Harry Potter and the Blind Seer of Durmstrang

Chapter 29

"I didn't find anything," Harry said miserably to Sirius-in-the-fire in the Common Room at midnight that night. He didn't want to say how sore his ribs felt, or how much it hurt that Natalia had merely been using him this whole year. He had hoped to spy out the Carrows, but instead, all he'd managed to do was to get pummeled and rejected.

"Let me speak with him," said another voice out of the crackling fire, and Harry heard his Godfather's snort of disapproval. A pause, and then the second voice said gently, "Harry, it's Professor O'Carolan."

"Sir," said Harry miserably, not in the mood for a lecture on how he wasn't supposed to allow his blindness to get in the way. Well, it was damn sure in the way.

"Give yourself a rest, lad," said O'Carolan unexpectedly.

"Sir?" queried Harry.

"Ye needn't do everything in one night. Something's a-comin', yes, but not tomorrow," said O'Carolan mysteriously.

"What is coming?" asked Harry wearily, thinking that if one more thing came, he might as well just surrender and lie down. He laughed, though, adding, "Are you doing your blind seer bit again?" As an afterthought, he tacked on another "sir" for good measure.

O'Carolan laughed. "You got me. Everyone else, they fall for it, but you... not you."

What are you trying to say? Harry asked silently. He had a feeling that the old Irishman was trying to tell him something, but he was too weary to work it out.

"Sweet dreams, lad," said O'Carolan, and Harry heard only the crackling of the fire. He waited for Sirius to say something, but the room had fallen silent, and the heat from the fire had sunk to nearly nothing. Harry rose and made his way slowly down the corridor to the dormitory, arbitrarily remembering the sunlight here only a few weeks before. Now, although Harry knew it was dark right now, it did not look black to him. It did not look gray or white or any color at all. It looked like nothing. He felt a wave of dizziness engulf him, and he leaned against the wall.

After a few minutes of deciding he didn't want to spend the night in the narrow passage, he trailed one hand along the wall for balance, and continued toward his bed.

The next morning, Adrian greeted him with a cheerful, "What happened to you?" as Harry sat up, groaning. He knew his face must be a sight. His lip felt swollen and his nose too seemed tender, although not as misshapen. His ribs ached and ears still rang slightly, the most annoying effect, since most of his world now belonged to his ears.

"Alexei." Harry spat out the word, ashamed again to have been bested.

"That little ape," began Adrian, but cut himself off. "How?"

"I never even heard him coming," added Harry bitterly. Somehow that was the worst. Being jumped in the dark by the silent attacker added insult to injury.

"The ape," said Adrian again, his words full of fury. "I should never have put that silencing spell on him. It just made things worse."

"Nah, mate," said Harry, dismissively. He didn't need Adrian blaming himself. He had been trying to help, and Harry could use all the allies he could get. It occurred to him that a brighter ally might be preferable, but he shoved that thought aside.

"Let's go have some breakfast," he said, to change the conversation.

Later, he sat in the Dark Arts class, listening to Professor Alecto Carrow lecture about the uses for the Obliviate spell. Since Harry had generally only heard of using this spell for Muggles who had seen unusual wizarding activity, he felt a bit sick as he listened to Professor Carrow recommend the spell in use during a duel. A witch or wizard's ally can effectively use obliviate to distract a dueller by obliterating the memory of the reason for dueling in the first place. Interfering in a duel seemed so low and underhanded to Harry, he wanted to jump to his feet and argue, but he restrained himself.