Harry Potter and the Magic Within

Harry Potter and the Magic Within

Chapter 11: 'The Meeting'

Harry was in a small, dusty room. He saw a fire in the hearth at one end of the room. A high backed armchair stood in front of it casting a shadow over the rest of the room. The windows were boarded up. There was a stooped figure bending down by the chair. Harry knew who it was. Peter Pettigrew, or Wormtail as a nickname. If Wormtail hadn't been a Voldemort supporter and told Voldemort where the Potters were living, Harry would still have parents. He had had this sort of dream before. He knew that these events were most likely really happening or had happened recently. He knew that in that chair must be the thin and usually cloaked figure of Voldemort himself. He stood still.

'What are you thinking, my Lord,' said Wormtail, softly. A high, cold voice answered his question.

'What do you think I am thinking about? I am thinking about the same thing that has troubled my mind for a very long time,' it said, sharply. Wormtail cowered on the floor. 'It is very fortunate that one of my most faithful supporters is at Hogwarts to get my plan in order,' continued the voice from behind the chair. Harry shivered. It seemed that Voldemort was still targeting him. And a supporter at Hogwarts?

'What is the plan, my Lord,' asked Wormtail, slowly.

'It is a plan that is so simple, it will not fail,' answered Voldemort, icily. 'I will get him this time, Wormtail.' A thin withered looking hand appeared from the side of the chair and it grabbed Wormtail's arm sharply.

'Get me parchment, ink and an owl to send my faithful servant a letter,' hissed Voldemort. The hand let go of Wormtail's arm, Wormtail got up shakily and picked up a small bag which stood not far in front of Harry.

He picked out a piece of parchment, an old looking inkbottle and a quill.

He brought them to the chair. The spider like hand snatched the objects handed to him and a few minutes later he threw the finished letter to Wormtail who went out of the room hastily.

Harry stood and waited. The short, cloaked Wormtail came back a moment later with a dark brown owl. The owl had the letter tied to its leg and was sent out of the house through a gap in the boarded up window.

Voldemort then spoke once more.

'I trust that you haven't forgotten to put the written spell I wrote earlier in with that letter?' he said, dangerously. Wormtail dropped to his knees by the chair and groveled and whimpered. 'So you did forget!' said Voldemort, his voice higher. 'That letter will be no use now! It takes a long while for a letter to reach Hogwarts from here, Wormtail, and now it will be longer still before my plan can be carried out! Do you know how important it is for me to destroy that boy?' he was speaking very loudly indeed. It was a very scary thing to hear. Wormtail groveled more and moaned and pleaded for his forgiveness.

Voldemort's hand appeared again and was holding a wand. 'You deserve a little punishment I think, Wormtail. I will have to think of a diversion for the meanwhile, just something to keep things under control at that abominable school until I can use that owl again to send the spell that my faithful helper should have received in that letter. Why couldn't you get another owl as well, Wormtail?' he said softly and coldly.

The voice uttered a curse and then Wormtail's screams were all that Harry could hear.

He woke up with his hands tight over his scar. It was stinging with pain. He lay still, trying to calm himself down. He had to remember what happened. He would go to Dumbledore. If he could remember most of the dream it would perhaps help. It took Harry a long time to sleep after that. He did, however, manage to recall most of his dream before he fell in to a deep and dreamless sleep.

He was shaken awake. Ron was standing next to his bed. He looked excited, but at the same time a little anxious.

'What is it?' yawned Harry.

'The snow!' yelled Ron, 'it didn't stop all through the night. It is so deep outside, that even Hagrid can't get to the school. No one can get out or in and the owls have been finding the weather a problem too. The snow outside is getting worse. If it doesn't let up soon, there will be no way of contacting anywhere else at all,' Ron finished breathlessly. Harry jumped up and went to the window.

'This is very strange,' he said quietly. Ron looked at him.

'Well, it is a very cold October,' he said reasonably. 'It isn't unheard of, snow does sometimes fall this early in the winter.'

'That isn't what I meant,' said Harry shaking his head. Hermione came in to the room carrying Crookshanks her unusual ginger tabby cat.

Harry told them both about his dream and what happened in it.

'Oh no!' moaned Hermione, sitting down on Harry's bed. 'When will you ever get a break, Harry.' Harry sighed, still looking out of the window.

'I reckon you should definitely go to Dumbledore now, Harry,' said Ron darkly. Harry nodded, he intended to.

The whole school was very unsettled by the fact that they were stuck indoors. After breakfast in the hall, the fifth year Gryffindors set off for their Charms lesson with the tiny Professor Flitwick. He was about to show them how to make five lit candles float at once, when Ron yelled out. He was floating above his desk. Harry was looking up at Ron's worried face with a terrible feeling forming in his stomach. He had done it again! Harry put his face in his hands, wishing he could make Ron float down again, wondering how long Ron would be hovering over their desk.

To his surprise, he realised that Ron was gently floating back in to his seat. I controlled it, thought Harry. Ron looked rather stunned. Professor Flitwick was very impressed. He praised Harry for his beyond-the-usual-level hovering charm.

'That would have got Mr Potter the highest marks in his N.E.W.Ts.' (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests - the highest qualifications Hogwarts offered, and taken in the seventh and last year of Hogwarts) Professor Flitwick told the class. Harry was rather surprised. He was relieved as well. When the class had got back to making their candles hover, Ron turned to Harry.

'If you ever do that again,' he began slowly, 'I will throw you out of the nearest window.' He wasn't being serious, of course, but he was not looking very happy. Hermione giggled. 'What's the matter with you?' Ron snapped at her.

'You just looked very funny,' she said simply, as her five candles hovered in front of her. Ron wasn't in a good mood after that.

The bell rang. Harry, Ron and Hermione left Charms and went towards the Great hall. Harry stopped at the marble staircase.

'I'm going to go and see Dumbledore,' he said to the others. They nodded and went off to lunch.

Harry walked to where the secret entrance to Dumbledore's office was hidden. He stopped in front of the ugly gargoyle, and tried to think of the possible password. Dumbledore usually chose a kind of sweet for his password.

'Erm - chocolate frogs? Harry tried. Nothing happened. 'Acid drop?'

The gargoyle came to life and jumped sideways to reveal a moving spiral staircase. Harry hopped on to the staircase. He reached a large door and knocked twice.

'Come in,' said Dumbledore from inside. Harry opened the door and entered the round room with the portraits of the previous headmasters snoring in their sleep inside their frames. Dumbledore had a desk in the middle of the room. Fawkes, the phoenix, which had provided the tail feather for Harry's wand, sat on his perch and flapped excitedly at the sight of Harry entering the room.

'Harry,' said Dumbledore, mildly surprised. Harry walked straight up to the desk. 'Sit down, Harry, I see you have a special reason for coming.' Harry nodded as he sat.

'Professor,' he began, and with that he went in to the whole story since his first Defence Against the dark Arts lesson, to the dream and the mysterious snow. Dumbledore sat looking at Harry and listening in silence until Harry had finished his long story.

'It seems,' said Dumbledore quietly, 'that you have a great amount of power within you then, Harry,' he said smiling faintly. Harry hadn't told Dumbledore about him overhearing his conversation with McGonagall, of course but he wished Dumbledore would tell him something. Harry sat silently waiting for him to carry on.

'There is no reason for you to be worried about these events in class,' he said softly. 'The teachers understand. They expect you to find your magical skills in strange ways.'

'But why doesn't anyone else in class do the same thing?' Harry asked.

'Because you are different, Harry,' said Dumbledore quietly.

'I wish I wasn't,' sighed Harry. Dumbledore looked rather sad. 'What about my dream?' added Harry.

'Well, it probably happened the night before you dreamt it. I wouldn't worry about it,' he added, his eyes twinkling. Harry wondered how he could say that.

'Not worry about it? He said that he has a supporter here at Hogwarts!' Harry said leaning forward in his chair. Dumbledore nodded. Harry was totally confused.

'You also have a guardian, Harry,' Dumbledore went on.

'Who?' asked Harry. At that moment the door to Dumbledore's office opened and Snape came rushing in. He stopped when he saw Harry.

'Ah, Severus,' said Dumbledore. 'Perhaps you should get to your lessons, Harry,' said Dumbledore kindly. Harry had the strong feeling that something was being hidden from him again and that he was being sent away so that Snape could talk to Dumbledore alone. Harry nodded silently and left.

Harry went to his lessons and then filled Ron and Hermione in on the meeting with Dumbledore later in the common room as he and Ron tried to finish History of Magic homework.

'Weird,' said Ron when Harry had finished. 'They're definitely not telling you something.' Hermione looked thoughtful.

'Try and use your special powerful magic right now, Harry,' said Hermione suddenly. Harry was taken aback.

'Now?' he asked, 'I don't know if I can. I've only controlled it once, to get Ron down, I did that. I haven't tried to make anything happen with it.' He looked uncomfortably around the room.

'Try,' said Hermione simply.

'What should I try to do?' asked Harry. Ron seemed to have an idea.

'I know, I know,' he said. 'Try to move the furniture around,' he said pointing around the empty common room.

'Oh, ok,' said Harry, quietly, 'but nothing will happen, I really don't now how I do that stuff.' He stood up and walked in to the middle of the room. He concentrated on the table by the window, next to Ron and Hermione's chairs. He thought of nothing else but making it move or float or something. He had never concentrated so hard, ever. He sighed and started to walk back to his armchair.

'I told you I couldn't -' he stopped. The table was floating in mid air.

'Woah!' said Ron, standing up. The table, with all their finished homework and books upon it, was starting to spin around and around.

'Oh dear,' said Harry as the table began to spin faster and faster. The books were getting thrown around the room. Ron, Hermione and Harry all had to duck to avoid getting pelted by the books. When all books, ink bottles, quills and spare parchment rolls had been thrown off the revolving table, it turned upside down and landed like that where it had started. Harry got up and helped Ron and Hermione turn the table upright. Harry bit his lip.

'I knew that was a bad idea,' he said flatly. Ron looked rather amused.

'I thought it was funny,' he said, grinning. 'You just need practice, Harry. Imagine what you could do to Malfoy with that power,' he added, grinning more than ever. Hermione and Harry were picking up the objects thrown off the table. Ron helped and then they sat back down.

'That was something I know I could never do, Harry,' said Hermione, slowly. 'You don't even need your wand,' she added, puzzled.

Harry pulled out his wand. He twisted it in his hand for a moment. Then he jumped. The flames in the common room fire were flashing purple and blue.

'Opps,' said Harry, 'I must have pointed my wand over at the fire. I suppose I can use the power through my wand then.'

Ron was watching the flames turn back to normal then he said, 'Harry, can you teach me how to do that?' He laughed. Harry laughed too and soon after that they all headed for their dormitories.

Harry fell asleep quicker than he had guessed. He didn't, however, notice that his wand was glowing on his bedside table as he fell into dreams that night.

Harry Potter and the Magic Within

Chapter 12: 'The Hallowe'en Game'

The snow hadn't ceased when Harry woke up next morning. Nor had it finished snowing the morning after. It was in the early morning on Hallowe'en, that the snow stopped falling. The sun came out and warmed the spirits of those in the castle. The snow was still too deep outside to dare to go out in, but with the sun out, a slight warmth in the air and a bit of luck, the snow would melt soon.

Ever since the night the table span around in the common room, Ron and Hermione had encouraged Harry to try controlling his new mysterious magic whenever they were alone. Harry had almost broken a chair when he caused it to whiz across the room and bump into the far wall. He had also made Ron and Hermione fly around Gryffindor tower. They had enjoyed that very much but when Harry tried it again, he only managed to get Ron to do a mid air somersault. He was, however, under control of his new found magic abilities to a certain point. He had not made anything else unexpected happen in any of his classes and was very thankful for it.

When the three of them went in to the Great hall for breakfast, it was decorated as always with floating Jack-o-lanterns where the candles usually hovered over the tables and real bats flew around in the air above the pumpkins.

'How long do you reckon it will take the snow to melt?' said Ron as they sat down.

'A few days I would imagine,' said Hermione, 'why?'

Harry knew why. Ron had never had one Quidditch practice and he knew that the first match of the year, Gryffindor against Slytherin, was scheduled for tomorrow. Ron didn't seem too bothered about having no practice if it was highly unlikely that they could get out of the school.

'Oh good, I would have been terrible in the match, not a single practice session,' Ron said. Hermione nodded as she ate.

Not long after, they set off for their Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Harry, Ron and Hermione had found that they had a lot more of this lesson than last year. This was, they thought, because of all the dark magic that would be going about with Voldemort back. Professor Argent greeted them and told them to sit down while she finished reading her important letter.

Harry noticed that she was holding a piece of parchment in her hand and that the big brown owl, which had delivered it, was sitting on the desk. Harry gasped. Not too loudly though. He recognised the owl. It looked exactly the same as the one in Harry's dream. He suddenly felt as cold as ice. Ron looked at him, puzzled.

'Harry, what's wrong, you look terrible?' Harry was staring horror-struck at Professor Argent. She had seemed so nice. He didn't answer Ron and sat stiffly all the way through Argent's speech on the Dark spirits found in old forests and the ways to recognise and avoid them. They had to copy notes off the board afterwards. Harry sat silently writing down his notes as quickly as he could and wishing the lesson would end.

The bell finally rang. Harry jumped from his seat and left as soon as he had packed his bag. Ron and Hermione came out after him.

'Harry, what is the matter with you?' said Hermione irritably.

'That was the owl Voldemort was sending to Hogwarts in my dream,' he hissed. Ron's mouth fell open. Hermione gasped.

'You mean the supporter is her?' said Ron flabbergasted. Harry nodded. They were walking by one of the windows in a corridor, when Harry stopped and stared out of the window.

'Look!' he said, loudly. The snow was almost completely gone. 'That proves it!' he cried. 'It was him who made it snow.'

'But I thought You-know-who said he was going to do something to Hogwarts, not the whole of England's weather conditions', Ron said. Harry stood still for a moment, then he set off at a half run towards Gryffindor tower ('What about class' said Hermione, but she followed anyway).

Harry ran up to his dormitory and searched all around Ron's bedside table for the most recent 'Daily Prophet' he had. It was three days before. He looked at the very back to where the expected weather was listed. He read. There was no mention of snow anywhere in the country. Hermione and Ron came in panting a moment later. He handed them the paper and pointed out the weather page.

'Oh,' said Ron. 'So I guess it was just Hogwarts. Oh no!' he said suddenly realising, 'the match! The match will be on! I'll be awful and Slytherin will win!'

'Calm down Ron,' said Hermione sharply. 'You'll be fine.' Ron still looked doubtful.

Ron and Harry spent all their free time that day talking about Quidditch. Ron felt much better after hearing all of the things that were usual happenings in their matches. Harry desperately wanted to win this match. Malfoy was Slytherin's Seeker and so Harry wanted to beat him to the Snitch more than ever since their fight.

They went to the Great hall for the Hallowe'en feast that evening. It was a fantastic feast. Their plates were piled high with all the food. They talked and laughed with their fellow Gryffindors until they had all eaten as much as they could. It was about ten o'clock when they went to the common room to do some unfinished homework.

Hermione was doing her Arithmancy homework by the window, when an owl tapped on the glass. Harry, who had been sitting by the fire, got up and opened the window. In flew a small grey owl. It dropped a letter at Harry's feet and flew straight out of the window again. He read aloud. It was from Sirius.

- Harry,

I think I need to have a proper conversation with you. I will be in Hogsmeade soon and will send you a note when I get there. I will be in touch very soon.

- Sirius

'Oh good!' said Ron. 'But how will we get to Hogsmeade without the school having a visit planned?'

'I don't know,' said Harry. 'But there is always the secret passage.' They went to bed quite late that night. Ron wasn't looking forward to the next morning very much at all. Harry fell asleep long before him.

Harry woke up to find Ron sitting on his bed staring at the floor.

'Morning, Ron,' yawned Harry as he got up.

'I'm going to make Gryffindor lose,' said Ron grimly.

'No, you won't,' said Harry. 'You'll be fine. Just pretend we are back at your house.' Ron swallowed. They left the dormitory and went down to the Great hall, Harry carrying his Firebolt and Ron looking slightly green.

'Hello,' said Hermione, smiling. They sat down next to her. 'Oh, Ron, you look terrible,' she added. Ron wouldn't eat anything. Harry ate very little. He was feeling a little worried himself. Malfoy was laughing with some of the Slytherin's over at his table. Harry had never wanted to beat Slytherin in a match more than he did at that moment.

Harry and Ron left the hall to go to the pitch a few minutes later. Hermione wished them good luck as they went in to the changing room.

'Ok, team,' said George, grinning. 'We may not have had any practices with our new Keeper, but I don't think that matters at all. Ron is a great Keeper and I think he will make us really proud today.' Ron smiled a little; it was not like George to say that stuff so he must mean it.

Angelina, Alicia and Katie all nodded and smiled at Ron. They all looked a little nervous but none more so than Ron, of course. They all got in to their Quidditch robes and walked out on to the pitch to great cheers from the stands. The Slytherin team, lead by their new Captain who acted as a Seeker, Adrian Pucey, came on a moment later. Malfoy was a good deal smaller than all the other players and looked rather pale and scrawny.

'Mount your brooms,' said Madame Hooch, as she stood in front of them in her Quidditch referee robes. Then both teams and Madame hooch rose in to the air as she sounded her whistle. The game began. Harry could hear the twin's friend Lee Jordan commentating as usual. He looked down to where Ron was hovering in front of the three hoops. Ron looked a little less green.

'Gryffindor in possession - Angelina Johnson with the Quaffle - passes to Bell - passes back to Johnson. Johnson passes the ball to Spinnet and Spinnet goes for the hoop. Score! Ten points for Gryffindor,' Lee was saying. Harry saw Malfoy over at the other end of the field. He was searching for the Snitch. Harry then dodged a Bludger, missing it by inches.

'Close one, Potter!' sneered Malfoy as he flew past. Harry ignored him and looked around for the Snitch... He saw it! It was not far from the ground. He started to dive, but it disappeared.

'Pucey in possession of the Quaffle for Slytherin. He's going to the hoops. The new Keeper Ron Weasley, dives - and saves it! Gryffindor are still in the lead ten points to none,' Lee yelled. Harry looped in the air as the Gryffindor crowd cheered and gave Ron a thumbs up as he flew by the hoops.

Harry stopped in mid air. He had seen a glint of gold. It was the Snitch and it was up high above the game. He zoomed upwards. Malfoy did too but he was a lot further away from the Snitch than Harry, he was on the other side of the pitch. Harry kept the Snitch in his sight. He streaked after it. The crowd had all gone silent. He threw his hand out and felt the small Snitch in his hand. The stands erupted with cheers. Malfoy looked as though he was about to blow up with rage. He was still hovering about six meters away from Harry at the same level. They were hovering high over the game. Harry started to fly down slowly. The team was yelling and cheering.

Malfoy, who had been hovering still for a few long moments in anger and humiliation, had stayed still too long.

Crunch.

A Bludger hit the side of his broom, breaking his hand and smashing the top half of his broom clean off. Harry caught sight of this from a little way below. Malfoy fell sideways off his broom and was falling from the great height where Harry had been minutes before. The crowd was screaming and shouting. Harry didn't hesitate; he flew like the wind. He flew down until he was directly under the falling figure of Malfoy and only a few feet from the ground. He got there just in time for Malfoy to fall on top of him. They both fell on to the grass. Harry had saved Malfoy from a fall that would have probably killed him. He shoved Malfoy off him and grimaced at the pains in his back and side.

The crowd was rushing on to the pitch. Malfoy was white with the pain of his broken hand and wrist; he didn't get up. Harry didn't either. They both had a substantial amount of pain to deal with and Harry was a little dazed. Dumbledore was one of the first to reach them. Then came the team including a shocked looking Ron, then many of the crowd, with a worried looking Hermione. Harry squinted up at them then stood up unsteadily. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. Malfoy had his eyes tightly shut and was clasping his broken hand. Harry was praised so highly for his valour and quick thinking in the next few moments that he never could really remember any of what he was told. He also got a headache from it.

Malfoy was taken up to the hospital wing by Snape, who looked at Harry with the usual sense of loathing he saved for Harry alone. The crowd started to go up to the castle. McGonagall appeared next to Dumbledore. She was looking at Harry with a small smile on her usually stern face. Ron and Hermione made their way to Harry's side. Ron looked utterly amazed. He couldn't find words. Dumbledore was still looking closely at Harry, who was looking back as he rubbed his sore side. Hermione seemed to realise that Dumbledore wanted a word with Harry alone so she stared pointedly at Ron and motioned towards the castle. Ron nodded and picked up Harry's Firebolt to take it back to their dormitory. McGonagall left after them. Dumbledore turned to Harry.

'One might wonder,' he began slowly, 'why you did what you just did when it is a fact that both you and Mr Malfoy despise each other.'

Harry looked back silently. He wasn't sure what had made him catch Malfoy either. It was very true that he hated him. Dumbledore continued.

'I think I know why. It is because you are so like your father that you helped him in spite of the fact that you disliked him,' he paused. 'Do you think Malfoy will be grateful, Harry?' he asked suddenly. Harry found it very hard to believe that Malfoy would be grateful. He thought it would probably make Malfoy hate him more.

'No, I don't think he will,' Harry answered, wondering where the conversation was going.

'I don't think he will either,' he said, shaking his head. 'You did a very noble thing today Harry. You will have earned some house points for that I believe.' He smiled and then turned back to the castle. Harry remembered the end of their last meeting and so asked Dumbledore something hastily.

'Who is my guardian, Professor?' Dumbledore turned.

'You will know soon enough I imagine,' he said simply. Harry knew that was all he would get from him so he silently went back to the castle, still rubbing his right arm and side.