might've even used you, raised you as if you were his. I believe very strongly that she knew exactly what she was doing."
Harry, again, was speechless. The thought of being raised by Voldemort, being brought up to believe his ways were right, was too much for him to bear. He was feeling very cold right now, and his hands were shaking. He clamped them together, trying to hide the fact. He looked at Dumbledore, who was looking back at him, then turned to Sirius, who he was surprised to see looked a bit angry.
"So, let me see if I understand this correctly," Sirius spoke up after having remained silent through the entire discussion. "You gave possession of Lunis over to James, so that he might be able to defeat Voldemort with it, but he was found before he was able to use it. He gave it to Harry for his protection because he saw no other way to save him. Is that right?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"Okay, and when you have possession of Lunis, it gives you power beyond anything we can imagine, but you can only use it once and it's different for each person. Once it is used, it must be passed on before it can be used again. It makes the holder invincible to anything except being pierced though the heart. Stop me if I'm wrong here," he said a little irritably. Dumbledore simply nodded again.
"Voldemort has been after Harry to gain control of Lunis, but doesn't yet realize he can't kill him, or at least not how to do it. The only things he DOES know about, are the power you gain, and that you have to kill to gain it, right?" For the third time, Dumbledore nodded.
"Why is this the first I'm hearing of this?" Sirius asked quietly. "You told me when I was originally going to be the Secret Keeper for the Potters that they had information Voldemort wanted. You said you couldn't tell me what it was because then I couldn't be a Secret Keeper, I'd need one."
"That's right. If you knew everything about it then it would've been twice as dangerous for you. He would have gotten the information from you in one way or another and we would be living in a very different world today, if we were alive at all."
Sirius looked at him a moment before continuing.
"Alright, then why didn't you tell me about it later? You could have at any point over the last three or four years that I've been around here. Why would you keep it a secret?"
Harry was looking back and forth between his godfather and the headmaster, waiting anxiously for the answer.
"I didn't tell you because I believe this all could've been prevented and that you'd blame me for not preventing it."
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, clearly confused.
"I waited too long. I knew that it would take quite a while before James could use any of the power Lunis would give him, but I waited because I wasn't sure that power should be unleashed. It was something I had no right to decide. Because of that, James and Lily are dead, and Voldemort, while he was certainly delayed for quite a while, is almost back to the height of his power today."
Harry was stunned. He had never considered even for a second that Dumbledore was to blame for any of this. Before he could open his mouth he heard Sirius start talking, sounding much softer than a few moments earlier.
"You know that isn't true. You did what you had to do, and you shouldn't blame yourself for anything. Even if you had given it to him earlier, Wormtail would have ended up as the Secret Keeper and Voldemort would have found them just as quickly."
Dumbledore nodded at him, and even smiled a little.
"Sirius, I give the same argument to myself every time I think about it. The truth is there is no way of knowing what would have happened. We can't predict the future, so we are forced to live with the past. Just as long as we don't live in it, we'll be fine."
"Why couldn't you tell me about this when I asked you so long ago?" Harry asked.
"Because you were not ready to use it then. Lunis is very powerful magic and if you are not ready to use it, it could be very painful, even dangerous. But by not telling you about it, you were safe. You see, it will only adjust to you when you know about it. I was going to tell you last year, but when things became complicated, and you were given the knowledge, I knew I could not. You never know how one type of magic is going to affect another when they are combined, and since both types are potentially dangerous, I didn't want to chance it."
"I don't feel any different though. How do I know it's working?"
"You won't feel anything different, but once you have complete control over it, it will be available whenever you need it. Take care though, don't use it until it becomes absolutely necessary, because when you use it once, you never can again."
Harry sighed, heavily.
"This is all very confusing. I have no idea what this power will do or how to use it, but I've apparently had it almost my entire life."
"Best not to dwell on it, no one can tell you what you'll be able to do with it, so there will be no answer until that time comes."
Harry looked at him skeptically, thinking how impossible that suggestion sounded. How could he not think about it? He looked over at Sirius who still looked a little irritated, but much calmer than before. Then turned back to Dumbledore as another thought occurred to him.
"What happened, after Mr. Gridman used the curse on me? Is he still here?"
"Mr. Gridman is no longer here. Though we know now that Voldemort sent him here. He is a death eater."
"How did he get in?" Harry asked weakly, the color draining from his face.
"And why didn't you know about this?" Sirius asked, anger flashing in his eyes again. "Don't you check these things out before letting strangers into the school?"
"Of course I do," Dumbledore replied, calmly. "The only way he would have been able to hide the fact that he was a death eater is for someone in the ministry to have helped them."
"What about Snape? Wouldn't he have recognized him?" Sirius asked.
"Possibly, but we haven't been able to ask him yet."
"What do you mean?" Sirius cried, standing up. "He was right there, wasn't he? Why didn't he try to stop Gridman? Did he help at all?"
"Sirius, I know this is very hard for you but please calm down. I would never do anything to knowingly put Harry in harm's way."
Sirius slowly sat back down, looking anything but calm. He took a deep breath and looked up at Dumbledore before speaking again.
"I do know you would never do that. I apologize. Now please tell me, why haven't you talked to Snape about this?"
"Because we can't find him."
"He left? That coward!" Sirius said, fiercely.
"No, he didn't leave. The person in the great hall with Mr. Gridman was not Severus Snape. It was a shapeshifter."
Harry's jaw dropped, he looked at Sirius to see he was speechless as well.
"Is he okay?" he managed to ask.
"I don't know," Dumbledore replied. "No one knows where he is."
"So, do we still have the shapeshifter than?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore shook his head slowly.
"No, they are extremely fast. When he saw that we overpowered Mr. Gridman, he ran."
"Then maybe Gridman can tell us where Snape is!" Harry cried. His stomach was knotting. Another person hurt so Voldemort could get to him.
"Apparently, he was prepared for the possibility that he may not succeed in his mission. We used Veritaserum on him, and he told us that he had been the one to stun Severus, long enough for the shapeshifter to take him elsewhere."
"Well where could he have taken him? I mean, it doesn't sound like they left the school."
"We are searching for him now, I don't want you to worry about it. If he is here, we will find him."
"And what if he isn't here?" Harry asked. Dumbledore didn't answer. Harry slumped back down on the pillows, feeling horribly guilty. The pain was nowhere near as bad as before, but it was still bothering him.
"So where is Gridman now?" he asked.
"I informed the ministry of what had happened, they sent over people to take custody of him."
"Do we know who let him come here in the first place?" Sirius asked. "You said it must've been someone at the ministry."
"No. There was not enough time to fully question him and my primary concern was for Harry's safety and finding Severus."
"Why would Voldemort send him, though? He definitely planned to kill me, but then he must've thought Gridman would take possession of Lunis."
"My only suspicion is that Voldemort would then have killed Gridman, to take the power for himself."
"So, he was just using him." Harry said flatly.
"That is what he does," Dumbledore said, looking angry all of a sudden. "He has no regard for human life. All he cares about is gaining power, and he doesn't care who he kills to get it."
Madam Pomfrey walked over than, holding a cup in her hands, she glanced warily at Sirius, but didn't say anything. She turned towards Dumbledore. "I really must insist Mr. Potter take this now. It's been much longer than we talked about."
Dumbledore nodded.
"Of course Poppy, I apologize," he then turned to Harry, smiling. "I will see you tomorrow morning." He got up and beckoned Sirius, who truly did not look as if he wanted to leave, to follow him. When the two men were gone, Madam Pomfrey handed him the cup.
"Drink this all now," she said gently. Harry took the cup from her; he saw she looked somewhat sad. He turned away from her quickly and raised the cup, drinking every last drop. Slowly, he slid down under the covers, and drifted off into a mercifully dreamless sleep.
When Harry finally woke some time later, he saw the room was filled with brilliant sunshine. He pushed himself up, stiffly and reached for his glasses. As he looked around again, he saw that Madam Pomfrey had noticed him up, and was on her way over.
"Good Morning Harry," she said pleasantly, checking him over. "You're up early today. Professor Dumbledore wanted to know when you came around, so I'll be leaving for just a few moments. I don't want you to move until I return, understood?" she asked firmly. Harry could tell this wasn't question. He nodded at her and watched until she was out of sight.
He sat back against the pillows again. His first night back for his last year of school and he'd spent it in the hospital wing. He shook his head in disgust; if he never had to sleep in one of these beds again it would be too soon. There was a noise at the door, and he looked up to see Dumbledore walk in, followed by Madam Pomfrey. He nodded at her, then went over to Harry.
"How are you feeling?" he asked when he reached the bed. He was smiling again, and he looked like his usual self, much different from what he had been last night.
"A little stiff, but much better than yesterday," Harry replied. "Did you find Professor Snape yet?" he asked.
Dumbledore shook his head, his smile faltering.
"No, not yet, I'm afraid."
"Have you searched the entire castle? Harry asked. "I know you said you didn't know about every room in here."
"That's true, I don't. I'd be amazed to find someone who did," Dumbledore said. "But I don't want you to worry about that right now. We have no intentions of giving up."
Harry just nodded at him, again thinking Dumbledore had made an impossible suggestion.
"Can I go to classes today?" he asked hopefully. He prayed that he wouldn't have to spend his first full day here.
Dumbledore smiled at him in amusement.
"Do you think you are well enough? If you feel you are up to it, and not just because you don't want to stay in here, then I will allow it."
"Yes!" Harry answered eagerly. "I'm just a little achy, but I'll be fine."
"Very well. I will tell Poppy. She'll want to check you over again, but then you can head up to your tower." He started to walk away then, but turned back as if he forgot something. "The password, for you to get in, is 'Broomstick.' Wouldn't want you going off without that yet again," he said, smiling. Then he turned and went over to Madam Pomfrey's office.
After more poking and prodding, Madam Pomfrey finally let Harry go. He changed as quickly as possible and left the hospital wing. When he reached the portrait of the fat lady he said the password and stepped inside. No one was there; everyone was probably still asleep, or just getting up. He moved towards the staircase and headed up to the seventh year dorms. He pushed open the door quietly to see Seamus, Dean and Neville sitting up in bed, all yawning and stretching. Ron was standing up, pulling his robes out of his closet, when he saw Harry. The room went uncomfortably silent, and Harry just walked over to the only open bed, with all of his things next to it. He didn't make eye contact with anyone, as he didn't want to see fear or pity staring back at him.
As he opened his trunk and started rummaging through it, Ron stepped over to him.
"Don't hate me for asking this, but how are you doing?" he said quietly. Harry glanced up at him, smirking a little.
"Why would I hate you for that? And I'm doing much better, thanks."
Ron grinned back at him.
"Oh, I don't know. I seem to recall you not liking anyone to fuss over you, or worry about you."
"Well I don't," Harry replied. "So I'm lucky enough to have friends that force it on me anyway." He looked over his shoulder at the other three, who were all, as he expected, gaping at him. Would there be a time when he didn't see this almost regularly, he thought to himself.
"Guys, I'm okay. Still a little achy, but alive."
"But how?" Seamus asked, sounding almost suspicious. Harry looked at him, knowing he didn't want to tell them anything about Lunis, and decided to lie.
"I don't know," he said and shrugged. "Maybe he did the curse wrong."
"Not likely, I heard he's a death eater!" Dean exclaimed. Seamus nodded and Neville just looked at him, terrified.
"Who told you that?" Harry asked, trying to sound casual.
"Just heard it, you know, around." Dean said, keeping Harry's gaze.
"Well, maybe he is. I haven't been told anything yet, been asleep since last night." He turned back to his trunk and wouldn't look at them again. When he and Ron were the only ones left in the room, he pulled out the Marauder's Map.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked confused. "You just got back and already you're pulling that thing out. Tell me you aren't planning on sneaking around."
"Oh, sorry Hermione," Harry joked. "Don't worry, I'm not sneaking anywhere. I just want to look at something, that's all."
Ron looked at him skeptically, but didn't say anything. He watched as Harry pulled out his wand and turned the map on, then leaned over his shoulder as they both searched the map.
"What are we looking for?" Ron whispered.
"Snape."
"What? Why?" Ron asked.
"Because he's missing," Harry replied, sighing and closing the map. "And he's not here."
"But we all saw Snape last night. How could he be missing?" Ron asked.
Harry sighed, inwardly. Here we go, another year of reliving every bad incident I go through. He shook the thought away and looked at Ron.
"I'll tell you later, I promise. I know that Hermione and Ginny will ask anyway so I'm just gonna wait. Besides there's too much to tell, it's gonna take a while. After classes tonight, okay?" Harry asked.
Ron looked as if this were not okay at all, but didn't want to push his friend. He nodded, slowly.
"Okay, tonight then."
"Good, now lets get downstairs before we miss breakfast, I didn't get much to eat last night as it is," Harry said, putting the map back in his trunk. The two of them left the dorm together and went through the portrait hole, towards the great hall.
When they walked into the great hall, a hush fell over the room. All eyes turned to Harry, who was doing his best not to meet any of them. He glanced over to the Slytherin table, most of whom were snickering at him, and then across the rest of the room, at a sea of worried and frightened faces.
The two of them moved quickly to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Hermione looked as if she might cry again, and Ginny already was, slightly.
"Harry, I thought you were dead." Hermione whispered. "We all did."
Harry wished she wouldn't look at him like that, as if he were already dead, he tried to smile at her reassuringly.
"Well I'm not dead. I'm here, very much alive," he looked at her, then at Ginny, before continuing. "Please, don't cry," he said gently. "Really I'm fine."
"You don't know what it looked like though.seeing you.seeing." she choked on her words. Harry didn't know how to reply to this, he looked at Ron, who turned to Hermione.
"Hermione," he started, taking her hand. "I know what you're feeling, we all thought he was dead, but try and be happy that he isn't, instead of thinking about something that didn't happen."
She looked up at him thru red, puffy eyes.
"What happened?" Ginny asked, startling everyone. "It looked like you were dead, but then you moved, and it just looked like it hurt so.so much.."
"Ginny," Harry began. "I will tell you, but not now. If I start, I won't be able to finish and we don't have much time left before class. Later on, I promise."
She looked back at him, but didn't speak, just wiped at her eyes a little. Ron looked over at Harry, who was staring at his food, none of it having been touched.
"What class do we have first?" Ron asked trying to change the subject.
"Potions," Hermione replied, weakly. She pulled out a handkerchief and delicately blew her nose.
"What?" Harry asked, jerking his head up. He saw Ginny and Hermione looking at him, questioningly.
"Never mind," he said quietly. One way or the other they would find out Snape was missing. He didn't want to bring it up and get another barrage of questions, so he brushed it off. He wondered, briefly why the class hadn't been cancelled and who they'd found for a replacement.
He quickly shoved down as much of the food on his plate as possible, before getting up with the others. Ginny headed off to her class, while he, Ron and Hermione headed for the dungeon area.
They walked into the potions classroom, which was almost completely full at this point, and took a seat at one of the back tables. Whoever was coming had not shown up yet. Harry set his bag down beside him and looked over at Hermione. She still looked very pale, but she wasn't crying anymore. A voice from the front of the room startled him out of his thoughts.
"So, Potter, enjoy all your attention this morning? We all know how much you love people staring at you," Malfoy said loudly.
"Why don't you be quiet?' Hermione screamed, standing up. "You have no right to even speak to Harry after what you did!"
Harry quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back down to her seat, she was absolutely livid. He didn't want her to go saying anything in front of everyone about last year. He looked at Malfoy who knew what clearly knew what she was referring to, and he looked furious at her.
"I wasn't speaking to you mudblood," he spat.
This time it was Ron who sprang out of his seat.
"Don't you ever call Hermione that again," he said in a deadly quiet voice.
"You gonna stop me?" Malfoy said standing up as well, he pulled his wand out and pointed it at Ron.
"What, may I ask, is going on here?" came a voice from the doorway. Every head in the room, except Ron's and Malfoy's, turned to see who it belonged to.
A young woman, with a petite build and shoulder length dark red hair, stood in the doorway. She was wearing long dark blue robes, and was carrying a stack of papers and books.
No one answered her question, just stared at her. She strode up to the front of the room and set the stack she was carrying down on the desk. Then she walked over to Malfoy, who was still holding his wand out at Ron.
"Why do you have your wand out, surely you weren't planning on doing anything to break the rules, were you?" she asked, fixing him with a stern glare.
"There's no rule that says we can't use magic in the classrooms," Malfoy said, quietly.
"There is if you use it on another student," the woman replied, firmly. "Put it down now."
Malfoy glared at her, but lowered his wand.
"You must be Draco Malfoy," the woman said, smirking.
"How would you know that?" he asked, snidely.
"You look like your father," she replied, "among other similar traits."
He rolled his eyes at her and sat back in his chair. The woman then turned her attention to Ron.
"Would you be willing to tell me what happened?" she asked.
Ron looked from her, to Draco, and back again, before answering.
"Just an argument, nothing big," he said in a low voice. She nodded at him, but her expression said she knew he was hiding something.
"Take you seat please," she said to Ron before addressing the rest of the class. "My name is Professor Allison Gazten. While Professor Snape is away, I'll be taking over his classes. Since he hasn't started on anything yet, it being the first day of classes and all, I will use my own schedule for the time being. Now if you'll all turn to page 24 in your books, we can begin."
Harry looked at Ron, who was still looking daggers at Malfoy, then back to Professor Gazten. He wondered if she had come from the ministry as well, and was sure Dumbledore wouldn't allow another person in without checking them out more closely. He pushed the thought out of his mind however, as the lesson got underway.
Potions was halfway over and Harry's was turning out exactly as the book said it should. Hermione was also doing well, and trying to help Ron at the same time, as his potion was red when it should have been orange. Professor Gazten was walking around the room trying to help anyone who seemed to be having trouble.
"Wow, nice to have someone who isn't going to tell us how horrible we are just because of what house we're in," Ron commented, watching Gazten helping out Lavender and Parvati. He looked over at Malfoy again, who was having many problems with his potion, which was a horrid shade of green.
"Green? How do you mess up that badly?" Ron whispered, stifling a laugh, as Gazten was now nearing them.
"How are we doing?" she asked, pleasantly. She looked down at Harry and Hermione's potions and smiled. "Doesn't seem as though either of you need any help right now, 10 points each for Gryffindor. Excellent job, both of you." Then she turned to look at Ron. "How about you, Mr. Weasley?"
"Oh, um.I think I'm okay. Thank you," he replied awkwardly. She nodded at him and continued around the room. When she got to Malfoy, she put her hand up to her face, to cover the laugh, threatening to escape.
"It appears you didn't add any Moor's Root, Mr. Malfoy. Did you see that on the list of ingredients?"
"Yes," he hissed at her. "I can read you know."
"Well, then tell me what happened," she said, her eyes flashing with anger. It was the first time all class she appeared this way. "If you can read, why didn't you add it in?"
He just shrugged, then turned his back on her.
"Well, if you're going to be disrespectful, then fine. Ten points from Slytherin."
Malfoy glared at her, and she returned the look, as if daring him to say anything else. He saw what she was doing and turned his head. In the back of the room, Harry, Ron and Hermione all grinned at each other.
At the end of the class, Gryffindor had lost no points at all. Harry grabbed his things together and followed Ron and Hermione out of the class. He looked carefully at Professor Gazten as he was leaving, but she was just going through her paper, paying him no attention in particular. They headed out into the hallway, and off to their next class.
"I like her," Hermione said as they walked along the hall. "Though she certainly didn't seem to like Malfoy very much."
"Does anybody?" Ron asked, laughing. "Besides the gorillas he pays to, I mean."
"He was just rude to her," Harry said.
"But she knew who he was right away. Remember?" she asked.
"I know, because he looked like Lucius, I heard her."
"I think it's more than that," Hermione said.
"How so?" Harry asked. He still wasn't sure he trusted the new Potions teacher, but at least she hadn't tried to kill him yet.
"I don't know, it's just.a feeling."
"A feeling? You sure it's not your subconscious telling you that when really what happened is you read about some feud between their families or something?" Ron joked.
Hermione elbowed him in the ribs, playfully.
"Well at least ONE of us reads," she said, feigning an insulted look. He put his arm around her shoulder and drew her closer to him, kissing her forehead. As Harry watched his two best friends he realized how much he missed Cho. He had no idea when he would see her again, and made a mental note to write to her as soon as possible.
"So," he began, clearing his throat lightly, "Where are we going, anyway?"
Hermione whipped her schedule out of a folder and quickly skimmed it.
"Well, I have Arithmancy, which means you two probably have."
"Divination!" Ron groaned. "Oh, man. Why would they make us take that on our first day back? It's too cruel!"
Harry wasn't looking forward to it either, especially if Professor Trelawny had heard anything of last night's little spectacle. So they walked with Hermione as far as possible, then split off, heading for the north tower. As they reached the rope ladder, Ron looked at Harry one more time, rolling his eyes, then began climbing.
They walked into the classroom, which was just as stuffy as ever, with the smoky, scented air, and sat down at their usual desk. When the rest of the class arrived, Professor Trelawny came flitting out of the cloudiness, into the center of the room.
"Good day, to all of you. I'm sure you're all anxious to begin, so I won't waste any time today. We will start with something that is very difficult, and will most likely take the full school year to perfect. For those of you that can do this, you truly have the gift, for the rest of you, I offer my apologies."
"What is she on about now?" Ron whispered to Harry. Harry just shook his head and motioned for Ron to keep quiet, as Trelawny was looking in their direction.
"Harry," she cried, catching sight of him and rushing over. "Oh my dear, how are you?"
"Fine," he said quietly, wishing she would just get on with the lesson. He now felt every set of eyes in the class on him.
"Tell us, how did you do it? You survived the most deadly curse in all the wizarding world twice. You must have known what you were doing this time, and it must've taken a great amount of spiritual power."
Harry's jaw dropped and he looked up at her to find she was staring straight back at him, utterly serious. He couldn't believe she would ask this of him in front of the entire class.
"I didn't do anything," he said through clenched teeth. This unfortunately did not pacify Trelawny.
"Come now, don't be modest. The energy you must have conjured had to have been enormous. You must've somehow called on spirits from beyond to."
"Look I said I didn't do anything!" he hissed, glaring at her. Why did she refuse to use some tact once in a while?
Trelawny glared at him, indignantly, before turning around in a swirl of scarves and stalking back to the center of the class.
Now in a particularly bad mood, Harry sat and half-listened to what Trelawny was telling the class. Ron didn't say anything more to draw her attention as he felt it wouldn't turn out well. Most of the class were seeming to pay attention, but every once in a while a student's gaze would stray to where Harry was sitting. Everyone was curious to know how he had survived.
As it turned out, the project they would be working on was mind- reading. That should be easy enough to fake, at least, Harry thought. As he listened to her go on and on about the stages they would go through in order to master this 'gift,' his eyes started to water.
He pushed his fingers up under his glasses and wiped at them, but it only made it worse. He pulled his glasses off, and put both of his hands up, furiously rubbing at his eyes. Then, without warning, they began to burn. Harry inhaled sharply, but didn't cry out. Ron noticed, however, and turned towards his friend. "What's wrong?" he asked, sounding worried.
Harry had his elbows on the desk with the balls of his hands pressed into his eyes, hard.
"My eyes, they're burning," Harry whispered. The burning became intense and a stab of pain went through his head. He bit back the cry threatening to escape and just kept his jaw clenched. Why is this happening here of all places, he thought, bitterly.
"Do you need to leave? Go see Madam Pomfrey or something?" Ron whispered back.
"No, I." he began, when another voice interrupted him.
"What's going on here?" Professor Trelawny said sounding annoyed. Harry tried to lift his head away from his hands, but the pain intensified the second he took the pressure away. He shut his eyes tightly and shoved his hands back into place.
Harry didn't move. He wasn't listening to Professor Trelawny as she kept at him to explain what was happening, nor did he hear the nervous whispering from the students around the room. All he cared about was the pain he was feeling. His eyes felt as if they were on fire, and he had no idea what to do.
Ever so slowly, the pain began to ease. After what seemed like hours, he was able to take his hands away from his eyes. All the noise in the room started coming in more clearly.
"Mr. Potter!" came Trelawny's uncharacteristically stern voice. "Will you please explain what's happening? What are you seeing? We need to know everything!"
Harry groaned inwardly. Of course she was going to make a big deal out of this. He waited for a moment, before finally opening his eyes. But what he saw gave him a start, his stomach twisted violently and he blinked a few times.
"I can't see," he said, sounding strangely calm.
"Don't lie, I know something was happening just then." she began.
"No, I can't see! As in right now, I can't see anything."
"Well what did you see before?" she asked eagerly.
Harry would have glared at her if he knew where she was standing. Here he was blind and all she cared about was if he had seen some premonition or vision or something.
"I saw exactly what I'm seeing now. Nothing. My eyes were burning and my head hurt, and then the pain stopped. Now I can't see."
"Do your eyes still burn?" Ron's voice floated over from beside him.
"Yes, but not as badly," he answered.
"You should probably go see Madam Pomfrey then," Ron said, urgently. Harry felt sick. Was he going to spend the entire year in the hospital wing? He gave a disgusted sigh and put his head in his hands.
"Harry," Trelawny spoke up, sounding ever so gentle. "I truly believe that if you leave now, you won't be able to figure out what just happened. This isn't the first time something like this has happened to you, and look what happened when you left last time." She was looking at him with pity and shaking her head, but he couldn't see this.
He was utterly infuriated by her comment and stood up, feeling around for his bag.
"No, I think it's best that I go," he said stiffly. He almost wished he could see the disappointed look on her face. "Ron, will you help me?" he asked, lowering his voice.
"Absolutely," Ron said, and Harry could hear him get up as well. He took one of Harry's arms and started to lead him away, when suddenly, Harry jerked to a stop.
"What's wrong?" Ron asked, sounding concerned.
"I.I think I see something," Harry asked, straining to make his eyes come into focus. A moment ago everything had been black, but now there were shapes forming, still dark and shadowy, but better than nothing.
"Do you see me?" Ron asked.
"No.it's not in this room. Hold on, it's clearing up."
Harry watched as a vision slowly formed, seemingly in front of him. Though he knew that was impossible because the room he was in was bright and what he was seeing looked like dark and dingy. It was dimly lit, and he could just make out a figure standing against one of the walls, his arms raised above him. Finally everything snapped into view, and he inhaled sharply when he saw who it was.
"Snape." he whispered.
"What?" Ron asked, trying to keep his voice down, as Trelawny was eyeing them, suspiciously. "You can see him? Where is he?"
"I don't know," Harry said, anxiously. "But he's in trouble, wherever he is, he's chained to a wall."
"Does anything look familiar? What else is there?"
"Nothing!" Harry said, on the verge of panic. Now he knew Snape was in danger and he had no way to help him. "I wish I could just look around the room or something, but all I can see is him."
"C'mon," Ron said suddenly, beginning to pull Harry forward again. "Or she's gonna keep us here. Harry knew he meant Trelawny, and nodded, but he didn't even take two steps before he stopped again.
"What now?" Ron asked, sounding a bit frustrated. "I'm closer to him. As soon as we moved it was like I was walking in the room I'm looking at." Harry took a step away from Ron and began to turn away.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked, sounding confused.
"I'm gonna look around the room." Harry answered, taking small steps back into the class.
"Here?" Ron asked incredulously.
"Ron, I don't know how long I'm gonna be able to see this, I have to while I have the chance," Harry said over his shoulder as he kept walking. He walked right thru the middle of class and Trelawny stopped speaking to the class and addressed Harry.
"You can't tell me you're not seeing anything this time, Mr. Potter. What's going on?"
Harry was about to say he wasn't seeing anything, when he decided she wasn't going to fall for it anymore.
"I'm not sure, really, but I do see something." He was walking around the room with his hands in front of him, shuffling his feet slowly so he didn't trip over anything. In the room he was looking at, there was no one besides Snape in the room. He was now all the way across from where Snape was and couldn't see a door anywhere, just a wall.
"Please," Trelawny spoke up, excitedly, "Tell me what you can see."
Harry thought miserably to himself how he wished she would just shut up, but kept it to himself.
"Like I said, I'm not sure. It's just a bunch of jumbled shapes right now." He had stopped moving now as the wall in front of him in his sight was blocking his path. He held his hand right up in front of him, but couldn't see it, so he took a deep breath, and stepped forward. For a moment he saw nothing, when he realized he must be inside the wall. He took another few steps and came out on the other side. When he looked over his shoulder he could see the wall, still solid behind him. He began moving again. The room he had come out into was empty, with a few candles hanging on the walls. He realized Professor Trelawny was speaking to him again. She sounded aggravated, as if she'd been trying to get his attention for a while.
"Mr. Potter, I asked you why you are moving throughout the room. What is that doing for what you're seeing?"
"Not much," Harry replied quickly. "The shapes keep moving in and out of focus as I move."
"Really?" she replied quickly. "What do they resemble?"
"Nothing yet," he said curtly, and continued walking. He made it halfway down the hallway he was in when he came to the wall of the classroom. He cursed under his breath, and wished he'd had just a little more room. From what he could see, there was nothing but an empty hallway in front of him. He stared down it, hoping to see something that looked familiar, but there was nothing.
He looked to his left, then to his right. Solid walls were on either side of him, but if it hadn't stopped him before, why should it now? He decided to try right first, he took a few steps toward it, then finally into it. When he was through this time a smile spread across his face, he recognized instantly where he was. He was standing in one of the hallways in the dungeon area of Hogwart's. He knew it because it was so close to Snape's office.
Without any warning, the vision of the hallway went painfully bright white. He tried to shut his eyes, but it didn't make a difference. But after only a few seconds, it was gone, and he was staring around the divination classroom again, with every pair of eyes staring back at him in complete silence. He looked at where he was, and saw he had maybe three steps left before he came to the corner and would have run out of room entirely.
"Something wrong?" Trelawny asked, seeming all too eager.
Harry shook his head.
"I need to go to the hospital wing," he said quickly, walking quickly back over to where his things lay on the floor.
"But.but." she started.
"It's gone, whatever it was. I can't see it anymore, my head is pounding, I really need to go," he said anxious to leave but having no intention of going to see Madam Pomfrey. His head wasn't hurting in the least, but he didn't want her to know that.
"Fine," she said, as Harry was already at the trapdoor. "But you won't need any company since you can obviously see again. Mr. Weasley, please take your seat. Ron rolled his eyes and walked back to his desk as Harry half climbed, half jumped down to the hallway below. He took off immediately for the Gryffindor tower.
When he was through the portrait hole, he took the stairs two at a time up to the dorms. Throwing his books on the bed, he flung open his trunk and whipped out the Marauder's Map. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out his wand, and pointed it at the map.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
Instantaneously, the map came alive. He looked carefully around the entire dungeon area, but couldn't find Snape's name anywhere. How was this possible? Unless the vision he had seen wasn't right. But something told him it was, indeed, exactly where Snape was trapped. He picked the map up and held it out in front of him, then, only for lack of any other option, he started talking to it.
"Is there anything you aren't showing me? Part of the school that's cut off from the rest, hidden even?"
Harry watched carefully, waiting for any response. For a few moments, nothing happened, then, just as he was about to try again, the image of the school swirled away, leaving a blank piece of paper. Harry got worried for a moment, wondering what he should do, when words started to appear.
"Who wants to know?"
"I do," he said immediately, then felt stupid for saying it, so started again. "My name is Harry Potter. I want to know." He waited, tensely, for the map's response.
"Why do you want to know?" came the next question.
Harry thought for a moment. He wasn't sure what the map was looking for. He knew that he had to be speaking to either his dad, Remus, Sirius, or Pettigrew, but he didn't know which one, or ones, he was speaking with now. Since the four of them were big on practical jokes, he wasn't sure it would lead him in the right direction if he gave a wrong answer. Finally, he decided just to tell the truth.
"Someone is in trouble, in an area of the school that I can't see on the map. But I know it's still part of the school."
The next response was almost immediate.
"Who's in trouble?"
Harry closed his eyes. This wasn't good; he remembered how the map had reacted when Snape had talked to it in his third year. It would certainly recognize his name. He decided, this time, to lie.
"Rubeus Hagrid," he said, saying the first name to pop into his head.
There was no response for quite some time, and Harry was beginning to worry again, when finally another sentence appeared.
"You are lying."
Harry stared at the words for a moment before finding his voice again.
"How." he started, not really wanting to admit he lied, but seeing no other option. "How do you know?"
"Are you going to tell the truth or not?" came the reply. Harry realized that there was no point in pushing his question, or in lying any further.
"Severus Snape," he said quietly.
"In trouble, is he?" came the reply. Harry could almost see the smirk in the words; it was uncanny.
"Yes, he is. Please I know you don't like him, but." he started.
"Don't like him? Why ever would you say that?"
Harry rolled his eyes; this was exactly what he'd been afraid of.
"Please just tell me, can it be done or not?" he asked, a little frustrated.
There was no response this time. He waited over five minutes and still nothing appeared.
"Are you still there?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Then why won't you tell me?" he almost shouted.
"You haven't said the password yet."
Harry thought frantically. When Fred and George had given this to him, they only showed him how to turn it on and off; they never mentioned any passwords.
"I don't know the password," Harry said bluntly.
"Too bad," the map replied. Harry glared angrily at the map. There had to be some way around this. He knew the map could show him what he needed, and he didn't know how hurt Snape actually was. He thought for a moment before asking his next question.
"To whom am I speaking with now?"
After another moment, the map finally replied.
"My friends call me Padfoot."
Harry didn't know if this was good or bad, he knew how incredibly stubborn his godfather could be, and it must've been just as bad when he was a teenager as it is now. Not to mention that he was the one who thought it would be 'funny' to send Snape down the secret passage under the Whomping Willow where Remus would be waiting, as a werewolf, on the other side. He figured out of all of them, Sirius would be the least likely to help him find Snape.
"I'd like to speak to Prongs," Harry said.
"How do you know that name?"
"Please can I just speak to him?"
"Why?"
Harry sighed. This was getting him nowhere. If there were a password, maybe Sirius would know what it was. He had no idea how to contact Sirius, though. But with any luck, he would still be somewhere in the castle. Harry ran downstairs, with the map in his hand, and stepped through the portrait hole, towards Dumbledore's office. If Sirius was still here, that's the only place Harry could think to look for him.
When he reached the stone gargoyle he realized there was another problem. Dumbledore always changed the password to his office for the new school year, and since this was only the first day of school, Harry didn't know it yet. He tried in vain for a few minutes, calling out every candy and sweet he could think of, but nothing worked. Finally, he gave up. He sat down against the wall opposite the statue, and picked up the map again. He was a bit surprised to see writing on it, that hadn't been there a moment ago.
"Why did you want to speak to me?"
"Prongs?" he whispered, shakily. Suddenly he felt very nervous. He was actually talking to the memory of his father.
"Yes."
"Please," he rushed on, "I need to see any hidden areas of Hogwart's, anything that doesn't normally show on the map. Will you help me?"
"Why do you need to see that?"
Harry was a bit confused; didn't he explain this already? He shook his head and started explaining his reason again.
"Severus Snape is trapped in a room I can't see on here. I don't know how to get there and I'm hoping you can show me a path. Please, I don't know how long he's been there or if he's hurt badly."
There was nothing again for a moment, when finally words began to appear.
"You're not going to show him, are you?"
Harry was a bit confused and was going to ask what this meant, when another sentence formed.
"Padfoot, I like a joke as much as you do, but when someone's life is in danger."
"Someone will find him, let him stew for a while."
"You heard him, Snape may have already been there a while."
The map was talking to itself, he realized. Arguing, actually. It would have been funny if the situation weren't so serious.
"Moony, Wormtail, what do you two think?"
"Leave me out of this one, I want nothing to do with it."
"Wormtail, you coward, alright then, Moony?"
"I think we should show him. There's no point in keeping it a secret from him."
"You're all against me, I see. Fine then, do what you want."
"What did you say your name was?"
It took Harry a minute to realize the map was once again addressing him before he answered.
"Harry. Harry Potter."
"Interesting. Well Harry Potter, nice talking to you, and I hope this helps." Only seconds after the words appeared, they were sucked back into the parchment. The layout of the school appeared once again, but this time, to Harry's surprise, there was not one but several new areas showing. He didn't take time to look over everything carefully now though, he began searching the dungeon area and quickly found Snape's name, in a room by himself.
He glanced up to Dumbledore's office to see that he; Sirius and Remus were all in there. For a moment, he considered waiting for one of them to come out, but in the end decided against that. Snape could be seriously hurt and Harry didn't want to leave him there any longer. Besides that he didn't see any names on the map that didn't belong there. He stood up quickly and headed off down the corridor, to the dungeon area.
As he got down near the dungeon area, he checked the map again. It showed a very long hallway branching off from the corridor he usually took to Snape's office, but running almost completely adjacent to it. What he couldn't understand, is when he was right next to where the map showed the hallway was supposed to start, there was nothing. He looked at the wall in front of him, searching it for any sign that it might open up somehow. He put his hands up and started feeling around for anything, a loose brick, a lever or button in one of the cracks, but there was nothing.
Harry glanced at the map again, and saw something happening. His name was right next to a small outline of a person, holding up a wand. The wand was being waved in a sort of counter-clockwise circular motion. Harry looked at it skeptically, but pulled out his wand. He began moving it in the same motion as the person on the map. After he did it four times, the wall suddenly seemed different, he could still see it in front of him, but he could also see beyond it.
He took a step forward, putting his hand up against the wall, but didn't feel it. It was as if he was touching air. So, he took a deep breath, and stepped through to the other side.
Harry spun around and saw the corridor behind him slowly fading out of view; luckily, the hall he was now in was lined with candles. He wondered briefly how they stayed lit if no one knew about this place and began walking.
After a few minutes, he came to what appeared to be a dead end. This time when he looked at the map, it didn't show anything. He knew this room though; he had been standing in it in his vision, which meant Snape was on the other side of the wall in front of him. He felt up and down the wall, looking for a way through, but again found nothing.
Seeing as how the map wasn't showing him anything this time, he decided to ask for help again.
"Can you tell me how I get through this wall?" He watched in silence, waiting, until finally the picture of the school was sucked into the parchment and words began to form.
"I can tell you how, but first you must tell me why you want to get in."
"I've already told you twice," Harry said, sounding exasperated.
"You didn't tell ME, you must've told one of the others."
Harry shook his head in amazement. He had never thought that while the map was enchanted to contain their personalities and memories, it would allow only one of those personalities to surface at a time, without the others knowing. It was almost living. So once again he explained that he was looking for Snape and why he needed to hurry.
"Are you a friend of his?" the map asked.
"Not exactly, he's a professor here," Harry answered wondering what this had to do with anything. "Will you tell me, please?"
"This was where I used to come, you know. The others never knew about it."
"That's um.nice," Harry said.
"I needed a place like this, to get away from everyone. Not even the instructors seemed to know about it."
"So you must know how to get through then, right? Will you tell me?"
There was nothing for a moment. Harry wasn't sure what he had done, but didn't say anything else. Finally a reply appeared.
"No one ever talked to me much, why should you be any different?" It paused then and Harry almost apologized when it began again. "Fine I'll tell you."
Harry sighed with relief as the words seeped into the paper, and a picture of the school emerged once again. The figure with his name next to it was moving towards the side of the wall where one of the many candles where lit. It picked up one of the candles on the right, walked across the room and placed it in an empty candleholder there. Harry moved quickly, imitating what the map had shown, and watched as the wall in front of him began to separate.
He could see very little of what was going on around him, but realized that Ron, Hermione and Ginny were on either side of him. Ron was staring at him in shock while the two girls were sobbing. He could hear yelling going on somewhere nearby, but it was muted, and it didn't seem to be of much importance to him now. Why wasn't he dead? Or was he? He never thought it took this long. When he had seen Cedric die, it appeared as though it happened immediately, he only hoped that Cedric hadn't had to endure this much pain. But then, he supposed, he must appear dead to anyone looking at him. No one was trying to help him, just staring.
Suddenly his vision blurred as his eyes began to water. Tears had sprung to his eyes from the pain consuming him. A single tear slid down his cheek and dripped to the floor.
Hermione saw this and inhaled sharply. Ron and Ginny looked at her anxiously.
"He isn't dead." she whispered, growing pale.
Ron and Ginny gaped at her, disbelief and hope mingled on their faces. But before either of them could speak, Dumbledore appeared at last. He knelt down gently by Harry's side and even though he couldn't see clearly, he was sure the headmaster looked relieved.
All of a sudden, the hold over him broke, and he could move again. Though he almost wished it hadn't because the pain worsened enormously. The smallest of cries escaped from him as he doubled over in pain. He barely heard the collective gasp of all the people nearby. Dumbledore quickly raised his wand and Harry was lifted up on a stretcher.
"Try to relax Harry," he heard Dumbledore say, sounding very far away. He had the vague sensation that they were moving, but kept his eyes squinted shut, willing the pain to end. "I'm taking you to the hospital wing."
If Dumbledore said anything else, Harry didn't hear it. Every part of him felt as if it was on fire, and he finally lost consciousness.
When Harry opened his eyes again, he was in the hospital wing. His vision was still a little blurry, but he could tell just by the scent of the room he was in. He tried to sit up, but immediately found that to be a bad idea as every muscle in his body was screaming for him to stop. There was movement beside him suddenly and he felt a hand on his shoulder, pressing him back down gently.
"Who's there?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"It's me, Sirius," came his godfather's voice.
Harry was filled with relief, glad to have him there; he made him feel safe and secure. As he laid back down the events from earlier slowly came back to him and he had one question he needed answered above all of them.
"Sirius.what happened to me? Why am I still alive?" Harry asked.
Sirius just looked at him, his face a mixture of fear and anger. He stayed silent for a long time, and Harry was beginning to think he wouldn't answer, when he finally spoke.
"I think that now is not the time for questions, Harry. You need rest more than anything else."
This was not what Harry wanted to hear; he pulled his arms up and forced himself into somewhat of a sitting position. He glanced around and saw his glasses on the table next to him, when he reached out for them, he nearly overbalanced, but Sirius had jumped up and caught him in time.
"Please don't Harry, not this time." He said handing the glasses to his godson. "I don't know how you survived, I'm not sure if anyone does. But you were very lucky tonight."
"But Sirius." Harry began stubbornly, not intending to give up.
"Harry, I don't know. You can ask me as many times as you want but it won't change that fact. I don't have the answers you're looking for."
"I do," came a voice from the doorway, they both looked to see Dumbledore standing a few feet away. He slowly walked over to Harry's bedside and sat down. He looked at Harry very seriously and seemed almost upset.
"I think it's time you and I have a little talk."
"Do you know why the curse didn't kill me?" Harry asked, looking anxiously at Dumbledore.
"Yes."
"Albus, is this really the time?" Sirius interrupted. He's been through too much today as it is."
Harry glared angrily at his godfather. But he didn't have to say anything, Dumbledore started to speak right away.
"Sirius, I'm afraid today, that this is more important. If Harry feels well enough to listen, then I'm going to answer his questions. Particularly one that he asked me so long ago, after his second encounter with Voldemort."
Harry's eyes widened. He sat up fully, ignoring any pain now and leaned forward. Dumbledore looked straight into Harry's eyes before taking a deep breath and speaking.
"Have you ever heard of a wizard by the name of Grindelwald?" he asked. Harry stared at him blankly for a moment, before the answer came to him.
"Isn't he the dark wizard that you defeated? In 1945, right?"
"Yes, that is correct. His powers were equal to Voldemort's in every way. People were living in fear of him and his followers and it was a very dark time. When I defeated him, I used something very rare, called Lunis."
"I've never heard of it. How does it work?" Harry asked.
"It has to be given to you, as only one wizard can have control of it. The one who has it, has access to incredible power, beyond what any of us could normally achieve. It works differently for each person that has control of it, so there is no way to explain exactly how it works, but when a person knows that they have Lunis, they can begin to understand how to use it."
Harry barely nodded at him, waiting for him to continue.
"After I defeated Grindelwald, I no longer had any control over Lunis, couldn't use the power it offered anymore. I had to find someone to give it to, but I wouldn't give it to just anyone. I had to be sure whoever had the power would not abuse it. So after many years passed, and Voldemort began gaining support, I knew my time was running out. I asked one of the brightest students ever to attend Hogwart's if he would take on the responsibility. It was your father, Harry. James Potter."
Harry stared at him in disbelief.
"But.how.what.I." he stammered.
"Be patient, I will explain everything. James accepted on the spot, he knew it was an honor to be the holder of Lunis. So I performed the incantation to give the spell to him immediately. He and I went to tell Lily that night and decided then, it would be best for all of you to go into hiding, at least until James was ready to use Lunis. That is why your family needed a secret keeper," Dumbledore said. Harry thought he detected a hint of guilt in his voice, but didn't say anything about it.
"So, Voldemort knows about Lunis then?" Harry asked.
"He knows only a little about it, such as the power it gives you. Though he doesn't realize it is limited to one use. He knows that you can be given Lunis by the person holding it, or take it from them by force."
"How would you take it by force?" Harry asked. Dumbledore looked at Harry for a moment before answering.
"You would have to kill them. If you kill the person holding Lunis then you take possession of it immediately."
Harry looked down at his hands, trying to process all that was being said.
"So, he must have it then, right? Voldemort killed my father so it must've gone to him."
"No, he does not. You see, being the holder of Lunis has another benefit, one that Voldemort thankfully doesn't know of. You become invincible to almost anything. The only way you can be killed, is if you are pierced through the heart."
"But, my father was killed with Avada Kedavra!" Harry said, shuddering when he said the words. "How is that possible if he was the holder?"
"Because, your father knew when Voldemort attacked, that he did not yet have the ability to use Lunis. Once you become the holder, it must adjust to your body before you can use it, which unfortunately does not happen as quickly as we would like. So he performed the same incantation as I had, and gave it to you."
Harry sat there in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Why?" he asked when he found his voice.
"Because you are his son. He realized that neither him, nor Lily would be able to escape, and this was his only option left, to ensure that you lived."
"Then my mother dying for me, isn't what saved me from the curse?" Harry asked.
"Oh she saved you. She's the reason the curse rebounded from you and hit Voldemort, and why you were left with the scar. It's also the reason he can't touch you without feeling the same pain your scar gives you when he is near." Dumbledore paused for a moment before continuing. "Voldemort knew once he had killed your father that he no longer held Lunis because he would have felt it transferring to him. He quickly figured out that James must have transferred it before he arrived, and that's when he went after you. But if he had known everything, he would not have tried to kill you or your father using Avada Kedavra, as it wouldn't work while you have possession of Lunis."
"So then, if my mother hadn't died, I still would have lived?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but everything would be quite different."Dumbledore began.
"Of course it would've! I would have a mother right now!" Harry exclaimed, feeling angry. "Why would she do it when she knew? She knew I would've been fine!"
"She did what she did out of love for you," Dumbledore said firmly. "Consider this, if Voldemort had not killed Lily, and instead tried to kill you first, the curse would not have rebounded. Voldemort wouldn't have lost power, he might've killed your mother anyway and taken you away with him until he figured out how to get the power from you. He might've even used you, raised you as if you were his. I believe very strongly that she knew exactly what she was doing."
Harry, again, was speechless. The thought of being raised by Voldemort, being brought up to believe his ways were right, was too much for him to bear. He was feeling very cold right now, and his hands were shaking. He clamped them together, trying to hide the fact. He looked at Dumbledore, who was looking back at him, then turned to Sirius, who he was surprised to see looked a bit angry.
"So, let me see if I understand this correctly," Sirius spoke up after having remained silent through the entire discussion. "You gave possession of Lunis over to James, so that he might be able to defeat Voldemort with it, but he was found before he was able to use it. He gave it to Harry for his protection because he saw no other way to save him. Is that right?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"Okay, and when you have possession of Lunis, it gives you power beyond anything we can imagine, but you can only use it once and it's different for each person. Once it is used, it must be passed on before it can be used again. It makes the holder invincible to anything except being pierced though the heart. Stop me if I'm wrong here," he said a little irritably. Dumbledore simply nodded again.
"Voldemort has been after Harry to gain control of Lunis, but doesn't yet realize he can't kill him, or at least not how to do it. The only things he DOES know about, are the power you gain, and that you have to kill to gain it, right?" For the third time, Dumbledore nodded.
"Why is this the first I'm hearing of this?" Sirius asked quietly. "You told me when I was originally going to be the Secret Keeper for the Potters that they had information Voldemort wanted. You said you couldn't tell me what it was because then I couldn't be a Secret Keeper, I'd need one."
"That's right. If you knew everything about it then it would've been twice as dangerous for you. He would have gotten the information from you in one way or another and we would be living in a very different world today, if we were alive at all."
Sirius looked at him a moment before continuing.
"Alright, then why didn't you tell me about it later? You could have at any point over the last three or four years that I've been around here. Why would you keep it a secret?"
Harry was looking back and forth between his godfather and the headmaster, waiting anxiously for the answer.
"I didn't tell you because I believe this all could've been prevented and that you'd blame me for not preventing it."
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, clearly confused.
"I waited too long. I knew that it would take quite a while before James could use any of the power Lunis would give him, but I waited because I wasn't sure that power should be unleashed. It was something I had no right to decide. Because of that, James and Lily are dead, and Voldemort, while he was certainly delayed for quite a while, is almost back to the height of his power today."
Harry was stunned. He had never considered even for a second that Dumbledore was to blame for any of this. Before he could open his mouth he heard Sirius start talking, sounding much softer than a few moments earlier.
"You know that isn't true. You did what you had to do, and you shouldn't blame yourself for anything. Even if you had given it to him earlier, Wormtail would have ended up as the Secret Keeper and Voldemort would have found them just as quickly."
Dumbledore nodded at him, and even smiled a little.
"Sirius, I give the same argument to myself every time I think about it. The truth is there is no way of knowing what would have happened. We can't predict the future, so we are forced to live with the past. Just as long as we don't live in it, we'll be fine."
"Why couldn't you tell me about this when I asked you so long ago?" Harry asked.
"Because you were not ready to use it then. Lunis is very powerful magic and if you are not ready to use it, it could be very painful, even dangerous. But by not telling you about it, you were safe. You see, it will only adjust to you when you know about it. I was going to tell you last year, but when things became complicated, and you were given the knowledge, I knew I could not. You never know how one type of magic is going to affect another when they are combined, and since both types are potentially dangerous, I didn't want to chance it."
"I don't feel any different though. How do I know it's working?"
"You won't feel anything different, but once you have complete control over it, it will be available whenever you need it. Take care though, don't use it until it becomes absolutely necessary, because when you use it once, you never can again."
Harry sighed, heavily.
"This is all very confusing. I have no idea what this power will do or how to use it, but I've apparently had it almost my entire life."
"Best not to dwell on it, no one can tell you what you'll be able to do with it, so there will be no answer until that time comes."
Harry looked at him skeptically, thinking how impossible that suggestion sounded. How could he not think about it? He looked over at Sirius who still looked a little irritated, but much calmer than before. Then turned back to Dumbledore as another thought occurred to him.
"What happened, after Mr. Gridman used the curse on me? Is he still here?"
"Mr. Gridman is no longer here. Though we know now that Voldemort sent him here. He is a death eater."
"How did he get in?" Harry asked weakly, the color draining from his face.
"And why didn't you know about this?" Sirius asked, anger flashing in his eyes again. "Don't you check these things out before letting strangers into the school?"
"Of course I do," Dumbledore replied, calmly. "The only way he would have been able to hide the fact that he was a death eater is for someone in the ministry to have helped them."
"What about Snape? Wouldn't he have recognized him?" Sirius asked.
"Possibly, but we haven't been able to ask him yet."
"What do you mean?" Sirius cried, standing up. "He was right there, wasn't he? Why didn't he try to stop Gridman? Did he help at all?"
"Sirius, I know this is very hard for you but please calm down. I would never do anything to knowingly put Harry in harm's way."
Sirius slowly sat back down, looking anything but calm. He took a deep breath and looked up at Dumbledore before speaking again.
"I do know you would never do that. I apologize. Now please tell me, why haven't you talked to Snape about this?"
"Because we can't find him."
"He left? That coward!" Sirius said, fiercely.
"No, he didn't leave. The person in the great hall with Mr. Gridman was not Severus Snape. It was a shapeshifter."
Harry's jaw dropped, he looked at Sirius to see he was speechless as well.
"Is he okay?" he managed to ask.
"I don't know," Dumbledore replied. "No one knows where he is."
"So, do we still have the shapeshifter than?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore shook his head slowly.
"No, they are extremely fast. When he saw that we overpowered Mr. Gridman, he ran."
"Then maybe Gridman can tell us where Snape is!" Harry cried. His stomach was knotting. Another person hurt so Voldemort could get to him.
"Apparently, he was prepared for the possibility that he may not succeed in his mission. We used Veritaserum on him, and he told us that he had been the one to stun Severus, long enough for the shapeshifter to take him elsewhere."
"Well where could he have taken him? I mean, it doesn't sound like they left the school."
"We are searching for him now, I don't want you to worry about it. If he is here, we will find him."
"And what if he isn't here?" Harry asked. Dumbledore didn't answer. Harry slumped back down on the pillows, feeling horribly guilty. The pain was nowhere near as bad as before, but it was still bothering him.
"So where is Gridman now?" he asked.
"I informed the ministry of what had happened, they sent over people to take custody of him."
"Do we know who let him come here in the first place?" Sirius asked. "You said it must've been someone at the ministry."
"No. There was not enough time to fully question him and my primary concern was for Harry's safety and finding Severus."
"Why would Voldemort send him, though? He definitely planned to kill me, but then he must've thought Gridman would take possession of Lunis."
"My only suspicion is that Voldemort would then have killed Gridman, to take the power for himself."
"So, he was just using him." Harry said flatly.
"That is what he does," Dumbledore said, looking angry all of a sudden. "He has no regard for human life. All he cares about is gaining power, and he doesn't care who he kills to get it."
Madam Pomfrey walked over than, holding a cup in her hands, she glanced warily at Sirius, but didn't say anything. She turned towards Dumbledore. "I really must insist Mr. Potter take this now. It's been much longer than we talked about."
Dumbledore nodded.
"Of course Poppy, I apologize," he then turned to Harry, smiling. "I will see you tomorrow morning." He got up and beckoned Sirius, who truly did not look as if he wanted to leave, to follow him. When the two men were gone, Madam Pomfrey handed him the cup.
"Drink this all now," she said gently. Harry took the cup from her; he saw she looked somewhat sad. He turned away from her quickly and raised the cup, drinking every last drop. Slowly, he slid down under the covers, and drifted off into a mercifully dreamless sleep.
When Harry finally woke some time later, he saw the room was filled with brilliant sunshine. He pushed himself up, stiffly and reached for his glasses. As he looked around again, he saw that Madam Pomfrey had noticed him up, and was on her way over.
"Good Morning Harry," she said pleasantly, checking him over. "You're up early today. Professor Dumbledore wanted to know when you came around, so I'll be leaving for just a few moments. I don't want you to move until I return, understood?" she asked firmly. Harry could tell this wasn't question. He nodded at her and watched until she was out of sight.
He sat back against the pillows again. His first night back for his last year of school and he'd spent it in the hospital wing. He shook his head in disgust; if he never had to sleep in one of these beds again it would be too soon. There was a noise at the door, and he looked up to see Dumbledore walk in, followed by Madam Pomfrey. He nodded at her, then went over to Harry.
"How are you feeling?" he asked when he reached the bed. He was smiling again, and he looked like his usual self, much different from what he had been last night.
"A little stiff, but much better than yesterday," Harry replied. "Did you find Professor Snape yet?" he asked.
Dumbledore shook his head, his smile faltering.
"No, not yet, I'm afraid."
"Have you searched the entire castle? Harry asked. "I know you said you didn't know about every room in here."
"That's true, I don't. I'd be amazed to find someone who did," Dumbledore said. "But I don't want you to worry about that right now. We have no intentions of giving up."
Harry just nodded at him, again thinking Dumbledore had made an impossible suggestion.
"Can I go to classes today?" he asked hopefully. He prayed that he wouldn't have to spend his first full day here.
Dumbledore smiled at him in amusement.
"Do you think you are well enough? If you feel you are up to it, and not just because you don't want to stay in here, then I will allow it."
"Yes!" Harry answered eagerly. "I'm just a little achy, but I'll be fine."
"Very well. I will tell Poppy. She'll want to check you over again, but then you can head up to your tower." He started to walk away then, but turned back as if he forgot something. "The password, for you to get in, is 'Broomstick.' Wouldn't want you going off without that yet again," he said, smiling. Then he turned and went over to Madam Pomfrey's office.
After more poking and prodding, Madam Pomfrey finally let Harry go. He changed as quickly as possible and left the hospital wing. When he reached the portrait of the fat lady he said the password and stepped inside. No one was there; everyone was probably still asleep, or just getting up. He moved towards the staircase and headed up to the seventh year dorms. He pushed open the door quietly to see Seamus, Dean and Neville sitting up in bed, all yawning and stretching. Ron was standing up, pulling his robes out of his closet, when he saw Harry. The room went uncomfortably silent, and Harry just walked over to the only open bed, with all of his things next to it. He didn't make eye contact with anyone, as he didn't want to see fear or pity staring back at him.
As he opened his trunk and started rummaging through it, Ron stepped over to him.
"Don't hate me for asking this, but how are you doing?" he said quietly. Harry glanced up at him, smirking a little.
"Why would I hate you for that? And I'm doing much better, thanks."
Ron grinned back at him.
"Oh, I don't know. I seem to recall you not liking anyone to fuss over you, or worry about you."
"Well I don't," Harry replied. "So I'm lucky enough to have friends that force it on me anyway." He looked over his shoulder at the other three, who were all, as he expected, gaping at him. Would there be a time when he didn't see this almost regularly, he thought to himself.
"Guys, I'm okay. Still a little achy, but alive."
"But how?" Seamus asked, sounding almost suspicious. Harry looked at him, knowing he didn't want to tell them anything about Lunis, and decided to lie.
"I don't know," he said and shrugged. "Maybe he did the curse wrong."
"Not likely, I heard he's a death eater!" Dean exclaimed. Seamus nodded and Neville just looked at him, terrified.
"Who told you that?" Harry asked, trying to sound casual.
"Just heard it, you know, around." Dean said, keeping Harry's gaze.
"Well, maybe he is. I haven't been told anything yet, been asleep since last night." He turned back to his trunk and wouldn't look at them again. When he and Ron were the only ones left in the room, he pulled out the Marauder's Map.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked confused. "You just got back and already you're pulling that thing out. Tell me you aren't planning on sneaking around."
"Oh, sorry Hermione," Harry joked. "Don't worry, I'm not sneaking anywhere. I just want to look at something, that's all."
Ron looked at him skeptically, but didn't say anything. He watched as Harry pulled out his wand and turned the map on, then leaned over his shoulder as they both searched the map.
"What are we looking for?" Ron whispered.
"Snape."
"What? Why?" Ron asked.
"Because he's missing," Harry replied, sighing and closing the map. "And he's not here."
"But we all saw Snape last night. How could he be missing?" Ron asked.
Harry sighed, inwardly. Here we go, another year of reliving every bad incident I go through. He shook the thought away and looked at Ron.
"I'll tell you later, I promise. I know that Hermione and Ginny will ask anyway so I'm just gonna wait. Besides there's too much to tell, it's gonna take a while. After classes tonight, okay?" Harry asked.
Ron looked as if this were not okay at all, but didn't want to push his friend. He nodded, slowly.
"Okay, tonight then."
"Good, now lets get downstairs before we miss breakfast, I didn't get much to eat last night as it is," Harry said, putting the map back in his trunk. The two of them left the dorm together and went through the portrait hole, towards the great hall.
When they walked into the great hall, a hush fell over the room. All eyes turned to Harry, who was doing his best not to meet any of them. He glanced over to the Slytherin table, most of whom were snickering at him, and then across the rest of the room, at a sea of worried and frightened faces.
The two of them moved quickly to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Hermione looked as if she might cry again, and Ginny already was, slightly.
"Harry, I thought you were dead." Hermione whispered. "We all did."
Harry wished she wouldn't look at him like that, as if he were already dead, he tried to smile at her reassuringly.
"Well I'm not dead. I'm here, very much alive," he looked at her, then at Ginny, before continuing. "Please, don't cry," he said gently. "Really I'm fine."
"You don't know what it looked like though.seeing you.seeing." she choked on her words. Harry didn't know how to reply to this, he looked at Ron, who turned to Hermione.
"Hermione," he started, taking her hand. "I know what you're feeling, we all thought he was dead, but try and be happy that he isn't, instead of thinking about something that didn't happen."
She looked up at him thru red, puffy eyes.
"What happened?" Ginny asked, startling everyone. "It looked like you were dead, but then you moved, and it just looked like it hurt so.so much.."
"Ginny," Harry began. "I will tell you, but not now. If I start, I won't be able to finish and we don't have much time left before class. Later on, I promise."
She looked back at him, but didn't speak, just wiped at her eyes a little. Ron looked over at Harry, who was staring at his food, none of it having been touched.
"What class do we have first?" Ron asked trying to change the subject.
"Potions," Hermione replied, weakly. She pulled out a handkerchief and delicately blew her nose.
"What?" Harry asked, jerking his head up. He saw Ginny and Hermione looking at him, questioningly.
"Never mind," he said quietly. One way or the other they would find out Snape was missing. He didn't want to bring it up and get another barrage of questions, so he brushed it off. He wondered, briefly why the class hadn't been cancelled and who they'd found for a replacement.
He quickly shoved down as much of the food on his plate as possible, before getting up with the others. Ginny headed off to her class, while he, Ron and Hermione headed for the dungeon area.
They walked into the potions classroom, which was almost completely full at this point, and took a seat at one of the back tables. Whoever was coming had not shown up yet. Harry set his bag down beside him and looked over at Hermione. She still looked very pale, but she wasn't crying anymore. A voice from the front of the room startled him out of his thoughts.
"So, Potter, enjoy all your attention this morning? We all know how much you love people staring at you," Malfoy said loudly.
"Why don't you be quiet?' Hermione screamed, standing up. "You have no right to even speak to Harry after what you did!"
Harry quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back down to her seat, she was absolutely livid. He didn't want her to go saying anything in front of everyone about last year. He looked at Malfoy who knew what clearly knew what she was referring to, and he looked furious at her.
"I wasn't speaking to you mudblood," he spat.
This time it was Ron who sprang out of his seat.
"Don't you ever call Hermione that again," he said in a deadly quiet voice.
"You gonna stop me?" Malfoy said standing up as well, he pulled his wand out and pointed it at Ron.
"What, may I ask, is going on here?" came a voice from the doorway. Every head in the room, except Ron's and Malfoy's, turned to see who it belonged to.
A young woman, with a petite build and shoulder length dark red hair, stood in the doorway. She was wearing long dark blue robes, and was carrying a stack of papers and books.
No one answered her question, just stared at her. She strode up to the front of the room and set the stack she was carrying down on the desk. Then she walked over to Malfoy, who was still holding his wand out at Ron.
"Why do you have your wand out, surely you weren't planning on doing anything to break the rules, were you?" she asked, fixing him with a stern glare.
"There's no rule that says we can't use magic in the classrooms," Malfoy said, quietly.
"There is if you use it on another student," the woman replied, firmly. "Put it down now."
Malfoy glared at her, but lowered his wand.
"You must be Draco Malfoy," the woman said, smirking.
"How would you know that?" he asked, snidely.
"You look like your father," she replied, "among other similar traits."
He rolled his eyes at her and sat back in his chair. The woman then turned her attention to Ron.
"Would you be willing to tell me what happened?" she asked.
Ron looked from her, to Draco, and back again, before answering.
"Just an argument, nothing big," he said in a low voice. She nodded at him, but her expression said she knew he was hiding something.
"Take you seat please," she said to Ron before addressing the rest of the class. "My name is Professor Allison Gazten. While Professor Snape is away, I'll be taking over his classes. Since he hasn't started on anything yet, it being the first day of classes and all, I will use my own schedule for the time being. Now if you'll all turn to page 24 in your books, we can begin."
Harry looked at Ron, who was still looking daggers at Malfoy, then back to Professor Gazten. He wondered if she had come from the ministry as well, and was sure Dumbledore wouldn't allow another person in without checking them out more closely. He pushed the thought out of his mind however, as the lesson got underway.
Potions was halfway over and Harry's was turning out exactly as the book said it should. Hermione was also doing well, and trying to help Ron at the same time, as his potion was red when it should have been orange. Professor Gazten was walking around the room trying to help anyone who seemed to be having trouble.
"Wow, nice to have someone who isn't going to tell us how horrible we are just because of what house we're in," Ron commented, watching Gazten helping out Lavender and Parvati. He looked over at Malfoy again, who was having many problems with his potion, which was a horrid shade of green.
"Green? How do you mess up that badly?" Ron whispered, stifling a laugh, as Gazten was now nearing them.
"How are we doing?" she asked, pleasantly. She looked down at Harry and Hermione's potions and smiled. "Doesn't seem as though either of you need any help right now, 10 points each for Gryffindor. Excellent job, both of you." Then she turned to look at Ron. "How about you, Mr. Weasley?"
"Oh, um.I think I'm okay. Thank you," he replied awkwardly. She nodded at him and continued around the room. When she got to Malfoy, she put her hand up to her face, to cover the laugh, threatening to escape.
"It appears you didn't add any Moor's Root, Mr. Malfoy. Did you see that on the list of ingredients?"
"Yes," he hissed at her. "I can read you know."
"Well, then tell me what happened," she said, her eyes flashing with anger. It was the first time all class she appeared this way. "If you can read, why didn't you add it in?"
He just shrugged, then turned his back on her.
"Well, if you're going to be disrespectful, then fine. Ten points from Slytherin."
Malfoy glared at her, and she returned the look, as if daring him to say anything else. He saw what she was doing and turned his head. In the back of the room, Harry, Ron and Hermione all grinned at each other.
At the end of the class, Gryffindor had lost no points at all. Harry grabbed his things together and followed Ron and Hermione out of the class. He looked carefully at Professor Gazten as he was leaving, but she was just going through her paper, paying him no attention in particular. They headed out into the hallway, and off to their next class.
"I like her," Hermione said as they walked along the hall. "Though she certainly didn't seem to like Malfoy very much."
"Does anybody?" Ron asked, laughing. "Besides the gorillas he pays to, I mean."
"He was just rude to her," Harry said.
"But she knew who he was right away. Remember?" she asked.
"I know, because he looked like Lucius, I heard her."
"I think it's more than that," Hermione said.
"How so?" Harry asked. He still wasn't sure he trusted the new Potions teacher, but at least she hadn't tried to kill him yet.
"I don't know, it's just.a feeling."
"A feeling? You sure it's not your subconscious telling you that when really what happened is you read about some feud between their families or something?" Ron joked.
Hermione elbowed him in the ribs, playfully.
"Well at least ONE of us reads," she said, feigning an insulted look. He put his arm around her shoulder and drew her closer to him, kissing her forehead. As Harry watched his two best friends he realized how much he missed Cho. He had no idea when he would see her again, and made a mental note to write to her as soon as possible.
"So," he began, clearing his throat lightly, "Where are we going, anyway?"
Hermione whipped her schedule out of a folder and quickly skimmed it.
"Well, I have Arithmancy, which means you two probably have."
"Divination!" Ron groaned. "Oh, man. Why would they make us take that on our first day back? It's too cruel!"
Harry wasn't looking forward to it either, especially if Professor Trelawny had heard anything of last night's little spectacle. So they walked with Hermione as far as possible, then split off, heading for the north tower. As they reached the rope ladder, Ron looked at Harry one more time, rolling his eyes, then began climbing.
They walked into the classroom, which was just as stuffy as ever, with the smoky, scented air, and sat down at their usual desk. When the rest of the class arrived, Professor Trelawny came flitting out of the cloudiness, into the center of the room.
"Good day, to all of you. I'm sure you're all anxious to begin, so I won't waste any time today. We will start with something that is very difficult, and will most likely take the full school year to perfect. For those of you that can do this, you truly have the gift, for the rest of you, I offer my apologies."
"What is she on about now?" Ron whispered to Harry. Harry just shook his head and motioned for Ron to keep quiet, as Trelawny was looking in their direction.
"Harry," she cried, catching sight of him and rushing over. "Oh my dear, how are you?"
"Fine," he said quietly, wishing she would just get on with the lesson. He now felt every set of eyes in the class on him.
"Tell us, how did you do it? You survived the most deadly curse in all the wizarding world twice. You must have known what you were doing this time, and it must've taken a great amount of spiritual power."
Harry's jaw dropped and he looked up at her to find she was staring straight back at him, utterly serious. He couldn't believe she would ask this of him in front of the entire class.
"I didn't do anything," he said through clenched teeth. This unfortunately did not pacify Trelawny.
"Come now, don't be modest. The energy you must have conjured had to have been enormous. You must've somehow called on spirits from beyond to."
"Look I said I didn't do anything!" he hissed, glaring at her. Why did she refuse to use some tact once in a while?
Trelawny glared at him, indignantly, before turning around in a swirl of scarves and stalking back to the center of the class.
Now in a particularly bad mood, Harry sat and half-listened to what Trelawny was telling the class. Ron didn't say anything more to draw her attention as he felt it wouldn't turn out well. Most of the class were seeming to pay attention, but every once in a while a student's gaze would stray to where Harry was sitting. Everyone was curious to know how he had survived.
As it turned out, the project they would be working on was mind- reading. That should be easy enough to fake, at least, Harry thought. As he listened to her go on and on about the stages they would go through in order to master this 'gift,' his eyes started to water.
He pushed his fingers up under his glasses and wiped at them, but it only made it worse. He pulled his glasses off, and put both of his hands up, furiously rubbing at his eyes. Then, without warning, they began to burn. Harry inhaled sharply, but didn't cry out. Ron noticed, however, and turned towards his friend. "What's wrong?" he asked, sounding worried.
Harry had his elbows on the desk with the balls of his hands pressed into his eyes, hard.
"My eyes, they're burning," Harry whispered. The burning became intense and a stab of pain went through his head. He bit back the cry threatening to escape and just kept his jaw clenched. Why is this happening here of all places, he thought, bitterly.
"Do you need to leave? Go see Madam Pomfrey or something?" Ron whispered back.
"No, I." he began, when another voice interrupted him.
"What's going on here?" Professor Trelawny said sounding annoyed. Harry tried to lift his head away from his hands, but the pain intensified the second he took the pressure away. He shut his eyes tightly and shoved his hands back into place.
Harry didn't move. He wasn't listening to Professor Trelawny as she kept at him to explain what was happening, nor did he hear the nervous whispering from the students around the room. All he cared about was the pain he was feeling. His eyes felt as if they were on fire, and he had no idea what to do.
Ever so slowly, the pain began to ease. After what seemed like hours, he was able to take his hands away from his eyes. All the noise in the room started coming in more clearly.
"Mr. Potter!" came Trelawny's uncharacteristically stern voice. "Will you please explain what's happening? What are you seeing? We need to know everything!"
Harry groaned inwardly. Of course she was going to make a big deal out of this. He waited for a moment, before finally opening his eyes. But what he saw gave him a start, his stomach twisted violently and he blinked a few times.
"I can't see," he said, sounding strangely calm.
"Don't lie, I know something was happening just then." she began.
"No, I can't see! As in right now, I can't see anything."
"Well what did you see before?" she asked eagerly.
Harry would have glared at her if he knew where she was standing. Here he was blind and all she cared about was if he had seen some premonition or vision or something.
"I saw exactly what I'm seeing now. Nothing. My eyes were burning and my head hurt, and then the pain stopped. Now I can't see."
"Do your eyes still burn?" Ron's voice floated over from beside him.
"Yes, but not as badly," he answered.
"You should probably go see Madam Pomfrey then," Ron said, urgently. Harry felt sick. Was he going to spend the entire year in the hospital wing? He gave a disgusted sigh and put his head in his hands.
"Harry," Trelawny spoke up, sounding ever so gentle. "I truly believe that if you leave now, you won't be able to figure out what just happened. This isn't the first time something like this has happened to you, and look what happened when you left last time." She was looking at him with pity and shaking her head, but he couldn't see this.
He was utterly infuriated by her comment and stood up, feeling around for his bag.
"No, I think it's best that I go," he said stiffly. He almost wished he could see the disappointed look on her face. "Ron, will you help me?" he asked, lowering his voice.
"Absolutely," Ron said, and Harry could hear him get up as well. He took one of Harry's arms and started to lead him away, when suddenly, Harry jerked to a stop.
"What's wrong?" Ron asked, sounding concerned.
"I.I think I see something," Harry asked, straining to make his eyes come into focus. A moment ago everything had been black, but now there were shapes forming, still dark and shadowy, but better than nothing.
"Do you see me?" Ron asked.
"No.it's not in this room. Hold on, it's clearing up."
Harry watched as a vision slowly formed, seemingly in front of him. Though he knew that was impossible because the room he was in was bright and what he was seeing looked like dark and dingy. It was dimly lit, and he could just make out a figure standing against one of the walls, his arms raised above him. Finally everything snapped into view, and he inhaled sharply when he saw who it was.
"Snape." he whispered.
"What?" Ron asked, trying to keep his voice down, as Trelawny was eyeing them, suspiciously. "You can see him? Where is he?"
"I don't know," Harry said, anxiously. "But he's in trouble, wherever he is, he's chained to a wall."
"Does anything look familiar? What else is there?"
"Nothing!" Harry said, on the verge of panic. Now he knew Snape was in danger and he had no way to help him. "I wish I could just look around the room or something, but all I can see is him."
"C'mon," Ron said suddenly, beginning to pull Harry forward again. "Or she's gonna keep us here. Harry knew he meant Trelawny, and nodded, but he didn't even take two steps before he stopped again.
"What now?" Ron asked, sounding a bit frustrated. "I'm closer to him. As soon as we moved it was like I was walking in the room I'm looking at." Harry took a step away from Ron and began to turn away.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked, sounding confused.
"I'm gonna look around the room." Harry answered, taking small steps back into the class.
"Here?" Ron asked incredulously.
"Ron, I don't know how long I'm gonna be able to see this, I have to while I have the chance," Harry said over his shoulder as he kept walking. He walked right thru the middle of class and Trelawny stopped speaking to the class and addressed Harry.
"You can't tell me you're not seeing anything this time, Mr. Potter. What's going on?"
Harry was about to say he wasn't seeing anything, when he decided she wasn't going to fall for it anymore.
"I'm not sure, really, but I do see something." He was walking around the room with his hands in front of him, shuffling his feet slowly so he didn't trip over anything. In the room he was looking at, there was no one besides Snape in the room. He was now all the way across from where Snape was and couldn't see a door anywhere, just a wall.
"Please," Trelawny spoke up, excitedly, "Tell me what you can see."
Harry thought miserably to himself how he wished she would just shut up, but kept it to himself.
"Like I said, I'm not sure. It's just a bunch of jumbled shapes right now." He had stopped moving now as the wall in front of him in his sight was blocking his path. He held his hand right up in front of him, but couldn't see it, so he took a deep breath, and stepped forward. For a moment he saw nothing, when he realized he must be inside the wall. He took another few steps and came out on the other side. When he looked over his shoulder he could see the wall, still solid behind him. He began moving again. The room he had come out into was empty, with a few candles hanging on the walls. He realized Professor Trelawny was speaking to him again. She sounded aggravated, as if she'd been trying to get his attention for a while.
"Mr. Potter, I asked you why you are moving throughout the room. What is that doing for what you're seeing?"
"Not much," Harry replied quickly. "The shapes keep moving in and out of focus as I move."
"Really?" she replied quickly. "What do they resemble?"
"Nothing yet," he said curtly, and continued walking. He made it halfway down the hallway he was in when he came to the wall of the classroom. He cursed under his breath, and wished he'd had just a little more room. From what he could see, there was nothing but an empty hallway in front of him. He stared down it, hoping to see something that looked familiar, but there was nothing.
He looked to his left, then to his right. Solid walls were on either side of him, but if it hadn't stopped him before, why should it now? He decided to try right first, he took a few steps toward it, then finally into it. When he was through this time a smile spread across his face, he recognized instantly where he was. He was standing in one of the hallways in the dungeon area of Hogwart's. He knew it because it was so close to Snape's office.
Without any warning, the vision of the hallway went painfully bright white. He tried to shut his eyes, but it didn't make a difference. But after only a few seconds, it was gone, and he was staring around the divination classroom again, with every pair of eyes staring back at him in complete silence. He looked at where he was, and saw he had maybe three steps left before he came to the corner and would have run out of room entirely.
"Something wrong?" Trelawny asked, seeming all too eager.
Harry shook his head.
"I need to go to the hospital wing," he said quickly, walking quickly back over to where his things lay on the floor.
"But.but." she started.
"It's gone, whatever it was. I can't see it anymore, my head is pounding, I really need to go," he said anxious to leave but having no intention of going to see Madam Pomfrey. His head wasn't hurting in the least, but he didn't want her to know that.
"Fine," she said, as Harry was already at the trapdoor. "But you won't need any company since you can obviously see again. Mr. Weasley, please take your seat. Ron rolled his eyes and walked back to his desk as Harry half climbed, half jumped down to the hallway below. He took off immediately for the Gryffindor tower.
When he was through the portrait hole, he took the stairs two at a time up to the dorms. Throwing his books on the bed, he flung open his trunk and whipped out the Marauder's Map. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out his wand, and pointed it at the map.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
Instantaneously, the map came alive. He looked carefully around the entire dungeon area, but couldn't find Snape's name anywhere. How was this possible? Unless the vision he had seen wasn't right. But something told him it was, indeed, exactly where Snape was trapped. He picked the map up and held it out in front of him, then, only for lack of any other option, he started talking to it.
"Is there anything you aren't showing me? Part of the school that's cut off from the rest, hidden even?"
Harry watched carefully, waiting for any response. For a few moments, nothing happened, then, just as he was about to try again, the image of the school swirled away, leaving a blank piece of paper. Harry got worried for a moment, wondering what he should do, when words started to appear.
"Who wants to know?"
"I do," he said immediately, then felt stupid for saying it, so started again. "My name is Harry Potter. I want to know." He waited, tensely, for the map's response.
"Why do you want to know?" came the next question.
Harry thought for a moment. He wasn't sure what the map was looking for. He knew that he had to be speaking to either his dad, Remus, Sirius, or Pettigrew, but he didn't know which one, or ones, he was speaking with now. Since the four of them were big on practical jokes, he wasn't sure it would lead him in the right direction if he gave a wrong answer. Finally, he decided just to tell the truth.
"Someone is in trouble, in an area of the school that I can't see on the map. But I know it's still part of the school."
The next response was almost immediate.
"Who's in trouble?"
Harry closed his eyes. This wasn't good; he remembered how the map had reacted when Snape had talked to it in his third year. It would certainly recognize his name. He decided, this time, to lie.
"Rubeus Hagrid," he said, saying the first name to pop into his head.
There was no response for quite some time, and Harry was beginning to worry again, when finally another sentence appeared.
"You are lying."
Harry stared at the words for a moment before finding his voice again.
"How." he started, not really wanting to admit he lied, but seeing no other option. "How do you know?"
"Are you going to tell the truth or not?" came the reply. Harry realized that there was no point in pushing his question, or in lying any further.
"Severus Snape," he said quietly.
"In trouble, is he?" came the reply. Harry could almost see the smirk in the words; it was uncanny.
"Yes, he is. Please I know you don't like him, but." he started.
"Don't like him? Why ever would you say that?"
Harry rolled his eyes; this was exactly what he'd been afraid of.
"Please just tell me, can it be done or not?" he asked, a little frustrated.
There was no response this time. He waited over five minutes and still nothing appeared.
"Are you still there?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Then why won't you tell me?" he almost shouted.
"You haven't said the password yet."
Harry thought frantically. When Fred and George had given this to him, they only showed him how to turn it on and off; they never mentioned any passwords.
"I don't know the password," Harry said bluntly.
"Too bad," the map replied. Harry glared angrily at the map. There had to be some way around this. He knew the map could show him what he needed, and he didn't know how hurt Snape actually was. He thought for a moment before asking his next question.
"To whom am I speaking with now?"
After another moment, the map finally replied.
"My friends call me Padfoot."
Harry didn't know if this was good or bad, he knew how incredibly stubborn his godfather could be, and it must've been just as bad when he was a teenager as it is now. Not to mention that he was the one who thought it would be 'funny' to send Snape down the secret passage under the Whomping Willow where Remus would be waiting, as a werewolf, on the other side. He figured out of all of them, Sirius would be the least likely to help him find Snape.
"I'd like to speak to Prongs," Harry said.
"How do you know that name?"
"Please can I just speak to him?"
"Why?"
Harry sighed. This was getting him nowhere. If there were a password, maybe Sirius would know what it was. He had no idea how to contact Sirius, though. But with any luck, he would still be somewhere in the castle. Harry ran downstairs, with the map in his hand, and stepped through the portrait hole, towards Dumbledore's office. If Sirius was still here, that's the only place Harry could think to look for him.
When he reached the stone gargoyle he realized there was another problem. Dumbledore always changed the password to his office for the new school year, and since this was only the first day of school, Harry didn't know it yet. He tried in vain for a few minutes, calling out every candy and sweet he could think of, but nothing worked. Finally, he gave up. He sat down against the wall opposite the statue, and picked up the map again. He was a bit surprised to see writing on it, that hadn't been there a moment ago.
"Why did you want to speak to me?"
"Prongs?" he whispered, shakily. Suddenly he felt very nervous. He was actually talking to the memory of his father.
"Yes."
"Please," he rushed on, "I need to see any hidden areas of Hogwart's, anything that doesn't normally show on the map. Will you help me?"
"Why do you need to see that?"
Harry was a bit confused; didn't he explain this already? He shook his head and started explaining his reason again.
"Severus Snape is trapped in a room I can't see on here. I don't know how to get there and I'm hoping you can show me a path. Please, I don't know how long he's been there or if he's hurt badly."
There was nothing again for a moment, when finally words began to appear.
"You're not going to show him, are you?"
Harry was a bit confused and was going to ask what this meant, when another sentence formed.
"Padfoot, I like a joke as much as you do, but when someone's life is in danger."
"Someone will find him, let him stew for a while."
"You heard him, Snape may have already been there a while."
The map was talking to itself, he realized. Arguing, actually. It would have been funny if the situation weren't so serious.
"Moony, Wormtail, what do you two think?"
"Leave me out of this one, I want nothing to do with it."
"Wormtail, you coward, alright then, Moony?"
"I think we should show him. There's no point in keeping it a secret from him."
"You're all against me, I see. Fine then, do what you want."
"What did you say your name was?"
It took Harry a minute to realize the map was once again addressing him before he answered.
"Harry. Harry Potter."
"Interesting. Well Harry Potter, nice talking to you, and I hope this helps." Only seconds after the words appeared, they were sucked back into the parchment. The layout of the school appeared once again, but this time, to Harry's surprise, there was not one but several new areas showing. He didn't take time to look over everything carefully now though, he began searching the dungeon area and quickly found Snape's name, in a room by himself.
He glanced up to Dumbledore's office to see that he; Sirius and Remus were all in there. For a moment, he considered waiting for one of them to come out, but in the end decided against that. Snape could be seriously hurt and Harry didn't want to leave him there any longer. Besides that he didn't see any names on the map that didn't belong there. He stood up quickly and headed off down the corridor, to the dungeon area.
As he got down near the dungeon area, he checked the map again. It showed a very long hallway branching off from the corridor he usually took to Snape's office, but running almost completely adjacent to it. What he couldn't understand, is when he was right next to where the map showed the hallway was supposed to start, there was nothing. He looked at the wall in front of him, searching it for any sign that it might open up somehow. He put his hands up and started feeling around for anything, a loose brick, a lever or button in one of the cracks, but there was nothing.
Harry glanced at the map again, and saw something happening. His name was right next to a small outline of a person, holding up a wand. The wand was being waved in a sort of counter-clockwise circular motion. Harry looked at it skeptically, but pulled out his wand. He began moving it in the same motion as the person on the map. After he did it four times, the wall suddenly seemed different, he could still see it in front of him, but he could also see beyond it.
He took a step forward, putting his hand up against the wall, but didn't feel it. It was as if he was touching air. So, he took a deep breath, and stepped through to the other side.
Harry spun around and saw the corridor behind him slowly fading out of view; luckily, the hall he was now in was lined with candles. He wondered briefly how they stayed lit if no one knew about this place and began walking.
After a few minutes, he came to what appeared to be a dead end. This time when he looked at the map, it didn't show anything. He knew this room though; he had been standing in it in his vision, which meant Snape was on the other side of the wall in front of him. He felt up and down the wall, looking for a way through, but again found nothing.
Seeing as how the map wasn't showing him anything this time, he decided to ask for help again.
"Can you tell me how I get through this wall?" He watched in silence, waiting, until finally the picture of the school was sucked into the parchment and words began to form.
"I can tell you how, but first you must tell me why you want to get in."
"I've already told you twice," Harry said, sounding exasperated.
"You didn't tell ME, you must've told one of the others."
Harry shook his head in amazement. He had never thought that while the map was enchanted to contain their personalities and memories, it would allow only one of those personalities to surface at a time, without the others knowing. It was almost living. So once again he explained that he was looking for Snape and why he needed to hurry.
"Are you a friend of his?" the map asked.
"Not exactly, he's a professor here," Harry answered wondering what this had to do with anything. "Will you tell me, please?"
"This was where I used to come, you know. The others never knew about it."
"That's um.nice," Harry said.
"I needed a place like this, to get away from everyone. Not even the instructors seemed to know about it."
"So you must know how to get through then, right? Will you tell me?"
There was nothing for a moment. Harry wasn't sure what he had done, but didn't say anything else. Finally a reply appeared.
"No one ever talked to me much, why should you be any different?" It paused then and Harry almost apologized when it began again. "Fine I'll tell you."
Harry sighed with relief as the words seeped into the paper, and a picture of the school emerged once again. The figure with his name next to it was moving towards the side of the wall where one of the many candles where lit. It picked up one of the candles on the right, walked across the room and placed it in an empty candleholder there. Harry moved quickly, imitating what the map had shown, and watched as the wall in front of him began to separate.