A Surprise After the Nightmare

In a corner of the Ravenclaw Common Room, Ron nudged Harry.

"What?" Harry rolled his eyes.

This guy, we just made up.

What are you planning to do now?

"Look over there, Fred and George are here." Harry turned his head and looked in the direction Ron was pointing.

"Why is Ginny unhappy?" Harry blurted out, then thought to himself, "Is it because she can't spend Christmas with me?"

"Hey, I'm talking about my two older brothers."

"What's so strange about Ginny being Ravenclaw here?" Ron looked at Harry suspiciously.

He began to think carefully about how, during the days they hadn't spoken, and even earlier, during meals, Ginny seemed to always be near Harry —and they had even exchanged glances.

"Fred and George are Ginny's brothers, so what's so strange about them being here? They're both very smart."

"Are you a good older brother?"

"Ginny's angry!" Seeing Ron's increasingly strange expression, Harry quickly scolded Ron for being unreliable as an older brother.

"Fred and George must have played some prank again, Ginny couldn't stand it anymore," Ron said, sounding completely used to it.

Meanwhile, on the other side, "We're leaving first; Wood is probably looking for us."

"He was like he'd taken Invigoration Draught whenever he saw Slytherin training."

"And then we were in big trouble."

"They'll also be dragged into training."

"My cloak hasn't even dried yet," Fred and George said as they walked toward the entrance and then ran off without looking back.

Ginny looked furious, and Ron's attention was clearly drawn to their departure.

Harry let out a sigh of relief and slumped back heavily onto the sofa, sinking into it completely.

He glanced at the fireplace, the crackling of the burning wood particularly clear now, then at Ron's breathing, and his eyelids drooped... He rode on the back of an owl, flying through the Snowflake- covered sky, until he reached an old house on a mountain, completely covered in ice and snow.

A cold wind blew across Harry's face as they flew lower and lower until they finally flew in through a dark, broken window on the top floor.

They flew down a dark corridor to a door at the end... They flew inside to a dark room with the windows sealed shut... Harry was no longer on the owl's back... He watched it fly into a chair with its back to him... Beside the chair were two dark figures... They looked very similar... but of different genders, probably a brother and sister... They were both terrified... Heads bowed, sobbing softly... trembling slightly... But they were both hunchbacked, with pale, doughy faces and small, beady eyes.

"Oh, a letter from a Hogwarts student." A cold, sharp, and shrill voice came from the chair.

"Amycus, Alecto, why aren't you saying anything? Are you just happy that I've received new information?"

"Master!" cried the man on the ground, who appeared to be Amycus (it sounded more like a man's name). "Master, I... I was just too happy... I'm so sorry..."

"Alecto, and you?" the cold voice said. "What are you afraid of? Afraid that this temporary body of mine won't hold on much longer—and will turn its attention to you?"

"Master, if... if that is really the case, then it should be my... my honor." The woman on the ground suppressed her fear and revealed an ugly smile.

"Very well, you must all understand that your master is not someone who doesn't care about the lives of his servants."

"The owner of this body—Walton Macnair —was too foolish to mistakenly believe I was in poor condition and dared to defy me." A sinister laugh came from the chair.

"Master, please calm down!"

"My sister and I have always been your most loyal servants," the brother and sister, trembling as they lay prostrate on the ground, said again.

"Lucius, Travers, Nott, Goyle Sr., Crabbe Sr., Avery Jr. ... such familiar names, but they all betrayed me... and turned to another me and Dumbledore."

"Alecto? And you? Whom are you more loyal to?"

"The greatest wizard Voldemort —your master, or a fifth-year Hogwarts student— Tom Riddle?" A tall figure appeared from behind the chair.

The woman on the ground Alecto, seemed stunned; her Troll head seemed incapable of discerning which master she was more loyal to.

"Oh, you hesitated?" the cold voice said again, and the tip of a magic wand emerged from the sleeve of the tall figure.

"Master... no... please..." the woman finally realized what was happening.

The man next to her, who was presumably her brother, dared not speak, but simply closed his beady eyes with trembling hands.

"Cruciatus Curse!" the cold voice said.

The woman screamed in agony, as if every nerve in her body was on fire.

The scream pierced Harry's ears, and the scar on his forehead burned with pain. He screamed back... Voldemort would hear him, would find him there...

"Harry! Harry!" Harry opened his eyes.

He lay on the carpet in the lounge, his hands covering his face.

The scar still burned and ached, bringing tears to his eyes.

The pain is real.

The people in the lounge stood up and gathered around. Ginny was eager to squeeze in, along with Neville, Michael, Terry, Anthony, and other students in his grade.

Ron knelt beside him, looking terrified.

"Are you alright?" Ron asked.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, sobbing as she threw herself into his arms.

He felt lightheaded, his mind went blank, and the burning pain seemed to have disappeared.

She was the only real thing in the world, Ginny, that's how he felt. He had one arm around her back and the other stroking her long, faintly fragrant hair—they were suddenly pulled apart roughly.

"Hey! Ginny's my sister!" It's Ron!

He looked annoyed, as if he'd been hit on the head, but there was also a hint of concern on his face.

His eyes kept scanning his scars and Ginny.

Ginny's face was as red as her hair.

But she stared intently at Harry, seemingly unfazed by the curious gazes around her.

Harry looked at Ron, and the two stared at each other for a moment. Ron's head twitched slightly, and Harry knew that meant, "Okay—if you insist."

Harry couldn't help but grin. He took Ginny's hand and pointed to the exit of the common room.

He seemed to mean he would walk around the campus for a long time until afternoon classes began.

People around them smiled and made way, their worries gone.

They all mistakenly believed that this was a pretense to get Ron to accept him being with Ginny.