Harry Potter and the Secrets from the Past

Chapter 29. EVEN MORE TROUBLES

...

Loving each other just a bit

It's like drinking water

Easier

Than breathing.

You just need to look at me

And then

We're closer a bit more

And we'll never

Have fear, no, not anymore.

...

"Loving each other just a bit" by Lucio Battisti

That evening, Harry had to meet Professor Snape for their usual Occlumency lesson, even if he didn't have any desire to do it.

Harry reached the dungeons in a bad mood: not only he was still really worried about Mark Evans' destiny, but now he was mad at Snape for the way he had treated Hermione that morning.

He stopped in front of the classroom and sighed deeply.

"I should try to keep calm, at any cost!" he thought, before knocking at the door.

Knock, knock

"Come in!" the potions teacher replied with his usual icy tone and Harry entered.

Snape was already standing in the middle of the room, which was weakly lit by a few torches hanging on the stone walls; he was glaring at Harry in deep disgust, but the boy withstood the glance and came right in front of him with quick steps.

"I strongly hope that tonight you won't disappoint my expectations, as you usually do, Potter. We don't need to lose any more time. Now start to deeply concentrate."

Harry stared at the teacher in resentment.

"I don't care to disappoint you, clammy being!" he thought, before closing his eyes.

"Legilimensis!"

Snape pronounced the magical word and entered pressingly into Harry's mind, inspecting his memories. Harry tried with all his strength to resist, but he couldn't; he was too distracted by his worries and the anger he was feeling inside.

Snape was now easily reading Harry's mind and he clearly watched a few scenes from his past: he found himself at Grimmauld place, busy unwrapping Hermione's present on Christmas morning; then his memories skimmed in front of his inward sight and he watched himself while silently crying by his parent's graveyard.

"No, I don't want it!" Harry shouted desperately, trying to reject the attack. Then he felt a sharp pain in his knees and opened his eyes, realizing that he had fallen on the ground.

"You must concentrate more! You're letting me enter your mind too easily, let's try again!"

Harry slowly stood up, panting, but before closing his eyes a second time, he glared at the teacher with hate.

The young wizard immediately sensed Snape's intrusion and tried his best to reject it, but he didn't succeed in it with enough intensity. As if he was watching the movie of his past projected on a screen, Harry clearly saw the image of Mark Evans, who was talking to him by the Forbidden Forest.

"Since you're a Seer, maybe you'd like to speak with Sirius Black a last time? Train as much as possible with your new powers and next time we'll go together to the Veil of Death."

"Nooo! Go away!"

Harry widened his eyes abruptly, panting heavily; he felt all his anger exploding inside and realized that Snape was staring at him grimly and with his mouth open.

"What was the meaning of Mark Evans' words? Potter, I demand an explanation!" shouted Snape furiously.

"I have nothing to explain!" Harry was even more furious, still glaring at him with challenge.

"You've already disappointed Albus Dumbledore several times, but you don't care at all about it, do you? You've kept plotting in the shadows together with Mark Evans!"

Harry looked around with anger and stared at all the shelves loaded with crystal vials; for a foolish instant, he seriously thought of dashing all of them toward the teacher.

"About which powers was he talking about, let's see! You've just learned that there is the indefinite possibility for you to become a Seer and you already feel invincible? You're just like your father was, an insolent, little, spoiled boy!"

"SHUT UP!" Harry couldn't hold it anymore and shouted at the teacher with all his breath; Snape frowned at him deeply offended, but stayed silent.

"You aren't worth half what my father was!"

"How dare you answer me back like that! I don't allow such..."

"I've had enough of all of you! You just keep telling me what to do or not to do!" While Harry was speaking, a few vials exploded in the air as if someone had shot at them with a rifle. But he didn't realize it immediately and went on shouting at the teacher, "then you treat me like a stupid idiot and expect the impossible from me!"

Snape became even paler and needed a few seconds to regain control over himself. Then he slowly spoke again.

"You don't leave me any other choice, Potter. Your arrogant and unruly behaviour may only be judged by the Headmaster in person."

But Harry didn't care about it; he would have even chosen expulsion over being forced to see Snape's face again.

Without even letting him finish, Harry rushed out from the classroom, slamming the door violently.

***O***

In the Common Room, Ron and Hermione were ending an essay for History of Magic while waiting for Harry to come back. Beyond them, there were other students sitting at the tables and chatting in low voices.

When Harry entered in a fury and headed up to his dormitory, everybody turned to him, astonished, especially Ron and Hermione.

"What the hell is happening to him?" asked Ron puzzled.

Hermione didn't reply; she immediately closed her book, stood up and rushed upstairs, climbing the stairs two steps at a time.

When she reached the boys' dormitory, she hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door and entered. Harry was sitting by the windowsill, intensely watching the starry night.

Hermione slowly came closer, staring at him worriedly. Once at his side, she stretched out her hand and squeezed Harry's, which was resting on the stone wall.

The boy turned to her, slightly surprised, as if he had just realized her presence in the room, then he turned again to the window. His face was sulky and tensed.

"What has Snape done to you this time?" she asked sweetly, but Harry didn't reply.

"You know him; his best amusement is being horrible to you!"

Hermione was trying to render the situation less dramatic, but Harry was still staring at the night in front of him.

"Do you want to talk about it? Maybe you could feel better if..."

"I don't want to see him again!" Harry cut her off abruptly, speaking with extreme determination.

"Are you talking about Snape?" asked Hermione uncertainly.

"I've shouted at him and, I think I've used my powers without even knowing it! This time I'm going to be expelled, I'm sure of this!"

"B-but it couldn't be that serious! Even expelled?"

Hermione was staring at Harry in deep shock and he took away his hand from hers.

"Professor McGonagall should be here in a minute," said Harry resigned, lowering his gaze and Hermione raised her hands to the mouth.

They remained a few minutes in absolute silence; then Hermione patted him on the shoulder, thinking about something comforting to say.

"Harry, I..."

Suddenly her sentence was cut off by a really sharp voice, coming out from Harry's trunk.

"HARRY? Harry are you there?"

They both looked at each other widening their eyes, then Harry realized what was happening; he rushed to his trunk and furiously started searching among his clothes.

When Harry finally managed to hold his magical mirror in his trembling hands, he felt himself overwhelmed by a deep sense of relief. Mark Evans was staring at him, smiling, even if his face was incredibly emaciated and paler than usual.

"MARK! Are you all right? I thought that you..."

"I'm fine Harry, don't worry. How are you?"

"I-I'm fine," replied Harry uncertainly.

"Please, listen to me carefully. I don't have much time and I must tell you something extremely important." Harry stared seriously at his cousin and when Hermione came on his side, they both waited for Mark to speak.

"Soon we'll be able to complete the ceremony by the Veil of Death. Exactly in one month, starting from today, during the next new moon."

"Yes, but how..."

"Don't worry, I'll come to you. You should just train yourself for the magical rite and keep ready for the next new moon."

Harry nodded in silence.

"Now I must go. Please, don't tell anybody about our plans, not even to Dumbledore. Goodbye!"

The image of Mark Evans disappeared in a vortex of fog and the mirror reflected Harry's image again.

"What do we do now?" asked Hermione worriedly.

Harry had suddenly forgotten all his troubles; Mark was fine and he felt his heart deeply relieved.

Knock, knock

Harry and Hermione turned at the door, where a really nervous Ron was standing.

"Um, sorry to bother you, but McGonagall is waiting for you downstairs, Harry. She has something to tell you."

Hermione widened her eyes and turned to Harry, who slowly walked out of the room without saying a word.

***O***

"How did you dare shouting at a teacher? I have never expected such foolish behaviour from your side, Mr. Potter! When Professor Snape told me about that, I couldn't believe him!"

Professor McGonagall was furious with Harry and was sharply scolding him in her office.

"Have you got something to say at your defence?"

Harry should have been feeling worried about what was probably going to happen to him, but on the contrary he was in high spirits; he was now sure that Mark was fine and they'd probably meet soon.

"I'm talking to you, Mr Potter!"

The acute voice of his teacher brought Harry again on earth.

"N-no, nothing, Professor," he replied lowering his gaze.

"I should expel you for this! Anyway, I've my good reasons for not doing it, at least not now."

Harry sighed for relief, but then the teacher spoke again.

"Nevertheless, I think that a good punishment is more than appropriate for this matter. Starting from next Monday and for a whole month, you are going to serve detention every evening after dinner, in my office."

"W-what? A month? But Professor, I..." protested Harry.

"I don't want to hear anything more from you, or you will stay in detention for two full months!"

Harry forced himself to not to shout at the teacher, especially because it would have been completely useless.

"I wish you a very good night, Mr. Potter!" ended Professor McGonagall getting seated at her desk.

***O***

With the month of April, lessons became more binding than ever before; the final examinations were coming closer and the teacher were demanding even more effort from their students.

Professor McGonagall especially was stressing everybody with human apparation, saying that she wouldn't allow any failing at the official examination.

Hermione had no trouble with it, and Harry was already able to disapparate himself pretty well, even if he still had a few problems in apparating himself in the exact place he had in mind. Usually, he missed the spot by about a few metres.

On the contrary, Ron had completely no sense of orientation and kept apparating in the wrong place. But he was a genius compared to Neville, who was just able to disapparate himself in pieces.

After the troubles with Snape, Harry had permission to quit his Occlumency lessons, and this was something really positive for him.

The bad thing was that, due to his detention with Professor McGonagall, Harry wasn't able to go on with his secret trainings as much as he had in mind. He was still asking himself how it was possible for him to learn how to use his new powers and, most importantly, to get ready for the ceremony by the Veil, if he didn't have enough time to prepare himself.

Two weeks had already passed by since Mark had showed up in the two way mirror and Harry wasn't progressing. With the incredible amount of homework, he and Hermione had been really busy even during weekends. She had also tried a few times to convince Harry in telling Dumbledore about Mark Evan's plan, but the boy had been inflexible; he didn't want to waste this last occasion and was determined to hide the truth as long as possible.

Luckily, detention with McGonagall wasn't so tough; he just had to write lines for the whole evening, even if it was equally enervating in the end.

On a Friday morning in the middle of April, Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the Great Hall having breakfast. The two boys were busy with a dense conversation about a new International Quidditch Team, the Blue Bradley.

"If you want to know what I'm thinking about it, Stocker is a pretty good seeker!" said Ron, but Harry didn't agree.

"You're wrong! They should have taken Williams instead!"

"Er, Harry?" Hermione cut him off and he turned to her.

"Could you give me some pumpkin juice, please?

Harry nodded and he filled her glass immediately. Then he turned to Ron again.

"I've followed Williams, and I can tell you that he would have been a better choice."

"You must be joking! Williams isn't even the half as good as Stocker is!" replied Ron, noisily chewing a bit of sausage.

"Harry? Could you give me some porridge, please?"

Hermione cut his boyfriend off a second time, but Harry didn't protest; he poured some porridge in a bowl and offered it to her.

"Why don't we talk about the beaters, then? I bet they're going to change both of them by the end of the first match!" continued Harry, getting excited in the conversation, but Hermione cut him off a third time.

"I'm sorry, Harry. My pumpkin juice is finished, could you please...."

"Oh, come on, Hermione! Why don't you stop it!" protested Ron, looking cross.

"Stop what?" Hermione asked simply.

"You're treating your boyfriend like a house-elf!"

Harry and Hermione stared at each other for a second; maybe Ron wasn't wrong after all.

"Do you think that I'm demanding too much?" she asked, uncertain.

"Well, just a bit," Harry replied. It was the first time he had had a steady girlfriend, and he didn't know what the best way to behave around her was. After all, his relationship with Cho Chang wasn't something serious to compare with.

"Why haven't you ever told me I should change?" said Hermione, frowning at him. "It's just that, at home I've always seen my parents behave in this way. My father is a real gentleman with my mum!"

"Hermione, wake up! We aren't in the Middle Ages anymore! Nowadays, boys aren't mincing and, above all, they don't take orders from girls!" Ron explained.

"Good morning to everybody!"

In that moment, Luna got closer to them. She was odder than ever, wearing a pair of earrings with the shape of huge yellow daisies; on top of her blonde hair, she had a coloured garland made of country flowers.

"Hi Ron! So we're going to meet tomorrow morning after breakfast, right?"

"Yes, Honey!" Ron replied, with a silly smile on his face.

"Please, don't be late as usual!" Luna scolded him, before happily reaching Ravenclaw's table.

When Ron turned to his friends, he realized that they were both laughing.

"Well, what's up with you two?"

"Nothing, nothing, it's just that... Oh, don't worry."

Hermione didn't point out the fact that her best friend had just taken orders from a girl.

In that moment, hundreds of owls entered the Hall: Hermione got her usual copy of the Daily Prophet, while Ron received a letter from his mother. The boy kept staring at the mail, surprised that it wasn't the family owl who had delivered it.

Hermione read the first page and jumped in surprise.

"Oh, no!"

Harry got closer and grabbed the news paper in his hands, starting to read it aloud.

"REVOLT AT GRINGOTT'S: The Ministry of Magic had already suspected that the Goblins had joined the Darkness Army of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but now it is a certainty. Yesterday morning a group of armed Goblins revolted at the famous wizarding bank, destroying several security boxes. Most of the witnesses heard them reciting the name of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named before leaving the place. The most serious casualties have been brought to St. Mungo's Hospital. The Ministry has immediately arranged for expert Aurors to attend the bank and count the damages."

The three friends stared at each other with mouth open.

"I can't believe it! Now also the Goblins are by Voldemort's side!" commented Hermione, shocked.

Harry realized that Ron was still holding the letter in his hands, but after having read the article, he could already guess the content of it.

"Come on, Ron, open it!"

The boy stared at the closed envelope, then opened it with trembling hands and read it to his friends.

"My dear Ron,

You surely know already about what has happened at Gringott's. I'm sure that you've immediately thought of your brother Bill. You don't have to worry, dear. Unluckily, Bill was in his office when the worst happened and he has been wounded, but not seriously. Yesterday afternoon they brought him to St Mungo's and he'll get well soon. That's why your father and I are going to stay in London in the next days. I'll let you know more as soon as possible. Love, Mum."

Ron raised his gaze in shock. He couldn't believe that his oldest brother was now fighting for his life.

Hermione stretched her hand out and grabbed his arm tightly.

"I'm sure that he'll be fine," she said, trying her best to comfort him.

***O***

That evening, Professor McGonagall let Harry go back to the Gryffindor Tower earlier than usual: she was in really bad mood, surely because of what had just happened to the wizards' bank.

As soon as Harry entered the common room, he immediately felt a tensed atmosphere. The parents of several Gryffindor students were present at Gringott's when the revolt happened, and most of them were now at St. Mungo's Hospital.

Ron had chosen to close himself in a stubborn silence and was already up in his dormitory. Hermione was sitting all alone on the sofa in front of the fireplace, absent-mindedly caressing Crookshank's soft fur, her gaze lost in space.

Harry got slowly closer and sat by her side.

"How is Ron?" he asked worriedly.

"Not really well," Hermione replied turning to him.

"I hope Bill will be fine," said Harry sadly.

"Me too," she added.

Harry looked around for a moment, realizing that the last two students had gone away, leaving the two of them completely alone. He started feeling a curious embarrassment and his heart began to beat faster.

It was almost a month that Harry and Hermione had been together, but they didn't have much time left all alone like that. Between classes, homework and detentions, each evening they had reached the common room completely exhausted and had always chosen to go to sleep.

Hermione's attention was stolen by the fire, while Harry was staring at her with intensity, trying to imagine what she was thinking in that moment.

"Maybe, she's expecting me to grab her hand, or to kiss her." Harry thought, becoming even more nervous and feeling his forehead sweat. He was still wondering what to do, when Hermione turned abruptly to him and spoke.

"It's been a long time since we got the chance to be alone, have you noticed that as well?"

"Y-yes, you're right." Harry was feeling upside down, but his girlfriend looked extremely quiet.

"I'll try and kiss her," he thought, getting slowly closer to her.

Hermione was staring into the fire again, while Harry had already stretched out his arm toward her. After a certain hesitation, finally he managed to lay his arm on her shoulder. When Hermione turned to him, their faces were at a few centimetres of distance. Harry was now able to smell her hair and light perfume, a mix between rose and vanilla.

Harry was already losing himself in her deep brown eyes, which were staring at him full of emotion.

"She's so beautiful," he thought, while feeling his cheeks on fire.

Then Hermione closed her eyes and Harry did the same, trying to gather all his Gryffindor courage. He felt all his emotions overwhelming him and he kissed her sweetly, holding her tightly in a warm embrace.

Harry was feeling so happy, as if in that moment just the two of them existed in the whole world and no-one else. He knew that he would have been able to give his own life for her, if necessary.

After a few minutes, Hermione moved away and stared at him deep in the eyes, smiling.

"It was about time!"

Harry wasn't able to reply immediately; his mind was still stuck and his heart was in tumult.

"Maybe we shouldn't stay here alone," said Hermione worriedly.

"W-why? We aren't doing anything bad, I think," Harry tried to reassure her, still hypnotized by her wonderful eyes.

"Maybe, if we were pretending to study, nobody would have anything to say."

Hermione's sense of responsibility was praiseworthy, but Harry's intention was to spend the rest of the night kissing his girlfriend.

Without even giving him time to complain, Hermione had already taken his school bag and was searching inside it.

"What is this?" she asked curiously, squeezing a black booklet in her hands.

"Mark told me to look at it. It's for the ceremony."

Hermione's eyes lit up abruptly.

"May I help you with this?"

"Well, I-I don't know if..." Harry replied vaguely, but she had already started to skim through a few pages and he had no other choices left. "Goodbye romantic evening!" he thought, sighing.

"This chapter seems useful. Let's see, I'll read you what it says: The ceremony by the Veil of Death is ancient and difficult to accomplish. The essential requirements are three: a really powerful Seer, a night of the new moon and an object owned by the missing wizard. Moreover, a bowl of pure water, a flower and a candle will be needed."

Harry was listening with deep attention to every word.

"The Seer should stand in front of the Veil of Death, placing the necessary objects around himself; then he should stretch out his hands and visualize the missing wizard in his inner sight. The magical words are: Exis Lux Splendidus."

"It doesn't seem difficult!" commented Harry relieved.

"Wait! Listen what it says here: "The Veil of Death has the evil ability to attract whoever gets close to it; the Seer should be really careful not to..." Hermione raised her gaze worriedly and stared at Harry directly in the eyes, "get lost for eternity!"

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