Mirror
Chapter Eight~~~Triumph
“What was that all about?” asked Ron, frowning slightly. Hermione looked at him too.
“She ummm…” Harry mumbled, trying to think of a good excuse. “Well, she wanted to talk to me about class today.” Hermione obviously didn’t believe him, but thankfully she didn’t push it. Ron frowned however.
“Did you really do that bad?” he asked. Harry shrugged.
“I have to take an extra class with her because of it. Tomorrow, in fact.” Ron gaped.
“Wow, Harry. I wasn’t paying attention. You must be terrible.” Harry laughed, feeling very uncomfortable, as Hermione hadn’t stopped looking at him, almost through him, in fact. Harry cleared his throat.
“Let’s get down to dinner shall we?” Harry said. Ron nodded, and after a few minutes, so did Hermione. She was too smart, Harry decided. Harry felt very depressed. He hated lying to his best friends. But for some reason, NOBODY must know. He wondered why. Did Dumbledore suspect, as Harry did, that there was somebody untrustworthy at Hogwarts?
After a very quick dinner, he went back early. He had to try better than last year, he decided, and that would be much easier, especially since he wouldn’t hate his teacher this year. He would find it very easy to learn Legilimensy from Dumbledore. When he walked through the portrait, he was glad to see Ginny there. She smiled and waved at him, and he suddenly felt much better. He walked over to sit down next to her. She saw his ashen face, and her smile was replaced with worry.
“Harry? What’s wrong?” she asked. He wanted so badly to tell her all the stuff he was thinking about. “Are you still thinking about that mirror? Listen, even if there is somebody at Hogwarts working with Voldemort, Dumbledore is here. Nothing can happen,” Harry tried to smile, and nodded.
“You’re right.”
“That’s not what you were thinking about was it?” she said. He was amazed how she could see right through him. He was struggling with himself. He couldn’t tell her. “It’s okay Harry. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to.” He just stared.
“How can you read me so well? It’s like you know exactly what I’m thinking,” Harry said, feeling a strong fondness for her. Fondness? Was that it? Ginny laughed.
“All of your emotions show up in your eyes as you think them. You’re an open book Harry,” she smiled, and Harry did too. Was he really that easy to read with everybody else? Or was it just Ginny?
“How do you do that?” Harry asked, smiling.
“Do what?” she asked.
“All you have to do is smile and all the troubles I feel vanish,” Harry couldn’t believe he had just told her that. She was sure to think him an idiot now. Ginny blushed, her face turning the color of her hair.
“That’s funny, because that’s how I feel about you,” Ginny said smiling now. Harry grinned stupidly. Suddenly, everybody broke out in applause. Harry and Ginny both jumped, and then realized that the whole Common Room had been listening to them. Dean Thomas started to pretend cry. Seamus started humming a wedding song. After a few minutes, Harry and Ginny started laughing too.
“See you tomorrow then?” Harry yelled over the noise. Ginny nodded, laughing, and they both ran up to their separate rooms. Harry was still grinning when he fell asleep in his bed.
The next day Harry woke up early, and got dressed to another chorus of “Here Comes the Bride.” Ron looked at Harry curiously. Dean and Seamus stopped immediately.
“You don’t know?!?!?!” Dean said. Ron frowned.
“Know what? Harry, what are they talking about?” said Ron. Dean and Seamus both blurted out bits and pieces of last night. Harry glared at them, but Ron seemed to get the gist. He smiled and thumped Harry on the back. “Finally,” said Ron. Harry was surprised.
“You’re not mad at me?” Harry asked.
“Of course not! I couldn’t wish for a better match for my sister. You’re a good guy, Harry. Whether you wish to believe it or not.” Harry was touched.
“Thanks Ron.” Ron grinned at him.
Classes went by quickly that day, and Harry found himself zoning out in class, thinking about the coming Legilimensy class with Dumbledore, the Mirror, and Petunia. The only class he enjoyed that day was Hagrid's class.
"Hiya Harry!" came Hagrid's booming voice. Harry waved and grinned at him. It was good to see Hagrid.
"Hey Hagrid," he said going up to him.
"Boy, wait till ye see the lesson I've fer us today!" said Hagrid, beaming and clapping Harry on the back with one of his big beefy hands. Then he bent down next to Harry. "I want ye to come and see me after yer classes tomorrow. Got a bone to pick with ye," he whispered. Harry nodded, glad that he would be able to talk to Hagrid. the rest of the class, Hagrid kept giving him encouraging smiles and winking at him. When class was over Hagrid came over, and put his arm around Harry's shoulder.
"Try and be happy, Harry. Will ye do that fer me?" Harry frowned at the oddness of this request but nodded and went off to dinner with Ron and Hermione. They met Ginny on the way and sat together, eating and laughing.
Finally, after dinner, Harry said goodbye to Ron, Ginny, and Hermione who looked at him suspiciously. Harry’s insides squirmed with guilt, but he ignored it. He was about to head down the hallway to Dumbledore’s office, when he saw Aunt Petunia walking away quickly. Harry couldn’t help himself, he followed her.
He walked behind her for quite some time, then he heard her turn into a room, and, as they were rather near Professor Snape’s office, his interest was complete.
“Yes, of course. I have…yes. No I haven’t had the time…I’ve been…yes of course. Please forgive me. I will try, but…as they have been taken by surprise, especially the Headmaster. Thank you. Very well, I will try harder. I will not fail; we will not fail…yes. Goodbye.” Harry had never heard such gibberish in his entire life! He looked in, and saw that there was nobody else in the room. She seemed to be talking to something in her palms. Harry was briefly reminded of Rita Skeeter, and wondered if perhaps Petunia was talking to her. He doubted it, however, and when she spun around quickly, he was completely lost in his thoughts.
“You! Boy! What the devil are you doing there?!” she aid, her eyes wide. “What were you doing? Listening? What did you hear?!” she was frantic. Harry grinned, his hatred flowing through him like poison.
“Who were you talking to?” Harry said, walking in the room with her. She watched him with narrowed eyes.
“Don’t ask questions!” she snapped. Harry went to sit on a table nearby.
“Why was Dumbledore taken by surprise?” Harry asked. Petunia glared.
“Because he didn’t know I was a witch, of course.” Harry had to admit, she had fooled him his entire life, but he was easy. Fooling Dumbledore was another matter, however. “What did you hear, exactly?”
“I’ll answer some of your questions if you’ll answer some of mine,” Harry said, smoothly, trying not to betray his nervousness. Petunia nodded. “Good. First, I want to know why exactly you didn’t tell me you were a witch.”
“Isn’t it obvious?! If Vernon ever found out, he would have nothing to do with me!”
“Wouldn’t that be a tragedy,” muttered Harry darkly. Petunia scowled even deeper. “Alright then. I also want to know how the Hell you were allowed to teach!”
“Well, Dumbledore was getting desperate, and I took over,” Petunia said sweetly, as if she had done the Headmaster a favor.”
“So,” said Harry. “Why did you want this job? To spend more quality time with your nephew?” Harry said, batting his eyelashes. Petunia laughed airily, but Harry could definitely tell she was thinking hard.
“I think you have asked me enough questions, boy. What about mine?” Harry didn’t miss the fact that she had obviously not been able to answer his last question. There was definitely something wrong with Petunia’s being here. “Boy! How much did you here?” she asked impatiently again. Harry grinned.
“All of it.”
When Harry got to the Gargoyles guarding the passageway to Dumbledore’s office, he realized that he didn’t know the password.
“What about the password, sunny Jim?” asked one of the stone creatures. Harry shrugged.
“I came for…” but then he broke off. He couldn’t tell anybody. “Uhhh…I really need to see Dumbledore. Very important Prefect stuff. Can’t you just let me in?”
“Sorry, Jimbo. No-can-do!” But just then the stone doorway swung open. Dumbledore stood there.
“Do come in, Harry,” he said, smiling.
“Sorry, Professor, I just…” but Dumbledore cut him off.
“No need, Harry. Come, we are wasting precious time.” Harry followed Dumbledore. When they entered Dumbledore’s office, Harry was surprised to see all of the objects he had smashed last year were back on the shelves and in perfect condition. Dumbledore walked over to his des and sat down. “Please, sit.” Harry did so. Dumbledore then closed his eyes. Harry thought for a moment that he was falling asleep. But then he felt a nagging inside his brain, immediately followed by an immense pressure.
He was sitting in Mrs. Figg’s living room for the first time.
He was being thrown into his cupboard by Uncle Vernon.
He was getting his hair cut off by Aunt Petunia.
He was looking into Snape’s loathing eyes, hatred flowing through him.
All of these memories zoomed by before he realized that Dumbledore was reading his mind. Harry started to push Dumbledore away, but just as he started to protest, it quit. Harry was slouching in his chair. He was shaking slightly. Dumbledore was looking at him.
“I am sorry Harry, but I needed to know how long it would take you to react.” Harry nodded, still breathing deeply. “Well, you aren’t as far as I would have hoped.” Harry bowed his head in shame. “That, however, is not altogether your fault. I am afraid I had thought Snape could have taught you without making you so angry. I see in that last memory, it was not one sided. Snape should know better,” the last sentence was more an utterance to himself. Harry had recovered slightly, and was sitting up straighter in his chair.
They did this over and over, for about a half hour. Harry’s head wasn’t hurting half as bad as it had with Snape.
“I think we will try one more time. You are doing remarkably well, Harry. I am sure that only a couple of lessons and you will have it down.” Harry gaped.
“Only a couple more lessons?” he said amazed.
“Yes, well. You did have those lessons with Snape all last year. And you will notice that you can completely throw me off now. Your only fault is the inconsistency. But after practice, that will change. What we will begin working on next lesson is trying to get into my thoughts. You will try to throw my own powers back at me. Snape told me that you were able to do that once. But I need you to do it every time. Ready?” Harry nodded.
Harry was riding a broomstick for the first time.
Harry was watching Sirius in the flames of his mirror.
“Harry?” Dumbledore said, sounding alarmed. “What was that last memory?” Harry took a deep breath, trying to stop himself from shaking. Damn, he had let Dumbledore in that time! He tried to focus on what Dumbledore was asking him.
“Uhhh…well…” Harry decided there was no way around it. He had to tell him. “Last year, before Sirius…” he broke off.
“It’s ok. Keep going.”
“He gave me a two-way mirror. And umm…I was angry, so I smashed it against the wall. Well, a few weeks ago, Dobby said he found it perfectly mended, and sent it back to me. And just two nights ago, I find it again, and it burst into flames. Sirius was in the flames. He was…he was asking me to help him.” Harry’s throat clenched up. Dumbledore nodded, looking very troubled.
“You do realize that it is not real, don’t you, Harry?” said Dumbledore softly. Harry nodded. “But, this does mean that somebody is trying to lead you out of the school.”
“I know. Do you have any idea’s as to who the spy might be?”
“I have my idea’s, but no proof,” said Dumbledore, frowning. Harry was steeling himself, he had already told Dumbledore about the mirror, would it be too much to ask him about Petunia? “Is there something else you wished to ask me, Harry?” Dumbledore said, his bright eyes twinkling knowingly behind his half-moon glasses. Harry grinned, and nodded.
“Yeah, actually. I was wondering, well, if it’s not…why did you hire my aunt to be a teacher? Even when you didn’t know she was a witch until just recently? I mean, how do you know we can trust her?” blurted Harry very quickly. Dumbledore sat down behind his desk, and tapped his fingers together thoughtfully.
“I was wondering how soon you would ask me that. Well, I hired her because she was the only one we could find for the job, and I see no reason not to trust her, as she has kept you…well…alive for sixteen years.” Harry nodded.
“But, sir, don’t you find it a bit odd that she suddenly wants to be involved with the wizarding world?” Harry asked. Dumbledore squinted heavily.
“You may not know this, but it is very painful for any witch or wizard to hide their powers completely. After going many years without doing any magic at all, I can imagine that Petunia is finding at more and more difficult of late. I believe her when she says that she wants a place to rid herself of some of the stress.” Harry stared.
“How can it be painful to hold in your magic when I did it for eleven years? I never felt any pain,” Harry murmured, interested by this new bit of information.
“Well, you never ‘completely’ held your magic in did you? Your hair always grew back, you found yourself on the school rooftop, and you talked to a boa constrictor. I’m sure that you have expelled magic. Petunia doesn’t allow for her magic to show at all. Which is why you never see her on school rooftops,” Dumbledore said, smiling. Harry didn’t know what to think. Was he overreacting because she was his aunt? Maybe he was just trying to make her sound like a bad guy because that was what he had grown up with. Harry’s head was throbbing with his contemplating added to his already pained scar.
“Well, off you go. I will see you tomorrow, then. You did very well. I’m proud,” Dumbledore said, interrupting his thoughts. Harry smiled, and left feeling slightly elated. Dumbledore was proud of him.
He had gotten about halfway to the common room when he stopped. He heard stifled sniffling noises. It was as if somebody were crying. He looked around, and then saw the culprit. Ginny Weasley was curled up in the corner, crying. Harry stared in shock for a second, and then went to her.
“Ginny? What’s happened? Are you alright?” he said. His heart was breaking for her. She jumped at the sound of his voice, but upon seeing his face, she sobbed even harder, and threw her arms around his neck. Harry felt just like he did last year with Cho Chang. Except that this was somehow…different. He pattered her back awkwardly. She made a rather disgusting, snorting noise against his chest. He tried not to grimace.
“Oh, Harry. I’m so sorry. It’s just…” she started crying again. Harry sat down on the ground next to her. She wiped her face with the sleeves of her robes, and looked down at her hands. Harry saw that she had a letter clutched in her fists. “Mum just wrote me. Remember how I told you that Percy had been fired?”
“Yeah, I remember,” Harry said, recalling that night.
“Well, He was feeling rather upset. Rather really upset, actually. And, well. Now he’s missing, and nobody knows where he is. Mum and Dad are in hysterics. They are afraid that he may have done something awful. I am so afraid for him,” Ginny said, breaking into a whole new tirade of sobs. Harry felt very sad. Not for Percy, but for the rest of the Weasley family. He held Ginny close, trying to make her feel better.
After awhile Ginny slowed her breathing. She looked up at him
“I am so sorry. I must seem like such an idiot. I’m sure you got enough of this last year with Chang.”
“Hey, I don’t mind at all. You always help me when I’m upset. I’m glad I can repay the favor,” Harry said. He noticed just then how beautiful she was. He smiled.
“Hey, Ginny. Can I ask a favor of you?”
“Another one?” she asked in false exasperation.
“Can I kiss you?” She nodded. Harry pulled her to him, and kissed her. It was the most wonderful thing he had ever experienced, and the first time he had ever kissed anybody. It was nothing like the kiss Cho had sprung on him. He had been completely terrified. This time, he was ready for it, and this time, he actually felt something real for the person he was kissing. Was it love?
“What on earth is going on!?” came a loud, painfully familiar voice. Harry groaned, and pulled away from Ginny. She was blushing terribly, but smiling. They both turned to see Petunia Dursley glaring. Then she saw Ginny there, and her eyes were filled with the oddest emotion: Triumph.