Hey everyone... I'm back with Chapter 74. Enjoy!
Harry was sitting, tired, all alone, in the old, dark and pungent chamber of secrets. He had just finished practising the mental training regimen White had given him, to better prepare him for the occlumency & legilimency lessons White had started him on. Before that, he was practising transfiguration, and before that, he was practising charms. And just like that, Harry had spent well more than a couple of hours inside the hidden & deserted chamber. And before he had come to his solitude, he was in the library finishing up on some defence against the dark arts homework given by Snape and potions homework given by Slughorn.
And this way, Harry was spending days, evenings and nights overworking himself, with just one thought on his mind. Quidditch training, homework and eating aside, Harry practically spent every other minute, one way or the other on getting himself better. Better at duelling, better at performing magic, better at anything and everything that could eventually get him to defeat Voldemort.
While one step in that direction was his training sessions with Professor White, the other was a task given by Professor Dumbledore, to become friendly with Professor Slughorn and to get him to confess to whatever information he had on Voldemort and his Horcruxes. And this had just gotten a little tricky, with White confiscating the potions book Harry had been using to make frequent visits to Slughorn's office.
Harry couldn't understand why White couldn't just return the book. It had already been a few days and he was yet to get it back. Harry wasn't angry at White for confiscating the potions book, he was just confused. He was even more confused about what had happened with the spell he had used against White, that, one, had White lacerated, and second, had White calling it a curse, making him confiscate the book. Whoever the Half-Blood Prince was, had either created the curse himself or had learnt it from somewhere. Whichever it may be, Harry was now in a precarious situation because of it.
Fortunately for Harry, he still had the Slug Club invitation with him, which meant, he still had access to Slughorn. Harry had absolutely no interest in attending the slug club suppers. The only thing he looked forward to, was spending some time alone with Hermione. But even that, he wouldn't be able to do peacefully. Every once in a while, he had to speak a little, make a joke or laugh at someone's joke, make everyone and especially Slughorn feel like he was involved and enjoyed everyone's company.
And he would do all of it, just for one reason. "Harry, you have to make Horace like you as a person. He has to feel like you are an asset and a network worth nurturing. Being the boy-who-lived might have gotten you close to him, but you have to make him feel like you two have a special bond... Like the one, he thought he had with Tom..." Dumbledore's words echoed in his head.
With a variety of thoughts in his head, and being sleepless and tired, Harry had almost dozed off when something jerked him wide awake.
With wide eyes, Harry looked around.
He felt transported. He was no longer at the chamber of secrets. It was dark, but he wasn't in any room. He was outside, outside Hogwarts, probably outside England itself, for the architecture, he was looking at did not resemble anything he had ever seen.
Harry felt himself turning around and that's when he saw it.
Death eaters, the dark marks on the sky, the destruction of buildings, dead people, wizards and witches all over.
Just as Harry was looking at the horrid scene in front of him, a series of thoughts came to him, a little broken and out of sync.
"... bigger army ..."
"... conquering all of Europe ..."
"... Ministero della Magia Italiano ..."
And then a series of images flashed by him. Before Harry could make head or tail of any of it, they flashed away.
And just like that, Harry was back in the chamber of secrets and he opened his eyes.
Almost tumbling as he did, Harry hurriedly got up, a little discombobulated and a little shaken. He looked around hastily, but all he could see were the familiar walls of the chamber that housed an eerie silence within itself.
After a few minutes of troubling himself without answers, Harry took all his belonging and came out of the chamber. The moment he did, he made his way directly to Dumbledore's office.
"Professor?" he called out the moment he walked into Dumbledore's office.
"Harry," exclaimed Dumbledore, surprised.
"I... uh... I wanted to tell you something," remarked Harry. "I think I might have had another vision," he added.
Dumbledore stared back at Harry, curiously.
"I don't know, though... This one felt different, not like my previous visions..." added Harry hastily. With that, Dumbledore got up from his seat calmly and walked over to Harry.
"Harry, please sit down," he remarked, in a soothing voice. After a slight hesitation, Harry took a seat, while Dumbledore stood behind him. Dumbledore grabbed some candy from the table beside him and handed it to Harry.
After a few moments, Dumbledore took a seat beside Harry and spoke up. "What happened?" he asked. "You don't look well," he added.
"I was in..." began Harry and quickly stopped himself from speaking ahead. "I..." he fumbled on.
"It's quite alright, Harry. I know about your frequent visits to the chamber of secrets..." remarked Dumbledore with a smile. "It's no longer a chamber of any secrets, but well, we shall refer to it by its legend," he added with a slight chuckle. Harry nervously gave a chuckle in response.
"I was just sitting down when it happened," began Harry. "It was dark, but not like an enclosed room. I was... I felt well and truly outside," he continued. "And there was this building, like a cathedral. And then suddenly I saw a lot of bodies," he added with a shudder. "There was all this death and destruction... people screaming... I saw the dark mark while there were death eaters who were killing other wizards..." continued Harry, taking big pauses as he did. "And then," he added and stopped. He had a confused look on his face. He couldn't say it, he couldn't put appropriate words to it. Whatever came to his mind, felt incorrect in describing how he felt in that moment, what he saw.
"Take your time, Harry," remarked Dumbledore, calmly.
After a few seconds, Harry continued, "I don't know how to describe this. Like I didn't hear this, but I know that's what I felt... It was him... You-know-who," he said. "He wanted more... more power, more death and destruction," he added. "I heard a name... Something Italiano," he whispered, unsure of his thoughts.
"Professor? Has there been another attack?" asked Harry, mournfully.
"No, Harry," replied Dumbledore. "There hasn't been another. Not yet," he added.
"So, whatever I saw, it hasn't happened?" asked Harry, a little cheerfully. Dumbledore shook his head in response.
"But, what did I see then?" he asked. But, Dumbledore had no response.
After a few seconds, Harry continued. "This didn't feel like my usual visions. This one felt so much more than a vision. It was like I was there," he added.
"Harry," began Dumbledore. And for the first time in that conversation, Dumbledore got up from his seat and started pacing slowly while Harry turned around to watch him keenly.
"I think you should go and get something to eat. You don't look well at all," he remarked after a few seconds.
Harry stared at him, stunned.
"But, Professor?" he began in reply.
"There is very little explanation for these visions you're having, Harry. And I suspect that you're exhausting yourself by worrying about these things, more than your fair share," remarked Dumbledore. "From what you have told me tonight, I will speak with the Confederation. If there's an attack planned on Italy, then it needs to be acted upon," he added. Just as Harry was about to respond, Dumbledore continued, "by the right people," he added.
Reluctantly, Harry got up from his seat.
"Harry... Go and get some rest. And don't worry about what you saw. We will take care of it," remarked Dumbledore.
Harry began his way out of Dumbledore's office when he heard his name being called.
"Harry, I heard you have been invited by Horace along with a few others for a nice evening?" he asked with a smile.
"Yes, Professor..." replied Harry.
"Good... good," sighed Dumbledore in response.
And with that, Harry was out of the office and off to the common room.
"Expelliarmus," yelled the 4th year Gryffindor as she flicked her wand and pointed at Hermione. However, Hermione barely flinched.
"Don't force it... let the magic flow," guided Hermione as she gestured to the fluid wand movement she possessed.
After a few minutes, Hermione moved along to another 4th year who seemed to be struggling with his charms.
Hermione was helping him with his incantation when she heard a voice from behind her, "that's excellent," remarked Cedric as he walked up to them. "You seem to have gotten the hang of it," he added with a broad smile.
"Continue your practice," remarked Hermione with a smile and turned around to face Cedric.
"You're generous," she said to him.
"He's in his 4th year. He has a long time to go to get his duelling skills up to the mark," smiled Cedric in response. "Besides, incantation? You know there are parts of the world where incantations and wands aren't worth anything!" he remarked.
"Are you talking about your French girlfriend again, Diggory?" teased Hermione.
"Not everything is about her," bushed Cedric. "You have been awfully obsessed with her from the moment you found out," he added.
"You constantly write each other letters," retorted Hermione with a chuckle.
"That was one time," protested Cedric.
"One time that I noticed. I wonder what goes into those letters," continued Hermione, teasing.
"Get your mind out of the gutter," remarked Cedric, almost in a scolding voice.
Hermione shook her head but didn't prod him any further on the topic.
After a few moments, Hermione spoke up, "what happened in your duel with White?" she asked as the pair started pacing around the castle grounds.
"He's relentless, isn't he?" chuckled Cedric. "But, it was fun. Shows you how much we have to do to get to that level," he added. "And I don't think he was even at his 10%," he finished.
"Tell me about it," sighed Hermione. "He's really good... but so are you," she remarked.
"Now, who's being generous?" retorted Cedric.
"But, you're young, you lack experience more than skill," suggested Hermione.
"And he's old... Like, really really old," chuckled Cedric.
"Doesn't look it though, does he? He's probably as old as Dumbledore," remarked Hermione, intrigued.
And the pair continued strolling through the crowd of students duelling each other. After a few minutes, Cedric spoke up on something.
"There has been something I have been meaning to bring up," he remarked as glanced at Hermione curiously.
"What?" retorted Hermione, cheerfully. However, Cedric didn't utter a word and kept staring at her.
"What is it?" repeated Hermione, chuckling as she gave him a friendly push.
"I don't know... there's something about you," began Cedric. "Something has changed in the past few weeks," he added, with a curious look.
"How so?" asked Hermione, intrigued.
"There's an air of relief around you... Like, you are not worried about everything in the world," replied Cedric. "Like you are happy again," he added.
"I was never worried about everything in the world, Cedric," dismissed Hermione, with a laugh.
"You weren't? Let me think... You-know-who, Harry, the OWLs, John... need I add more?" retorted Cedric.
"Everyone is worried about You-know-who... Everyone should be worried about their OWLs or NEWTs... Sure, I might have mentioned John a few times, but that's because I miss him," defended Hermione.
"And Harry?" asked Cedric.
"What about him?" asked back Hermione.
Cedric stared at her for a few seconds and then his eyes lit up suddenly, the moment he noticed Hermione trying to hide a blush.
"Something has changed, hasn't it?" he asked, excitedly.
"Nothing's happened, Cedric... Behave yourself," replied Hermione, instantly.
"No, no, no... You are not getting off that easily, not after teasing me for weeks," remarked Cedric, enthusiastically. "I can see it in your face. Something happened between you two and you've been hiding it from the rest of us, haven't you?" he added.
"That's it... I'm going back in there. I'm sure there's someone there who is willing to duel with me," retorted Hermione, hiding a strong blush as she escaped away from Cedric's tease.
"Be sure to bring your date to Slughorn's supper, Granger," remarked Cedric loudly.
"Cedric..." exclaimed Hermione loudly as she turned around to face him. "Shush," she added, gesturing the same and a moment later disappeared into the crowd.
"Welcome Harry, welcome, welcome..." greeted Slughorn with a warm smile. "Welcome to the Slug Club, Miss Granger," he added as he glanced at Hermione.
"Thank you, Professor," replied the couple, together, as they took the final 2 empty seats. Harry sat beside Blaise Zabini, while Hermione took her seat next to Harry, and beside Cedric on the other side.
"Both of you look cute together," whispered Cedric into Hermione's ear and received an instant furious nudge while Harry glanced at her, curiously. Slughorn who had already started chatting with his guests, well before Hermione and Harry arrived, went back to his conversation.
It was a warm and cosy evening at Horace Slughorn's office. The mood was jovial and it looked like everyone there had made up their minds to enjoy the evening, rather than worry about the problems of their life. Even to that extent, Hermione and Cedric were laughing and enjoying the evening as it happened. Slughorn was his usual cheerful self. He made sure everyone got their turn to speak, and he made conversation with them on a variety of topics. From Hogwarts to the life beyond it, the benefits of having different skills, hobbies, and conversations even touched on topics like "choice of partners". That evening, Slughorn even made it a point to personally serve each one of his guests delicious food and hors d'oeuvre. But the exponent of all of that was good that evening, was Harry.
Harry was unlike his recent past few months' selves. It was like the Harry of before John's death. Harry was making jokes, he was keenly listening to and then appreciating, hyping up the rest of the students that were there. And then there were the constant praises for Slughorn on how influential he was, how many contacts he had, how good a teacher he was, about his longevity as a Professor at Hogwarts, and on and on it went. And unsurprisingly, Professor Slughorn seemed to overtly enjoy Harry's company, even more than he usually did. That evening was evidence of why most of the school loved and adored the boy-who-lived. While he may have had his hiccups at various points in the 5 years he had been at Hogwarts, Harry was always the most talked about boy in the school, everyone's eyes were on him all the time, what he was doing, what he said to whom. And largely, Harry's quidditch trumps and his knack for stirring trouble for himself and others around him made him more popular than he already was.
What was an enjoyable evening, finally came to an end. Slughorn wished everyone the best of luck and even suggested to the three 7th-year students there that he'd like to have a drink with them at Hogsmeade in a couple of weeks' time. But, when it came to Harry...
"Harry... my dear, can you stay back for a few minutes?" asked Slughorn, nervously.
"Uh... yeah, sure," replied Harry, sceptically. "Did I overdo my performance?" he thought to himself. Hermione, who was with Harry, paused for a moment, hesitantly.
"I'll let your friend join you in some time, Miss Granger," smiled Slughorn, politely suggesting she leave them alone.
"Of course... Thanks for the evening, Professor," greeted Hermione, and with that, she made her way out of his office.
Once everyone was out, Slughorn closed the office door and went back to his seat, calmly.
"Harry, please take a seat," he said, nervously, as he glanced at the clock.
With a rapidly beating heart, Harry sat down, opposite Slughorn.
"It was a great evening, Professor," remarked Harry, breaking the sudden silence. "Thank you for inviting us," he added.
"Yes... yes, it was a great evening. Thanks to you too, Harry, for making this an enjoyable evening," replied Slughorn as he once again glanced at the clock.
After a few moments, Harry spoke up once again. "What did you want to talk about, Professor?" asked Harry.
"Nothing, in particular, my dear. I just wanted to spend some more time with you," replied Slughorn, nervously. Harry nodded along, confused.
After a few seconds, Slughorn spoke up. "So, how have your studies been going? And your training with Professor White? I heard he's quite the cheerful lad," asked Slughorn.
"He already asked me about my studies when everyone was here," wondered Harry to himself. "Great, Professor... It's my OWLs year, so, everything is going at top speed," he replied. "And as for the training with Professor White, it is going fabulously well. It is nothing like I thought it'd be," he added with a cheeky grin.
"Good... good, that's good to hear," remarked Slughorn. And there was yet another silence that lasted for a few seconds.
"I wanted to thank you for asking me to return to Hogwarts," remarked Slughorn, breaking the silence. "I'm rather enjoying my time here," he added.
"Oh... I'm glad, Professor," replied Harry, taken aback.
"While my only reasons for coming back to this..." began Slughorn and looked at the clock. "While my reasons for coming back to this old castle, were self-preservation and escaping the death eaters, I have had a slew of other perks as well. And I must thank you for convincing me," he finished with a smile.
"Oh, Professor... I don't know what to say. I'm glad that you're once again teaching here... teaching us," replied Harry with a smile. But, internally, he couldn't believe his luck. "I cannot get a better opportunity than this to ask him what he told Riddle about Horcruxes," he thought to himself. "On that day when Professor Dumbledore and I visited you, I was just doing what he had told me to do. But, now, I'm glad I could convince you to come back to Hogwarts. Studying potions has never been more enjoyable than it has been this year," he added, with a beaming smile.
But, just as Harry finished that sentence, the expression on his face changed. From one of happiness and smiles, it turned to one of discomfort. Slughorn stared at Harry, shocked and looked at the clock.
"Harry... are you alright?" he asked as he got up panicking.
Within a split second, Harry who was sitting on a chair opposite to Slughorn, went flying, a few feet away and fell to the ground unconscious, with a loud thud.
"Merlin... Harry, what is happening to you?" gasped Slughorn, shocked. "Oh no... No, this can't be," he prayed.
"Harry, please wake up..." he whispered, in shock.
Slughorn dashed to his table and brought back a jug of water and began flicking droplets of water on Harry's face.
"This shouldn't have happened. I gave him the potion, why is it not working?" he thought to himself as he continued trying to wake Harry up.
"Harry, dear boy... please wake up," continued Slughorn.
It was a couple of minutes, when Harry finally woke up, a little dazed and tired.
"Oh my God, you're awake... Harry... Harry.. are you alright?" asked Slughorn as he heaved a sigh of relief.
"Prof... Professor? What... what happened?" retorted Harry, confused as he looked around. Slowly, it all started coming back to him.
"I... was sitting and talking to him... And then... and then I felt this weird feeling in my stomach..." he thought to himself. "How did I end up on the floor? Did I have another vision? But I don't remember seeing anything," he wondered, confused.
"Nothing, dear... You're fine... You will be fine..." comforted Slughorn, looking rattled.
Embarrassed by what had happened, Harry got up instantly. "I think I should leave, Professor... It has been a long day... Thank you so much for the evening," he said quickly.
"You will be fine, Harry," remarked Slughorn, with just a hint of tears in his eyes. And with that, Harry dashed away from Slughorn's office and to his common room, confused, embarrassed and clueless about what had just happened.
Meanwhile, the moment Harry left his office, Slughorn had his hands on his head, in shock.
"Oh, Albus... what have I done? What have I done?" he kept repeating to himself.
Well... that's the end of the chapter. What did you think about that ending?
I'll be back with the next chapter, Chapter 75 soon. Stay tuned! Ciao!
PS - It's a happy day today. This Sunday marks the 2 year anniversary since I started writing, "Harry Potter and The Friend He Never Had". Well, it's 2 years since I started writing fanfiction. It's been an unbelievable journey. And I have no words to describe but say, thank you so much for all your support, wishes and reviews! This journey would have never happened without all your support. Thank you!