Harry Potter and the Galator Chapter 28
Which Wizard is Which
The surprise was great. The other five were training harder than ever the next night. Everyone finished their studies faster and the prefects Harry, Hermione, and Ginny finished their duties faster as well. Harry felt good inside for having something to do with his friends' boost in confidence and determination. Even Ron hadn't complained a bit during study session. He and Lavender had spent time alone and Harry no longer felt the guilt or worry every time they spent a night of passion. Merlin must have helped them out with their problem.
The days seemed to pass by faster and the day came when they had to put their plan into action. All of their exams were done and all of them were confident that they did well on their DADA exam, but only a little worried about their Potions exam. Although Hermione was positive she did well on all her exams, the others could not be as confident as she was. They had more important things to think about. The time had come to put their new skills to work.
The Saturday started as well as expected. They had their last Hogsmeade trip before they left for home the following week. Everyone who was going to Hogsmeade lined up and had Filch check them off the list. The six friends waited up in the common room to make sure the coast was clear before they started their trek to the forbidden forest. Although Ginny and Malfoy had a bit of an argument for not being able to meet up at Hogsmeade, Malfoy gave in since Ginny reminded him that no one knew they'd been dating.
"We can't go around and walk about in public anyway," she reminded him.
"But, I was going to sneak away and meet you at our usual spot," Draco whined.
"Well, Hermione asked me to do some things for her anyway. I didn't think you'd mind since we might be seen." The secrecy of their relationship was presenting a strain that both had not imagined could happen. They knew they loved each other, but they were too worried about what their family will think.
"If you ask me, I think we should stop keeping our relationship a secret. What do you say?"
"I'd love to not keep our relationship a secret, but I think we should tell our families first. That way if they don't approve, then we'd have to continue in secrecy."
"Deal. I will tell my parents as soon as I get home for the holidays."
"Me too."
"I'll miss you, you know."
"I'll miss you too, Draco."
They kissed and lingered in each other's arms for a moment longer before they had to part for the day.
"I'll see you later then."
"Definitely. I love you, Draco."
"I love you too, Ginny."
She walked away and hoped that nothing would happen to her today. She had fate in Harry; she knew he wouldn't really let anything happen to her or any of the others for that matter. She knew that he was just letting them come along because they would go anyway and it would be better if he knew where they were. His plan sounded foolproof.
They start walking towards the Forbidden Forest in pairs so as not to look too suspicious. Harry went with Hermione; Lavender with Ron and Ginny went with Neville. Ginny left him near the opening of the forbidden forest and walked further inside to go to her position.
Ron dropped Lavender off at her assigned position and continued a few feet away to his designated place. He could see her on his right side from where he was standing and Ginny was to his left. He looked over and she gave him thumbs up. Neville they couldn't see, but they knew he was far safer than they were. Ron returned thumbs up sign and all three readied their wands.
Harry walked Hermione to her spot and walked slowly to the place he was supposed to wait for the impostor. He gave Hermione a kiss and told her he loved her and walked away.
At the meeting spot, he stood and concentrated to make sure his empath powers were tuned to them and to anything that may have evil intent. He felt how anxious his friends were and decided to concentrate to cast the shielding bubble spell for all of them. When he was certain they were well protected, he started scanning for other presence. He felt the impostor before he even saw him and felt other people just beyond the bushes behind him. He put on his poker face and smiled.
"Harry!" the impostor called out.
"Sirius!" he answered and returned the hug the stranger gave him. He felt his anxiousness, but saw that his face didn't give anything a way. He wanted to wait a full hour to see if somehow this man took polyjuice potion, but he knew from last time that he spend over an hour with him and he didn't change back to his normal self, nor did he take in any type of drink.
"I've been worried about you. I hadn't been able to come see in a while."
"I've been doing great. I had a lot of things to keep me busy being a prefect and a quidditch co-captain and all."
"That's great. I'd been tracking the traitor since we last met. But I hadn't been successful in apprehending the culprit or to find enough solid evidence to bring to the ministry." Too bad my friend Harry thought, you slipped. Sirius would never bring anything to the ministry. He would bring any type of evidence to Dumbledore first.
"Sirius, I didn't think you would go near the ministry seeing as they are still after you as an escaped convict, remember?" Harry felt a slight panic from the stranger, but he was great at masking it.
"Well, I figured since Arthur was acting ministry, that I could go to him without question." Good save, Harry thought.
"You're right," he gave in. "So, I was wondering if we can visit with each other this summer?"
"I wish, Harry. But no one is supposed to know I'm alive, remember?"
"Oh, right. Sorry. I was thinking I might talk to you about something. Remember the Galator?" The stranger got really excited and Harry felt another person nearby was just as excited. Then he scanned to make sure his friends were okay, and felt a presence near Ginny. He didn't feel her panic, instead she felt relieved and safe. Damn, he thought. Malfoy had a way of messing up his well-laid plan. He had to quickly cast the shielding bubble around him without arousing the stranger's suspicion. He pretended to cough.
"Are you okay Harry?"
"Yes, sorry."
"What did you want to tell me about the Galator?"
"Well, that I have it."
"You do? Do you have it with you?" Careful, don't want to show too much excitement you jerk, Harry thought.
"As a matter of fact, I do. I thought since this might be our last meeting for a while, I thought I'd bring it and show it to you."
As Harry was about to take out the galator from under his shirt, another Sirius stumbled into the clearing.
"No Harry!" yelled the other Sirius.
"What the hell?" Harry was confused. He wasn't feeling any type of evil intent from this person. He looked the worse for wear. His robes were tattered and his hair was stringy and dirty. His face was also covered with dirt. Great Merlin! Could this really be Sirius? He thought.
"Don't listen to him!" screamed the first stranger. "He's an impostor!"
"Both of you can just stay where you are!" screamed Harry. His plans did not include two Sirius. "You can both answer questions that only the real Sirius would know!"
"Fine," said the first one.
"Agreed," said the second one. Both felt confident that they would answer any questions Harry put to them correctly. Harry didn't like the feel of their confidence. He wanted Hermione nearby to conduct the question and answer, but he knew he had to do it all by himself. He knew they were only there to watch his back, he couldn't fail them and he could not afford to lose his concentration.
"Okay, why was Sirius imprisoned in Azkaban?"
"Because I was framed for killing a street full of muggles and wizards," answered the first one.
"Peter Petigrew actually blew up the people on the street where we confronted each other so that he could kill two birds with one stone so to speak. He staged his own death so that he could serve the dark Lord freely and at the same time imprison me, his so called best friend."
No one else would have known that except for Sirius, he thought. But he was from convinced.
"Okay, next question."
"What kind I discover last summer?"
"You discovered the galator," the first one answered. It was true, but Harry was looking for what he had told him in the letter. He'd never written that he'd discovered the galator during the summer. He just told him about it right before the second Sirius showed up.
"You discovered a new power that I'd rather not say because this impostor may be evil and dangerous as you well know," the second answered. Harry thought that was a good save, but he felt as if he was just guessing. He felt he wasn't sure and just blurted out his answer hoping he was right.
"Okay, here's another question. How did you escape from the ministry when you were detained at Hogwarts awaiting the Dementor's kiss."
The first look alike was dumbfounded. He didn't know and neither did the second Sirius. Harry's hope fell. He was almost certain the second one was the real Sirius. But before he could draw his wand the other person hiding behind the bushes came out.
"I've had just about enough of this," shouted the shadow behind the bushes. Harry gasped at the presence of Bellatrix Lestrange. She pointed her wand at Harry. "CRUCIO!"
"No!" screamed Hermione running out of her hiding place. She jumped in front of Harry and took the brunt of the curse. She was thrown and hit a tree nearby. She fell on the ground writhing from pain. Harry felt everything she felt.
"Leave her alone! I have the stupid galator!" Bellatrix smile and took off the curse. But before she let her guard down Ron, Lavender, Ginny, Neville and Malfoy ran to his side. "Ginny, go check on Hermione, please."
"Well, well. It seems you brought a little help with you. I guess you figured out that Chris here wasn't really Sirius, eh. You could change back now, sweetie." The first Sirius changed back to his normal form. He looked a bit like Bellatrix, but tall, with stonier features. He had dark hair and blue eyes and almost looked a bit like Sirius. "I guess I should introduce you. This is my son, Chris. He's a metamorphagus if you're wondering." The six gasped in response. The big mystery was solved for one of them. The other Sirius stood by Harry, but Harry could feel the fear in him. Sirius would never have felt that way, he thought.
"Like you didn't bring any help with you." Harry felt at least ten death eaters around them. He couldn't risk looking at Hermione, but he could feel that she'd passed out from the pain.
"That's very perceptive of you," hissed a voice from behind Bellatrix. "Good job my pets!"
Harry's scar hurt and he'd almost lost all his concentration from the pain. He steadied himself and blocked out the pain as Merlin had taught him. He felt his evil intent, but there was something different about his presence. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he felt as if he wasn't really there physically.
"Master, would you like for me to get the galator now?" she asked him.
"No, Bella. He will be giving it to me."
"Over my dead body!" Harry screamed.
"That can be arranged my boy." The ten death eaters appeared around them. The other five gathered around. Ginny left Hermione's side to join the others. She was ready to battle and Harry could feel that Ron, Lavender and Neville were ready as well. However, Malfoy was a little afraid and hesitant.
Malfoy spotted his father amongst the death eaters and he gasped. His father sneered and ordered him to go to him. Malfoy was torn, he touched Ginny's hand and then he knew what he had to do. He touched Harry's shoulder and saw him nod then he walked to his father's side.
"Well, well, well. I knew he would choose the wrong side," whispered Ron to Ginny angrily. "I knew we couldn't trust him" Ginny's tears fell, but her anger and humiliation were replaced with determination and hope. She saw Draco's eyes and understood what he was doing.
"Be quiet Ron," whispered Harry. "Concentrate. When I say run, all of you run in separate direction and don't forget all the stuff we practiced." He felt their agreement. They knew all they had to do was feel it and he'd know.
"So, Potter. I see I can't use your girlfriend to threaten you since she already looked like she's dead." He laughed and so did the death eaters. But Harry knew better. He still felt her pain and knew that she was feeling things even though she was unconscious.
"Then I guess you just have to take it from me personally!" He kept wondering who the sniveling creature dressed as Sirius was. Sirius would have been standing in front of him to defend him, but the person was doing nothing.
"That should be easy enough."
"RUN!" Harry yelled. The other five went into separate direction.
"HUNT THEM DOWN YOU FOOLS!" Voldemort bellowed when the Death Eaters remained where they were. At the sound of his voice, all of them dispersed. Draco hurried to find Ginny. He had to protect her.
A/N: Thanks for your wonderful reviews. Enjoy this chapter.