The Source of Magic

Chapter 15 ~ The Final Horcrux

"We've been extremely lucky so far, in thwarting Voldemort's attacks," said Jason, "but our luck can't hold forever."

It was the day after the Dementor attack at Twickenham, and Jason had asked Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny to come to his office after dinner.

"It's only a matter of time until Voldemort succeeds in a massive attack, causing large numbers of casualties," reflected Hermione, grimly "It looks like he's switched to attacking Muggles; they're virtually defenceless, and there are so many big, soft targets to choose from."

"Yeah," said Ron, "and as soon as he scores a king hit, Fudge will cave in for sure."

"Giving Voldemort and his Death Eaters all the resources and infrastructure of the Ministry," continued Hermione gloomily. "The Order of the Phoenix won't be able to hold out for very long after that. And we all have a pretty good idea of how things will unfold once Voldemort takes over -- I certainly do, after visiting the dream reality where he triumphed."

"Well, we can't just wait for him to launch a massive attack," said Harry desperately. "We have to stop him, now. I have to stop him!"

Jason sighed. "Harry, your power is growing constantly, but you are not ready yet to take him on."

"Plus, it would be pointless," said Hermione. "You know Voldemort can't be permanently killed until the final Horcrux has been destroyed."

"So, what did you find out about the sixth Horcrux?" asked Harry, looking intently at Jason.

"Very little, unfortunately."

"What do you mean?" demanded Harry. "You said you could get at any memory in Voldemort's mind, and you had plenty of opportunity while you were in his castle masquerading as Ginny. How come you don't know all about it?"

Jason sighed. "Because, with the final Horcrux, Voldemort went one step further in his paranoid obsession to guarantee his precious immortality. After hiding it, he memory-charmed himself."

"Then it's hopeless. We'll never find it ... and we'll never be able to kill him," said Harry dejectedly.

"Hang on," said Hermione. "How do you know he Obliviated himself?"

"Voldemort made a second trip to a dream reality -- not Lily's Future of Darkness, but a different dream reality. He remembers using the incantation to visit it, but he has no recollection of what happened there. He only remembers that he planned to conceal the final Horcrux there and that he Obliviated his memories just before returning. You have to admit, it was extremely cunning. He made certain that neither he -- nor the Voldemort in the dream reality -- knew anything about the final Horcrux, so there was no possibility of anyone ever finding out about it."

"So it is hopeless," said Ron, echoing Harry's negative prognosis.

"Not necessarily," said Jason. "Although I am not alive in that reality, and therefore cannot travel to it, I was able to view it like a dream in which I was not present. I saw enough to surmise the significant events in its past -- and in particular, the crucial event that caused it to diverge from our reality."

"What was that?" asked Ginny.

"It was a decision made by a witch named Miranda Malfoy. Ginny, I presume you know the sad story of how Severus became a Death Eater and was ordered to recruit Miranda Malfoy, and then to kill her, when she refused to join?" Ginny nodded. "When he was unable to convince Miranda to become a Death Eater, Severus begged her to flee or to go into hiding to save herself -- and to save him from having to carry out the order to kill her. The point of divergence between the two realities is Miranda's choice. In our reality she refused all of Severus' entreaties. But in the dream reality, she eventually changed her mind and accepted his offer to help her hide.

"In this other reality, Severus mastered the Fidelius Charm and became Miranda's Secret Keeper. After casting the spell, he went into hiding himself. Miranda chose to hide with her best friend, Lily Potter, her husband James, and their baby, Harry, at Godric's Hollow so that the Fidelius Charm would also protect them. As members of the Order of the Phoenix, they were in constant danger themselves."

"But you said that multiple realities are only created when human history reaches a crucial crossroads, when some fundamental event will determine two very different futures," recalled Hermione. "Surely Miranda's choice could not have been so significant."

"But it was. You see, this happened before Severus overhead Sybil Trelawney giving the prophecy to Dumbledore at the Hog's Head, so --"

"So Snape was already in hiding the night Trelawney gave the prophecy -- which means that Voldemort never heard the prophecy in that reality," finished Hermione, excitedly. "He had no reason to kill Harry --"

"Are my parents still alive in that reality?" asked Harry hopefully.

"Unfortunately not," said Jason. "Because he did not hear the prophecy, Voldemort did not try to kill you, and hence, he did not lose his body. By the time you were two years old, his victory was complete. Your father died bravely in battle, fighting for the Order. Severus was caught soon after the war ended and killed for desertion. But, despite being brutally interrogated, he maintained right to the end that he had defied his orders and never attempted to recruit Miranda Malfoy, putting her completely in the clear. He must have known, when he came up with the plan to hide her, that it would cost him his life if Voldemort won."

"But what about my mother?" asked Harry impatiently.

"When Severus was killed, the Fidelius Charm protecting Godric's Hollow ended, and Lily was killed."

"But why?" asked Harry.

"Because your mother was a Muggle-born witch. The outcome of Voldemort's victory was very much the same she had foreseen in her Future of Darkness vision; and as witnessed by Hermione. Squibs and Muggle-born witches and wizards were ruthlessly exterminated, along with witches and wizards who had married Muggles and their Muggle spouses. Anyone who had been in the Order of the Phoenix or opposed Voldemort was also killed. They all perished in the Great Purification."

"So was I brought up by the Dursleys in that reality, too?"

"No, Miranda Malfoy raised you and your sister."

"My sister? I had a sister?" asked Harry with surprise.

"Yes, Rosa. She would have been your sister in this reality, too, had your mother not been killed by Voldemort."

"You mean Harry's sister was conceived before this other reality diverged -- before Miranda made her choice?" asked Ginny.

"Yes, Lily was pregnant at the time. She certainly would have known she was with child when she died in our reality," he said, sighing sadly.

"So the sacrifice she made to save Harry was a double sacrifice," said Hermione thoughtfully. "She knew she was sacrificing not only her own life but also that of her unborn baby. The extraordinary power of the protection she gave Harry has always been a great mystery. Perhaps it was because she sacrificed two lives that the magic was strong enough to stop Voldemort's Killing Curse, and make it rebound on him."

"Yes, I suspect so," mused Jason. "Other witches have sacrificed their lives attempting to save their babies, but without conferring the same protection. Of course, Lily was a very powerful witch; but still, it seems almost certain that only the willing sacrifice of both her own life and that of her unborn daughter would have been enough to protect Harry from a wizard as powerful as Voldemort. Lily was well aware that there were more lives at stake than just theirs. She knew from her visions that the whole future of the wizarding world and many thousands of lives depended upon Harry's survival."

Harry found this new knowledge distressing. Not only had his mother died to save him, but his unborn sister had been sacrificed, too.

"Would you like to meet her?" asked Jason.

"What?"

"Well, I can't travel to this other reality because I don't exist in it," explained Jason.

"Yes you do," argued Hermione. "You left England after school, a couple of years before this dream reality diverged from ours, so you would have been safe."

"Yes, I would have ... had I not returned. But, it seems that after James was killed, Miranda sent me an owl, which amazingly found me in Bhutan. She wrote that Lily needed me and told me that Severus was their Secret Keeper and where he was hiding. Severus allowed me to find Godric's Hollow. I got back a week before Rosa was born. By that time, things were looking pretty grim; it was only a matter of months until Voldemort's final victory. When it became immanent, we begged Miranda to leave with Harry and Rosa. Lily and I were together when the Death Eaters came. We put up a good fight, but I had not yet learned to connect with the Source, and in the end we died together. So you see, Harry, I am no longer alive in that world."

"But ... Hermione and Ron ... and Ginny are," said Harry.

"Yes, but you are the obvious person for the job. You will take all the powers and magic you have developed in this world with you. You will be the most powerful wizard in that world -- except perhaps for Voldemort and Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore! But surely he died in the war?" cried Harry.

"The final battle was at Hogwarts; everywhere else had fallen. Dumbledore fought on steadfastly, along with his professors, but eventually the castle fell to the Death Eaters, and only Dumbledore remained undefeated. He retreated to his office, magically sealing it. It took Voldemort several days to destroy Dumbledore's wards. Voldemort Apparated into the office with twenty of his best fighters to slay his great foe. But Albus Dumbledore was gone. He had vanished without a trace and was never found."

"So you think he's still alive in that reality, hiding somewhere, biding his time, hoping to mount an insurrection against Voldemort?" suggested Hermione.

"Perhaps," replied Jason, "although I don't see how any form of opposition could be organised in the draconian police state that Voldemort has imposed. You have to find Dumbledore, Harry; it's our only chance of destroying the final Horcrux. Dumbledore may know where the Horcrux is concealed, or he may be able to help you find it."

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

Professor Binns was droning on monotonously about Goblin rebellions again; and Harry was dozing off again, dreaming about Quidditch again. He was racing after the golden Snitch, his hand outstretched ... yes! He wrapped his fingers around it, grinning ecstatically, and turned his head to savour the look of fury and frustration on Malfoy's face ... he'd beaten him again! His team-mates were racing upwards to congratulate him. But why were they wearing those funny Quidditch robes? They were the wrong colour: scarlet and gold, instead of blue and bronze. Harry felt confused. The commentator was announcing the final score, 'Gryffindor two hundred and eighty points to Slytherin eighty points.' Gryffindor? But there was no such house, not anymore; it had been closed down years ago, long before Harry started at Hogwarts. He was a Ravenclaw, right? No! said his dream self, I'm a Gryffindor! But was it a dream? It seemed so real. Harry shook his confused head and struggled to open his eyes. He looked down at his blue and bronze tie, just to reassure himself. Yes of course he was in Ravenclaw; it was just a silly dream.

Binns' voice droned on, hypnotically, and Harry drifted off to sleep again and straight back into the weird dream, the one where he was in Gryffindor. The dream took a stronger hold on him this time, taking him to a strange world: A world where everything was different ... where Gryffindor house still existed, where the teachers were all different -- except for boring, old Binns (or his ghost at least). There were a lot more students at Hogwarts, and some of them were Muggle-born. How strange it all seemed. But was it really a dream? It seemed so real, and he had the memory of living his whole life in this strange world. But it was a very different life. He had been brought up by a horrible Muggle aunt and uncle instead of Miranda. He had no sister, just a nasty cousin named Dudley. But there was more: He was famous. The Dark Emperor had tried to kill him when he was just a baby, but he'd failed. He was called the Boy Who Lived, and he was fated to fight the Dark Emperor. It seemed like some incredible fantasy, but was it just a dream?

The bell rang, waking Harry with a start. History of Magic was over. Professor Binns drifted backwards through the blackboard and disappeared. Everyone was rushing out of the classroom, relieved because the last class on Friday afternoon was over. Harry rose unsteadily to his feet, feeling dazed. He couldn't seem to wake up properly from the strange dream; his head felt like it was bursting, as if there were two different people inside. He headed for his dorm. He needed to lie down and get a grip on himself. He was walking on autopilot until he noticed he had been going in the wrong direction, towards a disused part of the castle, known as Gryffindor Tower. Harry shook his head and turned back towards Ravenclaw Tower, keeping his head down and ignoring people he passed along the way. Finally he was back in his deserted dormitory. He kicked off his shoes, pulled the heavy blue curtains around his four-poster bed, lay on his back, closed his eyes, and tried to relax.

But it was hopeless. Harry's mind was assaulted by competing thoughts. I'm in Ravenclaw ... no, I'm in Gryffindor. I was raised by Miranda Malfoy ... no, it was the Dursleys. Umbridge is the Hogwarts Headmistress ... no, it's been McGonagall ever since Snape killed Dumbledore. The thoughts came faster and faster, Harry's head was spinning out of control; he had to stop the mental deluge or he'd go crazy. I have a sister named -- No! Stop! cried Harry to himself, pushing the thought away. I have to find the final Horcrux so I can -- No! Stop! My -- No! Jason -- No! He was pushing back each thought as it entered his mind before he even knew what it was. As soon as one thought had been pushed away, another immediately arose. Gradually, it became easier to stop the thoughts entering his mind. They began to slow down. There were gaps between them now, and the gaps were getting longer and longer....

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

I'm not breathing, thought Harry, and my heart isn't beating. He placed a hand on his chest. He felt his heart beat, but it seemed faint and very, very slow. Then he noticed himself inhaling gently, and after a long while, breathing out. Harry's mind was empty, completely empty. He felt a deep sense of bliss and contentment. It was similar to the experience he had meditating with Jason, but far, far deeper. He felt limitless, as if he were more than just this body and mind, as if he went on and on forever, as if there was nothing but him ... he was everything ... he was the Source. Harry smiled and took another slow, peaceful breath. This was what Jason meant by being completely connected with the Source. Now he understood.

Harry lay with his mind completely empty for a long time. Eventually he opened his eyes; it was dark. He could hear the soft snoring of his dorm-mates. It was night-time, and he had missed dinner. It must be hours since he first lay on his bed. He was still fully clothed. Harry remembered the awful confusion that had assailed his mind. It had been so oppressive that it had forced him to empty his mind; he had used Jason's advanced meditation method. Jason? Yes, something else had changed. He, Harry Potter, the Gryffindor, the Boy Who Lived, had now come fully into the dream reality. He knew he was visiting a dream reality -- a shadow world that would have been real if Miranda Malfoy had chosen differently. He remembered everything about the real world -- his world -- but he also knew everything about his life in this shadow world, and he knew it was just a dream. He knew exactly why he was here ... and the crucial task which lay before him. But somehow it no longer felt daunting or overwhelming because he was completely connected to the Source -- he was part of it. In using the advanced meditation technique to empty his chaotic mind, he had entered a profound state of meditation, like none he had ever experienced before, and he had somehow forged a permanent link with the Source. Harry smiled contentedly before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

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

When Harry awoke, the dormitory was empty. Weak wintry sunshine streamed in through the high windows. Harry was starving; he didn't want to miss breakfast. Still wearing his clothes from yesterday, he went to the bathroom to wash his face before heading down to the Great Hall. He looked in the mirror -- something was wrong! Of course! His famous scar was gone. The Harry in this reality didn't have one.

When he entered the Great Hall, the first thing Harry noticed was there were only three tables. Instinctively, he knew which one was the Ravenclaw table, just as he knew everything about this world. It was like watching a movie: He knew everything that had happened so far, all the characters and their histories. In fact, he was one of the characters in the movie. Yet, at the same time, he was the person watching the movie, with his own separate life and history, in a completely different reality. This was so weird.

A young witch with dark red hair looked up at him enquiringly and made room for him to sit beside her. "Where were you last night, Harry? I didn't see you at dinner, and you weren't in the common room afterwards. Are you alright? Harry, what's the matter with you? Why are you looking at me so strangely?"

Harry shook his head and mumbled something about being tired after class and sleeping right through, as he sat down, and tried to stop staring at his sister, Rosa, who the Harry in this reality had known all his life. Her lustrous, red hair was darker than Ginny's. It framed her pale face beautifully, and her eyes were exactly the same shade of green as his. He was struck by her remarkable resemblance to their mother, who was only a couple of years older than Rosa when he went back in time to meet her in the Shrieking Shack.

"Harry, what on earth is the matter with you this morning? Why are you staring at me like that? Snap out of it! An owl just came from Miranda; we're going down to Devon to spend Christmas with her like we always do. And I hope you know what to get me."

"Huh ... what?" asked Harry confused, reaching for some egg and toast and trying to distract himself from his sister's mesmerising face.

"For heaven's sake, Ginny told you. I know she did. We decided that since you didn't have a clue about buying gifts for girls, we would each tell you what to get the other for Christmas. I told you to get her that enchanted bracelet from Gladrags next Hogsmeade weekend, remember?"

"Err ... yeah," mumbled Harry, stuffing a piece of toast in his mouth to give himself time to think. Ginny's my girlfriend in this reality too but where is she? he wondered, looking quickly up and down the table. Oh, of course she's not here; Ginny and Ron are both in Slytherin! Harry reflected that this dream reality was almost identical to the one Hermione had visited, which was hardly surprising. Although it had originally parted from Harry's reality a couple of years later, events in both dream realities only became significantly different from his reality on October 31^st, 1981, the night Voldemort tried to kill him. In Harry's reality, Voldemort disappeared for fourteen years; but in both dream realities, he survived and was victorious, with pretty much the same terrible consequences. The main difference between the two dream realities was that in the one Hermione visited, his mother stayed with Jason, and so he and Rosa were never born, and Miranda Malfoy became the Transfiguration Professor. Whereas in this one, Miranda stayed home to raise him and his sister until Rosa started at Hogwarts, when she took a part-time job. In this reality, Peter Pettigrew was the Transfiguration Professor, and he was bloody hopeless. But then most of the Hogwarts staff in this reality were hopeless, thought Harry. The standard of seventh-year NEWTs was not even up to fifth-year OWLs in his reality.

The Great Hall seemed somehow empty. Of course! None of the Muggle-born students, like Hermione and Dean Thomas were here. Looking around, Harry wondered why he didn't recognise any of the students from fifth year down. Then the penny dropped: They had all been conceived since October 31^st, 1981. Many of the sixth and seventh years from his reality were in different houses here, except for the Slytherins, who, being mostly pure-bloods, had a high enough Purity Rating to be in Slytherin in this reality, too -- except for Theodore Nott and Millicent Bulstrode, who were both Ravenclaws. Neville Longbottom, along with Ron and Ginny Weasley, were in Slytherin. Like many other students, their parents had died in the war against Voldemort, and they had been brought up by relatives. But, being pure-bloods, they were Slytherins, nevertheless. In fact, the Weasleys had a Purity Rating of nine-plus, which was the highest and very rare; it caused Ginny no end of trouble. Having their children marry up, as it was known, was a prime preoccupation of every parent. Lucius Malfoy was determined to have Ginny Weasley as his daughter-in-law; and Draco, the Hogwarts Head Boy, was under a great deal of pressure to woo her. But he had no chance. Like the rest of her family, Ginny detested the Malfoys, who had been instrumental in the Dark Emperor's victory, in which both her parents had died. She especially disliked Draco, who was even more arrogant and big-headed than he was in Harry's reality; and anyway, her heart belonged to Harry Potter, even if he was a nobody with a low Purity Rating.

"Harry! Oi! Anyone home?" cried Rosa waving her hands in front of Harry, who was lost in thought. "Did you hear me? I asked you if you remembered the arrangements for the Hogsmeade weekend."

"What arrangements?"

"For heaven's sake, Harry, I know Ginny has been through all of this with you. Ron is going to tag along with Ginny, and she's going to bring me along as well. So it will end up as a kind of foursome. Remember?"

"Err, yeah ... sort of," replied Harry. "But why can't Ron just ask you out if he wants to go to Hogsmeade with you? That's the part I don't understand -- not that I want you going on a date with Ron Weasley -- or anyone else for that matter! You're only in fifth year, which is way too young to be dating!" huffed Harry.

"And how old was Ginny when you two started dating? As I recall she was in fourth year!" said Rosa, smiling sweetly.

"Yeah, but that's different!" exclaimed Harry.

"Oh? And how, exactly?" demanded Rosa, archly.

"Well, because ... err ... well it is; that's all! And, at least I didn't need to ask my sister to jack it up for me. If he really likes you, he can ask you himself."

"Oh, he likes me," said Rosa. "But, according to Ginny, he's just too scared to ask me out. He gets all shy and self-conscious."

"But then why do you want to go out with the immature git?" asked Harry, suddenly feeling a strong sense of déjà vu.

"Because I like him, you idiot!" said Rosa, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Listen, you and Ron will get on just fine in Hogsmeade. You can talk about Quidditch; and if you exhaust that topic, you can always commiserate with each other on the misfortune of having younger sisters to protect and having to always be warding away the wizards. That should keep you both going for ages. Not that I have nearly so many wizards for you to ward off as Ginny does. That reminds me, you should thank Ron. He did you a big favour tipping you off about Malfoy."

"What? Oh yeah, the warning about the attack. Don't worry, I can deal with Malfoy."

"Don't be silly, Harry; you really need to be on your guard. Malfoy is determined to take Ginny from you, and he'll stop at nothing. Ron says Malfoy has been getting special tutoring in the Dark Arts from his father and other Death Eater experts for years. He knows heaps of nasty stuff that isn't in the Hogwarts curriculum and he won't play fair -- you know what he's like -- and he'll have his whole obnoxious gang with him. Please be careful, Harry."

"He won't know what hit him," said Harry with a grin.

"Harry, please! Don't be so silly," begged Rosa fearfully. "You can't take on the whole bunch of them. Please try to stay out of his way and don't go off by yourself."

"As if that would make any difference," complained Harry. "Malfoy's a law unto himself. He does exactly as he pleases, and none of the professors or that stupid cow Umbridge ever do anything to stop him. With his father in charge of the Death Eaters and all the other secret security forces, they're all scared to death of him. He could attack me in the Great Hall, and they'd pretend not to notice -- or they'd say it was my fault."

"Please, just be careful," pleaded Rosa.

"Alright," said Harry. But secretly he was hoping Malfoy would attack him. He would get the surprise of his life.

"What are you doing after breakfast?" asked Rosa.

"I thought I'd go down to the Quidditch pitch and practice. We're up against Slytherin next, and I need to be really sharp. Malfoy has a much faster broom than mine."

"Yes, but he can't fly half as well as you, Harry, which is why he's never beaten you to the Snitch."

"Yeah, and I plan to keep it that way," said Harry, grinning.

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

Harry was relishing the feeling of the cold wind in his face as he raced after the Golden Snitch. He was having a great time, even if the Cleansweep Eleven he had in this reality was not in the same class as his beloved Firebolt. He dived after the Snitch as it plummeted towards the ground. Just as he was levelling out, he spotted them: Malfoy, with Crabbe, Goyle, and a couple of his other thugs. They were still far away, but they were obviously heading in his direction. Harry grinned to himself. Ever since his experience the previous night, when he had connected with the Source, the link had remained. He knew his magical power must be enormous, but he would have to be careful to disguise it -- for the sake of the Harry in this dream reality -- otherwise, Lucius Malfoy's secret police would be onto him for sure.

"Protego," said Harry, throwing up a shield to protect himself, before turning his attention back to the Snitch, which was almost within his grasp. It only took a few seconds more, and he had it firmly in his hand. He pocketed the snitch and drew his wand; it was time to deal to Malfoy. The wand looked unfamiliar. He did not have the same wand -- the brother wand to Voldemort's -- in this reality; but then Voldemort had not tried to kill him in this reality, and had not put his mark on him. They had no connection. He was not the Boy Who Lived here; he was just plain, ordinary, Harry Potter the half-blood, nobody special. No-one that high and mighty Malfoy would expect to be a match for him and his gang.

Harry's attackers were now close enough to begin their barrage of hexes and curses. Harry ducked and dived, twisted and turned, to give his pursuers the impression their hexes and curses were missing him -- which they mostly were. He had deliberately not used the Boomerang Shield because he suspected they might use something lethal or try to knock him off his broom. He didn't want it to rebound and kill them. As they were still quite close to the ground, Harry suddenly did a one-eighty degree turn and accelerated back towards them, casting Incendo charms on his attackers' broomsticks -- everyone's but Malfoy's -- who he was saving for some one-on-one fun. As Malfoy's thugs sped to the ground, their flaming brooms trailing clouds of smoke, Harry flew head-on at Malfoy, whose cowardly face turned white with horror as he desperately dived to avoid being hit.

Harry rose steeply, taking the opportunity to put some distance between himself and Malfoy, who sped after him in hot pursuit. In theory, Malfoy's Firebolt was much faster than Harry's broom, but Harry had magically enhanced the speed of his trusty Cleansweep. He continued to twist and turn, making Malfoy think his curses were missing. Harry sped towards the Forbidden Forest -- he had a plan; he just needed to keep Malfoy on his tail for a little longer, so he had to remain within range of his curses.

Harry was hoping Malfoy didn't know too much about the Forbidden Forrest and wouldn't realise where he was being led. When Harry finally spotted the place he was looking for, he dived slowly, letting Malfoy draw nearer. Suddenly he turned on him. Magical ropes shot out from Harry's wand and wrapped themselves around Malfoy. Harry tied the end of the rope to his broom before hitting Malfoy with a Disarming Spell, which sent his wand flying towards Harry, who caught it deftly. Then, he used a Banishing Charm on Malfoy's broom, to make it shoot out from under him and fall to the forest floor. Malfoy plummeted after it, only to be jerked back up like a yoyo, as he reached the end of the rope. He was now trussed-up and suspended twenty feet beneath Harry's broom and utterly helpless.

"Let me go, Potter!" demanded Malfoy. "If you do anything to me, my father will punish you. Release me this minute, Potter, if you know what's good for you!"

"Trying to frighten me with your big, bad, ugly, Death Eater, daddy, are you Malfoy? Well, it won't work."

"Want to bet Potter? Just you wait till I tell Father what you called him. He'll have you killed by his secret police."

"But, you won't be getting the chance to tell him, Malfoy," said Harry dangerously. "You won't be telling daddy on me -- or anyone one else -- ever again."

"What do you mean?" asked Malfoy, unable to conceal his growing uneasiness.

"You won't be coming back alive," said Harry grinning down at him evilly.

"If y-you kill me, my father will make sure you d-die a horrible death. He'll put you under the C-Cruciatus Curse and give you to the D-Dementors to suck out your soul."

"But no one is ever going to know what happened to you, Malfoy. You were last seen chasing me into the Forbidden Forest. I'll just say I landed and hid from you in some bushes before making my way back to school. I'll be in the clear. No one would ever suspect that lowly Harry Potter, with a Purity Rating of a mere four, could have despatched and disposed of the mighty Malfoy heir, the purest of the pure," said Harry sarcastically. "Your body will never be found, Malfoy."

"W-why not? W-what do you mean?" stuttered Malfoy fearfully.

"Look down, Malfoy. Take a good look at where we are going," said Harry as he slowly descended in a tight spiral with his captive slung beneath his broom towards the Acromantula colony.

"Help!" screamed Mafoy in terror. "W-what are those things?" The Acromantulas had spotted the two wizards coming towards them. They streamed out from their nest, making terrible clicking noises with their pincers as they looked hungrily upwards.

"Acromantulas, Malfoy. Giant spiders. Venomous, man-eating, giant spiders," said Harry, stopping his descent and flying slowly in a tight circle with Malfoy hanging within a few feet of the enormous spiders. "You demanded that I let you go -- well, that's exactly what I plan to do. I'm going to end the Incarcerous spell right now. When the rope disappears, you'll fall right into their waiting jaws. They'll devour you -- every last repulsive bit of you -- without leaving a trace. Goodbye, Malfoy, I can't say it's been a pleasure --"

"N-No! Wait! P-Please! Help! Please don't release me. P-Please, I'll give you money, as much as you want, anything, but please don't let me go!" he begged, as Harry descended a little lower, putting Malfoy within inches of the enormous spider legs clawing upwards at him.

"But you were demanding that I let you go just a minute ago. Have you changed your mind?" taunted Harry. "You were threatening to set your big, bad daddy onto me. You see the predicament I'm in, Malfoy? I can't let you go now because you'll rat on me to your father, and you already told me what he'll do to me. So really, I have no choice but to let the Acromantulas have you. Sorry, goodbye --"

"No! P-Please don't do it! Please! D-Don't let those horrible things get me! P-Please fly higher! I promise I won't tell my father. I promise not to say anything about this, not to any one, I promise!"

"How about a binding Wizard's Oath then, Malfoy, including a promise to leave me alone. Will you give me that, to save your miserable life?"

"Yes, yes, please, I promise! Anything, anything you want."

"OK," said Harry. "Listen very carefully, this is the oath: I swear a binding Wizard's Oath that I will never bother or attempt to harm Harry or Rosa Potter, Ginny Weasley, or any of their friends. I will never ask anyone else to hassle or harm them. I will never say anything bad to anyone about any of them. I will not tell anyone what happened here in the forest today. If asked, I will say that Harry Potter got away from me. As soon as I am released, I will return immediately to school. Go on, Malfoy, repeat it, and be quick about it before I change my mind!"

Malfoy didn't hesitate; he repeated the oath word-for-word. He was so frightened of the giant spiders snapping at him, only inches away, he would have promised anything. Harry slowly rose up in the air to the great disappointment of the Acromantulas. He flew back to where he had unseated Malfoy, and summoned his broom from the forest floor. "Open your legs, Malfoy," he yelled as the broom came up beneath him. Once Malfoy was seated on his broom, Harry ended the Incarcerous spell with Finite Incantatum. Malfoy grabbed hold of his broom handle and immediately fled towards Hogwarts.

Harry raced after him. "Oi! Aren't you forgetting something, Malfoy?"

"What?" asked Malfoy, looking back fearfully over his shoulder.

"This," said Harry, throwing him his wand.

Malfoy caught the wand and then flew away as fast as he could go.

Harry chuckled. He had really enjoyed putting the wind up the frightened little ferret. He deserved it ... and the Wizard's Oath would ensure that Harry and Ginny, in this dream reality, would be left alone from now on. Looking upwards, something caught Harry's eye; it was a bird circling high above. He remembered seeing it briefly when he was lowering Malfoy towards the Acromantulas, but he had been too busy to pay it any attention. It seemed unnatural for a bird to be circling in the same spot for such a long time. Harry decided to investigate.