"You're finding out about them now because now it is most necessary
for you to learn them," Dumbledore replied gravely. "You, Draco and
Neville are all wizards, just like any other student at this school.
You are able to learn magic and cast spells the same as your
classmates, and until recently, you've not had much reason to use your
other powers."
"But.Voldemort regained his power when I was fourteen," Harry spoke quietly. "Wouldn't that have been a good time to tell me about all of this?"
"You would not have been able to use your powers properly," Cole spoke up. "Since you were never shown or told about any of this, your abilities lay dormant within you, only able to be awakened one of two ways. A life threatening situation is one way, it's the one that did it for you in fact, at the beginning of the school year when that death eater attacked you."
"Well.what about all the other times I've gone up against Voldemort? Why would nothing happen then?"
"The first day of school this year was the first time since you were a baby that you were hit with the Avada Kedavra. When he used the curse, that by all rights and purposes should have taken your life, your psionic abilities were awoken, and fought to keep you alive. It was the first time they were truly needed in such a situation as you'd managed to escape any previous attempts on your life without coming in contact with that curse. No matter what is done to you, you cannot be killed, so long as your defender is still alive, your powers will not allow you to die."
Harry opened his mouth to speak but Cole held up a hand.
"The other way, before you ask anything else, that you could gain the use of your abilities, would be from your psicrystals, which is what we had originally intended on doing this year until you were attacked, changing our plans. Your powers revealed themselves before I could manage to come here, which is why your headmaster didn't tell you about this sooner. I had wanted to bring you, Neville and Draco together and explain it to all of you at once, but it didn't quite work out that way, unfortunately. I asked him to wait until I'd arrived to tell you, something he was very much against, but agreed nonetheless. It was also my idea to tell you the reason you'd survived had been Lunis."
"But I don't understand why." Harry said, failing to keep the annoyance out of his voice. "Why go through all the trouble to explain Lunis to me, when I never had possession of it at all?"
"I wanted to wait until we had your crystals to tell you anything at all," Cole replied. "It would make all of this much easier for you to see and understand if you had them. But due to tonight's unfortunate chain of events.we had to explain this to you before we could get them here."
"So you didn't tell me because you wanted the crystals first. And because I hadn't ever used my powers they stayed 'dormant' as you put it, until I was hit with that curse by Gridman.but I would have been able to gain control of them just as quickly by the crystals.have I got all that?" Harry asked.
Cole nodded, smiling gently, but Harry did not return the sentiment.
"Neville is the guardian, and he can find me anywhere; Draco's the defender, and if I'm in pain then so is he.unless he does something to help."
"Correct," Cole said, as Harry continued.
"How do they get control of their powers then? Do they need crystals too?"
"Some things they will learn can be taught by Allison and myself," Cole said evenly. "Their inborn abilities that connect the three of you, however, were stirred when your own powers reawakened, and those cannot be shown to them. Neville found you without anyone else's help, and until the day he dies will always be able to do so. Draco, when he is made aware of his powers, will know what has to be done when he feels you are in trouble. As I said earlier, if he decides to try and fight the feeling, it will only hurt him more. But if he uses his powers, lets them flow, they will work to his advantage, allowing him to use the same magic you saw Neville use to defend you and your friend Ron against Percy."
"So you kept this from us because you didn't think we were ready to use our powers, and now that Voldemort's back you've decided it's time?" Harry asked.
"To put it simply, yes," Cole replied.
"Well where were you over two years ago, when he first came back?" Harry asked, exasperated.
"That, I'm afraid, is partially my doing," Dumbledore spoke quietly. "When your parents were killed, Harry, I wanted you to be raised as far away from the wizarding world as possible. I knew the response you would receive no matter where you went, and did not want you to grow up in the midst of all that. When it was time for you to attend Hogwart's, while you were still quite unprepared for what awaited you, you were old enough to understand it better. Cole contacted me the summer you turned eleven, knowing you would finally be told of at least some of your powers. He needed to know if his presence would be required to explain your abilities outside of your wizarding ones. However, I thought it best to take things one step at a time. So when you'd completed your first year here and seemed to be adjusting quite well, I told him I would rather you not learn of your other powers for some time, and that I would contact him, in the event we needed him."
"So you waited until now?" Harry asked, somewhat confused.
The smallest of grins crossed Dumbledore's lips as he went on.
"I sent Hagrid to find Cole at the close of the Tri-Wizard Tournament Harry. He was to find Cole and tell him of what had happened, so you could finally be shown your birthright. But apparently Cole has a much easier time finding us, then anyone else has at finding him."
"You mean.that entire time Hagrid was gone." Harry began.
"Two years Harry. Two years to find the one person who would be able to help you, your defender and your guardian, realize your true powers."
"Then why did you send Professor Gazten instead of."
"Allison, Harry. You can call her Allison," Cole interrupted.
Harry nodded, hesitantly.
"Why send Allison then.instead of just coming yourself?"
"As I told you earlier, I sent her to help Neville. Once your powers were awakened, we dropped our original plan to explain it to all three of you at once. We knew someone was after you, and as I was unable to make the journey here until quite recently, I had Allison start by teaching Neville about his powers. We wanted someone who could help you in the event you got into trouble, and due to your rivalry with Draco, we began with Neville."
"Does Lucius know?" Harry asked suddenly, "You said my parents knew about me.and well.I don't know if Neville's parents ever knew about him, but what about Lucius? And if he does then why would he."
"He does not know," Cole interrupted. "Neville's parents did not know and neither do Draco's. Your parents still did not know who your guardian and defender were at the time of their death."
"Why not?" Harry asked.
"There are certain things that are kept undisclosed even to the Psion until such a time comes when they need to know. I followed the signs from the last Psion, which led me to you. You, as I said, are currently the only one in existence. Your parents were quite startled to say the least, and I believe the only person they ever told, was Albus."
Harry glanced again over at the headmaster, feeling hurt and confused.even betrayed. Far too much had been kept from him, and the reasons he was being given just didn't seem good enough. He wanted to talk to him about it, but at the same time had no desire to speak to him at this moment. But something else was still bothering him, and he couldn't wait any longer to find out. Looking back and forth from the headmaster to Cole, Harry cleared his throat.
"Can one of you tell me." he began evenly, "why Voldemort thought Cho was the defender?"
Dumbledore sighed heavily, looking sadly at Harry before he spoke.
"I honestly do not know Voldemort's reasons for suspecting Cho to be the true defender. All I can tell you is that, from the time he was a young child, just attending school, until the time he graduated, Tom Riddle was always incredibly bright. However, one trait he could never seem to overcome was his want to have the answer so desperately, that he sometimes would not get all of the information necessary. Take for example, when he tried to use Professor Quirrell at the end of your first year at Hogwart's, to steal the Sorcerer's Stone. He was unprepared for all the obstacles that awaited him, and had no way of obtaining the stone from the Mirror of Erised when he'd reached it, as he didn't know how."
Harry looked skeptically at Dumbledore, who went on.
"Another example would be when he had Wormtail take your blood to help regain his body, without stopping to realize exactly what the consequences would be. It was almost fatal for him."
"Yes but he seemed to know a lot about this," Harry said, urgently. "He knows about my being a Psion apparently.and he knows I have a defender, and probably about the guardian too. My guess is he just knows the defender is the one he'd have to kill to get to me, which is why he, and everyone else who's asked, never mentioned the guardian."
"That's true, he does know. He has known since you were very young in fact, which is why he went after you when you were a baby. He assumed that you would be easier to destroy and would be able to take your powers. At that time, he never bothered to find out about the defender or guardian, and that was partially the reason for his failure."
"But how did he know to begin with?" Harry asked.
"Voldemort has been allies with the entities for many years Harry. They had been assisting him in finding out everything they could about psionics, and he knew that he could not ever hope to learn that power. If you are not born a Psion, the only way to achieve that power is to kill one. They tried to track down the last Psion before you, but all attempts failed. It is nearly impossible to hide anything from a Psion, and he knew of their plans against him long before they were implemented. However, when he passed on, you became his new target. Being entirely untrained and vulnerable, he figured you for an easy target, again, not bothering to find out everything he needed to know before going for you."
Harry was only half-listening to what the headmaster was telling him. Cho was dead for no other reason then Voldemort was so anxious to steal his powers, he hadn't bothered to discover the true defender's identity. Lying back against the pillows, he felt the grief that he'd been keeping at bay the entire night threatening to consume him once again, and shut his eyes tightly.
"Can't we stop this now Albus?" Sirius spoke finally, after remaining silent for the whole of the discussion. "He's been through too much.please."
"We need to discuss the crystals," Cole interrupted. "He has to retrieve them, and we need to."
"I realize that," Sirius cut him off. "Just please, let's let him rest for now. We can talk about the crystals later, and figure out when would be best to go for them."
The two men looked at the headmaster, who nodded once.
"I agree, this is enough for now," he spoke quietly. "But I would like to speak with Harry alone for just a few minutes."
Harry stifled the urge to groan. He wanted very badly right now to be done with this discussion that was making his head spin, and left alone.
Sirius looked at the headmaster pointedly, obviously thinking it would be best to do exactly as Harry was hoping, but Dumbledore returned his gaze evenly. Finally, Sirius seemed to give in, and turned to face Harry once more.
"I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" he asked, trying to smile for his godson. He brought his hand up and pushed aside a few loose strands of hair hanging down into Harry's face, before pulling back and standing up. Harry nodded, faintly. He barely heard Remus tell him good-bye as well, and watched as the others left the room.
"I'm so sorry for keeping this from you, Harry" Dumbledore spoke immediately as the door swung shut, in an utterly solemn tone. "I never intended to wait this long."
"But you did," Harry shot out, bitterly. Deep inside, he was horrified with himself for taking such a tone with Dumbledore. The one he'd always trusted more than almost anyone else for all his years at Hogwart's, but he couldn't help it, his pain and grief were far too great.
"Yes, I did," Dumbledore spoke quietly. "And I've already explained to you why, and what my feelings were about keeping it such a secret."
Harry simply stared at him, remaining silent.
"I understand that you're mad at me right now," the headmaster continued. "But I did what I believed to be best."
"Cho is dead because I didn't know any of this," Harry said, his voice hollow. "I would have told Voldemort everything.everything.if it would have saved her. And now she's dead." he trailed off, the tears dangerously close to spilling forth.
"Cho is not dead because of you," Dumbledore said firmly. "You must stop blaming yourself for things that could not have been prevented. If you had known everything we've told you tonight before what happened last night, I very much doubt Voldemort would have let Cho live either way. There was nothing you could have done to stop it."
"I stopped it from hitting me, didn't I?" Harry asked hoarsely. "Why didn't it happen for her too? I wanted it just as badly.I just.I." he trailed off, a lump rising in his throat. He choked it down; unable to meet the headmaster's gaze, and kept his eyes firmly on his hands.
"Please don't keep everything inside Harry," Dumbledore said gently. "You hold too much in, and it will only make your pain worse."
Harry didn't answer the headmaster. He nodded softly, wishing very badly to be left alone.
"I will go now," Dumbledore spoke, almost as if reading his mind. "Please get some rest," he said, pausing before saying in a bit firmer tone, "and don't blame yourself."
Harry turned on his side, not even bothering to say goodnight as the headmaster stood to leave. He closed his eyes against the misery welling up inside, wishing it to end.
Madam Pomfrey came over almost immediately, and Harry knew Dumbledore had sent her to him, and had a sleeping potion ready. He took it gratefully, wanting nothing more than to not have to think about anything that had just happened. His eyelids were already drooping as he laid his head against the soft pillow, and within seconds he had fallen into a mercifully dreamless sleep.
Harry opened his eyes after a long, restful sleep. The area of the hospital wing that he was in was still dark, and he slowly pushed himself up. Reaching out to either side of him, he found his glasses on the bedside table, and slipped them on.
"Harry? Are you up?" he heard a groggy voice ask.
"Yes Neville," Harry replied not particularly glad to see him, but not upset either. "What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to make sure you were alright," Neville answered, stretching. It was obvious he'd fallen asleep in his chair. "Sirius has been in and out the entire night, in between patrolling, he should be back soon."
Harry just nodded in response, not sure what else to say.
"So." Neville pressed on, "they told you, right? About.your powers?"
"Yes," Harry snickered, bitterly. "Lot of good it does me now though. Why they couldn't just tell me when Allison was showing you."
"Cole wanted to be here when you were told," Neville cut in, apologetically. "And.I needed.more help."
"Well you seemed to have everything under control on Halloween," Harry pointed out. "You seem to have learned this faster than any lesson we've ever been shown in class."
"Allison said it's because I was born as a guardian."
"You were also born as a wizard," Harry retorted. "So was I."
"But wizards and witches can have children that can't do magic," Neville began, "just as muggles can have children that can.but a guardian, just as a defender and a Psion, is chosen to be one without getting the power from a relative who was one before them. You are born as one and the powers are always strong within you. But just like you, I wasn't told about anything until recently.and never knew how to use them until then."
Harry watched Neville as he spoke. The small, scared boy he'd known now seemed ages older, and wiser. His eyes were full of fear, though, and Harry had the feeling Neville still knew a lot more than he did.
"So what did you do then," Harry began, curiously, "when Allison first told you who you are?"
"I didn't believe her," Neville grinned, shrugging.
"What did she do to convince you?" Harry asked.
"Well, because I'm usually so.slow.with magic," Neville began, somewhat embarrassed. His cheeks flushed bright red as he averted his eyes. "She.well.she shot a curse at me. Just like what Percy was trying to do to us on Halloween, and I just stopped it. I was never shown how, but I knew exactly what to do. Sort of like what you did when." Neville trailed off, hesitating. He obviously wasn't sure if this was a good thing to bring up.
"When I stopped the curse, when Voldemort tried to kill me," Harry finished for him.
"Yes," Neville said quietly, nodding faintly.
"But I didn't do it soon enough," Harry said bitterly. "I couldn't save Cho with all this power now, could I?"
"You had no idea how to use your powers," a voice spoke up from the doorway. Harry and Neville looked to see Cole walking towards them. "You still don't," he went on, briskly. "Which is why it's so important we get your crystals as soon as possible."
"Is that why you're here?" Harry asked. "To discuss when we're going to get them?"
"Soon," Cole smiled. "We do need to talk about that, most definitely. But first, there's someone else I need to speak with." he trailed off, turning his head as he spoke. Harry followed his gaze to the opposite side of the room, where Draco still lay, sleeping.
Harry and Neville exchanged a glance, but didn't say anything. They both knew exactly how difficult Malfoy would be to convince of his role in this, but Cole would find that out for himself soon enough.
"Do you need us to talk to him as well?" Neville finally asked, his expression saying he wanted to be very far away when Draco was actually told.
Cole shook his head with a grin.
"No, thank you. You've both had everything explained to you by yourselves, we'll keep it going as such. But if I need one of you, I'll let you know." He nodded to both of them, before heading off in Malfoy's direction.
"Good luck," Harry called after him, thinking it would take more than that to convince Draco of any of this.
"Man he's in for a surprise," Neville muttered under his breath.
"Yeah," Harry laughed, "I hope he shoots a curse at him, like Allison did for you. I would love to see that."
"Except Draco is so full of himself, he won't consider it as proving anything," Neville pointed out, laughing along with Harry.
"Well what's so funny you two?" Sirius' voice cut in suddenly. Harry and Neville turned to see him nearing the bed. "You both seem to be enjoying yourselves," he commented happily, obviously glad to see his godson smiling.
"We're just wondering who's going to come out on top between Malfoy and Cole," Harry explained with a grin. "He's about to find out he's the defender." As the words left his mouth, Harry felt an unexpected chill run up his spine. The defender. Malfoy was chosen at birth to defend him, to protect him and know when he was in trouble. Why it had to be him of all people, Harry had no idea, but for the first time the words really sunk in. This was real, all of it, and from this point on the three of them would be forever changed.
"Well I bet you a sickle he starts screaming his head off in five minutes," Sirius said cheerfully.
"Five minutes?" Neville asked, stunned, before smiling widely. "Not a chance, he'll never make it past two."
They all looked in the direction of Malfoy's bed to see him sitting upright, as far back against the headboard as he could get, staring wildly at Cole, who was calmly speaking, as if he were dangerous.
"I give it thirty seconds," Harry said blandly, just as Malfoy looked over at him.
"Potter!" he shrieked loudly, cutting Cole off entirely. "Is this your idea of a joke? Sending someone over to."
"I didn't send anyone," Harry interrupted, just as loudly. "And what Cole is saying is the truth."
"Mr. Malfoy," Cole spoke up, trying to draw his attention back to him. "If you'd just calm down a moment I'll finish explaining."
However, Malfoy was doing anything but listening, he glared angrily at Harry before his eyes scanned the rest of the room, almost desperately. The worry in his face was evident when he saw no one besides the four people in the room with him, and he turned his glare upon Neville.
"Longbottom!" he snarled. "Go fetch the headmaster now! Tell him there's a madman here disturbing me while I'm sick and in need of."
"You are not sick Mr. Malfoy," Cole said pointedly. "And if you'd kindly shut up, I will tell you exactly why you felt what you did last night."
"Longbottom move!" Malfoy shouted louder, ignoring Cole entirely.
Harry saw Cole losing his temper, and wished Malfoy would just shut up and listen. He didn't think he had his wand handy in the event the older man actually did decide to shoot a curse at him, and it looked as if that was exactly what was going to happen.
Glaring angrily at Malfoy, Cole stood up slowly.
"Mr. Malfoy," Cole said in a dangerously quiet voice, "I would appreciate if you'd listen while I'm speaking to you."
Malfoy, who was glaring intently at Neville, spun his gaze to Cole. His eyes were flashing; disgust and anger mingled in his expression.
"Look whatever game it is you and Potter are playing at I'm not falling for it!" he hissed. "When my father hears about what you've tried to."
"If you listen to what I have to say," Cole interrupted, "you'll realize what a bad idea it would be to tell your father about this at all. Unless you don't value your life, that is."
Draco's expression remained as angry as ever, but now confusion was evident as well, his brow furrowed as he spoke again.
"What are you on about? My father would never do anything to."
"You don't know your father very well then, do you?" Cole asked, a smug look upon his face. "You are Harry's defender, whether you want to be or not you are. You can do nothing to change it. And the fact of the matter is, if someone wants him dead, they have to go through you first. He cannot die while you are alive. Now I have no doubt in my mind, that you are aware of Voldemort's attempts on Harry's life, and while his followers try to keep their identity a secret, we know your father is one of them."
Draco opened his mouth to interrupt, possibly to defend his father in some way, but Cole rushed on.
"Now if you tell one of Voldemort's followers that you are the person they're after and have been trying to kill for the past few months." he paused, giving Draco a pointed glare, "tell me, what do you think will happen?"
"My father," Malfoy began, furiously, "would never do something like that to me. You're lying. You've concocted this horrible tale to scare me into doing something for you.well it is not going to work. I'm going to write to him today, as soon as I get out of here, and then.then you'll be sorry. You're going to regret this."
Cole sighed in resignation, shaking his head sadly.
"You leave me no choice Draco. If you refuse to listen to what I'm saying, then perhaps this will convince you."
Harry tensed up, feeling almost sorry for Draco. For a few seconds, the room was deathly silent, everyone waiting for what was going to happen to Malfoy. When Cole raised his hand in front of him, however, he wasn't looking at Draco. Harry felt his mouth go dry and pushed himself further back on the bed in an effort to get away, as a beam of silver light hit him in the chest.
Sirius and Neville cried out in surprise, rushing to Harry's side, but he barely heard them. His throat felt as if it were twisting violently, and his air supply was slowly cut off.
"What are you doing?" Sirius screamed, angrily at Cole, gripping Harry by the shoulders as he struggled to breathe.
"You mean you don't know?" Cole asked, somewhat surprised. He turned away from Sirius to look at Draco, who was also trying frantically to breathe.
Harry wasn't paying attention to any of this, however. He brought his hands up to his neck, rubbing and massaging, trying desperately to get the air moving again.
He looked up at last to see Cole, staring intently at Malfoy, who looked far worse off than he felt. His face was turning a sickening shade of blue and he was retching, uncontrollably. Pulling himself forward, clutching at the sheets of the bed, he reached forward, trying to grasp Cole's robes. Catching a handful of material, he looked up, even through his pain you could see the underlying fury beneath.
"Stop Mr. Malfoy," Cole spoke plainly. "You're only making this worse. Stop concentrating on your anger and think about your pain."
"I think you've shown him enough." Sirius began, anger evident in his voice. But he didn't take his eyes off of his godson. Harry struggled to stay conscious as his vision began to blur.
"I will decide when it's been enough," Cole spoke crisply.
"If you keep it up they're both going to die!" Sirius shouted, watching Harry grow paler.
"No one is going to die," Cole said calmly. He turned his gaze once again to Draco, who had nearly passed out from the lack of air. Lifting his hand in front of him again, silver light formed around both Harry and Draco's necks, before appearing to be sucked out. Clasping his fingers around the light, Cole extinguished it in his fist, before dropping his arm to his side.
Harry slumped back against the headboard, greedily gulping in air.
"Are you alright?" Sirius asked, his eyes full of concern and worry. Harry nodded, faintly, and looked over to see how Draco was doing.
Malfoy was also lying back against the pillows, breathing deeply, all the anger gone from his eyes, to be replaced with fear and confusion.
"You had no right to." Sirius began, turning angrily to Cole.
But Cole held up a hand, throwing Sirius a pointed stare. Sirius started to stand, his hands balled into fists, his teeth clenched, but stopped when he felt a hand tapping his shoulder.
"Wait," Harry whispered hoarsely, pleading with his godfather to stop. Sirius looked hesitant for a moment, before nodding once, and dropping back onto the bed beside his godson. Harry mouthed the words thank you, before turning his attention back to Malfoy. Cole was already back in his seat, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. He grinned smugly at Draco, before speaking.
"Now," he said, evenly. "Will you listen to what I have to say?"
"What.what did you do to me?" Draco wheezed his voice sounding strained and raw.
"Did you see me do anything to you?" Cole asked.
"You shot something out of your hand!" Draco tried to yell, but could barely get above a whisper.
"Correct, that I did," Cole replied. "At Harry. I never did anything to you."
Draco gaped at Cole, he turned to glance at Harry and then back again, a look of horror dawning on his face.
"But." he croaked, his face growing paler by the second. "You weren't serious about what you said before.right?" he asked, his eyes wide with fear.
"I was very serious indeed, Mr. Malfoy," Cole replied evenly. "You are Harry's defender. When he feels pain, you will as well. I am going to teach you how to use your pain, and turn it into energy that you can fight with."
Draco shook his head slowly.
"You have to be mistaken," he spoke quietly. "I could never...defend.him." he nearly spat with disgust. He looked upon Harry with hatred, and Harry suddenly felt a rush of fury. Sitting up quickly, he glared directly at Draco.
"Do you think I want this either?" he asked loudly, his eyes flashing dangerously. "I would rather anyone else on the planet watching my back then you, I'm gonna be more worried about what you'll be doing to work against me than anything else. You have never done anything to show you have one shred of decency in your being and you don't deserve any of the power you were born with!"
"Well how do I get rid of it then?" Draco asked vehemently. "Because I would rather live in pain the rest of my life than defend you from anything!" Crossing his arms over his chest, he sat back in a huff.
"If you two are quite finished," Cole spoke evenly, looking from one to the other. "I'm sure this will take some time to adjust to, but it will happen. You have no choice but to let it. Your feelings towards one another will play no part when it comes down to the real thing. What I did today was to prove a point, but in all truth, it will never be that easy again."
"I don't want it to happen again," Draco muttered, angrily.
"You have no choice," Cole said firmly, fixing Malfoy with pointed stare.
"Well how did this happen?" Draco asked, exasperatedly, flinging his hands in the air. "You said I was born with this, but I've never felt anything in the past when he's been hurt," he said, nodding in Harry's direction as he spoke.
"You were born with it," Cole said gently. "And like Harry and Neville, your powers lay dormant within you until something brought them out. For Neville it was being forced into using his ability to defend against powerful magic, for Harry it was when his life was in danger, and his powers were forced into saving him. With you, however, it was a bit different. Voldemort wants to find you, quite badly as a matter of fact, and by giving Harry a deadly serum, was able to force you out of hiding, so to speak."
"Is that what the serum did?" Harry asked, realizing he'd never found out the night before.
"What serum?" Draco asked. "And why would Potter drinking it hurt me?"
"The three of you are connected," Cole began, "through birth. You were all born on the same day, in the same minute. Harry was chosen to be the next Psion and the two of you were chosen along with him, as his protectors. It is unable to be changed or fought. It is your destiny. Liking each other as individuals has no bearing on this at all. Now the serum given to Harry would have killed any other person who drank it. As it made its way through him, slowly and painfully, your powers were stirred, sensing he was in trouble. Having no control over them right away, you ended up coming to the hospital wing, completely unaware of the true cause of your pain."
"Why wouldn't he have felt something at the beginning of the year then, when Gridman tried to kill me?" Harry asked, confused.
"While I'm sure it felt longer to you," Cole replied, "the actual duration of the pain you felt that night was only a few minutes. You were uncomfortable afterwards, but you were safe, and so Malfoy's powers had no chance to manifest themselves fully. The serum's effects, however, lasted a great deal longer, as Voldemort knew it would. That is why they tried to give it to you once before."
Harry nodded, noncommittally, while Malfoy's expression remained etched with confusion.
"I still don't." he began, looking up at Cole, who held up a hand to silence him.
"I will explain everything to you, Mr. Malfoy. You weren't awake for our little chat last night, and so your confusion is most understandable. The question is, are you ready to listen now?"
Draco looked again at Harry. The dislike the two held for each other was still quite evident, but neither of them said anything else to one another. He turned back to face the man in front of him, looking directly into Cole's eyes, and nodded.
"I am going to have a talk with that man," Sirius spoke lowly, through clenched teeth, glaring at Cole as he continued to speak to Draco. "He had no right to do that to you."
"Believe me," Harry said, "I would rather it not have happened either. And I feel like I should be mad.but I'm not.it's like, I know that was the only way Draco would believe.and that makes it okay."
"It certainly does not make it okay!" Sirius said a bit loudly and Harry and Neville both hissed at him to keep his voice down. But if Cole had overheard, he gave no notice. Both he and Draco were deep in conversation.
"Sorry," Sirius said quickly, not really looking as if he meant it. "But if he's supposed to be here to help us, nearly killing you is not the way to gain our trust."
"Sirius," Harry began gently. "It wouldn't have killed me. It hurt an awful lot, but Draco can't die from just feeling my pain.no matter how much it seems like he will. And if he's alive.then so am I."
"He looked like he could have died to me."
"But he wouldn't have," Harry said quickly. "I can't explain how I know this.I just feel it."
"And you're quite right," a new voice spoke up from nearby. The three of them turned to see Gazten standing at the end of the bed. "You are connected to the point that he will feel your pain, and if he fights it like that each time, it will hurt him more than it does you, but he can't die from it. Pass out, maybe, but not die."
"See?" Harry asked, grinning at Sirius. "Told ya."
Sirius couldn't help but smile at Harry's smug expression.
"Oh, so I guess you're the expert now, aren't you?" he asked, rolling his eyes.
"He will be," Gazten spoke again. "Soon he'll know more about his powers than Cole or I could ever tell him. As soon as we get the crystals, everything will be much easier."
"Yes I wanted to ask you about that," Sirius began, "when exactly are we going to get the crystals?"
"As soon as possible," Cole's voice cut in, as he walked up behind them. Harry instantly looked over to where Malfoy was still sitting. He was staring after Cole, a blank expression on his face.
"How is he?" Harry asked, looking up at Cole and nodding towards Draco.
"He will need time to adjust to all of this, no doubt," Cole spoke softly. "But he is no longer fighting it. Now it just seems to be the shock of everything, as you know.it's a lot to handle all at once."
Harry nodded, understanding the overwhelming feeling all too well. Glancing at Draco once more, he sighed lightly before turning to face the others.
"So," he began, "what do we do now?"
"The crystals are of the utmost importance," Cole spoke firmly. "We will need to get those right away."
"Will you be going to get them?" Harry asked.
Cole shook his head.
"No, you will need to get the crystals. Allison will accompany you, but you are the one that needs to retrieve them."
"Oh.but.we have to do it now?" Harry asked, feeling very much not up to going anywhere at this moment.
"Today would be preferable," Cole nodded, taking no notice to Harry's disappointed expression.
"I.I just don't feel.up to it.right now." Harry stammered.
"I'm afraid we can't wait very." Cole began.
"He doesn't have to go today if he doesn't feel well," Sirius interrupted, pointedly. "After what he's just been through, I don't think anyone has the right to force him to do anything he doesn't want to right now, least of all you." He glared evenly at Cole, as if daring him to argue.
"I know you're upset with me for what happened a short while ago," Cole grinned, smugly. "But I suggest you listen to what your godson told you.I only did what had to be done. We don't have the time to let any of these three come to terms with this at their own leisure. I'm very sorry for what I did, but I had no choice."
"And this coming from someone who took four months to get here! Where do you get off.?" Sirius began, heatedly.
"Sirius," Gazten spoke up firmly, cutting him off. "My uncle has his reasons for arriving so late, and it is his choice if he wishes to share them with you or not."
"Well whatever they are.they better be damn good," Sirius muttered, still looking quite angry.
Cole nodded at Gazten once, before turning back to Harry.
"I understand that you've been through much pain in the last twenty- four hours.for which I am deeply sorry. The crystals can wait.but please don't make it too long. A day maybe, two at the most. The sooner you start working with them, the sooner you have more control over your powers."
"Thank you," Harry nodded. "I promise I won't wait long. Do I just come to you when I'm ready?"
"No I'll be going with you," Gazten said gently, smiling at Harry.
"So will I!" Sirius spoke up, abruptly.
"Mr. Black," Cole began. "Please understand."
"You're not going to tell me I can't go," Sirius said in a determined tone. "Because I don't care, I won't let Harry that far away from the school with someone I've known for a few months."
"That isn't what I was going to say," Cole grinned, eyeing Sirius pointedly. "If you had let me finish, you would have heard me say please understand how important it is to let Harry be the one to handle the crystals. It is quite important that he, and only he, touch them, at least at first."
"Why?" Harry asked. "I mean I'm not arguing.I'll be the one to carry them.but what is so important about it being me first?"
"The stones are very sensitive," Cole explained. "They have not been handled since the last Psion passed on. You, being his predecessor, need to be the first to touch them, so they will be imprinted with a part of your personality. After that, it won't make much difference."
"But.what do you mean? My personality? How? And if someone else were to touch them first.what would happen?"
"It will make more sense," Cole said with a grin, "when they are actually here. Everything will be explained to you then. But, if someone else were to touch them before you.the stone could be infused with a part of them as well.whether they are a Psion or not. If that were to happen the stone would no longer be trustworthy, as it's advice to you would be tainted."
"I'm.I'm still confused." Harry said, embarrassed.
"I would expect so," Cole smiled. "Get the stones here first, then you will see what I mean. Everything will make sense, I promise you."
Several hours later, still feeling confused, Harry was on his way back to the Gryffindor tower. Neville was walking beside him, silently. After Cole and Gazten had left, Sirius had stayed a short while longer, before it was time for him to continue patrolling with Marzia. Madam Pomfrey had checked him over again, and said if he felt well enough to leave, he was free to go. Harry was all too glad to get out of there, and dressed as quickly as possible. Malfoy had obviously been told the same, as before Harry could get a chance to ask him anything, he had already gone, presumably back to his dorm.
They reached the portrait of the fat lady and Neville gave the password. It slowly swung open and the two of them stepped through, into the bustling common room. A hush fell over the students as Harry walked in, and he wondered exactly how much they knew before making his way to the back corner, where his friends waited for him, anxious expressions on their faces.
"Harry," Hermione began as soon as he was near enough. "How are you?"
Harry tried to smile at her; he could see her eyes were red and puffy from crying. A quick glance at the others told him Ginny had been doing the same, and Ron looked as if he could let go at any minute.
"I'm okay," he said quietly, lowering himself into the chair nearest him.
"I'm so sorry," she went on, her voice breaking now, and tears spilling forth. Ginny blew her nose softly and Harry had to fight back a fresh wave of grief.
"I don't." he began, suddenly fighting to keep his voice steady. He cleared his throat firmly as an image of Cho's face flashed through his mind. Her smiling eyes, her soft lips, he had to lower his head as he felt the tears well up. "I don't want to talk about Cho." he said, forcing his voice to remain even. "Please.just not right now." He looked up to meet his friends' eyes one at a time, pleading with them.
"Anything you want, mate," Ron said, his own voice wavering. He tried to give his friend a reassuring smile, but could barely manage to meet his gaze.
"Thank you," Harry murmured, looking down at his hands. He didn't want them to see him like that.
Hermione and Ginny were still sniffling, but didn't argue.
"We were a bit worried," Ron began, trying to change the subject, "to say the least, when we saw you gone. Neville woke me up actually, he found the bottle and your wand, wanted to know if I knew anything about it. I of course didn't.and he went to get Gazten."
"Oh," Harry said blankly. "Is that what happened? Nobody told me. Who gave him my invisibility cloak?"
"I suggested it," Hermione said, apologetically. "Ron woke me up while Neville was getting Gazten. We were so scared Harry.we had no idea what happened to you." she trailed off miserably.
"Well I take it you know now?" Harry asked, praying he wouldn't have to explain it to them. He just didn't think he could handle it right now.
The three of them nodded in unison.
"When Neville came back with Gazten, Dumbledore and Sirius, they all argued for a few minutes on what would be the best way to find you. Sirius seemed to think he should go after you.but Gazten and Dumbledore were convinced it had to be Neville, because he would be able to find you faster. At the time, none of us knew about him being your.guardian." Ron spoke with some hesitation, as if the idea were still strange to him. "But Dumbledore obviously knew something, as he wanted Neville to go as well. Sirius pointed out how dangerous it would be and what would he do if he was spotted.he was, after all, greatly outnumbered.and then Hermione suggested the cloak."
"Well I'm glad she did.we would have been caught without it," Harry said, grinning weakly at Hermione. She returned the sentiment, looking sadly at her friend.
"Gazten did something to the bottle then.I have no idea what, but a small creature that she called a bottle imp plopped out when she turned it over. She whispered a spell quickly and the imp turned to stone, and she smashed it to the floor," Ron spoke quickly, his eyes dull as he spoke. "Then she grabbed Neville's hand.and the two of them started shrinking. We watched them go into the bottle and saw a bright light from inside and then nothing. About an hour later, we saw the light again and they came back out, with you.and you know the rest." he trailed off.
"Yes I do," Harry said, noncommittally, nodding as he spoke. He wanted to just forget the whole horrible evening and put it all behind him, but knew that would be much easier said than done. There was still too much of a chance that someone could get into the school, and Harry was fairly certain Saaneeraa was there all the time, from the way Voldemort had spoken. She could be controlling anyone, and Harry thought that finding her was probably the most important thing at this moment. He glanced around again at his friends, before settling his gaze on Hermione.
"That night before the quidditch match," Harry began, "before Ginny's broom was cursed, do you remember anything that happened?"
Hermione looked at him, confused.
"What does that have to do with.?"
"We know Saaneeraa did something to you that night," he interrupted, "according to the map, that's who you brought the Firebolt to. What we don't know is what Saaneeraa looks like. She could be controlling any one of us, at any time.or even possibly.taking the form of one of us."
"But if she was taking someone else's form.why even bother sending Hermione for the broom? She could have come in and gotten it herself," Ron said.
"I don't know," Harry replied. "But we know from what Allison told us that she can change form, and we know from the map that she was controlling Hermione."
"Maybe she's taken Marzia's form," Ron suggested, his eyes suddenly wide. "Hermione was talking to her just before it happened!"
"Well true, but then I came back here," Hermione spoke up. "It was hours before I.took the broom." she trailed off, shivering involuntarily. She still had no recollection of ever getting out of bed that night.
"But she could have done something to you while you did talk!" Ron pressed. "Something that only would take effect later."
"Okay," Harry cut in, "I agree we can't count her out, but I don't want to only think of her, or we might completely miss it if it's someone else."
"Well, what about Gazten?" Hermione asked, shrugging. "I don't know much about her, but she seemed to know an awful lot about the entities, and she left out what Saaneeraa looked like entirely."
"Yes, but I think that's because she can shift forms," Harry said. "And after all she's done to help.and all it seems she's still going to do.I kind of trust her more now." he trailed off.
"So do I," Hermione sighed. "But I had to mention her."
"Maybe it's Snape," Ron said, smirking. "He's been 'sick' for months.and the person who's supposed to be able to cure him.who can cure anyone it seems, can't make him better. And when Hermione took the broom she did go to the dungeons after all, which is where Snape usually can be found."
"Well if Snape was really Saaneeraa, then why did the dream snake attack him? And why did they have him chained up in that secret room for over a day? It just doesn't seem to fit." Harry trailed off.
"Cole maybe?" Hermione suggested. "I barely even spoke to him while he and Dumbledore were explaining things to us.but he certainly seems somewhat.shifty."
"No, that doesn't make sense either," Harry said with a sigh. "Saaneeraa's been here for months and Cole's only just arrived. Besides I think Allison might notice something.he being her uncle and all."
"I have a suggestion," Ginny spoke up in a small voice for the first time that evening. Everyone turned their attention to her, waiting.
"What about Mel?" she asked. "She's someone we barely know, and only just met this year. She seems to be slowly trying to get closer to you," she said, looking pointedly at Harry, "and she's always sending letters, from what you've said. How do we know who they're being delivered to? Maybe she set this up from the beginning.starting with the 'accident' in the erumpent pen. You even said yourselves you don't remember her name being called at the sorting that first year."
"But I think someone else might've realized by now if she weren't really a student," Harry said quickly, jumping to Mel's defense. "And since when is sending letters a bad thing?"
"Well can't Saaneeraa control people?" Ginny asked. "Maybe no one's noticed anything because she doesn't want them to!"
Harry shook his head, firmly.
"No, I don't think it could be Mel."
"But you can't be sure," Ginny pressed, sitting forward in her chair. "And just like you said for Marzia, about being careful not to center on one person.well it would be dumb to leave someone out as well. Just because you don't want her to be bad, doesn't mean she isn't."
"Why are you so eager to blame her?" Harry asked, quietly.
"Why are you so eager to trust her?" Ginny shot back. "I'm not trying to upset you, but you can't let yourself be blind to what she might be doing, just because you like her."
Harry nodded stiffly, keeping his mouth shut. He didn't want to consider Mel as a suspect at all, but he was also not up for arguing about it anymore. Moving on, he tried to think of others they might add to their list, but after another hour or so of discussion, they could come up with no one else they could truly consider untrustworthy. Deciding to just leave it there for now, and having gotten very late, the four of them said goodnight to one another, and headed off to bed.
Harry tossed and turned a good portion of the night. Having had much sleep while in the hospital wing, he was having a hard time falling asleep. As such, he was also letting his mind wander, keeping him all the more awake. Everything that had happened over the past day replayed again and again in his mind, making him sad, angry, depressed, and restless. When at last he was able to fall asleep, he could see the first glints of sunlight peeking through the window.
Later on that afternoon, when he'd pulled himself out of bed just after everyone had eaten lunch, he dressed quickly and headed out of the common room. He didn't feel much like talking with his friends, and would go crazy with his thoughts if he didn't do something. At first, he had been glad that he wouldn't have to attend any classes right away, having a week and a half left to the winter break. But after just one night, he wished the holidays were over. At least in class he'd have something to occupy his mind.
Moving quickly through the hallways, he went first to the great hall. While he was quite hungry from having slept through the first two meals of the day, he didn't want to eat just yet. Seeing the hall was mostly empty, he turned and left, now off in the direction of Dumbledore's office.
He barely made it a quarter of the way before running into the person he'd been searching for.
"Allison!" he called as he saw her walking in the same direction as he, a bit further up the corridor. She looked over her shoulder upon hearing her name, and smiled warmly as Harry approached.
"Hello Harry," she said softly, stepping forward to meet him. "How are you?"
"I'm.well.I know I said I wanted some time.but I changed my mind," he said quickly. "Can we go get the crystals soon? I'd like to start working with them right away." he trailed off, looking hopeful.
"Of course!" Allison said, almost sounding relieved. "That's wonderful to hear, yes we can go soon. Give me some time; I'll set everything up. We can leave first thing in the morning."
Harry was somewhat disappointed about not being able to leave right away, but nodded.
"Thank you," he said. "I'll.um.I'll go tell Sirius. Is there anything I need to bring? Or do?" he asked, not sure what would be required of him.
"Just yourself," she winked, grinning. "And remind your godfather about the crystals.he can't touch them."
"I know, I know," Harry said, smirking. Gazten knew, as well as Harry, that Sirius could be a bit overly protective of him at times, but he loved the attention just the same.
Harry thanked her again, before heading off again to Dumbledore's office. He wasn't sure if Sirius were patrolling or elsewhere, but the best person to ask would be the headmaster.
However once again he ran into someone before he made it to his destination.
"Where you headed Harry?" Marzia laughed as he turned the corner, almost colliding with her as he did so. "We seem to keep meeting this way."
"Do you know where Sirius is?" Harry asked abruptly. He didn't want to sound rude, but at the same time wasn't sure how much he trusted her.
Marzia looked a bit taken back at his response, but recovered quickly.
"I think he's downstairs, in the dungeon area," she said, looking curiously at him. "Is everything alright? Can I help?"
"Well I just need to talk to him," Harry said, beginning to turn away.
"Whoa, hold on mister," Marzia spoke firmly. "Not a chance you're going down there by yourself."
"I'm not entirely helpless you know," Harry said, somewhat heatedly. "And I've been down there before without an escort."
"Well this won't be one of those times," she shrugged, stepping past him. "So, you coming?"
Harry shook his head faintly, but didn't argue. He just wanted to find Sirius and let him know about tomorrow. Together, he and Marzia started off for the dungeons.
"Harry, I know things are very hard for you right now," Marzia began after a few moments of silence, "but please, don't shut everyone out. I'm here if you ever need to talk."
"I'm not shutting everyone out," Harry replied evenly. "And thank you, if I want to talk I'll let you know."
Marzia looked at him for a moment more, seeming as if she wanted to continue talking, but sensing that Harry wanted nothing less. They walked on in silence again, passing the entrance to the great hall, before finding the corridor that led to the dungeons. Sirius was on his way back just as the entered, and Harry smiled as he caught sight of him.
"Sirius," he called, quickening his pace. "I need to talk to you."
"Hey you two," Sirius replied cheerfully, a broad smile spreading across his face. "Been chatting, have you?"
"Not exactly," Marzia replied, looking from Sirius to Harry. Sirius gave her a questioning look but she just shook her head, indicating she wasn't going to talk about it now.
"Is everything alright?" Sirius asked, turning back to his godson, looking a bit worried.
"Yes, everything's fine," Harry replied, quickly. He glanced uncertainly in Marzia's direction, before continuing. "I spoke to Allison this morning; I want to go for the crystals as soon as possible. She said she would have everything ready so we could leave first thing in the morning, and I just wanted to let you know right away in case you needed to do something before we left.you still want to go, right?"
"Oh yes, I'm definitely going," Sirius said firmly as Harry finished speaking. "I'll be ready, don't you worry."
"Thank you," Harry said, already knowing that was going to be the answer. "Remember the crystals though," he went on," you can't touch them before I do."
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"I remember," he said with a smirk. "Despite what you may think I do actually listen when others are talking.even if I'm not quite fond of them."
"I was just making sure." Harry smiled. "Doesn't hurt to be certain."
"No it doesn't," Sirius agreed, sounding a bit more somber now. "Which is why I'm going to find Gazten now, and see exactly how we're going to go about this tomorrow." He paused, glancing again at Marzia, before turning to meet Harry's gaze. He put a hand on his shoulder and spoke sincerely. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked. "If you need anything.or if you want to talk.please tell me. If I don't have the time I'll make it, no questions asked."
Harry felt a swell of mixed emotions building up inside him. He tried to smile gratefully at his godfather.
"Thank you," he said in a strained voice. "I don't want to talk about anything right now, but I will let you know if I do."
Sirius looked uncertainly at Harry, trying to see past the front. He could see the pain evident in his godson's eyes, but didn't want to push him. Nodding once, he smiled warmly and gave him a reassuring pat on the back.
"Take as long as you need," he said. "I'm here for you, whenever you need me." He sighed lightly, before looking away and glancing around at the dark, dank hallway to the dungeon area. "C'mon you two, let's get out of here."
For the rest of the day, Harry tried to keep himself completely occupied. He started on the homework that was due at the end of the break, spending several hours getting through a great deal of it. Since they hadn't had Snape for potions most of the year, their homework was not as overwhelming as it usually would be. Although he sat with his friends through dinner, he didn't feel up to talking. He let them know about going for the crystals the next day, and who was going, but would say little else. That night he turned in early, and despite having slept so late that day, fell asleep almost immediately after getting into bed.
The next morning he was woken up by someone shaking him softly. He turned over, instinctively reaching for his glasses and placing them on, to see Sirius standing over him.
"Good morning," he smiled, whispering so as not to wake the others in the room. "Sleep well?"
Harry nodded, pushing himself up.
"Much better than last night," he said with a stretch. He rubbed at his eyes under his glasses, before blinking a few times, and looking up at Sirius.
"Are we leaving now?" he asked, eagerly.
"As soon as you're ready." Sirius replied, smiling.
"Give me two minutes," Harry said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He ran to his closet, pulling it open, before a thought occurred to him, and he spun around.
"Sirius," he whispered loudly. "Remember to wear muggle clothes.no robes."
Sirius glanced down at his attire, before nodding at his godson with a smirk.
"Good thing one of us is thinking," he said, wryly, before turning again and heading back through the door.
Harry threw on pants and a shirt, before pulling a sweater on over his head. He grabbed his wand and his watch, shoving them into his pocket, and crossed the room to the door as quickly and quietly as possible.
Sirius was waiting for him, and together they left the Gryffindor tower. The took a small detour through the hallways so Sirius could change out of his robes, before heading down to the main entrance, where Gazten was waiting for them.
"Good morning," she said cheerfully as they both came up to her. "Everybody all set?"
Harry nodded.
"Very ready," he said, eagerly. He hadn't been to thrilled with this when Cole had first told him of the crystals, but now he was rather anxious to get to them. To learn from them.
The three of them walked through the doors to see a small blue car parked a short distance from the school.
"We're driving there?" Harry asked, confused.
"It would be best," Gazten answered. "We don't have a floo channel opened to your aunt and uncle's house any longer, and at the present time we can't even reach anyone from the ministry. Also, even though you may know how to apparate, you technically still aren't allowed to. Ministry or no ministry it's better not to chance that."
Harry nodded, realizing it did make sense to drive, even if it would take longer. It had been a while since he'd even gotten into a car, and it felt strange when he first slid into the back seat. Gazten sat on the passenger side, while Sirius took the driver's.
Sitting back into the soft leather, Harry took a deep breath. It would be a long ride, no doubt, but he was glad to get out of the school for a bit, with people he trusted. He turned to look out the window as Sirius started the car, and watched the trees in the distance begin to move as the passed.
Harry barely realized what was happening, he'd fallen asleep in the back not too long into the ride, but before he knew it, he felt the car slowing to a stop. He opened his eyes to see a place he hadn't been in over a year. Privet Drive.
He yawned loudly, arching his back from sitting in one position for so long, and glanced up at the front seat.
"That was fast," he commented with a smirk.
"For you maybe, sleeping beauty," Sirius nearly groaned. "You've been asleep since before we even got past Hogsmeade, and right after you'd been sleeping for hours!"
"What can I say?" Harry shrugged with a grin. "Being in a moving vehicle always gets me sleepy. As long as it's not moving out of control or anything, I'm out like a light."
He smiled widely at his godfather's bemused grin, before turning to look out the window. His aunt and uncle's house looked exactly as he'd remembered it. The windows had the same flowery curtains and the paint was the same bland white.
"I want to go talk with them by myself," Harry said suddenly. "I think it would be a bit easier on them, rather than having all three of us just show up unexpectedly."
"No I don't think that's a good idea," Sirius said immediately. I don't want you anywhere that I can't see you, especially around those people," he said with obvious distaste.
"Sirius, I'm not a little boy anymore. They can't force me to go to my room or under the stairs, and even if they could I don't think they'd want to. I'm willing to bet they're enjoying not having me there anymore."
"He has a point Sirius," Gazten spoke up suddenly. "His visit alone is going to be a shock, we don't want to cause a scene here, so it might be better if we wait out here."
"Yes, please, just for a bit," Harry picked up anxiously as she finished speaking. "Give me a half hour, in case they have the trunk hidden away somewhere. If I'm not out by then, then you can come in."
Sirius looked skeptically from one to the other, looking very uneasy. He was obviously very much against this idea entirely, and was ready to say no. But the pleading look in his godson's eyes caused him to soften at the last moment.
"I'm watching the clock starting right now," he said firmly. "If you need something you shoot up sparks, I don't care if any muggle here sees it. Break them through the nearest window and we'll be there in half a second.
"Thank you," Harry smiled widely, leaning forward to hug his godfather over the seat.
"You're welcome," Sirius said, unable to believe he was really going along with this. "Get going, you've got twenty-nine minutes left."
"Right," Harry said, anxiously, throwing his door open. He swung it shut behind him, before crossing the street and walking up the familiar path to number four Privet Drive. His hand shook slightly as he pressed his finger to the doorbell, and waited. Less then a minute later, the door was pulled open quickly, and Vernon Dursley stood there, looking no different then he had the last time Harry had seen him. His face was scrunched instantly into a scowl of anger when he saw his nephew and he spoke in a gruff tone.
"What are you doing here boy?" he asked.
"Hello Uncle Vernon," Harry said, trying to sound pleasant. "Sorry to drop in on you like this, but Sirius and Remus left something here when they came to take my things last time, and I'm here to get it."
Vernon looked at him skeptically, but surprisingly didn't argue. He swung the door open slowly, and stood aside allowing Harry to pass.
"Back here," Vernon muttered after slamming the door shut loudly. Harry followed him curiously, thinking his uncle seemed to know exactly what he was talking about.
The house was as immaculately clean as ever, every frame and piece of furniture in the same places they'd always been, the only difference being the pictures of Dudley were older and wider. Apparently the diet wasn't working, Harry thought with a smirk.
Moving through the hallway, past the stairs, they reached the kitchen, where Petunia was busy making something for dinner.
"Hello Aunt Petunia," Harry said with a smile when he spotted her. She turned to look at him, disgust etched across her face.
"What does he want?" she asked, ignoring Harry and looking to her husband.
"That trunk that that crazy old fool sent us when he left the runt here is my guess," Vernon replied with a shrug. "Out here boy, let's go," he said, gesturing to Harry to follow him out back. Harry looked from his aunt to his uncle, feeling slightly puzzled, but followed.
Vernon led him to the shed behind the house where he kept all of his tools. He reached out to the door, pulling it open swiftly, and stepped aside.
"There," he grunted, pointing into the darkness. Harry stepped forward cautiously, straining to see. He could barely make out the shape of a large box just inside the doorway, and when he finally reached out, he felt the rough wood of a trunk under his fingers.
Stepping further into the shed, he bent down and grasped the handles on either side of the large trunk, before bringing it back out into the daylight. When he was able to see it clearer, he noticed fresh dirt and soil in the cracks of the chest.
"Um." he began uncertainly, "where was this?"
"Pardon me?" Vernon spat, seeming insulted at having been spoken to.
"Well, it's covered in dirt, and it looks like."
"It's been in this shed for years boy!" Vernon cut him off, shouting. "Did you think it would be clean?"
"No, it's not that," Harry said, quickly, trying not to start fighting. This could very well be the last time he spoke with his uncle, and he didn't want to end it on a bad note, despite how much they'd done to him in the past. He didn't hold any great love for them, but they were still his family. But he couldn't get rid of the nagging voice in his head. The trunk was so covered in dirt, it reminded Harry of a freshly dug up object. But if it had been buried, then his uncle would have had to have known he was coming, or he most likely would have left it that way.
"Never mind," he muttered, deciding it didn't matter. All he had to do now was get the trunk back out to the car.
Vernon turned up his nose, and began walking back to the house, leaving his nephew to carry the heavy trunk by himself. Harry didn't say anything further. He hefted the trunk back up, shifting his weight to keep his balance, and trudged after his uncle.
When he reached the door, he was a bit surprised to see Petunia holding it open for him.
"Thank you," he said as he reached her, and began to maneuver the large chest through the small doorway.
She didn't reply, just looked the other way as he began to pass. He'd almost made it though when his foot came into contact with something unexpected and he lurched forward, the case flying out of his hands. He hit his knees hard on the tile floor, and winced as he heard the trunk crash down.
"Be more careful boy!" Vernon screamed from the door to the hallway as Harry began to pick himself up. He threw a suspicious glance at Petunia, almost positive she had tripped him, but didn't say anything about it.
Two more minutes, he thought to himself, then I'm out of here. Stepping forward, he flipped the chest slowly back around, glad to see the lock still in place and unbroken. He again grabbed the handles on the sides, and headed for the hallway door that his uncle was standing in.
"Nice to see you again," he said to Vernon as they reached the front door.
The larger man snorted in response, not bothering to answer.
Harry nodded, expecting nothing less. He was getting ready to step past his uncle, when he just had to ask one more question.
"Uncle Vernon?" he began, curiously. "If you knew this trunk was mine.because you seemed to know I was looking for one when I came here.why didn't you just give it to Sirius and Remus when they came last time?"
Vernon looked upon Harry as he always had, with distaste and revulsion, but for a second, Harry thought he looked scared.or at least worried. The look was gone in an instant though, and the larger man simply turned away from his nephew.
"Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked, pressing further. He felt that something must be wrong. They never talked to him much to begin with, but this was more than that. He opened his mouth again to ask what was going on, when he heard a very faint sound behind him, making his heart skip a beat. The all too familiar popping noise, told him someone had just apparated into the room.
"But.Voldemort regained his power when I was fourteen," Harry spoke quietly. "Wouldn't that have been a good time to tell me about all of this?"
"You would not have been able to use your powers properly," Cole spoke up. "Since you were never shown or told about any of this, your abilities lay dormant within you, only able to be awakened one of two ways. A life threatening situation is one way, it's the one that did it for you in fact, at the beginning of the school year when that death eater attacked you."
"Well.what about all the other times I've gone up against Voldemort? Why would nothing happen then?"
"The first day of school this year was the first time since you were a baby that you were hit with the Avada Kedavra. When he used the curse, that by all rights and purposes should have taken your life, your psionic abilities were awoken, and fought to keep you alive. It was the first time they were truly needed in such a situation as you'd managed to escape any previous attempts on your life without coming in contact with that curse. No matter what is done to you, you cannot be killed, so long as your defender is still alive, your powers will not allow you to die."
Harry opened his mouth to speak but Cole held up a hand.
"The other way, before you ask anything else, that you could gain the use of your abilities, would be from your psicrystals, which is what we had originally intended on doing this year until you were attacked, changing our plans. Your powers revealed themselves before I could manage to come here, which is why your headmaster didn't tell you about this sooner. I had wanted to bring you, Neville and Draco together and explain it to all of you at once, but it didn't quite work out that way, unfortunately. I asked him to wait until I'd arrived to tell you, something he was very much against, but agreed nonetheless. It was also my idea to tell you the reason you'd survived had been Lunis."
"But I don't understand why." Harry said, failing to keep the annoyance out of his voice. "Why go through all the trouble to explain Lunis to me, when I never had possession of it at all?"
"I wanted to wait until we had your crystals to tell you anything at all," Cole replied. "It would make all of this much easier for you to see and understand if you had them. But due to tonight's unfortunate chain of events.we had to explain this to you before we could get them here."
"So you didn't tell me because you wanted the crystals first. And because I hadn't ever used my powers they stayed 'dormant' as you put it, until I was hit with that curse by Gridman.but I would have been able to gain control of them just as quickly by the crystals.have I got all that?" Harry asked.
Cole nodded, smiling gently, but Harry did not return the sentiment.
"Neville is the guardian, and he can find me anywhere; Draco's the defender, and if I'm in pain then so is he.unless he does something to help."
"Correct," Cole said, as Harry continued.
"How do they get control of their powers then? Do they need crystals too?"
"Some things they will learn can be taught by Allison and myself," Cole said evenly. "Their inborn abilities that connect the three of you, however, were stirred when your own powers reawakened, and those cannot be shown to them. Neville found you without anyone else's help, and until the day he dies will always be able to do so. Draco, when he is made aware of his powers, will know what has to be done when he feels you are in trouble. As I said earlier, if he decides to try and fight the feeling, it will only hurt him more. But if he uses his powers, lets them flow, they will work to his advantage, allowing him to use the same magic you saw Neville use to defend you and your friend Ron against Percy."
"So you kept this from us because you didn't think we were ready to use our powers, and now that Voldemort's back you've decided it's time?" Harry asked.
"To put it simply, yes," Cole replied.
"Well where were you over two years ago, when he first came back?" Harry asked, exasperated.
"That, I'm afraid, is partially my doing," Dumbledore spoke quietly. "When your parents were killed, Harry, I wanted you to be raised as far away from the wizarding world as possible. I knew the response you would receive no matter where you went, and did not want you to grow up in the midst of all that. When it was time for you to attend Hogwart's, while you were still quite unprepared for what awaited you, you were old enough to understand it better. Cole contacted me the summer you turned eleven, knowing you would finally be told of at least some of your powers. He needed to know if his presence would be required to explain your abilities outside of your wizarding ones. However, I thought it best to take things one step at a time. So when you'd completed your first year here and seemed to be adjusting quite well, I told him I would rather you not learn of your other powers for some time, and that I would contact him, in the event we needed him."
"So you waited until now?" Harry asked, somewhat confused.
The smallest of grins crossed Dumbledore's lips as he went on.
"I sent Hagrid to find Cole at the close of the Tri-Wizard Tournament Harry. He was to find Cole and tell him of what had happened, so you could finally be shown your birthright. But apparently Cole has a much easier time finding us, then anyone else has at finding him."
"You mean.that entire time Hagrid was gone." Harry began.
"Two years Harry. Two years to find the one person who would be able to help you, your defender and your guardian, realize your true powers."
"Then why did you send Professor Gazten instead of."
"Allison, Harry. You can call her Allison," Cole interrupted.
Harry nodded, hesitantly.
"Why send Allison then.instead of just coming yourself?"
"As I told you earlier, I sent her to help Neville. Once your powers were awakened, we dropped our original plan to explain it to all three of you at once. We knew someone was after you, and as I was unable to make the journey here until quite recently, I had Allison start by teaching Neville about his powers. We wanted someone who could help you in the event you got into trouble, and due to your rivalry with Draco, we began with Neville."
"Does Lucius know?" Harry asked suddenly, "You said my parents knew about me.and well.I don't know if Neville's parents ever knew about him, but what about Lucius? And if he does then why would he."
"He does not know," Cole interrupted. "Neville's parents did not know and neither do Draco's. Your parents still did not know who your guardian and defender were at the time of their death."
"Why not?" Harry asked.
"There are certain things that are kept undisclosed even to the Psion until such a time comes when they need to know. I followed the signs from the last Psion, which led me to you. You, as I said, are currently the only one in existence. Your parents were quite startled to say the least, and I believe the only person they ever told, was Albus."
Harry glanced again over at the headmaster, feeling hurt and confused.even betrayed. Far too much had been kept from him, and the reasons he was being given just didn't seem good enough. He wanted to talk to him about it, but at the same time had no desire to speak to him at this moment. But something else was still bothering him, and he couldn't wait any longer to find out. Looking back and forth from the headmaster to Cole, Harry cleared his throat.
"Can one of you tell me." he began evenly, "why Voldemort thought Cho was the defender?"
Dumbledore sighed heavily, looking sadly at Harry before he spoke.
"I honestly do not know Voldemort's reasons for suspecting Cho to be the true defender. All I can tell you is that, from the time he was a young child, just attending school, until the time he graduated, Tom Riddle was always incredibly bright. However, one trait he could never seem to overcome was his want to have the answer so desperately, that he sometimes would not get all of the information necessary. Take for example, when he tried to use Professor Quirrell at the end of your first year at Hogwart's, to steal the Sorcerer's Stone. He was unprepared for all the obstacles that awaited him, and had no way of obtaining the stone from the Mirror of Erised when he'd reached it, as he didn't know how."
Harry looked skeptically at Dumbledore, who went on.
"Another example would be when he had Wormtail take your blood to help regain his body, without stopping to realize exactly what the consequences would be. It was almost fatal for him."
"Yes but he seemed to know a lot about this," Harry said, urgently. "He knows about my being a Psion apparently.and he knows I have a defender, and probably about the guardian too. My guess is he just knows the defender is the one he'd have to kill to get to me, which is why he, and everyone else who's asked, never mentioned the guardian."
"That's true, he does know. He has known since you were very young in fact, which is why he went after you when you were a baby. He assumed that you would be easier to destroy and would be able to take your powers. At that time, he never bothered to find out about the defender or guardian, and that was partially the reason for his failure."
"But how did he know to begin with?" Harry asked.
"Voldemort has been allies with the entities for many years Harry. They had been assisting him in finding out everything they could about psionics, and he knew that he could not ever hope to learn that power. If you are not born a Psion, the only way to achieve that power is to kill one. They tried to track down the last Psion before you, but all attempts failed. It is nearly impossible to hide anything from a Psion, and he knew of their plans against him long before they were implemented. However, when he passed on, you became his new target. Being entirely untrained and vulnerable, he figured you for an easy target, again, not bothering to find out everything he needed to know before going for you."
Harry was only half-listening to what the headmaster was telling him. Cho was dead for no other reason then Voldemort was so anxious to steal his powers, he hadn't bothered to discover the true defender's identity. Lying back against the pillows, he felt the grief that he'd been keeping at bay the entire night threatening to consume him once again, and shut his eyes tightly.
"Can't we stop this now Albus?" Sirius spoke finally, after remaining silent for the whole of the discussion. "He's been through too much.please."
"We need to discuss the crystals," Cole interrupted. "He has to retrieve them, and we need to."
"I realize that," Sirius cut him off. "Just please, let's let him rest for now. We can talk about the crystals later, and figure out when would be best to go for them."
The two men looked at the headmaster, who nodded once.
"I agree, this is enough for now," he spoke quietly. "But I would like to speak with Harry alone for just a few minutes."
Harry stifled the urge to groan. He wanted very badly right now to be done with this discussion that was making his head spin, and left alone.
Sirius looked at the headmaster pointedly, obviously thinking it would be best to do exactly as Harry was hoping, but Dumbledore returned his gaze evenly. Finally, Sirius seemed to give in, and turned to face Harry once more.
"I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" he asked, trying to smile for his godson. He brought his hand up and pushed aside a few loose strands of hair hanging down into Harry's face, before pulling back and standing up. Harry nodded, faintly. He barely heard Remus tell him good-bye as well, and watched as the others left the room.
"I'm so sorry for keeping this from you, Harry" Dumbledore spoke immediately as the door swung shut, in an utterly solemn tone. "I never intended to wait this long."
"But you did," Harry shot out, bitterly. Deep inside, he was horrified with himself for taking such a tone with Dumbledore. The one he'd always trusted more than almost anyone else for all his years at Hogwart's, but he couldn't help it, his pain and grief were far too great.
"Yes, I did," Dumbledore spoke quietly. "And I've already explained to you why, and what my feelings were about keeping it such a secret."
Harry simply stared at him, remaining silent.
"I understand that you're mad at me right now," the headmaster continued. "But I did what I believed to be best."
"Cho is dead because I didn't know any of this," Harry said, his voice hollow. "I would have told Voldemort everything.everything.if it would have saved her. And now she's dead." he trailed off, the tears dangerously close to spilling forth.
"Cho is not dead because of you," Dumbledore said firmly. "You must stop blaming yourself for things that could not have been prevented. If you had known everything we've told you tonight before what happened last night, I very much doubt Voldemort would have let Cho live either way. There was nothing you could have done to stop it."
"I stopped it from hitting me, didn't I?" Harry asked hoarsely. "Why didn't it happen for her too? I wanted it just as badly.I just.I." he trailed off, a lump rising in his throat. He choked it down; unable to meet the headmaster's gaze, and kept his eyes firmly on his hands.
"Please don't keep everything inside Harry," Dumbledore said gently. "You hold too much in, and it will only make your pain worse."
Harry didn't answer the headmaster. He nodded softly, wishing very badly to be left alone.
"I will go now," Dumbledore spoke, almost as if reading his mind. "Please get some rest," he said, pausing before saying in a bit firmer tone, "and don't blame yourself."
Harry turned on his side, not even bothering to say goodnight as the headmaster stood to leave. He closed his eyes against the misery welling up inside, wishing it to end.
Madam Pomfrey came over almost immediately, and Harry knew Dumbledore had sent her to him, and had a sleeping potion ready. He took it gratefully, wanting nothing more than to not have to think about anything that had just happened. His eyelids were already drooping as he laid his head against the soft pillow, and within seconds he had fallen into a mercifully dreamless sleep.
Harry opened his eyes after a long, restful sleep. The area of the hospital wing that he was in was still dark, and he slowly pushed himself up. Reaching out to either side of him, he found his glasses on the bedside table, and slipped them on.
"Harry? Are you up?" he heard a groggy voice ask.
"Yes Neville," Harry replied not particularly glad to see him, but not upset either. "What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to make sure you were alright," Neville answered, stretching. It was obvious he'd fallen asleep in his chair. "Sirius has been in and out the entire night, in between patrolling, he should be back soon."
Harry just nodded in response, not sure what else to say.
"So." Neville pressed on, "they told you, right? About.your powers?"
"Yes," Harry snickered, bitterly. "Lot of good it does me now though. Why they couldn't just tell me when Allison was showing you."
"Cole wanted to be here when you were told," Neville cut in, apologetically. "And.I needed.more help."
"Well you seemed to have everything under control on Halloween," Harry pointed out. "You seem to have learned this faster than any lesson we've ever been shown in class."
"Allison said it's because I was born as a guardian."
"You were also born as a wizard," Harry retorted. "So was I."
"But wizards and witches can have children that can't do magic," Neville began, "just as muggles can have children that can.but a guardian, just as a defender and a Psion, is chosen to be one without getting the power from a relative who was one before them. You are born as one and the powers are always strong within you. But just like you, I wasn't told about anything until recently.and never knew how to use them until then."
Harry watched Neville as he spoke. The small, scared boy he'd known now seemed ages older, and wiser. His eyes were full of fear, though, and Harry had the feeling Neville still knew a lot more than he did.
"So what did you do then," Harry began, curiously, "when Allison first told you who you are?"
"I didn't believe her," Neville grinned, shrugging.
"What did she do to convince you?" Harry asked.
"Well, because I'm usually so.slow.with magic," Neville began, somewhat embarrassed. His cheeks flushed bright red as he averted his eyes. "She.well.she shot a curse at me. Just like what Percy was trying to do to us on Halloween, and I just stopped it. I was never shown how, but I knew exactly what to do. Sort of like what you did when." Neville trailed off, hesitating. He obviously wasn't sure if this was a good thing to bring up.
"When I stopped the curse, when Voldemort tried to kill me," Harry finished for him.
"Yes," Neville said quietly, nodding faintly.
"But I didn't do it soon enough," Harry said bitterly. "I couldn't save Cho with all this power now, could I?"
"You had no idea how to use your powers," a voice spoke up from the doorway. Harry and Neville looked to see Cole walking towards them. "You still don't," he went on, briskly. "Which is why it's so important we get your crystals as soon as possible."
"Is that why you're here?" Harry asked. "To discuss when we're going to get them?"
"Soon," Cole smiled. "We do need to talk about that, most definitely. But first, there's someone else I need to speak with." he trailed off, turning his head as he spoke. Harry followed his gaze to the opposite side of the room, where Draco still lay, sleeping.
Harry and Neville exchanged a glance, but didn't say anything. They both knew exactly how difficult Malfoy would be to convince of his role in this, but Cole would find that out for himself soon enough.
"Do you need us to talk to him as well?" Neville finally asked, his expression saying he wanted to be very far away when Draco was actually told.
Cole shook his head with a grin.
"No, thank you. You've both had everything explained to you by yourselves, we'll keep it going as such. But if I need one of you, I'll let you know." He nodded to both of them, before heading off in Malfoy's direction.
"Good luck," Harry called after him, thinking it would take more than that to convince Draco of any of this.
"Man he's in for a surprise," Neville muttered under his breath.
"Yeah," Harry laughed, "I hope he shoots a curse at him, like Allison did for you. I would love to see that."
"Except Draco is so full of himself, he won't consider it as proving anything," Neville pointed out, laughing along with Harry.
"Well what's so funny you two?" Sirius' voice cut in suddenly. Harry and Neville turned to see him nearing the bed. "You both seem to be enjoying yourselves," he commented happily, obviously glad to see his godson smiling.
"We're just wondering who's going to come out on top between Malfoy and Cole," Harry explained with a grin. "He's about to find out he's the defender." As the words left his mouth, Harry felt an unexpected chill run up his spine. The defender. Malfoy was chosen at birth to defend him, to protect him and know when he was in trouble. Why it had to be him of all people, Harry had no idea, but for the first time the words really sunk in. This was real, all of it, and from this point on the three of them would be forever changed.
"Well I bet you a sickle he starts screaming his head off in five minutes," Sirius said cheerfully.
"Five minutes?" Neville asked, stunned, before smiling widely. "Not a chance, he'll never make it past two."
They all looked in the direction of Malfoy's bed to see him sitting upright, as far back against the headboard as he could get, staring wildly at Cole, who was calmly speaking, as if he were dangerous.
"I give it thirty seconds," Harry said blandly, just as Malfoy looked over at him.
"Potter!" he shrieked loudly, cutting Cole off entirely. "Is this your idea of a joke? Sending someone over to."
"I didn't send anyone," Harry interrupted, just as loudly. "And what Cole is saying is the truth."
"Mr. Malfoy," Cole spoke up, trying to draw his attention back to him. "If you'd just calm down a moment I'll finish explaining."
However, Malfoy was doing anything but listening, he glared angrily at Harry before his eyes scanned the rest of the room, almost desperately. The worry in his face was evident when he saw no one besides the four people in the room with him, and he turned his glare upon Neville.
"Longbottom!" he snarled. "Go fetch the headmaster now! Tell him there's a madman here disturbing me while I'm sick and in need of."
"You are not sick Mr. Malfoy," Cole said pointedly. "And if you'd kindly shut up, I will tell you exactly why you felt what you did last night."
"Longbottom move!" Malfoy shouted louder, ignoring Cole entirely.
Harry saw Cole losing his temper, and wished Malfoy would just shut up and listen. He didn't think he had his wand handy in the event the older man actually did decide to shoot a curse at him, and it looked as if that was exactly what was going to happen.
Glaring angrily at Malfoy, Cole stood up slowly.
"Mr. Malfoy," Cole said in a dangerously quiet voice, "I would appreciate if you'd listen while I'm speaking to you."
Malfoy, who was glaring intently at Neville, spun his gaze to Cole. His eyes were flashing; disgust and anger mingled in his expression.
"Look whatever game it is you and Potter are playing at I'm not falling for it!" he hissed. "When my father hears about what you've tried to."
"If you listen to what I have to say," Cole interrupted, "you'll realize what a bad idea it would be to tell your father about this at all. Unless you don't value your life, that is."
Draco's expression remained as angry as ever, but now confusion was evident as well, his brow furrowed as he spoke again.
"What are you on about? My father would never do anything to."
"You don't know your father very well then, do you?" Cole asked, a smug look upon his face. "You are Harry's defender, whether you want to be or not you are. You can do nothing to change it. And the fact of the matter is, if someone wants him dead, they have to go through you first. He cannot die while you are alive. Now I have no doubt in my mind, that you are aware of Voldemort's attempts on Harry's life, and while his followers try to keep their identity a secret, we know your father is one of them."
Draco opened his mouth to interrupt, possibly to defend his father in some way, but Cole rushed on.
"Now if you tell one of Voldemort's followers that you are the person they're after and have been trying to kill for the past few months." he paused, giving Draco a pointed glare, "tell me, what do you think will happen?"
"My father," Malfoy began, furiously, "would never do something like that to me. You're lying. You've concocted this horrible tale to scare me into doing something for you.well it is not going to work. I'm going to write to him today, as soon as I get out of here, and then.then you'll be sorry. You're going to regret this."
Cole sighed in resignation, shaking his head sadly.
"You leave me no choice Draco. If you refuse to listen to what I'm saying, then perhaps this will convince you."
Harry tensed up, feeling almost sorry for Draco. For a few seconds, the room was deathly silent, everyone waiting for what was going to happen to Malfoy. When Cole raised his hand in front of him, however, he wasn't looking at Draco. Harry felt his mouth go dry and pushed himself further back on the bed in an effort to get away, as a beam of silver light hit him in the chest.
Sirius and Neville cried out in surprise, rushing to Harry's side, but he barely heard them. His throat felt as if it were twisting violently, and his air supply was slowly cut off.
"What are you doing?" Sirius screamed, angrily at Cole, gripping Harry by the shoulders as he struggled to breathe.
"You mean you don't know?" Cole asked, somewhat surprised. He turned away from Sirius to look at Draco, who was also trying frantically to breathe.
Harry wasn't paying attention to any of this, however. He brought his hands up to his neck, rubbing and massaging, trying desperately to get the air moving again.
He looked up at last to see Cole, staring intently at Malfoy, who looked far worse off than he felt. His face was turning a sickening shade of blue and he was retching, uncontrollably. Pulling himself forward, clutching at the sheets of the bed, he reached forward, trying to grasp Cole's robes. Catching a handful of material, he looked up, even through his pain you could see the underlying fury beneath.
"Stop Mr. Malfoy," Cole spoke plainly. "You're only making this worse. Stop concentrating on your anger and think about your pain."
"I think you've shown him enough." Sirius began, anger evident in his voice. But he didn't take his eyes off of his godson. Harry struggled to stay conscious as his vision began to blur.
"I will decide when it's been enough," Cole spoke crisply.
"If you keep it up they're both going to die!" Sirius shouted, watching Harry grow paler.
"No one is going to die," Cole said calmly. He turned his gaze once again to Draco, who had nearly passed out from the lack of air. Lifting his hand in front of him again, silver light formed around both Harry and Draco's necks, before appearing to be sucked out. Clasping his fingers around the light, Cole extinguished it in his fist, before dropping his arm to his side.
Harry slumped back against the headboard, greedily gulping in air.
"Are you alright?" Sirius asked, his eyes full of concern and worry. Harry nodded, faintly, and looked over to see how Draco was doing.
Malfoy was also lying back against the pillows, breathing deeply, all the anger gone from his eyes, to be replaced with fear and confusion.
"You had no right to." Sirius began, turning angrily to Cole.
But Cole held up a hand, throwing Sirius a pointed stare. Sirius started to stand, his hands balled into fists, his teeth clenched, but stopped when he felt a hand tapping his shoulder.
"Wait," Harry whispered hoarsely, pleading with his godfather to stop. Sirius looked hesitant for a moment, before nodding once, and dropping back onto the bed beside his godson. Harry mouthed the words thank you, before turning his attention back to Malfoy. Cole was already back in his seat, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. He grinned smugly at Draco, before speaking.
"Now," he said, evenly. "Will you listen to what I have to say?"
"What.what did you do to me?" Draco wheezed his voice sounding strained and raw.
"Did you see me do anything to you?" Cole asked.
"You shot something out of your hand!" Draco tried to yell, but could barely get above a whisper.
"Correct, that I did," Cole replied. "At Harry. I never did anything to you."
Draco gaped at Cole, he turned to glance at Harry and then back again, a look of horror dawning on his face.
"But." he croaked, his face growing paler by the second. "You weren't serious about what you said before.right?" he asked, his eyes wide with fear.
"I was very serious indeed, Mr. Malfoy," Cole replied evenly. "You are Harry's defender. When he feels pain, you will as well. I am going to teach you how to use your pain, and turn it into energy that you can fight with."
Draco shook his head slowly.
"You have to be mistaken," he spoke quietly. "I could never...defend.him." he nearly spat with disgust. He looked upon Harry with hatred, and Harry suddenly felt a rush of fury. Sitting up quickly, he glared directly at Draco.
"Do you think I want this either?" he asked loudly, his eyes flashing dangerously. "I would rather anyone else on the planet watching my back then you, I'm gonna be more worried about what you'll be doing to work against me than anything else. You have never done anything to show you have one shred of decency in your being and you don't deserve any of the power you were born with!"
"Well how do I get rid of it then?" Draco asked vehemently. "Because I would rather live in pain the rest of my life than defend you from anything!" Crossing his arms over his chest, he sat back in a huff.
"If you two are quite finished," Cole spoke evenly, looking from one to the other. "I'm sure this will take some time to adjust to, but it will happen. You have no choice but to let it. Your feelings towards one another will play no part when it comes down to the real thing. What I did today was to prove a point, but in all truth, it will never be that easy again."
"I don't want it to happen again," Draco muttered, angrily.
"You have no choice," Cole said firmly, fixing Malfoy with pointed stare.
"Well how did this happen?" Draco asked, exasperatedly, flinging his hands in the air. "You said I was born with this, but I've never felt anything in the past when he's been hurt," he said, nodding in Harry's direction as he spoke.
"You were born with it," Cole said gently. "And like Harry and Neville, your powers lay dormant within you until something brought them out. For Neville it was being forced into using his ability to defend against powerful magic, for Harry it was when his life was in danger, and his powers were forced into saving him. With you, however, it was a bit different. Voldemort wants to find you, quite badly as a matter of fact, and by giving Harry a deadly serum, was able to force you out of hiding, so to speak."
"Is that what the serum did?" Harry asked, realizing he'd never found out the night before.
"What serum?" Draco asked. "And why would Potter drinking it hurt me?"
"The three of you are connected," Cole began, "through birth. You were all born on the same day, in the same minute. Harry was chosen to be the next Psion and the two of you were chosen along with him, as his protectors. It is unable to be changed or fought. It is your destiny. Liking each other as individuals has no bearing on this at all. Now the serum given to Harry would have killed any other person who drank it. As it made its way through him, slowly and painfully, your powers were stirred, sensing he was in trouble. Having no control over them right away, you ended up coming to the hospital wing, completely unaware of the true cause of your pain."
"Why wouldn't he have felt something at the beginning of the year then, when Gridman tried to kill me?" Harry asked, confused.
"While I'm sure it felt longer to you," Cole replied, "the actual duration of the pain you felt that night was only a few minutes. You were uncomfortable afterwards, but you were safe, and so Malfoy's powers had no chance to manifest themselves fully. The serum's effects, however, lasted a great deal longer, as Voldemort knew it would. That is why they tried to give it to you once before."
Harry nodded, noncommittally, while Malfoy's expression remained etched with confusion.
"I still don't." he began, looking up at Cole, who held up a hand to silence him.
"I will explain everything to you, Mr. Malfoy. You weren't awake for our little chat last night, and so your confusion is most understandable. The question is, are you ready to listen now?"
Draco looked again at Harry. The dislike the two held for each other was still quite evident, but neither of them said anything else to one another. He turned back to face the man in front of him, looking directly into Cole's eyes, and nodded.
"I am going to have a talk with that man," Sirius spoke lowly, through clenched teeth, glaring at Cole as he continued to speak to Draco. "He had no right to do that to you."
"Believe me," Harry said, "I would rather it not have happened either. And I feel like I should be mad.but I'm not.it's like, I know that was the only way Draco would believe.and that makes it okay."
"It certainly does not make it okay!" Sirius said a bit loudly and Harry and Neville both hissed at him to keep his voice down. But if Cole had overheard, he gave no notice. Both he and Draco were deep in conversation.
"Sorry," Sirius said quickly, not really looking as if he meant it. "But if he's supposed to be here to help us, nearly killing you is not the way to gain our trust."
"Sirius," Harry began gently. "It wouldn't have killed me. It hurt an awful lot, but Draco can't die from just feeling my pain.no matter how much it seems like he will. And if he's alive.then so am I."
"He looked like he could have died to me."
"But he wouldn't have," Harry said quickly. "I can't explain how I know this.I just feel it."
"And you're quite right," a new voice spoke up from nearby. The three of them turned to see Gazten standing at the end of the bed. "You are connected to the point that he will feel your pain, and if he fights it like that each time, it will hurt him more than it does you, but he can't die from it. Pass out, maybe, but not die."
"See?" Harry asked, grinning at Sirius. "Told ya."
Sirius couldn't help but smile at Harry's smug expression.
"Oh, so I guess you're the expert now, aren't you?" he asked, rolling his eyes.
"He will be," Gazten spoke again. "Soon he'll know more about his powers than Cole or I could ever tell him. As soon as we get the crystals, everything will be much easier."
"Yes I wanted to ask you about that," Sirius began, "when exactly are we going to get the crystals?"
"As soon as possible," Cole's voice cut in, as he walked up behind them. Harry instantly looked over to where Malfoy was still sitting. He was staring after Cole, a blank expression on his face.
"How is he?" Harry asked, looking up at Cole and nodding towards Draco.
"He will need time to adjust to all of this, no doubt," Cole spoke softly. "But he is no longer fighting it. Now it just seems to be the shock of everything, as you know.it's a lot to handle all at once."
Harry nodded, understanding the overwhelming feeling all too well. Glancing at Draco once more, he sighed lightly before turning to face the others.
"So," he began, "what do we do now?"
"The crystals are of the utmost importance," Cole spoke firmly. "We will need to get those right away."
"Will you be going to get them?" Harry asked.
Cole shook his head.
"No, you will need to get the crystals. Allison will accompany you, but you are the one that needs to retrieve them."
"Oh.but.we have to do it now?" Harry asked, feeling very much not up to going anywhere at this moment.
"Today would be preferable," Cole nodded, taking no notice to Harry's disappointed expression.
"I.I just don't feel.up to it.right now." Harry stammered.
"I'm afraid we can't wait very." Cole began.
"He doesn't have to go today if he doesn't feel well," Sirius interrupted, pointedly. "After what he's just been through, I don't think anyone has the right to force him to do anything he doesn't want to right now, least of all you." He glared evenly at Cole, as if daring him to argue.
"I know you're upset with me for what happened a short while ago," Cole grinned, smugly. "But I suggest you listen to what your godson told you.I only did what had to be done. We don't have the time to let any of these three come to terms with this at their own leisure. I'm very sorry for what I did, but I had no choice."
"And this coming from someone who took four months to get here! Where do you get off.?" Sirius began, heatedly.
"Sirius," Gazten spoke up firmly, cutting him off. "My uncle has his reasons for arriving so late, and it is his choice if he wishes to share them with you or not."
"Well whatever they are.they better be damn good," Sirius muttered, still looking quite angry.
Cole nodded at Gazten once, before turning back to Harry.
"I understand that you've been through much pain in the last twenty- four hours.for which I am deeply sorry. The crystals can wait.but please don't make it too long. A day maybe, two at the most. The sooner you start working with them, the sooner you have more control over your powers."
"Thank you," Harry nodded. "I promise I won't wait long. Do I just come to you when I'm ready?"
"No I'll be going with you," Gazten said gently, smiling at Harry.
"So will I!" Sirius spoke up, abruptly.
"Mr. Black," Cole began. "Please understand."
"You're not going to tell me I can't go," Sirius said in a determined tone. "Because I don't care, I won't let Harry that far away from the school with someone I've known for a few months."
"That isn't what I was going to say," Cole grinned, eyeing Sirius pointedly. "If you had let me finish, you would have heard me say please understand how important it is to let Harry be the one to handle the crystals. It is quite important that he, and only he, touch them, at least at first."
"Why?" Harry asked. "I mean I'm not arguing.I'll be the one to carry them.but what is so important about it being me first?"
"The stones are very sensitive," Cole explained. "They have not been handled since the last Psion passed on. You, being his predecessor, need to be the first to touch them, so they will be imprinted with a part of your personality. After that, it won't make much difference."
"But.what do you mean? My personality? How? And if someone else were to touch them first.what would happen?"
"It will make more sense," Cole said with a grin, "when they are actually here. Everything will be explained to you then. But, if someone else were to touch them before you.the stone could be infused with a part of them as well.whether they are a Psion or not. If that were to happen the stone would no longer be trustworthy, as it's advice to you would be tainted."
"I'm.I'm still confused." Harry said, embarrassed.
"I would expect so," Cole smiled. "Get the stones here first, then you will see what I mean. Everything will make sense, I promise you."
Several hours later, still feeling confused, Harry was on his way back to the Gryffindor tower. Neville was walking beside him, silently. After Cole and Gazten had left, Sirius had stayed a short while longer, before it was time for him to continue patrolling with Marzia. Madam Pomfrey had checked him over again, and said if he felt well enough to leave, he was free to go. Harry was all too glad to get out of there, and dressed as quickly as possible. Malfoy had obviously been told the same, as before Harry could get a chance to ask him anything, he had already gone, presumably back to his dorm.
They reached the portrait of the fat lady and Neville gave the password. It slowly swung open and the two of them stepped through, into the bustling common room. A hush fell over the students as Harry walked in, and he wondered exactly how much they knew before making his way to the back corner, where his friends waited for him, anxious expressions on their faces.
"Harry," Hermione began as soon as he was near enough. "How are you?"
Harry tried to smile at her; he could see her eyes were red and puffy from crying. A quick glance at the others told him Ginny had been doing the same, and Ron looked as if he could let go at any minute.
"I'm okay," he said quietly, lowering himself into the chair nearest him.
"I'm so sorry," she went on, her voice breaking now, and tears spilling forth. Ginny blew her nose softly and Harry had to fight back a fresh wave of grief.
"I don't." he began, suddenly fighting to keep his voice steady. He cleared his throat firmly as an image of Cho's face flashed through his mind. Her smiling eyes, her soft lips, he had to lower his head as he felt the tears well up. "I don't want to talk about Cho." he said, forcing his voice to remain even. "Please.just not right now." He looked up to meet his friends' eyes one at a time, pleading with them.
"Anything you want, mate," Ron said, his own voice wavering. He tried to give his friend a reassuring smile, but could barely manage to meet his gaze.
"Thank you," Harry murmured, looking down at his hands. He didn't want them to see him like that.
Hermione and Ginny were still sniffling, but didn't argue.
"We were a bit worried," Ron began, trying to change the subject, "to say the least, when we saw you gone. Neville woke me up actually, he found the bottle and your wand, wanted to know if I knew anything about it. I of course didn't.and he went to get Gazten."
"Oh," Harry said blankly. "Is that what happened? Nobody told me. Who gave him my invisibility cloak?"
"I suggested it," Hermione said, apologetically. "Ron woke me up while Neville was getting Gazten. We were so scared Harry.we had no idea what happened to you." she trailed off miserably.
"Well I take it you know now?" Harry asked, praying he wouldn't have to explain it to them. He just didn't think he could handle it right now.
The three of them nodded in unison.
"When Neville came back with Gazten, Dumbledore and Sirius, they all argued for a few minutes on what would be the best way to find you. Sirius seemed to think he should go after you.but Gazten and Dumbledore were convinced it had to be Neville, because he would be able to find you faster. At the time, none of us knew about him being your.guardian." Ron spoke with some hesitation, as if the idea were still strange to him. "But Dumbledore obviously knew something, as he wanted Neville to go as well. Sirius pointed out how dangerous it would be and what would he do if he was spotted.he was, after all, greatly outnumbered.and then Hermione suggested the cloak."
"Well I'm glad she did.we would have been caught without it," Harry said, grinning weakly at Hermione. She returned the sentiment, looking sadly at her friend.
"Gazten did something to the bottle then.I have no idea what, but a small creature that she called a bottle imp plopped out when she turned it over. She whispered a spell quickly and the imp turned to stone, and she smashed it to the floor," Ron spoke quickly, his eyes dull as he spoke. "Then she grabbed Neville's hand.and the two of them started shrinking. We watched them go into the bottle and saw a bright light from inside and then nothing. About an hour later, we saw the light again and they came back out, with you.and you know the rest." he trailed off.
"Yes I do," Harry said, noncommittally, nodding as he spoke. He wanted to just forget the whole horrible evening and put it all behind him, but knew that would be much easier said than done. There was still too much of a chance that someone could get into the school, and Harry was fairly certain Saaneeraa was there all the time, from the way Voldemort had spoken. She could be controlling anyone, and Harry thought that finding her was probably the most important thing at this moment. He glanced around again at his friends, before settling his gaze on Hermione.
"That night before the quidditch match," Harry began, "before Ginny's broom was cursed, do you remember anything that happened?"
Hermione looked at him, confused.
"What does that have to do with.?"
"We know Saaneeraa did something to you that night," he interrupted, "according to the map, that's who you brought the Firebolt to. What we don't know is what Saaneeraa looks like. She could be controlling any one of us, at any time.or even possibly.taking the form of one of us."
"But if she was taking someone else's form.why even bother sending Hermione for the broom? She could have come in and gotten it herself," Ron said.
"I don't know," Harry replied. "But we know from what Allison told us that she can change form, and we know from the map that she was controlling Hermione."
"Maybe she's taken Marzia's form," Ron suggested, his eyes suddenly wide. "Hermione was talking to her just before it happened!"
"Well true, but then I came back here," Hermione spoke up. "It was hours before I.took the broom." she trailed off, shivering involuntarily. She still had no recollection of ever getting out of bed that night.
"But she could have done something to you while you did talk!" Ron pressed. "Something that only would take effect later."
"Okay," Harry cut in, "I agree we can't count her out, but I don't want to only think of her, or we might completely miss it if it's someone else."
"Well, what about Gazten?" Hermione asked, shrugging. "I don't know much about her, but she seemed to know an awful lot about the entities, and she left out what Saaneeraa looked like entirely."
"Yes, but I think that's because she can shift forms," Harry said. "And after all she's done to help.and all it seems she's still going to do.I kind of trust her more now." he trailed off.
"So do I," Hermione sighed. "But I had to mention her."
"Maybe it's Snape," Ron said, smirking. "He's been 'sick' for months.and the person who's supposed to be able to cure him.who can cure anyone it seems, can't make him better. And when Hermione took the broom she did go to the dungeons after all, which is where Snape usually can be found."
"Well if Snape was really Saaneeraa, then why did the dream snake attack him? And why did they have him chained up in that secret room for over a day? It just doesn't seem to fit." Harry trailed off.
"Cole maybe?" Hermione suggested. "I barely even spoke to him while he and Dumbledore were explaining things to us.but he certainly seems somewhat.shifty."
"No, that doesn't make sense either," Harry said with a sigh. "Saaneeraa's been here for months and Cole's only just arrived. Besides I think Allison might notice something.he being her uncle and all."
"I have a suggestion," Ginny spoke up in a small voice for the first time that evening. Everyone turned their attention to her, waiting.
"What about Mel?" she asked. "She's someone we barely know, and only just met this year. She seems to be slowly trying to get closer to you," she said, looking pointedly at Harry, "and she's always sending letters, from what you've said. How do we know who they're being delivered to? Maybe she set this up from the beginning.starting with the 'accident' in the erumpent pen. You even said yourselves you don't remember her name being called at the sorting that first year."
"But I think someone else might've realized by now if she weren't really a student," Harry said quickly, jumping to Mel's defense. "And since when is sending letters a bad thing?"
"Well can't Saaneeraa control people?" Ginny asked. "Maybe no one's noticed anything because she doesn't want them to!"
Harry shook his head, firmly.
"No, I don't think it could be Mel."
"But you can't be sure," Ginny pressed, sitting forward in her chair. "And just like you said for Marzia, about being careful not to center on one person.well it would be dumb to leave someone out as well. Just because you don't want her to be bad, doesn't mean she isn't."
"Why are you so eager to blame her?" Harry asked, quietly.
"Why are you so eager to trust her?" Ginny shot back. "I'm not trying to upset you, but you can't let yourself be blind to what she might be doing, just because you like her."
Harry nodded stiffly, keeping his mouth shut. He didn't want to consider Mel as a suspect at all, but he was also not up for arguing about it anymore. Moving on, he tried to think of others they might add to their list, but after another hour or so of discussion, they could come up with no one else they could truly consider untrustworthy. Deciding to just leave it there for now, and having gotten very late, the four of them said goodnight to one another, and headed off to bed.
Harry tossed and turned a good portion of the night. Having had much sleep while in the hospital wing, he was having a hard time falling asleep. As such, he was also letting his mind wander, keeping him all the more awake. Everything that had happened over the past day replayed again and again in his mind, making him sad, angry, depressed, and restless. When at last he was able to fall asleep, he could see the first glints of sunlight peeking through the window.
Later on that afternoon, when he'd pulled himself out of bed just after everyone had eaten lunch, he dressed quickly and headed out of the common room. He didn't feel much like talking with his friends, and would go crazy with his thoughts if he didn't do something. At first, he had been glad that he wouldn't have to attend any classes right away, having a week and a half left to the winter break. But after just one night, he wished the holidays were over. At least in class he'd have something to occupy his mind.
Moving quickly through the hallways, he went first to the great hall. While he was quite hungry from having slept through the first two meals of the day, he didn't want to eat just yet. Seeing the hall was mostly empty, he turned and left, now off in the direction of Dumbledore's office.
He barely made it a quarter of the way before running into the person he'd been searching for.
"Allison!" he called as he saw her walking in the same direction as he, a bit further up the corridor. She looked over her shoulder upon hearing her name, and smiled warmly as Harry approached.
"Hello Harry," she said softly, stepping forward to meet him. "How are you?"
"I'm.well.I know I said I wanted some time.but I changed my mind," he said quickly. "Can we go get the crystals soon? I'd like to start working with them right away." he trailed off, looking hopeful.
"Of course!" Allison said, almost sounding relieved. "That's wonderful to hear, yes we can go soon. Give me some time; I'll set everything up. We can leave first thing in the morning."
Harry was somewhat disappointed about not being able to leave right away, but nodded.
"Thank you," he said. "I'll.um.I'll go tell Sirius. Is there anything I need to bring? Or do?" he asked, not sure what would be required of him.
"Just yourself," she winked, grinning. "And remind your godfather about the crystals.he can't touch them."
"I know, I know," Harry said, smirking. Gazten knew, as well as Harry, that Sirius could be a bit overly protective of him at times, but he loved the attention just the same.
Harry thanked her again, before heading off again to Dumbledore's office. He wasn't sure if Sirius were patrolling or elsewhere, but the best person to ask would be the headmaster.
However once again he ran into someone before he made it to his destination.
"Where you headed Harry?" Marzia laughed as he turned the corner, almost colliding with her as he did so. "We seem to keep meeting this way."
"Do you know where Sirius is?" Harry asked abruptly. He didn't want to sound rude, but at the same time wasn't sure how much he trusted her.
Marzia looked a bit taken back at his response, but recovered quickly.
"I think he's downstairs, in the dungeon area," she said, looking curiously at him. "Is everything alright? Can I help?"
"Well I just need to talk to him," Harry said, beginning to turn away.
"Whoa, hold on mister," Marzia spoke firmly. "Not a chance you're going down there by yourself."
"I'm not entirely helpless you know," Harry said, somewhat heatedly. "And I've been down there before without an escort."
"Well this won't be one of those times," she shrugged, stepping past him. "So, you coming?"
Harry shook his head faintly, but didn't argue. He just wanted to find Sirius and let him know about tomorrow. Together, he and Marzia started off for the dungeons.
"Harry, I know things are very hard for you right now," Marzia began after a few moments of silence, "but please, don't shut everyone out. I'm here if you ever need to talk."
"I'm not shutting everyone out," Harry replied evenly. "And thank you, if I want to talk I'll let you know."
Marzia looked at him for a moment more, seeming as if she wanted to continue talking, but sensing that Harry wanted nothing less. They walked on in silence again, passing the entrance to the great hall, before finding the corridor that led to the dungeons. Sirius was on his way back just as the entered, and Harry smiled as he caught sight of him.
"Sirius," he called, quickening his pace. "I need to talk to you."
"Hey you two," Sirius replied cheerfully, a broad smile spreading across his face. "Been chatting, have you?"
"Not exactly," Marzia replied, looking from Sirius to Harry. Sirius gave her a questioning look but she just shook her head, indicating she wasn't going to talk about it now.
"Is everything alright?" Sirius asked, turning back to his godson, looking a bit worried.
"Yes, everything's fine," Harry replied, quickly. He glanced uncertainly in Marzia's direction, before continuing. "I spoke to Allison this morning; I want to go for the crystals as soon as possible. She said she would have everything ready so we could leave first thing in the morning, and I just wanted to let you know right away in case you needed to do something before we left.you still want to go, right?"
"Oh yes, I'm definitely going," Sirius said firmly as Harry finished speaking. "I'll be ready, don't you worry."
"Thank you," Harry said, already knowing that was going to be the answer. "Remember the crystals though," he went on," you can't touch them before I do."
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"I remember," he said with a smirk. "Despite what you may think I do actually listen when others are talking.even if I'm not quite fond of them."
"I was just making sure." Harry smiled. "Doesn't hurt to be certain."
"No it doesn't," Sirius agreed, sounding a bit more somber now. "Which is why I'm going to find Gazten now, and see exactly how we're going to go about this tomorrow." He paused, glancing again at Marzia, before turning to meet Harry's gaze. He put a hand on his shoulder and spoke sincerely. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked. "If you need anything.or if you want to talk.please tell me. If I don't have the time I'll make it, no questions asked."
Harry felt a swell of mixed emotions building up inside him. He tried to smile gratefully at his godfather.
"Thank you," he said in a strained voice. "I don't want to talk about anything right now, but I will let you know if I do."
Sirius looked uncertainly at Harry, trying to see past the front. He could see the pain evident in his godson's eyes, but didn't want to push him. Nodding once, he smiled warmly and gave him a reassuring pat on the back.
"Take as long as you need," he said. "I'm here for you, whenever you need me." He sighed lightly, before looking away and glancing around at the dark, dank hallway to the dungeon area. "C'mon you two, let's get out of here."
For the rest of the day, Harry tried to keep himself completely occupied. He started on the homework that was due at the end of the break, spending several hours getting through a great deal of it. Since they hadn't had Snape for potions most of the year, their homework was not as overwhelming as it usually would be. Although he sat with his friends through dinner, he didn't feel up to talking. He let them know about going for the crystals the next day, and who was going, but would say little else. That night he turned in early, and despite having slept so late that day, fell asleep almost immediately after getting into bed.
The next morning he was woken up by someone shaking him softly. He turned over, instinctively reaching for his glasses and placing them on, to see Sirius standing over him.
"Good morning," he smiled, whispering so as not to wake the others in the room. "Sleep well?"
Harry nodded, pushing himself up.
"Much better than last night," he said with a stretch. He rubbed at his eyes under his glasses, before blinking a few times, and looking up at Sirius.
"Are we leaving now?" he asked, eagerly.
"As soon as you're ready." Sirius replied, smiling.
"Give me two minutes," Harry said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He ran to his closet, pulling it open, before a thought occurred to him, and he spun around.
"Sirius," he whispered loudly. "Remember to wear muggle clothes.no robes."
Sirius glanced down at his attire, before nodding at his godson with a smirk.
"Good thing one of us is thinking," he said, wryly, before turning again and heading back through the door.
Harry threw on pants and a shirt, before pulling a sweater on over his head. He grabbed his wand and his watch, shoving them into his pocket, and crossed the room to the door as quickly and quietly as possible.
Sirius was waiting for him, and together they left the Gryffindor tower. The took a small detour through the hallways so Sirius could change out of his robes, before heading down to the main entrance, where Gazten was waiting for them.
"Good morning," she said cheerfully as they both came up to her. "Everybody all set?"
Harry nodded.
"Very ready," he said, eagerly. He hadn't been to thrilled with this when Cole had first told him of the crystals, but now he was rather anxious to get to them. To learn from them.
The three of them walked through the doors to see a small blue car parked a short distance from the school.
"We're driving there?" Harry asked, confused.
"It would be best," Gazten answered. "We don't have a floo channel opened to your aunt and uncle's house any longer, and at the present time we can't even reach anyone from the ministry. Also, even though you may know how to apparate, you technically still aren't allowed to. Ministry or no ministry it's better not to chance that."
Harry nodded, realizing it did make sense to drive, even if it would take longer. It had been a while since he'd even gotten into a car, and it felt strange when he first slid into the back seat. Gazten sat on the passenger side, while Sirius took the driver's.
Sitting back into the soft leather, Harry took a deep breath. It would be a long ride, no doubt, but he was glad to get out of the school for a bit, with people he trusted. He turned to look out the window as Sirius started the car, and watched the trees in the distance begin to move as the passed.
Harry barely realized what was happening, he'd fallen asleep in the back not too long into the ride, but before he knew it, he felt the car slowing to a stop. He opened his eyes to see a place he hadn't been in over a year. Privet Drive.
He yawned loudly, arching his back from sitting in one position for so long, and glanced up at the front seat.
"That was fast," he commented with a smirk.
"For you maybe, sleeping beauty," Sirius nearly groaned. "You've been asleep since before we even got past Hogsmeade, and right after you'd been sleeping for hours!"
"What can I say?" Harry shrugged with a grin. "Being in a moving vehicle always gets me sleepy. As long as it's not moving out of control or anything, I'm out like a light."
He smiled widely at his godfather's bemused grin, before turning to look out the window. His aunt and uncle's house looked exactly as he'd remembered it. The windows had the same flowery curtains and the paint was the same bland white.
"I want to go talk with them by myself," Harry said suddenly. "I think it would be a bit easier on them, rather than having all three of us just show up unexpectedly."
"No I don't think that's a good idea," Sirius said immediately. I don't want you anywhere that I can't see you, especially around those people," he said with obvious distaste.
"Sirius, I'm not a little boy anymore. They can't force me to go to my room or under the stairs, and even if they could I don't think they'd want to. I'm willing to bet they're enjoying not having me there anymore."
"He has a point Sirius," Gazten spoke up suddenly. "His visit alone is going to be a shock, we don't want to cause a scene here, so it might be better if we wait out here."
"Yes, please, just for a bit," Harry picked up anxiously as she finished speaking. "Give me a half hour, in case they have the trunk hidden away somewhere. If I'm not out by then, then you can come in."
Sirius looked skeptically from one to the other, looking very uneasy. He was obviously very much against this idea entirely, and was ready to say no. But the pleading look in his godson's eyes caused him to soften at the last moment.
"I'm watching the clock starting right now," he said firmly. "If you need something you shoot up sparks, I don't care if any muggle here sees it. Break them through the nearest window and we'll be there in half a second.
"Thank you," Harry smiled widely, leaning forward to hug his godfather over the seat.
"You're welcome," Sirius said, unable to believe he was really going along with this. "Get going, you've got twenty-nine minutes left."
"Right," Harry said, anxiously, throwing his door open. He swung it shut behind him, before crossing the street and walking up the familiar path to number four Privet Drive. His hand shook slightly as he pressed his finger to the doorbell, and waited. Less then a minute later, the door was pulled open quickly, and Vernon Dursley stood there, looking no different then he had the last time Harry had seen him. His face was scrunched instantly into a scowl of anger when he saw his nephew and he spoke in a gruff tone.
"What are you doing here boy?" he asked.
"Hello Uncle Vernon," Harry said, trying to sound pleasant. "Sorry to drop in on you like this, but Sirius and Remus left something here when they came to take my things last time, and I'm here to get it."
Vernon looked at him skeptically, but surprisingly didn't argue. He swung the door open slowly, and stood aside allowing Harry to pass.
"Back here," Vernon muttered after slamming the door shut loudly. Harry followed him curiously, thinking his uncle seemed to know exactly what he was talking about.
The house was as immaculately clean as ever, every frame and piece of furniture in the same places they'd always been, the only difference being the pictures of Dudley were older and wider. Apparently the diet wasn't working, Harry thought with a smirk.
Moving through the hallway, past the stairs, they reached the kitchen, where Petunia was busy making something for dinner.
"Hello Aunt Petunia," Harry said with a smile when he spotted her. She turned to look at him, disgust etched across her face.
"What does he want?" she asked, ignoring Harry and looking to her husband.
"That trunk that that crazy old fool sent us when he left the runt here is my guess," Vernon replied with a shrug. "Out here boy, let's go," he said, gesturing to Harry to follow him out back. Harry looked from his aunt to his uncle, feeling slightly puzzled, but followed.
Vernon led him to the shed behind the house where he kept all of his tools. He reached out to the door, pulling it open swiftly, and stepped aside.
"There," he grunted, pointing into the darkness. Harry stepped forward cautiously, straining to see. He could barely make out the shape of a large box just inside the doorway, and when he finally reached out, he felt the rough wood of a trunk under his fingers.
Stepping further into the shed, he bent down and grasped the handles on either side of the large trunk, before bringing it back out into the daylight. When he was able to see it clearer, he noticed fresh dirt and soil in the cracks of the chest.
"Um." he began uncertainly, "where was this?"
"Pardon me?" Vernon spat, seeming insulted at having been spoken to.
"Well, it's covered in dirt, and it looks like."
"It's been in this shed for years boy!" Vernon cut him off, shouting. "Did you think it would be clean?"
"No, it's not that," Harry said, quickly, trying not to start fighting. This could very well be the last time he spoke with his uncle, and he didn't want to end it on a bad note, despite how much they'd done to him in the past. He didn't hold any great love for them, but they were still his family. But he couldn't get rid of the nagging voice in his head. The trunk was so covered in dirt, it reminded Harry of a freshly dug up object. But if it had been buried, then his uncle would have had to have known he was coming, or he most likely would have left it that way.
"Never mind," he muttered, deciding it didn't matter. All he had to do now was get the trunk back out to the car.
Vernon turned up his nose, and began walking back to the house, leaving his nephew to carry the heavy trunk by himself. Harry didn't say anything further. He hefted the trunk back up, shifting his weight to keep his balance, and trudged after his uncle.
When he reached the door, he was a bit surprised to see Petunia holding it open for him.
"Thank you," he said as he reached her, and began to maneuver the large chest through the small doorway.
She didn't reply, just looked the other way as he began to pass. He'd almost made it though when his foot came into contact with something unexpected and he lurched forward, the case flying out of his hands. He hit his knees hard on the tile floor, and winced as he heard the trunk crash down.
"Be more careful boy!" Vernon screamed from the door to the hallway as Harry began to pick himself up. He threw a suspicious glance at Petunia, almost positive she had tripped him, but didn't say anything about it.
Two more minutes, he thought to himself, then I'm out of here. Stepping forward, he flipped the chest slowly back around, glad to see the lock still in place and unbroken. He again grabbed the handles on the sides, and headed for the hallway door that his uncle was standing in.
"Nice to see you again," he said to Vernon as they reached the front door.
The larger man snorted in response, not bothering to answer.
Harry nodded, expecting nothing less. He was getting ready to step past his uncle, when he just had to ask one more question.
"Uncle Vernon?" he began, curiously. "If you knew this trunk was mine.because you seemed to know I was looking for one when I came here.why didn't you just give it to Sirius and Remus when they came last time?"
Vernon looked upon Harry as he always had, with distaste and revulsion, but for a second, Harry thought he looked scared.or at least worried. The look was gone in an instant though, and the larger man simply turned away from his nephew.
"Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked, pressing further. He felt that something must be wrong. They never talked to him much to begin with, but this was more than that. He opened his mouth again to ask what was going on, when he heard a very faint sound behind him, making his heart skip a beat. The all too familiar popping noise, told him someone had just apparated into the room.