Harry Potter and the Dreamer of Fears

Chapter 10 – Halloween

Halloween descended upon Hogwarts in a blustery way, typical for a late October day in Scotland, but despite the bitter cold winds that blew leaves and branches this way and that, the excitement of Halloween couldn’t damper any of the students within Hogwarts’ cheer.  Even some of the teachers were excited and Harry knew that this Halloween was going to be another special one, as he saw that the decorations in the Great Hall and surrounding areas were totally changed for festivities.  Even classrooms, like Professor Trelawney’s and Snape’s dungeons were decorated in anticipation for the holiday.  He suspected that it was to calm students down from the recent news that had been cropping up all over the newspapers and radio.

Escalating his random attacks, Voldemort had started to kill Muggles who were in high-ranking government positions, and then displayed the bodies of those that his minions had slain out in the open daylight, for everyone to see.  The British government had started to call the attacks an unknown killer who was on a murdering rampage and warned Muggles to keep cell phones or any other type of communicative devices on them at all times.  Other governments in various countries have also started to issue warnings as Voldemort’s influence had started to spread like a virus consuming healthy cells.

But the decorations and festive gleam around Hogwarts was thankful enough to drive the recent attacks into the backs of the students’ minds, keeping them happy, or mostly happy and occupied with schoolwork.  Which was why Harry found himself fidgeting and yawning, along with the rest of the Gryffindor and Slytherin class, trying to get out of Professor Trelawney’s Divination class, periodically switched with their afternoon classes.  Professor Dumbledore had announced during breakfast that the classes would be cut short in light of a celebration lasting from late afternoon to the evening.

Now, however, Trelawney was still sitting on mounds of fluffy colorful pillows, her eyes intent on the crystal ball in front of her, her spidery hands a fluid movement around the clear ball which was turning a milky white and started to give off a slight glow in the dim perfumed smoked room.  The perfume was making him very sleepy and sluggish, and he glanced at his watch…only a fifteen more minutes until the end of class and the start of a celebration of Halloween.

"Crystal ball reading isn’t taken lightly," Professor Trelawney droned on, but her voice seemed just a fog in Harry’s mind as he let his thoughts wander.  He felt his breathing get slower as his head drooped down onto his desk.

He found himself in the Forbidden Forest, on top of a palomino body, but the torso of a man with bright, but pale sapphire eyes and white-blonde hair.  He looked a bit angry, but his eyes held a measure of calm.  "Firenze?" he whispered as he recognized the centaur, but the centaur didn’t answer him.

Glancing around he saw that the forest was much darker than where he had gone to near the end of his first year, and it was so dark that it was almost pitch black.  Suddenly, out of the darkness stepped a brilliant white light and he brought up a sleeve to shield his eyes from the light as it hurt them.

"Lower your sleeve, Harry Potter, it is only a friend," Firenze finally spoke up, his voice soft but kind.

Harry obeyed and saw that it was a unicorn followed by her small gold foal, from the looks, to be a filly.  The unicorn approached them and he stared at them in wonderment.  The unicorn touched her horn gently first to Firenze’s outstretched hand then raised her head to stare at him.  Those piercing cerulean blue eyes found his green ones and he stared into them, drawn to them.

Innocent are the first ones…he heard a melodic, but sad voice in his head and he realized that the unicorn was talking to him inside his head, protect those who are innocent…Harry Potter.  Trust those who are your friends, but beware those who are your friends too…betrayal lurks in the sources most unlikely.

Suddenly the unicorn jerked her head up and glanced around, then bent down to her filly and they both sprang away, fleeing deeper into the Forbidden Forest.

"Leave, Harry Potter…you must be wary," Firenze suddenly spoke up and Harry felt himself being tugged away, just as a spark of pain brushed his scar.

"Kill the centaur…" was the last thing Harry heard before he heard a thump and then pain blossomed on his shoulder.

He blinked open his eyes that he didn’t know had closed and found himself staring up at Ron’s worried face, staring down at him.  He realized that he had fallen to the floor in the middle of his sleep.

"Harry, you all right?" he asked as he pushed himself off from the ground and sat back down in his seat.  Taking a quick glance at Professor Trelawney and the rest of the class he found that they didn’t notice him fall, as most of them were still stuck in their stupor of staring into space or whatever, with the exceptions of Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, Morgan Chang, and Lina Smith who were staring at Trelawney with rapport attention on their faces.

"Yeah, just fell asleep," he replied hurriedly, trying to shake off the effects of his dream just as the bell rang signaling the end of class and all the students that had been in their stupor suddenly sprang out of them and made a mad dash to the ladder that lead down to the seventh floor.

Grabbing his books, Harry joined the others climbing down and when he got to the seventh floor he waited for Ron who appeared moments later, shaking his head to clear the mists of purple incense that still lingered as Lina came down, blinking a bit against the effects of the perfume followed by Morgan who was grinning happily – a much better mood than she was in weeks ago.

"Ron, Harry!" Hermione’s voice called from the stairs just a bit away from the ladder to Trelawney’s classroom and she appeared, her bag full of books, but she looked happy and flushed from running.  They joined the rest of the Gryffindors at the tower and dropped their books and bags then headed downstairs to the Great Hall where the smells of a scrumptious meal awaited them.

Harry noticed that Hermione took a quick peek at the portrait with the fruit bowl and pear that was hanging from it, the entrance to the house-elves’ quarters and kitchens, but then a smile appeared on her face as they went in and sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Hiya Harry!" Colin Creevey and his little brother Dennis waved at them from their seats at the long table and he waved back a bit sheepishly then averted his gaze to the rest of the room.

He noticed Cho sitting with her friends, Lina among them, but caught Cho’s eye and she smiled at him then returned to talking to her friends.  Feeling a flash of warmth on the back of his neck he turned his gaze to where the Slytherins were pointing to someone at the teacher’s table and then laughing hysterically to themselves.  Harry saw that they were laughing at Hagrid who, to the his dismay, already looked a bit tipsy and judging by the clear goblet that was half full of a reddish liquid, Hagrid was already drunk and attempting to hug Professor Sinistra, the Astronomy teacher.  Anger grew in him as he felt like hexing some of the Slytherins, but before he could reach into his robes for his wand Dumbledore appeared, smiling and held up a hand for silence.

The Hall quieted down slowly as some of the teachers who were a bit late slipped in and took their seats at the High Table.  "Halloween should be enjoyed with a bit of a flair, don’t you think?" his eyes twinkled merrily and then he drew out his wand and waved it a few times in the air.

A collective gasp of surprise erupted in the hall as out from Dumbledore’s wand came ghostly forms of bats and mini wizards and witches on brooms.  They flew all around the tables and up into the enchanted ceiling, disappearing into the waning sunset glow of the ceiling.

"Now, enjoy," Dumbledore said then sat down and Harry glanced down to see food appearing in all directions of the table.

Helping himself to a piece of a turkey potpie, he started to eat it when Ron poked him in the shoulder, "You know where Lupin or Sirius are?"

Harry glanced around and noticed that neither Sirius nor Lupin was present at the banquet.  Now that Ron did mention it, he hadn’t seen Sirius since he had stormed out of the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom that night.  "Mission?  I guess," he answered Ron as a little pool of worry began to fill him.  He knew that Sirius and Lupin were able to take care of themselves quite well if they face any trouble, but that didn’t calm the concern for their safety within him.

"I checked on our Acromantulas while you guys were in Divination class," Hermione spoke up after swallowing a bite of honey-lemon flavored chicken.  He noticed that Ron, sitting next to Hermione, paled a bit at the mention of their ‘pets’ in Care of Magical Creatures.  "They’re growing really big and I think that we’ll have to move them into bigger cages within next week or so.  Hagrid thinks so."

"B-Bigger cages?" Ron had put down his fork and looked even paler, until Harry quirked a small smile as he realized that Hermione had been teasing Ron.

"Ron," he reassured his friend, "she’s only kidding.  Right, Hermi-"

The doors to the Great Hall banged open with a loud crash and all eyes turned to the haggard looking figure standing in the middle of the door, all conversations between tables and around, silenced.  The figure took one step and a clunk resounded as Mad-Eye Moody’s face was angry…no, more like furious and Harry noticed that the Auror held a wand in his wrinkled hands.

"We’ve got a problem," Moody snapped, his magical eye bouncing around in its socket, turning this way and that, as if searching, "Dementors have gotten through the barriers and are enticing some of the Dementor-guards to storm the school."  He opened his mouth to say more, but the various students at the tables were talking amongst themselves loudly, some fearful of an attack, others slightly confident, but the tension in the room suddenly went skyrocketing as Halloween feast was forgotten in place of an attack happening directly on the school.  Some were whispering that they knew the school was a prime target for the Dark Lord, and it was only a matter of time before something like this was going to happen, and now that it did, they were scared if they were going to see their family again.

It took a few red sparks to burst forth from both Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore’s wands in order to silence the roar that had risen from the students in fear, to a dull murmur.

"All Prefects and Heads of Houses will lead their students back to the dormitories at this time.  You will stay there until we deem it safe.  Please do not panic, as we have Aurors stationed in every corner of the school.  Do not go wandering off on your own, this is a very dangerous time," Dumbledore seem to pit Harry and his friends with a stare that warned them not to use the invisible cloak or to slip from the group when they were walking back to Gryffindor Tower, especially not like what they did during their first year when a Mountain Troll was set loose on the inners of Hogwarts.

There was a mad dash to the entrance of the Great Hall in an effort to reach the stairs for students to get to their house Common Rooms, and Harry stood up on the bench of the table to see where Katie Bell, the Gryffindor Prefect was.  He spotted her by the entrance to a room on the side of the Great Hall, most of the first years crowded next to her, trying to avoid the rush of people moving to different places.  Glancing around he also noticed that Marion and Marius had mysteriously made their way against the crowd to where Moody now stood on the side, the two teachers listening to what Moody was saying, their expressions not changing one bit.  Just as suddenly, Marius left them and headed towards the Front Hall.

"Harry!  Professor McGonagall is leading the third and fourth years to Gryffindor Tower, while Katie is leading the first and second years.  She wants us to act as a guard around the fourth years," Hermione shouted over the din of the people rushing by and Harry jumped down from his seat.

"Let’s go then," he said then made his way towards where he spotted Professor McGonagall’s familiar pointed hat bobbing along the crowd.

Making and pushing their way through the mill of students still trying to get out of the Great Hall, they finally stumbled out of the broad, but what looked to be narrow in this situation, doorway and into the Front Hall; where Professor McGonagall had stopped at the foot of the marble moving staircase to wait for a set of stairs to rotate around to lead them to Gryffindor’s dormitories.  Around her were the third years and fourth years, some looking nervous, others scared and shaking, but surprisingly some looking as if they wanted to fight the Dementors.  And unfortunately, Colin was among the ones to look like to beat a few Dementors; the mousy little kid was babbling to Parvati Patil about how he was going to defeat a Dementor, Parvati looking a bit ill at ease as she scanned the area, her wand out and gripped tightly.

"Harry!" Colin exclaimed as the mousy kid spotted him and Harry groaned silently to himself then walked over to them, since he didn’t have any choice.  "Guess what Harry!  I want to join the Aurors and beat a Dementor!  Just like you did in your third year on the train here!"

"That was Professor Lupin, Colin.  Not me," he corrected the boy but he didn’t seem to listen.

"So," he shrugged, "I bet you gave the Dementor a good conk in the head!"

"Actually, little mouse, Potter was twitching with fear on the train that day," Malfoy passed by them, escorting a group of second years, "have fun with the Dementors, Potter?" he whispered for his ears alone and Harry felt a surge of anger rise up within him, but forced it down as he knew that this was not the time and place to get into a fight, not with the possibility that the Aurors might fail and Dementors would still be able to get in…but the Aurors stationed in Hogwarts were the best, weren’t they?  He knew that the Aurors stationed were loyal to Dumbledore, and not to Fudge, but they weren’t exactly Fudge’s enemies either, just neutral allies.

"Why you-"

Harry turned to stop Ron from drawing his wand, but saw that Hermione had already restrained him and now his best friend was in a silent fuming stage, but his eyes smoldered with anger and hatred.

"Harry didn’t twitch!  You-you…s-shut up Draco Malfoy!" Colin spluttered, his face set and angry.

"Ohh…looks like a member of the Harry Potter fan club is getting feisty," Malfoy taunted then raised an eyebrow at Ron who was still giving him a death glare, "and the triangle widens.  Looks like your girlfriend is getting a few more of a competition Potter.  Maybe in a few years-"

"Let’s move, come on Malfoy!" the Prefect of Slytherin, Eric Montague, a former Slytherin Chaser, passed by them, interrupting the conversation.

"Watch out for those Dementors, Potter.  They’re out to get you!" Malfoy called after them as McGonagall had started to move up the stairs, turning back occasionally to watch the students behind her, also keeping an sharp eye for the Gryffindor first and second years in front of her, lead by Katie Bell and some of the seventh and sixth years, George and Fred among them.

Harry fell to the back of the group, bringing up the rear as he knew if any Dementors got through the Aurors and launched a back attack to them, he would at least be able to give the younger students and others a head start since he knew the Patronus spell.  He also knew that the older students, sixth and seventh years, were expected to already know the Patronus spell, a requisite that George had told him that Marion and Marius were teaching them.  Some of the other sixth and seventh years that didn’t go with the first group were flanking Professor McGonagall’s group, all of them, mingled with the fifth years, forming a defensive perimeter.

Counting up the third years and fourth years, he remembered that the fourth year Gryffindors had an extra person, making the total eleven…but, there was only eight.  Three were missing.  And he knew two of the three that were missing.  Ginny Weasley and Morgan Chang.

"Ron, did you see you sister at the banquet?" he asked and Ron did a quick glance of the fourth years then turned to him as they walked up the stairs.

"No…" the color in his face drained, "she said that she was going to be at the bathroom before she came down…you don’t think…"

"Morgan’s also missing, as is Jacob Hollins," Hermione stated as she also took a count of the students.

Harry nodded.  He knew he had to act fast as he had noticed that Ginny was fearful of Dementors and wasn’t warned of the attacks, he didn’t want to think of a worst-case scenario in which Ginny was trapped by a group of Dementors.  Bashing the thought away, he focused on the present situation.  It was best that they slip away from the main group so not to rise up to a question or a long explanation and motioned to Ron and Hermione to follow him.

As they turned to go up another staircase, he paced himself to walk backwards and slipped behind a suit of armor that was still and not cackling like it had before the celebration was interrupted.  After a few minutes, the sound of marching and shuffling feet was gone and everything was silent.  He poked Hermione, "Everything clear?"

"Clear," Hermione hissed back after a few seconds then slipped out, followed by Ron and then he stepped out and looked around.  With the absence of students, the stairs of Hogwarts looked abandoned, empty, and dark.

"Well?  Where to look?" Hermione asked.

"Girls’ bathroom," Ron immediately replied.

"Myrtle’s?  Or the regular ones?" Harry asked as they made their way down to the second floor.

"Myrtle’s first.  Things seem to always happen there," Ron replied, leading the way with a determined look on his face.  In the past month Harry’s days of being slightly taller than Ron was overshadowed as Ron started to grow taller and lankier and his voice even hinted at the signs of change, but that didn’t stop the brotherly compassion he had for his little sister.

Walking along the silent corridors, keeping close the walls, Harry drew out his wand and held it steady, with his two friends behind him, also holding their wands.  They approached Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom quickly and quietly and slipped in.

"Myrtle?" he tentatively called out, his voice echoing in the rundown, broken girl’s bathroom.

There was no answer.

Suddenly a distant scream that sounded all too familiar resonated through his head and his scar exploded with pain.  He hissed slightly as the pain started to grow and put a hand to his forehead.

"Harry?" Ron’s voice was far away as the scream continued to build but he tried to ignore it.

"Dementor," he forced out, "there is…a Dementor in here."

"A trap…" Hermione breathed in slight fear just as a towering cloak of black emerged from one of the broken stalls, seemingly floating towards them.

He heard its rasping breath and the click click of its clawed hands, but they too seem far away as now the screaming in his head became entangled with his senses.  No, must concentrate, he forced his mind to clear away the scream, to put it in the back of his mind as he focused on his happiest thought.  Him winning the first task in the Triwizard Tournament.

"Expecto Patronus!" he yelled and a silvery light burst from his wand, aimed straight at the Dementor who was rising to its full height.  The light slammed into the Dementor making the thing howl in agony as the form of a stag took shape and trotted over to the side of the Dementor, the stag’s eyes looked at the creature with an unmerciful stare of hatred.

The Dementor flailed its arms as it kept howling in agony and then swept past them in a flurry of black cloak and disappeared.  The screaming inside his head stopped and he lowered his wand, watching the stag fade away with a bow of its head.  Thanks Prongs, he thought silently to his Patronus.

"You’re right, Ron, everything does happen in Myrtle’s bathroom," he gave a faint grin.

"Told ya," Ron replied.

Just then, a scream, not in Harry’s head, echoed loudly through the halls, the direction just about near the corridor with the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, in the southerly direction.

"That was Ginny," they all said at the same time then tore out of the bathroom, wands drawn, faces betraying no emotion, but inside, all of them had something in common.  They hope that they weren’t too late.