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The next morning Dumbledore's seat at the head table was empty and remained so for three days. When Pomona and Filius inquired as to his whereabouts, Minerva merely shook her head. "I have no idea. When I went to see if he was alright; he shouted at me through the door and said he would be unavailable until further notice and would I mind taking over."
With classes, assignments, and special projects, Harry and his friends were kept so busy that it was almost Halloween before they knew it. Harry realized it was one year since him mum had returned from behind the Veil.
He was amused by the fact that Lockhart kept looking for him all over Hogwarts, but of course he was looking for the previous version of Harry Potter with the distinctive lightning bolt scar on his forehead. The scar now was so faint; it was hardly noticeable anymore.
"What a dork!" Greg laughed as him, Harry, and Draco were coming out of the library as he described a meeting he, Vince, Nev, and Millie had had with Lockhart. "He asked us if any of us knew Harry Potter and could we please tell him he was interested in talking to him."
"Yes, with a photographer on standby," Draco added. "He'll need some pictures for the next fairy tale he writes."
"He's a complete …" Harry started to say and then stopped in mid-sentence as he heard, "So hungry …need blood …must kill …lots of blood …so hungry!" His eyes widened. "Did you guys hear that?"
"Hear what, Harry?" Draco asked.
"That voice! It's going to kill someone!" Harry said as he ran ahead of them, following the voice.
"Harry! Come back!" Greg called. "It's not safe!"
"We should get either Professor Snape or Professor Lupin," Draco said.
Harry stopped short and they caught up to him. "I don't hear it anymore," he said.
"What was it saying?" Draco asked.
"You guys didn't hear it?"
Both Draco and Greg shook their heads. "Nothing," Draco replied.
"It was saying it was hungry; it needed blood and it wanted to kill."
"You should tell your father or Professor Lupin," Greg urged.
Harry made a face. "I don't know guys. If I'm the only one who heard it; will they believe I really heard it or just think I'm a nutter who's hearing voices in my head?"
"Uncle Sev certainly isn't going to think you're a nutter," Draco pointed out. "And neither would Professor Lupin."
"Maybe I'll wait and if I hear it again; I'll definitely tell dad and Professor Lupin," Harry promised.
Saturday was Halloween and also the first of the four Hogsmeade visits for third years and higher. Severus groaned silently at the thought of half the student body on a sugar high from all the candy bought and eaten from Honeydukes.
Hogsmeade didn't hold quite the attraction for the upper years as it did for the third years, but everybody was happy for a chance to leave the castle for a few hours. Winter would be here soon enough with its heavy blizzards that would force them to stay inside for weeks on end.
Halloween morning, everyone woke to the smells of pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The elves surprised everyone with pumpkin waffles, pancakes, and muffins for breakfast.
Harry and all his friends were sitting at the Hufflepuff table that day and as he looked around the Great Hall, he could see that hardly anyone was sitting at their house table with the exception of a few diehard Gryffindors and Slytherins. Luna sat with them quietly eating her waffles spread with the dirigible plum jam her father had sent her. She had offered the jar to Harry who took some to spread on his waffles and found the taste of them wasn't all that different from regular plums maybe a bit sweeter. He hadn't heard the voice again and had almost forgotten about it.
"What are you doing today, Luna?" Ginny asked.
"I think I'll finish my Transfiguration homework and then see if I can find the Grey Lady. We had a nice conversation last week," she announced airily.
"Can I come with you?"
"Well, she's really shy and I don't think she trusts a lot of people. It's taken me the better part of the month before I could convince her to stay and talk with me. You can come with me, but you will have to be quiet so you don't scare her."
"Okay," Ginny agreed.
Neville looked rather downcast. He confessed that he had been conned into going to Sir Nicholas' Death Day Party that meant he would miss the feast. "I just felt sorry for him. He looked so upset about nobody remembering the date of his death and it's the 500th anniversary." He had been trying to convince Greg and Vince to go with him, but neither of them wanted anything to do with it. Cedric, the twins and Lee were going to Hogsmeade
"I'll go with you, Neville," Luna offered. "I'm sure Ginny will be glad to go too."
Ginny nodded, but not so eagerly.
"Tell you what Nev," Harry said. "If you're not back by the time we're halfway into the feast; we'll come down and get you, Luna, and Ginny."
"That would be great. It's going to be held in the dungeon, but I don't know exactly where."
"I can ask the Bloody Baron when I see him," Harry said. "I imagine he's going to be there too. He talks to me because he considers me to be an honorary Slytherin."
"He does," Draco confirmed.
Neville perked up. "Well, that will certainly make having to go much easier."
Harry spent the morning helping his dad brew potions for the hospital wing. They also brewed more of the diet potion for Petunia. She had written that both Vernon and Dudley had lost a great deal of weight and wanted to lose more. Once they were done, Lily was going to apparate to Little Whinging to deliver it to Petunia.
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