Mark of Ancients

Chapter 7: LOSING FRIENDS

    Harry woke up Monday morning to find his eyes sticky with salt. His bed sheets had fallen off and his arms and legs were sprawled all over. Ron and Neville were still asleep -- and great luck because it was all rather embarrassing. Harry wiped the remaining tear off his face with his sleeve, making it quite wet, grabbed his bed sheets and quilt and arranged them neatly on top. He looked at a clock: seven twenty-three.

    Thirty-seven minutes later, they were all in the Great Hall eating breakfast.

    "What is this music they're playing?" asked Ron, very confused. "And better yet, if it's Muggle music, how are they playing it?"

    "Yeah, electricity doesn't work here. It's supposed to go haywire," said Hermione.

    "Electricity?"

    "Yeah, you know... well... I think it's like small things that run around inside wires and power stuff."

    "Something like that," said Harry.

    "Do you know who this is, Harry?" asked Hermione. "I've only heard a few Muggle songs. We mostly don't listen to music at my house." Harry pinched an ear to hear the words.

Two voices sang in harmony. "And they say that a hero could save us. I'm not gonna stand here and wait..."

    "Sounds like a band called Nickelback," said Harry, recognizing the song.

"I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles. Watch as we all fly away..."

    "I kinda like it!" said Ron.

A voice was singing alone now. "Someone told me love would all save us. But, how can that be. Look what love gave us."

    "What is it playing on? They can't use electricity!" said Hermione.

"A world full of killing... and blood spilling, that world never came..."

    "Look," said Harry pointing at Dumbledore. "He's got a record player bewitched," said Harry, giggling. "You can spin a record, fold some paper into a cone and put the end onto the record to get sound."

The two voices sang again. "And they say that a hero could save us. I'm not gonna stand here and wait... I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles. Watch as we all fly away..."

    "Hey, they should play more of this stuff!" said Ron.

Another voice sang and the instruments cut out. "Now that the world isn't ending... it's love that I'm sending to you. It isn't the love of a hero... and that's why I fear it won't do..." The music kicked up again.

    "I hope they do, I could get used to this!" said Hermione.

The two voices sang once again. "And they say that a hero could save us. I'm not gonna stand here and wait... I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles. Watch as we all fly away..."

    The three of them listened as the song finished up.

"And they're watching us... (watching us...). They're watching us... (watching us...)... as we all fly away."

    "Hey, look at Malfoy!" said Harry, pointing at him. Ron and Hermione laughed instantly. Malfoy was making faces, obviously disgusted at the song. "He has no sense of self, that kid."

    "And you cry too much, Potter," said Malfoy as he stood up. Harry must have spoken more loudly than he intended. "They say that a hero will save us?" He laughed coldly. "Better not hold your breath, since Harry obviously isn't the one who's going to stop You-Know-Who this time!"

    "Shut up, Malfoy!" Hermione screamed at him. "With You-Know-Who around there WAS a world full of killing!"

    "Yeah but he's back..." said Malfoy smirking madly. Harry's scar began to tingle. He tried to hide the fact. "...And he's trying dearly hard to get rid of you, Potter. Let's just hope he succeeds some time soon." The scar hurt more, it was now like pressing a needle gently against his forehead.

    Harry stood up and stepped onto the table, walking over it so he could stand face to face with Malfoy. He lifted his bangs so Malfoy could get a clear look at his lightning-shaped scar then looked down so it was eye level with Malfoy. "You see this?" he said threateningly soft. "It hurts whenever Voldemort is feeling to hurt me. Right now it hurts. It's caused me much more pain than you could ever imagine. I'd be happy to show you, but that would land me in Azkaban." Harry emanated of hatred. "I know your father's a Death Eater... and I'd just as soon kill him as you." The pain from the scar grew to where he had to squint and press a hand against it.

    "Harry..." said Hermione to him as she dropped her fork on the floor. She got up and pushed Harry onto her seat but he turned to face Malfoy. Harry's skin started to glitter on it's own. "I think you better calm down or you're gonna go ballistic again." Harry pointed a finger at Malfoy, his right arm fully outstretched and palm still visible from underneath. He turned his hand so his palm faced upwards then slowly arced his arm upwards so his finger pointed straight up. Then Harry put his arm on the right side of his face and whipped it quick across his vision and upwards, palm facing out.

    A gust of tornado force winds sent Malfoy soaring just over the heads of the people at the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. He hovered over the Slytherin table for a moment then slammed onto it, cracking it in two.

    Harry then fell forwards onto the floor, curled up in pain. It felt exactly like the last time it hurt -- like having a rod sticking out his forehead that was most definitely lodged deep inside his head. The only thing he was aware of was the crowd of black figures beginning to surround him. One figure bent down and Harry could almost make out the apparent pretty shape sitting on top of it's black cloak.

    "What's wrong with him?" said one voice he didn't recognize.

    "The scar!" squealed another voice.

    "Oh you've all seen it before. Stop acting like it's rare!" This voice was Hermione's.

    Someone else said, "Ha, ha, look at him!" No sooner did this voice speak than one of the figures around him go careening backwards out of view.

    "Do you all want scars? I'M SURE HE'LL BE HAPPY TO GIVE HIS TO YOU!" bellowed Ron. One figure wearing blue bent down and tried to slip him a few drops of a potion. Half the goblet spilled down Harry's chin but a few hit their target. The pain was going away as was his hearing and vision.

    Harry woke up in his bedroom with Hermione, Ron and... Cho? They were all sitting on Ron's bed talking quietly but stopped abruptly when Harry sat up and rubbed his eyes.

    "It happened again, didn't it," said Harry feeling ashamed.

    "There's nothing to be ashamed about, Harry," said Hermione. "Dumbledore was not upset at you, he was upset at Draco and that evil girl Pansy Parkinson." Harry stared bleary eyed at Hermione and Ron. His head felt cloudy and stuffy, his forehead sore but the pain was gone and that's always a good thing.

    "Er, what's Cho doing here?" said Harry, breaking into a cold sweat. He had never talked to Cho for more than a minute or so.

    "Yeah, that's not rude," said Cho as she got up and left. Harry's face turned scarlet. He didn't mean to be rude but he was at a loss for words. Something always twisted his stomach and screwed up his brain when Cho was in sight. Harry stared bewildered as she silently went down the stairs. He swallowed two words before getting out, "I didn't mean to be rude!"

    "You blew it," said Ron flatly.

    "Well, why was she here, anyway?" asked Harry, still waiting for an answer. Hermione repeated Cho's actions. Neither Ron nor Harry had reason to be worried as Hermione was bound to find an excuse to leave the boys dormitory anyway.

    "Well? You going to make an about face for the stairs too, Ron?"

    "Hermione knows you like her so she asked Cho to come and sit. Though you two might start talking. I don't know, girl stuff. Women... just don't tell her I told you, okay?"

    "Okay."

    "So... yeah. Oh, Snape told me to tell you you don't have to come to class today. Guess he knows you hate him more than most anything else. He probably had a shining moment of sympathy behind that Antarctic heart of ice..." - Ron started to sound like a philosopher - "a euphoria of glory, peace of mind, realization of the goodness of life, a will to spread peace and happiness... and a state of well-being." He paused, then said quickly, "Either that or Cupid shot him in the butt with an arrow." Harry and Ron started to snort then broke into sudden laughter.

    "That was poetic," said Harry, starting to tear he was laughing so hard.

    "Trelawney is starting to get to me with all of her 'The Great this' and 'The Inner Eye' that," said Ron trying to control his fit of giggles. "I just can't wait until we use our stupid potions so we can get it over with. I've been dreaming that I'll get the ghost of Pigwidgeon telling me that the name sucks." Ginny, Ron's little sister, named the owl Sirius gave him Pigwidgeon. Ron says he doesn't like Pig, as he calls the owl, but it was evident Ron would just die without him.

    A fleeting moment of sadness crept over Harry, but it was pushed away as quickly as it came. "I just keep dreaming I get something that will tell Trelawney she's going to die and that's how I get a passing grade." Ron held back another spell of laughter. "So, Snape really said I don't have to come?"

    "Yeah. Didn't say anything else. Really strange, no?" Harry looked down.

    "Not really. I probably would have sent him through the wall." He pointed his eyes at Ron. "If I see Draco again today I'll be sure to let him feel how much my scar hurt," threatened Harry. His skin started to glitter again and Ron noticed, staring at Harry's hand.

    "Snape also said we would be finishing our Spirit Potions and using them in class later today. Hermione and I will be finishing yours up for you. Professor Trelawney looked extra happy. She came to visit you here a few minutes before you woke up, said today you'd die from pain."

    "ARGH! That woman is going to drive me nuts before Voldemort does!"

    "Shh... do you have to say the name?!" said Ron trying to shush him, but there was no one to keep from hearing...

    "I'm not saying You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named anymore. It's Voldemort from now on. Dumbledore says it, Sirius says it and Lupin says it. That's good enough for me." Harry paused for a minute and said, "Voldemort, Voldemort, Voldemort!" Ron winced each time Harry said it.

    Remus Lupin was a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for one year, Harry's third, at Hogwarts. He was quite good at teaching it, Harry thought. Unfortunately, Lupin was bitten by a werewolf at a young age. Werewolves, not being accepted by the general wizard society, were forced to hide their identity or be treated like rats. Lupin was forced to resign after his identity was revealed by a freak accident involving forgetting to take his anti-human-killing potion which Snape provided monthly. Lupin had taken a liking to Harry and it just so happens that Lupin was great friends with James Potter.

    "Okay, okay! V... Volde... mort." Harry's skin glowed white but he wasn't the one making it do so.

    "Go on, you're learning!"

    "Voldemort."

    "Good! But today you'll die from saying 'Professor Trelawney.'" They both laughed again but much lighter. Harry fell backwards onto his bed letting out two last airy giggles, but -- "Ouch!" -- he banged his head on one of the poles. "I have an hour after Professor Flitwick's, what ever am I going to do?" he said sarcastically and scratching the back of his head.

    "We should get going. Charms starts in five minutes." They walked silently to Professor Flitwick's class. Despite the ugly morning, Harry was in good spirits having gotten some things off his chest with Ron. Best of all, he didn't have to attend Potions today!

    Charms was pleasant. Flitwick had taught them a self-levitation charm. Seamus Finnigan, however, made up a several-person version and within ten minutes after Flitwick let them practice, Seamus, Ron, Harry, Hermione and Neville were dangling upside down, Hermione frantically trying to keep her skirt covering those critical parts... Flitwick allowed Hermione to punish Seamus herself. She made him spin around mid air until he lost his breakfast.

    Charms ended and as everyone headed off to the dungeons for Potions, Harry happily went back to his bedroom. "Arithmancy," he said with a rich cheer to the Fat Lady. He stepped through the portrait hole and it was a feeling of total euphoria. One day without Snape was like a never having to live the bad dream of being a famous wizard for something so dreadful. But he did an immediate about-face and stepped back out ("Thanks for coming here for nothing"). Would it do any good to see if there was any books on calling a spirit of your own choice?

    He walked down the hallways, through the moving staircases and headed to the library. On the way, his skin glittered and something spoke.

    "I smell fear," said a voice, a cold, icy voice, not unlike one he had heard three years before. The Chamber of Secrets, built by Salazar Slytherin, was home to a basilisk, a snake, who's voice only a Parselmouth could hear. It was Salazar's goal to rid Hogwarts of any student who was not a pure blood wizard or witch. In Harry's second year, he killed the basilisk. The voice had the same ice cold and bone-chilling effect. Surely the basilisk was not still alive?

    A lone shiver went straight down Harry's spine. He stopped dead in his tracks in the hallway leading to the library. There was nothing he could think of that would stop his shaking. Were it not for the tears of Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, Harry would have died down in the Chamber. A stroke of luck made Harry spit the words "Sorry to disappoint you and all that, but the greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore," to Tom Marvolo Riddle, the teenage version of Lord Voldemort.

    He had preserved his spirit inside a diary during his days at Hogwarts. Fawkes, sensing Harry's faithfulness, came to his rescue with the Sorting Hat, which, unbeknownst to Harry, contained a blade of Godric Gryffindor. The basilisk pierced Harry's arm with venom, almost killing him, when Harry drove the blade into the basilisk. Tears of a phoenix, however, have extraordinary healing powers and Harry was able to get out alive, having killed the basilisk and then destroying the diary, killing the memory of Tom Riddle.

    He decided it best to ignore the voice. One near death experience with a snake more than twenty feet in length and wide enough to swallow him hole, coupled with many experiences of the same nature, is enough for one lifetime. Harry knew he would be thinking about it for the rest of the day, but now was just not the time to worry about the Chamber of Secrets once more.

    Voldemort had control of him, or at least that's what was supposed to be. Harry was, up to now, successful at fighting off Voldemort's control, who had to be halfway across the world. Sirius had been seen and there's no word back from him yet on his safety. Harry was prone to sudden breakdowns and violent, explosive behavior. All of this had been putting a burden he didn't know how much longer he could bare. So much seemed to go wrong and none if it looked like it would go right soon.

    In his reminiscing, he didn't notice he had taken a seat against a wall, holding his legs up to himself with his arms staring blankly at the opposite wall. He was still shaking slightly over the voice and over his own thoughts.

    Clunk, clunk, clunk. A familiar sound was coming down the hallway. Harry looked up and turned to face the black figure limping towards him.

    "Hello, Harry," said Alastor Moody. "Feeling gloomy?" Harry met, or thought at least, Moody in his fourth year. Moody was an Auror, a Dark wizard catcher. Dumbledore had thought to bring Moody to Hogwarts in Harry's defense. Bartemius Crouch's son (both of whom had the same name), secretly working for Voldemort, had been using Polyjuice Potion all year disguising himself as Moody. A long chain of events lead Harry scrambling to defend himself and leave with the dead body of Cedric Diggory after a fourth near-death experience with Voldemort. The Triwizard Tournament Cup had been made a portkey, an artifact that transports the toucher to a location, to transport Harry to Voldemort. Harry had convinced Cedric to grab it with him...

    Harry didn't want to mention the voice of the basilisk, so instead he said, "You know what's wrong with me, just like everyone else?"

    "Yep. Wouldn't believe it unless I saw it for myself, though," he said, checking Harry from head to toe, who didn't notice his skin was still glittering and abruptly stopped it. "Nothing to be ashamed of, the mark has been something coveted for thousands of years. Many of us would give several limbs for it." Moody smiled, stretching the terrible scars on his face. His magical eye bounced back and forth rapidly. One of Moody's legs was a wooden plank... did he try to get the mark?

    "Plenty to be ashamed of," said Harry quietly. "I think the ancients were Dark wizards."

    "Nonsense, Harry!" said Moody in disbelief. "Scriptures, tomes, tales, stories and all kinds of literature tell of them."

    "Hagrid, Ron and Hermione all believe me. Hagrid had been reading a book about them and it's all suggesting they started good but went bad."

    "I don't know where you kids get these ideas. And somehow it seems you've tricked Hagrid, too." Harry bolted off the floor and started to walk towards the Great Hall, it was, after all, nearly lunch time. He had spent the entire time up until lunch sitting against the wall. Moody tried to follow, but Harry made his skin glow perfect white and stopped Moody's footsteps cold with a hand out at his side, pointing up, back of it facing Moody. Harry knew Moody couldn't move his legs as he walked disgruntled to the Great Hall. He put his hand down as soon as he left the corridor and was out of Moody's sight.

    He was a few minutes early and there was no one besides Professor Dumbledore sitting on his chair with a book in his hand. Harry took his usual seat three-quarters near to the end of the Gryffindor table. He sat and folded his arms, hands dangling off the edge, staring just ahead of his arms. His breath got heavier than he intended and his mind wandered about past events... more specifically, the basilisk and Voldemort.

    Harry would like to think of it all as just a bad dream, but as Dumbledore kindly reminded him,

    "It's not just a bad dream, Harry," he said consolingly. "Good will come of it."

    "What good?" he said, near tearing and resting his head on his arms. "What's good that has happened in the past four years? I'm not living with the Dursleys all year round, that's it! And to top it all off I'm going to fail Divination. I swear, the next time Voldemort tries to kill me, I'm going to let him." Dumbledore, amazingly, smiled.

    "But he's failed four times," he said with bright eyes. "Are you not starting to think it's not going to happen?" Harry pierced Dumbledore with a confused eye. "First year, Professor Quirrell, Voldemort's host, died. Second year, you killed a basilisk and a preserved spirit, third year you discover you have a Godfather and fourth year, you escape with your life again-"

    "So? Sirius is missing and Voldemort isn't giving up even though he's halfway across the planet."

    "...Fourth year during the summer, the blessed Mark of Ancients comes to your rescue." Harry's slightly livened spirit dropped like a rock to the floor.

    "IT'S NOT GOOD!" bellowed Harry. Dumbledore was now the one piercing with a confused eye. "You heard me," said Harry coldly, standing up to his full height facing Dumbledore, "it's evil." He scrambled to get the rest of the following words out as if it were against the law to say. "Hagrid, Ron and Hermione all believe me but no one else does, not even Moody, who by the way I ran into on the way here."

    He slumped back into his seat, back against the table. "I give up," he said softly. "No one else's going to believe me if you don't." He turned around and went back into the position of folded arms, hands dangling off the edge, staring blankly directly ahead of his arms. Harry could hear Dumbledore's footsteps going back towards his chair. Harry sat, brooding.

    More footsteps entered the Great Hall. He turned to see Cho and Hermione giggling. He forced a smile in their direction when they could see him but they walked towards the empty Ravenclaw table. They weren't both still bitter... were they? Ron soon followed. He, thankfully, walked over and took a seat opposite Harry. He was carrying a potion in one hand.

    "That my Spirit Potion?" asked Harry, trying dearly to hide his current state.

    "Yeah," said Ron, looking unhappy himself.

    "What, something go bad in Potions?"

    "Yeah," repeated Ron in the same fashion. "Snape never looked happier today. He took twenty points from Slytherin and actually gave us fifteen! Snape went on and on about he hates teaching arrogant people."

    "I'm not... 'arrogant'..."

    "Not what Snape thinks. He said flatly in class that he hates how you break rules and constantly defy him." Ron giggled. "Poor Snape."

    "What's up with Hermione?" said Harry, dearly wishing the subject would change and pointing at her. It was hard to see her now among the small flood of people coming in.

    "Been talking to Cho all day. Hasn't mentioned you at all. I'm tellin' you, just don't bother." Harry nodded in agreement.

    "You know what all of us completely forgot about?"

    "What?" said Ron, wondering what Harry could possibly be talking about.

    "OUR O.W.L.S!"

    "Oh, no! Supposed to be hard, they are. No idea about the tests! Ugh!" Ron suddenly giggled, then looked over Harry's shoulder. Harry looked where his head was pointed and saw -- he was looking at Hermione. O.W.L.s, Ordinary Wizarding Levels, were a level of qualification of one's magic ability.

    "Oh she's going to be really upset," said Harry giggling too. "When do we have to take them, you know?"

    "Supposed to be end of first term of your fifth year," he said looked strikingly terrified. It was their fifth year, and the term was ending in three short weeks. "We'll never have enough time to prepare!"

    "Would it be cruel if we were to tell Hermione now and let her worry over it or let Dumbledore mention the date and have her worry all at once?" said Harry with a twinkle in his eye.

    "Let's wait," said Ron.

    They both looked in Hermione's direction and giggled to themselves. The Great Hall was teeming with people and most of the tables were full. Ginny, Ron's little sister (who had a kind of crush on Harry since they first met) came up to them, for once. She was tricked, during her first year (Harry and Ron's second) to open the Chamber of Secrets by Tom Riddle's diary. The memory of Tom was draining her life and nearly ended up killing her. It was the destruction of the diary that brought her back to life. Ginny blushed even more around Harry ever since then. She was only a year younger than both of them.

    "Ginny, you have your own friends to sit next to," barked Ron. Ginny didn't move away and she sat herself down right next to Ron, probably too embarrassed to sit next to Harry. Seamus, Neville, Lee and Angelina Johnson, one Gryffindor Chaser for their Quidditch team, came over and sat down as well.

    "What, are we having a party I wasn't told about?" said Harry, looking at all of them. Ginny, as could be predicted, turned a shade of apples.

    "The last duel is tonight," said Angelina. "There's one just after lunch between two other students. Divination is canceled."

    Lee laughed. "Oh you shoulda seen the look on Trelawney's face. The class we were supposed to use our Spirit Potions in, canceled... again!" Harry started to feel happier. The next best thing he was good at, or rather the second best thing he seemed to be good at given his success at it and being a Quidditch Seeker, was dueling. He had not lost a match yet although he had come close a few times.

    "The last duel is definitely going to be between you and Thantanos Brev," said Ginny. "He's from Durmstrang. Has the mark, supposed to be a very, very skilled dueler. He knows a bunch of spells you're only supposed to know if you work as an Auror."

    "Shame I can't use Clades Ultimus," said Harry innocently. Everyone eyed him funny. He probably shouldn't have said that. "What?" he said innocently again. "Kidding, just kidding!" No one seemed to change their look at his words. He went back into his position of folded arms, hands dangling off the edge of the table, staring just ahead of his arms and said gloomily, "Who's in the first round?"

    "Brev and some girl named Ampla D' Efectio," said Ron cautiously, still eyeing Harry. "She's supposed to be really good too. Guess we'll see in just over an hour eh?"

    Harry knew he was good too, but, would he be defeated? What if these people were a whole lot better than him? What if the mark failed and he got hurt? Harry's self confidence dropped in the face of adversity. He suddenly had the feeling that he was just a local success and Brev would be the one to show him how bad a wizard he really is.

    The Great Hall had finally filled up with people. Hermione and Cho hadn't come back and it was safe to say they wouldn't come back at all. Everyone but Harry had dug into their lunch.

    "You better eat, Harry," said Ron, looking worried. "Lunch ends in five minutes!" Clunk, clunk, clunk. Moody's distinctive limp could be recognized miles away, but no one turned to look for him. "Brev has squashed everyone he's dueled. The longest one versus him was about two minutes! Two!"

    "I'm not hungry. I've got a lot more than the stupid duel on my mind." Ron knew what he was talking about. Lee, Seamus, Angelina and Ginny had no clue and it was probably better that they didn't.

    "Cheer up, Harry," said Moody. Everyone turned to look at Moody, who was standing behind Harry. Both his normal eye and magical eye (which seemed to have properties such as being able to see behind him and look through solid wood) stared straight at Harry. It took Harry a few moments to realize all the eyes staring at him were hoping he'd win. He stayed in the position but his heart jumped a beat -- more people were crowding around.

    Words tumbled out of his mouth he didn't want to say. "What are you all standing there for? No attraction here, I'm going to lose." He sat wriggling in his chair until --

    "You're right!" It was the same venomous voice from before... the cold, venomous voice of the basilisk. He stopped moving and the faces around him seemed to disappear. Harry wasn't aware of anything except the fear that seemed to pierce him from heart to stomach. The voice was talking to him now and any reason for that would be hard to find. The faces around him walked away sulkily except that of Ginny and Ron.

    "Get up, Harry," said Ron. "Dumbledore has to move the tables away." Harry got up from the table slowly, staring blankly at space in front of him. The tables slid against the side walls and the dueling platform materialized in the center next the teachers' stand. Two walked out of the crowd of people. Ampla D' Efectio had long red hair, a stark contrast to the bleached white hair of Thantanos Brev. Both of them wore what looked like standard robes from their respective schools despite the fact that everyone was repeatedly told you could wear whatever you wanted. They were not very creative, apparently. It was an international event, after all, and wizards could not help but show off to each other.

    It took a few minutes for everyone to get a good view, for the duelers to get their briefing and to get into their corners, wands at the ready. "Fight fair," started Dumbledore's magnified voice, "fight clean... duel!"

    It had to be the quickest duel ever. Brev's skin glowed a perfect smoky-quartz black and he said not two words before glancing over at D' Efectio's hourglass. It was empty.

    "Wow," said Ron. "What spell did HE use?" Harry was just as amazed. His insides felt like the basilisk had crawled inside him, twisting, tearing and eating up his stomach. He didn't want to know what spell Brev used, he wanted to know why his skin glowed like that.

    "Brev wins!" shouted Dumbledore happily. "There will be a fifteen minute intermission and the final match, between Thantanos Brev and Harry Potter, will take place!"

    He immediately dropped his happy face and walked off with Moody. Harry still didn't know what Moody was doing here and Harry's own mood seemed to shrink. Brev was quite obviously a good wizard and not afraid to show it off. The rumors he would lose against Brev were not totally confounded.

    "Good luck, Potter!" said someone. Harry turned to see the pale and happy face of Malfoy. "Better make sure that mark glows as bright as possible or we'll be peeling you off the walls." Malfoy walked away and Harry turned his attention to someone else.

    A strange girl, a few years older than Harry, stepped out of the crowd and made her way toward Brev. Her hair was hidden inside her hood but her face was clearly visible. She was decently pretty, but not, at least to Harry, on the likes of Cho. The girl wore a white cloak, covering whatever was underneath it and it was not hard to spot her in the sea of black Hogwarts robes. She grabbed Brev by the arm and tugged him forcefully towards Professor Dumbledore.

    Harry ignored Ron trying to get his attention and strained to hear Dumbledore and the girl talking but all he could make out was a load "YES!" from her. After the full fifteen minute intermission, she stormed into the crowd looking angry and Brev got back on the platform also looking disgruntled. Whatever upset him sure wasn't good for Harry. His confidence dropped even lower. What if he, too, was defeated in under five seconds?

    "Go get em, Harry!" called a few voices as Dumbledore began to speak. Harry's stomach lurched. He didn't have a prayer. Brev was just too good.

    "We are on the last match of the International Wizarding School Tournament! Thantanos Brev and Harry Potter, please step up!" Harry drudged onto the platform and caught sight of the girl again... and Cho. Cho was not looking back, but the other girl's eyes were moving rapidly between himself and Brev. She stopped on Harry for a minute, let out a weak smile and began to eye Brev heavily.

    In his staring, Harry hadn't noticed the duel already started. Spells, charms and curses of all kinds bounced off Harry's perfect-white glowing skin. He finally noticed when Brev spoke to him. "Hey, scarface!" he barked, "I can win whenever I want, you know!" Harry felt as such as he noticed the golden glitter on Brev's skin.

    "Then do it already," said Harry, getting his wand out. Brev's skin began to glow the common perfect-white and he wasted no time with it.

    "Lacarnum inflamoree," said Brev, pointing his wand at Harry. Harry managed to tag the tip of the bolt of fire shooting towards him. His wand absorbed it completely.

    Brev tried again. "Infernus grandis inflamora!" The air grew hot and a crack in the very earth appeared under Harry's feet, much larger than he ever mustered. He would've fallen in it had he not muttered "Adsisto Leviosa" under his breath. Harry rose a few feet above the crack. Flames shot out of Brev's wand but Harry caught them with his own and the spell finally faltered.

    Brev tried a third time. He muttered two words and a red light shot very quickly out of his wand, very fast, too fast for Harry to absorb. He was knocked backwards a few feet and sat, dumbfounded, supported by his forearms. They both glanced at their hourglasses. Harry's had one grain left, Brev's was full. Harry panicked. If he didn't stop Brev now, he would lose.

    "Fides in flamma, fides in ipse," chanted Harry, not knowing what he was saying. His hands were clasped tight and something powerful and energetic ran through him. "Accio caeles intus venia." A haze filled the room so thick Harry could feel it. "Ambio iaculor in comae exsuscito." A high pitch noise like a deadly-strong gust of wind cut through the air but there was no wind to speak of. Harry opened his eyes and finished the spell. It was hard to see through the thick white haze filling the room. "Ad aborior absolvere!" He felt weak as the surge of energy left him and staggered back a few steps.

    Three pearly-white balls suddenly appeared at Brev's head arranged in a circle parallel to the floor with a diameter reaching shoulder to shoulder. Each was about as big as Brev's own head and they began to spin slowly. A strong gust of wind, perfectly fitting the noise, sent the balls crashing to the ground, exploding on contact with the floor. Everyone in the room was sent to their feet, some falling on their backs. Smaller pearly-white balls bounced erratically out from the previous three balls all over passing through whatever they touched including the walls of the Great Hall. The haze disappeared as soon as all the pearly-white balls left the room.

    Harry glanced over at Brev's hourglass. It was empty.

    "HARRY POTTER WINS!" shouted Dumbledore, most likely a lot louder than he intended. A surge of happiness now shot through Harry on the likes of the energy from the spell he just cast. It was a great relief to know his excessive worry in the past hour could be put to rest. His own arms jumped up in triumph as a sea of arms grabbed him from every direction. It was the same euphoric feeling when Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup in Harry's third year -- it was very nice. A big grin crossed his face and his own thoughts dissolved into cheers from Hogwarts students.

    He wanted to tell Ron something. The girl was looking at him again. Harry got away from the hands and he tugged on Ron's cloak.

    "What?" said Ron, annoyed at being pulled away.

    "See that girl in the white cloak?" said Harry, pointing at her. He tried to ignore the slight tingle that erupted from his scar.

    "Yeah, can't miss her," said Ron. He had a sudden look on his face. "Harry! You're ditching Cho!?" he said shocked.

    "WHAT?" said Harry. No way was he ditching Cho. "No! Do you know who she is?"

    "No," said Ron blankly.

    "She's been pulling Brev around," said Harry, still ignoring the slight tingle that turned into a pain that made him wince.

    "Harry," said Ron flatly. "Forget it. We have other things to worry about. Like our O.W.L.s, and the look on Hermione's face when she finds out."

    "Yeah, I guess you're right." Harry watched as the girl tugged Brev straight out of the Great Hall. The pain disappeared as soon as they disappeared as if Brev was the cause.

    There was a huge party in the Gryffindor Tower commons that night that lasted until everyone's eyes refused to stay open anymore. Many people were awake until two or three in the morning despite the fact that they would have to get up for classes in just a few hours.

    Tuesday afternoon, Professor Trelawney finally had them ready to use their Spirit Potions.

    "Your Potions will make your spirit-talking ability far more potent than normal," she droned. "We will go one at a time but I only expect you to get a spirit to speak for a few moments. One year I had a student call a very bad looking spirit and that was the last time I ever made stronger Spirit Potions-"

    "Wonder if it was her own spirit," Ron whispered to Harry.

    "Ron, ten points," she said glaring at him. "Now for the rest of you, I will call you one by one and assist you."

    She called a lot of names, many of which Harry still hadn't memorized. Lavender Brown was called third. Lavender admired Professor Trelawney for some strange reason. She drank her potion, blabbed a few words and a pearly-white smoke came billowing out of her crystal ball. Lavender walked away sulkily to her seat next to Parvati Patil, her best friend who unfortunately also admired Trelawney. She Parvati fared a little better. The ghost of what seemed to be some dead brother's girlfriend's aunt's father's half removed second twin told some girl that she would forget something in about fifteen minutes. Just to make sure, Harry asked her what happened fifteen minutes earlier. She didn't remember.

    "Ron, please come up," beckoned Trelawney. Ron stood up from his chair, shaking head to toe. It was obvious Trelawney intimidated him. After all, no one knew what to expect. He chugged down his potion, the full goblet of it in two gulps and plopped down in front of Professor Trelawney. After some more word babbling, a puffy white smoke emerged from the crystal ball into the shape of a spider. Ron and Harry recognized it as Aragog, an overgrown spider they met in the forest a few years back. Thankfully, it did nothing more than click it's pincers and leave Ron with a horrible sense of foreboding. He took his seat next to Harry, shaking even more from head to toe.

    "Potter," called Trelawney. Harry drank his entire potion in one gulp and walked calmly to the crystal ball in front of the room. He would like to be able to call a spirit of his own choice, he thought to himself, as Trelawney explained the procedure. His mom? His dad? What if Tom Riddle's spirit appeared? It would be a lot better if it was someone he didn't know. Grandparents? A great grandparent? His mind wandered on people... but only those related to him.

    He missed the speech from Trelawney, lost in his own thoughts and when she said, "Harry? Please start," he had no idea what to do. Harry simply his eyes and didn't speak. He told himself, "Do something!". Whatever did something, it worked.

    He opened his eyes and the form of the girl he had seen at the duel yesterday afternoon was floating in the air between himself and Professor Trelawney. The girl wore the same white robe, her hood covering her hair. Only from the waist up was visible, the rest was shrouded in thick smoke. She kept a straight face for several moments then opened her mouth to talk. Before she could let a word out, the smoke was whisked away. Professor Trelawney stared at him with an open mouth.

    "But-"

    "Save it, Professor Trelawney," he said, not caring what she had to say. "Is class-" he started to say as the bell just rang, "-yes it is. Thanks. Goodbye." He grabbed Ron by the hood and pulled him in the opposite direction as where everyone else was walking.

    "You recognized her didn't you," said Harry trying to force and answer out of Ron, still holding his hood. His breath was heavy. Something about that girl clearly bothered him.

    "Let go," said Ron, pulling his hood out of Harry's hand with his own.

    "Sorry." Harry put his hand down. "It was her!" he said in a strong whisper.

    "What are you going to do, stalk her?" Harry started to talk but Ron interrupted him immediately, "NUH-UH! Harry, you have enough to worry about. She's here doing something with Professor Dumbledore. Leave it at that." Harry's spirits seemed to return to normal. Ron has been saying a lot of things that seemed to make sense lately. It was either that, or Harry was making less sense lately.

    Ron's words stuck with him that night and all through mid year exams. Unfortunately, Ron himself didn't. He, too, had started to separate himself from Harry in the hallways, avoiding Harry everywhere he went. Harry could only think that he startled Ron by mentioning the girl, as well as the apparition of her in Divination. But all was not bad.

    Trelawney cornered Harry the last day of class to tell him he would be passing with flying colors for the performance with his Spirit Potion. Harry continued to see the girl at least once a day roaming the halls ever since the first sighting. Her presence became somewhat comforting and after a few days they started to say "Hello," as they passed in the hall. Neither of them could explain why, it was more of an instant bondage. It still wasn't like anything Harry felt when Cho was around but this mystery girl seemed to bring calmness when she was near.

    It was, finally, nearing Christmas. The halls were beginning to be decorated with all kinds of ornaments. Sparkling balls, wood nymphs that lived inside small glass balls and assorted shapes and sizes of stars that glowed. The armor in the hallways had been laced with green and red trimmings, most likely Professor Flitwick's doing. He was, after all, the only Professor short enough to add that much detail.

    Professor Trelawney is the one responsible for the small amount of incense that Harry despised smelling crossing the entrance hall. It was only a few nights ago that the teachers collected in the Great Hall to decorate trees. Hagrid lumbered in with several large pines and Flitwick got immediately to coating it with ornaments and wooden elves. After a few hours, Peeves the Poltergeist had caused a raucous large enough to make Hagrid stomp his large feet, shaking the entire Great Hall. Filch came to the rescue with the Bloody Baron, the only castle ghost capable of controlling Peeves.

    After some sobbing and butterbeer, Hagrid returned to decorations. Harry did his own sulking and had been keen on avoiding mistletoe. Ron had many encounters with the not-so-pretty kind. That and Harry wanted Cho to be his first. It wasn't until the day before Christmas that he would get a nasty surprise.

    Feeling extra lonely, he put on his father's Invisibility Cloak, which Dumbledore had passed to him in his first year. Students are not supposed to walk after hours but Harry has had much experience in the manner. It was about two in the morning when he finally snuck out of the portrait hole to an unhappy Hermione opening it for him. He would be taking a midnight stroll.

    Everything had crossed his mind again. Hedwig had not turned up for several weeks now. Understandable as it was, it was her longest absence yet. The biggest thing to bother him was the state of Sirius and lack of communication. Hedwig's absence was none too comforting in the manner. Voldemort was almost a non-issue. There was no pain from his scar in a few weeks, no violent outbursts, no sudden shed of tears and best of all nothing out of the ordinary.

    He had, however, lost his closest friends. Hermione had not been speaking to Harry for the longest yet. Cho was angry with him and the only attention Harry was getting these days was the occasional "Go Potter!" which made no sense.

    He roamed through several hallways and through several familiar passageways. Fluffy, the three headed dog that guarded the Sorcerer's Stone (an artifact Voldemort wanted very badly) was nowhere to be found. Now that it had been four years since he almost ripped Harry, Ron and Hermione's heads off, the matter was laughable. The trapdoor had been boarded up and seemingly removed.

    One quick kick where the door used to be revealed a large hole. The Devil's Snare was gone and most likely was the broom that was used to get back up that lie deeper inside. Jumping down was not a good idea. He poked his wand out from the cloak, glowed his skin and said quietly, "Reparo." The wooden boards fixed themselves. He stopped the glow and headed out.

    Harry made an about face and headed towards a passageway he remembered being in several times four years ago. This memory had brought small tears. This was where he first encountered the Mirror of Erised. Strangely enough, there it was and there was someone else sitting in front of it, staring hard into it. It was the mystery girl Harry had become shaky friends with.

    Dare he walk in and interrupt her? She couldn't see him behind her, the mirror did not work like a normal one. Most ironically, Harry was wearing the same clothes he had been the first time he was here -- the same red sweater with a white undershirt beneath it and the same beige pants. He wanted to know more and went against his better judgement.

    He turned the corner to get a glimpse of her again. His eyes wandered at the mirror and he decided he might as well go talk to her. No harm in chatting, right?