The Sleep of the Undead

The Sleep of the Undead

Sunlight streamed through the dormitory windows across the beds of several sleeping boys. Harry dozed restlessly, his face heating up, his limp left hand absentmindedly swatting at the sun's rays. Reluctantly he opened up one eye and the glare attacked his blurry vision. He shut it again and, eyes closed, he heaved himself out of bed. He felt around for his glasses and put them on. Once things came into sharp focus he got dressed, walked out of the dormitory and wandered down the castle stairs and through the corridors of Hogwarts in a fuggy state. He felt something itching at the back of his mind; he was supposed to be doing something today, but what? He scratched the back of his head and it made him feel a little better. When he reached the doors to the Great Hall he found himself surprised to be there, he walked through them and sat down next to Ron.

"I'm starved."

Ron looked at him strangely and said, "What are you doing here?"

Harry returned the look and rolled his eyes.

"Breakfast, clearly," and noticing that there was no food he added, "Where's the food?"

Ron shook his head. "Harry, the house elves were slaughtered, from now on we have our meals in the classrooms. We've been forced to eat the teachers."

"Oh." Harry looked mildly disappointed and then hopefully he asked, "Have we eaten Snape?"

Ron closely examined his friend for any signs of bumps or fractures. "I was kidding Harry. What's going on mate? Are you feeling alright?"

Harry laughed forcibly. "Yeah, I was kidding too..."

He rubbed his temples, he was having a bad day; he felt awful. "Do you have any idea if I'm supposed to be doing something right now?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, you're supposed to kill Voldemort."

Harry looked blank. "To kill... Who's Voldemort?"

Ron placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and helped him up. "Come on mate, we're going to see the Madam Pomfrey, she'll set you right and then you'll be all set to kill Voldemort."

"I don't want to see bloody Madam Pomfrey. Who the hell is Voldemort? Why would I want to kill anyone?"

Ron patted his back soothingly and said, "No need to get riled up, look, it's Hermione."

He walked up to her and lifted his hand to her face. It seemed to be a private sort of a gesture but neither of them seemed to care that Harry was standing there, staring at them, utterly bewildered. Hermione was looking rapturously into Ron's eyes as he pulled her hair back and lowered his face to hers. She angled her face upwards to meet him and he placed his mouth beside hers and whispered something Harry couldn't discern. Hermione whispered back, they weren't kissing, they were just talking: strangely, secretly.

Harry screamed in frustration, "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

They looked over at him with shocked expressions on their faces. Ron's ears went pink, he looked furious.

"What does it look like mate? What the bloody hell are you doing?"

Harry narrowed his eyes, this was too weird, everyone was being weird, nothing was right, everything felt wrong.

"I don't know... I, er... I got up and then I wandered around and now I'm here and Voldemort, who's Voldemort? Then you and Hermione, whispering? Like that? It's very confusing and when I got up this morning something... What am I supposed to do?"

Ron nodded to Hermione, as if to say, "I see."

"Harry mate, I'll take you to him. You're a bit frazzled right now but a little blowout with him and you'll be right. You just have to avenge your parents' and your Godfather's death. Ok? Everything's alright."

Harry nodded and allowed himself to be led away. He entered a dark room with long, narrow mirrors glinting along the walls. Harry looked around it; it seemed empty, hollow, the glinting mirrors reflecting a strange blue light. He walked to the centre and Ron called out from the doorway, "You're fine now mate, I'll see you later."

Harry nodded and the door closed. He looked around the room and saw himself, skinny, black-haired and confused reflected all around him.

Who was this Voldemort? Why would he, Harry, want to kill him? Was he here, in this room? What happened to him when he got up this morning? There was something...

"Harry... We meet again." The low, hissed sound of the voice reverberated around the dark room, pinging across the mirrors and generating a sort of low, tinkly sound. Harry shivered involuntarily, it was strangely familiar, strangely entrancing.

He squinted through the darkness, the blue glow reflected from the mirrors revealing a strange shadow in the corner. "Who are you?"

Laughter rang out, loud and hacking across the room, ending abruptly with an odd, choking noise. "Who am I? Harry, we're not going to play this game today are we? There's a good lad."

Harry stepped toward, what he assumed, was Voldemort. "I'm not playing games. I want to know what's going on. Why are Ron and Hermione acting so strangely? Why the hell would Ron take me here, to kill you?"

The shadow moved closer, taking shape, the blue glow casting a horrible light over Voldemort's features. Snakelike and deathly pale, he slithered like a serpent, his cloak trailing behind his legs.

Harry looked at him closely, he was familiar, like a shadow of someone he knew, someone who vaguely resembled someone he hated. He couldn't remember why, he could only reason that it was because this thing had probably killed his parents and his Godfather... Sirius.

"Sirius... You killed Sirius. Why would you do that?"

He was talking to himself, thinking, wondering what he had done since yesterday that would leave him so confused, so empty, so... frazzled?

"Harry, Harry, you should know that. What's wrong with poor little orphan Harry? What's made him so, confused, so... Oh, I know, I know... Shall I tell you, shall I tell you what led you here?"

He was moving closer, slithering, inching and hissing, closer.

Harry's skin crawled. "Tell me, you disgusting, you... I don't even know what you are. Just tell me so I can kill you."

He took out his wand and felt the fury and confusion filling its core, burning through and glowing red.

Voldemort looked delighted and took his wand out as well, it glowed a cold, steely grey.

"What makes you think that you are capable of killing me? When have you shown any strength for yourself that wasn't entirely to do with luck? You certainly have grown arrogant... Yet you would kill me without knowing who I was and what has happened to your friends. Tut tut Harry, where's that moral fibre Dumbledore thinks so highly of?"

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Dumbledore... He's gone... He left me here, alone, but it wasn't significant because you... You don't exist... I don't know..."

"You're right, you don't know and you only have me here to let you know. Do you want me to tell you? Do you really want to know what's going on?"

Harry nodded, Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it at Harry. "Let me show you, Avada Kedavra!"

Harry fell to his knees, a searing pain shot through his head, carving into his forehead, tearing a lightning shaped hole. But that... That was already there, that was always there. Harry stood up and pointed his wand at Voldemort.

"You, I don't know what the hell this is, but I will."

He turned around and raced for the door, Voldemort walked slowly behind him. He tried to get out, it wouldn't open. "Figures," Harry mumbled to himself.

Voldemort hissed, "Now do you see? Do you know why you're here?"

Harry shook his head. Voldemort laughed hollowly. "You are thick. I shall tell you though. You're here to kill me. I cannot kill you, I can only cause you pain and take pleasure in it. It doesn't harm me to harm you, but I can't kill you. Do you see?"

"So thick, so unconcerned with the bigger picture, the sun this morning, did it not disturb you? Did it not cause you pain?"

Harry narrowed his eyes. "It annoyed me a bit, woke me up and then I... I had to get up, I..."

Voldemort raised his wand again and then sagged. "I can't even try to hurt you any more, it's so pointless. It 'woke you up', it woke everyone up. It's not even day time. There was no breakfast, there was no Dumbledore and even though you seem to think that he's been gone for ages he hasn't. He's here. Don't you see?"

Harry's mind raced, which was difficult, he didn't feel he had could grasp anything anymore. "But I'm supposed to kill you? And you're just going to take it? To die?"

Voldemort threw his wand to the ground and stood on it, grinding it into the floor. Sparks soared through the room, bouncing off the mirrors, creating an odd sort of light show. He fell to his knees, spread out his hands and hissed, "Yes."

Harry raised his wand and pointed it at him, things were so confused so, messed up. He sank to his knees as well and held his wand above him.

He screamed, "Stupefy!" and the spell bounced around the mirrors, smashing them and sending pieces flying everywhere. It left the room dark, Harry muttered "lumos" and his wand tip lit up. The floor glittered, a strange, broken carpet. The walls were left bare and black, an odd shadow in the centre made the black look darker, more mysterious. Harry aimed his wand at the door and violently whipped it across it. The door fell to pieces and light streamed in, he walked toward it.

Voldemort screeched loudly behind him, "Why won't you kill me?"

Harry turned and faced him. "Sir, I don't even know you."

He walked outside and saw Ron and Hermione talking together, normally this time.

Ron walked up to him and put his arm over his shoulder. "What were you doing in there? We've been looking all over, breakfast's ready."

Harry sighed. "I have to talk to Dumbledore, I couldn't kill him, he wasn't..."

Ron regarded Harry strangely. "What are you talking about? Are you alright mate?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, sure. I've just got to go speak to..."

"Sir, Sir!"

Dumbledore turned around; he regarded Harry curiously and hummed a little.

"Voldemort, it said it was Voldemort but I didn't kill him, it was too strange."

Dumbledore regarded Harry, confusion apparent in his twinkling blue eyes. "I slept in a bit late today so I'm afraid I'm a bit frazzled, you'll have to start from the beginning."

Harry nodded and articulated his theory. "I, er, I think there was a spell, it's broken now though. It made me forget who Voldemort was and it wanted me to kill him but I couldn't kill him if I didn't know him."

His forehead wrinkled in thought. "The thing is I don't even think it was Voldemort, I think it made me forget who he was so I wouldn't see that it wasn't Voldemort and that it was just some... I don't know some weird creature, trapped in a room of mirrors."

Ron and Hermione were looking at him curiously.

Harry looked back at them and said, "Don't you remember what you were doing today? The way you whispered to each other, the way your lips touched?"

Ron looked at Hermione uneasily. "I don't remember... I woke up kind of fuggy, I..."

Harry nodded. "Don't you see? There was a spell cast while we were sleeping. The sun this morning, no evening, it woke me up and I felt... I didn't feel whole."

His face screwed up in thought, trying to remember clearly. "When I walked through the castle, something was pulling me, but I couldn't remember anything bad, couldn't remember Voldemort. All I knew was that I had to do something and when Ron told me I had to kill Voldemort I just went along because I felt that I had to do something. Do you even remember? I remember, you must..."

Ron and Hermione were looking a little uncomfortable.

Hermione looked confused and said, "I remember something, that I woke up and Ron... But then I woke up again later and I was in my bed so I just assumed that I'd been dreaming. When I went down to breakfast and saw Ron he didn't say anything so I just thought..."

Ron nodded. "Yeah, but I don't remember telling Harry that he had to kill Voldemort. Why would I say that? How would I know?"

Harry shook his head. "Don't you see? You didn't know. It was the spell, the light. It wasn't day but it looked like it. It controlled everyone, made them think it was day and then sent them back to their beds. It wanted me. It wanted me to free it: by killing it."

Dumbledore was looking at Harry strangely. "This room of mirrors that you speak of, where is it?"

Harry turned around. "It was here, I ripped a hole through it and..."

He stared at the wall, it was bare. "I don't know what..."

Dumbledore put his arm around Harry. "Restless spirits can be very cunning. The mirrors in the room were probably its own creation; something it thought would distract you. Their powers go into the things they create."

Harry nodded. "I smashed the mirrors, it couldn't stop me leaving."

Dumbledore sighed. "You have rendered it harmless so think of it no more."

He regarded Harry sympathetically. "It isn't very fair is it?"

Harry shrugged and Dumbledore patted him lightly on the shoulder. When he walked away, they stood there awkwardly for a moment and then went into the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry ate moodily, it certainly wasn't fair, and it didn't make sense either, bloody Voldemort.