Harry Potter and the Orb of Power

Chapter 21: Neville's Dilemma

    After several walking tests posed by Madame Pomfrey, Harry was allowed to leave the hospital wing. Harry had no feeling in his legs, as if they had fallen asleep permanently, but Madame Pomfrey assured him that this would only last for a small bit of time. Harry didn't mind so much; he was used to broken and missing bones, and actually dreaded getting the feeling back in his legs. He knew it would be painful for a couple of days, and as much as he had a high tolerance for pain, he didn't feel like putting up with it. All in all, when Harry returned to his normal schedule at Hogwarts, he was in a very sullen mood. Any relationship with Cho, even if it wasn't romantic, was probably going to be impossible. Ron and Hermione were still not talking, and Harry was beginning to feel that, while he could possibly repair their friendship, he was never going to be able to have a relationship with Hermione. Harry sat down in his seat in Transfiguration, and Professor McGonagall strode in.

    "Good afternoon class. Now, let's get straight to business. You've been transfiguring small objects and animals with simple bone structures. Today we're moving into the realm of much larger objects and more physically complicated animals. I expect that

you will all perform admirably in your tasks, considering that there will be harder transfigurations on the O.W.L. Right, let's get to it then. Today, we'll be transfiguring black top hats into white rabbits." McGonagall looked at the black top hat, tapped it with her wand, issued an incantation, and with a light popping sound, it turned onto a white rabbit. She picked up the rabbit and was petting it behind the ears. "Now, everyone will come get a top hat, and raise your hands when you've transfigured it into a white rabbit." Harry, Ron, and Hermione moved towards the front of the class, and picked up a top hat.

    "This is damn near impossible!" Ron muttered to Harry, as he picked a top hat. "I had trouble with turning a beetle into a soup bowl!" Harry heard Hermione clear her throat, and saw Ron glaring at her.

    "What are we doing for Hogsmeade tomorrow," Harry asked quickly, trying to avoid another row between the two of them.

    "Oh right! I've completely forgotten about that!" Ron said loudly.

    "Ten points from Gryffindor," McGonagall said sharply, looking straight at Ron. "Now, Mr. Weasley, keep the very interesting discussion of your poor memory for after my class." Ron scowled, and Harry had to refrain from looking at Hermione, who Harry knew was looking as if Ron had deserved the punishment that he got. Harry cleared his throat, tapped the hat, and uttered the incantation. The hat jumped as if a surge of energy had passed into it, and then turned into a black rabbit. Harry picked up the rabbit, and looked at Hermione's, which was pure white.

    "It's the wand movement you need a little work on, Harry," Hermione said quickly. She tapped Harry's rabbit, uttered a spell, and it changed back into a hat. "Make the flicking a little more pronounced." She held his wand hand gently, and guided his hand. Harry felt as if his hand was jolted by electricity, and felt a tingling in his skin as Hermione held his hand. She showed him how to do it one more time, and then let go. Harry felt himself flustered, and he took a moment to regain his composure, pretending to be practicing before actually doing it.

    "Thanks, Hermione," Harry said, giving her a quick smile. She didn't look at him, and muttered, "No problem" in response. She picked up the rabbit and raised her hand.

    "In a moment, Miss Granger," McGonagall said desperately. She was trying to help Neville, whose hat had sprouted tenticles and was trying to strangle him. Harry saw Ron try to transfigure his hat, which sprouted white rabbit legs, and hopped off of the desk. He hurried to pick it up, and his ears were glowing red with embarassment. Harry looked at Hermione, who clearly saw that Ron needed help. She had a look of concern and was about to help, but seemingly thought better of it, and decided to remain quiet. Harry stepped on her toes, and when she looked up angrily at Harry, he nodded towards Ron.

    "Here, Ron, let me help," Hermione sighed. She moved to help, but Ron shot her a cold look.

    "I don't need your help," he said through his teeth. Hermione looked surprised, and quickly recovered.

    "Well...well...very well then. I was just trying to be nice." Harry shot Ron a dirty look, who shrugged his shoulders and tried to transfigure the hat again. Harry felt a headache coming on, and he rubbed his eyes. He saw McGonagall note off Harry's and Hermione's work, and she walked off. Ron was desperately trying to transfigure the hat, and Harry decided that it was better off that someone helped him, even if it would have been better if Hermione did it. In the end, Ron managed to transfigure the hat into a grey rabbit, which was notably better than most of the other class members had done. The bell rang, and the three of them headed for Gryffindor Tower. Ron started walking ahead of Harry and Hermione.

    "Where are you going?" Harry asked.

    "I'm going to the pitch to draw up some play drafts. We can go over them tonight?"

    "Sounds good...you sure you don't want to come with us?" Harry asked, but Ron shook his head.

    "I'd be better off doing it by myself, less noise," Ron said, and he turned. "See you later, mate."

    "Later, Ron." Harry watched Ron exit the castle, and turned to Hermione, who looked as if she was trying to control her emotions.     

    "Let's go to the library, shall we?" Harry said. "We can get our homework done."

    "Sounds good," Hermione said rather stiffly, and they both headed for the library. The two of them worked for the rest of the night, surrounded by a ton of books and piles of parchment.

    "I don't know how Ron's going to get through all this work, if he's off doing Quidditch plans," Hermione sighed exasperatedly.

    "Hermione, he's not doing Quidditch plans," Harry said.

    "But he said-"

    "I know, but he's really going to do homework. We already went over Quidditch plans. He was just saying that to-" Harry stopped himself, realizing that what he was saying was going to set Hermione off.

    "He's avoiding me, I know," Hermione said angrily.

    "Look. You two need some time away. If you're always together, you'll just keep sniping at each other and nothing will get better," Harry said, putting down his quill. He was just starting his Potions homework when he looked at Hermione.

    "You're probably right, but...all we've ever done is bicker. I wish...I wish we could get along better," Hermione sighed.

    "Me too," Harry said, prompting some laughter from Hermione.

    "You must get tired of listening to us," Hermione said, her eyes shining with tears.

    "If you guys weren't bickering, it wouldn't be the same," Harry said, smiling. Hermione laughed again, and wiped her tears away.

    "I'm sorry, you must hate being in the middle of all this. I don't know how you put up with us," Hermione said, taking out a handkerchief and blowing her nose.

    "It's not a burden. You guys are my best friends, I can't let

your friendship with Ron get messed up permanently," Harry said, resting his hand on Hermione's. He got that weird feeling again, and looked into Hermione's eyes.

    "Thanks, Harry," she said. There was a moment of silence -between them. As much as Harry didn't want to, he let go of Hermione's hands.

    "Now let's work on this Potions work, so I don't fail in Snape's class." Hermione grinned, and opened up her Potions book. As much as he enjoyed being with Hermione, Harry wished Ron were here, so that it could be like old times.

*****

    They had finished their homework just in time for dinner, and Harry and Hermione walked down, discussing possibilities on where the Orb might be hidden.

    "Of course, Azkaban is ruled out, Dumbledore already checked there," Hermione said as they walked down the staircase.

    "Right. And I reckon Voldemort thought it might have been in Gringotts, but it wasn't there either," Harry said, remembering the horrible day at Diagon Alley when the Vipertooth attacked.

    "Let's not go back to that day," Hermione said quickly. "The way Voldemort used that dragon and just killed it right after..."

    "What other fortresses are there in Britain?" Harry asked, quickly changing the subject. "It must be in Britain, that's mainly where Voldemort and Dumbledore have been looking."

    "I'm not sure. There has to be some sort of clue that we've missed," Hermione said, frustrated.

    "I don't think so. I don't think we have enough information. We don't even know what the Orb does," Harry said as they reached the Great Hall. Harry saw Dumbledore talking with Professor McGonagall, and wondered if he knew where the Orb was. Harry sat down next to Hermione, and saw Ron enter and sit next to Fred and George. Hermione looked over at him, and then began to take some food. Ginny saw Harry and Hermione enter and walked over to meet them. She was with a rather abstract girl that Harry hadn't met before.

    "Hey Harry! Hermione! How are you guys doing?"

    "Fine," Hermione said distractedly, sneaking peaks at Ron, who was laughing at something the twins were showing him.

    "I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. This is Luna Lovegood, she's in Ravenclaw."

    "Hi," Harry said, looking at the girl, who was gazing at him rather oddly. She had waist-length dirty blond hair and her wand was tucked behind her ear.

    "Are you Harry Potter?" she asked in a dreamy voice, her pale, wide eyes staring at his scar.

    "Yes," he said thickly, giving Ginny a questioning look.

    "I thought so. I saw the scar, but wasn't sure if it was definately you."

    "Who else has a scar like me?" Harry asked, rather bemused.

    "I don't know. My father, he's the editor of the Quibbler, says that I shouldn't trust marks and such, as they are easily reproduced."

    "The Quibbler?" Harry asked confusedly. Hermione snorted into her plate, while Luna continued to look at Harry.

    "It's a magazine, sort of like the Daily Prophet," Ginny explained, but rolled her eyes. "But I think a more accurate Muggle definition would be tabloid." Harry suddenly understood why Hermione snorted.

    "I wouldn't compare the Quibbler to the Daily Prophet. They've been reporting rubbish on him when they haven't even asked for his side of the story," Luna said, picking up some food and taking a bite. "Dad says it's bad journalism to report without all the evidence, and that's why The Quibbler doesn't publish without solid evidence." Ginny tried to refrain from laughing when Hermione caught her eye. "I should probably go back to the Ravenclaw table," Luna said dreamily, and left the table. Harry watched her go and saw Cho sitting at the table, looking rather depressed. Harry felt a pang of guilt, and turned back to Ginny and Hermione. Hermione and Ginny were talking about the Quibbler and Luna, but Harry couldn't find himself interested. His thoughts travelled back to when Cho told him she couldn't talk to him, and he felt himself feeling guilty. Ginny stood up and moved to sit next to Neville, who was sitting by himself. Hermione looked worried as she gazed at Harry.

    "What's wrong?" Harry explained to her what Cho said, and she nodded.

    "That's really sad, but I can understand where she's coming from. You guys will always have Cedric between you, and she probably thinks about him every time she sees you."

    "I know," Harry said, suddenly losing his appetite.

    "It's not your fault," Hermione said, knowing that Harry's mind was travelling back to that night with Voldemort.

    "I know, I know," Harry said, almost trying to convince himself. Every time he knew he had come to grips with Cedric, he managed to lose control. "I'm rather stuffed, I'm going to head back to the dormitory." Hermione nodded, and Harry headed up to Gryffindor Tower alone, lost in thought, and feeling himself growing gloomier every second.

*****

    Harry's night was uneventful; Ron and Hermione kept their distance, and as Harry was too tired to try to reconcile them, he decided to read some of his Animagus book. He retried the beginner lessons in becoming an Animagus, but he made no progress. Maybe he wasn't meant to be one, but Harry had a sneaky suspicion that Sirius and his father would be disappointed if Harry didn't learn to become an Animagus. Harry decided to give it a rest for a little bit, and took his book to the dormitory.

    Sleep did not come easily for him; Harry's thoughts were buzzing loudly, flitting around in his brain like insects. The Orb of Power, Malagar, Voldemort, and Cedric all flashed through his mind. Harry shook his head and tried to clear his head, but he just made the situation worse. He closed his eyes, and after what seemed like hours, he finally drifted off to sleep. In his last moments of conciousness, he recognized the familiar pink mist floating up like a snake; the somniscribe was being activated...

    "Harry wake up!" Ron's voice called to him. Harry opened his eyes slowly and saw the daylight streaming through. Harry felt as if he hadn't slept at all, but Ron's voice was calling to him. "Hurry up, we need to get to breakfast and then off to Hogsmeade for the whole day!" Harry shook his head clear of sleep, and saw that the Somniscribe was a dark scarlet. Harry slightly touched the scarlet substance with his wand, and his dream unfolded before him.

    Harry was in the middle of a battlefield, just as before. He was walking through a field scorched with fire. The white and dark wizards, the ones from his encounter with the sentinel, were dueling. Harry ignored everything, and walked straight through the knights clashing with dark wizards, and returned to the steps to Hogwarts. He saw everyone there, just as before, but he walked passed them, and headed up a long staircase, at the end of which was the sentinel, his flaming sword still a muted grey. This time, instead of pushing Harry down the stairs, he opened the door, which was decorated with the Hogwarts symbol. Harry saw darkness in the room, and couldn't see into it. The sentinel growled at him, a deep raspy voice:

    "This is your past, and your future." As Harry stepped inside, his dream ended.

    Harry sat there, wanting to go over the dream again, and remembered Trelawney's warning not to overexpose himself to the visuals. Harry sighed, emptied the contents, and then wrote the dream down in the dream diary. Harry quickly dressed, and hurried downstairs, where he saw Ron and Hermione waiting, but not talking. Harry sighed, and knew that his next question was going to cause discord.

    "So, where are we going to go for the day?"

    "The Three Broomsticks, I'm dying for some butterbeer," Ron said almost instantly.

    "Well, I thought it might be a good idea for us to go to the bookstore, and see if there are any books that can help us find out where the Orb might be," Hermione said, not looking at Ron.

    "Why would we want to do that, it's boring! We've already tried the library how many times? And we haven't even found anything!" Ron said to Harry, but really talking to Hermione.

    "At least we'll be doing something constructive," Hermione said to Harry, but was really talking to Ron. Harry sighed, and they all swept out of the castle, with Ron and Hermione bickering to each other, but using Harry as their focus.

    "Seriously, we hardly ever have time to enjoy ourselves anymore," Ron was yelling.

    "Well, that's because we have loads on our plates!" Hermione shouted back.

    "That's why we should have some fun!" Ron roared, dropping all pretense that he was talking to Harry. Harry rubbed his eyes, and felt a headache coming on.

    "You're always thinking about short-term, of having fun, when we have loads of responsibility!" Hermione raged.

    "And you're always insisting that we bury ourselves in work!" Ron yelled back. Harry heard the words "annoyingly immature" and "insufferable know-it-all" being tossed around, and before he knew it, he was shouting too.

    "Have fun bickering, I'm leaving!" Harry shouted, and he turned and headed back to Hogwarts. He knew he was going to pay for this later, both of them would be upset with him. But right now, it didn't matter, because Harry couldn't stand the two of them bickering for much longer. He entered the castle, and found that it was drearily empty, except for some of the younger classmen who were sitting around idly. Harry walked up the staircase and headed to Gryffindor Tower. As the Fat Lady swung open, Harry spotted Neville sitting by the fire, watching the flames dance and crackle. Ginny was sitting next to him, but they were both sitting in silence. Harry didn't want to intrude, but Ginny turned and noticed him.

    "Hey Harry! Pull up some rug!" she said, patting the carpet. Harry sighed, grinned weakly, and sat next to Neville. Neville was holding a piece of paper in his hands, and he was trying very hard to not look as upset as he was.

    "What's wrong, Neville?" Harry asked, looking at Neville's troubled expression and knew that it had something to do with his parents. Harry remembered that he wasn't supposed to know about Neville's parents, and had to try to feign ignorance.

    "Oh, erm, I don't want to trouble you, you're already very busy," Neville said quickly, but Harry looked at him seriously.

    "It's not a bother," Harry said. Neville sighed.

    "My parents are...well...sick, and every year at Christmas my Gram and I go to visit them. They're at St. Mungo's    , so it's always a hassle getting there, but it's worth it." Harry listened intently, and felt a pang of sympathy for Neville. As hard as it was to see his parents sick, Neville had always wanted to visit them. "But Gram has fallen ill, and she won't have the strength to go with me. And no one else in my family can go, so I'm going to go all by myself," Neville said, and there was anguish in his voice that Harry could hardly tolerate hearing. "And my parents are getting worse." Neville showed Harry the piece of paper that he was holding. It was a letter from St. Mungo's.

    Harry felt very angry when he read this letter. How could they do this to a pair of good people who were ill! It was outrageous!

    "I'm afraid they'll do something awful to my parents, and I won't be able to stop them because my Gram usually handles these things!" Neville said, growing more and more upset and panicked. "I can't do this by myself!"    

    "Don't worry, you won't have to do it by yourself!" Harry said, determined to help Neville out.

    "Right. We'll go with you," Ginny said, looking up at Harry.

    "You...you...you will?" Neville stuttered, surprised by their proposal.

    "There's no reason you'll have to deal with this by yourself," Harry said. "So don't worry. We'll help you make sure your parents are treated fairly." Harry patted Neville on the back, and he ran upstairs, saying something about writing to his Gram.

    "That was a nice thing you did," Ginny said to Harry, who looked into the fire.

    "It was the right thing," Harry said. Ginny didn't respond, and looked into the fire. They sat there quietly, not saying anything, but clearly thinking about Neville, and how to help him. Ginny said a quick good-bye to Harry, and she left to go to Hogsmeade and meet up with some of her fellow fourth years. Harry stared into the fire, watching the embers burn, and his mind wandered to the dreams he had been having. Did they mean anything? Was there something in the Astronomy tower that Harry should look for? Harry decided to find out. He got up and left Gryffindor Tower. The halls were nearly deserted, except for Peeves, who Harry had to hide from in order to avoid Peeves' attention. He got to the staircase that led to the Astronomy Tower. He started walking up them when he heard a voice from behind him.

    "Mr. Potter, just where do you think you're going?" He turned, and saw Mrs. Figg, who had a look of displeasure on her face. Harry was seriously reminded of Professor McGonagall as he looked at the old woman standing before him. Her hair too was tied back in a tight bun, and again Harry felt that she was radiating power, just like Dumbledore.

    "The Astronomy Tower, Professor," Harry said awkwardly, realizing that this staircase led only to the Astronomy Tower, and there wasn't any other excuse that could mislead her.    

    "You know just as well as I do that the Astronomy Tower is out of bounds except for classes," Mrs. Figg replied, her gaze narrowing with each second.

    "Erm...yes, Professor," Harry said, and walked down the stairs and away from Mrs. Figg. He felt her gaze burning the back of his neck until he turned the corner and headed back to Gryffindor Tower.