17. Change of Tide

 

 

“Good job!” Channon hopped off the table and popped another Bertie Botts Bean into his mouth. “Really Harry, that was quite impressive. It would seem Professor Snape didn’t give me the full story.”

 

“What did he say?” Harry felt suddenly defensive.

 

“Only that you made progress.”

 

“That was it?”

 

Channon nodded. “I would say you made great progress.”

 

“Thanks,” Harry sighed.

 

“Is everything all right? Did something happen between you two?”

 

“Oh no, it’s just…” Harry fished, “It’s just that I worked really hard over break to try and get this multicasting thing down.”

 

Channon appraised Harry discerningly. He was holding something back, but Channon decided not to press the matter. “I wouldn’t say you’ve mastered multicasting…”

 

“I know. I didn’t mean it that way.”

 

“Come on, let’s get back to it.” Channon turned Harry to face the center of the room. “You’re doing well with multiple charms and combining charms and jinxes. How about you multicast a couple of regular spells and we’ll add a jinx and one hex.”

 

Harry started. “You’re kidding.”

 

“Not at all. Let’s see…” Channon stared up toward the ceiling and tapped his chin. “What would be a good hex?”

 

~~~~~SH~~~~~

 

As Harry stood in the Room of Requirement getting ready to cast his spells, Severus was on his knees back in the Voldemort’s drawing room waiting his turn to be summoned.

 

Just as he had the previous fall, the Dark Lord was holding sessions with his Death Eaters. But unlike the previous time when he’d met with each one individually, tonight he summoned them in small groups.

 

Again, Severus was the last one called and as it turned out, he was the only Death Eater to be called individually. He kept his head lowered as he went to kneel before the Dark Lord.

 

“No Severus, come sit next to me.”

 

Severus sat down in a nearby chair and thought how the Dark Lord’s voice still sounded weak.

 

“Look at me,” ordered Voldemort.

 

Severus hesitated a moment but then he lifted his gaze.. 

 

“Do I appear any different to you?”

 

“No, my Lord.”

 

Voldemort lifted one corner of his mouth in a teasing smile and then casually waved his hand across his face, cancelling the Glamour.

 

Severus hid his surprise at the sight which now greeted him. “My Lord, you are not well.”

 

“You are mistaken, Severus,” Voldemort retorted, despite his sunken cheeks, pallid complexion and the dark circles under his eyes. “I have been ill, but I am improving. Can you guess my ailment?”

 

“Does this have anything to do with Potter?”

 

“Partially.”

 

All this time Severus had thought that the Dark Lord was experiencing something akin to what he himself had been experiencing. But if that was the case, the Dark Lord would surely never divulge such a fact that Harry’s counterattack was wrecking havoc on him. No, this had to be something else.

 

“This all started with Samhain?”

 

“Yes.”

 

All of those attacks upon the embassies thought Severus. Afterward he’d been bed ridden for days and had obviously struggled now for months… “Burnout?”

 

Voldemort nodded. “Very good. Not total burnout mind you, but it was a severe case.”

 

“My Lord, is there anything I can do to help?”

 

Voldemort raised a hand. “I am much improved. Besides, you know as well as I… the only cure for burnout is rest. But I’ve grown tired with this quietude, and thus the impetus for my little gathering this evening.”

 

"And what is it my Lord requires of me?”

 

“Your only task is to continue making the potions I request, that… and to keep an eye on Potter.”

 

“Of course, my Lord.”

 

Voldemort seemed to take an interest in the carvings of the wooden chair handle and he traced his finger along its edges as he spoke. “Even though Dumbledore is keeping the boy under his wing, there is always the possibility for error.”

 

“And you want me to be ready for such an occurrence.”

 

The red eyes peered at Severus, “Yes, that is exactly what I want. I intend to do away with that boy and I shall succeed. But I am finished wasting my every waking moment preoccupied with his activities. I will leave that to you and to the others who have been assigned the same task. Do I make myself clear?”

 

Severus returned the peer with an equal hardness.  “Perfectly my Lord…perfectly.”

 

~~~~~SH~~~~~

 

Tonks stood up from the Pensive and gave a huff as she pushed her orange hair back into place.

 

“Well?” asked Arthur.

 

“Not a clue. Never seen the likes before.”

 

Dumbledore Accio’d the Pensive to him and then set about retrieving Severus’s memory. “Well, this is a puzzle.”

 

“How is it possible that not one of us knows where this place is?”

 

“The world’s a big place my dear,” stated Mad-eye.

 

“But Severus said he thought it must be on the island,” countered Molly.

 

“Apparation and Portkey travel times can be misleading,” added Shacklebolt. “This place could be in France, Germany or Ireland for that matter.”

 

All the members of the Order sitting around the kitchen table at Grimmauld Place sighed in unison.  

 

“I suppose we’re back to square one,” Albus surmised with dejection. “We’ll just have to hope that another opportunity presents itself to Severus.”

 

“This is so frustrating, and I’m worried about these assignments You Know Who gave to the Death Eaters,” Molly added as she began clearing away the empty tea cups. “What do you think he’s up to now?”

 

“At least we’ve made good progress with the new Muggle Diplomatic Relations policy,” chimed Arthur. “That should be of help if he tries anything like he did last October.”

 

“With Tom’s current condition, he’ll be unable to assist the Death Eaters in whatever their assignment is,” critiqued Albus. “No, I believe whatever he has planned — it will be a focused attack, be it on a single place or a single individual.”

 

~~~~~SH~~~~~

 

“We’re going to clobber Slytherin.”

 

“Ron, you’re going to jinx us talking like that,” reprimanded Harry as he crawled into bed.

 

“No way, Harry. You guys have it all over those snakes” Seamus exclaimed. “There’s nothing anyone could say that would jinx you guys.”

 

“I agree with Harry,” added Dean as he turned out his light.  “It’s tempting fate.”

 

Harry glanced over when the door pened and Neville slipped quietly into the room.

 

Everyone had turned out their lights now except for Neville, and he quickly set about getting ready to retire for the night.

 

The experience of being cursed, his grandmother being held captive and then damn near killing Harry had weighed heavy on the young man. 

It didn’t help matters any that the Headmaster had addressed the entire student body upon their return, warning them to be on their guard lest they fall into a similar situation. Or that each Head of House had held meetings with their houses to go over precautionary measures in an attempt to avoid becoming the next instrument for the Death Eaters. Or that Professor Jackson had spent an entire week with each DADA class, third year and over, reviewing the Imperius Curse, Portkey operations and the like.

 

It all culminated to shed a continued spotlight on Neville who in turn was trying to remain as scarce as possible.

 

“Good night Neville,” Harry called over when he saw the light go out.

 

“Oh, you too Harry. Good night everyone.”

 

“Goodnight Nev,” they responded in unison.

 

Harry smiled to himself as he rolled onto his side. He was pleased and relieved at how supportive everyone had been toward Neville. I guess it’ll just take time for Nev to get over it.   

 

~~~~~SH~~~~~

 

Unlike Ron had predicted Gryffindor was not ‘clobbering’ Slytherin in their last game of the season. No, the game was turning out to be one of those on the edge of your seat, nail-biter sort of a games and the score had been neck-and-neck for over three hours now.

 

All the action thus far had centered upon the Chasers, the Beaters and the Keepers and each of them were playing at the top of their game.

 

But while all of this activity played out below and the minutes ticked into hours, Harry and Draco never let up with their own job of trying to find the Snitch. Even though neither had an opportunity to score, it was imperative that they keep tabs on its whereabouts — just in case an opportunity presented itself.

 

That opportunity came three and a half hours into the match.

 

Gryffindor scored when Blaise Zabini missed blocking one of Katie’s hits and then before he could recover, Jack Sloper’s missed-hit Bludger glanced off the Slytherin’s shoulder allowing Alicia’s Quaffle to get by.

 

Gryffindor was now up by forty points.

 

Then, when Vaisey tried blatching Katie, Slytherin was penalized ten points for the foul and Harry shifted gears.

 

He had just seen the Snitch when the foul occurred, so he took off as fast as he could to fly across the pitch. The Snitch was hovering right at the top of the center Slytherin hoop.

 

He chose a direct path, but he had to fly through enemy territory to get there. His one advantage was speed. No one could fly as fast as Harry. Hell, at this speed it was a challenge to even keep him in sight.

 

Draco saw the Snitch a moment after Harry had and tried as best he could to catch him, but it was impossible.

 

Harry whipped past the hoop and grabbed the Snitch, thus ending the game and securing the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor. The crowd erupted in a cacophony of cheers and boos. Hermione grabbed Neville, who’d been sitting next to her, and gave him a kiss on the lips. She then started to jump up and down in her joy, while a stunned Neville placed his fingers tentatively upon his lips.

 

The entire team circled around Harry and they slowly lowered themselves to the ground, relishing in their accomplishment and drinking in the sounds of jubilation pouring out from the stands.   

 

~~~~~SH~~~~~

 

“Harry, will you hurry the fuck up! We want to get up to the party.”

 

“You guys go on. Neville will walk up with me, right Nev?”

 

“Sure Harry.”

 

“Oh all right,” replied Ron. “But hurry up.”

 

Ron and Dean left to walk up to the castle, leaving Harry and Neville in the Gryffindor changing room.

 

“You okay there Nev?” asked Harry as he toweled his hair dry. “You look a little odd.”

 

Neville had been running his fingers along his lips. “I’m okay. It’s just… Oh, it’s nothing.”

 

“No, tell me. What were you going to say?”

 

“You promise you won’t laugh?”

 

Harry sat down next to Neville and pulled on one of his shoes. “I promise I won’t laugh.”

 

“Well, right after you caught the Snitch … everyone got really excited.”

 

“Yeah, I noticed.” Harry had finished lacing up one shoe and started to pull on the other.

 

“Anyway, with all the excitement, Hermione …  She… Well…”

 

“Just say it already, will you?”

 

“She kissed me!”

 

Harry turned and stared at Neville. He wasn’t sure if he should lie and congratulate Neville, or be honest. He chose to be honest.

 

“Hey there Nev, you know that Ron and…”

 

“Oh don’t worry Harry. I know Hermione and Ron are a couple. It’s just that… well, that’s the first time a girl has ever kissed me. I didn’t think any of them would ever want to.”

 

“Why would you think that?”

 

“Come on Harry. It’s not like I’m you.”

 

“You must be thinking of someone else. Besides, there are plenty of girls that like you.”

 

“Oh yeah? Name one.”

 

“Luna Lovegood,” Harry said emphatically.

 

“Luna?”

 

“Yeah, Luna.”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“Cause she looks at you Nev, all the time.”

 

“Really?”

 

“You’re so blinkered.” He gave Neville a friendly shove. “Come on, let’s head on up. We’ll stop by Ravenclaw and invite her to the party.”

 

“Uh … I don’t know Harry.”

 

“It’ll be fine. The worse she can say is ‘no’.”

 

“Oh well, all right. But wait just a minute, I gotta loo.”

 

“Take your time.” Harry proceeded to shove his things in his rucksack while Neville headed off to the loo.

 

As Neville was just finishing up, he heard a commotion out in the locker room. Harry called out, there was some wand fire and then a crashing sound.

 

Neville thought his heart may have skipped a beat, but he managed to pull out his wand and tip toe quietly to the lavatory entrance. He peeked around the corner and saw Harry lying unconscious upon the floor, above him stood a man Neville had never seen before. Then, the stranger pulled an object from his pocket and went to lay it on top of Harry’s chest. Neville sprang into action.

 

“Stupify!”

 

The stranger went flying backwards and landed in a heap next to the lockers.

 

Shocked that he’d managed to actually hit his target, Neville ran to Harry and shook his shoulder.

 

“Harry?  Wake up.”

 

Harry was totally out and he had a wound right over his temple.

 “Please … Wake up!”

 

Neville thought about running to the door to call for help, but what if there was an accomplice waiting out there.

 

He was scared. He knew what he had to do but he’d never been able to accomplish it in the DA. How could he do it now? 

I’m gonna do it cause’ Harry need help! Neville thought determinately.

 

He took a deep breath and even though she was shaking, he walked over to the door and opened it just a crack. When he didn’t see anyone, he opened it a bit more.

 

Neville knew he needed to think of something happy, so he thought about how wonderful it felt when Hermione had kissed him. He pointed his wand and called out, “Expecto Patronum!”

 

Neville watched in disbelief as a pale silvery peacock emerged from his wand and flew toward the castle to summon help.  

~~~~~SH~~~~~

 

“Albus, will you please do something about the crowd outside the doors? They’re making too much noise.”

 

Dumbledore was standing at the side of Harry’s bed. “Of course, Poppy.”

 

He patted the teen’s shoulder then moved off toward the infirmary entrance. The Headmaster was upset that, once again, Harry had come to harm here on Hogwarts grounds. I must find a way to prevent these occurrences, he charged himself.

 

“Madame Pomfrey, can’t I please just go? I’m okay,” pleaded Harry.

 

“You stay right where you are Mr. Potter, or I’ll place a binding blanket on you.”

 

Defeated, Harry sighed and laid his head down upon the pillow. “Yes Ma’am.”

 

“Don’t fret Harry,” Channon said softly. He was sitting on the edge of the bed. “It’s probably best you let her keep an eye on you … just to be on the safe side.”

 

Harry raised a hand to his aching forehead. “I can’t believe this happened. What good is multicasting when someone can sneak up from behind and Stupify me.”

 

“That has to do with strategy, a totally different subject.”

 

“Strategy?” Harry wasn’t quite certain what Channon meant. “Yes. Strategy and tactics.” He stared out the window and squinted his eyes. 

“Uh oh, what are you planning now?” asked Harry.

 

Channon smiled. “How did you know I…”

 

“You were doing that squinting thing,” Harry interrupted. “That always means you’re coming up with something new for me to learn.”

 

His professor chuckled. “I suppose you’re right.”

 

“So? What is it?”

 “I was thinking of asking Professor Snape to work with you on strategy and tactics. They are his forte.” “His what?” All this talk was making Harry’s headache worse. 

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow after class, that is if Madame Pomfrey releases you.”

 

“I hope so.  I really hate …” his sentence was interrupted as he yawned, “staying in here.”

 

“Looks like you better get some sleep.” Channon stood up and turned to see Albus approach with Neville at his side.

 

“Harry, there’s someone who wants to be certain that you are all right,” the Headmaster announced.

 

“You okay?” asked Neville.

 

“Yeah, I’m okay. If it wasn’t for you …” Harry yawned again, “I’d probably be splattered all over the wards.”

 

“I doubt you would havesplattered, Mr. Potter.” Dumbledore smiled.

 

“Anyway, thanks Neville,” Harry said softly. He really was geting sleepy.

 

“I was only able to help cause of everything you taught us in DA.”

 

Harry smiled but drifted off before he could say anything else.

 

“You showed true courage tonight, Mr. Longbottom,” said Dumbledore.

 

“Thank you, sir.” Neville looked down, “But…”

 

“But what?”

 

“Sir, I wasn’t brave tonight. I was scared." His voice quavered a bit, “I just didn’t want Harry to get hurt.”

 

“Mr. Longbottom, one is courageous when one demonstrates bravery despite their fear.”

 

Dumbledore placed his hand on Neville’s shoulder. “Please look at me, Mr. Longbottom.”

 

Neville raised his eyes. “Yes sir?”

 

“You saved Harry’s life tonight. I thank you and I honor you for your courage.”

 

Neville could hardly believe the Headmaster had just said that to him and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. But at the same time he felt a rare sense of pride.

 

 

~~~~~SH~~~~

Author's note:

Neville did not have a Patronus in canon, but he had to have one for this chapter so I did some research to find out what his character symbolized. (There's a wonderful website that discusses this very topic: www.harrypotterforseekers).

Apparently, Neville's character symbolizes the Gatekeeper. Now I needed an animal that symbolizes a Gatekeeper, and that is how I came up with a peacock. There is a Muslim legend in which the peacock is the Gatekeeper for paradise. I like the idea that Nevill would have such a beatuiful Patronus.

SHaria