Harry Potter and the Crystalline Darkness

Chapter 28

It happened as Harry sat leaning against the wall in the Entrance Hall waiting for Sirius to return. Remus hadn't been able to get him any further into the castle than that and had eventually given up trying to persuade him to wait anywhere else. He sat down at the rear of the hall and simply waited.

He'd been there for nearly an hour when the first frisson of pain shot through his scar. He frowned and rubbed his forehead then turned his attention back to the doors. The next stab of pain made him gasp then the pain decided to settle in and it rapidly began to grow. Within a couple of minutes, Harry was curled up on the floor gasping in agony. He'd not even had time to scream.

The pain throbbed through his head and just as it began to overwhelm him, he heard a worried and frightened voice say, "Harry? Pronglet?" Then he passed out.

When he eventually drifted towards consciousness again, the first thing he heard was low voices talking near him.

"This is getting to be a habit that I really don't like."

"I wonder what happened."

"Something bad."

"Thank you, Padfoot. Because I couldn't have worked that out on my own."

"Your welcome, Moony. When do you think he's going to wake up?"

Harry drew in a deep breath and felt someone grab his hand.

"I think he's waking up now." Harry finally identified that voice as Remus.

"Harry?" That one was Sirius.

"Mmmph," Harry murmured as he rolled onto his side and curled up.

He felt a hand run through his hair.

"Harry? Can you wake up a bit more?" Sirius said softly.

Harry grumbled and slowly opened his eyes as slits. He shut them again immediately.

"Black," he murmured.

"What? Me?" Sirius said, sounding rather confused.

Harry heard a snort of laughter from Remus.

"I think he meant all he could see was black," the werewolf explained. "His Oversight probably shut down during whatever happened. Harry, don't start it up again. Not yet anyway."

Harry nodded into his pillow and muttered, "Sleepy."

He felt the hand card through his hair again.

"Go to sleep, Pronglet. We just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Mmm'kay," Harry muttered as sleep claimed him.

Sirius ran a hand down his face and looked over at his friend. "Do you think he's really okay?"

"I think so," Remus replied. "I think he would have told us if anything was terribly wrong."

A soft knock at the bedroom door made both men turn and Remus got to his feet. He walked quietly over to the door and opened it a fraction.

"How is young Harry?" Dumbledore asked gently.

Remus opened the door further to allow the Headmaster entry.

"He woke a minute ago," Remus said. "But he fell asleep again fairly quickly."

"Severus asked me to bring these up to you," Albus said, handing a small box to the werewolf. "When I reported what had happened to Poppy, he insisted that I fetch these from his rooms. He says you will know what they are for."

The twinkle in the Headmaster's eyes indicated that Snape had said so much more and that some careful editing had just been done.

Remus flipped the lid open and, after a moment of study, nodded. "They're stronger potions than Poppy normally has. One's for headaches, treating Cruciatus, muscle soreness. Harry's taken these before."

"Did he say what caused this?" the Headmaster asked, looking kindly at the sleeping Harry.

"No," Sirius replied. "I don't think he completely woke up."

"Then we must wait," Albus said with a sigh before he turned and quietly left the room.

Sirius sighed and returned to his place beside Harry's bed.

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The next time Harry swam towards consciousness he immediately regretted it. His head was pounding and his body ached. He groaned and heard someone shuffle around near the bed.

"Harry?" came Remus' voice.

"Urgh," Harry said in response.

Remus chuckled. "How are you feeling?"

"Don' ask," Harry moaned.

"Severus sent some potions up for you," Remus said softly. "Do you think you can sit up a bit to take them?"

"Do I have to?" Harry said, a hint of whining entering his voice.

"Yes, I think so," Remus replied.

Harry felt an arm slip behind his shoulders and then he was lifted slightly. He groaned as that made his head pound some more and his muscles complained vociferously then he felt a vial placed at his lips.

"Drink up," Remus said firmly. "You'll feel better."

Harry grimaced then obediently swallowed the bitter-tasting potion. "Urgh, that's awful," he complained.

"I know," Remus replied, amusement clear in his voice. "They always are. Here drink this one as well."

Harry felt another vial placed at his lips and he swallowed that potion as well. Remus lowered him back onto the bed and he curled up on his side as he waited for the potions to take effect. Slowly the pounding in his head began to subside and the ache in his muscles lessened. He rolled back onto his back and opened his eyes, seeing nothing but blackness.

"Feeling better?" Remus asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you think you can sit up?"

Harry nodded again and with Remus' help levered himself into a sitting position. "Where's Siri?"

"Asleep, thank Merlin," Remus replied, amusement once again creeping into his voice. "He's been driving everyone crazy. I think exhaustion got him about an hour ago."

"How long have I been out?" Harry asked, a little worried.

"Two days," came the reply. "I gather it was something to do with Voldemort?"

"Yeah," Harry replied. "But I don't really know what it was. I've never felt anything like it before."

"Well, let's leave it until the Headmaster and Sirius can be here," Remus said soothingly. "No point telling the tale more than once."

Harry nodded. "I think I remember you telling me not to activate my Oversight. Why?"

"We weren't sure what happened but Poppy and the Headmaster seemed to think it had something to do with magic," Remus explained. "When Sirius first brought you to the Hospital Wing there were signs of some kind of unknown magic on you. Poppy used a simple diagnostic charm on you and it...well, fizzled out would probably be the best way of putting it. The magic just seemed to disappear. That's why I told you not to use your Oversight. You still had traces of that strange magic on you and I didn't want you to try your Oversight and have it fail."

"Oh," Harry said with surprise. "Can I use it now?"

Remus hesitated. "I...would rather that you wait until Poppy or the Headmaster can ascertain whether the magic is still present. If it made a simple diagnostic charm disappear, I have no idea what it might do to a spell as complex as the Oversight spell must be."

Harry sighed but nodded. "Can I get up then? And where am I?"

"We moved you to the suite once we were sure there wasn't anything physically wrong with you so you're in your bedroom," Remus said. "And yes, you can get up if you feel up to it."

"Yeah, thanks to those potions, my head doesn't hurt anymore and the aches are down to what I might get out of Quidditch," Harry said as he pushed the blankets back.

"Do you want any help?" Remus asked as he moved back from the bed.

Harry paused then shook his head. "No, I think I know my way around here well enough." He groped towards the bedside table until his fingers brushed his cane and he grabbed it. "Besides you're here to stop me from bumping into walls if I make a wrong turn."

Remus chuckled as the two of them made their way out into the living room where Harry collapsed onto the couch. Remus joined him and Harry leaned into the older man.

"I'm surprised you don't have a plethora of Weasleys camped out in here," Harry observed after a minute.

Remus laughed. "Well, we did for a while then Sirius threatened them with bodily harm if they didn't vacate the place. He got a bit grumpy there for a while."

"Did not," came Sirius' sleepy voice from across the room.

"Did too," Remus replied with a laugh as Sirius slouched his way over to the couch and joined his friend and godson.

"Well maybe," Sirius conceded. "How are you feeling, Pronglet?"

"Um, okay," Harry replied. He was silent for a moment. "Why did you do that?"

"What? Evict the Weasleys?" Sirius asked, sounding confused.

"No," Harry said flatly. "Run off like that after we heard about Wormtail."

"Oh, that," Sirius said. "I'm sorry, Pronglet. I didn't mean to worry you, I just..." His voice trailed off and he took a few deep breaths. "I just want him gone," he choked out. "I don't want to have to think about him ever again. And I don't want to take the risk that he's going to cause more damage or...or take away someone else I care about. It just got a bit much for a moment and I always thought better on the bike."

"Oh," Harry said with understanding. "I guess I think better when I'm flying." He paused. "I was just afraid you'd run off to try and find him."

"No! No, I wouldn't do that," Sirius said hastily. "The last thing I want is to end up back in bloody Azkaban again."

Harry sighed with relief. "Oh, okay."

Sirius pulled Harry into a warm hug. "I would never do anything that would leave you alone."

"Oi!" Remus said with amused objection. "What am I then? Chopped liver?"

"Well, you do have a tendency to resemble chopped liver the day after a full moon," Sirius teased.

"Oh, thank you, Padfoot. Your charm has overwhelmed me," Remus said dryly as Harry snickered. One of the things he'd learnt since Remus had become his guardian was that the werewolf wasn't one to get overly precious about the way his transformations left him feeling or looking. He always said that years of James and Sirius' bad jokes had left him immune and anyway the comments were usually reasonably funny.

"Well, I am a very charming person," Sirius said matter-of-factly. "So it makes sense that you would be overwhelmed."

Harry heard Remus make a retching sound. "Quick! Where's Madam Pomfrey?" Remus demanded urgently, grabbing at Harry's sleeve. "I'm feeling nauseous and I think I'm going to be sick."

Harry dissolved into laughter as he generally did whenever Sirius and Remus degenerated into behaving like they were back in school. As he laughed he heard Sirius splutter indignantly as Remus continued to poke fun at his supposed charms.

"Jun'ko likes my charms," Sirius said in a tone that was half sulky and half amused.

That statement brought Harry's laughter to an end and he gaped at his godfather then scowled as he realised how pointless that was at the moment when he couldn't see the man.

"She does?" he asked, unsure of what it was he was actually asking.

Sirius seemed to figure it out almost immediately. "Whoa, Harry! No! No, no, no. Not like that! I mean Jun'ko's very nice and all but she's...well, a little young really."

"She's about the same age as Tonks," Remus said in a flat tone that confused Harry even more.

"I...well, yes, I know," Sirius said in a garbled voice. "And I'm not saying it's wrong or anything, Moony. I'm just saying I think Jun'ko's too young for me."

Harry blinked and stared into the blackness for a moment as he put all of that together in his mind then his head suddenly swivelled in the general direction of Remus.

"Tonks?" he said incredulously.

He felt Remus stiffen beside him. "She's...a lovely woman," he said in a tone that was both defensive and indignant.

Harry blinked again; this was not how he'd thought this day would go. On the other hand, it had effectively distracted him from what had happened.

"Well, yes," Harry said feeling unaccountably baffled. "You and Tonks? Really?"

"You don't approve?" Remus' voice was flat and toneless and Harry's eyes widened in shock.

"Of course I approve!" he half-yelled. "I like Tonks! She's great. I just...didn't realise that you liked her. I know I've been a bit wrapped up in my own stuff but I...just didn't notice."

"Well, it is sort of recent," Remus said softly.

"What Moony means to say," Sirius said with great affection, "is that he's been so busy insisting that's he's somehow not worthy of being loved and cared for by a gorgeous woman that until recently he completely missed the way my cousin has been throwing herself at him at every opportunity."

"She has?" Harry asked with slowly growing amusement. "I can't believe I missed that as well!"

"Well, okay," Sirius conceded. "She has been smart enough not to do it in public. Like most women, she's not particularly fond of being rejected in public. Besides I think she was also smart enough to realise that Moony wouldn't do anything in public. So she's been ambushing him secretly."

"I wasn't rejecting her," Remus protested weakly. "I...just thought she could do better than a battered old werewolf."

"Nonsense!" Sirius said cheerfully then he paused for a moment. "Dammit! The only thing I can refute there is that you're old. You're not old, Moony, because that would mean I'm old. And I'm not old! But you are a werewolf and I suppose you are a bit battered."

"Oh, thank you, Padfoot," Remus said with amused indignation. "Once again your charm overwhelms me."

"You mean you're not a werewolf?" Sirius said with mock-amazement. "You've been lying to me for all these years? How could you, Moony?"

Harry dissolved into laughter again at Sirius' falsely shocked tone of voice and this time he was joined by the two men. When he finally got himself under control he turned in the direction of Remus again.

"I'm sorry, Remy," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to imply that I was unhappy or anything. I was just surprised, that's all."

"That's alright, Harry," Remus replied. "I...think I'm just a little defensive about it. It's not going to be...easy for either of us. There are those who won't like the idea of a young woman like Tonks getting involved with a werewolf."

"Then they're stupid," Harry said staunchly. "If Tonks doesn't mind then it's none of their business."

"Hear, hear!" cheered Sirius. "Harry's right, Moony. Don't let the idiots get to either of you."

Remus' reply was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"That's it," Remus grumbled good-naturedly as he stood. "Arrange for someone to arrive to get you both off the hook."

"You mean you're glad someone arrived to get you off the hook of all the questions Harry was about to ask you," Sirius said laughingly.

Remus gave an amused growl as he opened the door. "Headmaster! Severus! Welcome! Do come in!"

Both Albus and Severus looked a bit startled at Remus' fervent greeting. However when they saw the mischievous expressions on Harry and Sirius' faces the Headmaster started to chuckle while Severus rolled his eyes and huffed. The two men came in and sat down in the armchairs by the fire while Remus rejoined Harry and Sirius on the couch.

"Well, Harry, you do look much better than the last time I saw you," the Headmaster said cheerfully.

"Thank you, sir," Harry replied. He looked over at where he thought Snape must be sitting given where the Headmaster's voice had come from and where he knew the chairs were placed. Sirius and Remus were always careful not to move the furniture around without warning him. "I'm glad you're out of the Hospital Wing, Professor."

"No doubt not as glad as I am, Mr Potter, but thank you nonetheless," Severus replied, slightly disconcerted by the once-more sightless gaze being pointed in his general direction. He wasn't aware how much he gotten used to Potter using his Oversight.

"Oh, no sir," Harry said dryly. "I completely understand the wild elation and the desire to run as far away as possible whenever you get out of Madam Pomfrey's clutches."

"Yes, I suppose you would," Severus said, his tone as dry as Harry's had been.

Harry snickered as Remus and Sirius snorted with amusement.

"Well be that as it may," Dumbledore interjected, his own amusement quite plain. "I believe we should get down to the matter at hand. I see that you are not using your Oversight, Harry."

"Yeah, Remus told me about what happened," Harry said.

"Then let me just ascertain whether you must continue like this," the Headmaster said before falling silent.

Harry heard the rustling of robes that must have meant Dumbledore was getting his wand then he felt an odd sensation wash over him. It wasn't painful, just strange and slightly warming. The Headmaster sighed as his robes rustled again and Harry assumed he was putting his wand away.

"I am afraid you must remain as you are for a while longer, Harry," Dumbledore said regretfully. "There are still some lingering traces of that strange magic."

"Oh," Harry said a little nervously. "Well, that's okay. I...remember how to get around without my Oversight and it is the holidays at the moment. It should be gone by the time school starts again in the New Year, shouldn't it?"

There was a moment of silence that didn't do much for his spirits then Dumbledore said calmly, "Yes, I'm sure it will, Harry. And if it is not, we will find a way to work around things. No doubt Master Nhean will be a font of useful knowledge."

Harry nodded firmly though he was unable to hide the nervous tremor that ran through him and he knew Sirius and Remus would have picked it up. That thought was confirmed when Sirius spoke.

"Do you know what the magic is, Albus?" the animagus asked in tones of frustration and worry.

"No," Dumbledore replied calmly. "It has so far defied our ability to understand it. Revealing spells do not work against it nor does any kind of diagnostic or locating spell. You know that, Sirius, you were there when I performed them. The spell I use does not touch Harry; it merely identifies any magic on him. We can do no more for now. The only other spells we could use to determine what the magic is could harm Harry."

Harry felt his godfather slumped down on the couch beside him and he reached out and patted the man on the first part of him that he found, which turned out to be his arm.

"It's okay, Siri," he said as confidently as he could manage. "It doesn't hurt much anymore since I took the potions Professor Snape sent up and I'm not getting anything through the link either. I did get used to walking around the castle blind and without Oversight before Master Nhean taught me that spell."

"Yes, he did," Remus said proudly. "You weren't here then, Padfoot. Harry is very capable of getting around Hogwarts." He paused and said the next bit very slyly. "He's had a lot of practice."

"Yes, indeed," came Severus' sour contribution and it caused Harry to start laughing again.

"Well, I think we should leave Harry's experience with the castle for another time," Dumbledore said cheerfully before continuing in a sober voice. "Harry, can you tell us what happened?"

Harry's laughter stopped almost instantly and he hunched a bit. He felt an arm come round him from either side and forced himself to relax a bit.

"I don't really know how much I can tell you," he said slowly. "I was waiting for Siri in the Entrance Hall and I felt some pain through my scar. It went away for a second then it came back and just kept getting stronger and stronger until I passed out."

"How long were you waiting in the Hall?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry shrugged slightly. "About an hour, I think, but I'm not sure exactly."

"That sounds about right," Sirius added. "I was gone for about an hour, give or take."

"And how long did the pain last?" Dumbledore asked.

"Um, I don't know," Harry said uncomfortably. "Maybe five minutes or so before I passed out."

"Harry was curled up in utter agony when I found him," Sirius said in a flat voice. "And he passed out just as I got to him."

"So, quick onset and quite intense," Albus mused. "You received nothing other than the pain then, Harry?"

"Just the pain," Harry confirmed.

"Hmm, curious," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "Clearly Voldemort was doing something of a magical nature that has backlashed down the link between the two of you."

"Were you shielding your mind?" Severus asked abruptly.

"Of course," Harry replied indignantly. "I never forget that now."

"So we can assume that it was not deliberate," Albus mused. "Perhaps some magic that got away from him." The Headmaster hummed for a moment then he continued, his voice brisk. "Severus, Harry, I wish you to continue looking through Voldemort's journal as soon as Harry feels up to it. It may be that there are some answers in there if only of the negative kind."

"Huh?" Harry said, looking confused.

"Your eloquence is astounding as always, Mr Potter," Snape said with amusement. "What the Headmaster means is that we may be able to find out what it is not which will go some way to finding out what it is."

"Oh, process of elimination," Harry said in understanding.

"Very good," Snape replied with a hint of sarcasm.

Harry felt his godfather draw in a breath and decided to head of anything potentially unpleasant.

"I do pay attention to Hermione sometimes, sir," he said in a deliberately offhand manner. "Not often but sometimes."

He grinned at the snort of amusement he heard from the Potions Master's direction and looked over towards the Headmaster.

"I'm willing to try it," he said firmly.

"Excellent," Dumbledore said with satisfaction. "Now, I think Severus and I shall leave you to finish your recovery in peace and quiet though, since I have no doubts that your friends will be down soon for news of your condition, that may not last."

With that the Headmaster and Snape rose and left the room.