Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling
"This will be very useful. We can't track who placed them, but it will still be enough to drag her name through the mud," Moody grinned.
"Most of the staff was utterly appalled when they found these. To spy on your fellow professors... not to mention whatever else she could have implemented..." Minerva sighed. "This room should be safe, at least."
"We can't exactly perform a routine check, can we? Either way, don't worry too much. She'll be getting out of here and into the cell very soon," Moody sniggered. "Just focus on making sure this school is still properly running."
"I'm trying to, Alastor. There's an uproar in the Slytherin house. They just lost their Head of House with little to no explanation! Not to mention that I had a task for him as well..."
"Who's going to replace Snape? That fox Slughorn is too busy making money off the plight of werewolves to care..."
"Actually, that's exactly who they put in his place."
"What? But what about his previous job?"
"They made him haphazardly prepare a few of his assistants and fired him on the spot. Horace couldn't really object. They practically forced him here."
"What do you think this means?"
"I think they are waiting for them to make a mistake and shut the whole program down temporarily, that's what I think," Minerva replied, visibly angry. "But there's little we can do about that right now."
"Unfortunately. How are things with students?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary, except for one Theodor Nott. Remember, the child of Oscar?"
"That dead idiot? Yes, I remember. What about him?"
"There's something off with what Harry has told me. He might be working for them within these walls as we speak. Snape being hunted by the ministry doesn't help us here."
Moody laughed. "That scrawny kid working for Death Eaters? At his age? What could they possibly need that he can provide?"
"Yes, you would think that wouldn't you? I am utterly clueless myself, Alastor. The entire story doesn't fit with that child. I might just have a chat with the rest of the staff."
"Be careful to whom you entrust this, Minerva. No matter how it looks at first, some people have their mouths way too loose."
"You don't need to worry about that. I hear you've visited Sirius. How is he?"
"He's definitely having it rough with Snyde. But they'll manage. It was all resolved a bit too quickly, thank God."
"What a strange move, for Ms. Lestrange to do that. Attention could have been drawn in other ways too, not openly challenging Sirius like that."
Moody shrugged. "You can't exactly count on her being systematic when it comes to her family, can you? Besides, I don't believe she even entertained the idea of losing," he chuckled. "Either way, glad that she's out of our way. Sirius did us a great service."
"Now if we could only get the rest of them in time..."
Behind a corner, an elf listened to the entire conversation. Dobby apparated away as soon as he realized what was going on.
...
Nott caught Harry's shoulder in the hallway. Almost as if he was ready for it, Harry slapped his hand away, summoning his wand immediately.
"Woah! Easy there. I come in peace," Nott quickly retorted, grinning. "I just wanted to congratulate you on your Quidditch victory. Bang-up job, you know."
"You're awfully kind."
"Your godfather isn't too shabby either. Did a number on Bellatrix. They say she showed such agony on her face when they found her that even the Death Eaters were horrified."
"What are you talking about?" Harry eyed Nott.
"What could I be talking about? Sirius is a hero! He killed one of the most notorious witches in history— but not before showing her who's the boss. He nearly drove her to insanity in torture. Probably got on his bad side while they fought."
Harry's face froze. "I don't understand.."
"What's so hard to understand? Your godfather acted like a true pureblood. Ironic, isn't it? It would make the Dark Lord himself proud. Oh well, who cares? Surely the actual news will reach you eventually. Good day to you."
...
Neville was dozing off from the work he had to do with Penny as Harry barged into the Gryffindor dormitory.
Is Hedwig in the Owlery?
He came upon a letter already waiting for him in his bed. Taking it swiftly, he realized it appeared to be from Sirius.
"Oh! Good timing. Really good timing," Harry noted quickly, opening the sheathed paper without a shred of hesitation.
"Wait-"
Neville woke to the sound of loud creaking. Shifting in his bed, he hoped it would not occur again. However, a thud followed soon after.
"Can you tone it down?" he asked indignantly.
Another loud thud.
"I'm serious! I'm trying to sleep here!"
And another. Rising from his bed, Neville rubbed his eyes and wanted to see, or talk, to the source of the commotion.
"Do you have no consideration for others?! Seriously, I know it's the middle of the day-"
He found himself staring at Harry, who was shaking violently on the floor. He appeared to be choking on something, showing no signs of resistance.
"Wha?" Neville yelped, almost throwing himself on Harry to chant every counter-curse he knew of.
"How could this happen?" Neville yelled. "HELP! ANYONE HERE?"
A few younger Gryffindors gathered, but they were clueless. They stared at Harry in horror, not knowing what to do.
Neville almost felt petrified seeing his friend like this. Every thought that went through his head was hard to catch. Something needed to be done, quickly.
"Enough! Calm down," he whispered to himself, his voice quivering.
"Do we call the teachers? What do we do? Neville!"
"Yes! Call them, go away! Get to it!" Neville snapped at the younger students. The terrified group stormed away from the dorms in a frenzied hurry.
"What do I do?" Neville's hand trembled as he exhausted every chant at his disposal. Harry was getting more pale by the second.
Neville barely noticed a streak of blood slithering away towards the exit of the dorm. It had a shape similar to that of a snake.
Something dawned on him as he looked at the contorting figure.
"I can't believe it!" he shouted. "How on earth could such a curse find its way here?!"
He gathered all the mental strength he had to overcome his distress, composing himself with difficulty. There was no time for questions. Resolutely, he took out his wand.
It took him a few moments, but his friend finally calmed down. Harry's breathing returned to normal, his body resting at last.
Neville's eyes frantically focused as he hovered his wand over Harry. He let out a massive sigh of relief as he realized nothing was wrong. He collapsed beside Harry, paying no heed to the streak of blood which evaporated before it reached the door.
His entire body felt weak, yet he himself felt incredibly concentrated. He looked at the ceiling in exhaustion, thanking heavens he was in the dorm at this time.
He burst into laughter as Harry began snoring unexpectedly, breaking the tense silence.
"Way to go. Scare me nearly to death and have a nice little nap after," Neville chuckled. His face soon fell to soberness.
"There's no way a student could cast a curse this advanced. Not unless they were a genius. I barely remembered it myself..." he said to himself. "Who on earth did this? And how did Harry not notice it?"
The pair were found by a frantic Penny and Flitwick.
"Good God..." Flitwick whispered. "How is he?"
"He's fine..." Neville replied. "I took care of him. But thank you for coming here."
"What was it? The students looked mortified!" Penny said.
"A blood curse. A pretty nasty variation of it as well," Neville replied faintly.
Penny gasped. "A blood curse on Hogwarts grounds?! Who on earth could have ushered a blood curse here?"
"Either one of the professors or our security has been breached," Flitwick added. "Is the boy unscathed?"
"It seems so. I checked on him."
"Brilliant move, Neville. Your skill continues to amaze me," Flitwick smiled.
"Thank goodness you were here," Penny sighed. She looked at the charms professor, both of them sharing a nod.
Carrying Harry to bed, they began chanting over his body, searching for any remnants of the spell.
"No lasting injuries, so that's wonderful," Flitwick murmured.
"No lasting magical traces either, unfortunately. Neville really went at it, didn't he?" Penny beamed. "No matter. We need to inform the teachers that students are in danger," she continued.
"Hopefully our new Headmistress realizes this magic is not to be trifled with. Though I fear she might still be more interested in bending this school to her will instead of helping us..." Flitwick shook his head.
"Where is Ms. Minerva?" Neville asked. "She should know about this."
"She's at the class right now. We'll let her know as soon as we can."
"We ought to ask Harry if he remembers anything important. The clue might lie in there," Flitwick said, retrieving his wand.
"Yes, but let him rest for now," Penny finished as well. "Watch over him, Neville. Any class that you might have I will take care of."
...
Opening his eyes to the bed's ceiling, Harry's mind worked with surprising clarity. He smiled at his friend as he met his gaze.
"Thank you. You might have saved my life back there," Harry began.
Neville smiled widely. "No, thank you for waking up," he squeezed his shoulder. "You gave us quite a fright back there."
"Right. Who would have thought there would be a blood curse waiting for me so elegantly on my own bed?"
"So you remember?"
"Almost everything, unfortunately. Even your panicked face," Harry sniggered. "I owe you."
"You don't owe me anything. Are you feeling okay?"
"I think so. This was advanced magic. It wasn't supposed to kill me. I felt like something was being forcefully pulled out of me. Almost like a part of my soul was leaving me, but just a part."
"But who could have done this? Do you have any clues?"
"Not really, no. I mean-" Harry paused for a moment, gritting his teeth. "I was so stupid..."
"Pardon?"
"I am such an idiot..."
"What are you on about?"
"Theodore Nott. It was him," Harry whispered, gripping his hands in anger.
"How do you know?" Neville asked. "What happened?"
"He approached me nonchalantly. It happened in the hallway. He said some pretty distressing stuff, probably to make me lose focus. He said Sirius... did something. I arrived here and caught the letter without bothering to check what it contained. It only said it was from Sirius, at least allegedly. Not a single thought of suspicion..." Harry said. "He counted on all of this."
Neville silently observed. "Nott? How on earth? But why?" he muttered apprehensively. "Even if this spell wasn't designed to... well... murder someone, it could have still hurt you. Irrepairably so! And seeing how you were..." he shuddered. "Just... why would he?"
"Beats me. It was no prank, though. This was something serious."
"So what are we going to do?"
"What else? I'm going to confront him about it."
"That's a bad idea, Harry. We don't know what else he's got prepared. You could get hurt."
"So what do you suggest? That I keep turning over my back?"
"No, but we should leave this to the adults. They can handle-"
"Yes, I see they handled this wonderfully," Harry cut in. "We can't always rely on adults, Nev. I'm taking this into my own two hands. I want to teach him a lesson."
"Maybe that's what he wants?"
"What he wanted, Nev, is what he failed at. Now he's got to pay for playing with my life. He's clearly ready to ruin me for his goals. I don't care about his reasons."
"You're just angry right now. You'll calm down."
"Am I? Good Lord, I wonder why. That little lying sack of..."
"Look at what he did though! I don't think you can easily take him on. This requires an ungodly amount of skill."
"We'll see about that."
"Harry, please..."
"Let's just switch the topic for now."
"Should we call for others?"
"No. Not yet, at least. Let's just talk. Us two."
Neville's eyes glittered at the suggestion. "That's fine by me."
...
Ron arrived at the dorms as fast as the class ended.
"What happened? Are you okay?" he started quickly. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine. Thank you," Harry grinned.
"That's good. Minerva and Hermione are here to see you. They're in the common room. I think we avoided the rumors. It's only a matter of time though. Can you stand?"
"Oh, I'm as fine as they come. Our hero here made sure of that," Harry pat Neville's shoulder. The latter scratched his nose self-consciously.
"All in the day's work," Neville said.
The first to jump Harry as he descended from the dorms was Hermione. Sharing a hug with her and Minerva, Harry was bombarded with questions about what happened.
"It was Nott. He set it up, I'm nearly certain of it."
Minerva gasped. "A blood curse? How on earth could that boy have cast such dark magic?"
"You have to do something about this, Ms. McGonagall! That little foul bastard..."
"Let's not talk here. These walls have ears of their own. Of course, something will be done about this," Minerva said. "Consequently, I implore you all not to make any moves of your own. Is that clear? The boy will be watched very closely from now on."
"How could you have allowed this to happen? It was in your own dormitory, no less!" Hermione went on.
"It's okay, Miney. You-"
"No. Ms. Granger is right. I should have moved more quickly. Despite the series of trouble our little Headmistress causes us, I should have been ready for anything. Still, to think that boy is capable of this..."
"I was shocked myself. I could barely remember how to repell such a curse. It was designed to extract Harry's blood for some reason. I saw a phantom-like figure slithering away during Harry's... reaction to the curse. It was like a snake made of blood, I think."
Minerva winced at Neville's testimony. "Blood, you say?"
"Yes. Do you know why, Professor?"
"I have my doubts. Yes, yes, this does explain a lot. I shall relay this message to those that need to hear it."
...
"You can't be thinking of fighting him head-on, are you?" Hermione asked. "Who knows what underhanded tricks he has at his disposal?!"
"I won't. Don't wrack your head about it. It's all fine."
"I'm concerned about you," Hermione gripped Harry's hand. "Just don't get into any trouble, alright?"
"Of course. You know me. Always staying out of harm's way."
"It's not time for jokes!" Hermione snapped, though she let out a giggle. "You could have been seriously harmed were it not for Neville."
"Well, the stupid sod had one chance to catch me off guard and blew it. It's a done deal for him."
"I don't know about that, Harry. He might turn desperate. You saw your mother's reaction, didn't you? He clearly needed that sample from you for something."
"That's exactly what I plan on focusing on. I need to find out why he set up such an elaborate trap."
"I'll help you there. Just as long as you don't make any rash decisions."
"Of course," Harry smiled reassuringly. "You must be exhausted yourself. I hope we did a good job of providing company."
"You did, just like you always do. Don't worry about me. I'll manage. I'm starting to get used to it..."
"No, you shouldn't get used to it. Snape and Penny will succeed, despite Umbridge. You have to have faith."
"I know, I know, it's just that sometimes I have my spells of hopelessness."
Harry hugged Hermione in the middle of the hallway, much to the chagrin of a passing Professor that nearly bumped into them.
"And I'm here to make it better, right?"
Hermione smiled faintly. "Correct."
...
"You told Hermione you're going to leave Nott alone, right?" Ron started, coming into an abandoned locker room. "And you're doing it anyway."
"She's got enough on her plate right now," Harry replied, focusing on writing a letter. "Speaking of, how's your head?"
"Better than before. We need to do that ritual still, though. I think it might tell us something important."
"We still don't know if the previous vision holds any truth whatsoever. But let's do it for your own sake," Harry said uneasily.
Dobby suddenly apparated in between them, his eyes wide in urgency.
"Woah! Dobby, what's the occasion?"
"Sir Harry Potter needs to know something! What Theodore Nott said might be true! Dobby overheard the story of Sirius Black murdering Bellatrix Lestrange!"
Ron looked at Harry in cold silence. Harry's face froze.
"What did you say, Dobby?"
"Dobby isn't sure about the nasty part, but Sir Sirius really did kill Ms. Lestrange! That is for certain!"
Harry gripped the letter tightly. He looked at Ron, half in terror, half in hurt. "So your visions... and Sirius... doing that. All is true?"
Ron managed a shrug, though he was even more terrified than Harry. "Azkaban... The blonde guy. And... wait. I mean, why is this..."
"Dobby suggests you speak to Sirius Black, sir! You will get your answers, Dobby is sure!"
Harry grimaced at the prospect of talking to his godfather now, but he nodded at Dobby nonetheless.
"Thank you, Dobby. Thank you for telling me."
"Any time, sir! Dobby needs to return to his work now. Dobby wishes Harry Potter the best!"
...
"So... what are you going to do?"
"I'm talking with Sirius."
...
...
"Hey!" Sirius hugged Harry as soon as he greeted him. "I heard what happened. I came as fast as I could. Unbelievable, what happened to you..."
"It's fine, don't worry. Neville took care of me. Nothing's wrong," Harry smiled. "Let's go to my classroom. Too much noise here."
Sirius smirked, nodding. "It's a privilege to be in the company of an esteemed Professor, indeed."
...
"So, that little runt did no damage in the end? He failed?"
"As far as I or anyone can tell. Have you figured out why he needs my blood?"
"Dumbledore seems to know, but he's silent about it. He seems to be planning something, though I'm not sure what. Either way, most of us are clueless."
"We do know that Nott's probably tasked with something, at least."
"If I get a hold of that kid..." Sirius said seethingly. "I swear to God..."
"Please, Sirius. It's fine. He will never catch me in such a disturbed state again. He blew his one chance."
Sirius lowered his head, his face gloomy. Harry collected enough strength to continue.
"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."
Sirius looked at Harry in mild confusion, his face showing a glint of fear. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Well, the reason he was able to cast that curse on me. He told me, uh, he told me something about you beforehand. About Bellatrix. And so he set up a letter that was allegedly from you. I opened it without thinking. That's how I ended up like that."
Sirius' face lost some of its color as Harry conveyed the news.
"What did that bastard tell you?"
"How you nearly tortured Bellatrix into insanity? How you'd have made Voldemort himself proud? That was the-"
Sirius hit the desk with no restraint, startling Harry a bit. Harry looked at his godfather apprehensively. Realizing this outburst isn't helping him, Sirius forced himself to calm down, his expression mournful.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."
"No, it's fine. It's not like I believed him. That's why I wanted to tell you as soon as possible. He probably lied to get me riled up, that's all..."
"He did lie. At least about the most important part," Sirius sighed, grasping Harry's shoulder. "Look, Harry. I did kill Bellatrix. I can't deny that to you. She took Merula hostage. She tortured her, goaded me into fighting her for her life... I, well, I was taken by rage."
"She did what? Is Merula fine?!"
Sirius smiled sympathetically. "She is. Bellatrix was so excited at the prospect of meeting me that she wasted no time on her."
"That's good news..."
"So we had a duel. And I won eventually. It was a duel to the death. She conducted a ritual so one of us had to go. She was so elated to fight me to the bitter end, that woman is... Regardless, I won, as I said. And maybe that kid Nott would have been right, in a way."
"Would have been?"
"Yes. I also admit I did cause Bellatrix some pain. But before I could descend into any more madness, I remembered you. And I remember our talk," Sirius replied, moving his hands away. He looked away from Harry.
"You remembered our talk?"
"Yes. When the Weasley boy — Ron... had that little revelation of his. Surely you recall that?"
Harry quickly nodded. "Yes, I do."
"Your face flashed in my head. I could barely bring myself to raise my wand anymore, let alone cause someone pain. I felt guilty, disgusted. I don't exactly know who I felt disgusted at, really. But I knew one thing for certain."
Pausing for a brief while, Sirius looked back at Harry.
"Well, I did know I didn't want to disappoint my godson ever again," Sirius said with difficulty.
Harry's face showed an uncertain smile, prompting Sirius to continue.
"And so, I just ended it right there and then. She's gone. She won't be able to cause any more pain or misery. I picked Merula and we escaped. That is the truth."
Harry looked deep in thought.
"I don't know how I would have behaved were it not for you. But hopefully, what happened accounts for something."
"It absolutely does," Harry almost cut in.
"So... do you forgive your inept godfather?"
"Of course I forgive you. If there is even anything to forgive," Harry hugged Sirius this time. "And you aren't inept. You are amazing."
"Thank you..." Sirius whispered.
...
...
"So... Ron's sight finally paid off, eh?"
Sirius snorted. "I suppose so. He has the gift of sight, that much is guaranteed. Has he had any recent episodes?"
The uncomfortable question quickly drew the positive mood away.
"He did," Harry replied with a more grave tone. "And it was even worse than before."
"What did he see?" Sirius asked with the same gravitas.
"Some sort of a tragedy happening in Azkaban. People screaming, a blonde guy chanting some murderous curse... and his father apologizing."
Sirius frowned. "A blonde guy? Can he remember his face?"
"Probably not, though we are trying to conjure a projection. He keeps mentioning him. What's up with that?"
Sirius clicked his tongue. "I think I have an eerie suspicion of who that might be."
"You do?"
"I can't exactly say anything for certain. You're doing that ritual of yours to make a projection, right?"
"That's right. Ron has been acting pretty strangely as of late. And now that Dobby has more or less told him about his vision is true..."
"Dobby? Why would an elf tell him that?"
"Well... I sort of... hired him as a spy in here. But don't tell anyone," Harry scratched his head.
Sirius chuckled. "That's brilliant. Oh, that's brilliant. Dobby? So where did he get this information?"
"Probably from the staff letting their mouths run off? I don't know. But that's what made me resolute in asking you about Bellatrix as well."
"That vision is trouble, Harry. I think I might want to convey this to the Order."
"You do that, and we will do the ritual. We ought to get a clearer picture of what's going on."
"You're right about that. Now then, since the heavy topics are out of the way, want to play a game?"
"Absolutely."
...
...
Ron wandered the hallway of Hogwarts with his head full of concerning thoughts.
"When is Harry done speaking to Sirius?" he asked himself before being caught on the hand by someone. Turning around, he saw Sybill Trelawney dreamily looking at him.
"I understand your pain, boy. Don't worry, you're going to make the right decision when it counts."
"Excuse me?"
"The weight you will carry will seek to bring you down. Keep your head held high."
"What are you talking about, Professor?"
Sybill blinked a few times, tilting her head at Ron.
"What am I talking about?"
"Yes? I asked you that."
"Nothing? Have a good day."
Following the departing Professor with his eyes, Ron leaned against the wall and scratched his head with his wand.
"Brilliant! That's a load off my mind, thank you, Professor!" Ron snapped sarcastically.