Chapter Thirteen – The Writing on the Wall
"What's going on here? What's going on?" Attracted no doubt by Draco's shout, Argus Filch came shouldering his way through the crowd. When he saw Mrs Norris, he fell back and clutched his face in horror. "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs Norris?" He shrieked. And then his popping eyes fell on Harry. "You!" He screeched, launching himself at Harry who screamed and flung himself backwards, slamming his back against the wall, allowing Filch to grab him by his robes, causing the students who could see them to gasp. "You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll–"
Harry was terrified. Was this how he was going to die? Was Argus going to kill him and then throw him into the sewer? Harry looked at the group of students watching with wide, fearful eyes. Why weren't they doing anything to help him? Where was Draco? What had they done to him? Why wasn't Draco helping him? Was this his punishment for the way he treated his friends? Where were Fred and George? Why weren't they helping him? Where was Severus?
"Argus!"
Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers, Severus included. Harry and Severus locked eyes and the man moved to help him, only to be stopped by Professor McGonagall. In seconds, Dumbledore had swept past all of the students and gently pried Filch's hands from Harry's robes. Harry quickly bolted away from Filch and stood near the other professors as Dumbledore detached Mrs Norris from the torch bracket.
"Come with me, Argus." He told Filch. "You, too, Mr. Potter."
Lockhart stepped forward as Professor Flitwick quickly made his way over to Harry and wrapped a comforting arm around him. "My office is nearest, Headmaster – just upstairs – please feel free–"
"Thank you, Gilderoy." Dumbledore said. Flitwick gently led Harry towards Professor Lockhart's office; the silent crowd parted to let them pass. As they entered Lockhart's darkened office there was a flurry of movement across the walls; Harry saw several of the Lockharts in the pictures dodging out of sight, their hair in rollers. The real Lockhart lit the candles on his desk and stood back. Dumbledore laid Mrs Norris on the polished surface and began to examine her. Flitwick gently pushed Harry into a chair that was just outside the pool of candlelight, before moving to stand beside Dumbledore.
The tip of Dumbledore's long, crooked nose was barely an inch from Mrs Norris's fur. He was looking at her closely through his half-moon spectacles, his long fingers gently prodding and poking. Professor Flitwick was just as close, his eyes scanning and observing everything he was seeing. Severus was standing behind them, half in shadow, eyes flicking over everyone never staying on one person for longer than a minute, his unreadable mask securely on. And Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making suggestions.
"It was definitely a curse that killed her–" Harry flinched at that, would they believe him about Ginny (or her look alike) or would they think that he was the one that killed her? "Probably the Transmorgifian Torture–" Harry blinked and looked at Lockhart like he was stupid. Harry had read about that curse and knew that most of the victims that were killed by that curse always ended up looking grotesque and mangled. It was clear that Mrs Norris was not struck by that curse. "I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there, I know the very counter curse that would have saved her…"
Lockhart's comments were punctuated by Filch's dry, racking sobs. He was slumped in a chair by the desk, unable to look at Mrs Norris, his face in his hands. As much as he detested Filch, Harry couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for the man, though not nearly as sorry as he felt for himself. If Dumbledore believed Filch (or that raving idiot Lockhart), he would be expelled for sure.
Dumbledore was now muttering strange words under his breath and tapping Mrs Norris with his wand, but nothing happened: She continued to look as though she had been recently stuffed.
"…I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadougou," Lockhart continued, "a series of attacks, the full story's in my autobiography," Harry rolled his eyes and balled up his fist (half of him wanted to bash Lockhart's head into the wall until he stopped talking, the other half wanted to run away), "I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets, which cleared the matter up at once…" The photographs of Lockhart on the walls were all nodding in agreements as he talked. One of them had forgotten to remove his hair net.
At last Dumbledore straightened up. "She's not dead, Argus." He said softly. Lockhart stopped abruptly in the middle of counting the number of murders he had prevented, and Harry nearly jumped for joy.
"Not dead?" Filch choked out, looking through his fingers at Mrs Norris. "But why's she all – all stiff and frozen?"
"She's been Petrified." Dumbledore announced and Harry's moment of joy dissipated as he remembered the situation he was in. ("Ah! I thought so!" Lockhart said. "No, you didn't." Harry muttered under his breath.) "But how, I cannot say…"
"Ask him!" Filch shrieked, turning his blotched and tearstained face to Harry causing the boy to flinch half expecting the man to grab him again.
"No second year could have done this." Dumbledore said firmly, however he had a strange and dark look in his eyes as he looked at Harry. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced…" Harry's mind flashed back to his possessed body conversing with Dumbledore in the Hospital Wing last year.
"He did it, he did it!" Filch spat (bringing Harry back to the present), his pouchy face purpling. "You saw what he wrote on the wall! He found – in my office – he knows I'm a – I'm a–" Filch's face worked horribly. "He knows I'm a Squib!"
"Bullshit!" Harry yelled, before shrinking down in the chair as everyone looked at him, including all the Lockharts on the wall. "I-I-I never touched Mrs Norris." He muttered wishing to be anywhere else than here. "And I didn't even know Filch was a Squib."
"Rubbish!" Filch snarled causing Harry to flinch, expecting a blow at any moment. "Him and his brother saw my Kwikispell letter!"
"If I may," Severus suddenly spoke up, receiving a nod from Dumbledore, "Harry may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. I did have a meeting with him just before the feast." There was a pause as Severus looked to be battling himself, he sighed before he continued. "However, it is true that Harry was absent at the feast…" Harry felt his heart drop. Did Severus believe he did this? Would the man even believe him?
"After our meeting, I…got lost in thought and just wandered around until I stumbled upon Ginny (or someone that looked just like her) writing on the wall." Harry explained slightly embarrassed, it wasn't unheard of for Harry to wander around lost in thought, it was actually quite common.
"Why would Miss Weasley be in that corridor? Why would she be writing on the wall?" Dumbledore asked, however the undertone of his voice caused Harry's hackles to rise.
"I don't know." Harry growled out. "I'm not her, nor am I a mind reader. You could ask her yourself…" His mind recalled the way Ginny had moved. "…though I'm not sure she would even recall writing on the wall." He muttered.
"Why do you say that?" Flitwick asked and Harry shrugged.
"She didn't seem to be in control of her body. She was moving awkwardly, almost as if she were a puppet on strings." Harry told him. It fell silent for a long moment. "Am I gonna get punished?"
"He's admitting to Petrifying my cat!" Filch cried.
"I'm not admitting to anything!" Harry cried.
"There is no evidence at all that Harry did anything!" Severus hissed out.
"Innocent until proven guilty." Flitwick said firmly, giving Dumbledore a hard stare who was just slowly nodding. Filch looked furious.
"My cat has been Petrified!" He shrieked, his eyes popping. "I want to see some punishment!"
"We will be able to cure her, Argus." Dumbledore told Filch patiently. "Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs Norris."
"I'll make it!" Lockhart butted in. "I must have done it a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep –"
"Excuse me." Severus snapped icily, glaring at Lockhart. "But I believe that I am the Potions Master at this school." There was an awkward pause as everyone watched Severus stare Lockhart down.
"You may go." Dumbledore told Harry, who didn't need to be told twice and all but ran out of the room. As he slid around the corner, he bumped into a group of older students that had obviously snuck out of their common room to try and eavesdrop. After the moment of shock, Harry quickly danced away from their hands and ran the other way, down the corridor and into the first secret corridor he came across and quickly made his way to the Ravenclaw tower.
After sneaking into the tower, he made his way to the Ravenclaw library and hid in a dark corner. Almost exactly a minute later, Harry saw Luna step into the library and caught his eye. Luna stayed just in front of the door watching Harry with a dark look in her eyes, making Harry wonder what she was thinking and if he should be worried. Was she mad about what happened earlier that day? Was she mad about what just happened? Was she angry with him? Did she not want to be friends with him? He wouldn't blame her if she didn't want to be friends with him.
After a long moment, Luna blinked and (with a small nod to herself) the dark look was gone, as if it had never been there in the first place. She smiled airily at him before skipping over to him. "You're scared." Luna told him as she sat in his lap and forced him to wrap his arms around her.
"Of course, I'm scared, if the Chamber of Secrets is open, does that mean that my dream will come true?" Harry asked, resting his forehead on her shoulder. Luna hummed and forced the both of them to lightly sway.
"No, that's not what you're scared of." Luna told him, causing Harry to laugh in shock. Though he liked hanging out with Luna, he still couldn't understand how her mind worked or why she said the things she did.
"Oh, really?" Harry asked in a joking manner. "Then, tell me, oh all seeing Luna, what am I scared of?"
"Dumbledore." Luna told him softly and the light and joking bubble that had surrounded them popped and Harry tensed up.
"Why would I be afraid of the Headmaster?" Harry whispered, part of him was terrified, was he actually scared of Dumbledore? Was that why he acted the way he did around the headmaster? Was he scared that the headmaster would keep him away from Severus? Would Dumbledore only keep him around to be a shield for his brother?
"I don't know, you haven't told me yet." Luna hummed out, bringing Harry out of his thoughts.
"What do you mean I haven't told you yet?" Harry asked, Luna was silent for a minute.
"What were you doing in that hallway." Luna asked and Harry gently took Luna's chin and forced her to look at him.
"No, ma'am, you're not changing the subject on me." Harry told her, making sure to lock eyes with her. "Tell me what you meant when you said I hadn't told you yet." Luna easily twisted her body around so that she was straddling him before gently taking his face in her hands.
"When you're ready to know that answer, the answer will be shown to you." Luna told him softly. The two of them stared at each other before Harry felt a pull on his soul to tell Luna everything.
"I told the professor's that I had been lost in thought, but that's not the truth." Harry whispered to her, Luna didn't say anything, just waited for him to finish. "I-I heard a voice."
"You should tell your friends." Luna told him.
"What if I tell them and they think I'm a crazy freak?" Harry asked, tightening his hold on Luna who hummed.
"Do you really think they will think that about you?" Harry didn't respond and Luna sighed. "You should have more faith in your friends, especially Professor Snape." Harry looked away. "If you trust him with your secret then he'll trust you with his secret." Harry looked at Luna and the two of them sat in silence, and yet Harry felt as if the two of them were having a silent conversation that, even though he was the other participant, he wasn't part of. They stayed that way until the grandfather clock chimed twelve times.
"It's midnight." Harry whispered, half afraid of breaking whatever trance the two of them were in.
"Then we better get off to bed. I have a feeling that the next few days will be rather interesting." Luna told him with a smirk that Harry found himself matching.
-Keep Me In Your Memory-
The next morning Harry woke up with Luna standing over him with a soft smile as she held Loki. "Sleep well?" She asked as Harry sat up while blinking the sleep out of his eyes. It was only then that Harry realized that he had slept through the night without the aid of a dreamless sleep potion. He gave a small chuckle as he shook his head.
"I need to apologize to Myari; it seems that she and her grandmama were right about talking about how I felt during my nightmare." Harry said. Luna hummed happily before she turned and left his dorm. Harry smiled as he stretched before slipping out of bed. He popped his back and turned to get dressed, Harry had forgotten how great a good night's sleep had felt. As he changed, the hair on the back of Harry's head stood up as he suddenly felt eyes on him.
Wondering if Terry had come back (seeing as the boy was gone when he woke), Harry turned around only to find that no one was there. A little freaked out (and more that worried that he might actually be crazy), Harry quickly finished getting dressed, grabbed the books he needed for his morning classes, before bolting out of his dorm. Thankfully the feeling of being watched left him the second he left his dorm.
"Sleep looks good on you, Harry." Myari greeted him the second he exited the Ravenclaw tower.
"It's all thanks to you and your grandmama. And I'm sorry for what I said to you yesterday." Harry told her and she waved his apology away.
"It's all right, Harry, I knew you were only lashing out and didn't mean anything you had said. Plus, my grandmama had warned me you might lash out." Myari told him with a smile that faltered, she looked like she wanted to tell him something but didn't know if she should or not.
"What?" Harry asked and Myari sighed.
"Draco is refusing to leave his room. I think he blames himself; he's convinced himself that he was the one to call Filch to the scene last night. He's even made himself believe that you now hate him." Myari told him. Harry kicked himself, if he hadn't lashed out at them or if he hadn't wandered around as long as he had then he could have apologized to Draco last night and then Draco wouldn't feel like this. The three of them started walking towards the Slytherin Common Room. "Speaking of last night, you didn't get into too much trouble, did you?" Harry stopped walking and glared at her.
"Why would I get in trouble? I didn't do anything?" Harry snapped at her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you had done anything. I was just worried that they thought you had done something, because if they did, then I was gonna fight them." Myari said, from her playful tone he knew she was just joking about fighting them. Her tone caused Harry to smile, and she smiled back.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you. I guess I'm still on edge about what happened last night." Harry said just seconds before he felt as if he was being watched, the same way he had been watched alone in his dorm.
"What did happen last night?" Myari asked as Harry glanced over his shoulder, but there was no one there. However, he did catch a glimmer of magic. Someone was using magic to hide themself to spy on him. Someone was watching him, waiting for him to do... something.
"Let's go see if we can get Draco out of his cave. Once we're all together, I'll tell you my side of the story." Harry told them with a tight smile. Myari looked at Luna with a confused look, however, Luna just took her by the hand before leading them to the Slytherin Common room.
-Keep Me In Your Memory-
As the trio came to the Slytherin Common room the door opened and Draco stumbled out with puffy red eyes that seemed to be glued to the ground, it was clear that he had been crying. Harry shot forward, concerned about his friend. Him shooting forward caused Draco to look up, shock and fear flashed across his face before he hid his face with his hair and tried to push past them. Myari caught his arm, forcing him to stop.
"Let me go." Draco ordered, however his voice trembled and sounded like he was trying to keep from crying.
"Harry has something to say to you." Myari told Draco, causing him to tense up.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you and called you a spoiled brat." Harry told him before pulling Draco into a hug, causing him to flinch. It was clear that Draco hadn't expected to be hugged. After it sank in what was happening he began to fight Harry, trying to get Harry to let him go. Once Draco realized that Harry wasn't going to let go he stopped fighting and allowed his arms to fall limp.
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Draco asked as he began to cry silently. "Why?" He hid his face in Harry's shoulder. "I am a spoiled brat. I got you into trouble. You shouldn't want to hang out with me, let alone look at me."
"Yes, you are a spoiled brat." Harry told Draco who began to fight the hold once more, however, Harry held tight. "But I wouldn't have you any other way. Because if you were any different then you wouldn't be my Draco, my spoiled Dragon."
"Harry..." Draco whispered before wrapping his arms around Harry, finally returning his hug.
"As much as I'm glad to see you two making up, I need a word with Harry," Severus said from behind them, causing Harry and Draco to jump apart while blushing (this caused Severus to raise an eyebrow at them), "alone." By the tone Severus had, Harry knew that whatever Severus wanted to talk about had to do with last night. Harry tensed up; he wanted nothing to do with anything that had happened last night. Half of Harry wanted to run away from Severus and hide, the other half wanted to get this talk done and over with. Harry sighed as Luna's words to him from last night floated through his mind.
"I'll see you guys later." Harry said before following Severus to his office. The trip there was filled with a tense silence and Harry fought the urge to fidget and pick at his robe. When they got to Severus's office, Harry stood nervously in front of Severus's desk as the man sat down before awkwardly shuffling some scrolls on his desk, as if he was physically looking for the perfect words to say. Harry began to pick at his robe as he began to worry his lip wondering if Severus was going to start the conversation or if he was waiting for Harry to start.
Severus sighed before taking a deep breath and looked at Harry. "Come here Harry." Severus said softly as he motioned for Harry to walk around the desk. After a second of hesitation, Harry walked around the desk as Severus turned his chair. "Before you start over thinking, and questioning who I believe, let me tell you something: No matter what happened last night, I will always be on your side. I will always fight for you." Severus paused and Harry knew it was to allow him to process what he had just said.
However, even though Harry knew the words and what they meant his mind just couldn't connect them to him. Harry didn't know if he ever truly had anyone on his side, to fight for him. There were times were he thought Haiden was on his side, but he couldn't seem to be able to remember a time where Haiden fought for him instead of for them. And yet here Severus was saying he would fight for him.
"O-okay." Harry said awkwardly causing Severus to sigh and gently pull Harry onto his lap and wrap him in a tight, comforting hug.
"You don't believe me, and you won't until you've seen the proof with your own eyes because words are just that: Words. But eventually, there will come a day where you will believe me and know that I am on your side." Harry felt guilty for not believing Severus, he really wanted to, but why would anyone want to be on his side? His side was full of weird and unnatural happenings, no one would ever willingly want to be on his side.
"Now, I heard Filch's side last night, and part of your side, I want to hear the rest of your side." Severus told him and Harry's mind raced. What did Severus want to know? What did he want Harry to say? What could Harry say that would get the man to believe him? "Just start with what happened after you left my office." Harry's mind flashed back to Luna's words from last night.
"I wasn't lost in thought when I found my way into that hallway." Harry told Severus who just raised and eyebrow but didn't say anything. "But I didn't petrify Mrs Norris!" Harry quickly added. "I-I might not have liked that cat but I would never have hurt her!"
"I never thought you would." Severus told him and Harry felt warmth and more confident that Severus might possibly believe him. "But that doesn't mean you couldn't have done it."
"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked quietly, knowing exactly what Severus was talking about and he was afraid of it. Severus opened his mouth only to sigh and close his mouth with a shake of his head.
"It's nothing for you to worry about," Severus was trying to hide the possessions from him and instead of feeling grateful Harry felt angry, "I'm doing everything I can to-"
"No." Harry hissed out, cutting Severus off gaining a shocked look from the man. "No, don't do that! Don't treat me like a child! I know that I'm only twelve but I have been through more than most children my age! My brother and I lost our parents before we could even walk and talk! We had to live with our abusive relatives that shoved us into a cupboard under the stairs for the first eleven years of our lives! I had to find out that I wasn't a freak and that I was a wizard from Hagrid, who then proceeded to abandon me in Diagon Ally! I lost control of my magic and nearly died last year! I was possessed multiple times last year! And now to top it all off I'm hearing voices and being accused of using black magic to petrify a stupid cat! I do not need you treating me like I'm made of glass and could shatter at any moment!" By the end of Harry's speech he was crying and his magic was rising from his skin causing his hair to gently float around him. Severus didn't say anything, all he did was pull Harry closer to him and begin to gently rock them.
"It's okay. Just breathe." Severus began to run his fingers through his hair. "I understand why you don't want to be treated as a child, however you need to understand my reasoning." Severus gently forced Harry to look at him and wiped away some of his tears. "You have been under a lot of stress and I don't want to add anymore stress." Harry went to open his mouth to tell Severus that he could handle it, that a little stress wouldn't hurt him. "I'm also new to all this parenting stuff, I'm not used to worrying about anyone other than my life partner. I don't know what to say or do, what is normal or not. We're both the independent type, we don't know how or when to ask for help and we both like to take on things that might be too heavy a load for just us to carry. So, this is going to be something that we're going to have to learn to navigate together." Harry felt strangely both happy that someone had been able to notice that about him and embarrassed that he was so easy to read.
The two of them sat in a comfortable silence as Harry finally began to calm down. "You mentioned hearing voices." Harry tensed up at that, had he really let that slip? "Would you mind elaborating?" Harry gulped, would Severus think he was crazy? Would he no longer want to adopted him? Luna's words from last night floated through his mind again.
"I heard a disembodied voice twice..." Harry muttered after some hesitation. "First at the beginning of the year, after asking you about what a crush was and then again last night. It was how I wound up in that corridor." He told Severus.
"You followed a disembodied voice to the corridor?" Severus asked sounding both concerned and slightly disappointed (and was that a hint of annoyance at the end?). Harry shook his head.
"No, I was trying to run from the voice." Harry told him embarrassed.
"You ran away from the disembodied voice into the corridor? Why didn't you just come back to my office?" Severus asked.
"I didn't hear it right outside your office, it was after I had bumped into Hermione, Haiden, and Ron..." Harry told him. Severus sighed in annoyance and Harry didn't know if it was in annoyance at him or the whole situation.
"All right, lets start from just after you bolted from my office. What happened?" Severus told him with a soft smile, reassuring Harry that the man wasn't annoyed at him.
"After I left your office, I was running down the corridor–"
"Why were you running in the corridor?" Severus asked and Harry blushed.
"I was embarrassed." Harry muttered.
"You were embarrassed? Why?" Severus asked and Harry's blush deepened and Harry shrugged.
"I haven't had the time to figure that out, yet. However, once I do I'll be sure to inform you." Harry told him with a soft smile causing Severus to give out a small huff of a laugh that quickly turned into a laughing fit that slowly turned into tears. Harry began to panic when Severus started to cry while also laughing, and though Harry could hear the man still laughing, the sad look on Severus's face Harry could tell that these were not happy tears.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked. Had he done something wrong? Did he say something to upset Severus? Would the man still want to adopt him? Harry gave a small yelp when Severus pulled Harry into his lap to hug him close.
"Don't worry, it's nothing bad. You just looked and sounded so much like your mother that for a second I forgot that she was no longer with us." Severus told him as his tears came down faster. Harry clung to the man as his mind raced, trying to figure out how to stop Severus's pain. He went over everything that had happened just before Severus started crying, trying to found out what he had done so as to never do it again.
"I'm sorry..." Harry whispered.
"No," Severus told him, pulling away just enough to stare into Harry's eyes, "never apologize for having so much of your mother in you. She was the smartest and the strongest person I have ever met. She would be proud to have you as a son. She would be the first to brag about how much you take after her. She would enjoy sitting down with you and discussing how you see the world. She would gush with you about the latest book you had just finished, wondering what you thought about it before suggesting more books like it. So, never apologize for reminding me of your mother, be proud." Severus pulled Harry back into a hug, and they sat there as Severus just cried. Harry didn't know what to do, how does one comfort someone (let alone an adult) when they cry? Harry awkwardly wrapped his arms around the man. After a long moment, Severus slowly stopped crying, however, he still held onto Harry for another moment before he pulled back and allowed Harry to slip back up onto the desk.
"Right," Severus said with an awkward cough and ran a hand through his hair allowing Harry to see that the tips of his ears were tented a light red, "so, you were running from your embarrassment, and then what?" He said, clearly wanting to get back to the matter at hand.
"Yes, sir. And then, when I turned a corner I ran into Hermione (literally). We spoke for a little bit before she invited me to Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party." Harry explained.
"Deathday Party?" Severus asked and Harry felt excitement bubble up inside him.
"Right! I had never heard of a Deathday Party! If I hadn't needed to apologize to Draco and everyone, then I might have accepted the invite! It would be interesting to find out what one did at a Deathday Party!" Harry looked away deep in thought.
"And then what happened?" Severus asked, seeming to know that if he let Harry ramble, they would never finish this talk, Harry blushed.
"We went our separate ways, and I did let my mind wander a little as I tried to sort through my thoughts. I was brought out of my thought by the voice." Harry said.
"What did it say to you?" Severus asked and Harry opened his mouth to inform Severus when something in the back of his mind stopped him, and all that came out was a choking sound. "You don't have to tell me if it's too much for you." Severus told him, clearly concerned and worried. Harry took a moment to collect himself, wondering what had just happened, before he continued.
"I-I then tried to run from the voice. That's when I stumbled upon Ginny (or someone that looked like Ginny) in the corridor writing on the wall." Harry explained, his voice was suddenly hoarse as if someone had physically strangled him to keep him from letting Severus know what the voice had said.
"You keep saying 'someone that looked like Ginny' are you thinking it wasn't actually the young Weasley?" Severus asked and Harry took a moment to think, and something was whispering that it had actually been Ginny.
"No, I-I think it was Ginny... I just don't have absolute proof that it was her, so I guess I'm just trying to give myself an out should, on the off chance, that it turns out that it wasn't her." Harry allowed his mind to recall every detail he could from that night. "Though, as I mentioned last night, she might not remember."
"Because she looked like she wasn't in control of herself?" Severus asked, and Harry nodded. The two of them sat in silence as both of them thought over everything. Movement off to the side caught Harry's attention and he nearly screamed when he saw a man covered with a dark cloak, the hood was covering his face so that only his mouth was showing.
"I'm scared." The man whispered and Severus looked at Harry in concern before gently pulling Harry into his lap.
"I know, but I'm here, I'm going to do everything I can to help you." Severus told Harry, confusing Harry.
"I'm running out of time." The cloaked man whispered.
"What do you mean?" Severus asked pulling away from Harry to get a good look at him, Harry saw Severus's eyes widen in fear and concern, scaring Harry.
"I'm loosing who I am." The cloaked man whispered and Harry's mind registered that this man was using Harry's body to speak. Was this the person who had possessed him last year? Harry doubted that, the voice was different. "She needs to hurry. I need to help her. I need to lay the groundwork in making my return easier."
"Return? What return? Who is this 'she'?" Severus asked in a guarded voice. Harry noticed the cloaked man look towards the door and Harry's body moved by itself and looked at the door seconds before someone knocked before entering without permission. Dumbledore entered the room with Lockhart behind him, took in the scene before raising an eye brow.
"Oh? Are we interrupting something?" Dumbledore asked as the cloaked man appeared behind Dumbledore with a glare. Harry didn't know how he knew the cloaked man was glaring at Dumbledore, he just seemed to feel the glare.
"No, sir, I was just leaving." The man hissed out between his teeth, causing Harry to receive another raised eyebrow from the old man. Harry felt his body slide off Severus's lap, easily dodging Severus's hand as the man tried to keep him from leaving.
"Oh, don't leave on my account." Dumbledore said with a strange look in his eyes. Harry's body casually walked around Severus's desk and over to Dumbledore and the very confused looking Lockhart.
"You should know, Professor, I don't do anything on your account." The cloaked man hissed and, for a split second, Dumbledore's normal 'grandfatherly' look turned hard. "Please excuse me, sir, classes should be starting soon and I need to get ready." Harry's body went to walk around Dumbledore, only to be stopped by the old man as he laid a 'gentle' hand on his shoulder in slightly tight grip that Harry knew would leave a bruise. Harry's body glared at the man from the corner of his eye.
"I just wanted to let you know, Harry, that I believe that you didn't petrify Mrs Norris and that if there is anything you wish talk about, my door is always open to you, you can trust me." Dumbledore said, his tone alerting Harry that the man had figured out that he was once again possessed. Before Harry could even think about trying to stop his body, his body swiftly kicked Dumbledore in his crotch causing Lockhart and Severus to gasp (though Severus's gasp sounded more like he was covering a laugh) as the man fell to his knees clutching his crotch.
"The only thing I would trust you with, Headmaster, is your ability to always put me and my brother in life and death situations." The cloaked man had bent over and hissed in Dumbledore's ear, this allowed Harry to get a good look at the man. They locked eyes and the world around Harry began to blur and fade out. Harry gasped as his head snapped up, gaining strange and worried eyes of his fellow classmates. Harry looked around and noticed that he was sitting next to Draco (who was now checking him over to make sure everything was okay) in the middle of his Magical History class. Professor Binns was explaining to them legend of the Chamber of Secrets. Harry looked down at his notes, wondering if he had dozed off and if all that had been a really strange dream. Fear shot through him when he caught sight of his last note:
I apologize for taking over you, I know how much we hate that. I did not realize how close I was to you. But do not worry, I fix the timeline, no one will remember what transpired between you and the Professor.
– The Forgotten One
