Harry Potter and the Dreamer of Fears

Chapter 15 - Ambushed!

As the week progressed and into the next, Harry wasn't surprised to see Marion teaching Potions class, though he did try to look surprise in light of the news and had to elbow Ron for him to look surprise too as the three of them knew Snape had gone on his `mission' whatever it was.  But Marion was an efficient teacher in Potions as in Defense Against the Dark Arts and taught them the proper way of treating hallucinations caused by some magic by creating the Memoria Potion.  She had also worked them to take harder notes, giving pop quizzes every once in a while.

Professor Sadow had led them out once more in the course of the week, and this time some of them were able to test out their Fieres with the dementor-boggart.  His, Ron's, and Hermione's Fieres, however were still their small forms, Ron's Chinese Fireball blowing out little puffs of fire at the Dementor and growling at the same time.  He didn't know what the happened back on Halloween night, and every time he tried to ask Professor Marion at the end of Potions class she would just dismiss it as a fluke.  They had also looked up in Harry's book on the various combinations of spells, but didn't find anything that would be able to affect a Fiere.

In Divination, things weren't going as well.  After a few crystal balls had shattered during the course of the week, they had gone on to advanced palmistry.  Instead of interpreting the lines of their hands, they were to check the shape of their hands, in comparison with the earthly coordinates and then check their veins as well.  It was very confusing, at least in Harry and Ron's opinions.  But they had a small laugh to themselves as each predicted their own dooms.

But Transfiguration was the worst.  Even the boring History of Magic class was by far, a small cry to what Professor McGonagall was doing with them.  She had started them on transfiguring inanimate objects, changing them to different live animals.  Afterwards, in a set time, they had to transfigure the animals back to their original state.  She then had them take extensive O.W.L. notes, forcing Ron and Harry to falter slightly during Quidditch practices.

At least in Care of Magical Creatures, they were able to relax slightly.  But only very slightly as by now the Acromantulas they had been caring for were humungous in size.  Thankfully, and luckily, Hagrid had released them back into the Forbidden Forest and had declared that they were going to be working with different types of snakes.

But none of his classes could compare with the excitement bubbling in him.  Hogsmeade was fast approaching then the week after was the first Quidditch match after nearly a year and half without Quidditch.  He remembered the letter Cho had sent him, and realized that he had forgotten to reply to her.  So that was why he found himself standing by the main Entrance Hall, waiting for Cho to appear.  When she finally did he smiled and waved to her and she waved back.  The girls around her giggled and he found a slight wave of heat rush over him.

"What are you doing here Harry?  I thought you would be gone with your friends," Cho waved her own group of friends on and stopped next to him.

"I got your letter and I'm sorry that I didn't get time to reply," he apologized, feeling more comfortable around her as her giggling friends were now away.

Cho grinned, "It's okay.  I know you had it rough after what McGonagall was yelling about a few days ago," they started down the path to Hogsmeade, "you know what's odd?"

"What?" he ventured a shrug.

"Why did the Hufflepuff stand up for Ron?"

It was Harry's turn to grin as he laughed lightly, "I think, some small Hufflepuff is jealous.  Has a crush on Ron Weasley."

She laughed too then sobered slightly as a frown crossed her face.  "Harry," the seriousness of her voice brought his gaze from the cloudy sky down to her concerned face.  "What I mentioned in the letter, about Morgan-"

"She has dyslexia, right?"

"Yes," she sighed, tucking a strand of her shoulder length hair behind her ear, "her condition isn't really known.  I mean she interacts with people on a normal basis, but she also has problems with just staring at things.  She sometimes sees things upside down, left to right, even doesn't seem to see them at all."

"Wait, then what's the deal with her high Divination skills?" he asked, and then suddenly regretted it as his words came out a bit harsh.

But Cho took it in stride, "She's also very gifted in the art of Divination.  Everyone in my family thought that she wasn't going to exhibit anything remotely connected to Divination, but...she just did.  It was as if her docility, being a dyslexic, that I thought she was going to be sorted into Hufflepuff..."  Her face immediately twisted to something of remorse and Harry remembered that she had cried during the Leaving Feast, crushed by the death of her boyfriend, Cedric.

"You still miss him, don't you?" he tried to comfort her, but really didn't know what to say.  They had entered the outskirts of Hogsmeade, and were walking along the path aimlessly.  Harry had a feeling that Cho didn't really want to go into any of the shops at the moment and just wanted some time alone.

"Yes," she replied after hesitating, "I do miss him.  When...when you brought him back from wherever you went...the first thing I saw was his peaceful features..."

She looked to be on the verge of tears and Harry didn't really know what to do except to put an arm around her and drawing her closer to him.  He opened his mouth to say something when Cho sniffed slightly.

"It's okay, Harry..." she lifted her head up, and he saw that though her nose was red from the near tears that were threatening to fall out of her eyes, she was trying to put on a strong face, "I...I don't blame you.  I...don't see you as one of those freaks from what the Daily Prophet said.  I just want to know one thing."

"Yes?" he prompted her.

"Did Cedric have a painless death?"

Harry found himself searching her eyes for any signs of remorse or sadness, but there was a fire burning underneath those brown eyes of hers and he knew that she wouldn't be breaking down to pieces again.  She was going to be all right, she was going to move on.  "Yes," he replied firmly, letting her go, and stared out into the rolling hills and mountains in the far distance.

"Thank you Harry," she replied then gave him a brief hug and he spun around, blinking at her in surprise.  "Shall we go to The Three Broomsticks and see what your friends doing so we can play matchmaker?" she said smiling through her slight-tear rimmed eyes.

Harry smiled, knowing that Cho was ready to move on, but not to forget what happened during the final task of the Triwizard Tournament.  "Matchmaker sounds fine."

Sirius once again checked the rock cliffs where he had hidden once before.  He had contacted the people in Russia and the various Asian countries by regular Muggle post since owls weren't too common in certain areas and he didn't want to risk Voldemort discovering that he had spies all around Europe and Asia.  He had then contacted his friend Telemachus and was now searching the cliff area for any signs of reply.

He had told Lupin to stay at the Three Broomsticks, seeing that it was only going to be a quick check.  Stepping into the cave he brought out his wand and whispered, "Lumos."

The wand's light illuminated some of the cave and he waved it around, seeing if anything was left for him.  He noticed a scrap piece of parchment lying near a stone, bones next to it and smiled slightly.  Buckbeak was here and left him a note.  As he bent down to pick the note up, his wand's light caught something and he glanced around, his hand hovering above the note.  There was something not right about all of this...

There were a lot more bones than usual around and he played his light deeper into the cave where he gasped in surprise.

Stuck onto the wall with grisly marks all over it, was his hippogriff, Buckbeak, dead and fresh blood was still dripping off of the animal's wounds.  A childish laughter floated through the front of the cave and Sirius spun around, expecting an attack.  His senses prickled with warning and suddenly he ran out of the cave, just as a wave of fire roared through where he used to be.

Rolling to the ground, he crouched and looked around.  The mouth of the cave was now an inferno, caused by something he didn't know.  But what was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end was the fact of all the dark creatures that had risen from the ground, shrubs, and trees around the cave, only a few minutes ago not even there.

Coming up from his crouching position, he held his wand steady, ready to do battle with the ambush that came upon him.  Holding up his wand high, he sent massive red sparks high up into the air, hoping to alert the other Aurors of the impending attack.

That was when they leapt at him, their maws opened wide and their red eyes hungry for blood.

Harry was halfway to The Three Broomsticks when he heard red sparks go off like fireworks in the air and spun around to see in the vicinity of the cave area, a mass of black things, swarming around and down the hill.  It looked like a carpet of black velvet and instantly, his scar began to pulse with twinges of pain.

Suddenly someone in the distance screamed and the pain on his forehead grew that he hissed slightly and clapped his hands to his head.

"Harry!" Cho's concerned voice was distant as he squeezed his eyes closed, trying not to let his gasps come out as the pain intensified.

He saw through his eyes what the black velvet was.  They were creatures of different proportions, all swarming with saliva dripping down their shapeless maws.  But they were hungry.

We want food; their red glowing eyes seem to say.  They stared at him with an intensity that made his concentration shatter.  He didn't even feel himself fall to the ground as he saw them through his mind's eye.

Food, food, food, their thoughts echoed within his mind, food, food, food.  Feed me, feed me.

They crawled toward him, some on wings flying towards him, but they suddenly turned around as a blast ripped through some of their numbers.

Harry was shocked to see Sirius, bloodied and looking a bit exhausted in the thick of the creature attack.  Sirius blasted a number of them away from him then suddenly disappeared from his view.

Someone shook him violently and Harry blinked open his eyes, feeling the vision fade away, but his scar still throbbed with intense pain.

"Harry!  Harry!" Sirius had gripped his shoulders tightly and was now looking down at him, his face soot covered and bloodied.

"I'm...I'm all right," he managed to croak out then twisted his head to see the black velvet cover still coming towards Hogsmeade.  "What...are they?" he mumbled, trying to stand up, while both Cho and Sirius supported his arms.

"Spawns," Sirius said irritably, "come on!  The Aurors have them and I'm leading some of you guys back!"

"Sirius move!" Marion's voice shouted towards them and Harry turned around just in time to see a Spawn leering hungrily at them.

Without thinking, he twisted out of Sirius and Cho's grasp and freed his wand from the robes of his pocket.  "Coronum!"

The Spawn was immediately hit with a bright ball of light and was engulfed in flames where it gave a piercing shriek then suddenly crumpled away into fine dust.  Harry stared at the remains of the Spawn before he was dragged away by Sirius, Cho moving next to him, her wand drawn out and she looked wary for any type of attack.

"What the hell was that Potter?" Marion joined them, flanking their back as she stared with her hawkish gaze for any signs of Spawn.

"Uh..." he didn't know where he had gotten that spell until he remembered that he learned it while studying from the combo-spell book Hermione had given him.

"That was a very advanced spell, Harry," Marion's voice was warning but then she quirked a grin, "good job."  Her grin was suddenly wiped off her face as Mad-Eye Moody came clunking up to them, his grisly face grim.

"Sadow, take the Spawns near The Three Broomsticks.  They've got them covered on the inside, and then check the Shrieking Shack.  We can't have any of those buggers in the Shack," Moody ordered then gave an appraising look at the three of them.  "Black, you're on point guard with Lupin and the teachers.  Watch for Spawns and send sparks if you need help."

Sirius nodded and Marion saluted then both separated their ways, with Moody already rushing away to give orders to another Auror helping some of the citizens up to their feet.

"Hey Black!" Marion suddenly called and the three of them turned.  "Watch your back!"

"Yours too!" Sirius called back.

Harry watched as Marion walked quickly down towards The Three Broomsticks, now surrounded by black Spawns and she started to blast away those Spawns with her wand.

"Let's go," Sirius ordered and Harry nodded, trying to keep the pain from his scar to a dull throb.  He knew that he needed his wits about him and had to keep an eye on everything as they made their way back towards the Gryffindor fourth-fifth year group, Ron and Hermione waiting anxiously for him.  He was not surprised when Cho stayed with them, her arm around her cousin and was talking to her quietly.  That was when he also noticed Morgan, staring out at something, her eyes hard and angry.

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