Chapter 38:
They didn't speak as they sat on the train back from the hospital, and Alicia was lost in her thoughts over what they'd heard.
Dumbledore knew of Harry's connection to Voldemort. And since Voldemort had come back he'd been practically ignoring Harry. Even when he'd gone to visit Alicia he'd been distant and proper. Was it the idea that Voldemort could be possessing Harry that scared Dumbledore? Or made him back away? And why was that at all helpful to Harry?
And if it was a problem, why did Dumbledore not do something to help Harry? To block Voldemort out.
After all, Legilimency is a thing, there must be counter for it. But of course the book Alicia had taken from the Room of Requirement was in her trunk back at Grimmauld Place, she had yet to reach that chapter if there was one, for she kept it hidden from the others.
Dumbledore must be distancing himself from Harry because of his connection to Voldemort, but is it out of caution or fear? It seems completely ineffective because Harry was still being affected. He hadn't seen Dumbledore in months besides dinners at Hogwarts and yet he still dreamed of Mr Weasley's attack.
"Are you all right, Harry, dear?" whispered Mrs. Weasley, leaning across Ginny to speak to him as the train rattled along through its dark tunnel. "You don't look very well. Are you feeling sick?"
They were all watching him besides Alicia beside him, who was staring at the floor, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. He shook his head violently and stared up at an advertisement for home insurance.
"Harry, dear, are you sure you're all right?" said Mrs. Weasley in a worried voice, as they walked around the unkempt patch of grass in the middle of Grimmauld Place. "You look ever so pale… Are you sure you slept this morning? You go upstairs to bed right now, and you can have a couple of hours' sleep before dinner, all right?"
Alicia watched Harry as he did not respond but simply nodded. She could feel him. He was horrified and, almost feeling some sort of worry, but not for himself. And she knew he wanted nothing more than to be away from everyone.
She wasn't sure why he was feeling this though, he wasn't possessed by Voldemort, and he had not been in the Ministry of Magic last night, he'd been in his dormitory. There was no way he could have crossed that space while asleep. And he couldn't become a snake. No it made more sense that he saw into the snake through Voldemort, like Alicia saw into Voldemort through Harry. And even that she did not know the reason for the connection.
Harry basically ran for his room when Mrs Weasley opened the door to Grimmauld place and they heard the door on the first landing shut with a snap. Ron stood beside Alicia who's eyebrows were furrowed.
"What's wrong with him?"
"He just heard that Mad-Eye thinks he's being possessed. And Mad-Eye knows about Dark wizards what do you think's wrong with him?" Alicia asked "Five galleons he believes it."
"Come off it." Ron said and Alicia rose an eyebrow at him.
"I'm sorry, did you not have that look of horror like the others?"
"Well what do you think?" Ginny asked as she stood on Alicia's other side.
"I think they're all stupid. Harry's not possessed." she said
"How do you know?" Fred asked as he looked up the stairs from behind her.
"First of all, I had the dream too, now if Harry had been possessed and somehow managed to leave Hogwarts to attack your father, don't you think the same would have happened to me? I did not leave my bed and I was not possessed. I see and feel what Harry does because we have some sort of connection. Dumbledore said it was a connection deeper than twins." She explained as the adults had disappeared past them and down into the kitchen. "Now the connection between Harry and I are like our minds are linked or like I can read his mind. So far from what I've witnessed Harry and Voldemort have the same connection, it's got nothing to do with possession, its some mind bond thing. Now I've got no idea why Harry has one with Voldemort but so far I'm believing that something else happened when that curse rebounded from Harry and I onto Voldemort. Problem is Dumbledore's ignoring Harry and wont tell us anything for me to ask." She sighed.
"But if Harry is possessed isn't that why Dumbledore isn't saying anything?" Fred thought
"Harry isn't possessed and if anything is happening, it's that Voldemort is getting into his head. Now I'm positive there'll be someway to prevent that so wouldn't it be easier to try and teach that to Harry and stop all of this? And yet Dumbledore chooses not to even say anything instead."
"So You-Know-Who is in Harry's head?" Ginny asked and Ron looked rather pale.
Alicia looked at them all.
"To be honest I think Harry's in his head, but, I don't know if it's the same for the reverse…" she whispered.
Alicia looked back to the stairs and missed the frightening look the Weasley's gave one another before they moved off towards the kitchen themselves. Alicia watched them leave and went to follow but she could feel desperation and concern. Harry wasn't asleep, she knew that much, but he was definitely thinking hard about something.
The girl climbed the stairs quietly and moved to Harry and Ron's room. She opened the door quietly only to find Harry pulling on his trunk towards the door. She crossed her arms and leaned on the frame but before she could say anything and catch his attention, or ask where he was planning to go, another voice spoke first. "Running away, are we?"
Alicia looked up at the portrait on the wall. Phineas Nigellus had appeared upon the canvas of his portrait and was leaning against the frame, watching Harry with an amused expression on his face.
"Not running away, no," said Harry shortly, dragging his trunk a few more feet across the room. Alicia rose an eyebrow. He was clearly running for some reason what with his trunk so packed.
"I thought," said Phineas Nigellus, stroking his pointed beard, "that to belong in Gryffindor House you were supposed to be brave? It looks to me as though you would have been better off in my own house. We Slytherins are brave, yes, but not stupid. For instance, given the choice, we will always choose to save our own necks."
"It's not my own neck I'm saving," said Harry tersely, tugging the trunk over a patch of particularly uneven, moth-eaten carpet.
"Oh I see," said Phineas Nigellus, still stroking his beard. "This is no cowardly flight — you are being noble."
Harry ignored him and turned to the door only to stop when he saw Alicia. She stared him down.
"If you're not running, then where do you intend to go and for what purpose?" she questioned. Harry pursed his lips as he stared at his sister.
Could he really believed he's being possessed by Voldemort and therefore was a danger to everyone here?
Phineas Nigellus spoke before Harry could. "I have a message for you from Albus Dumbledore."
Harry spun around.
"What is it?"
"Stay where you are."
"I haven't moved!" said Harry. Alicia rolled her eyes. "So what's the message?"
"I have just given it to you, dolt," said Phineas Nigellus smoothly. "Dumbledore says, 'Stay where you are.' "
"Why?" said Harry eagerly, dropping the end of his trunk. "Why does he want me to stay? What else did he say?"
"Nothing whatsoever," said Phineas Nigellus, raising a thin black eyebrow as though he found Harry impertinent.
Alicia felt Harry's anger rise sharply.
"So that's it, is it?" he said loudly. "Stay there? That's all anyone could tell me after I got attacked by those dementors too! Just stay put while the grown-ups sort it out, Harry! We won't bother telling you anything, though, because your tiny little brain might not be able to cope with it!"
"You know," said Phineas Nigellus, even more loudly than Harry, "this is precisely why I loathed being a teacher! Young people are so infernally convinced that they are absolutely right about everything. Has it not occurred to you, my poor puffed-up popinjay, that there might be an excellent reason why the headmaster of Hogwarts is not confiding every tiny detail of his plans to you? Have you never paused, while feeling hard-done-by, to note that following Dumbledore's orders has never yet led you into harm? No. No, like all young people, you are quite sure that you alone feel and think, you alone recognise danger, you alone are the only one clever enough to realise what the Dark Lord may be planning…"
"He is planning something to do with me, then?" said Harry swiftly.
"Did I say that?" said Phineas Nigellus, idly examining his silk gloves. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have better things to do than to listen to adolescent agonising… Good day to you…"
"Thanks Professor Phineas!" Alicia said quickly as the man strolled into his frame and out of sight.
Harry was less then pleasant.
"Fine, go then!" Harry bellowed at the empty frame. "And tell Dumbledore thanks for nothing!"
The empty canvas remained silent. Fuming, Harry dragged his trunk back to the foot of his bed, then threw himself facedown upon the moth-eaten covers.
"Thanks for nothing?" Alicia questioned, irritatedly. "He just stopped you from your own stupidity, I think that's something."
"He gave me nothing. He just told me to stay." Harry said, lifting his head slightly.
"Yes because Voldemort wants to kill you and running away is walking straight into his hands!" Alicia suddenly fumed, surprising Harry who turned to look at her. "Where the hell were you even planning on going? And for what purpose?"
"Voldemort is possessing me. I'm giving him a straight view into the Orders plans and all those at Hogwarts. The best thing for them is to leave, where I'm not a danger to anyone." Harry responded. But he was surprised when Alicia just scoffed.
"Don't be absolutely stupid." and he blinked at her.
"First of all you're reaching in Voldemort's mind, so far. Like I reach into yours. You haven't been able to reach into mine as far as I'm aware, so what's to say Voldemort even knows what you're doing?" She questioned "Besides you were in a snake's head not Voldemort's."
"And what's to say that snake wasn't Voldemort?" Harry asked. Alicia stared at him.
"You think Voldemort's an animagus?" she asked and Harry shrugged. "What use would Voldemort have in turning into a snake when he already has one that does his bidding?" Alicia questioned "Or did you forget about Nagini?" she demanded "That giant-ass pet snake of his. And with his parseltongue as well?"
"Then how did I see it?"
"I don't know, I haven't found a book to help me." Alicia said irritatedly "And that's not from lack of trying. So far all I've found is about legilimency."
"What?"
"It's like reading minds." Alicia explained "But it's a little more complex than that. Look there's something going on between you, me and Voldemort and our minds and it's nothing normal. Something happened that night and it connected us all and I'm pretty sure Dumbledore has some idea of it."
"Then why wouldn't he tell us!?" Harry demanded
"Because for some reason he's keeping his distance." Alicia said "Maybe he thinks it's better for us, maybe he's worried about something I don't know, but what ever it is it's preventing me from asking too many questions and finding out." Harry looked at her irritatedly and glanced at Phineas' empty portrait. "Now, don't be stupid and leave this house. Stay put and I suggest you get some sleep. You can't stay awake forever and the last thing you probably want is Mrs Weasley asking you heaps of questions and fussing over you." Alicia grabbed the door knob and closed the door on the boy. She then proceeded down the stairs to where everyone was discussing in the kitchen. Fred and George were trying to get more information out of Mrs Weasley who ended up shouting at them to stop asking.
"If you want information you're asking the wrong person." Alicia whispered to them as she sat at the table beside them.
"Oh yeah and you'd know."
"I clearly know more than you." she shrugged before grabbing some parchment and a quil to sit down.
"What are you doing?" Ginny wondered
"What's it look like? I'm writing to Hermione." Alicia confessed
"Why?" Ron questioned
"Don't you think, after I woke up screaming my head off that she'd sort of want to know what the hell happened?"
"I'm sure Dumbledore would have let her know." Ron thought
"Yes but he doesn't know what we've heard. Look Harry's going to shut himself away, I can feel his reluctance and stupidity from here."
"Stupidity?" Fred asked
"I just walked in on him trying to heave his trunk out of the room."
"What?" they all demanded
"Don't ask me where he was planning on going but he thought he'd leave to protect everyone." she rolled her eyes.
"You convinced him to stay then?"
"That and Phineas' portrait gave him a message from Dumbledore to do so. Ron don't be surprised if you see the portrait in his frame more often, I bet anything Dumbledore's going to have him watch us." Alicia sighed
"But Umbridge will know, if Hermione get's a letter, who it'll be from." Ginny believed
"She's got to know which is Hermione's first. I'm not silly." Alicia assured and then she paused. "I can't use Noel or Hedwig because they're at Hogwarts and Sirius doesn't have an owl." she mumbled before slumping in her seat. The four shared a look.
"So what do you mean about knowing more than us?" Fred asked her
"Look I'm absolutely positive that your dad was at the Ministry of Magic, outside the Department of Mysteries door, almost at the very bottom of the Ministry." Alicia said "I believed the Ministry would have what ever this weapon is and I know the Order take turns guarding it. Plus if that was Voldemort's snake like I think it was, then it would explain why it was there in the first place."
"But what makes you think where dad was is the Ministry of Magic?" George whispered as Mrs Weasley walked past to leave the room for a second.
"Well I was with Harry, in a manner of speaking, when he went to the Ministry of Magic for his hearing remember? And he had to go down to the courtrooms right at the bottom. The lift didn't even go down that far. At each stop the lift announces what's at each level and the Department of Mysteries was the last one. This floor was completely different to all the others, it was stone and cold and dark, like the dungeons in Hogwarts. The rest of the Ministry isn't like that from what I've seen." Alicia explained "I think it's the Ministry in general however because Voldemort's broken into Gringotts before so can't hide something there and Umbridge is at Hogwarts so can't hide it there and what's to say that whatever this weapon is Dumbledore can even get his hands on it? For that it'd have to be in the Ministry, if it's something that powerful where else would it be?" Alicia offered.
They all looked at her and she shrugged. "The perks to seeing the vision."
"I'm still confused on why Harry tried to leave." Ron said after a few minutes silence.
"Because he thinks he's being possessed and is giving Voldemort a clear view into the Order and all of you guys." Alicia rolled her eyes "He has no idea what being possessed is even like and one person says the words and he's set. He even thinks Voldemort is an animagus and that's how he saw what the snake did. I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow believed he'd actually left Hogwarts as well instead of dreaming it."
"Did you tell him otherwise?" Ginny wondered
"I tried." she grumbled "To be honest I'm just hoping he's fallen asleep."
"Well it's easy to find out if he's being possessed or not." Ginny believed
"How?" Ron asked
"Maybe because Ginny was possessed by Voldemort?" Alicia said obviously and Ron looked at her before turning back to his sister. "Considering she was almost killed in her first year of Hogwarts I'm surprised you forgot about that." Alicia mumbled.
"Well I guess we can find out at dinner." Ginny shrugged
"Yeah, if he joins us." Alicia mumbled and the four looked at her. "He was planning on running away, you think his mind set of being around us has changed just cause he's stuck in this house?" she asked.
None of them spoke.
Ron was sent up by Mrs Weasley to wake Harry up and let him know it was dinner time, but the woman had been worried enough for his health and wellbeing that she wasn't forcing his presence.
Harry didn't arrive and the Weasley children all looked at Alicia who shrugged. She wasn't exactly surprised.