I feel I should say thank you to everyone who got on my case, wondering when there will be a new chapter. I had to fight busy schedules, extreme fatigue, writers block, etc to get you this chapter. But in hindsight those are all excuses. I can't believe that the last chapter I put up was just before Christmas. I suppose I do have a life outside the internet.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter 26: A Dog Named Padfoot

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At lunch the next day, Harry found himself pondering Dumbledore's words as he pushed his food around on his plate. He settled his gaze on a window across the Great Hall. There was a blizzard going on outside. Gryphon's survival of that mortal wound seemed impossible, but it happened.

"…Harry." Hermione nudged him.

"Huh?" He said dimly as he was pulled out of his thoughts.

"Are you okay?" She asked concerned, "You have thoroughly mixed your Sheppard's Pie."

She was right, his food now resembled brown mush. "I have just been thinking a lot, is all."

"Are you worried about You-Know-Who?" Ron added.

"Not exactly." Harry said as he ploughed a spoon into his mush. "It's what I am going to do is the problem. That battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore at the Ministry last year included such advanced magic that I could barely keep up with all that was happening. Even Dumbledore couldn't keep Voldemort from getting to me. What chance do I have against somebody that powerful?"

"Harry, there is a way." Hermione said, her eyes glistening. "There just has to be a way. Remember, remember the Prophecy! Remember the Information that Gryphon gave us." She whispered.

"What's to say it will work?" Harry said to her.

"What's to say it won't?" Her expression was revealing that she was losing her patience.

He just stopped so she would. He hated seeing her this way. Harry knew she was getting desperate in reasoning with him. All it would lead to is an argument and that was the last thing Harry needed at this time.

"We need to get to Defense Against the Dark Arts." Ron said looking at his watch. Harry and Hermione didn't speak at all as they made their way to the classroom.

On the way, Pansy Parkinson shoved past Hermione. "Get out of my way Granger!"

"Ouch." Hermione yelped as she grabbed the hair at the nape of her neck.

"You okay, Hermione?" Harry asked gently as Ron shot a glare at the back of Pansy's head.

"I'll be fine." She replied as she ran a hand through her untamable curls in attempt to smooth them out. Something didn't seem right about this to Harry, but he didn't voice his concern.

At the door, the students waited in queue to get inside.

"That's odd," Hermione said to Ron, "Gryphon is never late for class."

Harry heard steps approaching down the corridor behind him. He turned to see a disgruntled Snape sweeping towards them like a large angry bat.

"I don't think its Professor Gryphon that is teaching us." Harry whispered to Hermione and Ron.

Hermione looked, "Oh no!" was all that escaped from her lips.

Snape unlocked the classroom and let the students inside as the bell rang.

"Detention Potter!" Snape said snidely.

Harry smacked his forehead, how did he know that this was going to happen. Snape probably set him up to be late into the class. Not needing anything more to happen Harry didn't argue and just nodded in acknowledgement before he took his seat at the front of the class. Harry knew he couldn't let Snape peek into his mind.

"Open your books to page three hundred and nineteen."

Hermione's hand went up.

"What is it, Miss Granger?" Snape said stiffly.

"We have already gone through Binding Spells, Professor." Hermione said politely.

"Have you." Snape stated. "Potter! How many different Binding Spells are there in existence and what are their ranges?"

"110, Sir" Harry said and his gaze met Snape's. "They range from the simple leglock spell to protection spells that cannot be broken by anyone."

It was then that Harry felt like his skull was cleaved in two and realized that Snape had penetrated his mind. His focus on the world outside his head blurred.

No, get out of my mind. Harry tried his hardest to throw not-so-important memories at the intruder. A strange thought came from the recesses of his mind, Lily Potter standing over a crib. The pain lessened, and it seemed the Snape was just contemplating this memory. A surge of new pain entered his mind and, he thought, his body.

In an instant Snape was no longer in his mind, like some giant invisible hand had picked him up and taken him away. The pain ceased and Harry could now focus on what was going on outside of his head.

He was on his stomach on the floor with a lot of broken glass and snow, the desk he was sitting at wasn't in his line of vision, Snape was on the floor as well, painfully curled up in the fetal position. A person was standing over him, but all he could see in his line of vision were a pair of bare feet, standing tiptoe, that looked almost like the back paws of a cat, only they had no fur and were shorter in length. Several snowflakes passed his line of vision. Was the blizzard coming into the room through broken windows? He tried to move to see what exactly was going on, but he couldn't. His body wouldn't move to the mental commands he was giving it.

"I warned thee a long time ago, Snape, not to go poking thy beak in places that it shouldn't be." Her voice was familiar to Harry.

Gryphon!

"Mr. Longbottom." She called to Neville. "Will ye go retrieve Madam Pomfrey?"

Harry just heard footfalls quickly leaving the room.

"The rest of thee are excused." Gryphon told everyone else, and they did.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Harry heard Ron ask.

"I have yet to find out." The figure standing over Snape padded across the room, knelt down, and picked Harry up gently. It was Gryphon, indeed. She looked more ragged than usual, with dark rings around her luminescent eyes and her skin was pale. A silvery scar marked her neck where she was grazed by the Dark Arrow.

She held up one finger for him to see and soon moved it up and down and from side to side. Harry kept himself focused on her index finger. It had a ring on it, a unique kind of signet ring with an unfamiliar craftsmanship.

"He is cognizant." Gryphon announced. He heard a soft sigh of relief come from someone else in the room. "But he only has control of basic faculties such as seeing, breathing, hearing, and thinking."

"What about the rest?" He heard Hermione inquire.

"He should be able to regain all physical movement within the week. What I have done was extremely risky."

"What exactly did happen?" Ron asked.

"Snape was invading Harry's mind." Gryphon explained. "A mind can be fragile, especially if it had been under strain. I had to pull Snape from his mind without damaging Harry's. It is basically trying to squeeze into a thin crack and trying not to touch any thing as ye try to separate the invading mind from the victim."

Hermione knelt down on the other side of Harry. "Is Snape okay?"

Gryphon sighed and said, "He might not be, the man is less than desirable in my eyes. I was not being careful with him. He may have some mental scarring."

"Good Riddance." Ron commented.

"Methinks it not wise to say such a thing at this time, Mr. Weasley." Gryphon told him as she glanced at the writhing man at her feet. "Ye may never know what will happen in the long run. For all I know, I may have created another madman like Voldemort."

Once Madam Pomfrey stepped into the Classroom, Gryphon sank to her knees in exhaustion. She seemed like a deflated balloon. The school nurse set to work, conjuring three stretchers. She levitated Snape into one. Harry soon felt himself levitated and placed into the second.

"I don't need a stretcher." Gryphon said as she tried to pick herself up.

"Ha!" The Nurse was doubtful, "You can't even move after you used all that energy. Also you are clearly not in the peak of health." Gryphon groaned in frustration as she too was levitated into the waiting stretcher.

Harry felt himself fall asleep. A large white dog stood in front of him within his mind. It was the dog that protected him from Voldemort's mental onslaught.

"I am sorry Harry; I couldn't get there in time to prevent him from entering. When you have two trying to break into your mind at one time, it is hard to prevent at least one from entering." The dog told him. "I kept the greater of the two evils out."

"So what happened exactly?" Harry asked the white dog.

"Once Snape had entered your mind, Voldemort decided to chance a mental attack, I had no choice but to stay put and guard against Voldemort. It was fortunate that Professor Gryphon showed up to drag Snape from your mind before he had gotten too far." The dog said a turned around to leave

"I have one more question to ask before you leave." Harry said. The dog turned back around to look at him.

"Go on." The dog said simply.

"Are you Sirius, my godfather?" Harry inquired.

"The answer to that question is both yes and no. Harry, the Sirius that you know is dead, but in his death he imparted to you a gift, that gift is the manifestation of me. With this, I carry his will and his sacrifice to protect your mind from malevolent onslaught." The white dog answered.

"Do you have a name?" Harry asked as the dog turned away.

"Padfoot." The dog said as it padded away.

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"Hermione…"

She looked up from the red book that she was studying, "It's you?"

A little girl with black hair sat across from Hermione at the desk. One flickering candle between them, lighting enough to show that the room that they were in held towering piles of books.

"I fear that the task set before you is a more treacherous one than I had imagined. These books that are around us are books that you need to go through and learn before the time comes."

"All of these?" Hermione said daunted.

"This is your dream were the impossible can happen. These are the Forbidden Books, Knowledge that no man possesses. You will not remember them when you wake but when the time comes the knowledge that you have acquired here will be unlocked for a time of great need." The girl told her.

Hermione's eyes glowed in anticipation of learning the unknown.

"But before I let you partake in this knowledge…"The girl continued, "There is a side effect to this knowledge. The more you find out the more this side effect will manifest itself. Are you still willing to know this knowledge even with this side effect?"

"What is this side effect?"

"I am not sure it varies from person to person. I am not sure if you will go mute, insane or loose the ability to speak in tongues native to Earth."

"But if any of that happens, then how will I be able to read this to Harry?" Hermione asked as she indicated the book in front of her.

"I'm afraid that it will be reclaimed soon. But the only thing he has need of learning is on this page." The girl snapped her fingers and pointed to the book. It flipped open to a page farther into the book than Hermione had been. It was on page 579. She perused the page and looked at the girl in amazement. "It would be best if you returned it before it is reclaimed. Other than that, his training will be taken out of your hands by a very capable person."

"Why are you taking a more active role than before?" Hermione asked

"Situations have and will become more volatile than we had anticipated." The girl told her.

"We?" Hermione questioned.

"There are many others that are as worried as I am. Because of this I can take a more active role in your progression. Voldemort has corrupted magic farther than anyone has attempted before. He wishes to bring about what could be considered the Ultimate War, The greatest dark feat for a dark wizard to achieve ."

"Ultimate War?"

"They are worse than a World War. Every one is against another. No one trusts the other. Magic and Sorcery has the ability to garner deceit and sow the seeds of hate. Many worlds have suffered Ultimate Wars. Few have survived them and their effects. Earth has yet to come to an Ultimate War. I am unsure how Earth will be after if something like this does happen."

"Who are you and how do you know all this information?!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I am a concerned soul from another plane of existence." The girl's answer was simple yet vague. It thoroughly irritated Hermione, but she didn't let on to her irritation.

"I will give you time to decide your fate. I will return in three days time. If you come up with your answer sooner, I will come that night." The girl said and the candle flickered out.

Hermione shot up from her pillow after waking suddenly. The girl was always seemed to be right about things she told to Hermione. It was this, more than anything, that made Hermione realize how desperate matters were becoming. It truly scared her. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves so she could think properly. For the next three days she had a lot of thinking to do. One thing she was glad about was that she had a choice, a very heavy decision, but a choice, nonetheless. She was also glad to know that they were going to be prepared for the battle that was ahead. Many of her fears had been quelled with this information.

She pulled out the red tome from under her pillow and turned to page 579. It was exactly as she had seen it in the dream.

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Author's note: Please feel free to leave a comment, it is not required though.