Chapter 16

Four ropes hung from the long wooden arch .Below each of them were old looking barrels. Some had cracks forming in the middle and around the edges.

'MOVE!' yelled one of the guards.

He wore a black uniform-like robe with a symbol on the back. His voice sparked something in Harry's brain. The sound pierced in his mind like a bad memory.

Harry shivered behind the barbed wire fence from both the cold, and the sound of the voice. He tried to move forward for a better look, but found that he couldn't move. Everything but his head was frozen on the spot.

He saw the guards pushing four people forward, their backs turned to him.

Even though he couldn't see their faces, they didn't appear to be older than any older than fifteen. Each of them shirtless, shivering in the cold, showing off bruises and cuts on their backs. The only piece of fabric to cover them were stripped pants.

Harry tilted his head left, then right. There were fences all around this area, along with people all dressed just like the four teens walking up to the barrels. The only difference was the others wore stripped shirts to match their pants. While they didn't look as bruised and beaten, their faces had shadow of fear cast upon them.

The other people there were guards; all dressed like the one Harry's gaze was following.

'Where am I?' Harry asked aloud.

No one reacted, they hadn't heard him.

He watched as the guard led the children to the barrels.

'CLIMB UP!'

People around them began to sob as the four carefully climbed. With each attempted, the barrels made a fearful crunching sound, threatening to break completely. Harry realized too late what was happening.

'These mudbloods get an early check out,' the guard said to the crowd. 'While most of you would die from diseases, hunger, or labor...'

The guard took off his mask, Harry cringed at the sight. His face was an almost opaque texture, with deep, dark eyes in form of slits. His nose was flat and resembled a snake, leaving small incisions for nostrils.

Harry knew he'd recognized the voice.

Voldemort looked directly at Harry. Voldemort, the only person visibly aware of his existence.

'They get the special treatment for the acquaintances with a certain blood- traitor,' Voldemort finished. His cat-like eyes landed on Harry.

The reality hit Harry hard enough for him to regain his movement. He climbed over the fence, just as the last of the four climbed onto the barrel.

Each step he took appeared to be in slow motion, as if informing him that he wouldn't make it in time.

The ropes magically wrapped around the necks of the four. The slightest out of place movement and the barrels would shatter beneath the. A certain death by hanging.

Voldemort pointed his wand at the barrels, causing them to rotate in Harry's direction, all the while, crunching menacingly.

Harry could now see the faces of the four teens. All of them were tear streaked and scared.

Linda, Mike, Darren, and Amber reached for each other's hands in final defeat.

In their eyes, shone a dim light of hope when they spotted Harry, their last chance to be saved.

'Say goodbye to your friends, Potter!'

'NO!' He managed, before the barrels came crumbling down.

Harry awoke in a cold sweat, unable to sleep for the rest of the night.

It was around 3am, Harry spent the time he had left staring at the ceiling and listened to Ron snore on the bed next to him.

This had been his fourth Voldemort-Holocaust related nightmare tonight. Still dead tired, he chose to deprive himself of more sleep, rather than suffer dark future visions.

Of all the ones he'd dreamt, none had been as vivid as this one.

He could still see the faces of his friends fresh in his mind, as if he'd been there only seconds ago, as well as the face of Voldemort.

Harry couldn't help but wonder why Amber had been in his dreams. She wasn't exactly his friend. Anyone associated with Draco was Harry's enemy. Especially when that someone was a snobby cheerleader.

When the clock finally showed 5am, Harry headed to breakfast, leaving Ron behind.

Amber stood in the hallway, her eyes fixed on her shoes anxiously. She had both arms behind her back, a suspicious stance to come across. She looked up when she heard the approaching footsteps of Harry.

For a second, Harry thought he saw a slight smile on her face from his arrival. A strange urge to hug Amber crossed his mind.

He was so glad she was okay, not dead, hanged, beaten, and trapped. All the things he'd seen in his dream that night occur to his muggle friends.

He shook it off; he had to keep fear on their side. They couldn't risk exposure. Of course, he didn't like Amber. He wasn't sure what to consider her, either an ally or a pawn. Even so, he didn't want to see her hurt, much less it being his fault.

As he got closer, she extended her hands forward, revealing two shopping bags.

Harry's eyes widened at the sight.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"The clothes, remember?" She looked down at Harry's current outfit and sniggered.

He took the bag and looked through it.

"Um, Amber, exactly how much did all this cost?!"

Not only were there more than enough clothing items, but they were all very expensive looking. The brand was one Harry heard the name of quite often, even when attending Hogwarts.

"Price isn't important," she said. "Just keep your end of the deal."

Before he could try to pay her back, they heard footsteps approach.

He and Amber froze as they heard the voices of Darren and Mike.

"Yes, Darren, they are our friends, that doesn't mean we can trust them."

"Why not?"

"Because... I know they're hiding something, there's just something...not right about them."

Their steps got louder, along with their voices. He grabbed Amber's arm and ran.

They turned the corner to a dead end. The only thing in sight was an old janitor's closet.

"In there!" Harry pointed.

Amber tried the door, but it was locked.

Harry cursed, pulling out his wand. Amber drew back at the sight, probably aware that Harry didn't plan to hurt her, but still fearful of the magical object.

"Alohomora!" Harry pointed his wand at the closet.

He and Amber rushed inside, closing the door.

"Lumos!" Harry said, giving them at least some light.

"You have a spell for everything, don't you?"

"Mostly, yeah," Harry said, and did a silencing charm around the closet. It was quite cramped, with a couple brooms, mops and probably some cobwebs. Amber's gaze didn't fall far from the wand, her eyes sparkled in amazement.

"Why are you hiding from them, aren't they your friends?"

She paused, mulling it over. "Are they your friends? Or are you only pretending?"

"What? No, they are my friends. Why would you think that?"

It took a couple seconds for Harry to realize she was thinking of Draco.

He'd pretended to like her to get what he wanted. Now that they had fear on their side, he didn't have to pretend anymore.

There was that, and Amber probably though all wizards were downright evil. He wondered if her knowing that he was actually friends with them would affect the fear which controlled her.

"I'm not Draco," was Harry's only reply.

"I know that, but...you hate humans don't you?"

"I am human, only with powers. You expose us, you get hurt, and that's that."

"You mean, you don't hurt people for fun? Aren't wizards supposed to be evil?"

"What'd you find out about Cole?"

Amber crossed her arms, not fond of being ignored.

"About that, he was acting suspicious. He went to the office at the end of the day," she said "I followed him in, but he then went into the restricted area."

"What's in there?" Harry asked.

"Student and teacher records," She answered "I'm not sure what he'd want with those. None of your records are there. It's for Walker high student and staff only."

"Strange," Harry agreed. "Anything else?"

Amber shook her head. "Can we get out of here ? I'm sure they're gone by now."

They slowly opened the door, in case anyone was around. However, their plan failed when Amber tripped on a broom and they both tumbled loudly out of the closet.

Awkwardly enough, Harry landed on top of Amber in a questionable position. He looked up to find Dean and Seamus passing by in the hallway.

"Way to go Potter!" Seamus called.

"It's not what it looks like, I swear!"

Amber pushed him off and glared at the two boys. She looked like she wanted to say something along the lines of 'not with that loser'.

Dean and Seamus left for the cafeteria, wolf whistling as they walked.

Harry couldn't stop staring at his reflection. This was the first time he'd ever seen himself in muggle clothes that fit him.

Not only that, but they were so stylish. For the first time living as a muggle, he didn't look like a loser.

Either Amber had taken her time picking out these clothes, or it was a complete coincidence that some shirts matched his eyes.

"Er, mate, what are you doing?" Ron asked, turning on the light, just as Harry did a back pose in front of the mirror.

Harry signaled to shopping bags on the floor. "Hurry up and change before breakfast ends," he said, hoping Ron hadn't seen that last pose.

Once changed, the wizards headed to breakfast.

"Wow," Linda said. "Don't you two look nice."

Harry smiled, biting into his toast.

"You sure you can't make that party tonight?" Mike asked.

Harry shook his head. He couldn't help but feel slight anger towards Mike. His words still echoed in Harry's head. 'There's just something not right about them'.

Linda and Mike exchanged glances. Harry got the feeling it was about them.

The topic eventually changed to music groups they'd never heard of. Harry and Ron just nodded, hoping they didn't appear too out of place.

"Harry, what's up with those two guys back there?" Linda said, signaling to Harry's left.

Harry looked back and spotted Dean and Seamus giving him a big 'thumbs up'.

Harry turned crimson. "I'm not sure, I don't know them."

"Aren't they from your school?"

"Nope."

Hermione shot Harry a skeptical look. "What did you do?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"hmmm, really?" Hermione asked. "I guess you don't mind that Dean and Seamus are coming this way then?"

"What?!"

Harry turned around frantically. Dean and Seamus were gone.

He glared at Hermione "not funny."

The whole table exploded in laughter. "Bloody hell, you should've see your face!" Ron said "What did you do?"

Harry buried his face in his hands, refusing to answer any more questions.

In the hallway got the strangest sensation that he was being watched.

Even in class, he could sense something was off. It wasn't until Mike pointed it out in the middle of History class.

"Guys, don't look now, but that creepy Cole kid keeps looking over here," Mike whispered.

Of course, most of them did the exact opposite, and turned to stare at Cole.

Cole looked away, seemingly afraid.

Sure, Cole was one to act strange towards them, especially since he appeared to know their secret. Sometimes Harry would catch him throwing suspicious glances their way, not a glint of fear had ever been present.

It had always been more if curiosity tinged with determination.

Determination to what, he wasn't sure. Harry suspected it was something such as 'exposing them', 'kidnapping them', and in the worst case, 'killing them'.

Harry considered the possibility of him just being intimidated by the kidnap plan. Yet, Cole seemed more than just afraid; Harry couldn't place it just yet.

"Just ignore him, I guess," Harry whispered back.

"I swear, if he looks over here one more tim-"

"Mr. Harris, if you could avoid talking during my class," Mr. Anderson said, looking at Mike.

"Sorry, professor," Mike said.

"Maybe you should switch seats with Cole for today?"

Cole looked up, startled. He was never one to talk in class; Harry could see why he would pick him to move.

Mike rolled his eyes and stood up. Cole hesitated, but did as the teacher instructed.

Once seated, Cole scooted to the far end of his table, away from Harry.

Linda and Darren smiled politely at him. Harry kept his gaze down.

Cole had stopped staring at Harry directly, but would occasionally throw glances his way.

After the fourth time, Harry lost his patience. "Can I help you?"

To Harry's surprise, Cole smirked. "You and your lot of vermins could leave this school; it'd make my life a lot easier."

"Vermins?" Harry asked, feigning confusion "What do you mean?"

"Pft! You know exactly what I mean." Cole looked to the teacher. He was too absorbed in the lesson to notice the whispered argument. Of course, he seemed to have no problem noticing when Mike had spoken up minutes ago.

"Your entire kind is a nuisance, including Agnes."

Harry knew not to respond. Cole was like Draco when he spoke about muggles. Yet, his curiosity got the better of him.

"Who's Agnes?"

Cole gripped his pencil hard, his knuckles turned white from the force.

Harry knew he just crossed a touchy subject. He braced himself for the insults.

Instead, Cole just went back to copying notes.

Linda raised her hand "Where's Mr. Short?"

"I'm afraid he's taking a couple sick days."

"Is he alright?"

The man tapped his foot impatiently. He had spiky, black, greasy hair like Snape's. His eyes were brown and bloodshot. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days, but Harry could tell he was wide awake. He eyed Linda with boredom.

"He'll return shortly, I assure you of that, Miss...?"

"Linda," she answered.

The teacher nodded, not particularly interested in her. He turned to the class and did something Harry wasn't expecting.

"All exchange students, please stand."

The room grew quiet as all of them stood up, not liking being singled out.

"There will be a new seating arrangement. All exchange students will sit on the right side of the class room, the others on the left."

In no time, the sounds of chairs and tables scraping against floor was heard. No one dared speak out against the substitute.

The teacher proceeded to write on the board.

'Mr. Gled'

The teacher beamed at the class, the smile felt like poisonous honey. Harry was immediately reminded of Professor Umbridge.

"Now class, as we all know, Halloween is approaching."

The room broke out into excited murmurs, all coming from the muggle's side of the class.

"So, I thought you all might like to learn about some Halloween related topics while Mr. Short is away. With the whole WICCA excitement going around, some old witch movies, along with some short essays, could be a good way to go about this week?"

The entire left side of the classroom cheered. The wizards were mostly put off by the announcement, but for Harry it was more the aura around the substitute.

He couldn't explain it, but he wasn't inclined to trust him, there was something offabout him. The way he kept rubbing his wrist were he wore the single glove.

He didn't even dress like a teacher. Sure, Harry wasn't one to judge on fashion choices, but this man looked more like he was going to a funeral, rather than teach at school.

Harry remembered Quirrell. He'd worn a turban, all along hiding Voldemort's tainted spirit on his back.

He knew this wasn't the case. Voldemort had already returned, it couldn't be him. But then, what was he hiding?

"I'll take your excitement as a yes?"

Before the class could continue their cheering, Harry's hand shot up in the air. "What about Mr. Short's lesson plan?"

He couldn't tell if it was just his imagination, but the teacher seemed to eye him in disgust, much like Snape would.

"As I said, your teacher will return soon. The lesson plans will continue when he does so."

Harry didn't respond, feeling the muggles glare at him. He didn't exactly want to be the uptight know-it-all that ruined their fun. That was Hermione's job.

The cheers continued. The right side joined in, trying to not appear out of place.

Harry didn't attempt to fit in. This caught the teacher's attention.

A venomous grin spread across Mr. Gled's face. His yellow teeth visible and gleaming. "That won't be a problem, now will it Mr. Potter?" He whispered in Harry's ear.

A fiery pain seared through Harry's scar. His hands shot up to cover his head, feeling as though it might split open.

"Nurse," was the only thing Harry could manage.

He stumbled out of the room. He knew Mr. Gled's eyes never left him as he walked out.

Just who was that guy?

Harry passed by the office on his way back from the bathroom. He'd decided to wait for the pain to go away in there. How could he explain to the nurse that the cursed scar given to him by a dark wizard was troubling him?

Only a few feet after he walked by the office door, he heard the wailing sound of woman. He stopped, taken aback.

Harry heard the voice of another woman "Shhh... shhhh, it'll be alright."

He moved a couple inches forward, knowing it was best not to spy on them.

Even though he wanted to walk away, he couldn't help his curiosity when the crying woman began to speak.

"It's not alright! T-this is the last p-place I knew where to look!"

"He'll come home soon, I'm sure of it" The woman said softly.

'The kidnap,' Harry thought 'She must be the mother of the missing student.'

"He called the school himself," the woman continued. "He said he needed a couple days off to figure things out."

The woman's sobs gradually quieted down to mere sniffles.

Harry couldn't comprehend what was happening. A student , a child was missing. Why was this school worker taking this so lightly?

Harry kicked the wall, anger flowing through him. He'd failed to rescue the student.

He heard the door knob turn, and the two women walked out.

Harry frozen in his tracks, soon spotted by the receptionist.

She turned away from the teary eyed woman and eyed him sternly.

"What are you doing out of class?"

"Oh, Er..bathroom," He mumbled.

"Where's your pass? Your teacher should've given you one. Whose class are you in?"

"Mr. Short's- well, the substitute."

Both women looked at each other.

The receptionist sighed impatiently and nodded "go ahead," she said.

The lady who'd been crying looked at Harry.

"You're one of Jack's students." She said, her voice sounded sore from all the crying. "Tell me, dear, was he acting... strange yesterday?"