Harry Potter and Gaining Momentum

May had arrived, and the skies were blue, clear and bright over Hogwarts. Harry was expecting another scorching summer. All over Britain, May was far warmer than usual. There was even talk that Voldemort himself was behind the natural phenomena, though Harry highly doubted that. Gone was the leisurely pace at which spring usually arrived, and instead it came in a fiery blaze. Dumbledore had given permission for swimming in the lake; and the mermaids and giant squid could be seen now and then hefting students back to shore if they wandered too far out. Measures had been taken in the castle also; and Flitwick, with McGonagall, could be seen walking around the corridors renewing the chilling charms, to make sure the stones the castle was wrought from stayed nice and cool.

Harry and his friends had chosen one mid-May Sunday afternoon for a nice day out, and had taken a secluded spot on a sandy beach by the lake. There was no conversation of training, exams, or Voldemort -- only that of the present day. Harry was thoroughly enjoying the leisure time with his friends; it never came often enough. But, as usual, those unspoken troubles eventually had to come up.

"How is your training going, Neville?" Hermione asked, applying sunscreen once again to her nose and forehead. Neville was next to her, shirtless, lying with his head in Luna's lap while she fiddled with his hair.

"Harry says I'm getting the hang of it faster than Ron, but of course, I'm not a magical Animagus," he stated. His eyes were closed, and he was basking in the pleasureful sensations of Luna twirling her fingers absently through his dirty-blonde locks.

"Well, at least it's coming along. I want to learn how to become an Animagus so bad, but I just simply don't have the time. My work with M.I.S.S.E.D. is so time-consuming that I barely have time for extra studying.

"Have you decided if you're going to run the organization full-time after school yet? I know you really want to teach," Luna said dreamily, but at least on topic.

"I'm afraid of letting Harry down if I don't devote myself to the organization full-time; but I really do want to teach," she said in a frustrated tone.

"You know Harry wouldn't care. I mean, of course he wants the organization to be successful, but he wouldn't want you to sacrifice your future to make sure it happens. He'd allow you to pass the torch to someone else, should you decide that it's too much for you," Neville said. "He'd want you to be happy."

"But that's just it, I'd be happy in either case. I admit, teaching used to be my first choice, but now that I see how much good I'm doing, it's hard to want to do anything else. We've already changed history. Just yesterday, we finally achieved a non-Gringotts job placement for a goblin! He'd wanted to work at Flourish and Blotts for some time now; but due to his status as Magical Creature and not Magical Being, he wasn't allowed. We finally got a waiver yesterday, after we'd fought for a month with Amos Diggory about it," she said.

"How is Cedric's dad dealing with Harry being the one that owns the organization?" Luna asked, again surprising Hermione by being so on topic. Hermione gave her a calculated look before answering.

"He's actually proud of Harry. He said that he thought the organization was a good idea; but as a ministry official, he has to uphold the laws until we've given him proper validation, or we're able to overturn the law. I understand where he's coming from," Hermione explained. Neville and Luna both nodded.

"Hermione, you know it wouldn't matter to me what you did after school as long as you were happy," Harry finally spoke up. He'd been standing behind Hermione, shirtless also, with his arms folded over his chest.

"Harry!" Hermione yelped. "Don't do that!" she scolded.

Harry laughed. "Sorry, but I've been standing here for ages," Harry said, still snickering. Luna was smiling now, and Hermione realized that that was probably the reason Luna stayed on topic for so long. It was a rarity for someone to actually get a full conversation out of Hermione these days. She had been so busy that she usually only spent time with her friends when they were training under Harry, or in class with one another.

"Hey, what's Professor Flitwick doing over there?" Ron asked, pointing. The small professor was splashing about in the water, wearing a bubble-head charm.

"It looks like he's teaching some first years how to swim," Ginny said, laughing.

"Ron, it's not polite to point... stop," Hermione said, casually and only half-heartedly. Ron made a face but didn't comment. "I saw that," she said, though she never turned to look at him where he stood next to Harry.

"How do you do that?" Draco asked, applying sunscreen potion like it was a second skin. He was applying it at least every ten minutes, and Harry didn't want to make a third trip to the dungeons to get more from Snape.

"Witches never disclose all their secrets," she commented. She'd tilted her head back to grin at him.

"Hear, hear," Ginny said, giggling.

"Ready for another bout?" Harry chirped, looking at Ron.

"Aye." And with that, Ron, Harry, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Hermione and Draco all rushed into the water again to cool down.

Due to his past summers with the Dursleys, Harry never burned in the sun anymore, only tanned. Hermione had the same results, due to traveling abroad so much. The only ones who seemed to burn were Ron, Neville, and Ginny. Ron and Ginny both had lighter complexions, and their freckles stood out in their millions. Neville, Harry suspected, didn't get out in the sun much. It kind of intrigued Harry that Neville wasn't more tanned; after all, he did spend hours in the greenhouse whenever possible. It also surprised Harry that the boy no longer had the pudgy figure from his first four years. He'd slimmed down, and was now as tall as Harry; though truthfully, he was probably more fit as far as muscle goes. Draco, of course, was powder-white, and would have it no other way. He was proud of his 'untainted' skin, as he put it.

They splashed around in the overly cool water for about ten minutes, until it was too cold to stay in for much longer. Ginny and Harry both emerged from the lake with blue-tinted lips and shivering, but nevertheless laughing. They all plopped back down on a collage of towels and sheets that were laid out for the food, and relaxed once again in the sun.

"Can you believe this heat?!" Draco complained once again, and everyone rolled their eyes.

"Just wait until this summer. If it's this bad now, the summer is going to roast us to a crisp," Ginny stated.

"I hope not," Harry said. "I have physical training with one of my instructors. I have a feeling I'm going to be doing a bit of running at Privet Drive."

"It'll be good for you. That's one thing wizards never valued much, physical labor," Hermione said.

"Hey, we're physical!" Ron said in defense.

Hermione gave him a pointed look. "Quidditch isn't physical. You're not moving, the broom is."

"We have to work too!"

"Please, Ron, your gut barely contains itself!" Ron suddenly looked very self-conscious, and almost everyone laughed.

"I think that's more due to his love of food than anything. All Weasleys have a nice build. Just look at the twins and Bill," Ginny said.

"They're also a lot more physically active than Ron. But I have to say, Charlie looks the most fit," Harry said.

"You'd be too, if you ran from Dragons all day, everyday," Ginny laughed.

"Agreed," Harry said, nodding. "He might have as much fat as Ron if he didn't!"

Ron now had a towel draped over his shoulders that was shielding his body from everyone else. "Oy! Could we talk about something else besides my fat!" he protested.

"You're not fat, just healthy at the moment. But if you keep up your ways, you're going to fill out... this way," Hermione said, stretching her arms outwards. Everyone was chuckling now. Ron grumbled something incoherent.

"Well, if it isn't the savior of the Wizarding world and his peewee followers," Pansy said. She was accompanied by a few other Slytherins that were in swimming suits, and had towels draped around their necks.

"Sod off, Fido, you're not invited," Ginny said, much to everyone's surprise.

"And this coming from a Weasel," Blaise said sarcastically next to Pansy. "Better to be a dog than a filthy rodent." Hermione snorted.

"Weasels aren't rodents, air-head, they're in the family Mustelidae," she informed Blaise. The Slytherin rolled her eyes and gave Hermione a dirty look.

"Come on, guys," said Millicent. She looked decidedly uncomfortable. Harry assumed it was because she was the one that willingly helped make Pansy sterile.

"Not until I get an apology," Pansy sniffed. Ginny now laughed.

"From who? You came here and insulted us and you want us to apologize? Fat chance, Pug," Ginny continued to taunt.

"You'd do well to know your place, Muggle-lover. It won't be long until you're on you knees in front of the Dark Lord. He doesn't condone fraternizing with..." Pansy paused and looked around at the group of friends, "soiled blood." Harry finally stood up and stepped forward.

"And you'd do well to know your place, too," he said in an even voice. "I suggest you move along."

"Come on, Pansy," Millicent said again.

"You're afraid of Potter?" Pansy asked, looking at Millicent incredulously.

"She'd be smart to be," Ron said, standing up next to Harry.

Pansy snorted; she was being stubbornly persistent. "Not in a million years; he'll get his soon, when the Dark Lord gets done with his other projects," Pansy said, sticking her nose a bit higher.

"She apparently hasn't heard of the Prophecy," Harry said, looking at Ron. There was a long tense pause.

"What Prophecy?" Blaise said, as rudely as she could; but Harry could tell she was truly interested. Harry's friends were looking at him in shock.

"Ah, so, she hasn't," Draco said, playing along; though he didn't really know what Harry was doing.

"Harry," Hermione hissed, "What are you doing? Dumbledore will kill you!"

"It's my prophecy; besides, I'm sure deep down they know anyway," Harry said, shrugging.

"Know what?" Pansy spat.

"There's a prophecy about me and Tom Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort. It says: 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him... born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal.' So you see, I'm going to kill him whether he likes it or not, it's been foretold. There's nothing he can do about it. Why do you think he's never been able to kill me?"

"You're bluffing," Blaise said. Harry smirked.

"Apparently you've been left out of the loop. The prophecy was the reason we were all at the Ministry at the end of last year. Voldemort wanted it because there was a last line that no one ever heard. Dumbledore and I are the only ones who know what that last line says. I'll give you a hint though, it's instructions for me," Harry said.

"It tells you how to kill the Dark Lord?" Millicent asked. She was not being rude, just curious.

"It may," Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest. "But as Hermione said, I'm not allowed to tell anyone. Voldemort already knows all of the prophecy but the last line; but he won't tell anyone, of course. If he told all his followers that his downfall was foretold, it would make them switch sides. He's a Slytherin, which means he's willing and able to manipulate anyone he wants; and he's cunning. And by doing this, he's kept followers who are devoted to this stupid cause they all think he's trying to fight for. But if they all knew that his downfall was foretold, those who chose to follow him would change sides to stay on the winning side -- and he also knows that. Being a Slytherin, he knows how their minds work. He knows that all of you will always do what's in your own best interest; this is why none of you were told," Harry explained before he walked away and sat back down next to Draco. Pansy was almost gaping at him. Millicent looked very shocked, and Blaise looked like she'd swallowed something sour.

"So the fate of our futures rests in your hands?!" Blaise spat.

"It looks that way," Harry said nonchalantly. "You'll either fall with him, or switch sides. But let me warn you now, once that mark is on your arm, there's no return. You'll have no way out unless you're acting as spy; and if you're going to do that, you'd better talk to Dumbledore soon. Once you all turn seventeen, you'll be called before Voldemort to be branded. If Dumbledore doesn't know that you're spying for us, then he'll make sure you go to the new prison when the war's over," Harry said.

"New prison?" Millicent asked.

Harry nodded. "Azkaban will fall soon; it's a given with the Dementors gone. But plans are already being made by Dumbledore, the Order of the Phoenix, and the Ministry to build another that can work without them. It's going to be shared with the Italian and French Ministries. Choose wisely," Harry said. His last comment was the end of the conversation, and the Slytherins knew it. With a last awkward look, they all left Harry and his friends alone. When they were out of earshot, Hermione looked shrewdly at Harry.

"You lied to them," she said, looking like she didn't understand.

"Of course I did."

"What was the point in that?"

"Voldemort won't allow his followers to go unmarked. His pride insists upon it; he wants the power to be able to brand them as his," Harry said.

"So?" Ginny quipped.

"We've just gained about eight spies... maybe fewer, depending on how brave they are. Slytherins will do what's best for them, but they won't make themselves targets," Harry said.

"So, you think they'll all go to Dumbledore so that they'll be safe after Voldemort's gone?" Hermione asked.

"That's exactly what they'll do," Draco said. "They want to save their own skin; they don't care about which side wins or loses anymore. They'll take the mark so as not to become a target, and they'll report to Dumbledore everything they know so as not to be put in the new prison after Riddle's gone. As Harry said, most of them will be marked this summer; there's not enough time for them to make preparations to be safe and defy Voldemort at the same time."

"I'm not so sure that's safe," Hermione said. Harry looked at her with confusion on his face.

"That what's safe?"

"Well, they could very well do the exact same thing in reverse. They could get in good with Dumbledore, and then give Voldemort all our information," she explained.

"Unless they know Occlumency, they can't. Dumbledore can tell when someone's lying," Draco said.

"But Voldemort could teach them if they tell him what they've done," Harry said. He was now actually reconsidering his rash decision. Damn that Gryffindor quality, he thought.

"But can't you take their walls down? You can tear Snape's down; why not theirs?" Draco asked.

"I could, but they'd know. I'm sure they wouldn't expect me to just trust them, but they won't trust me if I go about tearing at their minds every chance I get." Hermione and Ginny both nodded at this. "We'll just have to hope they take the warning seriously enough that they'll choose our side or no side. There's nothing more anyone can do. They know, or they think they know, that he'll fall by my hand eventually; they'll just have to either believe it or not," Harry said.

"We still have another problem," Ginny said. Everyone looked at her. "If they do decide to become spies, they'll still need to learn to use Occlumency to keep Voldemort from knowing the truth, just like Snape does. How are we going to do that without Voldemort knowing?"

"What do you mean 'we ?' This is my problem," Harry said, looking at her sharply.

"We've told you once, Harry: you're not doing this alone, and that's final. As we said before, you can include us, and have us know what's going on; or you can leave us uninformed, and risk the possibility of getting us killed by trying to help you without your co-operation. It's your choice," Hermione said, striking low. Harry glared at her.

"That was low and cold," he said. They all knew his greatest fear was losing friends to this war, yet they still insisted on getting themselves involved.

"Life's tough; take it or leave it," Ron said, putting his arm around Hermione.

"What if I said leave it?"

"Then you'd still have friends blindly trying to keep you safe and help with the effort," Neville said. Harry scowled at them harder.

"You guys don't get it, do you?! This isn't a game!" he shouted in frustration. It was Ginny's turn to get pissed off.

"How dare you say we don't understand! We've all fought beside you for so long, and yet you're still going to sit there and say we don't understand?!" she yelled at him, fiercely showing her Weasley temper.

Harry wasn't about to back down. "You've shown what you thought of the cause when you started dueling the Slytherins in the Great Hall!" he yelled back.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Ginny bit back.

"I've been trying all year to prepare you, in case you get involved in the cause again, and you squander your training away on fighting with peers! How am I supposed to look at you like you're serious about this?"

"You know very well that we did that for you and Draco, Harry Potter! Don't you dare throw that back at us again!" she yelled back.

Harry started to feel guilty. He'd lost his temper that day, and felt like a hypocrite for treating them like children then also. Harry stared around at his friends for a few seconds before speaking again. When he did, he was much calmer. "I'm sorry. I know you all want to help, but I don't want to lose any of you... none," he said in a defeated tone. Ginny's features softened dramatically.

"You're not going to. You may be the one that has to take down Tom, but you don't have to do it all by yourself," Ginny said, putting a hand on his arm. He put a hand on top of hers.

"Thanks. Sometimes I wonder how I caught such great friends."

"You speak of us as if we're a disease," Hermione said, laughing.

"Sometimes if feels like it. No matter what you do, you can't get rid of a disease. That's the way you guys are. No matter what I do, you never leave... thanks," Harry said ending in a whisper.

"Anytime, Harry," Neville said. "Anytime."

***

By the end of May, Voldemort's attacks had doubled. Apparently one of the Slytherins had told him that the last line to the prophecy was about how to kill him, and he was pushing forward in his efforts to kill as many Muggle-borns, half-bloods, and Muggles as he could. Harry felt bad that he'd said anything to begin with. Because he'd lied to the Slytherins, more people were dying sooner. Dumbledore told him they'd gained six spies from Slytherin now; but that was the only good news in the last two weeks, because there was also a rumor of Voldemort training an apprentice to help him in his cause, and to carry on his work should something happen to him. The name of the Dark Apprentice was unknown, but he was apparently heading just about all of the Muggle-hunting sessions that had been staged lately. Voldemort himself led the few random attacks made on small Wizarding communities.

It seemed that Voldemort was bent on revealing the wizarding world to the Muggles. The Ministry was working overtime, and new people were constantly being trained as Obliviators and Memory Modifiers. Voldemort and his apprentice had taken to openly going Muggle-hunting, such as in large public squares and places of congregation. The Order seemed to believe, or so Dumbledore had told Harry, that Voldemort was trying to out the Wizarding world to the Muggles because he wanted to strike fear into their hearts, so that they'd know they weren't the supreme race. Harry found this tactic disgusting, and told Albus so. Though Albus always spoke calmly about everything, there was a new fire in his eyes when he spoke of Tom pressing wizarding supremacy upon Muggles.

Hermione, just like the year before, was beginning to really buckle down for end-of-term exams. She'd taken to revising every evening, from about seven until midnight. Harry didn't have to study that much, since Godric and Salazar had already advanced his studies and knowledge enormously; but he humored the girl anyway by studying with his friends. Harry had shown the Gryffindor Suite to Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna, and they were all in awe over its lavishness. Ron especially loved the pantry that would give him any kind of food he wanted. Harry, with his acute sense of empathy, sensed a bit of jealousy from Ron; but because Ron didn't voice any of it openly, Harry didn't confront it. Ginny, like Harry and Hermione, seemed more interested in the library than anything else. Luna, surprisingly, got on with Godric much better than anyone else had. She and Godric held conversations for hours at a time, or until Harry made everyone leave for the evening. He wasn't sure why Luna and Godric had taken such a liking to one another, but didn't find anything wrong with it. At least now Godric wasn't complaining about not having anyone to talk to. If Godric became too bored, Harry would simply ask Luna to keep him company for a while; she didn't seem to mind.

Harry and his Spell Invention team's greatest disappointment was the counter for the Killing Curse. They had yet to splice it with a decent dieting spell, and decided that they'd have to invent a dieting spell with the specific components they needed. This took them all the way back to the drawing board once again. Thankfully, they'd only been working on the counter for the Killing Curse on the side now, though they were still working hard.

Over the year, or since Christmas at least, they'd developed a series of defensive spells that had to do with the four essential elements: air, water, earth and fire. While researching something for Salazar, Harry had found a very small book of elemental spells. He and Hermione had both read the book several times to make sure they'd absorbed everything, and then spliced these elemental spells into everyday spells, to make the ancient magic more modern and less powerful. In their original form, only a very powerful wizard could work them, and even fewer could actually sustain them while they did their job. As it turned out, these spells had been key components in the building of Hogwarts. Salazar had told him that Rowena had constructed them from other ancient spells she'd found while researching a tribe from the Northern Alps. The spells were meant for carving mountains, placing streams, melting snow, and freezing water for igloo-like houses. Salazar didn't know where the actual elemental spells were, but only knew that Rowena had hid them in her Suite to keep prying eyes from finding them.

The spells that Harry, Hermione, Draco, and Susan had constructed were very small versions of what the small book had covered. For example: the earth-elemental spell was used by the Founders to shape the stones of Hogwarts. They then used the water-elemental spell to make them smooth, and create the lake. They'd used the fire-elemental spell to clear the land, and used the water- and wind-elemental spells to keep the fire under control. Harry found all this absolutely intriguing, and wanted to know more. Salazar had told him basically all he could; but because Helga had done most of the wand work, due to having some type of gift for it, he didn't know as much as he wished. He had only been given the small book because he had meant to make modified versions of the spells also, for students.

All in all, the year was a successful one. They'd accomplished a great deal, and were even given several awards by the Ministry for their efforts with the spells they'd created. Though they were only small certificates of recognition, at least they were thanked. In all, during the year they'd invented or modified six different spells.

Harry had yet to show Dumbledore where his Suite was, but Dumbledore had foregone asking up to this point. He understood that it was necessary for Harry to have something to call his own, and resolved to let Harry tell him when he was ready. Harry thanked him aloud for this, though he never told the Headmaster how many people actually knew about the Suite. In all, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Draco, Susan, and Severus all knew about his alternate living quarters; he had no intention of telling anyone else... yet.

***

Harry and Hermione's first exam was Potions. Severus had refused to tell Harry what potion they would be brewing when he tried to ask casually. Severus only smirked at him, and told him he was sure Harry would do fine. Hermione was having kittens due to not knowing what material to study before-hand; but Snape told them at the beginning of the month to be ready to brew any potion for the end-of-term exam. It strongly reminded Harry of a pop quiz. They would walk in, set up their area, and without any preamble, Snape would reveal a potion on the board; and then they had to brew it as best they could without instructions, either from him or their books.

"Hermione, calm down. I don't think Snape would give us a potion we've never brewed," Harry said as they made their way down to the classroom.

"But what if I didn't study that potion well enough? One wrong ingredient or one wrong stir, and the whole potion could be ruined!" she ranted. Harry only rolled his eyes at her.

"You're the smartest witch in our year! If you can't do it, then it isn't a very fair test," Harry said with finality. Hermione stopped ranting, but was still biting her bottom lip nervously.

They made it into the potions classroom, set up their lab tables, and waited nervously for Snape to arrive and reveal the potion they'd be making. Hermione was frantically flipping through her textbook, and taking in any small amount of information she was sure she'd missed. Harry just sat back and smiled at her overzealous attempt to know everything in the text, which she probably already did. It didn't take long for Snape to enter, robes billowing. He came to a halt in front of the class and waited patiently for a few students to put their texts away. When all was quiet and not a person stirred, Snape grinned at them and waved his wand at the board.

Draught of Peace

"Begin," Snape said, before turning and sitting at his desk.

Harry mentally moaned at the potion. It was clear now why Snape wouldn't tell him what it was. This was probably the only potion he ever had a problem with. But it wasn't because he didn't know how to make it; it was because he had to keep an eye on the clock and on the potion at the same time. Hermione looked dead relieved at the words scrolled upon the board; but Harry rolled his eyes and began to unload the needed ingredients. Pansy was openly sobbing at the words, though Harry couldn't figure out why. The damage was already done; what else could possibly happen to her?

By the end of class, Harry had his potion done, though he'd had to start over once. He'd added an ingredient too late, and thus his potion started looking like paste. It didn't matter how many times they tried to brew the potion, just as long as it was finished by the end of the class. That included putting the potion into an unbreakable vial and stoppering it. He let out a sigh of relief once his potion burped and he was able to put the stopper in it.

Towards the end of class, Harry saw Snape's head snap to the side as he looked into his office. He stood and made his way to the classroom door before nodding once at someone and closing it. When he came back in, he scribbled a quick note and strode up to Harry.

"You are done with your potion, correct?" Snape asked, only slightly sneering. Harry could tell his mind was elsewhere.

"Yes sir," Harry answered.

"Please take this to Dumbledore immediately," he said, handing a slip of parchment to Harry and going back down to stand in front of his desk while everyone finished cleaning up. "Time is up!" he barked. There was a flurry of activity at this command. Students who were pouring their potions into vials seemed to neglect their aim, and just dumped it in, hoping some would fill the vial.

In a few seconds, the students had stilled, and Harry finished packing his bag and headed for the door. Upon opening it, he saw a seventh year Slytherin standing outside of it, but didn't know who it was. Not really interested, he passed him up and assumed that the message Severus gave him had something to do with the boy standing outside the door. After he rounded the corner, Harry disappeared in a flash of flames and reappeared again in front of the Headmaster's desk, giving the old man a start.

"Harry!" Albus breathed in relief. "We really must have a type of warning system when you do that!" he said, chuckling and holding a hand to his chest as if trying to slow his heartbeat manually. Harry looked behind him and realized he'd done it again.

"Er... sorry, Professor. Hello Minister Bones," Harry said meekly, slightly blushing.

"Mr. Potter," she said while inclining her head a bit. "I do hope you're not here to steal the Headmaster from me again?" she joked. Harry laughed lightly at this.

"No, ma'am. Just a note from Professor Snape," Harry said, handing the slip of parchment to Dumbledore. The Headmaster read it and knitted his eyebrows for a second.

"It seems that Voldemort wants Professor Snape for a small assignment. He summoned his followers, and when Severus didn't show up due to having to give exams, Voldemort sent one of our Seventh years back to bring him. I'm not sure I feel right about this," he said. Harry was thinking now also.

"A potion?" Harry asked. The idea of Voldemort demanding a potion scared Harry slightly. The last potion he'd seen Voldemort compose was the one that brought him back.

"It very well could be, though I'm reluctant to say so with certainty," Dumbledore said.

"Would Severus know if it were something like a large-scale attack?" Amelia asked.

"He won't know until he answers the summons, and I'm not sure he'll be able to find a way back to inform us in time. I do hope he's careful," Albus said, seeming to age before Harry's very eyes.

"Snape is one of the most cunning and manipulative people I know. I'm sure he'll be fine," Harry said. "Would you like me to open the link and see if I can read Tom's emotions?" Harry asked. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at this, then shook his head.

"No, that won't be necessary. I don't want to risk him feeling that connection open and vulnerable. Just sit tight until we hear word back," Dumbledore said. Harry nodded, and left the office so that the Minister and the Headmaster could finish their conversation.

Harry finished all his exams in one day. The Charms exam was just after Potions, and it was mainly practical. Every person had a list of five charms they'd learned throughout the year, and they all had to perform them in front of Flitwick and give him an example of when it could be used. No person had the same five charms, and this made it harder for some people. Harry performed his wandlessly and fluently, as did Hermione. Flitwick looked very impressed that Hermione had picked up such a skill, and gave her bonus points for the extra effort, just as he did for Harry. Harry was sure he'd aced the practical exam.

In Transfiguration, each student was given three slips of paper. The first slip was an item they had to transfigure, the second was an item they had to conjure and then transfigure into something else, and the third was an item they had to conjure, transfigure, and then animate to the professor's liking. Harry and Hermione again did all three of their transfigurations, conjuring, and animating wandlessly. Neville, Ron and Draco did their first two wandlessly, but didn't even bother with the third that also had to be animated after being conjured and transfigured. Professor McGonagall was thoroughly impressed with all of their skills, and also awarded them extra points. With all their points, they'd earned back what they'd lost from their duel with Slytherin a month ago.

After taking easy Ancient Runes and Arithmancy exams, Harry took his Healing and DADA exams, where he did very well on all of his work. Healing was the only exam he didn't use wandless magic on, and this was simply because he had to use his wand to spray water, so he could clean out a wound with it. History of Magic was as boring as ever; but Harry was pretty sure he did rather well on the exam. He guessed he made at least an 'A' on it. It wasn't an 'O,' but at least he didn't fall asleep this time.

Harry fell onto his couch in the Gryffindor Suite, exhausted. He'd had every class today, and his day hadn't ended until an hour before dinner. After he ate, he no longer had the energy to walk around the castle; all he wanted to do was sleep and put his mind at ease. There was a sudden 'crack' that made Harry sit up, suddenly fully alert.

"Dobby?" Harry said in disbelief. As far as he knew, the small house elf was supposed to be at Grimmauld Place.

"Harry Potter," the small house elf said in a strange voice. "Professor Snape is in the Dark Forest with the Dark men."

"Since when did you start calling him Professor Snape?" Harry asked. Dobby had taken to calling Snape 'Slimy Snape' over the summer. "And what are you talking about : 'Dark men?'"

"Harry Potter must rescue the Professor before the bad men hurt him," Dobby said, closing his eyes. He seemed to be having an internal battle of some sort. Harry suddenly realized that Dobby wasn't calling him 'Master Harry' or 'Sir .' It wasn't that this bothered him, but it just didn't seem normal for Dobby.

"Dobby, is something wrong with you?" he asked, as Dobby screwed up his face again. Dobby nodded, and then shook his head vigorously. "Well, which is it, yes or no?" Harry said, getting confused. Again, Dobby shook his head, and then nodded slowly. Harry sighed and walked quickly to the fireplace. He took a pinch of floo powder and tossed it into the grate.

"Headmaster?" he called, but received no answer. "Albus!" he shouted this time, but still received no answer. Getting a bit worried, he tried McGonagall's office.

"Professor McGonagall?" Harry yelled into the grate again, but still got no response. Harry ran a hand through his hair in frustration. With a third pinch he stuck his head into the grate one last time.

"Professor Flitwick?" he shouted desperately. Why did he have the feeling that something wasn't right? Dobby was acting strangely, and all the professors were out about the castle. It could take forever to find them; they could be anywhere.

"Dobby, where exactly is Professor Snape at?" Harry asked. Dobby just looked straight ahead and didn't speak. "Dobby!" Harry barked this time, hoping he'd get some kind of response out of the small house-elf, but he didn't. Then, a light bulb went off in Harry head. He pointed a finger at Dobby and let his Will Magic take over. He was trying to remove any evil magical spells from the small elf. It seemed as if the little being had been hexed stupid, or had simply been cursed. After a minute, Dobby seemed to sway on his feet; and then suddenly, his eyes snapped back to attention.

"Harry Potter Sir!" he wailed, running forward and hugging Harry around the knees. "Dobby is so sorry!"

"Dobby, I need you to calm down and tell me what's wrong."

"Master Potter. He has Slimy Snape in the Dark Forest. He is making Dobby mad," Dobby said, twirling a finger around his ear to show he meant 'crazy'. "And He is telling Dobby to tell Harry Potter to come, or he will kill Slimy Snape! What is Harry Potter to do?!" Dobby wailed, clutching Harry's knees again.

"Dobby, where is Snape? Where in the forest?" Harry asked frantically, trying to get some answers. He had to know more about the situation before he rushed to the rescue, armed only with his hero complex.

"He is where the Giant's brother once was. Harry Potter must hurry. Slimy Snape is hurt!" Dobby wailed.

"Okay, okay, I'm going. I want you to go find Professor Dumbledore and the others, and bring them when you can. I'm going to try to sneak down there and see what I can do," Harry said. Harry shut his eyes, and his body seemed to fade from view. Then, in a puff of smoke, he was gone.

[Latest edit 5/12/04 -- David305]