Chapter 5. THE NEW CAPTAIN
...
Our dear Angel
Eats roots and then
He sleeps inside the bushes and under the trees
But he will never be a slave.
...
"Our Dear Angel" by Lucio Battisti
That evening in the common room, Harry, Ron and Hermione tried to start their homework for Snape and McGonagall, but after about two hours they felt too exhausted and decided to go to bed.
When everybody in the dormitory fell asleep, Harry got up from his bed and walked to the window; the moonlight was amazing and the night was warm and quiet. He loved to watch the grounds of Hogwarts from his window; he loved everything about that castle, it was his home and it made him so happy to be there.
Suddenly he remembered something and turned to reach his trunk. He opened it and took out the small two-way mirror Sirius gave him after the previous Christmas holiday. It was a special mirror: it permitted a person to communicate with whomever was holding its twin. Sirius told him that whenever he needed to talk to him, he just had to look inside and say his name.
After Sirius' death, Harry had broken the mirror in a rush of anger, but then he had repaired it during the summer.
Harry looked at the mirror greedly, but he found his own reflection there, looking back at him.
Gloomy, he put the mirror back into his trunk and went back to bed.
The following morning at breakfast, a lot of owls arrived to bring students their mail. Hermione got her copy of the
Daily Prophet, checking for news about Voldemort's return. Harry was surprised to receive mail too; it was
not Hedwig that brought it to him, but a normal school owl.
"Come on Harry, open that envelope! Who do you think is writing to you?"
Ron was as surprised as Harry; Hermione watched the scene from over the top of her newspaper.
Harry opened the parchment and read it in silence, becoming even more surprised with every line. He passed the parchment to Hermione, who read it aloud to Ron.
"Dear Mr Potter,
It is my wish that you come to my office tonight after dinner. I must talk to you about a very important matter.
Yours faithfully,
Professor Minerva McGonagall
Vice Head Mistress"
"Hey, school just started! How could you have already gotten yourself into trouble?" asked Ron worriedly.
"I hope she doesn't want to give me detention for what happened yesterday with Malfoy! True, I did seriously
consider jinxing him, but I didn't get the chance to!"
"No, Harry. They can't punish someone just because he only thought to do something forbidden! It has to be something else."
Hermione remained in thought for a few seconds, then suddenly got up with a great smile on her face.
"Come on guys, let's go. We've our first lesson with Professor Lupin today."
"Sorry to be a bother, but we were talking about Professor McGonagall's letter!!"
Ron was apparently upset at the sudden change in her attitude.
"Yes, but if we're late to class, we'll definitely end up in detention!"
Hermione turned and rushed to exit the Great Hall, while Ron and Harry remained at the table, looking at her with
their mouths open.
***O***
Professor Lupin's lesson was very interesting, as he wanted to teach a series of spells to stop hostile attacks. Not once before, during, or after the class did the other students make any comments about the fact that professor Lupin left the school three years ago because he was a werewolf.
Everything was different now that Voldemort was back. All of the students were happy to have an excellent teacher who
most certainly would be able to teach them how to defend themselves against dark magic. For Harry, Ron, and Hermione it
was a double pleasure because not only was Lupin was a great friend, but also in this difficult time, the more wizards
from the Order of the Phoenix who were present at school, the better.
After dinner, Ron and Hermione went back to the common room, while Harry headed to Professor McGonagall's office to hear what she had to say.
Harry knocked twice; Professor McGonagall answered "Come in" in her usual severe tone of voice. He entered
the room and walked over to her desk, where she was sitting, looking at him over her spectacles.
"Good evening Mr. Potter."
"Good evening professor."
Harry was feeling nervous and kept asking himself why he was there.
"I asked you to come to my office because I have an important announcement to make. Surely you are wondering if the Gryffindor Quidditch team is still without a captain?"
Harry suddenly realized she was right; the previous captain Angelina Johnson had graduated last year.
"Well, the answer is yes! The team does not yet have a captain... unless you accept the position I am currently
offering you."
Professor McGonagall started to gaze at him with a sweeter look, and Harry remained speechless, unable to believe his ears.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Yes, you understood correctly, Mr. Potter. I asked you if you would accept the role of captain for our Quidditch team."
Professor McGonagall was becoming impatient and Harry felt his heart beating madly in his chest. With all the problems
he had over the last few months, he hadn't even had a chance think about it, but becoming the new captain... it was
his greatest desire ever.
"Do I take your silence as a no?"
"NO! I mean YES, I accept!"
"Very well, very well. I really hope that you are going to put your all into this."
"I'll do my best, Professor McGonagall."
McGonagall looked at him from over her spectacles, and her thin lips formed a light smile.
"I have no doubt Mr. Potter. I am going to explain to you the duties of a Quidditch captain."
Harry was so excited. He was the new team captain. He still couldn't believe it, and he couldn't even listen to McGonagall while she was speaking.
"I also remind you that the championship will start at the end of October as usual, and, let's say, next week,
you should start practices. Before that, you will need to organize tryouts to choose the new members of the
team."
She paused before speaking again.
"As you know, on the team already are Mr. Ronald Weasley, who is the keeper, then Miss Ginny Weasley, who has
asked to play as a Chaser, Mr. Kirke and Mr. Sloper who were Beaters last year, and you are the Seeker, of course. You
just need to find two more Chasers, and I suggest you choose them with the utmost care."
Professor McGonagall gave him another serious gaze from over her spectacles.
"Yes, professor."
"And I have another announcement to make, Mr. Potter."
Harry felt again his heart beating like mad; was there something more to worry about?
"It is our Headmaster's wish that you resume your Occlumency lessons again with Professor Snape."
Harry felt a strange emptiness in his stomach and suddenly his scar started to throb. He had to start Occlumency lessons again? It couldn't be true, Dumbledore couldn't do that to him. Harry immediately tried to protest.
"But, Professor, is it really necessary? I mean, is there no other way to..."
"I am sorry, Mr. Potter, but the Headmaster believes that learning Occlumency is of vital importance for both your physical and mental health, and I cannot say any more than that," McGonagall interrupted him severely.
"I expect that you will make arrangements with Professor Snape as soon as possible."
"Yes, Professor," answered Harry sadly, while his blood began to boil in anger.
"Also, in case of news of any kind, I ask that you report it to me immediately. Is it clear?"
"Yes, it is," answered sharply Harry, wondering about which news the professor meant.
"Very well then, I believe that, for the moment, that is all, Mr. Potter. I wish you all the best."
"Thank you Professor. Good night."
"Good night Mr. Potter. Oh, there is one last thing..."
Harry had already reached the door, when McGonagall stopped him.
"I would like to congratulate you on your excellent O.W.L.s"
"Thank you Professor." Replied Harry, sadly.
Harry opened the door and exited into the empty corridor. It was only eight o'clock, but it seemed that all the students were already in their common rooms.
Harry walked to Gryffindor tower, deeply absorbed in his thoughts. Absent-mindedly he raised his hand to his forehead,
rubbing his scar, which was gradually beginning to throb more and more. He also started to feel sick, but assumed that
it was because of the news about more Occlumency lessons with Snape. It was important to him, but he just couldn't
stand that man, and he knew that Snape too didn't want to waste his time teaching him.
Why could he not take Occlumency lessons from Dumbledore?
Then he thought about being team captain, and he felt a little better. He was thrilled to start practices and he was already planning a few new game plans to teach to his teammates.
But before that, he needed to organize tryouts for the new players... and then he needed to decide when to meet for practices... and then...
Suddenly he was no longer able to think rationally, and almost without knowing it, he fell into a sort of trance; he
stopped and with his hand reached for the walls for support, because his legs had begun to tremble.
Then he started to see clearly in front of him. He was not longer at Hogwarts, but now was in a small, dark room, lit only by the light coming from a large fireplace. In front of him there was Bellatrix Lestrange, who was watching him with reverence. Then Harry spoke, with a cold and disgusting voice that was not his own.
"Then, Bellatrix, is it all ready?"
"Yes, my Lord, as you requested," Bellatrix answered with a pleased tone of voice.
"Wormtail!"
Now Harry was talking to a little bald man, who rushed in front of him and bowed deeply with reverence.
"Yes, my Lord?"
"You know what you have to do, right?"
"Yes my Lord. We are ready and we are just waiting for your orders."
Harry laughed cruelly.
"Very well. They think that we are defeated, but they do not know yet what we are preparing for them. Soon they will see what LORD VOLDEMORT can do."
Then Harry laughed in a spine-chilling way and his scar burned so badly that he couldn't stand on his feet; he fell
onto his knees, his hands on his forehead, hoping that the pain was going to end soon.
Harry came back to his senses and realized that he just had a real vision about what the Dark Lord was planning to do.
He was panting heavily and feeling terribly sick.
Being a helpless spectator was the most terrible thing ever, because in that moment he was not able to stop him. He didn't even know where Voldemort was hiding! But, it was now clear to him that Voldemort was going to attack soon.
When he managed to recover himself, he staggered up the stairs and finally reached the Fat Lady's painting. He said
the password almost without thinking about it and entered the common room.
To his great surprise, he found all the Gryffindors there waiting for him. As soon as he entered, everybody congratulated him on becoming the new Quidditch team captain. Harry wondered how they managed to find out so soon, when Professor McGonagall had only just told him. Everybody was patting him on the shoulder and offering him something to drink, but Harry was not at all in a mood to celebrate.
The experience he just had made him forget the joy of becoming the new captain. Now the only thing that he wanted was
to find Ron and Hermione and talk with them.
He looked for his best friends amongst the crowd and finally found them sitting in front of the fireplace, gesturing
for him to come over. Harry went to them, avoiding a group of happy students who were asking him about his plans for
the team, and then he sat on the couch next to Hermione.
"How is it possible that everybody already knows that I am the new captain?"
"We don't know either! When we came earlier, we found everybody already here busy celebrating. I think they
were expecting it, since Angelina, Katie, and Alicia left last year. But tell me, is it true? Professor McGonagall
wanted to talk to you about that?"
Ron was really excited and he was watching him with anticipation, but then he saw Harry's worried face and his excitement suddenly left him.
They could tell something wrong, but there were too many people there to talk freely. Hermione couldn't wait and whispered to him.
"Harry, what is it? You have such an odd expression! Was it McGonagall?"
"No, not McGonagall..." answered Harry warily as he leaned closer to them, speaking in a low voice.
"I need to tell you something, but there're too many people here now. We should wait until everybody goes to bed."
"All right, then.... shall we do our Transfiguration essay in the meantime?"
Hermione never missed an opportunity to encourage the other two to work on their homework.
"How can you think about homework at a time like this?"
Hermione frowned at Ron.
"OK, fine! You can do the essay for real, while I pretend to do it! We only need to wait until everybody goes to
bed!!"
"Ron Weasley, may I remind you that you're a prefect, and you need to set the right example?"
"But Hermione, how can I concentrate on the essay if I can't wait to hear what Harry is going to tell us?"
"All right then, let's get out our Transfiguration essays while we wait for everybody to go to sleep! But please stop bickering, my head is throbbing like mad!"
Harry was exasperated so he, Ron, and Hermione took out their Transfiguration homework and tried to write something. Ron was peeking at Hermione's essay, while Harry was staring blankly at his parchment. He was still too shocked by his vision and his scar was still hurting.
Around eleven o'clock, the rest of the students finally went to their dormitories and Harry was able to tell his
friends the details about his vision.
Hermione thought for a moment, then spoke.
"OK, let's see, you said that Voldemort is planning something terrible, something that his enemies - the
wizards of the Order - don't know about. What could that be, do you have any idea?"
"Maybe YOU-KNOW-WHO has finally convinced the giants and the goblins to join his side and now he wants to attack Muggle cities?" tried Ron, in a tone of voice of someone searching for a clever explanation.
"Or maybe he's preparing his army to attack Hogwarts? Maybe a group of Death Eaters will apparate in the
gardens and..." Harry suggested as another possibility, but Hermione was ready to correct him.
"Oh, have neither of you read Hogwarts: A History? It is impossible to apparate inside Hogwarts!! Anyway, I doubt that Voldemort will attack Dumbledore directly. I think that he would try to attack the Order of the Phoenix in some subtle way. I don't know, maybe one of his spie told him something secret about the Order, something that we don't know..."
Hermione stopped again to think some more before continuing to talk. "In any case, I still wonder how he's going to do any of it, with all of his best Death Eaters locked away in Azkaban.... Oh, no! He couldn't do that!"
"What are you talking about?" said Ron and Harry together when Hermione jumped on the sofa with fear.
"I mean, he can't do something like that... not without help from inside!"
"Come on Hermione, tell us what you're thinking, or are we just two idiots to you, unable to understand?"
Ron was starting to lose his temper, so Hermione began to explain.
"I was thinking that maybe Voldemort would try to break his Death Eaters out of Azkaban! But he couldn't do it unless someone inside the prison helps him."
"He could do it, if the Dementors were on his side. Remember what Dumbledore said about the Dementors? They're
pure evil and they wouldn't hesitate to join his side the instant Voldemort asked!"
The three friends stared at each other silently; this possibility was too realistic and too dangerous for comfort. Then Ron spoke.
"Can you imagine it? Dementors everywhere, attacking wizards and Muggles? Nobody'd survive!"
Harry shivered at the idea.
"You have to go to Dumbledore straight away, Harry!" said Hermione standing up.
"Hermione, it's almost midnight!" Ron thought it wasn't a good idea to run to the Headmaster at this time of night.
"Hermione, listen to me. Dumbledore probably already knows about Voldemort's plans. Remember, Snape is spying
on him for the Order."
"No, Harry, what you saw is too serious! You must go tell Dumbledore!"
"You can wait until tomorrow morning to go!" Ron tried to insist, and in the end, Harry realized that he was right.
"I agree with Ron!" Harry said shyly.
"Well, it's up to you then! I'm going to bed!"
Hermione ran away furiously, leaving them alone and deeply concerned.
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