Harry Potter and the Dreamer of Fears

Chapter 19 - France, 1983...

By the end of Potions class, Professor Marion was back in what looked to be a better mood than she was for the last few days and she had assigned them to write a two page parchment on their experiment and the effects of the Invisibility Potion, good and bad.  Which left Harry in a good mood, but then his mood dropped as he, Ron, joined by Hermione at the stairs, headed to History of Magic class...

Sitting in the classroom, Professor Binns droned on and on about something to do with the magic of the goblins and house elves of 1677, something that Harry thought Hermione would be interested in, but looking over to her with bleary sleep filled eyes, he saw that even she was about to nodded off, her quill in her hand held on an angle and her head bobbing up and down as she tried to keep her eyes open.

"Now the goblins, especially with their leader Toadstool the Flight during their time in France at 1677, the encountered a group of Veelas..." Binns started and Harry wearily closed his eyes for a second before he snapped them open once more.

There was something in what Professor Binns said that made him wake up...Veela...France...that was it.  He was curious as to the Veela Attacks of 1983 and wanted to know what did it have to do with Marion and her group of Crouch's Aurors.

Apparently, Hermione had the same idea as he did as she suddenly interrupted Professor Binns, "Professor...we don't really know much about Veelas, and since Fleur Delacour was here last year during the Triwizard Tournament, she is half Veela.  I was wondering if you could tell us about the Veela Attacks of 1983."

"Miss Grangersford-"

"Granger, Professor," Hermione corrected the ghostly teacher who had turned from his lecture and looked at Hermione with shrewish eyes.

"Miss Granger.  I am in the middle of a lesson.  Trivial things such as these recent attacks are not to be explained in here.  This is a class for the history, the past, of magic, not for rubbish such as this," he waved his hand at her general direction, and started to resume his lecture.

"But Professor-"

"Miss Grander, please.  Do not interrupt me or else I would have to take house points from you," Binns turned on her once again, his reedy voice angry.

"But Professor," Hermione started and Harry noticed that most of the other students were attentive, including the Hufflepuffs that were in the same class as they were.  "You said so yourself during the beginning of our first year that everything in history, even now, is based upon the past.  So, if You-Know-Who has been enticing these attacks to occur on the magical and Muggle world, then we should know of the recent events, especially for those who are Muggle-born or raised, like me.  Obviously, something within the press has gotten them to think that the Veela Attacks of 1983 are more important than lecturing about goblins and creatures of that sort."

"Yeah, I mean," Justin Finch-Fletchley, whom Harry had found out a few days ago was the new Hufflepuff Seeker to replace Cedric, spoke up from the back of the room, "If goblins have encountered Veelas, why then do the Aurors attacked them now?  For me, personally, I thought that Veelas were all passive and nice...well except for that incident at the Quidditch World Cup..."

His small statement brought on a few twitters of laughter and Harry could see that Professor Binns was looking thoroughly confused at the attention he was getting.  It almost reminded Harry of his second year, with the Chamber of Secrets incident, but this time, he knew was different.  It was something within the Veela Attacks of 1983 that sparked a firestorm of controversy within the Ministry.

"Ah well...um..." Professor Binns ran a hand through his thin ghostly hair, "to start this off, you have to know that Veelas are not all that meek and passive as the legends and history books tell you to be.  Their beautiful forms are based off of the ancient Greek creatures called Nymphs and Sirens.  Nymphs were eternally the most beautiful female creatures in Greek Mythology as they were spirits living in different elements.  Sirens were bird like female creatures with the voice to lure sailors to their deaths at the sea.  Combined, you receive the Veelas, half nymphs, half sirens.  On the outward appearance of the Veelas, they come as beautiful women, their voices tempting and tantalizing to most males, though some over the years have resisted their temptation..."

Harry felt himself blush slightly at the comment of the Veelas' voices.  He remembered that during the Quidditch World Cup, he had almost wanted to jump off of the balcony with Ron, until Arthur Weasley pulled them back, seemingly unaffected by the Veelas' voices.

"But when pulled to anger, or if they see that their plan do not go their way, they turn into scaly, horrendous creatures that can fly and spit more than fire from their hands.  They control the elements as their bodies are half nymphs," Professor Binns continued, "vain and proud of it, they know that their beauty will get the best of many wizards and Muggles."

By this time, Harry was hanging onto Professor Binns' every word and knew that most of the class was doing the same.

"But what about the Veela Attacks of 1983?" Parvati asked.

"That," Binns frowned as he floated over to the chalkboard, "is where history is muddled.  What I am about to tell you is not recorded or affirmed by the Ministry of Magic.  If you tell them this factual information, then they will deny it." He paused for a minute, staring at the chalkboard before he turned back around, "In those days, they were dark, not as dark as the ones where the Dark Lord was still prowling, but dark nonetheless.  His followers were scattered, decimated, and unable to recoup their losses and were forced to hide from the Ministry of Magic and their Auror hounds.  However, as the Dark Lord isn't without many allies, a group of Veelas rose up in anger; the anger of either the Dark Lord's death, or the anger of the Aurors persecuting every creature that didn't seem to be `right', they tried to protect their own kind."

Binns floated around, "A group of Aurors, not directly underneath the command of the Ministry, went to France to try to negotiate with them, to investigate.  What happened was a battle as both Aurors and Veelas attacked each other, each blaming the other side for persecution and for being on the Dark Lord's side.  What came out of these attacks was the fact that the Ministry tried to cover up most of the evidence of any harm done to the creatures, and paid a hefty compensation to the Veela population of France."

"What happened to the Aurors that were involved in these attacks?" Ron breathed out, his eyes wide and blinking.

"Most of them were put on trial, secretly, some sentenced while others left the service of Aurors and retired into the background.  Others, stayed on, vowing that they will never do such a thing like that again," Binns concluded then clapped his transparent hands together, "as we are done with this subject, let us continue.  As I was saying, Toadstool the Flight..."

Harry felt himself get sleepy immediately at the droning of Binns' voice and once again rested his head against the pile of books he had been using as a pillow.  But something inside of him told him that it wasn't the whole story and there was something more to the Veela Attacks of 1983.

The rest of the school day passed by quickly after History of Magic and Professor Sadow had them working on their Fieres against the Boggart-Dementor.  Still, Harry was slightly disappointed to see that his Fiere was just a stallion, while Hermione's stayed a hawk and Ron's a miniature Chinese Fireball.  Though very cute looking, it kept snapping its jaws at anyone who wanted to pet it, except for Ron who seemed quite taken with the fiery creature.

It wasn't until after dinner and his month long detention with Filch, after the Halloween incident, that he had a chance to go to the Potions dungeon.  He had wanted to ask Professor Marion about her involvement with the Veela Attacks of 1983 and hoped that she was a bit receptive to his curiosity.  But that was only half the reason he was going.  He also wanted to ask her about the parchment she had handed to him during Potions class.  Making his way down the last flight of steps to the dungeon area, he had gone straight for the dungeons since Ron and Hermione were both working in their separate detentions.  He knew that they would be wondering where he was, but he didn't really care at the moment.  Sometimes, he felt as if they were shadowing him too much, becoming like his guards...he didn't mind their protectiveness towards him and even appreciated their concern, but he felt like going out on his own at times.

As he approached the Potions classroom, he tentatively knocked on the door, hoping that Professor Marion was still in there.

"Enter," her muffled reply came back a few seconds later and Harry stepped in, and then wrinkled his nose against a foul smell coming from the middle of the classroom.  A large black cauldron was bubbling in the middle of the room and wafts of smoke were floating around it.  Marion was standing by the cauldron, stirring it with a giant ladle as she watched the bubbling dark blue liquid.

"Uh, Professor?" he hesitantly asked, watching her stir some more.

"Done," she finally said and set the ladle down then looked up and smiled faintly, "A large batch of the Invisibility Potion I am making for Dumbledore.  Nothing to concern you...  Now, what can I do for you?"

"It still smells acidic," he commented as they stepped away from the cauldron and towards Snape's desk.

"The bigger the batch, the more the smell will be there.  You should have been here just over thirty minutes ago, could have melted your glasses," Marion replied, sitting on the desk and staring at him expectantly.

"Uh, well," Harry scratched the back of his neck hastily, "I was wondering about the parchment-"

"Whom did you show it to?" she suddenly asked, her voice neutral.

"Just Hermione and Ron," he replied and she relaxed slightly, but he noticed that she still kept on edge.

"Kester Pointe, one of the Aurors that was guarding you, had been doing some undercover work for the Order of the Phoenix over the last couple of days.  We've only gotten word of the situation just before class started," she explained and Harry nodded.

"So then, I can expect a crowd of Aurors watching me during the match this weekend?" he asked, slightly annoyed at all of the protection he was getting.

"We would have cancelled the match, but the Headmaster thinks that if an attack occurred, it would be easier to catch whoever was doing it," Marion replied, frowning, as she did not agree with Dumbledore's tactics.

"So I'm bait," Harry said shortly.

"More or less, yes," Marion replied truthfully and Harry blinked at the bare statement.  Since he had attended Hogwarts, this was one of the few times he had gotten a straight answer out of a teacher...  He knew that most of the time, Dumbledore or any of the other teachers would just skirt along the edges of the truthful answer, leaving him to wonder, but with Marion just telling him the truth...it was something new.

"Uh...thanks," he replied, a bit bewildered.

"Hey, someone has to tell you the cold truth, might as well live up to it," Marion replied, standing up and guiding him to the door, "you better get back to Gryffindor Tower before Filch or anyone else sees you.  That would be more detention and I think the month long one that I gave you wouldn't be more pleasant if I added another month to it."

"Yeah..." he replied as he stepped out of the classroom, "thank you Professor Marion."

She nodded then closed the door behind her and he left, heading towards the seventh floor.  When he had reached the Fat Lady's portrait, he realized that he had forgotten to ask her about the Veela Attacks of 1983.  Maybe it's for the best...she might have reacted badly to me asking...he silently mused to himself as he gave the password and entered into the Common Room where Ron and Hermione were waiting for him, none too happy.

But the curiosity in the back of his mind wouldn't let him go, as he still wanted to know Marion's involvement in the Veela Attacks.

Marion returned to Snape's desk and just stared at the cauldron, which held the Invisibility Potion.  Though she was relieved by the interruption of Harry, she was still fuming inside from the Daily Prophet's article a couple of days ago on her.  Though Dumbledore had warned her since the time she read the letter sent to him by Fudge, she still was caught unprepared by the mental thrashing the article gave her.

She had sent away all the mail she had received over the next few days; she knew what they would contain...parents writing letters to her to accuse her of being part of the Veela Attacks, concern for their students' safety, and she knew that they would want her to resign or fired as a teacher.

Dumbledore had come in late Sunday night to talk with her and told her that if she would like, she could resign and just stay at Hogwarts as an Auror protector, but she had refused, saying that it was her responsibility to be a teacher and by God she was going to teach the children no matter what the parents said or done.  She knew that she had made Dumbledore's job a little harder by staying on as a teacher, but she wanted to be close to the children, wanted to watch out for them.

A soft knock, different from Harry's, snapped her out of her musings and she frowned.  It wasn't her brother, she could tell, so she stuck a hand into the sleeve of her left arm and gripped her wand. "Come," she said.

The door to the Potions classroom opened and Marion released her grip on her wand as she recognized Sirius.  "Sirius, what can I do for you?" she asked, glancing down at the parchments she had to correct for the seventh years then back up as he closed the door softly behind him.

"The room has a Silencing Charm on it?" Sirius asked as he looked around.

"Yes," Marion replied the noticed his gaze resting on the cauldron in the middle of the room.  "Invisibility Potion...the Headmaster wants me to make some for the Aurors who are going undercover."

"You were always better than me in Potions class," Sirius commented, grinning slightly, "better than any of us...except for maybe Remus and Lily."

Marion noticed the hitch in his voice as he spoke of Lily and she felt a pang within her heart too.  Lily Evans Potter was one of her dearest friends, someone she would trust with her life, but sadly, she had no one else to trust her life to as Voldemort had killed Lily.

"But then again," she tried to change the topic as she walked from Snape's desk to where the cauldron was and stirred the mixture up a bit as it looked like it was thickening, "you were one of the best at Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"I think that title belongs to you, Marion," Sirius replied his abrupt mood dispelled, "you're the Auror.  So you and your brother should get that title."

"Marius was never cut out to become an Auror," she replied, lifting the ladle slightly and sniffed at the potion then wrinkled her nose and looked around to see if she had anymore clover-weed.  Seeing that she had none, she gave the ladle to Sirius, "Stir that...need more clover-weed."

She went over to a shelf full of different dry ingredients and pulled out a thick glass jar labeled clover-weed, minced.  Walking back over, she dumped a few clumps of clover-weed into the mixture as Sirius stirred, looking a bit perplexed.

"No, you're not going to make it explode...its beyond that stage," she reminded him as she set the clover-weed jar down and took the ladle from his grasp then gave it a few quick twirls.

"So...how are you handling the press?" Sirius suddenly asked and Marion stiffened slightly, but continued stirring.

"Was considering brewing an acidic potion to send it to that man...and I even got half way through boiling the ingredients when Dumbledore stopped by and told me about the dangers during the Quidditch match this weekend.  I suppose you heard?" she asked, her voice just a bit curt.

"Yes...but...I really want to know.  What happened during the Veela Attacks?" he pressed and she felt her temper rising.  Just who the hell did Sirius Black think he was asking her questions like that?

"Listen," she moved away from the cauldron, "I don't feel like talking about it.  So, please, leave me alone."  She took a sip of the potion from the cauldron and walked out of the classroom, slamming the door behind her.  She knew that she was totally invisible to Sirius or any other person that was walking around and this was the way she liked it.  Leaning against the wall a bit away from the Potions classroom, she grimaced slightly as her back came in contact with the wall, the wounds of the Spawns that had managed to attack her still not fully healed, and huffed a sigh of frustration.

Moments later she saw Sirius leaving the classroom, headed towards the stairs and probably to Dumbledore's office.  She knew that she should be so reclusive after all that had happened, but she didn't want to leave her guard down.  I'm sorry Sirius...I'm sorry Harry...I just can't tell you for my own reasons, she silently pleaded to them as she slid down and sat there, her eyes staring straight ahead.

She sat there for a long time until she got up, and brushed herself off from the dusty floor.  It was time to go back to her duties as an Auror and teacher.  She couldn't let her emotions run rampant with just a single inflammatory article against her.

                                    *                      *                      *