Chapter 58: A Forbidden Encounter
Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 58: A Forbidden Encounter
The days had begun to blur together as Harry fell into a routine.
Mornings were for classes, during which he sat in silence, taking notes and listening to the lectures.
Afternoons were for studying with Hermione, who monitored his every move with cold efficiency.
The evenings he mostly spent at the library, where he would typically be accompanied by Hermione.
He knew she only stuck with him because it was her assignment and as a Muggleborn, she had been educated to obey, but he was starting to get used to his cold companion and had even learned to enjoy her being there.
However, today he had found himself alone at the library because Hermione had some important appointment. Or at least that is what she told him...he had no idea what she was doing, but it was not the first time it happened.
So, on this Tuesday night, Harry was by himself.
"Oh?..." He found the library oddly quiet.
Even after dinner, the library would typically receive a couple dozen students at the very least. But Harry could only see a small group huddled at one corner of the massive room, their heads bent over books. And of course, the librarian, Madam Pince, was at her usual spot as well, giving him a nasty glare as he entered. That look that said, "You better behave, boy."
He shrugged and went to leave his bag on a table before wading through the stacks, looking for something to read.
Since Hermione was not with him and he had finished all his homework, he wasn't looking for anything in particular, just a distraction, something to occupy his mind.
He rounded a corner and nearly collided with someone.
"Oh! I'm sorry-" he began, stepping back. "I thought there was no one else he-"
The girl looked up, and Harry recognized her immediately. Red hair, bright amber eyes, a familiar face that he had seen on the train. Ginny Weasley.
For a moment, Harry braced himself for some hostile comments, as he would expect from the Weasley family.
But then he remembered his first and only encounter with this girl and how she had defended him from her brother, Ron.
When he looked at her expression, he found something different.
Her eyes widened in surprise, and then...much to Harry's astonishment, she smiled at him. A sincere, sweet smile.
"Harry Potter, right?" she said with a soft tone of voice. "I didn't expect to see you here at this hour."
Harry blinked, his mind momentarily blank. " I... didn't have much else to do." He immediately regretted saying that. It made him look like a loser with no social life or hobbies.
Which wasn't really wrong, but...he did not want others to know.
But Ginny didn't seem to mind because her smile did not fade. "I know what that's like. I have also been coming here to get away from...stuff."
Harry stared at her, confused. She was being... kind. Genuinely kind. No mockery, no coldness, no hidden agenda. Just warmth.
"Why are you so nice to me?. The Weasleys..." he froze. The words had slipped out before he could stop them.
Ginny's smile faltered for a moment, and a flicker of sadness passed through her eyes.
"Sorry," Harry hurried to say. "I didn't mean to insult your family or anything. It's just..."
"I know," Ginny said. "I know how they are...better than most. My family has a reputation here in Hogwarts. And as the youngest Weasley, everyone already has a preconceived notion of what kind of person I must be."
"Well...your brothers-"
"My brothers are idiots," Ginny said flatly. "Mostly Ron. He's always been a bully, and he's never had to face the consequences because of our family name." She paused, her voice softening. "I'm not like them. I don't want to be like them."
Harry didn't know what to say. He had been so accustomed to the coldness of the other Weasleys that Ginny's kindness felt almost surreal.
"Thank you," he said finally. " For helping me at the train...and, for what it's worth, I dont think you are anything like your brothers. You seem very kind and...nice."
"That means more than you know."
Ginny smiled again, and for a moment, they stood in comfortable silence.
Harry noticed her eyes were so bright, and her hair kept catching different tones of red under the faint light from the candles.
"Harry," Ginny said, her voice lowering to a whisper, "you have to be careful. My brothers, the Twins...they talk a lot. I've heard some ugly things about..." She looked around as if to make sure no one was listening.
"About what?" Harry asked.
Ginny looked troubled. "Sorry, I can't say much. But you need to be careful about the teaching staff in this school. They dont have your best interest in mind. Especially not for you..."
"Especially not for me?..." Harry's stomach tightened. "What do you mean?"
"Sorry, that was not very helpful," Ginny said, glancing around nervously. "But please, trust your instincts. If something feels wrong, it probably is."
She stepped back, her eyes meeting his one last time. "I have to go. If my brothers find out I've been talking to you, they'll-" She shook her head. "Just be careful, Harry Potter."
"Ehm...tha-" She was gone before he could say anything else.
Ginny slipped away between the shelves, disappearing into the shadows.
"If something feels wrong, it probably is." That part left him thinking, because something felt wrong for most of the summer, but that feeling went away after his long talk with the Headmaster.
'What does that mean?' He stood alone in the library, his mind spinning into countless thoughts.
Ginny's words echoed in his head.
He wandered back to his table and sat down, still empty-handed, as he never got the chance to pick up a single book.
Harry sat there in silence for a while, looking down at his bag while thinking back about all the things that felt wrong, or out of place.
The feeling was returning now.
"Mmmm?" Something made him return to reality.
It was the silence.
At first, he didn't understand what bothered him about it, but then he realized that the distant, faint noises from before had disappeared, leaving the library in a complete and absolute state of silence, instead of the usual quietness.
He looked around and noticed that the group of students in the corner was now gone.
And even the librarian was missing from her spot near the entrance.
For some reason, this silence was making him very uncomfortable. So, he hurried back to his table so he could pick up his bag and leave.
But then...he noticed something strange. On top of his bag, there was a piece of parchment, folded neatly.
He hadn't put it there, and he was sure it wasn't there a moment ago when he went to look around the room.
His eyes darted across the library but were unable to find a single person here.
Harry's heart began to pound. He was completely alone...so who could have left this?.
While trying to brush aside his fears, he unfolded the parchment with shaky fingers.
The handwriting was elegant, and...there was something about its style that made it feel strangely familiar.
Where had he seen this style of writing before?.
His green eyes scanned over the text. There was only a short phrase written on the parchment.
"You are being manipulated. Everything is a lie. The professors are not your allies. Dumbledore is not your friend."
Harry read the words three times, his mind struggling to process them.
The note was unsigned, but at the bottom, in smaller letters, was a warning:
"Do not eat the lemon candy."
And beneath that, a single word:
"A Secret Ally"
Harry stared at the note, his hands shaking.
Do not eat the lemon candy.
The words seemed to burn into his mind. Dumbledore always offered him lemon drops during their sessions. He had eaten them every time, and each time, he had felt better...calmer, more at peace.
Was that peace a lie?...was he doing something to him?.
He thought of Ginny's words. "Trust your instincts. If something feels wrong, it probably is."
He thought of the fear he had felt the first time he had seen Dumbledore.
He never understood the reason behind that reaction, and the fear went away eventually, so he thought it was just him being nervous about meeting the most famous and powerful wizard in the country.
He looked at the note one more time. The handwriting was strangely familiar, and the message was clear: someone was trying to warn him. Someone who knew what was happening to him.
But who? And why would this person want to help him?.
But the most important question to him was...how could he trust this anonymous ally?.
Harry stuffed the note into his robes and grabbed his bag. His movements were quick and shaky.
He didn't know who had left the note, but he knew he couldn't stay here. Not alone, and definitely not in this creepy silence.
'I have to get out of here,' Harry thought with urgency.
He hurried out of the library, his footsteps echoing in the empty corridors.
The torches flickered around him, and on every corner, he seemed to find hidden figures, making him jump.
'Stop it! You are just being paranoid. No one is following you,' He told himself over and over.
He reached Ravenclaw Tower and recited the riddle to the eagle doorknocker.
His voice was shaky, and he had to repeat it twice before the door swung open.
The common room was empty, the fire burning low in the hearth.
Harry collapsed into a chair by the fire while his heart was still pounding rapidly.
He stared into the flames and felt the warmth; this helped him calm down a bit. He was here now...he was safe.
'Draco and Crabbe tried to warn me about something...they told me not to trust Dumbledore, but I pushed them away.' Why did he do that?.
It felt like the right thing to do back then. When they started to talk badly about the Headmaster, he started to become angry for some reason.
But now...he just felt guilty.
His friends' warning, combined with Ginny's and that mysterious note...they all seemed to point to the same person...Albus Dumbledore.
Was he being manipulated by the Headmaster?.
It sounded ridiculous even to think about it. Why would the most powerful wizard in the country and maybe in the world...why would someone like that need to play mind games with him?.
What was there to win for Dumbledore?. What would he want from him?.
Harry Potter was just a random orphan kid who had no power and barely knew any magic.
"Do not eat the lemon candy." He repeated the last part of the note.
Why? What was in the lemon drops? What did they do to him?
He thought of the fear he had felt when he first entered Dumbledore's office. The cold knot in his stomach, the urge to run. And then he had eaten the lemon drop, and the fear had faded, replaced by a warm, comfortable fog.
'What if the lemon drops are making me forget?' he wondered.
He thought of the note's handwriting. Why did it feel so familiar? Where had he seen it before?
How many important things has he forgotten?...how many people?.
It was a terrifying thought because he had no way to know.
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