Harry Potter and the Book of Shadows

Free

Thursday morning found Harry, Ron and Hermione making their way from the castle to the greenhouses, trailing a group of sixth-year Hufflepuffs. The class congregated in front of greenhouse two, surprised to find an addition had been attached to the main door. Professor Sprout was waiting by the entrance, numerous buckets of potted vines surrounding her feet.

As soon as it appeared everyone had arrived, she sighed and began, "Well chaps, I had planned to start the year with the Ever-Blooming Blaarkop, but it seems the specimens I received came with an infestation of Red-tailed Ichneumon." Her annoyance was palpable.

Neville looked upset and caught the trio's eye. "Ickies are very difficult to get rid of. And they sting!"

"So instead, we'll begin by planting these," Professor Sprout continued, indicating the pots by her feet, "in the hopes of getting rid of the swarm."

The students looked at one another, wondering what red-tailed ichneumon were. Murmurs of speculation on how bad it would be to have to spend a class in there planting with them rippled through the class, those that had overheard Neville sounding more anxious than those who had not.

Resuming her lecture, Professor Sprout said, "Now, since we don't want the little blighters to get out, there's a three-door system to get into the greenhouses. You'll go into the first part, leave all your books and things, then remove your outer robes. In the second room, you'll find numerous bottles of insect spray. Cover yourselves thoroughly! It'll help keep the ichneumon away from you, and believe me, you don't want them to sting."

"Um, what'll happen if they do?" Seamus asked nervously. Several other students voiced their concern as well.

"Don't worry, you probably wouldn't feel it. Some people think it's quite painful, but most don't even notice they've been stung. Regardless of how much the sting bothers you, you will be telling everyone exactly what's on your mind until you take the antidote. Their stingers are a component of Veritiserum, and so ichneumon stings will make you voice any and all thoughts that come into your heads. Hardly life-threatening, but something I'm sure no one wants to happen. I have a healthy supply of antidote so if you think you've been stung, you'd best let me know." She divided the class into groups of six to pass though the rooms and into the greenhouse, as there was not much space in the entryway.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the main greenhouse after dousing each other liberally with the spray, smelling strongly, though not wholly unpleasantly, of citrus. They set their pots of vines down on the long tables and looked around. The interior of the greenhouse seemed no different, except for the rows of bright blue and purple flowering bushes that were apparently the cause of the influx of pests. There was a faint buzzing sound, but no insects made an appearance.

"All right, so you'll see the pots secured to the walls. Each one is to be planted with one Demon Vine. Plant more than one and they'll only kill each other." The students looked to see numerous pots attached to the greenhouse walls, above the infested blaarkop plants. "Demon Vine is a carnivorous plant, especially good at ridding gardens of unwanted pests. You don't commonly see them in household gardens because they're also quite good at eating beneficial insects, and if they get too big, neighborhood pets. Make sure you add lots of water. Demon Vine likes a nice wet soil. Off you go then!"

Harry looked more closely at the plant in front of him, intrigued that it was carnivorous. It didn't seem to have any parts that would trap insects, like the Venus fly trap, and he wondered how it caught its prey. The long, trailing vines were a deep blood red, with dark glossy leaves appearing at regular intervals along the length. The largest leaves were about half the size of Harry's palm, in the shape of a teardrop. Nowhere did Harry see anything that could possibly catch an insect. He shrugged and selected a planter on the wall, filling it with a layer of soil.

Ron stood a few feet away, shifting blaarkop plants to reach his planter. A small movement caught Harry's eye as a tiny winged creature landed gently on Ron's shoulder. Ron continued with his planting, completely unaware. Quietly, Harry moved closer for a better look. The insect was about an inch and a half long, with clear bisected wings and an elongated black body. A half-inch bright red stinger curled underneath it's body. Before Harry could get a better look, Ron shifted and the insect flew off.

"Ugh, have you looked at the roots on this thing? Looks like veins." Ron held up his Demon Vine. The thick red roots did indeed have an eerie quality about them. Harry momentarily wondered if the roots had something to do with how the plants fed. "Disgusting."

Ron turned back toward the planter. "She said to add a lot of water, but how much is a lot?" He stuck the vine down into the soil. "These things are creepy."

Ron continued his running commentary as he packed soil around his plant. Harry turned back to his own vine and finished filling his pot with soil, thinking Ron was being unusually chatty. He turned for the watering can just as Ron was reaching for another vine.

When Ron paused, his hand poised over a plant, Harry followed his gaze to where Hermione was leaning over a bag of fertilizer, trying to reach the trowel she had dropped behind it. Whatever comment Ron had been in the middle of trailed off.

"Wow. I never noticed Hermione had such a great-" Ron's statement was cut off by Harry clamping his hand over Ron's mouth. "Mmmmfff!"

"Professor Sprout! I think Ron's been stung." Harry kept his hand over Ron's mouth as she came over with the antidote.

Seamus and Neville snickered from their bench across the way, having heard the start of Ron's unwittingly voiced declaration. Hermione looked over and rolled her eyes, but didn't seem to have heard what Ron had said. Ron flushed bright red as he downed the evil-looking antidote. He kept his mouth clenched shut and didn't look at anyone for the rest of the class.

As they were gathering their things from the entryway, Ron turned to Harry. "Thanks, I didn't even know I'd been stung." He flushed. "Not that I was going to say what it sounded like. I-"

"Of course not," Harry broke in with a smile.

Ron sighed. "I owe you one."

"For what?" Hermione asked as she slung her bag over her shoulder and joined them.

"Nothing," Ron replied quickly, glancing at Harry.

"Two," Harry said grinning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before Harry knew it, the first week was over and it was Monday again. He, Ron, and Hermione were once again outside Hagrid's cabin, milling around with the Slytherins. Just as they were wondering where he was, Hagrid came out from in back of his cabin, beaming at them all.

"Today I got a real treat fer yeh. Should be arrivin' any minute." He smiled widely at Harry and gave him a little wink. Hagrid's excitement had the whole class on edge, usually his 'treats' ended up singeing or stinging someone.

"We're real lucky to get the chance-" Hagrid broke off, having caught sight of something moving toward them from the castle. The class turned in unison, their apprehension evident. A few confused murmurs broke out when they saw it was only the new Assistant Caretaker headed their way.

Catching sight of the small crowd of students, the figure paused as if in surprise then continued toward them. As she neared, Persephone cast Hagrid a confused smile. "I got your message asking to see me. It sounded as though it was urgent, but I see you have a class-"

"Yeah, yeah. I was hopin' ye'd be able to give me a hand today." Hagrid smiled back but quickly looked over his shoulder toward the path from the Hogwarts gate.

"Oh...I..." Persephone looked a bit taken aback. "All right. What is it you're-"

"Here it is now!" Hagrid pointed excitedly to the path that came from the direction of Hogsmeade. Four large oxen were pulling a cart that contained a very large, shaking crate. A slit about six inches wide ran around the top, and something large could barely be seen moving around inside. The class eyed it dubiously. Nothing good had ever come from a large, angrily shuddering crate. Even Persephone looked slightly alarmed.

The class followed as the oxen lumbered into a paddock behind Hagrid's hut Harry didn't remember being there before. Hagrid awkwardly slid the enormous crate off the cart to the ground. The class backed up when an angry snort sounded from inside the box, immediately followed by a loud thud, not unlike a hard kick to the crate's wall. Hagrid paid the driver and peeled what looked to be a letter off the side of the crate. Everyone waved goodbye as the cart rolled off, back toward Hogsmeade, the faces of several students clearly showing a strong desire to hitch a ride out of there. Hagrid handed the letter to Persephone. The class watched, hoping for some hint of what was in the crate as she took it with a quizzical look and opened it. Looking stunned at what she had read, she turned to Hagrid just as he pulled the top off the crate and stepped back.

"It can't be..." The crate's sides fell, revealing a beautiful silver-grey Granian winged stallion. He snorted, stomped, and flexed his wings, apparently resentful that he had been boxed up. "...Free."

The class oohed. Even Hermione, who had professed she was not fond of horses, seemed impressed.

"Free? He wasn't free, Hagrid paid for him," Seamus said, confused.

Having spotted the crowd of students, the stallion snorted again and backed up several paces, his hard breathing loud in the awed silence. Neck arched and ears perked forward, the horse whinnied loudly when he spotted Persephone. The class looked between her and the horse as she imitated him perfectly and whinnied back. She walked toward him, one hand outstretched. Snorting softly, he backed up a few paces, but after a moment, allowed Persephone to stroke his neck.

Murmuring quietly to the horse, she patted his neck reassuringly. Turning to the class, she said, "Free is his name. Actually, his full name is 'Let Freedom Ring' but I just call him Free."

"So, yeh remember the thestrals from las' year. This is another breed of winged horse, a Granian. He's was bein' treated at the ranch Persephone worked at, and they thought he'd be a good lesson fer yeh. Yeh'll get firs' hand experience on treatin' a magical creature!" Hagrid was thrilled, and by the looks on some of the class' faces, so were many students.

Pansy Parkinson had edged closer as Hagrid talked, trying to get within reach to touch the stallion. Free sensed it and pranced in place, snorting.

Persephone gently urged the horse back and away from the students. "Everyone back up. Free is a wild stallion and far from tame. He's also wound up from traveling all the way here, so everyone needs to back up and stay calm and quiet."

"Is he yours?" Dean asked Persephone lead the horse to the water trough.

Persephone looked up briefly. "No, he's not anyone's. I found him hurt not far from the ranch where I used to work. He was a real mess, one broken wing, and one with hardly any feathers left, two broken legs, gashes and bites. We weren't sure he was going to make it. A few of the other people at the ranch were helping his rehabilitation, and I thought he was doing well enough when I left, though he's not ready to be sent back to the wild yet."

Now that they were over their initial surprise, the class could see Free had large patches of feathers missing, and one wing looked slightly crooked, though he seemed to be walking fine.

"Won't he just fly away?" Pansy asked, eyeing the six-foot paddock fence and open gate with contempt.

Hagrid answered, "Well, yeh can use the same spells and treatments on magic creatures as yeh do fer people for some things, like his broken legs, but they don't always work so well on some other parts. His wing has to heal on its own and the feathers have to come back naturally, and he won' be able to fly properly until they do. He won' get out of the paddock 'cause winged horses won't usually fly if they know they're hurt. Righ' smart creatures. Besides, if he knows she's here," Hagrid pointed at Persephone, "he'll probably stay. We should have him fer a month or two at the leas'."

Some of the students were moving closer to the fence, trying to get a better look. Free, already agitated from being cooped up in a box and finding himself in unfamiliar surroundings, was dancing in place, his breath coming in sharp snorts.

"Are you deaf? I said back up! He will kick!" Persephone yelled at them. Malfoy looked at her with distain, but turned and moved back a few feet, fast enough that his robes billowed slightly. Free saw the movement and reared. His right hoof narrowly missed Persephone's head. Everyone backed up considerably, though Persephone moved closer, stroking Free's neck, speaking softly to him.

"Yeh all righ'?" Hagrid asked.

"Fine." Her voice was tight. Harry thought she looked almost as agitated as Free.

Free was prancing in a small circle, tossing his head, wings folded tightly to his body. Persephone stood by his shoulder, turning with him, attempting to soothe him. He stopped circling and stamped his feet, letting out a high 'whee' noise.

"Should I close the gate?" Hagrid asked when he saw they were both facing it and Free looked ready to bolt.

Persephone looked from Hagrid to the class, then glanced up to the castle. Free squealed again. "No."

Free pranced forward a few steps and the class backed up several more.

"Yeh sure?" Hagrid asked worriedly. Harry had to agree, it looked like Free was about to take off.

No sooner had the thought formed in Harry's head than Persephone leapt onto his back in a practiced motion and they tore off through the gate. The class watched, dumbfounded, as they streaked past the greenhouses and towards the Quidditch field.

Hagrid looked a bit surprised. "Well, er..."

The class just stood there openmouthed, wondering what they were going to do for the rest of the class, since their lesson had just run off. Hagrid shook himself and turned to the class. "Well, she probably thought he needed a run after being all cooped up. We'll have a better look at him next lesson."

Sensing he ought to say something before the class just up and left, Hagrid began, "Granians are known fer their speed, as yeh can see. An' if he could fly yeh'd see they're fast in the air as well. Like all winged horses, they have a great sense of direction..." Hagrid continued as the class lost sight of the silver and gold blur that ran along the Forbidden Forest, then turned and sped back towards Hogsmeade.

Gathering a few feathers Free had shed while in transit, Hagrid explained how to check them for signs of parasites. As the class passed the feathers around, Harry sidled up to Hagrid.

"Did you know Free was from her ranch?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, well," Hagrid said quietly. "I found out about 'im from when we were talking at the Welcoming Feast. I thought maybe I'd write and see if Fraser Farm had any of the critters I've been tryin' ter get, seein' as Umbridge is makin' it hard fer me to get them from around here. They mentioned Free didn't seem to be doing as well since she left so I thought it might be a nice surprise for both of 'em if I brought Free here."

"So Persephone worked at a place called Fraser Farm?" Hermione asked.

Hagrid seemed to be warming up to the subject and, seeing the other students seemed content enough to chat in small groups, turned his attention to the trio. "Yeah, seems it was mostly a jobberknoll breeding farm. Yeh know," Hagrid said when that produced three blank looks, "little birds, feathers used in Truth Serums and Memory Potions? From what she told me, they had some Aethonians, another kind of winged horse," he added before anyone could ask, "and some regular horses, too. Persephone said some of the wizarding schools in America would call up the Frasers if they needed anything for a class, so I thought I'd give it a try."

Ron looked the way Free had run off. "Did you plan on getting anything else from there?"

Shrugging, Hagrid said, "Hard ter say. I suppose we'll see how long Free hangs around and how much we get to do with Noir. Besides, I do have some other creatures that should be arrivin' in the next month or so. Don't worry," Hagrid grinned at them. "I've got lots ter show yeh this year."

Harry exchanged dubious looks with Ron and Hermione, knowing Hagrid's class at least, would not be boring.

Unfortunately for the trio, History of Magic remained as dull as ever.

"Today we begin a new chapter in the long and intricate history of magic," Binns began as soon as the class had settled. "We have just finished the Goblin Rebellions..."

"Yeah, and it only took five years," Ron muttered, smiling when he heard Harry's faint laugh and Hermione's 'tut'.

Binns mercilessly droned on, oblivious to Ron's comments or the other students' reactions, "Today we begin the journey through the Vampire Clan wars. It all began..."

Harry sighed and sank lower in his chair. Binns' deadpan voice could make even something as seemingly exciting as a vampire war utterly tedious. The beginning of what was undoubtedly an endless list of names and dates wasn't enough to keep his mind from wandering. Leaning on his hand and letting his eyes slide out of focus, Harry felt himself slipping into a blissfully blank state of mind. Prodded on by Binn's monotone, his eyes started drift shut.

"One of the most oft speculated causes of the Clan rifts is the 'Book of Shadows', a legendary tome of ancient magic..."

There was a stirring of excitement in his mind. His plans had gone wrong, horribly so, and yet, things were not as terrible as they seemed. His enemies were too busy fighting among themselves to pay certain suspicious events the attention they might have otherwise warranted. A sound in the hallway behind him gave him pause.

"You bring me good news." The high cold voice assured the messenger that anything other than that would be dealt with quite severely.

"As you requested, My Lord."

The shuffling of parchments echoed in the fear-filled silence. He felt his anticipation grow. This could be exactly what he needed.

"Harry."

"Harry!"

Waking with a start, it was a moment before Harry realized he was in a classroom.

"Harry, are you all right?" It was Hermione's voice, and he turned to see her and Ron standing by his desk, waiting to leave. "Class is over."

"Oh, must have drifted off..." Harry grabbed his books and shoved them into his bag.

Ron shrugged, but cast a worried look at Hermione. "It happens. Don't think you missed much."

Hermione looked at Harry with a concerned expression, her comment of 'not that you would know', directed at Ron, sounding very half-hearted. Not wanting to be asked if he'd been having a nightmare, Harry got up and started for the door.

Trailing behind, Ron turned to Hermione. "You're not going to tell him off for sleeping in class?" He almost instantly regretted saying it, since he'd fallen asleep about five minutes after Harry, which Hermione had obviously noticed.

The frown that creased her forehead was not the expression of exasperation Ron expected, but rather one of worry. It remained when she turned to meet his eyes. "Better in class than not at all."

They caught up to Harry in the hall, Ron still trying to figure out this new twist in Hermione's behavior. Harry had missed the whole exchange, the dream he'd had caught in his mind. Had it been just that? A dream? With a sinking feeling, Harry knew it was not. This was the first vision he'd had since the false images Voldemort had forced into his mind. What was Voldemort excited about? Harry tried to remember what had been written on the parchments Wormtail had handed him, but he couldn't. What could Voldemort be after now? Was what he had just seen even real?

Back in the common room, Harry couldn't settle down. Hermione was skipping ahead in their Defense book and Ron was dozing in an armchair by the fire. After several moments of internal debate, Harry stood up abruptly.

"I'm going for a walk."

"Huh? Wha?" Ron sat up and looked around blearily.

Hermione carefully marked her page. "Do you want us to go with you?"

Shaking his head, Harry replied, "No. I just need to..."

He turned and headed for the portrait hole, nodding when Hermione called after him to be careful. At first, Harry wasn't even sure he knew where he was going, but it wasn't long before he found himself in front of the stone gargoyle that concealed the stairs to the Headmaster's office. Had he come here of his own volition? Was Voldemort somehow driving Harry to do things? Just as Harry turned to go back to Gryffindor, the gargoyle leapt aside.

"Harry," Dumbledore greeted him with a touch of surprise. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't...that is..." Having not seen him since the end of the previous term, Harry suddenly felt uncomfortable. "I had a dream."

"I see." Dumbledore took a step backward and started back up the stairs. Seeing Harry still standing at the bottom, he peered down and smiled. "Are you coming?"

Once settled in the familiar circular room, Harry found he didn't want to meet Dumbledore's eyes.

Folding his hands, Dumbledore regarded Harry. "Tell me about your dream."

Harry stared at the floor, suddenly feeling foolish. "Actually, I don't think it was really-"

"Indulge me," Dumbledore said gently.

Still avoiding his gaze, Harry recounted the short, odd dream he'd had in History of Magic. When he finished, he looked up and after a second of hesitation blurted, "Voldemort's not using me again, is he? I mean was it even a real dream? How do I know he's not trying to use me to do something right now? Maybe he just wanted to be able to see inside your office-" Harry's voice had sped up as his thoughts whirled.

Putting up a hand, Dumbledore halted Harry's almost-panicked barrage of questions. "You did not see what was written on the parchment?"

Harry shook his head. "No I couldn't read-" He stopped. When Dumbledore asked what was wrong, Harry said, "Actually, I don't think I saw anything at all. I only heard and, well, felt things."

"Hmm. What were you doing before you fell asleep?" Dumbledore asked.

Feeling his face flush, Harry mumbled, "We were in History of Magic. We started the Vampire Wars and Binns said something about a book but I don't remember what, really."

Looking up, Harry expected to see Dumbledore smiling slightly at his having fallen asleep in Binn's class, or perhaps even looking at him with a bit of censure for having done so, but was not prepared for the serious frown on the Headmaster's face.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep-" Harry rushed on.

In a blink the grimace was gone and Dumbledore was again smiling calmly at Harry. "Alas, sometimes it cannot be helped."

"So was it...just a dream?" Harry asked. "I mean Voldemort's not-"

"Harry, I believe that the connection between you and Voldemort is still quite strong." After a pause, Dumbledore continued, "Molly Weasley has told me that you seemed rather...distant this past summer."

Confused at the abrupt change in subject, Harry shrugged.

"When you were by yourself, what did you think about?" Dumbledore asked.

"Nothing, really," Harry replied, not really keen to talk about it. "I didn't want to think about anything."

A contemplative look crossed Dumbledore's face. "So this past summer, you've tried to keep your mind blank?" When Harry nodded, Dumbledore looked pleased, yet concerned. "Harry, in doing so, I think you may have begun to successfully block Voldemort form accessing your mind freely. If this is the first connection you've had since last term-" he paused to allow Harry to confirm. "-I believe Voldemort may think that for whatever reason, he has lost the ability to connect with you." A wave of relief swept over Harry, at least Voldemort wasn't actively trying to break into his thoughts. "I think we should resume your Occlumency lessons."

Harry's relief turned instantly to dread. "Occlumency? With Snape?"

"Professor Snape, Harry," Dumbledore corrected. "It would not be wise to imagine Voldemort will continue to believe he can no longer gain access to your thoughts indefinitely."

Harry knew he was right, but it didn't make the prospect of extra lessons with Snape any more pleasant. Especially not with how his last lesson had ended. As he left the Headmaster's office, Harry wondered if Dumbledore would even be able to convince Snape to continue with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry met Ron, Hermione, and Ginny on their way to dinner.

"Tell me everything," Ginny demanded as they sat. Harry looked at her in surprise, wondering how they had found out he'd gone to see Dumbledore.

Ron sat across from her. "About what?"

"About the stallion. You're the only class that's seen him so far. What's he like? Did you get to touch him? How long is he here for? Will we get to ride him?"

Relieved it wasn't about him, Harry smiled slightly at Ginny's barrage of questions, though he thought she might be a bit disappointed with the answers.

Ron rolled his eyes. "I thought you got over that obsession years ago." He turned to Hermione and Harry. "When she was little, she'd beg our parents for a winged horse constantly. Christmas, birthdays, every chance she got. I thought she'd finally gotten over it when she started obsessing about-"

But Ginny had landed a sharp kick right on Ron's shin, under the table and his comment ended in a loud yelp. She glared at her brother, silently daring him to continue.

Not wanting to endure a brother-sister battle, Harry told Ginny what little they'd seen during their class. "We didn't see him for long. She seemed to think he was dangerous and wouldn't let the class near him. About ten minutes after Hagrid let him out of the crate, he and Persephone took off."

Ginny frowned. "But she rode him. He can't be that dangerous..."

Ron gave her a hard look. "Don't even think about it. It's bad enough you're a Beater now. The last thing you need is to go poking around a dangerous beast."

"Ron's right," Hermione agreed. "He seemed a bit...aggressive. I don't think he's really a pet."

"I'm starting Occlumency again," Harry said quietly, almost hoping in their distraction, they'd miss him saying it at all.

Whatever Ginny had been about to say in retort never made it out of her mouth. "What?"

"With Snape?" Ron asked, incredulous.

No one said anything more, but Harry knew they were all thinking the same thing: he obviously needed the training after what had happened. Staring at his plate, Harry didn't say anything else for the rest of dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing Ginny told them when they sat down to lunch the next day was that Hagrid had put all lessons involving Free on hold. She looked a bit more optimistic when she mentioned that it was only until Persephone had assessed his progress since she'd last seen him and given him another day or two to settle into his new surroundings. Even so, Harry heard the disappointment in her voice and tried to assure her that she'd have class with the stallion soon enough.

Ron and Hermione were discussing the potions essay Ron had to turn in, Hermione insisting Ron redo some bits. He was staunchly refusing, citing it wouldn't matter what he turned in, Snape would never pass him.

"The least you can do is try, Ron," Hermione said.

"No, the least I can do is what I did and that's more than enough," Ron replied, reaching for another cookie.

Hermione crossed her arms in frustration. "That didn't even make sense."

"Does that mean you'll stop harping about it, then?" Ron smiled sweetly at her.

"You're hopeless." Hermione shoved her text back into her bag, but Harry caught sight of a tiny smile. He had a feeling they actually liked fighting with each other.

Ginny turned when she heard footsteps sounding on the stone floor. Her eyes lit up when she saw Persephone walk in, carrying a long rope coiled over one arm, a whip in her other hand. She was obviously dressed for working with the horse. Ginny thought this would be her chance to talk to her about Free, but was disappointed when Persephone stopped at the end of the Hufflepuff table, grabbed a cookie and an apple and left the Hall.

Her shoulders slumped a bit but she glanced at her watch and suddenly brightened. "Let's go outside."

"What?" the other three asked in unison.

"Come on, we're done anyway and it's so nice out! We have some time before the next class, let's go outside," she insisted.

Ron knew what she was up to, having noticed Persephone's brief appearance as well. "You just want to pester Persephone about that horse."

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "I'm not going to pester her, I just want to watch. Come on, you might learn something and be ahead of the rest of your class, maybe get some extra credit..."

At the thought of extra credit, Hermione perked up. "It could be educational..."

Ron agreed only because he knew Ginny would go with or without him and he could at least keep an eye on her. Harry didn't care one way or the other, though he supposed it would be nice to spend some time in the sunshine before being stuck in the damp, dark dungeon all afternoon. In any case, his frame of mind wasn't conducive to conversation and he hoped that once outside, Hermione and Ron would stop sending furtive, concerned looks his way.

They settled on a grassy patch not too far from the paddock, with a clear view of what was going on inside. Ginny had approached the gate, ignoring Ron's admonishments, asking Persephone if it was okay if they watched. She smiled at Ginny and told her it was fine as long as they didn't make any sudden movements or loud noises. Assuring her they wouldn't, Ginny triumphantly returned to the group.

"See, I told you it would be fine," she said smugly as Hermione conjured some bolster pillows for them to rest against. She settled back to watch as Persephone began Free's training.

Harry stretched out, propped against the wedge-shaped pillow. He watched Free for a while, though failed to see what had Ginny so enthralled. All he could see was Persephone making him go around and around in circles at different speeds. It was hardly exciting. Even Ron had finally given in to Hermione and was letting her help him adjust parts of his potions assignment.

Relaxing in the warm sun, Harry watched Free's feet as he moved around the circle at a walk, trot and canter, finding the rhythms strangely soothing. One-two-three-four-one-two-three-four, one-two-one-two, one-twothree- one-twothree...

He was tired but he concentrated on the rhythm of his feet as he neared his destination in an attempt to help focus his thoughts on what he had to do. Close to his target, he could see the light ahead, signaling him. Here, the moonlight was obscured by heavy-leafed branches. Slowing his pace, he was careful not to make any noise. He couldn't afford to give warning.

He looked through the leaves, just outside the ring of light thrown by the solitary lantern hung outside the door. Though he knew he should extinguish it somehow, he couldn't think of how to do it. The errant thought fled as the door opened and his target appeared. Suppressing the sound of triumph that threatened, he prepared himself for the attack.

The woman turned slightly, her face fully illuminated by the light for a brief second, and he tore free of the bushes, his only thought the one that had brought him here...

Kill...

Harry woke with a start, the feeling of flesh and bone being crushed dissipating as Ginny sprang up from beside him with a horrified gasp. Ron and Hermione had also jumped up and started running toward the paddock. Harry got up quickly, not knowing what was going on, worried the attack in his dream was somehow real.

"What's going on?" he shouted as he ran to where the others had stopped by the fence.

"Persephone, are you all right?" Ginny asked worriedly.

Harry saw her stand up and shake off clumps of dirt and grass. "Yeah, I'm fine."

They got a good look at her then. They could see rope burn and scratches along one wrist and hand, and blood running down the side of her face from a gash next to her left eye. She wiped her face with her sleeve, obviously surprised to see blood.

"Got me good, didn't he?" Free walked toward her, his head low. She swatted him away. "Brat!"

"What happened?" Ron asked.

Ginny started before Persephone could. "Free tossed her into the fence. He wouldn't stretch his wings out but she made him do it and then she made him fly up a few feet. He didn't like it, I guess."

Instead of being irritated Ginny had answered for her, Persephone was looking at her with a curious half-smile. "That about sums it up. I know it hurts for him to do it, but I need to see how far along he is and he needs to start using those muscles again. He's still a bit peeved about being boxed up, too." She glanced over at the horse that stood a few feet behind her, his head still drooping. "Yeah, you know that was bad, don't you? Hopefully, it's all out of your system now."

Ron and Hermione backed up when Free came up behind Persephone. Ginny didn't move from her position leaning on the fence. Free nudged Persephone in the back with his head. She turned and gave him a stern look, but relented and patted his forehead. "Oh, all right. Yes, you were bad, but I still love you."

Free's ears perked forward and he whickered. Shaking her head, Persephone grabbed the apple she'd left on the ground by the fence, holding it in the flat of her palm for the horse. Free munched happily as she left, securing the gate behind her. She glanced down at her watch as she joined the others. Her smile faded quickly.

"Is that really the time? That took much longer than I thought, I have to go." She rushed off without saying goodbye.

"Speaking of time, we'd better get to class," Hermione said.

They reluctantly headed inside, Harry's thoughts returning to his dream. He tried to recall who the woman had been, but couldn't picture her face. Harry felt a sudden chill, remembering the final moments of the vision. Whoever she was, if she was real, Harry was sure she was dead. Harry debated whether or not to talk to Dumbledore again, but decided against it. The movement of whatever he was in the dream was not snake-like, so he was fairly certain it wasn't Nagini. Convincing himself it was no more than an odd nightmare and he was starting Occlumency again anyway, Harry followed the others back to the castle.

They split up in the entry, Ginny heading to Charms while the rest headed to the dungeons and double Potions. They sat as the class slowly arrived, noting Snape was not in the room. At a sudden lull in the chatter they could hear him arguing with Persephone in his office. The class went quiet, straining to hear.

"I am not so unreasonable. Go to the hospital wing," Snape said angrily.

Harry and Ron exchanged looks, obviously Persephone hadn't gone to the hospital wing first.

"I have yet to see evidence of that. I'm fine," was the icy reply.

"You will go. Now."

A few murmurs sounded but no one wanted to miss anything. Harry realized since no one else in the class but Ron, Hermione and he had been at the paddock, the rest of the class probably thought Snape had caused the injury. All eyes were on Snape's office door.

"What do you want from me? I'm late, you get angry. I'm on time, you get angry. I finished what you expected me to get done, on time, and you're angry. I can't win. I'd just like to know what exactly, it is you want, because it seems to me what you want is to be angry with me."

A few students snickered.

"You are purposefully trying to provoke me," Snape hissed.

They could hear the frustration in her voice. "No, I'm not! Sorry to disappoint, but I do not spend my nights plotting ways to annoy you."

Snape didn't reply, suddenly stalking into the classroom. He looked almost surprised to see a room full of students sitting in their usual places. With an aggravated wave of his wand, the day's lesson appeared on the board behind him. Without a word he sat in his chair and glowered at the class.

Tentatively, students got up and assembled the ingredients listed. For most of the class, no one made a sound, not even Malfoy, sensing the slightest error would result in a surfeit of punishment. It was probably the quietest, yet most unnerving potions class any of them had ever had. Even as they placed their finished potions on Snape's desk along with their homework assignments, no one dared make eye contact.

Harry was among the last to turn in his day's potion. As he set it down, Snape glared at him.

"I do not know how you managed an O on your OWL exam but I am," he smirked, "concerned that you will not be able to keep up with the class. Therefore we will resume you Remedial Potions lessons every Monday and Friday at six o'clock."

Resentment welled up when Harry realized Malfoy was only a few feet away, snickering madly at what he'd just heard. Harry knew why Snape had to say it was something other than Occlumency lessons, but humiliating him in front of Malfoy was, in his mind, unnecessarily spiteful.

"Yes, Professor," Harry replied tightly.

Meeting up with Ron and Hermione in the corridor, knowing they had heard as well, Harry muttered to Ron, "And you thought he was making things hard for you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why're you so late?" Ron demanded to know as soon as Ginny had sat next to them at the Gryffindor table that night.

Ginny gave Ron a long-suffering look. "And why is that your business?"

His expression hardening, Ron said, "You were outside trying to get near that horse, weren't you?" Before Ginny could protest, he forged on, "He's dangerous! You could get hurt! And you shouldn't be out after dark anyway!"

The look on Ginny's face was a mixture of stunned anger and complete bewilderment. "What on earth is wrong with you? First of all, I wasn't outside, and second of all, why are you suddenly so interested in what I'm doing all the time?"

Ignoring her questions, Ron asked, "So where were you, then?"

Knowing Ron had a stubborn streak as well, Ginny threw up her hands and reached for a roll. "If you must know, I was talking to Persephone." She glared at Ron. "In her office."

"About what?" Ron asked suspiciously.

Shrugging nonchalantly, Ginny replied, "Lots of stuff. She's really nice."

Hermione looked interested. "Oh. Did she mention anything about Dobby?"

Ginny shook her head. "Not really. She did say the house-elves here seemed pretty happy. Mostly we talked about Fraser Farm." Seeing their blank looks, she added, "Where she worked before she came here."

"Oh, right," Harry said. "Hagrid mentioned something about jobberknolls in our class yesterday."

"Yeah," Ginny said, the excitement in her voice growing. "It sounded like a great place. I guess they had all kinds of winged horses and they got to ride all the time. Taking care of joberknolls sounded pretty easy, too. The aviary pretty much took care of itself. They split the cleaning and feeding duties and once a week everyone joined in the feather harvest. It sounded great."

The look on Ginny's face was wistful as she took a bite of her roll.

"So why'd she leave if it was so great?" Ron asked.

Ginny gave Ron a look. "I wasn't rude enough to ask."

Hermione had a contemplative look on her face. Harry noticed and asked, "What?"

"Oh." Hermione turned. "Nothing. I was just wondering what kind of school she went to for that. When I was researching Hogwarts, I saw there were lots of different kinds of wizarding schools to choose from."

"Like what?" Harry asked.

"Well, not so much here, but in the US, there are traditional wizarding schools like Hogwarts, but there's also, well I suppose you'd call them 'trade schools', mostly magricultural stuff. For developing new hybrids of magical plants and magical beast husbandry, that kind of thing," Hermione replied.

"She didn't do that," Ginny broke in. "She went to Fulton."

"Wow, really?" Hermione looked impressed.

Harry was surprised to see Ron was as well. "What's Fulton?"

Ron answered, "It's like the Hogwarts of America. Same set up, four houses and all that. No quidditch, though. They play...what's that called? Quodpot? Anyway, it's not that different than here. Great school, though."

"She went to AIMS, too," Ginny added.

Hermione's eyes widened. "Now that's a good school." Before Harry could even form the words, she went on, "The American Institute of Magic and Sorcery, it's a secondary school. And really hard to get into."

"What's it for?" Harry asked.

"Basically just more in-depth study of whatever field you choose," Hermione shrugged.

"So what did she take?" Ron asked.

Ginny swallowed her sip of pumpkin juice. "Magizoology." After a pause she added, "With a secondary in Potions."

"Ugh, why?" Ron made a disgusted face.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Not everyone had Professor Snape as a teacher, Ron. Besides, I actually like potions."

Suddenly, Ginny turned to Hermione. "You might know- What are the Houses at Fulton? She told me what House she was in, but didn't think to ask what the parallel was to here."

Thinking for a moment, Hermione replied, "If I remember right, it was Harkness and Gryffindor, Knowlton and Ravenclaw, Blackstone and Slytherin, and Larabee and Hufflepuff."

Staring at her Ron asked, "How do you remember stuff like that?"

Hermione ignored him. "So what House was she in, anyway?"

Ginny's forehead wrinkled and she frowned. "Blackstone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday evening found Harry staring despondently into the Gryffindor common room fire. He was trying to remember what he'd learned the previous year in Occlumency but couldn't come up with anything aside from 'don't go poking into Snape's pensive'. Refocusing his thoughts, Harry remembered Snape had referred to bad memories as weapons, and that allowing him access to them was what was keeping Harry from blocking him. Well, that's great, he thought, all I've got is bad memories. He didn't want to start Occlumnecy again and he still wasn't sure Snape hadn't been making it easier for Voldemort to break into his mind. Why else would he have agreed to train Harry again?

"Harry, you'd better get going." Hermione's voice broke into his thoughts.

Surprisingly, Ron nodded. "Yeah, mate. The last thing you want is to be late. It'll only make it worse."

"Like you would know," Harry muttered as he got up. Sighing, he headed for the portrait hole.

"We'll be here when you get back," Hermione called after him.

Harry stood outside the entry to Snape's classroom, seriously considering telling Dumbledore he wanted no part of this. Even as he almost turned to leave, a small voice in the back of his mind told him he could do this. Taking a deep breath, Harry walked through the empty classroom and knocked on Snape's office door. Unsurprisingly, Snape sat behind his desk, glaring at the doorway Harry had just entered. For a moment, Harry got the feeling Snape wanted to do this just about as much as he did. Without thinking, Harry shut the door behind him with an ominous click.

Snape stood up, and without preamble of any kind, pointed his wand at Harry. "Shall we begin?"

Harry barely had time to get his wand out.

"Legilimens!"

Without the chance to put up a Shield Charm, Harry instantly knew Snape would be trying for his worst memories right away. Terrified he would have to witness the night at the Ministry again, and without the relief of a fading nightmare afterwards, Harry's mind froze in panic. He saw the veil room, the rows of stadium-like stairs, the doors along the walls and then...

Nothing.

There was a curious sensation of sliding into a soft wall of shadows. For all the sensation of complete, enveloping darkness, Harry didn't feel frightened, but rather somehow comforted. The idea that Snape might still be watching the rest of the memory or some other, embarrassing remembrance no longer mattered. A strange sort of calm swept over Harry and he thought that if he just turned around, he might finally ...

It was like being wrenched out of a warm, comfortable bed and thrown on a freezing cold stone floor. Blinking, Harry realized he was lying on a cold stone floor, though he had no idea how he had gotten there.

"Get up!" Snape's voice shouted at him. A hand grabbed the back of his robes and hauled him to his feet.

Confused, Harry quickly turned around. "Wha-"

"What were you doing?" Snape yelled before Harry could speak.

Harry thought Snape looked as though someone had just smacked him. There was anger, of course, but Harry could read a tense sort of pain in his face. "I don't...I don't know. I saw," Harry hesitated. He wasn't sure Snape even knew what the room had been or if he'd seen the whole memory after Harry had sunk into the darkness, "a room. And then everything went sort of soft...and dark. Did I block you? Was that what happened?"

Still looking pained, Snape sneered at him. "No, you did not."

"Did you see, then?" Harry asked. Seeing Snape's glare, Harry added, "Sir?"

"What matters is you did not block the spell, you merely took the coward's way out." He broke through the beginning of Harry's confused question, "In the future if you feel yourself near that...darkness, you will resist the urge to enter it."

"Why?" Harry asked. "What is-"

"That you do not need to know. You need to concentrate on blocking the outside spell, not the inherent weakness of your own mind." Snape watched Harry for a moment. "Practice clearing your thoughts as I told you last year. During our next lesson you will actively try to block the spell or force me from your mind, is that understood?"

"Yes, professor," Harry answered, though he felt as if he understood very little about what had just happened.

Snape dismissed him, and though Harry was relieved the lesson had ended so quickly, he wondered what had really happened. And why Snape wouldn't tell him more.