Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J. K. Rowling, not me.
Dumbledore Answers Harry - Chapter 8 - Flying
At the first Quidditch practice of the term, Harry nonchalantly took his Firebolt out to the pitch and started flying until Angelina Johnson called out, "Harry, is that a new broom?" Harry had sworn (actually bribed) the twins to silence because he wanted his new broom to be a surprise for the team.
"Yeah," said Harry, trying not to sound excited, "I got it for Christmas."
Oliver Wood started flying toward Harry within a few seconds of hearing that. Angelina said, "That's not a Nimbus 2001, and I know you wouldn't start using one that's not as good as your old broom. What kind is it? I've never seen that before."
Oliver Wood went crazy with excitement as he recognized it. "That-That's a-a FIREBOLT!!!! But it can't be! They haven't been released yet! How'd you get it?"
Harry smiled with pride over his new broom. "My godfather knows someone in management at the company who makes them. They think Harry Potter's endorsement will help them sell brooms, so they let Sirius buy it early."
"Wow!" said Oliver, "I read about it in a magazine. It's supposed to become the professional standard broom! I never thought we'd have one on our team! Why don't you show us what it can do?!"
After doing several stunts and dives, the Snitch got released and Harry kept catching it easily and released it again. The whole team was thrilled about it, and their chances of winning the Quidditch House Cup never looked better.
-
"I'll bet you enjoyed that!" said Ginny happily as Harry was telling the girls about his team's reaction to the Firebolt.
"I'll add it to my list of good memories Flitwick told me to make for my next class," Harry said.
"Good memories?" repeated Hermione, "There's nothing in that book about that."
"Dumbledore told Flitwick he wanted me to learn something called a Patronus before anything else."
Hermione's eyes went wide, "Those are used for delivering messages or…fighting Dementors."
Ginny almost fell off her chair. "Dementors? Th-Those are the horrid creatures that guard Azkaban. Dad says they take away your happiness just by being near you, and that they can even take away your soul."
"But they obey the Ministry," said Hermione, "You shouldn't have to fight them."
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. Flitwick mentioned that they were on Voldemort's side during the last war. Maybe Dumbledore thinks they'll join him again if/when he comes back. I'll ask him about it at our next meeting."
-
Professor Dumbledore had by this time told Harry all about Tom Riddle's past, and about Horcruxes, along with his suspicions about there being several. Dumbledore had even told Harry what objects he thought the Horcruxes were. Harry had said, "Isn't it more important to figure out where he's hiding them than what they are?"
Dumbledore chuckled at this question. "Quite right, Harry. Quite right. Knowing what object it is doesn't tell us where it is, but knowing the location and investigating it would inevitably show us what the cursed object is. I shall focus my efforts on determining possible locations to search this term, and begin investigating those locations this summer. It shouldn't take long to investigate the locations, once I know where to go."
"You should bring help."
-
This meeting, Harry simply said, "Why are you having me learn how to make a patronus? Do you think Dementors will attack me?"
Albus sighed. "By their very nature, Dementors are among the foulest creatures we know of. They side with whoever offers them the most prey. If Professor Trelawney's latest prediction and your dream are true, then Voldemort will rise soon. When that happens, the Dementors will join him once again, and we may not have enough time to teach you before you get attacked. This is just a precaution, but I feel it is a necessary one."
-
The general atmosphere of Hogwarts was a bit on edge with Aurors at every entrance because of increased security. Lupin had even had Dumbledore assign guards to hallways that had secret entrances without revealing their exact locations.
Minister Bones in the meantime had been working to change prejudiced laws. The biggest controversial law that she was trying to get passed was one that changed the ministry's taxing practice. Early in her search of prejudiced laws, she had found that pureblood witches and wizards were not taxed. Instead, the burden of supporting the government fell on the half-bloods, muggleborns, squibs that lived in the wizarding world, and other sentient magical beings (such as goblins). An article of the Daily Prophet had quoted Madam Bones as saying, 'It's ironic that a government fully supported by non-purebloods tends to favor them. It's also ironic that on the rare occasions when pureblood families like the Malfoys made a monetary contribution to the ministry, everyone thought they were so generous while the non-purebloods were always supporting the government.' The Weasleys weren't entirely thrilled about that law, but they understood that it was only fair. They also knew that taxes would be based on income, and that they would get tax discounts based off of how many children they were supporting.
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In the middle of January, Harry had a conversation that he would be thinking about for a long time. He'd been on his way back from Quidditch practice when he saw Draco Malfoy's head sticking out of a classroom. "Hey Potter," he whispered, "I want to talk to you."
Harry pulled out his wand instinctively and pointed it at Malfoy. He whispered, "Fine, but if it's a trap, you'll be the first one hexed."
Harry walked into the classroom and couldn't see anyone else. He then shot a spell that sent a sheet of light around the room. It looked as though a bright white sheet was stretched horizontally across the room at about three feet above the ground for fifteen seconds. Harry gave a look of satisfaction and said, "Ok Malfoy, what did you want to talk about?"
"What was that?" asked Draco.
Harry grinned. "Something I learned from Flitwick. I was just making sure nobody was wearing an invisibility cloak in here."
Draco's expression went from interest to anger to shame in about three seconds. "I guess you don't entirely trust me."
"You could say that," said Harry coldly, "What's this about?"
Draco looked around the room, and then settled with looking at his feet. "I-I've heard some things in the Slytherin dorm. I, well, thought I should tell you."
"Go on," said Harry.
Draco's ears were turning pink as he took a deep breath. "Well, I…I heard that You-Know-Who may be gaining power. Crabbe's father told him that his Dark Mark, a magical tattoo that faded quite a bit when you-you became the Boy-Who-Lived, that He gave every Death Eater, is showing up more clearly. I overheard him telling Goyle last night. Since everything's happened with my father they don't talk to me much."
Harry wasn't sure what to think. He felt like saying, 'That's what happens when you buy your friends,' but didn't think that would be the best thing to say. Instead, Harry said, "Why are you telling me this?"
Draco shuffled his feet. "Well, I, I know you talk to Dumbledore. I can't be seen going to see him, or talking to you." Draco took a deep breath. "Since, since I don't have much money anymore, I'm, well, not very popular in Slytherin. If I'm caught talking with Dumbledore or a teacher, they all might…might." He sighed again. "Anyway, I know my father's in-in trouble with the Dark Lord. If, if He returns, then he won't treat my father any better than a mudblood. He'll probably be killed. He doesn't tolerate failure. I-I thought if the Dark Lord could be stopped from returning to power, my father could be saved."
Harry sighed. He knew Draco had had a hard time lately, and that for the past few months he hadn't insulted anyone that Harry was aware of. He supposed he could understand Draco doing whatever it took to save his father's life. Although Harry couldn't stand Lucius Malfoy, he supposed Draco loved him. "I-I'll tell Dumbledore what you told me, and one of us will get back to you, er, discretely."
-
Neither Hermione nor Ginny was sure if he could trust Draco or not, but both agreed he should tell the headmaster. After dinner, Harry had gone to Dumbledore's office and told the headmaster what Draco had told him.
"It is as we feared," said the aged professor. "Voldemort must be gaining strength through the ministrations of Peter Pettigrew as you dreamed. He will probably make some sort of action aimed at getting a body soon. We must be on our guard. As for young Mr. Malfoy. We may be able to offer protection for him and his family, but they must want it. I believe that it would be best if Draco spoke to Lucius about this matter. I will arrange for Professor Lupin to assign him a detention. It would be best if he didn't know the plan at the time so that he shows an appropriate amount of anger for being blamed for something he didn't do. That will be the perfect time to speak with him briefly and allow him to visit Azkaban."
-
The next day, they had Defense Against the Dark Arts class with the Slytherins. Harry was already seated when Malfoy, looking sullen, walked inside. He caught Malfoy's eye and almost imperceptibly nodded his head, and looked away. Fortunately, no one noticed. About half way through the lesson, Harry felt himself put into the full body-bind and fell. As he lay down, facing the floor, he heard Lupin angrily say, "Draco Malfoy! You are never going to pull a prank in my class again!"
Draco paled, "But I didn…"
"Deny it all you want, but I know the truth! You've hated Harry since the day you met him! You are going to come back here immediately after dinner for detention!"
"But I…."
"Do you want me to start taking house points too?" shouted Lupin angrily.
Malfoy looked around to see his fellow Slytherins staring intently at him. "No, sir," he said, looking and feeling defeated.
Of course, while Harry was listening to that, he figured out what was happening, so when Lupin released him, he shot quite a few dirty looks at Draco, who occasionally would look at him, trying to say he didn't do it.
The next morning, Harry noticed that Draco looked depressed at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Harry didn't have a class with the Slytherins that day, so he had to keep wondering what happened throughout the day. Finally, after dinner, Harry went up to Professor Dumbledore's office to ask what had happened with Draco.
Albus looked very old. "I am afraid that Lucius Malfoy said he'd rather die by the hand of Voldemort, of course he called him the Dark Lord, than live among his enemies. He of course called his enemies blood traitors and mudbloods. He called Draco a blood-traitor, among many other things, and disowned him, saying that he'll make sure he and his mother die for their betrayal - did I mention that Draco's mother approved of Draco's plan? Fortunately, since no one ever visits Lucius, and he is not allowed to send letters out, he won't be able to carry out his threat unless he escapes, which probably won't happen unless Voldemort rises. If either of those two things occur, or we have reason to believe that Lucius has somehow convinced someone to attack his family, I have agreed to offer protection to himself and his mother."
"I see," said Harry, not able to say much as the concept of helping a Malfoy entered his head.
"By the way Harry, before Draco told his father of his plans, he managed to get him to confirm that his Dark Mark is getting much clearer.
-
After Harry informed the girls about this development, Ginny said, "Imagine hiding from You-Know-Who in the same house as the Malfoys?"
"I'd probably leave and take my chances," said Harry.
"Of course you wouldn't," said Hermione. "You may possibly avoid each other, but you wouldn't let your distrust of Malfoy cause your death."
-
At the end of January, during Quidditch practice, Wood shouted out to Harry, who was in the air, "I'm gonna release the Snitch, and I want to see how fast you can catch it on that Firebolt!"
Soon the golden ball with wings was flying all over the pitch, with a raven-haired pursuer right behind it. Harry reached out his hand and grabbed the Snitch triumphantly. As soon as his hand closed around the tiny orb, he felt a familiar sensation of being pulled behind his navel.
-
He arrived at an unfamiliar place, but found he was still on his Firebolt. He felt himself shot in the leg from a spell and fell off the broom. He saw that it landed safely in front of a large gravestone that said, 'Tom Riddle.' He started moving fast to avoid getting hit, but it was difficult. He pulled his wand out of his pocket to duel his opponent, but his injured leg gave out on him. He felt his body magically picked up and set against a large gravestone. Pettigrew had him magically bound by ropes. Harry said, "Activate Shrieking Shack," to activate his portkey, and for a moment felt the tugging behind his navel, but he didn't move. He swore to himself, figuring that the place was warded against portkeys. 'But the Snitch portkey worked,' he thought, 'I wonder why that portkey works.' He finally got a good look at his attacker, and recognized him as Wormtail, the rat that had betrayed his parents, carrying something horrid that appeared to be the size of a baby.
Harry watched in horror as Wormtail threw that thing into a huge cauldron and then levitated a leg bone into the cauldron. He heard Pettigrew say, "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!" Harry almost vomited as he watched Peter cut off his own right hand with a shining silver dagger into the cauldron saying, "Flesh - of the servant - willingly given - you - will revive - your master" in between cries of pain.
Then Wormtail, bleeding terribly and shaking from pain, turned toward Harry. As he cut the arm of Harry's Quidditch jersey, he said, "B-blood of the enemy…forcibly taken…you will…resurrect…your foe."
'Forcibly taken,' thought Harry, as he tried not to think about how Wormtail was cutting his arm. 'Does that mean he can't use it if it's willing,' he wondered to himself. "Take it you traitor!" he shouted at Pettigrew, "Then go to Hell!"
He watched Wormtail spill the drops of his blood into the Cauldron. Harry began struggling to get free while Peter watched the cauldron in anticipation. The green-eyed boy found that he was just small enough to get out of the ropes that were binding him to the gravestone. As he looked around and noticed two important things, a plan began to formulate in his mind.
As Voldemort's form appeared and Pettigrew robed his master, Harry managed to get his left leg free of the ropes without making a sound. He quickly lifted his injured right leg out, whimpering quietly as Voldemort said, "Give me my wand." Harry kneeled to the ground, allowing his arms and head to get free. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING POTTER!?!" shouted Voldemort suddenly, and Harry grabbed his Firebolt and started taking off toward the sky before he'd even mounted it properly. He saw the green flash hit the gravestone behind where he'd been. He scanned the sky for an instant (still moving), trying to decide which way to go, when he saw it about a foot above the ground, ten feet from Voldemort, who seemed to be having trouble breathing. Harry decided to try it.
He dove as red and green flashes of light shot behind him as he reached out for the golden Snitch. This was the most important Quidditch game of his life. He closed in on the tiny ball and felt the familiar tug from behind his navel as he left that horrific scene behind.
He found himself flying in the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch with a bleeding arm. Practice was obviously over since no one else was in the sky. He was about twenty feet in the air, so he decided to land. As he was approaching the ground, he saw Dumbledore, Lupin, Ginny, Hermione, and most of the team on the ground, with the exception of Oliver Wood, looking panicked. There were also several aurors who looked bewildered present.
When someone spotted him making his way down, they smiled until they saw his appearance. He got to the ground and started to dismount, but was painfully reminded of his leg injury. Staying on his broom, he looked Dumbledore in the eyes and said, "He's back! Voldemort's back!"
He watched the headmaster age about fifty years. "Are you all right? Can you talk about it now?"
Harry took a deep breath and said while everyone was watching him intently, "I-I can talk about it. When I grabbed the Snitch…."
-
As he told his tale, a few others came out to the pitch. McGonagall was helping Oliver Wood, who was holding his head. When Harry finished his story, Oliver told about how he'd encountered himself, and been stupefied just before practice. Upon further questioning, Oliver admitted that a Slytherin girl had come onto him the week before, pulling him into an empty classroom and trying to kiss him. When he'd rejected her, claiming he already had a girlfriend, her hands that had been around his neck pulled at his hair as she screamed at him.
"Polyjuice Potion," said Albus. "She must have given a sample of your hair to someone skilled enough to make a portkey that could get past Hogwarts' wards, quite possibly a former instructor."
"Snape?" said Ginny.
Albus put his head down. "Probably, although I will not judge a man until he is proven guilty."
This made Harry curious about why his portkeys worked at Hogwarts but not at the graveyard, but he wasn't about to ask that question in front of everybody else. The imposter Oliver Wood had apparently escaped in the chaos surrounding Harry's disappearance. Harry, along with the real Oliver, was brought to the hospital wing. Only then did his adrenaline fade away while the horror of what he'd been through started to sink in. Trying to console himself, he thought, 'At least nobody died.'
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