"This is so not how I wanted to do this," Harry groaned as he looked up at all the club members who were staring at him with identical looks of interest and expectation. Well, it was now or never…
With a deep breath in, Harry drifted slowly up from Jamie's body so as to not startle anyone. "Hi Harry," Ginny said dreamily to the dementor while everyone else freaked out.
With a shriek of surprise, Malfoy had disappeared behind Hestia leaving a few snowy feathers floating down from where he had been standing. "Does Malfoy have wings?!" Harry asked the group, temporarily forgetting they couldn't understand him.
"How in Helga's lacy bloomers did that happen!" David exclaimed, pushing Brook behind him protectively as she also tried to shove him behind her at the same time, which ended up with them both tugging at each other's arms.
"I thought you were a vampire…huh, guess I was way off," Eir chuckled and actually walked closer to Harry to get a better look. "I've never seen a dementor up close. Put that away!" She shoved aside the dagger that Harry had just now noticed Kara had at his throat. He wondered how he had missed that…oh well, it wouldn't have done anything anyway.
"Draco, I swear, if you don't let go of the back of my robes, I'll throw you to the dementor myself," Hestia huffed out with a roll of her eyes at the blond hiding behind her.
Neville cleared his throat authoritatively, only slightly diminished by the fact he was petting Jamie's hair. "Guys…Graham…our friend…?"
"Stop petting, Potter!" Draco protested, still behind Hestia, with a hint of something…frustration, or what Harry hoped for Neville's sake might be jealousy.
"This is Jamie, not Harry. That's Harry," Neville pointed to the dementor. "This is Jamie, the soulless shell/Harry-suit aka pseudo-teddy bear."
"Ok, so maybe I should have discouraged people from treating my former body as a pet or object. That's a bit weird," Harry grumbled but turned to the cabinet, putting a skeletal hand against the wood to feel the strength of the spells.
"Potter, you'll want to stop talking. It's very disconcerting," Snape warned him as several of the HSMC members looked a bit faint.
Harry would have rolled his eyes if he had any. He had his aura completely pulled in, so he didn't know what the others' deals were. It's not like he was sucking the joy out of the room or anything, plus they were all worried, so he wasn't too hungry anyway.
"Be safe, and bring Graham back, ok?" Neville said.
Harry nodded and grinned. "Back soon…" he mumbled quietly before stepping through the wood and spells surrounding the cabinet.
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This must be what it feels like to be tripping on drugs. Was Harry's very disconcerting thought as the broken spells of the cabinet seemed to turn his world upside down and pull him in all directions. It was like the floo and a portkey combined that got stuck in a loop. He really, really hoped that being a gargoyle helped Graham, because he was certain a normal human would have been splinched into several pieces. As a dementor, it took just a few seconds for him to push past the initial disorientation and stand strong with the spells hitting him like stormy ocean waves. It took several more seconds before he was able to almost swim through to his friend who was huddled in on himself in his gargoyle form with his eyes closed, probably trying to not throw up.
Thank Merlin his eyes are closed! Was Harry's next thought as a dementor swooping down on you in a whirlwind of spells and magic was probably the most terrifying thing that could happen to a person. The gargoyle's wings were thankfully wrapped around his squat and scaly form, but it was still an awkward shape. There wasn't anything Harry could grab onto with his hand.
Deciding on a course of action, Harry just draped himself over the crumpled form and wrapped his arms over the wings and as much of his friend as possible, hanging on for dear life. Graham seemed to unclench slightly as the spells were prevented from trying to pull him apart with Harry and his magical robe completely covering him. Just to be safe, Harry made sure a corner of his robe specifically covered the gargoyle's face, magically spreading it out farther, because he definitely didn't want his friend to start panicking when he realized just what was hugging him.
Now, to get out…going forward was easier than going back since some of the transport spells did actually work. Harry hovered them both forward, shoving through the crashes of spells pulling them back and around and apart. After what seemed an eternity, they crashed down hard onto the wooden floor of a tall cabinet.
The gargoyle underneath Harry let out a weak groan and slightly shifted its scaly tail. The dementor took a deep breath, happy that Graham seemed to be alive at least. He was seriously going to have to talk to the Weasley twins. There was no way someone less indestructible than a gargoyle or a dementor could have survived that hellish trip without being ripped apart. While Graham seemed to still be coming to, Harry carefully opened the door of the cabinet and looked out.
Unfortunately, he knew exactly where they were. "Merlin's pants, can't we catch a break?!" He grumbled seeing the shrunken heads, dark tomes, and questionable talismans that could only be associated with Borgin and Burke's, even though he had only had the displeasure of experiencing the place once before.
At the sight of the dementor emerging from his cupboard, either Mr. Borgin or Mr. Burke, Harry wasn't sure which, gave a scream of terror and promptly passed out behind the counter. Luckily there were no customers at that moment, so Harry just hovered over to check that the older man was ok. He let out another sigh of relief when he realized the man was breathing…it was a little concerning how tasty his soul felt though…just how evil was the man anyway? Harry decided his decision on whether to eat the man or not could wait. He wasn't really hungry or injured, and he didn't want to just go about eating people because they would taste good and that probably meant they were evil.
A gasp behind him, turned Harry's attention from his ethical dilemma to check back in on a Montague now in human form. "Stay away!" Graham gasped, obviously searching in his pockets for his wand from where he was still halfway jammed into the cabinet.
"Winky!" Harry immediately called out, not wanting to deal with a panic attack when he couldn't communicate. He waited…and waited…and Graham had definitely found his wand and was trying to cast the patronus charm, with little success because of how shaken he was.
Harry sighed deeply, causing Montague to redouble his efforts. "I guess it makes sense for a dark artifact store to have some kind of ward to keep out house elves. Their clientele probably aren't very trustworthy, and definitely have elves," he remarked to himself. Now, how to pantomime who he was and that we wouldn't eat the teen before he was chased out into Knockturn Alley with a glowy creature of pain?
Having an idea, Harry raised both hands up in his best show of peace before sliding one hand slowly into his pocket. "Expecto patronum!" Montague yelled, and he didn't even get vapor again.
"It's me…Harry," he said as slowly and calmly as possible while he took out his lip balm and put it on his lips in a move that had become such a habit to Harry that Montague immediately stopped and took notice. "That's right…ignore the dementor, it's just me…Harry. See, vanilla lip balm, a dementor who wanted to eat you wouldn't be putting on vanilla lip balm, would he?" That wasn't entirely true, Harry could see Drake doing just that, but that was beside the point.
Next, he hovered until he sat cross-legged on the floor and put the lip balm between them while he also pulled out of his robes the very familiar looking locket that he had finally figured out how to make travel to his dementor form like the ring did. Graham looked at the little tube and the locket he'd seen a hundred times while he studied the dementor in front of him. "Harry?" He finally questioned.
Harry really tried not to make any sudden movements of joy, but instead nodded slowly as well. "Finally!" He sighed.
"You got me out of the cabinet? I thought I was going to die in there, The Slytherin shook his head and seemed to crumple more to the ground in relief. "Are we in Borgin and Burke's? How did that happen?"
Harry just shrugged and motioned to Graham's pocket. "What?" Harry motioned more since the teen wasn't getting it. Finally, he reached into the pocket and pulled out his galleon. "Oh, yeah, good idea," Graham smiled at his friend. "This is so strange…I thought you were a wendigo, and that was my best guess. I never would have guessed dementor."
Harry shrugged again. He really, really didn't like this whole having to talk in charades, especially since he didn't have a face to make expressions with to help. "Ok, it's set," Montague finally said after tapping the coin with his wand. "Er, we probably need to go outside because of the wards, but I may need some help standing…"
Harry quickly stood and hovered over to help. Graham instinctually shrank back. "Sorry, mate…oh hell," Graham grumbled and reached out to Harry who had also moved back in sadness instead of fear. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I'm just still getting used to you."
Slowly this time, Harry moved back over and helped his friend to stand. It seemed that one of his legs was probably broken, and he had several cuts and bruises visible. Harry figured there were more that were covered by his robes. He really was going to make the twins pay. Instead of helping him walk, Harry ended up just picking up Graham and hovering them both towards the entrance. Dementors might not be the strongest creatures, but they were much stronger than humans, so it wasn't too much of a strain.
"I feel ridiculous," the older teen chuckled as he was carried out of the store bridal-style by a dementor.
"You look it too," Matthew laughed from where he stood beside Snape in the alleyway.
"Salazar, couldn't they have gotten Hestia or David to come instead of you?" Graham fake glared at his Hufflepuff friend.
"He was the only one with his apparition license already," Snape rolled his eyes. "Are you all in one piece."
"Yeah, no thanks to that cabinet trying to dismember me though," he said as Harry slowly lowered him to his feet. "I think one of my legs is broken."
Quickly calculating, Snape maneuvered Matthew over to Harry who the Hufflepuff was still shying away from. "All right, before someone sees us, my notice-me-not charm isn't perfect," he instructed. "The veela takes the dementor. I'll take the gargoyle, and we'll meet up at the gates to the castle. I will need to carry Mr. Montague from there since the dementor should probably make himself invisible to keep from causing a stampede of terrified students." Harry held out an arm that Matthew tentatively took before they all disappeared from the alley.
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Harry was sitting, firmly back in Jamie, in the infirmary with the rest of the HSMC around Graham. "I can't believe the Gryffindor Golden Boy is a dementor," Malfoy grumbled for the twentieth time as he looked sideways across Neville at the teen.
Neville also punched his shoulder for the twentieth time as well. Harry just smiled though. "So…Draco, you know what I am now, that means you're going to tell me what you are, right?"
Draco only glared at him as Montague laughed in his slightly drugged up state from the bed. "I don't think Draco ever thought you'd actually tell."
"That was pretty awesome," Aceline grinned over at Harry and patted her injured housemate's arm comfortingly.
"I knew you had a hard head," Ginny chuckled from where she had an arm around Harry and patted his head.
"Hey! My hard head saved the day this time," Harry said in fake indignation.
"Yeah mate, imagine coming to after slamming around in a broken cupboard of death for almost an hour to a dementor standing over Mr. Burke looking like he was contemplating eating his soul.
Harry gave a little sheepish grin. "I may have considered it…but I didn't! I promise! Plus, you really need to work on your patronus charm. If I really were planning to eat you, you'd have been dead stupid fast."
"I believe it's time we all head out," Snape drawled from where he was watching Madam Pomfrey head their way.
"I appreciate you being supportive, but you all really must leave my patient to rest," she smiled at the HSMC but also firmly ushered them towards the door.
Harry, Neville, the Creevey brothers, and Eir peeled off from everyone else as they made their way back to the tower. "I can't believe you knocked out the twins, Ron, and Hermione," Harry smiled at Neville. "You know they're going to give you hell for that."
"Hermione put me in a full body bind and left me for hours in first year," Neville shrugged. "This is just payback."
"And the twins deserved it and more," Harry growled. "If it were anyone besides me or a gargoyle, I don't think they would have lived." The group was silent after that, contemplating just how close they had come to losing a friend from a stupid prank.
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"How's Montague?" Hermione asked from where she had been enervated and sat on the couch by the fire with Ron.
"Broken leg, a few cracked ribs, some really terrible bruises, and a few scrapes," Neville answered as the younger Gryffindors headed off to their friends.
Ron turned pale at the list of injuries. "That's horrible!" He had originally seemed to think the twins' prank was funny and harmless, he was clearly seeing the error in that thought now.
"Er, may I ask what you did to all of us, Nev?" Hermione tacked on after her look of outrage at what had happened to the Slytherin teen.
"He never got you back from that petrificus totalus our first year," Harry answered with a shrug. "Now you're even."
Hermione didn't seem to like that answer, but neither Neville nor Harry looked ready to expand further. "Did you happen to see the twins?" She ended up asking instead.
"They're probably still unconscious in the hallway. Unfortunately, not my doing," Harry stood with a stretch. "I get them tomorrow though, so give them a bit of a wide berth. I'm going to bed…you staying with Jamie tonight, Nev?" Harry asked.
"Yup!" Neville smiled at him. "Drop him off in my bed, will you?"
"Sure thing," Harry said as he went upstairs to get his body ready for bed.
"I really don't even recognize my life anymore," Ron groaned and shook his head. "Try to leave my brothers a few brain cells!" He called to his retreating friend who just waved a hand dismissively back.
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The next day, Fred and George quickly learned that instead of seeking Harry out, they should be doing their best to avoid him. Any time they got close to their friend, a wave of terror and sadness hit them both, and Harry seemed to be everywhere. He was outside of their classes, sitting close to them in the Great Hall, across from them in the common room, and refused to talk to them no matter what they tried. He only glared as they felt worse and worse. "We really didn't know, Harry," Fred protested for the millionth time.
"It was just a laugh," George added, causing a harsher wave of terror to hit them.
"Er, we should maybe go," both twins eventually rushed off as the green-eyed teen stared them down scarily.
"You done yet?" Ron asked in a huff as he and Hermione approached their friend. "I don't want to get caught in the revenge."
"I'm actually having a good day, let's not ruin it," Hermione hummed as she looked over an essay she had just gotten back with a happy "O" in red ink on the top.
"Yeah, they're too far away now," Harry sighed wistfully. "I'll get them again later. Hey, I'm going to go check in on Montague after dinner. Wanna join?"
"Mate, I don't even know Montague," Ron looked at him worriedly. "How do you? Outside of quidditch, that is?"
"Remedial Potions, of course," Harry raised an eyebrow like they should have already known that. "He's a tutor…my tutor actually." For the sake of their cover story, they did actually have assigned tutors, and Graham had been paired with him for whatever reason Snape had happened to get into his head.
"Oh, I didn't know that," Hermione looked sad at that. "Give him our best wishes then, ok?"
"'Course, Hermione," Harry grinned at her.
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Harry stopped just inside the door to the infirmary to stare in shock at the large, black grim that was curled up beside the Slytherin chaser and letting the teen scratch him behind his ears. "Harry!" Graham exclaimed happily. "It's so good to see someone besides Madam Pomfrey! Look, Severus's dog came to keep me company!"
Harry looked suspiciously at Padfoot who just glanced his way before closing his eyes in ecstasy at the head scratches again. "How're you feeling, Graham?"
"Ah, much better. Madam Pomfrey said I can leave before curfew tonight. I really think I was good to go last night though," the gargoyle sighed. "I heal fast you know."
"Did anyone get you your homework and notes?" Harry asked as Hermione always did that for him when he was in the infirmary.
"Yes, mum," Graham rolled his eyes and laughed. "Some housemates got everything for me."
"I'm so sorry about what happened…" Harry started.
"Which you had nothing to do with…" Graham interrupted, knowing his friend's tendencies already.
The dementor shrugged, not really caring at this point. He loved the twins dearly, but they had to learn that their actions had consequences.
"Hey, you get Draco to tell you yet?" Graham grinned.
"No," Harry wrinkled his nose in disappointment. "I don't know what the big deal is. I'm the bloody dementor. Whatever he is can't be worse."
Graham thought for a minute. "Not worse…just unexpected maybe."
"I'll get it out of him eventually," Harry rolled his eyes, hating the suspense. "I'm going to head out. You need anything?"
"Just to leave," the dark skinned teen grinned. "I'm good besides that, mate. See you Thursday?"
"Yeah, see you Thursday," Harry nodded and stood.
Sirius jumped down off the bed and made to follow him suddenly. "I'm heading to see Dumbledore," Harry muttered to the dog. "You come with me. You're heading back to the dungeons." Sirius just gave him a nod and followed him out and through the castle.
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"Harry! My boy! Have you heard how Mr. Montague is doing?" Dumbledore asked as soon as Harry opened Snape's portrait door for himself and Padfoot.
"He's ok, he's just ready to get out of the infirmary, same as anyone stuck there," Harry grinned at the scene of Dumbledore pouring tea in a cup for Snape as they both sat at the small kitchen table.
"He seemed to be healing well," Sirius added in as he regained his human form.
"What were you doing hanging out with a Slytherin anyway? Aren't you supposed to be prejudiced?" Harry asked with a cross of his arms and a smile.
"He gives me bacon at breakfast," Harry's godfather mumbled sheepishly before he crashed down on the couch.
"Ah yes, I've heard that bacon mends all differences," Dumbledore said with a wise nod of his head and a twinkle in his eye.
"Head…er, Albus, I was wondering if you had any leads on the rest of the horcruxes?" Harry joined Sirius on the couch where he immediately pulled the afghan down and around himself to help with the intense cold.
"Our guess is that there were seven and the main soul piece," Severus drawled as he marked a large, red "T" on a student's essay.
"That's…horrifying!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Yes, it is. Slughorn seemed to think Tom was looking into a seven-part soul. I do not believe Harry was done intentionally," Dumbledore explained.
"How did you get all that out of that pompous twit?" The animagus growled in frustration.
"I can be very persuasive, mutt," Snape sneered darkly.
"I already told you, I don't know that I approve of your persuasive methods," Dumbledore sighed and pulled a shortbread from a tin. "I was hoping you would just ask him."
Everyone looked at the man in disbelief. "I got results, Albus. That's what we need. This is war," the vampire ominously licked his fangs and Harry shivered. He wasn't sure what Snape had done to Slughorn, but he was positive he didn't want to know.
"Anyway, that means we only have two and the main piece now," the elderly man said with a huff. "Plus, he's probably still after the prophesy…we need to keep an eye on the ministry. Maybe if he can't get Harry there, he'll finally reveal his presence, and the minister will take our warnings seriously."
"You sure you don't want me to just go get the prophesy?" Harry asked again.
"I would rather Tom be trying to get into the ministry than Hogwarts," Dumbledore shook his head. "Especially since I pulled the Order members from protection duty. He has all the space he needs now to put his foot in it by walking into the ministry himself."
Harry shrugged with a grin. "I still have a couple months before his scheduled attack anyway. He always waits until exams." All the adults just looked at the smirking teen like he'd gone crazy, but they also couldn't tell him he was wrong.
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It was just a couple weeks later when a large, regal eagle owl swooped down towards the Gryffindor table at dinner…which was almost unheard of outside of the normal mail time at breakfast. "Isn't that Malfoy's owl?" Neville asked as it landed in front of Harry.
They all turned to look at the Slytherin table, but Malfoy was just looking at the owl in confusion too and gave them a little shrug. Well, he didn't have a part in whatever this was. Sirius trotted over in concern from the head table where McGonagall had been feeding him sausages to right behind Harry.
The letter was in elegant, bone white parchment with a red seal on the back. On second look, it wasn't a seal, but a stain. "Is that…?" Hermione asked, looking over Harry's shoulder.
Neville pulled the letter from Harry's hand to study it. "It's blood," he finally said confidently and with some trepidation.
"Right, I'm definitely not opening this in the Great Hall then," Harry took the letter back and stood. "I'll come tell you all about it in a jiff," he said as he walked up to the head table and nodded towards Snape.
Harry, Padfoot, and Severus ended up heading straight down to the potions master's chambers. "Where's Albus?" Harry asked, looking around the empty room.
"He's not here constantly," Snape sneered. "He went to a meeting with the ICW and will be back tomorrow. What is so important that it needed to disturb my dinner?"
Harry handed over the letter. "It came from the Malfoy's owl, and Neville says the reddish stain is blood."
"It is most definitely…and one I vaguely recognize as well," Snape took a deep breath in, smelling the envelope. "It has a gamey touch…not quite human…Lupin?"
"Moony!" Sirius shot up into his human form. "Give me that!" He snatched the letter and immediately opened it."
The vampire hissed at him. "Idiot! What if it was cursed? You checked nothing!"
"Then I'd be out of your hair," Sirius answered off-hand as he opened the letter.
"What's it say?!" Harry tried to read over the taller man's shoulder.
"Merlin, no!" The man sighed out in fear and sadness. "He's got Moony!"
"What does he want from Potter?" Snape asked as Harry ripped the letter out of his godfather's hands to read.
"The prophecy. He wants him to meet him at the ministry. Tonight…a trade, Moony for the prophecy," Sirius explained, a look of utter dejection on his face. "Merlin, I can only imagine what he's doing to him."
"He'll keep him alive at least," Snape nodded and took off his teaching robes to hang them on a peg. He then dug through the other robes on the pegs before he eventually pulled out something that could only be Death Eater robes.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked in concern while Snape looked around for his mask.
"I don't know…losing the last of my sanity probably since I plan to go save the wolf," the man sneered at himself in disgust.
"I'm coming!" Sirius exclaimed and pulled his wand out.
"You're a liability, mutt," Snape protested, kindlier than his words would indicate alone. "You're wanted by everyone and less sane than a pixie on a sugar-high. Stay here, I can get in and get out without anyone realizing. That does happen to be my job. If I don't get back before midnight, floo to Grimmauld and gather as many of the Order as you can."
Sirius grabbed Snape's arm as he pushed past to run out the door. "Snape…be safe…ok?" He said, seeming to surprise himself. Snape gave him a quick nod before rushing out the door and down the hallway.
"How about we try to send an owl to Dumbledore?" Sirius asked, anxiety lining his face.
"Sure," Harry smiled at him broadly, causing the man to be very suspicious. "Oh, and Padfoot…"
"Yeah?"
"Catch…!" Harry immediately dropped Jamie, which narrowly missed hitting the hard floor as Sirius dove to catch the falling body. Harry was already gone though. He ghosted through the wall and several more stone walls, cutting a straight line through the castle instead of even taking the secret passages. If Snape was going to put himself in danger, Harry figured he could at least stand there in front of Remus or Snape and catch any killing curses that might be fired their way. Now, he just had to find a running vampire wearing all black in the dark before he apparated…well, at least Harry didn't need light, or eyes, to see.
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Harry landed solidly on his back in front of the ministry. "You stupid dementor! I could have splinched you! You don't grab onto someone when they're about to apparate!" Snape yelled at the teen in anger and worry.
"I'm a dementor…I can't be splinched," Harry stood, still a bit sore. He probably would have been splinched if he wasn't a dementor, that was pretty clear.
"I can't understand you for the last time!" The other man growled again.
With a huff of frustration, Harry pulled a piece of parchment and quill out of his pocket. He always kept it in his dementor robes after not being able to talk to Montague and having to use pantomime. "I'll stay invisible and out of your way. I'm only here as a dementor shield against killing curses, or maybe to eat Bellatrix," Harry mumbled as he wrote.
Snape snatch the paper and read it quickly. He gave the boy a quick nod. "As long as you stay out of my way and jump in front of anything green coming my direction. Don't eat the Dark Lord though, he still has two horcruxes."
"Couldn't I just eat them after him?" Harry snatched the paper back to write.
Snape looked at him steadily as he really considered it. "I don't actually know…I guess…yes, eat him if you get the chance," he finally decided with a nod. "We'll make Albus figure it out from there. Now…time to go invisible."
Harry nodded and immediately disappeared from view. He was going to make sure Moony was safe and would be able to live a long time to drive Sirius to, hopefully, sanity. Yeah, and protect Snape too. It would be a pain to have to break in another advisor for the HSMC, and he did always ask the elves for good snacks.
"Keep that aura in until the last minute," Snape opened the door to the telephone booth visitor's entrance to the ministry. "Complaint to the Aurors," he said to the disembodied voice as an excuse to get them in.
Two shiny badges popped out of the machine. One read "Complainer" and the other one said "Dementor Shield." Snape rolled his eyes and handed over the second badge to his invisible companion. Harry happily penned the shiny object to his robes beside the locket, former diadem bracelet, and ring. He was one very happy dementor.
A/N: Thanks for reading and please vote and comment!