Harry Potter and the Book of Shadows

Elementals

A rustling sound behind her made Tonks jump and hastily close the file drawer she'd been rifling through. Sliding the papers she'd already copied unobtrusively onto a nearby file cabinet, she turned.

"Ms. Tonks, what are you doing in the classified files?" Of all people, Percy Weasley was not who she expected to see.

"Percy! Mr. Weasley," she corrected herself at his frown, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at his insisted-upon formality. "What are you doing here?"

"That is precisely what I asked you." Percy's frown deepened. "The Minister of Magic likes to know everything that goes on within these walls. Especially in the restricted areas."

"I have clearance here," Tonks reminded him.

She was about to drop her voice and ask Percy if he'd reconsider reconciling with his family, but something made her stop. Things were still volatile enough the Order was continuing to keep its membership secret and Tonks was not supposed to know the Weasleys well enough to ask Percy anything so personal. That, and there was something...wrong. She couldn't place it, but something in Percy's expression made her look more closely.

Concerned, she asked, "Percy, are you all right?"

A muscle near his right eye twitched. "I'm perfectly well, Ms. Tonks. Now, if you've concluded your business..."

Unobtrusively, Tonks collected her copies and made her way out of the file room, casting one last concerned look over her shoulder just as the door swung shut behind her.

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

Harry was relieved when the Hogwarts gate loomed into view. After a leisurely lunch at Number Twelve, they'd bundled up their belongings and followed Lupin onto the Knight Bus. Though Christmas had gone overall, better than he had expected, Hogwarts was still a welcome sight. Hopefully the myriad distractions within its walls would chase away whatever lingering uncomfortable feelings remained from the slew of events that had happened over the holidays. Lupin helped them off the bus, greeting McGonagall who waited for them just inside the gate. Enchanting their trunks to follow docilely along, McGonagall gave Lupin a cursory once-over before bidding him farewell. Thanking him for the holiday at Number Twelve, Harry waved as Lupin re-boarded the Knight Bus and, with a loud blast, took off back toward London.

Once they were comfortably settled in their familiar circular dormitory room, Harry and Ron headed back down the stairs to join the rest of the students in the common room. Everyone was showing off Christmas gifts and recounting the adventures they'd had over the winter holiday. Spying Neville on the fringes of a group of Gryffindors listening to Lee Jordan's tales of his Christmas exploits, Harry made his way over.

Tugging slightly on Neville's sleeve to get his attention, Harry whispered, "Can you meet me in the Room of Requirement after dinner?" At Neville's curious look, he added, "I have something to tell you. In private."

Obviously intrigued, Neville agreed. Mulling over what exactly, he was going to say, Harry rejoined Ron and Hermione by the fire. For once not prying into his pensiveness, Hermione and Ron turned back to their book and comic, respectively, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts.

Once dinner was over, Ron and Hermione bid Harry farewell as they headed to a quick prefect meeting with McGonagall. Ginny had chosen to eat with some of her fifth year friends including, to Harry's annoyance, Julian. Not wanting to interrupt her conversation to say goodnight, Harry stood and headed to the Room of Requirement.

Neville was already there, waiting in the hallway, when Harry arrived.

"I didn't know what you wanted, so I haven't been able to..." he gestured helplessly at the wall where the door normally would appear.

"That's okay, Neville," Harry said.

Thinking all he needed was a quiet, private place where no one would interrupt them, Harry paced back and forth in front of the tapestry three times. When the highly polished door appeared, he opened it and gestured for Neville to go in first.

"So," Neville glanced around the sparsely furnished room, smiling nervously, "what did you need to tell me?"

Spying the two comfortable-looking armchairs, Harry sat in one and gestured for Neville to sit in the other. Apprehensive now, Neville complied. Trying to find the right words, Harry watched Neville out of the corner of his eye. Had he visited his parents in St. Mungo's over the holidays? Knowing he must have, Harry pictured Neville's mother vaguely handing him an empty sweets wrapper while his father stared blankly and unseeing into thin air. Not sure if imagining it had made it easier or more difficult, Harry cleared his throat.

"Over the holidays..." he started. "I stayed with Lupin. You remember him, right? From our third year?"

"I remember him from last year," Neville said quietly. "From that night-" He stopped himself suddenly, eyes wide. "I didn't mean-"

"It's okay, Neville," Harry assured him. Something occurred to him then. "Did Ron and Hermione tell you not to bring it up? Or anything about what the Ministry did afterward?"

Shifting uncomfortably, Neville nodded, "The first day back, they told us..." Seeing Harry's look, Neville amended, "Well, I guessed Ron told the same thing to Dean, Seamus, and Lee, but Hermione told me that you were really upset about what the Ministry said about what happened that night and it would be best if we didn't talk about it around you for a while."

Finally understanding why it hadn't come up before George had told him in Hogsmeade before Christmas, Harry shook off the thoughts and forced himself to focus on what he had to tell Neville. "Well, I spent the holidays with Lupin and some of the other Order members and..." He decided the direct approach Lupin had used was probably best. "Bellatrix Lestrange is dead."

Neville's expression changed only slightly. After a moment, Harry said, "They don't know who did it, but they're pretty sure Voldemort had her killed for what happened that night." Deciding to leave out his vision-dream of her death, Harry added, "From what I understood, it wasn't pleasant."

Neville sat, seemingly lost in thought. After a few minutes of silence, Harry asked, "Neville, are you okay?"

Shaking his head as though suddenly aware he wasn't alone, he focused on Harry, "What? Yeah, I'm okay."

"Is there anything I can...um, do?" Harry asked awkwardly.

"No," Neville said distantly. There was another long pause and then he met Harry's eyes. "Thanks, Harry. For telling me."

Nodding in response, Harry didn't know what else to say.

Biting his lower lip, Neville said, "I think I'd like to be alone for a bit."

Quickly standing, Harry nodded. "I understand."

Leaving Neville staring into space, he left, feeling both relieved and uncertain. Hoping Neville would be all right, Harry made his way back to Gryffindor Tower.

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

To their surprise and relief, their first Care of Magical Creatures class was to be held inside the castle. Thankful they wouldn't have to trudge through newly fallen snow or spend any length of time out in the frigid air, the trio made their way to the classroom.

Once the lesson had begun, most of the students were wondering if being outside in the cold with a potentially dangerous creature was better than being stuck inside with the assignment they'd been given. Even though Hermione appreciated the challenge of figuring out what treatment was best to for the list of symptoms they'd been given and calculating the dosage with complicated formulas, even she missed Hagrid's usual hands-on style.

Suddenly missing the mundane Muggle calculator, Harry paused and looked up to see Hagrid watching him surreptitiously. Under the guise of thinking Harry needing help, Hagrid ignored Malfoy's snort of annoyance at the text-based task and lumbered over to Harry and Ron's table.

"All righ', Harry?" Hagrid asked in a low voice.

Harry remembered Hagrid had not been at the last Order meeting and wondered how much he'd been told, and by whom. "Fine, I suppose. Some of this assignment is a bit tough."

Glancing at his parchment, Hagrid nodded absently. "Yeah, gets harder as you go on, but this is important if yeh want ter work with magical creatures of any sort." Taking a quick glance around, Hagrid tried to lean closer to Harry without looking too obvious, which was a difficult task. "I heard about the other night."

"Oh, um," Harry glanced over at Ron who had not looked up, but was poised over his paper, obviously listening, "I'm okay, really. What did you-"

Pretending to point at something on Harry's assignment, Hagrid whispered, "Not here. Come see me later."

Nodding, Harry scratched a random figure out and said, "Thanks, Hagrid."

Acknowledging Hermione's quizzical look with an expression that said he'd fill her in after class, Harry joined the rest of the class working in relative silence.

As they left History of Magic later that day, Harry turned in the direction of the castle's front door and Hagrid's, but stopped when Ron and Hermione didn't follow. When Ron asked him where he was going, Harry replied, "Hagrid's remember? He wanted to talk to us."

"Oh," Hermione exchanged a look with Ron. "It really sounded like he just wanted to talk to you. Unless you wanted us to come," she added hastily.

Oddly relieved, Harry shrugged and said, "No, you're probably right. I'll see you back in the common room, then."

By the time Hagrid ushered him out of the chilly evening and inside, Harry was grateful for the cheery fire burning in the grate. Patting Fang on the head, he sat on one of the rough-hewn chairs.

Pouring tea for both of them, Hagrid looked at Harry for a moment before saying, "So I heard about the las' meeting."

Not able to guess what Hagrid wanted to know, Harry stared intently at his tea. There was no point in volunteering anything, and so he merely waited for the inevitable questions.

Hagrid, seeing Harry wasn't going to be overly cooperative, cleared his throat and said, "I was hopin' to get yer account of it."

"McGonagall and Dumbledore told you, then," Harry stated.

Sitting back, Hagrid nodded, "Well, Professor McGonagall told Dumbledore an' me at the same time, but yeah."

"I don't know what they said, but we talked to Persephone before we left and-"

Hagrid stopped him with a hand, "We'll get ter that in a minute. I want to hear about you." After a pause in which Harry stubbornly said nothing, Hagrid prompted, "The nightmares?"

"Her nightmares," Harry muttered, still chafing at the thought he was the one who had to suffer with her. "I don't know why I'm the one who has them when she does."

Noting his tone, Hagrid shook his head. "I can't help you with that. Did you tell anyone about them before this?"

Annoyed Hagrid seemed to be chiding him, Harry felt a prickle of irritation. "Yes. In fact, I had one during a lesson with Snape. They didn't seem too concerned until they found out she had the Dark Mark. Didn't matter when it was just me having bad dreams again."

"Now, Harry," Hagrid said gently. "Everyone's been in a righ' state over you for some time. Don't start thinkin' no one cares."

Realizing how childish and petulant he must sound, Harry sat up and sighed. "Sorry, it's just-"

With a sympathetic look, Hagrid poured him more tea. "It's been a difficult time. Yeh all righ'?"

Harry took a moment to consider. Finally, he knew where the nightmares were coming from, though he still didn't know why. He also knew what the vast expanse of darkness in his mind was and why Snape had warned him against venturing there. Of course, the Book of Shadows remained a mystery and Voldemort's return remained unannounced, but considering, things weren't as bad as maybe he'd thought. Shrugging, he said, "I guess things are all right. Could be worse."

Gravely, Hagrid said, "And they very well may get worse." Raising his voice a bit, he went on, "You talked to her afterwards, then? I only heard she'd run off after everyone saw."

"I guess Lupin brought her back," Harry started. Pushing aside the thought of what had apparently transpired after he'd done so, he added, "We sort of talked to her before she came back here. I don't think she's one of them."

Though he still wasn't completely sure he trusted her, having seen her memories, Harry didn't think she'd gotten the Mark voluntarily. He still didn't know why she had it, but he was willing to reserve judgment for a bit longer. Suddenly, he wondered if Snape had known. Why else would he have exposed her? To draw suspicion away from himself? "Why did Snape give her the invisibility cloak? I mean," Harry added hastily, "Fred and George told us all they didn't quite work during the meeting. Why would he have handed her something he knew would make at least part of her invisible? The cloaks are bright red. There's no way he couldn't have known what he was doing."

Hagrid considered for a moment. "Bright red, yeh said? What color was hers? Black?"

Shrugging Harry said, "I wasn't really paying attention, I think it was green. It might have been black. I know it sure wasn't red."

"Green..." Hagrid shook his head sadly. "Unfortunate, that."

"What?" Harry asked, not understanding.

With an air of secrecy, Hagrid lowered his voice. "Professor Snape is color-blind, Harry." At Harry's shocked expression, Hagrid added, "Don' let him know yeh know. And don' tell anyone."

Not sure what to make of this new information, Harry sipped his tea. Not knowing what else to say and not entirely sure he was going to keep that bit of information to himself, Harry asked, "So do we have anything interesting for class coming up?"

Seemingly satisfied with the information he'd gotten out of Harry, Hagrid answered the question, "Well, we'll be doin' a bit more of book work until the weather warms up a bit, but come February or so, we should have summat interesting to study."

Knowing Hagrid wouldn't want to ruin the surprise, Harry stood and said he had some work to do. Bidding him farewell, Hagrid watched until Harry was safely inside the castle walls.

Finding Hermione and Ron at a table under one of the windows in the Gryffindor common room, Harry sat next to them and whispered, "Did either of you know Snape was color-blind?"

"What?" Ron exclaimed, immediately dropping his quill.

Ignoring the guilt that he'd implied he wasn't going to tell anyone, Harry told himself Hagrid surely hadn't meant not to tell Ron and Hermione. "That's why he gave her the invisibility cloak. He didn't know."

"Well, I had been wondering..." Hermione trailed off. "Amazing how he can teach potions so well, though." Settling a stern look at Ron, she added, "Should give you some inspiration to do better, I would think."

Shooting her a dirty look, Ron turned to Harry. "Hagrid say anything else?"

"Not really," Harry replied. "Just wanted to check up on me, I guess."

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spotted Neville sitting alone in front of the fire. Excusing himself, he made his way over. Knowing how annoying unwanted attention could be, Harry sat quietly until Neville realized he was there.

"Oh, hey Harry," Neville greeted him absently.

"Hey." Harry waited to see if Neville wanted to say anything first. When he merely stared back at the fire, Harry asked, "You all right?"

"Yeah... well, sort of," Neville said hesitantly finally looking at Harry. "I mean I'm glad, or relieved really, but also kind of..." looking conflicted and Harry thought a bit guilty, Neville finished, "disappointed. You know what I mean?"

Understanding, Harry nodded. "I do."

"It's not over, you know," Neville said quietly, looking into the flickering flames.

Thinking of the Book of Shadows and how far they were from finding it, Harry had to agree. "Far from it."

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

The trio had wondered what Professor Dunn had prepared for their first class back, since he had informed them they would be moving away from hexes, jinxes, and talismans after the holidays. The quickly found out they were not going to be bored.

Once the class had settled into their seats, Dunn stood in front of them and clasped his hands together. "Today we begin a new chapter in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Now, what we're going to be doing is no longer commonly taught." There were a few murmurs at this proclamation. "However, the Headmaster agreed it would be useful for you to learn as well as beneficial to a well-rounded education in magic."

He turned and gestured to his desk, on which sat a small dish of water, a lit candle, and a mound of what looked like dirt. Dunn waved his wand four times and much to the students surprise, four little figures materialized out of the various elements and stood expectantly at the edge of the desk. About six inches high, they each appeared in somewhat humanoid shape, though the shape of the small bit of swirling vapor was more difficult to discern.

"Today we begin working with Elementals," Dunn stated.

Though they had been assigned the chapter in their texts and a short essay on the history of their use, none of the students had expected they would actually be trying to make and control the manifestations of the four elements. Harry recalled Ron telling him Elemental magic was among the oldest known and, in current belief, treading a fine line with the Dark Arts. Much like Necromancy and other ancient archaic magic, it was usually only theory that was taught, unless the students were very advanced and specializing in some aspect of the Dark Arts.

Elementals themselves were not inherently Dark, but much of their magic stemmed from the creator's own tendencies and the majority of their power derived from the more wild and uncontrollable forces of Nature. Nature, itself being an extremely powerful force, attracted those who sought destruction and control, though truly powerful Elementals were known for often turning on those who had created them. This unpredictability made more cautious wizards think twice before attempting to use them for personal gain. Harry wondered why Dumbledore thought it a good idea for students to have a go. Was he so desperate to train them in as many means of counterattack as possible that even Elementals seemed a good idea? Keeping his thoughts to himself, Harry joined the rest of the class in obtaining his own elements to begin practicing with.

Once the students had arranged their candle, bit of earth, and dish of water, Dunn began again, "Now, every wizard should be able to conjure a simple Elemental from the four basic elements before you: earth, water, fire and air. However, it is common that you will discover you have particular ease with one and conversely, the most difficulty with it's opposite." Seeing Lavender's raised hand Dunn smiled and said, "No, Miss Brown, the element assigned as part of your astrological chart is not necessarily the one you will find easiest." Harry and Ron suppressed snickers, but surprisingly, did not receive a stern look from Hermione.

"As sixth years in the second half of the year you will begin learning how to cast spells without vocalizing in your other classes. Conjuring Elementals will be a good introduction to the idea. You may put away your wands as they will be of no help to you here." As students shuffled around, Dunn continued, "However, though other non-vocal spells still have a particular invocation, conjuring Elementals is purely an exercise in thought."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged a look. They'd had quite a bit of practice in magic comprised almost solely of thought in the past few months.

"As I'm sure you've all read in your texts," Dunn surveyed the room with a significant look, "there is a danger to Elementals. It is crucial that while conjuring one that you keep your thoughts calm and focused. There is no particular spell to keep in mind, only that you ask the element you are focusing on to take shape so that it may aid you."

Again, Harry thought of Occlumency and wondered if this new assignment would be easier for him because of it. Sneaking a peek at Hermione, her frown made him wonder if her slow start in Occlumency would be a sign of how well she would do with Elementals. She was obviously having similar thoughts.

"For our purposes, it would be wise to imagine your Elemental existing solely to provide company. That way, it should not attempt anything...unexpected." With a smile, Dunn gestured for them to begin. "Remember, calm and focused."

Glancing to his side, Harry saw Ron staring at the bits of earth and water on his desk with a rather dubious expression. Catching his eye, Harry shrugged and turned to his own elements. Where should he start? Afraid beginning with the small flame was going to end in disaster, Harry focused on the small dish of water first. He felt inordinately silly mentally asking a saucer of water to be his friend and had to choke back the snicker that wanted to escape. A stern look from Hermione told him he hadn't quite managed it.

Having had five and a half years of classes with her, Harry watched Hermione for a moment, fully expecting her to form an Elemental on her first try. If nothing else, she was staring rather intently and expectantly at the small mound of dirt on her desk. After a long moment, she looked to Harry and whispered, "I feel ridiculous!"

A quick glance around the room told Harry he ought to be working more on his own attempts and spending less time observing everyone else. Figuring there wasn't much that could go wrong with dirt, Harry concentrated on the small pile of earth on his desk and imagined it forming into a little person. When the grains of dirt shifted slightly, Harry sat up, leaning away from his desk. Suddenly, the idea of a little person made of dirt seemed very creepy.

He was about to try again, thinking of perhaps a dog-shape or some other animal would be a better idea, when Ron upset his water dish, spilling it everywhere. Having jumped out of his chair to avoid the spill, Ron looked to Harry with mild surprise. "It moved!"

Rolling her eyes, Hermione said, "It's supposed to, Ron."

Harry thought she looked a bit peeved and noticed her little dirt mound still hadn't changed a bit. As Dunn brought over a rag to mop up the spill and refilled Ron's water dish, Harry saw Hermione surreptitiously shift her saucer closer so she could stare into it. A movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and Harry saw Neville had managed to get his mound of dirt to move across his desk. It had no particular shape other than roughly cylindrical, but Harry thought its motion looked almost inchworm-like. Neville, noticing Harry's attention, smiled broadly.

Determined, Harry focused intently on the dirt pile on his desk. Instead of thinking of a specific form, this time Harry thought he would just like the dirt to move around a little. Nothing fancy, just a bit of movement. Much to his astonishment, the pile immediately formed into a long oval and rose to stand on one end. Blinking in surprise, Harry tipped his head to one side. The Elemental mimicked his movement and also tipped to one side. Delighted he seemed to have gotten the hang of it, Harry grinned. A furrow appeared near the top of the oval and Harry realized the Elemental was grinning back at him. Thinking of Neville's Earth Elemental, Harry concentrated on asking the oval to make little inchworm scoots and soon had it moving smartly across his desk.

He was about to poke Ron to show him, but Ron got him first. "Hey, Harry! Look what I made it do!"

Ron's Water Elemental was long and thin, flowing in snakelike, lazy swirls and curlicues across his desk. Grinning at one another, Harry pointed to his little dirt worm which had paused in it's inching to stand, apparently waiting for Harry to notice it again. The little furrow-grin reappeared when both boys focused on it and it immediately went back to inching around the desk.

At her huff of frustration, they noticed Hermione watching their accomplishments with a mixture of pride and dismay. Not knowing what to say, they tried not to gloat about besting her for once. Harry made the dirt worm jump over his fingers and quickly devised an obstacle course out of quills, parchments, and textbooks.

Having had very little success with her pile of dirt and dish of water, Hermione thought maybe she ought to try the flame. Though she would never admit it out loud, her first two failures made her reluctant to try again, especially with something so potentially dangerous. With a sigh, she wished something would work. Thinking she ought not to have sighed so hard, she snatched at her quill as it floated off her desk. When it twirled out of her grasp, Hermione stared confusedly at it for a moment. A quick look around revealed everyone to be too busy playing with their Elementals or still concentrating on coaxing them out of the various bits they had on their desks. The quill flitted over her desk again and Hermione smiled.

"Playing with me, are you?" The quill danced around, finally coming to rest neatly on top of her textbook.

"Who are you talking to, Mione?" Ron asked looking a bit concerned it seemed to be thin air.

"He's an Air Elemental," Hermione said happily. "Aren't you?"

"He?" Ron raised his eyebrows and exchanged a look with Harry.

Ignoring him, Hermione tore off tiny bits of parchment and sprinkled them in a path over her desk. Harry watched as the Air Elemental glided along and picked them up. The swirling bits of paper made it far easier to see.

"There you are!" Hermione cried merrily, as if to a child. Like the furrow of dirt had mimicked Harry's grin, the Air Elemental swirled the bits of paper into a wide smile. "Oh, I do like them!"

Seeing most of the class had successfully called at least one Elemental, Dunn addressed them. "As you can see, once you invoke an Elemental, they take on a sort of life of their own. Since we invoked them with the sole purpose of play and fun, they remain charming little things. Do be careful with yours, Miss Patil, let's not set our books on fire." Continuing, Dunn said, "But as our time is nearly up, we have to release them."

Sadly, Harry looked down at his little dirt worm. Though he knew it was really nothing more than a bit of earth, he had grown rather fond of it during the short class. The worm frowned at him in response.

"Never fear, now that you've got the hang of it, you'll be able to conjure them again." Dunn smiled. "Now, to release an Elemental, you must imagine the spirit of the element returning to Nature, dissipating throughout the air, water, earth, and flames." Before anyone could interrupt, he said, "It doesn't matter what element your Elemental came from, they all go back to the same place. Now clear your minds, and release them."

With a little wave, Harry closed his eyes and imagined his little dirt worm scattering over the mountains and fields around Hogwarts, bits of dirt falling into the lake and along the sore, drifting in the breeze and even falling into the bright warmth of Hagrid's hearth fire. When he opened his eyes, he was almost sad to see just a small pile of plain dirt in the middle of his desk.

More than one student left the classroom excited and yet, a little gloomy as well. Harry thought it had less to do with the three foot essay comparing Earth Elementals and golems than the chatter between students implied.

After dinner that evening, they joined up with Ginny who had claimed a good portion of the table nearest the fire in the Gryffindor common room. Pausing gratefully, she greeted them as they sat. She seemed surprised when Ron told her they'd actually been conjuring Elementals in Dunn's class.

"Really?" She looked from Harry to Hermione. "I didn't think they'd let us do anything like that here."

"Yeah." Ron nodded enthusiastically. "We all got it to work, too. I made a little water-snake and Harry had this dirt inchworm thing..."

He trailed off in astonishment when Ginny coaxed a flame from the fire onto a blank sheet of parchment. It danced over the page, wisps of smoke wafting from where it burned the words 'Hello, Ginevra' followed by a fanciful swirl into the paper. With a puff, the little flame disappeared.

"You mean like that?" Ginny asked innocently.

Ron sputtered, "How...how...how long have you been doing that?"

Staring at the paper a bit guiltily, Ginny mumbled, "Used to do it a lot when I was little." Inexplicably looking to Harry for support, she added, "When I first did it, I didn't know what it was. Just that I found a friend to play with me."

"How old were you?" Harry asked, intrigued. From their class earlier and the essay he'd written, he knew conjuring Elementals was not as simple as it sounded.

Avoiding her brother's eyes she said, "Seven."

"Ginny, Elementals are dangerous! You could have-" Ron stopped and gaped at her. "That was your fault, wasn't it? And you let Fred and George take the blame?"

"They deserved it!" Ginny insisted, forgetting Harry and Hermione were there and had no idea about the fire that had raged through the Burrow kitchen all those years ago. "They'd ruined my favorite doll! If they hadn't, I wouldn't have had to conjure Flicker-"

"You named it?" Ron exclaimed.

"I was seven!" Ginny retorted. "Besides, it always called me by my name. And it's not like I do it all that often anymore. After I knew what it was, I was much more careful. In fact, that was the first time I've called it since I came to Hogwarts."

"Well, then." Hermione blinked several times. "I suppose you'll be ahead of your class, won't you?"

Secretly impressed, Harry asked, "Did you ever get it to do anything?"

Ginny shrugged. "It really only ever burned things into papers and bits of wood. Mostly just fancy patterns, sometimes my name and 'hello'. Always my full name though. Flicker never called me Ginny. I liked watching it make designs."

Ron looked as if he wanted to say more, but for some reason decided against it. Pulling a fresh sheet of parchment out, he set about arranging his notes, ink, and quill, obviously still a bit disturbed at finding out his sister had been dabbling in old and potentially dangerous magic for years. Taking his lead, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny turned to their homework assignments as well. Suddenly, Harry realized that if today's lesson was any indication, then the four elements were equally represented by them. Wondering if that meant anything, he dutifully opened his Transfiguration text to the chapter on non-verbal spells.

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

The rest of the week passed rather quickly and before he knew it, Harry was headed down to the dungeons and his first Occlumency lesson since before the holidays. Though he had a pretty good idea why Snape might have said their first lesson would be Friday instead of the first day back, Harry wondered if it meant Snape would be more difficult, or easier, to deal with. The answer came as soon as he stepped in Snape's office.

Even without Occlumency, Harry knew Snape was in a foul temper, though he shouldn't have been surprised. Classes during the week had indicated as much, with Ron ending up with excessive amount of extra Potions homework, though even Hermione had said his potion hadn't been that far off the mark. However, the last time Snape had been preoccupied by other things, Harry had blocked him easily and been dismissed early. He could only hope this lesson would end similarly.

Without warning, Snape hit him full force. In a second of shock, Harry wondered if he'd even waited for the door to close. Though Snape's attacks had never been pleasant, this onslaught verged on painful. Not understanding why Snape had suddenly decided to try to kill him by force of mind alone, Harry retreated, trying to remember what he'd discovered in the one dismal practice at Grimmauld Place. The Darklands called to him, again promising solitude and peace, but Harry ignored their lure. That was not the best way to deal with the blur of images tearing through his skull. Mentally shying away from Snape's vicious attack, Harry tried to feel the cause of his fury instead.

Much like his practice with Ron, it was like standing aside and looking at moving pictures in his mind. As Snape ransacked his memories, Harry could sense he was looking for something in particular, though he couldn't imagine what. Focusing on the emotion driving him, Harry was hard pressed to sense anything but pure rage. Not knowing what he could have possibly done to warrant it, Harry focused his mind and stepped back into the rush of images, attempting to force Snape out.

He had to blink a few times before realizing he had either succeeded or Snape had temporarily given up. Glaring hatefully at him, Snape said nothing. Afraid to say anything, Harry merely waited for Snape to try again. Sensing his wand had long ago lost its usefulness in this particular endeavor, Harry held it loosely by his side.

After almost a full hour of the same thing, they were both exhausted. Snape seemed no closer to uncovering what it was he thought Harry knew and Harry was no closer to figuring out what it was or why Snape seemed so intent on finding it. Imminently thankful the lesson was almost over, he wondered if Voldemort had told Snape he had some memory important to him. Or was Snape looking for the connection between him and Voldemort that most everyone thought had been lost? Uneasy, Harry made his escape the second Snape's spell unlocked the office door.

Running into Ron on his way to tutoring, he realized he must have looked awful, if Ron's expression was an accurate judge of his appearance.

"What happened?" Ron exclaimed.

Running a hand through his sweat-soaked hair, Harry shook his head. "It was rough. I'll tell you guys about it back in the common room."

"You all right?" Ron asked, concerned, as they seated themselves at their usual table.

Taking a deep breath, Harry shrugged. "Yeah. No worse than usual, I don't think."

Looking skeptical, Ron glanced around the room. Most of the students who had taken tutoring before the holidays had returned, though the room was a bit emptier than before. Seeing Persephone was not perched on the desk waiting, most everyone turned to their friends and the chatter in the room increased. Just as Harry was wondering if she had decided to cancel after all, he'd been rather surprised she hadn't to begin with, Persephone walked in.

Rubbing her forehead, she forced a smile at the assembled students. "Hello, welcome back to tutoring. I don't see any new faces, so let's just jump right in."

Instructing them to read over the sheet they had in front of them, Persephone took a moment to organize the ingredients she'd laid out.

Skimming the page, Ron whispered to Harry, "She looks awful."

"Can't say I'm surprised," Harry whispered back. "Actually, I was wondering if she'd left after all. This is the first time I've seen her since we got back."

Realizing they had better pay attention to what they were doing, Harry and Ron read the potions recipe carefully. He didn't know if it was just a coincidence, but the night's lesson was to make Elixir of Awakening, something he thought Persephone looked like she could really use. That, or a nice draught of Dreamless Sleep.

Though she looked like she hadn't slept since the catastrophe at Number Twelve, Harry and Ron agreed the class was still quite good. Even with half a year of tutoring and not nearly as much trouble as when Snape was teaching, Neville still needed a bit of patient prodding along to get his potion to the sludgy consistency that showed a final product.

Once they'd poured the viscous brown liquid into airtight jars, Persephone addressed the class, "This elixir will be quite potent, so I don't recommend you use it straight. For a normal pick-me-up, use a five to one dilution in the drink of your choice. If you're really feeling lethargic, you can increase the amount by up to half and half. Any more than that and you're going to be too jittery to get anything done. Please be careful and use it sparingly."

Harry considered waiting until everyone had left and asking if she was all right, but a dull throb had started just behind his eyes. Figuring she probably preferred to be left in peace anyway, he followed Ron out of the dungeons and back to Gryffindor.

By the time they reached the Fat Lady's portrait, the throb had become a pounding headache. Squinting against the flickering light of the fire, Harry plopped down on the couch next to Hermione.

"How was-" Hermione set down her book and looked over at Harry. "Harry, you look awful! Are you all right?"

"Just a headache," Harry replied. "Snape's lesson was a bit rough."

"So what'd he do, mate?" Ron asked worriedly.

Leaning his head back on the couch, Harry shrugged. "Nothing different. Just...more. I don't know how to explain it. I think he was looking for something, though."

"Looking for what?" Hermione asked.

"No idea," Harry replied, daring to open his eyes and still finding the light to be unbearably bright. "I'm pretty sure whatever it was, he didn't find it. Do you think Voldemort told him I knew something?"

"Harry," Hermione's voice held a note of admonishment, but then she paused. "What would you know?"

Shrugging again, Harry closed his eyes and tried not to think about how much his head hurt. He didn't see Ginny walk in through the portrait hole along with several other fifth years, including Julian. Frowning at Harry, Hermione waved Ginny closer, pointed at Harry and then mouthed, 'Get headache powder from Madame Pomfrey'. Nodding Ginny turned and left silently, knowing Harry would have resisted going to the hospital wing and in all likelihood, would resist taking the medicine as well.

Ron, not wanting to attempt to figure out what had just happened, guessed, "Something about the Book of Shadows, do you think?"

"Maybe," Harry said. "Or about whether or not there is still a link between us."

"How did you do with blocking?" Hermione wanted to know.

"All right I suppose," Harry said. "I tried what we learned over the holidays. The stepping out of the memory thing."

Intrigued, Hermione sat up. "Did it work?"

"I wouldn't say it worked." Harry squinted at her and closed his eyes again, wishing his headache would go away. "It didn't stop him from tearing through my memories, anyway. Really, it's more of a way to refocus my thoughts so I can force him out faster."

"Did you feel why he was doing it?" Ron asked. "I mean, that's the only thing I got out of trying that. Maybe it'll tell us what he was looking for."

Shaking his head and instantly regretting it, Harry said, "No, I don't think so. What I meant is, all I felt was rage. Whatever he was looking for, it made him really, really angry. That could mean anything."

"I suppose you're right," Hermione said, sounding disappointed. "On the bright side, if he was trying to find out about the Book, maybe they're not as far ahead of us on finding it as we thought. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." Though he didn't want to admit it and invite the inevitable fussing, Harry added, "I wouldn't mind a Headache Powder though."

Smiling to herself, Hermione said, "I think we can arrange that."

A few minutes later, Ginny returned with a packet and a glass of water. "Hey, Harry."

Taking it from her, with some surprise, Harry quickly downed the medicine. "Thanks."

Almost instantly, his headache lessened. In its place, an intense sleepiness took over. He looked suspiciously from Ginny to Hermione, and was met by equally self-satisfied smiles. Turning to Ron added nothing more than a don't-look-at-me shrug.

Yawning, Harry stood. "I'm going to bed."

"But it's only-" Ron's surprised comment was cut off by Hermione's sharp elbow.

"Good night, Harry," Hermione called.

Hoping he would get some much needed rest, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione exchanged a look then set to various books and parchments.