Harry Potter and the Time of Shadows

- Chapter Seventeen-

The Silver Wedding

The rest of the Christmas holiday passed without great event, except for Harry developing a fondness for a band from the Wizarding Wireless Network named Greymalkin.

Before long, everyone had returned on the Hogwarts Express, and the castle was full again. Ron and Hermione came back into the Gryffindor common room, and Harry felt slightly more normal. They seemed to have come to some sort of silent understanding, they both did not talk about what had happened between them, and they tried to not act strangely around each other.

On their first day back, Harry had told them both about Neville's parents, but by then almost the entire school knew. But Neville had said that it was better that way, and nobody seemed to be using it against him in any way, not even the Slytherins.

Harry burst to tell them about the meeting between Voldemort and Dumbledore, but knew that he could not. He was not sure whether he should have told them about the Order of the Phoenix, or the Time of Shadows, so he decided to keep it to himself until he made up his mind.

Within the week, Quidditch practices started again. Alicia had caught a cold during the holidays, so she was slightly off her game, but everyone else was playing to the best of their abilities. They would be playing Hufflepuff in just over a month. Harry was eager to win, even if it did mean going up against Cedric's old team.

Their lessons had taken a dramatic turn for the worse, the amount of homework they were getting was insane.

"How do they expect us to do all this?" Ron screamed while working on his Transfiguration homework in their second week back. "It's mental! McGonagall's got us writing these reports on exactly how do human Transfiguration, when none of us can even do it yet!"

That was true, they had spent every lesson trying to turn each other into apes, and no one had done it successfully. Hermione was always very moody after the lesson at not being able to do something in class.

Harry finished the report as best he could, and started on his History of Magic essay. They were still studying goblin rebellions, but Professor Binns had hinted that they would need to cover one more subject to prepare for the O.W.Ls: Dark wizards from the past. That sounded a lot more interesting than what they were doing, but Harry knew not to underestimate Binns's gift for making the most riveting subject as boring as watching a cauldron boil.

Defence Against the Dark Arts was the only subject where they were not being swamped with homework. Professor Fudge had always just told them to try to improve on the practical work for homework.

They went to their lesson the next day, to find that Professor Fudge was not there. The whole class sat at their desks waiting for him for at least ten minutes, when he finally turned up.

"I'm sorry," he said loosening his tie. "I had some work to do and I got a bit caught up in it."

He sat down in his chair and opened one of the drawers in his desk, emptying a few things out of his pocket into it.

"Today's lesson should be a piece of cake for most of you. We will be studying something that you should have done years ago, and I'm not sure which of your four previous teachers neglected it."

"Probably Lockhart," Ron whispered.

"But of course, since you are fifth years, we will be studying it at a slightly more advanced level."

He took out his wand, and threw it across the room, where it bounced off of a wall to land on the floor. Professor Fudge extended his hand, and stared hard at his wand. Instantly, it came back to him.

"You've all seen me do that before," he said. "But have any of you ever tried it?"

Harry remembered doing it in his duel against Malfoy on Hallowe'en.

"Basically, you will be moving things. I know you can already do this in many ways, like Hover Charms, and Summoning Charms, but you will be doing it wandless today. Everyone, give it a go."

All of the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws stood, threw their wands at their feet, and held out their hands to get it back. It worked for everybody (it took slightly longer for some people though), and Fudge stood to address the class.

"Very good, but that was the easy part. I would have been very disappointed if any of you failed at that!"

He tucked his wand into his belt, and looked around the class with anticipation.

"If you are ever Disarmed in a duel, that is a great way to get your wand back, but your wands contain powerful magical materials. Dragon heartstrings, unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers..."

Harry was reminded of the Order of the Phoenix.

"...and these amplify the magic inside of you, and focuses it. Try your hands at something small, with no enchantments. Use your quills, " Fudge said to them.

They all took out their quills and tried it. Most people had a little more trouble, but they all got it. Harry was not having any problems with it at all yet.

"Excellent! Now use a book!" Fudge called.

They used a book, and everyone managed it still.

"Wonderful. Now, the more advanced level. Try attracting your books, without looking at them. See how you do if you can't see the things you're focussing on!"

Harry dropped his book back on the ground, and closed his eyes. He tried to picture the book clearly in his mind, and to concentrate solely on bringing it to him. He reached out his hand, and the book sailed into it! He opened his eyes, and saw others were able to do it too. Hermione had of course done it, and Neville had too. Ron did it, but after a while.

Eventually, the rest of the class managed to grasp their books in their hands, and Professor Fudge gave his opinions.

"See? That was harder, wasn't it?" he said, smiling. "It's harder to concentrate when you can't see something. But remember to focus your whole body into it, not just your brain."

Some of the class gave puzzled looks.

"Let me explain," said Fudge, taking his seat again. "Take Hermione here," he said, motioning to her. Hermione buried her face in her hands shyly. "Miss Granger was one of the first to get her book. She has a brilliant mind. But just doing the theory and bookwork does not make you powerful. After all, a Muggle could do well in a test if they studied the material. You also have to focus in the magic inside of you. Remember, the magic is in your heart, not your mind."

Harry nodded to himself. He noticed Fudge look at him quickly.

"Do any of you remember before you came to Hogwarts, doing any accidental magic? Did you ever notice that it always happened when you were feeling an intense emotion. That's what gives you your power."

They spent the rest of the lesson practising, until the whole class could do it. They used heavier objects, and stood further away, and still everyone could do it. Professor Fudge seemed very pleased with their progress, and dismissed the class.

Harry walked out of the class with everyone else. He headed for Charms with Ron and Hermione, and they discussed the lesson.

"Wow, that was a great lesson," Ron said. "I really liked it."

"You only liked it because it was so easy!" Hermione commented. "But you're right, Professor Fudge is a good teacher."

"Even if he does have the occasional mood swing," Harry laughed.

The three of them walked to Charms, talking about Fudge, and what they thought he was going to do next.

When they reached the classroom, they saw that the class before them was still there. Professor Flitwick was standing at the front, and Harry could see through the small window in the door, exactly what had caused the class to run late.

It looked like they had been practising Engorgement Charms, making objects bigger. There were many things around the room that were much larger than normal: quills, books, candles, and most noticeably, Professor Flitwick.

The professor was at least seven feet tall, and several of the students were attempting to perform the Reduction Charm, but could not. Harry laughed, and let the others look. He heard Flitwick's much louder voice saying:

"Class! Please move along! I will go and find another teacher to return me to normal! Kindly tell the class outside that their lesson has been cancelled!"

After a short wait, the class came out of the door, many of them hiding their laughter. Harry was about to turn away and go back to the common room, when he saw a familiar face leaving the Charms room.

"Hi Cho," he said to her. He had not seen her once since their date. They had only been a week left of school afterwards, and they had been back for two weeks.

"Harry!" she said when she saw him. "Um, can we talk?"

"Sure," said Harry. Hermione walked away, dragging Ron, who had obviously wanted to witness their conversation. "But don't you have a lesson now?"

"Oh no," Cho smiled. "It's a free period."

They walked together around the halls, then out of the castle and around the lake.

"Sorry about cutting our date short in Hogsmeade," she said. "I just wanted to talk to Gavin Diggory."

"Of course," Harry said. "You don't need to apologise, I understand." Harry had not thought a lot about Gavin since he had seen him.

"But, when we were talking I realised something. I'm not over Cedric, I don't think I'm ready to start dating again."

"Oh," Harry said, not sure whether he was relieved or disappointed. "All right then."

"Are you upset?" Cho asked, looking him in the eye.

Harry was sure that there was no good way to answer that question. If he said he was upset, Cho would think he was still interested in her, but if he said he was fine, Cho might feel that she meant nothing to him.

"I'll be OK," he tried.

Cho nodded. " I hope we can still be friends."

"Of course we'll still be friends," Harry replied.

"Good," she said. She smiled, and walked away with a group of Ravenclaw girls. Harry walked to the common room, thinking that he would take advantage of the free lesson to start on his masses of homework.

*

It was almost a month before Professor Binns finished his work on goblin rebellions. By early February they had their first lesson on Dark wizards of the past. The class sat in their seats while he droned on about a wizard named Grindelwald, who lived in the 1940s, and was defeated by Dumbledore. As Harry had half expected, Binns made the topic as boring as possible, and made them take notes on the lecture. Then he assigned a homework to write an essay on him three parchment rolls long.

"I can't find anything else to write about that stupid sorcerer!" Ron screamed in the library, causing Madam Pince to swoop down and shush him.

"Nor can I," Hermione whispered.

"Easy for you!" said Harry, staring at his own essay, which was not even one roll long yet. "You've written over two and a half rolls of parchment!"

"Can we have a look at yours?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Of course you can't!" said Hermione, folding over the top of her paper so neither of them could see it. "That would be cheating!"

"What was it the Muggles called him?" Ron asked, scanning a book which was at least three feet tall. "Hitler?"

"Yeah," Harry said, looking to see if he had already mentioned that. Sadly, he had. "He was born in Austria, and was elected German chancellor, and then became the Foorer, or something," he read from his own report, unable to pronounce the word.

"Fuhrer," Hermione corrected. "It means 'leader' in German."

"Whatever," Ron sighed. "Come on Harry, Quidditch practice."

Quidditch had become increasingly gruelling. Harry was determined to win the Cup, and he was working the team harder than ever before. Some of the team had started to complain, especially Fred and George, but they understood Harry's motivation.

To make matters worse, now that the winter snow had long-gone, they had started to get unbelievable rain showers. This was an enormous problem, as it lowered the morale even more.

Justin Finch-Fletchley had been acting very coolly around Harry. While they had normally got on very well, he had hardly said a word to him since Christmas. Harry did not interpret it as hostility, just a desire to win.

Harry had gone to see Justin play as Seeker against Slytherin earlier in the term. He was definitely not as good a Seeker as Cedric was, and Malfoy had managed to find the Snitch in almost no time.

The Hufflepuff Captain had seemed very angry with Justin, especially since the Snitch had been right in front of his eyes more than once.

After another painfully silent Herbology lesson, Harry, Ron and Hermione went back to the common room before dinner. Harry went up to his dormitory to drop off his things, when an uncontrollable wave of sleepiness swept over him. His tiredness suddenly began to rule him, and he had to close his eyes, just for a little while...

He was inside an old house. He had definitely been there before. The windows were boarded over, blocking out any sunshine. It had fallen into disrepair, and only one light was coming from the whole house. It was strangely blue, and crackling. Harry followed it, knowing that the light was leading him to something important.

He ended up in a small room, with two men in it. The taller one was holding a wand, and was pointing it at the other man. The second man was screaming in agony, and there was a bright beam of light connecting the two of them. That was the cause of the light, it was blue and flickered, but it was mainly directed it the short man's hand. The hand shone brilliantly, and seemed to be screaming itself.

The tall man started to grunt from the effort of maintaining the connection, and after a few minutes, the light suddenly disappeared, and nothing could be seen through the darkness.

"Incendio!" shrieked a cold, high-pitched voice. A fire burst to life inside the fireplace. It seemed that it had been the man with the wand who had spoken. The fire sent an eerie glow over the scene.

"My Lord," said the other man. He was staring at his hand, which Harry noticed still shone, reflecting the light of the fire; it was made of silver. "Thank you my Lord. When you first gave it to me, I had no idea -- no idea what you planned to do with it."

"Well perhaps you should not underestimate your master from now on Wormtail," said the master.

"Of course not, my Lord," the man called Wormtail said, bowing. "May I test it?"

"You may," the cold voiced one replied. "Try it out on her." He pointed to a point above the fireplace, that was not visible in the fire's light.

"What an excellent idea master."

The shorter man raised his silver hand to the same point, and cried "Crucio!"

The air was suddenly filled with the high screech of an animal. Harry winced at the sound. The then heard a frantic rustling sound. The man's face showed nothing but concentration, not the hatred that would normally go with causing something that much pain.

Then as quickly as it had started, the squawking stopped. Wormtail lowered his silver hand, and turned back to his master.

"Shall I kill her, my Lord?" the man said, raising the hand again.

"No," the leader said thoughtfully. "We will use her. We shall let him know that we are after him."

"Do you not think that would be dangerous?" the short man asked, fear in his voice from questioning his master.

"Not if we take the necessary steps to protect ourselves." The tall man reached into his robes, and drew out a small dagger. He took a folded piece of yellow parchment, and held it firmly in his other hand. He used the sharp blade to prick his own finger. He laid down the knife and gently squeezed his finger until a large drop of blood formed. He then allow that single drop of blood to fall onto the sheet of parchment. He took out his wand, and pointed it at the bloodstain. He muttered something, and the scarlet shape disappeared.

He laughed, and walked to the place where the animal was hidden by the darkness. The laugh was cold, and caused Harry's body to shake uncontrollably.

Harry woke up, his scar burning dully on his head. He looked out of the window, it was still light. He checked his watch, he had not been asleep for long, but he was running late for dinner. He made his way down to the Great Hall, still thinking of his dream.

"Where've ya been?" Ron asked when he sat down. He was covering his mouth, and Harry was sure that it was full of food.

"Er, I just had another one of those dreams," Harry said, not feeling very hungry.

"Dreams?" said Hermione.

"Yeah, you remember I sometimes can see what Voldemort --" Ron flinched, and he almost spat out his food.

"Sorry," Harry said. "I can see what You-Know-Who's doing."

"What did you see?" Hermione asked, also not seeming very interested in food all of a sudden.

"I don't know, it wasn't as bad as it usually is, and my scar didn't hurt as much. All I saw was him putting a spell on Wormtail, and then he put a spell on an animal -- the Cruciatus Curse -- and then Voldemort," (Ron flinched again) "stabbed himself in the finger, and put some kind of spell on the blood."

"He put a spell on the blood?" Hermione repeated. "That's not good. Blood is only ever used in Dark Magic. It must have been something bad."

"Like the potion he used to regenerate?" Harry said, remembering Wormtail taking it from his arm and adding it to the mixture.

"What?" Ron screamed, his mouth thankfully empty.

"You never told us that," Hermione said.

"Oh, really? Well he used his father's bone, Wormtail's hand, and my blood."

"Ewww! He took Wormtail's hand? Gross!" said Ron. "I mean, not that he doesn't deserve it."

"Yeah, well he was given a silver hand to replace it and I'm pretty sure it's magical," Harry told them.

"Magical?" said Hermione puzzled. "How can silver be magical? Only wands can do magic, it needs certain properties to perform spells."

"I don't think so because I just saw him using it to do the Cruciatus Curse!" said Harry.

"Maybe there could be a way to do it then," Hermione said thoughtfully. "I'll just go and look in the library."

She quickly got up from the table and left the Great Hall. Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"Typical," said Ron. "Forget food, but make time for books. That's Hermione all right."

Ron sounded almost wistful when he said it, it was clear that his feelings for her had not changed. Maybe her hard work was one of the things that he loved about her, Harry thought.

Harry had a brief meeting with Dumbledore concerning the dream. Dumbledore had never heard of silver being used as a magical substance before either.

"It must be possible," said Hermione, frustrated, in the library the next day. "But I can't find it anywhere!"

"Does it really matter?" Ron said to her. "We know it happened, do we really need to know how?"

"Of course we do!" Hermione snapped. "Maybe if we know a bit more about the spell, we can figure out any weaknesses."

"She's right," Harry agreed. "We need to find out all we can about that silver hand. If Dumbledore's never heard of it, it must be serious."

"I s'pose," Ron huffed. "Maybe if we looked in the Restricted Section, we could find the spell. I mean, it would have books on Dark Magic."

"Good idea," said Harry, looking over at the distant corner of the library. "We could use the Invisibility Cloak tonight."

"Ah!" Hermione screamed, looking at her watch. "We're late for Care of Magical Creatures!"

"Relax," said Ron, getting up and walking with Harry and Hermione down to Hagrid's old hut. "D'you really think Professor Weasley's gonna get too cross about us being late?"

"I guess you're right," said Harry. "It's great having Charlie as a teacher."

Hermione tutted, and it was quite clear that she disapproved of using the fact the Charlie was Ron's brother to get out of trouble.

"You're late!" said Charlie when they got down to the lesson. He did not sound angry though.

"Sorry, we had a lot of work to catch up on," Ron explained.

"OK," Charlie said. "But try to be on time for goodness sake Ron."

"Oh Come on!" he heard Malfoy protest. "If anyone else had been late you would have taken points away! But no, your brother and his friends are late, and all you can say is 'Try to be on time!'. Typical."

Charlie remained calm, and gave Malfoy a hard look. He did not look angry, just like he was trying to figure him out. He opened his mouth a tiny bit, and almost instantly, Malfoy withdrew.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Sorry who?" Charlie stressed.

"I'm sorry Professor Weasley," Malfoy said, looking as though a gallon of Streeler trail had been thrown on his face.

Crabbe and Goyle were shocked that Malfoy had apologised, but they could not have been more surprised than Harry.

"Oh my god!" Ron whispered.

A tense silence fell over the lesson, but eventually Charlie said "Apology accepted."

"What's come over Malfoy?" Ron asked for about the thousandth time as they walked back to the castle after the lesson.

"Remember that time Charlie whispered something to him in a lesson," Harry said. "Maybe it had something to do with that. Malfoy was almost nice after that happened."

"Do you think Charlie was threatening him?" Hermione asked. "Because he could get into trouble for intimidating a student."

"It's Malfoy," Ron said. "I think Dumbledore would understand."

Harry laughed, as they reached the doors to the Entrance Hall. There was a strange sound filling the large room. It sounded like a high-pitched cackle. It was getting closer, the noise was making the hairs on Harry's neck stand on end.

A door to the side burst open, and Peeves the poltergeist flew through it, laughing like a maniac. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, for a moment, he was sure that the person doing the cackling was Voldemort, and he had somehow got into the school.

"Potter!" he said the second he saw them. "Watcha up to Potter?"

"What were you doing down there Peeves?" Harry called.

Peeves blew a loud raspberry at them. "None of your beeswax Potter. What I do ain't your problem."

"Peeves!" said Hermione shrilly. "I am a Prefect. I demand to know what you were doing down there!"

"Ooh! This cat's got claws!" Peeves joked.

"I suggest you tell me what you did, unless you want me to get the Bloody Baron!" Hermione threatened.

"Grrr!" Peeves growled, and flew up through the ceiling, out of sight.

"What do you think he did?" Harry asked. "Something serious?"

"We'd better check it out," Ron said, and led the way through the door. On the other side was a set of stone steps going down, and Harry then recognised it as the corridor that went down to the kitchens.

"I hope he didn't do anything to the house elves," Hermione said.

They reached they painting of the fruit bowl, and tickled the pear. Inside the kitchen, the sound of a hundred elves screaming echoed from the walls. Each elf was running around in a state of shock.

"What happened here?" Ron asked.

"Harry Potter!" he heard Dobby's voice cry out. "Dobby is very glad to see you!"

"What's wrong Dobby?" Harry asked, spotting him in the sea of elves.

"That wicked ghost Peeves came in here not five minutes ago he did! And Peeves is laughing and dancing around and we elves is not liking it one bit Harry Potter. Then Peeves is throwing things all around the food, we is thinking they is Dungbombs sir."

"Peeves threw Dungbombs in the food, and now it's all ruined?"

"Yes Harry Potter. All the food is bad and dinner is in an hour! We elves cannot cope with cooking that fast sir," Dobby replied.

"Well, how long does it take you to cook dinner?" Harry asked.

"At least three hours. We is cooking for the whole school we is! We is not being ready in time!" Dobby screeched.

"Relax!" Hermione said to him. "Can't you use your magic or something to speed it up?"

"No miss!" replied another elf. "We is only using magic like that with our master's consent."

"So you need Dumbledore to say you can to it?" Harry asked. The elves nodded. "Well I'll go up to his off--"

Ron suddenly elbowed him hard in the stomach, almost winding him.

"We just talked to Dumbledore, and he says it's fine," he said, looking at the other two meaningfully. "Right?"

"Oh, sure we did," said Harry cottoning on. It would save a lot of time if they didn't have to go all the way up to his office and back. They needed that time to cook.

"Really?" said an elf standing next to Dobby.

Hermione did not say anything, not wanting to mislead them. She closed her lips, and crossed her arms.

"Of course," said Ron. "What, do you think we just made that up?"

"No sir!" said the elf. It clapped its hands and called out to the others. "Professor Dumbledore is saying we can do the magic to go faster!"

Every elf suddenly clicked its fingers, and the food flew into the pots, and the ovens turned themselves on. The house elves disappeared and reappeared next to the different stoves, checking on the food.

"Hey Hermione," Harry said, watching Dobby appear by a Yorkshire pudding. "Why can house elves Apparate in Hogwarts, but we can't?"

"Because they're not Apparating," she replied as if it was obvious. "It's just how they move, and you really can't put a charm up to stop them."

"Amazing," Ron commented, watching them go. "Wish we had a servant at home."

"From what I've seen, you've got one called mum!" Hermione joked.

"Seriously, they're really powerful, even if they're not the smartest of beings," Ron said, picking at a pie that had just been made.

"Have none of them spotted the hole in your logic?" Harry asked.

"You mean that we couldn't have asked Dumbledore anything because we didn't even know about it before?" Harry nodded. "Did you really expect them to realise that?"

"What do you mean Ronald Weasley?" Hermione shrieked. "Don't you think that they're capable of thinking for themselves?"

"No," he replied shortly. "Didn't that spew thing teach you that?"

"S.P.E.W!" Hermione said, her voice raising ever higher. "And I'm thinking of starting that again. Now I've seen what these elves can do when they're not restricted by their masters!"

"NO!" Harry said quickly, much louder than he had meant to. "I mean, you shouldn't. There are other things we need to be worrying about."

"I suppose," said Hermione reluctantly. "But, You-Know-Who hasn't really done anything in a while?"

"He will. Believe me."

"Harry Potter," squeaked Dobby, leaving a pot of rapidly heating soup behind him. "I hope you will be ready for next Wednesday."

"Wednesday?" Harry repeated blankly. "What's happening then?"

"We is getting married," said another elf, who had come to stand next to Dobby. It was Winky. "You is remembering our wedding, is you not?"

"Oh, sure. I'll be there of course, being Best Man and everything," Harry said. He had completely forgotten about Dobby and Winky getting married. They had told them about it way back in October.

"Are you having the wedding here?" he asked.

"Oh no Harry Potter," Dobby told him. "Dobby is marrying Winky outside, by the lake. Professor Dumbledore will be doing it."

"Dumbledore can perform marriages?" Ron asked. "I wonder if Percy knows that."

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore is a Supreme Mugwump," Winky said.

"Supreme Mugwump?" Harry asked Hermione.

"It's kind of like a magical priest," she explained. "But not really in a religious way. It's more of an honour. Basically, he can do weddings, funerals, that kind of thing."

"Ah," Harry said. He had never really thought about weddings or others ceremonies in the magical world. He supposed that there would probably not be as many religious wizards or witches.

"So, will you three be coming to the wedding, sirs and miss? Six o'clock." Winky asked.

"Sure, by the lake, Wednesday, six o'clock." said Harry.

They left the kitchen, leaving them to cook the rest of the dinner for everyone.

*

That night, the three of them left Gryffindor Tower under the Invisibility Cloak, and headed for the library. It was times like this that made Harry wish he still had the Marauder's Map. The Map! Professor Fudge would know that they were out of bed, even if they were wearing the Cloak. He seemed to look at that Map every night, seeing who was out of bed.

They met no one on their way, but the Ravenclaw ghost, the Grey Lady had been seen floating past the Transfiguration classroom.

"We're here!" Hermione whispered.

"I can see that!" Ron replied. "I know the library when I see it!"

"Shut up both of you!" Harry said to them, rather too loudly. He was standing between them, leading the way.

They entered the library, and crossed the velvet rope into the Restricted Section. Harry remembered in his first year when he had looked there for information on Nicholas Flamel, and came across a screaming book. He would have to be careful not to repeat the experience.

Harry lit his wand, and Ron and Hermione followed suit. There was no way that the dim light would be seen outside.

They spent at least half an hour searching the book titles (not wanting to open a book unless sure it would be useful, just in case).

"I can't believe it," said Hermione. "I can't find anything here about it."

"Yeah, it's enough to break your faith in libraries," said Ron sarcastically.

A quiet sound in the distance made them all jump. Harry instinctively dived for the Cloak, and knocked a candle from one of the bookshelves onto the floor. It rolled along the ground and landed at Ron's feet.

"Harry!" Ron whispered.

He bent down and picked it up.

"Hold on!" he practically yelled, causing the other two to shush him. "I think I've found something!" He lowered himself to the ground, pushing the candle aside. He eased his fingers into the small gap between the bottom of the shelf and the floor, and took out a thin book with a brilliantly silver cover. Its title was written in black: Medieval Metal Charming.

"Great!" said Harry, eager to see what was in it.

Another sound interrupted his excitement, something much closer than before. It was a cat meowing. Harry turned, and saw Mrs Norris prowling under the rope.

Harry threw the Cloak over himself, Ron and Hermione, making sure that Ron was still holding the book, and they moved quickly away.

"Close one," Ron whispered when they were far away from the library.

"Much too close," Harry agreed. "We still have to worry about Fudge in our next lesson."

"Damn!" Ron said in a hushed voice. "He would've seen us!"

They crept back towards the common room, careful not to make any noise, as Filch would probably be on the prowl.

When they passed the Charms classroom, they heard different sounds coming from inside it. People, unmistakably students, kissing. They all peered through the small window in the door, still under the Invisibility Cloak.

Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were in there. Malfoy was pressing her against a wall, and their lips were locked tightly together. His hands were running along her back, and one of her hands was in his hair.

"Urgh," said Ron. "I'm gonna be sick."

That was exactly how Harry felt.

Slowly, they broke apart, and they looked at each other for a moment. Harry pressed his ear against the door, so he could hear them talk.

"Draco," said Pansy. "Something's been bothering me today."

"What is it?" Malfoy said quickly, and Harry was sure that it was not his decision to end the kiss.

"Today in Care of Magical Creatures, with that Weasley, you apologised for insulting him," Pansy continued. "Why would you do that, you don't have to explain yourself to their kind."

"Er, I don't want to talk about it," Malfoy said. Harry was pleased to see that he looked very uncomfortable.

"Well then I don't think I want to see you anymore," she said, starting to walk away. "I could never be with someone who lowers himself to the level of those Muggle-lovers."

As much as Harry applauded her judgement for getting away from Malfoy, he felt very angry about what she said about Charlie. Ron looked as if he was willing to go and punch her, even if she was a girl.

"OK!" Malfoy said as she went for the door. "I'll tell you why."

"I'm listening," she said, stopping.

"That Weasley, he's blackmailing me."

Ron gasped, and Harry put his hand over Ron's mouth.

"Blackmailing you? You can't let him do that, go to Professor Snape, he'd do something about it. What did he say?"

"Do you remember that lesson when he whispered something in my ear? Well he threatened to tell people about something."

"What was it?" Pansy asked, concerned.

"I can't tell you," he said. "I really can't. I was forbidden to tell anyone. I hope that's all right."

"I suppose," Pansy said. "But you should tell someone about this."

"I did," Malfoy said. "I sent my owl, Icarus, to father after the lesson today. I told him bout it before, when Weasley first said something. Father wasn't happy about it."

She nodded.

"So, can we get back to it?" he asked slyly.

"Sure," Pansy replied, smiling.

As they moved closer to each other again, Harry moved away, and was followed by Ron and Hermione.

"Charlie's blackmailing Malfoy?" said Ron. "I wonder what it is he's using."

"Well, we can't ask him," said Harry. "You said you already asked him once, didn't you?" Ron nodded.

"It's really wrong to blackmail anyone," said Hermione. "Especially a Prefect."

"And I hate to think what Lucius Malfoy's gonna do when he hears about this," said Harry.

They reached the Fat Lady, and went into the common room, and looked at the book. Most of the enchanted metals mentioned in the book seemed innocent enough. But a few of them were terrible enough to warrant the book belonging in the Restricted Section. They passed the book around to each other as they each turned a page and read the next chapter.

"Well that's great," said Ron sarcastically reading one of the chapters. "I was just wondering how to use copper to make someone's heart leap out of their mouth!"

"Focus Ron!" Hermione bossed.

"That's nothing," Harry said. "They've got a spell to turn your blood into iron!"

"Geez, that would really hurt," said Ron, making a disgusted face and laying his hand on his chest.

"Cool, it says how to make a Golden Snitch," Harry said, thinking about his upcoming match against Hufflepuff.

"Found it," said Hermione proudly. "Silver as a magical core."

She scanned the passage and make a throaty sound that Harry would describe as nauseous.

"You have to read this," she said. "You won't believe it."

Harry bent down over the book, and read the text.

To turn silver into a magical substance:

It is possible to make a substitute for a wand out of silver, however the owner must be prepared to make certain sacrifices. Firstly, the witch or wizard must cut off a part of their body, preferably a hand, with a special sacrificial dagger.

Next, another wizard must use the "Argentum" spell to create a silver replacement for the missing body part.

The second wizard must then prepare a potion to use on the silver.

The ingredients are: Unicorn blood and horn, venom of a snake, owl feathers, Boomslang skin, dragon hide, Flobberworm mucus, Acromantula eggs, Merman scales, and Grindylow bone.

Following was directions on exactly how to prepare the potion. It had to be stewed for six months, refreshing the ingredients if necessary.

The possessor of the silver must then place the silver into the potion, and drink it.

The one who prepared the potion must then cast a spell to turn it into a magical material. This is very advanced magic.

This is not the end of the process. To maintain the magic inside of it, an Unforgivable Curse must be used within one hour. And, if at any time the caster of the spell dies, or loses their power, the bond is broken.

"OK," said Harry. "So Voldemort made the potion and cast the spell, so if he loses his power, so does Wormtail."

"What I don't know," said Hermione. "Is how You-Know-Who got all the ingredients. Some of them are easy enough, but the only place to get Merpeople is here, in the lake. And Acromantula, giant spiders, they only come from the jungle, nowhere in Europe.

"Aragog," said Harry. Ron shuddered.

"What was that?" said Hermione.

"Aragog is a giant spider who lives in the Forbidden Forest. He has hundreds of kids."

Hermione looked as though she was going to ask how he knew this, but thought better of it.

They spent the rest of the night talking about the hand, and wondering what else Voldemort had in store for them.

*

On Wednesday, the usual February rain had gone, at least for the day. The sun shone brightly, even if it was still not very warm. It was a good day for a wedding.

After the school day had ended, Harry went up to his dormitory to get changed. He put on his good set of black robes (deciding against his green dress robes), the cloak Dobby had given him for Christmas, and the silver-starred hat Ron had given him.

Recently, anything silver would remind him of Wormtail and the hand, even the lake surface on a cloudy day.

Ron had put on his new dress robes he had got from Fred and George (which were also silver). They met Hermione down in the common room, who was wearing her periwinkle dress robes she had worn at the Yule Ball. She even pinned her silver Prefect badge to them.

The rest of the Gryffindors all asked where they were going in their good clothes, and laughed when they said they were going to a house-elf wedding.

They went down to the lake, Dobby and Winky were already there. About a dozen other elves were there. Dobby was wearing a miniature top hat instead of his tea-cosy.

"Hello Harry Potter and friends!" he said when they came. "It is a very good day is it not?"

"It's a great day!" said Harry. "You're getting married today!"

"Yes, and Dobby is very happy. House-elves are not usually married in this way, but Dobby is seeing them done before and has always wanted to!"

Dumbledore arrived by the lake, and started the ceremony. Winky walked down a narrow path, with a smaller elf in front of her, throwing petals on the ground. They repeated what Dumbledore said, much like Harry had seen done on television at Privet Drive.

Then it came to the exchanging of rings. Harry reached into his pocket, and took out the rings that Dobby had given to him before. On closer inspection, they appeared to be ring-pulls from cans. They seemed to fit perfectly on their tiny hands though.

"And now," said Dumbledore at the end of the wedding. "By the power vested in me by the National Confederation of Wizards, I now pronounce you elf, and wife. Dobby, you may now kiss your bride."

Dobby kissed Winky, and they held hands. They were married. Harry noticed Ron and Hermione looked at each other, and Harry wondered what they were thinking. It was glaringly obvious how they felt about each other, he had no idea why they did nothing about it.

Dumbledore walked back to the school, saying that he had to speak to Professor Fudge, and the rest of them had a small party. They had Butterbeer and sandwiches. The celebration went on for at least an hour.

"Harry Potter looks very good today," Dobby said. "And he is wearing the cloak Dobby gave him!"

"Yeah," said Harry. "It's really good. How long did it take you to make it?"

"Dobby did not make it," he said, smiling. "Dobby bought it in Hogsmeade. Dobby is seeing it and thinking it is perfect for Harry Potter."

Harry laughed. That explained why it was so nice, he thought.

Harry danced with the flower-elf, having to stoop down quite low. He saw over her head a dark shape moving towards them. It was making a shrill cry, it reminded him of something that he had heard quite recently.

The others looked up and saw the shape as well. It was silhouetted against the setting sun. It was an owl, carrying a letter. The owl flew closer, and Harry could clearly see its colour.

"Hedwig!" he cried, seeing his post owl for the first time in months.

She perched herself on his shoulder, and dropped the letter in his hands. She looked very shaken up. Harry opened the envelope, and saw a letter written in curvy writing. The words shimmered strangely on the parchment.

Potter,

Did you miss your owl? She has been most helpful to us, in more ways than one. I thought that I should share some information with you.

You think that once I find you, I will kill you. I have changed my mind. On the advice of my loyal follower Wormtail, I have decided to make you into my servant.

Our meeting last year tells me that you can easily resist Imperious, but there are other ways of bending a person to your will.

Be warned, that it will happen. You will serve me. Otherwise, you may find people who mean more to you than this owl will mysteriously disappear, and they will not come back.

Lord Voldemort

Harry traced the sentences with his finger; the ink was warm. He swallowed hard.

"What is it Harry?" asked Hermione, who had been watching him reading the note.

Harry, feeling unable to actually tell them what it was, lifted the parchment so they could read it.

Ron frowned as he looked at the parchment.

"What is this some kind of joke?" he asked.

"A joke? Ron, I don't think that Voldemort's the kind of man that kids around," Harry replied shaking his head.

"Why do you automatically think this was from You-Know-Who? I mean, I think you should just be happy that Hedwig's back and who cares if some idiot sent you a bit of spare parchment?"

"Spare parchment?" Harry repeated. "You mean you can't read what's written on here?"

Ron shook his head.

"It's a letter from Voldemort."

Hermione gasped, and Ron flinched, covering his ears.

"So he's enchanted this letter so that only I can read it. Is that possible?" he asked Hermione.

"Er, well yes. But I don't understand, he'd need a piece of you to do the spell. Like hair, or a nail --"

"Or blood," said Harry, remembering his last dream. Voldemort had used his blood to regenerate, so Voldemort's blood was Harry's blood.

"So I'm linked to Voldemort by blood," Harry thought aloud.

"Bloody hell," said Ron.