Harry Potter and Gaining Momentum

For the third time in the past week, the week before Christmas Holiday, Harry had passed Draco in the corridor in front of the Owlery. The first two times, this didn't seem to faze Harry, but now that he had seen it for a third time, it unnerved him very much. Who could he be writing to? His mother was being held somewhere that only the Minister and Headmaster knew of, and his father fled from the Riddle House with Voldemort when he had broke into Narcissa's head and found out where they were located (Voldemort had apparently found out, due to a leak in the Ministry, that they were planning a raid with Dumbledore). Thus, Draco had absolutely no one to owl so often, or so Harry believed. He flirted with the idea that maybe it was a distant relative, such as one that was still in contact with Tonks' mother Andromeda Black but the more he thought about what Sirius told him last year when they viewed the tapestry on the wall, his only living relatives were Bellatrix, who was his aunt (mother's sister) but was locked away in Azkaban, or so Harry hoped she still was. Then Bellatrix's husband Rudolphus Lestrange, who was a Deatheater and was at large after his breakout during the summer. This excluded all relatives but Tonks and her mother. There was no way that he could have gone back any further because Sirius and Regulus Black, who was also a Deatheater and was killed in 1980, was all that was left. The Weasleys were related to him, though he knew that Draco didn't go to them for help with anything. There was no one left.

In a last moments effort to find out before the Holidays actually began, he decided to visit Snape. Hopefully there were on good enough terms that now Harry could have a civil conversation with him without being told it was none of his business, or that he wasn't good enough for Draco. Either way, he had to know. He had to know because he didn't want Draco to get in over his head without first talking with Harry. No matter how much Harry wanted to hex him into obliviation for treating him so well then ending it at the drop of the hat, Harry still cared for the little white snake.

Harry walked the well worn path to the dungeons to find the Professor but when he knocked on the door to the Professor's office, there was no answer. He conceded that the only person that could help him now was the old man upstairs, so slumped his shoulders and got ready for the conversation, or lecture he was about to receive from Albus. Harry, to tell the truth, could care less with the man thought. Yes, he respected him and looked at him as a grandfather figure, but the old man meddled far too much for his own good. There were just some things better left unsaid, and most of them had to do with Harry. He heaved a sigh and began to walk the corridors that led to the Headmaster's office. He mentally went over the things that he knew Dumbledore wanted to talk to him about and promptly made up lies for most of them. The was sure the Headmaster already knew about his break up, about why the ceiling was reflecting his mood instead of the sky above it, he probably even knew that they were making the counter curse to the Killing Curse, but the one thing that he was sure the old man didn't know was about the Gryffindor Suite. As far as Harry was concerned, it was going to stay that way. It was the one thing at this school that actually belonged to him alone. Ron and Ginny hadn't even been there yet due to Hermione faithfully keeping her promise; though, Harry speculated, he would have too if someone threatened to take away all his knowledge and make him a mere shell of a infant again.

Harry made it to the statue, up the spiral staircase, and knocked on the heavy wooden door.

"Come in," Albus rang out after a moments pause. Harry entered and flushed a bit.

"Er...sorry, I'll come back later," Harry stammered as he saw all the professors sitting around Albus' desk looking at him. The Headmaster smiled at him warmly.

"No need my boy. We were just speaking of you anyway," Dumbledore said as if it were no big deal. Harry became irritated that they were speaking of him without him there to defend himself. Seeing the look on his face, McGonagall commented,

"We were just trying to figure out why you were skiving off all your classes besides Severus'."

"Yes, I did find it odd myself," Snape said raising an eye brow, though Harry could have swore he saw a flash of pleasantness in his eyes for a moment. Harry disregarded it.

"Potions class is the only class I can't study independently in," was Harry's short and abrupt answer. Both McGonagall and Sprouts faces frowned at this.

"We don't have an independent study program here," the transfiguration professor said confused. She looked at Albus for answers and Albus gave Harry a questioning glance.

"I admit I've given Harry special privileges due to him being my apprentice, but I never knew he wasn't attending his classes until today. Even then I assumed that he just wasn't feeling well. He's put off his special lessons with me also," Dumbledore said frowning like both Professor McGonagall and Sprout had. "Would you care to explain Harry?"

"Not really. I've been tutored by a more capable wizard over the past three weeks. The only subject he said he couldn't help me in was Potions. Rather funny actually, he said the position would always be long to a Slytherin," Harry said smirking at Snape who quirked his lips slightly.

"Really Potter," McGonagall chided, "More capable than the Headmaster?" She looked as she were about to laugh.

"You act as if there isn't anyone more capable than the Headmaster," Harry said again irritated.

"Are you coming up on a burning?" Snape asked, but not unpleasantly, more offensively.

"No. Why would you assume that?"

"You're being rather rude, even by your standards," he said crossing his arms over his chest. Harry was still standing in the door way. He looked around at the staff, all eyes were on him and he knew he wasn't going to get out of this without a fight. He decided to go into offensive mode.

"Look, I didn't come here for 'One Hundred and One Questions for Potter' or the third degree. I simply wanted to speak with Professor Snape and he wasn't in his office. I can see that you're busy so I'll speak with you later," he ended looking at Snape who sat a little straighter in his chair after being referred to.

"You're not going anywhere until you tell us what you've been up to for the last three weeks Mr. Potter," McGonagall said sternly. Harry rolled his eyes at her and immediately knew it was a bad idea. Her face reddened; it reminded him of the way she looked last year when she got into it with Umbridge.

"When it concerns any of you, I'll feel free to let you know," he said cheekily. Albus frowned at him again. Harry had the urge to roll his eyes at him too.

"We are the professor, you are the student. No matter what your position here, you will not speak to the authority at Hogwarts this way. I demand you tell us what has been keeping you from attending classes," she argued again, face getting redder by the minute. Harry scowled at her.

"What are you going to do? Expel me?" he asked rhetorically.

"It can be arranged," she bit back again.

"Fine, you draw the papers up and I'll hand you my wand. It isn't like I need it," he said. He had no idea what had gotten into him all the sudden, but he was overly irritated. His eyes started to burn and everything in the room flashed brilliantly for a second.

"WHAT!?" several members of the staff yelled. Hagrid almost drowned them all out by himself.

"Harry, calm down, there's no need to get rash. It was a simple request," Albus finally intervened.

"It was not a request Albus, it was a demand," she said glaring at him; he heaved a sigh and looked back at Harry.

"Harry, would you like to speak with me out of the presents of everyone else?" he asked gently. Harry had no idea why, but this brought him to clenching his fists so tightly that he was sure his palms were going to bleed freely from his nails that were digging into them.

"I believe I have already said that my only reason for coming here was to speak with Professor Snape," Harry grounded out between his clenched jaws. His teeth hurt he was biting down so hard. Snape again looked at him perplexed. Harry's eyes flashed again and everything became brilliantly coloured for another moment. He wanted to shake his head to make it stop, but he thought it would be a sign of weakness.

"What on Earth has gotten into you boy?" Minerva McGonagall shrieked this time. She was above livid now. His vision flashed again and he fluttered his eyes in irritation. She just referred to him in the same derogatory way that Uncle Vernon did.

"I told you woman, IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUISNESS!" he belted at her. She shut up and stared wide-eyed at him, hurt.

"Harry, into the next room and wait for me," the Headmaster said standing to enforce authority, Harry almost laughed at the old coot.

"And why would your commands mean anymore than hers?" he asked savagely. Albus became as stern as Harry had ever seen him.

"Now!" he barked glaring. Harry glared right not moving but instead crossing his arms as if challenging Albus. Again, Harry wasn't sure why he was so angry, or irritated, but he was sure it had every right to be.

"No."

"I am not going to argue with you Harry James Potter. I gave you no choice, GO!" Albus barked again. Harry had only seen that intensity in his eyes once before and that was when Bartly Crouch Jr. was going to try to kill him.

Harry felt a tingle run through him. It was not due to Albus, but something internally. His eyes flashed a brilliant colour of gold and several professors sucked in a frightened breath. Harry looked about wildly, he couldn't see anything, everything was blinding, and it was like looking at the sun with no peripheral vision. He stuck his arms out wildly trying to find anything to grasp onto but to no avail. His eyes felt as if they were melting under the light. He squeezed them shut but the same brilliant sun-like picture before him remained. He dropped to his knees and buried the heels of his palms into his eyes fighting for a release of the pain. He vaguely heard orders being shouted about the room and Harry suddenly felt weightless. He wasn't sure what was going on. He had yet to mumble a word, but it seemed that the slightest move, even if for verbal reasons, would make the pain even more excruciating than it already was. There was a flash of blinding white light, even more blinding than the already gold and his world went black.

Harry woke up to whispers at his bed side. His eyes were closed, he knew this. He breathed deeply for a moment when he realized that the backs of his eye-lids were darker once more. Though it wasn't the normal darkness, it was enough not to be painful and to allow sleep. They still burned immensely, but he dared not open his eyes to venture into the outer world. He shifted a little to alleviate the numbness the hand he was laying on and the whispers stopped.

"Harry?" a small voice asked. Harry just groaned softly in response. He knew he had to be in the hospital wing and just wanted to sleep and be free of pain once more.

"Harry, are you awake?" another voice whispered. He knew this one belong to Hermione.

"Yes," he whispered.

"How do you feel?" the voice of Ginny asked quietly.

"Like I've had my eyes gouged out," he whispered flatly.

"Why are you whispering?" Ron asked in a normal tone. Harry winced. The headache that accompanied the burning throbbed for an instant.

"Ron, shut up...just don't speak," Hermione whispered harshly. Ron apparently complied.

"I'll get madam Pomfrey," Ginny said quietly and he heard her get up and walk down the ward.

"Harry?" a new voice whispered. It took Harry a few seconds to identify the new voice then realization hit him.

"Remus?" he asked a little louder than intended and once again winced at the throb that promptly followed.

"Yes Harry, it's me. Albus floo'ed me just after they stunned you and told me you had an....episode of some sort," he revealed.

"Stunned?"

"Yes, they said it was apparent you were in pain and you weren't passing out so Snape stunned you so they could figure out what was happening," he explained.

"Do you think you can open your eyes?" Hermione said. She obviously had been brought up to speed and wanted to see for herself if his eyes were truly gold.

"No he will not...at least not yet anyways," Poppy said as she arrived.

"Headache," Harry said promptly. He felt a vial pushed into his hand and he brought it up to his lips. Strong hands were placed behind his back to help him sit up. He downed the contents of the vile. "Thanks Remus."

"No problem."

He waited for a second for the potion to take effect. The room became silent once again and no one spoke.

"Better?" Poppy spoke in a normal voice. Harry just nodded, too relieved to speak. "Severus gave you a potion that blinded you, by the way. It's only temporary, but from what I was told by the professors, you were blinded anyway...you just didn't seem to have the luxury of darkness," she said.

"That's an understatement," he said sarcastically.

"Yes, he's feeling better," Ginny chimed in amused. Harry gave a feeble smile.

"Are any of the professors here?" he asked. He felt bloody awful for his tantrum in the Headmaster's office. What was he thinking speaking to them like that? He had no idea what came over him.

"No, you've seemed to stump them again," Poppy said, "There all trying to find out what happened to you. The Headmaster even cast several complex wards throughout his office for any signs of spells. Severus even went as far as to question all them under the influence of a mild truth potion to make sure there wasn't a traitor in our midst."

"Will I see again?" he asked shakily.

"Oh, I'm sure of it...that is, if we can figure out what's wrong. As far as structure, your eyes are fine. Whatever is wrong is magical, we just haven't figured it out yet," she said.

"When does the potion ware off?"

"Very soon. I'd say in the next fifteen minutes. It will come gradually, but we'll have another blinding potion at hand in case it gets too intense," Poppy said.

"You can't just give me the potion?" he asked.

"The Headmaster requested that we let you explain what you're actually seeing before we blind you again. It may help in the professors' research."

"Oh."

"Would you like to sit up Harry?" Remus asked. Harry nodded and began to move. Remus once again helped him by placing a hand on his back and steadying him while Poppy place pillows behind his back.

"Do you think you know what is wrong with you?" Hermione asked. Harry looked pensive for a moment before nodding then shaking his head. Ginny laughed at him and Harry blushed.

"Sorry, no I don't know what's wrong, but I have a feeling I know someone who does. Could you go ask him Hermione?" he asked cryptically. She didn't answer for a second.

"Who?" she asked slowly while the wheels in her head spun.

"G.G." he said, she automatically got the message.

"Oh, of course, I'm sorry; I don't know why that didn't occur to me. I'll be back in a jiffy," she said as she jumped up and hurried off.

"GeeGee?" Ron asked frowning.

"Initials," Ginny picked up and Harry wanted to scowl but didn't. She was too much like Hermione sometimes.

"Oh, G.G? Who's that?" Ron asked.

"I think if Mr. Potter wanted you to know, he would have elaborated," Poppy said sternly. Ron frowned again.

"Why wouldn't you want us to know Harry?" Ron asked in a hurt voice.

"No one knows," he said as if that made it all better.

"Hermione apparently does," he retorted.

"Okay, correction, my Spell Invention group does," Harry said calmly. He was not going to get upset over this. He should be used to Ron's nosiness by now.

"Oh, so because we're not as smart as the four of you, we're left out of the loop? Is that how it is?" Ron asked getting angry. Harry could slightly see where it was coming from. He'd always shared things with Gin and Ron. And the fact that he and Ron used to be more compatible than he and Hermione probably didn't help any. In the past years, Harry always looked to Ron for fun and to Hermione for answers. Now he looked at Hermione as an equal and Ron more as a...what? Of course he looked at him as a best friend, but he no longer needed that fun factor, actually, he couldn't be bothered with the fun factor. Too much mattered now; too much was above that priority. He heaved a sigh.

"Ron that's not what I meant and you know it," Harry said furrowing his brow trying to figure out exactly how he was going to explain himself.

"Then elaborate," Ron pressed.

"Ron, maybe Harry has a good reason for not telling us," Ginny reason to her brother, "We all have private things, what makes you think he doesn't?" Harry silently thanked Ginny for the support. "It seems clear that if it were something he was comfortable with telling us then he'd let us in on his secret."

"Does this have something to do with where you sleep every night or where you are when you're never in class?" Ron asked as if he had ignored Ginny. Harry heard Ginny sigh also.

"Yes," Harry answered truthfully.

"So it's a place, not a person?" he asked.

"Ron, I think maybe you should just drop it for now. Wait until he feels better," Ginny advised.

"He's had three weeks to tell us and hasn't yet. He can't get away now Ginny, and I want to know," Ron demanded.

"Ron, you know he can get away and if you persist to piss him off, he will!" Ginny bit back.

"Language Miss Weasley," Poppy said but she didn't sound very reprimanding.

"Ron," she went on as if she hadn't heard Poppy, "Harry is the only one that was ever known for being able to Apperate in Hogwarts. You keep this up and we'll never find out what's wrong with him," Ginny reasoned. Harry started to feel as if he weren't in this conversation anymore.

"He wouldn't do that because he knows Dumbledore wants to talk to him," Ron said confidently.

"Actually," Remus said, "Harry made Professor McGonagall cry earlier today. I don't think he'll have any qualms about ignoring the headmaster. From what I've heard so far today, there was quite an argument happening before the episode began."

"You made McGonagall cry?" Ginny said astonished.

"I didn't...I mean...I didn't intend to..."

"Harry, it's alright. She knew something was wrong, though I think she's still a bit hurt, she understands that there was a reason for it. A reason more than just your temper," Remus explained.

"I made her cry," Harry whispered.

"Minerva is known for her tough skin. It won't help you to brood on this Harry," came a warm voice from the end of the ward.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

"I've told you before Harry. I'm your mentor, not your professor. Albus suits me fine," the Headmaster corrected.

"Yes Albus," Harry said in a small voice that apparently radiated shame.

"Better," Albus commented. "Now, has the potion begun to wear off yet?" he asked no one in general.

"Yes, it should have begun about five minutes ago," Poppy informed him.

"Excellent, what are you seeing Harry?" Albus asked.

"A shadow of the backs of my eye lids," he answered honestly. He hadn't opened his eyes yet. The Headmaster chuckled.

"Okay, fair enough. Open your eyes and tell me what you see," he said obviously amused. Harry pried his eyes open much to the contradictory voice screaming in his head for him not to. Still, he could only see shadows within shadows. There were shadows that were darker than some, but they revealed no depth perception. The lighter shadows resembled human forms.

"Shadows within shadows," he said.

"Are the shadows moving?" he asked taking a couple steps.

"I'm presuming the one that is belongs to you," Harry said. Dumbledore nodded though Harry couldn't tell.

"How many shadows is there that are darker or lighter than the rest of your vision?" Harry counted silently. Poppy and Ginny were on his right side while Ron and Remus were on his left. Albus was at the foot of his bed and Hermione was moving from what Harry presumed was the end of the ward.

"Six," he said.

"There's only five," Ron spoke up confused.

"I make six," Hermione said. Apparently no one saw her sneak up while they were all focused on Harry. Harry smiled at her.

"Find anything out?" he asked hopefully. He couldn't tell, but Hermione frowned for a moment before looking around at everyone.

"Yes," she said slowly.

"And?" he prompted.

"Well...Harry, are you sure you want me to answer in front of everyone?" she asked. She apparently had taken his threat to heart when he first showed her the place.

"You don't have to mention where or from who you found out, just what," he said. Hermione seemed to be thinking about how to word it then sighed and sat on Harry's bed.

"He...er...it said that it was due to the Treasure Phoenix. That particular breed of phoenix has the gift to be able to see magic. He...um...it said that being in Hogwarts and being able to see magic would explain the reason for such blindness. Different magic is seen in different ways. As an example he said that ward magic is gold while transfiguration magic is bronze. Potions will always be copper due to them being in a liquid state, and other types of magic, such as people will come in a variety of colours. People tend to appear the same colour as their auras. The gift of scanner, which Mr. Clause told you that you had, mixed with the gift of the Treasure Phoenix made this experience very hard on you. He...um...said that you had to learn to control both of them before you were able to get comfortable and be able to turn it off and on," she concluded winded.

"And who did this wise information come from?" Albus asked intrigued.

"Well...I'm...uh... not exactly at liberty to say," Hermione said glancing at Harry who nodded his appreciation.

"My tutor," Harry explained shortly.

"Ah...the more capable wizard, yes, quite interesting," Albus said calmly. "I would very much like to meet this wizard, he seems to hold quite a place to you," he said to Harry.

"That he does. You could say...almost like family," Harry said calmly as Hermione's eyes widened a bit. If anyone noticed her reaction, they didn't show it.

"So it's a person and a place...that doesn't make sense," Ron said obvious flustered at Harry and Hermione's lack of information.

"Ron, give it a rest for now won't you?" Ginny said exasperated.

"No, I don't like being left in the dark!" he said raising his voice.

"As I," Dumbledore said, "How is your vision Harry?"

"It's getting brighter, but it's still not as bad as it was," he answered.

"I need you to slip into your Occlumency mode and shut your scanning abilities down so we can work with one thing at a time," Albus said calmly.

"How are we going to work with something no one has ever gone through?" Harry asked confused.

"Remember what I told you while you had Tom in your head Harry? About your mind doing anything as long as you believed it was?"

"Yes."

"This is your first test of that. I need you to believe and know you can shut off the scanning gift...even if only for a small while," Albus said. Harry nodded and closed his eyes. He made a small crack in his wall and slipped into his own mind before closing the wall behind himself. He thought hard about the scanning ability being gone, not completely, just until he called it back. He envisioned something like a light switch and saw himself turning it off. Satisfied, he emerged from his mind and looked around. Everything was still especially sharp, but not so bad that it was blinding. He wasn't sure why it made such a difference.

"Did it work?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded thoughtfully for a second before answering.

"Yes, it seems it did."

"Excellent. Now, I want you to see a wizard for what it really is," Albus said, Harry furrowed his brow at this.

"See?" he asked confused.

"Yes, look at Poppy, but instead of just looking at her, focus on her magic...feel it with your eyes," Albus instructed. Harry recited what Albus said in his head as he looked at the Medi-witch. She seemed to shift uncomfortably for a second before clasping her hands behind her back and raising her chin with dignity. Harry wanted to smile at her but didn't because he was trying to feel her magic with his eyes. He began to feel a slight heat coming form her; he could feel it on his face. She was only feet from him, but that would have been impossible otherwise. Around here the air seemed to shimmer and shift around her before finally shining a slightly blue colour. Harry cocked his head to the side intrigued, and then looked back at Dumbledore who was too staring at Poppy.

"Blue? Her aura is blue?" he asked confused. He didn't realize that it was even one of the colours.

"It seems so, and a very proud colour at that," Dumbledore said smiling warmly at Madam Pomfrey who blushed slightly. "The colours are as follows, from least powerful to most powerful: clear, or a Muggle, peach is to a squib, orange ranges from a baby to a first year, red it from third year to a seventh year, purple is to a fully qualified wizard to above average wizard, blue belongs to a very exceptional wizard, bronze belongs to a level above that, then gold, then silver. Auras are not how much magic a person possesses, but how powerful they are, meaning what they are capable of. A good example of this is Neville Longbottom, his aura is red, though, as you know, Mr. Clause told him he could forge a staff. This obviously means he's not using his magic very efficiently. You'll get the hang of it eventually," The headmaster said.

"How can you see auras if you don't have the gift to see magic?" Harry asked Albus confused.

"I have some scanner abilities. They are very limited to people and wards, but none-the-less, I have them," Albus informed him.

"But I turned off the scanner ability," Harry said still confused.

"Scanning magic it a lot like seeing magic. The only difference is that when you scan something; you see its properties whereas if you see magic, you would see it in every living thing, including Muggles," Albus said.

"Muggles?" Hermione asked sceptically.

"Oh, every living thing has some type of magic in it, only wizards and witches as well as other magical creatures and plants tend to have an abundance of this magic. It is what separates us from them, and some say makes us superior," Albus ended gravely apparently referring to Voldemort.

Harry began looking around the room. The very walls of the castle were beginning to turn gold and looked to be radiating magic from within them. Of course, as Hermione said, it was the ward magic that was making it look gold. He looked at the other witches and wizard analyzing their auras. Ginny, Hermione, and Ron were all up into the purple range, which was an exceptional wizard, over average for the three of them. Dumbledore was gold, no surprise there, and seemed to seep much more than the others did. Remus is what intrigued Harry the most. He had what looked like two auras, a purple and a black that outlined it. The black must be the werewolf inside him, Harry reasoned with a pitiful look at Remus. Remus didn't see his look because he was still listening and looking at Hermione and Dumbledore as they spoke. Albus broke Harry out of his thoughts.

"What do you see now Harry?"

"Brilliant," Harry said looking in awe around him, "It's all so brilliant."