The Mathias Prophecy Book I

THE MATHIAS PROPHECY

PART 3

A LITTLE TEST

Harry rose earlier than usual on Saturday, excited about her trip to London and the possibility that Ron and Hermione might find the copy of the Prophecy that was in the school library. Taking her invisibility cloak from inside of her trunk, she folded it neatly on the bed. She had made arrangements with Ron to give it to him before they went down to breakfast. Following a fast shower, she dressed quickly and reviewed the events of the previous week in her mind.

There had been a whirlwind of questions and answers from her classmates, most of whom were absolutely astounded that Harry was indeed a witch and not a wizard as they had all been led to believe. The majority of the reactions were positive however, and her friends had started to regard her in a new light. She had overheard bits and pieces of their conversations, when they didn't realize she was nearby, and had found them a bit disconcerting. Parvoti, still had a crush on the "boy" Harry, and it had taken her several days to recover from the shock. When she finally did, she had come up to Harry and hugged her, saying that she was sorry for avoiding her all week. Cho just laughed and enjoyed the whole thing as an elaborate joke, while Ginny Weasley, who had considered Harry unattainable, now looked at her as a sisterly comrade. The Quidditch Team just joked and said that now thy not only had the best Seeker, they also had the prettiest.

The only real problem was Draco Malfoy. Not that he'd said anything; on the contrary, he had just kept staring at her when ever they were in class or dining in the Great Hall. Finally, during Double Potions on Friday, he had taken the seat directly behind her. The intensity of the anger emanating from him had distracted her to the degree that she finally had to say something. Spinning around in her seat, she had caught him off guard, and furiously yelled," What the heck is wrong with you?" louder than she had intended. This had caused him to drop the lizard tongues he had been preparing to chop into his cauldron prematurely. The resultant chemical reaction was a fiasco, with the cauldron spewing out oily red slime the consistency of molasses all over the room. Snape, of course, had been furious, and she had thought for a minute that he would cancel their shopping trip; instead she had spent Friday evening scrubbing the entire dungeon by hand. It had also cost Gryffindor fifty points, but they all agreed it was worth it, seeing as how Malfoy's hair had turned pink when a large bubble of goo had burst all over him.

After she had completed her detention of cleaning up the dungeon, she decided to go in and try to talk with Snape about what had happened. She was more than a little confused about Malfoy's anger and refusal to speak with her, and didn't feel comfortable talking with Sirius or Remus about it. Snape, however, knew the Malfoys, and she thought that perhaps he could offer some insight into Draco's anger, but she wasn't expecting any miracles either.

"Excuse me Professor," Harry said knocking on the open door to his office, "the dungeon's finished."

"Very well Potter, let me just check it before you leave," he told her rising from his desk, where he had been grading the test papers of his First Year students. She could tell by the scowl on his face that he was not happy with the answers. As he moved about the room running his hands over the equipment, and checking for any debris she may have missed on the floor, his scowl deepened. When he could not find anything, Harry suspected he had been hoping to keep her longer. "I see no problems here Potter, you may go," he said turning back towards his office. When she did not move, he stopped and looked at her quizzically, "Is there a problem, Potter? I said you could go."

"Um...Ah....No Sir," she had stammered, having second thoughts about talking to him, having sensed his bad mood.

"Then I suggest you get upstairs to bed. I want to get an early start tomorrow."

"Yes Sir," she had replied turning to leave, but halfway to the door had changed her mind. Turning back, she found that Snape had been watching her. "Professor Snape...," she began, but again felt uncertain whether to proceed.

"This must be a first Potter, you seem to be at a loss for words," he remarked icily, staring down his nose.

'What's the matter with me?' she had thought to herself. 'I've never been afraid to say anything to Snape before.' Shrugging, she decided not to say anything, and heading for the door, was stopped by his hand on her shoulder, before she could reach for the knob.

"Miss Potter you obviously have something you want to say to me," he said as she turned back to face him, "so why don't you just tell me and get it over with?"

She had studied him intently, and she knew that he was somehow aware that she was scanning his emotions, before replying, "You're not in the best of moods tonight Professor. It can wait."

"My office, NOW," he told her growing more annoyed, steering her in the opposite direction and into his office. "NOW SIT," he said, placing her into one of the chairs by his fireplace, rather than by his desk, and took the seat opposite her. "Now what is on your mind? Have you been dreaming again?"

"What? No, nothing to do with Voldemort," she answered and he visibly relaxed. "It's well.....about today."

"What about today?" he asked stiffly. "You caused Mr. Malfoy to make a serious error and you have been reprimanded for it."

"It's why it happened. I....I'm not sure how to explain it."

"Explanations are unnecessary, Miss Potter, and irrelevant."

"No Professor; you're misunderstanding me. I'm not trying to argue or make excuses about why it occurred," Harry told him becoming flustered, "it's what caused it to happen. I...." she broke off in confusion.

"Harry," Professor Snape said using her given name in an attempt to calm her and find the underlying cause of what ever she was trying to tell him, "just tell me what it is that is troubling you about Mr. Malfoy."

"Anger," she blurted out in a rush.

"Anger, what ever do you mean?"

Draco and I have never gotten along. We're like oil and water, even worse than you and Sirius," she told him as he arched his left brow, but did not interrupt, "any way, you know all week I've been getting different reactions from different people about my really being a girl..."

"And Draco is angry," he finished the sentence for her.

"Look Professor, it's not funny. You would expect him to say something, anything, but he just keeps staring at me. If I let my guard down and scan his emotions all I get are these waves and waves of intense anger."

"Is that what happened during today's class?"

"Yes, I'm not looking to make an excuse. I just don't understand his intense anger. I have trouble blocking emotions when they're that intense, and when I turned to confront him, well.....you saw what happened."

"I see...," he said leaning back and arching his fingers. "He hasn't said anything to you the entire week?"

No, just all this anger," she answered lamely.

"Have you felt any other emotions emanating from him?"

"Mostly just anger, but I think he may also be confused about something."

"Nothing else?"

"No. I would expect him to hate me, but I get no sense of it at all," she replied in explanation. He just studied her for a moment with just the trace of a smile on the corners of his mouth. "What's so funny?"

"Alright Harry, you may not like this, but I suspect that Draco is angry because you're a witch."

"Why, what has that got to do with anything?"

"Up to now, you and he have been rivals; always in competition one way or another, always trying to best each other. Now he finds out that not only are you his biggest competitor, you're also a witch, and a very pretty one at that," Snape told her smiling sarcastically.

"Are you saying that he's mad at me for not only being better than he is, but because I'm also a girl?"

"Yes, and his confusion stems from the fact that he is suddenly attracted to you. He'd rather be mad than admit to himself that he likes what he sees; a witch who is not only powerful, but pretty," he explained, his dark eyes glittering with unspoken laughter.

"Yech.....I hope he stays mad," Harry said curling her lip in distaste and causing him to suddenly laugh out loud. "You need to laugh more often Professor, it makes you light up," she observed as she scanned him.

"Good night, Miss Potter," he replied, taking her by the hands and helping her to stand, before steering her back towards the door

"Good night, Professor Snape," she replied with a grin, only to find his face back to its usual mask.

"We'll leave right after breakfast tomorrow, so be ready," he said as he walked back towards his desk.

"Oh, don't worry, I will be," she called over her shoulder as she left the dungeon.

Her reverie was interrupted by a soft scratching sound at her door. Opening it to see what it was, she found "Snuffles," sitting there wagging his tail.

"Hello Snuffles," she said petting his head as he entered, his tail continuing to wag, "I've missed you." Sirius had not spoken to her all week and she had been worried about him. "Where have you been?"

"I've been around," Sirius answered giving her a hug after he transformed.

"I hope you've been a good dog," she teased, "and didn't go digging up anybody's gardens. I'd hate to have to put you on a leash and collar."

"Well, let's see...I dug up Madam Pomfrey's cabbages, peed on Hagrid's fence, and chased Mrs. Norris up a tree. Does that all count?" he laughed.

"Hmmm...Well I hope you're not serious about Hagrid or Madam Pomfrey," Harry told him, laughing so hard there were tears in her eyes, "but you can go after Mrs. Norris anytime," she finished, referring to Filches' pet cat.

"O.K., I'll remember that," Sirius replied smiling, "and I've missed you all week too."

"Seriously, where have you been? I was beginning to worry that you had left without saying good-bye."

"I wouldn't leave without letting you know, so don't worry. I've been in my hiding place and "Snuffles," has been out patrolling at night. In fact the past three nights a certain wolf has been keeping me company."

"Remus," she told him knowingly, "the moon's been full so the two of you have been out cavorting together."

"Guilty as charged," he replied happily as he cupped her chin to look him in the eyes. Her green eyes were sparkling and he could see that she was happy. He hoped that it was because he was there more than the fact that she was going into London with Snape.

Harry scanned him as she met his soft brown eyes, and sensing his feelings she smiled shyly as she told him, "I'm always happy when I'm with you."

"I worry about you when I'm not here," Sirius informed her fondly.

"Me too, I have nightmares sometimes that they're dragging you back to Azkaban," Harry admitted with a shudder, as he held her close to comfort her, and stroked her back.

"Shh..., that's not going to happen. Too many people know Peter's alive. Once he's caught I'll be cleared," he told her softly. "Mad Eye Moody is a member of The Order and he's doing everything he can to find Peter," he explained, referring to the former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and Auror. "In the meantime I want you to be very careful, especially now."

"I will," she replied with a frown, "so long as you are too."

"Promise," he grinned with a wink. "Now how about some breakfast together?"

"But Sirius, we can't! I mean, you can't go to the Great Hall without Remus. Everybody thinks you're his pet dog."

"Who said anything about the Great Hall? We're invited to dine with the Headmaster in his sitting room this morning."

"Professor Dumbledore's sitting room, why? What's going on?"

"Nothing, he just thought the five of us should spend some time together," he answered mysteriously.

"Who are the five of us? Right now I only see two."

"You, me, Remus, Snape, and Dumbledore, that's what five."

"But I promised Ron and Hermione I'd have breakfast with them. I 'm supposed to pick them up and we were going to go down to the Great Hall together," Harry told him biting her lip in consternation.

"So we'll just stop by the Gryffindor Common Room and you can tell them you've changed your plans. I think they'll understand."

"All right, but I hope Hermione isn't too disappointed. She can't believe I'm spending the weekend in London with Snape."

"What did Ron say?" Sirius asked curiously, pursing his lips in amusement.

"He thinks I'm daft," she said, grabbing the cloak off the bed and a backpack full of books, as she followed him towards the door.

"Harry, why are you taking your invisibility cloak? I don't think you'll need it in London."

"No silly, I'm lending it to Ron over the weekend," she said thinking fast. "He's got a hot date, but don't you dare tell anyone," she smiled mischievously. Harry didn't like lying, especially to Sirius, but she just couldn't let him know about her plan. She was glad he wouldn't be able to question Ron, since he had to go around the school as "Snuffles."

"I promise I won't say a word to him," he said before transforming back into his animagus form.

Ten minutes later found the cloak safely in Ron's hands and Harry sitting down to breakfast in Dumbledore's sitting room. The others had already arrived and the table was set with a sumptuous breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, hot cereal, muffins, and waffles, along with fresh fruit, tea, coffee, and juice. Snape surveyed her critically as she entered and seemed genuinely surprised.

Harry knew what he was thinking and said, "I borrowed the outfit from some friends. The jeans belong to Hermione, the blouse is Ginny's and the shoes were a gift from some friends," she indicated the shoes they had bought for her.

"You look lovely my dear," Dumbledore greeted her warmly as he pulled out her chair.

"Thank you Professor," she beamed back at him.

"Did you sleep well, no nightmares?" he inquired as she helped herself to a muffin and some juice.

"Professor, not even Voldemort could have gotten into my head last night. I was so tired from cleaning a certain Potion Master's dungeon, that I just fell into bed, and didn't know a thing until I woke up this morning," Harry told him looking over her glasses at Professor Snape. He merely raised his eyebrows without commenting so she continued, "Of course every bone in my body aches. The only person who may feel stiffer than me this morning is Professor Lupin," she said, flashing him a smile as they all laughed except Snape. He just eyed her shrewdly with his usual sardonic expression.

"I'm glad to see you're in such good spirits child, that you can joke about your detention," Dumbledore remarked as he passed her a plate of eggs.

"Who's joking? Don't you know that he always gives someone Friday night detention so he doesn't have to clean up the dungeon himself?" Harry said wickedly, as she looked across the table to where Professor Snape was sitting. Remus upset his teacup and Sirius nearly choked on his eggs, amused by her audacity.

"The dungeon always needs a thorough cleaning by Friday and I can always count on at least one student to misbehave, so why not?" Snape countered evenly, his dark eyes glittering.

"What did you do to bring Severus down on you, Harry?" Professor Lupin asked curiously.

"Oh, I just caused Malfoy to create a mess," she replied casually.

"Wait a minute," Sirius interjected, "Malfoy made a mess so you got the detention?" he asked, looking darkly at Snape.

Harry knew this could lead to trouble so she quickly looked at him and told a half-truth, "Sirius, I shoved Malfoy, causing him to drop some ingredients into his cauldron prematurely, which caused a chain reaction. Red goo went bubbling out all over the place."

"Well, I can't fault you for not liking Malfoy," he said relaxing again, "but try and keep your battles on the Quidditch Field."

Snape had been watching her and was surprised that she had exaggerated what had happened to Sirius. He made it a point to ask her abut it, although he admitted to himself it would not have been a good idea to get into an argument with Black.

"Why are you bringing all those books, Harry?" Remus asked, indicating her backpack full of books in an effort to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Homework," she groaned.

"All that," he questioned. "Was everyone in a bad mood yesterday?"

"No, just the usual with O.W.L.'s coming up again soon," she said, referring to the exams for Ordinary Wizarding Levels that were given to students after completing their fifth year.

"What do you have?" Dumbledore asked mildly.

"Well let's see....I have Defense Against the Dark Arts, seems Madam Hooch was covering for a certain ill professor," she said looking pertly at Remus, "and she's fascinated by zombies. So I have to write a report on how to identify and destroy them."

"Interesting creatures, zombies," he chuckled, "I met one once."

"Zombies don't move me at all," she replied shaking her head. "Vampires, now they're interesting, and werewolves they're o.k. too, nice and fluffy," she teased with a grin, and he grinned back letting her know he was not offended at all, "but zombies, no, they're just too dead for my taste."

"What else do you have?' Sirius asked, thinking how much he liked her sense of humor.

"Potions," Harry answered with a smirk, "I have to write a discourse on the various truth potions and which I feel is most effective and why."

"Well that sounds easy enough," Dumbledore smiled.

"No, you see our Potions Master is not that kind, Veritaserum is excluded. Of course at the moment I'm one up on everyone else, since I'm spending the weekend with him. If I have a problem I'm sure he'd love to go into it with me."

"I'll be happy to review it with you over lunch," Snape replied casually, but he was secretly enjoying her sarcasm.

"And finally," she said ignoring him, "I have our Headmaster's favorite subject, Charms, and a certain dog's specialty, Transfiguration."

"What do you have to do for charms?" Dumbledore queried with more than casual interest.

"I have to create an illusion so that you think something is in the room when it really isn't," Harry told him pleased by his interest.

"You mean like this?" Dumbledore asked with a wave of his wand, conjuring up a full grown Unicorn and her foal.

"Show off!" she pouted as he patted her hand.

"What would you do?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Yes child, what do you have in mind?" Dumbledore wanted to know, pretending to act casual, and pouring a cup of tea.

Harry had the distinct impression they were testing her, and couldn't resist rising to the challenge. She enjoyed doing charms and liked Professor Flitwick.

"I thought maybe something like this," she said as she waved her wand and a small flower garden appeared with a group of butterflies.

"Absolutely beautiful!" Dumbledore exclaimed with pleasure, thinking that her ability was more advanced than she realized. Then, waving their wands at the same time, the illusions disappeared simultaneously. "What do you have for transfiguration?"

"Oh, nothing much, I just have to turn my Godfather into a dog," Harry bantered calmly.

"Oh really," Sirius replied, going along with her teasing, "do you think you can do it?"

"Of course, I do it all the time. He just drops in every now and then, and for some reason I get this crazy desire to pet a dog and whoosh..." Harry said with a wave of her hand, "he's a dog," she teased, trying to keep a straight face and failing miserably.

"What do you really have to do?" Remus laughed.

"I have to turn an inanimate animal into a live animal."

"Can you do it?" Professor Snape inquired, studying her closely.

"I haven't tried yet," she confessed.

"Then why don't you?" Sirius encouraged her.

"Yes Harry, give it a shot," Remus prodded.

"Go ahead Child," Dumbledore nodded with encouragement, "no one will criticize you," he said as he looked at the others in the room with meaning. Getting up from his chair he took a bronze lion off one of his shelves and placed it on the floor.

"O.K.," she replied doubtfully. Tapping the lion three times uttered, "linus existum animus." The lion sprang to life, growing to full size in a matter of seconds, and snarling in anger. Harry was completely taken aback, but didn't panic, as the men all scrambled to their feet to help her. Redirecting her wand at the lion, she yelled, "stupefy," to control the beast while Dumbledore reversed her spell. "Next time Professor, please choose something a little less aggressive, like that frog," Harry said pointing to a glass frog he used as a bookend, her voice shaking.

"It's all right, Harry," Sirius soothed her while Remus poured her a cup of tea.

"Harry," Dumbledore said taking her hands in his, "you're going to be very powerful, and mishaps like this are going to happen. I'm very proud of you for not panicking when the lion grew to full size."

"What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing," Snape said with admiration, "just watch your wording. The lion was full size because you brought it into existence. Try adding, "minutum," next time so it doesn't grow," he instructed her as if she were in class.

Harry merely nodded and drank her tea quietly while the men chatted about classes and Quidditch. They were all looking forward to next weekend when Gryffindor and Slytherin would play their first game. Harry barely listened and sat lost in thought. She knew that she should not have been able to do the two skills she had demonstrated, the garden scene and the lion being advanced magic which only came with much practice. Yet she had done them with little effort. She was suddenly beginning to feel afraid, yet she was elated at the same time.

"Miss Potter," Snape's voice interrupted her reverie, "we need to be going."

"All right," she agreed glad of the distraction.

"Enjoy yourself, Child," Dumbledore said his blue eyes shining, "you deserve it."

"Try not to give Severus a hard time," Remus told her cheerfully, "or you may end up his permanent Dungeon Keeper."

"God Forbid!" Harry smiled rolling her eyes.

"Harry," Sirius said quietly as he helped her on with her cloak, "be careful."

"I will," she answered as he gave her a quick kiss good-bye on the cheek and she picked up her backpack.

"We'll go to the Leaky Cauldron, first, and get settled," Snape informed her as he poured some Floo Powder into her hand. "I'll go first at all times, unless I tell you otherwise," he instructed stepping into the hearth. Seeing her nod in affirmation, he articulated, "The Leaky Cauldron," and vanished.

Harry then did the same and immediately was being pulled along the Floo system in a dizzying rush. She emerged a short time later at the inn, to find Professor Snape waiting anxiously, along with the innkeeper, Tom.

"Hello Harry, it's good to see you again," Tom greeted her cordially. "I see you've changed a bit though, much prettier."

"Ha, ha, ha, Tom, very funny," she replied looking at him askance.

"Ya don't seem surprised I knew you were a witch," Tom said disappointed.

"Tom, over the past six years I have come to learn that news travels just as fast in the wizard world as it does in the Muggle world," she said matter of factly. "I wouldn't be surprised if the whole of Great Britain and half of Western Europe knew by now. They've also probably stopped referring to me as the boy who lived and are now saying that I'm the girl in the prophecy.

Tom threw back his head and laughed, as he addressed Professor Snape, "She's not only pretty, Severus, she's smart too."

Professor Snape just grunted and propelled Harry towards the stairs. "We're in rooms one and two, opposite each other," he said opening her door and checking out the room before crossing the hall and going into his own. Harry knew he was making sure it was safe and didn't complain. He returned within a few minutes and addressed her stoically, "We'll shop in Diagon Alley first and after lunch we can go out into Muggle London. That is if you're not too stiff from cleaning the dungeon?" he added lightly.

"A little exercise will be just what I need to work out the kinks," she countered. "It's nice to see you actually have a sense of humor Professor."

"Since we're not at Hogwarts, you may call me Severus, and why would you ever think I had no sense of humor?"

"All right, Severus," she said testing his name on her tongue, "do you want a list of reasons?" she continued mockingly.

"Do you have one?"

"I'll write one and turn it in with my homework," Harry teased as he arched his brow giving her a thin smile.

"I'll be looking forward to reading it. Are you ready to go?"

"When ever you are."

"I know you have your wand with you," he told her seriously, "I want you to bring it along."

"Professor, you know I'm not allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts. Dumbledore knows I only have it to do my homework."

"Just the same I want you to have it with you at all times," he instructed her gravely.

"Do you think there will be trouble from Voldemort's people?"

"It's always best to be prepared," he told her in an attempt to avoid giving her a direct answer.

"Severus, don't patronize me," Harry said, shaking her head indignantly.

"Very well, yes, I think it is entirely possible," he stated, admiring her candor.

"In that case, let's go. I could use a little adventure," she said as she forced a grin, unable to hide the worried look in her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to encounter any of the Death Eaters, or even Voldemort himself.

"Just stay close and do as I say," he instructed, laying a hand on her shoulder to show he understood. He then sealed both rooms with a charm and they went downstairs and out through the hidden entrance to Diagon Alley.