Chapter IV
The Altar of Nightmares
A week had passed since Ron took that blow from Draco and Potions was still very unpleasant for everyone, including the Slytherins. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were now very comfortable with Carina tagging along and they got closer as the days went on by. Hermione found, in her delight, that Carina had almost the same interests as she had, just as studious, and just as patient in helping out Harry and Ron with their homework. But just like Carina said, she was not as brilliant as Hermione and found that she had some difficulty absorbing everything that they studied. ("You have a good study habit, Carina, just keep it up.") Carina preferred to be around Harry, Ron, and Hermione than any other student in Hogwarts.
Sometimes Carina came back to the Gryffindor dormitory very late at night all by herself. Hermione, always the bossy type, didn't miss the chance of giving Carina a sermon about rules against going out of the dormitories late at night. Hermione always caught the exchange student sneaking through the portrait hole from outside. Carina didn't feel irritated with Hermione, though. She just told Harry, Ron, and Hermione that she always liked to stroll alone around the grounds of Durmstrang late at night when they asked her. Old habits are hard to break.
Harry and Hermione now didn't have the nightmares for more than a week. They agreed that they would tell each other at once when the dreams returned, but for now it only seemed it to be like a weird episode for them. They also bore in mind that it didn't just happen for no reason. Someone, or something was warning them of some still unknown danger. Harry had lots of experience in past premonitions that he has learned not to take them less lightly anymore.
The students kept on talking about Mr. Filch, who they have not seen for more than a week. He was hearing lots of funny theories about Filch's absence, including goblins kidnapping him because he had a huge debt to settle, but the teachers did an admirable job keeping it a secret about what really happened to him. In Hogwarts, naturally everybody knows when it's a complete secret, especially when the Weasley twins knew the truth about Filch. Professor McGonagall has temporarily taken over Professor Dumbledore as Headmaster. She kept saying he urgently went to London to "lend a hand" to the Ministry of Magic. Harry didn't buy that, of course. He was quite sure Dumbledore smelled something fishy going on in Hogwarts, and that he is secretly planning some countermeasures with the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.
Professor Gargarin was busily doing her job normally teaching potions that Harry thought she wasn't any more different than the other teachers. He was now beginning to dismiss the idea that she was the hooded figure in his dreams. That changed again when he and Ron walked along the corridors of some empty classrooms at sundown overhearing her threatening someone.
Harry and Ron stopped and pressed their ears against the closed doors of the Charms classroom, listening very carefully.
"…I'm watching you, don't you forget it, oh no," Professor Gargarin said with a sort of growling voice. "I tell you one more time…never mind Hermione Granger." Some shuffling was heard inside.
Harry and Ron thought that Professor Gargarin might be barging out the door, and they quickly but quietly ran behind a stone statue. Professor Gargarin exited the classroom shortly, her black robe billowing behind her. She stopped for a second, looked back, and carried on disappearing into the shadows. Harry and Ron looked at each other, looking bewildered. "What was that all about?" Ron hissed. "Who was she talking to?"
Harry shrugged. "Shhh. Someone's coming out again," he hushed. "It…it's Carina!"
Carina was slowly walking out the classroom, looking very pale in the dark. Harry, followed by Ron, got out of his hiding place and said, "Pssst. Carina, you okay?" Carina literally jumped up a foot in the air.
She relaxed when she recognized Harry and Ron. "You almost gave me a heart attack," she said clutching her chest.
"Sorry," said Ron. "What…what was that all about?"
"Nothing…oh, it's nothing, nothing that concerns you," Carina said, taking a deep breath, waving off the subject with her hand.
"Carina, please don't lie to us. We heard Professor Gargarin threaten you about Hermione," Harry told Carina in a non-threatening, but a little impatient sort of voice. "When someone talks about our best friend like that, it concerns us the most."
Carina looked at Harry and Ron for a good ten seconds, who both did look very concerned about what they heard. She looked over the two boy's shoulders and behind her, making sure no one was around. "Let's talk inside the next classroom, C'mon." They closed the door and Carina pulled both of them toward the opposite wall beside the window that gave the dark room the only light from the full moon.
"You promise not to tell anvone what I'm about to tell you?" Carina asked Harry and Ron. They gave her a nod. Carina breathed deeply and then she looked dead serious. "Okay, what I'm about to tell you will probably shock you," she said in a whisper. "This information is not supposed to get out of the Ministry of Magic. I'm also forbidden to tell this to anyone, but I'll tell you this because I really like you, Ron, and Hermione, and I trust you. Do you trust me?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other for a moment and both nodded at Carina.
"Professor Gargarin is not the real Professor Gargarin who once valked at Durmstrang. Her body has been taken over by an Oarling," Carina said.
"An Oarling? What's an…Oarling?" asked Ron.
"Shhhh! That's natural if you have not heard about them," replied Carina. "Oarlings are only found in Bulgaria. They are thought to be already extinct, but our local Ministry of Magic have every reason to believe that there is still one left, and she now uses the body of Gargarin.
"An Oarling is a creature or vitch that refuses to die. She must carefully find her most preferred victim because they can only do that once in every 50 years. Once she traps her chosen victim - it's always a female - she will devour her soul and essence, and will live the life of that poor soul until the next cycle. You will never notice the difference, in this case the Hermione you know now, and the Hermione after when the Oarling succeeds, because she will act, talk, laugh…do everything like your friend does. It won't seem to make a difference at all for you, but if you value your friend's freedom and right to live on her own terms, THAT is a big loss indeed."
"You're telling us she is after our Hermione?" asked Harry. "Why? And why is she threatening you? And how did you manage to follow her here in Hogwarts?" Harry wanted to ask all the questions at once.
"Again I'm not supposed to tell you this but I am an auror, Harry, the youngest in Bulgaria," Carina answered. "I'm now almost 19 and I don't look like it, do I?" she asked, twinkling her eyes. "I was sent here in the guise of an exchange student and my mission is to protect Hermione and prevent the Oarling from successfully possessing her, killing the monster in the process.
"When this Professor Gargarin `retired' from Durmstrang, she didn't have time to pack thoroughly because she hastily left a little altar hidden in the abandoned dungeon in the school. She thought it was well hidden, but she was wrong. In this little altar, we discovered Oarling things: a goblet of Polyjuice potion, a strand of brown hair, and three moving pictures of a 14-year old girl who we didn't know, but someone recognized her as a former guest of Viktor Krum. Viktor was helpful in our investigation, and he told us the name of the girl was Hermione Granger, a current pupil from Hogwarts. But we didn't tell him why we asked him or else we will lose track of the Oarling. My ministry assigned me to follow Gargarin to Hogwarts, because we believed she already sensed that she was now being suspected and that she has targeted already Hermione. She had to find a new place to look for victims."
"Ron, Hermione said that Gargarin plucked a strand of hair from her head in Durmstrang," said Harry. "That explains it. And she was intently staring at her in the Welcome Feast." Ron was looking worried.
Ron asked next, "Okay, so why aren't you arresting her now that you know that she's an Oarling? I mean, get her before she strikes?"
Carina shook her head. "There are reasons to that you may not understand."
"Try me!" Ron blurted out a little too loud.
"Shhh! Okay, I can only tell about this to keep things simple for you: the Ministry demands every auror to gather incriminating evidence before catching the Oarling. At this time we don't have that, because if I turn in Gargarin now without that requirement, we will surely lose the case, and she cannot be accused again of the same crime. She can then do whatever she pleases and we can't stop her. The only way to get incriminating evidence to arrest the Oarling is to catch her in the act of attempting a ritual, although that is not the real plan."
"Why? Why do you have to…"
Carina cut Ron off. "That's the vay it's supposed to be. It's legal mumbo-jumbo. I got to admit it's really frustrating, but ve cannot change that vhether ve like it or not."
Harry then asked, "How do we know we are still talking to the real Hermione?" That thought made him shiver.
"Simple," Carina said. "Gargarin is still around. Ve will suspect Hermione to be the Oarling if ve don't hear of Gargarin anymore."
"So what is keeping Gargarin from kidnapping her? She had lots of chances since the school opened," asked Ron.
"Sadly, I don't know the answer to that. Gargarin might still be missing some ingredient or something, I'm not sure," Carina answered, her eyes roaming the floor, looking for answers. She looked back at Harry and Ron. "Look, Oarlings are still mysterious creatures. Their rituals are still unknown. We have no idea what they truly look like under the human flesh."
"Harry, do you reckon it's better to tell Hermione all about this?" asked Ron.
Harry turned to Carina. "Is it okay?"
Carina thought for a moment, and nodded. "I believe Ron is right. Hermione should be warned not to go with Gargarin alone. It will do her more harm if she is left out in the dark." Carina paused for moment, took a deep breath, and continued. "I'm ashamed to say that I blew my cover since the first day of classes. That's why Gargarin was threatening me, and becomes very upset when she sees Hermione and me together. She wants Hermione so badly that she is afraid I'd be protecting her, denying the Oarling in Gargarin another life. I hate to admit that Gargarin scares me, she can do very powerful magic that I could not fight. But as long as I'm around Hermione, she is relatively safe. Gargarin knows I would not confront her. What I can successfully do is to keep Hermione away from her except during potions until I can kill her frustrated with old age. This is what the Ministry wants me to do. I reckon she has very, very little time left. Days, maybe."
"You're not gonna face her alone, Carina. We're with you," assured Harry.
Ron wiped his forehead. "All this talking about Oarlings is making me feel dazed, Harry."
"Does Dumbledore know about this already, Carina?" asked Harry.
"Yes, that's why he went to Cornelius Fudge," she replied. "He promised me to send more undercover aurors to assist me. But the teachers don't know about Oarlings. They're not supposed to know." Harry and Ron felt relieved to know Dumbledore is on top of things, and that Carina was in close contact with him.
After they got out of the classroom, they went straight to the Great Hall for supper. After the meal, they invited Hermione for a talk at the edge of the lake. Hermione could not believe what she was hearing, but since she trusted Harry and Ron, and now Carina, she took it all very bravely. "Let her try do it to me!" said Hermione. "And I'll…I'll…think of something to do to her she'll be sorry!"
Carina smiled at Hermione. "I'll be doing a little auror work tonight. It would be better for the three of you to get back to the common room now. You'll be safe in there."
"So this is why you keep coming back to the dormitory late at night, Carina, isn't it?" said Ron. Carina just grinned and nodded at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
Hermione didn't want to stay in the common room now that she knew about the plot of the Oarling to get her. "Let's do this altogether, Carina. We'll stand a better chance against Gargarin," she said.
"Look," said Carina. "Please don't think I don't want you to come with me, but I personally don't want to put you all in trouble. What if the Hogwarts caretaker catches you?"
"Well, that won't be a problem," said Ron. "Don't forget, Filch is out of action." Ron suddenly lifted his head up slightly, his eyes opened wide, as if a bright light bulb lit over his head. "Hey, I reckon that Gargarin attacked Filch, because she may have wanted his dungeon all to herself!"
"Yeah! Good thinking, Ron! Then that means there must be something hidden in the dungeons," Harry said excitedly. "It's a good place to start looking for clues. We have check it out, we have to know…tonight!"
Carina looked up to the dark sky, though about it, and made a deep breath. "Okay, only one of you can come with me, except Hermione. That's all, I hope you understand why I have to insist. I move faster alone, and I can't manage having two more to worry about.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione fell silent, a little disappointed that Carina thought they would be a problem to her. At last, Ron reluctantly said, "Okay, then. You go with her Harry. You're obviously the right person to do it. D'you reckon the cloak might come in handy?"
Harry nodded but Hermione really didn't like to be told off by anyone. Not even by Harry. Hermione and Ron were seated at the couch in the common room when Harry went down the stairs holding him his wand and the Invisibility Cloak. Carina was excited when she saw it ("I wish I had one of these, it's perfect for an auror!").
"We'll be back soon," he said to Ron, and then Hermione, who was still sitting down on the couch wearing the same scowl in her face from the edge of the lake, holding and stroking Crookshanks. "We'll let you in on what we found as soon as we come back," said Harry again.
"We'll wait here until you do, Harry," replied Ron. "Be careful, you two."
When the portrait hole closed behind Harry and Carina, Hermione jumped to her feet and paced the floor. This continued on for almost 10 minutes and Ron became increasingly annoyed.
"Will you cut that out? You're making me feel dizzy!"
"Oh, shut up, Ron!" Hermione snapped. "That's it! I can't take this any longer. I'm going after them!" She placed Crookshanks almost throwing the cat on the couch and groped for her wand in her robe's pockets. She then started to go towards the portrait hole.
Ron jumped ahead of Hermione and he blocked the portrait hole with his body. "No, I won't let you! You know what Carina said. It's too dangerous for them, and for us…especially for you! You'll not be giving us all a big favor if…"
Ron fell silent when he saw Hermione pointing her wand on his chest. "No one's going to stop me," she said, daggers coming out from her eyes. "Not even you! If you don't let me through, I'll…"
"HOW CAN YOU BE SO STUBBORN, HERMIONE?" he roared.
"It's none of your business, Ron! Either you let me through, or…I'll do a Neville on you!"
Ron shook his head vigorously. "No! NO! I won't let you through - over my dead body!"
"Then you leave me no choice, Ron. Sorry. Petrificus…"
"NO! WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!" he exclaimed, holding out his hands in front of her. Ron hesitated for a moment. He looked at Hermione who was still wearing that dangerous expression on her face. "Doooughh…Okay, move on, then…but I'll go with you!" Ron ran back to the couch and grabbed his wand.
"Now, that's more like it," Hermione said as she opened and climbed through the portrait hole. Ron followed her closely behind, grumbling.
~o0o~
Under the cloak, Harry and Carina crept inside the third-floor dungeon, looking for any clues about the Oarling. They have passed a few corridors that had layers of spider webs abound, and some torches that were lit. There were some smoking torches, an indication of Filch's long absence - no one seemed to have maintained the dungeons for him, if you ever you called this maintenance, Harry thought.
They froze when they heard fast walking footsteps. They were in a large anteroom, and on the far side was a connecting corridor. From the left corner, they saw someone rounding it and approaching them. It was Gargarin, and she was still wearing that scary look on her face as she walked briskly. Gargarin stopped when she was about a few feet beside them. She looked around and sniffed up in the air. She held out her hands to feel around, like she was suspecting someone invisible was watching her. She then started to walk again and of sight. Harry and Carina looked at each other under the cloak. "That was close," said Carina, paling. "We got lucky. The Oarling has very good senses." They both went to where Gargarin came from.
As they both rounded up a corner to the left, there was another corridor that ended up with a door on the opposite wall. Three other closed doors were lining up the right, and Harry noticed one of the rooms was dimly lighted. Harry and Carina looked at each other, and they both nodded at the same time. "Let's check that one out. I reckon that's where Gargarin came from."
They both stopped before the door they chose, and Carina slipped out of the cloak. She looked back at the direction of Harry and she said, "Let me check it out first. You stay here and be the look-out. Warn me if someone's coming, okay, Harry?"
Harry nodded to her, forgetting he was under the cloak. He could hear his heart pounding in the silence, and the time took Carina inside the room seemed to take ages. He eagerly wanted to know what was inside and what's taking her so long, but he knew it was also equally important to be on lookout for anybody who might come, especially Gargarin. At last he heard Carina open the door. "Harry, where are you?" she hissed.
"I'm here," Harry replied as he took off his cloak. He reappeared from thin air.
"You better take a look inside. It's the Oarling's altar inside there all right, I looked for some more clues under the floor, behind the wall, but it's the only thing I found, and I gathered up some clues to take with me without it suspecting something is missing," she said, holding up a pouch for Harry to see. "What you will see inside might come as a shock to you."
Harry nodded, dreading what he might find inside there. He handed Carina his cloak, but she didn't wear it. "My turn to look out for you," she said.
Harry got inside the room. It was huge; its ceilings were very high that it was hard to make out. The floor area was about half of that of the great hall, with numerous large open windows on the opposite wall. The room was illuminated by hundreds and hundreds of candles neatly placed in rows adjacent to the sidewalls. There was a narrow aisle in the middle, leading to a large altar at the end a couple of feet away from one of the open windows. He moved closer to the white stone altar to see what's on top of them. It was large enough for someone to lie on to.
His mouth hung open as he saw a dagger with its sheath beside it in the middle of the altar. It had strange markings that he had not seen before. Littering the altar top were dry twigs and splinters. Further back the dagger was a strange medallion, hung over a picture frame that was covered by a velvet cloth, a goblet containing blood, an inkbottle with a quill, and a parchment with numbers counting down from top to bottom. It started out from 30 all the way down to 1; all except the number 1 were crossed out.
He reached for the picture frame to uncover it, and his stomach lurched when it was a moving picture of Hermione, hugging three books close to her chest and waving at him cheerfully. He bit his lower lip, feeling a sudden surge of anger rising up inside him looking at all this evil.
Under the altar was a chest that he pulled out from under, and seeing that it was unlocked, he opened it. Inside was a girl's Hogwarts uniform, a new robe with a Gryffindor crest, a pair of shoes, books, and one more picture of Hermione. Harry shook his head in disbelief. This Oarling, he thought, really did want his to take over his best friend. He had to stop this from happening - whatever it takes. Harry was so immersed with his emotions that he did not feel someone was closing in behind him at first, until he heard a crack as someone stepped on one of the twigs that lost its way on the floor.
He spun around and saw a gray robed figure with only its glowing eyes seen under the hood, closing in on him. It was the same hooded figure as he remembered it in his nightmares. He groped for his wand in his robes and pointed it to the figure. "Stop! What are you?!?" Harry shouted. "Don't you dare touch Hermione! You stay away from me! Stop!"
But the hooded figure kept coming towards him, which he reckoned was now the Oarling. Harry knew he wasn't in his dream anymore, and felt confident he could throw all the spells he could do to that thing. "STUPEFY!" he commanded. A bright bolt came out from his wand and hit the Oarling, but his spell bounced off its robes. Harry tottered a bit - it came as a sudden shock to him. "IMPEDIMENTA! STUPEFY!" Still, the cloaked figure lumbered towards him, its eyes glowing even brighter.
Harry made a step backwards that made him trip over the open chest and he fell inside it It was not big enough to swallow him whole, but he was in now an awkward position as he struggled to lift his whole weight up to get off it. Now the Oarling was moving uncomfortably closer to him. To his horror, the Oarling also had a wand pointed at him. He immediately recognized the spell that is was about to cast on him when he heard, "CRUCIO!"
Harry was shouting and screaming in excruciating pain as he was under the Oarling's Cruciatius curse. It was suffering that he had not experienced before. He could not think straight, and he could not do anything to fight it. "Carina where are you?" he barely thought while he was in agony. Harry's twitching hand dropped his wand on the floor, and it bounced and rolled away to a spot that he could never reach. Screaming was the only thing he could do now. He felt the curse stop abruptly, wondering why the Oarling did not keep on hurting him. He opened his eyes, mouth open, panting as though he sprinted a hundred miles, and looked at the Oarling still towering in front him. At last it spoke.
"You will fail…" it said in a screeching voice, much like a hag's. "I will get what I came for, and you, your friends, and the auror cannot stop me. I will kill you now!"
Harry closed his eyes, feeling resigned to his untimely death; he braced for what's about to come: the dreaded Death Curse.
"Avada…"
"HARRY!!!" Hermione and Ron shouted from across the room. The Oarling didn't complete its spell as it spun around and saw Harry's best friends dart towards it, wands pointed. "STUPEFY!" Hermione and Ron bellowed, but they screeched to a halt midway through the aisle when they saw their spell bounce off their enemy.
The figure now turned its attention to Ron, and also gave him the Cruciatius Curse. Ron was now sprawled on the floor rolling and writhing in pain. Hermione dropped on her knees to hold Ron and pointed her wand again to the Oarling, but stopped short of making an attack when she recognized it as the hooded figure from her dreams. "It…It's YOU!"
"Yesss…" said the Oarling as it raised its wand at her, but Hermione was quicker to do another spell.
She pointed her wand to all the objects her eyes could find and guided them towards the Oarling. Cups, plates, torches and different things came flying from across the room, all hitting the Oarling very hard as it frantically tried to deflect them with its arms and hands. A big and heavy dresser banged against its side, knocking the hooded figure off balance. Another heavy chair flew into the Oarling from behind it and hit the back of its head, but this wasn't enough to knock it out cold. Hermione felt a little weak from all the lifting of heavy objects that the figure managed to point its wand towards her. "LETREKUCIO!" it commanded.
Before the light from the Oarling's wand could reach her, Hermione still managed barely in time to perform a Shield charm just in front of her and Ron. The curse deflected the transparent but mirror-like barrier and hit back the Oarling instead. The spell crept down its hooded robes, just like electricity. The Oarling screeched out a high-pitch scream as it stood there stiffly; the spell terminated at the hem of its floor-length robes, smoking it. Harry was now standing in between the Oarling and the open window, but not fully upright as he struggled to stand up straight; his whole body was still feeling stiff from the effects of the Cruciatius curse.
The Oarling, seeing that it could not hurt Hermione this time, summoned its broomstick from the cupboard, boarded it, spun around as it hovered, and sped towards the window where Harry was directly in the flight path.
"HARRY! LOOK OUT!" screamed Hermione but her warning came in too late. Harry was thrown back when the Oarling bumped and dragged him all the way to the window and he fell out of sight. The Oarling shot up towards the sky hacking and laughing as it said, "I'm not through with you yet!" The whole altar, its objects, and the chest flew out with it.
"HARRY!!!" Hermione cried.
Hermione sprinted towards the open window where she last saw Harry falling out. She was beginning to sob as she neared the window, dreading to see Harry splattered on the grounds three stories below, dead. But to her great relief, she found Harry hanging on a flagpole seated on the castle's exterior walls about 10 feet under the windows. He was only barely hanging using his right arm. "Harry! You okay?"
"Hermione! Help me! I can't hold on much longer!" Harry shouted when he saw Hermione's head poking out the window. "Hurry!"
"Hang on, Harry! I'll levitate you!" Hermione replied. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Harry felt the stinging feeling on his arm that supported his whole body from the pole loosen up as he was rising up toward the window, guided by Hermione. But her aim was not too precise as Harry's head bumped the side of the window rather hard. "Ouch!"
"Oops, sorry about that," answered Hermione as she settled Harry to the floor. She knelt down beside him to help him up.
"You saved my life Hermione, thank you!" Harry said, panting, as he tried to get up still sore all over. "If you came in a second too late, I would be dead now. H-how did you find me?"
"Your screams were heard all over the dungeons, Harry," Hermione replied. "We ran flat out where your voice was coming from, and this room was the only one that had lights, so we reckoned we will likely find you here. Where's Carina?"
"I don't know. She stayed outside to be on lookout. She was supposed to warn me if someone else came, but…" Harry thought for a second, and exclaimed, "We gotta find her! She might be in trouble!" Hermione nodded. Harry retrieved his wand and he and Hermione went over to Ron, who was now seated on the floor groaning. "You all right, there, Ron?" asked Harry.
Ron nodded, gasping. "I-I don't want that to happen to me again! It's awwwful! Right now I couldn't straighten up my joints, and I'm sore all over!" Hermione now helped him get to his feet while holding Harry up with another hand. She helped them get out of the room and they slowly inched their way through the corridor. They passed an open door and Hermione saw someone sprawled on the floor inside the room that connected it to the corridor. "It's Carina!" She left Harry and Ron standing outside the room and ran towards Carina to check on her.
"Is she alive?" asked Harry anxiously.
Hermione nodded. "Stunned," she said. When she held Carina's head up by the back of the neck Hermione felt something warm and wet. When she looked at her palms, it had blood on it. "What the…" It looked like someone hit Carina on the back of the head, but that did not look like the real cause of her unconsciousness. Hermione took out her wand and pointed it to Carina. "Ennervate!"
Carina jerked and came to, reversing the Stunning spell. "H-Hermione? What…ow!" She felt something sting at the back of her head felt it with her hand. When she saw blood in her own palms she let out a yelp. "It's okay, Carina," Hermione said. "It's just a deep cut. Someone stunned you and still knocked your head to make sure you were out."
"H-Harry! He's in…" Carina exclaimed to Hermione.
"No, I'm here, I'm okay," said Harry from the corridor, waving at her. "I'll fill you in later on what happened, first we got to go back to the common room. We have nothing down here now." Carina looked relieved. The two girls went out the corridor, scooped up the invisibility cloak, and helped Harry and Ron to the common room.
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