Harry Potter and the Ritual of Love's Memory

Chapter 20

Harry was soaring through the air, gripping tightly to the back of an eagle owl that was descending toward a dilapidated house on a hill. They entered through a broken window. With a few flaps of its wings, the owl swooped through a corridor and landed in a large room with a roaring fireplace.

Harry looked around the room, noting a large, high-backed chair with its back to him and two dark shapes stirring on the ground. The first was a massive snake, larger even than the one he'd set upon his cousin years prior. The other was a balding man with a rat-like face. His pointed nose and watery eyes were more pronounced as he writhed on the floor, emitting occasional whimpers and sobs.

"It appears to be your lucky day, Wormtail," came a high-pitched, cold voice from the chair. "Quite fortunate, indeed. Your idiotic blunder has been set right. He has been killed."

A desperate sob of relief punctuated the air as the man on the ground wept. "My Lord... I am so sorry for my mistake... So pleased your plan can continue... A brilliant plan..."

"Nagini, it looks like you will not be feeding on Wormtail tonight. Do not fret, though. Soon, you will feast on young Harry Potter." The snake hissed at the rat-faced man, who recoiled as its yellow eyes stared into his.

"Yet failures such as these must not go unpunished."

A look of panic overtook Wormtail, who attempted to crawl toward the chair. "Master... Please! I beg of you!"

The malevolent voice hidden behind the door scoffed before saying, "Crucio!"

Pettigrew's cries filled Harry's ears, and he soon found that his own screams were intermingled with Wormtail's.

"HARRY! Wake up!" Green eyes opened to see that they were not in the house on a hill that was falling apart but in a glowing room full of gaping students and a bespectacled woman who was staring intently. Quiet muttering and a few nervous laughs broke the silence as Harry looked at Ron for guidance.

"You must have been having a nightmare, mate," said Ron in a low voice, though the hush that had fallen on the room ensured that the entire class heard every word.

"A nightmare? No, this was a premonition! A prophecy! Sight beyond sight!" Professor Trelawney was hopping up and down on her toes as she hurried to Harry's side. "You must tell me what the fates have shown you! Quickly! Before the vision fades and the truth is lost!"

Harry's head was swimming. The pain of the torture curse felt like it had shot electricity through his veins. Despite the strong feeling that whatever he'd just dreamed was more real than most of what came out of his professor's mouth, Harry had no intention of divulging anything to her, much less in front of his classmates.

"Sorry, professor," he mumbled, wiping the sweat from his brow. He shuddered as the memory of that cold voice echoed in his mind. "I didn't sleep much last night and must have dozed off."

"Never mind that, what did you see? What visions encroached upon your dreams to warn you of what the future will bring?"

"I just had a nightmare, is all! It's not a big deal." Harry's frustration mounted as the eyes of his classmates and professor remained glued to him.

"You were writhing in your seat and clutching at your scar! The fates do not deal in coincidence! Your dream could portend to..."

"I dreamed that I failed the second task! Ron and Hermione drowned and it was my fault! Is that what you wanted to hear?!" Several students gasped as Professor Trelawney clutched at her heart. Her eyes grew wide as took a tentative step back.

"It is just as I foretold..." she whispered. She raised her hands above her head for dramatic effect before loudly calling out, "You are in grave danger! Do you know what this means?"