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Chapter 980: Reading Mind
🕑 Added 2023-12-31 21:22:27 +0000 UTC"What did Dumbledore do?" Ron asked in a hushed voice.
"I don't know, but Voldemort was furious. I'm sure it had something to do with those vampires, and his plan was thwarted!" Harry said, carefully recalling the scene he saw in his head, and something vaguely appeared, but it was unclear.
"How do you know then?" Ron asked nervously. "About him being angry, I mean."
Harry shook his head and covered his eyes with his hands, pressing down upon them with his palms. Little stars erupted in them.
He felt Ron sit down on the bench beside him and knew Ron was staring at him.
"We should tell Evan and Hermione about this. By the way, is this what it was about last time?” said Ron breathlessly. “When your scar hurt in Umbridge’s office? You-Know-Who was angry?”
"No!" Harry shook his head.
“What is it, then?"
Harry was thinking himself back. He had been looking into Umbridge’s face... His scar had hurt … and he had had that odd feeling in his stomach … a strange, leaping feeling … a happy feeling... But, of course, he had not recognized it for what it was, as he had been feeling so miserable himself...
"Last time, it was because he was pleased, really pleased. He thought … something good was going to happen. And the night before we came back to Hogwarts …” He thought back to the moment when his scar had hurt so badly in his, Evan’s and Ron’s bedroom in Grimmauld Place. “He was furious because his plans were being delayed and his Death Eaters couldn't get what he needed."
He looked around at Ron, who was gaping at him.
"There was also the time when I was at the Dursleys' house just after the summer started, and he was also angry," Harry recalled. "He wanted to see someone who seemed to have been killed, and he couldn't get some support from a person or an organization”
"Blimey, mate, you could take over from Trelawney," Ron said in an awed voice.
“I’m not making prophecies,” said Harry. "These are things that really happened."
“No, you know what you’re doing?” Ron said, sounding both scared and impressed. “Harry, you’re reading You-Know-Who’s mind, which is even more powerful than prophecy. Evan said there’s some kind of connection between you and You-Know-Who, but I never thought you could make it this far.”
"It's not reading You-Know-Who’s mind. It’s more like … his mood, I suppose." Harry shook his head, "Just like Evan said; when his emotions change drastically, the connection between me and him will be strengthened. I’m just getting flashes of what mood he’s in; whenever Voldemort was near me or when he was feeling hatred, I could tell. Well, now I’m feeling it when he’s pleased too!"
There was a pause. The wind and rain lashed at the building.
"Okay, you’ve got to tell someone,” said Ron, a little panicked."Let's go back quickly. In fact, I think you should talk to Dumbledore. This sounds really scary. …”
"Just tell Evan and Hermione."
"Evan knows a lot, but he can't help you in this regard. You should go to Dumbledore," said Ron.
"He knows, I told him before!" Harry said stubbornly, "There’s no point telling him again, especially since he might not even be at school right now but hundreds of miles away in Norway. I have no idea how he managed to deceive Umbridge.”
"I think Dumbledore would want to know." Ron looked at Harry thoughtfully.
"Maybe," said Harry shortly, getting to his feet, taking his cloak off his peg, and swinging it around himself.
In fact, he didn't even want to tell Evan and Hermione about it.
Anyway, those were the answers he got after over and over again, Hermione would ask him to find Dumbledore.
Evan would definitely ask him to practice Occlumency and might even suggest seeking Snape's help...
As far as Harry could see, this was insane. He hadn't managed to avoid Snape yet, let alone willingly go to him. Probably the same would be with Dumbledore. He couldn't master this spell, and he definitely didn't want Snape to teach him,
Maybe it was better that way.
Apart from the pain, Harry felt it wasn't that bad.
Again and again, he felt that the images he saw through this connection were becoming clearer. Perhaps the next time, he would know what Voldemort was up to. If he saw something crucial, he could warn the Order of the Phoenix, provided someone was willing to believe him.
This idea was undoubtedly dangerous. Voldemort would surely sense this connection before Harry, and he could be certain that he would deliberately create illusions to lure Harry. Evan had warned about this, but Harry hadn't taken it to heart.
"Seriously, mate!" Ron sighed as he tied his cloak. "You're not the only one getting frustrated by the return of You-Know-Who. I've been having dreams lately, scary dreams. You-Know-Who appears in them, and I always see strange things, get some scary thoughts, or do some random things. Well, it must be that annoying woman. Even now, she's causing trouble at school. Sooner or later, she'll drive everyone crazy."
Harry shook his head. He didn't know what dreams Ron had, but it was evidently due to excessive worry and stress, unlike his own.
But thinking about it carefully, it was true. The pressure of the upcoming exams, the pressure of Voldemort's return, and the pressure from Umbridge and the Ministry of Magic were too much. Continuing like this, they would surely collapse. …
They hurried back through the dark grounds, sliding and stumbling up the muddy lawns, not talking.
Harry was thinking hard, drifting from Ron's words back to Voldemort's recent anger.
‘What did Dumbledore and the others do to make him so angry? And what’s the connection with those vampires?!’
‘Sirius probably knows, but after contacting me once in September, he never showed up again.’
Then, Harry thought about the previous pain again. ‘What plan is Voldemort scheming this time?’
‘In addition to wanting something from the vampires, he also seems to want to get something from the Ministry of Magic, that door...’
‘Could it be related to the black door I kept coming to in my dreams?’
‘Also, Mundungus said before that Sturgis Podmore was caught trying to break into a door. Is there any connection?’
‘What’s inside the door? Stuff he can only get by stealth… like a weapon. Something he didn’t have last time.’
These words rang in his ears again.
He had not thought about those words in weeks; he had been too absorbed in what was going on at Hogwarts, too busy dwelling on the ongoing battles with Umbridge, the injustice of all the Ministry interference... But now they came back to him and made him wonder... Should they be doing something else now?
Compared to the more terrifying disasters Voldemort and Evan spoke of, Umbridge was nothing.
