I finally do something useful
HARRY: I had lost all of my patience.
I'd written so many letters to Sirius and Remus, telling them about the strange things that had been happening to me. Of course I didn't tell them the full story, but I had given them the big picture: something was wrong in the wizarding world, and I was having visions. My scar hurt almost all of the time now and it was only getting worse.
This week Nico and I hadn't gathered much information. He was supposed to meet with me later tonight and exchange information, but I doubted he'd have anything new. He had instructed that I followed Jason and gathered information all week, and I had. He was a werewolf. I didn't even know if he was really apart of all of this, the only reason I was following him was because Nico had seen Jason's name in Nico's book.
Jason wasn't anything suspicious, so far. I hadn't had much of a chance to follow him. I was busy with classes and whatnot. All I'd gathered so far was that he wasn't much of a people person.
I had suspected that he was a werewolf due to the fact that he face became paler every day, and the full moon was this weekend; today now. I didn't know anything else about him. I had a feeling that Nico just wanted me out of his hair so he could gather information about Will. I didn't understand why he was so obsessed with him, just this week alone Nico had concluded that Will could heal people with his hands and he was having visions, just like us. Personally, I thought he could give the boy some space so we could find information on the others, so we could find the others!
I sat in front of the fire, waiting for an explanation. I was frustrated.
"You've had time to write letters to Jason, but I'm guessing you haven't even opened any of mine. I'll bet you and Sirius haven't even thought of writing back to my letters!"
Remus nodded, patiently.
"I understand your frustration, Harry. We've just been awfully busy. You said your scar was hurting again?"
"Yes. I've said it multiple times." I answered.
He paused, his figure flickering in the fireplace.
"Have you considered expressing your concerns to Dumbledore?"
"I've tried!" I truly had. "Dumbledore has been locked away in his office all week. He doesn't even look at me in the halls, it's like he's ignoring me."
Remus thought for a moment. I interrupted his thinking.
"Jason mentioned that you sent a black dog to help him out on the full moon." I recalled. "Don't tell me..."
Remus lowered his voice.
"Sirius insisted on visiting you. I urged him to stay back, but he said he'd stay as snuffles the entire time. He wanted to talk with you."
I felt guilty, now. Sirius was risking his life by coming here to talk to me.
"We weren't ignoring your letters, Harry. We just wanted to talk, face to face."
Remus looked exhausted. The full moon did that to him. Now I felt guiltier for keeping him up when he so desperately needed to rest.
"I'll find Sirius, I reckon he's outside of the common room waiting for someone to open the door. I doubt he wants to talk to the fat lady again, their encounter didn't go so well last time." I said. Remus smiled.
"I'll see you, Harry. And I promise that you can visit soon, a lot more things will make sense the next time I see you. There are just things that we have to discuss face to face. Goodbye, Harry."
"Goodnight."
I sensed that there were a lot of things Remus and Sirius knew about this situation that I did. Heck, maybe they could answer some of the many questions I had. Maybe I could tell them about what Nico and I have been up to this week? Then again, maybe that idea was a bit far-fetched.
***
I didn't even have to step three feet out of the common room and I was attacked, I fell to the ground in alarm. Something had pounced on my, pushing me to the floor.
My immediate instinct was to grab my wand. After I realized who my attacked was, I relaxed. I even let out a laugh.
My attacker was a big, black dog. He had pounced on me in excitement, and was now panting as he drooled on my face.
"Ugh, gerroff! Sirius, get off of me!" I laughed. He jumped off and pitter-pattered his way into the common room. Somehow, the fat lady had slept through all of this. I was relieved.
As soon as I shut the door, Sirius was standing before me, no longer a dog.
"Harry, son. Good to see you!" He opened his arms. I rolled my eyes and hugged him.
"I would say the same, but I'm still wiping bits of your dog slobber off of my face." I released the hug and wiped my face into my robes.
Sirius made himself at home, sprawling out on the sofa.
"The decorations in this place haven't changed a bit since I went to school here. Ah, look! There's where James and I carved our names into the fireplace." Sure enough, on the corner of the fireplace were two small initials.
"J.P + S.B" were written with a heart around it. How had I never noticed that before?
"We did that in our fourth year when Dumbledore had a Halloween ball and neither James nor I could get a date. We went together, telling everyone that we were each other's dates as a joke. Remus went with some mousey looking girl, I forget her name—I bet Remus does too, he was a bit intoxicated. Peter didn't want to go." One moment Sirius was reminiscing, then the second he mentioned Peter's name, his face recoiled in disgust. "That rat bastard."
"Right there, at that very chess table, is where your mother hexed James for the very first time. It was Christmas Eve in our third year, James had put a semi-permanent sticking charm on the bottom of some mistletoe and threw in in the air as a joke, saying whoever it landed on would be his new year's kiss. He hadn't meant for it to land on Lily, she already despised him enough at that point. When James looked away, I caught it by the top and threw it at her. In the middle of her little chess game, it landed right on the center of her forehead. He still doesn't know it was me who threw it at her. Next thing you know, James was throwing up slugs and Lily was shouting words at him that a third year probably shouldn't have known. Good times." Sirius closed his eyes and leaded back on the pillow.
"Where was Remus during all of this?" I asked.
"Remus acted as our mediator and he was about half of James and I's impulse control. He visited his family that Christmas break, and when he came back to James having a black eye he never left school during Christmas break again."
Now, I was shocked.
"My mum punched my dad in third year? She punched him in the eye?" I asked.
"Oh, heaven's no! That was Snivellus who'd done that. After he heard about the mistletoe incident he was furious."
My hatred for Snape grew even more in that moment.
I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I kept my invisibility cloak in my pocket all week in case I'd have to do any sneaking around. Thankfully, I had it then. I threw it on top of Sirius before the person entering the room could see him.
"Ron?" I asked. He seemed surprised.
"Oh, hey Harry."
I nudged Sirius in the side.
"It's just Ron, you don't have to hide now."
Sirius threw the cloak at me.
"Have you even washed that thing since your father had it? It still smells like his stupid hair potion. That's something I didn't want to remember." Sirius gagged. I stuffed the cloak back into my robe's pocket.
"Oh, Sirius. Hello." Ron greeted. He forced a smile, but he didn't really seem all that pleased.
Of course he wasn't pleased, his twin brothers are being sent off to St. Mungo's. Who would be pleased in that situation?
"How are Fred and George?" I asked, "I'm sorry about what happened to them."
Ron shrugged it off. He tried not to seem bothered, but it was obvious he was worried.
"Ginny and mum are worried sick. Even Bill and Charlie have come home to visit them. I don't know how they're doing, truthfully. I feel just awful about it all." He admitted.
He took a seat beside Sirius on the couch.
"I was actually with Molly this morning. She went off in a rush, leaving our meeting altogether to go off to Hogwarts and see the twins. She was a mess." Sirius said.
"Wait, you were with Mrs. Weasley this morning, why?" I asked.
Sirius pretended to zip his lips, then flicked away an imaginary key.
"You'll find out soon enough, a bit of a meeting. Molly wasn't the only other one there."
I chose not to question it, as I had too much to question right now.
"No offense, Sirius, but why are you here?" Ron asked. He looked just as exhausted as Remus had in the fire.
"Just to catch up with my godson," Sirius turned to me. "Enough chitchat. You wrote saying your scar has been hurting, yes? What's going on, Harry?" Sirius asked.
Where would I start? I didn't know. The situation was a mess.
We spoke first about the strange happenings in the muggle world. The strange occurrences with torches left behind at every seen. Those had been happening all summer, and there hadn't been a new case all week. I expressed my concerns about the situation to Sirius.
"So, what do you think about it all?" I asked. "I mean, I know Voldemort is bound to return. I saw him myself in that graveyard and nobody listened. It can't be a coincidence that all of this happened as my scar started hurting, what do you think about it?" I asked.
Sirius stared for a long moment. Only minutes ago when he had been talking about his old memories with my mum, dad, and Remus, he had seemed more full of life. Now, he looked older. He looked close to breaking, his eyes were dark. It was how he had looked when he first escaped Azkaban.
"I think that you've been through a lot. It's understandable to have these concerns, Harry. But every unfortunate thing that happens doesn't have you-know-who's name written on it." He stared into the fire, as of expecting it to speak the answer to him. "I think that the people are scared. There have been rebels who are against the ministry, Harry. And these rebels are trying to get the people to worry. They want the people aware of the danger we are facing. My theory was that some of these situations could have been staged, purely to invoke fear upon the people, to show them that something is indeed wrong."
I hadn't thought of it that way. Could these events be caused by somebody who was on my side?
"Wait, no. That can't be it." I pointed out. "Originally, nobody was hurt in these attacks. Nobody was hurt into the attackers found Nico Di Angelo's house, and his parents were killed in the torch's fire." It made sense. Whoever was doing this had to be the villain.
Sirius shrugged. He picked up a piece of lint from the floor and threw it into the fire.
"I think whoever did those acts isn't associated with You-know-who. They were well thought out plans, nobody was meant to be hurt. You-know-who wouldn't care if a few lives were tossed away. They made a mistake which cost that boy's parents their lives, and they decided to stop. They felt they had gotten their message across."
Sirius's theory did make sense, but it still make me wonder who in their right mind would commit these acts just to prove a point?
Ron didn't give his input, he was probably afraid I'd shout at him again just like I had the other day. I felt bad, now. Just because he wasn't a huge fan of Nico didn't mean I had to push him away. I wasn't Nico Di Angelo's number one fan either, I only trusted him.
"Why did you come down here, Ron? You should get some rest, you've had a long day."
Ron pulled another piece of lint off the couch and did what Sirius did, he threw it in the fire.
"I'm going with mum and dad to St. Mungo's for the weekend. Ginny's coming as well. They're waiting in the hospital wing for me and I'm going with them. I was asked to invite you along as well, and Nico may have to come with us since he's under my mum and dad's care. But you don't have to come with us if you don't want, I understand." Ron explained.
"I'm going to go upstairs to pack my things, I'll be back. Like I said, you don't have to go." Ron left to pack his things before I could even answer.
Sirius had ran out of lint to throw in the fire, his pile had become empty. There was a bit on the couch that had hole, loose cotton hung out of it. He started throwing bits and pieces of the cotton into the fire now.
As Ron left, a new face entered the room. Nico, who had apparently been sitting ok the couch, took his invisibility cap off.
"Hello."
I nearly jumped out of my chair. Sirius clumsily threw the cloak over himself, looking like quite a fool with his feet sticking out.
"It's fine, Sirius. He's cool."
Sirius cautiously uncovered himself.
"Hello, you're Sirius Black, accused murderer. I'm Nico Di Angelo, also an accused murderer. If you've read the prophet lately, their newest story is that I set fire to my own house, killing my own parents. Load of rubbish." Nico stuck his hand out to Sirius. Sirius shook his hand while barely touching it, like it was a hot potato.
"Nico, no offense but what are you doing here?" I asked.
"I can hear Leo Valdez snoring a dorm away. Can't sleep. Plus, we need to talk. Mind wrapping up this little reunion?" Nico suggested.
Sirius dusted off his clothes as he stood. He looked bothered, I was too. I had a feeling there was more he wanted to discuss. We couldn't in front of Nico.
"I'll see you, son." Sirius pulled me into one last hug before he left.
"See you."
He pulled powder out of his pocket. Floo powder. With that, he was gone, into the fire and away.
Nico kicked his feet on the table and crossed his arms behind his head.
"Any information on Jason?" Nico asked.
I scoffed. "Well, apart from the fact that he's a werewolf, no. But you already knew that, didn't you? How long have you been sitting there, listening in on this conversation?"
He shrugged. "Since Jason Grace started talking to that guy in the fire. So yeah, I've been here for all of it. That's seriously all you got on Jason. He's a werewolf? That's nothing. What's his power, how is he connected in all of this?" Nico asked. He continued Sirius's job of tossing chunks of cotton into the fire.
"You haven't been much of a help! You're the one who ordered me to follow Jason in the first place, just because you saw his name in Will's journal. All you've done this week is follow Will around with your stupid invisibility cap, which isn't accomplishing anything more!"
Nico chuckled to himself.
"Let's see...this week, I've witnessed Will healing somebody with his hands, with my own eyes. I've heard him say out loud to some girl that he's having visions. Also, I heard that girl say out loud that she had been having visions as well. In fact, they had visions about EACH OTHER! Furthermore, I heard these two confirm that their other friend who had been hospitalized after passing out in the Gryffindor common room, has been having visions as well. I've also heard this girl say out loud to her friend that she had suddenly gained the ability to summon precious metals from underground, and she had somehow been able to manipulate the minds of her classmates, causing them to disregard the seizing twins, Fred and George Weasley, who had somehow been poisoned by gold: a precious metal. Continuing on from that information, this girl made me realize that I have more abilities than teleporting through shadows, I can also sense death. This girl has died." Nico left me in silence. I was dumbfounded.
"Additionally, these two girls are the very girls that we sat with for a short while on the Hogwarts express. Annabeth Chase, sixth year Ravenclaw. Hazel Levesque, fourth year Hufflepuff. Hazel is the one who has powers, and she may have unintentionally or intentionally poisoned the Weasley twins with gold. Her sidekick is a little Niffler, I think it's called. They're attracted to shiny things, so it's only natural the animal would want to be friends with a human magnet. All of this I found out by, how you put it, 'wasting time by following that Will boy around.' Maybe you're the one wasting time, Harry? I only suggested that Jason may be a part of this, I never forced you to follow him around. If you don't think he's one of them, them why don't you stop wasting time?"
Nico had won.
He spun his wand between his fingers. He smirked, satisfied with himself. Nico summoned a chess piece from the very chess board where Sirius said my mother had hexed my father the first time. Nico tossed me the chess piece, a king.
"Check, mate."
"Okay, I think you've proven your point melodramatically enough." I complained.
Nico took a bow.
"Alright. So far, we have four people who we know don't belong here. You, Will, Hazel, and Annabeth. Possibly Jason. We need to find the others, there are four more people we need to find. We need to do so by the end of this week, okay?" I said.
Nico nodded, tossing the chess piece back at the board.
"Sounds like a plan. Fill me in on any other visions you have, we're in for a long week."
With a snap of his fingers, Nico was gone. He did his weird shadow teleportation thing. I don't think she snap was a necessary part of the teleporting. He liked to be dramatic, I'd gathered.
"Hey," Ron walked down the stairs with a bag in his hand. "I'm heading to St. Mungos now, okay? If you want to come then that'd be fine. You don't have to."
"Yeah, I'll go."
Maybe if I visited Fred and George, Nico and I could figure out if what happened to them was Hazel's fault or not. I could accomplish something this week, maybe even more than Nico.