Better Be Slytherin!

'Oh.'

'Indeed.' The Professor leaned back a bit in his chair. 'Tell me what you saw.'

Harry nodded, and closed his eyes so he could picture it better. 'There was a creature, not sure what it looked like, really, 'cause it was like I was seeing through its eyes or something. But I think we were, er, that it was in the Forest, here.' He opened his eyes and looked at the window. 'At Hogwarts, I mean. It was racing through the trees, and I could feel how hungry it was, how . . .' He swallowed. 'How thirsty. It wanted blood, desperately.' He glanced up at Snape. 'Do you think it could be a vampire?'

Snape's eyes narrowed, but he shook his head. 'I very much doubt it. Go on. What else did you see?'

'I was, I mean, it was chasing something, and I didn't know what, at first, and we . . . it was moving so fast, and then I could see what we, what it was chasing, and it smelled so good. Was a unicorn,' he whispered, the feelings of the vision coming back to him and making him nauseous. He couldn't believe he had . . . No! That some creature had killed a unicorn. 'It attacked the unicorn, and they fought, but then there was a blast of magic, a green light, I think, and seconds later, the creature sank his teeth in and . . . and drank.' He licked his lips unconsciously, remembering.

'The creature drank the unicorn's blood?'

Staring at his hands in his lap, Harry nodded, feeling sick. 'It was silvery and . . .' He stopped himself before he said how good it had tasted. How pure and delicious and . . . God, how disgusting was he?

'What do you think, Albus?' Snape asked, a little louder than he had been speaking to Harry.

As Harry brought his head up in surprise, the Headmaster moved from the shadows of the room into the circle of moonlight surrounding Harry's bed. Oh, no. Had he heard everything Harry had said? It seemed so, for he said, 'It seems the report Hagrid received from the centaurs was quite correct.'

'How many, then?'

'Firenze told him they had found four bodies thus far.'

'Someone's killing all the unicorns?' Harry asked, ashamed to hear his voice rise an octave. The sheer glory of the animal as it galloped through the forest, its power and strength and ethereal beauty had affected Harry very strongly. That someone -- that the creature he had seen -- was killing such wondrous animals was horrifying.

'I'm afraid so, Mr. Potter,' the Headmaster said. He held his hands folded together in front of his chest, just above the ends of his long, white beard, and Harry could see how tensely they were twisted together.

'But why?'

'Can you not discern the reason?' Snape asked. 'After what you saw?'

Harry shook his head, but then said, 'You said it's not a vampire.'

'No.'

'But it needs the blood to live.'

'What makes you say that?' the Headmaster asked Harry.

'I just . . . I don't know. But somehow, that's the feeling I got.' His heart had beat harder, stronger, after he had drunk the blood of the unicorn. He had never felt more alive . . . Harry squeezed his eyes shut. No! That wasn't him.

There was a moment's pause before the Headmaster said, 'I believe you are correct.'

'It's Vol . . . I mean, it's You Know Who, isn't it? Who's killing them.' Harry swallowed and looked at Snape. The professor's eyes held his, lending him the strength he desperately needed just now. He gestured to his scar. ''Cause I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. Right?'

'Yes.' Snape made an abortive move with his right hand, as if he was going to put it on one of Harry's, as if he was going to try and comfort Harry. But he took his hand back quickly, with a glance at the Headmaster. 'I am concerned, Harry, we are concerned you might have an unintentional connection to the Dark Lord and may have other visions like this.'

Harry nodded, fiddling with the edge of the blanket covering his legs and wishing that he could be normal for just one minute. 'Yeah, I figured.'

'There are ways to counter such forays into your mind, Mr. Potter,' the Headmaster said. 'To stop the intrusion once it starts, or block the visions from getting in, in the first place.'

'Really?' Harry felt the first tendrils of hope enter his heart. 'How?'

Instead of answer, the Headmaster turned to Snape and gave him a long look.

Snape felt the weight of the older man's stare, but did not bend. He glared back. 'Absolutely not. He is too young. His mind is not ready for that.'

The Headmaster merely smiled. Even in the dimness of the Infirmary, Harry could have sworn he saw a sparkle in the old Wizard's eyes. 'Did you not tell me previously that you believe he is a natural Occlumens? If so, I believe he just needs focus, and practice.'

Snape's glare hardened into something more terrifying to behold, and Harry was very glad the look was not aimed at him. 'Being able to cast me out of his mind is one thing. But to cast out the Dark Lord? It's too much. I will not jeopardize Harry's sanity like that.'

'It's Harry now, is it?' the Headmaster asked, beaming at Snape. He waved one of his hands negligently. 'He will need to know how to do it sooner or later, or I predict many more trips into Poppy's domain. And as much as I'm sure the boy enjoys her hospitality . . .'

Snape pressed his face into his hands and was silent for several long moments. Harry hated being talked about like he wasn't in the room, but his aunt and uncle had done so all the time, so he was well used to the feeling, and he didn't interrupt.