Harry Potter and the Elvish Magic

Harry Potter and the Elvish Magic

Chapter Seven: Reading Malfoy

Harry was eagerly awaiting an answer from Sirius regarding the capabilities of the Vampire Ruby, and so he was very glad to see Pigwidgeon come zooming down upon them during dinner the day after the Death Eaters attacked. However, before they could open Pigwidgeon’s letter, which certainly seemed to be from Sirius, another owl swooped down bearing the evening edition of the Daily Prophet, to which Hermione had taken out a subscription. Hermione took it eagerly, giving the owl the usual five Knuts, and opened the paper up. Sure enough: “PETER PETTIGREW APPREHENDED IN ATTEMPTED DEATH EATER ATTACK ON HOGWARTS!!!” read the headline. Hermione read through the article in under a minute (which was impressive considering the article was five pages long), and handed the paper to Harry and Ron, who, looking over each other’s shoulders, read it nearly as fast.

“However, perhaps the most shocking aspect of this case,” Harry read, “is the stunning confession by Peter Pettigrew, under Ministry-approved Veritaserum, that Sirius Black is in fact innocent of the crimes he was charged of fourteen years ago, when he was convicted of murdering twelve Muggles and Peter Pettigrew with one curse, and of betraying Lily and James Potter to Voldemort. Although it was long believed that Sirius Black was the Secret Keeper (the Potters used a Fidelius Charm to hide from Voldemort) for the Potters and their son Harry (who is Black’s godson), Pettigrew revealed that they had switched being Secret Keepers at the last moment, in hopes that Voldemort would pursue Black, believing him to be the Secret Keeper, while ignoring the true Secret Keeper. Pettigrew was apparently a Death Eater all along, and immediately informed Voldemort of the Potters’ whereabouts. Voldemort soon tried to kill them all, and this resulted in his initial downfall, as is well known. Soon after this, Peter Pettigrew found Black in the street, accused him of betraying the Potters, and cast the curse that Black was accused of. He used his illegal Animagus form of a rat to hurry down into the sewers. He cut off one of his fingers prior to casting the curse, which resulted in blood on the scene, which led Ministry officials to believe that Black had indeed cast the curse.

Black’s escape from Azkaban, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment, occurred two years ago. The human Azkaban guards (who have now entirely replaced the Dementors) had long noted that Black was totally lucid, and seemingly unaffected by the Dementors. It has been speculated that perhaps it was the knowledge that he was innocent was what enabled Black to avoid insanity. Pettigrew also revealed that Black also has an illegally obtained Animagus form, that of a large black dog. Pettigrew learned that Black used this ability to escape from Azkaban when at a conversation held between Black, three students and a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where Black went secretly two years ago to see his godson and reveal Pettigrew’s identity. Pettigrew was at the time staying at Hogwarts in his rat form, and posing as a student’s pet. He was captured by Black and the Hogwarts professor, but soon escaped. According to Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, the former Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge tried to have Black subjected to the Dementor’s Kiss. Knowing that Black was innocent, two Hogwarts students helped him escape.

These same students also tried to convince Minister Fudge of Black’s innocence, but the Minister refused to listen. According to the present Minister, Arthur Weasley, “What happened was a total disgrace, and shows what happens when we allow prejudice to guide us.

In light of the circumstances, Sirius Black has been exonerated of all charges, granted immunity with regards to his Animagus form, and has been awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class. Peter Pettigrew was stripped of the same rank, which he was awarded thirteen years ago. Pettigrew was sentenced to life in Azkaban, and is there today.”

Harry didn’t bother reading the rest of the article; he was in a state of euphoria. The newspaper was finally brave enough to call Voldemort by his proper name, and Sirius was free! Of course, he wasn’t quite sure what would happen, but they hurried up to the room outside of the Prefect’s bathroom to decrypt Sirius’ letter and see what he had to say.

It seemed that Hermione took a very long time to type in the message that day, but perhaps it was just because Harry’s nerves were on edge. He was hoping that he might never have to go back to the Dursleys now that Sirius was free. Hadn’t Dumbledore said that as long as he was there, Voldemort could kill the Dursleys? Surely Dumbledore wouldn’t send him to the Dursleys where he would be in danger. Surely Sirius could protect him. Then Harry realized that he didn’t know what Sirius had done for a living. He wondered about this, and decided to put it in his next letter.

Finally, Hermione was done typing in the numbers, and had pressed “Decrypt”. The computer processed, and a letter flashed up on the screen.

“Dear Truffles, Ruffles, and Huffles,” it read,

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but one of the Death Eaters apprehended was Wormtail, and I have been exonerated of all charges. However, I must remain in hiding. As soon as I heard the news of the capture, I went to Duffles (yesterday evening as of this writing), and asked him if I could surface. However, he has asked me to continue the covert work I have been doing. I am sorry, but I will not be able to see you for quite a while. We will be able to remain in correspondence as long as you use owls with Concealment Charms, and we should maintain our code names. It is still entirely possible for Voldemort to read our correspondence. However, I hope to be able to see at least Truffles by next year (which is only a few months away).

The Vampire Ruby is certainly capable of protecting you from Death Eaters, and it was probably the force behind the shock wave you described. I would advise you to go to Duffles and tell him you have it, so that he can decide what to do.

Sincerely yours,

Snuffles.”

Harry scowled as he finished reading the letter.

“Harry!” said Hermione. “Why are you scowling?”

“I wanted to see him,” Harry said, “and now he’s not able to come. Why not scowl?”

“Harry,” said Hermione, “think about it. He’s just become a lot safer. He’s no longer pursued by the Ministry. That will make it a lot easier for him to do whatever work he’s doing to help stop Voldemort. Why are you scowling? He’ll be able to come see you soon, and maybe he’ll be able to take you away from the Dursleys. Don’t scowl.” Harry saw the logic in this, and relaxed his face.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “You’re right. I wanted to see him, is all.” Hermione nodded sympathetically.

“Hing’lf erlaf restal frodaf,” she said suddenly in Giantish. It was a proverb they had learned earlier that day, which roughly translated to “He is one who will always come back someday.”

“Gifna langer uylat wekof, fresod domin xuis,” Harry replied. It was a line from an old Giantish epic called “The Sky-King”, and it meant “Yet no one can know when he will return, or how.”

“Then that’s another reason to be happy,” said Hermione. “Think of the fun you’ll have figuring out how comes back.”

“Fres faner wekof, af los fragtyl flergal,” Ron said suddenly. “Before he returns, we can do what he asks.” Harry and Hermione looked at him in astonishment.

“How did you learn to say that?” Hermione asked.

“You’re not the only one who’s obsessed with schoolwork,” Ron said. “I wanted to learn to use the computer on the Silladem, so I had it teach me Giantish to practice using it. It worked wonders. Still, as I said, we should go see Dumbledore. Snuffles asked us to do that.”

***

“Acid pops,” Harry said in exasperation. It was the sixtieth password they had tried on the gargoyle which led to his office. Suddenly, Hermione’s face lit up.

“Blood-flavored lollipop,” she said, and the gargoyle sprang both to life and aside. They went up the revolving staircase to Dumbledore’s office, with the pictures haranguing them as they passed

“How did you know the password, Hermione?” Harry asked.

“I wasn’t sure,” she said, “but it’s called the Vampire Ruby, and vampires would probably like Blood-flavored lollipops. Ron showed me one during our third year, and I said that I thought that they were probably designed for vampires. It made some sortof crazy sense for Dumbledore to choose that password.”

“Do you think he likes them?” Ron asked. “He usually chooses passwords of candies that he likes.”

“I don’t know,” Harry said. “Maybe he does.”

“Eeuw,” said Hermione, making a face. They finally reached the top of the stairs, and came to a wooden door. Hermione raised her hand and knocked. Almost immediately the door opened, and Dumbledore gestured them inside.

“I believe I know why you’ve come,” he said, “or at least part of your reason for being here. Still, I may be wrong, so why don’t you sit down and tell me why you came?” They sat down, and he sat down as well.

“Professor,” Harry began, “Snuffles sent us a letter a few days ago, along with ruby that he said you had asked him to get for us. Then, when the Death Eaters came, we realized that at about the same time as whatever it was that stopped them occurred, the ruby which he sent us glowed red. We asked him about it, and today he sent us a letter which said that he thought that the ruby probably did cause that shock wave, and he said we should talk to you to see what we should do.” Dumbledore nodded solemnly.

“May I please see the ruby?” he asked. Harry reached into his bag, got out the box, and handed it to Dumbledore, who opened it carefully, his eyes focused on it sharply. The ruby, when he opened it, seemed to be glowing especially brightly, and Harry wondered why.

“This is most certainly the Vampire Ruby,” Dumbledore said solemnly. “It is an object of great power. Although I use the pronoun ‘it’ to refer to it, because it has no gender, it is conscious, and aware what its surroundings. All it wants is to sleep for a time and rest from the cares of the world, for it has existed in this world for well over thirty thousand years. However, in order for it to rest, it would need to give its power to some other entity which would willingly accept it. So far, it hasn’t been able to find anyone or anything which can carry all of its power, so it is unable to rest.

It has been with your family, Harry, and is loyal to your family, because long ago, one of your ancestors, Godric Gryffindor, tried very hard to help the ruby drain its power into the rubies of his sword, which hangs now on the wall behind you. It has been prevalent in your family to be powerfully magic ever since, and many of your ancestors have tried to accept the ruby’s power, and failed to do so. Your father nearly succeeded, but he failed.

I asked Sirius to find the ruby and give it to you in the hopes that it would protect you, which it did. It is far more powerful than Lord Voldemort, and I believe that it will continue to protect you from him.”

“Professor,” Harry asked, as soon as Dumbledore had finished, “I’ve asked you this before, but why does Voldemort want to kill me? Does it have anything to do with the Vampire Ruby?” Dumbledore looked at him solemnly.

“There are many reasons why Voldemort wants to kill you,” he said finally. “The Vampire Ruby is not the least of them. However, you must understand that Voldemort would be very happy killing any one of us. Ron and Hermione are in as much danger as you are, and not only because of their association with you. One might say that you are in danger because of your association with them, instead of the other way around.

You see, the three of you are part of a group of people whom the Founders of Hogwarts foretold would be capable of stopping great evil and doing great good. Voldemort is aware of this, and that he is the foretold target. He thinks that by killing you, he will be able to conquer the wizarding world. Do you understand?” They nodded.

“Good,” said Dumbledore. “Now, you should probably return to your common rooms.” They got up, thanked Dumbledore, and left. Harry decided to continue reading Magic. He’d just finished the first volume, which was about the theory of magic. As soon as they got up to Gryffindor Tower, Harry went up into his dormitory, enchanted the second volume so that it wouldn’t look like the book that it actually was, and went back down to the common room.

According the short prologue to the second volume, the rest of Magic concerned the applications of the theories covered in the first volume. Harry was excited upon hearing this, and was not disappointed when he turned to the first section.

“Changing the shape, size and substance of the body of the subject without magical aid,” he read at the top of the first page of the section.

“It is entirely possible, and in fact very easy, for witches and wizards to change the shape, size and actual substance of their body with sufficient mental focus. This magic should not be confused with ordinary Transfiguration, in which the transformed object still retains some qualities of the original form. This magic is even deeper than the Animagus transformation, although it is more akin to the type of transformation which does not use charms, spells, potions or other aids than the other varieties.

The potential uses of this magic should be obvious. The Polyjuice Potion, the most commonly used transformer of the body aside from true transfiguration, can be counteracted with a ‘Finite Incantatem’. The forms of ordinary transfiguration are all very, very difficult to master to a state a which disguise by them is practical, seldom produce a perfect result, do not completely change the body, and are easier detectable and counter-actable. Using the form of magic concerned with in this chapter, which, like all the forms of magic discussed in this book, is merely a manifestation of unspecialized magic coupled with an intense focus, yields a complete transformation which is undetectable, cannot be counter-acted by anything known other than the Imperius Curse, and then only with knowledge on the part of the caster that the transformation has taken place, is easy to maintain, and virtually always yields a satisfactory result when properly executed.

This form of transformation requires two things: magic and focus. Most witches and wizards have the first thing at their disposal, but the latter is much more elusive. This transformation requires simple mental exercises to develop focus, and then can be used easily.

The implications of this transformation are enormous. Imagine being able to be a different person every day, male or female, young or old, white or black, sedentary worker or Olympic athlete, and you will begin to understand them.

My last contrast may suggest that it would be possible to use this transformation to win athletic competitions unfairly. That is not true. The doing of evil deeds destroys the type of focus necessary for this transformation. While it is possible to use this transformation for something such as espionage, it is not normally possible to use this transformation for goals common with Dark Magic. It is the responsibility of those executing the transformation to see that they themselves do not misuse it.”

Harry excitedly read the introduction over again, and then looked at the next few pages, which consisted of elementary exercises for the transformation which had no name. He then put the book in his bag, and stood up.

“I’m going to go study in the library,” he said to Hermione, who nodded and went back to her reading. He went out through the portrait hole and set off through the corridors. He was sure that Dumbledore wanted him to learn this transformation. Otherwise, why would he have told Harry to read Magic, especially right after mentioning that he had talent which even Ron and Hermione didn’t? Harry soon reached the library, and went into one of the study rooms in the back, choosing one without windows.

He took out the second volume of Magic, and opened it up to the first exercise.

“Focus on a strand of your hair, or the iris of one of your eyes if you have no hair,” he read. “Learn every detail about it, and study it as a whole as well. Then hold the image in your mind, close your eyes so you no longer regard it, and, without having your mind waver from the image of your strand of hair or eye iris, have it change color. Open your eyes, and regard the strand of hair or iris of your eye (mirrors are usually helpful for this). Try again and again until you can get it right, and then focus on it reverting to its natural state. Do not concern yourself with speed, which will be exercised later.” Shrugging, Harry conjured a mirror and held it up to his face, looking at his eye carefully (he chose his eye because it would be hard to focus on a particular strand of hair). He looked at the deep emerald-green pool in front of him, and focused on knowing every detail of it. He noticed that in his eye there were a few areas which glinted somewhat gold, but it was a greenish form of gold, as in fire seen through an emerald. He looked again carefully, and memorized everything about his eye. Not everything he could see, but really everything (he thought that this would be a better visualization technique). Then he let his eyelids fall, but he imagined that he could still see his eye.

Then, he imagined that his eye had changed. It still retained the original shading, but instead of being emerald green, it was now sky blue. Harry felt a sort of tingling in his eye, and opened it, looking in the mirror again. Sure enough, his eye was sky blue. It looked odd next to his other eye which was still green, so he studied his other eye, concentrating, and managed to turn it blue as well.

Harry stepped back and looked in the mirror again. His eyes looked oddly light against his dark hair, making him look as if he were slightly crazy. He concentrated again, and made his eyes change back to their original color. Then he looked at the next exercise.

“The next exercises focus on transformations on a more extensive scale from human body to human body. The first set of exercises will focus on this type of transformation, while the second set will focus on building the thorough and rapid observation needed for said transformation. The remaining sets will deal with transformations into non-human forms (which should not be confused with the Animagus transformation).

For this exercise, please proceed as with the previous one, but instead use your hand or foot (if you have none, focus on some other body part which you can easily see). As in the previous exercise, concentrate on the skin in that area, and then close your eyes, holding the image in your mind, and change the color of your skin somewhat. Focus first on accuracy, and then on speed. It is important to get to a point where you can change the color of your skin to the exact color you are aiming for before increasing speed. Achieving accuracy may take several weeks or months, but will bring far superior results than not waiting to achieve accuracy and rushing on.”

Harry focused on his hand, trying to keep his mind from wandering. He turned it over slowly, memorizing every detail: how the fingers curved, how the fingernails were shaped, how the hairs were placed. He looked carefully at his skin tone, and then closed his eyes, and focused carefully. He opened his eyes.

He had been aiming for a skin tone slightly darker than his own, but his hand was now easily as dark as Dean Thomas’. He closed his eyes again, and concentrated, and his hand became its normal color again.

***

“The Prefect’s meeting will be called to order,” said Roger Davies. Harry rolled his eyes; Roger’s propensity for excessive formality even exceeded Percy Weasley’s. He had spent the last fifteen minutes making an extremely dry speech about the duties of Prefects, all the while glaring at the Gryffindors because he felt that they had too many Prefects, as well as having a Head Girl.

“Right, then,” Alicia Spinnet said. Roger scowled, but she had already taken the stage. “What do we feel is necessary to be covered in this meeting?” Draco Malfoy raised a hand, and Alicia nodded.

“We need to determine the Quidditch practice times,” he drawled. His composure was back after his breakdown on the train, but Harry could sense a slight change in him. It was almost as if he had become somewhat less like a Malfoy, although Harry hated using a family name to describe a philosophy, but however his former mannerisms had been, Draco Malfoy had changed, and actually seemed like a much nicer person than before.

“And why would that be?” Alicia asked him coldly. She apparently still didn’t like him very much despite how he’d changed, and since Harry didn’t like Malfoy very much either, he sympathized with her.

“It seems to me that whenever Slytherin tries to go to the field during one of our scheduled practice times,” he said, “either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff is still there, and because we have the latest practice times, when they delay us, we either have to cut our practice times short or otherwise be late for our sessions with Grubbly-Plank.”

“Professor Grubbly-Plank,” Alicia said. “Cho, Justin, what do you have to say?” Cho Chang was the Quidditch captain for Ravenclaw this year, and Justin Finch-Fletchey had become the Quidditch captain for Hufflepuff despite the fact that this was his first year on the Quidditch team. They were at present looking embarrassed.

“I’m sorry,” said Cho. “We’ve had problems with our brooms because there were moths in Ravenclaw’s broom closet. Because of that, we’ve been starting late, because we’ve had to keep applying Anti-Moth charms. We finish late, and then Hufflepuff gets delayed. We’ve finally eradicated the moths, though, so they shouldn’t hinder us any more. I’m sorry there’s been such a problem.” Justin also looked embarrassed.

“Even though I’m the Quidditch captain,” he said, “most of our players are loyal to George Hillman, who has been on our team for the last three years. He used to want to drag on our practice times, and they would all go along with him, despite what I said. I’ve talked to him, and he won’t be doing it anymore.”

“Very well,” Alicia said, “that seems to be resolved. Any other concerns?” Susan Bones raised a hand, and Alicia nodded.

“I don’t know if this is true of all the Houses,” the round-faced girl said, “but I’ve noticed that among Hufflepuff, a lot of the first-years, especially those who come from Muggle backgrounds, are scared stiff of Voldemort, and it’s severely affecting their lives. I think that we need to make sure they understand that they are safe here, and to know what he is, so that they don’t have to suffer the uncertainty that’s hovering over their horizon. All most of them know now is that he’s a really bad, really powerful thing. They don’t know anything about him, and I think we should change that.” Harry was amazed, and impressed, by what Susan had done. Most witches and wizards avoided saying even Voldemort’s name, and she had stated the point exactly. Alicia looked at Professor Dumbledore, who was sitting in the corner. He stood up.

“I think that that was probably the most excellent suggestion we have heard so far,” he said. “Thank you for bringing it to our attention. Please think of ideas, and figure out a plan, and then we will discuss it.” Alicia looked around, and then asked for suggestions. Draco Malfoy raised a hand.

“I think that whatever we do, Potter should be involved in it,” he drawled, “considering his public image.” Harry could see that there was some sense in it, and Alicia nodded.

“That’s true,” she said. “I think that we should also have teachers involved in whatever we do, and ordinary students as well, so that they establish more of a connection with the students.” There were nods all over the room.

“From the suggestions we’ve heard so far,” Cho Chang spoke up suddenly, “I think that it might work best if we were to have a group of people go to every common room, and do a presentation for all the students. These groups could be comprised of students from various years, Prefects, the Head Boy and Girl, and various professors.” Several people began clapping.

“Oh, very well,” said Roger Davies suddenly. It appeared as if he wanted to assert more control over the meeting, which had formerly been Alicia-dominated. “All in favor of Chang’s proposition, raise your wands and send up red sparks. In opposition, send up green sparks.” The ceiling of the room was suddenly covered with dancing red sparks which shot out from the wands of every single Prefect, Alicia, Roger, and Dumbledore. This was the traditional method of voting in Prefect meetings. The voters used their wands to send up sparks indicating their choice, and whichever color of spark was greater in number went up to the ceiling, while the other color went under it. By looking at the ceiling, the presiders of the meeting could determine the final decision.

“Well,” said Alicia, “you can all see our choice. Now, let’s nominate students. We’ve had recommendations for a variety of student, Professors and Prefects, including Harry Potter. I would also add that we include at least one first year, as well as Professor Dumbledore, and try to get a balance between Houses. Suggestions, please?”

***

Eventually, they ended up nominating Harry, Dumbledore, Alicia, Ginny, Eledh Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Fleur Delacour, Cho Chang, Justin Finch-Fletchey, and Susan Bones to participate. Harry thought that the nominations were well chosen. Harry knew that he himself, despite how much he hated it, would be very good for boosting morale because of his public image. He hated to admit it, but Malfoy had, for once been right. Dumbledore was very, very famous throughout the wizarding world as a powerful wizard. He had defeated Grindelwald, and so was fairly familiar with Dark Wizards. Alicia, Ginny and Eledh were all extremely popular because of their personalities and intelligence, and so would be good choices. Harry knew that to reach out to the Slytherins, they would need Draco Malfoy and Professor Snape, and so they were included. Fleur Delacour would appeal to many of the boys, and Professor McGonagall was an authoritative figure for most of the students, and would lend an era of sincerity to the occasion. The Hufflepuff students were also very popular.

After seeing what they produced, Harry finally realized the true purpose of the Hogwarts Prefects. They were more than just students who got good grades and could take points away from other students; they were students who were true leaders of the student body, and were responsible for the student conduct. It was truly their responsibility to fight Voldemort in a small, but important, way, and they rose to it admirably.

“One of the most important things, I think,” said Cho, “is to teach the students the basic philosophies needed to defeat Voldemort. It’s essential that they’re equipped with the tools to deal with knowledge that he exists, and can strike out at them, without being cowed by fear of him.”

“I think that one of the ways we can do that is to emphasize that he was once just an ordinary student,” Harry said suddenly. “If they can realize that he started off as an abandoned orphan, and then arose to become a terrible, powerful Dark Wizard, they can understand how he is really not something supernatural, and not something very different from the rest of us. That would also help them to realize that they could also one day become something like him, and that that would be something they would need to avoid.” Several people looked at him in surprise, and then began clapping.

“I think that this is all very well and good,” Roger said, “but how should this presentation be structured?”

“It would make the most sense for the people to meet after dinner,” Hermione said, “and for them to work with other people to figure out exactly what they’re going to present, and exactly how they’re going to present it. Even though only certain people will be presenting, it makes sense for this to have as many minds involved as possible. Also, I think that there must be some way for other people to observe the presenters during the initial presentation, and look for ways to improve for the next presentation.” Several people nodded slightly, and the planning continued.

***

“You can go a bit faster than that, Harry,” Dumbledore’s voice said as the wind roared by them. “I know you can.” Harry beat his wings harder through the air, and the trees below him scrambled by even faster. That was the only word he could think of to describe it as he went by. He looked up ahead, and saw a gray cloud looming grimly, with rain streaming down from it. Suddenly, he was under it, and rain began bouncing off him as though they were bullets and he was wearing some sort of bullet-proof vest. He felt something move over his eyes reflexively, and guessed that it was some sort of protective eyelid for use when flying. It must have been completely transparent, because it didn’t affect his vision at all.

“Go up above the clouds, please, Harry,” Dumbledore said, “so that you won’t be in the rain any more. It doesn’t really hurt you to fly that fast through it, but it probably does become bothersome.” Relieved to be able to get out of the rain, the dragon arced upwards, and went into the gray clouds. They whipped around his wings, and it became much, much harder to fly. Finally, he burst up above the clouds, and saw the hills and valleys, and oddly-shaped peaks, on the upper side.

He glided over them, swooping through high arches of mist, and drifting through white canyons. Finally, Harry saw a sort of cave in the cloudy wall up ahead, and he entered it, hovering in place. Everything was very peaceful up here, and if he hadn’t been able to hear on the edge of his auditory range the faint sound of raindrops slicing through the air hundreds of feet below him, he would never have guessed that beneath him was a rainstorm at all.

“That will be enough for flying today, Harry,” Dumbledore said. “Go down and go back to Hogwarts.” Harry swooped down, and descended into the rain again, the transparent third eyelids which had receded while he was in the clouds coming down over his eyes again. He shot off through the rain, and focused on getting back to Hogwarts while not getting too wet.

Suddenly, he sensed that something was wrong, and he shot to the side just as a terribly hot, whitish-blue bolt of lightning sizzled by where he had been just before. He looked back, and saw a small fleet of black figures on broomsticks converging on him like a wave of hornets. He recognized their masks. They were Death Eaters.

He shot up into the clouds again as more curses flew, and suddenly his wings began moving up and down, and moved so fast that they disappeared. Harry shot off through the clouds, hoping against hope that he wouldn’t bang into anything. At the speed at which he was going, he was sure that a collision would kill him.

Suddenly, the clouds ended, and he left the Death Eaters behind as he zoomed through the air. He was relieved that they were stimulated, and not some real Death Eaters who had found a way to get into the Time Orbs.

“That was well done, Harry,” Dumbledore said. “This will be the end of our session.” Harry angled down towards the lawn in front of Hogwarts, which awaited him.

***

“Hermione,” said Harry quietly, “what’s your Animagus form?” They were studying in the library after dinner, and Harry had suddenly began wondering what her form was. She looked at him strangely.

“You already know,” she said. “Remember?”

“Not that,” said Harry, looking around to see if anyone was nearby. “Your other Animagus form.”

“Oh...” said Hermione, trailing off. “Why do you want to know my Animagus form?” Harry shrugged.

“I was just curious,” he said. “I’ll tell you mine if you’ll tell me yours.”

“No,” said Hermione, smiling.

“Please?” said Harry.

“No,” said Hermione. Harry scowled at her, and determined to find out exactly what her Animagus form was. She smirked at him, and continued writing.

“Well, well, well,” said Malfoy. “It’s the two lovebirds of Hogwarts, Potty and Gangrene.”

“Malfoy,” said Hermione very seriously, “you learned the name of a disease. I’m impressed, despite the fact that you horribly mispronounced it.” Malfoy scowled. Evidently he had been listening to them, for he soon spoke again.

“So, Potter,” he sneered, “looks like your girlfriend won’t tell you her Animagus form.” Harry tensed up slightly. Had Malfoy heard him say the words “Your other Animagus form”? If he had, they were in serious trouble. He suddenly looked at Malfoy carefully, and started reading him, much as he had on the train. It was much easier this time, and he was hard pressed not to overdo it, disregarding Dumbledore’s warning about overtaxing his abilities.

I am a lonely person, dissatisfied with the other members of my House. So many of them blindly obey their parents, shaping their lives around their parent’s wishes. I wish that my father had never forced me to get the Dark Mark on my arm. There is a Death Eater meeting tonight, which I must go to, and I am irritable from having to suppress my fear so that I can continue to be a spy for Dumbledore in the ranks of the Death Eaters. I want to be nice to you, but every time I get close to you, it becomes hard for me to do so. A sort of mist descends between me and my desire to be kind to you, and by force of habit I am mean to you. I would ask your help, but I must not do so, because that would let you in on my secret. I wish you’d help me, but I can’t ask you, and I have to live with that. I wish I was more familiar with you, because I know that you’re nice people. I wish that you would be the people who would know me, people whom I could confide in, about how my Animagus form is a white ferret, about how I really regret having been so mean to you, about how you are so much better than I am, and I know that it’s by my own choice. Please help me.

Harry somehow saw the faint purple Cyrillic letters float through the air in front of him. He wouldn’t have been able to read them, except for that Professor Aberforth had introduced them to the Cyrillic alphabet in his lecture of the day, which was about languages and methods of denoting them evolving. He had introduced them to cuneiform, the Greek alphabet, and the Cyrillic alphabet to demonstrate his ideas.

Fortunately for Harry, Malfoy’s thoughts, which were what were written in the letters floating in front of him, were in English, and not in Russian, which Harry would have had great trouble understanding. Harry couldn’t fathom why Malfoy’s thoughts were in such a strange alphabet. His mind was jerked away from this, however, as he rapidly read what he was seeing.

“I am a lonely person, dissatisfied with the other members of my House. So many of them blindly obey their parents, shaping their lives around their parent’s wishes. I wish that my father had never forced me to get the Dark Mark on my arm. There is a Death Eater meeting tonight, which I must go to, and I am irritable from having to suppress my fear so that I can continue to be a spy for Dumbledore in the ranks of the Death Eaters. I want to be nice to you, but every time I get close to you, it becomes hard for me to do so. A sort of mist descends between me and my desire to be kind to you, and by force of habit I am mean to you. I would ask your help, but I must not do so, because that would let you in on my secret. I wish you’d help me, but I can’t ask you, and I have to live with that. I wish I was more familiar with you, because I know that you’re nice people. I wish that you would be the people who would know me, people whom I could confide in, about how my Animagus form is a white ferret, about how I really regret having been so mean to you, about how you are so much better than I am, and I know that it’s by my own choice. Please help me.”

Harry looked at Hermione, and then at Malfoy. He was relieved to know that Malfoy apparently hadn’t heard what they had been saying, but now he had a much bigger problem on his hands. He felt obligated to help Malfoy, and it wouldn’t be easy to do so without having Malfoy realize what he was.

“You know, Malfoy,” he said, “people would like you a lot more if you would stop being so mean. We could help you with that. It must be terribly lonely, all there by yourself in Slytherin.” Malfoy looked at him in horror, and then ran out of the library. Hermione looked after him in shock.

“Harry, how did you do that?” she demanded.

“I don’t know,” Harry said, looking around to see if anyone was nearby. It was becoming an annoyingly familiar gesture. “We need to see Dumbledore. Now.” Hermione nodded, and they hurried out of the library. All the while, Harry was thinking: “What is Malfoy going through, with a Dark Mark on his arm?”