' Terror of Europe dead at 111!'
' Geller Grindelwald was found dead in his cell in Nurmengard prison yesterday. He had been locked away in his once fortress since his duel against Albus Dumbledore in 1945.
The Prime Minister of Germany, Grimhilda Drouft, had this to say.
" With the death of this terrorist, we can finally close the doors on this evil chapter of our history. The wounds are not healed, and never shall be, but at least we know that justice was done"
Cont. pg 6'
Accompanying the headline was a picture of Grindlewald, apparently taken just last year.
He didn't look like much.
He was baring the few teeth he had left in a feral grin, pulling his skin against his cheekbones as if challenging the photographer.
He didn't look like much unless you looked into his eyes.
Harry shivered, putting down the paper.
' Something about his eyes. Reminds me of the Dark Lord'
"Almost fifty years in there! I'm surprised he didn't kill himself"
"He would not have"
Harry looked across the table, to the Durmstrang student who had just spoken. Ivan.
Harry didn't know him, really. He'd gotten a feel for his other fellow Death Eaters from Durmstrang, but hadn't had much of a chance to speak to Ivan.
"Why not?"
"He was too honorable. A great man, he was"
"Great? How dare you?"
Viktor was standing up, a very similar expression on his face to the one he had worn when he faced the dragon. Even though he spoke quietly, his words cracked like a whip, turning faces all around the Slytherin table.
Ivan too stood. He made a fist and hit the left side of his chest with it.
He stared down Viktor, and just as quietly, just as dangerously, he said.
"Für das größere wohl"
Krum's wand snapped forward. He didn't shout an incantation.
He didn't need to.
Ivan flew backward, hitting the wall.
Someone at one of the other tables screamed.
"Für das größere wohl? Für das größere wohl? My grandfather, für das größere wohl? kak smeete da kazvate tova?"
Krum raised his wand, starting to jab it when it flew out of his hand.
He spun around, to see Karkaroff having caught it.
The Highmaster stared at him for a moment, cold fury written across his face. He jerked his head towards the entrance and said.
"Follow"
Head held high, Krum obeyed.
Someone resuscitated Ivan, and he too left the Great Hall.
When the conversation started up again a few minutes later, and the Great Hall was once more filled with the sound of hundreds of voices, Harry leaned over and asked Olga, "what the fuck was that about?"
"Ivan was being stupid," she said, with a dismissive flick of her hair. "Krum has not been silent of his hatred for those of us who praise Grindelwald's actions. Of course, he would get upset. And he is the far better wizard of the pair"
"Why does he hate Grindelwald so much? And what was he saying? Fur das something?"
"Für das größere wohl. Grindelwald's slogan. It means for the greater good. And Krum's grandfather was politician and powerful wizard. He fought against Grindelwald for long. But Grindelwald honored him and killed him personally. So Viktor hates him for that"
"Huh"
' I wonder how many people are going to hate me, one day. Does it even matter?'
' It's like I told Theo. Grindelwald should have wiped out the whole family. There'd be no one left to hate him. We won't make that mistake'
"What are you smiling about?"
"Just thinking about the future," Harry said innocently, grinning at Daphne.
The third term was always the most boring one of the year. In classes, the Professors would be much more focused on recapping the material they had covered in the previous two terms, as opposed to introducing totally new ideas. They did teach new ways of applying the old material, but it just wasn't as exciting as learning something entirely from scratch.
Boring as it usually would be, this year was an exception.
Even though the final task was still months away, it was all anyone was talking about. Theories on what it would be ran wild, of course, but so did betting pools and arguments between the schools over who would come out the champion.
The excitement was actually palpable, and as the days passed, it only grew and grew.
In the Slytherin Common Room, the excitement was altogether a different story.
"What do you think He's going to do? Ministry or Diagon?"
"Ministry," Harry said, "I'm sure of it. It'd be much more of a show of strength. Attacking the enemy at their base"
"Maybe," Draco said, voice low and confident. "But if it's Diagon, He'll get everyone scared"
"Exactly! And if they're all scared, if they think He'll come after them, they're gonna fight. But if He attacks the ministry, He makes it look like He's just fighting the government. What does the average wizard care about that?"
Draco just shook his head. "They're already all terrified of Him. They all will think He's coming after them. They just won't fight because they're cowards"
"I don't know," Harry said slowly. "I guess we'll have to see"
"How long do you think it'll go on for? The war?" Daphne asked.
"Depends on Dumbledore. We've got the drop on him, that's for sure. Just depends on what he'll do"
Silence stretched out between the group. On the other side of the common room, a group of first years was loudly playing gobstones.
Harry wasn't sure if he envied them or not.
' They aren't wondering what they'll do. Who they'll have to kill. Lucky them'
But at the same time, they weren't wondering who they would get to kill.
"What do you think your godfather will do?" Daphne asked suddenly.
Harry shrugged. "Probably try to keep me under lock and key. He'll join Dumbledore's Order, that's for sure. I probably won't get to leave the house over the summer"
"Bummer," Theo said.
"And he wants to meet me in Hogsmeade this weekend. He's trying to baby me, I fucking hate it"
"So tell him no"
He sighed. "I cant. I need him to trust me. To not suspect me at all. Otherwise, he might go to Dumbledore. And I can't risk that"
"You better not," Daphne said, stroking his shoulder.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine"
"It'll be fine? After you tell me that you won't see me for the whole summer, it'll be fine?" Her tone was light, but the recrimination was real.
"I'll make it up to you"
"Oh, really?"
"In fact," he said, standing up and stretching a hand out to her, "let me show you a hidden room I found"
"Lead the way"
The walked out of the common room, ignoring the jealous stares.
"Glad you could meet me today, I wasn't sure if you'd want to come with your girlfriend or not. Figured I'd ask anyway"
"Na, it's cool. We came together, and if there's time when we're finished I'll meet up with her again"
Sirius cleared his throat. "How was it at the Malfoys?"
"It was good, thanks. How've you been? How's Remus?"
A shadow seemed to cross his face for a second, making him look as he had in his Azkaban photos.
"Remus is-good. He's busy at the moment but good"
"Busy? What's he doing? I thought he can't get a job cause of the laws?"
"Yeah. He, uh-" Sirius seemed to notice that he was scratching the table, and clasped his hands together. "Dumbledore, uh, asked him to make contact with some of the packs. There's been some very, disturbing rumors"
"Rumors? Like what?"
Sirius sighed. "A lot of former Death Eaters have been meeting again. And there's been some weird stuff going on. Just need to make sure that everything's ok. That-that Voldemort isn't coming back"
Heart racing, Harry managed to keep his voice normal when he asked. "You think he is?"
"I don't want to. But yeah, I think so. Too many coincidences, otherwise. Somethings definitely going on"
' Sound nervous. Sound afraid'
"What else is Dumbledore doing? How-how are we preparing?"
"He's sending people to speak to a lot of the magical creatures. I think he'll send Hagrid to the giants, don't know who's gonna go to the vampires. We need to get them on our side. And he's trying to get a spy inside"
"It's really happening. He's coming back. You're sure?"
Sirius nodded, face set and grin.
' I need to let Him know'
"And that's why I was so worried when you went to the Malfoys. I really wish you had written. I was losing my mind, Harry"
"The Malfoys-"
"Have been great friends to you, I know. It doesn't stop me from worrying. You're just a kid, Harry. And you're an enemy to the Death Eaters"
"I can take care of myself. I have, my whole life"
Sirius winced at that, his whole body flinching back.
' And I'm not exactly their enemy. You are'
"You shouldn't have to. You shouldn't have been forced to"
"Well," Harry tried to keep his voice from rising, tried to keep anger from flooding him. "I was. You can't just expect me to-to be a fucking child! Not when I've never been one!"
This time, Sirius flinched hard enough to knock his butterbeer over. The bottle shattered on the stone floor, spilling out its contents.
Someone coughed, and conversation rose around them again, filling the Three Broomsticks once more.
"Sorry" Harry muttered lowering himself from his strange, half-standing, half-sitting position.
"Don't be" Sirius pointed his wand at the floor, and the bottle flew back together again, rising onto the table. There was no butterbeer in it. Not anymore.
"I've told you. I deserve it. It's my fault that you went to that place, and I shouldn't expect you to just accept me as-as a parent"
' No. You shouldn't'
"And I know he's been good to you. I know that you like him. But I just can't trust Lucius Malfoy"
"Why not?"
Sirius looked at him intently, staring deep into his eyes.
"Are you sure you want to know?"
Harry nodded.
"Have you ever heard about the Vineyard?"
"No"
"It's not the type of story you'd tell a kid. Hell, no one who was there even talks about it. Generally speaking"
Sirius took a deep breath and began to talk, eyes unfocused, staring into the past.
"It was the largest, bloodiest battle of the war. Your mum wasn't there, she was, oh, about eight months along with you. But your dad was. Everyone who could be was. And it was a trap. And we knew it beforehand"
His breathing was coming ragged now. He stopped for a minute, calming himself, before carrying on.
"The Death Eaters. They'd kidnapped sixty people. Politicians who opposed them, Aurors who'd been fighting, members of the Order. And not just them, but their families, too. And they tied them to stakes, in this huge field. They put some curse on them. It would kill them unless the counter curse was done within three days. It was obvious it was a trap. But we had no other choice. We couldn't just leave them to die. And it would be too big a victory for Voldemort. It would frighten everyone else off. It's one thing to fight, to put your own life at risk. But when they'll kill your family. Well. It makes people think twice"
He shuddered. Harry saw a tear glisten at the edge of his eye.
"So we went. They had filled most of the field up with these-things. We called them the Vines. Some hybrid of Devil's Snare. Except, you had to cut them down before they would burn. The field was full of them. We walked through, careful as we could, not touching any of them. Give one of them just a slight nudge, and all of them would attack. And we found them. All the victims. They were tied to these poles, in a big clearing. Their skin was already going grey. Merlin, I remember the sight it made, the sun setting behind them. No one said a word, we just slowly crept nearer"
Harry could picture it, could see the image in his mind. He nodded.
"We were about 200 meters away when they appeared. They were under some type of major disillusionment charm. Hundreds of them. Voldemort and all of his Death Eaters, werewolves, inferi, giants. We were totally outnumbered. And Voldemort laughed. I still remember what he said. 'You may have the honors, as a reward for your exceptional service'. And one of them raised his wand to light the fire"
Sirius' tears were flowing freely now.
"We were all frozen. Even Dumbledore. We just stood there. But Frank shot off a spell. Hit the Death Eater, knocked his mask off. And I saw his face. I saw his snarl, and I heard him laugh when he set the captives on fire. So no, I can't ever trust Lucius Malfoy. Not when I've seen him do that"
"What happened?" Harry whispered. "The rest of the battle?"
"Chaos. By the time it finished, we were all soaked in blood. The ground was littered with corpses. And Voldemort won"
"What do you mean, He won?"
Sirius looked at him, eyes focusing again. Pain written all across his face.
"We were left with many more corpses than them. And every one of those sixty died. And more than that. Afterward, people started running. Leaving the fight. Joining him, surrendering. He just gained more and more power, after that. If you hadn't beaten him, however the hell you did it, he'd have won completely. Everyone was just getting more and more scared, giving up hope"
' No wonder they all think He hates me'
"I'm not going to tell you that you can't go to the Malfoys. You wouldn't listen, even if I did. But I just can't trust him. So I am going to tell you, that if I let you go, whether it's over the summer, or over Christmas or Easter, you write to me. At least until I can think of a better way. Or find my mirror"
' What?'
"Mirror?"
"Your dad and I had a pair of two-way mirrors. I think I've still got mine, somewhere. Don't know where his would be. It'd probably be simpler just to get a new pair, though. Actually"
He took on a pensive look. "Actually, that could be a good project. I'll make a new pair. Need something to do, anyway, now that we're done with the cleaning"
"You didn't manage to get your mum's portrait down, did you?"
Sirius grimaced. "Not yet. And Kreacher's stolen half the heirlooms I tried to throw out-"
"Why throw them out?"
"I'm not interested in any of that crap. I'm not talking about the useful ones, I mean the goblets and plates. Decorative crap. I don't need any more Black coat of arms lying around the place"
' You should be proud of your heritage. It's what separates you from muggles'
' Isn't it the ability to use magic that does that? Haven't you always thought that a muggleborn is no less than a pureblood?'
Harry just ignored the second voice. It was coming less often. At least it didn't shout at him about killing anymore.
Not really, at least.
"Harry? You here?"
"Sorry, was just thinking about something"
"I could tell. Listen, I've got to get going. You're not meant to be alone. Should we go find your friends?"
"Uh, yeah, sure," Harry said, rising. "They might be at Scrivenshaft's, or Zonko's"
"Great. Let's go, shall we?"
As Harry had guessed, he found Daphne in Scrivenshaft's.
' She has been complaining about her quill since term started'
After a cursory greeting and a short conversation, Sirius left.
Harry, of course, paid for her quill. And the other stationery she just had to buy.
"Admit it. You're only buying that now because I'm paying"
She laughed, a light sound. Music to his ears. "You've caught me. I'm only with you for your money"
"I knew it. I think we should head back"
She was just opening her mouth to say something when she saw the look in his eyes.
"What's going on?"
"My godfather. He let loose some information that could be important"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I'll tell you on the way"
She nodded.
"The mirror?"
"Yeah. Hope I'm not interrupting anything"
"If you are, He just won't accept the conversation"
He took the change, and they left, hurrying along the path back to the castle.
It was still very early in the day, barely past noon. No-one would have left Hogsmeade already.
Which just made the scene that Harry walked into, in his room, all the more surprising.
He and Daphne walked straight in, ignoring the closed door, and stopped dead in their tracks.
Theo and Blaise were-were snogging.
Harry could see Blaise's hand squeezing Theo's ass. Could hear the soft, muted moans coming from the pair.
He and Daphne stood in shocked silence for a minute.
' Holy shit. It makes so much sense. Why did I never notice this before? No wonder Theo was so upset that he couldn't tell Blaise'
Daphne broke the silence first when she burst out laughing.
Theo pulled away quite violently, spinning around and pulling out his wand.
Blaise just stood there calmly, making a major contrast between his composure and Theo's flushed shock.
"Uh. Hi guys. Sorry. Wanted to use the room. But uh. Let me just get something" Harry said, trying not to meet Blaise's eyes.
"Haven't you heard of fucking knocking? Merlin, you-" was
"Haven't you heard that there's better places in this castle for a secret snog? As if no-ones gonna interrupt you in our bedroom!"Harry fired back.
"You're a fine one to talk," Theo said, nodding towards Daphne. "You don't mind getting interrupted, do you?"
"I just came to get something!"
He raised his wand, barely noticing the way Theo paled and backed away.
' Accio Mirror!' He thought, concentrating on having the mirror fly over to him.
It did, landing in his hand with a slap.
' At least that worked. Would've looked quite stupid if it hadn't'
"Look, I'm sorry for interrupting. Just-I don't want to see that type of thing, ok? I don't care about snogging" he hurriedly added, when Theo opened his mouth looking angry, "but I don't want to see-other stuff. Don't care what you do, I just don't want to see it"
"Deal. If you don't tell anyone"
"Ok. Uh. Enjoy"
They left the room, Daphne still barely able to talk from laughter.
"Merlin! That was fucking awkward!"
"Yeah. Shame. I don't think they're quite ready to tell people yet"
"Probably not, or they wouldn't be hiding in the room while everyone else is in Hogsmeade. Wait. Where can we go now?"
"I don't think there's anyone in my room. I'll have to levitate you though, the stairs won't let boys into our room"
"Fine. Let's just go already. And hope that we don't find Tracey and Millicent together"
Daphne looked quite speculative at that.
"Don't tell me-"
"Tracey, maybe. Millicent, no"
Daphne ran up the steps leading to her room. Harry waited until she reached the top and turned around.
"Wingardium Leviosa"
He was lifted into the air. He hung for a second until she made a pulling gesture.
"Finite"
"Broomsticks are way better"
The girls' room wasn't really any different to his room.
In fact, the only difference he saw was that their window onto the lake seemed to be bigger.
"I'll make sure nobody comes. You just do what you need to"
"Thanks, babe"
He sat down on someone's bed and stared into the mirror.
' Well, here we go'
He released his breath with a hiss. " $My lord, I wish to speak with you$"
He was just starting to wonder if he should repeat his request when the mirror fogged over. When it cleared, the Dark Lord's face in it.
" $Is the matter urgent?$" He asked.
" $I do not know, my lord. I was speaking with Black, and he revealed some of Dumbledore's plans. I thought it best to inform you as soon as I could$"
The Dark Lord went absolutely, perfectly still.
" $What did he say?$"
" $Dumbledore is certain that you are returning. He was unclear about whether he believes you have achieved a body or not. Remus Lupin has been sent to speak to the werewolf packs, and Hagrid will go to deal with the giants. Someone will be sent to speak to the vampires, but I do not know who. Also, Dumbledore is trying to place a spy among us$"
" $Well done. Some of this information was new. It will be most useful. Thank you, Harry. We will talk again$"
" $It is my honor, my lord$"
The connection ended.
Harry exhaled loudly.
"He was happy with it?"
"Very. He said some of it was new and would be useful. And that we'd talk again"
"Of course, you'll tell me what He teaches you?"
"Of course!"
Harry stretched out on the bed.
"You know, we've got beds here-"
"Don't be ridiculous. After what we walked in on, you can't really think it's a good idea"
"No," he said, regretfully. "It isn't. Doesn't mean I don't want it"
"You can't always get what you want"
"No. You can't. Wanna head back to Hogsmeade?"
She looked at her watch. "Not worth it. By the time we get there, we'll have less than an hour before we have to come back. I'd rather just relax in the common room"
He nodded. "Same"
"Daphne? What's the wizarding view on- gay people?"
She sighed. "That they're being selfish. Most of them don't have kids, and we're already a tiny population. We just can't afford to get smaller"
"Most of them?"
"Well, some marry and keep a lover on the side. Some find a woman willing to carry a pregnancy for them-although never from a good bloodline. Others adopt, but that's rare. Most of them just end their family lines"
"But like, they can get married and stuff?"
"Well, yeah," she said, "but it's not so common. They're tolerated, but they're not well liked. Not really, at least"
' If we did bring muggleborns in earlier. They could adopt them"
He said as much.
"But that law's never been passed. Once we win, it will be, that's for sure, but until then-no way"
The days began to blur into one another. Some nights, maybe once a week, Harry would feel his mirror heating up. He would sneak out of his room, and find a corner in the common room to hide under his invisibility cloak, cast a few privacy charms, and answer the mirror's call.
Learning from the Dark Lord, even just theory, was absolutely exhilarating. He was teaching Harry the theory behind spells that were destructive on a whole different scale. How to create tornados, earthquakes, tidal waves.
He even explained a bit of the theory behind fiendfyre. Granted, He made Harry swear never to attempt it without Him being present. Not any of the other Death Eaters. Only when Harry was with Him, would he be allowed to try cast it.
It made it difficult to appear interested in his other classes. How was he meant to focus on Transfiguration, when he was learning how to make the very earth obey his demands?
But he remembered Snape's lesson, how the most basic steps lead to great ability, and he forced himself to concentrate.
He started trying to cast all his school spells non-verbally. He was only successful maybe half of the time, but still, he was definitely improving. And it made his schoolwork more interesting.
The night before the third task, Theo pulled out a bottle of firewhisky and gave shots out.
"To victory," he said, raising his cup in the air.
All the Slytherins around repeated it, clinking their glasses together.
"Victory," Harry said, smirking at Draco as he drank.
The next day would definitely be interesting. As to whose victory, well. That remained to be seen.