Chapter 64 – Unease
As soon as they arrived at Hogwarts, even before having the opportunity to enter the Great Hall for dinner, the three of them got bombarded by people. D.A. members came up and wanted to inquire about the next meeting - at which Hermione tried to frantically hush them in case anyone else heard -, Parkinson and some of her cronies started to loudly sing 'Weasley is our King' when Ron passed them by, and Filch stormed up to them red in the face to complain about muddy boots. Harry didn't think that theirs were filthier than those of all the other students who had ploughed here through snow and dirt and was very certain that Umbridge had put Filch up to monitoring them more closely. By the time that they finally sat down at the Gryffindor table, he could already feel a headache forming.
''Second term is not going to be fun,'' he predicted darkly, to which Ron sympathetically agreed.
Whether it would be true for the entire term, he could not say yet, but it definitely held true for the next day. Monday was exhausting, all teachers trying to get them to recall whatever subject they'd been last taught. Due to the vision of Nagini, he and Ron had missed the last few days of first term, including Defence on Friday. Umbridge used it as an excuse to fire questions at the both of them about a lesson they 'should have done homework on instead' and docked a number of points when they failed to answer. Harry was so close to yelling at the toad to shove her stupid theory book elsewhere, and only the thought of the other D.A. members relying on him prevented a disaster. Filling his schedule with more detentions wasn't productive to anyone.
Just as classes were finished and Harry hoped to have some time to go over to the Room of Requirement, where he'd planned on putting his notebook away again and look over some material, his way was blocked by none other than Severus Snape. Internally screaming in frustration, Harry put a polite smile on his face and asked through gritted teeth what the man wanted. Potions had not been pleasant today, as usual, and he did not enjoy seeing Snape's surly face more than once today.
''Weasley, Granger, run along. Potter, with me,'' Snape barked, already turning around and striding away.
''What did you do this time?'' Hermione hissed worriedly, and Harry only shook his head, as he had absolutely no clue. He felt stares on him from fellow students as he hurried past and cursed Snape for finding him in the hallways. Couldn't the man have asked Harry for a word right after Potions instead?
Predictably, the trek ended in the dungeons, where Snape impatiently held open the door to his office for Harry to slip through. Black eyes glared in the light of a few candle wall sconces as soon as the heavy door closed. It certainly added to the typical vampiric atmosphere that the office was barely lit. Snape could really do with some electrical lighting décor. Shame that wouldn't work at Hogwarts.
''What is all this about?'' Harry asked. ''Sir?'' he added in afterthought to placate Snape a bit.
''Occlumency,'' the man hissed. ''I was under the impression that you had learned it? Since you had a sudden vision from the Dark Lord's serpent, Albus has been hounding me about your progress!''
Harry grunted unhappily ''As I told Dumbledore, I was asleep while having that vision.''
The potion master sneered. ''That should not matter and Albus knows it! If you would have enough control over your mind, then also during sleep this protection should linger…''
''It's a bit more complicated than that,'' Harry spoke. Although Snape's instant aggressive tone made the teen's blood boil, it was important to at least try having a civil conversation instead of blowing up like usual. He wouldn't deny that it was difficult, especially as Snape never seemed inclined to act like the adult he supposedly was either, apart from trying to impose authority. After making leaps in progress with Voldemort however, having a regular conversation with Severus Snape did not seem like such a daunting task anymore. The potion master wasn't even allowed to cast the cruciatus curse on students, so that was an added bonus. Harry wondered why he'd ever been wary of Snape. All that the man could do was deduct points. Not exactly a great weapon of fear. Not in comparison to a Dark Lord. Snape could technically delegate it to Umbridge, but Harry doubted that the man's pride would allow for someone else to deal with Harry. Snape hadn't looked particularly happy about the last time that Umbridge had taken over Harry's punishment.
''Oh? Are you an expert on mind magic now, Potter?'' the man taunted. ''Do you think that you suddenly know the ins and outs of an art as complicated as Occlumency because you've scratched the surface of it a few months ago?''
The teen did not take the bait, starting to pace to have something other to do than throw punches at the sallow face. ''I won't pretend that I know more than you about Occlumency or Legilimency,'' he admitted. ''I'm talking about there having been more than mind magic at work back then. The vision I had came from Nagini, not from Vol- the Dark Lord.'' Harry stopped from saying 'Voldemort' upon recalling that Snape was prone to fly into a rage whenever he did so, as the other had explicitly forbidden Harry from uttering the name in this office. Although he'd referred to Voldemort as such many times before, it felt strange on his tongue now. ''Obviously, Nagini cannot perform Legilimency, the magic that pulled me into her head was… different. Occlumency would not have helped even if I'd actively used it, I think.''
''You think,'' Snape scoffed. ''That's a first. And unsurprising, you are utterly wrong. According to Dumbledore, the Dark Lord has an exceptional connection to his familiar. It was his thoughts that you saw while he was connected to the snake-''
Harry couldn't help it, he cut off Snape's words with a loud burst of laughter, at which the other looked particularly murderous. ''You really believe Dumbledore's theory of possession too then? No, he didn't possess Nagini, he can't see into her head, unfortunately. That might have made bringing her back easier.''
''Bringing…' Snape choked, cheeks turning red in anger. ''Are you saying that you were responsible? How? Black said…''
''It does not matter, only that she could be saved before any permanent damage was done,'' Harry frowned, growing serious again at the memory of how hurt the poor snake had been. ''Just as important is that it gave me another opportunity to have some personal talks with the Dark Lord.''
Yeah, personal talks sounded more diplomatic than 'screamed at the man, was cursed and then hopelessly succumbed to his feelings for Voldemort over the course of a few days'. Snape did not need to be privy to any of that happening.
''There was no possession. Not with Nagini, and also not with me as Dumbledore believes. We do have some sort of… connection, but the Dark Lord explicitly wishes for that to remain open at night.'' Snape should know about it, Harry thought. During the few Occlumency lessons where the Potion Master had gained access to Harry's mind, he'd seen quite a bit of Harry's talks with Voldemort, including some scenes of dreams. ''I don't think he'd be very pleased if I'd suddenly block him from entering my mind against instructions. Or do you want to go tell him that I should, in your opinion, try doing so?'' he gave Snape a challenging stare, which was fiercely returned.
''You are playing with dangerous fire,'' Snape hissed.
Harry shrugged. ''Yes, I am. I realise that this is not to your liking, but it's not my fault that you decided to take an unbreakable Vow to protect me. I'm not the one bound by it and won't hold back because it might have consequences for someone who never made an honest effort to help me with any other motivation in mind than protecting your own life. So, was that all? You dragged me in here to chew me out about not using Occlumency?''
''If only it were so,'' the other replied stonily. ''Albus does indeed strongly believe that you have been or are at least at risk of being possessed. As Dolores Umbridge is now in charge of detentions, that means we will have to use the excuse again that you need remedial potion classes,'' Snape spoke with a thin, victorious smile.
''You know I don't need more Occlumency lessons,'' Harry hissed, getting agitated. That would once again mess with the ability to plan D.A. meetings. ''And I don't have time for that!''
Snape pitilessly looked down on him. ''Do you wish to tell Albus yourself that you feel too good for his plans?''
Groaning, Harry relented to his fate. Then, he got an idea. ''As you insist on making everyone believe that I need extra classes so badly, how about we use that time for actual remedial potion lessons?'' he inquired. Snape looked as if Harry really had punched him in the face now, so he pushed on: ''I am bad at potions, I get distracted and it's difficult to work in teams when brewing something that needs constant attention.'' It also did not help that every year so far, potions was unluckily with the Slytherins. Snape's tendency to favour them included trying to make all Gryffindors look stupid and sabotaging their work. Maybe during one-on-one lessons, the man would lose a bit of that tendency and actually use the time to teach. ''Look, if I have to be in here anyways, you might as well teach me something useful,'' Harry argued when Snape did not answer.
''That you must be in my office does not mean that I have to waste my precious time on you,'' the man replied. ''Bring your books and work on homework or make yourself useful by scrubbing some cauldrons!''
Gritting his teeth, Harry once more tried: ''The Dark Lord placed high expectations on my O.W.L. results and I don't want to disappoint. It would be beneficial to you if I get high marks in Potions and I tell him that you are responsible for that, no?''
He should have known to use the Slytherin tactic of offering an advantage in return at the start already. Snape finally looked interested. ''I may be able to spare a bit of time… as your preparation skills also leave much to be desired, you could practise that on ingredients I plan to use in class for the lower years. That way, you can be useful to me as well. I expect you every Monday and Wednesday evening right after dinner. Starting today.'' The tone did not allow room for protest.
It could have been worse, Harry supposed. Some of the Occlumency lessons and the appointments after to keep up the ruse of him being taught had fallen on Saturdays, which had made planning meetings difficult. Maybe Snape had decided that he could spend a Saturday evening in better ways than by annoying Harry. ''I'll be there,'' he replied, feeling as if he'd just won a small victory. Sure, he had to spend more time in these hated dungeons, but at least it wouldn't be a complete waste.
With a portion of the evening already being taken up now, Harry quickly went to the dorms to grab some books he needed for homework. Better to not risk falling behind on the very first day, as he had no idea what might still get in the way. He had to push through a crowd of shrieking and laughing people as Fred and George were demonstrating some of their newest inventions. They'd sure had a lot of time to experiment during the holidays and had apparently made full use of that. Their headless hats especially appeared to be a hit.
As Harry tried to dig out some reference books for history of magic, a small package caught his eye. Sirius' gift, which he'd stowed in his trunk in haste before leaving Grimmauld Place… he'd promised to open it at Hogwarts. As there was no-one around, now was as good a moment as any.
Curious, he unwrapped the plain brown paper and took a peek inside, startled by what he saw. ''A two-way-mirror?'' he muttered. A slip of parchment fell out too, which had short instructions on how to use it and a 'love, Snuffles' written on it. Already owning a similar item, he quickly glanced at the parchment and concluded that it worked identically to the one Barty had given him last year. It looked similar too, and Harry hoped he'd never get the two mixed up. Quickly, he sat down on his bed, closed the hangings and cast a privacy ward before calling out for his godfather. It took a bit until Sirius' face appeared.
''You alright there, kiddo?'' the man grinned. ''How was the first school day?''
''Crap, wish I was with you again,'' Harry honestly said. ''History, Potions, Divination and then a double hour of the worst Defence professor we've ever had. Plus, Dumbledore apparently insists on me continuing Occlumency lessons, so I have additional hours with Snape every Monday and Wednesday again.''
''Ouch,'' Sirius grimaced. ''How is your Occlumency so far?''
Harry debated with himself for a moment, just now realising that it had never come up in conversation before even during last week. Neither had it that Snape was on their side and knew of Harry's contact with Voldemort. Other than with information about the Horcruxes, where Harry could rationalise that it involved himself very much, he wasn't too sure about revealing where Snape stood. Sirius hated the man's guts and Harry could not really rely on his godfather's acting skills being good enough if he suddenly revealed that Snape had been relaying Order secrets to Voldemort for half a year already.
''It's alright,'' he thus said. ''Making progress. Dumbledore was worried about me receiving visions from Nagini during my sleep. He doesn't know that Occlumency could probably not have stopped it as it came from the soul-bond, not from mind-magic or possession.'' Then, he thought of something and revealed the snake fang that he still wore beneath his clothes. ''Also, I don't even need to actively use Occlumency regularly to keep people out unless they look at me directly. This was the first birthday gift that I got from Voldemort. It protects from surface scans and such.''
Sirius grimaced, but only slight, and growled something under his breath. ''Handy to have, I suppose,'' he finally admitted. ''But I don't know about your visions having nothing to do with mind-magic,'' Sirius frowned. ''Sure, I'll take your word on that no active magic took place, but soul and mind are linked quite a bit. These visions still affect you mentally. You've told me also about times that you saw into his head involuntarily. The cause may be that soul bond you have, but that does not mean that closing your mind wouldn't prevent it from happening.''
Harry bit his lip. ''You may have a point. Even so, Voldemort wants to visit me through dreams, it'll be very counterproductive if I have mental barriers up at night just to prevent visions. It would definitely also stop him from entering my mind at times we agreed upon.''
Sirius stared at him for a moment. ''Hold on. Dreams? He visits through dreams?'' the man asked, sounding disturbed.
''Did I not… tell you that?''
''No! Harry, you let him mess with your head by entering it with mind-magic at night?''
''It's not like that!'' Harry defended. ''I usually get pulled into his dreams first of all, so if anything, I could mess around in his head, right? Also, we just talk. There's no weird rituals or dream magic or whatever.'' He conveniently omitted the few times that Voldemort had warped Harry's dreams, thrown him out or actually performed magic that had effects even after waking up. Sirius was already worried enough about Harry to harp on exceptions to the rule. Voldemort wouldn't misuse their connection. Not as long as Harry was cooperative at the very least, he mentally corrected. Feelings and friendship aside, he should not be blinded to Voldemort's tendency to turn situations in his favour.
Sirius appeared to wholeheartedly agree to his unspoken thought. ''You should still not drop your guard. Dreams are fickle and if you are both aware of that you are dreaming, it does not matter who is in whose head, there is a connection that can be manipulated. That is why Legilimency is such a powerful skill. Dumbledore isn't wrong in wanting you to have more defence, even if his reasoning is off.''
''Thanks, I appreciate your concern,'' Harry smiled, touched. He reassured his godfather: ''If I think that he's warping my dreams, I'll break off the connection.''
''That eases my mind. So, what do you think of this method of communication? Cool, right?''
''Very,'' he grinned back. ''It certainly beats trying to write coded letters or trying not to get caught with floo visits. I heard that Umbridge might be able to check the fireplaces. With her possibly being in the possession of a time-turner too, the risk would be too high.''
''A time-turner? Are you sure?''
Harry shrugged. ''Voldemort speculated that she must have one for everything to make sense. She has around 40 hours of classes herself, inspects teachers, sits in on nearly every Divination lesson since Trelawney is on probation and still has time for detentions, teacher meetings and patrols. She's in too many places at once to not mess with time unless she has a secret twin. If so, it's just as evil as she is,'' he joked. ''Where did you get a two-way mirror actually?'' he asked. ''And why did you not want anyone to see?''
''Just like the Pensieve, it was an old family artefact. Unlike the Pensieve however, it's made with dark magic. It permanently warps space to connect two places, that is difficult to do with only light magic. Possible, as proven with the floo network, but difficult as there is no other reagent like floo powder. I don't think Molly would like to know that I kept this. I had half a mind to chuck it out with the rest, but then thought that it would be useful. I used these a couple of times to talk with Remus, but with the current situation in Hogwarts I'd prefer you to hold onto the second one.''
''Is there a penalty to using it? Since it's dark?''
In the small mirror it was difficult to see, but Harry thought that Sirius shook his head. ''It's user-friendly. The maker probably had to give a sacrifice to create it, which is why these are also only created to be used by the maker and then handed over to the next generation if they're lucky. No-one is going to commercially produce something that they would have to carry the negative aspects of.''
''I don't know, people do crazy things for money,'' Harry shrugged. ''Anyways, I have to get going. Hang in tight, and do keep an eye on Kreacher, I still think that he is up to something,'' Harry warned.
Sirius grunted not too convincingly, and Harry doubted that the man had taken the warning seriously. Well, he'd tried. With a sigh, the teen pocketed the mirror, thinking that he maybe also wanted to keep this and Barty's mirror in the Room of Requirement. Then it was at least safe from Umbridge's prying eyes. Ironic that he now had communication devices to contact two people who were wanted by the Ministry, right under Umbridge's nose.
As he realised that there was not much time left for quick studying and it was getting close to dinner time, Harry packed some supplies and went downstairs to eat with his friends. Afterwards, he instantly went down to the dungeons for his new potion lessons with Snape. At least now he did not have to drag his cauldron there for nothing, it had been annoying to carry the heavy pewter thing from the seventh floor to the dungeons and back all because he'd been pretending to have remedial potions.
Snape glared at him like usual, but grudgingly instructed Harry to set up a Wit-Sharpening Potion. Under snide remarks about how he'd really benefit from having a whole cauldron of the stuff on him at all times, Harry ground scarab beetles and cut ginger roots into fine slices. He should not let Snape rile him up, he should not explode, he quietly repeated over and over again in his head. Take the high road… He had enough enemies as it stood, and was bound to make a whole lot more once Voldemort started using him as a public speaker for abused Muggleborns.
Harry had briefly believed that after his last few talks with Snape, the man had shown some moments of weakness. Perhaps being constantly in power over hundreds of students had given Snape's ego a boost again. It was difficult to know what was going through the man's head. Harry felt like Snape was constantly fighting with himself, not knowing how to treat Harry and too rooted in prejudices to change his behaviour even in the face of contradicting facts. Lily's warning had not been enough, and even the knowledge of how Harry's childhood had really been had only slightly made the Professor ease up on the usual running commentary about how spoilt and arrogant of a brat Harry was. Instead, the insults had changed to Harry's abysmal potion skills and 'ogre-like intelligence'. He let it slide, having too much on his plate to fight now, knowing that he was stuck with Snape one way or the other for these lessons.
His potion had turned out better than it usually did during regular lessons, he believed. Snape of course still had judged it 'worthy of a T', but that had been expected. Not even Hermione got great marks although her potions were usually flawless, so he would not take that commentary to heart. It was already valuable to get some more practice in and time to read the instructions without hectically trying to juggle tasks with Ron. Or worse, Neville. He really had a newfound appreciation for Neville after seeing how hard his dormmate worked on improving during D.A. sessions, but Harry could not deny that Neville turned into a mess during potion class. Teaming up with the other then was like doing the work for three people, as it was also a task in itself to calm Neville down enough so he wouldn't break down. Harry had a boatload of respect for Hermione as she always took care of that and still managed to make great brews. She deserved a medal or something. He knew now how difficult it was to manage people.
Although he was already quite tired, there was some time left before he wanted to sleep, so Harry headed to the library, where most people were working on Umbridge's most recent piece of homework. Once there, he filled in Ron and Hermione, although he pretended to really have Occlumency lessons. He'd never informed them of his inexplainable fast progress in mind magic, which he was thankful for now as he wouldn't be able to give an excuse for even Snape wanting to keep up the ruse of Harry needing lessons for it still.
As he quietly changed before heading to bed, his attention was caught by a few slivers of strange fog that drifted in and out of the window. He recalled seeing it out of the corner of his eyes yesterday too, but had been tired from the trip to Hogwarts to pay it any mind. He'd instead caught up a bit with Ron until turning in for the night. Now, Harry approached the fog, stretching out a hand. It stilled and wrapped around his wrist like a snake. It felt freezing cold and emitted soft, sighing sounds.
Harry suddenly felt as if he couldn't move anymore, couldn't breathe. He was focused only on the wisp wrapped around his skin and the clammy feel. Something flickered in his mind. As clear as the first time he'd seen it, the memory of Sirius' corpse flashed through his head. The pooling blood, opened ribcage, severed leg…
It was over as soon as it had come. The fog dissipated, then appeared again just out of reach beyond the window, continuing its pattern of drifting in and out. The Gryffindor tore his eyes away from it and hastily got under the covers, creeped out and afraid. Were these the side-effects of Necromancy that Voldemort had been talking about? If yes, what exactly was it that he'd seen? Remnants of souls that didn't become ghosts? Or was it life that seeped out of the Black Cosmos? The Dark Lord had said that he'd learn to ignore these things after a while… maybe Harry should not pay attention to these apparitions. With a shivering sigh, he turned over and pressed his eyes close, trying to think of something more pleasant. Sirius was alive. He'd seen his godfather just before… Everything was alright.
The next day was not much better than the previous one. The holiday cheer was gone much sooner than usual. The atmosphere in the castle was tense, the kind of tenseness that was ignored by all who did not want to make it worse. Everyone knew that underneath, something slumbering might wake soon. Umbridge made it clear that she planned on changing the entire school to her liking this term, dropped hints about receiving more power by new decrees soon, and students cast her hateful glares whenever they thought they could get away with it. People fell silent as she pompously strode past, other teachers had a harsh edge to their voices or, in Trelawney's case, trembling. Hagrid sounded defeated and announced that he too was on probation now, which Harry honestly wasn't too surprised about. Hagrid had had a target painted on his back the moment Umbridge had laid eyes on the Half-giant. The poor excuses about his absence 'for health reasons' while sporting a blue eye and mangled face had not endeared him to the toad in the slightest either. Hagrid still refused to tell what had given him those wounds.
Other than the news about Hagrid, the first week of the new term passed without any incidents. Thus, Harry managed to scrape by enough time to organise the first D.A. lesson on Sunday.
So it came to be that on Sunday morning, he was greeted with the familiar look of the room that always appeared for their practice sessions. Over the past few months, it had quickly become as homey to him as the common room. During the week, he'd only dropped by here quickly once to hide his mirrors and notebook, which Harry quickly checked once more before joining Ron and Hermione. They all sat down on some soft cushions to wait for the other members to trickle in.
At eleven, everyone had arrived and expectantly looked at him. It was a strange, yet familiar feeling that he'd come to like. His regular teaching crew - Hermione, Ron, Cedric, Cho and Adrian - silently stood a bit behind him now as he faced the crowd. If only Voldemort could see him now, Harry faintly thought while smiling.
''Right, we all know what we're here for,'' he spoke, his voice carrying into the domed room. ''To learn more than we're allowed to. To stick together. For resistance against anyone else who'd see us kept small.''
''Against Umbridge!'' Colin Creevey shouted enthusiastically, almost bouncing up and down.
Harry chuckled. ''Exactly, especially against her. I hope that your holidays were good, but in case it made you a bit too relaxed, I instantly want to start by hammering on the importance of secrecy. We need to be careful again not to get caught. I fear that we can't trust every other student to have our best interests in mind either. I've already had an incident with Edgecombe last term, and then there's Parkinson for example, who will do everything to make our life difficult. If she gets wind of this club, she'll rat us out to Umbridge for sure. Some of the other Head Boys and Girls of other Houses might too out of a sense of duty. So, I want to insist on the following: don't let yourself be seen on the way here, don't practice spells you're taught here anywhere else than in this very room and try not to be seen together if you're from different Houses. I'm sure that she will try to find out our structure by seeing who interacts with whom as soon as she gets a whiff of what's going on. Unfortunately, whatever decrees she comes up with next might give her more edges against us and we have no idea yet what those will be.''
He got some murmurs of agreement and a few grimaces of people who were bothered by how much effort it would take. As long as no-one openly spoke up against these measures though, Harry thought it would have to be enough. He had to trust these people and could not pull everyone aside to give them an extra lecture. That would only backfire if they thought that he was too controlling. He'd seen that the little trust Voldemort had in the capabilities of many of his followers had led to them abandoning him, with few exceptions. It was a good thing that some were so loyal that they could see through the harsh exterior. Most of those apparently sat in Azkaban though, the price that Voldemort and his followers had paid. Harry wished to build up a healthier system between him and his students. It helped that he considered many of them actual friends.
Of course, he couldn't become bosom friends with all of them or expect that everyone would automatically form a tight-knit group. With thirty-nine people from all houses and many different years here, that was impossible. He himself did not have much contact with some students who were a few years younger than he was either, like Astoria, Dennis, Certus and Melis. He mostly let Cedric and Cho deal with teaching the younger ones as Harry had found that he was better in instructing people his own age and older. He got impatient too fast.
''We'll continue focusing on various fire spells this month ,'' he announced. ''We made a good start on it before, but to wield it effectively, we'll need to explore with different variations and see what works best against what. To not get burned, we'll revise some defensive spells to ensure everyone's shields are up to par again, and anyone who does get burned can come to me. Some additional info still to last time: for whoever is interested, I will also cover basic healing charms in between as it's always handy not to have to rely on others for mending your own wounds. Some of you already know these as they'll be covered at the start of sixth year, but most of you don't. Plus, I have looked up some more advanced healing spells that aren't taught at all at Hogwarts which I could introduce later.''
''How'd you come across them?'' Lee asked.
''I had access to some good books,'' Harry hurriedly said, thinking that would be a more plausible explanation than 'I had to mend the skin tissue of my dead godfather so it was a do or die situation in which following Dark Lord Voldemort's instructions to the letter was crucial'. It hadn't been easy for sure, and Voldemort had also had to fix some mistakes before moving on. After the fact, Harry could appreciate how much he'd learned, but while doing it, he'd been too busy trying not to freak out about messing everything up. A slightly more stress-free learning environment was probably better for his own students.
They fell back into routine quickly once Harry gave the signal to start. The D.A. split up in several groups, they revised their shields and then slowly moved onto the first few fire spells he'd taught: Incendio, Inflamari and Igneaffla. He had good hopes that by the end of the month, they'd all be able to cast torrents of fire and streams of lava if he managed to get enough hours in. It was incredible just how many different spells could create a form of fire. Within half an hour, Harry was sweating bullets, trying to shield himself from the flames that shot through the room as he walked from one group to the next, mostly to heal his students. On the way, he was stopped to ask for demonstrations, improvements and explanations by a great number of people. Some also just wanted to chat, which he tried to brush off a bit as he did not feel like talking about how his own holiday had been. Most of it he could not speak about, whether it regarded the Order, Sirius or Voldemort…
Ernie and Justin were both a bit too curious about why Harry and the Weasleys had left school early, and Colin put fuel to the fire by making tactless inquiries about the many rumours that had been going around. Thankfully, nothing about it had made the newspaper. Harry wondered if Barty had blocked anything from being published, as he'd been the one to act as Noctua until Voldemort was of sound mind again. Harry just stepped back to avoid another question under the guise of ducking out of the way of a wayward spell, when he bumped against another person.
''Oh, I apologise,'' Cedric spoke before Harry had a chance to say anything, and the older student steadied him. ''Quite a sight, isn't it? I imagine that our last Defence Professor would have appreciated this spectacle.'' Then, he grimaced. ''If he wouldn't have been a Death Eater, I keep forgetting that, sorry.''
''You don't need to apologise so often,'' Harry laughed, though it was refreshing to talk to someone who so openly apologised for small things. Most people he'd interacted with recently were either too proud, stubborn or both to do so. ''How is it going?'' he asked, trying to peek over Cedric's shoulder at the younger students, who were having a go at dummies rather than each other to spare them a few scrapes and burns.
''As expected,'' the Hufflepuff informed him. ''The fire breath spell is rather advanced already, I'm not sure if they'll get that one down, let alone the next few elemental spells you have planned. I'm trying to get them to focus on repeating some others. I think they're frustrated by the lack of progress, but I'm trying to cheer them up. Some of them are only in their second year, after all.''
''Looks like you have everything under control then.''
''Seems so, though it can't hurt for you to talk to them as well. Oh, speaking of having things under control… they released a cure!'' Cedric said with a wide, excited smile on his face. ''The Ministry of France actually released the cure for dragon pox, and it's being picked up by all other hospitals worldwide. So many lives will be saved by this!''
Harry was not so optimistic about that, as he knew that the lives of these few might mean a starting decline in donations for medical research. It also was not a great sign that the British Ministry had been too stubborn to take the step before France did. ''They really had no other choice after it was discovered that there's been a cure for ages. I do wonder if funds will drop now…'' he speculated.
Cedric remained optimistic, his bright grey eyes sparkling. ''You know, I am in my final year now and got a bit of status due to the Tournament. I've been thinking of going into politics,'' he announced. ''I spoke up rather strongly already to the press about caring for the public, and I want to do everything in my power to create a better government. Criticising the current situation is easy, but changing it from within is what really matters,'' he seriously spoke. Then, he wavered, as if his confidence dropped. ''Do you think it's a good idea? I truly value your advice.''
There were loads of factors to consider, yet Harry did not have time for careful weighing of pros and cons right now, and did not want to leave Cedric hanging either. The Gryffindor inhaled deeply and spoke from his heart: ''If this is a matter that you care so deeply for, try it. You're likable, your dad works in the Ministry already, and you have contact with the head editor of the main newspaper in two powerful countries. Graduating from Hogwarts as a Head Boy and Triwizard Tournament Champion will also improve your chances of making it. However, be careful that you aren't always too optimistic. Fudge is no fan of the Daily Prophet at the moment nor of the articles you helped create, and you know how his undersecretary is. You'll be bound to have a lot of enemies who don't want you to succeed in gaining popularity. If you're confident that you can deal with that, then by all means, try to improve the world. Every sensible person will see that you're honest and true in what you want to achieve. You're a good person, and a loyal friend. The people should be able to see that.''
By the end, Cedric's cheeks had reddened a bit. ''I didn't expect such praise,'' he muttered. ''I'll still think on it of course, but right now this is what I want. If I manage to get all my N.E.W.T.s, that is,'' he worriedly added.
Harry laughed. ''As if there is any doubt about that! Aren't you among the top of your year?''
''That doesn't mean anything if I suddenly draw a blank during an exam,'' Cedric sighed. ''That is what happened with my O.W.L. in Arithmacy two years ago. I suddenly could not add up singular numbers anymore when I was staring at the parchment and got a 'Dreadful'. It was one of my best subjects before that point... The practical exam made up for it a bit, but altogether I only got an 'Acceptable', which was not enough to continue taking at N.E.W.T. level.''
Harry pulled a face. ''Don't make me nervous! I still have to take my O.W.L.s, you know!''
Cedric instantly became apologetic again, which Harry waved away. ''I'll survive the exams somehow. If not, I'll move to a remote little island where no-one can ever find me and live a happy life hidden away,'' he joked. Though if he really did fail his O.W.L.s badly, he might as well. It was preferable to the option of admitting failure to Voldemort. Whether it was worse to anger or disappoint the man, Harry hadn't decided yet. Maybe he should have pushed for staying at Riddle House. For all the Dark Lord's painful teaching methods, Harry at least hadn't needed to write any tests.
He whirled around as right next to them, Astoria released a frustrated cry and threw her wand at the dummy, face splotched with red.
''Hey, what's going on?'' Harry asked worriedly, hurrying to pick up the wand and inspect it. The blow did not appear to have done any damage, but the wand did not feel right. Not in the way some wands at Ollivander's had not felt right and made something explode for him. Harry got the feel that it was not resentful towards him, rather to its owner. ''Here.''
''I don't want it, it's useless anyways!'' the girl replied, sounding close to tears even though her expression was one of fury. ''It won't work!''
''What are you trying to cast?'' Harry asked, mentally trying to think of what he could say without sounding too harsh.
Astoria huffed and crossed her arms, eyes glittering as she glared at the floor. ''I want to breathe fire.''
''It takes time, you're giving up too fast. It's not like all the others managed it yet either, right?''
She straightened her shoulders and now directed her glare at him. ''That others can't do it does not mean that I should not already be able to! I am the only Pure-blood among these, I should be able to learn the spells far before anyone else! The problem must be my wand!''
Harry tiredly closed his eyes and cursed the previous generations for messing up their children's heads with nonsense ideas once again. ''The problem is not your wand,'' he bluntly spoke, looking at the piece of dark wood in his hand. It emitted a few blue sparks. ''Magic is a gift, which is handed out equally to all of us, blood notwithstanding. There are two things that you should keep in mind. One: you have to put in just as much effort and understanding as everyone else here. Two: pressuring yourself because you think that you are naturally be better than others is not productive, especially as it isn't based on any confirmed theories.''
As he'd expected, her face reddened even more, and he envisioned Nagini rearing up when offended as Astoria looked at him with a disbelieving and hurt expression. ''What do you know! You… you Half-breed!'' she shouted. Harry thought that the girl could be lucky that the noise in the room was so overwhelming that her exclamation had been heard by no-one apart from the small group of younger students plus their two tutors. Cedric appeared to be affronted on Harry's behalf and was already stepping forward when Cho held him back and shook her head silently. Most of the others looked like they were highly uncomfortable and unsure of what to do. Only Dennis had gotten just as red as Astoria, but in anger.
Before things could escalate, Harry laughed at the insult. ''Half-breed, that is a new one. Yes, it's true, my mother was a Muggle-born. And yet…''
He twirled the girl's wand into his hand and inhaled slowly. The more he practised, the more in touch he became with his magic, and Harry had noticed that each moment he spend with Voldemort, even when not actively performing magic, that feeling strengthened. The Gryffindor felt each of his muscles and bones as they got into the exact right position, his breath slowed even further upon visualising the effect before the spell formed on his tongue.
''Vulcaneo Magmanimus!'' he spoke calmly, heat rushing through his right hand through the unfamiliar wand and further still. Astoria yelped and jumped back as liquid lava formed in the air around them, slashing upwards in patterns that only Harry could control and predict now. In the light it emitted, both fear and awe were visible on the faces of those around him as he made the lava stream through the air to swallow all three straw targets at once, leaving not even cinders. Other groups around them stilled to look at the show. Harry made the substance take the shape of his Patronus, a burning stag galloping into the air. When it finally disappeared in a rain of fiery droplets that he caught with a flame-freezing shield, he'd moved much closer to the girl. A storm of applause and a few whistles crossed the room, noise which he used to bent down to whisper into Astoria's ear: ''Did you know that the Dark Lord is a Half-breed too? Magic has nothing to do with blood. Nothing. It's a fairy tale that far too many people believe in. Get it out of your head.''
Astoria gave him a last look, though it was calculating rather than angry now. She held out her hand, at which Harry handed her back the wand. He didn't think he needed to rub in further that the problem had not been her wand either after casting such a high-level spell with it while it didn't even belong to him. It also must have been a wand that chose her, it did not look like it had seen many different hands.
It reminded Harry of other times in which he'd had to use different, sometimes very unwilling or unfitting wands. During most of the summer after his third year, he'd used the wand Barty had stolen from someone else, which had sometimes caused unexpectedly strong results. Harry had never found out whom it actually had belonged to apart from the description of 'a drunk in Knockturn alley', and had left it at Riddle Manor. Harry hadn't needed it anymore the second summer since that bubble dimension had been erected. Other than that, he'd occasionally used Ron's or Hermione's wand over the years if his own wasn't in his back pocket as usual. Ron's new wand worked a bit better, but the old one had been a nightmare, and Hermione's didn't really like him very much. From the moment he'd picked up Astoria's wand though, the teen had been pretty sure that he'd be able to use it quite well.
However, although it was true that wrong wands could hamper spells, it also heavily depended on the aptitude of the caster. It made sense, for if it all depended on the channeler, then wandless magic would be pretty impossible. Once people could perform wandless magic, they usually had enough skill to turn most any wand into a useful tool, unless it was broken or actively worked against the caster. Not that he was on that level yet. Harry really wanted to learn a bit more about wandlore as the subject sounded interesting to him, but for now he needed to focus on more useful, practical magic. Maybe once Umbridge was out of the picture, he could do some research on a not so essential subject.
As soon as Astoria had grabbed her wand and turned back to her group, Harry asked the room for new targets and left the younger students once again to Cedric and his girlfriend. Harry moved on, joining some members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team in an effort to break up a fight between the Twins. It turned out they hadn't actually been mad at each other and only had wanted to have an excuse to practice some hexes on each other. Harry left the stern lecture to Hermione and just walked away shaking his head in exasperation. Those two…
''Nice piece of work,'' he heard from behind . The drawling tone already told him who'd spoken before turning around to face Draco. ''The stag, that is. Not you. Your hair is terrible again.''
Harry scowled and self-consciously ruffled his hair a bit. ''Shut up, it's fine how it is.''
''Really?'' Draco critically asked, eyeing the plucks that stood in all directions. ''There are more attractive styles.''
''If my hair is someone's biggest concern about me, I'll be pretty happy,'' Harry dryly replied. Besides, Voldemort didn't seem to mind his messy hair, had even carded long, cold fingers through it occasionally… Harry swallowed as his mouth got suddenly rather wet when thinking of the Dark Lord's elegant hands. ''A-Anyways, what do you need? Burned yourself?'' he asked.
''I know how to heal, don't insult me,'' Draco scoffed. He casually waved his wand around and whispered a quick incantation that Harry recognised as a privacy ward, which was confirmed by the slight shimmer in the air. ''You're not the only one who knows some extracurricular magic. My parents always let me practise during summer. No, I wished to… catch up. One picks up some interesting titbits here and there, but the full picture is something else. I recall someone saying they wanted to share secrets with me. Have a listening ear in difficult times. You look stressed, Potter.''
''Still onto that huh,'' Harry grumbled, though he wasn't entirely annoyed. Draco hadn't been the most reliable or friendly companion, nor the best listener. However, there was currently no-one else at Hogwarts whom he could share the full story with - or most of it anyways. Harry didn't want to make Snape any wiser than he was, Harry's friends were obviously out apart from knowing the most basic details about Harry's visions, and talking through the mirror with Barty or Sirius just wasn't the same. ''Fine, I'll give you another chance,'' Harry decided. ''But this time will be the last if I notice that you once again prattled details to anyone else, understood? Not even the other D.A. members. It happened once too many that suddenly half of Slytherin knew more than they should.''
Draco huffed, clearly disappointed. ''Fine, fine. It better be a good story,'' he spoke, and gave Harry an expectant look, at which the teen raised an eyebrow.
''Instead of waving your wand around during summer, maybe ask your dad about political tact. I'm in the middle of teaching in a room that the Weasley Twins are clearly trying to burn down with their antics. I don't have time for a casual chat, Draco. It's too open here anyways. It'll be suspicious if I suddenly talk to you for an hour after avoiding questions this whole week. We both have a gap hour on Tuesday afternoon, right? How about I search you out then? I'll send you an owl with the meeting place.''
Draco grudgingly agreed, none too soon as a misfired spell broke down their silencing barrier and both teens needed to duck out of the way to not get burned. Harry could have stopped it with a shield, but his Seeker reflexes always opted for avoidance first from years of trying to dodge Bludgers. Malfoy did get hit, his sleeve catching fire, another sign that the pale blond really wasn't fit to be on the Quidditch field.
The rest of the evening was tiring but rewarding. Hermione, Ron and he snuck back to Gryffindor tower under the invisibility cloak after all the others had slowly left, shuffling slowly as it didn't quite fit three people anymore, mostly due to how much Ron had shot up into the air. Mrs Norris wasn't anywhere to be seen, and for the short trip to the other end of the floor, they relied on the darkness to hide the fact that three pair of sneakers now and then appeared out of nowhere. The usual scolding from the Fat Lady wasn't given, she hadn't given them hardship anymore since Umbridge had tried to question the portraits about the comings and goings of students. The Fat Lady had been rather offended and given a lecture about 'questioning integrity' and 'honour-bound secrecy'. Both pink ladies had left that conversation with their nose up in the air.
Harry halted for a moment as he entered the room, the sliver of white fog taunting him from beyond the window again. A shiver ran across his back, and he kept an eye on the thing even as he changed and got under the covers. The curtains finally blocked the view, yet could not chase the image from his head. Shining strands ran through his mind, and he imagined hearing soft whispers everywhere, which became even stronger as he closed his eyes.
The whiteness thickened, and Harry was at the graveyard where Voldemort had been resurrected, low fog curling over the hill and between the graves. Light shone from somewhere above, and when Harry looked up, he saw four coloured moons slowly make their way through the sky. He tore his gaze away and started walking hurriedly to the exit. Only there was no exit, the graveyard simply repeating itself as white strands curled at his ankles mockingly.
''Interesting meeting place.''
Harry halted his attempts to escape the fog and looked at Voldemort, who had been leaning against a large statue of a representation of Death to his right. The Gryffindor wasn't certain if such a statue had stood at the graveyard of little Hangleton. Last time he'd been here, Harry had been too busy worrying about the resurrection to pay much mind to the scenery. The man loosened himself from the shadows, inky robes fluttering as he took a step into Harry's direction. Two deep red eyes shone from underneath the hooded robe.
The teen stumbled forwards, desperate for some familiarity amongst these depictions of his current fears. Voldemort's arms were cold too, but not the bone-deep chill that thing had left. Odd, in the waking world he would probably have been much more reserved after the way they'd last parted, but nothing felt more natural now than to seek closeness.
''Sorry, I wish I had invited you to a more pleasant place,'' he answered after he'd gotten the hug he'd wished for.
''I regained my body and magic here, it's a very pleasant memory,'' Voldemort reassured him. ''Is it not for you?''
Harry jerked his shoulders. ''When looking at it like that, I suppose. But it's still a graveyard, and I haven't had the greatest experiences with death and the dying recently.'' He shivered slightly again when thinking about the bizarre sliver in the boy's dorms. ''You said I would have side effects from the Necromancy rituals… visions and such. I didn't expect them to be so strong.''
Voldemort walked to one of the flat graves and sat down, staring up at Harry. ''They shouldn't be strong. Ignore them and they'll go away in time. They aren't useful.''
Harry hesitated, wondering whether he should even talk about it then. ''There are these white moving things… they kind of look like mist, and move. What are they?''
Voldemort frowned. ''Remnants of the dead that haven't entirely crossed nor became ghosts. Usually they are of Muggle or Squib origin as those do not have the necessary magic to hold their soul and mind together long enough after death to create a ghost. It's unknown why they don't move onto the Black Cosmos and several Necromancers wasted their own lives trying to solve that mystery. Everything from outward circumstances to violent deaths has been theorised, none confirmed.''
''There is one in Gryffindor tower. Or rather, outside it? It goes in and out of the window. When I came close, it wrapped itself around me and… I saw Sirius. How he'd been before the resurrection,'' Harry whispered, disturbed. ''I know that he's alive, but in that moment all I felt was dread.''
''Gryffindor tower? There were rumours about one of the caretakers throwing himself from that tower, but that was so long ago that I'd be very surprised if it's from that. Usually these phenomena don't last long.''
''There was one in your house as well,'' Harry recalled. ''Near the fireplace.''
The other seemed to ponder on that for a bit, white fingers absentmindedly rapping against the rough stone. ''Still? It's been a year since I killed Bryce. My grandparents' remnants disappeared after a couple of days…'' Voldemort mused as if they were discussing the weather. ''Never saw my father, might not have enough humanity left to leave anything behind.'' Harry frowned, noting that this must mean Voldemort had not been much older than him when starting with Necromancy. ''But we're drifting off. They are curiosities of nature that have no direct purpose or use. If you let this affect you, if you fear it, you will only hamper your own progress. There's nothing you can do apart from shutting them out mentally.''
Harry had silently hoped that Voldemort would have more useful advice, but the words did not come unexpected. If even the Dark Lord said that there wasn't any more to it, Harry couldn't imagine that he'd come to a different conclusion. ''I'll try,'' he promised. ''These things are not dangerous, are they?''
''No. Most people can't even see or feel them. It's only because you are more in touch with the other side that you can see these leftovers of life, clinging to the outside of the Shroud. There are bound to be thousands more from other creatures that you can't see as you are not close enough to them. Dead animals, plants…'' Suddenly, Voldemort looked up critically at the moons that still circled above their heads. ''Enough of that now, we have other things to discuss that are more pressing. At the end of this month latest, I want to publish the Muggleborn article. For that, I still need to hear your thoughts so I can formulate it like you would.''
''You want to interview me? Here?'' Harry asked, astonished.
''Would you rather I send an owl with a list of questions?'' Voldemort sarcastically asked. ''We can both speak to each other here without anyone listening in. Come, sit with me.''
The situation was pretty bizarre in Harry's opinion. Around them was still the threatening graveyard upon which the looming moons of the Cosmos shone. He felt like he was at the edge of a nightmare that could turn bad at any moment, and only Voldemort being here prevented that from happening. Now the other wanted Harry to sit down to have a possibly emotional talk about his opinions on and personal experiences with the treatment of mages who grew up with Muggles? And would they really leave all the baggage of their last meeting behind without mentioning it? Everything about this felt off and wrong. Sirius' words came to mind, but Harry pushed them away. He hadn't seen Voldemort in two weeks, breaking off the connection voluntarily now was out of the question.
''Can we move to a different place?'' he pleaded. ''A different dream?''
Voldemort cocked his head and gave him a blank stare. ''This is your dream. We can if you wish it.''
But Harry didn't know how to manipulate his own dreams, it would be easy not to have nightmares anymore if he would. ''Not everyone has perfect control over their own mind,'' he glumly spoke, sitting down on the gravestone as well, leaning in close so they almost touched shoulders. The Dark Lord sighed audibly and turned to the side to face Harry.
''I'll help you this once,'' he spoke, and placed a hand against the side of the teen's face. ''Close your eyes again.'' Harry did, and it was a strange experience to be aware that he was still dreaming even if he could not see it. It was the first moment that he realised people must never blink in their dreams. Before he could follow that thought, the pleasant deep voice continued: ''Take a step forward, let it take you to any place you have been before which you have positive connections to. Show me. Share with me where you feel safe.''
Harry breathed in deeply as he let his mind wander, and upon opening his eyes again, they were on the shore of the Black Lake. He'd dreamt of this exact place before… In the distance, the towers of Hogwarts shimmered, not entirely formed as he could not recall the shape or position of each one. Something tickled against his cheek, and Harry realised that Voldemort only now removed his hand. A pang of loss went through him.
''Now, onto the interview…''
Soo, this time Harry will not have an itnerview with the Quibbler, but instead with the Daily Prophet ;P Let's see how Umbridge will react to that...
I hope you all like Harry being back at Hogwarts! I'll be more closely following the canon storylines again where I can, but by now so much changed that there won't be many details left to still put in there. For those who are reading along in Order of the Phoenix, I'm now at chapter 25 'The beetle at bay', but obviously, Rita is dead, Harry doesn't really have Occlumency anymore, doesn't have awkward interactions with Cho and the Death Eaters did not escape Azkaban X'D
Instead, you can look forward to talks with Draco and a controversial newspaper article!
Thanks so much for reading and especially to everyone who left a review!
xx GeMerope