Chapter Twelve
Harry stared at Remus, hardly daring to believe it. But then, he reminded himself, remember what happened last time.
"Why don't you have a seat and explain what happened?" the headmaster suggested, conjuring a chair out of thin air.
Harry nodded and sat down, and explained the vision he'd had and what he thought it meant. When he was finished, Dumbledore nodded and "hm."ed.
"The full moon is next week," Remus put in softly. He didn't say anything else, as he was thinking the same thing Harry was.
"We'll have to keep a watch on the house then," Dumbledore said suddenly. "It could turn out to be true, and we don't want that to happen." Harry nodded. He couldn't really ask them to do any more, and anyway, it was probably just Voldemort trying to lure him out of the castle.
Harry headed back to class and handed Snape the note that Dumbledore had signed. He sat down in his regular seat. He glanced over at Hermione and Ron and realized with a sharp jolt that they weren't speaking.
The class passed by in a blur. Harry tossed the ingredients into his stupidity potion, hardly paying attention. Snape took the usual twenty or thirty points away from Gryffindor and awarded the Slytherins the same amount.
As they left the class, Hermione and Ron caught up with Harry on his way to lunch.
"Look Harry," Hermione began, "I know you were mad, but don't you think this has gone on long enough?" Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione plowed on. "I- *we're* really sorry we didn't tell you about any of this, but it's not like we're going out or anything! It was just a kiss, it didn't mean anything!"
Ron, who had been staring blankly ahead and nodding along, stopped and turned to face Hermione. "Nothing? Nothing at all?" he asked her in slight disbelief.
"Ron-" Hermione protested, but couldn't think of anything to say.
"I can't believe-all of this-nothing?" Ron spluttered, giving Hermione a disgusted look. He turned to Harry now. "Look, I'm sorry about all of this, but I think I might have to join your side on this one, mate."
Harry raised an eyebrow, but considered the offer. He'd never say so out loud, but he missed having Ron around. Sure the rest of his dorm mates were fun, but Ron had been the first person he'd met at Hogwarts and he couldn't just throw all of that away over a stupid misunderstanding.
Ron glared at Hermione and then said, "I do believe that's a bit-slutty."
Hermione's mouth fell open in shock. "How dare you!" she shrieked. She drew her hand back and popped Ron across the face. Then she picked up her bag from where she'd laid it on the floor and stalked off.
Ron rubbed his cheek. A large red mark was forming there, and it was slowly turning purple. Harry resisted the urge to chuckle and slapped Ron on the back. "It's good to have you back, mate," Harry said, then added, "But that might have been uncalled for."
Ron glared, although he didn't really mean it. "Yeah, well."
Harry looked heavenward then walked off to the Great Hall, chuckling slightly.
(A nice place to stop, but no.)
Harry's next class was Defense, with Professor McKinney. He stepped into class with Ron and sat down.
"Alright, since you all have pretty much covered the tradition part of dueling, today, we're going to start the actual dueling part of dueling." McKinney said, standing up in front of the class. "We'll start with shields."
She paced up and down the rows pairing people off. "Finnegan and Longbottom, Patil and Brown, Potter and Granger, Weasly and Thomas."
It took Harry a moment to register this. "Professor, can I be paired with Ron?"
McKinney shook her head. "No, I think we'll keep you with Miss Granger. But do see me after class, won't you?" A few students laughed a bit. Harry glared down at his desk, turning slightly pink in embarrassment.
"Right, so who knows the spell for a shield?" McKinney asked the class. As usual, Hermione's hand shot up into the air. "Yes, Miss Granger."
"The spell is 'Protengo' and will protect, as the name suggests, a person from most spells. The color of the shield depends on the magical strength of the person casting it."
The blonde professor nodded at Hermione. "Yes, although just 'Protengo' would have been fine. You are indeed correct. Take five points to Gryffindor."
Hermione beamed to herself, but the smile was wiped off of her face when she noticed Harry looked over at her.
"Right, now I want you all to try and disarm your partner and we can also see what color your shields are. Miss Brown, can you tell us the order of colors, from lowest to highest?"
Lavender looked vaugly uncomfortable. "Erm.the lowest is clear, right?" McKinney nodded. "Then there's tan, orange, and green, then purple, then blue, then silver, right?"
"Right Lavender. The highest level is silver, which is extremely rare. I myself am just blue. Protengo!" She conjured up a shield, showing everyone the blue, mixed with a trace of silver.
Harry wondered idly what color Dumbledore was. He bet McKinney would know. "If you don't mind me asking," Harry spoke up, "Would you happen to know what color Dumbledore is?"
McKinney looked down at the floor. "He is a gold, one of the only four in history. Slytherin was one, Gryffindor was one and he-who-must-not-be-named is the fourth."
The class was silent for a moment before the professor clapped her hands and said brightly, "Okay, back to shields! Up and at 'em class!"
The class got up and paired off, trying to disarm each other. Hermione and Harry just sort of stared at each other for a moment.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry said quite suddenly.
"Protengo!" Hermione's shield was purplish with a touch of blue. It reflected the spell quite easily.
Harry however wondered why he had never noticed the color of the shields before. He asked this to McKinney.
"The shield colors can only appear to those who know about them. Rather nifty privacy thing if you ask me."
"Oh," replied Harry and waited for the spell he knew was coming.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Protengo!" The shield flared up. To Harry, it appeared clear as it always had. He noticed the entirety of the class staring at him as though in shock.
A horrible thought came to him. Perhaps it was clear on the outside as well as the inside. Perhaps his level of magical talent was so low-But as soon as Harry thought this, he knew it was absurd. He did not dismiss the thought entirely though.
He cleared his throat. "And uh-what color am I?" The class seemed to be at a loss for words. Speechlessly, Professor McKinney conjured up a mirror and showed him.
The shield was silver, with golden flecks.
Harry didn't say a word. His mouth hung open and he looked remarkably like a goldfish. "I-it can't-I'm not-there's got to be a mistake." Harry spluttered. Surely he, who hadn't even heard of the entire wizarding world until Hogwarts, he couldn't be a silver wizard. It was impossible-he had to have messed up the spell.
But McKinney just shook her head. "You're a silver wizard Harry, congratulations." She smiled weakly. "Class dismissed." Harry turned to leave. "All except you Mr. Potter."
Harry gathered up his books and, ignoring Ron asking if he like him to wait, he walked up to McKinney's desk, rather dazedly.
"Have a seat Potter," McKinney said as she sunk into the chair behind the desk. Harry sat down too.
"I suppose I should get to the point. I was wondering if perhaps you knew what exactly the veil in the department of mysteries is. I'm a member of the order; I heard what happened. I used to teach potions to your parents."
Harry shook his head numbly.
"Right. Would you like to know? I just thought-well, it would be nice to know." Harry didn't move and McKinney continued.
"The veil contains all of the lost souls waiting to move on. They have to be avenged, that's why they are there. There is a prophesy-"
Harry groaned loudly, cutting her off. "Great, a prophecy. You know, my luck's not exactly the best in that department. People tend to want to kill me when they learn I'm in one."
McKinney continued on after a pause. "The prophecy tells about a hall of doors. One person is supposed to find the hall of doors and change an aspect of history that will change everything. No one knows what this is or who has to do it, but many have tried."
McKinney started suddenly, as if she had realized something none too pleasant. "And don't you go seeing if you're it. You'll only be trapped down there. Dumbledore wasn't sure I should tell you, but I thought you might like to know what happened to Sirius."
"Is that all?" Harry asked dully.
McKinney nodded and Harry left.
Yeah, I know its been a million years, I'm sorry! But at least this was a big long chapter! And it includes the plot! Yay! Thanks everyone for being so patient and putting up with me and for all your support too!
Harry stared at Remus, hardly daring to believe it. But then, he reminded himself, remember what happened last time.
"Why don't you have a seat and explain what happened?" the headmaster suggested, conjuring a chair out of thin air.
Harry nodded and sat down, and explained the vision he'd had and what he thought it meant. When he was finished, Dumbledore nodded and "hm."ed.
"The full moon is next week," Remus put in softly. He didn't say anything else, as he was thinking the same thing Harry was.
"We'll have to keep a watch on the house then," Dumbledore said suddenly. "It could turn out to be true, and we don't want that to happen." Harry nodded. He couldn't really ask them to do any more, and anyway, it was probably just Voldemort trying to lure him out of the castle.
Harry headed back to class and handed Snape the note that Dumbledore had signed. He sat down in his regular seat. He glanced over at Hermione and Ron and realized with a sharp jolt that they weren't speaking.
The class passed by in a blur. Harry tossed the ingredients into his stupidity potion, hardly paying attention. Snape took the usual twenty or thirty points away from Gryffindor and awarded the Slytherins the same amount.
As they left the class, Hermione and Ron caught up with Harry on his way to lunch.
"Look Harry," Hermione began, "I know you were mad, but don't you think this has gone on long enough?" Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione plowed on. "I- *we're* really sorry we didn't tell you about any of this, but it's not like we're going out or anything! It was just a kiss, it didn't mean anything!"
Ron, who had been staring blankly ahead and nodding along, stopped and turned to face Hermione. "Nothing? Nothing at all?" he asked her in slight disbelief.
"Ron-" Hermione protested, but couldn't think of anything to say.
"I can't believe-all of this-nothing?" Ron spluttered, giving Hermione a disgusted look. He turned to Harry now. "Look, I'm sorry about all of this, but I think I might have to join your side on this one, mate."
Harry raised an eyebrow, but considered the offer. He'd never say so out loud, but he missed having Ron around. Sure the rest of his dorm mates were fun, but Ron had been the first person he'd met at Hogwarts and he couldn't just throw all of that away over a stupid misunderstanding.
Ron glared at Hermione and then said, "I do believe that's a bit-slutty."
Hermione's mouth fell open in shock. "How dare you!" she shrieked. She drew her hand back and popped Ron across the face. Then she picked up her bag from where she'd laid it on the floor and stalked off.
Ron rubbed his cheek. A large red mark was forming there, and it was slowly turning purple. Harry resisted the urge to chuckle and slapped Ron on the back. "It's good to have you back, mate," Harry said, then added, "But that might have been uncalled for."
Ron glared, although he didn't really mean it. "Yeah, well."
Harry looked heavenward then walked off to the Great Hall, chuckling slightly.
(A nice place to stop, but no.)
Harry's next class was Defense, with Professor McKinney. He stepped into class with Ron and sat down.
"Alright, since you all have pretty much covered the tradition part of dueling, today, we're going to start the actual dueling part of dueling." McKinney said, standing up in front of the class. "We'll start with shields."
She paced up and down the rows pairing people off. "Finnegan and Longbottom, Patil and Brown, Potter and Granger, Weasly and Thomas."
It took Harry a moment to register this. "Professor, can I be paired with Ron?"
McKinney shook her head. "No, I think we'll keep you with Miss Granger. But do see me after class, won't you?" A few students laughed a bit. Harry glared down at his desk, turning slightly pink in embarrassment.
"Right, so who knows the spell for a shield?" McKinney asked the class. As usual, Hermione's hand shot up into the air. "Yes, Miss Granger."
"The spell is 'Protengo' and will protect, as the name suggests, a person from most spells. The color of the shield depends on the magical strength of the person casting it."
The blonde professor nodded at Hermione. "Yes, although just 'Protengo' would have been fine. You are indeed correct. Take five points to Gryffindor."
Hermione beamed to herself, but the smile was wiped off of her face when she noticed Harry looked over at her.
"Right, now I want you all to try and disarm your partner and we can also see what color your shields are. Miss Brown, can you tell us the order of colors, from lowest to highest?"
Lavender looked vaugly uncomfortable. "Erm.the lowest is clear, right?" McKinney nodded. "Then there's tan, orange, and green, then purple, then blue, then silver, right?"
"Right Lavender. The highest level is silver, which is extremely rare. I myself am just blue. Protengo!" She conjured up a shield, showing everyone the blue, mixed with a trace of silver.
Harry wondered idly what color Dumbledore was. He bet McKinney would know. "If you don't mind me asking," Harry spoke up, "Would you happen to know what color Dumbledore is?"
McKinney looked down at the floor. "He is a gold, one of the only four in history. Slytherin was one, Gryffindor was one and he-who-must-not-be-named is the fourth."
The class was silent for a moment before the professor clapped her hands and said brightly, "Okay, back to shields! Up and at 'em class!"
The class got up and paired off, trying to disarm each other. Hermione and Harry just sort of stared at each other for a moment.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry said quite suddenly.
"Protengo!" Hermione's shield was purplish with a touch of blue. It reflected the spell quite easily.
Harry however wondered why he had never noticed the color of the shields before. He asked this to McKinney.
"The shield colors can only appear to those who know about them. Rather nifty privacy thing if you ask me."
"Oh," replied Harry and waited for the spell he knew was coming.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Protengo!" The shield flared up. To Harry, it appeared clear as it always had. He noticed the entirety of the class staring at him as though in shock.
A horrible thought came to him. Perhaps it was clear on the outside as well as the inside. Perhaps his level of magical talent was so low-But as soon as Harry thought this, he knew it was absurd. He did not dismiss the thought entirely though.
He cleared his throat. "And uh-what color am I?" The class seemed to be at a loss for words. Speechlessly, Professor McKinney conjured up a mirror and showed him.
The shield was silver, with golden flecks.
Harry didn't say a word. His mouth hung open and he looked remarkably like a goldfish. "I-it can't-I'm not-there's got to be a mistake." Harry spluttered. Surely he, who hadn't even heard of the entire wizarding world until Hogwarts, he couldn't be a silver wizard. It was impossible-he had to have messed up the spell.
But McKinney just shook her head. "You're a silver wizard Harry, congratulations." She smiled weakly. "Class dismissed." Harry turned to leave. "All except you Mr. Potter."
Harry gathered up his books and, ignoring Ron asking if he like him to wait, he walked up to McKinney's desk, rather dazedly.
"Have a seat Potter," McKinney said as she sunk into the chair behind the desk. Harry sat down too.
"I suppose I should get to the point. I was wondering if perhaps you knew what exactly the veil in the department of mysteries is. I'm a member of the order; I heard what happened. I used to teach potions to your parents."
Harry shook his head numbly.
"Right. Would you like to know? I just thought-well, it would be nice to know." Harry didn't move and McKinney continued.
"The veil contains all of the lost souls waiting to move on. They have to be avenged, that's why they are there. There is a prophesy-"
Harry groaned loudly, cutting her off. "Great, a prophecy. You know, my luck's not exactly the best in that department. People tend to want to kill me when they learn I'm in one."
McKinney continued on after a pause. "The prophecy tells about a hall of doors. One person is supposed to find the hall of doors and change an aspect of history that will change everything. No one knows what this is or who has to do it, but many have tried."
McKinney started suddenly, as if she had realized something none too pleasant. "And don't you go seeing if you're it. You'll only be trapped down there. Dumbledore wasn't sure I should tell you, but I thought you might like to know what happened to Sirius."
"Is that all?" Harry asked dully.
McKinney nodded and Harry left.
Yeah, I know its been a million years, I'm sorry! But at least this was a big long chapter! And it includes the plot! Yay! Thanks everyone for being so patient and putting up with me and for all your support too!