Harry Potter and his Dreams

Harry Potter and His Dreams

Chapter Five

The ghost began her tale.

"I did manage to catch up with Harry. I couldn´t convince him to return so I followed him. He did not like it at all, but, as he doesn´t know any magic that will work against spirits, he really couldn´t do a thing about it. So he just told me to stay invisible and quiet. He put on his invisibility cloak and he had already charmed his broom to be invisible. I think he hoped that if he was invisible I´d loose track of him, but ghosts can always sense people, whether or not they are visible. Anyway, he flew to a big house south of London. It was really, really old. Nobody lived there, and I could tell it was covered with all sorts of spells. Obviously they weren´t to keep people out, because Harry just walked right in. The door wasn´t even locked.

"He seemed to wander around, but I guess he knew what he was doing. I followed him up to the third floor then through a door and up another flight of stairs. He walked along hall after hall, making more turns than I can remember. Down five flights of stairs, which should have been impossible because I know he´d only gone up four, and we were on the first floor, I could tell by looking out the window. He walked through another maze of corridors on the first floor and then up a flight of stairs, somehow ending up in the basement at that point. Anyway, he opened a door and stepped into the attic, I think it must have been an attic room at the north end of the house.

"Harry sat down on the floor and it looked like he was staring at someone or something, but I couldn´t see anything special. Anyway after a few minutes he crossed the room and picked up something out of a box sitting beside an old wardrobe. Then he sat back down. He must have sat there for two hours. I tried to get his attention but he completely ignored me.

"Finally he stood up and went to the same door we had come in, only this time, instead of leading to the basement, he entered a bedroom. I hadn´t even realized it was that late, but he went to sleep as soon as he climbed in.

"He woke up around noon the next day and left through the attic door he had come through, except it came out at the front porch. We went to a witch´s house, situated on the north side of London. He knocked on the door and when it opened there was a house-elf there, then the house-elf brought a woman to him. They talked a bit, some bees were distracting me, and she invited him in. He took a shower and ate there, and then they talked. The witch knew how to keep me out of the room, so I couldn´t hear what was said.

"When he left, I followed him to a camping ground a long ways away from London. He was angry, evidently the witch wouldn´t do a spell so he could get away from me completely. It was dark when we got there. Harry hid in the bushes. Around 9 o´clock twenty hooded men gathered around a boulder a few feet away. I got up close to see what was going on.

"Anyway, one of them tapped the boulder and it started glowing red. They were receiving instructions from You-Know-Who. They were supposed to attack Tutshill in the morning. After they left, Harry approached the boulder. He shattered it with his wand and the picked up a red gem that had been at the heart of it, I think.

"I told him what I had heard and he got a look of deep concentration on his face, as though he were arguing with himself. Then he flew to Tutshill and slept in an alley. In the morning he cast a spell at each end of the main road, but he wouldn´t tell me what he had done. Then he mounted his broom and flew off again.

"We ended up at that big house again. This time he entered through a side door. It took four hours this time, going up and down stairs and through the mazes of hallways. I remember we were up on the fifth floor and then he opened a door and we were in the basement.

"In that basement room he took something out of a dresser drawer. He found a bedroom, like he had before and went to sleep. In the morning, he sped as fast as he could north. I didn´t know for sure where he was going until he actually crossed onto Hogwarts grounds." Myrtle finished her summary.

"Thank you very much, Myrtle. I appreciate what you have done. If there is anything you need, don´t hesitate to ask, I will gladly repay you for the service you have performed." Dumbledore said solemnly. The ghost, delighted that she had played such an important role, flushed slightly and then said that, for now, she would just return to her toilet.

Sirius spoke up as soon as she had left, "Where was he? What was that house?"

"House Labyrinth," Dumbledore summoned a house-elf and requested that food be brought and a change of clothes for Mister Potter. When the house-elf had gone to do his duty, Dumbledore gave a better explanation to Sirius.

"House Labyrinth has existed for as long as Hogwarts, if not longer. If you want to hide something for a time, you can just leave it on the doorstep of House Labyrinth and ask the house to hide the item. More than five hundred powerful magical artifacts are though to be hidden in there. The down side of the house is that it decides what to do with the artifacts it conceals. The house, true to its name, turns into a labyrinth, an impossible maze. It is not hard to enter an leave the house, as Harry found, if you need to sleep, you can easily find a bedroom, if he had thought about it, he could have found the kitchen, when he needed to exit the next door brought him to the front porch.

"However, only by following a specific combination of halls, turns, stairs and rooms can you actually find an artifact. If Harry had gotten to that attic room by any other route, he would not have found anything there. Very few people have ever left that house with anything they did not go in with. Those who have describe it as `The Call of House Labyrinth,´ it compels them to go to the house and find whatever artifact is calling to them and it directs them to exactly the place they need to be to find what they are fetching. This is what I mean by the house decides what to do with the artifacts, sometimes it is the house that calls for someone to fetch an artifact, sometimes it is the item itself. There is no guarantee that anything hidden in the house will remain there longer than ten years. Maybe the item has been sitting there too long, or maybe the house just knows who is supposed to possess the item next, nobody knows. Anyway, as I said, when the call comes you know exactly how to find the item that is calling.

"The only known occurrence of anyone being called to House Labyrinth in the past 200 years is when Alastor Moody retrieved his magical eye. He had that eye in his possession fifty years before he lost his own. Just after he graduated from Hogwarts he went to the house."

"But," Sirius said as the food-leaden house-elves entered the study, "if you can only go certain paths for certain things, can´t someone just pick a random route and pick up whatever is in the room they end up in?"

"No," the headmaster shook his head as he made space for the food tray; once the house-elves had left he continued, "You have to know what you are seeking and only then will you find it. There could have been a thousand things hidden in those rooms Harry entered, but he could not have found them, even if they had been sitting in the middle of a bare floor, he could only find what had called to him.

Occurrences of anyone finding something without hearing the call are even more rare than someone hear the call. To my knowledge, it has happened only twice in the history of the world. The first was in the year 1257 and the second was in 1873. I grew up in that area. I would often go to House Labyrinth; it fascinated me. I spent hours there, trying to find an artifact, but I never found one.

"I was walking around the house one day, concentrating on my Potions assignment for the summer, not even searching, that time, for anything, when something landed on my shoulder. It was an ugly, ugly bird, scrawny too. But I took it home with me. Two weeks later we found out it was actually a phoenix. Fawkes has been with me ever since."

Sirius nodded at this and glanced at the beautiful fowl before asking, "But what called to Harry? Why Harry in the first place? Why did he go twice?"

Dumbledore sighed, "We´ll have to wait for Harry to wake up to explain that."

"I´m awake," Harry said softly from the couch on which he lay.

Both Sirius and Dumbledore turned and rushed over to him.

"Harry, you have a lot of explaining to do." Sirius said in a deceptively mild voice.

"I know. I´ll answer all your questions after I eat and get cleaned up," he replied meekly.

Dumbledore moved the food tray closer to Harry. The boy ate in silence, under the very watchful eyes of the headmaster and his godfather, as though, if they turned away, he might disappear again.

When he had finished Dumbledore quietly led him to his own suite and let him use his private shower. Sirius kept his eyes on the door of the room Harry had gone into while Dumbledore went into his office and rummaged through his desk.

By the time Harry returned, refreshed an din clean robes, the food tray had been moved to a different location and across the table a piece of parchment was spread, a bottle of ink sitting beside it.

"Harry," Dumbledore asked in a relaxing voice, "do you mind if what you say is recorded?" Harry sat down across from the two men who, for weeks, had only wanted to help and protect him.

"Fine," Harry consented.

"Will you also take a truth potion?" The headmaster asked in an even milder voice. Harry looked at him startled, "Do I have to?"

Dumbledore nodded, no twinkle glinting in his eyes, "For an rule infraction of this magnitude, it is required."

Harry did not argue, but accepted this with a nod.

Dumbledore retrieved a vial from inside his robes and handed it to Harry, "This is similar to the truth potion you were given at your trial. Drink all of it."

Harry did so and immediately felt its effects in his body.

Dumbledore dumped the entire bottle of ink onto the parchment, which was immediately absorbed.

"This parchment will create a written and audio account of everything you say once it is activated. Are you ready?"

Harry nodded. Dumbledore tapped the parchment and then sat back and indicated for Harry to start.

Harry sighed, "It started with that dream I had two weeks before Halloween."

Harry Potter and His Dreams

Chapter 6

*Just so nobody gets confused, this portion is told from an as-its-happening point of view, not a summary narrative like Myrtle´s explanation was.

The differences between this account and Myrtle´s account are differences in perspective. Harry´s account is strictly true (well, duh, as I said in the last chapter, he is under a truth potion), Myrtle´s contained inaccuracies because she did not understand what was going on.

Harry was flying faster that he had ever flown on his Firebolt; he looked down and saw that the broom he was riding was not a Firebolt, but a broom with the word "Seeker" emblazoned on it. He found himself approaching a menacing forest.

"So," a voice startled him at his ear. He found himself now standing beside his floating broom on the edge of a precipice overlooking the forest. Ron was standing beside him and was the one that had spoken, he now continued, "are you going to fly on in? Or are you going to just stand here forever?"

"Um..." Harry said thinking about the quest that lay before him, to find the Holy Grail at the center of the wood, "sure, I´ll go in, if you come with me." He looked at his friend, and realized that Ron was two feet taller than him and was sporting a head of blond-streaked with blue- hair.

"Harry, you know he can´t help you! That´s cheating. Besides," sniffed a Hermione dressed in a green and silver sleeveless evening gown, "Ron has a Quidditch game to go to."

"Fine," Harry answered grumpily, mounting his broom, "count to three."

"One," his two best friends said in unison, "two...three!"

Harry kicked off and found himself suddenly falling through a very dense fog, without a broom under him anymore.

When he landed he did not hurt himself, which surprised him since he had fallen from such a great height. He tried to look around at where he was, but he could neither see nor feel anything surrounding him, save the smooth surface he stood on. He could however, hear.

"Hello? Is anybody there? Can anybody hear us? Are we lucky enough to be heard this time?" A woman´s voice cut through the darkness. She sounded completely hopeless.

"Why am I even bothering? I mean, it has never worked in the past 27 years, why should it work now? Of course Claudia, you´re bothering because it is your turn to bother," the woman, obviously named Claudia, continued answering her own question, "Why does it matter though? There is no hope! We´ll never get out, never! The spell won´t break for years after he´s dead, that is, if he dies. And of course, no one can ever hear us as long as the spell is in place."

Harry stood in confusion, he was no longer in the dream with the Holy Grail, he knew. He had felt the difference falling through the fog. This was real. But the only other real things that had happened in dreams had been Voldemort, and this certainly wasn´t one of those dreams.

"If anybody is there would you please speak up and quote a line from Shakespeare?" said Claudia.

Silence. Harry frantically racked his brains for a quote from Shakespeare. What did he know of Shakespeare?

"I didn´t think so," Claudia said, sounding as excited as a funeral director.

"Err..To be or not to be?" Harry stammered, remembering something from his muggle grade school.

"WHAT?" came a screech.

"That is Shakespeare, isn´t it?" Harry asked nervously.

"Oh, great," mumbled Claudia to herself, "you´ve finally cracked. Now you´re hearing voices in your own head."

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Harry asked politely.

"Arrrgh!" Claudia said, "Are you really there?"

"Yes."

"You can actually hear me?"

"Well, I´m talking to you aren´t I?"

"How is this possible? That we can communicate? Unless...Is Voldemort gone?" she asked hopefully.

Harry laughed bitterly, "Not hardly, he´s back and stronger than ever."

There was a slight pause, "You´re going to have to explain that further, but for right now, I have a more important question: Is Albus Dumbledore still alive?"

"Um...yeah," Harry answered cautiously.

"Positive?" Claudia asked severely, mistaking his caution for being unsure.

"Unless he´s died since dinner," Harry said in irritation.

"Wait a second, he was a dinner? Where are you?"

"Currently? My bed in the fifth year boys´ dormitory in Gryffindor Tower at Hogwarts."

"How did this happen?" Claudia wondered more to herself than wanting a real answer, she continued, this time addressing Harry "Can you tell me something else?"

"What?"

"Do you know James Potter?"

Harry was so stunned he couldn´t answer.

"Hello?" Claudia said after a moment of silence, "Do you know where James Potter is? Can you find him and speak to him?"

"N.. no, I can´t," Harry finally got out.

"Huh? Why not?"

"J..James Potter was murdered by Lord Voldemort fourteen years ago."

Now it was Claudia´s turn to be stunned, then she started to cry.

"I promised him," she sobbed, "I told him that after I died I´d still be able to communicate with him! Curse Voldemort! James! He was only twelve!" She cried for a few more minutes, then, regaining her composure, she asked Harry, "Can you tell me about him? What do you know of James Potter?"

"Ma´am," Harry said hesitantly, "James Potter was my father."

"What!?"

"My name is Harold James Potter, James Potter an Lily Evans were my parents."

"Who is Lily Evans?" asked Claudia; not completely comprehending all that this visitor was telling her.

"Lily Evans was a muggle born witch."

"Was?" Claudia echoed faintly, "so they are both dead now?"

"Yes."

"And all of James´ old friends? What about them?" Claudia asked reluctantly.

"You mean like Sirius Black?"

"Yes!" Claudia answered hopefully.

"Well, Sirius Black is currently an escaped convict. He´s been on the run from the Ministry for the past two years, ever since he broke out of Azkaban."

"You´re lying." Claudia said flatly, "Sirius may have been mischievous, but he´d never commit a crime!"

"Maybe, maybe not." Harry said evasively, not quite sure yet who exactly he was talking to and therefore not wanting to give her any information.

"You are going to explain more about that later, too. Tell me about James´ other friends." Claudia commanded.

"Remus Lupin is unemployed, though he did teach Defense Against the Dark Arts two years ago at Hogwarts."

"Why is he unemployed?"

"Werewolves have a hard time getting jobs."

"Remus is a werewolf?"

"Yes."

"I sure have missed a lot, haven´t I?"

"Actually, Remus Lupin has been one since before he started at Hogwarts."

"Humph. Go on tell me more about James´ friends."

"Arabella Figg became an Auror and later a counselor, and is now teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. That´s all I know of my father´s friends."

"What about Peter Pettigrew?"

"Peter Pettigrew was no friend of my father´s!" Harry said vehemently.

"Whoa, calm down. How about Severus Snape?"

"What? Severus Snape, that slimy git! He and my father were friends at one time?"

"Well, yes, they were best friends as little boys. I gather from your response that he has never told you of their friendship."

"Snape has never told me anything about my father other than that he was arrogant because of a little talent on the Quidditch field. Then he tells me I have detention. Snape teaches Potions."

"Ok, now you are going to fill in the blanks of all this," Claudia said sternly.

"No way, first you tell me who you are and why we´re here talking in the first place," Harry demanded.

Claudia sighed, "Well, okay. Harry...I´m your grandmother."

"You´re my grandmother," Harry repeated.

"Yes."

"My grandmother?"

"Yes, Claudia Robertson Potter. I was James´ mother."

Harry, unable to really think about this fact for the moment, stored it away in his brain for future reference and asked Claudia a question, "Why did you ask about Dumbledore first?"

"He gets the stones next. I had to know if he was alive."

"What stones?"

"Have you ever heard of the Wizard´s Amulet?"

"No."

"It is an amulet made of three stones, one for power, one for knowledge and one for wisdom. It passes from person to person, but each time the current holder dies all the power wisdom and knowledge of that witch or wizard are taken into the stone. We call to the next owner. Dumbledore is the next owner. However, after I died Voldemort got a hold of the stone. He couldn´t use the amulet, nor did he have enough power to destroy it. So he did the next best thing, he silenced us and broke apart the three stones, hiding them in separate places. For a long time only he could hear us, and then, it seemed, nobody could hear us."

"Wow, but now I can hear you. I´m guessing that Voldemort could hear you also if he really wanted to."

"Yes, but I´m still not clear on why you can hear us."

"I think I have an idea as to why I can."

"Really? What?"

Harry was about to answer when his alarm clock rang. "Sorry!" he said hastily, "I´ll talk to you later, I have to go to breakfast and then classes."

And then he woke up.

All during breakfast Harry pondered the dream. He decided to tell no one about it. Had anyone even heard of the Wizard´s Amulet?

"Harry?" said a voice at lunch.

"What?" Harry jumped in surprise.

Everyone looked at him strangely.

"Did somebody say my name?"

"No. Are you feeling alright?" asked Ron to his right.

"Fine. I...just...uh...was daydreaming and thought I heard someone call my name." Harry stammered.

It will be easier if you just answered in your thoughts. That way your friends won´t think you´re completely off your rocker, said the same voice as before, which Harry recognized as his grandmother.

You scared me! Answered Harry, gulping down some pumpkin juice, So, we can talk even when I´m not dreaming?

Obviously.

Very funny, what do you want, asked Harry selecting a Ham biscuit for himself.

Well, the others won´t believe me, so do you mind if I introduce you to a couple of them?

Only a few, I have to go to class soon. Harry answered, picking up a turkey biscuit this time.

Okay, first, the man who created the Amulet and was the first one to put himself into it, Merlin.

Merlin! Harry´s eyes widened.

"You ok mate?" Ron asked, thinking Harry had choked.

"Fine," Harry answered quickly.

Harry? Can you really hear us? This was a very deep voice.

Er...yes sir. Harry answered nervously.

Now the quartet, you can get to know them later, but for now they just want to affirm that there is an open communication link, his grandmother spoke up again.

Hello! Came a chorus of voices

Hi, pleased to meet you! Harry answered, selecting some pudding.

He got to meet a few more people before he had to rush off to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Harry found it hard to concentrate and he knew Arabella had noticed because she talked to him after class. He didn´t tell her about the stones and the people talking to him in his dreams and in his waking moments. However, that night as soon as he fell asleep, they were there.

"Hello again Harry!" said his grandmother, "Now I want you to meet the quartet for real."

"Okay," Harry shrugged.

"I´m Rowena Ravenclaw"

"Salazar Slytherin."

"Helga Hufflepuff."

"Godric Gryffindor."

"Abud...mbu...nypt." was Harry´s response

"Very articulate, would you like to try again?" said Helga

"You´re the four founders!" Harry yelled.

"Very good!" said Godric.

"Whoa," was all Harry could respond with.

"Man of few words," observed Rowena.

"Harry," whispered Claudia, "you´re being rude to my friends."

"I...I´m pleased to meet you. I´m sorry, I just never expected...I mean you´re legends!"

"Well, famous people are still people," said Salazar reasonably.

Harry laughed, "Don´t I know it!"

"What do you mean by that?" Rowena pounced on it.

"Calm down, let him get used to us!" Helga said commandingly.

"Tell us about yourself," said Godric, trying to put him at ease.

"Well, I´m in my fifth year at Hogwarts, I´m in Gryffindor, although the Sorting Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin at first."

There was a snort from Salazar and a noise of approval from Godric.

"So, how are things going at the old castle?" Rowena asked, "Has anything interesting happened in the past twenty-seven years?" there was a challenge in her voice as though daring Harry to find something that interested her.

"Oh, I wouldn´t say nothing interesting has happened, in fact my first four year have been much more exciting than I am comfortable with," Harry answered the challenge dryly.

"Like what?" Rowena asked.

"Let me see, fourteen years ago Voldemort lost his power. You need to know..."

"What! You told me he was still alive!" Claudia cut in indignantly.

"I´ll explain it! As I was saying, you need to know that he fell in 1981 to understand some happenings at Hogwarts. My first year, Voldemort was sharing a body with the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. My second year, the Chamber of Secrets was opened and the basilisk was petrifying people. My third year, an escaped convict was heading for Hogwarts and dementors were guarding the school. Last year, the Triwizard Tournament was held and a student died and Voldemort regained his body."

There was complete silence.

"I think," Rowena said after a while, "it is safe to say I was wrong."

"Looks like this year won´t be too much different," Harry said, "it seems like I can never have a normal life!"

"Explain now! Harrison James Potter," Claudia demanded.

Harry sighed and told them the events of Halloween 1981, "There was a thirteen year respite, but Voldemort rose again last June." Harry concluded quietly.

"But," Helga said, "I still don´t understand why we can communicate with you now. Common sense says that the most likely time for any type of communication would have been while Voldemort was weak, not when he has just regained his powers."

"Well," Harry took a deep breath, "Voldemort used my blood to create his new body. That is why I can communicate with you, we are connected." Harry explained, without really going into the details of the Third Task.

"I´m sorry," Salazar said.

"Pardon me?"

"Well, he is my heir after all. However, let me explain something. I´ve had to tell this to every owner of the stones since the twelfth century. Your history books are skewed. I did protest the admittance of Muggle-borns to Hogwarts, however I was overruled. I was upset for a long time and unfortunately I passed those sentiments on to my son, Salazar the Second. Eventually I saw reason and realized that there was no good reason to keep the muggle-borns out. My son, however," Salazar sighed, "I taught him too well. It was ingrained and he made no attempt to change his prejudice against muggle-borns. He resented them, especially after a certain muggle-born witch began to show him up at every turn.

"I died attempting to deliver some muggle-born students to the school. It was very dangerous in those days. My son took my place on the Hogwarts staff, however, he felt I never received the recognition I deserved and blamed my death on Muggle-borns. He became bitter and wanted revenge, so he created the Chamber of Secrets. He was a parseltongues, like myself. He swore that all the heirs of Slytherin would honor me and cleanse Hogwarts in retribution for my death."

Harry was surprised and a bit skeptical; this was all too convenient, for Salazar Slytherin to be a good guy after all.

"I swear it!" Salazar said, sensing his doubt.

"I´ll attest to its truth," Godric spoke up.

"Okay then, let´s just rearrange Harry´s world. Anyone else want to pull the rug out, while I´m already down?" Harry joked to ease the tension and let them know he believed.

Over the next few nights Harry revealed his past, his story, to his grandmother and whoever else wanted to listen. The founders were there most nights; Merlin came once or twice.

Claudia, in turn, explained that they needed his help in retrieving the stones and delivering them to Dumbledore.

"But I know that if I tell anyone they´ll try and stop me. They´ll think it´s too dangerous!" argued Harry one night.

"Harry." Claudia said, frustrated, "you should tell Dumbledore! He´ll understand."

"Look, Grandma, the fewer people who know, the less chance there is that Voldemort finds out about me attempting to retrieve the Amulet."

"Tell Dumbledore!"

"Frankly, you can´t make me. I know them, okay? Only I can do what needs to be done and if someone else is with me, I won´t be able to act as you direct. Like you´ve explained, once I have the first stone I´ll be perfectly safe because I can draw on your power temporarily to protect myself."

Claudia sighed, "If I weren´t already dead, Dumbledore would kill me for this once he finds out. I see your point."

They discussed over and over how Harry would proceed, the order of retrieving the stones and when he should leave Hogwarts.

"Soon, Harry, you have to do it soon. If what you have told us is true, Dumbledore needs all the help he can get."

Harry tried a few nights later, but Ron and Hermione caught him trying to leave through the tunnel to Honeydukes.

"We´ve got a problem," he said when he got a chance to speak to his grandmother again in his sleep. He explained Dumbledore´s precaution. He kept trying different exits all week, but he couldn´t leave the castle.

"Grandma, ask the quartet if they know of any other secret passages out of Hogwarts."

"Sorry, Harry I don´t know any," Salazar said.

"Godric, Helga, Rowena?" Harry asked.

None of them knew any other passages. Then Rowena had an idea.

"Could there be a secret passage through the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Salazar, do you know?" Claudia asked.

"There could be," Salazar said in a tone that suggested a shrugging figure.

"Godric?" asked Harry, thinking that perhaps he might know more because he had died last of the four.

"Well," the founder of Harry´s own house mused, "Salazar´s son used to leave for days at a time, leaving without warning for me to find a replacement teacher. I never saw him leaving or returning and he was the only Parseltongue. I think it´s worth a go."

"Grandma," Harry said, "wake me up early tomorrow morning, please. I´ll try in the morning." He thought a moment and then sighed, "If this doesn´t work, I will go to Dumbledore tomorrow afternoon and explain the entire thing to him and hope he´ll let me go."

*************

Harry crept silently from his dorm, his now invisible Firebolt in one hand, wand in pocket and Invisibility Cloak draped over him. Stealing silently through the halls and down stairs he made his way to the girl´s bathroom.

"Harry! What are you doing here?" Myrtle exclaimed, floating out of her stall in surprise as Harry removed his Cloak and moved towards the sink.

"Myrtle, please don´t tell anyone I´ve been here!"

The ghost of the young girl frowned, "What are you doing?"

"Something I have to do. Please don´t tell anyone Myrtle!" with that, Harry opened the pipe and, mounting his broom, dove into the tunnel he had opened. Maneuvering carefully he made it past the caved-in section and then to the giant doors, "Open!" he commanded in Parseltongue. He held his breath and flew straight to the statue of Salazar Slytherin so that he would not have to smell or see the decaying basilisk corpse that still lay on the floor.

"Speak to me Slytherin!"

Oh, right, just leave off the `greatest of the Hogwarts four part,´ yeah, thanks, love you too Harry, Salazar said.

"When I said speak to me, I did not mean you!" Harry grumbled as the mouth of the statue opened. He flew in.

"Grandma, there is a tunnel. I´m not sure where it leads, or if it even leads out, but I can try it."

Be careful Harry. If you get hurt, I will never forgive myself, or you for that matter! I still can´t believe you refuse to tell Dumbledore.

Harry ignored the last part of her comment and flew down the long, dark, winding passage. After about 2 ½ hours of flying very cautiously so as not to fly into a wall Harry found the end of the tunnel. It opened out into a shallow cave settled in a forest.

Before stepping out Harry put on his invisibility cloak and activated the shrinking charm he had put on earlier; the less he used his wand here, the better. As soon as he was discovered missing he knew they would try and track his wand in case he did any magic.

"Harry!"

He was so surprised at this disembodied voice at hid ear that he tripped on a rock and fell down. He flailed about wildly for a moment before managing to regain his upright position. Guardedly he looked around, he saw nobody.

"Sorry, I didn´t mean to startle you!" Myrtle appeared at his elbow, causing him to stumble backwards, "I followed you. Then I went back and told Dumbledore. He told me to catch up with you again."

Harry scowled, "I told you not to tell anyone. Now go back!"

"Only if you come with me," she said, quite unlike her normal self. The responsibility she had been given had, at least for the time being, erased her brooding disposition.

"No, I will not go back right now. Go tell the Headmaster I´m fine." Harry readjusted his Invisibility cloak and turned away from the ghost.

"Nope, I´m following you if you don´t come back. Then if anything happens, at least there´ll be a witness."

"Great," muttered Harry sarcastically.

What´s wrong Harry? His grandmother asked.

Oh, we´ve just got a ghost following us. Is there any way to make her go away?

Not really, why is she following you anyway? Asked Claudia curiously.

Dumbledore ordered her to follow me. Harry thought in frustration.

Smart man.

Tch.

Harry ignored Myrtle and mounted his broom, making sure he couldn´t be seen nor his broom under the invisibility cloak, and followed the directions his Grandmother was telling him to House Labyrinth.

When he got there his grandmother said Remember, do exactly what I say.

I know! Harry responded, exasperated.

He then followed her instructions through the house. It took a few hours. Finally, though, he opened a door and found himself looking at a middle-aged witch. She had long dark-brown hair that was perfectly straight. She had blue eyes and was rather short.

"Welcome Harry," she said and Harry nearly jumped as he recognized the voice.

Grandma?

She nodded and smiled, "You are so close to the power stone that I can project this image. I´m not actually here, I am only in your mind, not a physical entity."

Where´s the stone?

"On the ledge, across the room."

Harry crossed the attic room and picked up the yellow and whit marble stone. He could feel the power inside, pulsing. For the rest of the day he conversed with his grandmother, learning more about his father´s childhood.

Grandma, he asked at one point, what did you mean when you said that Snape and my father were once friends? How could they have been friends? They hated each other in school!

"Well, for some reason, my husband Tyler Potter wanted them to be friends, even though the Snape Potter lines have always been big rivals. He used to invite Severus over and the two of them would have the best time together. I guess after I died their friendship took another turn."

After a while Harry yawned and realized he was very tired.

Where am I supposed to sleep?

"Just open the door you came in, it will lead to a bedroom."

Harry did so and found a quite comfortable room with a four-post bed more luxurious than his Hogwarts bed. He promptly crashed and fell asleep.

The next day he quickly left House Labyrinth.

What do I say to her? Harry thought nervously.

Don´t worry. Maria was my best friend and one of the few who knew I possessed the amulet. She was carrying it with her to take to Dumbledore, but she was attacked and it was taken.

And you´re sure she is still alive?

Yes! Claudia Potter said fiercely, she has to be. She can help us figure out how to break the spell because she was there when it was hidden and she was always very good at charms.

Arriving at a large Manor in London that Harry knew must have been invisible to Muggles, he knocked on the door.

"Yes?" a house-elf answered, opening the door.

"I would like to speak to Maria Townsend Black, please."

The house-elf´s eyes widened and she ushered him in quickly.

"Wait here!" she squeaked and scampered off, leaving him standing in the entrance hall that was probably the same size as the entire downstairs of the Dursley´s house.

A few minutes later an older witch entered. She had graying hair and appeared to be just as severe as Professor McGonagall.

"Who are you?" she asked bluntly.

"Mrs. Black?" Harry asked, holding out a hand to shake.

"How do you know my married name? I haven´t gone by that since...well for fourteen years!" She looked scared; she didn´t reach to shake his hand.

"I apologize, I can call you Mrs. Townsend, if you prefer."

She looked very startled, wondering how this young man knew her maiden name and married name when she had never met him before.

"No," she calmed herself a bit, "you can call me by my married name. I just haven´t used it since my son...." She trailed off and looked at her visitor expectantly.

"So Sirius is your son?" Harry asked connecting the clues that his grandmother had not bothered to do herself.

"Who are you?" she asked, getting agitated again.

"Sorry, Harry Potter," he extended his hand once again to shake.

She stared uncomprehendingly at it for a while and then her eyes drifted up to Harry´s forehead. Harry sigh, retracted his hand, and used it instead to move aside his bangs.

Mrs. Black sat down abruptly on a bench in the hallway.

"Are you here to claim retribution against my family, for your parents?" she asked, sounding as though this was her only hope of salvation.

"No, I´m here for a completely different reason. I need your help with something."

"What?" Mrs. Black asked, doubt filling her voice.

"How did Voldemort conceal the Wizard´s Amulet?"

Mrs. Black´s eyes widened in shock, this was most definitely not what she had been expecting.

"I need to know so that once I have all the stones I can remove the spell."

"B...but nobody can find the stones! He silenced them and hid them!"

"They aren´t silenced to me. I can hear them. Claudia, my grandmother, told me that you were carrying the Amulet to Dumbledore when you were attacked and they were stolen. You must have an idea of what spells he used!"

"I can help you figure out how to undo the spell he did." She answered finally.

"Thank you." Harry paused a moment and then asked, "Er...can I use your bathroom and shower?"

"Certainly. When was the last time you ate?" she added when his stomach gave a tremendous rumble.

"Dinner, night before last."

"I´ll make some food while you go get cleaned up. The bathroom is that way, up the stairs, first door on the left."

Harry nodded and turned in the direction she was pointing, and then he remembered something and turned back, "By the way, there´s a ghost following me. Her name is Myrtle. If she pops up just ignore her. She knows I´m mad at her for following me."

After Harry had showered and dressed in his robes again, which the house-elves had cleaned, the two ate.

Harry and Maria Black then moved into the living room and started discussing spells to reveal hidden things.

"I think," Mrs. Black said after a while, "that your best shot is a tailor-made spell with as much power as you can manage. I assume you have not yet learned magical theory?"

Harry shook his head.

"Well then, I can´t explain it to you all now, but just when you do a spell, it does what you expect you to do. So in a tailor made spell, you have to bend all your power and will those words to come true. Does that make sense?"

"I guess." Harry shrugged a little.

They spent the rest of the next hour coming up with words for Harry to use for an incantation.

"Thank you, Mrs. Black. Please, do me one more favor."

"What?"

"Don´t write and tell Dumbledore or anybody about me being here. As soon as I get the other two stones I can return and tell Dumbledore everything. But until then...you´re the only one who knows what I am doing. If an owl gets waylaid...I just don´t want Voldemort to get wind of what I´m attempting." Harry silently reminded himself that he was glad Mrs. Black was one of the witches who sided with Dumbledore and believed that Voldemort had returned.

"What!" Harry looked at Mrs. Black, startled. She suddenly looked very angry, "Do you mean to tell me that you left Hogwarts without permission and that Dumbledore is still unaware of your whereabouts?

"Correct, Ma´am." Harry said, his face flushed as he realized it probably would have been better if he had not even addressed this subject.

"You´re as bad as...." She stopped mid-sentence and looked guilty.

Harry sighed; he had to tell her, "Mrs. Black, I think there is something you need to know."

"What?" she asked her sudden anger, gone just as suddenly.

"Sirius is innocent."

She sighed and sat back in a chair, shaking her head with a pained expression on her face, "Harry, Dumbledore tried to tell me the same thing a year and a half ago. But I was there, I saw what happened." She was getting very upset.

"It´s true though! Sirius is innocent."

"Stop it!" she said sharply, "I know what happened. I saw it all! He was my son; I wish it could be true! But I have accepted it, and you need to too, Harry. Sirius betrayed your parents and murdered Peter Pettigrew and all those muggles. Given half a chance, he would kill you too!"

"Well," Harry said, deciding to chance it, "he has had plenty of chances then."

"What!?"

"Mrs. Black, I see Sirius almost everyday. We´ve been alone multiple times. If he had wanted to harm me he could have then. All Sirius has ever done is do his best to protect me."

"Are you saying that Sirius Black lives at Hogwarts?" she hissed in a low voice.

"Yes."

"And nobody recognizes him?"

"He´s ...disguised." Harry decided not to say that he was an illegal Animagus; that was not his secret to tell.

"Why are you telling me this? I could go straight to the ministry!"

"Because I think that deep down, you never really could accept that Sirius did those things. And I´m telling you, he´s innocent! Please, don´t go to the ministry. Sirius never even got a trial! If he is found he´ll be given the Dementor´s kiss. That would mean I´d loose the only adult who has ever been like a parent to me, it would also get myself and Dumbledore in trouble for harboring a fugitive."

"Alright Harry. I won´t go to the Ministry, but I will go to Hogwarts and talk to Dumbledore myself."

Harry sighed in relief, "Can you go to Hogwarts in three days? After I give Dumbledore the Amulet?"

"Fine, three days."

Harry left and flew to a camping ground Claudia directed him to.

Now, tonight, Death Eaters will gather around that boulder and receive instructions from Voldemort. He found out that even though he couldn´t use our power he could use the stone as a magical conductor. After the Death Eaters leave you can break the boulder. The red stone, the stone of wisdom, is at its center.

Harry hid in the bushes until dusk. Twenty or so Death Eaters gathered around the boulder and it started glowing red. Harry, though, wasn´t close enough to hear. He shifted uncomfortably and whined to his Grandmother, Why can´t I just attack them?

Because you wouldn´t stand a chance alone and we wouldn´t be able to augment your power because the Amulet´s powers can never be used offensively, they are purely defensive.

Harry sat tight until the Death Eaters left. Then he approached the boulder. Using a spell Claudia had told him he broke the boulder and retrieved the red and black marbled stone.

"Harry!"

He jumped and whirled and then saw the ghost he had almost forgotten was following him appear, "Myrtle! Honestly, you´re going to give me a heart attack!"

"They´re planning on attacking Tutshill tomorrow!" She told him, ignoring his last statement and not bothering to apologize.

Grandma, did you know Voldemort´s plan?

Of course! We know everything that is transmitted through the stone.

Were you going to tell me?

Yes!

Well then, what are we going to do?

Claudia sighed heavily, we have to go to Tutshill.

Harry mounted his broom and flung his Invisibility Cloak around himself as Myrtle disappeared from view also.

Claudia directed her grandson to Tutshill. Arriving after midnight, Harry found an alley where he curled up and went to sleep.

As dawn approached Claudia woke him up. You´re going to perform a very complex Shield Charm. I´m not going to explain all the details, just know that this will protect the people.

But, Harry responded, confused, how do I do it then.

Strictly speaking, you will not be doing it. We will be channeling our powers through you. Go to the north end of the main road. When he got there she continued, now, hold the yellow stone in your left hand and hold your wand out with your right hand. Just let us work through you.

Okay, I´m ready. Harry said doing as he was told.

Power was suddenly forcing itself through him, like an electrical current, and out of his wand. A blast of bright blue light briefly lit the early morning grayness. Harry then walked to the south end of the main road and once again he could feel the power coursing through his veins. This time the blast of light was yellow. As he retrieved his broom and Invisibility Cloak he looked at the small town and saw that there seemed to be a faint dome of green light surrounding the entire village. He just hoped it did what it was supposed to do.

Back to House Labyrinth? He silently asked Claudia, mounting his Firebolt again.

Yes.

Arriving at the old house once again, Harry followed his Grandmother´s instructions again. It took hours to get to the room, same as last time. However, this time Harry was getting very tired because he hadn´t had enough sleep the night before.

Finally though, he found the room.

Take the box out of the middle left hand drawer of the desk. Take the stone out of the box.

Harry did so and found a blue stone with gold streaks along with the Amulet´s setting and a thin gold chain.

Putting these new items in his pocket with the other two stones, Harry then found a bed and went to sleep.

As the sun rose over the horizon the next morning, Harry set off north, back towards Hogwarts. It was late afternoon when he flew to the entrance of Hogwarts grounds. Dismounting from his broom and removing his invisibility cloak he walked back onto the grounds.

He had only gone a little ways when he heard footsteps approaching. He looked up and saw Dumbledore. Neither said a word. Dumbledore placed a hand on Harry´s shoulder and walked with him back up to the school.

In the entrance hall the Headmaster spotted Hermione leaving the Great Hall.

"Ms. Granger," she turned and rushed over when she saw Harry, "Would you please go and tell snuffles to come to my office?" Looking at Harry for a few moments she then turned and rushed off.

Entering Dumbledore´s sitting room Harry immediately lay down on the couch and closed his eyes, but he did not go to sleep.

Grandma, will I still be able to talk to you and the others after I give Dumbledore the Amulet?

Yes. Remember this feeling, the feeling you get when we talk to you. Just call on that feeling again and then call to me. However, Albus comes first. Once he has accepted ownership of the stone we cannot let our power run through you. He will control the power completely and we can do nothing of our own will.