Mark of Ancients

Chapter 14: HARRY'S BRIGHT IDEA

    Saturday morning, Harry rolled over once more to find the lump he kept bumping into during the night was no longer there. His parents had vanished sometime during his sleep.

    Harry thought he would wake up terribly saddened by their absence but quite the contrary happened. A renewed sense of happiness crept over him. Maybe it was the fact that he actually got to talk to them and many of his questions were answered. Maybe it was that the voices haunting his dreams spoke to him, reacted to him and he didn't just have to listen to a script. It could have simply been that he got to look two people in the eye and call them "mom" and "dad."

    Whatever the reason, Harry sprang out of bed in great spirits. The extra beds had been removed and the room was now arranged like normal. Ron, Neville, Dean and Seamus were gone, apparently having gone to breakfast already. Harry quickly changed but he noticed another interesting sort of cloak hidden under his bed.

    His mouth fell open. It was the cloak his dad had been wearing, the same black cloak that shined dimly in light.

    There were no notes attached to it, it just sat there. Harry quickly decided to exchange the cloak he had on for this new one. It was a little large, but after a few years it would fit perfect. Harry folded up the ends and made it stay with a Folding Charm he had learned just a few days ago. He made his way through the portrait hole, down the stairs and into the Great Hall. As expected, everyone was already eating.

    "Hey, Harry," called Ron as he stepped closer to the Gryffindor table.

    "Hey, Ron! Hey, Hermione!"

    "You seem a bit cheery this morning," said Hermione as Harry sat down.

    "You might say," he said smiling brightly.

    "Is that - that your dad's cloak?" Harry tried to stifle a small laugh.

    "I found it under my bed. Seems they couldn't go without leaving me something. I thought I'd end up really unhappy, but..."

    "All for the better," suggested Hermione. Harry dug into his pancakes.

    "So they really want to go through with removing the mark?" said Ron, eggs stuck to his front teeth.

    "Oh no!" said Harry. He smacked his forehead with his hand. "I never asked them how to do it!"

    "Relax," said Sirius as he rounded the table. "While you were talking to Lily, I asked James about it." Harry wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead. "You know, Lily bought that cloak for James on their first year anniversary. Makes it a little more special." Sirius took a seat across from Harry, who looked like he might start to cry again.

    "Don't, you'll get it dirty. It's a pain to clean that thing." The quiver turned into a giggle. "Albus wants to see you after you've finished eating. I guess he wants to tell you why we're going to the Ministry today. Said you may have to give a small speech in front of a few members but don't worry about it just yet, it's just a question and answer type of thing. I guess it's that they want your opinion on what's been happening lately.

    "Not everything is roses either. I hate to have to tell you know but there was another disappearance last night and another murder. The Dark Mark was burned on the grounds near the victim's house and the missing person is thought to have been killed as well. Both of them were members of the Order of the Phoenix."

    "Well that just cheers up my morning," said Harry sarcastically. He took a huge sip from his goblet.

    "He got here in a happy mood, Sirius," said Michelle. "The least you could do is let him keep it for a while."

    "It's all right, Michelle," Harry lied. He just didn't want to start an argument -- that would make it worse.

    "B-"

    "Really..." Harry went back to eating. Sirius patted him on the shoulder.

    "Maybe I should've waited till later..." said Sirius, sounding quite sorry. Normally, Harry would have felt mad. The anger was whisked away by the faces of his parents popping into his head as they had been all night.

    "I can't stay mad at anyone today," said Harry laughing airily. "If Malfoy comes over I may just have to hug him too."

    "You'll get your chance," said Ron, pointing at Malfoy from behind Harry. "Because he's standing right behind you."

    "How come you're always there at the worst moments?" asked Harry, turning around.

    "How come you're always there? Thought you'd be dead by now."

    "I'm going to let that go because I had a very good time last night. Go back to your bodyguards." Harry returned to eating.

    "No," said Malfoy defiantly. "I think I'll stay here and ruin your morning for you." Harry, perfectly calm, made his skin glow a perfect white, bright as the morning sun. He finished chewing and said,

    "Want to rethink that?" without turning around. The furious footsteps faded away. "Someone needs to tell him he needs to stop bugging me."

    "Not going to happen," started Hermione, "until something bad happens to him..." Harry and Ron sighed.

    "Harry," said Michelle, trying to think of what Harry had in mind, "you're not... going to..."

    "No," Harry assured her, "no one should have to be without parents."

    "You're taking this all extraordinarily well," said Sirius. Michelle must have been offended somehow because she put her fork down, got up, and left...

    "I'd like to know what's with her," said Harry as he watched Michelle leave. She looked disgruntled.

    "She has been acting a little strange lately," Sirius noted. "Sometimes I'd say 'Hello' to her in the halls during classes and she'd just give me a dumb look and turn away. Other times she just looked at me like I was her mortal enemy. Michelle's not herself." Harry took one last sip from his goblet and put it down.

    "Finished. Where's Professor Dumbledore?" asked Harry as he looked at the empty seat up front.

    "In his office. Come, I'll take you. We'll be back soon enough. Stay here, Ron, Hermione, you may get to come, too." Their faces lit up.

    Sirius and Harry made it up to the gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office in record time. The door was locked and two people were talking inside. Sirius suggested they wait outside until the two were finished.

    "Lily and James?" screeched Moody. "Fell out of the Mirror of Erised?".

    "Yes," said Dumbledore. "Saw them with my own eyes."

    "Wow," said Moody dumbfounded. "Haven't seen that used in decades."

    "All for the better. I feel it was great therapy for young Harry. I expect he'll wake up feeling the best in years."

    "In that case, we should hurry this up." Harry felt the gaze of Moody's magical eye through the closed door.

    "Got some more business to do?"

    "No, it's just that he's standing outside with Sirius." Dumbledore opened the door. Lupin as well as Mr. Fudge were standing inside as well.

    "Good morning, Harry," said Lupin. "Hello, Sirius."

    "Ah, just in time," said Dumbledore. "I see that you found the present James left under your bed?" Harry couldn't help the blood rushing to his cheeks. "I mentioned last night we would be making a trip to the Ministry of Magic. They have quite a bit to talk about concerning Voldemort and yourself."

    "About me?"

    "Yes, of course. A few panelists want to question you about recent events. It's nothing to fuss about too much. They did lots of questioning fourteen years ago, as well. There was a lot of planning on methods to remove Voldemort from power. None of them, of course, worked. The Ministry was made a bit of a fool when a small boy solved all their problems." Dumbledore broke into a broad grin. Mr. Fudge turned the same color as Harry.

    "Come now," said Dumbledore. "Ron and Hermione may come with us. I think someone may want to question them, as well. A friend of mine was very interested in hearing about you take out that young Balrog."

    The party of six walked back to the Great Hall to pick up Ron and Hermione (to their great surprise). Both of them quickly blurted out they had never been to the offices of the Ministry of Magic. Ron told Harry how many times Percy called it a boring and dull place.

    When they arrived, it was nothing of the sort. The minute the golden doors opened in front of them, a vast and huge hallway loomed before them. The carpet was lined with gold trimmings on either end with silver in the middle. Glass casings were spread out every so often holding some kind of magical artifact. One of them looked to be a replica of the Sorcerer's Stone but Dumbledore assured them it was merely a bewitched rock.

    The tail feather of a phoenix lay inside one glass casing just outside the door into which they entered. One person inside Harry knew, Arabella Figg. The other, Moody pointed out as Mundungus Fletcher, a frail old wizard who looked to almost rival Dumbledore's age. They were all sitting in chairs. The room was fairly small and light green with a bit of sunlight peering down from the window in the middle of the ceiling. At one end, there were seven chairs with the middle one being raised up slightly, a small stand in front of it with a place to stick papers on top. Dumbledore took the middle seat.

    Harry, Ron and Hermione, all of them nervous, sat on Dumbledore's right. Ron sat straight in the chair, his arms on the rests. Hermione looked like she was looking for a foot rest. Harry sat straight up much like Ron, resting one ankle over the top of the other leg and folded his hands. Harry looked proud and content and subtly like a grown wizard. Every passing day, he sure felt like one. Sirius, Moody and Lupin sat on the other side in similar positions to Ron.

    "I trust the boy knows why he is here?" said one wizard in the far back corner.

    "Mr. Potter has a name, my dear Vindus," spoke Dumbledore.

    "Right, then. This meeting is about You-Know-Who-"

    "Call him Voldemort," said Harry calmly. His excellent mood had been slightly torn asunder.

    "You-Know-Who," began Vindus, as if Harry never spoke, "has resumed his rampage of killings. Two days ago a wizard was seen sprawled on the floor outside the Leaky Cauldron on the Muggle side. Muggle law-keepers had discovered the body and took it into custody. Arthur stepped in to confiscate the body from a Muggle hospital leaving a memory altering artifact to cover the mess up. Also recently, Mr. Potter took it upon himself to explode the body of Colin Creevey."

    Harry turned to look at Dumbledore, who's face became almost alight with fire. He kept his cool and spoke calmly.

    "Mr. Potter's actions were involun-"

    "And as such, we would like to hear from Mr. Potter, himself."

    "Don't fret," Dumbledore whispered in Harry's ear. He stood up and they switched seats. Vindus stood up and walked up to the seven chairs, looking a lot meaner up close.

    "Now, Mr. Potter, as you must clearly understand we are only allying ourselves with people we can trust to the absolute fullest." Harry felt like shouting. Why on earth would someone think he would side with Voldemort? Harry had a funny feeling Vindus was related to Mr. Crouch...

    "I didn't," said Harry flatly. "Would you like to feel how hard it is to break the Imperius Curse?"

    "Such curses are among the Unforgiveables, Mr. Potter. You know that."

    "How can you possibly think I would want to kill someone?" asked Harry, trying to understand what was running through this man's mind.

    "Harry has a point," piped up an old witch in the corner.

    "We need to find out what Voldemort has planned," suggested Harry.

    "And how do you propose we do that?" inquired Vindus. Harry's mind raced. He would dearly like to know what Voldemort is doing.

    "Well, I... we umm..." Vindus nodded like he expected Harry to not be able to answer.

    "Full of thoughts, but not too many answers, I see."

    Hermione flared up.

    "I'll have you know that he's saved our butts more times than you can imagine!"

    "And who might you be?"

    "Hermione Granger. Do you not know what Harry has done the past four years?"

    "I only know that You-Know-Who is out and has risen to power. I only know that I want him stopped before anyone else dies."

    "Is this guy serious?" Ron whispered to Harry.

    "I hope not, sounds a lot like Mr. Crouch," Harry whispered back. "Same stubborn attitude."

    "Bravery and helpers will not get a fifteen year old anywhere against You-Know-Who-"

    "You make it sound like they're my servants," said a disgusted Harry.

    "I do suggest you keep your temper, dear Vindus," said Dumbledore coolly."Have you read today's Daily Prophet?" Dumbledore tossed him a copy from under his cloak.

    "Yes, yes..." Vindus mumbled as he skimmed it. "Last night, Harry Potter was responsible for calling the spirits of Lily and James Potter." Harry grinned as Vindus looked up at him. The warm feeling he felt when he first hugged his parents came back. "The only noteworthy event from this family reunion is the decision to remove the mark of ancients from young Harry and sister Michelle." Vindus grabbed his short beard and twirled the end of it. "Sister Michelle?"

    "I shall explain later," said Dumbledore.

    "Very well, back to the subject at hand. We think You-Know-Who has taken control of the dementors. It is very fortunate, however I still do not condone it, that Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger removed Sirius from Azkaban."

    "I decapitated a few of them back in Azkaban..." said Harry.

    "You thought you did, Mr. Potter. It's more than likely their heads merely edged off and were reattached. Dementors cannot be killed. You were more than extremely fortunate to have --"

    His voice cut off. Harry looked in the direction of Vindus' head to see what could possibly have cut the rude man off. Plain and obvious, it was Sirius who had slipped out of humanity once again. The zombie stared off into dead space and his skin became chaulky white. Harry's face turned a color much the same. Sirius' facial expression was never more disturbing and it matched closely to that of Voldemort himself. He sat motionless and did not respond when Lupin waved a hand over his face. A black mist crept out of his mouth, disappearing quickly.

    "The work of dementors, Vindus," said Dumbledore, finally sounding a little angry. "Sirius was caught in the middle of a dementor's kiss when Harry conjured a Patronus in his unconsciousness to scare it off. There is no cure for this. We have no one to blame but Cornelius and yourself. An innocent man is the victim... twice"

    "I have nothing more to say," said Harry flatly. His skin began to glitter faintly. "If you're done, I'm leaving." Harry tapped an impatient foot on the floor, slumping back in his seat.

    "Such an ungratefu-" started Vindus, but Harry wouldn't hear any more of it. The combined thought of Sirius' condition, his parents and the distrust of Vindus set off fireworks. With a snap of the finger, Harry had Vindus pinned to the ceiling, facing down.

    "Call me ungrateful," he said, now mad. He tried to keep his temper out of respect for his mom and dad. "I don't know you and you already don't like me. Thanks, but I'll do this on my own."

    "I can't deny," started Dumbledore, looking like he was trying to stifle a laugh, "I expected that to happen. Come, back to Hogwarts." He looked up at Vindus with a straight face and said, "This was a pure waste of time. Nice seeing you again, Vindus." Harry's skin glowed perfect white and the next moment they stood in the entrance hall of Hogwarts.

    "What was that all about?" asked Hermione.

    "Vindus was friends with Lily Potter during their days at Hogwarts. The two of them were best friends until she met James. He became slightly jealous. You might say he's actually trying to take care of you. The day he found out of their murder he was deeply hurt."

    "He has a nice way of showing it," said Harry.

    "All the same... come, Minerva will be most uninterested to hear about what Vindus had to say."

    They walked over to Professor McGonagall's office. She was not at all surprised to hear the visit to the Ministry of Magic was not at all helpful. While Harry sat with Ron and Hermione in the corner, Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall discussed ways of finding out Voldemort's plans. No one had any good ideas and most everyone walked away feeling upset. Harry walked away feeling discouraged that Voldemort was planning to do something and the thought that he didn't know what terrified him.

    That weekend, third years and up were allowed to go to Hogsmeade. Harry made sure to get a full supply of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. He would be eating a lot of them in nervous worry about what was to come. Every year so far, whatever Voldemort had planned would not happen until the end of the school year. This year was likely to be no different.

    It was when Harry piped up over butterbeer that true anxiety set in. He, Ron and Hermione were drinking quietly when,

    "Is there any way we can really find out what he's up to?" asked Hermione.

    "No," said Ron, "not unless you want to go talk to him face to face and ask him nicely."

    "Are you two ever going to call him Voldemort?" asked Harry. One witch in front of him fell off her chair. Harry sat up straight in his seat, ignoring it. "I'm going to take you with me next time I see him."

    "No you're not," quivered Ron.

    "What, like I wanted to see him?" Ron sat silent in his chair. Harry had a good point. Ron put his goblet to his mouth and dribbled some of his drink down his front. He seemed to be more shaky than Harry.

    "Do you have any ideas?" asked Hermione.

    "No, not really," said Harry quickly, taking another sip.

    "That just leaves us dry, doesn't it," said Ron.

    "Hey," said Harry, as if in deep thought. "What if someone was to disguise themselves as a Death Eater?"

    "And?"

    "And Apparate to Voldemort?"

    "Are you out of your MIND?" said Hermione, giving Harry some more McGonagall eyes.

    "He just may be, Hermione," said Ron thoughtfully.

    "Out of my mind or not," insisted Harry, "it's the only way I have of knowing what he's up to."

    "What if You-Know-Who doesn't want to see you?" asked a stern Hermione. "Besides, who are you going to disguise yourself as? And How?"

    "I don't know about the first but I would use Snape and do it with Polyjuice Potion."

    "It's just that easy, is it?" said Hermione harshly. "What if he wants to kill Snape? What if he wants to torture him with Cruciatus?"

    "Yeah, Harry," said Ron. "She's right." Harry quickly changed positions, now leaning on the table and gulping down the last of his butterbeer. Harry looked up at the door as Mrs. Figg came through it. She found her way directly to them and sat down.

    "Hello, Harry!" she said brightly.

    "Hello, Mrs. Figg," he replied gloomily.

    "Why the long face?" she asked, looking at him like a mother. "Sirius will be just fine..."

    "It's not him I'm worried about. Take a guess."

    "I dare say, Voldemort's going to be around for a while. Nothing you nor anyone else can do is going to change it. He'll continue killing. Someone will put a stop to him again. You had your victory, leave it to someone else this time."

    Harry felt like she just stuck a knife through his heart.

    "He killed my parents and he's been trying to kill me. I'm going to stop him if it's the last thing I do."

    "I can't deny, I admire your courage, Harry but I have this horrible feeling it's going to be the thing that does you in."

    "Let it," he said defiantly. Now it was Mrs. Figg who looked like she had a knife stuck through her heart.

    "Well, I'll leave you three be. Stuff I got to do," she said as she got up. "Goodbye!" she cheered back, then waved, then left.

    "I'm doing it," said Harry as soon as she was out of earshot. "You two going to help, or not?"

    Ron and Hermione did not look enthused at all at the idea but Harry did not leave them with much choice. During their visit to Hogsmeade, they made sure to make a stop in Plentiful Potions to find anything on making Polyjuice Potion any faster.

    Hermione dragged Harry and Ron into Books for the Mind. It was in a book aptly titled Polyjuice where they found a recipe for making the potion in twelve hours. Harry was perfectly willing to pay the fifty galleons but the clerk insisted on giving it to him for free...

    Back at Hogwarts, they visited Moaning Myrtle's bathroom once again. It's the only safe place to prepare the Polyjuice Potion. The bathroom has been out of order for three years and no one ever decided to step foot inside, lest they be bombarded by Myrtle's moaning. Myrtle herself seemed keen on the idea of Harry putting himself in great danger.

    "Sure! Go! And be sure to come back missing an eye and arm!" Hermione shook her head wildly in disgust.

    "Ignore her, Harry. You'll be just fine."

    In the mean time, Harry needed to catch up on his O.W.L. studies, and to assist, Hermione gave him a study schedule. Most of Harry, Ron and Hermione's free time was spent with their heads buried in books. Not even Malfoy distracted them when they had their books out during lunch and breakfast.

    Great Riots of the Goblins, Fleeting Furors of Fiends and the occasional talk about what would you do if you had your own house elf were common conversations during breakfast and lunch Monday and Tuesday. Harry had almost thought they finished the first schedule when Hermione promptly threw another one in their faces Wednesday morning. The horrendous studying took Harry's mind off recent events. He didn't, however, forget his parents.

    Paladism had become better and better. They were learning how to create clouds of healing rain (ideal for making yourself feel perkier, great during early morning Quidditch practice), mend bones (something Harry wish he knew back in his second year), heal cuts and best of all, how to reattach severed limbs. This last bit was tricky business, Dumbledore added.

    During a demonstration, he chopped a limb of a small tree off and everyone tried to reattach it with a swish and flick of their wand. No one, not even Harry, skin glowing blinding white, could make it happen. With a quick flick of his own wand, Professor Dumbledore made it look as easy as they had now found the levitation charm. Neville tried hovering the branch in place, but his plan faltered when he sneezed and the branch shot right at Dumbledore's hand. He then asked if anyone would like to try to reattach his finger... Dumbledore took ten points from Gryffindor for this but Neville didn't say anything -- he felt he deserved it.

    Harry felt very good about getting the upcoming Saturday's events off his mind but a stinging reminder came in the form of Professor Snape.

    "We still have to get a piece of him, you know," Ron reminded Hermione as they snuck in a few minutes late.

    Harry was the only one who saw that Snape noticed their late arrival, other students had been already busy burying their heads in a potion. Dare he ask himself why Snape didn't take points away from Gryffindor?

    "I'm sure there's some of his hair laying around his desk," Hermione whispered as she dipped fingernails of a Balrog into a smelly helper-potion, then dropping it into her own... followed by a huge explosion cracking the bottom of her cauldron.

    "I expect better from you, Miss Granger," snarled Snape as he leaned his head over her desk, peering down. "Fifteen points." It seemed he was waiting for them to do something so he could take extra points off for them being late, as well. He threw Hermione a humongous towel and just said, "Clean."

    "I'm so stupid," she said more to herself than to either Harry or Ron. "How could I forget to add the artery of anaconda first?"

    "Honestly," said Ron, eyeing up the huge pile of thin, grotesque red tubes on top of Snape's desk, "if these ingredients get any worse, I'm going home." Hermione quickly reminded him that this potion was supposed to melt skin and they would be testing it on rats next class.

    Harry grabbed a handful of them and dropped it between himself and Neville who, surprisingly, looked like he actually finished the potion on his own. It was a personal victory for him, as he emptied the gook into a vial his grandmother had sent him shaped in a capital letter 'N.' A small tube crossed from left to right along the bottom (connecting the bottom) and the entire thing was so strong that even after Neville dropped it several times, followed by Snape smashing it against a wall, it did not break.

    Only Harry thought Neville had messed it up and would be waiting for next class to see what happens. He suggested to Ron the rat might grow feathers.

    When class was almost over and Ron finally screwed up enough stomach to grab and cut some arteries, Hermione saw an unmistakable piece of oily, black hair on top of her desk. She quickly snatched it and shoved it in her bag, a look of triumph on her face.

    The bell rang. Neville looked happy. Harry tried to hide what he was thinking as he giggled out the door to himself.

    "We have all the ingredients?" he asked Hermione when they made their way back into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to check up on the cauldron.

    "Yes," she said confidently. But to their utter shock, she screamed, "THE CAULDRON'S GONE!"

    "What?" said Harry, who had been lazily trailing behind her. He ran into the stall where they hid the cauldron. The toilet had been ripped out, leaving a perfect spot for something like a cauldron

    "Hello!" cheered Myrtle exuberantly as she came up out of the very next stall, bright eyed and happy. To see Myrtle in such a mood must also mean Voldemort had begun handing out Valentine cards. "Michelle took it, she did! Said she refuses to see you go off and get yourself killed. Gone to tell Dumbledore, I think." Myrtle's face smiled brightly, a glowing sense of spite. "Said some nasty things about you, too!"

    "Come on," said Harry, roughly grabbing the sleeves of Ron and Hermione's cloaks. He threw the Invisibility Cloak over the three of them and ran like lightning back up to the Gryffindor common room. It was lunch time and he would get to corner Michelle. He tucked the cloak deep inside his trunk, closed it tight and half ran to the Great Hall.

    Michelle was talking to Moody and Lupin up at the staff table when Harry dashed behind her. He grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her off (to the great surprise of both Moody and Lupin).

    "What?" she said annoyed.

    "You took it," he barked.

    "Took what?" she said innocently.

    "The cauldron! You took the Polyjuice cauldron!" Her face did a one-eighty as she clearly just remembered what Harry was talking about.

    "Yes," she replied harshly back, "I took it. You aren't going. I found out because I've been using foresight on you at least once a day. Have to know what you're up to, but no, I won't tell anyone."

    "Yes, I am going and you can't stop me."

    "Harry-" she started to say, but he dashed out of the Great Hall in a mad rush. He had no idea where she might be hiding the cauldron but at the moment he really didn't care.

    His first instinct was to barge into the girl's dormitory, thinking she might be staying with Hermione and his first guess was right. The cauldron sat under a bed next to what had to be Hermione's... it had the most books piled on top of it. He snatched it and dashed back to his trunk to pull out the Invisibility Cloak but someone had beaten him to his room.

    "Drop it," said Michelle coldly, standing by the window holding Hedwig's cage out of it.

    Harry felt his stomach slip a few notches. "You can't be serious," he said desperately, almost pleading.

    "You run off with that cauldron and Hedwig dies," she replied. Harry's breath became heavy and an expression of shock crept its way to his face. He stood stuck, thinking, racing for thoughts but nothing came to mind. He clutched the bubbling cauldron tighter under his arm during the minute of silence hoping for an out.

    "Hedwig," started Michelle, "or - Hermione!"

    "What are you doing?" said Hermione eyeing Michelle.

    "Harry's not doing this," she replied sternly. Hedwig fluttered in her cage, staring down her captor like an eagle. Hermione nudged Harry in the back, apparently trying to give him a clue. He eyed up Hedwig's cage... there was nothing out of the ordinary. She poked him once more and still saw nothing, but the next moment...

    "SHE DROPPED HEDWIG!" screeched Harry as Hermione pulled so hard on his hood, she nearly ripped it off. Harry's legs nearly tripped and the potion dribbled over the top as he almost spilled it. Michelle dashed after them, but Hermione yelled,

    "Compingus!" at the door. Michelle could be heard banging on the other side, it had been magically locked.

    "She's going to trash the room!" pleaded Harry.

    Hermione pulled out the invisibility cloak from under her own cloak and said, "Cover yourself."

    "But-"

    "Shh!"

    Hermione tugged Harry all the way to the Great Hall and tapped Ron on the shoulder. He looked to have been expecting this, stood up, excused himself and walked quietly out, Hermione's hand on his shoulder. Hermione and Harry followed Ron silently to the boy's bathroom where Ron joined them under the cloak.

    "Have you two been planning this?" asked Harry, glancing back and forth between them.

    "She has," said Ron, a finger pointing at Hermione, who turned reddish.

    "I've been watching Michelle ever since she stormed out on us," she said as they proceeded to Myrtle's bathroom. "I thought she might have known, so I made sure to loosen Hedwig's cage door. It sprung open the minute the cage fell, I saw it."

    "You're a lifesaver, Hermione," said Harry, finally receding his heavy breath. He gave her a quick thank-you hug after they set the cauldron down again. "But what's stopping her from taking it again?" Hermione grinned broadly.

    "The Secret Keeper charm. She'll come in here and see nothing. But, you have to do it because we don't have a prayer." Harry nodded. "Point your wand at the cauldron and say 'Fidelius.'"

    Harry's skin glowed perfectly white and he proceeded. "Fidelius," he said, wand pointed at the cauldron. The tip of his wand glowed red and a short beam of light hit the cauldron, bouncing directly back at his wand, sticking to it. "W-what is this?" The wand then let off a violent charge of lightning, causing Harry's wand to shake just the same.

    "Now point it at me and say 'Celaro.'" Harry moved his wand ever so slightly to point at Hermione.

    "Celaro!" The lightning stopped and the red light fully shot off the tip of the wand (his skin flickered as if this was hard work for it) and then quickly vanished when touching Hermione.

    "That's it. Only we will know where it is and anyone we tell. Everyone else will just see the floor and if they step on it, it will be like it's not there."

    "You two are the best," said Harry.

    "You'll be okay, Harry," said Hermione, practically in tears.

    "Just don't do anything stupid," cautioned Ron.

    Later that day, Michelle had indeed trashed Harry's room but had knocked herself out in the process. With a memory charm performed adeptly by Harry, Michelle's memory of the cauldron was erased. It would leave them with enough time for her to rethink of using foresight on Harry.

    Friday afternoon the potion was ready. Harry caught foresight with Snape the entire day waiting for him to complain about the Dark Mark burning on his arm. During dinner time, Snape left his chair to go speak to Dumbledore. It was the Dark Mark.

    "Hermione..." said Harry, stuffing the last of his porkchops into his mouth, wiping his chin with a napkin and setting down his goblet. He pointed at Snape and she nodded.

    The two of them retreated with Ron to Harry and Ron's dormitory, picked up the invisibility cloak, threw it over themselves and made their way towards Moaning Myrtle's...

    "I'll catch foresight with both of you as often as I have a moment alone," said Harry. "If you hear me talking, you aren't going insane. Here, I'll show you."

    Harry closed his eyes and spoke in his mind only.

    "Don't jump," he said.

    "That's really weird..." she replied outloud.

    "Now you know what to expect..." - he opened his eyes - "and good, Snape is still feeling the Dark Mark. I better get going, can stop at any moment." With that word, Hermione dumped a hair of Snape into the bubbling cauldron, causing it to pop and fizz. She drained it into a goblet for Harry to drink. He stepped into the bathroom stall, removing the majority of his clothing and putting on the magically stretched clothing Hermione had prepared, topping it off with an extra large black cloak that looked remarkably like the real thing.

    His very skin felt like it had become hot wax, bubbling slightly. A feeling in his stomach like snakes slithering all over made him feel all too sick, landing on all fours. Harry didn't remember it being so bad last time... His body painfully elongated and his hair became thin, long and oily. The scar on his head disappeared to be replaced by a more foul one on his arm. After it all stopped, he stood up wearily and stuffed his glasses into a pocket inside his new cloak. After assuring himself he looked faithfully like Snape in the mirror, Harry took a deep breath and stepped out of the stall.

    "Before you go, Harry, do me one favor?" asked Ron.

    "What..." said Snape's voice in a low drone.

    "Smile cheerfully." The face of Snape contorted into a shape never before seen. Ron howled in laughter and Harry Disapparated.

    In his wake, stood a crowd of Death Eaters, Muggles... and Voldemort.