Harry Potter and the Guild of the Night

Katling

Story Summary:
Harry suffers a terrible injury at the Dursleys that leaves his ability to face Voldemort in doubt. But with the help of Remus Lupin and a mysterious new teacher he has a chance to become more than he was before. Features a grudgingly neutral Snape and a Ginny who knows what she wants or rather who she wants.

Chapter 09

Chapter Summary:
Harry has dinner and a rather interesting discussion arises. We find out more about Oversight and get some insights into a few people.
Posted:
06/25/2004
Hits:
7,467


Chapter 9

Harry slowly came awake to the realisation that his bed was bouncing up and down slightly. Then he heard Ron speak.

"Come on, Harry! Wake up!"

Harry groaned. "What?"

"Come on, Harry! Its dinnertime," Ron said, bouncing on the bed again.

Harry ran a hand through his hair and sat up. "Geez, Ron, how old are you again?" he asked with exasperation.

Ron laughed and stopped bouncing. "Sorry, mate, but I'm hungry. You know Mum won't let us eat if you're not there."

"Whoa, wait, its dinnertime?" Harry asked, startled.

"Yeah. Why?"

Harry groaned. "I only meant to sleep for about an hour and then spend some time with you guys. Not sleep the entire afternoon."

"Don't worry," Ron said in an offhand manner. "We came in to see you when we heard you weren't doing any classes this afternoon but Prof...er, Remus looked in on you and said you were asleep. He said you'd been up talking for a fair while last night and that it might be best to let you sleep. He said we could all come around here tonight and pester the two of you."

Harry laughed and got up. "Sounds good to me," he said, pleased. "Come on, let's eat."

The two boys made their way down to the Great Hall, with Ron talking excitedly about the Cannons and their chances this year. They wandered into the Great Hall and sat down at the table. There had been a quiet division occur at the table. The adults sat slightly separated from the teenagers, allowing them to talk about whatever they liked. Often they were served slightly different dishes as well.

Harry and Ron's arrival signalled the appearance of the food. It had become an unspoken ritual for whoever was sitting next to Harry to describe what was on the table and put on his plate whatever he asked for. No one spoke about it or made an issue of it, not even any of the adults, for which Harry was grateful. His friends just seemed to think that it was the natural thing to do and he appreciated it. Tonight he decided on stew and bread and butter and, after a muttered thanks, started wolfing it down as soon as it was placed in front of him. When he had assuaged the worst of his hunger, he slowed down and started listening to the conversations going on around him. His friends noticed his attention and calmly included him in the conversation. When they had all finished their meals, Ron was the first to speak up.

"Harry?" he asked quietly, after a quick glance at the adults. "I wanted...erm, well, how much can you tell us about last night?"

The other teenagers quietened and Harry turned his face towards them. "What did you want to know?"

"Well, as much as you want to tell us," Hermione said. "You can tell us, can't you?"

Harry grinned. "Yeah, Hermione, I can. Except for that bit where you guys left the room. That bit is personal." He paused and tried to figure out where to start. "I'm sorry you guys were a bit unprepared for your part in it. Apparently that's normal, you're not supposed to know about that beforehand so that your responses are natural."

"You didn't know about it, did you?" Ginny asked, sternly.

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise and Hermione responded. "We told them, Harry. We didn't think it would be a problem. Master Nhean didn't say that we couldn't."

"It's okay, Hermione," he said with a grin. "I kind of figured you would. Ginny just sounded a lot like her mother there for a minute." Everyone down their end of the table laughed and there were a few quickly hidden grins among the adults. "Anyway, no, I didn't know. That was as much of a surprise to me as it was to you."

"What about those visions though?" Ron said. "That was a little weird."

"Well, what we drank out of that goblet was something loosely related to the magic involved in pensieves. Those were our memories of things I've done over the last few years. It was a kind of judgement and testing of me."

"Did you pass?" Neville asked with quiet humour.

Harry laughed. "Yeah, you could say that. It showed Master Nhean how my training is going to go. I'm to be trained in both magic and fighting."

"I thought that was going to happen anyway," Ron said confused.

"Well, apparently it actually depended on what happened in the ceremony," Harry replied.

"You would have had basic training in the other school if you had only shown aptitude in one," Master Nhean interjected from further up the table, confirming Harry's suspicion that the adults were listening intently to what was being said.

"Oh, okay," Harry said in surprise. "Anyway, that's what the ceremony was all about."

"Are we really going to be doing some training with you?" Ginny asked, excitement in her voice.

Harry grimaced and his shoulders slumped a bit.

"Yeah," he said unenthusiastically.

All of the teens looked at Harry and then at each other. Hermione's face became set and a hard glint came into her eye.

"Harry! We are not going to let you do this alone. We are your friends and we're going to help you, whether you like it or not!" she said angrily.

Harry sat silent, his head bowed. Finally he looked up, his expression sad but with a certain amount of humour. "Master Nhean was saying something along those lines earlier today." He sighed. "I just don't want you guys to get hurt or...killed."

"Now, ickle Harrykins," said one of the twins, Harry thought it was Fred. Over the last few days he had started noticing little differences in the twin's voices.

"Surely you should know that you can't keep us out of it," George completed.

"Yeah!" Ron agreed. "Especially when you remember how well we did at the Department of Mysteries."

"But you guys got hurt!" Harry exclaimed.

"Well, yeah," Ron admitted, "but, mate, if we'd let you go alone, you would have got killed!" Ron paused and tried to lighten things up. "And then we'd all have been dead, 'cause Mum would have personally strangled the lot of us." This statement garnered laughter from the teens and another round of smothered grins from the adults.

"Face it, Harry," Hermione said with a smile. "You made friends with us and now you're stuck with us."

Harry laughed and gave a genuine smile. "Thanks, Hermione."

"Yeah, mate," Ron said as he draped one arm over Harry's shoulders, "you're stuck with us now!" He paused and exchanged a look with Hermione. "Harry? What did you mean when you said you were the only one who could kill You...er, Voldemort?"

Harry sighed. He'd forgotten that he'd let that slip during the ceremony. Everyone on the table was silent as he thought about what to say to them. Finally he decided on the truth. "Well, you know that the whole thing in the Department of Mysteries was about the prophecy?"

"The one that Neville dropped?" Hermione asked and Neville flinched and looked stricken. "Oh, sorry Neville. I didn't mean it that way!"

"Yeah, that's the one," Harry said, "and don't worry Neville, dropping that prophecy was probably the best thing you ever did."

Neville looked stunned. "What? Why?" he asked in bewilderment.

"Because now Voldemort can't get his hands on it," Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up even more. He wasn't sure whether he really should be telling Neville about this. He turned towards where the adults were sitting. "Professor Dumbledore?"

The Headmaster seemed to know exactly what he was asking. "You may tell them if you wish. Ultimately the prophecy is about you and you therefore have the final say on who knows. I will not repeat the mistakes I have made in the past."

Harry nodded and took a deep breath. "What the hell, I suppose you guys might as well know. I dragged you all the way to the Ministry last year so I suppose I owe you that much."

"Harry Potter!" Ginny said indignantly. "If I recall correctly you didn't drag us anywhere. We didn't give you a choice."

Harry laughed and then sobered. "Yeah, I know. Anyway, the prophecy wasn't lost. Professor Dumbledore was the one who originally heard the prophecy and he showed it to me. It's...well, this is the prophecy. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches, born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord has not and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives."

There was absolute silence from both ends of the table after Harry's little speech. Then Neville paled. "I...but I was born at the end of the seventh month too. It could be me!" He looked horrified.

Harry rushed to reassure him. "No, it's not Neville. It's me. It could have been you but Voldemort chose me."

Neville sighed and then looked a little shamefaced. "I...I don't know what to say. Part of me is..." his voice trailed off.

"You're glad its not you but you wish it wasn't me as well," Harry said with a wry smile. "Yeah, I know, I've already thought that myself but the other way around." He paused. "Anyway, Voldemort knows the first part, about me being the one to have the power to vanquish him. That's why he keeps coming after me. But he doesn't know the last bit, about being marked as his equal and having a 'power the Dark Lord has not'."

"Yeah, what's that all about?" asked Ron.

"I don't know," replied Harry. "I haven't been told yet but I've got some ideas. I need to think about it some more."

"Harry?" Hermione said in a shaking voice. "The end..." She could not continue.

"Yeah, I know, Hermione," he said calmly. "One of us has to kill the other for all of this to be over."

"You're very calm about this," said Remus from up the table.

"Not really," he said with a weak grin, "but if I start thinking about it too much, it just starts to overwhelm me. I mean, I'm nearly sixteen, I'm blind. How, in Merlin's name, am I supposed to defeat Voldemort? He's got so much more experience than me, especially in the Dark Arts. How am I supposed to fight him?" Harry slumped down, a miserable look on his face. "And I don't really want to be a murderer, even if it is Voldemort."

Silence fell again and this time remained unbroken until one voice spoke up.

"I do not believe that will be a consideration, Potter," said Snape in a neutral tone. "The Dark Lord wishes you dead, he will not hesitate to attack. You will not be murdering him; you will be defending yourself. There is a difference."

Harry thought about that for a while and finally nodded his head, though his expression remained somewhat unconvinced. "Thank you, sir," he said and then hesitated. He looked in the direction of the Potions Master and opened his mouth. He quickly closed it again and shook his head with a frown.

Snape watched this with sardonic interest. Obviously the boy wished to ask him a question and he decided not to prompt him; wanting to see if the boy would have the courage to ask him outright whatever it was he wanted to know. He watched in amusement as the boy drew together his Gryffindor courage and opened his mouth again.

"Sir? The...meeting the other night. What...what was the result of it? What is he planning?" Harry shuddered. "And what was all that with that Lestrange woman about?"

"Harry! What are you doing?" Ron hissed and Harry whipped around, annoyance on his face.

"Ron! He is not our enemy! He rescued me; he spies for the Order," he hissed back and Ron flinched backwards, startled at the vehement expression on Harry's face. Harry turned back to the Potions Master and waited.

Snape raised an eyebrow. He had been unable to hear what the two boys had said, though Mr Weasley's comment was easy to guess. The expression on the red-haired boy's face after Harry's reply was far more interesting and Snape was unsure what had prompted it. He turned his gaze back to Potter and saw that the boy's expression was serious. Snape turned to the Headmaster.

"It is up to you, Severus," Dumbledore said in answer to Snape's unspoken question.

Snape's lips thinned and a muscle twitched in his cheek. "Very well, Potter, if you insist on knowing I will tell you but not here. Come to my office after dinner, if you wish." Snape then decided to indulge his curiosity. "What precisely did you mean by that comment about Bellatrix Lestrange?"

Harry shuddered and a slightly nauseous expression crossed his face. "Oh yeah, you'd left by then. Well, after you left...Bellatrix got up and started to drape herself over Vol...the Dark Lord. She sort purred a question at him and he hit her and told her to never touch him without permission, cast the Cruciatus curse on her and told her to get out. It was..." He shivered and couldn't continue.

There were horrified and sickened looks from the teenagers and disturbed looks from all of the adults. A contemptuous and disgusted expression settled onto Snape's face.

"So she is the first," he said, almost to himself. "I didn't really pay much attention to who was sitting there; my concentration necessarily was elsewhere." He sneered. "She is merely the first of the women of the Death Eaters who wishes to become the Dark Lord's Lady this time around." The tone of his voice was exceedingly acidic.

The teenagers stared at their Potions Master in disbelief and the three girls then shut their eyes and shuddered.

"Why would any woman..." Ginny said in a shocked voice. "Urgh, I don't really want to finish that sentence."

Molly Weasley scowled at Snape. "Severus! Really! Was it necessary to tell them that?"

Snape smirked. "I do believe that Potter asked," he replied.

"Urgh, yeah, I did," Harry said with a grimace, "and now I'm sorry about that."

Ron shook his head as though to clear it "Man, I do not want to think about that," he muttered and then decided to change the subject. "Let's get away from that!" he said with decisiveness. "So what did you do today that made you so tired or was it really just staying up late talking last night?"

There was a collective sigh at the change of subject and Harry's face lit up. "Master Nhean showed me how to see!" he said with delight.

There were startled exclamations from both ends of the table and Harry laughed. "No, not seeing as normal but the kind of sight that Night Warriors have." He paused. "Master Nhean? How much can I tell them?"

"You may tell them what you like about what you actually see," he said amiably, "but you may not tell them the incantation. That is reserved for Guild members only."

"Okay," Harry said and proceeded to explain what he could about Oversight and what he saw that afternoon. He thought for a moment at the end of his explanation and then turned towards his teacher.

"Master? Did the colours I saw have any significance?"

"Very good, Harry," Nhean complimented him. "Yes, they did. I presume you were talking about the colours of the energies that made up my shape?" Harry nodded and Nhean continued. "The energy colours you will see for various people give an indication of their essence, of what makes them unique. The colours have multiple meanings however and what you see may only be indicative of one or two of those meanings. As you get more experienced you will be able to determine the specifics of what you see. They also have different meanings depending on whether the colours are solid or are flecks of colour. For example, what did you see when you looked at me?"

Harry thought back to earlier in the day. "Erm, your energies were a flowing mix of brown and a kind of golden-yellow and there was a purple outline surrounding you. And there was a really soothing hum associated with you as well."

Master Nhean nodded. "Now, brown indicates the attributes of practicality, dependability, earthiness, being natural, physical and reliable. I have been told many times that practical, dependable, earthy and reliable are the attributes that are mine from that list. The golden-yellow colour is a combination of two closely related colours. A golden colour indicates wisdom and yellow indicates intelligence, wit, prowess and happiness. All of those attributes are mine. The purple aura you saw is a common one to all witches and wizards; it indicates magical talent."

Harry nodded in understanding and the other listened in fascination.

"Now to consider your energies as another example," Nhean continued with an intent look at Harry. "Yours are rather unique which I feel has something to do with your past and your future. Your energies are scarlet and silver, flecked with black. Along with, of course, the purple aura. Scarlet indicates courage, loyalty, energy and beauty. Your attributes are courage and loyalty. The silver is the curious part. It is generally more of a feminine colour and indicates light, justice, purity, the moon, protection and reflection. I believe this colour comes from mother's sacrifice as your attributes are light, justice and protection." He paused and took a drink. "When you see colour flecked through the main colours that is an indication that these are minor attributes. Black indicates darkness, the unknown or esoteric, death, mourning, secrecy, hatred, blindness, evil, fear and uncertainty. In your case, your only attribute from the black is, not surprisingly, blindness. Remember though, the blindness attribute in black can stand for physical blindness like yours or metaphorical blindness."

Harry looked a little stunned. He quickly recovered and Master Nhean asked, "Would you like to try a couple more examples?"

"Yes, definitely," Harry said eagerly.

"Alright," Nhean said calmly. "I hadn't intended to teach you this for another day or so but we might as well try it now since you're eager. We'll do two more people. Who do you want?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Well, with their permission, Remus and erm, Professor Snape."

Remus agreed immediately though Snape stared at Harry with a measuring glance for long moment before finally agreeing with a slow nod.

"Alright Harry, now you do not actually need to speak the words of the incantation to allow Oversight aloud," Nhean said. "You will have to concentrate very hard on them at your current level of training and I suggest you do that while concentrating on your subject. It will make it easier. Then tell me the energy colours you see. I will know if you are correct or not."

Harry nodded and cleared his mind. He concentrated on Remus and then began to also concentrate on the incantation he had learned earlier. Just when he thought he was getting nowhere, the energy colours within Remus burst into his sight. He gasped and stared with rapt attention.

"Um," he said finally with a small frown, "Remus is dark red, scarlet and light brown and the colours are flecked with light green. Oh, and the purple aura."

"Well done," Nhean said proudly. "Now let go of the incantation. As you might expect I have examined the energies of everyone here and I am capable of determining the attributes so I shall explain what you saw. It is most common for people to exhibit two main colours though as you have seen some can have more. A few will have less. Now, the dark red you saw is a variation of red. Red indicates passion; in particular, lust, love, raw energy, force, anger, aggression, hate, overwhelming and extreme emotion. The dark red indicates these are tempered with wisdom and restraint. Remus' attributes from the dark red are raw energy, anger and aggression tempered with the wisdom and restraint I mentioned."

Remus' face became shadowed and Nhean held his gaze while he continued speaking to Harry. "We have spoken about the scarlet before and like you, Remus' attributes are courage and loyalty. The light brown is one of the few colours that has a single and rather odd meaning. It indicates that the person has high aspirations that have been tainted by realistic doubt. Finally, the light green flecks indicate new growth, youth, potential, vitality and health. Remus' attributes are vitality and health."

Harry looked a little confused at the last; knowing that Remus had a tendency to appear tired and worn-out but Master Nhean did not let him or the other dwell on that.

"Now, try again but this time concentrate the spell on Professor Snape," he instructed.

Harry nodded and repeated his efforts. It came a little easier this time and he examined the energies of the Potions Master.

"Professor Snape is golden-yellow and scarlet with flecks of a kind of dried blood colour," Harry said and ended the spell.

Nhean nodded again. "Well done for a second time, Harry. I think you will master this part of Oversight very quickly." Harry grinned with delight and Nhean continued. "Now to explain; Professor Snape shares the golden-yellow colour with me. His attributes are wisdom, intelligence, wit and prowess. His scarlet attributes are courage and loyalty. That dried blood colour is officially termed blood red-brown which sounds much nicer." Nhean chuckled. "It indicates greed, avarice, hypocrisy, treason, betrayal and greed. Professor Snape's attributes are treason and betrayal. Attributes which are not uncommon among spies such as the Professor."

Nhean eyed the slightly suspicious faces that had appeared on some of those sitting around the table. "If his loyalty were to the Dark Lord," he said dryly, "then there would have been black in there as well and the blood red-brown would also probably have indicated more than betrayal and treason."

This changed the suspicious looks to startled ones and Snape smirked sourly. Harry considered him for a long moment, making Snape twitch a little. Harry's blind regard was a touch disconcerting at times and he had yet to break the habit of looking at who he was talking to.

Dumbledore clapped his hands, gaining everyone's immediate attention. "Well, that was interesting, wasn't it?" he said with a benign smile. "Shall we leave it there for the night?" He raised an eyebrow and the adults began nodding.

"Come on, kids," Remus said as he rose. "I believe I offered to let you lot pester Harry and I tonight."

The teenagers rose from the table after a moment of hesitation and left, laughing and chattering loudly about what had just occurred and teasing Remus. The adults followed them out considerably more quietly, leaving Severus Snape sitting at the table, cradling his goblet from dinner and musing over what had just been revealed.


Author notes: Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed. And an extra special thanks for your condolences - it was very much appreciated.

Numba1 - Ah, sorry my dear, but she's a-comin'. I will give you fair warning though! :)

fuzzball2000 - Yeah, I deliberately did it the opposite way. It's just another security measure.

Losinde - Yes, the incantation is Japanese. It means, in a very loose translation, illuminate the essence of magic. I mention during the story that the creator of the Guild is a Japanese man by the name of Ishii Sato, so it makes sense he would use the Japanese language.

Gwaihiril981 - A fascination with sharp, pointy things. Ooookay! *Backs away slowly and carefully* :) Ah, the mysterious man in the grey land......all will be explained in future chapters! And yes, James and Harry is correct! So I think I've just blown the mystery away..... *LOL*

flashgordon - Well, I've actually written up to Chapter 14, so I suppose I really could be posting faster! *L* :)

garthmaul - Yes, I would hope that Harry's not a Dad yet - and if he was I'd be asking some pretty hard questions! :) The words were only to unlock it initially, after that the small twisting locking mechanism will hold it closed. And....automated posting machine! *Hahaha....snork...laugh...sigh in amusement*

hermione123 and Gwaihiril981 - I'm trying to think of a way to get him on a broom and have it work. I have a tentative idea but I have to work on it some more. So you never know! :)

To all those wondering about the mysterious man in the grey land - Nyah, you're all going to have to wait. :P *L* All will become clearer in a few chapters. Anyway, I think I blew the mystery in one of my responses above.