The Mark of Death

"You failed me... Saint Mungo's... This error must be rectified..."

Harry felt cold. A deep chill was sinking through his bones and he was trying to push himself away from the horrible, high pitched and terrifying voice... He knew it was happening again... he had to shut it out of his mind...

"They will have to be used to... Get Potter... Get Potter..."

The voice sounded odd and distant; as if it were coming from the other end of a long narrow tunnel. He shivered violently and pulled his duvet cover tightly around him, the voice softly fading before becoming louder - and squeakier...

"GET POTTER... GET UP, Harry Potter!" Harry bolted upright in his bed when he saw Dobby's odd-looking face hovering just a few inches over his.

"DOBBY!" Harry hissed angrily, though he felt relieved that the small House Elf had woken him from the dream he had been having. He felt proud knowing that he had successfully blocked Lord Voldemort from his thoughts - yet he felt strangely troubled about it at the same time, as though there was a small voice in the back of his head telling him he should have tried to hear more.

"I've told you not to DO that!" He half-heartedly snapped at Dobby as he reached for his glasses on the night stand, propping them up on his nose. He looked around the room blinking and trying to fully wake himself.

"Dobby is very sorry, Master Harry Potter," Dobby happily squeaked, bowing down low to Harry with that weird enthusiasm of his, which Harry never could get used to.

"Master Dumbledore wishes to speak with you early this morning before everyone else awakens for their classes!"

Harry had a feeling that half of his dorm was already roused from Dobby's loud antics even at such an early hour. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and yawned, stretching. He had slept heavily yet he felt restless and uneasy. He was worrying about Luna and even a little for Cho; and had been plagued throughout the entire night with nightmares of the Quidditch game. There were even a few dreams rehashing the horrible night at the Department of Mysteries.

"Where is he?"

"In his office Master Potter!" Dobby said impatiently, throwing Harry his robes and tapping his heavily socked foot. Harry couldn't help but snicker at Dobby's socks - on his left foot he had a man's black sock with a grey argyle print and on the right was a lace-trimmed pink sock that looked to be part of an old ballet costume.

Harry quickly dressed and was soon outside Dumbledore's office looking at the Gargoyle statue which seemed to have been fully repaired from Mr. Lovegood's angry assault. It was almost a shame; the thing had been quite ugly. Just as Harry was trying to figure out what password to use for the Gargoyle, it had sprung to life and moved aside. Professor Malfoy burst out of the doorway looking pale and miserable; her eyes were red and puffy like someone who had recently been crying.

"Potter - go on in, he's waiting for you." Professor Malfoy barely muttered this as she pushed passed him and disappeared around the corner in a hurry. He looked around to see if Dobby was still about, wondering what his take was on his former master however the Elf seemed to have disappeared.

Dumbledore was looking rather fatigued but managed a small smile as Harry took a seat across from him at his desk that was cluttered with papers, Dumbledore's Pensieve, and a few weird looking silvery machines that Harry had seen there many times before.

"Good morning Harry, I was hoping to have a talk with you last night but as I am sure you can understand, I was quite busy." Dumbledore said this in such a way that gave Harry the impression he had known that Ron and he had been watching from beneath the Invisibility cloak.

"Am I in trouble Sir?"

"Not at all Harry. First of all I want you to know that what happened to Miss Chang and Miss Lovegood was not in any way seen as your fault, and that..."

"Are they going to be alright?" Harry quickly interjected, feeling bad for doing so but wanting to know about Luna.

"Sadly, we cannot yet tell." Dumbledore sighed as he sat at his desk beneath the portrait of Phineas Nigellus, who was snoring too loudly. Harry could see that his eyes were occasionally fluttering. "It seems as though there was a powerful curse put upon the Snitch, but since the Snitch has yet to be found we can only estimate what it may have been. The Healers in Saint Mungo's are coming up empty. From what I gather, if Miss Chang had taken the full force of that strike she would have died, but the state of both girls isn't much better than death I'm afraid. We don't know if either of them will pull out of it."

Harry sat there looking stunned at Dumbledore; surprised that he was sharing this information.

"Sir, Luna had warned me beforehand. Just before my match she had given me a note warning me..." Harry reached into his pocket to produce the note and handed it to Dumbledore, who pushed his glasses further up on his nose to read; his brow furrowing with deep concern.

"Miss Lovegood must have overheard something, it is a shame we can't ask her... though she wasn't hit as hard..." Dumbledore seemed to keep rereading the letter, looking for some sort of cryptic clue. "Did she say anything more to you?"

"No Sir. Cho and her friends were watching and she seemed to be concerned that they would know she was warning me, but I can't believe that Cho would know that was going to happen and then still go for the Snitch!"

Dumbledore nodded gravely as he slid the parchment under one of the silver instruments on his desk, which hummed loudly and started to send off little red lights.

"Can you think of any reason that the Head Girl would have conspired in such a deed?"

"She was dating Malfoy, Sir - and he's a Death Eater now! Snape covered it up in class when I-..."

"Professor Snape, Harry, and yes, I am well aware of Draco having the Dark Mark. Professor Snape would have to appear to cover for him in order to not draw attention to himself."

"There's been total mayhem here and McGonagall can't seem to take much more of it. Where have you been, Sir?" Dumbledore sighed and put the note down, looking closely at Harry.

"Last year I promised I would no longer keep things from you, but I need you to understand what I tell you cannot leave this room Harry. Not Ronald Weasley, not Hermione Granger... no one can be told of this until everything is settled and done. They will know enough when they see today's paper I am sure."

Harry nodded, giving the Headmaster his undivided attention.

"I tend to usually put the school ahead of all else, and it would take a lot for me to take as much time as I have from Hogwarts to do other business, but as you know, we are at war." Dumbledore paused and looked at the portrait of Professor Dippet. "Please monitor the hall for me and let me know if anyone approaches."

The man in the portrait bowed to Dumbledore before disappearing, and Dumbledore turned to look at Harry again.

"As you know, Cornelius Fudge has been making a lot of er- questionable decisions over the last few years and it had come as quite a shock to him last year to find out that Lord Voldemort had indeed resurfaced..."

Harry nodded. He knew only too well, as Fudge had given the Daily Prophet some damaging articles to publish about him being mad.

"Well Harry, he didn't seem to take the news easily. At first he was dropping in on me for advice on the most absurd things; his Quills were disappearing... his hairline seemed to be receding at a greater rate than it should be... he wasn't displaying the signs of a stable man and people under his employ were beginning to notice his instability."

It took a great effort for Harry to keep a straight face but he could tell that this was a serious matter and somehow managed it. "Now with his sanity being in question at the onset of a war which has the potential to turn out to be one of the worst in Wizarding history, we had to act fast and carefully. Even in his fragile state he was refusing to yield his power, so I have been spending much of my time there, conducting a bit of control over him to keep everything in order until we could manage to get the Wizengamot to review his case - which they finally have done."

Harry was confused but didn't want to speak in fear that an interruption would stop the flow of information which Dumbledore had been giving him.

"The Wizengamot? What do they have to do with it?"

"Fudge has been determined too unstable to continue his leadership; the Wizengamot will be designating an Interim Minister to take Fudge's place for the next eighteen months until the next scheduled election. We have been working on getting our candidate ready to appear before the bench and plead his case as his competition is well... er- rather malicious."

"Who are the..."

"There are three all together, Gareth Goyle, Gregory Goyle's father - I'm sure you don't need me to explain why we cannot have him in power... Dolores Umbridge... I fear that she is the bigger threat as she is well known to the Ministry..."

"She's pure poison!" Harry exclaimed with contempt. He didn't even want to start on his feelings on Goyle.

"Don't I know it? Much of her campaign is the segregation of all varieties of half-breeds from humans. Lupin and Hagrid wouldn't be able to so much as enjoy a drink at the pub with other wizards. Her's is the lighter version of Goyle's, who will try and redefine illegal branches of magic and reopen the use of the Cruciatus to be allowed in self-defensive type situations. These are only the things they're actually sharing with us, and others might be nominated as well, within the next week as it does not close until next Wednesday for them to make their formal decision. You can now see why I have been away?"

Harry's knuckles were white as he had been gripping the wooden arms of the chair tightly while he listened to Dumbledore. If either of those two became Minister, Voldemort would take over within the first week! Goyle, in a matter of days. This had to be at Voldemort's instructions, and chances were high they would go to any measures to get what they wanted.

"So who's your third?"

Dumbledore's brow wrinkled with uneasiness; he looked very tired and troubled. "Arthur Weasley. While I fully support him - I worry that it will put his family in a dangerous light; but he is the best of us for the job. Molly isn't exactly fond of the idea as you can probably appreciate..."

"But he'd be brilliant!" Harry stood up excitedly but Dumbledore raised his hand to tell Harry there was more; and Harry sat back down obediently.

"He will be brilliant... but the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort will see him as a threat and they will attempt to take him out; either him or through his family."

Harry felt his heart drop to his ankles. The Weasley's were all so wonderful to him with the exception of Percy - and even he seemed to be getting better. He would hate to see anything happen to any of them and his mind kept going over Mrs. Weasley and the Boggart she had encountered in Grimmauld Place.

"So Harry, I felt that I owed you an explanation. I will be back in the school much more after this week is over, and I want you to know the truth. We are forfeiting all Quidditch for the rest of the year and I would like to see you, Ronald, Hermione and Ginny to abstain from Hogsmeade visits for now. I'm sure some students will be taking issue with Ron's father possibly being appointed Minister... I doubt you need any names..."

"Sir? Before I go - erm, now that you are back is there any chance that you can take over teaching me the Occlumency and the curses Malfoy's teaching me?"

The aging Headmaster regarded Harry carefully. "Harry, Professor Snape feels that you know enough now to no longer need his instruction, but if you feel you need to brush up on it you are more than welcome to come to me, but," (Harry's heart sank) "I think you are better off learning the Unforgivables from Professor Malfoy."

Harry couldn't tell by Dumbledore's expression but wondered if perhaps Dumbledore knew that Harry had seen more of Snape's memories that he had wished to share. "But Sir..."

"No Harry. One of the reasons I had her teach this to you was knowing that there would be enough tension so you could learn it more quickly. It is far better to learn the most hateful curses in an environment where you do not feel safe. You would trust me too much, and if you managed to produce the curses properly where you are comfortable, it will not guarantee that you will be able to where you aren't."

Harry left the Headmaster's office to go to the Great Hall for breakfast feeling a little better. The news about Arthur Weasley had spread around the castle before the Daily Prophet had arrived with the morning Owl Post. The Prophet gave a four page pullout detailing the candidates - Mr. Weasley's face was on the front page, along with Umbridge's toad-like smile and Gareth Goyle's; who reminded Harry vaguely of a pit-bull. This news seemed to have made everyone temporarily forget about the two girls in Saint Mungo's balancing somewhere between life and death. Many of their fellow Gryffindors were patting Ron on the back after reading the paper, as though Mr. Weasley had it in the bag while the Slytherins made a lot of nasty remarks.

Hermione was dealing with her own problems as Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bullstrode and Destiny Moon were enchanting what looked to Harry like little white fist-sized pillows and tubes to follow her through the halls on their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Finite Incantum!" Ron shouted, red in the face and stopping the items in mid-air before they cluttered softly to the ground outside the door. Ron looked red in the face but was sitting protectively beside Hermione. She gave him a grateful but embarrassed smile and opened her mouth to say something, but was soon interrupted.

"Hey Weasley!" Draco chimed pretentiously as he climbed into his desk in front of Pansy. "Your father hasn't got a chance! A troll would be a more likely Minister." Pansy burst into a fit of giggles and a few other Slytherins began nodding and glaring at Ron.

"Then I guess Gareth Goyle's a shoe-in if he's anything like his Gregory!" Harry retorted; causing the Gryffindors nearby to laugh as he held up the page and mocked Goyle by scrunching his face up to look like he was thinking really hard.

Professor Malfoy breezed in and slammed the door shut; her heavy black robes swishing angrily in the current and snatched the paper from Harry.

"No politics!" She seethed; looking pointedly at Ron and Goyle. Her eyes bore the same dark circles underneath which Harry had noticed before, only now it appeared that she had tried to cover them with a cosmetic that wasn't doing as it should, so the circles were shining through like bruises.

"Oh come now, Mother..." Draco drawled slowly and sarcastically, sitting back and tossing his lengthening hair back behind him defiantly. "Politics were always a welcome dinnertime topic at home!"

Professor Malfoy sat forward in her desk with a deliberate smirk on her face; staring at Draco like a cat would at a mouse.

"And how often did you hear MY take on them Draco? I believe I sat and listened to your father ramble on and you stupidly drink in every word of his drivel he had foolishly uttered."

The room went silent, Pansy Parkinson turned to look at Destiny Moon with her eyebrows raised; ready to tell the Professor off. Draco's father was a sore spot with Draco since his death on Halloween.

"Witches should keep to their cauldrons." Draco said defiantly.

Harry wasn't quite sure why this little phrase Draco had said had caused such a commotion; but it had Nott nodding appreciatively and Goyle and Crabbe crossed their arms and grinned... however it was the Slytherin girl's reactions that had surprised Harry. Pansy had slapped Draco in the back of the head with such force that it looked like a white comet hitting the desktop. A few of the other girls were raging and shouting at Draco, words Harry didn't know girls were capable of saying.

"That's enough!" Professor Malfoy said sharply but there was an underlying smile playing across her lips as though she had achieved the reaction she had tried to accomplish. "Surely Pansy, you must have realized Draco believes in the typical, tyrannical traditions which much of the Wizarding world is built on?"

Harry noticed many of the students whispering to each other in angry hisses though he sat and watched clueless; along with others who he realized were not Purebloods. Draco was rubbing his head and turned in his seat to glare at Pansy, muttering something under his breath and then scowling back at his mother.

"You teach Defense, not History."

"Oh dear," she smiled widely. "Have I hit a nerve? Parkinson - have you never wondered why the Slytherin Quidditch team is full of boys? So very rare that a Witch makes the team, in fact only one in the last two hundred years that I'm aware of... my sister Bellatrix, the only Witch who's been deemed an equal by the likes of Draco's father and other Death Eaters..."

"SHUT UP!" Draco shrieked at her and jumped out of his desk with his face twisted in a rage such as Harry had never seen on him. He looked ready to kill. His mother on the other hand, sat looking up at him with a calm smirk which seemed to infuriate him even more. He walked out, slamming the door.

"Well... he needs to come up with some new materials," Professor Malfoy said quietly, ignoring the glares from the male portion of the Slytherins. Strangely, the girls were looking at her differently…… with respect.

"He has poorest attendance in this class from walking out so often... anyhow - Disfiguring Hexes!"

After Professor Malfoy held Harry back at the end of class to tell him to come see her in the evening to attempt their third curse (one which Harry was certainly dreading) he had to endure Potions. Snape had kept busy most of the class speaking quietly with Draco as they all worked on Rejuvenation Potions. But he made up for his lack of inhumanity by assigning them a three foot essay on Illicit Potions and the consequences if caught; adding that perhaps some of these might not continue to be illegal depending on the outcome of the election of a new Minister.

Crabbe, Goyle and Ron weren't in the NEWT level Potions class and had taken the rainy day in the library. Ron had to endure taunts from the pair as he tried to read over a letter his mother owled him. Hermione tried to comfort Ron at lunch saying, "But Wednesday week we'll see!"

"Illicit Potions. Hermione, what potions are illegal?"

"Don't you ever read Wizarding Laws Harry? The Unforgivable Curses aren't the only things that can land you in Azkaban. Those are just the only forms of magic that will give you the maximum penalty without questions - there's Excessum Animus... a Spell which takes on the identity of someone else. Of course, you have to kill them to do it so it's naturally illegal, certain Hexes and Charms are illegal in some circumstances though Professor Malfoy's taught us a few of them this year. As for Potions, there's Caritaserum of course, we saw why on New Years,' (Harry's heart fluttered guiltily) 'And Veritaserum; if it's not used under certain watch..."

"Don't forget Utopia," Ron added, yawning. "Which is stupid, I hear it puts you in the happiest of moods."

"Ron! Utopia is addictive! People coming off the effects become so depressed they often kill themselves! It's a false sense of happiness!"

Harry took a bite of his sandwich and looked over at the Ravenclaw table; disinterested in Ron and Hermione's arguments. The Ravenclaw table was the quietest in the Great Hall; they were obviously unable to busy themselves with politics and homework with the absence of two of their house mates. He jumped as Ginny lightly touched his shoulder, seeing she had been looking over that way too.

"Do you think Percy will get his job back if- sorry, when your father is appointed Minister?" Harry said, trying not to think too much about Luna at the moment.

"Doesn't look like it," Ron held the letter up and looked around and lowering his voice. "Mum says she's tried to get Percy in with them - it's a very brief letter, seems like she still doesn't want to say much but I have a feeling Percy isn't too trusted by the Order still."

"So he shouldn't be!" Ginny fumed. "He might have improved but with everything he's said and done its only natural for them to be apprehensive!"

"Dumbledore should be trying to reach as many people as he can though!" Hermione looked incredulously at Ginny. "The more people listening, the more people helping!"

"Hermione - the more people trusted makes it all the more likely that they will have spies!" Ron muttered, then added quickly, "I don't think my brother would spy on the Order, but Dumbledore would have to be careful, especially if my dad becomes Minister!"

Harry was rubbing his arm absently, listening to them in silence. He was again reminded of Mrs. Weasley's Boggart and was grateful for the bell to ring and signal them to move to their next class.

After a long and dull afternoon of Divinations and History of Magic Harry felt so tired he skipped dinner and got an early start towards Professor Malfoy's empty classroom. He took a seat in the front desk and watched the rats in the cage she had already put out on her desk. They seemed filled with wavering fear of what he would be learning. The first two curses were terrible enough, but this one would be so final. He folded his arms in front of him and rested his throbbing head on them. Closing his eyes and trying to clear his mind, he drifted into a sleep, filled with visions of Luna and Cho illuminated by a white glow as they were struck by the lightning... the flash of a curse which knocked Sirius backwards through the veil... and a red haired boy falling as a flash of light...

"You're here already Potter, good. We can get this over with quickly then." Professor Malfoy had slammed the door to announce her entrance, causing Harry to bolt upright in his seat. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry, did I wake you?"

Her mock concern was extremely irritating to Harry - partially because he realized it was the same tone she had used on Draco that morning but also because the dreams were unnerving him. Had that been Ron he had seen? Was it like the previous year when he had seen Mr. Weasley attacked by a snake or was it something to come? It felt like deja vu watching it - he was sure he had never seen it... more as though he had felt it...

"I trust that you would have read up on the materials enough to know the proper incantation?"

He straightened his glasses back on his nose and glared at her through them but said nothing, only reaching into his bag to take his wand out.

"Very well." She reached into the top of the cage and fumbled to grab one of the rats; which all seemed to flee from her lethal-looking long nails. As though aware of their pending fate, one scraggly looking one, which reminded Harry of Scabbers, even bit her. She managed to seize a rather fat brown one and extract it out, slapping him down on the desk.

"Watch carefully Potter, it could get rather ugly if you do it wrong, I think the majority of those caught for murder are the ones who failed to do it correctly..."

Harry scrambled out of his desk in the event that she might "miss" the target. He didn't trust her any more than any other Slytherin. Her free hand was clutching her heavy robes in front of her as the other was pointing at the rat - a purely hateful expression on her face.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Watching the flash of a bright green light shoot from her wand and the rat collapse silently into a lifeless heap, Harry felt ill, and looking at Malfoy she did too. She was staring at the dead animal with a mingled look of repulsion and disgust, twisting her nose and giving the appearance once again of someone smelling something unpleasant. Her head snapped quickly as she realized Harry was staring at her and that seemed to make her angry.

"Potter? Are you going to give it a burial service or will you grab a rat and take your turn?" He glared at her and reached into the cage himself, clumsily grabbing a rat by the tail and causing it to squeak in terror. Professor Malfoy rolled her eyes and scoffed loudly, as Harry finally grabbed one and placed it on the desk. Malfoy moved around to sit behind her desk, Harry was certain she was taking shelter from him and felt even angrier that she thought he would miss - forgetting that he had done the same. He stared at the rat thoughtfully, wondering why she wasn't giving him any explanation as to how to do it.

"A-avada Kedavra," Harry muttered, and he felt a warm energy vibrate through his wand and a pale green light came slowly out like a smoke. It disappearing into the rat like a sponge; making the rodent go into a very painful looking seizure as it lolled onto its back making a high-pitched scream which was horribly loud for such a small animal.

"Damn it Potter!" Malfoy rounded her desk and advanced on the rat. "Are you trying to have Filch or Snape barge in here and catch me?! I could go to Azkaban for your stupidity!" She poised the wand at the rat carefully, "Avada Kedavra!" Another flash of brilliant green and the screaming stopped. Malfoy was looking at Harry like he was an annoying flea.

"You didn't tell me how to do it!"

"This is not what I need right now," he heard her muttering under her breath before she sighed and looked at him like he were the biggest nuisance she had ever seen. "Focus. Just like any other Curse, Hex or Charm be sure to say the incantation right for starters. Keep your eyes on the target and concentrate on ending it - like snuffing out a candle."

Harry felt a cold chill hearing her speak so vacantly on death; glancing at her with confusion before turning to look at the rat cage. They were going on their business now, one was running laps in its little wheel and a few others were chasing each other around the cage.

"Why do I get the feeling you killed more than just rats for Voldemort?" Harry muttered, glaring defiantly at her. His anger was again overcoming him.

"You know it all, don't you Potter?" Professor Malfoy stared icily at him. "My duties for the Dark Lord were strictly investigation and intelligence; researching his enemies backgrounds and recording it for him to use at his demand. The Death Eaters higher up did his killings and spying and the more tasking duties."

Harry was shocked that she was sharing this information with him. The room seemed to come to a standstill; even the wheel in the rat cage had stopped squeaking. "You- you're admitting this to me?"

Professor Malfoy only shrugged.

"I have very little to hide Potter, I've told Dumbledore everything I could, HE trusts me. Regardless of whether you do or not, it's what he believes that matters. Now, get a rat."

Harry stood his ground and gazed at her recalcitrantly, challenging her.

"So then, if researching and recording all of our movements were your only duties, why did you order Kreacher to lie to me about Sirius?"

"I was under orders myself Potter! I didn't know what they were doing; I didn't WANT to know what they were doing. The less I knew the better. I'll tell you this much, I only saw Kreacher when he came to our home at Christmas time. When Bellatrix broke out with the others I was sent on a 'holiday' in Switzerland so that she could impersonate me and walk freely. SHE was the one that gave Kreacher the final orders."

"DUMBLEDORE SAW YOU DO IT!"

"HE SAW A MEMORY INSIDE THE MIND OF AN INSANE HOUSE ELF!" They both stood glaring at each other. Harry didn't want to believe her, Dumbledore saw it.

"Dumbledore..." Harry rasped angrily, having a difficult time getting words out with his emotions so high, "used Legilimency on Kreacher. He saw you doing it."

"He saw Kreacher's side of it Potter. Things aren't always as they seem even if they're delivered honestly enough. Kreacher believed it was me. Bellatrix and I have always been able to switch our looks - you saw me impersonate her when you used the Cruciatus on me. I'm not declaring innocence at all Potter, but I am telling you that my role was a lot smaller there than it appeared to be and that there are many more factors of which you aren't aware; people who took a higher role than they seemed to."

Harry stared at her. She was out of breath and looked almost ill. He didn't want to believe her but somehow he could tell that she was being truthful but a lot of things didn't add up. He had been given the deed to Sirius's home to stop her from getting it.

"What changed? Why did you suddenly turn on them?"

"Now, does Dumbledore want you here to pry into my personal life or does he wish for you to learn how to kill?"

Harry had hit a nerve, she was getting angry. He took a deep breath and reached into the cage again, trying to grab at another rat to start anew. As his fingers had closed around the belly of a rather mangy looking one it turned around and bit him so hard that he had violently jumped back, toppling the cage as he tried to rip his arm out of it; the rats all scurrying out in all directions as the cage's flimsy bottom hit the floor. Harry heard Professor Malfoy curse under her breath.

"I guess that cuts this session short and Mrs. Norris will have a feast," Malfoy muttered. "I'll have to send someone to Hogsmeade to get some more rats Potter; we'll try again in a few days."

She seemed to look relieved to have an excuse to cut the session short, sinking into her desk chair looking pale. Harry picked up his things and slung them carelessly into his bag and glanced at her as he was about to walk out the door. Standing in the doorframe he commented, "I'm not saying I don't believe you ma'am, but I have one question. If you have nothing to hide, what is the Saint Mungo's project?"

His words definitely had a jolting impact on her, her spine stiffened and her eyes narrowed at him. "That is between Professor Snape and I, and if you know what is best for you, you would do well not to delve into things that are not any of your concern."

Harry smiled and turned around, nearly tripping over one of the rats as it scurried out of the room. He headed towards his tower to turn in to bed. His knees felt weak, he wondered how rotten he would be feeling at the moment if he had managed another try at one of the animals. Once in his dorm he poked his head in to see if Ron was still awake. Remembering his vision Harry wanted to be sure Ron was alright. His friend was sleeping with his legs dangled over his bed; his Charms homework loosely falling out of his hand giving Harry the impression that he had fallen asleep waiting for Harry to return. Harry grinned and climbed into his own bed, drifting into a sleep. If Voldemort attempted to enter his mind, Harry didn't know. He seemed to be getting better at blocking him as he tried to enter now.