|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Author: Sorting Hat Story: Harry Potter and the Hall of the Phoenix Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: Completed Reviews: 1 Words: 23,753
The cold, high voice of Lord Voldemort permeated the night air, the words cutting through the fog like a knife through butter. "As long as that boy remains alive, my plans cannot succeed." "Yes, my Lord," came a reply from somewhere in the circle of Death Eaters surrounding the Dark Lord. "Dumbledore and his Order have managed to thwart me at every turn. I fail to understand why such a simple request should be so difficult to carry out. Explain yourselves!" "My Lord, the boy has some manner of-" began one of the Death Eaters. "I did not ask for excuses, Malfoy. Crucio!" One of the figures arched forward and began to scream. The sound continued for several minutes, before Lord Voldemort finally released the spell. Leaving the fallen Death Eater where he lay, he turned back to the group at large. "I do not tolerate failure!" "Yes, my Lord!" the entire group said, in unison. "Snape, come forward," Voldemort continued, more calmly. "Yes, my Lord," said Snape, before kneeling down. "You will see that that fool Dumbledore does not suspect what I have planned. I trust I do not need to remind how of the price of failure?" Lord Voldemort said, slowly. "No, my Lord," Severus Snape said quickly, with a glance at Voldemort's wand. "Good. Now, go." Snape hurried from the circle, keeping his eyes down and facing Voldemort the entire time. "My Lord," another Death Eater began, "Dumbledore is bound to place even more security around the boy, as he discovers-" "Fool! Do you think I know nothing? Be sure that Harry Potter does not-" *** A loud snore suddenly shocked Harry from his sleep. Frantically, he felt around for his wand, before realizing he was safe, still at Hogwarts. Then the realization of what he'd nearly overheard began to sink in, and Harry groaned in annoyance. "Couldn't you have waited just another minute?" Harry said, loudly, then cringed. He hadn't meant to speak that loudly. "Wh-what?" came Ron's tired voice. "You and your ruddy snoring!" Harry stopped, there was no time for this. Ron was sputtering a response, as Harry rapidly pulled on his robes, and dashed out of the dormitory. I suppose even Mrs. Norris has to sleep sometime, Harry thought, as he ran toward the Headmaster's office. In moments, Harry had arrived at the stone gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's private office. As he waited for the gargoyle to move out of the way, Harry shook his wand in a complex motion, and then spoke directly into it. "Professor Dumbledore, I need to speak with you in your office." There were a few moments of silence, before the old professor replied "Of course, Harry." Harry paced around the Head office, until Dumbledore padded down the stairs, and took a seat. "Voldemort's planning something," Harry said without preamble. "Planning something?" Professor Dumbledore asked. "Yes. I had a dream. I saw a Death Eater meeting. He was there," Harry began. When the professor said nothing, Harry continued. "He said his plans couldn't succeed, when-" Here Harry faltered, trying to force the rapidly fading dream back into his mind. "As long as that boy was alive, were his words," Harry finished. "Oh?" Dumbledore prompted. "That'll be me of course," Harry said, and the professor nodded, thoughtfully. "Can you remember anything else, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, stroking his beard. Harry sat silently, his brow furrowed in concentration. After a moment, Fawkes flitted over to Harry, and came to rest on his shoulder. Harry looked up, and then down again, deep in thought. "Someone was punished. Someone...the Crucatius curse," Harry said, "and I saw Professor Snape, and someone said something about a shield...."After a few moments, Harry sighed, and looked up at the professor. "I can't remember anything else," he said, in a frustrated tone. "Quite all right, Harry," said Professor Dumbledore. Harry nodded, and got up to leave. "Since you're here, there is one other matter we should discuss," Dumbledore said. Harry sat back down. "Your cousin Dudley," the professor stated. Harry nodded, wondering why he was to be involved in this decision. "Does the boy have any other family, who could take care of him? It doesn't seem a wise idea to send him back to that school of his, now that the Death Eaters know where it is," Dumbledore asked. "My Aunt Marge could do it. She isn't really my aunt, actually, she's Vernon's sister. But I doubt she would mind. She always seemed so proud of him before," Harry said, with a touch of bitterness in his voice. "I'm afraid that's impossible. We've contacted her already, and she has no interest in looking after the boy. Something about, having to much to deal with already, and something more about caring for her dogs," Dumbledore replied. "So obliviate her and make her do-" Harry snapped, but stopped as he realized what he was saying. "No, not even she deserves that," He took a deep breath, then continued. "There's no one else I know of." "I see. Well, I shall attempt to see what other options are available. I do detest the idea of putting Dudley in an orphanage, after what he's been through, and at his age," Dumbledore said softly. "Oh," Harry said. "In the mean time, Madam Pomfrey assures me that Dudley will be ready to leave hospital by the end of tomorrow. The castle will be very confusing for him. I would ask you to escort him to the Great Hall at mealtimes. He will need a place to sleep, also, and I think it best he not sleep in your dormitory," Dumbledore said. Harry's face was twisted in revulsion. "I agree. I agree to take him to his meals, also," said Harry, thinking silently that he could endure Dudley's presence for this long, if it would help. No one should have no one. He repeated in his mind. "Excellent. I will inform you of where he is to sleep, when I've secured quarters for him. If there is nothing else?" Dumbledore asked, and yawned. They say yawning is contagious. Harry thought, not quite stifling a yawn of his own. The two wizards stood, Harry bid the professor goodnight, and left the office after Fawkes flew back to his perch. Harry slowly walked back toward Gryffindor Tower. Unfortunately, his walk wasn't to be undisturbed this time. Harry froze suddenly when a voice came from his right. "My my. We are in trouble. What are you doing out and about the castle after dark?" "I was-" "Never mind that. I'll have you in my chains for sure this time, Potter," Filch said, grinning evilly. "-coming from the Headmaster's office," Harry finished. Filch glared. "Likely story. You lousy kids always mussing up my floors, and causing whatever mischief strikes your fancy! Why would the Headmaster be seeing you at three in the morning?" Filch waited, grinning evilly, as Harry stared. Had he really risen the Headmaster from his sleep at this hour? "That's what I thought," Filch finished. Before he could do anything however, Sirius Black strode into the hallway. Evidently, it was his night for the patrol shift. "Harry! What are you doing out of bounds at this hour?" he snapped, though his eyes were smiling. "I had a dream about-him," Harry said, not wanting to say much in front of Filch. "Him? Oh!" Sirius said, then turned and then seemed to notice the caretaker. "I'll take care of this, Argus," Sirius said, earning a black look from Filch. "Now just a minute!" Filch hollered, "I saw him fair and square out of bounds! I'm going to report him to the Headmaster in the morning. Wait and see if I don't!" Sirius smiled. "Please do." Filch wandered away, muttering under his breath. "You had a dream about Voldemort, Harry?" Sirius said, once the caretaker was out of earshot. "Yes. Something about someone having a shield and his plans not being able to succeed until I die." Sirius smiled, grimly. "That's true, I guess." Harry nodded. He and Sirius began walking toward Gryffindor Tower. "Harry, I think we should suspend your special classes for now, to give you time to focus on teaching yours, if you think that's best," Sirius began. "Yes. But I bet Hermione will still get on us about practicing," Harry replied. "How did your first class go, by the way?" Sirius asked. Harry frowned. "I started us out with Accio, but very few people managed it at first. I think Mc-Professor McGonagall was angry because this was something the students learned in charms," Harry said. "As well she should be. What else did you plan on teaching?" Sirius asked, shaking his head. "Shield charms. Neville hit me with the object he was summoning, and was pretty upset about it. Hermione suggested shields, so it doesn't happen again," was Harry's reply. "Probably a good idea. James probably would have had us practicing shield charms, so we could avoid retribution from Snape," Sirius confided, "and he'd have been teaching us in the Room of Requirement, not Minerva's classroom." "The room of what?" Harry asked. "The Room of Requirement. I'll show you in the morning, if you want. I need to get back to my patrol," said Sirius as the two stopped at the staircase which, hopefully, led to Gryffindor Tower. *** Harry stood in awe of the room he was in. He'd come with Sirius, as promised, before he'd even started breakfast. "What can this room do?" Harry asked, eagerly. "Anything you need it to do. We used it to hide from Filch sometimes, or as a place to plan the latest prank on Snape," Sirius replied. "You could do that in an empty classroom. What makes this room so great?" Harry asked. Sirius rolled his eyes. "Y'know, I could really use something to fix your attitude with." A blackboard with a long list of appropriate punishments appeared out of nowhere. Harry's jaw dropped. Especially seeing what the room had in mind. "Scrub the castle clean with my toothbrush? That would probably take me-" "About as long as it would take you to befriend Malfoy?" Sirius cut in. Harry smiled, "Yeah." "So, you could tell the room you needed something for teaching class, and it would appear," Sirius explained. "I could really use a list of excuses, to get out of your list of punishments with," Harry said to the ceiling. A second blackboard appeared. One particular excuse caught Sirius' eye. "My house-elf ate my toothbrush? Harry, you're apt to make Dobby sick," Sirius joked. Harry grinned, and then addressed the room again. "I could really use a copy of that list of excuses, on parchment." The requested list appeared out of nowhere, and Harry pocketed it. Sirius grinned, and then openly started laughing. "I wonder what Filch will think of that." Harry joined in, and after Sirius cleared the room with a request to the ceiling, the two walked together to the Great Hall, for some much needed breakfast.
|