7022729 harry potter and the gem of power

8/3/2019 7022729 Harry Potter and the Gem of Power

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harry potter and the gem of power by bretkowritten: 2003.12.09 last updated: 2004.06.19 (110521 total words)

chapter 1 : what happens to traitors

i do not own any of characters and places.

chapter 1: what happens to traitors

rain was falling thickly from the dark grey clouds hovering above the capital ofczech republic, prague. it was a dark, cold night. this summer was unusuallyhumid, it had been raining for three weeks in a row now. some streets looked likerivers, gallons of water spilling through the town. the prague dark-therewas no electricity in many parts of the town. the only lights came from headlightsof cars, leaving the city because of floods, neon lights and flashesof curses, coming from the old town.karkaroff, former headmaster of durmstrang school, managed to duck another curseaimed at him just in time. the curse missed him by inches and shuttereda window above his head. glass shreds were falling on him, cutting deeply in everypiece of his body, tearing his robes apart. he let out of yelp of painand shook, so the glass would fell of him. but there was no time to waste. he had

to keep running. he spun around.staying against him, on the other side of the small compound, nearly invisible inthe darkness stood figure in dark robes, his face covered by mask, soonly eyes could be seen through narrow slits. karkaroff recognised him as macnair,a member of voldemort s inner circle. he was eyeing him with disgust.�how could you thought, that you can betray our master and live? he asked,� � raising his wand.but karkaroff was quicker. he raised his own wand and cried stupefy!� �a stream of red light erupted from the tip of his wand and hit macnair in thechest. macnair let out a grumble and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.karkaroff wanted to finish him of, just for sure, but then he heard footstepsclosing in. at least three of them by the sound of it, he thought for himself.he ran to the nearest house and pointed his wand at the door.

alahomora!� �he entered the building and locked the door again. he fell silent and placed hisear on the door. he could hear several voices..look, that s macnair! is he dead?� � �just stunned i think. enervate.� �macnair, where did he go? came lucius malfoy s voice� � �i don t know.� � �damn you, macnair. let s split up. reiley, waterfield, take this path. macnair,� � come with me. dolohov, check over there.�karkaroff didn t move for what seemed to be eternity. then he collapsed to the� ground, panting for breath, exhausted. he closed his eyes, finally relaxingand drifted into uneasy sleep.he was dreaming about being in hogwarts on that fateful day, the day of the last

task of triwizard tournament, when his dark mark suddenly throbbed. herolled up his sleeve to look at it. it shone brightly, as if it was burned in onlymoments ago. this meant only on thing. the one, who he feared most ofwas back amongst the livings.he fled of immediately, not wanting anyone to know his destination. not that heknew it too. he went to london, where he stayed in the evil twins inn, wherehe wanted to lay down for a while, and think abou the future.the evil twins was not exactly the place, where one would want spend theirvacation. it had bad reputation, mostly because of people, who could be met there.runaways pickpocketers, dangerous thieves and even murderers. there were times,when the death eaters would spend their money here, discussing their horrible



plans over a flank of firewhiskey or rum. anyone could end in pain, caused bycruciatus curse or killed in a fight by avada kedavra curse or just by adagger.. many people came here and just disappeared.karkaroff decided to leave the country. he firstly thought about going back toromania, but that would be the most obvious thing to do. so he contactedsome people from his past, people he wished he would never see again and askedthem about quiet place, as far away from wizards as possible. some of themrefused to help him, because they were afraid, some people refused to help him,

because they were pissed with him until one old witch told him to moveto prague.but isn t prague supposed to be place, where there are a lot of wizards? it is� � not called magic prague for no reason.�it used to be, but during the medieval time muggles did very terrible things to� anyone who was just suspected of wizardry. men and women were torturedand executed, only one witness was sufficient. many muggles were killed bymistake, also many people used this to get rid of their enemies. after that,magic community decided it was not safe there anymore and moved. so that would bewhere i would move to. now go away, i don t want anybody see you with�me.�the old witch was right. prague was excellent place, karkaroff soon found out.with enough money you could have what you wanted. he made himself a new identity,

bought a luxurious apartment and thought his past would not catch up with himanymore.but he was wrong. somebody talked.he awoke with a start. damn, how long i have been asleep? he looked at his brandnew watch. only twenty-eight minutes? he felt as if he hadn t slept for�so long in ages. he got up, his every muscle aching from the pursuit and placedhis ear on the door.nothing. as quiet as graveyard, except for the storm.he unlocked the door, opened them and walked outside, realizing that this was afatal mistake. whole compound was surrounded by death eaters. and in thecentre stood a tall figure in dark robes with no mask. he did not recognize theperson until it spun around. he could see the face of man, who hauntedhis dreams for past 14 years. staring at him were two eyes that shone red. the

figure spoke with cold, high-pitched voice. he would have recognised thatvoice anytime.voldemort.well, well, i m glad you finally decided to join us. haven t seen you for quite a� � � long time, karkaroff.�karkaroff quickly reached for his wand and pointed it steadily on voldemort.avada kedavra! he shouted. the acid green flash of light hit voldemort straight� � in the chest, where his heart should be.. nothing happened. or nearlynothing.voldemort touched his face, where a trickle of blood was oozing with a tip of hisfinger.ah, excellent karkaroff. you gave me a nosebleed.� �before karkaroff could react, voldemort drew his wand and aimed at karkaroff.

expelliarmus! he cried.� �karkaroff was thrown back, his fingers lost the grip over his wand. he got upimmediately and made a dive for it.impedimenta!� �he froze in the middle of his jump and was knocked to the ground again.accio wand!� �karkaroff watched horrified as his wand flew slowly, as if deliberately, tovoldemort outstretched hand. voldemort caught it and touched karkaroff s wand�with the tip of his own. karkaroff s wand snapped in two with a loud crack!�noooo! karkaroff screamed.� �now we shall play a little. said voldemort with a sinister smile. wingardium� � �



leviosa!�karkaroff was lifted from the ground. the death eaters were laughing heartedly.voldemort let karkaroff hover ten feet above the ground, before slamminghim into nearest wall. karkaroff realizing what was about to happen a momentbefore, managed to stretch his hand in futile defence attempt. he hit thewall in great velocity and heard a loud snap of his bone being broken. his headcollided hard with the wall and he could see stars everywhere.the light was switched on in one of the windows. a muggle, man in his thirties

leaned outside.hej, co se deje?! he called in czech.� �avada kedavra!� �the muggle fell on the pavement, dead as a green flash from lucius malfoy s wand� hit him in the face. shrieks could be heard from the flat, where mugglefell from.now, now, look s like i have to make it shorter than i would like, voldemort� � � said coldly. finite incantatem!� �karkaroff hit the ground hardly, a few of his ribs broke by the impact.he was in great pain, he could barely move. he just wanted to stop it.you wish me to stop this, karkaroff, don t you? i shall in a moment. but now� � � crucio!�the pain increased hundred times, making it nearly unbearable. hot needles were

piercing his skin, followed by an acid spilled on his face, then flameslicking all over his body. his eyes were rolling in their sockets. he could hearnothing, see nothing, feel nothing except the pain on every inch of hisbody. he was screaming without knowing it.voldemort lifted the curse. karkaroff could no longer move, he could only�

twitch. surroundings came into focus again, and he saw that more lights in windowswere on and more muggles were lying on the pavement, men, women, even kids, somedeath, some being tortured by death eaters, who laughed openly.he could hear voldemort footsteps and his feet came into the view.now, you see what happens to those, who betray me, fool.� �karkaroff wanted to stop it, he wanted to die voldemort pointed his wand at him.�i shall fulfil your wish. farewell. avada kedavra!� �there was a flash of green light and karkaroff knew no more.

chapter 2 : bad news and good news

i do not posses any of these characters and places

chapter 2: bad news and good news

the sun was about to rise and bath houses of privet drive, surrey in its light andwarm. it promised to be another day with high temperature without anydrop of water from the cloudless sky. swimming pool would once again become themost precious treasure, people would be sunbathing or eating meals outside,because it was unbearable to be in house during the day, even with air condition,everybody would be enjoying perfect summer. everybody except for harry

potterharry was lying on his bed, still in unease sleep. streams of sweat were tricklingdown his forehead, as he was twitching, his mind still in his naightmares.i shall fulfil your wish. farewell. avada kedavra! he muttered.� �he awoke with a start, looked around him. realizing where he was, he let out asigh of relief. knowing that it would be impossible to fall asleep again,he got up and went to bathroom. he washed his face and looked at his reflection inthe mirror. his face was swollen, skin was as white as walls and hiseyes were puffy. he barely slept lately and when he managed to drift to sleep, hewas haunted by nightmares.it was always the same. cedric lying dead on the ground of graveyard, duel with



voldemort, sirius falling through the veil, the feeling when he was possessedby voldemort. sometimes another images appeared- ruins of hogwarts, hermione andall weaslys lying crumpled on the floor, dead and sirius, his face sullen,saying it s your fault i m dead harry, it s entirely your fault. he would awake� � � � � wet from sweat, his scar would throb uncomfortably. mercifully, he wouldalmost forget the dreams instantly.oh, sirius, if i hadn t played hero, you would be alive. you are right. it is� � only my fault you are dead. if i only listened to dumbledore and learned

to master occlumency. he said to himself. he missed his godfather very much. his� parents had been murdered when he was one year old and sirius was theclosest thing to parent harry ever had. and no he was gone too.he dressed himself in his shabby muggle clothes and went downstairs to havesomething for breakfast. the dursleys, the only relatives he had left, usedto be mean to him and hadn t fed him properly, until last summer, when his former� professor remus lupin and other members of the order of phoenix threatenedthem. from that time he could eat how many he wanted, but on the other hand thedursleys were ignoring him completely. he appreciated that at first, butafter four weeks, when he had no one to talk he would be happy to hear unclevernon yelling at him, just to assure himself, that he still existed. deeplyin thoughts, he walked down stairs, but suddenly stopped. he could hear quietvoices.

petunia, dear, i can t manage another night like this. that potter boy was� � muttering and screaming in his sleep again. i still don t understand why they�are not police officers at our door, aiming at us with guns and demandingimmediate relase of our hostage. uncle vernon growled. why can t we just send� � �him to an orphanage?�i told you hundred times that he has to stay. and don t ask me why, i am not� � telling you. came aunt petunia s respond.� �petunia, be reasonable vernon started, but at that moment harry entered the� �� room.morning he said gloomily.� ��no response.harry went to a fridge, opened it and grabbed some food. he sat down at the table,ignoring hateful glances from his fosters. he was just about to bite

from his sandwich when headline on morning newspaper caught his attention. hemanaged to read a mysterious deaths in prague, when uncle vernon turned toanother page. latest newspaper were full of such headlines and harry knew why. itwas now useless for voldemort to stay low and he again started his reignof terror. not hungry anymore, he abandoned his sandwich and left for his roomagain.when he entered his room, an owl was waiting for him with daily prophet tied toits leg. he untied the knot, took the newspaper and deposited a silver sickleto leather pouch tied to owls leg. he unrolled the daily prophet and gasped inhorror. on the first page was picture of bodies lying on the street. hebegan to read an article.

karkaroffs body found in prague

today, in early hours, muggle policemen in prague, czech republic,were called to a scene of crime by many frightened muggles. theyfound a horrific sight. twenty one dead bodies were sprawled acrossthe small compound in old town. apparently these persons just diedfor no reason, although according to witnesses, they were murderedby a group of robed people, wearing masks, killing with green flashesof light, erupting from what it seemed to be wooden sticks.representatives of czech ministry of magic were summoned to thescene of crime immediately and discovered, that you-know-who, andhis supporters, known as the death eaters were behind this attack.



a team was dispatched to clear the scene and modify memory of allwitnesses and policemen.this is by far the highest death toll since you-know-who return,that he is responsible for. it is also believed that karkaroff, formerheadmaster of durmstrang, wizard school in romania, is amongstthe dead.

harry flickered through the rest of the daily prophet. entire wizard world was in

panic. many people disappeared, many muggle-born witches and wizards havehanded out their wands and broke any relation to wizard world. as he was readinghis newspaper he suddenly remembered his latest dream. he actually sawthe death of karkaroff.this can mean only one thing. there is still connection between my and voldemort s� mind, he thought.he immediately took some parchment and ink from his closet, dipped his quill andwrote a letter to dumbledore.

dear siri m sure you are aware of recent incident in prague of death of�mr. karkaroff. the reason i am writing you is that i saw it all,in my dreams. the connection between my and voldemort s mind�

is still active. i m afraid something like last year can happen.�please advice me.hope you are well.

harry potter

he opened cage, which stood on his table and a beautiful snow-white owl flew out.it was hedwig, his pet and the only company he had.hedwig, i need you to take this to dumbledore, quickly. he told her, tying the� � letter to hedwigs leg.she hooted reassuringly and took of immediately.harry was just about to close the window, when he spotted two owls closing infast.

the first one, a big brown one landed on his table neatly, dropping a letter witha hogwarts sign and taking of immediately. the second one was tiny andit zoomed around his room excitedly. harry snatched it and the owl hooted happily.pig, he thought for himself. he took the letter, recognising the untidywriting as ron s. he released pig, who drank a little water from hedwigs cage and� took of immidietly too.he opened the ron s letter first.�

dear harry,haven t heard from you for quite a long time from you, mate.�we are really worried about you, hermione, ginny and me. i can t�wait to see you again, but dumbledore insists on you staying therehe says that you will know why.

anyway, we are going to grimwald place tomorrow and we are goingto stay there for the rest of our holiday, so we will meet you here.harry, i just want to let you know that we are here for you.

ron

harry reread the short letter thrice. tears were trickling down his face. he mopedthem moped with sleeve of his shirt. oh, how he missed them. but he wasnot talking to them for no reason. it was all because of that stupid prophecy. hewas destined either a victim or a murderer. anyone who was with him wasin danger, he thought, remembering the fateful night at the department of



mysteries, when sirius was killed and his friends were injured.he grabbed the second letters only to cone across another thoughts. he ripped itopen, took out the letter and started to read.

dear mr. potter,enclosed in this letter are your o.w.l. s results and the list of�your n.e.w.t. s classes you will attend to in this year. you will find�your list of needed books other supplies at the end of this letter.

p.s. due to resignation of ms. umbridge you have been given back� �the position of seeker in gryffindor quiditch team. i would also liketo offer you a position of captain. please, let me know as soon possiblewheter you accept.

o.w.l. s results�

defence against the dark arts: outstandingcharms: outstandingtransfiguration: exceeds expectationsherbology: exceeds expectationspotions: exceeds expectations

history of magic: poorastronomy: acceptabledivination: dreadfulcare of magical creatures: outstanding

n.e.w.t. s classes�

defence against the dark artscharmstransfigurationpotionscare of magical creaturesherbology

p.s. it was very hard to get you into potions without omark. i told professor snape that you will get good marks.so do me a favour and study hard this year, will you?

hope you are well,minerva mcgonagalldeputy of headmaster

harry groaned. this looked like a hardest year ever.

chapter 3 : surprise

i do not posses any of the characters or places

chapter 3: surpriseharry was lying on his bed, trying to sleep when he heard a knock on the door.enter, he said curtly.� �dudley dursley, his mean cousin entered his room. he looked at harry unfriendly.dudley has gained some weight over the last school, and was on diet again.the only thing that made dudley survive the diet used to be the fact, that therest of his family, including harry, were eating the same food as him. butnow, with a warning remus lupin gave his aunt and uncle, it would be unwise tostarve harry.



what do you want, dud? harry asked him coldly.� �mum and dad want me to tell you that it s about time you send another letter to� � your freaky friends, he said to harry the letters to lupin were the only�thing dursleys cared about harry.well, look into my cage, stupid. it does not look i am sending a letter, when my� owl is gone, does it. or are there any other owls in this house that idon t know about? harry asked.� �don t provoke me or , dudley said threateningly, raising his fist.� � � �

or what? you are going to beat me out? asked harry. he reached for his wand and� � started playing with it, making sure that dudley could see it all thetime.one day, i will catch you unprepared. and i shall enjoy that moment very much.� � dudley yelled at harry, slamming the door.harry let himself to slid down on his bed again. he sighed. teasing dudley wasn t� any more. in fact everything had changed since he found out about hisprophecy. he closed his eyes. why i can t live just another ordinary life, he� thought for himself. what have i done to deserve this. everybody told himthat he was meant for great things. but he didn t care. he would give all his� possession for another life.as he was deeply in thoughts, something knocked on the window.harry raised his head and saw hedwig waiting behind the closed window, a letter

tied to her leg. he got up, opened the window and let hedwig inside. shelanded on his shoulder and extended her leg, so harry could get the letter. heuntied the knot, stroking hedwig semiconsciously, unrolled it and beganto read.

dear harry,i m sorry, but i can t do nothing about your problem right know,� �while you are still with your relatives. just try to free your mindof any thoughts before you go sleeping, when your mind is mostvulnerable. but don t worry, you are perfectly safe at privet drive.�once we will be able to pick you up, i will assign someone togive you occlumency lessons again. it will be soon.

dumbledore

harry crumpled the letter in rage and tossed it into a bin. even though he nowknew the reason why he had to be here, it did nor make it more bearable.he was really looking forward to next year, when he would leave the dursleysforever.to ease some of his anger, he sat up at his desk and started writing a letter toron.

hey ron,i m sorry i haven t been in touch for such a long time, but i m� � �trying to sort my thoughts out. don t worry about me i ll� �be fine.

harry

he hated to be so cold to his best friend, but he wasn t in friendly mood. after� finishing this letter he took another piece of parchment and wrote anotherletter to lupin.

dear remusi m ok, the dursleys are civil with me.�

harry



he took the letters and walked over to hedwigs cage.hedwig, i m sorry i have to send you away so soon, but i need these letters� � delivered. this one is for ron and this one is for remus lupin, he said as�he was tying the letters to her leg.she hooted reassuringly, as he opened the window and took of from his outstretchedhand. harry was watching her, until she was out of sight.

**********

harry was lying on a field in the country, unaware where he was. he got up andlooked around him. the surroundings were comforting. green grass grew upto his waist. he let his hand ran across it, enjoying it s smoothnes. everything� looked so peaceful. he could see a form of hogwarts in distance, bathedin the orange light of sunset. the sky was perfectly cloudless, the weather waswarm. he inhaled the pleasant scent of the air, relaxing his mind at last.somebody has slipped hands around his waist and pulled him into tight hug. harryfelt as the person eased her head on his shoulder.beautiful, isn t it? said a soft girl voice, which was familiar to harry.� � �he was just about to turn his head to the girl, when his scar erupted with painwithout warning. he collapsed to his knees, reaching for his forehead.

no, please, not again, he muttered.� �he raised his head. the surroundings were no longer pleasant. the high grass wasburned. there were bodies, lying all over the field. bodies, that lay still,their eyes wide open and unfocused. the hogwarts castle was in flames, smoke wasrising thickly from it, covering whole sky.something grasped his shoulder viciously. he looked upwards, firstly at theskeletal hand, that was crushing his shoulder, then raising his head, he sawwho to hand belonged to. the rotten face of sirius was staring at him withlifeless eyes.this is all your fault, harry. only your, he hissed.� �harry awoke with a start, sat quickly and looked on his shoulder. there was nohand there. easing himself on the bed again, he let out a sigh of relief.he checked his warch: 1:3o a.m. 7.31. hey, i ve been sixteen for and hour and�

half. i wonder whether the dursleys would ignore my birthday as usual, heasked himself before finally drifting to peaceful and dreamless sleep.he awoke at 10 a.m., feeling totally relaxed. he tried to remember, if he had anydreams but couldn t think of any. he got up and put on his glasses and�went downstairs to have some breakfast, snatching today s copy of the daily� prophet from the table. the dursleys were gone. as he was expecting there wereno presents waiting for him, no surprise party. he took some food out of thefridge, sat to the table and started to read the daily prophet. nothing fishyhappened lately, the newspaper were full of vague reports of latest events andtheories, what might be the voldemort s plans.�he was on his way back to his room, when he heard a door bell.curious, he went to the door and opened them.surprise, harry! yelled ron, fred, george, ginny and mr. weaslys in union, as� �

squealing hermione jumped on him and embraced him in a rib-breaking hug.why what are you doing here? he stuttered, as hermione let him go.� � �well, i hope you are ready to go. we are here to pick you up. said mr. weasly,� � beaming.harry couldn t believe his ears. he was leaving! finally.�hurry up, harry, i don t think you would like to be here when your uncle� � returns, mr. weasly said.�why? not another imaginary lawn competition.? he asked mr. weasly with a grin.� �sort of.. fred, george take care of harry s luggage. we don t want to be late for� � � harry s birthday party.� �a birthday party? harry asked unbelievably.� �



what, did you think, that we forgot about it? said ginny with a wink.� �harry couldn t believe this. a birthday party!�where are we going? harry asked.� �to grimwald place, said ron. harry gulped. he would appreciate more if they� � would go to burrow, not to place, where everything would remind him of sirius.we are going to use a portkey. we could use floo now, when the order and ministry� are on the same boat again, but dad doesn t want to ruin muggle s living� �room again.�

mr. weasly left a note to dursleys on the dining room, and joined them again.meantime fred and george brought down harry s suitcase-he was always packed�and ready to go, as if he was expecting something like this might happen.ok, are we ready to go? wait, i need to desillusion us, we don t want to make a� � commotion, do we? he cast the spell on each person in the group. shame� �we couldn t have stayed longer, i would like to see this house more through� fully.�ron rolled his eyes, and catching harry s eyes he grinned. as they stepped out,� mr. weasly stopped abruptly.just a moment, we don t want to get your relatives robbed, do we? asked mr.� � � weasly as he pointed his wand at the door.colloportus!� �but mr. weasly, would be the dursleys able to open the door with an ordinary�

key? harry asked him curiously.�honestly, harry, i don t care. mr. weasly said with a wink. now gather around,� � � � everybody��

chapter 4 : the best birthday ever

everybody who read this story, please reivew, even if you say "the worst fanficever". i just want to hear your comments

i do not posses any of the characters and places.

chapter 4:harry and the weaslys landed in the dark entrance hall of headquarters of order of

phoenix. harry got up from the ground.filthy mudbloods and half-breeds, mugglelovers, disgrace of our kind, you dare to� step into the noble house of black apparently, the members of order��still hadn t found a way to dispose of shrieking portrait of mrs. black, sirius s� � mother.torches and candles all around the hall lit up as remus lupin emerged form thekitchen door.not again, he muttered to himself, as he marched to the portrait and closed the� � curtains before it. the shrieking stopped abruptly. he sighed and theturned to harry.hello harry, nice to see you again, he said, smiling rather gloomily. harry� � surveyed him through his glasses. the robes lupin wore looked more shabbierthan harry remembered. apparently lupin had not found a job yet. he looked very

pale and his hair turned greyer. but the thing harry was most concernedwas that the sparkle in lupin s eyes, which was there during times sirius was� alive, was gone.err nice to see you to he stuttered.� � ��i m sorry harry but there is an order meeting right now, and i need to be there.� � i ll see you later in the evening. arthur, fred, george, you better come�along too, he motioned to them.�ron, help harry with his luggage, you know where your room is. stay there, i ll� � call you when everything is ready, mr. weasly said. then he, the twins�and lupin went inside the kitchen.ron and harry dragged harry s huge suitcase up to room, which they were sharing,�



followed by hermione and ginny. the house looked as if was new, everythingwas clean and shining. when they entered the room,. something suddenly hit harryin his stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and he collapsed on theground.harry potter, sir! came the squeaky voice harry recognised.� �hi dobby, he said, gasping for breath. he stood up and looked him. dobby s� � � clothes were tidy and neat as usual, and his tennis-ball eyes were shiningwith excitement. what are you doing here? aren t you supposed to be at hogwarts?� � �

yes indeed sir, but dumbledore came to see dobby and ask him whether he would not� do him a favour. he said that harry potter is coming to grimwald placein the end of july and he wanted to house to be cleaned properly. he insisted ongiving dobby a pay rise, but dobby refused. he owes this to harry potter,because harry potter set him free.�i already told you hundred times dobby, you don t owe me anything. harry said.� � �oh, harry potter is so modest and generous. dobby squealed, making harry turn� � red.dobby, how is winky? hermione asked suddenly.� �dobby turned his head to her curiously, as if realizing just now that they wereother people in the room with him.winky is a lot better nowadays, young lady. she finally starts to understands� that she is free and has no master anymore. but she still neglects her clothes

and her appearance, dobby said.�well, err.. say hello to her from me. hermione said, taken aback by sudden� � bitterness in dobby s voice.�harry potter, sir, dobby has to go now, prepare everything for harry potter s� � birthday party.�i told you, you don t have to do this, dobby. harry said, but too late, dobby� � � was already gone.harry looked at ron and they both grinned.so, had a good summer, mate? ron asked harry. harry s mind shifted to sirius� � � instantly. hermione must have recognised it.ron, how could you say something like that? she said, rolling her eyes.� �what do you mean, hermione? why would a person be offended by this question? ron� � said, looking daggers at her.

you ll never change, ronald weasly, she said, fuming.� � �now what was that supposed to mean, hermione granger? ron yelled at her.� �come on, ron, calm down. ginny pleaded.� �oh, don t you say me to calm down� � ��harry couldn t stand this anymore. he left the room, closing the door behind him� silently, so no one recognised that he was gone. he walked over to a study,which he remembered from last year. he entered and closed the door behind himself,regretting that there was no lock. he wanted to be alone now.he looked around the room curiously. he recognised instantly that this room misseddobby s cleaning raid. it was small, but cosy. the walls were lined up�with bookcases. harry let his finger run across dusty books, when he stoppedabruptly.memories, which should never be forgotten. it appeared that this book was taken

out and returned many times recently.he took it out sat on an old sofa, clearing the dust from it beforehand.he flickered through the pages of the book. they were full of photos. one shownsirius as a cute baby. there was another one, showing sirius on a broom,beaming, as he zoomed in and out around the picture. he turned to another page andhis stomach gave an unpleasant jolt.in the picture, there were three boys, eleven or twelve years old, in hogwartsuniforms, wearing gold-red scarfs. they were beaming at harry. harry recognisedthem instantly as sirius black, remus lupin and james potter, his father. heturned few more pages and another picture alerted his presence. his fatherwas carried on the shoulders of older looking boys, his eyes full of triumph,



raising the quiditch cup over his head in one hand and the golden snitchin his second. he turned a page again and there was another picture his father,carrying the quiditch cup, only this time there was a girl, standing nextto him, kissing him on the cheek. he recognised her by her eyes-his eyes. it waslilly evans, harry s mother.�tears were now trickling on his face, he simply couldn t help it. he turned to� another page. the next picture was probably taken just after n.e.w.t. s test.�james, sirius, and remus were standing in front, each of them wearing looks of

triumph and happiness, each of them embracing a girl, which were beamingtoo. but there was one person who didn t look happy at all. harry felt a sudden� surge of anger all over his body. peter pettigrew, the one, who betrayedhis parents was standing next to remus and his girlfriend, his expression showedgloominess and perhaps envy.harry longed for a revenge. i will make you pay for what you have done, wormtail,he though for himself.there was a knock on the door and it opened.harry, are you here? ginny asked.� �go away, i want to be alone, he said, drying his face with a sleeve of his� � shirt.harry, you can t keep avoiding everyone for the rest of your live. there are� � people who care about you, you know, she said, coming over to the sofa and�

taking a seat.but that s the only thing i can do. see everyone, who gets involved with me is in� � great danger. it was my fault cedric died, it was my fault sirius died,it was my fault you and the others got hurt that night. the world would be so muchbetter without me harry started.��now stop self-pitying yourself, it s no good. if it weren t for you, the whole� � � wizard world would be probably destroyed now. it was you who stopped you-know-w ,�well, voldemort eleven years ago. it was you who ruined his plans, not once, butfive times already. it was you who saved my life in the second year, whenvoldemort possessed me she interrupted him.��ginny, i don t know how much more i can bear harry said, his voice trembling.� � ��well, that s what you ve got friends for. to help you carry your burden. ginny� � � � said, pulling, him into a tight hug.

harry, mate, are you here? came the voice of ron.� �i m here, ron. harry said, letting go of ginny� � �ron entered with hermione. i just want to tell you, that me and hermione stopped� arguing. we came here to apologize.�no need. listen, i know that you want to help and i appreciate it, really harry� �� started, but was interrupted by fred, who came upstairs.where are you everybody? the meeting is over, harry s party is about to what are� � � you all doing here? he asked as he entered the room.�nothing, just talking. harry smiled at all of them. shall we get prepared,� � � then?�

**********

harry and ron went to their room to prepare themselves for the party. harrydressed up in his best muggle clothes and tried to comb his hair, but it wouldn t�stay flat, no matter how hard he tried. sighing, he gave up. when the boys wereready, they went downstairs.harry just entered the kitchen, when he was embraced in tight hug by mrs. weasly.oh, harry, how are you? is there anything i can do for you? are you hungry,� thirsty? oh, just look at how skinny you are, she fussed, leading him to the�dining room, where everything was prepared for the party. she lead him to thetable, which would almost collapse under the amount of food and drinks. take�whatever you like, all is for you, she said, beaming.�harry didn t need telling twice. he pilled his plate wit all his favourites and�



took a bottle of butterbeer. looking around the room, he noticed there wereonly him and ron. mrs. weasly returned to the kitchen, not telling why.where is everybody else? he asked ron.� �ron, who had his mouth full of food, just shook his head, meaning that he did notknow.the door opened and hermione, accompanied by ginny and crookshanks entered,hermione s cat entered. hermione was dressed in what appeared as her best muggle�clothes, ginny as well. both were wearing some make-up. they walked over to a free

table, where they put their presents for harry. ron, realising thathe forgot his own in his room, left and returned a moment later.by then, more people started coming. fred and george came first, carrying anenormous present, lupin, dressed in his new robes, which he bought for thisopportunity, tonks, her hair acid green, moody, his magic eye spinning excitedly,mr. and mrs. weasly with their eldest sons bill and charlie and evenprofessor mcgonagall dropped by. harry greeted everyone happily.harry started opening his presents. there was his own golden snitch, given by ron.harry couldn t help but grin as he rembered seeing his father in the�dumbledore s pensieve, showing of with the golden snitch, which he nicked. what� could he expect from hermione than a book- advance spells for gifted students.next came the present form lupin-another set of defence against the dark artsbooks.

just thought they might come in handy, he said.� �when he opened the present from the twins, he couldn t belive his eyes. they got� him a model of quiditch pitch, with a figures of quiditch player, thatwere actually moving. it was similar to the model oliver wood, former quiditchcaptain, had, only this was much bigger.ah, that might come in handy, when you would sometimes plan your strategies as� the captain. did you consider my proposal already? asked him professor�mcgonagall.actually, i have and i accept. it will be an honuor, he replied.� �excellent, i m sure you would make an excellent captain, she assured him, then� � � she left to talk to tonks about some recent science breakthrough on animagiand mathamorphagi.tonks gave him a book about the history of the aurors, moody gave him a flask.

when harry eyed him curiously he just said: you ll never now, when someone� �might slip something into your goblet. mark my words, you re going to find that� useful one day.�mr. weasly gave a set of muggle clothes, which he enchanted himself. underpantsand socks, that were producing heat, shirt that changed colour, when touchedby a wand and trousers, which would grow with him. mrs. weasly knitted him on ofher usual sweaters and gave him an enormous box of various sweets. ginnybought him a rememberall, just in case he needed it sometimes. bill gave him abook about the history of egyptian pyramids and charlie gave him some specialfood for hedwig.thank you charlie, bill, these might come useful. he thanked for the presents.� �not at all, they replied in union.� �what about percy, has he already contacted you? harry asked.� �

yes, he has, actually, we are going to see him tomorrow morning, dad, bill and� me. he now lives on the outskirts of the town, he has been given a smallhouse as a treat for his exceptional and spotless work record . charlie said� � � sarcastically, rolling his eyes. he lives there with his girlfriend, penelope�cleanwater. i m sure you remember her from hogwarts.� �harry was just about to ask how could a normal person live with percy form morethan one day, when another person entered the room- dumbledore. harry ranover to him.professor dumbledore, i m so glad you could come, harry ran over to him,� � � beaming.yes, i m glad too, although i can t stay too long. important order business to� � �



attend and i m afraid i ll have to take most of your guests along. i just� �came here to give you my presents. firstly, i was able to find a teacher for yourocclumency lessons. after considering the possibilities, i think thati would be the most suitable person, dumbledore said.�err yes, wonderful, harry wasn t really sure if he appreciated this gift.� � � �harry, i understand that you are suspicious toward occlumency, given your� experiences with it. but it s very vital for you to master it. my second gift�isn t from me, rather from someone else. by sirius last will, this house and all�

the possession in is yours, when you become mature. also, remus lupinwas announced as your guardian, till you reach your maturity.�harry didn t know what to say. he looked over to lupin, who was in deep� conversation with moody.i m sorry, but you will have to wait to talk to lupin tomorrow. i m afraid he has� � � to leave with me. goodbye harry, see you soon he left. lupin, tonks,�mr. weasly, bill and charlie went with him. fred and george left as well, theywere saying something about some paperwork for their joke shop.mrs. weasly started cleaning. when harry and his friends told her that they wouldhelp her she refused, sending them to bed, instead. harry glanced at hiswatch, he couldn t belive it. it was past midnight. time was really going fast� amongst his kind.perhaps he had too much butterbeer, but as he was falling asleep, listening to

ron s snores, he thought that this was his best birthday ever.�

chapter 5 : another betrayal

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i do not posses any of the characters or places

chapter 5: another betrayalharry was still in very good mood when he woke up. perhaps it was because ofprotection around the headquarters of order of phoenix, but he had sleptpeacefullywhole night, undisturbed by any nightmare. he looked over to ron s bed. it was�

empty, he probably had gone downstairs to get some breakfast. harry gotup, dressed himself and went downstairs. he entered the kitchen.good morning. he said happily.� �nobody answered. there was no one there. harry was just about to start lookingform someone all over the house, when he heard sobs, coming from the livingroom. at least, one person, by the sound of it.he opened the door and all of his happiness evaporated in an instant.mrs. weasly was sitting on a sofa, her head in her hands, rocking forwards andbackwards, as she was crying hysterically. mr. weasly was trying to comforther, and harry saw that he was on the verge of tears. the twins and charlie werestanding in the corner, the sparks from their eyes gone. they were juststanding silently. ginny was sitting in the armchair, tears were trickling downher face, as she sobbed. ron who, was sitting on the farthest sofa, his

head in his hands also, was shaking uncontrollably. hermione was sitting next tohim, hugging him and patting him on the head. she was the only one, wholooked up when harry entered and there were tears in her eyes too.harry came over to bill, who was standing by the wall of the room and seemed theonly one capable of communication.

bill, why wh-what happened? he stuttered. why is everyone crying?� � � � � �bill looked at him.i have already told you that we were going to visit percy and his girlfriend this� morning. well when we arrived on the place, we found the house on fireand the dark mark was hovering above it. he said.�harry gulped. is everyone ok? i mean� ��



percy and penelope, they they re he suddenly lost control too and left harry.� � � �� he kneeled next to his mother, trying to help his father to comfort her.don t worry, son, they will be alright, came growling voice.� � �harry spun around. profess i mean mr. moody, is percy and his girlfriend� � alright? he asked him.�moody sighed . no, i m afraid they re not. they re dead. they were murdered by the� � � � death eaters. they left the servant, who was working for percy weaslyalive. he told us, that they were interrogating. they used the cruciatus curse on

him, and when even after that he refused to answer their questions, theyforced him some verritaserum. they asked him several questions- where are theheadquarters and what are the plans of the order of phoenix, your whereaboutsand they asked him about the spells, that are protecting hogwarts. when theyfinished the interrogation, they put the imperium curse on him and forcedhim to kill his girlfriend. then they killed him and left.�harry didn t know what to say. of all the weaslys he liked percy weasly least, but� he couldn t help to be sorry for them. they were like his family, after�all.mr. moody, percy knew nothing about the plans or whereabouts of the order, didn t� � he?. i mean he asked moody��don t worry, dumbledore didn t tell him about the grimwald place. you and all� � � inside here are perfectly safe, moody answered.�

thank you, he said. he looked around the room. nobody, not even hermione was no� � aware of his presence. he decided that best thing to do was leaving quietly.he ran upstairs to his room and locked himself inside. his entire body was shakingwith anger. if voldemort was here no, he would strangle him with hisbare hands.there was a knock on the door.harry, i need to talk to you, came remus lupin s voice. harry did not response.� � � lupin knocked again. harry, i know you are inside let me in, please.� �harry lay on the bed still, when suddenly he heard lupin muttering alahomora and� � the lock clicked open. harry stood up, furious.what do you want?! just leave me alone, will you? he yelled at lupin.� �i m afraid i can t do this, he said, entering harry s room. you probably know� � � � � � now, that i ve been proclaimed as your guardian until you reach maturity,�

which is not for another year.�honestly, remus, i don t care. it would be better if you and the others left me� � alone. harry spat.�harry, if this is because of the incident with percy weasly he started, but� �� harry didn t let him finish. he took a vase from a table and threw it at�lupin.lupin raised his wand.reducto! he cried and the vase broke into hundreds of tiny parts, just before it� � hit his face. he aimed his wand at harry.petrificus totalus.� �harry s legs and hands snapped together and he fell to the ground, rigid as board.� if lupin thought this would calm me down, he couldn t have been more�mistaken, harry thought.

now you listen to me, boy. don t try to blame yourself for what have happened.� � few weeks after what happened at the department of mysteries, when fudgehas realized, that voldemort is once again alive, he was afraid something likethis might happen. because of this circumstance, several important employeesof ministry of magic were given houses, which were protected by various spells.the location of these houses was known only by one secret keeper. those,who were given the houses, were told that it was for their exceptional work recordand similar things like this. it appeared to be an excellent plan. butthen someone, who is serving more than one master at the moment, told voldemortabout this plan. the traitor apparently knew the identity of the secretkeeper, because yesterday at night we found him dead in his house. that was the



reason, why everybody has left your party. we feared that the locationof the houses were compromised. but nobody except for the secret keeper knew thelocations of the houses, he said.�it looked like all was lost and all the persons, who were supposed to be safe,� would be death. but then we got a word from a spy, who is amongst the deatheaters. he told us, what were the locations, where the death eaters left to. wesaved many life s tonight. unfortunately we arrived late to the houses�of three representatives of the ministry of magic, including the house of percy

weasly. so, as you see there is no way, how you could be responsible forthis. harry, do not let make voldemort think that. the only reason why he let theservant alive was, that he would tell us what happened. lupin said.�he pointed his wand at harry again.finite incantatem he muttered.� �harry could move his body again. he got up from the ground, anger still in hiseyes. lupin turned and he was just about to leave harry s room, when harry�called at him. he stopped, but did not face harry again.thank you, harry said to him.� �he just nodded and left the room, closing the door after himself.

chapter 6 : troubles in diagon alley

thank everybody for reveiws

i do not posses any of the characters and place.

chapter 6: troubles in diagon alleythe time in grimmald place passed quickly, although after what happened to percyweasly, it was very miserable. the weaslys were grieving very much. theyreminded harry very much of victims to dementor kiss-they were like soullessbodies. harry tried to talk to ron or ginny many times, but they refused totalk about what happened, as if they ignored it, it had not really happened. withall this harry was happy to come to his last weekend of holiday.harry was awaken by mrs. weasly on his last friday.what s wrong, mrs. weasly? he asked her groggily.� � �

we are going to diagon alley to get your stuff for this year, harry, she said.� � she looked very tired and harry suspected she was crying whole night again.she then woke ron and left.they got up and dressed themselves silently. ron dressed up in black robes, thatharry haven t seen before. then they went to kitchen to get something for�breakfast. hermione was already sitting at the table, a bowl of cereals in frontof her, today s daily prophet propped against the milk jug. she lifted�her eyes as they entered.good morning, harry, ron, she greeted them cheerfully.� �morning, hermione, he replied. ron didn t greet her at all. she exchanged a look� � � of worry with harry, when the door opened again and ginny entered theroom. without any word she sat at the table. she was wearing black robes as well.her eyes were puffy, she was most probably wake for whole night too.

harry was about to finish his third toast, when mr. weasly entered the room.hurry up, boys and girls, we don t want to be late, he said.� � �harry did not understand mr. weasly s comment, but they got up anyway, ron and� ginny barely touched their food..they gathered around the fireplace, they would travel by floo. the weaslys wentfirst, then hermione and then harry. he never really accustomed to travellingby floo-it had always made him sick. he leaved the grate on the other side, theleaky cauldron, brushing ash out of his clothes. mr. weasly came to him.well, harry, we need to take care about something before we go shopping, so why� don t you and hermione order something? we will pick you up in a hour.� �mr. weasly said to harry.



err ok, he replied, wondering what was mr. weasly talking about.� � �the weaslys left them and he and hermione went to leaky cauldron. the place waspacked with wizards and witches as usual. harry bought them two bottlesof butterbeer and they sat at the table in the corner.they sipped their butterbeers silently at first.i wonder where the weaslys have gone he said, breaking the silence.� ��oh harry, isn t that obvious, she said with a sigh. harry just gaped at her� � � stupidly. they went to percy s funeral.� � �

harry suddenly remembered that all the weaslys were wearing black. how could he beso thick?i m very concerned about all of them, mainly about ron and ginny. this is so� � unfair, why it had to be them? they re so nice, she said as a huge tear appeaered� �in her eye.life isn t fair hermione, harry said bitterly.� � �hermione was now crying openly. harry moved over to her bench and sat by her. hehugged her and patted her on her head.come on, hermione, its gonna be fine, he was saying,� �nothing is going to be fine. not until voldemort is still alive.� �then he must be killed, he said. finally, he managed to cope with his prophecy.� �what do you mean? hermione eyed him curiously.� �nothing, he said quickly. he still wasn t entirely sure if he wanted to share� � �

his prophecy with someone else. look, the weaslys are coming, he said.� �hermione ceased the hug and moped her tears away with the sleeve of her robes.mr. and ms. weasly came to their table.shall we go, harry, hermione, asked mr. weasly� �they finished their butterbeers in one gulp and got out. ron and ginny werestanding by the wall which lead to diagon alley. they didn t say a word to ron�and hermione. mr. weasly tapped the wall three times with his wand and the passageopened. they got through and harry once again found himself standingin the crowded diagon alley.they went to the gringott s, the only wizard bank, to get some money first. harry� would enjoy the neck-breaking ride by the cart, which took them to theirvaluts, if he hadn t noticed the look on ron s face. harry withdrew enough money� � for his year. then they went to weaslys valut. ms. weasly took some money,

for once in her life she didn t look embarrassed. hermione changed her muggle� money for coins back at the counter and they left the bank.then they went to various shops. firstly they went to buy their books and suppliesfor potion hours and then they scattered. hermione wanted to buy herselfa new quill and ink, ginny wanted to get new robes, because she grew a lot duringthe summer and ron wanted to buy some treat for his owl, pig.hey, harry, ron, came the voice of hermione, when they were standing by the shop� � window of quiditch best supplies.they went through the street together. they met some of their fellow students onthe way. seamus finnigan and dean thomas, who was walking hand-in-handwith ginny. she looked oblivious to the fact, that her boyfriend was with her andwas gazing nowhere. they met also hannah abott and susan bones from hufflepuffand luna lovegood from ravenclaw, who looked like lost. unfortunately, not all the

people they met were their favourite.they were passing olliwanders wand shop, when a cold familiar voice said. well,� look who it is? famous harry potter and his foolish friends.�harry, ron and hermione spun around. standing against them were malfoy and hissidekicks crabbe and goyle.what do you want, git? harry spat.� �careful potter, watch your mouth, or i ll show you, said malfoy.� � �come, harry, ignore him, hermione said, tugging on his robes.� �and look who is talking, that i-know-all mudblood.� �ron drew out his wand quickly and pointed it at malfoy s face.�what, you fool. you want to hex me? well be my guest, but don t forget you are� �



still underage, weasly. malfoy smirked.�but we re not, came the voices of fred and george, who appeared out of nowhere,� � � their wands drawn.george, fred, stop it, hermione said. then she faced malfoy. how does your� � � father enjoy his stay at the azkaban, malfoy? and she spun around and walked�away. boys were following her lead, when malfoy suddenly called after them. theystopped.it was very entertaining watching your pathetic brother, begging for his quick�

death and for life of his girlfriend. i personally enjoyed using cruciatuscurse on him. first time is the best time, malfoy said with a smirk.�ron launched himself on malfoy and he hit him in his face. malfoy collapsed to theground. crabbe and goyle tried to attack ron, but they were hit by twostunners, aimed from george and fred. ron ran over to malfoy and kicked.ronald, what are you doing?! impedimenta! came the voice of ms. weasly.� �ron froze in mid-air and fell to the ground.ronald weasly! what are you doing?! it s this the way how i raised you up?� � �she moved over to him and malfoy.i apologize for my son, mr. malfoy.� �your words mean nothing to me, pathetic fat cow, he said to her, as he got up� � and walked away, leaving stunned crabbe and goyle on the ground behind.ms. weaslyloooked after him in disbelief. then she sighed and picked up ron from

the ground. she looked very disappointed. people all around were staringat ron, their faces full of fear.and you two! you should have stopped him, you are mature, and you degraded to his� level instead. what would your father say when i tell him? we go homenow, all of you!!! yelled ms. weasly�the weaslys, harry and hermione, went to leaky cauldron. mr. weasly was waitingfor them by the grate, a glass of firewhiskey in his hand. gnny was standingby him, a bottle of butterbeer clutching in her hand.everybody ready to go? he asked his face falsely cheerful.� �they moved over to grate and flooed back to the grimmald place.

chapter 7 : jouirney to hogwarts

sorry i havent updated for so long but my final exams in school are closing fast.

thank you all for your reviews

hope you like this chapter, i am not very good in romance.

i do not posses any of the pesrons or places.

chapter 7: journey to hogwartsharry got up early on his last sunday on grimmald place. finally, he thought forhimself, i ll be going home today. he tried to fall asleep again but couldn t.� �he got up, dressed himself and went to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea.the kitchen was deserted when he came. there was an empty bottle of firewhiskey

on the table, harry knew that mr. weasly was drinking a bottle a day since deathof percy. he sighed and sat at the table.harry was sipping his tea, staring at the wall opposite of him, when the dooropened and ginny came in.oh, sorry. i didn t realize that somebody was here, she said, and was just about� � � to leave again.wait ginny, i think this room can hold both us, harry said with a grin.� �ginny grinned slightly, poured herself a cup of tea as well, and took a seatopposite of harry.harry surveyed her thoughtfully. her eyes were not puffy, as they were lately, shelooked like she managed to get some sleep finally. harry noticed that



she had grown up a lot during the summer indeed, she was now as tall as him. shewas not the small, shy girl anymore-she had grown up to nice girl. harrywas still watching her, when he realized she was saying something to him.um sorry, ginny, my mind drifted somewhere else, what did you say? he asked� � � her.i asked you why you were staring at me like that, harry? she asked him� � curiously.umm no reason, i think i m just tired that s all, he said. stay cool, don t� � � � � �

blush, he thought to himself.half an hour passed in utter silence.i don t see how you manage to do this harry, ginny said suddenly.� � �huh, he let off, not knowing what she meant.� �i mean how you can through this all. you lost your whole family, even your� godfather too and you manage. look at me, i lost one brother and i m a nervous-�wreck,�she said.ginny, if you think that i m not grieving you are very wrong. this summer has� � been hell for me.�but you always seem so cool, always above the thing, she said, on the verge of� � tears.yeah, i was definitely above the thing when you found me at the study on my�

birthday, he said bitterly.�oh no, harry, please, i didn t mean to offend you.� � �don t worry, you didn t. ginny, look, what had happened happened, and you can do� � � nothing about that. all you can do is go on with your life, he said.�harry, why it had to be him? he said suddenly. he wasn t important, he knew� � � � nothing. goddamn, he even wasn t member of the order of the phoenix.� �voldemort doesn t mind if he is important. only he cares about is if he is worth� � his life.�there was another awkward silence.harry, i m very concerned about ron. i don t really know what happened in the� � � diagon alley, but it had to be dreadful. i ve never seen him like this before.�i m afraid he might do something very stupid.� �what malfoy said would make anybody angry, he said silently to himself.� �

what did you say, harry? ginny asked him.� �uh, nothing. listen ginny, me and hermione tried to talk some sense into him. but� he wasn t listening. in fact, you weren t listening to us too. you are� �more similar than you would think-both of you are really good friends, i can relyon you but both of you are awfully stubborn, he said. i m sorry, i� � �really tried and i don t know what can i do fro him anymore.� �i know, i know. but i can t just stand and look at how he gets into trouble,� � � ginny said, sighing.don t worry, i won t let it happen, harry said reassuringly.� � � �she got up, walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek.thank you, harry, and without further ado she left.� �harry was looking at the door for a long time. then he got up, washed the dishesand went upstairs to pack his things to hogwarts.

**********

the morning was very chaotic. it appeared that whole order of the phoenix and manyaurors came to supervise the departure. people kept bumping on the stairsand landings, muttering words of excuses. harry tripped over someone feet twice,dropping his suitcase once, which fall down the stairs, opened and histhings spread all around the grimmald place. he managed to pack his things with alittle help from tonks, who he told what he was missing and she summonedit by summoning charm.accio socks! she said and a pair of socks zoomed to them. well, harry, is that� � �



all?�yeah, thanks a lot, harry said with a grin.� �no problem, she replied, winking at him.� �two cars from the ministry of magic were waiting for them before the headquartersof the order. harry couldn t see how would they all fit to two what looked�like ordinary muggle cars, but then he remembered how all the weaslys and himfitted in old ford anglia, which was enchanted, comfortably in his secondyear. he, the weaslys and hermione took the first car, while tonks, kingsley

shackbolt, hestia jones and few others aurors and members of the order tookthe second.they arrived at the king cross station few moments later with plenty of time left.they walked through the secret passage between platforms nine and tenand found themselves on the platform nine and three quarters. the platform wascrowded with many wizards and their children. some of them wore their hogwartsrobes already.hey harry, his fellow gryffindor neville longbottom greeted him. he was standing� � by a very old witch, who was his grandmother.ah, here are your friends, neville. nice to see you again, mr.potter. and the� weaslys, of course. i just wanted to tell you how our family commiserateswith yours, she offered her hand to mr. weasly, who shook it, nodding.�thank you, he muttered.� �

tonks walked over to harry.now harry, go and find you a seat, we will be at the front of the train, next to� prefect s compartment if you need us, tonks told him� �what? i didn t realize you were travelling with us. why is that? he asked her� � � curiously.oh, nothing to worry, just a precaution, she waved her hand and went to the� � front of the train with kingsley, hestia and a pack of another aurors andorder members.ms. weasly hugged each one of them and looked at ron.ron, promise that you won t get yourself into any trouble. please, avoid draco� � malfoy. she pleaded him�mum it s ok, malfoy is just stupid git, he means nothing, when his father is in� � prison.�

ron, please, promise me.� �ok, i won t get into trouble with the stupid git.� � �fine. i love you all. have a nice term, she said. something about the tone,� � which was she using talking about malfoy didn t felt right for harry,�harry, ginny and neville went of to find themselves a free compartment in thetrain, ron and hermione went to the front of the train, where the prefectcompartment was. harry and the others found themselves free compartment and tooktheir seats. moments later the door of the compartment opened again andseamus and dean came inside. dean took a seat next to ginny and placed a kiss onher cheek. harry couldn t help but to recall the kiss ginny gave him that�morninghey harry, had a good summer? seamus asked him.� �yeah, it was ok. harry said, not looking at ginny.� �

the journey was uneventful. the boys were talking about quiditch, ginnyoccasionally piped up, but most of the time she was staring out of the windowsilently.moments later ron and hermione came from the prefects compartment. they weretalking about the quiditch again, hermione was rereading her school booksfor the second time. the time went on and on and harry suddenly felt that thetrain was slowing. they arrived at the village of hogsmeade.they left the train, when harry recognised a familiar voice.first yers, ov r here, come on, first yers. hagrid was calling, swaying his� � � large lantern.hello, hagrid, harry greeted him happily.� �



all right there, harry, he replied with a wink, as he left with a bunch of� � terrified looking first years.harry and the others moved over to the carriages that would pull them up to thecastle. harry shivered as he saw that the therstrals were still pullingthe carriages. threstrals were huge, skeleton, reptilian-like horses, which youcould see only when you saw somebody die.ginny entered one carriage in lead. harry, ron, hermione, neville, dean and seamuswent after her.

they arrived at the castle moments later and went to the great hall, which wasalready packed with students from other carriages. they sat at the gryffindortable and harry looked over at the teacher s table. professor snape, teacher of� potions was sitting on the left end, eyeing the students dangerously, nextto him sat professor flitwick, a tiny charms teacher, who was speaking toprofessor sinsitra, teacher of the astronomy. firenze the centaur and professortrenlawey, teachers of divination were there too. hagrid and proffesor mcgonagallweren t there yet, they were still taking care about the first yers.�in the centre sat proffesor dumbledore, who was talking to-harry s jaw dropped. sitting at the table, next to dumbledore was no other than� remus lupin.harry couldn t belive this. what was he doing here. then he scanned the table once� again. wait, there is no new teacher for defence against the dark arts,

he thought for himself. and than it suddenly hit him. he looked over to hermione,who was gaping at the teacher s table as well. their eyes met.�yes! they yelled in unison.� �what? asked very confused ginny and ron.� �look at the table! hermione said. ginny looked over there and her jaw dropped� � too.

no way, she managed to say.� � �what is it? what are you all so shocked about? ron asked, not understanding.� �lupin is going to be our new defence against the dark arts teacher. hermione� � told him.ron eyes shone with happiness for the first time harry saw from the death of percyweasly.look over to malfoy. oh, he is definitely not very happy abou this! he yelled� �

happily.true, malfoy was looking at the table with hatred.harry was suddenly distracted from malfoy, as hagrid and mcgonagall entered thegreat hall, the terrified looking first years were tailing them.gather over here. when i announce your name you are to come and sit on this� stool. i will then place the sorting hat on your hat and you will be sortedinto your house. the houses are gryffindor, slytherin, ravenclaw and hufflepuff.during your study here, your house would be like your family she talked��for a very long moment before she stopped and looked at the list.avery, douglas she announced.� �a mean-looking boy came forward and mcgonagall placed the hat on his head.slytherin! the hat announced� �the slytherin table erupted with cheers. harry was curious if he was related to

one of the death eater harry knew about.aureily, emilly!� �gryffindor!� �the sorting went on for another twenty minutes. gryffindor had six fresh years-four boys and two girls.dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat. the whole great hall fell silent.to those who are new, welcome. everybody else, welcome back. before we begin the� feast i have a few announcements to make out. firstly, i would like toremind all students, i mean all new and old too, that the forbidden forest doesn t� bare this name for no reason. also i would like to remind you that thelist of things which are prohibited in the corridors is posted on the door of mr.



filch, our caretaker. also i would like to introduce you to our new defenceagainst the dark arts, some of you might remember him as he was teaching herethree years ago. now, enjoy.�the golden plates filled up with food. harry was eating like he hadn t before.� also it appeared that ron s taste came back as well, he was showing the food�into his mouth with incredible speed. harry merely smiled. when everybody finishedtheir meal, dumbledore stood up again. and now, off to bed all of you.� �harry groaned in disappointment. he wanted to speak to lupin, but his questions

will have to wait.

chapter 8 : the darkest time ever

thank you for reviews.

i do not posses any of the characters or places.

chapter 8: the darkest time everharry was sitting on the throne in a dark room. it appeared to be some sort ofdungeon. walls were made of great stone boulders. the room was very damp.harry looked around him. kneeling in front of him were many figures dressed inblack robes, their faces were hidden under masks. death eaters. and behind

them, in rows, stood tens of creatures harry feared most-dementors. tall, cloakedfigures, that suck happiness out of the area around them and made everyonemiserable. even the death eaters, harry thought as he saw that several of thedeath eaters were shivering.he got up to his feet and walked over to one of the persons. he drew his wand.lucius, you remember what i told you would happened if you would disappoint your� master again, he said, his voice cold as ice. he pointed his wand at�the death eater.no, my lord, be merciful, came the voice of lucius malfoy from under the hood.� �harry merely laughed. crucio! he cried.� �malfoy collapsed to the ground and started to twitch. he was screaming for hislife.voldemort lifted the course and laughed again coldly.

lucius, none of this would happen, if you brought me what i wanted, he said.� �but, my lord, it s impossible� � ��crucio!� �malfoy was screaming of pain again, as harry woke up and fell from his bed. hereached for his scar, which throbbed painfully. he stood up and looked aroundthe room. everybody was sleeping deeply.thank god, at least i haven t screamed this time. he tiptoed to his chest and� opened it with loud creak.damn it, he whispered silently and looked around the room once more. everybody� � was still sleeping.. he leaned over his chest again and withdrew his invisibilitycloak and maradauer map. he got to talk to dumbledore immediately.he went downstairs to the gryffindor common room, opened the portairt door andstepped into the corridor.

he tapped the map and said i solemnly swear that i am up to no good. . lines� � started to spread on the blank parchment and in a moment a map of hogwartsappeared. harry checked, if the coast was clear-the map was showing persons too.filch-in his office, snape as well. he tucked the map into his robes andthrew the invisibility cloak over himself. he was walking the corridors silently,careful not to bump into the prefects, who were doing there routes, ormake any sound, which would be most suspicious.moments later, harry was standing in front of the door to headmaster s office.� suddenly he came across an obvious fact- he didn t know the password.�damn it. open up. why don t you just open up, i need to speak to dumbledore it s� � � really urgent.�



the gargoyle which usually sprang aside given the password stood still.harry suddenly remembered how the map showed him how to open the secret passage tohogsmeade in his third year. he took the map from his pocket and surveyedit. on the spot next to the door to the dumbledore s office, written in tiny black� writing was word zonko.zonko, harry said.� �the gargoyle sprang aside and let harry pass. he ran up the circural stares,taking two steps each time. he reached the door and opened them.

proffessor dumbledore, i he said, but stopped abrubptly.� ��sitting at his desk, proffesor dumbledore was talking to remus lupin,.they both smiled as they saw harry, but their smiles evaporated when they saw hisface.harry, is there something wrong? asked dumbldore.� �proffessor i just now had a dream, which was another vision from voldemort. he� was gathering with his death eaters and sir there were the death eaters,�who are supposed to be in custody. lucius malfoy, for instance. and there weredementors too. sir, i think that azkaban has been overran! harry said in�one breath.dumbledore didn t move, nor did lupin. dumbledore just sighed.�please sit down, harry. dumbledore said calmly.� �what do you mean by sit down? you must alert the ministry and the order! you�

can t just sit! harry yelled at him, suddenly full of anger.� �i m afraid that the ministry and the order are aware of the fact. i regret to� � tell you that we lost control over azkaban during the first week of july,�said dumbledoreharry sat, lost for words.but that s impossible i mean why didn t you tell anybody? are you telling that� � � � � only the ministry and the order are aware of the fact that the most dangerousdeath eaters are on the loose again? harry said.�i m afraid that s true, said lupin.� � � �but why keep it secret, everybody has the right to know the truth harry said.� ��indeed, but not this time harry, dumbledore said. the wizard world is already� � � in great panic, because of the recent attacks. imagine what would happen,if they found out that their only hope of safety azkaban had been overran. imagine

what would happen, if they found out that the azkaban guards are nowserving voldemort. imagine what would happen, if they found out that giants joinedvoldemort s ranks� ��what?! the giants joined voldemort?� �yes, most recently, said lupin� �harry was lost for words. this cannot be happening,, he thought.i m afraid that it is harry. harry, i would be honest when i say that we have the� � darkest times before us. but don t give up, there is always a chance,� �dumbledore said with a wink, like he knew something harry didn t. now please,� � remus would you be so kind and escort harry to his dormitory? he said.�harry stood up and was just about to leave when dumbledore called after him.oh harry, this incident reminds me of your occlumency lessons. tommorow, six� o clock, transfiguration classroom, he said� �

yeah, goodnight proffesor, harry said gloomily.� �harry and lupin were walking silently through the corridors, which were nowcompletely deserted.remus, i mean professor lupin, why didn t you tell me that you are going to� � � teach us this year? harry asked lupin curiously.�dumbledore wanted to keep it secret until it was school year. you probably know� why, lupin said bitterly.�yeah, harry said. not many parents approved werewolf teaching their children.� �well, here we are harry, hu turned to him and placed his hand on his shoulder.� � harry don t worry. everything is going to be fine.� � �no, it s not , harry said as he said the password to fat lady and stepped inside.� � �



chapter 9 : n.e.w.t. s classes�

to everyone who reads my fanfic regulary:i am sorry i havent updated for so long. you know christmas, scho l etc. but do� not worry it should be ok now.

next few chapters might be bit dumm but do not worry- lot will happen soon.


chapter 9: n.e.w.t. s classes�harry was awoken next morning by ron.what s up? he asked groggily.� � �hurry up, harry, you don t want to be late for your classes, ron said, beaming.� � � it looked like he was very happy about something, more happy than he wassince august. harry looked up at him.what are you so happy about? he asked him curiously.� �oh, no reason, he said quickly.� �harry dressed up and they went downstairs to great hall for breakfast. the greathall was already packed with students, who were enjoying their breakfast,

talking about the classes they would have.harry and ron sat next to hermione and ginny.good morning, harry, ron, hermione greeted them. she looked at ron and smiled at� � him. ron blushed at him.what is it? harry asked, eager for answers.� �oh, nothing, she just said and returned to her daily prophet.� �harry loaded himself a bowl of cereals, still curious what was going on betweenhis two best friends.at the teachers table, proffesor mcgonagall stood up and started to hand out thetimetables at the slytherin table.oh, i forgot to ask you how many o.w.l. s did you get. which n.e.w.t. classes� � � would you attend, harry asked his best friends.�happiness disappeared from ron s face instantly.�

well i got o from defence against the dark arts and care of magical creatures� �� ron said.that s excellent! and how about the others?� � �ee from transfiguration, ee from charms, p from potions, astronomy and� �

herbology, d from history of magic and divination. i will attend defence againstthe dark arts, transfiguration, charms and care of magical creatures, he suddenly� buried his head in his hands. oh, why didn t i study more. i m nearly� � �as bad as fred and george were.�oh, come on, ron, hermione comforted him. this doesn t mean anything. look at� � � � fred and george- they got only three o.w.l. s and no n.e.w.t. s and now� �they re rich.� �hermione, how about you? harry asked.� �well i got o from all, she said, blushing furiously.� � �

mcgonagall just came to their table, which was perhaps lucky, because ron openedhis mouth and was just abou to say something. she handed them their timetables.harry and the others scanned through it.oh, we ve got defence against the dark arts today! hermione said excitedly.� � �and potions in the afternoon, harry added gloomily.� �you are in potions too harry? hermione eyed him suspiciously.� �yes, mcgonagall got me there. i received only ee in potions.� �they got up and went to their first lesson of the day- defence against the darkarts. they arrived first to the classroom.come on, we ve got to grab decent seats, said hermione as she hurried over to� � � the desk in the first row. harry and ron looked at each other, shook their



heads and grinned. they took their seats, hermione in the middle.the class began to fill up soon. harry was really happy and proud that everyone ofhis club, the dumbledore army managed to get to defence against the darkarts n.e.w.t. s class, even neville, who appeared to be squib, a wizard with no� wizard power at all. harry remembered how bravely he fought with the deatheaters at the department of mysteries and for the first time he understood why wasneville sorted to gryffindor.ah, i can t wait for class to begin, it s supposed to be really interesting with� � �

proffesor lupin, he said to dean and seamus, who took their places next�to him.the door of the class opened again and proffesor lupin strode inside. the chatterdied instantly.hello everybody, i d like to welcome you all to the defence against the dark arts� � n.e.w.t. s. i m happy to see that so many of you managed to get inside.� �now this year will consists most of theoretical classes. wands away, please. openyour books on the page 28, chapter how to recognise a death eater, he�looked around the class, smiling.the class was staring at him. nobody couldn t belive what lupin said.�i m just kidding. books away, get your wands and follow me, he stood and went� � � out of the classroom.where are we going? asked very confused ron.� �

probably another practical lesson, like with the boggart, said hermione.� �you re right hermione, i ve managed to get another boggart. i just want to see� � � how much from my classes you forgot, said lupin, beaming.�they went to the dungeons. harry wasn t feeling very comfortable in the dungeons� since snape s classroom and office were there. lupin opened the door and�the whole class stepped into some kind of storage room. a big wooden chest wasnext to the fartherest wall. it shake as they entered.so everyone remember what to do? imagine your worst fear in your mind and then� give it comic appearance the incitation is riddikulus. neville, i rememberyou were quite good, why don t you start? said lupin encouragingly. harry� � remembered how neville was afraid in their third year. but he has changed alot since then.neville moved to the chest confidently.

ready? asked him proffesor lupin. neville nodded. alahomora!� � � �a tall figure rose from the chest. but it wasn t snape anymore. the figure was� woman, dressed in dark robes, her face was covered under hood. it was a deatheater.ah, longbottom, how i was looking forward to this moment, she said in cold� � voice. harry recognised it instantly. it was belatrix lestrange. she raisedher wand slowly.riddikulus! neville cried loudly.� �nothing happened. belatrix raised her wand and a green flash erupted from the tipof her wand, but hit her instead of neville. she collapsed to the ground.she ripped of her mask and started to vomit slimes. whole class laughed heartedly.excellent! now pavarti, your turn.� �she stepped in front of the boggart. with a crack like from a whip the figure of

vomiting lestrange changed into the green skull with snake as a tongue-the dark mark.ri-ridikullus, she yelled.� �with a loud crack the image changed, the dark mark changed from the acid green towarm yellow, and it was smiling and sticking a normal-looking tongue out.the class laughed once more.very funny. now dean, of you go.� �dean stepped in front and the boggart changed again. this time it was a giant. hewas lying on the ground, because he was too big and was just about tograb dean viciously, when he cried ridikullus and the giant was suddenly as� � small as goblin. he started to cry.



excellent, dean, excellent. and now harry, your turn.� �harry stepped forward. an image of stumbling dementor was in his mind and heraised his wand, when boggart suddenly changed. but it was not dementor thistime. it was dead sirius.everything is your fault, harry, he said.� �harry s mind froze. this cannot be happening.�harry, use the spell, he heard lupin from somewhere.� �ridikullus, he said, not too confident. nothing happened.� �

the hogwarts will be destroyed. all your friends will die and it is only your� fault, sirius said again.�ridikullus, harry cried again.� �the image changed to voldemort.yes, harry, everything is your fault, he said in cold voice and laughed.� �ridikullus, came lupin s voice. the boggart shifted to the shape of moon. lupin� � � waved his wand once again and the boggart exploded into thousands tinysilver bits.harry collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath.what happened? lupin asked harry.� �i don t know it always shifted to dementor harry said as he got up. he looked� � �� around the room. everyone was staring at him. he could hear pavarti whisperto lavender.

why would anyone be afraid of sirius black? and what was he talking about?� �well now, i think we ll return to the class now. nice job everyone, said lupin� � � and left the room. the class was following his lead. they were writingdown notes for the rest of the class.we re finished for today. class dismissed. harry, i d like to have a word with� � � you.�harry waited until the rest of the class left the room. then he walked up to theteacher desk.i don t want to talk about what happened, harry spat.� � �neither do i. i wanted to ask you if you kept the information we gave you� yesterday for yourself.�harry nodded. but i still don t agree with it.� � �i know, harry. belive me, its difficult to me also. now i wanted to ask you�

another thing. me and dumbledore would like you to reinstate the da, lupin�said.harry didn t now what to say.�but proffesor wouldn t it be futile to have da, since we have proper defence� � � against the dark arts lessons now with you, harry said.�on the contrary harry, i feel the opposite. you know maybe i can show you some� spells and practical things, but most students need to cope with the factthat i m werewolf. people belive in you harry. they think you are their only hope� in this dark times. naturally, if you would like me to help you supervisethe lessons, i would be very glad to do that, lupin said.�i ll think about that, harry said finally.� � �all right. now of you go, you don t want to be late for your next class, lupin� � � said with a small wink.

harry managed to get into his next class, transfiguration, just in time. he tookhis seat next to ron, who was talking about something to hermione, butstopped abruptly, when he saw harry.good morning students, let me welcome you in your transfiguration n.e.w.t. s� � classes. as everyone of you proved, that you can handle with transfigurationwe will proceed to something more difficult this year. during our normal classeswe were doing just minor transfigurations. this year we will do mayortransfigurations. for example, she said and touched her desk with the tip of her� wand. with a flash of light the desk disappeared. mcgonagall kneeledand picked up something very small. it was a needle. i ll tell you the truth:� � this is going to be your hardest year ever.



everyone was staring at her with disbelief.now, we ll start with something more simple. ms. granger, come over here and give� � every student one of these pillows. i want you to change them into pins.�it was the most difficult task harry was given. all he managed to do was turninghis pillow into feather.mr. potter, this is not satisfactory. i expect a lot more success from you. essay� about what mistakes you did and how to avoid them next time, to be handedon wednesday. mcgonagall said.�

harry wasn t the only one who was given extra homework-only hermione managed to� transfigure her pillow.well, time is up. mr. potter, i would like a word.� �i ll see you in the great hall, harry called after his friends as he gathered� � � his things and moved over to mcgonagall.what is it proffesor? harry asked.� �mr. potter, i wanted to tell you that quiditch captain meeting will take place� next wednesday, in lockers, at six o clock. please be punctual.� �o.k. goodbye, proffesor, harry said as he left the room.� �he entered the great hall and took a seat next to his friends.what did mcgonagall wanted? ron asked him.� �oh, nothing just something about quiditch.� �ginny came from her classes and joined them at the table.

hey guys, how were your first classes? she asked them.� �exhausting harry said. hermione, lupin just asked me to reinstate the da. what� �� do you think?�but harry, that s excellent idea. in fact i was thinking the same way. i think� � everybody could use some extra defence classes, after what happened recently,�hermione said.what do you think, ron? harry looked over to ron.� �what? ron said, his mouth full of food.� �oh, nothing, he grinned as hermione eyed ron in disgust.� �harry, we have to go now, or we ll be late for snape.� � �right, harry replied gloomily.� �good luck, mate. don t kill him, ron said encouragingly.� � �like it s not going to be the opposite.� � �

harry and hermione stepped down to dungeons and entered the potion s classroom.� they took a place at the back of the class, as far as possible from snape s�desk. harry looked around the others who were in this class. dean thomas, seamusfinnigan, susan bones, ernie mcmillian, hanaah abbot, some slytherinsharry didn t knew and� �what are you staring at potter? malfoy said. he was at the first desk, his� � bodyguards crabbe and goyle were sitting next to him. how such stupid moronsmanaged to get into this class harry didn t know.�ignore them harry, just ignore them, hermione muttered.� �the door banged open and snape strode inside the classroom.good afternoon, students, let me welcome you to the potion n.e.w.t. class. some� of you deserve to be here, some of you don t, snape said as he looked� �at harry. now this year is going to be the most difficult ever. if i see that�

some of you is falling behind, he will be thrown out immidietly. now let s�start with something easy. instructions are on board. you may start.�they were making the sleeping draught, which was indeed quite easy. harry wasconfident for the first time in his life with his potion.now fill your flacons, everyone and hand them to me. snape said.� �harry walked over to his desk, not really looking at him, dropped his potion andleft the classroom immidietly. he and hermione went up to the common roomafterwards.how was snape? ron asked harry.� �not up to his usual standart, said harry as he collapsed to his armchair. now,� � the only think i will do now is get some nap, than dinner and than a nice



long sleep, he thought for himself.harry, hedwig brought you something, when you were on your classes, ron said, as� � he handed him a letter.harry opened it.

harry, i just want to remind you about our occlumency lesson. tonight, sixo clock, transfiguration classroom.�

dumbledore

harry groaned. well this spoils everything, he though for himself.

chapter 10 : accident

to everyone who reads my fanfic regulary:i am sorry i havent updated for so long. you know christmas, scho l etc. but do� not worry it should be ok now.

next few chapters might be bit dumm but do not worry- lot will happen soon.


chapter 10: accidentno! stop it, i cant do it, harry shouted as he once again collapsed on his� � knees. the stone floor was cold and his knees were hurting from continuousfalls. he opened his eyes and the transfiguration class came into focus again.harry, are you alright? dumbledore asked him in soft voice.� �no, he said. i can t do it, i m too dumb� � � � � ��please harry, you have to keep trying, there is no other way. belive me, i� wouldn t have put you through it if i hadn t thought that it s essential. now� � �please, stand up, we will try again.�harry stood up unwillingly and pointed his wand at dumbledore, as dumbledorepointed his own at harry.legillimens! dumbledore yelled.� �

images ran through his mind- cedric, lying on the ground, his eyes empty andunfocused; cho was approaching him the room of requiments, her eyes were fullof tears; sirius, falling through the veil; sirius emerging from the wooden chest,yelling at him�enough! harry yelled.� �dumbledore lifted the curse, sighing. would you like to rest for a while, harry?� � he asked.yeah, harry said and lay on a desk in the first row. dumbledore conjured a� � comfortable armchair for himself and sat.harry glanced at his watch. quarter to nine, i cant belive we are here for nearlythree hours. nearly three hours of images i would rather never see again,he thought. although occlumency with dumbledore was much more bearable than withsnape it was uncomfortable nevertheless.

after five minutes of silence dumbledore stood up. harry, are you ready to� continue? he asked harry.�i m not, but it won t get any better he said as he stood up from the desk.� � � ��now harry, concentrate. try to free your mind of any emotion. that s essential.� � � he raised his wand and pointed it at harry. legillimens!� �again images started to appear in harry s mind. uncle vernon, yelling at him.� dudley forcing him into a dustbin and once again cho, cho approaching himin the deserted room of requiments, closing her eyes.no, i won t let anyone see this.�but cho continued to approach him nevertheless. she was now inches closer�no, get out.



the image of cho started to dissolve and dumbledore, standing in front of him,muttering something under his breath became visible again.do you hear me? get out!the image changed instantly. harry saw himself destroying dumbledore office lastyear. the image changed and harry saw an old castle and felt a wave ofcoldness ran over him. the image changed again and harry saw a high-security valutdoor at gringott s, being opened and very small stone on the ground� �harry, stop it!� �

the shout distracted him and the transfiguration classroom came into focus again.dumbledore was lying on the ground, panting.horrified, harry ran over to him. proffesor dumbledore, are you o.k.? what what� � happened? he asked him as he helped dumbledore to his feet. dumbledore�turned his head to face harry gasped in horror. this face was not surelydumbledore s. this face belonged to some old man, who just looked abou to die.�yet when the man spoke, it was clearly dumbledore s voice.�i don t know. it seems that you have beaten the spell by will and then� � unwillingly rebound the spell on me��these images these images were yours? harry asked him in disbelief.� � �yes, indeed. curious, dumbledore muttered.� �proffesor, i didn t mean to do that, i swear harry started, but dumbledore just� � �� smiled.

do not worry, harry. i cerantily do not blame you. things like this happen,� although with older wizard, he winked at harry. i think we are done tonight,� �we both had enough. one last thing, he said as he withdrew a vial from his cloak.� i want you to take this before you go to sleep.� �harry recognised the potion instantly. he had seen it before. the sleepingdraught.sir, why do i have to take this? he asked dumbledore curiously-.� �harry, i m sure you are remember from the last year, that until you master� � occlumency, your mind is very vulnerable, while studying it. especially whenyou are asleep. this sleeping draught will provide you with deep, dreamless sleep.now, off you go, harry. good night, dumbledore said.�harry walked out of the room. at the door he shot a backward glance at dumbledore-he was sitting in his conjured armchair, his head in his hands and he

was shaking slightly. apparently what happened left him more shaken then he wouldadmit.harry took his route to gryffindor house deeply in thoughts.what just happened? how i managed to penetrate dumbledore s mind? where was that� castle i saw? it looked quite familiar. and why would dumbledore thinkabout the philosopher stone, when it was destroyed. for harry recognised thegringott s valut and the stone lying on the floor� �ouch! watch it, young boy, came the voice of fat lady.� �umm sorry. threstral. harry said and the portrait swung open. he entered the� � � gryffindor common room.it was quite empty. the creevy brothers were sitting at one of the tables. youngerdennis, third year, was trying to comfort his brother colin, fifth year.harry caught few words from the conversation- you ll do fine you have nearly one� �

year come on it s only o.w.l. s. harry couldn t help grinning. seamus� � � �finnigan, lavender brown and pavarti patil sat with neville longbottom at thelarge table. it seemed that neville was giving others some advices on theiressay from herbology.dean thomas was sitting on the sofa, staring into the fireplace and cradlingsleeping ginny in his arms. harry moved over to the table in the corner whereron and hermione sat.well? hermione asked him, as he sat down. how was your lesson?� � � �harry told them what happened. both ron and hermione were staring at him, ronmouth was wide open.hmm and you say that you broke into dumbledore s mind? and you saw some of his� � �



own memories. but how is that possible? she asked him finally.�i don t know, i really didn t mean it to happen, it just happened.� � � �wow, you must really have strong will. but you ought to be very careful. you� should really practice it or you might maybe hurt someone. oh, for god s sake�ron, behave yourself, hermione yelled at ron, who shut his mouth instantly.�now harry, i was thinking about the da since you told me about it on lunch, she� � continued.and? what do you think? harry asked her.� �

well, considering the recent events i must agree with what proffesor lupin said.� i say we should call a meeting as soon as possible.�well if you say, harry said uncertainly.� � �great, how about tomorrow? she asked him.� �what? harry yelled.� �the entire common room turned their faces to him. ginny stirred, opened her eyesand stretched. all of the people eyed him curiously.oops, sorry, he managed to choke out. then he leaned over to hermione. so� � � soon? he whispered.�harry, belive me, the sooner the better, she said.� �he sighed. alright, he said. than he got up and searched his robes for his� � purse. he withdrew his magic galleon, the way how the members of da would nowabout every meeting. he touched it with his wand and it glowed brightly as he sat

the date.. there was an instant answer-nearly everybody searched theirrobes immediately. they withdrew their galleons and looked at harry eagerly. hejust nodded.cool, was the only comment from colin creevy who was suddenly cheerful again.� �well, i m off to bed, i m exhausted. good night, harry said and walked to his� � � � dormitory.he washed himself, dressed up his pyjamas and then went to his bed. then hesuddenly remembered about the vial. he got up, took it from his robes and layedagain. he drained it in one gulp, when suddenly one think hit him.hagrid was the one who took the philosophers stone from gringotts not dumbledore.harry fell asleep.

chapter 11 : da reunited

i would like to thank everybody who reviewed my story.


chapter 11: da reunitedharry woke up extremely early next day, but felt as he had not slept so good foryears. he tried to remember if he had any fishy dreams but couldn t think�of any. he washed himself, dressed and went downstairs to common room to getstarted on his transfiguration essay. a new message was pinned on the noticeboard and harry went over it to read it:

attention

next hogsmeade visit will take place in the last weekend of october.no students without the permission or under fourth year are permitted.

minerva mcgonagalldeputy of headmaster

fourth year?! it used to be since third year. probably just another precautionafter the recent events, harry thought for himself. harry sat at his usualtable, unrolled a roll of parchment, dipped his quill in ink and began toscribble. he worked for half an hour before he stopped. he couldn t concentrate,�not with all things that happened yesterday.



what is the thing i saw yesterday in dumbledore s mind if it s not philosopher� � stone?his thoughts were disturbed by hermione who came downstairs, probably to do someof her schoolwork.oh, good morning harry. trying to study? hermione asked him cheerfully, as she� � took seat next to him.yeah, you got the right word-trying.. harry said gloomily.� �listen harry, did you think about today s da meeting? like what you are going to� �

show us? hermione asked him.�harry gulped. in fact, no. i think today should be just organising meeting-we� should agree if we still want to meet, everyone should give their ideas whatwe should study this year etc.�yes, that would be wise. but there is another thing about the da, which you� should consider. hermione said.�what? harry asked.� �since the da is no longer illegal organisation well, since dumbledore approved,� � i think it s time to tell about the da to other students and maybe recruit�some new students, hermione started.�harry gaped at her.well, i think everyone has the right to learn how to defend themselves and� ��hermione, do you realize what you are saying? new students? perhaps slytherins? i�

would rather die than teach slytherin how to fight! harry spat angrily.�harry, please be reasonable, hermione said and a huge tear appeared in one of� � her eye. at least think it over, please, she pleaded him.� �alright, i ll think about that. but not today. today i want to have just old� � crowd, right?�right, hermione said, smiling.� �now, if you could help me with this harry started, but hermione just rolled her� �� eyes and snatched the paper out of his hands and started scribbling furiously,occasionally asking harry questions.great, are you doing homework for us again? ron asked cheerfully, as he appeared� � in the common room. hermione shot him a furious look. just joking,� �he said, beaming. they were studying for another hour before the common roomstarted to fill up and they decided to go for a breakfast.

after the breakfast they went to theirs today classes- charms, herbology, care ofmagical creatures. all of the teachers, even hagrid were talking abouthow would this year be difficult, although none of them resembled to the pep talkmcgonagall and snape gave.whole day passed in one blur, and harry was surprised to see that he was facinghis final class of the day- one period of defence against the dark arts.harry wasn t to eager to sit in the first desk because of the incident of the last� class, but sat there nevertheless. today s classes were interesting,�although as not interesting as last time- they were studying ancient monsters,which were mostly extinct- medusas, which resembled to basilisks becauseof their petrifying glare (harry remembered the basilisk as much as did notwanted, for he killed one in his second years, sirens, beautiful woman, wholured travellers by their sing and then they ate them, harpy s, half woman, half�

eagle reptilians and many others.excellent job today, everyone. twenty points to gryffindor. harry, please, i d� � like a word, said proffesor lupin in the end of class.�harry waited till he was alone with lupin and then came to his desk.what is it, proffesor? is something wrong harry asked him curiously.� �nothing, i just wanted to ask you about the da. did you think about it? lupin� � asked him.oh, yeah, we are going to have a meeting today. would you like to come? seven� o clock, do you know where is the room of requiments? harry asked lupin� �and was slightly, surprised when lupin nodded with a wink. ok, seven o clock. i� � must go now, i have another meeting to attend, he said hurriedly as he�



swung his bag over his shoulder. he left the room quickly, not really wanting totalk to lupin, afraid that dumbledore might have told him about theirocclumency lesson.

**********

how many will turn out do you reckon? ron asked harry in the room and� � requiments. harry and ron were there alone for the moment- hermione had arithmacy

in the afternoon and they haven t seen her since.�i don t know, harry replied. he wasn t sure all of them were eager to come to da� � � � after what happened to several of it s members at the department of mysteries�last summer.ron shifted uncomfortably. harry, i have got to talk to you about something he� �� started, but the door of the room suddenly opened and a pack of peopleentered.dean hand-in-hand with ginny, neville, seamus, colin, dennis, lavender andpavarti. they barely said hello when the door opened again and another peopleentered. this time it was rawenclaws- padma patil, luna lovegood and michaelcorner hand-in-hand with harry s stomach gave unpleasant jolt cho. cho s� � � �friend marietta was nowhere to be seen, perhaps she was not so keen to see themagain after hermione turned her face to one red fleck.

hello harry, padma, luna and michael greeted him.� �hi, harry replied. erm hi, cho, he greeted her nervously, blushing a bit.� � � � �hi, harry, she answered, smiling at him.� �harry went over back to ron.not a bad turnout, ron said, looking around the room.� �huh.. yeah, not bad, harry replied.� �the room opened once again and hermione entered, followed by another pack ofpeople (ernie mcmillian, hannah abbot, terry boot, even zacharias smith turnedup) and finally proffesor lupin came precisely at seven, locking the door behindhimself. few heads turned to him in curiosity.don t worry, i m not going to give you any detention for this gathering. i ll sat� � � � over there and pretend that i m not here, he said as he moved over to� �the corner and conjured himself a chair on which he sat.

right, it seems nobody else is coming, harry said, mainly to himself. thank you� � � everybody for coming. i called you all here today because i would liketo hear from you what do you think about the da- whether you want to continue it��of course, you though you would get rid of us so easily? colin creevy said and� � few people laughed.come on, i m trying to be serious here, harry snapped at him.� � �but so am i. harry, we need to learn how to defend ourselves. and i m sure that i� � can speak for all when i say that you are the best teacher we had uptill now, colin said (all of them nodded, even zacharias smith) no offence,� � proffesor, colin shot a nervous glance at proffesor lupin.�none taken, he replied with a grin.� �harry felt himself flushing with pride.ok, now when we agreed on that our meetings will preserve, there are few other�

things i would like to discuss. for instance, hermione here thinks we shouldinvolve more students��there was a quiet muttering going on and harry could say that nearly none of themfelt very enthusiastic about the idea.you mean slytherins too? ernie mcmillian inquired.� �i don t think that s a very good idea, granger, zacharias said. ron hands curled� � � � into fists again. but it wasn t ron who spoke.�on the contrary, i think that s an excellent idea and i would propose it myself,� � if hermione here hadn t beat me. everybody has the right to learn how�to fight, zachary. imagine how it would be if you faced death eaters and didn t� know how to fight, lupin said.�



yes, but allow a slyth zacharias opposed.� ��i don t know why are you all prejustied to slytherin. not all the bad wizards are� � from slytherin, you know. trust me, i know one gryffindor, who choseto serve lord voldemort very well he said angrily. harry knew who he was talking�� about-peter pettigrew was in gryffindor as well.zacharias didn t oppose, but anger was still in his eyes.�so i take it you all agree, harry said. all of them nodded silently, but not all� � of them willingly. ok, now we shall decide what do you want to do this�

year��the meeting went on for some time. they agreed on some revise and simple curses,such as expelliarmus or stunning, then on some hexes, patronuses and defencespells. they were just arguing about asking dumbledore to drop to one visit toshow a bit of occlumency, when harry looked at his watch-half past nine.wow. we ve been here for two and half hours, the curfew is in half an hour.�hey, listen everybody. i m sorry but i have to dismiss this meeting. we have half� � an hour to curfew, harry said.�oh, who cares, colin groaned.� �i do, came the voice of lupin. harry nearly forgot that he was there. by the� � looks on other faces he wasn t the only one. harry is right, you know. let s� � �agree on next meeting and then we go, lupin said.�i will tell you all abou the next meeting the usual week, harry said.� �

all of them nodded and started to disembark, proffesor lupin in the lead. harry,ron and hermione were staying behind, waiting for everyone to go beforethem.no, you go ahead, i will meet you in the common room, harry heared cho s voice.� � � he gulped.come on, ron, hermione nudged ron in the hand, taking the point. we will meet� � � you at the common room, harry, she said. harry shot them pleading look,�but ron merely winked at him as he closed the door behind himself. the only peopleleft in the room were harry and cho.there were few moments of arkward silence,deja v ? Cho said, with a slight smile.� � �yeah harry said nervously.� ��harry, i wanted to apologize for how i was let s say emotionally unbalanced� � � � �

last year she started, but harry interrupted her.��no, it s me, who should apologise you wanted to talk, you wanted to sort thinks� � � out and i wasn t there for you. i was such insensitive harry said.� ��no, i was the insensitive one, always talking about cedric, how he died , she� �� stuttered.harry suddenly remembered their date in the hogsmeade teashop. yeah he let out,� �� regretting it instantly, because tears appeard in cho s face. no, cho,� �i didn t mean it like that but it was too late, cho was crying now.� ��harry didn t know what to do. he could think of only one thing- he moved to cho� and hugged her tightly.i am sorry i didn t want to make you cry. look, can we forget what happened and� � start again? he asked her.�she broke the hug, extended her arm and smiled at harry, still sobbing slightly.

friends? she asked.� �friends, harry said as he took her hand and shook it. they smiled at each other.� � we better go or we might meet someone. i think snape would love to take�points from both of our houses for no reason, harry said.�they left the room together, harry could hear how the door sealed behind him. theywalked to their common rooms, talking normally.how was your summer, cho? harry asked her.� �oh, quite normal i managed to finally sort my things and feelings. i wanted to� write you many times, but perhaps i was afraid you would refuse to writeback, she said nervously. and yours?� � �oh perfectly normal, he said quickly, hoping that she wouldn t hear the note of� � � �



lie in his face.oh nice, she said, but she didn t look at him when she said that.� � � �they reached another fork where they stopped.well, my common room is this way, she said. well, goodnight, and she took her� � � � route.harry was staring suddenly, when a sudden idea struck his mind.cho! hey, cho, wait! he yelled at her. she stopped, looking puzzled. are you� � � happy with michael? he asked.�

why do you ask this? she asked him.� �um no reason sorry, he said and was just about to go� � � � �yes, i am, cho said.� �i m glad to hear that. goodnight cho, see you around, he said and walked away.� � �

chapter 12 : slytherin taunts

thank everyone who reviews my story, you are great.im sorry that these chapters are still bit borning but dont worry and bepatient...

chapter 12: slytherin tauntsharry, ron, hermione and ginny were enjoying their breakfast in the great hall

next day, when suddenly a school owl landed on the gryffindor table and stretchedit s leg to which a letter was tied to harry. harry took it curiously and unrolled� the letter. he began to read.

dear harry,it s time fro another occlumency session. same time, same place, today.�dumbledore

harry looked up at the teachers table, but dumbledore wasn t there, perhaps he was� on some order business.what s that? ron asked him curiously.� � �nothing, just a letter from dumbledore, about our next occlumency lesson, harry� � said.

you are still gonna do it? even with what happened last time? ron asked him.� �of course, ron. harry has to master it or another think like the last time could� happen, hermione said. you are going there, aren t you? hermione turned� � � �to harry s direction and her eyes flashed.�of course, even tough i am not very enthusiastic about that. i wish i had never� heard the word occlumency, harry said gloomily.�don t worry, you ll do fine. now we better go or snape will kill us. see you,� � � ron, hermione said as she stood up.�yeah, see you, harry said, as he got up and went after hermione.� �they entered the classroom and sat at their usual places- as far from the teachersdesk as possible. snape strode into the class moments later.now, class, i thought i would never say that, but your last work has been� satisfactory, especially yours mr. malfoy, he said, malfoy swelled with pride,�

now the only one who was unsuccessful in the making of the sleeping draught is� potter, he said as he faced harry and shot him icy smile. draco was looking�at harry, smirking.harry stared at him in disbelief. he was sure he had done everything correctly, hedouble checked his potion.potter, essay on the correct procedure and uses of sleeping draught, two� parchments, to be handed on monday. now, due to potter s incompetence we won t� �start anything new today. now who can tell me the use of��they were revising on potion ingredients and mixtures for the rest of the doubleperiod. snape clearly enjoyed giving harry difficult questions and dracothe most simple, always comparing them. he was ignoring hermione s hand steadily.�



by the end of the class, he had managed to strip gryffindor for thirtypoints, adding the same amount to slytherins.when snape dismissed the class, harry left as quickly as possible, not givingsnape another chance to take points from gryffindor. their next classes wascharms. harry sat next to ron, hermione on his other side.that bastard, he muttered.� �what happened? ron asked him curiously.� �oh, nothing, just we have our old and loved snape back, harry said� �

sarcastically.what do you mean?� �he gave me zero and embarrassed me in front of the whole class again, and i even� don t know why, i thought i did alright, harry said.� �but harry, are you sure that you made it alright? hermione said.� �of course i am!!! he yelled at her.� �come on, harry, calm down. don t you see? he s trying to make you angry, he did� � � that on purpose ron inquired, but hadn t finished as tiny proffesor flitwick�� entered the classroom. they spent their double period on healing spells.now, healing spells is very advanced magic and it can go terribly wrong, when� performed by laic. therefore we will learn only theory and how to performthe simplest here. the rest of them depends on which career you chose proffesor�� flitwick squeaked. the iniciation is therapheus minnimus� ��

by the end of class harry was so exhausted from continuous tries he was glad thathe now had a lunch and then break- next class was history of magic, whichhe didn t attend.�harry, maybe you should start on your potion s essay during the break, two� � parchments are long and hermione started but stopped at furious look harry��shot her across the table in the great hall during the lunch.granger is right potter, you know. you should study harder, or you ll be kicked,� � which i would be most delighted, came the cold voice of draco malfoy.�get of, malfoy, harry spat at him.� �now, now, manners potter, remember i m prefect and i can put you into so much� � detention that malfoy said smirking, but then he suddenly spotted the look��on ron s face. harry had never seen that look on ron before. it looked like he was� just about to kill malfoy.

ron, please, ignore him, hermione whispered in ron s ear.� � �luckily, malfoy noticed that his bodyguards crabbe and goyle were sitting at thetable already and he dared not to provoke ron without them. he left withoutanother word.i ll make him pay for what he had done to my brother, ron said, got up and left� � � the great hall, his lunch untouched.harry changed a worried look with hermione and they both got up and went afterron, their lunches untouched as well.; they both hurried after ron, but itwas too late, he was gone.harry, we have to find him, before he will do something stupid, hermione said.� �the map! harry shouted suddenly.� �they both ran up to gryffindor common room.threstral, come on hermione, keep u- ouch!� �

ow, harry watch it, ginny smiled at him, rubbing her forehead. her smile� � evaporated instantly when she saw the look on harry s face. what s wrong? where� � �is ron?�no time to explain, come along, harry called after her as he ran the stairs to� � his dormitory, taking two steps at a time. he reached his door, openedthem quickly and went inside.hey harry, what s the rush? neville greeted him.� � �harry didn t bother to answer, he dashed to his chest, withdrew the maradauer map� and left, leaving the confused neville behind.i solemnly swear that i am up to no good, he said and tapped his map on the way� � to common room, where ginny and hermione were waiting for him. they put



their heads together and searched the map for a dot labelled ronald weasly.oh no, ginny said breathlessly.� �what? where is he? harry asked her.� �the astronomy tower, she looked at him, horror-struck.� �they sprinted out of the common room as fast as they could.what is he doing? hermione called after harry breathlessly.� �harry checked the map. nothing, he isn t moving, harry yelled after them and� � � gathered even more speed.

moments later he banged the door of astronomy tower open and searched the roomwith his eyes. ron was sitting on the floor near the huge telescope, hishead in his hands, and was shaking slightly. harry could hear his quiet sobs. hemoved over to him slowly as hermione and ginny ran into room, panting.ron, are you alright? harry asked him quietly as kneeled next to him and put his� � hand on his shoulder, hermione and ginny doing the same on the otherside.how does he even dare to come so close to me, after what he had done? after he� said what he had done? and what did i do to avenge percy? i merely sat thereand stared at him. i could have done something ron said angrily.��come on, ron, life isn t only about revenge. besides, the malfoy s are danger� � � ��malfoy means nothing, when his father is in prison! ron spat.� �harry gulped. ron, azkaban has fallen. all the imprisoned death eaters are free�

once again and the dementors joined voldemort, he said gloomily.�everyone was staring at him in disbelief, even ron raised his head.preposterous, ginny said,� �belive, me it s true. dumbledore told me three days ago� � ��but how when? hermione stuttered.� � �i don t know how. it happened in july. don t tell anyone, you shouldn t know too� � � � �but why they keep it secret? those stupids hermione said.� ��so, ron, don t get involved with malfoy, at least for now, please, harry pleaded� � � him.we will have our revenge, don t worry, ginny patted him on the head.� � �hermione, you are going to miss your history of magic lesson, ron said stupidly.� �to hell with history of magic, hermione said as she stroke ron s cheek.� � �ginny nudged harry in the ribs and leaned over to him. i think we should go now,� �

she whispered softly in his ear.harry took the point and got up. don t worry, ron. everything will be all right,� � � harry said.ron raised his head, tears still trickling down his face. how can you know? ron� � said.just belive, harry said not very confidently and shot him a nervous smile. then� � he and ginny went away.they went back to the common room in awkward silence, it was for the first timetheir were alone since that kiss.listen, i ve got to go now transfiguration, you know, ginny said.� � � �right. see you.� �

**********

harry had not seen ron nor hermione before their last lesson transfiguration. ronlooked slightly more cheerful, although there were still traces of cryon his face. harry was tactful and didn t ask them what have they been talking� about for so long.transfiguration was hard as ever. even hermione looked like she couldn t� concentrate- she wasn t able to change her needle into sword up to the end of the�class. proffesor mcgonagall was so furious when even hermione failed her that shegave extra homework for the whole class.after quick dinner, harry faced the transfiguration door for second time today-this time for his occlumency lesson. dumbledore was already waiting inside



when harry entered.hello harry, how are you? dumbledore asked him cheerfully.� �fine, sir, harry lied.� �well, shall we start immediately, he said as he drew out his wand.� �it was worse than ever, even worse than with snape. images of unpleasant thingsswirled in harry s mind- deaths he saw, new boggart form, crying ron� �harry, there is no point in continuing today s lesson. you seem totally� � distracted. i understand that you are worried about your friends, but that s the�

thing voldemort is waiting for. he is waiting that you will show him yourweakness. don t give up so easily, dumbledore said with a small smile. now,� � �i have another sleeping draught vial for you, please, take it, that s very� important. now, goodnight.�harry to his dormitory at once and laid on his bed. he looked over to ron s bed-� the curtains were closed and harry heard loud snoring. ron was asleep,now a little nice nap and then i should get on some studying, he thought and fellasleep.

chapter 13 : the spy

thanks to everyone who reviews my tory, it makes me feel good, even if it is bad.

chapter 13: treachery

harry found himself in the cold dungeon room once again. once again the hoodedpictures were standing in front of him, kneeling. harry stood up from histhrone and walked over to one of the death eaters in the first line.my dear macnair, you have done really well. now tell me, when will the first� giants come, i m very anxious to meet them. harry said in cold voice.� �first of them are to arrive this morning, my lord, macnair said, his voice� � shaking slightly.excellent, you have really done well and lord voldemort rewards highy his most� devoted servants.�thank you my lord, thank you, macnair said, as he bowed so his head touched the� � floor.

harry walked over to another death eater, who looked somehow familiar.and what about the gem? voldemort asked the familiar death eater.� �my lord, dumbledore withdrew it from gringott s after our last attempt. he hid it� � somewhere else, most probably in hogwarts, but i have been unable��voldemort drew out his wand very quickly and pointed it at the death eater.crucio!� �the death eater collapsed to the ground and started shrieking. harry was pacingaround him and talking as he was screaming.my dear severus, you have returned to me year and half ago, claiming that you� were waiting for my return, gathering information. though some of the informationyou provided were very useful, i must confess that your incompetence of getting mewhat i most desire is somehow disappointing, and i must question yourreal loyality��

my lord, it s true, i m your the death eater managed to say between the� � � �� shrieks.enough! harry spat and lifted the curse. legillimens!� � � �the room felt silent for a moment, as harry was searching the death eater s mind.� then he suddenly stopped.you are hiding something from me. tell me what is it!� �nothing my lord, nothing� ��crucio! harry shouted once again.� �the death eater was twitching on the ground and screaming once again. as hetwitched the hood slipped off and reveald the face of severus snape. harry waslaughing, his laughter was full of insanity.



mate, wake up! came ron s voice.� � �harry woke up suddenly and sat upright. there were a lot of people gathered aroundhis bed- ron, dean, seamus, neville, hermione and ginny. nearly all ofthem had their robes still on. apparently he has slept for a short time only.are you alright, harry? hermione asked him worriedly.� �yeah, he lied. what happened? harry asked them.� � � �i don t know, i ve just had another dream� � � ��oh, harry, don t tell me you forgot to take your potion, hermione groaned.� � �

harry looked over at his bedside table. the vial was still on the desk. damn it,he thought. he suddenly remembered what he witnessed in his dream.i ve got to see dumbledore, now! he yelled.� � �harry, what did you see? hermione asked him softly.� �i was in that dungeon again, the death eater were there, snape harry stuttered.� ��snape? everyone yelled.� �i ve got to go now, he said, as he stood up and searched his chest for his cloak� � � and map.harry, it s half an hour after the curfew hermione fussed.� � ��i don t care, he spat and left the room, leaving all of his friends staring� � � after him. he walked down the staircase and exited through the portrait door.he threw his cloak over himself and tapped the map with his wand.i solemnly swear that i am up to no good, harry said and the map started to draw� �

itself. harry checked if the coast was clear. filch was on the firstfloor, running after dot marked peeves. the teachers were in their offices, snape� snape was nowhere to be found. so he is the traitor, harry thought tohimself.he managed to get in front of dumbledore s office in record time.�zonko! he spat. the gargoyle sprang aside. he ran the stairs up and didn t even� � � bothered to knock, he banged the door open.harry, what he stopped as he saw harry s face. you neglected your potion,� �� didn t you?� �harry stared at him in amazement. then he remebered why he came.yes i did and i had a dream again and and harry tried.� � ��harry, calm down. now take a long deep breath and tell me what you saw.� �i was in voldemort s mind once again, i could see through his eyes. i was in that� �

dungeon room once again and the death eaters were gathered around me.voldemort was talking to some of them. macnair, he told him about the giants-theyare coming, sir, they are coming tommorow, and than i saw snape, snape!voldemort was asking him abou something he mostly desired, something snape toldhim you removed from the gringott s earlier, snape said you probably hid�here, in hogwarts. and then voldemort tortured him and used the legillimens curseon him for some reason.�dumbledore was looking at him through his spectacles calmly.you didn t hear me?! snape is the spy! why are you looking at me like this?� � � harry yelled angrily.harry, severus snape, proffesor snape for you, is indeed a spy, but for our side,� he is the one who saved those people, who lived in the safe houses andhe is the one, who told us about the defeat of azkaban. it changed from prison to

voldemort fortress and you say they were torturing him and interrogating�him? dumbledore asked him a not of concern in his eyes.�yes, they were, harry said quietly. proffesor dumbledore, how can you be sure� � � snape is really on our side? harry asked him.�as i told you before, that is between me and proffesor snape only.� �sir, voldemort can read minds harry said quietly.� ��i am aware of that fact. but you think that i assigned proffesor snape as your� occlumency teacher before for no reason. he is one of the most gifted inthis discipline. his lies can be very persuasive.�proffesor dumbledore, voldemort was talking about something he longed to have,� something you took from the gringott s harry suddenly put two and two� ��



together. i saw you took when i broke into your mind, didn t i. it was some kind� � of gem and voldemort s wants it, harry muttered mainly to himself.� � �he faced dumbledore once again. what is it?� �dumbledore sighed. alas, i can t tell you that, not yet.� � �do you remember what happened last time you hid something from me? harry spat� � hatefully at him.yes i do. but belive me harry, this doesn t concern you. at least for now, he� � � said. now, i want you to go to bed and take the potion before sleep. the�

link was too short today, but remember that every time you are connected to him heis connected to you and he can get some information you would like toconceal. good night harry. dumbledore said.�harry left dumbledore s office, still furious that dumbledore was hiding some� information from his again. was he afraid my mind might slip, he asked himself.he found himself in front of the portrait of fat lady earlier then he thought itwould be possible.threstral, he said and the portrait swung open. harry entered the room and� � spotted the group of his friends sitting at the fartherest corner. they motionedhim to come to them.listen, i m tired harry tried, but was cut by anxious ron.� � ��is snape really a spy? he asked harry.� �no, harry said and told the whole story.� �

i still don t see how can dumbledore trust that bastard, ron spat angrily.� � �come on, we ve been over this for several times- snape is on our side. now i m� � � more curious about that think voldemort longs for and you have no idea,�harry?�no, i just know that it s some kind of gem, but dumbledore wouldn t tell me� � � more, harry said, still a bit angry with dumbledore.�hmm gem, you say? hermione muttered and without any ado she went to her� � � dormitory, probably to look into some book.

chapter 14 : brooming and snitching

i do not posses any of the characters and places

chapter 14: brooming and snitchingthe rest of the week passed quickly and harry was glad to face his first weekend.he got up on saturday very late, dressed himself and went down to breakfast.nearly all of his friends were there already, enjoying their meals. ron, ginny,dean and seamus were chatting enthusiastically about the quiditch, whilehermione was reading the daily prophet.hey harry, had a good sleep? ron asked him. listen we were just thinking it� � � would be nice to get some flying on broomsticks, what do you think?�yeah that would be nice. harry said.� �you haven t started on your on your potion essay yet, hermione said, without� � � raising her head from the papers.oh, give him a break, hermione, ron said, smiling. so harry, what do you say?� � � �let him have a breakfast at least, ron, ginny said teasingly.� �

harry loaded his plate with his food. who else is going?� �me, ginny, dean, seamus, maybe neville if we could wake him up. we might also tag� along someone from hufflepuff and ravenclaw, ron said. what about you� �hermione, would you like to go?�no, i m lousy with broomstick, don t you remember that? hermione said, rolling� � � � her eyes.harry finished his meal quickly, he couldn t wait to get on his fireball again and� practice some flying before the trials on wednesday. he and his friendsgot up and walked to the common room, ron went to ask the hufflepuffs andravencwlaves. they changed their clothes, woke up neville and then went to thelockers room to gather their broomstick. ron came moment later, with large group



of people tailing him-cho chang, michael corner, zacharias smith, erniemcmillian, justin-finch flitchey, hannah abbot and some more third and fourthyears harry didn t know.�pity we don t have any balls, we could do with a bit of practising, cho said� � � gloomily.harry put his hand into his robes and withdrew the tiny golden snitch he got fromron and showed it to cho.oh, you got your own snitch! how nice, she said, looking at the ball with awe.� �

the rest of the group changed their robes and then walked to the grounds. they allmounted their broomsticks and kicked off from the ground. harry feltthe familiar feeling, it was so great to be on his firebolt again. he zig-zaggedaround the grounds, laughing madly. he was just imaging how would theywin this year again for the third time in the row, when suddenly he saw a blurcircling him. the blur stopped and harry saw cho chang hovering on his level,riding a brand new firebolt.when did you get that? he called after her.� �i got it in july, for my exceptional results in my exams. first at the astronomy� tower gets a butterbeer in three broomsticks, she said cheerfully and�sped off.harry leaned on his firebolt as flat as he could and flew after cho at thegreatest speed he could muster. he was slowly gaining on her but the astronomy

tower came closer and closer, but cho was still ahead. faster, faster, faster, heurged his firebolt. he was behind cho s ankles, the astronomy tower was�closer , he was level, the astronomy tower inches away he touched the tip of the� � tower. he stopped suddenly.ha, ha, i m still better! he called after cho teasingly, grinning.� � �we ll see, harry. release the snitch! she called after him encouragingly.� � �he searched his pocket and withdrew the tiny gold ball. he held it up to his palm,not really knowing what to do. suddenly, it released it s wings and hovered�inch over his palm.ready? he asked her. she nodded. he leaned his face over the tiny ball. go!� � � �the snitch disappeared immediately. harry and cho, were circling around the air,occasionally shooting each other a grin. suddenly she dived, her eyes focusedon the spot near the ground. harry didn t see the snitch so he sped after her,�

hoping that he will spot it. they were close the ground, when cho suddenlyceased the dive. harry couldn t help to grin, as his feet brushed the grass as he� pulled from the dive-he was tricked by one of the famous moves- wronskifaint. he heard cho laughing and when he looked up he saw the struggling goldensnitch in her right hand.now you don t feel that confident with you winning the cup again, eh? she asked� � � him teasingly.let s try it again, he called after her.� � �she nodded and released it again. this time it took them much more time to spotit. they were speeding through it, when suddenly third blur appeared outof nowhere. it got the snitch and then sped away.hey, stop, that s mine! harry yelled.� � �the blur stopped and the snitch appeared again, held by draco malfoy.

this one is yours? how nice. draco vs. potter, hundred fifty to zero! malfoy� � said, laughing.hand it over or i ll knock you off that broom, harry said angrily.� � �and how do you propose to do that?� �harry sped to malfoy suddenly, hoping to catching him unprepared, but malfoyducked easily. you are gonna have to do better than this, malfoy laughed� �and flew away.harry was tailing him, but couldn t catch him. how come his nimbus if so fast, he� asked himself. malfoy was laughing loudly, he was clearly enjoying this.you re so pathetic, he called after harry, when he missed him for what appeared� � � to be tenth time. something was definitely wrong with malfoy s broom.�



this isn t nimbus for sure, he thought as he missed malfoy once again. damn it,� i m fed up with this, he said as he checked the height. they were around�eight metres above the ground. he should survive that, harry said to himself as hedrew out his wand.malfoy! harry called after him. are you going to give me that or not?� � � �are you kidding, i ve never had so much fun in my life, malfoy called.� � �as you wish. stupefy! harry cried as he pointed his wand at malfoy.� �malfoy s face changed from happiness to horror before the beam hit him in stomach.�

he clutched it and then fell to the ground, unconscious. he was justabout to hit the ground, when harry suddenly heard hermione s voice.�mobillicorpus!� �malfoy s body stopped inches from ground and hovered in the air. harry landed� nearby, outraged. he got of from his broom and saw the others flying towardshim, cho in the lead and hermione running to him, her wand drawn and pointedsteadily on malfoy.why did you do that?! he deserved it, he yelled at hermione, who stopped� � abruptly.what do you mean? do you know how much deep you would be in trouble, if i hadn t� � done that, hermione said taken aback by the anger in harry s voice.� �no one asked for your help, harry spat at her coldly.� �tears appeared in hermione s eyes. she stared at harry for a while and then ran�

back to the castle. harry was staring after her realising how mean he was.hermione, wait, i didn t mean what i said he called after her but it was� � �� futile, she was gone.ron, cho and the others landed near him. ron looked after hermione and then turnedto harry.what was that about? he asked harry. what happened?� � � �malfoy stole my snitch, so i went after him. i couldn t catch him, i still can t� � � figure out why. so i stunned him and he fell to the ground. hermione caughthim and i yelled on her. she just wanted to keep me away from troubles. oh, i m so� stupid. harry groaned.�don t worry, mate. let s go now, we don t want to be caught now, let s go talk to� � � � � her, ron said as he placed his hand on harry s shoulder and lead him� �off.

wait, harry stopped suddenly and returned to malfoy. he searched and found his� � snitch and pocketed it. they were just about to leave for lockers, whenharry saw malfoy s broom lying next to him. firebolt. now i m not definitely very� � confident about the cup, he thought.

***********

she s probably in her dormitory, ron said, when there was no trace of hermione� � � in the common room.well, let s go, harry said and was just about to climb the stairs when ron� � � stopped him.what? he asked him, slightly annoyed.� �the slide, remember? ron told him.� �

right, harry answered. he withdrew his wand and pointed it at himself.� � wingardium leviosa.� �his feet left the ground and he was hovering few inches above the floor. it wasn t� as comfortable as with the broom. he slowly managed to fly up to half,when suddenly a honk sounded and the charm ceased. harry was still hovering for avery short time, before his feet touched the slide and he slipped, slidingall the way down back to the common room. he gathered himself from the ground andbrushed the filth from his robes.all the people in the common room were laughing and pointing at harry, even ron.harry shot him an angry look and he stopped immediately.it s no good, i ve told you that girls dormitories are well protected against the� � �



boys, came voice of hermione, as she sided down the slide. she got up�and looked at harry, traces of tears still on her face.listen, hermione, i want to apologize for what have i said. you had done right� think preventing malfoy from the fall harry said.��her lips slightly twitched, but then she returned her strict face. harry, that� temper of yours! it will get you into trouble sometime, she said.�i know, he said staring at the floor. he raised his head and faced hermione� � again. do you forgive me?� �

hermione just smiled. what about malfoy? what have you done with him? she asked.� �we left him there, ron and harry said at once, staring into the floor again,� � afraid hermione might yell at them again.serves him right. i hope he wakes after the curfew and is caught by one of the� proffesor. oh, how i d love to see that git put into detention.� �

chapter 15 : not all the slytherins are bad

hi everyone, here is finally some action. please review!

thanks to all who reviewed my story.i wont be able to update up to weekend now beacause semestral exams are coming andi need a lot of study.

i don not posses any character or places

chapter 15: not all the slytherins are badharry and the others spent the rest of the weekend studying, harry finally gotsomething written about the sleeping drought for snape, although he managedto fulfil the two parchment quote by enlarging his writing a bit in the end thenall of them had done the extra homework on transfiguration- it was veryodd, watching hermione doing extra homework. with all what happened and with allstudying the weekend ended very quickly and harry and the others wereeating their breakfast facing their second week of classes.harry and the others enjoyed interesting double period of defence against the darkarts when lupin provided them with a short obstacle course. it took place

in the dungeon, where the students were fighting against various dark creatures.harry was very relived when he finished the course and found no boggarton his way.excellent harry, full marks, proffesor lupin called after him cheerfully, when� � he finished.when the class finished, harry went over to the teacher s desk.�hey, harry. how are you? lupin asked him.� �ok. and you?� �well, full moon is coming soon, you can imagine how i feel now. do you need� something?�actually, yes, harry answered him and handed him a galleon.� �what s that for? lupin asked him, confused.� � �that s how we told each other about the da meetings. when i will decide the next� �

meeting, i ll set the date and the time of the meeting on the coin. it�will warm up so you can notice.�harry, who made these?� �hermione, she said it s protean charm or whatever the name was harry said-� � ��lupin just shook his head and smiled, as he pocketed the galleon.proffesor lupin, i wan to ask you a favour, harry said nervously.� �yes, what is it? lupin asked him.� �well since not anybody is aware of the room of requiments, i was wondering� whether we could could use your classroom? just for the first meeting, harry� �askedof course, harry, no problem, lupin replied, beaming.� �



next came transfiguration, as hard and exhausting as ever. at least by the end ofthe class harry managed to transfigure his bottle of butterbeer to smallbarrel of firewhiskey by the end of the class and he was not given extra homeworkfrom transfiguration for the first time harry could remember.next came the lunch and then double potions. they were doing practical classesonce again. cheering drought this time. harry wouldn t belive he would do�this particular potion with snape. he double-checked every step, careful not tospoil anything and by the end of the class even hermione admitted that

harry s potion looked ok. he corked his vial and put it on the teacher table,� returning snape s glare as he left.�harry and ron spent the rest of the afternoon studying, while hermione was on herancient runes classes. then six o clock came and harry was once again�facing one of his most unpopular subject- occlumency. despite his opinion on it,he managed to protect his mind twice, giving dumbledore only few images.excellent harry, you have done very well tonight. but remember, every image could� give out your weakness. now harry, remember practising, clearing yourmind and taking your potion every night before you go to sleep, dumbledore told� him, as he handed him the vial.harry, returned to the common room, exhausted but happy, that he at least managedto do some progress with the occlumency. he sat at the table, where ron,hermione and ginny were studying.

and don t neglect the simplest spells such as levitation or light, they came up�� on the last o.w.l. s too, hermione told ginny. hello, harry, how was� � �your lesson?�it was o.k., i seems i finally start to handle it. at least nothing happened like� the first time��harry, since you have your occlumency lessons on monday and wednesday night, what� do you think about setting regular basis in our da meetings for tuesday?�hermione asked him.well i can t see no reason against, he said and set the time on his galleon.� � �right, but i think that won t do it this time. we wanted to involve more� � students, remember? hermione asked him.�i m still not very enthusiastic about that idea, hermione?� � �me neither, ron piped up.� �

to harry s surprise ginny spoke not hermione. harry, what would happened if i� � hadn t attended the da and met the death eaters, like on the night in the�department of mysteries. everyone has a right to learn how to defend themselves.�you wouldn t be at the department of mysteries, if you hadn t attended the da� � � first place harry said gloomily.��that s not the point. what i say that if it wasn t for you i would face the death� � � eaters with nothing more then expelliarmus or rictusempra curses. i meanlook, at what neville was and now what he is, ginny said nodding towards the� table on the opposite side of the room.neville, dean, seamus, pavarti and lavender were sitting there. harry rememberedhow neville was shy, not very confident and not able to perform the simplestspells. but he changed that night at the department of mysteries, as if finallyfacing his greatest fear started a change in him. that night he faced belatrix

lestrange, the woman who made his parents insane with cruciatus curse. neville waschatting with others now and it seemed that lavender was sitting closerto him than she would before.you are right everybody has to face their fears prepared. harry said finally� � �

**********

the first think harry did next morning when he got up was making a note he wouldpin on the notice board.

today s world is dangerous.�



do you want to know learn how to defend yourself?then come to the defence against the dark arts classroom.tonight at seven in the evening.

this has to do it, he thought for himself. then he woke up ron and they went tobreakfast together, harry pinned the notice on the way. hermione came fewminutes later.i saw your notice harry, great. some of the students are talking about that�

already. hermione said happily.�and it was true, indeed as harry saw on his way to his first class, double periodof charms, a large people was gathered around the notice board, peoplewere pointing at the note and talking excitedly.i wonder whether the lupin s classroom would be sufficient? harry said� � � curiously.let s hope, hermione said grinning.� � �harry had hard time to try to concentrate on the classes, his mind always driftedto upcoming evening. he was given extra homework from every single class,even hagrid gave him some. probably he was bit angry to harry, since harry hadn t� came to see him this year.see ye all on thursday, he said to them, when he dismissed the class.� �harry s classes finished for today, but there was still lot of time left, so he�

and ron went to play a game of chess, while hermione was on her arithmacyclass. harry barely ate that dinner, he was merely playing with his food.why aren t you eating? hermione asked him.� � �no reason, i m just not hungry i guess, harry said quickly.� � �don t be nervous, you are going to do fine, she said, as she glanced at her� � � watch. we better go now.� �hermione, we ve got an hour left, ron moaned.� � �somebody has to set up the classroom, don t you think?� � �ron sighed, but they got up nevertheless and went to the classroom. they moveddesks and chairs along the walls, which took them quite a long time- harryfears of the size of the classroom vanished as he looked around himself. the roomwas at least five times bigger than the room of requiments.locotomor desk, hermione said as she moved the last desk to the wall. well, now� � �

we should just wait, she looked at her watch: quarter to seven.�the room of the classroom opened and ginny, dean, seamus, neville, colin, dennis,lavender and pavarti entered.that s odd, colin said as he looked around the class. the rest of them nodded in� � � agreement, everybody was fond of the room of requiments.the door opened again and the hufflepuffs and ravenclaws entered, only the oldcrow. but moments later the door opened once more and nervous looking first-years,whom harry remembered vaguely from the sorting.are we here right for the dueling club? emily aureily asked nervously.� �well, not for the dueling club. this is dumbledore army, but if you came to learn� how to defend yourself, you are on the right place, hermione said, smiling.�time was running on and at seven o clock, harry s fear returned. the whole room� � was crowded, there were at least eighty people, even five or so slytherins,

who looked slightly terrified at the sight of so many gryffindors, hufflepuffs andravenclaws. harry could harldy imagine how they would fit into the roomof requiments.harry i don t think anybody else is coming, hermione said at five past seven,� � � when the door remained closed for a while.ok, he nodded nervously and walked to the centre of the room, the chatter died� � instantly and all the eyes turned upon him.err hello everyone, let me welcome you in the dumbledore army my name is harry� � potter, but i m sure everybody knows that, he chuckled nervously. no one� �was laughing, all of the people were eying him interested. now, the dumbledore s� � army or da, as we call it is here for your harry started but never��



finished because the door opened with a bang.another group of older-looking slytherins entered the room, draco malfoy in thelead. malfoy was eyeing harry dangerously, apparently he was still furiousabout the incident on the brooms. he eyed the whole room with a disgusted face.crabbe, goyle, pansy parkinson, nott and some of the other older slytherinswere in the group also.traitors, he spat at the five or so slytherins first and second years. this is� � � so pathetic��

malfoy, you re not welcomed here. those are, so go away, harry said as he� � � pointed his finger at the slytherins, and drew out his wand with his right hand.are you gonna make us or what? seventh year boy asked.� �who are you? harry spat at him.� �oh, how impolite of me not introducing myself, the boy said in mock voice, which� � sounded somehow familiar and made him goose flesh. my name is andrew�lestrange.�you aren t related to that death eater, are you? came the voice of neville, who� � � stepped on harry s side.�in fact, i am. i m his nephew. and you are longbottom the squib, aren t you? my� � � auntie had the pleasure of meeting with your parents hadn t she? lestrange� �said sarcastically.neville turned deeply red in anger.

if you came here to here to insult us, you can go straight away, harry said.� �and who is gonna make us? you and the squib, alone? lestrange said.� �he will not be alone, said hermione, ron and ginny as they drew out their wand� � and stepped next to harry and neville.you are still only five and we are twelve, malfoy sneered.� �at this colin, denis, luna, cho, dean, seamus and even zacharias drew their wandsand stepped next to harry. harry looked around himself in disbelief.i won t fight squibs and kids, potter, malfoy laughed at the sight of neville� � � and denis.you have no other chance, neville said.� �the boys and girls formed two lines. they were staring at each other in hate andanger. it happened suddenly.malfoy shot a stunner on harry, who ducked easily. ginny put pansy parkinson in

full-body bind. hermione and ron stunned crabbe and goyle, who collapsedto the ground unconciouss. colin and denis shot two stunners at two of theslytherin boys, who deflected it upon them by shielding charm. neville shotimpediment jinx at lestrange, but missed him by inches and one of the seventh yearcollapsed to the ground.the only one who were standing were neville, harry, ginny, hermione, ron, malfoy,lestrange, not and avery. harry was amazed how furiously the first yearfought.have you had enough? harry yelled at malfoy.� �no, i m just warming up. now i ll show you some tricks fat mother taught me over� � � � the summer. you first mudblood. kniveous!�a silver beam erupted from the malfoy s wand and grazed hermione s face, leaving a� � deep cut. hermione yelled in pain and collapsed to the ground, surprised.

hermione! ron kneeled next to her. he faced malfoy furiously. "she saved you! if� � she didn't save you, you could have broke your leg. or neck!""i don't care," malfoy said, a look of utter staisfaction on his face.arghus! lestrange cried as he pointed his wand at ginny. the red beam hit her in� � stomach and she collapsed to the ground, clutching her belly and shriekingin pain.impedimenta! neville shot the jinx at lestrange.� �protego! lestrange deflected it and the curse hit one of the slytherins between� � the spectacors.petrificus totalus! harry put him in full-body bind.� �potter you and me only, now, malfoy spat, through his gritted teeth.� �



harry raised his wand and was just about to throw another curse on malfoy, whensuddenly another voice came.harry, what is going on her? lupin just entered the class.� �potter attacked us sir, he and his friends, look, malfoy said, motioning over to� � his friends, who mostly were unconscious or in full-body bind on theground.is this true, harry? lupin asked harry, a note of disappointment in his eye.� �no, it was the opposite. malfoy came here and attacked us, harry said and� �

motioned over to ginny, who was still moaning on the ground and hermione, whowas bleeding from the cut very badly.can anyone told me what really happened? you? he asked the slytherin boy, who� � was lying on the ground, still effected by the impediment jinx.it s as harry says, sir, malfoy started the slytherin boy said.� � ��traitor, malfoy spat at him.� �lupin released everyone from the full-body bind and revived the stunned.hermione, you should go to hospital wing, that cut looks nasty. ginny are you� ok? lupin said.�yeah, she said as she got up.� �now mr. malfoy fifty points from slytherin, plus twenty for each one in your� � group. month of detention to all of you. and you are suspended from the positionof prefect, until further notice. please, hand over your badge, lupin said and�

extended his hand.malfoy was staring at lupin in disbelief. when have you joined potter fanclub,� werewolf? lupin spat at lupin and left.�lupin was staring after him, then he turned to harry. what god-damned curse� malfoy and his band used on you.�i don t really know, i ve never seen something like that before. what was the� � � curse lestrange shot at you, ginny? harry sked her carefully.�i don t know. when it hit me, my belly exploded in pain. something like the� � cruciatus curse, maybe, but less effective, ginny suggested.�are you sure you are ok? harry asked her.� �come on, let s see ron and hermione to the hospital wing,� � �harry faced the spectators. tonight s meeting is over. everyone who still wants� � to join us, meet us in the great hall same time next week. goodbye proffesor,�

harry said and supported ginny out of the room.

chapter 16 : captain s meeting�

hi everyone here is the chapter as i promised.i am sorry if its a bit dull but i am exhausted after the exams. i should updateregulary from now on.

chapter 16: captain meeting

it was lucky that harry suggested going to the hospital wing, because halfway onthe route ginny collapsed to the ground again, clutching her belly andscreaming in pain. harry had to carry her to the hospital wing by himself. he

kicked the door open, which hit the wall with a loud bang.

mr. potter, why you make such a rack madam pomfrey started but stopped abruptly� �� as she saw ginny in harry s arms, still moaning of pain. get her on� �the bed, quickly, she motioned over the nearest bed as she ran to her office.�

first ms. granger with a nasty cut on her face and now ms. weasly , she muttered� � � under her breath. what happened, mr. potter?� �

i don t know. andrew lestrange from slytherin hit her with some sort of pain� � curse in her belly. she was affected by it for a brief period and then it



ceased. we were on our way to see hermione, when apparently the pain startedagain.�

hmm i see. now, mr. potter, excuse us please. you can see ms. granger, she is to� � stay here this night, though she is in no serious danger she is in thenext room, she said as she put curtain around the bed.�

harry entered the next room, thinking about the new curses he saw today. hermione

was lying on the fartherest bed, her face covered with bandage, sleepingpeacefully. probably under the influence of sleeping draught ron was sitting nextto her on chair. as harry entered the room he jumped from the chair anddrew out his wand

oh, it s you, harry. ron said as he pocketed his wand. is everyone alright? he� � � � � asked him.

well harry started. he didn t really know how to tell ron about ginny.� ��

what? what is it? ron asked her.� �

ginny harry said. ron eyes grew larger in horror.� ��

what happened to my sister? he said and got up to walk to the first room. harry� � put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.

you can t see her, madam pomfrey is examining her right now. the pain had� � returned, harry said, not looking in ron s eyes.� �

when i get to meet those two bastards again ron said, his fists clutched.� ��

how is hermione? harry asked him silently.� �

ron sighed. madam pomfrey stopped the bleeding and mended the cut. the curse left� a nasty scar, though, which madam pomfrey was unable to heal. she wanted

her to stay here just as a precaution. she said hermione will be able to join ustomorrow on classes.�

they sat next to hermione again. the time was passing in silence. after whatseemed to be an eternity, madam pomfrey entered the room, hovering a stretcheron which ginny laid, also fast asleep. she placed her on the bed next to hermione.

ginny they both got up to look at her.� ��

it s no good gentlemen, she wouldn t wake up until the morning, madam pomfrey� � � � said softly.

what happened to her, madam pomfrey? ron asked her.� �

well, mr. potter was indeed right, it was some sort of pain curse, although i� have never seen one with a residual effect. what was the incitation again?�madam pomfrey asked them curiously.

argus, ron said.� �

no arghus, more likely, harry corrected him.� � �

well, never heard of any of those ms. weasly will be alright, i will keep her� � for tonight just for a precaution also. she will have to take painkiller



potion for the next two weeks, however. now i want you two to go back to yourdormitories, ten minutes to curfew, you know.�

but, madam pomfrey they both started� ��

don t even think about staying here for night, she told them. however, her� � � strict face disappeared at the sight of harry s and ron s concerned look.� � gentlemen,�

your friends will be alright. you will be able to see them both tomorrow, but theyneed to rest tonight.�

harry and ron left the hospital wing still furious a bit that madam pomfreywouldn t allow them to stay. when they entered the common room, they were� bombardedwith questions by fellow groyffindor s from the da. harry and ron told them the� whole story.

those bastards when i meet that lestrange boy again dean muttered angrily.� � ��

bet malfoy isn t too happy with the slytherins who stood by us, what do you� � think? dennis asked curiously.�

**********

dennis was indeed right- when harry and the others went for a breakfast next daythey saw the slytherins from da sitting at the table. all of them had puffyeyes and traces of tears could be seen on their faces.

hello everybody, hermione and ginny greeted them as they sat at the gryffindor� � table.harry surveyed them carefully. hermione was sporting a very long scar on her rightcheek. she apparently tried to cover it with some mapke-up. ginny s eyes�were foggy, probably from the potion she was taking.

hermione, ginny! are you alright? ron yelled cheerfully.� �

yeah, just sad for missing the reason to skip classes. just joking hermione, she� � grinned as she saw hermione s patronising look.�

as they sat, owls started to appear, delivering the morning post. a barn schoolowl landed in front of harry. harry reached for the small piece of parchment,tied to it s leg.�

harry,due to your quiditch captain meeting, we shouldpostpone our lesson to eight o clock.�

dumbledore

the captains meeting is today, harry suddenly remembered. finally, the quiditchseason was coming closer. he was cut from his thoughts by hermione.

that stupid bully, hermione yelled outraged.� �

harry looked over to slytherin table. apparently, the slytherin children from dawanted to leave the great hall for their classes, but malfoy wouldn t let�them go so easily. he put a jelly leg hex and the tripping charm on two of theboys, the only girl in the group started to cry again. lestrange merely



silenced her with the silencing charm. the rest of the table erupted withlaughter.

what is happening here? who had done this to you? mcgonagall said as she strode� � to them and performed counter curses on every single bullied slytherin.

the first year boy looked at malfoy before answering. i don t know, proffesor.� � �

mcgonagall eyed him doubtfully. well of you go to your classes then.� �

malfoy was laughing after the bullied slytherin and then turned his face to harry.his face shifted instantly- to the face of pure hatred. they were eyingthemselves for a very long time.

come on, harry, classes, hermione nudged him in the ribs.� �

harry and hermione gathered their things and went to the dungeons. snape strode inmoments later, banging the door after himself. he walked up to his tablevery quickly.

wow, he looks livid today, harry claimed.� �

harry, imagine how would mcgonagall felt if someone stripped me or ron of my� badge and nearly got me expelled but i was started a fight, which led to someinjuries of many of my fellow students. please, harry, don t provoke him.� �

i didn t think i would repeat myself, but your work was satisfactory again,� � especially the students fro slytherin. twenty points to slytherin. potter,yours wasn t, again. potter, as you surely remember i said that everyone who would� slow down the class would be kicked out. twenty points from gryffindor,�snape said, his eyes gleaming. he shot harry an ironic wink.

twenty points for what?! for you failing me on purpose?! harry yelled at snape� � as he got up quickly.

harry don t hermione pleaded.� � ��

shut up, ms. granger. potter, another twenty points from gryffindor. sit down or� it will be hundred next time.�

harry sat, still eyeing snape with hatred.

potter, you know what i want from you. three parchments should do it this time.� �

the slytherins were watching snape bullying harry looking extremely delighted.malfoy was laughing openly.

the rest of the harry classes passed in one blur. harry was so furious with snapehe barely ate, regretting it after the exhausting period of transfiguration.he got himself a quick dinner before he hurried of to the quiditch locker room forhis first captain meeting.

the locker room empty when he arrived. he glanced at his watch-quarter to six. hesat on the bench and tried to relax a bit. dumbledore wouldn t be surely�satisfied with my performance on occlumency lessons, he thought for himself, hismind still full of anger.

the door of the room opened and cho with hufflepuff boy harry didn t know, but�



remembered him vaguely from yesterday s da session entered.�

hi harry, cho greeted him cheerfully.� �

hi what are you doing here? harry asked her curiously.� � �

oh, haven t i told you. davies graduated last year, i m the new ravenclaw� � � captain, cho said.�

the hufflepuff boy extended his right hand.

hello, my name is christian connor, i am hufflepuff captain, we haven t played� � against each other yet.�

nice to meet you, i m harry potter, harry said as he shook hand with christian.� � � harry s only match last year was against the slytherin before he was put�on life-long ban by umbridge.

that was some entertainment yesterday at the da, harry. those slytherins he� �� started.

not all of them are bad, you know, harry said as he remembered the scene from� � the breakfast.

the door opened again and madam hooch and slytherin a mean looking seventh yearboy harry hadn t seen before entered.�

good evening, congratulation you three for becoming the new captains.� congratulations to you, connor, that you managed to keep your post. now thismeetingwill have only informative character. by next week, when we shall meet again iwould like you to hand me your roosters. the tryout s will be held for each�house separately. mr. potter, yours is tomorrow, ms. chang, yours is friday, mr.connor, yours is monday and finally mr. o grady, yours is tuesday. now�

tryouts will start from the seven, be sure that your house knows about it. a signon the notice board should make it. now, that is all for tonight. youwill get your training and match schedules next week. goodbye, madam hooch said� and left the room.how disappointing, harry thought for himself before leaving the locker room withcho.

chapter 17 : tryouts

hello everyone i know last chapter really sucked, but this should be lot better. iam really looking forward forward to few next chapters, lot is goingto happen soon...

chapter 17: tryoutsharry tried once again to get rid of any strong emotion on his way to thetransfiguration classroom for his occlumency classes, but for some reason imageof ginny, lying on the ground and weeping from pain always came to his mind. andwith that came the faces of malfoy and lestrange, who were laughing withinsanity and shooting their new curses around themselves. and with that came themost obvious emotion- anger. but the anger he felt to malfoy was nothingcompared to his anger to snape as he heard his voice from the transfigurationclasses when he was approaching it.

think there is no other person suitable for this person in my house. draco s��



study results are one of the best on this school, he is natural with potions.headmaster, my house needs a prefect.�

i quite agree, severus. but you must understand, reinstating draco at this post� would be like there was no punishment at all. and he deserves punishmentfor what he had done, came the voice of dumbledore.�

headmaster, why you have such a definitive confidence in mr. potter s version.� �

who knows what happened? how can you be sure he didn t threaten the witnesses,� �snape said hatefully.

harry could bear no more. he opened the classroom door and strode inside the roomvery quickly. both snape and dumbledore turned their faces to harry, bearingthe faces of surprise. snape s changed to the face of hatred in the blink of an� eye.

potter, i have a private conversation with headmaster, wait outsi snape started� �� but never finished.

so you think that hermione cut her face herself?! she would have a nasty scar for� the rest of her life. and what about ginny? she has to take painkiller

potion regularly! harry yelled at snape hatefully.�

snape faced dumbledore instead of harry.do you see, headmaster? look at his temper. headmaster i must insist on� ��

that will do, severus, dumbledore said calmly and raised his hand to stop snape.� � snape was staring at him, his mouth wide open. i belive in harry s version.� �madam pomfrey came to my office yesterday evening, demanding immediate explosureof young mr. malfoy for the injuries ms. weasly and ms. granger sustainedupon her resignation. fortunately, i managed to persuade her not to go. alsoproffesor lupin was the first one to arrive at the scene and from his pointof view draco was the one who started the fight. also, there were none studentsfrom your house, who required immediate medical attention.�

headmaster, you can t be serious� � ��

i m afraid i am, severus. i deny your request, dumbledore said silently, but� � � with the matter-is-settled tone.

snape was staring at him for quite a long period of time. then he wheeled on hislegs and strode to the door quickly, glaring at harry hatefully and mouthingyou will pay, potter . he closed the door with a very loud bang.� �

harry turned his face to dumbledore. there was an awkward silence.

harry, you have disappointed me very much tonight, dumbledore said with a sigh.� �

i haven t seen such a rudeness from a student for very long time. you� �must really control your temper. for your manners and for your occlumency lessons.don t forget, lord voldemort could use any of your emotion against you,� �he paused for a moment. harry, there is no point in studying occlumency tonight,� it would cause too much damage��

proffesor, i am sorry, but i can t help it. it s snape, he is always mean to me,� � � he is failing me from his classes on purpose��

harry, i know proffesor snape favours students from his college a bit, but those� words you say are very strong. do you have any evidence? dumbledore asked�



him, surveying him through his half-moon spectacles.

harry lowered his head and stared at the floor. he said nothing for very longtime.no.� �

then i m sorry, but there is nothing i can do, dumbledore said and strode out of� � � the room.

harry was standing on the spot, staring at the floor for a very long time beforehe returned to his dormitory.

**********

harry was still a bit furious with dumbledore when he woke up next morning. harryput on his glasses. it was still dark outside, only a few sunshine wasvisible on the sky. he tried to fall asleep for another half an hour beforerealizing it was completely futile. he got up and gathered his school things.at least i can start on my potion essay now, this would take surely more time.three rolls of parchment. next time i will curse that bastard, he thoughtto himself.

on his way to common room he suddenly remembered about the tonight s quiditch� trials. he made a note first and then pinned it to the wall. then he startedto work on his essay. he was doing it for what seemed as hours, finishing onlyhalf a parchment when the common room started to fill up with his fellowstudents.

hey harry, what are you working on? ron asked curiously as he entered the common� � room and leaned over his shoulder. he made a vomit-like sound when herecognised what was it about. so, quiditch tryouts tonight , i see? he said as� � he examined the notice board.

yeah, harry said, erasing a word he misspelled.� �

ron looked around himself suddenly, as if he was looking for eavesdroppers. thenhe leaned to harry s ear.�

harry, i wanted to tell you something for a long time ron started, when� �� hermione and ginny entered the room suddenly. ron straightened up immediately,pretending like he wasn t talking to harry at all.�

morning, hermione, ginny, he greeted them nervously� �

good morning, hermione replied. potion s essay, i suppose he said as she saw� � � � �� harry s table littered with the crumpled pieces of parchment and opened�books.

yes, can t make it any longer now, though. let s get some breakfast, harry� � � � replied with a sigh, confused of ron s behaviour.�

they got up and went down to the great hall, where they sat at their house table.harry looked over to snape and their eyes met for one moment. they shoteach other a look of hatred before turning away. dumbledore was sitting at thetable too, but was deep in conversation with proffesor lupin. anger suddenlyflooded harry s mind once again. ignore it, he thought for himself as he stuffed� his mouth full with his toast.



how many people will turnout for the tryouts you think? ron asked him curiously.� �

i don t really know, but i hope enough of them will come we have many posts to� � � fill up. three chasers harry started.��

and two beaters, ginny piped up. you can t really think about jack sloper and� � � � andrew kirke, they re useless� ��

it s easy for you to say that, you re not the one who is supposed to telling them� � � that, harry said with a sigh and lowered his head. what if i screw� �up? i don t even know what should i do as a captain. mcgonagall has such faith in� me, i don t want to disappoint her� ��

ginny patted him on his hand. don t worry, me and ron, we re going to help you.� � � aren t we, ron? she said and kicked him under the table.� �

what? ron said as he raised his head from his porridge. oh, of course, harry,� � � you can rely on us, ron said and sprayed harry with bits of his porridge.�

disgusting, hermione muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes. ron shot her� � an angry look.

moments later another group joined them at the table- dean, seamus, neville,lavender and pavarti.

morning, dean hailed them as he sat next to ginny and placed a kiss on her� � cheek.

morning, ron replied, a note of bitterness in his voice. he still didn t fully� � � accepted the fact that dean and ginny were dating.

tryouts tonight, harry, eh? dean asked harry, not taking any note from ron. i� � � might try for a chaser��

the more, the better harry said, grinning.� ��

the classes went for forever for harry that day, perhaps it was the vision ofhimself being on broom again that always kept him distracted from the them.he was very happy indeed to face his dinner and then at seven o clock he found� himself at the locker room again, changing for his quiditch robes. he wentto take the chest with balls madam hooch left him and then he stepped on thepitch, his firebolt shouldered. a pack of people was standing at the otherend of the stadium. harry recognised ginny, ron, andrew and jack wearing theirquiditch robes as well.

there were other persons standing there, each of them holding a broom of somebrand in his hand. dean thomas and seamus finnigan, holding a nimbus 2001

each, neville longbottom, clutching a cleansweep, dennis and colin creevy, holdingcleansweeps, pavarti, sporting a nimbus 2000, and some other secondyear harry didn t know. he drew a deep breath and then he started nervously.�

hello, let me welcome you on the quiditch tryouts. my name is harry potter and� i m a new gryffindor quiditch team captain. i am also the seeker. ron, here,�is the keeper so that give us three free post for chasers and two beaters, harry� said nervously, not looking at jack and andrew, who stirred uncomfortably.now, the everyone please tell me your name and the position you would like to� apply. that includes you too, jack, andrew, ginny.�



dean thomas, chaser.� �

seamus finnigan, chaser.� �

neville longbottom, chaser.� �

andrew kirke, beater.� �

jack sloper, beater.� �

ginny weasly, chaser.� �

pavarti patil, chaser.� �

dennis creevy, beater.� �

colin creevy, beater.� �

kimberly cook, chaser.� �

harry wrote down the names and the positions. now, the chasers please step� �

forward and mount your brooms. first i will test your speed, then passing,scoring and duding the bludgers. mount your brooms. ready, steady, go!�

it was easier than harry thought. they were circling the stadium testing theirspeed, of course no one really matched with harry s firebolt. harry stopped�suddenly to look, how the others do. ginny and dean were in the lead, circlingthemselves and laughing heartily. then came kimberly cook, pavarti patil,finally enclosing with neville and seamus.

great job, harry smiled at them encouragily. now comes the passing and scoring.� � � ron! are you ready? he yelled at ron on the other hand end of pitch.�ron waved his hand in agreement. now, ginny, kimberly, pavarti, i want you to� take quaffle and pass it amongst you. try to score it through the hoops

on the other end.�

they sped of towards the goal posts, passing the quaffle amongst themselves. harrywas impressed by the girl s performance, the only on who was falling�behind a bit was kimberly. they all managed to score few goals.

dean, neville, seamus, your turn, harry said, when the girls returned. he passed� � the quaffle to dean, who caught it neatly. the performance made by boyswas worse, mainly because seamus and neville, who kept missing the quaffle and thehoops. dean, on the other hand, was natural. he didn t miss a single�pass or shoot. harry couldn t understand why he hadn t tried earlier.� �

right, come back everybody, harry shouted. they all returned, seamus and neville� �

looking slightly disappointed. now last group. ginny, pavarti and dean.� �

the three sped off again, this time harry released the bludgers. dean avoided onesmoothly and scored immediately with his left hand. ron, eyeing dean withanger passed the quaffle to pavarti, who passed it to ginny, who flew fast to thegoals, apparently to score, but when ron flew out to meet her, she passedthe quaffle to dean who scored once again.

all right we are finished, come here everybody. ron, come here, too, harry� � called. they gathered around him, eyeing him with anticipation. ok, you ve� �done good, everyone of you. ginny, dean, pavarti you are in, dean punched the air�



in triumph, while ginny and pavarti gave each other five. then he turnedto kimberly. so are you kimberly, you will be reserve. sorry, guys, maybe next� year, he faced neville and seamus who looked disappointed with themselves.�they flew back to the locker s very slowly.�

dean, you will be the lead chaser, ginny yours is left wing, pavarti yours will� be the right. now the beaters, up in the air, harry called at those who�were still on the ground. they hovered into the air. now, we will practice aim�

and strength. aim at the goal posts.�

as harry expected jack and andrew were as lousy as they could. dennis and colin,on the other hand, worked perfectly as a team. firstly one would pass thebludger to the other, who shot it through the posts precisely, switching turns.andrew and jack tried to repeat the trick as creevy s, which nearly ended�in serious injury as the bludger missed jack s head by inches.�

all right, everyone come here, harry said. they all gathered around harry.� � dennis, colin excellent job, welcome to the team. jack and andrew, sorry,� �harry said gloomily. he imagined how he would feel if he was replaced with someonebetter. but jack and andrew took it very well.

i thought that since beginning. thanks for letting to play us one year at least,� � jack said gloomily and they both disappeared.

harry was looking after them for a while, still felling guilty. then he faced hisnew team. all of them were looking extremely proud with themselves, allwere grinning.

now we shall release all the balls and get on some more practice� ��

chapter 18 : krum strikes back

chapter 17: krum strikes back

harry was extremely pleased when he was spectating his new players- three fast andprecise chasers, two enthusiastic beaters. they have been practicingfor one hour since harry ended the tryouts and they already fit together verygood. he was enjoying it so much that he barely checked the time and didn t�notice the sunset until it got darker a bit.

ok, everyone stop, he shouted. everybody stopped abruptly. excellent job� � � everyone, but i m afraid we will have to end this.� �

oh come on, just another five minutes, ginny pleaded him.� �

no, really, it s getting dark and i don t want to lose the balls, harry said to� � � � her with a grin.

they landed and gathered the balls, which took them quite a long time, because thebludgers weren t easy to restrain and it took dean, ron, dennis and colin�effort s to wrestle them back into the chest. when they had done it, they took the� chest, shouldered their brooms and went to the locker s room, where�they changed back into the school robes. harry was glad they finished the practiceby now because when they left for the castle it was already dark. theyall lit their wands and were chatting happily about the upcoming season.

when they entered the common room a large eager-looking crowd welcomed them. itseemed that nearly everyone from gryffindor came to the common room to



congratulateevery single team member. harry and the others fought their way through the crowd,they just wanted to get some rest. harry and ron sat at the table wherehermione sat, writing something on very large piece of parchment, while ginny anddean sat at their favourite sofa in front of the fire.

want a game of chess, harry? ron asked him.� �

yeah, why not, harry replied.� �

hermione rose her head and gave harry a patronising look. harry, you ve� �got your potion essay to complete and you have only four days left. remember howlong it took you last time and those were only two roll of parchment��

come on, hermione, he deserves a break. what are you writing, anyway? ron asked� � her and actually leaned to get a better view.

oh, that s nothing, just my history of magic essay, she said too quickly and� � � pocketed it.

ron looked like he was thinking something over. then he withdrew his wand. accio�

parchment.�

the parchment slipped from hermione s pocket and zoomed to ron s outstretched� � hand. hermione realized that too late and made a futile grab for it, but shemerely brushed it with it fingers.

ronald weasly!!! how you dare?! hand it over, now! hermione yelled at� �him, but too late ron was already reading it. his mouth thinned and his facebecome redder with every word he read. when he finished he thrust the parchmentback on the table.

another letter for your precious krum? ron asked her coldly.� �

ron, victor and i are only friends, you re overreacting hermione said� � �� nervously.

is that so? then why are you keeping the letters from me?� �

ron, please hermione pleaded him as tears appeared in her eyes.� ��

hermione, be his girlfriend if you wish, i m sure he would like that. i don t� � � care anymore! ron yelled and got up.�

ron! hermione called after him, but too late, he was gone already. she� �faced harry again, crying now. excuse me, she said between the sobs and hurried� � to her dormitory.

perhaps it was lucky that it happened today, at least nobody noticed, harrythought as he heard the whole common room still congratulating to creevy brothers,who were clearly enjoying themselves. harry was staring at the spot wherehermione was sitting before, still not understanding the whole situation.suddenly, someone touched his shoulder gently and ginny sat opposite of him.

are you alright, harry? she asked him.� �

yeah he muttered, still confused.� ��



don t worry, they ll get over it soon, ginny told him reassuringly.� � � �

over what? harry said stupidly. he still didn t understand.� � �

over that stupid krum-thing, ginny said.� �

harry was gazing at her.

oh harry, you boys are really so slow when it comes to the feelings. isn t� �that obvious? ron is dating hermione.�

what? harry yelled, shocked about the obvious thing.� �

they have been dating since that incident with malfoy in the diagon alley.�hermione went to comfort ron that day and than it happened.�

did she tell you that? harry asked her. ginny merely nodded. but why would they� � � hide it from me?�

ginny shook her head. isn t that obvious? since first year it was always you, ron� � and hermione. you three went together through everything. the philosopher

stone, the chamber of secrets, sirius, department of mysteries but two is� company, three is a crowd. do you see it now?�

harry suddenly remembered how ron had tried to tell him somethingthroughout the last two weeks. now he finally knew what it was. but, ron knows i� wouldn t mind, doesn t he? hermione is like sister to me, like you are.� � �

for a quick moment her face turned to disappointed one, but she shifted it todoubtful so quickly, harry didn t even it. you know my brother. harry, you ve� � �got talk to him let him know you don t mind, she said as she gave him sad grin.� �

yeah, you re right. i ll go straight away. thanks for your help ginny, he told� � � � her and got up.

anytime, she replied with a sad smile.� �

harry ran up to his dormitory. the curtain around ron s bed was shut.�there was no sound behind it, only breathing.

ron, mate, are you awake? harry asked him softly. the breathing ceased for a� � moment then he returned. he was trying pretend he was asleep. ron, we need�to talk.�

go away, he snapped from behind the curtain.� �

ron, i just want to let you know, that i m here if you wanted talk to someone.� �

and he took a deep breath. i don t mind you dating hermione.��

the curtain jerked open and ron s angry face appeared. who told you that� � ridiculous nonsense! i m not dating her i just well, that s none of your� � � � business.anyway, if there was something between us, it s definitely not going to last now,� her precious little krum made sure of it.

you know, hermione was right, you are an insensitive pig, harry snapped at him.� �

you wanna stick with the girls? have it your way then! ron yelled at� �



harry and closed the curtains again.

*********

breakfast was very silent one next morning, ron and hermione both hadn t said a� word to each other since their argument, they occasionally shot each otheran evil look. harry couldn t bear that no more, he got up and went to his first� class of the day- herbology. he sat up in the deserted greenhouse, nobody

other was there. he looked around himself to make sure nobody was lurking in thecorner and then he withdrew his snitch, the gift from ron.

he let it rest on his palm and it stretched his tiny wings.

a little bit of training couldn t hurt, he though to himself and released the� snitch. it was circling around him for a moment, before harry stretched outhis hand quickly and closed his fist around the snitch. he couldn t help to grin� as he remembered his father showing off with the snitch in dumbledore s�pensieve. he released it again, this letting it to fly farther away from him,catching it in the last second.

like father, like son, came the pleasant voice of proffesor sprout.� �

harry wheeled around blushing feverishly. proffesor sprout was standing in thedoorway, her arms folded across her chest and she was looking at her, beaming.don t mind me, i didn t mean to interrupt you, she said and walked into the� � � � greenhouse, preparing things for today s classes.�

after few moments students started to assemble so harry pocketed his snitch again.hermione sat next to him, still looking rather gloomily. harry triedto engage her into conversation for several times but had no success. she didn t� even wanted to answer the questions proffesor sprout asked and thatwas mark how frustrated she was.

next came the care of magical creatures. harry was standing near the hagrid s hut�

with hermione, when ron come. he paired with susan bones from hufflepuffinstead of them, which made hermione weep silently again, no matter how she triedto conceal it. everybody, including hagrid had noticed the change intheir behaviour.

what happen to hermione, harry? nd ron? hagrid asked harry as they harry� � � lingered to help hagrid tidying up the mess after today s classes.�

long story harry muttered. hagrid, i m sorry i haven t visited you up to now,� �� i ve got loads to do, harry told him.� �

yeah, can imagin that. n.e.w.t. s and quiditch captain. how is yer team� � �anyway?�

we had tryouts yesterday, dean, pavarti and ginny are now chasers and dennis and� colin beaters hey, how is grawp anyway? harry asked him curiously.� �

ah, nice lad he terned into. he finally understands basic english, tough i�still think he feels lonely. but it s hard ter find a decent giantess you see� ��

harry didn t push the subject any further, he thought that one giant was enough.� he rushed into the great hall to get his lunch. hermione and ron were sittingas far from each other as possible. knowing that both were not the right personsto have a chat with at the moment, he sat next to ginny, dean, neville



and seamus. pavarti and lavender were sitting next to them, heads together oversome work for their divination classes.

still world war third? ginny asked harry with a smile, nodding her head� �towards ron.

you know how stubborn he is. i wish he would stop pitting himself this�and apologize to hermione, maybe she would forgive him.�

oh yeah, she would definitely. trust me, harry, they re both in love, they� �just cant admit it so easily, ginny said with a grin.�

harry s class finished for that day so he decided to take a little stroll through� the grounds. he walked around his favourite places- one circle aroundthe great lake and the of to the whomping willow. he then returned to the greatlake and lay into the shadow of a huge tree. he closed his eyes, relaxing.the light breeze was ruffling through his hair. everything around him was soquiet, so peaceful.

he suddenly heard a sob from somewhere near. he got up and drew out his wand.

hello? he called, his heart hammering.� �

the sob ceased, but suddenly it came again. harry stepped slowly and carefully tothe source of the sob. hermione was sitting on the grass hidden in a largebush. harry moved over next to her. she raised her head, her face bathed in tears,then she lowered her head again. harry sat next to her and put one ofhis hand on her shoulder. she eased her head on the harry s chest, sobbing into� his robes.

come on, hermione, it s going to be alright, he said as he patted her on� � �the head. he will come to you on his knees, begging for taking him back.� �

she raised her head. how do you know?� �

harry knew there was no time for lies now. ginny told me. please, just don t get� � mad at her.�

it doesn t matter anymore she said as she once again buried her head into� � �� harry s chest. tell me harry, why do i have to love that insensitive, stupid� �git?�

harry didn t answer he just hugged her tightly.�

chapter 19 : patronuses and confundus potion

chapter 19: patronuses and confundus potion

every place in the world could be boring, even hogwarts. harry could remember howit was last time when ron wasn t talking to him. it was in his fourth�year when nobody but hermione and hagrid believed harry that he didn t entered the� triwizard tournament by himself. ron was jealous to harry that time-harry get all the fame, and ron none. life was quite monotonous when you hangedout with hermione- there was mainly only studying in library.

harry was once again sitting at one of the library s table, finishing his potion� essay. when he finished the line, he dropped the quill and collapsed tohis chair, exhausted. it was sunday afternoon and harry was here since the



morning, pausing only to get some quick lunch. at least i m finished now, he�said as he rolled his parchments and put them in his bag.

hello, ginny greeted him cheerfully.� �

harry raised his head from his bag and saw the red-haired girl standing beforehim.

oh, hello ginny, he greeted her.� �

mind if i sit here? she asked him.� �

yeah sure, no problem, he said and she took the seat in front of him. she� � surveyed him througfully.

look, i m sure if you just talked to ron ginny tried.� � ��

ginny, i m not going t be one who is going to apologize. he started the fight in� � the first place harry said to her angrily.��

harry, you know how can my brother be stubborn, ginny pleaded him.� �

i don t care. look hermione is coming, we should change the topic, i think i� � couldn t stand another nerves breakdown,� �

harry said to ginny as hermione appeared from behind the fartherest bookshelf,carrying the enormous stack of some books. they were talking about the o.w.l. s�for the rest of the afternoon, both harry and hermione giving ginny advices onstudying. in the beginning of the evening, they went to the great hall fordinner, all of them were starving from their studying.

when they entered the great hall, harry spotted dean, seamus, neville and ron inthe middle of the long table. harry and the others moved to sit there.as they came to the table, ron eyed them angrily and then got up and left the

great hall, his dinner untouched. all of them were staring after him. allharry wanted to do now was run after him and punch ron between his eyes.

what happened between you guys, dean asked harry his eyes full of concern as he� � faced harry again.

i don t really know harry said with a sigh as he loaded his plate with food.� � ��

*****

harry got up next morning, feeling miserable as ever. this will be the firstlesson he would comfort with snape after that incident in the transfigurationclassroom, ron wasn t talking to him, voldemort was after him he got up with a� �

sigh and dressed himself. he then went to the great hall, noticing thatron was already gone.

harry found ron sitting at the gryffindor table on his own, reading a magazine.harry took a seat next to hermione, who was reading the daily prophet, whileeating her cereals.

nothing, she said as she folded her finished newspaper. voldemort is too quiet.� � � he is up to something nasty.�

he s after that gem, hermione, he said silently. what have you found out during� � � �



your research?�

how do you know i was doing that research? hermione asked him curiously.� �

come on hermione, i know you, he said and smiled as he remembered as hermione� � ran to her dormitory, her face shining with excitement, when harry toldher about that gem in his dream.

hermione shook her head. then she took a deep breath. so, i have been trying to� found something about gems, that voldemort might want. there are many recordson gems with magical powers and some of them really scared me. for example, thereis a gem, which will slowly suck the one who posses it soul out. theprocess is quite long. this gem isn t called dementor gift for no reason. then you� have another gems with dark powers. for examples, centuries ago, thecult, which consisted of dark wizards, who wanted to get rid the world of mugglesenchanted many gems, which would affect only muggles. these gems werepopular for their flawless state and high quality and many pieces of jewellery wasmade of these. rings, earring, necklaces some of them brought the bearer�instant or slow death, some made them bankrupt the ministry representatives� gathered many of such pieces of jewellery and it is believed that most ofthese gems are gathered now. but i m sure voldemort wouldn t want one of these. so� �

maybe gems with positive magic powers. you have gems for luck, gemsfor love, gems, that will increase your magical powers, i m sure voldemort would� want one of these. but most of these gems are just nonsense she said��in one breath.

harry was staring at her in disbelief, his mouth wide open.

what? he asked him with a grin.� �

hermione, there is no way man could remember all of this, he told her.� �

hermione merely blushed. harry returned to his cereals, shaking his head but stillgrinning.

after they finished their breakfast they went to their first class of the day-defence against the dark arts. harry and hermione took their usual seat inthe first row, while ron sat as far from them as possible. after few moments,proffesor lupin entered the classroom.

good morning, class, he greeted them cheerfully. he sat at the table and� � surveyed them silently for moment silently. it looked he was thinking somethingover really hard. the excitement in the room could be sliced by now, proffesornever had problem with starting a lesson.

lupin finally made his decision and got up. does everybody know what the dementor� is? he asked his class.�

the class was staring at him suspiciously. ernie mcmillian raised his hand.

yes, ernie?� �

proffesor, we re not done with the basilisk yet... ernie started, but lupin� � � silenced him with a wave.

this is more urgent, he said quickly. now, does everybody know what the� � � dementor is?�



few people shook their head (all of them from slytherin or those not from da),while the others looked around themselves uneasily and what appeared to benauseated.

hermione, can you tell your classmates what the dementor is? lupin said.� �

hermione cleared her throat. dementor are the dark creatures, which guard� azkaban. very little is known about their origin, but it is believed that they

are the creation of dark wizards long ago. many dark wizards used them in theirarmies. the last dark wizard, who ordered them, was no other than lordvoldemort himself, she said. few people flinched at the sound of voldemort name.� hermione just shook her head and continued. after the first war and�the downfall of lord voldemort, ministry found their, shall we say abilitiesuseful and made them guards in azkaban.�

excellent, five points to gryffindor, lupin said. now, what are those� � � abilities. dean, for example.�

their presence recalls the worst memories of those who are near them. also, they� suck out happiness from you. the person who is infected by their aurafeel like he or she would not be happy again. and there are other effects, like

exhaustion, nausea, even faintness.�

right again, take another five points, lupin said, smiling. but there is� � � another thing which makes dementor infamous neville, your turn.� �

the dementor kiss. permanent loss of the victim s soul.� � �

right, another five points. now, we know what the dementor is and what are it s� � powers. now can anyone tell me the defence against them.�

garlic and cross? pansy parkinson said.� �

silver? another slytherin said.� �

no, wrong. ron? lupin shot him a glance.� �

patronus, ron answered.� �

correct again. now is everyone aware of the patronus charm? lupin asked. the� � same people who didn t know about dementors shook their heads once again.�right, we shall practice that now. you don t know when it might come in handy,� � � he said as he gave harry a look. so the incitation is expecto patronum.�the patronuses are very advanced magic, it is hard even for the mature wizard, sodon t be disappointed if you fail. try it now.� �

whole class got up and drew out their wand. expecto patronum! came from whole� �

class. a stag erupted from harry s wand, an otter from hermione s, a lion� �from ron s, a huge bullfrog from neville s, an eagle from dean s, a horse from� � � semaus s, a rabbit from lavender s and on and on with the rest of the students� �form the da. the classroom was full of various animal forms, even sloth. theslytherins on the other hand had great difficulties- most of them managedto conjure a wisp of silver smoke, some weren t able to do that at all.�

but this is excellent! lupin yelled happily as the stag stopped before him and� � lupin patted it on it s head. one hundred points for gryffindor, hufflepuff� �and ravenclaw. great job, everybody, really.�



the da members wore a faces of triumph on their faces. hermione smiled at pansyparkinson and shot her an ironic wave.

the members of da were given a free-study time, while lupin tried to teach thepatronus charm to the slytherins.

excellent job everyone, class dismissed, lupin said at the end of the lesson.� �

harry was just about to leave when lupin patted him on his shoulder.

looks like the da is really worth your time, harry, he told him, beaming and� � harry noticed that the sparkle, which was gone was back.

thank you, proffesor, he smiled at him.� �

your father would be proud, so am i, he told him before leaving for his office.� �

harry felt as happy as for not a very long time as he left the classroom. hermionewas waiting for him outside.

harry, we have to hurry, we will be late for snape, hermione urged him as she� �

grabbed his hand and they ran to the dungeon. the happiness was replacedby sorrow.

snape was already there when they entered the classroom.

ah, finally mr. potter and ms. hermione honoured us with their presence, snape� � said ironically, his lips curling. let s see you are twenty seconds late,� � �so one point per second for both of you. sit! he yelled at them, when they looked� at him in disbelief.

today s work- the confunds draught, snape said and made a swift motion with his� � � wand. the instructions appeared on the table. potter, here to the first�desk. let s see how will you do without ms. i-know-it-all, snape said. the� �

slytherins laughed heartedly, while hermione blushed furiously. harry strodeto the front desk quickly, fuming. he pulled his chair too viciously-it fell tothe floor with loud noise.

look at that temper. ts, ts, ts, snape shook his head. potter, that s another� � � � ten points from your house. now sit down and pay attention, snape said�and returned to the board, explaining every single step.

you may begin, he said. the whole class set their cauldrons and drew out the� � ingredients. snape surveyed them for a moment, pacing around the desks. whenhe walked around the whole classroom, he returned to harry s desk. he leaned to� his head and whispered into harry s ear, so none other could hear him.�

that was the last straw, potter. now, it seems that even headmaster joined your� fanclub, but i don t care about that. mark my words, i will make you pay,� �he said and rose again. potter, what are you doing? do you know how are the� dragon scales rare? read second line aloud! snape yelled at him.�

harry stared at snape firstly, and if look could kill, snape would evaporate onspot. then he looked at the board.

add pure dragon scales to the mixture, he read out aloud.� �

then tell me, why you didn t put your gloves on? those scales are ruined now and� �



so is your pathetic potion. fifty points from gryffindor. evanesco! he�said as he pointed his wand at harry s cauldron. the mixture disappeared� instantly. potter, get yourself to the supplies closet and take another scales.�and don t forget to put on your gloves now.� �

by the end of the class the points which were added by proffesor lupin togryffindor were subtracted by proffesor snape. he was constantly surveying harry s�work, punishing him for every minor mistake.

time is up, everyone brig a vial with your potion. potter, although for some� miracle you finally managed to make a confundus potion, your classwork todaywas very unsatisfactory. i would expect more knowledge from the second year. so,another zero should do it, snape said with a sinister smile on his face.�

the thing harry most desired now was throwing his boiling mixture on that face.however, he knew that snape was egging him for reason to take more pointsfrom his house.

i ll try not to disappoint you next time proffesor, harry said, his voice� � � shaking with rage. they were staring at each other for a long time, pure hatredin their eyes, not blinking. finally, it was snape who broke the eye contact.

class dismissed, he said as he got up.� �

they all gathered their things, got up and left the classroom. the slytherins werechatting enthusiastically about the snape s taunts.�

way to go, potter, harry heard malfoy behind him.� �

harry wheeled around and drew out his wand, his rage finally set free. malfoy waspointing and laughing at him, surrounded by his gang.

what, potter want to curse me? you mean to curse all of us?� �

harry pointed his wand at malfoy and was just to shout the incitation, whenanother hand appeared from nowhere and forced his down.

leave him, harry, he s not worth it. come on, came hermione s voice.� � � �

harry turned his face to her and was just about to yell at her, when he spottedthe scar on her face. she was the only one who had right to curse malfoy.

you re right, he said and lowered his wand. he turned his face back to malfoy.� � � one time we shall meet. and there will be no father or snape to fight�for you, harry spat at him, turned his back on him and left.�

i can t wait, malfoy said silently.� � �

chapter 20 : new powers and new da

a lot of thanks to those who reviewed my story it really means a lot to me.

chapter 20: new power and new daharry once again found himself in front of the door of the transfigurationclassroom. it was six o clock now and the beginning of his occlumency lesson.�he knocked on the door.

come in, came the voice of dumbledore.� �



harry entered the room and closed the door behind himself. dumbledore was sittingin the armchair he conjured for himself. another armchair was vacant,probably for harry. please, harry, take a seat. i want to discuss something with� you before we proceed with our lesson, he said as he motioned to the�other armchair.

harry took the seat, curiosity surging through his body. dumbledore folded his

hands and eased his head on them. he was silent for a very long time, apparentlythinking something over.

harry, tell me and be honest, when was the last time you had some of your� nightmares? dumbledore asked him suddenly.�

harry tried to recall that, but couldn t remember any. the last time he had some� of his nightmares was when he saw snape amongst the death eaters and thatwas the first wednesday in this term.

well, since that dream about snape, i had none, he said.� �

that is quite an achievement. and you say you had those dreams every night during�

summer holiday?�dumbledore smiled at him.

yeah, i barely slept since that night at the department of mysteries.� �

dumbledore smiled at him. harry, the power inside you surprises me once again. in� very short period of time you mastered the occlumency enough to repelyour dreams and as long as you don t let your emotions control you, voldemort� should not brake into your mind.�

so that means our lessons are over now? harry asked him a note of� � � disappointment crept into his voice. he didn t like the occlumency at first, but� now

when he could control it he would like to develop it more.

dumbledore smiled at him once again. quite the contrary harry, i want our lessons� to continue. but since you know how to defend your mind, it is also necessaryto teach you how to attack someone s mind. harry, do you remember what happened� during our second lesson?�

harry gulped. of course, how could he forget something like that. he penetrateddumbledore s mind unwillingly. he didn t like it at all. two emotion s filled� � �him that time- fear and hunger. hunger for power. harry didn t like that feeling� at all.

without waiting for harry s answer dumbledore continued. harry, that time you� �

proved you have talent for occlumency and other disciplines connected withit. that night you showed your talent for legillimency. harry stared at him with� shock.

so i can read other s persons mind? harry asked him.� � �

well harry, i think nobody would agree on reading minds , but you can put it� � � that way, yes. yes harry, with training you would be able to ehm read someone s� �mind. but untrained, the legillimency is very dangerous for target s and also� yours mind. i would say that we both were very lucky that night it could�have been much worse.�



proffesor dumbledore, what if i don t want to have these powers harry tried.� � ��

i m sorry harry, but there is no other choice. once again you are being chased by� � your own prophecy. lord voldemort has these powers, so have you. thereis one very well known quote, which i want you to take to your heart. with greatpower come great responsibility.�

harry lowered his head, thinking. of course he would rather haven t encountered� with occlumency and legillimency at all. but then he remembered dumbledore s�face after that incident. he looked as old as ever, shaken badly. and dumbledorewas the most powerful wizard in the world. he imagined what would happenif he used it against one of his friend hermione, lying on the floor, breathing� but her gaze unfocused, ginny weeping on the floor, ron holding his headand screaming in pain he just nodded.�

that s the spirit, harry. i knew you would understand. are you ready to start?� � �harry raised his head and faced dumbledore, note of determination on his face. henodded again. dumbledore drew out his wand and harry did the same. thenthey both got up and walked over to the centre of the class, where they madethemselves some space moving the desks.

so harry i m sure you know the incitation and the wrist movement now,� � � � dumbledore said with a wink. harry knew that indeed- he saw this curse performedagainst him much more than any other. harry, the most important think you must� remember is staying concentrated and focused. once you linger around themind mindlessly you put yourself and the target in danger. trust me, i have seenmany victims of voldemort s careless legillimencing and it is not a sight�you would wish to see. so concentrate. try it now��

harry drew a big breath and pointed his wand at dumbledore. his hand was shakingslightly. dumbledore nodded encouragingly.

legillimens! harry said, not very confidently.� �

the image of the classroom dissolved and another image appeared. he could seehimself, lying on the bed in the hospital wing, sleeping. he prepared foranother image, but it never came. instead the class came into focus again.dumbledore was standing in front of him again. he was smiling.

well, done harry.� �

harry on the other hand was disappointed. proffesor dumbledore, last time i� penetrated your mind there were more images and you, you were harry started� ��but didn t know how to continue.�

harry that time you weren t aware something like this might happen. you released� �

your power under no control, that s why it was so powerful and dangerous�also. now, we learn how to control it, make it safe. also last time iunderestimated the power of your will very much don t worry it will get better� � withpracticing. now, harry again.�

harry pointed his wand at dumbledore, this time more confident.

legillimens.� �

the room dissolved once again. now there were more images- dumbledore lying a



sleeping baby in front of the doors of private drive, harry s back, as he�sat on a three-legged chair, the sorting hat on his head, harry supportingneville, whose legs were jerking violently the room came into focus again.�

excellent harry. i told you it would get better, dumbledore said, beaming.� �

you, let me, didn t you? harry asked him with a� � �slight grin. dumbledore raised his shoulders innocently.

suddenly harry remembered about the mysterious gem. he licked his lips nervously.

proffesor dumbledore, what if i was searching for particular image? harry asked� � him curiously.

that is too much advanced for now, harry. but don t worry that time will come,� � � he said with a wink. now harry, you better go and think about some witty�excuse if you met proffesor snape on your way to common room.�

harry looked at his watch. he gasped in surprise. quarter past ten- they have beenhere for four hours!

yeah amazing how the time flows harry, isn t it? good night.� � �

harry turned around and walked over to the door. he was just abou to leave whendumbledore called after him once again.

and try to forget about that gem, harry.� �

*****

harry went to bed right after the lesson that night, feeling slightly irritatedbecause of dumbledore s last comment.�

he dressed himself, put on his glasses and went to the great hall for breakfast.

hermione and ginny were already sitting there. so was ron, but on the otherend of the table, alone. harry had to resist the urge to go to him and talk tohim. no. i m not going to be the one who apologizes. not this time. he sat�at the table with ginny and hermione. hermione finally seemed to cope with herfeelings, she smiled at harry as he greeted them.

how was your occlumency lesson yesterday harry? she asked him curiously as he� � loaded his plate with eggs and bacon.

harry told her everything that happened, hermione s and ginny s eyes shone more� � and more with excitement as he was talking. wow, harry, that is interesting,� �hermione breathed out when he finished.

yeah, maybe you could probe ron s mind and find what the hell is wrong with him,� � � ginny said.

you still have hope for him, hermione said sarcastically. i ve lost mine� � � � already.�

hermione, he loves, it s just about kr ginny started, but hermione raised her� � �� hand to silence her.

i don t want to talk about them. i ve finished with ron, hermione said angrily� � � � and returned to her breakfast.



ginny and harry looked at each other and shook their heads together.

the classes were dull that day- revising on the healing charms first. at the endof the class harry was both exhausted and furious as he didn t manage to�heal the small cut on his rat. next came the herbology, when harry got bit by someexotic plant. the bite was throbbing with pain and harry couldn t move�his arm for a while, before proffesor hooch gave him some antidote. even the care

of magical creatures, one of the most favourite lessons of harry weredull that day, because ron wasn t talking to him- it was hardly that fun with� hermione only.

the only lesson that was worth the time that day was one period of defence againstthe dark arts. they were revising on the dementors and patronuses fora while, which earned gryffindor, hufflepuff and ravenclaw another huge amount ofpoints. and then proffesor lupin introduced new topic- the undead.

who can tell me what are the undeads? to nobody s surprise hermione s hand shot� � � � into the air. yes, hermione?� �

the undeads are called undeads because they are made from dead corpses, which�

have been reanimated by the dark magic. in the past, the undeads were usedin the armies of the dark wizards for their advantages- they don t need regular� food, they have no wishes and desires and their only purpose is to serve.�

excellent hermione. can you name us some species?� �

hermione drew her breath. they are many. one of the simplest is skeleton. it s� � just bare bones. they were very popular, because they are very easy to raiseand they don t need food at all. but on the other hand, they are very vulnerable,� mainly to crashing weapons, like mace for example. another specie iszombie, reanimated body, which has no memory of past time. it has only one need-food. their own brain is not used so they are very slow and stupid. onthe other hand, they are never tired and they are determine to get food no matter

what it takes. zombies are dangerous, because everyone who is bittenrequires immediate medical attention or will become zombie themselves. there areother undead, like ghouls and mummies. but the most feared undead is definitelyvampire. vampires are immortal and can t be harmed by any conventional weapons.� they are harmed only by silver. garlic and crosses are nonsense. the onlyway to kill them is stab them with wood into their heart.�

very good. and do you know a spell that works on all undead?� �

yes, the eclesium curse.� �

and do you know how it wokrs?� �

it brakes the magic, which is keeping the reanimated body alive. and it has� nothing to do with the church as somebody might it connect it because of theincitation. once there was an order called the paladins, who were trained to fightagainst the undead and they had the faith in god. they were the onewho invented the eclesium curse, and named it like that.�

hermione, you could stand right here instead of me, lupin said to her with a� � smile. twenty points to gryffindor. now boys and girls we are finished for�today. we will practice eclesium charm next time.�

the class dissolved quickly, chatting about the undead excitedly. hermione was



swelling with pride as she was answering several people s questions. then�she remembered she had her arithmacy lesson and ran off.

harry went to the common room instead, thinking what they would be doing today onthe da. he sat himself in one of the armchairs and drifted to light sleep.

*****

he was woken up later by dean and ginny.

harry, do you want to join us for the dinner? hermione would be already there, we� could wait in the great hall until the meeting starts.�

they went downstairs. hermione was indeed already there, reading from some bookand eating her dinner. they sat at next to her. oh, harry you are awake?�i wanted you to go with me for dinner, but you looked so sweet sleeping, hermione� said.

err, thank you hermione, harry said a bit uneasily, taken aback by her comment.� �

so, how do you want to organize the da tonight? hermione asked him as he loaded� �

his plate with food.

i don t know. i hoped you would kind of help me with it harry said.� � ��

hermione sighed. oh harry, what would you done without me? she said, but she was� � smiling. personally, i would divide the da into two groups- one the�beginners and one the advanced, since they will be maybe first-years or second-years coming. i was thinking that you might lead the advanced group andi could lead the beginners group if you didn t mind.� � �

hermione, that s an excellent idea. in fact from now i shall name you my deputy,� � � harry said smiling. all the people around them laughed heartedly. hermionegave them all patronising looks. they all ceased immediately, even harry.

the time was passing by quickly and students, except from the students from the dastarted to dissolve, while the hufflepuffs and ravenclaws da studentscame to sit at the gryffindor table. they were chatting about their lessons, ronchatting with the students from ravenclaw and hufflepuff mostly. at quarterto seven, the hall was deserted except for the members of the da.

when did you said them to come? hermione asked, as she didn t hear him last� � � time, because she was at the hospital.

at seven, they should be coming any moment, harry said.� �

if somebody will come ron said doubtfully. harry shot him an icy glare.� ��

at five to seven a pack of people appeared, wearing blue ties with their schoolrobes- the hufflepuffs, a very tall and handsome boy in the lead- christianconnor. harry noticed a badge with h on his chest.

hello, harry, he greeted him cheerfully.� �

i didn t realize you were a head boy, harry said with amazement.� � �

well it doesn t matter, does it? don t worry, it s not contagious, christian� � � � � said as he grinned. harry grinned back at him, when more footsteps echoed



from the corridor. three slytherin first-years, who were at the first meeting cameinto the great hall. harry noticed that the girl still had traces oftears on her face. apparently malfoy didn t drop his bullying habit.�

hello, my name is hermione granger, hermione said as she strode forward,� � extending her hand. and who are you?� �

the slytherin first-years looked around themselves uneasily, apparently too afraid

of speaking.

don t, worry i won t bite you, hermione said with a grin.� � � �

one of the boys stepped forward. i m richard grady and this is my sister anna� � grady. and this is our friend bill reiley. harry frowned, that name reiley�ringed a bell in his mind but he couldn t remember.�

ron stepped forward. how come you ended up in the slytherin? he asked them� � curiously. apparently he was not trusting them very much.

stupid fool, hermione breathed. ron lashed her an evil glare.� �

me and my sisters are what you call muggles. we knew nothing about the wizarding� world or hogwarts. when the letters from hogwarts arrived, our parentsthought it was some kind of bad joke. but then we went to the diagon alley out ofcuriosity. when we found out about the wizards, there was another problem.parents wouldn t let us go here at first. they said that they wouldn t let us� � study some freak school and that we deserved the best education on someindependentschool. but they changed their mind, when i got angry and all of the sudden theplates started to fly from the cupboards and attacking my parents, richard�smiled slightly as he remembered this.

anyway we ended up in the hogwarts train with no idea about the hogwarts. and� then i overheard some boys talking about the houses. how the ravenclaws were

i-know-it-all, how the hufflepuffs were stupid and lousy and how gryffindor wascocky, with you, walking around the place like you owned it, he said as�he pointed to harry. they were saying that the only decent house was the� slytherin. and so when proffesor mcgonagall put the head on my head, i prayedto be a slytherin. and that s how i ended there.� �

and naturally, i wanted to be with my brother anna piped up.� ��

too late we found out how the most of the slytherins were. especially that malfoy� and his gang. he wouldn t leave us alone since we came to your meeting�and stood against him, he said as he motioned over to his sister and his friend� bill.

what about the rest of you who were at the da last time? hermione asked richard� � curiously.

they begged for forgiveness. now they are serving him and his gang, richard said� � with bitterness in his voice.

harry stepped forward. you are very brave to come here, he said as put a hand on� � richard s shoulder and squeezed it gently.�

thank you, harry, richard said. his sister nodded. bill however stood silent and� � motionless.



harry was distracted as another students came- ravenclaws this time with cho inthe lead. she smiled at him as she passed him. harry returned the smileback. and then came the last group- gryffindor first and second years, emilyaureily in the lead. at five past seven, when nobody else came for a while,harry looked around the group and groaned. they were at least fifty from all ofthe houses. harry could hardly imagine how they would fit in the room ofrequirements.

ok, everyone! harry yelled. every single pair of eyes turned to him. harry got� � slightly nervous at how much attention he got. we will now move to room�where we will practice. hopefully it will be big enough.�

they moved to the corridor where the room of requirements was. harry paced aroundthe corridor thinking hard.

we need a room to learn how to fight, big enough for fifty people, harry thoughfor himself as he prayed that the room would grow bigger. the new studentswere gazing at him stupidly and let out a gasp of surprise when the door appearedsuddenly. harry opened them and stepped inside.

the room grew bigger indeed- it was now a size of a large gym, but cosynevertheless. harry sighed in relief. he turned around. all right, everybody come�inside, the last one locks the door behind himself.�

every student entered the room and hermione and the former da members went over toharry.

i want to welcome all of you in the room of requirements. this is the room we use� for our meetings. if you ever need a good place to hang out, this wouldbe it. just pace the corridor three times and think abou what you need, it will behere, harry started and the new students looked around themselves,�still amazed. now, since there are much more of us then last year� ��

you were having such a meetings last year? but what abou umbridge? christian� � connor asked him, his mouth open.

we didn t care. there are more important things than education and learning how� � to defend yourself is one of them. you couldn t count the lessons umbridge�gave as defence against the dark arts, hermione inquired. harry was surprised to� here that there were more important things than education from her. christianmerely nodded.

as i was saying, since there are so many of us this year, we would divide into� two groups- beginners and advanced. the beginners and advanced would meetsame place same time. i will be the leader of the advanced, hermione will be theleader of the beginners, he said and suddenly remembered that he didn t� �

think how would the groups divide. then he noticed dennis creevy standing next tohim.

the only difference is in the level of knowledge, so i would assume first and� second years as beginners and third year and above as advanced. naturally,if someone from advanced would be falling behind he would be moved to beginnersand the opposite. next thing, the date of the meetings. through the weekeveryone will be given a galleon. those galleons are fake so don t pay with them.� i will set the time on my galleon and yours will heat, so you know thati have made a meeting, harry said and glanced at his watch. now, we have like an� � hour left, so we shall do some basics only. divide into the two groups



now��

the advanced group gathered around harry. harry was thinking hard what would theydo. he looked around at hermione who was already instructing her groupon incitation and the wrist movement of the disarming spell. then it hit him-stunning. i need cushions for stunning, he thought hard his eyes closed.when he opened them, the cushions were placed at his feet in five neatly towers.

harry and the others used the locotomor charms to spread the cushions around,while the beginners were already disarming each other.

the stunning spell is very useful. the incitation is stupefy and the wrist moving� is like this harry begun the lecture��

one hour vanished very quickly, and nearly everyone wanted to continue, but harryinsisted on the end. some of the students from harry s group wanted to�stop as well, as their whole bodies ache because of the many stunners that wereused on them.

you will receive your galleon soon and i will set the next meeting as soon as� possible, he said to the group of the students. the students dissolved in�

small groups, chatting amongst themselves, excited. time has passed and suddenlythe only persons left were harry, hermione, ginny, dean and ron.

this was really cool, don t you think harry? ron asked him happily.� � �

the rest of the group eyed him strangely and ron suddenly remembered that he wasnot talking to them. he turned around and left the room without anotherword. the rest of the group merely sighed.

chapter 21 : questions arise

hello,i am sorry to anyone who is reading my fanfic regulary that i havent updated for

so long. i had lot to do- final exmas, preparing the graduation ball anddeath of my grandmother. thx to everyone who have waited.

i know my story is bit dull, but i want to set the begining before the plot.

chapter 21: questions arise

harry was on his way to the potion classroom in the dungeon next day. it waswednesday and he started his classes with double period of potions. hermioneand dean were walking the stairs with him, each of them on his side. harry becameslowly used to the fact that he hang out with dean, seamus or nevilleinstead of ron, who still stubbornly refused to apologise to him and hermione.

well look, who it is? famous potter and two mudbloods, came the voice of malfoy� � they reached the classroom door. malfoy was standing already there surroundedby his usual gang. going to get another zero today now, potter?� �

harry s fists curled up as he refused the urge to draw out his wand and curse him.� he. hermione and dean just walked by the malfoy s gang, ignoring him.�harry and hermione took their seat in the back of the room, while dean sat next toseamus, who was already there, talking to susan bones.

i wonder what are we doing today. probably something easy, so that potter� wouldn t fall too much behind. i still see no reason why to keep him in this�



classes, malfoy was telling his classmates from slytherin aloud.�

ignore him, ignore him hermione was saying silently to both of them.� ��

the door of the classroom opened, but not with it s usual bang. they opened� silently and proffesor strode inside, closing the door after himself.

so what is going to be his today s first excuse for scarping gryffindor points? my�

cauldron is not standing in the centre of my desk? i m not sitting straight?,�he thought to himself as the proffesor strode inside. however, when the proffesorcame into harry s focus, he gasped in surprise. it wasn t snape, it was� �sprout. harry wasn t the only one who was staring at proffesor sprout in� disbelief.

good morning class, she greeted them smiling. wow, it s a bit chilly down here,� � � � isn t it, she said.� �

where is proffesor snape? malfoy spat at her.� �

manners, mr. malfoy. proffesor snape is momentarily incapable of teaching, he has� some important business of his own to attend. i will teach few lessons

for him.�

how long is proffesor snape going to be away? malfoy spat again.� �

now, mr. malfoy, really. you raise your hand before you ask a question. i shall� take five points from slytherin for that.�

the slytherins were staring at her in disbelief while the others looked quitepleased.

now i was told that this class is very advanced, she said as she looked at the� � register. except for mr. potter? mr. potter, how is that possible? she� � �asked him as she looked at him.

i don t know, you should ask proffesor snape that question harry replied� � �� gloomily.

well, surely it won t be that bad, she said as he shot him encourage smile. and� � � � this class holds some exceptional students as well, she said as she�returned to the register. ms. granger of course and mr. malfoy, she raised her� � � head once again as she looked around the class. hermione blushed withpride, while malfoy looked at her uneasily.

so, we shall begin now professor snape told me you have covered sleeping,� � cheering and confundus droughts so far. today we shall continue with somethingvery useful the sobering draught. now who can tell me what are the uses of�

sobering draught?�

hermione raised her hand. proffesor sprout nodded at her. sobering draught has� various uses. as it name says it is used to cease effects on someone s mind.�it is used after alcohol, but also for example after the confundus draught orcheering charm.�

excellent, five points to gryffindor, proffesor sprout said beaming at hermione.� � now, the instructions are on the board. please, come over here and take�your supplies.�



it was the best potions class he had up to now. harry found it very much easier towork on his potion when he knew that he wasn t under permanent penetrating�stare from snape. at the end of the class he managed to give proffesor a vial ofwhat looked very similar to hermione s.�

next came the charms, where there proceeded with the healing charms. harry finallymanaged to cast the easiest healing charm, as he healed the minor cuton his rat.

oh, well done mr. potter, at last, proffesor flitwick squealed enthusiastically.� � finally, now when everybody managed to perform the simplest charm, we�shall proceed with more difficult one. this will mend bigger injuries although itis still very much far from mending bones or curing diseases.�

they tried to perform the more complex charm for the rest of the lesson, nobodyeven hermione quite capable doing it. by the end of the lesson all of themwere so exhausted from continuous tries that harry was glad that he had no lessonsto attend after lunch, only transfiguration in the afternoon.

he collapsed on the bench at the table in the great hall, hermione sat next to hima bit bitter, because of her failure. harry surveyed her for a moment.

for god s sake hermione, nobody was able to perform that charm, he said to her,� � � annoyed. hermione shot him a bit furious look.

harry didn t want to get her angry any more so he loaded his plate with food and� started eating. when he was halfway through his meal ginny came and tookher seat in front of harry next to dean. she looked exhausted as well.

binns? harry asked her, grinning.� �

ginny merely nodded. well i thought i would never say that, but i would switch it� with potions with snape anytime.�

looks like your wish would not be fulfilled, harry said.� �

what do you mean?� �

snape is gone and only god knows for how long, harry said, smiling at the� � thought.

you re kidding, ginny breathed out. harry just� � �widened his smile.

*****

harry spent his break before the transfiguration classes just lying on the sofa inthe gryffindor common room by himself. ron was sitting at the table by

himself, reading some quiditch book, occasionally glancing at harry and sighing.when it was time for their transfiguration lesson they both got up andwent to the classroom separately. harry sat at his usual spot next to hermione,who looked exhausted after her double period of history of magic.

still think that history of magic is very interesting and very important subject,� hermione? harry asked her with a grin. hermione glared at him.�

just after then proffesor mcgonagall strode inside and the lesson began. thetransfiguration classes were always extremely difficult and this one was notan exception. harry left the room two hours later on the verge of physical



collapse, but happy that he in the end finally transfigured his spectacles tofully-functioningomniculars and back.

he was surprised when madam hooch came to the gryffindor table in the great hallwhen he was halfway through his dinner. mr. potter, don t forget about� �the captain s meeting. tonight at six o clock, which gives you about, she glanced� � � at her enchanted watch ten minutes.� �

right, harry nodded. he completely forgot about that meeting. suddenly he� � remembered that he had to hand over the rooster list. he took out a roll ofparchment from his back and scribbled the names and the positions very quickly.

don t tell me you forgot even your quiditch homework, hermione said� � � sarcastically.

harry didn t answer he merely grabbed his bag and ran to the quiditch pitch.�

harry, wait! a familiar voice called after him as he was on his way to the� � quiditch pitch. harry stopped and spun around. cho was running after him wavingher hand. hi, she greeted him breathlessly.� �

hi, he greeted her back. late as well? he asked her with a wink. cho merely� � � � grinned.

when they got into the lockers room, madam hooch, christian connor and the tallslytherin captain were already there. harry and cho sat on the bench. christianmouthed greeting, harry and cho mouthed back.

finally all of us are here, madam hooch said. please everyone give me the� � � rooster of your team.�

harry noticed that all of the captains handed out their rooster on a neat piece ofparchment, while harry gave madam hooch his ruffled piece of parchment

with the names and positions scribbled. madam hooch gave him a stern look, beforeshe pocketed it.

and now, the practices ms. chang, the quiditch pitch will be yours on monday� � evenings and saturday mornings. mr. potter, yours will be tuesday madam��hooch started but harry raised his hand in interruption. yes, mr. potter?� �

i m sorry but there is another err activity on tuesday that i need to attend,� � � � harry said nervously, thinking about the da.

something more important then quiditch? madam hooch asked him, slightly offended� � by the idea. harry merely nodded. all right, let s have mr. connor on� �tuesday then��

proffesor, i m attending the same activity as harry is on tuesday christian� � �� said, raising his hand.

i m not aware of any student or school activity which is on tuesdays, madam� � � hooch said, even more offended. mr. blain, are attending this secret activity�on tuesdays as well?�

no proffesor, the slytherin boy said.� �

now here is someone devoted to the quiditch enough. so mr. blain on tuesdays�



evenings and saturday afternoons. mr. connor, wednesday evenings and sundaymornings. and mr. potter on thursday evening and sunday afternoon. do you findthat comfortable enough mr. potter and mr. connor? she asked sarcastically.�

yes proffesor, harry and christian said at once.� �

and now, another think to take care off the matches. first match of this season� � will take place in the weekend before the hogsmeade weekend, so in four

weeks. slytherin vs. gryffindor.�

harry shot slight grin to blain who snorted at him in contempt.

the second match will take place a week after the hogsmeade weekend, first� weekend of november. hufflepuff vs. ravenclaw. christian and cho nodded at�each other.

third, first week of march. gryffindor vs. ravenclaw. cho nudged harry in ribs� � and gave him a broad smile.

and the last one, hufflepuff vs. slytherin, last weekend of march. the final� matches will be set afterwards. any questions? madam hooch looked around�

herself as she finished her talk. nobody asked her nothing. very good, the� trainings begin from next week. good luck, everybody. dismissed.�

the captains dissolved very slowly harry, cho and christian in trio, while blain wwent on his own.

can t wait for march, harry, cho teased him, as he nudged him in his ribs once� � � again.

yeah, well i have beaten you once i can do it again, he said, grinning.� �

oh, we really never get to play with each other, only in the third year. do you� remember what happened the first weekend.? she asked him teasingly.�

stop it you two, christian said, laughing. one would think you are flirting� � � with each other��

you never know cho said, mainly to herself. harry felt his stomach moved� �� uneasily.

they spent the rest of the route to castle in silence. while everyone went totheir common room, harry said goodbye earlier and went to the transfigurationclassroom for his lessons with dumbledore.

harry, nice to see you again, dumbledore greeted him. quiditch team alright, i� � � presume.�

yes, harry said as he moved in front of dumbledore.� �

i m glad to hear that. we shall begin immidietly, dumbledore said as he drew out� � � his wand, harry did the same. now, harry try the legillimency curse�again. remember, concentrate. try to feel no emotion.�

harry drew a deep breath. he pointed his wand at dumbledore. legillimens� ��

harry became used to the familiar sensation around his whole body when theclassroom dissolved again and the images from dumbledore s mind appeared. the�



great hall of hogwarts, decorated with red and gold colours during the leavingfeast. james, sirius and remus, standing in the headmaster office, theirheads lowered, were shuffling their feet nervously�

concentrate, no emotions, harry said to himself as he started to feel sadness forthe maradauers.

the image of maradauers luckily dissolved. next came the image of ms. weasly, bill

weasly, ron and hermione gathered around someone s bed a big black dog�sleeping curled next to the bed. and then headmaster office appeared oce again.snape stood in front of the desk.

the dark lord is calling us. i don t know how long i will be away this time,� � headmaster. he is planning something, snape said, but then the image dissolved.�

no, bring it back, harry thought furiously.

snape came into focus again, but just for a moment. before harry could find morethe transfiguration room came into focus again. dumbledore was standingin front of him smiling at him. ah, harry i left my mind linger for a while and� � your curiousity again seized the chance.�

harry fixed his eyes once again on his feet.

harry, you look like your father more and more. you don t need to be ashamed.� � curiousity you got from your father, kindness from your mother, bravery fromboth of them.�

harry faced dumbledore again. proffesor dumbledore where is proffesor snape?� � what is going on? why is voldemort so quiet? and please be honest, i m tired�of those lies and false hopes.�

dumbledore sighed. alas harry, we know nothing of that. proffesor snape came to� my office on monday evening and said but you saw that, didn t you? and� �

i have had none contact with him since. it is true that voldemort is rather quietnow, compared to his reign of terror during the summer holiday. he isgathering his powers harry. more and more death eaters and dark creatures join himas we speak. giants, vampires��

sir, it s even possible to beat him now? harry asked, depression cut in his� � � voice.

dumbledore smiled at him. there is still a hope.� �

is this about that gem? harry asked him.� �

dumbledore broke the eye-contact. i m tired harry. we will finish our session� �

here. goodnight, he said and left the room quickly, a look of guilt on his�face. harry looked after him, his face not full of guilt, but full of anger.

chapter 22 : voldemort s offer�

i would like to thank you all for your wonderful reviews, you make me really enjoyit.

thanks to:oop_masterdumbledave



chandeeiwpotterukasekhappy_go_lucky

chapter 22: voldemort s offer�

the routine on the hogwarts settled very soon and harry became used to his

schedule of lessons and another activities very often. the rest of his thirdweek past on very quickly and harry was looking forward to the next ones- therewill be quiditch and his legillimens classes to attend and potions withoutsnape for the time being. harry s life would be set back to old routes if ron� talked to him again.

ron s mood changed slightly day by day. in the beginning of the week ron would� always shot harry, ginny or hermione cold looks full of anger and evaporatefrom the place, where those tree were. by the weekend ron would be the same placeharry was, shooting him short glances and sighing, though whenever hermioneappeared he would disappear again. apparently he was waiting for some kind ofapology from harry. but harry stubbornly refused to apologize and was waitingfor ron to do so.

harry spent the third weekend hanging out with dean and ginny, leaving alwaysstudying hermione behind. there are better times to spend the weekend thanwith studying, harry thought for himself as he rembered his last weekend. he gotthe feeling like he was the fifth wheel whenever he was hanging out witthem and would do nearly anything to get ron s friendship back, but then he� remembered he was not going to be the one who does the first step. ginny realizedhow he felt and tried to force him into talking with ron . harry found that soannoying after about fiftieth time, that he actually yelled at her.

with this boredom, harry was eagerly awaiting the upcoming classes. when thepotions came on the monday and instead for snape proffesor sprout would onceagain step into classroom, harry felt like christmas came earlier.

i was deeply impressed by your performance from the last class, though some of� you disappointed me a bit, she said and surveyed the class stopping at�harry for a longer period.

harry lowered his head. perhaps it was not snape, maybe i m really useless, he� though for himself.

mr. potter, your work was satisfactory enough indeed, in fact i gave you two,� � she said, smiling. harry raised his head a note of hope in his eyes. ms.�granger full marks , she continued as she searched through her notes. mr. crabbe� � � four i would expect better work from someone marked three same goes� �for mr. goyle and mr. malfoy, your work was acceptable, your mark is three, mr.�

mcmillian, excellent work she babbled on.��

harry couldn t belive his luck. he managed to scarp a good mark, even better than� malfoy. he looked towards him smugly. malfoy returned the most evil glarehe could muster.

when the class dissolved, harry couldn t stop looking forward to their next potion� classes. they were much more interesting for harry, proffesor sproutappeared to know as much as snape about potions, although it was mainly the factthat she wasn t bullying him which made harry to be fond of her classes.�then another thing that made harry extremely happy was when crabbe, without the



constant aid from snape, forgot to stir his shrinking draught which explodedand splashed crabbe, goyle and malfoy with the boiling potion. they were sent tohospital wing, sporting red boils and blisters. hermione looked aftermalfoy smugly-it was malfoy who sent her to the hospital wing last time.

harry was the first one who managed to cast the eclesium curse during the defenceagainst the dark arts. well, he was the first one after hermione, whoalready mastered the eclesium curse beforehand. nearly all of the students who

attended the da have mastered the curse by the end of the monday s classes.�

harry found out that when he wasn t hanging out with ron so much, playing wizard� chess or exploding snap or their endless discussions about quiditch, hisclass results improved slightly in other subjects than just the defence againstthe dark arts or care of magical creatures. he noticed that as he was notthe last person master the more complex healing charm in charms or materialtransfiguration in transfiguration.

excellent, mr. potter, five points to gryffindor, proffesor mcgonagall cried,� � when he managed to transform his chair to fluffy and comfortable armchair.

harry was the first one who managed to cast the eclesium curse during the defence

against the dark arts. well, he was the first one after hermione, whoalready mastered the eclesium curse beforehand. nearly all of the students whoattended the da have mastered the curse by the end of the monday s classes.�

on the other hand harry had find it difficult to make any progress in hislegillimency classes. if dumbledore concentrated with all his might he could repelharry quite easily. harry was bathed in swear from his continuous tries, but wasunable to see more than two images from the headmaster s mind. however,�dumbledore insisted that harry wasimproving and that more progress would come.

the da ran smoothly as well. all of the student who were at the last meetingreappeared including richard and anna grady and bill reiley. they still wore

their sulky faces.

richard, if malfoy is bullying you, you should tell dumbledore i mean malfoy� � can t think that he will get into no troubles for that, hermione said at� �one of the da sessions.

that will be useless, most of the slytherins would stand up to him, richard said� � gloomily.

can t you just err, switch the house? harry asked curiously.� � � �

that never happened harry, i read about that in history of hogwarts, hermione� � inquired.

there is only one way to make malfoy stop bullying us stand up to him, richard� � � said, as he fired another impediment jinx, which he has just learned athis sister anna, who he always partnered. she managed to deflect it with theshielding charm. naturally, both of these spells were not very powerful, asanna and richard were first years only. however, they were showing a huge effortand they resembled very much to neville.

harry looked at neville at this thought. he rembered what dumbledore told himabout the prophecy, which would influence either harry or neville. harry wasstill curious whether neville would play some important part in his and



voldemort s destiny. harry was the one who was marked as equal, but still� �

neville just managed to deflect the disarming charm lavender brown sent at himback on to her. her wand slipped from her fingers as she was thrown back.

accio wand, neville said and lavender s wand flew to his outstretched hand. he� � � then helped lavender to get up and handed over her wand.

thanks, she said softly, beaming at him. harry realized that she let go of his� � hand not very quickly. he smiled at the sight of neville blushing furiously.

nice view, ginny commented.� �

harry didn t realize she was standing by him before she spoke. he turned red on� the realization that he was caught up on staring at neville and lavender.yeah, he muttered.� �

another think that made harry happy were the quiditch practice. harry became usedto the duties of captain very quickly and enjoyed being one very much.the practices were the only time, when ron would pretend like nothing happenedbetween them and would listen to harry s advices and ideas eagerly. he would�

participate with every other player in the creating of the new tactics andstrategies. but as soon he changed to his school robes he returned to his oldstate.

with the routine settled the time passed very quickly and harry was surprised whenhe faced the first weekend of the october, two weeks before their firstmatch against the slytherin. he couldn t wait for chance to beat malfoy again. he� insisted on hard practices and was offended when ginny told him thatshe remembered another captain, who she heard about, who behaved like harry-oliver wood, former student of hogwarts, who graduated in harry s third year.�

harry was once again sitting at the table in the common room over a piece ofparchment where his tactics were written. he was thinking how to implant a

new beater move the creevy s just invented to his tactics- the creevy s path. the� � move was very simple, although it required two skilled beaters to performit. the two beaters would concentrate on one player circling him, passing thebludger between themselves in case the target managed to dodge the bludger.he was distracted, when ginny joined him at the table.

still working on that creevy s path? ginny asked curiously as she glanced at the� � � parchment.

yeah, harry said slightly annoyed, hoping that ginny would take the lead and� � leave him working. she looked at her waatch.

i m supposed to meet dean in ten minutes in the great hall. why don t you come� � �

along?�

i m not hungry, he said irritably.� � �

oh, come on oliver, she said in mock sort of voice.� �

don t call me that, harry hissed. i need to finish� � � �this by tommorow, we have practice on sunday.�

oh, come on, harry. it s friday, you should rest, ginny said. and no excuses,� � � � � she said resolutely and took his hand as he opened his mouth to say something.



he sighed and dropped his quill, leaving the parchment on the table as he went tothe great hall with ginny. he realized how starving he was when the smellof the food touched his nose.

they sat next to hermione and dean, who were engaged in some conversation aboutthe defence against the dark arts classes.

honestly, do you all sixth years care only about school, ginny said as she� �

planted kiss on dean s face.�

you are the one who should devote the time to the studies, i don t recall seeing� � you in the library for a very long time. you must take the o.w.l. s responsibly.�not like your brother, she barely whispered, after checking if the coast was� clear. ron was sitting three seats from her, chatting with seamus and neville.

oh, come on hermione, i ve got loads of time left, ginny said, rolling her eyes.� � �

suit yourself, hermione said and returned to her food.� �

harry finished his dinner very quickly, he wanted to finish the quiditch tactic assoon as possible, he wanted to devote the saturday to nothing more than

relaxing. he excused himself and left the great hall, walking slowly his thoughtsback at the creevy s path. suddenly, at the fork to the upper levels�and dungeons a harry heard a familiar voice from the broom closet.

don t mess up with me, grady. i had told you to stop attending the potter s� � � fanclub several times already, and what crabbe told me yesterday. crabbe?�came cold voice of draco malfoy.

i overherard you talking to your sister. you were talking about that club came� �� the deep voice of crabbe, which harry recognised only vaguely becausehe barely heard crabbe or goyle talk.

and how does that concern you?! richard yelled. me and my sister can do� � �

whatever we want to. nobody told us not to attend.�

am i nobody to you? malfoy spat at him.� �

i m sorry i meant nobody with competence and wit, richard said sarcastically.� � �

there was a tense silent.

how you dare to insult me, mudblood?!! you and you sister, you are not worth for� the slytherin house.�

harry wasted no more time, he banged the door of the closet open and ran inside.he stepped in front of richard just when malfoy sent his curse.

arghus! malfoy cried and a red beam erupted from the tip of his wand.� �

protego! harry waved his wand. the beam ricocheted off and hit the wall of the� � closet, leaving a scorch mark.

malfoy glared at him in surprise. potter! this doesn t concern you. leave now and� � i shall forget.�

i concern about everyone from the da, harry said as he pointed his wand at� � malfoy s face.�



crabbe and goyle withdrew their own and pointed it at harry. harry was thinkingfuriously about the curse which would take three of them at once, when suddenlyrichard stepped at his side his wand drawn out as well.

richard, go, leave it to me, harry hissed at him.� �

no, he said with a look of determination on his face. harry surveyed him and� �

then nodded.

the five boys eyed each other for a long time. then harry drew his breath as wellas malfoy to pronounce an incination.

we aren t fighting, are we, mr. potter, mr. malfoy? asked proffesor flitwick who� � � appeared in the closet. they looked at him, before they faced each otheragain. very slowly and unwillingly they both pocketed their wands, richard, crabbeand goyle taking the lead.

that s better. now everyone return to your dormitory, proffesor squealed again.� � �

malfoy and his bodyguards shot harry and richard evil glares before they left the

closet.

are you going to be alright? harry asked richard as proffesor flitwick left� � them.

richard nodded.

maybe hermione s right, you should tell dumbledore� � ��

that would make no difference, richard said and proceeded to the dungeons.� � thank you harry.� �

anytime, harry said, grinning.� �

*****

harry went to bed exhausted that night. it was two o clock in the morning and the� common room was desrted only for him when he left it. the last think hedid before drifting to sleep was clearing his mind. he tried to clear hisemotions, anger towards malfoy and flitwick, who stepped between them. he fellasleep, rage still surging through his body.

harry found himself walking around the peaceful village of hogsmeade. thehogsmeade village was the only all-magic village in britain and harry found itsomehow smoothed to be with the people from his kind. people around him werewearing robes of every colour possible. he passed around the three broomsticks

from where he heard loud music and cheering- perhaps there was some kind ofcelebration going on.

harry closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. the scent of the freshly baken cakes andvarious sweets from honeydunks made his mind totally relaxed. he feltas free and safe as ever.

suddenly once again an arm in hogwarts robes slipped around his waist and easedher head on the shoulder.

lovely, isn t it? came the voice harry recognized.� � �



he turned around to face the girl. it was cho, beaming at him. but instead ofhappiness, harry felt as a surge of horror ran through his veins. cho wasdead. her face was white and few bugs ran through her head, which were dirty fromsoil. she smiled at him sinisterly once again and he noticed there weresome teeth missing.

he wanted to ran away, to escape from this creature. he tug on the hand and

released himself from the piercing grasp, drawing out his wand.

avada kedavra! he yelled. green flash erupted from the tip of his wand and hit� � cho in the head. she collapsed to the ground ridiculously slowly, dead.harry felt as the surge of happiness and excitement. it was actually the firsttime he has killed someone and he enjoyed it very much.

he looked around himself. the village of hogsmeade was not peaceful anymore- itwas destroyed. all around him the buildings were partly destroyed or onfire. bodies were lying all around and harry saw few of them were dressed inhogwarts robes. he recognised the limp figures of ron, hermione, seamus, pavartiand lavender amongst the other students from the da.

the only one person who was alive was ginny weasly, who was cradling a lifelessform of dean thomas. she faced him, her eyes shining with tears. what you�have done? i can t belive i ever loved you!� �

harry rolled up the sleeves of his robes. he pointed his wand at ginny s face and� cracked another sinister smile.

you ll meet with your precious mudblood boyfriend in a minute, muggle-lover.� � avada kedavra! harry yelled.�

ginny slumped lifelessly, still hugging the limp form of dean. he looked aroundhim and inhaled deeply. the smell of burned houses and bodies filled hisbody with excitement once more.

very good, harry, very good, came the icy high-pitched voice and a hand patted� � harry on the shoulder.

harry turned around and found himself face to face with person he hated most-voldemort. he raised his wand to cast killing curse but voldemort merelyoutstretchedhis hand. harry s wand left his hand graciously.�

harry, you ll never beat me. many have tried and died trying. you can only join� � me, there is no other possibility, voldemort hissed at him.�

i ll never join you, i ll never be like you, harry yelled at him.� � � �

you won t? just look around yourself harry. it was you who caused this massacre,� � you have killed all the people. and i know you enjoyed it harry, i canstill feel excitement running through your veins. once you taste the feeling ofpower and you ll never want to get rid of it.� �

harry looked around himself once again. the bodies of his friends lying around himfilled his veins not with excitement this time, but with pity and guilt.how could i have done that? his eyes filled with tears.

harry, there is no time to cry after spilled milk, voldemort said sarcastically.� �



we are more alike then you would confess. join me, he said and outstretched� �his hand.

harry felt a strong sensation to take it, he actually raised his hand a bit.

and then the realization came. i ve never killed no one. this is just an illusion.� voldemort is trying to turn me, but i ll never do it. with that he lowered�his hand again.

this is just dream. none of it happened. i m not that stupid to fall to your� � tricks again. this dream will end now and i shall awake in my bed at hogwarts.�

the smile on voldemort s face vanished, and the face of rage appeared.�

you may have mastered the occlumency, but i have other powers to beat you with.� join me and i will spare your friends. refuse and i ll kill every single�one of them, not making it easy voldemort voice was angrier with every single�� word he said, but harry was ignoring it. the images started to dissolveas harry concentrated harder and harder.

nooo! came voldemort furious scream and it echoed in harry s ears even as he� � �

woke up in his dormitory, his scar throbbing painfully.

chapter 23 : victories

hello everyone,finally comes a chapter with some action. i really looked forward to write this,hope you like it, it is my first quiditch fanfic

thanks to everyone who reviwed my story regulary:dumbeldaveukasekoop_masterchandee

iwpotter

chapter 23: victories

harry had shared his last nightmare with nobody, he hadn t told dumbledore even.� he thought that dumbledore might be angry at him because he let his incidentwith malfoy to disturb him so much. on the other hand, he was quite impressedhimself how he managed to take control over the dream and brake the connection.he finally found some meaning in his occlumency classes.

harry spent rest of the weekend thinking about some surprising quiditch tacticsthey would train during the practice on sunday. the upcoming match was onlytwo weekends far and the tension between slytherins and gryffindors grew bigger

and bigger through the last week.

bunch of newbies on the team, don t know what potter is thinking, malfoy would� � � mutter loudly every time he and harry passed in the corridors. he was alwaysflashing his icy colds on gryffindor team members, snorting in contempt.

harry on the other head was quite enthusiastic about his team. though it was rightthat most of his team consisted from new players, he hadn t any doubts�in their skills. he felt very confident as he saw the creevy brothers performingtheir beater move and ginny, dean and pavarti were attacking the goalposts,which were protected by ron.



as the sun set, harry collapsed on the chair at the table where hermione wasstudying, exhausted but really pleased. hermione, on the other hand glaredat him for some time, strict look on her face.

o.k. hermione, what have i done? he asked with a sigh.� �

hermione rose her head from she was reading. harry, you devote too much of your�

time to the quiditch, you should revise on potions.�

i have no problem with potions since sprout is teaching it, harry said.� �

well in that case, remember that she is only filling in for snape. it s not like� � she is going to teach us forever, she has herbology, you know.�

hermione, snape has been away for ages. what makes you think that he will appear� tomorrow?�

be it as you wish, hermione, said rolling her eyes before returning to her book.� �

harry was bit angry with hermione, but knew she was right same time. with a sigh

he went to his dormitory and took his books. he laid on his bed and openedhis potion textbook. he managed to read only few lines before he drifted into deepsleep.

*****

harry woke up very late the next day, still wearing the same robes he was wearingyesterday. he couldn t really understand how he managed to sleep for so�long. he washed and dressed himself very quickly and then he went to the greathall for his breakfast.

finally i was starting to worry, hermione said as harry sat on the bench next to� � her. harry, would you mind looking over the teachers table? she said� �

sarcastically.

harry looked at the table and his heart missed a beat. sitting at the table nextto proffesor sprout was none other then proffesor snape. harry gulped andgave an unease glance at hermione.

harry don t you say you hadn t revised on potion yesterday, hermione scowled.� � � � harry found suddenly his feet more interesting then hermione s face. i m� �so stupid, he thought for himself.

harry spent the defence against the dark arts torn between lupin s interesting� talk about the other creatures who served dark wizards and the text aboutthe sleepless draught in his potion textbook, which he was reading under his desk.

by the end of the class harry thought he had read nothing for he couldn t�remember anything.

as the door of the potions classroom slammed shut and proffesor snape strodeinside moments later, harry felt that his head was as blank as ever. as harryobserved, snape looked very tired. there were huge circles around his eyes and hisskin was much paler than usual. he was limping and acting like wholeof his body was in pain. harry recognised that- the cruciatus curse.

snape sat at his table, his eyes closed and lips trembling. he withdrew a vial ofsome potion and drained it in one gulp. it seemed to soothe his pain,



because when his eyes opened and focused on harry, his unpleasant glare was backon. he lowered his head and observed the class register before closingit.

proffesor sprout, told me that during my absence you covered the sobering� draught, shrinking draught and you just started on the sleepless draught but�i would say that those potions are not worth the time, they are very much easy forthis class that seems to be the reason potter finally got some good�

marks he droned on.��

yeah, probably the reason why malfoy got worse marks harry muttered under his� �� breath.

you wanted to add something, potter? snape hissed at him.� �

harry faced him, but instead of his usual burst of temperament he merely shook hishead. no, proffesor.� �

snape looked somehow disappointed that he was stripped of the opportunity to scrapsome points from gryffindor. so was malfoy and the other slytherins.,who expected harry to yell at snape. but harry rembered what happened last time he

lost control over his emotion. his scar throbbed up to now, though onlya bit.

snape withdrew his wand and waved on the blackboard and the instructions formandrake draught appeared.

is there anyone in this class who can tell the use of mandrake draught? snape� � asked. potter?� �

harry remembered the mandrake draught from his second year. the mandrake draught� is used for restoring the one who takes it to the original state. forexample, it is used on those who were petrified by basilisk stare.�

snape s lip twitched, apparently he wasn t expecting harry to know the answer.� � and tell me potter, what is the most important ingredient for the mandrake�draught?�

mandrake draught, by the name is made from mandrake, or mandragora, harry said,� � his voice shaking nervously.

snape s face was got a bit redder. correct again, potter, he said and turned his� � � head to face the class. the mandrake draught as you can see for yourself�is very difficult. gather around here, everybody i will hand out the mandragora.everybody pay attention to the instructions, the mandragora is very rare.this goes mainly for you potter, snape said with a cold smile.�

harry silenced the sudden urge to curse him and with a sigh got up and proceededto the snape s desk.�

*****

as the gryffindor against slytherin quiditch game approached harry found it verydifficult to concentrate on anything other than on his captain duties.nothing could get quiditch out of his mind, not even the da. he would stay late uptill night devising the new tactics, something to surprise his opponentswith. each time harry and draco in the corridor they shot each other an icy glareor said something very rude.



he was falling behind his studies once again, especially potion s, which made� snape look happy again as he had once again a reason to fail him. but thepotions were not the only subject he had sudden problems with- there wereherbology and charms, even defence against the dark arts and care of magicalcreatures.

mr. potter, i d like a word, came the stern voice of proffesor mcgonagall after� � �

the transfiguration classes on wednesday, right before the quiditch match.

harry gave hermione an unease glance and then walked up to the mcgonagall s desk.� mcgonagall waited for everybody disappear. then she stood up and walkedover to harry.

mr. potter, is there something you want to tell me? she said her voice full of� � concern. harry eyed her curiously. she started to pace around the classtalking. i was told that you really started to fall behind your classes. even the� defence against the dark arts. so i ask you if it s there something�you wish to tell me. mcgonagall said.�

harry just shook his head.

good, so for your own sake i think you should be stripped of the captain post.� �

harry stared at her in disbelief. why? he stuttered.� �

mr. potter, the captain post comes as a treat and i noticed that your school� results decline more as the match is closing in. i think quiditch distractsyou��

but proffesor harry started.� ��

it took me a great effort to get you to the potions o.w.l. classes and proffesor� snape is slowly insisting on your resignation. he was the one who proposed

of stripping you of your post and i can only agree, she interrupted him.�

you know snape, he is doing half of this on purpose harry started, but� �� mcgonagall silenced him with a wave. harry gulped.

however, i have been observing the quiditch practices and i was very impressed. i� didn t expect you to handle your team so perfectly in your first year�as a captain and i m afraid there is no other in gryffindor suitable for this� post. therefore, you will remain the captain, but i assure you, that afterthe match if i will see no difference, you will be replaced. am i understood? she� asked him, piercing him with a stern glare.

harry nodded.

you may go then, mcgonagall said. harry turned around and walked to the door. he� � was just about to leave when mcgonagall said something else. harry,�if you ll ever come across of some evidence that proffesor snape is failing you on� purpose i would be most delighted to hear it.�

******

harry woke up on saturday morning very early. he tired to fall asleep again, butafter fifteen minutes of watching on the wall he got up, dressed himselfand went to the common room. he expected it to be empty, but nearly all of his



team-mates were there already. the creevy brothers were sitting on the sofa,exploding snap cards lying on the table before them abandoned. ginny, dean andpavarti were sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace. the common roomwas silent and the tension could be sliced by knife.

hello, harry greeted. all of the heads turned his way and smiled. they grunted� � something in response. harry sat in the armchair next to the sofa, whereginny, dean and pavarti sat. everybody ready to kick some slytherins asses? he� �

said with a grin. they all nodded, grinning nervously. and then the silencefell again.

the common room started to fill up with students, all coming over to the quiditchteam and patting them encouragily. ron came later and sat next to harrywithout a word. in half an hour, harry could stand it no more let s get something� � to eat, everybody.�

they all got up and walked to the great hall very slowly. when they took theirseats at the gryffindor table they were given a huge applause, not only fromgryffindor but from some of the hufflepuffs and ravenclaws as well. everyone fromthe da came to wish luck to harry and his team-mates personally. lunalovegood was once again wearing her lion hat, which was chewing a serpent and

roaring.

i worked on that in the summer, she said vaguely. harry rembered this hat from� � the last year, when the chewed serpent was only a mere idea.

christian connor and cho chang came to wish their luck too. christian shookharry s hand and cho gave him a small kiss on the cheek. harry thanked them�both, blushing a bit.

the students began to dissolve slowly from the great hall towards the quiditchstadium. harry waited for everybody to disappear and then got up and wentto the lockers room. they walked silently and slowly, watching their feet. theymet the slytherin team, malfoy in lead in front of the lockers room. they

all booed and raised their fists as the gryffindor team passed, ignoring them.

they dressed into their quiditch robes themselves silently, shooting each otherunease glances. the stadium began to be louder as more and more studentscame to the stands, chatting among themselves excitedly. harry checked his watch-five minutes to game.

he walked to the door to the stadium and faced his team. all of them were lookingat him, prepared to listen. apparently they were expecting some kind ofspeech from him.

err i m not a very good talker, so do your best and we ll win, he gave them a� � � � � � smile. they returned it and nodded.

harry opened the door and walked into the sunlit stadium. the cheering thatproceeded made him nearly deaf. harry could see very much of red and gold colourin the stands. proffesor lupin and hagrid were waving at him from the gryffindorstand. harry raised his hand and gave a wave. the cheers went even louder.so the boos from the slytherin stands, where harry could see proffesor snapestanding in front, wearing silver and green shawl.

and here comes the gryffindor team, came the voice of ernie mcmillian. harry� � looked over at the proffesor stands. ernie mcmillian was commentating, proffesormcgonagall sitting next to him. harry suddenly rembered that lee jordan graduated



last year. potter, weasly, weasly, thomas, patil, creevy and creevy.�hail the gryffindor!�

the stadium erupted with cheers and boos once again as all of the gryffindor teamwaved nervously.

and here comes the slytherin house, ernie mcmillian yelled, less enthusiastic.� � blain, malfoy, lestrange, nott, simmons, crabbe and goyle. hail the slytherin!� �

more boos than cheers erupted this time.

madam hooch appeared on the stadium, levitating the chest with the ball before herwith locotomor charm. she came to the centre of the stadium, where thegryffindors and the slytherins already gathered. she put the chest down.

captains, shake your hands, she commanded.� �

harry and blain approached each other, glaring at each other. blain tried to crushharry s hand as he shook it, harry trying to do the same. they let go,�both of them rubbing their hands. madam hooch gave them a strict look.

i expect nothing but a clean game from both of your teams, she said and leaned� � over the chest, releasing the snitch and the bludgers. harry and blaincame mounted their broomsticks and kicked off from the ground. blain joined thechasers and harry flew higher, over the other players on level with malfoy.they shot each other a glare.

madam hooch took the quaffle and threw it high into the air.

and the game begins quaffle is immediately taken by ginny weasly, new and� � promising player from the gryffindor anyway she is heading for a goal posts� �nott is closing in she passed the quaffle to dean thomas oh, he is it by the� � bludger aimed from goyle and drops the quaffle but pavarti patil got it�and she is heading for the goals.. evades simmons and lestrange shoots scores!� �

ten-zero for gryffindor!�

the stadium erupted in cheers as ginny and pavarti gave each other five.

and the game continues slytherin is in possession, lestrange heading for the� � goals wow, nice acrobatics there, he evades ginny weasly and pavarti patil� �evades the bludger shot at him from dennis weasly only keeper now he misses,� � slytherin scores! ten to ten! ernie groaned.�

the slytherin stands erupted in cheers and snape smiled mischievously. harry, whowas circling around the stadium in search for the snitch groaned indisappointment.the snitch was nowhere to bee seen, malfoy was on the other end of the stadium,

searching for the snitch as well.

gryffindor in possession dean thomas has the quaffle and flies his way towards� � the slytherin posts evades both bludgers evades simmons ah, lestrange� � �stole the quaffle, on his way to gryffindor posts wait malfoy is diving has he� � spotted the snitch?�

harry s heart skipped a beat, malfoy was in dive and the tiny snitch was hovering� few yards above the ground. harry urged his firebolt slower, cursing himself.he flew as fast as he could, but he already knew that he won t make it. malfoy� outstretched his hand�



draco, look out! came the voice of blain.� �

malfoy looked to his right and ducked just in time- harry would swear that thebludger sent by colin creevy brushed his hair. the snitch disappeared meanwhile.harry shot colin thumb up and grinned. colin grinned back. but the grindisappeared as he heard ernie announce the second goal by slytherin.

twenty-ten for slytherin. andrew lestrange shots�his second goal another promising talent.� �

and indeed he was. for a very long period of time during harry and malfoy couldn t� find the snitch andrew lestrange managed to shot another two goals andblain one to ginny s one and dean s one.� �

fifty-thirty to slytherin and the gryffindor captain calls for a timeout� � ��

the gryffindor team landed on the spot where harry landed gloomily, while theslytherins circled in the air, clearly enjoying the sight.

what s the problem? how come the slytherin is in the lead? harry said, a bit� � �

angry.

it s that lestrange boy, i bet salazar slytherin would be proud with him, he is� � as slimy as snake ron exclaimed.��

ron, i don t find that funny right now, harry spat at him.� � �

calm down harry. he s just too agile and very precise, ginny said gloomily.� � �

harry was thinking furiously for a while. madam hooch was approaching them slowly.then he made up his decision. dennis, colin, it s time for the creevy s� � �passage.�

but we were saving the move for a desperate moment� ��

this is desperate situation, harry said angrily.� �

madam hooch came to them. is your team ready, mr. potter?� �

harry nodded and then he faced his beaters. they were looking at him nervously.just do it, harry said and gave them encourage smile. they nodded.� �

and the game continues as the gryffindor team kicked off once again and ginny� � takes the quaffle immediately, she is speeding towards the goal posts shoots� �oh, lestrange cut in and takes the quaffle he is heading towards the gryffindor� posts ducks a bludger ducks another one he is in the middle of the� � �

pitch and another bludger is closing in he ducks and ducks again as another one� � approaches what is happening? ernie commentated confused.� �

harry stopped in his search for the snitch to look at the game. andrew lestrangewas heading towards the gryffindor posts, the creevy brothers on everyside of him, passing the two bludgers between them. everyone in the stands werewatching the scene.

apparently lestrange noticed the tactic too, because he was looking at the creevybrothers. he dropped the quaffle and flew back towards the slytherin posts.but the creevy s didn t let him alone. they kept shooting the bludgers on him.� �



leave it, mudbloods, he yelled at them, note of fright definite in his voice.� �

crabbe cut in and whacked one of the bludgers towards dennis creevy, who evaded itgraciously and then whacked it towards lestrange. lestrange just duckedanother bludger and wasn t expecting this one-it hit him in the leg. lestrange� yelled in pain and let go of the broom as he reached for his leg, lost balanceand fell to the ground. luckily it was not very high.

yes! harry yelled at dennis and colin. dennis and colin embraced themselves.� �

look out! ginny yelled.� �

too late- one of the bludgers shot by goyle hit dennis in his right hand. harrycould swear he heard his bone crack. dennis was holding on the broom withhis left hand. harry sped towards him.

are you o.k.? harry asked.� �

yeah, my arm just hurts� ��

land immidietly and go to the lockers, harry said.� �

but� ��

land now! harry yelled at him angrily.� �

and then he finally saw it- the golden snitch was hovering above in the middle ofthe stadium. he gave a huge burst of speed, noticing that malfoy did thesame on the other side of stadium. harry urged his firebolt faster, malfoy aswell. the snitch was between them, they both outstretched their hands notminding that if they hit each other in such speed harry s face was concentrated,� � malfoy s teeth were gritted harry closed his fist around the tiny ball,� �laid flat on his broom and wheeled in the air, missing malfoy by inches.

the stadium erupted with cheers as harry rose up, his right hand with thestruggling ball raised as he was smiling broad smile. he circled around thestadiumgiving five with students he recognised and hagrid and lupin as well. then he andthe rest of the team landed and hug each other, smiling broadly.

the slytherin landed nearby, malfoy kicking his firebolt in anger. harry waslooking at him delighted.

something bothering you, malfoy? harry asked him sarcastically.� �

piss off, potter, he spat at him and left the stadium. harry was looking after� �

him grinning, when the students began to fill into the stadium. all thestudents from the da rushed forward and were screaming in delight. hermione huggedharry in rib-breaking hug then she went to congratulate ginny. somebodytapped harry on the shoulder and he spun around.

ron was standing in front of him, his eyes fixed on his shoes.

harry, i just wanted to apologize i know i ve been really selfish and stubborn� � � and stupid and��

harry at first looked at him confused. then he grinned at him and laid his hand on



ron s shoulder, who was still naming the bad characteristics he had.�ron forget it. apology accepted. but i m not the only one you should apologize� � to, you know.�

yeah, i know, ron said with a sigh.� �

chapter 24 : snape s decision�

hello everyonethanks for your reviews it makes this worth it.

i m sorry but i had to make a change in schedule on monday. i had to switch� transfiguration and potion.

chapter 24: snape s decision�

harry and the rest of the team were thrown inside the gryffindor common room by asea of hands, when they returned from the lockers after their victoriousmatch. the common room was packed with students from every single class, all ofthem cheering and patting all the players. everybody insisted on shakingtheir head with harry or taking a photo with the team.

when harry looked around the common room, he gasped in surprise. every singletable was filled up with all the snacks he could imagine. what looked likea hundreds of butterbeer was in a tub, which was filled with ice.

who brought all of these? harry asked unbelievably.� �

we don t know it s already been here when we came. but who cares though, neville� � � � said as he opened a bottle of butterbeer.

harry grinned as he saw ron, who was surrounded by a gang of fifth years girl andwas clearly enjoying the attention he got. the portrait opened momentslater and dennis creevy appeared, his right hand bandaged, grinning.

it s not broken, just splinted, he announced happily to the whole common room.� � �

even jack sloper and andrew kirke made their way through the crowd to congratulatethe new beaters. although harry could still hear a note of bitternesswhen they congratulated him, he didn t mind.�

the party had lasted whole afternoon and would have lasted much longer ifproffesor mcgonagall hadn t appeared at half past nine demanding the immediate�silence.

only half an hour to curfew, you know. now, if i ll have to come up here one more� � time, i ll put the whole house in detention, she said sternly, but harry� �

could see it cost her a great effort to not smile. he knew she was as happy aboutthe match as everyone else was.

harry and ron were the first ones to go to bed after mcgonagall came. they excusedthemselves and went to their dormitory.

so have you talked to hermione.? harry asked ron as he put on his pyjamas.� � �

ron s face changed from happiness to sorrow. he shook his head. guess i shouldn t� � � be in the gryffindor. i m more afraid of what would her reaction will�be than i would be afraid of pack of death eaters. what if she won t listen to me?�



no, i ll let her settle for a moment, he said.� �

harry felt like yelling at him for what he said, but he didn t. now, when it� happened, he was very happy to have ron back on his side.

*****the euphoria from the match still ran through harry s veins even on monday, when� he was having his breakfast in the great hall. he was sitting at the gryffindor

table in the great hall with ron, hermione and ginny. ron still hadn t apologized� to hermione, so ginny sat between them.

hermione folded her newspaper few moments later and returned to her food.

is there something new, hermione? harry asked her.� �

hermione swallowed and cleaned her mouth with a napkin. nothing, she said then.� � he s planning something bad, i know it.� � �

come on, hermione, you worry too much. as long we have dumbledore, voldemort� stands no chance, ginny said.�

harry recalled what dumbledore told him last wednesday- giants, vampires and whoknows what other dark creatures voldemort commands. he wondered if evenhaving dumbledore still meant something.

harry, is something wrong? ginny asked him a note of concern in her voice.� �

nothing, he said quickly as he avoided ginny s eyes. we better go, the classes� � � � begin in ten minutes.�

the defence against the dark arts had not come up to the usual standard- proffesorlupin looked very tired, his eyes were puffy and his skin as pale asparchment harry was writing on. then he remembered that two days ago was the fullmoon. perhaps lupin hadn t still recovered from the transformation.�

i want your essays on the holeworms next monday, lupin said. holeworms were a� � kind of dark creatures who lived underground in tunnels they made. someof them grew to that size that they could mean danger to a man. holeworms weregathering their preys into their lairs when they would eat them very slowly.also they very much liked shiny items so their lairs were usually full of variouskind of treasure. harry, i would like a word with you, lupin said as� �he dismissed the class.

harry packed his things, shouldered his bag and then went to the teacher table.lupin smiled at him.

harry, how are you? long time, no see, he said.� �

yeah, harry muttered. i m fine. and you?� � � � �

lupin s smile faded a little. the full moon was two days ago, you can imagine how� � i feel, he sighed. anyway, i have message for you from dumbledore.� �there will be no legillimency lessons this week. dumbledore is off for someimportant order business.�

harry licked his lip nervously. proffesor� ��

oh, quit call me proffesor when we aren t in classes. i m your guardian for god s� � � �



sake, you can call me remus, lupin said with a wink.�

o.k. proffe... i mean remus can you tell me, has something happened that perhaps� � the daily prophet didn t write about? i mean everything is so quiet� ��

lupin surveyed him for a very long time before he answered. unfortunately harry,� the daily prophet is concealing nothing at the moment, voldemort is unusuallyquiet. we no longer know what his plans are.�

but what about snape? he s right in the voldemort s inner circle, how come he� � � found out nothing? harry asked lupin curiously.�

voldemort knows there is someone in his inner circle he can no longer trust, so� he keeps his plans only to himself. fortunately snape is such a good occlumenist,or he would be surely dead by now. speaking about the snape, haven t you got� classes with him now?�

harry glanced at his watch and his mouth opened in horror. the classes began twominutes ago!

oh my god, he s going to kill me, harry breathed out and turned to leave.� � �

harry, wait i ll write a note for him lupin called� � ��after him.

you honestly think he would take a note from you? harry said on his way to the� � door. goodbye prof remus.� � �

he broke into a sprint as soon as he left the classroom. he managed to get to thedungeons in the record time but was still six minutes behind when he reachedthe door. he knocked on the door and stepped into the dimly lit potion classroom.

well, well look who have came? snape said sarcastically, glaring at harry as he� � entered the classroom. thirty points from gryffindor. take your seat�

potter, quickly.�

harry sat next to hermione a note of disbelief on his face. thirty points for sixminutes? he wondered about the lupin s note again, but then he thought�snape might take some more points for rudeness.

what kept you? hermione hissed at him.� �

lupin, harry said as he prepared his cauldron. he glanced at the blackboard for� � instructions- the second phase of mandrake potion. he prepared his suppliesand then walked up to the teacher table to get a flask with mixture he made thelast lessons, but the tray where the flasks usually were was empty.

harry raised his head and shot snape quizzical look.

yes, potter? he asked him curtly.� �

proffesor, i m afraid i can t see my mandrake potion.� � � �

oh, you would call that pitiful mixture of yours the mandrake potion? snape said� � with a cold smile. you will do the potion from the beginning and you�won t leave out of this room until you can hand out a vial with your completed� mandrake potion, even if it meant staying for lunch.�



harry stared at him in disbelief for a very long time.

potter i said start now. another ten points from gryffindor.� �

harry was fuming. it took him great effort to not yell at snape. he returned tohis place and started working on the potion. he was working very quickly,so the potion was not completely precise, but harry didn t care. he wanted it to� be done as soon as possible. he indeed stayed in the dungeons over the

lunch, while the rest of his fellow students and snape went to get their lunch.

after he finished his potion he filled a vial and deposited it on snape s desk.� then he hurried towards the transfiguration classroom. he sat down at hisusual spot between ron and hermione who were still not talking to each other. astack of toasts in napkin was waiting before him. harry mouthed thank youto hermione who smiled at him. he was just about to bite into his toast, whenmcgonagall strode into classroom.

no food in classroom, mr. potter. five points from gryffindor.� �

but harry was eyeing his toasts hungrily.� ��

i said no. you should have done your potion properly, then you wouldn t miss your� � lunch, mcgonagall said sternly. apparently snape had a little chat with�her during the lunch. now put that away, or it will be another five points.� �

harry put the toasts in his bag and withdrew his transfiguration textbook and hiswand furiously. he could hardly concentrate because of his hunger andfailed to make his own set of moving pieces for the wizard chess. when the classended, harry shouldered his bag and wanted to disappear as soon as possible,but mcgonagall called after him.

mr. potter a word if you please.� �

harry sighed and waited for everybody to dissolve. then he went to the teachers

desk. mcgonagall laid her quill and surveyed harry through her spectacles.her stare was as stern as harry ever saw.

mr. potter, do you remember what have i told you last time? mcgonagall asked him� � sternly.

harry gulped. yes, proffesor.� �

i thought we made a deal. then why proffesor snape came and was interrupting me� during my whole lunch, saying how incompetent, reckless, spoiled and idon t know what you were. now, i know that proffesor snape always favoured� students from his own house and i know him and his father had some difficulties,but this is too much. proffesor snape is giving you last chance. and so am i.�

harry licked his lips nervously. proffesor, if you would check my marks from� proffesor sprout he started.��

i know, i ve seen them and they re acceptable. however, she isn t the potion� � � � master here. proffesor snape and you must solve your differences. end of thediscussion. you may go.�

harry left the classroom furiously. for what he deserved snape he didn t know. he� suddenly rembered about his toasts but realized that he wasn t hungry�anymore.



*****

nothing could raise up harry s mood during the week. not comforting words from� hermione or ginny or games of wizard chess and exploding snap. even the onlything that harry was certain would improve his mood, the da seemed somehow dull.harry didn t care that if he failed from the potions he wouldn t be able� �to study for auror. harry had fought dark creatures and wizards since he was

eleven years old and he became tired of it. the only thing that was troublinghis mind was that if snape failed him form potion o.w.l. classes he would win.

he didn t want to give snape another chance for failing him so he revised on� potions so hard, that even hermione was surprised. as they sat on wednesdayevening, hermione was writing essay for her arithmacy classes, while harry wasrevising on the enlarging potion.

want a game of chess? ron asked, as he� �appeared from the portrait.

harry don t listen to that idiot. you know what� �mcgonagall told you, hermione said and flashed ron one of her most dangerous�

look. ron instead of bursting out and yelling was suddenly more interestedin surveying his shoelaces instead of playing a game of chess.

harry looked at his half-read notes on the enlarging potion. the he thought thatsnape would find another reason for throwing him out of the classes andgathered his notes and put them in his bag. hermione gave him a patronising look,before she returned to her essay muttering darkly.

harry got up and patted ron, who was still eyeing his shoes, on the shoulder.let s go, he muttered.� � �

they spent the rest of the evening playing chess, exploding snap and gobstones.when ginny and dean joined them for few games of exploding snap, harry noticed

how much he was enjoying himself. after a few weeks with hanging out in thelibrary with hermione and only studying or devising new tactics of quiditch,this felt like paradise.

the students dissolved slowly from common room as the sun set and the sky grewdarker and darker with every game they played. harry noticed that only whenginny and dean excused themselves and went to their dormitories. he glanced at hiswatch. eleven. wow, the time is flowing when one is enjoying himself,he thought.

ron set the chess board meanwhile and was waiting for harry s turn.�

ron, it s late. look around you we are the only one left, harry groaned.� � �

come, just one last game. only to round up my score, ron said with a grin. the� � score was nine-two for ron.

harry moved his peon one squares forward. then one idea struck him. ron, when are� you going to apologize to hermione?�

ron pretended that he was concentrating hard on his new move, but harry knew thatemotional battle was reigning inside him. he moved one of his peon forward.i don t know harry, it won t do any good. she is finished with me. remember what� � � she said today. idiot, ron sighed.�



harry studied the game and moved another peon forward, not really noticing thegame. ron, you ve got to try. you don t want to throw away five years of� � �friendship for one stupid thing you said.�

ron moved one of his peon immediately and harry wished he knew what was he up to.you re right harry, i ll talk to her in hogsmeade this weekend.� � � �

hogsmeade weekend, i almost forget about that one, harry thought as he moved hisknight forward.

ron made his own turn right away, he moved his bishop forward. are you going to� hogsmeade with someone harry? i mean a girl? ron asked him, changing the�theme abruptly.

harry merely shook his head as he moved another peon forward to cover his knight,which was in danger by ron s bishop.�

well, it looks like we are both hopeless, ron sighed as he moved his queen� � forward.

yeah, harry muttered as he moved one of his peons to threaten ron s queen.� � �

ron ordered his queen forward. it wrestled the peon who was standing next toharry s king and threw it out of the chess board. check mate, ron said, with� � �a grin, which didn t reach his eyes.�

chapter 25 : the last hogsmeade visit

hello everyone,i finally managed to get to the chapter for which i was waiting for ages. hope youlike it.please read and review.

chapter 25: the last hogsmeade visit

the classes on thursday and friday passed very quickly and harry found himselfwith the great hall sitting at the gryffindor table and having his dinnerwith ron and hermione. they were eating quietly, when ginny joined them, beaming.harry couldn t understand, why she looked so happy. her last classes�were double period of potions with snape that always made harry miserable.

what are you so happy about? he asked her curiously.� �

oh, it s nothing, i just had another interesting lesson of potion, ginny said,� � � still smiling.

so then what are you so happy about? double period with snape, that would surely� spoil my friday, ron piped up.�

ginny s grin even widened. who told you i had potions with snape?� � �

harry and ron gazed at her stupidly.

proffesor sprout is filling for him again, he is away.� �

harry cracked a grin too. i hope he won t be back too soon.� � �



hermione on the other hand didn t look very enthusiastic about the idea. in fact,� her looked suddenly changed and she muttered something darkly.

come on hermione, sprout isn t that bad, harry groaned.� � �

it s not this. only it s odd snape was gone nearly for three weeks and now he s� � � � � � gone again well it s obvious where he has gone i wonder what s going� � � �on hermione muttered under her breath.��

ginny, ron and harry looked at her, confused.

oh, probably it s nothing. guess i am a bit paranoid, hermione said and returned� � � to her food.

harry and the weaslys changed a question look and they returned to their food.

*****

when harry woke up next morning and looked outside of the window, he thought thatthere was no better weather for hogsmeade than this. the sky was clear,despite the upcoming winter. there was a light breeze blowing and harry could only

hope he would have weather like this during one of his remaining quiditchmatches.

he began to looking forward to hogsmeade as he ate hi breakfast with ron, hermioneand ginny.

what are you lot going to do in hogsmeade today? ginny asked them.� �

ron s eyes rested on hermione for a moment before he shot harry a nervous glance.�

nothing special, i guess, he said.� �

yeah me too, harry added.� �

i m not still really sure if i want to go, it s getting bit boring there,� � � � hermione said silently. ron looked horror-struck at the idea. as harry noticedhis look, he faced hermione.

come on, hermione, you ve got to go, you can t rot in libr i mean the castle for� � � � whole year, harry pleaded her.�

hermione looked offended, but nodded nevertheless.

thank you, ron mouthed at harry. harry grinned at him.� �

after the breakfast all the students, who were allowed to go gathered in the

entrance hall, where they formed a line. filch, the hogwarts caretaker wasstanding next to the opened doors, checking every student on his list. he glaredat harry and the others as they passed him, muttering something underhis breath.

harry cracked a grin as the pack of students was approaching the village ofhogsmeade on the dusty path. it felt so wonderful to be outside again. he closedhis eyes and inhaled deeply. the touch of warmth from the sun felt so relaxing. heopened his eyes again and saw ginny, who was walking hand-in-hand withdean grinning at him. he grinned back at her.



they got to the hogsmeade village soon and stopped in front of the threebroomsticks. a sudden awkward silence arose.

hermione, can i have a word with you? ron asked her nervously, looking at his� � shoes.

hermione looked at him and harry was sure she would refuse first, but then shesighed. o.k. she breathed out and they both disappeared into the three� �

broomsticks. another awkward silence arose as harry turned his face to ginny anddean.

harry, you wanna hang out with us? dennis creevy, who appeared out of nowhere� � with neville, seamus lavender and pavarti asked him.

yeah, sure, harry said in relief. well, i guess i ll see you guys later, harry� � � � � said to ginny and dean and walked away with dennis and the others.

they walked around the village of hogsmeade for a very long time, looking intoshop-windows, girls into robes shop and boys into the quiditch supplies shop.they stopped briefly at honeydunks to get some of their favourites and werewalking around the familiar places, chewing their sweets. as they passed the

hog s head, they remembered how they founded the da there and the funny stories� from their practises. harry was laughing aloud and as much as he hadn t�for a very long time.

they met several people from the da from hufflepuff and ravenclaw. cho changsmiled at harry, when she passed them hand-in-hand with michael corner. althoughharry wasn t interested in her anymore, he could only wonder, why her smile still� made him flush. they stopped for chat with christian connor, ernie mcmillian,justin finch-flitchey and other hufflepuff in front of the three broomsticks. theyagreed on some butterbeer and were just about to enter the three broomstickswhen hermione stormed out of the pub, looking livid.

hermione, what harry started, but hermione passed him without a word, crying.� ��

hermione, wait! ron yelled as he emerged from the pub, but too late. hermione� � disappeared.

harry faced ron. it didn t go well, i presume.� � �

mate, i have never seen her like this, ron groaned.� �

it s going to be fine, ron don t wor argh! harry yelled and collapsed on his� � � � � knees. he reached for the scar on his forehead. it erupted in sudden pain,like his head was target of cruciatus curse. he felt like his head was about toburst.

harry! what is it?! ron and pavarti kneeled next to him, while the rest of the� � group were watching him, trace of fear in their looks. lavender gaspedloudly and neville drew arm around her.

my scar something terrible is about to happen� � ��harry breathed out through his gritted teeth. the pain eased a bit, but harry wasrubbing his scar nevertheless.

harry, what happened?! came the voice of remus lupin.� �

harry raised his head in surprise and found out that proffesor lupin was standing



next to him, flanked by a large group of members of the order of phoenixand wizards dressed in auror s robes. it looked like at least fifty of them. harry� could recognise tonks, kingsley shacklebolt and dawlish in the frontline.

my scar what is happening? harry asked him.� � �

harry, voldemort is going to attack soon. hide in three broomsticks quickly and�

floo away. now! lupin yelled at him.�

what?! harry yelled. this cannot be happening, he thought desperately. and then� � he heard a scream from the distance. he got up and turned around. thesurroundings became more darker every second and harry felt a familiar sensationlike an icy shower.

kill the spare! he heard a cold high-pitched voice he recognised in the back of� � his head. he shook his head viciously to get rid of it. dementors.

and then he smelled a scent of rotten meat and when he looked in the distance hecould see a huge group of figures staggering towards the village. alongsidethem four giants, tall as four storeyed buildings, were running towards the

hogsmeade village in great strides. harry could see their faces even from thedistance- rage and bloodlust.

everyone brace yourself. harry, gather your friends and get inside the pub. now!� � lupin commanded and drew out his wand. harry saw that the rest of hiscompanion did the same, as well as the villagers. there were many loud pops andmany persons, dressed in black robes and hooded appeared.

harry and his friends ran inside the pub, where madam rosmeta was alreadyorganising the evacuation. more and more people came inside the three broomsticks,mainly women and children or students dressed in hogwarts robes.

harry, what s going on? ginny weasly said as she joined harry with dean.� � �

voldemort s coming harry said, still in disbelief.� � ��

harry, hermione is still outside! ron yelled in frustration. we ve got to do� � � � something, he continued and tried to get back on the street. christian�connor tugged on the collar of his robes.

let go of me! ron yelled.� �

are you mad?! there are death eaters and dark creatures out there, christian� � yelled.

they could hear another shrieks from outside and

see flashes of curses behind the window.

come along, hurry, harry could hear madam rosmeta yells.� �

harry looked around on faces around him. they were looking at him like they wereexpecting some order from him.

come harry potter it s your turn, madam rosmeta said and tugged on his robes.� � �

harry faced her. i m not going.� � �



madam rosmeta snorted. of course, you are now quickly.� � �

harry shook her hand off his robes. i m tired of� �running. i m staying.� �

are you completely insane, she yelled at him and tried to reach him once more.� � harry drew out his wand and pointed it steadily on her.

i m not going. don t touch me or i ll curse you.� � � � �

you are as spoiled as your father was! she yelled at him, on the verge of tears.� � well, come on, she motioned towards the rest of the students flanked� �around harry. ron stood next to harry and shook his head. you are completely� insane, all of you! she screamed in frustration and ran towards another�group of people.

harry turned around and faced all of his fellow students. i m staying. you should� � all go.�

no way, ginny said and drew out her wand.� �

ginny, move your ass towards that fireplace. you know what mum would tell me if� �� ron said.

sod off, ginny said a look of determination on her face.� �

you thought you could fight some death eaters without us? cho chang said as she� � appeared from the bar, michael corner, luna lovegood and padma patil withher. all of them had their wands out.

cho, ginny everyone you should go this is not your fight. harry tried, but� � � � � all from the group shook their heads and stood still.

i want to pay them back for cedric, cho said, her voice shaking slightly.� �

cho, this is not some kind of game, you can be killed! harry yelled.� �

forget it, i m not leaving, she said stubbornly and folded her hands.� � �

harry, we are wasting time here hermione ron stuttered.� � ��

harry could see this will do no good. he nodded briefly and went to the door. heshot last glance behind his shoulder. his friends were looking at him,determination in those faces, perhaps some fear in their eyes, but alsoexcitement.

harry opened the door and stepped out. imidietly a silver beam appeared from

nowhere, missed harry s head by inches and hit the bar door, leaving a scorch�mark. harry wheeled around at the death eater, who was preparing for his nextcurse.

stupefy! harry yelled quickly. a stream of red light erupted from harry s wand� � � and hit the death eater in stomach. he collapsed to the ground unconscious.come on, he yelled over his shoulder and they left the bar.� �

the scene was horrid. the smoke hung thickly over the village of hogsmeade,shading the sky completely as several buildings were already on fire. bodieswere lying sprawled in the streets. harry could see many bodies of death eaters



and villagers as well as few aurors and hogwarts students. most of themwere lying motionless, their eyes wide open without a trace of light, some of themwere moaning silently.

harry, what are you doing outside?! lupin, who appeared from other street yelled� � at him. get your ass to hogwarts.� �

i m not leaving, he yelled at him.� � �

harry lupin started but never finished as one of the giant appeared. he made a� �� grab for lupin and tonks who dodged quickly. dawlish hadn t so much luck.�

the giant grasped him in his huge hand and raised his into the air. dawlishdropped his wand and was waving his hands hopelessly, shrieking. the giant merelysmiled viciously and tightened his fist. harry could hear sickening crunch anddawlish collapsed in giant s fist. it tossed him aside viciously.�

conjuctivum! lupin yelled as he aimed at the giant head. the azure blue beam� � shot from the tip of lupin s wand and hit the giant in it s eye. he grabbed� �for it, howling with pain. it was stamping around himself in rage, blinded.

stunners, on the count of three! lupin shouted. he, tonks, another five aurors� � and the members of order and harry and his friends pointed their wand atthe raging giant.

one two three, stupefy! all of them yelled in once. at least twenty stunners hit� � � � the giant at the time. he ceased moving and collapsed to the ground,crushing a small house and few bodies underneath him.

harry felt a wave of triumph, which disappeared suddenly as he heard girlsscreaming. it was hermione.

he ran towards the place from where the scream came. one of the death eatersappeared before him.

petrificus totalus, he yelled without stopping. the death eater collapsed to the� � ground, rigid as board. harry ran and ran when he reached a small compound.he was horrified by the sight. several bodies lay around, some of them being afeast for zombies. hermione was covering a very young boy, who was cradlinga lifeless form of some woman. her otter patronus was gambling around them incircles, but was unable to repeal all of the dementors which were approachingthem.

expecto patronum, harry yelled and was surprised to see not only his stag but� � also a lion, a bullfrog and a rabbit charging towards the dementors.

eclesium! came the voices of ginny, dean, cho, michael and luna. several of the� �

zombies collapsed to the ground in a heap of rotten meat and clothes asthe silver orbs hit them.

harry and ron ran towards hermione, who collapsed to the ground whimperinghysterically.

harry ron i m so sorry, i failed she breathed, and then she closed her eyes.� � � � ��

what s wrong with her?! hermione! ron yelled as tears appeared in his tears.� � �

enervate, harry muttered. nothing happened, her eyes were still closed.� �



is she ron started, but didn t finished the sentence. he burst crying instead.� ��

no, she is breathing, harry assured him. come on, let s get out of here.� � � � �

ron lifted her body and cradled her in his hands. they were just about to run,when several death eaters appeared at the compound and started shooting cursesat them. as a green jet of light passed over his head, he spun around.

impedimenta! he cried. the death eaters fell to the ground, struggling against� � the jinx. run! he yelled at his friends.� �

they broke into a sprint, ron slower then others as he was carrying hermione. theyreturned to the main road, when harry stopped abruptly. in the distancehe could see lupin and tonks crouched behind a overturned cart. tonks wasattempting to revive one of the aurors, while lupin was shooting curses at threedeath eaters, who were attacking them.

they re trapped, we ve got to help them, ginny said.� � � �

come on, let s flank them, harry ordered and they moved back to the narrow� � �

streets. they walked very silently, harry always checking around the corners.they stopped when harry could see the backs of the death eaters, who were stillfiring curses at lupin and tonks and were laughing in insanity.

on my mark stunners, harry whispered. all of his comrades nodded. now! he� � � � yelled.

they all aimed at the death eaters.

stupefy! harry yelled. the familiar red beam erupted from his wand, but before� � it could reach it s target it was deflected by another red beam. harry�looked from where the other curse was fired.

draco malfoy, flanked by crabbe, goyle, lestrange, nott and the rest of his gangemerged from a street between harry and the death eaters. he was sneeringat harry.

bad luck, potter, he spat at him and the rest of his gang smile heartidly.� �

harry felt a rage like he hadn t before. he put all his anger to one single curse.�

stupefy! he roared.� �

protego! malfoy cried, but the stunner shattered the shielding charm easily and� � hit malfoy in the head. malfoy s turned to red for a while. then he began�shaking and collapsed to the ground. crabbe, goyle and the others were staring at

him in disbelief. then they turned their faces back to harry and pointedtheir wands at him, her faces furious.

knive lestrange started.� ��

argh nott started.� ��

they never finished as about ten stunners hit all of them.

the death eaters at the end of street were distracted by the commotion and wheeledaround. they pointed their wands at harry s group.�



crucio! yelled death eater. harry recognised voice of lucius malfoy from beneath� � the hood. susan bones collapsed to the ground screaming and twitchingon the ground.

kniveous! one of the death eaters yelled. the silver beam hit dennis creevy in� � his stomach. dennis yelped in pain as he collapsed to the ground. he touchedhis wand, which was bleeding heavily and then fainted.

you bastards! stupefy! harry yelled.� �

stupefy! yelled ginny, dean, cho, seamus, lavender and pavarti at once.� �

the death eaters tried to hide behind the building to avoid the stunners. one ofthem was hit in leg with two of them and collapsed.

quickly, hide in that building, harry shouted. and pointed at the nearest house.� � they all nodded and dean took the limp form of dennis creevy while erniemcmillian helped susan bones. harry ran as fast as he could, when lucius malfoyappeared from behind the building.

immobilus!� �

harry couldn t move. he just stuck in the middle of his step. few metres from him,� ginny stood froze, also immobilized. lucius malfoy was walking towardsthem very slowly.

great friends you choose, potter. they abandon you in the middle of the battle.� and look who is this. young ms. weasly well i should enjoy this very much.�crucio!�

ginny collapsed to her knees as malfoy lifted the immobilus curse. she wasshrieking in pain, rolling madly.

stop! harry yelled. take me, leave her!� � � �

don t worry potter, i will take care of you in a moment. but i shall finish with� � this scum first, he turned his face to ginny and lifted the cruciatus�curse. i want you to know one thing before you die. you will meet with your� family very soon.�

what do you mean? ginny sobbed.� �

let s say bellatrix is visiting your house at the moment, malfoy said with a� � � cold sneere.

you lie! ginny yelled at him, but started crying nevertheless.� �

malfoy just snorted as he raised his wand and pointed it at ginny s face.�

harry closed his eyes. he couldn t bare another death of one of the person he� loved most.

avada kedavra!� �

something heavy fell to the ground.

no!! ginny screamed.� �



harry opened his eyes. lying before ginny was a limp form of dean thomas. he wasdead. ginny was cradling his lifeless body.

malfoy was totally distracted by the scene, so he didn t notice ron and seamus� emerging from the building.

finite incantatem! seamus cried, pointing his wand at harry. he felt his body� �

again.

impedimenta! ron yelled pointing his wand at malfoy. he collapsed to the ground,� � struggling.

harry, quickly, come here, ron yelled at him.� �

harry ran to ginny. come on, he urged her. she didn t move, she was just� � � cradling dean s body and sobbing histerically.�

ginny, if you won t move you would make his dead futile, harry said. she ceased� � � sobbing abruptly and raised her head. harry helped her on her feet andsupported her as they went to the house.

look out! ron shouted.� �

harry spun around but was too slow. malfoy was already standing, he broke free ofthe impediment jinx.

expelliarmus! malfoy cried. harry s wand flew from his hand. now, potter, you� � � � shall die. avada kedavra!�

everything seemed to slow down as the green flash was nearing harry. this is it,he thought.

expecto patronum! came the snape s voice and a huge bear appeared before harry.� � �

as the avada kedavra curse struck it, it exploded into thousands piecesof silver vapour. harry turned around. standing not far away from him was noneother than proffesor snape. run, potter! he spat at him.� �

ah, we see where your loayalities are now, severus. lord voldemort will be mostly� pleased. stupefy! malfoy shouted.�

prot snape tried, but the stunner hit him and he collapsed. harry was starting� �� at the scene, unable to move. malfoy moved over to snape and spat at him.then he turned his face back to harry. now, potter, where were we he sneered� �� and pointed his wand at harry again.

avada� ��

a green flash of light appeared out of nowhere and missed malfoy by inches. hespun around. remus lupin was running towards him, his wand drawn. behindhim harry recognised tonks and kingsley catching up.

malfoy got a hold of snape s body and disappeared with loud pop.�

remus harry started, but then his scar erupted in pain again and he fainted.� ��

chapter 26 : the gem of power



hello everyone,i hope you enjoyed last chapter very much. things are going to get quiet for awhile now, but don t worry there will be another action.�

chapter 26: the gem of powerharry jerked his eyes open as he woke up with a start. the images of the battle hefought were still flowing through his head. dementors attacking hermione,zombies feasting on hogwarts students, ginny holding lifeless body of dean and

finally a jet of green light nearing him.

he didn t know where he was and what was the time. he even couldn t understand how� � come he wasn t that- the image of avada kedavra curse nearing him was�the last he remembered. his eyes were foggy because he didn t have his glasses. he� spotted his wand lying on a table on his right. he took it.

accio glasses, he muttered and his glasses zoomed from nowhere to harry s hand.� � � he put them on his face and scanned the room around himself.

he was here and not only once, although he never saw it so crowded. harry waslying in one of the bed of the hospital wing. beds all around him were occupiedby many persons. harry saw draco malfoy lying next to him and his face twisted in

sudden anger. it was all his fault. if he didn t deflect harry s curse,� �lucius malfoy would never know harry was behind him and all could happen indifferent way. dean wouldn t be dead, colin wouldn t be injured and malfoy� �would be captured.

but another voice sounded in back of his dead. no, it s not his fault. you lead� them, remember?

harry shook his head and tried to get rid of that nagging voice. he looked aroundthe rest of the room. several other figures harry recognised lay in thebeds around him. there was susan bones, sleeping and hermione, who was lying alsoasleep. ron was sitting next to her, his hand holding her and he waswhispering something under his breath. next to hermione was ginny, who was asleep

as well.

ginny how can i face you now, harry thought for himself.�

a quite large group stood next to the door to the hospital wing. dumbledore,lupin, madam pomfrey and minerva mcgonagall were talking amongst themselves,when dumbledore suddenly spotted harry was awake. he excused himself and walked toharry s bed very quickly.�

harry was afraid dumbledore would be angry with him. he disobeyed direct orderfrom his teacher and put many of his friends in danger. indeed, dumbledorewas not sporting on of his usual faces. he looked as old as ever, his facesuddenly wrinkled more than harry ever noticed.

harry, are you alright? dumbledore asked him quickly.� �

well, i guess so profess harry started.� � ��

no time to spare, harry, dumbledore interrupted him. can you walk?� � � �

i think so harry muttered taken aback by dumbledore s curtness.� ��

good, i need you to come to my office, straight away. i belive you do know the� password. and take mr. weasley along, please, dumbledore said and marched�



out of the room.

at the sound of ron s name, harry rembered what lucius malfoy said.�

i want you to know something before you die. you ll meet with your family very� � soon. bellatrix is visiting your house at the moment, lucius told ginny.�

harry heart raced suddenly. no, not another weasley, he thought furiously.

he got up and changed into his school robes, which were hanged on a chair next tohis bed very quickly, thinking what he would tell ron. he walked overto where hermione lay and tapped ron on his shoulder slightly. he turned his headvery quickly and harry saw that he was crying again.

what is it, harry? he sobbed.� �

is she going to be o.k.? harry asked as he kneeled next to hermione s bed,� � � taking her other hand on his and rubbing it. it was very cold on touch,

yes, she is sleeping now. we came on time, ron said a note of relief on his� � face.

why are you crying then? he asked him silently.� �

it s the only one thing that s left. she could have died tonight, we all could� � � have died. harry, i heard lucius malfoy speaking about bellatrix he sighed.��harry gulped. they refused to tell me what is going on. do you know something,� harry?�

no harry breathed out. he didn t know how to say this. umm, listen dumbledore� �� wants me to speak with him and you also.� �

a note of fear appeared in ron s face. so it s true then.� � � �

harry took his hand and squeezed it in comforting way. i don t know what does he� � want.�

what other thing than this could be it, ron sighed but he got up nevertheless.� �

they marched to the dumbledore s office in silence. as they appeared in front of� the gargoyle, which was guarding the entrance ron stopped abruptly.

zonko, harry said, his voice shaking slightly. the gargoyle sprang aside and let� � harry and ron inside. they climbed the circular stairs and opened thedoor to the dumbledore s office.�

it looked much alike like the last time. the portraits

of the old headmaster and headmistress were chatting amongst themselves excitedly.when harry entered all of the heads turned to him. they surveyed harry s�face and finally the portrait of headmaster armando dibbet spoke.

i belive the rumours are correct, he said.� �

harry barely nodded. then he felt as something landed on his shoulder. he turnedhis head and saw fawkes, the phoenix sitting on his shoulder. he felt asgreat amount of depression lifted from his body. he stroked it s head and it� started singing. harry could see ron s face grew brighter as the tune sounded.�



the door of the headmaster office opened again and dumbledore, accompanied by mr.and mrs. weasly strode inside the room.

mum, dad! ron yelled happily and ran to them. mrs. weasly hugged him tightly and� � started to cry. mr. weasly patted both his wife and his son and harrycould see a huge tear appeared in his eye.

harry! mrs. weasly cried as she released her son and ran towards harry to hug� �

him as well.

dumbledore was looking at the scene, a bit of the twinkle and the smile on hisface back again.

what happened malfoy s father said ron started.� � � ��

oh, when i ll lay my hand on that bastard mr. weasly muttered angrily, closing� � �� his fists. mrs. weasly took one of her husband s hand and squeezed it�tightly. all of them looked at dumbledore.

as you all surely know, we had one of our spy amongst the voldemort s inner� � circle. i belive that all of you are aware of the fact that this spy was none

other than severus snape. it has been very difficult to make voldemort beliveseverus never betrayed him. thanks to occlumency, severus was able to convincevoldemort a bit, but he never got back his lost trust. in fact, lord voldemortbarely trusted anyone since his downfall and rebirth so it was very difficultto predict his plans, which he shared with no one. that is the reason why tonightevents could happen.�

what do you mean by events? harry asked him� �curiously.

dumbledore sighed and looked very old once again. harry, the attack on hogsmeade� wasn t the only one. there was an attack on hogwarts also and many other� �attacks on muggle-born families and ministry representatives.�

harry and ron stared at him in disbelief. mr. and mrs. weasley merely loweredtheir heads

yes, it s true. the attack on hogsmeade was meant to be only a pure diversion.� � the purpose wasn t only to destroy the village, as much of professors as�possible would come to aid the defences and the castle would be left defenceless.�

so, that s why i haven t seen you in hogsmeade harry breathed out.� � � ��

yes, luckily i was alerted by severus beforehand. severus was assigned as leader� of one of the groups who should do their killing raids amongst the wizardsfamilies all around the britain. when the death eaters got their orders and

departed, severus managed to overpower the rest of his group. unfortunately,one of the death eaters managed to escape and his cover was blown. he flooed tohogwarts immediately and told us about the voldemort s plans providing�us with the names of families which were about to be eradicated. one of the nameswas the weasley s.� �

mr. weasly tightened his hand around his wife and son as dumbledore spoke and whenhe came to the part of the names, mr. weasly sighed.

albus came to burrow just in time. we were just about to floo out when the death� eaters came. if severus wouldn t found out we would all be dead, mr.� �



weasley took the lead.

what about the burrow? ron asked sadly.� �

destroyed the dark mark above the ruins, ms. weasley continued. then she faced� � � harry. which is why we are here. harry, the burrow is destroyed and all�the possession we had is lost. we wanted to ask you if we could err stay at the� grimmald place. just for a while. lupin as the keeper of sirius s possession�

has already approved, but we won t move in until you approve, since the house will� be yours soon mrs. weasley said blushing furiously. harry knew that��the weasley s were very embarrassed about their poverty and he could imagine how� mrs. and mr. weasley felt pleading him.

of course, you can stay as long as you wish, harry said.� �

oh, thank you harry, mrs. weasley breathed and launched herself on harry,� � hugging him tightly. mr. weasley extended his hand and harry shook it. he grinnedat ron and prayed that the weasley s wouldn t find a new house to early. then he� � remembered about the attacks.

what about the other families? he asked dumbledore with a fear in his voice.� �

alas, not everyone was as lucky as the weasley s. we managed to save many life s� � � but harry, neville s longbottom both grandmothers and grandfather are� �dead so is the family of luna lovegood.� �

harry was thinking furiously. the weasley s the lovegood s the longbottom s� � � � � � and than a horrid idea struck him.

sir, what about the granger s?� � �

what? what hermione s family has got to do with this? she is muggle-born, ron� � � exclaimed.

don t you realise?! luna, you, ginny, neville and hermione? voldemort avenges for� � the night at the department of mysteries, harry yelled and faced dumbledore�for conformation.

dumbledore nodded. indeed, you re right harry but don t be afraid, the granger s� � � � � are safe for the moment. very disturbed, but safe nevertheless. wherei finished? ah, yes proffesor snape told me about the prepared attack on hogwarts� and hogsmeade i dispatched lupin to the hogsmeade and severus to alertthe ministry. he was then to stay there, but he went to hogsmeade instead and therest you know.�

harry suddenly remembered about dennis creevy.

sir, what are the causalities? what about dennis creevy, i couldn t see him in� � hospital wing.�

dennis creevy is currently at st. mungo s. he has sustained serious injury by the� � kniveous curse but is out of the danger for now. i would say he oweshis life to young ms. cho. oh, how wonderful healer she would surely became.proffesor sprout received several bites from zombies, but that s nothing which�would a week in st. mungo didn t take care of. alastor moody is at st. mungo as� well, he was under the cruciatus curse for quite a period, dumbledore�said and sighed.



we managed to capture several death eaters before they fled. we also managed to� capture two giant- a giant and a giantess to put it right. one giant waskilled, one managed to flee with the death eaters. we have instated a new prison-kabazan. we devoted the control of the prison to more devoted guards.�

however, we are to face many terrible losses. the hogsmeade village is destroyed.� many aurors and members have died defending hogwarts and the villageof hogsmeade. many villagers died as well. the estimated death toll for hogsmeade

only is at least one hundred people. harry, seven of your fellow studentshave died. proffesor snape disappeared, most probably he was taken captive.�

harry closed his eyes as he tried not to cry. so much death and suffering. a greatsorrow was feasting on his insides and then another emotion came- the�anger. these deaths, now matter how they were sad there were only distraction. allthese people died just to make sure everyone was out of the castle.the only thing harry wanted was to strangle voldemort with his bare hands, tocrush his face with his foot.

molly, arthur, i would like to speak with harry alone, dumbledore said quietly.� �

of course, mrs. weasly said. come on, ron, she dragged disappointed looking� � � �

ron out of the room.

as the door of the office closed behind the weasley s, dumbledore faced harry.�

i can understand what s bothering you, harry. you want to know why are so many� � lives in vain. and i shall tell you that right now, dumbledore said calmly.�

harry raised his head. finally, i will get some answers, he thought. was the� attack on hogwarts about the mysterious gem? harry asked.�

dumbledore put down his glasses and folded them. yes, indeed. voldemort was after� this gem since he knows it was found harry, are you familiar with the�lost continent the atlantis?� �

i have only a vague idea. wasn t it destroyed during some flood or something. but� � that is only a legend harry said confused.��

i assure you, the atlantis existed, dumbledore said calmly. he was silent for a� � moment, thinking about something. harry, those who don t posses the magic� �powers will be always afraid of them. i don t know why this is, but i ca tell you� that on the atlantis it was different. muggles and wizard and witcheslived amongst each other peacefully. that is perhaps the reason for the hightechnological level of those from the atlantis i always said that magic always�comes together with science and the opposite. some archaeologists believe that thepeople from atlantis even managed to contact the life form from anotherplanet, but that is only nonsense. what is certain is that the people from

atlantis were very gifted and peaceful.�

that s fascinating proffesor, but i don t know what is the connection, harry� � � � said already a bit dizzy from the information he absorbed up to now.

patience, harry patience. now, the people from atlantis build a big city. and big� city requires a lot of energy and their scientists spend years on developingthe effective fuels but weren t very successful. and then they found a new mineral� deep under the surface. this mineral was scattered in some sort of cave.it proved to be full of energy and the people started using them. but the feelingof envy is inevitable. soon the demands, were to high and more of the



material was to be found. the people cut very deep, where they found a vein andalso a rout to their doom.�

a plan for efficient mining was to be developed. and who knows, they would might� find some if the demands weren t so high. at the end, they decided to�use the easiest route- some sort of think the muggles call explosives. the vein ofthe material absorbed the energy of the explosion and it energy increasedbeyond the maximum. the vein exploded, causing several earthquakes and other

seismic activity. the whole island was destroyed and it sink, dumbledore�said and paused.

harry was staring at him with expectation.

the mineral was presumed to be lost as well as the atlantis. it would be much� better like this, dumbledore sighed. harry, does a name leonardo machello� �sounds familiar?�

harry shook his head, starting to get annoyed by the history lesson dumbledore wasgiving him. he didn t need another questions, he just needed answers.�

leonardo machello, was one of the greatest alchemist that ever lived and he was�

also my friend. he helped another friend of my mine, nicholas flamel, withthe preparation of the philosopher stone. he died only recently. when i found outabout his age i was very surprised. apparently nicholas was not the onlyone profiting from the properties of the philosopher stone. anyway, harry anothersecrets revealed after his death. alongside with many other things heleft me a very strange parcel. when i touched the parcel, i felt like i was youngagain. as fresh and as full of power as again.�

leonardo machello left his diaries, which revealed many secrets about him.� according to the diary, machello was great descendant of one of the only survivorswho managed to escape from atlantis. only twenty of them survived. they promisedeach other that they would never tell anything about the atlis, that s�what the mineral was called. they all saw the power of atlis and were afraid. all

but for one, which was one of the machello s ancestors. he managed to�save one piece of atlis, thought it might come useful sometimes. and so themachello s family became the keepers of the atlis.� �

machello was very gifted alchemist and decided to make some experiments to� understand the atlis. he came to one conclusion- the atlis gave the bearer extrememagic powers and as far as we know it s the only thing capable making a most� powerful wizard from squib or even a muggle. machello realised how dangerousatlis could be, so he kept the experiments for himself. up to now.�

"so this is how i became the keeper of the atlis. i realized how much danger is inthat gem. iput it into the gringott's where i thought it would be safe.but voldemort has cunning and resourceful spies. he found out about the atlis.it

was no longer save in gringott's so i took it."

harry gazed at dumbledore confused. he was very tired and would change theseinformation for a nice nap in an instant.

harry, the atlis is stored here at hogwarts, dumbledore said.� �

harry stared at dumbledore in disbelief. he suddenly understood why his scar hurtfor the second time- voldemort failed to get the atlis. harry felt suddenpang of rage towards dumbledore. what do you mean? you can t be serious about� � this. it should better be destroyed.�



dumbledore sighed. harry, i have another plans with the atlis.� �

what are those plans? harry asked him calming slightly.� �

alas, i can t tell you that know.� � �

oh, here we go again harry muttered through his� ��

gritted teeth to himself.

harry, i can t tell you this for your own safety. but i promise you, you will� � find out soon. sooner than you think, dumbledore said. now, please i need� �you to return to your dormitory. it s getting late and you should be in your bed� resting. there will be gathering tomorrow during the lunch. until thatdon t leave your dormitory. in fact you wouldn t be allowed to, dumbledore said.� � � now, i have an urgent order meeting to attend, he said and moved over� �to the grate.

he took a pinch of floo powder from the pot on the grate and thrust it into theflames. the flames roared emerald green.

see you tomorrow, harry. and harry... let's keep this between us, right? he said� � and stepped into the grate. grimmald twelve, the noble house of black,� �he said clearly and disappeared.

harry stood up and left the headmaster s office once again angry with dumbledore� for concealing the facts from him. he walked to the common room thinkingabout what dumbledore told him, the attacks, the victims, the atlis. he stillcouldn t think about reasonable reason why to keep it when he reached the�portrait of the fat lady. her eyes were puffy, apparently she was crying.

pass-password? she stuttered.� �

threstral, harry said and the portrait swung open.� �

it was seven o clock and the common room was usually packed with people but� tonight it was almost deserted. neville and lavender sat on one of the coaches.neville was crying, the news about his family disturbed him very much. lavenderhad her head on his shoulder and she was crying as well, holding neville s�arm. ginny was sitting on the sofa, which used to be her and deans s favourite� alone crying. ron and hermione were nowhere to be seen. harry walked overto the sofa where ginny sat.

mind if i sit here? harry asked her, feeling stupid.� �

ginny raised her head and merely shook her shoulders. harry sat. there was a longpause of silence.

ginny, i m sorry about dean harry started.� � ��

ginny started crying again hysterically. harry patted her on her hand slightly.

if i haven t stayed in first place harry muttered.� � ��

oh, no don t you go blaming yourself for what� �happened. you haven t killed dean. it should be i who should feel guilty. and not� only for staying alive.�



what do you mean? harry asked her, feeling he would like to be anywhere in the� � world but here.

i wanted to break up with him. i never loved him, but he was so nice to me after� michael dumped me for cho i felt like using him. and than this happens� ��she breathed during her sobs and then she buried her face in her hand and startedshaking hysterically.

come on, it s going to be o.k harry comforted her.� � ��

oh harry, she wailed and launched herself on him, hugging on him tightly.� � please, i don t want be alone� � ��

i won t leave you, harry said.� � �

she tucked her face under his chin and was crying into his robes. harry felt verysorry for her, but deeply inside he couldn t help to feel excited abou�this.

what is happening to me, he asked himself. instead of answering, he hugged ginnyeven more tightly.

chapter 27 : back at grimmald place

hello everyone,sorry i havent updated sooner i just couldnt get to the computer with internet. ihave got a week of holidays now so you could expect a lot of updates now.:-)

thanks to everyone who reviewed my story, i m really looking forward to cross the� 100 line. so please read and review. thank you

chapter 27: back at grimmald placeas the first rays of sunlight bathed the dark common room in light, harry yawned.

he hadn t slept a minute this night. his eyes were stinging and he felt�very tired, but still he was unable to sleep. at least i won t have any classes� today, it s sunday. then he remembered what happened yesterday. he wouldn t� �have any classes even if it was a weekday.

he looked around himself. the common room was empty only for harry and ginny.lavender and neville went to their dormitories around midnight. harry couldn t�remember seeing anybody else from his house in the common room yesterday. hesighed and lowered his head.

ginny had still her had laid on harry s shoulder, her eyes closed. at first harry� was afraid she might have died too, but then he felt a soft tickle ofher breath on his neck. they had barely talked through the night. ginny had been

crying for a long time before she was tired and fell asleep. despite whathappened, she slept very peacefully.

wish i could have done that, harry thought as he yawned again. harry couldn t fall� asleep for whole night. he was afraid that if he fell asleep dead siriusor dead dean would appear in his dream, blaming harry for their death. he had beenthinking for the whole night. about his parents, sirius, lupin friends-how he brought nothing but doom and misery to them. although ginny didn t blame� him for dean s death, harry couldn t do it himself nevertheless. many times� �he had managed to convince himself that he wasn t the one to blame, it was lord� voldemort, who caused all this pain and misery. but every time he convinced



himself deeply inside a voice would accuse him again. and then there was a newthreat- the atlis�

ginny stirred slightly for the first time since she fell asleep. for some strangereason, harry didn t want her to wake up. there was something very comforting�about felling her weight on his chest and looking at her peaceful sleep. her redhair were ruffled slightly and harry felt an urge to tuck the strain ofher hair behind her ear. he was very curious how it would felt to touch her face�

she stirred again and broke harry s flow of ideas. her eyes cracked open and at� first a note of fear appeared until she realized where she was. she raisedher head and looked straight into harry s eyes. harry couldn t think of anything� � else to do then smile at her. she smiled back slightly, without lettinghim go.

harry felt blushing slightly. it felt different hugging her when she was awake andhe suddenly wished she would straighten up, which she did moments later.she yawned and stretched her arms. then she turned her head back to harry.

thank you for being for me, she whispered.� �

harry gulped. don t mention it, he said, blushing a bit more.� � �

there was an awkward when they were looking ateach other s eyes. it was broken when the portrait door opened suddenly and about� ten house-elves marched inside the room, carrying trays which were loadedwith food. they sat the trays at the table and were just about to leave, when theyspotted harry and ginny looking at them. they stopped in their tracksinstantly and lowered their heads.

we are sorry, sirs, an elf said in squeaky voice, her head lowered. something� � was very strange about the elf and harry suddenly knew why. all of the elveshad a ragged piece of clothes on them a badge with h pinned to their chest. thiself, on the other hand was dressed in tiny blouse and blue skirt. her

clothes were very neat and harry could have sworn she ironed them only a momentago

is that you winky? harry asked curiously.� �

the elf lifted his head and nodded slightly. indeed, sir. i m sorry.� � �

why are apologizing? harry asked.� �

you is not supposed to see elf working. a mark of good elf is to work unnoticed,� � winky said.

but i saw you in the kitchen and you didn t mind.� � �

that is different, sir. you is in the kitchen where you is not supposed to be. we� do not care when you not care.�

harry smiled slightly. apology accepted. how are you anyway?� �

winky is accustomed to the clothes and freedom, now sir and she is happy again,� � she said with a smile. all the other elves looked at her in disgust. winky�must go, there is work to be done. can winky do something for you, sir?�

harry shook his head.



and for the young lady, she asked and turned her head to ginny.� �

no thank you, winky. your name is winky, isn t it? ginny said.� � �

winky nodded and she and the rest of elves disappeared quickly.

harry and ginny faced each other and grinned very slightly. she then got up from

the sofa. i m sorry harry, i must go to the bathroom, i can imagine how� �do i look, and she disappeared very quickly.�

harry realized how starved he felt when the smell of just made toasts and eggs witbacon hit his nose. he got up and loaded his plate with food, wonderingwhy they had their breakfast in the common room. as he sat at the table, theportrait door opened and proffesor lupin strode inside, followed by ron andhermione.

harry abandoned his food very quickly and ran to meet them. lupin had blackcircles under his eyes, apparently he was awake for whole night. hermione lookedperfectly normal again and ron was eyeing the food on the table excitedly.

hermione, are you alright? he yelled at her happily as he hugged her tightly.� � hermione, looking taken aback hugged him back.

yes, i m, she muttered as he released her.� � �

and you remus? harry asked him.� �

hermione looked offended as harry called remushis first name, the sign she was alright again.

yeah, harry i m alright, lupin breathed out and patted harry on his arm. i see� � � � the elves were already here.�

yeah why do we have to eat here? harry asked curiously.� � �

because you can t leave the common room. don t even think about it, the portrait� � � was magiced to let in none but a proffesor. we will gather you for thelunch in the great hall, where dumbledore would make an announcement.�

what announcement? harry asked.� �

be patient, harry. i m sorry i must go now he have another order meeting, lupin� � � said and left the common room very quickly.

harry, ron and hermione sat at the table and started to eat their breakfast,talking silently about what happened. harry noticed that ron took hermione s�

hand, when she was telling them about the encounter with dementors. hermionedidn t flinch and harry was almost sure she squeezed it slightly.�

have have you guys made it up finally? harry� � �blurted out very quickly, taking them both unprepared.

well, we had a long talk in the hospital wing and we kind of sorted our things� � out, hermione said after a long embarrassing silence. she squeezed ron s� �hand again. harry, i hope you wouldn t mind err if we two spend a little more� � � � time together then we used to, she said, blushing furiously.�



harry merely smiled. he needed some reason to feel happy in this time. hermioneand ron were staring at him quizzically.

of course, i don t mind. i m happy you both came to your senses, harry said with� � � � a grin. they grinned back at him.

*****

they spent rest of the morning trying to cheer up ginny, who was once againdepressed. harry would have give up anything he possessed to make the youngestweasley smile again, but it was hopeless.

the common room started to fill up with students. the mood in the common roomcould be sliced by knife. gone were the usual chatter and laugh, sad talksand sorrow replaced them. neville came to common room looking gloomy as harry eversaw him. harry got up and walked over to him.

neville, i m sorry about what happened, harry said, offering neville his hand.� � �

neville shook it reluctantly. thank you, harry, he said and walked over to� � lavender.

as it was nearing lunchtime, the portrait door opened and proffesor mcgonagallstrode inside. she was looking very tired.

students, please move down to great hall, please, she said and went away.� �

they all went downstairs, talking amongst themselves about the announcementdumbledore would make. when harry entered great hall, all the other houses werealready there. dumbledore was sitting at the teacher table, talking to proffesorlupin.

harry suddenly lost his appetite when he felt the atmosphere. even ron seemed tolack his taste suddenly, as he was eating slowly. all of the students were

waiting for dumbledore s speech and harry could remember only when time when the� great hall was so restless- during the triwizard tournament when the gobletof fire was about to reveal the champions for each school.

dumbledore noticed the atmosphere and got up.

dear students, dear professors, i regret i ever have to said this, but we are� facing the darkest time ever. never did a single person threaten the lifeof all of us so much. yesterday, lord voldemort has shown us what is he and hisarmy of death eaters are capable of, dumbledore started. many students�gasped, when voldemort s name was said. i regret to tell you that lord voldemort� � is more powerful then ever before. you may have noticed that the dementorsand giants fought on voldemort s side. the azkaban prison has fallen and the�

guards joined voldemort. he had also made a truce with giants. but don t worry�dear friends, there s always a hope.� �

harry looked around the room. all of the students were staring at dumbledore indisbelief and were muttering among themselves darkly.

we lost many of our beloved people yesterday- mothers, fathers, brothers,� sisters, lovers, friends and many more. today, let us honour those who fell andnever let them be forgotten, dumbledore said and raised his goblet. everyone took� the lead.



harry looked over at slytherin table to look what was malfoy doing, but he wasn t� there. apparently he was still in the hospital wing.

let s make a toast to those who we lost, dumbledore said and drank from his� � � goblet. all of the students did as dumbledore. nearly everyone was crying,the attacks affected everybody somehow.

luna was gazing into the wall, she seemed her usual lost state, but harry could

see there were tears in her eyes. neville and lavender were holding eachother s hand and were crying together. harry looked to his right, where ginny� stood. she fought the tears bravely but gave up very soon. harry felt urgeto sooth her up, to hug her but it was pavarti who did this.

you will all be given a week to attend to burial services. every student will go� home, while the professors will install new security charms. the hogwartsexpress will arrive in the afternoon, but you can use other safe transport, flooor knight bus. those who still require medical in the hospital wing willbe transferred to st. mungo hospital in london. all students should arrive nextsunday, when the hogwarts express will be dispatched. i hope all of uswill use this week of undesired holiday to grieve enough and we return fresh tonew things to learn and to live.�

dumbledore was talking for another ten minutes about the transport. harry washorrified about the idea. home, it couldn t mean the dursleys, could it. harry�saw proffesor lupin striding to him and he gulped.

i don t want to go to dursleys, harry blurted out as soon as lupin closed in.� � �

lupin cracked a smile grin. you re not. you will go to grimmald place, it s safer� � � down there now. ron, ginny, your parents have already moved in. hermione,you ll go to grimmald place as well, your parents are there also.� �

harry completely forgot about hermione s parents, but she merely nodded,� apparently lupin already told her about the other attacks.

o.k., get your things packed, i will meet you at five here in the great hall. i� will accompany you to the order headquarters, we ll travel by floo, lupin� �said and went back to dumbledore.

harry and the other looked at each other and then they went back to theirdormitories. it felt very odd for harry to go away so soon. when they packed theirthings, they met in common room and went back to the great hall, when studentswere already departing by a large grate. professor mcgonagall and professorflitwick were organising the transport, handing every student a pinch of floopowder.

proffesor lupin was already standing by the grate, waiting for them. he smiled

weakly as they approached. harry moved over to a grate, where proffesor flitwickhanded him a pinch of glittering powder. he moved to the grate, dropped thepowder.

grimmald twelve, the headquarters of the order of phoenix, he yelled loudly and� � clearly and with a bang he was gone.

*****

he appeared in the entrance hall of the grimmald place, expecting to see darkroom, which would still reflect the previous owners of the place and hear



angry shouts from ms. black s portrait. he was very surprised to see the entrance� hall painted in nice warm paint. the serpents and the heads of the elvesimpaled upon the wooden splint were gone, instead many statues of lions andphoenixes could be seen around the room. the portrait of ms. black was goneas well.

harry potter, sir, dobby is so happy to see you again. is harry potter wanting� something to eat, drink? dobby squealed excitedly as he appeared from kitchen.�

dobby, how many times do i have to tell you that i m not your master? harry� � � started but dobby shook his head.

harry potter freed dobby and dobby can do what he wants and he wants harry� potter, he needs loyal servant dobby squeaked, but suddenly the grate erupted��with green flames again.

listen you should go, if hermione knew this harry urged and the elf vanished� �� immediately.

the green flames disappeared and hermione steep from the grate, brushing ashes offher robes. she looked around the room unbelievably. well, there s been� �

lot done here, she muttered to herself.�

the door of the kitchen opened and mr. and mrs. weasley emerged, followed by mr.and mrs. granger.

mum, dad, hermione yelled, all her dignity forgotten as she launched herself on� � them. i ve been so worried, she said, sobbing.� � �

the emerald flames shone again and this time ginny and ron appeared. ginny ranover to her parents immediately.

harry and ron observed the scene and smiled slightly as they looked at each other.the grate shone green again and lupin emerged from it.

ah, it s nicely quiet here without that hag, he said with a smile.� � �

why don t you get your things to your rooms and then you can come back downstairs� � from some dinner, ms. weasly said as she released ginny.�

harry and the others dragged their luggage upstairs to their rooms. when harryentered his room, he couldn t belive his eyes. the room was repainted as�well and the polished furniture looked brand new. the windows were cleaned fromthe layer of dirt which were still there last time. although the view wasn t�very spectacular, there were old buildings and dirty streets only, it gave theroom at least some light. harry and ron unpacked their trunks and went downstairs.

hermione was already sitting at the table, talking to hermione s parents. ms.� granger looked very sick and mr. granger was holding her hand in his. harrycould imagine what were they talking about. they stood next to them awkwardly.

hello, let me introduce you mother, father these are ron weasley and harry� � potter, hermione said.�

mr. granger has raised on his feet and extended his hand. harry and ron both shookit. hermione just told us what happened to her in the village of hogsmeade.�i wanted to tell you how we are grateful you saved her, mr. granger said and ms.� granger nodded. harry and ron both blushed before they sat.



but mum what happened to you? hermione asked her curiously.� �

ms. granger sighed. well, we had a lunch with your�father when an old man suddenly appeared in our kitchen with a loud pop. he toldus that he was alastor moody, member of the order of phoenix. i didn t�understand the half he talked about but i understood one think- we were in greatdanger. we didn t belive him until another wizards appeared and attacked�

the old man. he shot some red stuff from his wand and they all collapsed to theground. this convinced us enough.�

yes and then he withdrew an old hat and told us it was portdoor, or something,� � mr. granger continued.

it is portkey, mr. weasly, who sat at the table corrected her.� �

but what are you going to do? what about your ordination? hermione asked them� � worriedly. both mr. and ms. granger were dentist.

we don t know, what will happen next. dumbledore told us to stay low for a while� � and then we ll see, mr. granger said.� �

hope you get used to us, it could take a long time, mr. weasley muttered matter-� �of-factly.

mr. granger smiled. it s not that bad, i just can t believe i will miss another� � � episode of stargate, he said with a sigh.�

and another jerry springer show, ms. granger added.� �

ron and mr. weasley shot them confused look, harry merely grinned slightly.

they chatted about various other things as more and more people joined the at thetable. tonks and moody appeared as well and when the meal started there

were about twenty-five people at the table.

don t really know how would i make it without that elf, ms. weasly muttered too� � � close to hermione as she appeared with the huge pot of goulash. fred andgeorge appeared behind her, carrying five loafs of bread and large bowl of salad.george grinned at harry as they set the food on the table and harry madea mental note to himself to not take any food the twins brought in.

few moments later as they began to eat, dobby appeared with a large flagon with atray of various drinks- butterbeer, pumpkin juice and wine. hermione flashedharry cold look when dobby called him master.

the dinner went for a long time and when harry and the others went to bed later

the evening, he felt that the last this weekend was just a bad nightmare.

*****

the time at the grimmald place passed very quickly. the adults seemed to make itfor harry and his friends as enjoyable as the could, but harry could feelthe tension they really felt. the order meetings were very common, and two meets aday wasn t an exception. harry recognised many faces amongst the people�from the order- tonks, moody, proffesor mcgonagall, proffesor dumbledore, lupinand many others. many ministry representatives and aurors came as well.harry and his friends were still forbidden to attend the meetings and he could



only guess what were they talking about.

ron and hermione spent most of the time alone or with their parents so harry hadnone but ginny to hang out with. unfortunately, she was still grievingso harry spent most of his free time walking around the house or reading the bookshe got from his friends through the six years.

one time they all travelled to diagon alley. they

travelled by floo to leaky cauldron and spent the whole day walking around theshops. harry couldn t remember to see the diagon alley so deserted. harry�remembered as was the diagon alley crowded during his first five years, now afterthe attacks they met barely twenty people.

how come the shops won t bankrupt? harry asked lupin, who volunteered to look� � � after them. lupin devoted much of his time to the order and harry was sadhe didn t have a chance of spending time with his guardian, so he was glad for� every moment they shared.

most of the wizards send their orders by owl mail, hardly anyone wants to stick� his head out this time, lupin muttered darkly.�

it was nearing evening and harry and the others had one last stop to make-weasley s wizard wheezes.�

when harry stepped inside the premises fred and george hired he was amazed by thesize of it. there were many shelves, piled up with all jokes harry couldremember. there were canary tarts, invisibility hats, fanged frisbees, ink thatchanged colours each second, so it made harry dizzy when he looked at itfor a long time, portable swamps, weasley s famous�fireworks, which made umbridge so mad, fake wands and much more.

how, it s going? harry asked fred and george at the counter as he placed his� � � loads of jokes to pay.

bad, voldemort will ruin our business, fred said without a trace of grin.� �

oh, my brother, you are making a camel from mosquito. it s not that bad, we saved� � a lot, but it s true that the sells declined a lot since the attack,� �george said gloomily.

well, i m going to raise it for sure, harry said with a small grin as he reached� � � for his money.

no way, you re not going to pay for that, george said.� � �

are you shitting me? i won t take this for free, he said as he looked at his� � � large pile of jokes. he really didn t want any of these, because he lost�

his taste for jokes recently, he just wanted to show fred and george he didn t� forget about them.

no, you it s you who made this real. pity nobody cares anymore, fred muttered� � � darkly.

fred, don t be so pessimistic, george said, but fred had already gone to the� � � back of the store.

harry shot george confused look. i m sorry, harry. it s just fred had been going� � � � out with angelina even after the school, they spent two weeks on holiday



together. angelina s father was some sort of representative of ministry of magic� in america. the death eaters killed whole his family, even angelina yesterday�well i ll better go after him, he said and left the counter as well.� �

harry and the others left the store quietly, harry leaving five galleons on thecounter.

chapter 28 : henrietta susan sered

as i promised, the last chappie was yesterday. :-)

chapter 28: henrietta susan seredharry felt very relieved when he and the others faced the grate of the grimmaldplace on sunday morning. although the house looked nice now, there werestill too much things that reminded him of sirius. on thursday night he bumpedinto another inhabitant of the house which he expected to never see againbuckbeak, the hippogryph. he was still in mrs. black bedroom, which was nowfurnished to suit him. harry had spent many time with him since then, becausehe was the only one to make him company. ron and hermione were enjoying their newstate of relationship and ginny was always locked in her room alone.harry felt angry about the situation and was expecting the return to hogwarts

eagerly, naively hoping everything would return to it s own tracks. but deep�inside he knew the things have changed forever since the battle in hogsmeade.

hogwarts great hall, he yelled aloud as he dropped a pinch of floo powder under� � him. the fire shone emerald green and harry disappeared. he was now accustomedto the floo travelling, although he still didn t approve it. he appeared in the� great hall after few moments of roller-coaster ride. proffesor dumbledoreand lupin were expecting him

nice to see you back, harry, dumbledore welcomed him with a smile.� �

thank you sir, he replied.� �

the flames roared again and hermione and ron appeared. dumbledore smiled at themalso, before he turned back to harry.

harry, i need you all for tonight s dinner. i have new restrictions and one new� � teacher to announce, dumbledore said.�

for snape? harry asked with a pang of guilt. if snape wouldn t save him, he� � � would be dead. it was his fault that snape was somewhere being tortured. thenhe remembered how snape treated him for five he knew him and his guiltdisappeared.

yes, indeed now, excuse me harry, dumbledore said quickly and disappeared.� � �

i ve got your new house passwords for you, lupin said as he came forward.� � �

what the password has changed? ron asked� � �him.

yeah, new security precaution. the password will be changed once a week.� �

with that the flames shone green again and ginny appeared from the grate.

what kept you? ron asked her curious.� �



mum, ginny said gloomily. apparently she wasn t very happy about being back at� � � hogwarts.

they all faced lupin again. the new password is butterbeer now you better go,� � we re expecting another group.� �

poor neville, this is going to be nightmare for him, ron said with a grin as� � they left the great hall and went to their dormitories, levitating their

trunks in front of them.

*****

the great hall began to fill up with students later that day for their dinner.harry could see that there were less students then normal. either they werestill at st. mungo or their parents didn t let them come back. harry couldn t� � understand this, surely it was much safer at hogwarts than any other place.he was glad that everyone form the da was amongst those who returned. neville andlavender joined harry and the others.

what will be the new restrictions you think? neville asked after they talked for� � a while about their undesired holiday. he looked very much calmer than

last time harry saw him.

i don t know, i m more curious about the new teacher, harry said.� � � �

neville and lavender looked at him curiously. new teacher? they asked in unison.� � harry told them what dumbledore said to him.

the food appeared moments later and they began to eat. however, harry was so fullof delicious feasts mrs. weasley prepared them and finished his dinnerfirst in the hall and glancing over the teachers table. there was a new figuresitting next to lupin, but harry couldn t see his face, because the person�was still eating.

more and more students finished their dinner and popped their head up to listen todumbledore s speech. as all of them finally finished their meals dumbledore�clapped his hands and the plates vanished. he cleared his throat.

welcome back, my dear students. i hope you used well your week worth of holidays� and you are all eagerly awaiting your classes. while you were out manynew protective spells were put on the hogwarts castle and it s surroundings.� although i would say we are safe now, i ask all of you to fulfil our newrestrictions.it is with great peril that i announce that all outdoor activities and classessuch as care of magical creatures and herbology are cancelled until furthernotice. they will be reinstated as soon as we manage to transfer them inside thecastle. i m afraid i have to deprive you of another think- the quiditch.�

it will be cancelled as well.�

the final statement caused an instant uproar in the great hall. the studentsstarted muttering among each other or groaning in disappointment. harry groanedas well, the quiditch was one of the thinks he liked most on hogwarts.

on the other hand, i m pleased and honoured to introduce new teacher amongst our� � ranks. please everybody give a loud applause for ms. henrietta sered.�

harry was surprised when he found out that his new teacher was actually woman andwas even more surprised when she raised her head and beamed at the students.



by her name harry would imagine her as some old fraud, but from under the hat, twoyoung twinkling eyes surveyed the students and when they stopped onharry she gave him a tiny wink. harry couldn t understand why he merely grinned� nervously.

the momentarily silence was followed by polite applause, which ceased nearlyimmediately. harry could see that remus lupin ceased the applause as the lastone and one was eyeing proffesor sered not only with professional look. the

students began to mutter amongst themselves, shooting glances at the new teacher.harry looked next to him and found out that hermione was looking over the teachertable with excitement in her eyes.

do you know her hermione? harry asked her curiously.� �

hermione gave him a patronising look. of course i know her, she is legend! i just� thought well, but dumbledore was always a bit strange about the staff� ��hermione muttered to herself.

both harry and ron shot each other quizzical look and shook their heads.

i assure you that ms. sered is one of the most gifted person in her subject,�

which is potion. many of you have maybe noticed that there is one teachermissing. it is with great pain that i have to say that severus snape was capturedby the death eaters and his whereabouts are currently unknown. ms. seredwill continue with potion classes until proffesor snape is found, dumbledore� continued his speech. i hope you will welcome your new proffesor heartedly�and i expect nothing but good manners from all of you. now everyone, please returnto your dormitories. prefects, head boy and head girl, i would liketo call a meeting now, dumbledore said and got up.�

the students took the lead and they dissolved slowly. when they reached the commonroom, harry took a seat on the armchair which was nearest the portraitdoor-he would wait for hermione. he wanted to know more about henrietta sered.seamus took a seat next to him and engaged him in conversation. harry felt

sorry for seamus- dean was his best friend.

the portrait door opened after an hour or so and hermione and ron stepped insidethe common room, both looking gloom. harry motioned to them and they tooka seat next to him.

bloody hell, they prolonged the prefects patrols up to two a.m. and we are going� to have the first round with the hufflepuffs, ron groaned.�

harry ignored him and faced hermione as she sat. hermione, what do you know about� proffesor sered? he asked her. ron was quite taken aback by harry s� �behaviour but leaned to listen nevertheless.

oh, harry you don t really know? even the muggle-borns know the story, hermione� � � scowled.

i m wizard and i don t know her either, ron piped up.� � � �

hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. henrietta sered is an icon amongst the� potion. she made her first functioning polyjuice potion when she was eightyears.�

well, you made the polyjuice potion when you were twelve, what s the big deal?� � � ron inquired, but shut up at look hermione gave him.



from what i read, she was very gifted but very energic as well. although her� study results and exams were exceptional she always had problems with behaviour.that s why she didn t make a head girl. she was in gryffindor and graduated the� � same year as your father, harry, hermione continued.�

harry s body was suddenly filled with excitement. maybe she knew his father well.� he nodded to give hermione sign to continue.

she was on her best way to develop a very successful career. but her boyfriend� died suddenly, some sort of accident. she disappeared and nobody knew whereshe went. that happened a year after school, even before voldemort was powerfulenough to present himself. she was gone for nearly twenty years and everybodythought she just commit suicide or something. and then she appeared suddenly atthe ministry of magic suddenly last year.�

what was she doing there?� �

hermione gulped uneasily. harry, do you�remember the veil sirius fell through?�

harry was taken aback by her question and felt furious suddenly. why was shetalking about that?

i did some research on it during the holiday to find if i could err bring� � � sirius back.�

hermione i don t see a connection between her and the veil, harry spat at her� � � angrily.

harry, she was found next to the veil, hermione breathed out. ron and harry� � looked at her in disbelief, their mouth wide open.

guys, what are talking about? seamus asked nervously. they all ignored him.� �

and? harry asked eagerly.� �

and? that s all she never told none where she was for those nearly twenty years.� � � either she doesn t remember or she wouldn t tell. everybody thought she� �was insane, she was muttering and screaming in her sleep speaking in some unknownlanguage she spent quite a long time at st. mungo. that s it. but one� �think is certain-wherever she was there is something wrong with the time.�

what do you mean? harry asked curiously.� �

you ll see tomorrow, hermione chuckled.� � �

i ve got to talk to her, harry said. the mention of the veil made him eager.� � � maybe she knows what s behind it i want to know her more.� � �

you will, mate. you have potions tomorrow, remember, ron said.� �

harry was actually thinking about going to see her right now, but that would havebeen very odd. he decide to wait up to tomorrow.

*****

harry would never admit that he was looking forward to the double period of



potions but he felt that as he sat in the dungeon classroom next morning. theprevious lesson, the defence against the dark arts went very slow today, even itwas harry s favourite subject. he just couldn t concentrate.� �

when he entered the classroom he met with evil glare from none other but dracomalfoy. apparently he just returned, because harry couldn t recall him seeing�at the dinner last night. harry merely grinned sarcastically at him.

looking forward to our new teacher. malfoy? well, if she will mark you the same� as sprout did i can t wait.� �

malfoy kept his glare for a while, then he changed some words with crabbe andgoyle.

harry, calm down, hermione told him as they sat. i think you might burst when� � � she comes, she chuckled.�

harry shot her an annoyed look. how would you felt when you would find out thatperson who you thought dead could be saved. hermione looked taken abackby his reaction and didn t push the subject.�

as it was time of lesson, the door to the classroom opened and proffesor seredmarched inside, closing the door behind herself. as she stepped in frontof the class nearly all of the students gasped with surprise, mainly boys.

hermione was right when she told harry there was something wrong about the timewherever she was. in fact, it looked like no time has passed. she lookedlike she just graduated from the school. she was very tall with perfect sportyfigure. her face resembled to fleur delacour, one of the champions fromthe triwizard tournament. she had very long blonde hair with one ginny weasly redstripe, which shone so much in dimly lit dungeon that harry would promisethat would make him blind on sunshine. but the thing which he noticed first wereher eyes. one was emerald green, much as harry s and the second one was�deep blue. she smiled at the class, showing them her white teeth.

hello everyone, my name is henrietta sered, now don t laugh at the name i still� � hate mate parents for ruining my life with that, she said with a grin.�few students laughed at the comment. she suddenly made a bubble from a gum she waschewing which exploded with a loud bang.

oops, sorry, she muttered. harry cracked a grin. he recognised the bubble gum as� � the exploding bubbles gum, a product made by george and fred weasley.hermione on the other hand looked scandalized.

so, shall we begin? i was told that this class holds many talented students and� � you have covered various potions up to now hmm. who is draco malfoy?� �she asked. malfoy raised his hand slightly. alright, draco could you� ��

i would prefer you calling me mr. malfoy, malfoy said with a sneer.� �

henrietta looked taken aback by the comment at first, but then she merely smiled.as you wish, mister malfoy. now, when we ve been introduced, could you� �tell me what are the ingredients of sobering potion?�

the sneer on malfoy s face disappeared instantly.�

ah, mister malfoy doesn t know, henrietta said sarcastically. could someone� � � � other tell me? you? she asked pointing her finger at hermione. hermione�



broke into a long speech, talking about from the ingredients and their purposes tothe preparation of the potion itself.

excellent. twenty points to gryffindor, henrietta cried excitedly. your name is� � � hermione granger, isn t it? i was really looking forward to meet you.�proffesor dumbledore said you are very gifted student.�

hermione blushed slightly.

enough of revise, now we shall proceed with your classes. today s work- the anime� � potion. it will turn you to an animal you desire to be. unfortunatelynot for a very long time, those are animagus. this potion is very difficult, but ihave a confidence in every single of you, she said as he surveyed the�class. when she stopped at harry she gave him a little wink.

the classes were very interesting. it was obvious that henrietta knew as much assnape did and was much more kinder. harry couldn t wait for the class to�finish, he wanted to know his new proffesor more. as he went to the teacher s� desk, his vial filled of content which looked very similar to hermione hegave her a tiny smile.

you are harry potter, aren t you? could you stay behind for a while after the� � classes, she asked with a smile as he laid the vial on her desk. he nodded�and returned to his desk and packed his things. the class began to dissolve ashenrietta dismissed them and when harry was the only one left behind heapproached the teacher s table.�

professor henrietta laid down her quill and looked at him. harry felt blushing abit as her eyes penetrated his.

my god, you look just like your father, she said with a sigh. except for the� � � eyes of course.�

harry didn t know what to say and where to begin.�

prof he started, but she silenced him raising her arm.� ��

you can quit the formalities when there is no one to hear, she said with a wink.� � and please, don t call me henrietta, i hate that. call me suzie that s� � � �my middle name. henrietta susan sered, oh what a pitiful name, she said with a� sarcastic sigh.

suzie, you knew my parents? harry asked her the most obvious question.� �

she glanced at her watch. i m afraid i don t have time for such a long story,� � � we ll have to postpone this later. but there was one thing i wanted to talk�with you about dumbledore told me that you were the leader of some sort of�

duelling club. i was wondering if i could drop by sometimes.�

yes, you can but if it s about supervising, proffesor lupin drops sometime,� � dumbledore knows that. he just hasn t got enough time now.� �

nah, i don t want to supervise. i think you would beat me with your right hand� � tied behind your back. you know i wasn t in contact with the magical world�until recently and i lost my wand somewhere. i got my new one from ollivander s� few days ago i m not quite accustomed to it. maybe you and your friends�could teach me few tricks? she asked him.�



harry felt very odd. him teaching a professor?

if you don t want, i will understand, she said gloomily.� � �

no, it s not like this, harry breathed out. i m just not accustomed to� � � � � instructing professors.�

don t worry, i am quite used to be the one yelled at, she chuckled.� � �

o.k. then, tuesdays are the regular session days. you don t know where is the� � room of requirements, do you?�

she nodded and smiled. harry was getting quite accustomed to old crowd knowing theplace, it was clearly very popular that time.

seven o clock, right? he said.� � �

i ll be there.� � �

chapter 29 : settling new routine

hi,seems i lost many of my readers. :-(well it doesn t mind, next chapter would be posted as soon as i can i promise.�

chapter 29: settling new routine

the only think which kept harry out of boredom was preparing for the upcoming dameeting. due to the new restrictions the herbology and care of magicalcreatures classes were cancelled and the charms and defence against the dark arts,which harry adored most weren t satisfying him neither. he spend nearly�whole day in the common room flicking through the various books on defence lupingave him. he wanted to make a good impression on proffesor sered.

there was nearly no one but him in the common room. during the day, many studentsused to hang out in hogwarts grounds. now, when the leaving of castlewas restricted, many new clubs were founded. many of the students hanged out inlibrary, which was now packed with people to the annoyance of hermione.ron spend his time with hermione in the library. harry couldn t help to smile.� there was no other think you could do in library and harry could imaginehow much ron enjoyed this, but he knew a bit of revise wouldn t hurt him.�

he was just practising the binding charm on colin creevy (dennis was still at st.mungo), who eagerly volunteered to be the target, when hedwig suddenlytapped on the window. harry went to the window and opened it, leaving colin inropes twitching on the floor. as he unrolled the parchment he recognisedthe writing immediately. he sat in one of the armchair, ignoring the colin s�

pleads and began reading.

dear harry,i finally scarp some time for resuming our mind classes.tomorrow, seven o clock, transfiguration classroom.�

hope you are well,dumbledore

diffendo, came the voice of ginny who cut the ropes on colin. what did you get� � � harry? she said as she helped colin on his feet. colin rubbed his hands�



and shot harry hurt expression.

nothing important, he said and tossed the letter to the fire. he didn t want to� � � anyone other know that.

fine, don t talk to me, she snapped and went back to her dormitory.� � �

it s you who isn t talking to me, harry said with a sigh. they never talked to� � � �

each other since the night of dean s death. then he turned his attention�back to colin. he was eyeing him strangely. o.k., your turn� ��

*****

harry had nothing to do after the dinner so he went to the room of requirementsalone. it was half past six and harry thought nobody would be there, buthe was wrong. when he entered the room a loud pop announced that there was alreadysomeone in the room. henrietta sered was sitting on a sofa, a book onher lap. she blew another bubble which exploded with particular loud bang. harrycouldn t understand how she could concentrate on the reading with so much�rocket.

she raised her head and smiled at him. he returned the smile nervously, closingthe door after himself.

i thought none would be here, harry said nervously.� �

obviously, she said returning to her book.� �

harry sat on an armchair next to the sofa, looking at her. he didn t understand� why she made him so nervous. it was unbelievable how it was hard to picka good conversation topic with person you hardly knew.

she raised her head. why do you look at me like that, harry? she asked him� � searching him with her different coloured eyes.

oh, it s nothing, he blushed. think of a topic, now. err why are your eyes� � � � � different colours? oh you are so stupid, he thought for himself.�

henrietta smiled at him. funny you mention these, i wouldn t have those eyes and� � this hair, she touched the stripe of red hair, if i hadn t met your� �� mother.�

harry first didn t know what she meant, but then he remembered what hermione told� him. it was really hard to believe that this girl was nearly thrice olderas harry was. hermione said that she graduated in the same year as his parents andhenrietta was probably his mother s friend. he looked at her excited.�

what happened? he asked curiously.� �

oh, no it s a long story, you wouldn t care about that, she said with a wave of� � � � her hand and pretended that she returned to her book.

oh, come on prof suzie, what happened? harry asked with a groan.� � �

henrietta gave him a smile and closed her book. well it was in ours seven year.� your mother and i, we were the best friends since the first year. we satin the same desk for whole seven years, attending the same classes. i met her onhogwarts express. god, i remember how she was terrified and nervous. i



understood her- muggle-born just entering a world she would never thought about,only in her dreams. so i sat with her and we became friends immediately.�

one would say we were inseparable- she always calmed me down and i was the one� who stood up by her at any trouble. she was very shy and not very self-confident.�

harry frowned. he could remember seeing his mother in pensieve, how she stood upfor snape. but the others told me something else. i remember err lupin� �

told about her a lot, he said not looking into her eyes.�

oh yes she was like that since the fifth year. i was so afraid she might forget� about me. so many new friends appeared by her side, so many boys she was�so popular, she said with a sigh and fell silent.�

but what about you? you weren t? harry asked her awkwardly.� � �

henrietta raised her shoulders. i don t know, people were afraid of me. they� � thought i was some kind of freak always buried in a book or thinking some�new prank they were afraid of me, only lilly wasn t, she said. and then we met� � � � with maradauers. we knew them of course, being from the same house, butnever talked to them. lilly thought they were so cocky, especially james, your

father. and let s face it- he really was, she said with a grin.� �

harry grinned back at her.

oh, how he could make her angry. i remember one incident. it was in our fifth� year, just after our defence against the dark arts o.w.l. exam. we were enjoyingthe free time before another exam by the great lake, when we heard your father andhis sidekicks laughing and when lilly saw they were tormenting snapeshe ran to them and actually yelled at james to not be such show-off. he had athing for lilly, everyone knew that although he tried to keep it secret.but she wouldn t notice him, she grinned again.� �

and the in sixth year we, lilly and i, were walking around the grounds after our�

final exams. we were just chatting, the girl stuff you know, when suddenlya group of slytherins appeared. they were lead by snape. he yelled taunted us,mudblood and freak you now. we tried to ignore him, but then he and his�gang put us into full-body bind and were enjoying themselves. can you believe it?your mother stood up to him and he did this? she said with a shook of�her head. her eyes were sparkling with anger as she recalled this.

and then the maradauers appeared. they were outnumbered by two to one, but� managed to defeat the slytherins nevertheless. and that s how we became friends.�we spent the rest of the school year hanging around with them and began to knoweach other better. finally, in the seventh year, lilly and harry solvedtheir differences and made it up.�

suddenly harry remembered the photo he had seen in grimmald place. there were themaradauers, after the n.e.w.t. s all looking triumphant and sirius was�hugging a girl harry was definitely sure it was henrietta.�

and you were going out with sirius, weren t you? he blurted out.� � �

she looked at him, surprised. after a while she spoke. yes, we had an episode.� but it didn t last long. after school we got separated and i met a new� �boy, she said softly. and then he died. i was crushed. lilly tried to support� � me, but none could. so i err travelled a lot. and than i lost two of my�best friend that fateful night, she started but stopped abruptly as if she said�



something she didn t want.�

lupin told you about my parents? harry asked her softly.� �

yeah, it was lupin, she blurted out quickly. harry felt she wasn t completely� � � honest with him. a huge tear appeared in her green eye.

harry would hit himself in forehead. did you really need to remind her that?

to prevent his proffesor from crying he asked her another question. you still� didn t tell me about your eyes? he said hoping it would calm her down.� �

she smiled bitterly. oh, yes well, your mother was excellent students, but there� � was one problem- she got really nervous during the exams, especiallywith potions. she could hardly conduct a simplest potion under the eyes ofexaminer. the potion master, that time it was mr. sniley was very kind andunderstoodthe problem. he didn t make a great fuss during the exams. however, during� o.w.l. s she would meet an examiner she didn t know. now we desperately tried� �to make it better. we revised and revised but it was for nothing.�

a desperate situation needs a desperate solution. so i made a quick polyjuice� potion and pretended to be your mother, she chuckled as she remembered.�the polyjuice potion requires a long time to make and is very hard and i sort� hastened the process in the end, the polyjuice potion worked, but left�me lilly s eye and a stripe of her hair, she said as she touched her hair again.� �

there was no way you could restore that? harry asked her curiously.� �

yeah, there is although we liked it that way and we felt even more connected so� � � we left it.�

and nobody ever found out? harry asked her with a grin.� �

well i think that proffesor sniley suspected something, he put two and two� together when lilly got outstanding and proffesor dumbledore, of course. but�none of them ever mentioned it, she said with another sigh. oh, we had so much� � fun back in there.�

they sat in silence for a while and then the door opened and students started togather slowly. as every student came inside the room grew bigger and bigger.there were many curious stares at proffesor sered, some of them were full of aweas they switched at harry. harry realized that he sat at the sofa withoutknowing it and got up quickly. ginny flashed him a cold look.

everyone, this is proffesor sered, he said as he motioned to her.� �

call me suzie, i already told you, she said as she got up too.� �

the very last students to arrive were ron and hermione. hermione looked veryexcited when she spotted henrietta amongst them and went crimson red whenhenriettatold her to call her by her second name. ron on the other hand looked moreinterested in henrietta s face rather then words. as she spun around, hermione�nudged him in ribs.

ouch, what was that for? he cried loudly. hermione was rolling her eyes.� �



harry stepped forward. hello again, i hope you all practised during the week-off.� now, in light of recent events it is essential to train as hard as ever.divide into the groups. suzie, where do you want to be? harry asked as the� students began to divide.

as henrietta observed the groups, she moved over to hermione. i think i ll start� � from the basics, she said with encourage smile towards hermione, who�looked horror-struck.

you don t need to be afraid of me, henrietta said to her. forget about the age� � � � and focus on appearance, that will help.�

hermione grinned at her nervously and began instructing her group.

harry could hardly remember when he enjoyed the da more. all the students havetaken the recent events to their hearts and were getting better steadily.as the hour of curfew came closer, harry drew the attention to himself again.

excellent job, everyone. we could even try some duel competition, i think all of� us could use a form of fun, he said with a sigh. oh, how he missed quiditch.�

******

harry could see himself crushing a silver instrument on in dumbledore s office� � the image dissolved and another appeared- sirius black in his cell in azkaban�and then the transfiguration classroom came into focus. dumbledore was standing infront of him. he was smiling at harry, but the smile didn t reach his�eyes.

that was excellent harry, very good. it seems you are improving with� legillimency maybe we should try something more difficult. now i shall teach you�how to found a particular image, dumbledore said. this can have even more� � devastating effect than simple legillimency. harry, focus on the idea or imageyou want to see. you must clear your mind of any other thing- idea, image,

emotion. don t let your mind linger. let s try it, dumbledore said and braced� � �himself.

harry drew a big breath. he tried to clear his mind of every emotion but failed.he lowered his wand.

harry i know it is difficult, but since i haven t got many things to conceal from� � you now, it shouldn t be a great problem, he said reassuringly. the� � �trick is in total focus, nothing more.�

harry nodded and drew his wand again. this time he managed to stay calm. hepointed his wand at dumbledore steadily.

legillimens, he cried, thinking about the atlis furiously.� �

the room dissolved and harry felt the familiar sensation as if he was leaving hisbody. he saw a gringott s valut door opening and on the floor lay a small�heap of leather wrapped around the gem the image dissolved and another came in� � he saw a letter written in neat writing. as his eyes were scanning itand he recognised it as last will of leonardo machello the image dissolved and� � then came another- harry could see lupin, moody, fudge, mcgonagall andsnape. they were in headmaster s office.�

but why keep it, albus? why don t you want it to be destroyed? sounded a� � �



concerned voice of mcgonagall.

the vanishing potion powerful enough could be prepared in one day, if you gave me� an order, snape said silently.�

i agree with minerva and snape, albus, alastor moody growled.� �

the image was dissolving suddenly. harry concentrated his mind as hard as he

could. he needed to know this. it came into focus again.

minister fudge coughed to get the attention. i think we can t afford to lose such� � a wonderful chance. think what the atlis could do, it could be our onlyremaining hope and you all want to throw the chance away��

minister, come to your senses. do you have any idea what would happened if the� atlis fell to the hands of lord voldemort. this would be end, he would beunbeatable, lupin inquired.�

he is already unbeatable, lupin. if it wasn t for the help from abroad, we would� � be already overwhelmed. i don t understand how he managed to gather such�a huge army so quickly. and the truce with giants fudge said and shook his head.��

none of it would happen if you listened to harry in first place, lupin spat at� � him. fudge shot him a cold glare.

gentlemen this leads to nothing. alastor, remus, minerva, severus i have my� � reason to keep the atlis. minister is indeed right that the atlis is our acein sleeve dumbledore continued to talk but the image dissolved again and harry�� couldn t hear him any more.�

oh, come on, just a little bit longer.

the image dissolved entirely and dumbledore came back into focus again.

ah harry, that stubborn mind of yours. even if you found out the reason i would� have to use oblliviation charm on you.�

harry glared at him angrily. why don t you want to tell me?� � �

harry, i have a confidence in you. but you must understand, we can t afford to� � let voldemort know about our plans. i honestly believe you re capable of�concealing the information in your sleep, but a mere strong emotion- anger, hate,love could distract you. i know it happened already, harry.�

how do you know? harry asked him, taken aback.� �

harry, when you use legillimency, you have to be very careful. if the target is�

more powerful the you, he can use the connection himself. that is anotherthink you have to learn- using the legillimency and keeping your defences intactat the same time. only then you could know everything.�

voldemort knows i m studying occlumency, surely he wouldn t try it for the second� � � time, harry said silently.�

don t get too over-confident, harry. pride precedes fall, dumbledore said darkly� � � without his usual smile.

harry lowered his head and observed his shoes. surely he would need a lot of mind



cleaning today. he was as angry as he wasn t for a long time.�

chapter 30 : sharing the burden

hello everyone,sorry this chapter took me so long, it was extremly difficult to write it but itwill play a big role in future.

i alos want to apologize. i shouldn t get so much sad because of the lack of� reviews. i want to know you all that i prize every review very much and i wantto thank all of you who reviewed.

so big thank you.

chapter 30: sharing the burden

with all the new restrictions life in hogwarts has became quite boring. instead ofspending their last day of sunshine students spend all of their insidethe castle. it got much and much colder steadily and in the middle of novembersnow started falling, a sign of how would this winter be cold and cruel.

prefects, head boy and head girl together with professors tried to find a newactivity to replace quiditch and hogsmeade visits. they were unsuccessfulfor the time for everyone was proposing something else. ron and hermione wouldreturn from the meetings flashing each other dark looks, although they werehand-in-hand back in no time. as harry observed the common room he became sick ofthe pairing- ron and hermione, neville and lavender, pavarti and seamusand many others. there wereonly a few of them solitaire, even the first and second years seemed to build upsome relationship.

the herbology and care of magical creatures classes were reinstated very soon.hagrid wasn t very happy about having the classes in the castle. he preferred�studying the creatures outside or in their natural habitat. also, the size of the

room and corridors prevented him from bringing some big and little bitdangerous creatures he adored.

harry couldn t remember spending more time over his books. his marks improved a� lot once again and even mcgonagall told harry that she was happy that hehad changed his attitude. harry improved in potion as well, although it wasn t a� mark of more studying. harry has enjoyed a lot the potion classes withproffesor sered. at last they had some proffesor, which hadn t favoured slytherins� all the time. the slytherins behaviour changed a lot. they were no longerwalking around the hogwarts like they owned the place without the protection snapeprovided them. proffesor flitwick was instated on the position of headof slytherin house.

the fair attitude wasn t the only thing harry adored about proffesor sered. they� would meet regularly on tuesdays evenings at six, an hour before the dameetings. proffesor sered was narrating all the pranks and adventures she had donewith his mother and maradauers. harry enjoyed this meetings a lot. hewas listening to her eagerly, learning more and more about his parents.

on the other hand, there was one thing uncomfortable about the meetings. therewere periods when proffesor sered fell into uncontrollable fits of laughterthat harry thought she would burst out. but there were also moments when she wason the verge of tears.



well, no one really knows what she has been through, hermione said when he told� � her about this. harry, she has been gone for nearly twenty years, that s� �long time.�

harry was waiting to get his chance asking her about sirius and the veil. helistened to advice hermione gave him and pushed her slowly. there were timeswhen he thought he couldn t wait any longer and was just about to blurt out the� question. the thought of losing her restrained him, though.

the da meetings ran smoothly as ever, although some of the excitement vanishedwhere there was no chance of being prosecuted. all the new members fit insidequickly and harry felt a strong bond amongst themselves. richard and anna gradydidn t look sulky anymore and looked extremely pleased with themselves�when they managed to conduct only a bit silver vapour of patronuses, naturally notcorporal. actually all of them improved very much and put large amountof energy since the attack at hogsmeade.

harry felt confused by only one member, ginny. she wasn t talking to him anymore� and harry barely understood why. she eyed him dangerously every time harryspoken to henrietta for some reason. he tried to engage her in conversationseveral time, but she would only snap at him angrily.

another thing which worried harry were the sessions with dumbledore. he hadthought that he needn t to worry about the occlumency anymore until dumbledore�told him about the dream. now he felt always alerted when he used legillimency andcouldn t concentrate enough, which lead to his failures. once again�he was clearing his mind every night before he went to sleep.

and then there was draco malfoy. every time they passed each other in thecorridors and classes they shot each other looks of pure loathing. malfoy haven t�said a word to harry since the hogsmeade, he just sneered and always whisperedsomething to his gang pointing at harry and the others and harry would liketo think what he was up to. as he know him, definitely up to no good.

*****

it was nearly the end of november and harry was sitting in the common room byhimself, reading from a potion book. the weather got utterly mad, it was stillautumn and a blizzard was raging behind the windows. for the first time for a verylong time harry was glad to be locked inside.

the portrait door opened and ron and hermione entered, returning from anotherprefect meeting. to ron s annoyance two meetings per week wasn t an exception.� �they sat at harry s table.�

so, did you agree on something at last? harry asked them. they have been arguing� � about the new activities for weeks.

ron looked at him annoyed. why don t you ask here ms. what she and her crazy girl� � friends came up with?�

hermione shot him a furious look and then she faced harry. we didn t find out� � something to replace the quiditch. however, we thought about one particularevent, which should have the same social character as the hogsmeade visits had.�

yes, and what it is? he asked with a note of fear in his voice. if ron didn t� � � like it, he wouldn t like it as well.�



we decided to have a dance on valentine s day, like yule ball was, hermione� � � said.

harry looked at her unbelievably. he remembered very clearly how the yule ball wasin his fourth year. it was complete disaster and harry wouldn t mind�if he hadn t attended any other ball in his whole life.�

hermione folded up her arms at the look on harry s face. why are all the boys so� �

sick about the idea? you don t have to come, if you don t want you know,� � �she snapped at both harry and ron. i don t understand your attitude. you could� � use with a bit of socializing harry, you know.�

what do you mean? harry asked her annoyed.� �

hermione sighed. harry, you re not the same person you were. you spent your times� � mainly by yourself now.�

well, my two best mates are dating now and i feel like a fifth wheel, harry spat� � at her.

you were o.k. with that, mate, ron said angrily.� �

besides, there are many other friends you could hang out with. ginny appears to� be alone as well, he said as he motioned towards her.�

harry looked over where she was pointing. ginny, lavender and neville were sittingat the table. neville and lavender were whispering to themselves, obliviousto ginny who sat next to them, her arms crossed.

well, in case you haven t noticed, she isn t talking to me, harry said to them� � � � bitterly.

what was the reason again? ron asked him.� �

if i knew that i would make it up with her, he said bitterly.� �

harry, please it won t hurt, hermione urged him.� � � �

alright, alright, he said defeated.� �

he got up and went to the table where ginny sat, thinking about what he would sayto her.

mind if i join you? he asked her nervously.� �

whatever, she said without raising her head. harry sat already annoyed by her� � behaviour.

ginny, could you tell me what s wrong with you?� � �harry asked her nervously.

there s nothing wrong, she said angrily.� � �

ginny, why have you been avoiding me? why do you always snap at me only now?� �

i don t know, maybe you should ask suzie.� � �

harry looked at her confused. he didn t have a clue what was she talking about.�



i m sorry, i don t understand, he said.� � � �

oh yeah?! suzie is the only one who are you talking to now. why do you never talk� to me? ginny spat at him.�

how i can talk to you when you wouldn t listen? he snapped. harry knew she� � � shouldn t get angry easily like this but hr couldn t help himself. he couldn t� � �understand why she made him so furious.

whole common room had their eyes on harry and ginny. hermione and ron looked atthem uneasily. harry looked around himself, annoyed. why everyone was soeager on gossip.

look, would you mind if we sorted this out somewhere else? he asked her.� �

yeah, she muttered.� �

they got up and walked out of the common room surveyed by whole common room. theyheaded towards the room of requirements automatically.

we need a place to talk, harry thought furiously walking in the corridor three

times. meanwhile ginny was leaning on a wall, her arms crossed, but she lookedless angry than in the common room. the door appeared and they entered.

the room looked like a study with a fireplace and a large comfortable lookingsofa. they sat on it each of them seating at the other side. they fell intouncomfortable silence, harry surveying his shoes and ginny playing with red herhair.

ginny, why do you mind me talking to suzie? he said nervously.� �

harry, i don t mind you talking to suzie, i just feel you aren t talking to me� � � anymore about anything anymore. you are so distant and tense these days,�ginny sighed.

ginny, that s not true� � ��

harry, i m not the only one who noticed. it s ron and hermione and also the� � � others. you never shared the burden of sirius death with any other. we caredabout him too, you can t pretend it only happened to you. and i know there is� something other troubling your mind, harry, ginny interrupted him.�

yes, there is definitely another thing troubling my mind, he thought. that stupidprophecy- he would be either victim or murderer for the first time harrythought that he would like to have someone share the burden with. and here was aperson who cared a lot about him and was keen to listen. however, he wouldput her in great danger if he told her.

harry, what is it? ginny asked.� �

he shook his head. i can t tell you, ginny.� � �

but why? she yelled at him frustrated.� �

i don t want to put you in even more danger than i already did, he sighed,� � � looking straight into her eyes.

harry, would you quit trying to be my saviour? i can take care of myself, she� �



snapped annoyed.

harry remembered how she fought in the department of mysteries. yeah, i know� that, he said.�

then tell me, she whispered softly.� �

this is it, harry thought. he drew a big breath.

ginny, ever since i have known about how my parents had died one idea was� haunting my mind. i couldn t understand why he chose to kill me. what was so�special about me? i asked dumbledore about that in first year. there he said itwas to early for me to know. he refused to tell me for a long time. andthen after the fight in the department of mysteries he finally told me, harry� spoke. ginny do you know the true story about peter pettigrew?� �

ginny nodded slightly. only a bit sirius was imprisoned for his murder. but he� � was framed that s all i know.� � �

harry paused for a while, not really knowing how to continue. he lowered his head,afraid he might cry.

my father, remus, sirius and peter were the best friends during their time at� hogwarts. they called themselves maradauers, they were the creators of themaradauer map.�

ginny nodded she knew the story about them.

my parents knew voldemort was after them. dumbledore did all he could to keep� them hidden. finally they used fidelius charm, harry said gloomily. ginny�nodded and shifted on the sofa nearer to harry. naturally my parents wanted� sirius to be their secret keeper, but that would be too obvious. everyoneknew sirius and my father were the best mates. the next option was dumbledore, butsirius thought about another distractive way. they made peter the secret

keeper. everybody thought he was like fifth wheel and was weak. nobody with commonsense would make him secret keeper.�

but what about lupin? ginny asked him.� �

i don t know. by that time they didn t trust each other and sirius thought lupin� � � turned and became spy for voldemort. but peter turned out to be one. hetold voldemort about the whereabouts of my parents. voldemort came to our houseand killed my parents. and then he tried to kill me, but the curse backfired.it was because the protection mother left in me when she sacrificed herself,� harry found it harder to talk as a tear appeared in his eye. he began toshake.

ginny placed a comforting arm on his shoulder. harry, go on.� �

he nodded. so i was raised with dursleys and then i came to hogwarts. for five� years the question was nagging me. and last year dumbledore answered it.�

fifteen years ago dumbledore went to hogs head where there was a applicant for� the vacant post of divination professor. it was trenlawey. you know howthick she is, i think the real prophecies she made could be counted with one hand.but that night she made one. one that changed my life forever, harry�whispered gloomily.



the prophecy told about a boy. boy born in july, born to parents who have tricked� voldemort thrice, the one who will defeat voldemort or be defeated. therewere two boys like this- me and neville.�

ginny was staring at him, her mouth wide open. you mean to tell you ve been� � predestined to defeat voldemort?�

we can t coexist together, the prophecy told this.� � �

but the prophecy was about one boy. how can you be sure you re the one? ginny� � � breathed out.

harry didn t answer immediately. he brushed out a strain of hair from his forehead� and revealed his scar.

there was another part of prophecy voldemort didn t know about. and the dark lord� � will mark him his equal, he recitated the part. tears were streaming�down his face, but he didn t care. this is the mark. when he failed to kill me,� � he marked me. that s why i have some things in common with voldemort.�we are connected, both parseltoungs he wanted to continue, but he couldn t.�� instead he lowered his head to his hands and began crying openly.

two arms wrapped around him and he heard ginny crying. i m glad you told me, she� � � sobbed.

although harry felt as miserable as ever, he felt as if a heavy burden left hisbody.

chapter 31 : still much to learn

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chapter 31: still much to learn

harry couldn t remember feeling so relieved for a long time since he had told� ginny about the prophecy. the idea of sharing the burden with another personwilling to help was very comforting. while ron and hermione became more distant toharry because of their relationship, ginny came nearer.

since the night in the room of requirements they spent lot of time together. theytalked a lot, mainly about professors, classes, quiditch, fred s and george s� �pranks and so on. but they weren t talking just about funny things- since the� battle in hogsmeade quite a few another attacks happened and although voldemortwent quiet again, they couldn t help to talk about what was voldemort up to. at� least ginny, harry didn t tell her about the atlis.�

it was nearing christmas and the classes became more and more demanding and

exhausting for fifth years and above. the fifth years were already nervous abouttheir o.w.l. exams. ginny devoted the periods without harry to studying, she couldbee seen with colin creevy and group of another fifth s from gryffindor�leaned over the books.

although harry and the other sixth years were after their o.w.l. s already and� n.e.w.t. s were not to come until their seven years, every single teacher�seemed to be thinking among another lines. the pile of undone homework becamehigher and higher and even hermione had troubles to keep up, although harrysuspected it wasn t only because of the amount of homework.�



he never expected to get less work from transfiguration. when he used the materiuscharm too enthusiastically and changed to stone not only a chunk of woodhe was given, but also a part of his desk. instead of feeling happy that hefinally learned the spell, mcgonagall went crazy and gave him extra homework.

he also never expected potions to be easy, even with professor sered. he got afeeling that his mind would explode if he tried to absorb another potion.but he never thought that he might start to detest the care of magical creatures,

charms or even the easiest subject- herbology.

the only class harry felt confident with was the defence against the dark arts.every single curse lupin showed them he already knew- with his advancedgroup from da they managed to cover every curse written in curriculum. this leadto many points for gryffindor, hufflepuff and ravenclaw and with no snapearound, there was no one to honour the slytherins that much and they were fallingbehind. but harry and the other from da didn t feel competitive towards�hufflepuff or ravenclaw. quite the opposite, they felt united.

meanwhile, voldemort and his death eaters stopped their reign of terror. althoughthey managed to kill many ministry representatives and hogsmeade was destroyed,they suffered great losses. many death eaters were killed and more were captured.

the new prison kabazan was set up in unknown location and human guardswere set instead of the traitorous dementors. however, voldemort army was stillhuge, no argue about that.

the atmosphere in the castle wasn t tense anymore, people were smiling and talking� again. on the other hand, no one became used to being inside the castlewhole the time. students were looking out of the window sadly. a thick layer ofsnow lay around the castle and surroundings and only few trails were printedin it, mainly to hagrid s hut. harry overheard many conversations about plans to� escape, even for a while only. those were mainly from third year and harryfelt an urge to yell at them. he remembered clearly what happened when he was outof the castle last time. from his point of view, hogwarts was the onlysafe place now and he wouldn t leave it.�

most of the students still hanged out in the library and harry found himself therestudying with hermione and ron on one wednesday during the first halfof december. harry felt immensely tired- his last lesson of the day was doubleperiod of transfiguration, when he managed to turn his desk to solid stone.

harry raised his head from his potion essay which was due to next week and sawginny, who just entered library and was striding to them. she sat next toharry, smiling at him.

harry, you got a letter, from my mum, ginny said, handing him an envelope.� �

harry reached for it, unrolled the parchment and began to read.

dear harry,how are you? ginny said that you were acting strangely recently. harry, pleasedon t blame yourself for nothing. we all really care about you very much and if�you ever needed something i ll be delighted to help you.�but i have another unfortunate reason to write you because. harry, we were stillunable to find a new house or flat. so i really regret to ask you this, but couldwestay in your house a bit longer? i promise we will leave after christmas.say hello to ginny, ron and hermione. also say hello to hermione fromher parents, they are still here.



p.s. tell my son to be nice to hermione.

molly weasley

harry folded the letter, feeling sorry for ms. weasley. he understood how this wasembarrassing to her, asking him for this. he would give everything hepossessed to weasley s if they accepted it.�

what did she want? ron asked him curiously. hermione shook her head.� �

nothing important. looks like we re gonna spend the christmas at grimmald place� � together, harry said, smiling.�

harry, did mrs. weasley mentioned my parents? hermione asked him.� �

actually yes. i guess you they re going to spend the holidays there as well,� � � harry thought aloud.

great, she faced ron. mum was dying to know something about my boyfriend.� � � �

ron looked nauseated suddenly. you mean you didn t tell her last time? he asked� � �

uneasily.

well, how could i? i mean, there was no time with all the commotion� � ��

ron buried his face in his hands. hermione reached for him, took one of his handin hers and squeezed it tightly with a smile.

ron, don t you worry about this, i m sure they will adore you, she said, rubbing� � � � his hand. he smiled at her weakly.

harry and ginny looked at each other and smiled.

and what are you two laughing at? hermione asked them with a scorching stare.� �

nothing, harry said while ginny laughed even more. to prevent himself from� � smiling he took a scarp of parchment and scribbled short answer to ms. weasley.then he glanced at his watch- quarter to seven, it was nearly time for hislegillimency classes.

he excused himself and left the library, clearing his mind completely.

he reached the class moments later. the transfiguration class was still empty,dumbledore wasn t there yet. harry checked his watch again. seven minutes�to seven.

and then something happened suddenly. he felt the familiar sensation like someone

was probing his mind. his scar erupted with pain suddenly and he collapsedto his knees. he tried to rub his scar, although he knew it was futile but then asoothing voice sounded in his mind.

harry, don t worry, it s me albus dumbledore. relax, you have nothing to worry� � � about.�

his scar throbbed painfully again. this means only one thing- voldemort.

liar! stop it now! he yelled to the empty classes. the scar throbbed again, but� � the voice was definitely dumbledore s.�



but why my scar hurts, then? harry yelled frustrated.� �

it is only after effect of the last voldemort attempt. relax, it will cease in a� moment, dumbledore whispered calmly. and it was true indeed. the throbbing�died away slowly and harry relaxed.

where are you? harry asked silently. it would look odd if somebody would see him� �

talking to himself.

i m in my office. i want to try a new technique with you today.� � �

how do you do that? harry asked him amazed. his breath became steady once more� � and he became calm.

well, it is quite easy when you know the trick, dumbledore chuckled. and your� � � mind is very gifted, i m sure you will handle to do this form of legillimency�in no time. yes harry, this is another form of legillimency although a bitadvanced i would say.�

so you mean i could connect to every mind every mind in the world, harry asked� � �

softly.

dumbledore laughed slightly. well, there are few things necessary for this form� of connection. first thing, the person you re trying to connect with had�to be in contact with you earlier. also it depends on the skill of occlumency ofthe target and on the level of legillimency of the caster. another thingis the strong of will of the target. and the last one and most essential thing isthe distance, dumbledore whispered silently.�

so i can contact you whenever, harry exclaimed loudly.� � �

harry, you don t need to speak, just think. and you re right, as soon as you will� � � develop this skill enough you could contact me.�

harry felt a wave of excitement ran through him, but then one thought occurred tohim.

but how come voldemort managed to contact me even though our mind weren t ever� � connected?�

that is different harry. the bond between you changes the circumstances. i m� � afraid to say that you will never be full resistant to voldemort s mind probing.�and the same counts for voldemort. so are you ready to try this?�

harry nodded, wondering if dumbledore would notice.

right, dumbledore nodded. now, try to remember how it feels, when i m connected� � � � to you. when i break the contact, try to recall how it was like. andfocus your mind on person you want to contact. and once and forever- concentrate.have nothing in your mind but the target. no emotions or another ideas.i will break the contact now. if you aren t able to contact me for five minutes i� will contact you again. but i think that won t be necessary, i have confidence�in you.�

harry didn t know how could dumbledore be so sure but nodded nevertheless. the� unpleasant sensation faded slowly and everything came back into focus again.he got up silently and sat himself in one of the chairs, brushing the sweat out of



his forehead.

he went still for a while, before concentrating hard. he cleared his mind withdifficulties, his body was bathed in excitement. he drew a big breath andthen filled his mind with only one thing- dumbledore.

at first nothing happened and harry thought that he would fail. he was just aboutto stop, when he felt the familiar seanstion and the transfiguration room

dissolved into mist again.

very good, harry, he said dumbledore s voice in his head. now, try to� � � � concentrate on specific image.�

harry thought about proffesor sered before he knew what he was doing.

an image appeared in his mind. he was in room of st. mungo hospital. the room wasvery small with white walls and a bed with a small table next to it. mostprobably it was isolated room. an auror sat next to the bed and there was one ofthe healer leaning over a figure in the bed.

he stepped closer and recognised the person in the bed. it was proffesor sered and

she finally looked the age she really was. her face was very pale andwrinkled. she was sleeping, but it wasn t an easy sleep. she was trashing madly,� screarming in an unknown language.

what is this, dumbledore? i never heard nothing like this before, the auror� � spoke and harry recognised it was kingsley shacklebolt.

dumbledore conjured himself a chair and sat next to the bed before answering. i� don t know kingsley, this isn t language i m familiar with, he said and� � � �took suzie s hand in his. tell me kingsley, how did she appear in that forsaken� � room? tell me what happened.�

well, the employees of the department of mysteries didn t know much. bode found� �

her this morning next to the veil of death in the room of the dead. shewas very lucky, this room isn t visited frequently and when bode found her she was� on the verge of death.�

did she speaksomething sense yet? dumbledore asked her,� �rubbing her hand.

no, the healer said she is in delirium. it will take a strong to will to wake up.� albus, do you have any idea where she has been for those nearly twentyyears?�

that i m most curious about too.� � �

the image dissolved suddenly and as the room came back to focus and harrycollapsed on the ground panting. he felt exhausted as after a day long quiditchmatch.

see, this is when your own curiosity betrays yourself, dumbledore laughed.� �

harry didn t respond.�

are you o.k., harry? he asked harry a bit of worry in his voice.� �

yeah, it s nothing. i just didn t think it would be so intense, he whispered.� � � �



harry, you won t stop to amaze me. it takes many hour of practice to manage your� � first contact. although, i knew you would succeed on the first attempt,�he said with a tone of pride in his voice.

what do you mean? harry asked curiously.� �

nothing, dumbledore replied with a smile.� �

chapter 32 : animemagi

hello everyone,sorry i have nt updated for so long but the final exams are closer than ever and i� need to study more and more. but i promise you to update as soon as ican.

i would also like to thank you all for your reviews they are really making mywriting worth it. thank you all

chapter 32: animemagithe time was flowing really fast and harry was dragging his suitcase to the grate

in the great hall before he really realized that. it was the first dayof the christmas holiday and most of the students were leaving to their homes.nearly none of the students stayed in hogwarts for the holiday, everybodywas looking forward to leave the castle. everybody except for harry.

harry didn t really like the idea about going back to grimmald place again so� soon. it wasn t only for sirius, there was great danger lurking behind the�walls of safe hogwarts castle. he actually would rather stay, but ron, ginny andhermione were nagging him so much that in the end he had to give up.

harry, ron, ginny and hermione dragged their suitcases to the grate whereprofessors lupin and sered were organising the transport via floo network. therewas barely a student there, most of the people detest the floo travelling and went

to their homes either by knight bus or the hogwarts express.

harry spotted lavender kissing neville on the cheek and then walking over tograte, wearing old shabby robes.

guys, do you have any idea where neville is going for christmas? ron asked� � curiously.

he told me he is going to visit his aunt. he had never seen her, in fact he told� me he had been really amazed when he got the letter from her. apparently,neville s gran and aunt had some kind of row and were not talking to each other.� he told me she was on the funeral but was too afraid to talk to him, soshe wrote him just two days ago, hermione said.�

when neville disappeared in flames, harry and the others walked to the grate.lupin beamed at them as they faced him.

hello, harry. ready to get back? nobody is there at the moment so just wait until� someone from the order come. i ll come to see you lot soon, he said.� �

where are my parents? hermione asked nervously.� �

they are on the excursion in the st. mungo with molly weasley. they were very� curious about our medical methods and diseases. and arthur is in work, he�



answered unasked question.

have a nice christmas, harry. and you too, professor sered said.� �

harry beamed at them both and then took a pinch of floo powder from the pot lupinoffered him.

grimmald twelve, the noble house of black, harry said out aloud and dropped the� �

powder. he felt the familiar sensation as the green flames swallowed him.

after the long roller-coaster ride he appeared in the entrance hall. as he brushedthe ash of himself, he looked around the entrance hall and he froze inhorror. there was a large banner posted on the wall.

welcome back harry potter, it said.

dobby, harry cursed under his breath and withdrew his wand, pointing it at the� � poster. evanesco.� �

as the banner vanished the grate erupted in flames again and ginny appeared in theentrance hall. harry pocketed his wand quickly. ginny brushed the ash

of her robes as well and smiled at harry. harry smiled nervously and was hopingthere were no other banners like that hanging around the house. he darednot to think about hermione spotting one of these. it would lead into anunpleasant conversation for sure.

there was a loud crack and dobby appeared in the entrance hall, immidietly bowingas he saw harry and ginny.

dobby is pleased to see harry potter and young lady again. shall dobby take your� luggage upstairs? he asked.�

no dobby, you really don t have to harry tried, but too late. dobby was already� � �� reaching for his and ginny s suitcases and disappeared with them.�

the flames erupted again and ron and hermione appeared. hermione looked at themcuriously.

where are your suitcases? she asked harry and ginny.� �

erm harry started.� ��

dobby took them and stop nagging harry for that, dobby did this on his free� mind, ginny said, slightly annoyed.�

hermione flashed her a furious look but then she barely nodded.

shall we get something to eat, i m starving, ron said.� � �

you ve had your lunch three hours ago, hermione� � �scowled.

oh come on, we get the tea at hogwarts also, ron groaned.� �

harry could hear tiny footsteps and dobby appeared again, panting. good day to� you, mister wheezy and young lady, shall dobby take your luggage to yourrooms? he squealed.�



ron offered his suitcase immediately, but hermione refused to let go of it. sheflashed the three of her friends angry looks and dragged the case to thestairs by herself. ron changed an uncomfortable look with harry and ginny and thenhe ran to help his girlfriend. they could hear them arguing all theway up.

harry and ginny looked at each other and shook their shoulders.

what about the tea, then? ginny asked him.� �

o.k. harry said and they went to the kitchen.� �

ginny set the tea and cups while harry searched for some snack. they sat at thetable and began eating. hermione and ron joined them moments later, theirhands locked again. apparently ron managed to talk some sense to her.

harry, i m sorry, i know you didn t really mean that, she said.� � � �

forget it hermione, harry said with a smile.� �

no, i� ��

forget it, harry said this time more loudly.� �

the sound of opened doors reached their ears andthey could hear footsteps in the entrance hall.

are you lot here? came the cheerful voice of mrs.� �weasley.

harry and the others smiled at each other and than they rose to greet with mrs.weasley and hermione s parents.�

*****

time was flowing like a water at the grimmald place. there was much happieratmosphere around. many known faces appeared amongst the guests that visitedthe headquarters regularly. fred and george would come from the store every nightfor dinner. they lived on their own now, but about one thing they knewnothing- cooking. fred looked more cheerful and told harry, although the shopstill didn t get on well.�

another frequent guest to the house were bill weasley and fleur delacour. ronalways grew nervous when she appeared, he very well remembered how he askedher out for the yule ball and what happened. he blushed furiously when fleurgreeted him pleasantly one day.

more people appeared- kingsley shacklebolt, nymphadora tonks, alastor moody andeven some teachers from hogwarts appeared sometimes. lupin kept his wordand tried to visit harry every day, although naturally he couldn t. professors� mcgonagall and sered appeared also for a brief moment.

the house still amazed him. he has been here many times already, but there was anew thing to find for every single day. he had spent one of the previousday all day by himself in the study where he found the photo album during hissummer holiday. he spent hours flicking through those dusty volumes.

one day all of this will be mine, so i have to know what i posses, he told himself



as he took another dusty book from the bookcase.

he also visited buckbeak the hippogryph regularly. except for lupin harry was theonly one who visited him and buckbeak was getting more and more depressed.harry was thinking about asking professor dumbledore to return buckbeak back tohogwarts, as he scratched him behind his ears.

also they visited diagon alley twice, so harry and the others could buy their

christmas presents. the diagon alley was crowded more than it was last time.maybe no one expected the death eaters attack on christmas.

the day before christmas day harry was wandering around the house again when hecame across to locked door he didn t know about. he was definitely sure�no was there for a long time. a year or so harry thought according to the layer ofdust on the ground.

dobby missed another spot, i shall sack him, he thought to himself with a smile.

and then something strange hit him. he looked all around the corridor. the wallshave been repainted and the windows cleaned. the corridor sparkled withcleanness, only for the door in front harry stood.

he tried the door handle again, but the door wouldn t budge. he withdrew his wand� with a sigh and pointed it at the door.

alahomora! he muttered. nothing happened.� �

that won t do any good harry, came the voice of remus lupin. harry wheeled� � � around. lupin was standing, leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. he wassmiling at him.


the door are heavily magiced. it could be only�

opened with a specific key.�

and who has the key? harry asked curiously.� �

me, lupin sighed.� �

so you know what s inside, don t you?� � � � �

unfortunately i m not the one who is supposed to� �know. sirius gave my this key last year. he said i shall give it to you when youbecame mature.�

so you don t know what s inside? can t we have just a little peek? harry said� � � � �

with a smile.

lupin merely laughed.

*****

harry was awaken by ron next day very early.

come on, wake up, ron urged him.� �

harry opened his eyes a bit. it had to be very early, harry felt tired and it was



still dark outside.

what s the matter? he asked ron groggily.� � �

what?! it s christmas, that s the matter, ron scowled. let s get downstairs to� � � � � � see our presents.�

harry took his glasses and put them on. he checked his watch- 6:30.

ron are you kidding me? harry groaned. we can t get the presents anyway, we� � � � should wait for the others to wake up.�

forget it, let s get dressed.� � �

so harry gave up and then they dressed. harry tried to tell ron that at least theyshould go quietly so they won t wake entire house, but ron didn t hear� �him. he disappeared in such speed that reminded harry about dobby. when harryreached the ground floor, he saw disappointed look on ron s face.�

mum locked the door to the living room, he groaned.� �

i told you, it is too early. let s get back upstairs i� �may be able to sleep a bit longer, harry said.�

ron s face suddenly lit with excitement. or we can use alahomora charm! wait here� � while i ll bring my wand.� �

you better forget about that, ronald weasley, came the angry voice of mrs.� � weasley.

they both wheeled around. mrs. weasley was standing in the middle of stairs, herarms crossed, looking livid.

you ll have to wait for the others to wake up. oh, of course everyone would be� �

surely awaken now because of the racket you two caused. the best thing youcan do now is to prepare the breakfast while i ll go dress myself, she said and� � disappeared, muttering under her breath darkly.

ron shot harry apologizing face. sorry mate, i didn t mean her to be angry at� � you.�

when will you grow up? harry asked him darkly, but was smiling nevertheless.� �

as they went to the kitchen and started preparing the breakfast, the inhabitantsof the house gathered slowly. first came hermione and ginny. they bothlooked like still sleeping and hermione shot ron furious look as she saw him.

sorry, i couldn t help myself, ron whispered. hermione just shook her head and� � � sat at the table.

as they finished the breakfast, whole house gathered around the table. the lastone to came were the granger s who looked still very sleepy and sat next�to their daughter. ron gulped. he tried so much to make a good impression onhermione s parents but he embarrassed himself nearly every time.�

when they all finished the breakfast mrs. weasly got up and unlocked the doors andall of them gathered inside. the room was nicely decorated, apparentlydobby did his best. there was a christmas tree, decorated with magic snow and



sparkling stars and another magic snow was falling from then enchanted ceiling.naturally it disappeared as it touched the ground.

they all sat at the various sofas and armchairs and began opening their presents.

first of harry s presents he opened were another three knitted socks and sweater� from dobby. he missed harry s size and the sweater would suit rather to�ginny weasley. his next present was the sweater and large amount of home-made

sweets from mrs. weasley.

oh harry wonderful, ron yelled out aloud as he withdraw a guide book for the� � keepers in quiditch. pity that maybe i won t be needing this anymore, he� � �sighed.

harry shook the image of quiditch out of his head. he really missed it too and washoping that dumbledore would find a way to reinstate it. he opened anotherpresent to reveal large amount of jokes from fred and george. they both winked athim as he searched through the pile. there was everything they had onthe list, even the exploding bubble gums professor sered liked so much.

he regretted not even buying her a present as he opened a large box revealing a

golden frame with a picture inside. there was a picture of henrietta asa baby. harry read a note which was attached to the frame.

happy christmas harry. try tapping the frame with your wand.

harry laid the frame aside, he didn t have his wand with himself now, he would try� it later.

wow, harry. thank you. hermione said aloud, when she opened her present. it was� � her own volume of history of hogwarts, updated one.

harry got another book from lupin. if it will continue like this, i might buymyself a large bookshelf, he thought for himself as he opened another present,

revealing just another books from hermione. next came the usual the large bag ofhoneydukes sweets from hagrid. harry felt very sorry for him, he haven t�visited him whole year. he promised himself to visit him right after he came back.

as the pile of presents was running low, harry got many little presents fromvarious members of the da. then came the presents from bill and charlie weasley.but the present harry was most curious about, was the one ron handed him as thelast one.

it was quite large and heavy. harry read the note first. it was from ginny. hesmiled at her and opened it.

inside was his own pensieve. though this one was merely a half of the size of

dumbledore, it was quite large nevertheless. harry was stunned, he didn t�really expect this. he could only wonder where ginny got so much money to affordthis. he looked at her.

i thought you might want to clear your mind sometimes, she said nervously.� �

it s perfect, harry breathed out.� � �

as ginny opened her present from harry she gasped in surprise. inside was a brandnew nimbus 2001. she looked at him also stunned.



just thought you might want to change the old cleansweep, harry said.� �

harry looked around the room. everyone was looking at the two of them, everyonewas smiling at them, like they understood something harry and ginny didn t.�he blushed a bit and opened his last present, this time a new braces for hisquiditch robes from ron.

when they all opened the presents it was time for their lunch. they had a

delicious turkey and mashed potatoes. many other members of phoenix appearedamongstthe guests and the meal was really enjoyable. after the meal mrs. weasley came toharry.

harry, dear, professor dumbledore is waiting for you in the study on the second� floor, she whispered in his ear as she took his plate.�

harry frowned slightly, he didn t know what dumbledore could want. he excused� himself and ran the stairs to the study quickly. he knocked on the door andentered.

professor dumbledore was sitting in one of the two armchairs. he smiled at harry

and motioned to the armchair in front of him. harry sat there nervously.

happy christmas, harry. i felt like giving you your present from me myself,� � dumbledore said and with a flick of his wand a very large package appearedon the table next to them.

harry gulped. he forgot about his headmaster.

professor dumbledore i m really sorry i have no present for you.� � � � �

dumbledore merely smiled. harry, there is no need. i must say i received enough� presents in my whole life and believe me it is very long. please, openyour present, dumbledore said and motioned towards the package.�

harry got up and opened the package curiously. inside was a high stack of books.he ran over the names of the volumes.

advanced occlumency techniques, legillimency as a weapon, secrets of your mind,improving your psychical techniques�

harry eyed dumbledore curiously. he motioned to sit again.

harry, i have another important thing to share with you, dumbledore said,� � looking very serious suddenly.

harry sat and eyed him nervously. there was a long pause, when dumbledore was

thinking about the beginning.

harry, i already told you the time you spent to master the occlumency and also a� basics form legillimency was remarkably short. so i dived myself intoone research harry have you ever heard about the animemagi?� �

harry firstly though that he knew, but that was animagi. and then he knew onlymethamorphagi he shook hi head.

harry, animemagi were the wizards and witches who are natural with all the mind� skills. the animemagi are very rare, in fact there has been no note about



it,please.

please read and review. thx and enjoy!

chapter 33: firewhiskey chat

the familiar feeling of distance with others which harry felt until he told ginnyabout the prophecy returned as dumbledore told him about the animemagi.

he once again felt that no one could understand what he has been through and hethought that even another chat with ginny wouldn t do any�good.

so he spent most of them time in grimmald place on his own, hidden in the studywith the stack of books dumbledore gave him, flicking through them. therewere mainly full of meditation and mind exercises. there were also many newtechniques written but harry was too afraid to experiment with these on hisown.

he put one of the books on a table with and with a sigh he buried his head in hishands. oh, how i m i supposed to do this, he asked himself. there is no�way i can defeat him.

instead of returning to his book he got up and took the photo album he foundduring the last summer. he was halfway through it, when there was a suddenknock on the door.

harry, are you there? it was remus lupin.� �

harry was silent for a moment, but then he realized he couldn t avoid them�for the rest of his life.

yeah, he muttered silently, hiding the stack of books from dumbledore� �under the sofa he was sitting on.

the door opened and the figure of remus dressed in shabby robes entered. he lookedmuch older in the dimly lit study room. harry noticed they were manypatches of grey in his once brown hair. he felt really sorry for him. he was hisguardian after all and harry hardly paid him any attention except forthe classes. he tried to remember when he talked to him for the last time butcouldn t.�

mind if i join you? remus said softly.� �

harry didn t answer, he merely shifted aside on the sofa to make some room for� him. remus sat next to him and spotted the album on harry s lap.�

oh, i haven t seen this for ages, i thought it was lost! mind if i have a look,� �

harry? lupin asked him excitedly.�

harry merely shook his head and passed the album to remus. he opened the album onfirst page and laughed at the sight of baby sirius. he flickered throughthe pages and laughed again and again, although his laughter was less happy withevery picture he saw. when he reached the picture of them after the n.e.w.t. s�examination no laughter left his body. he closed the album and put it on thetable, where harry put his books earlier.

there was a moment of awkward silence when they both looked into the fire harrylit earlier.



you miss them really much, don t you? harry started the conversation and felt� � � stupid immediately.

you have no idea, remus said with a sigh. harry, what is wrong with you?� � � �

huh? harry asked, surprised by the question.� �

ron, ginny and hermione wrote me a letter yesterday. harry, they re worried. they� � say you don t talk to them since the christmas day. they care about you,�harry. i care about you. you can t keep running from us.� �

harry sighed. you have no idea what i m going through now.� � �

quite the opposite, harry. harry raised his head and faced him. dumbledore told� � � me.�

harry felt sudden surge of rage towards his headmaster.

harry, don t get angry, he didn t really tell me. i helped him with the research� � � � dumbledore barely has time nowadays with voldemort on his reign of terror

again. so it was who found out about you being animemagus first. i don t know why� it really didn t surprise, i always knew there is something special about�you.�

then you understand what s wrong with me, harry said lowering his head again.� � �

no i don t, remus said.� � �

harry raised his head again. what do you mean? the most dangerous and probably� the most powerful sorcerer is on my ass. and now i found that i m some kind�of some animemagus freak that people would fear about because of his powers. and ishould be in mood for celebrating? harry spat at lupin angrily.�

yes. don t you realize the obvious? this could be the power that will help you� � defeat voldemort, remus said.�

but i don t want to have these powers. they re dangerous i could hurt� � � �someone i don t want to.� �

that s why you have to learn to control these powers. harry, this gift was given� � to you and you have the responsibility to develop it. and you know you�can t do this alone.� �

harry merely nodded.

remus took the album and opened it again. he opened it on the picture from the

party in the common room after the n.e.w.t. s exams. he chuckled.�

look harry. i remember this as if it was yesterday, i never saw anyone�other but sirius drank so much firewhiskey during one night.�

*****harry approached ron, hermione and ginny next day after the lunch, which he againdidn t eat. he hardly felt hungry lately. they were just in the living�room talking about what happened throughout the last year- it was the last day ofthe december and the last day of this year. they were just talking aboutthe swamp prank from fred and george when harry came to them. they stopped the



conversation abruptly and eyed him nervously.

i ve got to tell you all something, harry started without waiting.� � �and he talked. and talked. he told them about everything- about the prophecy,about the dreams he had through the summer and first term, about him beinganimemagus the trio listened patiently and didn t interrupt him, only hermione� � gasped when he firstly mentioned the animemagi.

when he finished all of them were silent for a moment. then hermione got up andhugged him.

don t worry i ll help you, she said softly.� � � �

ron got up and extended his hand which harry shook firmly. you can count on me� with anything.�

ginny got up and hugged him. i ll always stand by you, harry, she whispered into� � � his ear.

harry felt urge to cry, but he resisted. thanks, all of you, he said.� �

he sat next to them and they talked for the rest of the day and not only about thedark things. as the evening come, harry felt relieved like never. hefelt even better then when he told ginny about the prophecy. the thought ofsharing all of his burden with another three friends of his was very comforting.

around six o clock they had a dinner, which was most enjoyable because�many members of the order appeared and there were no dark things mentioned,everybody kept talking about pranks they made as young, about various parties.as the dinner ended, harry noticed that the people didn t depart. quite the� opposite, more and more people appeared.

you better change your clothes harry, you don t want to celebrate the new year� � with those shabby muggle clothes on, remus told him, beaming. he came moments�

ago accompanied by professor sered, who greeted harry pleasantly. they both lookedstunning, wearing brand new robes, which matched together perfectly.


oh, come on harry, you re old enough to celebrate new year, we celebrated for the� � first time in our fourth year. we were separated with maradauers, ofcourse, suzie said and smiled at remus.�

yeah, you should have seen the new year in our sixth year, remus smiled as he� � remembered. and you should come too, hermione, ron and ginny.� �

harry looked at the others, who shook their shoulders. o.k., we ll come.� � �

they all left the dining room and were climbing the stairs.

have any of you ever been to these parties? harry asked them.� �

they all shook their heads. mum never let us, i don t know what s the big deal,� � � � ron said.

well, i think these parties are useless i mean what s the point of celebrating� � � what happened last year, hermione muttered to herself.�



when they reached their rooms, they dressed up in their best robes. harry decidedto wear his dress robes, although they reminded him of the yule ball,which wasn t very pleasant experience for him. as ron saw harry s robes he� � searched his trunk for his own new dress robes fred and george bought him. theylooked at each other in criticising way and both shot disgusting looks before theyburst out laughing.

when they reached downstairs, harry could barely recognize the living room. the

sofas and armchairs were set against walls to make a huge space. huge tablewith snacks was set against the wall as well and even though they had their dinneronly half an hour ago they went there first and stuffed their mouthwith all their favourite and then they opened a bottle of butterbeer each.

they were looking around the room, sipping their butterbeer in silence. it seemedthat whole order of the phoenix gathered there and also many ministerrepresentatives and teachers from hogwarts were amongst the guests. remus andsuzie were talking to tonks, who was accompanied by wizard harry didn t know.�and next to them deep in conversation with alastor moody was none other thanrubeus hagrid. he didn t understand why he couldn t see him earlier, it was� �hardly to miss him.

come on, he said to ron and they both set off to meet him.� �

hello hagrid, mr. moody, they both greeted them. moody and hagrid stopped the� � conversation abruptly and turned around.

oh, hello harry, and ron, hagrid said as he embraced them in tight hug. hav nt� � � � seen yer two for long tim . did you fergot where my cabn is? he teased� � �them.

err we had lot to do they both said as they lowered their heads.� � ��

yeah, i can imagine that, alastor moody said, fixing his both eyes at them. got� � � troubles with your n.e.w.t. s, eh? he growled. they both nodded.� �

ah, there is deadalus, excuse me hagrid, moody said and marched off.� �

don t yer two worry, i m not angry, i und rstand, hagrid said.� � � � �

how is grawp? harry asked him.� �

oh, he s doing fine. i hav found him a gerl friend, one of the giants ministry� � captured, hagrid said, his eyes gleaming."thenk yer for yer tea set and�treat fer fang."

"don't mention it," harry smiled.

hello, hagrid, came hermione s voice.� � �

they spun around and found ginny and hermione standing next to them. they wereboth wearing their dress robes as well and also some makeup. hermione hadonce again tied her bushy hair into elegant knot and ginny hair were curled.

ron looked absolutely stunned. he shook his head violently, walked over tohermione and kissed her on cheek. you look beautiful, hermione, he said.� �

ron, she scowled, but then she smiled and blushed a bit.� �



how are the creatures going, hagrid? ginny asked him with a smile.� �

fine, ginny oh, look who came! hagrid shouted happily as another giant figure� � � appeared- madam maxime. she spotted hagrid and with a huge smile walkedover to them.

hagrid, how naiz to see you agan, she said sweetly and kissed him on cheek. he� � blushed violently.

olympe, these are my students and mates from hogwarts. harry, hermione, ron� ginny, hagrid said as he motioned to every person he introduced. each of them�shook their hand with her.

ah, of corz young mr. potter, ve met at the turnament two years agou, she said� � as his hand slipped into her giant one. harry got the feeling that shemight crush his finger without any effort.

err yes, it s pleasure to see you again, he muttered.� � � �

iz dumblydorr coming tonight? she asked hagrid.� �

yeh, he might drop later i missed you olympe, hagrid said.� � �

come on, hermione nudged ron and harry into ribs and the four of them� �disappeared.

they went to the snack table again so hermione and ginny could grab theirbutterbeers as well.

hey harry, come and have a drink with us, remus called at him from the other end� � of the room.

they all moved over to where remus was standing with suzie, mundunguns fletcher,tonks, moody and deadalus diggle.

hello, harry potter, i m glad you could drop by, deadalus greeted him.� � �nice to know you too, he greeted the others.� �

wotcher, harry, tonks greeted him.� �

hello harry, come and have a drink, all of you, mundunguns yelled in drunken� � voice.

thank you, we have these harry started.� ��

you ain t to drink this shit here, mundunguns yelled even louder as he� � �poured four cups of firewhiskey and handed them to harry and the others. they

looked at each other uneasily.

harry, we shouldn t hermione started.� � ��

don t try to offend me, missy, he said as he drank his firewhiskey in one gulp.� � �

harry shook his shoulder and poured the liquid down his neck in one gulp as well.

it tasted horribly. harry felt the burning sensation all the way firewhiskeytravelled inside his stomach.



hermione was coughing hardly, while ron looked at harry nauseated. ginny on theother hand looked perfectly normal.

i had few of these during our last hogsmeade visit in fourth year, she� �said, as if she was apologizing, when everyone was staring at her.

that s my girl. let me pour you another one, mundunguns said and was just about� � � to take ginny s cup when� �

fletcher! are you trying to get them drunk?! came the voice of mrs. weasley.� �

molly dear calm down, it s about time they tried it, mr. weasley soothed his� � � wife with a smile at harry and others.

what? you too arthur? they aren t even mature, mrs. weasley yelled at her� � � husband.

come on mum, we tried those when we were in our fourth year, fred said as he and� � george appeared from the crowd.

even you? i never had these problems with charlie or bill she didn t finish the� ��

sentence as bill and charlie appeared, both holding glasses of wine.my family are bunch of alcoholics, mrs. weasley yelled frustrated.� �

calm down, molly have a drink also, mundunguns shouted and poured a� �glass for her.

at first it looked like mrs. weasley would throw the glass at him, but then shedrained it in one gulp.

well, just for tonight i guess, she said and disappeared in the crowd again.� �

take care of yourselves, mr. weasley told them with a wink and� �disappeared after his wife.

after another two shots of firewhiskey harry thought that the taste was bearable.the only one who drank with him was ginny, hermione still looked ratherpale and when ron suggested another for himself she looked at him so sternly thathe didn t take it.�

the party was passing very quickly and it wasn t only because harry had good time.� he lost the sense of time after the third shot and he felt also littlebit dizzy. so he decided to rather drop the shots and returned to his butterbeer.as the midnight was near most of the people were under influence of alcoholand suddenly music began and people started to dance, which was quite dangerousbecause of the size of room.

remus was dancing with suzie, madame maxime and hagrid were waltzing their waythrough the crowd, everyone was backing from them in fear of injury. aftera while another pair harry wouldn t expect to dance appeared- hermione and ron.� ron was sporting hurt face, harry was sure it was hermione who draggedhim to dance.

come on, harry, let s have another drink, ginny tug on his hand, smiling. her� � � eyes were watered and a bit bloodshot.

no, ginny i don t think you should have another harry started, but was stopped� � �� by mundunguns who handed ginny another glass. harry looked around desperately



for any kind of help but there was none he knew. lupin was still dancing withsuzie and tonks just left to dance with deadalus.

so he grabbed ginny s hand desperately and dragged her to the dance floor.�

i thought you don t dance, ginny giggled.� � �

i don t, harry said desperately as he tried to move as far as from mundunguns as� � �

far as possible in the rhythm of music. the tune changed suddenly toslow one and harry wanted to leave the dance floor, but ginny held him even moretightly and placed her head on his shoulder. harry looked around in thedesperate search for some help, but on the other hand he couldn t help to notice� how was her touch comfortable�

mundunguns suddenly came to the centre of the room and conjured himself a chair,which looked very odd shaped because of his state. he stepped on to itand whistled. every head turned to him, harry felt as ginny raised her head aswell.

one minute to new year. i wasn t supposed to be the one to tell you this, but� � dumbledore seems late anyway let s hope that it is going to be better than� � �

this. we lost many dearest friends but got many more. so let s make a toast to� those who we lost and those who we found, he raised his goblet and so did�everyone who had one as well.

mundunguns drained his goblet and then cleared his mouth with the back of hishand.

now everybody has your partner?! he yelled loudly. there were many yes and yeah� � coming from the room. mundunguns checked his watch. o.k. here we go� �ten, nine, eight, the crowd all around chanted with him seven, six, five, four,� � three, two one happy new year. everybody kiss your partner now! he� �yelled and jumped of the stool and ran to dobby, who appeared to be the only onewho remained alone.

harry looked around himself, panic now in his veins. people all around werekissing each other. hagrid and madame maxime kissed each other on cheek, remusand suzie shared a quick kiss on lips, hermione and ron were in deep passionatekiss�

and then it happened- ginny touched his chin and turned harry s face, then she� hugged him around neck. they were face to face, staring deeply into eachother eyes. she moved her head closer and their lips met. harry didn t want this,� she did only because she was drunk but on the other hand he really enjoyed�that. the kiss he shared with cho was nothing compared to this.

and then he remembered about dean. he ceased the kiss quickly and pulled

apart.

ginny, i can t do this he said softly.� � ��

tears appeared in her eyes. no, it s me i shouldn t, she sobbed and� � � � �without any further ado she released harry and ran upstairs to her room.

no, ginny, wait! harry called after her but she was already gone.� �

chapter 34 : return to hogwarts



sorry!i barely have time to update lately, but i try.sorry, this chapter is short and dull, i ve got some kind of block now. just hope� i get over it soon.big thank to those, who read and review

chapter 34: back to hogwarts

harry awoke very early the next morning, feeling very thirsty and a bit dizzy aswell. he never had had a hangover and it felt horrid. but his first hangoverwasn t the thing he was most concerned about.�

he couldn t get one particular image of red-haired girl out of his mind. he very� much remembered the feeling when she kissed him- excitement, passion he�couldn t understand why but he wanted it to happen again. but with this always� came the most oblivious fact. ginny was drunk and she didn t really mean�to kiss him. and then there was dean.

clearing his mind, harry got up and nearly collapsed to the ground as his headgave unpleasant lurch. he reached for his head and closed his eyes for amoment to focus his mind. he opened them moment later and put on his glasses.

ron was still fast asleep, snoring loudly. he remembered how they looked liketogether with hermione last night and couldn t help to crack a grin. he dressed�himself silently and went downstairs to have some breakfast and at least a jug ofcold water.

when he reached the door to the kitchen horrible smell, which he recognisedvaguely attacked his nostrils. he opened the door and entered. suzie sered wasstanding at the stove, stirring some mixture in large cauldron. when he enteredthe room she turned to him and smiled.

rough night? she said.� �

yeah what s that awful smell? harry asked.� � � �

sobering potion, there are lot of people here who will be needing it. i thought� you would recognise it by now. would you like some, you look like you coulduse some?�

yes, please, harry said as he sat on one of the chair. so exactly how many� � � people stayed here? he asked her after a moment of silence.�

i don t have an idea, at least twenty for sure, she said as she sat in front� � � him, handing him a cup of fuming liquid.

it smelled horribly and tasted the same, harry thought as he drained half the cup

in one gulp, but he could feel the effect nearly immediately as his headacheceased and his stomach became steadier. he finished his cup with another longgulp.

thanks, that really helped, he said.� �

don t mention it, suzie replied with a wink as she sent the cup away with her� � � wand. so what exactly happened between you and ginny weasley yesterday?�she seemed rather upset.�

harry couldn t understand how the women always understood each other so easily. he�



wasn t very enthusiastic about the idea of talking about the kiss with�anyone.

i don t know what happened between you and remus lupin? he asked quickly.� � � �

good one, suzie said with a sigh. she started to play with the red stripe of her� � hair. it s difficult, you see. remus had always had a place in my heart� � �i always hoped he would ask me out sometime, but he always seemed shy and hiding

something. and i understand him being a werewolf, having no friends until�hogwarts.�

you knew he was a werewolf? i thought dumbledore kept that secret� ��

well, it wasn t that difficult to find out was it? the maradauers, always� � vanishing in the night of the full moon, they nicknamed him moony and he alwayssported bites and scratches after the full moon. and then in seven year when wehanged out together he told me.�

but why you were going out with sirius?� �

nah, i don t know. maybe i was trying to make remus jealous or something similar� �

stupid. anyway we didn t last long, only one month to be honest, she� �said with a sigh. and the we left hogwarts and i started dating one boy from� ravenclaw we went to the education academy, that s where new teacher are� �trained, we were both interested in potions. then one of his mixtures went wrongand he died, she said, wiping a tear which appeared in her eye with her�sleeve.

i don t know why i was blaming myself for his death. i felt so alone she� � �� sighed.

harry waited her for continue, but she was silent for a moment. this would seemlike perfect moment to ask her about the veil. and then, when he was justabout to ask her, she spoke again.

anyway, remus invited me yesterday and we had really good time. i don t know if� � this is heading somewhere, he seems to feel a bit awkward about standingnext to me. no wonder, she said with a sarcastic smile. harry could imagine that.� a greying man next to the girl who looked like she just matured recently.so now you tell me what s between you and young ms. weasley?� � �

harry sighed. it was her who had a good point now.

i don t really know. nothing probably.� � �

don t tell it s nothing, that s not true. i see the way she is looking at you.� � � � and i saw you two kissing yesterday, suzie said.�

well, maybe she used to be after me, but hermione�told me that she s not after me anymore. she had dated two boys since then. she� kissed me yesterday only because she was drunk, that s it, harry said and� �was surprised to feel a jolt of bitterness that burst inside him. and i m not� � interested in her either, he added quickly.�

tell that to someone else, suzie replied, and harry was surprised to hear a� � slight note of anger in her voice. she wanted to tell him something else,but they were interrupted as the door to the kitchen opened and tonks entered theroom, her nose totally misshapen and her eyes bloodshot.



hello tonks, suzie greeted her as she got up and poured another cup of sobering� � potion. then she leaned to harry and whispered in his ear. we will finish�this later.�

harry barely nodded and when tonks friend appeared in the kitchen harry madehimself a toast to get on another thoughts. but it didn t help. the toast tasted�like paper and harry lost the appetite after three bites.

hermione appeared moments later, the first person who looked like she could handlewithout the sobering potion. she sat next to harry.

morning, hermione, harry muttered. he leaned forward. have you talked to ginny� � � at all? he said silently.�

hermione looked at him sternly first but her face softened as she saw harry s.� yes, harry i have.� �

and?� �

well, she told me nothing sense at all. i don t know what there is between you� �

two, but you better sort it out soon. and harry be nice, she said.�

harry nodded, took two buttered toasts he won t eat anymore and went upstairs to� room which ginny and hermione shared, thinking all the way up what he wouldtell her. when he reached the door he took a great breath and knocked on the door.

come in, he heard ginny s voice.� � �

he entered the room. ginny was still laying in bed. when she saw who came, shelooked at him uneasily and embarrassed.

oh, sorry, i ll come later, harry muttered.� � �

no harry it s o.k. come in, ginny said.� � �

harry came in, his planned speeches evaporating from his mind immediately. helooked at the stack of toast he was carrying.i brought you these, he said.� �

ginny smiled a bit. oh, harry it s not you who should feel embarrassed. i� � apologize for what happened yesterday, harry. i don t know why i have done that.�i just felt like doing it. maybe it was that firewhiskey, i don t know.� �

harry felt as a heavy burden fell from his heart. so he didn t need to say� anything at all. it s o.k. i shouldn t have let that happened. i mean, neither� � �of us didn t really want that to happen.� �

for an instant he could swear ginny would burst into tears at first, but then shesmiled at him slightly.

*****

they all gathered by the grate in the entrance hall next day, their luggage packedand they were dressed once again in their school robes. the christmasholiday ended by this day and class would begin again tomorrow. suzie sered wasthe one who accompanied them to the school.



after another unpleasant journey by the floo network they ended up in the greathall in hogwarts. they said goodbye to suzie and marched towards the gryffindorcommon room, talking about the upcoming classes. hermione as always fussed aboutginny not preparing for her o.w.l. s exam, which seemed to be closing�in rather fast.

they said the new password as they reached the portrait of fat lady and steppedinside the common room, which was already packed with people, who talked

about their holidays and presents. there were many members of the da among them.they went to their dormitories to unpack and then they met again in thecommon room. ron brought his chessboard, and they played several games with harry,observed by ginny. hermione was shooting them reproachful glances asshe raised her head from the potions book she was reading.

hermione, i think no one is going to test you right after the christmas holiday,� ron scowled as hermione shot them another look.�

come on hermione, let him be, harry said with a smile.� �

you re the one who should be reading your books dumbledore gave you, hermione� � � told him.

harry gulped. he almost forgot about that.

don t worry harry, we will help you, ginny said.� � �

sure harry, hermione said. i have an excellent idea! what about bringing those� � � powers to the da?�

are you serious, hermione? do you have any idea how this stuff is difficult? half� of the da would turn their back on us when we bring this up. no one istoo enthusiastic to show their weakness, harry said.�

harry, i think everybody could use with a bit of occlumency, hermione said.� �

i don t know hermione, he muttered and returned to the game with ron.� � �

moments later neville and lavender joined them at the table.

hello, had a good holiday? lavender greeted them. so, who are you going to the� � � valentine ball? she asked them a with smile, pointing at the notice board.�harry and the others looked where she was pointing. there was a huge sign pinnedthere that announced the valentine ball.

harry almost forgot about that and now he fell gloomy. he too well remembered howthe last ball went. he remembered the chase for a free girl and the uncomfortablefeeling, which occurred when he asked someone.

it doesn t say we ve got to go there with a partner, harry tried.� � � �

oh, come on, it s valentine ball, lavender said smiling.� � �

i guess pavarti won t be bad again, harry what do you think:? ron teased him.� � �

hardly, pavarti is going with seamus, they are going out now, you know, lavender� � said.

well, it won t be bad if we don t turn up, ron muttered and harry nodded.� � � �



you two are not serious, are you? you ll have to be there ron, the prefects are� � supposed to help with the organization. and i thought you would ask meout,�hermione said, looking hurt.

ron looked at her uneasily. well of course. hermione, will you go to ball with� � me?�

hermione stern face softened and she smiled at him sweetly. yes, of course i� will.�

what about you, harry? who are you going to ask? lavender asked him.� �

well, i m still thinking about not coming at all, harry muttered.� � �

and what about you ginny? lavender asked her. ginny merely shook her shoulders.� �

i don t know, she muttered.� � �

lavender looked at her first and then at harry, but luckily she made no comment.

right. see you all later, neville said and they went off.� �

chapter 35 : animemagi lessons

well, i won t apologize this time it s always the same- no spare time, lot of� � school stuff... but my final exams are approaching and after that i ll have�a lot of free time.

i m happy with all the reviews i got even if it s only six or less. thank you all� � very much.

btw, this story is coming to an end slowly, only about five or six chapters

left...

chapter 35: animemagi lessons

harry regretted that he didn t study nearly at all during the christmas holiday� the very first days of the second term. he wanted very much to be back atthe grimmald place, locked in his favourite study by himself reading from a bookduring his transfiguration lesson on monday. professor mcgonagall wentfurious as she found out that nobody except for hermione and few others didn t� revise throughout the christmas holiday.

what s that for? seamus groaned to himself to loudly as professor mcgonagall� � � gave the whole class extra homework worth an hours of extra studying.

mr. finnigan, do you realise how fast your n.e.w.t. s are approaching?� � � mcgonagall asked him.

the whole class was staring at her in amazement.

i don t think you should neglect studying for this year exams, but they re� � � compared to your upcoming n.e.w.t. s.� �

professor mcgonagall, you can t be serious the n.e.w.t. s won t come until year� � � � � and half, ron scowled.�



which is just enough time to prepare you for them. i expect nothing but good� results, from all of you, mcgonagall said as she looked at neville.� transfigurationwas the only classes neville still had some problems with and harry couldn t� understand how he could scarp to this class.

charms on tuesday weren t any better. even the kind tiny professor flitwick went�

angry when harry failed to heal a nasty cut on one of the sleeping mouse.he fussed about the n.e.w.t. s as well.�

all of the spells we have covered form the first year up to your seventh could� pop up on your exam, he squeaked.�

with all that harry was glad to face the thing he enjoyed most at the hogwarts-the da. he was wondering where everyone else was, walking to the room ofrequirements by himself, thinking about the hew spell they should cover. the wholecommon room was already empty and harry felt slightly hurt that evenhis best friends seemed to leave without him.

however it was apparent where everyone else was as harry opened the doors of room

of requirements. the room was packed with whole da and harry could seethey were discussing something, but stopped the moment he entered. they eyed himawkwardly.

what is it? harry asked them nervously as a fifty pairs of eyes were watching� � him.

hermione sighed. harry, please don t be mad at me. we were just talking about our� � next task and i brought up the occlumency��

harry felt a pang of anger hitting his body suddenly. what did i tell you? i� don t want to bring that stuff here?� �

harry, they all agreed hermione pleaded him as the others looked at him� �� uneasily.

harry weighed the idea in his mind. he really didn t�feel about sharing any bit of his mind with his fellow students. but than, he owedthem something�

are you all serious about this? you have no idea how it is unpleasant. somebody� would have to use legillimency on you to train the occlumency. everyonehas his own skeleton in cabinet, something you would never want to share withothers. and i m not speaking about how dangerous it is.� �

ron stepped forward. as long as you do it, i m not afraid.� � �

me neither, professor sered said.� �

wait harry, you re telling me you know how to use legillimency? zacharias smith� � � � asked him with a note of doubts.

i know some basics, harry replied coldly. zacharias smith fell silent, glaring� � at him.

he looked around the room, surveying the looks on each face. there was some fearhere and there, yes. but mainly their eyes was glowing with anticipation.



hermione is right, it couldn t hurt.�

o.k., i didn t really thought about this, maybe some basic facts in the� � beginning harry was thinking aloud. he looked over at hermione who had always��had some sort of plan, but she was looking at him with the same face of theanticipation as the others.

right, so the basics the most essential thing. clear your mind. you must think� �

about nothing. when your mind is clear and focused, you re not making it�too easy for the one who is using legillimency on you. when somebody is usinglegillimency on you and you don t defend yourself properly some images might�appear. you mustn t get disturbed by these, remember that.� �

basics? cho said sarcastically with a nervous smile. harry just shook his� � shoulders.

then sudden thought struck him- how were they supposed to train occlumency when hewas the only one with some experience with legillimency.

err, hermione i think there is one problem we didn t think about. i m the only� � � one here who knows something about legillimency.�

hermione sighed. i know, i was thinking about that maybe you could teach� � legillimency some of us but still you have got to try us all tonight.� �

harry looked around the room again. fifty or so people. this looks like to be thelongest da ever.

right we better start up so we manage it to the curfew. who wants to go first?� � �

no one really was keen to be the first and in the end it was hermione whovolunteered. she stepped in front of him and harry drew out his wand. he gaveher last questioning look.

are you sure about this, hermione?� �

she nodded but said nothing.

when i cast the spell on you, we will both see the images from your past. it� depends on what are you thinking about or what i m looking for so clear mind.�try to fight me off. ready? legillimens! he yelled as he pointed his wand at her.�

he wanted to be as soft as possible, but still the room dissolved instantly asharry said the incantation. the image of her parents in grimmald place appearedsuddenly. just as he thought that this would be harder than he had thought, theroom came into focus again and he saw hermione, still standing on her feetfirmly.

bravo hermione, you managed to hold me off, harry said with a broad smile.� �

i saw my parents so i failed, hermione said.� � �

well, were you expecting to repel harry completely on the first time? ron asked� � her, rolling his eyes. it was remarkable how he started using hermionemimics.

i say it was good, harry said with a matter-is-finished tone. who wants to go� � � next?�



the rest of the group seemed to be comforted when hermione survived so one by onethey walked over to harry.

and so harry used the legillimency on every single da member. he was at firstamused because ron and creevy brothers came after hermione and none of themmanaged to repel harry. harry saw younger versions of fred and george doing one oftheir famous pranks on ron. he was choking and harry could see that

his tongue was ten times larger than normal- big tongue tofees. mrs. weasley,yelling at ron because of the bad o.w.l. results, dennis creevy whackingbludger towards lestrange (how he terribely missed quiditch), a tentacle of giantsquib this isn t going to be that bad, harry thought.� �

he regretted it almost instantly as ginny came over next. harry couldn t help to� think about dean and there he was- he appeared in the vision, lying onthe ground in hogsmeade dead. he broke the connection immediately. ginny was onher knees, panting but refused his help when he offered her hand.

more and more da members changed before harry and when he was halfway done hewanted very much to stop. he felt very tired and the amount of absorbed imageswere making his head dizzy. he couldn t wait for his pensieve.�

and another images appeared- a scenery bathed in sunset from professor sered,funeral of neville s grandparents, yule ball from lavender, seamus in the�common room from parvati, bat bogey hex on malfoy from luna, disastrous date inteashop from cho.

some of them were slightly nervous, but jack reiley was definitely most. harry atfirst thought he wouldn t want to be tried at all but then he approached�him, shuffling his feet. knowing that this would be an easy target, harry pushedhim only slightly. in one second lasting image he saw an old male yellingat him- probably bill s father. bill s face couldn t be more relieved when harry� � � broke the connection.

not all of them resisted too long but there were few exceptions. hermione, suzieand to harry s utter amazement zacharias smith and richard grady. he was�mostly surprised by the success of the slytherin first year. if there was apromising talent amongst them it would be him.

by the time they all changed harry felt totally exhausted. his head was throbbingpainfully and his brain was surely about to explode. his only wish werenow only good long sleep and his pensieve. he glanced at his watch.

half past ten, half an hour after curfew! he yelled, surprised. we all better� � � get going, or we ll get into trouble. i dread to think what would happen�if mcgonagall or another professor found harry started but cut the sentence at�� the reproachful look suzie gave him.

we ll set the next meeting for next tuesday. suzie, zac, hermione, would you mind� � coming here tomorrow at five?�

the three nodded.

right, thank you. oh, homework everybody, try to clear your mind before you go to� sleep, harry said.�

they all nodded and said their goodbyes and dissolved in packs, all of themchatting about just ended session excitedly.



*****

the next day harry met up with hermione, suzie and zac and filled them in with thebasics of legillimency. harry couldn t make a better choice- after four�hours of trying they managed to perform the legillimency on each other in turns.even zacharias felt really excited and when they parted he even smiledat harry as he said his goodbye.

hermione took a lead of his animemagi lessons and even she couldn t teach him� anything she, ron and ginny volunteered to become harry s testers. harry was�glad hermione was so initiative, dumbledore could be barely seen even at theteacher s table in the great hall during meal times, even though voldemort�was still staying low. he practised using the distant legillimency and evenmanaged to involve himself in an hour lasting mind conversation with hagridfrom the top of the astronomy tower during one particularly boring lesson. hewanted to proceed further more with his powers but hermione insisted on masteringthe previous skills first.

since then they have begun every single da session with training occlumency.harry, hermione, zac and suzie were the ones who were legillimencing the others.

the progress was very slow, because they were too many and were unbalanced butsteady nevertheless. harry never felt so confident with the da as recently.

harry would like to say the same thing about his classes, but couldn t. although� he had managed to deal with the routine very soon his marks didn t improve�much. but at least he wouldn t fail from nothing from the moment, which was� probably his record because he always failed in potions.

but one thing harry missed very much. suzie didn t ask him to reinstate their� meeting right before the da sessions and harry would feel a bit awkward ifhe was the one to ask for it. he still couldn t get out of his head asking her� about the veil. but every time he was about to ask her either someone appearedor another thing happened. he managed to bring up the theme very near to the veil

once after the da but she merely coughed and fell silent for a momentbefore she changed the topic of the conversation. harry hated being her sosecretive, but he knew she would crack sometime.

meanwhile january came to it s second half and harry was set up against another� thing- the valentine ball. he really didn t want to go, but when he mentioned�this to ron, he begged him to go. he didn t want to go as well, but as he already� asked hermione out he had to.

the atmosphere in the castle was very similar to when the yule ball approached,maybe even worse. harry kept bumping into people in the corridor, who weretalking in packs about the ball or asking someone out. he still hadn t found a� date for himself and as the day passed the choice was getting lower and

lower. he could imagined malfoy would smirk at him if hr appeared on the ballwithout the date.

not that no one asked him out. he was asked out by few girls from second and thirdyear. imaging malfoy once again, how he would make fun of him if he broughtsomeone so young he refused, although he was more polite than in his fourth year.he wanted to ask some of his fellow da member but it seemed that nearlyall were taken. he pointed this out during one game of chess harry and ron hadtogether in the beginning of the third week of january.

well, maybe you could ask ginny out, i think she has got none yet as well, he� �



muttered between his turn.

harry considered this for a long time. yes, they had a bit of difficulties intheir friendship on the new years party, but they solved that out he looked�over where ginny was catching up on some o.w.l. work with help of hermione andwhen she saw him she smiled at him, before returning to her book. harrymade up his mind and got up, leaving ron at the chessboard still deeply thinkingabout his next move, oblivious to the fact that he was playing alone.

harry could feel his nerves raising, like when he asked cho out, but he couldn t� understand why. ginny was his friend and he should feel perfectly normalasking her. as a friend, naturally.

hi, he greeted them as he sat at the table. not really knowing how to begin he� � glanced over her shoulder to what they were revising on. switching charm,�how interesting he muttered.��

really? i find that rather boring, ginny said and stretched her arms. hermione� � first looked at annoyingly at her and than at harry as if she was angryharry disturbed them.

ah, listen ginny, harry started, well ron just told you have no one to go to� � � � the ball with. and so i. so, do you think we might err go together?� �

for an instant it looked like she was going to flush but in the end she didn t.� harry was glad that she didn t.�

are you asking me out, harry? she asked him with a smile.� �

it looks so, we might go as friends.� �

oh, yes sure, i ll be delighted, she said and at first harry thought her smile� � � � faded a little, but then he though he just imagined that.

so it s settled then, harry said and she nodded. i better get back to ron, he� � � � � said and left the table.

that wasn t too bad, harry thought to himself as he returned to the table where� ron was sitting.

so how did it go? ron asked him with a smile.� �

o.k., we re going together, he said as he moved his another piece.� � �

harry potter is going on date with my little sister, i thought i would never live� to see that, ron smirked and moved his other piece.�

oh, shut up. we re going as friends only, harry said. he then wanted to add that� � � ginny wasn t his little sister anymore but felt silent as ron moved his�another piece and yelled in triumph, defeating harry for fourth time in a row.

chapter 36 : valentine ball

chapter 35: the valentine ball

harry found out that when he had someone to go with on the ball he was actuallylooking forward to it. it couldn t get any worse than the yule ball, he�thought. the time ran like water and harry suddenly faced second week of february,



three days before the valentine day.

but there was another think that made harry even happier. it was so good thatharry first thought it was some kind of not very amusing joke.

harry was in common room, finishing another of his extra transfiguration essaywhen the portrait door of the common room opened and ron and hermione appeared.ron was grinning smugly, while hermione looked pleased. harry couldn t understand�

why, because he knew they had prefect meeting. at least he couldn t understand�why ron looked so happy. as they both spotted harry they came to join him at histable.

what are you two happy so about? harry asked them curiously.� �

they looked at each other and even hermione cracked a grin but they said nothing.

well? don t taunt me like that. what happened? harry pushed.� � �

let s just say i had the best prefect meeting for whole my life, ron said, still� � � grinning. hermione even forgot to shot him reproachful look as he saidthat this was the first meeting worth it.

what s so great about it? harry asked, feeling annoyed now.� � �

why don t you ask hermione, it was her idea?� � �

so what?� �

hermione leaned forward so no one could overhear them. well harry, don t get too� � excited, but we might have sorted out the quiditch problem, hermione�whispered.

for a second harry didn t understand. and than it struck him.�

are you telling me that you re going to reinstate quiditch? he breathed out. he� � � couldn t belive it.�

sssh, this is supposed to be kept in secret until it is really done, hermione� �whispered irritably.

so they would finally let us out? harry asked with a note of excitement.� �

well, not exactly, hermione shook her head. harry face darkened again. hermione� � spotted this and comforted him. don t worry, harry, you ll know everything� � �by tomorrow, o.k.?�


another prefect meeting will take place at seven and this time all the quiditch� captains are invited. so be at prefect lounge at seven.�

so harry had to wait till the next day. he didn t make false hopes, but still he� expected the next day with anxiety. precisely at seven o clock he entered�the prefect lounge to find out that all the prefects were already there. harryalso spotted cho chang and madam hooch amongst the crowd and they didn t�have to wait for more than a minute when blain and christian connor appeared. allthe captains sat at the same table, looking puzzled.



the prefect lounge was very big room and it didn t resembled any classroom there� was. there were four long tables, for each of the house where the six prefectsfor each house and/or head boy and girl sat. there were other spare tables and onewas occupied by the quiditch captains who looked around them bit uneasily.the walls were lined up with bookshelves where hundred of dusty volumes laid.

in the head of the prefect lounge was a long table, which was above the level,where all the heads of the houses sat. professor mcgonagall for gryffindor,

professor sprout for hufflepuff, professor flitwick for ravenclaw and professorsinistra, the astronomy teacher and the new appointed head of the slytherinhouse. it was professor mcgongall who rose to her feet first.

now that all of us gathered we can begin the meeting. perhaps you are wondering� why are invited you tonight, she said as she nodded towards the table�where the captains were seated. you are here today so we could discuss the� possibility of continuing the quiditch tournament.�

harry tried to sport a surprised look as every other captain did, he thoughtprofessor mcgonagall wouldn t be happy if she knew hermione told him the secret.�cho and christian looked most excited, it was their last year and they wanted achance to scarp a last cup as a team member. blain on the other hand after

recovering from shock looked slightly bored.

i don t want to make any false hope, be assured. the new form of quiditch would� � be very much difficult to organise and would require all the help you canprovide.�

cho raised her hand. does this mean we re allowed outside again? she asked� � � professor mcgonagall with a sparkle in her eyes.

no, ms. chang. we don t know what might be lurking in thee grounds, though they� � are protected, mcgonagall replied with a sigh. cho lowered her hand in�disappointment. but kindly hear ms. granger out. she was the one who got the� idea.�

hermione went to the head of the room and cleared her throat. as you all know the� quiditch was cancelled because the grounds weren t considered safe enough.�for whole winter we tried to find an alternative but failed. until yesterday. wedecided that the quiditch matches will be held in the great hall.�

there was utter silence from the table where the captains sat. everybody looked athermione as if she was mad.

the great hall isn t big enough to fit a quiditch pitch, cho complained loudly.� � �

well, quite the contrary we made some measurements and it seems big�enough to hold a game. naturally, the game can t be so quick inside and the balls�

would be needed adjusted��

what about the weather? coping with the weather, that s half fun on� �quiditch, christian piped up.�

you ve got enchanted ceiling and professor flitwick thinks that the different� � � weather condition could be magicked inside the great hall,�hermione said.

harry doubted very much that the simulated weather could be accurate enough.



what about the spectators? where we put stands? cho commented.� �

you are absolutely right cho, that s true. there is no way the great hall could� � hold stand for hundreds of people so that there would be enough place togame on. that is the only real problem, but we got that planned out as well.that s why we included two new persons on broomsticks- the observers. the�observer would be chosen from the two houses which don t play. they would fly� around the great hall, watching the game through the enchanted omniculars.

these omniculars would be connected to two mirrors planted in the common room. thestudents will watch the game from there, hermione said.�

harry, raised by muggles knew exactly what hermione thought. the others on theother hand looked at her as if she was crazy.

that s ridiculous, what would prevent the observers from interfering with the� � game? blain asked her with a snort.�

points would be subtracted from house where to the observer belong, hermione� � said calmly.

hermione, the support of the spectators means a lot to the team, harry� �

said.

that s why the common rooms would be connected to the great hall so the players� � could hear what is happening in the common rooms.�

everyone was still looking at her in disbelief, but harry could see that choand christian nodded, only briefly though.

look at least we can give it a try, what do you think? she looked at them� � anxiously. it s the best option we have under these circumstances.� � �

i like it, harry said, mainly to support her. the rest of the captains looked at� � harry and than nodded, still looking bit unconvinced.

hermione beamed at him. o.k., the only thing left is to organise the matches,� � she said.

*****

at ten that evening the meeting dissolved and everybody went to their common room.harry s head felt swollen many times with the new absorbed information�and he was immensely tired but was happy nevertheless. they finally agreed on thetraining and matches schedule. right after valentine, the training session s�will commence and the first match was set on the first of march- slytherin vs.hufflepuff. harry and cho were elected as the first observers.

that night he came to the common room and summoned his whole team. large of theamount of happiness left him as he remembered that dean was dead and hehad to replace his position. he asked kimberly cook whether she was stillinterested in playing. given the circumstances, kimberly wasn t as happy as she�should be and merely nodded when harry asked her.

that meant he had to devise new tactics to involve kimberly and was very happythat their match isn t coming up to the half of the march.�

as harry announced the new whole his team seemed to burst out with happiness.dennis and colin creevy started dancing around the room, while parvati beamed



at him so much that harry had to look away. the only team-mate who wasn t all that� happy was ginny weasley but harry understood why.

the students have to talk about something else except from valentine, which wasthe next day. the castle buzzed excitedly and harry felt happy that quiditchwas gaining on ball amongst the topics of conversations. when the ball wasannounced officially that morning by professor mcgonagall (professor dumbledorewas yet again gone) whole great hall burst into huge applause, which lasted longer

than harry ever remembered.

but the quiditch tournament vanished from many mind the next day when they wokeup. as harry and the others had their breakfast in the great hall, everyonetalked about the upcoming evening excitedly. morning was the only time where harrysaw ron and hermione, as all of the prefects help teacher s with the�organisation and decorations. harry enjoyed the remaining of the day with hisfellow students in the common room.

nobody felt like studying that day, they were so excited that none couldn t� concentrate. instead all of them were chatting happily or playing some games.harry was involved in a game of chess with seamus, which he won very easily(seamus was nothing compared to ron) and than he played many games of gobstones

and exploding snap with creevy brothers. harry couldn t remember the common room� to be so loudly.

three hours before the ball the girls started to dissolve towards theirdormitories, chatting excitedly about their dress robes and agreeing on help withtheir appearance. the boys shook their heads and continued on mayhem. two hoursbefore the beginning of the ball the prefects appeared. the three girlsrun to their dormitories, fussing how they had short time. even hermione did. theboys joined the games and ron beat harry in chess thrice before it wasan hour and they thought they should better get prepared.

they washed themselves and then put on their dress robes each. rondressed in his new blue robes, while neville was wearing brown and seamus canary

yellow, which made them all laugh. they had fun trying to flattenharry s hair, but they were stubborn as he was. after what felt for hundredth time� they failed, seamus suggested scissors and harry was glad that it wastime to leave.

they all went downstairs to common room to find out that girls were already therewaiting for them. some of the gryffindors were meeting with someone fromanother house so they left through the portrait door. ron spotted hermione, whowas dressed like on the new year party, perfectly. harry was searchingfor ginny in the crowd and when he found her, his mouth opened in surprise.

her hair was curly again as on the new year party and she was wearing dress robeswhich perfectly matched her flaming hair. the robes were definitely from

the second hand as harry surveyed them, on the contrary they looked brand new. hewalked over to her.

you look beautiful, he breathed out.� �

thanks, she muttered. mum made these for this day when we were on christmas� � � holiday.�

she stepped closer to him and brushed of some dust of his shoulder, than shestraightened up his collar properly. i want my date to look perfect, she� �said teasingly.



harry smiled and offered his arm in bemused way. ginny took it and together theywalked over where ron and hermione were standing, waiting for them. theywent to the great hall in silence.

there was already large crowd standing and waiting for the great hall to beopened. harry was hailed up by many of the da members, all of the girls wantinga dance with him. harry gulped uneasily. he didn t really fancy dancing and the�

thought of dancing for whole evening haunted him. harry caught a glimpseof malfoy who snorted in disgust as the girls from da asked him out. he wasaccompanied by pansy parkinson again and flanked by crabbe and goyle who againto harry s amusement couldn t find themselves a date again.� �

at exact seven the doors opened and the students walked inside. harry feltslightly sick at the sight of the amount of pink and red colour the great hall wasdecorated with. the four long house tables were gone and they were tensof small tables spread all around, making a large place in the centre which wassupposed to be a dance floor. the enchanted ceiling was raining heart-shapedpink and red confetti which harry found very ridiculous.

in the head, at the usual spot was the teachers table. harry couldn t�

remember seeing so many teachers and other members of staff altogether. the onlyone who was missing was dumbledore. they were all dressed in dress robesexcept for hagrid and firenze, naturally.

in front of the teacher table there was a long table laden with food. there wasdefinitely not enough food for everybody, which harry found odd.

he, ginny, ron and hermione seated themselves at one of the tables. theexcited talk ceased immediately as professor mcgonagall rose to her feet. let�the ball begin, she said loudly and clapped her hands. the lights were� extinguished and the room fell into semi-darkness. hundreds of small lanterns werelit and bathed the great hall in many colours. the quick rhythmic music soundedsuddenly and some of the students got up and walked over to the dance floor.

harry gave ginny unease look.

oh, come on harry, it won t be that bad, she said, rose to her feet and dragged� � � harry towards the dance floor. in a moment they were joined by hermioneand disgusted looking ron. harry let ginny lead them and after a while he despiteof himself he enjoyed it.

shall we go and get something to drink? ginny offered. harry nodded and lead� � them towards the food table.

whoa, he yelled in surprise as new bottles of butterbeers materialised on the� � spot harry took two bottles.

sure you weren t thinking this was sufficient to feed you lot, professor� � � mcgonagall voice came from the teachers table. potter, they are girls here at�this tables expecting you to ask them for a dance.�

harry looked upwards to see professor mcgonagall smiling. he smiled back weaklyand than went back to their table with ginny. they were soon joined by hermioneand relieved looking ron. they sipped their butterbeers in silence, talking andharry felt as normal as he could be, which he didn t feel for a very long�time.



throughout the night many girls asked harry and ron out for a dance. harry felt abit uneasy when cho asked him and michael corner asked ginny. he was shootingoccasional glances towards ginny and michael as he danced with cho, who wasdressed in dark blue robes.

harry, hello i m talking to you, he heard cho s voice. she sounded slightly� � � � offended.

sorry, where were we? he said as he steered cho so he could get better view at� � ginny. he didn t know why the amused look on her face made him angry.�

harry kept his word and approached the teacher table where he asked nearly all ofhis teacher for a short dance before returning back to the table whereron and hermione sat. ginny returned as a song ended, from what appeared to bethird dance with michael through the evening.

what s up with you, harry? she asked him as she saw his look.� � �

nothing how is michael? he asked her without really meaning it.� � �

oh, harry, she sighed with a smile and dragged him to the dance floor again.� �

you don t need to be jealous of michael.� � �

i m not jealous, why would i be? it s not we re going out or something. i just� � � � thought we were here together, he muttered.�

but you were dancing with cho, ginny said, slightly offended.� �

o.k., let s forget it, he said with a test grin and was relieved when ginny� � �grinned back.

the music went very quick now and they were joined by hermione and ron, who didn t� wear his disgusted face anymore. they danced and made funny dance figuresand harry couldn t remember enjoying himself more as�

the whole great hall danced to the rhythm of the bird dance.

then suddenly the tune changed to much slower and at first harry stood as rootedto spot but then ginny seized him again and they were moving to the rhythmof the music, looking into each other s face. harry suddenly felt very hot in his� cheeks and looked away. only few feet away from them ron and hermionewere dancing, much closer to themselves that harry and ginny. on his right hespotted professors sered and lupin dancing together. they both smiled athim and he smiled back nervously. he looked at ginny again.

ouch! watch where are you going, filth, came malfoy s voice suddenly. harry� � � stopped dancing immediately, so did malfoy and pansy.

watch your mouth, malfoy, harry said threateningly.� �

or what? malfoy pushed.� �

harry, ignore him, ginny pleaded him. don t let him ruin this moment, she said� � � � � and actually steered him again.

malfoy smirked. you call that pitiful moves dance?� �

harry released ginny and drew out his wand. show us your moves, than.� tarantagella! he cried.�



malfoy face was first surprised and than as his legs danced uncontrollablyhis face twisted into rage. he drew out his own wand but wasn t quick enough.�

expelliarmus! ginny cried. malfoy wand flew away into the crowd. he tripped and� � fell to the ground, his feet still moving quickly. people all around themlooked at him and laughed openly. harry grinned smugly and was relieved that ginnywas smiling as well.

what s the commotion? came stern voice of professor mcgonagall.� � �

oh no let s run for it, quickly, ginny said and grabbed harry s hand. they ran� � � � � back to the common room very quickly, both laughing like mad and didn t�stop running until they reached the portrait of the fat lady. looking at eachother they burst out laughing again.

password? fat lady sat irritably.� �

it took a great time to say the password to both ginny and harry through theirfits of laughter to the great annoyance of fat lady. finally harry managedto spit it up and the door opened and they entered.

harry stopped laughing suddenly. he turned to ginny. sorry i spoiled the�evening.�

ginny smiled at him. no i had excellent time. it was malfoy not you. i had really� good time with you, harry.�

me too, harry said a bit embarrassed, realizing where could this lead to.� �

ginny walked closer to him, looking deeply into his face. she was inches only now� she kissed him lightly on lips.

good night, harry, she said softly and run up the stairs to her dormitory.� �

harry touched his lips, as if to prevent the kiss from leaving him. he stood therefor a very long time watching over to the stairs to girls dormitory.

chapter 37 : quiditch training

hello,this chapter is sort of a filler and is really short, i will continue as soon aspossible.

chapter 37: training quiditch

legillimens! harry cried pointing his wand at hermione.� �

the image of the room of requirements dissolved and harry s head was filled with� several images. hermione, facing her boggart mcgonagall, who told her shefailed all her classes, then came image of the last christmas in grimmauld place,then dementors closing around her in hogsmeade, a death eater killedthe mother of the boy she was protecting right in front of her eye and then he sawhimself and ginny dancing on the yule ball�

protego, he heard hermione whisper out of nowhere.� �

instantly, the last image dissolved and harry could suddenly see images of his



own. hermione lying on the ground in hogsmeade, unconscious, then the graveyardin little hangleton, where the death eaters made a circle enclosing harry,voldemort and cedric s limp body, ginny dancing with michael in the great hall�and then ginny approaching him in the common room�

he concentrated hard and the room came back into focus again. hermione wasstanding in front of him, panting. there was a note of fear in her eyes. withoutany words harry collapsed on the sofa and hermione to one of the armchairs. the

room of requirements was very small today, because it held only two people.hermione and harry were trying to develop harry s skills and there was no place� better.

harry and hermione were practising the legillimency after tuesdays s classes.� harry barely trained with anyone but hermione. her, ginny and ron were theonly he would not fear to share his fears with them, but while ginny at leastmanaged basics in occlumency, ron was nearly totally hopeless. so it wasonly harry and hermione training harry s skills in the evening.�

it was three days after the valentine ball. the excitement was over and everythingfell into old tracks. teachers didn t seem to lower their expectations�and the exams were nearing very fast. the fifth years and seventh year were the

ones who felt it most and therefore the common rooms were always filledwith studying groups and was very quiet. the only person who didn t seem to be� concerned about the exams was ron.

you heard, what mcgonagall told us? these exams aren t that important, it s the� � � n.e.w.t. s i should be studying for. as long as i don t fail some classes,� �i don t care what marks i get, he said one night in common room as all of the� � gryffindors were studying and he read a book, sitting in bug comfortablearmchair.

i don t think reading a book about quiditch will help you in your auror career,� � � hermione said sarcastically. ron merely said something under his breathand then buried his nose again in his textbook.

seamus dropped his quill later with a sigh and took ron s lead. hermione looked at� them both disapprovingly. harry longed for a break as he observed ronand seamus chatting about quiditch, but he needed top marks of everything tobecome an auror so with a sigh he returned to his potions textbook, but somehowwas always distracted by an image of certain girl, which appeared always when hetried to concentrate.

and he was thinking about ginny as he was sitting on the sofa, already tired. hedidn t know how he would manage to lead a da session, which was going to�take place in less then half an hour. but his tiredness wasn t the thing which� bothered him most.he was very confused about ginny.

he remembered hermione telling him last year that ginny didn t have a crush on him� anymore. but harry was nearly convinced from what happened three daysago that ginny still felt something towards him, more than a friendship. and harrysuddenly realized that he wanted to be more than a good friend to her.yes, for harry finally understood why he felt a surge of anger towards michaelcorner, when he asked ginny for dance. he understood why he didn t flinch�when she kissed him both at new years party or valentine ball. he finallyunderstood why he always felt butterflies in his stomach he looked, when at ginnylately, the feeling he got when he saw cho in his fourth and fifth year. heunderstood the meaningful look from ron on their journey back to london, when



ron said ginny should date someone else and than looked at harry.

he couldn t understand how he couldn t notice ginny before. but than finally� � recognition struck him. ginny was always only ron s young sister who had a�crush on him since she had first met him in the king cross, when harry was leavingfor his first year at hogwarts. she was always the shy girl, who wasblushing every time he spoke to her. until the last year, when she finally managedto get over with harry as hermione told him.

but then he shook his head furiously. he too well remembered what happened tothose who loved him. his parents, sirius he didn t want ginny to be the next� �victim of lord voldemort. he knew why hermione managed to repel him and cast ashielding charm. ginny was his weakness.

hermione, still panting slightly seemed to be thinking amongst the same lines asshe observed harry.

what happened harry? she asked him softly.� �

harry sighed. i don t know hermione, he lied quickly, but instantly knew� � � hermione would see through this.

don t tell me that, harry. one time you were using legillimency on me properly� � and next time i managed to deflect it. and not only deflect it, but alsouse it on you, she said. harry, is there something between you and ginny?� � �

it took harry long time to say something. i don t know, hermione. one time you re� � � saying that she doesn t have crush on me anymore and next time but you� �saw it didn t you?� �

harry, do you love her? hermione asked him, looking tense.� �

i don t know hermione. what do you mean by love? does that mean that i want to� � spend more time with her? does that mean that i want to as close to her

as possible. then yes, i do love her hermione. you are asking me why didn t i� notice before? he asked her as he saw the looks she gave him. well, it� �was difficult to notice her wasn t it?� �

well yes, she grinned slightly. well if you like her, and she likes you, why� � � don t you say that to her, tough?� �

harry sighed. he got up and paced around the room for a long time before heanswered. hermione, i don t want to put neither of you into more danger. i� �know i m not talk some sense into you and ron, he said as hermione opened her� � mouth to speak. but i don t want ginny to be her in more danger. i m not� � �telling her.�

suit yourself harry. but that won t protect ginny if voldemort used legillimency� � on you. the emotion you feel towards ginny disturb you and therefore youare easy target for legillimency.�

i know, so we have to train more.� �

harry managed to get the image of image out of his mind for the rest of theevening and when the other da members came, him, hermione, zac and suzie usedlegillimency on the others. harry felt really proud of the da, as he saw thatanother members started to get the trick. ron and ginny on the other handfelt angry with them as neither of them managed to repel harry or hermione (harry



asked hermione to partner with ginny instead of him).

at the end of the session harry felt totally exhausted. he was using legillimencynow for four hours in row and once again he felt his head would burstbecause of the amount of images. he was really looking forward to his pensieve,which was already full of various images by now and what relieve it wouldbring. harry only hoped it had enough capacity left.

he considered the meeting finished and was just about to leave the room ofrequirements when suddenly ron called after him.

harry, haven t you promised us some sort of competition? ron asked with a grin.� � �

harry tried to remember hard, but it was a long time before he knew what was rontalking about. yeah, but that s long time ago and we have quiditch back.� � �so there is really no need for it he said, but was silenced by great burst of�� complaints from everyone of them.

you still want to do it? well, next week than? he asked them. they all nodded� � eagerly and some of them also cheered loudly. right, it s settled then.� �well, we are finished now, so see you all next week, he said and left quickly so�

he wouldn t need to speak with ginny.�

*****

harry was thinking the same night about how he would sort out and organise thetournament for a very long time before he went to sleep. finally he thoughtthey would ask the room of requirements (it still felt strange, even after nearlytwo years to ask a room to do something) to look like some kind of arena.and first they will battle in groups and than the members of two best groups wouldbattle against each other in pairs.

so that will leave for people for semi-final if we made a groups a four, hethought before his eyes closed and he dreamed about battling several of the

da members. he woke several hours later to find he had another thing to face- thegreat hall would be prepared today for the quiditch and the first trainingwould be devoted to gryffindor.

he couldn t wait to get on his firebolt again, although he knew this would be very� different than when he was flying in the grounds. the classes went soslow that day that harry thought he was back in the history of magic classes,which were boring and always made him drowsy.

after the dinner he ate rather hastily he returned to the common room to preparefor the training. he took his firebolt and his broomstick service kit andpolished every inch of its surface, feeling how it vibrated in his grasp. he alsostraightened the few straws which were sticking out of the tail.

ron came to the dormitory as well and took his broom and his training robes with ahuge grin towards harry. harry grinned at him back hoping that hermionetold him nothing about their conversation in the room of requirements. they wentto the great hall together, finding that rest of the team was alreadythere, with professors mcgonagall and hooch and also hermione. madam hooch wascarrying the crate of balls and a broomstick on her shoulder.

ready for first training, potter? she asked him cheerfully.� �

but her enthusiasm hadn t lasted long. harry knew it was only for the first time�



but he hadn t witnessed worse training session up to now. the quiditch�pitch was very much wider and higher. harry and the others found themselves nearlybouncing into the wall in high speed many times. unfortunately, sizewasn t the only thing to complain about.�

the bludgers were much slower than they used to be and harry found very easy toduck them. he doubted they even could unseat any player while they wereso slow.

what s the point of beaters now? colin yelled angrily as he whacked the bludger� � � with all his might, expecting it to go at least a bit faster, but it didn t�change it s speed, only direction. harry could be happy about one thing- there was� nothing done to snitch, which sustained it s speed.�

also, they had another problem with kimberly. after several training sessionsharry devised difficult and successful tactic for dean, ginny and parvatiline. now he had to think of a brand new tactics. he at least expected someadvices from the chasers, but the only one who was talking to him was parvati.ginny s voice was cold when she spoke to harry.�

after two hours they landed, all of them looking annoyed and angry. hermione

approached them nervously.

well, it was the first time, you know, she said in silent voice.� �

don t worry, hermione. no one s going to blame you, ginny said.� � � �

yeah, don t worry, ron agreed and took hermione s hand in his. we ll work this� � � � � � out.�

but the next training they had on saturday turned out nothing better. colin anddennis were still complaining about bludgers, harry about the size of thegreat hall and kimberly still didn t fit in very well. ron was the only one who� complained about nothing and harry doubted it was because he had nothing

to add.

hermione nearly broke into tears at the end of the training as they all landed andshouted complaints on mrs. hooch. at last they agreed they re still some�changes to be done and postponed all the trainings from different houses.

ginny wasn t still talking to harry and he found out he liked it as long as she� was away from him. he very much wanted to be with her, but he knew he couldn t.�hermione tried many times to talk some sense into him. she always said it was shewho volunteered to go on the rescue mission for sirius. but she didn t�help him much, in fact she brought the memory of sirius back to him.

he spent most of the weekend by himself, reading books dumbledore gave him. now he

could perform the legillimency perfectly, he wanted to proceed to anotherskill, the sognosency- the ability to read someone dreams in night and controllingthem. like lord voldemort used it on him various times. he didn t want�to know, why he wanted to develop this particular skill, maybe it just felt likethe easiest one.

when he went to sleep in the evening that day and ginny appeared in his headagain, he felt like he nearly forget how miserable could he feel. then he clearedhis mind as he always did and went to sleep.

chapter 38 : duelling competition



hello everyone,so this is it. my final exams are in three weeks and i doubt i would be able towrite anymore up to that time.i m sorry if i dissapointed you, but this exam is really important in our country� and would determine my future etc. etc. i might be able to update nextweekend but i m not sure about that.�

i enjoyed writing this chapter very much. hope you like the ending it might look abit stupid.

thank you all for your wonderful reviews i really appreciate them. to those whohavent reviewed please please please do so. :-)

chapter 38: duelling competition

everyone from the da was looking forward to their session on tuesday because ofthe duelling competition. they kept bumping into harry and asked him howhe would organise it, what spells they should learn harry got a bit annoyed by� tuesday and was really relieved when he, ron and hermione entered the roomof requirements, when everybody was expecting him eagerly, waiting for him, ron

and hermione.

harry waited for the excitement chatter before he spoke.

so are you all ready? harry asked them with a smile. they all nodded. so i ll� � � � � split you into groups of four , harry started and one thing suddenly hit� �him- he haven t given any serious thought about how he would divide them.�

don t worry harry, i ve got all planned out, hermione inquired. remember how it� � � � � was during the triwizard tournament. i ve enchanted this goblet and put�all of our names inside. right now it should be giving the random groups, she� said and as she finished the goblet glowed scarlet and emitted shoots ofsparks. every single member looked at hermione with admiration as several scarps

of parchment shoot out and hermione picked them up.

what? she asked them as she noticed their looks.� �

hermione, how you had done it? ron asked her, his mouth slightly opened.� �

well, she blushed. it s nothing as advanced as the goblet of fire only a� � � � � random charm, merging charm for the bits of parchment to merge and flarious�charm for the effect, she said. she unrolled the bits parchment and started to� divide them from the paper. harry potter, richard connor, zacharias smith,�seamus finnigan ron weasley, ginny weasley, suzie, cho chang... me, michael� corner, bill reiley, emilly aureily , she continued reading and the da members� �were forming the groups.

richard, seamus and zacharias smiled at him as they moved to his side. harrysmiled back. after a while hermione stopped reading and moved over to michael,jack and emilly.

and now we need a bit change of decoration, harry said and closed his eyes. we� � need this room to look like a arena obstacles and so on, harry thought�furiously. he opened his eyes and looked around him, stunned by the sight. theroom didn t look like comfortable anymore. it was like a large arena. the�floor changed from stone to dirt and the walls were lined up with stands. all ofthem looked at the surroundings, many of them having their mouth opened.



how are we going to fight? zacharias smith asked.� �i thought we could fight each other and then choose two best. and they will fight� again, and the winners would split into pairs and the winner pair wouldfight one-to-one what do you reckon? harry said.� �

if you want to have it your way we better get started immediately, hermione� � said.

so hermione draw a table quickly. and then they started- harry s group against� ron s group. all the other groups went to sit on the stands. harry s group� �formed a line and ron s did as well on the other end of the arena.�

ehm how are we doing this? harry asked hermione, who sat in the first row.� � �

well, i don t know let s say you duel until everyone from the other group is� � � � incapable of duelling. and don t use dangerous curses, we don t want to end� �up in hospital wing do we?�

they all nodded and harry, ron and the others faced themselves again. nothinghappened for a few seconds. then suddenly harry drew out his wand quickly

and before anyone other could react harry pointed his wand at ron s group.�

stupefy! he cried. a red beam of light erupted from the tip of his wand and sped� � towards ron s group. they scattered quickly, hiding behind several stone�boulders and the stunner hit one of the walls of room. hide! harry yelled and� � they scattered as well, harry and richard hiding behind one boulder andseamus and zacharias behind the other.

what do we do? richard asked harry excitedly.� �harry felt as one of the curses from the opposite team hit the boulder they werehiding behind. harry got an idea. he risked a quick glance from behindthe boulder and was nearly hit by a stunner aimed from suzie sered. richard tookadvantage of her recklessness and shot disarming curse at her. her wand

flew out of his hand and she dived for it.

stupefy! zacharias yelled, pointing his wand at her. the stunner hit her and she� � collapsed to the ground, unconscious. harry heard jeers from the stands.he got up and pointed his wand at the boulder where ginny and ron were hiding.

reducto! he cried.� �

the boulder evaporated leaving a large pile of ash. ginny and ron were looking atharry, surprised. stupefy! all from harry s team. one stunner missed� � �them, one hit ginny and two hit ron. they both collapsed to the ground. cho changlooked from behind her cover, a note of hopelessness in her eyes.

i give up! she yelled.� �

harry felt a wave of excitement rush through him as he walked over to ron andginny.

enervate, he muttered pointing his wand first at ron than at ginny.� �

what happened? did we loose? ron said groggily. harry merely smiled and helped� � him to his feet. when he offered her hand to ginny, she merely shot hima cold look and ignored it completely.



next came the match of hermione s team against a team which consisted only from� hufflepuff. they stood against each other, waiting for the first move. thensusan bones from hufflepuff aimed her wand at hermione. it was the obvious thing,hermione being the best witch in team.

impedimenta! she cried.� �

but hermione was ready. protego! she cried and the jinx rebounded on susan who� �

collapsed to the ground, struggling against the jinx.

accio wand! hermione cried. susan s wand flew over to hermione and she pocketed� � � it quickly, before turning her wand against the others. immobilus! she� �yelled.

ernie mcmillian managed to dive behind one of the obstacles, justin finch-flitcheyand hannah abott hadn t so much luck. they stood motionless as if they�were rooted.

michael, bill, emilly, be ready. wingardium leviosa! she cried, pointing her� � wand at the boulder where ernie was hiding. the boulder flew few feet high,revealing ernie.

stupefy! he yelled. emilly aureily collapsed to the ground, but just then two� � michael s stunner hit ernie. the match was over.�

the spectators were chatting amongst themselves excitedly as hermione revivedernie and released hannah, susan and justin from the curses and returninghannah s wand. everyone knew hermione was good, but no one expected this. after� another few matches it was clear that there was nearly no match againstharry s and hermione s teams. the only one who could keep up with them was ron s� � � team.

not a very long time later came what harry feared most, battle with hermione s� team. they faced each other.

as i shot the first spell, take cover immediately, he muttered to the rest of� � his team. they nodded slightly. expelliarmus, harry cried, taking random� �aim. the spell hit no one, but provided enough distraction for harry s team to� take cover. harry risked a quick glance and saw that hermione teams didthe same.

reducto, he yelled, pointing at boulder he thought they were hidden behind. but� � there was none.

immobilus, he heard hermione s incantation and felt his body numb.� � �

harry! he heard panicked voice of richard. he stood up and shot a stunner at� �

hermione but she ducked again. finite incantatem! he muttered pointing� �his wand at harry. nothing happened.

what s wrong? he asked in frustration.� � �

her spell is too powerful for you to break, you must manage without me, harry� � said disappointedly.

from a corner of his eye, he saw as zacharias smith got up. reducto, he cried� � pointing his wand at hermione s cover.�



protego superfices! harry heard hermione s yell. he saw as the beam from� � � zacharias smith hit the invisible wall around hermione cover and rebounded onhis cover. his cover vanished and he and seamus were easy target for michael,hermione s and bill s curses. seamus fell to the ground, rigid as board and� �zacharias was laughing madly as bill reiley hit him with the tickling curse.

richard wanted to continue fighting but emily suddenly appeared out of nowhere andshot a jet of sparks from her wand. they blinded richard and he collapsed

to the ground. emily walked over to him and took his wand.

are you o.k.? she asked him.� �

yeah, he said and took back his wand.� �

harry had to wait until hermione came to him and broke the immobilus curse.

thanks, he said. what was the spell you used against the reducto curse? he� � � � asked her.

it was advanced shielding charm, i read about that from book about auror from� library. it has same properties as the ordinary shielding charm, but it affects

certain area, she said.�

got any more surprises prepared for us? harry asked her with a smile. hermione� � merely grinned.

next came the match between harry and team, which consisted of neville, parvati,dennis and anna grady. harry managed to stun dennis and anna before eventhey managed to draw their wands. neville managed to put zacharias into full body-bind, but was hit with a jelly-legs jinx from richard afterwards. hedropped his wand in surprise and didn t manage to get back to it as he wobbled� around the arena. parvati was then hit by seamus with disarming curse andcouldn t reach her wand because seamus used wingardium leviosa charm on it and� levitated it out of her reach, laughing at the sight of her hopping into

the air, reaching for it.

after another few matches everyone was once again very excited. next match wouldbe ron s team against hermione s and everyone was longing to see if hermione� �got any more aces in her sleeve. and indeed she had. before anyone could react,she drew out her wand and pointed at the ground before ron s team.�

paurus vede! she cried. the beam hit the ground. apparently nothing happened.� �

harry, observing from stands had never heard about this curse before, butunderstood it s purpose immediately. ginny collapsed to her knees and burst into�tears suddenly. ron was running away from the spot hermione curse hit the ground,yelling something about a huge spider. cho s eyes were wide with terror�

and suzie observed the spot with disbelief in her eyes, her wand swaying limply byher side, both stood still. all of them became very easy target forhermione s team.�

what was that? harry asked her after the match. ginny was still sobbing� � silently, ron and cho looked very pale and susan as if she had spotted a ghost.

terror curse. reveals greatest fears of the target to him, it s used for breaking� � opponent morale. but i never thought that the effect would be so intensive,otherwise i wouldn t be using it, she said as she observed ginny, suzie, ron and� � cho.



well, you won though, harry said. looks like all is determined.� � � �

and he was right. although they several matches left to fight it was sure thatharry s and hermione s group would fight against each other in the final� �round of team matches. for the rest of the time left to final, harry was thinkingabout tactic against hermione. and then, when it was time to face hermioneit finally struck him.

they assembled against each other, harry s team trembling slightly.�

don t worry. aim for hermione first, he said. zac, seamus and richard looked at� � � him as if he was mad. nobody knew what new spells hermione learnt. trust�me, harry muttered and they nodded slightly. he faced hermione again and drew out� his wand quickly. she did as well.

sola she started.� ��

legillimens! harry yelled, this time not really making his spell weaker. the� � room dissolved immediately and harry saw a figure of dementor towering her,before the room came back into focus and harry saw hermione lying sprawled on the

ground. harry felt a surge of excitement rush through him.

michael, bill and emily looked at her body and than at harry with fear. harryexpected the rest of the team to shoot their stunners at them but nothinghappened. he looked at them. they were also looking at him with fear.

what are you waiting for? stun them, before they strike back, harry said� � angrily. but none of them moved. than he saw ron running towards hermione, whowas still lying on the ground. and than he understood. you didn t stun her did� � you?�

richard nodded slightly. harry s heart dropped as he ran towards the spot where� hermione was crumpled on the ground. ron was cradling her, slapping her

on face lightly so she would wake up.

what did you done that for? ron spat at him angrily.� �

ron, i didn t mean to harry croaked. he collapsed on his knees.� � ��

stand back ron, i ll get her to the hospital wing, suzie said and conjured up a� � � stretcher where they laid her body. then she levitated the stretcher andwalked to the door. harry got up and was about to join them.

where do you think you are going? ron muttered at her angrily.� �

what do you mean? i didn t do that on purpose and i want to know what happened to� �

her, he returned the tone ron gave him.�

harry, i think it would be better if you go to the common room, suzie said� � softly, before she levitated the stretcher out of the room, ron closely behindher. he turned around. everyone of them was still looking at him with fear intheir eyes.

i didn t mean that. you know i didn t, he said. but the others still staring at� � � � him dissolved silently. few of them didn t even said any goodbye. ginny�and most of the former members still stood there. for the first time in week harryhadn t seen that cold look from her but look of concern.�



sorry, he muttered and left the room slowly.� �

******

harry followed suzie s lead and went to his dormitory straight away, not because� it was an order but because he wanted to be alone. he slammed the dormitorydoor, furious with himself. this was what dumbledore warned him about for several

times. harry knew something like this might have happened, but he neverthought he would hurt hermione, who had helped him develop these powers.

why it had to be me? he asked himself silently. again, someone who he loved got� � hurt because of him. i should have start to get used to it now, he thoughtfor himself bitterly. he felt like he would never use his talent again.

hour passed and harry was still alone. they better transfer me to a single room, idoubt anyone would like to share a room with a freak who maybe killedone of his best friends. he imagined a door next to the sixth years dormitorylabelled harry potter. behind them would be nothing but dark room with asingle bed, where he would share the rest of his life with misery only.

or maybe they ll throw him into a cell of kabazan. harry doubted that even without� dementors the wizarding prison would be a place where he wouldn t like�to have to spent the rest of his life.

there was a knock on the door. harry rolled over in his bed, hoping that theperson would leave him alone. there was another light knock on the door andharry heard the door creaked open. the dark dormitory was lit by the light oftorches from corridor and harry could see a person standing in the door frame.

harry, are you awake? came ginny s voice.� � �

harry closed his eyes tightly, hoping that ginny thought he was asleep and leavehim. however, he heard the door close again and shuffling footsteps, moving

towards his bed.

harry? he heard her, much closer now. he felt a as weight dropped on his bed at� � his feet, where ginny sat.

go away, he muttered angrily.� �

he felt her shifting more closer. harry, hermione is o.k. she is awake and she� doesn t blame you at all for what have happened. ron just told me, she� �said in comforting voice.

harry felt as some of his anger left him, replaced by relief. he was extremelygrateful to ginny for her words.

harry, at least face me, i don t want to talk to your back, she pleaded him.� � �

harry turned around slowly. what happened? he asked her.� �

no one really knows harry. i remember only you casting the legillimency curse at� her. and then she grabbed her head and shrieked before she collapsed.ron said she was already awake when they got to the hospital wing. she is o.k.now, but madam pomfrey still insisted on staying at hospital wing for anight or two. just a precaution, she said.�



what had suzie told her?� �

exactly what happened. madam pomfrey is aware of your occlumency and legillimency� lesson and asked no question. she examined hermione and said there wasno lasting harm done. hermione kept saying that it wasn t your fault and insisted� on that you re not to be punished, ginny said.� �

she is the only one who thinks it, harry said bitterly.� �

harry, that s not true. everyone knows how it s difficult to master these powers.� � � half of us was expecting something like this would happen much earlier.and we still learned it.�

so then how come no one wouldn t came back here anymore? why is that that i m the� � � only one in dormitory two hours after curfew?�

am i no one to you? ginny asked him, sounding hurt.� �

of course you re not.� � �

everyone was waiting for ron to return from the hospital wing. he returned only�

five minutes ago.�

is ron pissed with me? harry asked.� �

no, actually he wanted me to tell you that he s sorry for certain things he� � said, ginny assured him.�

harry sighed with relief. i wish i was never born, he said suddenly.� �

harry felt ginny moving even closer and her hand stroked his head. why do you say� that? she asked him softly.�

i put everyone in so much danger. my parents died because of me, cedric as well�

and sirius and now it was nearly hermione. i wish my life wasn t so cursed.� �i wish i could lead perfectly ordinary life lives, like anyone else.�

don t say that harry, you were meant to do great things, ginny said, still� � � running her fingers through his head.

yeah look what i achieved until now, he spat sarcastically. i managed to get� � � those who i love eight feet under soil.�

harry, that s not true. ron and hermione love you and they re both alive. remus� � � loves you too, otherwise sirius wouldn t make him your guardian. and i�love you too, she whispered softly, leaned closer and kissed him lightly.�

harry was breathless. there was the person he loved here now, telling him that sheloved him. and still he couldn t do it.�

ginny i m sorry i can t, harry sighed.� � � �

but why? is that because of voldemort? i should be the one who makes up my mind,� � ginny said and laid next to him. harry reached out for her face and strokedit lightly.

hermione told you? harry asked her. she nodded. i m sorry, he said.� � � � �



nothing is your fault, she said. do you want me to go?� � � �

no, harry said frankly.� �

ginny closed the curtain of his bed and laid again, getting even more closer tohim.

chapter 39 : aurors at hogwarts

hello,i said i may might update on weekend so there you go. i m studying for exams now� as i ve told you before so next chapter will be on 18th or 19th chapter.�hope you will wait.

thanks all for your reviews, i will may be get over 200 which i never hoped iwould.

chapter 39: aurors at school

harry woke up next morning and at first was very confused to find ginny stilllying next to him. it took him a long time before he remembered what happened

yesterday. what happened to hermione and what happened when ginny came. theirfingers were still tangled as they were yesterday, when they looked intoeach eyes for a long time before they fell asleep. they barely talked and whenthey did, it was short and mostly nonsense. harry heard as him roommatesentered their dormitory around midnight but they made no comment and went straightto the bed without any talk. they all fell asleep very early. all exceptfor ginny and harry.

ginny fell asleep as the night went on. harry couldn t sleep, because his mind was� full of thoughts. he didn t know what he would do anymore. he had unwanted�power that made him dangerous to his friends. yet still they stayed with him, someof them even wanting to be some more than friend. he fell asleep verylate and woke up very early.

his roommates one by one woke up and left the dormitory one by one to theirbreakfast. but harry didn t feel like getting up. he wanted to lye with girl�he liked in bed forever.

ginny stirred and open her eyes. she smiled at him.

feeling any better? she whispered.� �

yeah, he muttered uncertainly.� �

harry, i want you to know that i ll be there for you whenever you re ready. i ll� � � � wait for you until you feel ready, she said.�

thanks, he said. listen, we better get up or we ll be late. i want to visit� � � � hermione before i go to classes.�

oh, do we really have to? she teased but got up nevertheless. they both went to� � bathroom and changed their robes before they met down in the common roomand set off to hospital wing first. madam pomfrey didn t want to let them in at� first, but she finally gave up on their pleads and lead them inside.

hermione was lying in fartherest bed. she was reading a book and there was a traywith clean dishes on her bedside table. she rose her eyes from the book



and smiled at them as she saw them. harry brought himself and ginny two chairs andthey sat next to her.

how are you feeling? harry asked her as soon as they sat.� �

i m o.k. just having a little headache. really, i feel normal, she said at look� � � harry gave her. i just wished madam pomfrey would let me into classes�tonight, but she s so stubborn.� �

harry chuckled nervously. hermione, i m sorry this happened. i didn t mean that,� � � � harry said. he wanted to say something more but his tongue betrayed him.

hermione patted him on back of his head. harry, i know you would never mean to� happen something like this. and it wasn t really your mistake i fainted,� �she said.

what do you mean? harry asked her.� �

it was the memory of dementor that made me sick. madam pomfrey said that i m� � probably one of the few persons who were so close to dementor s kiss and managed�survive. i managed to recover but the dementors affected me more than ever before

since than. when you casted legillimency on me, the image of dementorappeared. and i felt like i was back at hogsmeade, surrounded by those wickedmonsters, she said and her voice was quivering slightly.�

harry nodded and felt as surge of relief ran through his body. so it wasn t� entirely his fault.

so when would madam pomfrey let you out? ginny asked her.� �

well, i tried to convince her that i could go to classes today, but she insisted� that i stayed up to afternoon. i hope you won t do anything important�today, i could imagine what i could miss with a one day off, hermione scowled.�

they re were talking for another minute or two, when hermione insisted that they� should go and get some breakfast before the classes start.

see you in the evening, she said with a wave.� �

take care, they both said in unison and left the hospital wing.� �

the great hall was tense for some reason. most of the students chatted aboutsomething enthusiastically and most of them were smiling. harry could see moredaily prophet s copies than usual. but what surprised harry most was that the� teachers table was much longer than ever and there were many people harryhaven t seen there before. harry recognised kingsley shacklebolt and nymphadora� tonks amongst the wizards dressed in auror s robes.�

what is happening? ginny asked as they moved over to the gryffindor table where� � ron, neville and seamus sat. they all greeted him very cheerfully, thevery opposite harry expected.

what are you so happy about? harry asked them.� �

they didn t answer, seamus merely tossed him one issue of daily prophet. the front� page was filled with many pictures of wizards and witches, each of themwith a number. ginny leaned as well and they both began to read the article.



you- know- who s sustains heavy blow�last night, members of the order of the phoenix and department of magical lawenforcement managed to conduct several successful raids throughout the country.many death eater, the members of you- know- who ranks, were captured, includingantonin dolohov, frederick goyle and ralph avery, who were members of you-know- who s inner circle. minister of magic cornelius fudge also claimed that a� pack of spies, who were passing information to you- know- who s supporters,�some of them on high post inside the ministry.

due to these successful raids many you- know- who s plans were ruined.� interrogation revealed, that the death eater s were planning a large scale attacks�on various places all around the country, including ministry of magic, diagonalley and even hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. if those attackswere to succeed, the consequences would be unpredictable.

albus dumbledore, headmaster of witchcraft and wizardry and head of the order ofphoenix warned that wizard community shouldn t get too comforted. most�of the death eaters are still at large and even though it would take a long timefor voldemort to recover from such a blow, we should all train constantvigilance, alastor moody commented.

harry read with his breath held in his chest. when he finished it he couldn t� believe it. he looked at ron, who was grinning as broadly as harry could remember.

look over to slytherin table, he yelled delighted.� �

all of them looked over there. the slytherins looked very uneasily indeed. most ofthem on the contrary looked grumpily. mainly crabbe and goyle, who forthe first time harry could remember didn t look menacing and as if they owned the� place. on the other hand they were shooting each other rather sulky looks.

harry looked over the teachers table again. dumbledore just appeared in the greathall and sat in his usual chair. kingsley shacklebolt nodded as harryand tonks gave him a tiny wave of her hand.

ouch! he yelled aloud, as something nibbled his finger. he looked down and saw� � hedwig standing in his plate, a letter tied to her leg. he took it andthanked her. she hooted softly, took a bit of bacon from his bacon and left,probably to the owlery to get some sleep.

harry,please come and see me after the dinner in my office.dumbledore

harry s heart sank. dumbledore probably heard about what happened to hermione and� wanted to speak about it.

whole school was talking nothing but the article printed in the daily prophet.harry couldn t remember seeing more smiles recently in the corridors. most�of the students felt that war was already won. even some of the professors lookedmuch cheerful- suzie was singing under her breath for whole class, stoppingonly when she instructed her students and professor flitwick was so excited hefell of the stacks of books he was standing on. the only professor who behavedas usual was professor mcgonagall and harry didn t know if it was just her usual� self or she didn t feel comforted by the news.�

harry didn t have common emotions with everyone else. he was glad that so many� death eaters were captured, but whenever he thought about the meeting with



dumbledore that night. he was even afraid dumbledore would be furious with him,even though he knew this wasn t probable.�

he barely ate that lunch and dinner, which lead into many questions from ginny andron. he faced the gargoyle outside of the dumbledore s office few moments�later.

zonko, he muttered, hoping that was still the password.� �

the gargoyle sprang aside and the spiral staircase started to rise. he walked itup and knocked on the door.

enter, dumbledore pleasant voice came.� �

harry drew a big breath and entered the room. there was dumbledore sitting behindhis desk and also suzie sered and remus lupin. he looked at each of thempuzzled.

hello harry, they all greeted him. he barely nodded.� �

i see you re quite confused by the appearance of� �

remus and suzie, dumbledore began. i called them because i wanted to know how� � are you dealing with your new powers. i heard some rumours about an extraordinaryevent which happened yesterday.�

dumbledore, that was an accident , lupin started.� � �

i talked to madam pomfrey, the girl is going to be , suzie started, but� � � dumbledore held his hand to silence them both.

i m aware of the state of ms. granger. madam pomfrey told me that what happened� � wasn t really harry s fault. however, this happened while you were using� �legillimency, harry. therefore professor mcgonagall send me an owl. so harry tellme, how are you dealing with your talent?�

harry sighed. i don t know sir. i ve had a lot of help from hermione. she took� � � the liberty of leading my classes while you were away. this was first timethis accident happened, harry said.�

well, harry this isn t the first time you nearly hurt someone, is it? dumbledore� � � asked him, looking suddenly stern. harry remembered what happened inseptember when he nearly hurt dumbledore. he lowered his head. don t worry,� � harry. i know you didn t mean it happened. i knew something like that might�happened. that is the reason why i wanted from you to train your powers. which youdid, according to what suzie and remus here told me. i think that teachingyour fellow students how to defend their mind was splendid idea and suzie saysyou re really good teacher, dumbledore continued.� �

harry raised his head. all three of the adults were looking at him and smiling.

remus, suzie, i wish to be alone with harry now, dumbledore said. please harry� � � step forward and draw out your hand.�

remus and suzie smiled encouragily at him before they closed after himself. harrylooked at dumbledore.

legillimens, dumbledore muttered without warning pointing his wand at harry.� �



this felt like nothing ever before. this time dumbledore wasn t going to make it� easy for him. the room dissolved and another images filled harry s mind-�he was racing on his broom with malfoy in the pursue of snitch in his second year,he saw dudley and his gang from roof of the school building, ginny lyingin harry s bed only when harry s o.w.l. s exam appeared he started to repel� � � � dumbledore. he concentrated hard on breaking the connection, he didn t feel�like using legillimency himself.

the room came back into focus and harry was relieved this was over. he looked atdumbledore who was smiling at him.

well done harry, this was something, he said. tell me harry, what other skills� � � you have learned?�

err i ve trained legillimency and i ve just started with sognosency, although i� � � � never tried that before.�

so it s time you do that. i know it might sound a bit unfair towards you friends,� � but i want you to use sognosency on them while they re asleep. dreams�can tell a lot about the dreamer, don t underestimate your dreams. they reflect� your thoughts and desires. that s another reason why you should clear your�

mind every time you go to sleep.�

harry didn t really like the thought of discovering his friends desires and� thoughts but knew he had no other choice. and then he had remembered what hesaw in the great hall in the morning.

sir, could you tell me why they are aurors in the school? harry asked him.� �

dumbledore looked suddenly grief. harry are you aware that many of the death� eater were captured last night? harry nodded. we captured one of the death� �eaters from voldemort s inner circle. nymphadora tonks morphed herself into the� appearance of the death eater. she went on a mission to azkaban. that s�why we were able to find so much about the death eaters so we could capture them.�

harry nodded.

nymphadora managed to gather all information she could about the voldemort s� � plan. that is the way we knew voldemort wanted attack ministry, diagon alleyand mainly hogwarts.�

voldemort will try to get the atlis again, harry said.� �

yes and there is another thing he wants. you, dumbledore said, looking at him� � through his spectacles.

harry gulped. in my dream i had during autumn voldemort wanted me to join him.�

but i thought he wanted to just kill me after the prophecy had been, harry�said.

harry you managed to deceive him five times already, not to mention how many� times you escaped his death eaters. voldemort is arrogant and this is wherehe made another mistake. he thinks he is the greatest wizard in the world. and howis possible that even the most powerful wizard isn t capable of killing�young boy. therefore he came to logical conclusion. the prophecy meant only onething- you and him should rule the wizarding rule forever.�

harry looked at him, amazed.



but as long as i m here it s o.k., no? it s the safest place there is.� � � � �

dumbledore looked griever if that was possible. you didn t add one ingredient to� � make the potion. professor snape.�

what s snape got to do with this? harry said.� � �

professor snape, harry. although, you re right he isn t professor anymore. he is� � � a prisoner of voldemort now. professor snape bears many secrets aboutthe charms protecting hogwarts. he s one of those who helped to made them.� �

and they interrogated him so that s why are the aurors here? harry said.� � � �

exactly, dumbledore nodded. but don t worry, harry. voldemort won t attack for� � � � � a long time. his army is in chaos now thanks to courage of nymphadoratonks. you could still consider this as safe place.�

chapter 40 : dreams

o.k. i know that i promised next chapter ages ago, but the celebration of my

graduation were longer than i thought. also it was really hard to get backto writing my story. before the exams, i got thousands of ideas of what wouldhappen in next chapters. now my mind seems like to block somehow. i hopei ll get over it soon. you could expect another chapter in three or four days,� maybe even sooner.

thanks to all who wished me luck during the exams and also thanks for youcongratulations.

chapter 40: dreams

harry and dumbledore were training occlumency and legillimency for a long time,until dumbledore dismissed him. harry got to the gryffindor common room

at nearly twelve in the night. the common room was bathed in semi-darkness, theonly light came from a pile of ash in the grate which was glowing lightly.the room was empty so harry went to his dormitory straight away. all of hisroommates were fast asleep so he put on his pyjamas silently and laid in hisbed.

he felt very tired but on the other hand excited. harry remembered how dumbledoreeyes shone with pride when he left his office earlier. harry managed torepel dumbledore many times and when it came for his turn he could break intodumbledore s mind easily. but again and again he managed to use legillimency�successfully dumbledore reminded him of the amount of responsibility harry hadtowards the others.

and harry was thinking about something else dumbledore told him.

i want you use sognosency on your friends, harry.� �

harry knew he should train his skills but the idea of reading others dreams stillseemed uncomfortable. he was afraid of what he may saw. he was afraidwhat would he find about himself in their dreams. but mostly he was afraid whatmight happen if his friends found out he used another of his skills onthem. still, he knew he had to train this somehow.

harry closed his eyes and repeated the technique in his mind.



close your eyes and clear your mind of any of the emotions, he muttered under� � his breath. think about the person, whose dreams you want to see, but don t� �forget to keep your mind clear and focused.�

his mind naturally raced towards his best friend, ron. he imagined him in his mindand tried to stay focused.

and now try to keep the image of the dreamer until you fall asleep, he muttered� � and nearly immediately his eyes closed and he fell asleep. but he wasn t�really sleeping.

he saw his dormitory, but when he looked around himself all looked very different.nothing around him looked as in real world. the dormitory was oddly shapedand coloured. the stone walls vanished, replaced by orange, golden and redwallpapers. here and there he recognised pictures of some wizards and witcheshe knew and some he didn t. there were chess pieces and dirty robes littered all� around the floor. he saw a glint of golden light circling around him andfor a second a tiny small ball came into halt, before it zoomed all around again-the golden snitch.

his hand tried to reach for it but it slipped through his fingers. he could swearhe nearly got it many times but it always escaped.

you ll never going to catch that, draco malfoy s voice appeared out of nowhere.� � � �

shut up, he heard ron s voice from his mouth. where are you, coward? show� � � � yourself!�

hahaha , malfoy merely smiled and than his hand appeared out of nowhere and� � caught the snitch on first attempt. the snitch and the hand disappeared, butthe laughter didn t. you ll never going to beat me, filth.� � � �

and suddenly another voice sounded. ronald, how come you re such a slob? i don t� � �

know what i m even dating you for, hermione yelled and laughed. but it� �was not her warm and pleasant laughter. this was more like a laughter of belatrixlestrange.

i ll clean this up, hermione. please, just don t desert me, ron said desperately� � � � and attempt to pick one of the robes on the ground. but as he pickedup a thing that littered the floor another two would appear.

i m trying, ron yelled desperately, but suddenly the litter vanished and one of� � � the bed from the dormitory appeared in the middle of the room. harry recognisedtwo shapes lying on the bed and from the moves under the blankets he realized theywere enjoying each other s company.�

don t tickle, i hate when you do that, harry again heard hermione s voice, but� � � � again it appeared as if it wasn t her at all. he stepped closer to the�bed and recognised that one of the person on the bed was hermione. rage, as hugeas he never felt ran through his veins and he wanted to kill the otherperson.

the other person was clearly touching her belly under her robes and kissing herneck at same time. hermione was clearly enjoying this. she was patting theother person on hair and moaning silently. when she caught ron s eyes she shot him� evil grin. the other person turned around and at first ron wanted toscream. there was no face, no face at all, only a wisp of black smoke. than it



tired and he had a headache. ron on the other hand looked his cheerful himselfas usually. well, as cheerful as you could look when you had woken in the morningfacing a day full of exhausting classes. harry knew from his own experiencethat he couldn t remember his dreams at all next day. too bad he could recall� ron s clearly as he was seeing it now.�

the thing harry feared most happened. he saw what he shouldn t. what he saw made� him angry. did ron really think harry would betray him and have a thing

with hermione? still, he remembered as ron said he didn t trust voldemort. and he� wanted to save them and cared about them a lot. still harry wouldn t�rather see this.

what are you so happy about? harry asked him groggily as he put on his glasses.� �

don t tell me you don t know? honestly, are you still our captain? he tutted,� � � � amused. we re going to try the great hall again.� � �

harry couldn t understand how ron could feel enthusiastic about the idea of� quiditch in the great hall anymore. he already gave up his hopes last time andcouldn t think of a way how it could work,�

the whole day passed in one blur and harry gotmany extra homework in every single class of the day because he kept fallingasleep. all harry wanted to do after the classes ended was to get to the bedas soon as possible. he even thought he was to tired to eat his supper but washungry at the same time. all of the members of the quiditch team sat aroundhim looking at him eagerly.

harry was even thinking about leaving his captain duties to ron or ginny for thisday but he didn t want to hermione think he got bored with her tires of�reinstating the quiditch so at seven they all met in front of the door of thegreat hall. this time there wasn t only gryffindor quiditch team, but also�teams from other houses. hermione and professor hooch were already waiting forthem. harry knew madam pomfrey wanted hermione to stay quiet for a few days

but harry knew that was no good. hermione was eyeing them nervously when they werelet inside, but harry was sure it was nothing compared to his nervousfeeling as he remembered himself snogging with hermione in his dream.

nobody expected what they saw. the great hall was even more larger now than it wasbefore. it wasn t lit by torches anymore, but harry didn t know what� �was the source of the light. he felt a light breeze on his face. apparently, theweather could really be simulated, which they all had doubted. but whatmade harry most curious were the walls. they no longer appeared to be solid andwhen harry moved over to one of them and touched it lightly, his hand bouncedoff that he nearly punched himself.

professor flitwick enchanted those walls so that none would get hurt too much,� �

harry could hear hermione explaining. also the bounce effect could be�also used in devising new tactics.�

and the bludgers? dennis and colin asked in unison. are they still so damn� � � slow?�

all of them laughed lightly, even hermione.

look for yourself, hermione said and pointed over the crate with balls.� �

dennis approached the crate and opened it and released the bludgers out carelessly



and was nearly hit with one of them in his face. harry immediately recognisedthe bludgers as the old good ones. even more, with the bounce effect they werefaster than ever before. they were all watching them with their mouth wideopen, occasionally one someone had to duck. goyle even got hit by one of them inthe back of his head before madam hooch restrained them again.

so why don t you try to fly around a bit, hermione said with a smile.� � �

they all mounted their brooms, twenty eight players and professor hooch. althoughthere were so many of them, they all managed to fly around and find outthat the size was satisfactory enough now.

how are you going to change the weather? cho s voice came yelling from another� � � end of the hall.

hermione withdrew tiny watch from her robes. this is a weather turner, most� recent invention of the department of mysteries. they devised a way to controlthe weather on a small area. let me show you an example. fancy a little blizzard?� she said jovially and set something on the watch.

the weather changed instantly. harry was hit by a such strong wind he didn t�

expect that he was nearly knocked of his broom. his vision was suddenly obscuredby a clouds of snow and he could hear nearly nothing through the howling of thewind. instantly, the blizzard ceased, replaced by a light wind and warmrain.

oops, guess i got a bit overenthusiastic, hermione apologized quickly as she saw� � their faces staring at her angrily.

they spent flying all around for what appeared to behours, first time feeling confident about the match in great hall. they allcheered when hermione asked about their opinion and hermione glowed red withpride.

harry was very happy when they finally dismissed the meeting, after they agreed ontraining program. gryffindor was to be the first team to train in thegreat hall on saturday and than on mondays and wednesdays. he said good night tohis friends and collapsed on his bed exhausted.

******

harry found himself floating in a golden light. all seemed very peaceful and atfirst harry thought he was still asleep. but than pat on his shoulder madehim to open his eyes. dumbledore was in front of him, smiling at him. harry gotused to things like this to happen so he scared. they weren t floating�anymore but standing on a firm land.

professor dumbledore where are we? is this a dream?� � �

well, harry yes and no. it is true that we both are sleeping now and one would� say that we dream. but it is impossible for two individuals to have a samedream. everyone of us has his own character, his wishes, desires and fears.therefore, no dream is the same. so this isn t a normal dream. it s, shall� �we say another way of communication when we re connected through our minds.� �

will i be able to do this, sir? harry asked him eagerly.� �

well, definitely yes when the time comes. now tell me harry, did you try� �



sognosency yesterday?�

harry felt as his eagerness evaporated on spot replaced by depression. he tolddumbledore all about the dream he had last night. dumbledore was listeningto him, kindness and concern reflected in his eyes and when harry finished hepatted him on his shoulder again.

harry, as i told you, the dreams can tell you many things about the dreamer. mr.�

weasley was always and is afraid of you. not that you might hurt him,no. he is afraid you might overshadow him. you re the one who has done so many� good things, which surely don t need to be reminded. although he has helped�you lot many times, he still feels he has done nothing. so deeply inside, and i m� sure he would never admit it or if he is really aware of it, he is afraidof you. but on the other hand he cares about you and ms. granger very much. hisgreatest fear is that he wouldn t be able to help when you and ms. granger�would need it most.�

is there something i could do for him sir?� �

harry i think you don t understand. dreams reflect wishes and fears from the� � greatest depth of our consciousness. and there most of them stay. this is

why you can t remember your dream when you wake up. i doubt that mr. weasley is� aware of having those dreams. but yes, in future you would learn how totake control over dreams and then you could help him if he wants. now harry, i seeyou re exhausted, so i ll leave you for tonight. goodnight harry, dumbledore� � �said and with these words all disappeared.

chapter 41 : close shave

so i finally managed to keep my word- here is another chapter in three days as ipromised. plase read and review.

chapter 41: close shave

with all the successful actions against voldemort and death eaters and theupcoming quiditch matches the atmosphere in the castle lightened a lot. it wasmost cheerful since the battle in hogsmeade and for the first time in a very longtime harry found out that his school results and quiditch trainings weretroubling his mind more than prophecy or him being animemagi. students got alsoanother thing to care about besides quiditch- the end of year exams. libraryagain became overcrowded and students, revising gathered in packs could be seenall around the castle.

harry felt very lucky that he hadn t had to study very hard for this exams. he� felt like passing would do it, so he could concentrate on his captain duties.on the other hand, two members of his teams were torn between studying andquiditch- ginny and colin who were about to take their o.w.l. s examination�

in less than month. they both were sporting stressed faces with huge circles undertheir eyes, because they were studying until very late. the only personwho was studying as hard as them was hermione. ron kept his word and nearly didn t� study at all, always hanging out in the common room and playing gameswith less occupied students. well, sometimes he helped harry with quiditchtactics.

the first match of the season, ravenclaw against hufflepuff was nearing very fast.due to lack of time the match were scheduled this way- first weekendravenclaw against hufflepuff and slytherin against gryffindor, second weekendgryffindor against hufflepuff and ravenclaw against slytherin, third weekend



gryffindor against ravenclaw and slytherin against hufflepuff and on saturdayafternoon or sunday (depends how long the matches will take) the final match.

only two days left till the first match on saturday were left and harry was justobserving his team on their final practice session. his feelings were tornapart between absolute delight when he saw moves of colin and dennis anddisappointment as he saw kimberly cook drop another pass. harry couldn t remember�if she was so lousy during their tryouts but now she was. perhaps it was only

because she felt nervous but harry surely didn t need that. if there was�enough time he would call for another tryouts, but time was luxury he couldn t� afford.

i only hope kimberly will turn out to be another weasley-like player, he thoughtas he saw ron perform another spectacular save. he remembered ron fromtheir first training and match. he suddenly cracked a grin as he remembered thefamous slytherin song- weasley is our king. he only hoped they had nothinglike that prepared for kimberly.

the night before the first match another unexpected thing happened. around curfewmadam hooch appeared in the gryffindor common room, welcomed with curiousstares from many students. professors hardly visited common rooms and harry could

only remember mcgonagall being there twice or thrice. he was workingon final lineout, thinking between parvati and ginny for lead chaser, when madamhooch appeared.

ah, there you re mr. potter, she muttered and went straight to him. you have� � � � been appointed as a observer on tomorrow match. please come half an hourin advance, you will be given your omniculars and instructions.�

sorry? harry asked her confused.� �

observer- the one who flies around the pitch with omniculars and projects the� match in the common rooms. are you telling me you forgot? madam hooch asked�him, bit annoyed.

of course not who is the observer from slytherin?� � �

draco malfoy. he s undoubtedly the best flier from his house. i know you two have� � some difficulties between you, but i hope that you ll be able to get�over with it. so remember, half an hour before the game. goodnight, potter, she� said and left the common room.

well, that would be hard, harry sighed ironically, as he remembered what� � happened last time they met face to face on valentine ball. the image of malfoylying on his back on the floor, with his feet jerking violently made him laugh.

what s so funny? ron and ginny asked him in unison as they returned from the� � �

library and joined him at his table.

i was just imaging how it would look like, if malfoy fell of his broom and� started bouncing all around the great hall tomorrow, harry said with another�smile.

what do you mean? ron asked him, confused.� �

malfoy was appointed observer tomorrow? ginny asked him, a note of comprehension� � in her face.



yeah, so was i, harry replied.� �

ginny sighed. well i just hope you re not going to throw from your broom each� � other. imagine how would our match on sunday look without any seeker. orcan you imagine crabbe or goyle going after snitch? ginny said with a wink.�

harry had to smile again.

*****

harry got up as first from his dormitory next day, because he needed to havebreakfast half an hour earlier. than strange idea occurred in his mind. where re�we going to eat if the great hall is to be set for quiditch?

the answer came as he went to the common room. all tables were laden with food asit was the morning after battle in hogsmeade. two big mirrors in goldenframes were sat on a wall, harry supposed these were the mirrors on which studentswill see the game from his view. and malfoy s also.�

he finished his breakfast just as his roommates walked down the stairs.

well, i could accustom to that easily, ron said as he observed the food in the� � common room.

harry smiled at him and than dashed upstairs to get his firebolt. his friendsgreeted him and than he went to the door of the great hall. madam hooch wasalready waiting for him.

there you re mr. potter. here, these are yours, she said and gave him a pair of� � � ordinary looking omniculars. now, we ll just have to wait for mr. malfoy� �and i ll give you your instructions.� �

malfoy appeared in less than five minutes. he shot menacing look at harry, as heapproached them.

boys, remember what i have told you yesterday. this is no time for dealing with� old debts. i hope you will both behave by rules. if you interfere withgame in any way you will be severely punished. points will be subtracted from yourhouse and you will be given detention, further break of the rules couldlead into expelosure from your house teams. am i understood?�

both boys nodded without looking at each other.

i trust you ll make this game entertaining for the rest of your house. now,� � kindly wait here while i ll fetch the balls.� �

it was the longest five minutes in harry s life. both boys were walking around the�

corridor like tigers in cage not looking at each other. the tension betweenthem was almost visible. harry was relieved when madam hooch returned, followed byravenclaw and hufflepuff teams.

o.k., match begins in five minutes, let s go inside, madam hooch said and opened� � � the door. seventeen of them walked inside the magnified great hall, allof them eager to get on their brooms.

observers, get on your omniculars, madam hooch said sternly. everybody mount� � � your brooms.�



she walked over to the box and kicked it open. the bludgers rocketed outside,nearly knocking one of the ravenclaw players, followed by tiny golden snitch.madam hooch took the quaffle in her hand.

i hope i don t need to remind you that i want nice clean game, she said.� � �

good luck, harry mouthed both at cho and christian they both smiled at him, cho� � giving him tiny wink.

and the game is about to start, harry could hear ernie mcmillian voice inside� � the room. we ve got a light breeze outside and the sky is a bit clouded.� �please, set the weather condition, he said and harry suddenly felt the light wind� cooling his face.

and the quaffle is released, the game begins. and ravenclaw takes the quaffle� immediately, i can t see which player is it oh yes, it s michael corner� � �in possession and he s heading towards the hufflepuff goal posts, passes to boot,� pass intercepted by zac smith, on his way to goal, ducks a bludger oh,�the bludger bounced off a wall and hit him in head. he looks o.k. but drops thequaffle, and ravenclaw back in the game, boot ducks another bludger and�he scores, ernie groaned. ten zero for ravenclaw.� � �

harry could hear loud cheers from the ravenclaw common room clearly. he was justwondering how it was made when suddenly a bludger was pelting towards him.he ducked him easily, trying to stay as far from game as possible, but as near toget good view.

and ravenclaw gets the quaffle again and zac surprises corner and steals the� � quaffle and is heading for a goal post ducks a bludger, steers around boot� �and patil and beats williams! superb zac! ten to ten, ernie yelled excitedly and� his yell was followed by loud cheers and catcalls from the hufflepuffcommon room.

harry was circling around the great hall following quaffle and the players with

his head. then he suddenly saw a glint of golden light and snitch stoppednext to the hufflepuff goal post. he quickly jerked his head away so no one wouldsee him staring at it.

wait, was that a snitch? ernie mcmillian yelled excitedly and regretted it� � instantly. cho was observing harry and now ernie said that he had seen thesnitch. she looked at the hufflepuff post and saw it immediately. she sped towardsit, expanding her right hand. christian connor made last attempt toblock her, but she ducked him easily. next time she was circling around thestadium, tiny ball clasped in her hand.

oh, i m such an idiot, harry could hear ernie s swears. sorry, professor� � � � � mcgonagall so this game ends surprisingly shortl and the winner is ravenclaw� �

one hundred sixty to ten.�

cho halted in hovered in air next to harry.

thanks, she said with a nasty grin, the tiny ball still in her hand.� �

well it wasn t very clean from you, harry said with a smile.� � �

see you in final, cho said and sped of towards her team.� �

what makes you sure we ll be in final? harry yelled after her.� � �



she halted in midair and shook her shoulders at him and than joined her team, whoeach gave her a quick hug.

nice job potter, i m surprised hooch didn t punish you for that, came malfoy s� � � � � voice.

harry wheeled around to face him. malfoy was looking at him smirking broadly.

tell me that after i beat you tomorrow, harry said through his gritted teeth.� �

we ll see, malfoy said, landed and left the hall quickly.� � �

*****

harry spent the rest of the day, thinking about upcoming match with slytherin. hewasn t too nervous, they met with slytherin four times already and never�lost. but still that was when malfoy had no firebolt. harry started to loose hisconfidence as he remembered how he wasn t able to catch him in september.�he didn t sleep very well that night, dreaming about various tragic scenarios the� next one worse than last. it was like back in third years when he dreamedabout slytherin riding dragons or neville longbottom as their seeker.

he got up very early next morning, feeling like he had no sleep at all. he lookedout of the window. it couldn t have been more different from yesterday.�the sky was clouded and from the movement of tree harry could guess that wind wasblowing really hard.

knowing that he surely couldn t fall asleep again he got up dressed himself in his� robes, shouldered his firebolt and went downstairs to common room. foodwas again sat on every table, but harry didn t feel like eating at all, although� his stomach grumbled a lot. between the various meals he found a smallgood-luck cake from hagrid, remus and suzie, and moments later hedwig arrived withgood-luck card from mr. and mrs. weasley and dobby.

it didn t take a very long time for whole team to assemble in the common room, one� by one they appeared, all looking grumpy and nervous. the food remainuntouched until their fellow gryffindor came, although harry insisted on some foodfor every member. the common room was shortly filled with excited chattingcrowd and where it was time to go, gryffindor team was hailed by tens of voices soloudly that it made windows rattle.

as i told you, i m not very good in this, harry started speaking as they were� � � walking to the great hall. just play as you played on wednesday and we ll� �be fine. their beaters are slow and lousy so bludgers should be no problem.dennis, colin try to use some of you moves. aim at malfoy and lestrange first.ginny, parvati do your best. kimberly don t get nervous, i know you ve got it� � inside you. same goes to you ron, harry babbled on.�

ginny took his hand in her and squeezed it tightly. relax harry, it s going to be� � fine.�

harry smiled lightly and nodded and than they were in front of the great hall.slytherins, cho, zac and madam hooch were already waiting for them there.slytherins were eyeing them with disgust and smirked at them, whispering amongsteach other. zac shook hand with every member from gryffindor and cho wishedthem good luck. harry mumbled something in answer.

o.k., let s get on wit it, madam hooch said as she observed her watch.� � �



they marched towards the centre of the great hall, harry s legs suddenly feeling� like made of lead. madam hooch stopped and they followed her lead.

captain, shake your hands.� �

harry and blain walked towards each other and shook their hands, both trying tocrush each other s fingers.�

remember fair play, madam hooch said before she blew her whistle. the game� � began.

harry raised into the air quickly. he wanted to catch the snitch and end the gameas soon as possible, before slytherin could take any lead.

and the game begins, it s gryffindor in possession, ginny heading towards the� � slytherin goals come on zac a bit faster, thank you and it s still ginny� � �weasley, passes to cook, who drops the pass, oh no lestrange on his way towardsthe gryffindor goals, ducks too bludger at a time and drops the quaffle,patil has it and passes to weasley, ducks around crabbe, tricks blain and scores� ten zero to gryffindor!�

a big mass of cheers could be heard all around the great hall, not onlygryffindors, but ravenclaw and hufflepuff as well. ginny punched air in triumphand soared around the hall, smiling happily, when a bludger aimed from crabbe hithear in her back. boos erupted and a sharp sound of whistle sounded.

you don t attack a player during the interruption. penalty for gryffindor! madam� � � hooch yelled.

patil took the quaffle and prepared for the penalty, meanwhile harry flew towardsginny.

are you o.k.? harry asked her.� �

although she had tears of pain in her eyes she nodded and smiled at him.

parvati managed to score which made the walls of great hall shake again. harrysoared higher again, watching around for any sign of golden light. meanwhilethe game continued.

and gryffindor again in possession, ginny back in the game and heading towards� slytherin goals, steers around lestrange and simmons, passes to kimberly,cook shoots, oh blain had a tight spot over there, ernie groaned. he passes the� � quaffle towards lestrange who is on his way to gryffindor goals, ducksaround patil, ducks a bludger and only him and weasley now, come on ron argh,� ernie groaned again as lestrange managed to score. twenty to ten for gryffindor.� �

harry was circling around the ceiling of the hall when suddenly drops of waterbegan to pour from it. this is bad, he thought for himself and increasedhis speed even more. he knew he had to find the snitch really soon or the weathercould change dramatically. he was watching all around the hall and occasionallyshot look at malfoy to see whether he saw it before him. he was very surprised,hearing that gryffindor lead fifty to twenty.

and here we have another action of gryffindor ginny passes to patil, patil is� � attacked by three slytherin chasers, makes clean pass to kimberly, kimberlyheading for a goal��



crunch!

goyle collided with her deliberately at full speed, kimberly is thrown of her� broom, caught by dennis creevy this isn t looking good, she appears to be� �unconscious and harry potter calls for timeout.�

they all landed and gathered around dennis who was cradling unconscious form of

kimberly. madam hooch rushed forwards.

step aside, step aside. enervate, she muttered, pointing her wand at kimberly.� �

kimberly opened her eyes and looked around herself, confused.

are you alright, dear? madam hooch asked her.� �

no, my arm hurts i think it s broken, kimberly winced.� � � �

goyle, escort ms. cook to hospital wing. if i hear you laid a finger on her, i� will make sure you re expelled, madam hooch said and blew her whistle.� �that will be two penalties for gryffindor.� �

this punishment was welcomed with many cheers from gryffindor supporters and boosfrom slytherins. both ginny and parvati shot the penalties, parvati scored,ginny missed. sixty to twenty for gryffindor.

so after dreadful foul from slytherin beater the game continues and it s� � lestrange in possession and he pelts towards the gryffindor goals and he scores.nice steer around weasley, i have to admit, ernie said miserably.�

harry, you ve got to get it soon, or there will be more injuries, harry heard� � � ginny yell at him. he ignored her comment and again soared higher.

and than he saw something which made the time still. malfoy was speeding towards

slytherin stands, his face lightened with triumph and his hand outstretched.in far harry could see golden glitter.

he put on a great burst of speed but knew he couldn t reach on time. malfoy was� only few feet away from victory and harry could almost imagine him smilingbroadly. he evaded a bludger and continued towards the snitch. he was only a feetor two near�

wham! wham!

malfoy was hit by both bludgers and fell of his broom. higher above creevybrothers gave each other five. creevy s path again did the trick. harry, not�caring about if malfoy got hurt sped towards the slytherin goals. every slytherin

tried to stop him, but harry evaded them easily and closed his fist aroundthe tiny ball.

harry was made deaf by cheers that followed. his whole team landed and harry rantowards colin and dennis and hugged them both very tightly. they grinnedat him, blushing. parvati and ginny were jumping up and down like small childrenyelling we have won, we have won , than they both hugged harry, ginny� �planted him a kiss on his cheek before she took his hand, offering her other todennis.

come on, party is waiting, she said and all six of them disappeared, holding� �



their hands, not saying a word towards the slytherin team.

chapter 42 : quiditch final

hello,well again it has been long time since i updated last time, but i had to study forapplying exams on university. well, the exams are gone so i m free. :-)�

it was very hard for me to write this chapter, i think the whole indoor quiditchwas one big mistake. hope you like it anyway. sorry, i have hastened thingsup, but i wanted to deal with quiditch as soon as possible

enjoy, and thanks for your reviews

chapter 42: quiditch finalnothing could have matched euphoria harry and the rest of his team felt afterwinning their match against slytherin, even the rest of the gryffindor houselooked like christmas came early. when harry and his team arrived they were pulledinside the common room by at least ten pair of hands. whole common roomswas decorated with gryffindor banners. twenty minutes after they arrived the doorof the common room opened and lavender and a group of another girls appeared,

their arms full of nicked food. nobody cared that it was sunday and they hadclasses next day, all everybody cared about now was to make as much noiseas possible to reflect their happiness.

students began to dissolve not until midnight. harry and ron stayed until nearlyeveryone disappeared and went to bed very late that night, their stomachstuffed with delicious food and drinks. harry found out that he couldn t keep the� grin out of his face and so ron. they both changed into their pyjamasand discussed the game for what appeared to be hundred time with neville andseamus for a very long time, before they fell asleep.

next morning went as predicted. harry and the rest of the boys were woken byneville, who was the only one who looked like he got some sleep. they all dressed

up and went for breakfast quickly, because they were already late. harry wantednothing more than get back to his bed and ron nearly drowned himself incereals with milk.

class went on very fast that day. perhaps teachers understood that gryffindorswere tired and unable to concentrate, because harry found the classes somehoweasier and more bearable than usual. even professor mcgonagall seemed less strict.

after the success of indoor quiditch everyone was eagerly expecting next weekend,waiting for another two matches. another most discussed, but less populartopic were the exams. harry was again surprised how time flows quickly when youexpect something dreadful. he couldn t understand how it was possible but�he was facing second weekend of june in no time.

but harry wasn t nervous anymore. after their victory against slytherin all� members of team became more confident and even kimberly, whose arm was repairedin no time, seemed to improve after her first try. besides, next match was againsthufflepuff which should be piece of cake, harry thought. but than heremembered what happened when he played against diggroy and trained even harder.

he didn t need to worry at all. gryffindor took early lead by five goals and� hufflepuffs seemed already accepting the loss, so gryffindor won by two hundredpoints. to everybody s disappointment harry managed to catch the snitch in les� than ten minutes so the game was really short.



on the contrary, the result of the match between slytherin and ravenclaw wasreally unexpected. harry again played as observer with zacharias. the teamsseemed to be very equal, at no point of the game any team lead by more than twentypoints. everybody understood that this game would be decided by seekers.

harry was flying around the pitch, very excited. this was one of the best matchesharry saw, mainly because it took very long time, before either draco

or cho could spot the snitch. finally, both cho and draco could see it.unfortunately for draco, it halted right in front of cho, who caught it easily.

no one was expecting this. everyone was used to gryffindor and slytherin playagainst each other, but now with two losses, only miracle would help slytherinto get into final. and miracle did happen, but not as anyone guessed. slytherinneeded to win by more than hundred points to get to the final. they leadby hundred and twenty when christian connor got the snitch and they won the game.so to everybody s surprise, slytherin was the last. harry and ron amused�themselves by talking how lousy slytherins were whenever draco was near enough.draco would only flash them dark looks, but otherwise he did nothing. harrywas feeling a bit nervous about it, he never saw malfoy to behave so calmly.

next match was gryffindor against ravenclaw, the last game before the final. harrywas getting nervous again. from what he saw when he was observing thematches ravenclaw played, he knew that they were not to be underestimated. chomanaged to make a great team and she was an excellent captain. and harryknew how badly she wanted to win- it was her last year and last opportunity to winthe quiditch cup. in addition, by score ravenclaw lead the tournamentwith seventy points more than gryffindor.

and than the game was about to begin. harry and cho and their team-mates stood intwo lines, facing each other. the atmosphere of the match was tense, butnot as it was with slytherins. the two lines were smiling at each other nervouslyand when cho and harry were asked to shake hands, they shook them, smiledat each other and wished luck. and then the game began.

and the game begins, the very last game before the final match , ernie mcmillian� � said excitedly, and ravenclaw is in possession of the quaffle corner�� heading towards the gryffindor goals, gets past cook and weasley, shoots and� weasley misses the ball by inches ravenclaw scores.� �

loud cheers from ravenclaw common room could be heard and than again as michaelmanaged to score another goal moments later. harry was feeling even morenervous by now. he was flying around the pitch top speed in desperate search forgold glimmer.

and here comes the gryffindor weasley passes to patil, who is heading towards� � the goal, boot and smith on their way to stop her she passes back to cook,�

who has clear way, she shoots gryffindor scores! twenty to ten for ravenclaw.� �

harry stopped i mid air to look as ginny flew around ravenclaw goals happily. hegot a glimpse of cho disappointed face and he couldn t help not to grin.�but his grin didn t last too long as boot managed to score another goal.�

thirty to ten and here comes the revenge of gryffindors all of the chasers� � � heading to a goal, they re passing the quaffle between themselves cook, weasley,� �patil, no weasley, patil again she ducks one bludger, passes to weasley, who� scores. thirty to twenty and the game continues look at chang! ernie yelled� �excitedly.



harry wheeled around in midair and his heart stopped. cho was diving, triumphantgrin on her face and under her, hovering only few inches above to groundwas the snitch. harry put on huge burst of speed, laying as flatten on his broomas he could. he shot as a bullet towards the ball. before cho could seewhat was coming, harry appeared and caught the snitch quickly before cho managedto stretch out her hand.

no! he could hear her yelling frustrated.� �

harry landed on the ground grinning from ear to ear. he managed to catch thesnitch before ravenclaw took any significant lead. this meant that ravenclawhad to lead with eighty points before cho caught the snitch in order to win. harryalmost felt like as if cup was at home.

cho came and shook his hand. she looked disappointed but smiled at himnevertheless.

we ll see tomorrow, she said before she left the room.� � �

the atmosphere in gryffindor common room was very tense that night. everybody was

expecting the match eagerly. gryffindor could win the cup for third timein a row. in addition, gryffindor and ravenclaw were nearly tie in inter-housecompetition. slytherin was third and hufflepuff again fourth.

harry was running all his tactics in his mind, hoping he would came acrossanother, which nobody knew about. however, he found it really hard to concentrateand at ten he went to bed, insisting that the rest of his team went as well.

but luck wasn t definitely on his size next day. first thing harry noticed was� another quick change of weather. the day before they played under cloudlessblue sky with no wind at all. today it looked like storm was coming, with thickgrey clouds and strong wind.

another thing happened right after the beginning of the match. parvati had to ducka bludger and she slid of her broom. considering the height it couldhave been much worse, this time she only broke her ankle. she wanted to continuethe game but madam hooch sent her to hospital wing immediately. gryffindorwas one chaser shorter.

and since than the game was nearly disaster. for the first few minutes gryffindorlooked like in the lead of game, after two chasers managed to score twogoals, but ravenclaws enraged that gryffindor managed to get early lead, pullthemselves together and were now scoring goal after goal.

and that s another goal for ravenclaw, fifty to twenty and gryffindor has the� � � quaffle, cook is heading towards the ravenclaw goals and fails to evade�

the bludger, she is hit in her arm, drops the quaffle well, this isn t looking� � good for gryffindor, not good at all cook is alright, she hurries after�the quaffle again, but she won t make it it s up to weaslys corner passes to� � � � smith, pass intercepted by ginny it s not, smith gets it and scores i could� � �have sworn ginny got it ravenclaw leads sixty to twenty, anyway.� �

harry could hear an odd ringing in his ears. sixty to twenty, that was half ofwhat ravenclaw was supposed to score before cho catches the snitch. and thesituation didn t look any better, harry thought for himself as ron managed to save� a shoot from smith. ron was yelling something at his sister as he passedthe ball and ginny looked at him with mix of anger and desperation.



enjoying the game, potter? i ve never seen your play worse, is that your new� � tactics? harry could hear voice he didn t want to hear most. draco malfoy,� �wearing omniculars, was hovering next to him, sneering at him. harry chose toignore him and flew around the pitch, but malfoy found excuses to pop outof nowhere and block harry s way, until� �

mr. malfoy! twenty points from slytherin! if that happens again you can say�

goodbye to your seeker carrier, madam hooch shrilled at him. harry didn t� �forget to shot a grin at malfoy, before he flew around again.

so after first punishment of interference of observer the game continues eighty� � to twenty��

eighty?! the ringing in harry s increased. only two more goals and cho can end the� game! harry looked around and he saw cho, already desperately searchingfor the tiny ball. and suddenly harry saw it, it was zooming around the tail ofginny s broomstick. his heart hammering, harry sped towards the ball.�

only few feet now, he thought for himself and extended his hand.

suddenly cho chang appeared out of nowhere and blocked his way. harry had to duckher and missed the snitch. when he behind his shoulder, it was gone again.

damn, harry cursed out aloud as he saw cho s grinning face.� � �

and michael corner together with boot managed to score another goal. so ifravenclaw caught the snitch now, it would be tie. harry wanted so badly to win,he ignored what was going on around him. his only concern was the snitch. he wascircling around the stadium for a while, looking here and there but itwas nowhere to be found. and than he suddenly saw it underneath him. he spedtowards it, concentrating hard. suddenly he saw a blur, which levelled withhim- cho. she was trying to block him. or did she want a tie?

they both extended their hands and were speeding towards the snitch and then it� moved out of harry s reach and cho managed to catch it.�

the great hall suddenly exploded with cheerful yells from ravenclaw common rooms.they all landed and harry went to congratulate cho.

nice catch, well i guess tie isn t that bad, harry said grinning.� � �

tie? harry, you weren t listening to the commentary? smith managed to score� � another goal moments before i caught it. we ve won, she said with a huge smile.� �

and she was right. ginny and parvati joined harry, both looking depressed anddisappointed. creevy brothers were comforting ron, who looked like he was

going to break his broom in two. how could i have been so stupid, harry askedhimself.

it s o.k. harry, we can t win every time, ginny comforted him.� � � �

someone snorted behind them. harry and his team turned around to face malfoy.

you re such a pathetic fool, potter.� � �

well at least he managed to catch a snitch this season, malfoy, ginny said� � angrily.



no one asked your opinion, filth. you thing potter will marry you when you defend� him? you suppose you could get some money from him?�

harry and ron both launched themselves on malfoy. luckily the rest of the teamswere alert and ginny and parvati pulled harry backwards, while dennis andcollin pulled ron.

leave it, you two. he s not worth it, ginny yelled loudly and she pulled harry� � � even further from him.

they all turned around and were just about to leave, when malfoy called afterthem. soon potter, you ll meet your end. sooner than you think.� � �

chapter 43 : the feast, that went wrong

finally, they let me post a new chapter. i dont know what s wrong i just hope that� it will be o.k. now. i can imagine how difficult job admins have.

some of you complained that the last chapter was too short and i passed thequiditch tournament too quickly. well, i want to be done with this book as soon

as possible so i can start on something new.

so enjoy and please read and review.

chapter 43: the feast that went wrongharry and the rest of his team felt depressed about their defeat in final matchfor the rest of the weekend and none of them felt like doing anything elsethan mourning for the next few days. gryffindor house wasn t full of usual chatter� and laughter. it seemed like the whole house was commiserating withtheir friends from the team. well, at least one thing made the defeat bearable-slytherin house was slaughtered in all of their matches and for the firsttime in many years, maybe even centuries they were the last in inter-housecompetition.

but students had another thing to mourn on too. with monday the exam week beganand it all began with arrival of the o.w.l. s examining commission. harry�remembered most of the people from the last year and some of them even smiled atharry when he passed them in corridor. ginny was getting more desperatewith every minute that passed until her first examinations on monday- history ofmagic, herbology and care of magical creatures. colin creevy looked aspale as wall and he was seen few minutes before examination still reading hisnotes on goblin rebellions.

for harry on the other hand these exams were something he didn t really care� about. monday began with defence against the dark arts and transfiguration.lupin was as usually smiling at harry when he finished his practical test and

wrote something like a in his notes. transfiguration was on the other handsomething else. he managed to turn his mice into rock, but failed to perform morecomplex switching charm to turn it back. ron was now looking somehowdesperate. everybody knew he neglected his study for whole year. he managed toturn his mice into a chunk of wood instead of stone and set in on fire ashe tried to switch it back. hermione, on the other hand looked more confident thanany other of her peers and later during dinner she complaint that theexams were all too easy, earning reproachful looks from the whole table.

the atmosphere in the common room on monday evening was tense, mainly because ofpeople taking o.w.l. s and n.e.w.t. s. there wasn t any sound but ruffling� � �



of papers, scribbling of quills or occasionally a chat about some curses orpotions. even ron sat over the books in last futile attempt for next day exams-charms, potions and care of magical creatures.

next day was perfect weather and it was awfully hot in castle. sweat trickled downon everyone s faces as they were writing essays about all sorts of healing�charms and finally came the practical part, curing enlarged animals of their cutsor another injuries. and then came practical exam in potions where students

chose randomly three of the potions they were making throughout the whole years.harry felt confident for the first time with potion final exams as hepassed three vials of potion to smiling suzie.

and it all continued for the rest of the week until friday when exams ended. allpapers were handed out, all practical tests ended and the o.w.l. commissionleft. students wanted nothing more to go out and enjoy the sunny weather, but thesecurity rules were still very strict, so all of them had to stay incastle.

the end of the exams had some cheering effect and gryffindor common room was againfull of fun. ginny, colin and the rest of the fifth years were comparingfor results for ages and the seventh years were enjoying their last week on

hogwarts. classes were less strict and demanding during their last week. allof them were already in holiday mood, chatting excitedly about places they weregoing to visit. only harry seemed depressed. the end of the year meantthat he had to go to his hated dursleys, even though it was for the last time. theweasley s and hermione tried to cheer harry up, thinking about how will�they again meet in grimmauld place during the holidays and were planningadventures and discoveries they were about to face.

and than it came. the last dinner in the great hall before their departure nextday. all things were already packed and prepared for journey on hogwartsexpress. harry sighed once again as he closed his trunk and prepared hedwigs cage.he met with his friends moments later in common room, thinking aboutnothing but enjoying his last moments on school.

the great hall was decorated with ravenclaw and yellow flags. the ravenclaw tablewas the most cheerful, they hadn t won the house cup for years. the leaving�feast was delicious as it always was and by the end of the feast, harry feltnicely full and wanted nothing more than sleep, no matter how enjoyable theevening was.

after the dinner, dumbledore rose to his feet. he cleared his throat and the hallfelt silent immediately.

another year gone. and how extraordinary this year was. we had to face many� perils, loss of our dearest friend and family members. everyone of us was somehowaffected by the events of last year, even though those who lost nothing. let us

hope that next year will not be that eventful, and if, then the what happensshould be pleasant.�

all of the students and teachers clapped as dumbledore finished.

and now, the house cups needs awarding. so in last place, slytherin with two� hundred and twenty eight points, dumbledore started. there was a silent clap�here and there, mostly strained. in third place, hufflepuff with three hundred� and thirteen points.�

the applause was much louder than with slytherins. all of the students clapped,



mainly those who were from da.

on the third place, with four hundred and five points- gryffindor house,� � dumbledore continued. harry felt again a pang of bitterness. and on first place,�ravenclaw house, with six hundred and thirteen points.�

loud cheers erupted from the ravenclaw house table and all of the applause fromanother houses seemed to vanish in roar of triumph. but suddenly another

sound cut in. high pitched sound of horn, that bore warning in it s tones. all of� the students looked at teacher s table for answers. all of the teachers�got up and drew out their wands.

prefects and heads, please escort your students to their common rooms at once.� don t delay any moment, dumbledore said urgently and left the great hall� �with the aurors quickly. remus, suzie and professor sprout stayed behind andorganised the escort.

what is going on, remus? harry asked him nervously as his guardian came to them.� �

no time to explain, you must get into the common room as fast as you can, remus� � said quickly.

but harry started, but remus raised his hand quickly.� ��

harry, just go. now! he yelled at him and left the hall as well.� �

come on, off you go everyone, professor sprout urged them.� �

harry, come on hurry, hermione pleaded him. everyone, get to common room� � � quickly. as fast as you can.�

harry and the others left the great hall quickly. harry tried to keep up withhermione, but she was running at top of her speed. suddenly, he could hearscreams from a distant part of castle.

what is going on, hermione? harry asked her as� �they climbed another set of stairs.

security breach. someone broke into the castle, we must get to the common room� quickly, hermione said, panting.�

what? he barked.� �

harry, just wait until we get to the common room, hermione pleaded him and ran� � even faster.

they reached the portrait of fat lady in record time.

godric gryffindor was one of the school founders, hermione said slowly and� � clearly.

oh, so it happened? fat lady asked nervously but opened nevertheless.� �

they all entered common room and the portrait door closed after them. all of themwere short of breath, looking confused. harry, ron and other prefectsstarted to count the students.

i m missing colin and emily, hermione said desperately.� � �



don t worry, they re over there, ron assured her.� � � �

with a sigh of relief hermione collapsed in one of the sofa. ron sat next to herand took one of her arms. she looked at him and smiled slightly.

so now you can tell me what is going on? harry� �asked her.

i told you already, someone broke in the castle. after the battle of hogsmeade,� new security precautions were installed. like the siren you heard in greathall or the new password, hermione said.�

then why do we just sit here? harry yelled at her.� �

don t worry, a special auror squad was established, they ll be here in minutes.� � � and nobody knows about the new password, only prefects, heads and teachersknow about this. and the portraits, naturally. they won t open until the danger� has passed. the room has been sealed so nobody on the other side can hearus. and besides, you still have to know where the common room is. so calm down,you have nothing to worry about.�

well, wormtail knows about the common room, he was in gryffindor, harry said.� �

hermione looked frightened by the thought.

they still have to get through the portrait. it was enchanted to sustain more� damage than it used to be. and fat lady never let a stranger in, remember?�ron said.

harry wasn t still comforted enough and paced around the room nervously. he didn t� � have to wait for long time before he could hear muffled voices from theother side of portrait. the gryffindors looked at each other nervously. hermionelooked petrified.

are you sure that this is it, pettigrew? harry could hear a cold voice from the� � other side.

y..yes, an unease and nervous voice sounded.� �

all right. let us in, the cold voice demanded. nothing happened.� �

you have to know the password, pettigrew piped out.� �

i can see that, idiot. we have to destroy it.� �

everyone get into your dormitory, now, harry yelled and drew out his wand.� �

not again, ron muttered and got up. he drew up his wand as well.� �

students ran up the stair to dormitories, everyone looking panic. harry looked atthe portrait, hoping it was strong enough to last.

reducto! many voices yelled from behind the portrait. nothing happened, luckily.� �

harry looked around himself. only twenty or so students stayed behind, most ofthem from the da. all of them had a note of fear in their eyes. harry saidnothing, but ducked behind one of the armchairs. harry could see everyone taking



his lead, seamus and neville upturning one of the tables.

reducto! voices sounded again. the portrait didn t resist another attempt.� � � shreds of portrait filled the common room. a cloaked man with a mask appearedin the common room.

stupefy!� �

six stunners hit the death eater in chest and he collapsed to the ground. anotherdeath eater appeared in the doorway, and was immediately put into full-bodybind. another death eater merely glanced inside before and another stunner hithim.

paurus vede! hermione yelled, pointing her wand at the corridor, where the death� � eaters covered.

shrieks could be heard from the corridor and neville and seamus cheered loudly.

james, sirius argh! pettigrew screamed loudly.� � �harry could hear many pair of footsteps running away.

idiots! finite incantatem! the cold voice sounded again. harry recognised lucius� � malfoy s voice. come back here again. you will let bunch of kids defeat� �you. potter! nobody needs to get hurt, just come out. you have three seconds.�

harry looked around the faces of his friends surrounding him. most of them shooktheir heads. hermione and ron mouthed no at him.

have it your way, potter, malfoy laughed. let s get� � � �them.�

two death eaters appeared in the doorway and looked around themselves quickly.

stupfey!� �

protego superfices one of them muttered. the� �stunners ricocheted off the barrier and one of them hit colin creevy in his head.colin disappeared behind the chair and didn t appear again.�

reducto! one of the death eater yelled, pointing his wand at sofa, where� � lavender and parvati were crouching. it exploded in tens of big splinters. parvatihad a large chunk of food sticking out of her belly. she was either dead orunconscious. lavender was knocked few feet away and a big splinter piercedher right hand. she was whimpering in pain, crawling to another cover.

crucio! yelled the second death eater pointing his wand at her. she started to� � roll madly and was screaming at top of her lungs. the death eater was sneering

from under his mask.

no! you bastard, neville yelled and stood up from behind his cover. stupefy!� � � �

prot the death eater tried but too late. the stunner hit him and fell limply.� ��

neville, get down! harry cried, but too late. the second death eater casted cut� � hex at him, which hit him in chest. he passed out, bleeding like a stabbedpig.

curses were now flying all around the common rooms. more and more death eaters



appeared inside the common room. with every stunned or bind death eater anothertwo appeared.

stupefy! stupefy! expelliarmus! harry was yelling a curse after a curse. he� � looked around himself desperately. many of his friends were lying on the groundunconscious or too hurt to fight on.

impedimenta, hermione yelled pointing her wand at two death eaters, who were� �

enervating stunned comrades.

they both collapsed to the ground, struggling against invisible binds.

crucio! malfoy yelled, pointing his wand at uncovered hermione.� �

her screams filled the common room and piercedthe ears of those who remained fighting.

hermione! ron yelled loudly and stood up to run for her.� �

ron, don t ginny tried to restrain him, but he fought out of her reach.� � ��

immobilus! malfoy yelled, pointing his wand at him. ron froze, unable to move.� � your pathetic fight is over, potter. come out or we ll start killing your� �friends.�

harry looked around the room. there was none left who fought. all of his friendswere unable to carry on fighting.

potter, last warning. come here.� �

harry stood up and pocketed his wand, revealing his bare hands. what do you want� me to do? he said hatefully.�

touch it s a portkey that will lead you to our master. i have another business� �

here to care about, malfoy said, an insane smile on his face.�

portus , he muttered, pointing his wand at chunk of wood. get ready, potter.� � � �

harry gave him last piercing stare. how do i know you won t kill them?� � �

you don t, malfoy said with another smile. touch it, you ve got ten seconds� � � � � left.�

harry extended his finger and placed it on the chunk of wood.

six, five, four� ��

no, harry, ginny yelled and ran to them. both malfoy and harry stared confused� � after her. she put her finger on wood as well.

what are you doing? harry yelled loudly at her, but too late. he felt a tug� � behind his navel and the common room disappeared.

chapter 44 : the end

chapter 44: the end

harry hit the ground with a painful thud, but managed to stay on his feet. he



heard another thud somewhere behind him as ginny landed. instantly, very sharppain erupted in his scar. it felt like someone was spitting his head with achainsaw. he collapsed to the ground, reaching for his forehead. harry knewwhat that meant. voldemort was somewhere near.

harry opened his eyes, realising they were watering with pain. he looked aroundhimself. they were in some kind of dungeon, which was bathed in semi-darkness,the only light coming from few torches. there were people standing behind him in

lines. they were all wearing dark robes and masks- the death eaters. andbehind them he saw tall figures dressed in dark cloaks, who were floating in air-the dementors. he raised his wand and pointed it at the group. he knewno curses which could take down all of them, but they were never going to catchhim without fight.

expelliarmus, cold high pitched voice cried from behind him. harry s wand left� � � his fingers and landed on ground with a loud clatter. he heard anotherclatter as ginny s dropped her wand as well.�

accio wands, the voice said.� �

harry s and ginny s wand flew somewhere behind harry. harry turned around,� �

preparing his mind what he was about to see. there was a throne in the far endof the room. it was black and huge. snakes were carved on it. and sitting on it,dressed in black robe was none other than lord voldemort. as he saw him,another surge of pain ran through his scar, but he didn t wince.�

harry potter, we finally meet again. and you brought ms. weasley with you� � perhaps it would make everything much easier, voldemort said, sneering at him.�so harry, have you considered offer i proposed to you?� �

harry suddenly felt ginny s eyes upon him. he knew what voldemort meant,� dumbledore explained it to him.

i would never join you! harry yelled at him.� �

voldemort s smile vanished and he got up from his thrown. he walked down the steps� which lead to the throne. he put one of his white-skinned hand into hisrobes. harry thought he was reaching for his wand, but his hand remained in hispocket.

harry, you have to see it as well! there are nearly none adult wizards, which� survived one encounter with me. and let s look at you. you managed to defeat�me when you were only year old. and since than you escaped my reach for how manytimes? four? and i m not counting times you escaped my servants, voldemort� �said, his voice nearly soft.

that s not true, harry spat at him hatefully. many of wizards escaped you. my� � � �

parents, the longbottom s, moody and dumbledore. and as long as dumbledore� �is alive, you stand no chance.�

voldemort acted as harry said nothing. harry, you re remarkably powerful, don t� � � you see it? do you have any idea what we could achieve together. together,we can rule the wizarding world. and we don t have to stop there. our kind will be� in power, not that muggle vermin. and we everybody would serve us,�voldemort said excitedly, still pacing around the room.

is that the same babble you used on wormtail? harry said with a sarcastic smile.� �



voldemort stopped pacing and looked at him hatefully. he finally withdrew hiswand.

than you have to face consequences! crucio! he yelled, pointing his wand at� � harry.

harry s whole body was suddenly on fire. he collapsed on his four and than he� started shaking. his eyes were rolling in his socks madly and he felt like

he was about to pass out. he heard ginny yelling at voldemort to stop and the painceased suddenly. heopened his eyes, panting.

ginny was lying next to him and cradling him. oh, harry, she sobbed lightly.� �

so harry, have you changed your decision? voldemort said with a cold smile.� � perhaps a little bit more of pain can do it? for your friend? crucio! he� �yelled, pointing his wand at ginny.

her eyes reflected her pain instead of fear and she started screaming. the screamseemed to fill voldemort with energy. he closed his eyes and harry couldalmost swear he was purring.

stop it! harry yelled at him.� �

voldemort let the curse affect little but longer, but finally he lifted his wand.

i take it you have enough, voldemort said.� �

harry and ginny were looking deeply into each others eyes for a long time beforeharry lifted his head.

whatever, just don t hurt her anymore. send her back to hogwarts, right now. i� � swear i ll do anything you want straight away, harry said, defeated.� �

i m not leaving you harry, ginny hissed through her gritted teeth. she was still� � � twitching slightly.

see harry, another thing we have in common, voldemort said, sounding� � entertained. we both have power affect people to our purposes. face it harry.� bothraised by muggles we hate, we both speak parseltounge, we are connected by yourscar. and by a prophecy. haven t you wondered what the prophecy might be?�imagine it says we are to rule the wizarding rule together, voldemort said.�

harry prayed that ginny didn t look at him now, but from a face of voldemort he� saw that she did.

or perhaps dumbledore knew about the prophecy? and you have told someone else?� perhaps your friend here? voldemort said with a cold smile. he pointed�his wand at ginny again. legillimens!� �

harry saw as ginny s eyes went suddenly�unfocused. voldemort was muttering something under his breath. he ended upsuddenly, smiling his cold smile. ginny looked into harry s face, wearing face�of guilt.

ah, i see you tried to teach your friends some occlumency. how interesting but� � ms. weasley isn t as far talented as you, potter. legillimens!� �



ginny went rigid again and this time voldemort succeeded, for he stopped momentslater, looking triumphant.

well, well, well. so this is the prophecy. we can t live together and one has to� � kill each other. you have both served your purposes. we shall fulfil theprophecy right now. goodbye potter, weasley. avada voldemort started, but was�� cut as many groups of people filled the room, each of them touching some

thing between them. he smiled at harry coldly and lowered his wand.

my dear lucius, you are back. so have you what i send you for? voldemort said� � with expectation.

malfoy gulped uneasily. my lord, the atlis was to well protected. they ve have� � captured half of us and we proceeded no further. i i called for retreat,�we can have another chance. my lord malfoy nearly whimpered, but voldemort�� silenced him with a wave of hand.

i don t want to hear your pathetic excuses lucius. believe, should i be in normal� � mood, i would have killed you right now. but you re lucky you managed�to bring potter with you. well potter, you may seem to have another purpose. we ll�

see how much does dumbledore value life of his students but this doesn t� �mean we can t have some fun, does it? lucius, wormtail?� �

malfoy sneered at ginny from his mask and pointed his wand at her. crucio!� �

ginny s screams filled the air again. harry wanted malfoy to stop, he got up and� wanted to kill him with his bare hand.

immobilus, malfoy muttered, pointing his wand at him. harry couldn t move any� � � further, but at least ginny stopped screaming.

wormtail, have a go on potter, voldemort said with� �another smile.

harry was expecting to see excitement and expectation in peter s eyes, but he� didn t really expect to see fright. and did he really saw pity in those eyes.�

wormtail, go on. or do you want me to help you? voldemort said pointing his wand� � at him.

wormtail said nothing he merely pointed his wand at harry. c-crucio, wormtail� � stuttered.

harry was prepared to another dose of pain, but wormtail s spell had nearly no� effect on him. he merely felt unpleasant sensation somewhere aroundhis stomach.

what s the matter wormtail? gone too soft? harry yelled at him hatefully. he� � � didn t care that wormtail didn t want to hurt him. he was the reason his� �parents were dead and they destroyed his future.

you fool! voldemort yelled loudly. with a swish of his wand, wormtail hit one of� � the walls forcefully. with another swish of his wand, wormtail was floatingin air and with another swish he hit the ground. voldemort walked to him.

i told you wormtail, that i won t tolerate more of your incompetence. crucio!� � � voldemort yelled, pointing his wand at him. wormtail started to scream and



he collapsed to the ground immediately.

master, i beg you, he shrieked. voldemort didn t care about his shrieks and let� � � the curse for a very long time before he lifted it. wormtail didn t move�again, he was merely shaking. voldemort kicked him in ribs and spat on his robes.than he turned back to harry.

well, potter where did we finish? ah crucio! voldemort yelled, pointing his� � �

wand at him.

harry never met with so intense and long pain. voldemort ceased few times and thanhe started again, with every time the pain was more intense, until harryknew no more.

*****

harry woke up in some very small dark room. his whole body still hurt from theaftermath of the cruciatus curse. he didn t have any clue about the time.�as he tried to sit, suddenly memories filled his mind. memories of evil his faced-of torture, of sirius falling through the veil, of his parents he suddenly�saw a dementor walking around his cell through the bars. he stopped at the bars,

facing him for a very long time, sucking on his happiness.

he heard a light moan from his left. he looked over there and saw the form ofginny lying on the damp floor. he crawled to her quickly, still unable tostand up. he reached for her hand. it was cold as ice so he started to rub it.

ginny, are you alright? wake up, harry urged her. please, wake up.� � � �

ginny moaned again and than she awoke with a start.

leave us be! she yelled loudly.� �

another yells followed hers. it seems that the cells around were full of people,

who were yelling as well. harry suddenly knew where they were. they surelywere in azkaban.

ginny, calm down. it s me, harry whispered into� � �her ear.

ginny stopped yelling and looked into his eyes.

oh harry, she moaned again and hugged him tightly. harry stopped shivering� � immediately as he felt warmth of her body.

why did you do it, ginny? why did you come with me? harry nearly yelled into her� � ear. he suddenly felt furious with her. she was the one who made him

feeling guilty again.

i don t know harry, i really don t. please don t get mad at me, ginny pleaded� � � � � him.

he calmed down at tone of her voice. i m not mad at you, ginny, he said. she� � � hugged him even more closely.

harry, how are we going to get out of this? ginny asked him desperately.� �

harry was silent for a moment. ginny, i don t know, he said softly.� � �



they were just looking into each other s eyes for what appeared to be hours but� harry knew that only minutes passed. twice the dementors appeared again,feeding upon their happy memories and hopes. in those times harry wished to berather that than alive. ginny always started shaking uncontrollably whenthe dementors appeared.

suddenly they could hear footsteps in the corridor which lead to them. harry

somehow knew that somebody came for one of them and he didn t want to die before�he told ginny, what he felt towards her.

ginny? he said. the footsteps were nearing.� �

yes?� �

ginny, if i won t come back i want you to know , the footsteps were even� � � � � closer. harry could now hears voices of two death eaters, talking to each otherabout dementors i want you to know that i love you� �

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