CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THE RESCUE BEGUN
The next few days went by quickly. An investigation into St. Mungo's was initiated to find out how the Potion of Erised had replaced Harry's potion drip. Nobody other than Lockhart had been found and since he was sent to Azkaban, his mind had broken and there wasn't anything that could be gained from interrogating him. The three friends had an idea what he was up to but could neither confirm nor deny their assumptions. After an inspection of the other patients, it was confirmed that there were no other recipients of the potion and it seemed as if someone had singled Harry Potter out. With a full apology and all fees waived due to the circumstances, Harry was discharged a few days after he had woken up with a clean bill of health.
When Harry had returned to school, he was overwhelmed by the sheer number of get well cards and packages that had been delivered to the Gryffindor tower. Madam Pomfrey had insisted on seeing him as soon as he arrived and after a thorough checkup he was released to his common room. In addition to all the well wishing and worrying, there was Quidditch practice to return to and to top it all off there were piles upon piles of homework.
"You'd think that the N.E.W.T.s were next week!" Harry lamented as he went over his backlog. "It's going to take me forever to get all this finished!"
"Don't worry, Harry, I'll be there to help you if you need it." Hermione said comfortingly. "I won't do your homework for you, but I'll be glad to lend you my notes."
Harry smiled. Hermione was always one to keep track of every word that a professor said and she seemed to have as many notes as the library had books. "That's still a lot of reading I'll have to go through." He chided his girlfriend.
"Well what do you expect?" She retorted with a giggle. "I've always been the one to take notes while you two are asleep in class."
"If I found anything in History of Magic remotely interesting even after Professor Binns droning voice going on and on the way it does, then maybe I wouldn't sleep in class!" Ron put in from across the room. He turned to Harry. "Don't worry, mate. I'll help you in astronomy and divination anytime. I've actually been able to keep my homework caught up this term."
Harry and Hermione both gasped in fake shock.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Came Ron's reply.
"Well, there's no doubt who wanted me out of the way." Harry said after a few minutes of scanning Hermione's notes. "It had to be Voldemort or a Death Eater."
Ron cringed at the name. "I wish you wouldn't say his name."
"Get over it, Ron." Hermione said with a sigh. "It's obvious that it was Voldemort or his followers." She said matter-of-factly. "He's the only one who really wants you out of the way. I just wonder why he used something that didn't kill you but brought you your deepest desire ..."
Ron cringed at the name and frowned at Hermione.
"Maybe," Harry said after a moment of thought. "Maybe Lockhart was pressured into using a memory charm when I couldn't defend myself. What if he was trying to use some sort of charm to find out what my deepest desires were? I mean, that way Voldemort would have ammunition against me at some future time ..."
Ron cringed again and sighed. "Do you think Lockhart is actually good enough to pull that off?"
Harry nodded. "He must be good otherwise there would be quite a few witches and wizards out there that remembered that it was they who did what he claimed in his books."
Hermione blushed. "I can't believe I had a crush on that git."
Harry and Ron laughed.
"Don't blame yourself." Harry said. "He was a charming fellow when he wasn't sniveling in a corner." Harry looked at the clock. "We're going to be late! We need to get to practice."
The three of them got changed for their pre-practice exercise and met up with the other team members at the pitch. Since Harry's return, they had pushed their practice through every weather condition imaginable, including running the pitch during a blizzard that was so bad the headmaster had cancelled the Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures classes earlier that day. Every night the seven team members returned to their common room in one messy state or another. Filch had blown up at them because of the muddy footprints and water dripping all over the floors. Luckily, Professor McGonagall had smoothed everything over.
Harry had tried to schedule a meeting with Professor Dumbledore to discuss the research he and Hermione had been doing but since the inquiry into the hospital, Dumbledore had been extremely busy and was rarely at the castle. The day before the Hufflepuff match, they were in Defense Against the Dark Arts when their headmaster sent them a note saying he could meet with them that afternoon.
"The astral plane is still a mystery." Professor Durkell was saying as he drew diagrams on the blackboard. "It's well known that the veil that separates our world from the astral is very thin in several places." He drew several circles around well known haunted houses on a scribbled map of England as he continued. "This is where we get some of the most dangerous reports of poltergeist and ghost activity. Some have theorized that ghosts actually live on either the ethereal or astral planes and are just astral representations of someone who has been removed from their body."
Harry gave Hermione a meaningful look and passed her a note.
Sirius is alive. He could be trapped on the astral plane. I called him to my dream world. Pass it on to Ron.
She looked at him with wide eyes before following the instructions and indicated they should talk later.
"There hasn't been any recorded event where a physical form has entered the astral plane before but it's theorized that without their lifeline to guide them back to the material world, the unfortunate adventurer could become lost. Nobody knows how big this plane is, but if it's a mirror of our universe, it's a big place." The professor continued.
Students were watching and taking notes with apt awareness, not wanting to miss a word of the lecture. The practical session would be after this and they had continued the dueling classes during first class. There was general consensus that Professor Durkell was one of the best, if not the best, professors they'd had in the class.
"I wish I hadn't missed class." Harry whispered at one point. "It sounds like everyone is doing well in the class, even Neville."
"I know." Hermione whispered back. "He's been getting a lot better. Professor Durkell treats him like Lupin did. That's a great boost to his self-confidence."
Harry nodded and looked up as the practical session was getting ready to start.
"Now, it's time to put books, quills, and even wands away. Today we're going to work on astral projection." The professor explained as he waved his wand. "On my desk you'll find that we have four boxes. There is something inside each of them. We are going to take turns looking inside each box. Twenty points will be given to the person who can correctly name everything. The only way you can find out what's there is if you are able to project yourself properly."
Everyone looked around confused but excited.
"I see that you are worried that you won't be able to project yourselves." Durkell said with a smile. "Not to worry, not to worry. You will be given the opportunity to practice and we'll be going over the steps you'll need to follow to be successful." He explained. "Now, who can tell me what the first step is?"
Hermione's and Harry's hands were up at the same time.
"Yes, Mr. Potter, glad to see you're with us again."
Harry gave a sideways glance at his girlfriend who looked a little disappointed.
"The first step is to prepare your mind through meditation." He said. "It allows you to access your inner being and makes it easier to pierce the veil between the two realities."
"Very good, Harry, five points to Gryffindor." The professor said with a satisfied smile. "Yes, you need to meditate to allow your harmonics to match that of the astral plane's. Anybody know why that is?"
Hermione's hand shot in the air. Harry had decided to sit back and let her do what she does best.
"Miss Granger?"
"Aligning one's self with the astral plane allows that person to move through the plane. If the alignment is off due to improper concentration, the astral form of the person would not be able to move around at all."
"Excellent answer, five points!" The professor smiled. "That is correct. You must concentrate in the astral plane to move. If you don't movement is impossible. If you are already in the astral plane and you lose your concentration, you run the risk of losing your way back to your body."
There were a few gasps from Parvati, Lavender and a few other students.
"It is a terrible thing to have happen. Additionally, you must be sure that your body is not moved while you are out and about. That can make it harder for you to return when you have finished your business on that plane." Professor Durkell explained. "Don't worry, there are ways to protect yourself, otherwise this wouldn't be a defense class, now would it."
The class laughed.
"Right, I'll be here to help guide you back should anything happen. There are a few powerful charms that take years of practice to work properly. ANIMADOMUS and ANIMAVENIO will allow a guardian to call an astral form back to its body and to find a lost astral form respectively. There are drawbacks, anyone care to guess?" The professor looked around the room. "Ah, Mr. Malfoy."
"If the lifeline is cut or if the physical form of the person is trapped in the astral plane then the charms won't work." Draco said from the back of the room. He had been uncharacteristically quiet since his talk with Professor McGonagall. Come to think of it, he didn't even taunt Harry during the last game.
"Very true, five points to Slytherin." Came the professor's reply. "Now, since everyone here seems to have their lifeline intact and are obviously not floating around in the astral plane, I think we are safe to try some astral projection. Everyone, if you'd please gather around up front and move your desks to the sides of the room? Yes. That's it. We'll just go in alphabetical order." He continued. "Just have a seat up front and I'll guide you through the meditation. If you don't do it the first try, that's alright, we'll work on it later in the week."
Everyone in the class took their turns in order while Professor Durkell kept track of right answers and helped them through their meditation and projections. Harry, Hermione and Malfoy were skipped because they had answered questions correctly in the class. After their last classmate had made their attempt the professor announced his findings.
"Well, it's a very good first try, I'd say. I'm sure most of you guessed what was in the boxes. Even with the guesses, it seems that Ravenclaw got the most correct. I'm going to give Ravenclaw five points for that. Gryffindor gets their points from Harry and Hermione and Slytherin's from Malfoy." The bell rang and the professor hurried to finish. "How time flies! For homework, two feet on the dangers of astral travel, one foot on each of three creatures you may find on the astral plane, and do not attempt astral projection outside of class!"
The room emptied and everyone headed to the great hall for dinner. As the mass of students made their way through the castle corridors the excitement from another successful defense class could easily be seen and heard.
"Are you sure that's where he is?" Hermione asked as soon as the three of them had entered the hall.
"I'm pretty sure he has to be there. I was able to pull him into my dream and he seemed fully aware of what was going on in the real world. Didn't Professor Durkell mention that the astral could be reached through dream magic?" Harry said.
"Yeah." Said Ron. "He said that's how we can sometimes dream about events that are happening in other parts of the world and not be there. Our astral forms travel while we sleep because of the delta waves we emit."
Hermione nodded. "When we meditate, the alpha waves allow us to control ourselves in that travel."
"I think what happened is that potion provided me with a means to guide Snuffles into my dream and we were able to interact. He can't interact with the world now, almost like he's an invisible, mute, ghost." Harry thought aloud.
The three of them walked past the great hall and continued up the white marble staircase along the path that would take them to Professor Dumbledore's office. When they reached the gargoyle, Harry took out his note again and double checked the password.
"Chocolate Lemon" He said in a clear voice and the gargoyle jumped to the side.
Ron's stomach growled. "I wish he'd use something other than names of food and candy for his passwords."
"Why don't you go get something to eat and we'll see you when we're done." Harry said with a laugh. "We know how you can't handle the end of the day without food."
Ron smiled sheepishly. "If you're sure you don't need me ..."
"Go on and eat." Hermione giggled. "Honestly!"
Ron laughed and without a second thought headed to the great hall for some dinner. "I'll bring you guys something if you don't make it back, ok?"
The couple smiled at their retreating friend and stepped on the staircase as it turned and brought them to their headmaster's office like a magical escalator. The door was closed when they reached the landing and Harry knocked quietly. At their headmaster's invitation, they opened the door and stepped inside.
"Good afternoon, Harry, Hermione." Dumbledore said with a smile and twinkling eyes. "I'm glad to see you back with us and I'm sorry you had to relive the loss of your parents, Harry."
"That's ok, Professor. I left them a note before I used the mirror of truth. I can finally get on with my life now that I've gotten to spend some time with them and got some closure. I know it was all in my head, but that's a peace of mind that I was sorely missing." Harry said.
Hermione looked at her boyfriend with concern but smiled reassuringly at him.
Harry walked over to Fawkes and stroked his head. "Hello, Fawkes. How are you doing?" The phoenix closed its eyes lazily and chirped its reply.
"So, what brings you to my office? I understand you've been trying to reach me for some time now. I apologize for not being available but with everything going on at the Ministry and St. Mungo's I've had few precious minutes to look after the school properly." The headmaster said.
Harry nodded. "That's ok, Professor, we knew you'd be able to see us sooner or later. I'm not sure if you know or not, but Hermione and I have been doing some research on the side."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows in interest. "You have?"
Harry nodded again. "We've been using the room of requirement. That's the only way we knew we could get some sort of privacy and have the means necessary to research our topic."
"What topic would that be, Harry?"
"The killing curse." Harry said cautiously.
"What? Why would you be researching that?" Dumbledore looked pointedly at him.
"Well, it was during my occlumency lessons. I found that occlumency can protect against the imperius curse and I asked if the killing curse was mind-based as well. You know, since there aren't marks on the body and such." Harry explained. "Professor Snape told me that the killing curse doesn't work that way and I didn't press the matter. I asked Hermione if she would mind researching the spell, how it worked, not how to perform it. I've seen that first hand." He finished softly.
Dumbledore smiled gently at him. "Yes, if it were so easy to deny the affects of that curse. But Severus was right, that isn't how it works."
Harry nodded. "We found out how it works, at least we have a theory."
"Really?" Dumbledore said with renewed interest. "What did you find?"
Hermione took over the discussion. "We have a theory that the person using the curse is actually using their emotions as a weapon and their astral form as the delivery mechanism. Harry had noticed that when the curse is performed, there was a whoosh of air and a green light. Abracadabra was written on pendants for healing purposes and the color green is said to be the healing color. We think the curse was derived from the healing powers of that incantation. The curse itself means 'let the thing be destroyed'. Since the curse as it is used today may be derived from the healing power of abracadabra, the green light might be something that was left over from the original incantation.
"We also found that ghosts who have died while under certain emotional distress, like Moaning Myrtle and Peeves, usually have the ability to manipulate physical objects. Water in the case of Myrtle and Peeves can manipulate everything because he is a poltergeist instead of a ghost." She continued. "With no marks on the body and what we've learned of astral projection we believe that the silver lifeline of the astral self has been severed and the force of the emotions causes the physical and astral to separate."
"Very interesting theories." Dumbledore said with a look of respect.
"Since we don't have the emotional power built up in us yet, we are unable to perform the killing curse. It goes the same way with the cruciatus curse as well. I found that out when I tried it on Lestrange and she just laughed. 'You have to mean it.' She said." Harry continued the explanation. "During our fight with Voldemort and during his rebirth ceremony in the graveyard, I noticed that physical objects were able to block the killing curse. But because the objects didn't have an astral component, they became an effective barrier to the physical manifestation of the emotions behind the curse."
"Those are some very interesting findings." Dumbledore said after a few minutes of thought. "I assume you did not practice the curse to test the theory?"
"Of course not, Professor." Harry said at once. "We haven't had the time since to see if there was a cure or a counter-curse, though. We thought we'd talk to you about it and see if there was a way to strengthen the lifeline to keep it from being cut. The only way to stop it is to throw items in front of it."
"The unforgivable curses are indeed an enigma. You two have given us some insight into the worst of the three. The imperius curse is the most subtle, however, and it's a good thing that you are able to overcome it." Dumbledore said. "I'll have some of the order look into the astral aspects. I must let you know that while I don't mind your research, I would be none too happy if you experimented with those curses."
Harry and Hermione nodded their agreement.
"We wouldn't do anything like that, Professor." Hermione reassured him.
"Oh, and I wanted to let you know about Sirius." Harry put in before they were excused.
"What is that, Harry?" Dumbledore asked with curiosity.
"I believe that the veil he fell through at the Ministry wasn't to a realm of the dead, but to the astral plane. If that's the case, there might be a chance that he can be rescued." Harry said with a smile. "It's a long shot, sir, but since his entire physical body went through the gate and his lifeline wasn't cut we might be able to get him back in one piece. I know he's around because of what he'd told me in my potion induced dream."
"Ah, the Potion of Erised. That would have been one way to bring your godfather to you. I'll see what can be done about finding a way to reach him. You two must be hungry and the feast is over. Go on down to the kitchens and get yourselves something to eat and I'll let you know what can be done." Dumbledore said with a smile.
The young couple bid their headmaster goodnight and after a delicious feast alone in the kitchens they made their way to the room of requirement for the next training session. Tomorrow was the match against Hufflepuff and the team needed to be ready.