Harry Potter and the Dreamer of Fears

Chapter 6 – Dreams and Divinations

Harry knew that he was asleep, but somehow he found himself in the grounds of Hogwarts once again.  This time, he was semi-transparent, almost like one of the ghosts of the school.  A ghostly howl of a wolf resounded through the area, making him jump a bit in surprise.  He glanced around and saw that he was near the Whomping Willow.  He had a suspicious feeling that he was back in the past, especially his father’s time, yet he found the howl familiar…Professor Lupin!  That’s his howl…that means…

"Hey, hey…listen Severus, um, don’t go okay?  What Sirius said, its just a lie," a voice behind him started to splutter and he turned to see two figures, both dressed in black, one of the figures trying to stop in front of the other, but the other figure pushed him away.

"Why not Potter?" the figure that was trying to push away the first one growled and Harry frowned.  Then he realized that it was his father and a younger version of Professor Snape walking towards him.  "Afraid that the headmaster is going to find out?  Well, after this, he is!"

"No…I’m serious Severus!  Don’t go!" James pulled against Snape’s cloak, to which he shrugged it off.

"Whatever you’re hiding Potter, it must be good for me not to see it…hmm…probably a few baby dragons, or maybe some unicorns that you stole from the Forbidden Forest…didn’t you Potter!" Snape stopped where he was and whirled around to confront James.

Harry saw his father’s face become angry, and when he spoke, his voice was deadly quiet, but full of anger, "You don’t understand half of it, Severus…just always poking you nose into things that shouldn’t be there.  You half-witted, bloody git!"

"What did you say?!" Severus roared then suddenly leapt upon James and punched him in the jaw, rocking his head to his side and Harry’s eyes widened as he saw blood drip from a cut lip.  He watched as Snape dropped a stunned James where he was then took off towards the Whomping Willow where he stopped and stared at it for a few minutes.

Immediately Harry went over to his father and tried to pry him up from his dazed look, but his hands passed through his father’s shoulder and his father involuntarily shivered then shook his head.

"Severus!  No!  Don’t go in!" his father got up, wobbling a bit, still dazed from the punches Snape threw at him.

Harry ran from his father’s side to where Snape was cautiously approaching the Whomping Willow.  He had to stop Snape as he realized that Lupin, in werewolf form, was going to attack Snape if he didn’t do anything.  He tried to stop Snape by grabbing onto his cloak, but his hands just passed through them.

Suddenly an eerie howl that sounded too close for comfort resounded from within the Whomping Willow.  Harry saw both his father and Snape stiffen and Snape’s expression was one of worry, but also of pure malice.

"Looks like you’ve been holding something here, Potter…you, Pettigrew, Lupin, and Black," Snape barked out a laugh and spun around, "I finally got you and your miserable crew red-handed; caught in this mess, you’ll find yourself expelled from Hogwarts.  Oh, James Potter, Prefect of the Gryffindors, expelled from Hogwarts dishonorably.  That’ll get the headlines attention, and the entire Wizarding world.  Go back to where you came from, Potter.  You and the Mudblood, Lily Evans."

"Shut up about Lily," James’ eyes blazed with fury that Harry had never seen before, but that fury died as both men heard a low growl coming from the Whomping Willow.

Harry turned and his eyes widened to see Lupin, in his werewolf form, growling at Snape and his father, his eyes not at all friendly or docile, but one of pure predatory instinct and a hint of malice within them.

"Snuffles? Wormtail?" James called, walking over to Snape and grasping his shoulder to which Snape didn’t react or at all.  Harry glanced at Snape’s face to see that of a mix of terror, but a hint of anger.

A dog bark answered James’ call and a great black dog with a rat purchased on its back came scurrying out of the Whomping Willow.  The dog stopped in front of the werewolf that was Lupin and bared its teeth at Snape as the rat scurried off of Snuffles’ back and onto the werewolf’s head, chittering in its ear.  Immediately the werewolf’s eyes lost their predatory gleam.

"A werewolf?  That’s what you and your cohorts have been hiding?!  Wait a minute…" Severus’ voice took on a thoughtful tone and he started forward when he stopped suddenly.  The gleam of a predator lurked again in the werewolf’s eyes.

"Snape, just stop.  You know what would happen if the werewolf were to bite you…" James pulled on the grip he had on Snape’s cloak.

"You think?" was the retort that Snape shot at his father, but he started forward again.

"Snape, stop being a git and listen!" James whirled Snape around and stood head to head with him, "will you just get it in your head that that werewolf will kill you if necessary, and if you survive, you will become a werewolf!"

"Shut up, Potter!" Snape shouted, and then shoved James’ hands off of his shoulders.

"You…you are such a dumb git!" James suddenly tackled Snape and knocked him to the ground.

Harry watched as both rolled on the grassy field near the Whomping Willow, both trading punches with all their pent up reserve energy, finally released as both went for each other’s throats.

"What is going on here?" a deep thundering, yet commanding voice suddenly boomed over the fighting, stopping it and also bring everyone’s heads up to see Headmaster Dumbledore, standing in front of them, much younger looking, with his hands on his hips, an angry look on his face.

"He started it," was the first words out of James’ mouth, pointing to Snape as he nursed a bruised jaw and rubbed his neck after being choked by Snape.

"Sirius sent me a letter saying that I should come to the Whomping Willow if I were to find out what he and Potter were hiding.  See!  Look, a werewolf!  Potter and his friends were hiding a werewolf," Snape said in a triumphant voice, but his smile faltered as Dumbledore shook his head.

"I already knew what those Marauders were hiding.  They discovered Lupin was a werewolf and sent him here, along with a couple of animals they found at Hogsmeade," Dumbledore said gravely then glanced at the werewolf, black dog, and rat, "here’s a fair warning for you, James, and you, Severus.  No wandering out of the grounds when it is a full moon.  You could have gotten yourselves killed."

Harry wanted to hear more, but something kept tugging at him when a sudden flash of white light obscured his vision and he threw up his hands to cover his eyes…

* * * * *

He blinked them open as he realized that it was morning already, and he was back in his four-poster bed, his covers over him neatly.  But there was something heavy near the foot of his bed, covering his feet and pressing them down.  He reached over to his nightstand for his glasses and put them on, then sat up, trying to move his feet and saw that a great black dog was sleeping near the foot of his bed, curled up and breathing softly.

Harry reached over and scratched Snuffles by his ears, making the dog blink his eyes sleepily open and then droop back down.  "Morning Snuffles, time to wake up, I can’t move," he said, scratching the dog behind his ears again, then tried to move his feet to show that he had to get out of bed.

The dog whined, but then reluctantly got out of his bed and barked loudly, making a few people in Harry’s dorm room jump up with startled cries.  Harry got out of bed and quickly changed into his uniform then opened the curtains to his four-poster bed and saw Snuffles racing around the room, dragging curtains open to reveal four other sleepy Gryffindors who were still yawning.

"Its too early…" Ron complained then shut his curtains only to have them be opened again by Snuffles, who was barking wildly.  "Hey!  I’m trying to change here!" Ron protested indignantly, and then shut the curtains again.

Harry watched as Snuffles back away, his tail between his legs and looked mournful as to apologize.  "Aww…poor dog," Dean Thomas said as Snuffles made his way towards Harry then stopped in front of him, his face still mournful.

"Hey Harry, do you know this dog?" Seamus asked, as he stepped out of his bed, dressed in his uniform.

"Sort of.  I found him at Hogsmeade as a stray, so I guess it followed me back to Hogwarts.  Some of the local people called him Snuffles," he replied, scratching the dog’s neck, "you’re a good boy aren’t you Snuffles?  Being a messenger to Professor Dumbledore with all those girls chasing after you…"

The reaction was immediate as he saw Snuffles go a bit red in the nose and dip his head down as if to say ‘don’t remind me’.  Harry laughed softly then got up and waited for Ron to finish changing.  Snuffles ran ahead of him and went downstairs to the Common Room where he promptly heard a bunch of girls, already awake, squeal in delight at the sight of the black ‘messenger’ dog.

"Let’s make a resolution to remind Snuffles of this everyday, okay?" Ron piped up next to him as they headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast and a day of classes.

* * * * *

They met Hermione just as they reached the Great Hall and all three of them sat down, where they promptly started to eat.

"Snuffles was in the Common Room this morning," Hermione spoke up, "Morgan and the other Gryffindor girls told me as I came out of the shower."

"Yeah…I guess he still wants to stay in his dog form, since people are still a bit edgy about him," Harry replied, then a thought occurred within him, "is Morgan related to Cho?"

"Yes…she’s cousins with her.  And she’s really nice, perfect for Gryffindor, she’s also quite shy, yet very talkative if you get to know her, and being an American, she’s not what you think most Americans are like," Hermione beamed then helped herself to a few pieces of toast.

"So, did you guys receive your schedules?" Harry asked as finished up his breakfast and pulled out his schedule from the folds of his robes.  He had gotten his a few days before school had started and was slightly pleased with the results.

"All right!  No Potions today!" Ron cheered, as he too finished up his breakfast and pulled out his schedule, "and double Defense Against the Dark Arts class!  Today even!"

"Ah, Arithmancy, then a break time, then History of Magic before lunch, which means you guys have double Divination as soon as breakfast ends…" Hermione grinned after swallowing the last bit of toast then held up her schedule, "I told you that you should have dropped the course…"

"Ahh…" Ron sniffed, "Professor Trelawney is probably going to predict your death again, Harry."

"Yeah," Harry replied, grinning.  But in the back of his mind, he was worried; with the recent events going on, he hoped that Professor Trelawney wasn’t going to go overboard with her false predictions again, he didn’t need to start jumping around and watching his back every minute, but then again, why did he have to be worried about her predictions.

* * * * *

As he and Ron made their way to the seventh floor where the Divination classroom was, he noticed that the Fifth-Year Slytherins were also following them and realized that they had double Divination class with them.

"Great…looks like Malfoy is going to be choking with the Perfumed-One along with us," Ron gripped as he poked Harry in the shoulder then pointed to Draco Malfoy, walking up the stairs along with his two lackeys, or at least Harry thought of them as lackeys, Crabbe and Goyle.

As they entered the classroom, a room full of purple-misted perfume greeted them, infusing them in its smell.  Harry waved the mist away as he sat down near the front, but off to the corner.  He saw both Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil sit down in the front, all eager and smiles on their faces, excited that this was their first class of the new school year.  Both girls were awed and favorites of Professor Trelawney, usually hanging onto her every word, and speaking of the Professor…

Promptly, a bluish purple mist formed in the middle of the room and Professor Trelawney stepped out, her owlish eyes scanning the room, her beads and sequined shawl sparkling in the semi-dim lighting of the classroom.

Immediately, Harry noticed that her eyes focused on him, and her mouth turned in a bit of a frown, "Death…I see your death much sooner…so young, so full of life, such to be cut short in such a dim amount of time…"

Harry rolled his eyes in a careless manner then stiffened as he heard a crack of laughter coming from the Slytherin section of the room.  He tried to ignore Malfoy’s laughter and instead, focused on his next textbook Your Past, Present, and Future, Eclipsed by Sundown Riley.

"And you, blond and full of innocence…I see…betrayal running through your family, through your veins…" at Professor’s Trelawney’s grim pronouncement Harry turned around, along with the rest of the class to look at Malfoy.  But Harry was surprised to see that his rival was shaking with anger, deep anger.

"My family will and had never betray anyone, you old hag!" Malfoy said in a deadly quiet voice then glanced to his left as a cough erupted from the far corner of the room.

All the students’ gazes also went to the corner of the room and Harry blinked in surprise, surprised to see both new fourth years, Lina Smith and Morgan Chang in their classroom.  Morgan was stifling her coughs with her hands and Harry could see a ghost of a smile on her lips, while Lina looked a bit worried, trying to shush the Asian girl up.

"Ah…our two new students…" Trelawney seemed to float over to them, her owl-like eyes brightening again, "Yes…you two I see…both full of hope and fears, you must dream a lot."

"Oh great, two more for the loony bin," Malfoy muttered a bit loudly and the Slytherins around him snickered.

Harry watched as Morgan’s expression turned from one of placid to that of a mild expression, while Lina’s stayed the same, but a small smile forming on her lips.

"Yes, I do dream…dream about white bouncing ferrets in the halls of Hogwarts," she shot towards Malfoy who immediately shut up and glared at her.

"Now, now, settle down, my children," Professor Trelawney had sat down in the middle of the room on her chair, "I welcome you to another year of Divination.  Though your year will get progressively harder, I foresee that many of you will come out this year strong in the ancient arts of predicting the future, many of you will be choosing the path to a clearer future when your O.W.Ls. are coming up."

"Like I’m going to become a shrink like her," Ron muttered underneath his breath as he grinned at Harry who grinned back.

"This year, we will begin with a review of the crystal ball, going into in-depth where you will learn spells to cast on the magical ball.  But after that, I fear that something will happen, something dreadful that will affect all of us.  As soon as that passes, we will learn the art of palm-reading and if time and the problems that arise during this period fades away, we will learn how to interpret our dreams…"

Harry stifled a yawn threatening to come out of his mouth as the purple mist of perfume made his senses feel muddled and murky.  He could barely keep his eyes open and saw that many in the classroom also felt the same.  Only a few stared attentively at Professor Trelawney.

"Ah…I see the smell has gotten to you, as I predicted it would…but for today, we will stop here.  This is just a sample of what we are to learn during our dream unit.  I want you all to take out your quills and parchments and write down anything about your recent dreams.  We will be using this for your crystal ball lesson…"

Taking out his quill, ink, and parchment, Harry frowned as he propped his parchment on his new textbook.  He didn’t want to tell anyone about his recent dreams; they would only worry other people and possibly earn him a look-over from Madam Pomfrey.  Glancing over he saw Ron frowning too, his parchment blank and unwritten on.

"Got any ideas Harry?" Ron asked, not looking at him, but staring at the ceiling.

"Nothing, except I feel very sleepy…"

"Tell me about it…"

"Write something about Quidditch, I guess…"

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, what are you doing?" Professor Trelawney’s voice broke into their conversation, they stopped talking, and both bent down and hastily scribbled on their parchments.

Harry quickly thought up of a Quidditch match and wrote whatever came to his thought on Quidditch down on his parchment before Trelawney snatched it up.

"Hmm…" she frowned over it and one of her pointy eyebrows was raised, then just as abruptly handed the parchment back to Harry without a word.

Harry breathed a quick sigh of relief then heard soft snickering the back of the classroom.  He mentally glared at Malfoy then continued writing…

* * * * *

As soon as the class ended Harry made his way down the ladders and waiting for Ron to come down.  He saw Morgan and Lina climb down, both looking rather excited about the class and both chatting with each other.  He didn’t really blame them; they were only fourth years, and new students.

"Ready?  Next is History of Magic," Ron spoke up beside him and Harry nodded then turned around when Malfoy’s drawling voice echoed through the halls.

"Death is coming Potter…woooo…watch out!  Just like those Dementors!!" he shouted in a high voice.

"Abite molesti, Malfoy," Harry turned around a bit in surprise as Morgan spoke up, her voice slightly deep, but also high at the same time.  "I don’t think Harry needs your encouragement at the moment."

"Oh…I see…" Malfoy’s sneer turned into an evil looking grin, "some little fourth year has a crush on Potter…"

"Like hell…" was her fierce reply and Harry blinked, slightly shocked at hearing those words, "listen ferret…I don’t need you to be the boss around here, saying that you’re able to poke fun at whomever.  No one needs crap like that, so…abite!"

"Hmph," Malfoy sniffed, turning around and glaring at the Asian girl who stood in the hall, Lina close to her, trying to pry her away while others stared at her in shock.  "Looks like Americans, especially you, got tempers and foul mouths…"

"Not all Americans, just this one," Morgan shot back then walked away her head held high.

"I thought Hermione said that she was shy…" Ron commented as both of them watched Morgan walk away.

"I thought so too…" he replied softly, wondering why was she defending him…either that, did she know much about Hogwarts, not the tourist that she was…

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