The Gale

~*~The Gale~*~

"The weather pearl is an ancient artefact used to control weather. The mixture of werewolf blood, unicorn hoofs and a dozen raindrops, give it a red colour. But for the pearl to work, it must be mixed in and carefully kept in a circle of glass or a globe.

The last one to be made was destroyed a year later, due to damage and high death ratings. Few have ever mastered the art of mixing the exact amounts of ingredients, though, by all accounts, someone may still succeed."

Dumbledore stopped reading to ponder this information. So Voldemort had acquired a new power... that storm had been magical after all. Wearily, he continued reading, trying to gather as much information as possible.

~*~

Sirius had joined Ron by the window, trying to calm his nerves by gazing at the view. Hermione sat on one of the chairs, just staring into space. She was so tired and emotionally exhausted that it seemed the only reasonable thing to do at the time.

"Sirius?" A soft voice asked. Sirius turned to face Ron, thinking that he had been the one to call his name. But his mistake was made clear as he followed Ron's shocked gaze to his godson.

~*~

A bright light suddenly burned through his eyelids. By instinct, he scrunched his face up against it and rolled onto his side. Opening one eye and then the other, he realised that he wasn't the only one in the strange room. Squinting, he tried to make sense of the blurry figures... one looked awfully familiar... but, no... it couldn't be... could it?

"Sirius?" his voice sounded weak and hoarse, so he cleared his throat slightly and tried to sit up, realising for the first time that there were bandages wrapped tightly around his chest and arm. He frowned in confusion and turned his gaze back to where he was sure he had seen his godfather.

A face swam before him, looking both concerned and extremely relieved. Harry's hand lifted off the bed sheets instinctively, to gently touch Sirius' cheek. This couldn't be real... he withdrew his hand quickly again and tried to focus on it. He felt so disoriented, so unreal.

He leaned back into the pillows again, closing his eyes and sighing. He felt so strange...

"Harry? Harry, how are you?" Hermione... she was there too? He opened his eyes again and glanced around, seeing only blurry figures again. "Can't see you... " he slurred, getting more and more exhausted by the second... something was definitely wrong...

~*~

Dumbledore stopped halfway through the chapter and re-read the last paragraph in alarm:

~

Though through the weather pearl, not only does a storm begin, but with it come what the ministry once named weather mamons. These creatures have never really been seen, for as soon as a mammon is released, its task is to perform murder of the ones it is sent upon. Very few have survived such a beast, but those who have often describe it as a black shadow. Miranda Gasklow's vivid account of the event, described the attack as follows:

"wind started picking up around me... I saw things flying past me and over me... suddenly,

something big and black flew towards me and latched onto my face... I couldn't breathe...

I must have passed out, for the next thing I know, I was in a hospital, surrounded by doctors...

I felt very strange, as if I was only half alive, only half existing, even."

Indeed, after only five days of being in hospital, she started showing signs of illness. With no cure available, Miranda Gasklow slowly wasted away into death... there have been sightings of other, not so fortunate, victims. Highly concentrated...

~

He stopped reading and stood, snapping the book shut. Harry had to be warned... Harry had to be saved.

~*~

The room grew intensely silent, as Harry seemed to pass out again. Sirius turned to Hermione and Ron, only to be met with the same confusion he himself felt. There had been something strange with Harry's voice... and his eyes... they just seemed to shift from green to black at random moments. Sirius frowned as his confusion deepened. He put a hand over Harry's forehead. There was no fever... well, at least that was one less thing to worry about.

A cold chill swept through the room, making everyone shiver. What was happening?

~*~

Dumbledore quickly fastened his cloak around his neck and stepped out of the doors to Hogwarts, he started towards the gates at a fast pace, wanting to get outside the apparition wards as soon as possible. As he walked, he went over the information in his mind and let a small ounce of fear creep into his system. If Voldemort had somehow managed to create a weather pearl, then they were all in grave danger.

"Going somewhere, Albus?" He turned only to come face to face with Remus Lupin, sighing in relief, he put a hand on Remus' shoulder.

"I need to go to Harry... can you tell me where to find him?" A cruel smile spread over Remus face, and he nodded slowly, drawing one hand back.

"Of course I can... Albus... " Dumbledore went straight for his wand when he saw the former defence professor unsheathe a dagger...

And then, with one swift plunge, the weapon was stabbed forward, piercing through violet material and smearing it with deep crimson blood, Remus watched the expressions on the old man's face shift between disbelief, pain and betrayal. With a manic laugh, he pulled the dagger back.

Albus Dumbledore fell limply to the ground; a small puddle of blood spilling from the newly acquired dagger wound... his world started fading and the knowledge to save Harry starting to fade with it...

~*~

Harry had woken up again a few hours later. Sirius had helped him into a sitting position so he could see them better. It didn't help much, but Harry didn't tell him that, it felt nice to know that they cared so much.

Despite his lack of sight, he could feel the tension and concern hanging thickly in the air around him. They had mostly been asking him questions about what had happened and how he was feeling. He tried to explain as much as possible, but the events were still somewhat hazy to him. His mind was working, but his thoughts were confused, and he couldn't really focus on anything for long... he had an awful headache, or at least he thought it was a headache... but if he concentrated hard enough, he noticed that the pain was mostly centred around his scar. This did alarm him, but again, he said nothing to the others about it.

His friends looked very tired, and dimly Harry wondered how much sleep they had been getting whilst he was still unconscious and fighting for his life. He had tried to ask them, but they would only refuse to have the topic changed.

Ron, Hermione and Sirius weren't stupid though... they could clearly see that something was wrong, that Harry was in pain. His eyes gave everything away. Every so often he'd go into a strange trance and his eyes would turn black, and then he'd become normal again.

Night had started to fall and Harry was told to get some sleep, though he refused point blank unless his friends and godfather would do so too. They had agreed reluctantly, and bedded down comfortably for the night. Harry lay awake long after the others, thinking.

He realised that something strange had happened to him, and the only connection he could make was to the storm... though he had never actually heard of anyone powerful enough to control the weather, he still had some doubts... oh well... He thought to himself sleepily, there's nothing I can do about any of that now...

Sinking deep into the pillows, he finally let himself fall into a dream filled sleep...

~*~

On the top of a little hill, just on the outskirts of a small village, lay a very old and very worn house. It was the perfect embodiment of all horror stories and no one dared go near it.

Through one of the topmost windows, a light was flaring brightly. A voice screeched into the night, followed shortly by a high-pitched laugh.

If you were to climb up and look through the window, you'd immediately see that this was no mortal thing. The room had been magically extended and looked more like a throne room than anything. In the centre of the marble floor lay a man, crouched in the after effects of pain, wearing a black cloak and a mask.

"I wish for good news now, Avery... nothing more... and certainly nothing else." Out of the shadows stepped a tall man. A man with a bald head and a snake-light face. His voice was tinged with evil and malice. Avery looked up shakily.

"Oh, but it is good... m-my lord... "

This seemed to please the tall man somewhat, for his blood red eyes shone with some interest.

"You have done it then? You have disposed of Dumbledore?"

Avery nodded, feeling braver. "He thought I was the warewolf... they all did"

"Ah! Very good. You made use of the polyjuice potion... how strange, that no one should notice their friend's sudden disappearance... " the tall man let a small chuckle escape, though it bore no mirth. "They will never know how much his blood came in use... " he lifted a small amulet to his face, examining its red depths. It was made of glass and shaped exactly like a marble, only the liquid inside was swirling slowly. The tall man whispered two words into the night and five shadows jumped from the amulet, leaping out of the window and down into the village, raving havoc with a storm.

"Tempestas Margarita"

~*~

Harry awoke from the dream with a start, hurting his bandaged arm in the process. He clamped his mouth shut and bit back the screams of terror and pain that longed to be released.

Dumbledore... blood... warewolf... .stone... Avery...

The thoughts rolled around in his head, only succeeding in confusing him more. Something had happened to Dumbledore, had got that much down. But the warewolf thing was strange... could they have meant Remus?

Common sense overpowered confusion, and Harry reached over to try and shake Sirius awake. Though the bed wasn't too far away, he still managed to fall onto the floor. Pain shot through his chest and arm. He hitched a breath and held it, rolling onto his stomach.

He pinched his eyes shut against the pain and got to his hands and knees, awkwardly pulling himself forward until he reached Sirius.

"Sirius! Wake up!" he croaked, sweat trickling down his forehead from the effort of moving. "Please Sirius!"

His godfather stirred at last, opening his eyes and glancing at Harry briefly. He did a double take and sat up so quickly that Harry nearly fell again.

"Goodness, what on earth are you doing out of bed, and how did you get on the floor?"

Harry struggled to stay upright, though still on his knees, with his unbandaged arm resting on the bed for support.

"Sirius... I had a dream... something's happened to Dumbledore... Voldemort's controlling the weather... I think Remus is in danger... " Harry said as quickly and calmly as his lungs would allow him. He hoped that Sirius had understood.

Indeed, Sirius was quite alarmed. But before he would allow himself to investigate, he had to make sure his godson was okay.

"How did you land up on the floor?"

Harry looked up wearily, thinking back and finally remembering "I fell out of bed... "

Sirius frowned and lifted his godson gently off the floor, surprised at how light he was for a fifteen-year-old. Harry had scrunched up his face against the pain and didn't open his eyes until he had been tucked into bed again. Sirius brushed a few tendrils of hair away from his sweaty forehead, smiling gently. "Just try to sleep for a bit, Harry. I'll handle the rest... if anything happens, then tell Ron or Hermione to owl me straight away, okay?" Harry nodded, eyes drooping from exhaustion. He didn't want to fall asleep again, but his body would have it no other way.

Sirius whispered a soft goodbye and sealed the trip to sleep for his godson with a light kiss on the forehead. No more dreams ailed him that night.

~*~

The wind howled as it blew through a crack in the window. Rain was pouring and a storm was raging outside the hospital. Hermione and Ron both jumped at the same time as another clap of thunder resounded around the room.

Ron stood as the lights blinked out, he realised that the power must have been cut. A thousand horrible thoughts ran through his head. He tried the door, only to find it locked. Screams were echoing down the halls. What was happening? He turned to the terrified Hermione, who shook her head, eyes wide. He then turned his gaze to Harry, who seemed to be having some sort of fit. Tossing and turning, upsetting the bandages. He thought quickly and grabbed onto his friends shoulders, having witnessed him in this state more times than he liked to remember. He shook him roughly, trying to rouse him from the nightmare, but Harry would have nothing of it. His eyes shot open and stared unseeingly at something just ahead of them, but just as Ron turned his head to look, Harry had started to scream.

Terror mingled with the pain from his scar. Something was happening. He sat up, vaguely aware of more pain spreading through him. Another flash of lightning made the walls flash quickly into view, and along with them, the silhouette of a man. Harry grabbed onto Ron's wrist and tried desperately to get him out of the way before a curse sang through the air. Everything froze. In slow motion, they saw the curse cut its way through the air towards them. Another flash of lightning let them see the silhouette of a hooded man take a step closer.

In a motion, quicker than could be expected from his injuries, Harry dived out of his bed, and knocked Ron to the floor, narrowly missing the curse himself. The cry of rage from the man by the door was drowned out by Hermione's screams.

~*~

Sirius skidded to a stop outside the forbidden forest. He panted, remembering the last time he had managed to get this far. Though, after Azkaban, he had been very much set on finding Pettigrew, and not so worried about the forest. He thought frantically, whining in his animagus form as he tried to remember what he had done to get to Hogwarts. He was quite surprised that he had managed to get as far at all. But something told him that this was urgent. He made a quick decision and took the long way, not feeling up to dying on that particular night.

An hour or so later, he found himself at the gates. He wagged his tail once before remembering why he was there. Looking around, he quickly changed back into a human and whispered the password to the gates. They swung open on squeaky hinges. Sirius winced but turned back into his animagus form. He stepped through onto the grounds and bounded towards the school, unaware of the two pairs of eyes watching him, not too far off.

~

"Who was that?"

"Shut up! All we know is he's not supposed to be here, so we have to report back to the Ministry!"

"okay, okay... sheesh... you send the signal and I'll tell the others."

~*~

The man pulled his hood down, revealing the angry face of Lucius Malfoy. His features were sharply brought into focus by another flash of lightning. The clap of thunder that followed, seemed a lot louder than the other ones they had heard. But thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt by the death eater's voice.

"Harry Potter! My master has found you at last!"

Harry was, to say in the least, terrified. He tried to think straight, but pain was surging through his limbs from the fall. Ron lay beside him, unconscious. A small trickle of blood came from where his head had banged into the floor. Hermione was still screaming hysterically. Malfoy snarled in irritation and raised his wand towards her.

"No!" Though barely heard over the storm, Harry's voice still carried through the room. Malfoy turned to him, wand still pointed at the now silent Hermione.

"No? You do realise, Potter, that you will all be dead within the next week anyway? No matter, the master will deal with the lot of you. Stupefy!"

The last thing Harry saw before the dark of unconsciousness engulfed him, was another two figures walking into the room

~*~