Harry Potter and the Guild of the Night

Chapter 26

Voldemort paced up and down the room, passing the spot where Lucius Malfoy, Wormtail and Bellatrix Lestrange were kneeling with each trip. His eyes were fairly glowing red with rage and his hand was clenching his wand tightly. In the two weeks since the successful rescue of Black, his temper had barely faded. He got back to the top of the line he was pacing and whirled to face the three kneeling Death Eaters.

"How is it that none of you knew that Severus was a spy?" he hissed menacingly. There was no answer and his eyes narrowed. He raised his wand. "Crucio" he intoned and watched as the three writhed on the floor in pain. He held the spell for five long minutes before lifting it.

"Look at me, Lucius," he demanded and Lucius crawled back to his knees and raised his trembling head to face his master.

"Legilimens," Voldemort said and ripped through Lucius' mind. He left no corner untouched and at the end of it was finally sure of the loyalty of the elder Malfoy. He let him go and watched dispassionately as he collapsed to the ground again, this time unconscious.

"Look at me, Wormtail," he said. Pettigrew shivered and tried to raise his head but his fear got the better of him and he curled into himself and whimpered.

"Look at me!" Voldemort demanded. Wormtail again refused and the Dark Lord walked over and grabbed his chin and forced the rat-like man's head up.

"Legilimens!" Again Voldemort pillaged his follower's mind until he was sure that the man was loyal. He then withdrew and watched with contempt as Wormtail passed out. He then walked over to Bellatrix.

"Look at me, Bella," he said and she raised her head proudly, her eyes the clearest indicator of her growing insanity.

"Legilimens," Voldemort said for the third time and plunged into her mind. He almost flinched at the tangles and snarls that her growing madness caused in her mind but ploughed on until he was sure that she too was loyal. She slumped to the ground when he was finished, barely maintaining consciousness.

He sneered at the three Death Eaters lying on the floor, though he was satisfied that they were at least loyal to him. He started pacing again and snarled silently. He did not want to go through this for every one of his Death Eaters. He glared at the wall in front of him and made a decision. He was sure of the loyalty of these three and they would be the only ones allowed near him from now on. All of his orders would go through one of them. His thin lips curved in a satisfied smile; yes, that would work.

Voldemort now turned his thoughts towards Potter and his disloyal Severus. Both would need to taken care of. He put Potter aside for now; he would have to think about that one carefully but Severus was a different matter. He strode over to Lucius and gave him a swift kick. Lucius groaned and his eyes fluttered open. Seeing his master standing above him glowering, he pulled himself to his knees.

"Yes, Master," he grovelled. "I am your servant."

"Yes, you are, Lucius," Voldemort growled, "and now you will have the opportunity to prove it. You and your son. Bring Draco before me, Lucius. He shall take the Mark and shall have the chance to redeem your name in my eyes."

"It shall be as you say, Master," Lucius said and touched his forehead to the floor.

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

Harry and his friends trooped back up towards the castle. They were returning from a trip to Hogsmeade with Sirius and were in high spirits. Sirius was probably the most cheerful of them all. He had received all of the official paperwork regarding his full and absolute pardon a little over a week ago. He had immediately set out for Diagon Alley with Remus in hot pursuit, those papers in his hand. They had returned shortly after dark both roaring with laughter. Remus reported to Harry and his friends that Sirius had hit Diagon Alley like a tidal wave. Gringotts had been his first stop and Remus had arrived just in time to stop Sirius from trying to use wandless magic to hex the poor goblin who didn't realise that he had been cleared and who had been trying to call for the Aurors. Remus had showed the papers to the goblin, who had then assuaged Sirius' temper with his profuse apologies. Once he had had an opportunity to get some money, Sirius had attacked Diagon Alley with ! a determined look. Remus had been hard-pressed to keep up. Sirius' first stop had been Ollivanders where he had replaced the wand that had been broken on his incarceration into Azkaban. He had then headed for Madam Malkins and after that out into muggle London. He had returned with his hair cut and dressed in jeans, t-shirt, leather jacket and boots and had attracted the gaze of more than one of the female students when he strolled into the Great Hall. He had plunked himself down at the Gryffindor table next to Harry and watched with amusement as a very frazzled Remus had walked into the Hall. Remus had eyed his friend and shaken his head in amused exasperation. Harry had found the whole thing very funny.

Sirius has settled down a little in the last couple of days and he and Remus had gone to see Molly and Arthur about Harry. They had returned looking both a little stunned and happy. Molly and Arthur had agreed, a little reluctantly, to surrender their guardianship to Sirius. Remus had told Harry later that Molly had given Sirius quite a lecture on appropriate and inappropriate behaviour and had demanded that Harry be allowed to come and stay with them whenever he wanted. Sirius had apparently been amused at the lecture and had agreed immediately to Molly's demand. Professor Dumbledore had organised the paperwork for Sirius to fill in and had sent it off to the Ministry. When the trip to Hogsmeade had been mentioned Sirius had decided to accompany them, eager to take his mind off the paperwork. Sirius had spent most of the trip telling them extremely funny stories about trips the Marauders had made to Hogsmeade. Harry, Ron, Neville and Ginny had spent most of the trip chok! ing with laughter while Hermione had been torn between laughter and disapproval until Sirius had told her one particular story about one of their seventh year trips. Not even she had been immune to the humour in that one. Luna had been seemingly unaffected by the stories apart from remarking on how funny they were but none of her friends seemed that concerned. They knew Luna quite well by now and knew she would probably start laughing uproariously at some later point.

They were walking through the Entrance Hall, laughing when they walked past Draco Malfoy and a number of other Slytherins. Draco glared at Sirius and then at the rest of them, Sirius smiled and waved cheerily back. Harry and his friends burst out laughing and hustled Sirius through the Entrance Hall and up to the suite he shared with Remus. When they got there, they all collapsed on various chairs, couches and cushions and poked fun at Sirius; all except for Hermione who was watching Harry with a faraway expression.

"Harry," she said finally, "has your scar hurt at all since we rescued Sirius?"

That question stopped all of the laughing and Harry turned to her in surprise. "Um, no," he said.

Hermione gave him a concerned look. "Harry," she said slowly, "that doesn't strike you as just a bit odd? Voldemort must be furious. Why haven't you felt anything?"

Harry froze as he realised that Hermione was right. Voldemort almost certainly would have taken his anger out on someone. He should have been in agony the last couple of weeks. He frowned and thought for a moment.

"Come to think of it," he said as the others watched with concern, "I haven't felt or seen anything since the night that Voldemort pulled Sirius out of the Veil; when he used those crystals." He paused and bit his bottom lip. "I think I'd better go and speak to Professor Snape."

"How have your Occlumency lessons been going?" Hermione asked as Harry got up of the cushion he had been lounging on.

"Pretty well, actually," Harry replied. "I can keep Professor Snape out completely now and he's been letting me try some Legilimancy. We've talked a bit about using it against Voldemort the way he has against me but he wouldn't let me do anything just yet. He wants me to be a bit better at Legilimancy before I do that."

"I'm coming with you," Sirius said suddenly and leapt to his feet.

Harry turned to face his godfather, an expression of misgiving on his face. "Er, Sirius," he said hesitantly.

Sirius rolled his eyes and sighed. "Harry," he said patiently, "I'm not going to insult him or hex him or do anything to him. I just want to know what's happening. I'm your godfather and your guardian. I'm supposed to look out for you and I'm going to. You're just going to have to get used to it."

Harry blinked and then smiled brilliantly at Sirius. "Okay," he said a little unsteadily.

Sirius grinned back and threw an arm around his shoulders. "Come on then," he said ironically. "Let's go and beard the lion in his den."

Harry elbowed Sirius in the ribs and they made their way out of the room. As they wandered down to the dungeons, Harry looked up at his godfather with concern.

"Now, you're not going to goad him, are you?" he asked worriedly. "I mean, he and I have been sort of getting along this year and I don't want you to ruin it."

"I'll be a good boy, mother," Sirius said dryly. "Don't worry; I just want to hear what he says."

Harry nodded dubiously and knocked on the door of the potions classroom. They heard footsteps in the room and the door was opened by Snape. He eyed them suspiciously.

"Yes, Mr Potter, Black?" he said tightly.

"Er, sir, can I talk to you about my scar?" Harry asked.

Snape raised an eyebrow and stepped away from the door allowing them in. Harry went and sat down in one of the chairs at the front table. Sirius followed him but leaned against the table instead. Snape returned to his desk at the front of the classroom and looked at Harry.

"Well, Mr Potter?" he asked with hint of impatience.

"Hermione just brought something up that I was hoping you might have an answer to," Harry began. "My scar hasn't hurt at all in the last couple of weeks which when you consider what has happened is a little odd."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "When was the last time you felt or saw anything?" he asked.

"Erm, the night that Voldemort pulled Sirius out of the Veil," Harry said.

Snape leaned back in his seat and steepled his fingers. "When the Dark Lord used that odd crystal magic," he mused. He then turned his gaze back to Harry. "And you have felt nothing in the last two weeks?"

Harry shook his head and Snape stood. "Wait here," he ordered and walked into his office.

"What, a 'please' too much for you," Sirius muttered at the Potions Masters retreating back.

"Sirius!" Harry said warningly and Sirius settled back against the desk, looking disgruntled.

A few minutes later, Snape came back into the room, a small black leather-bound book in his hand. "The Headmaster and I have been trying to determine what kind of magic the Dark Lord used that night," Snape said absently as he paged through the book. "Magic using crystals is not generally known in the wizarding world as it is difficult to do. In order to channel magic through a crystal it must be perfect, not a single flaw, and not every kind of crystal can be used. Usually only one or maybe two types of crystal can be used by an individual witch or wizard."

He stopped and tapped the page in front of him decisively. "That, Mr Potter, is what I believe was done." He handed the book to Sirius who went and sat down next to Harry.

"Crystals can be used to enhance magic beyond what can normally be done," Sirius read to Harry. "It is possible for a powerful enough witch or wizard, using an unflawed crystal to which they are completely attuned, to even cast spells with permanent effects." Sirius looked up at Snape. "So he used the crystal to make his shielding permanent?"

Severus nodded. "Yes, I believe so."

"Can he remove that shielding?" Harry asked. "And could I still break through it?"

"I do not know the answer to either of those questions, Mr Potter," Snape said. "I believe he could possibly reverse the shielding, though I suspect he would have to channel his magic through a crystal again. As we do not know what kind of crystal he used, it is impossible to tell how easy it would be to obtain another unflawed crystal of the same type. As to your second question, I do not know, though if you are willing, we could try."

"What!" Sirius burst out. "What are you trying to do to him? Get him killed?"

"I am trying to contribute to the downfall of the Dark Lord, Black," Snape sneered. "What precisely is your task in all of this? To act the fool as you have done for the last week?"

Sirius was about to answer in kind when Harry gripped his arm firmly. "Sirius!" he said sharply. "You're not helping and I believe I asked the question about going after Voldemort's mind. Professor Snape did not suggest it." Snape flinched at the name and Sirius stared long and hard at his godson.

"Harry," Sirius said hesitantly, "it could be bloody dangerous. What if he catches you in there? He's a powerful legilimancer. I've felt him do it! You could get hurt or killed!"

"And how would that change anything, Sirius?" Harry said dryly. "People have been trying to kill me ever since I started at Hogwarts." Harry began to tick things off on his fingers. "First year, Professor Quirrell. Second year, the whole Chamber of Secrets/Basilisk thing. Third year, well, third year as it turned out no one was actually trying to kill me but everyone thought you were after me and I suppose you could throw in Remus' transformation as a possibility there. Fourth year, the Triwizard Tournament. The fake Moody spent the whole year rigging the contest so I would win, be taken to the graveyard to resurrect Voldemort and then get killed by him. Fifth year, well, fifth year was pretty much death-threat-free unless you count the trip to the Ministry or the time Professor Snape wanted to rip my heart out and feed it to me but, well, that last one was understandable. It's starting to not feel like a normal year unless someone tries to kill me at some point."

Harry's voice was full of something akin to exasperated humour by the end of his little rant and both Sirius and Snape were staring at him in astonishment. Then Sirius frowned.

"Snape wanted to kill you?" he growled.

Harry blushed. "Er, yeah, but I think he was a bit justified. That was after the...pensieve thing," Harry stammered.

"Still proud of your father?" Snape snarled; he had not wanted to be reminded of that.

"I don't know, sir," Harry said almost defiantly. "I don't know a lot about him. I'm proud of what he did to fight Vol...er, the Dark Lord. But I think he was a prat and a bully at school. I know what its like to be on the receiving end of that kind of behaviour, sir. I never had a friend until I met Ron on the train, my cousin Dudley made sure of that, when he wasn't pushing me around, that is. I wasn't spoiled as a child, sir, and I didn't have everything given to me. In fact, I hardly had anything given to me. I'm not my father."

Once again Sirius and Snape were left staring at Harry in astonishment. Sirius' expression soon faded into sadness. Snape stared at him for a moment longer before nodding.

"I have become aware of that, Mr Potter," he said in a neutral tone.

Sirius ducked his head, finally realising that this was what had upset Harry so much during the last school year. He had been bullied and had naturally been upset to find out that his own father and godfather had often acted like bullies themselves. Remus had been at him for some time during the period when he had been hiding out to apologise but he had stubbornly refused to admit that he had made mistakes. He sighed quietly and looked up at Snape.

"I'm sorry," he said simply. "I'm sorry we treated you like that. I'm sorry I sent you off down the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack that night. That...wasn't one of my brightest ideas. I could have gotten you killed. I'm sorry." He held his hand out.

Snape stared at him for a long time, clearly trying to determine whether Sirius was serious or not. Finally he had to come to the conclusion that, to all appearances, he was. He reached out and they gingerly shook hands.

"I...I accept your apology," he said with none of his usual sarcasm.

Harry watched this with a certain amount of surprise. Of all the things had expected during his time at Hogwarts, watching Sirius and Snape bury the hatchet was not one he'd thought likely. He decided to bring the conversation back to the point before they could start sniping at each other again and ruin what had just been achieved.

"What about my idea?" he asked and both men turned to look at him. "About going after the Dark Lord's mind."

"Your...godfather is correct, Mr Potter," Snape said carefully. "It could be very dangerous."

"I know that, sir, Sirius," Harry said, looking at the two men, "but I want to try. At best, I could be able to get information; at worst, I annoy the hell out of him. Either way I think its worth trying."

Snape nodded and slowly, reluctantly, so did Sirius.

"But I want to be present," Sirius said with worry in his eyes.

Snape nodded. "Very well, Black. As long as you do not interfere." Snape's voice regained some of its normal bite. "Mondays and Wednesdays; Potions for the first hour; Occlumency during the second hour. We can move the lessons back down here, thankfully. I believe all of my Slytherins are now aware of what my role truly was, making our attempts at subterfuge irrelevant."

"They're not being...well, unpleasant about it?" Harry asked with surprise. "From the way Draco has been acting I would have thought..."

"No, Mr Potter," Snape said with amusement, "there have been no problems. Fewer of my students are interested in following the Dark Lord than you might think. Indeed, most have admired the cunning and subtlety it required to spy so successfully for so many years."

"Slytherins!" Sirius muttered.

"Correct, Black," Snape agreed with sly amusement.

Harry chuckled and then thought for a minute. "Hmm, Hermione's been at me to get the DA going again. Maybe I should and maybe I should invite some of those admiring Slytherins of yours, Professor."

"How very ecumenical of you, Mr Potter," Snape said with surprise.

"Well, the Sorting Hat did say we should be working together," Harry said matter-of-factly. "Maybe we should start that by using someone other than Draco Malfoy to symbolise Slytherin."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Let me know when the first meeting is on, Mr Potter, and I shall inform them. I am sure they would be interested."

Sirius had been watching this with surprise and some confusion. "What's this about the Sorting Hat?" he finally asked.

"The Sorting Hat's been getting a little opinionated the last couple of years," Harry said. "This year it even included an ultimatum. All four houses better start working together or it's going to leave and there will be nobody to sort the new students."

"I didn't know it could do that," Sirius said.

"It has not often stepped into the goings on at the school," Snape said calmly. "But when it does, it pays to listen." He stood. "Now, if you don't mind, I have work to do. If you wish to start your new lessons quickly, Mr Potter, I will have some time tonight. As it is Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw tomorrow, I believe you will have plenty of time to recover."

"I'd like that, sir," Harry said eagerly. "What time?"

"Eight o'clock, Mr Potter. Do not be late." Snape turned back to his desk and Sirius and Harry grinned at each other and took that for the dismissal it was.

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

They returned later that night and found the Potions Master waiting for them. He had his robes wrapped around him and a sombre expression on his face.

"You may wish to delay this attempt," he said without preamble.

"Why?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Draco Malfoy was called back home this evening, to return late tomorrow. I believe he will take the Mark tonight. You may not wish to see that," Snape said.

Harry swallowed then his expression firmed. "No, I want to do it. He wouldn't be dragging Draco into this without a reason. If I can get through his shields, I might be able to find out why."

Snape nodded reluctantly. "Very well, Mr Potter, sit down." Harry sat down at the first desk and Snape turned to Sirius. "Sit down and stay out of the way unless I tell you to do something."

Sirius' eyes darkened for a moment and his lips twitched. He managed to swallow whatever he was going to say however and he sat down at the desk next to Harry.

"Now, Mr Potter, close your eyes and reach out along the link until you get to the Dark Lord's shields," Snape instructed.

Harry was silent and still, his brow furrowed as he slowly and carefully followed the link back to its source. Snape had taught him how to do this a few weeks ago but never allowed him to trace the link back too far. He followed it carefully until he was brought to a stop by something that felt fairly solid.

"Found them," he said.

"Good. Now feel around the shields until you find a weak spot. There will be one, Mr Potter, though it may be small."

Harry nodded and delicately began probing the wall in front of him. It seemed fairly uniform but eventually he found a small spot that was thinner and more delicate than the rest of the shield.

"Got one," he said firmly. "Now what?"

"Work away at that spot. You should be able to get all the way through."

Harry nodded absently and began mentally digging at the weak spot he had found. It was harder than he had thought it would be and he was soon sweating freely. Sirius shifted slightly in his chair, his face full of worry. He glanced at the Potions Master, whose face and attitude were calm and intent.

Suddenly Harry gasped. "I'm through," he said.

"Carefully work your way into the Dark Lord's mind," Snape said. "Do not move quickly or you will alert him to your presence. Creep around, do not bull your way in."

Harry nodded and settled further into his chair. He slowly, slowly eased his way through the small hole he had made in Voldemort's shields and mentally tiptoed around the Dark Lord's mind. After a few minutes, he found what he was looking for and gingerly settled himself into the Dark Lord's mind to see what was happening. As soon as he settled, he felt himself almost thrown forward and suddenly he could see what was happening.

He had expected to see a large gathering but instead Draco Malfoy was kneeling before the Dark Lord, who was in turn flanked by Lucius, Bellatrix Lestrange and Wormtail. There was no one else in the room. Harry tentatively reached out and found the answer close by in Voldemort's mind. They were the only ones he trusted now and he wouldn't allow anyone he didn't trust near him anymore. Harry watched the ceremony and winced as Voldemort magically burned the Dark Mark onto Draco's arm. He then shivered at the sheer malevolent glee in the Slytherin's eyes when he looked up to make his oaths to his new Lord. He then gasped and hung on for dear life as Voldemort whispered "Legilimancy" and proceeded to plunge through Draco's mind in order to ascertain his loyalty. Harry breathed a sigh of relief when Voldemort came back into his own mind and somehow he managed to remain unnoticed. He then saw Draco rise and Voldemort also rose. The Dark Lord and his four Death Eaters then adjou! rned to a large study and Voldemort began to outline his task for Draco.

Snape and Sirius watched as Harry's face blanched and he began to shiver. Sirius carefully got up and moved over to sit next to his godson. He placed a gentle arm around Harry's shoulders and looked up at Snape with concern.

"Is this normal? Is he alright?" he asked quietly and urgently.

Severus walked over and crouched down in front of Harry. He gently touched the fingers of one hand to Harry's forehead and closed his eyes. He quickly pulled back.

"He is not being held against his will," Snape said with a frown. "It may be a reaction to what he is seeing. We can do nothing else but wait." He sat back on his haunches.

The two men waited until about twenty minutes later Harry slowly opened his eyes. He took in a deep breath and started shuddering. Sirius tightened his arm.

"You okay?" he asked gently.

Harry shook his head, his lips pressed tightly together and he kept taking deep breaths through his nose. Snape eyed him for a moment and then got up and went into his office. He came back with a bowl, which he held out to Harry. Harry took the bowl with a weak smile and proceeded to empty the contents of his stomach into it. When he had finished, Snape pulled out his wand and cleaned out the bowl and returned to his office with it. He came back out with a glass of water and handed it to Harry, who was now leaning against his godfather, a tired and slightly sick expression on his face. He slowly sipped at the water and after he had finished half of it, he took in a deep breath and let it out. He put the glass on the desk and looked up at the two men watching him with concern.

"I'm okay," he said a little breathlessly. He fixed his gaze on Snape. "You told me before school started that if I decided to go trawling around in the Dark Lord's mind I would probably regret it; that his mind was like a sewer. You were right about that." He picked up the glass and drained the rest of it. "You were also right about Draco taking the Dark Mark. I came in right in the middle of it. Draco didn't look like he was being pressured into it either. He looked like he was pretty pleased with the whole thing."

"Did anyone object about his age?" Snape asked. "The Dark Lord usually does not accept anyone so young."

"There really wasn't anyone there to object," Harry said. "There was only Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange and Wormtail. I found out why." He gave a tired grin. "I think your extended stint as a spy has made the Dark Lord paranoid. He used Legilimancy to ensure that those three were loyal and they are the only ones he will let near him. He did the same thing to Draco. I thought I was going to get caught but he never noticed I was there."

"Did he say why he allowed Draco to take the Mark so young?" Snape asked intently.

"Yes, he explained what he wanted Draco to do just afterwards," Harry said with a grimace. "He doesn't like you very much any more, sir. Draco has orders to either kill you himself or to arrange for you to be transported to Malfoy Manor so the Dark Lord can deal with you himself." He paused. "I think Draco's planning on doing it himself, sir, from the look on his face."

Snape leaned back on a desk with a tired expression on his face. Sirius helped Harry to his feet and placed a hand on Snape's shoulder.

"Come on, Severus," he said quietly. "I think this is where we go and tell all of this to Albus."