Harry Potter and the Book of Magical Maladies

Harry Potter and the Book of Magical Maladies

CHAPTER 5 - An Unexpected Warning

---

The day was sunny and warm, and even if Petunia had not ordered him to pull all the weeds from her flower beds, Harry still would have wanted to enjoy the weather. He found that the sun cheered him up even though he was doing chores.

Arthur had stopped by the previous day to check and see that Harry was doing alright. His appearance had meant that Harry would not be doing any work that day, as the Dursleys would be suspicious that "those freaks" would linger and spy on them. However, that also meant that the following day, today, he'd be expected to do anything that he might have done the day before.

On the whole, however, the Dursley's had treated him better than previous years. Harry knew it was mostly out of fear of him or of anyone taking notice of the odd visitors they had every few days. He still did much more work than Dudley ever did, but less than he did in the years before Hogwarts.

He felt a shadow passing behind him and turned to look, but saw no one. He returned to his work, remembering de-gnoming the Weasley's garden. He smiled even as a cloud passed between him and the sun, dimming the colors of the flowers. Harry hadn't remembered seeing even the slightest cloud, and he looked up to inspect the sky.

There were no clouds. Instead, it seemed that the world had dimmed. He stood and looked around, hoping to see anyone else noticing the same thing. He could see someone across the street watering their lawn, oblivious to the change. One of the boys who lived down the street was riding by on his bicycle, similarly ignorant to the growing haziness.

What was happening? Surely this had to be magic. Could the Muggles not see it?

Then things started changing. Harry could hear the whispering of voices and could see shadows moving around him. Everywhere he looked, he saw them. He walked to the back of the house, where it was shaded and more private. He closed his eyes and the shapes became clearer.

There were two of them. They were both walking, and he saw them as if projected into his mind. Their voices were soft, but they were becoming much clearer, and soon Harry started to pick up various words. When he heard a feminine voice saying the word "Master" he stiffened.

It was Bellatrix and Voldemort. This was another vision.

The two figures had stopped by a doorway. One was taller than the other, and though he was having trouble seeing any detail at all, he could feel that it was Voldemort. This was confirmed when he heard the figure speak, much louder than before.

"Well?" he asked in a harsh voice, "do you have any news for me?"

"It's all prepared," responded a softer, female voice. He recognized it immediately as Bellatrix Lestrange.

"When do they return?"

"In three days."

Harry listened closely. He could still hear birds chirping and the occasional child ride by on their bicycle. This must be what the Order has been trying to discover.

"How?" Voldemort asked. He sounded more curious than commanding.

"The Floo, we expect," Bellatrix replied. "They have a daughter who is not more than five years out of Hogwarts. They are visiting her in London. We shall have someone at the Leaky Cauldron."

"And the daughter?" Voldemort asked as he opened a door, revealing a room filled with wizards sitting at tables surrounded by what looked to be stacks of books.

"A clerk," the woman responded with undisguised disdain. "She may be with them, or she may remain in Muggle London."

"A clerk," Voldemort laughed. "No matter. He's our target, not some clerk."

"What do you think you're doing back here?" a shrill voice called out.

Harry jumped up and reached for his wand, but when he opened his eyes he saw only Petunia in an apron, looking cross.

"Don't you tell me you're done with those flowers," she said.

Harry must have looked very confused and agitated, because Petunia backed away and kept staring at Harry's hand which was already closed on his wand.

"Calm down, now," she said in a placating tone. "Take your time. You can finish up tomorrow. Why not just go have a lie down and we'll see if you're feeling better at supper?"

Harry let go of his wand. "Yeah..." he said as he tried to memorize what he just saw. "I think I will." Then he ran for the door as quickly as he could. He needed to write it down before he forgot any of what he just saw.

When he got to his room he closed his door and locked it, and then immediately flipped over a piece of parchment he had been writing Potions notes on and started writing down what he could remember of the conversation.

He started thinking of the previous vision he'd had. Voldemort had figured out that he was listening eventually. Or had he known all along? He must not have known, or he would have let Harry see everything he did. He must have made Harry forget the rest of it after he found out. Of course he wouldn't remember that.

Did Voldemort know this time? Harry was certain that there weren't any breaks in his memory, and Voldemort surely wouldn't have revealed his plans to Harry. If he did know, would he change his plans?

It didn't matter, Harry decided. He had to tell the Order. What would he tell them? That he was seeing Voldemort even when he was awake now? He also didn't want to reveal the fact that he feared that Voldemort was getting past his Occlumency training. He made up his mind, and started writing a letter to Hermione.

Hermione,

I've had another vision. I'm sending this to you because I know I can trust you to make sure that everyone knows about this, not just a few members of the Order.

Something is happening in three days. I think Voldemort is planning to attack someone. He mentioned a man, and his daughter, and probably at least one other person.

They didn't say who it was. The daughter left Hogwarts within the last five years, and she works as a clerk in London. I think she might live in Muggle London as well. Her parents probably live farther away.

There will be a Death Eater at the Leaky Cauldron that day. I don't know who, but it sounded like they were setting a trap.

Harry

He folded the note and Obscured it and set it aside. Then he started on a second note.

Ginny,

I had another vision not long ago. As you'll probably see, I'm telling Hermione about it as well. You can find out the rest of the details from her without the need to act surprised.

This vision was different. It was weaker, if that makes sense. It was like I was seeing shadowy ghosts instead of the figures of my dreams. The voices were like whispers and I had trouble hearing everything they said.

And I was awake.

I couldn't stop it, but I couldn't see it clearer, either. I had to close my eyes to see anything more than shapes. I don't know what this means. However, I don't think he knows I saw it.

I hope the Order can stop him. Tell them to be careful.

Harry

P.S. I'd like to hear whatever the Order is up to, but be careful. I expect the next three days to be a little tense.

He took the second letter and Obscured it like the first (into a page of coupons for chocolates). At first he was just going to cast a simple invisibility charm on the letter, but he remembered how easily Moody's magical eye (despite being in Barty Crouch's head) had seen him in his Invisibility Cloak. He looked through his Transfiguration book from the last year looking for something that might work.

He eventually stumbled upon a spell which looked promising. Moody's eye could see invisible things, but perhaps it wouldn't catch something which was turned transparent. He tested the spell on a couple odd scraps of paper until he was sure he wouldn't start the letter on fire, and after the charm was cast he was quite proud of the results. You could still see the letter, but it looked more like a bit of discarded clear wrapping than a letter. Harry hoped that Moody wouldn't notice it, and that Ginny would be able to figure it out.

"Try to be careful with Ginny's. If she's alone, make sure she gets it. If she's not, don't let anyone see you give it to her," Harry said. He hoped Hedwig understood the directions.

Hedwig simply hooted proudly, and with a few beats of her wings she was speeding off to Grimmauld Place.

---

"Hermione! Hedwig's Here!"

Hermione stood up immediately, and Ginny mirrored her.

"Does she have a letter with her?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, it's for you," Ron said, "but she won't let anyone take it from her."

"It must be something important," Ginny said.

"Ron, get Lupin. I'll see what Harry says."

Ginny followed Hermione down to the kitchen where Hedwig was perched on the handle of a large teapot. Kingsley Shacklebolt was sitting at the table trying to coax her to give him the letter. As soon as Hermione and Ginny strode into the room, Hedwig took flight and soared toward them. At the last moment, Hedwig turned and circled the room, dropping a folded piece of parchment which Hermione caught.

She immediately took it over to the table and opened it. Kingsley already had his Obscuring Orb out, and the parchment was transfigured back to Harry's letter immediately, as everyone crowded around the two of them.

Hedwig circled the room a second time, landed on Ginny's shoulder, and nipped at her ear as she tried to read Harry's letter.

Kingsley stood up. "We have to tell Arthur right now. Three days! It will probably happen at night." He walked to the fireplace and searched for Floo Powder.

Lupin and Moody walked into the kitchen together. Hedwig hooted and flew out the window.

"Well?" Moody growled. "What is it this time? Perhaps some suggestions for who the Gryffindor Beaters should be since those two jokers left?" he said with a suspicious glance toward Ginny.

"I wish it was," Hermione said solemnly. "Ron, you'll want to read this."

Her reaction caught Moody's attention and he shuffled as close as he could and started reading the letter.

"Shacklebolt," he said quietly, "can we find them in three days?"

Kingsley stood up. "A Hogwarts student who's now a clerk? There might be any number of them, but it's not impossible," he said. "At least, not if I could find any bloody Floo Powder!"

Lupin ran over and took a small jar from the mantle and offered it to Kingsley. Soon, Arthur's head was in the fireplace, and Moody, Kingsley and Tonks were all talking to him.

Hedwig flew through the window again and perched on Ginny's shoulder once more. Ginny wasn't sure whether she was happy that she didn't have to find a way to hide another letter, or disappointed that Harry hadn't sent anything to her. She looked at Hedwig, and realized that the owl was acting odd. Hedwig kept shifting one of her talons, making a strange rustling noise.

"What's wrong with Hedwig?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know she-- ouch!" Ginny said as Hedwig nipped her ear again. "I was going to say that she liked me, but now I'm not so sure."

"She probably just wants treats," Ron suggested. Hedwig hooted.

Ginny walked to where they kept the treats, and put a couple of them in her hand. She held them up so Hedwig could eat them, and as she did felt something drop to the floor behind her. She looked and saw nothing. When she offered the other treat, Hedwig took it in her beak and dropped it on the ground.

Ron had been watching the exchange. "You don't suppose Hedwig's trying to say something is wrong with Harry?"

Ginny gave her brother a disbelieving look then started looking for the dropped treat. As her hands brushed across the ground, she felt something flat and clear laying near the treat. As her hand pinched it to pick it up off the ground, she found it was rough like parchment. It was another letter. She quickly stuffed it into her pocket. Hedwig hooted and picked up the owl treat, then flew over to the table and proceeded to eat her treat in front of Ron and Hermione.

Harry was so clever. Her letter wasn't invisible, so much as it was completely transparent. The room was soon filled with discussion of what could be done to prevent the attack, and whether it was real or a trick and if they could keep Harry out of it. While no one was looking, Ginny silently slipped off to her room. She hoped Harry hadn't used any charms that were difficult to remove.

She spent an hour searching through her spellbooks to find a spell that would remove the charm Harry had used on the letter. After trying quite a number of spells, she decided she needed to look somewhere else. She hadn't been able to find the spell Harry had used to make it transparent, but there was a whole library of spellbooks upstairs.

Then it hit her: Harry had found it, and he only had the books he used for classes at Hogwarts. The spell hadn't been in any of Ginny's books so there was only one possibility.

Ginny felt a little guilty about doing it. Everyone else was trying to find the family that Harry thought Voldemort would be attacking, and she was upstairs sneaking into Hermione's room to steal her Transfiguration text book so she could read a letter from Harry.

She told herself that she wouldn't have been that much help anyway, and that Harry needed her more than the Order did. She found the spell Harry used after only a few minutes, and just as she hoped, the book told her exactly how to remove it.

She understood why Harry was upset. He was starting to see things even when he wasn't sleeping. The situation was becoming serious, and he didn't seem to be able to stop the visions.

There was nothing Ginny could do to explain what was happening to him, but she could still do her part. She didn't think Hedwig had left yet. Ginny burned Harry's letter quickly and then dashed down the stairs to the kitchen where the rest of the Order had been since Hedwig had dropped off the news.

Hedwig was perched silently next to Pigwidgeon near the fireplace. As Ginny approached them, Hedwig gave a faint hoot. She was sure that Hedwig wouldn't leave without letting Ginny send a letter with her.

Ginny spent the rest of the night in the kitchen and parlor. She spent most of the time fetching food and drinks for the rest of the Order. Normally, she would have rather spent her time fighting the doxies which still inhabited many of the closets in the attic than doing such meaningless work while everyone else was doing more important things. Tonight was different. She overheard many conversations, often dawdling nearby after handing someone a mug of butterbeer or a mince pie.

She found the whole thing slightly exhilarating. She wanted to ask Hermione if this was what it felt like to help Harry on one of his adventures. Ginny, herself, had only been part of two adventures. The first one she'd spent unconscious and stuck in the worst nightmare of her life. It was a memory she would never be able to escape. The second seemed to happen so quickly she barely remembered much at all. To her it was a blur of fear and pain. She hoped that any adventures she'd have in the future would be more like this one, and less like the first two.

For the most part, few members of the Order even noticed her. The few that did simply thanked her for whatever food or drink (or parchment on occasion) she had brought them, and then return to whatever they were doing. Moody, however, became very quiet whenever she was around, and his magical eye seemed to seek her out whenever she was nearby. After a few trips to the small table he was sitting at, she decided it best to avoid him.

Number Twelve Grimmauld Place had turned into quite a busy place. Mundungus Fletcher had already left for Knockturn Alley to see what he could hear. Her father had shown up briefly, but had returned to the Ministry shortly afterward, and had been checking in through the fireplace every few minutes. Kingsley Shacklebolt had gone in and out the front door so often that he had borrowed Moody's Invisibility Cloak so the Muggles living nearby didn't get suspicious of a man who kept showing up and disappearing.

The twins were fetching things like Floo Powder and parchment and spare quills from Diagon Alley. Moody was making a list of all the people who had helped the Order in the past, since they were the most likely targets. Even Ron and Hermione had been put to work looking through lists of employees to compile a list of clerks.

It seemed that many of the Aurors were already out looking for families which fit the description Harry had given them. Professor McGonagall had shown up at some point with a list of all the female students who had left Hogwarts in the last five years. They had compiled a large list of all the students families and had started to cross off the ones who did not fit the description.

They hadn't decided what to do about the families who did actually fit the description. It was quite vague, and no one knew if hiding the families would actually prevent the attack.

Ginny made note of everything she could, and even took to writing quick notes to herself on scraps of parchment when no one was looking.

As it got later, the activity died down. It seemed that no one intended to give up until the next morning, but instead they simply wanted to be well rested. She was just about to retire for the night when she overheard Hermione talking to Molly.

"Hedwig is still around, so I'll just send it back with her," Hermione said as she gathered together a stack of papers.

"Yes, let him know that we'll take care of everything. He shouldn't be worrying about this,"

Moody, who was sitting nearby, suddenly took an interest in the conversation. "You're sending a message to Potter?"

Hermione turned to look at him. "Yes," she said hesitantly, "I thought it would keep him from worrying about us not getting the message or not believing him."

"Good point," Moody growled. "We don't want him to think we aren't taking this seriously. Should've sent a message to him hours ago!" Moody's magical eye searched the room stopping only momentarily on Ginny. "Go, send your message. Tell him it's going well. Nothing he can do about it from there. Though, if he wants to remember anything else, he should tell us the moment he remembers it."

Hermione frowned, but nodded and said, "Yes, sir." She walked past Ginny to fetch Hedwig from her perch by the fireplace. Ginny yawned and began walking to the stairs in front of Hermione. As she left the kitchen she looked back at Moody and saw him in a discussion with Kingsley Shacklebolt. His eye, however, was looking directly at her.

When she got to her room she immediately sat down and started writing a letter to Harry. She had quite a bit to say and she knew that Hermione's letter would probably be much shorter than hers.

She started off by mentioning how ingenious the delivery of the letter had been. She suggested that he start sending all his letters that way. So long as Hedwig would come directly to her, she would always be able to get the letters.

Next she started writing as quickly as she could about everything the Order was trying to do in order to find the family. She mentioned Hermione's letter, and how Moody had told her what to say.

She explained just how well the Order was doing. Out of the hundred or so girls who left Hogwarts, only thirty-one had been removed from the list. For those who remained, it was taking too long to track each of them down and either verify that they fit the pattern or remove them from the list. At first, it had looked promising, but as the night wore on, the names were being crossed out less and less frequently.

She tried to remain positive, but she knew it was less hopeful than Hermione was telling Harry it was.

When she saw Hedwig fly through her open window and land on her desk with Hermione's letter, she knew she had to finish up.

She quickly Obscured the letter (into a long article about the dangers of storing wands in iron cauldrons) and was handing it to Hedwig when she heard footsteps approaching her door. She suddenly realized that she had forgotten to put a locking spell on her door when she came in. She couldn't reach her wand, and she'd never reach the door in time.

Hedwig seemed to understand the urgency, and was already flying toward her. Ginny held out the letter and Hedwig snatched it out of her hands as the door creaked open.

"Ginny, did you borrow my Transfiguration book?" Hermione asked as she poked her head in the small room.

"Hermione!" Ginny called out, a little louder than she'd intended. Hermione was already walking walking into the room when Ginny turned to face her. "Yeah, I did. I was... er... I was--"

"Was that Hedwig?" Hermione interrupted with a questioning look.

Ginny's eyes opened wide. "Er-- What do you mean? Didn't you have Hedwig?"

Hermione looked dubious. "I did have Hedwig. I sent her off with a note a while ago."

Ginny tried to look innocent, but she could feel the blood drain from her face. Hermione looked hesitant to do anything, and instead simply stood near the door staring at Ginny, as if waiting for her to say something more. When Ginny remained silent, Hermione pulled out her wand, and for a moment seemed locked in some struggle about what to do with it. Suddenly she turned and pointed the wand at the door and cast a locking spell, followed by a silencing spell.

"That was Hedwig, wasn't it?" Hermione said with a disapproving look.

Ginny searched for something to say. She knew she could come up with an explanation. It didn't have to be perfect.

"Don't blame Hedwig," she said quickly. "She just wanted some owl treats, so I gave her some. She's been working really hard recently." Ginny hoped Hermione would believe the guilt in her voice was due to spoiling Hedwig.

"You gave her a plenty of treats this afternoon," Hermione said flatly. She didn't sound like she was believing Ginny at all.

"Well... They fell on the floor, didn't they!" Ginny said as she tried to push her quill away from the rolls of parchment in front of her.

"Ginny, Hedwig is an owl. She eats mice. I don't think she would care if her treat landed on the floor." Hermione sat down on Ginny's bed and stared at the floor. "You wrote a letter to Harry, didn't you?"

Ginny didn't know what to say. She was glad Hermione wasn't looking at her. She didn't want to lie to her friend, but it was the only way.

"I... er--" she began, but stopped when Hermione turned and gave her a look which seemed almost to convey pity.

"Before you try to tell me you weren't sending him a letter, you might consider putting your Orb away.

Ginny looked down to hands, and to her horror, she was still clutching her Obscuring Orb in her left hand. With a angry shout she shoved it back into a drawer of her desk and then collapsed onto her desk with her arms covering her head.

Hermione remained silent while Ginny seethed with anger at both Hermione and herself. Finally, she sat back up, and looked at Hermione with narrowed eyes.

"When did it become a crime to send owls to Harry?" she asked, though it sounded more like a challenge. "You sent him one. Or am I the only one who's forbidden?"

Hermione leaned back against the headboard of Ginny's bed, stretching her legs out on the bed.

"I didn't say there was anything wrong with sending Harry letters," replied Hermione calmly. "You are acting rather suspicious, though. Why did you need to borrow my book, again?" Hermione reached over and picked up the book which had been lying open on Ginny's bed.

"I was trying to get a head start on preparing for the O.W.L.'s," Ginny answered. She looked away when she realized she hadn't even been able to convince herself she was being honest.

"Right," replied Hermione. "I'd say that you either wanted to... 'Clarify Murky Water' or 'Turn an Object Transparent'." Hermione paused and appeared confused for a moment. Suddenly her jaw dropped and she looked at Ginny.

"That's why Hedwig was behaving so odd. It was transparent, wasn't it?" Hermione said with a smile.

"Wasn't what?"

"The letter Harry sent you. If he would have used an invisibility charm Moody's eye would have caught it, so he made it transparent!"

There was no more point in denying it, so Ginny merely nodded.

Hermione looked like a proud parent. "That was quite clever. We never even went over this in class. He's been improving a lot lately. Can I see the letter?"

"I burned it already," Ginny said.

"You burned it?" Hermione looked shocked. "After Moody specifically told you to keep them so he could look at them?"

"Well I forgot, didn't I?" Ginny replied rebelliously.

Hermione was starting to look very parental. She sat up and looked Ginny in the eye.

"Harry sent you a letter charmed to get past Moody, you burn it before anyone else gets a chance to look at it, and now you're sending Harry a response without letting anyone know." Hermione stood up and walked over to Ginny. "Ginny, what have you and Harry been talking about?"

Ginny stood up to face Hermione. She was shorter than Hermione, but not by enough that Hermione felt like standing that close to an upset Ginny Weasley.

"It's none of your business!" Ginny shouted.

"It's Harry," Hermione said softly. "He's the closest thing I have to a brother. And he's not the only one I'm worried about."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked, her eyes narrowed.

"A few years ago, you would have done anything to get Harry to talk to you. What would you have told him to have that?"

Ginny looked insulted. "Times change."

Hermione looked at the floor. "I just don't want you to be disappointed if he's only talking to you because he needs someone to talk to."

Ginny kept staring at her. "I'm just trying to be his friend. It's not like I can do much to help the Order, but Harry could always use an extra friend."

"Have you told him any secrets?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Ginny replied simply. Hermione let out an angry sigh, but Ginny continued before she had a chance to say anything more.

"I've told him about how Fred and George have been trying to find out when the first Hogsmeade trip is so they can have someone cover their shop while they sell Wheezes to the students."

"Well, that's not exactly--"

"I've told him about how Bill and Charlie are saving money to buy me a Nimbus 2001."

"Oh. I didn't know--"

"I've told him about the Tracking Charm Mundungus put on mum's shoes to tell him when she is nearby so he can leave if he needs to."

"So that's how he does that!" Hermione exclaimed. "But that's not what I meant. Have you told him anything that Moody wouldn't approve of?"

"Mad-Eye Moody," Ginny scoffed. "He wouldn't approve of me telling Harry what his own name was. I don't think he's ever trusted me. You saw what he did last week. I suppose I did tell Harry that Moody was an old, paranoid git." Ginny paused to think, then continued, "I guess that's not really a secret, but I don't think dear Alastor would approve, either."

Hermione laughed and seemed to relax. Ginny felt herself relax as well. Perhaps this would work out. Hermione didn't seem ready to run off and tell anyone that Ginny had been secretly talking with Harry.

"So you haven't been telling him about any of the meetings we've had?" Hermione asked. She was trying to sound serious, but was still smiling.

Ginny smiled. "I told him about how you stare at Ron during the meetings --only when he's not looking, of course."

"I do not!" Hermione shouted. She tried to look scandalized, but her face was already reddening in embarrassment.

"Not when you think anyone's watching you," Ginny giggled.

"You're not answering the question!" Hermione declared in an effort to change the subject back to the one Ginny was trying to avoid.

Ginny paused. She was willing to lie to her friend, but she knew it would be more convincing if she didn't have to. "I don't tell him anything he shouldn't hear, and he doesn't tell me to keep any secrets the Order needs to know."

Hermione signed again. "I guess that'll have to be good enough." She closed her eyes as if her head hurt. "Though I really wish you hadn't told him about Ron."

"I'll tell him not to tell anyone else," Ginny replied, still laughing about it. She grabbed Hermione's book from her bed and handed it to her. "We should be asleep. I think tomorrow will be busy."

Hermione nodded, still blushing, and made her way to the door. She removed the Locking Charm and the Silencing Charm.

"You're not going to tell Mad-Eye, are you?" Ginny pleaded.

Hermione frowned, then smiled. "No. Harry does need more friends. I won't lie to anyone for you, but as long as you make sure no one has any reason to ask, I don't see any reason to tell anyone else."

"Thanks Hermione."

Hermione opened the door, but quickly closed it. "--And don't you dare tell anyone else that I stare at Ron. I know curses that make what happened to Marietta look like a birthday present."

"Good night, Hermione," Ginny laughed.

Hermione finally left. Ginny sighed, and collapsed on her bed. She'd done it. Hermione probably thought that she and Harry told each other things they shouldn't, but she wasn't going to tell anyone about it.