It has almost become embarrassing how often in the recent past, have I posted a chapter and started it off with an apology for being delayed. Yet, here I am, doing the same, once again.

Life has been a bit difficult and busy for a long time now. I have been struggling with a few things. And writing has taken a back seat in all of that.

Well, never mind all of that. I'm back with Chapter 66. Enjoy!

Harry cautiously walked towards the suitcase. The moment he reached close enough, his eyes tracked the entire body of the suitcase before it fell on the opening. Harry cautiously peeked inside the suitcase. Unlike regular suitcases, this one had a big gaping hole.

"Extension charm," wondered Harry, his confusion and cautiousness slowly turning into curiosity.

Without a footing in sight, Harry's shivering legs stepped inside the suitcase. Almost immediately, his feet found the ground. Every so carefully, Harry continued stepping down the suitcase. A few steps in, his eyes that were staring into the darkness of the suitcase caught some artificial light.

"A world inside a suitcase? It's bigger on the inside," thought Harry, shocked by what he was witnessing.

However, before Harry could continue marvelling at the sight, a potent rush of energy hit him from the left and he fell to his right, clutching his ribs.

Instantly, Harry started gasping for breath. As he took heavy breaths, his eye spotted a shadow walking towards him, the stomping of a cane reached his ears.

Benjamin White walked over to Harry, his cane pointing towards him.

"What... was that... for?" asked Harry breathlessly, as he held his ribs tightly. As Harry began to get back to his fight, another spell hit him and he fell on his back with a thud.

"Aargh!" yelped Harry in pain.

"I thought you were supposed to be good," remarked White bluntly, as he stared at Harry with disdain.

Wincing in pain, Harry swiftly pulled out his wand and pointed at White.

"Stu..." began Harry, but before he could chant the spell, White twisted his cane at Harry and Harry got knocked down once again.

"Too slow," remarked White with a straight face.

White jerked his arm that was holding the cane and instantly, the cane transformed into a wand.

White pointed the wand back at Harry and effortlessly lifted his into the air and held him, a few feet above the ground, for a few seconds before propelling him away towards a tree. Within seconds, Harry found himself immobile and bound to the tree.

Harry struggled to get out of the shackles, but his attempts were to no avail.

White watched Harry for a few seconds.

"Tut tut tut..." he reacted with a smirk on his face and turned around to walk away.

Some minutes passed away. From the moment White left to that moment, Harry struggled and struggled to untie himself, but he was unsuccessful. And unfortunately for him, he couldn't reach for his wand. His wand, the phoenix feather, lay on the ground far away, White had made sure it was far away. And his other wand, his mother's wand, the one given to him by John was in his pocket, another inaccessible location.

Harry looked around, hoping to find a solution. The grandeur of where he was tied hit him, however. There would be no better way to describe where Harry was than to call it another world. A world within a world.

His immediate surrounding looked simple. It looked like an everyday woodland, though, unlike the real world, this one did not seem to have a Sun or any visible source of light.

"Magic," sighed Harry, getting more and more hopeless by the second.

What was the point of all of this? What kind of lesson was this? And so many more confusing questions ran through Harry's mind.

Harry had just about lost all hope in the world when he suddenly looked down. It was just an intuitive thought that had come to his mind. And to his shock, he could move his hands freely. Not just his hands, but within moments, Harry realised that he could move his entire body.

Like a free man out of an eternal cage, Harry's spirit came back to him in an instant and he ran towards his fallen wand and picked it up.

Harry looked around, hoping to spot White lurking in the corner somewhere. But a few moments later, he found White walking towards him casually.

Benjamin White had his wand pointed at Harry immediately, a jet of white light escaped his wand and this time Harry was ready for the attack.

"Protego" screamed Harry and slashed his wand against the oncoming spell.

It was just the start as White began a persistent attack on Harry, each one Harry blocked and shielded himself from.

After a couple of minutes, White glanced at Harry and paused. Harry stared back at him and looked around suspiciously.

"Why the sudden pause? What's the trick?" he wondered.

Without needing a second invitation, Harry launched an attack on White.

"Stupefy," muttered Harry and a jet of red light escaped his wand.

White, with a smirk on his face, simply waved his wand and the spell seemed to vanish into thin air.

"Stupefy"

"Stupefy"

"Expelliarmus"

And White handled each one effortlessly.

Getting frustrated with his efforts going into vain, Harry pointed his wand away from White and at the trees to the left and right of him. In one motion, Harry muttered, "Incendio" and slashed his wand across.

The trees surrounding White burst into flames. Almost instantly, Harry pointed his wand at the flames and yelled, "Engorgio" and the flames erupted even further.

White, who had been watching the past few seconds unfurl in front of him curiously, soaked at the moment with a tiny smile on his face for a couple of more seconds before he pointed his wand at the flames. Instantly, the flames extinguished, and so did the smile on his face.

White walked towards Harry briskly.

"Mr Potter," he began and stared at Harry.

"Yes, Professor," retorted Harry confidently.

"We are about to embark on a journey... A journey of self-discovery filled with pain. By the end of which, you may collapse, or you may emerge a man capable of taking down the dark lord. I hope it's the latter," remarked White in a cold tone.

"Yes Professor," retorted Harry, from a newly found confidence.

"A word of caution, Mr Potter?" remarked White. "We will be crossing boundaries in this training program... If you are one to cry and give up, I suggest we part ways immediately," he added.

"And one last thing... If I find out that you've told Albus, Minerva, Ron, Hermione, Petunia, Dudley, Daisy, Remus, Sirius... Jane... or anyone about what happens in our session... Tut, tut, tut... You won't have to worry about Voldemort killing you," finished Benjamin White strongly.

Harry stared at him, stunned. He had never thought he would ever have to hear such words from a Hogwarts professor. But there he was.

"Yes, Professor..." replied Harry blankly.

Life at Hogwarts settled down. The initial excitement and energy of the first 2 weeks had dissipated and the students had once again gotten used to the classes, heavy homework, snide remarks from Snape and everything in between.

It had been close to a month since school started. They were closer to Halloween than to the beginning of the school year. The duelling club had been active for more than 3 weeks now, and it had been a rousing success. Not only did it bring back the competitive edge in students, but it also helped build bonds that otherwise would have been dormant.

Ron and Harry had so much more happening with themselves compared to the rest of the school. Ron, on the one hand, had tried out for the keeper position in quidditch and had managed to impress Angelina enough to get a spot in the squad. And at the same time, he had been offered a chance to train with Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster himself. And as far as that training was considered, it had been an excellent experience for Ron thus far.

Harry, like Ron, had a lot of things on his plate. OWLs and classes aside, Harry was back in the quidditch team after a year's suspension. However, unlike Ron's sessions with Dumbledore, Harry had very little to be delighted over his sessions with White.

The sessions were exhausting and almost always ended with Harry having multiple bruises that kept his concentration away from everything else in his regular life. Professor White had turned out to be someone Harry got heavily intimidated by. His demeanour during Gryffindor's combat sessions, or during their duelling sessions was like chalk and cheese compared with how he behaved with Harry. A warm and funny side to everyone, and a cold and ruthless side to Harry. Regardless, the only thing that kept Harry motivated was the potential end result.

It became evident to Harry within the first few minutes of his first session with White that he was nowhere near White's level, and by extension, Voldemort's level. Any hope Harry had of fulfilling the prophecy depended on his sessions with White. So, he bit the bullet and kept pushing.

Harry, apart from all these things, had one more thing to worry about. His most recent Voldemort vision had yet to materialize. Whatever Voldemort was planning, was yet to be executed. Or so Harry thought. He was just about to find something out.

The 5th-year Gryffindor students were in their charms class, practising the silencing charm. And right when they were in the thick of it, there was a hurried knock on the door and in walked Professor McGonagall hurriedly.

"Professor Flitwick," she exclaimed. "Apologies for my rude interruption. I would like to borrow Mr Weasley," she remarked looking worried.

"Sure, Professor McGonagall," retorted Flitwick. Ron got up from his seat, looking a little confused.

Ron and Professor McGonagall left almost instantly, without another word. Harry and Hermione stared at each other, wondering what could have possibly happened. The worst came to both of their minds. Ron did not return back to the class.

So, once they were done, Harry and Hermione quickly got away and went in search of Ron. He was nowhere to be seen in the common room and no one seemed to have seen him, anywhere. Just as Harry and Hermione made their way to the great hall, they bumped right into someone.

"Ouch," cried Cedric with a slightly discomforted look. "Hermione," he exclaimed, the moment his eyes laid on her.

"Oh... I'm so sorry, I didn't see you coming," retorted Hermione, looking apologetically.

"It's alright, was my fault... wasn't looking," retorted back Cedric, however his usual smile not returning back on his face.

"Are you alright?" asked Hermione, looking concerned, while Harry stood beside her agitatedly.

"Uh... actually, no... Haven't you heard?" retorted Cedric. Harry glanced immediately at Cedric.

"What happened?" he asked, shocked.

"Death eaters took over Bucharest and other parts of Romania a few hours back... There have been countless casualties... mass murders... The Romanian government succumbed to You-know-who. Help from all over Europe is on its way as we speak," replied Cedric, looking pale.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, terrified. Only one thought on their mind, "Charlie".

"Oh no," gasped Harry.

"Listen... we have got to find Ron. Have you seen him?" asked Hermione, hastily.

"He was with Professor McGonagall," replied Cedric. "They were headed to Professor Dumbledore's office," he added. And without waiting another moment, Harry dashed away and Hermione quickly followed him.

However, when they reached Dumbledore's office, there was none other than Severus Snape waiting for them.

"Where is he?" asked Harry frantically as he arrived, breathless.

"The headmaster... has matters to attend to... that are... none... of your business, Mr Potter," replied Snape coldly.

"Where is Ron? We need to see him," retorted Harry, annoyed.

"Professor Snape, just tell us where Ron is," added Hermione.

"Mr Weasley and his twin brothers... have gone back home... to spend time with their family," replied Snape. "Now... if you'll excuse me... I have better things... to do," he added and walked away.

The moment Snape walked away, Hermione couldn't contain herself and threw herself at Harry and grabbed him in a hug.

"Harry... you don't think..." she began.

"Hermione... No... Let's not think it," replied Harry as he caressed Hermione's back. And just then, he released the hug frantically. "Hermione," he exclaimed. "I know how we can find out," he added.

"Your 2-way mirror," gasped Hermione.

Wasting no time, the pair dashed away back to their dormitory.

"Sirius... Sirius..." repeated Harry. "Where are you?" he exclaimed.

Just a moment later, Sirius appeared in the mirror. "Harry," exclaimed Sirius.

"Sirius... what's happened? Ron, Fred and George disappeared without telling us anything," exclaimed Harry.

"Hey... it's alright, there's nothing to worry about. Calm down," replied Sirius, though he didn't look his cheerful self. "Charlie, who was in Bucharest at the time of You-know-who's attack, got himself injured fighting a losing battle. But his injuries aren't extensive. He'll recover in a week or two. So, don't worry," he added, reassuringly.

"Oh, thank God!" sighed Harry and Hermione together.

Harry, Sirius and Hermione ended up chatting for some time before they called it a day.

Ron and the Weasley twins arrived back at Hogwarts the following morning.

While the relief of Charlie escaping the Romanian attack wore off, the shivering reality of his vision executing yet another devastating effect hit Harry. Voldemort was out there conquering the magical world, gaining supporters and a formidable army while he sat in his class distracted. It had been a whole month since the beginning of the school year, and he was yet to find out what Dumbledore was doing to thwart Voldemort.

The morning papers of that day did Harry no good as the entire account along with the death count of the Romanian attack was detailed out thoroughly for him to read.

And then, there was another thing that left Harry feeling clueless, aka, Professor Horace Slughorn. Dumbledore had sought Harry's help in recruiting Slughorn, he had asked Harry to get close to Slughorn. But what was Harry supposed to do with Slughorn, he was never told.

"It is important Harry that you get close to Horace. He is the key to defeating Tom Riddle," echoed Dumbledore's words in Harry's ear.

Worried about his visions and seeking some answers, Harry made his way to Dumbledore's office that evening.

"Hello, Harry... How are you?" greeted Dumbledore with a smile.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore," greeted back Harry.

"Isn't it time for your duelling club?" asked Dumbledore curiously.

"I decided to miss today's session," replied Harry.

"It must be important if you decided to pay me a visit instead... What can I do for you, Harry?" remarked Dumbledore.

Harry stood quietly in front of Dumbledore. He was trying to come up with the perfect way of starting the conversation.

"I understand that yesterday's events would have troubled you very much," remarked Dumbledore, breaking the silence.

"Troubled? We were this close to losing Ron's brother to this war... Tom has already taken over multiple countries. And what are we doing?" retorted Harry angrily, his tone increasing with every word.

Dumbledore however stared at Harry calmly.

"Every day the papers bring with them news of death and destruction... Yet we don't seem to be doing anything to stop him," added Harry angrily.

"Harry..." began Dumbledore as he got up and walked towards Harry. "You're mistaken... There are Aurors out there who are tirelessly working towards building an army of our own. We have wizards and witches who are forming alliances against Tom Riddle," he remarked calmly. "We are doing everything in our power to prepare for the oncoming war," he added.

After a moment's silence, Dumbledore continued. "Your anger looks misplaced. Harry, is there something else that is bothering you?" he asked, with a look of slight concern.

Harry glanced back at Dumbledore with a worried look.

"Take a seat," he gestured. Harry took a seat and Dumbledore sat down beside him.

After a few seconds, Harry replied. "I haven't told anyone about this... I haven't stopped having those visions," he said.

"The visions?" asked Dumbledore.

"The one where You-know-who killed Janus Keddle was just the first one. Ever since I have had some more visions," replied Harry.

Dumbledore stared at him, looking worried.

And Harry continued, "I had one, right in front of Daisy. I saw him and his death eaters kill some 30 wizards and witches and destroy the Bulgarian ministry," he added. "The last one I had, was during our first quidditch practice session. This one was different. It didn't have death and destruction. It was You-know-who giving instructions to his underlings. I couldn't hear what he was saying though," he finished.

"And these visions are just as real as your first one?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, they have felt exactly the same," replied Harry.

After a few seconds, Dumbledore spoke up. "Why Harry haven't you told your friends about this?" he asked.

Harry didn't really have an answer for this. "The first couple of these happened during our year break. I didn't think of it much. And now that it has happened more frequently, I don't feel like telling them. Everyone already has enough to worry about," he replied.

"Your friends are your greatest strength, Harry. Don't push them away," remarked Dumbledore with a smile.

Harry gave a weak nod in response.

After a few seconds of silence, Dumbledore continued. "You mustn't feel guilty about what happened yesterday. You couldn't have known what he was planning," he remarked.

"But, what if I could have, Professor?" retorted Harry. "Only if I had been able to decipher what the vision meant. I should have told you about it immediately after. Perhaps you would have been able to figure it out," he added, disgusted with himself.

"I doubt, Harry. I must admit, I have very little experience with what you're experiencing. Besides, there is nothing to be gained by thinking about the past. The next time you have a vision, be sure to let me know immediately," replied Dumbledore.

"Yes, Professor," responded Harry. "Professor... there is one other thing..." began Harry and paused.

"Yes, Harry," responded Dumbledore with a smile.

"Professor Slughorn," began Harry and paused again, visible confusion on his face.

Dumbledore gave a broad smile and spoke up. "Yes, Harry... I heard that he invited you to his legendary slug club. I hope you accepted his invitation," he remarked.

"I did," replied Harry weakly.

"Good good... I'm sure you'll enjoy everyone's company there. Horace will make sure you do," retorted Dumbledore.

"That's not what's bothering me, Professor," remarked Harry.

"I'm sure it isn't, Harry... You are wondering why I asked you to get close to him, to become his favourite," retorted Dumbledore.

"Yes," replied Harry.

"Well... I wanted you to get close to him before I told you the reason behind it. But, if the curiosity keeps you awake at night, I might as well tell you why," remarked Dumbledore.

Harry sat up straight and stared at Dumbledore eagerly.

"Harry, I told you, that day when we went and spoke with Horace, that Horace was the key to defeating Tom Riddle," began Dumbledore. "You see, Tom Riddle, just like you, was invited to the slug club. Horace saw something in the young man, Riddle was at the time. And quickly, Tom became one of Horace's favourite students," he continued.

Harry listened keenly.

"Tom was persuasive... even at a young age. And on one occasion he happened to ask Professor Slughorn a question. Despite his refusal to answer, Tom persuaded him to give him the answers he needed," added Dumbledore.

"What question did he ask?" asked Harry, curiously.

"Unfortunately, I do not know what that was," replied Dumbledore. "I believe, Harry, that it had something to do with Horcruxes," he added calmly. Harry sat up straight.

"Tom asked Professor Slughorn about Horcruxes?" asked Harry, shocked.

"When Tom initially grew in power and popularity, there were very few people who recognized Voldemort as Tom Riddle. I was gathering information from any and all sources I could find, to understand Tom Riddle's journey and growth. During one such discovery, I happened to speak with Horace. He shared a memory with me... but he tampered with it. I believe he felt guilty, guilty and embarrassed that he couldn't spot the madness in his student," remarked Dumbledore.

"But, why tamper with the memory? Wouldn't revealing the truth help right the wrongs?" retorted Harry, confused.

"You have a good heart, Harry. Not everyone is as brave or kind. Horace would never let anyone believe he had a role to play. He is too proud to think of himself as capable of it," replied Dumbledore.

"And you want me to find the truth. What did he tell his favourite student?" retorted Harry.

Dumbledore gave a smile and nodded in response. Harry got up from his seat and made his way out of the office.

Just as he was about to exit, Dumbledore spoke up. "Tom's not his favourite student anymore," he remarked with a smile. Harry glanced at Dumbledore. There was a glint in his eyes. And with that, Harry left the office.

PS - Hope this chapter kept all of you engaged. I'll be back with Chapter 67 soon! Ciao!