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diff --git a/tex/ComesOutOfDarknessMorn.tex b/tex/ComesOutOfDarknessMorn.tex index 34294a3..820f676 100644 --- a/tex/ComesOutOfDarknessMorn.tex +++ b/tex/ComesOutOfDarknessMorn.tex @@ -3700,8 +3700,8 @@ Harry gnawed his lip. \emph{Perhaps this particular direct tactic will work.} ``Because I---it's me,'' said Harry. He gave an angry shrug when Snape -simply looked at him. "\emph{I} don't know. Don't ask \emph{me} to -explain it," he said, and his magic stalked around the room like a +simply looked at him. ``\emph{I} don't know. Don't ask \emph{me} to +explain it,'' he said, and his magic stalked around the room like a prowling beast, rocking the vials on their shelves. ``But I would understand perfectly if my parents had been abusing Connor and someone found out about it, or if Lucius was casting Dark curses at Draco all @@ -3938,8 +3938,8 @@ hoped Hermione would do more than half the work on your project, because you know next to nothing about Animagi.'' ``There may be gaps in my knowledge,'' said Draco, his chin lifting -until Harry thought his neck must hurt. "That doesn't actually mean that -Granger is \emph{smarter} than I am." +until Harry thought his neck must hurt. ``That doesn't actually mean that +Granger is \emph{smarter} than I am.'' Blaise snickered. Harry resisted the temptation only by a great effort. The back of Draco's neck flushed. @@ -4015,8 +4015,8 @@ which to use. and I'll get mine.'' He snorted abruptly. ``Not that Crabbe and Goyle could help me that much anyway.'' -``You take that back,'' said Draco. "Vince and Greg are \emph{good} -friends." +``You take that back,'' said Draco. ``Vince and Greg are \emph{good} +friends.'' ``Shut it, Malfoy,'' said Ron. ``I was talking to Harry.'' He turned entirely away from Draco, who was left gaping. ``What do you say, @@ -4025,13 +4025,13 @@ a head start, anyway.'' ``I think that's a good idea,'' Hermione piped in. ``I've already written most of the essay---'' Draco's relieved expression didn't escape -Harry's notice "---but there's so much \emph{fascinating} information +Harry's notice ``---but there's so much \emph{fascinating} information here. Did you realize that the Animagus form always reflects the wizard's or witch's internal nature? Without exception? And that it's -the nature they really have, not the image they present to the world?" -She began to flip through the book she held. "It says here that Hilda +the nature they really have, not the image they present to the world?'' +She began to flip through the book she held. ``It says here that Hilda Hufflemark was \emph{completely} disappointed when her Animagus form -turned out to be an earthworm, but---" +turned out to be an earthworm, but---'' ``We know, Hermione,'' said Ron, in a long-suffering fashion. ``Come on, Harry.'' He tapped the table. ``We should get started on this, you @@ -4066,7 +4066,7 @@ Harry blinked, lost. Ron raised an eyebrow for a moment, and his face melted back into the expression that Harry was more familiar with, impatience mixed with -contempt. "You really don't \emph{get} it, do you?" he asked. +contempt. ``You really don't \emph{get} it, do you?'' he asked. Harry settled himself again. This was familiar. He could deal with this. He wanted familiar things that he could deal with. Enough had changed in @@ -4103,20 +4103,20 @@ He eyed Harry. that the Weasley twins would prank \emph{anyone.} Ron shouldn't be excepted just because he was family. -``Because,'' said Ron patiently, "I \emph{know} what it is. I think +``Because,'' said Ron patiently, ``I \emph{know} what it is. I think Percy does, too, but he just gets a scared expression on his face whenever I ask him about it. He's always going to talk to Headmaster Dumbledore. I think he's involved in something he doesn't want the rest of us to know about. And Fred and George refuse to take it seriously, of -course." He shrugged. ``It's the way the Weasley family feels a powerful +course.'' He shrugged. ``It's the way the Weasley family feels a powerful wizard's magic. You know, like the way that the McGonagall family feels it as wind across their skin.'' ``How do you know about that?'' Harry asked. -``I was taught it.'' Ron looked more confused. "I thought you were being +``I was taught it.'' Ron looked more confused. ``I thought you were being obtuse to act all cool and Slytherin about it, but you aren't, are you? -You really \emph{didn't} know." +You really \emph{didn't} know.'' Harry shook his head. ``I---Draco can feel my magic, he's told me so, but I thought it was just something he was trained to do, some special @@ -4124,14 +4124,14 @@ ability he had. I didn't know that other pureblood families could do it, too.'' He tried to push aside any worry and give in to his curiosity instead. ``Can all pureblood families do it?'' -``I suppose so.'' Ron shrugged again. "I don't know all the signs. But +``I suppose so.'' Ron shrugged again. ``I don't know all the signs. But it's an obvious survival skill, isn't it? After all, purebloods were the only part of wizarding society that was really accepted for a long time, and---well, don't tell Hermione, but even if there were powerful Muggleborns then, it wasn't like anyone was going to \emph{admit} it. They got killed instead. But we had to know how to spot a powerful wizard or witch right away, just in case he or she started wanting to -conquer us or gather followers." He sounded as if he were quoting +conquer us or gather followers.'' He sounded as if he were quoting someone, and grinned abruptly, lapsing back into his normal voice. ``Don't tell Mum, but I always hated that part of the lecture. She sounded as though she was about to faint.'' @@ -4141,10 +4141,10 @@ again. ``All right, you can feel my magic. Sorry. I'll try to tone it down. But why did you stare at me the way you did?'' ``Because I want to know what you're going to do,'' said Ron. ``So do -the rest of us, really.'' He scowled. "Except Fred and George. They just +the rest of us, really.'' He scowled. ``Except Fred and George. They just assume that you'll play the \emph{best} practical jokes, because that's what they'd do, and they're waiting to see what happens, so they can -take notes." +take notes.'' Harry shook his head. ``You don't have to worry about me. I'm going to protect Connor.'' @@ -4160,9 +4160,9 @@ far. He wanted to do something to strike back against his parents, but he knew he would regret it the moment he did. He regretted thinking about it. -``It's more than that, though,'' said Ron. "The powerful witches and +``It's more than that, though,'' said Ron. ``The powerful witches and wizards in the past always \emph{did} something. Maybe you can turn -Malfoy into a toad." He looked hopeful. +Malfoy into a toad.'' He looked hopeful. Harry rolled his eyes. ``He's my friend. I'm not going to do that.'' @@ -4201,10 +4201,10 @@ shouldn't have a reason to be afraid of you.'' Harry shook his head. ``I'm going to protect my brother.'' ``Not enough, mate.'' Ron's eyes were kind, but appraising once again. -"No one's going to believe it. Do you think anyone would believe +``No one's going to believe it. Do you think anyone would believe Headmaster Dumbledore---I mean, \emph{really} believe him---if he said that he was going to live in a little cottage and grow roses for the -rest of his life?" +rest of his life?'' ``Maybe,'' Harry muttered, his rage flaring again at the thought of the Headmaster Ron winced and touched his left shoulder. Harry tried to calm @@ -4241,25 +4241,25 @@ case of gits drawing together.'' Harry glared at him. ``Sometimes I don't know if you're really serious or not about wanting to know what I'm going to do,'' he said. -``Of course I am,'' said Ron, his smile melting. "I was trying to make +``Of course I am,'' said Ron, his smile melting. ``I was trying to make \emph{you} more comfortable, Harry. I really don't want you angry. No pureblood wizard in the school wants you angry anymore. The sooner you -get this settled, the better." +get this settled, the better.'' ``And how can I possibly tell everyone what I intend to do for the rest of my life?'' Harry demanded. -Ron shrugged, unconcerned. "You could file an announcement with the +Ron shrugged, unconcerned. ``You could file an announcement with the Ministry, to be read in every part of Britain, if you \emph{really} -wanted to. Maybe not," he amended, when Harry gave him a horrified +wanted to. Maybe not,'' he amended, when Harry gave him a horrified glance. ``Or you could just tack a sign up somewhere to reassure everyone who's been feeling the magic and doesn't know where it's coming from what happened, and that you don't intend to harm anybody.'' ``It's none of their business,'' said Harry. -Ron raised his eyebrows. "When you're \emph{this} strong, it becomes -everybody's business, Harry," he said. ``Just like the Minister has to +Ron raised his eyebrows. ``When you're \emph{this} strong, it becomes +everybody's business, Harry,'' he said. ``Just like the Minister has to know everything about Dumbledore's movements, and everyone gets nervous of You-Know-Who. That's just the way it is. You're realigning power structures just by walking around.'' @@ -4277,7 +4277,7 @@ nervous.'' ``What is?'' ``That you have this kind of power, and you're so young.'' Ron cocked -his head and eyed him thoughtfully. "This time you have right now is +his head and eyed him thoughtfully. ``This time you have right now is really a gift, you know. No one's sure what's going on. They think you might still be good. Or they don't know that you're the source of the magic. I was only sure when you walked into the library this morning, @@ -4285,13 +4285,13 @@ and Fred and George \emph{think} they know, but they're more enchanted with the idea than anything. But people are going to write to their parents soon, Harry. People outside Hogwarts are going to pay attention. You haven't got long before someone tries to assume custody of you, for -your own good." +your own good.'' ``My parents---'' ``Don't seem to have trained you to take care of your magic,'' said Ron. -"That'll probably be the first argument they try. \emph{Watch out}, -Harry." +``That'll probably be the first argument they try. \emph{Watch out}, +Harry.'' ``Why are you telling me about this?'' Harry whispered, closing his eyes. He could feel his heart pounding as walls seemed to close in @@ -4312,10 +4312,10 @@ if someone's face lit up like that for me. Ginny, maybe.'' ``You're a Slytherin,'' Ron answered bluntly. ``And that makes me nervous.'' \emph{Gryffindor honesty}, Harry thought, meeting his eyes. \emph{They're not supposed to be nervous, but if they are, they usually -admit it, even to people they really shouldn't be admitting it to.} "And +admit it, even to people they really shouldn't be admitting it to.} ``And now you're dithering on what to do. That's just \emph{stupid}, Harry. I'll grant that you don't know much about this, and I thought you did, -and I'm sorry for that. But you know now. You've got to \emph{move}." +and I'm sorry for that. But you know now. You've got to \emph{move}.'' Harry closed his eyes. ``And what do you think the rest of the school would do, if I announced that I was some powerful wizard?'' he @@ -4335,12 +4335,12 @@ know that you think Gryffindors are unfairly favored---'' ``I never said that.'' -``All Slytherins think that.'' Ron waved a hand. "You can't help it, I +``All Slytherins think that.'' Ron waved a hand. ``You can't help it, I suppose. The thing is, one reason Gryffindors are favored---my parents told me all about this---is because of the First War. Everyone else dithered around trying to decide what to do, or slunk away to join You-Know-Who. Gryffindors were the ones who went down there and -\emph{fought}." +\emph{fought}.'' ``And died,'' Harry whispered, remembering a list of casualties he'd once seen divided by House affiliation. Gryffindor had outnumbered all @@ -4349,11 +4349,11 @@ the most and sought them out at first, or because they were overrepresented in the Aurors. Now he wondered if it really was the kind of rash courage Ron was praising. -``Yes, that too.'' Ron sounded surprisingly unruffled. "But that means +``Yes, that too.'' Ron sounded surprisingly unruffled. ``But that means that you'll have a whole bunch of people who fight you if you turn out to be an evil wizard. But look at it like this: we'll fight \emph{for} you if you turn out to be a Light wizard. Our house is strongest in the -Light." +Light.'' Harry thought of arguing that, but could only scrub at his eyes instead. ``Why are you doing this?'' he asked. ``Why talk about fighting and @@ -4386,8 +4386,8 @@ embarrassingly like gratitude. ``No problem,'' said Ron. ``At least now I know why you weren't doing anything. But do something soon, all right?'' He abruptly turned his -head to look at the end of the row of shelves. "What do \emph{you} want, -Malfoy?" +head to look at the end of the row of shelves. ``What do \emph{you} want, +Malfoy?'' ``I want to know what you're doing with my friend, Weasley.'' Draco sneered at him and stared hard at Harry. ``And what you were doing with @@ -4562,10 +4562,10 @@ weight and size. Harry waited until Connor danced back from him, grinning like an idiot, and then managed, ``To what do I owe the honor?'' -Connor laughed, the sound rising like water in spring. "Harry! I've been +Connor laughed, the sound rising like water in spring. ``Harry! I've been reading one of the books that Mum sent me, and then Sirius told me about something he heard once, and I put it together, and he said it was -right, and it \emph{was}! It was \emph{right}!" He laughed and spun +right, and it \emph{was}! It was \emph{right}!'' He laughed and spun around, his hands raised above his head. Harry cocked an eyebrow, unable to stop the smile, and then said, @@ -4590,29 +4590,29 @@ book just devoted to explaining what the names mean in Gobbledegook.'' Harry nodded. ``And you figured out what the thing was?'' -Connor grinned. "Yes! The closest human name is probably \emph{prophet}. +Connor grinned. ``Yes! The closest human name is probably \emph{prophet}. The goblins have a rumor, or a prophecy---except Fishbaggin always insists that it's not that, but then he translates the word as prophet again---that someday a great leader will arise and be able to command them. He'll have all these different duties. And they'll help him face -his enemies, including this `one of darkness.'" Connor paused for a long +his enemies, including this `one of darkness.' '' Connor paused for a long moment, and Harry waited. He knew when his brother meant to speak another word. -``And the best thing,'' Connor whispered, "the \emph{best} thing, Harry, +``And the best thing,'' Connor whispered, ``the \emph{best} thing, Harry, is that Fishbaggin always uses the same word to talk about the duty of -command." +command.'' ``What was it?'' Harry asked. ``Hm? Well, I don't know. I don't know how to pronounce the Gobbledegook.'' Connor's eyes were shining. ``But I mentioned it to Sirius, and he translated it for me. It means someone with the -compulsion gift, like I have.'' He looked up, face on fire. "That means +compulsion gift, like I have.'' He looked up, face on fire. ``That means it's not Dark after all, Harry! I asked Sirius about that, and he confirmed it. How \emph{can} it be, when prophecies are running around saying that I have to have it in order to be this sort of prophet to the -goblins?" +goblins?'' Harry blinked, and then had an armful of his brother again. Connor hugged him hard, then broke away. ``Sorry,'' he said. ``I've got to tell @@ -4621,7 +4621,7 @@ first.'' Harry looked at him sideways. ``Why?'' -Connor's stare back was blank. "You're my \emph{brother,}" he said, as +Connor's stare back was blank. ``You're my \emph{brother,}'' he said, as though that explained everything, and it probably did. Then he was gone, with a cheerful wave, dashing up the corridor and towards the steps out of the dungeon. @@ -4796,11 +4796,11 @@ everywhere. Besides, maybe she'll get tired of it before the Potion's finished.'' ``Even knowing that it would take a while, I'd still welcome it,'' said -Connor. "And Ron says she \emph{doesn't} give up. Ever. She waited a +Connor. ``And Ron says she \emph{doesn't} give up. Ever. She waited a whole year once, but she got Percy back for turning her favorite teddy bear into a snake, even though it was an accident. I think she'll still be following me around in October. And Sirius says he has to step up my -training." He pouted. ``Please, Harry?'' +training.'' He pouted. ``Please, Harry?'' Harry sighed, then nodded. ``All right. I need a piece of your hair, though. Otherwise the Potion won't work.'' @@ -4835,7 +4835,7 @@ Dumbledore waited a moment, as though expecting Harry to nod or say something in agreement, and then seemed to remember he was under the body-bind. He sighed. -``I am sorry,'' he repeated. "\emph{Expleo penuriam}---" +``I am sorry,'' he repeated. ``\emph{Expleo penuriam}---'' He cried out abruptly, and turned, his wand falling from his hand in shock and pain. Harry had time to see a small gray rat clinging @@ -4905,13 +4905,13 @@ ceased to wound him. Only then could he attend to Peter's voice, which had lost the mockery it held earlier and gone straight into incandescent rage. -"\ldots{}\emph{look} at him, Albus. \emph{Look} what you've done. This +``\ldots{}\emph{look} at him, Albus. \emph{Look} what you've done. This is a \emph{child}, a bloody \emph{child}, Lily and James's \emph{son}. You once claimed to love them, you said you'd do anything for them, you moved mountains to help them. And Sirius and Remus, too. You kept any of us from being expelled after Remus nearly killed Snape. Is this the proof of the love you offer? Is this what happens to our children even -if it doesn't happen to us? Look at him and tell me you can do this." +if it doesn't happen to us? Look at him and tell me you can do this.'' ``I can do this,'' said Dumbledore, his voice still sad beyond measure. ``I must, Peter.'' His face was stern when Harry looked at him. ``You @@ -4933,8 +4933,8 @@ cannot be changed, Peter. I told you this when I gave you the web. Still you swore to me that you wanted it, that you were doing this of your own free will.'' -``You never gave Harry that choice,'' said Peter. "And that -\emph{sickens} me." +``You never gave Harry that choice,'' said Peter. ``And that +\emph{sickens} me.'' Dumbledore shook his head. His power was rising around him, and Harry knew that he would attempt to break through the \emph{Protego} shield in @@ -4976,7 +4976,7 @@ didn't want him dead. It would have killed Peter. Harry had had enough. He pushed at Peter, to get him further down the -corridor, and then faced Dumbledore. "\emph{Haurio!}" he said firmly, +corridor, and then faced Dumbledore. ``\emph{Haurio!}'' he said firmly, holding up one hand up. A green shield spread from his palm and fingers, and then grew further, @@ -4988,7 +4988,7 @@ running. He was trying to get around or see around the green shield, probably so he could fling some more insults or accusations at Dumbledore. -"Get \emph{out} of here, for Merlin's sake," Harry snapped, shoving at +``Get \emph{out} of here, for Merlin's sake,'' Harry snapped, shoving at him and resisting the temptation to make a very Snapeish remark about dumb Gryffindors who wasted all their wits charging into battle. @@ -5072,16 +5072,16 @@ Harry suspected it had been a Jelly-Legs Jinx. He turned, staring, to see Millicent Bulstrode standing at the end of the hall, lowering her wand. She was blinking innocently at Dumbledore. -"Oh, I'm \emph{so} sorry, Headmaster," she said. ``I didn't know that +``Oh, I'm \emph{so} sorry, Headmaster,'' she said. ``I didn't know that was you. Of course you wouldn't have hurt Harry. I just saw a threat standing over him, so I attacked without thinking.'' She trotted forward, making a variety of soothing noises that Harry wouldn't have believed could come out of her throat, just as simpering and wide-eyed -as Pansy could act. She put one arm around Harry's shoulders. "Come on, +as Pansy could act. She put one arm around Harry's shoulders. ``Come on, Harry, let's get you to the hospital wing. You \emph{poor} thing. It looked like it hurt when you hit the wall. And it looked like you had an enemy. That's too bad, but you should take comfort. You always have less -of them than you think. And your enemies might have more." As she spoke +of them than you think. And your enemies might have more.'' As she spoke the last words, she was looking straight at Dumbledore. The Headmaster simply looked back at her. He stood where he was as @@ -5089,19 +5089,19 @@ Millicent escorted Harry in the direction of the hospital wing. He tolerated the pretense until they were around the corner, then tried to shake her arm off. ``I'm fine, Millicent,'' he said. -``Of course,'' said Millicent. "That's why you're pale and quivering +``Of course,'' said Millicent. ``That's why you're pale and quivering like a pudding. And of course \emph{fine} people are always clutching -their heads, and smell like a thunderstorm." +their heads, and smell like a thunderstorm.'' -Harry guiltily snatched his hand from his head, then paused. "I do -\emph{not} smell like a thunderstorm." +Harry guiltily snatched his hand from his head, then paused. ``I do +\emph{not} smell like a thunderstorm.'' ``To me, you do,'' said Millicent. ``The Bulstrode trick, you know. It smelled like the mother of all storms in there. And you need the hospital wing and bed, Harry. It's not every day that your own Headmaster tries to kill you.'' -"He doesn't want \emph{me} dead," said Harry, and then regretted the +``He doesn't want \emph{me} dead,'' said Harry, and then regretted the emphasis he'd put on the word as Millicent gave him a sidelong glance. ``Now what are you going to do? And give me a straight answer for once.'' @@ -5110,11 +5110,11 @@ once.'' obliged him. ``Someone's been talking to us, someone who goes by the name of Starborn. He said we should watch you, that you could be a far more useful ally to us than we had suspected.'' She smiled like a cat -stretching. "And you \emph{are}, Harry. You outfaced Dumbledore. Now our +stretching. ``And you \emph{are}, Harry. You outfaced Dumbledore. Now our families have a real choice. They don't have to go crawling back to the insane followers trying to put the Dark Lord back together or obey Dumbledore, whom none of them trust not to compel them. They can follow -you." +you.'' ``I'm going to be protecting Connor,'' said Harry flatly. ``So you'll be really following him.'' @@ -5136,22 +5136,13 @@ them} believe \emph{me.} He sighed and closed his eyes. -\chapter{*Chapter 10*: Gifts At Autumn's -Turning}\label{chapter-10-gifts-at-autumns-turning} +\chapter{Gifts At Autumn's Turning}\label{chapter-10-gifts-at-autumns-turning} -Thank you for the reviews! A lot of people don't seem to mind that -Connor is apparently the \emph{vates} right now, or are willing to wait -to find out about it, which makes me glad. - -This chapter, I hope, keeps the pot boiling. - -\textbf{Chapter Nine: Gifts At Autumn's Turning} - -``Because,'' said Millicent, giving him a strange look, "the rest of us +``Because,'' said Millicent, giving him a strange look, ``the rest of us had seen the way you reacted when someone told you that you had power. There was the way you reacted when you thought that we might prefer you to your brother. There was the way that you didn't \emph{want} to win -that race we set you up to win last year---" +that race we set you up to win last year---'' ``Oh, Millicent, do be fair,'' said Pansy, who was sprawled on one of the divans in front of the hearth in the Slytherin common room. She @@ -5179,8 +5170,8 @@ Harry, leaning back on the couch at last. He was still tired, though he'd been out of the hospital wing since early Saturday, and it was Sunday evening now. Now, at least, he knew why the Slytherins hadn't told him about the power Ron had sensed, and it was a reason he -believed. "There's no \emph{reason} that you have to choose me as -leader, or whatever other insane plan you had in mind." +believed. ``There's no \emph{reason} that you have to choose me as +leader, or whatever other insane plan you had in mind.'' Millicent shrugged. ``Your magic,'' she said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. @@ -5213,15 +5204,15 @@ his eyes on his hands when he made the Potion, and not on the mirror that Snape kept in his office for the purpose of preparing some of the more obscure brews. -"You're \emph{doing} it," said Pansy. ``That's the important thing. And +``You're \emph{doing} it,'' said Pansy. ``That's the important thing. And you didn't demand some kind of sacrifice from my mother.'' ``I demanded some things from her,'' said Harry, glaring at her. -``I know,'' said Pansy patiently. "But they weren't sacrifices. They +``I know,'' said Pansy patiently. ``But they weren't sacrifices. They were an equal bargain. That's the \emph{difference}, Harry. Dumbledore would sacrifice us, or want to, if we went to him. That's what he has a -habit of doing." Her eyes flashed viciously. ``And the Dark Lord asks +habit of doing.'' Her eyes flashed viciously. ``And the Dark Lord asks for more than sacrifices. By the time he's done, there's no one left to give anything more.'' @@ -5230,17 +5221,17 @@ be asking for help, then?'' Harry pointed out. Pansy gave him a flat stare. ``No,'' she said. -Harry shook his head. ``I can't help you,'' he said. "Not much. I'm +Harry shook his head. ``I can't help you,'' he said. ``Not much. I'm \emph{thirteen}. I'm still not as strong as Dumbledore. I'm going to follow and serve my brother. My magic is making everyone uneasy right -now, not content." +now, not content.'' ``And do you know why?'' Millicent asked, her hand plucking at a blanket someone had slung along the back of her chair. Harry shook his head. -"Because it \emph{appeared}," said Millicent. ``Or so it seems. Powerful +``Because it \emph{appeared},'' said Millicent. ``Or so it seems. Powerful wizards don't just walk out of the broom closet every day, you know---oh, sorry, here I am, rather got lost for a while.'' @@ -5255,10 +5246,10 @@ building slowly for years. If it had just built naturally, if everyone knew you were powerful over time instead of suddenly, then they wouldn't panic. They'd just acknowledge that sooner or later they'd have to deal with you, and go about their lives. But this---'' She shook her head. -"Harry, this \emph{doesn't happen.} It won't be long before you hear +``Harry, this \emph{doesn't happen.} It won't be long before you hear people whispering \emph{unnatural}, and wondering if this is a side effect of your possession from last year, and all kinds of other -things." +things.'' Harry closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead with one hand. \emph{Another thing to thank Dumbledore for, I suppose.} ``Ron suggested @@ -5266,17 +5257,17 @@ that I make some kind of announcement to the wizarding world, telling them I don't plan to do anything evil, and outlining what I do plan to do,'' he said. ``Would that work?'' -"Trust a \emph{Gryffindor} to come up with that kind of plan," said -Pansy. "Of \emph{course} it wouldn't work. For one thing, it'd make you +``Trust a \emph{Gryffindor} to come up with that kind of plan,'' said +Pansy. ``Of \emph{course} it wouldn't work. For one thing, it'd make you seem weak, as if you were conceding to the Ministry, when you don't need to. For another, why should you have to declare all your principles and allegiances right now? Tell them to go talk to your parents, and go -right on living. And brewing my mother's Wolfsbane Potion," she added. +right on living. And brewing my mother's Wolfsbane Potion,'' she added. ``But I thought that I had to do something,'' said Harry. ``Otherwise, the Ministry will start trying to take me away from my parents, and---'' -"Oh, they'll make \emph{noises} about it, sure," said Millicent, waving +``Oh, they'll make \emph{noises} about it, sure,'' said Millicent, waving one hand. ``But they can't do anything unless they find out that your parents actually abused you.'' She stared at him. ``And they'd probably prefer to leave you right where you are. They don't want to split apart @@ -5344,7 +5335,7 @@ I've had the example of Dumbledore's magic to remind me every day of that.'' He wondered if Millicent would demand more, but she just nodded at him -and held out her wand. "The spell is \emph{Aspectus Lyncis}," she said, +and held out her wand. ``The spell is \emph{Aspectus Lyncis},'' she said, ``the Lynx Sight spell.'' She showed him the wand passes he had to perform, and intoned it carefully, her voice stressing the second syllable of the first word and the first syllable of the second. Harry @@ -5437,8 +5428,8 @@ the corked vials of potion close. Luckily, no one was there to see him as he slipped up the dungeon stairs and across the entrance hall, though he did pause briefly to let Percy Weasley go by. The boy was hurrying along with his head bowed, muttering -to himself. Harry hesitated when he heard him saying, "But how -\emph{could} I do anything that would hurt my family?" but decided it +to himself. Harry hesitated when he heard him saying, ``But how +\emph{could} I do anything that would hurt my family?'' but decided it was none of his business. He would hardly want Percy sticking his nose into Harry's private wonderings about Connor, after all. @@ -5511,8 +5502,8 @@ many things in there that most modern wizards believe about compulsion magic, webs, and other forms of binding.'' Harry frowned at her at the mention of webs, and Hawthorn winked. ``As I -said,'' she murmured, "Starborn has had the opportunity to observe you -\emph{very} closely." She tilted her head and laid her fingers over her +said,'' she murmured, ``Starborn has had the opportunity to observe you +\emph{very} closely.'' She tilted her head and laid her fingers over her lips. ``And he is no friend of Dumbledore's,'' she added softly. Harry took a deep breath and looked back at the book in his hands. For @@ -5581,7 +5572,7 @@ bit into a pumpkin pasty. He looked up to find Pansy and Millicent exchanging glances. ``What?'' he asked. -"That shouldn't be \emph{possible}," said Pansy frankly. ``A shield that +``That shouldn't be \emph{possible},'' said Pansy frankly. ``A shield that bounces spells when they're active, sure. But not when he's just thinking about them.'' @@ -5684,11 +5675,11 @@ up and cast a spell, was Sirius. He was snarling, yelling words that Harry couldn't make out, so choked as they were with spittle and rage. Snape replied in a much clearer -voice, despite the grip on his throat. "Have you lost your \emph{mind}, -Black? That never happened!" +voice, despite the grip on his throat. ``Have you lost your \emph{mind}, +Black? That never happened!'' -``Yes, it did,'' said Sirius, more clearly this time, "and you are going -to \emph{apologize.}" He abruptly transformed, and now it was a huge +``Yes, it did,'' said Sirius, more clearly this time, ``and you are going +to \emph{apologize.}'' He abruptly transformed, and now it was a huge black dog with its teeth near Snape's throat. There was a long moment of trembling tension, and Harry knew Sirius would bite. He might well tear Snape's throat out. @@ -5699,7 +5690,7 @@ smashing into the wall behind the Gryffindor table and tumbling down it. Connor was on his feet, face red with fury and wand out and aimed at Snape. -"\emph{Enough.}" +``\emph{Enough.}'' Harry felt the wave of compulsion that attacked the Great Hall, similar to the time last year when Dumbledore had calmed the other students @@ -5920,7 +5911,7 @@ Black passed a hand over his face. His eyes had such heavy dark circles under them that Snape wondered, in a detached way, when he had last slept. ``I---that's what I meant. That's right.'' -"It is \emph{not} right," said Snape, wondering that anyone could +``It is \emph{not} right,'' said Snape, wondering that anyone could believe this idiocy. ``Headmaster, with your permission, I would like to leave this room. I cannot believe these ridiculous accusations. I cannot believe that I should be subjected to them.'' @@ -5944,8 +5935,8 @@ Dumbledore sighed. ``And now the Memory Charm has snapped? That would account for your behavior, Sirius, but you still should have come to me first, instead of attacking Severus.'' -Black seized on the explanation fervently. "Yes, yes, the -\emph{Obliviate} broke," he said, his head bobbing up and down on his +Black seized on the explanation fervently. ``Yes, yes, the +\emph{Obliviate} broke,'' he said, his head bobbing up and down on his neck like a puppet's. ``And now the memories are flooding me, and I'm sorry, Albus, but it was just too much to take. They flooded me all at once, and I had to try to kill him for what he'd done to Harry. I'm @@ -5988,7 +5979,7 @@ on the fabric. He breathed out, carefully. He did not think Black was insane, but he was very close to it. \emph{He is dangerous. I must keep him away from Harry at all costs.} -"I am \emph{not} lying," Black was saying. If he had felt Snape touching +``I am \emph{not} lying,'' Black was saying. If he had felt Snape touching his mind, he didn't seem inclined to comment on it, and neither did Dumbledore. ``That's what the memory says.'' @@ -6005,7 +5996,7 @@ into nothing more than a tool for his brother, memories of his mind and his magic bound and nearly shattered because someone feared his power---'' He took care not to look at Dumbledore. -"That's \emph{not true}!" Black was yelling, near the top of his lungs. +``That's \emph{not true}!'' Black was yelling, near the top of his lungs. ``It's Connor who has the power, not Harry, and Harry was never abused!'' @@ -6018,7 +6009,7 @@ saw all this and more in Harry's mind last year, Black. And I saw how none of the adults who should have been his guardians and his protectors were helping him. I saw---'' -"\emph{That is enough, Severus.}" +``\emph{That is enough, Severus.}'' Another flowing wave of compulsion, as in the Great Hall, and Snape found his mouth clamped shut. He blinked and subsided. The spell wore @@ -6027,8 +6018,8 @@ desk, his eyes on fire with anger. ``You will not repeat such lies outside this office,'' he said. -``They are not lies, Albus,'' Snape snarled back. "You \emph{know} they -are not. You know what you did. You know whom you sacrificed." +``They are not lies, Albus,'' Snape snarled back. ``You \emph{know} they +are not. You know what you did. You know whom you sacrificed.'' ``You should have thought of that,'' said Dumbledore, his eyes stern, ``before you made another such sacrifice necessary.'' @@ -6184,10 +6175,10 @@ get this marking done. I'm frightfully late handing these essays back to my students as it is.'' He picked up the stack of scrolls near the edge of his desk. -``You suspect,'' Snape whispered. "Why haven't you come to me? There are +``You suspect,'' Snape whispered. ``Why haven't you come to me? There are ways to break a Memory Charm, you know that, and I would not have thought you one to submit tamely to an \emph{Obliviate}, however gentle -your friends may claim you to be." +your friends may claim you to be.'' Lupin's hands tightened, and he looked up. ``Albus told me the truth when I asked,'' he said. @@ -6195,13 +6186,13 @@ when I asked,'' he said. Thrown, Snape only stared at him. ``He told me that the memories he took from me concerned Sirius,'' said -Lupin, and closed his eyes as if in pain. "I---sometimes I get angry at +Lupin, and closed his eyes as if in pain. ``I---sometimes I get angry at him for things he can't help, things that are over and done and in the past now. Sometimes I get angry at him for just being who he \emph{is.} And that is not something friends should do. I always come back and apologize to him later, but this time I went further. This time I did something that hurt him so badly that Albus had no choice but to take -the memories from me, so that I wouldn't go on hurting him." +the memories from me, so that I wouldn't go on hurting him.'' Snape wanted to swear. \emph{Black, Black, always Black! Who else has Albus sacrificed to protect him?} @@ -6237,11 +6228,11 @@ deep. And I would not care if he remained Charmed, ordinarily. If Harry had not told me what his memories contained, I would not even be trying this.} -``When you have your memories back,'' he replied, opening his eyes, "you +``When you have your memories back,'' he replied, opening his eyes, ``you will see what I mean. But it takes a long time, and it is a very delicate process. Will you let me begin the first steps into your mind so that I can eventually reverse the \emph{Obliviate} and let you see -what lies behind it?" +what lies behind it?'' Lupin closed his eyes. He was wrestling with the desire to know the truth, Snape thought. But he wondered what the other side could be. Why @@ -6251,16 +6242,16 @@ hiding behind it? And then he knew, and the sudden shining contempt unleashed a torrent of words from him. -``You are afraid of losing your friends,'' he sneered. "You are afraid +``You are afraid of losing your friends,'' he sneered. ``You are afraid of losing these people who have tricked you, hurt you, betrayed you, -\emph{Obliviated} you, because they are the only friends you have." He +\emph{Obliviated} you, because they are the only friends you have.'' He thought back to Lupin as he had known him in school---painfully shy; horrified the few times he got angry, as though he could transform without the full moon calling to him; making no effort to find new friends even when he obviously disapproved of what his fellow Marauders were doing, because he just as obviously believed that no one else would befriend him. Something occurred to him that never had, given his rather -personal involvement in the incident. "Tell me, \emph{Remus}," he said, +personal involvement in the incident. ``Tell me, \emph{Remus},'' he said, stressing the name and seeing Lupin flinch, ``how did you feel when Black nearly made me dead and you into a murderer?'' @@ -6273,18 +6264,18 @@ danger, or handed Harry over to Dumbledore the moment he was asked to. ``Really.'' Snape smiled. He knew it wasn't a pleasant smile. His smiles never were. ``I could almost understand Black's actions against me, -after all,'' he continued, voice soft and caressing. "I was his enemy. +after all,'' he continued, voice soft and caressing. ``I was his enemy. But \emph{you}. You were his \emph{friend.} If he had succeeded in his little---prank---then you would have killed me. You would have become the thing you feared most, the thing you hated most, the thing you fought so hard to avoid becoming. And all because your friend had an -unreasonable grudge against me." He shook his head, clucking his tongue. -"Tell me, \emph{Remus}, why have you have remained friends with him +unreasonable grudge against me.'' He shook his head, clucking his tongue. +``Tell me, \emph{Remus}, why have you have remained friends with him after that? Why did you find some way to excuse it, even then, because, after all, Black is `just being what he is?' No one has ever forced -Black to grow up. Why not you?" +Black to grow up. Why not you?'' -"\emph{Shut up.}" +``\emph{Shut up.}'' The voice was a snarl, and Lupin surged to his feet, his teeth bared and his amber eyes open and blazing. Snape felt a thrill of fear. This was @@ -6299,8 +6290,8 @@ beast like himself, but into a corpse. Lupin knew that, too, from the look in his eyes. And he was sorry for it immediately afterwards, sitting down and putting -his hands across his eyes. ``Oh, Merlin,'' he whispered. "I am \emph{so} -sorry, Severus." +his hands across his eyes. ``Oh, Merlin,'' he whispered. ``I am \emph{so} +sorry, Severus.'' Snape took his leave without a word. He still intended to free the werewolf from his Memory Charm if he could. Harry wanted it. That was @@ -6337,16 +6328,16 @@ made his request, she nodded, once. promise that it will last much longer than your own protection of him, since Albus knows that I don't run blind at his heels any longer.'' -``I know,'' said Snape. "But he \emph{needs} support, Minerva, and he +``I know,'' said Snape. ``But he \emph{needs} support, Minerva, and he \emph{needs} to know what is going on, and I am afraid that Albus will carry out his threat if the boy tries to spend much time with me outside of class. I can send you Potions materials and books by owl. He can have -them during his times with you, if you are agreeable." +them during his times with you, if you are agreeable.'' ``Why would I teach him Potions when I could teach him Transfiguration?'' Minerva murmured, but her voice was dry, and she -smiled. The smile vanished in the next moment. "I had not realized you -were quite \emph{this} dedicated to making his life better, Severus." +smiled. The smile vanished in the next moment. ``I had not realized you +were quite \emph{this} dedicated to making his life better, Severus.'' Snape raised his chin. She would accuse him of having a heart in a moment. It was one of her favorite remarks to make, and his to rage at. @@ -6354,9 +6345,9 @@ moment. It was one of her favorite remarks to make, and his to rage at. But he said only, ``I saw what his mind was like at the end of last year, Minerva. There is no way I could fail to help him after that. And I believe that others are beginning to notice his power. You have felt -it. I have felt it. Others are turning towards it.'' He paused. "Some of +it. I have felt it. Others are turning towards it.'' He paused. ``Some of the reading I have done has convinced me that he might easily be -\emph{vates,} if he chose to be." +\emph{vates,} if he chose to be.'' Shock wiped her face clean, and then awe, and then hope. She nodded, slowly. ``I see,'' she said. ``Well. That is different. I will be happy @@ -6751,8 +6742,8 @@ magical skill. ``You're planning to do with your power,'' the other one finished, and then they leaned forward and gave Harry identical piercing gazes. -Harry sighed and shook his head. "I don't know. Everyone keeps asking me -that, and I \emph{just don't know}." He rubbed a hand over the center of +Harry sighed and shook his head. ``I don't know. Everyone keeps asking me +that, and I \emph{just don't know}.'' He rubbed a hand over the center of his forehead. Draco had seen him washing blood off his scar the other day, and had had to work very hard to keep himself from asking what was wrong. ``But it probably wouldn't be to play jokes and pranks, so you @@ -6805,7 +6796,7 @@ The twins grinned and bowed. ``Well, not gaolers, then,'' said the one on the left. ``What about court jesters? Can we be Your Lordship's jesters?'' -"\emph{Never call me that.}" +``\emph{Never call me that.}'' Draco would not have been surprised if every pureblood in the school felt the force of that command. It stabbed through his head like an iron @@ -6889,8 +6880,8 @@ his eyes and trying to think of what to say. Harry took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of his bed. His scar and his eyes were both vivid in the shifting light. ``Draco,'' he said gently. ``I---I was going to wait until you said something, because I -don't know what I did to anger you.'' He bit his lip. "But I can't -\emph{stand} this anymore," he said, abrupt, low, and fierce. ``I need +don't know what I did to anger you.'' He bit his lip. ``But I can't +\emph{stand} this anymore,'' he said, abrupt, low, and fierce. ``I need to know why you're upset with me. I need to know what I did wrong.'' Draco stared at him. None of the books had said anything about incipient @@ -6903,9 +6894,9 @@ but he would never try to repair an apparent breach in their friendship. \emph{Except that, apparently, he did,} said Draco, when Harry misinterpreted his silence and sighed. -``Look,'' said Harry. "I know I shouldn't have let it go on this long. +``Look,'' said Harry. ``I know I shouldn't have let it go on this long. But I really \emph{did} notice that you were angry, Draco, and I've kept -noticing, and I just---I miss having you for a friend, all right?" He +noticing, and I just---I miss having you for a friend, all right?'' He turned his head away, and Draco could see the stinging blush on his cheeks. @@ -6968,8 +6959,8 @@ whose compulsion gift Harry was more and more obviously uneasy with. worried about you, Draco.'' ``Prat,'' Draco grumbled into his shoulder, hugging Harry tightly enough -to make him squeak. "Stubborn, \emph{idiotic} prat. You could have come -and \emph{asked} me." +to make him squeak. ``Stubborn, \emph{idiotic} prat. You could have come +and \emph{asked} me.'' ``Yes,'' said Harry. ``But it took me this long.'' @@ -7179,13 +7170,13 @@ Harry could have recited the paragraph from memory, but he pretended to be reading, for Luna's and Draco's sakes. Their eyes on him felt like skewers. He wished they would stop---stop looking so calm, stop looking as though there was a hidden purpose behind this, stop \emph{looking} at -\emph{him}. "Um. \emph{Reading dark dreams is different from the art of +\emph{him}. ``Um. \emph{Reading dark dreams is different from the art of reading light dreams, also commonly called prophetic dreams. While light dreams are the will of the future reaching down to touch those so favored, nightmares, also called dark dreams, represent a different kind of favor. They are commonly accepted as either the dreamer's fears made manifest, or, occasionally, as the reaching back of a future so awful -that it wants to prevent itself from happening.}" +that it wants to prevent itself from happening.}'' He leaned back in his chair. ``Luna, what questions did you have?'' @@ -7215,15 +7206,15 @@ other day. ``Just regular dreams.'' ``He has nightmares every night,'' said Draco. -Harry whipped around. "\emph{Draco}!" he squawked. +Harry whipped around. ``\emph{Draco}!'' he squawked. ``You prat,'' said Draco, seizing his arm and brushing back his fringe again. His finger rose and touched Harry's scar, then came back down and forced Harry to acknowledge the glistening red liquid on it. Harry -winced. He'd started bleeding sooner than he thought. "She's trying to +winced. He'd started bleeding sooner than he thought. ``She's trying to \emph{help}. Can't you see that? And I'm tired of you not talking about this. What happened to moving forward and being honest, Harry? You said -that you would." +that you would.'' Harry closed his eyes. His headache was returning, despite the potion he'd brewed himself last night and taken this morning. ``I know. I @@ -7237,7 +7228,7 @@ family pronounce the Dark Lord's true name without stumbling. Luna just gazed back at him, waiting for the answer, and didn't seem to realize there was anything remarkable in what she'd done. -``They can't,'' said Harry. "How \emph{could} they?" He remembered the +``They can't,'' said Harry. ``How \emph{could} they?'' He remembered the dreams that he'd had about Quirrell in first year, and the dreams about Tom Riddle last year. Well, yes, the Tom Riddle dreams had had to do with Voldemort, but they \emph{were} Voldemort, the signs of Riddle @@ -7248,7 +7239,7 @@ told me that Connor's scar is some kind of connection to him.'' ``This looks like a pretty damn good connection to me,'' said Draco, swiping his finger across the scar again and holding it up. There was enough blood to soak the palm of his hand and spill towards his wrist. -"\emph{Damn} it, Harry, what do you dream about?" +``\emph{Damn} it, Harry, what do you dream about?'' Harry took a deep breath. Backed into a corner like this, he had no choice but to talk about it, and he had promised himself that he would @@ -7276,7 +7267,7 @@ well, if I'm right, then you have some pretty Dark magic. I think the shadows you're seeing in your mind are your own fears of your magic. You know that you're doing something wrong, even if it's unconscious---'' -"\emph{Shut up, Granger.}" +``\emph{Shut up, Granger.}'' Harry had never heard Draco sound so deadly. He was on his feet now, wand in hand, never wavering from the way it pointed at Hermione. His @@ -7298,9 +7289,9 @@ what she thinks.'' Draco's hand clamped down on his shoulder, hard enough that Harry gasped and winced. ``But this has to do with the thing I told you about -already,'' Draco whispered into his ear. "The thing I didn't want to +already,'' Draco whispered into his ear. ``The thing I didn't want to tell you about because it would hurt you. Please, Harry. \emph{Leave it -be. You do not want to hear this.}" The last words sounded almost like +be. You do not want to hear this.}'' The last words sounded almost like one sentence, spoken in the same intense whisper. Harry frowned. He couldn't imagine how Hermione's theory and Draco's @@ -7313,11 +7304,11 @@ Dumbledore three times this last week. Hermione. Draco's arms descended, clamping around his waist and squeezing the -breath out of him. ``No, no, no,'' he whispered. "Harry, please, trust +breath out of him. ``No, no, no,'' he whispered. ``Harry, please, trust me. Do what I tell you. Turn around and walk out of the library \emph{now}. I'll make your apologies to Luna. I'll listen to Granger and tell you if they really were the same thing when she's done, and I'll -report it \emph{honestly.} But don't listen to her." +report it \emph{honestly.} But don't listen to her.'' Harry attempted to pull himself free of Draco's grip. It held firm. Harry sighed and glanced at Hermione. @@ -7326,7 +7317,7 @@ Harry sighed and glanced at Hermione. Malfoy,'' said Hermione, putting her nose up. ``And he deserves to hear it, whatever you think. Harry, I think you have the ability to---'' -"\emph{Silencio}." +``\emph{Silencio}.'' Harry stared. The spell hadn't come from Draco, even though he'd torn one arm free of Harry's waist and was groping frantically for his wand. @@ -7379,7 +7370,7 @@ announced. won't work, Draco. If I sleep, I'll dream, and my scar will bleed again. Let it go. I only have to clean it off every few hours.'' -Draco stared at him. "And I never \emph{noticed?}" +Draco stared at him. ``And I never \emph{noticed?}'' Harry was about to argue that yes, Draco had noticed the scar bleeding, when he realized that Draco meant the frequency of times he'd washed the @@ -7764,16 +7755,7 @@ Second, {do not trust Sirius Black.} \emph{Starborn.} -\chapter{*Chapter 15*: Padfoot and -Moony}\label{chapter-15-padfoot-and-moony} - -Glad that so many people liked both chapter and interlude. Thank you for -the reviews! - -This chapter \emph{bothers} me in the way that others have not so far. -Ah, well. Think of it as practice for the end of the year. - -\textbf{Chapter Thirteen: Padfoot and Moony} +\chapter{Padfoot and Moony}\label{chapter-15-padfoot-and-moony} ``Harry?'' @@ -7792,8 +7774,8 @@ him. Harry smiled. It was a peaceful moment enjoyed with his brother. It didn't last. -``Harry?'' Connor asked, his voice thick with disbelief. "What are you -doing sending gifts to Lucius \emph{Malfoy}, of all people?" +``Harry?'' Connor asked, his voice thick with disbelief. ``What are you +doing sending gifts to Lucius \emph{Malfoy}, of all people?'' Harry turned to face him. Godric, Connor's black eagle-owl, was trying to get his attention from his perch, but Connor ignored him. His gaze @@ -7811,10 +7793,10 @@ stairs. ``He said that he would. You need to know about pureblood customs and history and honor in order to make a good leader.'' ``He's been teaching me in compulsion magic,'' said Connor, voice gone -cold, as he trailed Harry. "I thought you'd be \emph{proud} of me, +cold, as he trailed Harry. ``I thought you'd be \emph{proud} of me, Harry. This what I'm supposed to learn. I'm learning to fight, to survive in the war, to be the Boy-Who-Lived. What else do you want me to -do?" +do?'' Harry turned around and leaned against the wall of the staircase. ``Connor, what do you think will happen after the war?'' @@ -7846,7 +7828,7 @@ and customs, how are you going to do it? You'll have to send someone else to speak to them instead of coming yourself, and that's an insult.'' -"Harry, you think \emph{too much} about this kind of thing!" Connor +``Harry, you think \emph{too much} about this kind of thing!'' Connor cried, and flung an arm around his shoulders. ``Now, come on. Sirius said that you could sit in on my lesson today. Remember?'' @@ -7974,13 +7956,13 @@ Harry somewhat doubted that. He, at least, didn't need any time alone with the person Sirius had become, or was becoming. Somewhat shocked by the bitterness of that thought, he was unprepared -for Sirius to lift his head, wipe his eyes, and say, "Your parents sent +for Sirius to lift his head, wipe his eyes, and say, ``Your parents sent me a letter, Harry. They've had Aurors questioning them. \emph{Aurors!} The letter said they had a son called Harry Potter attending Hogwarts, whom they didn't remember, and until an attempt to remove the spell on them worked, he was going to spend his time with a former Death Eater called Severus Snape. The letter said that their son had chosen Snape as -his guardian, out of all the choices available." +his guardian, out of all the choices available.'' Harry stared. Sirius had gone from shocky and shaky to furious. His eyes were glowing as they had when he attacked Snape in the Great Hall. His @@ -7988,19 +7970,19 @@ hands were clenched in front of him, and he was breathing fast. Harry felt his magic respond instinctively, pouring through the channels in his body, ready to raise barriers if Sirius attacked him. -``Why?'' Sirius whispered. "\emph{Why} Snape, Harry? Why do you want +``Why?'' Sirius whispered. ``\emph{Why} Snape, Harry? Why do you want him? I'm at Hogwarts, and so is Moony. They sent along a copy of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's letter. You could have chosen -one of us. Why did you pick \emph{him}?" The last word was a snarl. +one of us. Why did you pick \emph{him}?'' The last word was a snarl. Harry bared his teeth. \emph{So it's come down to this, then? Fine. He avoided it all summer, even after he knew. There's no reason to avoid it now.} ``Do you know why I put that spell on my parents, Sirius?'' ``What spell, Harry?'' Sirius demanded, leaning nearer. His teeth were -bared in a dog's warning. "What did you \emph{do} to them?" +bared in a dog's warning. ``What did you \emph{do} to them?'' -"\emph{Fugitivus Animus Amplector}," said Harry, as calmly as he could +``\emph{Fugitivus Animus Amplector},'' said Harry, as calmly as he could with his godfather so close. He wanted to defend himself, he realized. He wanted to call \emph{Protego} and keep the Shield Charm between them. He wanted Snape there. @@ -8021,9 +8003,9 @@ away from anger and back towards sorrow again. ``What have you done? What have you become? What's happened to my little godson who used to watch Connor singing about Gryffindor and clap his hands?'' -Harry drew in a deep breath. ``That wasn't me,'' he said. "That +Harry drew in a deep breath. ``That wasn't me,'' he said. ``That was---that was your godson. That was who I was, who my parents -\emph{made} me into." +\emph{made} me into.'' Sirius froze. Then he said, ``What are you talking about, Harry? Lily and James never made you sing if you didn't want to.'' @@ -8038,7 +8020,7 @@ and started shouting at him. It felt damn \emph{good} to shout, Harry realized. The rage around him wasn't exactly turning hot, but it did relax, and seemed less likely to reach out and turn something to ice. -"They \emph{hurt} me, Sirius! And you knew that, after what my mother +``They \emph{hurt} me, Sirius! And you knew that, after what my mother told you last year, and you let them do it anyway! They twisted and warped my mind and my magic, bound me and changed me into something I never would have been if not for them! I still don't really know @@ -8048,11 +8030,11 @@ him, too! They were the adults. You were the adults. You didn't \emph{act} like adults, but you were! You should have known! Why the hell didn't you try to get me away from them, Sirius? Why did you treat me as if \emph{I'd} done something wrong, just because I was Sorted into -Slytherin? And now you're on me about choosing Snape for my guardian." -Harry tried to laugh. It got caught in his throat. "Did you ever think +Slytherin? And now you're on me about choosing Snape for my guardian.'' +Harry tried to laugh. It got caught in his throat. ``Did you ever think that maybe I feel \emph{safe} with him, because he tried to do something to help me, when you didn't do a bloody fucking thing to keep my parents -away from me, Sirius? Not one bloody fucking thing!" +away from me, Sirius? Not one bloody fucking thing!'' Sirius's face was ghost-white by the time Harry finished. It turned as gray as the Dementor's robes in the next instant. He shook his head. @@ -8147,7 +8129,7 @@ conversation through the pain and chaos in his head. ``..didn't have to do that\ldots{}'' -"\emph{Snape} as a guardian, Moony! \emph{Snape}\ldots{}" +``\emph{Snape} as a guardian, Moony! \emph{Snape}\ldots{}'' ``\ldots{}has reasons\ldots{}'' @@ -8155,7 +8137,7 @@ conversation through the pain and chaos in his head. ``\ldots{}what happened\ldots{}.'' -"No \emph{way} we can tell him what happened! No \emph{way}\ldots{}" +``No \emph{way} we can tell him what happened! No \emph{way}\ldots{}'' ``Hush, Sirius, I know, I know. Let's ask him.'' Remus gently reached down and tilted up Harry's chin, until Harry's eyes were level with his. @@ -8434,7 +8416,7 @@ Harry thought back to his last visit to Dumbledore's office. The phoenix hadn't been there. Maybe Dumbledore wouldn't worry at that. ``All right,'' he said, with a shrug that Fawkes reprimanded him for, -and whispered, "\emph{Dignatio verus,}" to the wall. It opened, and +and whispered, ``\emph{Dignatio verus,}'' to the wall. It opened, and Harry made his way to the third-year boys' bedroom. He saw a slight shift that was Draco relaxing into sleep. Harry had told him where he would be tonight, but the other boy had waited up for him anyway. @@ -8527,7 +8509,7 @@ Fawkes's perch only one irritated glance along the way. \newpage -"Draco, what is \emph{wrong} with you?" +``Draco, what is \emph{wrong} with you?'' Draco turned around and relaxed a little. Harry was fine, though he looked windblown from Quidditch practice; the first game, against @@ -8566,10 +8548,10 @@ swirled and grumbled. ``I don't.'' -Harry shook his head. "\emph{Fine.} Come if you want to. But I don't +Harry shook his head. ``\emph{Fine.} Come if you want to. But I don't enjoy the feeling that I'm keeping you from your homework. You know Potions as well as I do. Poor Neville doesn't, though, and that's what -I'll be tutoring him in." He turned determinedly towards the door down +I'll be tutoring him in.'' He turned determinedly towards the door down to the common room. ``That's why I'll be studying something else,'' said Draco, and stifled @@ -8619,7 +8601,7 @@ making me jumpy, or part of it.'' He brushed Harry's now-hesitant hand from his shoulder and walked forward, kneeling to stick his head into the Pensieve. -"\emph{Draco!}" came Harry's anguished cry, and he heard feet running. +``\emph{Draco!}'' came Harry's anguished cry, and he heard feet running. Then the memory swallowed him. @@ -8673,13 +8655,13 @@ battle to save Connor's life. Connor is behind you and to the right.'' Harry's eyes half-shut, and Draco knew he was envisioning it. ``Tell me what kind of defensive curse you would use to stop each kind of spell.'' -She drew her wand and moved it in a half-circle. "\emph{Reducto!}" +She drew her wand and moved it in a half-circle. ``\emph{Reducto!}'' The spell did not actually shoot towards Harry, but Harry tensed as if -it had and said, "A mirror curse. Then you'd have to deal with your own -\emph{Reducto} reflected back twice or three times." +it had and said, ``A mirror curse. Then you'd have to deal with your own +\emph{Reducto} reflected back twice or three times.'' -Lily nodded. "That will do. \emph{Consopio!}" +Lily nodded. ``That will do. \emph{Consopio!}'' ``A dream curse,'' said Harry, ``to arrest the sleep in mid-motion and throw it back to you.'' @@ -8691,10 +8673,10 @@ Harry lifted his head slightly, his eyes gleaming. Draco would have expected him to smile, but his face remained silent and intent. ``Can I try?'' he asked softly. -Lily nodded. "\emph{Consopio!}" +Lily nodded. ``\emph{Consopio!}'' The sleeping spell had barely left Lily's wand when Harry held up a hand -and shouted, "\emph{Speculum Consopio!}" +and shouted, ``\emph{Speculum Consopio!}'' A milky substance formed in front of Harry, bouncing the spell so fast that Draco was still blinking when he realized Lily had sprawled out on @@ -8750,14 +8732,14 @@ eleven years old. Do you want your brother to die?'' ``No,'' Harry whispered. -Lily hugged him. "And I know that you don't want to kill him through +Lily hugged him. ``And I know that you don't want to kill him through inaction, either. Just keep this in mind, Harry. Anyone could turn out to be an enemy. Almost everyone, except the Gryffindors and the known pureblood families who serve the Light, could be a traitor or a Death Eater. So you've \emph{got} to be careful. I know that you'll make friends when you go to school, but you have to be careful around them all the time. And if one of them says something bad about Connor, or -tries to hurt him, then you'll have to hurt them back." +tries to hurt him, then you'll have to hurt them back.'' Draco wanted to step out of the Pensieve, but not strongly enough to resist watching the rest of the memory. \emph{It's a wonder that he @@ -8860,8 +8842,8 @@ free, and faced the Headmaster. Draco couldn't see the expression Harry wore. He didn't think he needed to. The way that Dumbledore's face blanched was enough. -"How \emph{dare} you do this?" Harry whispered. "How \emph{dare} you try -to hurt him?" His magic climbed, but still the sensations Draco felt +``How \emph{dare} you do this?'' Harry whispered. ``How \emph{dare} you try +to hurt him?'' His magic climbed, but still the sensations Draco felt were mostly light and sweetness. He shrugged, deciding not to question the change. It was more pleasant than the pain he usually felt when Harry was angry. ``Would you have hexed him or tried to kill him, the @@ -8940,10 +8922,10 @@ taken the field against Grindelwald. He found himself shivering. ``And what would you call attempting to bind the mind and magic of a child, Professor Dumbledore?'' Harry's voice was absolutely level, but -Draco could feel the fine tremors that ran through his body. "What would +Draco could feel the fine tremors that ran through his body. ``What would you call trying to reinforce the phoenix web in my mind long after I had said I did not want it back? What would you call trying to \emph{kill} -another man who was only trying to shield me?" His voice was building, +another man who was only trying to shield me?'' His voice was building, and so was his magic. The stones between him and Dumbledore were ice-covered, and in the silence between Harry's shout and his next whisper, one of them shattered, shards falling to the ground from the @@ -8974,10 +8956,10 @@ thought, and then shook his head and set Harry gently back on his feet. ``I mean it,'' said Harry, and glanced back at him. ``For all of it. For finding the Pensieves and kicking them over.'' His hands clenched in -front of him briefly. "The phoenix web was coming back yesterday, and it +front of him briefly. ``The phoenix web was coming back yesterday, and it was my mother's voice that spoke to me. That must have been why it was happening. And I want to thank you for being here and holding me back. I -could have \emph{killed} Dumbledore." He turned fully to face Draco. +could have \emph{killed} Dumbledore.'' He turned fully to face Draco. ``And I want to thank you for not being afraid,'' he said softly, ``when you found out that I could drink magic.'' @@ -8989,7 +8971,7 @@ something I've ever tried consciously to do. So no, I didn't.'' His eyes were back on Draco's face, studying it closely. ``But you aren't frightened.'' -"It wasn't \emph{my} magic that you were trying to swallow," said Draco, +``It wasn't \emph{my} magic that you were trying to swallow,'' said Draco, puzzled as to why this was such a large deal for Harry. ``It would be like being afraid of you because you're a Parselmouth, Harry. So long as you aren't drinking my magic or setting a snake on me, there's no reason @@ -9081,7 +9063,7 @@ Draco didn't laugh. His eyes were deep as they stared into Harry's. Harry let out his breath. ``Peter Pettigrew.'' -"You have the \emph{strangest} friends, Harry," said Draco, a little too +``You have the \emph{strangest} friends, Harry,'' said Draco, a little too calmly. ``Not including me, of course. But yes, I'll cover for you. If you'll just leave an illusion of yourself here, it shouldn't be hard.'' @@ -9090,7 +9072,7 @@ Harry didn't mind. His heart was singing with relief. He waved a hand, and an illusion of him formed and stooped to gather up a stick. His hand passed through it, but Harry thought it would take a lot to notice. -"Of course, it doesn't actually \emph{help}," Draco bemoaned it. +``Of course, it doesn't actually \emph{help},'' Draco bemoaned it. Harry looked hesitantly at him. Draco waved him on. ``Go talk to him. The sooner you go, the sooner you can get back and tell me all about @@ -9223,12 +9205,12 @@ said. ``Not much younger. A year between them. They were close friends before Hogwarts.'' Harry tightened his hands in front of him. ``I'll repeat what I said -then,'' he said, as calmly as he could. "\emph{Why} would they keep +then,'' he said, as calmly as he could. ``\emph{Why} would they keep something like that concealed from me? Sirius could have forged a closer bond with me by telling me he was an elder brother like I was, or that he had been. And---and from the way I understand them now, they wouldn't have let an opportunity like that pass. They wanted to control me, bind -me close to them, and that would have been a great chance." +me close to them, and that would have been a great chance.'' ``They are your parents and godfather, Harry,'' said Peter. ``Does it make it easier to talk about them, and the wrong they've done you, when @@ -9239,17 +9221,17 @@ his scar. ``It makes it possible for me not to wish death on them,'' he said. Peter's eyes sharpened, and he nodded again. ``Then we'll talk about -them as `they,' Harry,'' he said. "And I'll tell you why they wouldn't -admit that Regulus existed. +them as `they,' Harry,'' he said. ``And I'll tell you why they wouldn't +admit that Regulus existed.'' -"As I said, he and Sirius were close friends before Hogwarts. But then +``As I said, he and Sirius were close friends before Hogwarts. But then Sirius came to Hogwarts and was Sorted into Gryffindor. Suddenly he'd broken all the traditions that his family was supposed to keep. The Blacks had been Slytherins for as long as the family existed. All Sirius's cousins had gone into that House. And Sirius was the elder son of the major branch of the family. I know that doesn't matter to a line like the Potters, but to a pureblood family like the Blacks, it -\emph{did} matter. A great deal." +\emph{did} matter. A great deal.'' Harry nodded. ``But Sirius told me that he was an only child, and that was why his parents were so angry with him,'' he whispered. ``They had @@ -9257,10 +9239,10 @@ no heirs after he rejected their ideals.'' ``They had Regulus,'' said Peter quietly. His eyes were staring past Harry, seeing into a time that Harry now suspected he didn't know the -tiniest shard of truth about. "But he was the \emph{younger} son. He +tiniest shard of truth about. ``But he was the \emph{younger} son. He couldn't quite ever make up for the loss of Sirius, no matter what he did, even though he was Sorted into Slytherin and believed in the same -ideals that they did." +ideals that they did.'' Harry felt himself give a shudder of revulsion. \emph{Imagine if our parents had favored me just because I'm the elder and ignored or @@ -9274,9 +9256,9 @@ Harry swallowed and caged the grief and pain. \emph{There has to be a reason for that. I don't know everything yet.} ``All right,'' he said, harshly, because he needed to get his mind off -those disturbing thoughts somehow. "Say I believe you. Say that Regulus +those disturbing thoughts somehow. ``Say I believe you. Say that Regulus \emph{did} exist, and that Sirius lost him to his parents just like his -parents lost Sirius to the wizarding world. Then what happened?" +parents lost Sirius to the wizarding world. Then what happened?'' ``Regulus became a Death Eater,'' said Peter quietly, and met Harry's eyes again. ``But---and I'm only reporting this secondhand, understand, @@ -9351,12 +9333,12 @@ despair. How did ordinary people cope with these emotions? How was he going to be normal when he hadn't dealt with them for the first twelve years of his life? -``I was already a spy among the Death Eaters,'' said Peter. "The Dark +``I was already a spy among the Death Eaters,'' said Peter. ``The Dark Lord would accept my betrayal of my friends for the same reason he accepted me as a credible Death Eater, Dumbledore assured me. He thought I was jealous of my friends for being more powerful and talented than I was. Aren't wizards of lesser power always afraid of those with greater, -and jealous of them? +and jealous of them?'' ``He was right. Once your parents made me the Secret-Keeper, the Dark Lord ceased torturing Regulus and killed him. He concentrated all his @@ -9373,11 +9355,11 @@ that he be able to hear Peter's answer to his next question. ``They knew we would be betrayed? They risked our lives on purpose?'' -Peter turned his head and fixed Harry with a careful eye. "Of course. +Peter turned his head and fixed Harry with a careful eye. ``Of course. You said you knew the prophecy. They \emph{knew} what would happen when I led Voldemort into the house of a child born at the precise moment the prophecy said he should be born. And of course there are other clues in -the prophecy that let them suspect your house was the right one." Peter +the prophecy that let them suspect your house was the right one.'' Peter closed his eyes again. ``After that, it was rather simple,'' he said, his voice gone strained @@ -9420,8 +9402,8 @@ had knowingly placed two small children in danger, and that was not permissible. Nor was it permissible to reveal that Sirius had suffered for so long.'' -``Not only Dumbledore,'' Harry whispered. "Our \emph{parents}. Why? Why -is that, Peter? Why would they do that?" +``Not only Dumbledore,'' Harry whispered. ``Our \emph{parents}. Why? Why +is that, Peter? Why would they do that?'' ``The prophecy,'' said Peter. @@ -9432,7 +9414,7 @@ justification than that,'' he said. Peter blinked. ``Of course there was. There was concealing Sirius's weakness, and bringing Voldemort down.'' He hugged his arms around -himself and stared into the Forest. "You cannot understand what the +himself and stared into the Forest. ``You cannot understand what the First War was like, Harry. Everyone was tired, and certain they were going to lose, after eleven years of fighting. We'd grown up in Hogwarts in the knowledge that we'd be soldiers going to war. Everyone wanted an @@ -9440,7 +9422,7 @@ in the knowledge that we'd be soldiers going to war. Everyone wanted an Voldemort fell. No one really thought to question that, to ask how and why a baby could have defeated him \emph{without} something like the prophecy, which was never made public. They didn't want to. They had -their hero, they had their villain, and that was it. That was all." +their hero, they had their villain, and that was it. That was all.'' ``They put Connor in danger,'' said Harry again. He could not get past that. He had always trusted his parents to know what was best, to save @@ -9485,11 +9467,11 @@ Harry gave the thought a vicious kick and focused back on Peter. ``And what was the second thing?'' he asked, his own voice unexpectedly hoarse. -``A sense of duty,'' said Peter simply. "Dumbledore impressed it on me +``A sense of duty,'' said Peter simply. ``Dumbledore impressed it on me that this was my duty to the future, my duty as a Gryffindor, my duty to a world without the Dark Lord. And---well, he was right, I thought. So I gave up my personality and my freedom and the good will of the wizarding -community for it. +community for it.'' ``But the more I thought about it, the more resentful I became. As I said, the loss of my friends did that. I became convinced that it wasn't @@ -9518,10 +9500,10 @@ Connor,'' said Harry. ``Yes.'' Peter was immovable. -Harry shook his head at him, frantic. "I \emph{can't}. Then he'll be -left undefended when he goes forth to face Voldemort." +Harry shook his head at him, frantic. ``I \emph{can't}. Then he'll be +left undefended when he goes forth to face Voldemort.'' -``Sirius is training him, I thought,'' said Peter. "He'll have that +``Sirius is training him, I thought,'' said Peter. ``He'll have that training. And he'll have the protection of other people, the adults and his friends and anyone else who fights the Second War. And I assure you that this is everyone's war, Harry. Not even most of the Death Eaters @@ -9529,7 +9511,7 @@ stood by Voldemort when they thought he'd fallen. I've been prying and sniffing around my old haunts. They \emph{like} their lives now, free and prosperous. They're not eager to go back into slavery to a madman. They might be called by Voldemort's magic, but they'll seize any other -option that seems at all viable." +option that seems at all viable.'' ``Dumbledore---'' @@ -10081,7 +10063,7 @@ some recognition.'' finally got his mouth free. ``I might have wondered what you meant first year, but now I know.'' -Draco frowned at him. "Don't you \emph{want} to win?" +Draco frowned at him. ``Don't you \emph{want} to win?'' ``Yes,'' said Harry, and ate one more bite before Flint's bellow rang out across the Great Hall, summoning the members of the Slytherin @@ -10227,7 +10209,7 @@ direction or another. The Slytherin Beaters were falling for it, chasing him, but Harry preferred to rise and hover above the chaos, still looking for that flash of gold. -"\emph{Fall off your broom.}" +``\emph{Fall off your broom.}'' Harry clutched at his broom handle in shock. He darted a quick glance around, but he could not see who might have spoken. It certainly wasn't @@ -10236,7 +10218,7 @@ full of staring eyes and screaming mouths. It had sounded like none of them, actually. It had sounded like a voice half in his head, the way that Sylarana used to speak to him. -"\emph{Fall off your broom. Leave this match to your brother.}" +``\emph{Fall off your broom. Leave this match to your brother.}'' Harry, now that he was watching for it, felt the slithering of a cold wind around his thoughts. This was the compulsion gift, he realized. @@ -10271,7 +10253,7 @@ Slytherin Seeker seemed to have decided to chase birds instead of Snitches. Harry was two hundred feet above the Pitch, then three hundred. He waited. -"\emph{Fall off your broom.}" +``\emph{Fall off your broom.}'' \emph{Yes, he means it,} Harry thought in a daze as he bounced the compulsion off his Occlumency shields. \emph{Oh, Sirius. Are House @@ -10286,7 +10268,7 @@ below. Harry had no doubt he could do it, though. Connor had had to meet his eyes when he demonstrated it, but Connor's gift had been new then. Sirius had been well-trained in it for a long time. -"\emph{Fall off your broom.}" +``\emph{Fall off your broom.}'' ``No,'' Harry snapped back aloud, irritated, and then looked down to see Sirius's head tilt back. Harry couldn't read his expression, being too @@ -10327,7 +10309,7 @@ the Snitch, but slightly in front of it, his hand poised to the right by the time it fluttered there, his body leaning forward when the Snitch stopped flying backwards. -"\emph{Fall off your broom.}" +``\emph{Fall off your broom.}'' Sirius's command simply rolled over him and vanished when he was in this mental state, and then Harry's hand closed around the Snitch. He'd @@ -10346,7 +10328,7 @@ and Blaise, the one taunting the other into paying up. Harry thought he might be in shock. His breath rushed through his lungs, and he was shuddering slightly, and the air around him was very clear and bright. -"\emph{Fall off your broom.}" +``\emph{Fall off your broom.}'' Harry shook his head and turned to glare down at Sirius. \emph{The match is over. Slytherin won. Why does he have to keep doing this?} @@ -10437,10 +10419,10 @@ leaving ice crystals frozen on his face, \emph{Only the true} vates ``Free my magic, then.'' Harry lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at the gray Dementor. ``You want to be free? You want to have possibilities other than guarding Azkaban?'' He remembered the phrases in Starborn's -letter. "I think I have power that I might bend to protect and serve, +letter. ``I think I have power that I might bend to protect and serve, and I would refuse compulsion if I could. I've had it used against me too often to like it. But I \emph{can't get rid of this binding on my -own.}" +own.}'' The phoenix web flared behind his eyes, but Harry thought hard about doing this for Connor, getting the Dementors off the field so that he @@ -10699,10 +10681,10 @@ her way calmly towards the Headmaster. ``She's a Mudblood.'' Harry glanced at Draco. ``I can't force you to stop using that word, -Draco,'' he said. "I \emph{won't} force you to stop using that word. I +Draco,'' he said. ``I \emph{won't} force you to stop using that word. I will ask you to please stop using it around me. I don't like it, and it's ridiculous, anyway. Going by terms of sheer magical power, you know -that Hermione's one of the strongest witches in the school." Fawkes +that Hermione's one of the strongest witches in the school.'' Fawkes added a croon after his words, as though to confirm that. ``I know that!'' Draco sounded peevish. ``But Mudbloods just don't @@ -10715,7 +10697,7 @@ the Muggle world.'' ``You must tell me what happened with the Dementors,'' said Draco. -"\emph{Must}?" Harry asked, watching Remus's expression as he glanced +``\emph{Must}?'' Harry asked, watching Remus's expression as he glanced over Dumbledore's head at Harry. The Headmaster was casting \emph{Sonorus} now, making some speech, probably reinforced with an edge of compulsion, to calm the crowd down and make them sure that things @@ -10792,8 +10774,8 @@ seat, bowed his head, and wouldn't look at anybody. Remus stood up and shouted at Sirius. -"\emph{You} were doing that? I thought Harry might be having some -trouble with his flying, but I never---Sirius---you really did---" He +``\emph{You} were doing that? I thought Harry might be having some +trouble with his flying, but I never---Sirius---you really did---'' He broke off, but his eyes were glowing, and his voice had become a rumbling snarl on the last words. Harry had only seen him angry like that once before, and then he'd been too deeply under the influence of @@ -10832,9 +10814,9 @@ quaver, and his words did not falter or fade; they sounded almost detached. But the way his eyes went constantly to Sirius made up for all that he did not show in his voice, Harry thought. -"Harry Potter has asked why his godfather would betray him. I have +``Harry Potter has asked why his godfather would betray him. I have denied him answers before, but now that Sirius Black has granted me -formal permission to narrate the reasons, I will. +formal permission to narrate the reasons, I will.'' ``Sirius Black was born with the compulsion gift---'' Dumbledore waited patiently for the shock wave to finish traveling around the room, and @@ -10881,25 +10863,25 @@ have made it. It certainly didn't look like the cuts from a blade that he had studied how to heal, nor the aftereffects of any Dark spell he knew. -"That is the remnant of an \emph{Amotio Maga} spell," said McGonagall, +``That is the remnant of an \emph{Amotio Maga} spell,'' said McGonagall, and when Harry looked at her, she seemed to be on the verge of fainting. ``Yes,'' Dumbledore acknowledged softly. ``When his parents were displeased with him, they took Sirius's magic and locked it into a festering, flesh-eating wound on his left arm.'' His voice was emotionless. Harry wondered how long it had taken him to sound like that -when he spoke of this. "It pained him horribly, and he could not use +when he spoke of this. ``It pained him horribly, and he could not use magic to ease the pain---nor to do anything else, for that matter, as long as the \emph{Amotio Maga} curse was in operation. His parents would only give his magic back when he pleased them, which was not often. They -were trying to teach him the horrors of living like a Muggle." +were trying to teach him the horrors of living like a Muggle.'' Dumbledore's voice warmed and grew sterner, both at once. ``It did not work. When Sirius came to Hogwarts, he had a sympathy for Muggles and Muggleborns, both, since he had been deprived of both his own magic and control over it for so long. He was Sorted into Gryffindor, and I undertook to protect him, as I could not do before.'' He paused one more -time, then sighed. "\emph{All} of it, Sirius?" +time, then sighed. ``\emph{All} of it, Sirius?'' Harry looked at his godfather. Sirius nodded, or the curtain of black hair hanging over his face nodded. It abruptly occurred to Harry that @@ -11002,7 +10984,7 @@ Harry's legal guardian, I will not agree to your binding his magic again. Nor will I consent to Harry being near Black again, nor alone with him. He is insane, and he tried to cause my ward's death.'' -"\emph{FUCK YOU, SNIVELLUS}!" +``\emph{FUCK YOU, SNIVELLUS}!'' Sirius was out of his chair in an instant, bowling towards Snape. Harry had time to react, and he snapped up a barrier in front of Snape, a wall @@ -11013,11 +10995,11 @@ his fingers. Harry suspected he'd broken his nose. Snape hadn't reacted except to breathe a little faster, but the glare he sent Dumbledore was deadly. ``And I will definitely recommend that Black -be removed from the school altogether,'' he whispered. "That he would +be removed from the school altogether,'' he whispered. ``That he would attack another professor, not once but twice, is unacceptable. And as for attacking students, the way he did today---it would not matter if it was Miss Granger here, or Connor Potter. I would still ask for, no, -\emph{demand}, his removal." +\emph{demand}, his removal.'' Harry watched Sirius climb slowly back to his feet. Yes, his nose was broken. And Harry had caused that by no more than willing it to happen. @@ -11046,10 +11028,10 @@ quiet desperation in them. ``I love both of these boys as if they were my own children,'' he said. ``I know that Snivellus won't let me have any more contact with Harry now, for as long as he's Harry's guardian.'' The stare he sent over his -shoulder said that he personally wouldn't let it be very long. "But I +shoulder said that he personally wouldn't let it be very long. ``But I \emph{need} the contact with Connor. Please, Albus. I'm sure that Lily and James wouldn't want you to stop letting me teach their son just -because Snivellus is being unreasonable." +because Snivellus is being unreasonable.'' Dumbledore closed his eyes. He looked inexpressibly weary, but Harry knew he would assent before he did. @@ -11065,8 +11047,8 @@ regret this.'' ``I will,'' said Harry, standing. He drew Dumbledore's gaze to him, and part of him reveled in the sick terror behind the older wizard's -serenity. "Why should I consent to leave my \emph{twin} alone with a man -who's hurt me so badly, and could hurt him?" +serenity. ``Why should I consent to leave my \emph{twin} alone with a man +who's hurt me so badly, and could hurt him?'' ``Because,'' said Dumbledore quietly, ``Connor is doing well. He no longer unconsciously compels people. But he has much yet to learn. And @@ -11080,9 +11062,9 @@ Harry turned and studied his godfather. It hurt to say what he felt he had to say next. ``But you could do it to me.'' Sirius flinched and turned his head away. ``You don't understand,'' he -whispered. "This Dark curse makes me react strongly to Dark magic. And +whispered. ``This Dark curse makes me react strongly to Dark magic. And you stank of it, and you chose a guardian who stank of it, and you're in -\emph{Slytherin} House, and it's just so \emph{hard}, Harry---" +\emph{Slytherin} House, and it's just so \emph{hard}, Harry---'' He began to cry then. He sank into his chair unattended. Remus was still frozen in the middle of the circle. Now he took his own seat, and drew @@ -11102,14 +11084,14 @@ Harry stared at him. ``You do?'' Remus nodded to Snape. ``Severus mentioned it to me at one point. He said---he said I had learned you were being abused. That's what the -stolen memories concerned.'' He closed his eyes. "And he also said that +stolen memories concerned.'' He closed his eyes. ``And he also said that the \emph{Obliviate} had to be removed delicately. My sanity is at stake -if it's just stripped from my mind. I know that." +if it's just stripped from my mind. I know that.'' ``Yes.'' Harry felt the claws of his power flex around him. He was reasonably certain that he could remove the \emph{Obliviate}, now, when -he'd studied Remus's mind for a little while. "But do you know why -Dumbledore \emph{Obliviated} you rather than try to persuade you?" +he'd studied Remus's mind for a little while. ``But do you know why +Dumbledore \emph{Obliviated} you rather than try to persuade you?'' ``Harry,'' said Dumbledore sharply. @@ -11146,9 +11128,9 @@ mingled triumph and compassion in McGonagall's eyes, and the intent expression on Hermione's features were worth it. ``I want to defend, protect, and serve other people than just my -brother,'' said Harry plainly. "And that is \emph{going} to happen." He -turned and met Remus's eyes. "Tell me when you want the \emph{Obliviate} -removed." +brother,'' said Harry plainly. ``And that is \emph{going} to happen.'' He +turned and met Remus's eyes. ``Tell me when you want the \emph{Obliviate} +removed.'' ``I don't know,'' Remus whispered. ``I---I have to think. I have to think about what I'm ready to know.'' He avoided Harry's eyes. @@ -11177,9 +11159,9 @@ important to have my magic and my mind bound.'' ``I have told you,'' said Dumbledore. ``I feared that you would become the next Dark Lord.'' -Harry snorted. "When I was \emph{four}?" +Harry snorted. ``When I was \emph{four}?'' -``Yes,'' said Dumbledore, his voice unexpectedly grave. "No other child +``Yes,'' said Dumbledore, his voice unexpectedly grave. ``No other child has ever had power of that magnitude at such an age, Harry. Their power matures slowly, along with them. Tom Riddle was already a powerful wizard at eleven years old, but he did not suddenly leap full-blown into @@ -11195,7 +11177,7 @@ first that your training would encourage the magic to lie still and accept refinement, but it wasn't enough. Your magic not only refined, it kept growing in raw strength, as if its sudden appearance in your life were not the end, as if it were drawing power from elsewhere. So, the -phoenix web." Dumbledore let out a long sigh and passed his hand over +phoenix web.'' Dumbledore let out a long sigh and passed his hand over his eyes. ``Because the greatest opponent of power, and of the careless arrogance with which Tom used his power, is love.'' @@ -11248,7 +11230,7 @@ you to stay out of my way.'' ``You're talking to the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Harry,'' said Sirius, who seemed to have recovered from his crying fit. -Harry gave him a glance he knew was withering. "Shut \emph{up}, Sirius," +Harry gave him a glance he knew was withering. ``Shut \emph{up}, Sirius,'' he told him in exasperation. ``I forgive you for what you've done to me, but I know what you are now, and I'm going to be watching you closely.'' @@ -11266,10 +11248,10 @@ Dumbledore was silent, regarding him. Harry turned, meeting the other eyes in the room. ``I won't demand anything from you,'' he told them---McGonagall, -Hermione, Remus, and Draco. "I will \emph{ask} that you use your +Hermione, Remus, and Draco. ``I will \emph{ask} that you use your discretion when talking about what you heard in this room. And if you do something to oppose me, please think about what I'll have to do in -return." +return.'' Draco was grinning, now, and not bothering to hide it. McGonagall nodded, her eyes shining with pride. Remus glanced away from him. @@ -11290,14 +11272,14 @@ He could use the help, assuming she decided to help him. ``So our state is one of---'' Dumbledore began. -``Armed neutrality,'' Harry cut in. "I won't attack you or your allies, +``Armed neutrality,'' Harry cut in. ``I won't attack you or your allies, Headmaster, and I expect the same courtesy of you. I \emph{will} defend my brother and anyone else I care about if you threaten them. I -\emph{will} defend myself against future attacks by Sirius." +\emph{will} defend myself against future attacks by Sirius.'' ``That wasn't my fault,'' Sirius muttered. -"Shut \emph{up}, Sirius," said Harry, without looking at him. It would +``Shut \emph{up}, Sirius,'' said Harry, without looking at him. It would take him a while to sort out his feelings for his godfather. He would prefer to do it away from him. ``I will try to learn as much as I can about my magic, and the best ways to use it.'' @@ -11455,11 +11437,11 @@ Harry's magic expanded around him, in an explosion felt as far away as the \emph{Prophet} offices. ``I think he's really powerful,'' said Seamus Finnigan, a Gryffindor -student in Harry's year. "Did you \emph{feel} that?" +student in Harry's year. ``Did you \emph{feel} that?'' ``I suppose he's powerful,'' said Ron Weasley, also a Gryffindor student -in Harry's year, and the best friend of the Boy-Who-Lived. "I don't -really know, though. I didn't think he was \emph{that} strong." +in Harry's year, and the best friend of the Boy-Who-Lived. ``I don't +really know, though. I didn't think he was \emph{that} strong.'' ``Please leave me alone,'' said Percy Weasley, elder brother of Ron Weasley, a seventh-year in Gryffindor House, and Head Boy. ``I have a @@ -11496,13 +11478,13 @@ That was as far as Harry got before a hand slammed down on top of the paper, knocking it to the tabletop and flattening it. Harry took a deep breath and looked up to meet his brother's eyes. -``How could you do that?'' Connor whispered. "How could you hurt Sirius +``How could you do that?'' Connor whispered. ``How could you hurt Sirius like that? He came back from Dumbledore's office yesterday a shadow of the man he looked before the Quidditch game. He told me that you didn't want him to be your godfather any more, that you'd rather have sodding -\emph{Snape} as your guardian." His face was flushed, and his eyes shone -in a way that reminded Harry of James's. "\emph{Why}, Harry? What sin -could he possibly have committed to make you reject him like that?" +\emph{Snape} as your guardian.'' His face was flushed, and his eyes shone +in a way that reminded Harry of James's. ``\emph{Why}, Harry? What sin +could he possibly have committed to make you reject him like that?'' Harry took a deep breath and stood. He could feel Draco surge up beside him, but he put out a hand, and Draco held his tongue. Harry had to be @@ -11539,10 +11521,10 @@ understand\ldots{}} ``I don't need to ask anything,'' said Connor. ``I know that Sirius was telling me the truth, and that you're being as bull-headed as ever.'' He -shook his head, his eyes hard. "I don't want you to come to my training +shook his head, his eyes hard. ``I don't want you to come to my training sessions any more. You can't keep from hurting Sirius, so I don't think you should be welcome during my private time with him. He should know -that \emph{someone} loves him and appreciates him for what he is." +that \emph{someone} loves him and appreciates him for what he is.'' Harry inclined his head, striving to keep his face expressionless. He was not sure how well he succeeded. Connor looked frustrated, which @@ -11554,18 +11536,18 @@ breakfast. Connor leaned forward. ``I won't let you ignore me---'' ``Potter,'' said Millicent, and Harry had never known how coldly she -could speak the name. "It might have escaped your notice, but you're +could speak the name. ``It might have escaped your notice, but you're near the Slytherin table. And you're threatening our House Seeker, who won the match for us yesterday---the one \emph{you} lost thanks to your bloody stupid flying. Now get away from us before someone puts a hex up -your arse." +your arse.'' Connor paused for a long moment. Harry knew him well enough to see him opening and closing his mouth without even looking up. He didn't look up. -"\emph{Fine}," said Connor, in a deeply meaningful tone, and turned to +``\emph{Fine},'' said Connor, in a deeply meaningful tone, and turned to trudge back to the Gryffindor table. ``Bloody stupid sod,'' Millicent muttered, and sat down again, making a @@ -11597,7 +11579,7 @@ and the plants. ``See? You can remember what ingredients a Memory Potion takes by remembering it as a series of plants, all of which affect---'' ``Memory.'' Neville leaned over the chart, his eyes already devouring -it. "\emph{Thank} you, Harry." He hesitated, then glanced up again. +it. ``\emph{Thank} you, Harry.'' He hesitated, then glanced up again. ``Thank you for not making me feel stupid.'' Harry blinked. ``You're not stupid, Neville.'' @@ -11610,9 +11592,9 @@ Harry, having been on the other side of it himself, understood it only too well. ``Professor Snape thinks I'm stupid.'' Harry sighed. \emph{He's my guardian, but he's so far from perfect that -it's not funny.} ``Yes, he does,'' he had to admit. "But that doesn't +it's not funny.} ``Yes, he does,'' he had to admit. ``But that doesn't mean you \emph{are}, Neville. You can learn Potions, really you can. -Just study the chart." He tapped a finger on the parchment and turned to +Just study the chart.'' He tapped a finger on the parchment and turned to welcome the person he'd felt hovering around the edge of his awareness for the last five minutes. He'd been slightly surprised that she wasn't already here when he and Draco came to meet Neville. @@ -11699,7 +11681,7 @@ dwelled in Hogwarts's lake. But in the end he resorted to compulsion to enforce his will, and apparently came into conflict with his own principles, and retired to live a quiet, and short, life at his own cottage in Surrey. On the last day of the summer term, he apparently -sobbed continually, and repeated only the word, "}Vates." +sobbed continually, and repeated only the word,} ``Vates.'' Harry leaned back from the book as if burned. He could feel a tingling excitement racing through his fingers. He looked up and met Hermione's @@ -11752,10 +11734,10 @@ wizards at the Conference of 1584.'' She leaned forward and stared hard into Harry's eyes. ``But Connor's my friend, and you're interesting, and maybe right. So I want to help.'' -Harry let out a harsh breath. "Good. Then can you research the phoenix +Harry let out a harsh breath. ``Good. Then can you research the phoenix web for me? I need to know what it is and what it does, exactly, but I haven't been able to find much on it, and the Headmaster would notice if -I searched. And I just don't have \emph{time} to search." +I searched. And I just don't have \emph{time} to search.'' Hermione smiled a little. ``You need me because I'm a good researcher?'' she asked. @@ -11785,8 +11767,8 @@ your friend, Harry. I'm here too, if you need me.'' He blushed and looked down. ``I d-don't know if you'll ever need fat, stupid Neville Longbottom, but I'm here.'' -Harry reached across the table and caught Neville's hand. "You're -\emph{not} stupid," he said. ``You're brave. A true Gryffindor.'' +Harry reached across the table and caught Neville's hand. ``You're +\emph{not} stupid,'' he said. ``You're brave. A true Gryffindor.'' Neville flushed again, but this time with pleasure. ``Thanks, Harry,'' he said, and smiled at him. @@ -11835,7 +11817,7 @@ silver, and the hilt was ebony. Hawthorn flinched as she looked at it, but her expression hardened. ``You will know what this is,'' she said to Harry. -"\emph{I} don't," Draco complained. ``What is it?'' +``\emph{I} don't,'' Draco complained. ``What is it?'' ``Draco,'' said Millicent, with infinite gentleness, ``go away. You can't be here. Your father hasn't made up his mind yet. You're not @@ -11931,8 +11913,8 @@ choice, in a world of Dark Lords and Light Lords.'' Harry shook his head, even though he was smiling. ``I'm only thirteen,'' he pointed out. -``Older than that,'' Adalrico retorted. "I can see the truth, unlike -\emph{some} people." +``Older than that,'' Adalrico retorted. ``I can see the truth, unlike +\emph{some} people.'' ``Hush,'' Hawthorn said, very mildly. ``Starborn reassures me that he is talking to Lucius Malfoy, and that Lucius is close to coming around.'' @@ -11992,7 +11974,7 @@ and patted a sulking Draco on the shoulder. ``Your father will come around eventually,'' he said. -"He \emph{better}," Draco said darkly. ``What does it look like, when +``He \emph{better},'' Draco said darkly. ``What does it look like, when the Bulstrodes and the Parkinsons can see sense sooner than the Malfoys? He's being an idiot\ldots{}'' @@ -12064,8 +12046,8 @@ though Harry had taken a sledgehammer to his head. and recovering. Harry could see the Auror-in-training now, who was in intense conversation with Snape. He was a slight young man with pale hair and a habit of twitching his nose like a rabbit, and looked -slightly awed of Snape. "This parchment means only that you \emph{think} -of the phoenix web as coercive magic. It's perfectly legal." +slightly awed of Snape. ``This parchment means only that you \emph{think} +of the phoenix web as coercive magic. It's perfectly legal.'' ``Legal doesn't mean morally right, Auror,'' said Harry, leaning back against Snape's desk. ``You ought to know that, when so many Dark @@ -12130,10 +12112,10 @@ conversation was going now. Was the Auror about to suggest that Connor should be Harry's guardian instead of Snape? ``Do you feel resentment towards him?'' The Auror's eyes raked him. -"Jealousy? Some people in the Ministry and the \emph{Daily Prophet} have +``Jealousy? Some people in the Ministry and the \emph{Daily Prophet} have suggested that you mean to take his place as savior of the wizarding world, and that's why you released your magic in public, at a Quidditch -match." +match.'' ``Are you supposed to be asking me questions like this?'' Harry asked, imitating the tone that Snape used with Neville. ``I'm sorry. I thought @@ -12208,14 +12190,14 @@ something. Harry waited, rather nervously, for what it would be. Then Snape turned away, and Harry let out a breath as the tension relaxed. It grew again with Snape's next words, however. -"The Mark's message remains the same. The Dark Lord is growing stronger, +``The Mark's message remains the same. The Dark Lord is growing stronger, and you will be one of his primary targets. You are to remain within the school unless it is absolutely unavoidable, as for Quidditch practices, do you understand? And then you are to have people around you. I know that you have allies among the purebloods. Let them guard you. You are -\emph{never} to be alone with Black, not at all." +\emph{never} to be alone with Black, not at all.'' -"Surely you don't believe that \emph{Sirius} is working for Voldemort?" +``Surely you don't believe that \emph{Sirius} is working for Voldemort?'' Harry protested. ``I believe in limiting your emotional damage as much as possible, @@ -12229,7 +12211,7 @@ weekends unless you manage to convince a professor who is not Black or Lupin to chaperone.'' Snape smirked at him again. ``I plan to be occupied with brewing.'' -"\emph{What}?" +``\emph{What}?'' They had an argument about that for a good half-hour, which Snape won, and Harry sulked about for another hour, until Snape sent him off to do @@ -12387,14 +12369,14 @@ sacrifice.'' Peter closed his eyes and expelled a long breath. ``He sent you to Azkaban primarily so that no one would find out what he'd done?'' Harry breathed. -``Of course,'' said Peter. "That was the only way, with the phoenix web +``Of course,'' said Peter. ``That was the only way, with the phoenix web to make me look primarily jealous and a crime so heinous that no one would demand a really \emph{detailed} trial. Otherwise, we either would have to put up with questions that might uncover the truth---a relative of that blasted Skeeter woman came quite close as it was---or having people know that Dumbledore was a man who would sacrifice children and lose all trust in him. And, of course, if we'd arranged it another way, -they would have to do without the legend of the Boy-Who-Lived." He +they would have to do without the legend of the Boy-Who-Lived.'' He closed his eyes more tightly. Harry stood there and stared at Hogwarts, and thought about that. His @@ -12436,11 +12418,11 @@ Harry. Some way I could have carried you from Godric's Hollow that night the Dark Lord fell. Your life would have been so much happier.'' ``Yes, but what would the cost have been?'' Harry said back. He could -talk, if he didn't try to talk too loudly. "Connor would have to bear +talk, if he didn't try to talk too loudly. ``Connor would have to bear \emph{everything} all by himself, and you just said he couldn't do that. They might have hunted and killed you for what they would see as a true betrayal. And I would be left without the purpose in life that I was -always meant to fulfill." +always meant to fulfill.'' Peter made a soft frustrated noise. ``That's the thing about prophecies, Harry. They're not as simple as---'' @@ -12452,10 +12434,10 @@ consequences of it would be, he couldn't do that either. ``You'd better go,'' he said, but Peter had already risen to his feet. -``I will,'' he said. "Take care of yourself, Harry. But, please, think +``I will,'' he said. ``Take care of yourself, Harry. But, please, think about what I said. Just because you were strong enough to go through what you have and survive \emph{does not mean} they should have put you -through it." +through it.'' He transformed and ran then. Harry sat in silence for a little while longer, then stood up and shook himself. The moon was fully risen. @@ -12571,7 +12553,7 @@ He didn't use it. He flung his magic forward instead, edging his voice with the same will that he had once used in these same woods to crack an egg-shaped stone and save Draco's life. -"\emph{Stop.}" +``\emph{Stop.}'' Greyback rolled over as though someone had slammed him all along his left side. He whimpered as he rolled, but he came back on his feet @@ -12785,21 +12767,21 @@ and not any good planning, saved him. The snake had been waiting to his right, and its next strike missed, too. Draco stumbled another step away, and rammed into his bed. He aimed his -wand as nearly straight as he could, and shouted, "\emph{Stupefy!}" +wand as nearly straight as he could, and shouted, ``\emph{Stupefy!}'' The snake moved, and the Stunning spell missed it entirely. Draco jumped up on the bed with a shriek. Now he didn't know where the snake was, under the bed or crawling up the posts. Fuck, the thing was \emph{fast.} He caught a glimpse of green off to the side, and shouted, -"\emph{Petrificus Totalus!}" +``\emph{Petrificus Totalus!}'' He missed again, at least if the way the coil vanished instead of freezing was any indication. Draco climbed to his feet, balancing as best as he could on the bed, and concentrated on means of lifting himself. He would have to hope that the damn thing couldn't fly. -"\emph{Wingardium}---" he began. +``\emph{Wingardium}---'' he began. The snake boiled up and across the sheets at him. Draco shrieked and lost the thread of the spell. He grabbed the nearest thing at hand, @@ -12848,9 +12830,9 @@ nothing shameful about holding on to someone else when you'd nearly died, he thought, even for a Malfoy. ``Thank Merlin, Draco,'' Harry was murmuring, voice half-hysterical. -"First the werewolf, and then this. Merlin, if Adalrico hadn't said +``First the werewolf, and then this. Merlin, if Adalrico hadn't said something, I wouldn't have known, I would have been too \emph{late}, you -would have \emph{died\ldots{}}" +would have \emph{died\ldots{}}'' Draco opened his eyes and managed to see over Harry's shoulder, to his bottle, sitting on the table. It was entirely fierce, dark purple, the @@ -13025,13 +13007,13 @@ venture outside of Hogwarts again unless you are practicing Quidditch or I am with you. I thought I could trust you to take care of yourself. It seems I was wrong.'' -"I \emph{did} take care of myself," said Harry, indignant. \emph{I'm +``I \emph{did} take care of myself,'' said Harry, indignant. \emph{I'm glad I didn't tell him that silly idea about Greyback wanting to kill me or make me a werewolf, not if he's going to be as silly as this.} ``I'm alive, and I prevented anyone from getting bitten.'' He felt Snape wasn't giving the proper weight to that. -"You nearly \emph{died.}" +``You nearly \emph{died.}'' It was worse that Snape didn't yell. He simply spoke the words fiercely, and made Harry feel as though a cold wind had taken up residence in his @@ -13049,7 +13031,7 @@ an instant if it meant saving one of you. You already knew that.'' ``That is the thing that we must rid you of, then,'' said Snape. ``You will not be free until you begin to value your own life more.'' -Harry glared at him from beneath a lock of dark hair. "I'm \emph{fine.}" +Harry glared at him from beneath a lock of dark hair. ``I'm \emph{fine.}'' ``You will still obey me,'' said Snape. Harry couldn't read him at all now. His face and voice both took on the weight and inscrutability of @@ -13076,9 +13058,9 @@ he said. ``Not thirteen-year-old boys.'' Harry clenched his fists and forced himself to calm down. His magic was on the verge of boiling one of Madam Pomfrey's precious potions. -``Regardless of whether or not I should, I am,'' he said. "This is what +``Regardless of whether or not I should, I am,'' he said. ``This is what I am. This is what my training made me. I don't want to be treated like -what you think I \emph{should} be. I want to be treated the way I am." +what you think I \emph{should} be. I want to be treated the way I am.'' Snape studied him in silence. Then he said, ``And what need do you have of a guardian, then?'' @@ -13091,7 +13073,7 @@ can still do what I was born --'' ``Made.'' -"---\emph{born} to do," Harry corrected stubbornly. ``And that's protect +``---\emph{born} to do,'' Harry corrected stubbornly. ``And that's protect the people who are important to me.'' Snape studied him again. Harry had no idea what he was seeing, and so @@ -13354,10 +13336,10 @@ and treats you like that.'' Harry blinked. ``What do you mean? He brought me good news. He hugged me. That's hardly treating me poorly.'' -``He should have been groveling,'' said Draco. "I can't believe that +``He should have been groveling,'' said Draco. ``I can't believe that he'll speak a few simple words, and you'll just accept him like -\emph{that.}" He snapped his fingers, which was a gesture Harry had -never seen him make. "You \emph{nearly died}, Harry!" +\emph{that.}'' He snapped his fingers, which was a gesture Harry had +never seen him make. ``You \emph{nearly died}, Harry!'' ``So did you,'' Harry pointed out, deciding to quash the line of thought Draco was building up as swiftly as he could. Draco wasn't Snape, and he @@ -13378,7 +13360,7 @@ get at me. So I just saved the life that I put in danger.'' ``I can have a life debt to you if I want,'' said Draco, looking mutinous. Then he smiled. ``Unless you refuse to accept it, of course,'' -he said. "Or unless you're going to \emph{force} me to withdraw it." +he said. ``Or unless you're going to \emph{force} me to withdraw it.'' Harry ground his teeth. ``Please, Draco,'' he said, ``don't bind yourself in a life debt to me.'' @@ -13395,10 +13377,10 @@ Draco snorted. ``Harry, you're the last person I would think would abuse pureblood rituals for petty reasons.'' ``You've forgotten other things about me,'' said Harry, with a slight -smile. "I might want you to stop annoying me about Connor, or leave me +smile. ``I might want you to stop annoying me about Connor, or leave me alone, and invoke the debt to make you leave me alone instead of maneuvering you so that you have so much homework you \emph{have} to -stop following me." +stop following me.'' ``You're too Slytherin for your own good,'' Draco muttered, and then flopped back in the bed. ``I have to stay here,'' he added in a pathetic @@ -13615,7 +13597,7 @@ little compunction about maneuvering Dumbledore into a trap; Shacklebolt's involvement here just proved that Dumbledore was still trying to trap him. But he had no right to reveal Sirius's past. -"I don't trust \emph{him}," he settled for saying at last. +``I don't trust \emph{him},'' he settled for saying at last. Scrimgeour grinned at him, a fierce expression. ``I see,'' he said. ``And would that have anything to do with the rather large Dark legacy @@ -13649,12 +13631,12 @@ Lords,'' he said. Scrimgeour nodded. ``Dumbledore's a Light Lord. You-Know-Who is a Dark Lord. I don't like 'em. Neither of 'em.'' Harry recognized his suddenly informal diction as an affectation, but had to admit it was effective. -"That's why I work for the Ministry. The Ministry's inefficient and +``That's why I work for the Ministry. The Ministry's inefficient and simple-minded and petty and choose whatever other adjective you like, but it's a \emph{normal} place. It gives normal wizards a chance to change things, since we don't all have the power of a Lord. On a normal day, we balance 'em. I don't like Lords mucking about with my Ministry. -Dumbledore is doing that right now." He stared straight into Harry's +Dumbledore is doing that right now.'' He stared straight into Harry's eyes. ``Now, maybe you're going to become a Lord, and if you are, then I'll fight you as hard as I've fought all the rest of 'em. But until you do, then you're someone else Dumbledore's trying to control, and, @@ -13662,7 +13644,7 @@ moreover, someone who could fight him a hell of a lot more effectively than other people could, if you can just get rid of some of the barriers in your way. I'll do my part with the legal barriers. You can repay me by not becoming a bloody Lord and ordering people about the way the rest -of 'em do.'' +of 'em do.' '' Harry felt his heart lift in wonder. Scrimgeour was confusing and contradictory, a Light-devoted Slytherin, a pureblood who talked like a @@ -13707,7 +13689,7 @@ Enforcement. He definitely sounded as though he believed himself, and if anyone could shake him out of his mask of calm reason, Harry didn't know who it would be. -"I know \emph{I} need a lot of stability, and security, and peace," he +``I know \emph{I} need a lot of stability, and security, and peace,'' he managed to say, keeping his tone woeful. ``I know that you do.'' @@ -13733,8 +13715,8 @@ moment, and glared at Harry and Snape both. ``This isn't the end of things,'' he breathed. ``Of course it isn't,'' said Scrimgeour from right behind him, making -Shacklebolt jump a foot in the air. "Come along, Kingsley. There's still -\emph{paperwork} to file." He made it sound as if he would look forward +Shacklebolt jump a foot in the air. ``Come along, Kingsley. There's still +\emph{paperwork} to file.'' He made it sound as if he would look forward to it. Harry felt a horrible kind of admiration rise up in him. \emph{Damn, he's good.} @@ -13748,7 +13730,7 @@ settled into his chair and pulled the pile of essays towards him again. ``That was\ldots{}interesting,'' he said. Harry flung himself down on the couch next to his book and grinned at -him. "Why do we have allies in the \emph{Ministry}, of all places?" +him. ``Why do we have allies in the \emph{Ministry}, of all places?'' ``It is not we,'' said Snape, peering at him. ``It's you.'' @@ -13924,10 +13906,10 @@ and his dream made much more sense than they usually did. Lucius finally drew himself together enough to respond. He lifted his chin. ``You are not the arbiter of how I should raise my son, Mr. Potter,'' he said, voice gone cold enough that Harry would not have been -surprised to see ice frosting the stones. "We are currently in +surprised to see ice frosting the stones. ``We are currently in truce-dance, and I would prefer not to have to hurt you. Stand aside. I am invoking the \emph{Officium Auctoris.} There is nothing you can do to -prevent me from taking my son from the school." +prevent me from taking my son from the school.'' Harry blinked. The \emph{Officium Auctoris} referred to the eldest living member of a pureblood family's right to decide what was best for @@ -13941,7 +13923,7 @@ And out of character. Harry narrowed his eyes and waited, his hands clasped behind his back. ``Stand aside, Mr. Potter,'' said Lucius, his voice grown even colder. -"You \emph{know} that you have no authority in this matter." +``You \emph{know} that you have no authority in this matter.'' ``I am waiting,'' said Harry. @@ -13967,19 +13949,19 @@ wished to invoke your right to control Draco's life, no. But when you invoke it in the middle of a truce-dance, you need the salt and the smoke and the silver to create a space into which I cannot enter.'' He clasped his hands together more firmly as he saw the storm building on -Lucius's face, and called his magic to rise around him. "My truce is +Lucius's face, and called his magic to rise around him. ``My truce is with your whole family, Mr. Malfoy, not merely yourself. If you try to take Draco away without the proper rituals, then I might simply assume that you're an impostor and attack you. And I would be within my rights---in fact, within my duties, in defending a member of your family from an improper \emph{Officium Auctoris.} A \emph{true} Malfoy surely -would not have forgotten such details. Shall I check you for Polyjuice?" +would not have forgotten such details. Shall I check you for Polyjuice?'' Harry kept to the tone of courtesy, certain that he would win this dance. And he did. Lucius broke, his eyes blazing with true fury. -``You are impudent, boy,'' he whispered. "Stand aside, \emph{now}." +``You are impudent, boy,'' he whispered. ``Stand aside, \emph{now}.'' Harry shook his head. ``You have no authority to command me to stand aside. We are equals at this point in the truce-dance.'' @@ -13997,7 +13979,7 @@ common room, too, and his eyes were blinking in sleepy confusion, while one hand rose to rub at his face. Then he saw Lucius, and felt the magic in the air, and frowned. -"Father, you \emph{didn't}," he said. +``Father, you \emph{didn't},'' he said. Harry lowered his magic a little, tucking more of it behind barriers. He hadn't meant to send Lucius into quite \emph{this} state @@ -14018,9 +14000,9 @@ my friends, Father?'' he asked. ``You raised me with the capacity to judge power for myself, and not only in the name of survival. I was supposed to be true to the Malfoy name.'' His eyes were lit with an emotion that Harry had seen only once before---last year, when Draco had -out-danced his father. "And I think I have been. You, on the other hand, +out-danced his father. ``And I think I have been. You, on the other hand, have an unfortunate habit of forsaking our honor and leaving it for me -and Harry Potter to guard. And now it is happening \emph{again.}" He +and Harry Potter to guard. And now it is happening \emph{again.}'' He narrowed his eyes. ``Our honor is rather lonely, Father.'' Lucius's fury had gone bone-deep now. Harry tensed as he took a step @@ -14028,20 +14010,20 @@ forward. \emph{Perhaps this was what the dream meant. He certainly looks ready to hex Draco now.} ``I told you,'' said Lucius, his voice quieter than Snape's had ever -been, "I will \emph{not} be scolded by my own son. I have come to remove -you to Durmstrang, Draco. You will be happier there." +been, ``I will \emph{not} be scolded by my own son. I have come to remove +you to Durmstrang, Draco. You will be happier there.'' ``Safer, you mean to say,'' Draco murmured, and then laughed, a sound so full of choking bitterness that Harry looked at him askance and wondered what he had missed. ``Isn't it obvious that I'm safer here, Father? You've felt Harry's magic. You know that he would kill to protect me. He saved my life from the snake.'' Draco's cheeks were flushed now, his -eyes glittering in a match for his father's. "And now you tell me that +eyes glittering in a match for his father's. ``And now you tell me that that's not good enough, that I'll be safer at bloody \emph{Durmstrang}, in the midst of Dark wizards? That's doubting Harry's ability as well as my judgment. How many more insults will you pile up, Father? Don't you care at all about soothing matters over with powerful wizards? Or is -that always going to be my bloody job?" +that always going to be my bloody job?'' ``Draco,'' said a mild voice from behind Lucius. ``Language.'' @@ -14124,8 +14106,8 @@ looking at him, Harry draped an arm around the other boy, and felt Draco relax against him. Lucius's eyes narrowed, as if that sign of trust and affection had been -the banner he was looking for, and he turned back to Narcissa. "He is a -\emph{child}," he said, his voice burning with cold. ``You have already +the banner he was looking for, and he turned back to Narcissa. ``He is a +\emph{child},'' he said, his voice burning with cold. ``You have already seen what our enemies are capable of, Narcissa---hiding in Hogwarts and sending a Dark magical snake to threaten our son, a snake that could have killed him.'' @@ -14134,7 +14116,7 @@ Narcissa nodded slowly. ``And that shows what our enemies are capable of,'' she said. ``What escapes me is how you have missed what our allies are capable of, Lucius. Harry saved Draco's life.'' -"He was \emph{meant} to!" Lucius flourished a piece of parchment at her. +``He was \emph{meant} to!'' Lucius flourished a piece of parchment at her. Narcissa took it from him and read it. If the contents affected her at all, Harry couldn't tell. Narcissa looked up at the end of it and met her husband's eyes. @@ -14160,7 +14142,7 @@ let the brand dominate your life and become more important than your family. Very winning behavior, Lucius. You did not let it become more important twelve years ago; why should it do so now?'' -"\emph{Narcissa}," said Lucius in a snarl, his eyes darting to Harry. +``\emph{Narcissa},'' said Lucius in a snarl, his eyes darting to Harry. ``Don't worry, Mr. Malfoy,'' said Harry calmly. ``I've known since my Christmas with you that you were Marked, and that Mrs. Malfoy wasn't.'' @@ -14207,7 +14189,7 @@ Harry nodded. Narcissa nodded back. ``Then I am your ally,'' she said. -"That is \emph{impossible}," Lucius snarled from behind his wife. +``That is \emph{impossible},'' Lucius snarled from behind his wife. ``Anyone who has the kind of power the boy does must become a Lord, but he is not that yet, and will not be for many years. He would die if he faced the Dark Lord.'' @@ -14241,7 +14223,7 @@ I am.'' He had decided it was no use disputing Lucius's classification of him and asking the man to call him an adult. He would simply adopt it, adapt it, and use it as necessary. -"You \emph{think} that." Lucius sneered. ``I think it far more likely +``You \emph{think} that.'' Lucius sneered. ``I think it far more likely that you would die, and your allies with you.'' ``That's funny, Father,'' said Draco, all perfect, bright brittleness. @@ -14300,10 +14282,10 @@ Lucius growled. Harry nodded to his best friend and turned back towards that best friend's father, determined to keep his smile small and his voice as diplomatic as possible. -``Mr. Malfoy,'' he said gently, "you've already chosen your side. I +``Mr. Malfoy,'' he said gently, ``you've already chosen your side. I \emph{know} what the Dark Lord was like in the last years of his reign, and I've faced him twice, as your wife told you. Do you really think -that he would forgive treachery against an attempt to bring him back?" +that he would forgive treachery against an attempt to bring him back?'' Lucius went still. His extended hand stopped trembling, and his eyes went on staring with no sign of the emotions under the surface. But @@ -14322,30 +14304,30 @@ wildly. Harry shifted, ready to step in front of Draco if he needed shelter from a sudden burst of magic. ``You dare accuse me of doing harm to my son's free will?'' Lucius -whispered. "\emph{You} dare?" +whispered. ``\emph{You} dare?'' Harry frowned, wondering why that statement out of all of them was the one Lucius had taken exception to. ``Yes, Mr. Malfoy,'' he said slowly. -"I saw a shadow in my dreams just before you arrived. The shadow was +``I saw a shadow in my dreams just before you arrived. The shadow was threatening Draco. I don't think now that you would physically hurt him, but you \emph{did} intend to take him away from Hogwarts when it wasn't -his choice to go." +his choice to go.'' ``And what do you think you have done to him?'' Lucius asked in a steadily rising voice, as he stood. -"Father, no, \emph{don't}," Draco said abruptly. His voice was small, +``Father, no, \emph{don't},'' Draco said abruptly. His voice was small, and desperate, and went utterly ignored. Harry clenched his fists. ``What have I done to him?'' His own voice sounded like a distant gong in his ears, competing with his heartbeat. -``You've changed him,'' said Lucius flatly. "My son is not the same now +``You've changed him,'' said Lucius flatly. ``My son is not the same now as when he went to Hogwarts, and the change happened immediately after he met you. Your magic is too strong, Potter. You will wind up a Lord, whether you want to or not. You have already compelled Draco into changing into someone else, some\emph{thing} else, merely to fulfill -your desires to have a pet." +your desires to have a pet.'' ``No,'' Harry whispered. @@ -14360,15 +14342,15 @@ sounded that desperate. compels them. And I didn't know.'' ``Is not knowing an excuse for doing it?'' Lucius pounced on his words -like a wolf. "It has happened, Mr. Potter. My son is not the same person +like a wolf. ``It has happened, Mr. Potter. My son is not the same person as he was. I would wager that many people near you are not the same people they would have been without your interference, your -\emph{influence.}" He laughed sharply. ``At least the Dark Lord was +\emph{influence.}'' He laughed sharply. ``At least the Dark Lord was honest about who he was, and what he wanted. He wanted to change our world. You have altered and twisted and broken minds for no reason other than a mere child's desires to be safe or comfortable or have friends.'' -"\emph{Lucius}," said Narcissa, her voice deadly. +``\emph{Lucius},'' said Narcissa, her voice deadly. Harry didn't hear what happened next. His world was falling around him, the careful justifications he'd built to keep from panicking since the @@ -14464,12 +14446,12 @@ That left Lucius alone with his wife. Narcissa did not move as she stood there, and her eyes never wavered. ``You do not deserve a second chance, Lucius,'' she said at last, her -voice cold and pitiless. "You should have consulted with me the moment +voice cold and pitiless. ``You should have consulted with me the moment the letters began arriving, the moment you noticed that Draco was drawn to Harry by the strength of his magic. You have interfered in your son's friendship and broken \emph{my} word. I promised that no one would hurt Harry or Draco, as long as Draco was sure that this friendship came -about of his own free will. +about of his own free will.'' ``You do not deserve it, all things considered,'' she went on thoughtfully, after a pause, ``but you will be given it, because you are @@ -14663,9 +14645,9 @@ the incantation right now. Harry waited. Snape broke. -"You \emph{stupid} boy," he hissed, lunging up from behind his desk. -"What are you \emph{thinking}? You cannot go back to that befouled place -yet, let alone for weeks." +``You \emph{stupid} boy,'' he hissed, lunging up from behind his desk. +``What are you \emph{thinking}? You cannot go back to that befouled place +yet, let alone for weeks.'' ``I've made my decision,'' said Harry, letting Snape's words roll off him. This was a mindset he hadn't summoned in some time, the one in @@ -14676,7 +14658,7 @@ doing this for everyone else's own good, even if it was his brother's that came first. ``I know that Draco told you about what his father said.'' -"And it was \emph{wrong}," Snape said. +``And it was \emph{wrong},'' Snape said. Harry tilted his head. ``I can't compel other wizards with my magic, then?'' It would be good news if it could be true, he mused. It would @@ -14713,9 +14695,9 @@ Remus in. He and Snape could compare ferocious noises. ``Of course I do, sir,'' said Harry. ``That's why everything changed. But my magic was influencing people even under the phoenix web. Draco was changed. You were changed. It just took longer to work on you, since -you had the protection of your mental shields.'' He sighed. "I'm sorry. +you had the protection of your mental shields.'' He sighed. ``I'm sorry. I would have stopped it if I knew how to control it. I would stop it -\emph{now} if I knew how to control it." +\emph{now} if I knew how to control it.'' Snape mastered himself with a visible effort. ``Harry,'' he said. @@ -14779,11 +14761,11 @@ you have admitted that you do not know how deep your compulsion runs?'' Harry smiled. He knew it was a sad smile. Most of his smiles were, lately. Connor hadn't been able to understand why. He'd even seemed -pleased that Harry had a gift so similar to his own. "Don't you see, +pleased that Harry had a gift so similar to his own. ``Don't you see, Professor? \emph{I can't take the chance.} I have to get away from you for a little while. If your feelings for me change noticeably---and I think they will---then I know that they were the result of my -compulsion. But I can't know that until I test it." +compulsion. But I can't know that until I test it.'' ``And if they do not change?'' Snape asked harshly. @@ -14801,13 +14783,13 @@ or perhaps even raise his wand and unleash a hex, but he knelt down in front of Harry instead. Harry eyed him warily. Snape's hands twitched, but he made no move to touch Harry, instead gazing at him evenly. -``Harry,'' he said softly. "I choose to risk it. When I change my mind +``Harry,'' he said softly. ``I choose to risk it. When I change my mind about that, you will be the first to know. I chose to help you rebuild your mind. I chose to become your guardian. I chose to teach you the Potions knowledge that you requested from me. Every choice I have made concerning you since at least the end of last year has been motivated by compassion and admiration and, yes, affection for you. I am absolutely -sure of that. I know what slavery feels like. \emph{This is not it}." +sure of that. I know what slavery feels like. \emph{This is not it}.'' Harry fought to control his own trembling. He tried as hard as he could not to feel anything, not to respond to Snape's declaration. If he did @@ -14915,7 +14897,7 @@ If he felt too hurt, then he would probably try to soothe the hurt, and that would involve compelling Draco to do things he hadn't agreed to. Breathe slowly and deeply. That was it. -``And then I realized that it didn't matter,'' Draco said. "There are +``And then I realized that it didn't matter,'' Draco said. ``There are things in our friendship that couldn't have been compulsion, Harry. \emph{Think} about it. You saved my life in our first year. You gave me back the life debt, and I used it to force you to do something you @@ -14927,7 +14909,7 @@ had no ill effects from that. You let me go with you into the Chamber last year even though you didn't want to, and you could have easily forced me to stay behind. And then this year you've saved my life \emph{again} and then defended me from my father when you thought I -needed it." He paused, as if to draw breath. ``There's too much there, +needed it.'' He paused, as if to draw breath. ``There's too much there, Harry. I won't let you dismiss it. And I won't dismiss it, no matter what you think. Even if I find my feelings changing when you leave Hogwarts, I don't care. I'll still be here when you come back, because @@ -14997,11 +14979,11 @@ I will hunt you down and kill you.'' Black stared at him for a moment. Then he said, ``You would go to Azkaban.'' -``I don't care,'' said Snape. "I will torture you before I kill +``I don't care,'' said Snape. ``I will torture you before I kill you---one hour for every year I expect to spend in Azkaban. It cannot make up for what you have done to Harry, but be assured, it would satisfy \emph{me.} And the torture would make what your brother suffered -at Voldemort's hands look kind." +at Voldemort's hands look kind.'' Black gave a stifled cry at the mention of Regulus. He clenched his hand beneath the table, then said, ``I could tell Albus that you threatened @@ -15097,8 +15079,8 @@ Harry remembered then. \emph{Silly of me to forget.} He smiled apologetically and sat up. ``What is it?'' he asked, when Remus kept silent. -Remus flattened his hands in front of him. "I think you should know why -I refused to let you remove the \emph{Obliviate}," he said. +Remus flattened his hands in front of him. ``I think you should know why +I refused to let you remove the \emph{Obliviate},'' he said. Harry felt his insides curl up and freeze. He didn't want to talk about anything associated with Hogwarts here--- @@ -15140,12 +15122,12 @@ its bare outlines, and how he saved Snape's life, and how Snape owes him a life debt for it.'' He could speak the words calmly, including his guardian's name, he thought. He could. See? He had just done it. -``Very close,'' Remus whispered. "And I still remember the anger that +``Very close,'' Remus whispered. ``And I still remember the anger that filled me, that savage, mindless bloodlust to kill and \emph{kill}. I know it affected Severus too, of course, but it left its mark on the beast in me. At the full moon, in the brief moment when I change and before the Wolfsbane Potion lets me get control back, the beast wakes up -and remembers that moment." +and remembers that moment.'' ``Why?'' Harry asked, puzzled. Remus had transformed dozens of times in his life by now. Why would that one transformation matter so much? @@ -15156,9 +15138,9 @@ never wants anyone to get away.'' Harry swallowed. Remus nodded. His face was calm, but his eyes were burning. -"There is no compromise with this \emph{thing} in me, Harry," he said. -"Understand. I'm not a wolf. I'm a \emph{werewolf.} This is a disease. A -curse." +``There is no compromise with this \emph{thing} in me, Harry,'' he said. +``Understand. I'm not a wolf. I'm a \emph{werewolf.} This is a disease. A +curse.'' ``I knew that,'' Harry whispered. @@ -15175,14 +15157,14 @@ we get angry the way a werewolf would.'' He took a deep breath and spread one hand in front of him. ``I'm not rational when I'm in a rage, Harry. I've been tempted to bite people before.'' -He met Harry's eyes directly. "And since I know I would be angry when I +He met Harry's eyes directly. ``And since I know I would be angry when I found out the memories behind the \emph{Obliviate}, I don't want it -removed. I would essentially be a werewolf without the transformation." -He leaned forward. "Can you imagine being that angry with your own +removed. I would essentially be a werewolf without the transformation.'' +He leaned forward. ``Can you imagine being that angry with your own friends, Harry? I don't \emph{want} to. I know that there would be no going back once I learned what they did to you. And it would be because of me, not them. They may have done unforgivable things, but I would do -unforgivable things, too, in my anger." +unforgivable things, too, in my anger.'' Harry shuddered as he remembered the cold, black, \emph{silent} rage that had welled out of him in the Chamber of Secrets. Remus was wrong. @@ -15201,9 +15183,9 @@ it or die. He had said he would rather die than compel someone else. \emph{Yes, I do mean it,} he realized, in a rush of wonder and relief. He hadn't been sure that he did. -``I know Lily was a good woman,'' Remus whispered. "I know that Sirius +``I know Lily was a good woman,'' Remus whispered. ``I know that Sirius and James were good men. But \emph{were, were, were.} I don't know if -they really are the people I thought they were anymore." He smiled +they really are the people I thought they were anymore.'' He smiled grimly. ``And I think I'm most terrified of discovering they never were the people I thought they were.'' @@ -15236,8 +15218,8 @@ friends' shadows, he thought. It might even have been partially true. ``I know that I'll have to come to my own decisions, and you have to come to your own,'' said Remus, placing one hand on Harry's shoulder as -he rose. "But I wanted you to know that I'm afraid of my own anger. It's -cowardice, Harry, but it's a specific \emph{kind} of cowardice." For a +he rose. ``But I wanted you to know that I'm afraid of my own anger. It's +cowardice, Harry, but it's a specific \emph{kind} of cowardice.'' For a moment, his smile flashed, knowing, self-deprecating, more like the old Remus. @@ -15286,7 +15268,7 @@ lifting in small breathy snatches of melody as she sang along with it. He didn't draw his wand, because he thought he should end this the same way he had started it. He focused all his will, and raised his power to the level it had been when he left the Chamber of Secrets, and -whispered, "\emph{Finite Incantatem.}" +whispered, ``\emph{Finite Incantatem.}'' He felt the snapping and parting of the \emph{Fugitivus Animus} from Lily's mind. Her thoughts brightened, sharpened, shifted. @@ -15385,7 +15367,7 @@ he said. ``I do wonder what specific spell you used, yes.'' Lily's voice was as calm as his. -"\emph{Fugitivus Animus}," said Harry. ``On both you and Father. Sirius +``\emph{Fugitivus Animus},'' said Harry. ``On both you and Father. Sirius broke it months ago, but that's only because he has the compulsion gift.'' @@ -15412,7 +15394,7 @@ must know the circumstances of how you received the web now, if you're able to think so independently of it. You know that you consented, and that we did it because we were afraid for Connor's life.'' -Harry shook his head. "When we were \emph{four}?" +Harry shook his head. ``When we were \emph{four}?'' ``Yes,'' said Lily. ``Your magic is unnatural, Harry, unnatural in its strength and the way it kept growing. We tried other bindings, and none @@ -15432,10 +15414,10 @@ throat before he asked it. ``Why not like Dumbledore?'' siphoning off something else, Harry. Your magic came from some other source. It was the only explanation for the way it increased. Who knew when you would turn and start siphoning off us?'' She closed her eyes. -"It was like living with a vampire. I told Albus it was like living with +``It was like living with a vampire. I told Albus it was like living with a tiger, but a tiger only tears you limb from limb. A vampire \emph{feeds}. Maybe you were even feeding from Connor. We didn't know. -We couldn't tell." +We couldn't tell.'' Harry watched from the back of his mind while his thoughts reeled, as though someone had punched him in the solar plexus. He'd surrounded @@ -15478,8 +15460,8 @@ him. She had always reassured him before this. She must have the answers to this, too. He would drag out all the questions and have her answer them once and for all. Then he need never trouble with it again. -``We could not have,'' said Lily. "And four \emph{was} old enough, -Harry. Not for other children, but for you." +``We could not have,'' said Lily. ``And four \emph{was} old enough, +Harry. Not for other children, but for you.'' \emph{I want Sylarana. I want Connor. I want Draco. I want this to end.} @@ -15488,11 +15470,11 @@ everything, so Harry asked, ``Why did you decide to train me into Connor's guardian, then? Was that another way of binding me? I know the training started even before the phoenix web was cast.'' -Lily shook her head. ``That was the prophecy,'' she said. "The prophecy +Lily shook her head. ``That was the prophecy,'' she said. ``The prophecy said that you were to play your destined role as Connor's guide and guardian. He needed someone to shield him. He needed someone who would \emph{always} love him, no matter what happened, no matter what he might -do. And we determined that that person was to be you." +do. And we determined that that person was to be you.'' Harry frowned. He debated not asking about the uncertainty that had just burst into his mind, but then it would just pop up again at some point, @@ -15512,13 +15494,13 @@ it more than my having my magic unbound?} Harry felt his eyes freeze. ``What?'' Lily was staring past him at the wall. ``How could I have?'' she asked, -and Harry had the feeling that she was talking to herself now. "I +and Harry had the feeling that she was talking to herself now. ``I never---I never thought to \emph{ask} how true the prophecy was. I just trusted Albus's word that it would come true, but that we all had to do our parts to make it come true the right way. And that sometimes prophecies are tricky, and it might actually let something bad happen to Connor while still letting him defeat Voldemort. Why did I never think -about the contradiction between the wording and what we needed to do?" +about the contradiction between the wording and what we needed to do?'' She stared at the floor. ``I was so sure that you would hurt Connor, and you could have, and we were reeling from the War, but I\ldots{}I never phrased it to myself like that. I just never.'' She hunched and stared @@ -15540,10 +15522,10 @@ he hadn't realized he was feeling stopped. ``What?'' he whispered again. Lily began to cry. She did it silently, and Harry knew the shudders that shook her were real, that the disgust and fear behind her shaking shoulders was real, that the way her voice trembled when she finally -managed to speak was real. "I d-didn't, oh, Harry, oh in the name of -\emph{magic.}" She had her head in her hands now, and the words sounded +managed to speak was real. ``I d-didn't, oh, Harry, oh in the name of +\emph{magic.}'' She had her head in her hands now, and the words sounded as though someone were tearing them out of her throat with a fishhook. -"What have I done? What have I \emph{done}?" +``What have I done? What have I \emph{done}?'' Harry put his hands up in front of his eyes. His own fingers shook against his skin. He had a headache. He swallowed again and again, and @@ -15556,8 +15538,8 @@ This was his mother. ``Mother, are you---are you sorry for what you did?'' ``Yes,'' said Lily, and the word broke halfway through the middle into a -huge, gasping sob. "I, I can't believe, such a blind fool, what the -\emph{fuck} was I thinking, oh Harry. Apologies aren't enough." She +huge, gasping sob. ``I, I can't believe, such a blind fool, what the +\emph{fuck} was I thinking, oh Harry. Apologies aren't enough.'' She abruptly plunged a hand into her robe pocket and drew out her wand, lifting it towards her own temple. @@ -15571,8 +15553,8 @@ recover. Snape certainly would have urged him to do so. ``What were you going to do?'' he whispered. -``Kill myself,'' said Lily, her voice utterly flat. "I know that an -\emph{Avada Kedavra} is deadly from this close." She laughed, and the +``Kill myself,'' said Lily, her voice utterly flat. ``I know that an +\emph{Avada Kedavra} is deadly from this close.'' She laughed, and the sound rattled in Harry's ears like bones bouncing off rocks. ``I certainly had enough chances to see that in this war I've sacrificed everything in the name of, didn't I?'' @@ -15593,12 +15575,12 @@ darkness. ``Everything?'' she whispered. ``Everything,'' Harry confirmed. His tongue felt thick and heavy, and he groped for words. His heartbeat sounded in his ears, the door of a -sepulcher closed over and over. "The sacrifices you demanded of me, the +sepulcher closed over and over. ``The sacrifices you demanded of me, the sacrifices you demanded of Peter, the sacrifices you demanded of Connor. He doesn't know anything about this. He should have known long ago. I should have told him, but so should you. We have to tell him why I made you and Dad forget me. We have to tell him that I've been guarding him. -Everything. \emph{Everything.}" +Everything. \emph{Everything.}'' He could have been standing on a field at sunrise, with a cool breeze from the east fanning his face. That complete was his hope, his joy, his @@ -15647,7 +15629,7 @@ only to be expected. Then he heard what she was saying. -"\emph{Expleo penuriam cum tex---}" +``\emph{Expleo penuriam cum tex---}'' She was trying to cast the phoenix web on him again. @@ -15665,7 +15647,7 @@ Lance to a boil, mercy cut to a throat, final and absolute betrayal of trust. Perhaps Harry was an evil person for thinking so, but he was not capable of forgiving her for this. -"\emph{---tura! Phoenix texturae!}" +``\emph{---tura! Phoenix texturae!}'' The spell came at him and bounced. Harry's magic was hovering in front of him, spread over him like enormous, shimmering wings. Of course the @@ -15718,10 +15700,10 @@ ritual with a sense of relief. Already, the magic was taking hold, calming his own magic, bending it to this one specific task, and insuring that Lily could not leave and no one else could enter the room until it was finished. This dance was the best of them all for this -particular moment, designed to contain anger and to \emph{end} it. "I +particular moment, designed to contain anger and to \emph{end} it. ``I have no wish to face you in a duel, nor to arrange legal means of settling the insult. Both of them would involve seeing you again, and I -have no wish to do that, either. +have no wish to do that, either.'' ``Therefore, I will take a payment from you, a weregild for all that you have done to me. One time, one shattering price for another shattering @@ -15746,9 +15728,9 @@ magic of justice was clutching at him, and it was implacable. The same magic tugged the words from him, the words that always varied every time this ritual was performed, but were what the invoker must say. -"I can never be safe so long as you would bind me with the phoenix web. +``I can never be safe so long as you would bind me with the phoenix web. I am going to make sure you can't. And this is it. This is all I need to -satisfy my anger. I never want to see you \emph{again.}" +satisfy my anger. I never want to see you \emph{again.}'' The ritual acted. The red and golden glow became fire, a huge scarlet hand. @@ -15895,8 +15877,8 @@ icy tree branch in front of him, regarding him calmly. His head was tilted to one side, his eye a glittering black gem in the midst of the feathers. He uttered a long, slow croon. -"He says that that is why you are the \emph{vates.} You will figure out -a way." +``He says that that is why you are the \emph{vates.} You will figure out +a way.'' Harry turned and nodded to Dobby. He wasn't surprised to see the house elf. He was incapable of being surprised right now, he thought. Too much @@ -16106,7 +16088,7 @@ last few months, was now a Squib, or possibly a Muggle. ``Take me to him,'' he repeated. -"You \emph{must} understand." Narcissa's face was implacable. Snape +``You \emph{must} understand.'' Narcissa's face was implacable. Snape wondered if Harry realized that he had another protector here. \emph{Probably not, if he's still in the state he was in when I last saw him.} ``Harry has acted differently since he arrived here. He's using @@ -16195,12 +16177,12 @@ Harry blinked. ``Sir?'' \emph{Oh, please, don't let that be what I think it sounds like. I don't think my magic has let his mind go after all\ldots{}} -``You heard me,'' said Snape. "I made a number of mistakes with you at +``You heard me,'' said Snape. ``I made a number of mistakes with you at Hogwarts, and the biggest of those was bowing to your stubborn bloody logic and your insistence that I chose to become your guardian only because you forced me to do so. I am going to \emph{prove} to you, Mr. Potter, that it is not so easy to force me to do what I do not want to -do." +do.'' Harry shook his head. ``With all due respect, sir, you need the time away from me to heal,'' he said. ``If you only---'' @@ -16215,7 +16197,7 @@ know just how vulnerable they are, themselves?} ``You might think you do,'' said Harry. ``But that doesn't mean you can convince me.'' -"Well, we're \emph{going} to," said Draco, and his face turned a flushed +``Well, we're \emph{going} to,'' said Draco, and his face turned a flushed color. Harry retained his calm posture, but he felt a tight little coil of unease open up in his gut. ``I don't think we intend to do the same thing,'' Draco went on, and gave Snape a quick glance, ``but that @@ -16297,15 +16279,15 @@ looked as though someone had Transfigured his head into an apple. them shuddered. ``Apologies.'' Draco waved a hand, in a gesture so dismissive that he didn't bother -completing it. "Then how can you think you compelled my affection for +completing it. ``Then how can you think you compelled my affection for you, you \emph{stupid prat?} You hate compulsion so much. Would you ever -put someone under it willingly?" +put someone under it willingly?'' ``But I put you under it unwittingly,'' Harry whispered. ``Your father said you had changed---I didn't know---'' -"Scary as it is for you to comprehend, Harry, there is a little concept -called \emph{forgiveness,}" Draco said, his voice cutting. ``You chose +``Scary as it is for you to comprehend, Harry, there is a little concept +called \emph{forgiveness,}'' Draco said, his voice cutting. ``You chose to forgive your parents and your brother for all the stupid things they'd done, practically forever. And I chose to forgive you for the compulsion when I realized that I didn't know what was real friendship @@ -16395,13 +16377,13 @@ discordant music in his mind. Snape and Draco did not hear it, or did not care. They did not back off. They were still pushing him off the cliff. -"You did \emph{not.}" Draco's voice was a vicious snap, a bite that went -home as none of Fenrir Greyback's had. "I know the ritual you used, +``You did \emph{not.}'' Draco's voice was a vicious snap, a bite that went +home as none of Fenrir Greyback's had. ``I know the ritual you used, Harry. Mother explained it to me. There is no \emph{way} it can be mistaken. It would have hurt you if you were wrong. It certainly wouldn't have drained your mother's magic unless she completely deserved it. Mother says that you know that, too, and that you were certain the -ritual was right, or you'd have nothing to hold onto." +ritual was right, or you'd have nothing to hold onto.'' \emph{He's right. I know the ritual is right. I know it couldn't be mistaken.} @@ -16412,10 +16394,10 @@ thoughts whirled in chaos around him. Into them, swift as a spear, came Draco's final words. -"That means that she was \emph{wrong}, Harry. And she was wrong about +``That means that she was \emph{wrong}, Harry. And she was wrong about other things, too. Like your having to compel other people to get them to like you. That's wrong. I'm your friend. Snape's your guardian. She -was \emph{wrong}, Harry." +was \emph{wrong}, Harry.'' And Harry couldn't think of anything to refute that. To admit his mother had been right about him in any respect would undercut the justice @@ -16434,10 +16416,10 @@ He became aware that he was crying again, and that Draco had his arms around him. Harry clung back. He wasn't falling anymore, but his thoughts and his magic still ran in confused circles. -``I'm here now,'' Draco whispered. "I suppose you might compel me in the +``I'm here now,'' Draco whispered. ``I suppose you might compel me in the future, or we might learn that something specific is the result of compulsion. There's always that chance. But for now, I'm here, and I -choose to be here, and I \emph{am} your friend, Harry. I promise." +choose to be here, and I \emph{am} your friend, Harry. I promise.'' Harry closed his eyes and hung on, aware for the very first time of how much he really needed this. @@ -16485,13 +16467,13 @@ Harry hunched into himself a bit, and waited. He was shivering, Snape noted, though the room wasn't cold. ``I know that you have the ability to compel other wizards, should you -wish to,'' said Snape casually. "And it seems that you \emph{might} have -the ability to drain off other wizards' magic." Now that he thought +wish to,'' said Snape casually. ``And it seems that you \emph{might} have +the ability to drain off other wizards' magic.'' Now that he thought about it, he believed that Harry had mentioned something like that when describing how Dumbledore tried to attack Draco, but he had not sounded -interested in exploring it, and Snape had not pushed. "I assure you I am +interested in exploring it, and Snape had not pushed. ``I assure you I am not eager to be either your victim or your test subject. I \emph{will}, -however, be your teacher in attempts to control both abilities." +however, be your teacher in attempts to control both abilities.'' Harry looked up for the first time. Snape steeled himself not to simply reach over and embrace the boy. It would comfort Harry, but it would @@ -16664,8 +16646,8 @@ He met Lucius's eyes. ``And this?'' trying to resurrect the Dark Lord, when they threatened Draco. They used it to determine my true intentions.'' He paused, and bowed his head slightly, in such a motion that his chin shielded his throat. ``I -thought it only appropriate,'' he added softly, "to give three drops of -blood to the one who saved my son's life. +thought it only appropriate,'' he added softly, ``to give three drops of +blood to the one who saved my son's life.'' ``Merry Christmas, Mr. Potter. Do you accept my apologies?'' @@ -16758,7 +16740,7 @@ turning my mother into a Muggle.'' ``I want to hurt him,'' said Draco. -"And \emph{that} is why you can't go yet," said Harry gently. ``I +``And \emph{that} is why you can't go yet,'' said Harry gently. ``I promise, Draco, we'll see each other in a short time, and I'll have Professor Snape with me. Don't you trust him to take care of me?'' @@ -16769,7 +16751,7 @@ you a Christmas gift!'' he exclaimed. ``Then you can give it to me when you get back to school,'' said Harry. -"And where's \emph{my} gift?" Draco was scowling at him. +``And where's \emph{my} gift?'' Draco was scowling at him. ``At school,'' said Harry. ``I wanted to give it to you in person.'' @@ -16868,10 +16850,10 @@ seething hatred, but could become it very easily. words sharp as a slap. He'd obviously recognized at least some of the tactics Harry was using, and tried to adapt them to his own advantage. -``You told me that in the letter, Headmaster,'' said Harry. "However, +``You told me that in the letter, Headmaster,'' said Harry. ``However, your wording was interesting. You said that my mother had \emph{been stripped} of her magic. Does that mean that you do not realize what in -fact happened?" He kept his face innocent and unstrained, and felt Snape +fact happened?'' He kept his face innocent and unstrained, and felt Snape quiver in his own seat, this time with laughter. Harry felt his own rueful amusement, distantly. It seemed he could not quite stop being Slytherin altogether. @@ -16879,10 +16861,10 @@ Slytherin altogether. ``I know that you called on a misplaced ritual to strip her of her magic,'' said Dumbledore. ``A vengeance ritual.'' -``A justice ritual, Headmaster,'' said Harry. "I used the Potter +``A justice ritual, Headmaster,'' said Harry. ``I used the Potter reparations box, and put her magic within it. I would have lost \emph{my} power instead, if I had called for the box and it really was -only vengeance." He knew his voice rang with steel. He didn't care. +only vengeance.'' He knew his voice rang with steel. He didn't care. Dumbledore was an idiot, if he really thought that he was going to make Harry doubt the ritual he had used, and which was the core of the fragile certainty that Harry knew passed for his mind right now. @@ -16924,10 +16906,10 @@ either Snape or the Malfoys about what exactly Lily had done to make him so angry, but that was because he didn't have a reason to relive it with them. With Dumbledore, he did. The Headmaster's eyes were wide with shock. Harry laughed, and knew the sound was harsh, and did not care. -"You should never have advised her to do that, Headmaster. Of course I +``You should never have advised her to do that, Headmaster. Of course I resisted it. It was the one thing that could have made me angry enough to use the justice ritual. I am \emph{never} going to be bound again. -\emph{Never.}" +\emph{Never.}'' The Headmaster looked old, and supremely tired. ``Harry,'' he murmured. ``Do you realize what will happen if your magic is not bound?'' @@ -16935,8 +16917,8 @@ The Headmaster looked old, and supremely tired. ``Harry,'' he murmured. Harry raised his eyebrows mockingly at him. ``You think that I'll turn into the next Dark Lord?'' -"I don't think it, Harry. I \emph{know} it, given where your power comes -from." Dumbledore seemed to age before his eyes. ``Your mother must have +``I don't think it, Harry. I \emph{know} it, given where your power comes +from.'' Dumbledore seemed to age before his eyes. ``Your mother must have told you about the talent that you possess to feed on the magic of other wizards. That is an inherently evil thing.'' @@ -16984,11 +16966,11 @@ competent wizards to cover both positions?'' Dumbledore's face went white. -"I am \emph{tired} of this," said Harry, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore's. -"You must know by now that I won't give up. And yet you keep threatening +``I am \emph{tired} of this,'' said Harry, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore's. +``You must know by now that I won't give up. And yet you keep threatening to sack Professor Snape, as if that will make me bow. I'm \emph{not going to bow.} Threaten my guardian, and I'll threaten the man you sent -Peter to Azkaban for." +Peter to Azkaban for.'' Dumbledore was shaking his head from side to side. Harry couldn't tell whether the shock and sorrow he wore now were real or feigned. ``Harry, @@ -17184,22 +17166,22 @@ Remus, and he looked inclined to hex first and ask questions later. ``I know the ritual that you did to Lily,'' Remus explained, for the third time, at Snape's insistence. ``My father told me about it. And I know that it can't be wrong.'' He clenched his hands in front of him. -They were shaking. ``Harry,'' he said, "I have to know, now. I thought +They were shaking. ``Harry,'' he said, ``I have to know, now. I thought it would be better never to know, to just leave Lily as the good woman I imagined her to be. And now I found out that it---isn't. I can't stand knowing that she did something wrong, and no details about what it was. Please, please, let me past the barrier. Let me see. Let me -\emph{know.}" +\emph{know.}'' ``It's not that simple, Lupin,'' Snape began, his lip curled. He'd let Remus in to sit on a sofa Transfigured from a bookshelf, which Harry knew was generous by Snape's standards, but refused to take a seat of his own. He'd been pacing around the room during the three explanations. Now he whirled, robes flying behind him as he stabbed his wand at Remus -again. "You know that an \emph{Obliviate} is Dark magic by at least one +again. ``You know that an \emph{Obliviate} is Dark magic by at least one standard. It clamps down on your free will, and prevents you from looking at one set of memories you should have access to. The safest way -is to have Dumbledore remove it, and you know that he will not." +is to have Dumbledore remove it, and you know that he will not.'' ``There's another way,'' said Remus. ``And I would never have suggested this if I didn't think it would work.'' He turned and faced Harry, who @@ -17207,7 +17189,7 @@ sat on a Transfigured chair across from him. ``Harry,'' he said quietly. ``I felt you, in my mind, that night we went running in the Forbidden Forest---'' -"\emph{What}?" Snape said, in a voice that promised death and pain if he +``\emph{What}?'' Snape said, in a voice that promised death and pain if he wasn't told about this immediately. Harry ignored him, because this was more important. @@ -17216,16 +17198,16 @@ on, undaunted. ``I know what you are.'' He took a deep breath, and let it out again. He seemed to grow larger as he did so. Harry saw his eyes blaze amber, and the air around him stirred with the smell of musk. The sudden wild atmosphere to the room made Harry's nerves tingle. -"\emph{Vates}," Remus breathed. +``\emph{Vates},'' Remus breathed. Harry nodded slowly. After the ride with Fawkes, he could hardly deny it. But--- ``I don't know everything about what that word means, Remus,'' he said. ``I could still hurt you.'' -``I know what it means,'' Remus whispered. "Not everything, but what it +``I know what it means,'' Remus whispered. ``Not everything, but what it means for \emph{me.} The unbinder, Harry, someone who opens. You couldn't touch my mind and free me from the \emph{Obliviate} if I were -an ordinary human. But the werewolf in me knows you." He smiled faintly. +an ordinary human. But the werewolf in me knows you.'' He smiled faintly. ``Even if it doesn't like you very much.'' ``Wait a minute---'' Snape began. @@ -17234,7 +17216,7 @@ Harry stood up. His magic swirled around him, and he brought it forward so that it pointed at Remus. ``You know that I'm going to have to enter your mind?'' he asked, and Remus nodded. -"\emph{Wait} a minute---" Snape said again. +``\emph{Wait} a minute---'' Snape said again. ``Good,'' said Harry. ``Just checking.'' And he leaned forward and opened his eyes and his magic in the way that he had just after he'd @@ -17271,21 +17253,21 @@ compulsion, Harry suspected. Only when it went absolutely mad with fury during the transformation was it free of the need to listen. Harry knew, then, why he hadn't been able to make Fenrir Greyback recognize him. -"\emph{I hate you.}" +``\emph{I hate you.}'' Harry's hair stood on end, and he swallowed several times before he could reply. It was unnerving to realize that the disease had a voice. -``I know,'' he said. "It doesn't matter. I want to take off the +``I know,'' he said. ``It doesn't matter. I want to take off the \emph{Obliviate.} I want to free a part of you that's been tied up. That -should lessen your hatred of me, shouldn't it?" +should lessen your hatred of me, shouldn't it?'' -"\emph{You} \emph{like him}," said the disease. +``\emph{You} \emph{like him},'' said the disease. ``Who?'' Harry asked, at a loss. -"\emph{The one I ride."} The web flexed its claws, and Harry dimly heard -Remus cry out. The wolf was trying to wake. "\emph{My victim. Mine. I -hate him, too."} +``\emph{The one I ride.}'' The web flexed its claws, and Harry dimly heard +Remus cry out. The wolf was trying to wake. ``\emph{My victim. Mine. I +hate him, too.}'' Harry shuddered, and because he was in Remus's mind, a storm of memories flitted past his eyes. He realized fully what it meant when Remus had @@ -17299,11 +17281,11 @@ than the pleasure of making him obey its will. Harry felt his own hatred of compulsion rise in response. He bared his teeth. ``Someday,'' he promised, ``I am going to destroy you.'' -"\emph{Can't. Won't."} The disease laughed at him, a sound that Harry -felt like fever in every fiber of his being. "\emph{Too weak of will. -And I hate you. I catch and torture what I hate. Always."} Harry had the -sensation of teeth snapping past his ear. "\emph{You, and the other one -in here, the one my steed calls Severus. I'll have him yet.}" +``\emph{Can't. Won't.}'' The disease laughed at him, a sound that Harry +felt like fever in every fiber of his being. ``\emph{Too weak of will. +And I hate you. I catch and torture what I hate. Always.}'' Harry had the +sensation of teeth snapping past his ear. ``\emph{You, and the other one +in here, the one my steed calls Severus. I'll have him yet.}'' Later, Harry considered that perhaps he ought to have reacted to the threat more rationally. But he hated it when people threatened those he @@ -17316,7 +17298,7 @@ suddenly released memories and the disease's pushing. Harry wrapped his magic around it and held on. He kept breathing gusts of free will across it, wanting Remus to do as \emph{he} wanted, not as Dumbledore or the werewolf in him wanted. Harry bent all his will to that task, feeling -himself slip to the ground. He heard Snape yelling "\emph{Ennervate!}" +himself slip to the ground. He heard Snape yelling ``\emph{Ennervate!}'' but he didn't respond to the pull back to his own body. He \emph{had} to do this. He hated webs so much. He wanted the one web he thought he could remove at the time gone. @@ -17336,10 +17318,10 @@ The storm at last finished. Harry opened his eyes and found himself lying on the floor in Snape's office. He looked up, blinking, turning towards Remus, but Snape's face got in the way first. -"If you \emph{ever} do that again," Snape hissed, one hand clutching at -Harry's shoulder, "then I am going to kill you, discover magic that will +``If you \emph{ever} do that again,'' Snape hissed, one hand clutching at +Harry's shoulder, ``then I am going to kill you, discover magic that will allow me to resurrect the dead, and use it to bring you back to life so -that I can kill you \emph{again.}" +that I can kill you \emph{again.}'' ``Remus's werewolf threatened you,'' said Harry, still trying to sit up. ``It shouldn't have done that.'' His head was aching ferociously, and he @@ -17364,7 +17346,7 @@ This soon after the full moon, and with the rage and the werewolf rising up in him, Remus might even bite Sirius, and succeed in giving him the curse. -"Oh, \emph{Merlin}," Harry said, and managed to stand and turn towards +``Oh, \emph{Merlin},'' Harry said, and managed to stand and turn towards the door. ``We've got to stop him.'' ``Why?'' Snape asked, curling his fingers in his collar. ``I would much @@ -17442,9 +17424,9 @@ of them and left dim hazel tunnels into his skull. ``I already know,'' said Connor flatly. ``She talked to me, and Sirius talked to me.'' He drew in a ragged breath, and then barked like Sirius -in dog form. "Harry stole her magic! He stole her magic, and left her a +in dog form. ``Harry stole her magic! He stole her magic, and left her a \emph{Muggle}! How could he have \emph{done} that! He hates her, that's -obvious, and I hate him!" +obvious, and I hate him!'' Minerva's eyes widened, and she turned to stare at Sirius. Even if Lily hadn't recognized the pureblood ritual---and Minerva considered it one @@ -17479,7 +17461,7 @@ more---snapping at his face. Connor was screaming. Minerva rose and aimed her wand, casting coolly. -"\emph{Petrificus Totalus!}" +``\emph{Petrificus Totalus!}'' The spell hit Remus and simply faded. Minerva hissed. She forgot, not having fought them often, that werewolves were resistant to many kinds @@ -17499,7 +17481,7 @@ spell she used, one that the witches of the McGonagall family had passed down among themselves since Calypso invented it. It had been one of the techniques that the Light Lady had used to control herself. -"\emph{Catena cordis!}" +``\emph{Catena cordis!}'' It worked, as she had hoped it would. Werewolves had been around long enough to develop more immunity to general spells than specialized ones. @@ -17541,9 +17523,9 @@ with the Muggle who had given birth to him was how to fall---and lunged back to his feet, only to find Snape's wand pointed at his brother, and McGonagall's wand pointed at Snape, and Connor's wand pointed at him. -"You hurt our \emph{mother!}" Connor had obviously been crying not too -long ago, but now his eyes were dry with rage like a desert sun. "How -could you \emph{do} that? How could you take her \emph{magic} away?" He +``You hurt our \emph{mother!}'' Connor had obviously been crying not too +long ago, but now his eyes were dry with rage like a desert sun. ``How +could you \emph{do} that? How could you take her \emph{magic} away?'' He steadied his wand with his left hand as it began to shake. ``Maybe you'd like it if I did that to you, so that you can pay for it?'' @@ -17562,7 +17544,7 @@ them. ``No, don't,'' he whispered. ``Sir. Please.'' -"He practically \emph{killed} our mother!" Connor howled back at Snape, +``He practically \emph{killed} our mother!'' Connor howled back at Snape, not at all intimidated. ``She told me so herself. I saw her. He didn't, he ran away, he was too cowardly to stay, but---'' @@ -17575,8 +17557,8 @@ as the result of Dark spells, or perhaps the obscene feeding ability that Lily had talked about. Snape's hand came down on his shoulder just as the room started to -swirl, and Snape's low voice said into his ear, "I will not have you -fainting. Do you understand? You \emph{will} not." +swirl, and Snape's low voice said into his ear, ``I will not have you +fainting. Do you understand? You \emph{will} not.'' That sternness gave Harry an anchor to cling to, and he took it, straightening his shoulders and nodding shortly at Snape. By the time he @@ -17587,16 +17569,16 @@ not a spell.'' ``A Dark magic ritual,'' said Connor, undaunted. Harry tried to meet his brother's eyes, and could not. The loathing there was too deep. It made -him dizzy and short of breath when he attempted to look into it. "I +him dizzy and short of breath when he attempted to look into it. ``I \emph{know} it. Sirius and Mum told me all about it. He made her into a -Muggle just because he wanted to eat her magic. He's a Dark Lord, too." +Muggle just because he wanted to eat her magic. He's a Dark Lord, too.'' Connor took a step forward. ``He has to be stopped before he eats anyone else's magic.'' -Snape began to say softly, "\emph{Adsulto}---" +Snape began to say softly, ``\emph{Adsulto}---'' Harry, recognizing the incantation for the heart attack spell, snapped, -"\emph{Protego!}" and stuck a shield in front of Connor that should +``\emph{Protego!}'' and stuck a shield in front of Connor that should repel the spell. Of course, that effort sent him to his knees. He really shouldn't have mucked about in Remus's head quite so much, he thought woozily. Then perhaps he would have more strength to devote to the @@ -17609,7 +17591,7 @@ barely. ``I'm sorry, I'm sorry,'' Remus was whispering. And then McGonagall's voice cut over everyone, saying, very firmly, -"\emph{Silencio.}" +``\emph{Silencio.}'' Harry gratefully let the spell take his voice. He wasn't sure what would emerge, at the moment, if he tried to speak. He crouched on the floor @@ -17649,16 +17631,16 @@ away. ``Well?'' Minerva demanded. -Remus sighed. "I gained some of my courage back, and asked Harry to free -me from the \emph{Obliviate}," he said. +Remus sighed. ``I gained some of my courage back, and asked Harry to free +me from the \emph{Obliviate},'' he said. ``Why him?'' Minerva checked on Harry. The boy really did look bad---pale as the Bloody Baron's blood, with one hand on his head as though it were about to split apart. ``Why not Severus?'' ``Because,'' said Remus, looking at her as though \emph{she} were the -one who had gone mad and tried to pass on lycanthropy, "Harry is the -\emph{vates}, and he could enter my mind because I'm a werewolf." +one who had gone mad and tried to pass on lycanthropy, ``Harry is the +\emph{vates}, and he could enter my mind because I'm a werewolf.'' Minerva blinked a few times, and then shook her head. Of course she had suspected that something like that must be true, especially with the @@ -17684,7 +17666,7 @@ Hogwarts.'' ``James has gone somewhere,'' Minerva remembered, from what Albus had shown her in Lily's letter, ``and Lily is still at Godric's Hollow.'' -"\emph{Is} she?" +``\emph{Is} she?'' Minerva narrowed her eyes. ``If it's necessary, Remus,'' she said coolly, ``I will have you swear an Unbreakable Vow to me, that you will @@ -17715,7 +17697,7 @@ pain ever again, but almost seventy years in the world had taught her that only death was like that. Remus watched him for a long moment, then nodded. ``If you're sure, -Harry,'' he said. "But \emph{only} if you're sure." +Harry,'' he said. ``But \emph{only} if you're sure.'' ``Yes,'' said Harry. His voice was weary, but utterly determined, in the way that Minerva had felt herself when facing Voldemort in battle. @@ -17758,10 +17740,10 @@ her wince ``---so I have to. I'll attack him as often as I can.'' ``Mr. Potter,'' said Minerva, with a heavy heart. \emph{He will not understand. But if it comes to a choice between his not understanding -and further suffering for Harry, I know which I will choose.} "For every +and further suffering for Harry, I know which I will choose.} ``For every attack on your brother, you should know that \emph{you}, in turn, will suffer a punishment. For the first one, you will have a week's worth of -detention with---" she almost said \emph{Professor Snape}, but then +detention with---'' she almost said \emph{Professor Snape}, but then remembered the glances he had given the boy and decided that wasn't a good idea ``---Argus Filch. For the next one, you will not play in the Quidditch game against Hufflepuff. For the third one, you will not play @@ -17793,8 +17775,8 @@ happened unless your mother had wronged Harry---so wronged him that she deserved to have her magic taken away.'' Connor blinked. Then he looked at Harry. ``I don't believe you,'' he -said, his voice harsh, "but I'll listen if you can \emph{really} tell me -what she did to you." +said, his voice harsh, ``but I'll listen if you can \emph{really} tell me +what she did to you.'' Minerva faced Harry. Connor's response made her cautiously hopeful. Perhaps the boy could be rescued from Sirius's and his mother's @@ -17931,9 +17913,9 @@ full moon night at the end of October, and one when Connor was in danger from Fenrir Greyback.'' Snape closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ``And then there is the -fact that you went to Godric's Hollow for Christmas,'' he said, "and +fact that you went to Godric's Hollow for Christmas,'' he said, ``and released your parents from \emph{Fugitivus Animus}, despite knowing that -you could have put yourself in danger by doing so." +you could have put yourself in danger by doing so.'' Harry looked up. ``I didn't mean to release Dad.'' @@ -17945,7 +17927,7 @@ he has left Godric's Hollow, and gone Merlin knows where.'' ``Do you think he's in danger, too?'' Harry asked. -"I don't \emph{care.}" Snape leaned forward abruptly, and the growl was +``I don't \emph{care.}'' Snape leaned forward abruptly, and the growl was back, twisting in cold anger under his voice. This time, though, Harry had the distinct impression that Snape really was angry with \emph{him}. ``The point is, what if he had decided to do something to hurt you @@ -17968,7 +17950,7 @@ Harry looked away. ``I didn't think that I could relive it.'' Harry gave his head a quick shake. ``What's the point of listing all of these times I was in danger at me?'' -"Because I think you have little to no care for your own \emph{life}," +``Because I think you have little to no care for your own \emph{life},'' Snape hissed, and reached out to catch one of Harry's wrists. ``Or your own sanity, given the way you answered Dumbledore's summons the day it came, or how you stepped into the werewolf's head. Nor do you explain @@ -17987,10 +17969,10 @@ But he had kept them from Snape because\ldots{} ``I didn't want you to worry,'' he whispered. -"I \emph{choose} to worry," Snape snapped. "And I worry when I see you +``I \emph{choose} to worry,'' Snape snapped. ``And I worry when I see you continuing a self-destructive course that you have pursued for \emph{months}, long before you confronted that woman who was pleased to -call herself your mother. +call herself your mother.'' ``You told me once that I could not treat you as a child, nor coddle you. But you must have restrictions, Harry. You will hurt other wizards @@ -18001,8 +17983,8 @@ destroyed everyone in the house.'' ``It was a near thing,'' Harry whispered. Snape nodded grimly. ``I am going to allow you to choose the -restrictions,'' he said, "so that you can live with them. But there -\emph{are} going to be restrictions, Harry. I promise you that." +restrictions,'' he said, ``so that you can live with them. But there +\emph{are} going to be restrictions, Harry. I promise you that.'' Harry met his eyes, and let out a slow breath. ``Would you start teaching me Occlumency again, sir?'' @@ -18027,7 +18009,7 @@ affection he says he does.} Draco tore the wrapping away from his present and let out a crow. -"Harry! Where did you \emph{find} one?" He turned the book around in his +``Harry! Where did you \emph{find} one?'' He turned the book around in his hands, delightedly, and then flipped open to a random page. He grinned at Harry in the next moment. ``This dance says that you're never supposed to have your elbows on the table while eating,'' he said, @@ -18044,7 +18026,7 @@ as evidence of exhaustion. Harry was not going to get into an argument by mentioning how he'd created the book. He infinitely preferred a happy, cheerful Draco. -"It's \emph{wonderful,}" said Draco, and admired the book's white +``It's \emph{wonderful,}'' said Draco, and admired the book's white leather cover for a moment more before he turned and pushed Harry's own present to him across the table. ``Go on, open it!'' @@ -18095,7 +18077,7 @@ He avoided Dumbledore's gaze, and his brother's, because he wanted to enjoy, just for one moment, this feeling of warmth and alliance, without having it spoiled. -"Now you \emph{have} to tell me what that was," Draco said. +``Now you \emph{have} to tell me what that was,'' Draco said. Harry blinked and looked at the family clock, then smiled slightly. His hand was pointing firmly at PLOTTING. @@ -18123,7 +18105,7 @@ renew his warming charms. Peter stared at the ebony wand with the look that Harry imagined he would have if one of the other Marauders walked up, stuck out his hand, and offered to renew their friendship. His wrist trembled as he slowly held the wand up before him, pointed it at nothing -in particular, and whispered, "\emph{Lumos}." +in particular, and whispered, ``\emph{Lumos}.'' Harry applauded as light began to glow at the tip of the wand and spread out in front of him, illuminating the snow that stretched around the @@ -18191,7 +18173,7 @@ Harry swallowed. Here was the crux of the mistake he suspected he had made. ``Um.'' Peter stared hard at him, eyes beady in the faint light still glowing -from inside his coat pocket. "\emph{Harry}," he said, sounding shocked. +from inside his coat pocket. ``\emph{Harry},'' he said, sounding shocked. Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. ``I really did mean to,'' he said. ``Honest. But I thought he should get to have whatever family @@ -18274,12 +18256,12 @@ If he had punched Harry, he could not have stunned him more. Harry stood there, blinking, the mist of his breath steaming before him, and could not think of anything to say. -``Go talk to him,'' Peter whispered. "If you love him, but not only +``Go talk to him,'' Peter whispered. ``If you love him, but not only because of that. If you want him to love you. I should have refused Dumbledore. The others couldn't have disliked me more than they did. And I would have had my freedom. I think you can have more than that. If you love your brother so fiercely, then there must be something good there -to love. +to love.'' ``Go talk to him.'' @@ -18340,15 +18322,15 @@ a Slytherin to keep his word. And Sirius agreed with her.'' Harry took a step back, uncertain, then rallied. ``I don't---'' -``Have you seen her, Harry?'' Connor whispered. "Have you \emph{seen} +``Have you seen her, Harry?'' Connor whispered. ``Have you \emph{seen} her at all since you made her into a Muggle and took her magic away from her? She looks like a moth. She can barely move, barely lift her head from her pillow in the mornings. Sirius Apparated me to Godric's Hollow to see her. If Dumbledore hadn't sent a house elf to take care of her, -she'd be entirely alone, since Dad ran away like the coward he is." -Connor's voice scraped and hissed. "She has no interest in anything. She +she'd be entirely alone, since Dad ran away like the coward he is.'' +Connor's voice scraped and hissed. ``She has no interest in anything. She doesn't want to eat. She sleeps all the time. Does that sound like you -left her fucking \emph{alive}?" Connor's voice was rising now. +left her fucking \emph{alive}?'' Connor's voice was rising now. Harry winced. They were in the fifth floor corridor, but Connor could attract a prefect's attention any moment. But he had promised Peter he @@ -18370,9 +18352,9 @@ Connor stared at him. Harry stared back, and waited for some reaction. Then Connor shook his head again and said, ``I don't understand. You've always loved me anyway, Harry.'' His voice was wistful. It changed -before Harry could take advantage of it. "Or I \emph{thought} you did. +before Harry could take advantage of it. ``Or I \emph{thought} you did. So if the web was forcing you to love people and not hurt them with your -magic, then it was good. It must be." He took a step forward. ``Is that +magic, then it was good. It must be.'' He took a step forward. ``Is that why you don't love me any more, why you hurt Mum worse than killing her? Because you were only a good person because the web made you be?'' @@ -18383,8 +18365,8 @@ can tell you the full story---'' ``She said you would do this, too,'' Connor interrupted. ``Mum, I mean. She said you would say that I didn't understand everything, and that you had to tell me long stories to explain everything. I don't believe it, -Harry.'' His face had entirely closed now. "She \emph{said} so, and she -wouldn't lie. She loves me." +Harry.'' His face had entirely closed now. ``She \emph{said} so, and she +wouldn't lie. She loves me.'' Harry bit back an eruption of bile. He recognized his mother's tactics, all too well. He \emph{had} left things too long. @@ -18463,7 +18445,7 @@ Dumbledore waved a courteous hand at Percy. ``Mr. Weasley has a share of responsibility in caring for the castle, too, Harry. I would say that he can hear anything you say to me.'' -"About my mother, sir? And Sirius?' +``About my mother, sir? And Sirius?'' Percy stood at once. ``Oh, I could leave, Professor Dumbledore, if these are private family matters---'' @@ -18707,15 +18689,15 @@ escalate. What he didn't realize was how \emph{quickly} it would happen. -``---don't talk to me about my brother!'' Connor yelled. "I \emph{know} +``---don't talk to me about my brother!'' Connor yelled. ``I \emph{know} that he put you up to this. It's not true, it's not, and I don't want to -hear anything about it again!" Then he added something else, something +hear anything about it again!'' Then he added something else, something low-voiced and vicious that resulted in a loud gasp, and a whisper from Ron along the lines of, ``You really shouldn't have said that, mate.'' Hermione came down the ladder in the next few minutes. Harry didn't quite dare to speak to her. She gave him a dire look, shook her head, -said, "\emph{Him}," and stormed off up the corridor. +said, ``\emph{Him},'' and stormed off up the corridor. Harry sighed. He knew it wasn't the best time to go talk to his brother, but at least he knew where Connor was, and they would have an audience, @@ -18740,7 +18722,7 @@ He approached the thing with long strides. The pebble stopped rocking, and the spider scuttled to meet him with a rush of air. Harry flung himself to the side, aimed his wand, and -muttered, "\emph{Petrificus Totalus.}" +muttered, ``\emph{Petrificus Totalus.}'' The spell didn't work, as he had thought it might not. The spider stood facing him, motionless for a moment, then flung out a loop of jeweled @@ -18756,7 +18738,7 @@ coughed anyway, and felt dizzy, which might have meant that some of them got in, but he retained his consciousness and his balance. \emph{No more playing around,} he thought, and spoke calmly. -"\emph{Reducto.}" +``\emph{Reducto.}'' The spider smashed apart. Harry walked over and carefully kicked at the pieces to make sure they wouldn't move anymore, then glanced around. He @@ -18782,7 +18764,7 @@ What bothered him most, however, was the sight of Trelawney, her eyes rolled back in her head and her voice a chill, dead monotone, as she recited words at a stunned Connor and Ron. -"\emph{\ldots{}stand or fall.}" +``\emph{\ldots{}stand or fall.}'' Then she collapsed. @@ -18813,7 +18795,7 @@ Of course, he felt obligated to ask. ``What was it, Connor? A prophecy? Was it meant for you?'' ``I don't have to tell you.'' Connor's face was flushed an ugly red. -"And I don't want to talk to you, Harry. \emph{Go away.}" +``And I don't want to talk to you, Harry. \emph{Go away.}'' Harry turned and left, quietly. He would continue his efforts to get on his brother's good side and help him whether Connor wanted him to or @@ -19051,10 +19033,10 @@ Draco looked at him. ``What?'' ``Yes,'' said Draco, and looked at him. -``You don't need to accompany me there,'' said Harry. "It's the +``You don't need to accompany me there,'' said Harry. ``It's the \emph{Owlery.} People don't lurk up there waiting to ambush other people. It would happen in the dungeons if it would happen anywhere at -all." +all.'' Of course, his internal history book promptly reminded him of some times during the First War against Voldemort and the war against Grindelwald @@ -19072,7 +19054,7 @@ Harry blinked. ``Who?'' Draco just smiled at him. -"I'm feeling a bit \emph{crowded}," said Harry, after wondering who it +``I'm feeling a bit \emph{crowded},'' said Harry, after wondering who it could be and coming up with nothing. ``Please, Draco, I'd like some time alone to send this letter off.'' He gestured with the small bundle, wrapped in silk, that he held. @@ -19124,7 +19106,7 @@ crushed it,'' Harry answered, and turned towards the stairs. Draco's hand on his arm jerked him to a halt. Surprised, Harry turned and found Draco staring at him, wild-eyed and angry. -"\emph{What}?" He packed an awful lot of emotion in that one word, Harry +``\emph{What}?'' He packed an awful lot of emotion in that one word, Harry thought dryly. He would have to get Draco to show him how he had done it. @@ -19132,7 +19114,7 @@ Harry shrugged, trying to remove the tight grip. It just got tighter. ``He gave me a branch that could break his neck if I broke it,'' said Harry. ``I couldn't respond in less than kind.'' -"Yes, you \emph{could}," said Draco, looking as if he didn't know +``Yes, you \emph{could},'' said Draco, looking as if he didn't know whether to be angrier with Harry or Lucius. ``No, I really couldn't,'' Harry said, and lifted his chin to look Draco @@ -19184,14 +19166,14 @@ Harry thought, dismally. Ron coughed again. -"What do you \emph{want}, Weasley?" Draco asked. ``Come to Transfigure +``What do you \emph{want}, Weasley?'' Draco asked. ``Come to Transfigure owl pellets into Galleons? Or perhaps this is the place that you do your laundry?'' His gaze took in Ron's worn robes with spectacular contempt. Ron turned red, but spoke to Harry instead of Draco. ``I have a message for you from Connor,'' he said. -Harry stared blankly at him. "A message?' +Harry stared blankly at him. ``A message?'' ``Too good to speak to his own brother, is he?'' Draco asked with a sneer. @@ -19652,21 +19634,21 @@ than one student flinched. ``A boggart will take the form of what you most fear,'' he informed his class. Everyone was paying attention now, he noted, and none of them -looked ready to interrupt. "That is why they are considered Dark +looked ready to interrupt. ``That is why they are considered Dark creatures; they pull emotions from their victims' minds, and, as Miss Granger noted, they do feed on them. The incantation to defeat a boggart is \emph{Riddikulus}. It draws on laughter, an opposing emotion to the fear that boggarts try to invoke, and it requires the caster to use force of will, to resist the compulsion trying to overtake his or her freedom. And, of course, once others begin laughing, a boggart is done -for." He measured the class with his eyes, looking past both the most +for.'' He measured the class with his eyes, looking past both the most eager---Hermione---and the most nervous---Neville. Finally, he nodded to Justin. ``Mr. Finch-Fletchley. If you will come forward?'' Justin stood with a small swallow and came forward, his wand held out. ``What was the spell, Professor?'' he asked. -"\emph{Riddikulus,}" Remus supplied with a smile. +``\emph{Riddikulus,}'' Remus supplied with a smile. Justin repeated it to himself a few times, then nodded. ``I'm ready, Professor,'' he said. @@ -19685,7 +19667,7 @@ trouble getting his wand up. His face had gone pasty white. banish the thing if the challenge proved to be too much for Justin. But Justin caught his breath, waved his wand, and shouted, -"\emph{Riddikulus!}" In the next moment, a baby bonnet appeared on the +``\emph{Riddikulus!}'' In the next moment, a baby bonnet appeared on the dog's head, and a tiny kitten was sitting on its neck, mewing and swatting at the dog's mouth to get its attention. The hound whirled about, seemingly confused, and the kitten clung on, hissing and @@ -19709,7 +19691,7 @@ and took a step forward, aiming his wand at Connor and wearing a smile that Remus sincerely hoped did not come from real-life experience. Connor aimed his wand, with difficulty, and managed to whisper, -"\emph{Riddikulus}." +``\emph{Riddikulus}.'' It took him a few more tries, but the boggart-Harry finally tripped, broke his glasses, and started groping around blindly. The class laughed @@ -19904,7 +19886,7 @@ unbind the webs and set you free?'' he asked. think I would die of shock if anything in my life were} ever \emph{simple.} -"Harry Potter sir can be a \emph{vates}," said Dobby simply. ``Prophet, +``Harry Potter sir can be a \emph{vates},'' said Dobby simply. ``Prophet, singer, poet, seer.'' His words were hushed with reverence, and had the sound, Harry thought, of a litany, a chant, a mantra. ``Harry Potter can see ways for us out of the webs. And he can do it while respecting free @@ -19944,20 +19926,20 @@ with you. You're good.} insane or gave up on this. How am I going to} do \emph{it?} To take his mind off the seeming impossibility of his task, he asked -Dobby, "What made you think that I might be a \emph{vates?} My brother +Dobby, ``What made you think that I might be a \emph{vates?} My brother found some information in a book about goblins that made it sound as -though he were one." Only it didn't sound much like it, now that Harry +though he were one.'' Only it didn't sound much like it, now that Harry thought it over. Could a \emph{vates} ever use compulsion, much less as naturally and freely as Connor did? If the goblins were bound as well---and Harry suspected they were---then would they really only follow a wizard, or would they be compelled to do so by the nets they wore and nothing else? -"Connor Potter sir is not a \emph{vates}," said Dobby. If a house elf -could snarl, Harry thought, Dobby would be doing so. "Connor Potter sir +``Connor Potter sir is not a \emph{vates},'' said Dobby. If a house elf +could snarl, Harry thought, Dobby would be doing so. ``Connor Potter sir is a compeller, and happy to be so. A \emph{vates} can never compel. He cannot compel wizards. He cannot compel house elves. He cannot compel -centaurs. He cannot compel phoenixes." +centaurs. He cannot compel phoenixes.'' Harry shook his head. ``Then I can't be one, either. I can compel people, and I've done it.'' @@ -19975,31 +19957,31 @@ they knew about this.'' Fawkes went off into a long, complicated series of chirps and trills. Dobby waited until the phoenix had finished before he tried to -translate. "The \emph{vates} cannot be compelled, either. Dobby and +translate. ``The \emph{vates} cannot be compelled, either. Dobby and Fawkes could not tell Harry Potter sir what he was and what it meant until he began to learn it for himself, for fear of shoving him down the wrong path. To force the \emph{vates} to make a choice before his time is to destroy the \emph{vates.} But now you have seen the nets, and Fawkes has felt your horror at them. And a \emph{vates} must hate -compulsion with all his soul." Dobby nodded at him, as though to say +compulsion with all his soul.'' Dobby nodded at him, as though to say that that part was self-evident. Harry nodded back, though he was less confident on that score. On the bad days, he still wanted the reassuring security of his phoenix web, for all that he knew he would fight anyone who tried to cast it on him again, because it would make things so much -simpler. "Many other wizards have said they would be a \emph{vates.} But +simpler. ``Many other wizards have said they would be a \emph{vates.} But they stumbled on the path, and decided to use compulsion to achieve their ends, or they liked compulsion enough that they could not give it -up." Dobby hesitated, then added reluctantly, "Or the magical creatures +up.'' Dobby hesitated, then added reluctantly, ``Or the magical creatures pushed them too hard, and they ended up choosing to act as \emph{vates} out of a sense of duty and obligation. The \emph{vates} must choose, always. He must make decisions. He must not flinch from choices. And he -must \emph{be} free will." +must \emph{be} free will.'' -Harry let out a shaky breath. "Is Dumbledore a \emph{vates}?" he asked. +Harry let out a shaky breath. ``Is Dumbledore a \emph{vates}?'' he asked. ``My m---the Muggle who bore me once said that he made the decisions that no one else could make, the hard decisions of sacrifice and war.'' -"Dumbledore could have been a \emph{vates,}" Dobby said. ``But he +``Dumbledore could have been a \emph{vates,}'' Dobby said. ``But he compelled others, and told himself it was well.'' \emph{So I won't be able to lie to myself, either, if I do this,} Harry @@ -20022,20 +20004,20 @@ neither silly nor stupid. There was a light of his own in his eyes, one that Harry thought would go out when he finished his explanation. But Dobby only grinned up at him. -"A \emph{vates} is not being," he said. "A \emph{vates} is not a +``A \emph{vates} is not being,'' he said. ``A \emph{vates} is not a \emph{vates} only once, and then never again. A \emph{vates} chooses again and again every day of his life, and makes some wrong choices, but -always comes back to the right path." +always comes back to the right path.'' ``It's a thorny path,'' Harry muttered. Fawkes crooned at him. ``Fawkes says that there are roses among the thorns.'' Dobby had his -hands clasped in front of him. "Fawkes says that Harry Potter sir must +hands clasped in front of him. ``Fawkes says that Harry Potter sir must not choose to help elves and phoenixes and others out of duty, but only because he wants to. And it must be a choice. Harry Potter is not all of -a \emph{vates} right now. He may be in the future." He made a gesture at +a \emph{vates} right now. He may be in the future.'' He made a gesture at Harry. ``But first he must stop lying, as he said, and he must be free of his own webs.'' @@ -20067,11 +20049,11 @@ in the back of his head since Dobby began to explain what a \emph{vates} was. ``Does this have to be the most important thing in the world to me, once I begin to do it?'' -"Not \emph{has} to," said Dobby. "Never \emph{must,} or \emph{has to}, -or \emph{compelled to be.} Only want and will." +``Not \emph{has} to,'' said Dobby. ``Never \emph{must,} or \emph{has to}, +or \emph{compelled to be.} Only want and will.'' -Harry nodded. "But a \emph{vates} concentrating on other duties wouldn't -be one that you wanted as your unbinder," he said. +Harry nodded. ``But a \emph{vates} concentrating on other duties wouldn't +be one that you wanted as your unbinder,'' he said. Dobby shook his head. @@ -20082,17 +20064,17 @@ than others. I would sacrifice some of the magical creatures for his safety and happiness.'' He wondered if this was being honest with himself. \emph{Honesty often involves a good deal of ugliness,} he thought, memories of the incident with the Muggle once again filling his -mind. "I love him too much. I'm sorry. I don't think I would make a very -good \emph{vates.}" +mind. ``I love him too much. I'm sorry. I don't think I would make a very +good \emph{vates.}'' He offered a weak smile and opened his eyes. He almost thought Dobby would be gone in his disappointment, and Fawkes, too. But the phoenix remained, a warm, content presence on his shoulder, and Dobby still stared at him intently. -``Becoming,'' said Dobby. "Harry Potter sir can become the \emph{vates}, +``Becoming,'' said Dobby. ``Harry Potter sir can become the \emph{vates}, even if he is not that right now. He can change. Unless he thinks that -he will never change?" +he will never change?'' Harry shuddered. ``After everything that's happened since first year, I can't say that,'' he muttered. ``But are you sure that you want to wait @@ -20114,10 +20096,10 @@ compulsion so much?'' ``But we're the ones who can compel others most easily,'' said Harry. Fawkes gave a twist of his neck and a bubbling trill that ran up and -down the scale. Dobby gave Harry a smile as he translated. "Fawkes knows +down the scale. Dobby gave Harry a smile as he translated. ``Fawkes knows this. We all know this. The power that makes Harry Potter sir able to be \emph{vates} is what makes him dangerous. And it keeps him safe from -others. Others cannot compel Harry Potter." +others. Others cannot compel Harry Potter.'' ``They can try,'' muttered Harry, thinking about Dumbledore, and Tom Riddle's possession. Then he lapsed into thought again, while Dobby and @@ -20287,21 +20269,21 @@ at him with his mouth open. ``Your father is a bastard, Draco,'' said Harry conversationally. -``You could be free, Harry,'' Draco whispered. "And he gave you a +``You could be free, Harry,'' Draco whispered. ``And he gave you a priceless gift. I know what that knife is. It's been in the Malfoy family for centuries. We used it to cut ourselves free from marriage alliances that didn't work out, when the families we'd married into turned against us. I know that it works. I've heard the stories. \emph{Think}, Harry! You could be free. This is the greatest gift that -he could have given you." Draco's face shone like the moon. +he could have given you.'' Draco's face shone like the moon. Harry glared at the knife. It shone dully at him. Harry wondered if it was aware even now, unnamed. It felt as though it were watching him. ``I'm never going to use it,'' said Harry, and swept the knife and the letter off the table and into his robe pockets, not caring that he -almost cut his hand with the edge. "I don't want---that's -\emph{obscene}, Draco, that something exists which can cut those ties." +almost cut his hand with the edge. ``I don't want---that's +\emph{obscene}, Draco, that something exists which can cut those ties.'' \emph{And you want to do it. Part of you wants to do it.} @@ -20394,14 +20376,14 @@ four, she had Dumbledore cast a phoenix web on me.'' ``She told me about it,'' said Connor. ``But it was just to keep you from hurting other people.'' -``No,'' said Harry, as gently as he could. "It was more than that. It +``No,'' said Harry, as gently as he could. ``It was more than that. It was to keep me loving you, to consider your welfare before my own, to \emph{make} me love you and care for you in ways that I wouldn't have if -not for it." +not for it.'' -Connor shook his head. "But you've \emph{always} done that, Harry. +Connor shook his head. ``But you've \emph{always} done that, Harry. You've always protected me. Remember the troll and the Lestranges in -first year? Why did that make you want to take Mum's magic away?" +first year? Why did that make you want to take Mum's magic away?'' \emph{Eyes looking away from me,} Harry noted. \emph{I think that he does have some inkling of the truth, after all, but doesn't want to @@ -20427,11 +20409,11 @@ unfavorably) with him in the eyes of the other Gryffindors. ``No getting married?'' Connor asked. -Harry shook his head. "How could I do that? If a wizard gets married, he +Harry shook his head. ``How could I do that? If a wizard gets married, he should love his spouse as he loves nobody else. And I would be loving you, watching over you, protecting you. I should protect your spouse and your children, too. I wouldn't have \emph{time} for a lover or a -family." +family.'' ``What about a life after the War?'' Connor whispered. @@ -20459,11 +20441,11 @@ noting with a frown how Connor flinched at the name. \emph{Tom Riddle was only a fragment of Voldemort. If he flinches from the memory, then how can he face the whole?} ``He tore up my mind. He released the phoenix web. And then Sylarana died last year, in the Chamber---'' His -voice wavered, and he looked away from Connor. "And she was so entwined +voice wavered, and he looked away from Connor. ``And she was so entwined with my web that she shredded it when she died. I had to rebuild my mind. That's why I spent so much time with the Malfoys last summer. I still have the phoenix web now, or part of it, but I can see around it, -and I know that I don't ever want to go back under it again. +and I know that I don't ever want to go back under it again.'' ``Mum pretended to reconcile with me, and then cast the phoenix web on me again. I couldn't take that. I stripped her of her magic. That way, @@ -20482,33 +20464,33 @@ Harry looked back at him. His brother's eyes were earnest, shining, and his words came slowly, as though he were stepping over the thoughts that he needed to think like scattered sticks. -``Don't you see?'' Connor asked, with a sharp gesture. "She was trying +``Don't you see?'' Connor asked, with a sharp gesture. ``She was trying to make you a better person. She was trying to make you a \emph{Gryffindor.} She was trying to make sure that you knew how to love other people, that you knew what courage and duty and sacrifice were -like, that you could protect me until I was ready to protect myself." +like, that you could protect me until I was ready to protect myself.'' ``Yes,'' Harry acknowledged unwillingly. ``So you must have misunderstood,'' Connor said. ``You thought she'd done something really wrong, and the ritual believed you and took her magic. But she hadn't, so that means that she deserves her magic back!'' -His eyes were brilliant, and he surged forward to grip Harry's arm. "We +His eyes were brilliant, and he surged forward to grip Harry's arm. ``We can have a \emph{family} again! We'll get Dad to come back and stop -being such a git, and then---" +being such a git, and then---'' Harry stepped gently backwards. It was a small motion, but enough to quell the smile on Connor's face. ``No?'' he whispered. -``No,'' Harry repeated. "The justice ritual doesn't work like that, +``No,'' Harry repeated. ``The justice ritual doesn't work like that, Connor. She must have done something \emph{really} wrong, objectively wrong, for me to use it and have it work. If I'd only believed that it was wrong, and used the ritual anyway, it would have eaten up \emph{my} magic. I know that she's wrong. I know that she hurt me. It doesn't matter what she thought she was trying to do. I can't give her her magic -back, and I don't want to. I want to stay away from her." +back, and I don't want to. I want to stay away from her.'' -"You \emph{don't understand,}" said Connor, his voice sharp with +``You \emph{don't understand,}'' said Connor, his voice sharp with disappointment and anger. ``Mum told me about this. She said that she regretted what she'd done. She knew you would be angry, but she had the best of intentions. She wants you back, Harry. She wants us all to be a @@ -20516,7 +20498,7 @@ family again, the way we were at Christmas---'' ``When she was ignoring me?'' Harry asked. ``When Dad was ignoring me?'' -"They were doing that because \emph{you} cast a spell." The red of fury +``They were doing that because \emph{you} cast a spell.'' The red of fury was mounting in Connor's cheeks. ``Yes, I know,'' said Harry, ``and now she wants her magic back, which @@ -20524,17 +20506,17 @@ can't happen. She doesn't really want me in the family, Connor. She wants someone who can be controlled. She wants the person she made me into.'' -"But that \emph{is} you, Harry," said Connor. "You \emph{do} protect me, +``But that \emph{is} you, Harry,'' said Connor. ``You \emph{do} protect me, and you \emph{do} love me, and does it really matter if the web broke? The other things are still part of you. You can protect me even better if you give Mum her magic back. Then she can guard me during the times -when she's there and you're not." +when she's there and you're not.'' ``I do still love you,'' said Harry. ``I do still want to protect you. But it matters to me how she tried to get me to do that, Connor. It matters very much.'' -"\emph{Why}?" +``\emph{Why}?'' Harry wondered if he could explain it. As he had told Snape and Draco, it was still hard. He could imagine Draco in this situation, and the @@ -20558,11 +20540,11 @@ Harry did not believe so. But Connor was waiting for an explanation. Harry used the arguments that Snape and Draco had used with him. -``Because she didn't have my true consent to do that,'' he said. "Choice +``Because she didn't have my true consent to do that,'' he said. ``Choice is important, Connor. She started training me so young that I never had the chance to really say yes. And then Dumbledore put the phoenix web on me when I was four. So my mind was changed and twisted and warped. Would -\emph{you} like having your mind changed and twisted and warped?" He +\emph{you} like having your mind changed and twisted and warped?'' He thought he might win the argument by appealing to Connor's empathy, which Harry knew he had. He had watched Connor rescue butterflies from drowning in the small pond behind their house. He had watched the way @@ -20587,13 +20569,13 @@ could he tolerate going back under the web. Connor turned back around at last, and faced him. Harry met his eyes. -``I saw Mum when the ritual was done,'' Connor began. "I've never seen -such an awful sight. +``I saw Mum when the ritual was done,'' Connor began. ``I've never seen +such an awful sight.'' ``She was lying in the middle of the floor. She raised her head when she saw Dad and me, and started crying.'' Connor drew in a sharp, nervous -breath. "She tried to \emph{Accio} one of the cloths on the far side of -the kitchen. She couldn't. All her magic was gone. +breath. ``She tried to \emph{Accio} one of the cloths on the far side of +the kitchen. She couldn't. All her magic was gone.'' ``Dad rushed to her, and demanded to know what had happened. She whispered something about a box and her magic, and you. I saw Dad's face @@ -20607,8 +20589,8 @@ hadn't told anyone else this. He needed a chance to purge the poison, to pour out the sorrowful tale into willing ears. ``Dad carried her to bed. She couldn't walk. Her whole body had been -raided.'' Connor raised his voice. "No, \emph{raped.} You raped her, -Harry." +raided.'' Connor raised his voice. ``No, \emph{raped.} You raped her, +Harry.'' Harry held himself still. He knew that couldn't be true. The ritual was the foundation of his sanity. He trusted it to be right. @@ -20616,15 +20598,15 @@ the foundation of his sanity. He trusted it to be right. So it didn't matter that the words went home like scythes. He could still listen to this. Connor needed him to listen to this. -``She cried for the first day,'' Connor whispered. "And then Dad left. +``She cried for the first day,'' Connor whispered. ``And then Dad left. He left on Christmas evening, and I still have no idea where he went. -Sirius was there, and he took care of Mum and me. +Sirius was there, and he took care of Mum and me.'' -"She raged for the second day. She wanted her magic back. It was the -most horrible thing I've ever \emph{seen}, Harry. +``She raged for the second day. She wanted her magic back. It was the +most horrible thing I've ever \emph{seen}, Harry.'' -"She got a letter from Dumbledore on the third day, promising he'd talk -to you. She cried again after that. +``She got a letter from Dumbledore on the third day, promising he'd talk +to you. She cried again after that.'' ``But then\ldots{}'' @@ -20633,17 +20615,17 @@ standing less than a foot apart. Connor's eyes were very deep, the hazel more intense than Harry had ever seen it, swarming with flakes of gold and green. -``Then,'' Connor whispered, "she changed her mind. She said that she +``Then,'' Connor whispered, ``she changed her mind. She said that she wanted to have you back. That's what she wanted, more than her magic or Dad or a happy family Christmas. She wanted \emph{you}. She wanted the son who'd hurt her. She has the greatest capacity to forgive that I've -ever known, Harry." +ever known, Harry.'' Connor lifted his head. He was shaking lightly. ``I'm afraid of you,'' -he said. "I'm afraid of your magic, and the way you tore Mum apart, and +he said. ``I'm afraid of your magic, and the way you tore Mum apart, and the way you trample on all the lives around you. But I promised Mum that I'd talk to you, and that I'd try to get you back for her. \emph{Will} -you come back?" +you come back?'' Harry felt as though he were falling through space. The world around him was too large, too endless. He knew that he could give Connor back the @@ -20670,8 +20652,8 @@ Harry's eyes like iron bands. ``I promised that I would get you back for her,'' said Connor. ``I would talk to you and give you the chance. But since you're refusing, then I can't trust that you'll ever see sense. So.'' He took another breath, -this one seeming to penetrate more deeply into his chest. "\emph{Come -back with me, Harry.}" +this one seeming to penetrate more deeply into his chest. ``\emph{Come +back with me, Harry.}'' Harry felt his brother's compulsion leap and coil in his head, far smoother than it had been last year, when he first felt it. It neatly @@ -20787,15 +20769,15 @@ Muggle told him, and who knows what Sirius has been teaching him, alone in the Shrieking Shack?} ``You'll have to stop the private lessons with Sirius, you know,'' he -told Connor. "I think he's been teaching you a lot of nonsense. -Slytherins aren't \emph{evil}." +told Connor. ``I think he's been teaching you a lot of nonsense. +Slytherins aren't \emph{evil}.'' ``Voldemort came from that House!'' said Connor. -Harry shrugged. "And Dumbledore came from Gryffindor, and he was the one +Harry shrugged. ``And Dumbledore came from Gryffindor, and he was the one who bound me with the phoenix web. You can't just assign everyone to Houses and have them be good and evil that way, Connor. It would be too -simple. And if it's one thing the world isn't, it's \emph{simple}." +simple. And if it's one thing the world isn't, it's \emph{simple}.'' He waited for a moment. Acknowledging that yesterday, or even last night, when Dobby and Fawkes had shown him the webs in the wizarding @@ -21173,9 +21155,9 @@ Hermione blinked, and felt a wash of pure wonder overcome her. ``You'll have to tell me what that's like,'' she said, putting her wand back in her sleeve. ``I don't think I can learn it from books.'' -"It's \emph{brilliant}," said Harry, his voice soft as starlight. +``It's \emph{brilliant},'' said Harry, his voice soft as starlight. -Hermione nodded. "But \emph{how} brilliant?" +Hermione nodded. ``But \emph{how} brilliant?'' Harry laughed. Hermione decided that she could stand not getting the answers to a few questions, since she was hearing that laugh. @@ -21306,9 +21288,9 @@ lake. She stooped down and got them from her basket. ``Right, right,'' said Jones, driving an elbow into Gorgon's ribs. Luna thought he was trying to get Gorgon to shut up, and nodded. \emph{That's -probably the best course. Then he won't say inane things.} "Just tell +probably the best course. Then he won't say inane things.} ``Just tell Potter that we've seen the error of our ways and we wish him the very -\emph{best} of luck, all right?" +\emph{best} of luck, all right?'' Luna shrugged at him. ``All right. But Harry won't have the best of luck if I can't get these swallow feathers on the necklace just the way I @@ -21373,7 +21355,7 @@ that felt like this couldn't possibly be Dark? Sirius turned around, and Remus recoiled. Sirius's face was a mixture of desperation and fear. -"What do you \emph{want}, Lupin?" Sirius snarled, the sound of a dog in +``What do you \emph{want}, Lupin?'' Sirius snarled, the sound of a dog in the back of his voice. The wolf whined in appreciation, and Remus shut it up again. ``I have to go find Connor. I think Harry must have done something awful to him. They were having a meeting tonight, you know. @@ -28382,16 +28364,16 @@ a barrier in Harry that all normal wizards have. He has access to a level of power that most wizards can't use, because calling on that much magic at once would kill them.' -"`Then why is he still alive?' It was James who asked that. I'll never +`` `Then why is he still alive?' It was James who asked that. I'll never forget how he looked, Harry, holding you. Small and fragile, and -helpless. It was the first time I ever saw James look that way. +helpless. It was the first time I ever saw James look that way.'' -"`Because,' said Dumbledore, and pinched the bridge of his nose, `he is +`` `Because,' said Dumbledore, and pinched the bridge of his nose, `he is a child, and he can grow used to using that level of power in a way that he could not if he were older. His body is still flexible enough to accept the change. Even if he were four or five, I do not believe he would have survived the breaking of his barriers.' He hesitated for a -long time, looking down at you, Harry. +long time, looking down at you, Harry.'' ``Then he said, `And Voldemort has transferred a good portion of his powers to him. That accounts for the rest of his strength, and the @@ -28409,7 +28391,7 @@ wanted to be. He felt Connor take his hand. He squeezed desperately. His brother winced, but squeezed back. ``That is why they think your magic unnatural, Harry,'' Peter whispered. -"Not only did V-Voldemort open your barriers and give you access to more +``Not only did V-Voldemort open your barriers and give you access to more magic than you should have had, he gifted you with a good deal of Dark power. In essence, he made you his magical heir, the way some pureblood families do when they transfer powers from parents to children at the @@ -32400,3 +32382,5 @@ Harry hoped, as he jumped through the fire and into his future, that the name was a good enough omen to make up for what had preceded it. \emph{No big deal. It's just the rest of my life.} + +\end{document} |