I hope everyone enjoys the chapter. Please don't kill me.
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Chapter Fourteen: Tragedy at the Ministry
The first Monday of November started out very much like every Monday did. After finishing breakfast, Ron and Luna would head towards Flitwick's classroom, and Harry and Hermione would take the long, dreaded road down to the dungeons... and the Potions class.
They arrived to find several pieces of what looked like grass spread out on each of the desks. Each desk had a large silver caldron set up on it over an eternally burning, waterproof flame.
Harry and Hermione took seats together near the back of the class. Before Harry could reach out to touch any of the grass, the door banged open again to reveal Snape. "This morning, class, you will be brewing what will easily be the most difficult and tedious potion you will ever have the pleasure of creating. The Headmaster seems to think that you are all up to the task, but I have taken several precautions to ensure that no potion is done improperly. You will find directions..." he paused, and then leveled his wand at the blackboard. "Here. Given that this potion takes one full lunar cycle to prepare, I suggest you begin immediately. Do not waste any of the plant in front of you - it is worth more than many of your insignificant hides."
His eyes were trained on Harry as he finished, but Harry firmly kept his eyes on the board so as not to meet the sneer. "Phoylasid..." Hermione breathed, picking up one of the blades of what Harry had assumed was grass. "This really is rare," she whispered, looking back to the boards again.
"Let's get started, then," he suggested wearily, pulling out his kit to find his knife. The grass had to be cut to exact lengths before any liquid was to be added to the cauldron - though he wasn't sure how it would be able to tell, he knew it best to follow the directions carefully.
The two worked in seamless silence for half of the class, until Harry made the mistake of looking up just as Snape looked over to him. He caught his Professor's eye for a moment, and suddenly found that he could not look away. Snape was pushing against his mind, searching for something, something he wanted desperately.
Unable to move, he fronted everything he could remember about Rozan's lessons, trying as hard as he could to block the professor from entering his mind like he had so many times last year. It was only with Hermione's touch on his arm that let him break the hold and look away.
"Everything alright, Harry?" she whispered as she started stirring the potion.
"Snape was just trying to do what he accused me of earlier," he whispered, picking up the vial of boomslang juice and three hairs of a pegasus to add after Hermione finished five complete rotations of stirring. From there, it was only a matter of stirring for ten minutes and letting it sit for four days before the next steps could be taken.
"He didn't!" Hermione said in a loud hiss.
"Miss Granger, that will be five points from Gryffindor," Snape said in a cold voice. "I suggest, Potter, that you learn to control your little girlfriend, before she costs you even more."
"Don't, Harry," she said quickly, grabbing at his arm before he could even look up. He wrenched himself free and stood up in his chair to face Snape anyway.
"With all due respect, sir, I always thought that controlling people was against the law. One of the Unforgivable Curses, isn't it?" he said dryly. He was instantly aware of a complete lack of movement in the class, and he looked to Hermione quickly to remind her to keep stirring. She kept her eyes on him, but began again anyway.
"You must have misunderstood, Potter," Snape said as he stood from his desk and took several steps towards the back of the room. "I would never imply that such a famous celebrity wizard as yourself would ever resort to such methods. Of course, you would probably figure out a way to get away with that, too, wouldn't you?"
"Let's pray you never have to find out, sir," Harry said, matching the frost in Snape's voice almost perfectly. As soon as his words died down, he felt a sudden flare of pain in his forehead. It was a pain that he had almost gotten used to not feeling, but he knew what it meant. His scar burning only ever meant one thing. As his eyes locked with Snape's once more, he glared at the Professor. "Sir, I believe I need to see the Headmaster," he said as slowly and as steadily as he could. "It involves something that you understand."
Snape matched his glare for a moment before a flicker of understanding passed before his eyes. "Not as reckless as before, Potter?" Snape asked coldly, turning his back on the class. "Not going to `play-the-hero' again?"
Harry closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath. He knew that he couldn't afford to yell at the professor - he doubted he would survive the detention that such an act would give him, and he needed to see the headmaster before any more time had passed. He looked to Hermione for help, and when he met her eyes, he felt an instant calm again. He had noticed it a few times recently... whenever his emotions were getting out of control, a single glance from her seemed to reel them in again. He would have to talk to her about it later.
"Indeed... sir."
"Have you and your... partner... finished today's part of the potion, then?"
Harry looked back to Hermione again, and she nodded, just having released the stirring stick. They just had to clean up, and then it would be ready to sit for four days before the next part of the process was to begin.
"Yes."
"Then get out of my sight, Potter. You too, Granger. And ten points from Gryffindor each for disturbing the class."
As soon as they were out of the classroom, Harry reached for Hermione's hand and held it tightly. She looked to him in surprise, and found that he was practically shaking. "What's wrong?" she asked quietly. The look in his emerald eyes told her all she needed to know.
No further words were spoken between the two of them as they released each other's hands and made their way quickly through the corridors to reach the Headmaster's office. Stopping before the stone gargoyle, Harry was just about to open his mouth to start guessing at passwords when it rolled aside to reveal the spiraled staircase.
"Fawkes told me you were coming, Harry," Dumbledore said softly from behind the desk as they pushed open the wooden door at the top of the stairs. "And Professor Snape also spoke to me moments ago about an outburst in class..." As the two sat down in chairs across from his, he looked to them over his half moon spectacles. "Might I assume that he is putting too much emphasis on certain points of your... conversation?"
"Sir, my scar started hurting when I was talking to Snape."
"Professor Snape, Harry."
"Right, right, whatever," Harry said quickly. "Look, I haven't felt anything from it all term, ever since Rozan came to visit during the summer. Do you have any idea what's going on?"
"I have never assumed to be able to read Voldemort's mind, Harry," Dumbledore said softly. "But I suspect if you are feeling it through all the protections that you have managed to build up over the past several months, then he is trying desperately hard to break through. The fact he is even trying surprises me, given what happened the last time he was in your mind..."
Harry couldn't help but shudder at the memory of the pain, the wish of death. He felt Hermione's hand on his arm again, trying to calm him, but even it didn't have its usual effect. "If he's trying so hard to get to me, what am I supposed to do? How can I stop him if he's determined to make the connection again?"
"You have power that Voldemort does not, nor will ever have, Harry."
"That's not true!" Harry objected. "I mean, watching you two duel made me realise that! There's no way I'll ever be able to duel like that!"
The familiar twinkle in the Headmaster's brilliant blue eyes faded a little, and he stood to look down to Harry. "You must be able to believe in your own abilities, Harry. Everyone who is given two feet, is given them for a reason." He then smiled to him and leaned against the table, looking back and forth between the two for a moment. "Is there... anything else you wish to tell me, Harry?"
"Sir, why are we making the Drought of Stability in Potions' class?" Hermione asked when it became obvious that Harry wasn't going to say anything else.
Dumbledore actually sighed as he sat back down. "Because, Hermione, I fear that we may have a need for it." He reached out with his wand and tapped a silver instrument on his desk lightly, sending it spinning very quickly on the spot. "We are in the middle of a terrible war."
Harry stood then, and Hermione stood right next to him quickly. There was a lot more that she wanted to ask the Headmaster about, but obviously Harry wanted to leave, and she wasn't about to leave him alone right after Voldemort tried to attack him again.
"I suggest that you forgo Charms today," Dumbledore said softly. "In fact, Dobby would be delighted to serve you lunch early, I'm sure..."
It was another silent meal, interrupted only by Dobby's persistence in trying to offer them more food or drink. With a brief glance to each other just outside the Great Hall, they both walked in as the other students started to arrive for lunch. Even if they had already eaten, explaining to everyone where they were was not on either of their top ten lists of things to do.
"Hey, Potter and his little girlfriend finally decide to return!" Malfoy's call greeted them as they entered. "Skipping class to find a broom cupboard, were you?"
No one was quite sure where it came from, which is probably why there was no punishment handed down, but suddenly Malfoy was struck in the chest by several different spells all at once, which ended up being a mix of the tickling charm, the jelly legs curse, and the itching spells counter-curse which - when used as an attack and not a counter - was actually worse than the original curse. Simple, weak spells that Harry had gone over in the DA when it was just starting up again.
That was probably the only reason that Harry didn't try to curse him on his own - his friends had beaten him to it. His real friends. Members of the DA that he trusted. When the two sat down next to Ron, he was already stuffing his face, but looked up right away. "Wha's up?" he asked through his mouthful.
"I had Potions this morning... you have to ask?" Harry muttered as he sat down heavily.
"Julia Carmicheal is saying that you accused Snape of suggesting you use the Imperius Curse on Hermione," Luna said dreamily as she came up to join them at the Gryffindor table. She rested a hand on Ron's shoulder, and then sat down next to him.
The reason she rested the hand on his shoulder was he had suddenly started coughing violently as though trying to keep from choking. "You didn't?" Ron demanded, a large smile on his face. "I bet that didn't go over too well, did it?"
As Harry groaned and set his head down on the table, Hermione leaned around him and poked Luna in the shoulder. She quickly looked from Hermione to Harry, and then back to Ron again. "Ronald... would you be willing to walk me over to my common rooms? I appear to have left my books there."
"Uh..." Ron said, hastily shovelling a few more mouthfuls of pie into his mouth. "Sure thing, Luna." He pushed his mostly finished, completely demolished piece of peach crumble pie away from him and stood up. He clapped Harry on the back and then turned to Luna again. Hermione mouthed a silent thank you to Luna, who simply nodded and walked away with Ron.
"Harry..." Hermione said softly from beside him, making him look up to her from the table. "Would you mind doing something for me?"
"What, `Mione?" he asked. He sounded very tired and listless suddenly, almost as much as he had at the end of last year, after everything had been said and done.
"Are you hungry right now?"
"Are you kidding?"
"Fine, fine, poor question, I know you're never hungry after getting a vision or anything like that. And we did just eat some anyway, though I noticed that you didn't eat very much," she said quickly, but stopped when she realised she was rambling. "Look, could you try to do your mind exercises again?"
"'Mione, it's already over," Harry said. "I mean, if he's trying everything he can to break through, how am I supposed to be able to fight that?"
"Could you just try?"
"What do you think I've been doing?" he asked in a whisper. "I'm not just going to let him in again... not after what happened the last time. Look at what I did, look at how easily he fooled me, and made me lead Sirius to his death!"
"I'm not attacking you, Harry, please remember that..."
Harry sighed and turned so he was looking at the table again. "I know, `Mione, I know. I'm sorry. I just... don't know if I can do this or not. I can't go through fighting with him again. It hurt so badly the last time... I remember begging to die..."
Although shocked by the news, Hermione knew it wasn't the time to talk to him about it. There would be plenty of time later when he was feeling better. She sat there with a hand on his back, rubbing in soft circles for several minutes until she leaned in closer to him. "Look, I'll talk to Talisien after class, to see what he suggests. Surely the elves know something that could help too... sound good?"
Harry only nodded from his position at the table. He didn't even look up when Ginny sat right next to him, and Dean, Neville, and Colin sat across from him. "I don't really want to put stock into what Malfoy's saying, but is it true?" Ginny asked quietly, looking from both Harry to Hermione and back again.
"What part?" Harry groaned.
"Well, it's not hard to imagine you telling Snape off... if he said you weren't, it would be obvious he was lying, right mate?" Dean asked with a grin as he poured himself a goblet of pumpkin juice, and pouring several more for the others, passing them out as he went. The one he set in front of Harry was not acknowledged, but the other ones were.
"No, the part about you two skipping charms to go snogging in some empty classroom," Colin said softly. "And before you ask if I'm prying again, Harry, I'm really not, I just wanted to warn you what was being said."
"Why would you possibly believe we were doing that?" Hermione asked almost instantly.
"You two are going out, aren't you?" Ginny asked in an almost sour tone.
Hermione stole a quick glance down to Harry, as well as making sure subtly that her bracelet wasn't showing, and then shook her head. "No, I'm just worried about him. Ginny, that... thing... that happened last year happened again in Potions."
"You aren't dating, then?"
"What thing?" Dean and Colin asked at the same time as Ginny spoke.
"You've seen it too, Dean... last year, when he'd wake up, remember?" Hermione asked quietly, ignoring Ginny's question. She didn't really want to lie to her friend, but she didn't think Harry would want the news spread around anyway... even if they did seem to be making it rather obvious on occasion if Ginny was asking. She'd have to have a talk with her friend before too long about why she was trying to help Harry - she knew she could make something up that would put the younger girl at ease.
"His scar again, then?" Dean asked in a hushed voice, leaning in close with Colin. "I thought that was all sorted out after... whatever it was happened, happened, right?"
"You don't have to talk about it like I'm not here..." Harry said in a cold voice. As he spoke, the goblet of pumpkin juice in front of him started shaking, and then spilled forward, away from him and into a plate of meat. "I'm sitting right here!" he said angrily.
"We know that, Harry," Hermione said quickly. "And we weren't trying to bother you, but we're your friends. We're just trying to help, and they can't help if they don't know what's going on, can they?"
"I don't want to talk about this right now," Harry said coolly after a moment of silence. He shook off Hermione's hand on his back and got up quickly, slinging his bag over his shoulder and stalking off towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom.
"That's a new record, I reckon," Dean said almost happily, sitting back again and looking to each of them in turn as he swirled the remains of his juice arond in his goblet before downing it in a single gulp. "I mean, he lasted more than two months before losing it at one of us... a new record for him, right? A even that wasn't as bad as it could've been..."
"He's been through rough times, Dean!" Ginny said harshly. "It's not surprising he's got a temper!"
"I know," Dean said. "I know. And I wasn't complaining, was I? I thought I was joking about it... besides, Harry's Harry. If he didn't let lose at one of us sooner or later, he'd probably do worse to Snape in the next class, right?"
Hermione stood from the table slowly and looked to the exit of the Great Hall. "Look, I don't think he should be alone right now. If he gets attacked again by Voldemort - oh honestly, grow up - then he's going to need someone nearby to help him." They had all jumped when she said the name of the dark wizard.
"Right," Colin said, standing. "I'll get the others."
"I'll go to him now," Ginny suggested.
"I want to go, too," Hermione admitted. At Ginny's odd look, she shrugged. "I've seen it happen a few times, remember? I'm not about to let him suffer alone."
Wordlessly, the two made their way to the classroom, and found Harry sitting inside already. Ron and Luna were also there, as was Talisien, who appeared to be explaining something to both Ron and Luna about a counter curse to a complex curse they had spoken about briefly in the last class.
Behind Hermione and Ginny came the rest of the class, with Colin and Dean in the lead. They all looked to Hermione, and then to Harry, and nodded briefly to her before taking their usual positions in the class.
Hermione stood close to Harry tentatively for a moment before he looked to her, a pained expression on his face. Under the pretense of doing up the side of his bag, she leaned in close and whispered into his ear. "I'm really sorry, Harry..."
He caught her hand as she withdrew and gave it a gentle squeeze, but said nothing in response as he released it again just as quickly.
"Excellent, you are all here a little early..." Talisien said suddenly, looking to the class of fourteen, his eyes resting a moment longer on Harry's dejected form. "In that case, we are going to start today with a group lesson, focusing on a shielding spell. These magics are quite a bite more advanced than many of you will be used to, and is used to deflect Dark Magic."
"Can you show us first, Talisien?" Lavender asked quietly from her side with Dean and Hannah nodding beside her. Talisien smiled to them and nodded.
"I should have expected you three to be the most interested in this, as it is a protection spell. I'm sure at least one, if not more of you have read about this spell already, but..." he trailed off as he held up his hands. With a mild flash of light, a large silver shield appeared before him. It looked like a cross between a mirror and a window, as it was see through, but also reflected the image back at them.
When he lowered his hands, he looked over to Lavender again. "This is one of the single most powerful shield spells you will find, but you must do it properly. If done wrong, then rather than reflecting the Dark Magic, it will absorb it, taking the spell into your body. This does not mean the spell will strike you... trust in the fact that you would prefer to be hit with it before absorbing it, and I will tell you no more. This shield cannot reflect one spell, but I hardly need to tell anyone here what that is, do I?"
"The Killing Curse, sir," Cho said immediately.
"Good, ten points to Ravenclaw." Talisien then vanished and reappeared at the back of the room. "The incantation for this spell... who knows it?"
Harry kept his hand down, despite the fact that he had come across the spell over the summer. It was on the plans to be practiced in the DA in January... he would have to redesign those lessons to take into account that some of them already knew it.
"Scutulatus contego," Hermione offered after a moment of silence. "It involves a twisted wand movement, much like a corkscrew, I suppose." At the odd looks she received from many of the students who had not grown up with muggle tools, she sighed. "Like a top moving forward," she said.
"Have you ever cast the spell?" Talisien asked.
"Not yet," she admitted.
"Then try it now, so we can see."
Hermione closed her eyes to the fact that everyone was watching her this time. She never minded being the first to successfully cast a spell... but it was an entirely different matter when the class just expected it to be perfect because of who she was.
Lifting her wand, she drove it forward in front of her slowly. "Scutulatus contego," she said in a commanding voice. An instant later, the shimmering shield appeared before her, but it seemed to be impossible to see through, unlike the shield Talisien had summoned earlier.
"You must be more progressive, Hermione," Talisien said kindly. "Still, to get that much on your first attempt... ten points to Gryffindor. Twenty points to the first person who conjures it properly."
As the room started to echoed with cries of "scutulatus contego," as well as the occasional "scutulas contega," which resulted in a funny looking green blob forming before the wizard or witch who mispronounced the spell, Harry's wand fell to the ground silently as he balked forward to one knee and pressed a hand against his forehead.
His scream a couple of minutes later did not go so unnoticed.
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The Atrium in the Ministry of Magic. He knew that was where he was standing. Wizards and witches of all kinds were
running all around him, screaming and pointing their wands at him.
He laughed coldly as he let lose a barrage of green curses, dropping enemies like flies. He walked forward deliberately slowly, and stopped in front of the wizard cowering behind the desk.
"Aren't you going to ask to register my wand, Eric?" he sneered in a cold, high voice that was not his own. When no answer came immediately, his shoulders shrugged and then his wand was pointing at the wizard. "Avada Kedavra!"
The scream of energy had not even begun to fade by the time he entered the lift. He stopped at each floor he came to, sending out a wave of fire at each stop, until he arrived at the top floor.
"Reducio!" The door in front of him crumble to dust as the spell struck it, and he was met by six Aurors on the other side. "Do you really think to stand before me now?" Waving his wand like a whip, three of the Aurors were flung through the air, crashing hard into the walls before coming to a stop. With the next wave, the last three standing were wrapped with what appeared to be ropes of flame. He gave a hard pull on his wand, and those standing in his way managed to get off one last scream before burning to ash.
As he blasted aside the door at the end of the hall, he found the wizard he had been looking for, still wearing his lime green bowler hat, and clutching at his wand desperately, pointing it at him. "Please... no... I'll give you anything you want! Just don't kill me! Please!"
He shook his head slowly, a cold, cruel laugh emenating from his lips. "As thankful as I am, Minister Fudge, at your inability to react to any situation and how greatly you eased my return to power, I have a need to kill you. I'm sure you understand... I will do you the favour of letting you live a few minutes longer than your Aurors, though..."
"Avada Kedavra!" Fudge yelled wildly. He simply stepped to the side and let the doorframe burst into flames at the power of the spell before responding with a spell of his own.
"Crucio!" Fudge's wand rolled to the ground as he screamed at the pain that shot through him like a thousand hot knives digging into the skin. When the spell was finally lifted, he was left quivering on the floor. "There... I allowed you to live longer. Now I must end it." The scream of energy that followed struck Fudge square in the chest, and the Minister's head struck the ground hard behind him as his body went limp.
He then turned and held up his wand to the doorway, sealing it with a thick red barrier. "You see, Potter? Nothing can stop me now. Even though they were prepared, they could not stand in my way..." the voice sneered in the empty office. "Nothing... even Dumbledore will not stand before me again."
"I would like to give you a sporting chance, but that's really not my style... but I know something that is. I do hope you enjoyed your Christmas last year, Potter. This year will be much, much worse. Remember to say goodbye to your friends before they leave you. You will not see them again."
"Then, in the new year, I intend to come for you."
The pain was building quickly in his head, and he was forced to close his eyes and concentrate on maintaining the link.
If he was in pain, he knew that Potter must be as well. The longer he could hold out, the worse off the boy would be in
the end.
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"Stand aside, Hermione!" Talisien ordered, appearing instantly next to Harry. When Hermione did not move
right away, and several of the other students actually took a couple of steps closer, he looked back to them all.
"Get away, now!"
He waved a hand towards them, flipping them all to their backs as he caught Harry and pushed him to the ground, forcing him to his back as well. When Hermione started forward again to try and help, he looked to her harshly and pushed in the air with his free hand again. She was sent reeling, and was pressed up against the wall. When she tried to get up to return, she found the spell had not yet worn off, and she was stuck against the stone masonry.
Talisien had one hand above Harry's face at this point, and was muttering quickly and frantically under his breath. An odd glow was starting to surround him when he suddenly cursed in a language that none of them recognized and pulled his hand away as though it had been burned.
The silver dagger that he had shown them on the first day of class appeared in his left hand suddenly. "You will not take him, Dark Lord!" he said fiercely, kneeling over him again quickly and returning his right hand to above Harry's face once more. When Harry cried out in pain again and started convulsing, Talisien's voice got louder as he continued the spell. "Silit hur merodan atani leif jilark. Le wer vekod kare xiter shiecital!" The dagger flashed brightly as he drew it higher into the air.
"No! Stop!" Hermione screamed from the other side of the room.
"You'll kill him!" several other voices echoed.
"Can't you save him some other way?" Ron demanded angrily, pushing himself off the ground and taking a single step towards the elf hovering over his fallen friend.
Talisien looked back to them, and his brown eyes rested on Hermione. "This is the only way to help him. I'm sorry," he said softly. "Be gone, Voldemort!"
As the blade shot down, several screams sounded, and then Hermione knew no more as her mind brought her into blissful unconsciousness rather than face the horrible truth.
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Well, that would be it for this chapter. Thanks to everyone who left reviews, I try to reply to them all! The next
chapter is quite a bit longer than the other chapters I've put up, and includes a lot of things going on. With any
luck, it will be up on Friday.
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Until the sun sets upon a broken world...
The Shadows
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