Harry Potter and the Secrets from the Past

Chapter 35 A NEW START - 2^nd Part -

In the following two weeks, Harry did his best to get well; he ate all what Mrs. Weasley was bringing him and drank all the potions, which Snape was preparing for him.

Hermione had to come back to school for the final examinations; however, she was feeling more relieved to know that Harry was getting better. Almost every day, Hedwig was delivering him Hermione's letters and Harry was always ready to answer her back. They were writing each other a huge amount of owls, as if they didn't have anything else to do during the whole day except write to each other.

Anyway, Harry had no chance to feel lonely; since he had woken up, he had been receiving visitors from the Order of the Phoenix, especially Lupin, Tonks and the Weasley brothers.

At the beginning of June, Harry was finally able to go back to Hogwarts and all his school mates and teachers were extremely happy to see him again.

Up in the Gryffindor tower, the students organized a big party in Harry's honour; they all drank and sang together until late. Seeing Ron was deeply moving for Harry; the two best friends hugged tightly, and for a fraction of a second, Harry saw a few tears crossing Ron's cheeks, even if he did his best to hide them. On the contrary, Ginny didn't have any fear showing her true feelings. She hugged Harry and burst into tears for the joy. Apart from Ron, Ginny and Hermione, nobody else knew the true reason why Harry had stayed away for so long.

Hermione couldn't be happier; it looked like all her worries had vanished from her heart. She was constantly watching over Harry, trying to be always present when he needed her. Anyway, even if Snape considered him to be completely recovered, and despite Harry's efforts to hide any sign of it, Hermione knew that Harry was still feeling extremely weak; in the evening, he got tired sooner than the others and his appetite had decreased a lot. But Harry wasn't complaining about this. It was a great joy for him to be back with his friends always around, talking and joking with them as he did before; but the thing which gave him hope was knowing that soon he would be able to complete the ceremony in front of the Veil of Death.

That Wednesday, Harry and Hermione were walking downstairs to the dungeons for their usual two hours of Potions. As soon as they reached the place, a gruop of students moved to them enthusiastically. Ernie McMillan kept patting Harry on the shoulders, while Padma and Parvati Patil weren't able to take their eyes off him.

Suddenly, they heard a turmoil coming out from a group of Slytherins; then Draco Malfoy slowly moved forwards to reach Harry and Hermione, while his cronies remained around him, waiting.

"Well, well, well. You've come back among us, Potter! What a pity! I thought I had finally gotten rid of you this time!" Malfoy's chilling words were followed by a chorus of laughter coming from the other Slytherins.

Before Harry could react, Hermione walked in front of Malfoy and challenged him. "I see you're still the usual braggart, Malfoy!"

The smile printed on the young Slytherin's face vanished abruptly, without preventing him from replying. "What is it, Potter? Have you lost your tongue? Do you need your Mudblood girlfriend's help now?" Another chorus of laughter emphasized Malfoy's words, but Harry kept staring at him, unmoving; then he slowly walked forwards and stopped right in front of his rival.

Hermione started to fear the worst and grabbed Harry by his arm, looking at the scene worriedly.

"You're feeling brave, aren't you, Malfoy? I've already stared death right in the face too many times to fear someone like you. During your whole life, you've just done your best to be like your father without realizing what the truly important things were. I just feel sorry for you!"

Harry had spoken with firm voice, without ever taking his gaze away from Malfoy; this time, nobody laughed in the back and all the students kept staring seriously at the two opponents. Malfoy looked around him, nervously, his hands and forehead started to sweat; then with a quick movement, he took his wand out from his robe and pointed it right between Harry's eyes. Harry didn't move or blinked.

"Why don't you say it again, if you dare!"

"You. Don't. Scare. Me." Harry spelled every single word, always staring at Malfoy directly in the eyes.

Hermione had held her breath until then, and among the other students it was possible to hear a low mumbling; everybody was looking at the scene, which was full of tension.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of quick footsteps coming out from the class and shortly, Snape was by their side. "What's happening here?" he asked menacingly.

Malfoy lowered his wand and tried to justify his actions. "Potter started it! He challenged me!"

The freezing gaze of Snape travelled from Malfoy to Harry.

"Malfoy, in detention!" said Snape in the end.

"What? Detention? B-but how... why?"

"You were going to use magic in between classes! I don't want to hear anything more from you, or your punishement will be doubled! Now, I want everybody to enter the classroom immediately! ALL OF YOU!"

Malfoy frowned at the teacher, then turned to the classroom, and walked toward it, resigned; Snape shot a quick stare at Harry, then he reached the other students.

"Come on, let's go!" exhorted Hermione, and Harry followed without replying; the boy had been shocked by Snape's behaviour; for the whole month in which he had stayed at Snape's manor, he had never gotten the right opportunity to be alone with the teacher and thank him for his precious help.

At the end of the lesson, Harry waited for all the other students to exit the classroom and told Hermione to wait him in the Great Hall; then he slowly moved to the teacher's desk. Snape had his back to Harry, busy in erasing a few instructions written on the blackboard. When Snape turned, he was surprised to see Harry there.

"Is there something wrong, Potter?" The teacher asked, hastily; Harry hesitated for a moment, then cleared his throat and spoke.

"P-professor Snape, I-I just wanted to apologize for what I told you during our last Occlumency lesson."

Snape lowered his gaze to the desk and started skimming a few pages of a book. "I thought that chapter had been definitely closed!"

Harry was hit by his coldness; nevertheless, he chose to go on. "I wanted to thank you for all that you've done for me. I owe you my life. I'll always be thankful for this."

Snape raised his gaze and stared at Harry directly in the eyes.

"There is no need to be thankful, Potter. However, it isn't for you that I've done what I've done."

"B-but I..."

"I appreciate your words, but it doesn't mean that from now on I'm going to be more generous with you! I'm still one of your teachers and I'll always require the very best. Now go; your next class is going to start soon." Snape lowered his gaze and skimmed the book again.

Harry didn't have any choice left than to leave the classroom; oddly, this time Snape's words didn't wound him at all. On the contrary, Harry now felt a deep bond between them, a bond that would have united them forever.

***O***

The night was dark and without a moon and a pleasant summer wind was blowing in the air; a group of six hooded figures was slowly walking accross Hogwarts grounds, each one of them with their lit up wand in their hands.

Shortly the silent procession reached the east edge of the grounds, where a small cemetery was half-hidden by vegetation.

The group stopped right in front of the stone chapel and waited there for a few minutes; then one of them took his hood off and spoke in a deep voice.

"The time has come, Harry. You know what to do." Dumbledore exhorted the boy, but Harry hesitated for a moment, in front of the sturdy iron gate.

Harry stared at the entrance closely; there were several ancient runes inscribed on it, and right in the middle, Hogwarts' coat of arms was engraved: a crossed shield with the four symbols of the school founders, a rampant lion, a hissing snake, a badger and an eagle.

Dumbledore had explained to Harry that there was a bond between him and Godric Gryffindor, even if the Headmaster had not willingly gone into details. Harry just knew that the iron entrance could be opened only by someone who was predestined to this.

Harry stretched out his hand toward the coat of arms and it started to shine of an intense light; suddenly, the door opened and Harry raised his eyes to the Headmaster, who nodded, smiling.

"Now you can enter the chapel," said Dumbledore, as Harry pushed the door and moved inside, followed by the others.

The chapel was dark, just lit by the light coming out from the six wands. It looked like a place out of time; the walls and floor were made of black marble and there was nothing at all inside, apart from a huge square tombstone hanging on the wall in front of them. The tombstone was engraved with a large celtic cross, and there was nothing written on it.

Dumbledore came forward, heading to the tombstone, then he whispered some magical words in a strange language and it slowly opened, making a deep noise; a narrow corridor leading underground appeared. The group of wizards and witches queued and started to walk along the corridor dug in the rock. It was as if they were going to reach the center of the earth.

After a good half an hour, Harry finally saw something; at the end of the corridor, the rock had been widened in order to make more space and in the wall in front of them was a tall stone archway, with a black veil hanging on it and waving as if pushed by the wind. It was the Veil of Death; just like the last time, Harry was hooked by the weird moaning coming out from the veil.

The others took off their hoods and stood at semi-circle around Harry, who was standing in the middle; beyond Dumbledore, there was Ron, Hermione, Tonks and Lupin; in turn, they placed a lit candle, a bowl with pure water, a rose and Sirius' two way mirror in front of the veil, then came back at their places.

Everything was ready for the ceremony, even if Harry was feeling extremely nervous; he turned to Dumbledore, who nodded to him. Harry had trained so much for this moment and now he thought hard, having forgotten all that he needed to do. His hands became sweaty and he felt a painful grab in the stomach.

"Try to concentrate and visualize Sirius in your inner sight," the Headmaster said.

Harry closed his eyes in concentration and thought intensely about his godfather; the image of Sirius Black appeared in his mind, as the last time they met, after Christmas in Grimmauld Place - slim, emaciated and with long hair. Several minutes passed by, but nothing happened.

"Sirius, where are you?" Harry silently called, but nobody replied.

He was already losing hope when suddenly the image of Sirius materialized in Harry's mind; when he opened his eyes, he jumped in surprise, since his godfather was standing right in front of him, just behind the Veil.

Hermione let out a low cry, Ron's mouth opened and closed several times without uttering any sound, while Lupin and Tonks widened their eyes, astonished. Sirius Black wasn't exactly how they recalled him; he looked younger, with short hair and his face was serene and quiet. His eyes were open, but it seemed as if he wasn't able to recognize them.

Harry was overwhelmed by his emotions and tears rised to his eyes; oddly, he started to feel attracted by the Veil, which was still fluttering between him and Sirius; almost in a trance, the young wizard stretched out his hand, trying to touch his godfather's hand.

Realizing the danger, Dumbledore quickly moved a few steps toward Harry and grabbed his arm, preventing him to get closer. "It's the right time to let him free!"

Harry nodded, even if he wished he could be able to do more and bring Sirius back to him; the figure of Sirius looked so real, but it was just his soul and not his physical body. Harry tried to concentrate once more, stretched out his arms toward the Veil and repeated the magical words in a loud voice.

"I'm calling you, oh shining soul

come out from your silence.

Open the doors, turn on the lights

Fly away darkness.

Come to me shining light...

EXIS LUX SPLENDIDUS!"

At Harry's command, a vortex of light materialized in front of him and started to turn around whirlingly; all of those present covered their faces in order to protect themselves from the blinding light.

After a few minutes, everything stopped and the place came back again half-obscured by darkness. Sirius was finally gone. Harry looked on the floor; the candle, the bowl and the rose had also disappeared, but not the two way mirror. The boy bent down and took the mirror in his hands.

"It's Sirius' present for me. He wanted me to keep it, and I'll do it forever."

***O***

Finally the departure day came; that morning at midday, all the students, including Harry, Ron and Hermione, would board the train to come back to London.

Another year had passed by, full of events and emotions; Ron and Hermione had passed the examinations, while Harry had been released from them, because of his serious illness. They had also passed the Official Apparating Examination. Now they just had to turn seventeen to finally enter the adults' world and be able to use magic at home. The exception was Hermione, who had already turned seventeen the previous September.

Harry was already foretasting the time in which he would be allowed to disapparate from Privet Drive and never come back again.

One hour before their departure, Harry was descending the stairs to reach the garden, trying his best to avoid all the students who were frantically running up and down, happy for their return home. He had not called Hermione, since he didn't want to sway her from her preparations for departure.

The sky was clear and the sun was shining; leaving the castle behind, Harry quickly walked to the east edge of the grounds and shortly he reached the little cemetery. He passed all the graves, found his parents' and bowed in front of it, caressing the tombstone with affection.

"I'm leaving soon, but you'll always be with me. You aren't imprisoned in this grave; I've seen the wonderful place where you are now. I just hope Sirius has reached you. He needs to find the peace he deserves. I love you all."

Suddenly, the thought of Mark Evans invaded his mind pressingly and Harry felt his heart becoming heavy with worry. Almost automatically, he closed his eyes and concentrated on Mark's face; immediately, blurred images darted in front of him. When everything stopped, Harry felt a strong fear and discouragement inside him. When he realized that those feelings were overwhelming him, he opened his eyes abruptly, relieved to find himself still at Hogwarts. Despite these bad sensations, he knew that Mark was still alive.

"We'll rescue you, Mark! I don't want to lose you as well!" he said firmly.

Harry didn't know why, but there was a deep connection between him and his cousin Mark, despite his past wrong behavior. It was as if Mark had taken Sirius place in Harry's heart.

"HARRY?"

Someone was calling his name from far away; the young wizard turned and saw Hermione running toward him; when she was at his side, she stopped and panted heavily to regain her breath.

"I knew I could have found you here. It's almost time to go, aren't you ready yet?"

Harry didn't reply; he stretched out a hand, smiling sweetly. Hermione moved closer and sqeezed his hand with affection, staring at him directly in the eyes.

They remained a few minutes like that, hand in hand, lost in each other's eyes; a light wind ruffled Hermione's hair and she raised a hand to brush it from her face; in that exact moment, Harry thought that there wasn't another girl in the world more beautiful than her.

"Shall we go?" she asked him, smiling, and Harry nodded. Together, they walked through the gardens, heading to the carriages, which were already waiting for them in front of the castle.

The year just passed by had given them really strong emotions, but above all, it had brought love in their hearts. Soon, summer holidays were going to be over and our couple would meet again. Their future was uncertain; the only sure thing was that they would have faced every new situation together, united as one soul, and united as one heart.

THE END

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