His Teacher

His Teacher

Chapter Six: Oppositions and Illusions


A soft murmur rose from the occupants of the round room.

“Silence!” a cold voice bellowed.

The men fell silent as chills ran up their spines.

“Do you care to repeat yourself, Ms. Masters?”

Lauren stood in front of Voldemort, her eyes clouded with something akin to anger.

“You are making a mistake,” she said coolly.

“Are you opposing to my decision?”

There was a pause. Lauren glanced at the two men holding a pale boy by his arms.

“Yes.”

Wormtail let out a high pitched laugh. “You cannot be selective when it comes to the Dark Lord. You -”

He was cut off suddenly as Voldemort drew his wand and pointed it at his head. “Did I let you speak?”

Peter’s eyes widened with fear as he shook his head.

“So?” Lauren was visibly growing impatient as she looked at the boy again, and noted that he was slowly starting to stir.

“Do you actually believe that I will agree to your conditions?”

“You have no other choice.”

There was a quick flash of red light.

Lauren winced for a second as a thin red line appeared on her right cheek.

“Explain your proposition again.”

Lauren sighed and walked over to the two men that held the boy. She grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him, hard, so that he ended up by Voldemort’s feet.

The boy groaned softly and shook his head, starting to wake up.

“Look into his thoughts, and hopefully you will understand.”

Voldemort gazed at the blond-haired teen that was peering up at him with confused eyes, obviously still under the power of some kind of spell. He pressed his palm against the boy’s forehead and closed his eyes.

Draco screamed as a searing pain shot through his forehead; it felt as though a wave of fire was ripping through his mind.

The Dark Lord invaded the boy’s mind, and a smirk formed on his lips as he found what Lauren was talking about. He opened his eyes and watched as the boy slumped to the floor, unconscious. He walked over to Lauren and looked at the bleeding cut. He pressed his hand against her cheek for a moment.

She winced as he withdrew his hand, and the edges of the cut knitted together.

“I must warn you, Ms. Masters. If you fail, you will have to deal with the consequences.”

“So I shall.”

Voldemort laughed coldly and turned to look at Lucius. “You may take your son; it seems that we have found a better use for him. You will receive further instructions regarding the boy from Ms. Masters.”

Lucius flinched at the Dark Lord’s words, but remained silent.


* * *


Harry lay on his bed in the West wing of the Masters Mansion, half-asleep. It was a state that he was rather familiar with, as if he was awake, but his senses weren’t exactly doing a good job at seeing and hearing everything. But at the same time he was not, indeed, sleeping.

His groan was muffled by the pillow.

He didn’t think about turning over when he heard a light click of the door and soft footsteps.

There was a mere second, in which he heard a mad yell which resembled ‘Happy Birthday!’ before something heavy landed on his back. Harry’s eyes instantly shot open, and he tried to turn over and shove the person off him. His struggles subsided quickly as he heard a soft laugh, and felt his legs being straddled. A warm chest pressed against his back, and he felt long hair tickle his cheek.

“Adam..?” Harry felt himself blush furiously.

“Indeed. Happy birthday, Harry.” The boy whispered against Harry’s ear with a smile.

Harry froze and Adam moved off of him, still laughing.

“Wanted to wake you up.” He said with that almost irritating smirk on his lips.

“I felt that,” Harry said, his voice a bit raspy. He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes.

Adam suddenly jumped out of the bed and grabbed Harry’s hand. “Hurry up, Lauren wants to see you, and I want to give you your first present.”


* * *


“Bill, you wanted to see me?”

“Yes. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“I am starting to think that this is not going to be a pleasant conversation.” Remus said as he ran a hand through his hair.

“I don’t know yet.” Bill sighed softly and sat down in the chair that stood before him.

Both men were visibly tense, but neither of them seemed to notice, or rather, both of them tried to ignore it. As the silence dragged on, Remus began to feel agitated, and nervously reached his hand into his pocket, checking to be sure that the veil he had just received was safely in place.

“Could we please move onto the important part of our meeting, instead of just sitting here pointlessly?” Lupin inquired, trying to control himself as he looked at his watch. There were more important things he should be doing at the moment.

“I would like to inquire if you know where Charlie is at the moment.”

Remus’ eyes widened for an instant, but he quickly regained his composure. “Excuse me?”

“The last time I talked to him, he went to see that woman.” Bill’s voice began to rise.

“And you suppose thatightight know where he is? Or is there something else to this question?”

Bill stood up suddenly. “I am not stupid, Mr. Lupin.”

“Did I ever doubt that?”

The red haired man glared at Remus, with visible tension in his eyes. “This just does not make any sense!”

“What does not make sense?” Remus asked calmly.

Bill threw his hands up in frustration and emitted a sound somehow resembling a growl. “This! Everything! I just can’t believe that this is happening!”

Lupin looked at him questioningly.

“Listen to me.” Bill positioned a chair so that it was directly opposite of Remus and sat down. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. “Something does not add up. First of all, Charlie would never do something like that. It’s just not him. Secondly, I just don’t see any rush in anything. I mean, Harry has been kidnapped by a Death Eater. Harry! …Potter is in the custody of a person linked directly to You-Know-Who. What is wrong with people?” Panting slightly, Bill took a deep breath to continue his tirade. Quickly, Remus interrupted him.

“Bill, calm down-”

“Calm down?! Calm down? Do you-”

“Please, let me say a few words.”

Bill scoffed, but kept quiet.

Remus got up and walked over to the kitchen window. “Bill, I will not deny the fact that I am worried to death about Harry, but …there are things you do not know. We are searching; we are desperately trying to find any way to somehow make sure that he is safe.” Remus cautiously walked to the door as though listening to something.

Bill followed him with his gaze and jumped slightly as Remus crossed the space between them in a few long strides and suddenly appeared right in front of him.

“Remember this: I can assure you that Harry is safe at the moment. But there are things that you have no right to know, plans that I am also trying to understand.” Remus glanced at the door again. “I cannot talk about this here. Just do not tell anyone about anything that I told you.”

They heard footsteps coming towards the door.

“Shortly speaking, it is none of your business at the moment. Just make sure that your mother doesn’t go insane with worry. And do not think about things you do not understand…and shouldn’t understand.”


* * *

Harry couldn’t help the smile that seemed reluctant to leave his lips. He was walking down the now familiar corridor not paying any attention to his surroundings. He was heading for the study where he hoped he would find Adam. He already looked in the boy’s room, the garden, the kitchen…well, everywhere, basically. When he was about three feet away from the door, he saw it open.

Adam slammed the door and leaned against it, closing his eyes and letting out a shaky sigh.

Harry stared at Adam and a feeling that something was wrong started formed a knot in his stomach. “Adam?” He tried to get the boy’s attention.

Taken by surprise, Adam’s eyes shot open, but thatsed sed quickly as an evil smirk formed on his lips.

“Is everything ok…” Harry trailed off, that smirk making him gulp.

“Do you want to take a tour, Harry?” Adam asked, as he unceremoniously grabbed Harry’s hand and started to drag him down the corridor.

“S-s-sure,” Harry stuttered slightly as the now familiar, electric feeling shot up his arm.

Adam stopped in front of a door and withdrew his wand. “Alohomora,” he whispered softly; a light click was heard. The door slid open to reveal a dark corridor. As soon as they both entered the corridor, the door behind them closed.

A cold breeze brushed against Harry’s face, and he began to feel uneasy.

“Stay close to me, and keep quiet,” Adam whispered.

Harry squinted, trying desperately to see something, anything. He felt the warmth radiating from the boy that was walking ahead of him, and tried to ignore it.

Harry jumped, and almost screamed, as a sudden flash of green light swished past them, stopping in front of Adam.

The green light started to fade a shape was forming in the mist.

Harry’s eyes widened as the corridor lit up suddenly. A black panther, seeming to be made out of smoke, stood in front of them, baring its teeth.

“Don’t move,” Adam said quietly.

The panther’s green eyes glowed brightly as it slunk towards them.

Harry watched in horror as Adam knelt in front of it and slowly reached out his hand. The animal held Adam’s gaze as it sniffed the boys’ hand.

With a sigh of relief, Adam stood and walked towards the door that was ahead of them.

Harry still didn’t move as he heard the panther growl at him.

“No, he’s with me.” Adam said suddenly, looking at the animal closely.

Harry glanced at Adam, and then back at the panther, whose head was bowed.

“It’s asking for your forgiveness.”

Harry laughed uneasily, and cautiously walked over to Adam. They proceeded to walk down the corridor.

“What is this place?” Harry asked quietly, as they stopped in front of a metal door. The first thing Harry heard when the door opened was a scream that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

“The dungeons. Do you have your wand with you?”

“Yeah.” Harry reached into his pocket to take it out, but Adam’s hand stopped him.

“Don’t. It’s better if no one sees it if something happens.”

Harry gulped again; he felt his hands start to shake as he heard another distant scream.

They were walking down another wide corridor, which actually more resembled a huge hall. Harry looked around, and felt a shiver pass through his body. There were doors on both sides, which were sealed shut; statues of people - some were dressed in armor. Harry jumped slightly as he saw one of the statue’s eyes start glowing white.

“They are guardians.” Adam spoke quietly before pointing his hand towards a door in the end of the room. “There it is.”

Harry jumped again the sound of Adam’s voice; he looked at the door that the boy was pointing at.

Reaching the door, Adam pointed his wand at it and whispered something]. He opened the door, and they soon found themselves in room resembling a laboratory.

“What is this?” Harry looked around, seeing hundreds of bottles filled with liquids, cauldrons, books and notes scattered around everywhere. He also noted that there were two doors in the back of this room. ‘They must lead to some storage rooms, or something,’ Harry thought.

“This is one of Lauren’s work spaces.”

“Are we allowed to be here, Adam?”

“No,” came the simple reply. “But it wouldn’t have been any fun if we were.”

Harry looked at him accusingly, but stopped himself quickly, recognising a part of himself in those words.

Adam walked over to the table and shuffled through the books that lay there. Harry followed his example.

“Interesting.”

“What is?” Harry questioned, looking at the glass box that the other boy held in his hand.

“Are these werewolf hairs?”

Harry took the box and examined it more closely. Something twisted in the base of his stomach as a thought of Remus entered his already weary mind.

“I don’t know. But what would she want with these?”

Adam shrugged his shoulders and picked up the book that lay on the table.

“Polyjuice Potions. Interesting. What is she working on now?”

“Where does she work?”

“As far as I know, she is an Unspeakable,” he laughed. “Like anyone would buy that.”

Harry didn’t fully understand the comment, but laughed along with him. Harry sighed heavily, ‘What have you gotten yourself into?’

“Why are we here, Adam?”

“I just wanted to find tiontion.” He ran his fingers along the spines of the books on the shelf and pulled out a book.

Harry picked up a note on the table and read it.

“I need more Polyjuice Potion. I will come tomorrow.”

He dropped the note as he heard Adam’s soft laugh coming from behind him. He looked at the boy, who was reading something from a book.

“What’s so funny?”

“Do you want to try a potion?”

Harry narrowed his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

“It’s an aphrodisiac. It’ll be very easy to make this one.”

Harry blushed, and Adam laughed again.

“Don’t worry, we don’t need it.”

“Let’s just get out-” Harry was cut off as they heard a door slam.

Adam hastily shoved the book back in its place and ran towards the door; he pressed his ear against it. “Damn it. Harry,” he said, looking over at him, “it must be Lauren. We have to hide.”

“I-”

“Shh, into the back room. Now.”

Harry wanted to protest, but Adam pushed him towards one of the doors that Harry noticed when he first entered the room. The boy opened the door easily, and they found themselves in complete darkness.

“Lumos.” Harry heard Adam whisper.

The light that emerged from Adam’s wand illuminated the room, and they both gasped.

* * *

It was a strangely quiet night. He walked through the forest, not risking Apparition. He worried Dumbledore might sense the shift in the air, which could lead to some unnecessary questions. The situation surrounding his ‘loyalties’ was even tighter than it was the last time he had taken the same path through the forest.

As he came to a slightly more open part of the forest, he saw that same shadow in the trees. But this time, he scowled. ‘I’ll be damned if this will become a routine from now on.’

“How nice of you to come,” he drawled, sarcasm dripping from his acidic voice.

The man lowered the hood of his cloak and smirked.

“You are actually repeating yourself, Severus darling,” the man grinned, ignoring Severus’ deepening scowl. “How are you doing this wonderfully dark night?”

Snape restrained the urge to curse the man to hell. “It is a pleasant night. And how are you… this pleasantly dark night?”

The man laughed. “Good, good, certainly cannot complain. Have you brought the potion?”

There was a pause. “Yes. I also included a piece of parchment, with the instructions on how to complete it. I suppose you will manage it?”

“Of course. Now, on with your question, Severus. I do not have much time tonight.”

Snape smirked and handed the man a veil and a scroll of parchment. “Why did the Lord want Draco present yesterday?”

“Draco has power in him, even though his upbringing gets in the way of it… blossoming.”

Severus raised his eyebrow. “And what did Lauren have to do with it?”

“She made an interesting point about Draco, which resulted in the Lord’s change of plans.”

“That’s interesting.”

“It is, actually, Severus. Is there anything else?”

There was another tense pause. “How is Lupin taking all of this?”

The man shrugged. “I have not spoken with him recently, so any information I give you concerning him could be inaccurate.”

“Very well,” Snape sighed. “What about the boy?”

Snape could practically hear the grin in the man’s voice. “Lauren’s plans are working perfectly.”

Severus scoffed. “Of course. I hope you have a nice evening.”

“Certainly. You too.”


* * *

Both boys froze when they saw a man lying on a bed. Harry recognized him immediately.

“ “Is this Harry Potter?”

“Why, yes it is, Robert. I train him.”

“Really? Well, that is quite impressive, for a fifteen year old.”

“He still has a lot of work to do…” ”

Adam cautiously walked over to the man.

“Is he dead?” Harry asked, his voice sounding distant and shaky.

“No.” Adam kneeled down. “He must be under some sort of spell.”

‘What is going on?’ Harry looked around again. “I think I hear something,” he said quietly, as he heard voices coming form the laboratory.

In an instant, Adam was beside him listening.

“I told you not to worry. You should listen to your wife, for once in your life.” Lauren’s voice echoed around the room.

“I know I should have done that. But he is my son. I just could not think about that at that moment.” Another voice was heard, this one of a man.

“Could not think at all, more like. It is a surprise he is still alive.”

The boys heard papers rustling and quick footsteps.

“Where is it?!”

There was a pause before Lauren spoke again, barely loud enough for the teens to hear. “We are going to the Headquarters today.”

“Are you implying that I am to go with you?”

“No, I am saying that there must be a place where you can keep him.”

“Well… with the instructions he gave me, it seems that he is staying here tonight.”

“Yes. Fine then. However, I do not wish for him to lurk around anywhere. He is to stay in the rooms that I will assign to him.”

“Of course.”

Harry’s groaned and rubbed his aching legs; he realised that he had been kneeling in the same position for several minutes.

“Can you feel that?” They heard Lauren speak up again.

“Must be one of your ‘guests’... Is there any particular reason why I should be here?”

“What, you don’t like this place?” You could practically feel the Lauren’s smirk in her voice.

“That is an understatement.”

Harry heard Adam shift slightly as they heard laughter and a door slam.

Both of them sighed with relief as Adam opened the door and they found that the room was empty.

“Let’s get out of here.” Adam said, his voice strained.

As Harry walked towards the door that would lead them back to the wide corridor, he found himself thinking about what he had seen in the back room. Unconsciously, he reached into his pocket and took out his wand, casting a nervous glance at the black-haired boy that was walking before him.

‘Something is very wrong in here,’ he thought warily. As they were walking past the same doors and statues again, Harry felt something different. Something in this place made cold sweat appear on his forehead.

Suddenly he saw something white cross the path before them; just as he began to speak, rows of white figures drifted through the walls.

Harry’s throat went dry. He tried to scream, but no sound escaped his lips. Cold wind blew all around them as the ghosts circled them…at least that’s what Harry supposed they were.

“Harry, don’t be scared; they can feel fear,” Adam spoke quietly.

‘Too late for that.’

Another white figure appeared in front of them. It reached out its hand to them; Harry felt his knees started to buckle under him as a wave of exhaustion crashed over him.

The last thing he heard was another distant scream, as he saw something blurry dart past him, before the room fell into darkness again.


* * * * *