Author's Notes: Once again, a big thank you to all my readers in the past week, who have read my stories in the past week. This story has been pushed to over 5,500 hits, while The Legend of Zelda: Land of My Dreams is now at over 6,000 hits. And a special thanks to all my reviewers.
ProfessorChris: Yes, Megan will have a vital role to play in this story. Thanks for your support.
Guys, please, if you want to submit a review, please do so. I love hearing the opinions of the fans.
Okay, the Monty Python reference from the previous chapter was Megan singing the first verse of "The Galaxy Song" from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, which Megan should not have seen as it is rated R. Obvious if you saw the movie, but if you didn't, you're fresh out of luck.
On a more solemn note, my best hopes go out to the people of the Gulf Coast, once again being encountered with a massive hurricane. I hope things turn out okay for them.
Well, lets get into a little bit of chaos now.
Chapter Thirteen: Unlikely Allies
The next morning, Geoffrey Gryffindor was carrying his bag, which was packed with lesson plans and diagrams that he wanted to go over once he got back to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. He needed to get their before Harry encountered his new house mates, or else there would be hell to pay, and Geoff knew it. As he traveled through Hogsmeade, he kept his guard up, his wand in plain sight in his right hand to discourage possible assailants. He wasn't afraid to fight, as he knew he was more powerful than most Death Eaters. He simply didn't want to deal with the Ministry right now.
The less I have to deal with Scrimgeour, the better, Geoff thought as he approached Hogsmeade Station and the London Express train, which was an exact copy of the Hogwarts Express in all ways but two. First, it was colored sky blue instead of the flaming scarlet of the Hogwarts Express. And second, the London Express had only two passenger cars attached to it, and more often then not, one would be left behind when the train left the station because there weren't enough passengers to fill the first car. The Hogwarts Express always carried many more cars, for it always had to transport hundreds. However, if you were in a hurry and didn't want to Apparate, the London Express did traverse the distance between Hogsmeade and London twice as fast as the Hogwarts Express did. The train would be leaving Hogsmeade Station at 8:00 A.M. and would arrive at King's Cross in London at 11:30 A.M..
"Professor Gryffindor, you've already been sacked?" Katie Bell asked from her location behind the ticket counter.
Geoff laughed for a few seconds. "No, I just need to deal with some things back in London," Geoff replied, "I'll be back tomorrow morning."
"Why don't you just Apparate to London, then?" Bell inquired, "It would be faster."
"Because I don't want the Ministry to know where I'm going," Gryffindor clarified.
"Oh, I see," Katie responded with immediate understanding, "In that case, I don't want to know what your plans for today are."
Geoffrey smiled at his newest agent. "Just make sure to keep your eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary in Hogsmeade," he instructed.
Katie nodded as Geoff bought a ticket and boarded the London Express. Taking a seat in the compartment closer to the front of the train, he waited a few minutes before the train finally lurched forward, with only one passenger car in tow, and began to run its way through the countryside to King's Cross Station. To pass the time, Geoff decided to study his notes for next week's classes again, and also pondered how Parkinson would react to being caught red-handed.
--
It was just before noon at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place when Harry saw that a wall of the drawing room had been drastically redecorated by Gary recently. In place of the old wallpaper that was once there was now a wall covered with at least 30 pictures, all of them moving in their portraits. As Harry approached the wall, one of those pictures recognized him.
"Harry Potter! I will kill you!" Voldemort shrieked from his portrait in the middle of the group.
Harry instinctively went for his wand, but then thought about the situation he was in for a moment. I know Gary must have set this up, he figured, So there's no way these portraits can be connected to their living counterparts. This calmed Harry down quite a bit, though he was still unnerved that he was face-to-face with Voldemort here in his last sanctuary.
Ignoring his picture for the moment, Harry noticed some writing below the black-and-white picture of the evil force that needed to be destroyed.
"Name: Tom Marvolo Riddle, Jr. Aliases: Lord Voldemort, You-Know-Who, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and the Dark Lord. Born: December 31, 1926. Known Offenses: The triple homicide of Timothy Riddle, Abigail Riddle, and Thomas Riddle, Sr. on August 2, 1943 in Little Hangleton, UK," he began to read, "The homicide of Hepzibah Smith in October 1945." Harry continued to read down the long list of things that Voldemort was known to have done, eventually coming to, "The double homicide of James Potter and Lily Potter on October 31, 1981 in Godric's Hollow, UK. The attempted homicide of Harry James Potter on October 31, 1981 in Godric's Hollow, UK." Harry paused for a moment after reading those two, then continued until he finally reached, "The suspected homicide of Amelia Susan Bones on June 30, 1996 in London, UK. Running a terrorist organization, called the Death Eaters, and ordering multiple crimes as its leader." The list continued with his affiliations, last time and place seen, and his status, which was listed as, "Alive, armed and extremely dangerous."
"Potter! You will die!" the portrait of Voldemort shouted again, trying to get Harry's attention.
"You want to tell me something, Voldemort?" Harry angrily answered as he stood up and faced the picture of his arch-nemesis, "Besides that I'm going to die? Tell me something I don't know."
"Why do you even bother trying to kill me?" Voldemort asked, "What will it get you? It won't bring your parents back from the dead, or anyone else for that matter. Not Cedric, not Sirius, and not even Dumbledore. And you will still die even if you do kill me."
"I'm not afraid of dying Voldemort," Harry replied, "And I'm doing this for the sake of protecting others from you, not revenge."
"You lie, Potter!" Voldemort roared, "This is all about revenge and you know it! Why else would you be trying to kill me yourself otherwise?"
"Because I'm the only one who can kill you," Harry answered as he began to examine the other portraits, "You might as well shut up now, I have no further interest in talking to you."
Surprisingly, the portrait of Voldemort did not speak following this, but a smile began to cross his face. Harry barely noticed this fact as he examined a picture of Bellatrix Lestrange, who was sleeping in her portrait at this time. Harry quickly realized that all these pictures were of known Death Eaters who were still alive and at large, or at least still believed to be alive. All of their sheets were arranged the same way as Voldemort's. Harry guessed that this was supposed to be a checklist of some kind, telling Geoffrey and Gary who were still around that needed to be taken care of in one way or another.
However, as Harry looked at all the pictures, two men who were known Death Eaters and still alive were absent from the wall. I'll have to ask Geoff what's going on with those two when he gets here, Harry thought as he turned to leave the room.
"We aren't so different, Harry," Voldemort said calmly just before Harry left, "Remember that."
Harry gave no thought to this statement as he went down the stairs into the basement, where Gary was busy preparing lunch. "Those portraits in the drawing room can't communicate with their living counterparts, right Gary?" Harry asked the younger Gryffindor brother just to be sure.
"What kind of an idiot do you take me for, Potter?" Gary asked as if offended, "It's just to keep track of whom we're dealing with. But you probably won't be taking part in those missions."
"You mean I have to stay locked up in this house until Voldemort is dead?" Harry inquired, the thought of being imprisoned in this particular house being rather unsettling to him.
"Harry, if you were seen outside, the Death Eaters would swarm all over you as soon as they saw you," Gary reminded.
"They didn't swarm me when I left Privet Drive," Harry pointed out.
"Only because my brother informed many people that he would be protecting you when you left that house," Gary explained, "That information eventually found its way to the Death Eaters, who were suddenly very reluctant to go after you. And when Voldemort found out that only one Death Eater went after you on that occasion, he flipped, from what our sources tell us. Next time they see you, not even my brother's mystique will keep them away from you."
Harry was about to reply to that when he noticed a body that was partially concealed by that day's copy of the Daily Prophet. The head and torso of the body were hidden, but Harry could see the legs and arms, all clad in black, along with a pale right hand. It was a hand which Harry could swear he had seen somewhere before, and it definitely wasn't Geoff's hand.
Before he could investigate this, however, there was a loud knock that came from the front door of the house. "That must be my brother," Gary remarked as Harry walked back upstairs to the ground floor and walked past the portrait of Mrs. Black to reach the door and look through the peephole there. Outside, Harry saw the face of Geoffrey Gryffindor, wearing his red and gold robes.
"What's the password?" Harry inquired.
"How to recognize different trees from quite a ways away," Geoff correctly replied.
Satisfied that he wasn't an imposter, Harry unlocked the door and opened it, allowing Geoff to enter the house. Once he was inside, Harry closed the door and locked it again. "Gary is downstairs preparing lunch," Harry informed the elder Gryffindor brother.
"Excellent," Geoff replied as he began to go downstairs.
Harry was about to follow him when a loud scream came from the top floor of the house. "Get back, you damn ghoul!" Harry heard a familiar masculine voice yell, followed by a string of spells. Immediately, Harry began to run up the stairs, followed by the Gryffindor brothers and the man who had been sleeping underneath the paper. They needed to stop Harry from getting to the top floor first.
--
"Harry, wait!" Geoff yelled as he reached the top floor of the house and ran toward the bathroom on that floor. The screams of the ghoul finally stopped, only to be replaced moments later by a scuffle and the shouting of two young men. As he reached the bathroom, he saw what the screams were being caused by.
"How did you get in here Malfoy!?" Harry asked through his gritted teeth as he and Draco Malfoy were trying to choke each other to death, both having their hands at each other's throats.
"That's enough you two!" Geoffrey yelled as he grabbed Harry by the waist and pulled him away from Draco, forcing both young men to stop choking each other.
However, Draco lunged at Harry again, incensed by what had just happened. Gary placed himself between the two in order to stop Draco from assaulting Harry, but that wasn't necessary, as someone else rushed in and stopped him.
"Stop it Malfoy!" Severus Snape shouted as he held Draco back by grabbing his shoulders.
"Bloody hell! He's here too?!" Harry shouted as he tried to get his wand, "I'm going to kill you, Snape!"
"Harry, calm yourself," Geoff ordered, "I'll explain this to you."
--
About fifteen minutes later, Harry, Geoffrey, Gary, Severus, and Draco were all seated around the table in the basement kitchen. Geoff was seated at the head of the table, with Severus on his right and Gary on his left. Harry sat next to Gary and Draco was next to Snape, so that the two young men were seated right across the table from each other. There was still obvious hatred from Harry toward Draco, a hatred which, at this moment, wasn't being returned.
"Geoff, you better have a good explanation for why these two Death Eaters are in my house," Harry told the current Hogwarts professor.
Geoff smiled at Harry. "Harry, I can understand why you're angry," he began, "And you have every right to be angry. I mean, with all you've been through in your life, I'm surprised you haven't killed anyone yet. But I trust Severus with my life, and you should have realized by now that Draco knows he made a huge mistake."
Harry knew that Geoff was right about Draco; his fateful eavesdropping on the former Slytherin student made Harry realize that Draco didn't have what it took to be a cold-blooded killer. But Harry had a lot to say about Snape. "Geoff, Headmaster Dumbledore trusted this man," Harry replied as he pointed at Severus, "With his life as well. And in case you haven't heard the news yet, Dumbledore was killed by the very man he trusted. He has tormented me for the past six years for no reason other than my father saved his life once. I don't understand what you see in Snape that is trustworthy, but he will betray you, just as he betrayed Dumbledore."
Gary smiled once Harry's rant had ended. "Come on, Potter," he encouraged, "You've been waiting for six years to say what you want to say about him, and you're just going to stop at that? There must be more that you want to put out on the table now. Come on, let him have it."
For the first time ever since they had been acquainted with each other in Harry's first Potions class, he finally felt that he now could belittle Severus Snape without fear of punishment. Gary had empowered him, and now Harry was going to use that power. He stood up and looked Snape right in the eyes. "What did I ever do to you, Snape?" he asked angrily, "What have I ever done that warranted your treatment of me? From the day we met, you belittled me for no fault of my own, but because my father saved your life! Yes, my father did terrible things to you, but I am not James Potter! The sins of the father should not be passed onto the son, yet that is exactly what you have done. You have treated me as my father treated you. For six years, you sought to punish me for crimes which I didn't commit, crimes I didn't even have knowledge of for years. You know what Snape? You are nothing more than a child who was never loved by his parents. Well, I'm sorry if you feel that way, but it is time for you to grow up. You even thought of my mother as scum when she tried to help you!"
At this, Severus could finally take no more. "I'll put you in your place, Potter!" he raged as he stood up and reached for his wand.
"Severus!" Geoff snapped as he grabbed Snape's arm, "This isn't the place for that."
"You think all of this has to do with your father, Potter?" Severus asked Harry as he sat down again, shaking his head, "You don't even know the half of it."
Harry was about to reply, but Geoff shut him down as well. "Harry, that's enough," he ordered, "That's enough from both of you. This bickering is pointless." Meanwhile, Gary simply chuckled softly.
"What's so funny, Squib?" Draco inquired.
Although Harry wanted to throttle Malfoy again upon his addressing Gary that way, he apparently took it in stride. "If we are going to work together, we better not hide anything from each other," he rationalized, "Besides, a little spending of emotions can do you some good."
Geoffrey took a glance at his younger brother, then addressed the whole table again. "The reason why you're here now is because we are on a mission to end Voldemort's reign of terror once and for all," he began, "And in order to do that, we have to find his three remaining Horcruxes and destroy them. Three others have been found already by others and destroyed. Harry found and destroyed Tom Riddle's diary four years ago, Dumbledore found and destroyed Marvolo Gaunt's ring last year, and we destroyed the Horcrux inside Salazar Slytherin's locket a month ago. Severus, since you are more familiar with this branch of dark magic than I am, could Voldemort split his soul any more than six times?"
"If he did make six Horcruxes, then he could make, at most, two more," Snape answered.
"What about the ones we've destroyed?" Harry inquired, "Do those go back into Voldemort?"
"Fortunately, it doesn't work that way, Potter," Severus replied, "Once he splits his soul, it can only be reformed in the afterlife or in ways that the Dark Lord cannot possibly bring himself to do."
Harry sighed with relief. Even if Voldemort somehow learned of the loss of his three Horcruxes, he could only make two more. But it would be better if Harry didn't have to track down another two items to complete his quest.
"So, what is our next course of action, Geoffrey?" Severus asked the leader of the group.
"I figure that we should destroy the Horcruxes as quickly as possible, but not too quickly," Geoff answered, "I don't want any Death Eaters or the Ministry to get wise as to what is going on."
"What's wrong with the Ministry knowing?" Harry inquired, "We could use the extra help."
"The Death Eaters have ears inside the Ministry, Potter," Draco replied, "It would be just as bad as walking up to Bellatrix and telling her what the whole plan is."
"Along with the fact that it is inevitable that the Ministry will fall to the Death Eaters," Snape added, "The Dark Lord wanted it done before the school year started so that he could implant me into the Headmaster's office, but with your getting involved, Geoff, he hasn't been able to rally enough support for his operations. Plus he wants this done quietly. The transition has to take place quickly and seamlessly. Otherwise the Ministry's new leadership wouldn't be supported by the people and they'd have no authority to do what they want to do."
"Draco and Severus are right," Geoff affirmed, "While I do have someone in the Ministry that I can talk to, it would be in our best interest if our operations didn't raise any red flags for anyone."
"So, what are the possible locations of these Horcruxes?" Draco asked.
"Well, we've come up with a few candidates for the remaining three," Gary began, "First is a condemned Muggle orphanage near Vauxhall Bridge Road, here in London."
"Why would the Dark Lord hide a piece of his soul there?" Draco inquired derisively.
"To remind himself of how far he has come," Geoff theorized, "They say half of where you are going is knowing where you have come from. Tom Riddle spent his first decade of life in that orphanage, and now look at what he has become. Quite a story, I must say, and one he would certainly want to remind himself of."
"Alright, fine, I'll give you that one," Draco conceded, "Where else?"
"Hogwarts," Harry replied, "Voldemort sees Hogwarts as the most important place in his life, where he learned about his power and his legacy. And there are plenty of hiding places in the castle."
"And I know practically all of them," Geoff boasted, "Lastly, there is the Riddle Manor in Little Hangleton. That is where Voldemort truly began his quest to take over the Wizarding world, with the murders of his Muggle father and grandparents. However, my contact in that village was killed three years ago, so we'll have to wait on that account.
"So, I will go back to Hogwarts and continue searching for a Horcrux there. Gary, you'll run reconnaissance on the orphanage in question with Draco. Just remember not to be seen by any other wizards or witches. I want to know what is going on there: kinds of activities, Death Eater presence, anything of importance. And Severus, I would like you to go to Little Hangleton and do some snooping about there. The Riddle Manor is almost certainly restricted to visitors, so I need someone who can get me past Muggle legal barriers. You've told me there are no Death Eaters there at this time. Lets hope it remains that way," Geoff finished.
And with that, the meeting was concluded. The three older men and Draco stood up and all of them but Geoff left the kitchen. Harry felt that Geoff wanted to talk with him, and he was right, so he remained in his seat.
"Harry, I'm sorry about the surprise you went through a little earlier," he apologized, "I was going to explain everything about Draco and Severus to you before you saw them."
"Geoff, Draco was ordered to kill Dumbledore," Harry claimed, "And when he couldn't do what Voldemort asked of him, Snape murdered him instead."
"Harry, don't think I didn't know that," Geoff responded, "Dumbledore had been cursed by that ring, anyway. He would have died within a year, according to Severus. And he needed to preserve his cover. Dumbledore may have spoken in riddles, Harry, but he was a master strategist. Even after his death, he continues to set things in motion that will help us."
"Dumbledore said he trusted Snape with his life," Harry pointed out.
Geoff leaned forward toward Harry and stared at the young man for a long moment. "So do I, Harry Potter," he revealed, "So do I."
Harry was stunned by this assertion. "But why?" he inquired.
"Because he saved my life when he didn't need to," Geoff explained, "I'll always remember that day, December 25, 1981. His action to save me changed my life forever. It is a story you will get to hear before this is over, Harry, trust me."
Harry was getting more than a little sick with hearing that he would hear the story of Geoff's past later, but he decided that he didn't have a choice. Besides, he did know my parents, so I'm sure this will be worth the wait, Harry reasoned to himself.
"Well, I suppose you need some time to process all this new information," Geoff commented as Harry stood up and walked with Geoff out of the kitchen, "I need to have a talk with Severus about a few things."
Harry nodded absently as he began to walk up the stairs to his room.
"Oh, Harry, one more thing," Geoff called before heading to the drawing room.
Harry stopped and looked back toward the Hogwarts professor.
"I would much prefer if you didn't take a nap today," he suggested, "I have a feeling Voldemort is going to invade your mind again soon. As long as you're awake, his intrusion will make him suffer too severely to find out anything, but if you're asleep he may find out just whom Severus is working for."
"Okay," Harry replied as he nodded and then went up to his room, making sure to avoid Draco along the way.
--
"He plans on starting again tonight?" Geoff inquired.
"From what I understand, yes," Snape replied as the two old friends sat at a small table in the drawing room of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, "And if the Dark Lord learns that the boy is here, you're all dead, and I'm dead when he learns I have been triple-crossing him all this time."
Geoff glanced back down at the various parchments that had been laid out before looking back up to Severus. "I heard you tried to teach Harry occlumency, though," Geoff stated, "I guess it didn't work."
"That is a gross understatement, Geoff," Severus replied tersely, "I couldn't teach him to close his mind at all. Unless we can keep Potter from falling asleep, we're all dead men."
"Not necessarily," Geoffrey corrected as Snape looked at him for an explanation, "Severus, have you ever heard of telepathic occlumency?"
Snape had to ponder for a few moments on that one. "I have heard one or two things about it, yes," he answered slowly, "But from what I understand, it is only practiced in Russia nowadays."
"Well, I went to Russia about four years ago," Geoff informed Severus, "And I was fortunate enough to run into someone who knew the technique. And she was able to teach me to perform the occlumency. There is some amount of risk, though."
"The risk level is irrelevant," Snape commented, "Since he won't respond to the ordinary occlumency techniques, you'll have to perform the telepathic method on him."
"Yes, I suppose you are right," Geoff affirmed reluctantly, not telling Snape that he would have to banish something in Harry's mind in order to complete the process. He would just have to make sure it was something that wasn't important to him.
"Well, that aside, what else do you need my help for, Geoff?" Severus asked his old friend.
"Well, something came up at Hogwarts that I did not anticipate," Geoff replied, "It seems that one of the new students is already trying to overthrow Parkinson as the unofficial ruler of Slytherin House."
This bit of information got Snape's undivided attention. "He must be very cunning to be trying that," he remarked, "Or very foolish. Why do you bring this up?"
"First of all, it's a she," Geoff corrected before continuing with the question asked, "Well, in the past, I told myself I would never get children involved in any of my schemes; call it old-fashioned thinking, but I just believe that children aren't to be corrupted and used in schemes for seeking power. But we have agreed to combine our skills to ensure that the entire school is loyal to our side instead of Voldemort's."
"How did you convince a Slytherin to commit their loyalty to you?" Severus inquired, "And don't use me as an example."
Geoff chuckled. "She's a Muggle-born," Geoff replied, "And as she put it, seeing as Voldemort would have her killed for her 'impurity,' she has sided with me in order to live."
"Parkinson is too smart to allow her to take control of Slytherin," Snape pointed out, "She will not succeed."
"That's where I come into play," Geoff explained, "You see, I am teaching the seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts students the Killing Curse for self-defense purposes. I explicitly told them that any attempted misuse of the spell will be grounds for immediate expulsion. It turns out that Miss Parkinson is trying to teach the spell to those outside the class, according to this first year. I could simply expel her, but that wouldn't help either of us."
"You're going to let her stay after directly violating the rules you set up for her?" Snape asked incredulously, "How can you justify that?"
"I'm going to let her know that any further unauthorized teaching will get her out of school," Geoff continued, "Privately, of course. I don't want any other opportunistic Slytherins to tamper with our plans."
"That will put your partner at risk, Geoffrey," Snape observed, "I could live with that, but can you?"
Geoff paused for a moment before answering, "Severus, I can only take things as they come, not all at once. I'm partially telepathic, not an accomplished divination expert. If you are asking if I will protect this student, then the answer is that I will. I couldn't live with myself otherwise."
Severus nodded. "I heard that Minerva made you the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts," he remarked, "Congratulations."
Geoff nodded to his friend. "Thank you, but I really don't deserve the position," he pointed out, "Every professor, even Hagrid, has more right to the position than I have."
Snape shook his head in disappointment. "Geoffrey, humility is not going to win you anything," he complained.
Geoff laughed as he and his best friend continued to catch up with each other and pour over various homework assignments. "Sorry, but that's just the way I was raised," he answered.
--
It was well into the night when Geoff put his unfinished work away for the night and walked slowly upstairs to Harry's bedroom. He knew that the Defense Against the Dark Arts job was going to require a lot of concentration and hard work on his part, but he was mentally exhausted at this point. It wasn't that he hated the work; quite to the contrary, he loved it. It was just that he had never read so many essays that looked so similar. Of course, he hadn't gotten around to Miss Granger's essay on the Avada Kedavra curse yet, so he was looking forward to that one; she had found a gold mine of information in a book in the Restricted Section of the library and her essay was three times longer than the six inches of parchment he had asked for. He had heard much from the other professors about the brilliant mind of Hermione Granger, and Geoff was looking forward to seeing if she lived up to the hype.
Geoff found the door to Harry's bedroom wide open. Inside, Harry was laying down on the bed face up while Severus was sitting on a stool in a far corner of the room. He had heard of telepathic magic before, but had never seen it in person; Geoff never had a chance to develop his powers while in Hogwarts. This was an experience he simply could not miss. And besides that, Geoff needed him present in case something went wrong.
Geoffrey entered the bedroom and walked up to the end of the bed and looked at Harry. Harry looked back at him, although Geoff could see that he was getting very tired at this point.
"Can I sleep now?" Harry asked with a yawn.
"Just a moment, Harry," Geoff affirmed as he turned toward his old friend, "Severus, in case something goes wrong, I need you to break the connection between Harry and myself as soon as you can."
"How will I know that you're in trouble?" Snape inquired.
"If you see both of us start convulsing violently, that's when you'll have to separate us," Geoff explained.
"Is there any chance of permanent brain damage if that happens?" Severus inquired.
"If you have to separate us, that is almost a certainty," Geoff informed, "But I don't think there will be a screw-up here. I know how to do this." Geoff then turned his attention back to Harry.
"What exactly is going to happen to me?" Harry asked with a bit of fear.
"Harry, I am going to perform telepathic occlumency on you as you go to sleep," Geoff answered, "It will close your mind to Voldemort's probing once and for all, if it works. However, once I close your mind, I'll have to banish something from your mind in order to leave it without further damage to both you and myself."
"What sort of thing will be banished?" Harry inquired nervously.
"I think a memory would be best," Geoff replied, "But I can determine that once I'm inside and your mind has been closed. Harry, the choice is yours, but if you don't seal your mind from Voldemort, he will learn about everything, including whose side Severus is truly on."
Harry tried his best to smile. "I suppose there is no choice in the matter," he mused, "Go ahead, I'm sick of the nightmares from him anyway."
Geoffrey nodded and walked up the right side of the bed to Harry's head. Snape walked up behind Geoff, wanting to get a good look at this.
"Remember Severus, only separate the connection if both of us start convulsing violently, not just one," Geoff reminded his friend, "Both Harry and I will do so in turns, but we shouldn't together."
"I understand," Snape replied with a nod.
"Harry, you can go to sleep now," Geoff said, "Just relax and go to sleep. I'll do the rest."
Harry nodded and closed his eyes as he began to drift into the night's comforting embrace. As he did so, Geoffrey slowly reached his left hand up to Harry's face and, one by one, touched the fingertips of that hand against four points on the left side of Harry's face. He then did the same with his right hand on the right side of the face, beginning to establish a solid telepathic connection between the two.
"I am in your presence," Geoff said softly as he closed his eyes and concentrated, "I am in your mind. My strength is your strength. Let me share my strength with you."
--
The next sensation Harry felt was that he was surrounded on all sides by the purest shade of white. He looked around him, trying to see if anyone was here with him, but he saw no one at first. He began to walk around slowly, trying to figure out where he was, but it didn't matter how far he walked; the place looked the same from any point within it.
"Where am I?" Harry asked aloud.
"We are in the landscape of a dream, Harry," Geoff's voice answered from behind him.
Harry immediately turned around and saw Geoffrey Gryffindor standing only ten feet away from him, his presence now seemed like something divine. Perhaps it was his red and gold robes which stood out so well against the white background. Or maybe it was his tall frame and his noble features. Harry couldn't tell exactly what it was, but Geoff seemed to be different from what he had seen in his dreams.
Now that he was within Harry's mind, Geoff picked up on this thought immediately. "I appear different from the other things you dream of because I am actually here," Geoff clarified, "My consciousness is inside your mind, Harry. Now all we can do is wait for a dream to come along."
Harry nodded, but he still had questions about the place he was now in. "How come I don't remember this place if this is where dreams begin?" he asked as he continued to look around.
"Because our dreams are so vivid that this barren plane is simply forgotten once we wake up," Geoff explained, "Similar to how a dream is quickly forgotten with time."
"Unless you get a visit from Voldemort," Harry commented, "I can't forget any of those dreams, and believe me, I've tried."
Geoff nodded in agreement. "From what I have read about the subject, which isn't really all that much, when one person tampers with another's dreams, those dreams are much harder to forget," Geoff informed, "So you will probably remember this dream as well. However, I'll make sure it's the last one you have to hold on to that you'd rather not want to remember."
Harry nodded to Geoff as both men continued to wait for their unwanted visitor to arrive. While they waited, Geoff started humming a tune that vaguely reminded Harry of puppets for some reason. He was about to inquire about this to Geoff when a dream finally started to take shape around them.
The first thing Geoff noticed was that the room that was forming around them was illuminated by candlelight from a chandelier that hung from the ceiling in the middle of the room. As the white marble walls formed around them, Geoff started to feel that he knew what this place was. The small pool in the floor made him certain of it.
"The prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor?" he inquired with surprise, "How did you get in here?"
"After the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Cedric told me to come in here in order to understand the clue to the second task," Harry told Geoff, "He gave me the password to the room. I haven't been in here since then."
Geoff nodded as he looked around, obviously with positive memories about this room. "I remember after I became a prefect, I would come in here all the time when I needed to just forget about the world for a little bit," Geoff said with a smile, "I even had a date in here that I'll never forget."
That admission made Harry's face turn slightly red. Geoff didn't notice as he pushed one of the faucets that surrounded the small pool in the center of the room. Geoff took his time to take in the smell of that particular set of bubbles, which were a shade of forest green.
"This one was always my favorite, the forest scented one," Geoff explained, "I can't put into words what kind of effect this . . . ," and then Geoff trailed off as his head jerked toward the door of the room. Harry's head had also turned there, but not in reaction to Geoff's.
"I feel it as well," Harry confirmed as fear began to fill him, "He's coming."
Geoff turned off the faucet and quickly walked over to the wall next to the door and pushed himself against it, his face facing away from it. Geoff had done this kind of hiding act before, and he knew that the door would hide him from view when opened. That door was also the only way into the room besides the plumbing.
Sure enough, the door burst open only moments later. Geoff could no longer see what was happening, but listened carefully.
Harry saw Lord Voldemort, cloaked in black, enter the room slowly. However, he wasn't alone. The only reason he moved as slowly as he did was that he was holding Ginny Weasley in front of him, with his right forearm wrapped in front of her neck, pining her back to his body. At the same time, his left hand holding a wand to her head. She was being used as his human shield.
"Well Harry, I'm back," Geoffrey heard that unmistakable voice proclaim, "Did you miss me?"
"No," Harry replied defiantly, "And you won't get any information out of me."
"Harry, please, help me!" Ginny pleaded softly, tears welling up in her eyes.
It pained Harry to see Ginny like this, even if he knew it was only a dream, but he knew that he could not give Voldemort any information. He tried to show no emotion as Voldemort delighted in her pain.
"I will make this simple, Harry," Voldemort began, "I will ask you a question. And every time you don't give me an answer, I will torture her. Lie to me, and she will be punished twice as much. Give me the truth, and she is not harmed. Understand?"
"I'm not going to give you anything, Voldemort," Harry responded.
Ginny looked at Harry. Though she did not speak, her look told Harry everything. It also sealed his resolve. She looked at him and her eyes were screaming for him to give Voldemort whatever he wanted to know. They wanted him to surrender. The real Ginny Weasley would have never thought such a thing. Plus, she would have understood that she would be killed regardless of what Harry did. Even without Geoff's help, Harry wouldn't give Voldemort anything now.
"Now Harry, I have a funny feeling that one of my followers is really double-crossing me," Voldemort began, "Who is it?"
Before Harry's body language could possibly give anything away, Geoff quickly slammed the open door shut, causing Voldemort to release Ginny as he turned around to see what had happened. "Sorry Riddle, but this is where your tampering with Harry's mind ends," Geoff declared as he stared Voldemort in the eye.
As Ginny ran into Harry's arms, Voldemort quickly pointed his wand at Geoffrey. "Avada Kedavra!" he screamed.
All Geoff did in response to the green jet of light coming right at his chest was to place his right hand in the way of the death blast, which dissipated harmlessly when the spell came into contact with his hand. "Nice try, but you cannot harm me here," Gryffindor explained as he slowly walked toward Voldemort, "And I will not allow you to harm Harry either."
Voldemort finally seemed to recognize who it was standing before him now. "Geoffrey Gryffindor, we meet again," he said with a smile as he put his wand away, "I have heard many rumors about you."
"I know," Geoff replied with indifference, "I made sure they started those rumors. I made sure that your followers fear the very mentioning of my name."
"You and I aren't so different, you know," Voldemort informed, "We both know that in order to serve the greater good, you have to break some rules of morality and you aren't afraid to break them."
Geoff gave Voldemort a very cold stare at this. "Only because you made me like this," he retorted coldly, "You started a sequence of events that turned me into what I am now. I was once like Harry over there. I would never think of harming another being without being provoked first. But then you came and took everything away from me. And for that, here is your reward!"
Voldemort crossed his arms in front of his body, but it was a useless defense. Geoffrey hit Voldemort with the open palm of his right hand and bellowed, "BEGONE AND NEVER RETURN!" The consciousness of Voldemort disintegrated from Harry's dream, and Geoff made it so that it could never enter Harry's mind again.
Geoff looked at Harry with a smile after all this had happened. "Well, I'll leave you two to get on with your business then," he stated, knowing his job was done.
But Harry then saw something that made him confused and afraid again. "Geoff, behind you!" he warned.
Geoff turned around and gasped. "No! It's you!" he cried as he caught sight of Lord Voldemort, standing against the wall, just as Geoffrey had just done.
Geoff's tone threw Harry into further confusion. It seemed as if he was deathly afraid of Voldemort now. "Did it not work?" he asked.
"The occlumency worked," Geoff replied, his voice still filled with fear, "This is something completely different."
Harry looked back at Voldemort and realized that this was true. This Voldemort, who was wearing a black cape with a hood that covered the top and sides of his head from view, looked more human than monster. His face was scarred and waxy and his eyes were red, but this Voldemort looked more like the Tom Riddle that Harry had seen applying for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position than the Voldemort that lived now. Suddenly, Harry realized that this must have been Voldemort from before his first defeat.
"October 31, 1981," Voldemort began to say in a voice that was also altered with a new body and to serve a completely different purpose, "Do you remember that night, Geoffrey Gryffindor?"
October 31, 1981, Harry thought for a moment, That was the night he killed my parents.
Geoff knew immediately what was happening. "No, leave me alone! You should not be here!" he screamed at the younger Voldemort.
"You were there, Gryffindor," Voldemort continued, nothing of his body moving except for his mouth, "You were there when . . . "
But he wouldn't get the chance to finish that sentence. "NO!" Geoffrey shouted as he lunged at Voldemort and grabbed his shoulders. At this, both men dissolved into thin air as Harry felt Geoffrey's consciousness leave his mind.
"Harry, what was all that about?" Ginny asked.
"I don't know, Ginny," Harry answered, still holding her in his arms, "But I'm sure Geoff will tell me, sooner or later."
--
Geoffrey was shaking so violently that Severus was about to remove his hands from Harry's head when Geoff suddenly threw himself back against the wall, his eyes now wide open with a look of terror that Snape had seen all too often in his life. He felt that he should wait until Geoff regained his composure before asking him anything.
Finally, after a few minutes, Geoff had calmed down enough for Severus to say, "You did block the Dark Lord's influence, didn't you?"
"Yes," Geoff replied, his voice wavering as he spoke, "But there was another one already there."
"Another one?" Snape asked, "What do you mean?"
"Voldemort did come to get the information from Harry, and I destroyed his connection to Harry," Geoff explained, "But then I encountered another Voldemort in Harry's mind. He started to talk about that night, almost as if he knew I didn't want to hear about it."
Severus knew what night Geoff was talking about. Suddenly, he knew what had happened in Harry's mind. "That was a Horcrux, Geoff," he concluded.
Geoff quickly looked at his friend as if he had grown a second head. "Wait a minute," Geoff said, "Are you telling me that Harry himself is a Horcrux?"
"Yes, that is what Dumbledore told me last year," Snape replied, "And he implied that the boy would have to die in order to defeat the Dark Lord once and for all."
Geoff took a moment to collect his thoughts on what had just happened. "Well, Harry won't have to die anymore," Geoff assured his friend, "I banished the Horcrux from his mind in order to break the connection between us."
"What does Harry know about that night now?" Severus asked.
"I made sure he learned nothing," Geoff replied, "I will tell Harry what happened that night when the time is right. But right now, I need him to trust me, and if he learned the truth about what happened, I don't think he could ever forgive me. I certainly wouldn't forgive myself if I were in his shoes."
"He is a rather forgiving person, Geoffrey," Snape pointed out, "Sometimes a little too forgiving, if you ask me."
Geoff nodded. "Be honest with me Severus," Geoff began after a moment, "You have never forgiven me for what I did that night, have you?"
This was obviously a touchy subject for Snape to talk about. "No, I haven't," he replied reluctantly, "But you shouldn't be so hard on yourself."
"I haven't forgiven myself, Severus," Geoff said, "And I probably never will."
Snape looked at his best friend now and knew what Geoff wanted, what he had wanted for the past 17 years. Geoffrey, you have to learn to forgive yourself, he thought, and though he wanted to say this to Geoff, they had this conversation before. Severus decided to change the subject to something he needed to inform his friend of.
"How is Charity doing?" he asked, referring to the professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts.
"Professor Burbage?" Geoff began, "I don't see her all that much outside of staff meetings, but she seems to be doing well. Why do you ask?"
"She's been targeted by the Death Eaters," Snape informed.
That caught Geoffrey's undivided attention, as he knew what that meant. "You want me to watch out for her?" he inquired.
"I think that would be the prudent thing for you to do," Severus replied, "Believe it or not, I was always fond of Charity."
Geoff chuckled. "And by that, you mean you didn't hate her at all," he stated with a smile.
Snape glared at Geoff coldly. He never liked it when Geoff brought up his social problems.
Snape's glare was all Geoff needed to perceive to know that he was going too far now. "Sorry Severus," he apologized, "I'll make sure that those Death Eaters will have to go through hell to get to Charity."
"Thank you," Snape replied as he walked out of the bedroom, with Geoff following him a few moments later. He would go down to the kitchen in the basement and have a drink before going to bed. He wanted to wash away the memories of that night, but he knew that was impossible. He would always live in shame of what had happened that fateful night.
--
Author's Notes: Obviously, Harry is still not happy with the new living arrangements at his house.
And yes, I took the name Rowling gave for the Muggle Studies teacher. But I will give her a bit more personality than Rowling did.
The event I am referring to toward the end of this chapter will be revealed in detail in Chapter 26, which I haven't started yet. It will be a monster chapter, though. I can promise you that. And it will explain a lot.
Well, until next week, read, review and enjoy.