Harry Potter and the Sacrifice of the Traitor

Chapter 13

Harry flew as fast as he could towards the Snitch at the other end of the pitch. The Hufflepuff Seeker was nearer, but Harry urged his Firebolt on frantically, and overtook the other player just in time. In another moment he had forced his numb fingers to close over the small struggling golden ball, and he pulled up into a wide circle, with his arm held above his head triumphantly. As the team landed, Madam Pomfrey bustled onto the pitch with steaming mugs of hot chocolate for all the players, muttering about foolish games and risk of frostbite if they weren't careful. Harry drank his gratefully, feeling the warmth searing down his throat. Nearby, Hermione had rushed over to hug Ron, who did not seem to be objecting. Then she broke free and brought Harry into the hug as well, and for a moment Harry felt completely content. Then Katie hustled them all back into the changing rooms, where they gratefully pulled on their warm clothes and winter cloaks.

Although out there in the cold it hadn't felt like it, in reality the game hadn't lasted long, and so they had most of the afternoon left for relaxing - or as Hermione insisted, for getting on with their homework. She kept them hard at work finishing off a tricky essay for Professor Flitwick, but relented after supper and let Harry and Ron play chess, while she pored over some large and musty Arithmancy volumes. After Harry had been beaten thoroughly by Ron, they went and sat with Hermione, who was now reading a thick sheaf of parchments with Professor McGonagall's handwriting on it. She refused to let them see what was on it, although Harry suspected it was something to do with her special project. He was pretty sure she had told Ron about it, as he just looked uncomfortable when Harry asked again what she was doing, and she refused to answer.

'It's not exactly fair that I'm the only person who doesn't know what you're doing,' he said grumpily.

'Oh Harry, do grow up,' Hermione said rather wearily. 'I promised not to tell anyone, but Ron caught me practicing over Christmas. I had to swear him to secrecy too, but I should be finished in a few more months.'

The next day was the day of the Hogsmeade visit. Hermione had suggested that Ginny might like to come with them to meet Lupin and Tonks, as Ginny had formed quite a close friendship with Tonks over the last couple of years, when they had spent some time together in the holidays. Tonks wasn't that much older than them, after all. When Neville had heard about this, he and Luna had asked to join the group, saying that he wanted to see Tonks' Metamorphmagus abilities. Neville and Luna seemed to be developing quite a strong relationship, and although he was frequently confused by the odd comments Luna came out with, she seemed to have given him quite a lot of confidence in himself. The sun was shining weakly, though the day was still cold, as they put on their cloaks and walked down to the village. After replenishing a few school supplies such as ink and parchment, Ron and Hermione went off by themselves, leaving Harry with Luna, Ginny and Neville. They had a pleasant stroll around the village, arguing amiably about Quidditch teams. Ginny turned out to be as strong a supporter of the Chudley Cannons as Ron was, but Luna and Neville supported the Holyhead Harpies. They had a good look around Zonko's, and Ginny bought several Exploding Quills and some Itchy Foot Powder. Harry made a mental note that she seemed to be trying to fill Fred and George's place, and to be very careful not to annoy her. Then they went to the Post Office, where Luna wanted to send a letter to her father, who was researching Claw-Winged Snagglesnouts, whatever they were, in Iceland.

By then it was time to meet Lupin and Tonks, so they made their way to the Three Broomsticks and ordered some Butterbeers. Ron and Hermione joined them shortly, looking rather pink and flushed. Harry almost asked them where they had been, but Ginny kicked him on the ankle, and on reflection he decided that she was probably right, and he didn't want to know. Lupin and Tonks were hot on their heels, entering the pub laughing cheerfully about a joke Tonks had just made.

'Hello, Harry, hello everyone,' said Lupin, smiling around at the group as he pulled up chairs for himself and Tonks.

'Wotcha Harry, who are all your friends?' asked Tonks, as she sat down.

Harry introduced Neville and Luna, and Tonks grinned and said she'd thought they seemed a bit familiar. Harry remembered than that she had seen them at the Ministry of Magic last year, although not for long enough to be introduced. The thought of the fight at the Ministry and the loss of Sirius caused a pang of sadness to shoot through him, but he was starting to get over the terrible guilt feelings at last.

Neville seemed to have turned a bit shy again, but Ginny and Luna were soon egging Tonks on to more and more bizarre changes of nose and face, and the whole table was soon roaring with laughter.

'Why were you so interested in Metamorphmagus abilities, then?' asked Tonks curiously.

'My mum was one,' explained Neville simply. With a rare show of tact, Tonks smoothly changed the subject, asking if anyone wanted to eat. They ordered some food, and had a large meal with some hilarious conversation, talking about anything from Luna's father's explorations to pranks the Marauders used to pull at school.

When everyone was finished, Harry looked seriously at Lupin.

'Did you come all the way up here just to have lunch with us, Remus, or is there anything happening that we should know about?' he asked. His scar had been prickling again lately, although the Occlumency skills he had finally learned were preventing him from seeing any visions.

Lupin sobered abruptly and looked at Tonks, who looked very startled.

'How did you...?' she started to say, and then stopped quickly.

Lupin sighed. 'Have you been seeing anything that might make you think that something, well, unusual, was going on, Harry?' he asked.

'No, though my scar prickles a bit sometimes,' replied Harry. 'It just seemed a long way for you to come.'

Lupin seemed to steel himself. 'Well, it is of course nice to spend some time with you and your friends - makes me feel younger again,' he smiled lightly. 'But Dumbledore did say that if you were still sensing anything from Voldemort, it might be best to warn you.'

He had lowered his voice and looked around, but no-one else was close enough to hear them talking. Luna, Neville, Ron and Ginny all flinched at the sound of the name, but Hermione tried hard to look as if it didn't bother her.

'I agree, if there is anything you know V-V-Voldemort's planning, you should make sure Harry knows, and then we can prepare for it,' she said.

'Well, first of all, Harry, I want to say that we don't think he is planning any attacks specifically on you or Hogwarts, and we do not want you getting involved and rushing off to do anything,' he said sternly. He looked at Harry, not blaming him, but silently reminding him of what had happened last time Harry had fallen into one of Voldemort's traps. Harry nodded quietly, which seemed to surprise Ron.

'Yeah, but if Harry's the one who...' he blurted, then stopped himself as Hermione glared at him.

'Ah, I wondered if Harry had told you,' said Lupin sadly. 'Dumbledore told me last year that he had explained the Prophecy to you, Harry. It's a good thing that your friends can all be there to support you until you are a fully trained wizard, but I must impress on you all how dangerous this knowledge is. We believe that Voldemort still does not know the full Prophecy, and even Tonks and I have not been told every word. Ron, you and the others will be needed to help Harry, but you must understand that you may well become targets for Voldemort to try and get the information from you.'

The other five nodded solemnly, while Harry sat silently. He had realised that he might be putting them in danger by telling them the Prophecy, but he had needed to tell someone, just to get the terrible weight of knowledge off his chest. He started to understand that although it had to be him facing Voldemort at the end, his friends and all the wizards who were prepared to fight Voldemort wanted and deserved to be there to help fight the battle, if and when it came.

'Now then,' said Lupin. 'Our intelligence suggests that although Voldemort does not appear to be planning anything specifically involving you, Harry, he may well try to weaken you by attacking those close to you. You five that know the details of the Prophecy are of course in the greatest danger, and I would suggest that you avoid going anywhere alone, particularly when you are off Hogwarts grounds. We do of course now have Ministry support, which means we can have Aurors and other such wizards watching both you and your families, but you do need to be careful.'

They all nodded seriously, and Hermione spoke, looking very worried.

'Professor Lupin, I mean Remus, you know my parents are Muggles, don't you?'

'Yes, we do know, Hermione, and don't worry, the watch is very unobtrusive and they are able to carry on their lives as normal. Of course, they are in extra danger because they are Muggles, but we don't think that there's any specific threat to them as yet.

Ginny swallowed hard, and asked, 'Will our parents be safe? My father works at the Ministry, but my mother spends a lot of time alone now that we are all at school.' Ron turned slightly paler, and looked nervously at Harry.

Lupin smiled. 'I said there is no immediate danger, Ginny. As long as you and your families take normal precautions, not to go wandering off alone into the Forbidden Forest or down Knockturn Alley or something, there should be no way that Voldemort would be able to harm them. You just need to think before you leap into action.'

Tonks seemed to have decided that the serious conversation had gone on long enough, and firmly changed the subject. She asked after the latest Quidditch match, and was rather disappointed about the result.

'Course, I expect you could guess I was in Hufflepuff, being a bit clumsy and all,' she laughed.

'Hufflepuff won their game against Ravenclaw last term though,' said Ron encouragingly. 'They're in second place tied in Slytherin at the moment, so if they beat them next month they might be second in the Quidditch cup.'

Harry looked at Luna, to see if she realised that Ravenclaw was in last place at the moment, but she was staring into space, humming to herself. After that the conversation turned again to lighter subjects, although Harry could tell that everyone there was thinking about the warning Lupin had brought.

Madam Rosmerta cleared away the last of their glasses in a slightly pointed manner, and Harry was startled to realise the time.

'We'd better get on back to the castle,' he said to the others.

Hermione looked shocked. 'My goodness, I've got that meeting with Professor McGonagall soon: we'd better hurry up. If I miss that...!'

They hurriedly said their goodbyes to Tonks and Lupin, and walked back to the castle, where Hermione dashed off, and Luna and Neville wandered off, hand in hand, towards the Ravenclaw part of the castle. Harry, Ron and Ginny walked up to Gryffindor tower together.

'How's Alex?' said Ginny, referring to the Thestral living in the Forest that Hagrid had given Harry.

'I saw him a few days ago; Hagrid gave me some meat to take out to him,' said Harry vaguely. Then something occurred to him. 'If we aren't supposed to go into the Forest, how am I going to get to know him? Hagrid said it was very important to feed him regularly or he won't learn to come when I call him.'

'I expect it'll be alright if you stay by Hagrid's cabin, and maybe if we came with you,' said Ron,

'I'd like to meet him, Harry, though I still won't be able to see him of course,' said Ginny, smiling a bit shyly at him.

Hermione returned soon after that, and hustled Ron off to finish his Transfiguration homework. Harry for once had already done it, so was left alone with Ginny. He wasn't sure what to say to her at first, but in spite of a few blushes, she seemed quite at ease, and quizzed him about some of the things they were learning in her classes. They practised Summoning Charms, which Harry had mastered in his fourth year, but which Ginny was still having a little trouble with. He found he had missed the feeling of helping people to improve their skills, which he had enjoyed while running the DA.

'Why don't you practice that wandless magic a bit?' suggested Ginny after she had successfully Summoned her pencil case for the third time in a row.

'I don't really know how,' Harry confessed. 'I've never done it consciously.'

Ginny frowned thoughtfully. Hermione and Ron re-appeared from their corner, and Ginny repeated her suggestion to them. Hermione looked keen. 'Good idea Ginny, we could do with some more information on Harry's abilities with that.'

'Yeah, but how does he learn to do something when he doesn't know how he does it?' asked Ron.

Hermione frowned too, then smiled. 'I know, Harry, start right from the beginning, like Dumbledore did with Conjuration.' She carelessly Conjured a few boxes of matches, making Ginny's eyes widen.

'Now then, Harry, remember how we started by Transfiguring matches into needles and just try and do the same thing, but without your wand,' Hermione said eagerly.

Harry was rather dubious about the whole idea, but he dutifully took some matches out and stared hard at them, trying to Transfigure them without his wand. After some time, he sighed dejectedly. 'It's no good, Hermione, I can't see how I can possibly do this without a wand.'

Hermione looked impatient. 'Harry, you did wandless magic before you knew you were a wizard, right?' Harry nodded. 'And last year you said you managed to light your wand when it was on the ground?' Harry nodded again. 'And most importantly, you performed some quite advanced magic without a wand when you were duelling Malfoy.' Ron sniggered appreciatively at the memory. Hermione sighed, and said 'Well then, all you need to do is believe that it is possible. You're just not trying hard enough.'

Harry felt a bit annoyed about that. He had been trying, and surely she didn't expect him to do it perfectly at first. He glared at the match on the table, and performed the spell to Transfigure it, focussing his will on it as powerfully as he did when trying to Conjure a chair for Dumbledore. There was a moment when nothing happened, then he felt a wave of dizziness as his eyes blurred, followed by a feeling of completely exhaustion. He sank back into his chair as the others gasped.

'You did it, Harry!' squealed Ginny, hugging him suddenly, and letting go very quickly when she realised what she was doing.

Harry picked up the match with a shaking hand. It was unmistakably now a silver, pointed needle.

'Wow, Harry, that looked like really hard work,' said Ron, looking rather concerned.

'I expect it was because he wasn't as angry or desperate as he usually is when he does wandless magic,' said Hermione knowledgably. 'Luna and I have been investigating it since that duel, and all the books say you need to practice constantly to build up your strength if you want to do it all the time. Harry, I think you should try and do wandless magic whenever you're doing a simple spell from now on.'

Harry still felt too tired to argue, so he just said, 'Alright, I'll try.' He was pretty pleased that it had worked, although he thought that if it was that difficult it would take a long time to be of much use.

Hermione decided it was time they all got some sleep, as Professor Richards had hinted that they would be starting their hardest Potion yet in the morning. Harry was so exhausted from his day in Hogsmeade, the worries that Lupin's news had brought, and now the wandless magic he had performed, that he almost fell into his four poster bed and was fast asleep before he could even think about pulling the curtains.

He felt fine in the morning, and joined Ron in an enormous breakfast. Hermione tutted rather impatiently when Ron insisted he needed another helping of bacon and eggs, but Harry saw her smiling at Ron when he wasn't looked at her. He suddenly realised that they bickered all the time because they were trying to hide how strong their feelings were for each other. He said nothing however, but helped himself to another sausage.

The class was whispering excitedly about what potion they might be told to make next, when Professor Richards entered the room. Everyone fell silent and looked at him intently.

'Right then, class,' he said cheerfully. 'You've been doing really well on some of these potions, and I think it's time to try and stretch you a bit.'

Some of the class groaned, but Malfoy sneered across at Harry, obviously conveying the message that he was perfectly able to cope with whatever was in store. Harry ignored him steadily, not wanting to start an argument in the middle of the class.

Professor Richards continued, 'This term we will be making a very advanced potion. Some of you may have heard of this, but I doubt that any of you will have ever tried it. It will take at least a month to make, and if any of the stages are missed out or made badly, you will have to start again, and will lose marks.'

Hermione was concentrating very hard on his words, her eyes fixed on him as if she could somehow drag the name of the potion from him by staring at him.

Professor Richards smiled at her, and said, 'Right, then, let's get to work. We are going to have a go at making ... Polyjuice Potion.'