Chapter 28: Invisible Touch

The next morning was an awful one for Lockhart. All day, things were disappearing on Lockhart. Every time he reached for something with his right hand, it would disappear right as he touched it. This included his silverware, goblet and even his food at breakfast. Fred and George hired a couple of students to go up and ask for autographs throughout the day which resulted in the quill he reached for disappearing as well. In all, it took as long for the malady to wear off as it took for Harry to regrow the bones in his arm.

They were not yet done, it seemed, as once it wore off, they had the same students come up with a special quill. No matter what Lockhart tried to sign, it came out as Fool's GoldenBoy Lockfart. One of those was enlarged and attached to the plaque next to his classroom. Lockhart tried to take it down only to have his spell backfire and knock him down. Yet again he was slammed down hard on his stomach with his wand trapped beneath him, causing more chips to the wood of the wand. He looked up and the plaque had exploded into copies, one of them levitating above him, keeping pace as he fled through the school toward his office.

Unfortunately, what he thought was his office was actually a girl's bathroom, leading Lockhart to be thrown bodily by three very pissed off Slytherins. All in all, it was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for the Defense professor.

"Remind me not to piss off the twins, would you?" Harry asked Hermione as they watched the idiot sprinting through the halls, trying to outrun the sign following him.

"Same," Hermione said. "Imagine once they get their joke shop up and running."

Harry shuddered, both in fear and excitement at the prospect. They stopped musing at the plight of Lockhart as Harry sat Hermione and Neville down to tell them everything he learned last night.

"Dobby was the one who tampered with the Bludger?" Hermione screeched. "You could have been killed!"

"I know," Harry groaned. "Hopefully our talk last night will keep him from interfering anymore. I would like to help him if possible."

"Help him?" Hermione was incredulous. "He tries to protect you by killing you and you want to help him!?"

"Dobby isn't right. He's been abused so thoroughly by his master that it is driving him mad. I'd like to find out a way to free him, if possible. Sure he might die but at least he might regain some sanity before he dies."

"He's right," Neville added. "If you abuse a house elf, they go mad. They can't properly discern what is right and what is wrong. They get driven insane and that insanity shortens their lifespan. What his master is doing is truly cruel."

"But Dobby and Dumbledore both said the Chamber had been opened before?" Hermione turned her attention toward the mysterious chamber.

"Maybe we should focus on the Heir of Slytherin," Harry thought aloud. "Maybe there's something in the library on Slytherin and his descendants. Perhaps we could follow that and find who could lay a claim to that title, assuming they are a direct descendant and not just simply using the name to stoke fear."

"It would be a good place to start," Hermione said. "It must be a creature that is doing this, however. There's no spell I know of that would petrify someone like that."

Changing subjects, Harry asked about the Restorative Draught.

"Do you have any Mandrakes at home?" Harry asked Neville. "Or would your Gran know how to procure them?"

"Either she or Amelia will," Neville said. "They are hard to acquire but not impossible."

As if summoned, Amelia rounded the corner with Professor McGonagall, obviously looking for something. She had Tonks and Kingsley flanking her.

"Ah Harry," Amelia said with a smile. "I am glad to finally have found you. Susan wrote me about the Chamber business. I wanted to follow up on your letter and the picture you sent as well."

"It's good to see you, Auntie Amelia," Harry replied. Neville split off to spend some time with Hannah while Harry and Hermione showed her to the spot where they found Mrs. Norris.

"I've seen the photo but what else did you see at the scene?"

"There was a lot of water on the floor," Hermione closed her eyes and brought the memory back.

"Did you see any blood streaks or smears?"

"No. Not that I noticed anyway," Harry said.

"That means the cat wasn't killed at a different location," Tonks was writing as Amelia talked. "Did you smell anything?"

"Now that I think of it," Harry recalled the memory of that night. "I caught the faint scent that smelled a little… floral?"

"Interesting… did you hear anything?" Amelia finally asked.

"Do you promise secrecy on this?" Harry asked her seriously.

"We would not reveal any information regarding an ongoing investigation, Harry," Amelia comforted the boy.

"I… heard a voice," Harry said hesitantly. "It said it was hungry and that it wanted to kill. I followed it and found Mrs. Norris."

"Did you hear it?" Amelia asked Hermione.

"No, ma'am," Hermione said. "All I heard was a faint hissing like water running through pipes."

"Something to investigate for sure," Amelia ran some scans on the scene. They also visited the scene where Colin was discovered but it was too clean to offer anything new. "Well I'm not sure what would or even could do this but we will try to think of something. If you discover anything, please let me know and do NOT go after any suspects on your own.

"Augusta and I are working on importing mature Mandrakes to create the Restorative Draught. Hopefully we can get Mr. Creevey awake again and he will be able to tell us who or what did this."

Harry and Hermione nodded.

"Keep taking care of one another," Tonks piped up for the first time. "He's just getting cuter every day, isn't he?"

Hermione blushed and Tonks laughed before walking away, ruffling Harry's hair as she did.

"I know you are training with Flitwick," Kingsley spoke in his deep voice. "If you need any tips or tricks, let me know. I was the only one in the school who could stand toe-to-toe with him in a duel."

"One last thing," Amelia said as she was about to walk away. "I think I finally have the evidence together and need to do a few more follow-up interviews but sometime this summer, your aunt and uncle will be standing trial."

"Will you need to follow up with me at all?" Harry asked, not exactly keen to revisit the traumas of his past yet again.

"I think we have everything we need from the both of you," Amelia watched Harry's shoulders relax considerably as they parted ways.

Soon, Neville's gran came through and a host of mature Mandrakes arrived at the castle. That was when Harry mustered up the courage to do something he wasn't sure would work. Standing up straight, Harry took a deep breath and knocked on the dungeon door in front of him.

"Enter," the dour voice drawled.

Harry entered Snape's workspace where the professor was bent over a cauldron.

"How can I help the Boy-Who-Lived?" Snape rolled his eyes as Harry entered the room.

"I actually came to see if there was anything I could do for you," Harry said. "I know we haven't gotten off on the best foot and that my father was cruel to you. I also think, or at least suspect, you were friends with my mother in school. I was hoping we could move beyond the past. I also know you are working on the Restorative Draught."

Snape let out a breath he had been holding, probably since '79 and spoke.

"Mr. Potter," Harry tensed on reflex. "You are correct. I was friends with your mother for a time. Minerva is also right, you are very much like her. Especially the eyes. If you are up to it, I am brewing the potion. Pull up a stool and see if you are up to the challenge of brewing it."

For the next hour, Harry helped Snape brew the potion, following his every instruction to the letter and afterward the potion was the perfect shade of sage green it was supposed to be.

"Apparently you have some of your mother's talent after all," Snape actually smiled. It was small but it was a smile. "Apparently you can take some guidance after all."

"Growing up with Aunt Petunia, I got very used to doing what adults said, unless I wanted to face the consequences."

"Ah yes, Tuney. I met her a couple of times growing up. She always had a rather high opinion or herself, that one. Felt she was perfectly 'normal' and looked down on anyone less than normal."

"Probably called them freaks, I'd imagine."

"So you did live with her then," Snape grimaced.

"She always loved to take shots at mum," Harry said sadly. "Vernon was better at physical attacks but hers… hers hurt the worst."

Snape had to change the subject. He was coming dangerously close to bonding with the boy.

"Well the potion has finished stewing. Let's bottle this and get Mr. Creevey back on his feet. Take one bottle up to the Wing and I will keep three extra bottles here under stasis, just in case."

Snape hesitated as if he had swallowed something sour.

"You did well today, Mr. Potter. I expect this level of work from you every class, understood?"

"Yes, Professor," Harry said. "Thank you for letting me help and guiding me along every step. I certainly learned a lot."

With haste, Harry ran to the Wing to administer the draught to Colin.

"Madam Pomfrey!" Harry gasped out, winded from the run, he skidded to a stop. There on one of the beds lay Cho Chang, her hand raised.

"I am afraid there has been another attack," Pomfrey said. "Miss Chang and Miss Edgecombe here were walking from the Charms classroom."

"Cho pulled out her compact to check her makeup as I bent down to tie my shoe and then she just went rigid and pale." Marietta said, hysterically. "I caught her before she fell. By the time I turned around, there wasn't see anything behind. Maybe Potter has his father's invisibility cloak. My mother said Potter was known to have one."

"Well I have the Restorative Draught here," Harry held it out to her. "We can get bring her back around."

"Don't do that!" Marietta Edgecombe said. "You're the one behind this. That's probably poison. It will kill her, I'm sure of it!"

"I just came from Professor Snape," Harry spoke over her, "We just finished brewing it. There's three more of these under stasis. To prove that it is on the up-and-up, I would like to administer it to Colin first."

"Bring it here," Pomfrey gestured, ignoring the dumbfounded look on Marietta's face. With Harry's help to get Colin to swallow, the draught was administered and the boy's cheeks grew rosy once again as the boy opened his eyes.

"Harry!" Colin tried to sit up but was laid back down by Pomfrey.

"Easy, Mr. Creevey. I need to take some scans. How do you feel?"

"Stiff," Colin said trying to flex all his extremities. "What's going on?"

"You have been petrified for the last two weeks," Harry said. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I was sneaking down to make sure you were okay. I heard something moving behind me. I turned to take a picture and the next thing I know; I am in the Hospital Wing and you're staring at me."

"Did you hear any sounds? Smell anything?"

"Well I didn't hear footsteps. It was more like something sliding along the floor and there was a smell, almost septic but there was something floral about it too."

"Thank you, Colin," Harry smiled down at the boy. "It is good to have you back."

"What happened to my camera?" Colin looked at it sitting on his bedside table.

"Whatever petrified you fried your camera," Pomfrey said. "We kept it in case you were able to repair it."

"Oh… okay," Colin looked downcast, holding the camera in his hands.

After giving the boy a forlorn look, Harry moved on toward Cho, Marietta sitting beside her.

"Can we administer the potion now?" Pomfrey asked with a little annoyance in her voice.

"Fine," Marietta huffed. "But you and not Potter."

"Do you know the swallowing charm?" Pomfrey asked Marietta who nodded. "Alright then, on three."

The potion dripped down her throat and Cho's skin regained her natural radiance. She dropped her hand and screamed.

"Cho! Cho!" Marietta grabbed both of her hands. "What happened?"

"I was finishing my meeting with Professor Flitwick. I was going to head to Geneva to see if I could run in to Cedric. I used my compact to make sure I still looked good-"

(Harry rolled his eyes a little)

"-and the next thing I know I'm waking up in the Hospital."

"You were petrified," Pomfrey explained. "Do you remember hearing anything?"

"No there was nothing that I recall," Cho said before looking at Harry. "What are you doing here?"

"He brought the potion that restored you, helped brew it if I am guessing?" Harry nodded at Pomfrey.

"And you let him potentially poison me?" Cho screeched.

"It worked just fine on Mr. Creevey," Pomfrey was really starting to get annoyed. "If I can keep you here another few minutes to run some scans. Mr. Potter? Why don't you take Mr. Creevey back to Gryffindor tower?"

Colin was greeted in the common room to raucous applause from all the Gryffindors. As the Gryffs were welcome their smallest member back, Harry was walking around the periphery, talking with different students. A few days later, Alicia- the prefect who had taken a shine to the boy- surprised the boy with a new camera. After Harry told them his was lost in the attack, Gryffindor pulled some money together and got him a new one.

"Thank you," Colin said with tears. "I had no idea how I was going to afford a new one. It took me two summers' working chores to be able to afford my first one."

"You're welcome, Colin," Alicia said with a smile. "Welcome back to the Den."

For the next few weeks, the populace was buoyed by the recovery of Colin and the upcoming holidays. Whispers still followed Harry wherever he went, as rumors of his alleged involvement in the attacks but Harry largely ignored them.

One night, he was with Flitwick and Hermione tinkering with the blue flames. He held the conjured flame in his hand while playing around with making it bigger and smaller. The bigger he made it, the more it affected a wider area while the smaller he made it, the flame became more intense.

Hermione conjured a target for him and had him shoot toward it, focusing on his accuracy. Using one of the bigger flame balls was easy to hit the target but right now he was trying to work with the smaller ones.

"Hit it again," Hermione called out. "You're still a little too much on the perimeter. Hit the center."

Frustrated, Harry threw three balls toward the targets, missing wildly each time.

"You have lost focus, Mr. Potter," Flitwick was reclining in a chair with a book in hand, nonchalantly observing. "Take a deep breath, clear your mind and focus your core."

Harry closed his eyes and took three deep breaths. Opening them, he focused on the target, conjured the balls. Focusing on the target, Harry sent one ball after another, burning a small hole through the target.

"You did it!" Hermione cheered. "I knew you could do it."

"Your turn," Harry smiled at her sudden pause.

"But those are your specialty…"

"I want you to try this," Harry said. "It's a useful spell to know."

Hermione furrowed her brow in concentration and next thing Harry knew she had three orange fireballs.

"Had to make it at least a little different," Hermione smirked. "Though they're not as hot as yours."

"Orange is more your energy anyway," Harry said as he conjured a target for her. He barely stepped aside before Hermione sent three flames right through the center.

"Yikes!" Harry screamed as he dodged out of the way. "Give me a chance to get away first, okay?"

"After Rogue Bludgers, great balls of fire should be nothing, Boy Wonder," Hermione ribbed him.

"Boy Wonder?" Harry cocked an eyebrow at her nickname for him. "I guess if that's how you want it, deadshot."

"Oh you're on!" Hermione grinned as they bowed and immediately started firing stunners at the other.

A half hour later, Harry swerved out of the path of three stunners and yelled "Stupefy!"

Harry's red beam of light shattered Hermione's fledgling shield and hit its mark. Running to revive her, Harry then offered his hand to help her back up.

"I thought I had you," Hermione said through a wide smile. "I didn't expect you to dodge my triple stunner.

"I almost didn't," Harry smiled along with her. "Your accuracy is deadly."

"Excellent job you two!" Flitwick had put his book aside and was clapping. "You have come so, so far. Don't get too soft on me over the holiday, okay?"

Tomorrow was the last day of term and Harry was looking forward to spending some more time with the Grangers and a break from all the whispers following him. There was only so much he could take before he would break altogether.

For a while, they had thought about staying once they heard Draco Malfoy would be staying for the holidays. He was their chief suspect in the attacks. Hermione even showed Harry a page in the Potions book he got her that talked about something called Polyjuice Potion. She was planning on raiding Snape's stores to get the ingredients but a conversation with the Slytherin Four forestalled that.

"You could probably impersonate one of us but you wouldn't get anything from Draco," Daphne said. "Slytherin is a different animal. You would have no idea how to act in the common room; you'd be found out for sure. Not by Draco; he's truly dumb but another Slytherin would figure it out."

"Draco is not behind the attacks," Vinny said. "He's too much bluster and not enough guile. We've even heard him wonder who it is. He is wondering if the Heir will take requests."

Since then, Harry and Hermione had regular meetings with the Four, Susan, Hannah and Cedric where they shared any information they knew. They had to be careful to not be overheard but that was not a big issue, thanks to the privacy spells Susan knew from Amelia.

Thus far, nobody had any actionable intelligence. Digging through the Wizarding Families of Brittain, they traced Slytherin's lineage for a while. Some houses had a minor connection to it, though the only house with a real claim to be direct descendants died out around 70 years ago. Harry shared the name Gaunt to the others. None of them had heard of the name before. Susan and Daphne were going to ask their respective families over the break to see if they knew anything.

That was all on Harry's mind as the train sped away from Hogwarts, toward London. It was one of the colder Decembers in recent memory so Harry conjured his signature blue fireballs in their compartment, much to the appreciation of Lavender and Parvati. They huddled close together, trying to stay as warm as possible. The train was old and was not great at keeping out the cold. Even with the flames, Hermione pressed into Harry's side.

"For warmth," she said, though whether she was trying harder to convince Harry or herself was uncertain. Hannah did the same with Neville. Not to be left out, Susan huddled closer to Harry. Meanwhile, Luna just hummed a tune as she sat contentedly on the bench.

"Good lord it is cold," Harry said. They were bundled in layers with an open flame hovering near them and still it rose the temperature to simply cold from frigid. "How are you not bothered by this, Luna?"

"I'm used to spending nights in Sweden," Luna said. "In winter, it can get this cold or colder. I just learned to accept the cold and not let it bother me."

Hermione shook her head and burrowed further into Harry. As it was too cold to sleep, they passed the time chatting about their holidays.

"I'm excited to see mum again," Lavender said. "She's been working hard, traveling, developing new fashions for the Wizarding World. She's tired of bland robes, she wants something a little more modern but she's trying to do it in a way that won't offend the pureblood traditionalists."

"How are you and Parvati doing with the cosmetics?" Harry asked.

"It's… slow going," Parvati answered. "We just can't seem to find a way to make cosmetic that will wear off after a time. Either it works too long or doesn't work at all. The stronger ones we have tested are really hard to remove."

"Have you talked to the twins?" Harry suggested. "They are developing some products that only last a specific time. As a lot of their products have a basis in potions, they could be a good option to help you through any issues."

"You should also look into Herbology," Hermione said to which Neville nodded. "Some of the plants might help in ways you can't even imagine."

Before long, the train was pulling into the station. Pulling their bags from the top rack, Harry lead Hermione off the train, toward her smiling parents. As with last year, Hermione dropped her bag to run and wrap her mother up in a hug. Smiling at the sight, Harry bent to pick up the bag and walked over to join the Grangers.

"Harry!" Richard gave Harry a hug in greeting. "Ice to see you!"

Not even the cold could stifle the man's humor.

"Hey you need to chill out," Harry replied, making the Granger women groan. They stepped through the barrier and were going to head toward the car when Harry felt a tug on his sleeve.

Turning, he saw Colin standing there with what must have been his family.

"Can I help you, Colin?" Harry asked the boy.

"I wanted to introduce you to my parents," Colin said. Harry held out and shook his hand with Colin's dad, a short blonde man and his mum, a stout brunette. Harry was shocked when his mum embraced him.

"Good to meet you Mrs. Creevey," Harry said.

"Sarah," she said. "Thank you for bringing my son back. It would have been hard to have a holiday without him."

"And this must be Dennis," Harry finally spotted a tiny boy hiding behind her. "Colin speaks of you often… and quite fondly."

"Good to meet you," Dennis said sheepishly.

Chuckling, Harry wished the Creevey's a good holiday, turned and exited the station with Grangers.

(A/N: To the guest, Alex2038, who asked how to follow along with fictions as they update, I recommend creating an account on the site which you can use to favorite and follow stories and authors that you enjoy

As always, thank you all for all the follows, favorites and comments, and for helping to guide this story along the way.)