Harry Potter and the Crystalline Darkness

Chapter 33

Harry sat on the ledge of the window and wrapped his arms around his bent legs as he rested his chin on one knee. He knew it wouldn't be too long before someone came looking for him, it was just a matter of who. Sirius, Ron and Ginny would be able to track him the easiest but Ron also knew where he kept the Marauder's Map so it could be any of them really. He didn't mind that. He wasn't really upset per se so much as unsettled by the revelations Ichiro had made about what was affecting his Oversight.

A sudden scratching sound in the room drew his attention and he looked in the direction it had come from, scowling when he realised how useless that gesture was.

"Siri?" he said quietly. "Ron? Ginny?"

There was no answer. The odd rushing sound of the animagus transformation could be heard in the room then the sound of someone breathing could be heard.

"Who's there?" Harry said sharply, wishing he hadn't left his cane behind and that his Oversight worked.

The breathing increased in speed. "Potter," a vaguely familiar voice muttered.

Harry eased off the ledge he had been sitting on and quickly changed back into Blaze. He had his usual moment of disorientation as he adjusted to being able to see again then he looked over in the direction of the voice and breathing sounds. He let out a startled yelp as he recognised Pettigrew then a low growl began deep in his throat and chest.

The sound seemed to shake something deep inside the distracted Pettigrew and he whirled around, his eyes alert for the first time since he'd escaped from the Ministry. He saw the massive black canine standing in the shadows on the other side of the room and his eyes widened. Inside his abused and weakened brain something detached itself and he backed away from the canine until his back hit the stone wall of the room.

"P...Padfoot?" he stammered, fearful insanity lurking in his eyes. "Padfoot, old friend? Have you come to kill me? I...I didn't mean to betray you all. But wh...what could I do? He's s...so strong, so p...powerful."

The growling that had continued on through all of this faltered for a moment as Harry tried to work out what was going on. Then he saw the look in Pettigrew's eyes, saw the insanity lurking there and he hesitated. This hesitation seemed to encourage Pettigrew and he started to creep forward.

"P...please say you'll f...forgive me," Wormtail pleaded. "P...please say you w...won't kill me. You c...can't kill me. I...I owe H...Harry a life debt. I can't d...die with that still there. P...please."

He'd crept closer by this stage and Harry suddenly realised he was soon going to be close enough to tell that he wasn't Padfoot. He started growling again and gave a mental sigh of relief when Pettigrew squeaked and froze in place. He was still trying to work out what to do next when a small movement in the doorway caught his eye and he saw a small marmalade cat staring at both he and Pettigrew with worry and concern.

There was some more movement in the darkness of the doorway and this time it caught Pettigrew's attention. He was just about to look around when Harry growled more fiercely and let out a single angry bark. Pettigrew gave a shrill scream and immediately dropped into a crouch, huddling close to the floor.

"D...don't kill m...me, P...Padfoot," he whimpered. "P...please don't k...kill me."

Dumbledore and Snape stepped quietly into the room, sidestepping the marmalade cat that was Ginny. The Headmaster eyed the terrified former Marauder with sadness and regret while Snape looked at him with undisguised loathing and contempt. Dumbledore gave Harry a small nod then pointed his wand at Pettigrew.

"Stupefy," the Headmaster said kindly.

Pettigrew only had time to gasp and raise his head before the spell hit him. He collapsed into a boneless sprawl on the floor and did not move.

Harry stayed where he was as Ginny changed back and ran over to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked, her tone worried.

Harry made a small whuffing noise to calm her down and looked pointedly at the Headmaster.

"I believe we can count on Kingsley and Tonks to ensure that he will not escape again," Dumbledore said calmly. "And the teachers and I will look into how he managed to get in."

Harry gave a small bark and gave the Headmaster another significant look before turning that look on Ginny and Snape and returning to the Headmaster.

"Ah, I believe I understand what you're asking," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. "Miss Weasley was attempting to locate you and discovered Mr Pettigrew. She returned to inform us and then led us up here where we arrived at a rather fortuitous time."

"Harry, why aren't you changing back?" Ginny asked, sounding worried.

Harry just gave her a long look.

"I believe that Mr Potter wishes to see what is going on, not merely hear it," Snape said, eyeing Harry with curiosity.

Harry gave a short bark.

"I can certainly understand that desire, Harry, but I do need to know what happened here," the Headmaster said gently.

Harry let out a gusty sigh and transformed back into his human form. The moment he did Ginny tucked her arm into his and leaned against him.

"I was up here...thinking when I heard something," Harry said, his expression rather unhappy. "A scratching sound. Then I heard the noise of someone using the animagus transformation. At first I thought it was Siri or Ron or Ginny but I didn't an answer. Then I heard someone say 'Potter' and the voice sounded kind of familiar. I changed into Blaze and saw it was Pettigrew. I...he saw me then and he mistook me for Padfoot. He was...sort of raving. He didn't really look...sane."

"Nothing else happened before we arrived?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry shook his head. "No, he just spoke. He didn't cast any spells or anything."

"Good," the Headmaster said with relief. "Perhaps you are ready to return to the main part of the school with Miss Weasley?"

Harry hesitated then Ginny tightened her grip on his arm and he nodded. "Yes, sir."

Harry allowed Ginny to lead him out of the room, hesitating when he reached the Headmaster's side.

"Don't tell Siri until Pettigrew's gone," he pleaded quietly. "Please."

Dumbledore patted Harry's shoulder. "Of course."

With that the young couple left and walked down the corridor.

"Thanks," Harry said softly after several minutes.

"For what?" Ginny asked.

"For what you did," Harry elaborated. "I...don't know what I would have done if I'd been left to deal with Pettigrew on my own. The only way I could see him was as Blaze and I...really didn't want to attack him that way."

"It would have been very messy," Ginny said with a straight face.

"Ginny!" Harry said, sounding slightly scandalised.

Ginny laughed. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I don't think it would have come to that. I think he would have run before you could have done anything and not even Blaze could follow a rat into the kind of places he could get into."

"You could," Harry said with a small smile.

"Not everywhere," Ginny corrected him. "Why do you think I went and got the Headmaster? I lost Pettigrew when he crawled into a hole in the wall."

"Good point," Harry said.

He was just about to continue when the blackness of his vision suddenly flickered. He came to an abrupt stop and gripped Ginny's arm tightly as he gasped.

"Harry?" Ginny said worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"I...I...something happened with my sight," Harry stammered as he stared intently into the darkness and willed the flicker to return.

Almost as thought it had heard him, the flickering started again and flashes of colours began to appear before Harry's eyes.

"Is whatever's happening stopping?" Ginny said, starting to sound excited.

"I...don't know," Harry said as the flickering intensified.

Just then the flickering stopped and the energy colours of the school bloomed in Harry's Oversight. He made a strangled noise and his grip tightened even further on Ginny's arm.

"Harry," Ginny said, biting her lips. "Your grip..."

Harry looked over at her, seeing her energy colours for the first time in weeks. He looked down at where his hands were holding her arm then realised how tightly he was gripping. He let go with an oath and caught her hand gently in his.

"I'm so sorry," he stammered.

"It's okay," Ginny said quickly. "Can you see me?"

A wide grin broke out on Harry's face. "Yes!" he said fervently.

Ginny gave a crow of delight and threw arms around Harry's neck in a fierce hug. Harry returned the hug then took a deep breath to settle himself down.

"There's no guarantee it'll stay like this," he said firmly as though he was trying to convince himself as much as Ginny. "We don't know whether this is just because Voldemort's found something else to do or because he's actually stopped what he's been doing."

"It's still a good sign," Ginny said firmly.

"I need to tell Master Nhean," Harry said suddenly. "He needs to know that his theory was right."

"Oh, he'll be in the training room," Ginny said with embarrassment realising she'd forgotten to return to the Night Master to tell him what was going on.

Harry immediately started down the corridor, giving his girlfriend an amused look as he did.

"He told you to go looking for me, didn't he?"

Ginny blushed. "Yes," she admitted. "He was worried. So was I for that matter."

Harry smiled wryly. "That's okay. I was kind of expecting someone to turn up eventually. That why when I heard the sound of someone using the animagus transformation I immediately assumed it was Siri or you or Ron."

"Why only the three of us?" Ginny asked as they continued walking down the corridor, their hands entwined.

Harry looked around at the energy flowing through the school and answered absently, "I knew I'd really gone deep into the school and probably the best way to find me would be to follow my scent trail. You, Ron and Siri are the best ones to do something like that."

Ginny chuckled. "I was actually doing that when I found Pettigrew." She paused. "Why didn't you want the Headmaster to tell Sirius? He's not likely to running off to try and kill him now, surely?"

"I don't think he would but I also don't want to take any chances," Harry replied. "I rather not tell him until Wormtail is safely in Ministry hands."

"Assuming they don't lose him again," Ginny said sourly.

"Both Kingsley and Tonks have assured me that won't happen," Harry said, his voice as sour as Ginny's.

"Do you believe them?" Ginny asked.

"I believe them," Harry replied. "It's just the rest of the Ministry I'm not so sure of."

By this stage they had reached the training room and they walked in to find Nhean waiting for them, pacing the far end of the room. He whirled around when he heard them enter and his eyes widened as he saw Harry walking across the room with confidence.

"We were right, weren't we?' Nhean said with conviction. "Your Oversight is working again."

"It came back as we were walking down here," Harry said with a grin. "So about five or ten minutes, I guess."

"Let us hope that Voldemort is finished then," Nhean said then he paused. "That didn't quite come out the way I wanted."

Harry laughed. "That's okay, I understood what you were saying."

Nhean chuckled. "That's good to hear. Now, I suggest that you and Ginny head back to your dormitories while I go and hunt up Tien and Jun'ko and send a message to Ichiro. We need to make some preparations in case this is over."

Harry sobered and nodded. "I'll let the others know as well as the DA."

"Thank you," Nhean replied.

The Night Master then handed Harry his cane and ushered the two students out of the training room. They then separated as Harry and Ginny headed for Gryffindor Tower while Nhean all but ran towards the teacher's rooms where Jun'ko and Tien had been housed.

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Harry slowly woke the next morning and took a deep breath as he turned over. He smiled lazily as he opened his eyes and started his Oversight.

Blackness.

He sighed and closed his eyes, swallowing hard as he fought back the tears. He'd hoped this was over. As bad as that might be since it would mean that Voldemort was ready for whatever he was planning, at least it would mean that he could use his Oversight again. He let out a long, ragged sigh and groped for his cane. Once he had it in his hand, he got up and headed for the bathroom. He stood under the hot water until Ron came in and told him he'd be late for breakfast. The redhead also left a change of clothes for him and Harry slowly dried off and got dressed. Once that was done he trailed down the stairs to the common room.

"It didn't last," Ginny said sadly when he walked into the room.

"No," Harry said around the lump in his throat.

"Well," Ginny said uncomfortably. "That's...good and bad, I guess."

"Yeah," Harry said softly then he sighed and held out one hand. "Guess it's back to you leading me around."

Ginny walked over and tucked his hand in her arm. "I like leading you around," she said, her smile invading her voice. "Makes this much easier."

She leaned over at that point and kissed him. Harry was still for a moment then he kissed back.

"Guess it does," Harry said when they separated. "And I guess don't mind being led around that much after all."

"Good," Ginny said with a laugh. "Let's go down to breakfast."

Ginny led Harry out of the common room and down the stairs to the Great Hall. When they sat down at the Gryffindor table, Ginny stopped any questions with a shake of her head. The other Gryffindors in the Battle Guard nodded and Ron drew Harry into a discussion about Quidditch. Harry's answers were slightly disinterested at first then Ron made a suggestion that stood on the precipice between ludicrous and faintly possible and Harry's full attention was captured.

"What?" he said, his head whipping around to stare in Ron's direction.

"Thought that'd get your attention," Ron said with a wicked laugh. "So what do you think?"

"I think you're insane," Harry said with a shake of his head. "If you tried that on broom I think you'd fall off."

"Not of you flew fast enough," Ron objected.

Harry considered that. "Well, true but you'd have to fly pretty fast. Most brooms wouldn't be able to handle that kind of speed."

"Your Firebolt could," Ron insisted.

"Maybe," Harry said dubiously. "But I'm not sure I want to find out. If it can't I'll end up in the Hospital Wing again and Merlin only knows what Madam Pomfrey would do to me."

"Oh, yeah," Ron said with a laugh. "She'd probably kill you."

"Well, I doubt she'd do that," Harry said dryly. "She's a mediwitch after all but who knows what else she'd do to me."

"After all, those you can put you back together usually know how to take you apart," Ginny said with a grin.

"Exactly," Harry said fervently. "And considering how many times I've been in there, she's likely..."

He broke off with a gasp and closed his eyes reflexively as energy colours bloomed in front of him. He waved a hand at his friend to ward off the babbled questions then slowly opened his eyes. Once he'd gotten used to the colours he looked at his friends.

"It's back again," he said with a smile.

"Is it going to stay this time?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged as he looked around with relief. "I hope so. I'd better tell Master Nhean."

He got up from the bench and grabbed his cane before heading up towards the Head Table. Master Nhean was sitting next to Remus and was talking to both him and Sirius. When he saw Harry approaching with such confidence he fell silent. Remus and Sirius stared at him for a moment then turned to see what he was looking at.

"Your Oversight is back," Sirius exclaimed with delight.

"For now at least," Harry replied. "But it didn't last the night so it may disappear again."

"A pity we didn't think of this possibility earlier," Nhean said with regret. "It would be useful to know if they are finished now or this is just Voldemort taking a break."

"The question I'd like answered is why it's leaking down the link," Remus said with concern.

"I've been thinking about that," Nhean said. "If I recall correctly, no one is entirely sure how the link works, yes?"

"Correct," came Snape's voice from the other side of Sirius. "It certainly lies deeper than the level at which Legilimency and Occlumency normally work."

"Then my speculation is that the periods when Harry's Oversight doesn't work are when Voldemort is within the sphere of influence of the spell," Nhean explained. "Whether or not he is the one casting the spell is irrelevant. He is within the spell's range."

"So I could have been able to use my Oversight before this if I'd kept it active?" Harry said with chagrin.

"Well, yes," Nhean said sympathetically.

"Great," Harry muttered. "Then I've been through all of this for nothing."

"Not for nothing," Sirius said soberly. "We're pretty sure Voldemort's using this spell Nhean told us about and that means at least part of his plan becomes pretty obvious."

"True," Remus said slowly. "Voldemort's obviously heard of what happened when the spell was originally used. The Guild was nearly wiped out. He obviously intends to get you within the spell's influence somehow."

"At which point all the training you've been doing lately without using your Oversight suddenly becomes very important," Sirius finished.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Harry said with a frown.

"What really need to know now is how long before Voldemort's finished with his set-up with the spell and how he intends to get Harry out of the school," Remus said grimly. "This isn't like...like the last time. Harry's family is here. There's nothing to lure him out."

"What about the Dursleys?" Harry said with a grimace, "I don't particularly like them but I wouldn't want either Aunt Petunia or Dudley to get hurt because of me. And they've used Dudley before."

"Damn! I forgot about that," Sirius said abruptly. "I'd better let Albus know. He'll be able to put some kind of protection in place."

"I doubt Dudley would listen to him but I think Aunt Petunia would," Harry said. "But I'm not sure Dudley even listens to his mother that much anymore, if he ever did."

"Let Dumbledore take care of that," Sirius said firmly. "And if you get any visions about them, don't go running off to try and save them. Come to one of us and let us deal with it."

"Don't worry, I won't," Harry said fervently.

Remus elbowed Sirius and gave him a sharp look. Sirius grimaced back at him and looked at Harry.

"Just don't leave the school grounds without letting someone know," Sirius said.

"Yeah, okay," Harry replied. "I'd better get going. I've got classes."

Harry turned and headed back towards his friends. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that conversation. He knew Professor Dumbledore would do his best to protect his Aunt and cousin, he just wasn't sure it would be enough. The blood protections wouldn't work anymore since he no longer considered Privet Drive to be home. Still maybe there was something he could do...

"Hey, Harry! Where are you going?" Ron said as Harry walked straight past them.

"I've got something I need to do," Harry replied. "I'll see you all in Charms."

With that he made his way out of the Great Hall and up to the owlery. He felt the same pang when he walked in that he always did at the reminder of Hedwig. He walked over to the small desk that held writing supplies and pulled his dictaquill out of his robes. He grabbed a sheet of parchment and positioned the dictaquill at the top. He paused to think for a moment then started talking, the quill obediently writing down his words.

Dear Aunt Petunia,

I know this is going to sound like a strange request but I just ask that you will believe me. I need for you and Dudley to leave England for a while. A few months at least, even a year. I know it seems like a bizarre suggestion but I really, really need you to do this. If you need money I can give you some. I just need you to be safe and those people who were dealing with Dudley before are after me and they may use you and Dudley to get to me. If you need to contact me, you can use this owl to reply.

Harry Potter

Harry snatched the quill off the parchment and tucked it into his robes again. He picked up the piece of parchment and held it for a while as he tried to decide whether or not this was a smart idea. Finally he sighed and folded the parchment. He called an owl down and tied it to the bird's leg.

"Take this to Petunia Dursley at Number 4 Privet Drive, Surrey," he said almost reluctantly. "And wait for a reply please. It may be a while."

The owl gave a soft hoot then took off and Harry watched it fly out of the owlery, hoping he'd done the right thing.