Harry Potter the Power Unknown By Priya Ashok

Chapter 10

The silence stretched endlessly and for a long time the only things that were heard were the sounds made by the birds and the leaves of the huge trees and the wind outside.

The afternoon turned into evening and evening blended into the night. Minerva was still shaking in the aftermath of her world being turned upside down. She was horrified to put it mildly at the man Albus was. She knew he was not good; but this, she could not reconcile him masquerading as Joseph Heifer and Voldemort; how could she bring herself to accept this.

Snape was shuddering inside and mildly shaking outside. He had just jumped from the frying pan into the fire. He had thought he had exchanged one monster for the other, but at the time he had approached Albus was already Voldemort, in the process of hunting down his horcruxes. He put his head in his arms, willing himself not to cry.

Sirius was crying openly at the shame of it all. The leader of the Light was the bloody Dark, the Light was fighting against. What a joke. He hugged a shocked Harry, trying to comfort Harry who was hearing such unvarnished horrible truths for the first time in his life.

Remus was staring blankly at the wall. He was wondering what Albus was intending to do with him as Albus probably had a reason to allow him into Hogwarts as a werewolf in the first place.

Snape was shaking with the effort he was making in willing himself not to bawl out at the horror his life had suddenly become. To think there was no Light and no Dark, only evil all around that was controlling him so firmly was a theory he could not bring himself to digest.

Suddenly his shoulders were grasped by small but firm hands and he was hugged gently and a Harry's voice comforted him, telling him it would be fine and it would be all right.

Snape in turn hugged the little boy as the tears he was struggling with, fell down his cheeks in shame, shame for joining Voldemort in the first place, shame for going to Albus and shame to find the mess he and the others were now in.

How could no one see through this man and how could he have been allowed to get away with it, get away with all of this. He shuddered for the first time as he thought of magic as a tool that could be used to destroy their world, and it was terrifying.

Nell got up slowly and led them all to dinner, where all of them pushed their food around, hardly eating anything and not doing justice to the steaming hot, delicious food that the elves served.

All of them retired to their beds and tossed and turned about till the first rays of the sun trickled into their room, fighting with the leaves of the trees and their great branches that surrounded the castle.

Birds had already started chirping away happily not knowing the state of sorrow and anger the human inhabitants inside the castle were in.

All of them were up at dawn and walked down to the kitchen for a cup of tea, including Harry who had had a truly horrible night, with strange and terrifying dreams.

He sat in between Snape and Sirius, who had an arm around him and sipped his hot chocolate slowly as he thought of all that Mrs. and Mr. Flammel had said the day before.

Nick as Flammel had asked the others to call him, walked in with his wife and seeing the bitter faces of all of them, smiled.

"Well! Good Morning," he said cheerfully, the anguish of yesterday all forgotten and not caring about the 'what's so good about the morning' looks of the others.