Harry Potter and the Perfect Stranger: Updated Book 3 - Page 44

CHAPTER 15

The Veil

"Expelliarmus!"

Roy's wand flew out of his hand as James jumped out of his seat to see Harry break into the Dungeon. Roy backed into a wall seeing Harry's wand pointed right between his eyes. What had given them away?

"James, go to your, dormitory."

James who didn't understand anything didn't move. "What's happened?"

"Nothing's happened. You have to go to your dormitory, now. Dudley, escort__-"

"I'm not going anywhere. Dad, it's Tom, why did you disarm him?" James didn't know what exactly was going on but he had heard the whispers and seen Harry's attitude toughen against Tom. And he had known Tom as a kind-hearted person, who respected Harry so much that he would not even duel with him and even if he would have to, he would most probably concede.

"It's Professor Potter if you remember." said Harry directly looking at James. "And now is not the time for me to explain. You'd help if you left."

James opened his mouth to argue but stopped at the look of rage he saw contorted on Harry's face. He stomped out of the Dungeon without another word.

"Now, why have you come here? Who helped you inside the Castle? Roy? Estella? Answer me!" The moment James left Harry advanced on Roy.

Roy stood totally dumbstruck. Harry had mistaken him as Riddle and thought Estella and himself have helped Riddle inside the Castle. Oh, God! He was stuck. Where was Tom? He couldn't handle it alone!

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Tom came back to the Castle quietly. All thought except for what he had seen minutes ago was ebbing away from him. He had betrayed Harry's trust. He had let Harry down. Harry had trusted him to be better but he had fallen right into the trap. Estella had twisted everything between Harry and Tom. But why? What was to be gained? Tom would never gain Riddle's trust by losing Harry's. So, why that much effort? He had to know and he had to find out.

As Tom made his way inside the Entrance Hall he decided he should keep Harry from whatever he had learnt until he also found out its cause. Estella had used him for all those months but now things were going to change.

As he passed by the double doors absentmindedly, Tom walked straight into someone knocking them completely over.

"I'm so sorry..." Tom spluttered realizing it was James he had knocked over.

"Tom! What-_ How-_?"

Tom suddenly remembered James would have seen him down in the Dungeons when he would have left it so he couldn't be in the Entrance Hall. But now, it seemed almost ridiculous to reason.

"Er--You're not hurt are you?" Tom asked trying to cover the awkward, confusing moment not knowing he was making it even more confusing.

"No, Tom, this-_How did you come here?"

"I disapparated after you left." Tom replied desperately.

"You can't. This is Hogwarts."

Tom opened his mouth then closed it knowing better than to argue.

"This explains everything!" James exclaimed suddenly.

"Explains what?" asked Tom suddenly coming back to his senses.

"Why dad asked me to leave and why did he disarm you, I mean him."

"Harry? What did he do?" asked Tom now concerned about Roy.

"Tom, Riddle's here. He was impersonating you, when dad-_"

"Riddle?...Oh, God! Roy!" Without further ado Tom ran flat out to the Dungeons. Harry had taken Roy as Riddle.

"Roy? Where did he come in?" asked James even more confused than before.

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"I--I-I--" Harry had never seen Riddle stammer before. It was strange. Riddle always had a purpose. He never looked for reasons. But he knew if he was here there had to be a purpose. Was he alone or he had brought someone along?

"Who else has come with you?" asked Harry his wand pointed still at Roy who couldn't even speak. "Answer me!" Harry couldn't understand. Riddle hadn't made any effort to get back his wand. He had not justified himself, he had not tried to escape. All he had done was stand and look afraid which was quite new to Harry as well. "Alright, answer me, or else..." he tried to threaten him but there was no reply again though Riddle's eyes looked fearful, something which was quite strange.

Harry had made his decision. He had no other option but to torture the answers he wanted out of him. He pointed his wand at Riddle and with all his courage "Cruc-_"

"Expelliarmus!"

Both Harry and Dudley froze as they saw Tom standing in the doorway completely out of breath. He had again disarmed Harry to save his brother.

"Tom!" Harry had finally had enough. He wouldn't let Tom help Riddle escape through his fingers again. He ran for his wand, picked it up and tried to disarm Tom but to no effect whatsoever. "Don't try to get in my way, again!" Harry shouted at him.

"Harry, you've got it all wrong--_"

"No, I haven't! Stay out of my way!"

"Harry, this isn't Riddle, it's Roy!"

"What!"

"Look," Tom pointed his wand at Roy and said, "Deflatus!" Roy's skin immediately turned back to its normal size and he fell down on the floor with the weight of the heavy stones in his pocket.

Harry stood stunned staring at Roy as he turned back to himself as Tom reversed his spell. Now he could see what Tom meant. He had cloned Roy like him to attend to his stupid Valentine.

"Harry, I--_"

"Shut up!" As Tom began to explain himself Harry silenced him. "Not-another-word." He spoke through gritted teeth. Harry could not believe this. Tom had done all of this just to be on a date! It was so ridiculously irresponsible of him. Harry's heart had skipped its beat when he had found out Riddle was in the castle and with James. What horrible thoughts had crossed his mind, only he knew. And in the end it turns out to be Roy impersonating Tom. At least, now, Harry had a reason to fire Roy.

"You've done a great job, Lestrange, I'd rather you'd collect your expulsion scroll from my office tomorrow."

"Harry, please, it's not Roy's fault. I persuaded him--_"

"He impersonated you_-"

"At my word---_"

"But as he acted the way you wanted him to, he'll have to be hold accountable for everything."

"Harry, please, listen to me," said Tom as Harry started to leave. "I shall bear the consequences. Expel me, if you have to, but not Roy."

"If I could, I would have done that already!" Harry snapped. He was in no mood to argue.

"Harry, please don't do this. I'll do anything for you if you didn't expel Roy."

"What do you want me to ask you to do? Corporal Mortification?!" Shouted Harry still quite beside himself.

"Harry, please, I'll do anything, honestly..."

"Oh, yeah, you'll do anything, right?"

"Yes, anything."

"Great. If you want Roy to stay then from tomorrow onwards, you'll not only be taking DADA classes but also transfiguration classes plus James' detention and at the end of the day and at holidays help Porch do his game keeping duties. Agreed?" asked Harry, his nostrils flaring.

Tom didn't think for a second. "Agreed." He had put Roy's job in danger. He would do anything to help him out of it.

The next day Tom got his new time table which was more severe than a death sentence. At regular school timings he would take DADA classes and during break would conduct a single transfiguration class. After the day was off at 7 o'clock the rest of the transfiguration classes will commence until 11 o'clock. From then on to midnight his detention with James was scheduled. From midnight to 2 O'clock in the morning he had to help Porch do his game keeping duties. Transfiguration units during regular school timings were free units for students to relax because they'd be learning at night, but at least they had time to relax, have proper lunch and dinner and freshen up timings. Harry had seemed to have forgotten to schedule resting hours, lunch and dinner times in Tom's timetable but he did not complain. He felt he didn't have a right to complain.

What made Tom worry even more was the fact that he had promised Josh and Silvia refresher classes but this time table simply didn't leave room for that either. Thankfully, for him Ginny sent him a message that she would cover for him along with Padma for refreshers for Josh and Silvia.

"Tom you've got to do something." said Roy when he saw Tom's timetable jumping out of bed quickly as a moment ago he was fast asleep.

"Yeah, I've got to hurry. My day starts in 10 minutes."

"No, I mean, talk to Harry. He can't punish you this way for not doing what he wanted you to do for a day!"

"But he can punish me if I become irresponsible enough to endanger my students."

"But you didn't endanger anyone. You left James with me, not with your twin."

"Yes, but Harry didn't know that and if somehow Riddle had gotten in here behind my back then I would have endangered him."

"Tom, how could he have done that, huh?" said Roy shaking his head. "Harry's being downright cruel to you. There's no chance Riddle would-_"

"He's done it before, Roy."

"Before? When?"

"Last year. He called me out on during the Halloween Feast and I was stupid enough to go to him. He put me under the imperius curse and left me in the Forbidden Forest. And he came here. Harry didn't know until I broke into his office after almost a day. And trust me, had I been any later things would have been horrible."

Tom couldn't argue with Harry about this because he felt he deserved it not because he had gone against Harry yesterday but because he had blindly trusted a woman he hardly knew. He had become too selfish to see what Harry was doing and why. Harry had expelled Estella may be because he already knew she was involved with Riddle. And Tom had not listened a word he had to say about her. He had good as betrayed his trust and given him burden of extra work. It was only fair Harry gave a bit of it back to Tom.

As the clock struck 7.am, Tom entered his first class. Until lunch time he was quite enthusiastic but then as he saw all the students making to the Great Hall he longed for a bite to eat before doing anything else but as it was apparent it wasn't possible. He had to take Transfiguration for 7th year students who seemed to be pretty upset. They hadn't had any Transfiguration class during the rest of the day but their lunch was scheduled earlier in their Transfiguration unit and now they were taking their Transfiguration lesson. They were upset because they were missing their friends in the Great Hall having a great time together and they were stuck taking lessons. But they had no idea how Tom was feeling.

After that unit, he had three consecutive units of DADA with the 1st years, 4th years and the 2nd years respectively. After standing for two more units without any sort of refreshment he felt like his legs might give away. He conjured up a chair out of nowhere and sat down. Thankfully, he would be taking a second year class. There wasn't much wand waving in the second year. The students had to make notes that he dictated. So, that gave him liberty to sit down for some time. With five minutes for the class to end he stopped teaching and dismissed the class. He went to his room to freshen up. He had to. If he hadn't he would have passed out or something. Working without a break was no piece of cake.

He washed and had just sat down on his warm bed when Roy entered his room. He realized the bell for the day to end must have rung but only for others. For him, a sixth year transfiguration class was waiting in the Great Hall.

"Hey, how's everything going?" asked Roy knowing his answer.

"Horrible. I haven't gone so long without a meal, courtesy to Hogwarts' house elves and I feel like my legs will give away under my weight. I'm tired as hell of standing."

"I understand, mate. Look, I just got off my schedule. I can help. Tell me what can I do?"

"Oh, no, you're not helping. What, do you want to get fired or something? If Harry finds out I had help with any of my stuff and especially if you've helped me, then you're a goner and so am I."

"Harry won't find out. Look, I won't take any classes. I'll go talk to Porch, if he needs help with his game keeping duties, I'll help him out now, so, you won't have to go to him after midnight."

Tom sighed. He knew Porch would not accept any help from Roy, probably, because Harry would have told him so. Still, he had no time to argue. He nodded and left the room trying to push the thoughts of dinner out of his mind.

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"That was a little evil of you, don't you think?" Dumbledore fumed from his portrait in Harry's office as he slid into it after seeing Tom leave his room.

"Not as evil as his girl friend." Harry replied icily.

"You could talk to him you know. He'll understand."

"You know I've tried. He just wouldn't put anything past her. I had no other options. I am done watching him follow her blindly. I don't want to see him walk into a probable trap that may already be prepared at the Ministry of Magic. Ron and Hermione are looking into it and they think they've stepped on to something big. Malfoy keeps close watch on the Department of Mysteries that is why they haven't yet discovered what it is he's doing down there. But they will soon.

Estella is working with Roy and Riddle, apparently, to get something from Hogwarts. We have deduced that, whatever they need is for a potion that can bring back Voldemort's soul, the potion that requires the purest and terrible most of things. I can't imagine the lengths of the world that Malfoy would have had to go to, to fetch such things and yet he has two of his people here, at Hogwarts? What is it that they are after that only one of them can't fetch?

I can't help but think, Albus, that what they're after is Tom himself. He is pure of intention so much so that he has a hard time seeing people for who they are. He sees everyone like he himself is. What if, Voldemort's soul needs his sacrifice, his life?

What if Roy and Estella are here to lure him out of the Castle, out of its safety?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Even if that is so, Harry, do you really think, keeping his so busy will help you keep him from falling into their trap. He still trusts Roy."

"I know, but he won't have enough time to stay around him."

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Originally posted by: guy3

Wow! That was fast! Glad that Tom finally knows the truth. I hope Harry doesn't do anything that would compromise tom's position and expose him to danger.

Keep Reading and Commenting 😃😃

Read a few update late. Great going peri. The story has picked up pace once more. Harry is being cruel but everything is on a right track now. With Ron and Hermione with malfoy. Harry with the ingredient being as tom. Tom finding Estella's truth. But now that Harry has kept him busy how will he find the truth behind why Estella did all this?
Waiting for the further story.
Keep up the good work.

Hey I wanted to ask you why don't you post it on other sites too where there are more HP ff readers. You could get more support for your story. Like wattpad or fanfiction.net just think about it once. There are many readers over there. People should get to read this awesome ff of yours.

I agree with yatharth's comment on wattpad. For your superb writing, you would definitely z

Transfiguration lessons weren't as easy as Tom had anticipated. The class he had taken earlier during the day, comprised of seventh years who were more trained at wand work, so, Tom only had to demonstrate the spell once and they would perform real well on their own. Now, as he stood facing first years he felt nervous. They had already done match sticks into needles and now they were doing stones into buttons. On top of that, before they started they had to be given notes.

Tom had enough knowledge about his own subject to enlighten his students with but he had never been profoundly interested in Transfiguration to know theoretical stuff about it. He had to search through the textbook to find the related paragraph then convert it to ordinary language for the students to understand. After he had dictated them notes he demonstrated the spell for them.

"Locomotor Mortis!" The stone before him turned into a beautifully shaped button with perfect holes to provide space for sewing them in.

To his horror none of the students were able to convert the stones they were given. Some had problems with wand movements and some had problems with spell pronunciation. He strolled among the students correcting their mistakes, motivating them to do better but to his disappointment no one was able to make a proper button out of the stone. Perhaps it was because he wasn't making enough of an effort. He was too tired to continue but he couldn't stop.

He took two more classes and felt all energy draining out of him. And he still had a detention to take. Roy hadn't returned from Porch's. Hopefully, he had helped him out with his duties that way Tom would at least get to sleep properly. When he entered the Dungeons, though, he did not only find James there waiting for him but also Roy.

"Hey," he said approaching him the moment he saw him enter. "I talked to Porch and he... well, he didn't want my help. So..." Tom nodded smiling. He knew Porch wouldn't have taken Roy's help because the whole purpose of it was to keep Tom busy which he knew quite clearly. "But I--_ sorry - -we decided to cheer you up a bit." He said nodding at James and the table in front of him which was to Tom's delight scattered, not with files, but piles of food.

He felt grateful and fearful all at once. "If Harry finds out about it..."

"C'mon now, dad won't murder you for this." said James smirking.

"Well, he won't murder me for having dinner but he definitely would if he found out you didn't do detention and instead we all had a party."

"Hey, Tom, don't be a spoil-sport." came a voice from the doorway and entered Dudley, carrying two large jugs of iced pumpkin juice.

Tom stood staring at Dudley as he placed the jugs on the table and began to serve James and Roy and filled up a plate for Tom, turned around to give it to him and stopped at his lost expression.

"You there?" he asked.

Tom came blinked back a little confused. "Yeah I am. But are you? Aren't you supposed to be blowing off this whole idea and complaining to Harry about it." He asked still uncertain of what he was seeing.

Dudley's smile faded. "Hey, I help Harry with matters because he's right, almost at all times."

"Almost?" asked Tom.

"Almost..." Dudley smiled. "The responsibility he's given you is not because he wants to punish you, it's because he trusts you with it. But..."

"But?" asked Tom raising his eyebrows.

"Well, skipping off your necessary hours of the day wasn't quite kind of him. Although, I can assure you, he'll be generous enough to overlook this. And that is, if he finds out about it." he winked.

Tom smiled widely. He had missed Duds' this company for days. What he had done for him tonight was overwhelming. Helping Roy and James do all this for him and keeping it from Harry. Tom felt like his old friend was back. He hugged him tightly.

A full tummy and a wonderful party attracted nothing but a comfortable sleep but Tom had no time to relax. He made down to Porch's hut slowly as the clock struck midnight. He felt too drowsy even to walk but he had no other options. 10 minutes later he knocked on his hut and leaned against the door until he heard the lock click. He immediately straightened himself as Porch opened the door. Tom stepped inside the small hut he had so many times entered to see the smiling face of Porch.

Only a few months ago he was here with Harry to have lunch, a few days before they were to leave for Harry's place. Then, Porch had scattered his small wooden table with the most uneatable stuff, something that he had inherited from Hagrid. The table contained rock cakes, burned potatoes, and half cooked steaks. To Tom's surprise when he entered the hut he found Porch's table scattered the very same way with the very same stuff and the familiar smell of tea boiling at maximum heat.

"Porch..." started Tom, his voice cracking with the overwhelming gratitude for him.

"Tom, I understand Harry's being a bit over the edge with you and he's not entirely wrong but...it's--well, it's been a long day. You must be tired and exhausted and for the most part hungry and thirsty and I know you would have worked all day without a break so I thought you could relax while you're---__--" Porch hadn't even finished when Tom hugged him to the little of his waist he could grab. "-- here." Porch was obviously overwhelmed by his reaction but he had no idea what was going through Tom.

He felt guilty to his toes. All of them, all his friends loved him so much and he had gone against them, had decided to leave them, leave Hogwarts for someone who was betraying him. Porch didn't know but his gesture, his effort showed nothing but his love and loyalty to Tom. Behind Porch Tom finally lost control over himself and tears ran down his face. He had been selfish too selfish to ignore his friends who were always there for him. He hadn't spoken to Porch with a straight face since he had voted against Estella. Now, he knew he and everyone else had been right about her. He had been the foolish one.

"Tom?" Porch sounded concerned when he felt him shaking him.

Tom who didn't want to bother Porch with his problems wiped his face put up a wide smile and let go of him. "Thanks a lot for this Porch. But I'm really not hungry." How could he be? He had just had a wonderful meal but he decided to keep it from Porch just in case, though, Porch looked like Tom had politely refused his offer because he was still mad at him for siding with Harry. "Although, I wouldn't mind a cup of strong tea." he added to see Porch's fallen face. Porch smiled and served him tea.

Tom who was too tired to stand slumped down on a chair. He gulped down the tea gretefully, feeling it working. He felt more awake than before, his drowsiness ebbing away from him. "By the way, what do you need help with?" he asked Porch suddenly remembering he was here to do something and not to have tea.

"It's nothing, really. You've got enough on your plate to be worrying about me. I'll take care of it."

"Hey, c'mon, I want to help. Tell me, what can I do?"

"Actually, it's not game keeping duties."

"Then what?"

"Well, a couple of weeks ago I found a dead ferret in the forbidden forest, then a deer and just two days ago a tarantula."

"Some, superior animal would have attacked."

"Well, that's the problem. Apart from these almost every day the roosters in my yard are dead. I don't know what's killing the roosters but the thing that killed the tarantula must breathe fire because the dead tarantula had burn marks all over its body. And same was the case with the ferret and the deer."

"So, we've got to find what's killing these animals?"

"Well, we've already found that out." smirked Porch.

"What's killing them?"

"A dragon." said Porch his eyes gleaming.

"A dragon? Oh, Hagrid."

"Precisely. Harry thinks Dad had somehow smuggled one here and hidden it inside the forest thinking of it as a harmless little creature. But apparently, it has wandered off in the forest and is now harming other animals."

"So, we've got to find the dragon?"asked Tom a little hysterically.

"You really don't have--_"

"No, I'll help. I just wanted to let it sink in that we'll go for a dragon hunt."

"Well, prepare yourself, I've been doing it for days, of course with no luck..."

"You've been to it, all alone?" asked Tom quite concerned.

"No, Harry's been a great help, but of course he was busy with a lot more, so he asked you to..." Porch's words trailed away as Tom remembered something Dudley had told him just hours ago, 'the responsibility he's given you is not because he wants to punish you, it's because he trusts you with it'. Harry hadn't put him to useless work, he really needed his help. This was something really important. Tom should've thought of that. But no matter what he would give the best of himself to the work he was given.

"Of course, I understand." replied Tom.

The moment he finished his tea he got up. The two of them left the hut fully prepared to face whatever occurred next but before they left Porch instructed Tom to do a few things that would help.

"We'll go deep into the forest and go into separate directions, neither of us will know where's the other one so, send up red sparks if you come across a dragon and I'll do the same. Look around till 2 am, or until you're tired, then send up green sparks to signal that you're done and haven't found anything and go back to the Castle. There's no need to wait for me, we're already up quite late if we hang up after this we'll never get up on schedule tomorrow, so, go to the Castle once you're tired, just send green sparks and leave the forest."

Tom and Porch entered the forest together and separated at the divider. Porch took the path laid out for them while Tom made for the uneven earth.

"Lumos!"

He walked on and on and on but found nothing but thorny branches cutting into his ankles as he walked. He was quite enthusiastic to help in the beginning but now that he had walked for nearly half an hour his enthusiasm was soon fading. But he kept going on. After walking deep into the forest for another half hour he felt like his legs would finally give away. He yawned loudly feeling quite sleepy by now. He couldn't believe how dull this work had turned out to be. For a whole hour he had only walked without so much as hearing a creak or a crank.

He was about to send up green sparks when he felt something. He hadn't realized it on the way but now that he stood he realized he had walked too deep into the forest. He had never been this far. He had gone way ahead of the Tarantula Colony as well. And now, as he stood there he felt a horrific silence around him. Although, he knew he was walking under thick canopies he had felt rustling leaves and the wind blowing earlier, now, here, it all seemed to be stopped.

He stood there for a whole minute, thinking whether he should stay or leave. Then, decided he had come this far, it wouldn't matter if he could know what was further down here. He started walking ahead again and to his astonishment, he saw light. It was strange because it was night and because he was walking under thick canopies to see a light far far ahead of him. It was a mere dot but it was there, he could tell. Tom was walking fast now wanting to reach the light when suddenly the ground beneath him skipped and he fell into a deep trench.

He rolled over and over like a rag doll as he slid down the land escaping his feet. His wand slipped from his hand as he slammed into a tree trunk back first. One moment he was thankful for the fall to have stopped another he was feeling miserable because of the pain surging through his back. He had slammed hard against the tree trunk. He got up grabbing hold of the tree trunk gingerly. But the moment he did he realized he had made a mistake as he slipped again. But this time there was no land to slide over, he was falling through open air.

He wanted to break his fall and fly off but he couldn't. Everything was happening so fast he couldn't even think. He closed his eyes tightly waiting to hit the hard, cold, earth but to his relief he didn't hit the ground, but he'd rather fall on the ground than what happened. A second ago he was falling and a second later he had sunk deep into cold, icy water. The ground would definitely have been better.

The moment he got out of the freezing lake he started shivering. Every inch of his body and clothes was soaked in icy cold water. He started looking around for his wand but couldn't find it in the dark.

"Lumos!" He shouted in desperation expecting his wand would glow and he would spot it but to his disappointment it didn't. "Accio!" He tried to summon his wand but to no avail.

It was too dark down here and on top of it, it was way below the forest itself. Tom was feeling miserable with himself now. He was tired, exhausted and now in excruciating pain and cold. If only he hadn't gone for that light. What the hell was that? And where did that trench come from? Who could have dug this deep? And how the hell did a lake happen to be beneath it?

Tom was shivering pretty wildly now. He needed his wand but in this dark he couldn't find it and he needed to get out of here. He could fly out of here any time he needed but then how would Porch know he had gone? He didn't have his wand to send him a signal. He finally decided to leave the forest for now. He would signal Porch from the Castle if he found anyone awake to lend him their wand. And he would come back tomorrow in the bright day light to look for his wand.

Closing his eyes and concentrating with all his might Tom sub sided the pain and the cold and flew out of the trench. He didn't land and made straight for the edge of the forest. He landed smoothly on the grass. Walking to the Castle was one hell of a job. He walked with his hands wrapped around himself trying to provide himself some sort of warmth but of course was unsuccessful.

The moment he was inside the Castle he felt safe and warm. He hurriedly walked to his room not wanting anyone to spot him this way but then who would? It was around 1.30 am in the morning. It was very likely that every soul in the Castle dead or alive was fast asleep. Tom entered his room to find it already occupied. Roy was lying flat out fast asleep on his bed. He was apparently here to wait for him and make sure he was fine but had probably fallen asleep while doing so. Tom made to the bed and looked around for Roy's wand. He found it sticking out of his back pocket. It was one curious habit that the two of them shared.

He took out the wand went to his window and fired out green sparks hoping Porch would have noticed. Throwing Roy's wand back onto his bed he went straight into the shower. The warm water spilling over his body was a bliss as compared to the horrible coldness of the lake he had fallen into. He stood in the shower quite reluctantly as his back ached horribly. And his legs felt like lead. Nevertheless, he cleaned off the cuts and bruises he had received from the fall, got out of the shower, put on his clothes and went out into his room to have a peaceful sleep.

"Roy, wake up." He nudged him to wake him up but Roy must have been tired enough to have fallen into a deep sleep as this. Not wanting to wait any further Tom closed his eyes and jumped into the bed. His back gave a big pang as it hit the stiff bed, the pain slowly ebbing away replaced by ease and comfort. Tonight was the most eventful night of Tom's life. He couldn't believe all that had happened to him. If somewhere he felt weird about what had happened he wasn't the only one feeling weird at that very moment.

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"Ouch, Ron, that was my toe!" Hermione snapped at Ron under the invisibility cloak.

"I'm sorry!" Ron apologized miserably. That was the third time he had stepped over her toe. Nerves were killing him.

It was after days that they had gotten a chance to finally find out where Malfoy was going in the department of mysteries. Earlier during the day Ron had followed Malfoy hidden under the invisibility cloak right into the department of mysteries. Once inside he had seen which door had Malfoy gone through, then he had marked that door with the tip of his wand at the corner so when they came back at night they would find out exactly where was Malfoy going and what was he doing there.

And now they were here but Ron was so afraid someone might find out that he had jumped at every creak and sighed heavily at every turn. Hermione had no fear at all. She knew what to do and how to do it, brilliant as she was like always.

They opened the door to the department of mysteries after Hermione had cast the spell to see any human presence but there was none in the corridors. When the door opened they found themselves in the familiar circular room. Where the doors kept changing their positions. 20 years before they moved in circles but now things had been advanced. Now they shifted their places randomly in every direction making it literally impossible to find the way outside. But that was not a concern at the moment as they had all night to themselves.

Once inside they started searching for the door Ron had marked out. They found it quickly and with a deep breath opened it, finally to see what lay waiting for them. They opened the door and walked into the Prophecy room. They remembered it quite clearly from years before. How could they forget it? They had blown it off completely when trying to escape Lucius and other deatheaters. But now it was restored back to normal. Thankfully, the Ministry had copies of those prophecies stored away someplace else or it would have suffered great loss.

The Prophecy room was lined with shelves towering over them but nothing was out of place there. Just to make sure they weren't mistaken, they ventured inside and looked in between the shelves, in every corner they searched. But all seemed clear, nothing was suspicious here.

"Do you think, Malfoy tricked us into coming here?" Ron asked Hermione now feeling very uncomfortable. They were here on Malfoy's trail and nothing suspicious was found about him.

"Maybe, but we can't give up. Perhaps, he wanted us to come here and think this is the place he's doing something when factually he's not."

"If he's not doing anything in this room then where else?" asked Ron. "And how do we find out this isn't the room?"

"Look, we know that there's a potion that has to be prepared to help Voldemort come back. Now the potion takes a year to concoct and Malfoy's been coming here for a year, if anything we should at least find a cauldron in the room he's been visiting."

Ron nodded as he understood what she meant. They left that room and started opening rooms one by one. But they had a lot of difficulty as they kept opening the same rooms again and again as they all kept shifting their positions every now and them. Every room they opened consisted of anything but a cauldron. But they didn't give up and kept looking.

Finally they found what they were waiting for. They opened the door and walked straight into exactly what they were expecting. The whole room was completely empty except for two things. One was a large black cauldron underneath which there was a flaming fire and from which fumes were erupting. And the other was the veil. The veil they had seen nearly 20 years ago when Sirius had died. The very veil behind which Sirius' body had disappeared. Both Ron and Hermione froze, not at the sight of the veil. Someone had petrified them silently and they both fell down on the floor rigid as skateboards.

"Hello Wealey." said Malfoy removing the invisibility cloak from over the two of them. "It wouldn't take me a second to kill you both, but the Dark Lord thinks you two can be of service and so you shall be. Imperio!"

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Keep Reading and Commenting! 😃

Originally posted by: i_yatharthk

Read a few update late. Great going peri. The story has picked up pace once more. Harry is being cruel but everything is on a right track now. With Ron and Hermione with malfoy. Harry with the ingredient being as tom. Tom finding Estella's truth. But now that Harry has kept him busy how will he find the truth behind why Estella did all this?
Waiting for the further story.
Keep up the good work.

Hey I wanted to ask you why don't you post it on other sites too where there are more HP ff readers. You could get more support for your story. Like wattpad or fanfiction.net just think about it once. There are many readers over there. People should get to read this awesome ff of yours.

Originally posted by: guy3

I agree with yatharth's comment on wattpad. For your superb writing, you would definitely z

The Dragon

"What the hell! Oh, God!" Tom exclaimed having been pulled out of a deep sleep by Roy who had thrown a jug of icy cold water on his face. He sat up shivering horribly, the cold and the pain in his back coming back to him all at once. He looked around frantically and found Roy standing in his face with the jug in his hand. Without another thought he got up and jumped right on top of him beating him down to the ground as he tried to defend himself.

"Tom! C'mon man, take it easy!"

"Take it easy! How could you___---"

"Break it up boys!" Duds had just opened the door to find the two of the brawling on the floor. He pulled Tom away from Roy. As he did so Tom shouted loudly something about being hurt and pushed Dudley away from him.

"Hey, take it easy, dude." said Roy getting control over his breath as Tom bent down breathing harder than him. After what had happened last night, he was a bit scared. When Roy had put water over him he had felt like he had fallen into that cold lake again. And he had reacted instantly.

"I'm sorry." He sighed heavily.

"You alright? Didn't know I'd alarm you like that or I wouldn't have done it."

"It's Ok." Tom stood up straight gingerly. "Can you dry me up with your wand?"

"Sure." said Roy pulling his wand out. He dried him up within a second. Tom felt calmer now. At least the cold had left him. He sat down on his bed with his hand on his back.

"Where's your wand? And what's happened to you?" asked Duds observing him.

"I lost my wand in the forest last night." He told them everything that had happened last night.

"You know what time it is? You're late for your first class already and now you don't have your wand. You could have told me about it last night." Roy said sounding like a worrisome father.

"You were asleep when I walked in."

"Ok, let's think what we can do now." said Dudley.

"I have got to tell Harry. He has to know about the forest. I have never seen those trenches before and Harry must know about them." Tom got up to leave the room as Roy called out.

"Don't forget to visit Madam Brown."

Harry who had just sent a patronus to Ron to confirm his meeting with him later today was taken by surprise as Tom walked in his office. They hadn't talked since Harry had assigned him extra work.

"I needed a word with you." said Tom.

"Yes?" Harry was careful not to be lenient with him.

"I helped Porch with his game keeping duties last night." Tom said rather pointedly.

"Well, that's not exactly impressive as that was part of your schedule." Harry retorted quite missing it.

Tom took the insult quietly. He knew he deserved it but he needed Harry to know about the trenches just in case any student wandered off in that direction. "During the task I stumbled across something which I think should be of importance to you."

"What is it?"asked Harry now actually listening.

"There are deep trenches in the forest if you went too deep. Way ahead of the Tarantula Colony. And not just trenches, below them there's a lake."

"A lake under the forest?"

"Yes. I've been here a long time and I have never known anything about these trenches and I believe neither did you."

"No, I didn't. Does Porch know about them?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen him since last night. Though, I'll have a word with him about this when I go down there now."

"Why are you going down there? You should concentrate on taking your classes and being on time as you've already missed your first class. I'll talk to Porch about this myself. You should attend to your work."

"Actually, I need to be down there anyhow, so, I don't mind if you want to talk to him personally but I'll inform him if I see him down there."

"Tom, go to your class. I won't tolerate any more rule-breaking from one of my teachers."

"I can't take any classes until I go down there." Tom replied shiftily.

"And why is that exactly?"

"Well, last night when I stumbled upon one of those trenches, I dropped my wand and it was too dark to see so I left it there. I'll go down now and get it back."

"What! You lost your wand? What do you exactly mean when you say you stumbled upon the trenches?" asked Harry now concerned for Tom but he kept it out of his voice because he didn't want him to know he was concerned about him. He had notices he was standing a little gingerly but had figured he was probably exhausted due to his tough schedule. Now though, something else seemed to be the case.

"Well, I fell into one. It was covered by dirt so I never knew what I was walking into."

Harry would have gasped had he not controlled himself. He wanted to ask him if he was fine but he didn't. Partly because he knew all Tom would tell him would be that he was fine, which by the looks of it, he wasn't. "Ok, so, you'll go back now?"

"Yeah." replied Tom almost expecting Harry to show some kind of concern.

"I want to accompany you there. I want to see where these trenches lie."

"Sure."

Tom and Harry both left to go downstairs. On their way downstairs everyone stared as it had been a long time since anyone had seen the two of them together. When they reached the edge of the Forbidden forest, Harry summoned his broomstick.

"You had better stay here. It'll take a long time to walk to that place. I'll fly under the canopies, once I found the place where you fell, I'll summon your wand. I'll see the place that way too.

"But I can come too--_"

"Since, you can't fly --_"

"I can, Harry."

Harry stared at him disbelievingly as Tom closed his eyes to concentrate and he rose in the air levitating a foot above the ground shocking Harry.

Harry wanted to ask him exactly when and how had he learnt to do it but they didn't share a relationship of the kind that would allow him to ask him that question. And anyways, if Tom had wanted to tell him anything he would have done so himself. "Very well, let's go."

They both flew into the forest, Tom flying a little higher than Harry. Within minutes they reached the trench. Tom hadn't been able to see a thing last night in the dark but now that it was day time, he could finally see what he had fallen into. It was a big round trench going down nearly 30-40 feet and lying at its very bottom was the lake that had soaked Tom the previous night.

Both Harry and Tom dived in the trench. Harry noticed Tom's knees buckle as he landed smoothly beside him. The moment he saw Harry land beside him he straightened himself up giving peculiar support to his back with his hand.

"Accio Wand!" Once inside the trench Harry summoned Tom's wand. He handed it back to him. Tom was glad to see it in one piece.

Harry looked around the trench. Who could have dug this deep? And only to find a lake underneath? Was there more about Hogwarts than he knew? Than even Dumbledore knew? Perhaps it had to do something with the Dragon Hagrid had brought but the surroundings of the circle didn't seem burnt. They were properly dug. But, by whom?

"Tom, the task I've given you with Porch, look into it seriously. Find that dragon soon as you can. You know the students, no matter how much they are told to stay away from the forest, they do exactly the opposite. I don't want any of my students getting hurt."

Tom nodded and both of them flew off again. This time when they landed at the edge of the forest Tom nearly fell to the ground but Harry broke his fall by grabbing him in time. As he straightened up he supported himself with his back to a tree trunk. Harry was now almost upset at him for not asking a day off from him. Even now, when he was in pain, he would not ask for help, even from Harry.

They walked to the Castle gates together. But by the time they reached their separate ways Harry couldn't stop himself. "Tom."

"Yes."

"You can take the day off if you need it."