“Harry,” a voice said. “Harry, wake up.”
He knew that voice, but Harry couldn’t tell which direction it was coming from. There was nothing but darkness as far as Harry could tell. He tried to move his head and soon found that moving was not something his body was ready to do. “Who’s there?” he called out.
A hand touched his head. As quick as the snap of a finger, Harry’s vision cleared and he no longer felt pain in his head. He managed to open his eyes. Harry saw that he was lying on his back on a couch in some dark room, which was lit by a small fire at the far end. Harry looked up, and immediately wished he was unconscious again.
Professor Dumbledore stood over him. His eyes peered over his half-mooned spectacles down at the boy lying before him. “Good evening, Harry,” he said, his voice low and calm. “Please, sit up. We have much to discuss.”
Harry managed to sit upright. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. The room had no discernable furniture except for the couch and a chair that Professor Dumbledore sat in. The walls were dark and featureless, without any pictures that would give away where he was. Dumbledore noticed his confusion. “You have been brought to the Room of Requirement, Harry. It is one of the few places where we can talk undisturbed.” He folded his hands in his lap. “I am afraid that I have heard some rather disturbing news as of late from Miss Granger.”
Harry lowered his eyes. What had she told him? he thought.
Dumbledore noticed his change in mood. “Yes, I see that you understand what I am talking about. Now tell me, Harry. Why did you see fit to cast the Imperious Curse against Miss Granger?”
Harry raised his head. “What? I never did that.”
Dumbledore’s eyes narrowed. “I beg your pardon, Harry. I was told that you attempted to curse your friend with the Imperious Curse. Are you telling me that she was lying?”
Harry shook his head. “Well, no. Hermione wouldn’t lie, but I didn’t…” He lowered his eyes again. “I don’t remember doing something like that.”
“What is the last thing you do remember?”
Harry searched his memory. “I was talking with Hermione,” he said, omitting the topic of conversation. “And then she left. I can’t remember anything after that.”
The headmaster’s eyes focused on Harry’s. “And what were you talking about?”
Harry didn’t want to say. He was embarrassed, but knew that Dumbledore would get the truth out of him eventually. “We were talking about…me and…Ginny.” He said the last word softly. Dumbledore leaned in closer. Harry could feel his gaze on him and knew he had to repeat his last word. “Ginny, sir.”
“Ah,” Dumbledore said, sitting back. “Miss Weasley. Harry, I do not wish to pry into the relationships of my students, so I will not ask of the circumstances. I must, however, ask why you felt the need to try and curse a fellow student.”
Harry shook his head again. “I don’t remember cursing her, sir. She has to be mistaken.”
Dumbledore pulled out his wand, touched it to his temple and pulled a long strand of silver smoke from his temple. “Harry, she could not have been mistaken. I have seen her memories through my pensive, with her permission of course. I saw what you did.” He put the strand back into his temple. “But, I do not believe that you are lying to me.”
Harry breathed in relief. “Then why am I here?”
“Because you attacked a fellow student.”
Harry got to his feet. “No I didn’t!” he shouted.
Dumbledore did not rise. “Shouting will not help you, Harry.” Harry’s face softened and he sat back down. “Thank you. Now, we have a dilemma among us. We have some evidence that you did, in fact, attempt to curse Miss Granger. However, you have no memory of such an event. Therefore, the only conclusion that we can reach is that your memory has been altered to some degree.”
“Altered?” Harry asked.
“Yes,” Dumbledore answered. “It is the only conclusion that makes sense with all the evidence that we have. Think back, Harry. Have there been any other times that you have experiences a loss of events? Perhaps, your friends talking about a time that you were present, but cannot recall the events?”
Harry shook his head. “No.”
Dumbledore lowered his gaze. “Then we seem to have an enigma, and not one that is uncommon among the students recently.”
Harry looked puzzled. “Other people have had memory losses?” he asked.
Dumbledore nodded. “And all have experienced the loss after attacking fellow students.”
“Who…when?”
“I’m sorry, Harry, but I cannot reveal the other student’s identities,” Dumbledore replied. “As I will not reveal yours.” He looked up. “All the attacks to date have been among a small number of students, and I have asked each student involved to remain quiet about this. I do not believe that anyone meant what they intended, and I will not seek sanctions against them until I can determine the cause behind these actions.”
“Students are attacking other students?” Harry said. “I can’t believe that.”
“Nor can I,” Dumbledore replied. “And I will not believe it true until I have heard back from Mr. Weasley and Professor Hall from the Ministry of Magic. I have heard some encouraging reports from them that may explain what has been going on.”
“Sir,” Harry said. “I don’t understand.”
Dumbledore smiled. “And you shouldn’t. We are still trying to piece together this mystery, Harry. Until the final piece is put into place, we will not see the whole puzzle.” Dumbledore folded his hands. “And until the puzzle is finished, we must be on out guard. That means, Harry, you must learn to control your emotions and feelings. You cannot allow yourself to be overrun with irrational thoughts and anger. Be assured that if I hear of another incident like this, I may be forced to seek action against you, Harry.”
Harry looked into the eyes of the headmaster. He saw the gentle eyes that normally were found on his face, but behind them was a fury that told Harry that another slip up on his part could cost him everything that he had worked for these past years at Hogwarts.
********************************************************
“I think we’re done, Ginny,” Robert said, finishing a sentence on a roll of parchment. “Professor Sprout will be very impressed with this report.”
Ginny looked over what he had written and nodded. “You write very well. I’m sure that it will be fine.” She grabbed her bag and stood up. “Well, it’s getting late. I should get back to Gryffindor tower.”
Robert stood as well. “Ginny, wait.” She turned back to him. “I just wanted to say, that I have really enjoyed working with you. We haven’t really talked to each other since we stopped going out, and…well, I missed you.”
Ginny had to blush a bit. “Well, you always were a good friend, Robert. I’ve had fun also.” He reached out his hand to touch hers, but she pulled away. “I’ve got to go.” She hurried out of the library. When she got to the hallway, she found a dark corner to slink into for a moment.
She put her back to the wall and slid down into a sitting position. The hallways were empty and the hour was late, so there was little chance of her being discovered unless one of the ghosts happened by or the teachers were doing patrols. It was possible that Professor Flitwick might be roaming the corridors, as she remembered seeing him set up odd-looking light fixtures high along the stone walls. They were funny looking glass crystals, but they did not seem to give off light. Ginny couldn’t think what they might be for.
Ginny rested her head back against the stone. Her earlier encounter with Harry, and then her confession to Hermione had caused her pain and embarrassment that she never thought she would have to deal with. She couldn’t understand why Harry had acted the way he had. He had never seemed the type of guy to behave in the way he had behaved. It scared her to think that it might happen again.
She placed her head in her hands. I wonder if Hermione talked to him yet, she thought. If she did, how did he take it? Was he mad? Ginny had a lot of questions that would only be solved if she left this shadowy corner and went back to Gryffindor tower. She would have stayed up there all night if she hadn’t had to finish up the Herbology project with Robert.
Ginny got to her feet. There was no point in moping around here. She had to face Harry and soon. Better to do it now then later. She left the shadows and walked along the corridors towards the stairs that led to Gryffindor Tower. Ginny turned a corner and ran right into the one person that she had intended to see, Harry.
The force of the collision caused Ginny to lose her balance, so Harry reached out and wrapped his arms around her till she got her footing back. Even after she was balanced, Harry still kept his arms around her. He felt good with her in his arms, her sensual scent wafting up to his nostrils. She didn’t seem to object to his embrace, either.
She looked up at him, sheepishly. “Sorry, Harry,” she said. “I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
Harry pulled back a bit, but kept his hands on her arms. He wasn’t holding them, just touching. He looked into her eyes. She looked beautiful standing there. Harry didn’t want to bring up terrible memories about earlier. He decided to steer clear of that subject. “What are you doing out so late? You could get caught and get detention.”
Ginny shrugged. “I had some work to finish up some work for Herbology.”
Harry knew that he wasn’t going to get much more of an answer form her. “Well, is it anything that I can help you with?” He wanted to talk about anything except what happened earlier.
She shook her head. “No, I finished it already, but I appreciate the offer.” She smiled at him.
Harry felt himself melt into her gaze. Her eyes always had an effect on him. He moved in a bit closer, but saw her flinch. There was no way he could avoid this forever. “Ginny,” he said in a soft voice. “About what happened earlier…I just wanted to say…”
Ginny reached a hand up and placed two fingers on his lips. “Harry, I don’t know what got into you, but I know that was not the real you. You are gentle and caring. Whatever happened is in the past, and I don’t want to think on it anymore.” She gave him another smile. “But it is nice to know that you feel sorry it.”
Harry smiled back at her. “I do, Ginny. I never want to hurt you. I hate to see you cry and it hurts me to think that you hate me. I love you, Ginny.”
Ginny leaned in. “And I love you.” She kissed him.
*************************************************************
Kevin snuck through the shadowed alleys of London, his cloak pulled up over his face. The city was alive even in the late hours of the night, but Kevin managed to move without detection. He darted down a final back way and jumped a chain fence into an abandoned construction zone. He pulled out his wand. “Lumos!” A jet of light shot from the tip of his wand. He turned in all directions, searching for anyone else.
The light feel upon a black robed figure, crouched under a large cloak. He hid his face. “Put out that light. I don’t need to go blind tonight.”
Kevin extinguished the light. “You gave us information that saved the students of Durmstrang, so I‘ll give you some time to talk.”
“Even after all the plans that I have passed onto you, you still do not trust me,” the figure said. “Perhaps you still have some qualities that the Dark Lord would find impressive.” Kevin raised his wand again. The figure raised his arms. “I meant nothing by it,” he said, quickly. “Please, I did not come to quarrel.”
“Then talk,” Kevin said, not lowering his wand.
The figure straightened up. “I need your help. The Death Eaters are becoming troublesome and paranoid. They know that there is a traitor, and they are fighting amongst themselves to find him. Soon enough, they will turn their attention to me.”
Kevin smirked. “Rats eating their own, eh? No wonder we haven’t had much trouble from you, lately. The Durmstrang attack was the first real offensive you pulled off, and even that was poorly done.” He lowered his wand. “What do you want?”
“Assurance that I will be protected,” the figure said. “I may have to flee, and I want your word that you will help me.”
Kevin thought it over. “All right, but on one condition. You don’t duck out till the last possible moment. The more information you can give, the faster we can end this war.”
The figure scoffed. “You want me to stay even when all hell breaks loose? That’s madness.”
Kevin shrugged. “Then give us something that we can use to topple Voldemort. He’s powerless right now. We should be able to bring him and his Death Eaters down once and for all, but we can’t find where he is hiding.”
“I told you that I can’t give you that information,” the reply came. “I am not the Secret-Keeper and am unable to show you his location.”
Kevin shook his head. He had learned that Voldemort was using the Fidelius Charm to conceal his location, which made it almost impossible to find the Dark Lord if he did not want to be found. “Then tell me this; does he have his powers back?”
“No,” the figure said. “He is as weak as I have ever seen him. Were it not for Griff and his brothers, the Dark Lord would be dead by now.”
“Are any of the Death Eaters trying to manipulate wizard’s minds to control them?”
The figure smiled. “Ah, you are talking about the random attacks, aren’t you?” Kevin nodded. “I can only say this. The Dark Lord has a hand in it, but it is not by his own will that it happens. What is more, ones who have been touched by the Dark Lord’s hand will feel the effects more so then any other.” He slinked back a little. “I will do as you ask and stay in the Dark Lord’s confidence, but do not forget your promise to me.” He was swallowed by the shadows.
Kevin stood alone for a moment. I knew it, he thought. It is his doing, but what could the second part mean? He left the construction zone and made his way back to the Ministry of Magic, all the while thinking that he should be back at Hogwarts right now.