Chapter Nine
Harry Apparated to the small town where the Death Eaters were supposed to attack. He lost any bit of tiredness he'd been feeling as his body geared up to fight, and he had to remind himself that he wasn't supposed to be fighting this time unless absolutely necessary. Plenty of people didn't even want him there at all.
He looked around him at the town. It was small enough that Voldemort seemed to believe that with forty Death Eaters he could wipe out the entire town. Harry knew that twenty masked Death Eaters were going to be popping into existence at either end of the town sometime soon.
They wouldn't be able to enter any of the buildings now, though. McGonagall had taken a group to the town earlier and the team had spent a few hours casting wards surreptitiously that would refuse entrance to the Death Eaters. Harry didn't understand the wards at all, but he was pretty sure it was something similar to the Dursley's house that wouldn't allow anyone with the Dark Mark to enter the property.
While many in the Order had been at this last meeting, a group had been going through the town and "encouraging" any stragglers to go to their homes. Harry knew the Order wasn't using Imperius, but they were modifying memories if need be. He remembered the Ministry official altering Mr. Roberts' memory at the Quidditch World Cup. The team would have no qualms about doing what they could as long as it didn't permanently harm the Muggles and it helped to protect them.
Now, the town was quiet. Too quiet. Considering that Voldemort was trying to wipe this town out of existence, it was downright creepy seeing it with no signs of life at the moment. Harry knew the people were there, but it still didn't feel right.
With nothing to do but wait, Harry let his thoughts wander. He was anxious, and he knew it wasn't just because of the members of the Order. The Weasleys, Tonks, Remus, McGonagall—he was anxious about all of them. He knew that people were likely to get hurt.
Half of his anxiety seemed to centre around Draco and Snape, though. There was something extremely strange to be worried about them, but he was feeling it regardless. Well, he wasn't overly concerned about Snape, but he was very nervous for Draco.
One wrong move and Draco could bring down the wrath of both sides down upon his head.
Under the protection of his Invisibility Cloak, Harry stepped out from his hiding spot and looked to both ends of the main street. He didn't know which direction Draco would be coming from. He knew the Death Eaters planned to sweep through either end of the town and meet in the middle.
Harry himself was stationed in the middle of the town at the moment, while the majority of the Order members were lying in wait at either end. They would attack immediately when the Death Eaters popped into existence.
As Harry watched, that was exactly what happened. He heard the loud cracks, even from where he was at, and almost immediately after he saw the flashes of wand light as the Order members began their counter-attack.
After a moment of indecision, Harry ran, keeping to the shadows as much as possible in case the Invisibility Cloak slipped as he moved. Knowing where the Order members were, he went in the opposite direction of Moody. Moody was the only one who could locate him while he was under the Cloak. Coming nearer to the battle, he slowed and crept closer.
Several bodies were down already, and Harry only hoped that they were stunned Death Eaters. Duels were taking place over a wide area, and in the darkness Harry was having trouble determining who was who.
Creeping around the outskirts of the battle, Harry spotted Remus in a duel. As he watched closely, Remus was caught by some curse, causing him to stumble. Harry's breath caught in his throat, but Remus quickly recovered and shot off his own spell.
There were very few spells that Harry had mastered being able to do wordlessly, but one of them he could do surreptitiously that wouldn't fire a flash of light to give away his location. Pointing his wand at the Death Eater, Harry thought Levicorpus! The Death Eater was immediately strung up by his heels.
Remus was startled for a moment, but then quickly stunned the Death Eater, and Harry dropped him back to the ground. He didn't know who it was, but it wasn't Snape or Draco.
Remus whipped his head around, unable to spot Harry, but clearly knowing it had been him. "Get out of here!" he shouted into the darkness. Harry suddenly wished anew that he hadn't had to tell McGonagall about Snape's book. Remus obviously recognized the spell.
As Remus moved to assist someone else, Harry moved on. Circling the battle, he searched, eyes scanning constantly. It was eerie, all the curses and flashes of light lighting up the darkness. He still couldn't spot Draco or Snape amongst all the black-robed figures, though. He was anxious, not wanting either to be amongst the stunned Death Eaters.
"Malfoy!"
Harry heard the angry shout and turned. He still couldn't spot Draco, but someone obviously had. He moved in the direction of the shout, and finally saw Draco caught up in a duel with Charlie. Harry cursed inwardly. Charlie had damned good reason to be angry with Draco, and Harry didn't know what to do.
Where the hell was Snape when Draco needed him?
Suddenly, Charlie was caught by another curse and Harry darted his gaze to the side, realizing that Snape had heard the shout, too. Unfortunately, so had others, and more people were getting involved.
Harry watched as Draco was caught by a curse and fell. Darting forward between curses, he fell to Draco's side. Grabbing his arm and hoping for the best, Harry Apparated them.
He only went back to his hidden location at the centre of the town, not trusting himself to go any further with his Apparition skills. They landed, both of them cursing, but unfortunately Draco was struggling to get away.
"Stop fighting me," Harry hissed. "And be quiet."
Draco stilled. "Potter?"
Harry pulled back his cloak enough for Draco to see his face. "You were supposed to stay out of trouble," he snapped.
"The damned Weasley figured out who I was," Draco said crossly. "I had no choice."
"We don't have time for this," Harry said angrily. "I've got to get back there. I assume you've got some kind of meeting spot arranged?"
Draco nodded.
"Then go," Harry commanded. "Hopefully it looked like you Apparated out yourself. The other Death Eaters are all Apparating out now," he said, looking towards the battle at the end of the town.
Draco's eyes widened, and he disappeared with a pop. Harry shook his head and hurried back. As he ran, he realized he hadn't even figured out how badly Draco was injured. There wasn't anything he could do about it now. He needed to figure out if everyone else was all right.
Everyone looked a little worse for wear. Harry quickly found Charlie, who was cursing Draco angrily. Harry breathed a sigh of relief that he seemed to be okay. He didn't think either Draco or Snape would hurt him too severely, but then, there had also been a lot of other Death Eaters around.
"Where's Harry?"
Harry heard Remus' anxious voice and slipped his cloak off as he walked over to the man. He was quickly enveloped in a crushing hug, even as he was being berated for getting involved at all.
"I know that was you, Harry," Remus said sternly. "I know where that curse came from, and not many people know it nowadays."
"You looked like you could use some help," Harry mumbled into Remus' chest.
Remus' arms tightened around him for a moment, before relaxing. "Come on, we're going back to Hogwarts," Remus said quietly. "Tonks and her crew will deal with things here."
"What about Ron and Hermione and the others?" Harry asked.
"Molly and Arthur have already gone to fetch them," Remus answered.
With one last look around, Harry Apparated to Hogwarts, Remus right behind him. Reaching the hospital wing, they found it in chaos. Although, upon closer inspection, it did appear to be organized chaos. Madam Pomfrey was bustling from patient to patient and calling out commands.
From what Harry could see, no one had been injured too severely, mostly cuts and bruises. Harry sucked in a breath to fortify himself and made his way to the corner where all the red heads seemed to be congregating. Madam Pomfrey had just finished seeing to Charlie before she bustled away again.
"Are you all right?" Mrs. Weasley asked worriedly.
"I'm fine, Mum," Charlie said, rolling his eyes. "I'm going to be sore for a bit, but I'll be good as new tomorrow."
"What happened?" Ron demanded anxiously.
"I caught sight of that damned Malfoy's hair," Charlie spat angrily, his attitude changing drastically from pacifying his mother just a few seconds before.
"Malfoy!" Ron said furiously, his anger immediately ignited.
Charlie nodded and went into an explanation of the duel. "We were shooting curses at each other and I'd just landed a Cutting Curse –"
"You were shooting Cutting Curses?" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.
"They're Death Eaters, Mum," Charlie said in exasperation. "What do you expect me to use against them? Especially ones like Snape and Malfoy."
"Snape!" Ron exclaimed angrily.
Harry wanted to roll his eyes, but refrained as Charlie nodded. He tried forcing his own face into an angry expression, realizing that he should be as outraged as Ron. Luckily, everyone was focused on Charlie.
"I got Malfoy down, but things got really crazy after that. I was duelling with Snape when all of a sudden he shouted for them all to leave and he Apparated, just like that," Charlie said, with a snap of his fingers. "Malfoy must have Apparated, too, because he was gone."
Harry leaned up against the wall as he listened to Charlie give a blow by blow account of the duel. He felt like he should be feeling angry on the behalf of . . . somebody, but more than anything he just felt relieved. And exhausted.
"Are you all right?" Hermione asked quietly, also stepping back from the Weasleys a little.
"I'm just knackered," Harry said with a small smile.
Hermione nodded in understanding. "At least everyone seems to be mostly okay. And all of the people who live in the town are safe."
Harry could only stare for a moment. He'd almost forgotten about all the people that they'd actually been working to save. He'd been so busy focusing on the Order members and two of the Death Eaters.
"Do you know if any of the Death Eaters were actually captured?" Harry asked suddenly.
Hermione grimaced. "I overheard someone saying that a few were captured, but no one seemed to recognize who they were. Most of them Apparated away and took their stunned and injured with them."
"Damn," Harry exclaimed softly. "That means we didn't catch any of the major players."
"Probably not," Hermione agreed. "So who knows how much information we'll likely get off of them."
Harry dropped his chin to his chest and rubbed at his scar absently. He wasn't overly concerned about the information they could glean, considering he had access to two major players, but he'd be a lot happier if they had more Death Eaters locked up and out of commission.
Dobby suddenly appeared next to him with a loud crack. "Harry Potter, sir, Dobby has a message."
Glancing warily at their audience, Harry quickly grabbed Dobby and pulled him to the side. "What is it, Dobby?" he whispered.
"Winky said Harry Potter has a guest at his home," Dobby said anxiously. "Dobby was asked to fetch Harry Potter and say it's urgent."
"Fuck!" Harry exclaimed quietly, knowing that it had to be Draco. He wondered what the hell could have gone wrong now.
"Not a word to anyone, Dobby," Harry commanded.
Dobby nodded, eyes wide, before he disappeared.
"Harry, what was that all about?" Hermione demanded.
"What did you hear?" Harry asked, giving her a sharp look.
Her eyes narrowed. "We didn't hear anything, what with you practically dragging Dobby off to the corner. Now, what was that all about?"
"I've got to go," Harry said. Ignoring his friend's anxious pleas to wait, he stalked to the hospital wing door and took off at a run once he was in the corridor. He didn't even have to think much about Apparition as he automatically paused and Apparated once he reached the main gates. He rushed into the Dursley's house, not even trying to be quiet. Taking the steps two at a time, he was breathing heavily by the time he finally reached his bedroom.
"What's wrong?" he panted, trying to catch his breath. Then his eyes landed on Draco. "Fuck, Malfoy! What the bloody hell happened?"
Draco glared at him weakly, from his position lying on Harry's bed. "Bloody Weasley caught me with a Cutting Curse," he said.
"I knew that," Harry snapped absently, moving to the bed and trying to get a closer look. Draco had taken off his robes, but he was still wearing his shirt. "Why didn't Snape heal you, though? And why are you here?"
Harry started unbuttoning Draco's shirt and pulled it aside so it was clear of the wound. He didn't notice the odd look Draco was giving him. He was too busy studying the injury.
"I don't think it's really too deep, but you've obviously been bleeding pretty badly," Harry murmured. It was a long gash along Draco's side, but it seemed like a fairly straight cut. He snagged Draco's robes from the floor and pressed them against the wound, applying pressure in hopes of stopping the bleeding.
He was wishing he knew the spell that Snape had used on Draco before. Or better yet, that Snape had just healed Draco again this time. Harry looked up to Draco's face, realizing the other boy hadn't answered him.
Draco's face was turned away and looking awfully pale with a greyish cast to his skin. "Malfoy, are you all right?" Harry asked worriedly.
Draco swallowed heavily. "What are you doing to me?"
Harry frowned. "I'm just applying some pressure to try to stop the bleeding. You seem to have lost enough blood already."
"I knew it hurt like hell, but I didn't know it was this bad," Draco said weakly.
"Well, it's pretty nasty," Harry admitted. "But I don't think it's really too bad. I mean, it didn't cut any vital organs or anything. It's just a flesh wound."
Draco moaned pitifully. "Potter, make it better," he pleaded.
Harry had a brief flashback to the incident with Buckbeak, and had to wonder how much it had really been faked. Draco seemed like a real wimp when it came to pain. He realized that Draco refused to even look anywhere near the wound. "Why didn't Snape heal you?" he asked again.
"He said he had to meet with the Dark Lord, and then he had to go do something with potions," Draco explained. "And at the time, I didn't realize quite how bad it was."
Harry's eyes darted to the clock, and he cursed inwardly. He was supposed to be meeting Snape in thirty minutes.
Harry lifted the robes gently and checked the wound. The bleeding was slowing at least. Putting pressure on the wound again, he looked back at Draco. "Why'd you come here? Wouldn't your mum have helped you?"
"She would've," Draco said irritably. "But the bitch went and stopped her. Wittle Dwaco needs to learn to take it like a man," he said mockingly.
"Bellatrix," Harry growled.
"Yeah, my wonderful aunt," Draco said sarcastically. "I got into a big fight with her and ended up storming out."
"And came here," Harry concluded.
"Yeah," Draco said quietly.
Harry sighed wearily. "Malfoy, I don't have any potions and I don't know any damned healing spells. Do you?"
Draco shook his head. "Can't you do anything?" he asked.
Harry turned and his eyes searched out Winky sitting in the chair by Victoria's cot. "Winky, could you get me some water, towels and some bandages?" With a pop, she disappeared. "Malfoy, hold this in place. We need to get you cleaned up. I don't think you're going to be going anywhere else tonight."
Draco nodded weakly. Harry took his hand and placed it over the bundled robes. Draco kept his eyes closed, but he did put pressure on the wound.
Harry moved to start unlacing the boots Draco was wearing. Hesitating only briefly, he then moved to remove Draco's trousers.
"Potter!"
"Your trousers are soaked in blood," Harry said evenly. "But fine, we'll leave them for the moment," he said, as Winky popped back into the room. She had obviously thought ahead because she also came back bearing fresh bedding.
Harry carefully took the bowl of water from the precarious stack and, removing the bloody robes, he began cleaning the wound and the surrounding area.
Draco groaned and bit his lip. Glancing at him worriedly, Harry wondered if he was going to pass out. He hadn't been looking too healthy earlier in the day, let alone now.
"I'm going to have to bandage this the Muggle way for the time being," Harry said.
Draco gave a slight nod of understanding, gritting his teeth.
Working quickly, Harry found some butterfly bandages in the pile Winky had brought and pulled the wound closed as best he could after applying some healing ointment. Applying some wider gauze bandages to cover the wound completely, he'd done all that he could for the moment.
Checking the clock, he realized that he did not have time to spare and set about removing the rest of Draco's bloody clothing. Draco kept his eyes squeezed shut and Harry tried very hard not to think too much about what he was doing as he sponged the worst of the blood away.
Winky had brought clean pyjama pants from Harry's wardrobe. They were one of Harry's longer pairs, so they wouldn't be too horribly short on Draco. Harry helped Draco to stand and dress while Winky swiftly changed the bedding. Draco's complexion was a waxy grey by now, but with two high spots of colour on his cheeks.
Harry knew he was mortified by the situation, but was too weak and in too much pain to do a damned thing about it. Draco remained completely silent throughout the entire process.
Harry helped Draco to lie back on the clean bed and pulled the blankets up. "Try to sleep for awhile if you can," he said quietly. "I know you're hurting. I'd give you some Muggle pain killers, but they aren't nearly as effective, and I don't know how they'll interact with Pain-Relieving Potions. I'm going to go try to see if I can get at least some of those for you."
Draco stared at Harry anxiously. "You're leaving?"
Harry nodded. "I've got to see if I can get the potions you need and try to come up with some healing spells so I can heal you properly."
"Oh," Draco said, wincing as he tried to shift on the bed.
"I'll be back as soon as I can and Winky will be here if you need anything." Harry looked over to Winky. "You did perfect to send Dobby for me before. Do it again if you need me."
Winky nodded.
"Sleep, Malfoy," Harry said softly.
Draco nodded and closed his eyes. Glancing at the clock, Harry realized he was going to be late, and with a final glance at Draco, he turned to leave. He retrieved the Marauder's Map from his trunk and snagged his Invisibility Cloak on his way out.
He Apparated from one alleyway to another and stumbled as he landed.
"You're late," Snape sneered.
Harry looked up at him wearily. "I know. Sorry. I've been a little busy."
Snape eyed him closely, looking him over. Harry looked down at himself and realized he was covered in Draco's blood. "Are you injured?" Snape asked sharply.
"Um, no," Harry answered. "But a lot of the others had minor injuries. Thankfully nothing too serious, though."
"You are covered in a lot of blood," Snape observed.
"Cutting Curse," Harry said, giving no further details. "Let's get this over with," he said, not wanting to talk about it. "I assume you can break us into Honeydukes."
"That is necessary?" Snape asked.
"Yes," Harry said, shrugging. "I've just never had to do it before. I've always come through during the day when the store is open."
"Cloak on," Snape said curtly, before casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself.
Harry threw his cloak over himself and walked to the front door of Honeydukes. The street appeared to be completely abandoned at this hour, but they could never be sure. He heard the quietly muttered spells, and quickly stepped inside as soon as the door opened.
He made his way to the cellar, hearing the footsteps following him. He took his cloak off once he was out of sight of the front windows of the store and, lighting his wand, he quickly found the trap door in the cellar. He was grateful when Snape said nothing, following Harry down into the tunnel that would lead them to Hogwarts.
They'd been silent for several minutes before Harry decided to try asking about the healing spell Snape had used to heal Draco before. "Would you teach me the healing spell you used?" he asked. "You know, the one you used to heal Malfoy when I, um, hurt him."
Snape snorted disdainfully. "Just like you, Potter, to inflict damage you have no idea how to repair."
"I didn't know what that spell would do," Harry said defensively. "I wasn't trying to kill him."
Harry kept his eyes forward, following the dim trail in his wand light, but he could feel Snape's eyes trying to bore through his head. "That was the first time you used that curse?"
"Yes, and the only time," Harry answered. "I'd only read it in your book and it said it was for enemies. That's all I knew about it. I was suddenly in a duel with someone who was about to cast Crucio on me, so I tried it."
Snape was quiet for more than a minute and Harry wondered what he was thinking. "That curse is Dark Magic, Potter. I find it disconcerting that you were able to cast the spell so successfully, particularly the first time casting it."
Harry's step faltered, but he kept going. What the hell did it mean if he could cast it successfully the first time? Snape had said at the time that it was Dark Magic, but Harry certainly wasn't versed in the Dark Arts. He hadn't considered the fact that he'd been able to cast it with no other knowledge than the name of the spell.
Harry hadn't considered it before and he really didn't want to think about this now, either. "Sir, I don't know what it means," he said tiredly. "And to be honest, right this second, I just don't really care. Right now, I just need to learn some healing spells. Knowing some healing spells would have been right useful tonight."
Snape was quiet again and Harry wondered if the man was going to push the Dark Magic issue. "We will talk more of this later," Snape said finally.
Harry nodded in agreement, grateful for the reprieve.
Snape's voice took on his professorial tone as he began explaining the spell he had used to heal Draco back in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Harry listened closely, needing to get this one right. Snape taught him a couple of other healing spells as well by the time the tunnel started rising again.
Harry paused and sent another mental apology to the Marauders as he got out the map. Snape held his wand over it so that they could both see as Harry touched his own wand to the parchment. Closing his eyes, Harry muttered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
He opened his eyes to see Snape glaring at him, but Harry dropped his gaze to the map. He felt like he'd just given the man a huge victory and it wasn't sitting well in his stomach.
They both watched as the castle spread out on the parchment. Looking at it closely, Harry could see Filch and Mrs. Norris in what he assumed was their rooms. Everyone else seemed to be ensconced in the hospital wing still.
"The corridor is clear," Harry said softly. "All the corridors are clear at the moment," he added.
"Very clever," Snape sneered.
Harry glared at him, but remained silent. They didn't have time to argue right now. Snape seemed to realize this, too. "Book first," Snape said firmly.
Harry took a deep breath and pulled his cloak around him as Snape Disillusioned himself again. Checking once more that the corridor was clear, Harry stepped out of the tunnel and into Hogwarts. He felt Snape grip his shoulder so that he wouldn't lose him, and Harry found it oddly comforting rather than irritating as they slipped through the silent corridors.
He made it to the Room of Requirement and checked the map again, making sure all was clear. "Wait here," he hissed quietly. He took off his cloak and handed the map to Snape.
Snape watched warily as Harry began to walk.
I need to retrieve my book. . . . I need to retrieve my book. . . . I need to retrieve my book. . . .
Relieved when the door appeared, Harry opened it carefully and was further relieved when he saw the huge room with all the objects hidden over the years. He knew Snape had followed him into the room when the door shut.
He heard Snape lift the Disillusionment Charm as he slowly started walking the alleyways created by all the varied items stacked about the large room.
"What the fuck?!" Harry exclaimed upon seeing the Vanishing Cabinet.
"What's the problem, Potter?" Snape said snidely, coming up behind Harry.
"No one's taken out this bloody Vanishing Cabinet!" Harry exclaimed, outraged. "Gods, I could kill Malfoy for fixing this fucking thing!"
Snape stepped closer, inspecting the cabinet. "This was what he used?"
"Yes!" Harry snapped furiously. "I'm sure he's told you all about the bloody thing!"
"I did not know about it until after the fact," Snape said coldly.
"Argh! Why hasn't anyone destroyed this damned thing? The Death Eaters could just waltz back through at any time!" Harry shouted.
"Keep your voice down, Potter," Snape hissed.
"Oh, we can't be discovered in here," Harry said dismissively. "This room won't even show up on the bloody map." He glared at the Vanishing Cabinet. "The only way anyone could find us is through this bloody cabinet," he said, with a vicious kick to the cabinet in question.
"Control yourself, Potter," Snape said dangerously.
"This is bloody ridiculous," Harry said, ignoring Snape. "I mean, how could everyone be so stupid as to just leave this thing here?" He began to pace the narrow alleyway.
"Why did you not do anything about it?" Snape asked, eyes narrowed.
"I should have," Harry said furiously, angry at himself along with everyone else. "Obviously I've made a serious mistake."
Harry kicked at a trunk on the opposite side. "It's my own fault for listening to the bloody adults."
"Oh, we've got everything under control, Harry," he mocked. "Leave everything to the adults, Potter. You're too young to be worrying yourself about any of this, Potter." He continued to pace as he mocked all the adults who'd been trying to pacify him for years. "We can't tell you anything because you might get hurt, Harry. You just worry about your studies, Harry."
He took on an impression of Hermione's higher pitched voice. "Harry, you know the adults are just trying to protect you. You don't know what you're talking about, Harry. Oh no, you're just being ridiculous, Harry. Malfoy's not up to no good. You're just being too suspicious, Harry."
"Argh!" Harry yelled again. "I fucking tried to tell Dumbledore that Malfoy was up to something. Would he listen to me? Hell, no! Of course, I find out as he's bloody dying that he knew a lot of it. But if the old man had actually listened to me instead of cutting me off every time, he could've looked into whatever Malfoy was doing in this room. I knew he was doing something in here!" Harry yelled out his frustration. "Will anyone listen to me? Fuck no! Harry's too bloody stupid to be able to sense danger!"
"I've been able to sense danger since I was a fucking year old!" Harry shouted. "It's a handy tool for trying to survive! Bloody hell! If everyone would quit trying to fucking shelter me, and tell me what the hell is actually going on, maybe then I'd be able to do something besides just survive. It'd be bound to make things a whole lot simpler, anyway."
Harry stopped ranting and stood with chest heaving as he glared at the Vanishing Cabinet. "Why did I fucking listen to the adults?" he muttered.
"Are you quite finished?" Snape asked.
Harry shifted his glare to Snape. "We need to destroy this thing," he said.
"Indeed," Snape said. "Particularly as the other one has mysteriously disappeared."
Harry blinked in surprise. "What? The other one is gone?"
Snape gave him a curt nod. "The Dark Lord is quite displeased that his easy access to Hogwarts has disappeared. The proprietors at Borgin & Burkes have had their memories modified and no one has been able to determine the location of the cabinet."
Harry frowned, looking back at the cabinet. The cabinet was one of those topics that he and Draco had been avoiding talking about in-depth. Had Draco done something with the other cabinet? He had been the one to secure it in the first place. Harry remembered that day in Knockturn Alley as they'd followed Draco.
If Draco did have the other cabinet, was it possible that they could use them somehow? Was it really best to destroy the cabinet?
"If the cabinet was shrunk, it would be rendered useless at that size, wouldn't it?" Harry asked.
Snape frowned at him. "It would, but why would you wish to keep it rather than destroy it?"
"Well, what if I came across the other one," Harry said, thinking fast. "Maybe they could be used somehow against Voldemort at some point." He went on, warming up to his idea. "I mean, the Death Eaters got into Hogwarts this way successfully. Wouldn't it be possible to get Order members to where Voldemort's at, at some point?"
Snape's frown deepened. "That would require you to find the other cabinet," he said slowly.
Harry didn't think that was actually going to be a problem, but didn't say so. "Well, as long as I kept at least this one safe and rendered useless for the time being, I'd at least have it if we came across the other one. Certainly you could keep an eye out for the other."
"Very well, then," Snape said, and proceeded to shrink the cabinet. Harry picked up the small box that now fit in the palm of his hand. It seemed a little unbelievable that this tiny thing had such potential.
"Keep it safe, Potter," Snape commanded.
Harry quickly pocketed it, surprised that Snape was actually allowing this.
"Now, where is the book?" Snape asked.
Shaking his head, remembering why they'd actually come, Harry turned and began searching for a cabinet with a bust of a warlock on top. Spotting the wig and tiara, Harry hurried forward and jerked open the cabinet door. He reached behind the cage and pulled out the potions book in triumph.
Snape sneered in disgust. "Interesting hiding place, Potter," he sneered.
Harry glared at him. "I was in a bit of a hurry at the time," he said irritably. He handed over the book anyway and watched as Snape silently flipped through it.
Snape snapped the book shut. "Come, we have much to do still," he said.
Groaning inwardly, Harry followed Snape back to the door. Again, Snape cast the Disillusionment Charm as Harry pulled his cloak over himself. Since Snape had kept his old office in the dungeons the previous year, they both knew where they were going. Regardless, Snape again kept his hand on Harry's shoulder, keeping them together in the silent corridors.
They made it to the dungeons without incident, and Snape swiftly dismantled the wards that allowed them access to his office. Snape looked around in satisfaction, and Harry realized that Snape had been right that no one had disturbed the room.
Harry stood awkwardly in the centre of the room. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, and he wasn't particularly fond of this room. All he really wanted to do was crawl into bed. And that thought just reminded him that he had an injured Draco still in his bed. He was surprised when Snape first snagged two potion vials off a shelf and handed one to Harry.
"Pepper-Up. It'll help revive you," Snape said, sounding as exhausted as Harry felt.
They downed the potions and Harry felt like he could function again. He watched as Snape conjured a few boxes and passed one of them to him.
"Make yourself useful, Potter," Snape sneered. "Pack that shelf there," he ordered, pointing to one of the nearby bookshelves.
Sighing, Harry grabbed the box and set to work, quickly packing books away. He wasn't sure what he thought they'd be doing, but somehow he'd been under the impression they were retrieving just a couple of books. They quickly generated a couple dozen boxes of books and supplies.
Harry found himself a bit of a bonus, though, when Snape conjured special racks and set him to work packing away a cabinet full of potion vials. With Snape working on the other side of the room, he was easily able to pocket a few needed potions. He had thought he'd have to sneak the potions from the hospital wing.
Snape swiftly shrank all of the boxes of books and most of the other boxes. Only the finished potions and ingredients he didn't shrink. Harry groaned when he realized he was going to be lugging boxes all the way back to Hogsmeade, because shrinking them would alter the properties too much. Snape just sneered at him, though, and conjured a couple of trolleys like the ones used at the train station. Harry scowled and started stacking the remaining boxes.
They'd emptied the office of everything Snape wanted before Snape moved to a doorway Harry hadn't even noticed. Stepping through, Harry realized they were now in Snape's private chambers. Groaning, he watched as Snape conjured yet more boxes and simply pointed at the nearest bookshelf. Harry dragged himself over and started packing the many, many books.
How could one man have so many books, Harry grumbled to himself. Snape disappeared through another doorway which Harry assumed led to his bedroom. It took them another hour to pack everything Snape wanted from his chambers. They both ended up with pockets full of shrunken boxes and two trolleys fully loaded with boxes.
Even with the books shrunken in size, Harry was carrying so many that he still felt weighed down. He watched as Snape cast some type of Levitation spell on the trolleys. They would be able to guide them through the hallways without them rattling on the stone floors.
Harry looked over the map as Snape made a final check of his rooms. McGonagall was in the Headmaster's office, and Harry started as he realized that the room was probably hers now. The hospital wing seemed to have less people and less activity than it had earlier. Harry assumed that most of the people there were asleep. Filch and Mrs. Norris were up wandering now, though. Harry didn't know what the hell the man expected to find at this hour. Then again, it was already after five o'clock. Maybe the man had to let the stupid cat out in the early morning or something.
Harry informed Snape about Filch and they detoured slightly to get back to the third floor and the statue of the humpbacked witch. The rest of the trip back was blessedly silent and uneventful, but Harry was dragging his heels again long before they made it to Grimmauld Place. He was surprised, but grateful, when Snape slowed his pace without a word.
They unloaded everything in the kitchen, Snape ordered Harry to get some sleep then meet him the next day, and finally Harry was allowed to go back to the Dursleys.