Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.
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Ch9: THE LAST PATIL
Harry felt his jaw drop. It couldn't be her, it was impossible! She was dead! He had seen her die! He had felt the spell! For a long time Harry couldn't do anything but stare at her as if she had grown another head.
"You're- you're dead!" Harry suddenly exclaimed, and Lupin gave him a nasty look. Harry quickly apologized, but the Parvati in front of him didn't seem to notice. She just stared at the ground; with red and swollen eyes. Harry also noticed that her hair was not as nice as it used to be, and it had lost some of the shine it used to have. It didn't look like she had combed or washed it for weeks. But the most noticeable part about her was that she looked so… pale and fragile. Like she had been crying herself to death.
Harry slowly stepped aside so they could come in, his brain working furiously. He couldn't help but wonder if the person wasn't Parvati, but an impostor with Polyjuice Potion instead. Merlin, he was actually beginning to think like Moody!
Lupin guided them into the kitchen, but held Harry back for a moment and whispered:
"She's been trough a lot, Harry, don't push her. She's an orphan like you now, I don't know how well you two know each other from school, but try to show support and understanding. Take care of her."
Harry nodded; he understood, even though his brain was fogged with confusion. Anyway, he really wished he could know what had happened. He just couldn't understand why she was here, when Harry himself had witnessed her death. It didn't make any sense.
Harry was dimly aware that Lupin had left the room, and he was alone with the person that seemed to be Parvati.
"Parvati," said Harry softly, but she didn't respond. Harry approached her and guided her down on a chair. He sat down beside her where he could see her face.
"Parvati," he said again, a bit more forcefully. She sniffed, but other than that she didn't show any respond. Harry sighed. She must be in some kind of shock state. Harry brushed some of her hair away so he could se her face better. She looked even more awful than he thought!
He didn't know what to do. One part of him just wanted to shake and yell at her so she would give him an explanation, but that wouldn't be a good idea. He wished Hermione was there with him instead of being upstairs with Ron and Ginny. She would know what to do. He was absolutely clueless when it came down to girls!
Not knowing what else to do, he took her cool hand and held it, and told her that if she needed to talk, she could always come to him. To his surprise he felt her squeeze his hand back gently in return. Had he done something right after all?
Harry stayed with her for a long time, even though he would rather be almost anywhere else. He and Parvati had never been special good friends; the closest they had ever been were on the Yule-ball in forth grade, when he had asked her to come with him simply out of pure desperation after Cho turned him down.
However, sitting there with Parvati wasn't that bad, Harry figured out after a while. He had time to think, and he didn't need to worry about being asked questions he didn't want to answer.
- * -
After twenty minutes Lupin opened the door to the kitchen and motioned for Harry to come out. Harry let go of Parvati and followed Lupin out.
"Did it go alright?" Lupin asked, and Harry nodded apprehensively.
"Did she say anything?"
"No," Harry answered.
"Do you mind taking care of her a while? I could ask Hermione of course, but if I'm not mistaking she and Parvati weren't what you can call friends, and sense you know what happened to Parvati already, you-"
"But I don't know!" interrupted Harry, staring at the werewolf angrily. How could he just expect Harry to drop everything in his hands to help Parvati, when it would be better for her to go to some of her other friends?
Lupin sighed. "But your dream-?"
"In my dream, I saw mys - er - Voldemort kill Parvati!"
Lupin's eyes widened at this and Harry continued: "First, I saw Voldemort killing her mother, then Bella went in and took Parvati out of her room and ordered her dad to use the Cruciatus Curse on her! But when-" Harry stopped, not because Lupin had said anything, but because of the look Lupin had on his face. At first it looked like he was doing some serious quick thinking, and then there was something that looked like realization in Lupin's face.
"What?" Harry asked, annoyed.
"What about Padma? What happened to her?" asked Lupin, and Harry caught his breath as the explanation dawned to him, like a bolt of lightning. It wasn't Parvati he had seen die, it was Padma, Parvati's twin! Now as Harry thought about it, he realized that had to be the explanation. Padma looked a lot like Parvati, but he knew it couldn't be Padma who sat in the other room. One thing was to see them in a dream, when he wasn't awake, but it was completely different to see them in reality. Padma was the one who died. How could he have been so wrong? He hadn't even thought about the possibility!
Harry realized he must have been too upset to even think about that it could be Padma. Padma had been in Ravenclaw, and he didn't really knew she was Parvati's twin until forth grade before the ball. He couldn't help but feeling stupid though.
Remus Lupin nodded, he understood what Harry was thinking. "You'll take care of her then?"
Harry nodded, he owed her that much, even though he didn't really want to.
The older man smiled warmly. "Thank you. That'll mean a lot, I'm sure. We don't have much resources to take care of her as much as she'll need right now. I'm sure she'll be grateful, well, at least when she gets a little better."
Harry just shrugged as Remus nodded and went out. Harry wondered if Parvati was ever going to be all right. She was so breakable. He certainly had some hell of a project to work with.
- * -
Harry stayed with Parvati for over an hour. He was awfully bored, and Parvati had been in the same position the whole time. Finally he put away the book he had been reading - Alternative Curses - and lifted Parvati's chin so she had to look at him.
"You can't just sit here all day without doing anything," Harry told her sternly, and saw something flash behind her dark eyes. "Let me tell you something," he continued, "we can either go upstairs to talk to Ron, Hermione and Ginny, or we can go outside and take a ride on my new motorcycle. So, what do you say?"
Parvati opened her mouth to speak, but when no sound came out she closed it again. Harry sighed heavily.
"Look, we have something in common, I've also recently lost someone I cared about."
Parvati looked confused, so he quickly explained: "Sirius Black was my Godfather and he… went away not to long ago. I know-"
"He was a murderer!" exclaimed Parvati suddenly, talking for the first time ever. Harry quickly recovered from the shock.
"That's what everyone believes, yes, but he was innocent. He was known for killing many muggles including Peter Pettigrew, but I've actually seen Pettigrew at least twice in the last two years, so that's not true. Peter was the one who sold my parents to Voldemort, and Peter was also the one who helped Voldemort back to his body." Harry stopped then, because Parvati had suddenly felled down from the chair, and was twitching and crying hysterically on the floor.
Harry quickly dived down to her and did the same thing he had done for Hermione earlier that day.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled, and did his best to comfort her, but she couldn't stop crying. Suddenly Harry got a weird feeling. He turned his head wearily, as if it should be anyone there, but the door remained closed.
He quickly got up with Parvati, whose legs wouldn't carry her. He put her back on the chair; half-thinking he should try a tickling charm on her or something. Parvati stroked one hand across her face, in an attempt to brush the tears away.
Harry felt like a trapped animal. Not only did he have to be in a room with a crying girl he didn't know, he also hadn't gotten the chance to train since the day Hermione came over. He felt a rush of energy under his skin, begging to get out, and he began to pace back and forth on the floor while Parvati cried.
After five more minutes Harry couldn't stand it anymore.
"Parvati," he said firmly, barely able to keep his voice even, "we're going to do something, anything else than just being here! So, I've decided, unless you know something better to do, that we are going out for a ride. Right now."
Parvati didn't do anything to show him that she had listened, but Harry didn't care. He dragged her up from the chair and guided her out to the hall. Outside he saw Lupin staring after them, and Harry wondered if Lupin had tried to get in earlier. If somebody had tried that was.
Harry shook his head slightly to Lupin, so he wouldn't follow them.
As soon as they reached the entrance, Harry found his own and Parvati's jacket, which he gave her and told her to get on quickly. He wanted to get out fast before anyone knew what they were up to; he doubted they would let him and Parvati go if they knew what he had planned.
Parvati hesitated, but in the end she just shrugged and took on her jacket. Harry guided her out, took out the motorcycle out from his pocket, and enlarged it. Parvati's jaw dropped slightly, and Harry smirked in a very Slytherin way.
Harry swung his right leg over the bike, and helped Parvati up behind him. He turned around and told her to hold on tight and squeeze him tight if she wanted to go slower, before he silently told the bike to roll forward. Immediately Parvati squeezed him tight around the waist, but that only seemed to be out of shock, because she soon slackened her grip again. Harry told the bike to speed up and fly, and soon they were flying high up in the sky. Luckily it was rather dark and empty under them, so the muggles wouldn't see, but he still wouldn't take any chances. The bike turned invisible, and he heard Parvati cry out, but he grabbed her arm so she knew that he was still there and safe.
After a while, she seemed to settle a bit, and Harry could truly enjoy the view of the small town underneath them. The moon was not full but still very large, and the blank lake ahead of them reflected the light. The stars shone brighter than he ever could've remember seeing them, and they seemed so close that he got the feeling he could almost reach them if he took his arm high. They flew even higher.
The longer they flew, the more motionless did Parvati seem to get, and after twenty minutes Harry turned around so they could get back. Halfway home though, he got a weird, uncomfortable feeling deep down in his stomach. Something wasn't right. Quickly, he reached out behind him, but Parvati was still there. Calm down, he told himself, he was getting far too paranoid.
However, after ten more minutes with flying, Harry suddenly felt the bike slow down against his will. He briefly wondered if they needed more gas or something, but then the bike lifted behind him and seemed much lighter. Feeling nauseous, he quickly reached out behind him again, but this time Parvati wasn't there!
Harry almost fainted of the shock. Oh Merlin!
Turning the bike down sharply, and saw Parvati falling through the air in an amazing speed. He wasn't going to make it!
He turned the bike down even sharper, so they were as good as vertical to the ground, and it was all he could do to not fall of. All his thoughts were on reaching Parvati before she hit the ground. However, the bike was large and clumsy compared to a broomstick, and the wind was like an enormous wall against him. He tried to hide behind the front of the bike because he got tears in the eyes, but it didn't help much. Parvati was still much further down from him, and the ground came towards them with sickening speed. He wouldn't get there soon enough, it went way to slow...
Suddenly, a small, insane idea sneaked up in his head. Quickly - his bike slowing just a bit - he reached for his wand, pointed it at Parvati, and cried:
"ACCIO PARVATI! ACCIO PARVATI!"
He hadn't really expected it to work, but then the most amazing, wonderful thing happened; Parvati slowed up and stopped falling! He quickly caught up with her, still focusing on not dropping the charm, and took her hand. It felt cold and damp, like she had already died. And Harry had touched a dead hand before.
With a swift movement that almost detached his arm, he pulled her up in front of him. It was a good thing he had trained over the summer, or else he could never have done it.
Parvati just blinked at him as Harry drove down towards the ground slowly, and then she suddenly looked angry. As soon as they landed and Harry asked the bike to turn of the engine, she started yelling at him, her face dark red.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
"Pardon?" asked Harry, dumbfounded.
"WHY DID YOU GO AFTER ME? WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST HAVE LET ME FALL? WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST HAVE LET ME DIE?"
Harry narrowed his eyes at her, he was getting really angry himself now, and he had a major problem with controlling it. Parvati stared back at him with furious, dark eyes for a second, but then her façade broke and she burst out crying again. She felled down on her knees, her hands covering her face, sobbing hysterically. She was practically having a breakdown, and Harry had no idea what to do. Merlin should know he was hopeless, especially with sobbing girls, so why was he always stuck with them?
He sat down beside her and waited for her to get it all out.
- * -
It took quite a while for her. Harry didn't dear to think of what kind of reaction he would get when they got back. They must be really angry… and worried. Worried for their tool. He snorted for himself; he had always wanted someone to care where he went, what he did, and why he did it, but now he dreaded to go back because that's exactly what was going to happen.
Unfortunately, the time came where Parvati somehow collected herself. Harry wondered how she could even stand on her feet after all the sobbing, but he kept his mouth shut. Cold, and in Parvati's case also wet, they rode the last bit to Grimmauld Place number12.
- * -
- * -
As he expected, Harry found Remus, Molly and even Arthur waiting for him when he got back, and they looked really angry. Parvati was tired, so she went straight to bed, but Harry was stuck with the adults.
"Harry, do you have any, any idea at all, how dangerous it is to just go out like that? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" asked Remus dangerously, and Harry was unpleasantly surprised by the harshness of his words. Lupin wasn't exactly the one who easily lost his temper.
"Harry, I'm very disappointed of you! How could you just go off like that-?" said Arthur Weasley, but Molly was the worst:
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? GO OFF LIKE THAT? DON'T YOU HAVE ANY CONCERN ABOUT HOW MUCH WE NEED YOU? HOW MUCH THE WIZARDING WORLD NEEDS YOU? HOW COULD YOU? ARTHUR AND I HAVE TAKEN CARE OFF YOU LIKE YOU WERE OUR OWN SON, AND THEN YOU STILL-!"
It was like being slapped in the face. Harry honestly didn't thought it would be this bad, he only wanted to help. He did his best to keep a straight face as he waited for them to get finished, but it was hard. To his horror he didn't only want to yell back, he also felt like crying. It was not a combination he liked or even wanted to think about, but that was how he felt. He knew he had been stupid, he knew he had been thoughtless, and he knew it almost had ended horribly wrong, even though the adults didn't know that part.
"I'm sorry," he said when the shouting had quietened a bit, but that only resulting in them shouting again.
"NOW YOU'RE SORRY? DID YOU EVER THINK-?"
Harry stared at them unblinkingly until they had finished, then he escaped up the stairs before they could say anything else. He was now angrier than anything else, and the anger even went down to his fingertips.
Harry used several minutes to calm himself down. He knew it would be stupid of him to face anybody now, because if he did then he would snap for certain. When he finally felt calm enough to face the rest, he began to search for the other teenagers.
He found them in the same room he had left them, only on the couch. Hermione was reading a book, and Ron was leaning over her as if he too was trying to read. Harry knew better though, and he felt his heart sting.
"Hi guys," he greeted them carefully. Hermione looked up at him and smiled, but Ron scowled back at him, startling Harry. The red-head clearly wanted to be left alone with her.
Harry stopped dead in his tracks, and raised his eyebrow at him, who glared stubbornly back. Hermione frowned.
"What's wrong with you two?" She asked, looking over at Harry, and then at Ron, who suddenly looked normal and shook his head. Without saying anything Harry went to bed, feeling more alone than he had at the Dursleys.
- * -
- * -
Harry didn't feel much better the following morning. He had woken up early, and he decided to go out for a run like he had done every morning at the Dursleys. The fresh air helped a lot, but he was still in a somber mood when came back to prepare to the lesson with Dumbledore. He actually wrote down twice as much on the list that Dumbledore had assigned him than he had before, everything that Harry could imagine he could use or just wanted to learn. Harry then wrote the most important ones on a separate note. Some of it he doubted even Dumbledore wanted Harry to learn, but he wrote them down anyway.
- * -
After he was done Harry made breakfast for everyone, what took him more time than he had thought in the first place, because there were a lot of people staying at the moment. Harry ate his food as fast as he could, and he had cleaned up his plate Mrs. Weasley and Ginny came downstairs. Both of them seemed shocked that Harry had made breakfast before they even got up from bed, but Harry quickly escaped the room before they could make any more comments.
- * -
To make the time pass Harry locked himself up in the room Dumbledore would be teaching him in, and locked the door with the strongest locking charm he could accomplish. He had brought the 'All About the Unforgivables' with him, because he attended to give it back to where it belonged. However, since Dumbledore wouldn't arrive until at least half an hour later, Harry decided, somewhat bitterly, to finish the book. He was afraid it was something he had missed that was important. Perhaps he was just too stubborn to give it up, but he didn't like the thought of leaving something out. Besides, Harry had already used them, and would probably have to do it again. If he came to a "kill or be killed" situation, as he certainly would at some point, it could save his life. It was against his morals and it was extremely dangerous, but he had to learn it.
He settled in an armchair in the corner, and mournfully looked through the pages of the book. He didn't find anything that looked new, except from some comments from people that had used it themselves. He kept looking, until something caught his eye. The book was saying something about consequences, but it was something he hadn't noticed before:
When the caster put so much emotion in the curse as he or she would have to do for the curse to work properly, it is not without a prize. Not only would the caster risk a life-sentence in Azkaban, the Wizard Prison guarded by Dementors, but the caster's soul would also be affected. The soul would be forever marked, depending on how much the caster enjoyed it.
The feeling of power is addict able, and the caster would in most cases feel strongly tempted to use an Unforgivable again in the future. If recently used, it would have an effect on Dark Detectors,-
Harry stopped reading. Full of regret he threw the book across the room, so it landed with a thump in a corner. Absentmindedly he rubbed his forehead between his head, and groaned.
"Something wrong, Harry?" he heard Dumbledore's concerned voice from the door. Harry's head jerked up, and his gut clenched painfully in dread. How long had he been there?
"No, Professor," answered Harry quickly; bowing his head so Dumbledore couldn't see that he was dishonest. Dumbledore sighed and conjured a purple armchair so he could sit beside Harry.
"You're early," said Harry, and straightened up a little.
"So are you," said Dumbledore nodded, the twinkling back in his eyes.
"I have that list," said Harry, and handed it over to Dumbledore, who read it with an amused expression on his face. Harry looked over Dumbledore shoulder at the list, and wondered what he was thinking about it.
-Confundus charm
-Freezing charm
-Burning charm
-Binding charm
-Tracking charm
-Message spell
-Apparating
Here was the Place Harry had stopped the first time, and he felt his face redden as he looked down the rest of the list:
-Absorbing energy curse
-Punching spell
-Cutting/Gashing curse
-Portkey spell
-Knee-reversal hex
-Privacy shield
-The shield Voldemort used in MoM
-The shield you used on my birthday
-Become an Animagus
-Occlumency and Legilimency.
When Dumbledore had finished, he turned to face Harry with a very serious expression on his face.
"You do realize that some of this is Dark Arts, Harry?"
Harry looked down at his hands. "Yes, sir."
"You do realize that some of this is very advanced magic?"
Harry looked up again at this, almost defiantly. "Yes, sir."
"Do you really want to be an animagus?"
"Yes. Sir."
"Very well, then," said Dumbledore, clapping his hands together. "I can't promise that we can cover all of it, but let's see what we can do."
Harry nodded, excited. "Great!"
They, at least Dumbledore, decided they should start at the top of the list and continue down after Harry could do them. They started with the Confundus charm, a Confusion charm, which wasn't really so difficult to do, as Harry had feared. After ten minutes Harry had managed it successfully. Next they started with a simple Freezing charm, `Peskipiksi Pesternomi', which wasn't so effective, but could be used anyway. Harry realized the charm was good for everyday-life, but not in a duel. They tried the more advanced one too, but after a while Harry wanted to move on to the Burning charm.
Again they started on the easiest one; `Flagrate', which Harry had some experience from already, since he had seen Hermione cast them to mark the doors in Minister Of Magic before the term ended. After that they used another Burning charm, Incendio. Harry had used that charm before, but this time they practiced on the flame too not only be a little flame, but a small bomb with fire. Harry was amused, he didn't even know it was possible.
They practiced the spells in one hour, and then Dumbledore asked Harry if he wanted some rest.
"Absolutely not, Professor!" Harry grinned up at him, "This is fun!"
Dumbledore chuckled.
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