Note: In answer to a question, Harry is very good at alchemy, but as yet hasn't accomplished anything particularly noteworthy. Nothing that couldn't be expected from an especially good student, anyway. Other questions should receive an answer in the text of this chapter!
Chapter 20 – An Experiment Gone Awry
Later on that evening Harry slipped out of the Common Room along with Tracey under the cover of the Invisibility Cloak to sow a little mischief throughout the castle ahead of Hallowe'en the next day. Harry had wanted to go with either Daphne or Ernie so that they could daub some artworks on the walls, but neither of them could spare the time.
So instead, Harry and Tracey planned to hit several different locations with messages, including a large one on the Great Hall doors themselves, since neither of them felt especially proud of their artistic abilities and didn't want to ruin a good bit of protest with poor artwork.
"I still haven't got used to you without your glasses on," Tracey whispered to Harry as they crept along the dungeons towards the castle's ground floor.
"I still haven't either," admitted Harry. "I keep trying to push my glasses up my nose only to realise there's nothing there. But it is nice being able to see like this. It's… I don't even know how to explain it. I can see everything I could see before, and new things, and it's all… better. Did I tell you about Professor Dee's robes?"
"Yes!" Tracey whispered. "That's so cool—you really can't tell there's anything like that on them. Well, I can't, anyway. I wonder if Dumbledore and Mr Flamel wear robes like that, too."
"Probably," Harry said. Dumbledore hadn't been at dinner, so Harry hadn't seen his robes, but he assumed that Dumbledore would have gone all in and had something seriously ridiculous made. Like Dee's, but with all of Dumbledore's characteristic flair. "I bet that Du—"
He stopped. Just up ahead, lurking once again in the Entrance Hall, was Inquisitor Arlecchino. Harry and Tracey tiptoed back down the stairs to the cellars so as not to draw his attention.
"That's not ideal," Harry said once he was sure they'd made it out of earshot. "What's he doing, skulking around at night for, anyway? And around the Entrance Hall, too…"
"Spying on teachers, I bet," said Tracey. "I wonder why, though. What should we do?"
Harry considered it. There were a handful of passageways Harry knew of that could convey them upwards through the castle, although that didn't help if Arlecchino remained in the Entrance Hall all night. Not when they specifically wanted to paint the Great Hall doors.
"We'll have to use that passage from the dungeons that goes upstairs," Harry said. "Do a little bit up there, then see if we can nip into the Entrance Hall before we get back to the dungeons. What do you think?"
"I can't think of anything else we could do," Tracey said. "Unless we just waited, but that seems like a waste of time…"
"Agreed," Harry said.
They left the stairs up to the Entrance Hall in search of the passage to the corridor which housed the Room of Requirement. They travelled it and emerged near to the Room into the wide, spacious corridor. Harry lingered as they passed.
"I've not been back here since last year," he said to Tracey. "Do you think Dumbledore's had a look around in there?"
"He definitely has," Tracey said. "But we shouldn't be bothered with that. I bet there's nothing even left there, and anyway—we've got loads to do! Come on, might as well go paint messages on Umbridge's office door while we're up here…"
"What, right on her office door?" Harry said. "You can't be serious."
Tracey shrugged.
"Nan always says, if you're going to do something, do it properly. Tomorrow is Hallowe'en. Let's go all out!"
Harry nodded. Still hidden under Harry's Cloak, Harry and Tracey made their way to Umbridge's office. That late, Umbridge should have retreated to her quarters – unless, like Arlecchino, she was lurking somewhere else – so it wasn't too risky. Prefect patrols tended not to go that way and it was a bit late for that anyway, and Harry knew none of the teachers liked spending any time near Umbridge's office, so Harry thought they would go relatively unnoticed.
When they reached the corridor containing Umbridge's office they paused at the end, looked around, and waited a few moments before proceeding. No sense getting caught out by a late-working Umbridge.
"You go under the Cloak," Harry said once they'd reached the door. "Just in case. I don't mind being caught."
"But it's your Cloak," Tracey protested. Harry shrugged.
"It's fine. Go on, you use the Cloak. We need to decide what to write…"
Harry stepped out from underneath his Cloak.
"I think I'm going to write 'YOU'RE NOT WELCOME' in big pink writing," Harry said. "All around the outside of the door, you know, around the frame."
"Ooh, I like it," said Tracey from beneath Harry's Invisibility Cloak. "Then I'll write something on the actual door. What about 'YOUR AUTHORITY IS FALSE'?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's great," Harry said. "Come on, let's get it done so we can get back to the Entrance Hall."
Harry took out his wand and started writing around Umbridge's door. He reckoned he could get the message on the wall probably three times if he was careful, so he traced out the letters while Tracey was working on her own bit of vandalism. It wasn't quite as impressive as what Daphne and Ernie could put out, but Harry thought it would do the job.
It was about getting a reaction from Umbridge, and words would do that well enough. When Harry reached the top of the door he paused, unsure whether he'd need a step up... but he realised soon enough that he'd grown more than tall enough to reach above the door. And with Tracey being so short, he didn't have to tiptoe to reach over her, either.
"Nice," Harry said after stepping back to survey his work. His handwriting wasn't generally considered to be good – nowhere near as nice as Daphne's, and even Millicent's was better – but Harry thought he'd managed well enough for a bit of graffiti. And it was dissimilar enough to his usual handwriting that Harry didn't think anyone would mistake it. Especially not Umbridge, who didn't mark any of his essays or classwork anyway.
"Nearly done!" Tracey said, her disembodied voice coming from beneath Harry's Cloak. "Just have to…"
Harry watched her go. Or watched as the letters she was writing appeared as if on their own, anyway. She'd gone with YOU HAVE NO AUTHORITY HERE rather than the first thing she'd suggested, but Harry thought that was better anyway. Tracey added an exclamation point.
"There!" she said. "I reckon Umbridge'll have a fit when she sees all this. That's a good bit of work, that is. Where to next?"
"Let me back under the Cloak while we decide," Harry said. He slipped back under the Invisibility Cloak and considered where else might be a good idea to hit. He doubted he'd be able to fit under there with some of his friends, but Tracey was small enough that they both fit. Even if it was a bit snug.
They needed to choose somewhere that the Inquisition would know it was targeted at them specifically. Somewhere… "The Inquisition's lounge place?" Umbridge made sure everyone knew where that was just in case they had some bit of information on teachers to give to an Inquisitor. Not that Harry knew of anyone who'd gone, since people generally didn't want to be seen to support the Inquisition, but the option was there.
"Ooh, that's not a bad idea," Tracey said. "Although someone might be there, you never know."
"Yeah, we'll have to be careful," Harry said, "but I think after Umbridge's office, it's the best place. We'll creep up to the door and if we can hear anyone inside we'll just go do the Great Hall doors. What do you think?"
It would have been easier after Christmas with a successful alchemical Draught of Aural Acuity to his name, but that was quite a while away and they were there right then.
"Let's try it!" Tracey said.
The Inquisition's lounge was all the way down on the ground floor, but Harry knew a route that would take them there without having to pass the Entrance Hall – just in case Arlecchino hadn't left yet. Harry led Tracey through the castle towards the passage as quietly as possible, keen not to get noticed by any teachers who might be a little more attentive to noise. They emerged onto the third floor and Harry took them down a side corridor, tapped the statue of a half-melted troll twice in each eye, then slipped inside the newly opened passage with Tracey.
That passage opened out onto a corridor adjoining the Hospital Wing, and from there it was only a short hop to the room the Inquisition had commandeered as its own staff lounge.
"Let's just wait and see if anyone comes out, first," Tracey said.
Harry nodded.
No sense getting caught, especially not with the Great Hall doors left undone.
So they waited. Nobody passed through the corridor, and nobody left the lounge. With any luck the Inquisitors were all in bed or at home.
They crept towards the doorway slowly. When they got there, Harry pressed his ear to the door to check it was empty.
"There's no one here," Harry said. "I don't hear anyone, anyway. Let's be quick with this one."
"Agreed," said Tracey.
Harry left Tracey underneath the Invisibility Cloak and wandered around the corridor looking for a good spot to write his messages. Like most of Hogwarts, the corridor housing the Inquisition's lounge had all sorts of portraits, statues, and other miscellaneous decorative bits and pieces. Unlike most of the castle, though, the Inquisition had done a little redecoration. Opposite the door to the lounge was a noticeboard filled with 'helpful' messages from the Inquisition, little reminders, and each and every one of the Educational Decrees passed by Umbridge and the Ministry.
"I'm going to do something with this," Harry said, pointing to the noticeboard. "You think of something to do on the door, then we'll nip to the Entrance Hall and get it finished."
"Righto!" Tracey said from beneath the Invisibility Cloak. "Let me just think…"
Harry nodded and turned back to the noticeboard.
He had some fun writing rude messages around the edges of the noticeboard, then stepped back to look at the middle. He wanted to write something big there, something that would stand out even at a glance from very far away. Harry tapped at his chin while he thought.
"Hey, Trace," Harry said. "What do you think of writing, YOU ARE BEING WATCHED here in the middle?"
"I like it!" Tracey said. "Ooh, do it in dark red! And make it drippy, so it's like blood. So it's extra spooky."
Harry nodded and set about doing it. Drippy writing was harder than just writing it out while disguising his handwriting, but Harry thought he could manage it. If not, it was really more about the message than the aesthetics, anyway.
Or so he told himself.
When he'd finished, he thought he hadn't done too bad a job. It wasn't as good as Ernie or Daphne could manage, but it was good enough for Harry. Good enough for the Inquisition to see when they turned up for work in the morning, anyway.
"That's not bad," Tracey said, causing Harry to nearly jump out of his own skin. "Come on, let's get going to the Entrance Hall. Hopefully Arlecchino will be gone by now."
"Alright," Harry said. "Where are you? So I can jump under again…"
Tracey moved the Cloak aside for Harry to step under it and then they made their way to the Entrance All.
"I was thinking we'll want to do something in Central Hall," Tracey said. "People are always hanging out and meeting there so it's going to be really visible. No one would be able to miss it!"
"Maybe we could think of something to do with the fountain," Harry said. The fountain at the centre of Central Hall had interactive sirens, so perhaps there was something they could do with that. Dress them up like Umbridge, maybe. "We should bring it up and see if anyone has any ideas."
Harry and Tracey moved through the rest of the castle towards the Entrance Hall, making sure to keep to the interior route. Opening doors to the exterior paths was always a gamble at night, as some were rumoured to be alarmed, and several teachers liked wandering about after dark. The interior route to the Entrance Hall was longer than the one which used the bridge above the Transfiguration Courtyard, but Harry didn't mind that much.
A late night was nothing so strange, after all, especially not during OWL year.
They slowed and stopped talking, even in muted whispers, when they reached the Entrance Hall itself. Arlecchino could still be there, or another teacher or Inquisitor. Perhaps even a student, although Harry didn't think any of the prefects would still be around. Not that late, anyway.
They were invisible, so they just needed to be quiet. Easy enough.
As they came upon the Entrance Hall Harry slowed down to check it was clear. Whatever Arlecchino was up to meant he lurked around the dungeons and Entrance Hall at odd hours, and Harry didn't want to get caught up in any of that. He could be watching the doors, meeting with someone, or even…
Focus on your own shit, Harry, Harry reminded himself. There was a lot going on, but not all of it needed his attention.
"I think it's clear," Harry said. "Come on, let's get this done."
"Let's do it!" Tracey said.
They'd all agreed that they needed to write something quite large on the doors to the Great Hall, something that everyone could see and which would take ages to remove. Tracey was in charge of the actual writing; Harry didn't trust his handwriting on such a large project, and he was better with the levitation charms that would be required to get at the upper parts of the doors.
So Harry got out from under the Cloak and, this time, so did Tracey. Harry felt uneasy at exposing his friend in such a way, but he needed to see her to levitate her. They'd gone backwards and forwards arguing over who did the levitation, and Tracey had outright refused.
Still, it was worth another go…
"Are you sure you don't want to swap places?" Harry said. "You can stay under the Cloak then."
"Yes, I'm sure!" snapped Tracey. "I said I would, you don't have to be a martyr about it—if we get in trouble we get in trouble. You can't take it all, Harry!" She paused. "And, anyway, if I drop you you'd have to go to the Hospital Wing and there'd be questions. I know you won't drop me. So it's fine. Now come on, someone could come along at any time…"
Grudgingly, Harry had to agree Tracey had a point. A trip to the Hospital Wing after a fall from the top of the Great Hall doors would lead to questions none of them wanted to answer. And he really was better with the charm…
"Alright. Let's go, then."
Harry cast the Levitation Charm on Trace and lifted her up towards the top of the grand doors. They'd all agreed on a message that mimicked those of the Educational Decrees Umbridge kept passing.
"Stop just there!" Tracey said. "Right. Move me over to the left just a bit, then… No, that's too far! There! Stop!"
Harry stopped.
Tracey started to write. Whenever she needed to move, Harry moved her as gently as he could. He'd never levitated a person before, but it wasn't much different from the inanimate objects they'd practised with in classes and out on the Summoner's Court out on the grounds.
Just if he dropped Tracey, the consequences were worse.
"Down a bit, no, not that far," Tracey said. "Not much longer left, I just want to…"
Harry kept Tracey in the air and moved her around whenever she asked while she painted the doors with their message.
"Done!" she said eventually. "You can put me down now."
Harry acquiesced and let Tracey down onto the ground, then stepped back to look at the message she'd written.
EDUCATIONAL DECREE 0
REJECT, RESIST, REBEL
THE INQUISITION IS NOT YOUR FRIEND! ALL STUDENTS MUST REJECT THE AUTHORITY OF THE INQUISITION; RESIST ITS UNFAIR COMMANDS; AND REBEL AGAINST UMBRIDGE AND HER LACKEYS
"What do you think?" Tracey said. "It was hard getting those bits to stick out but I think I managed it."
"It looks great," Harry said. "Definitely makes an impact. Come on, let's get going before anyone comes along."
Harry and Tracey headed back to the Common Room and slipped in under cover of the Invisibility Cloak. Once inside, they waited until they got into the hallway with all the dormitories before leaving the protective embrace of Harry's Cloak.
"See you in the morning!" Tracey said and left for the girls' side. Harry didn't hang around and went to bed himself, being as quiet as possible so he didn't wake anyone else up. No need for John FitzRoy to catch him again, after all.
He settled into bed and went to sleep thinking sweet thoughts of an unhappy Umbridge stumbling upon their messages the next morning.
Harry got up especially early on Hallowe'en so he could go and watch as the first few people saw the message on the Great Hall doors. Every day at breakfast the doors opened at the beginning of the breakfast period, but there were always people who arrived early – Harry not usually among them. But the opportunity to watch people admire their handiwork was too nice, so he set himself an alarm early enough that he could shower before breakfast and still arrive before the doors opened.
It was worth it.
"Umbridge won't be happy with this," Harry heard one of the fifth year Slytherin prefects say to her Hufflepuff counterpart. "Wonder who did it."
"…they've got a point, though," Harry heard Ginny Weasley say to one of the Carrows. "We need to do something, can't just let the Inquisition walk all over us…"
And it was a similar story elsewhere. Harry drifted through the Entrance Hall in search of someone he knew well enough to stand with, just so he didn't look out of place or like he was listening in on everyone.
Even though he was.
"I wish I was brave enough to do something like that," said a Ravenclaw to his friend as Harry passed them by in search of someone he knew. "But my mum…"
"I hope whoever it is doing this doesn't get caught," Finnegan in Gryffindor was saying to his friend as Harry passed. "It's really funny…"
Ah, there we go, Harry thought. He spotted Mandy Brocklehurst stood with Terry Boot and Dragonsfoot. He could insinuate himself into that little group easily enough without it looking at all strange, so he headed right for them. He wanted to check how they'd done on the alchemy, anyway. Two letters, one owl, and all that.
"Alright?" Harry said as he walked towards the group.
"Good morning, Harry," said Dragonsfoot.
"Morning, Potter," said Brocklehurst. "I was just saying to Terry here, whoever's doing these messages is playing a dangerous game. They're going to get caught eventually and I can't imagine Umbridge will be at all lenient."
"You've seen the latest one, I suppose," Boot said, glancing up at the doors to the Great Hall.
"Er, yeah. Hard to miss, really," Harry said. "I reckon whoever's doing it has the right idea. You know, it's not fair the Inquisition gets to just…" He waved his hand about vaguely. "You know. Mr Flamel gets interrupted all the time and it's really unhelpful."
"That's true," Boot said. "That's why I was saying to Mandy, resistance is vital. Maybe nothing like what those lot are doing with the messages all over the walls—I'm not crazy. But we don't have to co-operate, do we? There's really no reason to…"
"Not everyone has rich parents, Terry," Brocklehurst said. "My parents both work at the Ministry, and Umbridge always threatens…"
"I know that," Boot said. "I wouldn't ask you to do or say anything dangerous. I'm just saying, sometimes there are other ways to protest."
That kind of exchange was exactly what Harry and his friends had wanted to happen. They'd talked long and hard about what sort of response or reaction to their little campaign would count as a success, and Boot and Brocklehurst were a good example. The more people talked about resistance, the more people might actually resist.
It was a start.
And as it was only Hallowe'en, Harry thought they could get a lot more done before Christmas, and maybe things would really kick off.
"Harry, how'd your Salve go yesterday? We can all see you've still got your eyes, and you aren't wearing glasses anymore… so…?" said Dragonsfoot.
Harry grinned.
"Nice of you to notice." He shrugged. "I passed. I think I did quite well, but it's hard to tell, isn't it? Dee was happy, though. And that Ministry witch said the Salve had worked. I wasn't expecting to see all that stuff on Dee's robes, though—did you lot know about that?"
Boot nodded.
"Yes—they're alchemist's robes. Everyone knows—er, well, I mean, lots of people know—I didn't mean that you—"
"It's fine," Harry said, interrupting. "There's loads of things I don't know. I don't take it personally. I'd never heard of alchemist's robes before. I wonder what Dumbledore's look like. I mean, they're already, er, pretty…"
"Loud?" offered Dragonsfoot.
"I heard Malone failed," Brocklehurst said. "Didn't you say that, Thomas?"
Dragonsfoot nodded.
"Yeah. He changed his procedure at the last minute and it didn't go well at all. I heard they sent him to St Mungo's last night—burned his eyes out trying the Salve."
Harry grimaced.
"That's rough. Mine hurt like Hell and Dee said I'd done really well. I can't imagine how Malone felt. Didn't Dee say he shouldn't try the Salve? He told me mine would probably work and I was still a bit reluctant…"
Dragonsfoot shrugged.
"Don't know. I reckon Roger tried it anyway, though. He's like that. I hope they can fix his eyes—alchemical accidents are really tricky to deal with."
"That's… awful," Harry said. Not only would Malone go through the rest of his life blind – unless he could get something like Mad-Eye Moody's false eyes put in, but that wasn't guaranteed with an alchemical injury – he'd also failed one of his OWLs, and it wasn't yet Christmas. Not an auspicious start.
Not even a very graceful end.
"Yes, very bad," drawled Boot. "Totally surprising, not at all what anyone expected from Malone. Did you manage to see everything on Dee's robes? I asked one of the uppers in Ravenclaw and she said if you missed any, you get a lower mark. I missed out on the knotwork, apparently. So I'm looking at an Exceeds at best on this one."
Harry had seen everything. The moons, stars, weird colour shifts and the knotwork. Dee himself had said he couldn't have done any better – that must have meant an Outstanding for that portion of the OWL. He opened his mouth to say as much but didn't get very far at all.
"This is outrageous!" shrieked Umbridge as she entered the Entrance Hall. "Open advocacy of sedition! Betrayal!" She paused before uttering another shriek. "Treason!"
Harry turned to look at her. Dressed as she always did, although with the addition of a pumpkin-shaped bow in her hair, Umbridge looked positively apoplectic with rage. She wore a gnarled, twisted grimace quite far from her usual saccharine smile and clenched her stubby little wand in one hand.
"This is treason!" she declared, storming across the Entrance Hall towards the Great Hall doors.
Harry fought the urge to smile. It was hardly treason to suggest that students should resist the Inquisition. Nobody had suggested a rebellion, or that the Ministry should be brought down, or even that Fudge should resign.
But for Umbridge to go screaming about treason and sedition was quite a nice outcome. The more she shouted about treason the less effect it would have.
"Oh, come off it, Dolores," said a new voice. McGonagall, striding after Umbridge. "A bit of adolescent vandalism is hardly cause to cry treason. By all means the perpetrators should be punished for damage to school property, but treason is a Kissable offence." McGonagall gave an exaggerated sigh. "Honestly, Dolores, all this fuss over a bit of paint. Show some backbone!"
McGonagall didn't give Umbridge any time to respond. She gestured with her wand at the Great Hall doors and they flung open to signal the beginning of breakfast. Soon after students brushed past to enter, and Harry followed. Umbridge would probably have more to say after or during breakfast, after all, and Harry wanted to be there to see it. He settled in at the Slytherin table and got himself a leisurely breakfast while he waited for his friends to get up and attend breakfast.
Dumbledore arrived not long after the commotion at the doors and swept past the students eating at the tables to ascend to the High Table. Harry took a close look at his robes as he walked by and wasn't disappointed.
Like Professor Dee, Dumbledore wore alchemist's robes. But unlike Professor Dee, Dumbledore had paired his usual flamboyant style with the miniscule gradations and shapes of the alchemist's robe. Dumbledore usually had stars, moons, and all sorts of other arcane shapes and symbols on his robes… and now Harry could see them all in their full glory. Dumbledore had stars within stars, each one smaller than the last; a smooth, fine gradient that went from a dark lilac at the top to an admittedly still quite dark but very visibly lighter – to an alchemist's eyes – lilac at the bottom; and even a selection of runes Harry didn't recognise from any of his lessons.
It was all a bit busy, to tell the truth, but it suited Dumbledore perfectly well.
And Harry could see all of it without his glasses on. He'd never need to wear glasses again! That was something he still hadn't fully internalised – he kept looking for them, kept trying to push them up his nose, even.
Harry peered at Dumbledore's robes a while longer to see if there was anything else hidden there, but eventually returned to his breakfast after concluding there was nothing. Around him the Great Hall filled with students as they filtered in to attend breakfast. Halfway through breakfast Harry was joined at the table by Tracey, Daphne, and Millicent, and Blaise slipped in close to the end.
All around him, people were talking about all the usual sorts of things, but a frequent topic Harry overheard was the graffiti they'd placed around the school. Particularly the fake Educational Decree on the doors to the Great Hall that morning.
And nobody even knew about the ones on Umbridge's door or outside the Inquisition's lounge yet.
At the end of breakfast the moment Harry had been waiting for came as Umbridge stood up to make an announcement.
"Hem, hem," Umbridge coughed. "Your High Inquisitor has an announcement. Last night there were three incidences of vandalism of school property representing an unprecedented level of sedition bordering on treason. This behaviour is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated any longer. That is why I must—regrettably—announce the cancellation of tonight's Hallowe'en Feast. Students are to be reminded that such things are a privilege and not a right, and—"
"Madam High Inquisitor," interrupted Dumbledore. "I do not believe that the Inquisition has the authority to announce such a thing. The Hallowe'en Feast will proceed as planned. I need not remind you that the Inquisition's remit is to assess and manage academic and extracurricular activities, as well as conduct a thorough assessment and appraisal of teaching staff and student outcomes. As Headmaster of Hogwarts, it is my authority which decides upon events such as feasts, and I have decided that the Hallowe'en Feast should occur this evening as it has done for many hundreds of years."
"It is the right of the Inquisition to decide—" Umbridge started to argue, but Dumbledore interrupted her again.
"It is the right of the Inquisition to suspend extracurricular groups, clubs, and societies pending a review of safety and fitness for purpose; it is the right of the Inquisition to censure teaching staff for acting outside of their roles or for failing to follow official Ministry guidance and regulation; and it is the right of the Inquisition to conduct a full and thorough assessment of life at Hogwarts. It is not the right of the Inquisition to decide upon arrangements for meals. Some things, Madam Umbridge, remain at the full discretion of the Hogwarts Headmaster. That will be all for this morning. You all may go—I expect you all to have a day of hard graft so that tonight's Feast is all the more satisfying." He turned towards Umbridge. "Madam, you will join me in my office."
Dumbledore stood up and swept away from the High Table and out the doors from the Great Hall. After a few moments Umbridge followed.
"Well, that had quite the reaction, didn't it?" said Blaise as the Hall erupted into noise. "She's not going to take that from Dumbledore quietly, though. I'd bet a galleon she'll be back later with some nasty little Decree to contradict everything he's said."
"You're probably right," Harry said. "I hope the Feast isn't cancelled though. I was looking forward to all those desserts…"
"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Tracey said. "I can't see Dumbledore letting her cancel the Feast, even if she gets on to the Minister about it. She probably will say something at the Feast tonight, though."
"Probably," agreed Harry. By then it was time to leave breakfast and head out to classes, so they dispersed after that and got ready for the day ahead.
Umbridge didn't show herself in any lessons that day, although other Inquisitors were present in Harry's lessons. When the Hallowe'en Feast came around Harry was sure Umbridge would have something prepared, but she said nothing and the event passed by without incident.
Harry went to bed that night feeling uneasy despite the good food and happy ambience of the Hallowe'en Feast. Something sat wrong in his stomach, some feeling he couldn't quite discern. A lingering anxiety over what Umbridge could come up with next, perhaps.
Attempting to put his unease to one side, Harry decided to work on his occlumency. And to try out legiilimency, at least a little bit. From everything Dumbledore had said, Harry thought the rudiments of legilimency were easy enough to be getting on with. Nothing quite so complex as invading anyone's mind – Harry intended to merely push his own awareness outside of his own head.
Just a little.
And not for any nefarious purpose, either. Simply because he wanted to contrast the experience with what he'd understood about occlumency. Despite Dumbledore suggesting it would be unhelpful, Harry thought it would give him the proper context for his deeper forays into occlumency.
So Harry got himself ready for bed a bit earlier than he usually would have done, early enough that none of the others were in bed. Blaise would stay up quite late anyway, and FitzRoy spent a lot of his time in the Common Room. Charlie sometimes went to bed early, but never bothered Harry anyway. The only one who might be a problem was Capability, as he was very early to bed as he got up early each morning for the extra art lessons the Wandwright's lot did.
But Harry could deal with that by simply keeping himself quiet.
Harry drew the curtains around his bed and sat on it, propped up by the thick pillows. He did his usual occlumency practise as he always did, beginning with a simpler meditation and progressing to something approaching actual magical occlusion when he was satisfied he'd centred himself properly.
It was easy enough given all of the practise he'd been doing nightly. He felt quite certain that by Christmas he'd have mastered occlumency well enough for whatever Dumbledore wanted to tell him. It was just a matter of 'hard graft' as Dumbledore had said.
Well, Harry could do that. He spent a good amount of time at his occlumency, working through the breathing exercises and maintaining a clear-headed state of mind. Once he was happy he'd managed the occlusion side of things well enough, Harry considered his next steps.
If occlusion is like retreating into your mind, Harry thought, then legilimency must be pushing out of it. Two sides of a coin, Dumbledore had said about the Mind Arts. At times during his practise with Dumbledore, Harry had felt his awareness, his consciousness, expanding past the limits of his body. Sometimes he had even pushed Dumbledore out his mind. That, Harry thought, was something approaching legilimency. Not quite, but similar enough Harry thought he could try something out.
So instead of keeping a clear mind and building an occlusion, Harry focused his thoughts outwards. At first, nothing happened.
At least, nothing other than his occlusion slipping. But Harry kept up his breathing, kept his thoughts cycling back to the feeling of pushing Dumbledore out of his mind – and following him. Capability coming back into the dormitory did give Harry a little stumble, near enough knocking him out of anything resembling a meditative state, but Harry persevered.
…and then, after perhaps an hour trying at legilimency, Harry had a breakthrough. Nothing major, but he felt floaty. Almost like he was outside of himself, a bit like the feelings the Extrasensory Field had produced during the Aerobaticum the previous year.
But Harry hadn't gone anywhere. He was still sat on his bed, and unless Capability was practising advanced magic on his unsuspecting dorm mates, Harry had succeeded in pushing his awareness out of his own mind.
Yes! Harry thought. Progress. A small step, but a necessary one. In his elation at having made some small progress Harry's awareness went zipping right back into his own head, but that was fine. Having done it once, Harry felt confident he could do it again.
A bit more satisfied, especially after how he'd felt after the Hallowe'en Feast, Harry settled in to sleep.
Harry sat in a deep chair in an immaculate, well-decorated room. The décor was the very definition of opulence, although the general ambience felt like what Harry's aunt would call 'overdone'. In front of Harry stood Lucius Malfoy. Inexplicably, Harry could feel the man's trepidation. He was wary, but also frustrated at the situation in which he found himself.
"Your plan is failing, Lucius. All this, and yet no result. Why?" Harry found himself saying in a high-pitched voice.
Lucius looked at Harry with barely an expression upon his face. Certainly, nothing at all to show the seething, roiling rage Lucius felt and which Harry felt, too. But not the dream-Harry. Instead, the one who was dreaming.
"It is a long-term plan," Lucius said. "We do the necessary work now so that we may—"
"I understand what you proposed, Lucius," Harry interrupted. "If we had more time, then perhaps—"
"We have time," Lucius said. "If we act too quickly, we risk failure. You must be patient—you have waited this long. Wait longer, or we will fail."
"My Lord," Harry stressed. "We will fail, my Lord."
Lucius-Voldemort's eyes flashed red.
"You ask too much," Lucius-Voldemort said. "I shall not address you thus, not when we are at best equals. Need I remind you that you reside in my home? At my pleasure?" Lucius-Voldemort sneered. "Perhaps it is time to rethink our arrangement."
"You overstep," Harry said. "You forget that you are neither him nor me. What you are is … fragile. Tethered though you are to this form, you are nothing but a fragment of my soul. Where I am eternal you are ephemeral. You are a part of me, no matter your delusions. Do not forget this," Harry said. "Or it shall be your undoing."
Lucius-Voldemort grimaced. He understood Harry's words for truth, though Harry-the-dreamer didn't understand why.
"We need not argue so. Our goals are the same. We are halves of a whole, so to speak," Lucius-Voldemort said eventually, though Harry could feel his frustration. Despite the calm look on his face and his easy tone, Lucius-Voldemort was seething anger beneath it. A sea of rage, the emotion deeper than any Harry had ever felt before. Yet hidden, concealed. Harry-in-the-dream seemed to see none of it. Felt not an inkling.
But Harry-the-dreamer knew.
"Our plans proceed. You will soon be re-embodied, and we will be able to move forward with the next phase in our plans. We are close," said Lucius-Voldemort. "In this endeavour we will succeed. We are closer than ever before to our goals—and it is through our continued cooperation that victory will be delivered."
"So you say," Harry said, "so you say. What news from Draco?"
"He understands his role in our affairs," Lucius-Voldemort said. "He is better suited for this task than he was the previous."
"Good. We will need his—"
A noise from beyond Lucius-Voldemort. The door to the room opened, and a cringing, scurrying little wizard stepped into it. Wormtail, here to bring Harry's potion.
"Ah, Wormtail," Harry said. "You dare interrupt me?"
"M-my L-lord," Wormtail said, "it is time for your potion. We m-mustn't be late with it or—"
"Snivelling worm," Harry said. "I understand well what we must and must not do. I invented the protocol you follow." Harry turned his gaze back to Lucius-Voldemort. "Lucius, you may go. I have pressing matters to attend to."
Lucius-Voldemort's eyes flashed red and grey. After a few moments the grey won, and dreamer-Harry could feel the palpable change in the man's emotional state. Trepidation, yes, but no more anger. A much simpler fear.
Fear atop a bed of anguish and despair.
"My Lord," said Lucius. He bowed and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Harry woke up, drenched from head to toe in sweat and breathing heavily, a dull ache in his scar. He sat up. Although the precise details of the dream were fading, Harry knew he'd dreamed of Voldemort. Of Voldemort and Lucius Malfoy, and the fragment of Voldemort held inside Lucius Malfoy's head.
And it didn't feel quite like a dream. More of a vision, though Harry was no Seer. But if it wasn't a dream, and it wasn't a prophecy either, what was it? A vision of something currently happening?
Strange. A result of Harry's little foray into legilimency, perhaps? A mind cast out too far, one which already had a connection to Voldemort through the scar…
Dumbledore would know. Or have an idea, anyway, although Harry didn't want to admit he'd been dabbling with legilimency despite the elder wizard's instructions not to.
If a true sight, it had been a tantalising glimpse into Voldemort's plans, but it was fading. Harry scrambled to remember everything he could to tell Dumbledore of it the next day.
Lucius only partially in control of himself. Voldemort and Lucius-Voldemort arguing. Wormtail providing Voldemort with potions. And Draco… Draco with yet another task at the school to complete.
Those were the key parts of the dream.
Harry sighed.
He got up out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash his face off, then slipped back under the covers. Harry used his meditation techniques to calm himself down, then put up an occlusion. After that he settled in and tried to sleep once more.
Harry stayed there, awake, for several hours after that. When he finally fell asleep it was a fitful, restless thing, and all too soon it was morning.