Warning: this is a bit of a dark Harry. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, I just like to play with her characters.
Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom and every other student along with the staff were all in the great hall eating dinner.
Just as the deserts appeared on the table, Severus Snape, the nasty potions master began to scream, which made others scream in fright.
Albus Dumbledore jumped up and hurried over to his professor, who seemed to be in pain, but Albus could not see what was causing the pain. Then blood began to appear on different parts of the potions master. Both his shoulders were dripping with blood, his wrists and stomach was the same. When Snape was pulled up, everyone thought he looked like he was being held up by invisible hooks. His legs and feet were also covered in blood.
No matter what Albus, McGonagall, Flitwick and the other staff members tried, they could not stop Severus being tortured. Albus had cast many spells around the great hall hoping if someone was there doing this to Severus, he could detect the person, or stop him, but he found nothing.
Snape's screams were echoing around the great hall as he was lifted higher and out of reach of everyone. But even magic could not bring the potions teacher back down to the floor. Just as Severus gave the loudest and blood curdling scream, another began to scream. Draco Malfoy was having the same done to him as was done to Severus. After Draco was hoisted up by invisible hooks, another began to scream, then another professor before more students began to scream.
All the students were looking around, scared and worried that what was happening to one of their professors and some students could happen to them. Some students became hysterical, others just looked scared.
Harry had pulled Hermione and Neville with him and they now stood against the wall, the other friends followed. The Weasley twins had grabbed their younger sister and made sure she was behind them but they also grabbed Ron to make sure he was with them as well. There was shouting but no one heard a word because of the screams coming from those who were being tortured.
It took nearly an hour before Severus Snape stopped screaming and he only did that when he slumped over, dead, but still hanging by invisible hooks. After Severus died, Draco died, then the others. Two professor, five Slytherin students, two Ravenclaw, one Hufflepuff and one Gryffindor all died a very painful death.
The hall went silent until Albus began to issue orders. The first was the castle went into lockdown. Then some teachers ran from the great hall, some began to move hysterical students out and to the hospital, along with students who had fainted. The last few got the rest of the students to leave and go straight to their house common rooms.
As all the rest of students basically ran out of the great hall and towards their house rooms, more screams started. The students didn't stop, they just kept running, to get as far away from the great hall as they could.
What no one knew was the same thing was happening to others, but these others were not at Hogwarts.
The moment the last Gryffindor ran into the room, shouting started, until Harry used his wand to set off a loud bang.
'Quiet,' Harry yelled, 'There is no use yelling and asking what happened when we have no idea and I doubt we will find out, at least not yet. Fred, George, Lee, it's up to you three to try and find out, it's in my trunk, which will help. You three know this castle better than anyone, so you'll be able to get around.'
'We're on it Harry,' Lee said.
'But we're not the only ones…' Fred said.
'That know this castle,' George finished and both smirked at Harry.
'Yeah, but the portraits have been told to report to Dumbledore whenever they see me, so it's easier with you three. We need to find out what did that to Snape, Moody and the others. One was a Gryffindor even if he was a bloody prat.'
'We'll find out,' Lee said.
The twins nodded then George ran up the stairs to the boys dorm, but not to his own, to Harry's. He got the map out of the trunk then hurried back down.
'We'll let you know,' Lee said then the three of them hurried out of the portrait.
'There was nothing there and no one was pointing wands at them,' Hermione said in a shaky voice.
'I know Hermione. None of us saw anything, it was basically invisible, whatever it was. So basically, we saw nothing doing that to them,' Harry sighed then sat down, 'I know everyone is scared, I am, it's only natural after that. Either stay here where there are loads of us, or go to your dorm rooms, but I would suggest don't go alone. None of us will mind if you want to stick with us or others.'
Even though Harry was only a fourth year, everyone seemed to listen to him. A few went up the stairs to their dorms, a few sixth and seventh years, but most stayed in the common room and a lot of the first and second years seemed to move close to Harry and his friends.
'I need to contact…him.'
'How can you do that without being see by the portraits?' Ron asked.
'He gave me something. Keep everyone here, I'll be back in a few minutes.'
Few asked where Harry was going, but Hermione said he needed to do something and would be right back.
'Sirius Black.'
'Hey pup, what's up?'
'Murder and torture.'
'Damn, what happened?'
'Everyone was in the great hall for dinner, all of a sudden Snape was screaming, then bleeding. He was being hoisted up by what looked like invisible hands or hooks, something. Some students were next, then Moody. They all died. But as we were hurrying out of the great hall to come to the tower, we heard another scream. Fred, George and Lee have the map and are trying to find out what's going on. There was no one there Sirius, or an invisible person that Dumbledore nor any of the staff could detect.'
'Are you safe now?'
'As safe as we can be. We're all in the tower. But the students, five Slytherin's, two Ravenclaw's, one Hufflepuff and one Gryffindor.'
'Did they have anything in common?'
'Not that I know of. I mean Snape, Malfoy, Nott, Parkinson, Bulstrode and Zabini. They are the ones that cause trouble for everyone here and we know the parent's were death eaters just like Snape was. The two from Ravenclaw was Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe, they're just snobby, pathetic bitches, but I doubt they were connected to death eaters. Zachariah smith from Hufflepuff, thinks he's all important, he's just an annoying prat. It was Cormac McGlaggen from Gryffindor. He's a prat and thinks his merlin's gift. Cho and Marietta bully others and think no one is as good looking as them and McGlaggen and smith think they know everything. Moody, I mean it's not looks not if Moody and Snape just died as well. I figured you could tell Remus, he taught those, so he might have noticed things we haven't. We're all worried Sirius, whatever did this, attacked students, some not from dark families as far as I know, but they also attacked an ex auror and friend of the old man's.'
'I'll talk to Remus and get him to go to Hogwarts. I'll be in the forbidden forest and shrieking shack.'
'No, there's bound to be aurors swarming this place soon, if they aren't already here. Let Remus come here, you stay and I'll keep the mirror on me. People just can't see who I'm talking two.'
'I can use one of the features your dad and I put into the mirrors, it will obscure my features and voice. But you make sense, there are bound to be aurors there. I'll stay but you are to contact me every half an hour.'
'An hour Sirius, and I'm not leaving the tower unless I'm with Hermione and the others.'
'Alright, an hour. But if it happens again call me straight back.'
'I will, unless the twins and Lee find out anything.'
'Alright, but take the mirror with you in case I hear something.'
'Okay.'
Harry and Sirius said goodbye then Harry hurried down to the common room.
'Where did you go Harry?' Colin asked nervously.
'I have a way to speak with…a friend outside of Hogwarts. I wanted him to know what is going on. He will let us know if he hears anything and I promised to do the same. He is going to send Remus here.'
'Who is Remus?' Katie asked.
'Lupin, Remus was good friends with my parent's, we've become close.'
'At least we know he's not dark or anything,' Neville said.
'Even if he is a werewolf,' Angelina said.
'But it's not the full moon so he'll be fine,' Alicia said.
'He will be. So now it's just wait to hear something.'
'What do you think will happen with the tournament?' Ron asked.
'I doubt it will go ahead. I mean two teachers and nine students were just tortured to death, and no one could see what or who did it,' Hermione said.
'Hermione's right, it would be dangerous in case there is someone here killing people. It could be some creature that somehow got into the castle or it could be some type of dark spell that was put on the great hall. But we heard a scream so there could be many more. We won't know until we're told or Fred, George and Lee find out anything. I'm more curious as to why those were chosen. If it was to do with being dark, then I get the five Slytherin's and Snape. But it doesn't explain Moody, Chang, Edgecombe, Smith and McGlaggen,' Harry said furrowing his brow.
'I saw McGlaggen whispering to Nott one day, at the back of the library,' Hermione said.
'Then maybe he was going over to their side,' Ron said.
'Maybe,' Harry shrugged, 'That doesn't explain Moody, Edgecombe, or Chang. Okay, Chang was a bully and thought she was better than everyone, but that's not dark or evil. Moody was an auror. I just can't figure it out.'
'None of us can. Maybe magic had something to do with it,' Katie said.
'What do you mean?' Angelina asked.
'Well, magic can do things that normally would be impossible, and we know magic can make miracles happen,' Katie gestured towards Harry who shrugged again, 'Maybe magic saw something in those people and decided to deal with them.'
'Okay, say that's true, why would it do it now and not before? We've had trouble with Snape and those Slytherin's since we've been here. McGlaggen and Smith were always prats. I didn't really have anything to do with Chang and Edgecombe,' Hermione said.
'Maybe it was only now that their…inner dark selves were showing, or about to show itself,' Harry said. 'Dumbledore always said Voldemort…' Harry waited until everyone stopped screaming, 'he wasn't dead, and that he was trying to return. I saw him in a spirit type form in my first year, yet Dumbledore said it wasn't a ghost, it was his soul, which is what he is at the moment. Maybe the ones that died knew he was gaining strength or he was back, which told them they could finally show their true selves. This is all speculation, we won't know anything unless we get told.'
Harry called Sirius on the mirror an hour later, but neither had any news, yet.
It was another hour when Fred, George and Lee came back. They handed Harry his map then sat down to explain what they heard and saw.
'The one that screamed as we left was Dumbledore,' Lee said.
'He's dead,' Fred said.
'And the place is swarming with aurors,' George said.
'But it happened at the ministry as well. Fudge, someone called Umbridge, an auror called Dawlish and Scrimgeour, he was head auror, and also old man Malfoy. We're not sure if there were more, we had to move,' Lee said
'We saw Remus,' Fred said.
'He was talking to Flitwick,' George said.
Harry nodded then activated the mirror, 'Remus is here but haven't heard from him yet. But apart from the ones I already told you about, it happened to the minister, Fudge, Malfoy, someone named Umbridge, an auror called Dawlish and Scrimgeour. But it was Dumbledore that screamed as we left the great hall, so he's dead along with the others. There are aurors everywhere.'
'If it was able to get into Hogwarts then it was powerful, whatever it was. To take out someone like Moody and Dumbledore means it's more powerful than we can imagine. Now I know Fudge has auror guards, so getting to him means getting past his guards. Dawlish is his nephew and probably one of his guards. Umbridge works for Fudge, I'm just not sure how. Remus has another mirror, he's going to contact me as soon as he has something to tell me. When he does I'll let you know. How many aurors are there and was there a woman around fortyish with a monocle?' Sirius asked.
'Yes, she seemed to be issuing orders,' Lee said.
'That's Amelia Bones, she's head of the department of magical law enforcement and a bloody powerful witch. She hates death eaters with a passion, she also never liked Fudge, thought Dumbledore had too much power, so she was pushing so no one can hold more than one powerful position. Which I happen to agree with. She also has nothing to do with Voldemort since he and his death eaters murdered almost her entire family. She only has her niece left, who she raised. She's someone we can trust.'
'We know Susan bones, well, sort of, she's nice though,' Harry said. 'Do you think it's a dark person or some type of invisible creature that did this?'
'I'll know more once I speak with Remus. But going on what you described, it's not a person. Even someone like Voldemort couldn't have done that without being seen or stopped by Dumbledore. Those two were equal in power, just one was light and one was dark. People say Voldemort feared Dumbledore, that's not true. He was cautious and wary of Dumbledore, but they could never beat the other and went up against each other many times. The one Voldemort feared was you mate, especially after he found out about that blasted prophecy. No it's not Voldemort. If not a creature, then maybe something poisoned them in a way to make it look like something was actually attacking them. They will do a magical autopsy, which will tell us more.'
'Even though we're all together, and we'll try to stay together, I doubt it would stop whatever this is. I mean we were all in the great hall and nothing worked to stop it happening to two teachers. Katie had a theory about some, like maybe magic sensed some type of darkness in them, but it doesn't explain Dumbledore or Moody,' Harry said.
'It's not unheard of for magic to act on his own. But no, neither of them were dark, Moody caught more dark witches and wizards than any other in history. It's why he looks the way he does. He's a tough old bastard, or was. I don't know Harry, let me talk to Remus then I'll have more information. He might also know something about the tournament. Since it's getting late, I won't call you unless it's urgent, you do the same.'
'I will, but I will call you in the morning, talk to you then,' Harry said then disconnected the mirror.
Everyone in Gryffindor tower had been listening, now all they could do was stare around and wonder what was going on and if anyone else might have been killed.
It was eleven o'clock when McGonagall stepped into the room. She said she could not talk about what happened as the aurors were still investigating. She explained that all house rooms would have two auror guards outside the door. Auror Shacklebolt and auror Hammer were outside Gryffindor tower. Even though everyone was upset, or scared, she suggested everyone go to bed, but classes were cancelled until further notice.
Just as McGonagall left Hedwig flew into the room, 'I think Hedwig wants to help,' Harry gave his owl a pat, 'I'm sure your father would have heard something from the ministry since he works there,' Harry stared at the red heads, 'I think you should write to your parent's so you're mum doesn't come storming the castle to make sure you're okay.'
'We'll write,' Fred said.
'Because she would storm the castle,' George said.
'And probably not care about the aurors,' Ron said.
'Or the teachers,' Ginny said.
When the red heads finished the letter, Fred tied it to Hedwig's leg then Harry carried her to the window.
'Safe flight girl, but go hunt after,' Harry lifted his arm and let the beautiful snowy owl fly off. Harry kept staring at the owl until she was out of sight, but he also had a grin on his face. He would make sure no one saw the way he looked or know that he was responsible for killing off those people.
Harry discovered his gift when he was eight years old, and used it to scare the Dursley's which allowed him to have anything he wanted. He would sometimes use his invisible copy to torture the Dursley's, if they annoyed him, but after the first few times, they finally realised that if Harry got angry enough, he could kill them. From then on they left Harry alone but also allowed him to do what he wanted.
As Harry thought of Snape and the others, he had to force himself not to smile as it listened to their screams. He had done the same to Dumbledore who thought Harry living with abusing people was perfectly acceptable but also allowed the students, especially Harry to be constantly put in danger. He did Fudge and the others because they were slowly destroying the wizarding world and because he was friendly with Malfoy, it meant having the ministry ready for Voldemort to take over. But Fudge also refused to listen when Harry and Hermione told him Sirius was innocent. Harry took care of Voldemort, Peter, and some other death eaters. Harry was sick of the way the magical world was and was determined to make it better. He got rid of the evil people but also the corrupt people. He also wanted to get rid of others that found it amusing to bully others. He had given them secret warnings, they didn't take his warnings seriously, now they were dead. With Pettigrew, Harry knew he would be found, so hopefully it will have someone like Bones investigating and find out that Sirius was innocent. He also made sure that Peter's dark mark was visible. But Harry was also happy since Dumbledore was dead, Harry would now stay with Sirius, whether he was cleared or not. It was only Dumbledore that wanted Harry with the Dursley's, now the old man was out of the way.
'Um, Harry, the younger ones wants to know if we can check their rooms for them.' Hermione said.
Harry made sure to look worried as he turned around and saw everyone staring at him.
'Um, yeah, if it makes them feel better. Maybe Hermione and Angelina can check all the girls rooms, while me and the twins do the boys. Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean can check our room,' Harry shrugged.
'Let's go then, the younger ones are tired and it is late.'
Hermione, Angelina along with Katie and Alicia all headed up to the dorm rooms with the younger years. Harry and the twins lead the younger boys up to their dorm rooms. Both lots of groups went through each room, cast a lot of revealing spells, they even manually looked under beds and inside the wardrobes. They also searched the bathrooms. Only when Harry said it was safe, or as safe as it could be and no one was there, the younger kids began to relax. Harry did tell them to keep their wands within reach, but if they saw anything strange then to come and get him or the twins straight away. They ended up checking all the younger year dorm rooms before heading to their own room.
Harry ended up having a shower before sitting on his dorm bed, 'Even though we all need to sleep, I'm not sure I can.'
'Like the rest of us,' Seamus said.
'If Hermione was here she would say use the time to do any homework we have,' Ron said.
'I doubt any of us could concentrate on our homework,' Harry said.
'Not unless your Hermione or Percy,' Neville said shyly but the others agreed.
Exploding snap,' Dean said, but the other four boys nodded. They knew they weren't going to sleep for a while yet, so playing a game would hopefully wear them out.
By the time Harry led the rest of the Gryffindor's to the great hall, it was almost eleven. All of them ended up going to sleep late. When they saw the students from the other houses, they realised they also looked tired so they never went to sleep until late either.
'Harry.'
Harry turned, 'Moony.'
All the Gryffindor's stopped, 'I'll let Harry fill you in soon, but I need to talk to him about something unrelated to all this. Just know it's safe. We've had unspeakables casting charms all night, there is nothing here that will harm any of you,' Remus said giving the students a kindly and reassuring smile.
Harry moved away with Remus, 'What's going on?'
'Apart from trying to figure out what happened, the aurors found a couple of bodies during the night. One was Peter and the other is what they believe is Voldemort.'
'Does that mean someone might listen to us about Sirius?'
'Madam Bones already spoke to me and she does want to speak with you. I offered her to see my memory of what happened in the shrieking shack.'
'I can offer mine as well. If she speaks to Sirius then he can show what really happened that night with Peter.'
'By the way she sounded and looked, she will.'
'Did you tell Sirius?'
'No, I didn't want to get his hopes up in case something happened.'
'Alright, I get that so I won't say anything to him. But what about all this, are we safe?'
'They didn't find anything and have added more wards to Hogwarts, powerful wards, so yes, you are safe.'
Harry sagged in relief, 'The younger kids wanted us to check their dorm rooms before they went up there. Everyone was looking at me, so I basically worked it out and had some of the older girls check the younger girls dorm rooms while me, the twins and Lee checked the younger boys rooms. None of us got to sleep until the early hours this morning.'
'We expected it Harry, which is why breakfast is still being served. The tournament was cancelled. Even though it's safe there were many that didn't want it introduced, especially most of the staff. One more thing though, Moody, wasn't Moody?'
'What do you mean he wasn't Moody?'
'About twenty minutes after he died, he began to change. That flask was filled with polyjuice potion. The man was Barty Crouch junior, a death eater who we all thought died in Azkaban. They found the real Moody stunned and locked in his trunk. He's okay, and up in the hospital wing.'
'Even though he's dead, do you have any idea why he was here?'
'No, but since he was a death eater, and Peter were with Voldemort, I would say they had some plan to give him back a body. The only thing we can't work out is why was Crouch here and not with them.'
'He had been giving me strange looks. At first I thought it was the boy who lived shit, now that we know it's a death eater, maybe he was here to kill me.'
'That could be true, but I doubt we will find out the truth unless they can question another death eater that might have been involved in these plans. There's no use worrying about it now. He's dead, so is Peter and Voldemort. Come on, your house mates look anxious.'
Remus and Harry joined the Gryffindor's, but the other students from other houses were listening to what Remus said. Every student, apart from a few Slytherin's, all like Professor Lupin, so they knew having him here and explaining they would get the truth. The whole student population seemed to sag in relief. Remus nor Harry told them about Crouch or Peter, they decided to wait and hope they got more information. Remus left a few minutes later to go talk to McGonagall.
'We still kept trying to find some type of link. Sorry Harry, but you are one that linked all of them, well, except Professor Moody,' Hermione said tentatively.
'I'm not linked to Smith, Chang or Edgecombe. The only link with McGlaggen was we're both Gryffindor's.'
'You did have a go at McGlaggen mate, he actually got a bit scared when you did,' Ron shrugged.
'You also had a few arguments with Smith,' Dean said.
'And you did warn Chang and Edgecombe to leave Luna alone,' Neville said.
'That's true, but then again, I didn't know Dawlish, or those others, only Fudge and I only met him a couple of times.'
'Harry's right,' Fred said.
'He wasn't linked to Dawlish or Umbridge, he also wasn't linked to Moody,' George said.
'So it's not a link that connects one person, so it might be a creature or a heap of people,' Lee said.
'It wasn't a person, Remus said that. The unspeakables could not detect any magical signatures, not human or animal.'
'Then maybe a poison, what about a ghost?' Dean asked.
'I suppose it's possible, but apart from the Bloody Baron all the other ghosts are nice, well, nice for a ghost. Peeves likes to cause mayhem, he's basically a Fred and George just in spirit form,' Harry said making everyone laugh, but it seemed to make everyone relax, 'He is a poltergeist, and they can get nasty, but Peeves has never done anything more than annoy us. If it's a ghost, then it's a new one. I don't think so though. I just hope they find out so we'll get some answers.'
'So far they haven't, and we don't know if they will find out anything,' Seamus said.
'The best thing to do right now is just try to think of other things. Remus said we're safe, or the unspeakables said we're safe. I suppose we just go on with our lives,' Harry said.
'Yeah, let's do what Harry said,' George said.
'And just do what we always do,' Fred said.
'But we're all in this together so if anyone is worried, you can come to any of us,' Lee said.
All the younger kids looked between Lee and Harry, but most stared at Harry who gave them an encouraging smile.
If he was going to be thought of as famous, he might as well use that fame to help the younger kids feel safe. Harry would not be using his gift again, not unless he found another person who was evil, cruel or liked to kill. He hoped he never did. But right now, Hogwarts will finally be just a school and not a place where students end up in danger. He just hoped it didn't change.
Harry was glad to hear the triwizard tournament had been cancelled. He thought it was stupid and dangerous to put that on again when past contestants had died. Harry had been worried that he would somehow end up in danger because of the tournament. He had already told his friends he wasn't going to enter, he wanted to stay clear. He wasn't even interested in watching, but found out that unless a student was in the hospital, they had to attend. Now it's cancelled, none of them had to worry about that.
Since there were no classes, the friends mainly stayed outside in the sun. But the younger years stayed close without invading the older student's privacy. Harry did move away so he could talk to Sirius but also make sure no one heard what they were talking about.
'If the unspeakables say you're safe, then you are. They know magic that none of us do, even someone like Dumbledore wouldn't know spells they do.'
'Remus made us all realise that, and that we're safe. Okay, you know I'll be living with you now. I don't care if you're in hiding, it's better than those muggles.'
'Good, it was only Dumbledore who didn't want you living with me. Originally I was going to go to the old Black home in London, but I found out my uncle, one of the good ones, he left me everything when he died. He had a rather nice size country home.'
'Why don't you head there now? There's nothing you can do here, especially with all the aurors. I have a feeling they are going to be here for a while so the parent's will know they were protecting their kids.'
'As long as you keep contacting me, then I will. But if anything, even the smallest thing happens, you contact me straight away.'
'I will, I promise.'
'Then the house will be ready for us to spend our first Christmas together.'
'I'm looking forward to it. I better go, I'll call you again tonight.'
'Make sure you do. But I'll call if Remus tells me anything you should know.'
When Harry cancelled the connection, he moved back over to his friends. One thing he did notice, some of the Slytherin's actually looked relaxed. None of them were causing trouble, and Harry wondered if it was because Snape and Malfoy were dead or if it had anything to do with how many aurors were walking around the grounds and keeping an eye on the students.
Luna had joined Harry and his friends, everyone knew that Harry thought of her as one of his closest friends, but also someone that he would protect any way he could. Many had stopped bullying Luna when they found out she was friends with Harry. It was only Cho and Marietta that continued to bully her and steal her things. They were dead now, so Harry hoped it meant Luna's life inside Ravenclaw tower was a lot better.
He knew his life at Hogwarts was going to be better. Hopefully it would mean that the next few years he would just be a student and never face any type of danger. But his invisible copy would be listening and watching, if any one looked like they were going to cause problems, whether it was just bigoted stuff about muggleborns, or more dangerous like a dark wizard, then he would take care of them, just as he had done over the last twenty four hours.
Harry couldn't help smiling as he listened to his friends, but also Fred and George who were talking about some of their pranks. He glanced around, smiling at the younger kids, he even gave a small smile to some of the Slytherin's. He realised he was right, it was Snape and Malfoy that caused all the conflict and hostilities. Now those two were dead, maybe the four houses will be united once again, something that hasn't happened since Salazar Slytherin left Hogwarts a thousand years ago.
The end: