Blind

Chapter Two

"You would think," Ron grumbled as he added a handful of dead flies into his cauldron, "that Flitwick would let us have a little break. Why, might I ask, does he feel the need to drop all this homework on us on the first day back?"

"You know, you didn't have to take Charms anymore, but you chose to do it. And you knew that as a N.E.W.T. class, it would require more work from you, so you're not going to find any pity in me," Hermione replied, gently nibbling on the end of her quill as she pored over a book on Potions.

"You're just crabby because you were mad enough to continue with Potions," Ron grumbled.

Hermione looked up and glared at Ron. Ron turned to Harry for support, but Harry shrugged. Harry had also chosen to take Potions after barely scraping the Potions O.W.L. because Professor McGonagall had insisted that if he wanted to enter Auror training, he must have Potions under his belt. Ron had also had aspirations of becoming an Auror until he had realized it meant another two years in Snape's class. He still insisted that he could get in without it, though.

Suddenly the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and Neville Longbottom scrambled into the Gryffindor common room, a pile of books tottering in his arms.

"Hello, Neville!" Hermione said cheerily. "You know, I don't remember seeing you at the feast last night."

"And you weren't in the dormitory either," Harry pointed out. "Anything wrong?"

Neville peered over his shoulders at the groups of students seated in study groups. "Well, I just got to Hogwarts, actually," he admitted. "My grandmother took me up to St. Mungo's." He lowered his voice. "It was a last minute visit to my mum and dad. Well, my parents seemed to have gone blind for no apparent reason."

Hermione looked at Harry and Ron alarmingly, but they didn't catch it. "Wow, that's bad news, mate," Ron said quietly.

"Are they going to be all right?" Harry asked politely.

"Well, the Healers can't put a finger on the reason behind it, so we don't know how they might be helped, but yeah, they'll stay about the same, I imagine," Neville replied somberly. He then looked hopeful. "Say, I just got my homework from the classes I missed. Mind if I sit here with you, you know, in case I missed something and need a bit of help?"

"Here," Ron offered, scooting over to make room for Neville next to him. Neville grinned, plopped down, and pulled out his Charms book.

"Hey, Ron, I noticed you're looking at Flitwick's homework. Want to explain how these spells work? I don't even know what they're supposed to do!"

Ron nodded. "Sure, here, turn to page ten."

Harry looked over at Hermione who was watching Neville with a peculiar look on her face. "What's up, Hermione?" he murmured.

Hermione shook her head and mouthed " Later." Harry nodded and let it drop.

They sat in silence for a bit, except for Ron's muttering explanations of different charms. After awhile, Neville punctuated the quiet with a loud, "Oh, I think I've got it! I was jabbing my wand instead of flicking!" He reached for his wand, but after drawing it from within his robes, he sent in flying to the floor. "Oops," he said with a small laugh.

Harry smiled but turned back to his studies while Neville reached down to the floor for his wand. A split second later, however, Neville had toppled off the couch and was rolling about on the floor screaming.

"AUGHHHHHHH! SOMEONE HELP ME! HELP! HELP!" Neville cried, his hands scraping at his face.

"Neville! What happened? Neville, calm down!" Ron said, dropping to the floor as well.

"I CAN'T SEE! EVERYTHING'S GONE WHITE! I CAN'T SEE!"

"What are you looking at?" Ron hissed at the other students who had turned to watch this spectacle. "Neville, just calm down, and we'll help you up to the hospital wing, okay?" He looked to Hermione and Harry for help.

Harry started forward, but Hermione placed her arm in front of him, blocking him from going over to Neville. "No, Ron, we can't help. Get away from him." She looked alarmed when Ron merely glared at her. "Ron, don't be stubborn. We need to get a teacher in here."

"Hermione, he needs our help!" Ron insisted. "Right, Harry?"

Harry wasn't sure what to do. Rarely did Hermione make a request like that without a strong reason supporting it. There must have been some danger surrounding aiding Neville. However, Harry wasn't forced to choose, because an angry voice came from behind them.

"What's all this noise? The whole castle can hear you! Mr. Longbottom, what is the meaning of this screaming?"

It was Professor McGonagall. She was wearing her usual green tartan robes and staring formidably from behind her square spectacles.

Hermione looked genuinely relieved. "Professor, it's Neville. He says he's gone blind," she explained.

McGonagall's face now looked a bit paler. Her lips were drawn tighter than Harry had ever seen them, which was quite a feat. She swept over and bent down by Neville. "It's all right, Neville," she said in a soft, soothing voice, so unlike the one she usually reserved for students. "Come now, I'll take you to Madam Pomfrey, let her see what's wrong here." She helped Neville as he unsteadily got to his feet.

"You want some help there, Professor?" Ron asked.

McGonagall waved Ron away. "No, no, absolutely not. But thank you, Mr. Weasley, for your offer. Come, Neville, this way. Step lightly now. There's a table. Good, good. Oh, watch it, there's a chair!" She helped him crawl through the portrait hole. Before following him, she turned to look at the students still staring at Neville. "There's nothing to see," she insisted. "In fact, perhaps you best get off to bed." And with that, she climbed out and the door closed.

Ron stared after them in amazement and then rounded on Hermione. "Are you mad?" he cried. "One of our friends is rolling on the ground and screaming that he's suddenly lost his sight, but you say we're not to help him?"

"The problem with you, Ron," Hermione replied, placing her hands firmly on her hips," is that your brain tends to malfunction. You overlook things like this and it'll get you in trouble."

Ron opened his mouth to argue but Harry shook his head. "Come on, Hermione, what's up? Obviously something was wrong. What was it?" Harry asked.

Hermione sighed. "You know how Neville had been visiting his parents earlier? Well, he said they had gone blind, but for no apparent reason. Earlier, the Malfoys, Tonks, and Mad-Eye would have been brought around that ward for being blasted into blindness by that curse. Into the ward Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom are in perhaps."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ron asked. "Blindness isn't something you can catch, is it?"

Harry shook his head, but Hermione held up her hand. "Just listen, okay? In most circumstances, no, you can't catch it. But I think we're dealing with a different situation here. I read in a book, just this past summer in fact, that there are ways of altering a spell that will cause illness or some other malady to befall the victim. You can get whatever the illness is to become contagious and spread before the victim is healed. It's highly illegal, of course, and dreadfully difficult. I would doubt that the Ministry would allow such illegal business to go into one of its newly formed spells. So if this is what we're dealing with, someone in the Ministry is fooling with business. And they'd have to be a powerful wizard in order to pull such a thing off...." Her voice trailed off.

Harry and Ron were at a loss for words. Harry cleared his throat. "So, er, you think Voldemort-" Ron jumped at the sound of that name. "-you think he's behind this?"

Hermione sighed. "I don't know. It doesn't seem like something he would do, from what I've seen from his course of action, but we can't rule it out altogether now, can we? But this would also mean he's wandering around the Ministry, changing these spells like this. And it's a spell that he would know would be used against his followers, so I don't think he would make it worse then." Hermione threw her hands in the air. "I really don't know. It's too confusing."

*************

Harry plopped onto one of the squashy armchairs in the Gryffindor common room after a long day of class. He wanted to forget it all: the classes that had passed so slowly, the dread Harry felt consumed in as his thoughts were occupied by this new curse, and the whisperings of students as they passed along rumor after rumor about the goings-on in Gryffindor Tower the previous night.

Ron, who was sitting across from him, seemed to be just as upset; he was fidgeting in his seat, staring out the window. Suddenly, he jumped up. "I need to do something to take my mind off everything!"

Harry nodded. "I know." Suddenly, an idea flashed through his brain. "Say, mate, why don't we head down to the Quidditch pitch, take a ride on our brooms? Hermione, care to join us?" Harry asked as Ron nodded eagerly.

Hermione had a stack of books in front of her. "No," she said, somewhat angrily. "I'm trying to get some information on, er, some stuff." She looked up meaningfully at Harry, who was certain he knew what she was talking about.

"Suit yourself, Hermione. I'll go grab our brooms," Ron offered, starting toward the staircase leading to the dormitories.

"Say, you two wouldn't mind a bit of company, would you?" Ginny Weasley asked, coming over. "I heard you say you were going flying and I haven't been on my broom yet since we've been here." She held out the Comet Seventy that her parents had bought her for making prefect the previous year.

"The more the merrier," Harry replied as Ron bounded into the common room, clutching two racing brooms.

In a matter of minutes, all three of them were soaring through the air on their broomsticks. Harry took to circling the pitch, winding around the goal posts. It had been too long since he had felt the wind blowing through his hair and hitting his face in the way that could only tell him he was flying. To let off some of his energy, he started making loops in the air.

"Wicked, Harry! How do you-" But Ron Weasley could not finished his sentence. He let out a startled cry and toppled from his broom.

"RON!" Ginny yelled, turning her broomstick to go after his falling body. Harry also hurried over as Ron fell nearer and nearer the grass. At the last possible second, Harry arrived and grabbed for Ron's arm.

"Ow!" Ron said. His weight was dragging Harry's broom down, but at least he would not be splattered on the field.

"Ron, what happened to you there?" Ginny asked anxiously, hopping off her broom.

Ron sat there dumbly for a minute but then looked up. "What do you think you're doing?! Get away from me!" he cried.

"Ron," Ginny said pleadingly, reaching for her brother's hand. "What is it, Ron?"

Harry understood. Ron's eyes looked strangely unfocused. And he had warned them to step away. Only one thing could be wrong.

"I-I-I can't see," Ron admitted shakily. "I was about to do loops in the air like Harry was doing, and then I lost my sight. Everything just went white."

Ginny looked up at Harry. "We need to get him to the hospital wing, Harry. Now."

"We need a teacher," Harry argued. "We can't handle this ourselves. I'll be back in a moment, Ginny. Just hang tight, okay there, Ron?" Ginny looked perplexed and angry, but Harry did not hang around to explain. He set off towards the castle, running as quickly as he could.

*************

"You know, Draco, my parents say they're going to hold a huge party for Christmas, and they're going to invite your family," Pansy Parkinson declared happily as she added a handful of dead spiders to her potion. "Isn't that wonderful?"

"Sure," Draco replied nonchalantly as he carefully stirred his own potion. For the past couple of years, Pansy had become rather annoying. Draco supposed that she must fancy him, and he really couldn't blame her, but he had never reciprocated the feelings so she should have moved on to someone she had a better chance with. Must have taken the whole Yule Ball thing from fourth year a bit too seriously, he thought as she carried on.

"And Mother says I'm to have a new dress for the party! I would like a purple one, of course, but Mother says that red is much more seasonal for Christmas and all," Pansy continued.

"Well, it's only September, so you have plenty of time," Draco said, wondering if this is how his father had at one time thought of Narcissa Black. Certainly Lucius Malfoy would never have married such a silly girl, so Draco assumed his mother was a very well-grounded female, as well-grounded as a woman could be. You know, if Pansy wasn't a pureblood witch, and I hadn't been trained to be gentlemanly around pureblood witches, I'd throw a Cruciatus or Imperius Curse her way. I might just do it anyway to make the hag shut up.

"What are some of your favorite foods? I could have the servants prepare some for the-" Pansy stopped for a second. Suddenly, she started thrashing around, sending potions ingredients to the floor and knocking over her cauldron. "AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Draco watched Pansy with amusement, but Professor Snape was not amused. He hurried over. "Silence! SILENCE! Miss Parkinson, what is the meaning of this?"

"AUGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Pansy cried, screaming right into Snape's face.

Snape grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her slightly. "Silence, Miss Parkinson! What is the meaning of this? Why are you demolishing my classroom?"

Pansy was now crying hysterically. "I-I c-c-c-" Snape shook her harder. "Can't see! I can't see! Everything's gone white!"

Snape released Pansy and looked at her as if he had never seen her before. Then he said harshly, "Come with me, Miss Parkinson." He gripped her shoulders and pushed her out of the dungeon. Before shutting the door, he demanded, "Clean up that mess before I return." It wasn't directed to anyone in particular, so everyone rushed to pick up. Everyone, that is, except Draco.

Draco was gaping at the closed dungeon door. Was that how it had been for his parents? For some reason, he could not picture the formidable Lucius Malfoy and the elegant Narcissa thrashing around helplessly like Pansy Parkinson had done. But it had to have happened that way. Draco could feel the anger welling up inside his chest once again. "No one does that to my parents. No one," he murmured.

"Hey, Draco, you mind tossing this rag in a bin?" Millicent Bulstrode grumbled.

Draco glared down at her. "Yeah, I do mind. What do you think I am? Your house elf?"

**************

Six weeks later...

The Great Hall was silent. One table had been set up in the middle of the room, much like was done for Christmas when only a handful of students were left at school. Once again, only a handful of students were left. Harry was among them. Hermione, who was a sickly shade of green, was seated by him. He could see Draco Malfoy near the back end of the table. Other than that, the only people he recognized were the Creevey brothers. No other Gryffindors were present. The rest of the students were a mix of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and one small Slytherin girl, all various ages.

All the students jumped, obviously brought back to life from their various gloomy thoughts. They turned toward the door behind the staff table. Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Snape, came over. They made their way to the end of the the lone table in the hall.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. Snape stood rigidly at his side.

"This," Dumbledore said slowly, "is what our numbers have dwindled to, due to some very unfortunate circumstances." Harry noticed that he looked rather grave. "Our staff is compromised of only Snape and myself. Due to the situation, I'm sorrowful to announce that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be temporarily closed."

Hermione gave a small cry and shook her head. Harry jumped up from his seat. "B-but, Professor Dumbledore-"

Dumbledore held up his hand. "It will be best for your well-being until the Ministry can sort out its problems." Harry couldn't help but notice the strange tone of voice he used. "Until further notice, you will stay with your families. Now, you best pack your trunks and prepare to leave this afternoon. Good day to you all." He turned and swept from the hall, Snape following him.

The other students stood up and solemnly left, but Harry and Hermione remained seated. Harry glanced over at her, but she was staring determinedly at him. "Well, Hermione?"

Hermione drew in her breath. "They can't close the school. They can't!"

"I'm afraid they already have," Harry said sadly. "But it's only until the Ministry sorts out the whole curse thing and all the students and teachers are healed and returned from St. Mungo's. That can't take too long, can it?"

Hermione shook her head. "I've been keeping track of the situation through the newspapers and magazines, and the Ministry isn't close to solving anything."

Harry realized this meant spending weeks, perhaps months, with the Dursleys. His heart plummeted. "W-well, you know what this means, Hermione?"

Hermione looked over at him curiously. "What?"

"We're going to have to take matters into our own hands," he insisted.

He waited for her to protest at the idea of interfering with Ministry affairs, but Hermione broke into a grin. "For some reason, I knew you'd say that. Now, I've had an inkling that this day was inevitable, though I didn't want to believe it. Anyway, I've been thinking-"

"And?" Harry asked excitedly.

"And I have a plan," Hermione said slyly. "I have a plan to get our friends back."