DISCLAIMER: See
A/N: Originally, I made Ginny's birthday March 15 (the Ides of March), although according to Book 6 spoilers, her birthday is August 11.
That makes three Book 6 spoilers that will be used in this fic: All HPCC is over; Ginny's birthday is August 11; and Molly Weasley's maiden name is Prewett (and it therefore wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine that she would be related to the late Gideon and Fabian Prewett, who were members of the original Order of the Phoenix).
As for the vault in this chapter: Sorry if this resembles any Potter family vaults in other fics, but I tried to make this original as I could. If anyone thinks it should be changed in any way, please let me know.
Regarding the name "Judy Arnold": If any of you want to get the spoilers offered, try to figure out the origins of BOTH her first and last names. :)
CHAPTER 28: TREASURES, TRAITORS AND TELEPATHY
Fallacia alia aliam trudit.
One deceit follows hard on another.
–Terence,
In Harry's dream, he was in a large field on a sunny day, with blue
skies and
fluffy clouds. Hogwarts and Hogsmeade
could be seen
in the distance. He and every other student and professor was on the
grounds,
doing various activities, like reading, playing Quidditch,
or performing magic. Other friends and Order members were with them as
well.
Suddenly, black thunderclouds loomed into view, and rolling thunder
could be
heard. Over the horizon, several poisonous green objects like a giant
viridian
plague were coming at them. As they came closer, Harry could see they
were
snakes. But they were snakes with wings, snakes with claws, snakes with
horns;
it was as though the entire animal kingdom had been turned into snake
monsters.
As they came closer, Harry closed his eyes and braced himself for the
impact.
To his surprise, they simply went around him like water, barely even
touching
him. Hissing mixed in with screams of terror.
A moment later, it all stopped. Very slowly, he opened his eyes to see
what had
happened. The snakes were gone, but they left an awful mess behind.
The grassy fields were now rocky and barren. The skies roiled with
poisonous
black clouds, with blood red rays of sunlight filling their way between
the
gaps in the sky. Hogwarts castle had been decimated, with roofs of
corridors
torn down and even the tops of towers missing, giving the impression it
had been abandoned for centuries. But the
worst of the
collateral damage lay right in front of him. (1)
Everyone around him was dead. They all lay on the ground,
their eyes open in surprise with their mouths hanging open. For the
most part,
they looked unmarked and unharmed, as though Killing Curses had hit
them. It
was like seeing Cedric die, only it was now everyone instead. Ron,
Hermione,
Neville, Ginny, Luna, Blaise, Cho,
Susan, Draco, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Lupin, Hagrid,
Lupin, Moody, Tonks,
Kinglsey, Seamus, Dean, Fleur, Krum, the
rest of the Weasleys... all of them were
lying dead on the barren
ground. Even some of the animals, like Hedwig, Crookshanks,
Fawkes, Ardeavis,
and Nemorphus lay dead on the desolate
plains.
Harry was looking wildly around, for some survivors, anyone who had
survived...
he then heard voices, but there was no other living person in sight.
"You failed us, Harry," whispered Ron's voice. Harry spun around, but
Ron was dead, his eyes staring off into space.
"You did nothing to help us," joined Hermione's disembodied whisper.
Other voices joined theirs, unrelenting and unstoppable.
"Murderer!"
"Freak!"
"Failure!"
"Traitor!"
"Killer!"
"Destroyer!"
"Monster!"
"Comspirator!"
"Backstabber!"
"Turncoat!"
Harry clamped his hands to his ears, begging them to stop, stop it, please... the voices now accused him without
rest, a
cacophony of lies, accusations, epithets and ill-wishers.
The heat began to rise, and with several red flashes, their bodies
turned into
ash, destroying what was left of them. A high, cold laugh boomed over
the
distance.
Harry turned around, dreading what he would see. It was Voldemort,
his appearance pristine, compared to the messes around him.
"Welcome to my future, Potter," he hissed. "Personally, I think
it's just perfect for me. This world, or at least this miserable
country, is
doomed to be my domain. It will be my paradise for as long as I see
fit, and
believe me, I plan on living a very long time."
"No," Harry whispered.
"Oh, yes," Voldemort chuckled
evilly. "You might be powerful yourself, but you won't be able to stand
up
to me. My knowledge of the Dark Arts far exceeds your own by about half
a
century or so. You can't destroy me; in order to take something apart,
you need
to know what holds it all together. But you refrain from even looking
at books
on Dark Magic. If you don't look at them yourself, you'll have no idea
what to
do, and then you'll die by my hand."
"You're wrong," Harry said, not taking his eyes off this monstrosity.
"History has been full of Dark wizards already. Grindelwald,
you... I don't plan on being next in line and continuing this vicious
cycle.
You're trying to trick me into using Dark Magic to became the next
terror, and
maybe live on vicariously through me after I kill you. It won't work."
Voldemort wagged one long, bony finger.
"Wrong
again, Potter. No reason to live on through you if I can't die, now is
there?
That especially wouldn't be the case if and when you die first." Before
Harry could say anything else, the Dark wizard waved his wand.
The next moment, the earth cracked open beneath him and Harry fell
about ten
feet underground into a pit. He was in a rocky prison, and the vaulted
walls of
the pit curved upwards, making him impossible to climb out of it. No
sooner
than he had gotten up did the opening suddenly close, leaving him alone
in the
dark.
Thinking quickly, he got out both his wands, just in case, but both of
them
immediately burst into flames in his hands and fell apart into ash. He
yelped
in pain and quickly threw them to the ground. However, the fire didn't
stop
there.
Like burning snakes, the fires from the wands struck at his feet. The
raging
fire spread quickly from there, shooting up his body, both inside and
out. He
screaming with pain; every last molecule of his body was on fire. It
was
comparable to the Cruciatus Curse; he was
screaming,
suffering from pain beyond pain. Every skin cell, bone, hair follicle,
organ,
muscle, and blood vessel in his body felt it as his clothes scorched
him, like
some burning death shroud. He leaned against the cave wall, begging for
release
from this torture as it engulfed him completely, tearing away at him
from every
conceivable angle of attack...
~*~*~*~
With a final, anguished scream, Harry sat bolt upright in his bed,
covered in
sweat and breathing as though he had run for miles without water.
"Harry!" came a voice next to him. It was
Ron, who was lighting a lamp beside his bed. His other three roommates
were
stirring from the light and the sound. "Harry, what is it?"
Harry just stared out in front of him, breathing hard and going over
the images
he had just seen. The death... the torture... the destruction... it all
ate
away at him. The other three boys were looking to see what was going on.
"Harry, what happened?" Neville asked.
"Nightmare... terrible..." he gasped. After reaching out with his
shaking hand to get his glasses, he took a deep breath and said, "I
think
I'm just going to patrol the corridors for an hour or so. Sorry about
that." Putting on his night robes, Harry walked to the door before Ron
stopped him.
"You were muttering something about Dark Magic," Ron said, but Harry
detected the slight suspicion in his voice.
"Like I said, Ron, it was a nightmare," Harry responded, looking him
right back in the eye with all the sincerity he had. Thankfully, Ron
accepted
this explanation.
"I reckon you should tell Dumbledore," Ron advised.
"Of course I will, Ron," Harry replied, "I actually have that
option, unlike last year. And no, it's not some vision; it's just a
normal, if
not terrifying, nightmare." With that, he left the dormitory and four
worried roommates behind him.
There were some mumblings from other rooms as Harry passed them;
apparently,
other people had woken up too. He muttered apologies to them and kept
on
walking. He even mumbled an apology to the Fat Lady when she asked him
what he
was doing going out at 12:30 in the morning.
Once outside, he became a lion and prowled around the halls,
occasionally
scaring rats, seeing ghosts and bumping into Mrs. Figg's
cats, which mewed as a way of greeting.
Harry continued to prowl the halls when a purring noise came from
behind him.
It was Ginny as a tiger. Harry went right up to her and pressed his
mouth
against hers as sort of a cat kiss. She transformed back and said
blushing,
"That actually felt rather good, you know."
Harry also transformed back and said, "I know, it was, wasn't it?"
And they shared a laugh together.
"Harry," Ginny asked, "What happened in your sleep? You woke
about half the tower, you realize."
Harry's smile vanished in an instant. "Nightmare.
Horrible. Absolutely,
unbelievably
horrible. Definitely one of the worst I've had so far." For some
reason, he didn't feel like saying very long sentences.
Ginny made a sympathetic sound and hugged him tightly. Harry rested his
head
against hers, nuzzling against her beautiful red hair. (Recently,
Harry's
romantic feelings towards Ginny had grown and bloomed. He was still on
friendly
terms with Cho, but sometimes he felt as
though he
and Cho were like distant cousins or
something; he
couldn't quite explain it.)
They stood there for a while in each other's embrace, his hands running
up and
down her back and through her hair. He loved her, but at the rate
things were
going, he doubted he'd be able to spend the rest of his life with her,
due
mainly to that stupid prophecy. Suddenly, a thought came to him.
"Ginny?" he asked quietly.
"How did you get through your first year in one piece? You said that
love
stopped him from getting any farther than he did?"
"Yeah; it made him uncomfortable for him to keep possessing me. That's
why
he only did his evil deeds briefly whenever he did. Why do you ask?"
Taking a deep breath, Harry pulled back so he could look her straight
in the
eye. "That prophecy in the Department of Mysteries, the one that
broke...
if I trust you with it, you have to keep it a secret, got it? From everyone. Even Ron and
Hermione.
I don't think I could bear seeing the looks on their faces."
"You know, that day where you crashed in the garden, we wanted to hear
the
prophecy, but Dumbledore only insisted that Order members hear it. I
heard
later from my Mum that he couldn't even say the last bit of it."
"Did she tell you any of it?"
"No. Dumbledore said you knew about it."
"Of course I do."
"So, what is it?"
"Let's take this to my office first; I don't want anyone else to hear
us." With that, they walked down to Harry's office, and he securely
locked
the door and put judicious Silencing Charms all over it. (He also had
other
defenses, such as Imperturbable Charms on the door, given how easy it
was for
him to sneak in last year during Umbridge's
tenure.)
"You might want to sit down, Ginny," he suggested, and complying, but
with a nervous look on her face.
"Anyway," Harry continued, sitting down next to her. "The
prophecy... it was made about a month before I was born. 'The
one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born as the
seventh
month dies, born to those who have thrice defied Him... the Dark Lord
shall
mark him as his equal, but he shall have power the Dark Lord knows
not...' Oh, and here's the icing on the
cake," Harry added in a
disgusted tone. "'One must die at the hand
of the
other for neither can survive while the other lives.'"
As he buried his face in his hands, Ginny, who had been hanging onto
it, word
for word, pieced it all together. "If he knew about the prophecy, why
did
he rush so blindly into trying to kill you?"
"His spy, who was eavesdropping on the prediction as it was being made,
only heard the first apart, about being born at the end of July to
parents who
had escaped Voldemort three times. That
left him with
two possible targets. One of them was me; guess who the other one was."
Ginny thought about it, and her jaw dropped. "Neville!?" she asked
incredulously.
Harry smiled grimly. "Yes, Neville. Voldemort took his chances with me, and he
failed. The
'mark' was my scar. The power he knows not... Dumbledore said it was
love."
Ginny nodded. "I understand. Then again, these prophecies often have
multiple meanings. Maybe it doesn't mean 'love' in only the romantic
time. It
could also mean between platonic friends, between siblings or other
family
members, between teacher and student..."
"Hm," Harry acknowledged. "Excellent points. Wait, how would you know about
this
sort of stuff in Divination?"
Ginny grinned like her twin brothers. "I took a leaf out of your book
and
Ron's. I faked my way through."
Harry laughed. "I'm glad I'm such a positive influence on you."
Ginny's grin faded and then she asked, "Wait, the last bit... it means
you
have to kill him or-?"
"He kills me, I know," Harry said wearily.
Ginny gasped and clapped her hand to her mouth. "Oh Harry," she said
sadly.
"I know, I know."
She pulled him into a gigantic bear hug and cried a little.
"Harry..."
"Help me, Ginny," he pleaded in a whisper. "Help me."
"I will, I promise," she replied.
As Harry absentmindedly twirled her hair in his fingers, he savored the
moment,
wondering how many more times he would be able to be with Ginny, to
feel her
next to him, to give her support.
"I love you so much," Harry whispered, a tear rolling down his face.
"You're one of the strongest people I know. You're practically made of
steel. You deserve someone who might actually live past his twentieth
birthday."
"Don't say that!" Ginny told him. "You will be able to vanquish
him, I know you will."
"How? He's tampered so much with Dark Magic,
even
Avada Kedavra
couldn't
kill him."
Ginny thought about this. "Maybe it was the wrong approach, using Dark
Magic against Dark Magic. Maybe if you try attacking the problem from a
different angle, with the most powerful Light Magic..."
"Yeah, but how?"
"We'll find a way," Ginny said, determined. "I've been working
hard for my O.W.L.s and I've found a lot
of different
stuff."
"By the way, how are you doing with that?"
"Under pressure, but still resilient with that Gryffindor strength,"
she grinned.
Harry grinned with her. "Maybe Dumbledore might know some magic that
can
help us. If he knew about the magic that protects me with my relatives,
maybe
he knows other stuff like that. We can ask him tomorrow."
"Sounds good," Ginny agreed. "Want to patrol the halls some
more?"
Harry smiled that smile which made her legs go weak. "In
a bit. For now..." he laid her back across the couch and shared
his
affections for her, which she eagerly returned. (2)
Several minutes later, after both of them were done with the romance,
the both
of them straightened out their robes (which had gotten creased from the
positions they were in), they exited the office and Harry closed it
behind him.
The pair of felines spent the rest of the night hunting and prowling.
The highlight
of their night was when they caught Peeves between the second and third
floors
(he was tying the moving staircases together with rope so they couldn't
move
like they were supposed to), and while Harry held the rope tight with
his
powerful jaws, Ginny leaped across it and tackled Peeves into
submission. The
entire night could have been as boring as Professor Binns'
History of Magic lessons, but as long as the two of them were together,
they
couldn't care less.
~*~*~*~
Judy Arnold got up early that morning to send an owl to one of her
"secret" friends. She happened to see an African lion and a
Apart from her devotion to Trelawny and
the grief
that still lingered from the deaths of her parents when she was around
Potter's
age, Judy also had her own reasons for her secret loyalty to the Dark
Lord.
Little known fact: In the 1700's, one of her direct male ancestors, Maximillan Black, had broken off from the Black
family
after he was sorted into Gryffindor. His parents had objected to it,
saying
that if he really did value his pureblood heritage, he would be Slytherin with his family. He countered that it
really
didn't matter which House he was in, so long as he followed those
pureblood
values. Eventually, the rift grew to the point where he changed his
last name
from "Black" to "Brown," and after he graduated, cut all
ties off from his family. The symbolism in the name change was based on
the Slytherin philosophy that not
everything was good or evil
(or black and white, if one were to put it that way). Even though she
was now
technically an
Deep down, Judy always cherished her pureblood values, and like a Slytherin, she kept her opinions to herself. Who
would have
thought that Judy Arnold, the first of her year to get sorted into
Gryffindor,
was just threads away from becoming a Slytherin?
It was also part of the reason she hated Hermione Granger deep down;
how dare a
Muggle girl like her simply come along and
try to
gain control over everyone with her stupid, foolish books?
While a pureblood supporter, she didn't like Voldemort.
At least not at first, anyway. But then,
during the
previous summer, the Dark Lord had offered her the gift of Prophetic
Sight. She
agreed, so long as she did what he wanted. After hearing from Lavender
and Parvati about how Potter and his
red-haired shadow Weasley had flaunted her
beloved Professor, and had done
everything but fart in her face, and how Voldemort
had actually paid every attention to every word of Trelawny's
prophecies, Lavender finally made what she considered to be the correct
choice.
Sirius Black had been one of her distant cousins. She thought he had
been sent
to Azkaban for the right cause, but then she found out that he was
working for
Potter and Dumbledore! He had rejected his pureblood heritage in the
end
anyway! And when she found out that he was the Grim who had
been
following Potter around, but to protect him and not to bring about his
death
(as dear Trelawny had so devoutly
predicted), that
just added insult to injury!
Just like Quirrell had said: No such thing
as a
distinction between good and evil, based on one's intent, but a
distinction
between strong and weak, based on one's power.
Nowadays, Judy was proud that she took up her true ancestry and quit
associating with Potter and Dumbledore. Especially after her paents were murdered and Dumbledore, Potter, and
their
other allies were unable to do anything about it, she was more than
willing to
take revenge on the scar-headed idiot and the babbling old man.
Her hatred of Potter was what also had made her willing to bomb Remus Lupin and
Felicity Umbridge in the classroom, with
the help from her fellow
conspirators in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.
If Potter was allowed to downplay her favorite professors, why couldn't
she do
the same to his?
Of course, being a Gryffindor, no one suspected her of being deep into
her
pureblood ideals. She smirked to herself; this would make it all the
easier to
push the blame away from her and onto the Slytherins
for what she was yet to do.
~*~*~*~
That morning at breakfast, Harry and Ginny spent their time talking
about
the O.W.L.s, what sort of things they
would ask,
helpful hints, etc. Harry had no problem with doing so, since the
O.W.L.
questions were changed from year to year so students couldn't cheat
with the
help of older students who had already taken them.
After breakfast, however, Ron and Hermione immediately sought him out.
Both of
them looked concerned. "Er, Harry, mate,"
Ron said uncertainly, "That nightmare you had last night... What was it
about?"
Harry looked back and forth between them and said, "Why do you ask?"
Hermione sighed and said, "Harry, we'd just like to know."
Using his Legilimency, Harry could sense
the
suspicion in their questions. "It was a nightmare. I don't think you
could
handle what was in it. I certainly couldn't. I really don't want to
talk about
it," he answered in a tone that meant for them to stop bugging him.
"Harry," Hermione said in an appraising tone, "Given last year's
events, I think you should be more honest with us."
"I am being honest, Hermione, that's the whole point," Harry
said, getting a little aggravated. "It wasn't prophetic or anything, it
wasn't real to begin with."
"Please, then," Hermione argued, "Give us the benefit of the
doubt."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Do you realize I could lie to you and you
wouldn't be able to tell the difference?"
The two of them exchanged looks. Harry turned the tables on them now.
"And
why do you want to know about my dreams so badly?"
The two of them looked hurt by that question. "Well, gee mate, being
our
friend, we are concerned for your benefit and we should know these
things-" Ron started.
That really cut at Harry's pride and dignity. "You two, come with me,
NOW.
Even better..." he transformed into a phoenix, grabbed each of them as
they stared in shock, and vanished.
~*~*~*~
A moment later, they reappeared in Harry's office. He dropped them,
transformed back, and looked both of them straight in the eye, still
shocked by
his sudden anger.
"Take a seat," he said in a calm voice but with an angry undertone.
Both of them nodded mutely and sat together on the couch. "Good. Now
that
both of you are nice and cozy together-" he allowed them to writhe and
blush for a moment "-we can finally discuss some things.
"First of all, you're getting a little too nosy into my private life.
As
your friends, I have no problem with sharing things with you and
accepting
equal responsibility. However, there is
only so many
things I am willing to share with you. I'd like to keep my private life
private, thank you so very much."
"Wait just a minute!" Ron objected. "How come you can tell Ginny
these things, but not us?"
Wisely choosing his words, Harry smoothly replied, "Ginny had to deal
with
that diary demon for more than a year. Even today, she has nightmares
because
of what happened. She has more expertise on how to deal with these
things, or
as far as I can tell."
"So?" Hermione questioned. "You could tell us."
Harry sighed, shaking his head. "It just bothers me a lot. Like I've
already said, it's not prophetic or anything,
has
nothing to do with Voldemort, etc. etc.
etc. In other
words, it's nothing to worry about."
Hermione looked angry now. "Harry James Potter, how dare you keep
secrets
from us like this-" she was immediately cut off as Harry shot her an
incredulous look and exploded right in her face.
"HOW DARE YOU!" he yelled, and both of them cringed in their seats.
"Me keep secrets from you!?
Have
you even kept track of what you've done? How about you two
keeping your
romantic life from me? You said yourself both of you liked each other
that way
since the end of our fourth year! What about last Christmas where I saw
both of
you kissing in an empty classroom? I could have easily popped off at
both of
you, if it weren't for the fact that my anger from last year was spent
on
bigger prats who deserved it and I was
happy for the
both of you for working things out! Would it have killed you to mention
it at
all? And I'm sure there are several other things you've kept from ME in
the
past.
"On another note, who do you think you are, my mother? You are not
in charge of me, in any way, shape, or form. I'm not your little hero
to go
running around slaying monsters or whatever for you."
Seeing as Harry needed to catch his breath from the rant, Hermione
responded in
a calmer tone, "You're right, Harry, I suppose we could have talked
about
it one way or another. We just wanted to know so we could help you-"
"Unfortunately, Hermione," he cut her off, "As noble as your
intentions are, which I thank you for, there are some parts of my life
which
can't be fixed at all, magic or not."
"I know that," Hermione replied, rolling her eyes, "Even some
things like growing up the way you did with the Dursleys..."
The blood drained from Harry's face. Mentioning his home life was
strictly
taboo.
"Oh, sure, Hermione, go on talking about that, why don't you? 'Oh, by the way, my relatives abused me for the
first
decade or so of my life, so what did you get on your last
Transfiguration
test?' That's not of your business, Hermione. Besides, I already
resolved any
issues I had with them; ironically, I didn't even need to use any
magic. All I
did was lock myself in a storage room with
them and
give them a good talk." He smirked at this.
Taking advantage of their stunned silence, Harry finished, "Look, if
there
even is anything I need to tell you about, you'll know. I've come
through for
you guys several times; all I ask for is your trust and your faith in
me.
Agreed?" The pair on the couch silently nodded and Harry said,
"Good."
Just then, a voice came from the Runespoor's
tank. "Hey,
will you idiots keep it down on a Sunday morning!?" Momus protested, his
individual
neck wrapped around his green teddy bear.
"I second that motion," added Morpheus,
cuddling up next to his blue teddy bear.
"For Sett's sake, don't make me bite
some
sense into you," warned Nemesis from around his red teddy bear. (4)
"Sorry, guys, we had a crisis here," Harry apologized to them.
Turning back to Ron and Hermione, he said, "Well, I'm glad we resolved
this little problem."
As his friends got up to leave, he called, "Guys?" They were at the
door when they turned back to him. With coldness in his eyes that one
can only
gain through hardships in life, Harry said, "Both of you mean a lot to
me.
Despite whatever faults or flaws you may have, you're still the best
friends a
person can ask for. Believe me, I would die for either of you if I had
to,
although I hope it doesn't come to that."
A tear was rolling out of Hermione's eye while Ron looked rather
sentimental.
"Anyway," Harry added, "I have papers to grade. You two have a
nice morning."
"We will," Ron assured him. As they exchanged good-byes, Harry smiled
to himself and got out his aforementioned work.
~*~*~*~
Harry sat with Ginny and chatted with her all through lunch. A topic
soon
bought up was the fact that she was hoping to get an Invisibility Cloak
(which
she whispered into his ear, since she didn't want anyone else to hear
for
reasons he could understand).
"Apart from the possibilities with mischief-making, why would you want
or
need an Invisibility Cloak?" Harry asked curiously.
"Prefect patrols," Ginny said simply, "and maybe another
nocturnal activity or two."
"Indeed," Harry agreed, catching the allusion to snogging
him at some quiet, private place in the middle of the night. "I
definitely
need to get you a good birthday present. Or should I make it six to
apologize
for all the years I kept thinking of you as Ron's little sister?"
Ginny laughed. "Not necessary, Harry, not
necessary at
all."
On their way to Dumbledore's office to meet before going to Diagon
Alley, they passed Professor McGonagall in the halls. The way Harry and
Ginny
were laughing with each other... unbidden and unforeseen, a tear came
to
McGonagall's eye. 'So much like Lily and James,' she thought. Contrary
to
popular belief, Professor Minerva McGonagall was not all strict and
harsh; she
had a soft and emotional side, which was simply very rarely seen.
Probably the
last time anyone had even gotten that close to seeing it was last year
at
Neville Longbottom's career advice
appointment. (5)
Then there was another time before that, almost twenty years earlier.
When her
former student, a twenty-year-old Lily Potter came in to visit one day,
when
she happened to be halfway through her pregnancy with her son. (6)
'Lily,' she silently prayed, 'I have done everything within my strength
to
protect Harry so far, and I will continue to do so. Even after
You-Know-Who is
gone, I will uphold your memory by looking after him. I remember how
proud I
was when he was sorted into Gryffindor, just like you and James.
Ironically, it
was moments after that I realized all the trouble I might be in for
over the
course of his seven years at Hogwarts. You would be so proud of him. I
miss
you, Lily, I really do.'
With that, McGonagall went to get her newest issue of Transfiguration
Today to
read a new article she had been looking forward to. Just then, she
remembered;
she wanted to clip out the article about Harry being a Polyanimagus.
With a pair of scissors and some glue, she eagerly got to work.
~*~*~*~
Dumbledore, Harry and Ginny traveled via Floo
Powder into the Leaky Cauldron after lunch. They headed straight to Gringotts, and eagerly made their way into a
cart the three
of them could easily fit into, plus a goblin, of course.
They went to Ginny's personal vault first, which looked about as full
as
Harry's the first time he saw his own vault. After she collected some
money for
her shopping pleasures, they went to Harry's personal vault, which was
filled
with mountains of gold, silver and bronze.
And last, but certainly not least, was the Potter family vault. Harry
could
have sworn that the suspense was being built up on purpose. He also
heard the
goblin explain that the vaults with the lower numbers were from the
older,
mainly pureblood families, and coincidentally, these were the ones that
were
being protected by dragons the most. It was also rumored that the first
ten or
so vaults belonged to the Four Founders, Merlin himself, and some other
powerful wizards from that era.
"Oh joy," Harry said sarcastically, "We should have brought Hagrid along for the trip; he probably would
have been more
interested in the dragons than the treasure." After the others shared a
laugh with him, the cart slowed to a stop, and Harry took a look.
With very ornate letters on it, the plaque read, "POTTER, Vault 49."
Harry couldn't help but notice the similar vaults all around it,
belonging to
other pureblood families, most of which had members serving Voldemort.
"In order to open it," the goblin explained, "put your right
hand on the plaque, palm down, and say your full name."
Harry did as he was told and said, "Harry James Potter."
Dramatically, the vault opened up, and as Harry looked inside, he felt
his jaw
drop.
It was as though he was looking into an underground Quidditch
stadium, with several objects scattered about. All along one wall, at
least a
mile long in itself, were mountains of money. Halfway down along the
opposite
wall were heaps of precious jewels and gems, not to mention what looked
like
numerous treasure chests. There were also countless wrapped packages,
but if
Harry were to judge from the shape of them, he'd say that they
contained just
about everything and anything a person would have in his or her home.
Once
Harry had found his voice again, he commented, "This is
unbelievable!"
The goblin smiled grimly. "Indeed. Anyway, among the furniture or such
in
the middle of this vault is a safe that only a Potter can open. It is
filled
with legal documents, land titles and deeds, birth and death
certificates and
such. All this wealth has accumulated both from wise saving of original
fortune
and investments in both wizarding and Muggle businesses; strangely, this vault
probably has more
money because of that, since most of the pureblooded families with
vaults down
here never invested in Muggle
businesses, and
never would."
"I believe the last document deposited in here was nearly sixteen
years
ago by your parents."
Something was caught in Harry's throat. "May I see it please?"
The goblin shrugged. "It's your vault."
Harry laughed a little. "True, true." He
opened it up and saw a sealed letter on the top of the pile. It was
addressed
to him from his parents.
Dear Harry,
Since you are now at least sixteen years old, you are now allowed to
see your
family vault. The Potter family has been respected and powerful for
centuries,
although it has always remained on the side of Light, as opposed to
some Darker families in Wizarding
It's now a few days after your first birthday (and what a celebration
we had),
and we are still in hiding at a cottage we rented in Godric's
Hollow. (Ironically, the gate to
Hopefully, you also got the lockbox that was left with the Dursleys,
your last remaining relatives. While there is a tapestry in this vault,
it is
mainly of your paternal heritage. Most of the other Potters have died
or
vanished into the mists of time.
We knew about the prophecy, and in spite of that, we still did
everything
within our power to protect you. No words in any language can describe
how much
we love you, and how proud we are to be your parents. Even if we have
to die
for you, so be it. We would do anything for you, as much as we want to
be there
for you. We would never want you to grow up in a world ruled by Voldemort. We regret not being there for you,
since you are
reading this letter if we have died. (However, and please heed
this
wisdom, Harry, it never does anyone any good to dwell on how things
could
have happened differently if people had acted differently.)
The Potter family has always been rather rich to begin with, but they
have
always made several good financial decisions over the course of
history, making
investments in both the Wizarding and the Muggle world. The total amount of gold alone in
your vault
is worth about thirty million galleons. We only ask that you use it
wisely and
not squander it, seeing as future generations might need it (and since
you're
the last Potter left, the task of ensuring the continuation of the
Potter line
falls mainly on you).
(Here there was a scratched out line, followed by something else.) Sorry, Harry, but someone who shall remain nameless (although I'm sure you could guess who) wanted to ask if Sirius had given you "The Talk" yet. (Very funny, Prongs.)
After Harry shook his head momentarily, he finished the letter.
With as much love as can possibly be expressed from the great beyond,
Mum and Dad
Harry let the tears roll freely, and he clutched the letter close to
himself, as though it would vanish just as easily as his parents.
"Harry?" It was Ginny. He had forgotten that she and Dumbledore were
still here. Wordlessly, Harry handed the letter over to them, which
they read
while Harry wiped his face on his sleeve. Dumbledore went as white as
his beard
while Ginny looked close to tears herself.
"I'm sorry," Harry said through his few tears. "On the other
hand, Professor Dumbledore, at least you had the decency to tell them
about the
prophecy, as hard as I'm sure that was."
Dumbledore merely nodded while Ginny rushed over to comfort Harry. She
loved
him so much and thought he looked so handsome, that the sight of him
breaking
down like that made her heart ache with sadness.
After a minute or so, Harry calmed down and said, "It mentioned
something
about a family tree towards the back of this vault." Turning back to
the
entrance of the vault, where the goblin had been waiting and pointedly
looking
away from the unfolding drama, Harry asked, "Could you please show us
the
tapestry?"
The goblin sprung into action right away and dutifully said, "Right
away,
sir." The trio of visitors followed him to a back wall, and using some
goblin magic, unrolled the tapestry on the wall from where it was being
hung.
The tapestry was humongous and dated all the way back about 1490, the
beginning
of the European Renaissance. Harry could see that he was related to
some other
people at Hogwarts. It was a shock when he found out that he and Cedric
Diggory were distant cousins by a common
ancestor about a
century back. He also saw that he was related to Blaise
Zabini through another relative, although
from the
looks of it, it wasn't one of Blaise's
so-called
"Darker relatives."
Harry was shocked once again when he saw that one of his great-
great-uncles or
something from the mid-1400's, which according to the birth
certificates, was a
merchant who traveled along the Silk Road and eventually settled down
in
Slowly turning to Dumbledore and Ginny, he said, "You don't think...? I
mean,
"In order to determine whether or not you are indeed distantly related
to
Miss Chang," Dumbledore told him, "The genealogy records can be
checked against her family tree."
"But she told me herself that she can trace her ancestors back to the
earliest dynasties in Chinese history."
"Then tell her about it, Harry," Ginny suggested. "It's the only
way we'll find out."
Harry took a deep breath and said, "You're absolutely right." With
that, they left, finally getting around to the anticipated shopping.
~*~*~*~
While Ginny went to refill her stationary supplies and Dumbledore
went to
talk to various shop owners about store security (given these dark
times),
Harry went to Quality Quidditch Supplies
to purchase
a new Firebolt for Ron. It cost Harry
about two
thousand Galleons, but it was definitely worth it.
After sending it with the owls at the shop, Harry decided to get Ron
something
extra. He settled for buying a few actual bottles of Baruffio's
Brain Elixir (the real stuff, not the scams that older students had
been
peddling during the O.W.L. exams) at a nearby pharmacy store. Once that
had
been sent off, he met Ginny at the equipment store where he would buy
her an
invisibility cloak.
The walls of the store were lined with circular tables with sharp
weapons
propped in them, with peculiar bubble-like domes over them. When they
entered,
it appeared that no one was in sight, but then a voice said, "Stop
where
you are!" Both of them froze, and a man with a couple of battle scars
on
his face appeared with an invisibility cloak of his own in his hand.
"We're not here to do anything, sir, we promise," Harry said
nervously.
The man smiled and laughed. "I'm sorry; I never get bored of doing that
to
the customers." He held out his hand, which Harry accepted. "My
name's Peter Bellizas. I run the store and
import the
goods. There are various enchanted weapons in here, as well as defense
items.
So, Mr. Potter, how can I help you?"
"Oh, I was just wondering if I could purchase an invisibility cloak,"
Harry said calmly, feeling more relaxed at the harmless joke.
"Actually, I have a few in the back, in top condition, too," Mr. Bellizas said thoughtfully. "Worth
six thousand Galleons. You have that much?"
"I bought enough along, just in case," Harry grinned.
"Good. Come with me." He led the two of them into a storage area,
filled with all sorts of weapons and such. Harry's and Ginny's eyes
took in all
the sharp objects, but Mr. Bellizas caught
this and
added, "Oh, it's no secret what I sell, because if it was illegal, I'd
be
in Knockturn Alley. Oh, and in case you're
wondering,
Mr. Potter, those Bubble Domes keep the weapons secure on their display
tables,
so they don't make the customers nervous." Taking out a parcel, he
opened
it and held out an invisibility cloak for them to see. Ginny asked,
"May I
try it on?"
Mr. Bellizas smiled. "Of
course, my dear." With an eager smile of
her own,
Ginny pulled it over her head and vanished from sight. Harry could hear
her
walking around, but couldn't see her at all.
"Ginny, you look lovely," he joked. He felt something punch him in
the arm, from which he recoiled. "Ow!"
Mr. Bellizas laughed. "So, you like it,
Miss Weasley?"
"Yup," Ginny's disembodied voice answered. "Harry, please pay
the good man for his service."
Harry laughed at Ginny's attitude and cheerfully paid Mr. Bellizas
six thousand Galleons back at the front desk for the brand new
invisibility
cloak. As Ginny pulled it back off and put it in her backpack, they
went to the
twins' joke shop to wait there for Dumbledore. (It was early on Sunday
afternoon, so business was rather slow at this point.)
Both the twins were delight to see them. Bill and Charlie were also
chatting
with them. All four Weasley men looked up
and waved.
"Hey guys," Harry said. "I just went shopping with Ginny, that's
all."
"That's all?" Fred asked incredulously. "You went
shopping with a girl and lived to tell the tale!"
"There wasn't much to shop for," Ginny said flatly.
"So Harry, what did you get her?" George asked eagerly.
"Unfortunately, I can't say, because it's an early birthday present for
her, and because if I tell you what it is, it will be harder for your
adorable
sister to get even with you for all the teasing you put her through all
these
years."
"We're shaking," Charlie said sarcastically.
Just then, Ginny wrapped her hands around Harry and kissed him on the
cheek.
Ignoring the catcalls from her brothers, she said, "In retrospect,
Harry,
it's a good thing you're not one of my actual brothers, because then
our
relationship might be considered a little, I dunno,
incestuous?"
Harry blushed a little and said, "Whatever you say, ickle
Ginnykins." She punched him in the arm
again,
but he laughed and wrapped her up in an enormous hug and said, "You're
cute when you're angry."
She gaped at him before bursting into laughter while the four other Weasleys exchanged looks. "Cute when she's
angry?" Bill questioned. "I think not, Harry. More like 'scary,' at
best."
"God help us if your kids inherit either of your tempers," Fred
commented.
"Speaking of which, when will you make us uncles?" George inquired.
Both Harry and Ginny shot the twins withering glares that made them
squirm.
"I'm just getting used to having someone in my life love me
unconditionally," he said to the troublemakers. "I'm not exactly up
to parenthood yet, don't you agree?"
"That reminds me, Harry," Bill added, "I was here with Fred and
George on Valentine's Day when Mum happened to come in. She was so
happy you
two were together, she nearly cleaned this
place out
of fireworks. She must have been really ecstatic,
despite the fact she caught the two of you kissing each other on your
desk in a
comprising position."
Harry's face went beet red and looked away while the twins made
immature sounds
and Charlie guffawed. "By the way, Bill, Ron already warned me about
dating Ginny, so you don't have to worry about me doing anything to
harm
her," Harry added.
"Good," Bill nodded appreciatively.
"Yeah, because that would make the great Prongs our father-in-law- " started George.
"-and so when Ginny bears Prongs' grandchildren, we can corrupt them
and
mold them into perfect little pranksters!" finished Fred.
The two of them finally went too far with their teasing. After
exchanging
glances, Harry and Ginny became lion and tiger respectively while and
chased
the terrible two around while Bill and Charlie laughed themselves sick.
Ginny
pinned George to the floor and rubbed his face into the carpeting while
Harry
chased Fred towards a stack of shelves, which the poor co-owner
scrambled up
hastily with the lion right on his heels.
"My, my, such a jungle in here," came an amused voice. Dumbledore was
watching the scene with the classic twinkle in his eye. All activity
stopped as
he walked forward, and the two young Animagi
resumed
their normal forms.
"Well, Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, we really
must
be going. But first, I would like to purchase some Skiving Snackboxes,
should I ever need to escape from a staff meeting." After the laughing,
the joking, and the buying, Dumbledore left with his students.
~*~*~*~
Back in Dumbledore's office, Harry remembered something. "Er, Professor, I was wondering. Remember the
part of the
prophecy about 'the Power the Dark Lord knows not,' and you said it was
love?"
A little confused by the sudden change in subject, Dumbledore said,
"Yes,
please go on, Harry."
"Well, I was wondering if there was some way Ginny could help me out. I
don't know, some sort of bond or something."
"You told Ginny about the prophecy?"
"Yeah, I did."
"By the way, what's this about a nightmare last night?"
Harry sighed. Organizing his mental sphere, he allowed Dumbledore to
gaze into
his thoughts using Legilimency. Dumbledore
looked sad
at the end of it. "That was indeed a horrible nightmare, Harry."
"Yeah, I know. So, do you have any ideas?"
"Well, most such spells that can be performed by wands, such as the
spell
your mother used to protect you in her sacrifice, are not very helpful
in this
instance. I know of a Potion, which is very complex, and beyond
N.E.W.T. level,
which can allow two people who love each other to communicate mentally
and, in
a sense, share magic. They become partners by using it."
"Is it a Love Potion?"
"Not exactly, not in the sense that makes a person fall in love with
another person. No, the drinker must already be in love with the other
person
who will be drinking it with them."
"What do you mean, share magic?"
"One partner can, in a sense, 'lend' magical energy for the other to
borrow, which is often given back within an hour."
"I think I have an entry on that in one of those Potion books I
bought."
"I was wondering," Ginny piped up, "What do you mean exactly by,
'sharing thoughts'?"
Dumbledore explained, "You can only 'broadcast' thoughts than can be
shared. It's not as though you'll see every moment of each other's
lives. You
can even send what you're seeing, and the images will appear briefly as
though
they are your own memories."
"Ah, OK, I understand now," Ginny responded.
"There are other things that you should know about it, if you are
willing
to try it. I believe it requires a few drops of blood from each
partner."
Both of them winced at this, but Dumbledore added, "We should consult
Professor Snape about this." As Dumbledore
threw
some Floo powder into the fireplace, both
of them
exchanged worried glances. They may be able to trust Snape
a little more these days, but letting him know
about
their love life was a little, well, disconcerting.
"Severus?" Dumbledore called into the
fireplace.
Snape's head appeared. "Yes,
Headmaster?"
"We have a question to ask you. We're coming through right
now." Dumbledore went into the fireplace, and Harry and Ginny followed
suit. 'Why should I even be doing this when I can go around as a
phoenix?'
Harry thought to himself.
In Snape's office, Dumbledore outlined
their plan
while Harry and Ginny waited nervously. Snape
pulled
an ancient-looking book off his shelf and found what he was looking for.
"Ah, yes, a Telamoric Potion," Snape drawled. (7)
"Takes a week to prepare, very complex with several stages, and right
at
the very end, each partner donates a few droops of his or her blood to
the
other partner's dose."
"Do you think it would work, Severus?"
Dumbledore asked.
"Quite possibly so."
"Wait," Harry said. "Professor Snape,
you know about the prophecy too?"
Snape looked up from the book. "Yes I did,
Mister Potter, and as chilling as it was, I think this might actually
work.
However, this should be kept secret like the prophecy itself."
"I agree," Dumbledore added. "I could use the Fidelius
Charm, just in case."
"The Fidelius Charm?"
Harry asked. "How?"
"To hide, not just the location of the potion taking place, but
also its progress and existence and such," Dumbledore explained.
"Ah, I get it now."
"One other thing," Snape said, putting the
book back in its proper place on the shelf, "Since you and Miss Weasley are drinking it, your help is required,
also with
preparing it before the final stages."
Harry and Ginny looked at each other, and they nodded in agreement.
"Excellent," Dumbledore said. "Good day." With that, he
went back through the fireplace. As Ginny went out through the door,
Harry
looked at Snape, with his latest nightmare
in mind,
and thought, 'This should help make things work. I can't let that
happen.'
'Indeed, Potter,' Snape's voice said in
his head,
'That is one terrible nightmare.'
Harry took a step back, feeling dazed. "What- How did you...?"
"Relax, Potter," Snape said calmly. "Legilimens can communicate that way."
"Oh. Why didn't I know that before now?"
Suddenly, Snape's eyes narrowed
suspiciously.
"It took me two to three years to became an
expert Legilimens, Potter. You shouldn't
even be
capable of that just yet."
Harry felt stunned. "I have no idea, sir. I just practiced nonstop,
that's
all."
Snape pondered this for a while. Finally,
he said,
"This is indeed a useful skill, Potter. Tell no one about this."
"Of course not sir. 'Bye."
"I'll see you tomorrow morning in Potions, Potter."
In the halls, Harry found Blaise and Cho chatting amiably. (8)
He told them about this family tree he had found, and Blaise
looked stunned at first by the news, and then delighted. Cho
looked shocked, but she promised that she would research her own tree
more
carefully, and then tell Harry what the results were when they came out.
After Blaise left to go to a prefect
meeting, Cho whispered in Harry's ear, "I
think I saw that
event in my dreams too."
"You really ought to tell Dumbledore, you know."
"You know what, I think I will. 'Bye, Harry."
"'Bye, Cho."
As Cho disappeared around a corner, Luna
came running
up to him.
"Harry, guess what? We finally found a Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"
(End of Chapter 28.)
A/N: I hope this chapter was okay.
(1) Think of the desolation in "The Matrix;" that ought to give you a pretty accurate picture of how bad the desolation is.
(2) Before any of you think any more dirty thoughts, let me clear this up right now; all they are doing is kissing and hugging. No foreplay or even, dare I say it, sex, until they've both graduated.
(3) IMPORTANT!!! I had to make some changes, and that included not making Lavender Brown the traitor from Gryffindor. Don't worry, this won't screw up the story.
(4) Cute, don't you think?
By the way, for all of those of you who liked Harry's pets, sorry that his phoenix and Runespoor fell by the wayside for a while!
(5) This refers to my short story, "Career Advice," which so many people love.
(6) I'll get more in-depth into this flashback later.
(7) "Tele" meaning far or across great distances, and amour meaning love (duh).
(8) No, there is no romantic
relationship between Cho and Blaise,
although the thought did occur to me.