Harry Potter and the Secrets from the Past

11. THE DREAM

...

What do you know about a wheat field?

A poem of a profane love...

The fear of being taken by hand,

What do you know?

...

"Thoughts and Words" by Lucio Battisti

Albus Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, with his hands folded and eyes closed, thinking.

Harry and Ron were standing in front of him, both in silence, and were intensely staring at him, waiting for him to speak. Professor McGonagall was standing close to them, really worried, with narrow lips, closed in a grimace of anxiety.

Then Dumbledore broke the silence.

"I want both of you to go back to your dormitory, and remain there... NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS..."

The Headmaster said these last words, looking at Harry directly in the eyes, causing his anger to rise so much, that he thought he would explode.

"But, Sir... did you understand what we've just told you? Hermione has been kidnapped... by Viktor Krum! We must do something immediately, before she... she..."

Harry didn't dare speaking further; the thought of Hermione being in danger was really unbearable for him.

"Watch your behavior, Mr Potter!" Professor McGonagall scolded him, but Harry wasn't able to keep calm. Then Dumbledore spoke again, almost in an innatural way.

"Leave the duty to find Hermione to the wizards of the Order, and be quiet. We will do our best to bring her back to Hogwarts, as soon as possible."

"Do you already know where they are keeping the girl?

At this question, Harry and Ron turned immediately to the Headmaster, to listen carefully to his reply.

"I have a theory, Minerva. Anyway, now please escort Harry and Ron to the Gryffindor Tower. And you boys remain in your dormitory, until Professor McGonagall comes to you with some news."

***O***

Harry was sitting on his bed, his back leaning against the wall, his gaze lost in space and Hermione's wand in his hands. Ron was flat on his bed, his arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

Almost two hours had passed, without saying a word, and without having something to eat. Shortly, their room mates, Neville, Dean and Seamus were going to join them.

Suddenly Harry took a heavy book from his bed-table, and threw it with violence at the door.

"BE QUIET he says! REMAIN IN YOUR DORMITORY! How could he be so.... so... IRRESPONSIBLE! I hate Dumbledore, I can't stand him anymore... he's always there, ready to tell me what I SHOULD DO or what I SHOULDN'T DO.... Who does he think he is?"

Ron lifted himself on his elbows, and stared at Harry in a desolate way: was he feeling so helpless, too? Was he feeling so much anger inside, like him? Harry thought that, if the answer to those questions was yes, then his friend was disguising it very well...

"And you, Ron? You don't say anything? You don't care that Hermione is in danger?"

"Of course I care, Harry... it's just that... Dumbledore told us to..."

"DAMN IT! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR HIS NAME AS LONG AS I LIVE!"

Harry chucked another heavy book against the door.

"If I stay here any longer, I'll be mad in the end!"

"But what shall we do? Do you want to arrange a trap for YOU-KNOW-WHO, alone?"

"VOLDEMORT, Ron... that monster has got a NAME!"

Ron remained in silence, but he was still staring at his friend mortified. Then Harry tried to calm down, and spoke again in a lower voice.

"If I only knew where he's keeping her in this very moment! If I only...."

"Why? If you knew where YOU-KNOW.... V-Voldemort keeps her, would you go? All alone?"

"Yes, I would!" Harry answered back. Then he thought to the prophecy, and added in his brain "at least I'd put an end to it."

"You're completely crazy, Harry!! Would you go there and get killed? Would you risk your life and Hermione's? Listen to me, mate, it's better to remain here quietly and trust the wizards of the Order... at least they are Aurors, and know better than us how to fight..."

"Ron... I'm telling you... if I knew where Voldemort is hiding, I'd go to him right now!"

"But I'll prevent you from doing it, with all my strength!"

Ron answered him back, with such a determination in his voice that Harry stared at him for a few second, astonished.

***O***

Harry was flying on the back of a giant owl. The darkness of the night was lit by a tiny, faraway light, which was slowly becoming larger and larger. Then the owl brought Harry directly to the source of that light: it came from an ancient and dilapidated mansion, with broken windows and an unkept garden. Harry landed in front of the main gate, and saw a great emblem on it, half covered by ivy: the emblem said "RIDDLE HOUSE" at large letters.

Harry pushed the gate, which was half open and entered the garden. He went through it and reached the huge main door, pushing it as well: the entrance was empty and dark, just lit by the moonlight coming from the huge windows. On his right and on his left, two large marble stairways led to the upper floors.

Harry counted all the floors: there were three. Then he slowly climbed the stairs on his right, to get on the first floor.

Suddenly he heard a desperate scream coming from one of the rooms at the end of the corridor: it was Hermione's scream and it made Harry's blood freeze. He desperately tried to reach that room before it was too late for her, while he felt his panic and his fright growing.

The door was half open, and Harry pushed it slightly to have a look inside: the room was dark, just lit by the nimble light coming from a fireplace in the corner. In front of the fireplace, there was a large black armchair, but he wasn't able to see the person sitting there, because the armchair was facing the fire.

A little bald man was standing in the center of the room, with his wand pointed at Hermione, who was flat on the floor, looking at him terrified, her face wounded and full of blood, her eyes wet with tears.

Before Harry was able to do anything, he heard a cold and clammy voice, coming from the back of the armchair.

"Do you realize that it's impossible to resist to the Dark Lord? Until now I was asking you politely, LITTLE AND IMPERTINENT MUDBLOOD! But now I am going to use a stronger way."

Harry felt a chill going up his spine: he should immediately do something, but what?

While he was thinking as quickly as he could, Voldemort spoke again.

"I am ordering you to tell me all what you know about the PROPHECY..."

Harry jumped in surprise and turned to Hermione, who was still staring at Wormtail with fear.

"Very well, then! WORMTAIL, you know what to do..."

"CRUCIO!"

At Wormtail's order, Hermione started to scream again, but this time it was more terrifying than ever, and Harry felt his scar burning: it was as if his head was going to split in two from the pain, and he woke up screaming.

"NOOOO! LEAVE HER ALONE.... LEAVE HER ALONE..."

When Ron and his other room mates came to him, Harry was still screaming, seated on his bed, with the hands on his burning scar.

"HARRY! Harry! It's us... everything's ok.... calm down now.... you are safe..."

But Harry wasn't able to calm down, and he was still panting heavily.

"NO... Ron, I saw her... she's in danger, we must do something to save her... now..."

"I'll go to Professor McGonagall..." Harry heard Neville reaching the door and suddenly tried to stop him.

"No, I'm going to call McGonagall myself.... it's better if I go..." said Harry and still trembling as he tried to rise from his bed; he fell down immediately.

Then Ron grabbed his arm.

"I'll help you, Harry... I'm coming to see McGonagall as well."

Harry nodded to him; he put his glasses on and got up, leaning to his friend's shoulder.

When they went down to the empty common room, Harry headed to the sofa in front of the fireplace, and sunk heavily onto it, his gaze lost in space, trying to give order to his thoughts.

"Harry, are you ok?"

"Yes... I just need a moment to think..."

"What is it? You won't go to McGonagall, is that right?"

Harry remained in silence, while his brain was trying to put together all the pieces of his strange nightmare; then he understood something important, and his face lit up.

"I know the meaning of this nightmare... I've clearly seen where Voldemort is hiding... it's an ancient and dilapidated mansion..... It's RIDDLE HOUSE.... it used to be Voldemort's father's home and he's hiding there...."

"That's good, isn't it? Now we can go to Dumbledore and tell him, so he will.... You will tell everything to Dumbledore, right Harry?

Harry didn't reply: he felt that he had to do something, and that he had to do it soon; he couldn't wait for Dumbledore to believe him. Maybe the Headmaster wouldn't use that information at all, just like he hadn't for Harry's previous vision about the Death Easters' escape from Azkaban.

"I've seen everything Ron... I entered the house.... I climbed the stairs and then... I saw Wormtail torturing Hermione on Voldemort's orders... that MONSTER!" added Harry with rising disgust. Ron was shocked at hearing that revelation, and he fell on a nearby armchair. Then he spoke with trembling voice.

"Harry, listen to me! Don't you think that maybe this nightmare is a trick? I mean: maybe V-Voldemort wants to draw you there.... maybe it isn't true that he's torturing Hermione... maybe it's just like the vision you had last year, the one of Sirius in the Department of Mysteries... Now that I 'm thinking over it, I'm sure that it's a trap.... we must tell Dumbledore, right now..."

"And if it isn't a trap? If Voldemort is really torturing Hermione in this very moment, while we're here losing precious time? What if she isn't able to resist? If she... DIES before the Wizards from the Order do something to save her?"

Ron looked even more shocked, and started gazing at the floor. Abruptly Harry got up and run upstairs to his dormitory, while Ron was following him like a shadow.

"Harry, did you talk to McGonagall?"

"Are you feeling better?"

But he didn't reply to Neville and Dean, and he rushed directly to his trunk: he quickly took off his pajamas, put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, took Hermione's wand from the bed table and put it in his pocket.

"Harry, you can't do that... it's completely crazy!"

While Ron was trying to dissuade him, Harry took out his old invisibility cloak and the Marauders Map.

"Harry, why don't you stop for a moment?"

Without giving explanations, he exited the room, leaving his friends still in their beds, staring at him with mouths open.

Then he went down to the common room, jumping two stairs at a time in a fury, but Ron was faster than him, and jumped in front of the portrait entrance, extending his arms to prevent him from going out.

"Go away, Ron... LET ME GO!"

"No... if you want to go, you've to put me out of action first, because I won't permit you to sign your death sentence... what you are planning to do is pure craziness!"

"You don't leave me any other choice..."

Harry's temper was out of control now: he took his wand and pointed it to his best friend.

"You aren't going to use it against me..."

"Let me go, Ron... GET AWAY!"

"NO... I won't move from here!"

Ron was resisting bravely, but Harry was determined to put his crazy plan into action. He had made his decision, and nobody could have stopped him.

"I'm sorry, Ron... you asked for it... PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"

At those magic words, Ron became stiff like a marble statue, and fell heavily on the floor. Harry was really sorry for that, but he thought that it had been necessary. He went past him and put his invisibility cloak on, while exiting the common room.

He ran along the corridor, went down the stairs and shortly he was already outside. He didn't know how to reach Riddle House yet, but he rushed to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, looking for the Thestrals. He remembered how last year those magical creatures had helped him and his friends reaching the Ministry of Magic.

Since the only way to attract them was using the smell of blood, Harry headed to Hagrid's hut and took two fat dead ferrets which were hanging from the wall. Then he reached the Forest, and waved them over his head.

Soon, a pair of Thestrals came closer to him and started to sniff the little preys. Then he slowly approached one of them, patting him on the head, turned around it, and climbed on. The magic creature was really mild and didn't oppose him. Then Harry whispered sweetly into its ear.

"Hem... I must reach Riddle House... as quickly as possible..."

Suddenly the Thestral extended his large black wings and started to run, while Harry was grabbing its head tightly. Then with a nice jump, the creature took flight, heading up to the night sky.

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