The Silent Specter of Hogwarts

Chapter Four: The Sad Professor

“You made a very good point, you know Harry,” Hermione said the next day at breakfast. “How can you help her with so little information?”

“I wish I knew,” Harry replied glumly, feeling the weight of her words all the more this morning.

“Barking mad,” was Ron’s assessment. “You ought to run the other way the next time you see her coming.”

“She sounded desperate, not mad,” Hermione argued.

Harry could only nod as they gathered their books for their next class with the Hufflepuffs. The trio slid quietly to the back row of their newest class, Meditation and Astral Projection. Ron didn’t much like their instructor, calling him a sad-faced git, but Harry suspected it was more because of the look Hermione got on her face as she watched every move the solemn, handsome man made in class.

Professor Malcolm Wright was a nice enough chap, Harry supposed, and about the same age as Professor Lupin and Sirius. He kept to himself, never gave a lot of homework, and never seemed to notice the bevy of adoring young ladies who followed him between classes. He also spent an inordinate time in the Library and hospital wing, talking with Madam Pomfrey about alternative methods of healing. Harry found he rather liked the unusual class and the calmness it settled on him.  Still, one always had the feeling that the Professor was never quite in the same room as his students as he spoke.

The classroom itself was unusual. It had high ceilings, was surrounded by windows streaming in fresh air and sunlight. Instead of desks and chairs, several mats lay haphazardly strewn on the floor, where students lazed as Wright spoke.

“You’ve all done very well with meditation for the most part,” Professor Wright said in his sad voiced way. “Except for one or two nameless individuals who tend to snore the rest of us out of our trances,” he slid an amused eye toward Ron and Seamus in turn.

Ron flushed and muttered to Harry, “Boring prat.” Then he glared at Hermione as she settled her chin on her hand and leaned forward with a small smile playing on her mouth.

“We’re ready to move on to a more difficult task, Astral Projection. Can anyone tell me what Astral Projection is?”

Nearly every female in the room had her hand in the air. Hermione was disappointed when Wright picked Lavender.

“It’s when you voluntarily leave your body, sir, and travel in the spirit world.”

“Very good! Out-of-body experiences are for the most part, easily achieved by magical folk. There are a few Muggles who achieve out-of-body experiences with the help of chemical substances, but most wizards and witches are able to do so naturally and to a limited degree.” Wright explained. “There are a few exceptions. Certain wizards and witches demonstrate an innate talent for Astral Projection. They are able to successfully leave their bodies, sometimes for lengthy amounts of time, and travel the physical space around them. An even rarer few are able to communicate and interact with the physical world.”

Harry’s head shot up, “Like a ghost?” He felt, rather than saw, Hermione and Ron looking at him.

Professor Wright smiled sadly, “No. There is no record for any visual manifestation for someone experimenting with Astral Projection. We do know that it is possible to hear telepathic messages or see objects being moved. Again, this is extremely rare and requires that the projector to be extraordinarily powerful and experienced.”

He sighed as some chatter started amongst the students. “Now, this class is meant to teach you what is possible to do with your powers. It is not a license to go zooming around Hogwarts while your body lies with upturned eyes in Professor Snape’s dungeons.” There was a general snigger around the room. “Astral Projection is serious business and not to be experimented with on your own. It takes a great deal of preparation and skill to leave your body behind and even more to retain the presence of mind to return to it. Your body can survive without your soul but without it, you will never be truly alive again.”

Neville raised a timid hand in the air. “Is it possible to spontaneously leave your body?”

Professor Wright smiled a little. “No, I wouldn’t worry about that. When we start learning the process of out-of-body meditation, you might feel a sudden jerk and realize you’re looking down on yourself. More often than not, this causes the astral body to jump right back into his or her skin rather than fly off into the unknown.

“Perhaps a cautionary tale is required at this juncture,” Professor Wright said. He crossed his arms tightly and his expression grew shuttered. “There was a very talented witch who used Astral Projection to great advantage. She was able to leave her body for days, some say weeks, at a time. But out-of-body experiences have a freedom unique in that, without the encumbrances of your physical form, all your perceptions and all your assumptions become meaningless. So it was for this witch. The more she explored outside of her body, the longer she stayed away. And one day she never came back.”

“What happened to her, sir?” Justin Finch-Fletchley asked.

“No one knows. She may have gotten lost. She may have chosen to never return.”

“What about her body?” Lavender said.

“It continues to age and breathe and sleep. But it is only an empty vessel. And until it dies, she will never be truly free.” Wright lapsed into a thoughtful silence until the bell rang and everyone began to leave for their next class.

“Rumor has it,” Parvati said to the other Gryffindors, “that the woman in that story was Professor Wright’s wife.”

“Ohhhh…that’s terrible!” Lavender said. “Is that why he teaches this class? To make sure no one else does the same thing?”

“Or to find a way to get her back,” Hermione said.

“Tosh,” Ron said. “He teaches it because they pay him to.”

The three girls glared at him. Finally Parvati spoke, “Well, I believe the rumor. I think Professor Wright is trying to find a way to wake up his one true love.”

“That is so romantic,” Lavender sighed.

“It’s bloody stupid. He’s a great big git if he’s still waiting around for some woman to get the sense to come back to her own body.”

“Ron!” Hermione yelled. “Professor Wright is an honest, decent man! If the rumors are true, then I can well imagine him waiting for her to come back to him!”

“Honestly,” Ron said, his ears turning a funny shade of orange and sounding remarkably like Hermione, “you’re acting like you used to with Lockhart!”

Hermione blushed and turned away, flicking her hair over her shoulder with an irritated toss. Ron grunted and turned to Harry. “What is it with her and older men?”

Harry grinned but wisely kept his opinions to himself. Behind him Dean muttered, “I wish he’d just snog her and get it over with.”

Saturday approached with the excitement of Ron’s first Quidditch game as Gryffindor’s new Keeper. Harry had a time holding his concentration on the game against Ravenclaw as Cho Chang was using her usual tactic of marking him instead of the Snitch and driving him crazy with her sly smiles.

Harry flew high above the rest of the players, his eyes quickly scanning the field below for that telling glimmer of gold. He watched Ron get pummeled by Quaffles and Bludgers as both teams battled for points and was extremely proud of his friend’s instinctive blocks and parries.

It was a tight, close game and as the hours passed and everyone tired, Harry felt a growing desperation to find the Snitch and pull a victory for Gryffindor. Zooming across the playing field, he suddenly got a glimpse of it, flying speedily toward Cho. Without a second thought, he flew directly at her, barreling through the air on his Firebolt. He saw her give a start of surprise till her eyes narrowed with understanding. She caught sight of the Snitch just before it veered left, weaving between Chasers and Beaters toward the Ravenclaw goal posts. Harry deftly turned his broom, leaning forward to pull away from Cho and hearing the swoosh of air behind him as she gave chase.

The Snitch was on a dead center course toward the Ravenclaw Keeper. Harry wondered if a game was ever won when someone else caught the Snitch and was determined that this game would not be the first to find it out. He leaned so far forward on the broom that he lifted off his seat and heard the whine of energy as the Firebolt’s power raised another notch.

The Ravenclaw Keeper was yelling and waving frantically, obviously alarmed that both Seekers were on a collision course with him. Fred and George gave a great yell somewhere below him and out of nowhere Bludgers pelted the poor Ravenclaw Keeper. Harry began to laugh, enjoying the wind whistling past his ears and stretched out an arm. Just a little further, just a little faster. He dimly heard Cho calling his name and ignored the distraction of her voice. He could feel the Snitch’s wings fluttering just beyond his fingertip and with a quick lunge, felt the cool metal within his grasp.

Realizing he was within feet of the frantic Ravenclaw Keeper, Harry twisted on the Firebolt, sending the Keeper spinning in place, and barely missed the metal ring as he flew through the goal.

“POTTER HAS THE SNITCH! A WIN FOR GRYFFINDOR!” Lee Jordan yelled from the stands as the entire house screamed its approval. Harry did a victory lap to the center of the playing field before the rest of the team landed on him.

“You sodding show off!” Fred yelled in Harry’s ear. “We ought to get a point for you going through the Ravenclaw goal post!”

Angelica had deposited a rather rough kiss on Harry’s cheek. “Well done! And you!” She rounded on Ron, locked an arm around his neck and pressed another kiss on his reddening cheek. “You were brilliant!”

The lump of arms, legs, and brooms that was the Gryffindor team slowly sank to the ground and was immediately surrounded. Hermione has to fight her way toward them as Harry pounded Ron’s shoulder and told him what a great Keeper he was. She had her usual scratch marks down her cheeks and she grabbed Harry’s arm and gave it a hard shake.

“Oh, you gave me a fright! What did you mean getting so close to those poles?”

Harry only laughed and handed the Snitch to Madam Hooch. Getting nothing from Harry, Hermione turned to Ron, “You were simply amazing, Ron!”

“Hard to believe, is it?” Ron said but his face was split with a wide grin.

“Don’t be silly,” Hermione put her arm through one of his. “I always knew you had it in you.”

Harry gave a sigh and caught the identical smirks on Fred and George. Ron and Hermione were in for a teasing if they didn’t stop.

“Look what we have here,” George said. “Our Keeper started a boy and has become a man!”

“It was only yesterday when he was just a wee little one,” Fred said.

“Sod off,” Ron muttered and headed for the locker rooms. Hermione tutted and raised her eyebrows at the twins, who mimicked her, then walked away with Ginny.

Ginny sent Harry a weak smile and a wave. Harry sighed. She was pretty, no doubt about it, but she was Ron’s sister and that’s all he could think when he saw her. He suspected that regardless of how close he was to all the Weasleys, that’s all he would ever be allowed to think about their little sister. He felt a light touch on his arm and turned to a smiling Cho Chang.

“Nice game, Harry,” she said softly and walked off the field with the rest of her team. Harry felt the imprint of her hand burn through the cloth of his Quidditch robes.