Harry Potter and the Book of Shadows

Notes

Back in their common room, Harry and the others claimed a quiet corner away from the fire. It was usually a bit drafty and thus, not very popular.

Harry stared at the sheaf of parchment Dunn had given him just before they'd left. His eyes skimming over the first page, Harry almost didn't hear Hermione's breathless whisper of, "Well?"

"Huh?" Harry looked up.

"Does it say how to find the Guardian?" Hermione prompted. Ron and Ginny looked equally excited and apprehensive.

Focusing, Harry examined the notes. "Well..." He tried to read quickly. Key words jumped out at him. "I think we need to read it carefully, but I think..." rereading one paragraph, he nodded. "Yeah, I think this is what we've been looking for."

"Then that means this is what You-Know-Who has been looking for, too," Ginny said seriously.

Realizing the implications of the information in his hands, Harry took a deep breath. "Yes."

"It isn't the spells in the Book he's after, is it?" Hermione said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, confused. "Of course he wants Necromancy spells! He's been trying to cheat death as long as anyone can remember."

Hermione looked at him, "I'm sure he wouldn't turn them down, but think about what we know about the Book. No one really knows what's in it. Not even Dunn told us much about that. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wouldn't waste this much energy on a book of unknown spells. What if they're not even anything good?"

Looking as if he didn't want to believe her, Ron frowned. "You're right, he isn't after the Book." Glancing at Harry, he finished, "He wants to be the next Guardian."

Harry felt his stomach drop. "I think you're right."

"But after what we just heard-" Ginny broke in. "I mean, we just found out the Guardian needs to soul-bind with another person in order for the Book soul bind to not kill them over time. Honestly, who would soul-bind with You-Know-Who?"

"I can think of a few of his followers who wouldn't say no to eternal life," Ron muttered darkly.

Hermione huffed, "Haven't you been listening to anything we've found out at all?" At Ron's eye roll, she snapped, "Soul-binds are very serious! You can't just up and decide to exchange bit of your soul with anyone! There has to be a deep bond there to begin with!"

"Hermione's right," Ginny agreed. "If You-Know-Who wanted to be the Guardian of the Book to gain eternal life, he would have to have someone else to share the bind with."

"Unless he didn't know," Harry said slowly.

"What?" Ron said.

Thinking about what Dunn had said, Harry paused. "Dunn said he's only told one other person about his vampire theory, right?"

The others nodded. Ron spoke up, "And there's something else to worry about! What if You-Know-Who is planning on not binding with anyone else because he wants to be a vampire? He could build his own army of the undead!"

"Temporary blood soul-binds would create an incredibly loyal following," Hermione murmured, her face going white.

"Not to mention the Prophecy." Ginny's comment almost went unheard.

Harry looked at her. "What?"

"Neither can live while the other survives..." Hermione whispered, looking horrified.

Not understanding, Harry exclaimed, "What?!"

Dismayed, Hermione said, "If You-Know-Who did become the next Guardian and didn't bind with a Protector, over time-"

"He'd become Undead," Ginny finished. "Technically, he wouldn't be alive anymore Harry, and the Prophecy would be true! Think about it!"

"No," Ron said emphatically.

Hermione shook her head. "But it makes too much sense, Ron!"

"You heard what Dunn said, though!" Ron insisted. "He only told one other person besides us! What are the odds Voldemort knows who that is, or talked to them?"

Harry let the shock that Ron had finally uttered Voldemort's name pass. "Ron's right. We don't know that Voldemort knows about the Protector. Right now it seems like he would know what most people just finding out about the Book would- that somehow, the Guardian of the Book of Shadows is immortal." Ignoring Hermione's protest, he added, "Think about what we found out when we first started looking. The Book of Shadows is full of Necromancy spells. The Guardian of the Book is soul-bound and for all intents, immortal. Considering what we know of Voldemort, all he's done to try to cheat death, why would he look further? I doubt he'd go any deeper into the lore to find out more about the bind."

"He'd want to know how to do it," Hermione broke in. "And how to find the current Guardian to take it from them."

"Exactly," Harry said. "He wouldn't be looking for what the truth of the bind is. I don't think he knows about the Protector."

A long pause followed Harry's statement. Ginny finally spoke, "Do you think Dumbledore or the Order knows?"

A flicker of annoyance at being left out of their investigations colored Harry's response, "I don't know. I suppose we should tell Dumbledore what we've found out." Even as he said it, some part of Harry liked the idea that he knew something Dumbledore didn't. "I want to read over these notes first, though."

"There'll be another Order meeting soon, I bet," Hermione agreed uneasily.

Another flash of white caught Harry's eye, but when he turned to look more closely at the opposite corner of the room, there was nothing to see. Wondering if it had merely been someone's reflection in one of the tall windows opposite them, Harry nearly fell off his seat when a sharp rapping noise sounded right by his ear. Turning, he tried to slow his racing heart when he saw it was only Hedwig, tapping her beak against the glass.

Thinking it must have been her he'd seen fly by the window, Harry undid the window latch and let Hedwig swoop in, bringing a blast of cold air with her. The others looked on in interest as Harry untied the note from her leg. Ron fed her a few Owl Treats he had in a pocket, thinking out loud that he ought to check in on Pig at some point. As the snowy owl took off toward the Owlery, Harry unrolled the note.

Reading quickly, he almost wanted to laugh at the timing. Knowing his friends were waiting to ask what it was about, Harry looked up and said, "There's an Order meeting. Saturday night."

"Are you going to tell them?" Ron asked.

"Of course he's going to tell them!" Hermione exclaimed. "Why on earth would you even ask that?"

Harry didn't comment. He knew he had to at least find out if Dumbledore already knew about Dunn and the Book. Still, he'd been left out to fight on his own so many times, he couldn't help but relish the idea he wasn't the one muddling through with almost no information this time. Pushing aside the guilt that arose with those thoughts, Harry folded the letter.

"I should read through this." Gathering the Book of Shadows notes, Harry rose.

"Wait!" Ron's voice halted him. "What about us?"

Looking down at the dangerous information in his hands, Harry hesitated. He knew if he were in his friends' position, he'd be just as insulted and irritated at being left out. Especially just as they'd finally found what they'd been looking for. Still, Harry felt he needed to examine what Dunn had given them alone. At least at first.

"I..." Struggling to think of a way to make them understand, Harry decided he probably couldn't. Sighing with the knowledge they would think him selfish to shut them out now, he simply said, "I'll give them to you tomorrow. I really need to read this through. Alone."

The disbelief on Ron's face was mirrored on the girls', though they at least made a show of faking understanding. With no more to be said, Harry turned away from Ron's scowl and headed up to the boys' dormitory.

Surrounded by the heavy velvet curtains, Harry's wand illuminated his large, comfortable bed. Harry settled back against the pillows and began to carefully read Dunn's copied notes on the Book of Shadows. After he'd read the first page of parchment, Harry realized the brief sections of shaky handwriting were in no particular order and jumped randomly from subject to subject. Laying the pages out as best he could over the bed, Harry tried to skim each page and reassemble everything into something resembling a coherent sequence of thought.

It was difficult to curb his excitement and not read each page in depth as he tried to arrange the notes into an order that made sense. Words and phrases jumped out at him and Harry's pulse sped up as information began to coalesce in his mind. After a quick once-over at the rearranged sheets, Harry decided the author had jotted things as they occurred to him or as they had been discovered. Re-stacking the parchments, Harry took a deep breath and began to read in earnest.

Reordered, the notes began with general information about the nature of soul-binds, much of which Harry already knew. There were bits here and there of rather flowery depictions of love, making him want to roll his eyes, but the kernel of information Harry drew was what Hermione had stated earlier: you couldn't just up and decide to soul-bind with anyone. Pausing, Harry mulled this over. Supposing he was correct and Voldemort didn't know the Guardian of the Book of Shadows required another individual to share the bind, the point was still moot. Without the Protector knowledge, Voldemort would never try to bind with one of his followers. While this added to the worry that Dunn's vampire theory was right, and Voldemort might discover and exploit his semi-immortal status, the slow decay into Undead status would take years, centuries for all they knew. Harry hoped to have beaten Voldemort long before then. Even if vampires had been created from the Book of Shadows bind, there were still ways to kill them.

If however, Voldemort did somehow discover something about the necessary Protector bind, Harry wondered if Hermione's theory would work. Certainly no one loved Voldemort, at least not in the deep emotional way the bind seemed to require. Still, the notes simply stated 'a strong emotional bond' was required for the bind to work. The historian again drifted briefly into prosaic musings on love, but Harry wondered if love in the traditional sense was truly the only strong emotion that would work. Thinking of the depth of greed and ambition of which people like Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew were capable, Harry suspected that may suffice for the bind.

Making a quick note to look further into non-Book related soul-binds, Harry moved on to the next section. Here the historian mused on the nature of the bind between the Book itself and the Guardian. Much like other books they'd found, Harry was slightly disappointed to see little beyond what they already knew. The only truly new information was the author seemed to think that, regardless of the fact most references stated the Book was written only in Blood of the Betrayed, there must be a blood ritual to pass the Book. He proposed the old Guardian and the new Guardian somehow exchanged blood, either combining it and then using it to seal runes on the Book's cover, or the new and old Guardians sealed the runes separately but over one another's fresh blood. Harry thought this might explain the impermanent bind information Ron had come across and how it fit in with the Book.

Next Harry thought to read the discussion concerning the Protector-Guardian bind, but the notes peeking out behind it caught his attention. Shifting the top parchment aside for the moment, Harry examined the long page pondering the nature of Blood of the Betrayed. As it related to the text within the Book, the historian seemed to agree that most, if not all, of the spells and information within the actual Book was written in Blood of the Betrayed. Again, he mentions that the outside cover was also most likely written in blood, but there it may simply be the lifeblood of the Guardians who had once protected it. The rambling notes were certainly longer than the short entry in Most Potente Potions, though Harry wasn't sure if they were more useful.

The familiar process of collection from a willing donor was discussed, followed by why it would be considered useful as magical ink. Citing numerous outside references, the historian noted a possible connection between soul-binds and Blood of the Betrayed. It seemed other researchers of magical items held a common belief that extreme emotional states left permanent imprints on inanimate objects. There were a few scribbled notes in the margin about 'cursed' objects, particularly items in haunted houses not occupied by actual ghosts or other coherent spectral forms. From the short reference, Harry gathered places people commonly felt something was 'off', notably battlefields and graveyards, would also fit the category. Certain famous cursed objects were listed, the Hope Diamond being the most notable one Harry recognized. There was a short question of whether blood should be considered inanimate, but the author seemed to think once outside the body, it may as well be classified as such.

When he'd first discovered the existence of the Book of Shadows, Harry had intended to look deeper into Necromancy spells, in case the contents of the Book were indeed what Voldemort was after. Once they'd learned of the Guardian soul-bind, they'd all but given up on that route. Still, the historian provided some rather interesting information about Blood of the Betrayed's connection to the majority of Necromancy teachings. The supposed imprint (whether from the bearer's soul or some other source) left in the blood of someone who had been deeply betrayed was thought to be able to reanimate, at least to some degree, beings that had passed on. There was a brief scrawl about transient souls and life sparks, but it looked more like a random thought than anything. The section was short and to Harry, it seemed as though the closest thing to bringing back the dead anyone had ever been able to achieve was reanimating corpses into semi-mobile husks. An unwelcome image of rotting zombies from one of Dudley's ultra-violent video games surfaced and Harry decided further Necromancy research could wait until daytime.

Looking up at his canopy for a moment, Harry tried to process the information he'd read so far. Blood seemed to be a common factor. The new idea Blood of the Betrayed somehow retained an imprint of the person's soul answered the question of why the Book would prefer it as a writing medium. Coupling the Guardian's soul bind with the imprinted soul essence found in Blood of the Betrayed would likely result in some kind of powerful magical object, resistant to destruction or decay. Wondering if the effect of the combination was cumulative or more than the sum of its parts, Harry hoped it was a nonessential question and continued on.

His heart sped up a bit when he began the section regarding the Guardian-Protector bind. Here was information they'd not known existed before. The tone of the writing was one of hesitant speculation and the author often cited, in miniscule print, references to texts that detailed the usual soul-bind phenomena. In fact, Harry no longer felt badly that they hadn't explored typical soul-binds in more depth since the sum of the theory was in the notes he held. It seemed that, while the bind between the Guardian and the Book might remain a mystery, the bind between the Protector and the Guardian was thought to be the same as between any other two souls, with only minor differences. A brief note at the start of the section stated not all Guardians would have found their Protector and if they did not, they could still function as Guardian. The only difference was the psychological distress and slow decay that accompanied the incomplete bind. It was surmised Guardians not bound to Protectors might pass the Book on faster for this reason.

It was the so-called minor differences that had Harry enthralled. The level of detail discussing the usual soul-bind was similar to what Ginny had discovered. In the case of the Guardian and Protector, the bind seemed to be a combination of instantaneous and time-lapse. Due to the nature of the Guardian's bind with the Book, once they discovered their Protector, an instantaneous bind would occur to stop, or more likely slow, the 'missing part of their soul' death process. Once they found one another, it was supposed they would either consciously or subconsciously be drawn to one another. The author theorized outside events might even conspire to draw or keep them together.

He also supposed the Guardian would know to look for their Protector, or at least be aware they would know when they had found one another. The historian figured that the Book informed them of the details of Guardianship, including the necessity of finding their Protector, either in a transfer of knowledge during the Passing, or written directly in the text. Dunn had supposed the Protector would share part of the inanimate bind with the Book, but the author of the notes disagreed. He thought the simple soul-bind with the Protector would be enough to support the Guardian without giving the Protector any control over the Book itself.

Once the Guardian and Protector found one another, the historian believed the time-lapse bind would take over, allowing the Guardian to safely watch over the text until the next one could be found. This could be any length of time, from a few years to an entire lifetime. It was here Harry discovered something unusual. While the Guardian was bound solely to the Book, complete death was almost impossible. Severe trauma might damage their body, but knowing what he did of vampires, healing was rapid enough to prevent death. Worry clouded Harry's mind until he remembered in the case of vampires, beheading or complete incineration would terminate life without hope of reanimation. How the Book planned for such an occurrence, Harry didn't know. Remembering both Dunn and Dumbledore had mentioned there were ways to find the Book if the Guardian were dead or otherwise unavailable, he refocused on the notes.

After the time-lapse bind was complete (which according to the references the author cited could take anywhere from hours to years), the Guardian was no longer immune to typical death. This surprised Harry since he had assumed that once bonded to one another and the Book, both Guardian and Protector would both be semi-immortal. According to the historian's theory, once soul-bound to each other, the Guardian and Protector were no more immortal than anyone else, regardless of their relationship to the Book. In fact, he predicted usual soul-bind rules applied and if one of the pair died, the other would quickly follow. A separate set of handwriting followed and Harry saw Dunn had added his own ideas. Dunn disagreed with his friend, leaning toward Harry's theory that once bound to one another and the Book, they would each retain some immunity from death. Dunn couldn't see the advantage for the Book if its Guardian was returned to a weakened mortal state before the Book was passed. Harry tended to agree with him.

Since the initial instant soul-bind didn't seem to be enough to permanently protect the Guardian, the historian pondered that if by some chance, the Protector abandoned the Guardian (by death or some other occurrence), one of several things might happen: the Guardian would revert to the original slow progression toward Undeath, the process would accelerate since the Guardian was now missing the part of their soul exchanged with the Book and the part they'd exchanged with the Protector, or the Guardian would be forced to give up Guardianship immediately. The historian seemed to think the first option was the most likely, and the third the least. The Passage of the Book was thought to be a very serious event and not likely to be abandoned or rushed because of the loss of a Protector. Harry agreed since in several places the author had noted not all Guardians were thought to have found their Protectors.

Both Harry and the author were unsure of the second option since the initial exchange with the Protector was an even one. If the Protector then died, Harry could see the Guardian suffering, but if they simply left? It seemed as though as long as the other soul was still in the same plane, they should be all right. The historian mused for almost a page on possible outcomes of incomplete binds between Protector and Guardians. Not surprisingly, given his earlier ruminations on love, the historian seemed to think abandonment due to negative emotions would cause severe consequences to the Guardian. The Protector, having only the typical soul-bind, would only feel the effects of the separation as anyone else would. However, the Guardian would most likely have an amplified reaction because of the inanimate bind they shared with the Book. If this was true, the historian saw an advantage to the Book: the Guardian, once aware of their Protector, would be very motivated to complete the bind. Thus the Book would have two people to protect it, regardless of their mortality status. Dunn's handwriting added to the passage took this theory as support for his 'both semi-immortal' hypothesis.

Having read through most of the notes, Harry felt a bit overwhelmed. In truth, the speculation was fascinating, but the reality of how to find the Book was the most pressing issue. The historian saved his proposition on how to locate the Book of Shadows for last in the original mass of papers. Harry had thought knowing the background might be necessary to understand it and thus also left it for last.

Settling himself with a deep breath, Harry began the section detailing how to find the Book of Shadows. Dowsing was something that wasn't covered in any depth at Hogwarts, though he hazily recalled it had come up once or twice in Divination. The concept seemed overall, rather simple. The difficulty lay in the details. The maps Harry knew they could get just about anywhere, Blood of the Betrayed would be trickier. Those were really the only two things required to find the Book.

The theory the historian put forth was all Blood of the Betrayed, even from different sources, had a sort of 'common resonance'. A map soaked in Blood of the Betrayed, then set to correspond with the actual places it represented via a basic Map Activation spell (Harry thought it rather sounded like a GPS system), would be activated by a variation of the Point Me spell. The spell would then light up areas on the map where Blood of the Betrayed could be found. In essence, covering a map with the Blood would create pinpoints of red highlighting where Blood of the Betrayed was in any quantity. At first Harry didn't think that sounded very helpful at all. Surely though rare, there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of places it existed. It might even light up anywhere vampires lived, since if Dunn was right, their blood might have some relationship to the Book.

The historian seemed to think the dots would color according to the strength of the Blood it represented, brighter dots indicating higher concentrations. He supposed the Book of Shadows would glow brighter than any other dot as it was not only written in Blood of the Betrayed, but was also tuned to a soul-bind (possibly two) that would increase the signal. Harry didn't know if he was right, but it could certainly narrow the search. Starting with a world map would make sense, then if they had enough Blood of the Betrayed, move on to more localized places from there. Finding Blood of the Betrayed in any quantity was the real sticking point.

He hoped Dumbledore would know where to obtain that essential bit as any thoughts of gloating over his discovery fled. A quick glance at the clock told Harry it was far later than he thought. Somehow he'd missed the sounds of his roommates settling into bed. Vowing to give Ron and the others a copy as soon as possible, Harry decided he'd try to get a few hours of sleep and see Dumbledore first thing. Madame Sprout tended to be lenient with lateness and there was no doubt in Harry's mind what was more important.

He made a copy of the notes for Ron, wanting to bring the parchments Dunn had given him with him when he went to see Dumbledore. Though his mind was racing with new information, Harry managed to fall asleep with little trouble. He didn't even realize he'd made the copies without saying the spell aloud.

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

A small wooden box landed with a muted thud on the large desk, followed by the soft shush of a roll of parchment. A man in dark robes stood silently in front of it, having completed his task.

Carefully examining the outside of the box, Lucius Malfoy kept one eye on the man standing before him. "So this is it?"

The man said nothing, though a slight change in posture indicated his annoyance at the implication he might have failed.

With a sniff, Lucius opened the box and examined the contents. Concealing his excitement at what it contained, he graced the man with a cold smile. "Well done. The rest was carried out as planned?"

His expression remained impassive as the man continued to stand silently.

A slight prickle of irritation colored Lucius' voice as he threw the balance of the man's payment onto the desk. As he reached for the leather bag, Lucius made to stop him. The man paused, his hand just above the desk.

"I do have another... opportunity," Lucius said.

A raised eyebrow was the only indication of the man's interest. Sudden hurried footsteps in the hallway caused Lucius to swear. "We'll discuss it later. Dismissed."

Concentrating on concealing the box in his robes, Lucius missed the man's lip curl in irritation. Nor did he see the icy smile as the man collected his payment and turned to leave.

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

Harry woke just as the sky began to lighten. Though he was less than rested, the notes and what they had revealed urged him out of bed. Hurrying to get dressed, Harry grabbed the notes and copies and rushed down to the common room.

He was surprised to see Ron and Hermione already seemed to be awake.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "You're up awfully early."

"I could say the same to you," he replied. "What's up?"

Yawning, Ron shrugged. "Not sure, mate. McGonagall woke us up hours ago with strict orders to keep everyone up here." He pointed to a sign pinned to the notice board.

Harry read it quickly.

Thursday's classes have been canceled. All students are to remain in their common rooms until further notice. Heads of Houses will inform students when they will be allowed to leave.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head. "She didn't say. Just that no one can leave until she says so." She bit her lip. "I think something bad's happened."

"Listen, I have to see Dumbledore. The notes say how to find the Book." Ignoring their looks of shock, Harry handed Hermione the copies he had made. "I don't think it can wait until the meeting Saturday."

Hermione looked upset. "Professor McGonagall locked us in. No one can get out unless it's an emergency."

"You don't think this counts?" Ron exclaimed.

Pointing her wand at the door, she tried a spell. Hermione shook her head. "I don't think it's what I think that matters."

Pushing against the back of the portrait, Harry swore. "It won't open."

"How does it know when it's an emergency?" Ron asked.

Several different colors of light shot out of Hermione's wand in rapid succession. "I don't know what spell she used. Looks like you'll have to wait until she comes back."

"If we can't get out anyway, why did McGonagall make us stand guard?" Ron complained.

"Probably so people wouldn't panic when they tried to leave and couldn't," Hermione surmised.

Plopping down of the sofa, Ron scowled. "They could read the note."

Shooting him a withering look, Hermione countered, "And how often do you read the notice board?"

Fluffing a pillow and stuffing it under his head, Ron didn't answer.

"When did McGonagall say she was coming back?" Harry asked. Something told him the reason they were locked in and what he'd just discovered were not unrelated.

Shrugging, Hermione said, "She didn't. I can't imagine it would be too long." Glancing at the notes in her hand, she asked, "What did you find out?"

Harry sat next to Ron and after a quick survey around the room revealed they were alone. He lowered his voice. "Dunn's notes say how to find the Book. In detail. Not to mention everything else Dunn told us last night and then some."

Showing them the notes, Harry tried to sum up what he'd found out before the rest of Gryffindor woke up. It wasn't long before footsteps sounded on the stairs and Harry had to hastily wrap up the parchments. A sleepy-looking Neville descended the stairs just as Hermione tossed the extra set of notes in the fire.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Trying not to look too concerned or like they were hiding something, the trio shrugged in unison.

"Professor McGonagall locked us in. She didn't say why," Hermione added before Neville could ask.

More students trickled in, expecting to head to breakfast and morning classes. When it became apparent no one was leaving, a low buzz of speculation filled the room. It wasn't long before Ginny joined the throng and found the trio.

"So what's really happening?" she asked in a low voice.

"We honestly don't know," Hermione admitted. "Professor McGonagall just told us to keep everyone here. She looked upset."

Paling slightly, Ginny muttered, "That can't be good." Turning to Harry she asked, "Did you read the notes?"

Nodding Harry spoke as quietly as he could, "I don't want to talk about it with everyone here. Ron and Hermione can fill you in later. I need to see Dumbledore as soon as possible."

"I thought you were going to make us copies," she whispered.

Hermione shook her head as a few other Gryffindors looked their way, warning Ginny to drop it.

Though she looked irritated at being brushed off, Ginny admitted to herself the roomful of chattering students was probably not the best place to discuss Dunn's notes. Just as the noise in the room had reached the pitch of a hive of angry bees, the portrait door swung open, admitting Professor McGonagall.

"Everyone! Attention, please," she began immediately, effectively ending Harry's hopes of talking to her first.

The chatter died instantly, and Harry knew he wasn't the only one who thought McGonagall looked pale and shaken.

"There has been... an incident." A stern look ended the burst of talk at the news. "You are to remain in Gryffindor Tower until classes resume."

Even McGonagall's uncompromising expression couldn't halt the indignant reaction of the students. More than one person complained about missing an entire day of meals. Allowing the students to bluster for a few moments, McGonagall finally motioned for everyone to be silent. With a wave of her wand a long table appeared below the windows on the far wall. An assortment of breakfast breads, juices, and other foods appeared. Most students immediately queued up for the buffet.

Seeing his chance, Harry hurried over to McGonagall before she could leave. "Professor, wait!"

"Potter, due to these... circumstances, whatever it is, it must wait." She peered at him, obviously distressed and in a hurry.

Resisting the urge to grab her robes and force her to listen, Harry whispered, "That's just it, Professor, I don't think it can. Professor Dunn gave me a copy of some of his notes," Harry dropped his voice even more, "about the Book of Shadows."

McGonagall paled. Harry took it as a sign he'd be allowed out to see Dumbledore immediately and pressed his case. "I need to see Professor Dumbledore right away."

McGonagall's lips pressed into a thin line, something Harry knew never preceded good news. "The Headmaster is unavailable at the moment." She seemed to think quickly, then added, "Wait with the others, Potter."

And with that unsatisfactory reply, she left the room, locking the door securely behind her. Staring with disbelief at being completely ignored when she must have known how important the information he had was, Harry stomped back to where Ron and Hermione were nibbling muffins, waiting for him.

"She didn't let you out?" Ron exclaimed.

"Dumbledore's gone," Harry muttered.

Hermione gasped. "Gone? What do you mean gone? You don't think-"

It hadn't even crossed his mind that Dumbledore might be the victim of the 'incident'. Suddenly Harry felt sick. "No! I mean, she didn't say... just that he was unavailable."

Ron and Hermione exchanged uneasy looks. Hermione started to say something but stopped herself. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she took a breath and said, "Well, I'm sure it can't be that bad. Wouldn't she have said something?"

The look Ron gave her said he was less than reassured. Though the other students allowed the unexpected day off class to feel like a treat, Harry and the others couldn't shake the feeling everything was about to change for the worse.

The common room remained full of students and conversation as everyone helped themselves to the breakfast spread. Feeling uneasy, Harry could only toy with the blueberry muffin Ron handed him. Hermione was off reassuring a group of nervous-looking first years. He was half-listening to Julian and Katie talking about the upcoming Quidditch practice schedule when something occurred to him.

Sitting up quickly, he turned to Ron who was devouring his fourth muffin. "Ron, where's your Firebolt?"

"Hungmph?" Ron raised his eyebrows, his mouth too full to answer properly.

They'd had only a few practices since they'd returned from the winter holidays and Harry was pretty sure Ron was still keeping his prized broom in their dormitory and not in the lockers.

Swallowing a few times, Ron said, "It's up- wait. You're not thinking-"

"I am," Harry interrupted, standing up.

Ron followed him as Harry made his way to the stairs, attracting the notice of Ginny. "Harry, you heard McGonagall, we can't leave!"

Stopping in front of the boys' room, Harry gave Ron an incredulous look. "That sounds like something Hermione would say."

"That's not-" Ron flushed angrily. "What I meant was, McGonagall probably charmed the whole tower! You probably can't even go out the window."

"Out the what?" Ginny exclaimed, startling them both.

Spinning around, Ron stared at his sister. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing telling Harry to jump out a window?" she retorted.

"I was telling him not to!" Ron snapped back at her.

Ginny pinned her angry glare on Harry. "Why would you want to jump out the window?"

"Not jump," Harry insisted, "use Ron's broom to get to Dumbledore's office. Dunn's notes-" Harry stopped and looked around. Though they were alone, he was still reluctant to discuss details. "I need to see Dumbledore right away. It can't wait until Saturday. In fact, I think whatever happened to make them lock us up might be related to the notes or the Book of Shadows."

They moved into the boys' room. Reluctantly, Ron pulled his broom out from under his bed and handed it to Harry.

"McGonagall said Dumbledore wasn't here," Ginny said skeptically. "Even if you do get to his office, do you think he'll even be there?"

Unable to argue with that logic, yet unwilling to give up, Harry said, "I have to try, at least. If he's not there, I'll just come back, okay?"

Ginny's muttered comment was lost in the gust of cold air that blew in as Harry opened the window. Looking out, Harry held Ron's broom, ready to mount it and head off. Scanning the grounds, he stopped, spotting a figure moving across the frozen grounds.

"What's that?" he asked.

"What?" Ron peered out the window, unable to see what Harry was pointing at.

Ginny wedged between her brother and the window frame. Squinting, she could make out someone walking towards the castle. "Someone's down there."

"Can't be a student," Harry surmised.

Ginny shrugged. "Maybe someone went for help?"

"They have better ways to get help," Ron said as he rummaged through his messy trunk. "Wait...here."

He held out his omnioculars. Ignoring the question of why Ron had them in his trunk, Harry took them and focused on the figure far below. Focusing, he could make out a dark robe and what looked like light-colored hair. "Looks like-"

Ginny grabbed the omnioculars and looked for herself. "It's just Persephone," she said. Handing them back to Harry she shrugged. "No big deal. She walks down to Hogsmeade every day."

"What?" Harry asked. That sounded awfully suspicious to him. "Why?"

Ginny shrugged. "It's not like I follow her. But that's the only place that road leads, really."

Frowning, Harry wondered why the Assistant Caretaker would be making daily trips into the village. Leaving that question for later, he prepared to hop on Ron's broom and fly over to the Headmaster's office. Just as Ron questioned the usefulness of his endeavor one last time, a flurry of feathers appeared, blocking Harry's path out the window.

Stumbling backwards, Harry held one arm up to defend himself from the owlish attack.

"Pig!" Ginny exclaimed, trying to calm Ron's wayward owl.

Hooting excitedly, Pig continued to try to land on Harry's shoulder and beat him with his wings at the same time.

"He gets it!" Ron grabbed the small ball of unruly feathers. "You've got a letter! Now calm down so we can get it!"

Having restrained the hyperactive owl, Harry managed to untie the note wrapped around his leg. Harry read the single sentence written on the outside, "Open in private."

"Who's it from?" Ginny asked.

Though the handwriting looked vaguely familiar, Harry didn't know. Exchanging a shrug with Ginny and Ron, he unrolled the scroll. A single match fell out.

Harry picked it up and looked at it quizzically. Wizards didn't use matches. Ron and Ginny looked equally perplexed.

"What's that f-" Ron stopped mid-word as Harry disappeared in a flash of light.

Harry felt the telltale jerk somewhere behind his navel and panic flooded his mind. The last time he'd been unexpectedly Portkeyed somewhere, it had ended in tragedy. Tripping as he landed somewhat on his feet, Harry whipped his wand out as soon as his vision cleared. Ready to cast whatever spell came to mind first to defend himself, he found himself face to face with a rather surprised-looking Arthur Weasley.

"Harry!" he said, blinking at the wand inches from his face. "Are you all right?"

"I... uh..." Harry stuttered, utterly confused. "I didn't know what was going on. Last time I used a Portkey without realizing what it was..."

Inexplicably, Arthur flushed at this. "Ah, yes. Well..."

"Where is he? Is he here yet?" Harry recognized Mrs. Weasley's voice as footsteps hurried down the stairs to what Harry now realized was the kitchen at Number Twelve.

"You look scared half to death!" she exclaimed upon catching sight of Harry. Turning to glare at her husband, she snapped, "I told you not to do it that way! We could have just sent Floo Powder and had him go through the network, but no. You had to try out one of those special Portkeys you got from that... that person!" She turned back to fuss at Harry. "Transported to who knows where without warning..."

"I said where he was going in the note!" Arthur defended himself.

Mrs. Weasley took one look at Harry's surprised expression and raised an accusing eyebrow at Arthur.

"Didn't you read the note?" Mr. Weasley asked Harry.

Hesitating, Harry said, "Well, the outside said-"

"He wouldn't have had time!" Mrs. Weasley interrupted.

Mr. Weasley straightened. "I made the message short enough! It just said 'meeting.'"

With a disgusted sigh Mrs. Weasley said, "Even if he had read it that could've meant anything! He didn't know it was from you!"

"Who else would have sent Pigwidegon? And I figured he'd guess I was the only one who would send a match..." Arthur added weakly.

Harry supposed if he'd had more than a millisecond to think about it and had actually read the message in the note, he might have surmised as much. He wisely kept his mouth shut. Luckily, there was a bustle of activity above them, heralding the arrival of more Order members. Soon the kitchen was full of agitated talk as everyone settled into their seats.

Along with the Weasleys and not surprisingly, Lupin, Harry saw the Weasley twins and both older brothers had made it. Tonks was also there, though it looked as though Kingsley hadn't been able to get away from the Ministry. Seeing Professor McGonagall made Harry feel perhaps she hadn't dismissed his urgent message about Dunn's notes. Snape was suspiciously absent, though Persephone seemed to have made it back from her walk in time to hear about the meeting. To Harry's great relief, Dumbledore sat at the end of the table, waiting to address them all.

When everyone quieted, Dumbledore began, "Thank you all for coming on such short notice." He nodded to McGonagall who cleared her throat.

"Harry has information concerning the Book of Shadows." She paused for a moment before adding, "Apparently Professor Dunn had given copies of his research notes to Harry last night."

"Professor Dunn?" Tonks exclaimed. "So Harry was one of the last people to see him alive?"

It took a second for the words to sink in, but as soon as they did Harry exclaimed, "What?"

The Order members exchanged uneasy glances. Finally, Arthur spoke, "Harry, Professor Dunn was found..."

"Dead?" Harry guessed as Mr. Weasley trailed off.

"Well, yes," Arthur said uncomfortably. "This morning by Madame Rosmerta. Apparently he'd been in the Three Broomsticks last night. She didn't think anything odd about it, as he'd been there occasionally with various friends. When she closed up, she said both he and the person he was with left very much alive. She found Professor Dunn this morning in the alley behind the pub."

"Kingsley is looking into who he might have been with," Tonks broke in. "The odd thing was nothing was taken. He still had a number of galleons in his pockets. It's pretty clear this wasn't a run-of-the-mill killing."

"Also," McGonagall looked at Harry, "his office looks like it was searched. Since we don't know exactly what it contained to begin with, we don't know what might be missing. Did he give you the notes to keep for him?"

Harry swallowed. Someone else must have known about Dunn's research about the Book. "Not the actual notes, he just made me copies. But he had a piece of it. The actual Book of Shadows, I mean. At least, it looked like it. His grandfather was a Book historian and Dunn used to do research along with him. Didn't you know?"

Dumbledore looked pensive. "That he had a piece of the Book? No. However, I was aware he had done some research into the subject. That was why I contacted him about the teaching position. I've been trying to contact the other historians he's worked with."

"Why would he have shown me and not you?" Harry asked.

"Any number of reasons, Harry. Often the enthusiasm of youth seems far more genuine than that of a colleague," Dumbledore supposed. "Would you know if it was missing?"

Overwhelmed, Harry shrugged. "I don't... He got the box from his private rooms. It was a wooden box, about this big." Harry motioned with his hands. "I don't think it was locked or anything. Did they take his notes, too?"

"His papers seemed to be in disarray, so it's hard to tell what may have been taken," McGonagall replied. "I would assume so."

"Do you have the copies?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

Thankful he'd kept them in his robes and even more thankful Hermione had burned the extra ones, Harry held the notes out. Arthur took them and passed them along to Dumbledore. Everyone seemed to hold their breath as Dumbledore read them quickly. His serious expression when he finished did nothing to allay anyone's fears.

"Who else knows that you met with Dunn?" Dumbledore asked.

A sudden knot in his stomach made Harry feel sick. "Ron, Hermione and Ginny were at the meeting. I... I told them what was in the notes this morning."

"I see," Dumbledore said. "Did anyone else know you were meeting with Dunn?"

Avoiding the gazes of the Weasleys, Harry replied, "Ginny was the one who arranged the meeting. She told us about it in the hall, but I didn't think anyone else was listening."

Dumbledore addressed them all, "Classes at Hogwarts will resume as usual tomorrow. Students will be told Professor Dunn had to leave unexpectedly. There is no need for them to know the details. I will find a temporary replacement for his classes for the remainder of the year. Harry, you wouldn't happen to have been practicing Apparating, have you?"

Caught off guard by the unexpected question an unsure if Dumbledore wanted him to say yes or no, Harry merely replied honestly, "No, sir."

Surprisingly, Harry thought Dumbledore looked disappointed at this. "I see. Minerva?"

McGonagall merely nodded, leaving Harry wondering what was going on. The meeting seemed to be concluding, though Harry thought he wasn't the only one who was less than satisfied with how things had gone.

"We'll address the other issues to be discussed" -Harry thought Dumbledore glanced at Arthur Weasley and the folder in front of Tonks- "on Saturday. There is no need to panic at this turn of events."

Less than reassured at his words, Harry rose with the others. He immediately went to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "I'm sorry I got Ron and Ginny into this. Hermione, too," he added.

With a smile that didn't quite mask the worry in her eyes, Mrs. Weasley patted Harry's shoulder. "They've been in it from the start, Harry."

"And I'm sure they wouldn't have it any other way," Arthur added with a similar smile. He held out another match. "This is a special Portkey, Harry. When you're ready to go back, just picture the Gryffindor common room very clearly. On second thought," he said quickly, "maybe you'd better imagine your dormitory room. So you don't just pop in from nowhere."

"How-" Harry's question was cut off by Mrs. Weasley.

"We'll talk about it on Saturday."

From her glare Harry thought she and her husband might be talking it about it sooner than that. They left, leaving Harry alone in the kitchen. Attempting to calm his whirling thoughts, Harry ascended the stairs, wanting to say goodbye to Lupin before he went back.

"You didn't see anything, did you?" Lupin's back was to Harry and he could see Persephone, slightly backlit from the wall sconce behind her.

"I would have said something if I had," she snapped. "They found him hours before I walked down there."

Lupin sighed. "I know." It was clear that wasn't what he wanted to talk about at all. "You need to fix this. Wandering aimlessly to and from Hogsmeade isn't solving anything."

"There's nothing to fix." Harry could see her shoot a glare at Lupin. "I like to walk. Maybe if you went out once in a while, you'd look better."

Crossing his arms, Lupin frowned. "That's hardly an endorsement. You look like hell."

Even backlit, Harry could see she looked extremely pale and much thinner than when she'd arrived in the fall.

"Don't you think we have more important things to worry about than how I look?" she shot back.

"Don't you think wallowing in self-misery might be distracting you from doing your job?" he retorted.

"What did you just say to me?" Her voice was slow and dangerous.

From his posture Harry knew Lupin realized that wasn't the smartest argument to make. "That's not... Look, I'm just worried about you. Just explain-"

"Why don't you?" Even to Harry she sounded a bit childish.

Lupin gave her a look. "He doesn't want to hear it from me. Seph, this can't go on. You at least need to be able to work together."

"I have to go," she said shortly, putting on her outer robe.

Harry took the opportunity to go back down to the kitchen in the hopes Lupin wouldn't know he'd been eavesdropping. A few moments later, Lupin walked down the stairs looking quite worn out.

"Harry!"

Harry hoped he looked as though he'd only been sitting at the table, thinking things over. "Hey. I was just... thinking."

"I'm sorry about Professor Dunn, Harry," Lupin said, sitting next to him.

"So am I," Harry replied. "Do you think the other students will figure it out?'

Lupin sighed. "I hope not. Dumbledore is trying to keep it quiet. We can only hope the Ministry will agree."

Harry toyed with the match. "Considering they won't even tell people Voldemort is back, I doubt they'll put up much of a fight."

"You think Voldemort did this?" Lupin asked.

"Who else?" Harry shook his head. "How did they know? It seems too much of a coincidence that we met with him and found out he knew how to find the Book and the next day he's dead and his rooms have been searched."

"Did anyone know why you were meeting with him?" Lupin asked, even though Dumbledore had several times already.

"Like I said, we didn't advertise it, but I can't be sure someone didn't overhear." Guilt welled up again as Harry wondered if he was the cause of yet another death.

"You can't blame yourself," Lupin said as if in response to Harry's thoughts. "If Voldemort's people know half as much as we do, they'd have gotten to him eventually. Actually," Lupin looked as if he wasn't sure if what he was going to say was going to make things better or worse, "Dumbledore has been trying to contact the historian who gave Dunn those notes. He hasn't had any luck which makes us think he's already been found."

Though he did feel slightly less guilty at this, Harry couldn't say he felt better. The door to the boiler room caught his eye, inviting a change of topic. "Is Kreacher still in there?"

Lupin followed his gaze. "Yes. He seems to really like that garden book Hermione gave him."

"Maybe we should move him," Harry suggested.

Raising an eyebrow, Lupin asked, "To where?"

"I don't know," Harry replied. "It must be pretty boring in that tiny room all the time, though."

A little surprised at Harry's sudden compassion for the house-elf, Lupin said, "I'll think of something. You'd better get back before they really start to miss you."

Holding the match, Harry said, "Yeah. See you Saturday."

With a wave, he clutched the match and pictured his bed in Gryffindor Tower. The dark red hangings, the soft coverlet. With a sudden jerk and a whoosh of air, he felt himself plop onto something soft and yielding. A yowl and a hiss, followed by a sudden piercing pain, indicated Harry had landed squarely on top of Crookshanks.

"Oh, Harry, you're back!" Hermione exclaimed, ineffectually trying to soothe the ruffled cat that had fled under the bed.

"We were worried for a bit," Ron added.

Harry saw they and Ginny were the only ones in the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting some help on my OWL studies," Ginny replied. "At least, that's what we told everyone. They're making a racket down in the common room."

"Waiting for you, really," Ron admitted. "We didn't want anyone to notice you'd gone missing."

"So what did the Order have to say?" Hermione asked.

Blinking, Harry looked at her. "How did you know that's where I was?"

"Pig brought you a Portkey disguised as a match with a note that said 'meeting'. Where else would you have gone?" she asked simply.

Smiling in spite of himself Harry said, "Tell that to Mrs. Weasley the next time you see her."

His smile fading, Harry filled them in on what had happened at the meeting. Understandably, they looked shocked.

"He's dead?" Ginny gasped.

Nodding Harry cautioned, "Don't tell anyone. Dumbledore is only telling the students he was unexpectedly called away. I think he doesn't want Voldemort to know we're on to him."

"Yeah, I'll bet that was pretty unexpected," Ron said.

A stern look from Hermione halted any further comments. "So what do we do now?"

"Wait, I suppose. There's still a meeting on Saturday. Classes start again tomorrow anyway," Harry replied.

It was difficult to rejoin the other Gryffindors, knowing what had really happened. That night as he lay down, Harry wondered how far Dunn's notes and the fragment of the Book would advance Voldemort's plans. Had he found Dunn's historian friend? If so, did he now know about the Protector and the true nature of the soul-bind? Even if he didn't, if Voldemort did indeed get Dunn's Book fragment, he'd know soon enough.