Chapter 13
Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw on the Quidditch pitch at the end of January, something the lions were incredibly pleased about. Cho, not so much, as it was her final year at school and as the team Captain; she so wanted to win the Cup this year, but who was she kidding. She knew that the Gryffindor team was near unbeatable.
The game had lasted nearly three hours, with the final score being 410-130, an impressive tally for the lions, leading to a massive party in the common room that afternoon.
The good mood lasted until Monday, when a front page article in the Prophet informed the student population of several Death Eater attacks, resulting in several deaths and several people being admitted into Saint Mungos to be treated for injuries.
Several students had been pulled out of class that day, to be told that their relatives had been one of those attacked. Ernie MacMillian and Terry Boot were pulled out of the sixth year Charms class to be informed that both of their fathers had been injured, though fortunately neither one was serious.
The same could not be said for the Patil twins, whose aunt and uncle had been killed, while their father had been seriously wounded, when their evening had been interrupted by Death Eaters. Though he didn't say anything as he offered his sympathies, Harry privately wondered if they had been chosen because Lord Patil had backed Amelia for Minister, rather than Malfoy. With the former Malfoy Lord being sprung from prison, it was possible he had decided to go after those whom he felt had wronged him.
Speaking with Minerva briefly confirmed that they believed several escaped Death Eaters were responsible for the attacks, Malfoy being among the suspects.
Far from being cowed, the newest attacks only spurred the students forward, training relentlessly at DA meetings. The Patil twins could be seen working on their spellwork week after week. Ernie and Terry both joined them as well, wanting to be able to protect their families.
XXX
The excitement amongst sixth years in the days leading to the end of January was the notices that cropped up in all four common rooms. Apparation lessons would be offered to any students who would reach the age of seventeen before the thirty first of August that year. The cost was twelve galleons, and would take place in the Great Hall. Harry and his fellow sixth years all signed up immediately, and the following Saturday, congregated outside the Great Hall after breakfast, until the doors opened and they were called inside.
The room had changed significantly in the few minutes they had been gone. The tables had all disappeared, and instead, the floor was dotted with circular hoops, approximately three feet in diameter.
"Please find a clear space in front of one of the hoops!" a small, elderly man called out from the front of the room.
There was a flurry of movement as everyone hurried to obey. Harry found himself a spot near the center of the room, with Ron and Neville on one side, Hermione and Susan on the other, and Blaise and Daphne in front of him.
"Now then," the man continued, "Welcome to apparition lessons! I am Professor Wilkie Twycross, and I will be leading this course over the next twelve weeks. We will meet for one hour every Saturday morning." He cleared his throat. "The three D's of apparition: Destination, Determination, Deliberation. One must be completely determined to reach one'sdestination, and move without haste, but with deliberation. Once you have sufficient focus, you turn on the spot and disapparate. Now, normally you would not be able to apparate or dissaparate on Hogwarts grounds; however, the headmaster has lifted the wards on the Great Hall alone, and just for this hour."
As Harry and his friends listened, Twycross had them work on focusing their minds on transporting themselves from their spot to the hoop a few feet in front of them.
Though they all worked hard, none of them felt any difference. Indeed, it wasn't until nearly the end of the hour until anything of interest happened at all.
A bang distracted all of them, and they looked up to see Hannah Abbott standing inside her hoop, her left leg still stuck firmly several feet away.
Before she could do so much as scream, Twycross and several other professors descended, and with another bang, had her reattached once more.
Twycross looked around at the room. "Splinching! It is what happens when ones mind is not sufficiently determined! You must focus your mind, or you may find that you have left a body part behind. Back to work!"
Harry refocused himself on the task, and spent the remainder of the hour trying to picture himself appearing inside that infernal hoop.
He supposed he could consider what happened just before Twycross called the end to the hour a success. Sort of. Just as Twycross was telling them that the lesson was over, Harry felt himself squeezed through something like a tight tube. However, instead of reappearing standing inside the hoop, he ended up skidding across the floor and crashing into Blaise and then Daphne. The three of them went crashing to the floor as the rest of the hall laughed.
Blushing, Harry stood up, offering a hand to Daphne, along with a mumbled apology to both Slytherins.
Twycross looked on, his smile widening. "An excellent start, Mr. Potter! Just a little more determination, but a fine showing. Now then, please exit the hall in an orderly manner so your professors can return the room to its former state. I shall see you all next week."
Harry's friends congratulated him on his success as they left the hall.
"How did you do it?" Ron asked as they headed up to the Room of Requirement to spend the rest of the morning studying.
Harry shrugged. "I didn't really do it," he corrected. "I just sort of… slid across the floor."
Hermione rolled her eyes, and Blaise snorted. "Yeah, I sort of saw that part."
Daphne chuckled. "And we've got the bumps to prove it."
Harry flushed guiltily. "Sorry, guys," he said sheepishly. "It was an accident?"
They all laughed as they entered the Room and greeted Luna and Ginny, who had already settled in the room, studying for their OWLs. They told the two fifth years about the lesson, and Ginny gave her boyfriend a peck on the lips, her eyes amused as she congratulated him on his 'success'.
Harry sighed, settling into the couch next to his girlfriend. "You know, I think I've actually apparated before," he commented idly to his friends.
Ginny raised an eyebrow and the rest looked confused.
Harry bit his lip. "It was accidental magic. I was seven, and running from Dudley and his gang. All of a sudden I was on the roof of the school."
Hermione frowned. "Are you sure you apparated? Not that I'm doubting you, Harry, but that's rather unusual for accidental magic."
Ginny nodded. "Most wizarding kids tend to make things change colors, or levitate or Vanish objects. Some have been known to perform more advanced feats in times of stress, which sounds like what you were in."
Harry shrugged. "I recognized that squeezing feeling when I felt it again. I'm sure I apparated."
"Impressive," Blaise commented. "Maybe now that you remember the feeling, you'll do better in these lessons."
Harry smiled slightly. "Perhaps. But I still have to wait until this summer to get my license."
"Maybe you can help us then," Ron said. "I know I'm going to need all the help I can get."
Hermione hurried to reassure her boyfriend that he would be fine, as Harry promised to help as much as he could, and they all buckled down to deal with the onslaught of homework they all had.
XXX
At the beginning of February, Harry received a summons from Dumbledore that set his hackles rising. What did the headmaster want now? The old man had been thankfully absent from his life lately, and Harry had been quite enjoying it.
Saying goodbye to Ginny, he headed up to the headmaster's office, with her promise to monitor their conversation and get Minerva if she felt he needed his guardian's presence.
Harry had figured out that Dumbledore always knew who was outside his office because they had to give the gargoyle the password. Since he was the Heir of Gryffindor, he didn't need to give the gargoyle anything, which was why the headmaster always seemed surprised when he entered the office.
Indeed, Dumbledore looked up from his desk, startled, when Harry pushed the door open. "You wanted to speak with me, headmaster?" he asked neutrally.
Dumbledore hid his surprise and smiled, gesturing for the teenager to take a seat. He forced himself not to scowl when Harry simply shook his head, preferring to stand. After a moment of silence, Albus spoke. "Yes, Harry. Thank you for coming. Lemon drop?"
Harry grit his teeth but didn't speak, just shaking his head, as the only thing he could really think of saying at the moment was to tell the headmaster to use his proper title; first names were really only something used between friends, after all. He didn't think Dumbledore had earned that right, not anymore.
But he didn't want to give away his ire, so he just remained silent.
Dumbledore held in a sigh, and continued, hoping that he could get the teenager to understand. He knew there were issues between the two of them, but Harry had trusted him before, and he would again. He just needed to understand.
"I wanted to speak with you, Harry, because I need a special task carried out, and I think only you could ensure its success."
Harry did nothing beyond raise an eyebrow.
When he didn't speak, Dumbledore continued. "I want you to get close to Professor Slughorn."
"Why?" Harry asked reasonably.
Dumbledore flummoxed for a moment. "It is not important," he tried to waive off Harry's concerns. "I believe Professor Slughorn would like to get to know you better, and I think you could benefit from becoming closer to the professor."
Harry almost shook his head at the headmaster's idiocy. He couldn't believe the old man still thought he had any sway over what Harry did.
Damn straight, Ginny's mental voice echoed in his mind. Now put the old man in his place and come back to the common room.
Yes dear, Harry replied, amused.
To the headmaster, he simply tilted his head to the side. "There's something I don't understand." When Dumbledore inclined his head in acceptance of the question, Harry continued. "You expect me to simply follow your orders and do what you want, with no explanation, after everything you've put me through?"
Dumbledore's mouth opened and closed several times, before he stood up, his hands resting on his desk. "Mr. Potter, I put up with a lot from you, but I do not –"
"No, you don't," Harry cut in abruptly. "You don't think, you don't act, you don't do anything. The only good I can see you being right now is a figurehead. At least your name still carries some weight, so Voldemort hasn't tried taking the school yet. But that's about it." Dumbledore was gaping now, and Harry felt himself slipping into a fighting stance, balancing his weight on his feet, spreading his legs to shoulder width to lower his center of gravity.
In his head, he could hear Ginny almost cheering him on. Her approval spurred him forward, when before he may have simply left it at that and walked away. "You illegally placed me with people who abused me, you locked my godfather away without a trial, and failed to push for one when the truth was dangled in front of your face. You continually withhold information, and you think yourself a god. You're not infallible, Professor. You've made too many mistakes with my life and with this war. You let proven Death Eaters go free and expect them to want to change. You think you hold all the cards, but you don't. I wonder if you're not becoming more and more obsolete as the years pass by."
Dumbledore now resembled a fish.
Harry sighed. "I know you think you're in the right, and you're just trying to end this war. But you're going about it all wrong. You can't play chess with our lives and expect us to just let you. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and you're walking a fine line down that path. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
"Harry…" Dumbledore finally managed to speak. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't I?" Harry asked, just about using up the last of his patience. "Last I checked, it was my name on that prophecy you and Voldemort seem to put so much stock in. At least I know what he wants."
"You can't. –" Dumbledore protested weakly.
"Can't what? Put you two together in the same group? There's a saying, professor, about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer." Harry paused and leaned forward slightly. "Don't make me keep you closer."
Dumbledore understood the meaning behind the words, and wondered just how things had deteriorated so quickly. He wouldn't believe that all hope was lost. He couldn't. There had to be a way to get Harry to understand.
Harry rolled his eyes, knowing what the headmaster was thinking. "I have to go do some homework. But before I leave… professor, Voldemort disappeared fifteen years ago. You had thirteen years of peace before his return, to find proof of his continued existence, and to figure out why he didn't die. What have you been doing? Sitting on your hands, waiting for me to come along? Your faith in that damn prophecy may very well have doomed us all, headmaster, because you had thirteen years to fix the problem. But you were too busy with your plotting and your schemes, and letting the real Death Eaters go while my godfather sat in Azkaban waiting for a trial that would never come."
Turning on his heel, Harry headed towards the door, before he completely lost it and hexed the old man.
"Mr. Potter!" Dumbledore called out.
Though he didn't turn around, Harry felt the surge of magic from behind him, and knew the headmaster was trying to keep the door from opening for him.
However, he failed to account for the fact that Harry was Gryffindor's heir, and therefore, the castle would respond to him above even the headmaster.
He threw open the door and quickly made his way down the spiral staircase.
He knew without asking that Ginny was on her way to meet him, and he knew she would know where he was heading, so he just headed towards his guardian's office.
Ginny caught up to him as he turned down the hallway to the office, and together, they walked the last few steps to the door. Harry knocked, and on hearing Minerva's "Enter!" walked inside.
Minerva looked up and frowned, seeing the couple there. Ginny closed the door behind them, and then waited for Harry to speak.
He did so a moment later, grimacing. "I think I might have gone a little too far," he admitted sheepishly.
Minerva furrowed her brow. "What happened, Harry?"
Harry sighed. "Dumbledore asked to speak with me today. He wanted me to get close to Slughorn for some reason, and then wouldn't tell me why. I kind of went off on him, and told him he had no right to expect me to just follow his orders. I think I also might have said something about treating us as chess pieces. And there may have been something about keeping my friends close and my enemies closer."
Minerva looked like she wanted to laugh, but was carefully keeping her expression neutral. Ginny had no qualms about letting out a snort at Harry's words.
"Nice," she chuckled. "You're going to have to show me that memory later. I want to see the look on the old man's face again."
Minerva smiled slightly, secretly hoping Harry would show her the memory as well. That might feel almost as good as when she had slapped the old man last June.
"What I don't understand is why Dumbledore made the request in the first place," Harry commented. "What's his end game?"
Minerva frowned and Ginny furrowed her brow in thought. "He didn't give you any sort of reason," she said. It wasn't a question, since she had heard the whole thing, but Harry still shook his head, for Minerva's benefit.
"When I asked why, he just said it wasn't important, and that he thought I could benefit from getting to know Slughorn better."
Minerva bit her lip. "He must have a reason. Perhaps you should do as he says, just to see if you can figure out why. Don't tell Albus anything you learn, but it might be smart to try and figure out what his goal is."
Ginny nodded, but stopped when she noticed that Harry was thinking something through. "Harry? You've got your 'I've got an idea' look on."
Harry looked up, startled. "Hmm? Oh, I was just thinking…" He tilted his head to the side. "Professor Slughorn taught here for a long time, right?"
Minerva nodded. "Yes. He taught me when I was in school, and I believe he had been teaching for a few years before that."
Harry looked like that was the answer he wanted to hear. "Is it possible he taught Voldemort? I mean, Voldemort before he was Voldemort?"
Ginny gasped, and Minerva frowned. "I'm not quite sure… there aren't many people who know who You-Know-Who was before he became the feared Dark Lord."
Harry nodded. "But he told me in his rant in the Chamber of Secrets about how he was going to kill me that his name was Tom Marvolo Riddle. Which means he had a real name. And there's an award for special services with his name on it, dated 1943, in the trophy room."
"That was several years before I started school," Minerva informed them. "But it would be conceivable to infer that Horace taught… Riddle." She found it easier to use You-Know-Who's real name, rather than his moniker. It made him seem more human, somehow.
"Maybe that's it, then," Harry said, his eyes wide with the implications. "Professor Slughorn is one of the only people who remembers Voldemort from when he was a kid."
"That's just creepy to think about," Ginny shuddered.
"But it could be why Dumbledore wants me to get close to him," Harry argued. "Maybe Slughorn knows something about him that Dumbledore wants to find out."
"It might explain why Albus brought Horace here to teach," Minerva commented. "He's kept Severus out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts position all these years, and while I know Severus never really wanted the post, why now? Certainly, it is easier to find a Potions professor than a Defense professor, but still, he's managed all these years."
"But if Professor Slughorn knows something, Dumbledore may be trying to protect him from Voldemort by keeping him safe in the castle," Harry continued, nodding eagerly. "It makes sense."
"So where do we go from here?" Ginny asked.
Harry looked at her. "I get close to Slughorn. See if I can get him to open up to me. It shouldn't be too hard, he keeps going after me to attend those parties of his. I'll stop declining the invites, maybe that'll soften him up a bit."
Minerva smiled approvingly. "Please let me know if you learn anything of interest. Albus may have been right about one thing; you probably would be the best bet for getting Horace to open up. He always did favor Lily in his classes, and rightly so, your mother was a superb potions brewer."
Harry grinned, and Minerva sent them back to the common room to finish their homework.
XXX
A few nights later, Harry was woken abruptly from a startlingly clear dream to see the early light of pre-dawn just barely making its way through the window.
He frowned, steadying his breathing as he thought about what he had seen. The dream was so real that he knew it wasn't simply a fabrication. Like the dreams he had had in his fourth year, and when Mr. W – Arthur, he figured eventually it wouldn't be strange to refer to Molly and Arthur by their given names – had been attacked by Nagini, he knew that he had just had a glimpse into Voldemort's mind.
In the… dream? Vision? Whatever it was, he had seen Voldemort meeting with the Malfoys, Junior and Senior. They had been talking about some sort of mission at Hogwarts. He didn't hear any details, just something about the informants being in place and sending regular reports, and Voldemort telling both Malfoys that this was their last chance to redeem themselves, and that they better not fail.
Before he woke up, Harry had seen both fear and excitement on his former classmate's face.
Knowing that he wouldn't get any more sleep that night, Harry got up and changed into his running clothes before grabbing his Arithmancy textbook and heading down to the common room.
Ginny joined him a few minutes later, dressed similarly and with an Ancient Runes book of her own in her hands. She sat next to Harry on the sofa, and he looked over, worried.
Sorry I woke you up, he apologized.
Ginny rolled her eyes. Yes, because you could help it, she replied sarcastically. It's all right, Harry. You can't control these visions. Do you want to talk about what you saw?
Harry winced. You saw it too?
Ginny nodded hesitantly. It didn't sound too good, she mused. What do you think Malfoy and Voldemort are planning?
Harry shrugged. I'm not sure, but we should find out who these 'informants' are.
Ginny snorted. I think we can already come up with a pool of suspects. Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, Warrington. You said you've seen them whispering together.
Harry nodded. They're likely choices. There are a few more that I can think of, but those three are probably the ringleaders for whatever's going on.
Ginny sighed. So it's watch and wait. Seems like we do that a lot.
Harry shook his head, grasping her hand in his. She smiled slightly and leaned into his side. We're doing something active, Gin. We're coming up with a way to beat him. This is just one more issue for us to deal with. I know it seems like it's all piling up, but eventually, we'll get on top of this storm.
Ginny looked at him and raised an eyebrow. How poetic. Harry looked embarrassed, and Ginny chuckled a little. I know what you mean. We'll figure this out. Together.
Harry nodded. Together. He squeezed her hand reassuringly.
They settled down with their books, and soon enough, the others joined them and they headed to the Room of Requirement to get in their morning run before breakfast.