Not Who You Think

Eighteen

"Harry. What's wrong?" Ron asked, all three of his friends staring at him in concern.

"I don't know. What the hell was that?" He said, tugging at his hair in frustration.

The last time he had had a vision like that, was when Mr Weasley had been attacked, and that had really happened. So what he had seen could really be happening. But at the same time, his father knew about Sirius being one of theirs, and had agreed that he and Remus were off limits when it came to attacking the Chickens. So why would he have Sirius in the Ministry and be torturing him? If he wanted information from Sirius, his father could just ask him to get it, since his father knew that the Phantoms worked with Sirius.

And on top of that, how would Sirius and his father get into the Ministry? Sirius was the most wanted man at the moment and would get the Dementor's Kiss as soon as he was seen and captured. And his father was keeping a low profile and was still thought to be dead. He wouldn't risk changing that opinion by going into the Ministry, especially during the middle of the day.

"Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I honestly don't know Streak. You know how I got that vision from Basilisk through Nagini before Yule? About the attack on your dad Striker?"

"Yeah."

"What about it?"

"And you know how the connection we have completely bypasses all my shields?"

"What are you getting at Shadow?"

"I just had another one. It showed Basilisk and Howl in the Ministry, with Basilisk torturing Howl. And I have no clue if it's real or not," he said, tugging at his hair again.

"Ok, let's look at this logically. Why do you think it's real?" Ron asked.

"Last time I had one it was real, and me seeing it was the only reason your dad survived. And it seemed exactly like the last one."

"And why wouldn't it be real?"

"Well, father knows that Sirius is with us and under our protection. And neither of them would be able to get to the Ministry without being seen, which wouldn't end well for either of them, especially since it's the middle of the day."

"Plus, Basilisk wouldn't be able to get to Howl, since he's living at Headquarters under the Fidelius," Hermione added.

"So logic points to it not being real," Neville concluded.

"I know. But I also don't want to ignore it, in case it is real, and Sirius is actually being tortured. He's family," Harry said.

"Then we check on him. You could use the mirror, and if he doesn't answer, you can shadow over to Headquarters to check," Ron said with a shrug.

"Right. I'll go grab the mirror."

"I'll come with. I snuck in a re-live earlier, so I have to take my binder off before I wear it for too long," Ron said, standing and pulling Harry to his feet. The two of them headed up to their dorm and separated to do their things. Ron headed into the bathroom, and Harry grabbed his mirror, sat on his bed, pulled the curtains around him, and activated the mirror.

"Padfoot," he called. The mirror sparkled but didn't change from reflecting his face, showing that Sirius wasn't picking up. He waited for a minute or so, before turning he mirror off and getting off his bed. Ron came out of the bathroom as he put the mirror away.

"Anything?" Ron asked.

"Nope. I'm going to visit him."

"I'll let the others know." Harry nodded before jumping into his shadows, stepping out on the landing of the first floor, outside the room Hermione and Ginny had shared when they stayed there over the summer holidays and during Yule.