Chapter 7 of 21
Hogwarts Speaks
“With whom?” Sirius asked.
“No Idea,” James answered, “I’ve never chatted with Hogwarts. Have you?” he looked at Lily, she just rolled her eyes.
The reply from Sirius and Remus had come a few days later. Sirius was demanding to know what exactly happened while Remus calmly instructed Harry to inform Professor Dumbledore about the occurrence. Neither of them knew if this had been an ‘episode' or not but they clearly didn’t want to take any chances.
“You bet ya! No chances, go straight to Dumbledore!” Sirius demanded.
Harry was reluctant to bring the Headmaster in on this but knew if he didn’t, Sirius and Remus would bring the old man in anyways. Knowing Sirius, Harry knew he had a few days before Sirius sent an owl to Dumbledore asking if Harry had talked to him yet.
“I think Harry underestimates Sirius’ obsessions,” James said grinning.
“I am not obsessed!”
“I have to agree with Prongs on this one. You are quite driven!” Remus said pleasantly as if discussing the weather. Sirius eyes narrowed.
“Keep reading and stop the witty remarks!” James and Remus laughed.
Harry underestimated his godfather.
“See!” James said triumphantly. Sirius’ scowl deepened.
Professor Dumbledore had sought out Harry the same day Harry had received his reply. He hadn’t given any explanation to the occurrence but requested Harry to inform him if it happens again. Harry reluctantly agreed. Fortunately, it didn’t happen again. Weeks passed and everything seemed to be normal.
At least until Professor Moody announced that each student would be put under the Imperius curse to see who could resist and who could not.
“HE CANNOT DO THAT!” James and Lily cried at the same time.
“That’s illegal!” Remus said outraged.
“Apparently he’s gonna!” Sirius cried. “They have to learn someway,” he reasoned.
“They do, in Auror training, not fourth year,” James said angry. “The Moody my dad knows wouldn’t submit kids to that.”
“Well, this is the future. Maybe he changed,” Lily winced at the look on James face.
“No, there’s something wrong here,” James insisted.
Hermione had objected of course, claiming that it was illegal but Moody silenced her with a look and informed the class if anyone didn’t want to know what it was like, they could leave. No one left.
“Yeah right. Why didn’t you just tell them to sign their names under a list to be teased for cowards? Would be easier,” Sirius mumbled.
Students were chosen one by one and put under the curse. Once again Harry could feel something in the back of his head, almost like an annoying presence. He immediately fought against it and watched as his classmates did whatever Professor Moody wanted them to do. No one seemed to be able to fight back. No one seemed to even try.
“You’re next Potter,” Professor Moody growled.
Lily was griping James robes. He was so nervous he didn’t even notice that they were hugging.
Fighting back his nervousness, Harry took his place in the middle of the classroom like everyone else had before him. He kept his gaze straight ahead at Professor Moody hoping against hope that he could fight the curse.
“Imperio.”
Once again Harry could feel his freewill leaving and replaced with a floating sensation. There were no worries but something felt wrong. This felt wrong. Harry had worries. He knew it. He had secrets. Closing his eyes, Harry vaguely felt his head bowing as he fought to regain control. He fought against the feeling that he so desperately wanted to fall into.
“Yes! He’s fighting the curse!” Remus cried exited.
Professor Moody’s voice filled his head telling him to do something but he couldn’t make out what. Whatever it was, Harry knew he didn’t want to do it. He was in control and no one else.
“YES! YOU ARE IN CONTROL!” James yelled.
His eyes opened as his head slowly rose. He looked directly at Professor Moody and fought to break the curse. He felt something else rise in him as he pushed, snapping the connection.
And sending Harry and Moody flying in opposite directions. Harry landed hard on the floor, his right hip making the first contact.
“Oops, I don’t think that was supposed to happen,” Sirius winced.
“Did he have an outburst?” Lily asked.
“I hope not. He’s in front of everyone,” Remus said.
Suppressing a groan, Harry slowly sat up unable to suppress a wince as a bolt of pain shot through his body. Hands immediately grabbed Harry, helping him to his feet. Looking over at Professor Moody, Harry noticed the teacher was in the same state he was.
“Now that was something I wasn’t expecting,” Professor Moody said in amazement. “Potter fought and won with a vengeance. Let’s try again, Potter. This time try not to throw me across the room.”
“That wasn’t his fault. He can’t control his outbursts,” Lily cried angry.
“That’s ok Lily. He praised Harry. He said he did well,” James tried to calm her.
Once everyone else backed away, Harry was put under the curse once again. This time his eyes remained open as he fought against the presence that was taking away his worries and fears. He fought against the voice he heard telling him to do something with a desk. He once again felt something rise in him and surround him, cutting himself off Moody’s influence completely.
This time, Professor Moody and Harry were not thrown across the room although they did take a few steps back as if someone had pushed them.
“Very good Potter!” Professor Moody exclaimed. “Control and determination! That’s what it takes! With a little more practice, Potter, they will have quite of bit of trouble trying to control you.”
They all clapped proudly.
Harry had been the only one who could throw off the curse by the end of class. Although Professor Moody didn’t say anything, Harry could have sworn that he felt the man watching him as he left the classroom. He figured it had something to do with being thrown across the classroom but Harry was just as clueless as Moody. He didn’t know what happened but this time, Harry was just going to keep it to himself. After all, no one was hurt so there was no point in worrying everyone about it.
Sirius slapped his own face and shook his head.
With the increase in schoolwork, there was very little time to do much else. All of the teachers insisted that it was to prepare the students for their O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizarding Level exams) to be taken next year which only caused everyone to moan in annoyance. If this year was this bad, next year was going to be horrible.
James and Sirius groaned.
“Honestly, why do they do this? First they start worrying you on fourth year about O.W.L.s then when you haven’t even received the results yet they start pressuring you about N.E.W.T.s” James groaned.
As the end of October arrived, notices were posted reminding students that students and teachers from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would be arriving on the 30th at 6 o’clock. The entire school could hardly wait. It was the distraction from their schoolwork that they so desperately needed, especially since they would be able to get out of class early that day. Harry, Ron and Hermione could barely hold back their excitement. The less time they had to spend in Potions the better.
“Well, that’s a given,” Lily snorted.
“Knew you’d come around to our way of thinking,” James chuckled.
“That I think Snape is a git doesn’t mean I agree with your ways of dealing with him James!”
“Can you believe it!?!” exclaimed Ernie MacMillin who was in Hufflepuff from behind Harry. “It’s only a week until they get here. I hope Cedric knows.”
“Who’s Cedric?” James asked.
Harry looked over his shoulder at Ernie with a smile on his face. Cedric Diggory was the captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and fellow Seeker.
“Ah! Him,” James growled. Lily rolled her eyes.
“People get hurt during Quidditch James.” He glared at her.
When Harry had been injured during the game last year, Cedric had been the first to apologize after Harry had been released from the hospital wing. “Cedric’s entering?” Harry asked and received a nod from Ernie. “Good for him. He’s a great choice for Hogwarts.”
“WHAT? Harry no! He’s the one responsible for your hospitalization!” James cried.
“People get hurt during Quidditch James! You said so yourself! Cedric didn’t get the beaters to go after Harry for evil purposes. A quidditch nut as yourself should know that!” Lily exclaimed. He kept glaring.
Ernie was in such a shock that he nearly tripped. “Y—you mean that Harry?” he asked as he hurried around Ron so he was walking backwards and facing Harry. “I—I thought you wouldn’t since…well…what happened in the game last year…”
“It was just a game,” Harry said simply. “People get hurt. Seekers get hurt.”
“Good for you Harry. Mummy is very proud to know that unlike your father you are a reasonable person!” James growls and mumbled comments about what should be done to the Hufflepuff players involving beater’s bats and gruesome torture didn’t stop.
He couldn’t believe people thought he would hold a grudge for what happened during a game. It wasn’t like in they were trying to kill him or anything. That realization was all the proof Harry needed to know no one really knew who he was. They knew the-boy-who-lived, not Harry.
“To be fair, you can’t expect everyone to know you personally,” Remus said, “I mean to most people I am a quiet bookworm, James is the popular athlete and Sirius the prankster aristocrat. Few people know that I am a prankster too or that when they want James and Sirius can be deep. The problem with Harry is that he just has more visibility than others.”
“Yes, but with normal people you don’t usually assume stuff before meeting them at least a little. With Harry everyone assumes they know him because he is famous,” Lily said, “Even people he never met.”
Ernie grinned. “That’s great, Harry!” he said happily. “I’ll let Cedric know.” He hurried off into the Great Hall towards the Hufflepuff table before anyone could even try to object.
“I can’t believe you did that, Harry,” Ron said sounding completely stunned. “How could you give your support to that idiot?”
“Yes, thank you Ron. Finally someone with some sense,” James cried.
“Actually, I agree with Harry,” Hermione said matter-of-factly. “Cedric Diggory is a good student and a Prefect. He’s certainly better than any Slytherin who might want to enter.”
Lily eyed James with a raised eyebrow.
Ron sighed in defeat. “Well if you’re going to use logic…”
“I second him,” James mumbled. The other three laughed.
For the next week, the Tournament was all anyone could talk about. The list of who was entering changed from day to day. By the time Tuesday was over Harry couldn’t take it anymore and ended up spending the majority of his nights in the library with Hermione. Ron was caught up in all of the hype towards the Tournament so Harry and Hermione just let him be.
It was during their time in the library that Hermione had revealed various happenings at the Burrow over the summer, including the Fred and George’s latest idea: Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, a joke shop for all of the items they have been inventing.
“I like Fred and George more and more each day,” Sirius said happily.
“We’ve been reading only since yesterday,” Lily pointed out.
“It’s an expression!” Sirius cried annoyed.
Harry had to hold back his laughter because he could certainly see that Hermione didn’t approve of what they were doing. She kept saying it was too dangerous and they should be more focused on their studies. Harry didn’t have the courage to tell her there was more to life than schoolwork.
When Friday finally arrived, there was so much excitement that no one wanted to pay attention in classes. Harry was in the same boat but for a completely different reason. From the moment he woke up, Harry had an intense pain at his temples which only worsened throughout the day.
“What’s going on?” Sirius asked.
“My baby’s sick. Go see a healer!” James cried.
“Yes, do what your father says. Go see Madam Pomfrey,” Lily said.
“I said a healer not a torturer!” James cried.
It was almost like there was excessive chatter that only Harry could hear but couldn’t make out what was being said. He didn’t notice the change in decorations that had taken place in the Great Hall or how much cleaner Hogwarts had become over the last week. All Harry wanted was for the commotion in his head to stop.
Harry didn’t know how he made it through his classes that day, especially Potions. It was impossible to concentrate on anything around him. By the time classes were dismissed, Harry’s head was throbbing so bad he couldn’t stand it any more. When everyone dropped off their school materials in their respective towers, Harry collapsed on his bed, finally able to let out a sigh of relief as he closed his eyes. He didn’t know how or why. He just knew he needed to sleep until the madness in his head stopped.
“Then sleep,” Lily said, “But first get that mirror Sirius gave you and let him know you’re not feeling well so he can get Madam Pomfrey-“ she faltered at James death glare, “I mean any healer there. Not Madam Pomfrey. Your dad doesn’t want her.”
“Er—Harry?” Ron asked uncertainly. “What are you doing? We need to hurry to the Entrance Hall.”
Harry didn’t move. He needed to tell Ron something other than the truth and something that Hermione would believe. He couldn’t have the entire Hogwarts staff running up here with two schools coming. He didn’t want to ruin everyone’s night because he wasn’t feeling well.
“Yes you should!” Sirius cried, “Ok, haven’t we had this conversation already. About not putting other’s needs before yours!” he scolded.
“Headache,” Harry muttered. “Go ahead. Tell me about it later.”
Ron was quickly at Harry’s bedside. “Is it your scar Harry?” he asked quietly so no one would here. “Is it You-Know-Who?”
“Good Ron! Don’t let him fool you,” Remus cheered.
“No,” Harry groaned. “It’s just a normal headache. Need sleep.” He figured Ron must have believed him because the next thing Harry knew he was alone in the room.
Everyone groaned.
Grabbing his head, Harry fought the urge to cry out in pain. Why did this have to happen now of all times? He had wanted to see the arrival of the two visiting schools. Remus had told him it would be quite a sight to see.
It became too painful to think or do anything other than lay there and wait for the pain to pass. Minutes seemed like hours. Even his scar headaches had never been this bad.
“Someone help my baby!” Lily cried.
“Calm down. One of the teachers will notice he is missing,” Remus tried to assure them but his shacking hands maimed his credibility.
He rolled onto his side and partially opened his eyes, instantly knowing that had been a mistake. The room was too bright for anyone to stand. He quickly closed his eyes again, silently pleading for the pain to stop.
“Unmask…we never unmask…visitors…never allow such visitors…we must strengthen…we must protect our children…”
“Who’s talking? Stop talking and help my son!” James cried.
It took too much effort to be confused by the distant voices and Harry had no strength left to fight. He had been fighting all day long. He felt his arms go limp as his hands released his head. He was barely aware of his right arm falling off the edge of the bed. His eyes seemed to open against his will as he lay on his right side and stared at the bright white wall. Something wet started coming out of his nose but Harry couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t even move. It was almost like he was trapped in his own body.
He didn’t even hear the door opening or two individuals entering and hurrying to his four poster bed.
“Oh, thank God. Help!” Lily cried relieved.
All he registered was the blinding brightness dimming as he was rolled onto his back. Someone started shaking his shoulder while someone else checked for a pulse. Harry couldn’t see faces. He couldn’t make out whatever they may be saying.
Hands touched the side of his face and turned his head to the left. “Legilimens,” a voice whispered
“What’s that?” Sirius asked.
“They are trying to see his in mind, to know what’s happening,” Lily explained.
“Ah!”
as the individual purged into the chaos that was Harry’s mind. It quickly became too much forcing the individual to end the spell.
“Severus?”
“I think this is the first time I am glad to see Snape,” James cried.
“It is absolute madness in there, Minerva,” Professor Snape said softly. “Look at his eyes. They’re glowing. I believe this is another one of the episodes the Headmaster warned us about.” He moved one arm under Harry’s shoulders, another under Harry’s knees and lifted the teenager off of the bed. “Hospital wing Minerva. We must hurry before someone sees us.”
Harry felt his head rest against the Potions Master’s chest as they left the Gryffindor Tower. Professor Snape’s black robes provided a shield from the brightness of the castle, giving him some relief.
“I am never going to make fun of Snivellus clothing again,” James said.
“Not calling him Snivellus could help too,” Lily said and James stared at her then shook his head.
“Nah, never happening.” She rolled her eyes.
Harry didn’t know if he passed out or had just lost track of the time because before he knew it he was placed on a bed and the brightness was back.
The blinding whiteness vanished as a soft cloth was put over his eyes while another slowly brushed against the bottom half of his face. Now trapped in darkness, Harry could feel the presence of something approaching Hogwarts, finally landing before the awaiting students. One of the visiting schools had just arrived by a large horse drawn carriage with twelve large winged horses. The school crest was on the carriage, six stars coming out of two crossed wands. Somehow Harry knew that Beauxbatons had just arrived.
“He’s seeing magic again!” Lily said, “Like at the cup.”
“He is more like feeling magic,” Remus said uncertain.
It wasn’t long before Harry felt the arrival of Durmstrang by means of a rather large boat appearing out of the lake. With the two schools present, Harry finally felt the all of the chaos in his head slowly drift away. His eyes closed tiredly. His body relaxed as he let out a groan before succumbing to the darkness. The pain finally stopped.
“Good,” Sirius said.
Muffled voices slowly pulled Harry out of his slumber. Groaning in annoyance, Harry buried his face into his pillow and tried to ignore it. His head ached and he felt completely exhausted. At first he was confused but slowly the events of the day before came back to Harry, reminding him of the reason why his head was still hurting. He didn’t know why it had happened or what it had been. He was just grateful that it was over.
Now if only those who were talking near his bed could be quiet he could fall back to the peaceful oblivion he had just left. Unfortunately the voices just seemed to clarify rather than fade away. Harry groaned again. He didn’t want to wake up. He just wanted to sleep. Sleep meant the absence of pain…well, at least most of the time it did.
Unable to fight it anymore, Harry slowly opened his eyes to see three semi-blurry faces looking at him. He slowly blinked a few times as he tried to figure out whom each face belonged to. His brain seemed to be working a tad on the slow side. His glasses were carefully slid on allowing Harry to see the faces of Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape come into focus. Harry couldn’t help but be confused. What were they doing in his dorm room?
“Good afternoon, Harry,” Professor Dumbledore said pleasantly. “You gave us quite a scare last night. Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape found you in your room in some sort of trance and bleeding from the nose. Do you remember anything?”
“Bleeding from the nose? That’s not good. I don’t like that,” Lily said.
“Well I don’t like the pain he was in either,” James said.
Harry groaned as he rubbed his right temple. “Pain,” he said in a raspy voice. “Too many voices. I couldn’t make it out what they were saying. I think someone was unhappy about unmasking or something like that.”
“I see,” Professor Dumbledore said pensively as he glanced over at Professor McGonagall. “Harry, it seems that you somehow heard Hogwarts speaking last night.
“Excuse me. What now? Hogwarts speaks? To Harry?” Sirius asked.
I can’t explain how that happened but it seems that Hogwarts wasn’t too happy for lowering her wards to allow the arrivals last night. I’m afraid that we are forced to take matters into our own hands so this doesn’t happen again. These outbursts are simply too powerful for you to control.”
“Finally! Someone is doing something!” Remus cried.
Dumbledore reached out and touched what felt like a necklace. Unaware of it’s presence until now, Harry touched it also. It wasn’t a chain. It felt like small smooth squares wrapped around his neck. He looked up at Professor Dumbledore in confusion. What was this for?
“This necklace is tuned into your magical signature, Harry,” Dumbledore explained. “It will absorb any bursts in magic you may feel and will hopefully prevent something like this from happening again, at least until you are able to control them on your own. I have to be honest with you, Harry. I have never seen anyone with outbursts this severe before. I apologize for not doing something to prevent this sooner.”
“That’s all good and all but wouldn’t it be better to teach him how to control the outbursts?” Lily asked.
“Yes, this isn’t quite solving the problem as postponing,” James mumbled.
“They are in the middle of the school year, it’s not like they have a lot of time to train him. This way they can prevent the outburst until a more permanent solution can be found,” Remus said.
“You know, he is quite annoying when we are trying to rant and he comes and rationalize things,” Lily mumbled and James and Sirius nodded. Remus just shook his head.
Harry let out a sigh and closed his eyes. Questions entered his head. What did that mean? Did this make him dangerous?
“NO!” they all cried.
Did this make him a freak?
“NO!”
Knowing he wouldn’t be finding any answers, Harry opened his eyes again and looked at Professor Dumbledore. “It’s not your fault, sir,” he said then looked away. “You didn’t know.”
“And neither did you, Harry,” Dumbledore said gently. “I must insist that you refrain from blaming yourself or consider yourself to be too dangerous for you classmates. That couldn’t be more wrong. Your past few occurrences have only caused you harm which is why we are taking this precaution. We can’t take the risk of what happened last night happening again. The human mind can only take so much before it succumbs to madness, Harry.”
Harry closed his eyes and nodded. He knew Professor Dumbledore was right. After last night Harry didn’t know how much more he could take. His audience left him to rest so he would be able to attend dinner that night to see who would be chosen in the tournament. Unfortunately, the Triwizard Tournament was currently the last thing on Harry’s mind.
Staring at the ceiling, Harry fingered the necklace he now had to wear. He really didn’t know what to think. Deep down Harry knew this wasn’t a fix to the problem. It was merely a way of delaying the issue. Suddenly, the Triwizard Tournament didn’t matter anymore. Harry could care less who was chosen to compete for one thousand galleons. Professor Dumbledore’s words were all Harry could think about. What if these outbursts were slowly driving Harry insane?
“No, no, no. Do something Padfoot! Reassure him!” James cried.
“Calm down James, we’re doing our best.”
A/N: Coming next: Chapter 8 - Unbreakable Precautions. The Champions for the Tournament are announced and a little Harry and Snape time.
“Excuse me, who would want Snape time?” James said sporting the same disgusted look Sirius had.