A Snake in the Nest, Chapter Seventeen
The next morning, Colin Creevy was found to have been attacked in the night.
"Why him? He's a bit overbearing, but not dangerous!" Nana all but yelled when the news reached them in the Common Room the next morning.
"Probably in the wrong place at the wrong time, like we were with Mrs. Norris." Husky pointed out. He looked far less worried than the others, which Ron pointed out immediately.
"They can cure him, right? I'll start to worry when there's more permanent damage." In truth, he was exceptionally nervous about the news. If Whatever-It-Was was attacking students now, nobody was safe. On the other hand, now the four of them were probably going to try and find this Jerard that was hiding in the Forest.
He couldn't decide what was worse.
Harry told them of the events in the Hospital later that day, when the four Anima went with them to Myrtle's bathroom. She was, oddly enough, missing, and Cooro was rather gloomy when he realized it. He didn't say anything, though, and soon was just as happy as normal.
They watched as the others set up the potion, having decided that the bathroom was the best place for it.
"Your dorm would be better, but you don't want to be involved, the potion smells and the Tower isn't the easiest to get to when we'd need to brew this." Hermione explained as she conjured the waterproof fire for the potion.
Neville was rather quiet, which prompted Cooro to ask him what was wrong. After a long moment of silence, he looked up from the book that lay in his lap.
"It's only that most people think I'm a Squib. They went for Filch first, so… I guess I'm scared." He looked back down. "I'm a lousy Gryffindor, aren't I?" They looked at each other, a bit awkwardly, before Cooro spoke.
"That's not true. Bravery isn't not being afraid; it's being able to go on through that fear." Harry took over from there, sitting next to Neville.
"Besides, you told us, remember? That's brave right there." Neville's eyes widened a bit, and then he smiled wider than any of them had ever seen.
They continued to talk over theories about the Chamber, what it held, who had opened it and who was opening it now. Cooro, who had already told Nana, Husky and Senri about Myrtle's tale, doodled on a bit of parchment, wondering if he should tell them his idea.
X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_
It was Christmas, and the four Anima had a dilemma; stay at Hogwarts, or ask Remus if their invitation was still open. Husky reasoned that it was, seeing as they'd stayed all summer, but Nana was still nervous about sending the letter asking permission. Cooro sent it anyway, and permission was sent back within two days.
Nana was still berating him as they walked to Potions. It was the last class before break started, which took the edge off her annoyance, but she was still a bit embarrassed that Cooro had sent the letter, and wouldn't let it go.
Normally, Hermione would have distracted her, but she and the other three boys were strangely preoccupied. Husky determined the cause to be something to do with the Potion, as they hadn't said a word.
They were working on Swelling Solutions, and Malfoy was entertaining himself by flicking pufferfish eyes at Harry and Ron, who were sitting closest. Finally, annoyed, Husky gathered them all up and almost threw them into Malfoy's cauldron, but from a warning glance from Senri, shoved them into his robes instead.
"Ah! Professor!" Malfoy jumped up, spilling eyes everywhere. Snape gathered them with a lazy flick of his wand.
"Husky shoved them down my robes." He looked smug, knowing that his status as Snape's favorite would guarantee Husky getting a detention.
"I was only returning them. He accidentally threw them all at Ron and Harry." Husky said in an innocent voice. His eyes, however, were cold. Snape glared.
"Regardless, that was not the proper way to return lost possessions. Five points from Gryffindor." Husky rolled his eyes, then glanced at Senri, mouthing 'why?' when Senri looked up.
"Very explosive with bowtruckle legs." He muttered back, and Husky grinned, jotting down the fact.
Not ten minutes later, soon after Snape berated Harry for a bad potion, there was indeed an explosion. It wasn't Malfoy's cauldron, though, but Goyle's. Nana noticed Hermione sneak off as she ducked to avoid the flying potion. Most of their area of the room was untouched, but Cooro's ears had been hit, and were now the size of a young elephant's. He didn't seem bothered, and swung his head around to make them swing.
"Whee~" He was half-dragged over to Snape's desk for the antidote. Husky was about to berate him when he saw that Cooro's attention was on Hermione, who had snuck back in with her robes bulging. Husky shook his head.
"I could give her lessons, and that's saying something." Cooro grinned, nodding.
"We'll help next time. If they don't have another ridiculous idea. Malfoy is too obvious a suspect." Husky shook his head, shoving Cooro back into his seat as Snape threatened the class with expulsion if he ever found out who threw what appeared to be a firework into the cauldron.
He looked directly at Harry.
They didn't get a chance to ask what they'd needed so badly, because the moment the others snuck away to work on the Potion, McGonagall called Senri over for a word, and the others waited for him.
X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_
"Senri. You are nearly seventeen, correct?" He nodded, and she continued briskly.
"At seventeen, a witch or wizard is considered a legal adult, and the laws regarding underage magic are null and void. We have never had a student in second year who is near adulthood, so I must give you this option." She breathed carefully, then went on.
"You can leave Hogwarts, find an occupation, or you may continue classes here." She held up her hand when he opened his mouth.
"Don't answer now; think about it for now. I will need an answer by your birthday. When is it, may I ask?"
"June fourteenth." She nodded, patted his shoulder and walked away.
"What was that about?" Cooro asked as they walked to dinner. They were very late, and gathered a few odd looks as they walked in.
"Nothing. Just classes."
X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_
Sirius smiled happily as he walked up the familiar stoop, reaching the door and throwing it open loudly, calling out "Hoooonnneeeey, I'm home!"
He was met by a wand tip, before it disappeared and was replaced by a split-second look at Remus before he was engulfed in a set of arms.
"Sirius! Don't do that!" His rebuke lost it's strength through the hug, though, and Sirius laughed. Remus pulled back, yanking away his one bag and waving it away with his wand. He examined Sirius carefully, and Sirius shifted awkwardly.
"Er… Moony, you know that's creepy, don't you?" He was ignored. Remus continued his scrutiny, before nodding to himself.
"Food. Now. Come on." He grabbed his wrist, and dragged him into the kitchen, sitting him down and turning away. Sirius smiled happily once again.
This feeling, one of comfort and happiness, was one he hadn't had in a long time. It was a feeling of home.
X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_
The compartment felt a lot smaller with only four of them in it, Husky noted, staring out at the white hills as the train rolled out of the station. The Potion was done, he knew, and they planned on using it over break. He was glad they were going to be far away, should it all blow up in their faces.
"So, should we go looking for the guy in the Forest?" Nana asked as soon as they were moving.
"They said this has happened before; it's probably not him." Husky pointed out, looking away from the window.
"And we were told explicitly not to go there; he's probably very dangerous." Nana noted, glancing at the ceiling as she thought.
"Besides, Dumbledore and Remus are looking for him. I doubt he can hide long." Cooro put his two cents in, looking up from a borrowed chess set he and Senri were playing with. The other two looked at each other, a bit sheepish. They'd both forgotten they had adults that would actually help them, not get in the way.
X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_
He glanced around again before coming out of his hiding-place. Centaurs would be a problem. On the one hand, they could interrupt at a crucial moment, and on the other, he couldn't lay wards or they were sure to notice.
He ran to the edge of the anti-Apparation spells, and Dis-Appareated, reappearing at his home. It was practically empty, only containing a bed, table, chair and many stacks of books. He pulled one out and flipped through it again, hoping to find something of use.
He was about to call it a night and return to the Forest for the night when a small scrap of paper fluttered out of the book. He picked it up.
The barrier between this world and the next is something that no wizard has ever been able to fully comprehend. The closest they have come is being able to create a portal of sorts, a veil in an archway, located in the department of Mysteries.
Do not be deceived, it is a one-way barrier, and the one-way is to death. However, people who have seen death or lost someone special have been reported to have heard voices whispering behind the veil. They cannot understand what is being said.
There are several theoretical ways of reversing this portal, to speak to or raise the dead, but none have been tested, as they require almost endless bounds of magic and the sacrifice of another wizard.
The spells, once they were revealed to have this sacrifice as a crucial point, were supposedly destroyed, but one record remains. It is hidden in the department of Mysteries.
X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_
Sirius sat in his old bedroom, noting that besides cleaning and his bag, it was no different. His clothes still hung in the closet, and everything from the blankets to the lone photo on the wall were the same.
The photo was of the wedding, a secret shot by Molly Weasley of his dragging Remus into a dance, both laughing. They'd been a bit tipsy, not quite drunk. James and Lily both danced as well, too lost in each other's eyes to notice their friends a few feet away.
"You can talk to them, you know. Before I send it to Harry." He jumped, looking back at Remus, who walked into the room, leaving the door open. Sirius vaguely wondered if it was still charmed as well.
"They want to talk to you. Not the photo you, but the real one. You should talk to them." He blinked, realizing that Remus was still talking.
"I will. Just… not yet. Are you off now?" Remus nodded.
"Yeah. I'll be back in about an hour, and then you can meet them yourself." He began to walk out, then turned back.
"One more thing. Did you ever visit the Weasleys? It'd be easier to talk to Molly if you did." He left before Sirius could answer. He turned to watch the picture again.
X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_
"We have a guest, by the way." Remus said as they stepped out of the fireplace. Nana set her trunk down quickly, and didn't stop Senri as he took all four to their rooms. Cooro took his away and followed him.
"Who?" Husky asked, taking the various other bags Remus had had and walking to the kitchen to put them away. He got his answer, in the form of Sirius Black sitting at the table, talking with a photo.
"Sirius!" He grinned at him, but didn't move to greet him beyond that. He didn't know this Sirius that well, after all. Instead, he went to put the groceries away.
As he moved away from the doorway, a breeze brushed his back, and he heard an 'oomph!' Glancing over, he saw Cooro was already back, and didn't seem to have any qualms hugging an almost-stranger.
"You're back!" Sirius looked a bit uncomfortable, and glanced at Remus, who shrugged, trying to stifle his laughter.
"I left?"
"Yes. You went very far away, and we all missed you." he told him matter-of-factly, letting go and helping with the last of the food.
From the photo, four teenagers laughed.
X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_
"So that's how they got here? A failed portal for Voldemort?" Remus nodded.
"And whoever did it is planning on retrying it?" Another nod.
"How?"
"I'm not an expert on the subject, but I believe that he plans on sacrificing someone with magic to pull Voldemort through. A trade of sorts." Sirius frowned, trying to remember what he'd known on the subject.
"There's more. Dumbledore looked into the nature of these, as we know Voldemort isn't actually dead. He has found that if the spell works, and lets one that is dead walk again, it will also let one that isn't quite dead become fully alive." Sirius looked up swiftly.
"You mean…"
"Voldemort would be at full power, with at least one ally at his back and plenty of Death Eaters still alive to pull to his ranks. Not only that, but he would gain the power, memories and possible likeness of whoever was killed in his stead. He would be essentially impossible to find." Sirius began to pace the room.
"There aren't very many texts on raising the dead, as the general opinion is that it's impossible. But there are a few, ones so old that even the Ministry doesn't remember they exist. I think there are some at Grimmauld Place; I'll take a look later." Remus nodded, and they lapsed into lighter topics.
Neither heard nor saw Nana as she slipped back up the stairs, thoughts of a glass of water forgotten.