Chapter 127: True Seer (1/2)
”There was three people in that dark room, including Voldemort. They got an owl and after reading it, the tallest man among them was happy. He said everything is fine. Vodemort said he's greatful to find a friend like him... and said.... he'll soon feed his snake... he'd be feeding me to it... then Voldemort laughed a high pitch laugh and my scar hurt... It woke me up, it hurt so badly.” Harry sighed.
Hermione gasped.
Ron looked uncomfortable and worried.
Colin looked a little bit scared.
Ginny looked very surprised.
”And Dumbledore said...?” Chris asked patiently.
They all were sitting in the Gryffindor tower, and Harry just returned from Dumbledore's office, after a scar hurting session in Divination class.
”Dumbledore believes that my scar hurts both when Lord Voldemort is near me, and when he is feeling a particularly strong surge of emotion.” Harry replied.
”But.. why?” Hermione asked.
”Because we're connected by this scar.. by that failed killing curse...”
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”Oh.”
”How's your training going on, Harry? The third task.” Chris asked.
”Er...” Harry looked very surprised. ”I think it's going well.”
”Good.” Chris nodded. ”Be careful in the third task.”
”Why?”
”Because it's going to be dangerous, I think.” Chris sighed. ”You should prepare for everything. Don't think Hagrid will go easy on the champions.”
”True.” Harry tried to smile.
”I can help you with some advance spells if you want.”
”Really?” Harry asked looking shocked.
”If you want.” Chris said rolling her eyes.
”Ok. Ok. Thank you.” Harry grinned.
”Good.” Chris smiled a little.
So as everyone started to study for their exams, Chris taught Harry some good defensive spells. Harry asked Ron and Hermione to go and study for their exams and Chris asked Ginny, Colin and Luna to do the same. To utilize her time, Chris usually gave Harry a spell to work on, while she studied Astronomy or Herbology for her exams. This way she thought she'll do fine in exams, which would finish on the day of the third task, one week before the end of term.
The mood in the castle as they entered June became excited and tense again. Professor McGonagall had given them permission to use the empty Transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes. Harry was practicing his shield charm but it wasn't strong enough.
”C'mon Harry, concentrate. Shielding charm can save your life.” Chris said seriously. ”You've seen that at the first task. If the shielding charm is strong enough, it can stop Dragon flames too.”
”Right.” Harry said looking a little bit embarrassed.
”Look, Harry. I'm not saying this because I can produce it.” Chris calmed her voice. ”I'm saying it because I know you can do this. You've already produced the perfect Patronus. Didn't you?”
”Yeah but I've not used it on Dementors and it'll be difficult in their presence.” Harry sighed.
”Relax. Let's take a break.” Chris said sitting near the window.
”Good idea.” Harry said sitting beside her. ”I'm tired.”
”I know.”
”What's Malfoy doing?” Harry said suddenly looking out of the window.
Chris turned and looked outside the window. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. Malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it.
”He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie,” said Harry curiously.
”You can't use those things inside Hogwarts and also I don't think Malfoy even knows what a walkie-talkie is.” Chris replied.
”So what's he doing?”
”No idea. But you know now when I think about it, few days ago I saw Pansy Parkinson doing the same thing near the lake.” Chris said. ”This is weird.”
Exam week began and an unnatural hush fell over the castle. First day they had Transfiguration and Charms. Chris, Ginny and Colin did a great job in both exams. Chris was confident that they'll get highest marks in the class. In Transfiguration they had to transform a flower vase to a bird and in Charms they had to do the cheering charm. After dinner, the students hurried back to their common rooms, not to relax, but to start studying for Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, and Astronomy. Chris was mostly preparing for Astronomy that night.
Hagrid gave them a Niffler and Fire Crab and asked few questions about the creatures. It was the easiest exam. Then most difficult one: Potions. As expected Snape gave them the most difficult potion in their year, daydreaming potion. But Chris was prepared, so as Ginny and Colin. By the look of Snape's unpleasant face, Chris was sure the three of them are getting good marks. Then came Astronomy at midnight, up on the tallest tower. History of Magic on Wednesday morning, in which Chris scribbled every answer perfectly. Ginny also did good but Colin wasn't sure he wrote the right answers. Then at afternoon they had Herbology. Thanks to Neville, Chris's exams were not that bad. Next morning they had Defence Against the Dark Arts exams and Chris had Ancient Runes. Moody almost made them duel each other and in Ancient Runes, Professor Babbling gave them few new charts to write the meanings of those Runes. Last day Chris and Colin had Divination and Ginny had Muggle studies; which was also the day of the third task, twenty-fourth june.
Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor table on the morning of the third task. A screech owl arrived for Chris and another one arrived for Hermione, carrying thier morning copy of the Daily Prophet as usual. They were sitting together that day. Everyone was wishing Harry all the best but Chris was feeling weird. She had a feeling like something bad is going to happen. To hide her this discomfort, she unfolded the paper and tried to disappeared behind it but...
”Here we go again.” Chris groaned.
There was a big picture of Harry, and beneath the banner headline:
HARRY POTTER
”DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS”
Hermione spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice, looking at the front page.
”What is it?” Ginny asked.
”Nothing,” said Hermione quickly, giving a meaningful look towards Chris.
”What is it, Chris?” Harry repeated.
Chris sighed.
”He'll be alright, Hermione.” Chris said unfolding the paper on the table.
HARRY POTTER
”DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS”
The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behavior, which casts doubts upon his suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School.
Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming that his scar was hurting too badly to continue studying.
It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potter's brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You-Know-Who, and that his insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion.
”He might even be pretending,” said one specialist. ”This could be a plea for attention.”
The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the Wizarding public.
”Potter can speak Parseltongue,” reveals Draco Malfoy, a Hogwarts fourth year. ”There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do anything for a bit of power.”
Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue ”as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers.” Similarly, ”anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence.”
Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening.