Unofficial Portkey Archive

(A/N: I thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! As I've told you in the first chapter, this story has been already finished, and I'm re-posting it in view of the sequal which I'm writing at the moment. I'll do my best to publish each chapter every day, so keep an eye, because I'm always there!)

Chapter 6. MALFOY'S REVENGE

...

At the exit from school the boys

Were selling some books

I remained apart watching

and trying to find

The courage to do like them

Then defeated, I turned to play with

My mind and his worms...

...

"Gardens in March" by Lucio Battisti

The next day, Harry woke up very early and silently got ready so as to not wake up his sleeping friends; he then went straight to Dumbledore's office.

When he was in front of the gargoyle statue, he realized that he didn't know the password, so he tried several without any success. The only thing he was sure of was that Dumbledore always chose the password from among his favorite sweets.

"Chocolate frogs? Bubble Bees? Candy Bats? Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans? No he doesn't like those... Sugar quill?"

Finally, the gargoyle statue jumped aside, revealing the secret passage that led to the Headmaster's office. Harry hurried up the stairs and stopped in front of the door.

Maybe he's sleeping... he thought, but then he heard several different voices inside, and he was sure that Dumbledore was up. He had a very strange feeling before going in; this would be the first time he had talked to the Headmaster since his revelation about the prophecy at the end of last year.

He opened the door and entered. Suddenly, all of the chatting stopped and Harry found himself completely alone in the office. On the walls, the ancient Headmasters were snoring noisily, but Harry knew very well that they were just pretending; in fact, they were slowly opening their eyes to see who had just entered.

It seemed that Dumbledore wasn't in his office, or at least Harry couldn't see him; he moved a few steps forward and reached the desk, hoping the Headmaster would come out from somewhere. Then, Harry saw him on the upper floor.

"Good morning Harry."

"Good morning Sir."

"Did you have something to tell me?" asked Dumbledore while slowly descending the stairs, without looking at Harry directly in the eyes. Harry wondered if it was still dangerous for the Headmaster to look him directly in the eyes, which in doing so would let Voldemort gain access to his thoughts.

"Yes, Sir," answered Harry, lowering his gaze to the floor. He didn't want to be used by Voldemort against Dumbledore.

"I am listening."

Dumbledore sat behind his desk, always looking at the floor.

"Yesterday evening... I saw Voldemort, I mean, in my mind."

"Please, go on."

Dumbledore seemed interested, so Harry told him everything about his vision. When he finished, he looked up at the Headmaster, waiting for his opinion about it.

"You have to understand, Harry, that it is of vital importance that you start your Occlumency lessons again. That way, this will never happen again."

Harry was bewildered. How was this possible? He was sure that the Headmaster would have found this information valuable. He wanted to be useful, and then Dumbledore was telling him to take more of those useless lessons with Snape? He was starting to lose his temper, and he felt his heart beating faster in his chest.

"But Sir, don't you think what I just told you is useful? I thought that..."

"Harry, please listen to me. You should leave the fight against Voldemort to the wizards of the Order, and you should just live your life here at Hogwarts, like every other student does. If you learn how to completely close your mind to Voldemort, you will be able to avoid these visions, and finally, you will be able to prevent him from knowing everything about your personal life."

"But I..."

"Harry, Voldemort must never come to know the contents of the prophecy, so you MUST absolutely meet Professor Snape to start your Occlumency lessons. You do not need to worry about anything else."

Harry thought he was going to explode; how was it possible for him not to worry when he was feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders? Wasn't this EXACTLY what the prophecy had said? Wasn't this EXACTLY what everybody was expecting from him... that he would defeat Voldemort?

Why was Dumbledore treating him this way, as if he did not have any role in the Order of the Phoenix? Harry felt his blood boiling with anger and he wanted to break everything... but then he tried to control his temper and he spoke slowly, in a hurt tone of voice, tightening his fists.

"How should I not worry? You told me about the prophecy and now you expect that I sit idly by, waiting for Voldemort to come here and find me? Shouldn't I be the one to go and find him first, to defeat him? Shouldn't I..."

"Step by step, Harry, step by step. Do you really feel capable of defeating Voldemort now?"

Dumbledore gazed at him severely for a moment, then he moved his eyes to the floor again.

Harry lowered his head. Dumbledore was completely right; he was not yet ready to fight against Voldemort. There wasn't really anything useful he could do at this point in time.

"No, Sir."

"Now, return to your classes, Harry, and be patient. Do not be mistaken and believe that you are doing nothing useful. Only by continuing your education you will be able to improve your abilities and, then, you will be successful in what fate has written for you. Now go, Harry, and swear to me that you will talk to Professor Snape today."

"Yes Sir."

Feeling resigned, Harry turned to the door and exited the office.

***O***

When he arrived in the Great Hall, all the house tables were full of students busy eating breakfast. Immediately, Harry looked for Ron and Hermione, but they hadn't arrived yet, so he headed to the Gryffindor table.

Suddenly, and without even thinking about it, his eyes wandered over to the Ravenclaw table and he stared at a pretty black-haired girl: Cho Chang, his ex-girlfriend. He was surprised to see that she was staring at him as well. It didn't cause in him any particular feelings at all, just a great sense of indifference.

He took a seat, thinking how he didn't fancy her anymore; last year she treated him so badly, always crying and comparing him to poor Cedric Diggory.

After Sirius's death, Harry found himself quite changed; all those things that were important to him before then had now lost their value.

Cho Chang was no longer looking at him, but instead was chatting animatedly with her friends.

Harry started to eat, thinking again about his discussion with Dumbledore. He could not believe that the Headmaster was expecting him to go on with school and just be patient.... He had always thought he would be an important part of the plan to defeat Voldemort. He always felt very much involved in everything concerning the Order of the Phoenix, partly because his parents used to be members, but also because of the prophecy.

His thoughts were interrupted by Ron and Hermione, who had just arrived and sat down in front of him. Hermione couldn't wait any longer; she wanted to know everything about his meeting with Dumbledore.

"What did he say?"

Harry told them everything, except the part about the prophecy.

Afterwards, Ron expressed his thoughts about that.

"I can't believe that Dumbledore told you to be patient here at school, while out there, the war is starting, and in here, you're always having visions and nightmares about YOU-KNOW-WHO!"

"NO, Ron... I think Dumbledore is absolutely correct! Believe me Harry, Dumbledore gave you very good advice. You should absolutely start your Occlumency lessons, and you should be patient and stay here in your place."

"Yeah, waiting for Voldemort to come and find me!" commented Harry, looking resigned.

"That will never happen, you can be sure of that! Dumbledore will always protect you, even if he has to risk his life!!" Hermione exclaimed.

Harry and Ron were surprised by the strength of her affirmation. Hermione went on, "Harry, please swear to me that you are going to follow Dumbledore's advice: no whims, no dangerous plans on your own initiative and, above all, try to do your best with the Occlumency lessons."

Hermione's persistence was making him agitated; it seemed as if she could not understand him.

"Don't you have any other advice to give him? Come on, Hermione, you sound like my mother!" Ron gave voice to Harry's thoughts, but he wanted to point something out as well.

"Don't you understand that Occlumency lessons are difficult? I've always done my best, it's just that... with Snape, it's absolutely impossible to remain calm! I'd like to see someone else try in my shoes!"

"Oh yes, I understand you perfectly mate!"

Ron tried to comfort him, but Hermione would not give up; after her breakfast, she frowned at Harry and started again.

"At least... try not to lose your temper, Harry."

Harry frowned back at her before he got up, took his school bag, and rushed out of the Great Hall to start the school day. Ron and Hermione followed him.

***O***

It was the first of October, a Friday, and the first month of school had already passed by.

Harry made arrangements with Snape to resume Occlumency lessons that evening after dinner. The entire month, Harry had tried not to think about it, and actually, he hadn't even had the time, as he had been very busy with homework, tryouts for the new Quidditch players, and regular Quidditch practices.

That morning, the thought of his meeting with Snape came overpoweringly to his mind. Fortunately, he hadn't had any other visions or nightmares the entire month; that was good, even though he was sure Voldemort was planning something. The following day was going to be the first Hogsmeade weekend, and he, Ron, and Hermione were really looking forward to it.

While he was having breakfast, the owls arrived with the mail and Hermione received her usual copy of the Daily Prophet. She paid the owl, took the newspaper, and sank deeply behind it, reading.

Suddenly, she gave a shrill cry and Harry and Ron turned to her.

"There is a new Minister of Magic!"

"Can we have a look?"

Ron leaned over to read the front page, upon which was a giant picture of an ancient witch with a severe look in her eyes. She reminded them of Professor McGonagall.

"It's Madam Amelia Bones, the aunt of Susan Bones," explained Hermione while reading the article, and Harry leaned over to look as well.

"Hey, I've seen that witch! She was at my hearing last year."

"How did she treat you?" asked Ron curiously.

"She seemed the most competent of them all; she kept asking me if I was really able to form a Patronus."

"It says here that her brother and sister-in-law were both killed by Death Eaters more than fifteen years ago. Maybe she was chosen for this reason! In times like this, the wizarding world needs a Minister who can effectively oppose Voldemort, don't you think?"

Ron nodded, but Harry's attention was stolen away by the Slytherin table, where Malfoy and his cronies were whispering to each other and were giving strange looks to him and his friends at the Gryffindor table.

"Harry, what's wrong?" asked Hermione, looking in his eyes.

"I don't know, but I'm sure it's nothing good. Malfoy and the others are planning something, I feel it."

"Well then, we just need to do our best to avoid them!" said Hermione firmly.

"Avoid them? If they so much as try to do something to me, I'll show them who Ronald Weasley really is!"

"Ron, please... may I remind you that you are a prefect and..."

"Yes, yes, I know... I must set a good example. But if they even dare to provoke me, I'll respond!"

"Are you serious, Ron? Do you want to get in trouble? Besides, tonight we are going to the prefects' meeting, don't you remember?"

"Yeah... I completely forgot about that. We're going to spend another useless evening... erm... because we won't be able to do any homework," Ron corrected himself, when Hermione frowned at him.

"Anyway, you really should be careful... and try not to get yourselves in trouble with the Slytherins," said Harry with a worried tone, then added, "I'm busy tonight as well..."

"What? Are you going out with your new girlfriend?" joked Ron, but Harry frowned at him.

"Yes, and her name is Severus Snape! Come on!"

They both burst into laughter, imagining Snape dressed like an old woman, just like Neville's boggart from third year.

***O***

That evening after dinner, Harry left Ron and Hermione and headed to the dungeon, to meet Snape. When he arrived, he found the classroom door open, and he slowly entered.

Snape was busy placing memories into Dumbledore's Pensive. "Come here Potter, I was waiting for you," ordered Snape in his usual cold voice, and Harry quietly reached the center of the room.

"Before we start, I would like to discuss a very important matter. I agreed to teach you Occlumency again because the Headmaster asked me to. But, I want you to know that it is NOT at all a pleasure."

"Yes, sir," answered Harry coldly; he wanted to add that it was not a pleasure for him either.

"Let's see if you remember what I taught you last year. What are we trying to do here tonight, Potter?"

"You are going to try to enter my mind... and read my thoughts.... and I will do my best to prevent you from doing so."

"Suffice it to say that, generally speaking, it is like that, but the most important thing is that you are going to need to use all of your strength and concentration if you want to succeed in repelling my attacks. Are you ready? We are going to start immediately. LEGILIMENS!"

Harry closed his eyes and suddenly felt Snape's strong mental attack. He was seeing all of his memories at great speed, as if Snape was skimming through a book. Then his mind stopped on a particular memory: it was during his last school year... he and Cho Chang were walking to Hogsmeade, chatting animatedly.

Harry began to repel the attack with all his strength; he did not want Snape to see that memory, he would not permit it! Harry focused all of his concentration and suddenly he found himself in Snape's brain. Several memories were darting by at high speed in front of him: Snape was about sixteen and he was at school, in a younger Professor McGonagall's class.

Then Snape's memories started to speed by again: now Snape was a young man, standing in front of a girl who was staring deeply into his eyes.

Suddenly Harry heard Snape screaming with anger, and came back to his senses, finding himself again in the Potions classroom. He saw Snape panting heavily, looking at him with extreme hatred. Then he spoke. "Very well, Potter.... I think we can end it there for tonight."

Harry nodded, happy to end the lesson so quickly. At the same time, he was also proud because, this time, he succeeded in repelling Snape's attack.

"We will meet next week at the same time. You may go now, and remember to empty your mind before you fall asleep. And beware, if you do not do as I say, I will know."

Snape ended the sentence staring at him with disgust, then he returned to the Pensive; Harry knew that the lesson was finally over. Harry exited the room without saying a word, and headed upstairs. Snape had that innate power to make him lose his temper; Snape was always against him, no matter what he did or said.

Harry had just reached the third floor when he suddenly heard a girl screaming from the second. Without thinking about it, he ran in that direction, sure that someone was in trouble.

He was almost there when he heard voices in one of the empty classrooms at the end of the corridor. He stopped and moved closer to the door, which was half open, and his heart jumped when he recognized Malfoy's voice.

"Well, well, well... you're no longer such an arrogant little mudblood when your two trusted knights are so far away?"

His heart started to beat faster, fearing the worst as he moved closer to see Malfoy's victim.

Unfortunately, he could not see the girl from where he was, but he saw that with Malfoy also were his cronies Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Crabbe, who was bent over forward, apparently in pain, and Goyle, who was holding the girl tightly.

Then Malfoy spoke again, pointing his wand at the girl who was in front of him.

"Let's see what you think if I try one of the forbidden curses on you, the CRUCIATUS CURSE, for example? My father always told me to practice...."

"Malfoy, you can't do that! You know it's forbidden!"

Harry's fear was confirmed; the girl was Hermione. He felt his blood boiling in his veins in anger. He knew had to do something before Malfoy could use the Cruciatus Curse on her. He would not allow it!

Then, Malfoy spoke again.

"It doesn't matter; nobody will know. Are you ready, Mudblood? I'm going to make you feel such pain..."

Suddenly, Harry entered the room and pointed his wand directly at Malfoy, looking at him with scorn.

"LEAVE HER ALONE, MALFOY, OR YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET IT!"

Malfoy and his cronies looked at him, their mouths open in surprise. Harry was standing at the door with his wand drawn like a sword.

Malfoy still had his wand pointed at Hermione and spoke, trying to challenge him.

"I don't think you're in any position to give orders, Potter!!"

Not giving him another chance to speak, Harry cast a first stunning spell at Pansy Parkinson on his left and a second to Theodore Nott on his right, and they both fell backwards unconscious. Then, with three long steps, he approached Malfoy, and pointed his wand directly at his throat.

"Who isn't in the right position now, Malfoy?"

Malfoy's face went pale and he glared at Harry with fear; he had never seen Harry like that before. Hermione was also astonished.

Malfoy started to shake and, keeping his eyes on Harry, he made sign to Goyle to release Hermione. She reached Harry, summoned her wand from Pansy Parkinson's hands and pointed it directly at Goyle's throat.

"Now, apologize to her, Malfoy"

After a long hesitation, Malfoy said something incomprehensible in a low voice.

"I didn't hear you very well.... I TOLD YOU TO APOLOGIZE, NOW!"

Harry was very angry and as Malfoy had no other choice, he turned to Hermione.

"I'M SORRY."

"Now listen to me carefully, Malfoy, because I'm not going to say it again: if you want to save your skin, don't go near Hermione or any other friend of mine again! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

Malfoy nodded.

"Now get out of here... NOW!"

As soon as Harry lowered his wand, Malfoy made a sign to his cronies; Crabbe, who was still bent over with his face full of horrible boils, and Goyle both lifted Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott up, and headed to the door, followed by Malfoy.

Harry was slowly calming down, and he turned to Hermione, who was staring at him, smiling.

"Is it everything all right, Hermione?"

"Yes, Harry... right on time!"

Suddenly, a jet of red light came from the door, and Harry realized with horror that Malfoy had just turned around with his wand pointed at Hermione, and cast a spell at her.

"ESOPHAGUS OBSTRUCTO!"

Harry had no time to react; this time Malfoy was faster than he was. He could only look at Hermione, who was thrown forcefully into the stone wall and then slumped to the floor, raising her hands to her throat.

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