Finally, I managed to finish another chapter :D Thank you so, so much once again for all your support.
I find it interesting to hear that some of you love how slow the romance is and others can't wait until there is finally some action :P
Enjoy!
Chapter fifty-two - Training
''Make the joints smaller,'' Voldemort spoke as he cast a criticising eye on Barty's most recent creation. ''Living beings have sinews and muscles, you cannot properly imitate that on such a small golem, the material is too inflexible. Joints comprised of smaller marbles will give it enough movement.'' The Death Eater followed the advice, shrinking the pieces that held its limbs together and multiplying them. When he animated the part with a spell, the golem's movements had improved a great deal. It looked like a small mammal of living stone and metal. He would worry later about the details such as skull design or patterns to make it look better. It would make for a good guard and a fast messenger. Much faster than an owl, and more able to defend itself.
''I thank you, fath- My Lord,'' he respectfully spoke, catching his slip-up just in time. It was joyous, having the greatest wizard of all time at his side, teaching him. As much as Barty thought of the Dark Lord as a father figure, he did not wish to ruin it by overstepping his boundaries by voicing it. He regretfully knew that he would never be more than a student at most to the Dark Lord. A cold hand landed on his shoulder and Barty looked up into ruby eyes that were a touch softer than usual.
''This will be very useful, create more of them.''
Barty watched as the man moved to the desk and started answering letters from different followers and allies from across the continent. Their actions under the guise of the Hand of Magic had rapidly gained popularity among the common folk. Each morning, Lucius, who was mainly in charge of the Creature operation, delivered these letters. Barty had a hard time containing his glee over the fact that this part was practically over now and Lucius was slowly disappearing out of the spotlight. The coward did not deserve any kind of recognition in his opinion. Instead, they'd started making moves in gathering information on hospitals, which Barty had been given full reign over. The weight of the operation that rested on his shoulders felt good. It was yet another chance to prove his absolute loyalty and usefulness.
Naturally, it wasn't the only thing that held the Dark Lord's attention. The man was busy with many different plans simultaneously as there was so much to do still. He kept an eye on Hogwarts, tried to counter the Order of the Phoenix whenever those stirred up trouble, controlled the news, influenced the Ministry and kept up relations with the many beings and beasts who owed him now. Barty felt proud to be here for it all, able to aid the Dark Lord at every turn. He knew that some of the Death Eaters made fun of him and only saw him as some sort of lackey who did nothing but keep the house in shape and their Lord fed. They could think what they want, they would never be trusted enough to see the man behind the carefully crafted mask.
That didn't mean that it wasn't at times a burden too. When he'd been a mere boy, the Dark Lord had been someone's he'd looked up to so strongly: a capable leader, a giver of knowledge and magic, a stable pillar of support that the darker side of the wizarding world so desperately needed. One who would end corruption and unite them all. Now, Barty knew that some of those traits weren't all they were made out to be. The Dark Lord was not always mentally in control, struggling with his own emotions and making faulty decisions as he did not always take other people's emotional reactions into account. He was also prone to act rash when things didn't go his way and very unwilling to listen to advice that wasn't explicitly asked for. The Dark Lord did not hold the answers to all of life's mysteries.
Instead of this negatively influencing Barty's opinion however, it only strengthened his beliefs in the man's goals. His Lord knew pain, struggle, rejection. Although he succeeded in playing the part of a Pureblood noble well, he was a saviour of the downtrodden and overlooked. It was the Death Eater's deepest wish to one day live in the world they were striving to create now. One where he would not need to hide anymore, where he could walk freely on any street and practise the magic he wished to without fear of Muggles seeing or being brought back to Azkaban. Sometimes, it felt as if they were reaching for utopia and would never succeed. He pushed those thoughts away and tried to focus on the small steps. Magic could do everything, and so could her chosen Lord.
The only question was if Barty would live long enough to see it. His Lord was immortal and in no hurry. Several of the first Knights of Walpurgis had already passed away, without even catching a glimpse of the promised future because of all the setbacks and people who rebelled against change. Barty was no fool, he knew that he wasn't invincible. Even if things would move fast and he wouldn't die from old age before their mission was completed, each battle he threw himself into to fight for freedom could be his last. There were many more to come even without open warfare. For this reason, he at times played with the idea of splitting his soul like his Lord had done. He didn't know the method of course, only that such a thing existed and had been performed multiple times by the one sitting with him now. He'd never questioned it before, not even after he was sent out to gather the containers. Such things were reserved for mages far greater than Barty. He would be here, ready to lay down his life if necessary, as long as during the time he was alive, he'd get what he wanted: recognition.
The golem was working now, and he made it jump up and down a few times, to which Nagini raised her head and hissed threateningly. Barty threw the snake a dirty look, he'd never been fond of snakes, a feeling that was mutual as far as he could tell. It had been a relief whenever Evan had been there to occupy her. Speaking of which…
''My Lord?'' The other grunted, which Barty took as a sign to continue. ''Has there been any news from Hogwarts? It's been weeks since Snape visited.''
''He can't leave anymore, Umbridge has tightened her grip on Hogwarts once more, she has been granted the rights to control any and all points of access to the castle, including the fireplaces of the staff. Snape does not want to raise suspicion by regularly going to the house of a member of the Board or otherwise leave his quarters now she has the ability to remove teachers from office. I agreed with the decision.''
''What about news of Evan then?'' he asked, worried. It had been a shock to hear the Dark Lord's theory that it hadn't been Evan at all who had answered their mirror call. That had been a long time ago and he hadn't heard anything about new developments on that front. Snape had visited only twice since as far as he was aware, but the Dark Lord had been incredibly tight-lipped about it and had been in a horrid mood for more than a week after the last visit, taking it out on anyone -including Barty- who dared ask questions. He hoped that this wasn't the case anymore. By the way that the man instantly stiffened and the air turned cold, that might have been an idle hope.
''He is doing just fine.'' The half-growled, aggressive statement didn't make it much better.
''Did you not suspect that he was in danger?'' Barty was rather confused now. Had there been news that he'd missed? His Lord stayed silent, seeming to glare a hole in the wall. Barty slowly rose up and approached the desk, determined to find out what was going on. Clearly, something was wrong here. ''I care about him like a brother, if anything happened…''
''I was wrong,'' the Dark Lord spoke, his voice cutting like a recently-sharpened knife. ''I was so quick to believe that the boy would never hide things from me that I rather searched for conspiracy theories to answer the question why he acted so strangely. We did not share dreams anymore as he has other things to do at night now. He has secrets he doesn't confide…''
''During the call, he didn't seem to know who Noctua was,'' Barty protested, finding it strange how much the Dark Lord brushed that fact aside.
''Surely, it wasn't so important to him to remember the personality I crafted. He only saw my disguise a few times, after all.''
''All summer when you came home from work! My Lord-''
''Quiet, Barty. I relied too much on Evan's connection to me. While he is a valuable asset to have, he also made me vulnerable. It is better this way.''
The Death Eater conjured a chair and sat down next to his Lord, throwing all caution to the wind. Let the Cruciatus come if it had to, he wanted to get to the bottom of this. ''What way?''
There came nothing but silence, white hands flexing into fists a few times. ''My Lord, have I not always been a trustful ear? I have kept many of your secrets, from personal history to your immortality. I only wish to help if I can.''
''Evan is drifting away from me,'' his Lord finally spoke bitterly. ''I did not wish to admit it, but he has… grown on me. He was destined for great things from birth, his fate interwoven with mine through prophecy and soul magic. I thought he was different from all those people who only search me for power.'' Barty tried his best not to be offended at that, although he had to admit deep down, that he too had mostly searched out the Lord's closeness at the start for his own gain. ''Once I introduced him to Necromancy, I had hoped to have him fully on my side. Yet he seems to have forgotten about everything I taught him. He went back to his friends, to his godfather and now he is receiving lessons from someone else entirely, a Durmstrang student he must have met last year. I saw the memories Snape dug up. There is no denying that I was the furthest thing from his mind as he kissed that man.''
Barty was speechless at that, unsure how to react. Truth be told, he felt rather guilty at his naivety. He had been the one to warn Evan away from the Dark Lord and tried to dim the fire between the two that was so clear to him. In his opinion, the teen was far too young to catch the attention of a man as powerful and oftentimes cruel as their Lord could be. Evan needed more experience, find his own place instead of clinging onto one man to carry him further. Still, there had been no doubt in his mind that in time, after Evan had found power on his own, the two would have inevitably circled towards each other again. As his Lord had just so aptly said, they'd been bound by fate and magic since the beginning. Such a strong connection was a rare thing. It had not been Barty's intention to drive Evan away permanently. To now hear that the teen had found another instead…
''It might not be something serious,'' he started. ''Teenagers are… rash. Relationships started at school hardly ever last.''
He shrank back as the Dark Lord rose abruptly and gave him a harsh glare. ''You dare assume that Evan of all people would be looking for something so shallow? We both know him better than that, he won't settle for anything but love.'' A wand was suddenly threateningly pointed at him. ''Leave me be, Barty. I don't want to discuss this further, especially not as it is also your fault.'' The truth stung, so to avoid an argument, he quietly retreated. Upon closing the door, Barty's guilt tripled as he saw through the crack that the Lord put his face in his hands and let out a strangled sound.
The Room of Requirement was cacophony of sounds and light, a horde of students all packed together practising spells like they oftentimes did here. Amongst the crowd, a black-haired teenager ran around to inspect them.
''Good work Susan! Keep it up Neville!'' Harry exclaimed as he ducked out of the way of a stray spell while walking around. ''Okay everyone, I think that's it. Let's take a moment to gather.''
Chaos erupted before everyone finally stopped when the message had been passed around the room. His friends drew the attention of the last few students who hadn't heard the shouts and a minute later, everyone gathered around him. ''I think we can call this a success,'' Harry smiled. ''So, since we've been meeting and practising for a couple of weeks now, and we likely won't be able to meet up until next month with Halloween coming up, I think it's a good time to revise now. I know, I know,'' as protests started rising up. ''Not everyone's favourite. But I usually feel that revision lacks a bit in regular classes apart from the start of the year. I struggled a lot with spells in transfiguration and charms especially during the middle of the year cause we only practiced a couple of times and then never touched it again. Or do any of you still remember how to cast the Skurge charm?''
''I don't know how often you have to deal with Ectoplasm, Potter,'' Draco drawled. ''But I have found no practical use for the Skurge Charm that suggests I would ever need it again unless I wish to become the next Hogwarts Janitor.''
''That's not so unlike this here then. We're training for when we are in danger, if we ever are. Some of you might never be in a situation where you'll need something like a Homorphus charm against a werewolf until thirty years or so after learning it. It wouldn't be very handy if you'd forgotten the wand movement by then. So, revision. We've covered the Patronus Charm, Disarming charm, Fear Hex, the Shield Charm and today the Reductor Curse. I want you all to produce Patroni again to see how well it stuck, and once everyone has their form to its previous strength from where we ended the last revision of that, we'll duel a bit using all the other spells. Now most of you guys got the Shield Charm down, we won't need to use dummies this time.''
That piece of news got the rest a bit more excited, as Harry had often opted for using the dummies instead to avoid injuries. He'd have preferred to do a bit more duelling even from the start, but with such a huge group of people, it could become too overwhelming to keep track of everything that happened. Even now, he'd had to treat some injuries from backfiring or poorly aimed spells. He deeply thanked Voldemort mentally several times for teaching him the basics of healing. Harry doubted that their group would have remained undiscovered for long if he'd have to send them all to the Hospital Wing.
The air around them became bright silver from all the simultaneous Patronus charms that were fired off. As expected, only a few people could produce a corporeal one again instantly, among them Hermione, Cedric and Ginny. Most others struggled, some with the movement, some with the necessary input of emotions or power. Naturally, he hadn't expected everyone to produce one in the first place. Some of the younger students like Dennis Creevey would likely only be apt enough at it after some time. Harry had only been able to learn it during his third year because of desperate need.
His eyes followed Hermione's otter through the air as it soared gracefully. ''Excellent! Those who manage to cast it to your personal satisfaction can help the others to save a bit of time.''
It didn't take too long until more than half was done and he started forming duelling pairs already. He usually matched older and younger students together to improve learning speed, but rejected that method for this revision. He wanted his students to be able to go all out. As he was creating pairs, Neville came up to him, a sheen of sweat on his forehead from concentrating so hard. ''I managed! I finally managed a full Patronus!'' he proudly said, a wide grin on his face. ''It's a bear! No wonder I thought it was big and hairy.''
''Well done!'' Harry said, deeply impressed. Neville had been improving more than probably anyone else, and it was great to see what a confidence boost it gave the usually so timid boy. Neville now even went to Potion class with his head held high. He'd confided in Harry that whenever Snape started berating him, he'd secretly imagine casting all the spells he'd mastered on the Professor.
''I wanted to know if you already have an idea of what we're doing next month, so I can maybe read up on it a bit.''
''Oh sure, one minute.'' Harry turned and tried to find his lesson plan on the many shelves that stood to the side. He always kept all items related to the D.A. in the Room of Requirement itself to lessen the chances of teachers -Umbridge in particular- finding them. ''So, next month I want to focus on spells that immobilise targets in the field. Think of Stunning spells, Body-Bind curses, Feet-freezing spells etcetera. I also found a very useful curse that isn't taught at Hogwarts called the Inverted Movement Hex that I'd like to teach.''
''Thanks Harry, I'll make sure to do my homework!'' Neville excitedly said before joining the rest again to find a partner.
Looking at his students, Harry felt a bubbling excitement as well. Starting this club had been the best decision he'd made all year. It was something practical to do to combat Umbridge's dreary lessons and her smug little smiles. More than that, with members of all four houses here and all from different years, he could feel the resistance of the student body solidifying and growing. And although they all kept in their lanes when Umbridge was around, Harry had the feeling that some of the other teachers and students had noticed too.
Outside of the D.A., he'd seen more and more people from different Houses hanging out together peacefully: in the library, during classes, even on the Quidditch field. To further the idea, he had Hermione write down the Sorting Hat's song from the start of the year -as she could apparently quote it word-by-word- and pinned it to the notice boards in both the Gryffindor Common room as well as the Room of Requirement. Its message of unity in the face of dangerous external forces was something he tried to live by now. In the practice room, it hung right next to several slogans and drawings from his other students, plus the list of members, on which the name 'Dumbledore's Army' was displayed.
When Ginny had first suggested the name, Harry had instinctively wanted to reject it after all the problems he had with the Headmaster nowadays. Several Slytherins had also objected. Just as he had been about to decline the name and pick Cho's more neutral 'Defence Association' however, the Horcrux had spoken up, claiming that it was a great opportunity. It was only a name, it would give positive associations to the club for most of the members and if they'd ever be discovered, Umbridge might try to shift the blame to Dumbledore instead. It was the Ministry who thought that Dumbledore actually was creating a student army, so it made sense that they would jump at the opportunity to discredit the Headmaster. So, Harry had left it to a democratic vote, knowing already what most would choose.
Even though they'd been a bit more left out with the naming of their club, the Slytherins had warmed up to the rest over time, prodded a bit by Draco, which Harry was immensely glad for. The few hostile comments and spells on both sides had quickly been condemned with a speech that Harry was still proud of to this day. It was miraculous to see how quickly everyone had accepted each other now and worked together as a team. It brought further advantages as well: with around forty students, they could have good discussions about regular coursework too; exchanging tips, notes and other knowledge. It was through this that Harry's own extracurricular rune work had improved with leaps and bounds as he could speak about it with third- to seventh-years at the same time who took the subject. It was why they met even more often now, as much time was actually spent on additional topics to help improve each other's skills in more than just defensive and offensive magic.
The major problem they had was trying to find time-slots where the majority was able to attend. It would have been too obvious if groups of students moved to the seventh floor at fixed times, and he had to juggle with the schedules of four Quidditch teams and other clubs. Generally, they were able to find time on weekdays in the evening, and the occasional weekend morning as well. They'd had seven meetings in the past three weeks, which would have been a strain were it not for the fact that many used the opportunity to sometimes finish coursework in groups together right after the training. With the upped speed of homework completion, he had still enough time to schedule new D.A. meetings.
Spells started flying back and forth now, and he took a break from observing by partnering with Cedric to duel a bit himself. As they both were very familiar with all the spells being practiced right now, he threw in a few additional ones as well, and didn't solely rely on the Shield Charm for protection. Barty had taught him so many different defensive spells that he liked to be creative. It was also what these lessons were about, to use more than just the fixed set of spells that they were taught at school. Ron especially had reacted very positively to a game they'd played last week, where they needed to think of something they'd like to be able to do with magic, and then try to find if there was a spell for that. They hadn't started anything practical yet, but Harry really hoped to introduce it after the Christmas holidays.
''Hey, what is that shield that makes you hard to see?'' Cedric asked when took a short break. ''You used it during one of the Tasks last year too, right?''
''Yeah, with the dragon,'' Harry answered. ''It's called a Haze shield. Can't be used too much though, it needs a couple of hairs for every few minutes you keep it up. There are always a few loose strands if I run my hand through my hair, so I try to use it until those run out so I don't have to actually pull any.''
''Are you going to teach that one as well?''
''I guess I could try to squeeze it in somewhere. Not yet though, the regular Shielding Charm should be sufficient to stop any spell I'm teaching next month. Maybe after if we move onto more powerful spells.''
The revision went well. Even when some students struggled, others were quick to jump in and help without Harry needing to do much. He mainly walked around a bit and gave words of advice or praise after his own quick duel: ''Aim a bit more to the left Daphne, your spells tend to stray towards the right side. Good, like that. Hey Seamus, tiny bit less force yeah? Adrian, perfect shield!'' Adrian Pucey threw him a grin and cancelled the shield, then sauntered over to Harry.
''Could we have a quick word?'' the Headboy asked, nodding to the wall a ways off from the group.
''Sure. What's the matter?''
They moved to the side, and Adrian grinned. ''Wanted to congratulate you. All of this-'' he gestured around. ''Is so much better than I thought it would be. At first I was admittedly a tad disappointed when seeing all of the other people who were signing up, mostly coming from light families or even being Mudbl- Muggleborns…'' he hastily corrected when seeing Harry's glare. ''I understand the need for subtlety, but I would greatly appreciate it if you could introduce a few… advanced classes, perhaps? With some stuff that you learned outside of Hogwarts?'' the boy hopefully asked. Harry inwardly sighed.
''I try to include bits of it that are acceptable enough,'' he said in a low voice, also sneakily putting up a silencing spell around them.
''There is so little dark magic!'' Adrian complained.
''The Fear Hex was dark, the Patronus is dark, and a spell that I'll introduce next month will also be. But dark spells take more energy, more time and sacrifices. Even if I wanted to, I can't teach something so taxing all the time. Also, I indeed don't want it to become known how much dark magic I know. It took several conversations with some of my friends before they started to accept that maybe not all dark magic is evil. I can't change that much more, or for dozens of people. You also have to recognise that this is a club to learn offensive and defensive magic and that that includes many light spells, which are much easier to learn. I'm sorry, but I am not going to split the group for some secret meeting so you can get high off dark magic.''
Adrian pulled a face and shifted nervously. ''Fair enough, I'm only at Hogwarts one more year anyways. After that I can experiment as much as I like. Do you have anyone you could… recommend me to? So I'd have a teacher or mentor after school?''
Harry scratched his head, getting a bit desperate to end this conversation. He should have expected to be used as a stepping stone for some of the aspiring Slytherin students. ''I don't know,'' he honestly said. ''If I have contact again with some of my friends who know more dark magic, I can ask. Other than that, I recommend going to your Head of House.''
Adrian shook his head resolutely. ''I blew it with professor Snape. He already said he won't help me. I have to forge my own path somehow, but it is so frustrating without any proper contacts. My family isn't well-known, and none of my family members were among the Dark Lord's ranks.''
''Then the only sure way I know for you to get support is to become a Death Eater yourself,'' Harry suggested. ''Not sure if I would recommend it. The Dark Lord has some good ideas, but he demands a lot from his followers. It's not a lifestyle that I would be comfortable with.'' He had thought long and hard on whether he would actually openly speak to Pucey about knowing of the Dark Lord's return. Generally, Harry tried to let rumours stay rumours. However, Draco had already told Adrian before and confirming it made conversations much easier, especially as the two Slytherins spent even more time together than before since the creation of the D.A.
''You have a bit more leeway than most, Potter,'' Adrian sighed. ''For reasons I still don't understand fully. Thank you for this conversation, I will consider your words. I may indeed have no choice in the matter if I wish to pursue deeper magic.''
''Good luck then.''
He went back to the group and ended the lesson, disappointing a few students when announcing that they couldn't stay in the Room for much longer afterwards. Harry had little time however, he had planned something different today that he needed the Room for. When the last person had finally left, Harry stepped out as well and nodded to Ron, who had lingered behind.
As the corridor was empty at last apart from the two of them, Harry spoke: ''Come, quickly.'' They paced up and down in front of the wall again, thinking of something different this time.
''I can barely believe this is finally it,'' Ron said, grinning. Upon entering, Harry instantly went over to check on the potion they'd been brewing all month now. The base was set, existing of crushed moth chrysalis, untouched dew and a variety of plant juices such as laurel sap that the Horcrux had suggested for increased quantity and stabilisation. The original potion as described in their book would have barely given each of them a single sip. Sirius had failed to tell them how he and James had been able to produce enough of it to keep drinking it throughout practise sessions. Now, Harry and Ron would only need to add the mandrake leaves they'd been carrying and their own hair after transferring the base potion in a vial struck by today's full moon's rays.
It would still get very tricky. They were lucky enough to have a clear sky today, so they wouldn't need to do two weather rituals. After creating the potion however, both of them were itching to finally get started with practise, so they'd need to call forth another lightning storm. They'd improved the ritual over the last two weeks, and had even managed to call an instant storm last time. It still wasn't Ron's favourite part, who had concerning chest pains after each time they practised weather magic. He was determined to pull through however, which Harry appreciated more than he could express.
''Okay, I have my invisibility cloak and map,'' Harry said, pulling said items from his bag. ''Can you bottle up the potion? I still want to check the book to ensure we don't mess anything up. Well, the parts that we aren't messing up on purpose on Sirius' advice, that is.''
''He'll be stoked to hear that we're finally getting so close. Have you had any contact with him?''
Harry shook his head and quietly spoke: ''Not much. We're both busy I guess. He with the Order, I with the D.A. and other things. I received a short letter from him a while ago, so I know he's still kicking. I mean, you don't constantly write your mum either, do you?''
''No, but my mum is not so awesome as your godfather! Okay, I got the potion. You really think this'll be enough? Should we put some more water in it?''
''No, we shouldn't risk diluting it. If anything, having so little will force us to train fast, won't it? And if all else fails and we barely make progress, we can try again the way the book describes it.''
''What, with chanting for twenty-four hours at the end? You really think we can disappear for that long without anyone questioning it? You're Harry bloody Potter, Dumbledore will send out search parties after half a day!''
''Don't remind me,'' Harry grumbled. He took the book and quickly read the lines regarding the potion.
The transformation potion is a vital first step for anyone who wishes to pursue the long path of becoming an Animagus. There are two different methods to approach this, both of which require the same ingredients.
The traditional way is to gather all ingredients the moment they become absolutely necessary. Start out at the night of a full moon and place a mandrake leaf in your mouth. This leaf is not to be damaged, swallowed or taken out at any point during the next month. When the moon is full again, hold a phial into the moon's rays and place the mandrake leaf in the moon-touched phial. To it, add dew from ground that has not been touched by people -see the index on page 135 about the definition of people- for at least seven days. The dew must be gathered on a teaspoon of pure silver and not be placed into any other container or touched. Add to this the crushed chrysalis of Death's-head Hawk Moth and a single strand of your own hair. Wait until the next lightning storm, which will turn the potion red. It may then be consumed.
A slightly more modern version of the potion's creation has been tried and tested over the last century by two of the current seven registered Animagi in Britain: Daphne Wicklock and Laura Wren. To have greater control over the timing, the moth and dew are gathered beforehand and set up to simmer during the month in which the mandrake leaf is held in one's mouth. Speculations about the dew losing its potency as an ingredient were negated when the result turned out the same. Critics still believe that this was only the case because additional, secret ingredients may have been added, a claim that has been denied until today. When using this method, the mandrake leaf can be added to the already existing base potion before being poured into the moon-touched phial. The hair still has to be added last.
Harry's hand automatically curled around the locket dangling from his neck as he muttered: ''I certainly hope you were right about the additional things we added. I'd hate to have to do this all over again.''
''Everything fine, Harry?'' Ron asked.
''All good. So, the idea is to sneak out to one of the unused towers and get moonlight from the window, yes?''
''Basically. There's a small tower with view to the east where we can probably see it best at this time of day. After that we return here and call another storm?''
''Yes, I really want to know if we brewed it correctly. If the storm comes fast enough, we can even start practise already.''
''Brilliant. I got the phials and the cauldron, let's go!''
Under the cover of darkness, they sneaked through the cold corridors of Hogwarts. It was a blessing that all of Harry's favourite rooms - Gryffindor tower, the Room of Requirement and the Owlery - were all on the same floor. He now added 'random tower to the east' to that list. Unlocking the tower door was no problem for two students who got up to no good since the very first year here, and it appeared that Filch and Mrs Norris were occupied elsewhere in the large castle at this time. Beyond a set of narrow stone spiral steps lay a small room, which turned out to be a mostly-empty storage room for spare gloves and other safety equipment. It had a single window that was very typical for Hogwarts: old glass and rusted metal handles. Through it, Harry could already see tonight's bright, full moon.
Ron put everything down on the dusty floor while Harry tried his hand on opening the window, which was hard work as it had rusted shut over the years. A couple of oiling spells later, it swung open, and he basked in the moonlight with a feel of awe. He was on his way of transforming into an animal, like his father had done before him. Had they used this same tower to catch the moon?
As agreed beforehand, Ron and he both had separate phials as they did not want to nullify the potion by adding two strands of hair to the same mixture. So, they stood next to each other and held the glass up to the moonlight. Nothing changed, and Ron's face reflected Harry's inner disappointment at feeling absolutely nothing. Then again, he shouldn't have expected anything. As Snape loved to remind them all the time, Potions was a very subtle art of magic. Preparations were rarely paired with rushes of magic, be it light or dark.
Perhaps that was why potions were never really mentioned in categorisations of light and dark magic, Harry pondered. Going by pure logic, he'd have thought it to be a branch of heavy magic, as a potion was usually comprised of dead plants and animals and sometimes required a 'sacrifice' in the form of hairs or other pieces of people. Yet, potions were judged only by their use in labelling them illegal or not and Voldemort had never mentioned a word of dark potions. Did it really work differently? He would ask Snape if the man wasn't such an arse. Even now Harry had mastered Occlumency, Snape insisted on giving him additional 'remedial potion lessons' to keep the fact that Harry had learned it so fast from Dumbledore. He supposed he should be grateful as it meant that Dumbledore wasn't going to pry, but these extra lessons were basically just detentions where he helped prepare ingredients and scrubbed cauldrons in silence as Snape did not appreciate 'blabbering'. It was also very suspicious. Why would Snape care if Harry learned it abnormally fast? Or Dumbledore for that matter? Harry had hoped it would have meant an end to seeing his potion professor more often. At the start, it had sounded as if Snape had wanted the same.
''Here goes nothing,'' Harry spoke, sighing in relief as he could finally take the foul-tasting leaf out of his mouth and added it to the potion, while Ron did the same. They then helped each other with pouring it into the phials. It had an unpleasant, drably consistency and was swamp-green. ''Reminds me of Polyjuice.''
''I wish you hadn't said that, Polyjuice tastes awful.''
''As this has a bunch of leaves, saliva and crushed insects in it, I'm not expecting it to taste of sugar either.''
''Do me a favour and at least never mention again that we're partially drinking each other's spit please,'' Ron grimaced. ''We should have thought of bringing two cauldrons.''
''Too late now. Hey, you won't have to drink it for another hour or so, probably,'' Harry said optimistically.
''Because it will be so much better when it turns luke-warm to cold. Come on, let's go back and get this over with. I hope we will have some natural storms too in the next months, I really feel horrible after these rituals. Don't know how you can stand that magic. Do you think your scar makes you resistant against dark magic or something?''
''Doubt it, it burns like hell around Dementors and gives me splitting headaches, and they are dark creatures. I suspect it has something to do with natural affinity or so. Your family has only used light magic for generations, right? I know that at least my grandmother was a Black, and my other grandparents were muggles, so…''
''What happened to them?'' Ron asked. ''They were Muggles so they weren't involved in the war, right? Many of my grandparents' generation were killed by You-Know-Who and his followers, but the war didn't extend much into the Muggle World as far as I know.''
''No idea, actually. Aunt Petunia never spoke of her parents. From what I know now, I think it was mostly because they favoured my mother. You make a good point. They can't have been that old either, so as long as they didn't fall ill or have some accident, they should still be alive. On the other hand, why would Dumbledore claim that my aunt and uncle were the last living family I had left?''
''Dunno… I mean, they're not really anyways,'' Ron said. ''If your grandma was a Black, then you're at least distantly related to a lot of Pureblood families, not least of that to Sirius. Or Malfoy's mum. Did Dumbledore really say that?''
''It was the whole reason for leaving me with the Dursleys in the first place,'' Harry muttered. ''I guess he meant 'direct family'. I'm not entirely sure how that whole protection spell is supposed to work in the first place. Enough of that, can we get back? I'm itching to move on.'' For if he wasn't careful, he'd just go on another angry rant about Dumbledore like the ones he'd had with Sirius, and he didn't think that was very fair to his friend. It wasn't as if Ron could do anything about it either.
As soon as they returned to the Room of Requirement, the Horcrux emerged from the Locket, like always checking over the site they would perform the ritual at, which was the centre of the room they'd picked, a circular space with a dome-shaped ceiling. It was flanked by sets of shelves on which they stored all necessary items and ingredients so they wouldn't constantly have to worry about their schoolbags becoming too suspiciously bulky.
''Same as last time, yeah?''
Harry nodded and started gathering everything. His movements were sure, deliberate, as he knew what he was doing. This was very unlike their first attempt, where they'd just tried to wing it and the Horcrux had thrown in some last improvements to ensure it didn't go completely haywire.
He took a moment to concentrate, drawing magic to the surface of his hands before taking a piece of chalk and drawing a double circle, adding strings of runes at the appropriate places. Twenty-one Algiz for protection, eight Isa for stability, five bindrunes of Hagalaz and Sowilo for lightning storms and so forth, setting specifics for the day and time closer to the middle. Meanwhile, Ron set up their 'altar', which still was a stack of books about stones, although the stack had grown much bigger now so they could place more on it. They'd actually found a couple of flat stones at the shore of the black lake, but none had been really large enough, and enlarging them with magic apparently took away the 'integrity of the stone' according to the Horcrux. So, they'd stuck to Ron's idea, one of the few elements that remained.
''I certainly hope that this time, Trelawney won't start to interpret these storms again,'' Ron said, groaning slightly as he carried a heavy drum to his part of the circle. ''I could barely hold in my laughter when Lavender and Parvati started ranting about Ceraunoscopy after the last storm we created.''
''Very true,'' Harry absentmindedly said, taking a handful of glass and spreading it in front of him, together with the feathers of a thunderbird that he'd stolen from Snape's private collection. ''I'm done. You?''
Ron set the two coloured candles in place, then nodded and sat down. They needed no further conversation, saying everything else through their magic and spells. Harry fell into a meditative state soon, calling forth the warm force from the core of his body. It gathered at the surface of his skin, breaking through his palms and flowing into the air around them. He started rocking back and forth as waves started building up, causing the candles to blaze to life on their own. His body shook when the pounding of the drum started, imitating the thunder that would surely come to be. He got lost in the movements, the magic, the music. The pounding now seemed to come from within, echoing through his very bones. Harry raised the pieces of glass in the air, then spread them on the altar with both hands. Next, he held three iridescent feathers high. The cloud-like patterns on the feathers changed from gold to blue and silver as they caught hold of the weather magic they were summoning with it, like the thunderbird itself could.
''Manannan mac y Leir, neach-glèidhidh nan geataichean, gairm a-mach an gaoth a tuath, fuachd is gailleann aig Hogwarts.''
His voice rolled through the room with the beat of the drum, magic spiked and started rumbling too, forming a slow whirl through the entire area. The glass cracked, veins lighting up brightly. The feathers sizzled with electricity, and Harry could barely hold onto them. They repeated the spell, Ron banging the drum with the rhythm of their voices.
''We surrender to the forces of nature and accept that the tides and skies cannot always be in our favour,'' Harry spoke softly, bowing his head. A crack shook the floor, magic going wild, crashing down on them. He tried to hold onto the familiar feeling of dark magic as long as he could, wishing with all his might that it was something physical that wouldn't leave. Alas, it lasted no longer than a handful of moments.
He was left exhausted, having to force himself to crawl over to Ron. His friend made a pained noise, holding his rib cage. ''We won't need to do this much more often, I promise,'' Harry said, greatly distraught at the state Ron was in. ''If there is any chance at all of using natural storms or the ones that will happen as rebuttal for the one we called today, we'll do so. I don't care if it takes longer then. This isn't normal.''
''Dark magic isn't normal,'' Ron replied, smiling weakly. ''Not for me at least. You may be right with your affinity theory, it even seems to get worse over time. I also noticed it during the D.A. lessons… you tried to put in a few dark spells, didn't you? That Fear Hex… even when it was my turn to cast it, it was as if my whole body protested against it. You're lucky, you don't look like you have a problem with either type of magic…'' Harry ignored the envy in his friend's voice and made Ron sit up.
''I'm all the worse at potions for that,'' he joked. ''It's a miracle that this one turned out well.'' He looked at their creation on the shelves, surprised when seeing the phials were already filled with a bright red substance. ''Look!''
''Blimey, that was fast… say what you will, this magic does do what it promises to. Hey, there is nothing dark about transfiguring ourselves right?''
''I suspect most branches of magic have light and heavy spells, even Transfiguration. I wouldn't know of anything specific dark transfiguration spells or curses though. Becoming an Animagus is definitely safe as McGonagall is one and she would never dabble in dark arts. Also, it is recognised as a legal skill by the Ministry, there wouldn't be an Animagi register otherwise. '' That seemed to calm Ron somewhat, for he rubbed his chest one last time and then slowly got up to grab the potions.
''I somehow can barely believe we're actually doing this. Mum would freak out if she knew I learnt to turn into an animal. I still wish it was a more convenient spell and we could choose what we will be like in Babbity Rabbity and other children stories…''
Harry vaguely recalled hearing about such a story. Maybe Barty had mentioned it once before when talking about his upbringing as a kid. ''I think the Twins will freak out more when they find out that you can do something they can't,'' Harry grinned, to which Ron completely perked up.
''Yeah, yeah you're right! No-one in my entire family can change into an animal! I would be the first Weasley to do this as far as I know! This is great. Hey, are we going to register?'' his friend asked, now looking a tad concerned. ''I know the Ministry is very chaotic right now and most definitely wouldn't want Umbridge to find out but… it would be horrible to get punished for this if someone finds out we skipped something as stupid as a registration formality.''
''You can do whatever you want, I won't stop you from registering. I ask only that you keep my form a secret from everyone, as I don't plan to shout it from the rooftops. The register is public, if I'd sign there, what would be the point for me of even having an animal form? I want to use it to hide, that won't exactly work if my enemies could waltz into the Ministry and look me up. Don't forget, they do not only record what animal you are, but also the exact look of it. According to this book, each Animagus has a characteristic or mark, usually from physical traits or items the person so often wears that they have an emotional bond with it.''
''That makes it sound as if our Professor is emotionally attached to her glasses,'' Ron laughed.
Harry merely shrugged. ''This guide probably exaggerates a bit. I suppose any item, that you wear everyday of your life, like glasses, gets some emotional value. It's well possible that I will have a circular pattern around my eyes from my glasses too. I've worn them every single day since I was small. I just hope that my scar will at least disappear as an animal… if it can entirely change one's skin and limbs, surely it should be able to do that, right?''
''Don't know mate,'' Ron spoke uncertainly, eyeing Harry's forehead. ''It's a curse scar so… Who knows, you might become an animal with such shaggy fur that it'll be covered up if you're lucky. If Sirius' guess with you becoming a lion is right, you certainly won't need to worry.''
''Yeah, right,'' Harry laughed. ''Imagine a lion running through Surrey, I would get thrown in a zoo! If my form is not a very handy animal, I likely won't use it.''
''Would still be handy in battle I suppose. If you lose your wand, you can still rip people to pieces with your claws and teeth.''
''Sounds more like you. Remember when you lost your wand and just started pummelling Draco?''
''Good times,'' his friend sighed. ''I know that you're trying hard to get this whole house unity to work, but having to be nice to Draco Malfoy of all people during D.A. meetings is still very stressful. If he makes one more snide comment, I can't promise that I won't flip out again. Although he got sneakier with insults, they're definitely still there, especially when you're not within hearing range.''
''That's worrying, I'll have another talk with him in hope that helps.''
''Don't bother Harry. Malfoy and I, we'll never see eye to eye. I can only promise to be as civil as I can muster. Come on, enough talking, I am getting tired. We won't get anywhere unless we go for it. Cheers.'' Harry got out of the circle, being careful not to disturb the chalk lines. It was a silly superstitious thing, he realised. Once a ritual was over and no magic was put in, the circles and runes didn't matter. The Horcrux had pointed this out a few times now, yet Harry found it somehow disrespectful to casually walk through the symbols that had previously channelled such immense power. It would feel the same as walking into a church with muddy boots, even when he himself didn't believe in any other religion than honouring Magic.
He unstoppered his potion and tried not to look at the bits and pieces of slimy plants amidst the crimson substance that had been cooked away for well over a month. ''One sip, right? And then we'll instantly have our first attempt.''
''How many sips do you reckon this thing holds?'' Ron asked doubtfully. ''Five? Six? It's really tiny and that is with everything we added.''
''If we'd be doing it 'properly', we wouldn't have needed more than one, I suppose that is the main issue. If we only drink a couple of drops at a time, I figure we could get seven or so, tops. It'll have to do. Ready?''
Ron nodded and took a tiny sip, shuddering instantly after in a way that told Harry it clearly wasn't going to taste any better than Skelegro. He closed his eyes and pinched his nose to at least not smell the foul fumes of fermenting plants. The potion was one of the worst ones he'd had, managing to be both slimy, bitter and stinging all at once. It cost him a great deal to not cough it up again instantly as his eyes started to water. His friend did not have such an extreme reaction, only grimacing a couple of times from the taste. They sat back down on the floor and pointed their wands to their chests, tip at the heart. The Horcrux for once hadn't been able to give any kind of advice on the best method, as he hadn't learned this particular skill. Harry was unsure whether Voldemort ever had. It sounded unlikely that there was magic the Dark Lord hadn't spent time learning, to be honest. Perhaps he simply had such an unfortunate form that he never used it.
Instead of giving its usual commentary, the Horcrux was pacing up and down the room, staring at him with an intensity that felt rather uncomfortable. Harry didn't really think it would listen if asked to go back to the Locket though, Voldemort had always been obsessed with observing and learning rare magic.
''Amato Animo Animato Animagus,'' they both spoke at the same time. Harry tried to do what felt most natural to him with spellcasting, trying to not control his magic too much, merely envisioning the result he wanted: change. It was still incredibly difficult, as he had no idea what he would be changing into, not giving his powers much to work with.
He felt the potion taking effect as he kept repeating the spell, an almost unbearable heat spreading through his limbs. The potion had been activated as it should, now the rest was up to his willpower and magical proficiency. Harry opened his eyes again and held up his left hand in front of his face. He'd decided that it would be easiest to focus on a limb he could fully see, one that he could most easily use magic with as well. His wand arm had been the first choice, but the poorly-healed scar from the blood quill had started giving him trouble recently. It flared up every so often and had at one alarming moment even bled again. The regular healing spells he knew hadn't worked to fix it; in the end he'd had to resort to Murtlap essence just to ease the pain. Not knowing the exact effects this transformation would have on his body, Harry did not wish to start with a part that already had complications.
It felt as if they sat on the floor in pain for ages. His mouth was running dry from repeating the spell, and still he had not noticed a thing. No change in skin texture, no strange twisting of limbs… Was this the correct way? Had they somehow done something wrong? The potions had turned the right colour, he could hear thunder rumbling outside so the storm was still raging… the spell was correct too. It would be incredibly frustrating if he turned out too weak to perform this piece of magic…
Voldemort would not allow him to think like that, Harry thought. Words echoed in his mind: 'If you cannot believe in yourself, you'd better believe in my decisions. My power runs through you…' With a shivering sigh, Harry renewed his attempts, trying to dig deep within himself to draw that power to the surface. He'd been able to withstand so much more… he couldn't fail now. There wasn't any time, not enough attempts to waste this one. The fire in his veins intensified, spreading to every last nerve ending as Harry pushed himself to the limit. Change, he told himself again and again. Morph into the animal tied to my soul. ''Amato Animo Animato Animagus!''
Before his eyes, his fingers started to shrink. No, that wasn't the correct term. They blackened and became thinner, so impossibly thin that not even all mass of the bones must have remained. For one awful moment, Harry thought something must have gone terribly, terribly wrong and his hand was starting to die and fall off now. Then, he noticed that more was changing: his nails thinned and sharpened, becoming black and hooked. His palm virtually disappeared, fingers elongating to start at his wrist. A film of skin built up between the strange, black bones, and it started to affect his arm and side of his body too, which was incredibly uncomfortable as he was still wearing robes. Abruptly, it stopped, and Harry looked down at the alien thing that was his arm now: five dark, long spines with leathery folds of skin that flapped uselessly when he attempted to move his fingers.
''I have a wing,'' he said in astonishment. ''Ron, I have wings!'' he looked up and nearly burst out in laughter, forgetting his own ordeal of his arm turning into a wing so completely out of proportion to the rest of his body that he could barely move it.
''Harry?'' his friend spoke in a panicking voice. ''This can only turn us into animals, right? I… I feel like I've turned into a girl instead!'' Ron made a sight indeed. Not much had changed, apart from that his ginger hair was no longer ginger: light brown, almost blonde hair had sprouted from his head, cascading down his shoulders. Upon looking closely however, Harry could see that it clearly wasn't human hair. It also didn't only stop at his regular hairline, short sand-coloured fur covering his face from the nose up.
''I think Sirius will flip out,'' Harry said, laughing now. ''Ron... if I'm not mistaken… thennot I, but you are a lion! That's a mane, and a mighty one at that!''
''I'm a what now?'' the boy asked, perplexed, grabbing fistfuls of the course hair, holding it up to his eyes. ''Blimey Harry, you might be right. A lion! Me!'' he then finally looked at Harry's arm in confusion. ''And you are… what?''
With the greatest difficulty, Harry tried to spread his fingers, showing the membrane between them ''I got my wish of being a flying creature… I just hadn't expected it to be a bat of all things. Too early to tell what kind, I guess. I sincerely hope I'm not a vampire bat or so. I don't want to have anything in common with Snape.''
''Do you think that is accurately sized already? If so, you're mighty large for a bat.''
''It might be, it's certainly a lot smaller than my arm usually is. For a bat still huge.'' He stuck out his arm and tried to gauge how long it was from his shoulder to the longest fingertips. ''It's hard to tell, I don't think that my upper arm completely transformed, so there's still length from that added to it. Looks like the wing comes to roughly 15 to 18 inches and that's for one arm. I'm unsure how large it'll be in the end when I'm fully transformed.'' An image came to his mind of flying over London as a gigantic bat with an enormous wingspan. How would it feel to fly without a broom? Would he be able to find out how to use echo location? It opened up a world of new possibilities of where he'd be able to go and what he could do, sneaking out under the cover of night. Ron would not have it so easy, being a large predator that couldn't hide anywhere.
''Do you want to still look up what these animals mean? There's some sort of index about it at the end, right?'' Ron asked.
According to 'Analysing Animagi', each form said something about the Animagus' character traits and affinities, including their magical strengths. While Harry was interested in it, he did not want to spend a lot of time on it before actually completing the transformation. ''It's not very accurate and mostly refers to other, detailed books. Besides, I'd first like to know which kind of bat I am before looking up more detailed information about it.
It took the both of them a while to figure out how to transform back. The book on Animagi was very thorough on how to transform into an animal, not so much on how to reverse the process. It turned out to feel much more natural, Harry was soon flexing his normal fingers again. His question about whether or not he'd be able to hide the scar sadly still wasn't answered after this session. When buying Hedwig some owl treats in Diagon, he'd often stopped to look at the other animals as well, and the Magical Menagerie held at least twenty variants of bats. They came in many shapes, sizes and colours, with different fur length as well.
While Ron still struggled to change his hair back, Harry finally cleaned up everything from the weather ritual, while sneakily casting glances at the Horcrux. It didn't look very good, being very translucent and wispy. Its skin showed cracks again, and upon Harry's whispered suggestion, returned to the Locket without a word. Harry's limbs felt like lead when moving, exhausted after an entire day of draining magic. First regular classes, then D.A. training, weather magic and Animagus training… he was not looking forward to showing up in class tomorrow.
They returned to Gryffindor Tower under the invisibility cloak, at a time that most people had gone to bed already. Hermione was still up and rushed towards them. ''Where have you both been?''
''Wanted to still train a bit on our own,'' Ron spoke, groaning slightly as she hugged him.
''I thought you two might have gotten in trouble with Umbridge, you stayed away for so long. Next time tell me if you're not going to be here all evening, please.''
''Sorry Mione… ouch. Don't push, my chest hurts pretty bad.'' The girl scowled at that, frowning at Harry.
''You guys shouldn't be so rough. Use dummies again.''
Harry only nodded and rubbed his eyes and muttered another apology before rushing upstairs. He had already unstoppered the flask with sleeping draught when he halted. There had not been any occasion in the past weeks where the Horcrux had been so weak that it had disappeared like it had had to now. This might be his chance to finally find out more about Regulus…
With slightly trembling hands, he fished out the diaries from under his bed, staring at the cover. He felt a mixture of guilt and immense curiosity now. Knowing that he fancied the same man that Regulus was writing his devotion about was… odd. Had this been one of the reasons why he'd felt such a connection, before consciously knowing it? Harry gulped, wondering if it wouldn't be better to throw these books out now, before he would get to the inevitable part where Regulus would write about more explicit things as he'd already discovered the first time he'd randomly read a page. The teen truly wasn't sure if he could handle reading about Voldemort's romantic past now, with someone who wasn't Harry…
''You're being ridiculous,'' he whispered to himself, a bit aggressively shutting his bed hangings and opening the diary. The last entry he'd read before had been about Regulus' birthday, where the Slytherin had come of age right before the start of the summer holidays. With the entries up to July already having taken up more than two thirds of the diary because of Regulus' detailed descriptions of the lessons and conversations between him and Voldemort, they got much shorter now.
July 3, 1978
Summer is finally here. No more tests to worry about, no homework. I can now concentrate on the important parts of life: making a difference. On request of the Dark Lord, I have placed tracking spells on many suspected light sympathisers and those close to members of the Order of the Phoenix. It is my mission now to ensure they will be investigated and brought to justice in case I find incriminating evidence. It is my hope that I will be able to convince some of them to listen to the word of the Dark Lord instead, as neither he nor I wish to waste magical blood.
July 11, 1978.
It is going quite well. Just yesterday I unfortunately had to eliminate Irene McKinnon. It turned out that instantly after graduating Hogwarts, she decided to lie with a Muggle and turned to the Order of the Phoenix for protection in case she became pregnant. Many of her family are now suspected of having ties to Dumbledore too, especially her older sister Marlene. I shall further investigate.
July 28, 1978
So many useless deaths… I do not understand why people are so unwilling to listen. They are throwing their lives away for muggles who would destroy us, for the impure and worthless. I want to save all these families who could become great if they'd only accept the guidance of my Lord. His vision of how the world should be is grand, with magic reigning free. I cannot fathom why this wish is not shared by all. Have they been told lies by other leaders? Or are they this blinded by emotional connections to those animals? In three days, I will see the Dark lord again in person, I hope that I can ask him about it.
August 1, 1878
Each celebration, my faith grows stronger. Lughnasadh was grand, as I was allowed in the closest circles of our Lord yesterday and watched him perform the rite. I still feel dizzy from the sheer amount of magic, even if my mind is foggy on what happened. So much magic, warmth and firewhisky… It felt as if his eyes were only on me. I can't forget the blazing feeling of his hand on my knee, the way he leaned forwards to whisper something in my ear. Was the attention I received only my imagination? I do not know… is it a blasphemous thing to wish that we were even closer than master and student? I have not written my thoughts about this previously, as I hoped the feeling would pass with time. I fear that I am trying to play with fire that I shouldn't touch. I'm only a follower, nothing more… I wish I was more.
''You too, huh,'' Harry said. He then clamped his lips shut as the locket reacted, the heartbeat becoming stronger. He froze, waiting to see if the Horcrux would come out to investigate who he was speaking to. But apart from a few strands of smoke, nothing happened. Harry skipped a few pages as Regulus' words came a bit too close to his own feelings of longing. In this case, it was even completely otiose, as Harry already knew that Regulus' wish would be fulfilled. He was right when he finally found a few promising entries:
October 15, 1978
My lessons continued at last. They were halted as the Dark Lord has been abroad for a while, gathering allies in hope of crushing the Order at long last. Not much news reaches Hogwarts about it, so I was incredibly glad to speak to my Lord. He assured me that we have the Vampires on our side now, which will be great for long-term plans. Maybe in a few years, they can aid us in continuing our mission on the mainland. His area of jurisdiction is not merely Britain, after all. That is not the most important thing to me today however. It might only my wishful thinking again, but I have the feeling something really did change. During training, He kept close to me, and I could bask in the feel of His magic more than once. Afterwards, I was even asked to stay longer and have a late dinner. We did not have any discussions as usual, which was strange too. I do not know entirely what to make of it. The most frustrating part about it is that I can't risk my neck by voicing my feelings. Were He to react negatively, I may well end up dead.
October 22, 1978
If you, my future self, can't tell yet by the scribbles on here, my hands are shaking with excitement. Not only was I asked today to stay longer again, I am to accompany him to Samhain. It was voiced as an order of course, without any further words said about it, but the implications are overwhelming. Never before has the Dark Lord officially taken a plus-one to a celebration to my knowledge. It will be difficult to disappear on a Tuesday, but will break out of Hogwarts if I have to. This is really happening!
Somehow, it was so in-character for Voldemort that Harry had a hard time not laughing. Showing his interest in another human being by simply ordering them to escort him to a gathering was so blunt and arrogant that it didn't surprise him at all. Had the man even given Regulus any hints beforehand? If so, it didn't look like the Slytherin had picked up on them much.
Harry tried to read more, but the tiresome day took its toll. Grudgingly, he put the diary away and instead took the potion. He didn't even want to know how few hours of sleep there were left…
Thank you for reading! If you liked it, please leave a review ^^ Your words always make my day.
This chapter was really fun to write, especially the weather ritual and the Animagus training! So, we now know some details about Harry's form ;P More on that in the next chapter!
If you still feel like reading something, I actually updated the story 'A Rival's Kiss' on my other account: 'Elfinmyth' (or on AO3 under GeMerope), which was originally a one-shot with open ending, but due to multiple requests I wrote two different endings to it now :) Please check it out if you're interested in more HPLV ;)
xx GeMerope