Chapter 11: Clear Skies and Creepy Voices

Thanks for all the reviews.

Okay, so I dictated this chapter, and can I say that I hate editing. So if you see more errors than usual, that's why. My hands still hurt because of the editing, but… we'll see. I'll keep practicing. Maybe, it's a frustrating process.

Let me know if the flow is different. I think it is. But that just may be me.

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Harry was hearing things and he didn't know who to tell. He had been sleeping when he awoke to a creepy voice in the walls talking about how hungry it was and that it wanted to kill. He was terrified. The next morning, he fretted. He wrote to Millie first thing, but did he tell Phil?

They were getting warmed up for their jog, but Harry was distracted. He wasn't paying attention and stretched wrong. "Ow," he said as he pulled something incorrectly.

"Harry?" Hermione questioned, making many look their way.

"Are you okay?" Phil asked, coming up to them.

"Yeah, I just pulled something wrong," Harry said, rubbing his leg.

"Let's get you to Madam Pomfrey," the older boy said, putting his arm under Harry's and guiding him away. "You lot continue on. I've got him," he told the other second and first years.

"Alright," Hermione said, taking charge of the younger years.

"I needed to talk to you anyway," Harry said as he limped to the Hospital Wing.

"Oh," Phil said in a questioning tone.

Yeah, I think I heard a voice in the walls last night, Harry said, looking everywhere but at Phil directly.

Are you sure you heard something? Phil questioned.

"It was really creepy. I was asleep and then I heard this voice say, 'I'm hungry and I need to kill something.', Well, I'm paraphrasing, but that's what it sounded like it was saying," said Harry, whispering as it was really creeping him out that he was hearing these voices.

"Did anybody else hear this?" Phil asked, looking around to see if anyone else was up and about. He didn't want anybody to think Harry Potter was crazy.

"No, I don't think anybody else was awake," Harry said, raising his voice to normal for that part. They'd made their way down the hallway by this time and were almost to the Hospital Wing.

"Madam Pomfrey," Phil called. "I've got a patient for you," he said as they entered. He shuffled Harry over to the bed and set him down, putting his foot up on the bed to make sure the calf was elevated.

Madame Pomfrey came bustling in and asked, "What happened?"

"I just pulled something when I was stretching. I'm sure it's nothing," Harry said, grinning like a kid that didn't want to get yelled at for eating the biscuit.

"Well, let me take a look at it. I'm sure you're fine," she said, waving her wand over the leg. She saw that there was nothing more than a pulled muscle. Another quick wand wave and the muscle was fine. "There you go, Mr. Potter, you're all good," she said, giving him a pat on the leg and sending him on his way.

"Blimey, Harry, you're lucky. She usually makes me stay in overnight," Phil said, as they hurried out of the Hospital Wing.

"What do you think I should do about the voice I heard?" Harry asked, as they made their way back to the exercise area. They both decided to see if they could get some exercise in before they went to breakfast.

"I guess let it go for now. If you hear it again, talk to Dumbledore," the older boy said, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Talk to Dumbledore," Harry said with the note of incredulously. "I've only ever talked to Dumbledore once before. Do you think he'll talk to me now?" he asked, shocked at the suggestion.

"He's the headmaster," Phil said firmly, squeezing a hand on his shoulder. "It's important. This could be a danger to the school." He was concerned that somebody might think his little friend was crazy, but better to be thought crazy than a danger happening to the school.

"I suppose you're right," the preteen said, dragging his feet a little bit. "If I hear it again, I will talk to the headmaster."

"Come find me and I'll go with you," Phil offered. He wasn't going to let his little friend go up there alone without some form of support. That's why Millie asked him to be there in the first place. And he was going to do what she asked him to do, come hell or high water.

"Alright," Harry said, brightening at the prospect of not having to go alone.

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It was coming up on Halloween and Nearly Headless Nick had invited Harry to his Death Day Party. Harry wasn't sure how he felt about that. He had asked Hermione and Neville if they wanted to come with him. They weren't sure how they felt about it either. On the one hand, it was an experience. On the other hand, it was an experience. It wasn't like a birthday party which was a happy occasion. It was celebration of a death.

Harry asked Phil if he wanted to go. Phil said no. Phil warned him that there'd be no food at that party and that it was cold and bitter in the basement. He told him if he was to go, then to bundle up and make sure that he brought his own food. He said he knew this because he had gone to the Fat Friar's. Hufflepuffs stick together after all.

Harry made sure to tell Neville and Hermione that he was going. And that if they were coming that they were going to be bringing their own food. They decided to go and to do just that. If only to be friends with Nearly Headless Nick.

A good time was not had by all. They met Moaning Myrtle, and she was not a happy person. Peeves picked on everybody, especially Moaning Myrtle. The Headless Hunt came about, and Nearly Headless Nick could not participate. He was very depressed about that.

It was on their way back to the dorms that they ran into a petrified Mrs. Norris. She was hanging from a sconce on the wall. There was water on the floor. Harry thought he heard the voice in the wall again, but he wasn't sure. They were about to leave the scene when the rest of the student body came up the corridor.

Draco Malfoy said some derogatory and threatening things.

Mr. Filch came upon the scene and started accusing Harry of petrifying his cat. Harry denied this, of course. He had no idea why this man was accusing him of hurting his cat. He had never done anything to the cat. Ever. He had never even been out after curfew where he'd seen the cat. He had never even had detention where he had seen Mr. Filch. If he had been a troublemaker, he could understand why Mr. Filch had such hatred for him, but he never had.

The teachers came, and somehow Harry got roped into the whole thing. He was not happy. The next day, he complained to Phil.

"I don't know what to do about it," he said, crumbling up some parchment and tossing it away. They were sitting in the Great Hall during study period. "It seems like every time something happens around here, I get blamed for it."

"That's not true, Harry. It just seems that way," Phil said, knowing that Harry had stayed out of trouble all last year, but had been kidnapped at the end of the year. Well, there was Snape and the broom incident.

"I know I'm just brooding. Sometimes I wish Millie were still here. She always seems to be able to snap me out of this. But what do I do? I didn't have anything to do with Mrs. Norris being petrified," he said, slumping down in his chair.

"I'm sure the teachers will see that with time," the older boy said, writing something on his homework assignment. "Until then just do your Quidditch, your schoolwork, and keep your head down." He wrote a bit more and turned and smiled at Harry and gave him a squeeze on his shoulder.

"Alright," Harry said, sitting up and starting on his homework. He had his own study group to get to later and he wanted to get some of this done before then. He had quidditch practice before then, so he had little time.

"You have the quidditch game coming up versus Slytherin, right?" Phil asked, turning back to his parchments and books.

"Yeah, that's right," Harry said, pausing in his reading. "We're gonna be playing Draco for the first time. I'm gonna laugh my arse off." He could just picture it in his mind, how badly Draco was gonna play on his fast broom. The ponce had no idea how good Harry could play. Harry had not lost a game yet.

"This will be his first time playing and I'm pretty sure you'll be best," the older boy said, chuckling a bit.

"Yeah, that's gonna be fun," Harry agreed, still going over in his head how the game was going to go.

"There you go," Phil said, smiling at his little friend. "You've got that to look forward to."

"Thanks, Phil," the dark-haired preteen said, looking at his watch and gathering up his books. "Well, I better go practice," he stated, putting all his books and things into his backpack.

"Alright, you go do that. I've got work to do anyway," Phil said, going back to his homework. With that Harry parted.

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It only took a week for everything to die down. And Harry was no longer being accused of petrifying Mrs. Norris. The game came and Gryffindor won, with Harry catching the snitch. Draco didn't even come close, though he did follow Harry around the entire time. There was no interference with the game. It wasn't even a close call.

There was a great party afterwards. Nobody knows how the alcohol got introduced to the party, but McGonagall was not happy. It was a good thing that only the upper years partook.

Harry heard the voice again. He didn't find out until the next morning that somebody was petrified. This time it was a first-year boy named Colin Creevey. Nobody knows what he was doing out after curfew.

Harry was scared to go to the headmaster. With somebody being petrified and him hearing voices, he was afraid he was going to be accused again. But he really didn't have any choice. He went to go find Phil.

"Phil, I heard the voice again last night," he told the boy after he dragged him to an alcove off the side of the corridor. He had been walking down the hallway when he spotted him going to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Are you sure?" Phil asked, going pale at the thought. This was much more serious than just a cat being petrified. This was a student.

"Yes, of course I'm sure," Harry said just as pale as the other boy. The boy that had been petrified, Colin Creevy, was the stalker of Harry's. He was always going around taking pictures of Harry and Harry was getting annoyed with it and everybody knew that. So if he went and told the headmaster that he was hearing voices. He was more than likely going to be accused.

"OK, let's go talk to the headmaster," Phil said, though he was very reluctant to do so.

With that, the two of them went to go find the head office.

The headmaster's office was on the second floor, guarded by two gargoyles. Neither of them knew the password. But Phil knew it was candy. So, he started naming off all wizarding candies, and found it to be the Everlasting Gobstopper. They went up the moving stairs and were about to knock on the door when a voice called out. "Enter".

"Hello, Headmaster," Phil said as they entered the ostentatious office. "We have a problem."

It was a circular office that had gizmos everywhere. There was a huge desk in the middle with chairs in front of it. There was a telescope that pointed out the window in the back and a spiral staircase that led up to the second floor. There was a firebird on a perch that was watching them from near that staircase.

"Whatever could be the problem, Mr. Blake?" the old man said from behind his desk as he folded his hands over his ever long white beard. He looked over his half-moon spectacles and peered at the two boys standing in front of his desk as if they had done something wrong.

"Harry here has been hearing voices in the walls," Phil said, gently laying a hand on Harry's shoulder and nudging him forward.

"Is that true, Mr. Potter?" the old man said, turning his twinkling blue eyes to the youngest boy in the room.

"Yes, sir," Harry said, looking everywhere but at the old man's eyes. He really did not want to be accused of petrifying Colin Creevy. He also didn't want to be accused of being crazy. Only crazy people heard voices nobody else could.

"Oh dear," Dumbledore said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "That cannot be good. We will have to endeavor to see what can be done about this. Please tell me what you've heard and start from the beginning and leave nothing out." He grabbed some parchment, ink and quill and poised to take some notes.

So Harry sat and told him everything he knew, from the first time he heard the voice to the last time he heard it. His voice was shaky, and he was very scared.

Dumbledore took notes, asked questions, and generally tried to figure out what was going on. Phil, the entire time, had his hand on Harry's arm. To offer support. He was not going to let his little friend go through this alone.

"Well, Mr. Potter, this is indeed very concerning," Dumbledore said, finishing off the last of his notes. "You are the only person who's heard these voices so far?" he asked, peering over the top of his glasses in a grandfather-like manner.

"Yes, sir," Harry said, still not quite meeting the old man's eyes.

"Oh dear," the headmaster said again. "Do you know where they are coming from?" He asked one more time.

"As far as I can tell, they're in the walls," Harry said, confusion etched his voice.

"Well, Mr. Potter," Albus stated, running a hand down his beard with a twinkle in his eye. "I thank you very much for coming to tell me. We will do what we can to solve this mystery. I ask that you and your friends do not do anything. As a matter of fact, do not tell your friends. Leave this to the adults and we will see what can be done. Mr. Blake, I'm sure you want to help as well, but I ask that you also leave it to the teachers." He turned his attention to the older boy.

"No problem, headmaster. We will leave it in your hands," Phil said, getting up to leave. He prodded Harry to stand.

"Yes, sir," Harry said, getting up quickly at the prod, more than ready to leave this office.

With that, the two left the office.

"Thanks for coming with me, Phil," Harry said after they made it down the moving staircase. "I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to be with me."

"Of course, I came with you, Harry. That's what Millie asked me to do," Phil said, slapping him on the back in a friendly manner.

"Still, you didn't have to do it."

"Well, that's what I'm here for. If you need me again, just come and find me," the older boy said, sincerely.

"Alright, I'm gonna go find Hermione and Neville. I'll see you later, Phil. Thanks again," Harry said, rushing away from the awkward situation. It was hard for him to be sentimental with anyone but Millie.

Speaking of Millie, she had written back and said that if he heard the voices anymore to keep away from them and to tell the headmaster every time. To keep Phil informed and to make sure to stay safe. She was only an owl away. It came quickly so she must not have been that far away. He sure did miss her, and if she was close, he hoped to see her again, soon.

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Harry found Hermione and Neville discussing how to make Polyjuice Potion. They decided they were going to find the Heir of Slytherin. Hermione's bright idea was to brew Polyjuice potion and sneak into the Slytherin common room and to see if Draco Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin or if he knew who it was. After all, the boy bragged over it often enough.

Harry wasn't too sold on the idea. He didn't think Draco was smart enough to be the heir and he was a braggart like Lockhart.

Speaking of Lockhart, no one knows what Phil said to the man, but he'd been subdued since. He simply had them reenact his books and was just polite and simple.

Anyway, Harry went to find Phil. He couldn't find Phil, but he did find Amy.

"Amy, I don't know what to do. Hermione wants to brew Polyjuice Potion and go into the slithering common room," he said, coming up to her in the corridor as she was going somewhere. He was just randomly wandering around looking for Phil and spotted her.

"Dear Merlin, Whatever for?" Amy asked, putting her fingers to the bridge of her nose.

"She thinks Draco Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin, or knows who is," he explained, keeping up with her longer gait.

"Oh, that girl," Amy bemoaned. "I'm going to have to talk to her." She turned and started in the opposite direction.

"She's in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," Harry called after her when she started walking faster.

"Thanks, Harry. I'll go find her." With that, Amy took off to find Hermione before she did something stupid. She found her in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom setting up a cauldron. "Hermione, what on earth do you think you're doing?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips, making the younger girl squeak.

"Nothing," Hermione said quickly, trying to hide the cauldron behind her back.

"Harry already told me what you're doing," Amy said, trying not to come off like she was bossing the girl around, but giving advice, "and I'm here to talk you out of it."

Hermione was very upset that Harry ratted her out. She knew what she was doing would get her in big trouble, and she knew it was dangerous, brewing a potion that was way above her age level. But still…

"But…" Hermione said, looking down at the ground.

"But nothing, young lady," Amy said softly in a kind voice, coming up to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "You are far too young to be brewing Polyjuice Potion." She ran a hand down the bushy hair in a gentle manner.

"But I know I can do it," the teen protested.

"Oh, of that I have no doubt," the older teen said, kindly. "But you're still too young and it's far too dangerous." It was too. even the most experienced teenagers thought twice before brewing this type of potion.

"Well, maybe you could help me," Hermione tried with hope in her eyes.

I could, but I don't want to know who the Heir of Slytherin is," Amy stated, deflating the other girl's hope just like that.

"Don't you want to know who's opening the Chamber of Secrets? Or who petrified Colin Creevy?" Hermione asked, not understanding how someone couldn't want that.

"No, and neither should you. You should be leaving it up to the teachers," Amy said, a bit more firmly than necessary.

"But what if they don't find out who it is? They didn't find out who was after the Philosopher's Stone last year," the younger girl pointed out. "And Harry almost died," she added, stomping her foot.

"Last year they didn't go to the headmaster," Amy said, knowing that it had been hard for the first years last year. It warped their view of authority. "This year, the headmaster knows. How about we give it a few days and see what the adults do? If nothing is done, then we'll see what happens."

"Fine," Hermione said, folding her arm in a defiant manner. "But I'm keeping a close eye on the situation," she huffed.

"And I'll help you," Amy agreed. And with that the two of them took the cauldron down and went to the Great Hall for lunch. Harry looked her way, and Amy gave him a nod, saying that everything was okay. For now.