Candles in the Dark

Chapter 4

The Iron Fist

Harry rushed forward to help his godfather, who had collapsed onto the muddy ground, coughing madly.

'Sirius, what are you doing here?' Hermione asked desperately, as the three of them tried to heave him to his feet.

'Not now Hermione,' growled Hagrid. He unlocked the door to the cabin and ushered them inside.

'Once they had managed to sit Sirius down with a large tanker of mulled mead in front of the fire, Harry could see what a mess he looked. His hair had grown several inches, his face was covered in stubble, his clothes were ripped beyond belief and he looked ill and exhausted.

'Hagrid you have to tell us what happened!' Ron said frantically as Sirius started coughing again.

'I will, just give me a minute.' Hagrid said. He looked almost as bad as Sirius and Harry could make out his beetle black eyes through his bushy hair. They were darting around and Harry could tell that something was very wrong at Hogwarts.

'Hagrid poured in half a bottle of diamond liqueur into Sirius' mulled mead and sat down heavily at the table. He had just opened his mouth when the door was flung open and Fry burst in. His large eyes took in the three students, Sirius and Hagrid in one sweep of the room.

'Go up ter the castle and tell the headmaster Fry. He's OK now.' Hagrid said quickly. The two of them exchanged a meaningful glance at Sirius before Fry turned and left the cabin again. They could see him striding up the lawns, his crossbow, lodged firmly in the crook of his arm.

'I'm gonna level with yeh Harry,' Hagrid wearily, stirring his mead with a gigantic spoon. 'Things are goin' from bad ter worse. We'd underestimated His power an' now he's gaining supporters faster than ever before.'

Neither Ron, Harry or Hermione had ever heard Hagrid speak like this before. It was as if the glittering light in his beetle black eyes had gone out. None of them said anything and Hagrid went on.

'The Eddlebys were some o' the finest wizards - pure hearts. Never expected he'd dare come this close to Hogwarts.' He took a huge gulp of mead and looked at Sirius, who was sipping liqueur, only half listening.

'What happened Hagrid?' Hermione pushed gently.

'He's been on the run for weeks,' Hagrid said gruffly, not meeting Harry's eyes. Snape's been searchin' fer him but nothin' doin'.' Hagrid seemed in no rush to tell the tale and Harry was getting impatient.

'Sirius,' Harry said urgently. His godfather looked up at Harry and smiled weakly but shook his head all the same. Harry understood then. Sirius would say tell what had happened when he was ready, but not now, not now.

'The murder in the Daily Prophet,' Hagrid said finally. 'You-Know-Who tracked him down, sent out that Parkinson scum to finish Sirius off. Only Sirius got him first and got away -'

'I never murdered him Harry,' Sirius breathed, looking intently at him. Everyone else fell silent. 'It was the only way - me or him.' Sirius looked so serious and Harry knew he would never lie to him about this. He nodded and Hagrid smiled at them.

'You lot shouldn't be here, get back up to the castle and come back tomorrow. But early mind you. No one must know he's here, you understand o' course'.

They stood up. Hagrid insisted on escorting them to the front steps and none of them argued. Sirius heaved himself to his feet and was helped outside. He grasped Harry's hand and smiled.

'First thing tomorrow, we get up and go back there,' Hermione whispered anxiously, as they crept through the castle.

'I'm gonna write to my dad,' Ron said a minute later, when they were climbing the seventh floor staircase. 'See what's happening in the ministry. There hasn't been much in the Daily Prophet, has there?

'Fudge is probably keeping them quiet,' Harry chimed in, gloomily. 'The sooner he's gone, the better.'

The boys crept back into their dormitory but Hermione had stayed in the Common Room, thinking, she'd said. Ron went to bed but Harry sat by the window and looked out across the lawns. He couldn't see Hagrid's Cabin from where he sat but he knew that his godfather was at Hogwarts and it made him feel safer.

Out in the grounds, Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, slipped between the trees on the outskirts of the forest. Something had been troubling him and he was coming this way much more often. Hermione knew nothing about this and Crookshanks wasn't going to let her know.

Just ahead, he could see something rustling through the trees. A dark figure was moving quickly through the undergrowth. Crookshanks sped up and they reached a clearing. Bright moonlight illuminated the strangest scene the cat had ever seen.

About thirty people stood in the clearing, forming a large circle around one man. They all wore black cloaks and masks and Crookshanks was observant enough to know exactly who they were. The man staggered into the circle and knelt awkwardly down in front of a man.

'Wormtail. Is it done?' The man's voice was high and full of malice. Crookshanks edged closer.

'My - my lord, something happened. It prevented me from completing the task. Forgive me.'

'What!' the man moved forward and Crookshanks saw his face. It was desperately pale even in the moonlight and his eyes were snake-like and of a deep blood red. It was Lord Voldemort.

The circle of death-eaters closed in on the trembling Wormtail and Voldemort raised his wand.

'No my Lord. Please! I have something of value. It is the one known potion that can break the spell. I have it here in my hand, my lord. Our trouble's are at an end!'

Wormtail opened his hand to reveal a small bottle of glittering green liquid. Crookshank's hair stood on end. He had seen something like it before. Harry Potter had been sent the very same potion. But that was not why Crookshanks was hissing. The hand that held this potion gleamed silver in the wandlight conjured by Voldemort. It looked as though it were made of metal.

One of the Death Eaters suddenly heard Crookshanks low hissing and sprung, wand in hand, at his hiding place. Crookshanks saw him and was gone in a second. All the man saw was a ginger streak, pelting through the forest, like a spirit through the air.

Harry finally fell asleep but his nightmares had returned. The Forbidden Forest was alive with spells exploding into the night. He was chasing something between the trees but he could see nothing ahead of him. There were footsteps behind him, then a blinding flash of light and Harry fell with a thump on the muddy floor.

'Harry!' Ron's voice filtered into Harry's dazed brain. 'Harry!'

Harry opened his eyes but saw only carpet. He rolled over and realised that he'd fallen off his bed during his dream. He staggered up and turned to see Ron staring at him nervously.

'Sorry, bad dream,' he muttered, slightly embarrassed. 'What time is it?'

'Just gone six,' Ron whispered, pulling a thick jumper over his robes. If we hurry, we can get down to Hagrid's and be back here for breakfast.

They dressed quickly so the others didn't hear them, then crept down to the Common Room. Hermione had fallen asleep in an armchair but woke when they came downstairs.

Crookshanks was on her lap, wide awake and quite different from his usual self. He was shifting restlessly, his eyes darting round the room and when he saw Harry, he jumped off Hermione's knee and began clawing at Harry's pocket, hissing.

Hermione fended him off and they left the Common Room quickly, Ron muttering 'nutter' at the still hissing Crookshanks.

'Harry,' Hermione said, as they entered the grounds. 'Did you see anyone in the grounds last night?' Harry and Ron both looked sharply at Hermione.

'No,' Harry said quickly. 'Why?'

'Because I did,' Hermione said. 'And I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure if I was out of my mind or not but -'

'Just tell us Hermione,' Ron said.

'Bit early for a morning stroll, isn't it?' They had walked right into Dumbledore in the Entrance Hall.

'We were -'

'Going to see Hagrid, mind if I join you?' he was smiling. They walked through the grounds in silence except for their footsteps crunching on the frosty grass. Both Ron and Harry were extremely interested to know what Hermione was going to tell them but she obviously didn't want to say whatever it was in front of the headmaster. Dumbledore approached the door but it opened before he'd touched it.

' Gut Mornin' Headmaster'. It wasn't Hagrid or Sirius. It was Fry. It occurred to Harry that he'd never heard Fry speak before. Hagrid was right though: Fry was definitely foreign.

Harry followed Dumbledore in and found Hagrid sitting at the wooden table in the same place as last night. They supposed Sirius was the heap underneath the patchwork quilt on the bed.

'How is he, Hagrid,' Dumbledore said gently, when they'd all sat down at the table.

'Unable to sleep with this racket,' came Sirius' muffled voice from the corner.

'I see your sense of humour hasn't improved,' Dumbledore said, smiling weakly, as Sirius emerged, his face creased in pain. In the harsh morning light, Sirius' injuries were even more apparent. There was a deep gash across one cheek, his robes were bloody and he was limping as he crossed the cabin and sat down heavily on a chair.

'Fry's told me everything so you needn't explain again Hagrid,' Dumbledore said, as Hagrid opened his mouth to speak. 'But I think Harry, Ron and Hermione would very much like an explanation to your expedition last night.' He smiled at the three of them.

'I only came to see how you were, though so I shall return to the castle. May I see you at breakfast Hagrid?' Dumbledore asked pleasantly.

'O' course,' Hagrid said, opening the cabin door for Dumbledore. Dumbledore nodded and left. Hagrid dished out some biscuits and strong cups of tea and Sirius began.

'After I wrote to you about your birthday presents, I went into hiding for a couple of days. I can't tell you where. But the death-eaters found out somehow and came to finish me off. Looks like they didn't want the infamous Azkaban escapee on the wrong side.' He gave a hollow laugh. 'Anyway, I was in a cave somewhere and I was cornered. So I just shot curses everywhere and ran for it. But one of them hit Parkinson and he got knocked and hit his head or something. I don't know. But the point is, I didn't mean to kill him.'

'I got a couple of miles away by Apparating but they traced it. I hid out anywhere I could find. Barns, forests, anywhere. I nearly reached Hogwarts when - when...' Sirius faltered so Hagrid continued for him.

'When that piece of filth Pettigrew turned up,' Hagrid growled, menacingly. 'Thinks he's a dark wizard now he's got You-Know-Who behind him. He's been hidin' in the forest sum' time -.'

'That new hand Voldemort gave him,' Sirius interrupted. It's like nothing I've ever seen before. Repels all charms, hard as nails. Like a-' Sirius clenched his own hand in imitation. 'Like an iron fist! He almost had me strangled when Hagrid turned up.' Sirius' eyes flickered and Harry saw again what prison had done to him. They still held the haunted look but they had softened ever so slightly.

'Hagrid got him off me but only just,' Sirius continued, shooting a grateful look at Hagrid. 'We escaped through the forest but Wormtail found what he was looking for.'

'What?' Harry, Ron and Hermione said at once.

'The only known potion that can break the spells surrounding Hogwarts. The spells protecting this place are some of the oldest on Earth, put here even before the castle was built.'

'You sound like you've swallowed 'Hogwarts a History',' Ron said grumpily.

'Wormtail got the potion. So none of us are really safe,' Harry cried, jumping to his feet and nearly knocking the table over.' Harry stared at Sirius and was amazed to find him smiling mischievously.

'What?' Harry said, irritated that Sirius didn't seem to be taking this threat seriously.

'The potion Wormtail took from me wasn't real.' Sirius said, smiling. 'The real potion is inside this castle, in your very dormitory. I sent it to you.'

'No you didn't,' Ron said abruptly. 'That was a silencing potion.'

'No it wasn't. I sent Harry the potion under the guise of another name. It's called Destrukium, one of the most powerful spellbreakers. That's the only bottle ever made. You're keeping one of the most valuable potions in the world in your trunk, Harry.' Harry, Ron and Hermione stared, dumbstruck at Sirius but Hagrid started to laugh.

'S'not funny really,' Hagrid said, wiping his eyes with a massive hand. 'Just the look on yer faces'.

Despite Harry's slight irritation at being fooled by Sirius, Harry left Hagrid's in a much better mood than he'd arrived in. They went back to the castle and sat down to a delicious breakfast in the Great Hall.

'Snuffles was lucky to escape with his life, you know,' Hermione said thickly through a mouthful of toast.

'Yeah, I know,' Harry replied. He didn't know what he would have done if Sirius really had died. He'd got used to having him around.

*

Four days after Sirius had been rescued, Harry and Ron woke up to find the delicious aroma of baked pumpkin wafting enticingly through the corridors. Fred and George got into the spirit of the occasion by presenting the Gryffindors with their latest invention.

'Halloween Heads,' Fred yelled down the breakfast table. He grinned slyly and threw one into Neville's half-open mouth. Seconds later, Neville emitted a loud pop and gained the head of a pumpkin, complete with burning candle. The Gryffindors roared with laughter and soon, people all along the table were bursting into readymade pumpkins, to the disapproval of Professor McGonagall, who was eyeing them cautiously from the top table.

As Herbology was their first lesson, Harry, Ron and Hermione finished their breakfast early and set off for the greenhouses. They were accompanied by Ginny, who was going to Care of magical Creatures, and the twins and Lee Jordan, who were having a flying lesson.

Ginny still had the head of her pumpkin. Instead of disappearing after a few minutes, Ginny's head had stuck and she was arguing furiously with Fred and George.

'There's a fault with your stupid sweets,' she puffed indignantly, her jaggedly carved mouth working furiously as the twins howled with laughter.

Don't worry Gin,' George said, trying to control the other two. 'This way, no one will know it's you.' The pumpkin scowled at them and Ginny stormed off towards Hagrid's cabin, joining a group of fourth years and making it look as if a bright orange pumpkin was making its way through the crowd. The twins and Lee, meanwhile, made for the paddock round the other side of the castle.

Harry's last five Herbology lessons had been far from fun. Their new assignment was to feed the Abershrivel, an annoying plant that shrank into the soil whenever you tried to go near it, then jumped out at you when you began digging up the soil, roaring with high-pitched laughter.

Hermione had got through seven plants since the start of term. She performed a simple freezing charm, then shovelled mashed mandrake leaves into its mouth but the rest of the class were finding this less effective. Harry's plants kept dodging his spells like a hyperactive cobra, swaying in every direction and cackling madly, causing him to freeze Ron's hand at one point, which allowed his Abershrivel to bite him painfully on his finger.

The annoying plant life they had to deal with was not what was bothering Harry though. Since Diggory's death, most people had been avoiding him in the corridors but the Hufflepuffs especially were being especially wary of him. Harry supposed that some of them still believed that he was in some way responsible for Cedric's death. Harry couldn't blame them though this didn't feel any better. The fact that the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors were usually on such good terms made the atmosphere inside the greenhouse very uncomfortable.

The only Hufflepuff who did still seem to be speaking to Harry was Ernie Macmillan. He came over with his own plant, which was spitting at him, to work near them.

'So, are you watching the match on Saturday?' Hermione asked Ernie, making very forced conversation.

'Course,' Ernie said determinedly. 'Everyone will be there'. Ron shoved Harry and pointed behind them. All the Hufflepuffs were looking at Ernie like he was some sort of traitor to their vendetta against Harry. Ernie, however, stared them out coldly.

'I've got to ask you,' Ron began in amazement to Ernie. 'Why are you the only one speaking to us. Why aren't you giving us the evils like the rest of Hufflepuff House?'

'My dad,' Ernie replied simply. Harry was reminded of the times when a plain 'my dad,' would answer a question he would ask Ron. Seeing the three of them looking non-plussed, Ernie elaborated.

'After You-Know-Who came back, my dad went to see Dumbledore and he told him what you did Harry. It was a brave thing and if the rest of those idiots over there knew that, they would be over here talking to you as well.' Ernie looked very seriously at Harry and smiled warmly.

'That's actually one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me,' Harry muttered, going slightly red.

'You deserve all the praise I can give you Harry and I mean that,' Ernie said solemnly.

What Ernie had said to him that morning, made Harry feel a whole lot better: to have one Hufflepuff on his side was something at least, especially as Ernie had once accused him of attacking fellow students in their second year.

The decorations in the Great Hall that night were magnificent. Hundreds of pumpkins hung from the walls and huge candlesticks of every colour had been magicked into position in mid-air. There was the usual cloud of live bats flapping throughout the hall but also a huge black vulture like bird was perched on top of a pumpkin, high up in one of the rafters, squawking occasionally and ruffling its feathers.

Harry had a very enjoyable feast, laughing and talking with everyone else. The Gryffindors had been much less wary of him as the term had progressed and Harry was having such a good time that he didn't notice Snape wasn't sitting in his usual place at the Top Table. He was sitting right next to Dumbledore and Harry could tell they were having a very serious discussion. Harry was half way through dessert when he saw a dark shadow at one of the large windows. Harry did a double take and stared at the place where he'd seen it: surely not a death-eater? But after a moment he realised that it was Sirius in his animagus form - a huge black dog and he was shaking his paw urgently at him. Harry nudged Hermione and pointed at the window. She nodded and as soon as they could, the three of them left the table.

It was completely empty in the Entrance Hall, although candles shone on the banisters of the Marble Staircase, casting long shadows against the stone walls and making it seem eerie and ominously quiet.

They reached the door but it was flung open before they'd touched it. Standing, framed in the doorway, shrouded in a long black cloak, was none other than Viktor Krum.

'Hermoninny,' he gasped in surprise.

'Viktor!' she said, equally shocked. Harry could see Sirius lurking in the shadows behind Viktor. He really wanted to get away and see what he wanted but he also wanted to know what Krum wanted.

'Vhere is Dumbledore's office. I have important news for him.' Krum said quickly to Hermione.

'Um, well-'

'What news?' Ron butted in. He was eyeing Krum with great suspicion.

'The death-eaters, there is something I need to tell him.' Krum replied shortly.

'What about them?' Ron persisted, backing a few inches away from the door as though Voldemort himself might suddenly burst through it.

The door to the Great Hall slammed and they all jumped. Harry looked round to see Dumbledore moving quickly towards them, followed by Snape.

'What's going on?' Snape said sharply, eyeing Ron especially, who was scowling at the interruption.

'Professor,' Krum said urgently, moving forward out of the cold. 'I have urgent news from Bulgaria. I must speak with you!'

'This way,' Dumbledore said without hesitation. He turned to lead Krum up the marble stairs when he saw the black Dog, skulking in the doorway.

'Yes, perhaps you had better come too,' Dumbledore said, smiling slightly and causing Krum to stare at the dog in alarm. Harry shrugged at the other two, then followed Sirius up the stairs. He was very interested to know exactly what news Viktor had brought with him from Bulgaria and to find out what Sirius wanted..

'What do you think that's about?' Hermione asked as she and Ron caught up with him.

'How should I know,' Harry replied.

'It's a bit odd though, isn't it - Viktor coming all this way just to tell Dumbledore something. He could have just sent an owl.' Ron chipped in, lowering his voice. Sirius shot a warning look at them and they fell silent.

They reached Dumbledore's office, entered the password (pumpkin pasty), the stone gargoyle sprang aside and they entered through the door concealed in the dark grey stone.