Chapter 18

Life's Little Mysteries

It wasn't long before Harry was back at Hogwarts, attending classes, spending time with his friends, and working on his projects in the Chamber of Secrets.

It had taken a lot of work, but the Chamber of Secrets had finally been fully converted into his workspace. No longer was it the dank, dark, and stagnant room that it had been. Vibrant lights sprayed the room with illumination thanks to the alchemy crystals floating in the air. While the floor was still made from stone, it had been transmuted to create a perfectly even surface, and all of the water that had created puddles on the floor was gathered into a pool near the back.

The pool was another of Harry's creations. He'd converted the single remaining Slytherin statue, the largest one, which he could not remove because it was magically bound in place, into a fountain. The water was recycled through a series of pipes and shot from the statue's mouth. Unlike before, when the water had been murky and unclean, now it was pure. Harry had, once again, relied on alchemy to dispose of the waste within the water.

In order to create fire, I need to find some way of separating the H2O molecules found in the air to form hydrogen. I can use the elemental symbol for water to help with that, but that won't fully separate the hydrogen from the oxygen. Also, I'd need the oxygen to feed the flames… this is tricky.

Harry was sitting at his brand new desk. It was made from dark oak wood, polished to a shine, an expensive work desk that could second as a bookshelf. Several books were already sitting inside. Currently, all of them were on alchemy.

Several sheets of parchment sat on his desk, each one containing sketches of various transmutation circles. He was trying to create a circle that could ignite the atmosphere. It was a theoretical exercise, not something he planned on creating for real.

While making fire using alchemy sounded easy, the truth was that it was far harder than most people could have expected. First one had to separate the hydrogen and oxygen molecules found in the atmosphere. Next they had to find a way to directly manipulate oxygen molecules, lest they burn themselves when they create the fire. And finally, one needed to start the fire with a spark.

The biggest issue was manipulating the oxygen molecules and creating the spark. Separating oxygen and hydrogen was easy. Perhaps he could do something to control the wind flow and create a tunnel… but no, that would still mean he'd be right next to the detonation when the spark ignited.

This is a lot tougher than I thought.

Harry wasn't alone that day. While he usually worked on his projects by himself, his friends had taken to hanging out around his workspace. He didn't mind. There was a lot for them to do.

Neville had taken to his exercise equipment, the bench press and pull up bars, he often spent time trying to use them. Harry had shown him how they were used. However, it was still difficult. Even now, if Harry were to look at the pull up bar, he knew that he'd see the red faced Neville trying to do as many pull ups as he could.

Blaize, Terry, Lisa, and Hannah were more interested in his library of books. Many of his books were unavailable in the Hogwarts library, and even more of them were one of a kind. Since Sirius had no interest in books, Harry had gathered all of the magical books from the Black library that couldn't be read anywhere else. This included several books on dark magic. Those ones were stashed away in his luggage, however.

Tracey didn't seem interested in most of Harry's items. Since she had no interest in books or exercise, he'd built a small, constantly changing flying course. It had actually been his birthday present to her. The goal was to fly through the hoops, which were always shifting, changing positions, and growing larger or smaller.

Harry had made these based on several algorithmic patterns designed to feel randomized. There were over 2,560 preset configurations, and those configurations could be mixed to create over six million other patterns. With 12 hoops in total, that meant Tracey had a lot of material to practice on.

Susan and Daphne were sitting on the couches that he'd set up for when he needed a break and-

"Harry, I think you've been working long enough."

-Correction. They were now standing behind him. Harry blinked as he looked at the two.

I didn't even hear them walk up to me.

"I will just as soon as I finish this transmutation circle," Harry said, gesturing to the half-finished drawing on his parchment. "I'm almost done."

"I think it would be best if you stopped now," Susan rebutted with a shake of her head. "You've been working for over an hour now. Even in this light, staring at something for so long is hard on the eyes. You should take a break. You can always come back to it."

Susan's mention of how he could "always come back to it" was her subtle way of reminding him that he had eidetic memory, which meant he literally could leave, come back, and remember everything he needed to start the project up as if nothing had happened. It was cunning of her to use that against him. Perhaps he shouldn't have revealed his perfect recall to her.

Too late now…

"I'm not going to be as much of a mother hen as Susan," Daphne said, which caused Susan to pout. "But I do think you should stop for today. It's the weekend. Don't you think it would be nice if we could go outside."

It was early spring. February 25th. The snow had melted and the trees were no longer quite so barren. While the weather remained cold, it was beginning to grow warmer.

Harry realized that everyone was now staring at him, Daphne, and Susan, their faces expectant. He sighed. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to take the rest of the day off and do something fun."

Daphne and Susan shared a fist bump. Harry wondered if they had learned that from Lisa. It was such a mundane action.

Everyone left the Chamber of Secrets via a tunnel that led them to the dungeons. The exit was hidden behind a tapestry of a serpent, and it was in the same hallway as the Slytherin dorms.

A clear sky greeted them as they emerged from the castle and onto Hogwarts grounds. It was still relatively early. Lunch wouldn't be for another two hours.

Several changes had come about at Hogwarts, not the least of which being that Professor Lupin was no longer a professor. He had been replaced by a man named Adrogus Antus. He was a middle aged man with androgynous features, brown hair, and a monotone voice.

Harry did not think this man was qualified to be a teacher. He seemed knowledgeable, as he would answer any question someone hand, but he took a hands off approach that Harry found lazy. He didn't give the informative lectures that Professor Lupin had done.

Also, and maybe it was just him, but there was something odd about the new DADA professor. Harry always felt on edge whenever he was in the man's presence.

"I heard that Headmaster Dumbledore tried to get another auror to come in and teach," Tracey said as they sat around the grass. She was between Terry and Blaize.

"I heard the same rumor," Hannah said. "I also heard that Lucius blocked him from getting the teacher he wanted."

"He did," Blaize said. "Lucius used the headmaster's hiring of Professor Lupin to put his ability to make rational decisions into question. The words he used were 'if the headmaster is willing to hire a werewolf, what other dark creatures might he hire.'"

"What a load of shite," Tracey complained. "Even if Professor Lupin is a werewolf, I'd still choose him over the boring guy we have no any day."

Harry withheld the urge to hide his anger behind closed eyes. Tracey's words of "even if he is a werewolf" bothered him, but he couldn't blame her for them either. Those who grew up in the wizarding world were taught to fear and hate werewolves from a young age. The fact that Tracey still thought Professor Lupin was a good teacher despite that meant a lot.

He still didn't like the way she'd said werewolf as if lycanthropy was a disease.

"Professor Lupin is staying at your house, right Harry?" Lisa asked.

"That's right," Harry said. "At least temporarily. He doesn't want to stay because he feels like he would be imposing. I'm hoping he'll at least stick around for a couple of months, though."

"Isn't that dangerous?" asked Terry.

"Not at all," Harry said. "I've stocked up on Wolfsbane Potion. Professor Lupin only becomes a werewolf during the full moon, and so long as he drinks the potion before midnight, I won't have to worry about him losing his mind when he transforms."

"Can the Wolfsbane Potion really keep him from losing his humanity?" asked Neville.

"I don't know if you'd call it 'losing his humanity' since he still turns into a werewolf," Harry admitted. "However, it keeps him from giving into his instincts. His mind is still human, if nothing else."

"That sounds cool," Tracey admitted.

It always amazes me to see her flip opinions so quickly.

"I suppose."

Thinking about Professor Lupin made him recall the recent news he'd received from Gringotts. They had found a building that would suit his purposes, and they were currently in the process of renovating it. The total price would come to 46,654 galleons, which was a lot, though nowhere close to the amount he had been willing to spend.

Most people would need a loan for that kind of money. Harry could toss that money around like it was spare change-not that he would flaunt his wealth. He just had no problem using it to suit his purposes.

Lunch soon came, and Harry wandered to the Great Hall with his friends. They sat at the Gryffindor table. Astoria and Luna joined them for awhile, but they were soon called away by some of their friends.

"It's good to see your sister flourishing here, isn't it?" Harry said to Daphne, whose smile was soft, and maybe even a touch sad.

"Yes, though my sister has always been a social butterfly. She just never got to show it before now."

Harry nodded. Astoria had always struck him as the outgoing sort. When they had first met, she'd been a regular chatterbox, talking about anything and everything that she could think of. Even now, he could see her with her friends, talking away as everyone else laughed.

She has a way with people.

While they were eating, Professor McGonagall wandered into the Great Hall and walked up to them. She stopped in front of Harry.

"Mr. Potter. I have a letter for you."

A letter?

Now that was odd. No one would use a teacher to deliver a letter-unless they were Headmaster Dumbledore. He couldn't think of many other reasons for the head of house Gryffindor to even have a letter. He wondered what the headmaster wanted now.

"Thank you." He took the letter. It seemed a little bland for a letter from the headmaster, but he guessed the man was still busy dealing with the political fallout from hiring Professor Lupin.

"See to it that you open it later tonight," Professor McGonagall said before walking off.

"What do you think the letter is about?" asked Tracey.

"Who knows," Harry said, pocketing the letter. He would read it tonight. It sounded like Headmaster Dumbledore wanted to tell him something that he couldn't tell anyone else.

XoX

Later that night, Harry lay on his bed in the Gryffindor dorm. Everyone else was asleep. Seamus's loud snoring drifted into his ear like the blaring of a saxon. Neville quietly shuffled around in bed, mumbling something that Harry couldn't make out. Dean Thomas lay sprawled haphazardly across his bed.

Harry held the letter that Professor McGonagall had given to him in his hands. The letter, written in neat cursive, read: Meet me at the Shrieking Shack tonight. Come alone.

There was no signature. This was not Headmaster Dumbledore's handwriting. That begged the question: Whose handwriting was this?

Harry studied the handwriting more in depth. There were no telling marks that would let him figure out who'd written this. In fact, the cursive was so nondescript that he couldn't help but think someone had made it look this way on purpose. It was like they knew about Harry's ability and had ensured they had adequately masked their handwriting to make sure he wouldn't recognize it.

Because he didn't know who had sent this, there was no way to know what the purpose of the letter was. A trap? Well, obviously this entire thing was suspicious. Saying that, he couldn't see Professor McGonagall delivering him a letter from someone she didn't know.

Could she have been placed under the imperius curse?

It sounded like a farfetched idea, almost as farfetched as Professor McGonagall handing him a letter from someone she didn't know or trust.

I guess there's only one way to find out who sent this to me.

Climbing out of bed, Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak, threw it over his head, and traveled out of the Gryffindor dorms. He was careful not to wake the fat lady, who continued snoring away as he wandered down the hall.

Getting out of Hogwarts was easy. Even if he didn't have the Marauders' Map, he knew exactly where Filch would be monitoring, and he'd used scent deadeners so Mrs. Norris couldn't track him. He made it out of the castle in record time.

The night was quiet as he made his way across the grounds; not even the crickets were chirping. He wondered what that meant. Was the person who'd made Professor McGonagall deliver that letter waiting for him already?

Harry cast another spell at his feet to deaden the sound of his footsteps. Sadly, they couldn't make it look like he wasn't walking at all. A depression formed in the ground with every step he took. While it didn't look like anyone else was around, they could have been hidden under a disillusionment charm.

The Whomping Willow loomed overhead. It hadn't noticed him, he made sure it stayed that way as he silently walked to the base of the tree and opened the secret passage. He slid down. Last time he'd done this, he wasn't quite prepared for it, but this time, he bent his legs to better distribute the impact. It might have been his imagination, but he felt like that had made a lot of noise. He hoped the person who'd sent the letter hadn't heard him.

He creeped forward. The floorboards didn't creak thanks to his charm, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. His heart was pounding so loudly in his ears, he doubted he would have heard his own footsteps. He moved forward, checking the rooms as he passed. There was no one. Every room was empty.

Coming up on the last room, Harry frowned as he slowly peered inside. It didn't look like anyone was in there either. Could the person who'd sent that letter not have come yet?

His ears strained as he listened for any sign of movement. Yet not even his ears, enhanced by his animagus form, could hear anything. Either this person was good at standing still, they were using a charm like him, or they had yet to arrive.

I'll never get anywhere if I don't move forward.

Knowing that he couldn't stand around, Harry entered the room. It was empty. There wasn't a single soul around. He moved forward, one step at a time, turning his head this way and that. He needed to keep up his vigilance. Otherwise, he might-

Harry's body froze as light emitted from his feet. His body, it was seizing up! He couldn't move! In desperation, he rolled his eyes toward the ground. There, beneath his feet, was a giant runic array. Glowing lines connected to eccentric circles and symbols. He couldn't see everything, but this was clearly a paralysis rune of some kind.

What the-!

Harry barely had a moment to realize that the entire room was shaking. Seconds later, several hundred pounds worth of rubble fell on top of him as the ceiling caved in. The last thing he felt was an incredible weight crushing him as he was buried alive.

XoX

Sirius Black was bored. He was so bored. No, he was border than bored. He was so bored he could have probably written a book on how bored he was.

Just like Harry had asked, Sirius had taken up his duties as the Head of House Black and the guardian of Harry Potter. Of course, once you had taken up your house duties, you were duty bound to attend Ministry functions. This included trials, meetings of the House of Lords where laws were ratified, and various other functions.

It was all so boring.

Sirius didn't know what he'd been thinking when he agreed to join the noble houses. Had he truly been foolish enough to listen to his godson's words? Well, he was here, sitting in a balcony reserved for the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, listening as some pompous windbag with too much time on his hands tried to convince those in attendance why his law-which Sirius honestly didn't know what it was about since he wasn't paying attention-should be passed.

I feel like I've lost something important in all this…

Sirius could only sigh.

He was so bored.

"You really should pay more attention to these proceedings, Sirius," a voice said from behind him.

Sirius smiled. "But then I might start bleeding out of my ears." He turned his head to greet his guest with a smile. "Celestina, you're looking lovely today. Shouldn't you be in your booth?"

Moving forward with an elegant grace that reminded Sirius of a predator, Celestina sat in the empty seat next to him. "I was in my booth, but then I saw you sitting by your lonesome and thought you could use some company."

"Well, I certainly don't mind having such beautiful company."

"Such a flatterer." Celestina looked down at the man talking on the podium. "But you really should listen to what this man has to say. You're only here because Harry asked you to take up your position as the Head of House Black, right? That means he's asking you for help. It would be a shame if you disappointed him."

Sirius sighed. "Yeah, I guess it would."

"It definitely would. Now pay attention."

With a hefty sigh, Sirius did as he was told. He really did want to help Harry-even if that meant putting up with boring politics.

He didn't know who the person down below was, but that hardly mattered. He could tell just from listening to the crap spewing from the man's mouth-some garbage about stricter penalties for muggleborns who broke the law-that he was just a mouthpiece. A puppet. More than likely, the person whose agenda he was pushing was Lucius Malfoy's.

It's just like Lucius to push an agenda like this through someone else to keep his hands from getting dirty.

The man soon finished speaking, and the House of Lords held a vote on whether or not to pass the bill. Sirius, of course, voted against it, and he used both his and Harry's vote. He was sure his godson wouldn't mind. Several other houses did as well. Most of them were light houses like House Diggory, however, there were a few fringe and neutral houses who voted against the law as well. Celestina was one of those people.

"What a farce," she said.

"What's a farce?" Sirius asked.

"That man." She nodded at the man as he was leaving the stage. "He knew this law wasn't going to be passed. I'm not even sure if he cares. His purpose in lecturing us about the benefits of this law were designed to bore us, so that we would be less capable of focusing and more likely to pass a law out of careless haste."

"That makes sense… I think."

Celestina smiled at him but said nothing, making Sirius feel like he'd said something stupid.

Another person walked onto the podium, and this time, Sirius almost grabbed the railing that kept him from falling. Lucius stood in front of the lectern. The man appeared inscrutable, calm, and confident. His robes were immaculate, and his hair looked freshly washed. Even from where he sat, high above the podium, Sirius could see the way it shined.

He looks like a woman from up here.

Sirius wondered what the man's angle was this time.

"As you're all aware, we recently had a problem at Hogwarts when Headmaster Dumbledore decided to hire a werewolf as a teacher," Lucius began. Sirius felt a snarl crawl up his throat. "Werewolves are dangerous creatures. They kill without mercy, act only on their most base instinct, and any who survive a werewolf attack are forever changed. This is a serious problem, and one that I believe we cannot allow to stand."

Sirius wished he had his wand. Sadly, all wands had been relinquished at the doorway and were only given back when you left.

"That is why I propose that we-"

Lucius Malfoy was interrupted when several people suddenly stood from their seats, pulled out their wands, and pointed them at Lucius. Sirius had just enough time to make a face. Then the wands fired several jets of bright red light.

Pandemonium erupted around the room. A threnody of screams drowned out the sound of the podium erupting into bright red flames. Lucius dove to the floor below, barely avoiding death. Everyone else stood up and tried to rush for the doors, which had the unfortunate accident of blocking the aurors from doing their jobs. This allowed the attackers to keep attacking.

"Damn it!" Sirius swore as he stood up.

Celestina also stood up. "What should we do?" she asked as she pulled out a wand.

Sirius stared. "Why do you still have your wand?"

Rolling her eyes, Celestina said, "this is a spare. Most of the nobles who attend these functions keep an extra wand on them during the proceedings. Can we please get down to business now?"

"Right. Let's get in there and help out."

"But you don't have a wand."

"Don't worry. I've got these." Sirius flexed his arm for emphasis.

Celestina rolled her eyes again. "Men."

Sirius didn't hesitate to race down to the bottom floor. The attackers were still attempting to kill Lucius, which was actually alright with him, except he couldn't really let the man die. Morals and all that. With this in mind, Sirius knocked the first attacker nearest to him out cold with a solid straight punch to the jaw.

"Ouch!"

Sirius hissed as he rubbed his now stinging knuckles; punching people hurt a lot more than he'd expected it to.

The other attackers either hadn't noticed him or didn't care. They continued to fire at Lucius, who'd hidden himself behind the podium, which was now a flaming wreck. That was… odd. Wouldn't most people switch targets when they realized that there was someone dangerous close to them?

Sirius launched himself at the next person, tackling them and sending both him and her spilling to the ground. The person he tackled hit her head on the floor, which knocked her out cold. The woman, who he vaguely recognized as one of the nobles who'd gone to his godson's Christmas party, went limp in seconds. Sirius stood back up.

High above him, still standing in his booth, Celestina rained hellfire down on the attackers. Her wand was a blur. Jets of red energy streamed from it, hitting the attackers one by one, causing them to crumple like a stack of blown over cards. Sirius whistled as she felled the remaining six attackers in half as many seconds.

"Damn, she's been practicing," he muttered. He actually felt a little inadequate. Just a little.

After taking care of the attackers, the aurors were able to calm down the nobles and the situation was resolved. Lucius was checked out by a mediwitch. Meanwhile, Amelia Bones, who'd been informed of what happened, was speaking with Sirius and Celestina, since they were the only ones who'd responded to the threat with something that resembled common sense.

"So you don't know what might have caused these people to attack Lucius?"

"I'm afraid not."

Amelia looked like she'd aged ten years. Sirius really felt for the woman. Being the law abiding citizen that she was, Amelia had relinquished her wand, and she didn't carry a spare like Celestina, so she'd been unable to do anything during the attack. Well, she might have still tried to physically deal with these people, but she'd been busy trying to calm the panicking nobles.

It would have been different had she been there on DMLE business. However, since she had been acting in her capacity as the Head of House Bones, she'd followed the same laws as everyone else.

She probably could have carried a wand under the claim that she was, in fact, the head of the DMLE, but that didn't seem to be her style. Amelia's modus operandi was setting an example for others. She followed the law despite how she could, theoretically, get around it, so that other people would see her and follow her example.

"This isn't good," Amelia murmured.

"Why's that?" asked Sirius.

"Because all of these people are people that either myself or Augusta invited to your Yuletide celebration," Celestina said for Amelia, who nodded. "No doubt the Daily Prophet is going to mention that in the headline news that this attack will surely make."

"I'll do my best to stall the Daily Prophet from releasing any information about this attack until we've determined what happened," Amelia assured Celestina.

"That's not very reassuring," Celestina sighed. "While I trust that you'll do everything possible, the Daily Prophet doesn't obey the whims of anyone but themselves. They're not going to stop from posting a juicy story if it means losing readers."

"I guess not," Amelia agreed.

They spoke for a little longer, but there really wasn't much that either he or Celestina could give Amelia to help in her investigation. Before anyone could leave, Kingsley Shacklebolt rushed into the chamber and over to Amelia.

"Madam Bones," he said in a breathless voice. "We have a problem."

The look on Amelia's face all but screamed, "what now?" Sirius didn't blame her.

"What's the problem?" she asked.

"Headmaster Dumbledore is requesting your assistance. It seems Harry Potter has been gravely injured."

XoX

Harry awoke with a sharp intake of breath and a jerk of his body. His eyes opened wide, but all he saw was a mishmash of blurring colors. How did he get here? Where was here?

He blinked rapidly. His eyes came into focus. A white ceiling greeted him, the cracks and crevices familiar and reassuring. The hospital wing. He was in the Hogwarts hospital wing. But how had he ended up here?

The last thing I remember was being trapped by the runic array and the ceiling of the Shrieking Shack coming down on me.

Harry frowned. Someone had set a trap for him, and like an idiot, he'd fallen right into it.

It never occurred to me that someone might lay a trap for me…

Perhaps it was because he was at Hogwarts, or maybe it was simply because he'd grown arrogant, but he had never imagined that anyone would try to kill him-certainly not while he was at Hogwarts.

Of course, the fact that someone did try to kill him left him with a slew of questions. The one first and foremost in his mind was: who had tried to kill him? There were a number of people who might want him dead. Lucius Malfoy, Theodore Nott Sr., any and every Death Eater that hadn't been thrown into prison. However, they weren't at Hogwarts.

Could one of them have hired someone to kill me?

Possible. Likely even. If there were killers for hire, then it stood to reason that one of the Death Eaters had hired someone to kill him. In which case, the questions he needed to ask himself were: which Death Eater had hired a killer, and who was the killer? The second question was more important than the first, at least for the moment. Once he found out one who'd tried to do him in, he could interrogate them and discover who had hired them.

"Harry?" a tired voice mumbled.

Harry blinked. Then he looked down.

Daphne was sitting in a chair, staring at him with disbelieving eyes. Her normally perfect blonde hair was a dishevelled mess, and her eyes were rimmed with red, a sign that she'd been crying. She must have fallen asleep and woken up seconds after he'd jerked awake.

"Daphne," Harry said. "I hadn't realized anyone was here with me. Does Madam Pomfrey know you're here?"

Shaking her head, Daphne said, "No one knows I'm here… at least, I don't think they do. I snuck in here last night."

"Last night… how long was I out for?"

"Two days," Daphne replied. A sudden tightening of his hand made Harry look down. Daphne's delicate fingers were squeezing his hand. They were slick with sweat. She must have been holding his hand for most of the night. "It was… really terrible. Harry, you were in such bad shape when they brought you in. What happened?"

"I was… caught in… a trap…"

It was embarrassing to admit this, so embarrassing that Harry felt like he could die. He was supposed to be intelligent. People like him shouldn't get caught in traps.

"A trap?" Daphne's brow furrowed.

Harry nodded. "You remember the letter that Professor McGonagall had given to me at lunch?"

"Yes."

"It asked me to go to the Shrieking Shack. I didn't know who'd sent it because only the headmaster should be able to have Professor McGonagall act as a courier. I wanted to know who it was from, so I went to the shack and was nearly killed with a runic array that activated underneath my feet and caused the ceiling to collapse."

Harry hadn't been able to get a good look at the runic array. There hadn't been enough time. All he'd seen was a small part of the array, but it wasn't enough to determine much beyond the fact that it wasn't an array using Futhark runes.

They had looked Egyptian.

Egyption runes used hieroglyphs, a formal writing system that used logographic and alphabetic elements. Just before the ceiling had collapsed on him and a split second after the array had appeared, he'd seen a hieroglyph that reminded him of a person sitting in a chair.

Harry wasn't well-versed in Egyptian runes yet. However, he knew a little about them from his reading of non-magical books. According to the books he'd read, that hieroglyph represented a man, so, presumably, the hieroglyph could have been about him. Perhaps it was strung together with other symbols, which, when combined, meant something like "bind this man in place", or something similar.

The problem was that Harry hadn't been able to see the other runes that had been used. Without at least seeing the other runes, he wouldn't be able to remember them. You can't remember what you never saw. This also meant that all he could do was guess.

But, considering the way my body had seized up, I believe the array may have been a paralysis one.

Still, the array had seemed pretty large for a simple paralysis array. Maybe it was a combined array?

This lack of information is so frustrating.

"Harry?" Daphne said, interrupting his train of thought. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes," Harry replied, smiling in an attempt to ease the girl's anxiety. "Everything is fine."

"Everything is not fine," another voice said.

Harry nearly squawked when a man appeared in front of him, Sirius, who was glaring at him with a stern expression.

"When did you get here?" Harry asked.

"I've been here the whole time," Sirius said.

"He was in his animagus form," Daphne added helpfully. "I could have sworn he was asleep, though."

"I was," Sirius admitted. "Your talking woke me up. Harry, I can't believe you followed the advice of a strange letter."

Harry felt his cheeks turning red. "I-it was given to me by Professor McGonagall, so I thought I could trust it. At the very least, I wanted to know who had it delivered to me. I also wanted to know who could get my head of house to deliver something for them, since it hadn't from the headmaster."

The serious look that Sirius had adopted seemed out of place on his face. "That is a good point. The only person who should be able to order old Minnie around is Albus Dumbledore. Whoever sent that letter was definitely not Dumbledore…"

"Exactly. And if it wasn't Headmaster Dumbledore, then who was it?"

Sadly, no one had an answer to that question.

XoX

Harry was eventually released from the hospital wing after Madam Pomfrey returned from where ever she'd been. The woman had not been pleased to find Daphne there, though she'd apparently let Sirius stay the night because he was Harry's godfather. She'd let them go after giving Daphne a stern lecture on hospital rules.

During the time before he was released, Daphne and Sirius had explained what happened while he'd been unconscious. The first bit of news was about the attack on Lucius Malfoy. It had made the Daily Prophet headlines. In fact, it was, according to Sirius, all anyone would talk about. Daphne had also informed him about how Draco was spreading the word through Hogwarts, so that everyone knew about it.

There had been no mention of his near death outside of his hospitalization for unspecified reasons. It seemed the news that a group of light family nobles had attacked Lucius Malfoy was bigger news than Harry being nearly killed. Of course, Harry soon learned that no one had even realized he'd nearly died. Everyone he spoke with had wished him a well recovery as if he'd just had the flu. They'd apparently been under the impression that he was sick.

His friends, at least, had been happy to see him back in action, and Harry had told them the truth about what happened.

"You're kidding me?" Tracey said, her eyes round and wide.

Harry shook his head. "I'm not. That letter lead me straight into a trap."

"Bloody he-ouch!"

"Not right now," Daphne and Susan said at the same time, even as they retracted the hand they had used to hit Tracey upside the head with.

Tracey clicked her tongue as she rubbed her head. Meanwhile, Lisa was frowning. "But who could have sent that letter to you? And how did they convince Professor McGonagall to give it to you?"

Professor McGonagall also knew about what had happened, mostly because Harry had told Headmaster Dumbledore of the event after being released and she had been present for the conversation. She had apologized profusely. Sadly, even though she remembered giving him the letter, she couldn't remember who had given it to her or why she'd given it to him in the first place. Harry suspected that she had been imperiused and had the memory of whoever had handed it her the letter erased.

"I have my suspects," Harry told them. "Well, I have a suspect. He's the only one I can think of who would be capable of something like this right now."

"Who is it?" asked Neville.

"It's the new DADA professor, isn't it?" Blaize guessed.

Harry nodded. "Yes. He's the only one who I can see doing this. None of the other professors would have done this, and I doubt there's a single student at Hogwarts who can use the imperius curse."

Even Harry had problems with that curse. He could cast it fine on mundane people, but it took more skill than he was capable of to cast it on another magical being. A witch or wizard's innate magical resistance kept most of them from being controlled.

To imperius someone, it required the caster to overpower that person's mental defenses with legilimency. This weakened them and allowed the curse to take hold. The other way was to overpower them with pure magic, but that required someone to have more magical power than the person they were imperiusing. Professor McGonagall, as an adult and the Head of House Gryffindor, was an incredibly powerful witch. She was not the kind of person who'd be overtaken so easily-certainly not by a student.

Harry's thoughts were like this all throughout the day. During Defense Against the Dark Arts class, he spent his time staring at Professor Antus with a deep frown.

That day he had them read about the Lumos Duo charm, a variation of the wand-lighting charm. This spell created a focused beam of wand light that connected the caster's wand to their target. One of the charm's uses was that the intense beam of light forced away ghouls, an ugly ogre-like creature, and it also caused hinkypunks to solidify. It also worked wonders at blinding opponents.

After they had finished reading about the spell, Professor Antus had them practice the charm in class. When class ended, he told them that they had a 12 inch-long paper due by next week. While most of the class groaned, Harry resolved to have it finished before the day ended.

Later that night, when everyone else had gone to bed, Harry, Neville, and, oddly enough, Astoria, remained awake.

"Are you not tired?" Harry asked Astoria, who sat on one of the plushy chairs in the Gryffindor common room. He was sitting near the fire while Neville sat on the couch.

"Nope," Astoria said, grinning. "I'm wide awake. Besides, I saw you glancing at the fireplace. You're going to make a floo call, right? I want to see who you call."

She's a curious one.

"Well, that's fine. It's not like you don't already know what's going on."

"So, who are you calling?" Astoria asked.

"Sirius."

"Oh! Your godfather!"

"Yep."

"That's cool. I wanted to talk to him again."

"Why is that?"

"Um, because your godfather's hot, duh."

As Neville snickered behind his back, Harry did his best to hide his green face. "I didn't need to know that," he muttered as he reached into his robes, pulled out a bag of floo powder, and threw some of the powder onto the fire. "Sirius Black."

There was a spark, followed by a roar from the flames. The fire turned green, and then, a face suddenly appeared before them.

"Harry," Sirius said, his mouth stretching in a huge yawn. He must have been sleeping. "Is something wrong? You haven't gotten yourself into trouble again, have you?"

"Of course not," Harry said as if offended. "I'm actually calling because I wanted you to get in touch with Celestina and Madam Bones."

"Hi, Sirius!" Astoria cut in before Harry could speak. Her beaming face brought a smile to Sirius's face.

"Hello. Astoria, right?"

Astoria nodded. "That's right, but you can call me Stori."

"Will do."

Wanting to head of Astoria's conversation, Harry said, "think you can get in contact with them?"

While Astoria pouted at him, Sirius asked, "What do you need to speak with them about?"

"I'd like them to look into Professor Androgus Antus's background," Harry answered.

Sirius paused. "You suspect he's the one who dropped the Shrieking Shack on you?"

"I have no conclusive evidence, but he's the only person currently at Hogwarts who could have possibly done it," Harry answered.

While Sirius still seemed unsure, he agreed to get in contact with Madam Bones and Celestina Zabini. He then left, his face winking out of the fire, which died down into embers. Harry leaned his back against the table and sighed.

"I wanted to talk to Sirius more," Astoria grumbled.

"Quiet you," Harry said.

"That was easy," Neville joked.

"That's because that was the easy part," Harry returned.

"I guess," Neville said, grimacing. "What are you going to do now? Let the teachers know?"

Harry thought about it for a moment. Should he let the teachers know? There was no guarantee that they would believe him. On the other hand, he didn't think they could afford to just ignore a potential suspect either. So long as he presented them with some evidence, they should take him seriously.

Except I don't have any evidence…

"I think I'll tell Professor McGonagall and the headmaster," Harry said at last. "But I don't want too many people knowing this. The more people who know, the more likely it is that Professor Antus will learn about my suspicions."

"Sounds like you've got a lot of problems," Astoria summed up his life quite succinctly.

"Yeah…" Harry didn't disagree.

Since there wasn't much left to do, they decided to go to bed. Before they could travel to their respective dorm rooms, footsteps echoed to them from the stairs. They froze.

Ginny Weasley walked into the common room. Upon seeing him and the others, she froze, her eyes widening and her face paling.

"I… uh… s-sorry… I was just…"

Guilt coiled in Harry's stomach at the sight of a frightened Ginny. He didn't like her. He probably never would like her… but it wasn't her fault that Hermione was gone. They hadn't spoken much, but Harry had blamed Ginny for what happened to Hermione for a long time. Ever since school had started, Harry had given her nothing but cold looks, to the point where she flinched whenever their eyes met.

"I'm sorry," Harry apologized. Ginny blinked in surprise. "I've been treating you poorly for something that isn't your fault. I'm sorry about that."

"O-oh, no… it's all right," Ginny mumbled, looking at the ground. "I'm sorry about what happened… I-I was aware of what Tom was doing, but I couldn't control my body. I-it was like I was just a puppet…"

Harry didn't want this to turn into a crying fest, not on his side nor hers. He quickly headed off this conversation before it could become heavy. "Don't be too hard on yourself. No one else could have done any better had they been in your place."

So, it was perhaps not the most eloquent way of telling someone they did all they could, but Harry wasn't much good at comforting people-unless their name was Lisa Crawft.

"Anyway, good night."

"Oh! Um, g'night," Ginny said.

As he and Neville climbed up the stairs, Harry heard Astoria's voice drift from down below. "Man, I wanted to talk to Sirius for a little while longer…"

"Seems like someone has a crush on your godfather," Neville said in a light, teasing voice.

Harry sighed. "Yes. Yes, it does, and I would like to ask that you never bring it up again."

Neville just smiled.

XoX

The next morning, Harry was called into Headmaster Dumbledore's office. Daphne had gone with him. Susan had looked like she wanted to come, but after standing up with him and Daphne, she'd sat back down at the breakfast table and slouched her shoulders as if depressed. He wondered if she was feeling all right.

There didn't seem to be anything wrong with her the other day.

He'd asked Daphne if something was wrong with Susan, but she had just smiled and said, "I'm sure Susan is just trying to think about what she wants out of this relationship."

Harry didn't get it. He also wasn't sure he wanted to get it. Ergo, he decided to pretend the conversation had never taken place.

Amelia Bones and Celestina Zabini were present when Harry and Daphne arrived. They stood in front the headmaster, who was sitting behind his desk, and beside Professor McGonagall. His head of house looked put off about something. Her arms were crossed, and she eyed Celestina with something that resembled stern disapproval.

I wonder how these two know each other.

"Madam Bones… Celestina," Harry greeted hesitantly, shivering when the woman's eyes gleamed at the way he had addressed her. "It's good to see you two."

"And you as well." Celestina smiled. "I see you've brought Daphne along with you. My, but you two get along so well."

While Daphne remained stoic, though a smile did cross her face, Harry frowned. There was a hidden meaning behind her comment. That was what he felt. He wouldn't get a chance to ask about it because Madam Bones cleared her throat.

"There's a lot going on at the Ministry right now, so I'll get right to the point," she said. "First, a background check was already performed on Professor Androgus Antus prior to him being allowed at Hogwarts. In fact, the background check was done by me. Not only does everything check out, but I know him and can personally vouch for his integrity."

Harry bit his lip. That completely ruined his theory about the new DADA professor being the one trying to kill him, which left him at square one. Not good.

"Second, Professor McGonagall was examined the day after you were almost buried alive." Professor McGonagall coughed into her hand, and Harry thought he saw her cheeks turn red, but it must have been his imagination. He couldn't fathom The Professor McGonagall blushing. "There were no signs of her having been imperiused by anyone. However, there was some magic lingering around her. We suspect someone used a subtle confundus charm."

This time, Professor McGonagall's cheeks definitely turned pink. However, Harry wasn't paying attention anymore.

If someone had used a confundus charm, then they could theoretically confuse someone into thinking they were delivering a letter for one person, when they were in fact delivering a letter for someone else. However, such a thing wasn't easy by any means. First, the caster had to be more powerful than the one they were casting the spell on. Second, either the caster had to be a master legilimens, or the one they were casting the spell on had to have no talent at occlumency.

"Professor McGonagall," Harry said suddenly. "How proficient are you with occlumency?"

His head of house appeared startled. However, she soon answered with, "I am decently proficient at occlumency. However, I am not a master of the art."

Which meant that even if someone wasn't as powerful as Professor McGonagall, they could still have confunded her provided they had a higher proficiency at legilimency than she did at occlumency.

There were no students who had this level of proficiency-not outside of him, at least. Harry had already discreetly cast legilimens on just about every student, and outside of Daphne, Blaize, and several other noble children, none of them knew occlumency or legilimency. That meant it had to have been an adult.

But who could it be?

It was a mystery that Harry didn't know how to solve.

He hated those kinds of mysteries.

XoX

The days passed by in general obscurity. Classes came and went, and the status quo had returned. Harry had become the "popular and helpful student" once again, though perhaps not to the same degree as before. People still asked him for help. They still came to him when troubled. However, there seemed to be a wall between him and most of his peers. It didn't feel like they were afraid of him. It was more like they'd placed him on another pedestal.

Well, it could have been his imagination, but that's how it felt.

He was doing well in all of his classes, naturally. His friends were also on top of their classes, but that wasn't surprising. He and his friends studied together every day during lunch and after class. It wasn't just because they wanted to do well. Getting their homework and studies done early meant they could have fun the rest of the time.

They'd gone into Hogsmeade a number of times; they had shopped at Honeydukes, drank butterbear at The Three Broomsticks, and wandered around the village grounds. However, while all of his friends seemed to be having fun, a cloud hung over Harry's head.

Professor Androgus Antsu. Despite making numerous inquiries and following Professor Antus's movements via the Marauder's Map, which he had borrowed from the Weasley twins, he had yet to find anything incriminating. It wasn't that Harry didn't believe Madam Bones when she personally vouched for the new DADA professor. The problem wasn't so black and white.

Someone had tried to kill him, and that someone had to have infiltrated Hogwarts. It would have been impossible to confund Professor McGonagall otherwise. The only person who was new to Hogwarts was Professor Antus. Also, he didn't think any of the students had the power to confund such a powerful teacher. So, unless someone had infiltrated Hogwarts without anyone's knowledge, Professor Antus was the only one who could have done it.

"Harry? Harry, are you there? Hello. Earth to Harry."

Blinking several times, Harry came back to reality. He looked at his friends. They were all sitting together at the lunch table, with Daphne on his left and Susan on his right, their usual places. Astoria was sitting next to Daphne, and Luna sat on Astoria's other side. At the opposite end of the table, Blaize, Tracey, Neville, Lisa, Hanna, and Terry stared at Harry with concerned eyes.

"Are you feeling all right, Harry?" Hannah asked.

"Oh, yes. I'm fine." Harry gave the blonde girl a smile that he didn't feel. "I've just been thinking about something."

"Professor Antus," Daphne said, nodding.

Harry almost fell backwards off the chair. "Wha-how did you know?"

"Oh, please." Daphne flicked her hair back as if imitating a snobby rich girl. "It's all over your face."

Susan nodded. "You're kind of like an open book these days."

Harry felt like he'd received a punch to the gut, or like some world renowned wrestler had just body slammed him. He still kept up with his occlumency practice every night. He still worked hard at keeping his emotions in check. He shouldn't have been this easy to read.

I wonder if it's because they just know me better now… I hope that's the case.

He sighed. "It's true. I'm still not sure I trust Professor Antus, but I haven't been able to find anything incriminating either."

"Do you really think he might be the one who tried to kill you?" asked Neville.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. That's the problem."

Adopting a thoughtful look, Blaize cupped his chin. "What do we know about Professor Antus?"

"I know that he's a former hit wizard who worked under Madam Bones," Harry said. "Madam Bones told me during out meeting. I also know that the reason he quit was because he couldn't take the pressure of being a hit wizard. That's all I could find out, though. Madam Bones wouldn't tell me anything else, and I haven't been able to find out more on my own."

He would've asked someone like Andromeda for help, but she was busy enough with her own work. Sirius couldn't help him with this. Neither could Professor Lupin. In short, Harry couldn't rely on an adult for this, which left his options limited.

"My mum might be able to find out something about him," Blaize said.

Harry shook his head. "I've already checked with Celestina. She doesn't know anymore than what I already know."

"Hmm…"

"If you want, I can ask gran to make a few inquiries," Neville said. "She has different connections than Blaize's mum. Maybe one of them can help."

"That would be nice. Thanks, Nev."

Neville grinned. "Anytime."

It was moments like this that made Harry realize how lucky he was. He'd never been a good friend, always thinking about how he could use the people around him to his advantage, always trying to elevate himself above everyone else. Yet even so, his friends still supported him. He didn't think he'd ever be able to express how grateful he was to them.

"U-um… excuse me," a voice said behind him.

He turned his head to find Ginny Weasley standing behind him, her expression nervous and her legs shaking. She looked ready to collapse.

"Can I help you?" Harry asked.

"I… was wondering if I could… I mean, I'd like to sit with you… b-but you don't have to let me if you don't want me to… um… what I mean is…"

Ginny Weasley, from Harry's understanding, had no friends. It wasn't that people hadn't tried talking to her; they had. The problem was that Ginny didn't talk to anyone. Ever since year three had started, she'd been alone. He'd see her sitting alone during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She never showed up in the Gryffindor common room. He'd once overheard a conversation about how she stayed in the girl's dorm most of the time.

Is it because of me, or is it because of what happened to her last year?

"Sure," Harry said, pointing to a seat next to Susan. "Have a seat."

"T-thank you," Ginny said with a smile as she sat down.

On the other side of their side, Luna Lovegood leaned forward and stared at Ginny. There was an odd smile on her lips. "Hello, Ginny."

"Oh, hello, Luna," Ginny said. "How's your dad doing?"

"He's doing well. The last I checked, he was researching into the Rotfang Conspiracy that the Ministry of Magic is trying to hide."

"So, same always then."

"Do you two know each other?" asked Tracey.

Ginny nodded. "Luna and I have known each other since we were little."

"Oh." Tracey looked shocked. Harry understood her feelings.

Lunch continued on until their next set of classes. While Harry pretended that nothing was wrong, his mind was still churning over the issue regarding his unknown attacker. If he went on the hypothesis that it wasn't Professor Antus, then that left no leads for him to follow. However, it wasn't like he'd find conclusive evidence that supported his hypothesis even if he continued to watch the DADA professor. Harry felt like he was going in circles.

"A vampire is a dark creature most known for its thirst for human blood. They are typically gaunt and thin, which is because they're constantly starving since all they care about is sucking the blood of humans."

Harry did not listen to Professor Antus's lecture on vampires-mostly because the professor was wrong. Having met Selene Gallio the previous year, he understood more about vampires than this man ever would. For magic's sake, the professor hadn't even mentioned the different vampire classifications!

"Mr. Potter," Professor Antus called him out. "It seems you find my lesson boring. Could it be that you already know about vampires?"

I know more than you, certainly.

"I do know a good deal about vampires, yes," Harry admitted.

"Then perhaps you'd care to share your knowledge with the class."

Harry debated whether or not that would be a good idea. It probably wouldn't be, but, well, he kind of wanted to show off. He was also upset. The Ministry was doing a piss poor job of teaching the next generation, and it was going to cause a lot of his half-finished plans to go up in smoke before they even started.

Time to start rectifying that.

Standing up, Harry walked to the front of the class, pulling out his wand as he went.

"Do you mind?" he asked Professor Antus, who raised an eyebrow, but gestured for him to continue. "Thank you."

Harry waved his wand and a chalkboard appeared on a stand, along with several sticks of chalk. It was basic conjuration. It wouldn't last long. However, he'd pumped enough magic into it so it would last until the end of class.

He took a piece of chalk and drew a human with slightly pointed ears. Then he drew another human with slightly pointed ears. Finally, he drew a creature that vaguely resembled a human, but it looked more lifeless, for lack of a better term, than the other two. He wrote a single word above each figure, and then he turned to face the class.

"The first thing you need to know is that there are three types of vampire: Purebloods, Dhampirs, and Ghouls."

Conjuring a long, thin stick, he pointed at the one that had the word "Ghoul" written over it.

"I'll start with Ghouls. Ghouls are humans that were turned into a vampire by ingesting a vampire's blood. They are essentially mindless drones. They have all the traditional weaknesses of a vampire. They dislike garlic, they can't be in the sunlight, and they're incredibly weak, being no stronger than a regular human."

He moved the stick to the second vampire.

"The next type of vampire is a Dhampir. These are vampires who are born from the union between a vampire and a human, and they are the most common type of vampire. They have the same level of intellect that a human has. Also, while sunlight won't kill them right away, they will eventually turn into dust if they stay outside for too long."

Finally, he pointed at the third one.

"The final type of vampire is a pureblood. These are the strongest and rarest of the vampires. While they do share the same weaknesses as the other two, sunlight, silver, garlic, and crosses will only weaken them. It won't kill them. That's because pureblood vampires are actually alive."

"What a load of bull," Draco Malfoy said from his place in the back, interrupting Harry just as he was getting into his groove. "You're full of shite, Pothead. Everyone knows that vampires are just undead beasts."

Harry was about to come back with a snappy reply, but sadly, Professor Antus spoke first. "I'd suggest watching your mouth, Mr. Malfoy. I do not mind if you disagree with Mr. Potter, but if I ever hear you swear in my class again, you'll automatically fail."

Draco's ears turned pink. "What was that? When-"

"Your father won't be able to do anything," Harry cut him off. "He's the reason Professor Antus is even here, so any complaints he has are useless. Now sit down and shut up. You're interrupting the class."

While many of the students laughed-with Tracey being the loudest-Draco, his entire face now red, sneered as he sat down. "You'll eventually get yours, Pothead. Just you wait."

Harry ignored Draco. That fool wasn't worth getting worked up over.

"Now, then. Where was I?" Harry made a show of pretending he was lost. "Oh, yes! Pureblood vampires are…"

And thus the class continued.

XoX

After class, Professor Antus called Harry to remain. His friends had looked at him, as if asking whether or not they should wait, but Harry told them to go on ahead. He would catch up with them later.

He stood in front of the professor, who studied him with a frown. "You are very knowledgeable about vampires."

Harry wasn't sure what to say to that. "Thank you."

"You know, if it weren't for how sure of yourself you sounded, I'd never have believed a word of what you said."

"Is that so?"

Professor Antus paused, then, staring at him as though he was trying to solve a puzzle, he asked, "how do you know so much?"

Probing for information? Was that what Professor Antus was doing? For what purpose, and what should Harry do about it?

While Harry debated the merits of lying, the DADA professor raised a hand. "I'm not asking because I'm trying to incriminate you in anything. I'm merely curious."

Startled, Harry checked his mind to see if the professor had probed him with legilimency. He found nothing. That meant there either was no mind probe happening or the professor was just that good. Considering his own not so inconsiderate skills at the mind arts, Harry believed it was the former.

"I met a vampire during my summer of second year," Harry admitted. "A pureblood. During that time, I was taught a lot about vampires."

"I see… you weren't bitten, were you?"

"Of course not."

Professor Antus remained silent. Harry felt the teacher was waiting for him to say something, to extrapolate, but he had no intention of doing so.

"I see," the professor said at last. "You can go. However, I'd like to give you some advice." Harry shuffled his feet as he focused more fully on the man. "Be careful. There's something not quite right at Hogwarts."

"Oh?" Harry frowned.

Professor Antus shook his head. "I can't tell you anymore. I don't know what's happening myself."

Confusion set into Harry. Was the professor warning him, or trying to throw him off the trail? Harry was tempted to use legilimency, but if this professor really was a former hit wizard, then he would have occlumency training. Harry couldn't afford to get into trouble because he got caught using legilimency on someone.

"I'll take that under advisement," Harry said.

"That's all I ask."

Still confused by the entire conversation, Harry left and was not surprised to find Daphne waiting for him. She smiled as he walked up to her and held out her hand. Harry hesitated for a moment before taking it.

She's getting bolder… or maybe she's getting more desperate?

He wondered if he should let this continue. Her affection wasn't unwanted, but considering his own aspirations and unsurety when it came to what he wanted out of their relationship, he didn't know if getting her hopes up like this was appropriate. At the same time, he didn't really want to stop either.

Does that make me selfish?

"What did the professor want to talk about?" Daphne asked.

Harry snapped back to the present. "He was just asking me about my knowledge on vampires… and he wanted to warn me that something wasn't right here at Hogwarts."

"When is something ever right at Hogwarts?" Daphne joked.

That was a good point. Hogwarts had a track record for trouble-at least with him. First year: Voldemort. Second year: Chamber of Secrets. Third year: Pettigrew, his own turmoil, and someone trying to kill him. He could only imagine what the next four years would be like.

I can't bother myself with what might happen next year. I need to keep my focus on the here and now.

The first thing he needed to do was find out who was trying to kill him. He could deal with everything else after he had solved that mystery.

XoX

Stationed at various intersections and key buildings, several aurors had been posted at Hogsmeade. Their goal was allegedly to investigate the Shrieking Shack's collapse. However, Harry had been told in private that they were there to protect him. It made him feel pampered.

Harry hated being pampered.

The red cloak of an auror standing by the Three Broomsticks swooshed as he and his friends walked past, entering the tavern, which had already grown quite crowded. They found a place to sit that would fit all of them. Fortunately, Astoria, Luna, and Ginny were not allowed at Hogsmeade. There wouldn't have been any room for them.

They ordered butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta. Then they chatted while waiting for their drinks.

"I don't know if I told you this, but my mum bought me a muggle magazine the other day," Hannah said to Tracey, Lisa, Hannah, Susan, and Daphne. "It shows the latest in muggle fashion."

Harry twitched at the mention of the word muggle. He felt like sulking. That word should have gone extinct last year, so why were people still using it?

"I don't think you showed it to us yet," Lisa said.

"That's because I didn't bring it with me," Hannah said. "I meant to, but I forgot it while I was packing."

"So, what kind of dresses did it have?" asked Tracey.

"It didn't have a lot of dresses. It mostly focused on cute pants and T-shirts, but it did have this really cute sundress that I want to get. It's a light yellow and it stops around your knees. I thought it was adorable."

Mundane fashion had been catching on with the younger generation of witches for several years now. The biggest reason was because the amount of magical children born from mundane parents outweighed the amount of pureblood children.

For centuries now, the purebloods had been slowly dying out. Since they refused to diversify their genes, it was becoming harder to reproduce. Even most light families, steadfast in their support of "muggleborn" rights, refused to let a magical child born from mundane parents into their household.

"Are you sure that's what he said?" Neville asked Blaize, who was telling a story about something that Draco Malfoy had done.

"Of course I am. That's what Draco always says. You know how he is: 'my father this' and 'my father that' and 'when my father hears about this' is practically all he can say."

"That is true," Neville muttered.

"Who's he complaining about this time?" Terry asked before taking a sip of his butterbeer.

"He was mostly complaining about Harry," Blaize admitted.

"That's a big surprise," Harry said with a straight face. "I couldn't possibly imagine why he'd complain about me. I wonder if I've done something to offend him?"

As several of his friends snickered, Blaize adopted a mock-serious face and said, "who knows."

Their conversation, along with the conversations of everyone else, was interrupted when a loud shriek went up. One shriek turned into two. Two became three. Soon, a threnody of people were screaming and shouting as they leapt from their seats, shoving and pushing and trampling in their efforts to run away from something.

"What's going on?" Tracey asked in a shout. Meanwhile, Daphne had taken out her wand. From the magic surrounding her, she was preparing a defensive spell.

"Look at the floor!" Susan shouted as she also pulled out her wand.

Harry had already seen what Susan pointed out. Snakes. Dozens of snakes had appeared and were biting the patrons. Harry recognized the type they were. Cobras. Snakes filled with enough venom to fell a fully grown adult.

Several patrons who'd been bitten were already on the floor, froth foaming from their mouths as more and more snakes latched onto their flesh. Their screams turned into gurgles. Their muscles twitched and spasmed as the venom flowed through their bloodstream.

"Onto the table!" Harry shouted to everyone.

He was just in time. Several snakes were under their table, and they leapt at the group with fangs exposed. One of them nearly bit Tracey. She was fortunate that it latched onto her robe instead of her. Harry sent an incendio at it. That should-

What the-?

When his spell hit Tracey's robe instead of the snake, Harry realized what this really was. An illusion. It was all an illusion. The snake wasn't real.

Then that means…!

Waving his wand, Harry sent out a massive wave of bright blue energy. The wave washed over the room, the patrons, and, most importantly, the snakes. As it moved along the ground like rushing water lapping at the shores of a beach, the snakes dissolved into nothing. Sadly, the people who'd been bitten had not stopped convulsing.

The poison might not be real, but they're bodies think it's real.

Cobra venom is an example of a molecule that prohibits the interaction of acetylcholine molecules-transmitted from nerve endings surrounding the diaphragm muscle-with the receptor sites on the diaphragm muscle. It binds to the receptor sites, blocking them from interacting with acetylcholine molecules. Even worse, the venom molecule will not immediately break down and vacate the receptor site, effectively removing the site from active duty.

Even if that wasn't what was really happening because all this was an illusion, the mind and body were inextricably linked. When the mind believed something to be true, the body responded by making it so. It was a more literal example of how people's reality was determined by what they perceived to be real.

If something isn't done soon, these people will die.

The basic effect of cobra venom was that it caused the muscles in people to cease functioning, essentially asphyxiating them. In order to save these people, Harry needed to restart the receptor sites in their diaphragm. That meant giving them a mild electric shock.

"Tracey!" Harry barked. "I want you and Hannah to get the aurors and have them come in here. Tell them to also inform someone at Hogwarts about what's happened. Neville and Blaize, look around and see if there's anyone not in this room who was also bitten. The rest of us will administer first aid by using the shock spell to restart their muscles."

No one argued with him. Tracey and Hannah raced out of the door. Meanwhile, Neville and Blaize ran over to the counter. As for Harry, he, Daphne, Susan, Lisa, and Terry began administering the shock spell to everyone convulsing on the floor.

Known as Fulmens, the shock spell basically sent a small electric current through a person's body. It was supposedly used at Saint Mungos to cure magical illnesses. Harry didn't know about that. However, it worked wonders as a method of restarting one's heart. It could also be used to restart the muscles.

He and the others worked on each victim one by one. They cast fulmens on every person, sometimes being required to cast it two or even three, to kick start that person's respiratory system. It was hard. The venom didn't just cause the muscles to suddenly stop. It basically caused them to cease functioning. An electric pulse could restart that process, but it took skill manipulating the electronic charge like that.

It was good that his friends had practiced magic with him, as they actually did have enough skill to use fulmens in this capacity. Already, Daphne, Susan, and Lisa had properly healed five people each, making for a total of 15. Harry had healed ten people. Thanks to their efficient work, Harry and his friends managed to heal everyone there.

"There were a few others who'd been bitten that weren't in this room," Neville reported after he and Blaize returned. "It seems this illusion happened everywhere in the Three Broomsticks, not just in here."

"That means we're dealing with a large-scale spell that affects a wide area," Harry murmured.

"I take it that's bad," Blaize said.

"It's very bad." Harry bit his thumb. "Wide-scale spells are hard to cast because of the power requirements. The larger the spell, the larger the area it affects, and the more power it requires to cast. While I can't estimate how strong someone must be to cast a spell like that on the three broomsticks, it's definitely more powerful than most witches and wizards."

"That's definitely bad," Susan said.

Daphne nodded. "If it really does take that much power, it probably wasn't done by a student."

"Which means it could have been done by anyone," Lisa added.

"Exactly," Harry said with a sigh.

Just then, Tracey and Hannah burst into the Three Broomsticks. Their wide eyes were frantic as they rushed up to them.

"Bad news, Harry. That snake spell happened all across Hogsmeade!"

Harry nearly groaned. It looked like the bad news just got ten times worse.

XoX

The day had ended in tragedy.

After learning that the illusion spell had been cast across the entire city, Harry had directed his friends outside to help everyone else. The aurors were useless. They'd been unprepared, and many had been bitten. Only five of the fifteen aurors guarding Hogsmeade had avoided that fate. Harry suspected they were either attacked first, or they'd been injured defending others.

Harry had done his best to help. He and his friends had tried. It had mostly been for naught. With only six of them present, they'd not been able to save everyone. Almost two dozen people had died, killed by an illusory venom.

Perhaps if they had been mundane people, they could have been saved. However, magicals, thanks to their magic, were weak against illusions like this. Once an illusion took hold, it became a part of their magic. It entered their magic. Not even dispelling the original illusion could change that. Since mundanes didn't have magic, they weren't affected in the same way.

Headmaster Dumbledore along with Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape had arrived nearly an hour after the event had already taken place. They had come with a group of aurors. It was too late by then, sadly. At that point, whoever could have been saved was already saved and those who couldn't, well, they were no longer of this world.

Harry did not know how many people had died, as he'd only seen a few of the corpses. He imagined some of them were students.

He and his friend had been asked several questions. It was a vain effort made after the fact to figure out what happened. Harry had described the events in great detail, even offering a theory on how the magic might have been conjured–too bad all he had were theories. That magic had been several magnitudes larger than he had ever thought possible.

Even two days after the event had happened, Harry Potter was still thinking about it, trying to theoretically recreate the magic spell. It wasn't a conjuration spell like serpensortia. It had been an illusion, a spell that affected the mind. Sadly, illusions weren't taught at Hogwarts. It was an advanced art that one had to learn from a master.

It was dinner. Everyone was sitting at their chosen tables. However, conversation was not loud. It was hush, tense, frightened. There was an undercurrent of fear traveling through everyone.

Harry had learned the other day that six Hogwarts students had died. Two third years, a seventh year, a fifth year, and one sixth year. He hadn't really known any of them. Saying that, thanks to his memory, he at least would never forget their names. It wasn't enough.

I feel like I should have done more.

These students were the people he was going to lead in the future. Regardless of whether they were his now, they would eventually become his people, the people who helped him shape the wizarding world. A leader was supposed to protect his people. He hadn't done that.

"I'm not sure what to say about all this," Tracey said to Lisa. "I mean, I feel like crap that I couldn't do anything, but I can't even say I'm shocked by what happened."

"I know what you mean," Lisa agreed. "So much has happened to us since we started Hogwarts that this feels almost… natural."

He hated how situations like this had become par for the course.

As the meal was winding down to a close, Headmaster Dumbledore stood from his seat and took center stage. He coughed into his hand, which, when enhanced with sonorus, echoed across the vast hall. Voices lowered and eyes turned to him.

The headmaster's expression was not jovial. There was not twinkle in his eye, no smile on his face. Somber. Downcast. Disheartened. To Harry, he looked like a man who was being weighed down by the weight of the entire world.

"Students of Hogwarts," he said, his voice every bit as depressed as his expression. "We have faced many hardships recently. Last year, we lost a person who was dear to many, and this year, six students who should be sitting here with you, laughing with you, enjoying life with you, are no more."

Harry looked around. The eyes of many were downcast. Some of his peers had haunted eyes. He recognized them. His perfect memory ensured that he could never forget. Those people who looked like they'd journeyed through hell, they were the ones who'd been at Hogsmeade during the illusory attack.

"During this time of hardship, it is important not to lose yourselves to despair, it is important not to isolate yourself from others. Rely on the people around you, your friends, your family, the people you love. Love is the greatest magic of all. Those who have it are capable of great things. You must all remember to let yourself rely on your loved ones, and remember to let them rely on you."

The headmaster paused. His shoulders seemed to sink. Harry was reminded of a mythological story he'd once read, a Greek story about Atlas, the Titan who Zeus had forced to hold up the world on his shoulders.

"I wish I could say that all of you can rely on me." Headmaster Dumbledore's smile had never looked so sad. He'd never looked so old. "Sadly, the Board of Directors has decided that I no longer have a place here. They are relieving me of my duties as Headmaster."

The reaction was almost immediate. No one spoke. However, the air suddenly became thick, cloying, stifling. Harry could have sworn the fear that permeated the room like month old sweaty socks suddenly increased a thousandfold.

"They feel that I am no longer capable of protecting you," the headmaster said. "I am entrusting the reigns of this school to Minerva McGonagall, who shall be the temporary headmistress until someone can come to take her place. Listen to her. She is wise and strong. She will shelter you through the coming hardships. Tomorrow, I will be gone. However, do not be afraid. Even if I am gone from Hogwarts halls, so long as there are people who remain loyal, I shall never truly leave."

Despite making that last part sound like he was telling them that he would always be there, Harry knew that it was a false platitude. Headmaster Dumbledore was no longer the headmaster of Hogwarts. That news made the world seem like a darker place.

Harry was already worried about what tomorrow would bring.

I'm sure you've all noticed, but this story is pretty far from the cannon storyline. Book 3 is definitely the furthest from cannon so far. I hope you've all been having fun reading it, but if you haven't, then I hope you can find a story that you do enjoy reading.

I'd like to thank everyone who's supported my writing. All of you are awesome. ^_^